Chapter 5 ~ Gather the Gang


Before we start I just want to give some quick notes. First, I will skip some of the more detailed character descriptions in cases of well known characters. Like for example we all know what the Olympians look like and I don't think anyone of you wants to read ten pages of character or Camp Half-Blood descriptions with minor details.

Therefore I'll keep them short if we have a huge group of people and skip the whole camp tour in extreme detail.

Second, I'm only gonna roughly orientate on some of the events of the Percy Jackson Book Series, but a lot will be my own imagination.

I've read so many fanfictions that have Percy with a different godly parent and then they basically just copy the books, but throw in some minor changes. It is just basically the same as reading the books. I am not going to do that.

That's it, enjoy the fifth chapter!


Deep in the underworld, where no living souls were allowed and the screams from the Fields of Punishment could be heard in the distance, a dark figure flew across the Styx. Stretching her dark bat-like wings, the Fury looked down and watched as Charon drove souls across the Styx at that very moment.

Alecto set course for the gigantic black palace in front of her, that looked like an obsidian version of the white and gold marble palaces of Olympus, and flew into one of the large open windows into the palace of Hades. A few minutes later, she entered the throne room of the God of the Underworld. As she stepped through the archway, she could not believe her eyes.

Hades, one of the most intimidating gods in existence, sat laughing on his throne while watching an Iris message and clutched his stomach. His usually pale face was red and he seemed barely able to remain seated on the throne.

Alecto exchanged a nervous glance with her sister Tisiphone, who had now come to her side.

"My lord, please don't tell me you got marijuana from the souls of the hippies in Elysium again." she said, contorting her bat-like face.

The last time this had happened, Hades had been so high that he had ordered Charon to ride Cerberus through the underworld wearing nothing but the tie of his Italian silk suit and let the souls swim through the Styx. Needless to say, it had taken a lot of paperwork and some embarrassing explanations to Persephone, who had just returned from the upper world, to undo the damage done, when she found pictures of a stark naked Charon in her husbands closet.

The goddess Styx had only very reluctantly released the souls, that were told to swim in her waters.

"Oh haha don't worry, I was just looking at this Iris message." Hades manged to say between a few laughs.

Until just now he had watched as Nyx had appeared in the Olympian throne room and forced Zeus into total submission. It only got better when she started beating Athena to a pulp in front of the Olympians, knocking Athena's symbols of power aside as if they were nothing but toys.

Hades had never been able to suffer Athena. She, as the goddess of strategic battle, should know that Hades would be a valuable ally in the council, but her pride would not allow her to admit it. Admittedly, apart from his servants and Hestia, there were almost no people Hades could stand at all, especially not the Olympians like his little brother, Zeus. But within 10 minutes, Percy Jackson and Nyx had secured a place on that short list.

He stopped laughing like a madman and instead concentrated on something else. The Iris message shimmered and then it focused on two children, with black hair and somewhat pale skin that had an olive taint. Hades watched as Nico and Bianca enjoyed themselves at the slot machines of the Lotus Casino.

Ever since Zeus had killed Maria Di Angelo, Hades had not wanted to take the risk of sending his children to Camp Half-Blood. But now he saw his chance coming. If he could get Percy Jackson to help them, Zeus would not dare harm the two.

He turned to Alecto.

"Prepare the departure of Nico and Bianca. It is time to bring the Di Angelos home."

Alecto bowed and left the room with Tisiphone.

"So..." Hades said to himself "let's see what I could reward Perseus with if he agrees to help me..."


Percy Jackson gazed in amazement from Half-Blood Hill at the scenery unfolding before his eyes.

Next to a large multi-story house painted baby blue, paths led to the 12 cabins of the Olympian gods.

Under the brilliant sun, demigods of Percy's age walked around, carrying swords or donning classic Greek armor.

He watched as two boys were chased by a girl covered in yellow paint around a climbing wall of lava and then into a dense forest while she yelled obscenities after them.

Other campers wore orange t-shirts and just lay on the grass. Two satyrs walked past them, dragging an unconscious boy from an arena to another building, presumably to heal him.

Across the bright blue sky flew two pegasi with riders.

"Awesome."

Percy was about to run down the hill when two bright lights appeared next to him. They faded as quickly as they had come and when they disappeared there were two people standing in their place.

The girl was as tall as Percy and had blonde, curly hair. She turned and then looked sharply at Percy with her gray eyes. Her look might have been frightening if not for the tears running down her face and her trembling lower lip.

"Hey, um, are you okay?" asked Percy cautiously.

She merely snorted and then ran down the hill to the blue building.

He facepalmed. "Way to go Percy! She's crying and the first thing I ask is if she's okay. Silly Percy, people always cry when they're okay."

"Give her some time. She just had to watch her mother get beaten half to death," the satyr said quietly.

Percy wheeled around and the satyr flinched.

He was wearing a rasta cap and had a pair of crutches in his hand that were pretty beat up. He kicked off his shoes and his hooves were now clearly more visible. The fur on his legs, however, was already clearly visible through tears on his pants.

"Oh, Athena is her mother?"

The satyr nodded.

"I'm, um, Grover, by the way." he said sheepishly.

"Percy Jackson, son of Nyx." said Percy, extending his hand politely. The satyr looked at the hand as if it were a grenade, but then shook it.

"So why was she so upset about her mother? I thought the Olympians had little contact with their children."

"That's right. Annabeth only met her mother twice in her life. Now she wanted to prove herself on this quest, but as you know we failed. Then, while she has to explain her failure to her mother, your mother suddenly shows up and beats her mom up. It was just too much for her."

"Sorry, but my mom takes no shit from anyone."

"It's okay." said Grover " She'll get around. You actually saved us in there."

"Really? How so?"

"Didn't you see the look on Zeus' face?"

"Oooh. Yes. He was probably just about to crush you before I showed up."

Grover nodded again. "Come on, let's go to the Big House. Chiron will want to see you."

When they arrived on the porch, Annabeth was talking to a Centaur. He wore a brown sweater over his torso and had the lower body of a white stallion.

As Percy and Grover approached, the two turned to face them. Chiron smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, that held sorrow.

"Ah. You must be Percy Jackson, then. I'm Chiron and welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

Percy smiled kindly and was about to reply when the ground began to shake and loud noises were heard near the cabins.

Dozens of campers ran to the cabins with weapons drawn, probably expecting a monster attack and watched in amazement as a new building rose from the ground. A black cabin now stood next to the Zeus cabin, forming the new beginning of the U-shape in which the cabins were arranged.

The building was made of midnight black stones and if you looked closely you could see constellations moving on the surface, like on the night sky. Above the double stygian iron doors hung the symbol of Nyx: a crescent moon which was partially covered by a raven. On the top floor a corner seemed to be completely made of toned glass, including the roof top so that you could lie there and watch the stars in the night while nobody would be able to get a look inside from doors were covered by a canopy and black columns. It looked very similar to the Mansion of the Night.

Murmurs broke out among the campers, who demanded an explanation. They were interrupted when several campers gasped and pointed above Percy's head.

He looked up and grinned. He just saw the rest of a hologram fade above his head with the same symbol as above the door.

All the campers went down on their knees in front of Percy, even Annabeth, who looked anything but happy. Chiron spoke in a loud voice, "Hail Percy Jackson, son of Nyx, Primordial Goddess of the Night."

As he said this, the temperature dropped a bit and the shadows thickened. Percy looked at Annabeth, who looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Percy could have sworn he heard Lyssa's over-excited laughter in his head before the temperature returned to normal.

"Meeting in the Big House with the counselors. Now! The rest of you, go back to your activities with your cabins!" Chiron said with a serious face. "Grover, you too. We have much to discuss."


The cabin counselors gathered in a room with a ping pong table in the middle. Apart from Percy, there were eight counselors present, each for one cabin, except for the Zeus, Hera, Artemis and Poseidon cabin and Chiron as well as Grover. Dionysus did not show up.

Either he was too afraid of Percy and hid on Olympus or he fell asleep there during the meeting after Nyx left.

Percy hoped it was the former.

"Travis, where's Connor? You're both the cabin leaders now." Chiron asked a boy with brown hair.

"He's preparing a prank... I mean... he had to help the Demeter cabin with an urgent problem. We thought one was enough." replied Travis with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah guaranteed..." said a girl with narrowed eyes sitting in the chair for the Demeter cabin.

"That's enough Katie, we have more important things to discuss!" interjected Annabeth.

"Right." said a beefy girl built like a wrestler "What's he doing here?" She pointed at Percy, who was standing a bit awkwardly in the corner leaning against the wall. "This is a meeting for counselors only or quest members like goat boy over there."

As she finished speaking, the shadows swirled and next to the chair reserved for the Zeus counselor, if there was one that wasn't currently a tree, there was suddenly a new chair, black and plain, but still more elegant than the brown wooden chairs of the others.

Percy walked over to the new chair and sat down at the ping pong table. He averted his eyes from the can of spray cheese and crackers. In his defense, he hadn't eaten in five hours.

He looked instead into the brutal girl's reddish-brown eyes, which promised him nothing but pain.

"The counselors are the eldest inhabitants of the cabins, correct?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes that's correct." said a pretty girl with long black hair from the Aphrodite chair with a smile, while looking at him with piercing blue eyes.

"Since I am the only resident of Nyx cabin, I am therefore also the oldest and am a counselor. Percy Jackson at your service."

Chiron nodded and then turned to Annabeth and Grover.

"Could you please tell us what happened?"

"It went well, at first anyway, " Annabeth began, "We killed a couple of Furies, escaped the Chimera and Echidna at the St. Luis Arch, and had to retrieve a shield for Ares from a water park that was full of Hephaestus traps. As a reward, he gave us a backpack with supplies and arranged transportation to Las Vegas."

"It was an illegal animal transporter!" whined Grover.

"We got into the underworld, played fetching a ball with Cerberus and stood in front of Hades, who then accused us of having the master bolt. By the way, his helmet of darkness was also stolen. Luke opened the backpack that Ares had given us and the master bolt was inside.

We had to escape the underworld with the help of some magic sea pearls we got from a Nereid. Then we appeared on a beach and Ares showed up again. He confessed putting the master bolt in the backpack, but the thief was someone else, someone sent by Kronos to steal the symbols of power. Apparently he expected Hades to kill us immediately."

The counselors gasped when they heard the name Kronos.

"My father betrayed Olympus and now works for KRONOS? Isn't he supposed to be chopped into bits and pieces and stuck in Tartarus?" the wrestler asked in a raised voice and slammed her fists onto the table, but with slumped shoulders, which looked kind of odd on her.

"I'm sorry Clarisse, but yes that's what it looks like." said Annabeth.

"What happened after that, my dear?" asked Chiron calmly, but his tail whipped back and forth nervously, as if he already knew what would follow.

"Luke, he fought Ares and he..." Annabeth's lips began to tremble and tears formed in her eyes. "He was killed." she said so softly she was barely audible. All whispers fell silent and all cabin counselors stared at Chiron as if expecting him to say it wasn't true. Chiron just shook his head and looked down.

"Ares and Luke disappeared and we were suddenly transported before the gods. We were just about to explain to them what had happened when Percy showed up. " Grover said, as Annabeth was clearly in no condition to continue speaking.

"He came with the master bolt and Zeus was about to kill him because he thought he was a son of Hades when Nyx showed up."

Chiron jerked his head up. Very few people had even caught sight of Nyx.

"She informed us that Kronos had been freed and had sent the thief. Athena called this a lie and attacked her." Grover continued.

All cabin counselors tensed. Each of them were always told that Athena was not a goddess you would want as an enemy. Zeus would kill you, Hades would torture you, but Athena would come up with a plan to make you hate your own existence so much, that you would want nothing but the mercy of death, only for her to deny it to you and then hunt you till the end of time.

"Athena was tossed around like a rag doll and in the end Nyx threw her through the doors knocking her out and to be buried under them."

The counselors stared at Grover in shock and at Percy in awe.

"And what did the gods do?" asked a muscular boy with skin like bronze from the Hephaestus chair. They all thought, no one would be able to just attack the gods like that without punishment.

"Nothing," said Annabeth. "Absolutely nothing. Even Zeus was too scared to fight back at her. It was obvious that if she wanted to she could wipe out the entire Olympian Council. And how do you even know what happened? Weren't you fainted?" she asked Grover.

"It could possibly be that I played dead." Grover said with his head red like a tomato.

"She said that the master bolt was in Tartarus." Grover said quickly to change the subject.

"And how did Prissy find it then?" Clarisse asked.

All eyes turned to Percy, who until now had only listened.

"I found them both there with my mother after seeing a demigod teleport the Sarcophagus of Kronos out of Tartarus with some kind of amulet. Ares must have thrown the master bolt and helmet into Tartarus after killing your friend."

"And what on earth were you doing in Tartarus, please? No demigod could survive down there!" said Travis.

"Wow, that question actually made sense and wasn't completely stupid." Katie remarked.

"I have my moments." Travis answered grinning.

"Oh that's easy," said Percy "I live there with my mom, found the symbols of power on a walk and then went up to return them to Hades and Zeus. Hades was much friendlier than Zeus..." Percy explained.

"Yeah right and we're supposed to believe that because...? I bet you punk just found out you're a demigod and think you're special now huh?"

"Didn't you see the symbol above my head? But fine if you don't believe me... Uncle T give me a hand here!" Percy spoke up and suddenly put a hand on Clarisse's shoulder. Before she could try to break his fingers over it, the counselors, Chiron and Grover watched in amazement as the two merged into a shadow on the wall.

Thirty seconds later, the two reappeared and Percy relaxed back into his chair.

Clarisse just stood there, pale as a ghost and a little greenish as if she were nauseous.

"It's all true..." she said softly and slumped down in her chair.

"What the hell did you do to her? And what was that about the shadows?" Annabeth shouted.

"That, my dears, was shadow traveling. It basically works like teleportation, but it uses a lot of energy. I just briefly showed her Tartarus." Percy said calmly, but had to stifle a laugh at the sight of their faces.

"Okaayyy, back to the subject." said the boy from the Hephaestus cabin. "So Kronos is back. But we do have Percy here. Can't your mom just drop in on the Titans and kill them all if she's so powerful?" he asked, addressing Percy.

The latter shook his head.

"My mother doesn't have any problems with the Ancient Laws and can therefore beat up the Olympians if they want to kill me and raise me with her, unlike the gods. Or she simply cares more. The Fates hold no power over her.

But great prophecys and wars like this are overseen and directed by Lady Ananke herself, the Primordial Goddess of Destiny and Necessity. My mother cannot meddle with fate without starting a war with her.

On top of that, Gaia has made most Primordials except Tartarus swear not to harm her children, the Titans unless challenged. Kind of like immortals and demigods."

Chiron nodded in understanding. "Please return to your cabins now. It is already after curfew. Tomorrow, please inform your cabin members about the meeting."

As the began to empty, Percy realized he still wouldn't get anything to eat and quickly grabbed the can of spray cheese and the package of crackers and silently disappeared into the shadows before anyone noticed.

He reappeared in a room in the Nyx cabin and looked around. The room looked like his room in the Mansion of the Night.

Black walls with sea green decorations and a bed with blue sheets. In one corner was a rack for his armor. A few drawers on the right side of his bed. Percy was about to open the pack of crackers when a person stepped out of the shadows.

Percy winced. "By the gods, Hades have you ever heard of knocking?" he asked the god who had interrupted his meal, annoyed.

Hades ignored his remark.

"Percy Jackson, I need your help." he said while his black eyes looked into Percy's green and black ones.


"So let me sum this up. You want me to rescue your children from the Lotus Casino, where they have been hidden from Zeus for 70 years and then protect them from Zeus' fury in the Nyx cabin?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds weird."

"And you come in here in the middle of the night when I'm incredibly tired? Why don't we wait until tomorrow so that I at least had breakfast!

"I don't want Chiron to find out and inform Olympus, so that Zeus can get his hands on Nico and Bianca before you do. Now is the best time to disappear unnoticed!"

"And why can't you just send your Furies?" Percy asked.

"Because first, they can't enter the camp, and second, I still need Nyx's protection as a backup."

"Well fine I'll do it... Maybe I can make friends with them. If it works with an empousa, then also with a few emos."

"You are friends with an empousa?"

"It's not so much friendship as it is just more no killing each other..."

Hades clapped his hands together.

"Great." He put his hands on Percy's shoulders and muttered something in ancient Greek.

"Now you are temporarily protected from the time spell in the Lotus Casino and the effect of the lotus flowers."

He rummaged around in his toga and finally pulled out a black gauntlet made of stygian iron.

"Put it on. As a child of Nyx, you can manipulate the shadows that are already there, but when you wear this gauntlet, you can create your own shadows to use as weapons."

"Wow that's really helpful. Thank you Lord Hades. Now if you could send me to Las Vegas, that would be very helpful as well."

Hades snapped and Percy was pulled into a shadow.


He emerged in a sparsely lit back alley that reeked of urine. Exhaust fumes from cars mingled with the smell and Percy would have loved to add to the puke stains beside him on the path. He pulled himself together and headed toward the brighter area on the main street.

Just across the street, red and gold lights flashed in front of a building labeled 'Lotus Hotel and Casino' with several luxury sports cars parking at the front entrance. People were streaming in, but no one was going out.

Percy strode through the open glass doors and was immediately mobbed by some people in uniforms.

"Hello sir, here is your room card, everything has already been paid for you and is ready for you. Your suite is on level 3 and if you have any questions or need anything, don't hesitate to approach us." said a waitress wearing a red uniform whose neckline did not leave much to the imagination.

She pressed a golden plastic card into Percy's hand and disappeared after giving him one last dazzling smile. Percy just shook his head and stuffed the card into his pants pocket.

"So how do I find two children of the underworld in this mass of people?"

After two hours of searching, Percy finally found the two Di Angelos. They were sitting at a table away from a couple of slot machines in the children's area, playing cards.

Bianca the Angelo looked to be Percy's age and was wearing a light gray blouse and brown pants. Her black hair was partially covered by a gray cap. Her skin was somewhat pale and had an olive tone.

Her younger brother Nico, was a head shorter and wore an old flight jacket and black pants. He was much paler than Bianca. His dark eyes flashed with excitement as he looked at his cards.

"Haha my Zeus gives me an extra boost of 450 Attack and with that my Manticore beats your Cerberus. I win. Suck it sis!"

"Language Nico!" scolded Bianca.

"Time to go back to our room. You have to sleep now."

"Oh come on Bianca! One more game, I'm not tired yet." he said, fidgeting in his chair.

"But I am tired Nico. Really tired. No discussion. You're going to take a shower and then go to bed."

"Poor Bianca. She had to take over the role of Nico's mother after her mother was killed by Zeus. No one should have to raise a little boy at that age. Zeus. Of course, once again, he just has to cause problems. I'll tell Mom to spank him sometime later."

Percy approached the siblings and sat down in one of the chairs next to them.

"Can I help you?" Bianca asked.

"Are you Bianca and Nico di Angelo?" asked Percy in a lowered voice.

"Yes. How do you know our names? Who are you?"

"I'm Percy Jackson and I'm here because your father sent me."

"Our father is dead," Nico blurted out.

"Nico! Shut up!" hissed Bianca. "Why should we believe you? We don't know you at all!"

"But I know you. You are Nico and Bianca di Angelo. Your mother died in a lightning strike and you have ADHD and dyslexia."

"What the... Are you a stalker? Get away from us!"

"I am here because your father is alive and wants to get you out of here."

Nico's eyes widened.

"Could we maybe talk more in your room?" Percy asked.

"Sure!" said Nico, tugging Percy by the hand behind him.

"No, Nico stay here. Ugh, stay right here! COME BACK!"

Bianca cursed something in Italian and ran after the two.

Bianca slammed the door and looked sharply at Percy with her arms crossed.

"Whoa. That look could scare Tartarus! And her eyes..."

Nico dropped down on the bed next to Percy.

"So," Percy began. "What do you know about greek mythology?"

"You mean the gods like Athena and Zeus and Poseidon?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, those are the ones. And you also know that these gods had children with people called demigods?"

Nico nodded again.

"Get to the point." Bianca said impatiently. Something about this boy she found strange. Dangerous but also familiar and reassuring. Protective.

"Short and crisp. All right! Greek Mythology is real and you're demigods! Monsters are real too and like to eat us demigods. That's why we're going to a camp where it's safe, to learn how to defend ourselves."

"You are crazy. Get out of our room!" Bianca stated.

"Bianca, wait! " said Nico "Remember the big guy with one eye who was chasing us? Or those big dogs we saw?"

Bianca looked a little uncertain now.

"Prove it!" she said to Percy.

Wow, she's bossy. Weird. Hades told me they would be shy.

Percy nodded. "As the son of Nyx, I can manipulate the shadows and hide weapons within them."

He reached out and darkness gathered until he was holding one of the daggers he had received for his birthday.

Eyes of Di Angelos widened to the size of plates. Bianca stepped back in shock and eyed the dagger in Percy's hand.

"Wow!" said Nico.

"If we're demigods, who are our parents? Is Bianca even my sister?"

"Yes Nico, Bianca is your sister and your godly parent is Hades, the God of the Dead, Lord of the Underworld. Your mother was a mortal that's what we call normal people. As children of such a powerful god, Zeus wanted to kill you. But now I'm here and Zeus is too afraid of my mom to hurt you."

"Who is your mom?" asked Bianca.

"Like I said earlier: Nyx, Primordial Goddess of the Night."

"If dad is a god, why did he leave us alone? Does he not want us?" asked Nico.

"No, no! He even sent me here especially to bring you to the camp. It's just that even gods have to follow rules. One of them is that they are not allowed to interact with their children."

"Okay, that's a stupid rule. What else can you do?" Bianca asked curiously. All hostility was gone from her voice.

"I can summon weapons and small objects from the shadows and store them in there, manipulate shadows and solidify them, merge with shadows to hide in a wall and the coolest: I can shadow travel. That means I jump into a shadow and come out in another place in the world."

"That's so cool." Nico said in awe

"Can we do anything special? " Bianca asked.

"Yes you two can also shadow travel and can summon the dead to fight for you. If you are lucky you can summon money, gems or precious metals from the earth. "

"Okay. Take us to this camp." said Bianca. "I want to learn how to do this."

Percy nodded but raised his hand as the two jumped up.

He gave Nico the dagger he was already holding and produced the second one for Bianca.

"In case we need to defend ourselves. I can't teleport us out of this room because the casino is enchanted. If we try to leave it, they will probably want to stop us."

"They?" asked Bianca anxiously.

"Guards, monsters, mortal bodyguards, anything could happen."

They came downstairs to the lobby and were walking and heading for the door when a broad man stood in their way.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh you know sir," Percy said, slowly approaching, "we were just leaving because your service really sucks."

He kicked the guard between the legs and the group ran off, Nico and Bianca with their daggers in one hand, Percy with his glove on his left hand.

"Get them!" the guard on the ground shouted into his microphone at his ear.

Two more guards appeared at the door and drew batons, and behind them the man was back on his feet.

"Release the dogs!" he yelled, and as if on cue, the waitress who had greeted Percy and a doorman with hellhounds on leashes came to his side.

"Okay let's see what this baby can do." Percy said, slapping the floor with his gauntlet.

Black smoke exploded like a smoke grenade around Percy and the siblings and Percy reached out. A wave of darkness hit the guards at the entrance, hurling them through the glass doors.

These shattered and fell apart with a loud bang. People cried out and ran around in panic.

"Go!" yelled Percy and they ran for the door to the same side alley Percy had appeared in.

Bianca suddenly screamed loudly as one of the hellhounds suddenly jumped out of a shadow in front of them. Bianca's hand trembled and she was rigid with fear.

The hellhound tensed its powerful legs, opened its mouth and started to jump. Percy reacted with lightning speed and gave the hellhound a hook on the chin.

He summoned his katana and cut off the hellhound's head just as it was getting back to its feet. It exploded into a cloud of gold dust.

Percy turned to Bianca.

"Hey are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

She looked him in the eye, then over his shoulder, and her eyes widened.

Nico let out a warning cry and Percy wheeled around to see another hellhound leaping.

Percy ducked, but before he could do anything Bianca thrust her arm forward and drove the blade of stygian iron between the hairy beast's red eyes.

"Good job, newbie!" Percy said with a grin. Bianca smiled back shakily.

"Come on!" Percy said, grabbing the shoulders of the children of Hades.

The group sank into the shadows and disappeared.