Third Person POV:

"Who is he?" Zeus asked Apollo, who was tending to the severely burned patient.

Apollo shook his head. "He goes by the moniker, Riptide. That's all I know about him." The sun god was pale, the amount of energy required to heal the damage inside the man's body exceedingly massive. Various instruments had been hooked up to the man's body, said man being locked inside of a timeless coma.

"He's lucky he had that suit on," Hephaestus muttered. "It protected him from those Greek fire explosions. What I don't understand is what type of metal that is. I've never seen it before."

"Really?" Demeter asked.

"Yah," Hephaestus grunted. "That level of automation in the suit is something far more advanced than anything I can make right now, and that's saying something."

"Where did you find him, Apollo?" Zeus asked.

"Just on the outskirts of the junkyard near New Mexico," Apollo said. "He was badly burned, surrounded by the shell of that Talos prototype guarding it."

"He beat that thing?" Hephaestus asked. "This man is a demigod is he not? How could he have gathered enough power to beat..."

"Whoever he is, he's quite impressive." Demeter put in. "I dunno about you, but that amount of power used in a fight by himself was amazing."

"Speaking of which," Zeus said, turning to Poseiden. "Care to explain how this guy has hydrokinetic powers?"

Poseiden shrugged. "I swear that I have zero clue on who this man is. I don't know where he came from, nor do I know why he goes by the name Riptide."

"Voice Recognized," An automated voice suddenly announced. "Lord Poseiden, god of the seas and horses, the earthshaker. Status: Father."

Apollo stumbled back in surprise. "Well, that's never happened before."

Zeus turned on his younger brother. "I thought you said you didn't know this guy!"

Poseiden was in equal shock. "I was telling the truth. I really, swear on the Styx, have never seen this guy in my life."

Thunder boomed, and the sea god wasn't vaporized, calming the thunder god down. "Then why in the name of Chaos is this man's suit saying that you're his father?"

"Perhaps he came from somewhere else," Hestia voiced. "He wears a suit of armor made of metals even our own blacksmith can't recognize. He refused each and every one of Aphrodite's advances without fail. He controls water with seemingly as much ease as Lord Poseiden himself. Wouldn't it make sense that he came from an alternate reality of some sort?"

"Voice Recognized," the automated voice said. "Lady Hestia, goddess of the hearth and flame. Status: Patron."

"Hmmm, it seems that the suit recognizes only those who are close to the person itself." Apollo noticed. "Does that mean only you two can ask questions?"

Zeus nodded to Poseiden, who cleared his throat. "Who are you?"

The automated voice took three seconds before answering. "Hunter Name: Perseus Achilles Jackson. Father: Lord Poseiden. Mother: Sally Jackson. Gender: Male. Other information is unavailable for public sharing."

"Wooo," Hephaestus whistled. "That is a high ass level of security. It even stops itself to prevent information leaks. Just who made this suit anyways?"

"Perseus Achilles Jackson?" Poseiden asked. "Is he like... the alternate reality male version of Atalanta?"

"Has the same mother and father," Hermes checked off on his hands. "Can't be just a coincidence."

"That punk is really strong," Ares grunted all of a sudden. "When I snapped, his weapons didn't drop from his hands, yet everyone else's did."

"I agree with Ares," Dionysus added. "He was completely unfazed by any of my threats, and proceeded to talk back to me even when I flared my aura. He even knew that I was trying to mentally provoke him with a passive attack, something normal demigods shouldn't be able to feel."

"While that is against the rules," Zeus said. "That news is disturbing. A stranger who can bluntly fight against any god's power is..."

"Dangerous," Apollo said. "I know. Somehow, he was able to get along with Artemis just fine too, without getting beat up. I dunno about you all, but usually with guys, my sis is pretty fearsome with. But this guy on the other hand, he just laughed it off and even went as far as actively taunting her to beat him up."

"Stupid thing to do," Hermes said, understanding from experience. "But if you have the power and strength to back it up, not really. Inside the body of a demigod though?"

"We'll talk when he wakes," Zeus decided. "We're standing around here with no way of gaining further knowledge of what's going on. We'll only be able to understand after the source is healed. Keep up the work Apollo."

"Sure." The sun god replied, looking down at the healing body. "I got this."

§§§§§

Percy Jackson POV:

White blinding pain. My limbs felt alien to me as I struggled to move them. My mind, a blank black hole that for once was full of peace, instead of the usual war between my past memories and present thoughts.

My eyes snapped open, registering the golden ceiling high above me. I couldn't turn my head around very much, but noticed that I was lying down on my back on some sort of bed, surrounded by various medical instruments. If I had to guess, I would say that I was in an infirmary of some sort.

"Ugh..." I groaned. My body felt like someone had chucked me into a freezer, then forcibly microwaved me, then repeated that process ten times in a row. "Good lord, that security system fucked me up good..."

"Hey, Hey!" Apollo's voice rang loudly through my busted eardrums. "You awake?"

I couldn't help but scoff. "Ya think?"

"Oh, I'm glad." Apollo sounded tired. "You were unconscious for a couple hours now, but you seem to be doing fine. That suit of yours really helped your regeneration from the fight."

I chuckled half-heartedly. "Yah, it's state of the art tech. It's helped pull me through a lot of tough situations." I coughed. "Hey, Haiku bro, mind pouring a gallon of water on me?"

"So you can heal yourself?" Apollo asked.

"How did you–?"

"We sort off found out how to ask your suit about who you were," Apollo admitted sheepishly. "Learned that you are from and alternate reality and that your dad is Poseiden."

I sighed. "Well, you were all gonna find out at some point. I was planning to hide it a little longer, but guess not. Anyways, about that water?"

"Ah yes," the sun god rushed off, leaving me to my thoughts.

"Run Recalibrations," I murmured. "Vitals, Tracking, Everything."

"Running Recalibration, now." The automated voice replied.

"Thanks." I sighed. "After Apollo gives me that freaking water, I'll be much better."

"How are the others doing," I wondered. "Since I'm alive, Zoe should probably be okay... Why am I only thinking about her?"

Apollo broke me out of my thoughts by finally dumping a gallon of ice cold water on my body, with which my suit and I immediately absorbed. I blinked and groaned as the water molecules wormed their way inside of me, fixing and replacing the damaged tissue, healing the burns on my skin, and smoothing over the cracks and fractures of my bones.

"Ahhhh," I relaxed, before gathering enough energy to sit up.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Apollo waved his hands, "You're still badly banged up."

I winced and pushed his hands aside. "Look man, you look like you need the bed more than I do right now. How much power did you drain trying to save my ass?"

"A lot," Apollo admitted.

I patted the bandages on my chest. "I have enough strength to walk. Just bring me to a swimming pool or something, and I'll be fine."

"You sure?" The god asked.

I nodded. "Thanks for everything bro. Plus, Artemis is still out there. I can't just sit back while she's been captured."

The god sighed. "Fine then." He helped me hobble off the bed, me wincing as my feet hit the floor.

"Oof," I huffed. "I took a lot more damage than I thought. Doesn't matter, I figure that I need to go clear some misunderstandings before Zeus comes after my ass."

The sun god waved at me as I left the infirmary, activating the second layer of my cyber suit while storing the rest of the main metal covering into the interior expanded storage of my watch. Inside the space, many nanorobots worked on fixing the suit's various scratches and bruises.

I walked the familiar path up to the main hall of Olympus, the throne room where I could feel all the gods' auras resonating, save for Artemis, Athena, and Apollo's for obvious reasons. Along the way, I dunked myself in one of the majestic fountains, revitalizing myself properly with the water provided, ignoring the confused looks of the passerby.

"...and perhaps after he wakes, we can discuss further," Zeus was saying as I entered the throne room.

I cleared my throat, attracting the attention of the entire room. "Sup."

"Speak of the man and he wakes," Hermes chuckled. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got frozen and microwaved 60 times," I said, nearing a small pool of water near one of the braziers. "Though, I'm feeling much better now that I have water nearby."

"Perseus Jackson," Zeus boomed, his hands already clasped in front of him. "Why don't you... tell us a bit about yourself?"

I sighed. "Leave it to Big Daddy to get straight to the point."

"Big...Daddy?" Hermes couldn't hold it and burst out laughing. Poseiden cracked a grin, as did Demeter and Hestia.

Zeus looked more confused than anything else. "Am I... missing something?"

I waved my hand. "Nothing, just a nickname. I mean, if you prefer King Thunderbritches more, I can call you that too."

"Pffft," Hermes was done, absolutely done.

Zeus arm went for his thunderbolt before Poseiden reached over and held him still. "Peace brother. I believe he's just poking fun at you."

Zeus groaned. "Fine. But can the brat start talking for real?"

"I'm sure that most of you have figured out that I'm from an alternate reality," I began nonchalantly, playing with Blaze in my hand. "My suit will activate upon hearing my closest friends and family members voices, and so I'm sure that's how you know my name, my parents, and my gender."

"So you are from..." Ares muttered. "What a load of crap."

I shrugged. "Believe whatever you want. I already swore on the Styx so many times that I've gotten tired of saying it. I'm from a different reality where Atalanta was born a boy instead of a girl."

Poseiden's eyes widened. "I knew it wasn't a coincidence! To be called by the name of Riptide, as well..."

I nodded. "I had to hide my identity at first because I didn't know how people would react. So I went with the name of my sword."

"Doesn't this mess with the prophecy?" Zeus asked.

I shook my head. "I'm 23. I've finished that prophecy way back already. Even went through the 2nd giant war."

"2nd?"

"Oh yah, after the titan war, the giants began to wake," I said. "Lady Hera took a massive gamble to ensure their downfall, which turned out to work in the end, but not without a couple of speedbumps along the way."

Everyone glanced at each other, not quite sure what to say.

"What is your suit made out of?" Hephaestus asked curiously. "I've spent every minute while you were unconscious trying to figure out what metal it is, but I can't figure it out!"

I laughed. "Why, Lord Hephaestus? You created this metal. How could you not know what it is?"

I've never seen the blacksmith so dumbfounded in my life. It's like if I had told him he looked more beautiful than Aphrodite herself.

"I'm not kidding," I clarified. "You and one of your sons in the future, a good friend of mine by the way, created this new metal we call Tiber Titanium metal, or Tiber metal for short. I dunno how it was made, but it required a ton of Greek fire smelting, earth metals, celestial bronze, silver, and imperial gold. I wouldn't try it right now, cause you need two people to handle its creation, and both of them have to have fire powers and be fireproof."

"What does it do?" Ares asked, pushing up his shades. "I can't control the weapon at all." His hand was out and motioning towards my Tiber knife, which refused to budge so much as an inch.

I chuckled. "Well, before I tell you that, I have to make sure you keep its properties a secret. Can't have anybody know about something so powerful."

"You want us to swear on the Styx?" Zeus looked outraged.

I grinned knowingly. "You're the freaking gods here, why would you swear on something so trivial? I know exactly what you are thinking Lord Zeus. Nah, I got a much better way to make sure you don't talk."

I grabbed the same orb device I had used in Chiron's office and tossed it into the center of the room.

"Activate, Mode Muffliato."

"Recognized, Hunter Perseus Achilles Jackson. #4598." The automated voice spoke. "Activating Muffliato."

"Olympus Throne Room," I stated afterwards, making the device beep.

"Enclosing Olympus Throne Room." The device said, before making a massive translucent blue semicircle erupt.

"What is that thing?" Poseiden asked, gripping his trident.

"Relax, dad." I said instinctively. "Oh wait, sorry Lord Poseiden."

The sea god shook his head. "It's alright son."

"Anyways," I said. "That device is something that will keep your mouths shut about whatever I say in here. You will be unable to talk about whatever I say outside of this bubble, as in you will forget entirely what you were going to say. You cannot even draw or reanimate it. This is much more effective than the River Styx, as this can even block mind magic attempting to find information."

"Hmmmm."

I nodded. "Also, this way y'all don't have to swear your lives on something that isn't that much important. Just, in this way, Titans and stuff can't get access to what I'm about to reveal. And if there are spies in here, they can't do anything but listen."

"What if someone enters?" Hephaestus asked.

"There's magic on the surface of the bubble that deters others from coming in for the time being." I said. "For privacy and secrecy reasons, obviously."

"Huh," Hermes nodded. "Wonder if I can get one of those."

I snickered. "For a one night stand maybe?"

Hermes blushed. "Shut up."

I turned serious once more. "Back to the main topic. Tiber metal is created with a combination of the hottest and brightest flames in the world, magic, and blood. Each set of weapons is genetically connected to the user's lifeblood, meaning that if I die, all my gear and weapons would vaporize into nothingness. You can't store the ashes or anything in a jar, you can preserve it. It will disappear as soon as I die. That being said, all my gear and weapons belong strictly to me. Like your godly weapons, I can summon mine with a flick of the wrist. I can throw mine off of Olympus and have it return to me in two seconds."

"Seriously loyal weapons," Hephaestus mumbled. "How did I come up with something like that?"

"The one thing that makes Tiber metal to most dangerous is the fact that it works on anything with a soul." I said. "It's effective against mortals, immortals, monsters, and titans, as I recently found. The metal works by draining the soul's power each time it touches the opponent's skin or body. It can easily cut through diamond and titanium no problem, as well as celestial bronze and imperial gold. It is by far, probably the most powerful metal in existence."

Zeus stared at me carefully. "You're saying you're the only individual with access to this stuff."

I nodded warily. "You can try taking it from me, but Tiber weapons don't do well with stealing and locking up. They will always return to me, and you can't kill me either, because I'm a technical fragment of another reality. Killing me wouldn't just be playing fate, it would be playing the literal universe."

Zeus looked startled. "Why did you–"

"Suspect that you would try to lock me up?" I raised my eyebrows. "Sounds like a very Zeus thing to do, doesn't it?"

The thunder god looked down. "I'm... sorry if my alternate self represented me in such a way."

"Wow, maybe you are different," I said. "My Zeus would've thrown me into Tartarus in a heartbeat. Which would suck, cause Tartarus wasn't really a picnic."

Zeus nodded. "I would've perhaps if I were worried that you would spread this metal to others. But you seem just as tight with who gets to hear about its existence, and who doesn't, so I'd say, that that extreme is not needed."

"Thank you, Lord Zeus." I sighed in relief.

"That being said, could you show us how it works?" Zeus asked.

"Uhhh... sure." I said. "Can I have a volunteer?"

"Here," Zeus said, sticking out his arm.

I nodded, unsheathing Blaze. "Tell me when you start feeling weaker than normal." I placed the metal part of the blade on Zeus' arm, and literally a second later, Zeus' face drained of color like he had overexerted himself.

I pulled the blade off him and handed the god a cube of ambrosia, which he ate.

"How did it feel brother?" Poseiden asked.

"Felt like I just got my ass whooped," Zeus said. "Like my energy was being sapped from the inside even though I was just touching it."

I nodded. "That's why this metal is so dangerous. We use it in our traps and stuff, cause if you throw a net made of Tiber metal on top of a monster, they'll be completely immobilized in 5 seconds. Unless they're wearing a full suit of armor of course."

"Last question," Hestia began. "How come I was recognized as your patron?"

I blinked. "Oh yah, I'd forgotten about that. In all the chaos, I forgot you blessed me with some awesome powers." I focused and summoned a ball of green flame in my hands, making everyone widen their eyes.

"You can control fire too?"

"During one of our missions," I said. "We encountered a bit... of a traumatic experience. I had several intensive care moments that left me screaming my throat raw, and Hestia ended up being one of the goddesses that treated me back to normal. Turns out, she wanted to become my patron for some strange reason, but I accepted, because she was one of the few that I greatly respected. That gave me the ability to summon home-cooked meals and control and make fire, but I had forgotten I could do that until now."

"That must be why you were already healing when I found you," Hephaestus commented. "I thought you were dead when that explosion went off."

I laughed dryly. "Well, it felt like I was dying."

I reached for the orb. "So anything else y'all want to discuss, or are we done?"

Zeus waved his hand. "We're done for now. I suppose we'll talk more on the solstice."

I collected the orb and looked up. "Well, this chat was certainly more pleasant than I thought. I'll be going then."

"Wait, where to?" Zeus asked.

"Back to my quest mates," I said. "The prophecy only states that one will be lost in the desert, not that they'll die. I'm lost to them temporarily, but I have a promise to fulfill with one of them. I can't just stay behind after I've healed."

"Such loyalty," Hestia smiled warmly. "Zeus, are you going to keep him waiting still?"

Zeus shook his head. "Do you need a ride or anything? Anyway we can help?"

I stared at the god in shock. "I actually like you better than my reality Zeus. Never thought I could be polite to the King of the Gods."

The god chuckled. "I suppose that's good."

"I'll take my leave then," I waved to the gods. "See yah."

§§§§§

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Atalanta jumped out from the back, and scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.

"There's a path up ahead," Annabeth pointed out. "We could get to the river."

Atalanta looked up to see what she was talking about. "Well, while we could try out luck on that ledge, I don't think we're mentally up for that task."

Zoe joined in, but remained silent as she supported a quiet Bianca, who had only just recently been brought up on what happened.

"Let's just go further upstream then," Thalia suggested.

The girls followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but Atalanta left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. Her voice sounded pained, as if speaking had taken all her effort. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," Atalanta said.

Moments later, with the help of a couple naiads, they were sailing upstream no problem.

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled, instantly getting squirted in the face by a stream of water.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow, only to be stopped by Atalanta, who was in the same canoe as her and Bianca.

"Whoa," Atalanta said. "They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgive me."

"Do what now?"

Zoe slung her bow back over her shoulder, which magically disappeared once it went back into position. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

The quest mates sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of them.

"What happened to Percy wasn't your fault," Atalanta suddenly said. "He even told us that he would sacrifice his life to save all of ours before the fight even started."

Zoe slumped. "I know. I just wish... there was another way."

Bianca stared at the rushing water. "I feel that this was my fault in some way."

"How so?"

"If I hadn't picked up this statue for Nico," Bianca pulled the figurine out of her coat pocket, "Percy would still be alive."

"He might be still alive." Zoe whispered, but Atalanta managed to catch her words despite her quietness.

"How?" The girl whirled at the huntress. "That explosion rocked the ground. It was fueled by Greek fire. How could he have survived?"

"Because this." Zoe pulled out the Tiber blade, staring at the shining silver metal. "Perseus said that if he died, the other knife of the pair would appear in front of me. But that blade hasn't appeared."

Bianca's eyes widened. "He could still be alive then..."

Atalanta glanced down river. "I wonder where he is then."

Gurgle, gurgle, a naiad spoke in Atalanta's mind. The canoes were slowing down.

The canoe occupants looked ahead and saw why. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia recognized. "It's huge."

The five girls stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.

"Seven hundred feet all," Annabeth began, her mouth open and spewing facts as her brain processed fully what she was seeing. "Built in the 1930s. Five million cubic acres of water, the largest construction project in the United States."

Atalanta facepalmed. "Leave it to the architecture nut to introduce us to the Hoover Dam."

Annabeth blushed. "I-I like architecture."

"No duh," Thalia grumbled, though smiling. "It's kinda obvious, don't yah think?"

"I wish Percy were here," Atalanta sighed. "Then again, he's probably seen it already."

"Perks of time travel huh?" Zoe looked up. "The road is atop the dam. Looks like we're going to be sightseeing a bit."

The girls had to walk for almost an hour before finding the right path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. The group straggled back toward the dam, buffeted by cold winds. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, where water churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia kept to the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Bianca and Zoe walked side by side, while Atalanta and Annabeth stared at the beauty around them all.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" Atalanta asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

"Sort of butt-ugly don't you think," Atalanta said, frowning.

Tourists were clustered all around the bottom, doing something with the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

Thalia shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

Zoe turned her head back and forth. "If there is a snack bar, let's use it to reenergize ourselves. The skeletons are after us anyways, so we better hurry. Thalia, where is this dam snack bar?"

Annabeth cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

Bianca giggled. Annabeth couldn't help but giggle as well, before she pulled the straightest face she could muster. "Nothing. I could sure use some dam french fries."

Atalanta groaned. "An I need to use the dam restrooms."

Thalia joined the subsequent laughter that followed, until four of the five girls were holding their stomachs, laughing their butts off. Zoe's face got no less confused.

"I do not understand. Even with this English blessing Aphrodite gave me, I still don't understand."

Thalia coughed. "I-I want to use the dam water fountain."

"And...and" Bianca tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

Annabeth and Atalanta snorted, throwing the group into another fit of laughter. Zoe stood still, crossing her arms as she attempted to figure out what in the world was going on. People passing the group stared at the quest mates strangely, making Zoe more and more uncomfortable.

Clack clack clack.

The smiles melted off Thalia's face first as she stood up, her spear activated. "Did you guys hear that?"

Atalanta stopped and looked up. "It sounded like skeletons."

Zoe looked around and tensed. "East."

The group spun and saw what Zoe was seeing, a group of 3 approaching Spartoi that looked none too pleased about how far they had to go. They passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, "Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull.

"Shit!" The kid yelped, before turning away with the rest of his friends.

"What do we do?" Bianca asked, reaching for her bow, before realizing that it wouldn't work.

Zoe thumbed the Tiber knife, which was vibrating in her hand softly. "We need to get out of here. There are too many mortals nearby for us to fight."

The group turned to run towards the visitor center, only to halt when a black van rolled right into their ahead path, parking on the curb before releasing another group of undead hunters, a group of six atop of the three that were approaching already.

Thalia grimaced and snapped, putting as much force as she could behind in increasing the intensity of the Mist. "We need to fight out of here. Otherwise, we're dead."

The three skeleton warriors before slung their AKs over their shoulders before aiming at the girls. Mortals saw the action and scurried away, not wanting to get involved.

"Brace yourselves," Zoe warned, her bow drawn back, her eyes glinting. "We won't go down easily."

The sound of the gun clicking and loading was easily heard, and right when the skeleton was about to fire, it burst into a pile of dust.

Zoe almost dropped her bow. "What...?"

Annabeth stared at the remains of the Spartoi, the two other skeletal companions swivelling their skulls back 180 degrees to see what hit their comrade. Whatever they saw was the last thing they ever saw, as they exploded into dust as well.

"Perseus...?"

§§§§§

Percy POV:

The moment I got out of Olympus, I activated my armor and flew and lightspeed back towards the group's location. If my memory served me right, they should be at the Hoover Dam by now. If not, they would be on their way to California. I grimaced. Even before I met the Romans, California was having a sucktastic time, perhaps in some ways worse than us Greeks in New York. Now you may ask why, but to me, that whole disgrace with the fifth legion losing the eagle was more depressing than my first rodeo returning Zeus' thunder toothpick. With Octavian at the helm as well, I thought, holy crap, I feel terrible for Reyna. I had forgotten completely that that blonde scarecrow kid was alive again, no longer melted onto the back of onager ammunition.

It made me realize just how many enemies and friends were still alive. Like, in the grand scheme of things, everything was both good and bad. Good in the sense that many of my allies and friends hadn't been fed to Death and Trauma yet. Like Annabeth hadn't needed to spend a century with me in Tartarus. Like Beckendorf hadn't been killed in a suicide mission aboard the... I can't even think it. Luke's ship, okay, before he went to college in the fall. And so much more of my fellow half-bloods who fell to the swords and flames of the titan war. Bad that Gaea was able to wake again. That each giant was still alive and would stir soon. That Alcyoneus would be revived. That the labyrinth still crawled beneath the earth. That Kronos still had a host.

And that's what pained me the most. Should I kill Luke? I certainly have the power to. One Tiber metal blade to the heart, and Kronos would lose his vessel.

But did I have the right to perform such a drastic action on the play known as Fate? Killing Luke wouldn't only stop Kronos from resurrecting for a while longer, it would change the timeline of everything for the rest of this reality's lifetime. Then again, I had forcibly sacrificed myself for Bianca's sake and promised an unbreakable oath on Zoe's life, so I couldn't really say that I hadn't messed up the reality really badly already.

It took me about half an hour to fly across the US, a record time even for myself. I pushed my swirling thoughts to the dark recesses of my mind, not wanting to dwell any longer on those thoughts. My mind was occupied enough. I didn't need the additional stress.

When I got to the Hoover Dam, I stopped in midair, my cloaking unit activated. I gazed at the dam, staring at the massive wall of concrete as precoded Annabeth facts of the structure ran through my mind.

"Why am I even thinking about how tall the freaking thing is?" I asked myself in confusion. "Who cares how many pounds of concrete were used?"

I shook my head and flew up, scanning for my friends. Turns out they were just standing atop the dam, probably running through the dam joke given the way some of them were hunched over and shaking on my infrared scans. I grinned a bit myself, knowing that Zoe would probably still have no idea what was going on.

I originally planned to just walk up to Zoe and start flirting with her as a supposed stranger as a prank, but before I could change into my civilian outfit via retracting my suit, three Spartoi stepped out right in front of me, as if they had melted off the side of a mountain and just gotten the order to eject. I stilled myself and double checked that my suit was on, the Tiber metal hiding my demigod scent from the skeletal hunters. How could I have been so careless? I had forgotten completely that we sill have 16 Spartoi on our butts.

I strapped Blaze to my belt and loaded in two sets of shurikens. With this many mortals nearby, the Spartoi needed to be eliminated quickly without much needed effort to ensure not only my friends' safety, but the dam and tourists around them. I waited till I could get a clear shot, since my shurikens wouldn't just go through a mortal's body like celestial bronze would. The opportunity presented itself when the skeletons stupidly drew their AK-47s, aiming and loading their guns at my friends. The tourists didn't need to be demigods to know what was going on; a trio of men with guns pointed into the crowd, followed by the clicking sound of it being loaded? Simple actions that meant, "Get the hell outta here."

Just when Zoe drew her bow, I fired my first shuriken, the bladed missile slicing through the air with enough force to create its own contrail before slamming dead on into the Spartoi's back, making the skeleton lean forward a bit, before it exploded into gray fluff. I had retracted the shuriken by then, this time aiming both my wrists at the two others, which turned around, their hollow empty yellow eyes scanning for what in the world hit their friend. The last thing they saw were two spiked objects, spinning and twisting into their chests, making them burst into equally disgusting mounds of dust bunnies.

Zoe lowered her bow, the moment of shock from seeing the skeletons dissappate making her drop her guard. A bullet from behind her whizzed against her cheek, leaving a shallow slice behind that began bleeding immediately. I burst out of my hiding place and charged the direction where the bullets came from, only to find myself faced with at least six Spartoi, these ones not caring for a second before firing. The lead one was dead on firing into the crowd, not minding that he had already gunned down five innocents in attempt to get to Annabeth and Atalanta, who were grimacing as they attempted to protect the fleeing tourists. Thalia brandished her shield, though she was unable to lash out fully as there were still too many mortals scurrying around in confusion. Zoe and Bianca fired their arrows straight at the skeletons, which went through their bodies as if they had shot nothing.

I landed right in front of the skeletons and through up a dome of water, trapping the skeletons and their weapons inside. I turned visible and twisted around to see my questmates staring at me in shock.

"What are you standing there for?!" I yelled. "I'm glad you're glad to see me and all, but we got bigger problems than a tearful reunion!"

Thalia broke first, her face adopting her usual expression of I'm-gonna-beat-you-to-pulp-and-you-can't-do-anything-about-it.

"You heard what Percy said," Thalia said. "Until we think of a way to get out of here, we need to get these mortals out of the crossfire!"

"Hey Thals!" I managed as I maintained the dome, which the Spartoi were steadily beating against. "Pray to your dad!"

"He never answers!" Thalia shot back, her face angry.

"Just this once." I said. "Trust me on this."

Thalia actually growled but closed her eyes anyways, her lips moving in silent prayer.

I grinned and refocused my attention on the dome. My friends were in no shape nor were they well-equipped to deal with the skeletons properly. Plus, these guys kept shooting into the crowd. Several other water tendrils were working quick surgery on the five or six people who were accidentally shot. I stared at the sky, recalling the final words I said to Zeus.

"Hey, the next time Thalia prays to you, answer her alright?" I smiled knowingly.

"Uh... alright," Zeus nodded.

When I finished healing the mortals, I focused all my power on containing the skeletons, who had gotten rather creative on trying to bust out of the cage I had made them. They had pulled out two of their ribs to stab at where my hands were placed, and given their irritated clacks, I figured that the moment I brought the wall down, they would rush and overwhelm me, or at least try to. I could have trapped them inside a dome of fire, but again, too many mortals. A fire is more noticeable than a dome of water.

Just when I about couldn't take the thrumming force against my hands anymore, a shadow fell over me. Strike that, make it two massive shadows, shadows of bronze statues that supposedly never took off. I grinned and let go, the metal angels' wings coming forward to intercept the skeletons' bullets and ribs. Two seconds later, all six were thrown off the dam, accompanying gravity to the depths of the river below.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn't had a drink since he was built.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

I chuckled. "They were probably trying to sap the tasty goodness from your soles."

The girls' bewildered looks quickly adopted similar expressions of disgust.

"Percy," Atalanta facepalmed. "Why...just why?"

I probably would've stopped to talk more but the sound of more clacking freaked everyone out.

"Those damn skeletons man!" I growled. "They just don't stop coming!"

"Get us out of here," Thalia yelled.

Both of the angels looked down at her. "Zeus' kid?"

"YES!"

"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus' kid?" an angel asked.

I swear I saw blue volts flash in Thalia's eyes when he said that. The daughter of Zeus just rolled her eyes. "Please?"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

The next thing we knew, one of them grabbed Thalia, Annabeth and Atalanta, while the other took me, Zoe, and Bianca. We flew straight up, Thalia immediately going into panic mode and latching herself tightly onto the angel's body while the rest of us just stared at the passing scenery, taking in the view of the dam one last time before the angels activated their thrusters (okay not really) and began flying west, shrinking the skeleton warriors into tiny specks as we flew away from the mountains and the lake.

A/N:

I know I know, the title of this chapter isn't original, but I couldn't pass up the joke. It was too good.

A lot of big Pertemis fans reading this. I'm sure you're anticipating more Pertemis action, and well, you're right. It'll happen... maybe yes or maybe no. If you keep reading long enough, maybe you'll find out. ;) If Pertemis does happen, obviously it won't happen now cause, she's a bit caged as of now.

I'm sure some of you avid readers will also notice the absence of one future red-headed Oracle, which will show up at a later date, still undecided as of now, but she will pop into the story at some point.

I hope you guys are ready for the final battle coming up, as well as the twists and turns I'm about to throw your way.

Thank you for all the support you guys have shown for this story too, I'm serious. I'm excited to write because I know how excited you all are the moment a new chapter pops up in y'alls inboxes.

Stay safe everyone... Please.

Peace out, you legends.

- Zayden Shade