Disclaimer: This chapter gets a bit rough in some places. Just a warning for those a little squeamish about certain things.

Edit: For those of you that might get uncomfortable with suggestive scenes, this warning is for you. I got comments about not putting enough warning, so this is for you. Nothing violent, nothing explicitly detailed. Doesn't cross rated T threshold, but here. This is the warning.

Percy POV:

"Sorry what?" Atalanta asked. "Atlas is Zoe's..." Her head whirled between the two, in even more disbelief than before.

Even to this day, I could still see the similarities, despite their massive personality differences. Both has the same resting regal expressions, the same cold proud look in their eyes Zoe sometimes got whenever she got extremely mad, though obviously Atlas' gaze was tinged with brutality. He was made of all the things I originally disliked about Zoe, none of which to this day I like.

"Let Athena go," Zoe demanded. "And where's Artemis?"

"You're asking for too much," Atlas chuckled, walking over to the chained goddess, making Annabeth dart away. "Perhaps you are suggesting you take the sky from her? Be my guest. It'll be even funnier than killing you."

Zoe opened her mouth to retort, but Athena took it the wrong way. "No! Do not offer! I forbid you!"

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Athena and tried to touch her face, only for the goddess to somehow gather the urge to try to bite him, nearly taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see, daughter? Lady Athena likes her new job, I think she should keep it. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility. Except for Artemis of course. She'll have the honor of playing a different role."

I narrowed my eyes. Atlas hadn't said that last time, then again, Artemis hadn't been captured. What plans did he have for the goddess?

"What role?" Zoe asked, her voice almost desperate. Artemis was a mother figure and friend to her, there was no way in hell that she would make her dad leave her hanging like this.

Atlas sneered joyfully at Zoe's visible suffering. "Since you're going to die, I might as well tell you. Lord Kronos is going to need a wife to bear his children. With Rhea gone, who better than the millennia old virgin goddess herself?"

I swear at that moment, if no ancient rules existed, Zoe would've bisected and dissected her father with her bare hands in explosive rage. For the first time I've ever witnessed her do, her obsidian eyes flared angrily, her body rigid, her bow cocked. She lost all common sense and self control, firing a shot towards the Titan, only for me to reach and burn her arrow to ashes, preventing it from reaching him.

She fought me angrily, trying to get to her father. I held her back with little effort, as Zoe's struggles were messy and all over the place, her mind consumed by hate and rage. The rest of our quest mates stared at Atlas in horror and disgust, appalled that the Titan would even suggest such a thing.

I myself was more royally ticked off than Zeus himself when Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen back home, but I managed to control myself. Nothing good would come out of a fight fueled with nothing but rage. Atlas, despite being an asshole, was a legitimately good fighter. He was no opponent to laugh at. Unless, you were me of course. But he didn't know that.

Atlas bellowed in deep laughter. "In my opinion, it'll loosen that prude up a bit. At least she'll get to live by the new lord's side with pride instead of shame. And the Hunters? A couple of concubines should be fine gifts for the new king of the century."

I finally put Zoe down by clapping a Tiber shuriken onto her neck, just momentarily to calm her down, because I had no other way to do it. I then pushed her back into Thalia, who nodded in understanding.

"You know," I said calmly, despite my otherwise violent inner thoughts. "I was just going to play nice with you. But you just crossed the line. You've forced my hand."

Atlas' smile only got bigger and uglier. "Even now, you still think you can defeat me? Clearly, you've never fought someone strong before."

I laughed demonically, my grin almost unreal, the smile of a monstrous beast about to unleash hell on the earth itself. "Clearly, you've never gotten your ass whooped properly. Fight me, and we shall see."

"You fool. An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead." Atlas said.

"First, how do you know I'm not immortal? Second, Luke is a pathetic opponent for someone like me." I said. "Come on, I fit all your requirements for a battle. You said it's a family matter right? I'm like, your first cousin once removed or something. Let's do it. I mean, unless you're a coward though."

Atlas' eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he managed to turn his attention to Thalia.

"As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. I felt no mercy for him at the moment, not a single bit. How dare he allow the treatment of Artemis in such a degrading way.

"Thalia you can still join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!" He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared, a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus. I could easily imagine Bessie in the pool.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Not gonna lie, calling a serpent cow to gain power kinda makes you look weak," I commented flatly. "Why waste time searching for some creature when you're already more powerful than the gods?"

"You lie," Atlas snarled. "There is no way anyone is stronger than the gods as of this moment."

"I am," I said nonchalantly, ignoring the stares. "I can swear on the Styx right now that I can beat your sorry ass off this cliff if I wanted to."

Atlas growled but didn't retaliate.

"Smart," I continued picking at his patience, "But exactly what a coward would do."

His forehead vein popped so hard, I thought it was going to burst.

"Luke..." Thalia said, her voice full of pain. She was taking Luke's actions better than Annabeth was, who was blatantly tearing up. "What happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!" Luke spat.

"And that gives you the right to?" I asked Luke, juggling two fireballs in my hands. "You think that the Titans are gonna rule better? Huh? God, you're so stupid and full of yourself, you can't even see the bigger picture." I said this as nonchalantly as possible, because anger was what led many people to their demise.

"You wouldn't know anything," Luke shot at me. "You wouldn't know the pain of being a demigod."

Thalia shook her head. "What you're doing... is so disgusting, so immoral, I don't even want to look at you. You've become a monster."

"Like our fathers have!" Luke argued. "Your father has cheated on millions of women against his immortal wife's will. So has mine. They've gotten away with murder and torture because they're immortal, because they look down on humans like nothing but variables for their experiments. We have the chance to bring them down, so let's do it together, like we always have done. As a family... please, Thalia." Luke pleaded. "Fighting for a better world. That's what I'm doing."

"This is my last chance," Luke's voice became further strained. "He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."

I knew exactly what he meant this time. He would raise Kronos, molding the Titan's consciousness with his own body, and become the stepping stone Kronos needed to rise to power.

"Do not, Thalia," Zoe seemed to have regain control of herself. "We must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.

Nobody looked worried however, knowing exactly where the Ophiotaurus was. Zoe even had the gall to muster a half smirk, despite all the shattering things happening around us.

"Call it, Thalia," Luke said. The golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, I saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear, oppression, and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Orthys right here," Luke promised, the voice so strained and wrung that it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We're not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hellhounds, harpies, and other things I could name but rather not. Even further down, my infrared vision detected a massive camp filled with even more monsters. And one glowing gold outline, which could only mean one thing. Artemis was done there, and whatever they were doing to her, she was weakening, and fast. Her aura was so dim, I could barely pinpoint it in the waves of monsters that surrounded her.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon, we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a moment, Thalia seemed to hesitate. But I knew better. The way a steely gleam came over her eyes meant one thing, and one thing only. Luke was no longer a friend. He was an enemy of Olympus, and the safety of demigods around the world.

Thalia leveled her spear, making the metal crackle with angry blue electricity. She hefted her shield, her eyes glowing blue with anger, pain, and sadness. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."

Luke's face looked like he'd just been shot. "Thalia, please," He pleaded, one final attempt to stave off the imminent battle. "Please. Don't make me... don't make him, destroy you."

"I'd rather die," Thalia shot at Luke, tears flowing freely down her face. "Than submit to a coward like you."

The time was up. Thalia had called the verdict. There was no more room for negotiations.

I grinned, licking my lips as if to taste the oncoming bloodbath. "Bring it, you motherfuckers."

Together, we charged.

§§§§§

Thalia and Annabeth went straight for Luke. It was almost heartbreaking, to see the trio end up like this, split apart and battling for their lives while tripping over the love they created and held for each other. The power of Thalia's shield was so great that Luke's bodyguards fled, dropping the golden coffin and leaving Luke alone. Despite Luke's sickly appearance, he was quick to draw Backbiter, meeting Thalia's shield and Annabeth's knife slash, a ball of blue lightning erupting between them, frying the air with blue tendrils of power.

As for me, I activated my helmet, and stuck my hand over my right shoulder, murmuring an ancient Greek code. "Λεπίδα των Επτά Θαλασσών" Tiber plates on my back opened in a diagonal shape, revealing a black casing that exploded into small metal pieces and reformed in my hand, starting with a lacquered black handle outlined with Greek fire green, before forming into a golden guard decorated with carvings of a sea serpent. The nanopieces continued, until in my hands I held a flawless shining katana, a blade that reflected even the smallest rays of light, an obsidian black blade made of mind sensitive nanotech that only the highest ranking Solo Hunters owned. The nanotech worked to personally match the Hunter's interests, becoming the weapon they were best at using. After a hunting mission I took in Japan for half a year, the sword morphed into this katana, and has been that way ever since. The sharp end of the blade was tinged with a bright green, burning and leaving flaming contrails of that same green with each deft and fine movement. My blade was made of the sharpest and most priceless materials of all time, a masterful blend of obsidian, Tiber metal, adamantine, and Damascus steel, refined and forged in the waters of the River Phlegethon itself. Perfectly balanced, the weapon was essentially a part of my body, responding as quickly and precisely as I would my own arms and legs.

My suit set itself alight, glowing with embers of the familiar green that even water couldn't put out. I held my blade out in front of me, the movement hissing like a sea serpent through the air, leaving a beautiful trail of green behind.

Atlas didn't seem to be disturbed, his head twisting to look at me in interest as he battered away Zoe's and Bianca's arrows with ease. He toyed with Atalanta, who had just been whacked backwards onto the ground.

"Now," I chuckled. "Allow me to show you what a monster can do." I rushed forward and the speed of light and slashed Atlas once, reappearing behind him, my blade in the air, leaving a single lined of green behind, showing exactly the path of the slash.

"AGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Atlas coughed, fire exploding from his chest. He spat, turning around, the wound I gave him burning. The girls tried charging him again, but he swatted them aside, actually throwing Zoe into a the wall of the fortress, her body slamming into the side with a sickening crack. Atalanta was tossed at Athena's feet, while Bianca flew over the hill.

My eyes darkened as I charged at the Titan, my sword raised across my left side. As his spear raced towards me, I sliced in an X, effectively reducing his javelin into three useless pieces before proceeding to cut his shoulders deep enough for him to wish he were dead, but he wasn't actually dead.

Atlas growled, his armor doing nothing having nothing against my weapon. I could kill him if I wanted to, but his death was not my call, and plus, I wanted to see him suffer. Death would be too kind for Kronos' right hand man.

His wounds kept burning, as Greek fire couldn't be simply put out. Atlas seemed undeterred however and charged again, another javelin reforming in his hands. I dodged this time, making him stab past me, to which he howled in pain.

"He's toying with him," Athena realized, watching the battle in awe and fear. "Who is he?"

Atalanta coughed, struggling to get up. "Oh, Riptide? He's... he's special, I guess you could say."

The two watched as Atlas charged me again, to lose rights to his legs this time as I carved up his knees beyond temporary repair.

"He's brutal." Athena breathed out. "The right hand of Kronos is not an enemy to be trifled with. Yet this, friend of yours..." She coughed, struggling to keep balance. "He's beating him with ease."

"How do you know?"

"Look at his posture," Athena said. "He's completely relaxed, his smile more gleeful than serious. He's enjoying Atlas' pain."

In the three minutes that Atlas had managed to gather the strength to fight me, I had completely destroyed him. The remains of 10 javelins lay broken all around him, the Titan general broken and beaten on the ground, his face smashed into the earth. His knees, arms and shoulders were snapped and sliced through cleanly.

"Pathetic," I spat, sheathing the katana on my back. "That wasn't even 1% of my power."

I suddenly turned, feeling a flash of desperation, like a flare from a ship. "Zoe! Shit, where is she?!"

I bolted towards the wall where she fell, the hunter cradling her arm carefully. "Hey, Zoe, you alright?"

"The solstice..." Zoe pointed to the sky, where light began to appear. "It's coming."

"Zoe, what are you saying?" I asked, gently healing her arm. "Come on, tell me."

"Artemis," Zoe managed, her breath tinged with exhaustion and pain. Clearly Atlas' hand had done a lot more than I thought. "I felt something. Milady is in danger."

My eyes darkened. "I felt it too."

"Go save her." Zoe tried for a smile. "You've defeated my father. I'll-" she winced again. "We'll hold off here. Just hurry."

I nodded. "Don't die, alright princess?" A nod later and I was off that summit, vapor traveling as fast as I could towards the camp. Artemis didn't have long. Her aura was weaker than a wifi signal in the middle of a desert. It wasn't even flickering anymore.

§§§§§

Meanwhile, Luke had managed to disarm Annabeth and sent her skittering away. Thalia and him traded blows, steel and celestial bronze clashing together, sending arcs of blue lightning off in random directions. A silent difficult battle full of conflicting emotions, between two demigods with a far deeper connection than anyone else around them could understand. Luke, fighting for a world he believed would be better for all demigods, and Thalia, believing that she had lost her closest friend to the evils of said world. A duel where neither really tried to hurt each other, as if trying to persuade themselves that the other would break and understand.

"Thalia, please!" Luke smacked her spear, trying to disarm her.

"NO!" Thalia shook her head, twisting out of his attempted move. "NO, you're not the Luke I know!"

Luke snarled and suddenly bolted forward, jabbing his blade forward and catching Thalia off guard. She winced as he pulled back, yanking her spear out of her grip. She stumbled back, noticing just how close she was to the cliff.

"I'm sorry, Thalia." Luke's eyes were shadowed. "Things would've been different had you joined us." He stabbed down, Backbiter aimed at her heart.

"NO!" A blade from nowhere intercepted Luke's sword, stopping the tip from Thalia's chest a mere two inches away.

Luke looked up, only to find Annabeth's angry and teary face staring back. "I won't let you hurt someone else I love." Annabeth said. "I won't let you hurt Thalia, Luke."

Luke stepped back, his blonde hair matted against the sides of his face with sweat. His sword glinted wickedly, as if it were scenting the air for blood. "Don't make me do this, Annabeth. Not you too."

Annabeth sobbed, yet her face remained firm. "You broke our promise Luke. You said that you would always be with us, always be a part of my family. Of Thalia's family!" She was screaming now. "And you go behind our backs and do this. What type of family member does this!"

Luke's gaze hardened. "Don't you dare pull that card on me! You understand more than anyone else the hatred I have for the gods. You think just cause your mother gave you a blueprint or book every now and then, that she loves you?! YOU'RE DELUSIONAL ANNABETH! YOU'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED!" His tiredness seemed to evaporate. "Lord Kronos will turn back time and make the world a better place. But if you refuse to stand by his side, you will die!"

Annabeth's gray eyes stared into Luke's shattered blue ones. "I don't care anymore. Death is better than joining you, you lying coward!"

Luke flipped the sword in his hands. "So be it. THEN TAKE THE HANDS OF DEATH AND DIE!" His face went crazed, as if he couldn't believe he was about to do this.

"Don't touch my daughter!" Athena roared, stabbing her spear through Luke's chest, straight through his front, throwing him onto the ground.

The son of Hermes coughed wetly, then turned his head around weakly and grinned smugly. "Nice... shot... but you... miscalculated one thing..." He slid off the spear, rolling to the side to reveal Annabeth, who had been directly in front of him when her mother came up behind and stabbed through him. Where Annabeth's right lung used to be was replaced with a gaping hole that one could see the mountain through.

Luke's eyes lolled as Athena gasped in shock. "Hehe... I guess... I get the last laugh..." His body rolled, dropping off the cliff seemingly slowly, until his body smashed over the rocks below.

"ANNABETH!"

§§§§§

I exploded into the middle of the monster camp in a fiery green fireball, unleashing several gallons worth of Greek fire on every inch of the encampment. Anybody stupid enough to cross me was sliced to bits, be it half-blood or monster. I didn't care. Anyone who supported this degradation of Artemis deserved to die, no question. Eventually, I just erected a wall of Hades' black flame, a technique unlocked only after I trained with my uncle for half a year in doing so. Black flame is so powerful, monsters vaporize instantly upon coming within 3 ft of me. Demigods will get a mini Hades effect, meaning their worst fears and memories will play through their minds, incapacitating them unless they've overcome that fear.

No one was able to approach me as I approached the main tent, barely able to feel Artemis' life force even though I was right outside the tent. I ripped the front of the tent open, my green eyes completely silver and black now, the color of pure hellfire. What I saw inside almost made me nuke the camp right then and there.

What looked like two demigods and several dragon women crowded around a tied up Artemis, somehow in her 18 year old form. Her eyes were glassy, her arms and legs bound with celestial bronze chains. I wouldn't go into too much detail, but the goddess was essentially nude, and these fucking assholes were touching her all over the place, probing and rubbing like she was some sort of experiment. I also realized the amount of magic in the tent, meant to weaken and suppress her godly energy, and anyone else who entered. It made sense, because Titans were much stronger than gods, and wouldn't be as heavily effected.

The 10 other people in the room took one look at me and went "oh fuck." The last thing they saw was me erupting inside the tent, vaporizing every living being inside except for Artemis and myself. The goddess flinched as I approached her, her body usually clean and smooth of blemishes (not like that, you pervs!) bruised and red, as if someone had taken a crack at whipping her for fun. I really hoped they hadn't done what I think they might have done, but given Atlas' boasting, I'd say her virginity was still intact. A brief scan on her vitals scared the shit out of me, but told me that indeed, Kronos' subordinates hadn't gone as far as I feared.

That didn't mean the goddess was in good shape. She was far from it. Her skin was pale and bleached, her breathing ragged and weak. Her eyes usually so full of spirit and ferocity were shattered, as if someone had beat it out of her. Given the fact she was in her teenage form, which I've never seen her in, not even back in my original world, they must have really hurt her to force her to change. I searched for any clothes I could give her, but couldn't find any, not wanting to use the silver rags on the floor that looked suspiciously like barf bags. The goddess was in no shape to move on her own, let alone speak. She was so out of it, she could only react.

"Artemis," I whispered in her ear, only to be shocked when she mewled submissively. "Come on, Moonbeam, don't give up."

The nickname did nothing. She seemed completely docile, submissive, downtrodden, and weak.

I growled. First things first, I needed to get her out of here. I sliced the chains apart, taking out the gag on her mouth that I hadn't noticed before. I noticed briefly that all the chains and stuff they used on her were Ancient Greek concubine clothes, and decided to ignore that fact to make way for anger instead. Artemis was now in my arms, completely unresponsive. I knew she couldn't flash on clothes so did the next best thing: took off my hunting parka and pants from inside my suit and put them on her. Thankfully, she was small enough, and I was left in my undershirt and boxers, which didn't bother me at all.

None of her godly weapons were here, so I supposed they must have returned to her palace in Olympus. I held the goddess tightly in my arms, making sure to cover her up as much as possible. I activated Black Flame again, this time taking extra care to make sure I vaporized the tent along with everything else inside. The moment I appeared in the encampment, I let my anger release itself, filling up my body and making it explode out, shooting torrents of black and green flame everywhere, melting tents to the ground, vaporizing monsters instantly, and baking demigods who tried to run. My eyes remained silver black, and I surrounded my body in as much fire as possible, hiding Artemis' body. I was pulling water from the air to heal her, making the air drier and easier for my fire to spread. When I finally made sure I was out of their viewing range, I activated my jetpack and invisibility, flying back towards the summit. I left behind only the ghostly remnants of an encampment, not knowing I just slaughtered at least 60% of Kronos' army.

When I landed on the summit, Atlas was in a different position. He was back under his eternal punishment, swearing worse than Hazel's horse Arion could. Athena was crouched over a body drenched with blood, Thalia next to her in tears. And Atalanta was grasping Zoe's hand, the girl bent in an unnatural position. Bianca was unconscious, facedown a couple feet away, her quiver empty. Monster dust was everywhere, and Luke was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the golden sarcophagus.

"What... what the fuck happened here?"

A/N:

PART I done. PART II will come soon, I just really wanted to leave you guys some nice cliffhangers.

Reminder that this is an alternate reality, and so some characters will be different from their original versions.

Some of you might wonder why I made Percy's fire powers so strong and here's my reasoning:

- I've seen and read tons of fanfictions where Percy is blessed by Hestia and given fire powers. But he never ever improves on them. Like why? Why would he be given powers only to never use said powers. People always make him only be able to summon weapons and such out of fire, but wouldn't it make more sense for him to actually practice the limitations and advantages of fighting with fire instead of water?

- Back in his original timeline, Percy is a 23 year old Solo Monster Hunter, and so it would make perfect sense that he practiced becoming a pro at both fire and water, in case say, he ends up in a situation where one would give him a bigger advantage than the other. It just doesn't make any sense in my opinion that he uses Hestia's blessing solely to make food. She gave him fire, which is an elemental ability that can be developed into something super strong.

Oh yah, I forgot to mention: The Greek is the name of the sword, roughly translating into "Blade of the 7 Seas"

Was this too extreme, or did y'all like it? Comment below what you thought, if you like. I appreciate the support as always.

Peace out, you legends.

- Zayden Shade