AN: Seeing as how this fic has brought in some newcomers, I'm here to remind you that if you haven't read the prequel "Apollyon", you probably should go read that first before continuing with this. It might answer whatever questions you have.
Also, I'll be counting this as the second half of the January update so you'll still be getting two updates for February.
Somewhere
"Lord Janus."
The mentioned Roman god turned around at his name and saw the nine centurions of Virtus' Gauntlet all spread out in a semi-circle around him, a frown appeared on his face as he never recalled hearing them approach him even in their armor. Glares and frowns were common amongst eight of the centurions with only Marius sporting no emotion or expression.
"Boy, do you certainly like to hide. Or try at least." Aurelius said mockingly with a smirk.
Out of respect and to present a much calmer front, they all had their weapons sheathed, but certain hands were twitchy if the looks on Aurelius, Magnus, Darius, and Hadrian were anything to go by and were ready to be drawn at a moment's notice or when Marius gave the order.
"Is something the matter, Centurion Marius?" the right head asked politely, ignoring the remark.
Marius nodded his head, "Lord Virtus would like to see you." he informed.
Janus tilted his head to the side, "Whatever for?" the right head asked.
"A matter which will be revealed when Lord Virtus talks to you." Aurelius said in place of Marius but with a far more agitated tone.
"And if we refuse an audience with Lord Virtus?" the left head questioned almost daringly.
Their swords and spears were all drawn. "You won't be given that chance." Ignatius told the Roman god. Except for Marius, the others slowly advanced on Janus with careful steps at Marius' order.
"Lord Janus, Lord Virtus requests that you be brought to him by your own will or by force." Marius stated with steel in his tone. "But you should know that if we are not enough, then Lord Virtus will no doubt come for you, wondering why you failed to show." he informed as he tightened his grip on his gladius.
"So go ahead." Hadrian said from behind Janus.
"Give us a reason." Darius finished as he stood next to Hadrian.
Cassius gave a gesture to Tiberius and the two split off to approach Janus from his left and right while Marcus and Magnus took over their previous positions.
"So what will it be, Lord Janus?" Marius asked once again.
When Janus made no move, Marius did.
"Subdue him."
The Island
Rhea and Iapetus just stepped out of Thalia's room when Zoë and Jason flashed in. Rhea saw the look on Jason's face and beckoned him over to her, wrapping him in a hug as soon as he was within reaching distance.
Iapetus looked at his granddaughter and gave her a questioning look to which she shook her head. He pointed at the empty spot next to Zoë, expecting to see his nephew next to her like always.
"Hey, gran." Jason mumbled into the hug, not seeing the silent conversation happening between the Titan and the goddess.
Rhea rubbed his back and pulled back to get a good look at him, "Hello, dearest. How are you right now?"
He gave a despondent shrug and looked at Thalia's door. Iapetus came up and clapped him on the back. "Go and see your sister. Perhaps that will brighten your spirits." the Titan offered.
Rhea opened the door and ushered him inside, "Take as long as you want. We'll just be outside if anything happens." she told him in a quiet tone.
When the door closed, Rhea and Iapetus both turned to Zoë. "How long is he staying?" Iapetus questioned.
"Lupa gave him an alibi so he should be good. Obviously, he can't be gone forever but…" she trailed off, not feeling the need to finish her explanation.
Both of them nodded in understanding.
"Zoë, how is my son?" the Titaness asked with a glance back at the closed door.
"He says he has it handled, but I know he's afraid for her. He sent his Gauntlet to bring Janus to him on the outskirts of Camp Jupiter." she explained.
"Are you joining him after?" Rhea asked and she nodded. The Titaness' face softened as she looked at the person that was cherished deeply by her son. "And how are you faring with all this?" she asked gently.
Zoë cleared her throat and looked away, smoothing her ponytail down her left shoulder as she looked outside. "I didn't expect myself to become this worried. Obviously, I was concerned for her, but I didn't think it would be to this extent." she admitted. She wrung her hands nervously, "I don't know how myself or Perseus would truly react if we were to lose her." she admitted, not seeing the looks of understanding and pity from the Titaness.
Zoë took some time to roam around her home to clear her head, running a hand down her ponytail every so often to quell the emotions brewing within her.
She nearly bumped into Leto as she wasn't focused on where she was going, the Titaness just stepping out of the villa when the goddess approached. "Leto?" Zoë asked in confusion, remembering how the Titaness wasn't there when she arrived.
"Hello, Zoë. My apologies that I didn't know you were coming." Leto said sincerely. Zoë shook her head.
"No, it's my fault. I wasn't aware that you were here." she revealed, making Leto nod in understanding.
"That's perfectly fine. I just wanted to make sure everyone was handling themselves during this difficult time." Leto asked, looking hesitant and catching Zoë's attention.
"What is it?" sensing that the Titaness had something in mind.
"When you were still with the hunters, how was my daughter?" Leto asked slowly, knowing the relations between her daughter and Zoë were rougher than ever.
Zoë tried to keep the frown off of her face but couldn't, "Truth be told, I didn't focus much on her after everything. I only talked to her when matters of the hunt were brought up." she replied.
Leto nodded sadly in understanding.
"And right now, she is the last person I want to think about right now." Zoë mentioned.
"I understand."
She just stepped back into the living room when the amethyst on her necklace pulsed, alerting her. She straightened and looked at Rhea and Iapetus. The two of them sat on a couch quietly talking to each other in hushed whispers, "I need to go." she said and was just about to flash out when she stopped herself.
Seeing her hesitate, Rhea urged her with a reassuring look, "Go be with him, you both need this. We'll watch them both." and watched Zoë nod at her before flashing away.
Berkeley Hills, outside of Camp Jupiter
Even when night fell and darkness enveloped the mountain range, Virtus still sat on the boulder, running the whetstone down Leviathan's blade before he threw the stone away and stood up. He set Leviathan down next to him and took his jacket off, setting it on the boulder before rolling up the sleeves of his grey dress shirt. Boosted by the night, he felt invigorated by the darkness around him and knew that he would have to reign himself in.
He waved a hand in front of him and retrieved his Gauntlet. He took in the look of his centurions, "Tough situation to handle?" questioning with a smirk on his face.
Aurelius scoffed underneath his helmet and spat on the ground next to him, "Of course it wasn't. Just a few minor disagreements here and there." he assured with a grin.
The smirk fell off of Virtus' face as he stared at the form of Janus, the god laid on the ground, restrained and surrounded by his centurions, all looking at the Roman god with varying degrees of disdain except for Marius.
Janus looked up from the ground and when he laid eyes on Lord Virtus, going wide-eyed at what could only be described as a look of barely-contained fury was directed onto him.
"L-Lord V-V-Virtus." Janus' left head stuttered out as he felt the overwhelming force of Virtus' power, bowing as low as he could to please him.
"Quiet." Virtus ordered sharply and Janus looked cowed, keeping his head low so as to not invoke his ire. "Release him." Magnus nodded at once, moving to undo the restraints, but Janus didn't dare to get up until he was allowed to for fear of how Virtus would react.
Janus took a peek and saw a flash of various colors from his left and heard the crunching of grass and rocks underneath someone's feet a moment after.
Virtus didn't feel the need to look and take his eyes off of Janus to know that his wife showed up, feeling her own power fill the air.
"Leave us." he commanded to his Gauntlet and Marius nodded at him, looking at the other centurions, he led them down from the hill they were on and took their positions there.
Virtus made a circle motion with his hand and formed a dome around himself, his wife, and Janus. Janus gulped nervously and knew that he would have zero chance against Virtus in a fight, having to rely on his words as the alternative.
"L-Lord Virtus, I can explain my-" his words were cut off as he was grabbed by the back of his neck and punched in the gut.
Virtus grabbed his neck and slammed his body into the barrier, and for the first time since Rome, Janus was forced to look at the burning purple orbs of Virtus and felt a renewed sense of fear.
"I do not care for what excuses fly out of your mouth at this current moment." Virtus interrupted and the grip around Janus' neck started to tighten.
"T-he Titans, th-they-." Janus gasped out and the hand around his neck squeezed tighter.
"I don't care about your reasoning as to why you thought aligning yourself with the Crooked One and his forces would have been a good idea, but since you brought that up, I will make one thing very clear. Should I so much as even catch a sight of you standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Titans when the battle starts, I will tear you apart and dangle you over the pit myself. Is. That. Clear?" Virtus asked in a dangerously calm voice.
Janus nodded frantically. "Now, let's get to why you're actually here. Do you know why?" Virtus asked and Janus strained to shake his head but suddenly nodded at the realization, his eyes going wide.
"Y-yo-your da-daughter." he strained out.
"Oh, finally catching up to you, is it?" Zoë snarked out, speaking for the first time since her arrival while also maintaining the death-glare she had on him.
She walked up behind her husband and placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.
Virtus released his grip on Janus' neck a moment later and the Roman god dropped to the ground with a hacking cough and gasped for air.
"I apologize for my error, but surely you must see the reason as to why-" but before the left head of Janus could get a chance to even finish any of what he was about to say, Zoë spun around and delivered a heel-kick to his face, cutting him from the corner of his mouth on his right head and to the ear on the left head.
Ichor dripped down from his wound and stained the bottom of Zoë's boot. "I sure hope for your sake that you weren't implying something with your choice of words. My husband and I haven't been in the best of moods." she said in a threatening manner.
"I was going to punch him but that works too." her husband commented.
"You weren't just going to punch him." she corrected.
Leviathan flew into his hand, "I guess you're right." He got down to eye level with Janus, "As you can see, neither of us are in the mood to find any humor in this, and as much as I want to kill you, you have been loyal and because of that, I will and can forgive you." Virtus said, noting how Janus had a wide grin of relief on his face.
"Thank you! Thank you, Lord Virtus!" Janus began but stopped with a feeling of dread suddenly pooling in his stomach when Virtus held a hand up.
"I said I can forgive you for wanting to side with the Titans." Virtus quietly said while he ran his fingers down the edge of Leviathan "but the incident with my daughter, however, that is a different matter and answer."
Both sides of Janus couldn't help but shiver in fear as he suddenly stared at his own reflection.
Olympus
Throne room
"I think we have avoided the issue for long enough." Poseidon said as he sat in the silent throne room.
In the middle of the room, an image of Typhon breaking free was present for all of them to see, yet no one said a word about why and how he was freed.
Sometimes, he felt envious of the fact that Hades was only allowed on Olympus during the Winter Solstice since it meant that his brother didn't have to hear as much of Zeus talking compared to the rest of them or be anywhere near this disaster unless he was absolutely required to.
"What issue would that be, brother?" Hera asked scathingly, her attention not even focused on the meeting, instead, it was on fixing the feathers on her dress.
"The fact that Typhon is soon to be free from his imprisonment because of your dear brother's actions." he replied with annoyance.
Athena looked at the image of Typhon breaking free of his bonds, trying to think of a solution.
Apollo raised his hand with an intrigued look, "Does anyone else want to know why a certain someone made the impulse decision to just free him out of the blue?"
Zeus wasn't too out of it to know that their eyes were on him and straightened in his throne, "I felt a presence similar to mine present there." he answered and flexed his fingers as the image of Typhon looked directly at him and made him stiffen despite Typhon's non-physical form.
Hera looked at him with disgust, "Was it from that damned demigod of yours? Don't even know why you bother." she added as an afterthought.
Zeus nodded at her question and Hermes had a look of concern and caution, "A bolt of that magnitude would have probably killed her though."
Poseidon looked at Zeus with a narrowed gaze, "Were you aware of this?" and when he didn't answer, Poseidon already knew and it made him grip his trident even tighter.
"You knowingly made an attempt to take the life of your demigod daughter and in doing so, you released one of our most dangerous enemies." he claimed with a look of anger. "Were you aware that on their quest, Hephaestus encountered my son and the questing group and asked them to investigate his forge? The forge that was coincidentally located on top of Typhon's prison?"
Zeus glared at him, "It was a risk that I was willing to take. Having the demigod run amidst us without knowing where her allegiance lies will be catastrophic for us."
"She is your daughter!" Poseidon yelled.
Apollo looked to disagree with Zeus' comment, "I mean, you could have asked her instead of trying to kill her. It seems like something a sensible parent would do instead." shrugging his shoulders.
"Perhaps I would have considered that if only she was found but she isn't, is she?" Zeus asked with a narrowed glance at Artemis, the moon goddess shrank further into her seat at the tone and look.
"We've dealt with Typhon before and we can do so again." Ares boasted and Aphrodite just rolled her eyes before returning her attention to the mirror in her hand.
"Maybe you've forgotten that we're missing one other god that was actually responsible for imprisoning Typhon." Hephaestus mentioned it like it was a side-note.
"Not to mention that almost all of us ran when we first saw Typhon, remember? Ares, you screamed like a bitch." Hermes reminded and high-fived Apollo without looking.
"We can handle Typhon by ourselves." Zeus said with barely restrained anger.
"I believe that we can defeat Typhon if we play to our strengths and create a plan that can utilize all of us effectively." Athena piped up.
"Oh really? You don't say." Dionysus sarcastically replied just as he cracked open another can of Diet Coke, the ground around him littered with empty cans.
"Dude, how many have you had in the past hour?" Apollo looked on with fascination as it very nearly reached the armrests of the throne.
Dionysus looked at the ground and shrugged, "I haven't stopped since we started this damn meeting." he replied bitterly.
Poseidon resisted the urge to smack Zeus with his trident, "You know as well as I do that we can't." he said with conviction, a sentiment that seemed to be shared among Apollo, Hermes, and Hephaestus judging by their looks of uncertainty.
Zeus clenched the end of his armrests tighter and glared at Poseidon, "I will not entertain talks of treason within these halls while I am here."
"Treason? Is that what you think this is? Believe me, I would want nothing more than to prove you right, but this is me knowing that whatever attempt we try, it will not work!" Poseidon retorted hotly. "You are free to leave if you think you cannot handle this." he said with his knuckles turning white with how hard he was gripping his trident.
Lightning crackled around Zeus and it looked like he would have given in to his anger but disappeared in a bolt of lightning before such a fight could break out.
Hera followed in a flash of violet and soon, Demeter, Ares, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis left, leaving Poseidon and Hestia alone.
Hestia sighed from her spot near the hearth and looked at her brother, "Poseidon, maybe-"
"No. Hestia, stop this. Stop pretending that he is still your little brother and not some power-hungry immortal whose only purpose is to satisfy his ego and arrogance." Poseidon asked in frustration. "Do you honestly expect that we'll be able to defeat Typhon without Perseus?" he asked.
Hestia turned her head away at his name, "We must try."
"Well, whatever he does, he will be doing it without me. Atlantis will be my priority for this foreseeable war. I won't let him stop me from protecting my home." Poseidon said and flashed out of the room.
"So was here." Hestia mentioned quietly.
She stood there with her arms hanging limply by her side and the Hearth behind her flickered momentarily with a chill running down her spine.
Hestia stared at where Zeus' throne sat with remorse and looked away as if the throne slapped her, "I'm sorry, brother." she muttered as she imagined a time where a different throne sat in its place.
Berkeley Hills, outside of Camp Jupiter
Virtus and Zoë walked down to the base of the hill where the Gauntlet was standing and the two of them saw Marius turn around at their approach.
"Lord Virtus, Lady Zoë." Marius greeted slowly and Zoë saw how the centurion eyed the ichor on her husband's hands.
Marius clicked his tongue, signaling the rest of the Gauntlet to him. "Orders, Lord Virtus?" and Virtus shook his head.
"You should all get some rest. It's been a long day for you all." he said with finality.
"At your command, Lord Virtus." Marius bowed. "If it is no bother, I am sure the other four would like to see how your daughter is progressing." he added respectfully, looking at both of them.
"Of course." Virtus nodded.
Once they acknowledged his command, he waved his hand and a shadow draped over them, taking them away.
Virtus looked down at his ichor-covered hands and flexed his fingers with a frustrated look on his face.
Zoë reached out and grabbed his hands in hers, rubbing away at the ichor with the pads of her thumb.
She didn't know when her vision became blurry but she did feel her husband pull her into a tight hug.
"She's ours." he whispered and she couldn't help but nod.
The Island
Perseus and Zoë quietly opened the door to Thalia's room and the both of them noticed Jason's blonde hair peeking underneath a spare blanket on one of Thalia's beanbags and an empty plate lying near his feet. Perseus couldn't help but shake his head with a small fond smile and waved his hand over the plate, the item being snatched by a shadow tendril.
"Sweet dreams, buddy." Perseus whispered, kissing the top of his head, and heard Jason grumble at someone disturbing his sleep, making him grin lightly.
Zoë kneeled next to her husband and intertwined her hand with his free hand as his other hand ran through Thalia's hair.
She leaned her head on his shoulder and Perseus was just about to pull his hand away when both of them noticed fluttering eyelids in the dark.
"Dad?"
