Chapter 21

Greetings viewers! I hope that all of you enjoyed the previous chapter!

In response to SonGoku76's review, first of all, welcome back! Yes, catching COVID was definitely not a fun experience. But thankfully, since all of us were double vaxxed, we didn't face any serious symptoms. All of us have more or less made a full recovery but a few older members of my family are reeling from the effects of the medicines used for treating COVID. Thank you for your continued support and thank you for your concern!

In response to pjofan's review, yes, this story is taking a lot longer than I hoped it would but good things don't come cheap, at least that's what I tell myself. But I definitely don't have a writer's block of any sort because I still enjoy writing now as I much as I did one and a half years ago. It's just that I have generally become busier and the quality as well as the length of my chapters has become significantly better and longer respectively. But I assure you that this story won't be abandoned, I will see this story through to the end. Thank you for your continued support!

Responding to the guest reviewer, yes, Percy as Captain America is something I am very interested in exploring in an alternate reality where Percy takes the place of Steve Rogers in the 1940s and builds from there. I'm not sure when I am going to work on it since I still have the DC crossover to finish but I am very interested in such a project. Thank you for your continued support!

In response to the other guest reviewer, I know my update seems all over the place right now and despite my best efforts, I am unable to bring it back down to a weekly updates. And as you suggested, I am trying to release them on weekends but I really am more worried about keeping the quality of my chapters at a consistent level. So right now, a typical chapter could take anywhere from seven to nine days, depending on the content. But I am definitely trying to get back to weekly updates. Thank you for your continued support and for your input!

In response to B2B's review, I am glad that you enjoyed the pairing of the first part of the nineteenth chapter with the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. I feel like that perfectly captured the tragic romantic nostalgia that I was trying to portray in Percy's and Calypso's interaction. In fact, it was actually the inspiration for that chapter. Thank you for your compliments and for your support!

In response to John's review, welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the holidays! Well, it is unfortunate that all of us caught COVID, especially after we hadn't met for nearly two years but the only good thing was that all of us were double vaxxed so that definitely saved us. Especially an uncle of mine who's pushing seventy would have probably deteriorated into more serious symptoms if it hadn't been for the fact that he was doubly vaxxed and also had a booster. The effect of medication still affects the more senior members of my family but I am back to normal.

Coming to your chapters reviews, the nineteenth chapter and this one as favourites of mine. This whole arc is actually one that I am enjoying thoroughly because of its emotional and moral complexity. There simply does not exist any concrete evidence to classify one character as the hero and one as the villain. And of course, it is so fun to write action scenes involving Atlas because I just enjoy writing his style of combat. Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank Nice for your continued support as well as for your concern!

In response to the emoticon using guest reviewer, I am thrilled that you enjoyed the previous chapter! Yes, the symptoms of COVID, even though mild, were problematic to say the least. But at least the infection didn't spread to the lungs for any of us so we are making a fast recovery! Thank you for your continued support as well as your concern!

In response to the guest reviewer (the one who reviews frequently), yes, I, along with my entire family caught COVID and to put it mildly, it wasn't really a pleasant experience. But in more ways than one, for the senior members of my family, the medication was what took an even bigger toll on them but I have almost fully recovered now while my family is also in a much, much better state.

I am thrilled to hear that you're liking the father-daughter interaction between Atlas and Calypso, that's primarily what I am trying to portray Atlas as. A ruthless general and merciless combatant, but a very dedicated and doting father. I didn't want to just go down the conventional route of scripting antagonists in this arc.

I also wanted to portray that the overarching theme of this arc is that everyone has good intent in mind, in some way or the other. It's only the actions that have been wrong. The gods wrecked Calypso's life but ultimately, they were concerned about Percy and Athena. Similarly, Calypso hasn't made the best of decisions by joining the Titans but her anger and to an extent, even Atlas' anger, is justified. So the characters can only be judged by their actions.

Remorseful Zeus is quite rare in PJO fanfics since even the few which portray him in a positive light don't go that far but I decided to be bold because there has been hundreds of thousands of words of world-building prior to this. I am glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your concern as well as your continued support! P.S. I too hope that my family members are fully back to normal soon!

In response to Arden2709's review, yeah, I am back to normal. There's the occasional cough here and there but as a result of being a young guy with a fast metabolism, I am probably the best off in my family in terms of recovery. And I am stoked to be back to writing! Thank you for your concern and for your continued support!

Finally, coming to Ryan Fowler's review, yes, that's exactly the message that I wanted to send in the previous chapter. I wanted to show that the gods weren't perfect, not by a long shot. I wanted to show how Calypso's turn to the wrong side was squarely on them and to a certain extent, Percy. But I also don't want to reuse the old cliché of the scorned lover. I want to do something different which I hope you'll enjoy! Yes, I am back to normal while most of my family are also feeling a lot better than they were a week or two ago. Thank you for your concern and for your continued support!

Warning – The first half of this chapter contains some particularly violent action. It's nothing too gory but has enough violence to warrant a warning. However, it isn't something that is gory or bad enough to be classified as M rated.

All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.


Calypso did not know why she had agreed to talk to Percy. It was something that was diametrically opposite to what she had wanted to do as recent as a few days ago. But yet, here she was, sitting in a quaint little Trattoria somewhere in Sicily, waiting for Percy to show up.

When Aunt Selene had first contacted her, Calypso had immediately rebuffed her offer. At that point in time, she had been unwilling to have any chat with Percy, ever again. It was not so much about the fact that she wanted vengeance but more about the one that led to her emotions violently churning inside her whenever she thought of him.

Their first talk in three thousand years had already shaken her up significantly. She had been afraid that after one more talk, perhaps she would fail pray to the allure of those mellow and beautiful sea green eyes once again. And she had desperately wanted to avoid that.

However, once her aunt had shared all the details of the Olympian Council meeting with her, Calypso's views had been completely shattered. For three millennia, she had thought that Percy had abandoned her and that he had done nothing to secure her release.

She realised that she could not have been more wrong. She knew her aunt well enough to know that she wasn't showing Calypso fake events. And that had been confirmed by a solemn oath. And the part of her that she had ruthlessly suppressed for three millennia had crept out when she saw how passionately Percy had fought for her, in the latest Council meeting.

Of course, she was still bitter that he had not done this earlier. He had reached his epiphany a few thousand years too late. She was angry that he had not done it when they were still heads over heels in love with each other. She was even more angry that he had moved on while she had been left to rot. But she had also realised that Percy truly had cared for her. And that had been slowly chipping away the negative feelings that she had harboured against him.

It was in this state of mind that she had agreed to talk to Percy. But her condition had been that it would be only the two of them and that she would be the one deciding the location. She had initally thought of not revealing this to anyone else. But somehow, the thought of hiding this from her father felt very wrong.

She trusted her father enough to let her make her own decisions and while he had been highly apprehensive and critical of Percy's intentions, he had ultimately agreed to let her conclude this meeting in anonymity. Or at least that's what he had told her.

What she didn't know was that her sister Arethusa was watching her from afar and had been ordered by her father to seriously harm Perseus if Calypso showed even the barest sign of upset. To that end, he had even given his daughter an arrow infused with a part of his own immortal essence that would be powerful enough to stun Diaboles for a few seconds if he was hit by it when he was defenceless. That was their failsafe.

Calypso had been intentionally left out of the loop because their father knew Calypso would see this as breach of trust. Arethusa knew that their father had complete trust in her eldest sister but he had still sent her here because he didn't trust Diaboles and neither did she.

Calypso however, remained unaware of all this as she politely conversed with the waitress in fluent Italian. Specifically the Sicilian dialect of Italian. And a few seconds later, Calypso's words got caught up in her throat when she saw Percy walking through the door. The waitress assumed that her date was here and left to give them some privacy.

"Sorry for the delay. I must say, I was not expecting to dine in Italy this evening. Since teleporting was out of the question, I had to find other ways of transport." Percy smoothly stated as he took a seat opposite to Calypso.

Of course, the main reason why he had chosen to come in his warship was so that Artemis could stay hidden. He didn't need the warship to move around stealthily. But Aunt Selene had purposely left that and the conditions for Calypso's amnesty out when she had contacted Calypso.

"It had to be some place unexpected. Despite what Aunt Selene showed me, I cannot trust you or the gods blindly." Calypso tried to respond in a crisp voice but her voice softened at the end.

"Of course, I totally understand that. We have wronged you after all. It's only fair that you see any outreach from our side through a lens of skepticism." Percy agreed with a nod, although there was pang of guilt and sadness in his eyes which Calypso caught. And that left her completely silent as she observed him.

As always, he was dressed immaculately. He was wearing a pale green full sleeve button up shirt with his sleeves folded up to his forearms and the top two buttons unbuttoned, showing off his chiselled muscles. He wore it over black dress pants and had shining black leather shoes on.

His face was not clean shaven like it had been during his stay in Ogygia. He now sported a very neat, trimmed stubble that did wonders for his jawline. He had also tied his long, messy, flowing hair, which was also longer than what she remembered, in a short ponytail but there were still a few stubborn, stray strands that dangled freely. And he looked like someone who was in his late twenties.

"Your penchant for dressing well has not left you, I see. Since you are royalty, I suppose that's how you were brought up. I must look like a simple peasant to you." Calypso flatly noted but there was an amused twinkle in her eyes.

She had just shown up in a pair of khaki slacks and a salmon coloured blouse. She had forgotten Percy's crisp sense of fashion. In front of her, Percy was a bit shocked that she was making small talk but he didn't show his surprise.

"Well, both of us know that I was always the flamboyant one between the two of us." Percy responded jovially in a nonplussed tone but Calypso could easily spot the sheer relief in his eyes.

"What's the matter, General? Were you so afraid that I would lambast you again?" Calypso asked with her eyebrow raised.

"To be honest with you, yes. I came in mentally prepared for that. And I was ready for it. After all, I did make a mistake and I have no other way of showing repentance other than staying silent and take all insults from you. I have no right to defend myself." Percy confessed with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You, General Perseus, are insufferably noble." Calypso stated with a scoff but there was a ghost of a smile at the tips of her lips. Her words and the tone in which she spoke lifted an imaginary weight off of Percy's shoulders. At the very least, it meant that this conversation had started free of hostility.

"So, I have been told." Percy stated with a dazzling smile that made Calypso's heart skip a beat.

"If I may ask though, why are you being so nice to me?" Percy cautiously questioned.

"I'll tell you, after we order something. I don't want to make that nice waitress wait any longer." Calypso stated with an air of finality before gesturing the waitress over and ordering their food.

A few minutes later, their food, a traditional sfincione, was served along with a glass of well aged regional wine. They ate in silence for some time before Calypso finally spoke up.

"Make no mistake, General Perseus. Don't mistake this outright lack of hostility for anything else. I have not forgiven you just yet. But I do realise that you were not lying when you said that you tried to fight for my freedom. Could you have tried harder? Certainly. You gave up on me. But your intentions were never impure. That's what I realised. Perhaps you're not an emotionally manipulative bastard after all." Calypso accepted in a calm voice free of hostility as she sipped on her glass of wine.

"So, does that mean we can at least start afresh?" Percy asked, with an edge of desperation in his voice and despite Calypso's best efforts, she caved. But only partially.

"That will be difficult. I still have harbour some bitter feelings against you. After all, three thousand years of suffering will not vanish in a few days. However, I will forgo my vengeance, only for you. But don't expect me to trust you or befriend you like I used to. At best, we will remain as formal acquaintances." Calypso warned with a serious expression on her face.

"I can live with that." Percy stated with a wide smile as he dug into his sfincione. And Calypso couldn't help but smile at that. Now that her bitterness and anger had reduced to a certain extent, she was starting to see why she had been endeared by Percy in the first place. But her good mood would not last very long.

"So, will you stop fighting for the Titans?" Percy asked hopefully as he took a sip from his glass of wine. He didn't really enjoy the drink but now wasn't the time to act choosy.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I am willing to give you a second chance because you have actually shown some repentance. But I absolutely refuse to show any mercy to those wretched Olympians who decided that my life and emotions were something that they could throw around like a volleyball." Calypso harshly answered with a scowl on her face.

"Calypso, please, listen to me. Don't do this. The gods have authorised me to grant you full freedom if you just swear to not go against them-" Percy tried to reason with Calypso but she instantly cut him off.

"I should have known that you are here to do their bidding. I see that you still let them use you like a pawn. Here I thought, that you wanted to talk to me because you genuinely wanted to start afresh." Calypso interrupted with her eyes narrowed. But her voice also had some hurt in it.

"Calypso, trust me, the primary reason I am here is because I wanted to clear the air in between us. But the offer of amnesty won't mean you have to fight against your family. It's just for your neutrality and is an attempt to right a historical wrong. Accept its terms and you'll be completely free. I have been given the authority to grant this acquittal by the Council itself. None of us will interfere in your life if you accept this amnesty. This I swear on the River Styx." Percy went as far as taking a solemn oath as he tried to convince Calypso. And thunder boomed in the distance, confirming that he was speaking the truth.

"I am going to get my revenge against the gods, Percy. After seeing that you were also a victim of circumstances, albeit not to the same extent as me, I don't want you to be caught in the crossfire. I don't want to see you hurt. That's why, I would suggest that you move aside. In fact, if you swear not to rebel, I can put you under the protection of my father. I would suggest that you take it. Of course, this would apply to only you." Calypso made her own counter-proposal.

"You know I can't turn my back on my own family, Calypso. You know that as well as I do. And as long as I draw breath, I will never let myself be subservient to the Titans. I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees." Percy answered without any hesitation.

"So, you are choosing your family over me, again." Calypso stated through gritted teeth.

"I will always fight for my family, Calypso. But it doesn't have to be you or them. We cannot be as close as we once were, but we do not need to be enemies either." Percy reasoned but Calypso was not willing to budge.

"Then you have to fight me, Percy. You have no other choice." Calypso concluded with a deep, sorrowful sigh. And Arethusa took that as her cue, aimed at the middle of Percy's exposed neck and immediately fired.

Percy tried to reach out but he suddenly sensed danger and moved his head at the last second. And a moment later, he felt excruciating pain spread across the base of his neck. He realised that someone who had been tailing Calypso had attacked him and instantly, he realised that Artemis would fiercely retaliate and he knew that he needed to do something.

So, he rushed across the table and grabbed Calypso, bringing her out of her stupor. And in self-defense, she thrust her dagger into his chest. Obviously, he was invulnerable so it didn't have the desired effect but due to him having lowered his guard and being without an armour, the force behind the attack caused a minor puncture in his left lung. But he powered through and hugged Calypso, intending on shielding her with his body.

A fraction of a second later, his back was hit by a beam of pulsating silver energy, causing a giant explosion that destroyed the entire Trattoria and sent both Percy as well as Calypso flying away. But Percy shielded Calypso from the worst of the explosion by hugging her even tighter.

Once the dust cleared, Percy was starting to black out as his vision blurred. But he stubbornly held on. He refused to abandon Calypso. Not again. His neck was in great pain, his shoulder blade had probably been chipped in some place, his lung had been pierced causing internal bleeding and he felt throbbing pain his upper back. And all this while, he was still holding on tight to Calypso.

A moment later, Artemis materialised above them with an apoplectic fury raging in her eyes as she brought one of her hunting knives down with full intent to impale Calypso's exposed head. And for a moment, Calypso thought that was it.

However, Artemis was intercepted by Arethusa in the nick of time. The young Hesperide had intercepted the Olympian's hunting knife with her own spear but the raw strength behind the attack caused Arethusa's knees to buckle as she slammed into the ground and created a crater.

Calypso was extremely shocked when she saw that Arethusa had intervened and she immediately realised that her father had been the one to send Arethusa, to tail her without her knowledge and similarly, she deduced that Artemis had been sent to do the same thing.

Her shock soon converted into fury but her rage was cut short by a pained groan from Percy who tried to prop himself up. Immediately, she realised that he had suffered from three very punishing blows in quick succession and that he was in need of immediate care. So, she made an instinctive decision and took her divine form as she teleported away with Percy.

Artemis saw this and tried to intervene but she was too late. Calypso took her divine form and teleported away in a dome of energy, forcing Artemis to protect herself. Once the intense brightness subsided, Artemis realised that the wretched Titaness had taken away Percy with her and she bellowed in fury.

"I will rip your limbs off for this. I knew that we should have never trusted your kind." Artemis growled in a feral way as she pounced on Arethusa.

Arethusa was a very strong individual in her own right but she was no match for an Olympian. Especially not an angry one. She tried to keep up with the blinding pace of Artemis' attacks but she couldn't and eventually Artemis broke through her guard and embedded one of her hunting knives deep into Arethusa's exposed shoulder, causing the Titaness to scream out in pain and fall to her knees.

Artemis then roundhouse kicked Arethusa with enough force to break her nose with a sickening crunch and sent her flying into a tree which split in half at the impact. Arethusa was given no respite when Artemis blasted her through the entire forest clearing with a beam of silver energy.

When Arethusa finally rolled to a halt, she was burnt, broken and bloodied all over and she could only hoarsely groan in pain as Artemis materialised a dozen feet above her and slammed her right foot into Arethusa's chest with enough force to break a few of her ribs.

"Where. Is. My. Brother?" Artemis bellowed as she accentuated each word with a stomp of her foot.

"I…. don't….know…." Arethusa croaked out in a barely audible voice before succumbing to her injuries and falling unconscious. However, before Artemis could do anything else, her nose was broken by a massive fist that sent her flying.

It was a fist that belonged to a furious Atlas. He immediately enveloped Arethusa in a dome of stone grey light and the dome vanished a moment later, transporting Arethusa back to safety of his headquarters. He then turned his attention towards Artemis who had just recovered from his attack.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY DAUGHTER?" Atlas roared with so much anger that his words caused the very ground to vibrate.

"How dare I? How dare you? Your daughter, who's full of loose morals, just kidnapped my brother and you have the audacity to ask me this? I will feed your lifeless physical form to my wolves after I am done with you. And then, I will hunt your daughter down and give her an agonizing death for this treachery." Artemis roared back with even more ferocity as she charged at Atlas.

Atlas immediately shifted into his armour and his spear materialised in his hands as he blocked Artemis' hunting knives with the tip and pommel of his spear. He then growled as he slammed his knee into Artemis' gut, sending her flying into the air.

He shot up like a meteor with his spear held in front of him, fully intent on impaling the goddess of the Hunt but Artemis twisted out of the way at the last moment before hooking her leg with his arm and used his own momentum to throw him back to the ground headfirst.

However, Atlas corrected his position mid-air and instead landed on his feet. The impact caused the ground under him to collapse and it even caused tremors that could be felt even in the nearby town.

In the meanwhile, Artemis had shot a beam of silver energy at him but he encased himself in a sphere of stone grey energy before tearing through her beam and slamming into her, knocking her out of the sky and sending her crashing into the ground.

He descended with all his fury unleashed, trying to impale her head but Artemis moved her head at the last time, but the spear still grazed the side of her neck, causing a deep gash as she hissed in pain. But she recovered almost immediately to slam her knees into back and sent him flying through a tree.

Artemis charged at Atlas once again and engaged him in a ferocious clash of blades but it became clear very quickly that while she was putting up a very strong challenge, Atlas handily had her measure in both strength as well as endurance as he rained down extremely powerful blows on her.

Eventually, Atlas got past her guard and struck his pommel into her gut with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs and sent her flying into a boulder, which exploded into a thousand smaller pieces on impact.

However, before Atlas could follow up on his attack, he was forced to block Athena's spear with his own and a moment later, he had to shift the position of his spear to block Ares' broadsword with the pommel of his spear. However, that left him exposed to a rather punishing blow from Hermes' Caduceus which sent him flying.

In that time, Apollo had materialised near Artemis and was temporarily patching up her injuries by enveloping her in a golden light. Elsewhere, just as Atlas landed roughly on the ground, a pink beam of energy, that had been fired by Aphrodite, hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to roar in pain as he skidded back a dozen feet.

As soon as he ground to a halt, he noticed that five more gods had assembled to fight him and he immediately realised that he could not fight off six Olympians at the same time and immediately, a stone grey dome of energy surrounded him before he disappeared.

When the bright light subsided, Athena embedded her spear into the ground where Atlas had been with an anguished scream and the rest of the younger Olympians had similar expressions on their face as they couldn't believe what had just happened. Percy had been kidnapped. And he had been kidnapped by Calypso.


Leo was ready to burst with anger. He and the rest of the demigods had been training when they heard that Percy had been kidnapped by Calypso and as soon as that information had reached him, the taps and pipes in the arena had all exploded with high pressure water jets erupting out of them.

"Leo, your combat boots will catch fire if you pace around any faster. You need to calm down." Annabeth stated with some concern in her voice.

"Calm down? Perseus Diaboles, the General of the Divine Forces and our mentor, brother and leader has been kidnapped by an old flame of his who hated his guts and you expect me to stay calm? Are you even hearing yourself?" Leo stopped pacing around to middle glare at her.

"Leo, all of us are extremely concerned about this development. But until the Council decides on our next course of action, we cannot do anything but wait." Nico tried to reason with Leo but Leo was in no mood to listen.

"We can't just sit around and sulk, Nico. Percy is in danger right now. We should be looking for clues and try to track Percy down rather than be waiting for Chaos knows how many more hours. We are not kids anymore. We've been going through gruelling training for the past two years and all of us are seasoned spies and powerful combatants now. It's high time we make ourselves useful." Leo retorted as he anxiously paced around.

"I agree with Leo. We're the only ones apart from the Hunters who can stealthily find clues related to this. And I am pretty sure that's the conclusion that the Council is going to arrive at. Why wait for orders like normal foot soldiers? We are the Divine Secret Service, an elite unit. Let us do what we have been trained to. The earlier we start, the faster we'll manage to track down Percy." Jason determinedly declared as he stood up.

"I am all for this plan, Jase. But it's better that we wait for the gods to officially give us instructions. They already have enough on their plate to worry about. Let's not add to their headache by disappearing when they're in the middle of a Council Meeting. Besides, it's been ten minutes since the meeting started and it will conclude quickly. They won't sit around and debate for hours at a time like this." Thalia placated her brother as she tried to talk some sense into him.

"And let's not forget that we are not dealing with just some monsters or demititans here. Did you not listen to Aunt Hestia's statement that Atlas had broken Artemis' nose and had given her a few serious injuries in just a short duration? That's the sort of threat we are up against. We are dealing with immortals who are powerful enough to wipe us out in a second. Rushing headfirst into this will only get all of us killed and I am pretty sure Percy wouldn't want that." Reyna firmly stated as she levelled a glare at Leo and Jason.

"Reyna, did you forget to read the memo? The possibility of death is in the very nature of this job! But that doesn't stop us from doing the right thing, does it?" Leo heatedly shot back. That was even Annabeth decided to intervene, to make sure that this argument did not escalate.

"Leo, I know that you are very worried about Percy and we all fully share your concern. But let's just wait for the gods to come up with our next course of action. They are more equipped to make the right decisions. Once they have defined our roles in his retrieval, we will give it our all and more. Does that sound good?" Annabeth asked in a soft voice as she got up and placed a placating palm on Leo's arm.

Her words and actions caused him to visibly calmed down and the six of them waited in silence for a few more minutes before Hestia finally materialised in front of them in a pillar of flame. And she had a steely expression on her face.

"Demigods, after a quick discussion, the Council has declared a no-holds-barred hunt for Calypso. As such, all the younger Olympians, excluding Hephaestus have all already started tracking Percy down while Artemis and her hunters are taking the lead by starting out from Sicily. The six of you however, will be an independent unit and have been assigned to find out clues from monsters, rogue demigods and demititans." Hestia informed them, causing Leo and Jason to nod in approval.

"Since the Council unequivocally trusts your loyalty and also recognises that your special abilities are more effective when you are given full freedom of operation, for the duration of this mission, you have been granted an unlimited scope of operation. You have the authorisation to do whatever is required to extract information. You also have the authority to detain, interrogate and obtain information from any mortal or demigod, through any means necessary. I hope you understand what I am saying." Hestia revealed a rather shocking bit of information as she shot a pointed look at all the demigods.

"We shall not disappoint you, Aunt Hestia. Calypso will be brought to justice. And we will do whatever it takes to get to Percy." Leo stated with a cold and steely glint in his eyes. Hestia nodded at them before disappearing in a flash of flames.

"Right. We have our orders. The last place where Atlas' headquarters were located was in Portland. He has most certainly shifted his base of operations but we should be able to find some monster, mortal or demigod who will blabber information. Let's divide ourselves into groups of two and go hunting. We will follow the grouping that we follow during our other missions." Leo shared his plan with all of them and they all nodded at him.

"Before all of you leave, I would like to have a quick word with you." Selene calmly stated after materialising in front of them.

"Of course, Aunt Selene. I presume you have further orders for us." Reyna respectfully stated.

"My dear, I haven't come here with any orders. I have come here to just give you some advice which I hope you will follow. I hope all of you will act responsibly since you have been granted draconian authority to act however you want. The Council has pre-emptively absolved you of any war crimes but I hope that you don't take it that far. Emotions can get the better of you sometimes but always think before acting. Always follow Percy's advice and look at them in the eye before you decide to pull the trigger." Selene advised in a sagely tone, prompting the demigods to nod at her.

"And another thing, I know my niece well enough to know that she hasn't kidnapped Percy out of any malice. So, if you find her whereabouts, I would like it if all of you inform me first so that I can defuse the situation without any unnecessary violence." Selene stated in a calm yet firm way.

"With all due respect to you, Aunt Selene, Calypso isn't the biggest fan of Percy. Maybe you could trust her once upon a time but can you really a trust a Titaness corrupted by Atlas?" Leo defiantly questioned.

"Besides, we would be betraying the Olympian Council if we hid such vital information from them. And I don't want to breach their trust after they have placed so much responsibility in our hands. It's also a question of Percy's safety. Can we really roll the dice on that?" Jason backed Leo as he questioned Selene, causing the Titaness to shake her head in disappointment.

"My young nephew, Olympian propaganda isn't the most reliable source of information on the characters of other people, especially that of Titans. This is a knee-jerk reaction by the Olympians. Calypso isn't the monster all of them make her out to be and Percy would most certainly agree with me on this. So, for the greater good, I am asking you to arrive at independent conclusions rather than blindly believing whatever the gods say." Selene answered in a voice that was full of maturity.

"But how can we ignore our orders?" Reyna questioned with uncertainty evident in her voice.

"My dear, I am not asking you to outright ignore orders. I am asking you to think. Which is exactly what Percy asks you to do. There are orders and there are morals. Sometimes those two don't overlap so you need to be wise and choose morals. That's what Percy always does and I really do admire him for it. You shouldn't focus on following orders. You should focus on doing the right thing." Selene counselled as imparted her eons of wisdom.

"How do we know that what you are suggesting is the right thing?" Nico questioned, with a fair bit of skepticism in his voice.

"That's fairly simple, Nico. Just envision what Percy would do if he were to be in your situation and do what he would do." Selene gave a rather simple but logically infallible answer and no one could dispute her logic. The demigods took a few minutes to contemplate the meaning of her words but finally, the silence was broken by Annabeth.

"We will do as you say, Aunt Selene." Annabeth was the first to concur and she was quickly followed by the others.

"My dear, I know I am repeating myself but I want to point out that I am not asking you to follow any orders. I am asking you to do what is right. The situation may very well change and you may be going against my wishes. But as long as you know that you are doing the right thing, who you oppose is immaterial. I hope you remember that. All the best for your mission. I know that all of you will succeed." Selene stated with a warm smile before disappearing in a flash of silver light. And a few seconds after that, even the demigods departed to carry out their respective missions, with a little titbit of wisdom imparted to them by Selene.


Krios was in no mood to listen as he barged into Atlas' new base that had been set up in Denver, as a stopgap before the General finally and permanently moved to Mount Othrys. Krios had already obliterated the foolish pair of Cyclopes that had tried to stop him from going in because he had no patience to wait for approval from Atlas. He was here on the direct orders of Lord Kronos and he was here to seek answers from Atlas.

He quickly slammed the Laistrygonians guarding the entrance of the medical room into nearby walls with a swipe of his fingers as he burst into the room through the door to find Atlas tending to a battered and unconscious Arethusa, who was wrapped head to toe in golden bandages.

The General of the Othryian Forces, who usually had a stony expression of cold ruthlessness, had one of fatherly concern and anguish on his face as he watched over Arethusa while sitting on the side of her bed.

"Atlas, what the hell are you and your good-for-nothing illegitimate daughter up to? Are you purposely trying to lose this war for Lord Kronos? Your plan to lure in and catch Diaboles failed miserably because your foolish daughter who is sickeningly infatuated with Diaboles decided to run off with him. Granted, it was an excellent plan but you should have informed us about it. That brat of yours is in so much trouble when she gets back. And then, you just ignore all summons and messages from Lord Kronos for two whole days. You should be stripped of your title for harbouring and aiding a traitor." Krios growled as he accused Atlas and insulted Calypso.

"Enough. One more word and I will feed you your own broadsword and send your disembowelled innards to Eurybia." Atlas threatened in a quiet, gravelly voice that filled the entire room as he shot a murderous glare at Krios.

Krios involuntarily took a step back when he saw that Atlas' eyes had darkened into a volcanic onyx black and he knew that Atlas was not lying. He knew better than to push Atlas' buttons when the General was angry. But he couldn't leave without answers.

"The rest of us are in desperate need of answers, Atlas. Lord Kronos is in need of answers. Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes has been prepared to become Lord Kronos' vessel but Diaboles would be orders of magnitudes better for that role. If Lord Kronos could possess Diaboles instead, he would never have to regain a physical form. He will become stronger than ever before and it would assure us victory." Krios paused to take a breath before continuing.

"That's not the case with Castellan. Even if possessed, it will take Lord Kronos years before he can regain his true physical form and during that time, he will be severely handicapped. His power would be limited to only that of a second generation Olympian. And another thing advantage is that the gods will also lose their greatest fighter. Isn't that what you want as well?" Krios asked in a calmer, more composed tone as he tried to manipulate Atlas.

"Your manipulative speech won't work with me, Krios. If I could resist Kronos' enticements, I can most certainly resist yours. Make no mistake, I would like nothing more than seeing Olympus burn. And I would enjoy seeing Diaboles suffer for what he did to Calypso. But, my daughters' happiness and well-being are paramount to me. They are more important to me than everything else. And whatever Calypso decides as the right thing, I will aid her in that." Atlas stated in a steely tone with an air of finality and Krios went ballistic.

"You would choose the well-being of these pitiful weaklings over your allegiance to the Titan King? What in the name of Chaos happened to you Atlas? Where is the brutally loyal and ruthless General of the Othryian Forces who was the right-hand man of the Titan King? What happened to the man who slaughtered his enemies without a second thought? You have gone soft. You have become weak." Krios taunted as he sneered at Atlas.

Rather than answer him, Atlas moved forward and punched Krios squarely in the face with enough force to break Krios' nose and send the Titan of Stars and Constellations through a series of walls. When Krios finally came to a halt, he groaned in pain as he clutched his shattered nose. He then felt a crushing weight on his chest as Atlas placed a foot on Krios' chest and towered over him.

"Still think I am weak, uncle?" Atlas asked with a predatory glint in his eyes as he increased the pressure of Krios' chest. And Krios found himself incapable of speech due to a lump in his throat, the crushing pressure on his lungs and the pit of dread in his stomach.

"There was a reason why I was the only one who stayed in Othrys, Krios. The rest of you shat your pants whenever Kronos was in the same room as you. But I never even flinched. Even that flaming idiot Hyperion couldn't muster the courage to stand up to Kronos. But I had no qualms about calling a spade a spade. Unlike the rest of you, I was never completely subservient to Kronos." Atlas proudly declared as his eyes bore into Krios.

"He absolutely hated that. He contemplated getting rid of me numerous times but he always realised I was more useful to him as an ally than as a foe. And I struck down countless enemies for him. The body count is in tens of thousands. For that, I always enjoyed a degree of freedom you never had the guts to seek. The only reason I ever fought for him was so that my daughters would have complete freedom. Unlike your children, I didn't want my daughters to be under his command. I didn't obey him out of fear like you did. Whatever I did for him, I did it for my daughters." Atlas revealed a rather shocking piece of information without any hesitation.

This had been his deal with Kronos. Initially, he had been unflinchingly loyal and borderline worshipful of his uncle. But after seeing Kronos misbehaving with his cousin Selene when she was a young Titaness while Hyperion did nothing, he had grown completely disillusioned with his job.

Calypso had just been born then and he had wanted to avoid such a scenario at all costs. He had briefly considered running away with Calypso but had then quickly ruled that out. He hadn't wanted to put a target on Calypso's back. So he had taken over the position of Kronos' right hand man in return for Calypso's complete freedom.

"For now, my goals align with his since I am seeking vengeance against the Olympians for what they did to my daughters. And after today, I am even more thirsty for Olympian Ichor. I am going to help burn Olympus down because that is exactly what I want. But I am doing it for my daughters. Not for him. And they will always be my first priority." Atlas growled as he increased the pressure on Krios' chest even more.

That's when Atlas heard a voice behind him, a voice that could only belong to Kronos, albeit, it carried only a fraction of his true power -

"You may want to lift that leg, Atlas. Krios here may not be the brightest or strongest of Titans but he's more useful in a physical form than he is as a reforming bubble of Titan goo."


Hey guys! I just loved writing this chapter. It has everything I wanted in it and in fact, this was supposed to be my first chapter to breach 10K words. It was about 12K words when I was done with it but by the time I edited it for the first time, I realised that it was way too long and was way too exhausting to read.

So I had to cut off the final third of the chapter to make it less taxing to read. If it had been a chapter mostly focused on action, I would have kept the original length but since this dives deep into emotions, I wanted to carry over some of that weight into the next chapter.

Like I said, in this chapter, I have primarily focused on dealing with the emotions of the characters involved in this arc. In the first scene, it starts out with this complex interaction between Calypso and Percy that is full of contradictory emotions for both parties involved.

Then, there's a small part of intense action that's prompted by rage. Then of course, there's the demigods' reaction to it. Finally, continuing in line with what I have in mind for Atlas, I have tried to give him some more character development along with a little backstory to humanize him a bit. He is also not really a servant of Kronos or blindly loyal to Kronos like in canon. And this is something that I will expand on this more in future chapters. And of course, Kronos finally shows himself :)

Read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed reading this chapter! Have a fantastic day!