In furthest corner of the Olympian Council Chamber


"I am not having this discussion again, brother," Hades spat the last word. "You made your choices and now you must suffer the consequences!"

Poseidon shook with anger at what he perceived as his brothers defiance. "Sally had nothing to do with this! She did not know of the consequences until after the deed was done!" he snapped at the Lord of the Underworld.

He pulled his brother along with Percy to the side, away from the prying eyes of his fellow gods and Percy's friends; this was a family matter, well, an immediate family matter.

"I still fail to see your point, Poseidon. All you that you have managed to do is making yourself appear even viler," Hades retorted.

Anger pulsed through Percy as he heard Hades' trying to blame his father for HIM sending the Minotaur, it became too much for him to bear. "Your problem was with me! She had nothing to do with this and you killed her for it!" he barked angrily.

"I do not need to listen to you, worm!" Hades hissed dangerously, causing Percy to momentarily pause, before finally steeling himself and letting it all out.

"You are a coward, 'uncle'" Percy mocked. "You couldn't get to me and so you had to go after my mother!"

Hades looked just about ready to explode in fury, before he surprisingly broke into a malicious grin. "Your mother is alive, Percy." he said in a calm voice. Percy's eyes widened in shock.

She was alive? How? Why?

"No! I saw her! The minotaur crushed her and she-"

"She burst into a light show," Hades cut in, with the smile never leaving his satisfied face. "She was not killed boy! She is in the Underworld, and I'll let her go, provided... that you come and pick her up."

"What?" Poseidon asked, flabbergasted. "What trickery is this?"

"No tricks, brother. If your spawn comes to the Underworld, I'll let poor Sally go and I'll even stop my attacks against him," Hades promised, his smirk still plastered on his face.

Poseidon looked like he had wanted to retort at his brother, but his son beat him to it.

"I'll do it!" Percy declared, standing taller than he had ever done before. "I'll do it," he repeated.

Before any of them could say anything else, the tv screen came to life once more.


The Bounty Hunter

Kratos was battling a group of Draugrs', they had been attracted by all the noise caused by him, his son and the foul-mouthed, blue dwarf, Brok. They had dragged their bony, malformed hides, a group of four, coming out from the woods in a clumsy attempt at an ambush, the trio however heard them coming long before they arrived.

Kratos advanced towards the Draugrs', whipping out his axe and inspecting the improvements that the dwarf had made. He allowed himself a rare smile as the dwarf had indeed enhanced his weapon. He threw his axe at one of the draugrs, hitting it dead on the chest, causing it to freeze into ice.

He then ran towards the three unfrozen draugrs, and as he did; he beckoned his axe back into his palm, the frozen draugr shattered into thousands of pieces by the force caused from the retreating axe.

"Fuck! I know I am supposed to hate him and all... but this guy knows how to fight!" Ares said with an impressed look.

The other gods looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Sonofabitch... yer old man sure packs a punch huh, kid?" Brok remarked from behind the workshop.

"Yeah, he's always been really good at fighting!" Atreus replied with an excited smile, he was surprisingly also behind the workshop, choosing not to help his father fight off the creatures.

Ares frowned. "Hey why isn't the brat helping his old man?!" he asked in anger.

Ares was the patron god of the warriors and if there was one thing he couldn't abide, it was cowards.

That is why everyone worth anything in his city of Sparta had been warriors, and those who werent warriors had been slaves.

Kratos decapitated two of them with a single swipe, with only the bulkiest of the undead remaining he continued his onslaught, raining slash after slash at the grotesque creature, until eventually cutting it in half.

"You can come out now." he said, turning back to his son and the blue dwarf.

"Badass!" Hermes and Apollo chorused in unison, causing Artemis to roll her eyes.

The dwarf slid from behind the workshop, laughing heartily as he did. "Y'see?! See what my touch brung?!" he boasted with a broad smile.

"Adequate." Kratos said, with a neutral expression.

"Adequate he says..." Brok frowned.

"Thanks Brok!" Atreus said, finally joining the dwarf and leaving the safety of the workshop. "Oh, and I'll be thinking of a name for your beast." he called as he went to his father's side.

Most of the goddess's coed at the boy.

"Pussy..." Ares muttered, his arms crossed as the angry eyes of the same goddesses glared at him hatefully.

"How 'bout I name her Fuckin' Gratitude?" Brok snapped. "HEY, Fuckin' Gratitude! Come over here!" he barked, directing his anger towards his pack animal. "And take care of that axe. It needs regular care from an expert if you want it to keep you alive."

"Love this guy." Hermes chuckled at the small, foul-mouthed man.

"He could have some decency and keep his tongue in check, there is a child present." chided Hestia

The dwarf's voice faded into the distance as the father and son duo made their way into the woodlands, they passed what seemed to be endless woods until they reached a tall cliff that blocked off the path.

"Dead end." Atreus said. "What now?"

Kratos thought for a moment, before squatting down to his son's level.

"Climb on." He gestured towards his back, Atreus was momentarily confused, before doing as his father had told him.

With Atreus now on his back, Kratos began ascending the cliff.

Atreus was astonished at his father's strength; he was climbing the mountain and carrying him, and all of it without any equipment!

"He is a god after all." Apollo stated with a smirk.

"The boy doesn't know that." Demeter answered her nephew.

"That reminds me..." Annabeth said. "Do you think Atreus will find out about his father's godhood?"

"Probably" Percy shrugged. "It's probably going to be something cheesy as well, like he's going to almost die because of it and then his father finally confesses or something stupid like that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her friend's antic. "It's not going to be like that." she declared.

"Ten drachma's says I am right." Percy countered.

A defiant glint ran through Annabeth's gray eyes.

"You're on!" she said with a smirk.

"Back at the dwarfs' camp, you left me alone to fight those Draugr." Kratos said after a while.

"I did." Atreus admitted quietly, looking away in shame.

"People are one thing. Everything else you fight, until I say stop, or we are dead. Understand?"

"I understand."

"Pull your weight or we go home."

After a few more moments of agonizing silence, they finally reached the top of the cliff.

As they ascended the final part of the cliff, a familiar looking black raven flew off from the Cliffside, causing Kratos to almost lose his grip; he cursed the bird as it flew into the distance, cawing loudly as it did.

"Fucking birds..." Ares growled. "What is it with all the psycho gods and their obsessions with birds?"

Ares realizing what he had just said gulped as he turned around to face the glares of Zeus and Athena.

"Of course, you guys are the exception," Ares added with a sheepish look.

Everyone in the chamber snickered at the God of Wars clumsy excuse, even Aphrodite had to cover her mouth, lest her lover notice.

"I've got a question." Percy said. "Why would a god need animals to look for them, I mean aren't you guys omnipotent or something?"

"That is a good question." Annabeth remarked, turning towards her mother with an inquisitive look.

Her mother returned her look with a soft smile. "It's true we are more aware of the happenings in the world than most, but we are far from omnipotent." she explained.

Hera nodded in agreement. "She is right. We can perceive more of the world and cosmos at large, but we cannot be everywhere at once and we cannot see everywhere whenever we so desire, even if some of us claim that we can," she directed the last part to Zeus, who grumbled in response.

"So we use our agents to spy on points of interest; which are for the most part animals or other creatures." Hades continued. "And when they find something that is worthy of our attention; they report it to us and allow us to see through their eyes."

Kratos very quickly regained his bearings, flinging himself and his son atop the cliff.

"Father! That's the same bird from before," Atreus said.

"I know."

"It's been following us!"

"I know."

"Why?"

"I do not know," Kratos grunted, the bird's presence and his sons constant questioning were getting on his nerves; but he could not blame the boy for his curiosity, to him it would have seemed as if the bird had almost tried to get them killed.

Thinking back on the bird caused Kratos to grind his teeth in anger; memories from his days in Greece flooded his mind, memories of a city burning, a glowing sword and a gret white eagle.

Kratos pushed the memories aside, now was not the time to dwell on the past.

"Let's go" he grunted.

"What?" Zeus said, reacting to the stares of everyone.

"A white eagle in Greece?" Hera questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"There are many white eagles, wife." Zeus said dismissively.

"Yes, but I doubt that Kratos would have strong memories of just any white eagle."

They continued to trek through the highland woods; passing through a labyrinth of cliffs, and tall trees, until eventually they reached a clearing.

"More Draugr's!" Atreus cried, readying his bow.

Sure enough before the father and son duo was a group of bony, fiery draugrs', however just as Kratos was about to lunge at the creatures; a giant boulder fell upon the draugrs', crushing the undead creatures.

"What was that?" Atreus asked in shock.

Loud snarling could be heard from behind the woods, as the ground shook with the sound of giant footsteps. The trees were pushed aside by giant hands; revealing a masked gray hulking mass of a creature, glowing orange tattoos covered its gargantuan body.

The fire troll, larger than its woodland counterpart towered above Kratos, lumbered into the clearing. Its face, framed by two curved defensive tusks, twisted into an expression of disgust as it spotted the ashen colored man.

"Fire troll. Behind me quickly!" Kratos commanded.

The troll stared at them with murderous intent.

"Jötun..." the creature growled.

"Giants? There are no giants here..." Atreus said weakly, slowly backing away.

"What do you want?!" Kratos asked the tusked creature.

The creature lunged at the duo, attempting to crush them beneth its giant foot; luckely the duo proved faster and dodged its attack.

"Brenna Dauði vilja hlǫkk!" the fiery creature snarled. Its voice laced with hatred and a hint of excitement.

"Another troll?" Grover questioned. "Don't they have any other giant creature?"

"I mean can we really judge? What with our obsession with the minotaur," Percy said.

"You do have a point there."


Raising his arms, Kratos threw his Leviathan axe towards the lumbering creature; the creature however seeing the axe coming moved out of its way. The beast released a garbled laugh at the human's failed attack.

But the creature laughter was cut short as the axe upon its return cut through the feeble minded creatures arm, prompting a loud roar of pain as the creature clutched its wound.

The creature's error caused some of the gods and goddesses to laugh.

"Dumbass," Ares mocked through his laughter.

Kratos held his axe defensively as he braced himself for the creatures counterattack, then to his shock; the creatures hand started glowing red as a orange glowing liquid started dripping from it, making it look like the hand was melting.

Lava, Kratos realized far too late.

The creature swung its massive arm causing the lava to spill onto Kratos, who grinded his teeth in pain, refusing to show any weakness to the creature.

His skin healed faster than it was melting; however the pain remained unbearable as Kratos struggled to even stand.

The creatures' expression turned vicious as it slowly lumbered towards Kratos; with the intention to smash its prey.

Atreus seeing all this sprang into action, leveling his bow on the troll and firing at the massive create, the creature howled in pain as it clutched its face. Atreus' arrow lodging itself into the monsters eye socket.

"Nice shot," Apollo commented with a grin.

Everyone nodded in agreement; even Artemis seemed to swallow her pride as she gave the young boy an impressed look.

"Heh, maybe the sack seed ain't so useless after all," Ares remarked with just barely a hint of mockery.

"Valhöll vilja þinn blóð," the troll spat, turning his attention towards the boy, eliciting a feeling of panic in the young boy.

The troll roared as it ran towards the child, who barely avoided the creatures attack, tripping as he did. The creature looked at the frightened child in satisfaction, ready to smash the tiny human with its fists.

"FATHER! HELP!" Atreus screamed in panic.

"I take it back," Ares said with a frown.

The creature chuckled before its massive arms came down upon the boy, Atreus closed his eyes as if to shield himself from the creature. He waited for his inevitable death.

And he waited...

Waited...

Atreus carefully opened his eyes again, and to his shock, he found his father standing before him, gripping the trolls' massive fists and keeping them from hitting Atreus.

Kratos could only see red; his only thought was to kill this creature. With a roar he pushed the creature away, causing it to stagger backwards, he then very quickly lunged at the creatures chest with his shoulder; causing the creature to fall over.

Kratos seizes the opportunity and takes a firm hold off its twin tusks, using them for support as he begins twisting the creatures neck with all the force that he could muster, the creature groans in pain until a sickening crunch is heard, ending its life.

"I know I've said this before, but Kratos is scary," Hermes states, wild-eyed.

"What do you expect?! He's a god of war, we're pretty fucking brutal," Ares says with a wicked grin.

"Again, shouldn't you hate him?" Aphrodite questioned.

"What for?" Ares replies with the grin still on his face.

"He...uh...killed you?"

"Oh, of course I fucking hate him, and I'd probably skullfuck the crap out of him if I ever saw him for real, but c'mon you've got to appreciate some good ol' badassery."

Aphrodite had a disgusted look at her lover's vulgar description, the other gods – save for Zeus – looked like they were agreed with Ares.

"Gods are weird..." The demigods all muttered in unison.

"BOY!" Kratos screams as he rushes over to his son. "Boy are you-"

"I'm fine," Atreus raises his hand.

"Are you certain?"

"I said I'm fine."

"If you say so." Kratos mumbled, turning his attention to the dead troll.

"Why do think it attacked us?"

"It knew us..." Kratos stated. "Knew where we were going, perhaps it was a bounty hunter?"

"A bounty hunter? Who would-You think it has something to do with the stranger at our house?" Atreus brainstormed.

Kratos seemed uncertain for a moment before he returned to his usual stoic expression. "We should move, lest we get ambushed again."

Atreus spared the dead creature one last glance before following his father.

They arrived at a vibrant, leafy forest; the sparkling ash-tree-green foliage was different than anything they'd seen before.

"I have never ventured this far from our house. And mother never spoke of such a place. Has this always been here?" Atreus asked in astonishment, taking in the beautiful scenery.

"I would assume so. Stay focused," Kratos grunted. "Look, tracks."

Atreus squatted down, examining the tracks. "Boar, maybe," Atreus responded with enthusiasm.

"Find it for me."

"Of course, how typical of men with their need of violence," Artemis scoffed.

"He's probably trying to calm down the boy, he seemed pretty angry after that troll." Apollo tried to explain.

"Of course! And what better way than to kill something, truly the greatest way a father and son can bond." Artemis spat.


Atreus followed the tracks across the woods with Kratos close behind, they continued at a calm pace until they were alerted by sound of grunting.

"Sounds like a boar," Kratos whispered. He took hold of Atreus stopping him midstride. He gestured for the boy to be quiet and to crouch down behind a set of trees overlooking the nearby ridge.

Poised at a creek some distance away, the stout plum-colored with yellow markings at some nearby grass. The beasts golden mane moved from side to side with the wind, its tusks curling from its lower jaw. It paused looking around the woods in suspicion; almost as if it could sense the danger it was in.

Both Kratos and Atreus were completely still, barely even breathing as to not alert the boar.

The boar, now apparently satisfied with the silence, returned to munching on he grass.

In a well-practiced motion, Atreus unshouldered his bow and removed an arrow from his quiver, notching it in place, doing it carefully as to not alert the beast. He drew a deep breath as he took aim at the stout beast.

"Release when you are ready," Kratos whispered. "Remember, draw to your chest. That boar's hide is thick."

Atreus slowly nodded as he pulled the arrow further back before releasing it. The arrow found its mark, but did nothing as it simply bounced off its hide.

"But... I hit it. Didn't I?" Atreus was confused, his mind racing for an explanation.

Perhaps the boar was magical?

"What do you think?" Kratos asked calmly.

"It didn't look like any of the boars' mother and I hunted in our forest. It was different to any creature I have ever seen."

"Get after it then."

Atreus nodded. He scrambled down the ridge, sliding down, losing his balance as he underestimated the steep slope.

"He should have fetched the arrowhead..." Artemis hissed quietly. "Amateur..."

"I've got tracks," Atreus said. "What should we do once we find it? I drew the bow to my chest just like you said, and the arrow just bounced off it."

"You aimed for the animal's flank. Next time go for the soft belly," Kratos explained.

"I understand" Atreus replied meekly

"Oh, so that's why the boar didn't die," Aphrodite remarked. "Thought it was some form of magic."

"It is magic. The arrow should have wounded the boar, even if it hit the flank, yet the boar appears unharmed," said Artemis. "It can only be magic."

Ares frowned. "Then why'd he say it was because of the flank?" he asked.

"Because it's easier for men to simply brush away the unknown, rather than to learn about them," Artemis mocked, rolling her eyes.

Most of the male gods in the chamber looked offended at the huntress goddess' words.

"Or... maybe it's a different kind of boar," said Apollo, grinning. "After all, they are on a whole different world, with different monsters and probably different beasts."

"Don't be ridiculous," scoffed Artemis. "I think I'd be able to recognize a boar. The woods are after all, my domain."

"The woods of this realm, sis," said Apollo frowning.

"It's the same thing!" snapped Artemis.

"Children..." said Hestia gently. "I am sure all our questions will be answered in time."

"Sorry Hestia," both of them mumbled, looking away from each other.

"You know, for a bunch of all-powerful beings, the gods are pretty immature," whispered Percy to his friends.

Annabeth shushed him. "Do you want them to curse us?!" she hissed. "Think before you speak!"

"I agree with you Percy," whispered Grover. "But maybe you shouldn't say it when said gods might be listening in."

They passed through more of the familiar looking woodlands, following the trail left by the boar. The seemingly endless labyrinth of tall trees and rocks eventually gave way to a littered camp that had been abandoned for some time by the looks of it.

"Stay alert" said Kratos. Acting on instinct he grabbed his son to keep him beside him while his eyes scanned the camp for any hidden dangers.

"More of those people?" Atreus readied his bow, growing nervous from his father's sudden caution.

"Something else," Kratos said, trying to maintain his calm.

"Something else? Yelped Grover, "They've already fought Draugrs' and Trolls, what's next a Hydra?"

"Oh, I bet they're gonna fight a Dragon," Percy added excitedly.

"Dragon? Really, what makes you say that?" Questioned Annabeth with a bemused look.

"It's an old school hero story; every classic story has at least one dragon fight." Percy responded with confidence.

As Kratos passed a dilapidated hut, something burst from the doorway: a soldier, armed and armored, but no living man. His skin was blue and translucent, and with him came a palpable chill in the air.

"Z-z-zombie!" said Hermes with a mock-frightened look.

It lunged for Kratos with its sword.

"Look out!" cried Apollo dramatically.

"He can't hear you," Artemis rolled her eyes at her brothers' antics.

"That's strange, he looks completely different from all the other undead creatures," said Hades.

"Maybe it's a different god at the work?" asked Persephone.

"Ideally there should just really be one God of the Dead in every realm, and as far as I know the Norse gods are no different in this regard," Hades explained, "No, something is wrong."


The God of War spun about, slashing his axe into the creature's head. However the axe merely bounced off its frozen head. It made a noise in response, sounding like ice cracking, was the creature laughing?

The gods and demigods alike were all equally horrified at the ineffectiveness of the Leviathan axe.

"The creature is invulnerable?" asked Ares aghast, "That's cheating!"

"Stop being a child, Ares" Aphrodite lightly slapped his shoulder.

Perhaps its head is its strongpoint, Kratos thought. He swung towards its torso, only to meet the same result, the creature used the opportunity to slash against Kratos, wounding his shoulder, a mere flesh wound that healed before Kratos could even register it.

Kratos then remembered the tales from his own homeland, of Achilles and his supposed invulnerability, the creature may not look like the golden Achilles yet perhaps he holds the same weakness, Kratos mused as he swung at the creatures' heel.

"Smart thinking I guess, but what are the odds that he'd have the same weak spot?" asked Athena.

"He's clearly desperate and looking for a solution, Athena," defended Artemis, causing the other gods and goddess to be surprised that the Goddess of the hunt would ever defend a man.

Unfortunately, it appeared as if this creature had no Achilles heel, the creature charged at Kratos, causing the War god to push the creature away with his hands with great strength, surprisingly the creatures invulnerability seemed to fail it against Kratos' godly prowess, for the creature crashed into the hut that it had emerged from.

The chamber was filled with cheers.

"Now that's what I am talking about," exclaimed Ares with a fist pump in the air.

The creature emerged once more from the hut; cracks had begun to form around its chest. It walked slowly towards Kratos only to be met by a hail of arrows, courtesy of Atreus.

"You show him, Kid!" yelled Hermes.

The creature lost its focus and turned towards Atreus, turning his back to Kratos, a fatal error. Kratos seized the creatures jaw from behind and twisting it with inhuman strength until he tore it from its shoulder.

"Fatality!" exclaimed Clarisse. "Kratos wins!"

"That was awesome!" yelled Percy.

"Damn right!" added Ares with a malicious glint in his eyes. "You know for a buncha skinnies, you kids are alright!"

The rest of the creature slumped onto the ground and burst into blue flames as it crumpled into dust.

"Viking Vampires?" asked Persephone with amusement.

"Never heard of Viking Vampires before," added Hades, "Well outside of television of course"

"What was that?" Atreus asked, concerned. "It's not like the other dead men. Draugr are hot-he was cold, and the axe didn't work against it either!"

"I do not know." Kratos quietly recalled a word the bandits had used. Hel-Walker. Kratos scanned the remaining encampment for signs of others. He found dried blood all around the encampment, yet no bodies, where were all the bodies?

"So not Vampires?" said Hermes.

Only after prolonged silence did he conclude that the creature was a lone warrior in the area.

Atreus lingered at the fringe of the encampment, since his father had yet to move to continue their search for the boar.

"Ready?" he asked, watching for acceptance on his father's face. "I think it went this way," Atreus said, indicating fresh tracks.

"After all that; he still wants to go after the boar?" exclaimed Grover incredulously.

"Never leave a job half finished," answered Artemis with an approving look. "Especially a hunt."

Zeus shook his head. "That boy has got his priorities all wrong, they should continue their journey, not waste their time with something so meaningless."

"Go then"

"Huh, guess it runs in the family then." Grover said, unaware that he had just unintentionally insulted everyone in the room.

They followed the tracks leading them deeper into the woodland, pausing when the tracks turned north. Thirty paces ahead, the boar tugged at glistening red berries on low-hanging branches in a thorny gold-leafed thicket.

Kratos gestured.

Atreus took up his bow, dropped to a knee. His father knelt behind him just as he had before, placing his arms gently around him to help with the aim.

"C'mon kid, don't fuck this up," Ares said.

But Atreus shrugged him off. His father was treating him like a child. His mother would never have done that. His father needed to allow him to do it on his own.

"I got this," he risked whispering back.

Hestia frowned. "He shouldn't refuse help when it's offered; he is still young" she said.

"He is right, his father is coddling him," said Artemis. "He needs to let him learn on his own."

"And what if he fails?"

"Then he won't fail again."

Kratos retreated, allowing Atreus the space he needed. But he remained within a step of him in case anything went wrong. He feared that if his son missed again, the creature might charge, so Kratos braced to fight it off.

"He shouldn't doubt his son," said Percy

"I am sure he is just worried about him," said Poseidon.

"Maybe, but he can't worry about him all the time, it's a dangerous world and the kids' got to grow up," added Ares.

"I don't think you're the right person to give parenting advice, "dead panned Poseidon.

"Hey, What's that supposed to mean?!" Ares asked angrily.

None of the gods or goddesses were willing to meet his eyes, not even Aphrodite.

Atreus breathed in, aiming the tip at the boar's soft belly. The surrounding woodland sound ceased as Atreus focused. He became so calm he could feel his own breath slipping in and out of his lungs.

"That's good cancel out all other noise, become one with your bow; it's merely an extension of your body." Said Artemis to herself, despite the boy being a, well, boy; he was showing great promise and could perhaps become a very skilled marksman one day.

"Elbow up. Relax. Accuracy over speed," he whispered to himself.

Time slowed to a crawl. He thought at any moment the boar would life its head, see him ready to fire and dash off. He ceased his breathing.

He fired.

The boar reared up, releasing a shrieking squeal as the arrow pierced flesh.

"Nice shot, Kid!" said Apollo.

"You know he can't hear you right," stated Artemis with a wan smile.

"Oh c'mon sis, even you've got to admit that was a nice shot,"

"It was a nice shot," she answered warmly, "but the hunt is far from over."

Despite the agony of its wound, the beast pounded the soft dirt to find refuge in the overgrown halberd-leafed willows to its right.

"I got it, Father!"

"Don't lose it now," Kratos said with acceptance in his voice.

"He could be more supportive," frowned Demeter.

Ares snorted. "Please, it's just a boar: I'll be impressed when he manages to take down a troll or something without whimpering for his dad," He said. "And I bet his old man is thinking the same."

Clarisse thought on her father's words, and wondered what she'd have to do to impress him.

Without a word, Atreus bolted into the bushes. As he vaulted over a fallen log, he brushed too close to a jagged branch that snagged his clothing and popped his hunting knife from its sheath.

"Clumsy," Zeus remarked, "He must be more vigilant, lest he lose his arms for when he really needs them."

"Zeus, you lost your lightning bolt, possibly the most powerful weapon in the world," Hera dead panned. "I don't think you're in any position to judge the boy,"

Zeus's face turned red as all the other gods and goddesses snickered at his wives words.

"I didn't lose it!" he yelled as he pointed a finger at Poseidon, "He took it, and if he knows whats best for him, he'll return it before the solstice."

"This again?" sighed Poseidon, "Zeus I have not stolen your lightning bolt, I don't want it and I've never wanted it, you lost it and you're just too proud to admit it.

They continued yelling at one another for some time, with either Hera, Hestia or Amphitrite occasionally trying to calm them down. The rest slowly fazed them out and shifted their focus back to the screen.

Kratos followed a few steps behind, vaulting over the log just as Atreus had, in exactly the same place. He landed on something that captured his attention: his son's knife. There could be no greater error for a young huntsman than to lose what he might need save his life. Shaking his head, Kratos retrieved the knife, tucking it into his belt. Perhaps Atreus needed to learn a lesson.

Kratos looked up. Only a few moments had passed, but Atreus was gone. Panic took over his brain like an avalanche. He had only allowed his attention to waver for a brief moment.

The screen turned black.

"Atreus!"


"That was a long episode." Stated Percy.

"Why do they always have to cut at a cliffhanger," asked Grover in frustration.

"So that you'll be frustrated and unable to wait for the next episode," answered Annabeth with a knowing smile. "Percy what did you and Lord Hades talk about earlier?"

"My mother is still alive," Percy answered. "Hades has her locked up in the Underworld, and he's told me that if I want her back, I'll have to come down there and get her."

"Because that doesn't sound like a trap?" asked Clarisse sarcastically.

"If even the Ares kid can tell it's a trap, then he must want you to know it's a trap." Added Annabeth, ignoring the glare leveled at her by said Ares kid.

"Or you know maybe he just wants me to get her," said Percy. "Maybe it was all a misunderstanding."

"Yeah right Percy, Hades, the bad guy in like 99% of all hero tales," said Grover, "I am sure he just wants you to come down to hang out."

"You're right but what can I do?" asked Percy

"Nothing, uncle's got you by the balls and you've got to play his game," said Ares who came over and sat next to the demigods. "Couldn't help but to overhear your conversation." He said, ignoring the awestruck look of his daughter and the slightly frightened looks of the other demigods.

"But don't worry kiddos; Uncle Ares is here to help," he gave them a malicious smile.


A.N: Well it's been a while, and honestly got no excuse for it, but heres the next chapter. Can't say when the next one's gonna drop but I'll try to make it as soon as possible.

Thank you for sticking by this story.