Zane Williams and The Gods of Olympus

by thesuperone342

Ever felt like Jason Grace is a complete disappointment and a failure to what a son of Zeus should be? Ever feel like Thalia was a waste and was thrown away too quickly? Well, this is the fanfiction for you. Join Zane Williams on his quest to be the strongest. Current Arc: The Last Olympian. Yaoi. (Anime Elements/AU) [Bad First Chapter, Needs Rewrite]

7. We Save The World

Alright bois, chapter seven! This should be the end of the Lightning Thief Arc, which is something I honestly didn't think I could say. I thought I would just write the first chapter and kinda forget about the story in it's entirety. But you guys and your reviews have kept bringing me back to write literally every night. Like I said last chapter, I was in Georgia for four days and couldn't write until yesterday. Don't worry about that ever happening again. I try to make a goal to post every Friday. I'll be getting a job very soon, so hopefully that doesn't affect my writing. I'll write during breaks if I have to. Anyway, lets get to some reviews.

toocareful11: "Author you should write somewhere that it this is gay. I ain't trying to read about two guys blushing at each other"

Response: Reader, you should learn how to read correctly. It literally says that the story will probably have Yaoi in it in the summary. If you didn't know what Yaoi meant, that's on you. You should have looked it up before clicking on this.

Echoxenvy 1: "Wow, just wow man. I absolutely love how blunt Zane is. It's like he's the reader saying what we want to say. That scene where he's scolding Percy and Annabeth for telling him he should have gone easy on those street kids was amazing lol. Also, taking Charon's head as a trophy and being amped by the master bolt against Hades? Man, I really gotta step Matt up or you're gonna beat me completely in badassery. Soon enough people will want Malachi to be the mc lol. And your question about Nikandreos will be answered in probably the thirteenth or next chapter. All in all, loved this and can't wait for chapter seven."

Echoxenvy 2: "Forgot to put this in my last review, but having both Zane and Percy fight Ares is brilliant. Very satisfied with chapter six.

Also just a suggestion, but involving Taylor on one of the quests would be cool. Like you could use him in Grover's spot since you aren't gonna use the satyr that much.

Just a thought, whatever you decide I'll keep reading.

P.S my new chapter is out. Check it out please."

Response: Thanks, dude. Yeah, Zane is kinda just a canvas for the reader to put their own thoughts on and speak to the cast of the book in a way. Yeah, Charon's head is going to be a funny gag for like the entire story now. I can't wait to see how strong you make Matt, cause he's got a lot of catching up to do. Also, can't wait to see how you handle Nikandreos, if your chapter isn't out already by the time this goes up. Also, don't worry. Taylor will get plenty of time in this story. Wouldn't have really bothered to create him if I just played for him to be a extra. And about Grover, he won't be as major as he is in the canon books, but I have something planned for him in Sea of Monsters.

Born In The Second Generation: "Ok, thanks for this update. anyways now for the review.

I didn't like that you made Charon and Hades very antagonistic in this chapter. I mean the situations with Hades and Charon could have been deal with diplomacy. The fight with Hades bothered me the most since Percy and co explained the whole bag thing in the Original Lighting Thief, and the situation could have the same in here. Charon was just doing his job and bribing him would have be a lot easier than killing him (I feel this is something Annabeth would say) I feel this chapter was a showcase how ruthless and OP Zane is. I don't think that Zane OPness and Ruthlessness is bad, but the Zane vs Charon and Hades was unnecessary. I think you made Zane too much unnecessarily aggressive.

Now the things I like in this chapter are of course the Nico and Hades reunion, Zane beating up the thugs, and Ares vs Percy and Zane. Zane beating the thugs is justified for me since fuck them and perfect display of Zane's ruthlessness. Nico and Hades reunion for the wholesomeness of Hades, and Ares vs Percy and Zane was the perfect scene for Zane going all out since Ares is a semi-traitor god at this point. I just hope the next chapter would be better. thank you again for the update"

Response: I did a lot of that on purpose. A couple of chapter's ago, Zane probably would have been fine negotiating with someone like Charon. But now, he's a little too arrogant and wants to smash all his problems over the head with his axe. Defeating all these legendary monsters is getting to his head a little, if you can't tell. This will be explored a lot in Sea of Monsters. I will admit, maybe Hades is a little too antagonistic, but he's written rather similarly in the books as well, since he doesn't really give them a chance to explain or doesn't believe them iirc. Also, I was a little burnt when I wrote some of those parts, so maybe it's a little wonky compared to my normal work. About the thugs part, I really wanted to be really brutal there, since Zane wouldn't take any shit from those idiots. I was honestly feeling like I didn't explore the reunion between Nico and Hades enough, since I kinda just glossed over some stuff, like Hades restoring Nico's sealed memories. I just feel like I could have done that better in my opinion. The Percy and Zane vs. Ares fight is going to be an endurance fight, since Zane is completely exhausted and gassed after his battle with Hades. Anyway, I'll strive to make this chapter of a higher quality, but don't expect everything to be perfect, since I have to wrap this entire book up in this chapter and set up the next mini-arc.

Shadowhunter2077: "Hey dude did you ever felt that the Norse and Egyptians gods were to disappointing I know that in the Myths they were inferior to the Greeks put they should be at least comparable to their mythological versions like odin feats puts him at least at the Solar System Level (he created 7 of the 9 worlds of Norse Mythology and also created a sun with the 7 worlds), and yet when he appeared he was disappointing at best.

Also how powerful would be each pantheon on tiering level like the divine beings from each pantheons like what tier each minor god, olympian, titan, primordial are going to be placed in your story (I will not include the Giants because those those guys were a terrible joke) the same from other pantheons like Shinto pantheon, Abrahamic pantheon, Hindu pantheon, Canaanite pantheon (they were the gods that the hebrews worshipped before Yahweh), Chinese pantheon, Maya and Aztec pantheons, Celtic pantheon, etc.

And also the olympians are probably among the most powerful gods in the world they are not only remembered, they are also the embodiment of western civilization, so in way they are always worshipped by millions of people and also is not sure if the gods are really powered by worship because the titans were not worshipped and still were around and the only thing they needed to reach their full power was to Kronos to reach his true from, there also the Primordials but they are another deal, also they could be weakened and still have their level of power its like Asuryan in Warhammer he is still High Hyperversal even after the fall of the empire of his people the only difference was that he was overpowered more easily be the Chaos God Slaanesh while his brother maneged to fight him in a equal ground, the same could happen do the gods from the riordanverse (not only the greeks, but all pantheos) like a god is universe level he will still be universe level the only difference could be that they now can be killed."

Response: Damn, bro. That's a lot of fucking questions lmao. I'll answer those in a bit, I gotta think about the answers to those.

Anyway, enough with reviews. Lets blow this pop-stand.

(Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for the OCs. If the fact that this is on a fanfiction site didn't tip you off, you are a goddamn idiot.)

(000)

Maybe this wasn't exactly my best idea.

Ares stood opposite on the beach away from me and Percy, around ten meters away. He literally radiated power, like a character from an anime, his red burning aura coating his entire armored form. Percy stood by me in his fighting stance, a copy of Luke's. It had definitely gotten better over the quest, but it still wasn't quite as refined as the son of Hermes' form. I held the master bolt in my right hand, blazing with my Thunder Form, hoping I didn't look like I was about to collapse. I was completely exhausted from my earlier battle with the Lord of The Dead, Hades himself. Maybe challenging the god of war to a duel to the death wasn't exactly the best idea.

I looked up at the pier that stood behind us. "Annabeth." The daughter of Athena poked her head over the railing. "You probably need to get out of here. This is going to get really destructive." Annabeth nodded, conceding to my logic. I didn't see her leave, but I heard her rapidly moving footsteps. I turned to the son of Poseidon, nodding at him. "Let's do this." Percy nodded back at me and charged at Ares.

What followed is only something I could describe as something akin to a video game or an action movie. Percy and Ares dueled right in front of my eyes. Ares swings were slow and telegraphed, allowing Percy to dodge his every attack. The swings would probably be faster than a regular mortal could even follow, but to high level demigods like me and Percy, they were rather on the slow side.

It didn't really matter. Whenever Percy would try to counterattack and hurt Ares, Riptide would just bounce right off of the god of war. Not as if Ares was made of stone and the blade just didn't affect him, but more like as if it was being blown away slightly whenever it would it the god of war. Something unnatural was protecting him, something Percy could not get through. Lets see if Ares' protection can protect him against the strongest weapon in the universe.

I willed the master bolt to fire at the god of war. The two foot long cylinder of lightning shot even more lightning out of it in a beam-like attack. The lightning slammed into Ares, immobilizing him. However, he was not even being damaged by the weapon. It was as if he was being restrained instead. I put more power into the blast, which caused more lightning to surround Ares. Percy stopped trying to uselessly kill the god with Riptide and summoned waves from the ocean to try and crush the god of war.

Suddenly, Ares roared and the waves and lightning were blasted away. Me and Percy both were pushed back by some unforeseen force. Percy flew into the ocean and recovered quickly thanks to that. I recovered thanks to the wind stopping me in the air. I didn't have much time to think about my next move, as Ares appeared in front of my face, far faster than he had been moving previously. That proved it in my mind. Ares was toying with us.

Ares attacked me with a relentless assault with his massive two handed sword, which he effortlessly wielded with one hand. He wasn't playing with me as much as he had with Percy. I quickly willed the master bolt to become a one sided axe and met every one of Ares' blows upfront. Ares grinned as he battled me, his flaming eyes burning brightly. I dodged one of his swipes perfectly and was able to land the master bolt right into his forehead. Like Percy's sword had done earlier, the master bolt just bounced off his head harmlessly. As if forced away. Hm.

Ares' weapon and mine clashed, both locked in a battle for superiority. Ares noticeably cranked his power up, so he could match my godly strength. He was clearly holding back, though. While I was far more of a challenge than Percy was, He still didn't need his full power to beat me. Suddenly, to our left, the ocean rippled. The waves rose violently, curling and swashing around. Percy stood to our left, in the water controlling it. He looked at me, as if asking for permission. I nodded, and the son of Poseidon commanded the waves to envelop me and the god of war. However, the water did not reach us.

Ares put his left hand out and the waves stopped, creating a sphere unaffected by the water Percy had unleashed. The water still continued to our right, but did not approach us, as if held back by an invisible force. Ares laughed at Percy's attempt. "You really think your pathetic water could even hold a candle to my divine power, punk!? After I kill my brother, you will be next." Ares was distracted, now was my chance. I channeled power into the master bolt, causing the weapon to glow. Ares' eyes widened. "Wha-!?"

Ares was interrupted as my father's weapon shattered his massive greatsword into dozens of pieces. Ares stumbled back and my weapon slammed into his right side, piercing through his engraved cuirass and drawling ichor. The golden divine blood of Ares spewed from his side as he roared in pain. I guess he can't protect himself whenever he is using that force ability away from himself. Now we had a concrete way to defeat him. Bait him into drawling his field away from himself, then strike. Back to the battle at hand, I drew back my fist, drawling power from the master bolt and my Thunder Form. I slammed my fist into the right side of Ares' armored head. Time seemed to stand still for a second.

Then Ares was sent flying backwards. Ares slammed through the water around us at breakneck speed, smashing into the sand dozens of feet away, roaring in pain throughout the entire experience. Ares' field seemingly vanished and returned to him after my punch, as the water around me enveloped me. However, the water quickly receded. Percy allowed the wave he was being held up by carry him back to the ground. "Did you beat him?" The son of Poseidon asked.

Dozens of feet away, Ares roared in anger and allowed his orange burning aura to burst, causing the sand all around us to be kicked up. The ground shook around us at the power of the god of war. The waves in the ocean trembled and the buildings of in the distance felt the pressure of the god of war's aura. When the sand cleared away, we could see Ares' new form.

The god of war now stood at around ten feet tall now, towering over his previous height of seven feet tall. His helmet was completely gone, likely destroyed by my punch. His face was newly bruised on his right side. His eyes were now blazing hot with flames, causing smoke to rise from his eye sockets. Four massive, bladed leg-like black appendages broke out of the god of war's back, causing him to grunt in pain and ichor to spread. He glared at us, his new back blades pointed at us.

"You two are dead." The god of war told us simply. Despite the simple statement, I could feel the raw anger in his words. Suddenly, before I could even react, the god appeared in front of my vision. Two of his back blades struck out at me and dangerous arcs. Thanks to being in danger constantly for the past week straight, I was narrowly able to avoid the strike. Ares attacked, far quicker than his previous movement earlier in the fight. The god of war didn't even give me a chance to counter attack, as he ruthlessly tried to eviscerate me with his sharp back blade things. He didn't even use his normal four limbs.

Percy wasn't just going to sit back and watch me get killed by the god of war, which would have been rather soon thanks to the speed of Ares' back blades. Percy knew he wouldn't be much use in an upfront fight, so he summoned a massive wave to throw at Ares. However, this wave was filled with two thing the last one did not have in it. Two massive Great White Sharks.

The sharks lunged at Ares as the water slammed into the god of war. Ares wasn't even phased by the water smashing into him, as he just walked right through it. One shark bit into Ares' shoulder, but it's teeth simply turned to dust upon the attempt. Ares casually punched the shark in the torso, causing it to explode into shark gore. The second shark tried to bite Ares' head off, but Ares used his back blades to tear it to shreds before it could even reach him. I saw the aftermath of the second shark, which wasn't very pretty. Really do not want to get hit by those back blade thingies.

Percy was now firmly in the attention span of the god of war. Ares appeared right in front of the son of Poseidon. Ares grabbed the demigod by his neck and lifted him into the air before he could even react. Percy futily tried to knock Ares' arm away with punches, but the god of war was too strong. Ares pulled one of his back blades back to impale the son of Poseidon. Oh hell no.

I charged the god of war, imbuing the master bolt with power as I did so. When I came within reach of the god of war, he struck out at me with two of his back blades. I acrobatically flipped through the attacks and tried to cleave Ares in two with the master bolt. Ares raised his left hand and stopped my attack with his field. I felt all my momentum in my attack cease and I struggled to break past the god of war's field. Ares then increased the field's power and pushed me away. I flew back around twenty meters before I could command the wind to stop myself.

Ares chuckled at my attempt to attack him. Percy, hanging from the hand of the god of war, stuck his sword right into the god's chest. Riptide pierced through Ares' cuirass and drew ichor. Ares roared in pain, and in response, slammed one of his back blades through Percy's torso. My blood ran cold when I saw Ares' back blade ram out the other side of the son of Poseidon, blood splattering everywhere. Percy grunted from the impalement, but his badass self didn't stop. With the last of his strength, Percy twisted Riptide inside the god of war's chest. Ares roared in pain once more, this time louder. Ares growled at Percy and then shifted his wrist, causing Percy neck to snap. My eyes widened as Percy's body went limp in Ares' arms. "NO!" I shouted.

Ares' threw Percy's limp body into the ocean, spitting a wad of ichor on the ground. Ares pulled Riptide from his chest and threw it to the sand. I stood in shocked silence. Ares just...killed him. Just like that. Ares smirked at me, his teeth stained with golden blood. "Don't fret, brother. You'll be joining him soon enough." Ares must have read the expression on my face, which I could imagine was complete astonishment.

Rage coursed through my veins. "I'll kill you!" I roared to the god of war, charging at him. I channeled lightning through the master bolt, flying through the air ready to strike down on the god of war. Ares brought all four of his black blades up into a defense position. My attack struck down upon him, causing him to buckle slightly. I attacked the god of war viciously, not allowing him any time to recover from my attacks. After a few hits, I knocked two of his blades away from him, allowing me to smash the master bolt into his torso. The attack didn't damage him, although he was sent stumbling from the force of the attack. I unleashed six brutal blows unto Ares, each landing in either the chest, face or neck. I wasn't doing any damage, but I was dominating.

Suddenly, Ares roared and I was sent flying away. I tried to recover as fast as I could, but Ares had appeared directly into my face. We both attack each other, trading blows and countering each others attacks. I met his every move, countering his blade attacks, dodging his punches and kicks. However, I was waning. The boost I received from my rage was ebbing away from me, while Ares was just releasing his power. He was going to overwhelm me.

And he did. Ares' attack eventually just became too fast and too strong for me to match. I was pushed completely on the defensive. The master bolt was being used almost exclusively as a shield, as Ares could not even scratch the weapon. I knew he was going to kill me if this kept up. I created a shield of lightning and wind around me, an attempt to buy time. Ares tried to punch the shield away, to no avail. So then, he tried to force his back blades through my shield. That was working. Slowly but surely, Ares was forcing his way through my defenses. His blades were nearly through the shield and I closed my eyes in anticipation of my death. Was this it?

Suddenly, Ares was sent flying away by a glowing blue wave of water. The ocean, now glowing a bright gleaming blue, started to surround the god of war. Ares tried to fight the water, but the water curled up around his left arm and leg and submerged the other two. Ares' back blades were fighting violently against the water, however, they too were being restrained. The ocean rose, glowing the same blue as before. The wave in front of Ares and me open up, revealing Percy Jackson. My eyes widened as I dropped my shield. I stood in awe of Percy. "No way..."

Percy was completely different now. His eyes were now glowing a bright sea green and gleamed with power. His skin seemed to be made entirely out of water, as it rippled and moved like a bowl of water when you touched it. Percy was now shirtless, thanks to Ares practically tearing his shirt to shreds when he impaled the son of Poseidon earlier. Percy only wore his shorts, which looked a little tattered. The most notable thing about Percy's appearance, were his forearms and legs. From his elbow and knee down, his arms were made entirely out of a dark blue fluorescent stone. Percy stood in his new form, burning with power comparable to mine, glaring at Ares with his bright glowing green eyes.

Ares stood in complete shock at the new form of the son of Poseidon. His jaw hung agape. He even momentarily stopped trying to fight out of the glowing water that restricted him. Percy lifted his blue rocky arm up at the god of war with his hand outstretched and then closed his fist. The water that had wrapped around Ares' left arm and leg tightened to the point of snapping Ares' limbs. Ares screamed in pain as his arm and leg snapped like toothpicks, golden ichor spilling from the wounds. Percy didn't give Ares time to recover, as he vanished from the wave he was standing on to appear right in front of the god of war.

Percy drew back a blue, rocky fist and slammed it right into Ares' chest. Ares' torso caved inwards, shattering his engraved cuirass. Ares' torso sounded like a middle schooler crumple up a bag of chips. When Percy's fist hit Ares, it released some kind of vibrational energy, causing the sandstone beneath us to crack in every direction for dozens of meters. Directly under where Ares was punched, the ground seemingly had a sinkhole open up, allowing the god of war to soar down into the earth. Percy clapped his hands together, causing more energy to spew out and close the sinkhole he had created with his punch, trapping the god of war beneath the earth.

I stood up from my kneeled position from the sand. Percy looked over his own arms in astonishment. He looked up to say something to me but was interrupted when I gave him a bone crushing hug. He looked at me confused, which prompted me to elaborate. "I thought you were dead, idiot!" Percy made an 'o' face as he realized why I had hugged him.

Percy gave me a lopsided grin, which look really weird with his face being made of water and all that. "I thought I was, too." His expression became more serious. "After Ares stabbed me and threw me into the water, I was certain I was done for. But some kind of vision came to me into the water. I don't really remember it all that well, but I think it had something to do with my father. When I woke up, I saw that I looked like..." Percy motioned to himself. "..this." He sounded elated.

I clapped him on his watery shoulder. "Well, I'm glad you're alright, man." The sandstone beneath us started to shake and rumble. I sighed as the ground started to crack. Of course that wasn't enough to defeat the god of war. I motioned to the ground. "I guess we need to finish this off, huh?" I charged the master bolt with lightning as my Thunder Form strengthened. I had to draw more power from the weapon, as my form was starting to slip. "Back me up, eh?" Percy nodded as he drew Riptide from his pocket.

A massive arm burst from the sand. Soon enough, Ares rose from the ground, rage clear as day. He was around twenty feet tall now. His red hair and beard now literally glowing lava hot. His hair, which had originally been around shoulder length, was now as long as his entire body and floating wildly behind him. His fiery orange aura blazed from his form, seemingly having burnt the remainder of his ichor stained armor black. His back blades were now flaming, with the tips of them seemingly being made of fire. His earlier wounds were now completely gone.

Ares glared down on us, his burning eyes blazing. "I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM FORCED TO USE MY FULL POWER AGAINST LOWLY DEMIGODS LIKE YOU!" Ares pointed one of his burning back blades at us. "I WILL MAKE YOUR DEATHS SO HORRIFYING AND BRUTAL THAT HADES WILL HAVE NO HOPE TO COME EVEN CLOSE TO REPLICATING IT EVEN IN THE DARKEST PITS OF TARTARUS!" With that, Ares roared and outstretched his massive hand. The ground we were standing on flattened. Me and Percy just barely avoided being crushed by Ares' field.

Me and Percy nodded at each other and jumped straight into action. Me and Percy tried to overwhelmed the towering god of war with quick, fast attacks. Ares' field protected him, as our weapons bounced off of the god harmlessly. Ares tried to attack us with his back blades, his fists and his legs. We were able to dodge all of his attack with no issue, so Ares got angry. His four flaming back blades broke apart into dozens of smaller, burning tendrils. Like mini back blades. Ares spun around, his back blades spinning with him. Me and Percy just narrowly avoided being eviscerated by the dozens of tendrils, dodging through them like a spy dodges through lasers.

Ares' tendrils formed back into four massive blades as he stopped spinning around. An idea popped into my head. I zoomed over to Percy and whispered into his ear, "I have a plan." Percy looked back at me, waiting to hear what I had to say. "I'm going to try and overwhelm his field thingie with the master bolt, and whenever he sends it out in a wave all around him, find some way to get under the ground and attack whenever his field is gone. Understand?" Percy nodded as I began to enact my scheme.

I pointed the master bolt at the god of war and charged my power into it. I willed the bolt to shoot a massive beam of lightning into the war god, causing him to grunt in exertion. Ares held back my blast, while Percy punched the ground. The ground opened up a little tunnel for Percy to climb into, which the son of Poseidon did. I held the assault up for almost ten seconds, before Ares had enough and roared. Ares' field blew me and my lightning back. My own lightning crashed into me, not doing any damage thanks to my immunity. I was able to recover mid air thanks to my wind manipulation, only being sent back twenty meters rather than thousands of meters.

Ares panted after he released the field, temporally being vulnerable. That's when Percy struck. Percy ripped out of the sand and sunk Riptide into the inner thigh of Ares. Ares yelled in pain as he slumped to one knee, ichor spewing everywhere. Ares brought his left arm down to clutch his wound, but Percy stabbed his weapon into Ares' palm. Ares screamed again as Percy jumped up on Ares' arm. Percy used Riptide like it was a climbing axe, slamming it into Ares' left arm again and again as he scaled the god of war's limb.

Percy stood on Ares' shoulder and planted his sword into it like a flag. Ares roared again, unable to do anything from the incredible amount of pain he experienced in only a few seconds. Percy ran along Ares' bleeding shoulder and muscular trapezius and slashed Ares' lip open with Riptide. Ares' immediately stopped yelling, shell shocked with the pain he has experienced. Percy climbed up on Ares head and stabbed his weapon into Ares' left eye. Damn, this was fucking brutal.

Percy jumped down from the god of war, completely covered in ichor. I took this as my cue and charged my weapon. The master bolt was currently molded into an axe head, which it had been the entire fight. It should suffice for this battle. I jumped in the air, allowing the wind to carry me. Lightning danced off the master bolt, and I zoomed closer to Ares. I slammed my weapon into the god's chest, drawing ichor and sending lightning all throughout the god's body. I frowned. I didn't do as much damage as I had wanted to.

I had a fix for that. I willed the master bolt's axe head to become larger, which it did. The head grow to the size of a car and the handle grew to be fifteen feet long. I grinned. This will do. I turned to the practically crippled god of war, and slammed my axe into his chest. Ichor spilled everywhere, basically drenching me in it. I pulled the weapon out and slammed it down again, more ichor spewing this time. I repeated this action almost ten times, making Ares' chest look like someone took a butcher knife and just went to town.

I pulled the master bolt out for the final time and willed it to return to normal size. Speaking of returning to normal size, Ares started to shrink. Rather quickly, Ares returned back to his original size of around seven feet tall. I looked over the form of the god of war. His armor, which had been magnificent and bronze, had now been charred black and basically destroyed. His helmet was gone, whoever knows where the fuck that ended up. He was brutalized, with his left eye gone, his lip split open, his thigh stabbed and his arm and shoulder torn to pieces. Damn, this was pathetic.

I raised my axe to end this as Percy walked up beside me, a grim look on his watery face. Before I could kill the god of war, Ares spoke up. "P-Please.." Ares coughed out blood before raising his good arm in surrender. "Please don't k-kill me.." I nearly laughed at the god of war's begging. He's the one who challenged us to a fight anyway, the least he could do was die with honor and not beg for mercy like a bitch.

I put my left hand to my chin, pretending I was actually thinking about it. "Hmmmmmmm..." I exaggerated my false thinking. "Nah..." Ares couldn't get another word out before I slammed the master bolt into his trapezius muscle. I slashed Ares diagonally, cutting him in two like a 'v'. My axe stopped around halfway to his waist, causing ichor to literally explode from his body. Ares roared in pain, his right arm moving wildly. Yeah, the arm that was almost disconnect from his body. That looked weird.

I got tired of Ares' screaming, so I just decided to end his suffering with one final swipe. Ares' head hit the ground, ichor bursting from his open neck wound. I walked over to Ares and picked up his decapitated head, watching with glee as his facial expression twitched and switched between pain and terror. Suddenly, a vision came to me. It felt like I was seeing something through a mist, but the vision was clear.

I saw...myself. A much older version of myself. I was tall, easily around six foot five and heavily muscled. Seriously, I put bodybuilders to shame. In my right hand, I held some kind of bronze one sided axe, which crackled with lightning. In my left hand, I held the master bolt, molded into an axe form. I stood in a glorious throne room, with thirteen massive thrones in an oval shape around me. Thirteen dead people lay at my feet, their appearances foggy but I knew they all looked different. My older self's eyes were glowing red and smoking and I was facing off against another figure in the throne room.

I couldn't make out too much of the other figure, but I could see they were wearing some kind of Greek armor, similar to that of a spartan's design, but not quite. The only other things I could discern was that the figure was wielding a xiphos and a shield. I could also see the color of the feathers of the figure's helmet. Green and black. My older self pointed his bronze axe at the other figure. "You stand alone, Man of Victory. Prepare for your destruction." My voice was not normal. It seemed as if I had two different voices speaking through my mouth. One was definitely human, while the other was most decidedly...not. My older self charged the figure and the vision ceased.

"Zane!" I was brought back to reality by a voice, which turned out to be Percy. I looked to my left, seeing the son of Poseidon. His new form had faded away, leaving him back to his original one. He looked at me with concern. "You were just standing there for couple of minutes without saying anything. Are you okay?"

I shook my head, not believing what I just saw. "I think so. I just had some kind of...vision, I think." I shook my head. "Anyway, we can't dwell on that now. We have to get this thing to Olympus." I said, as I motioned to the master bolt, which had returned to it's previous form. I tied Ares' head to my belt and the war god's head joined Charon at my waist, the two of them bumping into each other.

Percy deadpanned. "Are you serious?" I shrugged, as cheeky grin on my face. Percy rolled his eyes as a glint of metal from Ares' waist caught my eye. Ares' body had not yet dissolved, which was weird. I bent down to see what the source of light was, only to find the Helmet of Darkness. Huh. I kinda forgot Ares even had this. Whatever, it will help us on our quest to stop the war of the gods, so we might as well take it.

The sound of three figures landing behind us brought me out of my thoughts. I turned around, only to see leathery, bat-like creatures looking on at me, both in confusion and fear. The Furies. The middle one, who I could tell was Alecto, stepped forwards. She had a look of pure hatred on her face, but she knew I would incinerate her in an instant if she tried anything. "We saw the whole thing..." The Fury trailed off as she looked to Percy, who had his pen out, ready to uncap it at anytime. "It was truly not you?"

I spit on the sand in front of them, before tossing the Helmet of Darkness to her. "Return that to Hades. Tell him the truth and to call off the war. Also..." I smiled a bit. "Tell Nico I said hi. Now get out of here before I crush your skull again." She bristled at the casual threat, knowing I could easily honor it if I wanted to.

Alecto's forked tongue slivered out of her mouth. "Live well, Zane Williams and Perseus Jackson. Become true heroes. Because if you do not, if you come into my clutches again..." She trailed off after I glared at her, daring her to finish that sentence. She wisely said nothing, and then she and her sisters disappeared into a shadowy mist.

Percy looked incredibly exhausted. "We have to get to New York. By tonight." Ugh. Why can't we just go home and sleep for a whole month? I know the fate of the world was at stake, but can't total annihilation wait a couple of days or something. Percy looked at me as my Thunder Form faded. I dropped to my knees in exhaustion. "You know what we have to do, right?"

We had to fly. I was way too tired to even attempt to fly across the entire country with my wind powers, which only meant one thing. "You know Chiron told you to never fly on an airplane before we left, right?" I was being cheeky and Percy knew it. Zeus probably wouldn't strike the plane down since I was inside of it, you know, with me being his son and all. Now that I think about it, why didn't we just fly the way here?

Percy nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. 'Zeus will blast you out of the sky' and all that shit." I hid a smirk as Percy swore. I guess I was really rubbing off on him. "But this is a special situation. If Zeus tries to kill us while you're with me and while we have the master bolt, he'd have to be a really big idiot." The sky rumbled at Percy's insults, which Percy promptly flipped the sky off. Heh, suck it dad.

I stretched my shoulders, before putting the master bolt into my back pack for safekeeping. "Yeah, you're probably right about that." I motioned for him to follow me as I walked through the destroyed beach. "Come on, we have to go find Annabeth." Percy dragged himself behind me to follow as I wiped my brow of sweat.

(000)

The next several hours were awful. We had basically ran into a search and rescue team that had been making rounds in the ruins of the city that was once known as L.A. They had brought us into police custody, who surprisingly did not try to arrest us. We reunited wit Annabeth at a police station, who had also been picked up by rescuers. I was confused, considering we had basically been on the run for a whole week and three days. After the media interviewed us, I figured out what had happened. Apparently the mist had altered everyone's perception and made us out to be the victim and that Ares had kidnapped us and caused a hell of a lot of chaos across the country.

So basically, we got off scott free, and did not have any criminal records or anything. The blame was put all on Ares, who to the media, was some mysterious kidnapper and had perished in a violent shooting with the police after the earthquake caused by Hades. After Percy acted like a traumatized kid on live TV, we were shipped off back to Manhattan on a plane. That's why the past few hours sucked. We were coddled by the cops and the media and asked inane and stupid questions that made me want to blow the city up.

The flight was around six hours, six hours of which Percy was completely tensed and terrified. It was the exact opposite for me. I felt completely at peace and at home, the same feeling I always get when I fly. I was able to sleep for the whole flight, which gave me most of my energy back. Whenever we touched down in Manhattan at the La Guardia Airport, we had to avoid Paparazzi who were camping outside the entrance with their cameras and microphones ready to go. Annabeth was able to lure them away using her baseball cap that made her invisible.

At the taxi stand, Percy tried to get both me and Annabeth to go back to camp. I told Percy there was no way in hell I was leaving him, not after all that shit we just went through. Annabeth agreed with Percy, however, saying someone needed to return to camp to tell Chiron of the events that had transpired throughout the quest. I told Annabeth she could leave, but I was staying with Percy. Neither of them argued with me after that, and Annabeth took the first taxi she could hail to Half-Blood Hill.

In about thirty minutes, both me and Percy stood in the lobby of The Empire State Building, which was where Olympus was located, if you don't remember. It looked about the same as the last time I had been here, which was during the winter solstice. Me and Percy must have looked sketchy as fuck, considering we were dirty, covered with ichor stains and Percy didn't even have a shirt. We walked up to the person at the front desk and Percy said, "Six hundredth floor, please."

The guard was reading a massive fantasy book, so he didn't answer us immediately. When the guard finally looked up, he looked at us in surprise and then slight disgust. "No such floor, kids." Heh, this was the same dude that had been at the desk whenever we had taken the field trip here. He must either always play dumb for every single person who asks that or he just doesn't remember me. I don't blame him if he doesn't, because I barely recognize myself in the mirror right now.

I put my hands on his desk. "We need an audience with my father, Zeus." Maybe that would get his attention.

The man's fake smile buckled a little bit. "I'm sorry?" This dude needs to stop playing dumb and fast. I allowed some sparks to fly from my hands on the desk, sparks that the guard was clearly trying and failing to ignore. I put some pressure down on the desk with my hands, cracking the desk a little bit.

Percy leaned on the desk, smirking at my intimidation. "You heard him." Percy cleverly made the guard's nearby water bottle burst, splashing the guard. The guard tried to pretend it didn't affect him, but he eventually dropped the act and growled.

He glared at the two of us. "No appointment, no audience, kids. Son of Zeus or no." He looked directly at me when he said that. "Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced, even if it's his own children." I ground my teeth together. I wanted to punch this guy's head clean off and find the elevator to Olympus myself, but I knew that would piss my father off. Or would it? Whatever, I would show restraint for now.

I opened my back pack and pulled out the master bolt. The guard's face paled. Before he could ask anything, I took Ares' head off my belt and put it on the counter. His face tuned ghost white, and he started trembling. I smirked as he pulled a card out from under the desk. "L-Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's my job to stop just anyone from walking into Olympus. Here, take this card and insert it into the security slot. Make sure no one else is in the elevator with you." He looked at me in fear. "Please don't smite me, son of Zeus." I smirked and winked at him as I took the card.

Me and Percy didn't say anything else to the desk guard as we stuck the security card into it's slot. Inside the elevator, we found all of the buttons to go to different floors. We closed the elevator doors after making sure we were the only ones inside and pressed the button on the bottom, which was labelled: Floor 600. The elevator started to move, rather slowly to be honest. The annoying elevator music was playing the entire ride, which lasted damn near five minutes. When the elevator finally stopped and the door opened, I was met with a glorious sight.

The elevator let off onto a floating marble pathway that sat above the clouds. The view was like that of the plane we had ridden over here from L.A. We saw Manhattan underneath us, however, that was easily the least interesting part of the view. The marble pathway eventually led to massive marble stairs that led up into the sky. The object in the sky was the most amazing thing in sight.

A mountain seeming burst from the clouds, as if the clouds were the ground. The peak of the mountain was flattened, a massive city sitting on the top. Mount Olympus. The city was something I could barely even describe. It was basically a massive city of mansions and palaces. The buildings were of an Ancient Greek design, but were almost otherworldly. The mansions were the size of the buildings of Manhattan down below the clouds, and the palaces eclipsed skyscrapers in height. The palaces were completely amazing. I had never seen anything their like. Thousands of roads twisted and turned to lead to the building that laid onto of the summit. I knew immediately that was where we had to go.

When we finally reached the top of those fucking stairs, which took nearly thirty minutes, We stopped to take in the streets. The roads were completely spotless, looking like something brought straight out of a movie. The Ancient Greek road design somehow looked more advanced than the roads of today. People, likely either minor gods or goddesses walked the streets. They looked at us, whispering to themselves as they walked on by. I didn't pay them any mind and continued our walk to the summit of Olympus.

It took us forever to reach the main palace, thanks to the roads being more confusing than L.A. was, but we eventually made it. I realized the palace had a very similar design to Hades' palace in the Underworld. Hades must of modeled his palace after this one. We walked up the massive stairs that led to the entrance of the main palace, not being stopped by any guards. They took one look at me and Percy and gave us a short bow. Huh. That was weird.

We stepped into the throne room, which was probably the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Massive columns rose from the ground to the ceiling, with unique carvings on all of them. Tapestries lined the walls, which would have made even the greatest weaver jealous. The ceiling was domed, and had living constellations on it. That was very fucking cool to look at, not going to lie. It was just as cool as seeing it last solstice.

Thirteen massive thrones, all built for someone the size that Ares had grown to in our battle, stood in the center of the room in an inverse 'U' shape. In the center of the thrones, a large burning hearth stood, illuminating the entire room. The thrones were empty, all except two. The one directly in the middle, and the one to it's immediate left. I didn't exactly have to tell you the gods who filled the thrones.

My father and Poseidon. My father sat on his throne, a massive simple platinum seat, in his massive human form. He wore a dark blue pinstriped suit, which did little to hide his muscular form underneath. His hair was long and curly, much like mine. His well trimmed bear was matted black with specks of grey in it, looking like a storm cloud. The air smelled like rain and water as me and Percy approached him.

The other one, sitting right next to my father, was obviously Poseidon, god of the sea. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots on it. He looked a little goofy, not going to lie. His skin was deeply tanned and his handed were rough and scarred, like a fisherman. He looked a lot like Percy, just with a beard. His throne looked a lot more complicated than my father's, it was made of some kind of blue glowing stone, much like the arms of Percy's new form.

There was tension in the air around them, as if they had just argued. Both of us stopped in front off our parents and bowed. "Father." We both said at the same time. Percy and I looked at each other, a embarrassed look on his face and a slight smirk on mine. Oh, this was going to be good.

Zeus spoke up, speaking to Percy. "Shouldn't you address the master of this house first, boy." My father had a grumpy tone, but he looked approvingly at me. My heart jumped a little at that look.

Poseidon interrupted whatever Zeus or Percy was about to say. "Peace, brother. It is only natural that he refers to his father first. Your son did the same thing." I looked at Poseidon as he said those words. The memories of the elder cyclops trying to crush me returned to my mind. I gripped my hand in an attempt to not say anything about that and let the past be the past.

Zeus glared at Poseidon. "You still claim him then? You still claim this child who you sired against our sacred oath." Now hold on now, pops. Didn't you have both me and Thalia?

Poseidon was quick to point this out. "I would not speak in such a way if I were you, brother. Did you not sire even more children that I? Before and after my son's birth?" Zeus was silent for a bit after Poseidon's rebuttal. "I admit my wrongdoings, you would be wise to do the same. Now we should let my son speak."

Zeus sighed. "You are right, brother. I did break the oath. I should not be the one angry with you, then." Zeus waved the situation off. "It does not matter now, Poseidon. They are both here and they have come to speak to us." Zeus glared down at Percy. "I shall listen to what your son has to say. Then I shall decide whether to cast him down from Olympus or not." My father's stormy blue eyes lightened up as he said that.

"Perseus. Look at me." Poseidon spoke to his son. I just noticed Percy had kept his head down for the entire time our parents had been talking. I couldn't read Poseidon's facial expression and I could tell Percy couldn't either. Percy was probably tearing himself up inside trying to find out what his father thought about him. That makes me wonder, what does my father think about me?

"Address Lord Zeus, boy. Tell him your story." And so Percy did. It was an abbreviated version of the story. After he mentioned Ares, the gods seemingly just noticed Ares' and Charon's heads tied to my waist. Zeus had demanded why Ares' decapitated head was at my waist, but I could also see the pride in his eyes. We finished our story, finishing with the story of the battle against Ares and how I had killed him.

Once the story was finished, I took the master bolt from by back pack and held it out to my father. The bolt flew from my hand to my father's, almost as if he used the Force. I knew he had just used the wind to carry it to him, but it still looked cool. "I sense that our sons tell the truth..." My father trailed off before using the wind to summon Ares' head from my belt. Zeus held Ares' head in his other hand while he twirled the master bolt in the other. "This is unlike Ares. He is definitely the most pig-headed and stupid of my children, but even he would not do something this brash."

Percy had something to say to that. "Lords?" He asked, gaining their attention. At their behest, he continued. "Ares wasn't working alone. Someone or something else had come up with the idea." Percy went on to describe the dreams that he had. The ones where he was talking to a black, dark pit. The ones he had described to us on the train. "I felt...something when we got close to Hades' palace. The flying shoes that Zane had wore tried to take off when we arrived. I got the same feeling that I felt in my dreams when that happened." I looked at him in surprise. He didn't tell me that.

Zeus and Poseidon immediately started to converse with each other in Ancient Greek. They talked about someone, their father, and if he had returned or not. The two wondered on the possibility of such a thing, before my father raised his hand. "We will speculate about this later. I have to personally go to the isle of Lemnos to purify the bolt's human taint." He also turned to me. "And...I must speak with my son." Poseidon nodded as Zeus stood up and walked over to me. He put his massive hand on my hand and then we disappeared. My vision turned white.

When the brightness dimmed from my eyes, I could see I was standing with my father in the clouds. We seemed to literally be walking on the clouds themselves, as if the vapor was solid. My father stared off into the distance. The stormy clouds were vanishing, giving way to the bright sun of the afternoon. Me and my father stood in silence for a while, not saying anything to each other.

Zeus was the one to break the silence. "Do you hate me, son?" My father spoke in a resigned tone, as if he was dreading this conversation. He continued. "Do you hate me for not being around when you were growing up? Or for not saving your mother? Or for siring you at all?" Wow, dad. Hell of an icebreaker.

I shook my head. "No. I know gods can't exactly be involved with the upbringing of their demigod offspring, as Annabeth said. So I don't blame you for not being there when I was growing up." I looked at him, to see he was still looking at the sun above. "I don't really blame you for not being there to save my mom. You're king of the gods and you probably don't have the time to deal with the affairs of mortals. She probably wasn't even worth your time" Okay, maybe I was a little bitter.

Zeus' blue, thundering eyes turned to me. "Do not say that about your mother." Zeus spoke to me in a firm tone. "She was an amazing, kindhearted woman. Never speak ill of her." Zeus looked longingly to the sky once more. "She reminded me of Hera before she turned sour and bitter." His face fell. "Something that is my fault." Oh yeah, you know, my dad was like the biggest man-whore to ever walk the earth.

We were silent for a little. "Well, I still don't blame you. You probably had no way of knowing she was in danger from those Laestrygonians before it was too late." I tightened my hand into a fist. "Those Laestrygonians got what they deserved, though." I looked back at my father. "I don't blame you for siring me, either. I mean, why would I ever curse the person who brought me into this world for bringing me into this world?"

Zeus was silent for a few seconds. "Either way, for what it is worth, I am sorry." Zeus sighed. "You will have to go through many trials and tribulations in your life due to my own lack of self control. That is why you should hate me for your upbringing."

I shrugged. "Well, I don't. If I'm not strong enough to go through life, then I deserve all of the hardships yet to come." We stood in silence for a while, before a thought popped up in my head. "What will happen to Ares?" I gestured to the severed war god's head still being carried by my father.

Zeus looked down and his face scrunched up. "He will be punished accordingly for his betrayal." He smirked a little. "I have half a mind to let you keep his head as a keepsake, but he is needed for his role as the god of war, so a different punishment will be in his future." He looked at my back, which had my empty Labrys sheathe there. "Your weapon. The Labrys you wielded. What happened to it?"

"Oh. It was destroyed in my battle with Hades." I knew better than to ask how he knew I had a Labrys. I missed that damn axe.

Zeus' eyes widened. "You battled Hades?!" I felt him brush up against my mind with his. His expression morphed into one of realization. He must had read my mind or something. "Oh, you used my master bolt to increase your power to battle your uncle." He smirked, looking proud as could be. "Even being enhanced by the bolt, battling the Lord of The Dead is no easy feat. You have quite a future ahead of you, my son." His face looked as if he was pondering something. "Although, no son of mine shall have no weapon. I will have Hephaestus forge you an axe worthy of your power. Expect it soon."

My father was actually going to be doing something for me? Holy shit, this was amazing. "Thank you, father." I said from the bottom of my heart, a grateful smile on my face.

Zeus smiled, before bending down and giving me a hug. It probably looked really awkward, considering he was twice my size, but it was the best thing to happen to me in a long, long time. So I didn't say anything about it and returned the hug. Zeus chuckled and ruffled my curly hair. "I must leave for the isle of Lemnos, now. Take care, my son." Lightning struck my father's form and I could only see the whiteness of my father's lightning for a few seconds.

(000)

When my vision cleared, I found myself on the street of Manhattan, standing in front of the Empire State Building. Standing to my left was Percy, who seemed to be in some sort of trance. I tapped in on the shoulder, which woke him out of it. We traded stories about what our fathers had talked to us about. Percy got a little jealous when I told him Zeus had hugged me.

Percy hailed a taxi. "I gotta head back to my mom's apartment to go clear some things up with Gabe before I return to camp. Wanna come with?" I didn't really have much else to do, so I accepted. The drive wasn't too bad, considering that it was Manhattan. we arrived at the steps of Percy's apartment and Percy ringed the doorbell, steeling himself for his stepfather.

What he did not expect, was his mother answering the door. Their reunion was tearful and heartwarming, although I felt like I was intruding on a personal moment. Maybe I should have gone back to camp. A thought occurred to me. How the hell was Percy's mother alive? Hades said he killed her in the Underworld, yet she was standing here before us. Percy had asked her the same thing, after the whole crying and hugging thing was finished.

Percy's mother, who was named Sally, told us her story. How she had remembered nothing after the Minotaur grabbed her, only flashes of a burning hellscape. I guess Hades had sent her to Tartarus and then retrieved her after we gave him his Helmet back. He must have wiped her memories, as she didn't remember much more than a couple of images. Sally said she had just appeared in the apartment and scared the shit out of Gabe. Gabe had told her how Percy had been travelling across the country, blowing up national monuments and causing bus crashes.

Eventually, Sally noticed me. "Who might your friend be, Percy?"

I answered for myself, not allowing Percy to answer for me. "I'm Zane Williams, son of Zeus and one of Percy's friends. I joined him on his quest to save the world and all." I answered, trying my best to be charismatic. I guess it worked, since she smiled at me after my response.

"Well, thank you for helping Percy with his quest and freeing me by proxy, Zane." Before she could say anything else, a voice called across the apartment. It had asked her about meatloaf and where she was. I could only assume that ugly, disgusting voice had been Percy's stepfather, Gabe. Sally closed her eyes and breathed in and out. She turned to Percy. "He isn't going to be happy to see you, Percy. His store got half a million phone calls today..." She trailed off, looking at Percy with a knowing smile. "Something about free appliances."

Percy smiled weakly. "Oh, yeah. About that..." I tried my hardest to not burst into laughter, failing miserably. Percy turned a fake glare onto me, not able to hide his own smile.

Sally rolled her eyes and laughed. "Just don't make him any angrier, okay? You two come on in." We followed her into the apartment, which was a complete dump. Like seriously, it looked like a landfill inside here. Trash was everywhere. Dirty laundry pilled all over the place. And the stench was the worst thing about the whole place. How the hell did Sally live here?

We followed Sally through the apartment to a small table in the middle of a mini living room. Three people sat in the chairs. Two of them were nothing special and just looked rather normal. One was as skinny as a methhead and the other looked like a bearded version of Butterbean. The third one was overweight, wearing no shirt. His hair was balding and his pathetic excuse for a beard created a little ring around his mouth. He also smelled like a combination of cheese, mold and smegma. Yeah, I wanted to throw up. This had to be Gabe.

Gabe looked up from his card game he was playing with his two goony friends. When he saw Percy, his face turned as red as blood and he dropped his cigar from his mouth. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here, punk. I thought the police-"

Sally interrupted the poor excuse for a human. "Turns out he's not a fugitive at all. Isn't that wonderful, Gabe?" Sally tried to put up a false tone of cheer but I could tell she was really worried about what the bastard was going to do.

Gabe looked in between Percy and Sally. His eyes eventually landed on me. "Whose this faggy looking kid?" Woah dude. I clenched my fist, my desire to brutally kill this piece of shit going through the roof. "Whatever. Doesn't matter." He looked back at Sally. "It was bad enough I had to give back your life insurance money, Sally. Give me the phone. I'm going to call the cops." Wow, this guy was probably the biggest asshole I had ever met.

Sally wasn't having that shit. "Gabe, no!" She pleaded.

Gabe rose his eyebrows as he rose from the table, his fat body jiggling. "Did you just say 'no'? You seriously think I'm going to put up with this kid again? I can still press charges for him ruining my Camero." Percy told me the story, and technically my father had totaled your car, so maybe you can try bringing it up with him? I don't think that would go so well.

Sally was still trying to reason with Gabe. "But-" Gabe raised his hand and Sally flinched. My eyes widened at the reaction. So Gabe must have hit her before. Oh, I really wanted to rip this bastard's intestines out and strangle him with them. Percy looked even more enraged. He stood in front of his mother and withdrew his pen.

Gabe laughed at him. "What, punk? You're going to write on me? You touch me and you're going to jail forever. You understand?" That just made me want to kill him even more. Gabe's idiot friends laughed at his stupid threat. Gabe sneered, showing his brown, tobacco stained teeth. "I'll be nice to you, punk. I'll give you five minutes to get your stuff and clear out. After that I will call the police."

"Gabe!" Sally begged. But Gabe was having none of it.

"He ran away, let him stay gone." Gabe told Sally, completely uncaring. His idiot friends were badgering him to get back to his game, so Gabe turned around and sat back down at the table. I think I literally saw him start to breath a little heavy from the exertion of doing so.

Sally took Percy by the arm and whispered something in his ear. I called out to Sally as I turned around and walked to the door. "I'll wait for Percy outside, Mrs. Jackson." She nodded towards me as she dragged Percy into a hallway away from the living room. I didn't leave, however. I just walked back up to the table where the three fuckers where playing cards.

Gabe looked up from the game. "I thought you said you were leaving, fag." My eye twitched and I brought my hand down on the table, violently. The table burst into four pieces and spread cards and cash everywhere. The three asshole froze in shock at my casual display of strength as I outstretched my hand. Lightning flew from my fingers and incinerated all the cards and money, causing the bastards to flinch.

I gave them all a nice smile. "I hope you enjoy your game, gentlemen." I turned around and walked out the door, leaving Gabe and his stupid goons shell shocked at my powers. I stood outside the apartment for about ten minutes, waiting for my cousin to finish his business and leave.

Percy eventually walked out off the apartment, carrying a couple of bags. He seemed in a really good move, surprising me, considering how ugly that had gotten in there. He turned to me, a smirk on his face. "Was that you who broke the table?" I tried to keep a nonchalant face, but I couldn't and broke out into a big smile.

"Maybe." The two of us looked at each other, trying to keep a straight face and failing. Eventually we doubled over laughing. Once things calmed down, we hailed a taxi and told him to take us to Half-Blood Hill. Before the car went down the road, I mused, "Well, considering how dangerous that whole quest was and the fact we literally killed a god, I'm pretty sure we're going to be hailed as legends." Percy just nodded at my musings and looked outside the window, a lot on his mind.

Percy turned to me, a questioning look on his face. "Zane...when you killed Ares and picked up his head, you...kinda zoned out. When I asked you about it, you said you had some kind of vision. What did you see?" My mind flashed back to the vision I had received after Ares' death. My older, darker self carrying the master bolt and an unknown axe. I had been facing off against some kind of unknown figure. Now that I think about it, the room looked remarkably like the throne room on Olympus. I had stood over thirteen unknown corpses, and there had been thirteen thrones. My eyes widened. It couldn't be.

Percy noticed my facial expression shifting. "What's wrong, Zane?" I didn't have anything to hide from my cousin, so I just told him the truth. His eyes widened after I relayed the events of the vision to him. "So you think that the place you were standing in was the throne room in Olympus?" I nodded to the son of Poseidon, who shook his head in disbelief. "Damn. So this older, evil version of you killed the gods?"

I shrugged. "Possibly. I didn't exactly see the features of the bodies on the ground, but the number matched the number of thrones in the room and the room looked like the throne room we were just in." I put a finger to my chin. "But who was the guy I was going up against? My older self called him 'Man of Victory.' But what does that mean?"

Me and Percy didn't say anything the rest of the drive back to camp, the events of the vision on our minds. Why did I kill the gods, and who was this 'Man of Victory?' Why would I have any reason to kill the gods? Yeah, they weren't exactly the best people around, but if I remember correctly, the previous rulers in their place were significantly worse. Kronos, my grandfather, had literally eaten his children to prevent them from overthrowing him. Ouranos, my great-grandfather had just been a massive douchebag. My father wasn't a perfect leader or person, far from it, but he's was the best we have. These questions and topics never left my mind the entire time we were in the car.

(000)

The return to camp was amazing.

When we had walked through the entrance of Camp Half-Blood, we were greeted by basically the entire camp. Most members from the camp were waiting for us, ready to congratulate us and ask us our story. I had later found out that Annabeth told everyone what had happened when she arrived back at the camp, so the campers were waiting for us. Except the Ares cabin, for obvious reasons. The only member of the Ares cabin wait on us was the person I had been waiting to see since I left.

The reunion with Taylor was legendary. He had walked up and pushed everyone in front of me out of the way and gave me the biggest hug imaginable. I knew it would probably create rumors, but I hugged him back anyway. I hadn't seen him in ten days, which was forever when I had been spending almost every waking moment with him for a year and a half. Taylor practically dragged me away to fix my hair and make sure I got a shower.

After I got cleaned up and my hair got styled back to it's curly form, Taylor grilled me about what about. He had heard about most of the quest details from Annabeth when she had returned, but Taylor wanted to hear from me. I told him everything. About The Furies, Medusa, The Chimera, the waterpark, The Lotus Hotel, Charon, Cerberus, Hades and the final battle, his father. Unlike the rest of Ares cabin, Taylor didn't really give a shit that I killed his dad. "He's not actually dead, not permanently at least. Even if he was, I wouldn't really care." Yeah, Taylor didn't care too much about his dad.

Anyway, after Taylor asked questions for an hour, Percy had come to find me and tell me that Chiron wanted to talk to me about the quest, mostly just to be sure about the details Annabeth had told him earlier today. When I arrived at the Big House with Taylor and Percy at my side, Chiron did just that. He confirmed everything I said about the quest, and even asked me what I wanted to do with Charon's head. I just told Chiron to turn it into a lamp or something and put it in the Big House. Charon chuckled at my request, before taking the minor god's head.

Later that night, since we were the first to complete a quest since Luke and the whole Golden Apples thing, there was basically a big feast for us at the bonfire. We had won some laurels for our efforts, and were awarded them by the camp. Annabeth had her grey laurel given to her by her cabin, which they made specifically for this event. Since me and Percy didn't have any cabinmates to make our laurels, the Ares cabin volunteered to make ours.

The laurel Percy received was hilarious. It was just an old bedsheet with painted smiley faces with 'X's over the eyes with the words 'LOSER' imprinted on them. Percy promptly threw it in the bonfire as soon as he received it. The one I had received was a black laurel mixed with stormy grey and lightning blue. I wondered who made this one, before Taylor was the one presenting it to me. Oh. I blushed like crazy before accepting the laurels with a smile. More rumors, I guess, but I don't really care.

The ensuing party was amazing. The Apollo kids were, as always, leading the sing-along and passing out s'mores. The Hermes kids were doing what they did best, cause chaos. I had to nearly break one of the Stoll Twins' wrists because they tried to pickpocket me. The only people at the bonfire who weren't in a good mood were the Ares cabin, but that was normal since their dad had literally died yesterday. Surrounding me was Percy, Taylor, Annabeth and a mixed group of campers from each cabin. Out of the corner of my eye, I could even see that Dionysus was trying to hide a smirk in a can of Diet Coke. This night was amazing.

Time passed quickly after. The next few weeks went by pretty quickly. I had basically resumed my normal routine. Take basic camp classes, train in the Arena with Luke, Percy and Taylor, and hang out with them at the bonfire. Only two things were really different. One, Annabeth hung with us a lot more often. She still went to her classes and training like she normally did, but in her free time, she would hang with me, Percy and Taylor. Another thing was different as well, something that wasn't as good as the previous thing. Luke was acting distant. It was barely noticeable, but after a couple of weeks, I could tell. He would talk less at the bonfire, he would teach combat at lot less, too, often referring to me or Taylor to take his spot. Whenever asked why, he simply responded with, "I have a lot to do at the moment."

Soon enough, the 4th of July came up. This was one of my favorite moments of the year. At the bonfire on the night of 4th of July, they would hold a massive fireworks show. The four of us sat on a blanket in the grass, enjoying the sight of the images that would pop up in the sky from the rockets. In front of us, I saw Annabeth lean into Percy unconsciously. I saw Percy stiffen at the contact, but he made no move to get up. I nearly laughed at the sight, but I couldn't ruin the moment for my man.

My amusement was cut short whenever Taylor leaned into my shoulder while watching the fireworks. He literally did the exact same movement as Annabeth did, only a few seconds after. My face heated up. What was this feeling? I didn't do anything to stop it, however, as the finale of the fireworks show was about to start. I lied on the ground, Taylor leaning into my shoulder beside me, mesmerized by the display before us in the sky.

(000)

Eventually, July passed even quicker than June did, which was saying something because I was gone for most of June. July wasn't really noticeable, except for one particular event. One day, a day mostly just like any other, I was walking to the Arena with Taylor. We were going to meet Percy there, as all three of us had agreed to teach the class. Luke was acting even more distant, almost not being around for the entire day now. The three of us had basically taken up to teaching combat classes. But on this day, something spectacular happened.

While walking to the Arena, me and Taylor noticed a crowd that had gathered in the middle of the camp. We walked up to check out what was going on, only to find a familiar face. Nico di' Angelo. He was different than when I last saw him in the Underworld over one month ago. His face was a little more prominent, less baby fat, making him look a little older. He was a little taller, almost Taylor's height, who stood at four eleven. We wore his usual aviator's jacket, with his dark shirt with a skull plastered on it. At his side, a three foot long black one sided sword hung from a sheathe built into his jeans. A symbol floated above his head, a skull.

He saw me and his eyes widened. "Zane!" He said, before moving through the crowd to me. "I finally found this place! After he trained me and gave me this sword, Father sent me here to live! I took nearly a week to get here, and almost two days to find the camp! I had to kill, like, ten monsters on the way here! One of them was a cyclops, which look nothing like they do in Myth-O-Magic! The others were-!" Nico pretty much started to talking at the speed of a roller coaster.

I chuckled as he went off. "Calm down, Nico. Tell me, slowly, okay?" The son of Hades nodded and told me at a more comprehensive speed. Nico had spent around a month in the Underworld with his father, training and learning the life of a demigod. Whenever his training was done, Hades had given him a sword, which was made of a dark metallic substance called 'Stygian Iron.' Due to the Ancient Laws, Nico could not stay in the Underworld to live with his father, so Hades told him to find Camp Half-Blood, which he said was in New York. Whenever Nico was done with his story, Taylor tapped me on the shoulder.

"Who is this, Zane?" Ah, makes sense that Taylor wouldn't know who Nico was. I relayed the information to Taylor, who nodded and outstretched his hand to Nico. "I'm Taylor Smyth, son of Ares." Nico shook his hand, which lasted for a couple of seconds. I could have sworn I saw Nico wince a little at the end of the handshake and shake his hand, but that's just me.

"Anyway, Nico," I started, gaining the son of Hades' attention. "You need to head to the Big House. That really big Victorian mansion that's on the hill over there." I motioned towards the Big House, which stood over the camp. "Chiron will get you settled in, and he'll answer any questions you have about the camp and the divine world in general." I gestured to Taylor. "Now me and Taylor have to go. We're teaching a class at the Arena, so we have to head over there. Come find us at the bonfire after dinner, alright?" Nico nodded and went to go do what I said.

As me and Taylor walked to the arena, Taylor asked me a question. "So you met that kid at the Lotus Hotel, right?" Taylor asked, referring to the information I told him about Nico when introducing the two.

I nodded. "Yeah, I basically saved him from the Hotel whenever we got attacked there. He was in there since 1939, so he's like eighty something years old. He just looks eleven since the Hotel slows your aging down." Me and Taylor reached the arena. "Anyway, we're here. You can ask more questions about Nico later."

Another weird thing that happened that day was that whenever we left the class and the arena, we found there was now fourteen cabins in the camp, rather than thirteen. A dark, Greek styled building now stood on the outskirts of the other cabins. Apparently we now had a Hades cabin. It had simply just...grew out of the ground. I guess Hades didn't want Nico staying with the Hermes cabin for the whole time he was hear.

Speaking of Nico, after he was settled into the camp, he joined the friend group that had consisted of me, Taylor, Percy and Annabeth. Wow, our little group was starting to get a little bit bigger now, huh? He fit in rather nicely, as he had so much energy and made our group even livelier. It was good that he had us, since no one else would approach him at the camp. Either it was because he was a Big Three kid, or it was because people didn't like Hades or something. Nico didn't really seem to mind, though.

The rest of the summer seemed to pass quickly. Nico got better with his sword, which he had started surprisingly good at. I guess Hades drilled some fighting skill into him. Speaking of weapons, one night, I had found a package on my bed. There was a note attached to the box, which was from my father. It read: Sorry that this is a little late, my son. I have had lot to do in the past couple of months and I was finally able to get around to having this made for you. It should be much more powerful than your previous weapon, as it was made directly by Hephaestus. It's name is 'Keravnos.' Use it well, my son. Sincerely, your father."

After reading the letter, I ripped the package open. I pulled out the weapon that my father had forged for me, and inspected it. It was made out of Celestial Bronze and some other kind of gold material. The handle was completely gold, with a grip and curve in it that perfectly fit my hand. The axe hand was curved, made entirely out of Celestial Bronze and had some kind of golden design on the sides of it that looked like a lightning bolts spreading out.

After receiving Keravnos, which meant Thunderbolt in English, I wore it on my back in my sheathe everywhere I went. No one really commented on my new weapon, except for my friends, who asked where I had gotten it. I told them the truth, that it was a gift from my father. That one made Percy a little jealous.

On the final night of summer, the night where all the summer only kids would be leaving in the morning, there was one final feast to celebrate. I received my second bead on my leather necklace along with Taylor, while Percy and Nico got their first bead. Percy smiled at the necklace, while Nico was freaking out. It made me laugh. Nico has so much energy it's awesome. I guess not even a month in the Underworld can kill his vibe.

After the meal was done, the Nymphs passed out envelops, mostly just the ones that asked if you were going to stay for the entire year or if you were leaving in the morning. Me, Taylor, Nico and Annabeth all chose to stay, an obvious choice for three of us. Percy wasn't too sure on his choice, since he said he had his mom to think about. I thought about Sally Jackson, and how Percy told me she had been doing much better recently. Apparently, she had gotten hold of the head of Medusa and turned Gabe to stone.

Anyway, in the morning of the next day, there was no classes due to the choices pending about staying at Camp. I turned my envelop in, obviously deciding to stay and headed over to the arena. I wanted to get in some light training before going to find Taylor. Whenever I arrived at the arena, I found Percy there before me, watching Luke train. Luke's movements were fast and precise, the true work of a master. But they seemed much slower than they had been a couple of months ago. I could only assume it was because I had gotten stronger, but I hadn't seen Luke train in a long while, since he had been gone for most of the days this summer after the quest. Percy noticed me and we fist-bumped, not saying anything while we watched Luke train.

Luke eventually noticed us, stopping mid swing and not eviscerating a dummy. "Percy. Zane." I looked at my mentor, the one who basically taught me everything I know about fighting. He was sweating, as was common when you do intense training. His face was serious, like he was actually in a fight. I've never seen that expression on his face, not even when he was fighting me and Taylor at the same time.

Percy's cheeks flushed, embarrassed about...something. I don't know why he reacted like that. "Um, sorry. We were just-" Percy, don't you dare lump me into something I don't agree with, now.

Luke interrupted Percy, waving him off with his sword. "Don't worry, it's okay. I'm just doing some last minute practice." What did he mean by that? Luke was a year-round camper. Was he leaving this year? Percy asked the son of Hermes about the destroyed dummies that laided on the ground. Luke waved off his concerns with his sword again. 'Don't worry about them, we build new ones every year."

I noticed Luke's sword, which was definitely different from the last time I saw it. For starters, it was about a foot longer, and was two different colors. One side was Celestial Bronze, while the other side was some iron looking color. That was really cool looking, but what purpose did it serve?

Luke noticed me and even Percy looking at his blade. "Oh, this? My new weapon. This is called Backbitter." That was a weird name. It also seemed vaguely familiar. "One half of it is made of Celestial Bronze, and the other half is made of steel. This is a sword for both mortals and immortals."

I nodded at Luke's explanation. "Practical. I normally just use my fists when it comes to regular mortals." I shook my wrists. "It gets messy, though. Maybe I should get something like that?" I motioned towards the blade. "I didn't even know they made weapons like that."

Luke nodded at my question. "They don't make any weapons like this." He looked at the blade with a smile on his face. "This baby is one of a kind." Luke turned and looked to us. "Listen, I was going to come looking for you two. What do you say we go down to the woods one last time. Look for some monsters to fight." I narrowed my eyes at his suggestion. Ever since my winged boots had tried to go flying off in the Underworld, I looked at Luke a little differently. Did he know the shoes were going to do that? And if he did, why didn't he warn me?

But, I was rather bored at the moment. "Sure. I haven't fought a monster in a couple of months. Lets go." Percy was a little hesitant to follow us, but after Luke showed him that he had a six pack of Cokes, Percy relented. Where did Luke even get those?

We walked into the woods, looking for any kind of monster to fight that could be wondering the woods. We found no such thing, and decided to walk down to the river, close to the spot where the hellhound had attacked Percy at. We sat on some nearby stones and drank our cokes in silence.

After a little while, Luke broke said silence. "You two miss being on a quest?" I mean, I miss the thrill of it, but I don't miss the repetition. It just felt like one problem after another when we were going to the Underworld. I mean, I literally fought two gods back to back, not to mention I killed a minor god not a hour before those two fights.

I shook my head. "Not too much. I may miss the thrill of the quest and all, but I don't miss everyone around me being in danger." I motioned around to the forest. "Why would I want to constantly be on a quest when everything I care for is right around here." A certain son of Ares flashed into my mind when I said that, and a slight blush came upon my face.

Luke nodded at my answer. "Good answer as any, Zane." He turned to Percy. 'What about you, Percy? Do you miss being on a quest?"

Percy was silent for a minute, contemplating his answer. It seems my answer had an effect on the Son of Poseidon. "Yeah, I guess I do miss it, if I'm being honest. But I have to agree with Zane on this one. Everything I care for is this camp, except my mom. Why would I want to leave?" Percy raised an eyebrow. What about you, Luke?

Luke's facial expression darkened as Percy said that. Most people usually said and talked about how handsome he was, but none of that was present at the moment. Luke looked angry, bitter and vindictive. He looked like he aged ten years in a second. His scar looked deeper and his hair almost looked grey in the sunlight.

Luke was silent for a couple of minutes. But eventually, he answered in a bitter tone. "I've lived at Half-Blood Hill since I was fourteen years old. Ever since your sister died, Zane." Luke referred to me. "I've trained, trained and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, and be out there in the real world. Then they throw me one quest, and when I came back, they said 'Okay, ride's over. Have a nice life.'" Luke sounded real angry. I've never seen him like this before. He always was carefree and kind. He must have been hiding some real pain for the last two years.

Luke crushed his Coke can and threw it into the water. This surprised me. The Nymphs and satyrs of the camp were real serious about not littering in the camp. They would shove centipedes and spiders in your bed-sheets if they found out you littered. Luke continued, angry ad before. "To hell with those stupid fucking laurel wreathes. I'm not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic." Woah, Luke. Calm down, man.

Percy was confused. "You make it sound like you're leaving, Luke." Luke smiled at Percy's question. Not a kind, brotherly smile he'd usually give the younger campers. No, this was a dark and sinister smile. I tensed, wondering what was going to happen.

Luke looked Percy right in the eye, his ugly smile still etched on his face. "Oh, I am leaving, Percy. I brought you and Zane here to say goodbye." Luke snapped his fingers, creating a small fire at Percy's feet. A scorpion, the size of my foot, stood at Percy's feet. Percy started to go for his pen, but Luke interrupted him. "I wouldn't do that, Percy." Luke motioned to the scorpion. "Pit scorpions can lunge fifteen feet. It's stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds.

My eyes widened, as did Percy's. "Luke, wha-?" Percy stopped his words, looking at Luke in disbelief. "It was you." Impossible. Luke couldn't be betraying us. But it made sense, now that I think about it. He was the one who gave me the winged shoes, and tried to get me...uh, something'd in the Underworld. I drew Keravnos off my back.

"You traitor." I said simply, not believing my own voice. Luke was the one who basically mentored me when I arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Why would he try to get me killed or try to kill Percy now? It didn't make any sense.

Luke stood up from the rock, dusting off his pants. "I saw a lot of the world out there, you two." He looked the two of us dead in the eye. "Didn't you feel it? The darkness gathering, the monster growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All heroics, being pawns to the gods. They should have been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they have hung on, thanks to us demigods."

I looked at him, disbelief written all over my face. "Luke...do you realize how you sound? You're talking about our parents." I could hear the delusion in Luke's voice. It was clear as day.

Luke laughed, as disturbing sound. "Is that supposed to make me love them? Their precious 'western civilization' is a disease, Zane. It's killing the world. The only way to save it is to burn it to the ground and start over with something more honest." Oh, I guess he was one of those crazies now.

Percy shook his head, careful not to move the rest of his body to not alert the scorpion. "You sound insane, Luke. You're just as crazy as Ares was." Luke's face darkened at the comparison, and his fist gripped together in anger.

Luke glared at the son of Poseidon. "Ares is a fool. He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, I would explain, but I'm afraid you two won't live long enough to understand." The scorpion crawled onto Percy's leg, gripping on to the length of his pants.

Percy knew what Luke was talking about. "Kronos. You serve the King of The Titans." The air around us grew considerably colder, as if the world itself was cringing at the name. I did a double take. Kronos? When did this happen? I knew Percy had dreams of some kind of being in some void, but Kronos?

Luke looked around us, feeling the air grow colder. "You should be more careful with names, Percy."

Percy didn't care. "Kronos got you to steal the Master Bolt and The Helmet of Darkness. He spoke to you in your dreams." So I guess Kronos is the guy in the void in Percy's dreams. Was that what my father and Poseidon were talking about?

Luke's eye twitched at Percy's words. "So he spoke to you, too, Percy? You should have listened to him." The disbelief that had previously filled my being was now being replaced with anger. I was itching to slam Keravnos into Luke's skull.

"He's brainwashing you, Luke. Can't you see?" I said to the son of Hermes.

Luke's eye flared in anger and he gritted his teeth. "You are wrong, Zane. He showed me my talents are being wasted here. You want to know what my quest was about two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the guardian of Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I had done, that was the best he could come up with?" Luke spoke as if he was insulted by the quest.

My veins coursed with anger. "Are you fucking serious?" Luke turned to me. "You betrayed the gods and everyone you know for personal glory!?" I pointed my axe, Keravnos, at him. "You are going to pay for this, Luke. I'm going to kill you, stuff your head and make sure you do end up like the dusty trophies in The Big House attic."

I started to step forward to him, but Luke interrupted me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Zane." He pointed at the scorpion, which was on Percy's shirt now. "One word from me, and that scorpion stings Percy. He'll have a minute to live." I looked at the scorpion, before summoning wind to grab it away from Percy. The scorpion floated in the air, being carried by my wind, and started to flail about. I summoned a bit of lightning from my finger tips and incinerated the little insect.

I turned to the traitor son of Hermes. "Well?" It couldn't be that simple, right? I was ready for anything that Luke was going to throw at me. Luke couldn't have thought a simple scorpion was going to stop me.

Luke smirked. "You can't believe that's all I had ready for you, Zane. I knew the scorpion would be no challenge for you." Luke snapped his fingers. A massive burst of flames appeared behind him, almost ten feet tall. "I wish I could watch your death, but I have places to be. Goodbye, Zane." I tried to swing my axe into his face before he could move, but the fire behind Luke exploded into a yellow, blinding light, interrupting my attack.

When my vision cleared, Luke was gone, somehow vanishing before my sight. Behind where the traitor stood, a massive figure was located there. The monster was over ten feet tall, and seemed to be made out of living flames. The figure wore golden, ornate armor and carried a golden spear as long as they were tall. The figure smirked at the sight of me, his handsome flaming face being burned into my memory.

"Well, hello there." The figure's voice was smooth and cultured, like that of a wealthy English person or Obi-Wan Kenobi. He leveled his flaming spear at me and Percy. "I am Hyperion. Titan of Heat, Heavenly Light and Power. I am here to kill you. Any last words?" The Titan's smirk widened.

"Fuck."

(000)

And done. This was a fun chapter to write. Anyway, the Lightning Thief arc is over. The next are will be coming soon, which will be a mini-arc. It is called: Zane Williams and The God of Olympus: The Blinding Light. Guess who the main villain is.

Just so you know, there won't be a chapter next week, as I am going to Universal Studios for the entire week and won't have my computer with me to write. Also, the reason there is Thirteen Thrones and cabins rather than to initial twelve, is because of one reason. Helios. In the game of Apotheon, after Nikandreos kills Apollo, Helios is freed from Apollo's dungeons. While Apollo was reforming after his death, Helios took his spot on the sun chariot. Once Apollo reformed, Helios didn't just give the chariot back. The two spent centuries in argument and rivalry until Zeus reformed after his death. Zeus put their argument to an end once and for all and told the two to share the sun chariot. So, thanks to this, both of them switch out days when they ride the chariot. So in this story, Helios is one of the major Olympians. This shouldn't bring too many changes, so don't worry. Just a little world building.

Anyway, see you guys next time.