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]

14. I Almost Die (Also My Sister Is Alive)

Chapter Fourteen, boys. Over two hundred thousand words and we're still kicking. Makes my first statement in chapter one seem a little dumb now, huh? Anyway, lets get to some reviews.

Jay: "Chris got what he deserved, a traitor's death. Ugh and for that challenge, I'll probably do it in a week or two. Fuck I'm not looking forward to rifling through seventeen years of fics"

Response: Lol, when you get around to doing it, post the number here in the reviews.

Echoxenvy: "Alright, this is gonna be a long review, so get ready.

In no way shape or form is this a bad chapter. It absolutely blows my mind that you think this is lackluster. Dude, you must be kidding me, playing humble or something, because no way in hell if I wrote this would I think it was a bad chapter. I'm going to go ahead and say it, not caring what others think about this opinion.

This is the second best chapter in the series so far. Behind Percy and Zane vs Ares.

Zane discovering Taylor's sexuality was well done, his jealousy against Arthur was well done, the Sirens scene was well done, everything was well done man. The scene where Percy explodes on Zane and calls him out was intense and had me scrolling for more. The best scene in this chapter and hell maybe even the whole series would have to be Zane's inner monologue.

Holy shit man, when he reflects on his past and how much of a monster he's become, that was a masterpiece scene. It fucking blows my mind that you think this chapter was bad. That scene was truly, truly incredible. I damn near teared up when Zane thought "Before all this, I was just...a normal kid. I went to school like everyone else." And "What happened to me? What happened to Zane Williams?" It was amazing. I really hope that you take what I am saying as legit praise and not ass kissing, because that is not the case at all. You always say that my story Son of Hercules is better than yours. Well let me tell you that this chapter rivals and exceeds my best work man. Harper's past, Malachi vs The Twins, Malachi being freed, Matt vs Ouranos, all of these scenes are no better than what you just wrote man, I am seriously impressed."

Response: Thanks, man. Seriously. I honestly thought last chapter was a little dog shit if I'm not going to lie. I felt like all that you just mention was either handled poorly or came out of nowhere with no build up. I thought I was only good at writing fights, but I guess I can write good character moments, too. Alright, then. We're going to kept this style of writing for each chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one.

Shadowhunter2077: "Loved the chapter, especially the self reflection moment of Zane, and of course the father and son moment of Zeus and Zane, I'm really curious about that story that Zeus told about the pantheon.

And I don't want you to think I'm telling you what to do with your story, but I have a suggestion to you, you could make the chornicles of the kanes be between the books like the Red Pyramid be after the Sea of Monsters, The Throne of Fire after The Titan's Curse, and The Shadow of the Serpent after The Battle of the Labyrinth, this is because I think the Egyptian pantheon would be a perfect place to Zane learn self control, because since he will be dealing with a weaker pantheon he would have to control his strength so he don't accidentally "kill" a god or kill the Kanes, this is also because the crossovers only happen after the Heroes of Olympus and the Chornicles of the Kanes during the Heroes of Olympus so by the point that the crossover happen Zane will be to op.

And for last about the Great Old Ones, the easy way to explain is like this: think of Cthulhu as the Dionysus of the Great Old Ones and the High tier Old ones as the Big Three, Cthulhu is just a glisp of what a powerful Old One can do, the most powerful Great Old Ones are stated to be higher dimensional beings (possibly unbound by the dimensional space but they don't have a lot of feats so is unclear) so they should be at least High 3-A or Large Universe Level.

Ps: sorry for the very long review"

Response: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. The Kane Chronicles suggestion was something I didn't really think of very much, and I'm actually considering it. I was only going to do a one chapter mini-arc with Zane trying to connect to Thalia after she is brought back from the dead. I might actually do that now. However, it would lengthen the story exponentially and delay the events of Titan's Curse, so I'll let everyone who is reading this decide that. Should I do only one chapter arc or tie in Kane Chronicles right now? So Cthulhu was only a low tier Great Old One? I didn't know that so thanks for correcting me. I'll probably put the higher ones on par with Poseidon and Hades but weaker than Zeus. Also, don't worry about the long review, it's fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Enough with reviews, let's blow this pop-stand.

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

(000)

The son of Hermes glared at me, his sword drawn and his posture ready to jump into action at any moment. "I see you haven't forgotten how to make an entrance." Luke smirked at me, his large friends who looked like they were made of pure space stood up from the ground where I had blown them away not moments before.

"I was under the impression you were gone for good, after what your so called 'friends' told me about you." I looked at my friends, who looked between me and Luke with tension on their faces, like they weren't sure who I was going to attack. "Yeah, that's right. They told me all the shit you've done recently, including killing Chris." Luke's smirk fell and a somber look adorned his features. "I knew sending him to spy on you would be dangerous, but I didn't expect it to lead him to his death. But he knew the risks when he joined with us. Which reminds me..."

Luke paced in front of me, his space friends standing behind him a few feet away. "I am once again going to extend an offer for you to join us. Your friends turn their back on you due to your more...violent tendencies. Don't worry, with us those methods are appreciated. Encouraged even. Join forces with me and our Lord Kronos and take your revenge on those who turned their backs on you." Luke extended a hand to me.

I looked at Luke's outstretched hand and my friends held their breath. I scoffed and shot a blast of lightning where Luke stood. The son of Hermes immediately vanished from the spot and reappeared a few feet away in an instant. "Go fuck yourself, Luke. I've already wronged and failed my friends far too much. I would never do the unthinkable and kill them for some petty fucking vengeance. I'm not like you."

Luke's face turned sour at my words and I turned my back on him to my friends. I noted that Grover was now among them, wearing nothing but a T-shirt with his goat half on full display. Everyone of them looked at me with a face of either anxiety, distrust or fear. Percy's face was one of the worst to look at, as utter disgust as present on his features, as was Annabeth's. I noticed both Nico and Taylor wouldn't meet my gaze, and I cringed in anticipation on how this was going to go. "

"Look guys, to start off, I'm sorry for everything I've done." Percy scoffed at my beginning and Annabeth looked like she was about to yell at me, but I held up my hands. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. 'Zane, you've said that a bunch of times already and haven't stopped being an asshole. What's next, are you going to say you'll do better?' Yes, I'm saying that. I am going to do better." Percy scoffed again and didn't bother to look me in the eye anymore.

I tried to not let that response get to me and continued. I sighed and looked at the afternoon sky above us. "While I was up there, I did a lot of thinking and I talked to...someone who knew everything I was going through and what I had done. Up there I realized I was a killer, a murderer and a monster. I've come to terms on who I am and that I need to change. The problem was that I didn't know how I could change and how I could face you all. The people I care about."

Everyone looked a little shocked when I finished that sentence. Okay, maybe I don't really care about Arthur or Grover, but I care about everyone else just fine. "Yeah, I care about you guys. I wouldn't have come back if I didn't. And because I care and because I'm disgusted by who I have become, I promise that this time I will change. I swear on my mother grave." A somber look passed over my face as I finished my promise. Everyone, even Percy didn't know how to feel about my words. I didn't get a chance to say anymore, as Luke interrupted me.

"Are you done with this sappy, friendship shit?" I whirled around as quick as lightning at Luke's words, a glare on my face. Luke smirked and continued. "It's seriously cliche and overplayed." He chuckled. "I didn't take you for one to apologize for all the fucked up shit you've done. I thought you of all people would be the one to stand by their actions. Oh well..."

Luke trailed off, before looking like he forgot something important. "Oh, by the way, this here is Krios, Titan of the Stars and Constellations..." Luke gestured to the yellow space-like being on the right. Krios crossed his arms at Luke's words and mean mugged us. Luke continued, motioning to the purple space Titan on his left.

"..and this here is Koios, The Axis of Creation and The Titan of Intellect. They will be the instruments of your destruction today. Unlike Hyperion, both of them are not weakened whatsoever. They are at their full strength and ready to kill you. Now, can we get this show on the road? I invited a group of strippers for all my men on the Princess Andromeda and I really don't want to miss the show." Classy.

I didn't respond to any of Luke's taunting and reached out to feel the auras of the titans who stood behind the son of Hermes. Krios was a fair bit more powerful than Koios, but Koios' aura was odd, like it was more condensed or something. I couldn't risk clashing with Krios and endangering my friends once more. "Guys, listen to me."

I spoke, gaining the attention of all of my friends who stood behind me. I put on a serious expression, the lightning sparkling of my Thunder Form giving me a commanding presence. "I will fight both Koios and Luke. I'll draw them away from here and it will give you all a chance to team up on Krios." I knew that fighting Krios myself and making sure he didn't hurt my friends with his weird star energy was the more tactical option, but clashing with a foe on par with the Olympians would put them in danger, which was something I was done doing.

Koios was weak enough for me to kill him quickly and then focus on Luke, who was the most dangerous with his time stopping ability. I had to get Luke away from the fight, as he was a threat to everyone here and I could do little to affect him at the moment. I didn't bother to look or hear the response of my friends and I turned to Luke and his Titans. I shot a powerful blast of lightning at Luke, forcing him to time stop several feet away.

As Luke moved, I shot forward like a lightning bolt and punched Koios right in the chest. Some kind of metal sheet formed on Koios' torso right before I hit him, but that didn't stop Koios from flying several hundred feet away, smashing through trees and boulders in flight. I turned to where Luke stood and smirked. "Kronos' bitch says what?" I blasted away after Koios before I could hear Luke's reply, intent on killing the Titan as quickly as possible.

I zoomed through the forested hills of Polyphemus' island, following the tracks of destruction my punch how sent Koios along. Speaking of Polyphemus, what happened to him? I saw Grover among my friends, so I expected Percy probably just killed him like he was nothing. I wasn't sure and I guess I would ask him after I killed Koios and Luke, if he's forgiven me enough to talk to me, that is.

Anyway, back to the situation at hand. I, after several seconds of flying, found Koios laying in a pile of rocks that used to be a boulder. I appeared in front of the downed Titan, and raised my axe, intent on cleaving him in two vertically. The Axis of Creation threw up both of his arms, creating a sphere of material that looked like diamond around him. Keravnos slammed into the diamond dome, cracking it but being stopped in it's tracks. That must have been some tough diamond to stop a strike from Keravnos.

But not tough enough. I channeled lightning through my weapon, causing the diamond to explode into shards. Koios grunted from the force of my action and I raised my axe once again to slam into his skull. But before I could cleave the Titan's skull in two, Koios vanished from sight. I reached out with my aura sense, and found Luke to the left. Behind the son of Hermes was the Axis of Creation, who was dusting his celestial space like body off. Luke had a dark, angry expression on his face. "Do you think you're cute or something, Zane?"

I smirked and flipped back my hair. "I know I'm cute, Luke. I mean, look at me. My hair is adorable and my face is even more so! Who could ever find me not cute?" Taylor apparently, as he liked Arthur and not me. I tried not to think of that as I twirled my weapon and paced back in forth in front of the Titan and the son of Hermes.

I shook my head. "Well, enough with the cheeky banter, my dear traitor. Let's get this show on the road." I vanished from view and tried to cleave Luke in two with Keravnos, only for him to predictably time stop away. Luke appeared behind Koios, who waved his arms, creating a massive axe made out of pure gold. The axe floated in the air towards me and tried to bisect me in two. I caught the axe with both of my bare hands, only for Luke's sword Backbitter to slam into the side of my face.

The blade's point didn't pierce my skin whatsoever and I heard Luke grunt in annoyance. I flashed my aura, creating a burst of lightning and wind around me, forcing Luke to time stop away. My eyes turned to the space-like titan who continued to try and force the massive golden axe down on my form, failing entirely.

The Titan's empty, featureless face stared directly into my eyes. "Zane Williams. I am Koios, as you know. I was informed that you killed my brother Hyperion one year ago. I look forward to avenging his death by ending your existence." The Titan's voice was echoey, as if there were three different people speaking all at once, only a little off sync. I didn't say any word to the titan and I pressed down on the axe with both of my hands.

The golden axe shattered like a mirror that a heavyweight boxer punched at full force. Koios stumbled back, despite him floating in the air a couple of feet of the ground. I rushed at the Axis of Heaven, intent on slamming Keravnos into his neck and severing his head. Koios threw up his arms and forged a dome of metal around his body before I could hit him. While in it's arc, I charged Keravnos with lightning and smashed into the dome with incredible force.

The metal dome shattered like a window a rock was thrown through and Koios smashed into the ground under the force of my blow. I tried to slam my axe into the shoulder of the Titan, only for him to vanish from view before I could land a hit. I turned to my back, only to see the point of Luke's blade about to enter my eye.

Backbitter hit my eye and did no damage whatsoever. I swung my axe at Luke's torso, only for him to vanish and reappear to a couple of feet to my left in an instant. I growled, charged my left hand with lightning and shot it at the general direction in front of me.

Luke vanished from view and appeared above the lightning in the air, and tried to slam Backbitter on my face. I scoffed and let the weapon bounce uselessly off my face. Luke vanished and reappeared on front of me a few feet away as I tried to punch him in the torso. "What are you trying to do, Luke? You can't hurt me! You are punching outside your weight class!"

I felt the wind pressure change to the left of my head and shot my arm up, only to catch a spike made out of diamond right beside my head. I crushed the spike and turned my head, only to find Koios about twenty feet away forming more of the same kind of spikes out of mid-air. Koios sent the blast of diamond spike towards me and I threw up my hands, creating a barrier of wind for the spikes to bounce uselessly of my barrier.

I sent a blast of lightning at the Axis of Heaven, only for him to created a wall of gold to block it. My lightning collided with Koios' wall and obliterated it in an instant, knocking Koios back from the force. I felt the wind change from behind me and I turned, only to see Luke slam his sword into my neck. Backbitter bounced of my neck like a bat bouncing of a wall. "Useless!" I shouted at the traitor son of Hermes as I tried to fry him with my lightning. Luke vanished from view again, making me growl in frustration. This was going nowhere.

Time to focus on Koios. I charged the Titan, who was still trying to recover from my blast of lightning. Koios gasped at my form rapidly approaching him and he created a sword made out of silver that was in the style of a scimitar. Koios tried to cut me in half while I was in flight, but I dodged like a ballerina. I tried to slice the Titan's arm clean off with my axe, Keravnos, but the Titan vanished once more. My eyes twitched in annoyance. I was tired of this bullshit. "We cannot harm him!" I heard Koios voice call out from around a couple dozen feet away.

I looked in the direction of the sound, to find that the Axis of Heaven standing beside the son of Hermes, panting a bit in exertion. "How are we supposed to defeat him? He's far too powerful for me to fight upfront and you cannot even hurt him in the slightest! It's only because of your abilities Lord Kronos have gifted you that we are even able to confront him at all! I wouldn't last more than five seconds against him alone and you would be defeated as if you were an afterthought without your gifts! What are we supposed to do?" Koios sounded frustrated with an undertone of fear in his voice as well. I tried to squash my pride from hearing the uncertainty in the Titan's voice, knowing it would only cause me to underestimate them. I needed to be able to defeat them hastily and with no hubris.

Luke turned to the Axis of Heaven with a snarl on his face. "Shut up and continue to do what you are told! You are going to fight him and you are going to do it with everything you've got! Understand!?" Koios, a Titan, literally shrunk back from Luke's tone. What? Koios was far stronger than Luke, why was the Titan shrinking back like a bitch from a mere demigod?

"Now, let's go." Koios nodded hesitantly and both of them vanished. Luke appeared to my right, trying to slice my head clean off. I had enough, grabbing his sword in it's arc. Luke tried to pull his blade from my grip, only to fail. I started to crush the sword, only for both it and Luke to disappear from my sight. I rolled my eyes, only to be forced to dodge a spear made out off some kind of purple material. I caught the spear in it's arc, and threw it back right at the Titan who had manifested it.

Koios, instead of creating some kind of defense, dodged to the right instead, albeit barely. Appeared from my side and tried to gore me with Backbitter, only for me to throw a punch in his direction faster than he should have been able to react to. Luke predictably time stopped away to the right. I growled, having enough of Luke's shit. I tried to punch where Luke had moved to, only for him to vanish again. I immediately tracked his aura after he vanished, finding it to the left of me about five feet away.

I threw a bolt of lightning at the ground, trying to create some kind of Area of Effect attack to catch Luke after he moved. Luke still was able to avoid it, making my face twist in anger. Luke smirked at my annoyance, making me even angrier. "Can't touch me, Zane?" Luke vanished, appearing right in front of my face within reach. I tried to cleave his head off, only for him to vanish once more.

Luke appeared to my right. "How about now?" I tried to blast him with lightning, only for him to appear to the right. "Now?" I raced in front of him, trying to slam Keravnos directly into his skull, for him to vanish again. Luke reappeared right behind me, tapping me on the back. "Oh, come on. You really can't touch me?"

I roared in anger at Luke's words, blasting wind around me in every direction. Luke was forced to time stop away, but the wind still affected him somewhat. The trees in every direction was blow out of the ground, and the hills started to rip a little.

I flinched when a diamond hammer from the Axis of Creation. It didn't hurt but I was still knocked a bit to the side whenever it hit me. I glared at the Titan, blasting a massive bolt of lightning at Koios. The Titan tried to create a barrier out of some kind of silver metal, only for it to immediately explode and be sent flying back. Luke appeared out of nowhere and tried to slice my neck.

I narrowed my eyes at the son of Hermes, only to dodge his attack instead of letting it collide with me instead. I sent of blast of wind at the traitor, him again flashing away. The wind destroyed a bunch of trees and a hill far away from the fight, making me cringe. I was trying to be less destructive and hold back so I wouldn't kill everyone around me, but I was getting angry and making mistakes that could kill people close to me if I'm not careful. Off in the distance, I saw a massive blast of yellow energy cover almost have the island, making my eyes widen in awe at the attack because it looked cool as shit.

I barely avoided a really sharp looking spike created by Koios, who had recovered from my attack earlier. I rushed at the Axis of Creation, quicker than he obviously expected and tried to punch him in the face. Another stupid fucking shield made out of gold appeared from nowhere and shattered at my punch in place of the Titan. "Stop making fucking shields and die when I attack you!" I shouted at Koios, who tried to float away from me.

I tried to attack the Titan again, only for the son of Hermes to appear in front of me. I tried backhand Luke away or turn him into a pile of gore with a swipe, only for him to vanish a-fucking-gain. "And you! Stop being a fucking pussy and fight me!"

Luke appeared in front of me once again and smirked. "Alright. If you insist." A orange aura blasted from Luke, making the ground crack and even blowing Koios back several feet. He punched me right in the face with surprising speed. I spat out a wad of saliva as my head was knocked to the side. That actually hurt. Like, a lot.

Luke tried to slice my head in head, which prompted me to dodge. I felt a sharp pain on my face, noticing that Luke's Backbitter had actually cut my cheek. Luke attacked me with a barrage of sword stabs and swipes that forced me to go on the defense and dodge the son of Hermes' attacks. I blasted wind out in every direction to get Luke away from me and I floated a few feet of the ground and propelled myself a couple dozen feet away.

I touched my cheek and looked at my fingers in shock as I noticed the blood on them. Luke smirked at me. "A gift from Lord Kronos. He allows me to draw from his power to summon a portion of his strength for a time. Thanks to his generosity, I am able to face you one on one." I noticed Luke said, 'for a time.' He couldn't use this for very long, unlike my Thunder Form, which I could use indefinitely. If I could last long enough against Luke, the form would probably vanish and I would be able to obliterate him with ease, as long as he didn't start time stopping all over the place again.

I looked at the son of Hermes with a glare, rubbing the blood of my fingers. "Finally. I've been waiting for a chance to punch your fucking brains in ever since you decided to hide under Hyperion's skirt last year when you betrayed us. I hope your cowardly time stopping powers haven't dulled your skills." Luke's facial expression looked surprised as I revealed I knew his ability and I rushed him.

I slammed my axe against his blade, shattering the ground underneath us. Me and Luke flashed in and out of sight trying to overwhelm each other in combat. I dodged and deflected Luke's fast, precise sword attack with more skill that I had last time. Luke was forced to dodge and evade my heavy, powerful attacks from Keravnos. Me and Luke's fists met, our punches creating shockwaves that not even Koios could be close to, as the Axis of Heaven having to be around thirty feet away from our battle.

I was noticeably stronger and quicker than the son of Hermes, as I was starting to overwhelm him. Luke was being pushed more and more on the defensive as I had to deflect and block less and less of his attacks. My lightning encased fist collided with his cheek, causing a wad of blood to spew from his mouth. I kneed Luke in the stomach, knocking the air out of him and causing him to grunt in pain. Luke tried to slice my neck with Backbitter, his speed being inhibited by his pain.

I dodged the attack with ease and headbutted him directly in the bridge of his nose. Luke's nose cracked and his growled him pain and small tears dripped from his eye sockets. I backhanded Luke to the ground, pushing up the dirt as he was driven several dozen feet away from the force of my blow. I advanced upon the fallen son of Hermes, only to have to throw up my hands to catch a massive block of metal that was the size of a building that had been materialized from out of nowhere.

My arms caught the large box and they nearly buckled from the weight. I grunted in exertion and looked up at the massive building sized cube in surprise. "What...the...hell...?" I ground out, my arms shaking from having to hold up the massive cube. "Why...is this...so fucking...heavy!?"

Koios floated up front the far away position that he had been in away from the incredible exchange me and Luke had shared. "It is Osmium mixed with the bits of a Neutron star." Koios echoey voice told me as he crossed his arms. "It's one of the heaviest possible metals in the universe, a perfect way to contain you." Koios raised both his arms, spikes made out of some kind of rainbow crystal appearing beside him. "Now, perish."

Before Koios could even try to impale me with those weird rainbow spikes, I focused my power too my eyes. Lightning shot out of my eyes like heat vision from Superman and raced straight at Koios. Koios hilariously yelped and forged his rainbow spikes into a hastily made round shield, which shattered and the Titan was sent flying back. I looked up at the massive cube, my arms nearly buckling under the weight of it. I took a deep breath and squatted down, my legs burning from the effort.

With one explosive movement, I threw the massive cube into the sky. The cube disappeared into orbit, never to be seen again. I panted, shaking my arms from the effort I had just used. I picked up Keravnos, which i had dropped catching the massive cube. Before I could turn back to Luke, a fist covered in an orange aura slammed into my temple and and sent me into the ground, dragging the dirt from the ground as I flew across the meadow we were on. Once I finally stopped, I shakily stood up, seeing double in everything around me. I barely had enough sense to dodge Luke's ferocious from Backbitter that would have removed my head from my shoulder and I shook the double images from my head.

I growled at the son of Hermes, who stood in front of me in a fighting stance. "That was a dirty move, you fucker." I didn't allow the traitor to respond, as I charged him immediately after I go the words out. Luke barely managed to avoided a lightning encased fist from me and he tried to counter attack with a head kick.

I caught his leg and threw him to the side, through several trees. I appeared behind Luke and tried to bisect him in two, only for him to twist in the middle of the air and avoid my attack. He landed on the ground, ripped a tree out of the dirt and tried to bat me with it like I was a baseball.

I allowed the tree to come into contact with me, causing it to break as soon as it touched me. I never understood why characters in movies who are incredibly powerful picked up objects like trees and lightposts to use as weapons. They would just break as soon as it touched them. I made a bee line towards Luke, who did the same towards me.

We collided, trying to push the other back. The ground cracked almost instantly as our forces were set upon it and Luke lost all his leverage. I didn't, as I could fly. I flew Luke into the ground below, causing even more damage. Luke tried to push Backbitter through my neck, but I battered the weapon aside. Luke tried to reach for the weapon, only for me to plant Keravnos into his left forearm, stopping his movement in it's tracks, causing the son of Hermes to scream in pain.

Surprisingly, Luke's arm wasn't severed and remained attached to his torso. I didn't care about that at the moment and started to pound Luke in the face. My lightning encased fists met his cheeks, nose, forehead, temples and neck as they blurred in and out of sight, even to me. I battered the son of Hermes for nearly a minute, causing blew to spew from his face and mouth. Luke looked like he had been battered in the face by a hammer by the time I was done with him, his blood staining the ground behind him and my hands. I hit Luke across the jaw with one more mighty blow, roaring as I did so.

The punch caused Luke's orange aura to vanish and his head crumpled on the ground, unmoving. I saw the slow rising of his chest and decided to put an end to this. I ripped Keravnos from his forearm, and raised the blood stained axe high above my head to finish the traitor off with one final strike. I saw Luke's eyes open on the ground and widen with fear. Before I could end the greatest threat to Olympus, I was stopped by a silver and golden like metal dome forming around me, locking me inside the metal ball.

I scoffed at the action. Koios' attempts the try and hold me or defend against me have all failed, as shall this one as well. I punched the wall of the dome, expecting it to shatter like my heart when think about how Taylor likes that prick Arthur and not me, but the wall held firm. My eyebrows rose and I tried to punch through the wall again. Same result. I narrowed my eyes and encased my fist in lightning, punching the wall once more.

No change. I pulled back Keravnos, charged it with lightning for a few seconds before slamming the weapon into the dome. Again, nothing came of it. I growled, before slamming my weapon against the wall several times in quick succession in an attempt to break free, but I accomplished nothing. "It is futile trying to escape, Zane Williams." I heard Koios voice right outside of the dome, his echoing voice reverberating around the entire dome. "The metal is made of Universal Titanium, the metal that the Titans forged in their war against the gods. Even Zeus himself with the Master Bolt would have trouble breaking through this sphere, let alone you."

Koios' voice paused outside of the sphere and I heard shuffling. "Stand, Luke Castellan. Zane Williams has been apprehended and has absolutely no chance at escape. How shall we proceed?" At Koios' words, I furiously punched and kicked with all of my might against the Universal Titanium, creating shockwaves inside it and making absolutely no progress in getting through. Desperation filled my attacks as they sped up, still making no headway. I roared as I tried to smash through the dome with all of my might, only for the dome to be completely unharmed. I slumped against the wall of the sphere, panting in exertion from my own attacks.

I heard a groan outside of the Universal Titanium prison, belonging to the traitor son of Hermes. "We-" I heard the time stopper cough his throat out for almost ten seconds, probably throwing up all the blood that was in his throat from me beating him in an inch of his life. Luke cleared his throat and continued to speak.

"We leave him in there for now. From what you've told me about the material, Koios, he shouldn't be able to escape. We'll return to Krios and help him kill Percy Jackson and the rest of the demigods. Then, we will return here and bring Zane to Lord Kronos after reviving him with the Fleece. Come, my friend, we have work to do." Luke's words made my blood freeze. Luke and Koios were going to kill my friends and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I was stuck in the giant, stupid fucking ball and I couldn't escape. I came back after realizing I was a complete asshole and monster and I was about to fail in the first step of my path of redemption. Rage coursed through my veins and lightning started to surround my form. I was going to get out of here no matter what. Nothing was going to stop me.

I flexed my aura, lightning and wind picking up all around me. The air and the space around me began to become distorted from my power. I roared, the intensity skyrocketing. I heard the two outside panic. "W-What!?" Luke shouted as the Universal Titanium sphere started to shake. I yelled as the amount of power I was releasing started to break through the limit of anything I'd ever done before.

I couldn't even see anything inside of the sphere, only the bright flashes of lightning. I threw both of my hands to the side, releasing all of my power in one go. The Universal Titanium absolutely burst and everything in a several hundred foot radius was destroyed. When the blue lights faded from my eyes, I found myself floating in a crater, Luke and Koios now around a few hundred feet away.

Luke was shouting his head off. "How!? How was he able to escape!? Scratch that, how the hell was he able to destroy the Universal Titanium!?" Luke turned to the space-Titan who stood beside him, a murderous look on his face. "KOIOS!" The Axis of Heaven jumped from the utter rage in the son of Hermes' tone. "How in the ever-living FUCK was he able to break through!? You said that Universal Titan was used for the armor of the Titans in the war! How was Zane able to break through it?"

Koios almost cowered in the presence of Luke, which would have confused me, but right now I was too angry to give a shit. "I-I do not know, my lord." Koios coughed a bit, before correcting himself. "Uh, I mean, Luke. It could be that Zane Williams is just that powerful. If he had released all that power outside of the sphere, he likely would have obliterated the entire solar system."

Koios put one of his purple space hands to his chin which had no features above it. "It also could be that the Universal Titanium was not at it's full power as well. Back in the Titanomacy, I had months to construct the armor of the Titans, but here I was forced to make a sphere of it in only a few seconds, in order to save your life. It's quite possible that it is much weaker than it should be..." Koios trailed off as he cringed from the absolute furious face on the son of Hermes. "I-I'm sorry, my lord." Koios finished, slipping up once again.

I didn't give Luke any time to respond, as I was fucking done with this charade of a fight. I rushed like a missile shot from a jet, lightning sparking of my form as I roared in anger. Before I could cleave Luke in two, he vanished from sight, again. However, I noticed he didn't travel as far as he normally did when he time stopped, which meant he must be getting tired. That was the key, to force the son of Hermes to use his time stop as much as possible in order to overload it or whatever the equivalent for the time stop was. I shot lightning from my hands at the son of Hermes, forcing him to time skip away once more.

I repeated the action several times, noting that he was moving a little bit less each time I attacked him. It was working, but slowly. I was forced to created a wind barrier when spikes made from a rainbow-like crystal flew at me from the direction of the Axis of Heaven. I narrowed my eyes at the Titan of Intelligence, honestly having enough of his useless existence.

I raced towards the Titan, dodging a wall probably made out of Universal Titanium as I did so. "I'm am going to fucking end your miserable existence, you worthless fuck!" I charged Keravnos with lightning and swung at Koios as I passed him. But of course, he vanished before my axe could cleave him in two. I growled in irritation, before my eyes widened in realization. I could overload Luke's time stop even faster if I attacked both him and Koios.

I caught Luke in my sight and I rushed him once again. Luke time stopped away, as per usual. I noted he wasn't fighting me up front anymore, as his orange aura he had gained from Kronos had vanished. It didn't return either and probably wasn't going to in this fight. I concluded it was probably something he couldn't really use all that often, so it was probably treated as a trump card. I continued to attack the son of Hermes, mixing in both lightning attacks and assaults with Keravnos. I also attacked Koios as well, as to make Luke's job in dodging my attacks with his time stop that much harder. I kept this up for a few minutes, not relenting one bit.

I saw sweat drip from the brow of the son of Hermes. I knew he couldn't really last much longer. Before I could attack the traitor once more, I caught a spike made from ice right beside my head. I growled in annoyance, crushing the ice spike as I did so. I raced towards the Titan, who spammed different types of sharp objects made from different materials. "Will you just piss off already!?" I dodged a particularly big stone made out of that Osmium-neutron star thing and punched the Titan right in the chest.

Surprising, I actually landed the hit. More surprisingly, Koios only was knocked back a few feet, only being knocked off balance at most. My eyebrow raised. How did I not just turn him into a pile of gore with my punch? I noticed a silver shin from his torso. He wore a new cuirass made out of Universal Titanium. Fuck, that was going to be annoying. All of a sudden, Luke appeared in my face and tried to cut my jaw off.

I let Backbitter bounce off me uselessly, and I slammed my hands together, performing a thunderclap that created a massive wind burst. Luke time stopped right beside it, avoiding it all together. I growled before glaring at him and saying, "Why are you even trying to fight me up front? Your stupid orange aura thing is gone and you're more of a distraction that anything else. What is your goal?"

Luke smirked and pointed over to Koios. "That is." I turned my head and found the Axis of Heaven wearing full armor made from Universal Titanium. The Titan was decked out head to toe in a Greek style full-plate that would have made any LARP roleplayer jizz in their pants from the sight of it. I groaned audibly. That was going to be soooo fucking annoying.

I'm now fighting a demigod who I can't hit because he can stop time who is now teaming up with a Titan in full armor made of a material I can't even damage with my normal attacks. Great. I rolled my eyes at Luke's stupid response and rushed him again. I kept trying to overwhelm his time stop, not even caring about Koios at the moment. What is he going to do, keep throwing spikes and shit at me in his new fancy armor?

I must have been swinging at Luke for almost three minutes straight, as his was now only moving a couple of feet whenever he stopped time now. I saw sweat dripping from his head and I could hear his breath was a bit heavy as well. Before I could attack him once again, a massive fist made out of some kind of stone rammed into me. I sprawled on the ground, ripping up dirt and rocks wherever I was sent through. Whenever I stopped, I hopped up and looked at whatever just punched me. Around the form of Koios, I saw a massive fifty foot rock beast in the image of the Titan standing before me, looking down on my form with it's fist's balled up.

Luke, who appeared to my left, chuckled. "You shouldn't let Koios have too much time to focus on his creation abilities. His powers may not be anything special when rushed, but the Titan was known to create galaxies in his time." Luke laughed at the construct that Koios had created, which threw another massive fist at me. I dodged the punch, which created another crater within the massive crater me and Luke had just been fighting in.

I jumped up on the arm, and threw a kick to try and destroy it. The rock only cracked a bit and I clicked my teeth together. Of course Koios would made the construct super tough. I tried to race further up the arm, only for Luke to appear in front of me. "And where do you think you're going?" Luke asked me rhetorically, a smirk plastered upon his face.

I glared at the son of Hermes, before blasting a lightning bolt where he stood. "Get the fuck out of my way!" Luke vanished as too not be hit and I continued to race up the long, thirty foot rocky arm, which was retracting back to the body. Luke tried to appear in front of me again, but I created a field of bursting lightning around myself to hit anything that came within five feet of me. Luke was forced to time stop away and didn't try to stand in my way again.

Koios' construct brought it's arm up to eye level and tried to smash me with it's other hand. I transferred my lightning from around my form into Keravnos in an instant, skipping the rather long charge up time for a decently strong attack. I hit the construct's palm and it's other arm exploded into rocks. I jumped into the air above the construct and summoned a massive lightning storm above it. Lightning shot down from the clouds, amplified in power thanks to me.

The lightning smashed into the construct, breaking it down bit by bit. Eventually, the entire massive stone construct shattered all at once and the lightning made it's way down to Koios. The Universal Titanium armor must have conducted the electricity very well, as it did very little to protect Koios from my wrath. The Axis of Heaven yelled in pain as the lightning collided with him, forcing him to removed the armor as to not die.

He created a skin suit of rubber to insulate my lightning, leaving him completely open for a slash from Keravnos. Before I could cut the Titan of Intelligence in two and end both his misery and mine, he vanished from sight. Luke appeared a few feet away, panting from exertion. I threw Keravnos at the son of Hermes in an arch, trying to land a money shot directly in the forehead. Luke disappeared and then immediately reappeared

only a couple of feet to the left. I shot a blast of lightning down at his feet, charging the lightning so it would create a extra blast for an Area of Effect attack, or as Nico would call it, an AOE. Luke tried to vanished to a couple of feet away again, but he didn't escape the lightning this time. The lightning touched both his left arm and right leg, sending the lightning throughout his body. The son of Hermes cried out in pain, his arm and leg turning to ash as he was sent flying dozens of meters away into a nearby boulder. I nearly threw my hand up into the air in victory. I finally hit the motherfucker. With him out of the way, Koios was now easy pickings.

Koios seemed to think so, too. He dispelled his stupid rubber suit and looked over to the fallen traitor. "Oh, shit." The Titan muttered right before I punched him right through the abdomen. Ichor exploded from his gut, along with his golden intestines. The Axis of Heaven gurgled as he tried to speak, despite not having a mouth to gurgle from.

I didn't give him much time to do anything else, as I pulled my fist out of his gut, and swung Keravnos into his neck. The weapon cut his neck and got stuck there like a axe in a tree. Ichor spewed from his neck and the Titan tried to grab at the axe. I pulled the weapon out swiftly and severed the Titan's hand in one movement. Koios tried to form something, anything with his right and only hand, but a quick Keravnos slash to the forehead put an end to that. All of Koios' movements ceased as the Titan just stood there with an axe in his head. I pulled the axe out, the head being caked in ichor and brain matter tinted a gold color.

I quickly ended the Axis of Heaven's suffering with one simple slash through his neck, decapitating him and ending the Titan once and for all. After an entire fight of not being able to land one meaningful hit on the Titan, it did feel damn good to do that. I looked at my ichor covered hand. 'You just proved to me that you're nothing but a murderer. A monster.' Percy's words echoed through my head as I looked at Koios' blood on my hand. I looked at the dead Titan, ichor staining the ground where he laid. Koios' body then faded into space dust, but his golden blood remained. I closed my eyes and breathed in and out, trying to keep my cool. I heard a noise from a few dozen feet away, taking me out of my thoughts. I saw and boulder and a crumpled form laying beside it. Luke.

I dropped my Thunder Form, the sparkling lightning surrounding my form vanishing from sight. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the battle was now over. I couldn't return to my group and help them with Krios just yet, as I had one more problem to deal with. I approached the son of Hermes as I sheathed my axe back on my back, the smell of burnt human flesh assaulting my nose as soon as I got within thirty feet of the fallen traitor.

I noticed that I passed Luke's sword Backbitter as I continued my path towards Luke. The blade itself didn't look like it was too harmed, although the handle looked as if it was set on fire. Whenever I finally got within a stone's throw from Luke, I took in his altered appearance. Remember how I said Chris Rodriguez looked like he had aged forty years after I tortured him? Yeah, Luke looked to be around that age now, as his skin had curled up and wrinkled from my lightning. However, the lightning scars on the elder son of Hermes were far more serious and intense.

I could't find a inch of skin that hadn't been altered in some way, either wrinkled or branded with lightning. The three most noticeable things that had changed with the son of Hermes were his arm, leg and face. Both Luke's left arm and right leg were completely gone, the only thing left was a charred stump on each limb, the smell going right into my nostrils. Luke's face had undergone extreme change as well, as his face was now forty years older, his left eye was completely blinded and his right eye was permanently bloodshot.

His hair was almost completely gone, the only strands that remained were blackened by my lightning. I almost cringed when I stood above the son of Hermes, the disfigured form of the demigod being branded into my memory. Despite his grievous wounds, Luke shifted his head and turned his bloodshot eye towards me.

Luke chuckled on the ground, or what at least passed for chuckling in his current form. It sounded more like gagging than anything else. "Y-You...did quite...a number...on...me." Luke's voice sounded like a sixty year old chain smoker who hated their life. It was pretty jarring to go from bad boy to cancer patient in less than a day. "I...can only...ask...one thing...from you...Zane." I knew exactly what he was going to ask. To put him out of his misery.

"Please...kill me. The pain...is...too much...to...endure." I didn't say anything as I drew my axe from my back and held it high above my head. I was about to swing down in one fell swoop and take the son of Hermes' head off, but I didn't move. Why wasn't I taking the swing? I should kill him. Not only would it be cruel to leave him how he is right now, but it would also be tactical to finish him off right here as to end the Second Titanomachy before it even begins. He was apparently someone Kronos trusted, especially to give him powers tied to the Titan Lord.

I could end the biggest threat to Olympus right here and now but...I couldn't. 'You're a monster.' ' You're nothing but a cold blooded killer and you're a threat to everyone around you.' 'You are nothing but a sadistic freak who hurts others for his own pleasure and you need to be put down before you end up killing us all!' 'That worker in there died because you wanted to kill a big scary monster!' 'You killed all those people on the Princess Andromeda, too! Despite the fact they were obviously being controlled!' The words that everyone had spoken to me about my killings throughout the quest echoed in my mind.

My hands shook as I held Keravnos in the air. I can't kill Luke. I lowered my axe, and Luke's disfigured face twitched in confusion. "W-What...are you...doing?" Luke asked, his voice cracking and ending in a coughing fit.

I sheathed my axe on my back and turned around. "I'm sorry, Luke. But...I can't kill you. I've killed far too many people for my own good and this is where I stop. I'm sorry to leave you in this..." I gestured to Luke's disfigured and burnt form. "...state, but I just...can't do it." I started to walk away from the fallen son of Hermes, who tried to reach out with his arm, only for his nerves to lock up and cause him to convulse in pain.

I cringed at the sight and continued to walk away from him. "I'm sorry, Luke. Goodbye." I took my eyes of him and looked around the island as I walked away from the sight. Our battle had caused a lot of damage, despite me not trying to level the entire planet in the fight. I remembered every death I caused. The ones on the bus to L.A., Charon, Ares, Hyperion, the guards and tourists among the Princess Andromeda, the worker in the monster donut, the sorceresses on Circe's island, Circe herself, Chris Rodriguez and finally, Koios.

All of the gory, horrific ways that they died flashed in my eyes as I looked at the ichor on my hands. I was done killing. I was done causing suffering and I was done hurting people. Now, I would only fight to protect my friends. My thoughts were interrupted by a deep, sharp pain from the middle of my back.

I turned my head, barely able to do so due to the pain, and saw Luke, in perfect form and his hand on a Celestial Bronze dagger that jutted out of my spine. Luke sighed, "Disappointing." His voice was now back to normal, like the rest of his body. How? How was he back in full health? He was on death's door and looked like a more fucked up version of Emperor Palpatine before. What had changed?

I didn't get an answer, as Luke pulled his dagger out of my back and rammed it into my ribs. He continuously pulled the weapon out before brutally stabbing it back into my side. I felt cold as blood poured from the wound and I tried to move my arms, to stop the son of Hermes. Before I could strike him away, Luke vanished and reappeared right in front of me. Luke slammed his dagger into my abdomen, and I doubled over in pain, spitting a wad of blood out on the ground.

"You had so much promise, Zane. But then you go and get all soft of me. You had the perfect opportunity to kill me and end the threat of my existence once and for all, but you let it go to waste. How did a few words from Percy turn you into such a bitch?" Luke stabbed me in the gut once more before kicking me to the ground.

Luke chuckled. "I bet you're wondering how I'm back in one piece again?" I finally noticed Luke's arm and leg were back as well, but Luke slammed his dagger in my lower abs and I yelled in pain. "Lord Kronos gave me another ability. One I can only use once per day." Luke pulled out his dagger again, but instead of pushing it into my abs, he stabbed me in my chest on the left side.

I gasped in pain, feeling the air leave me while the son of Hermes above me grinned. "I have the ability to return objects to a previous state in time, including myself. After you made me look like a shrived up worm and took my limbs off, I turned back time on myself and returned to the state I was in before the fight." Luke stabbed me in the abdomen again, only deeper this time.

I clutched at my torso, trying to grab Luke's hands and grind them into dust. "It's a good thing I didn't use this power on returning my pizza slice back to it's form before I ate it like I did yesterday, right? I really would have been fucked then." I tried to push Luke off of me, only for Luke's dagger to go through my palm before I touched him. I couldn't even yell due to the pain I was in.

Luke's face turned serious and he leveled his glare at me. "You failed Lord Kronos' test. You are not worthy enough to receive him and become one with the Lord of the Titans. It's time for you to die now." Luke threw his dagger into my upper abdomen. I tried to grasp at the dagger, but Luke was there faster than I could even blink. "I would normally put a dagger through your skull, but since you made me experience the pain of incinerating my arm and leg, almost frying me alive, and killing my brother Chris, I'm going to make your end just as painful."

Luke gripped his dagger and pulled it up. The Celestial Bronze knife sliced through my upper chest and torso, splitting it in two like a banana. Blood exploded from my chest, completely covering Luke's arm and hand and making me almost drown in my own blood. Luke then spun his knife, an evil grin on his face, and slashed downwards this time instead. The dagger cut through my abs and stomach, ripping to my gut and spilling my intestines all around me.

My hands twitched, trying to reach for my guts so I could put them back into my torso, but I was barely able to move my hands. Blood pooled around me and I was forced to cough up blood from my throat, sending pain rippling down my body. Luke laughed and dusted the blood of his hands before sheathing his dagger. "Well, I would say that's adequate revenge right there."

He stood up from his kneeled position over me and waved his hand. A portal form and the son of Hermes began to walk into it. "Goodbye, Zane. I hope your death was as painful as Chris'." Luke stepped through the portal and vanished, leaving me in a pool of my own blood and intestines. Everything started to get blurry as I tried with my entire being to move, only to find I could only make my arms and legs twitch.

I don't even know how long I was lying there staring up at the sun. I didn't even know if it was night or day. I couldn't summon up enough energy to move, or my body was just so damaged I couldn't have enough energy to move. Several times, I felt my vision start to go white. I forced the whiteness to go away, as I knew that I was going to die if I accepted it.

I had to hold on long enough for my friends to find me, if they were even searching in the first place. They probably would just assume that I was fine, probably just taking my time torturing Luke or Koios. They probably didn't even care about me and just left the island without me with the Fleece. Even if they were searching for me, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had effectively been gored and stabbed in just about every imaginable place on my torso. It was a miracle I was even still alive at all. I wasn't going to survive much longer and even if they did find me, I was still going to die.

But I just wanted to see Taylor or Nico one last time before I went, so I was hanging on with everything I had. But time passed and I waited, only for no one to come. They had probably left me. I couldn't really blame them, as the last time they saw me, I murdered someone in cold blood after torturing them. Maybe it was karma that they left me, maybe I deserved it? What was the point in holding on if no one was coming? Maybe I should just let go and-then I heard it. Voices. Familiar voices. Off in the distance, I heard Percy say, "Why are we bothering to look for him? He probably killed both of them and left us here to fight Krios alone."

I heard the voice of Taylor respond to Percy. "He wouldn't leave us after coming back to help us in the first place. He saved all our lives before promising he was going to change. So of course he wouldn't leave. He's got to be around here somewhere." Percy scoffed at Taylor's answer but didn't say anything back.

My resolve to stay alive quadrupled as I heard Taylor's voice and I tried with all of my will to shout out and say something. I still couldn't manage to get a word out, but I made some kind of weird groaning noise that caused blood to spew from my lips. I heard footsteps in the dirt of the crater and their voices get louder. "Holy shit. There he is!" Taylor called out, before I heard the speed of his footstep increase exponentially. Thanks to his speed, it didn't take Taylor too long to reach me and he knelt down by my side.

"B-By the gods..." Taylor whispered, taking in my injured form. His tone was aghast, like he had seen a Holocaust camp or something. Taylor snapped out of his trance and his face became panicked. "Zane! Are you alive!?"

I tried to formulate a word but all that came out was a slight gurgled groan. Taylor's face became noticeably relieved. "Thank the gods!" He grabbed my hand with his and turned his head. "Get the Fleece over here, now!" I felt how soft and delicate his hands were as he held mine. He didn't care about how golden ichor stained my hand and still continued to hold it. "It's okay, Zane. Everything's going to be alright now."

As I felt the white build around my eyes, I took in how Taylor looked. He looked a little worse for wear than how he normally did, but he still looked utterly gorgeous in my opinion. His hair, while a little tangled, was jaw droppingly beautiful and fell to his shoulders. His red overshirt had a few burnt marks on it and was a little tattered, but I still think it looked perfect in how it clung to his slim frame. His androgynous face looked at me in concern, looking far better than almost everyone I've ever seen.

His gleaming hazel eyes looked at my injuries and he bit his full, amazing looking lips in worry. If I wasn't dying of blood loss, I would probably be blushing up a storm thinking about how perfect he looked. Before I knew it, the entire group crowded around my broken, gored form with shock and horror on their faces. The faces of two people really caught my eye, those being Percy and Nico. Nico looked like as good as Taylor did. His outfit was a little damaged and burnt like the son of Ares', but it still looked amazing on him. His long hair looked like a bird's nest, no doubt from the fight with Krios, but I didn't care and though it still looked great.

The expression of worry on Nico's face would have probably made my heart skip a beat, if it wasn't missing most of it's blood. The second person who caught my eye was Percy, as he had an expression of guilt upon his features. If everyone had listened to him about how I probably left them, Everyone would have followed him off the island and I would have died. I can't blame him though, as I haven't exactly been the best person for the last few days. "Annabeth, the Fleece." Annabeth was shaken out of her own shock and horror at my form and handed the Golden Fleece to Taylor, who immediately threw it over my torso.

I instantly started to feel better within seconds. I felt my torso start to mend underneath the Fleece, albeit slowly. I felt some control come back to my hands, which prompted me to immediately grasp Taylor's hand tightly, although not so tightly as to crush his hand. I coughed up a large amount of blood, staining the fleece on my torso.

I felt my irregular breathing start to correct itself and the sharp pain in my torso was starting to dull. The stab wound in my right hand was even starting to close up as well. I tried to move, only for pain to shoot through my torso. I groaned in pain a bit and slumped back onto the ground. "Zane, don't try to move! You'll interrupt the healing." Taylor told me and I did what he said. I stopped trying to push myself up onto my elbows and just laid down on the ground unmoving.

Everything was starting to feel better by the minute and the whiteness in the corner of my vision was starting to fade. "Percy, Tyson, help me lift him up and get him back to the ship. We need to get back to camp as quickly as possibly and Zane can't move by himself right now." Percy nor Tyson verbally answered, but I assumed they nodded or something as they both helped the son of Ares lift me up.

They keep me stable as we walked back to the ship, being careful that the Fleece did not fall off of me. I didn't know how long the walk was to the ship, as my consciousness came and went throughout the journey, but I eventually noticed that I was in the captain's quarters in the Queen Ann's Revenge. I briefly remember Percy and Tyson setting me down on the bed, but not clearly.

The next couple of days flew by, as I wasn't conscious for the entire time. The wounds that Luke had dealt to me were so severe that The Fleece wasn't able to heal me very quickly. We didn't have any Ambrosia, which would have done the job quicker so the Fleece would have to make due. I wasn't exactly sure why I had been so lucid right after I had been stabbed. Perhaps it was because of my willpower or maybe it was due to the trauma of my wounds?

The only things I could clearly remember over the next two days were flashes of Taylor, Nico and surprisingly Percy standing over me while I laid in the bed in the captain's quarters. Everything else was a blur for the next couple of days. Eventually, I finally came to and could clearly recall my own experiences in the moment. I woke up in the captain's quarters, the Golden Fleece on top of my torso as I rested in the bed. I tried to stand up, only for my entire abdomen to start screaming. It wasn't as severe as it was when I was last awake, but it still hurt like a bitch. I toke the Fleece off, only to find my entire torso had been bandaged.

The bandages had no blood on them, so I could only assume that they had been changed considerably over time. I lifted up one of the bandages to find my wounds had closed, although I could see deep scar tissue still forming and the skin around the scars were heavily bruised. Despite looking much better than I had previously, I still looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my torso. I let the bandage back down and covered my body once more with the Golden Fleece.

I was going to need more time to heal. Before I could lay back down on the bed, I heard voice from outside the door to the captain's quarters, which I noticed had been opened this entire time. "-don't have time, Taylor. You heard Annabeth, it's been ten days since we left camp. When we get to the shoreline, you have to take the Fleece and stowaway on a plane back to Long Island. Your prophecy said that you need to do it alone and you need to do it quickly. We don't have enough time for the Fleece to fully heal Zane." Percy's voice spoke to presumably Taylor outside of the Captain's Quarters.

I stuck my head out of the open door to find all of my friends, plus Arthur, standing in a circle around Taylor and Percy, who were facing each other. Taylor, who had noticeable bags under his eyes, shook his head at Percy's words. "I can't leave with the Fleece while Zane is still injured. You saw what happened to him on Polyphemus' island. He needs the Fleece in order to fully heal. The camp will have to wait and hold on without the Fleece for at least a couple of more days."

Taylor had a fierce expression on his face, like he wasn't going to take anything besides 'Alright, Taylor' for an answer. Despite the fact I was in terrible pain and would like to be fully healed, I couldn't let Taylor stay here with the Fleece. He needed to get it to Camp Half-Blood, despite my injuries. I couldn't let my own needs go before that of the needs of the camp and the campers, it would be completely selfish and cruel, and I was trying to avoid being either of those. I stepped outside of the door to the captain's quarters and took the Fleece off my body, feeling the pain immediately come back and I hissed in reflex.

My hiss grabbed the attention of everyone and they turned around to look at me. Taylor's tired, stress filled face immediately brightened as he saw me. "Zane!" He ran up to me and wrapped me in a bear hug, causing me to groan in pain thanks to the screaming of my torso. Taylor let go of me immediately. "S-Sorry."

I held up my spare hand that wasn't carrying the Fleece and waved his apologies off. "No worries." I held out my hand carrying the Fleece at Taylor, who looked confused at the motion. "You need to take this back to Camp Half-Blood, Taylor." Taylor looked like he wanted to argue immediately but I held up my other hand, silencing him.

"I heard why you don't want to, but I'm telling you that you need to. My health does not come before the well being of everyone in camp, Taylor. If you don't return the Fleece to camp, my half-sisters tree will die and the camp will be overrun by Luke's monsters. He'll be at the front line when all that starts and he'll kill everyone there to get his way, trust me." I looked Taylor in the eyes and did my best to not look entranced by them. Taylor obviously did not want to do it still, as he shook his head.

"B-But you need to heal, Zane. I saw what happened to you after you fought Luke and Koios. You looked worse than that time where that hellhound tore out Percy's guts." Percy cringed at the memory of that and the memory of Percy getting his guts ripped out by a giant dog thing flashed in my mind. The memory of myself clutching at my own intestines to try and fail to push them back into my body also flashed into my mind.

The memories faded as Taylor wrapped his arms around me, much gentler this time. "You really scared me back there and I wasn't sure you were alive at the time." Taylor whispered into my ear, making my heart skip a beat. I was touched to know that he still cared so much about me after I was proved to be a cold blooded killer. My arms wrapped around his small, lithe torso, careful to not crush him. I felt my face heat up a bit.

"Taylor, don't worry. I'll be fine. I promise." I nuzzled my face in the top of his head, noting to myself how good it smelled. I felt the familiar unknown feeling in my chest, but this time it wasn't exactly unknown. I finally knew what the feeling meant and it meant that I liked the son of Ares in a 'more than friends' sort of way.

I can't believe I was so blind before, wondering like an idiot what the feeling in my chest was when I hugged someone. I whispered more words into his ear, dropping the volume of my voice a little bit. "I want you to know that I'm sorry for everything I've done in the past few days. Everyone I've killed, every insensitive and offensive thing I've said and much more I probably don't even realize. I understand if you don't want anything more to do with me and I'll stay away if you want. I-" I was interrupted by Taylor's finger sliding over my lips, silencing me.

"Zane..." Taylor's voice was a quiet as mine. "You're an idiot." I did a double take. What? I didn't know why Taylor said that. Luckily for me, Taylor explained his answer. "I've already forgiven you for all that shit. You came back to save us when we most needed it after we basically turned our backs on you after Percy called you out." I think they were pretty justified for doing so, as I was a brutal murdering prick.

"You're such an idiot for even suggesting to stay away from me after what you've done. Zane, you literally turned me into the best version of myself. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have trained to get stronger and eventually take over the Ares cabin. I can't live without you, you idiot." Taylor buried his face into my chest and I felt my eyes sting a bit at Taylor's words.

I knew this probably looked a little awkward to everyone else watching the scene, but I really didn't give a shit at the moment. We stood in front of everyone hugging each other for a couple of minutes. When we eventually broke our hug, I handed him the Fleece, which i had been carrying with my right hand. Taylor obviously didn't want to take it, but with a little bit more convincing I was able to get him to accept it. "...If that's what you want, I'll get the Fleece back to camp for you, Zane."

Percy commanded the water to take our ship to the shoreline of Florida, which had been within seeing distance a couple of miles away when I had hobbled out of the captain's quarters. The Queen Ann's Revenge had docked on the beach and we let Taylor off the ship. We went over the plan again. Sneak onto a plane to New York, bring the Fleece back to camp, save all the campers.

Taylor nodded in affirmation and he left in the direction of the nearest airport. Before the son of Ares left, he gave me another big hug like he had in front of everyone a few minutes ago. I didn't bother to care whether it was embarrassing or not and returned the hug. After the hug, Taylor took off in the city, his spear in hand and the Fleece on his back.

After Taylor disappeared into the city, we got back onto the Queen Ann's Revenge and sailed towards Camp Half-Blood ourselves. Percy told everyone that the journey would only take maybe a day or two at most thanks to his powers over the sea. No one needed to work in crew positions on the ship because the ship was just being pushed by the water, so we all just lounged around.

I knew all of my sins of the past few days were not atoned for, so as soon as the ship started to move away from the beach, I decided to follow Percy and apologize to him for everything I've done in the past few days. Percy had walked up to the captain's deck, as he had assumed the position of captain after Taylor left with the Fleece.

I walked up behind Percy and he didn't move, but I could tell he knew I was there. I didn't want to waste anytime and I just spoke the first words that came to mind. "Look, Percy, I just wanted to say that I was sorry for everything I've done. I know you probably don't really believe that I want to change or probably don't even care, but I just wanted you to know that. I understand if you don't want to hang out with me or anything anymore after I killed all of those people. I just hope that one day I can earn back your trust and be your friend again." I didn't bother to stay and listen to what Percy had to say in response, as I knew it probably wasn't going to be good. But Percy's response made me stop in my tracks.

"Wait." Percy said as I was starting to walk away from him. Percy was silent for a couple of seconds then he sighed. "I'll admit, at first I was kind of skeptical that you were going to change, as you've said that at least twice before this time. But after you sacrificed your own healing for the safety of everyone at camp, that changed my mind. I believe you do want to change and become a better person."

Percy's serious face then changed into a smile. "You don't have to count yourself one friend down, Zane. I'll be with you on your personal journey." Percy held out a fist and I bumped my fist to his. Percy smile then changed into a guilty expression. "Besides, I wanted to tell you that I was sorry. When Taylor wanted to go looking for you, I tried to convince him not to. I thought you left after your fight with Luke and Koios and abandoned us on the island. If he had listened to my words, you would be dead."

I told Percy not to worry, as I thought he had good reason to say what he said. I didn't have the best track record in being a nice guy before or even now, so I wasn't going to blame him for it. Percy, after my words, looked like he just remembered something. "Oh yeah, what exactly happened with Luke? How did he mess you up so badly? Was it that Koios guy who nearly killed you?" I then went into detail about the fight, how it was basically a game of cat and mouse and I spent the entire fight missing both Koios and Luke because of Luke's bullshit time stopping ability.

Percy looked shocked when I mentioned Luke could stop time and even more so when I mentioned he could summon Kronos' aura for a shot time. I described to Percy how I eventually had able to hit Luke with lightning and disfigure him and how I killed Koios right after. I told Luke how I couldn't bring myself to kill Luke and how Luke had mangled me with his dagger after reversing time on himself. That surprised Percy even more.

Me and Percy talked about a few more things, like what had happened after I left the group and went into the sky. Percy told me he killed the giant man-eating sheep and grabbed the Fleece along with the rest of our party. He told me how they found and killed Polyphemus, rescuing Grover in the process.

As I listened to Percy, I caught the sight of Nico out of the corner of my eye, sitting on a crate in the corner of the ship. I told Percy I had couple of more people to talk to as he finished his story, which he nodded in affirmation. I walked up to the son of Hades who looked up at me. I expected him to look away or flinch, but he stood up and gave me a hug like Taylor did.

I was surprised. Huh? "Been waiting a while to be able to do that." I opened my mouth to apologize for my wrongdoings, but Nico held up one of his soft delicate hands that I couldn't stop thinking about. "You don't have to apologize for anything, Zane. I've already forgiven you for what you've done."

Nico's words surprised me. I thought I was going to have to explain that I was sorry again and that I would be okay if he didn't want anything to do with me. Nico saw the surprise on my face, and he smirked, something I found irresistibly cute. "I heard what you said to both Taylor and Percy. Your weren't being as quite as you thought." Note to self, use a lower voice when whispering to people. "You really think I'm going to stay mad or afraid of the guy who saved me from seventy years of imprisonment at the Lotus Hotel? Not a chance. You're not going to boot me out of your life by being an asshole."

I smiled warmly at the son of Hades' words. "I wouldn't want to boot you out of my life, Nico. You're too important to me." Nico's cheeks flushed a little bit at my words, making the gears in my brain turn. Okay, so flush either means embarrassed or that the person probably likes you. I would be happy for Nico to like me, but I won't count out embarrassed, as Nico does come from 1930s Italy and they weren't the most friendly to gay people.

I shook the thoughts out of my mind as me and Nico began to talk about what had happened in my time away. Nico asked me why I had come back, which prompted me to respond how I reflected upon myself and how my father appeared before me to speak about the difficulty in self change. Unlike how Percy would have, Nico didn't get jealous about how I had talked to my father. Percy's father wasn't exactly the nicest guy around and I think has only spoken to him once and very briefly. Zeus has spoken to me only twice but the conversations were meaningful and rather on the longer side.

Nico didn't react too much to how I spoke to my father as he spent an entire month in the underworld with Hades, learning from him about how to use his powers. I told Nico what Luke had done to me, causing Nico's face to darken. Nico swore he would make Luke pay, but I told him to leave it.

Vengeance was just a catalyst into ending up how I did and I was probably going to confront him eventually anyway. I noticed Annabeth standing on the railing of the deck and I realized she was someone I really needed to apologize to. I turned to Nico. "I need to go and have a talk with Annabeth. I be back to talk with you later." Nico nodded and I stood up from the crate, my torso screaming in protest.

I hobbled over to the daughter of Athena and cringed about how this one would go. I stood on the railing beside her, causing her eyes to dart over to me and her face twisted into a glare. I tried not to cringe and I took a deep breath. "Look, before you blow up on me again or anything, I have to say that I'm sorry. Not just for all the people I've killed and tortured, I'm sorry for that too, But I'm sorry that I have been a total massive prick to everyone, you especially. I have really been a major asshole to you over the entire quest and I apologize. I know you probably won't want to hang out with me or talk with me anymore, but I hope that you'll give me another chance one day." Unlike with Percy, I didn't try to walk away as I wanted to hear Annabeth's response to my apology. Annabeth was silent for a little bit, before she signed and put her hands on her head.

Annabeth looked at me, her glare fading away into a tired expression that said 'I'm so sick of this shit.' "Look, I know you're sorry about everything and all, but I don't know if I can trust you again like I did. You killed all those people with no remorse, even defending your actions by saying 'They're just mortals.'"

Annabeth toke a deep breath and sighed once more. "But you do have remorse right now. And you've shown you've changed at least a little bit. The you a few days ago would have argued about needing to give up the Fleece to save the rest of camp. But you were the one to convince Taylor to take it to camp. We didn't have to convince you that it was necessary or anything." Annabeth looked like she was eating a lemon, about to say something she really didn't want to say. "I suppose that has earned you a second chance in the very least."

She ground out reluctantly before turning her head and glaring. "But if you do anything like that again, we're done, you hear me." I nodded at her words and walked away back to the crate Nico was sitting on, resuming my conversation with him.

(000)

The next couple of days went by rather quickly. I spent most of the time talking with both Percy and Nico and sparsely with Annabeth. I kept both Beckendorf and Arthur at a distance. I didn't really know Beckendorf personally and after what had happened on the island, he would probably like to keep it that way. I didn't talk with Arthur, as I personally just didn't like the bastard.

I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual, as the son of Helios would sometimes glare at me when he thought I wasn't looking. I was. Me and Tyson weren't exactly mates, so I didn't really need to speak with him about anything. The journey back to the camp was uneventful, as I just talked to my friends the entire time and we weren't attack by any monsters. Without the Fleece to help me heal from the wounds Luke had given me, I felt a bit like shit the entire time, but I tried to ignore the pain.

On the afternoon of the second day at sea, we finally reached the shoreline of Half-Blood Hill, the same shoreline we had stowaway on the Princess Andromeda on. We got off the ship, making sure we grabbed our belongings and Percy send the ship back out in the sea by controlling the water. He said that an old eighteen century pirate boat on the beach would make the aesthetic go away. Afterwards, we walked into camp and everyone looked at us out of the corner of their eyes but pretended to not notice us. Later, i found out that that if people acknowledged that we were gone, we would have to be expelled.

Our group split up, with Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, Arthur and Beckendorf going to the Big House, and me and Nico going to find Taylor. We found the son of Ares at his cabin and he gave both of us, Nico included a big hug. He asked me if my injuries were healed yet, which prompted me to respond that my wounds were feeling better but not fully healed. Taylor told both me and he son of Hades what had happened while we were still at sea.

Tantalus had been sent back to Tartarus, apparently right as his curse wore off, and Chiron had returned from exile back to Camp to serve as Camp Activity Director once more. Everyone, even Dionysus was visibly more happy. Taylor told me that he had been given a golden laurel and that he had laid the Fleece on Thalia's tree right afterwards. He said the camp had gotten much livelier in an instant and the tree was basically back in full health. There was now a twenty four seven perimeter guard around the Fleece until Chiron could get a monster to guard the thing full time.

Other than those developments, nothing too much had changed about the camp, not counting all the injuries from constant monster attacks and the destruction of the buildings on some level. Taylor told us that the Chariot Races were also being continued despite Chiron's return and that there was going to be a race tomorrow. I told Taylor I was going to skip out on it, as I was still recovering from my injuries given to me by Luke, so Taylor decided to just team up with Nico instead of both of us.

The next two days were a breeze. The camp basically returned to normal. I got to skip out on combat classes thanks to my injuries, but I still had to go to other classes like Secret Greek History and...Math. I hate that fucking class. Our meals and such returned to normal and we even got to drop our perimeter guard around the camp as the barrier had strengthened enough. I hung out with my normal group, the tension of my actions on the quest mostly gone except between me and Annabeth.

Everyone else I hung around clearly tried to put it behind them. I also noticed a change with myself, as I was a lot nicer and much less of an asshole. Maybe I realized on some subconscious level that my personality was shit as well, so I changed that some what. I didn't bother trying to stop it, as I felt generally better and more accepted being nicer to people. The chariot race was awesome to watch. I was rooting for Nico and Taylor to win obviously, but they were just barely beaten by Percy and Annabeth, who gave credit for their victory to Tyson.

This made the rest of the entire camp less distrustful of Tyson and they even began to approach him. I normally would have been disgusted by their actions, as they now only talked to him as it was cool, but I pushed those kind of thoughts down into my mind and pretended they didn't exist.

The next day however, was quite the eventful one. It began in my cabin, me sleeping in my bed alongside both Taylor and Nico, who had followed me home from the Bonfire after curfew was enforced, not bothering to go to their respective cabins. I jumped up out of bed, careful to not wake both Taylor and Nico as my door was pounded on.

My torso groaned a bit in protest, but most of the pain was gone as the wound had mostly healed, leaving behind nothing but some really nasty scars. When I opened the door, I found the satyr, Grover on the other side with Percy behind him. Grover looked like he was in a frenzy and Percy looked like he had just gotten outside of a freezer he was trapped in.

"Zane, you might want to come take a look at this. Annabeth found something on the hill." I looked back at Nico and Taylor who still were lying asleep on my bed and nodded. I threw on a shirt and followed Grover, walking beside Percy as I did so. I whispered to Percy, asking him what the hell was going on, only for him to shrug with a confused look.

We jogged up to Thalia's tree on the hill, finding the whole thing to be surrounded by a few campers in armor or pajamas. Grover was about to led us up through the crowd, only for a galloping sound to catch our attention. We turned our head back to find Chiron galloping towards us.

Chiron reached our position, slowing down to a trot. "Is it true?" The centaur asked Grover with a grim look. Grover nodded at Chiron's question, causing for Chiron's face to darken. Both me and Percy were about to ask what was going on, but Chiron interrupted us, and motioned for us to follow him to the crowd. As we walked, Chiron spoke, mostly to himself. "Curse the titan lord. He's tricked us once again. He's given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

Percy asked the centaur what he meant, prompting Chiron to answer. "The Fleece did it's job a little too well." We made our way to the crowd and they opened up to let us through. At the base of the tree, there was a girl lying unconscious with Annabeth kneeling down beside her in full armor. "The Fleece healed the tree and the poison was not the only thing it purged." Okay, what the hell was going on here?

We reached the daughter of Athena and she looked up at us, tears streaming from her eyes. "S-She was just suddenly there..." Her eyes darted back to the girl on the ground. The girl looked to be about fifteen years old and about an inch shorter than me and Percy. Her skin was of a similar complexion of mine as was the color of her hair, which was a good bit shorter than mine.

Her clothes were only something I could describe as a combination of punk and goth, just none of the makeup. She wore a black shirt, black tattered jeans, a leather jacket with a bunch of different buttons with the logos of different bands on them I've never heard about. I felt her aura, and I found it felt surprisingly similar to my own, only far weaker. Who was this girl?

Percy knelt down and put his finger on her head and his brow narrowed. "She needs nectar and ambrosia." No one reacted to Percy's words and he turned around, a slight glare on his face. "Come on! What's wrong with you guy? We need to get her to the Big House." Percy picked her up by her shoulders and propped her up against the tree. Then, all of a sudden, the girl woke with a start and her eyes opened. They were blue, electric blue. The same color as mine. The girl started to panic, but Percy calmed her down. "Hey, hey, hey. You're alright. Nothing's wrong, everything is okay." Percy put his thumb to his chest and continued. "I'm Percy and you're safe now. You're okay. What's your name?"

The girl leaning up against the tree calmed down thanks to Percy's words and looked him in the eyes. "I'm Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus." Everyone was silent as her words, including Percy.

I looked at my apparently not dead half-sister. "What. The. Fuck."

(000)

There we go, chapter fourteen and the final chapter for the Sea of Monsters arc is finished. I don't have a lot to say here, as I need to get on Battlefront 2 and the Unlimited Power even end in only twenty minutes. If there is something you don't like in the chapter or you just want to tell me how I did, leave a review. Thanks and I'll see you guys in a week or so. Also, next chapter is a mini arc detailing the events between Sea of Monsters and Titan's Curse. Going to be focusing mostly on the relationship between Thalia and Zane. See you next time.