Alright, boys. Chapter thirty three is here. And it's officially been one year since this fanfic came out. I'm honestly stunned I have been able to keep this up for so long, and I'm not stopping yet. We have at least two thirds left of this story, so let's keeping going. Anyway, lets get into some reviews.

Echoxenvy: "Awesome stuff man. This was everything I expected and more.

So to start off, great work with Zane's thoughts and everyone's emotions on Percy overall. Especially Annabeth. I'll get into that in a minute though. Everything moved along smoothly and didn't feel slow or rushed. I really liked how you wrote Rachel. She's actually really likeable when she isn't interested in Percy, who knew? Jokes aside, great writing on her part, and her finding Zane hot is funny. The two actually have quite a bit of chemistry I think, hope you write more scenes between them and have Zane call her out on her little crush lol. It would be a funny scene.

Now for Dark Annabeth. That was far more brutal than I expected, but it was done greatly. It makes sense for her to act this way, and her actions were definitely mirroring Zane's during the second book, and Percy's attitude in the third. Having Zane try and calm her down is unbelievable, after seeing all he's done, but it just shows how much he's grown as a character. The eyes of the owl thing is really cool, so glad that Annabeth got her own form. It might be even more OP than Zane thinks, and it seems to be even more powerful than Grayson's ability. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

And the rest of the chapter was dope. Zane vs Antaeus was pretty short, although really cool, as usual with the fights. Luke's still a bitch lol, and you pulled a me with that cliffhanger. Damn, now I see why everyone hates them. But for real, great stuff man, can't wait for the next chapter."

Response: Thanks for the review, bro. I promise I'll get to reviewing yours in a little bit lol, just had to finish this first. And yes, everyone sad about Percy's death, and that will stay a constant for the rest of this book lol. And I'm glad you liked Rachel, because she was actually a bit of fresh air to write. A new character, completely free of all the previous interactions and story of the book so far lol. And Dark Annabeth was probably my favorite part to write about that chapter. Super brutal, willing to do anything, vengeance driven demigod. Anyway, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

MaximumTK: "I'm glad you took the criticism positively. Not many writers do honestly, you have no idea the feedback I get from most reviews. Granted, I was a bit sarcastic in my review to this story, so I apologize for that, I could've been more neutral. I still stand by my points, but hearing that you agree and want to improve is great. I can already see small improvements in this chapter alone. I like the direction that you are taking with Annabeth, and everything feels more smoothly written than previous chapters. Also, going back and changing paragraph lines, I noticed that. Thank you, it makes it much easier to read. I think you are the only person on the site I've seen that actually took criticism and acted on it, improving the story in places it needed. Well done. At this rate, I'll definitely continue reading and reviewing chapters.

This one in particular was rather good. Annabeth is understandable angry, and you're taking her in an interesting direction. Although the whole "eyes of the owl" thing is very Dragon Ball-esque, and the whole everyone gets a form thing is a bit weird, but it's part of the story, and if I look past the un-PJO element and accept that, Annabeth getting her own is a good decision, and it's ability somewhat falls in line with her mother. Rachel was written well, I thought. She didn't feel too out of character. The fight was decent, not much to say about it. It was a regular fight in this story, not like Zane and Luke or the Atlas battle, nothing on that scale. Decent.

My only criticisms, are Nico and the spelling. Nico doesn't get much attention this chapter. I can understand juggling characters can be hard, but it feels more realistic for he and Zane to interact more, seeing as the latter was thought dead for weeks. It can be fixed later of course, but it felt needed this chapter. As for the spelling, there were a few misspelled words in the chapter, nothing you can't fix later. You probably want to get the chapter out as quick as possible but doing a quick scan of misspells can really help a lot.

Anyway, I'll keep reading. See you next update."

Response: Yo, thanks for another review. And yeah, I try to take criticism positively, as I know it's just to help me become a better writer and that's absolutely all that I want. And I'm glad you already saw the improvements, and that you saw all the edits I did for the early chapters. They desperately needed them lol. And I'm glad you like the direction the chapter went, even if you found Annabeth's new form to be kinda dragon ball like. Her new form isn't power based like all the others, only fight and intellect oriented, so I want to do something different and unique with it down the road. And yeah, I'll admit I glossed over Nico a bit in the last chapter, and he should have been more clingy after Zane came back. It's a little difficult to juggle all the characters and drive the plot forwards realistically lol. Anyway, hope you like this chapter, and it isn't all that bad.

SaUvE ViPeR: "So this was dope. Love the Dark Annabeth and Eyes of the Owl form. It's about damn time she got her own, I'm so excited! Really can't wait to see what you'll do with it. Was not expecting her to torture Kelli or kill Ethan Nakamura. Lol you bring in a pretty important character and then just kill him off in a single chapter. This story is so good, it's unpredictable, and far from a simple retelling by now. If you aint' strong enough for Zane, then you can get out.

As for the fight, awesome. I like Zane getting mad at the fact Antaeus has an Earthshaker form, and that armor really must be strong for it to withstand the might of a half god half primordial. Did you make up the metal yourself? And is it equal or stronger than Heavenly Diamond? Probably not as dangerous, since the latter has magical properties and a tendency to kill gods (still sad about Hercules) but i'm not sure. Of course Luke is still a pos, but he's probably a really strong pos by now, can't wait for the next fight!

P.S. Zane does a LOT of fighting, It seems like a lot of the chapter names start with "I Fight" Lol."

Response: Thanks for the review, man. Yes, Annabeth getting some much needed attention in this story, and I can't wait to write her from here. And yeah lol, Ethan ain't strong enough for the story he gotta go lol. And I'm glad you liked the fight, although I thought it was just run of the mill in terms of fights for this story. Mostly just a setup for future ones. And the metal, yeah I made it up a long time ago, way back in the Sea of Monsters arc. It's made several appearances down the road since then. And it's a metal that's not particularly offensively strong, but definitely powerful for defense. That's why it usually makes it's appearance in the form of armor, not counting Prometheus' sword. Not Heavenly Diamond level, though. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Guest: "Shame this isn't a harem fic. You could have so many awesome pairings and lemons. Zane x Rachel, Zane x Arthur, Zane x Matt, Zane x Harper, Zane x Annabeth, Zane x Percy, the list goes on. I feel like Nico and Taylor are getting a little stale, why not include some other characters in the poly ship? :)"

Response: Sorry, bro. No harems here. They're simply too unrealistic and when there's too many in the relationship, it becomes nearly impossible to balance all of them. I know this is a fanfic about a super powerful solar system destroying demigod fighting monsters and Titans, but I do want to keep some amount of realism. Sorry about that.

FabulousOutlaw58: "Awesome chapter. Love Dark Annabeth and how Percy's death impacted her. It's perfectly in character and fits the gruesome realities of this fic. The characterization for Rachel was great and accurate writing wise, I enjoyed her parts. So the fight was good too, and I liked the arena scene, Annabeth killing Ethan, the epic new form she got, and Zane vs Antaeus. I sense another Zane and Luke rematch coming, interested to see how far he's gone to Kronos and how strong that means he is now. Keep it up!"

Response: Thanks for the review, man. Yeah, Dark Annabeth was one of my favorite things I've personally written so far, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm also glad you enjoyed Rachel, as I like how she bounces of these grizzled demigod veterans. I'm glad you liked the arena fights, and seeing Annabeth go Ultra Instinct on Ethan lol. Zane vs Luke five thousand is coming, and I hope you enjoy it lol.

ReaperKurosaki: "Great chapter. I liked the Dark Annabeth stuff a lot, it really adds new depth to this version of the character and feels like a realistic consequence to Percy's sacrifice. Zane vs Antaeus was good, and I liked the whole arena scene as a whole. Also the fic being one year old is crazy, hard to believe it's been that long and that you plan on many more chapters. That's good news for me, can't wait for the next chapter, it might be the last one of the arc, huh?"

Response: Thanks for the review, bro. I'm glad you and everyone like's dark Annabeth, because It's what I see happening if Percy ever died, which he did in this fic. And yes, this fic is now one fucking year old, which is honestly just insane to me. There's at least going to be probably around one hundred chapters, as we're nowhere near done just yet. And this chapter isn't the last of the arc just yet, we got one more. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Merrik69: "Interesting to see Luke again, I was wondering where the villain was. Interesting to see Antaeus also have an Earthshaker form, and that fight was great. It was cool to also see Rachel actually appear in this fic, I wasn't even expecting you to bring her in, but she's actually really likeable and well written here. Nice job. The best part of the chapter has to be Dark Annabeth. It was a needed arc for an underused character, compared to the rest. And yes, she finally got a form of her own. I really liked the Eyes of the Owl thing, the idea is cool and I really can't wait to see what you do with it in the future. The question is, if Percy stays dead, will Annabeth overcome this, or stay the same? Very hype for future chapters man."

Response: Thanks for the review, man. Yes, Luke is back and back in full force. Missed writing his stupid, insane ass. And I'm glad you liked Rachel's inclusion, as her appearance was definitely a bit of fresh air I very much enjoyed writing, as I stated above. And yes, Dark Annabeth is definitely the best, and my most favorite part of the chapter. She was hella underused and I loved giving her a new form, especially one like the Eyes of The Owl. And as for Annabeth's character if Percy stays dead, well, you'll have to see in the next chapter lol. Hope you enjoy this one.

Alright, enough with reviews. Let's blow this pop-stand.

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

(000)

Monsters of all different shapes and calibers surrounded us in all directions. Scythian Dracaenae, Laestrygonians, giant bat man things, snake dudes and many other different kinds of monsters tried to rush us. I was still in my Thunder Form, so I could obliterate them all in an instant with no effort. But before I could raise my arm to do, a hard strike to my face knocked me back into the dirt.

I rubbed my face in pain and looked up, only to find Luke staring down at me with a smirk. "You can't be so dumb as to think I would just let you destroy my new recruits so easily." The faint orange glow around his form brightened into an aura around him. He grinned at me, his orange eyes flaring in brightness. "Ready for a rematch?"

I quickly used my telekinesis to pull myself up off the ground, before slipping into a combat stance. "I'm going to end this war before it even begins." The lightning around my small, framing hugging blue aura intensified and I raised Thymos into the air. I smirked right back at him. "Try not to run away this time."

Luke's face soured momentarily before he blurred from my view in a feat of pure speed. I barely blocked a strike from Backbitter directed at my throat, reacting more out of pure instinct rather than anything else. Luke then erupted into a blur of blade slashes. I couldn't deflect every single one of them, although I defended from a few. My armor really saved me from being sliced to pieces.

I charged Thymos with lightning and tried to slam my morning star down on top of Luke's skull, but Luke effortlessly blocked the attack, easily keeping up with my strength and speed. I tried to charge more lightning into Thymos in an attempt to destroy Backbitter like I did with Antaeus' big sword earlier. An explosion of lightning and wind erupted from Thymos, yet both Luke and Backbitter were completely fine.

Luke punched me in the face, and I was sent staggering back. The punch didn't actually hurt thanks to my helmet, but I'm sure it went have made my vision blur without it. I righted myself as Luke chuckled to himself. "You can't expect for that trick to work again, can you? Surely you've realized now that Backbitter is special?" Luke raised the blade up and looked at it like it was a trophy. "She truly has become one of a kind."

I lunged at Luke, trying to slam Thymos into the right side of his jaw. Luke, almost without looking, quickly pulled up Backbitter to effortlessly block my mighty attack. I growled at the lack of effect and tried to overwhelm his defense with a barrage of attacks from Thymos. The result was the exact same. Luke met every one of my attacks with a parry or deflect, and it didn't even seem like he was trying.

Luke parried one of my downward strikes to the side and kicked me in the ribs. My armor absorbed the blow easily, but I was still knocked back from the force. I glared at the traitor half god, half Titan, annoyed with how easily he was fending me off. "Yeah, I've noticed that for a long time, now. It's almost as if the sword has an aura." I held up Thymos and charged lightning through it. "No matter how special your weapon is, it pales in comparison to mine."

Luke smirked at the sight of my Heavenly Diamond weapon. "Ah, yes. Your weapon, the one made from that cursed material." Luke blurred out of sight again, appearing behind me. I just barely turned around and brought Thymos up in time to avoid decapitation. My neck wasn't as well armored as the rest of me.

Luke's arms blurred as he attacked, even to me. I did my very best to deflect and block his attacks, but he was simply too fast. I could feel the force behind them, and if it wasn't for my armor I would have been cut into hundreds of pieces by now. Luke slammed downward with Backbitter; this time slow enough for me to block it.

I deflected the attack, but the force sent me skidding back several feet away in the dirt. My arms already ached somewhat simply from blocking Luke's incredibly powerful strikes, and I was breathing a little heavily. I had a lot of stamina, but Luke was really pushing my limits and I could tell he wasn't even trying.

Luke smirked at me as my shoulders heaved up and down quickly. "As I said, your weapon is powerful. However, you've not even begun to tap into its full strength. Like a child unable to swing a sword. It's quite amusing." Luke lifted Backbitter in the air. "While Backbitter isn't as powerful as your weapon, it is nothing to slouch at either." He grinned deeply. "It is my symbol of power, after all."

My eyes widened at Luke's words. "W-What the hell are you talking about?" I breathed out, finally regaining my stamina as I stood up. "I know you've fused with Kronos, as you said six months ago. But how the hell is that your symbol of power? I thought Kronos' weapon was a scythe?" I became even more confused. What had that scythe hilt been at Mt. St. Helens then? "And how are you able to even use a symbol of power if you haven't fully fused with him yet? Don't tell me the two of you are finally one?"

Luke hummed at my questions. "It's true that Kronos' symbol was the scythe, as he was a deity of the harvest. But Kronos sought to change things." Luke smirked the blade before looking back to me. "Before I fused with the Titan Lord, he had the head of his scythe forged into Backbitter. The whole 'half Celestial Bronze and half steel' thing was a lie. Do you really think steel is strong enough to withstand godly strength?"

Luke had a point with that last bit. "Alright, you've answered that, but how can you even use it? I was under the assumption that symbols of power could only be used by the gods they represent. That, and their children." My mind flashed back to when I used the Master Bolt to fight both Ares and Hades in the same day. Good times.

Luke nodded at my words. "You'd be correct, Zane. However, as I'm around….say, 75 percent Kronos now, I can still use the symbol." He grimaced slightly. "While I can't use it at the level, I will be able to once me and Kronos fully become one, I can still use it at quite a high level. At a much higher level than you can with that cursed rock."

Luke really liked to talk about himself. But even he had a limit it seems. "Well, I would say it's been fun, Zane. But your level of strength has been disappointing. You're only around twice the strength of yourself after you defeated Atlas, while I'm many, many times more powerful." Luke sighed. "I was expecting a little bit more from someone as tenacious as you."

Luke appeared right beside me and kicked me in the side before I could even react, I tumbled to the ground, but quickly recovered, my armor absorbing all the damage. Luke raised an eyebrow at how quickly I stood up. "That new armor of yours is quite tough." He looked at it more closely and his eyebrows raised further. "Universal Titanium? That's quite the material. Where did you get armor made from that?"

I twirled Thymos in my right hand. "Wouldn't you like to know, you piece of shit?" I charged at the…uh, mostly Titan, and tried to smash his face with Thymos. However, Luke was seemingly holding back way more than I thought. Before I could even blink, a powerful force hit me and sent me smashing into the ground. It didn't hurt, but I couldn't defend against it at all.

I tried to stand up, but the same force clamped down on me again. I grunted and looked up, only to find Luke standing above me with his foot on my chest. Luke grabbed me by my neck and hoisted me up of the ground. I tried to bat his hand away with as much strength as I could muster, but Luke's arm didn't budge.

"Stop struggling." Luke said, right before he chokeslammed me right into the floor. The traitor smashed me in the floor hard enough to create a massive crater, and I dug into the ground several feet. Luke then stomped on my face quicker than I could react. I tried to push his foot off my face, but Luke was too strong. He pushed down on the side of my chin and rolled his heel into the side of my head. I felt like my neck was about to break and Luke's force would not stop. "Goodbye, Zane."

Before Luke could break my neck and kill me, I felt tight, almost rope like tendrils wrap around my body. In an instant, I appeared several feet away. I looked up, only to see Nico standing in front of me, his Stygian Iron Sword in his hand and him covered in monster dust. Nico kneeled right down beside me. "Zane, are you okay?"

I cupped the side of his face and played with his hair a little bit. "I-I'm fine. Luke is just…so powerful." I looked around, only to realize I was lying in a circle of my friends. Nico was in front of me, while Annabeth and Rachel were standing side by side behind me. Both Nico and Annabeth were in their respective forms. "Is everyone alright?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. While you were holding off Luke, we dealt with the monsters that attacked us. They stood no chance." She looked at the several balconies and stands that adorned the arena. "There are still many other monsters and enemy demigods in the stands, so we need to be careful." Annabeth looked in front of us and gestured. "Not to mention Luke."

I looked where Annabeth's glowing white eyes were looking, only to find Luke slowly walking towards us with his blade outstretched. Luke smirked as his orange aura surrounded him like controlled flames and his eyes glowed orange. "Having to be saved by your friends, eh Zane? You're pathetic." An orange glow surrounded his blade and his smile widened. Nico noticed and threw up both his hands, creating a barrier of black shadow energy. "Die." Luke swung his sword in our direction, creating a slash of pure energy towards us.

It approached us faster than most of us could blink and ripped through Nico's shield like paper. Before it could bisect the son of Hades in two, I appeared in front of him and let the orange energy slam into me. I staggered slightly as the energy dispersed when it hit me, but thanks to my armor I was okay. I growled at the traitor. "You will not hurt them."

Luke laughed at my show of defense. "Oh? I won't?" Luke chuckled deeply once more, before grinning at me, his eyes glowing orange again. "Try to stop me." Luke's left arm twitched, and I knew he was just nanoseconds away from either killing me or killing my loved ones. He had been holding back our entire fight and was more than fast enough and strong enough to kill me in one hit, Universal Titanium armor or not.

However, before I was about to die, something Luke had said earlier in our fight had struck a chord in me. Luke had mentioned how I wasn't even close to tapping into the weapon's full power, and he had been right. Luke, despite having a weaker weapon, could still go toe to toe with mine.

I closed my eyes and focused. I focused around the aura that my weapon gave off. While we were in the Labyrinth and the maze fucked up my aura sensing, I could still feel the weapon due to its unique nature. Chaotic energy was wild and untamed, and it was corrosive. It's as if it was toxic to literally everything around it, as if everything existed on a different type of spectrum. It made sense, as creation and chaos were polar opposites.

However, there seemed to be some sort of….connection to something bigger underneath it all. Like it was tethered to something and was drawing energy from it. Almost as if it was a conduit to an almost…unlimited source of power. I couldn't put my finger on it, hell, I could barely comprehend it. But I wanted to see if I could draw out more power, more strength from the weapon.

My understanding with aura and energy was quite immense, as I have been able to sense and manipulate aura energy for years at this point. Usually, I sense everything at once and drawing out strength and energy from one object would be difficult, especially since it wasn't exactly part of me.

I reached out with more than just my aura sense, no, I reached out with my mind and connected with the weapon. I felt the raw…..pressure and presence behind it. It was definitely tied to something, some force of seemingly infinite power. I stretched my mind through that force, barely able to even comprehend its existence, only to find out that each little shred of the unlimited power seemed to connect to a much bigger shred at existed above it all.

I controlled my focus, trying to lock it down to a smaller portion. This had to be….Chaos. The entity itself. Heavenly Diamond was just a pressurized crystal infused with chaotic, void energy, which made sense it was connected to Chaos. Chaos was so much bigger than everything, so much bigger and so much more all-encompassing than I realized. Even the smallest strains of its power completely dwarfed the power of my father, and I could tell that all of this was connected to an even larger, infinite piece of all-encompassing energy.

I didn't understand it whatsoever, and it's not even what I was here for. I just needed a boost, a small, almost infinitesimal percent of the power locked away in the potential of the weapon. I focused on a small piece of power, opening up my senses to it and drawing far more strength than I ever had before from the weapon. Thymos lit up like a Christmas tree and glowed with sheer chaotic might and power. I then allowed the energy not to stay contained into my weapon, but seep into me.

I opened my eyes, now seeing Luke move in almost slow motion in front of me. His steps were impossibly slow, only moving a couple of inches every second. He had already began drawing Backbitter back and looked to cleave my head from my shoulders.

I felt so….powerful. I felt much, much stronger from chaotic energy swirling within me. My lightning, which was already a whitish blue, seemed to become darker, less turquoise and more sapphire. My normal light blue aura that clung closely around my frame had expanded to the same distance that my lighting normally was and was a darker blue instead.

I felt unstoppable, far more powerful than before, almost invincible. Yet…it was fading already. It was slow, or at least slow in this incredibly speed of perception super focus, but this power was seemingly…draining me. As if it was siphoning my energy and evaporating it. That made sense, as I just imbued my aura with Chaotic Energy. Chaotic energy drains the lifeforce of anything, and even corrodes away and destroys the souls of mortals.

I didn't want to see what happened to me whenever I ran out of energy with all this Chaotic energy running rampant in my body, so I needed to act now. Luke was still moving slower than a snail to my vision, so this would be easy. I appeared in front of the son of Hermes, and his eyes didn't even change. He couldn't follow me at all, as my new speed completely eclipsed his.

I quickly punched him as hard as I could in the chest, and I immediately felt the indenture I made with just sheer force alone. His chest caved in with a solid crack and ichor escaped his mouth. His facial expression hadn't changed, so he didn't even notice yet.

I let the Chaotic Energy disperse from my body, knowing the longer it was in my aura the more damage it could do to my soul and lifeforce. I already felt sort of drained, although my lifeforce and aura were in good shape.

Time resumed to normal movement and Luke was sent flying back with a massive blasting noise. He grunted in pain as he flew back, golden ichor escaping from his mouth. My punch had created a massive shockwave in every direction, one so powerful that it even floored me. I had been trying to control my new strength as much a possible, and I still did a whole lot of damage to the arena, as cracks and rips appeared in every facet.

Luke slammed into the dirt, creating a massive crater much larger than the one he made with slamming me into the ground. Luke coughed up a large amount of ichor and he clutched his practically mangled chest. He looked up from the crater at me with a completely stunned expression. "H-How…How d-did you..!?" Luke coughed up more ichor and his hand gripped into a fist. And that was our cue to go.

I turned around to my group as quick as possible, who all looked completely stunned by what just happened, even Annabeth. Heh, guess she didn't predict that. "We need to go, now! He'll heal himself with his time bullshit any second!" Nico was the first to react and he nodded at my words. He grabbed Annabeth and kicked down the door to Antaeus' arena.

I quickly moved to pick up Rachel, holding her bridal style. She yelped as I picked her up out of nowhere, however we had no time for anything else. Both me and Nico nodded to each other, and we raced down the corridor of the Labyrinth as fast as possible. While we were racing away, I quickly turned my head back to look at Luke, who had climbed out of the crater and was fully healed already.

The absolutely murderous look on his face told the whole story. This was not over yet, not even close.

(000)

I wasn't sure how long me and Nico ran for, or if we were even running in the right direction, as I couldn't ask Rachel at such a high focus super speed, but eventually, both me and Nico finally stopped. Nico was breathing a little heavily, not incredibly so, but enough to know he had worked. "I think we lost them."

I nodded at the son of Hades' words. "They didn't really seem to even be following us. I guess Luke doesn't want to risk getting lost in the maze." Luke could potentially just blow the entire Labyrinth to smithereens, but I don't think he wanted to immediately risk the attention of the gods just yet.

"Uh…" I heard a voice in my arms call out, prompting me to notice I was still carrying Rachel. "C-Can you put me down, please?" Rachel's face was as red as her hair as I held her, and she was looking away from me.

"Ah, shit. Sorry about that." I said as I stood Rachel back up. She didn't say anything in response, simply just nodding and not looking me in the eye. I noticed to my left, Nico's eyes narrowed at Rachel, which almost made me sigh. I wasn't even interested in females; I wasn't sure why he was even getting any bit jealous. Even if I was interested, I was absolutely going to do nothing after what happened with Calypso.

Annabeth, who Nico had put down immediately, threw her bag on the ground and immediately marched up to Rachel, cold anger clear on her face. "You led us straight into that death trap! What good are you as a guide if all your 'guiding' skills are going to do is get us killed!?" She grabbed Rachel by her shirt and death glared her right in the eyes. It probably looked really intimidating, as Annabeth was still covered in blood.

Rachel seemed to think so as well, as fear and uncomfortableness was clear on her face. "I-It was the way you all needed to go! Every other way had something blocking it! And the brightness was on that path, not the others!" Rachel put her hands up as she spoke, trying to defend her points.

Annabeth sneered at Rachel's justifications as her grip on Rachel's shirt tightened. "'The way we needed to go?' Yeah, if you wanted us to get killed." Her eyes bared down even harder on the clear-sighted mortal. "You sent us straight to our main enemy the first chance you got. I'm starting to think you're a liability, or worse, a traitor." Annabeth grabbed the hilt of her second dagger and was about to pull it from its sheathe.

Okay, that was too far. "Annabeth, enough!" Annabeth's gaze snapped over to me, and her glare was carried along with it. I matched her fierce look with one of my own. "Annabeth, do you even realize how unreasonable you sound? Rachel didn't even know who Luke was a couple of hours ago, and now you think she's a traitor? Come on, you're smarter than this, Annabeth."

Rachel was very relieved I came to her defense. "He's right! I didn't even know who Luke was earlier! I didn't really even know about the gods until Percy told me!" Annabeth looked even angrier at the mention of Percy's name, and Rachel paled even more. She pointed over to the right of the massive room we had come into. "And plus, the brightness leads that way! If I was a traitor, then I wouldn't of bothered to even think ahead about our path!"

Annabeth's furious look on her face started to fade as she looked down at the path, no doubt thinking that she really was acting like a crazy person. She still wanted to look mad at somebody, but she didn't have anybody to reasonably shift her anger on. She through Rachel down to the marble floor and stormed away several feet, slumping down against a pillar and not saying another word.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Annabeth was no longer actively yelling at and blaming Rachel. I turned to look at Rachel, who still looked a little shaken up by everything. I turned to Nico, who had just been watching the display with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Nico, make sure Rachel's okay and make sure the room is safe. I need to talk to Annabeth."

Nico nodded, clearly still awkward from what happened. "Uh….will do, Zane." Nico walked over to Rachel and helped her up off the ground. He led Rachel away from me and Annabeth, understanding exactly what I wanted. This had to be between me and Annabeth.

I walked closer to Annabeth and stood over her in silence. Annabeth didn't seem interested in breaking said silence and keep looking forward, specifically not looking at me. I sighed, before crossing my arms. "So, it's going to be like this, huh? We are just not going to talk about it?" Annabeth was silent. I groaned. "Annabeth, I know it's been hard these past few days, especially with what's happened, but that's no excuse to be acting like you have been."

Annabeth quickly turned to me, her glare back on her blood covered face. "Oh yeah? You're one to talk." Annabeth stood up from the pillar in the blink of an eye. "How many innocent people did you kill in the Sea of Monsters? What was your justification for it back then?" She put a finger to her chin and pretended to think about it. "I believe you said: 'They're just mortals.'"

I sighed and shook my head. "Annabeth, the thing is that I realized my wrongs. I realized I was being a piece of shit. Hell, you of all people constantly pointed it out." I looked her dead in the eye, seriousness etched all over my face. "That's why it's so fucked that you're acting like this. You are literally out of character right now. You murdered Ethan Nakamura with no remorse, and you were just about to stab Rachel." I went silent and then prepared to do the verbal death blow. "Percy wouldn't want you to act like this, not for him."

That was the wrong thing to say in this situation, as Annabeth's face turned murderous in a heartbeat. "Don't you dare fucking say that! I'm doing this for him! I'm going to cut that bastard Prometheus' heart out and force him to eat it!" Her eyes almost flickered white, into that new form of hers. "Percy would do the same for me. And I intend to return that favor."

I almost looked at Annabeth in pity and honestly couldn't even summon up any feelings of outrage. "Annabeth…Percy would want you to be happy. He loved you, and he wouldn't have wanted you to dedicate your life to avenge his death. He would want you to live, follow your dreams and make the most out of life for yourself. Not….this." I motioned towards Annabeth's blood-soaked form as I muttered that last part.

Annabeth heard me clearly, and her face fell at my words. Her mask of cold fury faltered and underneath it all I could just see the sad teenage girl who was grieving for the one she loved. Her anger hadn't faded entirely, as she glared at me. "If you weren't so weak as to let him die, none of this would have happened and he'd be here with us."

While most blades and knives couldn't even scratch my skin, much less cut it, Annabeth's words cut deeper than any blade ever could have. I uncrossed my arms and looked at the ground Annabeth looked like she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, as her angry look fell. "Z-Zane, I'm.." She trailed off, unable to say the words.

The corners of my eyes stung, and I glared at her. "Fuck you, Annabeth." I stormed away before she could say another word, anger and hurt filling my being. How the fuck could she even say that? Does she not know I already think that constantly? That I failed Percy? That I was too weak to save him? I thought about it constantly enough. She didn't have to remind me.

I walked over to Nico, who had been standing against a pillar, as if waiting for me or something. Rachel was on another pillar, in between Nico and Annabeth, clearly looking uncomfortable with the entire situation. Nico looked at me in concern as he saw me wiping the corners of my eyes through the bottom of my helmet. "Zane, are you okay?"

I sighed and shook my head. "No. It's just….Annabeth. She's acting a lot like I used to and she's definitely better at insulting people." I took off my bag on my back and set in on the ground against the pillar. "She's being childish, but she knows it. She's hurting right now, since she just lost the closest person to her. Hell, we're all hurting." I took off my helmet and put it on top of my bag.

I sighed. "She's going down a path right now where the end is nothing but pain and suffering. If not for her, then for everyone around her. I need to guide her off it and bring her back to the straight and narrow." I noticed Nico had been staring at me as I had been talking, his eyes transfixed on my face. "What?" I rose an eyebrow in confusion.

Nico looked like he was brought out of a trance at my question. "O-Oh. Sorry, I just couldn't help but notice how different you look with a beard." He motioned to my stubble, which I still hadn't gotten rid of yet. Nico got close to me, and he put his hand on the cuirass of my armor. "Combine that with this new armor you have…" He leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "It makes you look sexy as fuck…"

Nico's sultry tone made me go wild, and I pressed my lips up against his faster than he could blink. Nico immediately returned the kiss. Kissing the son of Hades in full armor felt weird, as I couldn't feel him caressing me thanks to the powerful metal, but I didn't care. I also didn't care that Annabeth and Rachel were here either, as I had missed Nico in the past couple of weeks and hadn't been able to spend as much time with him as I wanted.

Suddenly, as our making out got more heated, I began to feel a whole lot of guilt. Ever since I had slept with Calypso and cheated on both Nico and Taylor, Guilt filled me whenever I did anything remotely sensual with Nico after I returned. I had suppressed it for a while, but right now I couldn't. I quickly broke the kiss with Nico and turned away from him.

A confused and concerned look come up on Nico's features. "Zane? Are you alright? What's wrong?" I didn't immediately answer the son of Hades, as the guilt of what I had done with Calypso racked my mind. I had to tell him and Taylor what had happened, as I could no longer bear to keep it secret. They deserved to know the truth.

But I couldn't do it now. No, I had to do it when both him and Taylor were here with me. They both needed to be here at the same time so they could decide what to do about what I had done. I shook my head. "I-I'm sorry, Nico. It's just…" I trailed off and sighed, trying to find the words for the son of Hades. "I need to talk to you. Both you and Taylor. Something….happened."

Nico immediately looked alarmed at my words. "Zane, what the hell do you mean? 'Something happened?' What does that mean? And why do you need Taylor here to tell me?" Nico had put his hands on my armored shoulders as the concerned and alarmed look on his face deepened.

I put my gauntleted hands around his wrists, careful not to crush them on accident. I sighed and looked at the son of Hades in his onyx eyes. "I'll tell you when this whole quest is over, and we can find Taylor. It's something very serious and you need to know about it, but only when both you and Taylor are here, alright?" Nico's alarm and concern didn't fade away, and I felt my heart clinch up.

"Hey…" I pressed my lips up against his softly, kissing him very delicately. Nico returned the kiss instantly, wrapping his arms around my neck. Our kiss broke and I looked in dead in the eyes. "It's nothing serious. Just something I want the two of you to know, only together." I hated lying to Nico like I was, but I couldn't bear to see that expression on his face.

Nico didn't look like he was feeling very reassured from my words, but he eventually nodded and gave me a small smile. "I believe you. You…just scared me, that's all." Nico suddenly gave me a tight hug. I raised an eyebrow at the gesture. Nico seemed to sense my confusion, so he elaborated. "I've just missed you so much. You were basically dead for two weeks and I thought you were never coming back. And for you to suddenly just say something like that…"

I felt my heart clinch up even more from Nico's words, and I dreaded the future conversation I was going to have to have with him and Taylor. "It's nothing serious, like I said, Nico. Just something I want the two of you to know together. Don't worry too much about it. It can wait until after the quest." Once again, guilt rose in my chest for lying to the son of Hades like this.

Suddenly, before I could even say anything else, a deep rumbling started to shake the entire ancient room of pillars we were in. Both Rachel and Annabeth shot to their feet from the pillars they were leaning on, with Rachel barely being able to stand up cleanly from the shaking. "A-An earthquake!" She shakily pointed to the right of the room. "We need to go that way, now!"

Nico, and despite her obvious dislike, Annabeth, both listened to the clear-sighted mortal and started to grab their things and haul ass. However, I simply just punched the ground and released a massive blast of telekinetic force underneath the maze, creating a small crater where my arm had struck. The earthquake stopped almost immediately after that.

Rachel, Nico and Annabeth all stood almost awkwardly as I ripped my arm from the ground. Nico had a deadpan expression on his face and Annabeth was pretending to check the inventory of her bag, pointedly not looking at me. Only Rachel seemed to actually look shocked. "D-Did you just stop an earthquake with a punch?"

I grabbed my bag off the side of a now cracked pillar and held my helmet underneath my arm. "Well, more like I punched the ground to release a blast of telekinetic force to counterattack the movement of the tectonic plate underneath us…" I walked by her and nodded. "But more or less, yes. I stopped an earthquake with a punch." I pointed to the right of the room. "You said the way we needed to go was that way, right?"

Rachel was silent for almost a couple of seconds, as if mulling my response over. She then nodded dumbly. "Yeah. Yeah, it's that way. Come on, guys." We followed behind the clear-sighted mortal, as she had begun to lead us once again.

I walked beside her as Nico and Annabeth walked a few feet back. I saw Nico take Annabeth by the arm and led her back a few feet, as if to talk to her in private. Probably about her behavior or something. The room we were in was absolutely massive, bigger than even a football stadium, as it seemed to go on forever.

As we walked, Rachel had been staring at me when she thought I wasn't looking, a slight red flush on her face. I knew she found me attractive, probably with the beard and everything, but even Taylor and Nico weren't as brazen when they first started crushing on me. At least I think so. I eventually turned my head to her. "What is it?" I asked, trying to hide the small amount of annoyance building up.

Rachel flushed even more and stared at me for a few seconds. "I didn't know you were gay." I blinked for a few seconds at her words, and then did a double take. That was what she was staring at me for? Seriously? "I mean, you and Nico were all over each other back there…"

I sighed at Rachel's words, not really expecting to have this conversation with anybody. I mean even Matt had never commented that much on my relationships when we met. This was something that was honestly a little new. "Yeah. I'm gay and I'm in a relationship with Nico and another guy. Got a problem with that?" I glared at her slightly, as if daring her to start calling me an abomination.

Rachel's eyes widened slightly, and she started to shake her head fervently. "No! No. No problem whatsoever. None. All okay over here. Nothing wrong with it at all." Despite her tone and her words, I could tell a feeling of disappointment in her voice and expression. Well, too bad for her, I'm done cheating.

I nodded with a slight smirk. "Good. Now how much further do we have?" Before Rachel could answer, an incredibly bright light off in the distance of the room could be spotted. I could see the massive room give way to a small corridor entrance. I squinted my eyes, unused to seeing any light. "Is that…light?"

Rachel's eyes widened and a smile built up on her face. "Yes! That's the way! Come on!" She took off towards the corridor in a run, breaking past us. I looked back at Nico and Annabeth and shrugged. We all followed the clear-sighted mortal into the corridor, light now clear in our vision. "We're really close!" Rachel said.

The corridor we were now in was basically futuristic. The walls and floor were made of a bright, stainless steel and the ceiling was made of a blue, fluorescent light. It almost looked kind of like the Death Star from Star Wars.

With the change the room and Rachel's words, Annabeth's annoyance came back in full force. "This is so wrong! The workshop should be in the oldest portion of the maze! This looks practically like a sci-fi movie! This can't be-!" Annabeth was cut off when we reached a pair of massive metal doors. On the front was the delta symbol, inscribed in blue.

Rachel smiled, as if a monumental task was just completed. Hell, it basically had. "The workshop of Daedalus. We're here. This is where the brightness leads." Annabeth's face soured and she didn't say another word about the architecture of the maze, just moving forwards and pressing Daedalus' symbol.

After what Annabeth had said to me earlier and the fact I was still a bit angry at her for her words, I couldn't resist with what I was about to say. "So much for ancient architecture, eh Annabeth?" Annabeth scowled at me, and I chuckled at her expression. She didn't say anything else and walked past me inside the workshop.

Stepping inside Daedalus' workshop was like walking into another dimension. I thought Hephaestus' forge was impressive, but Daedalus was on another level. Rather than ham-fisted and strung together like Hephaestus' felt like, Daedalus' felt like an art museum.

There were laptops in the corner of the room, all of them on and on some kind of project file. There was a golden metal egg in the corner the size of a person and even a grandfather clock made entirely of glass. Hundreds of different pieces of art were placed all around the room. Statues, carvings, sketches, paintings, inventions and hundreds of other types of things.

In the back of the room, the entire wall was made up of one massive window, which led to one amazing view. I could see the Rocky Mountains off in the distance, as flying around the country on a regular basis meant I had to study maps and what important landmarks looked like. We were apparently high up in the foothills, and above a red mesa valley filled with dozens of stone spires and large boulders.

Annabeth walked up to a nearby etching and rubbed her fingers on it in reverence. "Holy shit…" She seemed to forget how to breath for a few seconds. "He's a genius…" Her and my eyes trailed over to a pair of wings set up on a display, the feathers held together by some kind of adhesive and made of bronze. "These wings are exquisite!" Annabeth, despite her earlier actions, was like a child in a toy store.

Both me and Nico were not so drawn into the ambience and the immaculacy of the workshop. Both me and him had our weapons drawn and ready for combat at any moment. Nico's eyes traced over the active monitors. "The computers are still on, and there's a half-eaten bagel on one of the tables over there." Nico walked up to the window, an inquisitive expression on his face. "Where exactly are we?"

Before anyone could say another word, a familiar voice spoke up. "Colorado Springs. The Garden of The Gods." Me and my entire party jumped at the voice and quickly turned to the source of it. Standing at the top of one of the several spiral staircases wrapping around the pillars in the room was Quintus. He looked the exact same as he did back at Camp, only now his sword was drawn.

"You!" Annabeth growled at as she recognized the traitor to the camp. Annabeth quickly sauntered forwards a few feet and drew both of her daggers, before entering a combat stance. "Why are you here?! And what have you done with Daedalus!?"

Quintus smiled slightly at Annabeth's words, not threatened by her behavior in the slightest. Actually, It's almost as if he found it amusing. "Trust me, my dear. You don't want to meet Daedalus. You will only be disappointed. Now turn around and go back to where you came from."

Annabeth's face twisted in rage from Quintus' quick write off of her. "Look here, you fucking traitor. I didn't go through this entire fucking maze, fight countless monsters, kill another demigod and lose the one I love the most just to find you. Now where is FUCKING DAEDALUS!?"

Quintus stepped down the spiral staircase. He wore the exact same outfit he had been wearing at camp. Jeans, boots and his camp counselor T-shirt. It almost seemed like an insult that he was still continuing to wear it. Quintus chuckled as he reached the bottom stair. "You think I'm an agent of Kronos. And that I work for his fusee."

I stared down the former camp counselor, thinking back to the times where he had helped me and my boyfriends train in the Arena. None of that mattered now. "What else could you be?" My words prompted Quintus' attention, and he turned his head towards me. "You left camp right after me and Percy went missing, going into the Labyrinth. While that isn't much evidence, the fact that you aren't denying it is suspect."

Quintus sighed and smiled slightly after my words. "I do not work for Luke. I only work for myself." Quintus walked right by my group, as if none of us were any threat to him. I felt a small amount of annoyance at the thought. I controlled it, noting my emotions were becoming more explosive and harder to control ever since I returned from Calypso's Island.

Quintus walked over to the window and stared out onto the mesa valley below. "You know, the view changes from time to time. For some reason, It's always someplace high up. Yesterday, it was that of the top of a skyscraper in Manhattan, and the day before that, a beautiful view overlooking Lake Michigan. However, for some reason, it always keeps coming back here. To the Garden of The Gods. A fitting name, I suppose."

Quintus looked back at my group with a smirk. "It's not an illusion, in case any of you were wondering. We are actually here in Colorado. The logistics of how and why have long since escaped me, but we are here."

Annabeth looked absolutely murderous, Quintus' words not having calmed her in the slightest. "What the fuck does this have to do with anything!?" She pointed one of her knives at Quintus, her wrist clinching around the handle. "Tell me what you've done with Daedalus right now, or I will gut you like a pig!"

I rose and eyebrow in surprise at Annabeth rage, but then chided myself on being shocked. Annabeth had literally gutted Ethan Nakamura just twenty minutes earlier, so I shouldn't be surprised. Quintus just smirked in amusement from Annabeth's words. "My dear, if you cannot figure it out, you're not as intelligent as I thought you were." He pointed a thumb to his chest. "For I…am Daedalus."

At Quintus' claim, I froze, as did my entire party. How the hell was that possible? Quintus couldn't be Daedalus. Daedalus was easily over three thousand years old, and Quintus didn't look a day over fifty. I knew he was a demigod, a son of Athena, but even demigods aren't immortal. "That's bullshit." I say, getting a look from Quintus. "You can't be him. Daedalus disappeared back into the Labyrinth at the end of his life almost three thousand years ago, and you look like a youth pastor."

Quintus chuckled at my words, as if he found the thought funny. "Amusingly enough, I actually was a youth pastor, a good forty years ago." He looked at me, his smile never fading. "But to answer your question, son of Zeus, the reason I look so young for my age is because this is not my original body."

At first, I raised an eyebrow in confusion, before a thought crossed my mind. Was Quintus…a clone or something? I mean, cloning is pretty futuristic technology, but if Daedalus was a son of Athena and he could build this giant ass supermaze, then cloning didn't sound too shocking if I was being honest. "Are you trying to say you're some kind of clone or something?"

Quintus shook his head at my words. "No. Cloning myself would take far too many resources to be practical over thousands of years. No." Quintus pressed…some kind of button on his elbow, and a hatch opened up like a drawer. Incredibly intricate and detailed wiring and tech could be seen underneath. "I am what you could call an automaton. Or I guess a better term these days would be android or robot."

Annabeth looked stunned at Quintus' revelation. "W-What?" He fighting stance dropped out of sheer disbelief and her eyes stared widely at Quintus. "T-That's impossible!" She moved the direction of her eyes at the machinery in Quintus' arm. "The level of technology required for that is unreal! It's insane!"

Daedalus looked at Annabeth as a teacher would look at a kindergarden student. "My dear, you simply do not understand what is possible, at least not yet." Daedalus motioned at himself as he put up the machinery hatch of his arm. "My false name, Quintus, has a double meaning, if you haven't figured it out just yet. It means fifth in Latin, as this is my fifth body."

Annabeth still looked stunned from Daedalus' revelation from earlier. "You somehow managed to transfer your animus, your soul, into a machine. That's…not natural. It's unthinkable."

Daedalus smirked at Annabeth's observations once more. "Oh, trust me, my dear. I am still very much Daedalus. Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget the fact." Daedalus pulled down the collar of his counselor shirt to reveal an ugly red mark in the shape of a bird grafted onto his skin. "The brand of a murderer."

The details of Daedalus' story came to mind. "That's there because of what you did to your nephew. Perdix. The boy you pushed from the tower." Apparently, Daedalus murdered his nephew in a fit of jealous rage, something that was apparently true, despite all the retellings and reimagings of the story.

Daedalus' face twisted, his seemingly perpetual smirk fading from his face at the mention of his nephew. "I did not push him. I simply-"

I rolled my eyes at the excuse that was already rising from Daedalus' tongue. "Oh, come on, man! What are you going to say? 'I made him lose his balance. I just let him fall.'" I glared at the creator of the Labyrinth. "Cut the bullshit. You murdered him in cold blood."

Daedalus deflated from my words and turned back to the window. "I know. I regret what I did, Zane. I was angry and bitter at the hand I was dealt in life. King Minos of Crete had been hunting me for years and had disgraced me. I cannot take it back and my mother never lets me forget what I have done. As my nephew died, my mother had some of his essence turned into an image of a small bird and bonded to my soul. No matter what form or body I take, I always carry the mark."

I looked at the inventor with a hard gaze. "Nothing less than you deserve." As I said the words, the images of the ones I murdered unjustly flashed in my mind. I felt like a massive hypocrite just saying what I said to Daedalus. "Now why did you come to camp then? Why work with Luke, as you haven't denied it."

Daedalus turned his eyes from the window and stared me straight in the face. "I came to your camp to see if it was truly worth saving. Luke told me one story and I decided to come up with my own interpretation after experiencing it for myself."

Nico tensed slightly at Daedalus' words. "So, you are a traitor. You have talked to Luke." I could feel anger in the surface thoughts of his mind. Why did Nico hate Luke so much? I knew everybody in the camp definitely hated Luke on some level, but Nico getting antsy literally just hearing Luke's name was weird.

Daedalus turned his eyes to the son of Hades. "I'm not exactly a traitor if I had no loyalty to begin with, am I?" Nico's eyes darkened and the inventor smirked. "But yes, I have spoken with Luke. Many times, in fact. He is quite persuasive, and his position as one half of the fusion with the Lord of the Titans gives him quite a bit of power."

"But you've seen camp!" Annabeth shouted out, her voice almost pleading. "You've seen that we need help! You can't let Luke pass through the maze! If he does, the entire camp will be destroyed and everyone there will die! You wouldn't let that happen, would you!?"

Daedalus sighed and turned to one of the many worktables in the workshop. He put his sword on it and started cleaning the edge of the blade off. "The maze is no longer mine to control anymore, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it's tied to my own lifeforce. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. The price I have paid for privacy."

I raised and eyebrow in questioning. "Privacy from what? What exactly would someone with a mind like yours have to be afraid of?" If Daedalus was so smart that he could create literal super robots for his mind to inhabit, I'm pretty sure with enough resources and time he could be capable of anything.

Daedalus finished cleaning his sword off and turned back to me. "From the gods, my boy. And death. Trust me, Zane, my mind is only brilliant enough to ward them off for a time, not deal with them entirely." Daedalus sighed and looked at the ground. "I have been alive for over three thousand years, since the time of King Minos, my most hated enemy. I have been here, hiding from death."

Annabeth looked confused at Daedalus' words. "How can you hide from death? Hades has agents like the Furies in his employ, not to mention Thanatos himself." She looked even more confused as she continued. "And why would you even need to hide from death? I know you've done some things you aren't proud of, but you're…Daedalus. Shouldn't that be enough to get you into Elysium, if not the Isle of The Blessed?"

Daedalus looked at Annabeth with a tired look on his face. "The Furies do not know everything, or they do not see everything either. Besides, they're not particularly formidable." My mind flashed back to my first quest where I easily killed Alecto. "As for Hades and Thanatos: There are a lot of mortals in the world, my dear. One of them can easily escape their grasp, especially when they deal with so many."

His tired look seemed to only appear even more exhausted. "As for why I am hiding from death…I assume you are aware of the judges of the underworld, Annabeth?" The daughter of Athena nodded at the automaton's question. "My archenemy, King Minos of Crete sits on top of the council of judges. His words and bias would hold far more weight than the judgement of others. After the daughters of Cocalus killed him for my sake, he swore vengeance upon me. After I learned of his position in the Underworld, I fled into the Labyrinth and decided I would cheat death."

One question still weighed upon my mind. "Why did you leave camp and return to your workshop instead of helping Luke against us, if you were his spy from the beginning? What does returning here do for you?" I crossed my arms and stared at the inventor, demanding an answer.

Daedalus' tired face morphed into one of guilt. "Well, for that exact reason. To return to my workshop and give Luke Adriane's String." My eyes widened and Daedalus only looked more guilty. "I gave the string to the new Lord of the Titans just hours ago. He was so obsessed with the string, despite my instructions that a clear-sighted mortal would be even better."

I stood in silence, the implications of Daedalus' words cementing in my brain. My group was stunned as well, as they said nothing and only stared at the inventor. "Do….you know what you've done? Luke has become more powerful than ever, and he has Prometheus at his back, not to mention an army of monsters. They're going to kill everyone, every child in that camp with no remorse. And you helped them?" I could feel the anger rising in my voice with every word, and I shook with rage.

Daedalus slumped at my words, like a nail struck and bent by a hammer. "I…I'm sorry, Zane. I know what I have done…but Luke promised freedom from my fate. Once Hades is cast into Tartarus, Luke will allow me dominion over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son Icarus and make things right with my poor nephew, Perdix. And then, I will see Minos cast into the deepest pits of Tartarus where he belongs for what he's done."

Annabeth spoke this time, her earlier hero worship completely gone from her voice. "That's your plan? Are you fucking stupid!? How can you be such an idiot as to trust Luke, who fused with the guy who ate his kids by the way, to actually honor his side of the bargain? How can you not see that the first thing he'll do with you is throw you right into Tartarus with Hades?"

Daedalus winced, but I could just tell he had already thought about that before. "I know that is a possibility, Annabeth, but I do not have a choice. Luke's power is immense, far greater than what you can imagine it is. He was being generous with his offer, and I knew I could not say no even if I wanted to." Daedalus sighed. "It is a risk, as I know Luke's word is shaky at best, but my current position is not much better with the Olympians in charge."

Annabeth practically appeared in Daedalus' face and grabbed him by the shirt. "I can't even believe you! I respected you more than anyone in the entire world. You were my fucking hero!" Annabeth punched Daedalus right in the face, sending him flying into one of his many projects on a display. Daedalus didn't even try to defend himself or even stand up.

Tears trailed down Annabeth's cheeks as she stood over Daedalus. "I lost almost everything trying to get here. My pride, my boyfriend, and even my own sense of who I am! I killed someone in cold blood for this…shit!" Annabeth kneeled down and grabbed Daedalus by the neck. "You would sacrifice the entire world just to get want you want! Children of Athena are supposed to be wise, not just fucking clever!"

Annabeth let go of Daedalus neck and threw his head down on the floor. Daedalus grunted but still made no move to defend himself. "Mother was right to curse you as a murderer. You were a monster then and three thousand years later, you're a monster now." Annabeth wiped her eyes and walked away, moving over to the window and struggling to control her emotions.

Daedalus sat up and hung his head low, like he was completely ashamed. "I….I'm afraid your cause is doomed, Zane." Daedalus spoke to me and made no comment on any of Annabeth's words. "I saw that as soon as I entered your camp. No matter your strength, or the strength of those around you, you can not stand up to the Titans. And neither can the Olympians with what Luke is planning." Daedalus' words sounded hollow, no conviction in his words whatsoever.

Daedalus stood up off the ground and dusted himself off. "I would return to camp and warn everyone if I were you. Luke now has the string, and from what my sources tell me, he's close to the camp even now." Daedalus motioned to the window. "You can leave through the window to the Garden of The Gods. No doubt you can return to camp quicker without the Labyrinth stopping you."

I didn't say anything to the inventor as I stared over at the window. Without the Labyrinth obstructing our path and messing with my aura sense, I could make it back to camp in literally seconds. Before I could do anything else, Nico surrounded his blade in shadows and walked over to Daedalus. I raised an eyebrow at the son of Hades. "Nico, what are you doing?"

Nico looked back at me, the shadows on his blade not fading. "Zane, you heard Daedalus earlier. He said the Labyrinth is directly tied to his lifeforce. If we kill him, the entire Labyrinth ceases to exist, and Luke won't be able to guide his army to camp." He looked back to Daedalus, who took a few steps back from Nico's words. "Maybe the destruction of the Labyrinth would also destroy Luke and his army, too."

I sighed and moved over to Nico, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But if that's true, it will also kill our friends." Nico looked surprised at my words. "Taylor, Arthur, Tyson and Grover. Remember, Nico, they're still in the Labyrinth, no doubt searching for Pan. If we kill Daedalus and destroy the Labyrinth, we run the risk of killing all four of them. Even if the destruction of the Labyrinth wouldn't kill them, it would likely strand them where they are now."

Nico was silent for a bit before nodding and dispelling the shadows around his blade. "You're right, Zane. I kind of forgot about them." He giggled a bit, before sheathing his sword and looking at Daedalus with a serious face. "And I guess killing him would be a mercy, even if Minos would send him to Tartarus for eternity. He should live with all the horrible things he's done."

Daedalus flinched as if he was struck but he didn't say a word. Rachel, who had been quiet during the entire conversation, finally spoke up. "Well, what now then? If Luke is about to attack your camp at any time, shouldn't you guys be getting back there to help defend it?"

I nodded at Rachel's words. "Yes. We need to leave immediately." I waved my hands in the direction of the window, releasing a telekinetic blast to shatter the entire thing outwards. The window practically exploded, causing both Rachel and Annabeth to flinch. I floated in the air with my telekinesis and held out an arm to both Nico and Rachel. "Grab on."

Both my boyfriend and the clear-sighted mortal did as I said, grabbing on to each of my hands and being lifted off the ground. I moved my gaze to Annabeth, who had turned her now red eyes over to Daedalus. "Annabeth." I said, getting the daughter of Athena's attention. "We need to go."

Annabeth took a couple of seconds to respond, no doubt her thoughts running at a million miles an hour right now. "R-Right." Her voice was less angry and more calm now, but not completely stable. I used my telekinesis to lift her off the ground. We floated out the window and above the Garden of The Gods, leaving Daedalus behind to his shame in his workshop.

As soon as we were outside of the workshop, which sprouted oddly out of the ground like weird tower, I felt the veil that the Labyrinth put over my aura sense vanish entirely. It had been strong throughout the entire maze, but in Daedalus' Workshop, it had been so permeating that it almost made me nauseous.

"So, we're heading back to camp now, right?" Nico asked as I held him by the hand. His voice was a little anxious and uneasy, as he was in the air right now. Like Percy, the sky was a pretty dangerous place for Nico, thanks to the whole Big Three thing. However, I was pretty confident my father wouldn't strike him down, as I was here with him.

I shook my head. "No. First we need to take Rachel back to New York, then we'll return to camp." I'm pretty sure we couldn't take Rachel back to Camp Half-Blood, due to Rachel's mortal status. She was a clear-sighted mortal, however, so I wasn't sure if she could enter camp or not due to that.

Rachel, however, had other ideas. "You guys don't need to do that for me. You need to make it back to Camp as fast as possible. You guys don't have to go out of your way. I'll be able to get back home, trust me." Rachel was trying to not be a burden for the group.

I shook my head, smiling at the clear-sighted mortal. "It's no problem at all, Rachel. I don't think you understand just how fast I really am, especially when I know where I'm going." I closed my eyes, reaching out with my aura sense and honing in on the aura of Olympus. "There it is. Just give me one second."

Raising my base power level to its absolute peak with letting my aura escape, I took off in the direction of Manhattan, moving far faster than any tracking system on earth could even hope to track. I blurred away from Daedalus' workshop; the hypersonic boom created by my speed creating a massive shockwave.

(000)

It only took a couple of seconds of flying, but soon enough me, Nico, Rachel and Annabeth appeared above the skyline of New York City. I released the cone of telekinetic energy around us, which protected the rest of the planet from the force of my movement. It was a complicated thing, as I had to create a bubble of energy around all of us to stop the force from killing everything, but also had to create smaller bubbles of energy around my friends so that they didn't die from the speed as well. Only Nico was okay by himself.

Rachel blinked for a couple of seconds before her eyes widened and her face dropped in complete shock. "H-Holy shit!" She looked down at the city thousands of feet below. "We're already in New York!" She turned her head to me, complete confusion on her face. "How are you so fast?"

I shrugged at her question, stopping a small smirk from coming up on my face. "I've just trained a whole lot. Not to mention Zeus is my father." Rachel's eyes looked past me and into the air, and she looked completely stunned. "Rachel? What is it? Are you okay?"

Rachel slowly raised her other arm and pointed in the sky. "W-What the hell is that?" I followed her finger, only to find nothing. However, I felt the auras of the Olympians clear as day from where she was pointing at. It was pretty obvious as to what she was looking at. "It's a giant city in the sky!" Rachel looked around at all of us, only to see we weren't awed by her words. "Do you guys not see it or something?"

Nico shook his head at Rachel's question. "No, but I'm pretty sure what you're seeing is Olympus. It exists in some sort of pocket dimension or something that blends with the real world over Manhattan. You haven't noticed it before?"

Rachel shook her head. "No! I'm pretty sure I would notice if there was a massive fucking floating city above the place I live." Huh. Now that was odd. Rachel most of become more clear-sighted during our journey, otherwise it just didn't make any sense.

I decided to voice this. "Your senses must have gotten even clearer over the trip. That's the only real explanation. The Mist usually affects everyone, even demigods and clear-sighted mortals. I guess you're now more clear-sighted than all of them." I looked down at the city. "Now where do you want us to take you?"

Rachel looked down at the city and pointed with her hand. "Just down there, to Times Square. I can make my own way back home after that." I nodded and began to descend down to the city ground, carry all three of my companions. Rachel suddenly looked confused. "Uh, shouldn't we like…you know, land in like an alley or something to not draw attention?"

Rachel was drawing attention to the fact that I was descending down to the middle of Times Square, not a care in the world who was going to spot us. "Well, most mortals won't even see us and the ones that do, well, who's exactly going to believe them? This is New York after all. People say crazy shit all the time."

Rachel conceded my points. "That's true, I guess." We touched down right smack in the middle of a crowd of people in the middle of the street. Rachel looked at the tall buildings of Manhattan and sighed. "I guess it's right back to my normal, boring life." She turned back to me and my friends. "I'm sorry Daedalus ended up being such a bad guy. And I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help."

I shook my head and brushed off her apologies. "Don't worry, Rachel. None of that was your fault. You've never even done anything like this, and we asked a whole lot from you. Not to mention we put you in danger as well. I'm sorry for that."

It was Rachel's turn to brush away my apologies now, which she did so with a slight grin. "Are you joking? That was probably the most fun I've had in my entire life. I mean, I literally saw you fight a god and some weird giant guy. It was so awesome!" Rachel then remembered we were in a schedule. "Well, don't let me keep you guys any longer."

I smiled at the clear-sighted mortal. "It was nice meeting you, Rachel. Thank you for helping us. Percy would be grateful." To my left, Annabeth's face fell slightly when I mentioned Percy, which couldn't have been good for her mental state. In fact, since her moment with Daedalus, she hasn't said much. "So long."

I started to float in the air and was about to telekinetically lift both Nico and Annabeth with me, but Rachel's voice stopped me. "Wait!" I floated back down slightly and raised an eyebrow. "If you guys ever need anymore help going through dangerous and confusing underground mazes, or just need someone to tag along…" She took out a pencil and a slip of paper and scribbled something down on it. It was her number. She had given it to Percy back at his high school and now she was giving it to me. "You know how to reach me."

I smiled and telekinetically grabbed the slip. "Thanks, Rachel. Have a good one." With that, I lifted both Nico and Annabeth off the ground blasted off into the sky, this time at a much slower pace, as camp was only a few dozen miles away from here. As we flew, I saw Nico's eyebrow furrowed into an expression of annoyance. "What, Nico?"

Nico crossed his arms and looked back at the city quickly disappearing from view. "She gave you her number…" He sounded annoyed and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

I felt a small amount ofguilt build up in me from Nico's words. Not from taking Rachel's number, no. But Nico's words and feelings reminded me once again what I had done with the Demi-Titan Calypso. It also filled me with dread about the upcoming future conversation I was going to have to have with both Nico and Taylor after all of this was over. "Nico, it isn't like that. And even if it is, I have no interest in her. I only have eyes for you and Taylor. No one else."

I felt guilt even thinking the words, much less saying them out loud. However, despite my inner feelings, Nico was visibly calmed. "I know, Zane." Nico's words made me hide the twinge of guilt I felt behind an impassive expression. We fell into a silence, both of us smart enough to not ask Annabeth how she felt.

Annabeth had been through the ringer over the past few weeks. The quest she led went to shit twice, her boyfriend died, and she basically murdered another demigod. I didn't even want to imagine what her mental state must be right now, especially with all of those events having happened so recently.

We reached camp in only a couple of minutes, and I floated us down right in the middle of the pavilion. It was currently around two in the afternoon, so there was nobody eating food there at the moment. However, the rest of the camp was as busy as a military base. Demigods from every Olympian were moving around the camp, carrying weapons, camp defenses and all sorts of things for war prep.

We needed to find Chiron and inform him of exactly what had happened. I walked up to a nearby demigod and tapped her on the shoulder, intent on finding out where the legendary centaur was. "Hey, you know where Chiron is?" The demigod turned her head and I nearly fell down after seeing who it was.

It was Harper Pierce, the girlfriend of my friend, Matt Beckett. Except it wasn't. It was the younger version of her that me and Matt had run into when he had come over into our universe. She was about twelve years from what I could guess, and she had small blue streaks through her normally black hair. She also had black lipstick on, something her older counterpart didn't have.

Her eyes practically bulged out of her head when she saw me. "H-Holy shit. You're that son of Zeus guy everyone thought was dead that came back during his own funeral!" Harper's eyes lit up and she looked at me with a slight smirk on her face. "Aren't you dating Taylor? He's been helping my class in the arena with our footwork for the past few months. His skill at fighting is unreal and he's so fast. Kinda wish I could be that fast, too." I could almost taste the irony in that last sentence.

The uncanniness in the differences between the two Harpers was insane, but right now I didn't have the time to pay it any mind. "Yeah, I'm that son of Zeus guy and I'm with Taylor." My face morphed into a serious expression. "But I don't have the time to talk about that right now. Do you know where Chiron is? Some things happened in the Labyrinth that he needs to know about right this second."

Harper's slightly reverent expression quickly vanished off her face as fast as her counterpart was. "Uh…he's over at the front defense, close to where the entrance of the Labyrinth in the forest. Or at least, that's the last place I saw him." She looked at the ground like a child who just had their hand smacked.

I nodded at her words. "Thank you." I started to walk away, but then a thought occurred to me. A small smile appeared on my face, and I turned my head back to her. "Hey, your name is Harper, right?" The young daughter of Nemesis nodded at my question, meekly as if I was about to pounce on her. "I have a feeling you'll be as fast as Taylor one day."

Harper looked stunned at my words, her eyes widening slightly. "Really?" She looked me dead in the eye and I could just see the pleading look behind her eyes. "How?" Despite the clear reverence for Taylor, I could still tell that Harper was being quite reserved, rather than say Nico at her age.

I smiled and then chuckled at her somewhat hopeful face. "You just never have to give up. Find you goal and then focus on it, always strive for it and you will eventually achieve it no matter what. You'll always find a way." I started to walk away from her again, my friends following behind me. "I have to find Chiron now. But always remember that Harper."

We walked off in the direction of where Harper told us where we needed to find Chiron at, leaving the daughter of Nemesis with determined smirk on her face. "That was this universe's version of Harper, right?" Nico asked me, his voice just as stunned as I felt when I saw her.

I nodded at the son of Hades. "Yep. Me and Matt ran into her when he came over six months ago during that whole debacle. Didn't really know who she was before that whole thing and honestly haven't seen her until just now." I shook my head. "But enough about her. We need to get to Chiron, now."

Despite my outward dismissal about the whole thing, seeing our universe's Harper again brought a thought into my brain. Did Matt exist here, too? Did the son of Nikandreos, Talon also exist? What about that Malachi guy I saw in Matt's memories?

My thoughts about the cosmic existence and connection of our universe eventually ended once we reached the front defense that Harper had been talking about. The campers had built a twenty-foot-tall stockade made from wood, complete with a metal sheet covering the outside. Atop the stockade wall was a line of Ballista and bow racks, complete with arrows.

Dozens of demigods with weapons and dressed in full armor were working on the wall, either bolstering the defenses, moving around weapons and supplies, or just standing guard at the makeshift gate or the top. My mind imagined the fighting we would have to be doing soon, and how chaotic and bloody it will be. The wall had been built nearly a quarter of a mile away from camp, so luckily there was some buffer room between the camp and the future battlefield.

Behind the wall and in the middle of a meadow right outside the forest the wall has been built outside of was Chiron. He was watching over the work that was currently going on with a solemn look on his face, holding his bow in his left hand and seeming ready for an attack at any moment. Eventually, he noticed me, Nico and Annabeth approaching. "Ah, Young Zane! Annabeth, Nico. You've all returned from the Labyrinth."

A look of complete relief filled his face as he trotted over towards us. "I was beginning to think I wouldn't see any of you again, especially with what happened on the first trip." He put his bow on his shoulder and smiled down on us. "It's good to see you return. Tell me, were you successful?"

I smiled at the centaur, holding my helmet underneath my arm. "Good to see you too, Chiron." I then grimaced, digesting his question. "And…uh, define successful." If he was wondering whether we stopped Luke and his army from being able to attack camp, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

Chiron's smile faded and the serious look I'd seen plastered on his face far too often nowadays come back on. "What happened?" Annabeth suddenly took over for me, explaining everything that had transpired on our second run through the Labyrinth. How we ran into Luke and Antaeus, came across Ethan Nakamura and found Daedalus.

At the end of Annabeth's explanation, Chiron had a firm grimace on his face. "That is…well, as you young folks would put it, heavy." I stifled a small chuckle at Chiron's attempt at slang. "Another young demigod dead, Quintus being Daedalus, and Luke further down the path of darkness path of darkness than ever."

I shook my head. "Not exactly the best situation in the world, but we have to make do with what we have. Now that Luke has Adraine's String, he could be here to attack us in just days and Prometheus could be here with him, too." A concerned look came onto my face. "Have Taylor and the others made it back yet?"

Chiron shook his head, his brows furrowed. "No. It's been over a month now since they parted ways with you in the Labyrinth and we've heard no word of them since. I fear the worst could have happened to them." I closed my eyes and felt my heart clinch at Chiron's words, knowing his worries could be right. "We'll have to search for them when this is all over, assuming…" Chiron left the words unsaid, but we all knew the implications.

Suddenly, I felt hundreds of auras come into existence in the middle of the forest. Auras without that distinct feeling of life energy. I tensed, alerting everyone. "They're here." I said, my voice deadly serious. "Monsters. Hundreds of them." I looked at Chiron. "Get everyone ready, now. We don't have much time."

Chiron nodded at my words, and he pulled out a horn and blew into it. Every demigod in the vicinity and nearly a hundred others further away snapped to attention. "Heroes! To arms! Quickly!" Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and started to grab their weapons, moving into formations.

As all the nearby demigods started to prepare for battle, I continued to monitor the auras of the monsters. More and more of them started to pile into one spot in the forest, almost over a thousand of them. I felt a particularly powerful one in the midst of the monsters, one far stronger than the others.

Before I could even think another thing, a sphere of light burst over the wall and slammed in the ground a couple dozen feet away from us. The ground cracked and ripped where it landed, making us all jump in surprise. I shifted into my Thunder Form and pull Thymos from it's sheathe, Nico went into his Shadow Form and coated his blade in darkness, and Annabeth's eyes turned white, and she quickly drew both her daggers.

The sphere of light faded away after a couple of seconds, only to reveal Taylor, Arthur, Grover and Tyson all crouched in the crater, all of them looking somewhat worse for wear. My eyes widened in shock, and I let my arm holding Thymos drop. "Taylor?"

Taylor looked up from the ground, breathing heavily as he did so. "Zane!" He stood up from the crater and ran over to me in the blink of an eye. "Holy shit! We made it out alive!" He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tighter than he ever has before, although I still couldn't feel it.

I wrapped my arms around him as well, careful to not accidentally break him in half. I felt so happy just to see him alive I felt like I could cry. A tear actually did trail down my cheek. "Thank the fucking gods you're okay…" I murmured into his hair, not caring it smelled like sweat, dirt and monster blood. I reluctantly separated from him, a completely relieved expression on my face. "Where the hell have you guys been?"

Arthur was the one to actually respond to that. "Well, we spent probably a good couple of weeks completely lost and Grover was trying to track Pan's presence. We eventually found him, but that's a long story." He pointed over the wall. "We also ran into an army of monsters, and they tried to murder us." As Arthur spoke, the resentment I felt from him a month prior was almost non-existent. Did Taylor talk to him again or something?

Taylor nodded at Arthur words with a slight grin. "Yeah, a lot as happened since we last saw you." I took in his appearance, noting he hadn't really changed besides the innumerable bruises, cuts and tears in his clothing. His glasses were also cracked in the left lens. He looked at my group. "Does Annabeth have white eyes? And what is this armor you're wearing? And why do you have a beard?" A confused look showed up on his face after the string of confused questions. "And where's Percy? He wouldn't miss anything like this. He's one of our biggest guns."

I cringed at Taylor question, before putting a soft hand on his shoulder. "A lot, and I mean, a LOT has happened since we split up back in the Labyrinth." I said solemnly, but then I shook my head. "But right now, we don't have time for me to explain. We have an army under the command of our main enemy, and we need to deal with it."

Taylor looked pretty lost, as did Arthur, Grover and Tyson. Well, Tyson always looks lost. "You're right, Zane." Taylor nodded and drew his spear from his back. "But first…" Taylor quickly gave me a kiss on the lips, one filled with passion and longing. "Been waiting to do that for a long time. It's so good to see you again." Behind Taylor, Arthur didn't even look annoyed at Taylor's display of affection right in front of him. Those two must have talked about something.

I felt a combination of touched and guilty at the exact same time, as well as a sense of dread. I was going to have to tell him and Nico what had happened between me and Calypso after this battle, assuming we survived of course. "It's amazing to see you, too, Taylor." I felt the auras of the monsters start to get closer, and I could actually feel their footsteps. "But reunions can wait until later. We have a battle to win."

Taylor nodded and everyone got ready. My group already had our weapons drawn and we were in our forms, so all we had to do was join the other demigods. Taylor's group was different, as they had to get ready by getting into armor and such.

I floated to the top of the metal stockade, standing beside Chiron who had already moved up here to take command. Chiron had turned to the nearly two hundred demigods who stood at the ground level behind the wall. "Heroes! Today is a day I hoped would never come to this camp. Nevertheless, the day is upon us and we must defend our camp!"

Chiron trotted back and forth at the top of the wall, looking down at each demigod individually. "I would not ask any of you to do this if it was not of the utmost importance. But it is. Look behind you." Chiron pointed to the camp, prompting every demigod to look back at it. "Back there are dozens of children who cannot fight. Back there, is your home."

Chiron nocked and arrow on his bow and continued. "Today, I do not ask you to fight for Olympus, nor the gods! Today, I ask you to fight for each other! To fight for your brothers! To fight for your sisters! To fight for those that you love! For Camp Half-Blood!" Chiron raised his arm in the air, getting a roar out of every demigod standing in formation below us.

Chiron turned and stared back at the monster horde that was starting to leave the forest. "Still got it." He said, a slight smile on his face. He turned his head to me. "Do you think they are ready, Zane? Ready to fight?" The horde was in clear view now, only a few hundred feet away.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter if they're ready. This battle is coming either way." Neither of us said any word after that. I looked at the monster horde, which had to number in over a thousand easily. Laestrygonians, Scythian Dracaenae, gorgons, sphinxes, griffons, hellhounds and all sorts of other monsters could easily be made out.

Suddenly, the sea of monsters parted like the Red Sea, making way for someone. I couldn't sense Luke's recognizable aura, but the powerful aura I had sensed earlier that was unfamiliar could be made out. A large, twelve-foot-tall figure clad in shining, exquisite silver armor walked out from the horde. The armor was incredibly familiar, one I had seen twice before.

I felt my muscles clinch and my teeth grind at the sight of the figure. He brought his massive, ten-foot-long buster sword on his shoulder. "Ah…. Zane Williams. So good to see you again." Prometheus grinned at me slightly before pressing a button on his neck armor, which caused his helmet to practically materialize on his face.

With absolute fury on my mind, I immediately blasted off the top of the wall towards Prometheus and I saw red.

(000)

Chapter thirty-three in the books. Okay, going to address this right now. Luke having Backbitter as his symbol of power right now and the empty scythe hilt in the Telekines chapter is connected and there's a reason for that. I promise it's not a plot hole lol. Sorry for the abrupt chapter ending, but it was already getting too long lol. Next chapter is definitely the last chapter of The Battle of The Labyrinth arc, and then after that, I'm cooking up something special for all y'all. Let's say I've done something like it before. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, hopefully it wasn't too bad lol.