Chapter 52:

Each of the cabin councillor was in the Rec Room, going over the damage done to camp. Each one was attended for, solemn expressions on many of their faces. While a good chunk of them had survived the assault, many of their siblings couldn't say the same.

Fifty-three demigods had died, out of the three-hundred and forty that were originally at Camp Half-Blood. Twenty satyrs and fifteen dryads followed in the casualties. Despite having relatively low numbers, no one was happy at the outcome. Many couldn't believe the reason.

"Mortals," Annabeth muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her eyes were slightly red, the death of her siblings causing numerous tears to fall from her eyes. "H-How? How did they get in?" Everyone looked to Chiron for help, all wondering the same thing.

The elderly centaur had a grimace on his face, struggling to reveal the truth. "It seems that there was a spell that was disrupting the barrier set in place, near Thalia's tree. It even seemed to overpower the power of the Golden Fleece."

"But how?" Alabaster questioned, confused. "My siblings or Markus could've detected the spell placed easily. Why didn't we?"

Chiron hesitated, seemingly knowing the answer, yet reluctant to say. "I-I can't say."

Now everyone confused. Why would Chiron willingly refuse to tell them the cause of the mortals entering the camp. "Chiron," Markus said, stepping up. He had relatively healed from the magical bomb's explosion, a dip in the lake healing him up. "What aren't you telling us? If we don't know how they entered the camp, then how can we stop them from coming in?"

Everyone nodded, all sharing similar thoughts. Chiron had a reluctant look on his face. All could see that he wanted to tell them, but couldn't.

Markus scowled. "Is this one of those secrets that you spectacularly try to keep from us, for our own 'safety'?"

Many of the campers looked at both Markus and Chiron in confusion, wondering what they were talking about. Annabeth flinched, looking down. Percy and Thalia glared at him, as if to say that now wasn't the time.

Chiron winced. "Markus, I-"

"So it is," Markus confirmed, nodding. "Great. Makes sense why you're not telling us."

"Markus, enough," Percy said, frowning at him. "Is now really a good time to be placing the blame on others?"

"If we don't know how they got in, how are we supposed to stop them from doing so again?" Markus fired back, looking at his brother. "I'm not in the wrong to condemn him for something that almost screwed us over if we didn't figure it out."

"Uh, any of you want to tell us what this big secret is about?" Travis asked, almost everyone confused as to what was being talked about.

Markus turned to Chiron, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Well, Chiron? Would you like to tell them? I'm sure they're all eager to know."

Chiron clenched his jaw, seeing that he was being put on the spot. "Now, isn't the time, Markus."

"Of course, because it never is with you," Markus scoffed. "Just like it isn't the time to have take care of the one thing that'll stop Kronos' forces from getting inside."

"Markus, that's enough," Silena spoke, glaring at him. "If Chiron won't tell us, there has to be a good reason."

"Oh, trust me, Silena. There's never a good reason when Chiron has a secret," Markus retorted, glaring at the centaur.

It was silent throughout the room, no one knowing what to say as tension filled the room.

"Hey, I don't want to make things worse," Will spoke, rubbing his neck, "but, does anyone want to point out the giant elephant in the room? The attic is mostly destroyed."

Markus frowned at that, remembering what had happened when he had wrapped the bomb in his barrier. It seemed that only made things worse, as the explosion had occurred anyway. And while the barrier had somewhat contained it, not all of the force and heat was held. Many of the junk in the attic was vaporized, nothing of value to many of them. However, there was one object that was very important that was destroyed; the Oracle.

The bomb was placed close to the old mummy, destroying it as it went off. Markus only saw the remains of a corpse the last time he had checked, the green spirit of the Oracle of Delphi flying away through the attic. When the news was relayed to everyone, it brought the already sombre mood down even further.

The Oracle was the one who gave demigods prophecies to go on quests. It was essentially their guide for survival. As confusing and as annoying as it was considered, it was still a vital part of camp. And now... it was destroyed.

The war with Kronos would be fought blindly. No prophecies means no quests. No quests would mean that they wouldn't be able to do anything. They were essentially stuck.

"What are we going to do about the Oracle?" Percy asked, the question on everybody's mind. No one was able to offer any advice. No one gave inspiring words to them. None of them knew what to do.

Except one. "The spirit inside is mostly alive," Chiron informed, making everybody look at him. "The body may have been destroyed, but the actual Oracle itself is still active. It's likely that we can locate the spirit, which is likely searching for a new host."

"But where would we find the spirit?" Clarisse asked. "We don't even know if it's gone and wandered off somewhere else, instead of finding a host."

"A good question," a voice suddenly answered, making many in the room jump in surprise. Suddenly, light seemed to peel over a space beside Chiron, revealing who was hidden in said space.

"Luckily, I think I might be able to find it," Apollo continued, his usual smile replaced with an angry frown. Immediately, a majority of the campers went on their knees to bow to the god, Markus being the exception to this.

The god of the sun waved his hands. "Rise, demigods."

"Lord Apollo," Chiron addressed, smiling. "It is good to hear from you. May I ask the reason for this personal visit?"

"You don't need to be so formal, Chiron," Apollo chuckled, though it sounded hollow. "I'm not dad." At that, he seemed to dim a bit, but then brightened slightly. "I came to offer help."

"B-But the Ancient Laws-" "Forbid me from interfering, yes," Apollo finished for the centaur. "However, when my name is called - especially by one of my children - I suppose that I can... bend them a little." He glanced at Will, indicating who had called to him. "Sorry, I couldn't come sooner. Can't interfere in mortal affairs. But this time, I'll do my best."

"T-Thanks, dad," Will nodded, struggling not to break down and cry.

With a nod, Apollo looked at the remaining campers. "Now, I did plan on healing the injured. And, to go around the rules again..." A blur of speed appeared beside him in the form of Hermes, who held a large package, with what looked like medical supplies.

"Someone call the doctor?" he quipped, making Apollo sigh.

"Herm, dude. You're deliver was way off. Can't you read a mood?"

"Ah, shut it," he waved away, the humour taking away some of the the tension in the air. With that, Hermes started handing out several supplies to everyone that needed it, Will moving around to help.

XXX

Markus and the children of Hecate were recording and documenting several of the runes that were carved on Thalia's tree. Each of them had a notebook that Alabaster and Lou Ellen had written up, detailing everything there was on different types of runes. Unfortunately, they couldn't recognise the runes placed on the tree immediately, something that had stumped them. They had a literal library on runes, and yet couldn't identify them.

"Any luck?" Timmy asked, squinting his eyes as he documented the runes on the tree.

"None," Bobby commented, sighing.

Lou Ellen was chanting through different identification spells, doing her best to see if she could narrow down the search of the runes. She had been at this for a good twenty minutes, and had had no such luck. She sighed, dismissing them. "I give up. Anyone else want to take a stab at this?"

Markus used his newly dubbed Mage Sight, scanning the magic surrounding the Fleece and tree. He squinted his eyes a little while staring at the Fleece, since it was like a mini lighthouse. Inspecting the magic seeping from the runes, he frowned. The magic didn't 'look' Greek. Greek magic usually had a more bronze-looking colour in general, with different exceptions. It was rigid, complicated at its best, but seemed to follow a straightforward pattern. The runes on the tree looked different.

They were much more fluid, more powerful. They seemed to have a flexibility to them that Markus had only ever seen in rarely. Like it was...

Markus' eyes widened as he dismissed his Mage Sight. "Son of a bitch..." he muttered, drawing attention to him. He quickly opened a pocket dimension of his, taking out what looked to be a heavy notebook.

"Markus?" Lou said, confused as the son of Poseidon was skimming through each page, muttering to himself as he did so. He stopped at a particular page, eyes narrowed. He stepped forward, looking at both the tree and book before muttering, "Arhain, Aul'El..." Markus activated his Mage Sight, eyes widening as he studied the tree again. "Hah-ri..." he muttered, frowning.

"Markus," Lou said again, putting her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"It looks like Kronos has been busy," he answered. "He somehow got the mortals to use ancient magic to allow themselves entry inside camp. Magic that isn't Greek."

The others made sounds of surprise at that, shocked. "Magic that isn't Greek?" Bobby asked, shocked. "T-That's not possible."

"Proof's right here in front of us," Markus responded. He knew of the existence of the Norse and Egyptians, and could recognise some of the Divine Words placed on the tree, along with some of the Norse runes used. He didn't tell them, however, now knowing why Chiron was hesitant in telling the other demigods. "It looks to be Old Magic from different folklore, several Scandinavian and Egyptian hieroglyphs."

"Egyptian? Scandinavian?" Lou questioned, frowning. "Does that mean that there are Egyptian and Norse gods around? And how do you know that?"

"I wouldn't know," Markus diverted, not fully answering the question. "And I did some extra reading while I was outside camp."

"So, you could dispel this stuff, right?" Timmy asked hopefully. Markus hummed.

"I can try," he admitted. "While I'm knowledgeable in this kind of magic, I'm kind of a novice in all of this." He frowned, not used to admitting that. "Let me try something." Dashing towards the Poseidon cabin, he was glad to see it empty. He commanded the nearby water to hiss, forming a small rainbow.

"O Iris, goddess of rainbows, accept my offering." Fishing a drachma out of his pocket, he tossed it into the rainbow. "Hecate."

The mist started to clear, showing the goddess chanting some words while a tome was open, glowing slightly. Thankfully, he didn't see Gale anywhere, so that was good.

He waited for the goddess to finish. After five minutes, Hecate opened her eyes. "Markus, a pleasure to see you. What is that you require?"

"Is there anyway you can send over spells and runes on Norse and Egyptian magic?" Markus asked, straight to the point. Hecate raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to need you to be a bit more specific." So, Markus told her the situation of the camp, making Hecate frown.

"It seems that Kronos is becoming more desperate in trying to attack you," she uttered, making Markus look on in confusion. "You are the most powerful person in his path," she explained, making an understanding look on his face. "And while most of the Olympians are still active, Kronos would do anything to take you down specifically."

"I'd feel honoured, if he wasn't so annoying," Markus commented, making Hecate smile.

"Oh, the woes of attaining power. But, as you were saying, I can't offer you that. Not only do I not know any Norse or Egyptian magic, but I doubt that either Isis or any of the other gods of magic in Norse mythology would offer me aid if I ask them."

Markus scowled, but then had an idea. "What if I do it? Obviously with you, there are no doubt rules about that sort of thing. But I'm a demi- uh, well, whatever the hell I am."

"Just stick with 'demigod'," Hecate offered helpfully. "And I don't think that that's a good idea. You're reputation as the Leviathan would make things problematic for you. While you and I know that you wouldn't attack other gods without a reason, many of them won't see it as that. They'll think that you're trying to either kill or steal from them."

Sighing, Markus said, "Fan-fucking-tastic. So, you're saying that it's impossible for me to do such a thing?"

"Not if your overly discreet," she advised. "You'd need to hide your presence from many of the gods, demigods and/or magicians. Not to mention the einherjar. Fortunately, I have a spell for that." Holding out her hand, a scroll appeared in her hand. She then muttered a few words, magic seeping from her mouth and inscribing itself on the paper.

Clicking her fingers, the scroll disappeared and reappeared in Markus' hands. "There. It's not perfect, but it should do the job as long as you're not too suspicious."

"Ah, magic," Markus commented, smiling as he opened the scroll. "You wonderful thing, you. Is there anything you can't do?"

"You'd be surprised," Hecate commented, smiling. "Now, take care." The Iris message disappeared, leaving Markus alone in his cabin.

XXX

Markus sucked on Katie's neck as she moaned a little, the two lying on her bed in the Demeter cabin. The son of Poseidon decided that with all of the trouble that they had been facing, they all needed some serious downtime. So, he had left several speed clones in his place to do their best in deciphering more of the runes and help the Hecate children to plan out more spells to protect the camp.

With that, Markus decided to visit Katie, as he wanted to spend more time with her. Like right now, as he bit slightly on her neck, leaving several hickeys. She mewled a little as Markus' hands crept towards her breasts, squeezing them slightly.

"N-Not f-fair..." she moaned, voice rising in pitch as Markus continued toying with her.

"What is?" Markus asked, a growing grin on his face as sucked on her collarbone.

"That y-you get to enjoy y-yourself, and I don't!" Eyes narrowed, she summoned several vines to wrap themselves around Markus' limbs, pulling them back. A little surprised, but not showing it, Markus inspected the vines, an eyebrow raised as a particular one slithered towards him.

"Now..." Katie stood up, confidence gained. "I'm in the mood to enjoy myself. So, just sit back, relax and let Mama Katie take care of the rest."

"You know, this says a lot about your personality in bed," Markus commented, making Katie grin a little. "And, for the record, I'm not interested in repeating what happened last time."

"Oh, I tried playing with your ass one time!" she complained.

Markus glared at her, vibrating his body and phasing out of the vines around his body. "I don't care! I couldn't even sit straight for days without shivering at the thought of that plant thing near my ass!"

Katie huffed, crossing her arms. "Oh, sure. When you fondle an ass, it's okay. When I do it, then you have a problem." She yelped as Markus pinned her down, groping the ass in question. He grinned, enjoying her flushed face.

"That's because when my hard, phallic object is near a female ass, it arouses me. When your hard phallic object nears an ass in general, there's problems. Speaking of which..." Moaning as Markus squeezed her ass again, Katie felt nervous as Markus neared her. Just as they were about to continue, there was a knock at the door. Pointedly ignoring that, Markus was about to continue again, when there was a louder knock.

"What?!" both Markus and Katie roared, annoyed at being cockblocked. Markus especially, as this had happened again. I swear to every single god, if the camp isn't being attacked, I will freeze that person solid and shatter them! Markus growled. Furious, Markus got up and stomped towards the door, ice coating his footsteps. He swung the door open, about to make good on his word, only to stop.

The reason was because of the woman standing before him. She was tall and beautiful, with black hair, gleaming red eyes, and a smile belonging to a serial killer. She was garbed in a black toga, and her smile seemed to brighten at seeing Markus.

The son of Poseidon knew instantly that this was a goddess. Her aura seemed chaotic, and her eyes had a gleam of madness to them. He frowned. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Now, now. Isn't that a bit rude?" the goddess asked, a hand on her heart. "I'm hurt. And after all the time I've invested into wanting to meet you."

"Markus, what-oh." Katie paused, standing up to stand by him as she looked at the goddess. "Uh..."

"Aw, am I interrupting your fucking?" she questioned crudely, smiling widely. "If you want, I can wait for you to finish before coming back. You look to wired up."

"Who. Are. You?" Markus repeated, gritting his teeth as bloodlust seeped into the air. Katie shivered at the feeling, while the goddess had a pleased expression on her face.

"Ah, such wonderful bloodlust," she sighed happily. "Well, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Eris."

"The goddess of chaos, discord and strife?" Katie questioned, shocked.

"That's the one!" Eris chirped happily. "Now, while I love meeting new people and starting wonderful fights, I'm here to meet lover boy here."

"For what exactly?" Markus questioned. He knew next to nothing about Eris, but he wagered that she wasn't here for anything good.

"Just a little chat! Honest! Cross my heart and hope to... well, not die. Obviously!" she cackled, not bothered by Markus' hostility.

Katie looked at Markus worriedly, then looked towards the goddess. "How do we know that you're actually going to keep your word?" she questioned, faltering a bit at the question, yet still standing firm. Markus was glad to see her act like this. She must have somehow gotten his brass balls attached.

"Ugh, you mortals and your stupid 'caution'," Eris grumbled. "Why can't you act like the simple-minded ones? Makes things much easier. Fine, I swear on the River Styx that I'm not going to attack or do harm to Markus Henderson." The sky rumbled from her oath. "There. Happy?"

Calming down slightly, Markus placed a hand on her shoulder. "Katie, it's okay."

"But-" "Don't worry," he assured, smiling at her. "I can handle myself. Go, please."

Frowning at him, she eventually relented. "Fine." She glared at Eris. "If you do anything to him, I'm going to make you regret it dearly. Goddess or not." With that, she walked away, leaving the two alone.

Eris whistled, watching her go. "Damn. You got a real spitfire there! I usually make most mortals who do that get smote."

"Don't do that," Markus said, looking at her warily.

Eris waved away the concern. "Oh, don't worry. I'm actually liking this one. Got fire to her, pretty freaky if your earlier actions were of any indication, plus..." Eris' eyes gleamed as she grinned. "She had a nice ass."

"Stay away from her," Markus growled, feeling both angered and confused. He had never had to warn off any women from going after his girlfriends. Guys, obviously. A quick death glare and they were sent scampering away. But women? The idea never entered his head. He didn't know what to do.

The goddess rolled her eyes. "Me dammit, possessive are we? But enough about her. I'm here for you."

"And what exactly do you want to talk to me about?" Markus asked. Eris waved her hand, making two chairs appear before her. She sat down, gesturing for him to do the same.

"Why, to meet the great Markus Henderson!" she exclaimed, eyes glowing with a malicious light. "I'm a big fan of your work."

"So, you got a bone to pick with the Olympians as well, huh?" Markus enquired, curious. He had never actually gotten thanks for slaying the gods. Fear, yes. Hate, absolutely. Respect? Only from a select few. Thanks? That was a new one.

Eris shook her head. "Oh, no. While those pissants were annoying, I personally had no beef with them. I am glad that you killed most of them. Zeus and Hera, especially. That's bound to cause chaos for many people. Though I am pissed that you only killed like, what, four Olympians. Seriously? If you're going to be called a God Slayer, at least finish the job properly."

"I only killed those who personally annoyed me," Markus responded, a knowing look on his face. "So, you're a fan of me because I killed the Olympians, thereby causing a lot of panic and chaos?"

"Absolutely!" she responded cheekily. "Oh, and giving the middle finger to the Fates."

"How do you know that?" Markus asked, confused. The only people he had told about that were Poseidon, Percy, Thalia, Zoe and Adria.

Eris shrugged. "I could sense the cracks in the order of fate as you went on your little quest to save the spoiled prude. I can sense any break in order when I want to. And you've been making a lot of them. Demons, fallen angels, demigods outside of our pantheon..." She had an ecstatic expression on her face. "You are officially my favourite demigod. And don't worry, your little secrets are safe with me. If anyone knew, then there'd be an equal chance that the chaos could either continue or get stopped. I'd like it if there was no chance of it being stopped."

"Glad for the small mercies," Markus muttered, frowning. Eris knew too much. While he was positive that she wouldn't tell anyone - if only for her own amusement - the fact that his very moves, enemies and actions were known to someone that he didn't trust irritated him. "I assume that you didn't come to me to fangirl over my actions."

"Well, yes. But there was another thing," Eris admitted. "The council of the minor gods would like to thank you for helping them get cabins dedicated to them."

"The council of minor gods?" Markus questioned.

"Think of it like our own version of the Olympians. Though, rather than twelves gods, we have a bunch of minor gods who band together, where we talk and deal with our own shit."

"And I assume that no one knows about this?" Markus asked, intrigued. He didn't even know there was a council for minor gods. It made sense, in a way. The minor gods were treated poorly by a good majority of the Olympians and campers. They previously didn't have any cabins at Olympus, and were given no seat upon the Olympian council. So, it'd make sense that they'd do things their own way.

"Nope. Guess that makes you special!"

"I'm overjoyed," Markus responded sarcastically. "Look at the utter excitement on my face."

"Oh, don't be like that." Eris leaned in close, grinning. "How about you come with me, spread a little bit of chaos? Destroy a Titan stronghold, storm Olympus again and kill a couple of gods? Come on?"

Markus leaned back. "Lady, I'm taken already. No need to try and get into my pants. And I don't do that kind of stuff on a whim."

"You say that like that's stopped gods before." Here, Markus got uncomfortable as she stepped towards him, seeming to undress him with her eyes. Usually, Markus wouldn't mind this kind of attention from the right people. But, when Eris looked at him like that, he felt very uncomfortable. "And please. Everything you do practically screws the natural order of things. You meddling with things that aren't Greek has caused a chain effect that has sent ripples throughout our world."

Eris had what looked to be an orgasmic look on her face as she continued. "Your alteration with fate. The upcoming war with the Titans. The butchering of most of the Olympians. Interacting with different gods. Everything you've done has practically screwed the natural order of things. Not even Apollo can see what the future holds. So... beautiful."

Markus was getting slightly scared at the expression on her face. Not to mention his actions being brought to light. It was similar to what Nereus had told him and the others, about how his actions had caused the path to the future to be even murkier than before.

She sighed, stepping back. "I wish I had gotten to you first before Hecate could sink her fangs into you. Alas, I can still admire from afar. And I got to say." She grinned. "I'm enjoying the view." Her wiggling eyebrows made it extremely difficult to determine whether she was talking about him or his chaotic path.

"Well, I'll be off. I've gotten a better mental image now that I've met you. The council of the minor gods won't hesitate to come to your aid, if need be. Also, make sure that you call for me specifically. I'd drop everything for you." She purred at the word 'everything', making shivers run down Markus' spine. "Tata!"

She disappeared in a burst of energy, the smell of sulfer seeming to have been left behind.

Markus sighed to himself. "Great. I have a godly fangirl obsessed with me. Curse my dashing good looks and pure badassery." He spun around to walk away. "I just hope that neither of the girls find out."

XXX

Markus was now applying several runes and counter runes upon Thalia's tree, as well as placing several barriers across Half-Blood Hill. He had commanded his speed clones to carve runes into several areas upon the hill to create a chain reaction, allowing the runes to work together to form and strengthen the already formed barrier.

Cracking his neck, Markus set about putting on the finishing touches. "Let's see. The runes create an energy field that would cause a destructive interference with the camp's own. The energy waves produced by my own will destroy both fields, given that they would interfere with a phase angle of π and not the multiple of 2π required for a constructive interference. So..." Markus kept on muttered to himself as he used his magic to inscribe the runes upon the barriers.

"If their out of phase, the required energy field necessary would have the opposite effect in keeping us in rather than allowing it for us to do that as well as go out. So, pushing the phase angle to 3π/2 would give..."

Activating the rune at a particular angle and with the sufficient energy, Markus watched as the barrier started to form from the corresponding linked runes set up around Half-Blood Hill. Pretty soon, a clear-coloured barrier had formed, keyed in to Markus' own magic as well as the camp's natural magic reserves.

He smiled inspecting his work. "All done."

"And just in time, too," Lou Ellen commented as she walked up beside him. She hummed. "Good work. You managed to get it set up. What about all those runes involved?" She looked to Thalia's tree, in which all of the Norse and Egyptian magic coated. This time, however, it was surrounded by a circle of Greek runes and fūinjutsu, along with different kanji that confused the runes. Mainly the Arhain rune. Instead of having the rune activate for stealth and silence, Markus had written fūinjutsu to seal its effects, as well as turn it back onto the other runes placed, silencing their own effects.

"Took care of them," Markus commented, cracking his body. "So... barrier and runes taken care of. What next?"

"Now, it's time for training." With a nod, the two walked to the training area. The demigods and Chiron agreed that they needed to step up their game. They were taken by surprise with the fact that it was mortals that attacked them. A lot of campers agreed on the fact that, if it weren't for Markus, they'd all likely be dead. So, they all agreed to train in preparation of that.

Many campers felt angry. Furious, even. Kronos had ordered mortals to invade their camp and kill some of their siblings. He was changing the game. It was time that they did so too. A lot of children of Ares had gone up to Chiron, questioning the fact that they weren't allowed to harm mortals. The centaur was reluctant to give a definite answer. Seeing this, many campers got enraged.

They argued that, since Kronos wasn't playing fair, why should they? And while Chiron understood that, the very idea went against what he was supposed to teach. Seeing that the centaur was at crossroads with himself, the demigods decided to take matters into their own hands.

The children of Hephaestus had dug up a massive amount of celestial bronze, something that their father had sent to them upon prayer. Markus pitched in by using alchemy to transmute the bronze to mortal steel, allowing the forgers to smelt it and start mixing it with all and any weapon available.

The demigods then split up into several branches, each one taking a specific role: Markus was the combat instructor, taking a few of them for martial arts, including the ins and outs of fighting both cleanly and dirty. Percy was sword instructor, Annabeth was the tactical instructor (though, she initially dubbed herself 'Supreme Commander', which was quickly shot down), Thalia the spear instructor, and Will the archery instructor.

With that out of the way, they had then deemed to divide themselves into squads, or groups for lack of a better term. Each group had a specific skill or speciality that allowed them to be designated to said squad. Each squad was either given a Greek letter or term, for a specific reason. The group was divided as follows:

Squad Alpha were the Big Three children: Percy, Thalia, Nico and Bianca. Due to obvious reasons, they were the most powerful of demigods, made as a team that constantly worked together, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. And while the children of Hades weren't as powerful as Percy and Thalia, their primary ability to make an undead army pop out made them invaluable at the forefront.

Squad Beta were the children of Athena and Ares. While initially they often clashed due to differing ideals, they were able to put that to the side and work together. The squad was put together for the simple reason: Athena children being the brain and Ares children the brawn. Not to mention, they were all children of war, and were able to not only fight more efficiently than most demigods, but able to plan accordingly to certain situations with frightening ease.

Squad Gamma were the children of Aphrodite and Demeter. An odd combo, if ever there was one. More odd than Squad Beta. Still, once they had ironed out the kinks (by that, Silena had whipped all of them into shape and took a stand, crushing any resistance easily) they had managed to work well together. They were put together mainly for the use of their gifts: charmspeak and plant-growth. The children of Demeter could grow shrubs and entire forests when pushed, either creating a sort of barrier, or producing varying types of plants. Many of which were poisonous. And while Katie was the most powerful, that didn't stop others from trying to replicate her powers, with a great amount of progress.

Children of Aphrodite also had an extreme added advantage: their charmspeak, fabrikinesis and extreme beauty. While only a select few could charmspeak, the others made use of their ability to alter clothing, which - when investigated - also lead to armour. While a seemingly useless gift, it was actually rather intriguing in combat. During mock spars, Lacy - a young daughter of Aphrodite - was able to squeeze the armour of several children of Ares and Hephaestus, making them choke slightly. She quickly apologised, turning them back to normal.

So fabrikinesis was actually quite useful. Many children of Aphrodite could make armour either more tighter or looser, distracting monsters and enemy demigods to give them the fatal blow. Another particular use was that they could make enemies extremely uncomfortable while in armour, either changing its proportions or making it unbearable for some to wear.

Squad Delta had the children of Hermes and Hephaestus. Their main purpose was to use their speed, cunning and expertise to their advantage. Once either squad was deployed, they were able to speed in, either taking advantage using their speed, or using shock-and-awe tactics, leaving some wide open. Beckendorf and Jake Mason were put to work in building weapons, like Greek fire bombs, caltrops or hook-chains for their squad members to use. Travis and Conner Stoll added their own input, making some shiver at the combined madness they were about to unleash.

Squad Epsilon housed the Apollo cabin. Only a select few were to be put on the battlefield, while others were put aside for healing purposes. Will was decided to be put on the forefront on battle due to him being one of the more powerful demigods of Apollo, despite his extreme medical expertise.

Squad Theta had Castor, Pollux, and a couple of children of Hypnos, Morpheus and Eris. They weren't mainly put together for battle. In fact, they wouldn't even be deployed fully for fighting. In the case of them capturing any monsters, demigods, and/or immortals, their jobs were to gather intel from said category. Castor and Pollux for their madness powers, Hypnos children due to them being able to lull their targets into a deep sleep, Morpheus' children following up and entering their dreams to get the info, while Eris' children were used for torture. There were only two children of Eris, Michael and Susan. However, they were more than enough, as they seemed to have inherited their mother's absolute glee for causing chaos and spreading madness.

The 'Mystic' Squad (something that was put forth due to Lou) was, obviously, the children of Hecate. Their magical heritage and skill were used for a number of things, including information-gathering, spying, destruction, healing, etc. They were a jack-of-all-trades squad that were vitally important, and was either sent on the battlefield, or stuck at homebase for different skills. They were right up there with Squad Alpha's and Beta's speciality in power and effectiveness, while also on the level of Squad Gamma.

That, of course, left the last 'squad', and obviously the most dangerous and most powerful one: Squad Omega. Though, instead of a designated cabin, Markus was given that role and title. Simply due to one reason; he was the most powerful demigod at camp. And while he had the traits of all the other squads, his best speciality was destruction. He was sent in as a last resort, either to fight powerful Titans, gods or monsters.

Other demigods didn't fit the role due to either being too young, or not being strong enough to fight.

Now, each demigod was in their designated position and role, training harshly and running through either skills, roles, ploys and ideas. As Markus was barking orders and instructing different demigods how to fight, he had a simple thought in his mind. You want a war, Kronos? We'll give you a fucking war. And by the time we're done... Markus started to strike out, using his combat expertise to take down each demigod, pointing out their flaws and mistakes. ... you're going to wish you had stayed in a million pieces in Tartarus.

XXX

Markus walked towards the central hearth, looking to talk to someone specifically. That someone came into view, in her usual form of a nine year old girl in a simple brown dress. Her fiery eyes, usually so bright and warm, were slightly dimmed.

"Auntie," Markus spoke, sitting beside her. He frowned, seeing Hestia's face not light up as usual.

"Markus," she simply said, a tight smile on her face. It was silent between the two, the demigod feeling slightly uncomfortable. Admittedly, it had been a while since he'd talked with Hestia, and he did feel quite bad about that. Though, he could tell the reason behind her sad demeanour. So, he decided to just be blunt. "You know, Zeus had it coming..." Seeing her flinch a little, Markus was tempted to stop. But he had to continue.

"Auntie, I... I know you're hurting. But Zeus forced my hand. You know how I am, not willing to give in to any demands-" "I know the reason why you did it," Hestia interrupted, tears building up in her eyes. Markus honestly felt like shit at the sight. The very idea of hurting Hestia literally made him feel like he'd kicked a puppy. Take into account her nine year old form, and it multiplied his feelings by ten.

"And while Olympus does its best to move past the death of its queen and previous king," she continued, molten tears streaming down her face, "my family is in turmoil. Despite his misgivings, Zeus was close to all of the council. You defeating and killing many of the gods has them struck in fear of you. Their terrified, knowing that death has never been such a worrisome thing for them. That no one was powerful enough to challenge them. Yet, you came, and broke that circle."

Markus frowned a little. "Auntie, while I get where you're coming from, you can't tell me that Zeus' death didn't produce better results-" Hestia gave him a small glare, and he paused, more surprised than actually intimidated.

"He was my brother," she said lowly, anger building up in her eyes. "Hera was my sister. No matter the justification you give, it can't heal the pain in my heart."

"Your brother was an arrogant, paranoid joke of a king, who bullied others into doing his bidding," Markus retorted, not willing to deal with her anger. "And your sister was a cruel bitch, who couldn't think of confronting Zeus, and so took the coward's way out and decided to attacking his children and lovers. Your siblings they may be, that doesn't mean that they're good people. They were going to get what was coming to them."

"And you think killing them was going to just make things better?" the goddess questioned, pain written across her face.

"They've had thousands of years to clean up their act. I figured killing them would get the message across."

"They were my family!" Hestia argued loudly, the hearth roaring loudly beside her. "Yes, they had major flaws, but that didn't mean-"

"But nothing," Markus interrupted, frowning. "You can't just say 'they're family' and turn a blind eye to what they've done. And while Hera was in the way, Zeus deserved to die. I pretty much did everyone a favour by killing him."

"You mean you did yourself a favour," Hestia retorted bitterly, making Markus narrow his eyes. "You didn't kill Zeus because of his flaws, you killed him because of your own selfish need to heal your pride. You couldn't leave him and Olympus alone. You had to kill and threaten them. Because of your wrath. Because you couldn't control yourself."

"Stop," Markus whispered, now angry.

"Your anger destroys things. It kills whatever crosses your path. First Heracles, then Ares, then Dionysus, then Zeus and Hera. Then the destruction of Olympus."

"Stop it now."

"You say my brother is arrogant, cruel and paranoid, bullying others into doing what he wants." Hestia's fiery glare locked onto his eyes. "Yet, those traits ring strongly in you. You're a hypocrite. You're the exact replica of Zeus. From where I'm standing, you're the one that's the monster."

Markus snapped, shrouded in a partial God Trigger. His aura exploded, destroying the ground under him and affecting the weather. Thunder boomed loudly, destroying the sky with sound as lightning flashed near the two. He chuckled darkly, and Hestia felt a cold shiver at the chuckle. "You know what? I find it hilarious at you painting me as some sort of hypocrite, as a monster, when you yourself should be called as such."

He glared at her with such cold intensity that she flinched. "If you want to know who's responsible, take a look around you at your so-called family. They have created more enemies than they have children running around, both in this camp and out of it.

"But if you want to know who's the bigger monster between us, it's you. Let me ask you something, goddess." She flinched at how he addressed her. "What's more evil, the people who commit evil deeds or the good people that do nothing to stop them? For years, your family has treated the earth and humans as little more than play things, doing whatever the hell they want. To be honest, while they may be some good gods, they all act like spoilt children, who're only now cleaning up their act. But why did I to be the one to do it? Why not you? You are the elder Olympian, the older sister. And yet, you've done nothing but sit on your ass all this time, watching!"

Thunderclaps seemed to resonate from his voice as the earth shook, scaring all the residents. "You complain at how you're siblings are dead, and yet are so ignorant of what they've done. Who they've killed and raped. You don't stop them when you're clearly the more powerful out of all of them. Yet, all you do is sit there, like an observer. Watching and waiting.

"I may have some of the qualities that Zeus has, and I did kill most of the Olympians for selfish reasons, but at least I did something. I put an end to their tyrannical ways, and made them change for the better. I did more in roughly ten minutes than you've done in millennia. No, Hestia. From that alone, you're the one that's the monster."

Tears ran down Hestia's face as she held her hand to her mouth in horror. Markus glared at her, fury blazing in his eyes. He could feel the presence of the other campers, but he didn't care.

"Leave," he said simply. "Before I do something that I'll regret. Or, as that another evil deed that I'm so famous for committing?"

Hestia was silent, tears still falling from her eyes. Head bowed, she flashed away.

Not paying any heed to the crowd behind him, Markus stood up and dashed out of camp, doing his best to control his anger.

XXX

Markus didn't look at where he was going. He simply moved. While in motion, he did his best to calm his mind down.

Don't blow up, don't blow up, don't blow up... Markus chanted in his head. His boiling anger diminished slightly, his mind and body on autopilot. After what seemed to be hours to him, he skidded to a stop, eyes closed.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... okay, I don't feel like blowing up. Markus sighed deeply, eyes open. He didn't want to think about his confrontation with Hestia. He was bound to get angry again, which would lead to catastrophic events. So, he decided to look at where he was. He found that he was in Boston. The reason that he knew was because he was standing in front of the odd duck statue. He chuckled, still feeling that the thing was stupid.

Just as he was about to turn back once his mind was calm, he felt multiple presences behind him. He quickly moved out of the way of several spears that had pierced where he previously stood. He whipped around, Wavebreaker out in a flash as he stared at the scene before him. "What the fuck?"

Two hundred yards away from him, he saw some weird women, dressed in what looked to be Viking armour. They looked beautiful and powerful, clear signs that they seemed to have some kind of blessing to them. Each of them slung glowing spears over their shoulders as they glared at Markus. The one in the front was a very muscled girl with blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and what looked to be a hammer around her neck.

"I'm being strongly reminded of Artemis' bitches," he remarked, sword raised. "And that's not a good thing." He knew that these girls weren't Greek, as they had a different flavour to them.

"Surrender, Leviathan!" the blonde girl remarked, spear raised. "Or suffer for your crimes against Asgard!"

"... Well, shit," Markus commented, the girl confirming his thoughts. "So... I'm dealing with the Norse. Admittedly, a bit earlier than what I expected."

"It is as she said, Leviathan," a male voice spoke, making Markus tense. In a flash, a beam of light shot down in front of the group of girls, blinding Markus for a bit. When his sight returned, he saw who had appeared. And judging by his power and weapon, Markus had an idea as to who this person was.

He was barrel-chested, his massive frame held together in similar Viking armour as the girls, only his was gold, and looked more royal. He had close-cropped hair, with a well cut beard on his weathered face. His right eye was a dark blue, while his left eye was covered by an eyepatch. A glowing white spear was held in his hand, which glowed with power.

"Surrender, or suffer for your theft from the halls of Asgard," Odin, the All-Father, uttered, his eye glaring at Markus with anger.

... One thing. I wanted one thing today, Markus complained mentally, looking for peace. Instead, he had an angry All-Father and his band of Valkyries. Fan-fucking-tastic.

And CUT! Golly gosh, it's been a while since I've been at Arcane Chaos.

I end chapters on a lot of cliffhangers, now that I think about it. Which is weird, since I hate cliffhangers myself. Seriously, that's not cool.

Anywho, hope y'all liked the chapter. Hope to get back into the groove of things. Really sorry for those who waited for the upcoming chapter.

I've upped the stakes in the story, as it seemed obviously appropriate. The Oracle's destruction, the increased willingness and anger in the demigods' actions and strategies, the involvement of Egyptian and Norse elements, etc. And before anyone jumps to conclusions, Kronos doesn't have allies in both pantheons. How he got access to Norse and Egyptian magic... well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Also, Markus and Hestia had their spat. It's something that I've wanted to put down, since Hestia is obviously not happy at Zeus' and Hera's death, along with all of the other stuff Markus' actions have caused. Unfortunately, she doesn't express it very well. They'll rekindle things again, but I feel like she'd have some sadness and grief to get over.

And next chapter's gonna be fun to write. The Norse I went with first because it was much more easier for me to write. Stay tuned.

Now, Guest review time:

1) True, but it is kinda hard. And yes, Markus will realise that he's not the biggest fish in the sea, and will be humbled upon meeting characters who could easily kill him with the tiniest of effort. And he gained the title mostly because god-slaying (even if said gods are weak) has never been done before. So, it's part fear, part mocking.

2) Thank you very much for defending me.

3) Also thank you

4) And thank you.

Well, with that out of the way. I bid you all adieu. Thanks to all those who f,f,r and r the story. Also, I'm super grateful that the follows and favs hit over a thousand a long-ass time ago. I'm so glad, and I love y'all for the support. Seriously, I feel like I should've cried, but I held it in.

Read and Review!