Chapter 18

Greetings readers! I hope that all of you enjoyed the last chapter! Firstly, I would like to thank all the three guest reviewers for your supportive reviews, I am happy that all of you are liking this story. Thank you for your support!

I would like to thank Hippie Painter for your raving review. I am glad that you agree with me on Aphrodite's portrayal in this story. Thank you for your continued support!

I would also like to thank IceFire99 for your motivating review. It's great that you agree with me on my logic of making Percy wield lightning in an indirect way. To be honest, I have always been interested in seeing Percy wield lightning but at the same time, I don't want him to have all powers, that's just a no-no and in my opinion it makes the story a bit boring. So this was my way of trying to circumvent those obstacles with science. Thank you for your continued support!

Coming to JoJo Jesus' review, I am ecstatic that you have been constantly reviewing this story for such a long time. I am really happy that you are enjoying this story and you are free to ask any questions or point out any flaws. Thank you for your concern! I am pacing my chapters in a sustainable way but this story is really close to me and having your support along with others' is also a constant motivator. It makes me want to write better chapters and just makes me happy. Thank you for your continued support and have a great day!

In reference to ShadowThanatos' review, I am glad that you liked those little plot details that I had added in the previous chapter. Regarding the plasma part, as a science undergrad, I have a responsibility to give proper scientific explanations to the complicated stuff I introduce so since I can't get too scientific in the chapter, I sated my desire by explaining it in the footnote. I wanted to give a more multi-dimensional approach to the battle and I am glad that you liked it! Regarding your final point, that may or may not be true :) Thank you for your continued support!

All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.

Percy knew that the battle had just gotten a lot harder. With Gaia interfering, their chances of victory had dipped significantly. He didn't have the time to ponder though as another earthen fist attempted to strike him from behind, though he immediately flipped and sliced it in half. Instead of descending, he decided to hover in the air with the help of his winged sandals.

He saw Athena, Artemis, Apollo and Aphrodite deflecting earthen fists while Hermes and Hephaestus were rammed by them. To make matters worse, the monster army which had been reduced to a quarter of its initial size had now been reinforced by a squad of four drakons and even the remaining gigantes seemed rejuvenated and back to full power. As each second passed by, the opportunity for victory seemed to become bleaker but luckily, it was in that moment that Percy came up with a plan.

During his previous hunts, he had realised something. While the Earth Mother was extremely powerful, she was not omnipotent. At least not while she was slumbering.

From what he had deduced, Protogenoi were extremely powerful but, that power was so widely spread across their domain that it took them a very large amount of time and energy to mobilise all that essence. Thus, the Earth Mother could actively expend only a certain amount of energy at a time before it took its toll and forced her back into slumber, making her passive until she mobilised the energy to actively interfere again.

His plan was simple. The Earth Mother had not interfered so far as she had been spending all her energy to maintain an impenetrable metaphysical barrier. Since her reserves were limited, it meant that, for the sake of direct interference, Gaia had reduced the energy supplied to maintain the barrier. Judging by the amount of energy that the Earth Mother was exerting in order to directly confront them, in theory, this would mean that the metaphysical barrier had gotten significantly weaker.

While the concentration of the Earth Mother's power still prevented any gods from taking their divine forms, the camp was now susceptible to other divine attacks. Which was perfect for Percy to put his plan in motion.

"Lord Zeus. If you are listening to me, then please provide us with your assistance. The Earth Mother has directly intervened and is now confronting us. In order to deter her, please launch a lightning strike at the camp." Percy prayed to his uncle.

This was a gamble. There was no guarantee that his uncle would help them out but, if he did, then it would wipe out an entire battalion of monsters and possibly even disintegrate a drakon. Also, it would force the Earth Mother to redirect all her energy towards maintaining the barrier in order to protect the rest of her children from Olympian intervention and consequently allowing the gods to resume the battle without her interference. With these thoughts he descended on the monster army with all his might.

As he tore through the monsters and swatted aside the earthen fists and walls, his eyes started to darken. The drakons and the earthen fists reminded him of his fall and a ruthless resolve to succeed and to defeat the Earth Mother overtook him. His attacks became increasingly brutal as the rain intensified in response to his emotions. Gradually, a large hurricane began to violently swirl around him, effortlessly ripping apart nearby monsters in its path.

His target was the drakon that was a few hundred feet in front of him. He unflinchingly made eye contact with the paralyzing yellow eyes of the monster, which spewed a large spray of venom in anger and slithered towards him. Unafraid, Percy continued his path towards it, striking down every monster that came in his way.

When it came close enough, the drakon wildly swung its tail at Percy. Instead of dodging, Percy met the attack with two vertical slashes. As soon as his pitch-black swords collided with the drakon's scaly tail, the impact caused a large shockwave that disintegrated every monster in its vicinity. The rain quickly dispersed the dust cloud, revealing a terrifying sight.

Percy was standing on top of the drakon with both his swords buried to the hilt in the drakon's skull. The drakon's scaly tail had been severed and shockingly, Percy seemed unharmed. The monster shuddered and disintegrated into a gigantic mound of golden dust that was washed away by the rain.

Percy then picked up the gigantic severed tail, swung it around in a wide arc and launched it at the unsuspecting Hippolytus. The impact sent the gigas careening and Percy was about to disappear when a spark of electricity caught his eye.

Without warning, a monstrous bolt of lightning dropped down on a drakon and Percy turned away due to the brightness of the resulting explosion. When he looked back to where the lightning had struck, all that could be seen was a crater. Instantly, all the earthen fists and walls dissolved back into the ground. Percy smirked in triumph, thanked his uncle for his help and vanished in a blue mist.

Due to the Earth Mother's interference, the fight had gotten considerably harder for Athena. That had become aptly clear when a stone pillar almost slammed into her. She had quickly recovered and was now fighting the battle while hovering in the air in order to avoid the earthen hands which tried to catch her feet.

However, this mode of fighting was proving to be increasingly tiresome. As she cleared out another rank of monsters by impaling a Cyclops, she observed the battlefield. Hermes and Hephaestus were struggling against their banes while Artemis, Apollo and Aphrodite had considerably slowed their offense. When her eyes landed on Perseus, his unhindered path towards a drakon was awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time.

He was the personification of destruction as he rampaged through the dozens upon dozens of monsters and never in her divine life had Athena ever seen someone fight with the power and ferocity that Perseus was currently fighting with. Her eyes widened in slight worry when he attacked the drakon head on but, when the dust settled, she could not believe her own eyes. Perseus was victoriously standing on top of the drakon and when he threw the long tail at Hermes' bane, a small amount of fear crept into her heart at the terrifying sight.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of lightning that could only be caused by her father's Master Bolt. Instantly, all the earthen hands retreated and when she saw the triumphant smirk on Perseus' face, a similar one spread on her own face as she realised that this was his plan. Athena got to work and flew towards one of the two remaining drakons and through her peripheral vision, she saw that Artemis was doing the same.

The drakon saw her and shot a stream of venom at her. She swiftly dodged out of the way and threw her shield at it. A testament to its durability, the shield bounced off the drakon's head with little damage and it swung its tail at her in fury. She proved to be too fast for the drakon though and jumped out of the way.

She thrust her spear into the drakon's side, the beast roaring in pain. It tried to bite her with its monstrous maw, but she jumped and drove her spear deep into the drakon's skull. The drakon immediately dissolved into a mound of golden dust and she observed that Artemis had killed the other one. With the drakons dealt with, she decided to focus on eliminating the remaining monsters.

Hippolytus was in acute pain. Initially, he had been struggling against Hermes and it had seemed that loss was inevitable. Fortunately for him, his mother had decided to intervene and had restored him to full power. This had quickly given him the advantage over a tiring Hermes. But to his frustration, the messenger god had resiliently held on. Just as he was about to hit Hermes' side, he was blindsided by a gigantic scaly tail that sent him flying backwards.

By the time he skidded to a halt, a figure in black armour materialised above him and hit him with a brutal left hook. The force behind the punch caused a dozen fractures on the left side of his face and broke his nose with a sickening crunch. But it didn't end there. He was sent reeling for the second time with a hard kick to his side. This was followed up by his head being sandwiched in between two sword hilts. When he recovered, he was met with a greave clad knee to his face and he was launched upwards with most of his teeth broken and flying out of his bleeding mouth.

With great difficulty, he managed to block a slash at his head with his spear, but the force behind the attack caused him to lose grip of his weapon. He let out a scream of pain when another sword was embedded into his uncovered clavicle, but he was shut up by a right hook.

He cried out and fell to his knees when the second sword embedded itself into his other clavicle. The figure performed a reverse flip and brought his foot on his head that met the ground with an indent on the back of his head.

He numbly felt his attacker pulling his head by his hair and with horror, he stared into the terror inducing and unforgiving dark emerald eyes of his attacker.

"Gigas, I will spare you further if you tell me where Ares is." Percy announced in a cold voice. Though half unconscious, Hippolytus stared back defiantly, his spirit not completely broken. Percy narrowed his eyes and punched Hippolytus in the middle of his face with his free hand. Hippolytus groaned in agony, but Percy silenced him with another punch, followed by three more for good measure. After this brutal onslaught, most of Hippolytus' face had turned into a bleeding and mangled mass.

"Now gigas, are you willing to tell me Ares' location or do I need to rearrange your face once again?" Percy questioned with a steely gaze.

"I don't know. Only Mimas knows Ares' location." Hippolytus conveyed with extreme difficulty. As soon as the gigas finished his statement, Percy responded by impassively snapping his neck and the gigas' limp form crashed into the ground. He looked at Hermes, who numbly came forward and hit the gigas with his Cadeceus, their enemy dissolving into white feathers and reptilian skin. A momentary silence enveloped the two of them which was broken by Hermes' voice.

"That was scary." Hermes stated in a voice that was laced with fear.

"Forgive me for that, Lord Hermes. I should not have lost control." Percy apologetically replied in a subdued voice.

"Drop the formalities Perce. You helped me at an important time. Besides, I am used to seeing Ares engage in much more brutality. I was only stunned momentarily." Hermes replied in a light-hearted tone.

"Giddyup cuz. Apollo, you and I will be going on a long-deserved vacation once this war is over." Hermes continued with a mischievous smirk on his face. Percy just shook his head with a smile on his face and disappeared in a blue mist.

Hephaestus was losing. While he had held the advantage in the beginning of the fight, the gigas seemed to have gained a second wind and was now dominating the fight. A large hammer slammed into his side and he coughed up some ichor as he fell to his knees. The gigas brought his hammer down with the intent to smash his head but it was stopped by a large circular shield with the head of gorgon that made Mimas recoil in fear. Instantly, a hard kick to his side sent him flying.

Percy had been afraid that he was too late to help Hephaestus as the forge god was already on his knees when Percy spotted him. He immediately vanished in a blue mist in order to stop the advancing gigas but thankfully Athena had intervened in time. Wasting no time, Percy sent a kick at the gigas' side and then turned to Hephaestus.

"You can rest Lord Hephaestus. We will take it from here." Percy reassured the panting forge god and then turned to Athena.

"Shall we milady?" Percy asked with a playful smirk on his face. Athena shook her head at his cheerfulness after single-handedly destroying an entire rank of monsters. Truly, this man was something else. She nodded with a small smile, charmed by Perseus' personality. However, this little moment was interrupted by an angry gigas.

"You dare attack me godling. I will pound you until you are a mangled mess." Mimas angrily declared.

"Do all of you have the same trait of making false boasts? You and your brother in Argos are the only gigantes roaming the surface of the earth. Every other sibling of yours has been given an one-way ticket to the pit. What makes you think that you'll even be able to harm me, let alone pound me? You are a nothing but a delusional fool." Percy taunted Mimas with a predatory smirk.

Mimas took the bait and with a roar of anger, he swung his huge war hammer at Percy. Percy masterfully swivelled out of the way and cut two deep gashes along the gigas' exposed arm. Before Mimas could react, Athena impaled his scaled thigh with her spear and slammed her shield into his other knee.

The gigas fell to his knees and managed to block Percy's slash at the last minute. Athena followed Percy's attack and thrust her spear through Mimas' arm. Mimas gave a cry of pain as his arm was impaled, falling limply to his side. He gave another shout of pain as a pitch-black sword was buried into his neck and a shield slammed his face to the ground. He heard Percy's voice from above him.

"Now Mimas, let's get to the point. Your brother Hippolytus told me that you know about Ares' whereabouts. Tell me where he is and I will rid you of this suffering." Percy addressed the fallen gigas. Mimas laughed in response and painfully lifted his head to look at Percy.

"You are the real fool godling. Did you really think that the Earth Mother is foolish enough to hide Ares in the middle of a large camp this obvious? You have been played. We were never the attacking force; we were never going to attack the city of Corinth. You never took our brother Gration by surprise. He purposely sacrificed himself in order to misinform you. Our only objective was to distract you from reaching my other brothers and Ares is with one of them." Mimas condescendingly stated.

"You lie, gigas. Tell me where Ares is before I show you the same treatment that I showed your brother Otis." Percy replied through gritted teeth.

"I have no knowledge of Ares' whereabouts. The Earth Mother took him from us a week ago. This I swear on the River Styx." Mimas replied with a large smirk. He continued when he was met with silence.

"Do you see the futility of your actions godling? What have you managed to accomplish in these six months of war? You may have killed thousands of monsters and most of my siblings but, the Earth Mother will eventually raise them back to life. You are but a lowly Prince, not even a god. What makes you think that you can even stand in front of the primordial power of Gaia? You have failed, godling, and you will continue to fail because your opponent is the all-powerful Earth Mother." Mimas taunted Percy with a sneer. Percy's eyes hardened and, in a flash, he decapitated the gigas, Athena immediately impaling the headless gigas.

Percy removed his helmet and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. However, he was calmed by the reassuring hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Athena staring at him.

"The gigas was wrong. You have not failed Perseus. In fact, if it weren't for you, this war would have been a lot harder. You have made the biggest difference in this war and just because you are not a god doesn't mean that you inferior to us in any way. You have great power, almost unmatchable physical attributes and you are an excellent strategist. But most importantly, your heart is in the right place and you fight for a reason. Never doubt yourself." Athena stated while maintaining eye contact with Percy the entire time.

"Thank you for believing in me Lady Athena." Percy sincerely replied.

"Drop the honorifics Perseus. I have come to see you as a friend." Athena replied with a serene smile.

"I will drop the honorifics on one condition." Percy stated. He continued at the sight of Athena's raised eyebrow "You have to call me Percy." Percy finished with a small smile.

"Very well Percy." Athena responded with an identical smile. In return, Percy shot her a dazzling smile and an almost unnoticeable golden blush tinted her cheeks. The two of them stared into each other's eyes until they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"I hope that I did not intrude on anything." Apollo asked with a teasing smirk on his face. The two of them quickly turned away and they noticed that the entire army had been destroyed.

"We won." Percy spoke with barely contained jubilation. A new voice joined the conversation

"You are damn right we did. Good job cuz." Hermes replied after coming into view. Another voice chimed in.

"Hermes is right. Percy, you have been instrumental for this victory." Aphrodite stated with smile on her face.

"Yes, it seems that there is a decent male left in this world. At least unlike my frivolous brother." Artemis joined the conversation with a jab directed at Apollo.

"Oh Arty, you wound me with your cruel words." Apollo dramatically replied with his hand held over his heart.

"Don't call me Arty." Artemis replied with an annoyed look on her face. Everyone laughed at their banter and for a moment, the war faded into the background.

This was Percy's greatest ability. His very presence radiated a sense of tranquillity, calmness and togetherness. Everyone had been charmed by his earnest and steadfast character. He had rightfully earned all their respect. Alas, this moment was not meant to last as Hephaestus' weary voice was the one to bring them back to reality.

"This was a diversion. Ares is not here." Hephaestus solemnly stated and their faces dropped in realisation.

"Will we ever find Ares? The Earth Mother always seems to be one step ahead of us." Aphrodite sorrowfully stated.

"We will find Ares. If not today, then eventually we will find him and free him. For now, let us return to Olympus and discuss our next course of action." Percy declared in determination. Similar looks of determination spread across all their faces and they disappeared from the destroyed and barren camp.

A grim atmosphere permeated through the entire Olympian throne room as the gods were pondering on their next course of action.

"We should hunt down my bane. He may have Ares or at the very least, he may have information of Ares' whereabouts." Athena finally suggested.

"Athena is right. We cannot afford to waste any more time. Perseus and Athena, I want both of you to start your hunt tomorrow." Zeus nodded and ordered.

Zeus had a small amount of respect for his nephew. The man was diligent, extremely powerful and seemingly incorruptible. His sense of duty and his personal loyalty was admirable. He had to admit, Perseus had been the centrepiece of their offense. Without him, things would be much grimmer. So, when his nephew had asked him for help, he had complied as the man deserved at least this much for all the help he had given them.

"Zeus, they have just fought a battle. Let them rest for a few days." Poseidon worriedly countered. Before Zeus could reply, an iris message with Styx at the other end interrupted him.

"My apologies for interrupting you Lord Zeus. But the matter is urgent." Styx stated. Zeus seemed annoyed but nevertheless, he grudgingly nodded his head and gestured at her to continue.

"As all of you know, Lord Hades has been fighting the forces of his bane for quite some time. Over the past month, we have driven back most of the gigas' forces. Now, Lord Hades is engaging his bane in combat and requires the assistance of my grandson." Styx requested.

"I will be there in a few minutes grandmother." Percy promised from the base of his father's throne. Styx smiled at him and slashed through the message.

"Lord Zeus, if you would give me leave, I will head to the Underworld." Percy respectfully asked. Zeus nodded in acquiescence.

"Keep the shoes Perce. You may need them." Hermes spoke up from his throne.

"Yes, you have my permission to travel in the skies." Zeus declared. Percy smiled at his uncle in gratitude and a ghost of a smile could be seen on Zeus' face.

Percy nodded at the rest of the Olympians and made to leave but his father stopped him. A sea green pearl materialised in his hands.

"Son, I want you to have this pearl as a safety measure. Wherever you may be, if you crush this pearl, you will automatically be teleported to the surface world. This is a contingency plan in case you are too tired to continue fighting. Take care of yourself." Poseidon explained. Percy nodded at his father and vanished in a blue mist.

The Underworld had turned into a battlefield. Large armies of undead soldiers and Underworld gods were fighting armies of shades and monsters. In the banks of the river Styx, a battle of divine proportions had been taking place for quite some time.

Wielding his Stygian Iron staff with skilled proficiency was a forty feet tall gigas with golden skin covered in precious jewels and with rust coloured hair and scaly dragon legs, who seemed to be fighting an invisible opponent. The gigas was covered in multiple wounds. But instead of ichor flowing out of them, black oil seemed to pour down his skin.

Hades was annoyed. He had been fighting his bane for quite some time now and the gigas seemed to be able to sense his presence even while he was wearing his helm, thus being able to parry most of his attacks. Not only that, even in the times that he managed to slip past the gigas' guard and wound him, the wounds seemed to heal at a startling pace.

He had heard from the rest of the gods that the gigantes could only be killed by the combined forces of a hero and an immortal. As such, he had sent Styx a telepathic message to ask the Olympians for Perseus' support. His thoughts were interrupted by a shout of pain from his bane. When he saw the fountain of oil that seemed to be spurting from his bane's arm, he realised that Perseus had arrived.

In anger, the gigas tried to swat Percy aside, but before that could happen, Percy vanished in a blue mist and rematerialized fifty feet away from him.

"Son of Poseidon." The gigas growled at Percy.

"Fantastic, it seems that my reputation precedes me. Now, let's skip the small talk and get to the part where you die" Percy replied with a wide smirk.

"Foolish godling, I am Alcyoneus, the Bane Of Hades and I will-" The gigas boastfully started but he was interrupted by Percy.

"I'll stop you there. The Royal Atlantean theatre is running a play today and I wouldn't want to miss it. I have no time to entertain the empty boasts of a dead gigas." Percy cheerfully stated. Alcyoneus roared in anger and charged at the young prince. In the process, he had forgotten that Hades was still in the battle and was slammed by the staff of his bane.

Before he could recover, a large shockwave propelled him twenty feet backwards. He managed to block the godling's swords but was once again slammed by Hades' staff.

Alcyoneus gasped in pain when Percy buried his sword in one of the gigas' arms. He tried to punch Percy with his other hand, but once again, he was met with thin air.

Percy materialised behind Alcyoneus with his Celestial Bronze javelins in his hand. A moment later, two javelins pierced Alcyoneus' hands and they were followed by four more. Hades slammed his staff into his bane's face and two more javelins pierced Alcyoneus' eyes. The gigas screamed in pain but was silenced by another brutal strike from Hades' staff. This onslaught continued until Alcyoneus' entire body was covered with black oil.

Finally, Percy materialised in front of the giant and drove his spear through the gigas' neck. Following this Hades brought the tip of his staff down on his bane's head with all his divine strength and with a sickening crunch, Alcyoneus head was crushed like an egg with black oil splattering everywhere. Percy turned away from the gigas, vanished and rematerialized twenty feet away. Instantly, his uncle's armoured form came into sight in front of him.

"Perseus." Hades greeted him with a stoic face.

"Lord Hades." Percy replied with a nod of respect.

Hades observed the tall, young man in front of him. He exuded a calm aura, but Hades could sense the waves of power that stemmed from him. It was almost identical to Poseidon's aura except for one difference. His brother's aura radiated a subtle tranquil warmth that reminded him of a serene and salty sea breeze coming his way. This was in stark contrast to the man's aura a moment ago which resembled the edge of his swords. Cold, ruthless and unrelenting.

"You are not as bad as I expected you to be." Hades complimented in his own fashion. In response, Percy just smiled at him.

Hades was about to say something, but a Stygian Iron staff the size of totem pole smashed into his side that sent him flying across the river where he loudly crashed. Instantly, Percy flipped out of the way from another strike and he stared at the seemingly reformed Alcyoneus with disbelief evident in his eyes.

"Shocked?" Alcyoneus taunted him with a cruel laugh. Percy just stared back at him, his mind racing with new strategies and different plans.

"Let me make this easier for you godling. So long as I am in the Underworld, I am infallible. How much ever you wound me, I cannot be defeated. Team up with whoever you want, you will fail to win. How long will you fight me son of Poseidon? You will eventually lose." Alcyoneus stated with dark laugh. In response, he was met with a pair of javelins that he swatted aside.

Instantly, a hurricane swirled around Percy as he charged at the gigas with his pitch-black swords. The gigas moved his staff to block Percy's swords but he realised too late that it was only a feint. Percy swivelled to the side and cut two deep twin gashes along Alcyoneus exposed arm.

Alcyoneus roared in anger and tried grabbing Percy with his other hand. Due to his greater agility, Percy maneuvered out of the way and used the gigas' fist as a stepping stone to jump up and clash his glowing swords in front of the gigas' face. A large shockwave propelled the gigas backwards and ripped the skin off of Alcyoneus' exposed parts. To make matters worse, the hurricane began to unrelentingly batter the gigas, not allowing him any room to recover.

The battle continued for some time with Percy managing to keep the upper hand in the hopes that his uncle would join the fight. But there was no sign of Hades and gradually Percy's unsustainable offense stated to waver. To make matters worse, the fatigue from his earlier battle had started to spill over into this one. It was in this bleak situation that Percy made a mistake and that was all it took.

Alcyoneus' staff smashed into his side with the force of thousands of gallons of water and Percy flew two hundred feet through the air before crashing into the ground. He groaned in pain as he felt some hairline cracks spread in his right side.

"What's the matter son of Poseidon? Aren't you running late for your play?" Alcyoneus taunted.

"You will die just like the rest of your brethren, gigas. I have killed most of your other siblings. You will meet the same fate." Percy replied with a confident smirk after rising to his full height.

"Your arrogance is truly foolish godling. Don't you see? I am infallible." Alcyoneus proudly declared.

"You may infallible, but you are a fool for choosing to fight me on my home turf." Percy retorted. Before, Alcyoneus could reply, a large wave emerged from the river Styx and dragged him into the river. All that could be heard from the gigas were muffled screams of pain. But Percy knew that this was only a temporary solution. Eventually, the gigas would emerge from the river.

To make the most of this break, he ate a large piece of Ambrosia and instantly felt some of fatigue going away. Then he tried to come up with a way to deal with the gigas himself as it seemed that his uncle was out of action. As he deeply pondered a way to defeat Alcyoneus, he remembered the gigas' statement of being infallible in the Underworld. This meant that the gigas could possibly be killed if he was dragged to the mortal plane.

While he was thinking of a way to drag the gigas out of the Underworld, he realised that he could use the pearl that his father had given him as he couldn't use mist travel to teleport the gigas. He quickly formulated a plan and was ready for the gigas as soon he emerged out of the river.

"You will pay for that little stunt, godling." Alcyoneus darkly promised with his body covered in pitch-black oil. He charged at Percy and tried to smash him with his staff, but Percy proved to be too nimble for him.

Percy jumped around the gigas and grabbed his neck in a chokehold with his right hand. Before the gigas could react, Percy crushed the pearl in his other hand and both of them vanished in a sea green mist.

As soon as Percy and Alcyoneus materialised on one of the islands in the Aegean sea, the gigas grabbed Percy and threw him off his back. Percy with his superior agility, managed to land on his feet and a victorious smirk could be seen on his face as he prayed to his father for help. His brows furrowed in confusion until a stone pillar almost barrelled into him. He managed to move aside in the nick of time and that was when he saw the smirking face of the Earth Mother in the ground.

Hey guys! I know that it may seem a bit outlandish that Percy was able to match Alcyoneus blow-to-blow but Alcyoneus lost to Frank, Hazel and Arion so he's not exactly the best of fighters. But he is a gigas and I didn't want to make him seem like a joke so I added the battle with Hades. I personally think that while the gigantes can match the gods in strength and power, they are far behind them in terms of speed and agility, unlike the Titans who can match the gods in all their attributes.

Also Percy had a hurricane around him and constantly made use of his shockwaves so that should give him the edge in the battle. Hades stayed out of the battle because even if he is one of the Big Three, being slammed by a huge iron pole and then crashing into the ground will take some time to recover from and the battle had already moved to the surface world by then.

This chapter also shows Percy sliding another step towards his fatal flaw. This was the reason I made him seem so perfect initially, it just makes this journey of Percy losing himself to this ruthless resolve more gut wrenching. The rain has also made him massively overpowered and I wanted to show him beyond the peak of his strength, just to reinforce the idea of his ruthlessness.

Also I have included a few Percy X Athena moments to show some sort of a gradual progress in their relationships. I want this to be as realistic as possible as, if Athena is going to fall in love with Percy, it's not going to happen in a few months. It's going to be a slow and steady process.

Now you may think that if Poseidon gave Percy a pearl, why give him one that only teleports him to the surface world. One, it's still a prototype and he hasn't perfected them yet and two, it's for the sake of the plot.

Also a shout-out to MissyAndTheDocs for your phenomenal editing! This story has become much more enjoyable due to your continuous help!

Read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter! Have a great day!