(Recap: "Unconscious? What do you mean?"

"Oh you know, Unconscious as in when somebody dies?"

"Wh.. What.. You... You... No... You're messing with me. You're lying."

"Have it your way. I just swore by the Styx. And still, if you're not satisfied, I swear on the Styx that I used these very hands of mine to strangle her." He smiled creepily, just like end. Then End gave me another creepy smile and swiped his hands through the mist, his last words being "We're coming for you, be ready. Soon enough we unite you with Skylar."

"No... No... No... He... He... Kill... No...How... No..." I just sat there so lost, so destroyed mentally, so distraught emotionally. I couldn't comprehend anything happening around me. I failed. My plan failed. And if Omega was to be believed, it cost Skylar her life...)

Ch. 27

PERCY'S POV:

The ground underneath me seemed to be shaking. I didn't know what to think, what to say. Heck, I didn't even know what to believe. Omega's oath or my gut. My gut screamed that Sky.. my Sky could not be dead. Then again I remembered Omega had sworn. How could he get around an oath made on Styx? As devastated as I felt, the only alternative to not feeling so wretched was to go and verify for myself what the truth behind Omega's words was. And as easy a way, as it sounded, I couldn't bring myself to just go. I didn't like the odds stacked against me. My gut versus Omega's sworn oath. Meanwhile, my friends were trying to stir me out of my reverie.

"Percy. She's not dead! Wake up and listen!"

"Wh.. What.. What did you just say?" A spark of hope lighting my pessimistic train of thoughts.

"Percy. There's a chance she's not even dead! At least go and check!" That same voice said. I didn't care to know who.

All the hope deserted me as fast as it had come, and I felt depleted emotionally once again. Chance. Never would I have even imagined such a disastrous and miserable day when I'd have to take chances about Skylar's life.

"Percy. You have to hurry up, only you know what place that was! She might be fatally wounded for all we know! All that matters is that she be alive!"

"You're right. I don't have time. Maybe she's wounded. I'll go over right away."

I just made sure I had some weaponry, I didn't know what to expect there. Once that was done, I just nodded to Elmont and teleported out of there. When I reached outside the museum, I swept the surroundings for any suspicious activity or signs of any monster. The outside seemed unusually peaceful.

I went inside and explored as if a tourist, trying the knobs on any closed door I came across and looking for concealed rooms or dungeons of any sort. It took almost 10 minutes, painfully much more than I was hoping. Every second ticking by made my heart beat faster and faster. But I found something finally. A Delta. A greek symbol. Maybe this is it. Hopefully, I end up finding Skylar... Alive. And not end up in the labyrinth-like the last delta had taken me, Rachel and Annabeth. I placed my hand on that delta and pushed a bit.

The ancient symbol started to glow a bit before the wall suddenly started shaking and shifting. It gradually caved into a door enabling me to enter. At first, it took me a while to adjust to the darkness, so the only things I could see were chains dangling and blood smeared beneath my feet. Slowly my vision adjusted and I swept through the entire room. My eyes laid on something no, someone, and momentarily, it was like I was in some kind of paralysis, seeing everything but unable to move, talk or avert my gaze. Her body lying underneath a pool of blood...

3RD PERSON/NARRATOR'S POV:

The camp was in a dilemma. It had been too long and Percy hadn't returned. The night was approaching, and if spy reports were to be believed, discussions in the enemy camp about the possibility of a night attack was going on. That was in no way a piece of good news for the camp. There were so many questions, and the only person who could answer was missing. Percy Jackson hadn't contacted anybody at camp, neither had he let his army know what was going on with him. For a while, the campers and the army alike had reasoned that maybe he found Skylar alive but severely injured so he took her to Celestio. Elmont had doubts about that theory when a few hours passed and no message from Percy or Celestio came. So he himself called Celestio, using Shadow messaging though, now that they knew Iris messages weren't exactly private anymore. Unfortunately, even that shadow of hope disappeared, when Elmont learned that neither Lord Chaos, nor the Council, nor anyone in Celestio knew about the whereabouts of Percy or The Princess. Now the campers were left stranded without their leader (they thought of him as one, even though he didn't lead them because of his past experiences leading both the camps.)

Elmont and Fritz were capable enough to lead the Army without him, but it just didn't feel as good and as original as when he led them. Percy always seemed to know the best solution to any and every situation. And it didn't exactly help the morales of the soldiers that their Princess, who they had seen in action and described as 'crazy powerful just like the Commander' was rumored to be dead, and that their Commander, who also happened to love her was MIA.

Elmont had offered that he go with Fritz and Gregory and a few handful others to check Percy's last known location - the museum. But Annabeth had made him see sense, that if Percy was up to something, we'd better not waste our time and concentrate on the war and if something happened to him, whoever went there would obviously meet the same fate as he did, seeing as no one was more powerful than him. Elmont offered a lot of alternatives like all the GIs going and stuff like that, but Annabeth explained that Percy would've wanted that we concentrate on the war while he's doing whatever he can to help us. She made them remember that the last time he'd disappeared, he came back with Grover and the wild. The campers and army men eventually saw the sense in her words and thought it best to brace themselves as best as they could for any attack and trust Percy's abilities and just patiently wait for him. So they were all onto the job. Rectifying possible breach positions, marking territories to the stronger soldiers to lead the battalions in that particular area. The northern part was symbolically handed over to Annabeth.

A few more hours passed, the Pegasii were tired, the campers exhausted, their energies diminished and morales sinking to the depths of Tartarus. Just then there appeared to be some sort of commotion near one of the defense lines. Then the conch blew.

"Alert! We've been attacked from the western frontier! Shore up the defenses and brace yourselves for surprises!" Frank, who was assigned that particular frontier shouted.

Everyone seemed taken aback that the enemy would attack there since that was strategically and skillset wise the second toughest spot to breach. The rest of the campers and armies got ready to fight. Soon enough, the enemy had reached the front entrance, engaged us already from the west and was advancing in the north, where the Army of Peace was stationed. Yeah, one could say they had a huge army, but then you'd have to say 'understatement'. The enemy, unlike those villains in movies, wasted no time in boasting and banter. They immediately charged.

End, with a sick smirk, was leading the main entrance platoon. In the west, Frank was up against an angry looking Gaea. Piper and Jason immediately went there, trying to destroy her the same way they'd done last time. The northern attack was led by Omega who seemed the least hesitant to attack who were once his own brothers. Either that was a big coincidence or a well-planned move. Omega, after all, had been their boss for a very long time and would know precisely how the Army worked. Even Percy hadn't gotten a chance to regroup the army and change their approach to take Omega by surprise. Fritz and the Council's Army were on standby in the center of the camp, agreed that they'd go wherever backup was required the most.

The Campers and soldiers of Chaos alike rushed giving battle cries of their own. The Soldiers just shouted 'To Lord Chaos' and charged when the enemy got close enough. Arrows rained down from both sides, and it looked like the onslaught from the army was so ridiculously strong that the enemy had no chance. Unfortunately, when you factored in numbers, the enemy had a constant upper hand.

You'd think that the campers would rush towards the enemy with their usual 'For Olympus' cry, but it was not to be the case today. Instead, the whole camp loudly cried 'For Home' and rushed. Such was the scary determination of the soldiers and campers that End and Gaea had a look of uncertainty. However, Omega, being a war veteran himself, seemed unfazed that his battalion of monsters was falling down so quickly. He just seemed to enjoy the moment, shouting "Keep 'em coming, Let's see how much more can they take! We have the numbers here, and all present here are mortals, so at one point they'll be tired." He was correct in a way, he wasn't fighting the immortal campers, and Elmont wasn't fighting the army, he was engaging Omega himself, so the monsters faced only mortals.

Seeing Omega riding high on confidence, End and Gaea regained their sinister smiles and began attacking the demigods themselves instead of standing there like they were before. Seeing this, another conch blew, and in came the Council's Army. Fritz immediately went for Omega as vengeance for Skylar while a handful of his men followed. The rest were instructed to assist the immortal campers, who were now engaged in a fierce yet what seemed to be a one-sided fight with the Primordials. Piper was still trying charm speak but Jason couldn't get her airborne this time. She stayed on the Ground and whatever wounds Leo, Calypso, and Jason gave her just disappeared as fast as they appeared. Frank had retreated to command and lead half the army while the other half, he honorably requested Hyllaa to handle. Hylla was more than proud of that opportunity and grabbed it. The men of the Council's Army fought like beasts with lightning fast strikes and equally strong defenses, but they were hopelessly outnumbered when it came to a battle of powers. End would just need one hit and it would send the victim flying back feet away. Nico, Annabeth, Hazel, Thalia were all up against end but they didn't seem to be having much luck. Annabeth tried sneaking behind End with her Yankees invisibility cap but End felt her presence and kicked hard in what looked like air to the naked eye but was Annabeth's stomach, sending her reeling back a few feet. She hit a tree. The cap fell off and she wasn't looking good. She had bruises on her hands and legs, blood gushing out of her head where the tree had hit her. The onlookers on her side could only hope immortals didn't have concussions otherwise Annabeth definitely had one. Nico tried a slash but end blocked it. Thalia tried to run through end with her spear but the Primordial saw the move coming. Normally at such a time the thing to do would be pushing Nico aside and blocking the spear from Thalia then counter attack. But End was smarter than that. He knew he was outnumbered, and even though he knew he could easily win against these demigods, he didn't trust Gaea to make it, which would mean Percy Jackson who wielded hellfire and who also happened to be freakishly powerful for a non birth Primordial might suddenly come in from wherever he'd gone to mourn over his girlfriend. He'd be very angry and looking for revenge. Omega was there, but he was still new and End didn't completely trust him yet. So he decided to end this quickly with the demigods. So instead of pushing Nico aside, he grabbed him and pulled him closer and in between Thalia's spear and himself. Thalia, realizing too late who her target had changed to, couldn't stop the spear in time and it pierced Nico.

"No! Nico!" Momentarily forgetting the battle she rushed towards Nico, who End had tossed aside. Nico was slowly fading away. He was dying, and Thalia felt like she had killed him. True, he would reform in a few years, but that would never change the fact that Nico di Angelo fell in battle, but not from the enemy's hands. From his cousin's instead. "It's... Okay... Not... Your... Fault..." He managed to breathe out before there was just a golden aura left where the demigod had fallen.

Meanwhile, Thalia had completely forgotten that with Annabeth still hurt pretty bad, she had left Hazel all alone against End. She heard a piercing scream and turned her back in time to see End's sword making a huge gash on Hazel's chest. She didn't fade away so quickly as Nico, but you didn't have to be a medical expert or Apollo's kid to know that she was very critical. Will and a few of his brothers rushed to Hazel while Thalia tried to keep End occupied. Unfortunately, the contest was so one-sided that a simple block and counter-attack later, Thalia had ichor rushing out of a huge thigh gash that didn't seem to stop. End smiled victoriously. "Tskk tskk tskk. Serves you right for killing your own brother now doesn't it, little godling?" He said with a voracious growl and was just about to deliver the death blow to Thalia when Jason appeared from above and deflected the attack. Piper got Thalia up while will rushed Hazel to the infirmary. Jason and Piper then engaged in fierce battle against the ancient Primordial, both of their clothes and faces completely smeared in blood. Newfound confidence and hope ruled over their minds and adrenaline pumped in them. They had once again defeated Gaea. But at what cost, Annabeth, Thalia, and Hazel were yet to find out...

A FEW MINUTES AGO, JUST BEFORE ANNABETH HIT THE TREE :

Leo was constantly throwing fireballs at Gaea's face. The goal wasn't to set her ablaze, just to distract her long enough for Jason to control the wind under her and take her airborne so that she couldn't heal. The plan took a long time to work, but as they say, persistence pays off. All Leo had to do was keep on attacking while Calypso defended him from the monsters. Gaea would try at attack but she had Jason and Piper to worry about. Piper's charm speak wasn't exactly making life easy for her. One could easily say she was struggling, especially with Hylla taking charge of the campers and her Amazon army all alone so well. She commanded with confidence, and her booming imperative tone left no doubts in the campers' minds of who was in charge.

Gaea was trying very hard. She was a primordial, but now the demigods were immortals, and they'd already defeated her once when they were mortals. A strong contest, unlike the one against end. Gaea was strong, but nowhere near as powerful or as skilled as the ancients End and Chaos.

Momentarily distracted with fireballs and an arrow from Frank that pierced her arm as an amazing plan since Gaea hadn't expected him to jump into the fight while leading the campers, Jason managed to control the winds. Now that he was immortal and had years of experience, he didn't need to draw Gaea up. He just needed her to be either weak or distracted enough to control the winds around her and raise her in the air along with Piper.

Once she became airborne, Frank handed over the reins of the campers to one of his centurions and transformed into a dragon to attack Gaea. Simultaneously, Leo threw a huge fireball at queen dirt face while shouting 'Hey princess potty sludge! You went down once you'll go down again! Gaea saw that coming and raised her sword and wielded it in an arc so that the fireball hit it and changed its course to hit Frank the dragon. However, the experience is the best teacher. Frank saw that coming and his impressive skillful dive downwards easily prevented him from the hit. Meanwhile, Jason and Piper both were flying, Piper on a venti that Jason had asked for assistance and Jason himself on his own personal mini cyclone. He used the time Gaea took to counter Leo's fireball and attacked her with a full force of the wind and his sword. Gaea, busy with Leo and Frank didn't see that one coming. She flew back a long way due to sheer force of the wind. Jason though expertly kept the earth Goddess in the air with robust concentration. Leo again took a shot, this time catching her off guard and hitting her square on the chest. Again she flew back, and again Jason didn't let her fall. Now she was flailing and trying with all her might to dive down as she was bleeding ichor profusely. But there was one more player left and she didn't wanna feel left out. Piper McLean had improved her charm speak so much that now Gaea in her weakened state followed her words without a second's hesitation. Piper said 'Go to sleep! Swear on the Styx that if you're ever reformed, you'll never attack us again.' And to everyone's astonishment, she did swear the oath. She dropped down unconscious on the ground, comfortably asleep. This boasted the morales of campers and they attacked with renewed vigor. So did the Council's Army. Soon there were no traces of an enemy in the west except for a sleeping Earth Primordial. The Council's Army though had no intention of forgiving or letting her go. They handed a temporal steel sword to Jason. Jason went over to the sleeping Goddess with Leo right beside him but was in for a shocker. Gaea hadn't been as sleepy as she seemed. One last attempt from her to kill Jason as revenge, and Jason didn't saw the move coming. However, his best friend did. And he did what any other best friend in his position would do. Stepped in between them and took the sneak dagger attack onto himself.

"Leo!" Piper screamed. Jason realized what had happened. Gaea had used up her last reserve of energy and so Jason easily separated her head from her body, ichor spewing out. Meanwhile, tears were rolling down Piper's eyes. Leo Valdez had just faded into nothingness. Jason tried to be practical, that it wasn't the end and he would see Leo again when he reformed, but his friend's gesture to save him left Jason teary-eyed. Just then he heard a shriek that sounded like Hazel. He saw her falling injured with a thigh wound. He assured Frank that he had it while Frank acted as Preator again. He flew there along with Piper and was just in time to deflect a wound directed to kill his sister. He managed to push end aside, but the immediately realized that the Primordial was far too strong for them to beat. They needed Hellfire. They needed Percy.

BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN... AT THE MUSEUM :

3RD PERSON'S POV :

Percy Jackson saw a sight that for a moment sent a shiver down his spine. He saw Skylar's limp body, lying in a pool of golden ichor. He immediately rushed to her, caressing her, feeling for a pulse. He couldn't. Now one would wonder that if Skylar was immortal, how could she die on strangling, but as a daughter created out of power, she could die by any temporal material. Even if it was a wire used to strangle her. And she wouldn't fade away, she would die like a normal mortal. Such was her fate. It was a blessing in disguise in a way, at least this way you could do the burial rites and depart her with honor. But strangely, Percy wasn't thinking about all this. He felt her pulse, and he didn't feel it. He didn't feel his girlfriend's pulse, but he didn't shed a tear. He stood up and smirked.

"Excellent. Everything's going according to plan now." He said.

(A/N: SOOO... BET NONE OF YOU WERE EXPECTING THIS WERE YOU? SO, WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT? REVIEW WHAT YOU THINK IS HAPPENING OR WILL HAPPEN. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)