Chapter 13: For Rome and Sparda

Third Person POV

"PIPER!" Percy/Nero screamed, stopping his motorcycle and looked at the sight of his current girlfriend being tortured by his ex-girlfriend. The Amazons also stopped and looked in horror with the son of Vesta. Richie suddenly had a megaphone in his hand, and it was so loud even "reinforcements" heard it, and they were pretty far away.

"Wanna save your little fangirl, weakling?" he sneered.

Percy didn't even reply. Instead, he revved up his motorcycle, and exploded through the grass, towards the Savior. Sparda, however, suddenly spoke again in his head.

"No anger. It only burns your soul to nothingness. You're not just fighting for revenge. You're fighting for Roman justice."

He calmed down and moved a little slower. However, he was forced to stop when Annabeth had a dagger on Piper's throat.

"One move and I'll kill her, dumbass!" she sneered.

"You practically have everything you want! Why make yourself the enemy today?!" he retaliated.

"We want the glory of wiping out Greece's greatest enemies!"

"Rome's never done anything to you! Just shut down that thing or you won't be any better than Kronos!"

"Why should we?"

"Do you want to be the next Luke?!"

Annabeth slightly loosened her grip on the Roman for a mere second then tightened it again.

"At least Luke wasn't a monster-hybrid freak, unlike you." she said snidely.

"You don't understand everything." the son of Vesta pleaded.

"Enough! Rome will fall today and if the gods will fight us, they will as well."

Growling, Nero raised the Artemis and fired pinkish lasers into the air. The two traitors laughed.

"Is that it?" Richie sneered again.

Nero made a hint that he wasn't done by smirking. He was right. A short while later, the same lasers blasted the two traitors and made Annabeth release Piper, who, completely on instinct, jumps off the head of the Savior. The son of Vesta activated Ifrit and blasted himself into the air to catch the daughter of Venus. They landed right near the motorcycle.

"You okay, Beauty Queen?" he asked.

"Yeah. Glad you're back." she answered, smiling at her boyfriend. Nero smiled back as well.

"You help the others. I got these guys."

She nodded and ran back to the carnage, shooting the enemy army from behind before being joined by the Amazons. Nero turned back to the Savior. Ifrit started to give off a red and orange aura.

"Let's end this...now."

Annabeth and Richie laughed, before the latter spoke.

"You can't even beat the Savior, Jackson! Just give up while you still can!"

However, the colossal statue shook when one of the crystals on its legs were struck by a crushing blow from Nero.

"Savior, destroy him!" Annabeth ordered. It focused its attention again on the son of Vesta. The colossus tried to squash him with its bare hands but Nero escaped after blasting himself out of the way. Ifrit turned back to watch mode as the son of Vesta drew the silver gun. Nero shot at the Savior with a barrage of lasers. It staggered a little and it wasn't seen very well as smoke covered it completely.

'Wow. I'll just call this gun "Stormweaver" from now on to prevent confusion, I guess' he thought. When the smoke dissipated, the Savior was still standing, and it acted mad.

"Come get me, rocky!" the son of Vesta taunted. If the Savior could talk, it would have started bellowing curse words by now. It lunged and attacked with its right fist. Nero jumped out of the way and ran up its arm with Alastor poised for a strike. He jumped and a demonic sword slice nailed the Savior right in the forehead, causing it to stagger backwards. Devil Bringer also slammed right into its face and the Savior fell down with a thud.

"What the hell! Destroy him! He's no match for you!" Richie yelled, suddenly bursting out from the Savior...with wings, and a demonic aura.

'Oh crap. They had another way to use the demonic energy of the Sword of Sparda.' Nero thought.

"What is this?! What foolishness have you two done with the sword?!" he yelled.

"Oh, the Sword of Sparda?! It hasn't even awoken its true power yet!" the demonized seaspawn yelled back.

"That's because what you're doing is wrong!"

"Shut up!"

Before Richie could continue, Nero spoke again.

"You wanted to have everything. You wanted all the power in the world just for yourselves! You betrayed the Olympians and yet you still call yourselves...heroes."

"SHUT UP!"

The seaspawn divebombed and slashed at Nero, who rolled out of the way. Richie was about to swoop in again, only to get battered with lasers. He roared in pain and plummeted to the ground. Suddenly, a sickening squelch was heard. Nero had stabbed him in the back with Alastor when he was close enough. The sword crackled with purple electricity, shocking the traitorous demigod before he exploded in a gory blaze of glory.

"NO!" Annabeth screamed. Sheathing Alastor, Nero turned back to the Savior and pointed at the giant.

"You're next, blondie!" the son of Vesta declared, walking towards the Savior, only for it to start shaking violently as demonic energy began to fire wildly from it.

'Not the best idea but I hope this goes well.' he thought.

"HOW DARE YOU!" the traitorous wisdom spawn roared as the Savior started to fire blasts of energy at Nero wildly, making him consider getting run over by a fire truck.

He stopped dodging and blasted towards the Savior at high speed and landing a crushing blow to its face with Devil Bringer's Buster. The colossal weapon stumbled and fell on its stony ass. Nero jumped to the chest of the Savior and broke in. He found himself in a chamber with a mysterious gateway in the middle.

"Shut this thing down, Annabeth!" he yelled.

"NEVER!" she yelled back, her voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"You're only making things worse!" Nero yelled back.

"Yeah, for you and all of Rome!"

He didn't respond, however. The son of Vesta ran to the gateway and he was again, in another room. The floor was smooth stone but looked a little rough. Its ceiling had a circular shape, and there was Annabeth Chase, looking different.

Her golden princess curls had a streak of red on them. Red marks covered her face. Like Richie, she had strange wings and a demonic aura. In her hands are her dagger and the Sword of Sparda, still not awakened in the form of an elegant silver longsword.

"You look messed up, Annie." Nero said, glaring at her coldly. "No wonder the sword of Sparda didn't awake in your hands."

"Don't mock me!" the traitorous daughter of Athena yelled back. "I've done more than enough to deserve its power!"

"If you think this power is something open for everyone to abuse then you're just PLAIN WRONG!" he screamed, drawing and pointing Yamato at the demonic Annabeth. She smirked snidely and snapped her fingers. Right behind her, two figures materialized through another gateway. It was an animated armor with wings...and a beaten up and disarmed Piper. Katropis, her Imperial Gold dagger, heck, even Blue Rose wasn't with her.

"I have your little girlfriend, so why not give up and let me destroy Rome?" Annabeth sneered.

"Did you ever love me? Was I nothing more than a tool for your own gain?" Nero asked.

"Oh please, you know seaspawns and wisdomspawns never mi-"

"YOU IDIOTIC B****! DID YOU NOT LOVE RICHIE?! WAS HE NOT A SEASPAWN?!"

"Shut up! I kidnapped this pathetic slut here so that I can make her watch me kill you...painfully."

The armor placed Piper in a blob-like statis chamber behind Annabeth before attacking Nero.

"That is...if you can." he retaliated.

Nero wasted no time as he activated Ifrit and delivered an explosive overhead punch at the armor when it got too close. He got into a fighting stance and taunted Annabeth, smirking as he did so. She roared as she exploded forward, her sword's tip pointing at her foe. The blade was caught with Nero's right hand before he threw Annabeth aside, who started flying.

She hurtled waves of gray demonic energy towards the son of Vesta. Deactivating Ifrit, Nero drew Yamato and dashed forward, slicing the energy blasts before bringing his katana down on Annabeth, who blocked with the Sword of Sparda, though she went flying again before regaining mid air balance.

"I've seen girl scouts use swords better than you." he mocked.

"Don't mock me! If it wasn't for me, you should have died!"

"True, but look at what you're doing! You think this madness will end with you on top?!"

"Yes, it will!"

The daughter of Athena flapped her wings, creating a strong gust of wind that sent Nero flying. She took this chance to attack, but the son of Vesta drew Alastor and parried her attacks with both swords. Alastor gave Nero extra ground in the aerial swordfight and he kicked Annabeth and himself back to the ground.

"My power is beyond that of which you can defeat!"

"Says the chick who hides inside a moving statue!"

Nero drew the Stormweaver and shot at the demonized wisdomspawn with rapid blasts of energy. She created a transparent energy shield that blocked them. In a blast of demonic energy, Annabeth lunged with both her weapons, her figure surrounded by a demonic gray aura. Nero also had a furious demonic red aura as he parried and struck with Alastor and Devil Bringer.

A few seconds later, he delivers a brutal Buster attack right into Annabeth's stomach, sending her flying to the other side of the chamber and disarming her. The son of Vesta delivered another Buster attack that caused her to hit the top of the gateway Nero took. He quickly grabbed the Sword of Sparda and sheathed Alastor, smiling a bit as he landed on the ground.

It didn't really last long.

The sword began to glow and reacted violently to Devil Bringer, who started glowing red excessively. Nero screamed and clutched his arm in pain. Piper woke up in the statis blob and was shocked at what she was seeing. To make matters a little worse or better, he kept changing in a flash of bright red light, between himself, and the form of Sparda. Piper winced when she realized something.

'Percy...and the demon in my vision...they're connected.' she thought.

The sword of Sparda began to change as well. It slowly became bigger. It looked like a mix of a giant knife, pieces of demonic flesh, a red eye, and its aura was much, much stronger. The sword of Sparda has reawakened, in his descendant's hands. Everyone in the room looked in shock. Devil Bringer's red glow became permanent.

"Nice." Nero remarked, smirking.

"NO!" Annabeth screamed as she got up. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

The son of Vesta turned back to the daughter of Athena. His eyes began to glow red again as he drew Yamato and sheathed the awakened sword.

"It's time to finish this."

His aura started to act strangely. A shining red spectral being emerged behind him. It had a demonic face, a scaled hide with a gem on its chest, an organic sheath on its left hand and on its right was its own version of Yamato.

"I SHOULD BE THE ONE WITH THAT POWER! WAS SPARDA NOT A DEMON?! WAS HE NOT FEARED BY ALL?! LOOK AT ME?! I SHOULD BE FEARED TOO!" Annabeth screamed, clutching her dagger.

"BE SILENT!" Nero screamed with his voice mixed with that of a ghost's. "You have lost your allegiance to the gods and demigods for your arrogance. It has also blinded you from your intelligence. You see, I felt a voice echo when I got the Devil Bringer: 'Give me power.'. If what I am now is that power, so be it. I will endure my exile from the sea, and be fueled with the flames of my mother, Vesta."

"Ha! She's the weakest of all the Olympians!"

"Hmph." Nero smirked. "Foolish scumbag."

The phantom mimicked all of his master's moves, so it started by repeatedly slashing Annabeth with its sword until she was bleeding non stop. Sheathing Yamato, the phantom readied its right arm like Nero, as it began to be wrapped in a translucent red flame, burning with might. Instead of punching straight away, he grabbed Annabeth and threw her to the Savior's core and then she quickly punched her to it. He finishes her off by uncapping Riptide, setting it on fire and throwing it at her, pinning the demonized wisdom spawn to the Savior's core. Annabeth's head slumped down, seemingly lifeless. Satisfied, Nero deactivated his phantom and pulled Piper out of the statis blob with Devil Bringer. There was a hint of relief in the daughter of Venus's lips as a smile slowly formed on her, but her eyes were still closed.

"Sorry I took so long." the son of Vesta mumbled to his girlfriend.

The Savior seemingly stopped in the midst of the final battle. It stopped dead in its last attempt to crush the Romans, Hunters, and Greeks.

"What do you know?" Thalia sighed as she loosened the grip on her bow. "It's over."

More sighs of relief came from the mouths of everyone else.

"Where are they?" Nico asked.

This time, gasps were heard through the air.

Later, someone jumped out of the head of the Savior. It was Nero, with the Sword of Sparda, and Alastor sheathed on his back, Ifrit in its watch form, Yamato on its sheath, Stormweaver in his coat, and then there's Piper, held safely in his arms. He landed on the ground no problem with a huge smile on his face.

"I'm a paragon of badassery!" he exclaimed happily.

"Could you have left a more detailed note next time, Kelp Head?" Thalia asked.

"Huh? You expecting an apology?" Nero asked as he put Piper down.

All the Greeks looked at their former leader in shock, until the ground shook again. Everyone turned back to the Savior, and it was moving again. Annabeth's voice boomed across the field.

"IT'S NOT OVER! I WILL WIPE YOU ALL OUT!"

"Terrible dialogue." Nero chuckled as he walked forward, cracking Devil Bringer. "I got this hand to send people like you to Asphodel."

The son of Vesta jumped up and launched a giant Buster arm at the Savior's face, latching onto and stopping it before it could lash out at the demigods. Nero was suprisingly floating as the colossus struggled to break free from the large spectral hand that was stopping it in its tracks.

"FOR ROME...AND SPARDA!" Nero screamed as he closed Devil Bringer's fist. The Buster hand crushed the Savior's face, creating a shockwave that almost made everyone else land on their butts. The colossus's remaining parts fell to the ground with a massive thud. The son of Vesta landed on the ground perfectly.

"Consider that my apology, Pinecone Face." he said to Thalia.

"Nero Redgrave...or should I say...Perseus Jackson." a mysterious yet noble voice boomed.

Everyone turned to where the Savior was, and they saw a man clad in pitch black knight armor with gold and red trims all around it.

"Lord Erebus." the son of Vesta muttered as he bowed before the Primordial of Darkness, with everyone else doing the same thing.

"No need to bow, everyone." Erebus ordered. "Would you please hand over your ancestor's sword?"

The Primordial of Darkness stretched out his hand. Without a second thought, Nero handed over the sword of Sparda.

"Uh...actually...you kneel, Perseus." Erebus said sheepishly, muttering something about getting his head on straight.

Shrugging, the son of Vesta kneeled before his ancestor's patron. Erebus sheathed the sword of Sparda and brought out a different one. It was double edged with a black and purple blade, an eye in the middle of the crossguard, and it had an elegant handle. He held it like a king about to knight someone, which is exactly what he's doing.

"By the power vested in me, I, Erebus, Primordial of Darkness, dub you, Perseus Jackson, son of Vesta, a Dark Knight, and my champion..."

Erebus had tapped his shoulders with the sword and continued.

"...just like your ancestor, Sparda was. Arise, my knight."

Nero stood up slowly, then became skeptical.

"Is there a reason why you're so formal?" he asked.

"You get the point."

"And who was the gold knight with you when my demon blood was reawakened?"

"Aether. He tagged along for no reason. I'll be off now."

And with that final statement, Erebus flashed out. Awkward silence rung among the demigods.

"So...you kept Aquaman stuff when you were a baby?" Jason asked with hints of teasing in his voice.

And there was but one other person who knew that other than Nero's biological mother and Annabeth.

"THALIA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "IS THIS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING WHILE I WAS GONE?!"

Following their victory, the Romans threw a huge party. There was food, dancing, singing, flirting, and all that. But there was one person missing: Nero. He didn't show up just to greet everyone. Piper roamed around New Rome just to search for him, only to catch him with his motorcycle, just near the road.

"You're leaving?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Not really, but I'll be gone for a while. Lord Erebus needs some rogue monsters hunted down in Russia." he replied as he shined Stormweaver.

"Let me go with you. I don't want to think about not being able to see you again."

Nero winced at what she said, so he stored away his gun, grabbed Piper, and pulled her into a hard liplock, before breaking away and gasping for breath.

"Then get some winter clothes. It'll be dangerous."

"I'm a dangerous girl."

"That, I believe."

A while later, Piper had her snowboarding jacket on over her Camp Jupiter shirt. She took Blue Rose, Katropis, and her golden dagger with her, while Red Queen was given to Thalia. Nero put on his new black and orange motorcycle helmet and gave a copy to the daughter of Venus. With one last smirk, the son of Vesta revved up, and the couple drove away.