The Argonauts were gathered in the cafeteria of the Argo II. They were having one final feast before they would take on the day that was ahead of them. In the morning they would reach the shores of the Atlas Mountains where they would do battle with Gaea's massive army. An army twenty-six times larger than their own. The mood and atmosphere in the cafeteria was solemn. Many suffered from a lack of appetite due to anxiety. They were having spaghetti for dinner in honor of their first meal of training when they were known as 'Grunts.' That very meal made them all vomit during PT the day after. The spaghetti dinner reference brought forth a few grins but nothing more. In conclusion, the morale was low.
In hopes to raise the spirit, Achilles stood to his feet at the Heroes of Old table. He tapped his fork to his drinking glass. He didn't have to wait for silence for no one was speaking. He cleared his throat and said what he had to say:
"Good evening Argonauts," he began softly. When he wasn't barking orders, his voice was usually soft. Now it was even lower.
"Good evening General," the Argonauts replied softly.
"We are about to embark on the greatest quest ever given to a Hero. It is not a quest dealt by God, Man, or Oracle. It is a quest commanded by ourselves. It is a quest that we took upon ourselves because we love this Earth and those who reside in it. If the quest fails...civilization as we know it, will end."
"I know that you have heard many of my opinions and others' about this world, the gods, Giants, and mortals. I want you to remove what the things that you have heard from my fellow Heroes of Old and I, and place it out of your thoughts. What has been said is merely petty whining. Everything that has been said will not matter because it all comes down to succeeding and failing! If we fail, then everything will be gone. The fields, the trees, cities, emotions, love! It will all cease to exist. Gaea will cast a tyrannical shadow over the land, sea, and sky! All that you know, hate, and love will be lost!"
"We can love, we can laugh, and we can smile. Life is not about fighting but sometimes when your freedom is threatened, then that is what life is about. If freedom is at stake, then we fight! WE FIGHT!"
"WE FIGHT!" The Argonauts fired back.
"I will now quote the great and late Winston Churchill. I had the honor to meet him when I was in the Underworld."
Achilles cleared his throat.
"'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender'" (Winston Churchill 30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965).
"WE FIGHT!" Achilles screamed.
"WE FIGHT!" The Argonauts echoed.
"This is what you will not do! You will not fight for the Gods because they tell you to and will you not fight because the Heroes of Old order you to. You fight because you know it is right and true. You fight because you know if you don't, you will never get the chance to again."
"YOU FIGHT FOR THE ARGONAUTS TO YOUR LEFT AND TO YOUR RIGHT!"
"AHOO! AHOO!" The Argonauts chanted.
"And if we fail, at least we failed knowing that we were fighting for the right reasons. Live together, fight together, die together!"
"LIVE TOGETHER, FIGHT TOGETHER, DIE TOGETHER!" The Argonauts roared back.
They were stomping their feet on the deck of the ship and pounding their fist on the table tops.
Achilles waited till it was silent and grinned. A grin on the man's face was an expression that many of the Argonauts had not seen before.
"Now, I order to stop acting like a bunch of corpses, eat your food, and laugh and talk with your fellow Argonauts. Spend these last moments wisely, you may never get the chance again."
The depressing spell that hung over the room was broken. It was replaced with laughing, singing, and dancing. People got up from their seats and delivered friendly/farewell embraces or good-luck handshakes to their friends around the room.
After a couple hours of festivity Hercules stood to his feet and called for silence.
"I would like to take this moment to honor all the heroes who met a tragic demise in the past," he said with his glass held to the sky.
"To the heroes!" everyone else said with their glasses raised.
"I would also like to use this time to apologize. I apologize to my fellow Argonauts for possibly leading them astray. I would also like to apologize to Hunters of Artemis who sadly couldn't join us today. In my heart, I hope they could be here. I apologize especially to Zoe Nightshade, my family, and many others who I have harmed. There are no excuses for my actions."
Hercules sincerity cause a domino affect at the Heroes of Old table.
Theseus stood to his feet. "I'm sorry Ariadne," he said while looking down at his sword. The legend goes that his sword was given to him by her.
Then it was Bellerophon, "I seek forgiveness from the Gods and the Amazons."
Then Jason, "To Medea."
Odysseus was next, "To Calypso and my wife."
Leonidas stood, "To my men and to my queen."
Perseus got up, "To the Gods."
Finally it was Achilles. "I'm so sorry Patroclus, Prince Hector, and many others. I hope the names that have been mentioned by all will have the chance to hear what has been recited but I know that it is unlikely. However, we have the Argonauts, the greatest heroes in history, as our witnesses. If we succeed in our quest, I can trust that what has just been said will be told to generations to come. We are truly sorry for our crimes and there is not a day that goes by where we do not ponder upon them. Not even in the Underworld did the torment rest. Despite what SOME have said about us, we are trying to repent for our sins, maybe not in the past life, or the afterlife, but maybe in this life."
There was a silence. Jason Grace raised his glass into the air. "To the Heroes of Old!"
"No," the original Jason responded. "To the Argonauts; past and current!"
"To the Argonauts," they all said softly while taking a sip from their drinking glasses.
After a moment of reflection, dinner continued with the laughing and talking. It concluded with the children of Apollo, Greek and Roman alike, performing an a-cappella version of, "Come Sail Away," by Styx. Then Dakota and the McDonald twins climbed on top of their table and in a sugar-high state, due to the abuse of kool-aid, they sang and danced to "Drunken Sailor". Laughter rang through the night air.
After dinner many of the Argonauts crawled sleepily into their hammocks. Some laid in their hammocks, silently going over all the training, techniques, and maneuvers that they were taught in the their head. Some checked their armor and weapons, and then checked them again. Others like Annabeth, Percy, Leo, Piper, Jason, Thalia, Frank, Hazel, Grover, and Reyna found themselves on the upper-deck, leaning against the railing, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea bellow them. Percy had his arm wrapped around Annabeth, Jason did the same to Piper, and so did Frank and Hazel. They stood in silence thinking about the upcoming morning and what adversities they would face. Later on in the night Tyler Horace walked up behind the group and joined them at the railing. He had a grim expression on his face.
"Sup," Leo greeted him.
Tyler nodded, "Couldn't sleep."
"Julia?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah," he told her.
"I know what you're going through. I have a brother who was taken too." Hazel told him.
Tyler nodded.
"Cheer up dude," Frank said. "Tomorrow you will have the chance to saver her while killing a bunch of monster in the process."
Tyler nodded again. The group went back to discussing previous topics and laughed over jokes.
"What am I then?" Tyler blurted. "Am I the seventh half-blood, am I an Argonaut?"
"Sure, why not," Percy said.
"General Achilles thinks otherwise," stated Tyler.
"Hey, don't worry about him. He just has to get to know you," Grover explained. "He just feels, 'iffy,' about you because you know, your mom sort of started the Trojan War."
Tyler ignored him. "Do any of you even know me?" Tyler asked. "To you I'm just this psycho. In your hearts, you agree with Achilles. I'm a ticking time bomb, I'm not to be trusted. You think I'm some creep who has the hots for a fifteen year old girl. Well, you're wrong."
"We don't think that about you at all Tyler," Piper said gently.
"Let me tell you all something, Julia is a sister to me and I will save her, even if it's the last thing I do. AND If any of you get in my way, I'll end you."
"Chill out dude, we only want to help you," Thalia said getting offended.
Tyler took a few moments to breathe. "I'm sorry, sometimes I just blurt out things; things that scare people. It's probably my mothers fault, the evil genes she passed down."
"Don't worry about it," Jason said. "You're one of us and we take care of each other."
"We'll find Julia, we promise," Annabeth assured him.
"I promised too," Tyler told them. "I just hope we can keep it."
"We will," Reyna said sweetly. "I also want to let the rest of you know that what ever happens tomorrow, I'm grateful for getting to know you and being your friends."
"Amen to that to that sister," Thalia agreed.
The rest nodded and patted each other on their backs.
"I'm not sure of a lot of things," said Tyler. "I don't know where I was born, where I'm from, who my father is, or what my childhood was like; but what I do know is this….A lot of monsters are going to die tomorrow and Gaea will suffocate due to my fingers wrapped around her throat."
"Ditto," said Leo uncomfortably.
They looked off into the ocean with the moon light reflecting off it's waters. The light danced along the waves as the Argo II soared over them. Tyler grinned inwardly. There would be chaos tomorrow, much chaos, and he would be the root cause of it. Gaea will pay.
Julia laid on the hard stony floor of the cave with her head resting on Nico's lap. It made her embarrassed at first but Nico and everyone else insisted. She had a concussion and they didn't think it was safe for her to rest her head on solid rock. They were located in cave with a barred metal door at the mouth. If there was more to describe about it, then there would be more description, however it was plain old gray gloomy cave. Outside of it was a hall that they could not see where it lead. It was dimly lit with torches allowing some of their light to spill into the cave making it barely visible. The cave they were in was located in one of Gaea's bases in the Atlas Mountains. Apparently, Julia was brought in the night before.
Nico introduced Julia to others who were imprisoned with them.
There was Aeneas. A Trojan Warrior who was seeking refuge at the end of the Trojan War when they lost to Greece. By being a son of Aphrodite he was beyond good looking. He had auburn hair, he was stocky, eloquent, courteous, and charming. He was the counter-part of Odysseus and the grand father of the founders of Rome.
Then there was Orion, the giant hunter. He was about nine fee tall and well muscled with deep blue eyes and rumpled brown hair. Julia remembered from the myths how he was the only male that Artemis seemed to take a liking to.
There were also the twin brothers, Romulus, and Remus. The founders of Rome. The creators of the republic, the empire, and the Legions. The only difference that set the brothers apart was that one had black curly hair and the other's was orange. Every other aspect about them was alike. They both wore mischievous smiles and they both had crazy eyes.
Finally, there was the only women of the group, Atalanta. Although she was a women, she seemed to be the dominant one of the group. She kept Romulus and Remus in check, Aeneas respected her wishes, and Orion stayed out of her way. She was beautiful but her beauty did not hide the authority that she commanded. She was famous for being one of the greatest hunters of all time and she was able to keep up with her male counterparts.
To pass the time, Nico told Julia more about what Hera had tried to explain to her. He told her about the two demigod camps, Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, several other names, their roles in the Second Titan War, and now the impending war with Giants. He explained to her about that the Gods had a desperate plan to bring back old heroes from the dead in order to help the new ones save Olympus. Nico's job was to aid those heroes across the boarder between the dead and the living. The Gods already sent an advanced party which included Achilles, Bellerophon, Hercules, Jason, Perseus, Odysseus, Leonidas, and Theseus. However, that wasn't enough. The Gods sent Nico back to the Underworld to get more heroes but his mission turned sour when he arrived at Thanatos's doors. The group of heroes he was with were inevitable captured. Then they were locked away in a dungeon in one of Gaea's several bases. The base they sat in at that very moment was one about a couple dozen miles away from Death's Doors.
In return, Julia told them her story. She explained Tyler to him and the past two years of their lives. She asked Nico if he had heard of a Tyler before. He said he didn't. So, Tyler being a son of Hades was out of the question.
They lounged around the room what seemed like hours. Julia was about to go crazy from boredom and she didn't even have it that bad compared to the others. Nico and the others had been there for two weeks with only slop to eat and rocks to use as pillows. Julia luckily had Nico's thigh to rest her head on. Julia thought that besides having a foreboding appearance; with his dark clothing and his pale skin, Nico was actually gentle and sweet. Sort of like Tyler but not so much. Tyler was a killer and from listening to Nico speak, he didn't seem like one. He was just forced to be close to the dead, he didn't want to cause death, he just was in all the wrong places at all the wrong times.
"What are we going to do Nico?" Julia whispered upward to him after a couple hours of silence.
"The others and I have been planning an escape," Nico told her. "Next time the guards come in to feed us, we ambush them, kill them, take their weapons, make way to the armory, and escape."
"That's sounds like a good plan but do you even know how to get to the armory?" Julia asked.
"No, we all had bags on our heads when we were brought here."
"Do you know how many other guards there will be?"
"No."
"Your plan sucks," Julia extrapolated.
"What, why?"
"I think it's obvious," Julia said plainly. "Couldn't you do that thing that you were talking about earlier, what did you call it?"
"Shadow travel?"
"Yeah, that."
"I've been trying," Nico told her. "They must be shielding my powers or putting something in my food to prevent me. I have to eat to live though. The only options we have is my plan. It may suck but its the only one we got...and these geniuses couldn't think of anything better," Nico said gesturing to the Heroes around him.
They shrugged in return.
"They've been drugging our food too. It's hard to think clearly," said Aeneas.
"Okay, how long do we wait for the guards?" Julia asked.
"A few more hours," Orion answered with his booming but oddly soft voice.
"That means you better get comfortable," Nico told her.
"Great," Julia sighed.
The hours eventually did pass and the guards appeared from the hall with keys in hand. There were four of them in total. Two Dracaena and two Earthborn. The Earthborn held plates of slop in their hands and the dracaena had the keys. Orion and Atalanta armed with stones scurried to the sides of the of the cave mouth to hide from their captors in hopes to ambush them.
"You think you can move?" Nico whispered to Julia as he grabbed a rock.
Julia nodded slowly.
The dracaena approached the barred door and inserted the key in the lock. Orion and Atalanta prepared to strike but they were beaten to the punch. From the ceiling above the monsters, dropped a shadow. The torches flickered while the air woodshed. The plates of slop fell out of the Earthborns' hands and exploded into a million pieces on the stone floor. The Earthborn followed the plates' example and the dracaena exploded into gold dust. All this happened in a blink of an eye
The shadow turned the key in the lock and swung the door open. The shadow took the shape of a human and was armed with a Japanese Samurai Katana. It reached for it's head and pulled the hood from it's head. The shadow was in fact a male japanese teenager with black hair and brown eyes.
In a Japanese accent he said, "I am Kiyoshi Hanzo, son of Nemesis, an agent of the ILH."
After regaining his composure from the surprise, Nico asked, "ILH? I have no idea clue that is." Nico and the others were now standing to their feet.
There was a sharp pain in Julia's skull, at first she thought it was because of her concussion but images flashed in her mind. She saw dozens of teenagers armed with various weapons hacking at dummies, people marching through parade grounds, salutes, and things fighting
"ILH, International League of Heroes. Founded in 2001 by Athena in response to the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks," Julia gasped while holding her head.
"How-" Nico began.
"Hera," Julia managed. "Memories coming back."
Julia groaned as she slowly stood to her feet and leaned against Nico's shoulder. "I think I was part of it."
"This ILH?" Atalanta asked.
"Yes," Hanzo answered. "That is Agent Julia Myers and she will be leading our army." Hanzo gave a smart salute. "There is no time to explain more, we must hurry. The ILH is about to begin an assault on this base. We need to get out before it is destroyed.
"Um?" Nico managed.
"Here, this will help counteract the drugs they have been giving you," Hanzo told them while handing them each ambrosia squares.
They all popped the ambrosia into their mouths and instantly the grogginess that they had be experiencing dissipated. They felt energy and strength return to their bodies. The pain in Julia's head began to recede.
"Okay," Nico said gesturing for Hanzo to lead the way.
Hanzo nodded and took off down the halls. Orion, Atalanta, Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, and Nico with Julia clinging on his shoulder, behind him. They fought their way through the cave tunnels. The guards had no time to react to Hanzo's speed. He cut down any monster that got in his way with his katana and if they were too far to reach, he pulled out a couple of shurikens and flung them at them. If he missed any monsters along the way, Orion and Atalanta made quick work of them with their fist. After several minutes of jogging through tunnels, cutting down monsters, passing cave entrances that led to more tunnels, they finally reached a door that lead into the armory. The group quickly gathered in the room to retrieve their stuff. Hanzo stood guard at the entrance.
Nico grabbed his pitch black Stygian Iron Sword and Julia her bronze makhaira. Orion strapped on his armor and his shield. He slid his knife, that was about the size of a sword for a normal sized man, into it's sheath and wielded his club in his non-shield hand. Atalanta strung her bow and slung it over her shoulder and carried her spear in her hands. Romulus and Remus threw on their Roman armor, strapped on their Roman shields, and wielded their twin gladiuses. Aeneas donned his Trojan Armor and shield, sheathed his sword, and picked up his spear.
When they were all ready they rejoined Hanzo outside.
"Which way is the exit?" Atalanta asked.
Hanzo pointed in the direction.
"I'll clear the way," she grinned and disappeared as blur when she sprinted in the direction the Japanese boy pointed. The legends were true, she did have the ability of superhuman speed.
"Wait," Orion protested. "This doesn't count," he shouted as he ran after her. The ground shook every time he took a stride.
Hanzo looked at them quizzically.
"Before we left the Underworld, the made this childish bet about who could kill the most monsters," Aeneas explained. "Them being the greatest hunters in history make them very competitive. They fight for the title."
Hanzo nodded in understanding. "Let us continue then," Hanzo said while politely gesturing his hand in the direction they were to go.
They sprinted through the halls passing puddles of mud which were once Earthborn and various monsters who were slowly disintegrating into bronze dust. They were either pierced with arrows or crippled by blows from a club. Atalanta and Orion were doing good work.
As they ran, Nico questioned Hanzo.
"Tell me more about this ILH."
Hanzo answered, "It is an organization sanctioned by the Gods. Two half-bloods from every nation of the world are selected. They are taken to Olympus and are trained as couriers and bodyguards for the Gods. The two demigods that are chosen oversee the rest of the demigods of the nation they represent. Most of the time it's only one demigod per country due to the fact that there aren't many demigods outside of America. They work behind the scenes, in the shadows, in secret from the rest of the half-bloods. I doubt Gaea even knows about us."
"So, I'm one of these operatives?" Julia asked.
"Yes, however Operative Myers and Operative Horace have been missing for the past two years." Hanzo answered. "We concluded that you were killed in action."
"Wait, how come I didn't know about this ILH till today?" Nico asked.
"The Gods wanted to keep it secret from the general population. They feared if they found out that the Gods were, 'playing favorites,' the general population would be angered and would start a war."
Nico nodded. "I can see that happening." He understood his fellow half-bloods very well. They could barely get along with each other as it was.
"Wait, you said something about an Operative Horace?" Julia asked.
"Yes, Operative Tyler Horace. You and him represent the continent of North America. You being from Canada and Horace from America. I am one of the representatives of the Japanese nation, actually the only one."
"I think I remember," Julia said touching her hand to her head. There was a feeling that Julia did in fact know Tyler in the past but it was one of dislike and irritation.
"How does a person get chosen to be one of these operatives?" Aeneas asked.
"It depends. I was chosen because I had no mortal parents to look after me. Usually you are chosen if the Gods see something in a demigod that they like or pity. They believe the strongest spirits reside in the most tragic characters. Take Tyler Horace for example. His father was an alcoholic that abused him. Tyler Horace killed his father at the age of seven with a kitchen knife. His mother, Eris, goddess of Chaos, brought him to Mount Olympus to be an ILH operative."
"Okay, you said something about the ILH launching an assault on this base?" asked Remus.
Hanzo nodded and checked his wrist watch. "Actually, the assault has just begun. The army is made up of the demigods from many nations. Romans and Greeks. It's not just demigods but children of demigods and their children. Living outside of the U.S. means less monsters. Demigods around the world can survive and prosper without the aid of Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter. The numbers have grown quite large. I would say about ten-thousand and counting."
Romulus let out a whistle in awe.
Julia was about to ask about her past but Hanzo politely held up his hand. "Our conversation has slowed us down immensely, there is a battle outside that we need to attend too. I will answer your question later, for now we must hurry."
They group sprinted down the hall and the pace doubled. After a few more moments of running, they reached the exit. Atalanta and Orion were already there and were peering out of the cave entrance. The others joined them. They looked outside to see a massive battle occurring. It was in a courtyard of a massive fort. Young teenagers of every land and clime, armed with a wide array of weaponry, speaking in different tongues, were doing battle with a horde of monsters. Fireballs streaked the night sky and crashed into the stone walls of the fort. Screams, yelling, and clanging of metal erupted from all over.
"Seventeen," Orion smiled confidently to Atalanta.
"Nineteen," Atalanta smiled back mockingly.
"Looks like we made just in time for the party brother," Romulus grinned.
"We can't let them take all the fun can we brother?" Remus beamed.
"Your troops need a leader Operative Meyers," said Hanzo softly.
"What do you mean my troops?" Julia asked.
"Before you disappeared, you were the senior officer and the supposed leader of the ILH's militia in case war broke out. Your were Athena's top prospect and one our best tactician, especially for your age."
Julia shook her head. "Are you sure you have the right person?"
"I have seen you in combat before, I am very sure. Even if most of your memory is gone, I believe your ingrained training will take over and make up for your lack of memory. You will do fine." Hanzo reassured her.
Julia gulped, adjusted her grip on her Makhaira, she stepped forward hesitantly, and hoped that courage and bravery would come to met her. It didn't. The sight of the battle made her want to turn and run, and her head still throbbed. However some of her memory was coming back. She remembered that she was a fierce leader and that fear was only natural. It would only aid her in the long run.
Julia gulped again, "Here we go...I guess?"
She raised her sword and rushed into the fray, the others raised there weapons as well, and joined her.
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