Im sorry that I haven't updated in a while but life has been hectic and I have once again been struggling with the story. Plot bunnies for other stories keep popping into my head, making it almost impossible to write this story. You can thank reader, Agana of the night, for this chapter because it was her favoriting this story that got my butt in gear to finish this chapter. That being said, reviews will definitely make me update sooner. Motivation is always helpful. Without further ado, the story!

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Nico appeared in the courtyard of his father's palace. His eyes immediately adjusting to dimmer light.

Mrs. O'Leary was off to the side, rolling in the dirt while having her stomach scratched. The ground shook as she rolled back and forth happily.

Nico was surprised to see it was his father who was petting the massive hellhound.

"Father."

He approached slowly, knowing from experience not to startle god. He knew from the same experience that it was more possible than you would think.

Hades glanced over his shoulder for a moment. "Nico. How are you?"

Nico noticed now that Hades was dressed in a simple black button up shirt and black slacks. Much more casual than normal.

"Tired but fine." Nico told his father with a small smile.

"Good." Hades turned away from the hellhound who flopped onto her stomach. A look almost like a pout on her face. "Are you planning to be in there tomorrow?"

Nico nodded once.

Emotion passed over Hades face but was gone too quickly for Nico to tell what it was. "Mrs. O'Leary will be able to take several dozen now. One way only but once this mess is cleaned up getting back to camp will not be a problem for any of you." Without another word, he clapped Nico on the shoulder with a hand and walked back into the darkness of his palace.

Nico stood for a moment in silence until Mrs. O'Leary hit his side with her hand, demanding to be petted. He was knocked onto his butt by the force of the hit. Brushing dirt off his legs as he stood, he heard a soft laugh from the other side of the courtyard.

Turning, he saw Lady Persephone walking towards him. While they were not close by any means, they had come to an understanding in the last few years. She no longer completely hated him and he didn't go out of his way to annoy her.

"Nico." The Queen of Hades stopped a few feet away from him. "Be careful."

Nico recoiled with surprise. Persephone had never given the appearance of caring. She let out another soft laugh, the sound was a streak of light in the dark underworld. "You are surprised at my request."

Nico nodded with a wry smile. "Your father cares about you. Loosing you now would hurt him horribly. He needs you."

Nico nodded, not trusting his face not to give away his thoughts. "Mrs. O'Leary." The hellhound bounded over, she had been sniffing one of the skeletal guards nearby. "Let's go girl." Nico tightened a hand around her massive collar and shadow traveled back to camp.

Kaie pulled herself out bed at an ungodly early hour. She dressed slowly, half of her watched the sun rise through her window while the other half focused on the task at hand, reviewing battle plans and contingency plans for if something went wrong.

The armor she had pulled together wasn't ideal for this battle but it would be enough. A traditional Greek style metal breast plate with leather straps protected her upper body while a pair of leather leggings reinforced with strips of bronze on the sides protected her lower half. Metal greaves went over the leggings while a pair of matching vambraces went on her lower arms.

Just as she was strapping her knives in place, a knock echoed through the room. The sound grounded Kaie, reminding her of what she needed to do and why. Reminding her of her duty. "It's open."

She turned to the mirror, working her hair into a tight braid that swung easily. She could see Nico walk over her shoulder. Like her, he was already in armor. Light consuming black armor that gave him a deadly prescience. After a moment she realized she was staring, not that she didn't have a good reason to, but she had to focus.

She forced herself to look away, and sat on the edge of her bed, trying to focus solely on pulling on her combat boots. She failed but managed to only looked up once In that moment she caught Nico's cocky grin that told her he knew exactly what she was thinking.

He leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed, watching her. "So what is your problem with Percy?"

Kaie froze, unresponsive. Silence descended on the room for a heartbeat before Kaie made the required excuse, "I don't have one," that neither one of them believed.

With a halfhearted sigh, Kaie realized Nico would pull it out of her sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. "When I was reborn this time, Gaia created certain restrains to keep the Gray Lady in check." She looked up at Nico who simply nodded for her to continue. "In addition to the two metal implants she decided their needed to be a power capable of..." She hesitated trying to find the right words. "She decided there needed to be someone who could stop me if necessary."

"And that person is Percy?" Disbelief was apparent in Nico's voice.

Kaie's nerves bubbled up and she almost laughed. Demigods were surrounded by myth, hell they were part of it, yet they always refused to accept strange things. "Not Percy specifically. The River Styx, a core element of death to balance out my habit of not staying dead long term."

She looked up again to gauge Nico's reaction. Something akin to pity flashed across his face before he nodded for her to continue. "Percy has always been abnormally susceptible to Mist for a demigod. That was his connection to the Styx even before he bathed in it. If Percy was every to turn into a homicidal maniac it would be my responsibly to stop him. It's his duty to do the same if I were to ignore my job."

Nico seemed to contemplate this for a moment before responding. "He doesn't know that though."

"No, but the gods do. They would make sure it would happen."

"Honestly, you're a good fighter. I'm not sure Percy could take you out now, much less if you were at full power."

"True. That's why Gaia gave Percy another gift. Any weapon that is wielded by someone bearing Achilles' curse that draws my blood is enough to kill me. It could be Riptide or a needle. Same result." Kaie looked down at her hands which had run out of things to do. She needed a distraction to stop the memories from coming to the surface. She stood quickly, and walked past Nico and out of the room. It was only about half an hour until the demigods should be assembling. She could be early.

"Kaie." Nico's hand caught her upper arm, spinning her around to face him in one move. "Don't forget you're not alone here."

Kaie gave him a half smile. "I know." They stood in the hallway kissing until a shout broke the calm.

"Kaie, Nico, why in Hades is my hellhound glowing?"

Nico pulled away, wearing the same cocky grin from earlier. "Not your hellhound Kelphead! Last time I checked I'm the one paying to feed the beast!" He shouted out the door before knitting his fingers with Kaie's and pulling her towards the porch.

Walking out onto the porch, Kaie was surprised to see Rachel there with Percy and Annabeth.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" The Oracle asked Kaie as she gestured to the other side of the porch.

Moving away from the others, Kaie studied the other girl. She seemed nervous which confused Kaie who knew the Oracle couldn't have had a vision about the fight. Kaie's involvement blocked that possibility.

Rachel stopped and looked down at her hands before meeting Kaie's gaze. "I can't see what's going to happen and that scares me. This camp was torn apart during the last war and it is still healing. Don't put the demigods in more risk than is necessary."

"I'm not going to."

Something in Rachel's gaze changed and she narrowed her eyes. "You know what is going to happen."

"No I don't"

"You do. I can tell!" Her voice had dropped to an angry whisper. The three demigods on the other side of the porch were less than subtle about their attempts to listen in.

"I don't know but I can guess and unfortunately my guesses are usually right. You need to trust me when I say that I am doing everything I can to protect them and the mortal world."

Rachel nodded once and turned away from Kaie who watched as the Oracle talked to her friends quietly before leaving the porch and walking back towards her cave. Kaie knew how hard it was for her to lack her usual foreknowledge, but at the same time Kaie also knew how easily too much foreknowledge could destroy a person

Kaie leaned against the rail of the porch and watched as demigods began trickling towards the Big House it the early morning quiet.

By the appointed time, twenty five hunters, sixteen children of Ares, eleven children of Hermes, nine children of Athena, and about twenty other demigods stood clustered around the base of the porch.

The number shocked Kaie, she had expected no more than about a dozen and the show of support made her feel less alone for the first time in more than a lifetime.

On Percy's orders, the group assembled around Mrs. O'Leary. Each demigod grabbing hold of one another to form a tight cluster. Nico was the final link in the chain, his fingers knitting together with Kaie's as her other hand grabbed a hold of of the hellhound's massive collar.

The camp dissolved in a swirl of pale collar and reformed on the other side of the country.

" 'Bout time you got here." A deep voice hiding barely restrained excitement echoed for a moment.

Looking to her left, Kaie saw a sight that would scare any sane being. Five gods in full armor, literally glowing with immortal power, with an odd hundred shining bronze automatons at their back.

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So yeah, almost fight time! Please Review because every detail of your opinions will help me finish this story and I want to make sure you guys like the result as much as I do.