Chapter Three

Percy Jackson was reluctant to go inside. Thoughts were swimming through his ADHD head. What would Luke say? Would he tell us about Grover's death? Oh gods, what if Grover wasn't even buried? What if they tore him to pieces? That is, whatever killed him. What if-

Annabeth gave his hand a squeeze. "Percy," she whispered to him outside Luke's door, "Grover is in a better place. He's..."

"But he had the spirit of Pan, Annabeth," Percy whined in a mumble. "What if the spirit is back out there again and more Satyr's go out and get themselves murdered because he' s dead?"

"He had a plan in case this happened, Percy. If he died, the spirit of Pan went to Juniper. If she died, it goes to their son."

"Their son?! He doesn't have a -"

"They got married while you were missing. She's pregnant now with a little boy. Poor girl's due any day and now that Grover's dead..."

Tears leaked from Percy's eyes again, but he roughly brushed them away. "Let's just get this over with..." He pushed the door open and walked into the dimly-lite room.

Luke sat on the side of the bed, wings retracted. He was staring at the wall as he propped his head in his hands. The angel looked up and Percy and Annabeth and stood. "What did they say? Are you guys going to help me?" His voice was almost pleading. Almost.

Annabeth sat next to him on the bed while Percy closed the door and leaned against it. "Yes," Annabeth said, "we are going to help you. But I need you to tell me exactly what happened so we can get a clue with what we're going to be dealing with."

"You're dealing with me!" Luke snapped a little, but his voice cracked. He rubbed his hands together. "Look, Annabeth, I do appreciate your help, but the Archangels are going to take more that just you ten. It's going to take even the gods." They each noticed the way his mouth tightened when he mentioned the gods.

"Look, Luke, what exactly are the Archangels? Do they work for Hades?"

"They work alone. They're basically like the really good people of the Isle of Bliss who were offered to become Peace Keepers in ancient days. Now, they're turning rouge. Michael was the one who got me, stabbed me and is now looking for me to hand me off to Gabriel so they can wipe my memory. They were going to use Kaylee and Erin as bait. When I found out, I wrote Grover immediately and asked for him to get them to Camp Half-Blood, because the angels can't enter there. But they caught them at the house."

Percy swallowed hard. "How did they kill Grover?"

"I don't... I can't remember..." Luke lay back on the bed, eyes closed.

"What do you mean you can't-" Percy started to yell, but Annabeth held up her hand to silence him.

"I didn't watch them die, Jackson," Luke mumbled. "I just heard about it from Gabriel. He told me to try to get me to become one of them, said it would give me access to go see them any time I wanted, but... I was a coward. I ran away and kept going until I couldn't go anymore. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Percy began to pace. "Where were you? Where can we find the Archangels?"

Luke sat up again. It was obvious to Annabeth that he was restless. He was itching to spread his wings and do something helpful. The only problem was, he had changed. He was beautiful, but now awkward in his own body. Annabeth figured he was still in shock.

"They're located in London, because the cities so old and that's where they've been since the Renaissance."

"London..." Annabeth mumbled. "We're in Epirus, well, just left, so... I'm going to go talk to Leo. We'll head there."

"Why are we in Epirus?" Luke asked.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged glances. "Um," Annabeth said, "I was dragged into Tartarus by Arachne. Percy grabbed my arm and tried to pull me out and he fell in as well. The others came here and saved us. Now we're supposed to be heading to Athens and Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge are going to take the Athena Parthenos to Long Island." She exchanged another look as she stood. "I need to go talk to Leo and tell him to fly us to London."

"We need the gods help!" Luke said with a little more confidence.

"The gods can't help us!" Percy snapped. The topic of Tartarus had made him tense. "They're stuck between their Roman and Greek forms! No one can fix it!"

"Perce, please," Annabeth gently touched his arm. "He's been in the Underworld for a while. Be nice, please..."

His shoulders slumped a little as he let a deep breath out of his nostrils. "Fine."

She gave him a slight smile as she left. Percy and Luke gave a slight nod to each other, but it was awkward and tension filled the room. Percy whistled a little as he sat on the floor and twirled Riptide in his fingers.

"You still have that sword?" Luke asked.

Percy nodded. "Yep. It's a good sword."

"Did anything... Did anything happen in Tartarus?" Luke asked. "Did you hear Kronos?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

Luke chewed his lip. "I'm really sorry about Grover-"

"You didn't kill him." Percy's voice was tight as if he was about to break again. He stood. "I, um, I need to go." He slipped out the door.

Luke rubbed his face again and sighed. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet and opened it up. He reached into his money sleeve and pulled out a wallet sized photo. There, he, Kaylee, and Erin were laying on the bed, him tickling Kaylee and she laughing. Erin laid next to them, smiling widely for the picture. Kaylee had been one and a half when the picture was taken, right after Luke had proposed to Erin. Her semi-long brown hair and freckled face was gorgeous.

He caressed their faces with his thumb. He didn't think anyone could understand how much he missed them. Being torn from his family because of a Titan and then having to die over it? That didn't make much sense. And poor Erin, having to hear through the grapevine about him dying. She couldn't even attend his funeral, or so he heard.

What would Chiron think if he found out that there was a Titan/half-blood/mortal baby girl running around the time they had the Battle of the Labyrinth and the last Titan war? He would probably had a stroke. But Luke thought about Kaylee's giggle and the way she would run to him yelling, "Dada!"

A tear rolled down his face and burned into him. No. No time for crying. There was only time for trying to fix everything and going back to Elysium so he could be with them. Okay... Okay...

Would they be in Elysium? If he could change back, would he return to the paradise? Surely he would, he was there before...

There was a knock on his door. He slipped the photo back into his wallet and cleared his throat. "Um, come in." He stuck the wallet back in his pocket.

Annabeth peeked her head in. "Hey, um, talked to Leo. We're heading to London." She paused. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Everything's fine. Thanks, Annabeth.'

"No problem." She gave him a warm smile and then left.

Selaphiel dropped down on the side of the house with his hood up. He could sense the Satyr near, the one with the Spirit of Pan. He might be a problem. The Titan girl was too young to understand her powers, so she wouldn't be a problem. The mother, however, might be a little difficult. Luke had trained her very well in sword fighting, and he had been one of the best. Only now was the time to put her to the test.

He walked up to the backdoor and knocked. A scream from inside came. He chuckled. How cute. There was movement and the front door swung open. Footsteps as he opened the door and stepped in. He wore a black zip-up hoodie with jeans and a pair of Vans. Taking off his hood, he smiled at Erin.

"I understand now why he loved you," Selaphiel said coolly.

Erin was pointing her bronze training sword at him. He chuckled and stepped toward her.

"You won't kill me," he said calmly.

"Erin, run!" the Satyr, Grover Underwood, yelled. The Titan girl was in his arms, but she was reaching for her mother.

"Mommy!"

"Mommy will be there soon, Sweetie. Go with the Goat!" Erin called to Kaylee, but she never took her eyes off of Selaphiel. The bronze sword was leveled at his heart. He smirked.

"Brave, I see. Maybe you're a little too brave."

"Why are you here?" she demanded. "Why not Michael?" The engine revved from outside.

"Michael isn't brave enough to kill you. Besides, he couldn't get here fast enough. That bloody Satyr would've had you long gone if Gabriel hadn't have sent me. And now I plan to kill you." He grinned as if this was all fun and games.

Erin took a step and lunged with her sword. Selaphiel jumped back out of reach and smirked again.

"Not bad, Mortal."

Erin swung the blade across, aiming to cut him in half. She missed and he caught her blade as she came all the way across her body. He spun her to where her back was pressed against him with one hand over her mouth and one muscling her own over the sword. There was screaming from a child outside as the car pulled out of the driveway quickly and sped off. Kaylee beat against the window of the front seat but was soon out of sight.

Erin screamed from under his hand. He held her tighter and roughly shushed her.

"Easy now, girly. We're just getting started."

Selaphiel bent her arm back, snapping her elbow. She screamed again and dropped the sword. Bending down, which bent her back at an awkward angle, he picked up the sword and turned it in his hand. Then he turned her quickly and gripped her shoulder with inhuman strength.

"This may hurt a bit," he smiled. Then he plunged the blade of the sword into her stomach.

Erin gasped and slowly sunk to her feet.

"So you do have some godly blood in you," the Archangel smirked. He pushed her over onto the hilt, where she let out a loud groan and laid there, shaking. Blood began to pool on the carpet. "Couldn't have been a godly parent... Grandparent, prehaps? Maybe even a great-grandparent?"

She remained silent as she gasped for her life. He wrapped his elegant hands around the bloody blade carefully.

"Well, let's see if I can get you to tell me." He tore the hilt completely through her body.

Erin screamed again as her spine broke in half, but something kept her spirit in her body.

"I can torture you for as long as I want because I have to capture your soul and carry it to Gabriel so he can take it to the Underworld. And I think if you attempt to kill an angel you get Fields of Punishment." He kicked her over onto her back, causing her to let out more of a whimper moan now. "Tell me, Sweetheart. Who's the god you're related to?"

"R-rah-rot in hell," she managed to get out.

Selaphiel sneered and kicked her in the side of the head. "Just tell me, love, and I'll make sure you see Luke again."

Erin froze with a wide-eyed expression as she looked up at him. "Y-ya-you can?"

"Of course I can," Selaphiel smiled. "Just tell me what I need, and you can go live with him in a mansion."

He could see the temptation in her mind, but then something faltered. Her wide-eyes turned into glares. "Never."

"Suit yourself." He kicked her in the ribs and hit her a few more times. Once he felt that he had done enough physical damage, he finally let out a sigh and pointed the full-bloodied sword at her neck. "I'm sorry it has to end this way."

With a flick of his wrist, he slit her throat. Erin began choking on her own blood, panicking. Selaphiel bent down and placed a hand over her heart. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Erin." Then he closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, her soul entered into his hand. Hers was a purplish tint, which made him laugh. Normal mortals were usually clear. Demigods were based on their godly ancestor/parent. Purple represented Dionysus.

He laughed so hard he almost cried - almost. Angels weren't supposed to cry.

"Oh you poor girl," he said as he stuffed it into a thermos. "I would hate to be the descendant of that old bag."

Selaphiel walked towards the front door and stepped out of it. Pulling out his iGod (with an uppercase G), he called Gabriel.

"Hullo?" the messenger angel answered breathlessly.

"Oh my goodness, do not tell me you were shagging Manakel again!" the assassin whined into the phone. "She's the angel of peace and confidence! Not the Gabriel's boner garage angel!"

"And there was peace in the valley," Gabriel purred, but Selaphiel got a feeling that wasn't meant for him. The giggle of a girl was also a big hint. "Calm down, Selly. She's my student. When I leave, she'll take my place. I'm just showing her the ropes." Another giggle, a little closer, and he could hear rustling. There was a pause before Gabriel said, "What do you want? I'm a little busy."

"Yes, I can tell," Selaphiel sneered. "Just calling to let you know that I have killed the mother, Erin. Her soul is in my bag. I'll fly it to Michael and let him hold onto it until you get a chance to - Stop kissing her and listen!"

"Gotta go!" Gabriel said as if he was in the middle of a kiss. The sound of springs squeaking was the last sound before the line went dead.

The Archangel gave a huff before he put the iGod back into his bag and glanced back at Erin. Regret filled his chest for a moment.

Oh well.

Selaphiel took to the skies.