Disclaimer: Not mine.
I flashed onto Olympus to find an argument in full swing. Most of the Olympians were yelling at my team, and they were yelling back wholeheartedly.
"I am not arrogant!" Zeus thundered.
"I can smile! I just don't want to!" Hades screamed.
"Eat more cereal!" Demeter yelled.
"This is just priceless." Hermes was filming the whole thing, barely able to hold the phone steady due to laughter. Apollo was already rolling on the floor, laughing almost hysterically.
"Keep quiet! I'm trying to sleep." Dionysus grumbled loudly.
"Men! You're all the same!" Artemis moaned.
"I am not wrong!" Athena protested at the top of her voice.
"Zeus, you are the most arrogant, condescending prick I have ever had the misfortune to meet!" Nico was yelling.
"Maybe if you learned how to smile, everyone wouldn't hate you so much." Silena was pointing out to Hades.
"I will not eat more cereal! I hate the stuff!" Bianca was screaming at Demeter.
Clarisse was trying to snatch the videophone from Hermes. "Stop filming, it isn't funny!"
The Stoll's had followed Apollo's example and were laughing so hard I wondered where they found the time to breathe.
"You should be sleeping at night-time, not in the middle of important meetings!" Zoe was valiantly trying to make Dionysus listen.
"Hey! Not all men are the same!" Luke was talking to Artemis.
"Athena, you are wrong. Frequently." Charles pointed out, sat by his fathers throne, tinkering with some gadget just like his father.
"HEY!" I yelled louder than any of them. "Why exactly has this turned into an argument with all the logic and common sense worthy of two-year-olds?"
Everyone gaped at me before looking down at there feet ashamedly, gods and warriors both.
"Now, if you'll excuse us," I bowed mockingly at the gods. "We'll go to camp half-blood and help train your children to survive, shall we?" And with that, I flashed us all out to the borders of camp half-blood.
We stood at the base of Thalia's pine, looking over camp with amusement and poorly disguised contempt.
"We could have already killed everyone here by the time they raised the alarm." Epsilon pointed out. Yes, we are back to using our codenames. I don't want to give up our identities to the campers, seeing as it was one of the best-kept secrets in the universe. Besides, I don't want to face Annabeth.
Camp was just as I remembered it, and I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered my home. Yes, Camp Half-Blood was the place that held the most terrors for me, but it was also the place that I'd discovered good friends, gone on my first quest, and fallen in love. I1t held good memories as well as bad.
The conch horn rang out three times, the signal for an attack. Campers swarmed around the armoury, before charging up the hill towards us, Chiron in the lead.
When they finally reached us, they stopped just inside the protective barrier, reluctant to attack. They obviously hadn't seen anyone like us before.
"Hello. My name is Chiron, can I help you with anything?" The centaur asked nervously.
"Good afternoon, Chiron. My name is Thysia, I am the adopted son of Chaos, Prince of the Void, Primordial god of everything, leader of the Elite team and Commander of Chaos Army. We were sent here to offer our aid to the gods. They have accepted, so we shall be training your campers until the war starts in earnest and we are required elsewhere."
Chiron blinked. I suppose it isn't every day that the adopted son of Chaos shows up on your doorstep, even if you're a three thousand year old trainer of heroes. He bowed quickly, unwilling to offend me. Little did he know he probably couldn't have offended me if he tried. His training had saved my life too many times for that. I gestured for him to rise. "No need for that, I don't like people bowing to me."
"Very well then," Chiron said, straightening up. "It is a pleasure to have you, Thysia. May we know who these others are?"
And so the introductions began again. I got bored after a while, so I tuned out and studied the campers instead. There were much less campers than I remembered. I wonder if the attack that began as I lay dying had anything to do with that? Zeus did say that lots of demigods were lost in that particular attack. One thing I noticed though, as much as I tried not to - it was summer here, but I had seen no sign of Annabeth, and my abilities indicated that she wasn't simply using her invisibility cap, either. Annabeth must not be at camp, though I have no idea why. Her curiosity wouldn't let her ignore unusual events, of that I was certain. She wanted to know everything too much.
I was shaken out of my thoughts when the gods, major and minor alike, walked up the hill to join us. My surprise must have shown, since Demeter answered my unspoken question.
"Once the hero of the great prophecy died and we realized the error of our ways, we decided to honour his wishes as best we could. One such wish was that we claim all our children by the time they reach thirteen so that they did not feel abandoned by us. However, we felt that we could do better and so abolished the ancient law that stated that we could not have regular contact with our children. As a result we have been spending almost as much time in Camp Half-Blood as we have on Olympus."
"Huh." War said, watching Ares talk to one of her siblings. "They're learning how to be good parents. Go figure."
"I have admit, it is pretty weird." Pranker said. "But definitely very cool." Jester said.
Forge chuckled quietly. "Some things however, never change." He pointed over to Hephaestus who was surrounded by his children. He had a look of concentration on his face, like he was trying to figure out what would be a good thing to say. The rest of us smiled quietly at the sight.
Suddenly the moment of peace was broken as the horn rang out three times again. Demigods all grabbed their weapons and looked at Zeus. "Where are they attacking?" Chiron asked Zeus worriedly. Zeus closed his eyes briefly in concentration. "The beach." He announced. "Poseidon has not been able to attend his duties lately, they must have been able to use boats to access camp." As one, we all turned and ran for the beach. My team easily outpaced the campers, even Chiron, and so we arrived first.
The boats had just run aground as we reached the beach. We drew our weapons and stood ready. There are three boats, each filled with monsters. I could see telkhines, hellhounds and empousa. We could probably take them down in just a few minutes, but I doubted that that would be a good idea. I mind messaged my team. emAttack when they step on land, but not before. Do not use powers, and take longer than necessary to kill them. Try to move slower than normal. This is probably a test to see our strengths and weaknesses. If we appear weaker than we really are, then they may underestimate us in the future.
A chorus of yes sirs sounded in my head as my team registered my orders.
The hellhounds came first. They shadow travelled behind us and tried to attack from there. However, War, Epsilon and I had already anticipated this and turned to meet them as the others dealt with the monsters pouring from the boats. I dodged the first hellhounds teeth as it lunged for me and jabbed my sword into it's shoulder, causing it to yelp before exploding into dust. I slashed at the next hellhound and it spun to face me, but before I could attack, it exploded into dust after being hit by ... was that lightning?
I looked around, and sure enough the gods had joined the fight. Zeus was the one who had killed my hellhound, but he didn't hang around to chat. He was already off, soaring upwards, presumably to get a better idea of what was going on and to help those that needed it the most. Hades had summoned a skeleton army, Demeter was working with some satyrs to trap empousa in various plants that were suddenly sprouting up. Dionysus was brandishing a broken beer bottle at a group of terrified telkhines.
My team were doing well. None of them had sustained so much as a scratch so far and all were holding out well against the monsters without making it apparent that they weren't trying their hardest.
As I watched the battle, something caught my attention. The sea was acting strangely, boiling slightly as though something was just under the surface. Suddenly the water exploded upwards, engulfing the ships. When it settled again, all that was left was pieces of debris no bigger than a foot in diameter. My eyebrows rose. That was quite the display of power for a fading god. He must have really got a move on with his duties to be recovering at this rate.
Speaking of the sea god, once the water had calmed, a man stood in the place of the unnatural squall. Poseidon. He was not as old as before, but he still did not look like the father I had known in my demigod days. Now he was about forty. He had a full head of hair again. It was mostly black, but he had two white streaks, one at each temple. The lines were mostly gone, except for a few marking his grief. His eyes hadn't yet regained their sparkle, but they did have a couple things that I hadn't seen in my visit to his palace. Hope was there, but that was subdued, like he was afraid to hope. Mostly I saw determination. He had decided to find out about me, to talk to me if he could, no matter if I forgave him or not, and if he needed to win this war to make that happen, then that is what he would do. Gods help anyone who stands in his way. The sea cannot be tamed.
With Poseidon's arrival and the destruction of their escape route, the morale of the monsters broke. They were dealt with quickly and easily. Thankfully no-one had died in the attack and once the wounded had been taken to the infirmary, the Olympians gathered around Poseidon, looks of shock and happiness on their faces. Even Hades was smiling, a sight which caused all demigods who beheld it to shiver. Zeus quickly pulled his brother into a hug, before letting him go just as fast, a sight which made almost all of the gods smile.
"Brother." Hera greeted. "You're ... better."
Poseidon smiled sadly. "Not completely, dear sister. Whether I will ever be truly better remains to be seen. But for now, I am ... able."
Dionysus looked at Poseidon curiously, before turning to me. "What exactly did you say to him? We tried everything, but he wouldn't listen."
"Perhaps that is better discussed in a council meeting." I suggested. "I'm sure Athena would like to debate the meaning behind this attack anyway, and talking about Poseidon's recovery should not take too much more of your time."
"It's settled then. We'll have a council meeting now." Zeus announced. "Brother, will you be attending?"
Poseidon nodded. "I will. I have a lot to catch up on."
"Then we'll see you there." Hermes grinned. The gods then dissolved in a bright light, presumably on the way to Olympus. I turned to Epsilon.
"Help Chiron look after camp, and set up a training schedule. We need to teach the campers all we can in the time we have." I ordered.
"Right-o, Commander." Luke saluted before walking off to help the camp. I shook my head at his antics, and flashed to Olympus.
Was the fight scene okay? Please tell me in reviews.
Shib.