Chapter 7: Operation Seer
Percy blinked through the blinding light.
"Turn that shit off," he growled at Nikolai as he covered his eyes with a hand.
Muttering an apology, the son of Lycaon clicked off the flashlight and reattached it to the end of his p90. Percy waited a moment for his vision to clear before checking his watch one more time. 01:50. The lack of contact from their superiors was beginning to get on his nerves. They had been holed up in the access tunnel underneath their objective for over three hours now and their window was rapidly closing.
His facial expression was clearly dark because he felt someone bump into him bringing him back to the present. It had been sufficient time and his eyesight was readjusting to the darkness. He looked to his left where Calypso was giving him a questioning look.
Shaking his head and forcing a smile Percy checked The Grid, a tablet device attached to the underside of his forearm. There was still no response.
"Four more minutes and we-," he started before their earpieces crackled.
"This is Overwatch. Go Stormbringer."
"This is Stormbringer, we're in position. Confirm orders." Percy responded softly into the low glow coming from the grid device on his forearm.
"Secure the package in room 6-A. Get to exfill. Everyone after this room is a hostile so weapons free. Get it done and come home guys. You deserve a break."
"No shit. We've been working this crap for like eight months now." Nikolai grunted.
"I heard that, Tiger."
"That's because I left my mic on." Nikolai shot back, annoyed at his handle. Percy grinned and went back to the screen, reading the mission data as it was streamed to him. Sure he already knew what was going on, but he wouldn't put it past Overwatch to put in some detail and forget to mention it to him.
Killing the device he unslung the Tavor from behind his back. Crossing to the door he grabbed the handle and waited until he felt the tap on his shoulder. He didn't need to turn to know that Nikolai and Calypso were right behind him ready to follow him in.
Checking that a round was in the chamber of his custom assault rifle he opened the door swiftly and entered the room. His barrel covering left as he felt Nikolai take turn the other direction.
Once they were sure the room was secure Percy crossed to a box on the far wall. Fiddling with the lock for a few seconds he got the latch open and swung the door aside, revealing a tangle of wires that was a massive fire hazard. 'Why can't anything be easy' he thought to himself as he rested his rifle in its sling.
Calypso crossed over to him and unzipped the bag on his back. Rifling through it she came up with a small box with three wires branching off one end and a single wire the other. "Gods, can't you keep anything clean," she whispered mischievously as she handed him the device.
Percy rolled his eyes and accepted the box, pulling out a folding knife and splitting what he hoped was one of the wires to the camera feed, and not the alarms. There was no deafening screech of an alarm, so Percy spliced the open wire with one of the 3 inputs. 'Now to the hard part,' he thought. Sorting through the mass of wires until he came across a black wire amidst a tangle of red ones. This one controlled the main power, their back up plan should things go to Tartarus above them. Once he spliced this one he had only seconds to get it attached to the device in his hand.
Inserting his knife he made the cut, and started twisting the open pieces into the second available wire. Satisfied with the lack of blackout, he attached the third wire to the one leading to the mainframe. He took the one open wire into his hand and plugged the jack into the Grid on his forearm. The screen lit up and the device began to download the encrypted code from the Grid and install its software onto the main system.
The device gave a soft hum and the screen flashed a completion message. Unplugging he closed the wire box back up and crossed to the door.
When Calypso joined him he let his gun drop on its sling and activated the camera loop from the grid. Clicking the screen, he re-gripped his weapon and nodded his head. They exited the room and started moving down the hall in the direction of the guard. Nikolai started to follow them, keeping a bead on their six.
When they reached the corner of the hallway Percy braced himself on the wall and waited for Calypso to turn the corner before he followed fast, his gun snapping down the hallway as she swept into the room directly on the left.
He waited with Nikolai, completely in the open. In a few seconds she returned. The card slipped quietly into her pocket and they were moving once more.
Dropping his hand from the trigger, Percy pulled up the second camera on their route.
The guard had turned around and was walking back in their direction. Muttering a curse about guards not following their patterns, Percy backed up and entered the room to their right.
A startled cry rang out. Percy's gun came up in an instance. Sitting at a desk was a middle aged man with a burning spear tattoo on his neck.
"Hands! Hands now!" Percy shouted at the man as Nikolai exited the room. The man raised his hands and stood up from his desk. Calypso crossed over to him and smashed the butt of her crossbow into his head.
"Nik where's the guard?"
Several muted thumps came from the door and Nikolai came back in. "We're compromised. We need to get out now."
"Fuck!" Percy cursed. Tapping the screen of the grid he waited until the screen turned red. "Overwatch, this is Stormbringer. Op is compromised, info left out there were others in the rooms. We don't know if the alarm is sounded yet but we aren't even past the first floor. Guard check in is in ten. We're backing out."
"Negative Stormbringer. Operation is a go."
"You are aware there are over seventy terrorists in this cell. We'll be overrun before we even reach the package."
"Confirmed, Mission is still a go. Overwatch out."
"WHAT THE HELL! We're fucked!" Nikolai shouted, kicking a wall violently.
"We don't have a choice. We're moving." Percy grunted.
"What do you want to do with this one?" Calypso asked. The terrorist began to stir, looking up at the deadly head of her crossbow bolt.
He tried to scoot away raising his hands but she tightened her finger on the trigger.
"Stop! Wait! Interpol!" he gasped out.
Calypso and Percy exchanged a glance.
"Name," Percy said blatantly.
"B...B..Bain Mali. Bain Mali!" he practically shouted. "But I'm deep cover, it'll take days if not weeks to get that confirmed. Who are you people anyways!"
Percy ignored the man and tapped the name into the grid. Files began to appear on the screen. Pictures, documentation, orders, forms, top secret stuff that he doubted half the higher-ups in Interpol knew about.
The man was telling the truth. He was Interpol and deep cover at that. It looked like Bain had been undercover for three years now.
Nodding to Calypso he dropped the Tavor allowing the sling to catch it as it swung behind him.
"Looks like you check out," Percy said reaching down a hand and hauling the bigger man to his feet.
Nodding, the man accepted the apologetic nod that Calypso gave him.
"Seriously, who are you guys?" Bain asked. The figures before him were completely obscured.
"It doesn't matter. Just be aware that it's, he glanced at the grid, six minutes till check in and we have a downed guard. They'll be all over this in a few minutes."
Bain shook his head. "Give me the radio and I'll cover for you. Just get me out of here because after tonight I'm pretty sure I'm compromised."
Percy nodded slowly. Even if this man was legit, Percy didn't trust him. No, three years changes people. Then again they didn't have much choice.
"Alright..." he trailed off and went outside to collect the body and the radio.
Nikolai left his p90 on the desk and walked around to Bain. "Don't betray us" he said laying a hand on his sidearm. "I don't know your loyalties, but it would be your last mistake.
Bain opened his mouth as if to object, but for some reason he just nodded and collected a 9mm from the desk.
Percy returned dragging a body. Dumping the corpse unceremoniously in the corner he gave the radio to Bain.
"Alright, we'll be coming out in ten. If we aren't here just go out the door to the basement and follow the tunnel." Percy nodded to Calypso and Nikolai. Together the three left the room each of them worrying about letting an outsider assist them.
"Take it easy, we have two floors and we're there. Let's not make a repetition of this," Percy said to Nikolai as the demigod moved ahead of them. Nikolai was always their point man on missions like this because 1) He had deadly reactions and 2) he could take a hell of a lot more damage than either of them.
He nodded and they headed off into the halls once more, each of them harboring doubts about Bain.
The Grid showed no new movements on the cameras ahead of them, it was the middle of the night and most of the terrorists in this cell were sleeping. They only had to worry about ten or so men as long as the alarm wasn't sounded and from the lack of guards running down the corridors towards them, it would seem that Bain hadn't betrayed them. Yet.
They made their way to the stairs, swiping the card that Calypso had snatched they entered the stairs with care. For whatever reason the designer of this building had felt that stairs should only go up one floor. So they had to get to the second floor and cross the entirety to reach the second flight.
As they moved up the stairs, Nikolai keeping his gun pointed at the upper level while Calypso covered the rear, Percy checked the cameras on the next floor. The loop they were running on the guard room's display would only last about another ten minutes before it began to decay. Just one jump on the screen and the alarm would sound, bringing all hell down on them. Now was the time to move fast.
They reached the second flight of stairs without much difficulty, dodging the patrolling guards and slipping by the one that hadn't been on the briefing. Even terrorists get up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night. They started climbing the stairs and Percy's mind went into combat mode, now was when things got difficult. There were only two cameras on the third floor, one on the stairs and one in the room with the package. The rest of the floor could be harboring all manner of nasty surprises.
The door opened silently, a blessing in itself, given the crappy condition that the building was in. There was no immediate threat on the other side, so they started down the hallway. Their room was just at the end. Now all they could do was move in and- Percy stopped thinking as two guards turned a corner at the end and yelled out.
"Shit!" Nikolai yelled as he took the one on the right. Sure nikolai was a good shot, but the p90 was built for close ranges, not the forty feet away that these two were. The one on the right dropped dead, his hand not even close to his weapon, but several bullets from Nikolai's gun had richotected into a wall. Right into the alarm box. The guard on the left took two shots to his chest from Percy's rifle. But the damage was done.
A siren started blaring on the lower floors and Percy didn't need to check the Grid to know terrorists were flooding out of the barracks. Soon there would be seventy men swarming the building and they didn't know if the package was in a condition to move.
They hustled it the rest of the distance to 6-A. Stacking up around the door Percy checked the camera. There were two guards in the room, one had their package, its gun out and pointed at the door. The other was waiting on the other side, just where Nikolai's head was. Percy showed Nik the screen and the demigod nodded. Calypso pulled back and hauled off. Her booted foot slammed into the door throwing it open.
She rolled to the side as Percy and Nikolai burst into the room. Percy's brain was in overdrive, the guard with the package had taken his gun and pointed it at the bagged head of their mission, he could see the finger tightening on the trigger, but Percy beat him to it. His bullet slammed into the terrorists head in almost the same instant that Nikolai's burst took the other guard in the chest.
Percy's guard dropped dead, his finger falling away from the trigger as his body slumped to the ground.
In moments they were across the room, Calypso ripping the bag off the head of their package. Revealing the tear streaked, bruised face of Octavian.
"It's him!" Calypso shouted as Percy crossed to the demigod. Octavian was spluttering, realizing that he had just been rescued. He was spouting off thank you's up until the moment that Percy's fist connected with his face.
"PERCY!" Calypso admonished as Percy slugged Octavian again. Octavian sobbed through the blood that was dripping down his face.
"He deserved it. The first one was for you, the second was for betraying us!" Percy spat in Octavian's face. "Now get up, we need to move." Calypso jerked the Augur to his feet, slinging her crossbow over her shoulder and drawing her sidearm, a fairly standard m9. She grabbed the sniveling traitor by the collar, none too gently and started across the room to the door.
Percy was watching the camera's as Nikolai and he exited the room. Moving back towards the stairs. Their time was up, and though they still had the camera feed the loop had decayed and now they would be showing up on the terrorists systems. Percy raised his gun and put a bullet in the camera above the stairs. No point in letting the bastards know their exact position.
Beneath them, the first floor was crawling with terrorists, storming their way up the stairs heading their way. Gods damned, seventy men armed with ak-47s against the three of them, he didn't see how they were gonna make it out of this one, even if they didn't have to haul along Octavian's useless ass. Shaking his head, he unscrewed the suppressor from his tavor. He needed the bigger punch that the rifle would provide without the noise dampener.
The first terrorists were only just reaching the second floor so he gave a nod and they descended the stairs to hell.
Rounding the corner from the stairs, Percy sighted the three terrorists charging across the hall. Five cracks of thunder in the enclosed space was the last thing that the terrorists would have heard before they found their lives at an end. Two bullets into the closest and one into the chests of each of the next two. The hallway was a nice choke point, but anyone who has ever been in combat knows that three against twenty is insane, three against seventy is impossible. It would only be a matter of time before the other terrorists grouped up and they would be overrun. The cameras showed that there were almost fifteen terrorists coming up the stairs right now, and they didn't look like the sloppy grunts that had been patrolling, they had the faces and coordination of veterans. A very bad sign for them.
"Overwatch, you seeing this?" Percy asked as he and Nikolai bunkered down in the hallway. Nikolai was laying on the floor, his upper body sticking out around the corner, as Percy crouched over him, the tavor resting against the wall.
"Overwatch copys, Stormbringer. It doesn't look good. Exfil has Bain and is moving out. Fire Support is inbound to your position, but you need to get out of that building. There is a scaffold on the west end. Everyone's in the building so if you can reach it and get to the courtyard, we can exfil from there."
"Understood, how far out is Fire Support?"
"Two F-15 are two minutes out. They will fire on the building when in range, so be gone. Overwatch out."
"Fucking pricks," Nikolai muttered. "You have two minutes to get out through 70 men," he mimicked.
"Whatever, we need to move." Percy said as the first terrorist turned the corner. Nikolai shot off a controlled burst, taking the man in the side. He had barely dropped to the ground as Percy's shot clipped the arm of the second man before he pulled it back. SHIT! They needed to get to that hall and there were thirteen available men preparing to move. They couldn't hold the hallway.
"Nik back," Percy said as Nikolai rolled out from under him. The son of Lycan grabbed Octavian's other shoulder and he and Calypso moved back down the hallway towards a far room. Percy kept one hand on the trigger of his rifle, while the other unclipped an m67 from his harness. Pulling the pin with his teeth, he forced himself to wait two seconds on the five second fuse and hurled it down the hallway. Pulling up his rifle and following them down the hall. He made it halfway when the grenade went off.
He ignored the screams of pain from the hall behind him and rushed into the room. He checked the window and saw the scaffold two windows to their left. As if things couldn't get any worse. Ok. They could do this. "Nik, ready?" he asked as the son of Lycaon threw his gun like a brick and climbed out the smashed window. Percy grabbed his arms and began to swing the demigod in the direction of the scaffold. He let his arms go and Nikolai barely grasped the edge of the scaffold, hauling himself up. Percy wondered how they were going to get Octavian out when he heard shouts behind them. SHIT! The terrorists had pushed past the destruction of his grenade and were moving steadily down the hall. Hopefully they would think that they had moved upstairs, he thought. Better safe than sorry, he pulled up the cameras on the Grid, and swiped left. A message appeared, outlined in a red box. Blackout, it read. He pressed it and within moments, everything in the building went dead. The lights, the air conditioning, and the security doors on the first floor. Locking everyone in the building in. Percy grabbed Calypso and helped her through the window, illuminated only by the light from Percy's hanging rifle.
How much longer did they have? He thought as he swung her towards Nikolai, the wolfboy grabbed her and helped her up onto the scaffold. Next was Octavian, he was swinging him as he heard shouts from the hallway, someone had seen the faint light from his gun. Percy saw Nikolai and Calypso catch the traitor as two men burst into the room. His rifle was out of reach, but his pistol came up and he got off a shot before the man on the right fired three times. The heavy punch of the 7.62 tore into his body armor, throwing him out the window. He fell the two stories and landed hard. He felt several things inside him break as he began to black out he heard screams and felt something strong grabbing him by the straps of his armor and tugging him away from the building. As he let unconsciousness take him, he saw a bright flash and huge force slammed him and whoever was dragging further away.
percy
Percy
Percy!
"PERCY!"
"Be silent mortal, he'll wake or he won't!" a second voice belted out.
"Come on Percy," Calypso said pulling at his hand. He had to fight his way to the top, through the memory to return to her.
"I said Be Silent," the voice said again, power flowing from the words threatening to suffocate him as he clawed his way to the surface. His subconscious was screaming, trying to tell Calypso he was ok. His mind broke the surface of his memory, trading away the pain inside him for the deep ache of overused muscles.
"Don't talk to her like that," he said as he took in a breath. Sitting up he tried to look around the room, past the mass of caramel hair that smashed into him. He tried not to grimace in pain as he hugged the daughter of Atlas back. "Hey now I told you, you can't get rid of me that easily."
She just made a choking sound and clutched him tighter. Managing a small chuckle he patted her on the back, sticking his head past her shoulder to take in the room. Nikolai leaned up against the far wall of the Vault, head in his hands. The wolf opened a finger wide enough to make eye contact before closing them again. Something was eating away at him, Percy could tell but he was a little occupied.
Jacob and Tammy were slumped together on the opposite wall, talking in low voices. Nothing new, he thought to himself before he remembered the other voice. The one dripping with power. Following a sudden feeling, his eyes drifted to the throne sitting in the far corner of the vault. There on the throne sat the source of light.
Slouched in the throne without a care in the world sat a woman that just screamed power. Her aura was so powerful even he could see the waves of force rolling off of her. He tried to study her features, but it seemed that her face would change every time he noted something distinguishable. Something deep inside him screamed to look away, to run away, to crawl into a hole and pull it in after him. The woman's power scared him, more than anything had ever scared him before. She locked eyes with him and he could almost feel her picking through his soul. Her eyes swirled with the complexities and beauty of the cosmos, drawing him in.
He forced himself to tear his gaze away from the woman. Whoever she was her power was insane, but something was keeping it in check, her aura rolled off her but stopped a foot away from her body. Shaking his head, he gave Calypso a squeeze and started to stand. She pulled back and helped him to his feet.
She followed his gaze and realized what he was looking at. "Percy, be careful."
He nodded and began to walk over towards the woman. Calypso falling back away, leaving him to approach her on his own.
He neared the woman and despite her aura stopping feet away from her, he felt hard pressed to advance any further. A force pressed down on his shoulders as he drew to a halt, not able to move any closer.
"Interesting," she said; voice laden with power. "Not many can get that close, even in my restrained form."
Percy struggled to respond until the woman flicked her hand away, as if dismissing him. Immediately the power drew back, Percy could still feel it lurking but he could stand easily.
"Yes mortal?"
"Who are you?" he asked. His mind still spinning from the power that had been directed at him.
The woman gave him an amused look. "Names have power, Percy Jackson," she said. His name made him flinch, the amount of power that she put in his name brought him to his knees. "I am known by many things, but for your sanity you may call me Chaos."
He flinched at her name. Again that voice deep inside him was screaming for him to run. He tried to formulate the words to ask who she was, what she was, what did she want. Say something! he screamed at himself.
She seemed to realize he was struggling to say something. "Worry not, I'll explain everything and make you my offer."
Percy tried to say anything, but the power had returned and it was all he could do not to pass out. Now Calypso's weariness to approach her made sense to him, something was very off about Chaos. Something that scared him just being in the same room, no, the same country as her. She spoke with a kindness, but some instinctive part of him refused to trust her. The manacles on her feet didn't help either.
"Where to begin," she mused, tapping a long finger on her chin. Percy and the others yelped in pain as their heads snapped to the roof of the vault.
All throughout the room, Morgan Freeman's voice floated down to the demigods. "Colossal beauty, awe inspiring intricacy. Space. Time. Life itself. The secrets of life itself lie-"
"In me," Chaos laughed. A noise so powerfully and emotional that Percy felt tears leaking from his eyes. If she noticed the pain that she was causing the Demigods, she ignored it.
"I was born from nothing. Created? Or just falling into existence? Even I don't know the answer to that," she laughed again. Percy struggled to speak, through the falling tears. Somehow he made a small sound and Chaos snapped her gaze to him. Understanding flooded her eyes and she waved a hand at the demigods.
Instantly the pain and compulsion on them faded.
"Sorry, I've forgotten how fragile mortals are." Not waiting a moment for them to recover, she started speaking again.
"Born from nothing, I spent centuries floating aimlessly through space. No contact with anything. All alone….So I created the first worlds. My first children followed soon after. You'd know them as the primordials, but they had too much power. They went unchecked, rampaging through my creations with no regard for lives or the beauty I created. They had to be punished, but they had grown too strong. Together they overpowered me, locking me away as best they could. But not before I released my last creation onto a new world."
She stopped, almost seeming to be choked up, if someone with that much power could be. "You see, even though I was forced into this prison," she said, spitting contemptuously at one of the walls. "Even though I was forced into this prison, these children would give me a chance to be free once more. You are that chance, humans."
Percy glanced at Calypso, then Nikolai as she said this.
"You see there are several locks on my prison. This throne was the very first, my symbol of power and also the only thing that can contain me. My children, my first children designed a lock that would only be broken if a pure hero's blood was spilled upon it."
She paused and let that sink in. Percy didn't know whether to be flattered at being called a "pure hero" whatever that was, but he also felt that Chaos escaping her prison might not be good for anyone.
Chaos seemed to notice what he was thinking. Shaking her manacled feet she glared at the vault door. "There are still many locks, Human. But that's for later."
She waved a hand at the ceiling and the walls around the vault became transparent. All around them monsters rampaged through the bunker. They tore at the walls, smashed trophies, ate whatever food they found. Nikolai growled as the monsters sniffed at the abandoned shackle. He rose and walked to the vault doors, his hand was inches from the seal when chaos flicked a hand. He glared over his shoulder at Chaos, "Get out of my head."
His words had only just left his mouth when he fell to his knees growling in pain. Seconds later three pistols leveled themselves at the Goddess. The fact that their weapons would probably be useless and that she could destroy them with a bat of her eyes never crossed their minds.
She raised a single eyebrow and lowered her raised hand. "I apologize Son of Lycaon, but these are only shadows, memories of the past. Time flows differently inside this prison. You'd be walking into something you are not prepared for."
Nikolai considered her words for a few moments before nodding. Percy nodded to the others and they lowered their guns. Breathing an internal sigh of relief Percy let go of Riptide and removed his hand from his pocket.
Nikolai walked over and slumped down against the wall next to Jacob and Tammy. Chaos looked around the room and waved her hand at the walls again.
The scene seemed to speed up before slowing to normal pace again. All around them men in black uniforms with burning spear emblems moved through the base. Boxes of the groups remaining items were being carried outside and loaded into trucks.
Chaos waved her hand and the images sped up again. The men became a steady blur for a few moments before she closed a fist and the images slowed down. The view jumped to an omniscient perspective, looking down at the 35 by 35 by 12 foot box that was the Vault. All over it runes and symbols flowed like rivers. There was no longer a door, just a seamlessly unbroken cube.
Thorne and several men with the burning spear emblems walked around the vault, running devices all over its surface. The image sped up again. The men approached the vault with power tools, giant drilling machines, laser cutters, explosives. But nothing they did even put a scratch on images sped up again and the men eventually left, Thorne as well. Cameras were set up and tripwires were laid. Guards were posted, but the vault didn't change at all. Over time eventually the guards disappeared as well. Leaving the abandoned bunker to decay and fall apart all around the vault.
"These men tried everything to breach this prison, but to no avail." Chaos looked around the room and her face took on a thoughtful look before returning to the chaotic swirl of features, forcing Percy and the others to look at the throne, or the walls, anywhere but at her.
She waved a hand again and the images faded away, only to be replaced by a view of Camp Half Blood and the Roman Camp. Two side by side images, like two different screens. The images flowed through time, they watched as the Leaders were switched, they watched the two separate screens as Jason and Nico lead their quests and reunited on the ship. All the while Chaos giving a running narrative of what was happening.
The images came to stop on the final battlefield. The Gods and their children fought side by side against the Giant threat. All around the battle raged. Several gods and demigods fell, wounded and near death before the last Giant was slain. The Demigods and Gods alike let out cheers before the ground opened up, a giant tear in the earth. Out of the hole climbed Gaea, fully awake and royally pissed. She slammed her foot into the ground and hands of earth grabbed the gods, pinning them to the ground.
Her voice reached the watching group. "Fools, your murder of my children has freed me from my slumber. You will now face my wrath!" She opened her mouth to say more, but Jason stepped forward, flipping his coin into the air. The javelin landed solidly in his hand, the other seven fanning out around him, drawing weapons and tools. Frank changed into a dragon and Hazel climbed onto Arion's back.
"We don't care what you have to say Gaea," spat Jason.
"Why don't you go back to sleep," Nico called, drawing his sword.
The goddess laughed at them, "So you wish to die? Do you not see what I am doing to your gods? What chance do you stand against me!" She roared, attacking.
The fight was long and brutal. Frank was the first to fall, nearly severed in half by the Goddess' axe, but his stick had not burned so he couldn't die. He was forced to watch the fight, unable to do anything as Hazel was thrown into a hill, not stirring. The others fell injured or unconscious until Nico and Jason were the last standing. They fought together, with the skills of mighty warriors and Percy was proud of Death Boy. He had really turned into something while he had been away.
But they stood no chance against the Goddess. She threw aside Nico like a doll and stabbed Jason through the stomach with a spike of earth.
"How fitting that you should be the first to be sacrificed, Son of Zeus" She drew back her hand to slash through his throat, but he moved faster than should have been possible. In an incredible feat of strength, he tore himself from the spike and slammed into the goddess. He drove a dagger deep into her throat as their momentum carried them into the crevice in the ground.
"Shut the Fuck up and go to sleep" was all he said as they fell to the edge of the chasm. He died on the ground as she tore the knife from her neck.
She kicked his corpse into the hole and turned to the remaining demigods and struggling gods. The wound in her neck sealed up and she took a step forward. Her face took on a curious note as she took a second step. Then fell to her knees.
"You poisoned the dagger!" She spat as Nico hauled himself to his feet.
"Aye, poison from none other than Ladon himself. Mixed with some of Morpheus' own blood." Nico picked up his sword and sheathed it. "You're going back to sleep Bitch."
She struggled to stand as he walked over to her. He dragged the goddess unceremoniously to the chasm. "Any last words?" he asked.
She started to laugh. "You fools. You think you've won? You're done now. Nothing can save you! The mortals begin even now, you've been so distracted by me none of you noticed the uproar in the world. Russia just fired off its nuclear missiles, and the rest of the world is retaliating. I've done what I was required and now you will all die!" She cackled like the mad woman she was. "Last words! Yes I do have Last words!"
Her voice rose to a painful volume and her eyes rolled up into her head. "I CURSE THIS LAND! I CURSE THE ENTIRE EARTH, MAY THE YEARS OF CHANGE ROLL BACK AND YOUR LANDS RETURN TO THE OLD DAYS. I CURSE THIS LAND SO THAT PANGEA SHALL REFORM AND WHATEVER WASTES ARE LEFT WILL BE NEAR EACH OTHER ONCE MORE. I CURSE THIS LAND AND THE RULE OF THE GODS. FORCES MOVE TO DESTROY WHATEVER IS LEFT OF HUMANITY AFTER THE HUMANS ARE DONE WITH EACH OTHER. THE AGE OF YOUR GODS IS DEAD!"
Nico hauled off and Spartan kicked Gaea into the chasm. "Well you won't be around to witness it," he spat after her.
The split sealed and the hands holding the gods fell apart. Apollo and the gods rushed to the dying and injured demigods leaving Nico to stare at the ground. Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon joined him. No words were spoken, they were all shattered by what had just happened. Suddenly streaks of light began to arc down towards the ground.
"SHIT!" Zeus bellowed. "The Mortals!" Hades and Poseidon disappeared in mist and shadows. The Lord of the Skies raised his master bolt and slammed it into the ground, his rage at losing his son fueled his power as a dome of pure energy rose around the battlefield and the demigods. Soon there was a shock wave and a flash of light. When the light cleared all around the dome the ground had turned to glass. The rest of the area in sight was ruins, smoking ruins.
Hermes began to flick through his cellphone, his face becoming grave. Each swipe of his finger showed those in the Vault the world. The United States defense systems had destroyed some of the missiles aimed at them and Canada. The entire west coast was destroyed, a missile detonated over the Great Lakes, one over New York, and one over the Mississippi river.
Russia's defense program wasn't nearly as effective, but some of it was protected from the blasts and radioactive fallout, just like the rest of the world. Some countries went entirely unscathed while others had only segments of their countries left standing.
The Images flashed to New York and the Blue shield of energy made from Poseidon. A nuclear missile had made its way through, but Poseidon's shield had protected Camp Halfblood. Hades did the same for the Roman camp.
Percy wanted to cry after what he had just witnessed, but the images of destruction faded away. The walls returned to normal and Chaos sat up in her Throne.
Percy and the others were shocked by what they had just witnessed. Tammy was crying softly and Jacob was just holding her, her mom lived in Chicago, there was no way she had survived.
Percy looked Chaos in the eye, fighting through the turbulence in his mind as he stared at her.
"The world is not yet destroyed Children, but it's not the same world that you knew. You are needed once more by your Gods and your race, but you will find unlikely allies in your plight. One of my descendants, are on a crusade to destroy what is left of Humanity. You cannot let this happen."
Percy started to speak but she raised her hand. "You must leave this prison soon. Its cycle is almost up and anything in this vault will be destroyed. Anything but this throne." She snapped her fingers and the artifacts they had collected over the years disappeared. A long bed cart stood by the exit. Military crates stacked on them, all their artifacts neatly deposited to be moved out of the vault.
"Come here Perseus Jackson," she said beckoning him forward. He approached her, struggling through the field around her. He fell to his knees, unable to move any further and she tossed him a box. "Inside is a gift. It will help you when you need it. I offer this to you under one condition. Should you find the second key to my vault, you must use it. You will know it when the time is right. Swear upon my name that you will, and the pendant inside will help you. its function will become clear with time, but you must decide now."
Percy looked at the others and Nikolai gave him a firm nod. They needed any help they could get, if their imaginations held any notion of what was going on outside.
"Should I find the Second key to your Prison, I shall return it here and open the Second Lock. So I swear upon Chaos." He said, not knowing what he had just promised to do. But they needed that help, and he very much doubted they would have left the vault alive had he said otherwise.
When he finished speaking, power flew through the room and slammed into him and the box. The box absorbed most of the power, but the rest made Percy scream out in pain. In an instant the pain faded and Chaos waved at the door. "Go now. I wish you luck, My Children." Together they all stood and walked to the vault door. Jacob and Tammy started pushing the cart as Nikolai placed his palm on the lock. Percy walked over to Calypso and held out his hand. She grabbed it and they all stepped out of the vault, ready to face whatever was to come next.
Authors Note: So yeah...Been a while. No excuses, and no apologies past this one. Sorry. I had things I needed to deal with.
Anyways, here's chapter seven. It has writing and stuff...Thanks to Anak as always, go read his stuff. (I am not the man so don't hold me to it, but) he's probably gonna release a chapter soonish. He's been dealing with stuff, so if you're one of those assholes that jumps on him for not updating when you want him to; Stuff it. On that note, Thanks for reading. I read every review and respond. I enjoy criticism and your thoughts everybody. Go read Pluto's Daughter 11's stuff, it's pretty damn good.
So yep...