Next chapter.

I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or the Hero of Olympus series. If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't be writing this on a $900 laptop.

Jakob's body lay to the left of them, unmoving, as we took up attack stance against Dempsey, who stood in front of us, smiling as usual. All the previous rage he'd shown toward us had dissipated, and all he was doing now was smiling.

It's because he knows that his plan is coming closer to fruition. Oh, and he probably enjoys killing people.

Percy, meanwhile, was reeling internally. Dead. She's not dead. She cannot be dead. Surely she's not dead.

A group of other demigods were converging on the other side of the Big House, led by Will Solace of the Apollo cabin. They came closer, and closer, and closer…

Dempsey whirled around and struck, ice, sleet and snow erupting from his finger tips, together with an icy cold wind. The lucky demigods were thrown clear by the wind. The unlucky ones were frozen together, in various positions of battle.

It was at that point we charged too, hoping to catch him unaware. No such luck. Dempsey flung around again, and with a snarl he let loose a torrent of freezing water. I dived to the side, as did Chiron and Alice. Percy however, stood there, facing the incoming torrent.

At the last moment, before it was about to hit him, he changed its course, sending it flying back into Dempsey's face, which knocked him off of his feet, coughing and spluttering.

We dived forward, intent on striking while Dempsey was incapacitated, even for a second. We reached his form, and began to attack him while he was on the ground. But every wound we inflicted healed, the cuts slowly closing and scarring, before disappearing all together.

"That's enough," Dempsey said, before blowing us all backward from his form. He stood up, and then turned to us to speak.

"I am not afflicted with Hubris," he said. "There is a chance, slim though it may be, of you defeating me. However…"

From his pocket, he produced a small vial, filled with a roiling silver that was neither liquid or gas.

"This," he said, holding it up so that we could see it, "Is the essence of a child of Athena, the last essence I need to consume in order to become invincible, for lack of a better word." He jerked his head at Jakob. "This one stood by and watched as I took it." He spoke only to Percy for the next part. "Your 'brother' watched as I stole your precious Annabeth's soul. I was… unable to take it at the time, but I figure that now will be as good a time as any to bond with it."

Percy's face contorted with pain. "She's… dead?"

Dempsey shrugged. "Good as."

And with that, he unclasped the vial and tipped his head back, angling it over his mouth. The matter poured silently from the vial, and dripped slowly into Dempsey's mouth. Finally, it was all consumed, and Dempsey threw the vial against the Big House, where it shattered.

He stood there, as did we, frozen. Then he smiled wickedly, and yelled, his voice echoing high over the valley. He grew taller, easily seven feet tall, and his pupils became shot through with gold.

"So this is what it feels like to be immensely powerful?" he asked, studying his nails. He then looked up at us. "I like it."

He flicked his fingers, and we were blown backwards by a force that cracked air. Chiron hit a tree, Alice was flung back over the ridge, and I came to rest behind a rock pile.

We have no hope of beating this guy. None at all. But we have to try. We always have to try…

The next half an hour was a blur, a jerky film full of pictures that did not quite belong together, moving along oddly, missing out bits and pieces.

There was Percy, directing the water of the lake to hit Dempsey, but having it freeze at the last moment...

There was Alice throwing her spear, only to have it knocked away like a toothpick...

Chiron with his arrows, the heads not piercing Dempsey's skin once...

All of the other demigods, who had come out of the tree line with assorted weapons, all flung away by the force that Dempsey commanded effortlessly, without even trying.

We were all going to die.

Jakob, meanwhile, was floating in darkness. Quite why he was still alive, he couldn't fathom. Was he even still alive? Was this the afterlife? Cold darkness surrounding him like oil.

No, Jakob knew exactly what the afterlife was. He didn't see security ghouls, a big transperant dog and the Lord of the Underworld.

So, he was still alive then. Maybe.

"They still need you, you know."

A scene formed around me, mosaic tiles glued together one by one, smooth and solid. I was once again in the pavilion where I met Aphrodite. Only this time it wasn't Aphrodite occupying the throne at the end of the room.

Instead, sitting in the throne, was Athena, looking intensely at me. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out that she was waiting for me to answer.

"Oh, yeah, of course I know. But I'm dead, aren't I?" I asked. Her lips quirked.

"No, you are not, though if you will not rejoin the battle, you soon will be. Your friends are outnumbered and divided, shocked over the death of my daughter."

"Annabeth," I said numbly. "It's my fault she died."

Athena looked at him. "No it isn't, child. It was the fault of nobody but the Fates. You need to go back so that the others don't join her."

I nodded. "I have to do it… It's my duty, to help make Annabeth's death something meaningful, like she didn't die in vain…?" The rest came out like a question.

Athena nodded. "Correct. Now, I'm afraid, it's time for you to go. The Gods knew this day was coming, had known for hundreds of years. But, as usual, I am the only one who thought; planned." In that instant, I knew how scary it would be to face off with Athena. Because you wouldn't win. Ever. "Now, child, I am not without my own powers, and you shall see the gifts I have given you when you return to the land of the living."

I nodded, and then posed the question I'd wanted to ask since I'd met her.

"Why, Athena?"

She seemed to understand.

"Because you were born for this," she said, a slight trace of sympathy in her voice. "I'm… sorry."

And with that, I was hurtled head-long out of my dream, back into real life.

It was utter chaos. There was screaming, and crying, tinged with horrible laughter and the clash of metal on metal. If Dante's Inferno had a soundtrack, this is what it would sound like.

I leapt from the ground, surprised at how well I felt. Seriously, it was like I had just gotten out of a hot spa. Athena's gift, but that wasn't all. In my hand was a celestial bronze sword, etched with scenes that Jakob didn't have time to work out.

I ran forwards, towards the battle scene, dodging flurries of ice and snow, and the bodies of fellow demigods.

Dempsey was within striking distance as I lunged forward, intent on driving the sword into Dempsey's body. Dempsey himself had other ideas though, and the instant that my blade touched Dempsey I was blown back so far that I crashed back into the lake for the second time that night.

Everything was bubbles and disorientation. Then I surfaced, and bobbed there in the lake, the naiads staring at me in horror.

Then a strange thing happened. A massive, stupendous shockwave blasted the area, flattening trees and utterly disintegrating structures. Demigods were shoved sky high, smashing into the lake and land. The lake rolled backwards, and for a moment the bed was visible, before it came crashing back in.

Apparently Dempsey had finished playing.

He stood, glowing with blue light, surrounded by wicked looking shards of… ice. He chuckled again, and the ice started to shoot out of his body, continuous lives of razor-sharp weapons. There were cries of agony all around, and I knew that there were going to be deaths tonight. A lot of deaths.

But of course there were. I'd seen myself, even in that brief instant. Dempsey could kill them all eight times over without drawing breath. It was hopeless.

That's when it happened.

Dempsey's growling chuckle, which had been part of the backdrop of the entire battle, stuttered, and halted. Silence fell on the valley, unbroken by another apart from the howling wind. Then another sound: Screaming.

Dempsey was screaming, the sound whipping through the valley like daggers.

He was lit up again, but this time with silver, which flickered around him like errant flames. He was raised off the ground, hovering several inches above the flattened grass. The ice-blades faltered and then dropped to the ground, splashing into the lake around me.

Then it was over, and Dempsey was on the ground, collapsed.

There were other, shadowy figures creeping to the shore, the devastated valley lit only by the moon and stars, which had come out from behind a cloud. The sky rumbled as I reached land, shaking my hair like a dog.

"What happened?" I muttered to myself, walking slowly forwards to the ring of frozen grass, in which Dempsey lay. I was joined by others—Alice, bleeding from her arm, Percy, a large gash along the cheek, other demigods with various injuries, and in one severe case, a broken arm. There was no sign of Nico or Chiron. Maybe they were knocked out. Maybe they weren't.

Dempsey did not move as we approached, passing the ring of frozen grass. We stopped, Alice and Percy behind me, just one meter from Dempsey's still motionless body.

How long we stood there, I don't know. It was only mere seconds, but it felt like hours. In front of us lay the one who had killed so many before—and probably many tonight. He was a murderer, an ancient, youthful-looking evil. But I couldn't bring myself to shove the sword lying loosely in my hand into Dempsey's neck. I just couldn't.

And then Dempsey inhaled, and sat up.

He looked old. That was the only way to describe him. Those dull blue eyes looked like they'd seen a thousand years, none of them good. The lines around the mouth that told of ancient weariness.

"So it seems I've failed. The soul… rejected me." He coughed. "All I wanted was to raise an ancient and powerful evil to wreak havoc on the Earth." His face twisted in anger. "I hate you all." He said, and coughed, once, before collapsing again. After a couple of minutes, I leaned forward and pressed two fingers against his neck. No pulse.

Dempsey was dead.

I exhaled sharply. "He's dead."

"And thank God for that," Alice said, dropping her spear to her side. "Now we can work on fixing this place."

They turned, and that's when Dempsey struck. In his dying act, he used all of his remaining energy to craft a thick block of ice, which he fashioned into a cone. He sent this flying at Jakob, and spent, collapsed, turning to dust.

"Watch out!" Alice tried to warn. But it was too late. Jakob twisted, eyes widening in alarm as the razor sharp cone sliced the air towards him, aimed at his stomach. Then something knocked Jakob sideways, and he hit the ground, hard.

He sat up, spitting out earth, and turned around, to a stunned silence. Dempsey had become a pile of grey dust, but that wasn't what they were staring at.

Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus, favoured mortal of the Gods, was lying on his stomach, deep red blood pooling out of his back where the cone of ice stuck out.

He wasn't moving.

I was watching Big Bang Theory, so as a result, my editing may be a little patchy. Shel-bot. XDDDD

Epilogue coming soon.

In addition, what happened to my reviewers? I got none last chapter. :(