AN-Meet the next chapter! Still not sure i got all of the reactions right, and it isn't as good as i wanted it to be but hopefully you'll like it. Tell me what you think!

The Traitors Return

Thalia dove right, trying to distract the beast. Hopefully it would follow her, and if she could reach the lower pass where her back-up were, they might be able to get a shot in while it was concentrating on trying to kill her. But it didn't happen like that. It followed, but when the trees started to thin into the clearing it stopped dead, sniffing the air. She kept running, leapt over a fallen log and grabbed Phoebe's outstretched hand to pull herself into the tree.

Thalia gasped air, she'd just sprinted about 2 miles and even for a hunter that was a considerable distance. The beast padded softly into the large clearing, tracking her. It was about the size of a hellhound, with the teeth to match but its whole body was rotting. Its skin was missing in places, and you could see the fetid meat moving as it stalked closer. Their arrows may still be out of range, but its smell wasn't. Most of the hunters gagged. It smelt like carrion, but 1000 times worse. The beasts skin itself was slimy and patched, as though it had decayed in water. Flies buzzed around its body, feeding on the open parts of the living carcass- in places the bone was visible.

It stepped closer to the hunters, and in a flash they fired. 20 silver arrows and it barely faltered. The beast crouched and lifted its jaws to the sky. In the light of the rising moon Thalia got a closer look at them. The whole left side was falling away, and the 3inch teeth were blooded. Chunks of its own skin where stuck between them-it had been feeding on its own wasted body.

The beast howled, and Thalia stopped thinking. The beasts song pierced the night, ringing out into the silence. It cut through the minds of the hunters and paralysed them. Like hearing white noise it ripped apart their very thoughts. She had to break out. Fighting the urge to run, she grasped an arrow and shakily notched it. She took aim, trying to ignore the pain, it felt like a red hot poker was being drilled into her skull, and loosed the arrow. It sailed straight into the decomposing eye cavity and into whatever was left of the beasts brain. The howling stopped instantly, and 20 hunters fell to the floor.

Thalia slowly rose from the grass, and grasped her hunting knife. She stepped closer to the body. Holding a hand over her nose she checked it was dead. Clearly only a headshot could stop this thing. She filed that information in her memory. Surviving as a demigod was hard enough against the usual creatures, having to learn your opponents weaknesses while they were trying to kill you made life nearly impossible.

The attacks had been increasing since the summer solstice; many had stayed year-round at both camps and very few new recruits had survived the journey to half-Blood hill. In the past few months the problem had worsened. The new creatures had arrived; herds of stampeding horses with venomous snakes heads, packs of lions composed of writhing flames that had burned down entire forests before they were stopped, those strange winged monkeys and now this. The situation was so dire that the Olympians had called all demigod leaders, minor gods and nature spirits to the winter solstice tonight…WHICH THEY WERE GOING TO BE LATE FOR!

A quick iris message later and Lady Artemis teleported her hunters to the throne room, which was slowly filling up. The throne room was beautiful. After going through some of her late friends' belongings they'd found some unfinished blueprints, and so in memory to her daughter, Athena had demanded the second redesign of the throne room. It had remained unchanged for 500 years. The hearth sat at the centre of the room as it always had, with the -now 14- major thrones creating a U shape around it. Between the massive thrones there were many much smaller ones, for the minor gods.

In the enclosing line by the door the demigod leaders, immortal trainers and nature spirits were mixing freely. There was a low hum of conversation as everyone waited for her father to arrive. She walked over to her brother, she hadn't seen him for months, and began catching-up with what remained of the seven. Leo tried to hit on her. Again. It would almost be charming if it wasn't his 800th attempt. Piper and Jason were happily married, but had left their 4 year old daughter at the legion. Frank and Hazel still seemed as young as they always were; they smiled at her and went back to the muttered conversation they were having. Thalia hugged Nico; he was the only one who felt the pain of the loss of their friend as well as she did. And she was talking about the possibly-probably-live one.

The mighty Percy Jackson hadn't been seen for half a century. He'd left about a year after the giant war, just packing his bags and telling Chiron he needed some time alone, and not to worry. The centaur had understood and let him go, promising to give the letters he'd left to his cousins the next time he saw them. Said cousins had been rather disappointed to find that their best friend had left without saying goodbye, but had understood. It was almost as though Percy had died a little inside when Annabeth did, and they expected him to be back in a few months after killing a few monsters anyway.

Months had turned to years, and eventually decades. The cousins searched, but could find no trace. They'd gone to ask Sally, but it was clear if she had seen him (which appeared likely) she'd sworn an oath not to say a word. She'd died after Percy had been gone for 50 years. Her funeral had been the biggest event of the demigod calendar that year; many from Camp Half-Blood had gone to pay their respects to the mother of their hero. She'd been a mother to any that met her, including the remaining seven. Surprisingly, or maybe not so, Poseidon had been there, shaking the hand of his lovers husband, Paul. Percy hadn't been there, though the groundskeeper of the church could have sworn he saw a tall man in a dark cloak at that headstone later that day.

With a rumble of thunder and bright flash of lightning her father arrived. Ever the dramatic. He called for silence and the demigods quickly assembled themselves; the hunters sitting by the seven, with the head councillors, praetors and centurions spread around them. In 500 years the meetings weren't massively different. They started the same at least, with her father giving a long and boring speech about the might of the gods and their latest achievements.

"Well if that is all, I believe we can move on to the more recent problems." Poseidon coughed. After glancing at his brother, Zeus turned his attention to the assembled children of the gods. "Unless any of you have got any new leads on our suspiciously missing immortal?" Poseidon gave a louder, angrier cough. "Our lost hero of Olympus?" the king corrected himself.

Silence rang in the room. "Well that is disappointing." Zeus said in a bored voice, "On more important matters, does anybody in the council have any idea of the reason behind the new attacks?" he glanced at Hades with obvious suspicion.

"I have." Everyone turned to the voice, which strangely resulted in the room occupants all looking in different directions, including several looking straight up.

A different voice chuckled. "Now is not the time for games son" it added in obvious amusement. This time everyone turned to the corner of the room adjacent to the door.

There was no dramatic flash of light or loud bang, the figures were just there. There were 2 standing forward, with 8 people behind them. The man on the left looked like a 1930's gangster, he had a brown suit, and the signature hat. He noticed everyone's looks of confusion. "not cool anymore? Alright lets try…" his outfit instantly changed into a wall street suit, "…this?" The demigods nervously nodded, and he smiled.

The figure on the right was dressed entirely in white. Shirt, shoes, suit, and tie. His hair was a white blonde, and his skin was pale. Thalia couldn't tell what colour his eyes were, looking at them was like trying to look at a bright light. In fact, this man could outshine Apollo. He spoke first, "I suppose you're wondering who we are?"

The king of the gods looked outraged that he didn't know somebody. "WHO DARES INTRUDE ON THE OLYMPIAN COUNCIL" his voice rumbled with thunder.

The white man stepped forward, "I am Lord Aether, The Primordial of Light, and I suggest you quieten down god or I'll teach you to respect your superiors" he replied in a voice laced with arrogance. Instantly the whole room bowed, even Zeus.

The second man stepped forward also, "Please ignore my son, we are not here to command respect. We will earn it, with trust and Time." one of figures still in the shadows snorted with laughter, to which the council frowned in confusion. "I see you do not understand. That was a joke." Thalia stared. Should she laugh anyway? Offending this man seemed like a bad idea. Apparently everyone was having this mental argument but Athena who smiled with amusement.

The man sighed. "I am Lord Chronus, The Primordial of Time. Not to be mistaken for that ridiculous Titan."

"My Lords, may I ask what news you have of the recent attacks?" The Lord of the sky asked.

"You may" replied Chronus.

The king looked dumbfounded. Athena saved him, "What do you know of the recent attacks?"

It was Aether who replied, "you may not be aware, but you are far from the only life in this universe. Well actually you are if you consider only the Old Universe, however in regards to the New Universe…"

"What my son means" Chronus interrupted "Is that there are other planets. Earth, the original planet, is the only one that is unaware of the rest of the universe, and the only planet that has titans and gods to rule over it. After Chaos created Earth he stopped making planets that were alive in the sense that my sister is the planet. However the enemy that threatens this planet could cause the end of civilisation as we know it, and so we have decided to step in."

Hades was the first to recover from the shock, "and who is this enemy? A Primordial?" he asked.

"Ah Hades, you yourself would know of him, his domain resides so very close to your own"

"Not… Tartarus?" the wide-eyed god asked.

"Correct. The Abyss stirs. You may have felt it. But he has yet to rise fully in defined form, and until then the threat is significantly decreased. We believe his allies are raising an army to weaken the camps, storm Olympus, gain control of the planet itself and then awaken Tartarus fully."

Thalia could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. Another war? Against a Primordial? The strongest Primordial at that. She asked the question on everybody's mind:

"Mr. Chronus, sir," he chuckled, "I was wondering, when you say awaken…as though he is not awake now?"

"My brother is in a state similar to that of Gaia, his mind is open to influence and communicate, but his powers are severely weakened. He must rely on his allies to fight this war, which are more manageable. This is why we plan to assist you now, in an attempt to stop the threat before it becomes necessary to use, ahem, other methods"

A young son of Ares stepped forwards. "Lord Chronus, who are these allies you speak of; it couldn't be Kronos could it?"

"I can answer that question" Another figure stepped forwards. He was dressed in a long black cloak that reached his knees, but was split down the back. The peaked hood was pulled over his head, casting a shadow over his face, so only his mouth could be seen. He wore a grey shirt and black jeans, with knee-high leather boots. A red cloth belt was tied around his waist with a leather buckle, and the cloak fastened over it. At his hip hug a black sheath. The sword was not visible but it seemed to hum with energy. A sheath of throwing knives was fastened under his belt, with a 1920's revolver on his alternate side. A black bow could be seen on his right shoulder, with a blood red offset cape over his left shoulder. Thalia noticed a Greek Omega printed in black on the corner.

"Ah, let me introduce The Assassin of Chaos, Omega" Chronus gestured at the man.

"And how does he know that Kronos isn't leading the forces?" said the war child.

"I know Kronos is not leading Tartarus' Army, because I killed him." Omega replied.

Ares snorted, "You can't kill an immortal kid, surely they taught you that?"

The assassin smirked, "You can't kill an immortal, but I assure you I can." He drew his black sword, "This, is 'The Reaper'. It is the finest Galactic Steel, which is a blend of all the enchanted metals, imbued with the essence of The Void, forged under the blessing of Chaos and cooled in his blood. There is no weapon like it in all of the known universe. One touch and it will rip you immortal soul from you body and force it to fade. Would you like to test it war god?"

Ares visibly shivered, to which the assassin smiled wider. "I understand it is an almost unbelievable concept, but I have killed 20 immortals; 3 of them you may have heard of. From each, 'The Reaper' reaps some of the powers. For example, Kronos gave me the ability to do this." Thalia could see what she assumed were his eyes glowing gold as he glanced at Ares, who stopped dead. Frozen in his own dimension. The golden glow faded, and the war god continued with his nervous shivering.

Zeus broke the shocked silence, "So if it is not our…erm, late father" he paused. "Then who is leading the forces?"

Chronus sighed, drawing the attention back to him. "We are unsure. I have my suspicions, but until we know more, I will be sending you some of the forces of Chaos' Army to defend the camps. I suggest you move all of your legion to Camp Half-Blood, and leave the retired demigods to defend the Roman camp-it will not be threatened until the majority of the demigods have been dealt with."

"And what is Chaos' Army?" Athena asked.

"Chaos' Army is made of the best and brightest warriors from all over the known universe. It is spilt into 26 divisions. We have chosen to send you almost 20,000 troops, including The Alpha Team, which is led by Omega."

"If its Chaos' Army, then why are you making the decisions?" a Roman camper asked.

"Chaos, like Tartarus is in a subdued state. He can communicate, and see's all. It was his idea to form The Army many millennia ago, and his suggests many warriors to join the cause. It is His army, and it fights for Him, but myself, Lord Aether, Lady Ananke of Inevitability, Lady Hemera of Day and Lady Nyx of Night lead the army for him." Chronus replied, "Now let me introduce The Alpha Team" he added with a smile.

The two Primordial's moved to the side, and the 7 figures crossed the room to stand beside Omega.

The first two, a man and a woman, wore fairly simple outfits. The man wore blue denim jeans, a white t-shirt and a black hoodie covering his face. He had a sword on a belt, and 2 short daggers. The woman was slipper in build, and wore black leather pants and a hoodie over a red shirt. She had a beautiful ornate black bow over one shoulder and two 4inch hunting knives.

The next man appeared human at first glance, but Thalia noticed the long canines, yellow eyes and pointed fingernails fairly quickly. He had long course black hair that grew backwards, and ran down low over the back of his neck. Stood next to him was a large thickset man. If Thalia had to guess, she'd say he was a son of Ares or Hephaestus. He had short brown hair and weathered hands covered in scars, burns and calluses. Strapped to his back was a huge double-bladed battleaxe, and at his him a wide-bladed weapon she recognised as an aruval. He had several other axe heads strapped to his belt.

The next was another woman. She had long red-haired tied back in a ponytail. She wore a black leather jumpsuit, and had two curved bladed swords sheathed at her hips. It was about then Thalia noticed the tail. It was around 2 metres long and haired, like a lions tail. It appeared dexterous-she woman was holding a dagger at the end. After noticing this the hunter recognised the more feline features the woman had: pupils like slits, high brows and a sharp jaw line.

There was no mistaking the next man for human. He was around 6ft4, and humanoid in shape but had bright red scaled skin and green eyes. He was literally a human reptilian. His fingers were pointed at the ends and there were red spines running backwards from the middle of his forehead, increasing in size to almost 6inches at the back of his skull, that stopped abruptly at the base of his neck. Convenient for wearing clothes. thought Thalia. He wore jeans and black t-shirt, with two thin swords-rapiers-strapped to his back.

The last figure was the strangest. He had a body of black stuff that was neither liquid nor gas. It seemed to flow constantly, wrapping around his shape and changing, moving. His eyes were bright white. He smiled at them and his form shifted to reveal huge black wings fused to his shoulders.

It was Omega who spoke, "This is Commander LC, he is the leader of the Beta Platoon, which are the specialised fighters and heroes. I believe you've met" he smirked. The First man stepped forward and removed his hood. Everyone froze. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a rather noticeable scar.

"Luke" Thalia gasped.

He smiled weakly, nervousness and fear clear on his face, "Hey Thals"

"He's a traitor!" echoed round the room as hundreds of demigods cried out.

"The Commander has had a difficult past, but he has served in Chaos' Army for 60 years, has fought many battles for the right cause and earned his place. He can be trusted completely" said the assassin sternly.

"Why should we trust you anyway? You're a murderer!" shouted a son of Demeter.

Omega opened his mouth to answer, but the woman removed her hood.

"I hope you can still trust me, milady?" she asked.

Artemis looked at the girl in shock, before rising from her throne, shrinking to the lieutenant's height and embracing the girl.

"I would trust you with my life Zoë, but how well do you know him?"

Surprisingly, Zoë blushed. "I have known Luke for all of the 60 years he has been in Chaos' Army, which is longer than anybody here. I don't pretend to understand all of his motives, but I would trust Luke Castellan with my life. And if you can trust me milady, then you can trust him."

Still the demigods murmured among themselves; they'd all heard stories about Luke, and it was hard to trust these people. Even the gods looked apprehensive.

"Well I don't trust him, how do we know he won't stab us in the back when were not looking?" it was the head councillor of the Ares cabin, Steven.

Omega sighed, "I didn't want to do this, but…"

"No, mate, really, you don't have to" Luke interrupted, "I understand that you don't trust me. I agree with it, I wouldn't trust me either. Not after what I did. I joined Chaos' Army to right the wrongs I committed, all I ask is that you give me the benefit of the doubt to prove myself. I am loyal to Lord Chaos, to Omega, to Chronus, and with them, to Olympus. I swear it on the styx." he sighed, "Look I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry." he looked over at Hermes. "I'm sorry dad" he whispered, but in the silent room everybody heard. Omega reached over and grasped his shoulder, and Luke looked down at the ground in shame.

Hermes stood and walked over to his son. "I forgive you." was all he said before pulling the boy into an awkward hug. After a seconds hesitation the commander wrapped his arms around him. They broke away smiling. "We can catch-up later, son."

"I'm sorry to interrupt the happy reunion, but those two should be dead." Hades said.

"Chaos' Army recruits many dead heroes, mortals along with demigods. The Beta Platoon that Luke commands is almost entirely made of them. You may have heard of his lieutenant; Theseus?" the assassin said with obvious amusement.

"As in, the Theseus?" asked a young daughter of Iris.

"Yes," he smiled "Zoë joined just minutes after her death, and quickly rose through the ranks. She is the commander of the Delta Force; the group of archers and snipers. The best marksmen in the universe."

"Well Luke here interrupted MY dramatic entrance" said the third man, "I'm Sol-leks" he said with a smile. Suddenly his figure blurred and darkened, until before them stood a 6ft black wolf with glowing yellow eyes and canines like daggers. Some of the demigods screamed and scrambled back towards the hearth.

"Don't worry, he's harmless…most of the time. Though his pick-up lines are enough to make anyone scream," said Omega. The Alpha squad laughed and in a flash Sol-leks changed back to human form.

"HEY!" he cried indignantly, stepping forward to slap Omega upside of the head, only to have 20 gallons of water dropped on his head.

"Bad dog" Omega smirked. "Sol-leks is a Lupet. But moving on, this is Aruval" he gestured to the aruval. Original name. "He took on the name of his weapon, you're open to laugh at him for it. Aruval is from Trove, a planet very like this one, and is completely human. Trove is known for its lumberjacks, blacksmiths and warriors, and Aruval is no exception." he gestured towards the tailed woman, "This is Gina, she is a latharid, I wouldn't get in the way of her tail-its lethal"

Gina grinned at them. "Ignore Omega's melodrama, I won't attack you unless you piss me off" she winked at Nico, who blushed. "Don't be shy death-boy, I don't bite" she smiled.

The lizard-man coughed, "When you've about finished flirting sweetheart" he said, his voice more of a hiss. "I'm Viper, and I do bite." he grinned, showing off his curved teeth. "But I'll play nice. I'm a Scathre, and this…" he gestured to the man made of shadows "is Umbra, he's a shade."

Umbra spoke, and his voice was enchanting. It resonated outwards, with deep bass and a rich tone. It was beautiful. Thalia could almost hear it in her head, and then she realised-she could hear it in her head-but it was kind and friendly, not like the howl of the beast she'd fought earlier. "A shade is a sorcerer; we can change forms easily, like this" his body melted into a horses, then a falcons, the a swirling mass with no shape, "though this is my preferred form," he said as he changed back.

Chronus stepped forwards again and said "Well that is The Alpha. They are the elite of the army, and will be joining you for a week before the rest of the forces arrive. Does anybody have any questions?"

Ares frowned, "Why has he" he gestured to Omega, "Not revealed himself?"

"Omega does not wish to show his face; as the assassin of legend very little is known about him through all of the universe, and he wishes to keep it that way."

Athena was next: "Why can all of you speak English? Surely not everyone in your army chose our language?"

Aether answered, "They have The Travellers Blessing. It is a blessing given by an immortal, or anybody who has the blessing already. You can understand languages, survive in the climates of any planet for up to 2 weeks, and teleport between some planets to some extent, though it is tiring if you are not experienced."

Thalia decided to speak up, "What are the creatures that have been attacking recently? We came across a beast this evening…" she described the monster to them.

"That was a Fleeth. They are almost impossible to kill due to the way they live. They start to decay from the moment they're born, surviving on the meat of their own bodies. The gain no sustenance from any other food, but they kill endlessly from their hunger. Eventually, they die when the sinews holding their bones together decompose. It can only be killed by a shot into its skull, where its consciousness resides." replied Sol-leks.

"What was that thing it did, when it howled, it was like it was inside my head" she asked.

"Similar to my voice, it howls both externally from its vocal chords but also mentally. You can be trained to defend it but it takes real strength of mind to fight it untrained. Very good Thalia Grace" Umbra replied. She wondered how he knew her name, particularly her surname, as she very rarely used it.

"I know many things hunter, while we are talking, you are not blocking your thoughts well enough. I cannot help but hear what your thinking. As for your surname, your thinking about spending time with your brother, and your mind was making the connection-your last name." he replied to her unanswered question.

"Oh"

Luke turned to her, " What other monsters have been attacking?"

Thalia quickly recounted the few creatures that had caused them problems, and his frown darkened.

"The snake headed horses are Hippoanguis, they're very rare, so they must have been planning their attacks for some time. As for the lions, they're more common, known as Flamecats. And the winged monkeys are Darg's. We'll teach you more at camp later, I fear you'll need it."

"Well if that's all?" Chronus asked. The gods nodded their assent. "The Alpha will remain with you, you can get to know them a little better. Commander Helly will bring the remaining troops and the crew of the Lambda Ship in a weeks time. The Olympians may want to be present when we introduce the full army-there are many of your children you may want to meet" he smiled. "Until then, Omega is in charge of The Alpha, and any questions can be posed to him. I will see you in a week." And with that, The Primordial of Time and his son, were simply-gone.

Thalia was the first to move; she stood up and crossed the room to her old friend. Everyone was silent waiting to see what happened. She stood in front of him, and for a minute the two friends stared at each other. As fast as thought she slapped him across the face.

"That's for blaming the gods for my death,"

Thunder rumbled and a fork of lightning jumped off the hunter, hitting the commander and blasting off his feet. "That's for betraying us,"

Luke stood shakily but was greeted by as fist connected with his jaw.

"That's for nearly killing Percy…Annabeth…Me…"

She punctuated each name with a punch to his stomach. She stepped closer and he flinched. Standing on her tip-toes she kissed his forehead. There were tears pouring down her face.

"That's for doing the right thing, in the end…" She choked back a sob, and threw her arms around him.

"This is for coming back" she sniffed.

Most of The Alpha were shocked at her reaction, but Zoë burst out laughing. "I see Lady Artemis taught thee how to treat men?"

"I've always been like this with my friends" Thalia replied, before leading Luke over to the demigods, "I want you to meet my brother, he might actually give you a decent swordfight"

Most took this as their cue to integrate. The younger campers ran off to talk to Umbra-they were enthralled by his voice, Aruval was quickly mobbed by Hephaestus and his children, Zoë went to talk to the hunters and Lady Artemis swapping stories about her time away from the hunt. Gina was quickly called over by the Queen of the Amazons-they could spot a woman with power anywhere-and they were soon laughing at the males expense. Sol-leks walked up to Lupa and started to chat her up but was given a punch in the face in return and even Viper struck up a conversation with some Romans; he was discussing the finer details of sword technique in no time. Omega followed Luke over to what remained of the seven; Thalia noted they were clearly good friends.

She introduced Luke to Nico, who apparently thought it a good idea to dive straight into the awkward questions.

"You haven't seen Percy in this army at all? It's the sort of thing he may have done" the son of Hades asked.

Luke shook his head, "I did look for him, but…" he shrugged, "I guess he's not the type to follow orders. If I had to guess, I'd say he somehow got himself a Travellers Blessing and is out their doing something noble"

"Wouldn't you have heard if he was?" Nico asked hopefully.

"Maybe not, I mean, the New Universe is a big place. There's over 15,000 civilised planets, and many more with more primitive habitants. He could be anywhere really." the commander replied.

Time passed quickly, and it was soon many hours later. The gods teleported everyone back to Camp Half-Blood for the night; movement of the legion would start tomorrow. As Thalia said goodbye to the campers and headed over to the silver Artemis cabin, she couldn't help but admit that she was glad to have her friend back, even if it was only for a short while and in such dire circumstances.

End of Chapter xx

AN- So thats another one down. I've tried to capture the reactions properly, but im not sure they're quite write-flames/con-crit are welcome to help me improve it. Im considering a little Luke/Zoe but I am open to opinions if you think its abit unrealistic. As for Percy, i think im just going to see where this heads and let it unfold on its own. Next chapter will be training, and the introduction of the rest of the army, should be up in the next few days. xx

PLEASE REVIEW, it helps keep me motivated!

Yours in demigodishness, ChrysosArgentum xx