HEY!

The full chapter is here! FINALLY!

I admit I'm the laziest writer on the planet for my delays, but I've finally written it all up! Some of these scenes (the Luke-centric one specifically) have been buzzing round my head since this time 2 years ago! Jesus.

You may have noticed I changed my name to ChrysosAurum (still seems odd to be GoldGold instead of GoldSilver but there was a good reason, though I wanted to change it to something similar so you wouldn't get confused.

I HAVE to give a big thanks to all who've REVIEWED since chapter 9, it was reading through your lovely comments that made me finally get back to writing, and I am thankful because this story is my first, and I'm so fond of it.

Without further ado, the latest (VERY LATE) chapter!

~READ, ENJOY, REVIEW, FOLLOW, WRITE~ Keep the cycle going!

All the best, ChrysosAurum xx

Luke arrived at The Hangman's Noose a little later than Percy, owing to the fact he had to teleport to the ship, (there really was no other way to leave the conversation than to teleport, it looked far more impressive than walking off), step through the universal door in the coms room to The City of Aether, go up two flights of stairs to reach another universal door, this one to Trove, take a 14 minute ride by horse to off the f*cking beaten track as the town should be called, and walk half a mile from the public stables to the bar itself.

He stepped into the seedy-looking pub, and strode to their usual spot on the short side of the L-shaped bar, where his superior officer was seated downing what had to be at least the 3rd whiskey. Just where the son of Hermes had known he would be. Whenever either of them got so p*ssed off they had to get away from everything the quiet pub in a backwater town on a planet known for its unobtrusive, hardworking people was the best place for a drink.

The commander himself was looking forward to a relaxing chat with just the two of them himself, but knew Percy was not likely to be in the casual talk mood. Sliding into the spare seat he signalled to the barman for his usual, waiting for his companion to break the silence.

"I could just not reinstate you." The assassin said drily. He hadn't looked over once yet, keeping his sights fixed on a cigar burn on the bar top. Now that was a good night thought Luke.

"You'd never cope without me. The paperwork alone would kill you, it's not like Aruval could take my place – I'm not even sure he can write. Do they teach lumberjack's to write here? Seems like a pointless skill really. Not to mention the people that you would have to talk to daily, there'd be murder in masses by the end of the first week!"

Omega looked out of the corner of his eye at his friend, raising his eyebrow but conceded the point a moment later with a slight shrug. "You took your time getting here," the assassin struck back with. "Exactly how difficult was it?" he asked with amusement, he'd clearly anticipated how complex Luke's journey would be.

That b*stard. The son of Hermes glared with all the strength of ten thousand Hellhounds, but this only prompted a snort from the son of Poseidon. Deciding the ice had been adequately broken, he turned to the matter at hand, absently tapping the bar for a refill as he collected his thoughts. "How bad, exactly is this?"

Percy sighed, and for once Luke saw him only as the young troubled kid trying to solve the world's problems. Problems caused by a fool once more, he thought viciously, the wheel turns and nothing changes. For the rest of his life he would scorn the naïve, childish actions of his younger self, and hate the titan that had manipulated a bitter teenager into a murderer. If there was one thing he hated more than anything else, it was beings who lead the vulnerable astray.

"Aether could have lost this war for us, or it might be a minor bump in the road."

The commander's attention snapped back to politics, not that it had ever been his strong point. Give him a blade and a battlefield over the silver-tongued men and women that duelled with words.

Percy continued, "Politics in the New Universe is so fraught with people trying to one-up each other it's hard to tell when it's a real mistake and when it's a mountain out of a molehill. Ordinarily I'd trust Wera's judgement, but even he dances in the same sort of circles that stir trouble."

Right, battle strategy. Step 1- assess the potential damage.

"Worst case scenario?" he asked, trying to help focus Percy's ever tempestuous mind, so like his fathers' element in a storm.

Percy flashed his friend a thankful look before replying. "Wera's telling the truth, Aether has blown the alliance wide open, the Union loses ¾ of its planets, Rapacia gains a ¼ of them, the balance is broken and Rapacia goes to war with us, slaughters all who stand against them, help Tartarus to rise, lose control of him and the universe is destroyed. Probability; a little less than 1 in 20."

"Admittedly not a wanted outcome. Best case?"

"It's nothing but Wera blowing things out of proportion, and we continue as we were. Probability; getting less likely the more I think of it."

Step 2- Identify the predominant dilemma. "Okay, so it all lands on if it's true or not, which thankfully isn't difficult to confirm. Any disadvantages if it is all and nothing?" Luke hoped to all the gods the odds were in their favour.

Percy nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose it would de-stable the camp's trust in us. Viper and I will have to spend several weeks away to sort this out, which lowers our defences. It'd be the perfect time for a coup from our lot, or maybe the others, but I doubt even Zeus could have set this up."

Step 3- Chose the immediate course of action. "Which means we need to get back. If you send Aruval off to confirm it then you'll at least know what you're stepping into. We can sort out the details if you do have to leave later tonight and then you and Viper can set off in the morning."

Percy stood up and clasped Luke's arm, pulling him off the stool and into a manly hug. He looked his best friend in the eye, a serious light in his own. "Thank you." He said sincerely, "For every time you've helped me out, and for just being there like a kick-ass bro. And for taking it when Blackjack hurls mental abuse at you. And for being less of a p*sstaker than Sol-leks."

Luke grinned, clapping him on the arm. "Any time Perce. I could hardly leave you to be molested by Gina could I?" He sniggered, remembering the first conversation they'd had after the demigod had collected him from the Underworld, after Luke had dragged a flirty Gina away from the poor son of Poseidon who clearly didn't want to sound rude in his rejection. The then not-a-commander had had no such qualms. Thankful she didn't hold it against them. Much.

Viper was concerned. This wasn't exactly a common occurrence, which made it noteworthy in itself. There was no denying that little bothered the scathre in the grand scheme of things. He'd been a member of Chaos' Army for longer than any other member of the Alpha, and indeed a great many others in its ranks. Even before that he had travelled far and wide, studied the people of nearly every race in the universe. He'd seen civilisations rise and fall with their leaders, whether they were great a just or as corrupt as those that Omega ended.

The scathre was often overlooked, the odd one out in a seamless group. Omega as their leader, with his friends-from-past-lives Zoe and Luke, Aruval and with him Gina, both of whom he'd met early in his joining of the Army, Umbra the shade that was loyal to him, and Sol-leks the joker he had drank with on occasion after leaving his Earth life behind. There was no denying that Viper seemed to be the quiet on in the corner.

Upon first meeting the Alpha many assumed he was more beastly even than Sol-leks, a dumb animal in a humanoid shape. Viper liked it this way. He saw so much more than normal beings, even his comrades were slow compared to him. His mind was as sharp as his ever sharp rapier's so he watched. The motives of others came so easily, he knew their insecurities, where to push to get a reaction. He knew what they wanted, what to offer to gain allies. And he knew what was bothering them, when they only needed to talk.

Though the former were both crucial in his political games, it was the last that he favoured the most in how he cared for his comrades. Viper had come into the Alpha, assuming that as before he would keep a professional distance between him and his teammates, but their honest, good hearts had warmed his cold heart and they had become his family.

As the oldest in the Alpha it was natural he became a father figure to the others. They had all been a little bit in awe of their leader at some point, and he knew unnerved the young man –and he was young compared to Viper- so he'd long decided to treat him paternally. The scathre knew this decision had comforted the assassin some, letting him know that 5600 years was roughly the age required for someone not to place him on a pedestal, no matter how small his comrades were.

Secretly though, in the quiet corners of his mind that even his friend the shade could not reach he was proud of Percy like a son. Even matured as he was coming into the Army, and the political minefield that it was he was untrained and clumsy but he had listened to the scathre's quiet advice where others had scorned knowledge and had become adept at dancing the nobles dance. His honest acceptance had tied Viper to him as surely as Umbra was.

Even now he shows his skill the scathre thought looking around the room. It was late on the fifth night of their stay at the Union headquarters in The City of Aether enjoying a quiet glass of wine as he watched his apprentice working the room with all the grace of an experienced artist of words. The nightmare that was the foolish primordial's mistake had indeed been as bad as they feared, and after fully investigating the size of the problem and tying those that had been quiet in the aftermath tightly too them, ensuring their alliance, they had invited the aggrieved parties to a celebratory dinner to get down to the real meat of it.

Omega was passing between each group that had arrived so far, a simple meet-and-greet but Viper's excellent senses could hear every word that he was saying.

"It's been so long my dear Heradoc! It must have been last year's meeting…"

"I've been on business actually, things are stirring up on Earth again; you know how it is with the pit primordial…"

"I'm sorry to hear that Madam Carramoor, but with Rapacia stirring up trouble things will be getting dangerous for all of us, if you know what I mean…"

"I'd start getting your men back in one place if I were you, if things don't settle down you might well need them…"

The subtle threats were making the members more tense, yes, but the idea of a common enemy was already doing wonders to heal the damage Aether had caused. Most of the beings here had no real fibre to them, the chances of any joining Rapacia were slim. Percy was reminding them of the past wars with Rapacia and the new threat of Tartarus whist simultaneously quieting their tempers about the lack of time he'd spent on the political scene lately, and how that had led to the Light primordial's thoughtless insults.

Viper swallowed the last of his wine and went to join his leader, apprentice and beloved son-of-his-heart to give his observations wondering if his comrades on Earth were having a better time of it.

Thankfully it had happened whilst Percy had been doing his daily check-up at the camp, otherwise he was pretty sure they would have strung Luke up heed less to the cries of Chaos' Army. It was a tricky situation, and even afterwards Percy wondered if it wasn't too soon. But allies they needed, and this would certainly add to them.

It was daybreak when a camper from Dionysus cabin sounded the alarm. His girlfriend from Demeter cabin came running down half-blood hill to where those responding to the call from the alarm (the camps, and the Alpha team) were gathering round, some of them yawning at the early start.

"THE MINOTAUR! The Minotaur is here, and more Hell-hounds than I can count!" she screamed. It was a wonder she could manage even this given how out of breath the girl was. "They're marching up the hill, but for some reason it's shouting for the crooked one or something. It's not making a great deal of sense."

With all of the Army carrying the Travellers Blessing within a few days the almost all rest of the inhabitants of Camp Half-Blood had been Blessed by someone, and they now had all the benefits of being able to understand all languages, including the language of houseflies. Admittedly there wasn't anything particularly interesting that houseflies have say but if any of them wanted to know what was on that fly's mind they just had to listen. Surely one of them wanted to know? We all have our odd quirks after all.

As they reached the top they heard the Minotaur's roars but almost superimposed over the top they heard the words it meant to say. Come to us Master! It cried out. We had heard you are here, in hiding. It's probably best not to advise anyone to send Minotaur's undercover. Absolutely rubbish at fieldwork and not the most secretive of beasts. Give us instruction so we may tear the godlings apart!

Some of the more intuitive of the demigods understood the implication and looked over at the son of Hermes as he flinched back, as though struck. He looked at Percy in desperation who grabbed him by the shoulder and looked at him. Luke must have been able to read something in his face that the campers could not, because he nodded once, and stepped onto the top of the rise of the hill, and into the sight of the beast, though he remained out of reach behind the barriers.

The Minotaur gave a celebratory roar and the hellhounds howled at the dawning sun in exuberance. Luke had seemed nervous as he walked to the crest but as soon as he stepped over the line he had changed drastically. His back straightened and shoulders squared. To those around the curve of the rise who could see his face they saw as he shifted from the relaxed playful they had grown used to into a hard lined almost ferocious look that sent a shiver down their spines. To Thalia and Nico, it was like he had stepped back 500 years as he crossed the line to the times when he had been their enemy.

"So you have come." The son of Hermes' voice was cold as the morning and held a disappointed tone. "I've waited for you, assuming my servants were still loyal to me, still followed my word. But see how you have repaid my graciousness in my time away!" The latter was shouted and the monsters flinched back, cowering.

"Perhaps while you have reaped the benefits for other beings rises you have forgotten me, perhaps they gave you blood and now you have forsaken me, perhaps other gods rule you now." In little more than a whisper he could still project an aura of fear over the group. "While I rotted in hell with you for hundreds of years plotting our rise to glory once more you have been allowing other to lead you, when they will never give you the blood I would! I would have let you drink the very blood of gods, but not now. Now you must earn your riches."

The campers were spellbound, terrified by the sight of their old enemy. There was no denying the strength of his leadership when a few words could have these monsters recoiling in horror and bowing to his will centuries after his time. Unbeknownst to the campers, in the Throne Room on Olympus the gods also watched in muted shock and displeasure.

It did not last, the spell broken as one Hellhound leapt at the barrier and snarled loudly. I WILL NOT HUNT WITH A TRAITOR!It called out with its growls. A traitor to the godlings and a traitor to Kronos, I heard he killed him! Stabbed himself with a bronze blade and sent our true leader to the void!

The other hellhounds shifted restlessly, some growling also, others unsure. The Minotaur turned to Luke again and said in a roar of almost-outrage Prove you are the Titan of Time. Prove you are worthy to lead us or we will tear you apart!

For the first time since taking on his Kronos persona the commander looked visibly nervous. He glanced at Percy in carefully concealed fear but the assassin knew what to do. He just hoped to all the gods Luke forgave him for this. And that the campers wouldn't run screaming. Throwing his time-powers at the son of Hermes was painful and extremely tiring. He barely remained conscious from the feat and had enough sense to use the concealing magic he had stolen from a chameleon creature he had slain years ago to charm Luke's eyes a bright molten gold.

In the Throne Room Hermes let out a quiet sob in mourning of the times past, but even he was unnerved. The then-traitor had gotten the closest ever to bringing Olympus down. The campers were frozen in fear and even Percy felt a shiver up his spine. In the golden eyes Luke became Kronos so easily it was enough to make him want to reach for Riptide.

The commander glanced once at the sky, almost as though asking forgiveness, before looking straight at the Hellhound who 'defied' him. It was not growling any more. In fact all the monsters were shivering with fear, some on their knees trying to grovel. Tilting his head to the side he used the power of Kronos to surround the Hellhound, and speed up time for it. It aged in seconds rather than years. Growing greyer and feebler, its bones began to stick out and its skin hung loosely. Finally its fur melted away and its skin flaked and it turned to gold-grey dust on the floor.

"Does anyone else dare to cross me?" Kronos spoke in a quiet voice, for he appeared to be the time titan in every facet of him. "No?" The monsters bowed to the floor, the camper leaned back as far as they could for they were frozen to the spot and the Olympian gods shuddered. "Wait in the woods a few hundred yards away. Kill no-one. I will be back later."

As he turned and stepped back below the crest of the hill the façade dropped off him and he seemed lost in himself. For the first time in a long time Percy saw Luke as he was as he lay dying. Broken.

Thalia had decided to join the latest scouting party because the atmosphere at camp was beginning to get stifling. Percy (he would always be Percy, her dopey cousin to her) had been away so much for the last week along with Scathre, trying to navigate what he described as the political minefield that Aether had been the cause of and after the strong reminder of Luke's previous loyalties everyone at camp seemed to be waiting for the explosion.

Thalia of course trusted Luke as much as she would any male, which admittedly wasn't all that much, but even she could only stand so much before she had to kill something- preferably a monster. The scouting parties had increased in frequency since the latest battle that had taken them so much by surprise and there always seemed to be more nearby monsters to hunt so Thalia had leapt at the chance to wear down some of her bloodlust.

As much as she would like to bring only hunters in her group the mixing rule was still in place so she was in a small team consisting of several of the Ares cabin, the Roman Apollo children, and two amazons named Beth and Kelly, her loyal hunter friend Chloe, Nico di Angelo and Sol-lek's the wolf shifter of the Alpha.

They'd been tracking what had to be a fair sized group of monsters for several hours when Thalia first sensed something wasn't quite right. They were heading towards a high rise of earth that lead to a sharp drop down into a bowl surrounded by sharp rocks. It was the perfect place for an ambush.

"Thalia," Nico asked hesitantly. "When was the last time you saw the monster tracks?"

Thalia stopped dead. How could she have let her emotional baggage get in the way of the hunt? She hadn't seen fresh tracks for several hundreds of yards before the copse of trees they'd just passed through. A snarl came from behind them.

"Close Ranks!" Thalia shouted, hoping the training they'd been putting in was going to pay off. Sol-lek's let out a howl of challenge as monsters started to pour out of the woods. Three huge Fleeth's lead the charge, followed by a pair of dracaenae and a legion of Cyclopes. A flicker of gold between the trees was all the warning they got before the Nemean Lion padded softly towards them. They were outnumbered, but they were more than capable of fighting them off.

"Plan?" asked Benjamin, a Roman son of Apollo.

"You cover us from closest to the edge. Ares cabin try to push the Cyclopes back into the tree's and give us some space. Girls;" Thalia gestured to Chloe and the two amazons, "see if you can get the dracaenae onto the rocks. Nico and Sol-lek's can you handle the Fleeth's, I've got a date with a lion."

The heroes leapt to work like a well-oiled machine, each playing their part as Thalia charged the lion. It had been over 500 years since she'd last seen the Nemean Lion, on her last quest before she became a hunter. In that time the beast seemed to have grown immensely. It towered over her at least 10ft tall, muscles rippling beneath glittering fur. Its eyes were dark as Tartarus as it surveyed her.

Thalia knew that monsters like this either made heroes, or tore them apart. She knew its weakness- the mouth- but Thalia had no space food or equally crazy ideas that her cousin seemed to pluck from his confusing brain. She had to get it to open its mouth, and for that she'd have to get up close and personal. Drawing her twin silver hunting knives and stepping up.

The lion paced restlessly around her. It clearly sensed she was no novice demigod, they both danced around each other, leaping forward and falling back looking for an opening. Thalia saw one first, its hindquarters were slightly closer to her for all that its head was turned to her front. She dove at him from behind throwing her whole weight behind her strike, knocking his foot from under him.

The Lion snarled, but it had outsmarted her. Thalia's strike had left her back dangerously unprotected and the beast swiped at her with its claws. She rolled under it, tossing her knife behind her at its face. The cliff was too close to her now. She was right on the edge and the Lion could smell her fear as it advanced on her. She scrabbled for her footing on the loose rocks as the crumbled down the ravine. The hunter could smell the beast's fetid breath as it crouched for the pounce.

Just as she thought her death was inevitable, a flash of black fur knocked the Lion away and over the edge. Sol-lek's was half the size of the Nemean Lion though he made up for it in sheer strength as the wrestled from the bottom of the rise. The Lupet yelped out a cry of pure agony as the Lion got the upper paw, crunching his between its powerful jaws. The wolf shifter twisted in its grasp, snapping at its face, jaws locked tearing at the beast.

But the Lion was not done. He raked his claws along Sol-lek's back; opening four gashes that poured blood reddening the sand in which they fought within seconds. The thrill of a dying enemy was too much for the Lions control as it roared its triumph! Sol-lek's took his chance in what may be his last kill biting down on the Lions lower jaw, through his tongue, ripping the mandible from the beast's skull through sheer strength.

The Lion howled as Sol-lek's finished it tearing apart the rest of its head until it dissolved into golden dust. Seeing that their strongest had fallen, the few Cyclopes and single dracaenae fled.

"Lead the hunt Chloe!" Thalia cried as she raced down the rocky terrain to the Lupet that lay in the bloody sand, chest heaving with the effort to keep breathing. "We need to get him back to camp!" Nico was by her side in an instant as she began binding Sol-lek's wounds with the bandages she always carried.

"I can take him." said the son of Hades. He helped her in wrapping the wounds so the wolf didn't lose any more blood. Nico wrapped his arms around Sol-leks' neck. "You lead the rest of them back.

The shadows in the ravine crept towards the underworld child, thickening as they wrapped around him and the Lupet before the shadows faded back to light without them.

Lupa was a wolf, and in her mind there was no greater thing to be. Wolves were strong, fierce creatures that stood for all Rome stood for. Greatness for the strong, death for the weak. Protection of the homeland and defence of the pack.

She herself was an elegant study in contradiction. She was the Mother of Rome, and would guard her pups to the death, but she would send them into danger to give them courage. She raised those who raised the greatest civilisation its era and she raised them strong, but she watched her empire fall and her cities burn quietly to protect the few demigods that remain. When time had come to put aside their differences with their Grecian cousins she learned how to play pinochle and dealt with that horse of a man Chiron to aid the alliance. Wolves stood firm in the face of defiance but she had learnt to bend her neck even if she was a goddess.

So when war was upon them once more she dealt with the lusty, naïve attentions of the so called 'Alpha' lupet-pup that bothered her, for Rome. The wolf goddess could not deny she saw strength in the lupet-pup, but he was wild and young, untrained when it came to true 'pack' and would be as much a hindrance on the battlefield as an asset she was sure. The sort of pup you allowed to wander off into the woods to get itself killed so your other young could grow strong in its absence.

And yet. And yet the Mother was unsure. She knew that her beloved Jason had once been young and untrained. He came to her so young that he could not survive on his own, and she had not cast him out. The she-wolf saw the strength in him as she had seen in it Romulus and Remus. Now Jason was strong, her dear pup was the immortal trainer of New Rome and had a pup for his own. So maybe all hope was not lost for the lupet-pup.

Lupa smelt the blood before she saw him but she knew it was the very pup about whom she thought. There was too much blood. As she raced towards the scent she knew it was bad. She used her godly powers to reach out to the mind of those who had brought him and found the chaotic thoughts of Jason's-littermate, the hunter girl. The wolf goddess saw in the Greek's mind how the lupet-pup had leapt on the foul beast that nearly killed her, taking down the prey even as it injured him in protection of the pack.

It solidified the thoughts in her mind. The pup needed training, and had just proved himself worthy of it. She would let him run with her pack until he learnt the ways of wolf-kind properly. He had spent too long among humans and had lost the spirit of the pack. In her wolf form she stood a little smaller than the lupet-pup at only 4 ½ ft too his 6, yet the she-wolf barrelled through the gathering crowd, snarling as she went.

Reaching the centre she saw the pup was badly wounded as she had feared. Great claw marks of a cat (foul beasts that they were), rent his back open and his paw had been crushed by the beasts' powerful jaw. The shade was trying to heal him as his pack gathered around pressing bandages to the blood but she knew it was fruitless. He needed the power of a goddess.

Lupa growled loudly. Move. I need space. She bent over the pup and licked at the blood pooling from his back. Her saliva was antibiotic, as was any canines', but hers had the power of a goddess. The blood sank back into the cuts, and new skin began to cover the wounds before she backed off and started on the paw. When the Mother knew he would live she padded away and lay next to the young-one. Her pack joined her surrounding their new member and giving him warmth and comfort.

Lupa allowed the lupet-pup's pack to remain close along with the littermate of her grown-pup and Pluto's offspring, but snarled threateningly at the rest of the crowd. Leave. The one word held enough command for them to scuttle back to their tasks. The she-wolf could hear the waking lupet-pup speaking to his pack, but allowed them their privacy. She had a new youngling to train, and this pup may be the hardest task yet. He was certainly arrogant and stubborn enough to give her training of Percy Jackson a run for its money.

Her feelings for the lupet-pup were already maternal, and she would continue to snap at him for his advances, but he would learn that he must find his own mate and start his own pack, and not with her who was already Mother to Rome.

The End! SO FAR...

I hope you enjoyed it.

1,000,000 internet cookies to anyone who noticed the Sherlock and another mystery reference. (Psst- Its mystery cos I forgot :3) Please review so I know where to send said internet cookies too.

You may have noticed I've tried to change the POV more often in this one, to get the outline characters opinions, though it compromises dialogue. Please drop me a line to tell me how you think it went, and whether to continue this way or head back to the old style.

"Hasta la vista, as we say in Amsterdam -BEEP!"

PS- Anyone who get that reference is my new god, best friend and gets the internet as a prize!

All the best, Chrysos A. Xx