Hey my beautiful readers!

Or what's left of you guys anyways O.o

...

Anyhoos! I lied!

There will not be a few more chapters...this is the last chpt!

Srry for springing this up on you out of the blue '3'

More Author's Note at the end of the chapter :P

For now...enjoy the LAST chapter of Vengeful Truth

Chapter 21: The Vengeful Truth

Percy POV

I looked on him with horror. I didn't know what the wraths had done to him, but he looked barely looked alive. The blind boy's head was bowed down, but I could still see that his face was even paler than I remembered and streaked with sweat. His shirt was reduced to a bloody mess of shredded rags. His entire body was trembling. Then, he lifted his head and began moving his lips.

A haunting whisper wafted through the air. The foreign words grew to an eerie chant. All I understood of the ancient tongue was the word death.

All of a sudden, Annabeth gasped. "Percy!" she exclaimed. "We have to stop him!"

"What?" I was pulled out of my stunned state. "What is it?"

"And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," she recited in a rush. "The prophecy! Winter's going to open them!"

In the string of the strange recitation, I caught Tartarus.

"Winter's going to open Tartarus," I whispered in numb shock.

I lunged for Idylla, reaching for Riptide. In midair, a freezing blast of water knocked me aside. I crashed, tumbling across the ground. My clothes now soaking wet, I looked up. Water spun around Achlys' hands. Her eyes blazed with fury. "It's done," she said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Winter touch his finger to the ground. Like a quiet breath, a chilling tremor shuddered through the air. Then, an eerie calm rested.

Whoosh.

I heard the rumble of the avalanche before the ground collapsed inwards. I stumbled backwards. It was like a black hole had opened. Rocks tumbled into an infinite black void. I got nauseous looking into the nothingness.

"Gods!" Annabeth shouted. "It's growing! It'll swallow the whole mountain!"

"I'm going to get to Idylla!" I yelled back.

A magnetic pull emanating from the pit threatened to suck me in. I fought against the void, keeping my eye on the wrath. Her face was contorted with focus, her eyes shut tight. She was probably concentrating on controlling Winter. Now, she was only a few feet away. Then, I froze. I had forgotten about Achlys. I spun around and blocked her staff of ice with my sword. I looked wildly at my feet. The ground behind me was rapidly collapsing. Fighting Tartarus' pull, I desperately tried to push Achlys away.

"Tatarus nullifies magic, demigod," she hissed. "It's the end."

I tensed, waiting for the ground to fall from my feet. Suddenly, the void stopped growing. Not bothering to understand, I swiftly kicked Achlys backwards and pulled away from the sucking vacuum. I glanced at Idylla. Her mouth was open in silent shock and she was looking at the golden horn that had grown out of her chest. The horn suddenly withdrew and Idylla slumped to the ground. She exploded into dust as she hit the ground.

Abruptly, I realized the horn was part of a weapon. A muscular blonde boy covered in cuts and scrapes held a large spear.

A loud shout interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to see Achlys smashing a huge torpedo of water into Poseidon's chest.

"Dad!" I cried out.

He tumbled towards into the black void. Tartarus' pull caught his imbalance and yanked him towards the pit.

Tartarus nullifies magic.

I looked on hopelessly as Poseidon was pulled into the void. Suddenly, rocks erupted onto the surface. Poesidon crashed against the ground.

"What happened?" I exclaimed, the thought stumbling out of my mouth.

"Winter's amazing," Byron said.

I turned to the blonde boy holding the golden spear.

"I'm not dead quite yet," he said, grinning. He brushed some monster dust off his spear. "But Winter managed to close Tartarus."

Winter POV

I breathed difficultly, my hand closed tightly in a fist. Shakily, I opened my fist. The power of Tartarus was overwhelming; it was frightening. Slowly, I stood up, wobbling a little. I started walking over to Proteus. The wrath had gained consciousness and had gotten to his feet. A surge of water shot towards me. With a flick of my hand, a shield raised to block the torrent. Being exposed to an element of the Underworld had heightened all my senses. It almost felt like I had been shot with ambrosia. I knew I could finish this fight. I clenched my hands into fists, closing cuffs of black energy around Proteus' hands. I felt a wrath assume an offensive position behind me.

"No, Achlys," Proteus called. "Stand down."

I advanced until I was a few feet away from him. I pulled out my sword and held it at his throat.

"Who knew it'd end this way?" Proteus said. His voice was bitter. "Well, I can't blame you. Underneath the gods, everybody has to be submissive."

I pulled my blade back to slit his throat. Then, I paused.

"What's wrong, Winter?" Hector called. 'What are you waiting for?"

I hesitated, lowering the tip of my blade. There was a reason why the wraths felt so much resentment towards the gods. In my imprisonment, I had pieced together their stories. Zeus and Poesidon's wars had cost Proteus his family, Achlys and Timoleon their parents, and Obelix his father. My grip tightened around my hilt. The gods needed to learn how their little squabbles were affected the rest of the world. I lowered my head and sheathed my sword.

"Winter!" Annabeth exclaimed. "What are you-?"

"I'll let you talk to the gods," I said quietly to Proteus.

"I don't need sympathy," Proteus spat. "I'd rather die honorably than bow down to the gods."

"Don't worry," I said, turning around. "It won't be you they're looking at."

Byron POV

"You have directly gone against your oath to the River Styx!" Zeus shouted in fury. His voice boomed through the entire room. Winter winced and rubbed his ear. "Not only you, son of Hades, but all of you!"

"It was only me," Winter said defiantly. "If they had tried to touch the wraths, I would've opened Tartarus again."

"Don't talk lies," Zeus seethed.

"It's true," Winter said bluntly. "What do you know to say otherwise?"

Zeus was so angry, I swear the air around him was sparking.

"Father," I said, quickly. "All of us were worn from weeks of toil and fighting. Many of us had lost comrades. At Mt. Tam, we were mentally and physically exhausted."

He seemed surprised, and not in a good way, that someone else had spoken against him. After some deliberation, Zeus spoke up.

"Alright," he said. "Do we all agree that these demigods aren't at fault?"

The gods muttered consent. "But," Zeus continued, "the son of Hades has no excusable reason to against his oath. As the oath to the River Styx is the most severe, do we agree that the son of Hades deserves a punishment."

Astounded, I stepped forward. "But Dad, Winter saved-"

"Silence!" he roared. "How dare you interrupt the Lord of the Gods so informally!"

"-Poesidon's butt," I finished quietly. Grimacing, I stepped back. I glanced at Winter. His face was unreadable, but he seemed to be silently accepting his judgment.

"May I suggest a ruling?" Hades asked.

"Just because he's your son, doesn't mean he's getting off easy," Zeus said.

"Not too hard to believe," Hades said almost bitterly. "I suggest that Winter Shakler is sentenced to eternal servitude in my realm."

"That's hardly a punishment for a son of Hades!" Zeus protested.

I noticed Hades giving Poseidon a knowing look. Poseidon cleared his throat. "Um, actually Brother, I agree with Hades."

"What?" Zeus exclaimed.

"Keeping Winter in the Underworld would guarantee that he'd never cause havoc on Earth again. Also, Winter would never die in the Underworld. Then, we wouldn't have to worry about a reincarnation."

"I'll take full responsibility for Winter," Hades said.

Zeus clenched his teeth and then said, "Fine! I never want to see him again!"

Poseidon gestured at the wraths. "What about them?"

"Actually," I said, bargaining speaking up again. "I think Charon will be able to arrange something."

Percy POV

Having the wraths at camp was awkward for everybody at first, but eventually everybody got used to it. So far, Obelix was fitting in with the campers the best. The campers enjoyed sword fighting with him. Astrea was pretty quiet, but she was handling camp life pretty well. (I learned Tria's real name was Astrea. She later revealed that she had only infiltrated camp to find her brother. Just like I though, Tria, Astrea, never had bad intentions. Why she had used a fake name, she never explained.) Achlys stayed at the edge of events and ignored the Poseidon campers. Sometimes, I saw her carrying a small vial of blue dust. I wasn't sure, but I thought they were her brother's ashes. She had come to me once and asked what Timoleon had meant by 'Percy knows'. Since then, we haven't talked.

I hadn't seen Proteus around much. He usually hung around the woods or the beach. Tria explained that it was probably because he didn't want to see her. When I asked why, she just smiled and said it was complicated.

It was almost sunset when I made my way to the shore. I wanted to clear my mind. So many things had happened; I just needed to have a moment of calm. As I got closer, I noticed somebody sitting by the lapping waves of the sea. I frowned, it wasn't Hermes was it?

With a start, I realized it was Proteus. I froze, arguing between leaving in a hurry or shuffle away awkwardly.

"Hello, Jackson. What are you doing here?" he said.

Shoot! He noticed me. Cautiously, I moved beside him. He turned his head, raised his eyebrow. "I won't bite," he said, amused.

I sat in the warm sand a few feet away from him. He seemed so…normal. With his sunglasses masking his stone eyes, he seemed just like a somber teenager hanging at the beach.

"So..." I said tentatively, "what are you doing here?"

He was silent for a moment. I thought he wasn't going to answer when he said, "Normally, the sea makes me angry. Today…I don't know. It's helping me think."

"The sea makes you angry," I repeated, "is it Poseidon?"

He winced a little as a small arc of lightning fluttered around his wrist. He shook his arm in annoyance. I had seen it before, even in a much larger scale, but I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise.

"Yeah, it's him," he said simply.

We sat in silence for a moment. Why did Proteus have that lightning? What had happened? Queena seemed to have known most of it, but I suspected that she hadn't told the whole story. Tria refused to tell me. I gulped and asked my question:

"What happened?"

"Fulmina?"

The lightning?

I simply nodded. Proteus was scary enough as it was, and I suspected that the black lightning was a sensitive subject. Behind his dark shades, he studied me, as if wondering whether to trust me or not. Then, he sighed and gazed back out to the sea. Well, alright. I could understand if he didn't want to reply. I shifted, about to stand up, when Proteus interrupted the silence.

"I angered Zeus. The se…I accidently destroyed his island. I hadn't had my sea manipulation under control at the time," he said a bit stiffly.

I frowned a little, noticing his pause. What was he about to say about to say? Also, something about his tone seemed a bit off, like he didn't believe his own words.

"I refused to repent my actions and Zeus cursed me," he continued.

His expression was almost sad. His eyebrows were a bit furrowed as he thought back at the time.

"What was the curse?" I said. I got ready to bolt in case I pressed too far.

"Zeus decreed that I could never make any contact with my family. I could never hear their voice; they could never hear mine. I would never see them, or them, me. And never would I speak or hear of their name. Else, I would feel the wrath of dominus caelum."

The sky god.

"What about Olympus? You saw Posei-your dad."

"Family isn't always dependent on the blood. I was angry at the gods, Jackson, and I'm still bitter. I hardly consider Poseidon my father anymore."

Faint black lightning flickered around his neck as he said 'Poseidon'. He grimaced.

It was my turn to fall silent now. How had Proteus lived all these years, forcibly torn from his family? He did say that he didn't consider Poseidon his dad anymore. But Tria, no, Astrea…the effect of the curse when he heard her voice was terrifying.

"You haven't seen your sister ever since-"

"No," he interrupted harshly.

Startled, I looked over at him. His tone had suddenly changed and he was trembling. He clenched his hand tightly and there was a disruption in the sea. I backed away in fear. Slowly, he unclenched his fist.

He said, quavering, "I haven't…seen…her for centuries."

His voice was thick with bitter anger, but heavy with deep melancholy. Difficultly, he took a quick intake of breath.

"You don't know what it's like…to be unable to see the one person you really care for. I c-can't ever say her name. Not even her name!"

Angry tears streaked down his cheek. His hands were tightly clasped together and he pressed his head against them. His face was contorted in distress.

Shocked, I simply stared. I had never had a sister…but what about my mom? I didn't visit her much anymore, but I could always count on seeing her. Sally Jackson. Her name, I took it for granted. Never seeing her…I couldn't even think about it.

"What does she look like?" Proteus said quietly. I almost didn't hear him.

"Tria?"

He gave an inconspicuous nod.

"Well," I strained to think of a good description, "she resembles your mother-hair black as ink and skin like caramel. Her features are less angular and paler, though." I didn't mention that I had only seen Medusa before in a distorted reflection. "And her eyes are a sea-green, but kind of silver."

Proteus smiled. "Ah, her eyes haven't changed.

Oculi sicut gurgites maris
viride maris profundo pulchrior
lunaris splendor lucis."

I looked at him curiously. He had said eyes like ocean waves, a deep beautiful sea green, reflects the moon's light.

"Mom liked poetry," he explained. "That was her little poem about oculi parvi sororis."

Little sister's eyes.

He stood up and brushed off some sand. "Is your Latin alright?"

I thought that he might've been smiling.

"It's okay," I replied.

"Tell Tria…Etsi non video vos, teneat manum tuam, nec dicam nomini tuo ego semper amorem meum soror, okay?"

I nodded.

"Bye, Perseus," Proteus said. "I can tell you'll grow up to be a good man."

He stepped into the sea and disappeared with a wisp of sea mist. I came to my feet and stared out into the ocean. Somehow, I knew that Proteus wouldn't come back but the gods wouldn't have to worry. I turned back to camp.

Even if I don't see you,

hold your hand,

or say your name,

I will always love my little sister.

:D

So, I hope you guys are satisfied with the last chapter :/

Explanation on the sudden ending:

I was honestly planning to extend this chapter into...what, 4-5(?) chapters, but I felt that I didn't have much inspiration for this story left.

As I promised I would finish this story, I did!

But I felt if I prolonged it, the story would've just turned...suckish...

(as you can see, the last chapter really isn't very great writing...)

And! Because I shortened everything, there are a LOT of loose ends.

I promise that I have an explanation for all (which I know of :P ) the loose ends.

If you guys are curious about any of the loose ends, just message me or something and I'll message you an explanation for what happened.

So! This is the end of Vengeful Truth! I don't plan on writing any other Percy J. fanfics but please check out my other stories :)