AN

Darion: Oh look, it's been a year. No excuse from my part but safe to say i seriously had to rethink where the hell this was going.

Luna: That's why I am here to help now. Name is Luna Hirath and I am a friend who managed to convince Darion to bring this story back from the brink.

Darion: I wanted to continue this but I was really lost on how to move on but my friend here says that with her help I can bring back my brother's spirit in this story.

Luna: Well if that is that, let's get on with it shall we?

Darion: Let's see how this goes.

Disclaimer: We do not own HOO or PJO! They are owned by Rick Riordan!

Zoe 3rd Person POV

It was a dim day in the Mediterranean Sea. The sun was blocked out by the thick clouds, the sky was barley seen, the waves were raging and the sea was a lined with fog. Zoe took a breath as she gripped her bow and took in the salty ocean air.

How serene it was, the ambiance, the steady revving of the Argo 2's motors beneath her feet and the rough ocean breeze blowing her long dark hair in the wind. It was so unsettling that it felt kind of peaceful that Zoe could just close her eyes and take it all in but that was not the case.

The former lieutenant only had one thing on her mind and that was the image of a person she had known. Xenia, the lieutenant of Artemis who had come before her; ever since Vorn gave her back that bit of her memory, she could do nothing but think about that for the whole night.

Bits and pieces came to her as she remembered that Xenia was a powerful huntress, a nymph born from Poseidon who had already been a veteran when Zoe had joined the hunt. She remembered how Xenia had taught her everything she knows from showing her the ropes of tracking, how to shoot a bow and even how to help herself survive but for some reason, she couldn't remember why she had just vanished from her memories. Everything after that was a blank, where had Xenia gone after all this time, how did she just disappear from the hunt?

She took in a deep breath and said "Milady, please answer-"

"He comes another one!"

The huntress' eyes shot open as an ear splitting roar resonated from the right side of the ship and a massive green sea serpent about 60 feet long rose from the tides and fog. It shook its frilled head and opened its mouth for a growl revealing its maw filled with razor sharp teeth and rammed the hull of the ship.

Percy readied his crossbow as the sea serpent reeled its head, ready to spew a torrent of water at the ship. The ship's captain aimed at the sea serpent and said "Everyone, to your stations!"

Cries of agreement came from the ship's crew as they dashed to their positions. Piper and Annabeth manned the ballistae away from the side of the hull the serpent was at while Fecilia and Hazel took the ballistae on the side closer to the monster. Talon and Frank took to the skies while Leo steadied the boat and barked orders at Ara. Zoe stood beside Bianca with their bows drawn while Hedge, Jason and Vorn had their weapons ready.

The serpent let loose a torrent of pressurized water from its maw towards Percy which would have probably ripped through the ship's deck but as it came close, Percy's eyes widened as his hydrokinesis kicked in and sent the water back to the serpent's face causing it to violently sink back into the water sending of a powerful ripple of waves.

Leo pulled down a lever as he struggled to keep his balance while the ship shook and said "Ara hit it!"

"You got it!" said Ara as she dashed towards the mast and yanked down on the thick wire dangling from the mast causing the hunting gong within the ship to resonate sending a powerful shockwave of sound into the foggy area.

The sea serpent rose from the fog and shot over the ship's hull. Droplets rained down from the serpent's massive body as it loomed overhead. Percy aimed his crossbow and said "Fire!"

The ballistae set ups clanged as their bolts were launched towards the serpent's body and Zoe, Percy and Bianca opened fire with their weapons. When the creature sank down from the other end, Fecilia called out "Frank! Talon! Ready!"

The serpent rose up once more with a roar as Frank, in the form of an eagle dove down and raked at its eyes as Talon rose up high with a few flaps of his wings and started to descend with his lance drawn.

As the serpent thrashed with its eyes being attacked, Talon grinned as he shouted "Eat this!"

The half-breed slammed his lance with an earth shattering blow across the sea serpent's head which staggered the massive monster. Talon and Frank got out of the way as Percy looked up the mast and said "Jason finish him off!"

Lighting crackled from the top of the mast as Jason let loose a shout as he threw his charged javelin to the staggered creature's head and with an explosion, the sea serpent roared and dived once again and swam away from the ship.

Jason roped down to the deck as he raised his hand and caught a golden coin which fell towards him and said "And that's that."

Percy gave a grin and shouldered his crossbow and said "Nice work everyone."

Frank landed on the deck and transformed back into his human form while Talon roughly landed with both feet onto the deck and folded his wings as he said "That was the fifth one today!"

Zoe scowled as she looked high and saw the sun was at its highest point. It was around noon and they were on a deadline. Two of their friends, Riley and Nico were in danger and were to die tomorrow and Rome was to be destroyed on the same day.

"Percy I'm tired," complained Ara, "ever since we got past Hercules, the monster attacks won't stop coming and none of us have gotten any rest."

Everyone nodded as Zoe's eyes grazed over everyone as they all had a long night of defending the ship. Eye bags and signs of exhaustion were evident in each of the crew's eyes as they barley had any time to relax.

"I know Ara," said Percy, "but we need everyone to be ready at all times."

The Son of Poseidon turned to everyone else and said "We managed to throw another one off for now but we need to be vigilant. Never know when the next one will strike."

Jason nodded and said "These are meant to be dangerous seas, just a little more and we'll be in Rome."

The rest of the crew nodded and went back to be on guard. Percy sighed as he glanced at Zoe and said "How are you holding up? Saw you before the attack, got something on your mind?"

Zoe's mind flashed with another image of her former lieutenant and she feigned surprise and said "No what made you think that?"

Percy raised a brow and gave a closed mouth smile and said "You looked pretty deep in thought."

She opened her mouth to answer but Jason approached with Annabeth and said "Percy, can we have a word?"

His attention shifted away from Zoe as she tuned in and said "What is it Jason?"

The blonde son of Zeus swept his shoulder length blond hair from his face and said "Well, last night while I was on the mast, I sort of dozed off."

Percy gave an annoyed look at Jason and said "You dozed off while the rest of us were keeping watch?"

The former praetor raised his hands in defense and said "I didn't wanna sleep but it's a good thing I did. I sort of had a dream."

"A dream?" asked Annabeth, "I'm guessing it involves me? That's my guess why you asked me along for this."

Jason nodded and flipped his golden coin absent mindedly and said "Yeah, that's right."

Zoe crossed her arms and said "Well spit it out Jason."

His eyes focused as he said "I saw the twin giants that were mentioned before. They seemed to be underground and they were speaking to this thing in the darkness."

"Thing?" asked Percy curiously, "What was it?"

Jason shook his head and said "I didn't see it clearly because it was in the darkness but it was a female's voice. She sounded really malicious and she talked about how Ephialtes, Otis and she had worked together for a long time."

Annabeth raised a brow as Jason said "She was really keen into referring to 'Wisdom's Daughter' and that she was coming. The Giants grinned after that and said that they would be ready. Weird thing was, their hair was braided with coins, coins almost exactly like the one you have Annabeth."

Percy and Zoe's eyes fell to the female blonde who looked troubled and said "That means...all those children of Athena."

"There is more," added Jason as his face grew grave, "Otis added how the 'Gryphon Rider' was being dealt with by Kraxus himself and the 'Pale One' was on his last legs. I'm guessing that's Riley and Nico. That does not bode well."

The leader of the Forethought Five's expression grew horribly sour as he clicked his teeth and said "Kraxus that bastard. He's got Riley. Nico is in trouble too."

"We need to get there soon," said Zoe, "things are looking bad as it is."

"We'll make it," said Annabeth, "Is that all of it Jason?"

"One last thing," said the Son of Zeus, "The thing they were speaking to, it was being told about how Annabeth and Percy were ideal sacrifices and it was on top of the Athena Parthenos. So whatever that thing was-"

"I'm going to have to meet and fight it," said Annabeth, "This sucks."

"Tell me about it," said Jason as he faced Percy, "That's all of it."

Percy nodded and said "Alright, I'll go inform Leo. Head back to your stations."

Both of the crew members nodded as they turned to walk away but Percy said "Oh one more thing!"

Annabeth and Jason turned as Percy gave a terrifyingly friendly, close eyed smile and said "Sleep on the watch again Jason-"

He opened his eyes to reveal them a strong shade of purple and said "and I'll toss you overboard. Got it?"

Jason choked down a gulp as Annabeth laughed and he said "Crystal clear Percy."

Jason and Annabeth left as Percy chuckled and his eyes reverted to its golden rimmed green and faced Zoe. He smirked and said "Praetor of New Rome my ass."

Zoe still wasn't used to Percy's new overwhelming pressure and it was quite amusing whenever he would flaunt it. Zoe shook his head at him and said "You shouldn't really do that."

Percy grinned and said "I'm not gonna let go that he slept while everyone was on duty. Besides, it was an empty threat."

She giggled and lowly brought up, "Jason mentioned sacrifices? What did that mean?"

Her boyfriend scowled a bit and said "Whatever it is, it sounds like Gaea wants me alive. Question is, for what?"

She looked into his deep eyes as he said "I am not that concerned with myself right now and with that information, Annabeth will prepare tenfold for what is to come so I wouldn't worry about her too much."

Zoe looked concerned as she said "You're worried about Riley and Nico."

Percy nodded and said "They're my friends and my soldiers. It's my responsibility to lead and look after them. Now look where they are, in grave danger."

Zoe could feel Percy's disdain for the situation and said "We will save them Percy."

She took his hand in hers and said "It's going to be alright. We've been through so much. This is no different."

The Son of Poseidon gripped her hand and said "All my power right now, but I have never felt so powerless. Like back then, I was powerless to save Jack and Tadi. I was unable to save Allen."

For once in a while, Zoe was able to see this side of Percy. The side where he was most vulnerable; the side where he is angry with the fact that he is gifted with so much power but he never has the opportunity to save those that matter to him.

She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his cheek and said "None of those were your fault. You had a job to do; your duty. You had to fight Kronos and you were training to save the Roman Camp. If you could I know you would fight tooth and nail to save them."

He looked down as she stroked his cheek and said "But you are here now. There is no changing what has happened but you can still save them. We can still save them."

She then slapped him and said "So get your head out of your ass and focus Perseus. They haven't fallen yet."

Percy put a hand to the cheek that got slapped and laughed as he said "You always know what to say Zoe. Thanks."

She gave him a kind smile and said "Of course I do."

Their eyes met for a while but the moment was ruined as something seemed to ram into the boat causing everything to lurch forward. Leo came running into the deck and said "Woah! What the heck was that?"

Talon growled as he opened his wings and said "Stay alert! Something is out there!"

Silence met the crew as they drew their weapons and prepared for an attack. Percy stood back to back with Zoe as he drew Riptide and Zoe had her bow drawn with an arrow nocked and loaded.

Frank had his spear in its basic form as he stood close to Hazel and whispered "It's quiet."

Hazel observed the thick fog and said "Too quiet..."

Whistling sounds came from the fog as projectiles whizzed to the deck. The crew dodged the projectiles the best they could but some got hit by them. Talon turned and was hit in the neck and giggled as he fell face first into the ship's deck.

Fecilia maneuvered her way through the darts and watched as Frank, Hazel, Leo, Piper, Hedge and Ara fell. Nets came from the fog to the fallen allies and were pulled into the fog. The co-captain of the Forethought Five nabbed one of the projectiles from the air and inspected it and said "Darts!"

Percy growled as he deflected one of the darts and opened his eyes to their powerful purple color and yelled "Enough!"

All the projectiles seemed to freeze into place and dropped harmlessly into the deck. Zoe, Annabeth, Fecilia and Jason rallied to Percy as from the fog, cleared a little to reveal a good number of what seemed to be dolphin-human hybrids armed with cutlasses and swords as they had their unconscious friends in nets.

Annabeth steps back and said, "What in the world..."

"Impressive!" said a rich voice from the fog, "An impressive skill like that would fetch quite the price."

From the fog swung in a man in full Greek combat armor. He was tall and lean and just by looking at him, one could tell that he was a seasoned fighter. An Imperial Gold sword with a Greek design hung from his waist as he stepped into view to reveal his face which was covered by a hideous golden mask of a Gorgon, complete with an upper part of fake golden snakes and tusks.

He takes a few steps with open arms despite Zoe pointing an arrow at him and said "Hello my friends!"

Percy frowned at him and said "Who ae you supposed to be?"

Percy could tell the man frowned as his gleeful posture slackened and said "Of course they don't know who I am. I mean who does?"

The man in the Gorgon mask faces them and says "I am Chrysaor, the most famous and most powerful pirate in the sea!"

Annabeth frowns and says "I know you, the son of Medusa and Poseidon."

Chrysaor grinned under his mask and points at Annabeth and says "Ah a smart one! Maybe I'll keep you for myself."

Percy points his sword at him, annoyed to find out he was his brother and says, "What do you want?"

The pirate gives a laugh followed by his dolphin crew and says, "Why to pillage and plunder of course! Your ship was too good of a target to ignore! Then lucky me to find the ship my patron was looking for!"

The rest instantly knew who the patron was and he continued, "Lady Gaea just told me to keep Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase for her while the rest, it was up to me."

"Up to you to what," said Jason dangerously,

"For the men, to kill or torture," grinned Chrysaor, "but the women, for me to sell or use."

Zoe's rage snapped as she let loose her arrow at such blinding speeds but in a flash, a clang was heard as Chrysaor had his golden blade raised and Zoe's arrow was cut clean in half on the ground before him.

Everyone froze in shock as he waved his sword and said "Rude little bitch aren't you? I was talking!"

Percy caught a glance of Asteron clinging on the mast as he nodded and the small lizard flew off into the mist in preparation. Percy stepped forward and said "You are not going to take anything."

"Are you sure?" asked Chrysaor, "Gaea warned me about you, as long as I dont look into your eyes. I'll be fine and besides, do as I say or your friends die."

He nodded towards his crew who had weapons pointed at their sleeping friends. Percy clicked his teeth as Zoe said "A duel then! I have heard of you Chrysaor, you like fighting as much as you enjoy plunder."

He laughed and said "That I do. Very well, a fight! Defeat me and you all go free. If I kill your chosen fighter, you all submit."

Percy nodded and said "Deal."

He stepped forward as Chrysaor said "What are you doing, the captain doesn't fight his battles and no spells, magic or any sort of tricks allowed."

Fecilia said, "What are you talking about?"

"My rules you pretty thing," said Chrysaor with a grin,

"Well," said a directionless voice, "I will fight for the crew."

The hybrids, Chrysaor and the Argo 2's crew looked up to see Vorn drop from the mast and he said "If Percy cannot fight, and then I will."

Fecilia stepped up and said "Percy, you can't be serious, let me fight."

Zoe nodded and said, "No allow me."

Jason and Annabeth offered their attempt but Percy's now purple eyes peered into what could be called the second level of reality as Percy could clearly see that the aura Chrysaor gave off was on par with his and though he would have a good chance of beating him, the rest of his crew would not be able to but Vorn on the other hand, his aura was flaring and radiating with power which could be more than enough to defeat Chrysaor.

"Enough of this!" cried Percy, "Very well Vorn, you will handle this. Prove to me that you are an asset. Not a liability."

Underneath his red mask, Vorn smirks and says "As you wish Captain."

Chrysaor laughs and says, "Well what do we have here; another mask wearing copycat!"

Vorn remained silent as he pulled his glaive from the air and whirled it around. Chrysaor did the same with his sword and said "This is going to be fun, let's see what's under that mask."

With an inhuman burst of agility, Chrysaor had went onto the offensive and was pressing down Vorn with a flurry of slashes, arcs and thrusts. The remaining Argo 2 crew members were watching the battle with tension and awe as Vorn managed to deflect each of Chrysaor's attacks.

"Holy crap," said Jason, "Chrysaor is-"

"Good," said Fecilia as she watched intently, "Really good. None of us here other than Percy would have stood a chance; I can admit that when I fight, I become a little reliant on my powers."

Fecilia looked at Jason and said "You do as well and Zoe, Annabeth, sorry to say that your level of skill just isn't enough to keep up with someone like Chrysaor."

The rest could only silently thank the Fates that they did not have to fight the monster of a fighter that was Chrysaor and pray that Vorn would be enough to defeat him.

Vorn 3rd Person POV

It was all instinct at this point.

Dodge. Parry. Block. Dodge.

His opponent before him was skilled and rather annoyingly keen on the offensive. Vorn leaned left as Chrysaor missed a thrust to his face and with that opening, Vorn spun his glaive causing Chrysaor to take a step back but he also took the opportunity to dash forward and kick Vorn on the chest.

The pirate did not even show any signs of fatigue after a good three minutes of lightning fast attacks. The two circled each other as Vorn recovered from the kick and the pirate said "This is a lot more interesting that I thought it would be. Usually it's just the usual demigod way over his head but now, I can feel it, and you really know what you are doing."

"I'm no normal demigod," replied the Herald of Vengeance,

He dashed forward and proceeded to attack and counter the blows and openings Chrysaor gave him. The two warriors clashed their weapons together as Vorn gave a full push which made the pirate flip and land on the floor but from there he shot forward with a wide arc making Vorn lean back, but the blow was enough to slash across his face and make Vorn's mask fly off.

Chrysaor took a few steps back and laughed as Vorn covered his face with his open hand. The Argo crew members were surprised and were ready to step in as the disciple of Nemesis said "No! This is my battle!"

Percy watched as he couldn't seem to see Vorn's face as he was facing their opposite direction. The rest of the crew couldn't see either as they were with Percy or the rest were unconscious.

Vorn extended his hand as the mask flew back into his hand. He put it back on his face and looked at Chrysaor with unyielding hate and said "A man wears a mask because he does not wish others and more importantly himself, to see who he truly is."

His grip on his glaive tightened as he pointed it forward and said "You wear a mask as your identity, not to hide. It's as if it's some game...how childish."

Chrysaor growled and said "Fool, talk when you actually hit me."

The two ran towards each other once again and engaged in a deadly dance of blades. Vorn ducked under a swipe and extended his glaive for a thrust but Chrysaor saw through it and stepped aside. The two clashed their weapons and pulled them back as they both went for a thrust to the face.

Vorn, thrusting with his left hand leaned to his left to dodge while Chrysaor, who thrusted with his right leaned to his right making both graze each other's masks, leaving a nasty scratch on their disguises.

Chrysaor stepped away and felt it as he spat, "You'll pay for that!"

He came in for a vertical slash but Vorn smirked under his mask and caught the slash with the hollow area of his glaive and drove it down to the deck, disarming Chrysaor and delivering a kick to his chest, sending the pirate back.

"Maybe," said Vorn in a dark teasing voice, "it's your turn to pay. You shouldn't really underestimate your opponents."

Chrysaor extended his right hand to his crew asking for a weapon but Vorn picked up his sword and threw it at the pirate's hand, pinning his hand to the ground. The hybrids readied to attack but Percy called, "Now!"

Asteron shot from the mist and gave a mighty roar which scared off the rest of the hybrids back to the ship and leaving the nets with the crew members on it as they saw their captain pinned and defeated and faced with a dragon.

Vorn approached Chrysaor who was on his back as the sword was deep in his palm. He slowly approached with his glaive emanating energy and said "Chrysaor, Son of Poseidon and Medusa! You have been charged and deemed guilty for the crimes of theft, murder, plunder, rape and blasphemy!"

"No!" said the pirate as he tried to remove the sword from his hand, "I am defeated! Let me go! I beg you!"

"You are to be sent back to the Fields of Punishment!" grinned Vorn as he gripped the pirate's mask and pulled revealing an ugly and disfigured face,

"Not there!" screamed the pirate, "No!"

Vorn then threw aside the pirate's mask, gripped his own and said, "You wanted to see so badly?"

He pulled it off for Chrysaor to see and said "Let me be the last face you see before you go back."

Chrysaor's face paled as he saw Vorn's face and screamed, "What are you!?"

Vorn put his mask on and said, "Judge, Jury and Executioner."

He impaled his other hand with the glaive and walked back saying, "The souls that fell at your hands call for your punishment. You are sentenced to death by crows!"

Percy and the crew members could only watch as Asteron destroyed the other boat and Vorn lifted both ends of his cape as they turned into a swarm of crows that circled and attacked Chrysaor.

"Stop! No! Argh!" called Chrysaor as he was swarmed by the crows,

The crew members could only watch in horror as the horde of crows pecked at and devoured Chrysaor painfully and slowly. They pecked and ripped his flesh as if their beaks were hot knives and they witnessed Chrysaor scream as they pecked and consumed his eyes, spill and consume his innards.

Annabeth covered her mouth in shock as Jason held in his lunch as Chrysaor screamed in suffering and pain asking for mercy or a quick death. Zoe, Fecilia and Percy were frozen in place as soon, Chrysaor was no more.

Not even bones were left as Vorn picked up his glaive whose gem seemed to radiate a blue color. Behind him, Asteron left the now burning and sinking pirate ship while the Champion of Nemesis went to release the others.

Jason, Annabeth and Zoe went to help but Fecilia just stood there with Percy and said, "Gods that was horrible."

Percy could only nod as there was nothing left to be said. Vorn was their ally, and he was glad they he was on their side.

Percy 3rd Person POV

The ship was now sailing smoothly through the air as maybe the sea travel was a little too unsafe and by now, they were very close to Rome.

The captured crew members had been awakened and released by their friends and they had a lot of questions to ask on what happened. Percy and Fecilia vividly described what happened after their attack and the rest were just glad they weren't there to see it.

Talon seriously nodded and said, "So, do you trust him still?"

Percy frowned and gazed at Vorn who was at the far end of the deck, instructing his crows for a search party and said, "His methods are a bit...disturbing."

"Now you believe us?" asked Hazel aggressively, "He did the same for Narcissus."

"But he did serve the crew well for both instances," countered Jason, "He got the bronze we needed and defended the ship in a dire time."

"We may have to overlook his methods," said Fecilia, "He is very useful."

Frank and Piper were just silently uneasy from the story that had been shared. Ara wanted to throw up from the story but decided against it. Leo came from the control room and said, "Even if he did do all of that, we wouldn't be here in time if it wasn't for him."

He pointed to the front of the ship and said, "Thanks to Vorn, we are right on time. Welcome to Rome!"

AN

Darion: That's it for now! Last leg of the MoA story here then we can move on to the next story involving House of Hades and Blood of Olympus!

Luna: Hope you all liked it, if any old readers are seeing this, we are dead sorry for being late and we will update soon. Not in a year this time but soon hihi.

Darion: Next chapter is the rescue and we will force it to end in 2 chapters. The Giant Fight and the Rescue is coming! Stay tuned and don't forget to leave a follow, a favorite, and a review!

Luna and Darion: Argent Crusade Out!