There it is on the screen, a creature that gives me a hard time to even begin describing it. The short version would be, it's a humongous serpent. It's so massive and big, it's at least twice the size of a drakon. It slithers, just like a normal snake, and it moves very quick and nimble. The serpent has a black-pale green scales, although the green scales look like they have been sprayed randomly with black paint, making the serpent looks entirely black with just some green dots. The serpent has a yellow-ish crown right around its neck.

'What is that..?' I stare at it still in disbelief.

Chronos smiles twistedly and evilly. 'Beautiful, is it not?'

I turn my attention back to Chronos. 'Answer me you sick immortal.' I growl to him.

Chronos puts his hands in the air. 'Now now, there's no need for such a tone. We would be happy to tell you.' Chronos looks to the screen, 'That is Ophion, the primordial serpent. Once upon a time, he ruled this world before overthrown by Kronos and Rhea… A real embarrassment indeed, to have a primordial beaten by a titan. Now this is his punishment.'

'Punishment?' I repeat. Even though that particular word is directed to the serpent, it feels more that we are the ones who are going to suffer.

'Yes, punishment. Now he serves the sons of Poseidon, as an almighty weapon.' Chronos smirks, 'Once a powerful god, now a powerful beast… Can you imagine, Perseus? The power the serpent holds.' Chronos laughs evilly. 'Imagine what would happen if we set him loose upon the camp? The destruction and chaos he would create.'

The image changes, now to thousands of monsters standing ready in armor. From earth spawns, to telekhines, and Cyclops.

'Of course, it would only be a war if each side has an army.' Chronos says happily.

'You… Maniac…' I growl again, ready to lunge to him.

Aeon stands between us both, like he can ready my thoughts. 'Please don't, Mr. Jackson… I fear that if you strike again, I will not be able to resist slaying you.'

I somehow laugh in amusement, 'Good… I thought you were holding back with that kind of poor skill.' I say with a challenging tone.

Aeon looks offended and about to retaliate, but Chronos stops him. 'Please, Perseus, no more hostility. We are here to help you, that is the one and only truth right now.'

Chronos creates another screen in the air. It shows a boy wearing a shitagi facing an altar. The altar holds candles, and a statue sitting down on its legs dressed in a set of red samurai armor. The boy holds his right fist against the palm of his left hand, as if some sort of a pray to the statue.

Right behind the altar is a window that shows a green pretty garden right in front of the room. The floor is from tatami mats, Japanese straw and wooden mats.

The boy turns around, revealing him to be Yukimura. Two nymphs are now readying him for battle. They take off the red cuirass from the statue, and straps it on Yukimura's chest and back, connecting it. Then they proceed to the studded red arm guards from the statue and put it on Yukimura's arms. After that the red shin guards. The nymphs are not putting the helmet, the gauntlets, and a couple of other things though. Maybe to improve his mobility.

Marcus stands at the side of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while he watches the nymphs preparing Yukimura.

'Why are you showing me this?' I ask Chronos.

Aeon smirks, 'He does not understand.'

Chronos points to the screen, 'This… Is the boy who is going to lead Ophion, and an army against Camp Half Blood. Yukimura Snow, the honorable.' Chronos announces, 'He will be your opponent this time. Are you ready, Perseus?'

I clench my fists, 'What makes you think that I will fight another one of my brothers?'

'It's simple really… Yukimura is readying himself as we speak, he is to march and soon will find himself against the campers. You can either help them or let Yukimura destroys your friends, which ultimately will end with the destruction of Olympus. It falls for you to decide.' Chronos shrugs, 'I prefer you choose to fight, Perseus… Having such a short end to so much fun, it is but a waste.'

Aeon sighs, 'Chronos… You taunt the boy too much, yet I will be the one who has to repel him if he fights again.'

Chronos chuckles, 'My apologies, Aeon… I tend to get a little bit overboard.' He turns back to me, 'Now then, Perseus. Will you decide?'

I shoot a murderous glare at both of them, but by this point now I've realized that even if I miraculously strike both of them down, it won't do me much good. I take a deep breath, trying to swallow my wrath and hatred.

'Send us back to the camp.' I say.

Chronos shifts back to his child form, 'No no no, Perseus. The battle will not take place in the camp. We've decided that… We need a grander stage.'

I wince slightly, taking a step forward almost immediately, 'What are you plan—'

Chronos waves me off, 'There will be time for questions later. For now, how about a glimpse of Yukimura's past?' Chronos chuckles, 'Like I've said before, you need to know the past before you know the future. You need to learn the sad tale of Yukimura Snow before you can defeat him.'

The image of Yukimura getting ready blurs out, it changes to another image. An image of a yellow field appears, filled with tall yellow plants that look like wheat. A small green grasshopper is hopping around, before finally resting its legs on a leaf of a plant.

A small young boy around the age of seven suddenly hops, entering the screen, trying to catch the grasshopper. The boy smiles and opens his palms, only to discover that the grasshopper has fled from his grasp. The boy is wearing a white kimono, a Japanese robe.

Annabeth was hooked by Japanese culture once that I've ended up learning quite some about it… The horror she put me through by making me read so many books. I would have smiled at the memory if the situation right now had been different.

The boy searches his surrounding, he finds the grasshopper again and chases after it while the grasshopper keeps hopping away from him everytime the boy comes closer.

'Yukimura…' I mutter, recognizing his face. He looks a bit different, but after a closer look, it becomes obvious.

Yukimura decides to use another strategy, a sneak attack. He carefully approaches the grasshopper. When in range, he hops and attempts to catch the grasshopper, but the grasshopper flees again right before Yukimura arrives. Though just as Yukimura lands, someone else lands next to him, attempting to catch the grasshopper as well. A young girl with black hair tied in a ponytail, around Yukimura's age maybe just a little bit older, wearing a yellow kimono embroidered with red flowers.

Both Yukimura and the girl jump back in surprise and at the same time. They stare at each other for a couple of seconds, examining the person standing right in front of them, before finally smiling to each other.

They don't say anything, and turn their attention back to the fleeing grasshopper. They chase after the grasshopper happily. They roll around, hop around, run around. Soon enough, they're covered in dusts and leaves.

Finally Yukimura and the girl hop again at the same time, landing near the grasshopper trying to catch it. The grasshopper hops into the plants, disappearing from sight. The little girl's eyes are teary; she frowns, looking really sad.

Yukimura looks troubled. He gets an idea and plucks the leaves and stems off of the plants. He does something with it quickly, and then he approaches the little girl. The little girl looks to him with a sad face. Yukimura extends his hand, hiding something in it. He opens his palm and there it is sitting on his hand, a yellow grasshopper made out of leaves and stems.

The little girl's face brightens up as she receives the grasshopper. She smiles to it. She kisses Yukimura's cheek, and runs out of there, disappearing.

Yukimura freezes, he slowly reaches for his cheek and rubs it while smiling.

The image blurs out, changing to another scene. Now, scenery of a castle appears, an eastern style castle with pink flower petals gliding around in the soft wind. A line up of mountains can be seen far away behind the castle. A forest of pink petal trees is right next to the rice field with river flowing nearby, as clear as daylight. The farmers in front of the castle are planting rice while the soldiers in samurai armor are patrolling. It then focuses on one hallway of the castle.

Yukimura, now around the age of thirteen is walking, wearing a black kimono. He walks from the sideways to the garden of the castle.

The garden is beautiful filled with freshly cut green grasses and beautifully trimmed bushes with flowers that decorate the garden the way fireworks decorate the sky. There's a small pond by the side of the garden, even the fishes there are as colorful as the flowers.

Yukimura smiles at the scenery, but I don't think he's smiling at the garden. A girl in pink kimono embroidered with red flower petals is standing there holding a small old style watering can. She looks beautiful under the rays of the sun, more importantly, she looks like the older version of the girl I saw previously, the one who was trying to catch the grasshopper with Yukimura.

The girl looks to Yukimura and smiles gently to him. He rushes to her and they start talking.

The scene changes again to what it appears to be a room inside the castle with a view of the garden. Yukimura is sitting there on his legs with a man that can passes up as his father next to him, sitting in the same position, in fact I think that is his father.

Across from them are the young girl from before and her father, sitting in the same position. The two older men are conversing with each other while Yukimura and the girl are smiling and making googly eyes to each other.

The scene changes again, now it shows both Yukimura and the girl walking side by side over a bridge with a lake under. They look happy and their hand slowly intertwines.

The image changes to one with both Yukimura and the girl under the moonlight. They're older now. Yukimura looks exactly like he looked the last time I saw him, while the girl has matured and grown even prettier. She looks older than me, around Marcus' age. The back of her hair is hold up high by a golden hairpin. Her eyes are brown with a hint of grey, they look somehow incredibly enchanting. Her fair white skin looks like it's going to shine under the moonlight, beautifully reflecting the moonlight. She looks naturally beautiful, like Calypso's kind of natural beauty.

They both stare deeply into each other's eyes and kiss. I can't help but smile a bit, looking at the scene. Yukimura looks really happy in there; opposed to how grim he looked when he was fighting me.

It shifts again, this time showing the young girl having an argument with someone in an old style western military outfit with shades. Is that..?

'Ares..?' I mutter his name in confusion.

There it is Ares with the young girl. He seems to be persisting about something, he keeps grabbing the girl's arm but the girl keeps pushing him away. Now Ares is getting really forceful but the girl keeps resisting even further.

Thunder roars suddenly, it hits the ground without notice and Zeus appears from the smoke. He walks with his chest holds up high and his beard and eyes crackling with electricity. For a moment there, I feel a bit relieved because somehow I get a feeling that Zeus is going to save the girl. Ares looks uneasy by Zeus' presence in there. Zeus doesn't look happy one bit. He glares at Ares, and Ares retreats in a flash of light. Everything is fine for one moment and it goes down the drain in the next.

The girl's face shows nothing but contempt at the presence of the king of the gods. Zeus approaches the girl with a smile. He starts saying something and takes the girl's hand gently. The girl takes her hand back, but Zeus grows more forceful and grabs the girl's arms. The girl shows nothing but disgust, with one swift move, she slaps the king of the gods and retreats from sight.

'What happened back then..?' I ask.

'The girl's name was Yuki, one that was destined to marry Yukimura… A beautiful flower, was she not..?' Chronos chuckles, 'The gods fancied her, Ares and Zeus did at the very least… They both wanted her, but the beautiful creature loved no one but Yukimura.'

The image changes once more. But now what's taking place in the screen is completely different scenery. The castle is burning, fire is soaring up high and brightly from the castle as if trying to match the lights of the moon. Flames are blazing through the field as soldiers wage battle around the castle. Burnt corpses decorate the field now, replacing the beautiful flowers in the garden and the rice in the field. Blood flows down the river, corrupting the fresh water.

'So the Olympians did what they are best at… They punished her.' Chronos laughs, 'Ares was graciously enough to gave his blessing to the invaders and blessed the defenders with nothing but his hatred… They stood no chance. As for Zeus…' Lightning strikes the castle once, destroying a part of it. 'Let's just say that he found a way to unbalance the scale even further.'

The screen focuses up on Yukimura, running across the wooden hallway of the lower ground of the castle while holding Yuki's hand with no intention to let go. They run to the garden where they find both their fathers lying down there, dead.

Yuki flinches, she looks like she's going to throw up. Yuki hides behind Yukimura, the corpse of her loved one is too much for her to handle. Yukimura gulps, swallowing his fear. He drags Yuki out of there and leads her to the forest. Unfortunately for them, a lightning hits the trees and blocking the way out of there and blasting Yukimura away. Yuki rushes to the injured Yukimura as hope slowly leaves their eyes, and despair slowly enters.

The opposing soldiers find them right by the river. Yukimura stands up wobbly and tries to fight them off, knocking them down one by one but there are too many of them and all of them are blessed by Ares, not to mention he is injured from the lightning strike just now. Eventually enough, he grows tired and the enemy soldiers waste no time to seize both Yukimura and Yuki.

Soldiers grab Yukimura, holding him back as he tries to struggle free but too weak to do so. He screams desperately as he watches Yuki being hold back by a couple soldiers.

They don't seem to have any intention to show mercy as one samurai walks up to Yuki with his blade holds up high. Yukimura keeps screaming out his lungs, his eyes are teary, knowing of what comes next.

Yuki looks terrified, but when she takes a glimpse of how scared Yukimura is, she does nothing but smiles gently to her loved one. Her tears are dropping down like drops of snow, so pure and so innocent.

'Eternal beauty…' Aeon mutters, his eyes are taken away completely by Yuki. 'Nothing can ever stain that image and no one can ever forget it. Exceeding even the beauty of the immortals… Incredible, is it not so, Mr. Jackson?'

Yukimura freezes, his expression turns into one painful look as his tears stream down from his eyes. I can see it in Yukimura's face, realizing how helpless he is right now.

Yuki says something to Yukimura, her final words, and then the executioner swings his sword.

I flinch and turn away. I don't have to see what happens next… I know it all too well.

Chronos waves his scepter, dissolving the screens to mists. 'Now that you know his tale, what will you do, Perseus..? Will you still fight for Olympus, or will you let it fall to crumbles?' Chronos chuckles, 'But then your friends will have to die first in order for Olympus to crumbles.'

I take a long pause, slowly enough beginning to understand the reasons behind the retaliation of the sons of Poseidon. Yet… I can't let them hurt my friends.

'Where is the battle going to take place?' I ask Chronos.

Chronos smiles, satisfied with my answer. 'The highest seat of power in the mortal world, the white house.'

I look back to Calypso, 'Are you ready to go?'

Calypso nods, 'I am.'

I turn back to Chronos, 'Take us there then.'

Chronos smiles, 'Not quite just yet I'm afraid. We've told you that we are going to help you, Perseus, but we are not done helping you just yet.' Chronos looks to Aeon, 'Aeon, if you may.'

Aeon's weapon forms again in his hand.

'Accept this one gift from us, Perseus, we are going to bestow upon you something that no ordinary person can ever hope to receive.' Chronos smiles.

I click Riptide, bringing my blade back to my grasp. 'Yeah? Is it another chance to kick a primordial god's butt?'

Aeon smirks, 'We are going to grant you power.' Aeon leaps as soon as he finishes his sentence.

I just would like to use this opportunity to thank every one of my reader, even though there might not be a lot, but I still love you guys a lot!

Thanks for all the supports that I have been getting, and I'm terribly sorry that I disappeared from time to time, it will not happen again...

We're already halfway through, if not more. I am exceptionally grateful to all of you guys, and remember, you guys are awesome!