A/N Hey, guys. Here I am again! I'll leave most of the A/N for the end, but just some quick thank-you's –

Thank you to Menn0x and Coffee Muncher for following!

Double thank you to Valerie- Washington for fav'ing and following!

And thank you to Fanficlunatic for reviewing! I will make sure to "keep writing dis story"

And now, our feature presentation -

The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Ten

Percy POV

I was on my final day of training. I had been working under Luke for seven weeks, and in that time, I had learned so, so much. He and I enjoyed our time together. Sure, we were all business and training on the field, but after every session, we'd go and grab something at the local café, and chat awhile.

The girl who ran it, Casie, was really pretty and fragile-looking, but I knew she was strong. Her power was telekinesis, moving things with her mind. It came in handy whenever a fight broke out (which happened twice). It was really kinda funny, she hung them upside-down on the coat rack by their pants, which fell to their ankles. It took them a while to get down, and everyone laughed at them the whole time. Those guys never came back, understandably.

Sierra was still nowhere to be found. Several search parties had gone out to find her, but all of them were unsuccessful. Pence and I were worried sick, but there was nothing that we could do but hope that she'd return. I didn't know why she was gone so long. I mean, finding out that I was taken shouldn't make her run away for so long, should it?

I walked out onto the field. All around me, people were training, as usual, but today, it was much quieter. I knew that all eyes were secretly on me and Luke. Today was our last training day, meaning that it was time to go on a full-out fight, holding nothing back.

I stepped into the ring, joining Luke, looking him in the eyes. "You ready for this?" he asked.

I nodded. "Born ready."

"Then let's begin."

We bowed to each other formally, then stood straight and raised our swords. For a few moments, there wasn't a sound, wasn't a whisper of movement. Every eye was on us, and all was still. I could hear my heart beating. One beat. Two. Three. Then with a flurry of motion, we rushed at each other, our blades clanging loudly, rapidly. Strike, parry, dodge, strike, feint right, swipe left. Our blades were but blurs of motion. We started getting in our groove, and our movements became pure instinct. I smiled, this is when it gets fun.

I had no idea how wrong I was.

I sensed it just before I hit, and I leapt into the air, Luke copying me with the same instinctive reaction. A violent tremor passed through the ground, and then we landed. I wondered what on earth had happened for about three seconds. Then I doubled over, suddenly growing weak. "Wh-what's happening?" I looked up, and everyone else was also on their knees, or lying on their sides. Luke was down on one knee, panting heavily. "Luke! What's.. What's happening?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't know.. It's like everyone's life-force is being drained at the same time.."

We stood up shakily, then leaned on each other, looking out at everyone in the arena, slowly losing the strength to stay upright. What could do this? I wondered. Using the shadows within us, we shadow-travelled to the High Council room. It was a round room, with a high table that curved like the walls to form a C shape. In the center of the room were two chairs and a table, which had pads of paper and pens for use. The members of the Council were here, sitting behind the curved table, though they looked weary. "I ..address the members of the.. High Shadow Council. My name is Perseus Jackson, with me Luke Castellan. We request to speak."

One of the Council Members looked at us, then nodded shakily. "Request granted," she said.

I sighed. "Thank you." Luke and I sat down in the chairs in the center of the room. "Now, do we know anything about this new threat? What's causing it?"

"I believe that I may be able to help with that," said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Pence, his tablet computer in hand. "I also request to speak," he said.

"Request granted," said the same woman from before.

Pence nodded his thanks, then strode to the center of the room, walking with a bit of a limp. He placed the tablet on the table in front of us, then tapped it a few times. A holographic map of the city flickered into view. The city glowed brightly. "This is how the flow of the life-force in the city normally looks," said Pence. He tapped a button, then the picture changed slightly. Instead of n all-around, warm glow, strands of light flowed away from the city in all directions, disappearing after a short distance. "This is how the flow of the life-force in the city looks today. Something is draining the life-force of all the Shadow People, but more specifically, it's feeding on the shadows within people. Their ultimate source of life in this world."

A few light gasps and mutters from the Council echoed through the room. Pence tapped the screen several times, and a large screen descended from the ceiling. It flickered on, showing what seemed to have once been an open, grassy plain. Now, it was a wreck. The ground had split open, and a column of black energy continuously rose from the largest break. Flashes were seen inside the column.

Everyone gaped at the sight. "Wh-what is that?" one of the Council members stuttered.

"My scans show that there are two humanoids in there, one seems to be a half-blood and the other a monster. They're battling, and they're too close together to determine which one is causing all of it. However, I have scanners working on it. More information should come through soon."

We all were silent. What could be said? All we could do was wait, and hope some results shed some light on it all.

After what seemed an eternity, a soft tone sounded from Pence's tablet computer. He picked it up and tapped at it a few times. He frowned, then scratched the back of his head. "Well, that makes no sense…" he said. He looked up. "It seems that the monster is an Anemoi Thuellai, a storm spirit. But.. I don't see how it could possibly survive in that energy pillar…" he trailed off.

I stared at the screen, and something about it all bothered me. "I need to go there," I said, surprising not only the whole room, but myself as well.

"Percy…" Luke said, "Are you insane? One step out there, and you could be absorbed instantly."

"Not necessarily," said one of the Council members. He turned to the wall behind him, and tapped on it a few times. A small square of the wall shimmered and disappeared, revealing a black box that looked sturdy enough to resist a nuclear bomb. He tapped in a combination on the top panel, and with a click, the box opened. "Come here, Perseus," he commanded. I walked up to the table, looking in the box. In it, on a black velvet pillow, was a necklace. Its links were made of Shadow Steel, and the pendant was a silvery diamond, no bigger around than a half-dollar coin. In the heart of the diamond, silvery-black power rippled.

"This is the LifeStone. It is used to protect someone in a time of great need. It holds the life-force of every Shadow Person that ever fell. It should keep you safe if you choose to go there." He held it out to me.

I nodded. "Thank you." I picked it up, placing it around my neck. The diamond was warm to the touch. I felt my life-force settle back into my body, and I was revitalized. I turned to Luke. "I'm gonna find out what's going on. Stay safe, alright?"

Luke smirked, though his face was etched with pain. He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. "You're the one going out there, you stay safe. Come back to us, alright?"

"I'll do my best," I replied. I concentrated, opening a doorway to the broken field, and in a rush of shadow, I was there.

As soon as I set foot on the ground, tendrils of dark power shot at me. I braced myself, but they bounced off of an invisible shield three feet from my face. I silently thanked all those whose life-force was in the diamond, and I was sure that it wouldn't be the only time by the end of the day.

Ribbons of the same dark energy swirled around the black pillar. Something about all this was grinding, grating on my nerves. I dropped out of view, then looked around for water. I saw none.. But there was grass all around me. I leeched water out of the grass, and used some of it to create a small platform. I stepped on, and I rose into the sky to get a better look. As I got higher, I started hearing clanging, crashing noises like a swordfight, but it was magnified several times over. I wondered if it was the energy warping the sound… or if possibly, that was actually as loud as it really was.

I got closer and closer, and the sound of blades crashing started to become almost physical. Waves of the sound pushed against me, but I fought on. The itching feeling of my instincts going nuts intensified as I drew closer to the source of it all.

I finally reached the same level as the figures inside. I saw a smoky-winged figure. A Storm Angel. It was directly in front of me, so I couldn't see the other figure. I moved my platform to the side, and I looked inside.

I saw the demigod inside. His face was contorted with rage, yet smooth and calm, and lifeless, all like afterimages fighting for dominance. His dark sword was a blur as it slammed over and over into the sword of the Storm Angel with unimaginable power. I stared into his eyes, and they were solid black. My blood ran cold, and I was frozen in shock.

All I could do was look upon what once was Nico di Angelo.

End of Chapter 10

Whoo, intense!

Right, as I said in the last chapter, there is a very important poll on my profile – It's about Nico. I need to get your feedback so I know how to shape the story, alright?

Read and review! Tell me what you like about the story, what you don't like about the story! Your feedback tells me what good things I'm doing, and what I can change.

Also, if there are any requests you have – things you'd like to see in the story, go ahead and post them! I'll consider everything and see if I can work it in. There will eventually be some romance, which I'll probably determine by reader reviews. Go ahead and mention in a review what pairings you'd like to see, and those that are requested the most will be what goes into the story! (Sierra, Nico, and Eve aren't eligible, sorry, I've already decided how those will work, more or less.)

So go and vote! I write not just for the fun, not just for the experience, I write for the satisfaction of my readers! YOU can determine the fate of the story. All it takes is a bit of feedback.

I'll try to write more today, but I have to leave soon, so I probably won't be able to post anything else (unless I find wifi where I'm going, which is unlikely).

Thanks for reading!