Hey everyone,

Thanks to the ninety-five people who have voted for the poll. A lot of people like Nico way better than Luke or Grover. Luke I understand, but Grover? I mean, it shouldn't be THAT much of a landslide. Oh well, that's just my opinion. Death Due is awesome too. I'm going to take that poll down now and put up a new one. If you guys haven't already figured out, you have just voted for the main character for the modern day story line. Nico will become Perseus' apprentice in the new 21st century. Now, we just got to figure out who he's going to date. This should be quite interesting...

Anyways, here's the next chapter for the Trojan War. I hope that you guys enjoy because I have nothing better in life to cheer me up except for the fact that I'm working on another series. After I keep this next poll up until about chapter ten, I'm going to put one about whether this other series would interest you. In any case, this is basically the diplomatic stuff with Perseus' thoughts and a little bit of character development (I'M JUST KIDDING! I HAVE NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN THIS AT ALL!). So enjoy!

Sincerely,
El Ataque de los Tiburones, siete-uno-nueve.
L'Attaque des Requins, sept-un-neuf.
ImpetumPistrix, septum-unus-novem.
I epíthesi karcharión, eptá-énas-ennéa.
L'Attacco di Squali, sette-uno-nove.

The Attack of the Sharks, seven-one-nine.

(Don't ask why I chose Spanish, French, Latin (which is probably not correct), Greek (which is probably not correct), and Italian (which I'm doubtful if it is right.)

Chapter 6

The Gods Join the Fight

He stood outside the tent with his arms crossed and his foot tapping the ground at an even beat. Patiently waiting for Achilles to get ready for the diplomatic meeting, Perseus began humming one of Orpheus' old songs. He was no singer, but he was good enough not to be called terrible. He was just bad.

"Achilles!" he called. "Are you almost done in there?"

"Just a second!" shouted a man's voice from inside. "I'll be... five more minutes."

"We don't have five minutes!" Perseus called back. "Agamemnon and the rest of the Greek representatives will want us to be arriving soon." After waiting for another minute, he exhaled with impatience. "Okay, I'm coming in, Achilles. You're taking far too long."

When he took his first step inside, he froze. So did Achilles.

They stared at each other for a little bit before something at his feet caught his attention. It was a full roll of bread, but one end was crushed and covered in some sort of fluid. Perseus went to touch it but he recognized it just before he did.

His eyes seemed to bulge out of his head and he looked up at Achilles, who was trying to put on some clothes. He could barely keep his grin under control.

The tent may have just been a large one shared between three men, but inside the tent were some curtains set up so that each could have their own privacy. It was quite obvious why Perseus had heard "sounds" coming from what seemed like next to him during the night.

Achilles froze while holding the curtains open, showing a naked Brisēís trying to cover herself up with a bunch of sheets. They must have had some fun with the roll of bread.

"Uh, well..." Perseus started. Still trying to hold the grin in, he tossed the bread over to Achilles, who bothered to catch it. "It's still good to eat, though you might want to watch out for that side. Unless, you're okay with eating it. Just... ah... get ready for the envoy."

Not able to hold in his grin anymore, the son of Poseidon stepped back outside into the glaring sunlight. He was met by an anxious Patroclus.

"You seem a little jumpy today, Patroclus," Perseus noted.

"Yeah, well... is Achilles ready yet?" he asked. "I need to talk to him about something." The young man made a move toward the tent, but Perseus grabbed his arm firmly.

"Wait for Achilles to come out," he said. "Achilles can get really grumpy sometimes if you bother him in bad situations. Or sometimes even awkward ones. Who knows? All I know is that he threw a roll of bread at me when I said 'good morning' to him."

"Okay," Patroclus said, now stepping back from the tent. "I'll just wait out here for Achilles to come out. Then we can talk. Oh, and by the way, Agamemnon and Menelaus are riding here right now on chariot. According to Eudoros, who spent the night down there, Agamemnon doesn't trust you and my cousin, so he wants to make sure you get there in time. Eudoros should be arriving just about—"

"Perseus!" Eudoros shouted, out of breath. He had just turned the corner. "Percy! Can I call you that?"

"Of course. I was waiting for you to say that."

"Right, Percy." He swallowed lightly. "You and Achilles should be going out soon. Agamemnon and Menelaus will reach the camp quite soon. The former is quite angry. He is a very proud man and when Odysseus, Ajax and Menelaus ganged up on him last night when he said that you should be exiled from Greece when this war is over, you should have seen the look on his face. Oh, and Diomedes as well."

"Menelaus?"

"Oh, yes," Eudoros nodded. "He believes the rumors of your parentage and all of that. Just, hurry. Patroclus and I will watch over Brisēís. If she feels like punching something, Patroclus will be her guest."

"Wait, what?!"

Perseus laughed. "Funny joke, Eudoros. I believe that if she still decides to run away, you will help her. It matters not if she gets caught now since we will be trying to end this diplomatically. Word will spread quickly if it doesn't end up well, which it probably won't." He kicked the side of the tent. "Hurry up, Achilles!"

The tent rattled a little before Achilles came out, wearing nothing but a shield on his arm. He had no spear or sword in his other hand. The terms of the meeting had come out yesterday and the fact was that neither army could be present for the meeting, so it wasn't likely that either side would ambush the other without breaking the truce. Either way, Perseus could fend off a couple of Trojans will helping the Greek party to escape. No one would know Anaklusmos' and Aegis' disguised forms.

"I'm ready to go," Achilles said, his face devoid of any embarrassment.

"Achilles, may I speak with you?" Patroclus asked immediately.

"Uh... sure." The son of Thetis gestured over to the side, towards the end of the tent. "Let's speak there."

Patroclus nodded, and they had a little conversation.

Deciding not to be impolite and listen in, he turned to Eudoros. "Make sure that Brisēís gets what she wants. It isn't easy keeping a prisoner of her value away from Agamemnon. I'm sure someone has already told him of her. And keep her safe at that, too."

"Yes, Percy. Though, when you get back can you get her to calm down a little bit. Last night she nearly broke my nose when I asked her why she became a priestess? She needs to take questions less seriously. I wasn't trying to insult Apollo."

"Of course, Eudoros," he said smiling.

Eudoros nodded and exhaled loudly. "See you later, my lord."

Then he walked into the tent.

Perseus rolled his eyes and mumbled, "And he was just beginning to call me Percy."

Someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around to find Achilles waiting for him. Perseus raised an eyebrow. "That was quite a short conversation with Patroclus. What did he want?"

"Nothing important," Achilles said quickly. "Come. We'd better get to Agamemnon before he comes for us."

"He's already on his way," he said. "We'll just meet him before he can come deeper into this camp. We would have been faster had you not enjoyed your time with Brisēís last night, but it is good to get to know one another. By the way, how did you two end up doing that?"

"Long story," Achilles grumbled, leading him to the edge of the Myrmidon camp. "It started with her trying to stab me through the heart. Quite a shock it gave her when it shattered off my skin. Gave me quite a shock when I woke up seeing her with a broken knife hovering above me."

Perseus kept walking. "I don't even want to know how that turned into lust."

"Well, you said so yourself," Achilles said. "She is quite pretty. Beautiful, in fact."

He let out a laugh through his nose. "Actually, Achilles. You were the one that said she was pretty. I said that she was Hector's cousin. Either way, you deserve a little bit of love in your life. You've never experienced it before, so why not now?"

His pupil shoved his shoulder lightly. "Says the man who gave away a girl he loved and hasn't loved anyone for twenty years because the girl he loved is now apparently his sister. It makes no sense. Why would you fall in love with your sister in the first place?"

"First of all, Zoë isn't actually my blood-related sister," Perseus said. "Imagine if Peleus had taken in a little girl to be your sister. She isn't blood-related to you, but growing up with her, you would feel like she is your little sister... if you don't fall in love with her first. Second of all, I fell in love with Zoë before I considered her my sister. It was after, when we were sorting out our feelings. We may have loved each other, but being a Hunter was something she wanted to do and so we tried masking it as sibling-love so that Artemis doesn't get the wrong idea."

"Yes, and now Artemis is fighting for the Trojans. Isn't that great?"

"We don't know for sure. I haven't seen a single god on the battlefield. There has been no sign of Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo or Artemis. Not even the Greek-sided gods have appeared before us. There's no Hera, Athena or Poseidon yet."

"Well, if the gods and goddesses do choose sides, Artemis will choose the Trojans. She will know of our plan to kill Helen. Helen is a woman. Artemis tends to like women better than men. Even then, she could join the Trojans because of her brother, Apollo."

Achilles was right. Apollo and Artemis may have bickered a lot, but in the end, Apollo was the one that killed Orion. He came up with the plan. Artemis now hates Orion. Therefore, she is thankful to her brother. It must have been quite a complicated relationship.

"Who knows, though?" Perseus said. "Maybe some of the Hunters like Greece better than Troy."

They passed a couple of Myrmidons who were shoving sand into the other's mouth.

He raised his eyebrows. "On the other hand..."

"Yeah," Achilles exhaled.

When they reached the outskirts of the Myrmidon camp, they saw Agamemnon and Menelaus approaching on a chariot, riding along the sand dunes. Perseus took a glance at the horses and chuckled.

"What?" Achilles asked.

"The horses," he replied, gesturing toward the four-legged animals. "They've got quite the tongues."

Achilles snorted. "If Chiron heard them, he'd probably wash their mouths with soap. And he's never that rude or mean."

"Tell me about it."

"Perseus!" Agamemnon cheered. "Achilles! It is good to see you two here today."

The two of them shared a look. It was quite obvious that it was a false front. The King of Mycenae despised the two. That was very clear to anyone that was present when the men met. Perseus felt that familiar tense air rise as Achilles stonily nodded.

"Likewise," Perseus said, not even bothering to greet him by name. "Menelaus told me that we should meet you at the commander's tent. Then, when we were about to leave, Eudoros told us that you two were coming to meet us on a chariot. Any reason for that?" He feigned unawareness.

"No, none at all," Agamemnon said feigning his own innocence. "We just wanted to meet up with the two strongest Achaean soldiers. It is such an honor to have men like you fight on our side, right Menelaus?"

Menelaus gave him a dry smile. "Sure, why not?"

Achilles let out a snorting laugh.

Agamemnon glared at his brother before offering the way forward for Perseus and Achilles. "Ride the horses. I hear you are a son of Poseidon, Perseus. Why don't you talk the horses into galloping down to the commander's tent?" He laughed, still thinking Perseus was a joke.

The son of Poseidon shrugged and walked up to the horses, who were still cussing their hearts out.

"Calm down, you two," he said. "If you really don't like it, why don't you mess with him?"

The two horses turned to him in astonishment.

You understand? one said.

He understands! the other cheered.

"Here. Let me and my friend climb on and we can, you know, bolt."

Both of the horses turned to Achilles, who had made his way down to them. They neighed. Smells like faint water. Son of a water nymph?

"Thetis," Perseus replied.

Ahhhh, they snorted. Get on.

He happily obliged and climbed up onto one of the horses. Achilles followed suit with the other horses, and Perseus tapped his horse twice. Barely a moment's pause before the two horses took off nearly sending Agamemnon and Menelaus flying off the chariot that was attached to the back.

It was a wild ride, but they managed to get to the commander's tent without causing too much damage. Agamemnon and Menelaus managed to hold on to the chariot, and it was lucky that neither of them got heart attacks.

Perseus loved the feeling of riding on a horse. It was quite an adventure, the wind blowing in your face. It was a matter of the position of the rider's body that affected how fun it was. If you were sitting up straight, it felt as though Zeus was trying to blast you off the horse. If you were bent over slightly, it felt as though the world was streaking by like an arrow. Actually, forget that metaphor. You were the arrow and the world was streaking by you like that.

In any case, the ride to the main Greek camp was quite fun. The small gate that had blocked the path into the Greek camp, which was surrounded by a low-lying wall, opened as the horses leaped over the stakes. Luckily for Agamemnon, Perseus told the horses to land in the gap that had been made at the front wall for horses otherwise he probably would have been dead. As a matter of fact, if it had been Menestheus instead of Menelaus in the back, he probably would have let them die.

It was strange that he hated some Greeks more than the Trojans, who he had only knocked out during the first attack, even though he swore to protect Greece.

"Have fun?" called a booming voice as they pulled up in front of the commander's tent. Ajax was standing there, Diomedes and Odysseus at his side. Elephenor was at the tent entrance, waiting for the Myrmidon commander and his master to arrive. Meanwhile, Protesilaus was enjoying his time in the Underworld... at least, Perseus thought he was.

"Quite a ride," Achilles laughed, getting off his horse. "It was pretty fun."

"Well, this envoy seems to be ready to go," said a man walking out of the tent. He was fairly skinny for an adult, but he wore loose robes to cover his frail body. His eyes held a knowing twinkle, as if he was old and wise. The fact was that he was a prophet, Calchas to be exact. "I believe this meeting will end with a dull splash."

Achilles coughed uncomfortably. Perseus knew he was still a little rattled by the prophecy, even after he had told him that it could have been about someone else.

"Right, let's go," Agamemnon said with a rushed tone.

Perseus turned to the king only to see him standing on his chariot as if nothing had happened. He knew better. There were two of his personal guards standing with him, along with Menelaus. It was a tight fit, but they managed.

The thing was that the personal guards were wearing leather armor and didn't carry any heavy weapons. Even though Achilles wasn't carry anything but a shield, Perseus knew that the son of Thetis would be counting on him to be able to defend him.

All of the other kings and their one guard had short swords and brass armor.

"We'll be heading on pre-made chariots so that none of your fancy designs will scare the Trojans," he continued.

Perseus and Achilles looked around for the chariots. Achilles was the first to find them. They were lined up all in a row, seven of them, horses neighing and angrily complaining. Perseus wasn't sure where they got the horses from but he knew that the horses weren't happy one bit about being forced to lug around chariots.

He wanted to yell at all the horses to shut up but it wasn't worth it.

Once all of the Greek envoy got on their chariots, they began riding out towards the walls of Troy.

As they approached the grand city of the east, Perseus began scouting the men that had come as the Greek representatives for diplomacy. There were the obvious men, the former suitors of Helen.

Salamis was represented by Ajax who was joined by another man named Ajax, called Ajax the Lesser, who was a son of Oileus. There was a running joke among the Greeks that together they were called Aiantes. It wasn't really a joke but the name sounded funny. It was just a modified form of saying "Ajaxes."

Together, those two probably could have been the toughest Greeks to defeat aside from Perseus and Achilles. None could match up to them when they fought together.

The next chariot stood Menestheus and one of his guards. Then Odysseus and his own guard. After him was Elephenor, who Perseus had remembered to be a decent fighter. Last was Podarces, who had replaced Protesilaus. He was a quiet man, the opposite of his brother. Even though Perseus had called Protesilaus less cocky than Heracles, Podarces was even less cocky than Protesilaus. After Podarces was Nestor, who was Periclymenus' older brother, much older. Nestor had survived the attack by Heracles on Pylos, though Perseus didn't find it comforting to talk to him. He reminded the son of Poseidon far too much of his old friend. The last chariot stood Calchas and his own little guard.

Perseus tried to ignore Calchas to get his mind off the first prophecy, but it wasn't that easy. Those dreams he had were starting to freak him out. The previous night he hadn't had one of those, but he figured he might as well have. The suspense and mystery was killing him.

His thoughts dwindled down as the Greek crew stopped at the gates of Troy. Like he had always seen, the Trojan walls were huge. On top of the wall was a pathway wide enough to move hundreds of archers around, all ready and loaded with arrows to fire at an oncoming army. Even if the archers weren't good fighters, and Perseus could easily thrash them in a fight, sword or bow, the amount of archers was intimidating.

If you didn't fear hundreds of archers ready to rain arrows down on you, you were either way too cocky or you were just some crazy monster, he thought. Perseus doubted that even the greatest hero to walk this earth would not be afraid. The original Perseus would have been a little intimidated. He knew it.

There was even a throne right above the gates for King Priam to sit when there was some commotion going on that had to take place outside the walls of Troy.

The Greek envoy waited until horns blew in the distance.

For a brief moment, there was silence. Then, the gates to Troy shuddered and began swinging open. Agamemnon started his horses forward, but Perseus yelled, "Wait!"

The king's horses halted. Agamemnon rounded on him and opened his mouth to express his anger when a Trojan commander shouted, "Halt right there!"

The King of Mycenae settled for a glare. Then he turned to the Trojan and said, "I am King Agamemnon of Mycenae. We are here to diplomatically discuss terms with the Trojan royal family and the Trojan Senate."

"We know who you are," the Trojan said drily. "Follow me."

In an elongated line, the Greek envoy followed the Trojan commander into the city. As they trickled into the city, Trojan foot soldiers began surrounding them, all holding spears and shields. They covered all sides of the eight chariots, the final group of soldiers covering the back. The gates closed behind them, and Perseus knew that it would be hard to get out of the city in case things went wrong.

But the further they got into the city, the less Perseus thought about that fact.

Troy was beautiful. The buildings looked much different than the buildings in Greece. Instead of marble and limestone, the latter imported from Egypt, the buildings were mostly made of stone and sandstone. It was different, which was why it was beautiful. Also, instead of large pillars like the palaces had in Greece, the streets of Troy had archways, arcing like a half a circle had been cut out of each of them.

Bricks were also used along with wood for frames of houses. The streets of Troy were all evenly lined, as if they were put on a grid before being built. Everything in this city seemed so perfect... so organized. The organization was abnormal. Usually in Greek cities, all that they held was chaos.

However, like some Greek cities, Troy had an acropolis with a palace on top.

The chariots were led up the acropolis, and Perseus had to turn around to look over the walls that surrounded Troy.

It was a wonderful view of the city. He could see the entire half of the city below him and he could see the Greek camp far in the distance.

"The Plains of Scamander is what you have trekked across to get to Troy," the Trojan commander said. "And that river you set your camp along is the Scamander River. Before you sacked the temple of Apollo, it used to glitter in the sunshine so greatly. That is why we call Apollo our sun god."

"Helios is the sun god and he will always be," Agamemnon snapped.

The Trojan didn't say anything.

Before long, they came up to the entrance of the grand palace of Troy. The Greeks were ordered to leave their chariots and follow the Trojans to the Senate of Troy. In total, there were eighteen Greeks that entered the palace. There were at least fifty Trojans that entered with them. The rest stayed outside to guard the Greek chariots.

Agamemnon and Menelaus walked ahead of the group. Perseus and Achilles swept the rest of the Greek envoy in the back.

Just before they entered the Senate Room, Agamemnon turned to the Trojan commander and asked, "Could you please lead my two guards to a suitable restroom? They need to urinate badly."

"Sure." The Trojan shouted in a foreign language, and four Trojan guards led the two Greek guards out towards wherever they were meant to go.

"Welcome to the Senate of Troy."

The doors opened and a grand room opened up. It bore some resemblance to a throne room, but the room was much larger and a whole lot of men were seated in a half circle, much like the archways out in the city. At the same time, it also seemed as though it were meant to represent the Olympian council.

At the head throne sat an aging man who was definitely in no condition to fight. He was like Nestor, aside from the fact that the two looked nothing alike. Priam was definitely built like an old warrior. He was just an older version of Hector. Nestor was more like Periclymenus, leaner and better with words. It didn't seem like it, but Periclymenus was better with words than he was a fighter... at least with swords and spears.

At his side was a queen around his age. It was Hecuba, mother of Hector, Paris, Helenus, Deiphobus, Cassandra and Laodice.

Around them sat those very children. Hector with his brave, unwavering expression looked like an older Achilles. Those two had more in common than one would think. He gave the Greek envoy a calculating look, as if he were trying to decipher their motives and find their weaknesses. Right next to Hector sat Paris, who was alone. There was no Helen by his side. He attempted to hold the same bold look as his brother but he couldn't pull it off. He was afraid for sure. Perseus couldn't tell who the other two men were, but he knew their names: Helenus and Deiphobus. It was the same with the two young women, Cassandra and Laodice. He could not tell who was who.

"Welcome, King Agamemnon of Mycenae and King Menelaus of Sparta," said King Priam. "We hope that we can solve this little dispute of ours with a little bit of diplomacy."

"So do I," replied Agamemnon. "Where to start?"

"I do not trust them, father," said either Helenus or Deiphobus.

"They come in a small group, Helenus," Priam said. "It is under the white flag that they arrive in. We will discuss this peacefully until we come to an agreement whether that solves our problem or not."

"I am sure we will hold up our end of honor, father," Helenus said. "I'm not sure that the Greeks... or Achaeans, will hold up their end. I have a feeling that something isn't right with them."

"Something isn't right with us?" asked Menelaus indignantly. "Your brother over there stole my wife! Maybe ask your brother why we're here? He could have prevented it by not stealing Helen."

"Aphrodite promised me the most beautiful woman in the world," Paris said daringly. "Would you dare to blame a goddess for all of this?"

"Yes, I would," he growled.

There was an uproar from the Trojan Senate. A man cried out, "How dare you blame a goddess for all of these troubles? Have you no shame?"

Paris slouched back in his seat, his face burning red.

"That is all we want, Priam," Agamemnon said. "We want Helen of Sparta back. If you hand her over, all of this bloodshed can be avoided."

Priam seemed to consider this offer for a moment.

"Father!" Paris cried, noticing his father's musing. "You can't just let them take Helen away. She was given to me by Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Somehow, Helen will escape again to find me. Nothing can stop true love. Only if one of us dies, then can Helen be returned to the victor."

"Then fight me, Prince Paris," Menelaus said.

The Prince of Troy looked Menelaus dead in the eye. Perseus couldn't help but admire his courage. It was also quite evident that he was not very much like his brother Hector. However, before he could open his mouth, Hector intervened.

"You cannot duel Menelaus, brother," he said. "You cannot be so foolish as to do that."

"This is not just about love, Hector," Paris retorted. "This is about the honor of Troy. This is all my fault. We have seen the death of hundreds of archers and half a unit of cavalry yesterday. No more Trojan blood shall be spilled. Either I die or Menelaus does."

"No!" Hector insisted.

"Let the boy fight," Agamemnon said. Clearly, he wanted Paris to fight and die to his brother's sword or spear. "He wants to show Trojan honor. Let him show Trojan honor."

"Father, you cannot possibly let Paris do such an idiotic thing!" Hector said. "You know it yourself. This will only spark a new flame!"

Priam gave him a pitiful look but didn't say anything.

The Heir of Troy stood up from his throne and stared at Menelaus. "Persuade the Senate why you deserve to get Helen back from us? If the goddess Aphrodite has willed for her to become a Trojan, why would it be suiting for us to give her back?"

Menelaus was speechless. None of the other Greek commanders seemed to have an answer until Perseus spoke up. He decided that this conversation was going nowhere. "And who says that Aphrodite cares about whether your city falls or not?"

The Senate seemed startled that he spoke, which was palpable in their facial expressions.

"What do you mean?" Priam asked.

"I'm just saying, Aphrodite loves love. She will do anything to bring two lovers together no matter the consequences. I honestly think she couldn't care less about us Greeks coming here until we begin to attack and threaten the breakup of Paris and Helen. Even then, is Aphrodite a great fighter? Maybe Aphrodite will want to keep Helen with Paris. It doesn't mean she is expecting the downfall of a great city like yours."

"What matters more, father?" asked Hector after extended silence. "Your son's happiness or the safety of our lands? This will not be a short war. I expect a good fight from the Greeks and it will be a long siege in which our citizens will always be in mortal danger. Helen is a wonderful woman, but our city is wonderful too!"

"I will gladly fight any war that approaches us," Menelaus said. "But the one thing we came here for is Helen. She will be given to us in the end."

"And she will pay dearly for what she has brought upon us," Agamemnon added sadistically.

Perseus wished he could have gone back in time to shut him up, or that he could kill the idiotic King of Mycenae on the spot.

"You mean to kill her?!" Paris shouted, taking his own stand. He turned to Priam. "They mean to kill her just because she chose to leave Greece out of her own free will!" Then he turned to Menelaus and offered a hand. "I will duel with you King Menelaus of Sparta. Then we will see who will kill Helen."

Menelaus glanced at the rest of the Senate, who were all staring at the Greeks in shock. "Very well, Prince Paris. Tomorrow at the same time."

They shook hands sealing the deal.

Perseus gestured to the door to Achilles and began walking away.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked the guards at the door.

"I'm going back to my camp, so I would like it if you let me go without any more trouble," he said agitated.

"No, you all go together or—"

"I'm not going to attack your city!" he snapped.

"Percy, calm down," Achilles said sternly. "Just come with the group. We don't need any more trouble. We don't need to deal with stupid soldiers like him."

"Yeah, little boy," mocked the guard. "Go back to your master. In fact, go back to Greece where you belong and serve your family."

"Be quiet!" Hector shouted. "Lead them out. Do not mock him or he will kill you in your sleep. Get them out of here."

And with that, the diplomatic mission was over.

"I can't believe Agamemnon!" Perseus growled. He turned to Achilles and Brisēís. "We were so close to finishing this battle without too much bloodshed. I will gladly fight, like Menelaus said, but at least that way the prophecies would come true."

"It is all right, Percy," Achilles said trying to soothe his master. "Everything happens for a reason. If this is what the Fates have planned, then this is how life shall play out. Just like Brisēís and I. The Fates must have planned her to try to attack me in the night. By the way, that part really hurt."

"It wasn't supposed to hurt," she said. "It was supposed to kill you."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

"In either case, I heard Eudoros complaining about some trouble from you," Perseus said. "Care to explain?"

"That was yesterday," Brisēís said trying to act innocent. "It was before I..." She turned to Achilles for help.

"Uh... before she had sex with me?"

Brisēís slapped Achilles across the face. Then she clutched her wrist in pain.

"Okay, not the right answer," Achilles said, watching as Brisēís crossed her arms and sat in the corner of the room.

It was night-time now, the sun having set a little while ago. Patroclus was fast asleep on the other side of the tent, but the other three were still up and chatting. Brisēís had obviously warmed up to Achilles quite easily. Perseus knew that once they eloped, Brisēís found herself in love with Achilles. It worked vice versa.

"Let me guess," Perseus started. "Before you fell in love with him. I'm not even going to bother with trying to help you. Wouldn't want to make Achilles jealous."

"Achilles says you're a son of Poseidon," she said suddenly, changing the topic. "Is that true? And that you're an immortal demigod. Are you truly those things?"

He quickly adjusted to the new topic. "Yes, I am both of those things. Your father is Briseus, correct?"

"Yes, that is my father," Brisēís agreed. "I have never met my grandfather or grandmother or my great-grandfathers or great-grandmothers, but my ancestor is Ilus, the same as my cousins Hector and Paris."

"I knew Laomedon, your great-uncle," he said. "I was one of the Argonauts."

"The Argonauts?" Brisēís asked wide-eyed. "They were in the time of Heracles! He nearly killed King Priam, my uncle."

"Yes, we all know Heracles is a dirty, lying bastard, but I was alive back then. I was around eleven years of age."

"That was before you were immortal," she deduced.

"You've a bright one, Achilles," Perseus said grinning. "Do whatever she asks. It'll make her happy. And as long as she doesn't come to murder me in the night, I'll be fine."

Achilles chuckled before an explosion echoed in the distance. All three of them froze. There was another explosion.

Perseus and Achilles shared a look. "Stay here, Achilles. I'll check out what is happening."

"No," Achilles refused. "I must see what is happening."

"Very well." He nodded and Brisēís. "Follow Achilles closely."

Fear in her eyes, she obeyed his orders. Patroclus had woken up from the explosion and had gotten up to see what the commotion was all about. He looked as though Mormo had woke him up... except for the fact that he wasn't a child.

"What's going on?" he asked apprehensively.

"I don't know, let's go check it out," Perseus said.

Quickly, the four of them rushed out of the tent and ran towards the outside of the Myrmidon camp. As they get to the outside, a bleary-eyed Eudoros met them.

"What's happening, Eudoros?" Achilles asked, Brisēís trailing behind him. She was holding his arm as if they were trying to escape some sort of madman in a romantic way.

"I don't know," the second-in-command replied. "I just heard the explosions. I came to check it out as well."

Then they saw what was happening. Flaming arrows were being launched from the Plains of Scamander into the main Greek camp. The odd thing was that it was seemingly being launched by one man.

"The Trojans are attacking!" Patroclus exclaimed.

"Wait, Patroclus!" Achilles shouted. "That doesn't look like many men. In fact, it just looks like one. One man is attacking the camp. But for some strange reason, that doesn't seem like just any ordinary man."

Perseus' eyes widened as Achilles finished his sentence. "I recognize him. Flaming arrows. Fire is like the sun. Arrows have to do with archers. That's obviously Apollo. The Trojans must be feeding him new habits with different beliefs in worshipping."

"Apollo?" asked Achilles incredulously.

Thunder rumbled in the sky. Perseus turned to the city of Troy. There was no doubt that the explosions had woken up the Trojans as well. A huge roar matched a squeal as two animals materialized out of thin air. Apollo shot an arrow into the sky and it exploded. The light stayed there, seemingly acting as a lighthouse.

That was how they could see a huge boar claw its way out of the ground. It let out another squeal and shimmered into the form of a very muscular man wearing full battle armor, holding a spear and a shield. He had the traditional Corinthian helmet, but it was fashioned with Trojan designs. It was Ares.

At the same time, an owl swooped out of the sky and turned into a woman wearing full battle armor. She held a shield and spear much like Ares, though the shield was evidently Aegis.

The two gods glared at Athena and raised their weapons. Before they could charge and shoot her, she raised her hand and the ocean behind the Greek camp exploded. Water rained down everywhere dousing the fires that Apollo had started with flaming arrows. The sound of a conch shell blew in the distance and with a misty breeze, Poseidon appeared next to Athena, both glaring at Apollo and Ares.

The mood looked dark until a sudden pop. Perseus suddenly felt a tingle rush through his body, an alluring sense of... love. Appearing as a flock of doves, Aphrodite appeared on the battlefield wearing full body armor. Perseus was pretty sure that Aphrodite wasn't the fighting kind, so he was a little surprised that she appeared in armor. She looked a little different, though. She still looked beautiful, but the aura surrounding her and her facial expression made her seem a little more serious.

A thunderbolt streaked out of the sky, introducing the next goddess. Her appearance had the same effect as Athena's had on Perseus except for the fact that she didn't have a scary shield. She looked like a really angry mother.

"Is that Hera?" Brisēís asked.

No one answer her until a flash of silver streaked across the sky. A hunting horn blew from the city of Troy and twelve silver-tipped arrows streaked into the sky. Just as they reached the point above the gods, the arrows exploded. Artemis had joined the Trojans.

Then, all of the gods and goddesses on the battlefield charged at each other until they met in the middle with a blinding explosion. Perseus yelled, "Cover your eyes!" just before the explosion.

When the light disappeared, all became silent again, though the sea seemed a lot angrier than it did before.

The lighthouse light had disappeared from the sky and clouds had moved in to block the moonlight. All was silent and dark again.

"What was that?" Eudoros asked in a stunned voice.

A torch lit up from the Greek camp, illuminating all of the people around it. Brisēís gasped. "Is that... is that Cassandra?"

Perseus looked down to see a girl struggling amongst the Greek men. She had curly red hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She was very beautiful indeed. But that was the problem. He recognized her from earlier that day. She was a daughter of Priam.

"That's why Apollo was attacking the Greek camp," Brisēís continued. "He gave her the gift of prophecy, but she refused to elope with him, so he cursed her so that nobody would believe her prophecies and predictions. He still protects Troy, though. She is Trojan."

"And how is it that you know that she was cursed?" Achilles asked.

"Cassandra said that some people would be able to tell if she was lying or not," she said. "Something to do with true appreciation. I'm not sure exactly. But that wasn't the worst part of tonight."

"Of course it wasn't!" Patroclus exclaimed. "Did you see those flashes?"

Perseus wasn't sure if the gods wanted all of the warriors fighting this war to know that the gods were actually fighting, but the Mist had to obscure some things. Patroclus couldn't see through the Mist but he could tell those were the gods.

"The gods have chosen sides," he said thickly. "The gods have joined the war."

Hey everyone,

Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.

I apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above and if any historical facts are actually wrong. I have spent my time looking through different websites, and even a couple of books, but the story that will continue may have incorrect historical info. Still, I believe it just adds to the effect.

With best regards,
SharkAttack719