Zane Williams and The Gods of Olympus

by thesuperone342

Ever felt like Jason Grace is a complete disappointment and a failure to what a son of Zeus should be? Ever feel like Thalia was a waste and was thrown away too quickly? Well, this is the fanfiction for you. Join Zane Williams on his quest to be the strongest. Current Arc: The Last Olympian. Yaoi. (Anime Elements/AU) [Bad First Chapter, Needs Rewrite]

3. Most Dangerous Quest Ever, No Pressure

Alright, boys, chapter three lol. Glad most of you guys are enjoying it. Lets get on to some reviews:

Echoxenvy: Nice chapter. I gotta say, Zane's last line is hilarious. I actually kind of like the cursing, it gives a sense of realism. I know I would be cursing if I found myself in those situations lol. And I hate to self plug here, but you should check out my own OC Story, It's about A Son Of Hercules, I would appreciate it. All in all, good chapter, can't wait for the third.

Response: Thanks, man. Yeah, there will be cursing galore in this story, so be prepared. Also, your Son of Hercules story is cool, but is he Greek or Roman? If he's Greek, he should be the Son of Heracles, not Hercules. Anyway, here's your third chapter.

Guest: Bro this shit is straight up gas keep going Pleeaaassseee

Response: Here you go, bro.

gay hater(Guest): I fuck hate femboy fuck

Response: Okay, bitch. Don't like the gay? I don't care, go fuck yourself.

Anyway, that's all for today. Alright, keep in mind, I'm writing this as I am reading Percy Jackson, so if a few things feel off, that's probably why. Okay, enough bitching from me. Lets blow this pop stand.

(P.S. I don't own this, and if you couldn't figure that out from the fact it's on a fanfiction site, you're fucking retarded.)

(000)

(June 6th, 2006)

Physical training was boring.

You would think with my incredible strength and crazy abilities and such, I would find training my body to be very fun. But no. It sucked. Let me explain. Imagine you're super jacked, have hit peak level condition, can't get any better or you're almost right at the top. You move into a new apartment complex and then find out that the gym there only has small, light weights for you to work out with. You can still work out, but not heavy. You have to do endurance workouts.

There's no weights in camp that are heavy enough for me to really use, so I just resort to bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises are not particularly fun even with mortal strength levels, so imagine how boring it is for someone of my level of strength. It takes seventy thousand pushups to even feel a small burn. Even with my super strength, which means I can do pushups so fast you can barely process it, it takes hours.

So yeah, not the most fun exercise. I had decided to start exercising to put on some muscle. I was tired of being scrawny. But it was easier said than done, much easier said than done. It's not because it was particularly hard or something, it was simply just very boring.

"Hey." A voice interrupted my lightning fast pushup speed. I stopped to look up to see who it was, only to find that it was Percy Jackson, the newly christened son of Poseidon. He hadn't been seen too much for the past few days, probably sulking in his new cabin alone. Welcome to the club, bud. We have depressing backstories, absent fathers, dead mothers and cookies. Can't forget the cookies.

I stood up from the ground. "Yeah, what is it?" I wiped a little bit of sweat of my brow. There was only a few scenarios here. One, Percy was going to ask how I could balance being a child of the Big Three and being a normal camper. Two, he was going to ask questions about my father, or Three, he wanted to fight or something. Lets see what the lucky winner is.

Percy stood silent for a few seconds, looking rather embarrassed. "How do you do..." Percy trailed off a bit before motioning all around us. "..this?" I guess door number one is the winner. I'm going to hit him with the brutal, honest truth.

"How do I feel confident about being a Big Three kid and not feel like a social outcast?" I asked back, with all the subtly and grace of a warhammer. I chuckled bitterly. "The confidence simply comes from time and experience, Percy." I went back down to the ground, resuming my pushups, although at a much slower pace, so I could continue to converse. "The social outcast part never goes away. People never really try to approach you ever again. They put you on a pedestal, make you an idol, someone who represents the best of the best."

Percy was silent for a moment. "That's depressing." Sure is, kid, sure is. But, hey, that's the life of a demigod for you.

I chuckled. "You said it, dude." I stood up once more from my pushups, deciding I was done for the day. "Well, anything else you need?" I was hoping he would ask for a spar. I wanted to see where the new kid was after a week or so of training. Hopefully he would at least make me try.

"Can we spar?" Yes! "I've been doing better against Luke, and he said to try my luck against you. You're not as fast as Taylor, so maybe I can do a little better." Oh, yeah. Percy fought Taylor yesterday in a spar. Percy didn't do too bad, considering he started like a week ago. However, Taylor ran circles around Percy, literally. It looked like a road runner cartoon.

I shrugged, before drawing my Labrys. We were already in a fighting square, so why not start now? "Alright, then. Lets go." Percy nodded, before walking to the side of the arena and picking a long xiphos. We began to encircle each other as other campers from their own fighting squares gave us their full attention. Whispers like 'Big Three fight' or 'Mini Zeus and Poseidon' came from Cabin Eleven as they surrounded our fighting square.

Percy suddenly charged me, attacking me with a series of slashes and stabs. I used the handle of my Labrys as a shield, deflecting Percy's strikes with ease. For a new camper, he was certainly not bad. Better with a sword than I was, but considering I fought with a giant ceremonial axe, it wasn't saying much. Let's see how Percy will do when he's on the defensive.

Percy went in for a downward stroke, which I interrupted with a bash from the hilt of my Labrys. Percy was sent staggering back, off his balance. I counter attacked with a slow Labrys swing. I didn't want this fight to be over immediately. I wanted to see how he handled my attacks. Percy dodged out of the way, trying to counter attack as soon as he was out of danger. His style was almost identical to Luke's, just sloppier and less refined.

This style of fighting continued for several minutes. I would bash Percy's attack away and counter attack with a avoidable attack. He would avoid, counter attack, rinse repeat. When I finally had enough, feeling like I had a good feel for his fighting ability, I decided to end the fight. The next bash, I put in much more strength, almost knocking Percy down. He wasn't expecting such a hard blow, so his balance at the moment was virtually non existent. I swung my Labrys much quicker this time.

Percy saw the attack coming, however, he was simply too slow to do anything about it. I turned my weapon on the flat side so I would't cleave Percy in two with my powerful attack. My Labrys slammed into Percy, creating a cracking noise. He was sent flying back to the edge of the square, barely conscious from my powerful attack. I sheathed my weapon. This fight was over. I grabbed a water bottle from the nearest cooler and walked over to the downed Percy.

My mighty blow had shattered all of his ribs on his left side. I cringed a little. I didn't mean to to hit him that hard. I offered the bottle of water to the downed sea demigod, who greedily consumed all of it in less than three seconds. His destroyed ribs all went back into place and repaired themselves.

Percy coughed, probably from drinking the water way too fast. He looked up, grateful expression on his face. "Thanks, man." I nodded and offered a hand to help Percy up. He took the hand, nodding his thanks. He sighed, grating himself over his loss. "Dammit. What did I do wrong this time? I thought I'd gotten better since Taylor kicked my ass." I wasn't going to let him beat himself done like that.

I shook my head. "No, Percy, you are a lot better since that fight. Honestly, your improvement is insanity. I've never seen anyone with such natural talent at fighting. Don't beat on yourself, man." Seriously, I wasn't just buttering him up. I was actually really impressed with his growth, he was even better than I was at that age, or at least at that level of skill, considering he was actually older than me.

Percy looked a little bewildered. "Really? But you completely wiped the floor with me!" So that's what was bothering him. "I thought I'd do better if I adapted Luke's fighting style." Let me educate this poor, poor boy.

I shook my head. "Not necessarily, man. I've been at this for a while, Luke even longer. Luke can only really fight me because of his experience. He also has the speed to counteract my immense strength. He's the best of the best, and for good reason. Luke's the oldest demigod in camp, so he's been at this for a lot longer than we have. But don't worry, you'll get there. By the rate you're improving, it'll be really fast." Hell, if he keeps his pace, he may actually surpass me in a while. I would never admit that out loud, though.

Percy, looked like he felt a lot better about himself after that little pep talk. "Thanks, man." He looked away, scratching his neck as he did so. "Really, dude. That meant a lot." Could this be friend number two? Quick, capitalize on this now!

I gave him a nod. "No problem, bro." I lifted my Labrys off the ground, hoisting it up on my shoulder. "If you want, I can give you a few tips on how to fight strength fighters like myself with big weapons." I gave him a smirk. "I won't go so easy on you this time, though."

Percy steeled himself, looking determined. "Alright." He picked his sword up off the ground. "Let's go!" With that, he charged me once more.

(000)

(June 11th, 2006)

Poseidon's cabin was really cool.

Just from looking at the outside of it made me think it felt way more homely than Cabin One. It was about the same size as Cabin One, but it didn't look like a ripoff building of a Greek design. It looked more like a shack more than a cabin, or I should say, it looks like an actual cabin rather than some temple from ancient Greece. I think I already like this cabin more than my own.

I stood at the door of Cabin Three, ready to knock. Dionysus had sent me to go fetch Percy. Looks like he and Chiron were finally going to talk to him about the whole son of Poseidon thing. I can only assume that it took so long because of Chiron trying to convince Dionysus to not incinerate Percy as soon as he came into range. I'm not to sure why he sent me to go get Percy, though. He could have easily sent a satyr instead.

When I asked our esteemed camp director why I had been sent, he only replied with, "Why not send a Big Three Child to fetch a Big Three child?" He sounded like a total condescending prick when he said it, but in an effort to not be killed, I conceded to his "logic." I felt like he was hiding something from me. He and Chiron both.

When making my way over to Percy's cabin, I thought about the past five days since me and Percy's spar. Percy and I had been spending more time together, outside of training, that is. Me and Taylor's little duo became a little trio. Taylor didn't seem to mind the son of Poseidon too much, treating him much the same as he treated me. Percy reciprocated the respect, finally finding a Ares kid who wasn't a total cunt.

Annabeth, who I didn't really interact with all that much, was watching me. Or at least, she was watching Percy when he hung out with me. I guess she was all strung up on Percy being 'the one' or something. Yeah, Annabeth's obsession over getting a quest was rather off putting. She seemed hell bent on using Percy for her own quest of personal glory. Something I'm glad she didn't try to use me for.

On my way over to Cabin Three, I noticed something that was rather rare. A massive storm was approaching the camp. It didn't rain in camp unless we wanted it to, which was really rare. Even when we did want it to rain, it mostly came in the form of a few grey clouds, not a giant storm like this. Yeah, this was certainly new territory, but I had an idea why the weather was like this. One word. Zeus

Yep, the big lightning man. Dear old dad. Big Z man in the sky. He was probably pissed about the whole son of Poseidon thing. It kinda made sense. Poseidon and probably Hades were pissed about me existing, so they tried to kill me with monsters. At least, I think Hades tried to kill me. I'm pretty sure it was him who sent the Nemean Lion after me.

When I reached Percy's door, I took a breath. This probably wasn't going to be anything good. I had a feeling this whole situation involved me as well as Percy, and I didn't like that. I steeled myself, before knocking. I heard a bit of shuffling before a slightly unsure tone of voice spoke, "Come in?" Okay, here we go.

When I entered the cabin, first thing I took in was that it was incredibly comfortable in here. Instead of a cold, grey spartan temple style room, there was a dark, warm, decorated bedroom with multiple bunk beds and sea style art and decor on the walls. Honestly, it was about a million times better than my cabin. This place actually had beds on it's own? For the first couple of months of my stay, I slept in a sleeping bag. I finally had a bed given to me by Chiron when he saw the sad state of my cabin. It's also when he had a bathroom constructed.

I saw Percy had just woken up. He was still in his bunk bed, shirtless, with the covers covering the rest of his body. Well, probably should have asked if he was decent, but I'm here now, so whatever. I coughed a bit, trying to get all the drainage out of my throat. "Dionysus wants to see you."

Percy bristled a bit at the name. I was the only person in the entire camp who called the wine god by his actual name. Literally everyone else, even Chiron, calls the god 'Mr. D.' Fuck that. That sounds absolutely retarded, so I'm going to pull a Vegeta and call the wine god by his real name. I don't care if he says, 'nAmEs HaVe PoWeR!', I'm not calling him fucking Mr. D.

"Why?" Percy asked, reasonably afraid. Dionysus was not exactly the nicest god. He often jested about atomizing campers on the regular, and he might just actually do it to the son of Poseidon, due to him being...well, the son of Poseidon.

I shrugged, leaning in Percy's doorway. "Not too sure to be honest. He probably wants to kill you, but right now, most gods will want to kill you." Percy paled considerably after digesting my words. I waved him off. "Don't worry about it dude. He can't kill you. Your dad would destroy his existence if he tried, so you're good on that account." He calmed down after my words. "But we gotta go see him. For some reason it has to do with both of us. That's why he send me after you, and not some satyr. Let's go." I motioned for him to get out of bed.

Percy got out of bed, clad in only but his underwear. He looked at me and blushed slightly. "You mind?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.

I realized what he meant. "Aw, shit. Sorry." I turned around in the doorway and set my gaze at the incoming storm clouds. Damn, those things are honestly really intimidating. Percy walked up behind me, in an actual outfit now. I nodded at him and we began to walk towards the Big House.

Percy surveyed the clouds with apprehension. "Yo, dude. We need an umbrella?" Percy pointed to the incoming storm.

I waved him off. "We shouldn't. It doesn't really rain here without us wanting it too." I looked at the dark clouds again, rethinking my statement. "Actually, maybe we do. Even when we want it to rain, clouds don't look like that. Problem is, we don't have any umbrellas, mainly cause it never rains hard enough to warrant one." I shook my head. "Whatever, lets just go." Percy looked uneasy at my answer about the clouds, but he follow my order nonetheless.

On our way to the Big House, we could find the camper doing their regular camper things, but now they were tense, looking back at the large storm heading our way. I noticed some campers looked to me and Percy, and began whispering to each other. Ugh, great. More stupid fucking rumors. I bet I'll hear about something like, 'oH tHe BiG tHrEe! oH mY fUcKiNg GoDs!' or some other retarded shit like that.

When we arrived at the Big House, we saw Dionysus and Chiron playing pinochle on the front porch. Chiron sat in his pocket dimension wheelchair, while Dionysus sat opposite of the centaur. Cards floated off to their right and left acting as false opponents. Dionysus sipped his patented Diet Coke from a wine glass, no doubt pretending that it was wine. He looked up from his deck of pinochle cards and saw the pair of us.

"Well, well, well." Dionysus consumed the remainder of his drink "Our two little celebrities." Percy straighted at Dionysus' words, while I just rolled my eyes. Of course he's gotta be fucking dramatic.

The wine god motioned towards us. "Come closer. And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal," He said those words right to Percy. "Just because Old Barnacle Beard is your father." He looked at me. "You know how I feel about you, little brother." He finished with a impassive look on his face as he returned to his deck of cards. Yeah, fuck you too Bud Light.

Lightning thundered outside, almost as a warning to Dionysus. "Blah, Blah, Blah." I could feel Dionysus' aura strengthening. He was trying to intimidate us. It was working. Not just against us either. Chiron, who pretend to be invested in his pinochle cards, had a bead of sweat run down his forehead. Grover, the satyr, who had walked out of the Big House door to join the conversation not too long ago, shook at Dionysus' words. I knew I was powerful, but I could tell Dionysus was on a entirely different level of strength.

"If I had my way," Dionysus began pleasantly, motioning towards Percy. "I would have your molecules erupt in flames. We'd sweep up your ashes and be done with a whole lot of trouble." Holy shit, the way he said that so nonchalantly sent a shiver up my spine. "But Chiron seems to feel that this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: To keep you little brats safe from harm."

Chiron, trying to to sound intimidated, spoke up. 'Spontaneous Combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D." Not just a form of harm, a form of fucking murder. I know Dionysus is a god and doesn't care for life in the same way a filthy mortal like me does, but I didn't know he was this callous.

"Nonsense." Dionysus proclaimed, with a slight smirk on his handsome face. "He wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm think of turning you into a dolphin instead and sending you back to your father." His smirk turned into a poorly hidden cheeky grin.

Chiron wasn't so amused. "Mr. D-"

Dionysus groaned, sounding like a bratty teenager. "Fine. There's one more option, but it's completely insane." Dionysus stood from the table, his toga flipping as he rose. The cards floating on the sides of the table fell to the ground. "I'm off to Olympus for an emergency meeting. If you are still here when I get back, I'll turn you into an Atlantic Bottle-nose, understood?" Dionysus glared at Percy. "If you're smart Perseus Jackson, and I get the feeling you're not," Percy's hand clenched at his side. Yo, calm down dude, this crazy motherfucker will incinerate your ass. "You'll see that is a more sensible choice than what Chiron would have you do."

The wine god snapped his fingers, reality shimmering around him. He became golden, and seemed to imbue the whole room with light. Then he vanished without a trace, as if he wasn't even there to begin with.

Chiron smiled at us. Damn, he looked like he aged twenty years from stress. He probably did. "Come, Percy, Zane. Sit." He gestured to Grover, who still stood off to the side. We did as the Centaur commanded, with Percy taking Dionysus' seat and Grover and I taking the seats where the floating cards had been.

Chiron put his card on the table. A winning hand. I've played pinochle with Chiron before, and he always seems to win, no matter what. I have a feeling he cheats somehow. "Tell me, Percy. What did you make of the hellhound?"

Percy didn't answer for a moment. He looked like he was remembering the encounter and not remembering a particularly good version of it. Reasonably, considering he had his guts torn out by the fucking massive dog rhino. "It scared me." He answered honestly. He looked to me. "If Zane hadn't killed it, I'd be dead." He nodded his thanks to me. A nod which I returned.

"You'll meet worse Percy." Chiron started nonchalantly. "Far worse, before you're done."

Percy looked pale. "Done...with what, sir?" Lot of answers to that one, bro.

Chiron seemed to think so as well. "That could be a lot of things, Percy." Chiron's face didn't look so nonchalant now. I could see the sorrow and grief of living thousands of years, seeing countless demigods die, being powerless to sop it on the centaur's face. "It could be your training, this year or even your life." Chiron hid his age with a blank expression. "But in this case, it's your quest." Wait, quest?

"Quest?" Percy asked, just as confused as I was. From what Luke had told me, there hasn't been a quest in over two years, not since Luke's disaster of his own quest. Luke was the only survivor and all the other quest takers, all senior demigods, ended up dead.

"Yes. Your quest. If you choose to accept it, that is." Percy glanced at me and Grover after Chiron had finished.

Percy looked really uncomfortable. "Um, sir? You haven't told me what it is about yet." Percy, if he hasn't told you yet, it's probably because it sucks.

Chiron grimaced. Uh oh. "That's the hard part. The details." I thought so. Thunder rung out from the distance. The sea and the sky seemed to be fighting each other. It was a rather odd site.

"Zeus and Poseidon" Percy said suddenly. "Their fighting over something, right? Over something valuable. Something that was stolen, correct?" Chiron and Grover looked gobsmacked, like they expected Percy to know nothing about the quest yet. I guess the only one who didn't know anything was me at the moment. I felt irritated. Will someone let me in the loop?

Chiron sat forward, suspicious. "How did you know that?" He seemed genuinely confused.

Percy blushed, looking down at Dionysus' pinochle cards. "The weather has been crazy and weird since Christmas, the same time Zane told me about the last solstice meeting between the gods. Annabeth also told me about a theft or something she had heard about recently. And.." Percy seem to looked down even further "I've been having dreams." He almost whispered to himself, but everyone at the table heard him anyway.

"I knew it!" Grover called out, like he had found the murderer in Murder Mystery.

Chiron glared at the satyr. "Hush, satyr." Uh, Chiron, that sounded a little racist. Would you like it if I called you centaur all the time?

I've had enough. I've basically been left out of this conversation since the beginning, and I don't know what the fuck is going on. I need to know, now. "Okay, somebody please tell what the hell is going on!" I nearly shouted, getting the attention of everyone at the table. "What is happening? Why are my father and Poseidon fighting? What quest? Can someone answer me?!" I finished, breathing heavily at the end of my tirade.

Chiron, looking guilty that he had practically left me out of the whole conversation answered. "I apologize, Zane. Here is the summary. At the winter solstice, Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen-" Chiron was interrupted by nervous laughter.

"A lightning bolt?" Percy sounded like he couldn't take anymore of this crap anymore, and honestly, neither could I.

"Yes, Zeus' lightning bolt. Do not take it lightly." Chiron warned. "It is known as the Master Bolt. The symbol of Zeus' power, where all other lightning originates from. It is a two foot long cylinder of Celestial Bronze capped on the ends with god level explosives. This is not tinfoil zigzag you would see in a second grade play. It was forged by the Elder Cyclopes for the war against the Titans. The weapon that sheered the top of Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne. It packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers." Chiron finished, with a serious tone. Holy shit, was my father really that strong?

Percy looked miffed by the explanation. Chiron continued the explanation he was giving me. "This powerful weapon was stolen." Chiron dramatically paused, before pointing to Percy. "By you." Huh?

"Huh?" Percy asked, mouth wide open. Percy couldn't have stolen the bolt. He almost got mauled by a hellhound a few days ago and hasn't even been at camp for two weeks. Straight up foolishness.

"At least-" Chiron pulled his finger back up into a hand, stopping any questions. "that's what your father thinks, Zane. During the winter solstice, the most recent council of the gods, your fathers were having an argument. Their usual nonsense like, "Mother Rhea always liked you more," or "Air disasters are more spectacular than water disasters."" Wow, Me and Percy's fathers were total fucking children, huh? "Anyway, after the council, Zeus noticed his Master Bolt was missing, taken from the throne room right under his nose."

Chiron rolled his eyes. "Zeus immediately blamed Poseidon, as he would obviously do. However, A god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly. It is forbidden by The Ancient Laws. So Zeus believe Poseidon had a mortal hero take it instead." Chiron sighed. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of The Cyclopes are located in Atlantis, which gives Poseidon influence over the matters of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon had the bolt stolen, and has had the Cyclopes begin forging a massive array of pale copies, which might be used to overthrow Zeus. However, Zeus wasn't sure which hero had stolen the bolt. But since Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son, Percy, Zeus believes Poseidon had you steal the bolt from him. You were in New York when the bolt was stolen, which has Zeus thinking he has all the evidence he needs to convict Poseidon." Wow, dad really is paranoid.

Percy looked stunned. "I've never even been to Olympus, Zeus is crazy!" Maybe my dad is crazy, but I might have a point in Poseidon trying to overthrow him. It was obvious I wasn't the most crazy Poseidon fan, since he tried to have a massive cyclops eat me, so maybe I was a little biased.

Thunder boomed out in the distance. Chiron and Grover looked uneasy. Grover chuckled nervously. "Uh, Percy? We don't use the 'c' word to describe the lord of the sky." Oh, what I was about to say was going to make big Z man very mad.

"So we don't call my dad a cunt?" I asked, innocent look on my face. Chiron and Grover's jaws dropped at my blatant disrespect of my father. Thunder, louder and angrier now, boomed out once again. Heh, suck it dad.

Chiron sighed, looking exasperated at my language. "Perhaps paranoid is a better word for him. Poseidon has tried to dethrone Zeus before. He worked with the other Olympians to trap him in Hera's golden chains in an attempt to make Zeus swear to be a better ruler. Ever since then, he has never trusted Poseidon since. Obviously, Poseidon has denied stealing the bolt. He took great offence at the accusation, almost as much offence as he took with your existence, Zane."

I rubbed my right knuckle. "Yeah, I remember what he tried to do." Memories of me punching the giant cyclopes through the chest flashed in my mind. I'm glad monsters fade because I would have been covered in it's gore and wouldn't have smelled right for a week.

Percy looked at me, confused. "What did my father try to do to you, Zane?"

"Oh, nothing serious." I started nonchalantly. "He just sent a giant cyclopes to try and eat me. No big deal." He looked disbelieving, as if what I just told him was a lie. "Oh, you thought your dad was a complete good guy? Sorry, Perce, that's not how gods work. Their incredibly jealous, moody and prone to violence and anger. Your father may be chiller than most Olympians, but he's still an Olympian." Can't let Percy hero worship his father too much. It will probably mess with his head.

"Anyway." Chiron interrupted us. "Poseidon took great offence and demanded an apology by the next council between the gods, which is on the summer solstice, in ten days. Zeus has also demanded the bolt back from Poseidon by that point, and if neither side has their demands met, it will mean war."

Chiron rolled away from the table, looking at the overhead storm. "I had hoped that diplomacy would prevail. That goddesses like Hera, Hestia and Demeter would help the two see sense. But Percy's arrival and Poseidon's attempt on Zane's life some time ago has inflamed Zeus' temper." Aw, at least it's nice to see that daddy cares about me. Nah, he probably sees me as a weapon or something.

Chiron rolled back to the table, hand on the bridge of his nose. "Do you two know what a war between the gods would look like?"

I spoke up before Percy could. "It would suck?" That's probably putting it lightly, but whatever.

Chiron looked serious. "Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to chose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it would make the Trojan War look like a water balloon fight." Well shit, man.

"It would suck." Percy finished for me, it a weak tone.

Chiron stared directly into Percy's eyes. "You, Perseus Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus' wrath." With that sentence, it started to rain. Pour, even. Chiron turned to me, paying to mind to the rain. "And you would feel the wrath of Poseidon, Zane." Goddammit. Why couldn't I stay out of trouble? I didn't even try to get in trouble this time.

"So I have to find this stupid lightning bolt," Percy asked. "And bring to back to Olympus for Zeus?" A lot easier said than done, bro. But you probably know that.

"Yes." Chiron nodded, before smirking slightly. "What better peace offering than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus' property?" Oh, Chiron, you sneaky little devil. You planed this, without a doubt.

Percy looked out at the raining sky. "If my dad doesn't have the bolt, then who does?" I bet I have an idea. I'm not going to say it out loud, though, in the risk of looking stupid.

Chiron grimaced. "I believe I know." Chiron said with a grim expression. "It was part of a prophecy I had years ago. One that's starting to make a bit more sense now. But before I say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek counsel with The Oracle."

Percy thought for a little bit. "Why can't you tell me where it is right now?" If my idea was correct, Percy would say no if he knew where he was going. Wow, Chiron, didn't know you could be so manipulative.

Chiron sighed. "Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the quest." Well, at least he was honest.

Percy gulped, looking fearful. "Good reason." Don't worry Percy, it probably wasn't too bad. Mr. Shadow man wasn't such a bad god in myth. Besides from kidnapping Demeter's daughter, but we don't talk about that.

Percy looked at Grover, who nodded quickly. Then he looked to me. I gave the son of Poseidon a thumbs up. Go for it, dude. "I accept." He shrugged after he said that. "Better than being turned into a dolphin."

Chiron nodded. "Then head upstairs then, Percy. It's time you counseled the Oracle. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we'll talk more." Percy paled at Chiron casually dropping the whole 'sane' part, but he went up inside the house. Before he went, he gave me a nod, which I returned.

Once he was gone, I spoke out. "You can take the cap of now, Annabeth." At my request, I heard a gasp about ten feet away. Chiron and Grover looked stunned. I smirked at them. "You really think I wouldn't guess that the person obsessed with finding 'the one' for her quest wouldn't have some part in it?" As I finished those words, Annabeth took off her magic baseball cap, which could make her invisible.

Annabeth frowned at me. "How did you know I was there in the first place?" Shit. She boxed me into a corner. I guess it was time to reveal my secret sensing abilities.

"Oh?" I started nonchalantly. "I have the ability to sense divine auras. I can sense the aura of everyone in the entire camp. All demigods, satyrs and Nymphs slash Naiads." Everyone around me looked stunned.

Chiron seemingly struggled to find words. "T-That's a rather rare ability, Zane." He looked contemplative. "I've never known any demigods being able to use that ability before. Usually it is reserved for the true divine." Aw, shit? I have an ability only gods can use? That sounds...really convenient. Why am I the only one with that power? It makes no sense.

I sighed, not at Chiron, but at the situation itself.. "Anyway, what are you doing here, Annabeth?" Before she could answer, I put my hand up. "No, no. Let me guess." My tone became condescending. "You came to volunteer as a member as Percy's quest party, right? The quest, that you two manipulated him into!" I pointed fingers at Chiron and Grover, who at least had the decency to looked ashamed.

Chiron spoke. "I'm sorry, Zane. But Percy must take this quest. If he doesn't, war among the gods will devastate the world." He did sound truly apologetic. He knew he could be very likely sending Percy to his death.

I wasn't going to let this go. "I don't doubt that the fate of the entire planet rests on this quest." I sighed. "But Percy isn't ready. Hell, he's hasn't even been here two weeks! The last time we sent someone on a quest, we sent some of our best. Only Luke returned, the rest having died. And from what I can insinuate, this quest is going to be far more dangerous than that one. Send someone like me, Luke or Taylor for this. We're the only one who could handle a quest like this." Annabeth coughed behind me after I finished. I scoffed. "Sure." Hehe, she looked a little angry after that one.

Chiron's expression didn't change. "Everything you have said is true, Zane. But Percy must be lead this quest. As I said early, he, as a son of Poseidon, needs to be the one who returns the Master Bolt. It would show that Poseidon wasn't the one to steal the bolt. If anyone else returns the bolt, Zeus would still be suspicious and have his reasons to attack Poseidon." He sighed. "But you are right. Percy is not ready." He looked up at me, gaze intense. "That's why I asking you to go along with Percy on this quest." Ugh, of course. "You're the most powerful demigod I have ever met. You will be perfect in keeping Percy alive." He looked thoughtful. "Plus, If Zeus and Poseidon see that their own children can work together in harmony, they will follow your example. If only to not look inferior to you." Ugh, petty ass Big Three gods. Whatever, I definitely had to go.

"Fine." I said, with an annoyed expression. "I'll do it. If only to make sure Percy and the whole world doesn't get killed." I turned to Annabeth with a glare. "I guess you are the second one coming on this quest." She nodded, her stormy eyes meeting mine. We glared at each other for a bit, before I said, "Better put that hat back on. Percy's on his way back right now." She did so, with only seconds to spare. Percy came back from inside the Big House, to where we all were, sitting out on the porch.

Percy looked shook. Like he came across a decapitation video on LiveLeak. Guess whatever the Oracle said must have scared him real good. Chiron pretended he was just looking up from pinochle cards. "Well, Percy?" Percy didn't say anything immediately. He just walked over from the door and slumped down in the open pinochle chair. Would have been really funny if Annabeth was sitting there when Percy sat down.

"She said I would retrieve what was stolen." Percy's voice sounded anxious. Yeah, the whole prophecy must have fucked him up.

Grover sat forwards, gobbling up what was left of Dionysus' old Diet Coke cans. "That's great!" The satyr proclaimed. I have a feeling that's not all the Oracle said, however.

Chiron pressed into Percy. "What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron was serious. "That is very important." There you go, Chiron. Leave no stone unturned.

Percy hesitated, as if he was remembering something haunting. "She said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned." Percy didn't say anything else. Huh, I thought prophecy's were generally longer than that. That either meant Percy got lucky, or he was hiding something. My money is on the latter.

Grover looked relieved. "I knew it."

Chiron didn't look satisfied. I knew I definitely wasn't. "Did she say anything else?" Percy was quiet for a few moment. Not long enough for most people to obviously point out that something was wrong with his response, but long enough to notice he didn't immediately answer. "No." He shook his head. "That's about it, sir." Hahahaha, what a fucking liar. I hadn't known Percy for very long, but I had learned that he wasn't exactly the best liar in the world.

Chiron didn't call him out on it though, and neither did I. "Very well, Percy." He paused, but wasn't done. "But know this. The Oracle's words often have double meanings. Do not dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until it has come to pass." Yeah, Chiron could see right through Percy's bullshit.

"Okay." Percy nodded. "So where do I go? Whose this god in the west?" That's something you're not going to be too happy about, Percy.

Chiron chuckled at Percy's ignorance. "Think, Percy. If Zeus and Poseidon weaken one another in a war, who stands to gain the most?" Perhaps a certain shadow man?

Percy still didn't get it, though. "Someone who wants to take over?" No shit, Sherlock. He's asking who exactly would stand to take over. Was Percy naturally this blank or was it just it just a son of Poseidon thing?

"Quite, Percy." Chiron said, amused at Percy's ignorance. "Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow in power from the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers into forcing him into an oath to have no more children, which the two of them have both broken." Chiron looked directly at me. "One of them having broken it multiple times." Wow, Chiron. Thanks for putting me in the spotlight like that.

Percy's face looked resigned. "Hades." Bingo. Could it have really been anyone else? I mean, I can't blame the god of the Underworld. He really has had a shit hand dealt to him and he's probably pissed about it.

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of The Dead is the only possibility." Chiron's face was grim. Fuck, why did I have to get involved in all of this? First I had to deal with Poseidon on me, and now I had to go face to face with Hades? I'm so dead, Thunder form or no.

Chiron had some proof to give us, even though we all totally believed him. "He sent one of the Furies after you, Percy. Alecto, the greatest of the three. The Furies only serve one master. Hades." Chiron looked as if he remembered something. "There's also the matter of the hellhound. They only come from The Fields of Punishment, and had to be summoned by someone in the camp, meaning Hades has a spy here. Hades must suspect that Poseidon would use you to clear his name, and wants you to die before you can undertake your quest." Thanks for all that hefty exposition Chiron. Would have been really useful to convince us if we didn't believe you. Which we did, but whatever apparently.

"Perfect..." I heard Percy mumble in a bitter tone.

Chiron continued his explanation. "Hades likely sent a minion to steal the Bolt, and has hidden it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Poseidon would be blamed." I mean, I guess it makes sense. There still feels like something is missing, however. "I do not pretend to perfectly understand the motives of the Lord of The Dead, but one thing is perfectly clear. You must go to the Underworld, find the Bolt, and reveal the truth, before the summer solstice." Chiron declared.

Percy was silent for a minute or two, contemplating his choices. There wasn't much he could do, as he has already accepted the quest. "Look, If we know it's Hades," Percy started. "Why can't we just go to the other gods about this? Zeus or my dad could go to the Underworld and get it themselves." Good question Percy. Now watch as Chiron destroys you with facts and logic.

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same thing, Percy." Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades-and I imagine Poseidon does-they cannot retrieve the Bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross into each other territory without invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes on the other hand, like Demigods, are not bound by this rule. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone. No god can be held responsible of the actions of a hero. Why do you think the gods work through humans so often?" Percy destroyed. Chiron seems to always have the answer to everything, huh?

Irritation made it's way onto Percy's expression. "So you're saying I'm being used." Rather bleak way of looking at it, but yeah man. You're being used. That's why gods usually had demigod children. That and for some reason, mortals are really hot.

Chiron shook his head. "I'm saying it's not accident that Poseidon claimed you now. It's a very risky move, but he is in a desperate situation. He needs you, Percy." Still sounds like he's being used, but that's none of my business.

Percy looked conflicted. Like he didn't know weather he should be happy or angry. He turned towards Chiron. "You knew I was Poseidon's son the entire time, didn't you?" Percy's voice had a bit of an edge to it, for understandable reasons.

Chiron nodded. "I had my suspicions, yes." Maybe destroying all the bathroom toilets with water helped him realize those suspicions. "As I've said, I have spoken to the Oracle as well." Chiron definitely wasn't saying everything, but since Percy was also definitely lying about what the Oracle said to him, he didn't call him out on it.

Percy sighed. "So let me get this straight." The son of Poseidon started. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of The Dead."

Chiron nodded. "Correct."

Percy continued. "Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Correct."

Percy's face looked more grim and uneasy as he continued once more. "Bring it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, which is in ten days." Holy shit, Percy was definitely not ready for this fucking quest. I'm not even sure I'm ready for this quest.

Chiron nodded again, face grim. "Correct." We sat in silence for a minute, letting the weight of what was going to happen fall down on our shoulders. Goddammit, this was going to go wrong in every conceivable way. Whatever, lets do it.

I stood up. "This is going to completely suck." I whipped my curled black hair back. "So where are we going? Where's the Underworld?" I swear, if it's in some symbolic area that represents death or sin or some shit, I'm going to go fucking nuts.

Percy looked confused. "You're going?" I nodded to the son of Poseidon. "I can't ask you to do that, man." Aw, he actually cared. That made my heart flutter a bit. Too bad I gotta hit him with some facts and logic.

I waved him off. "Percy, let me break this to you right now. You're not ready for this quest." His face fell a bit, and he started to argue a bit. "No, let me tell you why you aren't. It's not because you're bad or unworthy. It's simply because you're inexperienced. You've only known about the divine world for about two weeks, and you've been training for less than half that. And this quest," I motioned, arms in the air. "Is probably the most dangerous and important quest in millennia." I pointed at myself "That's why I'm going. I have to go so you don't get your dumbass killed." I looked away from him, at the ground, blushing a bit. "You're like my only other friend besides Taylor, so can't be having you go out and die like that, okay?"

When I looked up, Percy looked stunned. He keep his expression for a few moments before he grinned. "Thanks, man." He held out a fist. I hit him the the fist bump before we turned back to Chiron. "Yeah, as Zane was saying, where is the Underworld? The Oracle just said to go west."

Chiron's face was nonchalant. "The entrance to the underworld is always west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Currently, it is in America, of course." We guessed in was in America, horse man. Where in America is it? I didn't voice the majority of my disrespectful thoughts as I asked Chiron a question. "Where exactly is it?"

Chiron looked surprised. "I thought it would be obvious. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles." Goddammit! I just said if the Underworld was in any place representing sin or death, I'd go fucking nuts. Guess I'm about to get nuts. And what exactly about Los Angeles is super obvious Chiron? I think Death Valley would hit the nail on the head more.

Percy nodded. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-" Percy, as the son of Poseidon, you do not ever go on planes. Just like I do not go on any large bodies of water. It is akin for an ordinary mortal to jump in lava.

Chiron seemed to think the same thing. "No, Percy." Chiron shook his head while Percy just looked confused. "Think, you are the son of the sea god. Your father's mortal enemy is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be directly in Zeus' domain. You would never come down alive." When Chiron finished that sentence, thunder boomed outside, as if agreeing with Chiron.

After the thunder, Percy paled. "Okay." He clearly tried to not look at the raging storm outside the railings of the porch, too afraid what he might see. "I guess I'll travel over land then." Good choice, Perce. Because if you decided to travel over sea, I don't think we would have made it.

Chiron nodded. "Good. Two companions may accompany you on your quest. Zane is one of these two." Chiron looked in the spot where and invisible Annabeth stood. "The second has already volunteered, if you would accept her help."

Percy deadpanned. "Gee, I wonder who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this." With his words, Annabeth removed her cap. She seemingly shimmered into existence, coming back into normal view. I wonder where she got that Baseball cap at. Annabeth stood there with her arms crossed.

"I've been waiting for a quest like this for a long time, seaweed brain." What? Seaweed brain? What kind of fucking nickname was that? Was she going to start calling me buzz or call me airhead? "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the word, I'm the best person to make sure you don't screw up." I scoffed at her words, but didn't exactly comment. She glared at me, her hands on her hips. I tried my best to keep from laughing.

Percy smirked at our antics. "If you do say so yourself, wise girl." Wise girl? What's up with these dumbass nicknames? "I suppose you have a plan?" Yeah, wise girl, tell us your magnificent plan.

Annabeth blushed at Percy's jab. "Do you want my help or not?" Wow, she was like a tsundere or something. If you're wondering why I know what that is, just ask the guidance counselor at my old school. She had to bleach her eyes at my search history on the library computer.

Percy nodded. "A trio." He said, looking between me and Annabeth. I did the same between Annabeth and Percy. We got me, the powerhouse. Annabeth, the brains, and Percy, the main character, the one the plot resides around. "That'll work."

Chiron clapped his hands together. "Excellent. This afternoon I can have you taken as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashed above us outside the porch. Heavy rain beat down on the ground, something that likely hasn't happened before. "No time to waste. Pack your things and say your goodbyes."

I don't have that much to pack, and I've only got a couple of people to say goodbye to, so this won't take very long.

(000)

On our way out, Annabeth said she was going to take care of the supplies for our little quest, so I just head straight to the Ares cabin. If Annabeth wants to handle all that shit on her own, let her. I got someone I've got to say goodbye to.

The ugly red cabin of the Ares kids was only around ten feet away from me now. Seriously, it looked like someone just painted the whole thing with lamb's blood. Like that one time in The Bible, but instead of just painting the doorway, they painted the entire house. I can't believe Chiron just let the kids design this.

Anyway, I walked up to the ugly door and knocked on it. I stood there, waiting for a few seconds, humming elevator music. The door opened and a tall, ugly Ares kid was there. "What do you wan-!?" He immediately paled when he saw me standing there. He coughed, clearing his throat. "Uh, I mean, what can I do for you, sir?" I chuckled at his change in tone. I waved him off and told him to go get Taylor, who should still be asleep around this time. The kid nodded, before scurrying off to go do what I ordered.

In only about a minute, Taylor exited the cabin, adorned his his usual outfit. Red long sleeve undershirt that was a little too big for him, with his Camp Half-Blood shirt on over it. However, today he wore black and red stockings along with his khaki shorts. Huh, the stockings are new. But they aren't bad. "What's up, Zane?" Taylor asked, trying and failing to be manly. I swear, why did he even try? He's wearing fucking stockings, those are like the girliest thing ever.

I shook these thoughts out of my mind. "I just came to tell you I'm going on a quest." Rather be blunt and break it to him immediately than try to drip feed it to him. Taylor's happy smile on his face dropped at my news. He knew what had happened on the last quest that was undertaken by the camp. More than I did, actually, since he's been here even longer than I have.

Taylor tried to not look too worried, but he failed miserably. "A quest?" I nodded. He immediately barraged me with questions. "With who? About what? What's happening?" I smiled at his overbearing tendencies. It showed that he truly cared.

I tried to calm him down. "Don't worry, Taylor. I'll be fine." I proceeded to tell him about everything that happened at the Big House. Dionysus had given Percy an ultimatum. Take a quest or get turned into a dolphin. Percy went to go see the Oracle, get information about his quest from Chiron, get some companions, which included me and Annabeth, and that we were leaving this afternoon.

Taylor's face became more grim and worried with each passing minute during my expression. He looked particularly anxious whenever I would mention Hades or my father, but he tried to hide his worried look from me. It didn't work when he knew none of the details and it sure as hell wasn't going to work now. When I finished my explanation, I told Taylor I had come to say goodbye.

Taylor smiled, although it looked forced and uneasy. "Well, uh, good luck. I hope you have a great time." Did he just say 'I hope you have a great time' for a quest that was likely going to be the most dangerous and important quest taken in millennia? That was hilarious, but I didn't laugh. I knew he was incredibly worried on the inside.

I gave Taylor a reassuring smile, showing him I saw right past his flimsy facade. "Don't worry, Taylor. I'll be alright. I promise I won't die or anything. I'll come back alright." At least, I hope. But I wasn't going to be a realist right now in this situation. I knew Taylor didn't need it.

Taylor's lip trembled as he nodded, tears building up in his eyes. I didn't know he cared that much. "Goodbye, Taylor. I'll be sure to be the first to know when I get back, okay?" With that, I turned away to leave. But I turned back when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned into a hug from Taylor. He burrowed his head into my chest and held me tight. I was stunned. I didn't know he really cared this much about me. My heart fluttered and a small smile was brought to my face. I returned the hug. The two of us stood there for a few minutes, not a care in the world about what was happening around us. Taylor pulled his head away from my chest, and whispered in my ear, "Promise you'll come back?"

I smiled. "Promise." We hugged for another couple of minutes, before I told him I had to go pack. He understood, breaking our hug. I bid him goodbye, and to tell me if anyone gave him shit while I was gone. He wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded. He went back into the cabin, trying to put an impassive expression on his face, probably to protect some image or something with the Ares kids.

I only made it about ten steps towards my cabin before I heard a familiar voice say from out of nowhere, "That was pretty gay looking, you know?" I turned sharply to my left, only to see Luke leaning against the ugly red Ares cabin, apple in hand and smirk on his face. He was about to bite into the apple before I sent it flying away with my wind powers.

I scoffed after destroying his apple. "It's not like that, Luke. Also, we're twelve and you're nineteen, a little weird to being calling minors like us gay, huh?" Luke shook his head with a smirk still plastered on his face. I was quiet for a moment. "How much of that did you hear?"

Luke shrugged. "Basically all of it. The whole thing about the quest and everything." I sighed, beating myself up about letting information get out like that. "Don't get yourself down, Zane. It would be common knowledge in a couple of hours anyway" That's not why I was so angry at myself. If someone who was an actual enemy listened to me like that, then I would be able to do nothing as they now had potentially critical information about our plan now. How did I not sense him?

Luke pulled out a shoe box. "Anyway, the reason I'm here," Luke opened the box, showing Nike shoes with folded wings on them. "These shoes can fly, but you probably figured that out by the wings." He tossed the shoes up in the air. 'Maia!" The wings unfolded and began flying around in circles in the air. Luke repeated the phrase and the shoes plopped to the ground. He picked them up and placed them back into his shoe box. "These are yours now. They'll be able to aid you on your quest." He handed the box to me.

A thought popped up in my head. "Hey, how did you know to bring these? If you didn't know about my quest yet, why did you have them? Do you just carry them around?" Yeah, why did he have them?

Luke showed his hands in surrender. "I already knew about the quest." He smiled. "Annabeth came to me for some help in organizing the whole thing, since I've been on multiple before. I came to find you and give you those shoes, knowing you'd find the most use out of them. You know, since you're the son of Zeus and all." Good explanation, I guess.

I chuckled. "You know Annabeth has the biggest crush on you, right?" Luke would have to be an idiot to not see Annabeth's obvious attraction towards him. I would hope he never acts on it.

Luke waved me off. "Yeah, I know Zane. Be kind of an idiot to not notice." That's what I said. Luke shook his head. "Never going to act on that, though. For one, she's twelve and two, she's like a younger sister to me. She became like that after the whole journey to camp with me and Thal-" Luke quickly became silent. Not like him to bring Thalia up. Especially since he was present when she died. I didn't comment on Luke's slip up.

I quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, Luke, thanks for the shoes. I'll be sure to put them to good use." I turned away, walking towards my cabin. "Later." I didn't wait for Luke's response as I speedwalked to my cabin, determined to get all of my things ready. When I arrived at my boring ass cabin, I quickly grabbed a bag, the same one I got from Chiron after my whole bout with the Laestrygonians. I filled the thing with clothes, essentials like deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and a spare Celestial Bronze dagger.

I had a dagger I carried on me just in case my Labrys didn't make the cut for the situation or I lost it somehow. I didn't use it very much, or even have much skill with it. It was literally just a last resort in the most desperate of situations.

I was currently wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt along with a black casual sweater over it. I wore some red sweat pants, used for maximum efficiency for agility. I also put on some black fingerless gloves, so I would be able to hold on to my Labrys easier. I wouldn't ever get any callouses due to the toughness of my demigod skin, but extra grip would never hurt. I tied my new winged Nike shoes to my feet. Finally, I adorned my signature Nemean Lion cloak, lion head hood pulled down. I was ready. I grabbed my bag of essentials and headed out to the edge of camp.

I met with my fellow quest takers on the hill where my half sister's tree rested. I've never even seen a picture of Thalia, so I'm not sure how she looked, so I just imagined a female version of myself. Chiron waited at the tree, in his wheelchair form. To his side was Argus, the camp's head of security. Argus looked like a son of Apollo, if a son of Apollo was covered in hundreds of eyes. Blonde hair, muscular frame, smile, everything a son of Apollo had. Just add the eyes.

"This is Argus." Chiron motioned to the head of security. I had a feeling he was talking to Percy more than me or Annabeth. "He will drive you to the edge of the city, and er, well, keep an eye on things." Argus nodded while I chuckled at Chiron's awful joke. Percy and Annabeth weren't so amused, as they rolled their eyes.

Chiron gave Percy some kind of pen before we left. It didn't look so special, but I could feel an aura from the pen. It felt a lot like Percy. Percy took the cap of the pen, which turned into a three foot long bronze xiphos. "The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into. It's name is Anaklusmos." My mind automatically translated that as Riptide. Chiron became serious. "Use it only for emergencies, and only against monsters. No hero should ever have to harm any mortal unless absolutely necessary." Chiron went on to explain that Celestial Bronze cannot harm mortals, and explained that it, however, can harm demigods. I already knew what Chiron was explaining but Percy did not, so I just tuned the rest of the explanation out.

I briefly heard Chiron explain something about the previous ages of the gods and such to Percy, telling him about the darkness and savagery of the previous ages of man. He told Percy about shit like destiny and other stuff like that. I really wanted this garbage to be done with, so I was just waiting the thing out.

Chiron bid us goodbye and we followed Argus to the other side of the hill, where a white SUV awaited us. I looked back at Chiron, who had shifted into his full horse man form. Chiron gave us a salute with his bow. I grimly wondered if this was the last time I would be seeing the camp, as I knew full well I could die one this journey. I shook the thoughts from my mind as I entered the SUV with Annabeth and Percy.

(000)

We were currently on the highway, zooming past the trees in our white SUV. Argus didn't talk to any of us, just deciding to focus on the road in silence. We hadn't even be driving for more than ten minutes before Percy spoke up. "So far so good." Percy said, as he leaned back in his seat, hands behind his head. "Ten miles and not a single monster." True that, Perce. You gotta make sure you count your blessings, no matter how small they seem.

Annabeth didn't seem to share the same mindset. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain." Again with the nicknames? If she says that one more time, I'm calling her something just as stupid. Something like bookworm or some other dumbass nickname.

Percy rolled his eyes at her irritated answer. "Remind me again why you hate me so much?" Yeah, what was Annabeth's deal with Percy? I know her mother is Athena and Percy's dad is Poseidon, but they don't have to be like their parents. Just look at me and Percy. Our dads are literally about to go to war against one another and we're still friends. She can't be that stupid.

"I don't hate you." Could have fooled me with the scowl on your face, bookworm. Bookworm is a lame nickname, I'm not calling her that again. Oh, I know! I'll call her Annabel, the same thing Dionysus calls her. Classic.

Percy deadpanned. "Could have fooled me." That's what I said.

Annabeth folded her little magic baseball cap. That was a little weird. "Look..." The daughter of Athena began, looking into her folded cap, trying to find the words. "We're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals." By the gods, she is that stupid.

Percy was confused as to why that was so. Annabeth then went on a long, biased explanation on why Poseidon and Athena hate each other, telling Percy of the whole olive tree thing. Look, I know Poseidon's salt water spring may have not of been the best gift, but if I was a city leader, I would chose a sea god over a wisdom goddess in fear of not having my city destroyed by a tidal wave.

Argus, in the front seat along with me, driving, winked back at Percy as he smiled. I decided to bring up how dumb Annabeth's logic is. "You don't have to dislike Percy because your mommy said so Annabeth." Annabeth glared at me from the back seat. I continued. "Just look at me and Percy's parents. They are probably even bigger rivals than Poseidon and Athena are, and me and Percy are still friends." Annabeth didn't have a retort to give me as she looked away, her signature stormy scowl adorned on her features. We didn't speak anymore after my words.

When we arrived at Greyhound Station on Upper East side, Argus helped unload our bags. My bag was only a simple backpack, like the rest of my fellow demigods. Argus bid us farewell and drove away, several of the eyes on his arm, which hung out the open window of the SUV, watching us.

After we had gotten adjusted and prepared to move on, I caught Percy staring at a missing persons poster of himself, taped to a nearby mailbox. Shit, that could cause problems with us at some point during the quest. I tapped Percy on the shoulder. "Come on, man. We have to get to the bus stop." I knew I had interrupted Percy while he was in his head, but time was of the essence. There could be monsters nearby at this very moment.

It took nearly thirty minutes for our bus to arrive. The entire time spent waiting was a very tense affair. The three of us sat in the pouring rain, which hadn't stopped since this morning, searching for any signs of monsters. My hands ran across the handle of my Labrys. I didn't know what it looked like to regular mortals, but to any monster in disguise, it would stick out like a sore thumb. It was times like this I wanted to have a weapon like Percy's. One that could disguise itself into a normal household item.

When the bus finally arrived, the air felt...wrong. Like something was watching us. I knew it was probably monsters, so my senses went on high alert. I, however, could not find anything. Percy noticed me tensing up. "You good, man?" The line in front of me started to move.

I inhaled a deep breath. "Yeah. It's just...something doesn't feel right." Percy looked a little disturbed at my answer, but didn't choose to comment. Likely to not draw any attention from monsters. Annabeth hear our exchange, becoming tense. We knew something wasn't right, but in order to not cause a scene, we didn't do anything.

We finally boarded the bus, the line having sped up. I motioned for the other two demigods to follow me to the back of the bus. They obeyed with no questions asked, knowing the back is the place where we would have the most space from any monsters trying to get in the bus.

From the back of the bus, we could see every passenger that boarded. I used my aura sense on everyone of them directly, finding nothing wrong. However, the last three passengers caught my attention. Three old ladies who looked the exact same, wearing the same outfit but different colors. My aura sense felt utter evil from them. I had never come across these three before, but I knew they were trouble.

To my side, Percy whispered out, "Mrs. Dodds?" Ah, fuck. Percy had told me the story about how his math teacher, Mrs. Dodds, who was actually Alecto, had tried to murder him. Percy told me he had stabbed her with some sword Chiron had given him, the same one he had now. If she was here, that means her two twins that had just sat down in the same seat as her were likely the other two Furies, Megaera and Tisiphone.

Percy turned to Annabeth. "She didn't stay dead long." Percy sounded frustrated. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime?" Yeah, if you were very lucky. Now that I think about it, could monsters actually be dispelled for a lifetime? I've never heard of anything like that before.

Annabeth drew her dagger from her belt sheathe. "If you were lucky." Hey, that's what I said. "You're obviously not." I guess this is Percy suffering from main character syndrome. Main characters are only lucky when the plot demands it. Outside of plot, they have the worst luck.

"All three of them." She muttered to herself. "The three worst monsters in the Underworld. No problem, we'll just slip out the windows." She said, now noticing the windows don't open. "Shit." That's what I'm thinking. What kind of fucking bus windows don't open?

Percy slowly drew his pen out of his pocket. "They won't attack if witnesses are around, right?" He looked two seconds away from pulling the cap of the pen and going all sword rambo on the Furies.

I shook my head. "Not necessarily, Percy. The Mist will probably hide the entire fight from the mortals." Percy looked even more on edge from my answer.

Annabeth continued to survey the bus. "Maybe there is a emergency exit on the roof..." She trailed off, right before we hit the Lincoln tunnel. Annabeth deadpanned at the situation. I tried to keep myself from laughing at the ridiculousness of it all to not give away our position to the Furies.

I shrugged. "Let's just kill them then." The other two demigods looked at me incredulously. "What? Think about it. Percy, you killed Alecto before you even had a lick of training whatsoever. There may be three of them, but there's also three of us. We are all three better than you were when you fought Alecto, and considering how easy you killed her last time, we should be able to breeze through them." Percy looked like he was about to concede to my logic and agree with me, but Annabeth shook her head.

"This isn't exactly the best place to fight in, Zane. There's mortals everyone, and the entire fighting area is one big lane. It's too dangerous." I wasn't done arguing with her.

"That works against them as much as against us. Face it, we're better charging at them now rather than waiting for them to come to us and box us in." At my words, The Furies rose from their seats. They began to slowly make their way done the bus aisle, every mortal in the room unaware of them. "We don't have any time to plan, Annabeth. We have to do this now."

Annabeth sighed before conceding. "Fine." She stood up, brandishing her dagger. "Lets do this then. You lead." I nodded before stepping out into the aisle. I didn't bother drawing my Labrys. It was too large and clunky to be useful in this boxed in situation. I, however, kept my dagger close at hand. I planned to use my fist to deal with these monsters, but I knew that could possibly not be enough.

Alecto, the one leading her sister down the aisle, looked surprised at my boldness. She drew her fire encircled whip from...somewhere. She probably materialized it or summoned it or something. I wasn't going to bother to think where it came from, not with the situation on hand. I walked closer to her, Annabeth and Percy behind me. My fellow demigods had their weapons drawn. Annabeth with her dagger and Percy with Riptide.

Alecto and her sisters then, from out of nowhere, morphed into bat like creatures. They grew taller, almost around seven feet in height. Their clothes completely disappeared, leaving them naked. Ugh. This is the second time a monster has been naked when I fought it. Only this time, the monster is a lot uglier, complete with saggy tits and...I don't even want to go into detail what their nether regions looked like. The Furies' skin turned to a leathery grey, like an orc from Lord of The Rings. Alecto's sister brandished their claws as they climbed on the bus seats surrounding us, looking like a couple of ugly lizard things crawling towards us.

Alecto snarled at us. "Where is it!? Where!?" Obviously referring to my father's lightning bolt. Flame danced up and down her whip as she continued to approach us. I noticed the mortal looking horrified at their figures. They may not see the Furies as they truly were, but they saw something likely as terrifying.

I just smirked, hiding my disgust of their true forms. "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, ladies. I'm going to have to direct you to customer service." I flipped them off. "Call the number one eight hundred eat a dick." This served to make the Furies even angrier. Annabeth groaned at my antics while Percy laughed out loud. Her question made me ponder, however. Why were Hades' minions looking for the bolt from us if he already had the bolt? I didn't make any sense.

I shook my head from the thoughts as I heard Alecto shout in Ancient Greek to her sisters to kill us. Alecto's sister crawled towards Annabeth and Percy, who assumed fighting positions. I guess that was my cue to get things underway. I shoulder charged Alecto, who flung her flaming whip out at me to stop me in my tracks. I used my wind manipulation to change the trajectory of her whip.

Her eyes bugged out of her skull as I slammed into her, carrying her all the way to the front of the bus. We crashed into the bus' dashboard, denting it. The entire bus shook at my action, causing most of the mortals to scream in discomfort at the movement. Alecto, who had dropped her whip earlier due to my charge, tried to stick her claws into my neck. Before she could reach me, however, I headbutted her in the face. This seemed to disorient her, as she held her face in pain. I delivered a left hook to her gut, causing her to throw up some kind of black bile on the ground beside me.

She still didn't look visibly hurt too much, so I decided to amp it up a notch. I hit her with a much stronger right hook to her face, creating a shockwave that shattered the windows on the entire bus. The bus driver beside me was affected greatly by this, as the bus swerved. The driver did his best to keep control of the wheel as we exited Lincoln tunnel.

I looked back to my fellow demigods, trying to assess the situation. Annabeth was waving her dagger at one of the Furies, I don't remember which one. She was yelling in ancient Greek at the Fury to stay back. Percy was trying to fight his Fury like how he fought me a few days ago. He was dodging the Fury's attacks and trying to counter attack as soon as possible. However, it wasn't working very well. The Fury wasn't as fast as Percy, but was sure as hell a lot more experienced. Their battle was a stalemate. This wasn't going to work. I had to do something.

Suddenly, a very stupid idea popped into my mind. I grabbed the wheel the driver was still trying to control, and turned it all the way to the right. The wheel didn't hold up to my incredible strength, so it turned as far as it could physically turn before snapping off. The driver looked horrified. The second after I saw his face, the bus turned harshly on it's right, flipping over. What happened next was like the scene of a movie. The bus flipped several times before going over the road. Since no one was wearing a seat beat, everyone chaotically flew from their seats. The inside of the bus looked like a bottle, if you put a bunch of people in said bottle and shook it up.

When the bus stopped rolling, all was still. I had also been thrown around like everyone else on the bus, but I wasn't hurt whatsoever. That wasn't the case for everyone else on the bus, excluding my fellow demigods. The mortals in the bus looked...well, some of them didn't really look so well. About half of the mortal passengers were dead, the other half injured. I didn't have time to ponder on all of this. I had to get moving.

I stood up, dusted myself off and walked on the upside down roof off the bus. I didn't see Alecto in the immediate vicinity. Either she was under a pile of bodies, or she had died. Either way, good for me. Now I had to grab my fellow demigods and get on the way. I saw Percy on the other side of the flipped bus, shoving his sword Riptide down the throat of one of the Furies. The Fury popped like a pinata filled with golden dust. Percy turned and looked at me like I was insane. "Dude! What the hell!?" He asked, motioning to the destroyed bus.

I shrugged. "I saw you guys were in trouble and had to act." I looked around at the dead mortals. "Didn't know it would end up this bad, though." I shook my head. "Anyway, we gotta grab Annabeth and get going." Percy looked a little pale at the sight of the dead mortals. "Now is not the time, Percy. We gotta go." Percy, broken out of his stupor, nodded at me and stood up on the

bus roof.

Before we could do anything, we heard shuffling in a pile of bodies. We turned and saw Annabeth crawling out of a pile of dead mortals, covered in blood and other fluids. She, like Percy, looked at me like I was a psychopath. "Are you out of your min-!?" She was interrupted my a leathery hand that grabbed her shoulder. One of the Furies rose from the pile of bodies and tried to shove it's clawed hand into Annabeth's neck. Before I could do anything to help her, she fucking judo flipped the Fury to the floor and shoved her celestial bronze dagger right into it's throat. Damn. She's actually kinda badass.

She turned back to me, probably about to yell at me for my reckless actions or getting all those mortals killed, but I raised a hand to stop her. "We don't have time, Annabeth. We can do this later. Right now, we need to get out of here. Mortal law enforcement will be all over this scene in a few minutes. We need to go." Annabeth didn't like being interrupted, but she conceded to my logic and nodded. I returned her nod and turned to the wall of the turned bus.

I pulled my arm back and threw a mighty fist at the wall, completely bursting through a large portion of it. The hole I made was large enough to walk through, which we did. Percy whistled at my incredible show of power as we made our way through the hole in the bus wall.

Cars were parked around the turned over bus. Their driver looked bewildered as they saw us leave the bus uninjured. One of them took a picture of the three of us. Fuck. We can't be having that. Before I could go over to the dude that snapped our picture and break his camera, a shrill shriek gathered our attention. Alecto, in all her ugly naked glory, stood on top of the destroyed bus, covered in mortal blood.

"Zeus will destroy you!" She shouted out. "Hades will have your soul!" Maybe Hades will try to kill me, but Zeus would have to be a new level of shitty dad to make an attempt on my life before even speaking a word to me. Next to me, Percy yelled out 'eat my pants' in Latin. Don't know why he screamed that, but whatever.

Alecto let out a louder, even higher pitched scream than she did before, this time created a shockwave that blew all the mortal onlookers away to the ground. Rips in reality seemed to open beside her, almost like some kind of portal. On the other side of said rips, was a landscape of brimstone and flames. Was she summoning hell or something? Annabeth's eyes widened beside me. "Shit!" She shook my arm, causing me to turn to her. "She's calling reinforcements from Tartarus! We have to go, now!"

That that shit was serious. We really did need to leave. But before we did, I unsheathed my Labrys from my back, charged it with electricity, and threw it right at Alecto. She didn't even seem to react to the axe. My Labrys slammed into her chest, causing her black bile like blood to cough up from her throat. She looked down at the axe briefly before she collapsed into golden dust. I commanded the wind to return my Labrys to me, which it did. I followed my companions towards some nearby woods on the highway we were on. A thought occurred to me as we entered.

"Uh, hey guys?" They turned to me, stopping. "Did we just leave our bags on the bus?" At my words, we all turned back to the wrecked bus. We saw monsters start to exit the portals that Alecto had summoned, which did not dispel with her death. Well shit, there goes literally all of our supplies. We didn't even try to talk about going back to get our items, not with all of those fucking monsters pouring out of those three portals Alecto had created. We continued to run deeper into the woods.

(000)

So here we were, about ten minutes later, jogging through the forest with nothing but or weapons and the clothes on our backs. We didn't say anything for a few minutes, trying to create some distance between us and the monster. Luckily none of them follow us, so we were able to create quite a lot of distance. "Okay, guys. I think we're far enough away now. Lets stop and try to think of a plan." I said. The other two demigods listened to me, stopping as I did. We come upon a large stone, which we rested by.

The other two were quiet for a moment, looking at me with irritated faces. "What?" I asked, confused at their hostility. Why were they looking at me like that?

Annabeth's look of irritation turned into a deadpan expression. "Are you serious? What do you mean 'what?'" I still must of looked confused, as she rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. What the hell was that about earlier!?" Oh, she must have been talking about the whole bus thing. I created a spark of lightning for light, as it was getting dark and I wasn't going to be fucking around in the woods in complete blackness.

"Oh, that?" I asked casually. "I was just helping the two of you. I couldn't help both of you at once by acting directly, so I just crashed the bus instead." I said honestly. If they were confused on why I crashed the bus, I'd tell them straight up.

Percy had enough of Annabeth's beating around the bush. "What she means, Zane, why did you get all those people killed back there." He spoke seriously. It may have been the glow of my lightning in my hand, but he looked rather pale. Was he alright?

Honestly, I didn't mean for that to happen. Yeah, maybe crashing the bus was a little over the top, since all those people died. I didn't know we were going to crash that badly, though. "Oh." I tried to think of a response. I decided to just be honest. "I didn't really mean for that to happen, Percy. I think I pulled on the wheel a little too hard or too fast. I just meant for us to crash a little less...violently, you know?" My tone was awkward throughout my explanation.

Percy sighed. "Zane, you put all those people in danger back there. Probably more than half of them died. You have to be more careful, dude." Annabeth nodded at Percy's words. "Next time it could be even worse. Maybe we could even die."

Scenarios of Percy and Annabeth plagued my thoughts. Images of Percy bleeding out and dying flashed through my mind. I wasn't going to let that happen. "I understand what you mean, Perce." I put my other hand up, the one that wasn't holding lightning, to placate him. "I'll be more careful next time, man. That shit won't happen again." Percy and Annabeth nodded at my apology. I stood up from the rock. "We need to get moving. It's almost pitch black out here, and we need a place to stay. Let's go find one" With my words, we finished our rest and continued our hike through the forest.

As we walked, Percy and Annabeth made small talk while I led our party. I was the one with the light, my lightning, so I led our way. I honestly didn't know where we were going. Annabeth said this way was west, so I was going to head this way. While we were hiking, the rain stopped. I looked up in the sky. I couldn't see any clouds, but I could tell they were a lot calmer now. Perks of being the son of the sky, I guess.

We trekked on for miles, with no foreseeable destination in sight. I guessed it was around ten o' clock in the evening, so I was hoping to find something soon. We hadn't exactly packed for camping. Even if we did, we left all our bags under a pile of dead bodies, so it wouldn't have mattered all that much.

Eventually, we could see light in the distance. It was a bright, neon light. Like a light of a gas station or a restaurant. Why the hell was there something like that in the middle of a forest? We kept walking until we could see the source of the light.

We came across an old, two lane road that ran through the woods. On the other side of this road, was an old, boarded up gas station style building. An open for business sign was adorned on the door. A very old billboard for a nineteen nineties movie than I'd never seen stood to the side of the building. The gas station looked like it was connected to a long, massive greenhouse like building than seemed ten times larger than the actual gas station. I could smell fast food coming from the building.

Percy walked up to the neon sign and pointed at it. "What does this say?" Annabeth shrugged to his right, unsure of the sign's meaning due to her dyslexia. I read the sign, barely managing to understand the writing. "It says 'Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." I scrunched my face up. "At least I think." The two to my left looked at me, stunned I could read the English. "What? Everyone uses English. Even with dyslexia, you have to try to understand it." I shook my head at their looks.

I saw two little gnomes at the entrance of the gas station, smiling creepily while they were in a waving pose. Percy, walked up to the door, about to enter. "Yo, dude." I warned. "You gotta be more careful than that, Perce." I said, stopping him.

He turned to me, looking for an answer. "What do we do then? It's late out here and we have no shelter, food or supplies. There's a place right here that smells just like food. I know it looks a little sketchy, but right now, it's better than the woods."

I stood still. Percy just had a very rare moment of logical thinking and I couldn't really say anything to rebuke him. Percy went inside the gas station. Annabeth follow him, shrugging to me on her way in. I couldn't exactly find any other options. I sighed.

"Fuck."

(000)

Okay, chapter three in the books. This own was a bitch to write. I feel like I just copied shit straight from the book and plopped Zane into it. Guess that's what I get adapting the exposition chapter.

Also, if you made it this far, you may have realized that there is no Grover on the quest. Yeah, I either had to bump Annabeth or Grover from the quest to make room for Zane. I feel like Annabeth is more valuable than Grover, so I kept her. Anyway, you may wonder what this means for Grover's fate in the end of this arc and his future in the other ones. And to that I say...I'll figure something out lol.

This right here is to the four different homophobic guest reviews I got while writing this chapter. Two of them were named, one called gay hater, the other called nigger hater. Great names, guys. Anyway, to you idiots I say, go fuck yourself, go jump in a pit of spikes, go kill yourself with a gun, go the fuck away, etc. The summary literally says: Probably Yaoi, at some point. Clearly, you goddamn idiots cannot read, why are you on fanficition?

Anyway, to those that wasn't addressed to, sorry you had to read that. Anyway, next chapter in maybe a week or so. Give or take a few days. Bye.