Alright boys, it's here. The chapter you've all been waiting for. Zane vs Atlas. I've honestly been waiting to write this forever, and now I can now that the pesky rest of the story is out of the way. This chapter should be my best, my magnum opus. I haven't written it at the time of making this paragraph, but I'm going to put everything I've got into this chapter. Now, before we begin, let's get on to some reviews.

Echoxenvy: "Okay here we go.

First of all, I literally stayed up until 4 am reading this, it was so good. A great comeback chapter man.

First off I loved the moments between Zane, Taylor, and Nico. Everything was perfectly balanced, and personally I've always been on the Zaylor train, but after this chapter…man I'm not so sure, you've got even me conflicted now, so good job. As for the fight, fucking phenomenal. Nothing short of awesome. I absolutely loved Zane going in survival mode, being weak after his version of the DBZ final explosion, literally felt like a mini zombie story or something, it was so good. I've had the idea of a chapter where Matt fights dead Norse Vikings in a zombie horde type of thing, but never though much of it. Now I'm definitely doing it after this chapter lol. Another thing, I love Zane and Percy's relationship, they really are brothers at the end of the day, and moments between them is so epic, like even little conversations. I hope you give them a good "final" moment together in the final chapter for Last Olympian before Percy goes missing. Lastly, I'm very hyped for the Atlas fight. It's going to be so goood, and then the crossover. I really got to step it up, huh? Only one more chapter for you and like eight for me lol. I'll get them out though.

P.S. Read my new chapters man, you gotta keep up, and hey, it's getting really good now lol."

Response: Thanks for staying up so late reading, man. I hope I didn't keep you from anything. I've reached a decision on the relationship, which you will see once you read the chapter. I hope you don't mind what I'm playing to do too much, as it can be seen as cliche in other stories, but I couldn't help myself. And I'm surprised you liked the fight, since it was just a big zombie fight, but I'm glad you did. Can't wait to see your Viking zombie fight lol. And I'm glad I could portray Zane and Percy's relationship in that light, as that's basically what I've been working towards in that regard. And yes, they'll get that final moment in Last Olympian, but it might not be what you expect. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the Atlas fight, bro.

Merrik69: "Awesome chapter. Definitely worth the wait, and I am glad to see you're back to regular updates.

I'm interested in seeing how you'll handle the love triangle, and of course the Atlas fight. Can't wait."

Response: I'm glad you liked the chapter, and even more glad I'm back to regular updates. I'm making sure I don't have a giant break like that again. You'll see how I handle the Atlas fight and the love triangle right here in this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

SaUvE ViPeR: "Woah this was so good. I'm glad you are back and the next chapter will be out quicker. You have me very hyped for the Atlas fight, I am very curious as to how they will defeat him, and what will happen with Luke. I liked the romance stuff, because it felt like you gave attention to both Taylor and Nico. I still pick Taylor, but obviously Zane is conflicted. Am interested to see what your plan is for the next chapter and what Zane will do about that. I also hope like others there is a scene where Zane and Arthur become friends, or at least make up next chapter, because Arthur has been through it and really isn't a bad guy. Plus it would be huge for Zane if he admitted he was wrong about Arthur. Another thing is Percy and Zane are god tier together, that scene was so good when he knocked him out and saved him, and Zane had to kind of survive on his own. So good. Can't wait for the Percabeth reunion, make it good please lol.

Overall, great chapter. But the next one will truly be the biggest of the entire story so far. So much build up and it'll be huge for Zane and the story. A lot of pressure lol. Seriously though, good job and can't wait for the conclusion of Titan's Curse Arc and beginning of Battle of Labyrinth."

Response: I'm glad you thought last chapter was so good, bro. And yes, back with this one and more on the way, just got to wait for Storm Bringers to be done if it isn't already by the time this comes out. Yes, Atlas fight is here, and Luke will definitely be involved, no doubt about that. However, what happens to him will be very different, as you'll see as the chapter goes on. Also, the romance decision is reached in this chapter, and I hope you like what I've decided. And about Zane and Arthur, there will probably be a scene like that, but I'm not sure it will be in this chapter, but definitely down the line. And yeah, Zane knocking Percy out to save him was something I hoped would portray his heroicness and his character growth, as he wouldn't have done that a while ago. I will make the Percabeth reunion amazing, don't worry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the chapters to come.

Guest: "Not questioning your writing or anything but the summary doesn't make sense. If thalia was disregarded too fast and Jason a shitty character why wouldn't you try to change that instead of bringing a lame new own character into the game like countless others did before.

According to your wordcount you don't seem to be that bad of an author but this idea... disappointing"

Response: I'll admit the summary isn't exactly great since I wrote it on impulse, but you should definitely read the story before you make a review blasting it, dumbass.

FabulousOutlaw58: Wow, great chapter. I am very excited for the Atlas rematch. Have no idea how they will manage to defeat him. But it is definitely personal between them. I imagine Taylor will fight Luke since he wants revenge on him.

Also I have a decent idea of how things will happen between Zane, Taylor and Nico. If this is true it will be very interesting to see in the next arc."

Response: Well, I'm glad you enjoyed chapter and I hope you enjoy this one. You'll see how they defeat the Titan in this chapter. Also, yes Taylor would want revenge against Luke, but you'll see in this chapter that might not be possible. And you say you have an idea about Zane, Taylor and Nico, yes? Let's see if your idea is correct. Anyway, have a good one and enjoy this chapter.

MR. EXCLUSIV3: "Hell yeah, amazing chapter. Glad to see you back.

Atlas bout to get clapped. How tho I have no idea.

And Zaylor all the way, my opinion"

Response: Good to see you again, mister exclusive. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Atlas is about to get clapped, and you'll see how in this chapter. Also, hope you like what I've decided about the romance. Enjoy the chapter.

Shadowhunter2077: "Okay I want to see how this fight will play out, but I also want to see the Olympian Council meeting because I know at least one god will try to ask for Zane and Percy death's and man Zeus and Poseidon are not going to be happy.

Also will Nico get a super form of his own, because it would be cool to see him actually being capable of fight gods on his own.

And man sorry to bother you in this, but did you read the Kanes Chronicles? And if you include others pantheons are you going to power up them because right now it seems that Zane could easily defeat the entire Egyptian pantheon by himself."

Response: Good to see you back, shadowhunter. And yes, the council meeting will happen, although not too sure if anyone will ask for Zane's death, in fear of Zeus' wrath. And about Nico gaining a super form, you'll see in this chapter. And yes, I read the Kane Chronicles, but it's been a long, long time since I have. And I won't power up any other pantheons. Zane could defeat the whole Egyptian pantheon himself, not going to lie. Also, hope you enjoy this chapter and the next ones after it.

Xaqzi: "Very nice. The fight with Atlas will be the biggest in the story so far, I can already tell. It's going to be insane. I expect it to be personal between them, since Zane is rarely overpowered so easily. But that poses the question, how will they defeat him? It seems you're at a corner here? Even with Percy and the rest, they can't do it. I wonder how you'll write that conclusion.

I am very interested in how you'll handle the Olympian council scene and Thalia joining the hunt. Zane's reaction probably won't be good though. Now I normally don't like OC x Canon character pairings, but Zane x Nico is truly an exception, and better than with Taylor in my opinion. That seems to be an unpopular opinion based on the other reviews though. Not sure what you plan on doing about that, but whatever it is, i'm sure will be interesting.

Another thing is the Heroes of Olympus. Will you be doing that also? Because there are so many things you can do with that. For one, the contrast between Zane and Jason would be very very interesting to read, and they probably wouldn't get along. Also a more powerful opponent in Gaea and crazier stuff, like the Roman aspect and Tartarus. Also, how long will this story be? Will it go even beyond Heroes of Olympus to Kane Chronicles, Trials of Apollo, and every story Riordan has done? Or will you eventually make your own original content? I'm curious. Sorry for the long review."

Response: I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. Yes, this will be the biggest and baddest fight of the series so far, and I'm going to put my all into writing this chapter. It will be personal, as Zane is still a sore loser, despite his character development. As to how they will defeat him, you'll see in this chapter. I'll give you a hint, go read Son of Hercules and you'll understand. And I also can't wait to write the council scene, as it basically will decide all the characters outcomes in terms of relationship. And if you like Nico and Zane, you'll need to read the rest of the chapter. I hope I don't let you down. And yes, I will be doing Heroes of Olympus, although I think I'll have to edit the story quite a bit to fit Zane's power level at the time of that story. And Zane and Jason is going to be fun as hell to write. The two are very different and will definitely clash quite a bit. So I'll probably touch Trials of Apollo a little bit, as well as Magnus Chase, but then it's right into original content. I have some things planned for that period, but it's mostly abstract right now, nothing concrete. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

blackninjaop: Hey! Long time reader, first time reviewer. I just gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at how good this story is. At first I thought it was gonna be a ripoff of the fanfics like "Demigod?" and "Demi-Titan" but nah, Zane is way better than Fayden as an OC.

So my favorite thing has gotta be the fights and Zane himself. His redemption was cool and I honestly didn't expect him to be like this. I thought he would just turn into some kind of egotistical sex machine that most authors do with their OC's, but no.

I love Nico in this story also. I'm really hoping he gets a super form too like Zane and Percy. I think it would be fitting and good for the story, since he is strong after all. It could be called his Shadow Form or something badass like that. But if you don't think that would be good right now, then that's totally fine.

I don't usually review stories just because I'm bad with words and super awkward lol, so I might not review again, but I'll definitely keep reading!

One more thing, what's the Son of Hercules? It's mentioned here a lot and if it's a good story I'll have to check it out. Good fics are hard to find on here, due to the overwhelming amount of crappy Pertemis stories."

Response: Well, hello there my good sir. Congratulations on your first review. So a bit of news, I've never actually read Demigod and Demi-Titan, and I probably never will after hearing how bad the OC is. And yes, the fights is something I feel I'm good at writing, and is definitely my favorite part to write in these chapters. And about Zane's redemption, I wanted to do something different than the egotistical, bloodcrazed sex machine template most OCs follow. I wanted to make a more dynamic and changing character, as close to a real person as I could possibly create on paper. Zane's character arc is not done yet, not by a long shot. And about Nico getting a super form, you'll see in this chapter. Oh, and the Son of Hercules is another amazing OC story following a character named Matthias Beckett who is the son of Hercules. It's written by Echoxenvy, and is probably the one of the best fanfics I've ever read on this site. Go check it out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Alright, enough with reviews. Let's blow this pop-stand.

WARNING: Go read Son of Hercules before this, or you will be very confused in this chapter. Seriously, you have been warned.

(Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or anything else portrayed here. If the fact that this is on a FanFiction site didn't tip you off, your fucking retarded.)

(000)

As the six of us us made our way up the mountain, we all realized something that would be incredibly significant in the next coming minutes. There seemed to be some sort of abandoned city resting on the top of the mountain. It was large, almost larger than the actual top of the mountain itself, and the buildings seemed old. Incredibly old even. As we got closer, we could see the almost archaic, yet rather advanced designs of the structures.

The design was seemingly a mix of Ancient Greek, Minoan, and Mycenaean, yet different from all of those. It was its own unique style, with drew inspiration from the others. Or should I say, from how old the buildings appear, the other cultures drew inspiration from these buildings. As we reached the ruined gates of the mountain city, Zoe, who had been nervous ever since we spotted the city, read old and ancient inscriptions on the gates that none of the rest of the party could comprehend.

"These are the ruins of Mount Othrys..." Zoe said in a breathless, airy voice. "It was not here before. This is very, very bad." Predictably, Percy was the one to ask what Othrys was, as we all know he is quite the idiot. Zoe, without any of her usual disdain for Percy, spoke to him seriously. "Othrys was the mountain fortress city of the Titans back during the Titanotomacy. The counterpart to Olympus. Back during the war, it was destroyed. Like Olympus, it moves around in the same manner Olympus does, but unlike Olympus, Othrys exists on the edge of civilization. The fact that it is here is very bad."

Zoe trailed off, not speaking as evenly and confidently as she usually does. "This is my fathers mountain..." She nearly whispered these words, but I'm certain everyone heard her. We all unofficially knew Zoe was the daughter of Atlas. I mean, come on. All the evidence is there.

After Zoe's words, we all continued to walk through the ruins of what was once likely a great and amazing city. As we walked through, I noticed the layout of the place was similar to Olympus as well. Kinda like how Hades' palace was very similar to the palace on Olympus. The buildings looked as if they were millions of years old, with the erosion of time starting to degrade stone of what was most definitely the highest caliber possible.

But as we got closer to the summit of the mountain, it's almost as if the city was getting more and more grand. As if it was fixing itself. Once we finally reached the top, we found the ruins of a palace that had at one point no doubt rivaled Olympus in size and grandeur, but was now an empty shell of it's former glory. There was no door or massive gate to speak of, just one massive ruin of a building that looked like the top half had been shaved off. But out of all the buildings, this palace was in the best condition.

Inside the ruined palace, there was nothing much of note, as there was no grand decorations or thrones like in Olympus. Just a big empty room. In the middle of said room, some kind of vortex of clouds and mist spiraled down from the sky like a funnel cloud into one spot. Underneath the vortex in that spot was a twelve year old looking girl in a silver winter attire. Artemis. She looked worse for wear, as if she had been beat to a pulp and then forced to run ten marathons, but she was alive. She very clearly was struggling to hold up the sky, as the weight looked to be far too much for her. She couldn't move either, as she was chained to the ground with golden, glowing chains.

As soon as Zoe saw Artemis, she took off at the goddess, despair and tears on her face. But before she could reach the goddess, Artemis yelled out, "Stop!" Her command indeed stopped Zoe in her tracks, with the Lieutenant looking confused at her lady's command. "This entire thing is a trap! You have to get out of here, now! I command you!"

Before anyone could do anything or say another word, a massive presence could be felt in the ruined palace. Everyone shifted and stood still, not sure of what was happening. But then I felt it clearly. I turned my head to the left, finding the one who had defeated me so easily. Atlas. It took a good amount of self control not to charge him, but it took significantly less once I saw the Titan of Endurance holding a chaining in his massive hand.

Behind the Titan being led by a chain around her neck was Annabeth. She was in just as bad of shape as Artemis was, only she had a new streak of grey running through her hair. Percy's teeth gritted in his mouth and I knew he was about to charge the Titan, but I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head. Percy, who initially turned back to me in confusion, relented after seeing my head shake, but he didn't look any less angry.

Atlas smirked at the entire situation, as if the entire thing was just a game to amuse him. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Atlas surveyed all of us with his eyes, his gaze landing on Zoe first. "Daughter. It's been quite a long, long time since I've seen you. What has it been, three thousand years since you betrayed me and your sisters for some demigod hunk? Considering where you are now, I take it that it didn't really go to well, now did it?"

Zoe grimaced and glared at the Titan, who paid her look no mind. His gaze then landed on me, and his smirk deepened. "If it isn't Zane Williams. I see you've recovered from the little flick I gave you last time we met. I hope this time you actually give me a decent challenge, or at least amuse me a little more." I glared at the Titan, lightning already starting to dance off my fingertips.

Atlas turned to Percy, who looked absolutely furious of the Titan's treatment of Annabeth. "The son of Poseidon." He seemingly just noticed Percy's absolutely pissed expression and put on his best innocent expression. "What? Are you displeased over the treatment of your little girlfriend here?" The attempt to either throw Percy off his game or embarrass him did not work whatsoever, as the situation we were in was far too serious. Atlas shook his head, a disappointed frown on his face. "That usually works. Whatever."

He turned to the last person he would speak to, my sister Thalia. "Thalia Grace, the supposed child of the prophecy. What a disappointment." Atlas bared down on my half-sister, which made me scowl. "Back at the Hoover Dam, Thorn was sent to give you one last chance to join with us and destroy Olympus. However, you elected to keep fighting for those arrogant fools. I suppose I will just have to kill you and turn your friends to our side. They seem a lot more malleable, and they're certainly much stronger than you are." Atlas' insults tore down every shred of Thalia's confidence, and her cheeks turned red in embarrassment and she looked down at the floor.

Atlas could say no more, as Zoe interrupted whatever else he was about to say. "Let Artemis go, now!" She said with a tone of authority, not too much different than how Atlas spoke to Thorn back at the Smithsonian. I guess I could see the family resemblance. Zoe drew her silver bow and pointed it at her father, the weapon knocked with silver arrows. "Or I will fill you up with so many arrows you'll make a stuffed pig jealous!" Zoe had a fierce expression on her face, something that would honesty be terrifying to most people.

But Atlas was not most people. At Zoe's words, he grinned and tried to hold back laughter. "PFFT!" Atlas put a hand over his mouth and held back his laughter for a few seconds, before giving up entirely and laughing out loud. "Hahahahahahaha! Good one, Daughter! That has got to be the funniest thing I've heard in millions of years! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Atlas broke down on more uncontrolled laughter as blood rushed to Zoe's cheeks, symboling her obvious embarrassment.

Once Atlas calmed down, he motioned to Artemis. "Someone has to hold the burden. If she moves, the sky will come tumbling down and will collide with the earth. I'm not exactly sure what will happen to the rest of the world, but I am sure that the sky will destroy the surrounding area for hundreds of miles, no doubt killing millions of innocent mortals. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Atlas shrugged. "Unless you would take the burden for her. However, daughter, I'm certain that the weight of my former burden would crush you. The daughter of Athena here couldn't even last a minute at a time." Atlas motioned to Annabeth, who still looked absolutely terrible.

Before Zoe could say anything or try and do something stupid like attack Atlas or take the sky from Artemis, I stepped up in front of everyone, facing the Titan of Endurance. "What do you want from us, Atlas? I know you could kill all of us in an instant without any difficulty. Why are we still alive?"

My words were true, as the Titan was probably one of the strongest beings in the entire universe. He could instantly blitz us all in the blink of an eye and we would all be dead before we could do a single damn thing. Why hadn't he killed us yet when he had sent an entire army to kill us beforehand? It doesn't make any sense.

Atlas regarded me with an amused glint in his eyes. "You are right, son of Zeus. I could kill all of your by flexing my aura out. It would be that easy." He aura rose slightly from his form. a wispy, purple glow surrounded his frame. Everyone tensed, and we all prepared for what was coming next. However, his aura vanished and returned to normal.

"However, that would be no fun. You see, Zane, I want to have a fun time. It's not too often you can do that when you were positioned under a rock for the past several million years. I like fighting strong opponents, but when you're as powerful as I am, those don't really exist." Atlas pointed at me, a smirk on his face. "So what I want from you and your friends is a good show. I want you to try to kill me. I want your entire team to come at me with everything you have. If not, I'll kill all of you right now and go back to whatever I was doing before."

I looked back at my team, trying to see their opinions. No one had any objections, as we really didn't have any choice to begin with. Hopefully, we could figure out a way to beat the Titan while he played with us. I turned back to the Titan of Endurance, and nodded. "Alright then, Atlas. We'll play your game. We'll fight you with everything we got." Atlas smirked and I saw some kind of fire erupt in his eye. He was obviously very excited. I held up a finger. "But first, let Annabeth go. She's in no condition to fight you alongside us." Percy nodded to my side, agreeing wholeheartedly with every word I said.

Atlas rolled his eyes and his smirk deepened. "Fine. She is of no use to me anymore anyways." Atlas tossed her chain into our group and she was forcibly pulled forwards by the movement. She nearly fell down from the action, but Percy super sped forwards and caught her before she could hit the ground. The son of Poseidon helped her up, asking if she was okay. Atlas rolled his eyes again and fake gagged. "How touching."

I took this moment in time to get a better look at Annabeth. When I said she was in bad shape like Artemis, I didn't do the description justice. She did look like she ran ten marathons, but she also looked like someone had picked her up by the hair, hung her from a tree with it and beat her like a piñata for hours on end. Not to mention, she now had a grey streak running throughout the side of her hair, looking like some weird kind of highlight.

Percy led her over to Artemis, where she could be safely out of the way during the fight. I also shouldn't forget to mention the deep hug the to shared, with Annabeth being the one to initiate it. I had to hold back a smile seeing that. As Percy walked back over to the group, a serious expression on his face, Atlas spoke in an impatient tone, almost like that of a child. "Are you finally done with all this sappy shit? Can we fight now?"

I nodded. "Yes." I turned back to my group. "At him!" We all jumped into action, each of us becoming ready for combat in different ways. Both me and Percy shifted into our Thunder and Earthshaker Form respectively and charged the Titan head on, as we were the powerhouses in our group.

Thalia had brandished her Aegis and drew her spear, coating the weapon in a cloak of lightning. She came at Atlas from the side, trying to be opportunistic in this fight. Taylor had drew his own spear and shield, and he used his immense speed to get behind Atlas and try to stab him in the back. Nico had drawn his Stygian Iron Sword and coated the weapon in a wreath of shadows, elongating the weapon to twice its normal length and two handing the weapon. Zoe stayed back, electing not to charge with us and support our group with arrows as she drew back her bowstring and knocked an arrow in it. All in all, a pretty solid start to the fight.

But it didn't really go so well. For one, when I reached Atlas, I slammed my fist directly into his left cheek. The blow created a massive shockwave of force, which was sprinkled with bits of wind and lightning. However, despite my incredible punch, Atlas didn't even move a centimeter. He simply grinned a whisked his hand in my direction. This created enough force to make a blast of wind that slammed in my torso, which was enough to send me flying back and knock the wind out of me.

He didn't even hit me directly. How was he this strong? As I was flying back, I saw Percy warp water from the air molecules and created spikes of glowing water to impale Atlas. The water didn't even make Atlas' skin move, but Percy didn't stop trying. He created a water field around Riptide and tried to slice Atlas in two. Atlas didn't even let the attack hit him, and simply moved beside Percy. This was enough to create force like how Atlas did against me, which also sent Percy flying away.

It was at this moment Taylor had rushed up from behind Atlas and tried to stab him in the back of the head with his spear, but as expected, the attack did jackshit nothing. Atlas simply waved one of his fingers back in his direction, which slammed into him and knocked Taylor back as well. Atlas continued to move forward, moving slowly as if to mock us. Zoe was pelting him with arrows, which bounced off of him as they did absolutely no damage.

Nico swung his elongated shadow blade, which sent a shadow slash of energy off the blade as a projectile. He sent multiple at the Titan, although it did nothing. I raced in front of Nico before Atlas could do anything to the son of Hades. "Get away from him!" I shouted, punching the Titan directly in the jaw as I did so.

Predictably, the attack did nothing but make Atlas smirk. "Did I do something that touched a nerve, son of Zeus?" Faster than I could even see, Ashe grabbed my arm and threw me away like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, my little outburst allowed Nico to shadow travel away and continue to take pot shots at Atlas with his shadow slashes and spikes, keeping the pressure on the Titan. My group gathered together again, and we all nodded at each other, a wordless plan coming to mind.

Nico and Percy both put up their hands, creating a large sphere of water in Percy's case, and a mix of shadows and skeletal hands from the ground in Nico's. The two did their best to restrain Atlas as the rest of us jumped into action. Taylor ran around the Titan who was obviously allowing himself to be held down, attacking him in weak spots with his spear and dashing away as quick as possible. The attacks did nothing but amuse the Titan.

Zoe continued staying in the back, trying to shoot her father in the eyes and in the neck, yet none of her attacks were doing anything either. I quickly moved to Thalia, and both of us grasped her spear. We both poured as much lighting as possible into the weapon, with me doing most of the meaningful work, but we needed everything we could get at the moment. Once we charged enough power into Thalia's spear, we grabbed the weapon and threw it directly at Atlas' neck.

But again, nothing really happened. Yeah, the spear slammed into Atlas' neck and created a massive light show of lightning and bursts of wind, but just from sensing Atlas' massive aura, I knew our attack didn't really do anything to the Titan. Once all the lightning was gone, Atlas smirked, completely and predictably unharmed by the explosion. "Nice try, kids. You all are really something."

Atlas flexed his purple aura slightly and immediately broke out of Percy and Nico's paltry restraints. A burst of wind exploded from Atlas that was strong enough to floor all of us. Atlas was free and he was about to be coming after us. We all scrambled to stand up, both me and Percy being the first to rise. Immediately, Atlas was in my face and on the attack. Well, I say attack, but he more or less just flicked in my direction, which created another burst of wind that nearly knocked me down again.

However, I was prepared this time, and caught myself in air with the wind. Atlas raised an eyebrow. "It seems you've adapted, Zane. Now, let's see you react to this." Atlas appeared in front of me again and was about to punch me in the face. But the punch was slow, or at least slow enough to where I could see it. I knew he was holding back to see what I was going to do, so I was going to do my best to defend. As quickly as I could, I created a barrier of wind mixed with lighting in front of me and pumped it with as much strength as I could.

Just in time, too, as Atlas' fist smashed into my barrier and sent me sprawling across the floor. The barrier took the brunt of the attack, so I was mostly alright. Atlas smirked in approval of my defense as I stood up from the cracked ground where I was send sprawling through. "Good reaction. Boy, you have so much potential that it makes me so disappointed that I'll have to kill you tonight. It was have been amazing to see what you would have become. Who knows, maybe you would have been able to give me an actual challenge in a few years."

Atlas prepared to attack me again, but was interrupted by a glowing blue sword that slammed into his neck. The weapon bounced off completely, but it got his attention. Percy stood in front of the Titan in a fighting stance, clearly wanting to take the bastard on. Atlas smirked at Percy's audacity, but was surrounded by shadows and skeletal hands before he could say anything to the son of Poseidon. Both me and Percy jumped into action as quick as possible.

I surrounded my hand on lightning and planted it directly in Atlas' face. Percy smashed his own fist in Atlas' chin, creating a earthquake where his hand lay with his vibration manipulation. Both attack did nothing to Atlas, who flexed his muscles and immediately broke out of Nico's trap, creating a slight shockwave as he did so. He threw both me and Percy with incredible force back towards the rest of our group, the two of us smashing into the floor of the ruined palace.

Both of us weren't hurt from the throw, and we stood up with no issue. We regrouped with our friends, and we were about to work out another plan to defeat the Titan. But before we could get anything off the ground, a voice cut in. "Atlas. I see you're playing around with them." That voice was very familiar. Everyone turned to see the owner of the voice, who was floating down from the sky above.

Luke. He was flying, or at least descending to the ground. His appearance was the exact same as how I'd seen him back at the museum. He was six foot two, and looked to nearly be almost two hundred and thirty pounds of muscle. He wore a full set of ancient, yet new looking Greek armor with a dark brown cloak adorned on his shoulders. His sword was at his side, and I could feel the sword have an aura of its own. What exactly had Luke done to it?

Luke threw back his hood, revealing his face. He had clearly changed quite a bit, as his jaw was now thicker and more square. His hair was now back to its original length it had been before his betrayal. The two most eye catching features were his yellow, glowing eyes and the cracked skin around them, like that of a window. His aura was intense, nearly rivaling my own and surpassing Percy and anyone else besides Atlas all together. I could see a faint orange glow come off his skin. Despite Luke being far weaker than Atlas, the Titan of Endurance bowed to the son of Hermès. "Yes, Lord. I'm having quite the good time." Okay, something was clearly up here.

Luke chuckled at Atlas' honest answer. "Continue your amusement at your own leisure, Atlas. We have plenty of time, and honestly it's better if you drag this out to waste time for the Olympians. Just make sure you kill them by the end of it." Atlas nodded at Luke's command and faced us down once again. Luke looked away from his Titan underling and looked directly at me. "Now, I have a score to settle."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, I was in another place in an instant. I looked around a quickly as possible, noting I was no longer in the palace ruins on Atlas' mountain. I was still on a mountain, but one that was completely different and lacking the obvious ruins of a Titan stronghold. I focused my aura, sensing my friends and Atlas dozens of miles from here. I was about to fly off and return to them, but Luke's voice rung out. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Suddenly, Luke appeared in front of me with insane speed, or at least the illusion of it. He obviously time stopped in front of me. "Hello there, Zane." Luke said, a massive grin breaking out on his face, looking even more insane thanks to his cracked eye skin and yellow glowing eyes.

I glared at the son of Hermès, the memories of how he brutalized me back in the sea of monsters coming to my mind. I gripped my hands as lightning bounced off me. "Luke. Now what the hell do you want from me?" I didn't try and ignore Luke's warning about attempting to leave again. I knew he could just bring me back with a time stop, so there was no point and even trying to escape from Luke's grasp. I was forced to stay back and listen to the bastard.

Luke smirked with the same stupid grin a son of Hermès often employs, although this one was filled with malice. "Is it not so simple, Zane? I want to kill you." Luke said it with such confidence and conviction it made me do a double take. Luke's smirk vanished, and he looked at me with a glare, one heavily intensified by his burning yellow eyes.

"Back in the Sea of Monsters, you embarrassed me. I was humiliated. I fought you with the full extent of Kronos' powers at the time, including being able to call about his aura and power. Not to mention I fought alongside Koios as well. And you completely washed both of us." I raised an eyebrow. I don't exactly remember it like that. I remember it was one of the most annoying and tedious fights of my life.

Luke began to look angry. "I had brought my A game to that battle. I pulled out every trick in the book in that fight to contend with you, and I barely could even stand up to your power. We didn't do a single meaning attack in that entire fight. So what I want, Zane, is vengeance. I want to kill you and make you feel the same humiliation I felt."

I stood in silence for about a second and a half. Luke's logic didn't make any sense. "That doesn't make any sense, Luke. If anything, I should be the one to want revenge, since you were the one who almost killed me at the end of that fight." I shrugged and rolled my eyes, "But I'm not going to argue with you about that. What I am going to ask about is why you haven't killed me yet."

Luke looked confused and I decided to elaborate for the traitor. "You're nearly as powerful as I am from aura alone. Combined with your bullshit time powers and your weird sword with its own aura, you'd be able to kill me with ease. Why haven't you already?" I was hoping I didn't just remind him how easy this fight could be for him, then I really was done for.

Luke's smirk appeared back on his face. "After being humiliated like I was back on Polyphemus' island, do you really think I would want to defeat you that way?" Luke shook his head, his smirk fading away. "No. I want to defeat you fair and square. I want to fight you and your best and see the expression on your face as I beat you into the dirt. I want you to feel the humiliation and hopelessness I felt six months ago!" Wow, edgy much? Luke continued without a thought to how his little speech might have sounded. "Besides, it would be a waste to not kill you with my newfound power."

I spoke up, interrupting Luke's villiany monologue. "Uh, yeah, about that," Luke's serious look fell from his face as he looked at me in confusion. "What exactly happened to you, Luke? Six months ago you were barely stronger than Taylor without your powers from Kronos, and now you are rivaling me with all these new abilities. You look completely different and your aura feels like...his. What did you do?"

Luke was silent for a few seconds, a serious expression on his face. But suddenly, he grinned deeply, almost with a touch of insanity. "You see, Zane, after my defeat on the island, I returned to the Princess Andromeda wondering what I could do to close the gap between us. When you arrived at Camp Half-Blood, you were no doubt competent, but you couldn't hold a candle to me. Not two years later you were killing gods and Titans. I needed the kind of power you had if I was going to be taking on Olympus and other gods in the future, so I did the only thing I knew I could do to close that gap."

Luke's face took on a more somber and mysterious expression. "I approached Lord Kronos' coffin and opened it. He didn't have enough of his essence returned to reform and without the Fleece, he would never. So I improvised. I got into the coffin and bathed in his remains. His essence bonded with me. It completely destroyed and replaced my mortal half in an instant, making me half god and half Titan. I began the path that would not only return him but exalt me. I will become Kronos!" Luke shouted, as he raised both of his arms dramatically.

"Eventually, Kronos' essence will overtake my godly side, and I will become the Titan Lord completely. He will absorb not only my physical form, but also my mind and my soul. I will become Kronos, and he will become me. We will be one in the same."

I stood in stunned silence by Luke's explanation and declaration as I looked at him with wide eyes. Eventually after a few seconds, I spoke. "Luke, you're completely fucking insane. You're basically giving up your entire existence for power so you can beat a fourteen year old kid. You're completely delusional."

Luke didn't exactly take my confirmation of his mental status kindly, as his expression turned into a glare and his posture became aggressive. I shook my head. "But I'm pretty sure you're already too gone to even try to convince otherwise. I mean, look at you, you look like a Sith Lord!" I got into a fighting stance and my aura burst from my body, creating spurts of lightning and wind as the glow in my eyes lightened up the dark summit of the mountain we were on.

Lighting generated off me like a Tesla Coil, only ten times more frequent. "So instead of trying to get you to give up your ways or get you to try and come quietly, I think I'm just going to beat the shit out of you. How does that sound?" Luke grinned at my words and drew his sword, Backbitter. I guess he was eager for a fight. "Good."

Both of us charged each other far faster than the speed of light, ripping apart the ground at our feet with a single step. Luke swung Backbitter at my face with incredible speed, creating shockwaves just from the mere movement of the blade. I narrowly avoided getting my head sliced off and ducked under the attack.

With my still moving arm, I slammed a lightning encased fist directly into Luke's torso, creating a massive burst of energy and knocking the traitor back several feet coughing up spittle. Luke looked up from the ground, a smiling grimace on his face. "First blood goes to me." I looked at him in confusion, as I was the one to land the first hit. I immediately felt a slight pain from my cheek and touched it, noting a small cut and a bit of blood. Luke fully recovered and an orange aura surrounded him. "Let's not play around here, Zane. I'm going all out from the get go. If you don't do the same, you'll die."

I glared at the son of Hermès. "Fine." Both of us charged at each other once again, only this time with more intensity and speed. Luke tried to slice me into a dozen pieces with a quick and deadly barrage of attacks with Backbitter, but I avoided them nimbly, careful to not get cut this time. I charged my fist as quickly as possible and tried to slam it into Luke's face, only for him to avoid it. I guess it was going to be that kind of fight then.

Luke tried to impale me with his sword, only for me to catch his blade with both hands. I quickly took the blade from Luke before he could react and I tried to throw the weapon into space. But as the sword started to make flight, Luke appeared in front of it with impossible speed. He must of time stopped to save his weapon. Figures. Our battle continued with much the same happening. Luke would attack me with thousands of different sword swipes per second, creating bursts of wind with each attack. Every time I tried to counter attack with my fists or any other strike, Luke would avoid the attack. We were at a stalemate.

Not for long. Dodging a swipe from Luke that split the clouds in the air, I jumped back and shot a barrage of intense lightning at the son of Hermès. Luke barely avoided the lightning, the charged bolts nearly burning him. I continued to attack him with lightning at a distance, not letting up even for a second.

Luke moved around at incredible speeds that scientists would claim to be impossible, creating bursts of energy and wind as he did so. He was on the defensive and I'll make sure it stays that way. I conjured a collection of wind in my left hand and shot it out in a wall of power at Luke.

Luke barely avoided the attack once again, the rocks behind him being shredded away by the pressurized wind. Combing both lightning and wind together, I kept the pressure on Luke, fighting the son of Hermès at a distance and maintaining superiority over the fight. I had to make him impatient and strike out at me. It was only a matter of t-

"Stop being a fucking coward and fight me!" Luke lost all his patience at being on the defense and charged directly at me with reckless abandon. I shot a combination of wind and lightning at the son of Hermès, hoping to stop him in his tracks. Luke, somehow, dodged through the attack despite not moving around it. I did a double take. How the fuck did he do that?

I didn't get an answer as Luke was about to reach me, intent on cutting me in half. I grinned. My plan was coming to fruition. I charged lightning into my fists and willed it to stay there, creating a cage of lightning in and on my fists. Luke tried to bring Backbitter down on my head, but I met his attack head on with both of my fists. Luke's blade stopped in its tracks, my lightning acting as a shield.

Luke looked at his blade on my lighting surrounded hands and his eyes widened. "Wha-!?" Luke's words were interrupted by my fist quick long moving from the blade of his sword and into the bottom of his jaw. The son of Hermès flew back from my strike and smashed into the ground below.

This fight just got a whole lot more interesting. I charged at Luke, lightning not only surrounding my hands but my feet as well. Time to keep Luke on his toes. I struck out at the son of Hermès with a kick, forcing him to block with his sword. The force of my attack knocked his sword out of the way and allowed me to strike with a blow to the liver. The lightning sparked as my fist made contact with him and Luke groaned in pain. As Luke was stunned, I kneed him in the gut, stunning him further, and grabbed his armor.

I lifted Luke up from the ground of the mountain and took flight. I didn't hold the traitor for long, as I quickly turned around and threw him directly back down at the mountain. Luke hit the mountain with such force and speed, he smashed through the rock, nothing stopping him. It didn't take more than a second for the mountain to collapse completely onto of Luke, causing massive piles of dirt, rocks and dust to fill the area for miles.

I knew the mountain collapsing atop the traitor would not do a damn thing to him, so I kept the attack up. I flew down to the ground, having to go quite a bit further as the mountain was completely gone with only rocks left. It was no matter as I closed the distance in an instant with my speed. I charged more lightning into my fists, illuminating the night sky. I tracked where Luke's aura was and quickly smashed down directly on top of some boulders where the aura was coming from.

My vision went white and all I could hear was the sound of chirping birds for a couple of seconds. As my vision returned, I saw I was now standing in a crater where the remains of the mountain was with a downed son of Hermès. I'm lucky I condensed that attack as well as I could, otherwise the entire planet would definitely be gone. Like stood up from the ground, his cloak in tatters and his armor slightly cracked. He had a few cuts and bruises, which both leaked golden ichor, proving Luke's lack of mortality. I smirked at the son of Hermès and hopped around on my feet a little with my hands in a fighting stance. "Getting tired already, Luke? Disappointing."

This turned out to be the wrong thing to say to the traitor. "SHUT UP!" Luke roared at me as he slashed Backbitter in my direction in an arch. The weapon created a orange energy slash which I was forced to dodge as quickly as I could. I looked at the energy as I dodged past it. Very similar to Nico's shadow slashes.

"I will fucking kill you!" Luke yelled at me as he continued to swing more of the Orange Slashes at me, forcing me to dodge through all of them. Luke roared and pointed Backbitter at me, an orange beam of energy erupting from the tip of his sword. I dodged under the beam and closed the distance between the two of us as fast as I possibly could. I kicked Luke in the chest with a lightning encased foot, sending the traitor flying back and interrupting his beam attack.

Luke recovered very quickly in the air and flew at me with his sword pulled back. As Luke reached me, I barely moved under his sword, which was coated in his orange aura. That would have cut me clean in two. I quickly punched Luke in the side as he flew past me, knocking him to the side and in the air.

Luke recovered fast again, but I didn't allow him to attack me again, I met his flying charge with one of my own and we exchanged blows. Thousands of attack in a split second, the wind bursting in all directions, lighting flying off Luke's sword as he attacked me and defended himself from my counterattacks. Punches, kicks, stabs, slashes, lighting, wind, orange energy, all of it.

Eventually, the two of us broke away from each other to catch our breath. We were nearly dead even in terms of power and speed, but throughout the course of the fight I could tell I had a slight advantage in power. However, Luke made up for it with his skill and his use of his sword, so it didn't really matter all that much. What did matter was my variety of powers. Luke was being stupid here.

He had all his time powers underneath his belt and he wasn't using a single one of them. He was limiting himself to just using his physical abilities, his aura, and his sword. However, I wasn't going to handicap myself so stupidly. As both of us were eyeing each other up, I waved my arms in a circular movement. All around us, storm clouds started to form, with bits of charged lightning sprinkled throughout. Luke looked at the forming storm with confusion, but he prepared himself for a fight nonetheless.

Instead of actually doing anything with the storm, I simply charged the traitor with lightning encased fists and began to attack him. Luke blocked everyone of my punches and kicks with his sword masterfully, but the speed and aggression I attack with made him unable to counterattack. Luke finally managed to backstep and swing Backbitter in a two handed grip to try and slice me in two. However, I caught his sword with both hands and tried to rip it from his grip.

Luke had both hands on the handle this time, so it wasn't going to be as easy as I did earlier. We both struggled against one another, the force of our struggle starting to blow mountains away in the distance and deepen the crater in the earth further. All according to plan. My bright, blowing eyes glowed brighter and shot a stream of lighting at Luke, hitting him directly in the face and blinding him, ending our struggle.

"ARGH!" Luke grunted in pain, his eyes now closed after my lightning eyes attack. Luke swung at me wildly, forcing me to back up. "You motherfucker!" Luke shouted out in pain as he tried to slice me in two, having no idea where I am. The storm around us still persisted, despite me and Luke's earlier clash. I willed the storm to awake, and from behind Luke, lightning struck him. Luke's blind swings stopped as he went rigid and shook in pain from the intense lightning.

Luke collapsed on one knee once the barrage ended and this was the perfect opportunity. I raced forward, lighting surrounding me as I readied myself to deliver the smackdown on Luke's candy ass. My first blow was that of a powerful punch to the chin, which knocked his head back and nearly floored the traitor. I delivered a quick barrage of punches and kicks all across Luke's immortal body, cracking his armor and tearing his cloak with each attack.

I finished off with an elbow to Luke's cheek, which sent him flying with a burst of golden ichor from his mouth. Luke smashed into the destroyed ground of the crater and laid there for a couple of seconds. He shakily tried to stand up, but I commanded the storm around us to shock him again, only this time with twice as much intensity.

Luke yelled in pain as lightning coursed through his body and I silenced him was a power kick to the stomach, knocking the wind out of the bastard. Luke fell down on one knee, sputtering ichor and spit as he did so. I headbutted him as hard as I could, sending him flying back down to the destroyed and damaged crater ground.

I spit on the traitor. "Not so tough now are you, you son of a bitch?" Luke, suddenly fueled by a burst of rage, jumped up quicker than he should have been able to and tried to stab me in the face. He wasn't quick enough however. I easily dodged the son of Hermès' surprise attack, his previous injuries slowing him down. I grabbed his right outstretched arm and pushed up on his elbow joint as hard as I could. With a sickening crack, Luke's arm broke, his bone bursting through his muscle and skin and spilling ichor absolutely everywhere.

Luke's sword Backbitter dropped to the ground with a clang. Luke yelled out in pain again, but I delivered a hard kick to his nuts, silencing by giving him more pain. "Oh, this is only a taste of what you did to me." I willed the storm to strike at Luke again, but this time, I wanted the entire storm to bring my wrath down on him. I saw lightning from every direction connect with Luke, making him froth and jerk around in pain for a few seconds.

Eventually, the lightning ended and Luke collapsed to the ground. Slight lightning scars started to appear on his skin, but right now I didn't care about that. I slammed my knee down on Luke's sternum, creating a satisfying crunch, and knelt over the son of Hermès. I started with a punch to his cheek, then followed up with a strike to his jaw. Then a jab to his nose, then a hook to his temple and then a punch to the cheek.

I started to deliver an utter beatdown on the traitor, punching his face with lightning encased fists faster than even I could see. I must of been punching for over thirty seconds, because when I stopped, his face was covered in ichor. Having enough of this, I grabbed both the sides of his head and begun to twist.

As I felt the breaking point start to approach as his neck turned to the side, I hesitated. Six months ago, I said I was going to change myself, yet here I was beating down on someone I used to know and completely enjoying it. I could feel the madness of my former self starting to shift into my mind. I had to resist it. I couldn't allow myself to fall back to how I used to be.

But I also knew that hesitation nearly got me killed last time. Luke had also fused with Kronos, so if I killed him here, Kronos would also die. So I was about to continue to twist and break Luke's neck, but close my mind to the suffering and make sure I didn't take any satisfaction in it. That's when I felt a sharp pain erupt from my abdomen.

I looked down and saw Luke's blade, Backbitter, piercing through my torso coated in it's orange aura and my blood. Dammit, not again. What was with it and people stabbing me through the torso from behind. I fell down to one knee with a spurt of blood escaping from my mouth. Backbitter was pulled from my torso with speed and I was kicked to the ground. I slowly turned around, only to find Luke standing above me with his bloodstained sword, completely fine with no injuries.

Of course. His face was plastered with an expression of rage. "You son of a bitch!" The son of Hermès shouted before punching me directly in the face, knocking me back to the ground. "You forced me to use my time abilities!" Luke kicked me in the side, sending a sprout of pain throughout my torso I could feel directly in my open wound. I tried to stand up on my knees and regain my bearings, but Luke slashed me in the back with his blade.

I felt my entire back open up and I yelled in pain. "I was supposed to beat you by myself! I wasn't supposed to use my abilities! I was supposed to prove I was better than!" Luke appeared in front of me and grabbed me by my shirt. "If it wasn't for your bullshit powers, I would have won! I would have!" Luke, you cannot say anything about bullshit powers. I didn't say anything aloud, but I did spit a blob of blood in his face. Luke growled and punched me right where he had stabbed me earlier, sending me to the ground writhing in pain.

Once the pain had mostly left my system, I chuckled as Luke stood over me in rage. "Stop being so jealous of me, Luke. I know I'm stronger than you already, but you don't have to prove to me you have a smaller dick than me, too." Luke didn't respond with anything more than a growl as he kicked me in the face.

I laughed again despite the pain. "I wonder if fusing with Kronos made your dick even smaller, considering how small his is on all the statues." Luke pulled me up from the ground, and he reared his fist back to punch me. As quickly as I could and with as much strength as I possibly could, I jabbed the traitor directly in the nose. Luke stumbled back as a shockwave reverberated off his face and ichor ran down his nose. I laughed at him again. "Oh come on, that was just a love tap, you pussy."

Before I could insult the son of Hermès anymore, a sharp pain rang out from my chest. I looked down, only to find Backbitter firmly planted in the middle of my sternum, blood oozing out of the wound. I tried to say something, but all that came out of my mouth was blood. I looked at Luke, who had a dark grin on his face. "You know what, Zane? Forget making you feel humiliation. I'm just going to make you feel pain. I'm just going to kill you right here and right now."

Luke pushed Backbitter deeper into my chest, causing me to grunt in pain. "I'm not going to waste my breath telling you how I'm going to kill you. I'll make it a surprise." Luke's grin deepened, becoming almost insane looking. "But what I will tell you is what I'm going to do to Taylor and Nico." I looked at the son of Hermès in surprise and shock.

"Yeah, that's right. I know how you feel about those two, especially Taylor. I saw the way you looked at him when we were training with each other a while back. And from what my spies tell me about the three of you in camp, you've done quite a bit with each other. But anyway, I'm going to give those two fates worse than death. I think maybe giving them to Atlas for some...'Training' might be a sufficient fate."

Luke words repeated constantly in my head as I absorbed his words. I thought on the meaning of Luke's words and I felt my blood begin to boil. How fucking dare he threaten them? I felt the rage of my former self start to course through my veins and I started to let go of the mental limitations I had been putting on myself. I was going to completely rip him limb from limb and enjoy every second of it. I was going to kill him slowly, force him to rewind time on himself, and then do it again.

I felt my aura and the lightning around me intensify. Luke's evil smirk quickly fell from his face and his expression turned into one of shock. "What the fu-!?" My aura exploded and I felt my strength increase ten, no, a hundred fold as I yelled in rage. Luke was blasted back with incredible force, his blade also being blasted back as well. All of my wounds healed in an instant and my lightnings power increased exponentially. As Luke recovered from the blast, he looked at me in complete shock. "What the fuck are you!?" Luke's shock melted away and he charged me once again with his sword in hand.

Instead of being fast like and nearly comparable to me, Luke was slow now. Almost embarrassingly slow. I let Luke arrived at my position and let him swing his sword against my head. Backbitter bounced off my skin like a baseball bat against a wall and Luke looked at me in complete shock and a touch of fear. Before he could even say a word, I punched him in the chest. Instead of flying back with blood spitting out his mouth like I expected, Luke basically fucking exploded.

His torso popped like a balloon and blood and organs went everywhere. The only things intact were Luke's bottom half and his head. In an instant, Luke returned to normal with nothing wrong but a disturbed and shocked expression on his face. I didn't mean to hit him nearly that hard. I only meant to knock him away so I could continue beating on him with intense prejudice.

Apparently I was too strong for my own good now. Luke broke out of his daze and attacked him with Backbitter. "Die!" Luke appeared right in front of my face in an instant, no doubt using his time stopping abilities to do so. Backbitter bounced off my head like a balloon and Luke's eyes widened once more. "How!?" I answered Luke simply by flicking him in the abdomen, which caused a loud cracking sound to ring out in the air and Luke to fly back, yelling in pain.

Luke tried to stand up from the ground, but I appeared right in front of him with incredible speed. I grabbed him by the arm and lifted him to his feet like a sack of potatoes. I stared at him with an intense glare and I saw all the disbelief and anger fade from his face, replaced with nothing but fear now. "I am going to rip you limb from limb." I said calmly. I put none of the immense anger and rage I was feeling at the moment into my words, but I did put them into my eyes.

And Luke could see it. "I'm going to tear you apart slowly, make you fix yourself and then do it again and again until your mind breaks. Let's see how many times to can revert time." I grabbed Luke's other arm and was about to pull him apart like a bug. But Luke vanished from my grasp in an instant. I knew he time stopped away, so I frantically searched with my aura sense to find the bastard. Once I found him, I turned my head to see Luke standing on the other side of an opened portal, panting with sweat dripping down his face. I

tried to charge the portal and kill the bastard, but in another instant, the portal was completely gone, along with Luke's aura. I dropped to my knees, feeling the incredible rage start to bubble up even more inside me. "LUKE!!!" I shouted, my aura and lightning intensifying a hundred fold. A storm immediately formed over my head, lightning and tornadoes forming from it as soon as it manifested. A powerful blue aura erupted from my skin. Not a cage of lightning, but an actual blue hue. I didn't know what it was, and I honestly didn't care at all at the moment as I was too angry.

But then I remembered what I had been doing before Luke brought me out here to fight me. Atlas. He was still with my friends, no doubt toying with them. I focused my rage and thoughts to the Titan of Endurance, realizing that screaming at the heavens was going to get me nowhere. I focused on where his absolutely massive titanic aura was located, and I raced towards where it was. With my insane and amplified speed, I appeared right back in the ruined palace on Othrys.

The scene I returned to was very similar to the one I had been taken away from. My friends were trying to team up and fight Atlas all together, only for him to take them apart non lethally one by one. I raced in front of Atlas and hit him directly in the right cheek with everything I had, the immense force of the blow creating an incredible shockwave that floored my entire group. It was difficult for even my enhanced reflexes to notice, but I did see Atlas' head had moved a little bit from my punch, although the Titan was predictably unharmed. Atlas looked at me in surprise, and then punched me in the gut quicker than I could even see.

The attack sent me to the rocky palace floor and I felt the wind knocked out of me. Atlas looked at me with an odd emotion. Approval? "I thought I had sensed your aura increase in power. It seems I was right. Your attack had some surprising strength behind it. And my attack would have outright killed you not five minutes ago. Your power seems to have increased a hundred fold. I take it you've defeated my lord then?"

I coughed a little bit from Atlas' attack, but then I stood up relatively uninjured. "I sent his ass packing. Didn't get the chance to kill him on the account that he is a total coward." I looked back at my friends, who had mixtures of relief and surprise on their face. "Sorry I wasn't here for a bit, guys. Got pulled away by that traitorous bastard. I'll explain it after we kill this guy." I turned my head back to Atlas, and my new blue aura around my skin flexed. "Speaking of that bastard, he really pissed me off. Now how about I take it all out on you?" The lightning around my aura flickered and intensified dramatically as I assumed a fighting stance.

Atlas chuckled at my words. "No doubt you will try." Atlas' eyes focused in on my aura and his eyebrow rose. "Your aura is actually visible now. That's quite odd. Usually that is only possible for an immortal. Unless..." Atlas trailed off, his gaze becoming inquisitive. He shook his head. "No matter. I suppose I'll find out relatively soon. Now, show me your new power, Zane Williams!" I did as Atlas commanded and charged him immediately, my friends being left in the dust by my speed, including Percy.

I struck out with my lightning encased fists in a flurry of blows at Atlas' torso, only for all of them to be block, redirected, or simply completely tanked entirely. Even with my new strength, the outcome of the fight wasn't changing. I roared, twisting around and kicking Atlas directly in the side of the neck. Atlas didn't even flinch and grinned at me. "Impressive." He hit me in the abdomen faster than I could react, although I could see his movement. I cringed in pain as I was sent flying back, but I caught myself in mid air. "Let's see if pain can bring out even more strength hidden within you!" Atlas charged at me in a blur, faster than I could track.

My friends tried to help me, with each of them attacking Atlas in their own unique way. Percy tried to materialize glowing water spikes to impale Atlas, Nico tried to send shadow slashes to bisect him, Thalia shot lightning from her spear, Taylor sent a concussive blast from his shield and Zoe tried to shoot the Titan with her bow. Atlas immediately sent out a purple aura in all directions and overpowered the attacks, sending my allies to the ground.

I stood up as quick as possible, only to receive a hard strike to the face. I spit out a wad of blood but could not do anything else before Atlas kneed me in the stomach. I heard a sickening crunch sound as I was floored. Atlas didn't even give me a single second on the ground to rest, and he kicked me in the head and sent me flying in the air.

My vision went hazy before it returned to normal and I recovered in the air. I propelled myself in Atlas' direction with a simple calf flex and raised a charged lightning fist. "Fucking die!" I screamed as I brought my fist down on Atlas' chest, causing a bright flash of lightning to overtake my vision. I could tell I hit him incredibly hard, as my blow caused a shockwave and generated so much wind around us it even felt unpleasant to me.

But simply from his aura alone, I could tell it did nothing. "Nice try, kid." Atlas grabbed my arm and twisted it, causing the bones underneath the muscles to fracture. I yelled in pain and clutched my arm, the lightning and wind immediately vanishing. Atlas stood completely unharmed with a grin on his face. "Now, let's continue our little experiment." Atlas backhanded me so hard I saw triple. I flew away and smashed into the ground.

Before I could even try to stand up, Atlas was there already placing his massive sandaled foot on top of me. He pressed down and I felt my ribs start to strain. "Come on, bring out more of that power you must have within you. Give me some entertainment." Before Atlas could even apply more pressure, I felt a massive aura surge in the room. Atlas felt it as well, as he stopped pressing down on me. "What is that coming fro-!?"

That was all Atlas could get out before he was completely covered head to toe in shadowy tendrils surrounding by black particles. "What the hell is this!?" He tried to burst out with a slight rise of his aura, but the shadows surprisingly didn't budge. He growled and I felt he aura rise slightly. I propelled myself away from Atlas with a punch to the air, creating enough force to separate me from Atlas and return myself to my friends. A slightly larger purple aura burst from Atlas' form and the shadows were completely unraveled.

I looked to my friends, where the sudden surge of power had come from and I found myself looking at Nico in shock. His aura had risen massively, being far more powerful than it had been before. It even nearly rivaled Percy's in sheer strength. His physical appearance had changed as well. He skin, while still very pale, looked like there was a shadow over it. Like he was standing in the shade of the sun without actually doing it.

His eyes were burning red, looking very out of place as he usually had onyx colored eyes. But the most intriguing thing about him was that he seemingly permeated a shadowy mist, almost like an aura of some sorts. He was also surrounded in small particles of shadow that seemed to be emitted by his new form. My eyes widened at Nico's new form, an expression that everyone else mirrored. "Nico!? What happened? How did you do that?"

Nico's intense gaze he had been sporting softened when his gaze came upon me. "I-I don't know. I just saw him hurting you and I felt some sort of anger come over me. I knew I had to stop him and I couldn't let him kill you. I had to do something." I resisted the strong urge to get up and kiss him after I heard that, but now was not the time or place. We were in a life and death battle. Nico smirked. "With this, I won't be a burden anymore. I'll be able to help you and Percy fight that motherfucker." While I didn't want to put Nico in harms way, he was definitely correct. Nico's aura had intensified a million fold at the very least, nearly being on par with Percy's.

Atlas, how had been silent as Nico's words came from his mouth, finally spoke up. "Heh. Another child of the big three surpassing the other Olympians." He gaze went to Zoe, who had a arrow knocked in her bowstring and pointed at the Titan of Endurance. "Why can't you be the same, daughter. You may be the strongest of my children but even you are a disappointment. You would do well to follow the example of these three." Atlas said, gesturing towards me, Percy and Nico.

He shook his head. Atlas looked at my arm, which should have been completely mangled from his twist, but it was now in perfect condition. His eyebrow raised. "Natural healing. It seems your abilities just continue to expand as we fight. I don't know what my lord did to you for that to surface, but it must have been quite severe." He shook his head. "I suppose it doesn't matter. By the end of this you will be dead anyway. A shame. Now then, sons of the eldest gods, come at me. Show me your combined power!"

We followed Atlas' command and the three of us charged him. Percy had his blade, Riptide, covering in a blue light and surrounded by a serrated water cast, while Nico had surrounded the blade of his Stygian Iron Sword in a shadow cast and lengthened it into a greatsword. I led the charge, as I was the fastest and the strongest. I unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at the Titan, who dodge and deflected them just as easily as before.

Percy was the next to reach Atlas and he began to unleash a barrage of sword swipes and stabs, combined with a few earthquake punches and attempts to impose Atlas with a water spike. Nico, when he arrived, tried to bisect Atlas in two with powerful shadow slashes emitted from his blade as he swung them, along with trying to hold the Titan in place with a few shadow tendrils.

All of this, Atlas perfectly defended against. For his size, he was extremely nimble, as shown by how he dodged through near every attack we threw at him. Any attack we did manage to land on him did jackshit, so we were really going nowhere. Atlas must have sensed this, as he slammed his hands together in a powerful clap, blowing all three of us back to our friends.

After the short time it took for us to recover, I stood and spoke to everyone. "Alright, well we can all tell that a direct approach isn't working in the slightest. Actually, nothing we're doing is working in the slightest. So, we're going to do what we do best." Everyone looked at me for the answer, and I grinned.

"Hit him as hard as we can. It probably won't work, but there's not much else we can do at the moment. Thalia, Taylor and Zoe. You three do your best to distract Atlas. Percy, Nico. You two try your hardest to restrain the bastard. I'll light him up with everything I have. Got it?" Everyone nodded immediately at my words. "Alright, let's go!"

Thalia and Taylor charged forwards, hounding Atlas as annoyingly as possible. Thalia was shooting lightning towards his eyes, trying to blind him or at least disorientate him. Taylor was racing around the Titan like a roadrunner, using his shield enchantment to shoot concussive blasts to try and stun Atlas. Zoe tried to shoot her father in the eyes with her bow, taking after Thalia's example of trying to blind Atlas. None of it was working, but Atlas was simply standing there, as if waiting for a worthy attack.

Whatever we were about to do, Atlas was about to let happen. Nico gripped his hands together, materializing tendrils of black shadow around the Titan, and skeletal hands ripped from the ground and tried to hold Atlas in place. Percy did a very similar hand movement and the very ground itself rumbled around Atlas, moving to keep him in place.

Water was summoned from the air and morphed into coils, wrapping around Atlas very similar to Nico's shadows. I knew this was my cue. I brought both of my hands together, charging a massive build up of lightning in them. A small blue aura materialized around my skin and the wind created a small spiral formation around me. It only took a few seconds, but I charged my power to its peak and shot it in a single lightning bolt at Atlas, creating a massive wind burst as I did so. "Eat lightning, bitch!" I shouted.

Atlas didn't break free of the restraints on him and he let the attack hit him head on. Before the blue light of my lightning overtook my vision, I saw a Savage grin on his face. He was enjoying this. The lightning made contact with him, mixing with Percy's water and Nico's shadow to create a deadly combination of power. If this was almost anyone else in this trap of water, shadow and lightning, they would have immediately died.

But this was Atlas. After a few seconds of tanking the full power attack of me and my allies, he flexed his purple aura. The aura was significantly stronger this time, so it broke through Percy and Nico's restraints immediately and immediately dispersed my lightning. We were all blown back, but as I was being blown back, I saw something that made my jaw drop. Atlas' aura had torn through the palace ground, ripping the floor and even the foundation apart.

Underneath it all, was this bed of glowing Diamond with an incredibly odd aura. When Atlas destroyed the floor, his aura chipped a large chunk of that diamond off and it flew up into the air. The end of the glowing Diamond was sharp, and it scrapped across Atlas' arm. To my immense surprise, it didn't do nothing like I expected it to. No, it actually cut Atlas and drew a burst of ichor from his arm. I recovered in the middle of the air and rubbed my eyes, unsure if what I saw was true.

When my vision came back, I found that it was. The cut was still there, and the chunk of diamond stained with Atlas' blood clanged on the ground. His eyes widened and his massive aura grew weaker somehow, as if the diamond was draining his power. His expression shifted into one of annoyance and he glared at the chunk of diamond. "Of course it would be here. It is made by the immense pressure of the Burden." He picked the diamond up and looked like he was about to throw it into the air. "It's best to get rid of it then."

I knew that chunk of diamond was our only ticket to victory, as it somehow managed to hurt the Titan. But there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to take it from him. When it came to that thing, Atlas was not going to play around. He wouldn't let me touch it, much less take it from him. As soon as it left Atlas' hand at nearly impossible speed, I felt something shift in my mind.

I almost willed the diamond to come to me, rather than go to space like Atlas had intended. The diamond chunk changed trajectory as soon as it left Atlas' hand and flew into mine. My eyes widened. I hadn't done that with the wind. Slowly, I focused on the diamond chunk and willed it to stay in the air and took my hand off it. Remarkably, the diamond stayed in the air. I wasn't even using the wind to keep it afloat. How the hell was I doing this?

Atlas looked at the floating diamond with wide eyes. "Divine telekinesis...impossible. What happened to you when fighting my lord?" Atlas shook himself out of a daze and glared at me, all traces of his prior amusement gone. "Boy, give that diamond to me. You have no idea what is in your hands." As soon as Atlas said that, I grasped the diamond with my hand and held a tight grip on me. "Boy...you will give that to me now, or I am going to show you just how powerful I really am." Atlas' was completely serious and I could tell just from his tone he was going to back those words up completely.

I matched his glare. "Come and get it then, motherfucker." As soon as Atlas twitched, I knew I was about to die. Atlas was fast enough to kill me without me even knowing what happened. However, I felt something in my mind. Almost like a link of sorts. I could feel Atlas' intent. He was going to hit me full force right in the chest at full speed. In less than a nanosecond, I would be a pile of gore.

I knew I could heal from injuries for some reason now, but I doubt I could heal from that. However, knowing his intent somehow meant I knew his exact path. As quick as I possibly could, I put the sharp end of the diamond chunk right in front of me, and before I could do anything else, Atlas had appeared in front of me, the diamond chunk stabbed deep into his fist. Atlas' eyes widened in shock and he yelled in pain, pulling his bleeding hand from the sharpened diamond chunk.

I saw an opportunity and took it. And slashed at Atlas torso with the diamond, cutting the Titan across the chest. It wasn't a particularly deep cut, but it wasn't shallow either, as evidence how a burst of ichor exploded from Atlas' chest and he roared in pain. He staggered backwards, clutching his wound. I felt his aura weaken immensely from the two injuries, and as soon as I did, I knew we could win. I tried to slam the sharp end into his neck, but Atlas created a burst of purple aura from his arm and sent me flying back.

I recovered next to my friends, who had all grouped up again. They stared at the ichor stained diamond chunk in shock and awe, a sentiment I shared. I shook my head. "Yeah, I don't know how the fuck this happened either. But for some reason in weakens his aura as well as injuries him. We can win, guys." I saw hope build up in there eyes and decided to capitalize on it. "Same type of plan as before, overwhelm him with a combined effort and I'll hit him for the death blow. Let's go!"

Everyone jumped into actions, charging at the injured Titan. I stayed in the back this time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike at the Titan. Percy led the charge this time, attacking Atlas with a flurry of deadly blows that would have torn anyone else apart. Atlas dodged most of Percy's attacks, but he was clearly having difficulty now. Any attack that did hit Atlas didn't exactly injure him, but it did actually leave a slight indenture in his skin, a clear sign of his lowered durability. Nico was close behind him, attacking the Titan with his signature shadow slashes, which made simple dents in Atlas' skin like Percy's attacks did.

Surprisingly, the next one to charge into melee was Zoe, who withdrew two silver blades from her jacket and attacked Atlas with wild but precise slashes. Those blows did nothing but distract her father, but the distraction was what we needed at the time. Both Thalia and Taylor kept back, using hit and run attacks mixed with ranged abilities to continue to distract Atlas.

A good idea since the two of them were nowhere near powerful to even try to step to Atlas, despite his current weakness. Atlas growled at all of these attacks, but his weakened state forced him to actually have to try and defend against these attacks. Eve with how weakened the Titan was, I knew we didn't have long until he overpowered my team, so I had to strike now.

I channeled lightning into the sharp diamond chunk, which surprisingly amplified my lightning. What was this shit made from? I had just charged lightning into to see what it would do. I didn't actually expect for it to do anything. I shook the though from my mind, as I knew I had to make my move now. I dashed around with incredible speed in random directions, as to make my path all the more unpredictable to the Titan, who was currently being hounded by my team. "Now!" I shouted once I was in range, and my friends jumped back.

Atlas looked confused, but the confusion soon turned into shock. I lunged forwards, coming up from behind Percy and finally back into Atlas' view, the diamond chunk positioned into a stabbing motion. Atlas couldn't move fast enough due to his weakened power, and I plunged the diamond spike directly into his sternum. I heard his skin tear, his muscles rip and his bones shatter as I drove the diamond chunk deep into his chest. Atlas' jaw dropped as he looked at the diamond now deep inside his chest, stabbing into his lungs no doubt. Ichor exploded from the wound as I violently pulled the diamond chunk out and even spilled out of his mouth.

The Titan grunted in pain and clutched the open wound, his aura significantly weakening as he did so. I pulled the chunk back and slammed it back into his torso, the chunk now being positioned towards his stomach instead. Atlas roared in pain as he was stabbed again and he tried to grab me in an attempt to try and throw me away from him.

But now he wasn't strong enough. His aura had weakened to the point where I could overpower him now. I shook his hand off my arm and stabbed him again in the torso. Atlas' breath hitched and his arms went rigid with pain. I pulled the chunk out and began to rapidly stab him in various parts of his torso, Atlas' pained grunts filling my ears as I did so. Finally, I shoulder bashed him for final effect, cracking what was left of his rib cage and sending him sprawling on the ground.

Atlas laid on the cracked palace floor, groaning in pain. He tried to prop himself up on his elbow, obvious struggling to do so. "...H-How...?" Atlas muttered as ichor spewed from his mouth. He coughed, causing his blue toga to be stained with his golden blood. "T-This should be...impossible..." Atlas looked at me with a glare, rage evident on his face. "This c-cannot be...I am a Titan! Not one of the l-lowly pathetic weaklings like most of my siblings, but one of the strongest! I cannot die to something as lowly as you..."

Atlas trailed off as he finished his outraged cry, likely from all the energy leaving his body. His aura didn't feel too much stronger than Thalia's now, as he had nearly twenty stab wounds all across his torso from the diamond. Atlas tried to stand up on his two legs, his legs shaking as he did so. "I won't die so easily!" Atlas immediately lunged forward with all of his strength, however, due to his weak aura and lack of speed he now held, he moved in nearly slow motion.

Before Atlas could even try to touch me, I jammed the diamond chunk directly under his chin. The diamond shredded through the bottom of his jaw and out the top of his skull. Atlas' face immediately fell into a blank expression as ichor exploded from from the wound in his head. I ripped the diamond chunk out of his head quickly and with precision and slammed the sharp end into his forehead for good measure.

Atlas' entire body went still and he stopped moving entirely. His ichor covered body slumped to the floor and went still. Everyone stood in silence for a bit, almost in shock. Atlas, The Titan of Endurance and the holder of the sky, was dead. I almost couldn't even believe it. The Titan who, about a week ago, nearly killed me with a flick was now dead at my feet. His corpse didn't stay for long, as it soon crumbled into golden dust and whisked away into nothingness. His aura was fleeting, and almost...normal while this happened. I looked at the bloody, stained diamond chunk in my hand.

What the hell was this stuff? Zoe, the first one to recover from the shock of Atlas' death, looked almost saddened, but resigned at the passing of her father. She bowed her head to the ichor stained area where he had disappeared from and walked away in the direction of where Artemis was carrying the sky still.

Everyone, finally recovered from Atlas' death, followed the Hunter in her tracks. Zoe bowed in front of Artemis, who was still carrying the sky. Artemis did not really look so good, which made sense. "My lady, it is done. He is dead." Zoe spoke in a formal tone, which likely hid her true emotions about the event.

Artemis looked shook, as she no doubt watched the entire battle unfold before her eyes while being forced to hold up the sky. "I-I know..." She spoke, her voice and tone airy and breathless. She looked at the ichor stained diamond chunk I still held in my hand, her eyes almost disbelieving. "It..." Artemis started, looking directly at my diamond chunk in my hand. "...must have been created by the immense pressure of the Burden. That is the only explanation." What was created by the Burden? The diamond? I looked at the ichor stained diamond chunk in my hands. What the fuck was this shit?

I shook my head, not caring about these thoughts at the moment. "Alright, well, Atlas is dead." I said with a tone of finality, however I felt some almost shift in the air. As if the universe itself agreed with me or something. "What do we do now?" I asked the goddess of the moon, who still looked like she was struggling to even stand. To my right, Nico suddenly lost his new form he had gained and nearly collapsed to the ground.

I caught him on the way down, concern no doubt very apparent on my face. "Nico! Are you alright?" He looked like he had just ran a marathon, no doubt tired from all the strain he must of endured to unlock that new form of his. I remember the first time I transformed. The same kind of exhaustion had attacked me after my battle with the elder cyclops and the Nemean Lion, so I understood what he was going through.

Nico nodded, likely not having enough energy to speak. Artemis, who had stayed silent after Nico had collapsed, spoke once again. "Now that Atlas is dead, a new problem has arisen." Artemis' words gathered everyone's attention with a single sentence, and we all leaned in closer to hear her.

"There is no one to carry the burden. Without Atlas carrying the sky, it will flatten hundreds of miles of land and kill untold numbers of mortals. And I cannot carry the Burden forever, as I must make my report to the Olympian Council. If I am not mistaken, the solstice is tonight." Everyone looked around at each other, the seriousness of the situation unfolding. "We seem to have quite a problem on our hands."

Before anyone could say anything, I spoke up. "I'll carry the burden." Everyone looked shocked at my declaration and immediately tried to dissuade me from doing so, Taylor being the loudest and firmest. Nico probably would have matched him, however he was currently knelt on the ground completely exhausted. I held up a hand to silence them. "I'll be alright, everyone. Artemis, how long have you been holding this?"

Artemis hesitated, before answered that she had been holding the sky for about three days, off and on sometimes with Annabeth taking her place. Percy looked a little angry at that one. "Guys, don't worry. If she could hold it up for that long, then I'll be able to hold it for a lot longer. Artemis needs to get to Olympus as soon as possible, and I'm the one who will be able to hold it for the longest." I shook my head. "There's just no other way right now. Just tell my father what is going on. I'm sure he'll be able to find a way to get me out of holding it." I walked up to where Artemis was holding the Burden and placed a hand underneath the stormy vortex.

I lifted up and took the weight off of Artemis' back, allowing her to finally have time to reprieve. I walked underneath the Burden and allowed it to rest on my shoulder. It was definitely incredibly heavy, but the cube that Koios summoned back on Polyphemus' island was a lot heavier than this. I handed Artemis the ichor stained diamond chunk, who gingerly took it as if it was going to cause her to explode. "Give this to my father. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want something like this to fall into the wrong hands."

Artemis nodded and limped from the spot the Burden would touch down on without a holder, no doubt exhausted. I held the Burden up with both hands, not at all bothered by the weight. I nodded to my friends. "I'll see you all soon, guys." I said as I smirked at everyone.

Taylor walked forwards, an expression of concern and worry on his face. "Just hold out for a little while, Zane. We'll make sure you get out of this." His soft and smooth hand brushed the side of my face and he placed his lips on mine. My eyes widened, not from Taylor kissing me, but from doing it in front of literally everyone for the second time.

I mean, come on, again!? Not that I didn't appreciate the kiss in general. The kiss wasn't long, but it was meaningful. Taylor smiled at me afterwards, which no doubt caused my face to burn completely red. Thalia smirked at me, which caused me to mock glare at her in response. Nico and Percy didn't have any reaction, as Nico was barely even conscious and Percy was currently attending to Annabeth. Those two were perfect for each other.

Artemis summoned some kind of silver chariot, one big enough to fit all six of them. The goddess of the Hunt looked back at me. "We will send help. I promise." I nodded, not really seeing the big deal. I mean, yeah I was holding one of the heaviest things on the planet deep in the heart of the ruins of the Titan stronghold, but I really should be fine in all regards.

After Artemis' words, she herded everyone onto the chariot and allowed Zoe to take the reigns, no doubt tired from holding up the sky. Percy helped Annabeth into the chariot, concern and relief written all over his face. Thalia and Taylor both helped Nico into the chariot, who could barely stand on account of his transformation. Still needed to find out a name for that form. Zoe whipped the reigns, which were attached to a pair of ethereal silver dears, and they took off into the sky, leaving me behind to hold the Burden.

The Burden was not super heavy, although it was definitely the second heaviest thing I carried in my life. Not as heavy as that cube Koios created, but definitely in second place. It probably would have been a lot heavier if I hadn't become more powerful after my battle with Luke, which brought my mind to ponder on the subject. How exactly had I grown more powerful after healing against Luke?

I knew I could heal in a fight if I grew angry enough, as it happened in the past with the Chimera and Hyperion, but growing stronger? I then suddenly remembered that I had in fact grown stronger after healing against them. After healing in the fight in my battle with the Chimera, I grew strong enough to easily fight Cerberus, who was far stronger than the Chimera was.

And in my Thunder Form I was strong enough to to defeat Ares with help from Percy. And before healing while fight Hyperion, I couldn't best the Titan in a battle of raw strength, but afterwards, I could. But why did I grow so much more powerful against Luke, and why did I gain new abilities like natural healing and telekinesis? Things just really didn't add up.

My thoughts were broken up by the sound of thunder above my head, thunder I did not generate. I looked up in the sky past the burden, seeing a thunderstorm in the sky. In an instant, lightning struck the ground in front of me, causing the ground to shatter and knock up dust. It took a few seconds, but when the dust finally dispersed, I could see my father, Zeus, standing before me.

I should have been able to tell from his aura alone, as it dwarfed the likes of Atlas easily. My father stood before me, his gilded white toga bright it the dark, dank room of the palace of Othrys. Zeus raised an eyebrow at my current predicament, which drew my attention to the white strikes in his otherwise completely black hair and beard. Zeus smirked at me, "Someone is in quite the pickle, huh?" My father carried the Master Bolt in his hand, likely not letting the weapon out of his sight after the debacle that happened nearly two years ago.

My eyes widened in surprise as I held the burden above my head. "Father!?" I nearly shouted in surprise. What the hell was he doing here? I asked Artemis to tell my father to send help. I didn't expect him to actually come here himself. And it hadn't exactly been all that long since I started holding up the sky, maybe ten minutes at the absolute most. "What are you doing here?" I asked the king of Olympus, this time in a much more subdued tone rather than my previous shocked one.

My father smiled at me as I held the sky. "I came to lend you my aid. You are in quite the bind, and is it not a father's job to help their children?" He pulled out the diamond chunk still stained in Atlas' blood, a proud smile on his face. "Good job on your defeat of Atlas. The Titan was far more powerful than any of the previous enemies you faced so far, more powerful than all of the combined. I can absolutely safely say I'm proud of you, my son."

My face reddened and my heart warmed from the praise that Zeus gave me. It wasn't some sort of ego boosting kissassery that the camp used to do for me back in the day, no, this was genuine praise from a father to his son. Honestly it was making me sort of emotional.

I could think and deal with that later. For now, the situation at hand is more important. "How exactly are you going to be able to help me, father? Do you have someone else that can permanently take up the sky like Atlas just sitting in some cell in Olympus or something?" My father chuckled at my joke and I continued.

"And what exactly is that diamond stuff? It was strong enough to actually pierce Atlas' skin really easily while everything else we did to him did absolutely nothing. It even weakened him when he got cut and stabbed, not to mention the odd thing it did to his aura as he died. What happened to him?" I had several questions I had for my father, the origin of my newfound powers being one of them and several more.

Zeus shook his head, his fatherly and proud smile still on his face. "We'll speak about that in a little bit my son. The origin of this Diamond is more complicated and important than you might think it is." Zeus turned his eyes to the vortex that warped from the mountain to the sky above our heads. "Right now, we have a problem to deal with." Zeus lifted his hand in the air and pointed it at the Burden.

A golden light shined from his hand and I felt the weight start to vanish from my hands. I looked up and could barely even believe what I was seeing. The Burden was seemingly being returned into the clouds, the vortex itself starting to disappear as it was shrouded in the golden light emulating of my father. Eventually, the Burden went completely into the sky and vanished entirely. I could hardly believe what just happened and I had seen it with my own eyes. My father dusted his hands off like he had just pulled up some weeds or something. "There. All done."

I turned my gaze from the now empty sky to the king of the gods. "W-What. The. Fuck. Was. That." I slowly grounded out, disbelief and monotone filling my voice. "You just...warped the Burden away. Like you waved your hand and it just ceased to exist." I struggled to even process what had just happened, much less voice my thoughts on the event. "How did you do that? Can you do that with other things? If you could do that, why didn't you just do that beforehand?"

My father silenced me with a simple hand raise. He was smiling, although no arrogance or pride could be seen in the expression, just amusement. "It's one of my most power abilities. It's called Law Manipulation. I can rewrite the reality of almost everything." He shook his head. "It doesn't work on organic things like mortals or anything else and it is difficult to use over a large space, so it's not like I can just do that to the entire planet or something."

He turned his gaze from the now empty sky to me. "And to answer your question Zane, I didn't do it before as it was a good place to contain Atlas, as well as a suitable punishment for him. Now that Atlas is dead and beyond anyone's reach, there is no need for the Burden to exist." 'Beyond our reach?' What the hell does that mean? He must have seen confusion on my face, as he quickly elaborated.

"It is something I will explain on the journey back to Olympus, as it pertains to the Diamond here." Zeus motioned to the ichor stained diamond chunk still in his hand. He turned around and waved his hand, materializes a gold and silver chariot. "Come, my son. We have much to speak about." I nodded at my father's command and we both stepped onto the chariot and took off into the night sky in the direction of New York.

As soon as we were in the air, my father continued to speak. "So I'm sure you have quite a lot of questions for me. Let's go ahead and start with the first one: What exactly this is." Zeus held the diamond chunk up in the air for me to clearly see, although he didn't have to do so as he was about ten feet tall. "This is what is known as Heavenly Diamond. It's an incredibly powerful material that is created whenever an immense amount of pressure is placed upon an area, like Atlas' mountain or that spot where you carried that Neutron Star cube on Polyphemus' Island. It's imbued with energy from Chaos itself and is no doubt the most powerful and deadly material in the entire universe."

I looked at the diamond in awe, almost amazed to even be in the same space as the material. "I don't think you understand yet how powerful this material is, Zane. It allowed you to kill Atlas, one of the strongest beings in the universe. As you might have been able to tell in your battle with him, when someone is hit by this Diamond, it sucks their very life essence, their aura right out of them and makes them weaker. Such is the nature of chaotic energy. However, the true danger of this weapon is what it can do to you after you are killed by it. Anything without an immortal soul is completely destroyed, their soul eradicated. They simply cease to exist."

I widened my eyes. There can't be something that powerful, can there? "It even affects immortals as well. If you were able to strike down a god with this Diamond, they would no longer be that. A god. If a god is slain with this material, they lose their immortality and power and are forever confined to the underworld, never to return. Like Atlas." Zeus looked me dead in the eye. "Atlas is dead and gone, permanently. While he exists in some capacity in the underworld, he is no different from any other mortal in that realm. You'll never have to worry about seeing him again. That's what makes this material so dangerous."

His serious look turned into a smile. "And because of that and the fact that you will only be facing even more powerful foes like Kronos in this war, I've decided to make you a weapon out of it. A fitting weapon so such a powerful demigod and son of mine, and a fitting replacement, too, as I see you have lost Keravnos." Zeus motioned to the lack of my former axe on my back, making something akin to a phantom pain pass through me.

However, I cared very little for such a pain at the moment after hearing my father would be making such a powerful weapon for me. "You're going to be making a weapon out of that for me?" The old arrogance and prideful nature from my former psych threatened to spill out and say that the weapon was definitely something one with my greatness and feats was deserving of. However, my current mind, honed by my experiences and maturity, wasn't so sure.

"Are you sure that's safe? I mean, that Heavenly Diamond stuff can literally permanently kill gods. Is it really such a good idea giving me something made out of that?" I couldn't shake the thought that I would do something absolutely terrible with a weapon like that, probably not even on purpose.

Zeus spoke his head. "Nonsense. You are my son. If anyone is deserving of such a weapon, it is you." I must of not looked convinced, as my father continued to speak. "Zane, you have changed from what you once were. You are no longer arrogant or malevolent. You control your base impulses to seize whatever you wish and bend others to your will. Something that has taken me far longer to do that you have done it in. I am completely confident that you would make perfect use of such an asset."

I didn't know what to say about my father's praise. I just felt so unworthy of it. My father, either not knowing of my thoughts or not attempting to change them any further, continued speaking. "Anyway, on to the next topic. I assume you have new exotic abilities, do you not?" My eyes widened. How did he know about that? My father smiled in amusement. "I can feel it in your aura, and see it in your mind as well." What!? Suddenly, I feel some sort of...connection to my father.

'You can hear me, right?' I looked at my father, surprise all over my features. 'Yes, Zane. You can hear me. Only beings capable of telepathic abilities should be able to hear me right now, and you can. This is one of your new abilities. As well as the other two you used in your battle with Atlas. Healing and Telekinesis.'

I nodded at my fathers words, or thoughts, understanding he can see into my mind and no doubt my memories. Hopefully he won't see the kiss I had with Taylor. 'Heh, I can see it. As well as the other one with the son of Hades.' I froze, absolutely not prepared for this conversation whatsoever. Zeus smiled even wider at my expression and thoughts. 'Do not worry, my son. I don't disapprove of your attraction to the same gender. I have had quite a few flings myself in that regard. You really should meet Ganymede some time.'

A flash of an incredibly attractive, blood haired lithe boy about the age of seventeen filled my mind, not doubt sent from my father. I felt my face turn red. Holy fuck. he was so hot. No wonder my father kidnapped him from Troy and made him into his personal 'cupbearer.' Zeus smirked in amusement from my thoughts. 'No wonder indeed.' Getting my mind out of the gutter, I thought about how this power, and my other new abilities were even possible. Atlas had said that the natural healing and divine telekinesis were powers of immortals. How do I have them?

Zeus spoke aloud now, no longer sending his thoughts over in my mind. "Now that, my son, is a very complicated answer. Whenever demigods are born, The Fate place limiters on them. Not only does it limit how strong they can become, but it also limits their abilities and what they can do with them. Without these limiters, every demigod could theoretically gain abilities that the gods possess, like telekinesis, telepathy, healing, splitting your essence, materializing, and transfiguration, not to mention a host of other abilities. The Fates do this to prevent demigods from growing too powerful. You had most of the limiter, which is restricting your power, removed when I gifted you what you call your Thunder Form back against those Laestrygonians. It's why you grew so strong so quickly and why your strength seemingly has no cap to it."

I looked at him in shock. My father had given me the form directly? He nodded at me. "Yes, Zane. I gave you the form so you would not suffer a fate similar to Thalia. I had failed as a father with her, but I was not going to fail with you." My heart did a little quiver at his words, glad to know he cared about me since the beginning. "Anyway, Poseidon and Hades have no doubt given forms to both Perseus Jackson and Nico di Angelo, as seen with their own unique forms. Their limiters have also mostly been broken, and they have entered the realm of the gods and surpassed many in strength. However, unlike them, your limiter is completely broken. No doubt from your sudden massive increase in power again the Lord of The Titans."

About that, how exactly do I grow stronger whenever I heal from rage? Zeus, still listening to my thoughts, had an answer for me. "I'm not certain why that is the case, my son. It is rather a unique ability, and one I did not give you. Perhaps you have developed it on your own?" I wasn't sure about the implications of the meaning of those words. "As I was saying, you have grown so powerful after your bout with Kronos that you have truly broken your limits. Soon you will discover even more abilities that were once out of your reach that you can now command. You are a god in all but name now."

As Zeus said these words, Olympus broke through the clouds, floating above New York City down below. I noted that we likely could have teleported to Olympus in an instant, but we took a chariot because my father wanted to speak with me. We picked up speed and the chariot raced towards the towering mountain with the massive, ornate Greek city on top.

We slowed to a stop as we approached the city and landed in front of the main palace, the one that was used for meetings and the one that belonged to my father. Both of us stepped off the chariot p, which disappeared as soon as we did so, and stood in front of the palace. "Well, we have arrived, Zane. I have to go on ahead now, as I have to lead the meeting, as I am the king." He pointed to the Heavenly Diamond chunk in his hand. "I will have Hephaestus forge this into a weapon fit for the slayer of Atlas. Any designs in mind?"

I conjured the thought of a Morning Star, a type of weapon I recently thought about using as it looked cool and deadly. "A Morning Star?" My father asked, still able to read my mind. I nodded. "Very well. I will have Hephaestus forge it for you. He will be so excited to worm with Heavenly Diamond." He looked at the palace and a look of resignation appeared on his face. He must hate these meetings. "I must take my leave now, my son. It was good speaking to you."

"Wait." I spoke up, causing my father to pause. I wrapped him in a hug, which probably looked weird as I only came up to his waist, but I didn't care. "Thank you for coming to help me father. It really means a lot." I actually have a lot more than that to thank him for. "Actually, thank you for everything. If not for you, I would have died against those Laestrygonians and I wouldn't be here today. Everything I've done is thanks to you."

My father smiled and he patted me on the head. 'Do not sell yourself short, my son. Plenty of what you have accomplished is of your own doing.' I felt tears well up in my eyes from the genuine praise, not really used to it. My father chuckled. 'I must go now, Zane. Farewell.' I nodded and separated from my father. Lightning from the sky struck where he was, completely enveloping his form and taking him away. Once the lightning was gone, so was my father. I could clearly feel his aura in the throne room. I sighed, hoping that this solstice meeting wasn't going to suck.

Opening the doors, the first thing I noticed were the giant thirteen thrones aligned in a 'U' shape in the center of the room. I had seen this massive, ornate and grand looking room before when me and Percy delivered the Master Bolt to my father nearly two years ago, however it was different this time. There were these odd ornate decorative torches and fires spread through the hall, which I noted that these same fires had been spread throughout Olympus on the return with my father.

The biggest difference, however, was that every single one of the Thirteen Olympians were now seat on their thrones. In the middle, my father Zeus sat upon his White glowing throne, addressing everyone as he began the official meeting. To his left sat Poseidon on his dark, sea styled throne. I looked at the sea god uneasily, knowing he would probably do anything to see me dead. To my father's left sat my stepmother, Hera. She looked at me as I entered the throne room with an expression I couldn't read. I know Hera hates all heroes for some apparent reason, but I know for a fact I haven't done a single thing to her in my entire life, you know, besides existing.

The other Olympians sat on their thrones as well. Apollo, with his perfect white smile and long golden hair and Helios with his golden armor and serious expression both sat across from one another. Even from here I could tell the rivalry between the two had not vanished whatsoever. I saw Ares seating close to the end of the 'U', his flaming eyes baring down on me with a furious expression.

Artemis sat upon a pure silver throne, looking thoroughly exhausted and munching on several chunks of ambrosia to regain her strength. Athena stared at me with an analytical expression, very similar to how her daughter had first looked at me three years prior. Hephaestus sat on some kind of iron mechanical throne, barely sparing me a glance and returning to do whatever he was doing on some kind of tablet he was holding.

The other gods like Aphrodite, Hermès and Dionysus didn't even look at me, so I didn't brother with another glance at them. I saw my friends standing in front of the Olympians alongside the Ophiotaurus, which was currently swimming around in some kind of water bubble in the air maintained by Percy. I walked beside them and bowed to the Olympus. "Father." I nodded my head to the king of the gods, which he returned to gesture.

Zeus beckoned me to rise. "Rise, my son. We were just beginning the meeting. Now..." Let me go ahead and spare you the long and boring details and dialogue that me, my friends, and the Olympians said in the next ten minutes by simply summarizing it all in one take. So apparently, the time for the prophecy was nigh, especially with Thalia's birthday tomorrow, which I had completely forgotten about, and the appearance of the Ophiotaurus. The gods talked about what to do with us, and the Ophiotaurus as well.

The general consensus was that we had done the gods a very great service, not only in rescuing Artemis, but also felling Atlas as well, permanently. Most of the gods were rather uneasy when speaking about the death of the Titan, especially since Heavenly Diamond had been involved in the whole process. The only ones who were not miffed were my father and Hephaestus, who apparently was still working on that fucking tablet of his.

As both me, Percy, Thalia and Nico were part of the group that did this, all big three children, the idea of killing us was absolutely not on the table. The idea wasn't even being entertained whatsoever. So we quickly went over that topic and went onto the Ophiotaurus' fate. The gods and my group went back and forth on whether to keep the creature alive, eventually ending when Poseidon supported Percy's plea to keep it alive.

Ever since we rescued Annabeth, Percy had noticeably been in a much better mood. So the official decision was the construct an aquarium on Olympus to contain and watch after the Ophiotaurus so the Titans could not get their hands on it. Speaking about the Titans, my father ordered the gods to prepare for war and go on the offensive as soon as possible.

Poseidon was to attack the Princess Andromeda, Apollo and Artemis were ordered to hunt down powerful monsters in the Titans' armies, Hephaestus was commanded to forge weapons in preparation for the upcoming fights, and Ares was to summon his armies and have them assault the Titans' forces. I didn't really speak the entire conversation, allowing Percy and others to do the talking for me, as I was exhausted from fighting Atlas for a prolonged period of time. I even started to tune the meeting out, as things didn't really pertain to me anymore as the big topics were now out of the way.

However, when Artemis spoke these words I was drawn straight back in. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus and possible child of the prophecy. Will you join the Hunt?" My eyes widened as Artemis' words. What? Why would she even ask that? Thinking about the reasoning behind such as request, I came to the conclusion that the gods were possibly trying to delay the prophecy as long as possible by having Thalia become immortal.

I looked at my father, however, he seemed just as surprised at Artemis' question as I did. There was no way and no need for Thalia to join the Hunt. She was a particularly powerful demigod, and she had me by her side. As her brother, I would make sure she would be absolutely safe and make sure that the prophecy goes well for her. No reason to join the Hunt at all.

"Yes." Thalia's resolute and serious answer brought me out of my thoughts. Wait, what!? What the fuck was she doing? I watched as Thalia got down on one knee before the Goddess of the Hunt. I knew immediately what she was doing. The same path that Bianca had taken before Artemis nearly a week ago. Artemis grabbed Thalia's hand and Zeus looked like he was about to speak up, as was I. But Thalia silenced my father and in turn me with a determined look.

"Father, I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. In fact, I will never turn sixteen. I will not let this prophecy be mine. I will stand with my sister Artemis and Kronos will never tempt me ever again." Thalia turned back to Artemis. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artmies. I will turn my back on men..." Thalia recited the same words Bianca had one week ago. As she completed the oath, her skin gained a slight silver hue, officially becoming a Hunter. She nodded to Zoe, who had been standing by Artemis' throne for the duration of the meeting. The daughter of the now dead Atlas nodded back at her.

I could not even believe what had just happened. One week ago when something the exact same happened to Nico, I thought it would never happen to me in Thalia's case. My sister just left me to join an immortal Girl Scout club to avoid a prophecy that could define the fate of the planet because she was a coward. I felt anger, rage and mostly, betrayal fill me.

Before the meeting could continue as normal, I glared at my sister, my Thunder Form threatening to activate from sheer anger alone. Everyone in the entire room could feel my rage as they all looked at me with an expression of unease on their face. I looked at Thalia with the most venomous and hateful expression I could. "You are a fucking coward." I said simply with as much hate as I possibly could. I couldn't even begin to even build upon my words, being too angry to speak. Instead, I simply turned around and started to walk out of the throne room, my hands shaking slightly.

As I was approaching the door to leave, a hand fell upon my shoulder. I turned, only to find Thalia there. "Zane, please, let me explai-" I couldn't stand to hear her words and see the sliver shine of her skin any longer. I transformed into my Thunder Form, blowing the new Hunter of Artemis back and raced out of the Throne room as quick as possible, blowing the golden doors apart by simply moving through them.

I reached the edge of Olympus in nearly an instant with my incredible speed and sat down on the edge of the mountain, looking down at the shining city down below. I couldn't even believe the hypocrisy of her. She had consistently talked shit about Zoe and the Hunters for days on the quest, ripped on Bianca for abandoning her brother to join the Hunt when they had just reunited, and then she goes and fucking does the exact same fucking thing! I felt some buildings around me shift from my new telekinetic abilities, which caused me to stiffen. I needed to be careful and control my anger, otherwise I might start to really destroy shit.

I continued to look down at the city below, wondering what I had done wrong for her to warrant abandoning me to go join the Hunters. I mean, when the two of us met I had just recovered from being a murdering psychopath, so maybe that was it. Or maybe she just wanted to escape my shadow somehow, which didn't make any sense whatsoever. The entire event didn't make any fucking sense. Why the ever living fuck did she just leave me like that?

"There you are." A familiar voice sounded out behind me. I turned my head, finding both Taylor and Nico standing side by side looking at me. Nico seemed to be in much better condition than he was when he had left Mount Othrys. Must have eaten some ambrosia or something. Taylor, the one who had spoke, had an expression of concern on his face, something that was depressingly far too common nowadays. "Are you alright, Zane?" The son of Ares asked.

He did not just seriously ask that after what just happened right? That had to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of his mouth. "Do I look fucking alright to you? After my fucking sister just left me so she could go be immortal with a group of hardcore Girl Scouts?" Taylor shrunk back from my edgy tone and baring expression. I inwardly cringed and felt bad as soon as I said it.

My expression softened and I did my best to convey my regret. "I-I'm sorry, Taylor. I should not have snapped at you like that. That was really mean of me." I felt forgiveness come from the son of Ares, something that weirded me out. Not the forgivenesses part, but the feeling his emotion part. I guess my new telepathic abilities allowed me to sense emotions from people as well.

Weird. I sighed, continuing to speak. "I just am so...enraged right now. My sister just left me like I was a piece of trash or something." Even in my head I knew I was definitely oversimplifying things, but I didn't care at the moment. I shook my head. "I shouldn't take it out on you, though."

Taylor sat down to my right and I motioned to Nico to sit down to my left. Nico was the one to speak now. "Zane, we understand. I especially do. My own sister left me for the same group as well." He smirked and halfheartedly punched my shoulder. "We have that in common now, I guess." My heart felt super fluttery about the feeling where he had touched me. My face probably flushed. "We have two things in common now, since I got my own form now!"

The geeky, overexcited side of Nico was starting to show through he more calmer and mature personality he had started to adopt. "I have to have a name for it like how you and Percy have your own names for your forms. I was thinking something like Shadow Form or something. Like how yours is called Thunder Form, but mine is with shadows. Isn't that super cool?"

Some things never change about people though. I actually laughed at his nerdy ramblings. I felt an incredible feeling in my heart being around both of these two, something I guess you could call love if you want. I wrapped my hand around Nico's without warning, my fingers wrapping around his nice, soft hands. Nico's face immediately turned red. "Zane, wha-?" I silenced him with a kiss. It was quick, only lasting for about a couple of seconds, but I could feel...everything in it.

I laughed giddily at his surprised face and smiled at him. "I love you." I said simply, but putting as much meaning as I possibly could in the words. I saw Nico's breath hitch at my words. I turned over to Taylor and took his hand as well, loving the feeling of holding his soft, delicate hands. "I love you both. So much." My words weren't complicated, but I could tell I absolutely meant every word of them. Taylor's smile was complete heaven and a kiss from him was much more. Taylor's lips were soft and delicate, which scrambled my brain and made me unable to think.

The kiss lasted about as long as it did with Nico, short and sweet. When we separated, I sighed, knowing that something had to be done about this. "I'm going to go ahead and say it. I'm not going to be able to choose between you two. I know I said that to you both at some point earlier, but I really mean it. I love both of you way too much to break one of your hearts with a decision like that." I sighed again, knowing some sort of tension will probably come from this moment. "I understand if you two just...want something concrete out of me, but let me just have this moment right here, please."

Taylor laid his head on my shoulder as the three of us stared at the stars above Olympus in the night sky. "Well...thing is, we've been talking about that. Me and Nico." I would have looked at him with a confused expression, but I couldn't turn my head as Taylor's head was on my shoulder. Taylor sensed my confusion and elaborated.

"When you were...missing after fighting those grey men, the two of us talked about...well, us. We both know we love you and would accept any decision that you made between us, but we also knew you can't make one. So we talked about an idea of maybe sharing you or all three of us dating. We were both willing to do either." I felt Taylor take a deep breath.

"The question is, would you be okay with either of those? I know you don't want to choose, and I-erm, I mean we love you so much that we want to put all that aside and try it anyway." I felt my jaw drop slightly in surprise. They want to both date me...at the same time? "W-Would you be okay with that?" Taylor's voice shook, like he was taking a big leap of faith.

"I-" I paused, thinking about Taylor's words. I loved both of them quite a lot. Literally loved them enough to grow far more powerful when they were threatened with a horrible fate possibly worse than death. Both of them loved me, as shown by Nico literally unlocking a new form to try and protect me and Taylor's constant actions over the years. Both of them wanted to date me at the same time.

Why was I even thinking about this? This was an obvious win-win. The only thing I could even think in opposition to the idea would be some tension possibly between Nico and Taylor over me, but I'm certain we would get over that very quickly and without much issue. "I would love that. A lot, actually." I felt Taylor practically melt on my arm from my answer, which made my thoughts go hazy. I turned to Nico, careful to keep Taylor head on my neck. Nico was blushing heavily, although I could see the happiness on his face. "You would be okay with that, right Nico?"

Nico responded by placing his head on my other shoulder, completely leaning up against me with his entire body. "I would be very okay with that." His voice wasn't much above a murmur, but I could hear him very clearly. I could feel the body heat from both boys on each side of my body, which made my face burning red and my breathing becoming a little hitched.

Thinking about this scene, I'm reminded about something very similar the three of us did about a year and a half ago. Basically the three of us played gay chicken back at camp, leaning all over each other and jokingly telling each other we loved each other. But now, the three of us were serious and very much meant what we said.

I felt my brain, heart and chest feel fuzzy and warm and decided it was the best feeling in the world, bar none. "So does this mean the three of us are a thing now?" From what I've heard and said so far, I would assume yes. I just needed confirmation from them and it would be a done deal. Taylor responded by taking his head off my shoulder. I quickly became slightly panicked. Did I say something wrong? Why had he taken his head off my shoulder. I could feel a very deep phantom pain by lack of Taylor head on my shoulder and I didn't like it.

Taylor placed a hand on my chin and turned my head to him. He placed his lips on mine, which send feelings of absolute amazingness through my mind. This kiss lasted quite a bit longer than our last one, and had a lot more passion in it, too. I didn't even think about it before, but what if I'm a really bad kisser? I mean, before like a week ago, I hadn't kissed anyone literally ever, so I wouldn't have any experience in it, right?

Taylor and me separated, a slight amount of saliva connecting our mouths. Taylor smirked, something that I absolutely loved. "Does that answer your question?" Yeah, it definitely did. Taylor laid his head right back down on my shoulder and the three of us started to watch the starts together, but not before Nico pulled me into a long and passionate kiss, no doubt jealous of Taylor.

Well, my sister may have abandoned me for some eternal monster Hunter and cowardice, but I think everything turned out alright in the end. I helped save the world, again, defeated a bunch of evil grey monster men, killed a super powerful Titan and got the two guys of my dreams. This was not a bad week at all.

(000)

YES! We did it bois. We finished Titan's Curse and finally resolved the love triangle! If you weren't happy about the outcome of it, sorry to hear about that. However, this was kind of the plan overall and if you read in between the lines of the last book, you will be able to tell. I hope it doesn't detract from the story for you, but I'm polyamorous in real life and have been in a couple of relationships like these, so it's not too unrealistic imo. Anyway, shortly which means probably tomorrow, I'm going to be releasing a VsBattles profile of Zane Williams on this story as a chapter, as well as my official power ranking and scaling for the story. I had a hell of a time writing this one, and I'm sorry it took a month, but I had to give this one my absolute all. Anyway, I'll see you guys next time with the next chapter

NEXT MINI-ARC:

The Prodigal Sons (Crossover With Son of Hercules)

Co-written with Echoxenvy

Crossover is going to be canon for both his and my story, so expect some future mentions of Matt and his gang down the line. Alright, bye bye for real now lol.