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It was easier to explain to the hunters how Artemis was once married than to explain to a 10-year-old demigod his heritage. Perseus was sure that if he talked to Nico a little more than what he already had, his hair would start turning white out of exhaustion. That was saying something.

"Your father is an Olympian Nico," Perseus' voice was tired as he tried again.

Nico looked confused as he tried to wrap his mind around what was being said, "An Olympian… athlete?"

Perseus sighed again, he could see from the corner of his eyes that Annabeth and Thalia were having the time of their lives watching him explain to the kid about who he was, and who Hades was. Perseus couldn't help but sent a mental kick to Hades' mind, the boy had obviously inherited his ability to tire him out from his father. The lord of the dead had also been one annoying son of a Kronos as a child.

"No," Perseus said, "One of the major godthe s of Greek pantheon. An Olympian god of Olympus, your father is Hades, the lord of the dead."

Nico's eyes lit up at the information. His personal favorite figure from mythomagic was his father? It sounded dream come true. "Cool."

"No!" Bianca's voice raised and quavered, "This is serious Nico, it's not like one of your silly cards."

Nico's smaller figure retreated to himself as he stepped back and started playing with his cards in silence letting the adults have their conversation. Thalia stepped forward, remembering back when she had learnt about her heritage herself and remembering how shattering the news had been.

"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But it's true, you have one of the oldest gods alive in front of you and the other is your father. Gods are still around Bianca, from time to time they sire children with mortals and whenever they have children, the children are like us. Our lives are dangerous, filled with hardship." Thalia said, offering the little girl in front of her some comfort that she desperately needed when she had found out the truth for herself.

Bianca looked visibly shaken, like the earth beneath her had vanished and she was falling down into an unending abyss. Taking a step back, she sat down on a wooden log the hunters had put down around a campfire. This was too much information in too little time. She didn't know what to say or do. Finally, after a brief moment of thinking, she looked towards Perseus and asked, "And this camp is safe for people like us? My brother will be safe?"

It was at this moment that Artemis decided to intervene, she stepped towards the group and said, "No there is another choice for you Bianca."

Before she could even utter a word further, Perseus stood straight, his eyes hardening as he replied, "No there isn't. You will go to camp straight from here and learn to fight and everything else that you need to know. Your father's cabin was built just recently, and you will be claimed at night during the campfire."

Zoë made a move to protest but Perseus raised his hand and stopped her before she could begin. "I don't know everything that has happened since I left, but I remember that I created the hunt to give maidens who had no home or family a place to live and prosper. Not to tear families apart. I created the hunt to be better than that."

Artemis and her hunters all fell silent when they heard him. The older hunters all looked down to hide their shame, they remembered what the hunt was when Perseus left, and what it had become since the time he left. They had strayed from their path.

The younger hunters on the other hand bristled at his comment. They were far too arrogant thinking themselves under their mistress' protection that they forgot when not to cross a line. Artemis' influence ran wild on the hunters and they thought that they could treat Perseus like they had treated Apollo countless times and their mistress would just laugh over it. "Who do you think you are to tell us what we can and can't do?" One of the younger hunters challenged, she had been in the hunt for a few decades and never noticed someone disrespect the hunt like this.

The sound of Artemis and the elder hunters inhaling sharply could be heard as Perseus turned his head towards the person who spoke. The smile that was gracing his face disappeared in an instant and his golden eyes shone with power. "You forget your place huntress. You should guard your tone when talking to an immortal, we are creatures of pride, I might be more lenient than my siblings, but the fact remains that I am still an elder god, I am not a young god like your mistress or her brother that you can disrespect openly."

He could see that some of the hunters were taking his word in caution and understanding dawned on their faces. "Young?" Someone else from the group whispered obviously not understanding how someone who has lived more than three to four millennia could be considered young.

Perseus smirked as he answered, "I was old before your mistress or even her father, Zeus had been born. I was older still when your species had been born. Your mistress, Apollo, Ares, Athena, these are all still children next to me. So, voice your thoughts carefully, I had created the hunt as a gift to your mistress, I can just as easily disband it too."

Gasps ran around the group as they understood the importance of their action. Their eyes were all trained at their mistress, hoping against all odds that she would defend them, but all they found was sadness and disappointment in her eyes. The goddess of the moon felt sadness as she heard her hunters, was this how she had led them up until this point? Had her own arrogance and pride been so high that she not only let herself be led astray but her hunters too?

"Y..Yo..You can't do that." The same hunter who had earlier challenged Perseus spoke, sounding unsure of herself.

The lord of fate looked at the girl amused, "I am the lord of fate, I control not only one, not two but three Primordial domains. There isn't much I can't do when I put my mind to it."

Artemis looked towards his eyes. The same haunting golden eyes that she had missed for so long since he went missing stared back at her. A myriad of emotions was churning up her mind, she wanted to beg him to send her back in time. So, she could tell the Artemis in the past to give him a chance, that she was oblivious to her own feelings, she wanted to tell her past self that she loved Perseus more than anything.

Yet, she couldn't do any of that. She had to stand tall and look strong as he stood in front of her, and reach out to him. She would have to do something to show him, that she was worthy of a second chance. She listened to his words and promised herself to be better and to do better.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when a loud gust of wind hit her face. At the back of her mind, a tiny nagging sensation told her that something was wrong. She frowned at the sudden change in weather but ignored it for the time being, thinking it wasn't that important.

Her head soon snapped to her side when she heard the son of Hades yell and run after something. Nico Di 'Angelo she remembered his name. He failed to see there was a cliff further ahead of him. Then before she could react, she saw Bianca run behind her brother yelling for him to stop, but the boy didn't hear his sister, his sole aim being to get his precious cards back.

As soon as Bianca reached her brother, she immediately held him close to her, a second or two longer and he would've fallen off the edge. Her heart thundered inside her chest as she held her brother possessively. She suddenly felt the air shimmer in front of her, and she watched wide eyes as the very space in front of her seemed to be torn apart and a man stepped out of it.

He was tall, his hair was blonde and there was a thick nasty scar above his eye that crossed over to his cheek. He held a scythe in his hand, and Bianca and Nico both shivered at seeing the weapon. They didn't know why but every instinct inside them was screaming to run away from this weapon. This thing radiated death and darkness, and both the children of Hades felt scared of this unnatural weapon. Even not knowing exactly what it was.

Luke Castellan unlike last time didn't look that impressive. His face was hard and there were dark circles under his eyes, he looked older and weary like it was taking everything inside him to stand at all. Yet, the aura he was emanating was anything but, even from a distance the demigods could feel the malice behind his aura.

Luke looked at the two kids in front of him with a sneer on his face, he grabbed Nico by the hair and tore him from his sister's grasp and shoved him forwards before moving towards Bianca. The daughter of Hades stood shell shocked and scared, her eyes on her little brother crying on the ground ahead of her. She didn't see Luke move behind her and grab her wrist, and started thrashing and yelling at him to let go. Suddenly, her world went black as Luke slammed the hilt of the scythe against her forehead, and knocked her unconscious.

Thalia was frozen in place, as she looked at her old friend. The person she had once thought as family. She had trusted him, but right now looking at him, she knew. She knew that the boy she had once known was lost a long time ago. She didn't want to listen to Perseus when he had told her all that time ago that Luke was unredeemable. Now she understood.

This Luke wasn't the one who had given Annabeth her knife, this Luke wasn't the first person she felt like she could trust.

No! This Luke was a monster. A monster who will destroy everything in his path to get back at the gods. Seeing him throw Nico against the ground like an animal, knocking Bianca out. Innocent children who had just learned that the world they knew was dangerous, children who she had just promised that they would be safe now. She knew she had made her choice.

As long as she lived, she'll see that the Titans won't win. She'll accept the prophecy with open arms and claim her role as the child of Prophecy, if only to see Kronos fall. He had turned a person she once thought as family into her enemy, she'll make sure to let the King of Titans know that he should've stayed in the pit.

So, as Perseus ran after Luke, she too took after him. The power of her father hummed inside her veins as lightning played at her fingertips. The air around her started to become thicker, the winds sped and the clouds over her head darkened as a storm started to form in the horizon.

But it was all too late.

Luke swung his scythe in an arc and a ripple of darkness followed, and when the darkness retreated, Luke had vanished into thin air. Only this time, he'd taken Bianca Di'Angelo with him.

Perseus felt his heart beat louder and louder inside his chest. Hot surging anger was flowing through his veins as he stood over the cliffside, he had come all this way to lose. Bianca Di'Angelo had been taken right in front of his eyes, and he couldn't do anything. Curse his father! The Titan Lord's presence was getting stronger and stronger each day.

The lord of fate stood there silently, even as he heard the hunters and Artemis approaching him. He could feel the anger radiating off of everyone, the cries and yells of Nico for his sister were like arrows piercing his heart over and over again. He couldn't look the child in eyes, his nephew was bawling so hard that even a few hunters shed tears at the sight.

He could hear Thalia touch his arms and silently tell him that she was going to take Nico away and try to console him. He didn't say anything to acknowledge that he had heard her except for a silent sigh that would go unnoticeable by the others.

Artemis approached him quietly, the sight of him in such grief and anger making her go back to the day he had found her with Orion. That damned day was the first time she had seen Perseus' eyes break and today was the second. She slowly moved her hand forward and grabbed two of his fingers in her small hands, as she was in her 12-year-old form. "We will get her back Perseus, whatever it takes."

A small tear escaped his eyes at her words. He didn't want to admit it, but Artemis still had a hold over him. The softness with which she had just spoken to him, it was everything he had ever wanted. Out of everything in the world, at one point all he had wanted was for Artemis to return even a quarter of what he felt for her. If he was in a clear state of mind, he would've thought that this Artemis was different from the one in her past, this one was still prideful and somewhat blind but she was true to herself about matters of the heart.

He was about to reply to her, but suddenly the ground started rumbling. An eternal laugh rang out from the depth of the earth as the earth shook continuously. Perseus tried to move but the voice he heard; it sent shivers down his spine. Knowing exactly who it was.

"Poor Perseus," A voice mocked, it was spoken in a teasing tone but the malice in it still made everyone present shudder. If the hunters and the demigods weren't hallucinating, they could see the trees flow in waves like hairs flowing in wind. The ground below them continued to laugh, "Always so blind. Blind to his heart and feelings."

That voice, Artemis realized with a start, she had heard that voice millennia ago. Gaea, the Primordial of earth.

Another presence joined the earth mother. The combination of these two making the hunters and demigods falter. It made them feel as if there was no hope, nothing to look forward too. Like life was useless and they should just give up. Time around them slowed down and the rumbling of the earth continued to grow stronger.

Artemis and Perseus tried to flash away but something was constricting them. Perseus knew that he could break out of this force easily if he tried, but the hunters and demigods around him wouldn't survive.

"The god of time," Kronos' voice mocked Percy, his voice coming straight from the depths of earth. "Pathetic, a timelord that can't even see his own future. You were always a disappointment Perseus. Tell me son, how did it feel to see my champion taking away someone who was under your protection? How do you feel knowing that right now I have her in my grasp, and you can't do anything."

Perseus screamed with all his might, "SHUT UP!" It took everything inside him to not lash out with his powers and incinerate the mortals around him.

The earth shook as the laughter continued to grow stronger. "Turn around little godling."

Perseus turned around and immediately the world went still, the ichor in his veins turned to lead as his eyes widened in horror and a scream left his mouth. Thalia, Artemis and the hunters all screamed together in unison.

In front of them was the horrifying scene of a hunter of Artemis impaled by an earthen spike, straight through her heart. The ground in front of them had cracked open to form a great chasm, inhaling the lone figure that had been sitting against a tree, while the hunters of Artemis watched over her.

Annabeth Chase had just fallen in Tartarus.

Alone.