Going into the Lion's Den

Percy's POV

"Where in the Hades are we?"

We stepped past the orange circle and onto the solid wet floor. I glanced around us and to my left and right were buildings, all of the houses and all lit dimly by the cloudy grey sky above.

"Huh, no one around." Kian took a glance around where we were. "We're in Uptown, Seattle exactly where we want to be. Fortunately for us, it looks like we missed the rain shower that took place…maybe 10 minutes ago."

"I still feel like it could rain any moment."

"That's every day in Seattle, Percy," Annabeth chuckled.

I looked back at where we came and the orange circle shrunk and vanished, closing us permanently from Kian's home and leaving only a small spark of light that fizzled out.

"What do we do now?" Nico asked. "Should we wander around until we find the God Killer? Or maybe go into one of the coffee shops?"

"Are you hungry?" Kian asked him

"A little bit."

"Kian," Annabeth asked. "Is that how we find her?"

"As much as I would like a good cup of coffee and a croissant, like Nico here, I'm afraid that I have to admit something first."

"Admit what?"

"Even before Rachel started her prophecy about this quest, I already knew that we were going to end up in Seattle."

"Can you see into the future?" Annabeth questioned. "Can angels do that?"

"I can't personally. At least…I don't think I can."

"I'm confused, then what do you mean?"

"Seattle is important to both me and the God Killer. I can spend a long time explaining why but you just need to know that if she gets what she wants from here, she'll end up doing something catastrophic, not just to Earth but to everyone in the universe."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'm starting to get confused. You said the God Killer is here to kill our parents right? But right now you're telling me that she isn't?"

"She will kill any deity she sees on sight, I've seen her do it. If the Olympians, and this goes for all deities of all religions; if they are smart, they'll not step on Earth while she's here." Kian explained further. "She can smell the essence of a god. We have to lure her out and then I deal with her. If the Grigori are here and I'm assuming they are, they'll be looking for me and you."

"Why us?!" Annabeth asked.

"Your demigods. The God Killer needs you to kill your parents."

"Then why are we out in the open?" Thalia asked. "Here I thought we were going to be able to have a fun trip today!"

"Sorry Thalia, this isn't that type of trip. I thought you all were used to stuff like this?"

"Couldn't you have brought us somewhere warmer like a Cafe?" Thalia complained. "It's getting cold!"

"And freak out a bunch of people by appearing out of thin air? Let's not do that. Alleyways are the best choice. No one bothers to check them so you can appear from thin air. Might have to watch out for the homeless though, they'll get freaked out of their poor minds."

"So what do we do now?" Nico paced around. "Do we just stand here until these Grigori find us?"

"No we don't," Milena glanced at Kian. "At least…I don't think that's what we're doing, right …Kian?"

"Exactly. We aren't going to be standing out here like dummies. I know a place where we can monitor the city and act when she shows up."

"Wait," Annabeth stated. "Can't Mia transport us there? If she opened a portal to get us from New York to Seattle then she can do the same, right?"

"That's correct but to create a portal to somewhere, I need to know the image of the place I've been to. I've been to Seattle and this exact location but not where Kian is describing." Milena explained.

"So you've been to Seattle but not the place Kian is describing?" Annabeth folded her arms.

Kian wiped his hair. "It's complicated to explain without giving a really long speech and time is really against us right now so if we could-"

"You're hiding something from us aren't you?" Annabeth pressed on. "What is it?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, there's a story right?" Annabeth asked. "The way you look around, how your fidgeting, either you're expecting another member to join us or you know something we don't."

Kian and Milena glanced at each other before looking at Annabeth, both of them conversing without any kind of words.

Kian sighed and wiped his hair. "Fine Annabeth, since you're so interested in what happened here, I'll give you the short version. This isn't the first time the God Killer has stepped foot in Seattle and it isn't my first time here either. A few years ago, she tried to do what she is trying to do now. If she succeeded, well…an entire planet full of people would have died. Did I tell you how my school was on another planet?"

Kian said this all really casually like crossing planets was just as easy as walking.

"No?" Thalia, Nico and Annabeth said together.

"Well, that planet is where I went to school and I think of it as my 2nd home. It's a bit like Earth but there are about 10 billion people living on it. All sorts of people, humans, hybrids, aliens and so many new stuff. The God Killer wanted to destroy that planet full of innocent and good people. Luckily for all of us, it didn't work."

"What happened?"

"We were lucky, our allies noticed something was going on so my friends and I managed to stop it and dealt a catastrophic blow to their plans. They brought an army to take control of Seattle but they ended up losing a lot of troops, they wouldn't be able to do what they wanted to do for another 1000 years maybe."

"Then why are they here?" Nico asked.

"Because they aren't trying to conquer Seattle, they're trying to just retrieve something." Kian answered him "Where was I?... Right, I thought we stopped her but what we didn't expect was that the leader behind the proposed invasion had a dead man's switch of sorts: If she were to be defeated and or captured, it would reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life. In other words, the world of superheroes would be revealed, including various identities of those with extra-terrestrial origins and be told what we could do. If they couldn't capture Seattle, none of us couldn't have it."

Kian clenched his fists and spoke again. "So much happened in a few hours and to cut a long story short, for 7 days, the world was on the edge of descending into a dystopian young adult novel by Veronica Roth about how being special meant that you were hunted. I saw first-hand what my dad warned me about nearly came true: How humanity would truly react to the existence of powers and the existence of extraterrestrial life."

"Kian and a few of his friends were the first to be revealed," Milena continued from where Kian stopped. "They were forced on the run while I was away dealing with something else half a galaxy away. Once they were done with the whole problem, I arrived in Seattle to take them home. You should have seen them when I came to take them home.."

"Wow," Thalia blinked. "That sounds…fun, I'd watch a documentary about that."

"Yeah well," Kian scoffed. "Seeing the people I pledged to protect turning on me and others because I wasn't like them wasn't. There are a lot of human alien hybrids living in Seattle and the lives they've built up over so many years nearly collapsed in that one moment. Honestly, even remembering that story pisses me off, I saw government officials trying to take a baby away….a baby! because they thought it had powers! Made me sick to my core!"

"So, why isn't anyone trying to capture you then?" Annabeth asked. "Surely they remember who you were right?"

"If they tried, I praise their courage." A look of confidence passed over his face. "We fought everyone who tried to capture those hybrids and thankfully, we erased what that Grigori member said.." Kian answered. "Once that was done, we returned everything back to normal and removed any mention of aliens and alien hybrids from the Seattle residents."

"If everyone in Seattle knew about that, why didn't the rest of the world act on it?" I asked.

"Good question, Percy," Kian looked at me. "The moment we knew about it, we prevented any outside communication. We contained the internet and any forms of communication to Seattle and Seattle only. The city-wide quarantine established made sure that no people left the city during that week."

"So what does this have to do with the place you mentioned?" Nico asked.

"I'm getting there, Nico. I'm getting there. During that little problem, we stayed in a safe house that week. A safe house that thanks to some cool tech. We managed to construct in about 2 hours-"

Kian laughed mid-story. -"Speaking of which, while we were building it up, we had to fend off the CIA, FBI and Marines, Navy SEALs, Special Forces all at the same time. It felt like a video game by Treyarch, I had to keep defending until the next checkpoint was reached."

"And where is it now?"

"That's where I'm going to take you to."

"Is there anything else we need to know?"

Kian thought it over before speaking again. "Yeah, a couple of things. There's something called a Warp Gate that connects Seattle to an important place-"

"What's a Warp Gate?" I asked him.

"A gate where you can go across space in a matter of seconds," Mia answered me. "Like what I can do but on a way bigger scale. A fully working warp gate can transport something as big as a city!"

Annabeth blinked. "...You have wormholes?! I thought that was just a theory!"

"What's a wormhole?" Nico asked

"It's something that links two different points in space, it's something physicists have been trying to solve for half a century to make it possible," Annabeth explained to Nico and she turned back to Kian. "But how would that work, you would need-"

"I don't have the time to explain!" Kian waved his hands frantically. "And here's the other thing you should know: there's a high chance you'll bump into the God Killer, so it's better if you know her real name. She calls herself the Most Powerful Woman in existence but that's really a bunch of bullshit."

"And that is?"

"Her name-" Kian glanced at Milena and after she nodded turned to us again "Her real name is Empena! Speak it as commonly as possible, don't give any power to it!"

On the way to the safehouse…

"Why does she need the Warp Gate?"

All of us walked across the streets of Seattle, all following Kian and Milena's lead. It was slightly colder here compared back in Camp and so I had put on a bigger jacket. Everyone else seemed fine despite the chill. Kian had gotten Nico a few snacks including a croissant, an energy bar and some fruit juice and he was happily eating it as we walked.

"There are multiple gates across Earth and each one connects them to various places across the Galaxy. It would take her far too much time to do what she wants with regular Universal Neural Transportation so, the Warp Gates placed on Earth are incredibly important." Kian started to explain.

He crossed the street with us and continued. "Luckily for us, Empena can't use any of them apart from the one in Seattle. That was the only one that doesn't have a Rapture Seal on it. All the Warp Gates across the galaxy have an Anti-Empena Rapture Seal placed on them thanks to someone I know. It's just our luck that Earth wasn't affected."

"What's a Rapture Seal?" Nico took a bite out of his snack bar.

"A technique that uses a caster's hell energy and casts an Area of Effect that if the person targeted steps or makes contact with it, sends them across the universe at a random location, servilely depleting their energy and strength."

"That must hurt." Thalia winced.

"It's a really good way of making a person never touch what you want." Kian chuckled. "Someone and I went around Earth applying those rapture seals to every warp gate we could find. We missed Seattle because…" Kian gazed into the empty sky.

"Kian, you were saying?"

Kian wiped his eyes and turned back to us. "The point is we shouldn't let Empena get her hands on this Warp Gate. If this happens, we'll be dooming countless people."

"Who else knows about this?"

"Well," Milena started. "Me, Kian and a few of his friends."

"So you have more than one friend?" Thalia had a smile on the ends of her lips.

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's just I only see you on your own and well….no offence but you kinda seem like a loner."

"I have friends," Kian said. "It's just.."

"He doesn't want us to be in danger." Milena jumped in. "Right, Kina?"

"Yeah, but sometimes they jump into danger themselves."

Kian glared at Milena but she just smiled and carried on walking. "How long left Kian?"

"Let's see, turn this corner and oh…we're here."

Kian pointed somewhere in an empty field and jogged over. We followed suit and joined him in the middle.

"Is this it?" I asked him. "I was expecting something cooler."

Kian ignored me and put his hands out. He scanned around us and turned back to the spot. "Appear!"

A structure appeared from thin air in a flash of light and took up the small area. Kian walked over to what the front door was and the moment he did, the structure seemed to light up and the doors opened up.

"Whaaaa…" Annabeth's mouth was half-open.

"This isn't even the most amazing thing," Milena giggled. "Come on in, I'll show you around."

Kian's POV

"Feel free to explore the place," I stated. "It should be pretty clean. We have self-cleaning robots."

While the demigods looked around, I glanced at Milena. "Mia, I need to talk to you."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Not here. In the Control Room."

"Ok."

XxX

"I think my Fragment powers are being suppressed further."

"What do you mean?"

"First it was my teleportation but I'm feeling weaker and weaker by the minute," I explained. "I don't know how, I'm feeling…uneasy."

"Was it something you ate?"

"That's not possible, human foods shouldn't give my stomach a problem."

"But you were born here," Milena replied. "So you might have gotten used to it."

"I just had Coco Pops, a few chicken sandwiches and some juice.." I answered. "I know it's not that."

She giggled and spoke again. She leaned forward on her chair and looked closer at me. "Are you nervous? It's fine if you are. This is Empena, Kina, not even our parents were able to defeat her."

"They were close to defeating her properly. If Kianna wasn't distracted by me, she could have done something more!"

"Kian!" Milena stood up sharply from her chair. "You were 6! You can't blame yourself for that!"

"Why not?! She got herself killed defending me. I could have moved!"

"You were a child!" Milena repeated. "What could you have done against Empena?!"

I sighed and sat back on my chair. "I don't know. I...just wish I could have done something!"

Milena sat opposite me on the big display, each of us monitoring the busy streets of Seattle for a power-hungry genocidal maniac through multiple screens. Harry had hacked into the city's CCTV system allowing us to monitor the whole place and it still managed to work a couple years later.

"Do you think we should call the rest of-"

"No!" I put a stop to her suggestion. "I d-don't want the same thing to happen again!"

"Kian…" Milena leaned over slightly and put her hands over mine. "You can't do this alone."

"I have to try… I can't risk her hurting them. I still remember-"

"I remember too!" Milena protested. "You're not the only one who's seen people you're close to dad!"

Kian sighed and leaned against his chair. "Then can you help me against Empena? Put a stop to her right here and now?"

"You don't have to ask. I will follow you wherever you want to go, Kian." Milena said proudly. "If she manages to get the Warp Gate, she can send the remainder of her armada to Locus and.."

"Let's not think about that." I shuddered at the thought. "Acochester has already been invaded by her once, let's not have it happen again."

"What about the demigods?"

"I hope they aren't needed in this fight. I don't want to put them at risk either. They're just like me and you, all of them have loved ones." I answered. "I hope we have some time before we-

"Kian, it's time!"

I turned sharply behind me to see Alveus standing still with a solemn expression. "What?!"

"She's here. Look."

I turned back to the screen and I saw a faint glimpse of a scythe and a man with green hair. My heart sank and I steeled my mind, trying to mentally prepare myself for what was about to come.

"No…" Milena clenched her fist. "It's her. I really thought she would never come back after what you did but.."

"We don't have any time, get the demigods!"

XxX

"You want us to do what?"

"Stroll around Seattle until they find you," I answered while mentally preparing myself for this confrontation. I was going to kill Empena right then and there.

"Empena needs the physical DNA of a god i.e the human form they took to help in conceiving you and their entire energy at one place i.e their divine energy," Milena answered Annabeth.

"And what's with the costume? Is that your hero suit?"

"Exactly!" Milena adjusted the hairband on her head. "So, tell me, what's going to happen?"

"It's cute." Annabeth looked at her magical robes.

"Thank you!"

"We're going to walk around Seattle and wait for the Grigori to find us." Percy repeated my instructions. "How's that going to get us to the God Killer?"

"Empena and the Grigori won't resist demigods and she'll take me to where she is. That's where I'll defeat her!"

"But be careful around the Grigori," Milena started. "The ones who I saw…are really powerful."

"How powerful?" Annabeth asked.

"The ones who remain call themselves the Dark Moons."

"The what?" Percy giggled.

"They've killed over thousands," I glanced at Percy. "Laugh at their name, they'll do the same over your body."

"Who are they?" Annabeth asked.

"Powerful members of the Grigori, Empena's right-hand soldiers that act under her command. There were many once upon a time but now, there are only a few." I said. "One of them…he's called Split, he can duplicate himself."

"How do we fight him?"

"You don't!" I said sharply. "Do it and you'll end up dying!"

"We needed a lot of people a few years ago to deal with him," Milena answered. "Don't underestimate them."

"What are you guys going to do?" Thalia asked

"We will hide in the mirror dimension and follow you unknown to Empena and the Grigori, they'll be trained to look out for me but they can't track me if I am in another dimension. I'll pick my moment and defeat Empena right then and there!" I announced

"What's the Mirror Dimension?"

"Oh, it's a plane of existence that lies parallel to this one but whatever you do in there, it won't affect this one. It's good for training and just containing people."

Annabeth rubbed her forehead. "Different Dimensions, what's next you'll tell me the multiverse is real too?"

"We've wasted enough time talking!" I announced. "Let's go!"

"Kian, you can't expect us to not fight if they try to kill us?!" Percy asked me. "I mean come on, we know how to fight!"

"I know you do but I'm being cautious. They won't try to kill you." I explained. "You're 'precious goods' for them. But if they do...Percy, do you still have that sword that your dad gave you right?"

"I do," Percy demonstrated by pressing his ring and his silver sword surged up into life.

"Good." I turned to Mia. "Mia, can you cast a spell where their weapons can affect anyone who tries to hurt them, non-Greek or not?"

"Sure." Mia formed a few hand signs before a surge of golden light now surged along with the demigods' weapons

"Cool," Thalia looked at her glowing bow.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked them

"Yeah we are," Annabeth, Percy, Thalia and Nico said together.

"Good. Let's go catch ourselves a god killer."

"Wait," I said. "Kian, where's your suit?"

"What?"

"Where's your suit?"

"I have it with me?"

"Show us!" Thalia said. "Come on!"

I sighed and tapped my wristwatch twice. I felt the flow of the nanomaterial around my body, replacing the clothes I had under my jacket with padded armour. Within seconds, I was suited head to toe in a dark navy blue body suit. I tugged the black jacket around my neck tighter. "Happy?"

"Kian, you say your not superman but your suit is just like his!"

"Hey!" he blushed. "This is so much better than Superman!"

"I'm just glad that he's decided to wear his underpants on the inside!" Milena giggled and Kian blushed even further

"We've wasted enough time, we're about to go into the Lion's Den, so keep your focus up!"

Out on the streets of Seattle...

Percy's POV

"How will they be able to find us?" I thought

"Probably the same way that they found me. I'm guessing energy detection, both celestial energy and divine energy" Kian replied telepathically

"How do you know that?" I heard Thalia's Voice

"I don't know for certain but I have a strong feeling that it is. They caught me out by surprise and you don't do that unless you know exactly what you are looking for."

"Kian, how are you able to telepathically talk whilst in another dimension?" Annabeth's voice said. "You aren't here are you?"

"Well, I am here, just not in the same plane of reality as you. As for the other thing, Mia's responsible for cross-dimensional telepathy. She's effectively making the two dimensions one with her magic," Kian explained. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Thanks, Kina," Milena giggled. "But remember to keep an eye out. I'm sure the Grigori know where you are."

"How do we know I've met the Grigori?" Nico asked.

"And can we try to escape them?" Thalia asked Kian.

"Here I thought that you demigods would be hard to find!"

A man with bright green hair, a green jacket and a pair of green sunglasses stood in front of us. He stood around the same height as me and greeted us with a confident smile. "Hello."

"Who are you?" I asked him

"You guys should be on your knees right now but I'll let you off on this one since it's the first time you've met me. My name is Split!"

I went rigid, remembering Kian's warning about him. Looking at him, he didn't look like the strongest person but I wasn't going to be fooled by this. I knew appearances can be misleading.

"And?" I asked.

"Well, if you're smart, you'll follow me. There's someone expecting you!" He smiled geely.

"Do what he says for now," I heard Kian say telepathically. "Pretend like you're weak, make them drop their guard."

"Sure," I said looking at Split. "Take us to your leader."

Either he didn't hear me because a gust of wind blew past us or he didn't get the reference but he stared at us blankly before moving again.

"Fantastic," he started. "I won't have to kill anyone. Now follow me!"

We were led into what looked like a black hallway completely devoid of light with only our footsteps echoing around us. I could briefly catch glimpses of Split's bright green hair in the dim light.

"Guys, are you still there?" I said.

"Yeah, we are," everyone said.

"Hey," I heard Split say in front of me. "Have you ever met her before?"

"Who?"

"Deticide!" Split said loudly. "You know?"

"Nope," I said. "Never heard of that name before!"

"That's a shame.." Split sighed. "But you'll have the pleasure of meeting her for the first time. Remember to bow to her, those who don't seem to expire quickly…"

"DON'T!" I heard Kian's voice fill my head.

"What?" I replied reflexively.

"You have to bow to her, it's respectful," Split replied. "Speaking of her…"

The lights blasted the darkness of this place and lit this place in bright blue light. Walls of shiny metal surrounded us and in front of us was a chair-no a throne? Yeah, a throne with elaborately designed pieces of art around the base. Art that looked like it was carved over so many years.

"Finally." A feminine voice spoke "The demigods."

A cold shiver ran through my body, every hair stood on end and I felt the sense that if I tried to attack her, I would end up dead. The woman gazed into my eyes with her burning red and black eyes and I felt like my blood was beginning to tingle uncontrollably under her gaze.

"Welcome to my domain," she announced. "I see you've already met Split."

"Your majesty," Split bowed in front of her and joined the 2 others in front of her.

"That's impossible!" I heard Kian say

"What is?!" Milena asked

"Nivan...Rashomon?!" Kian's voice was on the edge of breaking. "Of course now it makes sense what Colborn said!"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I managed to squeak out.

"Have you not heard of me?" She raised an eyebrow. "That is surprising!"

"No." I lied, hoping that she didn't catch it.

"Well my dear, I'm Deiticide, I am the force that makes gods quiver In their greaves, turn those of an iron will to screaming children when they hear my name. The deities of all sects and religions across the universe fear me more than being forgotten by their worshippers since I'll make it more painful."

"How many have you slaughtered?" Annabeth asked behind me. I looked at her and I knew from her eyes immediately that she had a plan.

"Oh so many that I've lost count," she said casually, "You think after a thousand years I would have a better memory, but no."

"Why did you do it?"

"Why? Well, I killed them because they didn't treat their believers well. One time, I killed a leader of a pantheon that constantly cheated on his wife, had countless demigods and broke his own rules, can you imagine that?"

"Yeah," I deadpanned. "How can I?"

"What I have done is the right thing, I've helped so many by slaying these gods. This brings me to you. Now, young ones, you are demigods, correct?"

Me, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico nodded. "Why?"

"Well, I'm a demigod too!" she said with open arms like we were all a group of long lost buddies.

"What?!" Thalia replied. "H-how?!"

"Well one of my parents was a god the other…well you get the idea." she shrugged. "I know just how you feel!"

"You don't know anything about us!" I snapped. "You're here to just kill our parents!"

Empena chuckled. "I know everything about you all. What remains of my Grigori has been keeping an eye on you. You, Perseus Jackson, you are the Son of Posideon, the Greek Deity of the Sea, your father wasn't there for your childhood was he?"

"How did you know my name?!" I stepped back.

"I know more than your feeble mortal mind can comprehend," she leaned forward. "Did you ever feel like you weren't good enough, that you were the reason why your father wasn't there?"

"I-I did."

"I was like that too a long time ago," she leaned back on her chair. "Until I realised that my bastard father was a pathetic excuse of a parent, and I destroyed him…"

"You killed your own father?!"

"Yes," she said nonchalantly. "He killed my mother so I had to get my revenge."

"What do you want on Earth?!" Annabeth demanded. "We won't let our parents die!"

"Silence, girl, show some res-" Split barged in.

"That's ok, she's only a young woman with questions and loyalties." Empena raised a hand to stop him.

She got comfortable on her throne and talked. "Your loyalty to your parents is admirable, but deep down, all of us here know how your pantheon is unworthy of their powers. Your mother, Annabeth Chase, turned the first mortal to beat her into the mother of all Spiders. Your father Thalia Grace… well..I could take a week to tell you how much of a bastard he is, but let's start off with the most obvious one: he's a power hungry megalomaniac who only cares about himself and his own pleasures. Earth has no need for them, this whole planet would be better without them! Imagine a world where children don't have to worry about monsters? A world where you don't have to go on quests? I can make that world happen, my dear children!"

What she said did seem nice. A world where monsters didn't exist? I could go to school without having to worry about my teacher trying to kill me. I looked at Annabeth. If both of us were living together, we wouldn't need to stay on guard all the time, and if we had a child? Yeah, everything would be so great.

But the price at which it came was too much.

I loved my Dad. I wanted to see him all the time and I knew why he couldn't be there all the time for me. I knew he cared about me too, if not, well, I wouldn't be here.

"That's a good offer, but I'm going to refuse," I said loudly.

"Did you not hear me?" Empena blinked. "I'm trying to help you, child!"

"Help us by killing our parents? Yeah, no thanks. The Gods…can be gods but they can change. They have changed."

"Oh please tell me how?!"

"My father was just like Zeus when he was younger but now, he's more responsible and caring. They have their moments every now and then but even if what you said was true, trying to tear down the old ways for a new one is a bad idea. Trust me, Lady, I've seen that personally!"

Empena stared at me before chuckling. "You are a brave young man to stand up to me like that. Do you not agree that getting rid of your Gods is a good thing?"

"Yes."

"Then it's justice. I am killing those evil gods who-"

"It doesn't matter if the people you hate are evil or not. Trying to bring 'justice' by killing people is no justice at all." I interrupted her.

Empena sighed. "This is proving… difficult. Well, it's only a good thing that is my secondary objective. You wouldn't happen to know where Seattle's Warp Drive is, do you?"

I shook my head but then Annabeth spoke up. "What about Kian, how is he involved in this?"

Empena slammed her fist on the armrest next to her. The 3 people below her all shared a look of discomfort and anguish

"DON'T MENTION THE NAME OF THE RED REAPER EVER AGAIN YOU INSOLENT HALF-BLOOD!" Empena roared loudly. Her breath had become laboured, sweat beads dropped down her head and she shivered in her seat. If I didn't know any better, I would say she was scared of this Red Reaper.

"Who?" Annabeth asked again. "Who's the Reaper?"

"It's my…alias." I heard Kian's voice in my head. "Whatever she says next..don't believe a word!"

"The Reaper is a bloodthirsty monster that won't rest until he's killed me. The last time, he…he almost ended me by tearing out my heart!" Empena struggled to get the words out. "He's a barbaric killer that will fight until the blood of his enemies stains his body like paint!"

Empena's voice was on the verge of breaking like this reaper was something that could scare her.

"And Kian is this Reaper? I don't believe it! He's a Hero!"

"Hero?!" Empena blinked. "Have you any idea what he's done? Do you know the sins that follow his race of devils?! He's a monster, more than I am to the gods!"

"What race?!"

Empena started to speak but she stopped and started to laugh. "I see. He hasn't told you the full story has he? In the beginning, the bloodthirsty Vorakians and Evian waged war against one another, each of them trying to kill the other for supremacy. This conquest involved so many innocent lives and so many died in their rampage. Fortunately, they were all killed due to…some catastrophic event. That…Reaper is all that remains of that race, a race that should have died a long time ago but they still manage to survive!"

"You should have died a long time ago, evil bitch!"

"I don't believe you!" Thalia replied. "How can we trust someone who's trying to kill our parents?!"

"Because I'm right, child of Zeus!" Empena announced loudly. "Everything I've done is for the good of the universe!"

"LIAR!" Kian roared in my head.

"There's two ways we can do this. Either you willingly hand over a piece of hair or anything that contains your DNA or I take it from you by force." Empena stated. Around her, the 3 people started to move. "It's your choice."

"We'd rather die than let you kill our parents!" I uncapped Riptide and faced her.

Empena laughed as she looked at my sword. "Look at this young boy, he thinks he can stop me."

"I've stopped worse. Come on Empena, show me what you got!"

Empena's smile faded at the mention of her real name. "Who told you that?! Who told you my real name?!"

"Who do you think?" I activated my second sword and held it like I had been taught by Kian.

"That..stance." Empena gasped. "The Reaper has taught you hasn't he?!"

"He's called Kian!" Annabeth said proudly. "And you won't hurt our parents, Empena!"

Empena clenched her jaw and slammed her hand on her chair again, this time with enough force to break part of it. "I thought I told you to not mention the name of the Reaper!"

"And you're trying to kill us!" Annabeth held her bronze knife. "Everything's fair now."

"Do you know why I hate him so much?"

"Why?"

"He slaughtered my innocent army-"

"Lies…" Kian growled.

"-as we tried to defend a planet against his brutal invasion, he killed so many that-"

"LIES!"

"-by the end he had racked over 200 bodies in his rampage!"

"I'll KILL YOU!"

"Kian, stick to the plan!" Milena shouted at him.

"Stop lying to us!" I shouted. "Kian would never kill someone!"

"Really?" Empena raised an eyebrow again. "Have you seen him fight someone? Have you seen him almost kill his opponent?! I know by that look in your eyes that you have seen it happen haven't you? He's a killer deep inside, worse than any of his… people."

The way she said it made it sound more like an insult.

"And you know the funny story children, I came here with over 50 Grigori members, all of them excellently trained. But now I only have 10. Guess what happened to them?"

"No….that's impossible!"

"Impossible?!" Empena laughed. "The Reaper kill-"

"KABOOOOMSCHWICKKKK!"

Kian appeared out of nowhere, sinking his blades into the Empena's chest with a sickening slit sound. He'd moved so fast a sonic boom followed in his tracks, causing our group to stagger back. Empena screamed loudly as Kian pushed his swords deeper into her, ignoring her painful screams.

I caught a brief look at Kian's face and the look in his eyes was feral, like a lion hunting down their helpless prey. He pushed the blades in further. "I'm going to tear you apart….limb from limb…atom from atom….for what you did!"

Dark red blood poured down Empena's torso and onto the bottom of her throne.

The 3 people below us tried to move to help Empena but an orange ring-opened below their feet and captured them in place via a series of golden chains.

"What the hell is this?!" Split looked at the gold chains around his torso.

"By the Golden Chains of Krakkon! I got you!" Milena jumped out in her blue and gold outfit, holding her orange ring covered hands out to stop the Dark Moons from progressing.

"R-r-reaper!" Empena stared at Kian. "H-how?!"

Kian smiled manically, his eyes phasing between red and purple. "Feel that pain?! I hope you like it, a lot more Is coming you insane bitch!"

Kian's swords turned bright red and blue, pulsating with so much light that it was like he was holding lightsabers. Empena responded with a bigger scream that almost shook the entire place into the floor.

"CELESTIAL JUDGEMENT: ARCHANGEL'S DIVINE WRATH!"

"MISTRESS" the dark moons screamed

Kian ripped both of his now glowing swords out, staining his suit with dark blood and went to slice Empena's head off, only fury painting his expression.

This was it.

He'd done it

The God Killer was defeated

CLANGGGG!

"Wha-?!"

Kian stared with wide eyes as Empena blocked both of his blades with her now shiny metallic arm. She clenched his teeth and she held strong against the glowing blades, smoke being emitted from where the swords made contact with her arm.

"HOW?!" Kian looked at where he had stabbed Empena

Empena chuckled darkly. "Look inside, Reaper, there is nothing important there!"

The place where Kian had stabbed clean through was just a hole that was rapidly healing and closing itself together. Empena clamped her free hand over Kians throat earning a wide eyed look from her target.

"KIAN!" Milena screamed.

Empena's red eyes glowed. "My turn. BLOOD STYLE: CRIMSON FLOWER EMERGENCE!"

Kian refocused his eyes and sliced her hand with his blue sword before jumping back towards us, dodging the red spikes that covered the area in front of him in a matter of milliseconds.

"Kian what happened?!" Mia was struggling to hold her arms up.

Kian landed just in front of her. "Her heart…it wasn't there!"

"WHAT?!" Mia exclaimed. "But that's…you can't move your own heart from your body can you?!"

The sudden red spikes surged back into Empena's right hand and she just chuckled as she slowly stood up. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up…Reaper. Did you miss the feeling of taking a life…hero? Nothing but a hypocrite"

Kian almost broke the floor with a single step. "I'm a Hypocrite?! You're the one who invaded my planet to try and kill us! Justice this…justice that, your nothing but a murderer, killing anyone you see as 'evil' because you can!"

"I did the right thing!" Empena shouted back, her voice briefly becoming one of a demon.

"LIAR!" Kian roared, his voice distorted and just like when I heard it when he faced Ares. "IS KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE THE RIGHT THING EMPENA?! IS KILLING CHILDREN GOING TO BRING JUSTICE?!"

Kian punched the air and a bright red plume of fire roared towards Empena. "DIE! FIRE STYLE: RAMPAGING RED FLAMES!"

Empena raised a hand and a transparent black barrier appeared out of thin air, shielding her from the heat of the flames. Kian kept punching, creating more plumes of fire but the only damage that was being caused was the floors were beginning to melt.

"Kian, I can't hold them off for long!" Mia had dropped onto one knee.

Kian glanced at her and then at Empena, stopping his flame barrage. "It's fine. Let them go for now."

"Are you sure?"

"The plan's changed, we have to change as well!"

Mia nodded and then closed her hands. The orange chains around the dark moons vanished, letting her prisoners go free."

"Finally, Reaper," a deep voice spoke. "I can destroy you for what you did to my family!" A man in dark full green heavy armour spoke

"Get in line! He stopped me from getting a new concubine! A pretty red-haired girl that I would have enjoyed so much!" A tall man with blue hair and a lightning symbol on his chest plate spoke. "Remember me?"

"Don't mention that woman if you want to live again, Rashomon!" Kian twirled his glowing swords. "I remember making you beg for mercy, both of you!"

"Enough!" Empena dissipated her barrier and walked forward. Her right hand regenerated in a matter of seconds. With a swish of her right arm, she brandished an elaborate designed 10ft golden scythe that reminded me of Kronos.

"They have no escape. Kill them all and find the Warp Drive," she announced. "With no celestials to stop me, soon this universe will be under my palm…"

"Understood!" 3 of the dark moons said together. The man called Rashomon started to sparkle with blue electricity, the man in green armour started to shape his own hand into a weapon and Split started to turn into a green-like a liquid

"Next time I see you, I'll burn your bodies to cinders!" Kian yelled at Empena and the dark moons.

"Kian, how are we going to get out of this?!"

"Let's do that thing we did on Xandar," Kian answered her.

"What thing?"

"You know when we were falling into a spike trap?"

"I'm not sure if I have any control of it!"

"It's either that or dying here Mia!" Kian said frantically. "They're about to kill us."

Mia turned back to us. Hold on to each other. "This way you won't be lost!"

Me, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico all grabbed each other. "Now what?!" I asked her

"You survive!"

She made various hand motions that produced flashes of golden light.

"GET THEM!" Empena roared.

"Not going to happen!" Kian's red and blue wings surged into life and he turned sideways, blocking a bombardment of green spikes with his left-wing. The red wing surged with light and with a swing, he sent out a stream of red blades that forced Empena to create a bigger black barrier.

I wish I could have remembered more about what happened but all I remember was a flash of orange light and everything went white

Hope you guys liked it, sorry I couldn't update as frequently, I was very busy with exams and social activities. Hopefully, you've enjoyed this chapter because I put in the work to make sure it was perfect.

CrimsonSayian12.