The camp was quieter than usual with most of the demigods gone, but the Ares cabin still made enough noise to make it seem alive.
Valen materialized out of the shadow of Thalia's pine tree and walked through the barrier, his goal sparring in the arena, unaware of what was coming her way.
"Clarisse," Valen announced himself once he entered the arena, "You have two options, either join us against Kronos, or I'll make sure you never pick up a weapon again."
Clarisse sneered, "Try it, edgelord."
Valen tilted his head at the insult but didn't move from his place. A gush of wind hit Clarisse head-on, making her stumble and drop her spear.
Stretching his arm out, he summoned the spear to his hand, "Choose,"
"How the fuck did you do that?" Clarisse asked instead, "Children of Hades aren't supposed to have power over wind."
"Careful, thinking too hard might overexert that single braincell of yours."
"How did you do it?" She repeated, glaring at the son of Hades.
"Make your choice Clarisse."
"Fine," Clarisse said, cracking her knuckles, "I chose option 3 : Breathing you to a pulp."
Valen sighed, "Don't embarrass yourself."
Clarisse went for the offensive, throwing jab after jab at him. Valen didn't bother to counterattack and kept dodging her attacks effortlessly.
"Stand still, damn you" Clarisse grunted, reaching too far in her punch.
Valen took the opportunity, grabbing Clarisse's arm and throwing her over his shoulder. Valen unsheathed his sword as she slammed into the ground, placing its tip at her neck, right above her spinal cord.
"Don't move, one stab is all it will take to paralyze your limbs forever."
By now some of her siblings had arrived on the arena to see what the commotion was.
"So I'll ask again, will you or will you not aid us in the war?"
Clarisse scoffed, "Why should I help the people who show us no respect, the people who trampled on our honor?"
"Honor has no place on the battlefield," Valen said, "if you want respect, act like it. The Ares cabin's shenanigans worsen your reputation to a point where no one respects you. Act like proper demigods, instead of brain-dead monkeys and maybe you'll get some respect.
Clarisse grit her teeth and forced a nod.
Valen stared at her for a few more seconds before speaking up, "I expect you to come with your cabin by sunrise, if you fail to do that, I will put you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. "
Getting off of her, Valen disappeared in his shadow.
On his way back, Valen nabbed a phone from a downed pedestrian and called Annabeth, asking for any new information she had received.
"It's bad," She said over the phone, "We've barely managed to hold off one army but a second wave came soon after. Percy and I are heading to Williamsburg Bridge to help the Apollo cabin, but the others need help too."
Running, Valen began to think, "The Hermes cabin should be fine with their numbers, the Hephaestus cabin can hold them off with their war machines, your cabin is the smartest of all, they can survive the longest and I doubt the Hunters need help. That leaves-"
"The Demeter and Aphrodite cabins." She finished, "How are we going to get to them in time."
"I'll manage, you and Percy go to Williamsburg, help the Apollo cabin."
"But-"
Valen ended the call and ventured into the shadow realm. Shivers went down his spine as he reached closer to the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, and the cold crept up on him like a snake.
When he appeared on the other side, all he could see was chaos, the entrance to the tunnel was blocked off with thorns and vines, but much of it had been torn away, monsters slowly trickled out and the Demeter cabin did its best to hold them off.
At the back, four demigods held their arms up, brows scrunched in concentration as the vines kept growing.
Valen looked up, the sun still hadn't risen, it was still night. Exactly what he needed.
Shadeslayer materialized in his arms as he walked forward, barking at the Demeter demigods to retreat.
"What are you doing?" Katie asked, "What's your plan?"
"Just get your siblings to back away." Valen said, breaking into a sprint. It didn't take long for them to retreat, and Valen was finally free to do what he needed to without injuring his allies.
Opening his fist, he clawed upwards, and blades rose from the monster's shadows, impaling them as they stood, clearing the area.
Father, give me strength. He prayed, holding his bident upside down, the double-pronged tip puled black once to show him his father was listening.
Taking a crisp breath in, he dropped it and watched as it fell straight, the tip passing through the ground as if it was made of liquid and stayed embedded there.
For a terrible moment nothing happened, but then, darkness exploded from the polearm, spilling into the streets, painting it black. As the monsters trickled in, the inky shadows under them rippled, and spikes of varying sizes stabbed through them, instantly turning them to dust.
Valen turned back to face the Demeter cabin, "I don't know how long it will hold, but try and regain some of your energy while it stays, and heal your wounded."
Before they could reply, Valen melted into the ground, disappearing from the tunnel.
.
.
.
Theron didn't know what to do, all this was new to him and honestly, he was overwhelmed. He had barely been to the camp for six months, and now they had a war to fight.
While the son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson, was assigning each cabin to a bridge, he locked eyes with Valen for a moment, but before he could ask anything, the Hermes cabin began splitting and Valen nodded at him encouragingly.
He had hoped he would be with at least one familiar face, but in the Chaos, Aricia had somehow gone over to the other side. Sighing, he accepted it and went with Connor to cover Manhattan Bridge.
He had somehow survived the initial wave of monsters, before another wave came, larger and stronger than before. Even while fighting them, his thoughts wandered to Aricia, and if she was safe.
By the end of it all, his side of the cabin had minimal losses, with the worst one being a new camper losing his fighting arm. At least there were no deaths, he thought, relaxing on the pavement, leaning against one of the cars.
But as the saying went, no rest for the wicked. Moments after they had defeated the monster army, an iris message materialized between them, Travis Stoll on the other side, asking for help. His side wouldn't be able to hold them out much longer.
His heart skipped a beat, and he was instantly on his feet. And before Connor could stop him, he was already gone.
It was a full moon that night, and for some reason, Theron's powers were stronger than usual, he got tired less easily, and he could make more constructs before he had to rest. But he didn't have the time to dwell on it.
Even as he arrived on Brooklyn Bridge, he could see how bad their condition was. The monsters had begun spilling into the city, he could see pieces of swords, spears, bows, and every other celestial bronze weapon shattered on the ground, and, oh gods, he thought he could see some bodies, heavily mutilated, heck some monsters were in the middle of eating them.
Theron almost puked. He shook his head, ignoring his nausea, and ran towards them, his eyes scanning the crowd of campers, searching frantically for his friend.
And there she was, flanked on both sides by two other unclaimed campers, fighting a Laestrygonian giant.
So he jumped into the fray, dozens of silver swords encircling his being, following his will, and his will was to kill.
.
.
.
Valen sighed, shrugging the golden dust off his shoulders. Who knew that a Laestrygonian Giant would spew so much of it when they died?
Picking up his sword, he stared at the approaching army. The Aphrodite campers wouldn't be able to take them on their own, he had no doubt of that. And while he was strong, he wouldn't be able to help much, unless he was willing to nearly exhaust his magic.
He wasn't. But he had to do something, use his surroundings to his advantage. He narrowed his eyes, remembering the cabin's enthusiasm about getting assigned this tunnel.
"Silena," He called, walking over to her, "Did you guys actually ransack the perfume store?"
"Err," Silena began, "I tried to stop them…"
"Doesn't matter, give them to me." Valen demanded.
Silena hesitated for a moment before sighing and addressing her cabin, "Do as he asks."
After a bit of grumbling and whining, Valen had over two dozen different perfumes on him. "Did someone bring any greek fire vials?" He asked.
He got no answer. "Of course you didn't." He grumbled, wrapping the perfumes in solid shadows.
Inhaling sharply, he threw it at the dangerously close army, his free arm hurling a fireball of hellfire moments later.
Glass shattered, and flames engulfed the bridge, monsters screamed in agony. "Perfume fluid is dangerously flammable," Valen said, "Good thing you guys stole them."
Valen raised his arm, forcing his will upon the air around him, providing the fire more fuel to spread. Before long, every monster had at least one part of its body covered by flames. In the resulting chaos, it didn't take the demigods very long to finish them off, regardless of the fact that Aphrodite campers weren't the best fighters.
Valen didn't waste more time and headed for his next stop, skipping Williamsburg Bridge where Percy was holding off the Minotaur, and went straight to Manhattan Bridge, only to find it calm. The Hermes campers were lying on the ground, catching their breaths and resting, and a few were clustered around one particular camper with a grievous injury.
Valen winced at the state of the boy, walking past him, and towards Travis.
"Valen," Travis said once he saw him, "You have to go to Brooklyn Bridge, Connor's side isn't doing very well."
"What happened?" Valen asked, tensing.
"Connor iris messaged me, they've already lost four campers, and the monsters are spilling into the city. Theron ran away as soon as he heard it, and honestly I would too but," He stopped, and gazed at the battlefield, "We need to hold the bridge."
"I'll make sure they come back alive Travis, you have my word."
Before Travis could say any further, Valen shot into the sky with a sonic boom.
The silver wall shuddered, and Theron winced. The monsters would break through soon, he could only make his constructs so strong. Behind him, the rest of the campers prepared for the fight, Connor standing at the front, sword gripped tightly, all the mirth was gone from his face. Aricia's daggers glowed an eerie purple as she held them, preparing herself for the possibility of dying there.
Theron closed his eyes, unsheathing his own sword as the wall cracked. Maybe they were going to die there, but they wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Here they come." Theron warned as the last vestiges of strength left the wall. And then, it shattered.
Taking a deep breath, the campers yelled out their war cry, "FOR CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"
Yet, before the two armies could meet, a comet shot down from the sky, like a lightning bolt, shocking the monsters nearest to him.
Valen stood up, holding up his sword, wreathed in hellfire. The broken weapons lying on the ground began to quake, and Valen ran into the army, a mix of fire, lightning, and metal, ripping through them.
The weapon shards revolved around him, rending anything that came near him, and his sword leaked out both lightning and hellfire. The laurel wreath reappeared on his head, growing hotter and tighter by the second. The flow of hellfire slowed down, and the flow of lightning increased.
Valens' shadow grew, connecting to the shadows of the monsters in his vicinity. They rippled, and in a split second, dozens of spears shot out of the ground, skewering everything in their way.
Silver arrows formed overhead, raining down on the army, slowing them down even more. Valen glanced back at Theron, nodding in acknowledgment. And the slaughter continued.
Yet, it didn't seem to be coming to an end, Valen flew up, noticing the sheer size of the army, and cursed under his breath.
"The other waves were nothing compared to this," He muttered, looking behind him, "All right, change of plans, Theron, keep showering them with your arrows."
Theron deadpanned at him, as if he wasn't already doing it.
"Aricia, destroy this side of the bridge," Valen said turning to her, "I'll destroy it from the other side."
"What?" Aricia stared at him like he had gone mad.
"You know, use the purple voodoo energy and cut right through it." He said, flying off, and to the back of the army.
Aricia blinked for a second, before sighing and accepting her fate. For something of that magnitude, she'd need a bigger weapon.
Picking up a more or less intact sword, she began imbuing it with her power. The purple energy engulfed it, extending a few meters beyond the blade. Aricia put more and more magic into it, taking it to a size where it could comfortably cut the bridge, and walked to the edge.
And it cut the bridge like it was made of butter, cleanly cutting into it, and as Aricia moved across the bridge, it cut through.
On the other side, Valen cleared the area with the broken weapons and got to work, hellfire, lightning, and shadow magic worked in tandem in an explosion that carved a hole through the bridge.
Valen quickly flew off, right before the bridge fell, the support beams creaking and shattering under the weight, and a major portion of the monster army fell into the water.
Sighing in relief, Valen flew over to the campers, gently touching down on the ground. Connor immediately walked up to him, "Since when can you fly?"
Valen opened his mouth, halfway through making up an excuse about levitating his sword to 'fly', but decided against it. He had lied to them long enough, still, he knew that the consequences of such jarring news during a war wouldn't be great. "I'll explain later, tend to your wounded for now, and return to wherever the others have chosen to take refuge." He said, glancing at the rising sun, "I doubt Kronos would send any monsters now."
Connor wanted to protest but kept silent, he did have a lot of wounded campers to look after. Valen turned to the broken bridge, the corpses on it had been devoured by the river. And although he knew their souls would go to Elysium, it didn't make their sacrifice any less tragic.
Sighing into the breeze, Valen turned away and walked over to Theron and Aricia. "Come with me." He said, walking off before they could protest.
Grabbing the phone of a sleeping man, Valen dialed Annabeth's number, but the one who answered wasn't her.
Valen narrowed his eyes, "What are you doing with Annabeth's phone?"
"She's injured, we're at the Plaza Hotel. Percy is already here, and she'll live but it doesn't look very good." Silena answered.
"I'll be there soon," Valen said, cutting the call. "Connor," He yelled, gaining his attention, "They're at the plaza hotel, get there when you can"
"All right, change of plans," Turning back, he grabbed both of his companions' shoulders, "I'll need to sleep for at least half a day after this." He muttered.
When they arrived at the hotel, the shouts of an Apollo camper reached their ears first.
"-after so many of us have died, now you come to help?" He spat out, "All of this for what? A fucking chariot? You're a disgrace to demigod-kind, you don't deserve to be called a hero!"
"Should we stop them?" Theron said, looking concerned.
"No, she deserves this." Valen said.
"Does she?" Aricia asked, not exactly happy at some of the insults the Apollo camper threw at Clarisse.
"Her actions during the war makes her only slightly better than a traitor, her ego has brought this upon her, she deserves being knocked down a few pegs." Valen said, walking into the hotel, his companions following silently.
Inside some of the hunters informed them to go to the topmost floors, where the demigods had taken over, and before long the trio were among their kind.
Valen saw Will Solace come down the stairs, along with Travis, Beckendorf, and Silena. "How is she?" He asked, walking over to them.
"She's going to be fine, we just need some mortal supplies to fully treat her, and the others." Will said, he was extremely pale for some reason.
"Yeah," Travis nodded, "We're gonna go raid a drugstore, wanna come with?"
Valen stared at him for a moment, before speaking, "You're not going to use me as a taxi, are you?"
"No, of course not. I would never do that." He said, his tone indicating he was planning to do exactly that.
Valen narrowed his eyes, two could play at that game, "Good, because if I try to shadow travel anywhere now, I'm afraid I'll fall into the void, and take whoever is with me down."
Travis gulped, "Right, uh, we can take a car?"
He smiled, glancing back at Aricia and Theron, who both sported bruises and minor cuts, "You two rest up, I'll be back soon."
Not willing to protest against such an offer, the two crashed on an empty couch and immediately fell asleep.
.
.
.
"Should we raid another?" Travis asked from behind Valen, who was busy transferring money from the card his father gave him. This was one of the few times it was useful, and he was glad for it.
"We need as many as we can get," Valen said, finishing up the transaction, "Take this card and give me the bags, I'll take them to Will. And don't forget to pay."
"I don't even know how you have that kind of money, but okay." Travis said, grabbing the card, and giving him the bags.
Valen almost rolled his eyes, "My father is also a god of riches you know."
Travis shrugged, "I'm just saying, using it too much might affect the economy."
"Since when did you start becoming responsible?"
Travis grinned, "You're right, I'm not."
Valen shook his head, "Leave the other bags on the floor, I'll take them back,"
The other Hermes campers glanced at each other, and the sheer amount of pharmaceutical supplies they had. "Uh, how are you going to take this much back?"
Valen grinned, "Why, shadow travel of course?"
"But you just said-"
"You shouldn't trust everything I say, Travis."
Travis sighed, "Of course, you lied. Guys, leave the bags to him, and let's head to our next conquest."
As they left, Valen started gathering the bags, before storing them all in his ring. He wasn't going to risk shadow traveling in this state. He looked down at his hands, his body had already begun losing its opacity.
He shook his head again, he didn't have time to worry about his body right now, he would push through somehow.
Once back at the hotel, Valen stood inside the elevator, as the doors began closing. When a spear jutted into the box, he acted instinctively and summoned his sword, only to put it down once he saw who had interrupted the elevator.
"Oh, it's just you." He said, moving aside to give her space.
Thalia stared at him, specifically at his translucent physique, "How many times did you shadow travel today?"
"Uh, I don't know, five or six times?" He said, he really didn't keep a count.
"How far?"
Valen blinked, "Uh, I went back to camp, then helped out the Demeter cabin, Aphrodite cabin, and both halves of the Hermes cabin, then I shadow traveled here."
"Gods, are you an idiot? You've begun fading! Get some rest!"
Valen smiled, "I can probably function off of some ambrosia and nectar."
Thalia glared at him, "I swear to Artemis, if you don't take a nap before the next battle I'll knock you out for a day."
"If you can that is." Valen pointed out with a smirk, "My powers have doubled since the last time we met."
"I haven't been slacking off either you know? I bet I can beat you, especially in your condition."
"Touché,"
As the elevator doors opened, the two walked out and found Percy talking to Grover. Thalia made no motion to interrupt them and went straight to visit Annabeth, Valen followed, he hadn't seen her since she was injured.
Annabeth lay on a lounge chair, pale but not dangerously so. She seemed to be sleeping. Thalia sighed in relief, "At least she's alright."
"Yeah, Will was fast in treating her," Valen said. "That reminds me, I need to get the pharmaceutics to him."
Leaving them alone, Valen walked out and made a beeline for the son of Apollo.
"Did you get them?" Will asked after noticing him.
Valen nodded, spewing out the bags from his ring, "The others have gone to raid more, don't worry I made sure they'll pay."
Will furrowed his brows in confusion but didn't question it and silently took the supplies. With his job done Valen walked back up to Thalia, who had joined Percy and Grover.
"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," Grover said, his voice trembling. "Almost half my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but . . ."
Thalia shouldered her bow. "Percy, Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel. And Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a huge man in golden armor mustering an army on the Jersey shore. I'm not sure who he is, but he radiates power like only a Titan or god."
"Golden armor? It could be Hyperion." Valen said, "Or Helios."
"Great," Percy said. "Any good news?"
Thalia shrugged. "We've sealed off the subway tunnels into Manhattan. My best trappers took care of it. Also, it seems like the enemy is waiting for tonight to attack. I think Luke"—she caught herself—"I mean Kronos needs time to regenerate after each fight. He's still not comfortable with his new form. It's taking a lot of his power to slow time around the city."
Grover nodded. "Most of his forces are more powerful at night, too. But they'll be back after sundown."
Percy took a moment to process that, "Okay. Any word from the gods?"
Thalia shook her head. "I know Lady Artemis would be here if she could. Athena, too. But Zeus has ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard, Typhon was destroying the Ohio River valley. He should reach the Appalachian Mountains by midday."
"So at best," Percy said, "we've got another two days before he arrives."
"If that happens, we're as good as dead." Valen said.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Percy muttered.
Valen shrugged, "If the gods can't stop him, what hope do we have?"
Percy sighed, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, no use worrying over it now." He turned around to face the demigods eavesdropping on them, "You guys were awesome last night. I couldn't ask for a braver army. Let's set up a rotation for the watches. Rest up while you can. We've got a long night ahead of us."
The demigods mumbled in agreement. They went their separate ways to sleep or eat or repair their weapons.
"Percy, you too," Thalia said. "We'll keep an eye on things. Go lie down. We need you in good shape for tonight."
Percy didn't protest and crashed into the nearest bedroom. Thalia stared at Valen, eyebrow raised, daring him to refuse.
"Relax, I'm going." He said, walking over to a nearby couch, and plopped down, the realm of Morpheus claiming him soon enough.
Nico's screams echoed throughout Hades' palace, and he blacked out once again, the film of reddish-black energy leaving him.
Hades sighed, picking him up from the ground, if he could not handle that much, he would never be able to host a god.
Valen stared silently as Hades set his brother down on a nearby bench. "It is an agonizing process," Hades said, looking right at him, "One I would never wish upon my children."
Hades walked up to Valen, "But Nico is as stubborn as he is resilient. He will not stop until he achieves it."
"Can you not override the higher beings mark and temporarily let me host you?" Valen asked, concerned for the safety of his brother.
Hades shook his head, "Removing the mark of a being of that magnitude is no meager task, and even if I could I would only incur its wrath."
"..." Valen remained silent for a while. "What if," He began, "I contact this higher being? Ask it to lend me its power?"
"Such an act carries much risk, you cannot contact it, not until it decides it wants to be contacted."
As Nico began stirring, Hades walked away, "If Nico adapts fast enough, maybe we will arrive in time, but if he doesn't…"
He did not need to finish the sentence to get the point across.
"We'll try to hold on as long as we can, hopefully, that is long enough."
"Too much hope can cripple a man." Hades advised before Valen's dream shifted, and the location changed.
He was back at Asgard, in an empty throne. Total silence encompassed him, it was eerie seeing such a lively city be so quiet. Nothing moved, no breeze brushed past the trees, even the water was still, as if frozen in time.
A chill went down Valen's spine, and he turned around, coming face to face with the Norns, the three mysterious hooded figures. They spoke as one :
Twice kindred, Twice bound, the harbinger of darkness shall be found.
In the unknown lies the core, in the heart lies the crown.
Then, they stopped, and the world around him disappeared in a vortex of colors, and Valen began falling.
He could not fly, nor could he shadow travel away, yet he was calm, and the world opened up to him. He saw a scythe burning in the hearth, a woman made of dirt awakening once more. He saw a god turned mortal, stripped of his immortality, and he saw a ship made of nails sailing into the cold.
And he saw the abyss, the great beyond, and it stared at him, daring him to come close. Valen raised his hand, inches from touching it, to be one with it. And when he was moments from crossing over, he awoke, the light of reality chasing away the darkness of fantasy.
A/N : You could join my discord - /PvKxWqRXXw