It was mystifying to stay within the walls of the palace instead of the grove and yet here they were.

The soft whispers of the ghosts that roamed the halls were like soft hisses to the ear, a purring sound that drew attention to the spirits as they beckoned all to the realm of Háidēs. The scratching of the skeleton warriors that walked across the earth was unnerving. They moved in a clockwork that switched intervals because Travis was the one to point out that a set schedule would be easy to take advantage of.

The war between Sparta and Athens was still commencing. And with their interference, the war was spilling over to them also. Luke had noticed their armies setting up blockades at their borders and the shores of Kyprus. Rachel and Will and Chris had taken note of how the soldiers within were becoming more threatening.

Ariadnê had raged, unwilling to give up her comfort, but she was also recovering from two deadly poisonings from Prince Huákinthos. It was only natural for them to be in the palace where their enemies could see them-see the power that they wield. Will had been working overtime getting her healed. Still-she went right back into the battlefield and unleashed whirlpool after whirlpool leveling the grounds around them. And with Katie to turn that same flattened earth against the enemies that remained. She and Thalia had sat atop deadly storms all while laughing whenever someone got to close. Thalia had taken to showcasing her archery skills as she ran across the waves striking down enemies.

Nevertheless, Percy practically forbade his sister from fighting again, instead charging her with a speedy recovery and focusing on the kingdom's safety. It would have been hilarious to see the girl pouting at her brother if it were not for the silence that issued whenever Luke reported on the border while she tried to pretend that he did not exist.

Even Katie, whose patience was a testament to her love, had reached the point of wanting to tie the two together just to work out their issues. But Travis knew that, unlike Thalia and Annabeth, Luke's oldest friends, Ariadnê had never and quite possibly would never forgive Luke for the deaths that happened under his call to war. Something had cracked inside of her at Lee's death, broken with Beckendorf, and shattered at the death of Silena.

No, the only way to fix that would be going back in time... in the years before the war to when Luke was a child and setting him on a straight path to redemption.

Travis turned to look out his window at the giant flowers that created blockades around the kingdom. They were as tall as the mountains and as big as Typhon. Katie was reclining on the largest one as if it were a throne for her turn of "border control".

They hadn't really needed it in the first place. But Thalia insisted so she created a gate of lighting and when Nico took part... he crafted the shadows to wrap around the lightning and the fearsome image of the element hidden within the eyes of the undead was enough to unnerve even the bravest of warriors.

There was the moment that Clarisse, herself, stood tall before them and those of Sparta that recognized that power of Árēs that ran through her veins- they bowed to her in reverence and some even pledged their loyalty to Castellan instead.

The daughter of Dēmḗtēr had showcased the real reason as to why Ariadnê was wary around her and her siblings. She had called all that underestimated them fools more than once. Katie proved that as she grew flowers taller than beanstalks that dripped poison down its petals like a rabid dog.

They were deadlier than the poison Huákinthos used to attack Ariadnê. A terrifying combination from the herbs that Will and Clarisse instructed her to make only to find out that Cabin Four had been making their own. "For pesticides," she had said. "And silly little godlings that didn't know how to leave poor little nymphs alone."

He was so in love with her.

Travis had always seen her. She had been the one person other than Connor, Luke, Percy, and Ariadnê that could catch him in the midst of thievery.


"Everyone knows the story of how Lord Hades stole away my sister," Katie stated as the locks of her hair swayed like vines. Two of her siblings had him wrapped in petals and roots. "One of the first lessons I learned as a child of Demeter is to not let it happen again." He had smirked at her, a burning interest in his veins, "Lord Apollo named my dad the 'Prince of Robbers'. And like him, I'm one that cannot be captured." He proved it as he tapped the vines with a finger and they fell from around him. "Katie Gardener? Hm. I'm Travis Stoll and you just entered a new game by the son of Hermes."


She had one of the few people to actually catch him. The bindings she placed actually held him. It was hard to catch let alone steal the heart of a thief but she did. He searched high and low for any answer to it because she completed him in a way he hadn't thought of before.

(That's what made it hurt all the more when she accused him of spying for Luke. As if he was not in between the realms of the conscious mind fighting his older brother away from their siblings. As if he was not growing weak himself because Luke was backed by Morpheus, and who was he to fight against the leader of the dark-winged spirits of dreams. He had been lucky to have children of Hypnos to help push him back.)

She complimented him in every way. The darkness that lingered in his heart from the cruel tricks that he wanted to play on all unsuspecting victims... she was there to ease the pain it brought. He did not have his Father's chthonic gifts, but he could always see the spirits in his peripheral vision- she would sit at his side and tell him she saw the same.

He loved her truly and he hated that it took a war and coming back to a time where females were not to be respected for him to truly acknowledge those feelings. The culture of this time wanted him to take her and he wondered how they felt to know that it was she who stole him away.

Travis cast his gaze back onto her, watching as her smile turned sinister as she raised her hands to the heavens. Little beings made of wheat swirled through the air. It was different from the helpers that work alongside the Fourth Cabin.

These were darker and more bloodthirsty. Every person that they attacked, the little monsters would drain them of their blood and gain height. (He wondered if one of them would be like the little beast that fought with them at the Labyrinth that had enemy demigods dying of starvation from their little bites.)

For all his bravery and natural slyness, Travis was kind of scared to see what cabin four had notated in their power roster. And maybe it was just him, but Travis had never felt safer than having the daughter of the harvest watching over them.

In that stuffy and drafty castle, Travis shifted around in his bed before letting himself fall asleep.


Ariadnê's instincts had never lied to her.

That faithful winter solstice all those years ago... she had woken up with the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. She hadn't known it then because she hadn't known who she truly was.

The day Percy had gotten attacked at that dreadful museum... she had cried the entire day fearing something had scarred her brother.

The day that they were attacked on vacation to the beach... she knew their lives were going to change.

She was naturally more suspicious than her brother. He said she saw threats were there none. Now she knew that she had the blood of the hellenes of the ancients. Women had to be naturally suspicious to look out for their wellbeing.

She knew something was wrong with Luke (but she liked him anyway).

It was those instincts that woke her that morn.

They awakened her early before Aithêr, Hêmera, Hêlios took to the sky. But her instincts demanded her attention and screamed for her to acknowledge them. She stood slowly, refusing to acknowledge how that damned prince managed to bring her to her knees. She was not weak! She bypassed the walker that Beckendorf crafted for her at Will's behest no matter how good of an alternate weapon it may be. She held onto the wall for support, stumbling along the way with a stubborn heart until she felt a cold yet solid grip take hold of her wrist.

Her gaze connected with the pale shine of Luke's eyes. She ripped her arm away as if she had been burnt as a wrath that matched even the Protogenoi in power threatened to swallow her whole. She tore her gaze away from him, seeing Lee's forever unseeing face in his eyes as she attempted to continue down the hall.

"Aria, please," he begged her. She did not want to hear anything he had to say. He said everything when he forsaken the love Hermês had for him above all others. He claims that his father did not truly love him, but Hermês continuously risked her and Percy's life to just talk to him. The two who were believed to be the children of the prophecy and with their deaths came destruction... he risked the fate of the world for the son that turned his back on him.

Why could he not see that until he was dying?

"Just hear me out," the spirit pleaded.

The scoff that escaped her was quiet but in the silence of the halls around her then it might as well have been a scream. "You said everything that you had to say when you tried to me... tried to kill my brother on multiple occasions."

She did not need to look at him to know that he flinched from the iciness in her voice. "I know and I am so sorry about that. But Aria-"

"Nothing you say will bring back any of the dead. It will not change that we could have filled two graveyards with the amount of people that were murdered by your decisions."

"That's not fair, Ariadnê. Our parents-"

"Are shitty parents. Yeah, what else is new? It still doesn't change anything. My mortal mother was equally as bad." She turned to look at him, feeling older than what she looked and older than what she was. "Our parents are gods. Look around you, Luke. This is Ellada at the full height of their glory. The culture is different this time. The gods are stagnant and stubborn and you cannot expect them to bend themselves to mortal rationality. We weren't even supposed to be born! The age of the half-divine ended with the birth of Aineías. How can we expect them to be parents when we were nothing more than mistakes!"

She pressed her hands to her face, frustration clawing at her as her senses demanded she leave him be. "I wish all of us, including me, stopped trying to reduce these otherworldly beings to fit our primitive mortal mindsets. You chose the right choice in the end. You didn't choose Kronos, but that doesn't change the fact a lot of people had to die before you came to that realization. And even then, you still would've continued if Chase hadn't gotten hurt. She gets hurt and suddenly, your big brother of the fucking year. Where were you when Chris was literally insane? Where were you when Trav and Con needed you? When I needed you? The camp treated you like a big brother and I get that you didn't want the responsibility because I sure as hell didn't... want to know what I did that you didn't? I trusted my friends and I accepted their help."

Luke growled, tears brimming in his eyes, but all Ariadnê could see was the boy possessed by the King of the Titans. "They let Thalia die. Transformed her into a tree as it was gonna make it any better. They made her a martyr when her only crime was being born in the midst of their tug of war."

Her hand twitched, the moisture in the air curled around her hand like a viper. She was not weak and never without protection. Hermês taught her that.

She stood before drawing that confidence into herself. Hermês had always told her that she was stronger than she thought. Strange that she was using those same words against his son. "You tried to kill my brother. My first friend. The other half to my soul. It was you who taught me how to wield a sword. You who introduced me to Clarisse and Silena. One who helped build my mind into a warrior and the other that taught me how to use my gifts as weapons. It was you who took Silena from me. It was you who tried to take Percy from me. It was you who turned me into a weapon."

Ariadnê looked him in the eyes, "Tell me what do you think I would have done if I were to lose my brother, hm?" He was quiet as he stared at her. "I'll tell you. I would have flooded the earth. I would have ripped the trees from the ground and flatten the mountains. Buildings and temples alike would have shook from my wrath. I would have forced a chasm into the underworld and let the dead walk the earth once again. I would have gone deeper into the pit and brought forth every monster available. I would have filled the world with pain and misery and emptiness and none of it would equal how I would have felt to lose Percy."

(Athênê had once told Percy that he would sacrifice the world to save a friend. Ariadnê would rip it to shreds to save her brother.)

She stepped closer to him, "And you would have been the first to taste my wrath and I would have kept you alive just long enough that you would also be the last. You think he would have brought about a new era. I'm telling you that I would have never let anything else form."

The boy shook in fear, hearing the absolute resolve in her words. Her voice dropped into a whisper as she stepped closer, "Percy is the only reason that you lived to see that battle because not even my love for your Father could wipe away the rage I feel whenever I see your face. Death was too good for you."

"I-"

She sneered as she turned away, "I swear if the next words out of your mouth is about how Mercury was a shitty dad then I'm sending you back to the Netherworld."

"He left me with that woman! She was insane. Always yelling about my fate."

"It's a thing called a self-fulling prophecy. Your mother was cleared sighted. She saw too much. The veil that covered mortal eyes didn't work on her. She thought this meant that she was able to become the oracle. She thought it was her fate."

Her laugh was cold and bitter. "She didn't know that the Oracle had been cursed. She didn't know that the spirit of Delphi could not move into her. The Great Prophecy had to happen and trying to avoid it... trying to avoid Fate and Necessity only made it harsher and cruel. The spirit of Delphi left a piece of itself within her and she saw the path you would take. The prophecy needed people to complete it and you were merely the first person it claimed. That Fate she was yelling about and terrifying you with was one of the pieces that was needed to ensure that you would complete it. Your father is bound by the same laws to ensure the will of fate so how could he help you?"

"You make excuses for him because you were fucking him!"

The ground quake eerily beneath her feet.

"I was left with an emotionally absent mother. I was left with an alcoholic, abusive, and pedophilic stepfather. I was left with a twin brother that was oblivious to nearly half the things that happened around him. I was left at a school that forced a religion that my very blood rejected. I love Percy more than I love anyone and that includes Apóllōn. But I am so tired of being the moon to his sun. I am so sick of being in his shadow. I thought I found a place where I could flourish on my own and because you did not know how to deal with your mommy and daddy issues... I was thrown right back into his shadow. And the only person that saw me as myself was your father. I'm not making excuses because I know what his dick feels like. I'm stating my opinion because I know he loved you more than you could ever fathom."

They scowled at each other, even as the ground cracked around her feet from the power she restrained within herself. It was as if they were once more enemies on the battlefield.

Her voice dropped into a whisper, infused with the wrath of the sea: "You seem to believe that your family ended Chase and Thalia, but I know Lee would have sold his soul to Satan if it meant you never betrayed us. I know Connor and Travis cried every night after the truth came out. I know Chris came to me after you sent him through the labyrinth begging for my forgiveness when I was knee-deep in grief from finding Lee's body. I told you as you were dying at my feet that you had always been my hero. I think I was speaking more about the guy that existed in the stories Lee would tell me. The one who would have and had broken his own leg to make sure that no campers got hurt. That was the Luke I had a crush on. I don't know who the hell you are."

She left him lingering there as she continued her way down to the mess hall or the throne room whichever she came across first. She knew she needed to go the throne room, but she was starving. And she was still feeling a little feverish so she may need to go to the medical wing also. She didn't flinch this time when Beckendorf appeared at her side with a motorized wheelchair. It kind of made her miss Chiron also even if she had never been too overly fond of the immortal teacher either.

"We have a guest," her friend muttered as he led her away from the throne room and back towards her quarters. "Silena is entertaining them while she ordered everyone else to change into proper attire. I'm pretty sure her words to Nico was that he either wore his kingly attire or she was going to sew it in his skin with barbed wire."

Ariadnê laughed lightly and lightly strained, "I knew there was a reason I loved that girl."

They passed the area where Ariadne and Luke were having their argument. The other spirit was gone, but her mood dropped a little just from thinking about it. "I overheard you guys argument. I want to say thanks for sticking up for the rest of us."

"I'm hearing a but."

The spirit huffed a little laugh, "But I do think the two of you need to sit down and actually talk to one another. Not talk over each other or talk at each other. Talk and listen to what you both have to say."

"Becks, I've said all I needed to say to him." She stood slowly, walking to the closet so that she could grab the jumpsuit dress that Silena made for her. It had pockets so that she could hide weapons, was form fitting under the excess fabric so it did not restrict her movement while attending to the delicate sensibilities of the people.

"Well what about Connor?"

"What about him?" She dressed slowly, not even shivering when she felt him move to zip her up. She pulled her hair into one bun atop her head with two strands to frame her face.

"Are you going to finally talk to him about the crush he's had on you for literal years?"

Ariadnê whirled around, dropping her shoes to the ground. "WHAT?! There is no way Connor has had a crush on me for years and I didn't notice. He always liked Chase."

Beckendorf snickered as he looked at her. He faded from the room but his last words echoed around her. "Seems like Percy wasn't the only oblivious fool."

No way. It just wasn't possible. Connor liked Annabeth. It didn't make sense.

Ariadnê shook her head, preferably to never think of it again though she knew it was going to haunt her thoughts.

Damn Beckendorf. He always did this. Just dropped bombshells onto the group and watched everyone flounder. Yet people thought that Silena was the mastermind behind everything. Please, she only stoked the flames of the chaos he had already wrought.

She folded over, gasping when she felt battle-lust and courage crash into her like the water against sand. It was so familiar and yet so different. Wilder and not yet tempered by age.

Árēs.

She hurried to fix her clothing before sliding into the wheelchair and raced off to the throne room. She made it just as the others appeared. Thalia and Katie helped her stand to her feet. She would not meet him in a show of weakness. The spirits that stood guard at the doors announced their presences.

A nude, beardless youth sat upon Nico's throne. At his side was a helm and spear. The shining from his eyes was like fire as he lounged on the throne like a serpent waiting to strike. His power burned their lungs like a raging fire. Ariadnê could see how the others struggled to hold back their base reactions to it. They fell to their knees as rage crawled through their veins. She, her brother, and Clarisse each knelt on one knee as they fought against it.

Ariadnê closed her eyes and breathed deeply, accepting the power within herself. She knew she relished in her bloodlust. She knew she encouraged riots and rebellion within the camp just as she encouraged them to make peace and bring order back between them. She was violent and filled with hatred and rage.

It was he whose name that she invoked to control her violent impulses. It was he that gave her courage and the opposite qualities-fear, terror and cowardice.

The power within her balanced out, and she blinked slowly as she opened her eyes slowly.

Árēs watched them all amused. His gaze stayed firmly on his daughter, but he flickered his eyes over the others.

She had been so enthralled by the power he wields that she didn't notice the people that lingered alongside the walls of the throne room. Women, men, and children alike of all ages. It was clearly those that prayed to the god for protection as the war continued on.

The god smiled slightly and she could feel his power recede from around them. "I must say," he started. His voice held a rasp to it, one that would make even the strongest of women fall victim to his charm. "I was pleasantly surprised to know that there were such powerful children... powerful warriors being hidden away from the eyes of the Olympioi. One being my own daughter."

The smirk that danced alongside his face was cruel yet playful. It brought conflicting feelings within her as she knew how he treated Clarisse, but this-this was the god she knew dearly. The son of the King and Queen. The "legitimate" heir of Olympos.

It was he who presided over battlefields and armies. He was also in a sense the god of peace, in that if placated, he would keep away war. He was civil order and rebellion, violence and rage, courage and fear.

It was he that she tried to embody when she stepped foot onto the battlefield.

This was the god that Aphrodítē loved. She could never forgive the god for his actions against her brother and best friend, but this one had done nothing wrong.

"I am very curious though," his eyes firmly on Clarisse. "I do not recall giving any mortal my seed and I know neither Aphrodítē nor Érōs nor Himeros have cast their power over me. Yet here you stand before me and it is only because of the Moirai's decree that I demand no answers."

Ariadnê stepped forward, knowing that the others were unnerved by him. She lowered herself further into a bow of the Aigaiôn Sea, feeling his interest peak alongside those of another.

The other Olympioi must be studying them.

"Blessed we be, mi'lord, to be graced with your presence. I am Ariadnê of Castellan. The appointed high councillor of King Nicholas who stands guard at his throne within his retinue."

"Such pretty words, little demigod," he commented, eyeing her. "My siblings would love you dearly, but those positions are not who you really are." His presence was relaxed as he gazed at her. "Tell me. Who are you, truly? And do be honest, my sister, Alêtheia, and my brother, the one you dare to call your beloved, are the gods of truth."

Ariadnê rose slowly, feeling her brother come to her side to aid. She looked him boldly in the eyes, "I am Ariadnê. Sister to Perseús. I am Ariadnê. Devotee of Apóllōn and Hermês. I am Ariadnê. Slayer to numerous monsters. I am Ariadnê. Daughter of Poseidón. I am Ariadnê. The most holy of the sea."

The weight of the world fell onto her shoulders and it was such a familiar feeling. Percy stood at her side, grasping her hand and she knew that she could share this burden with him as he did with her once before.

But she wouldn't.

Árēs looked at her for another moment before turning to look back at his daughter. "I have refugees from both Sparta and Athens. They have been driven from their homes in wake of the war's disturbance to civility. The gods have guided them to your kingdom in which Zagreus claims to be fascinating and hospitable. Do take good care of them. They are divine gifts from the gods."

Clarisse bowed before him, "It would be our own blessing, Father and we shall do so with great pleasure."

Árēs looked her over. She was different from his other daughters. He could see it so clearly just in the way she held herself. She was strong and could take care of herself, but there was also this weakness in her. A chip in her armor made her vulnerable. She had a good team surrounding her, but it was clear to Árēs that she would need more protection. After all, he let nothing, and no one hurt his kids.

He smiled gently at her and the others nearly reeled back at the weirdness of it all, "I know that you will, my daughter. With that being said, we shall spar sometime. Let me know when you are ready. You also, daughters of the sea, sky, and harvest. I have never had the pleasure of fighting female half-divine children of the kronides. A fight against you, Ariadnê, would be highly entertaining seeing as you are the first half divine daughter of Poseidón. See you soon."

With those last words, the god disappeared in a harsh flame and Ariadnê could've wept. Her body ached with pain as she turned towards the others.

Percy wrapped an arm around her, holding her up as he looked at their friends and their new citizens, "Well. That went well."


Word Count: 4,729

Words to Know:

Gods to Know:

Alêtheia - the daimona of truth and sincerity, daughter of Ζεύς, no mother named.

Comments from the Author:

In regards to Árēs being the "heir" of Olympos, technically speaking, that's not even true. According to Hesiod, Hḗrē was Ζεύς' seventh and final wife. The oldest of the Homeric hymns were probably written in the seventh century BC, somewhat later than Hesiod and the usually accepted date for the writing down of the Homeric epics so again, really when it comes to the marriage, I would go with Hesiod. Which puts Horae, Moirai, Kharites, Persephónē, Mousai, Muses, and Apóllōn before him as inheritors (but really, just Apóllōn since in Ancient Greece the son, son-in-law, grandson, sometimes nephew or brother was the one to inherit.)