I love this story. Too bad others don't

"Riza, where are you?" I called softly, wandering around the corridors. "Please, I need your guidance. I need you to help me. I need you to tell me what to do."

Riza didn't speak up. In my mind, there was only silence. I was the only presence. Could it be that Riza was gone forever? I had grown used to her companionship, I couldn't bear for her to leave. I felt so empty. So alone.

I never had to feel that. Not until recently. First Persephone, then my mother. Now Riza too? It was impossible. The feeling suffocated me.

I just want life to go back to the way it was. With my mum, Persephone. No deaths. No grief. Just happiness and contentment. But how could I let Pegasus go?

Speaking of which, he licked my hand, interrupting my thoughts. I smiled half-heartedly. At least I'll always have him. I stroked his muzzle. Without the weapon around, his aging had stopped. But he was still very old and in pain. "What am I supposed to do, Pegs?" I asked. "If I join the war, I'll become the weapon Agent B said I was. But if I don't, the Olympians will lose."

Pegasus nudged me. I already knew what he wanted me to do. He'd told us that an ancient power had joined the battle and helped them win. If that was true, it meant I was that ancient power and must join the war.

"Emily, are you all right?" Agent B approached and sat down on a broken pillar beside me.

"Not really," I mumbled without looking up.

He reached for my hand, and I looked up in surprise as he squeezed it gently. "I can't imagine what you're going through right now, so I'm not going to tell you what to do. Ultimately, the decision is yours. But know this. If you decide to join the fight, Joel and I will be right beside you. This isn't what any of us wanted, but in all honesty, fighting beside the Olympians may be the only way for us to go home."

"So I become the ultimate weapon after all," I said miserably.

Agent B shook his head. "I am so sorry I called you that. It was wrong of me. That night in the museum seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?"

I nodded.

He caught my chin and moved my face toward him. "Listen to me, Emily. You are not a weapon. I know that. So do you. And if you decide to join the battle, it will be as a skilled soldier, just like the rest of us, and not a weapon."

"And if I don't join the war?"

"Then we'll take whatever comes. We could go back to Xanadu and live out the rest of our lives there."

"With no more Olympus and no Earth?"

The CRU agent shrugged. "It's a tough choice, but it's your choice. None of us will tell you what to do."

I looked at the agent. "Why are you being so nice?"

He shrugged again. "I guess I'm finally seeing life through your eyes, well away from the CRU."

"What do you see?"

Agent B stood. "Someone who will make the right decision."

As he left, I was alone with Pegasus. "Oh, Pegs." I whisper. "I wish I could understand you. Then I would ask you what I should do. I need guidance. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Either way, people will die."

Pegasus licked my hand again. I nodded. As I stare at the fading sunset, I sighed. "Let's go tell Jupiter my decision."

War was ugly.

There were no other words to describe it, try as I might. No matter how many books I read, or how many documentaries I watch, it was still worse than I could ever imagine. Days and nights blended together in a kind of frenzied exhaustion that no amount of rest could relieve.

I, Pegasus, Joel, and Agent B were kept together and served with Chiron. Paelen, Brue, and Stella were sent to work with Vulcan in his forge, making weapons. It suited them I think.

I spent all day with the best Olympian warriors, fighting against the Shadow Titans. I was never sure if it was a blessing I never met the three commanders, as the Olympians call Prodosia, Góissa and Ekdikó. I suppose it was, but listening to the growing reports of what they have done brought out a sense of dread I had forgotten. The same dread when I realised I was the daughter of Vesta, and had to sacrifice myself to save the Olympians.

I learnt everything I could about the Shadow Titans, trying to distract myself from that feeling. I used my powers and captured two Turtle Shadows and a Minotaur Shadow. It seems to me there was a pattern to how the commanders functioned, but we never figured it out. Not yet anyways.

When we brought the prisoners to Olympus, well, it turns out they don't make very good prisoners. They literally tore themselves apart, breaking out of their bonds. The Olympians learned nothing from the experience other than that the Shadow Titans were mindless creations designed solely to kill.

The days blended together. It went by in a blur, and I felt myself drift. I guess my luck was quite alright after all though. When we first arrived on Olympus, I had found an empty notebook in some building rubble. It was a beautifully bound book with a fine, engraved gold cover and clean white parchment pages. There was a name engraved on it, but I didn't recognise it. No one else did. The owner was probably long dead. I had never kept a journal before, but with the war raging all around me, I wanted to start one. It kept me grounded, helping me keep track of everything.

Each day, I recorded down everything. My feelings, thoughts, and information. I kept track of those who died trying to protect Olympus, the fighters I was introduced to who had died before I could reach them and heal them, or who had been captured by the Titans. My heart broke the day I had to write down Vesta's and Juno's names. Though they weren't necessarily dead, they joined the long list of the missing.

I wrote down every village the commanders corrupted, wrote down everything.

Once, I almost wrote down a promise to kill them, only to erase it. It was when Vesta was gone. Ceres, who had been with her, had cried as she told us she saw Prodosia take her. I wrote down every detail, wanting to pay Prodosia back tenfold. Apparently, they had left to try and gather information on her. She was spreading havoc everywhere, commanding the Shadow Titans to destroy everything. Just as they were about to leave, Prodosia had calmly told them to stay, like she always knew they were there. She started talking in a language none of them knew, and they were suddenly attacked by ferocious winds. Vesta told Ceres to go, and sent her away with her power, leaving Vesta to bear the brute of Prodosia. I want Prodosia to pay, to make them all pay. For every human life they took, and every Olympian they killed.

Juno was captured in a similar way, captured by Ekdikó. He didn't use any showy tricks, just used enough force to knock her out. Or that's what the giants said.

After another long day of fighting and watching people get hurt and die, we went back to our shelter to rest and recover. Pegasus lied down behind me, devouring a large supply of ambrosia cakes mixed with chocolate ice cream. At my feet, Mike was contentedly eating the meal that I had prepared for him. I idly patted him as I scribbled down what happened today. Let's see… Jupiter is making plans with his spies to try and locate Juno and Vesta. Saturn deployed the Shadow Titans to attack north of Olympus, with Ekdikó. I saw him, and I'm pretty sure he saw me. He was the only one I saw, dark and shadowy, even in bright daylight. If he was that powerful with only his fighting skills… I didn't really want to see him with powers, if he did have any. I wrote down how Paelen shared with me they were making great progress, but I had to leave before he could tell me anymore.

When I finished, I shuffled through the pages. There were no dates that I could record, as Olympians did not keep track of time, but I had named each day in numerical order, starting with our arrival to the present.

"We've been here one hundred and fifteen days," I announced.

"Wow," Joel said. "No wonder I'm tired. After all that time, it feels like we're no further ahead."

"I know," I agreed, "but Chiron says we're making advances. The Shadow Titans are being driven out of Olympus."

Joel nodded. "I had hoped we could have attacked Titus before now. If we could capture Saturn, we could end this before the weapon is created."

"They've tried. But Jupiter says Saturn's gone into hiding. They can't find him." Agent B said, resting his head on his hands. He had just arrived, looking as tired as I felt. His CRU clothes were gone. He now dressed as an Olympian and had become stronger and more muscular due to all the training and fighting.

Our feelings toward the CRU agent had changed. Agent B had proven himself time and time again with the Olympians. He kept up morale with a supply of ridiculous jokes, lifting our spirits at the end of a gruelling day's battling. Neither I nor Joel had ever expected the CRU agent to have a sense of humour. He… reminded me of Persephone.

His sensitive side also emerged; each night, after Joel had gone to bed, he would stay up with me while Pegasus and I walked through the camp, healing all the wounded. He said little, but would always offer his quiet support.

Some rare nights, he and I would talk, and he would share with me stories of Persephone's rebellious side.

"Persephone was probably infamous with the authorities." He chuckled the first night we talked. "Always known for getting into trouble. My colleagues would talk about her. I never met her until that day, I told you about that, but they knew her plenty enough. They spoke of her sharp tongue, and her intense beauty, and how she didn't care about them. She wasn't impressed when they boasted about their feats. I liked her, not that I cared to admit that."

"Did you know of her relationship with me?"

"I can't say we weren't aware. But we were wary of her. Her file is classified by the authorities, and I don't really know why. She has done feats that we cannot fathom. Some wonder if she- ah, a story for another day."

As he sat down wearily at our table, I pulled out my food pouch. "What would you like to eat?"

The agent shook his head. "Nothing, thanks. I'm too tired."

"You've got to eat," Joel said. "You're the one always bugging me to do it."

Agent B hid his head down in his hands. "It's called, 'Do as I say and not as I do,' Joel," he muttered. "I'm older than you; I can boss you around."

"And I can force you to eat, remember?" I teased. "Now, what would you like?"

Agent B lifted his head and leaned in to me. "Are you threatening me, young lady?"

I looked down at Mike. "Do you think I'm threatening him?"

The dog barked and wagged his tail.

I grinned at the CRU agent. "He says I am. So you'd better eat."

Agent B finally surrendered and asked for a plate of ambrosia cakes and a cup of strong black coffee. After all our time there he had come to enjoy Olympian food, but he still hated nectar.

"We'll be moving out again tonight," he told us. "There are reports of a huge wave of Shadow Titans and dragons arriving on Olympus. They're heading this way."

It had soon become apparent that I was the magnet that was drawing the most dangerous Titan warriors to us.

I was the bait.

"Will any of the Commanders be there?" Joel asked wearily. We hated them, but we also dreaded it. I dreaded it. Who wanted to kill? I couldn't understand how they were so at ease with killing, knowing the person they just killed was gone from the world, no take backs. Persephone once told me something. "That person who died, well, I can't say she will go to a better place. It all depends whether or not she's done good in her life. However… I can say that death is always a part of life. I can't give you any reassurances, cutie pie, because there are none to give. Death is death. There's a reason why people call Death unfair. All that's left to do is to move on from it. If we can, we try not to. It only leads to bitterness and anger." She had sounded so distant when she said it, and I had been distracted by the nickname to ask. Now it all comes back to me. She had sounded like she was reciting something. Like it was something she knew by heart.

It wasn't a nice feeling to know how in depth Persephone talked about Death.

"No," Agent B said to Joel. "Neptune has sighted Prodosia, and Pluto is busy with Góissa. They reported that they seemed happy, for some reason. Ekdikó is a possibility, but even he would need to recover. Jupiter doesn't think so. Besides, there would be others to take care of things for him."

I sighed, hating how Agent B phrased that.

It was true though. Saturn focused all of his most powerful warriors on me, hoping to capture me. We used that to even up the playing field. Jupiter and his fighters could command battles in other parts of Olympus. Pluto and Neptune with their fighters were separately engaging the Titans on Earth, while Minerva and her team of Harpies concentrated on getting spies to Titus to learn if they were starting to develop the weapon.

"Have you heard anything from Paelen?" Joel asked Agent B. "Is he okay?"

"He had mentioned something about a weapon?" I said.

Agent B nodded. "We had a message this afternoon. They are all safe, but on the move. Right now Stella is working closely with Vulcan on a flame-sword based on Emily's powers. All her idea. They are hoping to have a prototype ready soon. If it works, all our warriors will have a much better chance against the Shadow Titans."

"Oh thank Gods." Despite seeing Paelen just today, I hated being away from them. However, it was required. With Paelen's age and Stella's disability, they were safer and more useful away from the main fighting. The arrangement worked perfectly, as Stella had come up with several successful weapon designs that were already in use.

Pegasus was also old, but I couldn't bear to be away. Not ever. I knelt down next to him, patting his neck and stroking his face. "You okay, Pegs?" I asked.

Pegasus nickered but swivelled away, refusing to look at me.

"Pegs?" I said in concern. "What's the matter?"

"Em, what's wrong?" Joel joined me by the stallion.

"I don't know."

I grasped the stallion's muzzle and physically turned his head. When we looked into his eyes, we both gasped.

Agent B knelt down. "What is it?"

"Look at his eyes," I cried hysterically. "They're solid white!"

"Pegasus, can you see?" Joel asked.

The stallion snorted and tried to turn away.

Agent B called a satyr away from his meal. "Talk to Pegasus; ask him what's wrong."

Like all the fighters on the battlefield, the satyr now spoke English. Jupiter had insisted it become the Olympian language of war. It was new, and none of the Titans could understand it.

"Tell us, Pegasus, what is wrong?" the satyr asked calmly.

Pegasus neighed softly. He tilted his head to me and invited a stroke.

"Well?" I demanded. "What did he say?"

The satyr dropped his head. "He says the war is nearly over."

"How does he know?" Agent B asked.

"Because Saturn has started to develop the weapon. Pegasus is ageing again."

"Pegasus, no!" Now I understand. Pegasus was blind.

How could I not have noticed? He had been moving more slowly. I had had to stay close at his side to protect him from the attacking Shadow Titans.

Agent B rose. He caught the satyr's arm. "Find Jupiter and his brothers. Tell them what has happened. Tell him we're out of time. We've got to make our move against Saturn now!"

Time was running out. Joel barely managed to catch me as I collapsed on the ground, crying my heart out.

A/n: for the next few chapters what not, I will be focusing on Percy. If you have read the book, you'll know I mostly copy pasted the thing with changes here and there, adding more of Emily's thoughts and emotions. I will be going in depth of what has happened in those hundred and fifteen days in Percy's, Hazel's and Frank's perspective. If you haven't guessed it, yes, most of the book will be focusing on them. I love them.

Oh, and expect Percy to realise her 'dear, innocent, cute' friend is on her enemy's side. My, the pain will be hard to write.