Run down, ancient, the most obviously evil lair a bunch of immortals could use? Those were Zoe's thoughts as she looked through her binoculars, courtesy of Bernard, at the massive structure in the distance. The steel slanted roof and metal walls reminded her of depictions of early twentieth century manufacturing plants, when they would just slap steel on everything and call it a day. Aesthetics aside, Zoe had to give them credit for building to last. The many acres of space around the structure was cluttered with empty rail carts, trailers, and large trucks. Zoe was pretty sure she saw a rotting boat blanketed in vines. A large chain link fence surrounded the property, topped with barbed wire. There were also guards. Several waiting by the gate, but even more patrolling the perimeter of the land.
She lowered the binoculars and handed them to Liam, who immediately looked through them. "Well, this looks as picturesque of an evil lair as I've ever heard of," Zoe jested. "Even has the barbed wire fence and random mortals on patrol."
"Those aren't mortal guards," Karina deadpanned. "They're monsters. The Mist is so heavy here it's hiding their forms from us. Even I can't tell what they are."
Reyna hummed in thought. "Anything you can do about that?"
"Easily," Karina smirked. "Probably don't want to until we get close though. Element of surprise and all that."
"So what's the plan?" Reyna questioned, eyes alight in interest.
"March the Guard up the front gate?" Liam offered the group, handing the binoculars back to Bernard. "Take out all the monsters, go inside and free Percy."
Karina raised an eyebrow. "Straight forward as always. What happens when the titans show up?"
"We...can burn that bridge when we come to it," Liam waved the daughter of Trivia off.
Karina huffed before she laid into him, with hands waving dramatically. Reyna watched as the two kids began their back and forth banter in amusement. She looked to her ward, who's eyes remained transfixed on the structure. Reyna stepped up to be level with Zoe, even though the girl was still several inches shorter. "Thinking about your dad?" she asked quietly. The girl nodded, her gaze unmoving. "What do you think we should do?"
"Liam's plan is a good one," Zoe answered simply.
Karina paused mid insult, something about having a dorky eagle brain, before turning from Liam. "Oh come on, don't undermine me," Karina complained as Liam stuck his tongue out in triumph. Karina huffed again. "Again, I ask what do we do if we encounter Pallas or Perses?"
"Are you doubting the skills of the Praetorian Guard?" asked Bernard, his face devoid of emotion. "I'm sure you'll remember that we have been trained by Lord Perseus himself to defend the Consul." Karina's eyes turned wide and she shook her head vigorously.
"Gods please don't refer to Dad as 'lord' again," Zoe interjected. She turned around to look at her friend. "I doubt they will come out to deal with them. Most likely they will be waiting inside for us."
"How do you figure?" Liam asked with a frown. His excitement from the support hampered by the prospect of fighting the titan again.
"When I was interacting with Dad's domains, another was connected to the domain I latched to. I think the domain was destruction, which would mean the other was most likely Perses, the Titan of Destruction. There is no way they don't know we are coming,"' she told her friends. "As soon as the Guard shows up, they will know what we are doing."
"So why is his plan a good one?" Karina asked with a frown of her own. "It sounds counter intuitive to walk into a trap."
"We don't really have a choice," Zoe explained to her. "We are running out of time. Every moment we stall is a moment where Dad is closer to damnation. We can deal with the monsters and then make our way inside to fight whoever is standing guard."
"Then it's time we make ourselves known," Reyna agreed. She turned to the centurion. "Ready the Guard, we are marching straight at them." Bernard saluted her before leaving to gather the legionaries. Reyna then turned to Karina. "When we get within a hundred feet of the gate, do something about the Mist around the area. We need to know exactly what we are dealing with before we encounter the guards." Karina nodded. "And Liam," the boy stood tall before her. "You'll take out the gate, think you can handle it?"
"Yes Ma'am," he answered quickly.
"Good," Reyna said, her eyes scanning each of the kids. "When we encounter the titans, I will deal with Pallas. You three will have to handle Perses. Unlike his brother, Perses has very little actual skill with a blade. He relies heavily on his speed and strength to pummel his enemies into the dirt. My advice? Use your training and work together. You will not be able to match him in sheer strength. You keep yourselves light on your feet and pick your shots very carefully. Understood?" The trio nodded weapons materializing in their hands. The Consul smiled at the three young demigods. "I'm proud of you all. No matter what happens today, you have made your parents, both mortal and immortal, proud," she declared with pride in her eyes. Zoe and her friends smiled broadly at Reyna. Confidence soared for the coming battle.
There were two phrases that came to Zoe's mind. Keep it simple stupid and no plan survives contact with the enemy. The reality of the latter phrase seemed to justify the former in her opinion. Why make an overly complicated plan when it wouldn't work out anyways? Better to make simple objectives to follow when everything went wrong, which they inevitably did. The Praetorian Guard managed to clear out all of the guarding monsters, cyclopes and dracaena mostly. As they approached the structure, they were ambushed by even more monsters. Cyclopes, dracaena, and hellhounds, all burst forth from hidden alcoves in the ground. Unlike their fallen comrades, these monsters bore armor and finer weapons. The monsters surrounded the group and while the legionaries were holding their own, there were to many to make any real headway.
Zoe cut down a hellhound, the beast releasing a final howl at is dissolved into dust. "Zoe, Liam, Karina," Reyna's voice rang clear through the fighting. "On me!" Zoe turned around. The Consul pulled her sword from the chest of a cyclops. Zoe ducked under the swing of an axe. She thrusted her sword backwards. A satisfying thud reached her ears as her celestial bronze sword cut through armor. Zoe weaved her way through the fighting monsters and legionaries. She struck down foes who got into her way and helped any fellow demigod she passed. She arrived at Reyna's side and drove her blade into the dracaena the older woman was dueling. Liam flew in from above, Karina clutched in his arms. "Bernard can deal with this," Reyna shouted over the fighting. "We have to push forward. We need to get to Percy before it's too late!" The trio nodded and Reyna turned towards the structure. "Liam, Zoe," she called out, the two in question looked to her in question. Reyna pointed her gladius at the monsters between them and the building. "Clear the way." Wordlessly, the two demigods pulled deep in themselves, Liam raising his recurved sword to the sky and Zoe lifted her leaf-shaped blade parallel to the ground. A sharp tug pulled at there guts. Storm clouds formed overhead. Lightning arced down from the sky and met Liam's sword point. Zoe's body began to shiver. With a roar, Liam thrusted his sword forward, the lighting flying off of his sword point and striking the first monster before him. The bolts flew from beast to beast, cutting down all it struck. Zoe stabbed Riptide into the ground, releasing the built up energy outward. The earth violently shook, throwing monsters from their feet. The legionaries remained unaffected and used the opportunity to cut down even more adversaries. Liam and Zoe each took a ragged breath. Reyna nodded at the two with a small grin. "Good work you two." she praised them. "Now let's get going."
Together, the four of them rushed the opening created in the sea of monsters. As they passed, they cut down any and all monsters within their reach. They arrived at the big, hanger-like, doors without much resistance. Reyna and Zoe each grabbed a door. The two children of War pulled with all their might. The doors refused to budge. They quickly gave up. "We need to find another way in," Zoe stated as she looked around.
"Come on," Reyna waved them along as she ran to the side of the building. The trio followed her closely, their eyes on the look out for any stray monsters. Reyna stopped at a side door. With a Spartan kick the door was blasted off of it's hinges and inward. Zoe shrugged at her friends and they followed her inside.
Darkness. That was Zoe's first thought as she entered the massive structure. She held her hand to her face and found she couldn't even see it. It was just like in her dreams. A soft gasp drew her attention. Looking past the outline of what she assumed was Reyna, Zoe found the only lit area they could see. A small overhead light dangled over the kneeling form of her father. Still wrapped in bronze chains which glowed brightly with the two ends of the chain extended past the crack beneath him. He looked even worse than the last time Zoe had seen him in her dreams. His head was down. Beneath him, the crack appeared ready to swallow Percy whole. Only his knees on either side of the growing crack, prevented him from falling in. The pull of the crack Zoe had felt before was stronger, like it was trying to suck in everything around it but hadn't the power.
Wordlessly, the four demigods quietly walked towards the kneeling god. As they moved, Zoe could feel grooves and small holes in the floor. They reached the edge of the light, where Percy still had not looked at them. His deathly white hair hung from his head, with patches of hair having fallen out. His frame was thin and wrinkly. Before them sat a frail old man, not the powerful god that raised her. The pull from the crack increased in strength, but not enough to actually try to pull her in. Zoe glanced at the others, but quickly realized that she still couldn't see them anyways. Without preamble, Zoe stepped into the light. There was a hiss from Reyna who stepped with her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Percy's head shot up, his deep sea green eyes slightly glazed as he focused in on them.
"Zoe? Reyna?" he questioned, his voice cracked and hoarse, before his eyes widened in panic. "You need to leave. Now!"
Zoe flinched at his tone while Reyna glared at the god. "We are here to get you out of here. We aren't leaving without you."
"No," Percy pleaded to them, his eyes were filled with desperation. "You don't understand. You're in more danger than I am."
"We know about the titans Dad," Zoe informed him. "We can deal with them."
Percy shook his head. "I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about A-," shadows wrapped around his mouth, silencing him.
A soft, melodic laugh floated through the air. The four demigods placed their backs together. The darkness around them pulled back like a curtain. The darkness stopped a far distance away from them, still concealing much of the interior of the building. Now unimpeded, multiple hanging ceiling lights illuminated the arena sized space. The concrete floor was pockmarked with small holes and grooves like heavy equipment was once secured there and then removed. Out of the retreating darkness on the far side of Percy, appeared three figures. Two towering males and a cloaked female. Pallas stood stoically beside the cloaked woman, his silver armor gleaming in the new light and a gauntlet resting upon his sword hilt. Perses stood opposite of Pallas, the flat of a greatsword resting upon his shoulder. He wore a bronze cuirass and armored skirt, his pale hair wild and untamed, and a devilish smile on him face.
"Zoe, break the chains," Reyna ordered, her gladius held in front of her. Zoe nodded and struck at the extended chain with her sword. The celestial bronze blade bounced off of the glowing chain, leaving no more than a scratch.
"You didn't think we would make it so easy, did you?" the cloaked woman laughed. "Those chains have the godling's energy running through it. Take more than a simple sword to break them. You might as well give up now. Soon Perseus will open the gates of Tartarus and his armies will flow forth. We will overthrow those arrogant Olympians and there will be a new world order," the woman laughed manically.
Reyna smirked. "You haven't been the first to try and you won't be the last to fail."
The cloaked woman chuckled. "That was the most Reyna thing I have ever heard you say. Guess even a century can't break down that overwhelmed praetor just trying to keep everyone together."
Reyna's eyes narrowed, her smirk replaced with a frown. "Who are you?" Her leather gloves creaked as her grip tightened on her sword. Zoe quirked an eyebrow at her tone. She'd never heard Reyna sound so...vulnerable.
"You know who I am," the woman retorted, her hands reached for her hood. "You never forgave yourself for my death, or the war that almost started because of it." She grabbed her hood and lowered it. Golden princess curls framed her round ivory skinned face, the rest was pulled into a ponytail. Stormy grey eyes swirled with madness and an evil grin stretched her lips.
Reyna's breath hitched. The color drained from her face as her mouth fell open. "A-Annabeth?"
A/N: LOWER THE PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES PLEASE. Before anyone jumps to the conclusion of Annabeth bashing let me reassure them that that is not the case. I have solid reasons for why I have made the decisions I have and if you stick around you will find out more about her role in the story. Again this will not be Annabeth bashing and you will understand by the end of this arc.