Well, we finally made it to fifty chapters! If you don't count the Author's Notes that is, so technically it's forty eight, but still, we made it.

This marks the true beginning of the Camp Asgard "arc" of the book and series. I have so much planned for it, and it will be everything you hoped for, I promise.

Now then, I'm gonna respond to some reviews on here.

SuAvE ViPeR: "I really enjoyed this one. You know, most stories with OC x OC pairings don't work, but somehow this one does, and it does very well. Honestly the OC's you've written feel like actual Percy Jackson characters, if Rick had continued the series. I love the relationships and Matt and Harper, the dialogue is one of the best things about this story, if not the best. It's just so fluid and natural. Love SOH, and glad you plan on making more books."

Response: Thanks. Yeah, you don't see many OC x OC pairings, and it's understandable that people aren't into that because they want to see canon characters shipped together, the ones they've known and read, not original characters that let's face it, are usually poorly written and one dimensional. I try to write and develop mine different, and I'm glad you like it, and the dialogue.

Shadowhunter2077: "Exited to see Camp Asgard, because in canon the Norse children only know who they are after they die and ay least to me this is very messed up.

Nice to see Matt and Harper having some time to themselfs, to me they deserved."

Response: Yeah, I haven't really read Magnus Chase, which I probably should've, but I just kind of did my own thing. The whole Hotel Valhalla thing is cool, but to me the idea of a Norse Camp is also cool, and it makes some sense, because it's in a different country.

RedX316: "Great Story"

Response: Thank You.

thesuperone342: "Bro this chapter was awesome as hell. Honestly, romance wise it's better than anything I've ever written and almost anything I've ever read. Seriously, romance is hard af to write because it's so difficult to understand in real life. It just happens lol. I really liked the scene where Matt and Harper were on Kyros and messing around. idk why it just felt really fun. And finally those two are fully realizing their feelings for each other. And the scene between Nico and Aiden was good as well. Damn it's going to be awkward af when Zane sees them in the crossover lol. Will those two be dating during it?

P.S. I'm kinda dumb, who is the ferry god again I feel like I'm missing something"

Response: I don't know about it being better than anything you've ever written or even read, but thanks man, glad you liked it. Yeah, I had fun writing the Kyros scene, it was goofy but fun. And yes, Nico and Aiden might be having something going on, it will be very awkward lol. I already answered the questions in a PM and they're a bit spoilery, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for the review bro.

MountainBookSage25: "Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn

Now

Great chapter and all

But gonna ask what you planning now

For me, this feels like this is going to be a trilogy because of the power scaling, what with Matt surpassing Hercules (you know, the strongest demigod? well it was Matt now)

You said before that you're planning on taking this to several books

Are you maybe expanding beyond Ouranos as the main antagonist? What with you expanding this to other pantheons (well, Riordanverse duh)

I dunno how Matt is going to be more powerful than this

Maybe giving him some powerups?

Also

WHY THE HELL IS THIS FIC NOT BEYOND THE HUNDREDS IN FOLLOWS AND FAVS

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Response: Glad you liked the chapter. And to answer your question, I already have the entire story basically planned out, ending and all. There will be five books in total, so three more after this, with some side stories and little chapters in between. I'd say well over a million words, maybe almost two million, and definitely one hundred chapters plus. So expect a lot of SOH. As for the power scaling, don't worry about that, there are still beings stronger than Matt, and trust me, Ouranos is one of them. He is the main antagonist, through and through, no one is replacing him in this fic. There will be secondary antagonists, like the Big Four, Levi, and the Sons of Thor, and more in the next three books, but Ouranos will remain the main villain. The only other pantheons I will be covering is Shinto, and maybe some others, but I'm undecided. And about the follows and favs, haha, It doesn't really matter to me to be honest. I write this story for enjoyment, not recognition. The way I see it, if people read it and like it, that's just a big bonus.

NiHaR OP: "great chap bro, loved the date and thanks for taking the suggestion about the iris message"

Response: Thanks man, and no problem. Glad you liked that scene.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

On with the chapter.

23. We Meet Our New Friends

Matt

Okay, so you remember that time you met your online friend in real life?

You know, person you either met on social media or some video game, and really hit it off. You talked for weeks and became pretty good buddies, and hey, you live close to each other. Why not meet up? Sounds like a good idea. So you do, and it turns out awkward. Suddenly you have no idea what to say, and things get officially weird.

That's how I felt meeting Sigurd in person.

I spoke to him just fine in my vision, but now I was speechless, and trying to rack my brain on what I had rehearsed. Was it Hello, Sigurd, I am Matthias Beckett, a hero of Camp Half Blood. Let us discuss our attack against Ouranos. Or was it Sup dude, I'm Matt, let's go talk about stuff.

I think the combination of the chilly atmosphere and the fact that we were actually here was messing with my head. We had been traveling all this time, the whole quest was leading up to this moment. And now it was here. It was kind of nerve wrecking, even for me.

But I had to keep a straight face, and be a leader. Since Percy's not here, and my father's just not the type, I guess the job falls in my hands.

I walked first down the walkway, the others not far behind me. Sigurd backed up and allowed some room for me to stand. He took his hood off, revealing medium length red hair and a ruggedly handsome face. His mouth was neutral, not a hint of a smile or frown anywhere. I could tell he was incredible at hiding his emotions.

I stepped on the dock, parallel to Sigurd, quickly noting that he was an inch shorter than me. I held out my hand and he shook it.

"Nice to meet you in person." I said.

"Likewise." He looked over my shoulder at my friends, "And I see you brought your comrades, like you said you would."

I glanced between them, stepping to the side now, "Yeah. Is that a problem?"

He shook his head, "Not at all. By the way you described them, they will be a great help."

Harper was next in line. She thrusted her hand out at him, "Matt told you about us?"

He was a little shocked at her quickness, but shook her hand anyway, "Yes. Especially you...Harper, correct?"

She nodded, "That's right." She looked over at me and scanned me like I was a sculpture, "So what did he tell you about me?"

Sigurd wasn't sure what the point of it was, as his face suggested we get on with the important details. He seemed to be a no small talk kind of guy.

"Um, well he was worried about you, and when I suggested that I could find people around the world with my sight, he wanted to know your location immediately."

She let go of his hand and came to me, smirking with pride, "Aww, isn't that sweet. Were you worried about me, tough guy?"

A blush creeped up my neck, and I remembered our "date" from last night. "Shut up." I muttered.

She snickered and stood next to me, her gaze back on Sigurd. "I had a vision. Ouranos said you beat Thor in a fight. That true?"

Sigurd's face grew grim, and he looked away from her to my father, "We'll discuss everything later."

He shook hands with my dad, regarded Kyros, and Sera, then Talon, who gave Sigurd a hesitant look, and Sigurd doing the same to him. The two could practically feel their clashing personalities. I just hoped Talon kept a level head in this Camp and didn't do anything crazy. The last thing we need is a bunch of Norse demigods mad at us because Talon decided to use one of their sacred items as a shooting target.

Malachi was last, and when they shook hands, Sigurd gripped his harder than the others, and brought his head close to the Demi Primordial.

"I take it that you are Ouranos's child." He said dangerously, his tone holding the venom of a thousand serpents. "Can I trust Matt's judgement, that you are on our side?"

Malachi returned the glare and grip, "Believe me, when we confront my father, I will be the one to send him back to Tartarus." A tiny crack of electricity shot from his fingertips, "But not before making him suffer."

Sigurd stared at him for a moment, then let go of his hand, and nodded with satisfaction. "Your words are true, and your heart is kind. But...I sense a monstrous beast inside of you, with the power to destroy the entire world. Use that against him."

"I intend to." Malachi said.

Jeez, that was intense. Sigurd didn't mess around. But I understood where he was coming from. Meeting the enemy's son for the first time, in your home...yeah, you'd probably want to make sure he was a good guy

Greybeard hobbled over to the side of the boat and peered down at us, "If that's all, then I'll head on back!" He called to Sigurd. I wasn't sure where "back" was, but apparently he had to go.

Sigurd waved at him, "Thank you, Greybeard. I'll let you know when to return for them."

The old ferryman disappeared from view and started the engine, effectively turning on the green glow that inhabited the bottom of the ship. The anchor lifted, and within a few minutes, he took off.

Now there was no turning back. We were here.

Silence ensued and the wind picked up. I couldn't feel a thing, but I knew it had to be at least freezing temperature out here. The snow proved that.

"Well then" Sigurd said, looking up at the top of the mountain, "Let's not stand around any longer. We should make our way to Camp."

Harper grimaced, "Wait, are we gonna have to...walk up there?"

He nodded like it was obvious, "Of course. How else would we go?"

I could tell my father was about to suggest that we ride on Kyros, but Malachi had another idea.

He stepped forward, "I can teleport us up there."

Sigurd looked at me with hesitation, and I shrugged, "Told you I had some interesting friends."

Malachi spread his arms out, "Everyone place a hand on me. I must be in contact with who I am transporting."

We all made room and put either a finger or hand on Malachi, except Kyros and Sigurd. The former being able to fly by himself, and the latter...not wanting to touch Malachi.

But he gave in, "Well, I suppose if it gets us there faster, then so be it." He finally squeezed in next to me and put his index finger on Malachi's arm. The next second, the air became hotter, and a bright blue flash surrounded us.

We warped and spun, like we had been placed inside of a raging tornado. My stomach turned over on itself, and before I could throw up, we thankfully rematerialized.

The blurriness in my vision went away, and I was greeted with the entrance of Camp Asgard. Even the outside was incredible, reminding me of a fortress from a video game. The gates were wooden, and spikes jutted out from the ground in front of them, each one as wide as me, and the tip...had a green substance on the end. Most likely poison. The wooden walls were at least twenty feet tall, probably more, and next to the entrance, were two watchtowers. They both had torches lit on the roof, and inside of them, stood equally dangerous looking ballista turrets, equipped with giant spear shaped ammo.

Who I guessed to be a Camper poked his head out of the one of the right. I couldn't tell from here, since we were still a good distance away from the gate, but it looked like he had a helmet on, with horns poking out of the sides, and fur armor on his torso. He waved a hand below, "It's the Chief! Open the gates!"

We started walking, Sigurd in the front now. Everyone was looking around the mountain top, maybe for signs of an ambush, but I didn't see the reason for it. The fact that Sigurd came down to greet us himself told me a lot about him. He could've easily sent two of the Campers to do it, but he decided to come himself. It was giving me that kind of "King that fights his own battles" vibe, and I liked it.

I sped up to trudge in line with him, "Chief?"

He nodded seriously, "That's the official title, but I keep insisting everybody call me by my name. I am no greater than anyone here, and I don't pretend to be."

His words were humble, and he sounded genuine about it. But I still asked, "But isn't Odin the most powerful Norse god?"

"I suppose so, but I don't mean in power when I mean great. We all work together, and I ensure equality among this Camp. As far as authority goes though...yes, I am in charge."

That effectively shut me up. So that's one worry down. I wasn't sure how the hierarchy worked here. I knew Sigurd was the leader, but I didn't know how he ran things. Apparently he puts working together as a priority.

The gates creaked open, slowly revealing the Camp itself. A few more steps, and we made it inside of the entrance. I got my first look at Camp Asgard.

It was amazing. It was as big as Camp Half Blood, if Camp Half Blood was all mushed together and not spread out. Everything was inside of these walls, and tightly spaced, but not so tight that you couldn't breathe. There were two things that I immediately noticed. One, the giant building at the center of Camp. It stood three stories tall, and at the top, it had a black flag with a white raven design on it. It looked like one of those large cabins you'd see on TV. I guessed by the flag, that it was probably Sigurd's headquarters, or his house.

The second thing I noticed, were the Campers. If you even want to call them that, because to me, they looked like young Vikings. There were about seventy five outside, most of them training. To my right, stood a dozen older teenage girls, all of them wearing sleeveless wolf furred parkas, their hoods up, hiding their hair and most of their face. They each were shooting a bow and arrow at targets, lined up for them. They released their shots and each one hit a perfect bullseye.

Sigurd saw me looking at them with awe, and he pointed, "The Lynx Huntresses, masters of the bow and arrow, if I've ever seen any. They do all of our hunting and recon."

Harper was intrigued, her eyes moved with their arms as they knocked their arrows, "Why are they called Lynx Huntresses?"

"They're named after the animal, Lynx." He said, "They are stealthy and lethal, like one, hence the name. The former Chief of this Camp started the group some years back, and now their lead by my wife, Arya."

"You have a wife?" Talon asked, practically putting his head on Malachi's shoulder to get his voice heard.

Sigurd nodded, "I do. She's a daughter of Freyja. You'll meet her soon." He put our focus back on the huntresses, "By most tradition, men do the hunting. But the former Chief..." I noticed his voice broke just the tiniest bit at the mention of the Chief before him, but he quickly hid it, realizing his moment of weakness. "The former Chief felt it better, strategically, to send women out on hunts, due to their lighter weight and generally smaller body frame, they are more stealthy, and naturally gifted with a bow and arrow. Quieter than a sword, I can tell you."

The Lynx Huntresses shot another hail of arrows, and we walked over. The one closest to us saw Sigurd approaching, and put her bow on her back.

"Chief." She said, then regarded us, "Are these the Greeks?"

Sigurd nodded, "Yes. I'm briefly showing them around, before we discuss...war matters."

She lowered her voice, "About that, we spotted some of those...lightning spirits on our recent hunt. There are more of them than we anticipated."

Sigurd's face darkened, "Very well. We will discuss it later."

She nodded, and went right back to shooting her bow.

I was a little taken aback, but it's what I expected. Storm Spirits wondering around here? That definitely meant Ouranos had an HQ somewhere.

"Come" Sigurd said, "Let me show you the rest."

We kept walking around, and I was more amazed with every step. There were several buildings all around, most of them holding a different purpose. We walked past an armory, a dining house, a large sauna, separated for both males and females of course, a blacksmith hut, to which Sigurd introduced us to one of his long time friends, Ivan. Ivan was a beefy, stoic looking dude, standing taller than Bjorn, at probably six foot five, and I'd bet one of my fingers that he weight over three hundred pounds. He wore a sleeveless chest plate like mine, with burlap pants and boots. He was bald and his face was rough looking. He reminded me of a Hephaestus kid back at Camp.

"Sup" He said. I couldn't tell who's voice had more testosterone, him or my father's.

Sigurd clapped him on the shoulder, and I could almost see a hint of a smile on his face. The first time since we'd met him. "This is Ivan" he said, "Son of Tyr, the god of war in our pantheon. He's the blacksmith of the Camp. Makes the finest weapons in the world."

Ivan looked down sheepishly, "I don't know about that."

Sera peeked over in the hut and looked at what Ivan was crafting. "Wh-What are you making?" She asked.

He looked over and hefted up a giant axe. The staff of it probably seven feet long, and the end was the part that he hadn't finished yet. It didn't have much left, probably a few more hammer swings and he would be good.

"An axe" He explained. "This new war has brought on a demand for weapons. I have been quite busy lately."

"Apologies, old friend." Sigurd said, "Tough times call for tough measures."

Ivan nodded grimly and put the axe down, "That they do."

We moved on to other stuff, like the butcher's hut, a brewery, and a training arena.

As we walked by it, Sigurd gestured to it, "We hold matches every week on Fridays. It's good entertainment, and provides a way to settle problems between demigods."

"And these matches..." Talon said, suddenly interested, "Are they to the death?"

Sigurd shook his head, "No. Killing in the arena is forbidden. In fact, if a demigod kills another demigod in this Camp, they are immediately banished. You defeat someone by forfeit, surrender, or by stoppage on my part."

I caught that. Banished. The Sons of Thor had been banished, right? Suddenly it was becoming more and more clear what they could've done to receive the punishment.

We cleared into an opening, on the far left corner of the Camp, were more than a dozen long cabin like structures. They each looked the same, except for the symbol above the doors. One of them had the symbol of what looked like a curved pinwheel, the other had a hammer surrounded by lightning, and so on and so forth.

"Those are longhouses." Sigurd said, "That's where the Campers stay, except for Arya and I. Each house belongs to a different god, and the children of that god or goddess, stays in their assigned building, with their siblings."

I nodded, "We have that at our Camp. Cabins are separated by godly parent."

My father spoke up for the first time in a while, "You have longhouses for every Norse god?"

"No" Sigurd responded, "We only have them for gods we know have children. And if a new one arrives, we build another longhouse. The process takes little time, due to our skilled craftsmen."

"I thought that big dude was the only one." Harper said, a black eyebrow raised.

"Ivan is the blacksmith, he makes the weapons and armor. We have several other craftsmen that make our buildings." Sigurd turned to face us all now, "Each member of this Camp has a purpose. They must contribute in some way, to keep it going. Whether that be as a warrior, a hunter, a craftsmen, or a cook, everyone has their own duty. And that's how we thrive. I'm sure it is the same in your Camp."

I scratched my neck, not wanting to break his bubble of respect for us. The mist must've blocked him from seeing how things worked over there, because we didn't really operate that way. Camp Half Blood was easy going, free spirited. It was really...well, a summer Camp, at the end of the day. People went their to be safe and train, yeah, but mostly to have fun, and be with their friends. This place was more like Camp Jupiter. A fort for demigods.

And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. In times like these, it's probably better to have a more disciplined Camp, with everyone pitching in somehow. And they seem to be happy here. I haven't even talked about the sheer number of demigods there were walking around. Besides the twelve or so Lynx Huntresses at the front, there were about seventy five people walking around, doing various things. Some were at the butcher's hut, getting food or coffee, some were sparring outside of their longhouse, some were playing with what I assumed to be pet wolves, and their were even a few couples, holding hands happily as they strolled. It wasn't a downer kind of place at all, like I expected it to be.

"CAW!" A loud squawk startled me. It came from above us, and before I could look up, the source swooped and landed on Sigurd's shoulder. It was a raven, actually...the same one in my vision, the one that sucked me into his eye so I could talk to Sigurd in the first place.

It placed it's beak to Sigurd's ear, and the Son of Odin listened closely. As he listened, his face grew urgent and it darkened. Something serious had happened.

He pulled away from his bird and looked at us, "I apologize, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cut the tour short." He signaled his raven to fly off, and he did. "Your eagle can stay with the wolves and foxes. I just sent my raven, Vardar, to notify him."

"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Malachi asked.

"I need to speak with Matt alone, if you all don't mind." He said, ignoring Malachi.

Harper crossed her arms, "What you say to him, you can say to all of us."

Sigurd was about to retort, but I put an arm out in front of Harper, "I got this." I said, "It's fine."

She looked at me with concern, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Positive. Just...wait here."

"Yes, wait here." Sigurd said, "I will have Arya show you all where you will be staying."

My father didn't look happy about being left out of something important. "Are you hiding something from us? We didn't come all this way to be left out of the planning."

Sigurd raised a hand, "I assure you, I don't intend to leave you out of anything. I simply need a moment with your son."

A silence came, enhancing the tension times ten. Hercules studied Sigurd, and Sigurd didn't break contact with him. I could tell he was trying to put in his good eye that he meant no disrespect.

"Dad" I said, getting his attention, "I'll be fine. Just let me talk to him for a minute."

He clenched his fists, and looked between me and Sigurd. I could tell he wanted to give a piece of his mind, but he bit his tongue. "Fine. Go ahead."

Sigurd sighed, "Thank you, sir. We will not be long." He walked to the door and opened it, "Arya!" He shouted, calling for his wife, I guessed.

Soon enough, I heard footsteps coming down a set of stairs, and an accent following. "No need to be loud!"

Arya stepped through the doorway, and I immediately thought of Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon. I saw that movie when I was younger and loved it. Well, she looked basically just like that character, except even more hardcore and Viking like. She had blonde hair first of all, long and thick, tied in a single braid down her shoulder. She wore a sleeveless breastplate, the parts where you put your arms in had white fur surrounding it. The tops of her boots were surrounded with thick fur, gray this time. I guessed animal hides were a big thing up here. It made sense, considering the temperature.

Her face was pretty, but with the tribal makeup, it made her look very intimidating. A black line started at her bottom lip and traveled all the way down her chin. Over her eye were two straight black stripes, and on her forehead, was a triangular shaped symbol. I was unfamiliar with it though.

"Jeez" She said to Sigurd, "You'd think after two years of marriage your tone would soften a little."

Sigurd gestured annoyingly to us with his head, letting her know that they weren't alone.

Her ears turned a little red, "And these must be the Greeks..."

"Hello, ma'am." Malachi said politely, but Talon nearly cut him off by shoving him out of the way.

"So you're the leader of those huntresses, right?" He asked seriously, and she nodded. I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

After a few seconds of silence, Talon looked all the way to the front of the Camp, at the huntresses, then back at Arya. A sly smile formed on his lips. "Any of em' single?"

She reared her head back, and was probably about to smack him, but I intervened and pulled him back by the arm, "That's enough, Talon." I growled to him.

Sigurd shook his head at Talon's antics, "Arya, can you show them where they will be staying? Matt and I need to talk about some things." He gave her a little nod, expressing importance.

She agreed, and walked past our group, "We have a guest longhouse. Come on, I'll show you." She led the way, and everyone followed. Not before Harper and my father gave me worrisome looks. I waved my hand dismissively at them to tell them I was fine.

"Come in." Sigurd said, breaking my gaze. "We have a lot to cover."

Sigurd's house was nice.

Picture a vacation cabin in the mountains, or wilderness. That was basically this, only it was huge.

It was in fact, three stories high, with a downstairs, upstairs, and attic. The wood on the walls were dark brown and clean, looking like they had been recently stained and primed. There were several pieces of furniture, a fireplace, a bedroom, a weapon rack, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bunch of other cool stuff. And that was just the downstairs area.

He closed the door behind us, "This is where I relax...when there's time." He gestured up with his finger, giving me a grim look. "But upstairs is where the business happens. Follow me."

He walked up the stairs, me on his heels. Both of our footsteps echoed around the house, our boots hitting the wood audibly.

Guess nobody can take him by surprise, I thought. Then again, they really couldn't. This guy could see people from around the world with that eye of his. I didn't know the extent of the ability, but that was pretty powerful.

We cleared the stairs and entered the space. If downstairs looked normal, then this was the opposite.

This looked like a Son of Odin's room. Or at least, what I thought to be. First off, it was darker than below. Downstairs, there was a fireplace, and it was well lit. Up here, on the walls, were torches with smaller green flames in them. It gave off light, yeah, but it also made it look creepy.

Besides that, there were several maps plastered to the walls, and a bunch of tables with notes, more maps, weapons, and all kinds of stuff on them. One table showed a globe, another had a replica of the mountains, and little figurines that looked like the demigods here. It must be how he plans his attacks. I was impressed by that part.

But the thing that struck me the most were the trophies mounted on the walls. And when I say trophies, I mean parts of monsters. Or I assumed they were Norse monsters.

Sigurd took off his cloak and placed it on a rack. It was the first time seeing the rest of his body. And he looked pretty normal. No extra arm or anything, he just wore it to look cool.

He had on light armor, leather leggings, and silver colored combat boots. Wrapped around the chestplate, was a black hide, of a wolf it seemed.

I put the pieces together, and looked at one of the mounted heads on the wall. It was a large black wolf, it's mouth agape, showing dozens of razor sharp teeth.

"Is that..." I started.

Sigurd finished for me, "Fenrir? Yes, it is."

Okay, I don't know much about Norse mythology, but even I had heard of Fenrir. He was basically the Nemean Lion of Norse mythology, a legendary monster that was feared by several of the demigods. If I'm not mistaken, Thor was the one that defeated him a long time ago, or maybe I'm wrong.

"Did you kill him?" I asked.

He nodded, sighing, "My first quest, to prove that I had what it took. I was to track and kill Fenrir, the Son of Loki."

For his first quest? Damn. That sounds a little extreme, but have I dealt with anything different?

"Why?" I asked.

He started to elaborate, but thought against it, and closed his eyes, "I would like to inform you more about myself, Matt. I would. But right now, we must focus on more pressing matters."

"Right..." I said, understanding that we had planning to do. But I couldn't help it, I was growing more curious about Sigurd's past. I'd have to bring it up later.

He walked over to the large table that held the figures and map of the area, placing his palms on the edge.

"Vardar just told me that the two scouts I sent haven't returned in days." His face grew weary and concerned, "It was a private mission. The other Campers are not aware, and if they find out they haven't returned...there will be panic."

"Wait a sec." I said, holding up a hand, "Vardar is the raven, right?"

He nodded.

I let my hand fall to the table, and I leaned on it. "Okay, so the scouts. Why did you send them?"

"Over the past week, there has been a...rumbling, at Ouranos's headquarters. At first, I believed it was him letting off power, but then we began to hear growls, and noises that were very monster like." He gritted his teeth, and It seemed like he wanted to grab on to his patched eye. "I tried to use my sight to see what the source is, but I was unsuccessful. Ouranos has guarded the base thoroughly with magic."

Okay, there was a lot to unpack there. First being the fact that Ouranos indeed has a base here.

"Hang on, Sigurd." I said, "You're gonna have to slow down. Ouranos actually has a base up here? Like a physical base?"

"Yes. It's a few miles away, on another mountain. We've already identified that. Our only problems are getting there, and this rumbling."

"That's it?" I said, expecting more with the way he let on in the visions. But only two problems? That didn't sound so bad.

He shook his head, "You don't understand. These are very serious issues. First, the source of this rumbling is unknown, and it could be a monster or god he is summoning. Second, access to Ouranos's base is vital, otherwise we cannot attack. Aerial assault is useless. His controls of the sky in this area are too strong. So our choice is to go by ground, but everything is blocked off by various amounts of rubble and debris." He paused, and furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "Unless..."

"Unless what?" I said, leaning on the table more.

"No, It's illogical. We cannot do it."

"Tell me, Sigurd." I pressed, "This could be our only shot."

He hesitated, but eventually pointed to a spot on the map. It was a tight snowy spot, in between mountains.

"There is one path that I know of. If we don't huddle our troops, and stay in a formed line...we can pass. But the way is dangerous. The Chief before me dubbed it the 'Dead Man's Cavern' when he was alive."

"What's down there?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I've never been. The Chief told me to always stay away from there, and if I ever went in...I wouldn't come out. I knew him well, the Chief, and he was powerful. If he said that place is dangerous, then it's dangerous."

He gazed out of a small window, down at the Camp. I could see on his face that he cared deeply for these people, and his greatest desire was to get them out of this war.

"But you have us now, Sigurd." I said, "You have our help. And with our power combined...I'm sure we can take out whatever's in this cavern."

He glanced at me, "It may be a risk we have to take. And...if it means getting through to Ouranos's base, then I am willing to take it."

I spread my arms to my side in victory, "Alright, well that's one problem out of the way! How about the rumbling thing?"

"Whoa, whoa, just hang on." He said, "We need to figure out who's going to the Cavern."

I stopped in my tracks and racked my brain. "Um, well since we're here to help you, the strongest of my team should go. I could take my father or Malachi, or-"

"No." He said sternly. "I appreciate you coming here, but I cannot sit idly by while you and your friends risk your lives for the cause." He paced the room, putting his arms behind his back, "This operation is a big deal, and if pulled off, can be a great victory for us. The participants need to be leaders. The ones that people look up to..."

He stopped walking and looked at me.

I put a hand to my chest, a little stunned. "Me?"

"Yes."

I rasberried, "No, you've got the wrong idea, man. I may be the most powerful, and that's a maybe. But I'm not the leader. I'm just a stand in for Percy. He's the actual leader of Camp Half Blood."

"I'm aware of Percy Jackson. I've been watching him too. Quite the impressive demigod." He said, walking closer to me, "But he isn't interested in this life. He doesn't need this life like we do. We were born for this, you and I, whether we like it or not. Percy Jackson has paid his dues, correct? Saved the world more than once. He's ready to retire."

I was getting a little angry, "Hold on. You don't know anything about me, Sigurd. I don't care how long you've watched me or used your weird mind reading trick. You don't know me as well as you think. I never wanted this life. And Percy isn't some washed up old hero. He's still the best demigod I know."

I said that last part and got in his face a little. Our noses were about eight inches apart, but he didn't back down. In fact, he only stood firmer.

"I never disrespected Jackson. I respect him quite a lot actually, for the things he's done. But he wants out. You've seen it, and you know it. He was living the normal life with his girlfriend, until this war started. He hesitantly returned to help, and now look where he is. Forced to lead a Camp, that...let's face it, he doesn't want to lead."

I was stunned, "How do you-"

"This eye" He growled, "Is very, very keen. I have seen both his and your memories. I do know you, Matthias. I know you just as well as your friends and father. And I know that you are a leader, a natural one. You hated your former life. Everything you ever had was taken from you, and you were alone. Ever since entering this life, you have gained friends, a girlfriend, power, and respect. Respect from your peers...and me." He jabbed a finger in my chest, "So do not tell me that you aren't a leader. I saw the way they followed you out there, and glanced at you to make sure they could trust me by your judgement. Even your own father, a god, looks to you. Face it."

I had chills down my arm from his mini speech, and the fact that he called me by my real name. I felt his aura spike in that moment, and when it did...I could see how Thor lost to this guy. He was dangerous. I may be more powerful than him, but there were years of experience packed in his aura. Years of hardship and struggle. He had the smarts and spine to defeat his enemies.

I looked to the ground, and accepted his words. He was right. Everything that I love now, is because of this demigod life. I hated to say it, but as much pain as it's caused me, It's also given me so much.

"You're...You're right, Sigurd." I said, "I am a leader."

He backed away, and nodded, "That you are. And the leaders should be the ones to go on this mission."

"So you're saying that...the two of us should go to this cavern?"

He nodded, a hint of a smile on his face, "That is exactly what I am saying. We go tomorrow at dawn, enter the cabin, fight whatever beast is in there, and clear a way for us to get through."

It sounded good to me. A perfect combination. Brains and brawn. I liked it.

I smirked, "Sounds great to me. But what about my friends? They could be all the more help."

"I want them to stay here. In case Ouranos decides to lead a siege on the Camp while we are gone. The men of your group can held defend the Camp."

This guy was quick to think. He was coming up with this stuff in seconds. I was pretty impressed. "Alright, that'll work. But what do you mean just the men? Harper and Sera are capable too."

"I know" He said quickly, "And I have a task for them as well, if it's okay with you."

I shrugged, "Lay it on me."

He pointed to another spot on the map, slightly away from where Ouranos's base is marked, "While you and I are in the Cavern tomorrow, I want to send the Lynx Huntresses here. Where I believe the rumbling is taking place."

I leaned in and looked at the location, "To find the scouts?"

"Yes, but not only that. I want them to identify this...creature. It's able to shake mountains, making it not a pushover in the slightest. And if it killed the two demigods I sent, then it is above a low level monster at least."

I nodded, but still a little puzzled. "So what does that have to do with Harper and Sera?"

"I want them to go with the Huntresses."

I figured he would say that, and...I was a little hesitant. I was worried about this rumbling that he was talking about, and sending Harper and Sera...well, I didn't want them to get hurt. Not saying they aren't capable, but we don't know what this thing is, and I can't help but worry. I can't even think about losing either of them. Harper, for obvious reasons, and Sera, she was my friend, and Malachi would be devastated if anything were to happen to her.

"I don't know..." I said.

"Think about it. It's the perfect way to divide the forces. You and I in the cavern, the two of us are stealthier than a squadron, and we have the power to take care of whatever lies in there. The three other men in your group are powerful, and with the added power of the Campers, they can defend this place against any attack." He made a rolling gesture with his hand, "And the girls go with the Huntresses. The Lynx need the help, and those two are stealthy. The white haired one blends in with the snow, and your girlfriend...well, I can tell she's trained in stealth for years."

It made sense when he said it. Perfect sense actually. But I was still cautious.

I had to concede though. This was for the good of this Camp, and the only way for us to end this war for good.

"Okay then. We'll do it that way."

He nodded appreciatively, "Good. That's the best way to do it, I believe. And it should go without a hitch, if done right."

If done right, I thought. That's the key part.

He continued, "We'll plan the invasion itself when we accomplish our tasks tomorrow. Inform your group of what we talked about here."

"I will."

He held out his hand, and I shook it. "I appreciate the cooperation, Matt. I must say, this went better than I thought it would."

I breathed a laugh, "Yeah, I was stressing out over nothing."

Our hands fell, and we grew silent. I looked around the room again, and spotted something that I didn't notice before. It was like a fountain, but without the water being sprayed. It stood up to my chest on a thick pillar, and the platform itself was as wide as a circular table, holding water in it, filled all the way to the top. The water looked so fresh and clean. I imagined if I drank it, it would be the best I ever had.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at it.

He looked over, "Ah, that is the Watcher's Pool. It helps retrieve lost memories. The water is laced with the tears of Munin, the Norse god of memory."

A light switch went off in my head, and my body seemed to get shocked by an invisible electric wire. I instantly remembered the vision of my father and my mother after my birth, and how I had woken up right at the moment of suspense.

"Hey Sigurd, would you...mind if I used that thing?"

"Why?"

"There's a memory-er, vision, that I wanna see. I had it a couple of days ago, but it cut off, and I couldn't see the rest."

His good eye blazed into mine, prying for more info. "Is it a memory or a vision? That matters with the pool."

"I...honestly don't know. It could be a memory, since it's about my birth, more or less. But it could also be a vision, because you can't remember stuff that young, right?"

He shrugged, "We are demigods. I'd say we can do just about anything." He walked over to the pool and touched it. A green flicker at the bottom of the water lit up, and a small glow shone around the puddle, seeping an eerie mist. It reminded me of the old Camp Oracle Percy told me about one time. How it would glow green when it used to give a prophecy.

Sigurd gestured to it, "You can try. The Pool might be able to access other people's memories as well. I rarely use it, so I don't know."

I stepped up to it, "It's not going to erase my identity or anything, is it?" I wasn't too worried about that. I once resisted the River Lethe from taking my memories with my Red Aura. And that stuff is strong enough to wipe the mind of a Titan.

He shook his head, "It shouldn't. But who knows? You are from a different pantheon after all."

I titled my head, "Here goes nothing." And plunged it in the water.

I felt the coolness surround my head and hair, my eyes were closed. I used to go swimming in the ocean when I was younger, and even some public swimming pools. I was never the type to open my eyes underwater though. I never understood how people could do that. But now with my durability, I'd say I didn't have a problem.

I opened my eyes, and instead of the green glow, I saw me and my group with Sigurd, about to enter Camp Asgard. The sight was like I was playing a first person shooter with one of those VR headsets. I was basically in the memory.

This was earlier today, though. Not nearly as far back as I wanted. But how could I change it? There were no buttons or controls on this thing.

Further, I thought. Willing it to go back in time.

And to my shock, it did. I was back on Kyros with Harper, when we talked about things. I was holding her in my arms, both of us had our eyes closed. She was sighing with happiness.

Okay, I wanted to stare at that as long as I could, I'll admit. But I had to access that memory. Further.

Back to Griffith Manor.

Further.

Back to Kansas.

Further.

Back to Hephaestus's volcano.

Further.

Back to my father's Island.

Even Further.

Back to the Cursed Island, when we fought Ouranos.

I was getting tired of this. I was getting nowhere. I didn't need to go days or weeks back, I needed to go years back.

Go all the way back, I thought desperately. What happened to my father on the day I was born? Who did he see on Olympus?

It stood still for a moment, focused on my raging battle with Ouranos. Then it started to go nuts, moving as fast as it could, with images flashing by like a slideshow. I caught some of them. When I killed the Chimera, meeting Joshua, killing the Shark Monster, and various other memories.

Finally, it stopped at the very end, and I saw it. I saw my father, on the streets of New York, walking quickly to the Empire State Building.

There! I thought, I have to see!

I willed myself to move, and I found that I could. I was still aware of my physical body, hanging off of the fountain. But I can't really describe it. I was just somehow able to move in this weird place.

I floated behind my father as he stomped to the giant building. He passed by normal people, businessmen and the like. They all immediately moved out of his way and looked at him in fear when he walked past. I wasn't sure if they were just afraid of his sheer size, or if maybe some of his godly anger was seeping through the mist.

Either way, he pushed the door open so hard that it flew off the hinges and hit the elevator parallel to the entrance. The metal door lay crumpled like a piece of paper.

There were employees and tourists packed in the lobby, and they all stopped to look at the commotion, some gasping at what just happened.

Father groaned and picked up the door, unfurling it and restoring it back to somewhat normal order. He walked over to the lobby desk, where that same guy as last year was still there, reading yet another thick book. Jeez, how long has this guy worked here? And how many books does he freaking have?

Father leaned on the table, a glare in his eyes, "600th floor. And don't tell him I'm coming."

The guy, unlike previous times where he ignored us, didn't' do so for my father. He looked like he was about to piss himself, and squeaked, "Y-Yes sir."

Father walked to the elevator and luckily it was available. He was so angry right now that if it wasn't he probably would've forced the doors to open and pulled down the elevator.

I followed along with him, and stood beside him in the elevator, with that annoying music playing above. Father still had on his suit, and looked relatively normal, but his eyes were raging with two tiny red flames. He was pissed. But at who?

Finally, the elevator dinged and opened, revealing Olympus.

It looked just as incredible as I remembered. I've already described it, so I don't have to go into great detail. Just imagine Athens, but larger and even more beautiful. That's Olympus.

Father stomped quickly down the narrow path, miles above the ground below. Each step shook it, and nearly cracked the floor beneath him. He walked through crowds of minor gods and spirits, pushing some of them out of the way and glaring at many. They all parted for him, and didn't dare stand in his way.

He suddenly stopped at the bottom of the steps of the main palace, glaring up at it.

"H-Heracles?" who I guessed to be a minor god asked nervously, "Wh-What's wrong?"

The guy was thin and had long hair, but he looked good and his skin was flawless. He was young, probably in his twenties. I could feel his aura even through here, and it was a good size. That told me he was most likely a newer minor god. And by new, I only mean a few hundred years old.

My father turned on him and glowered down at him, his seven feet and absolutely monstrous frame making the little guy look like a child.

With the voice of a hundred lions, father said, "Stay out of my way."

The unknown minor god's eyes widened with fright, and he nearly fell on his butt. "O-Of course!"

He ran off, and the others standing around tried to find something else to do, afraid they were next.

Father scoffed at them, "Sheep." And bent down, and shot into the air.

He landed at the foot of the giant gold plated double doors, cracking the pearl ground beneath him. He didn't care in the slightest if he damaged something.

He stared at the door for a moment, then clenched his fists. Barely able to react, I saw him roar and punch the doors clean off of the wall. They clanged and flew forward, sliding towards the twelve thrones.

The sound echoed like the loudest gong I had ever heard. Several feet of the floor were cracked and uprooted. They'd have to repair that.

Father seethed and walked inside, making his way to the two figures in the room. One of them sat on the throne to the far left, he had long black hair and a beard coming down to his chest, both with gray streaks in them. He radiated pure power through his pin striped suit. I knew it was Zeus.

And the woman standing to his left wore a white dress, had perfect tan skin and black hair. She looked like a middle aged mom, the kind that other moms are jealous of. But I knew better. This goddess was thousands of years old, and one of the sources of my problems last year. Hera.

Father stepped up to them, both of the deities in their godly forms, standing probably twelve feet tall, while my father remained his usual seven feet. I'd never seen him grow any bigger, and I didn't know if he could or not. But right now it didn't matter, he looked just as deadly without the size advantage.

"You summoned me." He spat, glaring up at his father.

"You will fix those doors." Zeus scolded, "And lower your tone around me."

Father looked enraged, "I won't lower shit! You just told me to stay away from my son!"

Hera snorted, and looked at Zeus like can you believe this little shit?

"Unruly as always" She said, "No respect whatsoever."

"I'm unruly because I'm forbidden to see my son!" Father yelled, "I simply visited him and his mother!"

Zeus sat up from his lazy position and straightened his back, "You lie, boy. You made a promise to the woman, that you would stay and raise him with her."

Father's face fell, and he looked at the ground, "So what if I did. What's the problem with that?"

Hera laughed, and at that moment I really wanted my dad to punch her. "Don't play dumb" She said, "You know the laws. You can't be a father to these children. Even you have duties to uphold."

A club formed in Hercules's hand, and he raised it at her, "You know I have enough power now to kill you, bitch. All of the suffering I went through because of you, paid back in full." He started to walk towards her, the Red Aura began to glow around him. Hera's eyes widened, and she actually looked like she was about to teleport away in fear, but Zeus stomped his foot, shaking the entirety of Olympus, and stopping my father. Hera sighed with relief.

"Enough!" Zeus shouted, "Hera, be quiet and stop provoking him!" She shut her mouth after that. Zeus turned to Hercules, "And you, we can resolve this without a fight! You just need to accept the truth!"

"That I can't be with my son?" Hercules said in disbelief, "It's bullshit! And you know it, father. The ancient laws are stupid. Why do they exist in the first place?"

Zeus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "They exist to keep us in line. We have duties to uphold so this world does not fall apart. We cannot spend all of our time with our children. It's been this way since the beginning of time, son."

"Whoop dee do." Father said, deadpanned. "I'm the gatekeeper of Ancient Greece. Fucking yay. If I raise my son, everything will fall to shit, right?"

Zeus caught his obvious sarcasm, "Your job is more important than you think. And the vows you made to Hebe are too. What were you thinking, falling in love with a mortal woman and having a demigod child, when you could've had a godly child with Hebe! Your wife!"

Hercules tightened his lips, and he looked seriously enraged now. "Because I never loved Hebe! That was a forced marriage! I don't want a child with that stupid youth goddess, I want a child with Tracy Beckett, the woman I love." He pointed at Zeus with blame, "And you're a hypocrite to say that, father. Look at you! Unfaithful to that bitch right there, having demigod children left and right. Those Grace siblings to name two." He glared at Hera, and smirked, "I suppose I understand though. It must be hell to be married to her."

Hera's face went red with rage, a white light circled around her fingers, "Why you little-"

"Stop!" Zeus ordered and held her back. Hercules spread his arms out, the club in his right hand. He looked ready to fight her. "What are you gonna do?" He challenged, "Turn me into a peacock?!"

"Quiet, boy!" Zeus said, electricity sparking from his eyes. Father stopped taunting and simply grinned mockingly at Hera, who looked like she just swallowed a lemon.

"Regardless of whose child it is." Zeus continued, "You cannot raise him, son. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. I cannot bend the rules for you, even if you are my favorite."

Hercules stood there for a moment, like a child who just got rejected a toy at the store. He clenched his fists and threw the club down, creating a crater in the floor of Olympus.

"This is utter nonsense." Hercules growled, his tone even and hateful. "First you take my mortal children and Megara, I moved past that." He said, talking to Hera, "Then you took my freedom, and I suffered through that." To Zeus. His mouth contorted in anger and bitterness, and to my surprise, a tear fell down his cheek, he looked up at them, eyes wide, "BUT YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY SON! YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY SON!"

Zeus stood up now, the entire building was rumbling from the tension, "I'm not taking him! Why can't you be content with the way things are! You may help him, but indirectly! Don't be such a child!"

Hercules beat his chest, "ME? Me, a child?" He paused, and shook his head, raising his hands in surrender, "You know what, I'm not doing this with you two. You win, I won't see my son again, okay? I'll go back to my Island." He turned around and started to walk to the exit.

Zeus tried to call to him, "I'm sorry, Hercules. I am. But this is the way things are."

Father didn't respond, he simply stormed out.

When he exited the Empire State Building, he looked over at the hospital my Mom was at, and then back at the sky, where Olympus was.

"I don't care about the damn laws. I have a family." He muttered, and walked away.

I was afraid the vision was over, and that I would be shot out of the pool. But to my pleasant surprise, I stayed, and got to see more.

I saw multiple memories of my father, for the period of the next day, when the doctors were making sure that my mom and I were all good. He spent the entire day with us, and it warmed my heart. He held and talked to me several times, stayed with my mother, even when she was asleep and not talking to him, holding her hand. He even talked to some of the mortals, remaining with his cover, but discussing some of the details about me.

He was...there.

My mind was blown. He went against Zeus, the king of the gods, and stayed with us anyway. All of these years, and I was wrong. In my cabin last year, I yelled at him for never being there, and said that even if there were no ancient laws, he wouldn't have stuck around. But I couldn't be more wrong. Even with the ancient laws, he tried to stick around.

Tried.

So what happened?

It all culminated on the day Mom and I were cleared to go home. Father held me in one arm and supported her in the other, walking out of the entrance sliding door. They were smiling at each other and talking about how excited they were.

"So it's true then. The mighty Hercules became a daddy."

It was a rough, deep voice, and it caught my father's attention immediately. My vision panned over to a man parked beside the sidewalk, sitting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He looked a lot like Talon, if Talon were bigger, meaner, and without the humor. He wore a sleeveless biker jacket with jeans and combat boots. Two shotguns were on his Harley, in holsters next to the seat. He wore thick sunglasses and had short black hair, spiked up like a soldier in the military.

Father glared at him and stepped in front of us a little, my mother now noticed the man, and her eyes were written with worry.

"Herc, who...is that?" She asked.

"Ares." Father growled.

Made sense that it was Ares, that's who I thought it was. The bike, the getup, the attitude. Yep, that's the god of war. Percy told me about him, and how he was a grade A jerk.

Ares smirked menacingly and stepped off the bike, walking over to us with big steps, "Big bad Hercules with a little baby and chick. Oh how times have changed. You used to be cool, man. Ripping heads off monsters and breaking mountains and shit." He chuckled, "Now you're playing 'Little House on The Prairie' it seems."

"You know nothing about me." Father said, "Now get lost."

Ares clicked his tongue, "See that's the problem, brother. I'm here on Zeus's orders. Had to check up on you, make sure you were doing what he told you to do." He shrugged like it was unfortunate, but it was obvious he was enjoying this. "Turns out you're not. Guess I have to kill them."

Mom gasped and Hercules put a protective arm around her, "Touch her and you die, soldier boy."

Ares laughed, "I die? I don't think you realize who you're talking to, hero. Zeus specifically said, 'if he disobeyed me, then kill his family.' So here I am."

"The problem lies with me, right? Then let's settle this. Don't involve them."

Ares thought about it, "Like a fight? You and me?" He snickered, like the idea was cute. "Sounds fun, but I'm afraid it's unfair. I've been an Olympian for millennia, and you've been a minor god for what? A few centuries?"

Hercules shrugged, "Sounds like it's in your favor then. Why refuse? Unless the god of war is afraid?"

A vein on Ares's head popped and his eye twitched under his sunglasses. I could tell my dad hit a nerve. Ares put on a fake smile, "Alright then, but don't say I didn't warn you." He walked over to his Harley and pulled out the two shotguns, raising them suggestively. "Classic or modern?"

Hercules formed his club in his hand, "Classic. You know I don't mess with that gun shit."

Ares laughed, and the shotguns morphed into two long swords, both equally deadly looking. "Neither do I, but they look cooler on my bike."

Father didn't' take his eyes off of Ares, but he handed me over to my mom and whispered to her, "Take Matt and get out of here. Things are about to get bad."

Mom looked hesitant, but she glanced at the intimidating Olympian on the sidewalk, spinning his sword around like a baton, and thought it a good idea to run.

She grabbed his face and forced him to face her. She stood on her toes and kissed him, "I love you."

He smiled tenderly at her, "I love you too. Now go."

She took off with me in her arms. The mortals didn't notice a thing. The mist hiding the event.

Ares mockingly awed. "How sweet. Last words to his lover. Almost makes me want to spare you."

Father gripped his club, "We do this away from the mortals. This is between us only."

Ares snorted and charged my father, "You don't order me around! Screw the mortals!" He jumped up ten feet in the air and swung the two swords down at my father, who blocked both of them with his club, the weapons were now horizontal to each other.

A shockwave burst from the clash, and they held the struggle for a few seconds.

Father leaned in closer, "My terms, Ares!" He kneed him in the gut, and the god of war folded over. Father took this chance to grab him by the head and let the Red Aura envelop him. He jumped in the air and took Ares with him, both gods flying in the sky at light speed. The Red Aura looked like a comet falling from Space. Eventually they landed in Upstate New York, where the countryside's were. Yeah, they went that far, and somehow I kept up with my consciousness.

Hercules threw him mid air to the ground, and Ares entered it, digging a hundred foot deep tunnel with his head. Father landed in front of the crater, his formal clothes melting with the aura and replacing it with a Greek chiton made of animal hide, covered up with the same sleeveless chestplate that I had.

They were in an empty farm field, I assumed. The grass was short and miles wide, no buildings in sight. I guessed dad spotted this and thought it the best place where mortals wouldn't stumble into.

A blast of energy erupted from the crater, and more dirt flew from it. Ares jumped up and landed fifty feet parallel to my dad, his own biker clothes disintegrating away, being replaced by Greek armor, save for a helmet. Instead of a helmet, his hair was lit aflame, each short strand turning into an orange kindle. His sunglasses shattered and his eyes grew hot, little circles of fire erupted in them, making them appear as tiny nuclear bombs almost.

Ares smiled like a madman and shot at my father, disappearing from normal view. I kept up fine, and saw the whole thing. Ares's aura and my father's aura clashed back and forth, slamming into each other like light speed bumper cars. Ares had a similar aura to my father and I, only his aura was a darker shade of red, kind of like blood, while ours was a lighter shade. The double swords clanged and bashed against my father's club, the ground and land beneath them crumbled before the fight. Craters the size of a Walmart formed, trees were blown from their roots, fences were disintegrated, and several wind storms emerged out of nowhere. An Olympian level god and an actual Olympian fighting caused quite the damage, it turned out.

But my father was stronger. I could tell. I read auras even through memories or visions, and I knew that dad wasn't going all out. He wasn't using his true red Aura, he was simply using some of it, while Ares was really giving some effort. My father would parry his blows, and stay on the defensive, knocking away attacks that could probably destroy the entire planet, if hitting it directly.

Finally, Dad had enough. A loud primal roar escaped his mouth and he swung his club like a baseball bat, shattering the dual swords Ares wielded. Ares's eyes widened in surprise and he paused for a split second too long. His mistake. Dad brought his fist back and his true power enveloped it. The red light connected with Ares's face and the god of war crumpled from it, being thrown back several hundred feet, his face sunken in.

After a few seconds of tumbling and uprooting truckloads of soil, Ares stopped and lay face first in the dirt. Dad jumped in the air and landed in front of him, looking down.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with me, Ares." He said, "Looks like Zeus picked the wrong man for the job."

He bent down and picked Ares up by his head, and when he did, both he and I saw that the god was smiling wickedly, Ichor spread out from his wound to the face. Dad raised a confused eyebrow at why he was smiling, but then it happened.

Faster than both of us could even react, or expect, a long, thick, black spike burst from Ares's back and stabbed my father through the gut. The thing itself looked identical to a spider's leg, only less hair and sharper. It cleared all the way through my Dad's stomach, and he doubled over with a shout of pain. Ichor dripped from both Ares's back, where the leg had jutted, and from my father's new stab wound.

He fell to one knee, and Ares stood above him, smirking, "Don't speak too soon, hero. Must've forgot about these little things, huh? Can't blame you, not many people force me to bring them out." His face strained, and he groaned in pain a little. As he did, three more of the black spider legs emerged from his back, tearing skin and spewing ichor by the cupful's. Ares bellowed and the legs stretched themselves. I was honestly kind of disgusted. I never knew Ares had an ability like this. What even was this attack? How did he get legs inside of his body?

The black leg inside of my father pushed further, expanding the wound. He howled in agony, and Ares grinned, loving every minute.

"You think you're better than the rest of us? Than me? Why should you get to spend time with your kid? What the hell have you done to deserve that?"

Father tried to speak, but ichor poured from his mouth instead, and he coughed it out.

Ares laughed, "Oh well, no last words then." He raised the black legs, and they all simultaneously threw themselves at Hercules like spears. If one leg was able to bring him to his knees...then three more would just about do him in.

But Father surprised me. He must've been faking it, or he was just that tough. Because he did the most badass thing I had probably ever seen in response to Ares's attack. He caught the two legs parallel to his shoulders in his hands, and stopped them. The third one was aimed at his face, and instead of dodging it...my father caught it in his mouth, and bit down on it.

"AGHH!" Ares cried, "Let go, you bastard!"

Father growled and bit down as hard as he could, shattering the leg. Ares's screams shook the area for miles, and disoriented him from attacking any further. Hercules took this chance, and headbutted the Olympian square in the nose, and delivered a devastating knee to his sternum. Father slid his hands down the legs and reached over to grab them at their stems, right at Ares's back where they sprouted. He gripped them, and his hands turned red from his aura.

"Time for an amputation!" He shouted gruffly, and ripped the legs clean off of the god's body. Ichor sprayed everywhere like a sprinkler turned all the way up, covering the green grass with golden liquid. Ares couldn't even scream in pain anymore, his mouth just stayed open and a few croaks would escape. His flaming eyes and aura disappeared and he fell to the ground, barely conscious.

Father held the black legs in his hand, each one as long as he was tall. They writhed and squirmed in his grip, reminding me of lizard's tails, and how they still move after they've been removed from the reptile. Father crushed them in his fists like soft avocados, and they stopped squirming. He threw them to the ground, and the stems only started to leak more ichor.

Ares coughed, and my father grabbed him by the throat. He delivered a punch to his face, several times, until the Olympian's head was buried in the grass. Before long, Ares was near unrecognizable, and his face was pretty beaten. Father stopped his onslaught, and started to wipe the Ichor off of his hands and face, but decided to leave it.

He threw Ares's body over his shoulder, and looked off into the distance, glaring at something only he could see. He whistled loudly, and a caw sounded from the clouds above. They soon parted, and a brown figure came from them. Kyros.

The great eagle swooped down swiftly, his body the size of an African Elephant. Father didn't even miss a beat, and Kyros didn't even land. Father just threw the god on Kyros's saddle as he flew by, and the bird took off. Father ran a few steps, and leapt up, lining up perfectly with his pet, he landed on his back about fifty feet up.

"Kyros...take me to Olympus." He said.

Kyros obeyed, and sped up to max speed.

The vision/memory shifted to Olympus, back at the palace. Instead of taking the elevator, Father and Kyros simply flew straight at the roof like a falling bullet. The minor gods and spirits that inhabited Olympus looked up in fear, and started running to avoid my father's wrath. It was insane. With the way he was flying towards the palace, face contorted with rage, you would think he was about to lead an attack on the City.

"Run through it, buddy!" Father ordered, and Kyros responded. He cawed, and his caw sounded like a stereotypical eagle call, only much sharper and louder. The Eagle tucked his wings in and began to corkscrew in mid air, getting to the point where he was a spinning blur. Finally, his beak connected with the roof of the palace, and they broke right through, creating a massive hole in it and sending rubble bouncing off the floor.

I was utterly impressed. Not just at my father's boldness and bravery to do what he just did, but of Kyros's loyalty. If there was any confusion about whether or not that bird would do anything for my father, the debate was over. He would attack the palace of Olympus right alongside him, and face his creator, Zeus. If I don't have a pet like that, then I don't want one.

They landed on the floor with a BANG! Zeus was the only one in the room, and had sensed my father coming. He was already standing up, not even in front of his throne, but in the very middle of the twelve. He had his hands behind his back.

Father jumped off Kyros and threw the nearly dead Ares at Zeus's feet. The god of war twitched and croaked in pain. His back was riddled with four soccer ball sized holes, where the black legs came from. They were still oozing ichor.

Zeus looked down at him, then at my father in anger. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Father and Kyros stood side by side, parallel to Zeus, both of them looked angry at the king, and rightly so. I was too. I kind of liked Zeus, since he helped us out last year with Ouranos, but sending Ares to try and kill my Family? Including my mom? That was downright awful.

"Sending my own brother after me, huh?" Father said disdainfully, "Couldn't face me yourself?'

Zeus's eyes flared with danger, "You will watch your tone, boy!"

But Hercules didn't back down, "You sent him to kill Tracy? And my son?! How dare you! I didn't think you were that much of a heartless monster!"

Zeus reared his head back, and looked genuinely surprised at the declaration. "I did no such thing! I merely told him to check on you, and if you had disobeyed me, to bring you to me! Not kill your family! Where did you get that nonsense?"

"He told me!"

Zeus gritted his white teeth and glared at Ares's body, "You will be punished for this, fool."

But Father was still furious, "That's besides the point! You still sent him after me!"

Zeus turned back to him, His tone now even. "Because I knew you would disobey me, and you did. You spent the following day with that mortal and your child. After I told you to return to your Island."

Hercules clenched his fists, "I don't want to go back. I won't go back! Not after this. You tried to have me killed." The Red Aura flared around him and shook the palace.

Zeus stepped forward slightly, "Don't do this, son. I don't want to hurt you. I know the ancient laws are unfair, but it is in place to keep this planet balanced! This entire universe balanced!"

Father was hearing none of it, he bared his teeth and shouted at Zeus, "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" His club formed in his hand, and Kyros bent down, wings outspread beside his body. His eyes narrowed and he let out a sheer call of aggression. Both my father and the bird charged the King of the Olympians, the most powerful Greek god.

I knew it wouldn't turn out in their favor, but damn...they were brave in doing so.

Father and Kyros were in the air, charging at Zeus. Father's Red Aura was all around him, lighting up the entire room. The club was above his head in both of his hands, his voice roaring at his father. Kyros's wings were tucked in like before, and his head and beak were aimed at Zeus.

Zeus himself just looked at them, and sighed. "As you wish." He raised his hand, and a brilliant blue light shot from it. The memory went solid black, and the loudest crack of thunder I'd ever heard echoed from it.

The green light from the pool came back, and the experience ended.

I pulled my head from the water quickly, and felt the drops of it fall on the floor. Heavy clumps of hair lay in my face, but I ignored it. That was the least of my thoughts right now. I had just witnessed so much, so many...insane things.

"Matt, are you okay?" Sigurd asked, still here.

I had forgotten all about him, all about everyone to be honest. I was so focused on the memory, it felt like I was in a movie theatre, watching a horror movie. I'd seen more events for sure, but I was left unsatisfied, I still didn't have the answer. What happened to my father that caused him to stay away? Was it that? Zeus sent him back after the Ares incident?

Out of the blue, Harper's voice entered my mind. The words she said last night.

"Have you asked Hercules? He's right there, on that ship."

Well now he was right here, in this Camp. Maybe she was right, the best way to get the truth, the answers that I sought and wanted so bad...was just to have a heart to heart.

Sigurd waved a hand in my face, "Matt, answer me. Are you okay?"

I looked at him and nodded, wiping water and hair from my face, "Um...yeah, I think so. I just saw...a lot."

Sigurd studied me, then nodded seriously. I appreciated him not prying, or asking what I saw. He could've, and I probably would've told him, but he didn't, and I silently thanked him for it. We could share personal information tomorrow. Right now, I needed to have a talk with my dad.

"Sigurd, I need to talk with my group. Is it okay if we end the meeting?"

He nodded, "Of course. We were done anyways. I'll meet you at the longhouses tomorrow morning at sunrise."

I smiled, and began to walk down the stairs. But not before turning back, a question on my tongue. "Hey, do you by any chance have a barber in this Camp?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Well...Arya cuts hair well. Why, do you want a haircut?"

I nodded in relief, wanting to hear the words haircut for so long. "Gods, yes. This isn't how I normally keep my hair, it got this way because I've been on an Island for over a year."

"Oh...I see. Well, if you want, she can cut it before we leave."

I nearly ran across the Camp and hugged his wife, but I figured that would be weird, so I restrained myself. "Yeah...that would be perfect. If it's no trouble for her, I don't want to have her get up before she normally does."

Sigurd snorted, "Are you kidding? That woman gets up before I do. And I'm the Chief, so that probably looks bad, but I don't care."

I snickered. Maybe Sigurd had a sense of humor after all. Our mission together in the cavern tomorrow would be very interesting.

I waved at him, and walked down the stairs, "See you in the morning."

He nodded in response, and walked back to the war table.

Took me a few tries, but I finally found where we were staying.

Turns out there's a guest longhouse, or well, a longhouse that demigods stay in when they first arrive at this Camp. Apparently it's kind of like how the Hermes cabin at Camp used to be. Unclaimed demigods stayed there until they got claimed. Well here, things are different. Norse demigods in this part of the world know who their parent is, but sometimes they either get knocked out, or hurt by a monster, and they can't speak, due to trauma, or the fact that they're unconscious. So they stay in the guest longhouse until they feel comfortable with moving in with their siblings, if they have any. See, I didn't know this, and knocked on literally every single longhouse but ours. Kids from all sorts of gods answered, and looked at me like I was crazy. Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed.

I finally recognized our quarters at the very end by Arya standing in the doorway, her long blonde hair sticking out in the snow. The hut was the same as the others, but there was no symbol above the door, and it wasn't too neat. Like it looked fine, but there were a couple of splits and rots in the wood, so it seemed they didn't keep this thing up to code too often.

I approached her, "Hey. Arya, right?"

She turned and smiled, "And you must be Chief of the Greek Camp. Matt. Nice to meet you. Sigurd has went on and on about you, and his high expectations. Honestly, it's a bit weird."

I probably blushed, not expecting to hear that. "Oh uh, well, that's good. I...um, hope to live up to those expectations, ma'am."

Ma'am? Oh here we go. Looking like an idiot in front of important people is my specialty.

She only laughed at my blabber, finding it cute. "No need to be formal. And I'm not that old! I imagine we are the same age."

I scratched my neck, like I usually do when I'm nervous, "Well, how old are you?" Probably shouldn't have asked that, and waited for her to tell me. Mom always said to never ask a woman her weight or age. But I just did, oops.

Arya didn't seem to mind, "I'm twenty."

I chuckled, "Uh no, we aren't the same age. I'm sixteen."

She gawked. "Odin's beard! You're only sixteen?!"

Odin's beard? Okay then, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Greeks say stuff like Holy Hephaestus all the time.

"Yeah"

"Wow. You must be quite capable to be the leader at such a young age."

I shrugged, "Oh, I don't know about that..."

A silence ensued, and she looked back and forth between me and my friends inside the longhouse. "Well, I'll let you all rest. A lot to do tomorrow."

I nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good."

Arya walked off towards the house I left. So her and Sigurd must live together. Makes sense.

I broke my gaze when she cleared the corner and left my sight. I turned to the longhouse and faced my friends. It looked basically identical to a cabin at Camp, only longer and more narrow. Everybody sat on their own bed, about six feet parallel to each other. My father's weight was bending his, so he was kind of sitting on the ground.

When they all saw me they shot up and bombarded me with questions.

"How'd it go?"

"What did he say?"

"Are we gonna work together?"

"Do you know if any of those huntresses are single?"

Okay, that last one was Talon. I shoved him on the shoulder, and held my hands up for some space, "Guys! Give me a little room here, huh?"

They nodded and muttered apologies, sitting back on their beds. I took a deep breath and began to tell our plan to everyone. First, I told them that Sigurd and I planned to go to "Dead Man's Cavern" tomorrow at sunrise, and that we would clear a potential path to Ouranos's base.

Talon interrupted, "Why not just attack from the air? We can use Kyros."

"Yeah but Kyros can't carry every Norse demigod" I responded. "And besides, Ouranos has air defense down pat. We can't penetrate it."

He took that as a no, and gestured for me to continue. I went on about how Malachi, Hercules and Talon were to stay here, in case of a raid. They seemed cool with that, and there were no objections. Then I told the girls about the mysterious rumbling, the missing scouts, and how the Huntresses were going tomorrow, and they would be joining them.

Sera clapped happily, "Yay! I like Arya! She is very nice."

Harper didn't look so joyous. "So we're gonna join the Viking girls club? Fantastic."

I chuckled and nudged her, "Come on, it won't be that bad. Who knows, you and those girls might become pen pals."

She mockingly laughed and stuck her tongue out.

I turned to everyone else, "After all of that, Sigurd said we'll talk more on the actual invasion itself. But first we gotta clear the way."

Malachi leaned forward on his bed, "What is in this cavern that it requires both you and him to go together? Surely nothing that powerful will merely sit in a cave."

Talon snorted and slapped Malachi hard on the back, "You been paying attention, dude? This is a weird world we live in. Gods and monsters are nuts, so why would the Norse be any different?"

"Regardless" I said, raising my voice. "We're both going, to play it safe. I know next to nothing about Norse Mythology, so going with Sigurd makes perfect sense. He'll be able to identify whatever the monster or...thing is."

"But he cannot identify this strange rumbling?" Sera asked innocently.

I shrugged, "Apparently not. But whatever it is, can shake mountains by simply growling. Sounds like something Typhon could do."

I winced a little as the memory replayed in my mind. I was back on the Cursed Island, fighting the possessed Malachi. Partly by Typhon, the most powerful monster in Greek Mythology. This guy made Cerberus and the Minotaur look like fleas. Heck, it took Zeus himself to beat him a few thousand years ago.

I hadn't really fought him. I sort of borrowed my dad's godly power and blocked a punch from the beast, and barely did even that. My body, even with the god boost, was about to be shattered against Typhon's strength. The only fraction of damage that I inflicted on him was cutting of his toe, and even that was when he was off guard.

Talon tapped an invisible computer in the air, like he was trying to sort out something. "Is there a Norse equivalent of Typhon?" He asked, looking around to see our faces, "I mean, let's put power aside, and simply go by the rankings. If Odin's Zeus, and Thor's this guy." He pointed at my dad, "Freyja's Aphrodite, Tyr's Ares, and all of that junk. Then who's Typhon- or well, what's Typhon?"

"Why does it matter?" Sera chirped.

"Because maybe it can help figure out what kind of thing lurks in that mountain." Malachi informed softly.

We all stayed silent for a moment, and my mind was temporarily taken off of the vision. I was curious myself as to what could be in that mountain. Like I said, clueless on Norse mythology, so I had no guesses.

Harper leaned on her knees and looked at my dad, "So does the god in the room have an idea?"

We all looked at him, and he noticed, scoffing. "What, just cause I'm a lot older than you I'm supposed to know Norse mythology?"

We all said simultaneously, "Yeah."

He deadpanned and sighed, "Fine. I'm not well versed or anything, but I do know of a monster that may take the cake."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's a serpent." He said, "The Midgard Serpent."

Talon raised an eyebrow, "Midgard?"

"It means Earth, loosely." Father said, "The Norse believe that there are nine worlds, and the one where Earth is, is Midgard. The Snake is called that because they say that it's as big as the Earth itself...maybe even bigger."

My eyes widened. How could a monster be that big? Or any creature, for that matter? Jeez, even Typhon wasn't that big. Where the heck would this snake even hide?

Beneath the Earth...

I raised a finger, "Wait, so you're saying that this Earth Snake...is underneath the surface, inside of the planet?"

Father shrugged, "It's a possibility. I ain't saying anything."

We all didn't say anything, and simply tried to imagine a monster like that. I mean, that was...crazy, right? A freaking snake as big as the planet? Nah, there was no way.

I shook my head, "Look, Midgard Snake or whatever, I need to talk to you, Dad. If you don't mind."

He looked a little surprised, and stood up, his head touching the ceiling. "Perfect timing, cause I wanted to talk to you."

Huh? What did he want to talk about? Was he seeing the same things as me? Or did he have an idea of what I was going to say?

"Oh...uh, sure." I said, and stepped to the side, letting him walk through. "What about?"

"I was thinking someplace more private." He said, looking down at me as he walked by. "C'mon."

He walked out of the door and I started to follow, but before I could put my foot out of the longhouse, Harper grabbed my hand.

I turned and saw her looking up at me with a concerned blue eye. "You good?" She said.

I smiled and squeezed her hand, "Yeah, positive. I just gotta talk to him about something."

She nodded and let go, "Tell me later, okay?"

"I will" I promised, and followed my father out the door. He was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed and looking at the now night sky.

I swung my arms absentmindedly and approached him, "So...what did you want to talk about?"

He didn't break his gaze, "Not here. Let's take Kyros and fly for a minute."

My body tingled in anxiousness. What the heck did he have to say that we had to fly off somewhere?

"Alright then, I think Sigurd said he was in the wolf den."

Father put his fingers to his mouth and let out a low whistle, not as loud as usual. There weren't as many campers outside as before, since it was probably late, and most of them were asleep. I supposed he wanted to be quieter.

Kyros heard it clearly, and trotted over to us, a low noise escaping his beak.

"Come on, bud." Father told him, and hopped on his back. I did too, and kneeled down behind him.

Kyros took a few steps in a circle, and then launched off the ground, shooting into the sky. I had no idea what the other Campers thought, and if they might think we were trying to leave or something, but if they did, I didn't know. Nothing happened, and we flew freely away from Camp.

It wasn't that far. We only flew for about two minutes, but it was far enough that Camp Asgard looked like an ant in the distance. Kyros landed on an uninhabited flat mountaintop, and we both hopped off, our boots sinking half a foot in the snow.

If I didn't have that vision on my mind, I would've enjoyed this a lot. All around us, there were dozens of bigger and smaller mountains, each one covered with patches of thick snow. I saw the water that we came in on Greybeard's ship, as it widened from the bottom of the Camp's mountain, it looked a little like a triangle.

"Nice view." Father said, breaking my trance.

"Yeah" I breathed.

He pointed up, "Check that out."

I followed his guidance, and nearly lost my breath. The sky was tinted with green wisps, like the northern lights. It was a really incredible thing to see. There were practically no clouds in the sky, and the moon was nearly full. It's gray illumination perfectly clashed with the green colors, giving off a combination of the two. I had seen beautiful sunsets before, but this might just be the greatest scenery I'd ever seen.

"Whoa..." I sighed, "Holy shit, that's amazing. What is that?"

He shook his head, a smile on his face, "I have no idea, but it's pretty damn cool."

We stood like that a moment, with his finger still pointed at the sky. It was a wholesome moment, but the memory of what I saw came flooding back to me, and I couldn't help but see my father in a new light, and feel tremendous guilt.

I just came right out and said it, "Dad...I saw a vision, of you and mom."

His face fell from happy to gloomy in an instant. His finger dropped to his side. "Did you?"

"Yeah. It was after my birth. You...you came to visit her, and you made a promise."

He lowered his head and looked at the water below, not saying a word. I could see a thousand emotions pass his face. But I saw one above the others, and it mirrored mine. Guilt.

"You saw...all of it?" He asked defensively.

"Yeah." I muttered, "That, Olympus, the Ares fight, and...Zeus." I said the last god's name with a particular distaste. After seeing his actions in the vision, I wasn't a big fan of his right now.

Father sighed and put a hand to his forehead, "I shouldn't have made that promise. I knew I wouldn't have been able to keep it. But...I wanted to, Matt. I wanted to be with you and your mother."

I turned completely to face him, "What happened after that? How did you end up back on the Island?"

"Well I left in the first place because I was just sick of it. I was tired of the isolation, the loneliness. I mean, Kyros is great, the best pet anyone could ask for. But...I needed something more, I needed a mortal. Someone who understood." He smiled wistfully, a decade of longing in his eyes, "And by fate, or whatever you would call it, I met your mother. By Olympus, what a woman. The most beautiful, the most kind." He softly laughed and added, "The toughest."

His tone displayed how much he missed her. He was genuinely torn to shreds that he couldn't have seen her again. More guilt washed over me and I wanted to kick myself in the face for not bringing him to see her in the hospital right away. I was so naïve, I had no idea. I promised myself that when we got back, that's the first place we would go.

He continued, his smile melting. "After I foolishly charged Zeus, he defeated Kyros and I with one single attack. We were unconscious, but not killed. I suppose he couldn't bring himself to do it. Either way, I woke up the next day on my Island, with Kyros next to me. Back where I started."

I gritted my teeth so hard that they practically grinded, "Bastard. How can he just pry you away from your family? And force you somewhere you don't want to be?"

He put up a calming hand, "Don't blame Zeus, Matt. I forgave him years ago. It wasn't his fault, he was just doing his job as the King. I've spoken to him since, and he told me it pained him to do that, but he had to. I know he did, and I don't blame him." Father grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look him in the eyes, "Matt, I've told you before...but I wasn't a good person, back then. When I was a hero, doing all of the things you hear stories about, I wasn't a noble man. I didn't kill monsters because I wanted to help innocent people, or to do the right thing. I killed them because I wanted fame and glory, nothing more. I know they'd never say it, but the Olympians put me on that Island as punishment. A taste of my own medicine. And I deserved it."

"I get that, but you should be taken off!" I said incredulously, "You should be allowed off the Island! You changed when you met my mom! You're a good person, god, whatever!"

He chuckled humorlessly, "I'm afraid a lifetime of anti heroism outweighs a few years of good, son. But I also told you I don't care about those stupid ancient laws. I plan on staying by your side, whatever it takes."

I couldn't believe it. Even after the vision, seeing and hearing what Zeus did to him, how they reacted, Father was still willing to stick with me. Because he wanted to. He really wanted to.

I couldn't help it. Seeing the visions and hearing him now, knowing how wrong I had been about him all along. I couldn't help but feel my eyes sting. I fought back the tears and kept them in my ducts. But I felt my body rush forward and hug my father.

He was taken by surprise, as he grunted from the near tackle I gave him. He started chuckling though, and returned the hug.

"I'm..." I said, my voice breaking, "I'm so sorry. For all those years of blaming you, and hating you. I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

He gently pushed me away and ruffled my hair, a warm smile on his face. "Don't beat yourself up, Matt. You didn't know. And besides, I deserved it. I wasn't there, and I should've been."

I backed up a little, "You have to stay with us, Dad. I can't let you go back to the Island. I won't let them make you. I'll...I'll help you fight them, whatever it takes."

He laughed at my proposition, "It'll take a lot more than us to even scratch Zeus, son. No, I don't plan on that ever again. I...think I have an idea on how I can stay, though."

"What is it?" I asked, interested.

He smiled, "I was...well, I was thinking, what if I became Director of Camp Half Blood?"

I had to process what he just said. No way did he just propose that.

"Wh-What?" I said, my mouth nearly to the snow below us.

"I'm serious. Chiron's...gone, Jackson and Chase have been through a lifetime of trouble, going to the deepest pit of hell and back, which might I add, they're the only demigods to ever do." He shook his head in amazement. "They're tired, let's face it. They gotta focus on school."

"And Dionysus?" I blurted, not really giving a crap about the wine god.

Father snorted, "What about him? Pshh, if he wants to stick around, he can. If not, then screw him, I can handle it by myself."

It was too good to be true. I mean, my father leading Camp Half Blood? It made...a lot of sense actually, and it was honestly the best plan to let him stay with me. I was elated at the idea. We could spend literally so much time together, and finally be a normal family. Oh man...we could visit mom every couple of days.

"Camp needs a leader" Father said, "And if I ask Zeus, give him my reasons...then he just might let me do it. There's really no logical reason to say no."

"What about the Island?" I asked, not wanting to say it, but it was the only flaw in the plan. "Who's going to guard Ancient Greece?"

He waved a dismissive hand, "Have some minor god in the city do it. There's literally hundreds of them, just being lazy. Each of them ain't weaklings though, as most of them could probably level this mountain area if they wanted to. All Zeus has to do is change one or two titles to 'guardian of Ancient Greece' send them to the Island, and voila, my replacements."

I was stunned by how well planned this was, and how fluently he talked about it. He's obviously been thinking about this over the course of the quest.

"You'd...actually be okay with that?" I said, all of the tiny uncertainty leaving my body, "I mean, what if he says no?"

"Of course I'd be okay with it. And if he says no...well, he's gonna have to kill me. Because that's what it's gonna take to keep me from you and your mom. I wanna see her too. Maybe get Apollo and see if he can heal her, or improve her condition somehow. We'll find a way."

I couldn't believe my ears. Each word was like music. Mom, condition improve, those two rang in my head, and I imagined the three of us, all getting ice cream together. For some reason, that's the activity that I picked, because Mom and I would do that all the time, whatever flavor I wanted, I could get. But this time I saw myself older, and Dad was there, with his own giant cone of chocolate. He and Mom were holding hands, and I was walking beside him, smiling at the two.

It was amazing, to say the least.

I grinned genuinely from from ear to ear, probably the happiest I had ever been. "I'd...I'd love that, Dad. You'll make an awesome Camp director."

He chuckled, "I don't know about that, but I'll certainly try."

And just like that, I had something else to look forward to. After this invasion on Ouranos, we'd defeat him, and this war would finally be over. We could all go back to Camp, Harper and I would go on dates, be a normal couple, and finally...my father as Camp director. Things couldn't be looking up more. Believe me, I know things usually don't happen the way I want it, and last year I got burned the same way. But now...with Camp Asgard on our side, things seemed possible of turning around.

My cheeks started to hurt from the smiling, "So...what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I hate to follow up that talk with this, but we don't have long before this invasion. So I'd best get on with telling you."

"Okay"

He sighed, "I've just been noticing your power, and how you've grown as a leader. Son...you've surpassed me in raw strength."

I already knew that, by aura sense. But hearing Dad say it...it truly hit me, and a sense of pride dripped in me like water. I fought the smirk on my face down.

He continued, "But there's one technique that I haven't taught you yet, and until you've learned it, you haven't truly surpassed me."

My face untensed, "Technique?" Then I remembered the way he shot that beam at the Sons of Thor in Kansas, and how he extracted energy from me when I was possessed by Ouranos. My eyes widened in realization, "Wait a second, you mean that beam technique? And the energy sucking thing?"

"Well, yeah actually. But those two tie in together." He stepped closer and started to gesture with his hands, "See, the way the technique works is simple on paper. You take energy from other living things, and gather it into a point of your body. For this attack, that would be your hands. Once you have the desired amount of energy, you release it, and unleash a devastating blow."

I shook my head, "Hold on a second. You gather energy from other living things? Like steal it?"

He cocked his head, "Well...yes, you steal it. But aura replenishes, like wounds heal, so if you take it from plants or animals, don't worry about their condition. You'll be stealing the energy of your enemies mostly anyway, so you want to weaken them."

I was reminded heavily of that show Dragon Ball Z that I watched as a kid. Where the main hero had an attack that required him to gather energy from all living things, unwillingly. The attack was his strongest I think, and I remembered always being excited when it appeared. Now that was reality.

"So after you steal it, you use it?"

He nodded, "You focus all of it into your hands, and unleash it. If done correctly Matt, and you gather a lot of energy, combined with your own...you could deliver an attack capable of destroying the universe. Or on a being of the same power, it would seriously damage them, and probably turn them to ash."

With every word I was growing more and more interested, and more in awe. Holy shit, an attack capable of destroying the entire universe? Me? Me with that kind of power?

"What do you mean, being of the same power?" I asked.

He elaborated, "A Universal level being. For instance, this attack would put you on equal grounds as guys like Hades, Poseidon, Atlas...and Ouranos."

"Ouranos?"

He nodded.

"Holy shit..." I said with a whisper.

"Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying your raw power will be on that level, I'm saying that your attack will be on that level. So don't think you can go toe to toe with these guys on your own. The attack would be your only real shot."

"I understand" I said, a little impatiently, "How do I do it?"

He got in position, and put his hands out in front of him, aimed at me, "We're gonna start small. The key of this, is to use your aura sense, as much as you can with it. Enhance it to it's highest level, until you can feel the other aura mix with your own, and it becomes unrecognizable to tell the difference." He tightened his lips in concentration, and I felt a small tingle shoot up my neck, and a chill go over the rest of my body.

Father smirked, "Done. Now, you have to activate the Red Aura." He did, and it burst all around him. "Done. Now this is the hard part. You have to let the other energy become your own, and you have to extract it. That means pulling it out of their bodies. Using your sense, your going to feel a sort of force, and you'll be able grab it. It's difficult to keep ahold of it though, but that is the key. Once you do that, it might take some time for you, since your new to it, but eventually, the energy will be yours."

He began to put it into action, doing it effortlessly. He had definitely mastered this technique, and had practiced it for centuries. I felt some of my energy seep away in small fractions. I saw the red mist leave my body and float quickly through the air, like it was going into a vacuum cleaner. My father's hands became bright red, growing more and more as the energy overlapped. His aura rose with it, and it became much larger than before.

He stopped taking energy, and turned to face the sky above. "Now, as your taking in the energy, you need to push your own aura against it in your hands. That way the two mix, and all of it focuses in that one point. You need to release the attack from your palms. Remember that, Matt. From your palms, like so."

He gritted his teeth and released the attack towards the water below. Like a beam of light from the sun, it shot immediately at it, and connected. I couldn't have discerned it from a massive bomb underwater. Millions of gallons of water and waves flew in the air, hundreds of feet high, creating a mountain wide hole in the sea. If that had been aimed at a mountain, it would've easily disintegrated it, and that was only a tiny sliver of energy. I could feel it, father had practically put nothing in that attack.

His hands were steaming a little, but he didn't seem hurt. He turned to me, "That was child's play compared to what it can actually do at full power. But that's what you're gonna try. Nothing full blast yet, or it could backfire, and kill you."

I gulped, "Alright, I'm ready to give it a shot."

He nodded, "Remember Matt, aura sense, feel the other energy, extract, and push at the same time. Keep it in your hands, always in your hands."

"Okay" I said nervously, and bent my knees a little, putting my arms in front of me, palms facing my father.

"Sense my energy." He instructed, "More than you've ever sense before."

I reached out with it, and a ping went off in my head. I identified my father's suppressed aura, and tapped into it. Just like any other time.

"Uh, what do I do now?"

"Feel it deeper." He said, "Go further in the aura, push as hard as you can."

I nodded, and closed my eyes, putting all concentration on my Father's aura. It was working slowly, and I could feel it becoming the only thing in my attention. Deeper and deeper, I felt only it, and no longer could identify my own aura, all I felt was his.

He noticed it too, "Nice! You're catching on fast! Now extract it!"

I reached further with my mind for a few minutes, trying to find that force he talked about. It was almost getting to be too much. I can't exactly explain it, but it was like I was in a world of red, my ears kept ringing and I couldn't focus on any of the outside world. I was about to give up, when I noticed it, and my head throbbed. I felt the force.

I grabbed it mentally, and started to pull. My face strained and my teeth were grinding, I was probably letting out sounds I didn't want to. I peeked my eyes open and saw that the energy was actually coming to my hands, slowly but surely. I was doing it!

"That's it." Father said encouragingly, "Concentrate!"

I pulled and pulled, and felt my hands fill with power, my senses going haywire. There was a heat to it, and It felt like I had stuck my hands inside of a Campfire, but it wasn't painful, it was pleasingly warm.

"There!" Father said, "You've got it, now stop and turn to the water!"

I cut it off, and it stopped extracting. The red glow pulsed like a heartbeat in my hand, and gave off a lightsaber sounding noise, whirring and buzzing with energy.

I opened my eyes fully and saw it in my hand, bright and burning. I smiled and aimed at the water.

"Alright, Matt" Father said, excited and eyes wide with pride. "Shoot it!"

I thrust my arms, but it didn't release. My smile melted and I began to panic a little.

"Uh, Dad?"

His smile melted too, "You have to focus! Let it go, don't hold on to it! Concentrate on it leaving your hands!"

I shut my eyes and thrust again.

"No, Matt!" He shouted, and softened his tone. "Just calm down, and focus on releasing it, nothing to be afraid of."

I let my panic fade, and my mind soothe. I had to be calm, I had to let my rage work for me, not against me.

Let it go...

Release it.

With a slow exhale of air, I opened my eyes, and straightened my arms. I put every ounce of my will against the power in my hands, and released it.

The Red Beam left my palms and shot light speed to the ocean crater my father had just created. It crashed into the Earth and only deepened it several hundred meters, sending more water crashing everywhere and shaking the area. All of the aura I collected left me, and I was on one knee before I knew it, a chunk of my stamina gone. My hands were steaming and letting off tremendous heat.

Father came over and helped me up, "Matt, are you alright?"

I looked up at him and a weak smile came over my lips, "Did I do it?"

He laughed and pulled me in a bone crunching hug, "Did you do it?! My boy, you did it on the first freaking try! I can't imagine what you could do with a full powered attack!"

"Uh, Dad...you're cracking my spine."

He dropped me to the ground, "Oh right, sorry."

I pushed myself up, some of my energy replenishing. That attack was really something else, and I could feel that I had only gotten a little energy from him, and it did that much damage. I couldn't imagine extracting all of it, or even from two people. It would be a serious attack then, I knew it.

I yawned, and father chuckled, "It'll take a little practice, but as you use it more, you'll get used to it." He became serious again, "Not to say use it every chance you get. This isn't the case. Only use it when you need it, because it can overload you. Got it?"

I nodded, "Got it."

His smile returned and he clapped me on the shoulder, "Damn I'm proud of you, boy. Let's get back to Camp and get some sleep. You gotta get up early tomorrow." He jumped on Kyros, and I felt my heart swell a bit at his praise.

I hopped on behind him, "Thanks for the lesson, Dad. With this, Ouranos and those Sons of Thor don't stand a chance."

"Hell no they don't" He said, "And they'll see in a couple of days, they messed with the wrong people."

He tapped Kyros's neck, and signaled for him to take off. Kyros did, and kept the flight slow. I could see Camp Asgard approaching as we soared.

After a minute or so of silence, I asked the question that had been on my mind. And I already knew his answer, but I wanted to hear it from his mouth.

"Dad" I said, and he turned his head over his shoulder, "When we get back...will you come with me to visit mom?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, and turned his head back around. I wasn't sure if he'd heard me, because the silence was dragging on. I was about to nudge his shoulder and ask again when I felt a wet drop of liquid hit my right ear.

I looked at him and saw the line of a tear trace his cheek.

He cleared his throat, and replied to my question. "Matt, when we get home...that is the first thing we're doing. I swear it on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed overhead, sealing the promise.

(000)

Well everybody, I honestly didn't expect the chapter to be that long, but there were just so many things I wanted to include, so I just kept typing. And twenty thousand words later...we have our longest chapter so far lol. Oh well, it was a great one, if I do say so myself.

Not trying to brag, but I am very proud of this chapter, and this second book as a whole. I love the first, but I honestly think this one is even better, and one of the reasons is Hercules. It has been so exciting and interesting to write and explore his character. To actually make him a character, unlike in the canon books, which is fine, and not Rick's fault, since the focus was never on him. But this story has his name in it, so I wanted to definitely involve him and give him an arc. I hope that you all are enjoying it. I love writing his arc and he's become one of my favorites in this fic.

Sorry about the rambling, I'm just passionate about this story, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Anyway, next chapter will be in Harper's POV and we'll learn more about the Huntresses.

Until Next Time.