Alright everybody reading this, we've entered the second to last chapter of Book Two! That's right, this chapter right here, is the penultimate chapter of the second book. The invasion is raging and our heroes go up against the Big Four. Who's gonna win?

You'll find out, but first a couple of reviews.

RedX316: "Whoa, amazing fight and Hercules Red Beam Cannon was really cool too. Can't wait for the next chapter.

And a crossover with Zane Williams? The hype is real"

Response: Yes, the hype is very real. The crossover will be out soon! As soon as I finish this book. Glad you liked the chapter and the Red Beam Cannon from Hercules. Hope this one does you good too.

NiHaR OP: "Wow, my exams were going on so mu ffn was cut off, but amazing chap, Jormungandr battle was dope, my theory is that someone will die next chapter, well at least realistically i would be ok with anyone except Talon, well cant wait dor next chapter, hope u liked nvr bow down new chap, heh"

Response: Thanks man, glad you liked the fight. I read your new chapter and it was good, I left a review on there. Hope you like this one too.

thesuperone342: "Hell. Fucking. Yes.

This chapter was nothing short of honestly amazing. In terms of coolness, it probably is the coolest chapter in the entire fic. I mean Matt pulled a planet sized snake by it's tongue, threw it into space and Saitama punched it to death. It doesn't get more badass than that. Anyway, the other parts of the chapter were cool as well, with a great start up with Hercules Red Beam Cannoning the barrier, and the intro for the Sons of Thor and the Big Four. Can't wait for you to cover those fights in the next chapter, then finish things off with the Sons of Thor.
P.S. Is Matt going to start naming everything Red Aura 'Blank'? Because if he is, that's fucking hilarious lmao"

Response: Thanks bro, really glad you felt that way about it. I tried to make it as epic as possible, and I hope this chapter gives a similar feeling. Yes, the punch was dope, had a lot of fun writing it and it did remind me of Saitama. About Matt's attack names, I might actually make more attacks and name them "Red Aura" this, which would be funny and DBZ esque of me. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.

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.

Now then, on with the twenty eighth chapter.

28. We Battle The Big Four

Harper

When Matt got thrown towards the giant snake, I knew this invasion was going off the rails.

I felt a sort of sinking in my gut, a feeling that he was in danger. I turned and saw that bastard Bjorn grab him and throw him in the sky, straight at the Midgard Serpent.

I screamed and reached out to him, knowing that I couldn't grab him, but I did it anyway.

"Matt..." I said, barely above a whisper, my hand outstretched to the sky, his body a tiny speck now, as far away from me as he could be.

"Don't worry, Harper." I heard Levi say behind me, "Your boyfriend will be fine."

I turned and felt rage encompass my insides. I glared at my brother and clenched my knives as hard as I could. My entire body was shaking with anger.

"You son of a bitch" I growled.

There were no remnants of pain from our last battle. His posture was fine, and he didn't seem to have a limp in his leg. I guessed he took some ambrosia to heal himself. The ambrosia...that he intended to bring to me, probably.

My insult washed over him like nothing, "I'm aware Nemesis is a bitch, kiddo."

I wanted to slash him right here, and continue what we started at Griffith Manor, but the constant chaos around us kept anything from happening. There were shockwaves and Earthquakes all over the place, whether it be from Malachi, Matt and the Serpent, or Sigurd and Thor, they were everywhere. The Campers yelling and clashing with the Storm Spirits overtook my ears, I could hardly hear myself, let alone Levi.

The sound was getting to him as well. He winced in annoyance, "What do you say we take this somewhere more...private?"

I looked at him in confusion. What the hell was he talking about?

I was about to find out. He turned his head and shouted, "AXEL! LET'S TAKE THIS UNDERGROUND!"

The bulky Son of Hephaestus grinned wickedly and nodded in confirmation. I wasn't sure what they were getting at. Are we supposed to mosey on inside and take a little stroll downstairs, then fight to the death?

Apparently not. Axel reached behind his back with his long arms and grabbed a handful of Lava, coating his fists in it. He pulled them out and slammed them into the ground, spreading out lava in a forty foot radius, reaching all the way behind me. I felt warmth seep up from the surface and hit my skin, my boots were sinking gradually.

I looked up, eyes wide. They were trying to erase the ground below us, and literally take this under the surface.

Levi quickly stabbed his sword beside him on the ground, effectively destroying what little hold there was. I felt my footing go slack, and my entire stomach lurch upward. Landfills of melted snow and ice fell all around our descent.

I freefell for a few seconds in panic before gathering my senses, I tucked and rolled so that I would land flat footed on whatever was below. I looked down, and saw that the ground was made of metal. We must've been in a part of the base that we couldn't see from above.

Sera thrust her hand to her side and little white jets of light flashed for a moment, resulting in soft sheets of snow shooting out of her palm, rolling under where we fell.

I felt my legs sink into the pile of snow up to my thighs. I realized she softened my fall, along with Talon. I knew I could've survived the fall, but there was always that chance. I'd have to thank her later.

We all landed on the ground, the Big Four included. We all stood in a hallway like area, similar to something you'd see in a nuclear power plant, or a supermax prison. Two walls, a floor, and a broken roof surrounded us, all dark grey and slick metal. The only source of light was a few dim lanterns and the light from where we fell.

The Big Four all stepped closer together so they were standing side by side, about two feet in between each demigod. They hadn't changed a bit, they all still had their punchable faces.

Cherry, the Daughter of Hermes had her usual medium length hair, with one side buzzed and the other long, coming down to her neck. She was blonde, but had pink streaks in her hair, making her look like some prissy goth wannabe, or some alternate rock singer from the early two thousands. She had on a leather jacket similar to mine, only it was hot pink, like her hair, and white jeans on her bottom half, with vans sneakers. Gods, vans sneakers? How the hell does she run so fast in those things? Ugh, she was basically the opposite of me, but similar in a way, and that made me so annoyed. Especially her playful face, always smiling cheerfully, blowing bubble gum out of her mouth and popping it with her tongue every few seconds.

To her left, stood the Son of Athena, Grayson. He looked a lot like Annabeth, if Annabeth was a guy. He had short, military styled blonde hair, neatly trimmed and spiked up in the front. His face was very serious and condescending, like he was constantly trying to shout I'm smarter than you! To everyone he met. He wore Greek armor over a dark blue T-shirt and jeans, with a four foot celestial bronze sword at his waist. Basically, if you saw him at Camp, you'd never tell he was working for Ouranos. He had an average height, build, and he wore what Campers wore. He didn't stand out, and that's probably intentional on his part, all part of his strategy.

Moving down the line, to the next psycho, we had Axel. The big guy was huge, even taller and bigger than Levi. He was African American, and looked like somebody you'd see on TV playing for an NFL team. He was bald, and had a chiseled jawline, breaking the stereotype of Hephaestus kids being not good looking, or having disfigured faces, which isn't really true, but Axel definitely proved it. He wasn't bad looking at all, if he'd get rid of that constant evil smirk he had, and the bloodthirsty eyes he wore. Clothes wise, he only covered his lower half, with black fatigues and military laced boots. Around his torso, were two straps, meeting in the middle to make an X shape, they held two giant ceramic jugs of Lava. The jugs themselves were about as big as my entire body, and no doubt held a few hundred pounds of the fiery liquid.

Lastly, at the end of the line, parallel to me...was Levi. As my eyesight fell on him, he grabbed his black cloak and pulled it off, throwing it to the side on the ground. Under all of that cloth, he looked the same as he did when he left me at Griffith Manor. He had a massive frame, especially compared to the skinny, short boy that I once knew. Now he was a much bigger six foot two, had muscles as big as Matt's, and carried a sword that looked like something you'd see a dragonslayer carry in a fantasy series.

As for us, we stood in line together, three against four.

I had my knifes drawn, Talon held a sword instead of his usual revolver this time, maybe hoping some of that Nikandreos energy will come out of nowhere, and probably the fact that bullets don't work on these guys most of the time. Sera had her hands at her side, but they were emitting frost, signaling she could summon any amount of ice attacks in a second.

Levi sized us up, then focused on me. He gave a simple nod of his head, and gestured to the other three. "Let's finish this."

With that, the fight started.

Cherry and Talon were the quickest, with the daughter of speed immediately disappearing from view and shoulder tackling him, making him stumble. She didn't have a lot of weight, as she was a couple of inches shorter and even lighter than me, so her attacks wouldn't hold much damage. The problem was that she could do so many within a short period of time. She based against Talon a dozen more times in only a couple of seconds, and the latter, not able to feel pain, took it in stride, trying to find a way to hit her. He didn't have much time though, because while he was distracted, Grayson drew his sword and sliced at Talon, hitting him right in his neck. Had it been a normal demigod, the sword would've cut him open and killed him, but not Talon. Grayson's sword stopped right in it's tracks as if it had clanged on solid titanium, a golden spark flew from Talon's skin, something that I didn't miss. Grayson looked shocked at the lack of damage, but more annoyed the next moment. Both he and Cherry unleashed a furious attack on him, with the same strategy. She keeps him from attacking, and Grayson tries to kill him.

Sera and Axel were next. The Son of Hephaestus guffawed at the fight raging next to him, then popped his neck and knuckles audibly, turning to Sera. It was obvious that he wasn't taking her seriously, as his playful smile proved it. You would've thought he was about to wrestle with a puppy.

Big mistake, big guy.

He stepped slowly towards her, "I don't even need lava to beat you, sweetheart." He closed the distance, quicker than he looked, and threw a monstrous right jab at her face, the blow would've dented her skull and shattered her nose, but Sera was faster. She jumped back and summoned a thick ice wall in between them, taking the blunt of Axel's punch. His fist went through the wall, and it crumpled to the ground, but Sera was safe, and already another ten feet away from him.

She glared at him, "Not a chance."

I inwardly cheered for her, and wanted to help her kill the bastard, but I had my own problems.

Levi didn't strike at me. He kept his sword propped on his shoulder and walked towards me, making me back up with each step.

I felt a burning hate for him encompass my heart. How could he do this? After that moment at Griffith Manor, I thought…maybe he could change, maybe there was a sliver of the old Levi left, but…I guess I was wrong. Here he was, a part of this Invasion like the other three.

"Guess you didn't mean what you said, huh?"

He raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

I gritted my teeth. He was going to play dumb. "You know what I mean. Back at Griffith Manor, when you didn't take the final blow. You told me you'd get ambrosia for me and be right back." I spat on the ground where he was walking towards, "But no, like everything else, that was a lie too."

He stopped in his tracks, and tightened his lips. His scar rippled as it contorted, and I could see that he wanted to say a million things, but couldn't think of the words.

"I…came back for you, but you were gone, Harper." He shook his head, "That was a mistake though. I'm glad Matt came and got you, otherwise I would've lost my way."

I widened my eyes furiously and jumped at him, "LOST YOUR WAY?!"

He looked shocked at my sudden attack, and brought his sword off his shoulder and used the base to block my knives. The weapons clanged and we both skidded backwards. But I didn't let up, I kept the assault going, I was too angry at what he said. I knew I needed to calm down, and think of a way to beat him and not end up in the same situation as last time. But he had a way of setting me off, he knew what would push my buttons. Or…he didn't, and he was just saying what he thought, and that pushed my buttons. Either way, I was very angry.

I slashed and kicked at him, he parried and blocked my attacks. There was something different though, this time around. Instead of it feeling like I had struck or kicked an iron wall, it felt like a regular human bone. Levi's forearms would fall back in recoil from my front kicks, his sword would nearly fly out of his hand at my knife slashes, and his face looked pained, like something was eating him from the inside slowly.

I paid no mind to it. "Lost your way, huh?! You almost became what you used to be, is that it?! A decent human being?!" I weaved through his defense, faked a slash, and instead brought my knee to his gut, slamming the bone into the soft spot above his waist. He grunted in pain and stumbled back. I didn't let up, I jumped up four feet in the air and brought both knives above my head in a powerful attack, mustering all the strength I could.

His eyes flared and he spun around, smashing the butt of his sword into my stomach, doubling me over and throwing me on the ground. I skidded across the slick metal momentarily, trying to ignore the pain in my gut. I planted my boots behind me and kipped up, bringing my knives in front of my face, expecting Levi to be relentless.

I was right in doing so. As he was right in front of me, the distance already closed. He swiped upward with the large sword, slicing the ground in the process and uprooting small shards. I knew what he was doing. Smart strategy, trying to blind me and attack at the same time. But I'd seen this before, countless times as a kid.

I covered my eyes with one hand and parried his attack with the other, practically slamming my blade into his, knocking it aside.

When I did, I saw an opening. A big one. Huh? Levi would never leave himself so open. I mean it was right there, his kidney area was completely unguarded.

No hesitations. This couldn't go like it did last time.

I took my shot, and stabbed him in the side.

When I did, the knife went straight through, and his body burst in milky mist. An illusion?

I tilted my head up, and to my surprise, saw that there were now seven Levi's standing around me in a tight knit circle, about ten feet away. My eyes widened, he was using the mist to trick me and create clones. Gods, how did he get so good with this stuff? Just how much did Ouranos teach him?

I brought my knives up and used a different stance, one that I wasn't used to, but I'd practiced it before. I crossed my arms in an X-shape, and tilted my hands so that my knives were sticking outwards, like a trap. I looked side to side very quickly, to anticipate the oncoming assault.

All of the Levi's scowled, and charged at me. I immediately threw the knives at both of the images, hitting them in both of their left legs, turning them to smoke. Two down, five to go.

For the next ten seconds, I dodged a flurry of attacks, bobbing and weaving through attempted cleaves and down strikes. One of the Levi's pushed me hard on the back with his boot, and I nearly fell over, but I caught myself, turned around, and sliced his neck open. Another one down.

The four left backed away and tried to come up with a new plan, but I wasn't going to let them.

"Enough of this crap." I said, and bent down. When I let off, I darted around all of them, at a speed they couldn't register, and stabbed them all in the back. That is…until I got to the real Levi.

He had been expecting it, and prepared himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to notice my speed. He turned around quickly and caught my stab with the middle of his blade, the metal grinded against each other, creating an awful noise, like fingernails on a chalkboard.

We struggled for a minute, with me pushing as hard as I could, and it surprisingly working. He was being forced backward in a corner. The other battles raged around us, and I noticed Grayson on the ropes from Talon's skilled swordsmanship, with the Son of Athena having enough experience to barely keep up, and his ability of foresight probably kept him alive too. It was clear he could see Talon's moves before they happened, but the ex-assassin was quick, and perhaps…speed was the key against this guy. Interesting. Speaking of speed, Cherry darted around Talon and kept delivering blows to him. At first, Talon tried to swat her out of the air, but it became pointless. After a while he just started to tank her hits.

Sera and Axel were having a cat and mouse game it seemed. Axel was throwing hunks of lava at her, and she was nimble as a rabbit, using snow to shift her position quickly and dodge the attacks. Axel would go hand to hand at moment, but it always ended up a stalemate. He'd stomp the ground. She'd keep herself up with ice, he'd throw a strike at her, she'd create an ice wall or dome. Same goes for her offensive attacks when she went for them. Whenever she'd throw a flurry of ice knives or projectiles, the Son of Hephaestus would simply let them shatter on his durable skin, or coat his forearms in lava and let that do the work. Those fights seemed to be getting nowhere.

Then why me? Why does if feel like I had the advantage here? If anything, I should be the one losing. Levi was the most skilled of this group. Maybe not the most powerful or destructive, as that probably goes to Axel. But if those two were to fight…I'd bet money on Levi. Not saying that as a compliment, just the truth.

But right now, I could feel my weight and force overwhelming his.

I brought my head close, "Not your day or something? What happened to the Levi at Griffith Manor? The one that beat me so easily?" After I said that, I growled and landed a firm shin kick against him, effectively causing him to yell in pain and fall to one knee. I followed up with a side kick to the face, knocking him on his back.

I ran at him and stabbed in a downward arc, trying to catch him in the chest, but he was ready, and rolled out of the way, pushing himself to his feet in the process.

I paused for a moment, and felt the ground shake tremendously. Whatever was going on up there…it was huge. I had no idea if Matt had defeated the Serpent, or if they were fighting the Sons of Thor now. I had no clue. But I knew that I needed to have faith in him, both he and Malachi could do it. I just needed to focus on Levi, focus on getting rid of him. That was my job.

I gave him a glare that probably weighed a thousand tons, "If I knew any better, I'd say that you're letting me win. What the hell, Levi?"

He didn't say anything, he just kept an angry face. But it wasn't towards me, I felt, for some odd reason.

"Nonsense." He said, and came at me again, his sword reared back over his head in that famous stabbing position he practiced so much as a kid. He'd perfected it now, I remembered back at Griffith Manor, he had used it and it nearly killed me. It wasn't meant to be blocked; I know that now. I had to dodge it.

His movement was much slower than it had been previously when he did the attack before. Before, I could barely see it coming. It was like a supersonic flash of silver coming at my chest, thousands of pounds of force behind it. But now, it was just like an average stab.

He thrust the sword at me, and I sidestepped, pressing my left knife down on the blade. It hit the ground, leaving Levi without a way to follow up.

He looked at me with shock, and I clenched my fists, finding an opening at his face. I should've sliced it open, and with the way he was going, I probably could've. But damn hesitation again, it caught me for just one moment, and it hindered me. At the last second, I decided to go with a punch.

I uppercutted his jaw and his head flew back in recoil. He was disoriented. I had him right where I wanted him.

I put all of the strength in my legs I could gather, and I launched off the ground. I used the rectangular walls to my utmost benefit, probably looking like a pinball, I bounced everywhere in a blur of black and bronze. I saw Levi regain his footing and wipe his nose. He gripped his sword with two hands and looked around for me, turning three hundred and sixty degrees to notice any sign of me. But he wouldn't find any, I was putting my all in this.

I finally began the attacks, I planted my feet on the wall and sprang off, thrusting my body forwards so that my boots were aimed at him like a spear. Within a near instant, they collided with his spine. I felt a bone or two break, the crunch loud enough that I caught it audibly.

Levi yelled in pain, and lazily attempted to swing his sword at me, but I was already long gone, beginning the next assault.

I bounced off the walls and delivered another kick, this one on his shoulder. Then a flurry of punches, back and forth, back and forth, all of them landing. He tried to defend, but it seemed he was always a step behind, and ended up getting pummeled.

I should've been over the moon at my domination, the fact that I could actually kill him.

So why wasn't I?

Maybe the fact that he mopped the floor with me like a week ago, utterly beat me to near death, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Even with the advantage of this close space, he was still much stronger and more durable. He should be taking my attacks with stride, dusting them off like they were nothing, and trying to figure out a pattern I was taking, where he could preemptively strike and catch me.

He did none of that. He just…stood there, putting in minimal effort. As if he wanted me to kill him.

Rage overtook me. No. NO! That was NOT how it was supposed to happen. He's not supposed to just double over in a fetal position and let me kill him! Not after the things he's done! Killing Chiron, Will and dozens of Campers! He can't just atone for his sins now by letting me kill him!

I grinded my teeth, clenching my fists and tensing up as hard as I ever had. My boiling pot of emotions had a million ingredients inside of it, all of them confusing. I could identify one though. An undeniable sense of empty rage.

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, and with a burst of speed, I shot at him with my knife outstretched.

He saw this time, and his eyes met mine. I could see that they weren't angered, or fierce. They were…guilty.

He had twitched his arms in a slow attempt to raise his sword and block, but it was clear he didn't put all his strength into it.

I felt my eyes sting. Damn him for making me do this!

I couldn't stop it now. I had to let nature take it's course. The twenty-foot distance closed, and I felt my knife sink into the soft spot between his collar bone and chest, above his heart.

The other Big Four must've noticed, because I heard Cherry scream, and Grayson yell, "LEVI!"

The force of the blow caused him to fall back several feet, taking me with him. We tumbled around for a moment, but finally came to a stop, with me on top of him, a knee on his stomach and my hand still on my knife…five inches deep into his body.

He groaned in pain, and a slight whimper escaped him. I saw blood dripping from the wound, a cup of it being held in by my knife.

I couldn't help it; I felt a tear roll down my cheek at the sight of him hurt like this. But why? Why did he let it happen?

I dropped my other knife and used my left hand to grab his throat, forcing his clouded gaze to meet my own.

"What the hell is this?!" I said, doing my best to keep my voice from breaking or quivering. "Why are you letting me hurt you, Levi? Get up and give me your all! It's not going to end like this!"

He coughed, and a trickle of blood leaked from his mouth. When his eyes finally focused and escaped their cloudiness, he looked at me sadly, and I could see that they were watery. Was he…about to cry?

He did something that surprised me. I felt a gentle force on the back of my head, and flinched at it, thinking it was one of the other Big Four trying to hurt me, but when I glanced to my side, I saw that Levi's arm was slightly lifted. He had his hand on the back of my head.

I should've broken the hand, I should've pulled the knife out and finished the job, stabbing him in the neck with it, ending this for good. But…I couldn't. This touch, it was like the way he used to touch me, like a comforting brother when I was sad or angry or hurt. I tried to break away from it, but a stronger, much more child-like part of my consciousness said no, and kept me there. I stared at him in confusion.

He chuckled helplessly, wincing at the pain. "I…can't do it, kiddo. I can't do it."

Kill him! My mind screamed. Don't listen to him!

But I didn't. I just sat there, softening the force of my knee in his gut. "Levi? What are you- "

"I can't." He whispered simply, shaking his head at me. To my shock, a single tear fell from his eye. "I can't bring myself to kill you, Harper."

I was tied to the cold metal ground after hearing that. My eyes widened, and I just stared at him in shock. What did he say? And what tone of voice did he use that in? That sounded like the old Levi, not the monster I'd come to know. But that was…impossible, this Levi couldn't…I mean, he couldn't! There was just no way! Chiron…Will…all of those people, they were dead because of him, and he didn't show remorse when he did it. He blindly follows Ouranos, he's changed! He's a monster!

All of these thoughts blared in my mind as I stared at him, felt his hand on my hair. I couldn't believe it; I couldn't believe his words. But somehow…I did.

"Levi…" I said, not sure what the next word would've been, or where I would even go with this. Had we been alone, what would I have done? Tried to heal him? Kill him? I…have no idea, and that's the part that scares me the most.

Levi started to open his mouth to speak, but whatever he said, I didn't hear. I felt an intense force and a wave of pain wash over the side of my face.

I felt my body fall to the floor, and a shadow cast over me. I turned and looked at the source of the blindside, and saw Grayson standing above me, a look of fury and hate on his face.

Talon saw, and shouted from the side, "Bastard! Come back and fight, coward!" He tried to come to my aid, but Cherry began a stronger, more relentless assault, bringing out all of the speed she could muster to keep us separated. Talon was forced to not break his focus.

Sera noticed too, and looked over in concern, "Harper!" But she had her own problems. Axel was taking things seriously now, threw a bucket full of lava at her, barely missing her by a few inches.

Grayson glared at Levi, still laying on the ground with my knife in his chest.

"Pathetic. You don't have the guts to do it, do you? I suppose all that talk about still loving her wasn't a joke then?"

What? Talk? Had Levi talked about me around the other three?

Levi groaned, and coughed up more blood. At that, Grayson spat on him, the wad landed on Levi's black combat pants. I felt a small twinge of anger at that action, the part of me that wanted to defend my brother was slowly taking over.

"Hesitation is defeat." Grayson said, "Isn't that what you said to me, Levi? Now look at you, can't kill your own sister. The one that betrayed you, joined the Neanderthals at Camp Half Blood. The one who just stuck a knife through your heart."

Levi shot a weak glare at him, but couldn't manage a retort. My kick to his back and the stab had done a lot more damage than I thought. I'd probably broken something back there, and definitely nearly killed him with the stab wound.

Why should I worry about that? Why should I care? I shouldn't. No, I shouldn't.

But I did.

I didn't have time to process these complicated feelings though, because the Son of Athena had his own sword drawn, and was slowly stalking towards me.

"I'll do the job for you, fool." Grayson said, "And I'll be sure to tell Ouranos about your insubordination."

I heard Cherry shout from the other end of the hall through her whirlwind of speed, "Grayson, don't!"

Grayson turned and roared, "SHUT UP! I don't want to hear your mouth! Just defeat the damn cowboy!"

She must've been intimidated because she shut up and continued the assault on Talon. Huh? Why was she scared of this asshole? Not that I'm standing up for her, but if speed is the key against Grayson, then why didn't she mop the floor with him, and make him scared?

Grayson chuckled, a sadistic sneer on his face, "Please, she couldn't scare me if she tried. She's practically an expendable."

I knit my eyebrows in confusion. Wait a second…did he just read my mind?

"Yes." He said, "You've seen the way I dodge attacks, yes? Well, the truth is…I don't actually see the future. I see people's thoughts."

I reared my head back. When he fought Annabeth, he'd avoided her quick attacks like it was nothing, clearly seeing them coming. How did he do it if he read her thoughts? How does that even work?

He smirked, "It's quite simple actually. I can hear and read thoughts, including casual things, like what is this person going to do later, what are they going to eat, that kind of bullshit." He tightened his lips, and gripped his sword so tight that his knuckles became white. "At first, this ability was an utter nightmare. I always knew I was a Son of Athena, and used my enhanced intellect to score top of my class in high school, receive a scholarship, and attend Harvard University, majoring in the Engineer program."

I had no interest in his backstory, but I was forced to listen, and scoot away as he kept walking closer. I couldn't grab my knives. If I used my gloves, he would strike me down, and if I tried to move, he would do the same. He can literally see what I do before I do it. Without my speed, how can I fight him?

He continued bitterly, "Everything was fine…until this ability kicked in. I began hearing people's thoughts as if they were speaking, dozens at a time. It was deafening, and it drove me nearly insane. I isolated myself and stayed alone, in fear of going mad. I prayed to my mother for weeks to help me, to let me gain control of this power." His face contorted with even more fury if that was possible. "I got no response, and it didn't get better. I knew right then that she didn't care about me, and if she was that way, the other gods were that way as well. The of course, Ouranos came to me, and promised to help me, to give me a better, newer life. I accepted, and it's turned out to be the greatest strategic decision of my life. He helped me train my ability, not my mother. Him."

He seemed to be making a point with this, and frowned at Levi, "You must be forgetting that Ouranos saved you too, Levi. I'm sure he'll be more than angry to hear of your failure."

I snapped my fingers, "Hey, asshole. Focus on me."

He turned and seethed at me, I just tauntingly smirked. "Nobody cares about your sob story. None of that excuses what you psychos have done. You're going to die, end of story."

His eye twitched, "I could say the same to you." He shouted, and attacked me. I dodged his strike and summoned my knives back to my hand, blocking a side swipe from him. He was strong too, not as much as Levi, but he was, and skilled with this sword. I could tell just by the way he held it that he had practiced for years.

"Those blades will not save you" He snarled.

"Less talking, more fighting!" I shouted, and went for a kick, to which he dodged.

"You know, every person visualizes their next attack!" He said in between an exchange of strikes, "I can literally see your next move in your head! You unknowingly think about it before you do it, giving me a book on your skillset! I CAN'T LOSE, DON'T YOU SEE?!"

"Can you shut up?!" I said, annoyed by his god complex. I could kill him with a full powered kick if I could just land one on him.

I swiped upward, downward, sideways, and released a dozen quick strikes, but he anticipated them all and either weaved around them or parried them. I couldn't hit him; he was quicker than I thought.

Our weapons clanged once again and I decided to take a step back, look at what I could do, my surroundings or something. I jumped back nimbly and darted my head around. Walls. Okay, could that work? Maybe take out the lights and darken the area some? No, stupid, there's a massive hole above you. But I could also force him to back up, or have him follow me down the hall, then take out the lights and make it hard to see. But was sight a forefront for his ability? Like could his thoughts read mine? Or could he actually see them?

He shook his head, "None of those options will work. I know what you think, Pierce. It's no use!"

So annoying, I thought. If knives wouldn't work, then I'd try and use speed. I bent down and launched myself from the metal floor onto the roof, flipping and quickly hitting it, as soon as I did, I pushed myself off, knives outspread towards his face.

To my surprise, Grayson rolled out of the way, and I was forced to tuck and roll myself to I didn't face plant. I quickly came up to one knee.

He must've saw my surprise, because he smirked proudly, "Speed won't help you. I've already seen your thoughts before you even act on them. It doesn't matter how fast you are. I am faster."

I kept my mouth closed, but gritted my teeth in frustration. If speed wasn't his weakness, then what was?

I didn't care. I kept going. I bounced around the room and waited until I thought he wouldn't be able to anticipate it, from wall to wall, he just stayed still, not moving a muscle. I could tell he was reading my thoughts. I tried to clear my mind the best I could, where all I could see was white. This technique was so common to me, that I didn't even need to think about it. I could just do it.

I saw him tense up, and I knew that it worked. I had cleared my head and let my body do the work, run through the motions. I had him. All he was seeing now was white.

I jumped to my final mark, and was about to use it as a launchpad to deliver the killing blow, but out of nowhere, a huge series of rumbles and earthquakes shook the entire area. I could hear explosions and shouts above. Something absolutely chaotic was going on.

It hindered me. As I landed on the shaking wall, I lost my footing, and fell to the ground, completely exposed.

"There you are!" I heard Grayson shout, and his footsteps running towards me.

I couldn't make a move. He was already running towards me when I lost my balance. He would hit me, somehow, he had the advantage, and I was wide open.

"HARPER!" I heard both Talon and Sera shout.

I hit the floor, but it was already too late, he was two feet away, his sword no doubt ready to kill me. Gods, this was it. I was going to die to a narcissistic Son of Athena.

I tried to protect myself the best I could, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him, Grayson, with the sword raised above his head, his face sporting a maniacal grin of victory.

"Time for you to- " He started to yell, but was cut off. I heard the sound of metal slicing the air, a slashing like noise, and then the sound of liquid hitting the floor. A groan escaped someone's mouth, and I heard Cherry scream from across the room.

What the hell had happened?

I felt across my body. Was I injured? Was I dead? No, I heard the noises and screams, but did it happen to me?

No, I heard Cherry scream, not my friends. So that means…

I turned around to find out, anxiously so, and what I saw shocked me to my core.

Levi was standing, arm outstretched to his side, his sword in hand. It dripped blood.

Grayson's blood…

I looked at the Son of Athena, and saw his face contorted with both shock and immense pain. His eyes were wide as saucers, and his mouth shook with disbelief. Blood ran down his legs and dripped from his back.

"Don't touch her, bastard." Levi managed to growl, even though he had a wound in his chest, still bleeding as well.

Grayson tried to respond, but it came out as a series of groans and attempts. He dropped his sword to the ground, and fell over beside me, face first. His back had a large gash on it, cutting right through the armor, splitting it in two. He was covered in blood, as it was starting to spread. I saw him try and push himself up, but he failed, and went limp.

I…couldn't believe it. What the hell? What the hell just happened. Levi just…he saved me. He cut Grayson from behind, and the Son of Athena never saw it coming.

It nearly drove me to insanity, he had said. Voices all at once nearly drove him mad.

That was his weakness. Multiple attacks, multiple people at once. Now I understood why Levi was able to hit him, and maybe kill him. I wasn't sure if the Son of Athena was dead or not, but I didn't really care. I was too thunderstruck by what just occurred.

I stared up at Levi, bewildered. "Levi…what did you do?"

He breathed heavily and had his head tilted down. He let his arm drop, and his sword fell along with it, hitting the metal floor. He looked exhausted and pained, but he managed to raise his head just enough to look at me. I couldn't make out what he was trying to convey, whether it was protectiveness, or something else. I didn't know.

If he was about to say anything, I wouldn't hear it, because from my left, running down the hall, came Cherry, and she looked absolutely fuming.

"YOU TRAITOR!" She yelled, and caught Levi off guard, punching him in the face. He was weakened from my attack, and couldn't defend against it. Her super speed fist connected, and he stumbled back.

"I can't believe I liked you!" Cherry yelled, attacking Levi with all she had, "I trusted you! And look at what you did! I'm gonna kill you!"

My brother could do nothing against her assaults. She darted around similar to how I would, and beat him like it was all she wanted. I couldn't see what she was doing or where she was, she was that fast, but I could see a flicker of a blur come up to Levi's body, Levi recoil in pain and stumble, then the blur would disappear. This happened over and over.

I should've helped him right then, and a part of my mind said to do so, but I was too in shock at what had happened. Levi…saved me. He actually went against Ouranos and attacked one of his own.

The overwhelming feelings took over, and I fell to my hand, leaning on it. I started to breath heavily, ten thousand thoughts flooding my brain.

I felt like I was going to pass out, and I might have, but I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned in alertness, my knives aimed at the perpetrator.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw who it was.

"Talon?" I said breathlessly.

He nodded, looking unharmed from any of the blows he received. "Look, we don't have much time. We need to take that bitch out while she's attacking your brother."

I looked back and forth between him and the fight to my right, "B-But…didn't' you see that? Did you see…he cut- "

Talon nodded, "I know. I…don't know what the hell to say to that, but we have a window here, that's all that matters right now." He forced me to look at him by shaking my shoulder, "Hey! Listen to me. This could mean the outcome of this fight. You with me? Or are you gonna stare off into space?"

I shook my head and broke my daze. He was right. What was wrong with me? I needed to get my head in the game and focus on our goal. Invasion. Defeat Ouranos. Levi…well, I could process that later.

I looked at him and nodded, "Alright." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sera still fighting Axel, who looked like he wanted to come over here and pummel Levi, but my friend was making it hard for him.

"Will she be alright?"

Talon looked over, and without hesitation, he said, "Of course she will. It's Sera."

He had faith in her, so I had to have it too. She was stronger than him, she could do it.

We focused our attention on the daughter of Hermes, who was still attacking Levi, barely standing. Talon and I ran over to where they were. When she noticed us, she stopped.

Levi fell to the floor, facing the ceiling. He didn't look to hurt, beyond what he had already received, but Cherry had inflicted a few bruises on him. The sight made me enraged. Thinking back to when they invaded Camp, her cheerful attitude, destroying the Hermes cabin entirely, loving every minute.

She giggled at me directly, "Come to play with me too, then?"

I glared at her, constantly shifting my eyes back and forth between her and Levi, to make sure she didn't try anything. I saw the way she had snapped necks quickly before, and knew that while she may not be that strong, she could use her speed to enhance it, and could break Levi's neck before we could help.

I never thought, that in the last year, I would think those two words in the same sentence. Levi and help.

"Nah, I've actually come to kill you."

She laughed, a horribly annoying sound. "Like you did Grayson? How'd that turn out for you?"

Talon shot a bullet at her, switching to his revolver now instead of his sword. Cherry dodged it easily and blurred back into view, the bullet clanged off the metal.

She looked mockingly offended at the action, "I was talking! Don't shoot at me while I'm talking!"

Talon had his gun outstretched; smoke wisped from the barrel. "You ever shut up, Cherry? Or whatever the fuck your name is. How about we skip the chit chat and get back to where we left off."

She shrugged, "If you say so. But first, let me just take care of the traitor here…"

My heart started racing and my battle senses flared. I couldn't let her hurt him further. Yesterday, or even ten minutes ago, that thought would've been laughably stupid, and maybe…it still is. But all I know is that he saved me from a fatal wound at least, and there was a chance. I needed to assure his life.

"Talon!" I shouted, and he understood, firing a bullet next to his neck where she was about to grab, blocking her from getting it.

I took this chance to use my own speed and rush her. I dove at her and threw my knives. She smirked and flashed away, my knives going through the air and hitting the metal dead end thirty feet down the hall. I barrel rolled and landed up to my boots, Levi right next to me.

"Levi, get out of here!" I whisper yelled, trying to get him to get up and leave, so there was no chance of her attacking him.

I didn't get a chance to hear a response because I heard, "Focus on me!"

Cherry appeared right in front of me and smiled widely, "Hi!" Next thing I knew, I felt a force hit my nose. My head doubled back, and I felt a sting shoot up my nostrils.

"Right here!" She said, and another force hit my side, causing me to grunt at the sting seeping in it too. Talon fired wherever he saw her, but kept missing. I was just trying to find her, but I was unsuccessful, she was too fast. I didn't know how fast, but it was faster than even me and my training. I had to accept it, she was the daughter of Hermes, god of speed. She must've gotten some rare ability to where she can run super-fast. She might've been his only child to get that ability, since out of the many Hermes kids at Camp, I've never seen one of them with super speed. Believe me, if the Stoll twins had it, they would use it for looting or prank purposes.

"You guys are too slow!" She taunted and hit us even harder than before, throwing all of her weight into us at near light speed. It felt like a brick wall had hit both Talon and I. We went flying several feet in the air, my knives leaving my hand and Talon's gun leaving his, we both ricocheted off the wall and hit the floor hard. My bones throbbed and my muscles ached after that one. I reached out to summon my knives back to me, but she was already there, kicking me in the face.

I felt intense pain go in my head, and the smell of iron fill my nose. She lifted my face up with her hand, "So it seems like your friend can't feel pain." She pouted, like she'd lost a game at a carnival. "That's no fun! But you…well, you can feel pain, can't you?"

I slammed my wrist against hers, but to my shock, it didn't budge. She was stronger than she looked. She grabbed my arm with her other hand, and lifted me off the ground, "Let's go for a little ride!"

She took off, with me in front of her like a human shield. She ran with super speed at the metal wall, and slammed my body into it. I yelped in agony, feeling like my entire body had just shattered. She only giggled with pleasure at my suffering, and slung me around to do it again.

She ran at the opposite wall, but this time halted and let me go. I flailed into the metal foundation side first, then hit the floor. I curled up, wincing. I couldn't be like this, not let her get the best of me. We just needed to figure out how to keep her still. And I needed my knives…

She was back at me again, now taking a fistful of my hair and lifting me by it. The feeling was awful, and none of hair would rip out, not a single strand. It was strong, and right now, I wasn't thankful for that. Cherry held on tight and lifted me to her level.

"I love this! We're having so much fun together!" She tilted her head, "You know, everyone back home used to say Lucy, you're a freak!" She pouted again, and I noted that she had said her real name. "They never wanted to play with me, and they were always so mean!"

She gripped my neck and started squeezing, I felt my windpipe being crushed and I gagged, but she only tightened her grip and giggled more.

"When Ouranos saved me, I used my powers for good! And to help myself! He told me that bad people need to be erased from this world. So, you know what I did? I slaughtered those meanies!"

She said this with her eyes closed and the sweetest smile she could muster. I cringed at the behavior. She was a psycho and a freak; those kids were right. All of these people had a sort of tick in their head, and if pushed in the wrong direction…well, you see now. They were, by Ouranos.

I thought she was going to pop my head off my shoulders when she got a taste of her own medicine. A hand grabbed her from behind by the hair, and pulled her to the ground, throwing her across it.

It was Talon. He'd grabbed her and slung her across the floor. She skidded for a split second then recovered, looking at him like he'd just entered a playpen, she sadistically grinned.

Talon didn't turn to me, so he could keep his eyes on Cherry. "You good?"

I coughed and nodded, "Yep."

"Good, let's kill her."

He morphed his gun into his hand, having lost it somewhere, he just retrieved it right back. I reached out and pushed my thumbs into my palms, summoning my knives back to me. They came, and we charged her at the same time.

Talon walked forward and shot with extreme accuracy, I jumped at her and unleashed dozens of attacks within a few seconds. But it was useless. She was way too fast. She just crossed her arms and smiled, stepping back from me, weaving through my strikes, dodging Talon's bullets like it was a walk in the park.

After a solid twenty seconds of this, she got bored and flashed away, leaving both of us stumbling.

Talon and I turned, him growling, "Where the hell is she?"

"I don't know, but we can't beat her like this."

"No shit."

I tried to rack my brain and think of something. Sera was busy with Axel, so she couldn't help. Then what could we do?

Then it hit me, the memory of tha tonight on the rooftops in New York, when Talon had gone gold, and obliderated Boris, outclassing him and shooting him in the face with a shotgun. He'd gotten so much more powerful then.

"Talon" I said urgently, feeling wind hit my face and hair, signaling Cherry was zooming around us in a circle, toying with us. "Use the Nikandreos thing."

"The what?!"

"The golden aura thing! It's the only thing that can save us right now!"

He grimaced, and looked like he wanted to argue, but he concentrated and closed his eyes, I could tell my how white his knuckles were getting that he was straining and tensing his body hard.

After a few seconds, he let out the breath he held, "It's no use, goth girl. I can't."

I looked at him incredulously, "Yes you can! Okay, you can do it!"

He shook his head, still trying to find where Cherry had gone. I could hear her giggling, darting around us and trapping us. Her speed was actually rising steadily, and I could feel the wind more intensely now, she was trying to build a small tornado it seemed.

"I can't do it, dammit. I just can't."

I grabbed him and shook his shoulders, "Talon, look at me! You can do anything. Do you hear me? Look at me!"

I yelled that last part, and he looked at me. I could see that by his facial expression, he looked defeated. I was stunned. I'd never seen the look of hopelessness on his face before.

I needed to snap him out of it before this psycho girl does anything drastic. I reached up and took off his sunglasses, throwing them to the ground.

He got mad, "Hey! What was that for?!"

"I need to see your eyes right now." I said sternly, "Talon, listen to me. You can do anything. I've seen you change from what you used to be. You are not that person anymore, understand?"

He gritted his teeth, "I CAN'T DO IT! I'M NOT NIKANDREOS!"

"I don't want you to be!" I yelled back, "I want you to be Talon! Be who you are!"

He got in my face, his eyes angry as they bore into mine, "Maybe I don't know who that is! Huh, how about that!"

"Yes, you do." I said softly.

Apparently, that was all he needed to hear to break him. He stepped back, and looked at me as if I had just landed from Mars. I meant what I said. He's been trying to find purpose? He's been alone? Well, he's found that purpose. He's not alone. The turmoil that's inside of him is unnecessary, and it was clear that was the thing blocking his aura from releasing.

Cherry kept circling us, the wind now blowing my hair all over the place and making it hard to stand. Even over the noise, I could hear her taunt, "Aww, are you two done with your quarrel?"

Talon tightened his lips, and in a fit of rage, he raised his head to the ceiling and roared loudly. Loud enough that it blew me backwards, literally. I fell on my back an felt the ground shake, this time not from something outside. The air seemed to bend in an instant and it got hotter, I could feel this…sense of power, even I could, and I don't have aura sensing abilities.

The wind died, and I didn't hear Cherry giggling anymore. In fact, I could hear her screaming in protest and whimpering, like she was caught.

I pushed up with my elbows and lifted my head, to see Talon…golden.

This was nothing like what happened on the roof. He was even more powerful now, I could tell.

His clothes and skin hadn't changed, but he was now outlined with a thick, golden glow. It spread out about a foot from his body, and seeped into the air, little wisps of golden smoke flying up to the top of the area. You could've confused him for someone that had been caught on fire, had it not been gold.

The only thing that changed physically were his eyes. His pupils were now gold too, and they were fiercer than before, like if the sun shrank and entered his eye sockets, then you mixed in some nuclear material. He had a serious look on his face, neutral and expressionless. It was very intimidating.

His hand was outstretched, palm open, and I looked to where it was pointed. I saw Cherry encased in a golden sphere, with her in the middle. It was the weirdest thing, it looked like a hamster ball, and the golden glow wasn't as bright or thick as Talon's aura was. It was more like gold tinted glass, about twenty feet in diameter, and perfectly round.

Cherry squirmed and screamed, but she couldn't move a muscle below her neck. Talon was keeping her in place.

I reared my head back in shock. Just who was Nikandreos? What kind of powers did he possess for Talon to have this kind of ability?

"Let me out, you bastard!" She yelled, "I'm gonna enjoy watching both of you die!"

Talon turned to me, and even his stare felt powerful. I could practically feel the weight behind it, like five hundred tons of stone against my back.

"She's yours." Was all he said, "End it."

If I had blinked in that moment, I would've missed it. Talon flicked his wrist, and the golden sphere dissipated, but the force sent Cherry flying right in my direction.

She growled and bared her teeth at me, like a rabid dog that needed to be put down.

I would.

Acting on instinct, I gripped my knives and held them by my side, waiting for her to meet me.

"Don't you dare!" She shouted, unable to use her speed in midair, "I'm not through with you yet! Don't you know who you're messing with?! I'm the fastest demigod around! I am speed! I am- "

SHINK!

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Once her head crossed my line of attack, I swiped with all of my strength in a horizontal arc, straight across. My knives met her neck, and she fell to the floor, silent.

I looked down at her, and watched her bleed out. She grabbed the gash on her neck, spewing and spraying blood. It littered the metal floor, looking like someone had spilled a liter of red juice on it.

Cherry clutched her neck, a look of panic on her face. For ten seconds she struggled, and after that, fell limp, and didn't move.

A part of me felt bad, having to kill her. A girl that was…honestly, a bad egg. But she could've been good, had she been nurtured in a loving or decent way. Unfortunately, Ouranos manipulated the worst of her.

I slashed my knives in the air to get the blood off them. With one last look at the daughter of Hermes, I thought about Chiron, Will, and Camp Half Blood. They were partly avenged. But not fully. One down, three to go.

Well, maybe two to go…

Levi! I thought, and searched desperately for him, but he was gone. Where he laid was empty, all but a little puddle of his blood.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a crow cawing above me. I looked up and saw it, a black crow flying out of the opening we'd fell through. The bird was bleeding from his chest.

I knew it was him, and instead of shooting it down, finishing the job like I promised myself I would do. I watched it fly away, and let it go.

"See you soon, Levi." I said neutrally.

"Nghh." A groan came from beside me. I turned and saw Talon on one knee, looking like he'd been through the ringer. Which he probably had, considering the crazy energy he just let off.

I ran to him, "Hey! You alright?"

He held up a hand, and cleared his throat. "Never better. Did we get her?"

I helped him up, and gestured to the downed daughter of Hermes. "That answer your question?"

He smirked and chuckled lazily, "Heh, outrun that, bitch."

I held his shoulders to make sure he was balanced, "That was insane! You trapped her in this golden sphere thing, and you had this crazy aura! I knew you could do it!"

He shook his head to wake himself up, "So it worked?"

"I'd say so."

A rumble shook the ground beneath us, and I heard shouts from Axel echo from down the hall. Oh gods, Sera. She was still fighting him!

"We have to help her." I said, "You good to walk?"

He pushed me off of him and nodded, "You kidding me? I'm fine."

We ran over to where she and Axel were, passing where Grayson had fell, to find it…empty. So he was still alive then? Can't say I'm surprised. The bastard seemed like the slithery type. Ouranos probably created a portal or something to help him escape. Either that, or he had some ambrosia.

I wasn't worried about it though; we could take him down later. Right now, we needed to get to Sera.

We ran up on her and Axel in a fierce struggle. She was shooting ice wall after ice wall at him, jagged pieces of it that were meant to impale him. But he was good on the defensive, pulling out handfuls of lava in his fists and throwing them at the ice walls, melting the attack quicker than it could reach him.

"Sera!" I shouted.

Axel heard us, and stopped firing lava. Sera stopped too, but still stood in a fighting position.

We jogged up next to her and stood by her side, our weapons drawn. Alright, it was three on one now. Maybe we could take out another one.

"Looks like all your friends left you" Talon said, a smirk on his face. "Just you and us now."

Axel scowled, "Bastards. This won't be the last time you see me. When I return, Jackson and everyone else will be dead! Mark my words!" With that, he undid the straps of his lava jugs and grabbed them. We all stepped back a little, preparing for whatever attack he was about to launch.

But he didn't throw it at us. Instead, he dumped the lava on him, all of it. It covered him head to toe, until nothing of his could be seen, only an outline of his body, caked in the fiery substance.

He smashed his fists into the ground and created a large crater. He then dove into it and melted it instantly, sinking further and further like a groundhog.

Talon ran at the hole and fired his gun a few times, "Come back and fight!"

I put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Leave it be. Coward's long gone."

Talon looked like he wanted to dive in after him and drag him back up here, but he fought against it, and holstered his gun.

"I am sorry" Sera said, "I could not defeat him like you wanted. I simply was able to fight him."

I waved a dismissive hand, "Don't worry about it, Sera. We fought them, and made them retreat. And hey, we got one."

Sera raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

Talon pointed over to Cherry's dead body, "The fast girl."

Sera leaned her head over to see, "Oh. So you were victorious?"

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Not entirely, I wanted to say. One might be dead, one is dead, the other retreated, and…my brother left.

I looked up to the opening, "I think so."

They somehow knew what I meant. Talon gave a sympathetic look and Sera put her arm around me.

"I saw." She said, "Are you okay?"

I sighed and nodded unsurely, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Talon chuckled nervously and tried to lighten the mood, "Hey, I mean…he tried to save you, and helped a little. That's gotta mean something, right?"

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure about anything in that situation. Levi's done so much wrong, made so many mistakes, and done things that…I'm not sure I can forgive. I have no idea where our relationship Is headed, but I say this for certain. I'm more confused than I've ever been.

BOOM!

A loud explosion shook the entire area, and we had to hold on to each other to stay on our feet. A loud noise echoed through the opening, and the fighting between the Norse Campers and the Storm Spirits stopped momentarily.

"What the hell was that?" Talon said, looking up.

I suddenly got a weird feeling in my stomach, and it made me feel nauseous. I can't explain it, but some sort of weird eerie chill washed over me, like something…terrible had happened up there.

Panic welled up in my chest, I looked at Sera and Talon urgently, "Guys, we need to get up there, now!"

Sera acted and rushed over under the massive opening. We followed her, knowing what she was going to do.

She summoned snow out of her hands and placed it on the floor, hardening it to ice.

"Hold on!" She said, and thrust her hands upward. The ice platform jutted from the metal floor, and became a pillar, lifting us to the surface.

Within a few seconds, we made it to the top, and we were greeted with a much tamer battle than before. The Campers had the Storm Spirits dwindled. There were less campers than before…which only increased my nausea, but the Storm Spirits might as well have been defeated. There were maybe ten or twelve left, and the remaining Campers were rushing them, and giving them an onslaught they couldn't escape from.

No, this wasn't where the terrible event occurred, this wasn't the source. It was behind the base. Beyond where we were.

"Come on! This way!" I gestured my hand while we ran inside of the building, dodging the small battle in the courtyard. We ran inside of the building to find that nothing inside, just an empty warehouse like structure. That wasn't important, I needed to get to Matt.

Matt.

Something bad had happened. I needed to help him.

Panic rose from my chest to my throat, and I swear if I didn't constantly swallow, I would've thrown up from the feeling I was getting. What the hell had happened? Was he okay?

He better be okay.

We kept running, and finally found an exit door, straight forward the way we wanted to go. Once we reached it, Talon kicked it open, and we burst into the opening.

We could see clearly what had happened. The storm clouds were gray, blocking the sun in it's entirety. Giving us a full view.

When I saw what had happened, I screamed, "NO!" And felt my insides turn more than they ever had before. I could physically feel and hear my heart breaking in half. The nausea left me, and instead it was replaced by an incredible feeling of grief. All I wanted to do in that moment was curl up and sob.

Something terrible had happened alright.

"MATT!" I screamed, and the three of us ran as fast as we could.

(000)

Wow, now that was a lot wasn't it. Sorry about the cliffhanger there, I know you hate those, but I had to do it. Next chapter, you'll find out what happened.

Chapter 29 will be the final chapter of the second book, so prepare yourselves! Next one will be a long one, so get ready and when it comes out, expect an epic fight and hopefully a good conclusion to what's been quite an experience of a fanfic book.

Alright, let me know what you thought below and be on the lookout!

Until Next Time.