The Son Of Hercules

by Echoxenvy

Follow Matt Beckett, the Son of Hercules, as he and his friends wage war on the Primordial God Ouranos and his wide variety of allies. Love, hardship, battle, loss, and glory are just five of the many things he will experience on his epic journey. Current Book: The Rising Sun. OC-Centered.

55. We Reach Our Lowest Point

Alright everyone, this is the final chapter of Book Two, and my personal favorite of the story so far. I think it is my best, but you can all be the judge of that.

We're going to get right into it with this one. I will respond to all reviews in the Author's Note tomorrow!

Feel free to let me know what you thought! Especially for this chapter, because I love it, and would really like to know what you think about it too.

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 ninth chapter.

29. We Reach Our Lowest Point

Matt

(Hercules' Island - Ten Years Ago)

Far away from civilization, in the Atlantic Ocean, sits an Island.

To any sailor, or European Deep-Sea Fisherman, it would look like an ordinary place. It stood only a few feet above sea level, mounded in the middle and falling to the sides like any other island. It had palm trees, patches of grass, some coconuts, and bananas, like any other typical sand structure.

But this place was anything but typical, anything but ordinary.

What the human eye could not see were the inhabitants of the Island. Only this was known to the...other kind. The kind that people hear about in myth, in legends. Not real. Simply thought of as fables that you tell kids when it's bedtime.

Unbeknownst to most of the population, these fables exist.

One particular fable, a rather tragic one, exists too. And the source of it stays on this very Island, guarding, watching, waiting.

Longing.

The source of these emotions is none other than Heracles, or Hercules, if you prefer the Roman archetype. Formerly the strongest demigod of all time, the greatest among heroes, the man who defeated the Nemean Lion, defeated Cerberus, completed the twelve labors, and other countless feats.

In death, he was offered godhood. He accepted, and became the god of strength, divine protector of mankind, patron of gymnasium and heroes, among a whole list of titles. Zeus granted him a single companion, a large eagle, formed from a single hair on Zeus's head. Hercules named the Eagle Kyros.

Their task; Guard the straits leading to Ancient Greece.

At first, Hercules thought this a rather amusing task, fighting monsters and foes that seek to destroy the land of origin, and perhaps test young heroes' strength if they tried to venture into it.

This did not happen.

Hercules lived on this Island for hundred of years, occasionally, something would cross the waters, but whenever Hercules prepared himself to fight, he saw that the source was a mortal. The dread returned, and he let them pass.

The days became long, the nights became boring. The great hero, who once was constantly on the move, from one place to another, partaking in exciting events and battles, was now left with nothing to do. Sure, he had Kyros, and the two grew to love each other, Hercules would give his life for the bird, and vice versa. But Kyros was one animal, and he couldn't speak like a human could. The two had a connection, they could feel each other's emotions. If one dies, the other feels it if one gets hurt, the other feels it. Not the pain, but the fact that it occurred.

Hercules longed for someone real to speak to, to bond with, to care for. He often thought back on the events of his life, and pondered what he could've done better. That took a long time, as there were many things he regretted. He wanted to become a different person, he wanted to right the wrongs. But how? He was stuck.

It was the year 1996, that Hercules decided it was time to embark on his personal journey. He left the Island, and flew his eagle to the United States, the supposed new location for Olympus, and the Greek Pantheon.

Hercules found that the modern world was a very strange place, and he had to accustom both his appearance, language, and lifestyle to fit in. He stayed wary of his old enemies, and especially, his father, knowing that if he was found, he would be sent back immediately. Hercules didn't mind going back, but not yet. He just wanted a few days, at most.

That was…until he met Tracy Beckett.

Tracy Beckett was a kind, but tough woman. Hercules fell in love instantly. The two met at the gym Tracy had a membership to, and hit it off.

Hercules spent a much longer period of time than he had intended to, suddenly finding that life with her, a normal life…was desirable, and something he very much wanted. Life as a god, on that Island, was now a nightmare. He wanted to be with her, and he did, for a number of months. The two even had a child together, Matthias Beckett.

Unfortunately, Zeus found out about this, and enforced the ancient laws upon his son, something he could not help. Hercules was sent back to the Island.

He now sits on it, as we speak, under a starry night, listening to the calm waves softly beat against the shore. Kyros is by his side, his head on the ground next to his master, sound asleep.

Hercules absentmindedly strokes his pet's fur, and gazes up at his constellation, depicting him kneeling in prayer to his father. Hercules is bitter, and scoffs at the image.

But his sense of wistfulness overtakes him, and the bitterness is gone. He closes his eyes, and remembers her. Her smell, her skin, her face.

His son.

Hercules couldn't contain the wide smile on his face when he first held Matthias. He had been powerful, even as a baby, and Hercules knew that he would be great, but also…subjected to a hard life.

He wanted to help him; he really did. And one day, he would find a way to get to him, to both of them.

With the hope of that in his head, he smiles, and makes a promise to the night.

"I will see you again, one day."

---

(Present - Matt's POV)

Here we are again. Second time's the charm.

When I last faced Ouranos, he had been in the body of Malachi, who was now on my side, fighting against his father, who now sported a misty outline of his old appearance, and had two powerful Norse goons by his side.

Yep, times have changed.

Bjorn faced me, Ouranos faced my father, and Boris faced Malachi, all of us stood in a three-person line, paralleled to each other. It was kind of odd, you'd expect pandemonium right off the bat, but this was kind of like revolutionary styled duels, where two men would show up, be respectful, and had certain rules to follow. A certain amount of distance between the two, a certain order of shooting. And whoever got hit, wins.

Well, I didn't have respect for any of the three across from me. They could go to Tartarus for all I care. None of them have honor, and while we may not either, I know for a fact there won't be any in this fight. I'll scratch eyes, bite, do whatever I have to do to take these guys down.

After about a minute of just glaring at each other, listening to the raging battle down below, Bjorn got tired of waiting and came at me, not using his full speed. He just jumped at me; his sledgehammer reared back behind his head.

"Fine then, I'll come to you!" He said, and I tensed up in a fighting position.

After his movement, everything jumped into motion, and the three-way fight began. Dad created a shockwave and leapt at Ouranos, trying to punch the Primordial's head off. But while Ouranos was weakened, he wasn't any slower. Dad's fist went right through his smoky body and dissipated the form. A chilling laugh erupted from the sky, and similar to last year, two coils of lightning formed in the gray clouds above, marking Ouranos's eyes. They taunted my father.

He glared, and whistled for Kyros. The great eagle swooped from nowhere at Mach speed and picked up my father, carrying him hundreds of feet above to engage battle with the Primordial.

Boris followed suit to his brother, and charged Malachi with his axe. I didn't have time to register what happened next, because I had my own problems coming my way.

Bjorn swung his axe towards the top of my head, attempting to cleave me in two. I poured all of my base strength into my hands, knowing that's what it would take now, and stopped his attack, catching the hammer with my palms and holding it up.

He was very strong, much more physically so than before. He nearly matched my own with his base, signaling that we were relatively equal in power now. Jeez, Ouranos really pumped some juice into these two.

Bjorn's boots landed on the roof of the base, and he used his height to press on me, I felt the immense push try to crush my hold. My knees nearly buckled, but with a little step backward, I gained control, and pushed upward.

Bjorn's sledgehammer recoiled just enough for me to get an opening. I quickly dove forward and brought my fist in his gut. He doubled over and spat up saliva. I followed up with a quick knee to the back of his leg, the soft spot behind his kneecap. He fell to it and grunted. I could tell his grip was loose on his hammer, so I decided to disarm him and use the weapon against him.

I grabbed his arm and circled it with my right on, reaching for his hand with my left to grab the grip. But he wasn't as disoriented as I thought, because he tightened his hand on mine, and I felt my knuckles pop and condense with pain. I winced at it, and felt him headbutt me in the chest with the back of his head.

"What's the matter?" I heard him say, "Afraid to pull out that club of yours?" He gave another headbutt, this one harder. It made me lose my grip and I jumped back a few feet to avoid any follow up attacks.

I took this brief lull to gauge Malachi's progress. He wasn't making much, like me. But Boris wasn't either, as the two were locked in what could be called a tie. Malachi had formed a lightning spear and was engaged with more or less, a bout of skill against the smaller Son of Thor. The two's styles were completely different, with Boris going in ruthless and throwing haymakers with his axe. Wide strikes and cleaves, coming out to the side and trying to cut my friend in two. Malachi was graceful, dodging his strikes by moving his entire torso to the side rapidly and using his hip flexibility. He took shots carefully, and was on the defensive more than Boris. But each time Malachi tried for a stab or swipe, Boris would knock away the tip of the spear and go for another attack. Basically, the two hadn't landed a single hit yet, while Bjorn and I were going in the mud.

To prove this, he sheathed his hammer on his back and lightly punched his head, like a boxer would do before a fight. He brought his fists up in front of his neck in perfect form, and sneered.

"Alright then, don't wanna go weapons yet, I'm game. Let's see who can fight better. Keep it on the roof, first one off loses. Whaddya say?"

I squeezed my arms forward, popping any air bubbles in my back, and brought my fists up too, higher than his position. "I say you're screwed. But we'll do it your way."

He laughed at my words, and came at me. Our exchange was faster than light, but I could see his movements in real time, like a normal human fighting. Nothing was slowed down; nothing was sped up to the point of insanity in my view. His punches were fast, but not as fast as mine, they were more strength based, in your face, and not as accurate, while mine were more accurate, and numbers based. I was trying to land as many hits as possible.

After a quick exchange, he bashed his head into mine and grinded against it, distracting me. He brought his fists close to my stomach and thrust one upward, denting my intestines. I felt the blow and a throb shot up my gut, but I ignored it and knocked his hands and head away, going for a right cross. It was successful, his head fell to the side in recoil, blood escaped his mouth. I kept up, quickly moving to my other hand, delivering a left cross to his cheek, it rang true, more blood flew from his lips.

I was relentless, I started delivering combo after combo, remembering my hand-to-hand training with Dad, I hit his chin, cheeks, forehead, and nose several times in a different variety of strikes. Uppercuts, jabs, crosses, angle shots. You name it, I did it.

By the time I was satisfied, he was bleeding profusely, his face was mangled and bloody. I kicked him hard in the chest and he fell off the roof, his body plummeting instantly on the opposite side of the Campers battle in the courtyard, meaning he was freefalling fifty feet towards the edge of a high cliff.

I jumped off too, leaving Boris to Malachi and trusting him fully, and dove forward, the wind pushing against me on it's own. The distance soon closed and I undid Viribus from my neck, squeezing the lion head at the end, it morphed into the familiar club. I landed on Bjorn's bare, bloody chest and grabbed his throat, squeezing as hard as I could.

I roared and raised Viribus to the sky, summoning a powerful bolt of lightning to it. The blue arc of power hit the end of Viribus and ricocheted to Bjorn, hitting him square in the face and spreading to the rest of his body. I suppose the rule about healing himself with lightning was that it had to be his lightning, not someone else's. Because my attack made him yell in agony, and shook him violently. His body smoked when it subsided, and to finish him off, I planted my boots in his chest, and instantly sent him to the ground below. He smashed against it and created a crater.

BOOM! The delayed sound of his plummet sounded in my ears. I let myself fall to the ground in front of where he lay. I landed on my feet and just stared at the pile of uprooted snow and steam, holding Viribus in hand.

"Get up. I know it's not going to be that easy." I said coldly, knowing good and well that he could come back from what I dished him.

After I said that, a lightning bolt not generated by me left the clouds and struck the uprooted snow, melting all of it instantly. It disappeared as quick as it came, and Bjorn stood in the crater, good as new. He was grinning at me devilishly.

"Nice form, Beckett. Too bad I can heal the way I can, otherwise I might've been done for."

I scoffed, "Don't patronize me. You could've defended yourself."

He pursed his lips and nodded, "True." He stomped out of the crater and returned to my level of ground, "I guess I just wanted to make you feel good about yourself."

"You better get serious." I said, "This isn't a damn game. I'm trying to kill you."

"Are you?" He said, tilting his chin, "I don't see a Red Aura, and I don't see that Malachi going all out either." He pointed up and smiled, "Ah, here they come now."

I looked behind me without turning my body, and saw Malachi with his spear behind him, Boris in front of it. He jabbed it at the Son of Thor, and it hit him in the chest. Sparks flew everywhere and Boris was knocked to the ground. But faster than light, he did a flip in mid air and landed perfectly next to his brother, dusting the snow off his hands.

"Hey brother. Having fun?"

Bjorn shrugged, "Beckett's not going all out, but it's been okay so far."

Malachi slammed into the ground next to me, and I felt myself sink a little at the crater he formed. He had his fist and one knee on the ground, electricity crackled around him.

He stood up, keeping his eyes on Boris, "They think this is a joke."

I scowled, "I noticed. Maybe we should give them a reason to not think that."

"Agreed."

We released our auras, revealing all of our base strength, the wind picked up around us, and circled us, creating mini tornadoes. The Sons of Thor raised their eyebrows at this, noting the rise in power.

Simultaneously, Malachi and I leaned our bodies forward and jumped at the brothers, but as we did, they encircled themselves with a dark blue aura that looked dangerously like Malachi's. They disappeared from view with a bright flash and darted away, our momentum pushed us, and we had to follow through with the punch, even though we missed.

We both planted our boots in the ground and assessed where they had gone. And it wasn't far, in fact, the Sons of Thor were circling us, both of them going opposite directions. It looked like some kind of blue ring was surrounding us, keeping us trapped. Malachi and I pressed our backs together and flicked our heads around, trying to identify a spot to break their formation.

But they were fast. I reached out with my aura sense, and felt them moving much faster than light, both of them, crossing each other's path every nanosecond. It made the auras mix, and it confused me, made it hard to focus on a single spot. They meant to do this.

Malachi knew it too, "They are trying to confuse our sensing by crossing paths. They are smarter than they look."

I concentrated, but it was no use. The ping I was getting was jumbled, constantly moving. I couldn't find a target to hit.

"Too fast for ya?" Boris taunted, his voice appearing opposite of where he actually was.

"Or are ya scared to hit us?" Bjorn added, "C'mon, take a shot!"

Suddenly, an aura finally slowed to the point where I could identify it, and it was Bjorn, throwing himself at me while I was looking the other way. I quickly grabbed him by the back and threw him over the blue ring. He recovered easily though, and resumed running with his brother.

"If that happens again" I whispered, "Identify and hit Boris. That's how we separate them."

Malachi nodded, "Of course."

Bjorn's chuckle sounded like it was being echoed off of a hundred-foot hallway. "Close one. Gotta be quicker, don't I?"

They continued to circle us, and we just waited, our eyes remained in front of us. Soon the blue ring became in the background for my eyesight, and I started to see it double.

"Now, brother!"

Bjorn tried again, but I was ready. I grabbed his oncoming fist and maneuvered it so that it was beside my head. I swung my forearm back like a baseball bat and bashed it against his elbow, breaking it nearly in half and causing the bone to stick out.

Blood flew from the wound and Bjorn screamed in pain. "AH, YOU BASTARD!"

"Malachi, now!"

Malachi acted his part. He threw his lightning spear with perfect accuracy and hit Boris clean in the collarbone, knocking the Son of Thor off the cliff and towards the ground. Malachi summoned a bolt to teleport himself away and after Boris.

I felt a small sense of victory. Okay, we've separated them again. Time to take care of this.

Bjorn backed up and tried to put his bone back in place, a sight that would've made most people squeamish, but I didn't care. I've seen my fair share of blood.

I ran at him and tried to swipe at him with Viribus, but he must've held the arm for show, because at the last moment, he smirked and threw his head back. My attack missed him completely, and he turned out to be far more flexible than I thought. His back was bent in a ninety-degree angle and his head was nearly to the ground. He jumped off the snow and brought his knee into my back, launching me to the sky.

I ascended to the clouds, ignoring the slight throb that was in my lumbar area. I turned myself in midair, feeling his aura right behind me for a follow up. I clenched my fist and swung it around for a hit.

But instead of hitting him in the face and taking him by surprise, I felt an incredible amount of pain in my arm. I yelled, and saw my arm bent in a funny way, surrounded by electricity.

Bjorn had encased his hammer with lightning and slammed into my elbow, breaking my arm, like I did his.

"Eye for an eye, Beckett." He said, and raised his other hand above his head to punch me.

I braced myself, and prepared to knock it away with Viribus, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it in time. He was going to get me.

"Stay away from my son, asshole!" I heard a deep voice shout, and out of nowhere, a brown figure appeared next to Bjorn, and the Son of Thor's face crumpled into his mouth, several teeth flying out.

It was my father. He has swooped down and punched him in the face with a fist of Red Aura. Bjorn's body delayed for a bit, then it disappeared. A shockwave erupted where he once was, then there was a loud CRASH! At ground level, a mushroom cloud of snow and steam where it occurred.

Dad was on Kyros, and time seemed to slow down. I registered his hand reaching out to mine.

"Grab on!"

I did, and he grasped my fingers, pulling me on Kyros. The Eagle took off, flapping his wings and moving in a quick zig zag fashion. Thunder boomed above us, and I realized that Kyros was dodging lightning bolts, bolts smaller and weaker than the Sons of Thor's strikes.

"You're mine, Heracles!" Ouranos shouted from the sky, his voice seemingly everywhere. I looked up and saw his blue coils for eyes about three hundred feet away. But he still had an immense reach, and was spamming lightning at my dad.

"Lucky the bastard's weakened." He said, "Otherwise this wouldn't be good."

I looked at him with concern, "Will you be alright?"

He smirked at me and punched me lightly on the shoulder, "Hell yeah. Now here, let me give you a boost." He set out both of his hands and lowered them to my knee level.

I knew what he was doing, and I grinned. "This?"

He returned it, "You know what to do. Now go!"

I didn't hesitate. I jumped on his hands and let gravity take over for a bit, letting my body fall nearly flat to Kyros's saddle, but keep my head level to where Bjorn was. Once it was there, Dad grunted and thrust me forward with his entire base strength. I shot at Bjorn faster than light and tucked my head in, keeping my arms close to my sides.

Like a bullet, I hit the Son of Thor in the chest, and we both created a sinkhole that spread for a hundred meters, causing us to fall down. Bjorn didn't even yell in pain because he couldn't. His jaw was messed up, and half of his face was caved in.

We fell and fell underground. I kept releasing aura so that we would reach magma levels. When I saw the feiry liquid below, our crater now much deeper than before, I grabbed Bjorn and threw him in the fire. He splashed and sunk like a kid would in a pool.

I used Viribus to thrust myself up with the wind. Once I rose back above the surface, I raised it to the sky and gathered storm clouds for a powerful bolt. Once I felt satisfied with the tension building, enough to make my arm feel heavy, I allowed it to connect.

The bolt was wide and large, I could feel much of my power packed into it, and even some of Ouranos's. I had literally stolen some of his power from above. Bet he wasn't too happy about that.

As soon as I felt it surround me, I released it down the crater, and all the way to the magma.

It hit, and a massive chemical reaction took place. The magma shot up like a giant geyser and sprayed everywhere for several seconds. I didn't want the landscape to be completely ruined by it, so I swiped Viribus at it, and the thick wind surge cooled it, turning it into black rock.

The black rocks hailed like snowflakes, and fell on the ground.

I figured that would put Bjorn down for a bit, so I took this chance to help Malachi. I realized now the key to beating these guys. We had to separate them, and attack them together. It was the only way. One on one, like we were doing, wasn't going to work. We were too equal, and a fight like this would last for days. No, Malachi and I needed to team up, and dominate one brother at a time.

I willed the wind to take me over to where they were. Feeling their auras, Malachi and Boris had healed several times, no doubt inflicting fatal wounds on each other and using lightning to heal themselves. My arm still hurt, bad. Don't think that I wasn't ignoring it. It felt like ten million ants had gone to town on it, then someone ran over it with a car. I winced at the pain, and nearly faltered with my flight. I needed to heal it.

Damn it, I thought. I couldn't help it though. I touched my arm with Viribus, and it's healing properties immediately took over, washing the pain away instantly. My bone popped back in place and mended. I didn't think about what would come later, because our goal was to defeat Ouranos. When we did, his aura would leave me. I didn't mind it now; I could make do with it until we take these guys out. Right now, I need all of my power. I can't be handicapped.

I saw Malachi and Boris duking it out on ground level, their blows and strike attempts creating powerful wind surges and blowing away thousands of tons of snow, knocking away trees, and causing general destruction.

I cautiously glanced at my father above, flying around on Kyros and defending against Ouranos's attacks, trying to deliver some of his own. But he might as well have been fighting smoke. Ouranos kept evaporating then rematerializing hundreds of feet away. Like us, he was locked in a stalemate.

Hold out, Dad. I thought. Just until we can help, we'll figure it out.

I gritted my teeth and turned, charging at Boris.

Seeing that he was facing the direction I was flying in, I decided to take the back route. I swooped to the side and dove behind him, landing on the ground. Knowing these guys didn't have aura sense, that gave me an advantage.

Malachi, the genius he is in combat, didn't even glance or flinch at my sudden appearance, and remained locked with the Son of Thor. He saw me clearly, unless he was blind, and I was glad for it. Had he given any indication, this wouldn't work.

Malachi unlocked his spear from Boris's axe, and jumped a few feet away, brandishing it behind his back and holding the tip towards the ground.

Boris laughed, "Die!" He went for an overhead swing, just what I wanted.

"Actually, no." I growled, and grabbed Viribus with both hands for extra power. I swung it and hit Boris right on the wrist, taking it clean off. His hand dangled by the muscle tissue on the bone and red blood burst everywhere, like I'd popped a balloon.

I reared my head back to avoid droplets from getting on me. Boris didn't even yell in pain, he just scowled at the wound, and turned to me like a demon, grinning. Okay, that was a little terrifying.

I didn't show it though, "Malachi!" Thank the gods he understood. Malachi took the opening and stabbed the lightning spear through Boris's gut, the staff of electricity going all the way through. Blood fell by the buckets and a large hole appeared in his stomach, crackling with lightning.

Boris's demonic grin fell, and it turned to a look of shock. He stared down at the wound, and his mouth trickled blood.

Malachi held the spear, "Do it, now!"

I gripped Viribus to my side and prepared to take Boris's head off. It was brutal, sure, but these guys needed to be took down. I held no bones about killing at the moment, if it were these two. I tensed up to swing, but as I did, of course, a powerful aura pinged behind me.

"Look out!" Malachi tried, but it was too late, Bjorn had appeared too fast behind me. Malachi's voice was cut off by a ringing in my ears, an intense sting shooting up the side of my face.

I fell to one knee, and felt it again, hitting the back of my head now. Malachi roared at Bjorn and tried ot stab him with the spear, but his aura was beyond ours now. He had entered a heightened form, like my Red Aura. He was using his full strength now.

I could see from where I laid that he dissipated Malachi's spear with a single strike, and jabbed his hammer in my friend's sternum, sending him flying back. I felt his aura go hundreds of feet away, crashing into a far-off mountain.

My eyesight was blurry, but I could see Bjorn glaring down at me, his bulky frame surrounded by a dark blue aura, similar to Malachi's. He walked over to Boris and shot a spark of lightning at him. The little electricity brought his twin back, his aura rose back to normal health, and he got off the ground.

Boris yelled, and the same blue aura coated him, just like Bjorn's. His power rose to the same level, both of theirs now above my own. I put my hand on the ground next to me and tried to push up, but Bjorn slammed the sole of his boot in my back. I groaned in pain, feeling like I'd been shot with a Heavenly Diamond bullet.

"Bastard. Ya almost killed my brother. Yer smart, real smart. Tryin' to separate us like that." Bjorn twisted his foot, and it made the pain worse, I groaned louder, and they chuckled with pleasure at that.

I felt him lean his head closer to my level, "Saw Sigurd fightin' our father. Heh, prick got lucky last time, this time…he's gonna die."

I winced and tried to focus my anger at them towards my body, but it wasn't working. I was getting distracted; I needed the Red Aura. I needed my equalizer.

Boris stepped over and laughed at my position, poking me in the head with his axe, "What's the matter, boy? Gonna get mad? Gonna break out into a fit of rage? Do it. We're dying to have some real fun here."

"You guys are psychos. Go to Tartarus." I said, not giving into their sick game. I wondered why Ouranos didn't shout at them from the sky to go ahead and kill me. I mean, I'm glad he didn't, but right now it didn't make sense. They were doing their twisted thing where they liked to toy with their opponent, but Ouranos wanted me dead, more than anything. So what was the deal? Did he care? Or was he too busy fighting my dad to notice?

Bjorn punched the back of my head at the psycho comment, and I felt a throb pulse in my brain, making it feel like the world's worst migraine. I wanted to scream in agony, because that's all I felt right now, but I stayed quiet, knowing it would only get them off more.

"And what makes us psychos? Huh? Did Sigurd tell ya all about us?"

I practically snarled at them, noting that blood was leaking from my mouth, but I didn't care. My rage was boiling right now, reaching it's limit. "Yeah, he told me how you killed his best friend, and countless other people."

They paused for a moment, and I actually thought they were going to get even angrier, like maybe that was a touchy subject for them. But no, they burst into laughter, like I'd told them the fondest memory they could hear.

They were doubling over after a few seconds, Boris wiping tears from his eyes, "That faggot Rune? Yeah, we killed him and that stupid fuck of a boyfriend he had after he embarrassed us. Was a long time coming too."

Bjorn spat on my neck, making my rage grow higher. Why the hell wasn't my Red Aura working. I needed it now!

"And Sigurd went along with that bullshit, as usual when it was with Rune. Oh, Rune messed up? It's okay, he'll get another try. Rune basically fucked an entire quest? Yeah, he's good. But when it's one of us, oh no, can't have that. Well, we never fucked up a quest, did we brother? Always succeeded. But that's besides the point. Sigurd and Hannes were idiot's for allowing that kind of shit. How do they expect our forces to grow and improve when you've got a bunch of cocksuckers running around? It just makes no sense."

I managed to push myself off the ground enough to backhand him with my fist across his face. His head recoiled a bit, and I forced his boot off of me, but just as quick as I got free, Boris smacked me across the nose with his axe handle, and Bjorn planted back into my chest, pushing me further into the ground.

"Heh, nice try. But you'll have to do better than that." He said.

Boris snickered, "We'll take our time with him, won't we brother?"

"Yeah, I don't give a damn what Ouranos says. And after we have fun with him, we'll go after his little girlfriend. Remember, the one that stabbed you, Boris."

Boris widened his eyes and smiled, "Oh yeah! That one!" He whistled, "Man, that girl had an ass on her! A little on the feisty side, but I don't mind that too much."

Bjorn shook his head, "Just make sure she knows who's boss. Can't have the bitch thinking she is."

Boris snorted, "Course not." Then he turned to me, "Here that, Matty? May not have to kill her after all if she proves useful in…other places."

"Touch her and you die." I growled, my rage at it's peak. The mention of Harper made my blood hot, I could literally feel the steam coming off of me, somehow, I was reverting to my old self, when I used to get warm every time I powered up. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew one thing…I was furious.

They only laughed at my threat, and continued to piss me off. "Sixteen though, little young."

"Ah, inexperience don't bother me. Makes it more fun."

That was it. That was the final straw. Nobody threatens my friends, especially her. Not her.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" I shouted, and it felt like my entire body had combusted. I yelled for several seconds and felt myself enveloped in a bright red light, burning like fire. I didn't feel the pain, but I could feel it's intense heat. It knocked the brothers away and the red glow rose to the sky thirty feet before falling back down to outline my form.

I seethed at them and used Viribus to heal my wounds. Their eyes were wide, and they became serious. They didn't need aura sense to know that they were in trouble.

And just in time, thank Olympus, I felt Malachi's aura escape his predicament. He rushed over; his aura now nearly equal to mine. He was at full power too. It was on.

He landed next to me, creating a crater. He stood up and looked at me, his eyes were glowing a deadly blue, and he was surrounded by his own aura, matching the Sons of Thor's color. Our auras pulsed together, and mixed a little at our close proximity, batting off each other like sabers of energy.

"Sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?"

I scowled deeply at the twins, "Me getting pissed. Let's kill these wannabe Sons of Zeus. How about it?"

The twins gripped their weapons, their smirks and chuckles now long gone. They knew if they messed around with us, they would die.

Malachi formed another lightning spear, this one longer and brighter, it crackled with pure power, power capable of stabbing a hole in the planet.

"I would be happy to. But one problem, our auras are still more or less equal to theirs. If we fight them as we have been, we cannot gain control."

"I know." I said lowly, keeping my eyes on the Sons of Thor, who were taking the defensive now, not daring to attack us. Fine with me, we could come up with a plan at this rate. "We need to separate them, and attack one at the same time like before. A few minutes ago, remember? When we almost killed Boris?"

He nodded, "Yes. But how? With their strength, we'll be forced to fight them."

I racked my brain for a solution. As much as I didn't want to admit, these guys with their boost, were basically equal to us. If there was a difference, it was very slight. I'd have to stay focused on Bjorn the whole time, or risk getting killed by him. We needed help; we needed a third man.

My father!

I glanced in my peripheral, to see him still battling Ouranos. The primordial was on the run, trying to escape my father's attacks. They were still locked though, nobody getting the edge. Dad was too strong, but Ouranos was too quick, and he couldn't be hit even.

It was a risk, taking him away from Ouranos. But what could the god do? He was barely more powerful than the Storm Spirits he spawned. He couldn't hurt us.

I decided to go for it, and took the chance.

Father. I thought, hoping this would work like it did with Zeus.

No response.

Father. I tried again.

Nothing.

I was getting annoyed. I needed this, we needed him!

FATHER!

I felt his surprise, and locked on to him. What?! He shouted in his mind.

My chest fluttered with victory; I fought the smile on my face. I couldn't believe that actually worked!

Father, it's me! We need you down here.

Kinda in the middle of something right now. A loud crack of thunder boomed overhead, along with Ouranos's frustrated shouts.

Just hear me out, I said. I told him my plan, to have him hold off one of the brothers while we kill one, then come to the brother he's holding off, and get rid of him too. Then, we'd figure out a way to take down Ouranos. And with the weak power he's at right now, if we could hit him, it would be a piece of cake.

There was a pause, and a hum of thought from him. Eventually, he agreed.

I like that. Good thinking, son. Which brother?

The big one. Malachi and I will take care of the rest.

He didn't say anything, I figured he would be down here when he could. I hoped it was soon, because the brothers looked impatient.

Even Malachi raised an eyebrow at me, "Do you have a solution?"

I smirked, feeling Dad's aura leave the sky and shoot towards Bjorn. "It's coming."

BOOM!

Dad, surrounded by his own Red Aura, grabbed Bjorn's head, and slammed it into the ground, forcing the Son of Thor in a submissive position. It took Boris completely by surprise, he just stood there in shock.

"Get him!" He shouted, his voice booming at us, "I got this one!"

"Oh no you don't, old man!" Boris shouted, and went to swing his aura infused axe at Dad, but we wouldn't allow it.

"Go, Matt!" Malachi shouted, and we both charged the smaller Son of Thor, who was completely unaware of the oncoming beating he was about to receive.

From there, our plan worked like nothing. It was clockwork.

Father kept Bjorn's attention, and every time the Son of Thor would jump at us to save his brother, Dad would reappear behind him, as fast as he was, grab him, and throw him back to the ground. It was effective, and it gave us plenty of time.

And oh boy, did we take advantage of that time.

Firstly, Malachi and I both punched Boris in the chest, crumpling it and knocking him back a hundred feet. He rolled in the snow and kipped up, his axe behind his head. I dodged the strike, and Malachi kneed him in the gut, doubling over. I followed up by grabbing his arm and throwing him in the sky. Malachi knew what to do, he thrust his spear at Boris, and lightning shot out of it, connecting with the Son of Thor, and nearly charring him black. Gravity took over, and he fell down.

I jumped up and met him with Viribus, one handed, I swung the sweet spot of the club right in his kidney. I heard the organ pop open, and internal blood burst everywhere inside of him. His aura weakened drastically, and the blue glow faded, he could no longer even yell in pain.

The force of the blow sent him crashing into a line of snow-covered trees, skidding and uprooting tons of the white substance. Both Malachi and I reappeared in front of him, side by side.

He was on his knees and hands, coughing up blood, scooting back towards some boulders behind him.

Malachi and I stalked slowly towards him, leaving him nowhere to run. If any normal person would've saw this, we probably looked like the bad guys. My face was contorted with rage, and my knuckles were white against Viribus, the club now covered in blood.

Malachi didn't look any kinder. What with his emotionless glowing eyes, and his long, intimidating spear. He wanted this killer dead as much as I did.

Boris was done for. A trail of blood lined his slow, wounded retreat, he was still coughing it up, now scooting away on his rear end, he had bruises and blood everywhere.

I kicked him in the face, and he fell back, all the way to the rock, his head hit the bottom of it.

"That's for threatening Harper." I said, "Admit defeat, Boris."

He actually managed a laugh; more blood caked his lips from it. His torso had to be shattered.

He shakily pushed himself up, and wobbled on his feet, using the boulder behind him for support. I saw below his red hair, he was smirking.

This was the end. He would never admit defeat. I don't even know why I asked.

I looked at Malachi, who was staring at me, and nodded.

He gave a slight one in return, and spun his spear, stopping it behind his back. He crouched down some.

"Have you any last words, Son of Thor?" He asked, and gripped the spear.

I wouldn't have even given him that, but it was fine by me. We had some honor, unlike these two.

He spat the blood in his mouth, and gave one last chuckle, "Go fuck yourselves, Greeks. I'll see you in hell when you get there, one day."

Malachi didn't hesitate, the split second after Boris uttered those taunting words, he swiped faster than light at the demigod's neck, and there was a moment's delay.

Boris's face went slack, his smirk fell, and soon afterwards, his head along with it.

Malachi stood up from his attack position, and stared neutrally at the dead Son of Thor, whose body and head had slumped to the ground, the neck stump seeping puddles of blood.

"Dishonorable to the end." He said, "Good riddance."

I agreed, "One down. Let's go help my father."

As we turned around, I saw the flash of Boris's blue aura leave his limp body, and felt it shoot into the sky, mixing with the clouds. I thought it was weird, but I ignored it. Must've been a Norse thing.

Malachi and I jumped over to where Bjorn was fighting my father. Club against hammer, they were creating powerful shockwaves and zooming around in blurs, all over the ground, sky, you name it, they fought in it.

He's dead. I told Dad.

Alright, I'm bringing the big one to you.

"Let's wait here." I told Malachi, and we landed on the ground.

Malachi looked up at the now even gray sky. "It is awfully quiet up there, don't you think?"

I looked up too, and noticed that…yeah, it was quiet. Where had Ouranos gone? Didn't he care that we just killed one of two of his most powerful minions? He wasn't even trying to attack us. Why? Did he realize it would be pointless? Or did he just care that little for the Sons of Thor?

I didn't have much time to ponder it, because Dad landed in front of us with a loud crash. Bjorn following suite.

"Stop running!" He yelled as he landed, "A god afraid of a demigod, that's gotta be-" He stopped in his tracks when he saw both Malachi and myself.

We just stood there, staring at him, my father slightly beside him. Bjorn looked at each of us, then where we had taken Boris, and finally put the dots together.

When he did, his mouth fell open, and he dropped his hammer.

"You…fucking sons of bitches." He growled, his rage rising, along with his aura. It was growing slightly beyond what it was already, his anger giving him a temporary boost of sorts. I knew it, because I'd had the same thing happen to me.

Malachi and I got into fighting positions; this wasn't good. His aura was starting to get to the point where it was even more dangerous.

Bjorn shook with rage, and his muscles expanded a little, the veins on them popped, and he looked up at us, absolutely fuming. "YOU BASTARDS! I'LL TORTURE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE! HOW DARE YOU!" He disappeared from view, and tried to come at us, but Dad was quicker, and took him by surprise.

He barely stopped him, and caught him by the arms, wrapping his own around them and trapping him in a Master lock, squeezing as tight as he could with the Red Aura.

"Matt!" He shouted urgently, "The Cannon, use it now! His aura's rising!"

Malachi agreed, "He's getting a boost in power. Matt, use the technique!"

I shook my head from my daze, "O-Okay!" I put my hands together, palms forward, and focused on Bjorn's wild energy. He was thrashing violently against Dad's grip, and he almost broke out a couple of times, but he managed to hold on. It wouldn't last though, I needed to charge this thing fast.

"Take his energy!" Dad shouted.

"I'm trying!" I strained, unable to lock onto it, "It's too wild! I can't get a grip!"

Bjorn finally roared and headbutted Dad, knocking his head back and breaking his grip. He came at me immediately, his fist reared back. The Cannon was already starting, if I moved it would break.

Thankfully, Malachi knew what to do. He punched Bjorn square in the face and knocked the Son of Thor to the ground. He dematerialized his lightning spear and took an arm, motioning for my father to do the same.

"Hold him!"

They both grabbed onto an arm and held as tight as they could, immense strength in both of them, Bjorn wasn't escaping. But he didn't make it easy. He recovered from the punch and thrashed some more, trying to shake his arms out and bash his head against theirs. But every time he attempted, they would reposition their grip, or move their heads.

"LET GO OF ME! I'LL KILL YOU!'

"Take my energy!" Dad said, "Hurry!"

I needed to hurry up, he was right. We'd already gotten one, we couldn't miss our chance. I didn't know where Ouranos was, but for all I knew he was getting more help. Maybe regenerating his power, calling in a Titan or something, I had no idea. I just knew I needed to get this thing done.

I focused on Dad's energy and grabbed it, becoming faster at this technique every time I did it. I pulled on it, and it came to. I saw pieces of his red aura fly to my hand like trash to a vacuum. They joined and collided, widening and brightening the Cannon.

It was now a soccer ball sized orb in my palms, hot and pulsing with powerful energy. But it wouldn't be enough to kill Bjorn.

He thrashed more, this time with even more strength.

Dad strained against his resistance, "Gather energy from the plants! The animals! Anything! It doesn't have to be just me! Concentrate!"

I did, and I felt out for the plants and animals, sending my aura sense out for miles, pushing it as far as I could go right now. I felt the trees beyond this land, the plants and wildlife roaming.

I need some of your aura right now, guys. I thought to them, not even sure if they could hear me, but I felt like I needed to at least say it. It'll replenish, I promise. But I need it for now.

I grabbed at their smaller, but more numerous auras and pulled at them. It took a couple of seconds, but little pieces came from the air, and fell into my hands. Combined with my father's energy, my energy, and the energy of dozens of plants and animals, the Cannon was getting to a great size, now as big as me, it glowed very bright. It held a ton of aura, enough to put Bjorn away.

When it reached an aura higher than Bjorn's, I shouted, "It's ready! Let go on three!"

I felt Malachi and my father tense up, and heard Bjorn's protests.

"You bastard! Don't hide behind your little blast! Come fight me like a man!"

"ONE!"

"You won't fire that thing, Beckett! You're too much of a coward!"

"TWO!"

"This isn't the end! My father will kill you! I'll drag you down to hell with me! I'll find a way to end you, Beckett, I'LL FIND A WAY!"

"THREE!"

With that, I thrust my hands forward and released the massive blast of energy that was the Red Beam Cannon. Dad and Malachi moved out of the way just in time, leaving Bjorn to face the wall of heat that surpassed his own power. The cylinder of energy hit him and all I saw was red, I didn't even see his body anymore, save for a few black specks of what I guessed to be burnt skin, knocked away by the force of the blow.

I felt the Cannon hit a mountain, and it disintegrated it completely. I needed to halt it now, or else it might hit civilization and level it, or even worse, the Earth.

I shouted, and with a struggle, I spread my hands apart, and broke the blast, dissipating it's powerful red energy to nothing.

I breathed heavily and felt my hands were hot, letting off smoke. They were burned, and nearly barbecued.

Dad ran over and grabbed Viribus, he immediately touched it to them. They healed instantly.

"Doesn't matter now." He murmured.

I nodded, not able to speak due to the taste of fire in my mouth and the overwhelming amount of spit.

Malachi pointed at the half tunnel dug in the ground from the blast. No sign of Bjorn, and I didn't feel his aura either. He was gone, for good. Both of them were.

The Demi Primordial raised an eyebrow, like he couldn't believe it. "I think...I think that we just won."

I breathed a laugh, releasing the tension I'd been holding all throughout the blast of the cannon. I picked up Viribus, tapped it, and it morphed back into a necklace. I put it around my neck and rested my hands on my knees. "I'd say so, man."

Malachi walked over and did something that surprised me. He held out his fist for a fist bump.

He must've seen my confused face, because he tried to elaborate on it.

"Um, Talon says this is what…bros do after they win a fight. So…here." He thrust it lightly at me.

I couldn't help but snicker. Just what had Talon taught him on that Island? Half of it I probably didn't want to know. I stood up, pretty tired from the Cannon, but I more than managed to bump my fist against his.

"He's right, bros do this stuff." I put my hands on my hips, and felt the cape Sigurd gave me brush against it. I was surprised it hadn't fell off. Man, Harper must've latched it on good.

"We worked well together." Malachi said, "I cannot imagine the kind of training we can get out of sparring matches."

That was a really good idea, even though there wasn't a need for it now, not really. But I was still excited at the thought.

"I know man, as soon as we get back to Camp, we can-"

But Dad interrupted, "Um…boys, I hate to interrupt your budding bromance, but I'm seeing some serious storm clouds over at the base."

Malachi and I walked over to where he stood, and indeed, saw a funnel of gray clouds nearly touching the roof, lightning swirled in it.

Suddenly, a thought hit me, and I remembered a concern I'd had earlier. "Malachi, did you see your father anywhere when we took out the brothers?"

He shook his head, "No, I did not."

"Dad?"

He shook his too, and kept his eyes on the new tornado like thing, "Nope."

Could that be him? I mean, he sort of disappeared there for a minute. But why? Didn't he need the Sons of Thor, since they were his heavy hitters? It just made no sense as to why he bailed.

Either way, he was weak, and we could deal with him. Heck, one of us would be more than enough.

"Let's go up there." I said, "All of us."

They agreed, and we all jumped up there at the same time, covering a lot of distance. We were accurate, and we landed on the cliff, behind the base, looking up at the roof.

The funnel cloud continued to swirl, but nothing came out of it.

We looked at each other, just as confused as the other. I had no idea what was going on, but I decided it was worth a shot to call him out, if it was him.

"Ouranos!" I shouted, cupping my hand.

Silence.

Dad tried, "Hey Ouranos, get your ass down here so we can send you to Tartarus!"

This time, we got something back. An eerie chuckle.

That eerie chuckle soon turned into a full-on maniacal laugh, echoing, and booming across the roof down at us. It was coming from the funnel cloud after all.

I tensed up, and felt out with my aura. Sure enough, it was him, and he was…stronger. A lot stronger. How did he get such an amp? Did he leave and heal? Or…

No.

The blue aura…when Boris died, his blue aura lifted back into the sky, and Bjorn…the same thing probably happened in his case, I just didn't see it through the Red Beam Cannon. Ouranos had taken back the energy he gave them, and claimed it as his own again.

Okay, now we had a tiny problem, because he possessed about three fourths of the power that they had, only a quarter of it being their own, which was…insane. That meant that the Sons of Thor's real strength was much, much weaker than what they showed today. Ouranos had given them nearly triple their real strength. Now all of it was back to him, making him a bit of a threat. But with the three of us combined, we could still take him out.

His crazy laugh lowered to a simple hum of victory. "Hello, everyone. Quite a show you put on there."

Malachi growled, "What's your game, father? Why did you disappear?"

Eyes flickered on inside of the storm cloud, two blue coils of lightning, giving him eyes. "Why my son, so I could watch you in all of your glory, destroy that puny Son of Thor."

All of our eyebrows raised. What?

"Wait, you're happy about that?" I asked.

"Of course!" He said happily, "All went according to plan! In fact, I want to thank you all for getting rid of them!"

Okay, now I was really confused. I knew Ouranos was crazy, but was he just straight up senile now? What was going on? It was making me angry not knowing. Was he playing some joke on us? Like 'Oh darn! You got me! Guess I'll go back to Tartarus!' Like no, that's not how it works.

"So they weren't your henchmen? Your vessels?" Dad asked.

Ouranos snorted, "Please. They were barely fit to fight alongside the Grand Four, or whatever the hell those nitwits are called. No, they weren't vessels, my friend…" I felt the air get even colder, but hot at the same time. I couldn't quite describe it, but Ouranos's aura became menacing, murderous. Something bad was about to happen.

Ouranos finished his sentence with a gravelly, evil voice. "They were loose ends. The real vessel…is standing right next to you."

Right after he said that, Malachi started screaming in agony, clutching his head, and gripping at his hair like his life depended on it. Dad and I both turned immediately and tried to help him.

"Malachi, what's wrong?!"

Dad was cautious to touch him, "Kid, are you alright?"

"N-No!" Malachi shook his head, his entire body was turning pale and a sickly green, it looked like his veins were going to explode from the pressure in his body. He screamed in pain, and managed to strain out a few words. "IT'S…HIM! HE'S- AGHHH!"

He fell to the ground and beat his fists against his head like crazy, even started smashing it against the ground. Gods, what was he doing?

I grabbed his back and tried to pull him up, "Malachi, it's gonna be okay! It's alright!"

He pushed me off, "Get away! Run!" He screamed again and blood started dripping from his nose. Holy shit…what was wrong with him?!

"Malachi!" My father said, "Listen to me, you're gonna be okay!"

Malachi sounded like he was choking, "R-RUN! HE'S…TAKING OVER! I CAN'T-AGH!" Blood flew from his nose and mouth, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

He's taking over…

I turned to look at Ouranos, and even without a mouth, I could see the smirk on his face. I could hear the low chuckle of his voice. He was…possessing Malachi. He was trying to combine their power and use him to fight us.

I seethed and ran at the roof, "Let go of my friend you BASTARD!" I roared, and jumped, both of my fists behind my head. But Ouranos couldn't be touched. His two blue eyes dissipated, and the clouds parted, leaving me landing on the roof face first.

I felt his aura darting to Malachi's.

"NO!" I yelled and pushed myself up to look at Dad, "DAD, STOP HIM!"

He understood instantly, and looked at the approaching storm funnel. He leapt in front of it and smashed it with his fist, dissipating it. At first, my chest jumped in victory, but the smoke returned, and it entered Malachi's mouth, narrowing, and shooting down it like water from a hose.

"NO!" I yelled, but it was too late. Ouranos had taken control of his son. There was a pause, and both Dad and I looked at Malachi to see what would happen. He was laying on his back right now, lifeless, lines of blood coming from his nose and mouth.

Then, he stood up.

The wind picked him up off the ground, and my father backed up. I jumped down to stand beside him.

Malachi's eyes came back to life, and they were his…but also not his, if you know what I mean. I don't know how to say it, but they weren't friendly like his were, these were malevolent.

He reached up and wiped the blood from his face, giving us a smirk.

"Now then…that feels much better." He said, in Malachi's voice. Just like…last year.

It was happening again, and this time…he was way stronger. I reached out with my aura, and to my immense horror, he had combined Malachi's power with his own, basically…we stood in front of three Matt Beckett's. Because that's what it felt like, my power…tripled.

Dad felt it too, and for the first time…I saw fear in his eyes.

"By Olympus" He said with a whisper, "It can't be…"

Mala-no…Ouranos sneered, "Yes, Heracles, it is. The original lord of the sky Ouranos has returned. Now then Matthias, what was that about bashing my face in?"

---

Name the worst possible scenario. This situation beats it.

Ouranos has possession of Malachi, just like he did last year for the entire quest. The difference is, last time, he was only able to access Malachi's strength, and none of his own. Well now…he had control of some of his old power, and it was massive.

I'm talking Hades massive, Percy's Dad Poseidon massive. There was no way we could stand up to him and win right now. Not even the Red Beam Cannon would kill him, it might hurt him, but it wouldn't take him out.

Ouranos ripped Malachi's upper wear off and threw it down the cliff towards the ground, leaving him shirtless, only clad in jeans and sneakers, like last year. He popped Malachi's bones and moved his neck around, stretching. He looked at his hands, and even felt his son's hair.

"Very interesting. One year feels a lot longer than it used to, but it was worth it."

Dad and I looked at each other with wide eyes. This couldn't be happening. We couldn't even stop it from happening, it just did. Ouranos had planned this all along, and it was just now hitting me…how incredibly, dangerously smart the Primordial was.

He used the Sons of Thor's anger to get them to work for him, used Thor to come her for vengeance against Sigurd, and always planned to dispose of them, and get his power back. The only reason that he wanted us here, was so that he could possess Malachi, and combine his current power with his son's, giving him the strength to kill Dad and me.

It was smart, I'll admit. And it worked, we were like puppies to him now.

He looked at us like we were too, "Well, shall we get started. You two are the current obstacles in my way, and I'll admit, I'm going to enjoy killing you both, you have been quite the pain in my side."

Dad got in a fighting position, brave as he is, but I was standing here pretty intimidated, and trying desperately to stall him while I figured out some sort of plan to at least weaken him enough to where we could retreat and get the others.

"And what will you do after?" I blurted.

His smirk widened, "I'll bide my time of course. I'm very powerful in this state, but this is temporary, I only want it so that I can kill you two. After I succeed, I'll take that club of yours, and once I hold it in my hand, my life force inside of it will return to me, and I can assume a physical form again. I will be frail, and very weak in that state…but I will regain my true power, the power I once held long ago, and once that happens. I merge with the Adam Tree on Olympus."

Merge with the Adam Tree? "And what will that do for you?"

He studied me for a moment, and even his eyes bore the vicious force of a Universal being. "I know what you're doing, you're trying to stall me." He snickered, "That's fine, if I really need to, I could kill you with two attacks. But I'll play along for a bit. You deserve to know." He took in a breath, "Merging with the Adam Tree will allow me to take in the life force, and aura, of my wife Gaea. Once I have her life force mixed with mine, I gain her power. With her and my strength combined, I will be most powerful force in the Multiverse. Not even Zeus can stop me, and that is who I plan to take out first. Of course, after you two I mean."

My eyes widened. Merging with the Adam Tree? Gaea? He planned on taking her energy too, so he can kill Zeus.

The thought of anyone being strong enough to kill Zeus made me shiver. That was some serious power.

We couldn't let him have it. I don't know how…but we will stop him.

I let my anger take over, the anger of the fact that I couldn't stop him from taking over Malachi's body, my friend. I felt my aura rise greatly and the Red Aura surround me. Dad did the same.

Ouranos simply grinned with excitement, "There you go. Show me what you've got."

I looked at Dad and we nodded to each other, both thinking the same thing. We might be weaker than him, by a lot, but he's in a good mood, and he's not going all out. So if we just fight him for a bit and give him a fun time, we can maybe figure out a way to weaken him.

We both disappeared from view with red flashes, then reappeared, me at his front, and Dad at his back.

We both punched at the same time, all of our strength behind it. He quickly caught both of our fists in his palms and stopped us. We struggled and pushed against him, putting everything we had into it, but he was too strong, his hands were only slightly shaking with effort.

He smiled, "Not bad, but I know you can do better than that. Try again." He flexed his monstrous aura, both Dad and I flew backwards from the force. He landed and caught himself with his fingers on the snow, I did a backflip and landed on my feet.

We charged at him again, and unleashed a flurry of attacks. We punched and jabbed at him both with our full speed, our arms creating afterimages, making it look like there were eight arms in the air at the same time. Ouranos just weaved and dodged quickly through them, not being scratched at all. Dad and I tried our best to hit him, but not one punch landed. We were lucky we didn't wind up hitting each other.

"Look at this, father and son bonding time. How precious." Ouranos pushed me on the stomach, and I flew back several feet, skidding on the heels of my boots. Ouranos grabbed my father's fist and threw it aside, quickly latching Malachi's hand onto the back of dad's head and squeezing.

Dad cried out in pain and beat at the Primordial's wrist, but it was no use. Malachi wasn't nearly as tall as my father, so Ouranos had to reach his hand all the way up to grip his head.

"Cherish your time with your son, Heracles." Ouranos said, "You don't want to end up like me and dear boy Kai, do you?" He laughed.

"DAD!" I yelled, and leapt at Ouranos, my fist reared back. He turned and glared at me, but didn't make a move.

I took whatever I could, and slammed my fist square in his nose, making him stumble back, and loosening the grip on Dad.

I went over to him and helped him up. "You good?"

He nodded, and his eyes widened, "LOOK OUT!"

I felt a dangerous ping on my sensing radar, and in my peripheral, I saw a flash of silver/bluish light. On instinct, I ducked my head and rolled backward. Dad did the same.

I looked up and saw Ouranos, his body in a lunging position, and his hand outstretched. In his hand…was the Heavenly Diamond Spear.

My heart sunk and my stomach turned. There it was…his prized weapon, made of the material capable of killing immortals, and sending them to the Underworld…forever.

Just being in the presence of it was mind bending. I could feel it's chaotic energy, boundless, infinite. It was constantly swirling inside, ready to erase whatever it impaled.

Dad put an arm over me, "Son, whatever you do…stay away from that thing."

I pushed his arm away and put mine over him, "Dad, you need to stay away. That thing kills gods!"

He nodded grimly, "I know, but the effect is much worse on demigods if fatally wounded. Be careful."

Ouranos threw his head back and laughed, "Yes, Matthias! Be very careful, boy! One stab with this thing…and you're erased, permanently. Mortal souls are gone for good when killed by this."

I felt fear well up in my chest, much greater than when I fought the Midgard Serpent. Last year I'd faced him with the spear, but this was…much different. With his level of power now, he could easily kill both of us, as opposed to last year when we were more or less the same. And this time…my father was with me. If that thing hurt him…he was gone, for good. I wouldn't let that happen under any circumstances. We got off to a rocky start, but I loved him, a lot. He was now the dad I always wanted. No way am I letting some stupid spear and a psycho ruin that.

But I couldn't fight down the worry, "Dad…how the hell are we gonna get out of this?"

He shook his head and murmured, "I'm working on it. Let's just keep up what we were doing, but be careful, son."

"Okay."

I drew Viribus, knowing that if any material could stand up to Heavenly Diamond, it was this. I knew that Ouranos wanted it, but that was only once we were dead. If he used it right now and became a frail thing like he said, then we would be able to kill him. No, he wouldn't take it now. It was my only chance at staying…non erased.

I looked at Dad, "Here, take it. You need it more than I do."

He pushed it away, "No. Gods are more durable to the stuff than demigods. Takes a little more to kill us with it. You just worry about yourself. Got it?"

I hesitated, but ultimately agreed with him, "Got it."

Ouranos mockingly yawned, "Are you two done? Come now, I'm losing my patience!"

Father growled, "Oh we'll come at you, psycho fuck. Bring it!" He quickly summoned energy to his hand, and released a very quick Beam Cannon at Ouranos. The Primordial let it hit him, and it did nothing. But Dad was gone, and reappeared behind him, his club swung at his head. Ouranos blocked it with the spear, and the force of the simple movement shook the ground.

I charged next, and Ouranos deflected my swipe attempt. It was two on one now, weapons. We were both cautious, staying away from the spear as best we could, but still striking. That wasn't much use either though, since Ouranos had millennia of experience more than even my father, let alone me. He was toying with our full powered strikes, batting them away like kids fighting a gladiator.

"Great form. But I'm afraid you need some more practice." He said, and flexed his aura again, knocking us away. But this time, Dad didn't fly so far. He latched on to the staff of the spear, and pulled himself to Ouranos, bashing his elbow against Malachi's face, knocking it back. Even Ouranos seemed surprised, and genuinely wasn't expecting it. We had him a little stunned.

"Now, Matt!" Dad shouted, and bashed his elbow again.

I closed the distance at light speed, and punched him in the nose with all I had, sending him flying off the mountain, rag dolling. I jumped under him and swung at his back with Viribus, the sweet spot connecting. That seemed to do a tiny bit of actual damage, and Ouranos grunted, Malachi's body flew upwards towards the clouds.

I roared and jumped above him, I felt my father's aura rise, and I knew what he was doing. I summoned lightning to Viribus, and shot it at Ouranos's chest, or well, Malachi's chest. It connected, and the god was sent tumbling right into Dad's line of his Cannon shot.

Once he met it, Dad fired, and the red cylinder of energy hit Ouranos, engulfing him.

I used Viribus to fly back down next to Dad. Ouranos was at least disoriented, and if not, then he was playing along, giving us time.

I landed on the ground behind him, on the cliff. He looked a little tired, and his hands were smoking a little, but they didn't look hurt.

"Not much time." I said, "How can we beat him? Or at least…weaken him?"

He looked over the cliff's edge, down where he fell, and tightened his lips. "Son, the only suggestion I have, that can possibly beat him in the situation we're in…is to use the spear against him. Somehow get it out of his hand, and hit him with it."

I smiled. That sounded like a great idea, only…

My smile melted as quick as it came, "No. That'll kill-"

He held up a hand, "I know. But…It's all I've got. And we don't have to fatally hit him, just a cut or something to weaken him, so we can get out of here, get help and…"

"And what?"

He sighed, "I don't know, son. I don't."

The helplessness of the awful situation hit me. Gods, we were in a mess. We couldn't use the spear against him, because that might erase Malachi's soul, and if we really hurt him, then it definitely would. We were just trapped in a corner here.

Panic welled up in my chest, and I was very desperate. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like a little kid, afraid of the dark. I wanted to run away and go home, to Camp Half Blood. I didn't want to fight Ouranos anymore. He was too much.

"He's still down there. Dad, get Kyros, we need to run!"

He looked at me like I had three heads, "You lost your mind?!"

I tugged on his hand, "Come on! It's our only shot!"

He pulled away and grabbed my shoulders, "He can simply teleport to where we are, Matt. And what if we got out? We'd have to leave everyone to even have a sliver of a chance of escaping. You wanna leave Harper? The others?"

His words hit me, and that desperate child disappeared. Reality set in. Of course I wouldn't leave Harper or the others, hell no. They were my family, and I loved her. I wouldn't dare.

But…we were stuck here.

And we couldn't run.

"Matt, watch out!" Dad said, and he pushed me out of the way, just in time. A glint of diamond came out of nowhere, aimed at me. I fell to the ground and saw Dad get knicked by it, the spear grazing his shoulder.

"D-DAD!"

He groaned, "Won't kill me, but it…hurts like a bitch."

Ichor trickled from the cut, and he winced. The spear flew back to the source. It was Ouranos, he was using Malachi to levitate at the edge of the cliff.

"Quite the assault. Good work you two!" He gestured to Dad, "Almost got you, old friend."

Dad held the cut, "Old friend my ass. I'd ram that spear through your throat if I could."

Ouranos raised his arms at his side, the spear in his right hand, about eight feet long. "No, you can't. If you could even get the spear in your grasp, you can't just stab little Malachi, now can you? Don't want to kill your son's friend. That would make you seem like a bad father. Which you are."

I got up, fuming. "BAD FATHER?!" I wanted so badly to possess the strength to beat his face in, not as Malachi, but Ouranos, Unfortunately, all I could do was yell. "Hercules is the best father in the world! Leagues among most gods. Actually, you know what, all of the gods! He's done everything he can to make it right, and in my eyes, he has!"

Ouranos mockingly put a hand over Malachi's heart, "Touching. You hear your son, Heracles? It actually seems like he believes you've changed."

"I DO!"

Dad waved a dismissive hand, uncovering the cut. "It's okay Matt." He raised his voice at Ouranos, "Look, sky prick. I don't pretend to be a good person, and I know for a fact that I wasn't back then. But now…I like to think that I'm different. I tried to make things right, and I'm trying to be a good father. A selfish being like you would never understand. You used your own son as a killing machine, sent him to be a slave for Zeus sake! You're a monster among monsters!"

Ouranos smirked proudly, not caring whatsoever about his wrongdoings. "Great little speech, old hero. I'll admit, I'm not winning any father of the year awards, but I'm playing this game smart. I had a son, so that I could use him on this very day, and take out two of the most dangerous parts of my obstacles, you two. That's thinking ahead, little ones, that's strategy. I'll do whatever it takes to regain control of this world and build it in my image."

"We know." I growled, "And that's why you're going to die." I said screw it, and angrily charged him again, using every ounce of speed I had. I slammed Viribus against the spear, and we began a little duel. I jabbed, swiped, and jumped, going for overhead arcs, all kinds of combinations. But he took it in stride, the spear parried and deflected all of my attempts. Viribus held up, and kept me alive from his casual counters. He would swipe easily at me, and stab like he was in a class. I knocked them away, having to use all of my strength to do so.

Dad jumped in, and used his own club. We both combined our Red Auras, and picked up the pace, using everything we had to hit him. He was blocking and dodging, but apparently Malachi's body wasn't quite used to this form, like last time. I'd heard something about how they took the ichor out of him at Camp, and maybe that was causing a little glitch now.

I took the chance, "Now Dad! Together!"

We both took used our boots to stomp on the spear and force it downward. He held on, but his face was wide open.

We both roared primally, and it sounded like a million lions letting the world know they were the kings of the jungle. We slammed both of our clubs in his face, and knocked his head back in recoil, he stumbled, but took the spear with him.

"Agh! You bastards!" He yelled, and I saw blood coming down from his nostrils, still red. Malachi was fighting against him from the inside. Helping us.

Thanks, man. I thought, and smirked.

But my little sense of victory didn't last long, because Ouranos pushed down any resistance in his head, and his aura spiked. He was getting angry and serious.

He shouted in rage and swung his spear at my father, who just in time, blocked the blow with his club. The spear was now being used with more force though, and Dad's club broke in half, the pieces of wood flew off the mountain. Dad looked up at Ouranos with wide eyes, thinking the Primordial was going to kill him. Ouranos almost did, but hesitated, and glanced quickly at me. A smirk grew on his face.

I ran at him, but he caught me by the throat, and I couldn't get out. He held me in the air.

Dad's face morphed with rage, "Let him go!" he tried to punch Ouranos, but the god quickly struck him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to his knees.

Ouranos turned to me, and I was beating his arm with my fists, not doing anything. I gasped desperately for air, trying to get the slightest inhale.

He threw me ten fifteen feet away, Viribus fell from my hand and landed a few feet next to me. I wasn't worried about it though, because he was coming.

I scooted back in fear on my but, using my hands and feet to push myself further, like a tiny kid facing a monster, I looked up at him in fright.

Ouranos stalked toward me, Heavenly Diamond Spear in hand. Dad was out of breath, coughing and trying to catch it a few meters away.

Ouranos chuckled with pleasure, "Oh, Matthias. How I have longed for this moment. Play time is over now, I think I've had my fill. I'm going to erase you from existence now."

Hearing him say it, I started shivering. I don't care, call me a pussy or whatever you want, but right now, I was face to face with someone far stronger than me, and he had a weapon capable of erasing my very existence, and he was about to use it.

The scary part, there was no way to stop it.

Holy shit…this is the end of me.

I looked at my father, for maybe the last time, and if I hadn't fully forgiven him yet, you bet your ass I did it now. I loved him.

I thought about Harper, her beautiful face. The last time we had a quiet moment together was in Sigurd's house, we had talked about a date. That…wouldn't be happening now, but it was nice while it lasted.

It was more than nice. I loved her too.

And the others, my friends. Malachi, Sera, Talon, Percy, Annabeth, Aiden, Nico, Sigurd, everyone back home. I thought about them too. I wished I could've spent more time there, just being a normal Camper and not having the weight of the world on my back. But hey, those few days were amazing. I'm glad I have such a vivid memory of them right now.

And of course, I thought of my mom.

Mom…gods, that poor woman. She'd be devastated, but I couldn't help it. I quickly prayed that she somehow got healed, and moved on, found a better life, or something. She deserved every bit of it.

I'm sorry everybody, I thought helplessly. He's…too strong.

Ouranos knew what I was doing, "Thinking your last thoughts? That's good, I hope you feel fear in this moment, Matthias."

I tried to be brave, but on the inside, I was freaking out. "Not of you."

His eye twitched, but he covered it up. "Oh Matthias, how I enjoy the sight of you cowering before me. The amount of plans you've ruined, the things you've done against me. Well…let's just say that this is going to bring me a lot of relief."

He raised the spear, and prepared to strike. "Any last words?"

I thought about it. I could say something heroic; I could proclaim love to Harper or some sappy crap like that. But…I didn't. I had nothing to say in the presence of him.

I glared at him, and lowered my head, acting like I was giving in. But I wasn't going down that easy. Not happening. I tensed up and he noticed. He struck the spear at the ground, but I rolled out of the way and grabbed Viribus, quickly swinging it at his face, and surprisingly, the blow connected. His head knocked to the side in recoil, and blood escaped his lips. I tried to follow up, but my fit of adrenaline didn't last. He disarmed Viribus from my hand with the spear and kicked me to the ground so hard that the Red Aura around me faded. I felt an intense pain shoot up my chest.

His face contorted with pure rage, and he gripped the spear tightly, "ENOUGH GAMES! No more prolonging this. I'm killing you!"

Dad was still on his knees in the distance, stunned from the blow Ouranos gave him. He reached out to me, "NO! MATT!"

But I couldn't. Ouranos appeared in front of me, many, many times faster than light, a demonic smirk on his face, he had the spear reared back, all of it's power aimed at me. I just stared up at it, wide eyed. Time seemed to slow, and everything moved like jelly, but I couldn't do anything. I was stuck, awaiting my death.

"Farewell, Ant." Ouranos said, and he thrust the spear at my face.

I had just enough time to close my eyes, and brace myself for erasure. But…it never came.

I was tensed up, and I covered my face with my hands, my eyes were shut tight. I felt…no pain. Huh? Had I been killed that quick? Were the rules of Heavenly Diamond wrong and I was actually in Elysium, Heaven, or something like that?

I anxiously opened my eyes to find out the truth, and uncovered my hands from my face.

What I saw…broke me completely.

Ouranos had his spear outstretched towards my face, and it was only a few inches away from me, but it had been blocked.

It dripped golden ichor.

"N-no…" I managed to whisper, and I felt a tear fall down my face. My heart shattered, and I wanted to die right then. I wished the spear had hit me.

But it didn't.

Standing seven feet above me, my father had his arms outstretched protectively by his sides, his back facing me…and the spear through the middle of his body.

I couldn't even form words, I couldn't speak. I just stared in horror at the scene before me, traumatized.

Dad had jumped in front of me, last second, and took the blow. His hands were outstretched in a crucifying like position, and his head was facing Ouranos. The spear had gone through his sternum, and the tip of it was covered in ichor.

Ouranos had lunged, using all of his current power to stab the spear at me, but it had been stopped by Dad's skin.

The Primordial chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "My my, Heracles. I was saving you for last. But if you wanted to die so badly, why didn't you just tell me?"

Dad opened his mouth, and ichor poured from it, he coughed out more and grunted several times in pain. His heavy breathing and slight shaking of his body made more tears fall from my eyes. I was completely paralyzed in that moment, by fear and grief.

"D-Dad?" I said shakily.

He coughed again, and more ichor fell, a puddle of it now on the snow in front of him, between him and Ouranos.

Ouranos clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment. He finally stood straight and pulled the spear out of my father's chest; cups of Ichor fell out in strands and clumps. Once the spear exited fully, Dad's arms fell and he slumped to the ground on his back, face first to the sky.

He reached his hand out and Viribus flew to his hand. He grabbed it and breathed in with his eyes closed, like he'd been reunited with an old friend. Ouranos shoved it against his chest, and aura seeped out, his own aura, it poured into him like water, filling his already massive power. I could feel him returning by the second.

"NO!" I heard a girl scream from behind us, and saw Harper, Sera and Talon bursting through the door, their eyes wide.

Ouranos looked at them, and then back at Dad. "You'd actually die for these fools? Hmph, never would've thought." The last bit of aura sunk into his body, and he threw Viribus on the ground in front of me like it was a piece of trash.

"Y-you'll pay for this…" I whispered shakily, still paralyzed, but boiling with absolute hatred.

He smirked, "Sure I will." He raised the spear above him again, "Guess his sacrifice will be in vain."

"MATT!" I heard Harper scream at the top of their lungs, and their auras came running towards us.

I wanted to yell at them to run away, get as far away from here as they could, but I couldn't move a muscle, I was helpless. I was fucking helpless.

"Your girlfriend gets to watch you die." Ouranos said cheerfully, "How sweet."

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" A loud voice shouted. It was Talon. I could feel his aura rising exponentially.

Even Ouranos raised an eyebrow and lowered the spear. I looked over at Talon, and saw a huge golden aura surround him, the size of it was rising drastically, to very high levels.

Ouranos smiled, but his eyes showed a hint of fear. "It can't be. Is that you, Rookie?"

Finally, Talon's aura rose so high that it surpassed Ouranos's. His eyes were glowing gold, and his entire body shone with power. Harper and Sera were forced to shield their eyes from it.

Ouranos dematerialized the spear, "It is you, Nikandreos. Well then, I suppose I'll take my leave. I'll admit…I'm not ready to fight you just yet." He turned to me and sneered, "I'll be back for you Matthias. But first…" He looked at Sera, "I must take something to keep my son in line." He teleported over to Sera with a bolt of lightning, and grabbed her. She screamed and struggled against him, Harper tried to grab her, but it was no use.

Talon, even with his immense power, couldn't catch him. He pulled out his gun, and prepared to fire, but Ouranos summoned another bolt, and disappeared. I felt his aura leave, miles upon miles away.

Malachi…and Sera, they were gone too.

"MATT!" Harper cried, and ran to me. I found I could use my body again, but still, my legs felt like jelly. I wobbled over to where my father laid and fell on my knees next to him.

Harper and Talon came over to where we were, their faces conveying utter disbelief.

"H-Hercules?" Harper said shrilly.

I just stared at his form. I could feel his aura fading very quickly.

No.

No, I wouldn't allow it. He is not dying on me. He's NOT!

I grabbed his shoulder, "Guys, help me…please. Set him up against that rock over there." I pointed to one of the rocks near the base.

They didn't hesitate, and grabbed his other shoulder. Together, we lifted him up and put his arms over our backs. We carried him over to the rock, and set him up against it so he could lean on it.

His head was laid back and his breathing was shallow. His aura was dangerously low, and only dropping.

My mouth was partly open, my eyes were watery, but my mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to save him. There had to be a way.

I turned to Talon and Harper desperately, "Guys, do you have any ambrosia? Anything?"

They looked at me, just as helpless as I was. They didn't have anything, and even if they did, it wouldn't work.

Tears streamed down my face, and I let out a sob, "N-No…please." I thought of one more thing, and I felt an aura a long ways away, coming rapidly towards us. It was Kyros. Father must have told him to stay away until he called him. But Kyros was flying as fast as he could towards us, cawing loudly.

He landed at the edge of the cliff, bringing a gust of wind with him. He looked over, saw the situation, and ran on his back legs.

Harper and Talon made room for the bird by coming over to my side. Kyros looked down at his master, cawed lowly and nudged him with his beak.

Dad coughed, ichor came out of his mouth, and even more from the massive gash in his chest from the convulsion. He managed to open his eyes.

"Hey buddy…" He croaked.

I felt Kyros's sadness in that moment, his intense grief, and to my shock, he shed a tear. A single tear, that fell down his fur, and landed on my dad's arm.

He reached up weakly and stroked Kyros's fur. I could hear Harper crying behind me, Talon had his lips tight, watching the whole thing.

Father's aura was very low now, lower than a mortal's. His skin started to turn into golden dust, particles of it started floating in the air, towards the sky. He had maybe a minute left.

I didn't want him to go though…I didn't want him to leave me.

I scooted forward, my eyes red and my cheeks wet. I grabbed his arm, "Dad, please…please d-don't leave me."

He looked at me, and I saw the love in his eyes in that moment. More than I ever have before. All this time, it had been tough love, but right now I saw it in full, and it was enormous.

His eyes were opening and closing slowly, he grabbed my hand, and guided it to his pocket.

I reached in and pulled out a…necklace. An incredibly crafted necklace, with pearls and diamonds on it. It was…beautiful.

I looked down at it, and in the center, one word was inscribed inside of a heart. Tracy.

My face contorted in pure sadness and more tears fell, like a river at this point. I could hear my heart break at the sight.

I felt a slight touch on my chin, and saw that it was my father's hand, half of it disintegrated to golden dust.

"Look…at me." He managed to whisper. I raised my head and looked at him for the last time.

He didn't look at my face, he looked at my eyes, and while he turned to dust, he just stared at them, and smiled.

When the last particle left the ground and floated to the sky, he was gone…completely. All that was left of him was the necklace I held.

"Dad…" I said.

It couldn't be real. This couldn't be real. No. I wouldn't accept it.

"Dad?"

I couldn't. Not one chance could this be real.

But it was. It was real.

I raised my head and screamed at the sky, "DAD!"

Then I wept.

---

Everything that happened after that, I might as well have been a skeleton, a shell of what was Matt Beckett.

After Dad's death, I broke down and cried for minutes on end, and I mean sobbed uncontrollably. Harper cried with me and wrapped her arms around me, putting her head on my back. Talon didn't cry, but he comforted me all the same. He hugged me where Harper couldn't. I appreciated the support, but I'm gonna be honest…it didn't make me feel one bit better.

The Norse Campers were victorious in defeating the army of Storm Spirits, Harper, Talon and Sera had managed to take down Cherry, maybe Grayson, Axel retreated, and Levi…took off, his loyalties unknown.

Sigurd came back up wounded, but relatively okay. He said that after reasoning with Thor, and the fact that both of his sons were dead, he realized Ouranos's true intentions, and they stopped fighting. He said that Thor had just disappeared with godly light, but where he went, was unknown.

They called their sleighs and wolves back, and we rode back to Camp, feeling worse than we did when we came up here. Talon was the only one that could explain what happened, as I was utterly destroyed, and Harper was crying in my chest about Sera and Malachi. Talon was immensely angry and depressed about that too, even more than Harper, but he was holding it in. He managed to inform the Campers and Sigurd about what had happened. My father's death, Ouranos's return, and the capture of Malachi and Sera.

We lost.

Our spirits were broken, and we lost. Camp Asgard was like a death town that day, everybody's spirits were down, they had suffered casualties, and we didn't win. The feeling was beyond horrible.

I don't have much to say about the rest of the night. It was horrible. I couldn't sleep a wink, none of us could. It was just Talon, Harper, and I. Us three. That was it.

The next morning, It was time for us to go. Harper hugged Arya, and the daughter of Freyja whispered some comforting words to Harper, trying to make her feel better. Harper nodded a thanks, but I could tell she was as broken as I was. We'd most certainly need each other in the coming weeks, maybe even months.

Talon actually got cheek kisses from several of the hunters in farewell, an action that should've floored the cowboy, but it didn't excite him one bit. He just deadpanned sadly, and walked away to the dock with his head down.

Harper tried to wait for me, but I told her to go on ahead, I had to say farewell to Sigurd. She hesitantly went, leaving Kyros, Sigurd, and I standing at the gate.

"I am beyond sorry about your loss, Matt. I truly am." He said genuinely, knowing the feeling, after losing Hannes.

"It's okay." I said in a monotone. "I'll…heal, hopefully."

He put a hand to my shoulder, "If you ever need anything brother, let me know. Since I have read your mind, we have a bit of a connection now. If you ever want to talk, or you need my help…you can contact me with your mind. Feel free to do so."

I nodded, "Thank you, Sigurd. It means a lot."

He let go of my shoulder, and looked out at the distance sadly, feeling the weight of the casualties lost yesterday. "This invasion was unsuccessful, but that doesn't mean we will give up. We will keep fighting to our last breath, and believe me…when we strike next, there will be more of us."

My interest peaked a tiny bit, "What do you mean?"

"I'm…going to be busy for a while, Matt. I still believe in the Great Convergence."

I reared my head back a little in shock, "You're going to look for the other camps?"

He nodded, "Yes. It may take months, or even years, but I will do it. I'll work everyday at it to align all of the Camps, and when I do…we shall strike again, and win."

I wasn't so sure about that, but hearing Sigurd say it with such confidence, I couldn't help but have a little hope.

"Good luck with that, man. It's been great working with you, but…I have to go home."

He nodded, "I know. Farewell, Matt. Until we meet again." He held out his hand.

I shook it, "Until we meet again."

Sigurd gave a final farewell wave to me, and me to him. I hopped on Kyros, and flew to Greybeard's ship, waiting at the bottom.

We started back for home immediately, and it was quiet. We all needed our space, to grieve, to think. I understood, and I know the others understood. I was on the deck currently at the edge of the bow, thinking about where I was going next, what I was going to do next. How was I going to recover from this?

I just stared at the white caps wash against the side of the ship, the noon sky was gray, but not rainy, just gray, blocking the sun from warming or blinding me.

"Won't be much longer, boy." A voice said behind me.

I glanced to see Greybeard coming up to stand next to me.

I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him, and I fought a twinge of annoyance. But I let it slide and just sighed, "Yeah, it won't."

"Yer angry, and yer greavin'. I understand boy, yer father gave a great sacrifice."

"How the hell do you know?" I said, a little angry hearing the word father from someone else's mouth. "You and Sigurd both have mind reading tricks?"

He just nodded calmly, and his voice suddenly changed from the thick accent, to a weaker, but also stronger tone of voice. "Should, since he's my son."

My eyes widened in shock, and as I took a good look at him, I saw his true form. His tattered, dirty black cloak formed to a regal one, dark as night, and his beard, instead of matted and full of kelp, turned thick, neat, and long, colored white instead of gray. His hood was pulled down, revealing a set of hair that was long, white, and neatly pulled back. Across his eye was a patch, like Sigurd's.

"Odin…" I gasped.

The god nodded, "Yes, boy. I am the Allfather."

I couldn't believe it. I was taken out of my depression for a moment to process that the Norse Zeus was next to me, talking to me.

He caught himself, "Well, a part of Odin, actually. See this is one of my splits, you know, I can be in multiple places at once but…ah well, you know. Essentially yes, I am Odin."

"Um…nice to meet you."

He studied me for a moment, then started laughing. "Nice to meet you too, officially. Sigurd spoke highly of you, and you proved his expectations. You're quite a demigod."

My chest sunk, "I don't know about that."

He sighed, and leaned his arms against the bow, "I don't have long to maintain this form, Matthias. But I can answer the question you want known."

Huh? What was he talking about?

He read my mind, "Come on, you know what it is. The one you asked Sigurd those nights ago."

Suddenly I remembered. The vision I'd been having. I wanted to know about it for weeks, but both of us had no clue.

Well, if anyone would…

"Sir, if you don't mind. I think it…I think it has something to do with my father."

He smiled, and nodded. "Allow me to show you, my boy."

He pressed his index finger to my forehead, and I was transported from the ship to the African Savannah, once again. I was back, and it felt more real than any other time before.

I stood in the same spot I always did, and saw them. The two lions, and the man.

Only…it was different, this time, very different.

The lion on the left, the father had stopped drinking completely from the hole, and was turned, facing the man. The younger lion was still drinking though, fast as he could.

I finally saw the man move. He checked his watch, and nodded. Then he turned it off, and walked towards the lion, gesturing over the hill that he once stood on. He was telling him that it was time to go.

The older lion hesitated, but he knew his time was up. He turned and licked his son…yes, his son, one last time. He followed the man up the hill, and when he did…my mind got blown.

The older lion shifted form, from an animal…to my father. The man in the top hat became a splitting image of the grim reaper. His tuxedo disappeared, his top hat faded into black mist, and his face became ghostly. He floated alongside my father, guiding him.

I looked over to the younger lion, and saw…myself, gathering handfuls of water and drinking it.

I was utterly stunned, my jaw dropped. I finally understood the vision.

My father turned to look at me. Me, not the one by the watering hole, but me. He smiled and waved.

"I'm proud of you, son." His voice echoed across the valley, and I heard it clearly.

He nodded at me, and turned around, following the reaper over the hill…and out of sight, into the beautiful orange sunset.

I was transported back to reality; Odin took his finger off of my head.

I nearly stumbled, but I managed to catch myself.

It took me a moment to process what I saw, I started breathing a little heavily, and my mind was blown. I understood it, I understood what I had been seeing all this time.

"I…know what it means, now."

Odin waited for me to tell.

"The two lions…were me and my father, and we were drinking from the watering hole."

Odin nodded, "And the water was what?"

I widened my eyes, "The water represented life. As the older lion started drinking slower…that meant he was getting closer to death, while I was drinking faster, symbolizing my youth."

"And the man?"

I found myself easily explaining it, sort of zoned out as I did so. "The man was…death, constantly checking his watch, to see when my dad's time ran out."

Saying all of this…I don't know why, but it gave me a bit of closure. I still felt horrible, but knowing what the vision meant…made the pain a tiny bit better.

"Th-Thanks, Odin." I said, turning to the god, but when I did, he was gone, and I was left with my thoughts.

When we got back a day later, we landed in Maine, exactly where we left. Greybeard winked at me before we left on Kyros, only making my weird feelings about Odin stronger. Not sure why he just took off yesterday, but…oh well, at least the vision was explained.

The ride back to Camp Half Blood was relatively fast, but not exciting. We were all so worn out and depressed that we just leaned on Kyros's saddle. He too was deeply saddened by the lack of his master, and flew a little slower than usual. I tried to comfort him, but it was no use, we were all just completely down in the dirt.

Once we saw the familiar hill and cluster of trees below us, our hearts lifted just a tiny bit, to finally be home. We landed next to the Big House.

Harper had Iris messaged Percy and Annabeth, letting them know all that happened. I had heard her with my enhanced hearing, at the opposite end of the ship, crying at several parts, and trying her best to explain what happened. She managed to, which Percy and Annabeth were understandably horrified and saddened.

When we landed, I was surprised to see every single Camper we had left standing in one large huddle outside of the Big House. There were only about forty left, a fraction of what was here when I first came. Gods…the attack really did a number on it. We would have to rebuild it, and get it back to normal. That would be one of the things to get me back on my feet. I needed something. That could be it.

The three of us stepped off, and everything was silent. They all just stared sympathetically at us.

The Big House door opened, and out came four people. Percy, Annabeth, Aiden, and Nico. They all stopped and looked at us, eyes wide. There was a moment where we all just stood still, then…we couldn't take it anymore. Harper ran to Annabeth like she was her mother, and the two hugged and cried together about Sera, falling to their knees on the ground and burying each other's faces in their hair.

Percy came up to me, stubble on his face and black bags under his eyes. His clothes were messy and his hair was too. He looked awful, even worse than me. But he was still a sight for sore eyes. I missed him.

He opened his arms and we hugged.

"I'm so sorry, man. I'm here for you."

I squeezed tight, hopefully not hurting him, "Thanks man."

Percy opened another arm and pulled Talon in too, the latter looking downright hateful at the thought of Ouranos. He had been scowling the whole way back. Believe me, my friend, we will take him down, one day. But…it won't be today.

Aiden and Nico soon came too, and I noticed the two were awfully close together. Huh…that's new.

They both hugged me, even Nico, who usually didn't like physical contact.

Finally, the rest of Camp came forward, silently, and we all huddled together, just hugging and grabbing onto whoever we could uplift.

It was without a doubt…a true Camp Half Blood moment.

After that, I went to my cabin and found a note on my bed.

The funeral will be held on Olympus at 6:00 in the evening, mortal time.

You do not have to come.

Thought I would let you know

-Zeus

At first, a twinge of anger shot up my throat, but I fought it down quickly. Zeus wasn't to blame. Dad and he had sorted it out years ago, and I couldn't imagine what he was going through, losing his favorite son. I imagined it made even him a little sad.

I stared at the note for a long time, probably half an hour, just contemplating on whether I should go.

I fought back and forth with myself, but ultimately decided to attend, out of respect for my father. I had to. I wanted to send him off…and say goodbye.

I walked to the Nemesis Cabin and showed Harper the letter. She had been laying down, her arms hugging her chest.

I lightly touched her shoulder, "Harper."

She turned, her cheeks were tear stained and her face was sad. The sight made my heart break more, if that was possible.

"Hey" She said softly, "What is it?"

I sat down next to her on her bed, she threw her legs over and sat upright next to me. I showed her the note.

It took her a moment to read it, due to dyslexia, but she managed. When she was done, she looked me in the eye questioningly. "Are you going?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I…I think I owe it to him. I need to say goodbye. Will you…" I shrugged sheepishly at her, "Will you go with me?"

She leaned over and kissed me on the lips, quick but emotional. She pulled away and murmured, "Do you even have to ask?"

"Thank you."

"Do you want anyone else to go?"

"The whole Camp can, if they want to."

She leaned back and looked at the ground, "You just take whoever you want, we still have some time."

I got up and walked towards the door, "Okay."

I thought about it the rest of the day, and let Percy know about it. He notified the Camp, but they were very busy, and I understood. Repairs needed to be made, and things needed to be fixed.

Nico said he would watch over Camp until they came back, Percy and Annabeth. They felt like they needed to be there for me, I could see it in their eyes, and Percy told me outright. I thanked Nico profusely.

By 5:00, we figured we'd better leave. Nico and Aiden were staying, the latter giving me his condolences over and over, to which I appreciated. The poor kid looked as sad as I was.

We decided to just take Percy's car up there, and leave Kyros to where he could rest, and just be by himself. He didn't want to fly or really do anything, I could tell. So I left him alone. I will take care of that bird though, just like Dad did. He's mine now, and I won't let anything happen to him.

Yeah idiot…look what happened to the person you said that about last…

It was Percy and Annabeth in the front, and me, Harper, and Talon in the back. Talon was like Kyros, he really didn't want to go, even though he respected my dad, he was reeling over Sera and Malachi, his best friends being kidnapped. I told him he didn't have to come before we got in the car.

"It's okay, man. Really, It's fine."

He refused though, "Matt, you're my friend. I'm there for you. I'm going."

And that was final. We all wore black, Harper in a dress, which…gods, I'd never seen before but can we please make it a frequent thing? She looked stunning, as did Annabeth. Percy, myself, and Talon wore black suits, and Talon had on the additional cowboy hat that he wore, and of course, his shades.

The ride to Olympus was quiet, as everything had been for the day. But I was fine with that, it didn't feel awkward or weird, it was…comfortable. We all knew there didn't need to be forced small talk, we were closer than that. We were the original five on that first quest after all.

The thought almost, almost brought a smile to my face. Good times.

We arrived at Olympus, and I could immediately feel a lot of auras up top, on the godly city. Some auras beyond my comprehension, some very strong, and some not so strong. The point is…there were a lot of immortals up there.

We parked the car nearby and walked inside, not even needing to ask the dude with the thick book to let us go. Because if he would've stopped us, every single one of us probably would've hounded the poor dude and ate him for dinner. Nah, he just saw us in black, recognized us, and let us go on in.

Percy pushed the six hundredth floor button, and we rose to the top, that annoying elevator music playing. Ugh. Finally, it was over, and the doors opened, revealing the godly city of Olympus.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, even in the state I'm in, I'm impressed. Olympus is beautiful.

We walked along the pathway for several minutes, the time was 5:50, according to Percy's watch. We had ten minutes.

We made it about five minutes until six up the long staircase, and when we reached the top, we were greeted with the most immortals in one spot I had ever seen.

There were rows upon rows of golden chairs, in it sat about five hundred immortals. I saw minor gods galore, and at the front…the twelve Olympians. All of them were here. At the very front, where all of the chairs were facing, was a stage like platform, and a giant thing covered with a big curtain, like some kind of art reveal thing.

I looked to Zeus, and he looked at me too.

Matthias, I'm glad you came. He said to me in my thoughts. I have a seat up here for you.

I hesitated, not wanting to leave everyone, but they must've saw me starting forward, because they nodded for me to go on.

I awkwardly walked up, catching the eye of literally everyone there, some immortals whispered to each other. I just ignored them.

I got to Zeus, and he looked at me with extreme sympathy.

"Here, have a seat. I'm just about to begin."

I did, and watched on with neutrality.

The time had hit six, and Zeus went up to speak. I'll be honest, my attention wasn't on him, which is shocking I know, considering he's the king of this place. I caught some stuff he said, Hercules will be remembered, he was his favorite, and all of that. It was genuine, don't get me wrong, but I was zoned out…trying to figure out what was under that curtain.

About ten minutes later, Zeus called up the Olympians, "Brothers! Sisters! Sons and Daughters! Stand with me as we send off a great hero, a god like no other. A truly…amazing being, one of the best that has existed.

All of them stood, without hesitation to my surprise, and raised their hands in the air. Out of each of them, a jet of their own auras shot out, and soared into the sky. Once they got a certain height, they exploded like fireworks, and spread across the sunset. Many of the minor gods watched on in awe, and even I had to admit it was beautiful.

Zeus continued to shout in his commanding, powerful voice, "Heracles shall be remembered for his greatness! Not just by his son, or by his legend, but by this monument, crafted by Hephaestus himself!"

That was when he grabbed the curtain, and pulled it off. When he did, my eyes stung, and my lip quivered. It was…incredible.

The thing hidden under the curtain was a thirty-foot-tall statue of my father. He wore his fur cloak around his waist, this time without fatigues, and his sleeveless chestplate. He looked like his old self, the one that you see in pictures. But when you looked at his sculpted face, it wasn't his old self, it was the Hercules that I knew. He was smiling, and on his arm, was a normal sized eagle. Kyros.

It looked amazing. Every little detail was crafted so perfectly that I wanted to go and hug Hephaestus.

I was so entranced by the monument, that I barely caught was Zeus said next. "And now…if he would like to, I ask Matthias Beckett, his son, to say a few words."

Silence fell, and every eye fell to me. I didn't buckle or blush under the pressure, I just stared at them, then looked at Zeus, who was looking at me questioningly.

I had nothing prepared, and I sucked at this kind of thing. But now…for some reason, I felt a small force pulling me to the stand. To say something.

I walked up there, and some clapping started in the audience, then it rose, and some reluctantly joined in.

I finally made it to where Zeus stood, "The floor is yours." He walked past me and sat down.

"Uh…thanks." I said, and turned to the massive crowd of gods.

Okay, this was tougher than I thought.

I calmed myself down. This is for my Dad, this if for my Dad.

I looked to the near back, and found my friends encouraging me with their eyes. That was all I needed.

I cleared my throat, "Um…I didn't have anything planned, I'll be honest. But, thank you, Lord Zeus, for letting me speak. I um…I do have some things to say actually."

I felt the stares and attention of hundreds of powerful beings fall on me and press me. Waiting for my words.

I closed my eyes for a split second, and in that split second, I saw the vision on the ship, my father waving at me, and nodding at me as he left with Death into the sunset.

I let out a sigh and smiled. I knew what to do.

"Dad was…well, hard to get along with at first." I said, "You know, I actually hated him growing up, the whole ancient law thing and him not being there. I'll admit…I blamed him, and I was bitter for a long time."

I sighed, and kept going, "But then I actually got to know him. I trained with him on his Island for over a year, and we talked about a lot of things. I found myself starting to really like him. And we had our ups and downs, but everything turned out alright, and when I found out the truth about him, some of the things he's done…I'll admit, I was a little angry. I felt like I'd been lied to, this man I've known and admired for months just switches around on me and starts telling the truth, that he wasn't a good person."

All was silent as my voice fell, everyone was listening intently. I breathed in and continued, on a roll now. "But you know what, none of us are truly good. None of us! We all make mistakes, gods certainly, demigods certainly, and mortals! We all do it! But that doesn't make us bad, and it doesn't measure our worth in this life, I don't think. I think that…our willingness to try, to try and do good, to want to do the right thing. I think that's what makes us good, and measures our worth. A good person isn't a harmless person…a good person is a dangerous person…that has it under voluntary control. And I think that person was my dad. He made a lot of mistakes, but he redeemed himself, and in the end…I love him. And I'll never forget him."

I stopped, and I'll admit, my eyes were stinging more than ever, but I managed to hold it in. There was a pause of silence, then there was clapping, genuinely this time. It was loud, some even stood up and whistled. I was receiving a standing ovation up here.

It lasted for a few minutes, and it died down. I felt elated the entire time, and a feeling of weightlessness in my chest. The burden of grief was lifted for a moment.

Afterwards, it was basically over, as we couldn't stay too long, since gods had duties and couldn't sit still for that long.

I met up with my friends, and told them to wait on me. I just needed to say goodbye really quick.

They nodded, and walked away. But Harper stayed.

I started to walk towards the monument, the entire area now empty, no one but us. The sunset shone parallel to us, lighting is orange haze on the giant balcony we stood on, overlooking the city.

"Harper, go wait with them."

"I'm not leaving you."

I turned around, and saw that she was right behind me.

"I won't be long, okay?" I said, "I promise. I just need a few minutes."

She looked extremely hesitant, so I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I'll be right down. Kay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

I watched her walk down the steps, and several times she looked back, but I urged her on. It's not that I didn't want to be around her, that wasn't the case at all. I needed her badly right now, but for this thing…I wanted to be alone. I needed to be alone.

I walked slowly towards the monument, several dozen feet away, my father smiling ahead, looking prideful as ever, like he'd just finished a quest, or conquered a powerful monster.

I finally got up to the base of it, and I just stood there, staring at the smooth black square identifying him.

Hercules

Son of Zeus

Greatest of Heroes

"I think it's fitting, don't you?"

I turned and saw Zeus standing to my right, staring down at the square. He was in normal height, so about six feet five or so, maybe taller. I couldn't tell. He was in his prime form, wearing a white and blue toga with a long white beard and equally long white hair. His eyes didn't glow though, they were normal.

"Yeah, it's good." I said, responding to what he said.

We stood there in silence, just taking in the peace. The sunset was the most beautiful I had ever seen, and it shone on the statue perfectly, like it was shining on the man himself.

"I can't imagine what you are going through." He said.

"I'll be…okay."

I could feel his eyes on me, "I know. It will take time, but you have great friends. Hold on to them, they will be your anchor in these next coming weeks."

I snorted lightly, "More like next coming lifetime."

He didn't chuckle, he just nodded, "Yes."

Another silence, but he cleared his throat after a few seconds, and spoke in a somber voice.

"Matt, I am…sorry about what happened to him, those years ago. You must know it pained me greatly to send him to that-"

I put up a hand. Yeah, a hand to interrupt Zeus. Any other would probably be atomized, but he stopped talking for me. I guess I was an exception.

"It's okay, grandfather. You were doing your job. At least he got off and we got to spend some time together."

He processed what I said, and smiled a little, "Yes…I suppose that is all that matters."

I looked up at the face of the statue, "If you don't mind me asking…where is he now? Underworld? Tartarus?" I begged internally for it not to be that last one. Anything but Tartarus.

Zeus smiled, "Elysium, actually."

I turned to him and showed more life than I had all day, "Elysium?! A-Are you serious?"

He nodded, "Yes. Hades told me he sped up his processing, and he is there as we speak."

The confirmation made me feel a lot better, to know that he wasn't suffering for an eternity, but that his redemption succeeded in granting him an eternity of peace. He deserved it.

"But Matt, you know that because of Ouranos…" He paused at the name, and I felt his enormous aura spike a little, saying the name with hatred, "Ouranos killed him with Heavenly Diamond, that he cannot return. He will stay in Elysium with a mortal soul, since his immortal one was stripped."

I nodded, "Yeah, I know. And…that's okay." I was surprised at my words, and how much better I felt. I was still sad obviously, and it wouldn't go away overnight, but thinking about my father in Elysium…well, it was a great thought.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Zeus said, "I won't bother you much longer, but I do have something to give you."

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

He held out his hand, palm up. "I understand you still have Viribus, and Ouranos took his aura from it?"

"Yeah…"

"Hand it here."

I undid it from my neck and handed it to him. He held it and squeezed it in his hand. A blue light glowed for a moment, and I felt some of his aura enter the club, amplifying it's power exponentially.

He handed it back to me, and I held it like it was a precious gem. "What did you do?"

"I transferred some of my power to it, so that now when you summon lightning, it will be more powerful, and when you heal yourself, it won't' cause you madness."

My chest lifted, and I couldn't help but break out into a smile. "Thank you, Grandfather!"

He smiled, "You're welcome. Now, I will take my leave. But always remember Matt, that family doesn't have to be by blood. Understand?"

I thought about Harper, Talon, Percy, Annabeth, Sera, and Malachi.

I nodded, "Yeah…I understand."

He backed away, "Good. Farewell, Grandson, I shall see you soon." He summoned a bolt of lightning, and disappeared in it, vanishing in a split second.

It was just me now.

I turned to my father's statue, and I just stared at it some more, no words in my head. I had told them all when I spoke to the gods.

But there was one more thing I felt I needed to do. One more thing to say goodbye.

I pulled out Viribus, and willed it to form lightning. It now didn't have to come from the sky, I noted. It generated on it's own.

I willed it to say minimal, and I used the spark to write another line in the square, stating my father's name and titles.

See, they had missed something, something important.

Once I was done, I got up, looked at it, and felt satisfied. I sheathed Viribus and put it around my neck, smiling at what I had written.

I started to walk away, not even thinking about what was coming next, because I didn't know. It would no doubt be tough, and there would definitely be more dangerous quests, more powerful beings to fight. This war wasn't over after all, Ouranos was still out there.

Family doesn't have to be by blood…

As I walked away from the statue, I looked back and took a final look at my inscription.

Hercules

Son of Zeus

Greatest of Heroes

Greatest of Fathers

---

(End Of Book Two: The Storm Bringers)