Today, this story turns one year old.

Honestly mind blowing that I've been working on this for a year now. I've put so much time and dedication into it, that it's honestly crazy to sit back and just think about it, even looking at the sheer number of chapters is surprising. They haven't all been perfect, but I've put my all into writing them, and I love this story. I think that's what counts in the end. Of course making sure everything actually makes sense is good too hehe.

Anyway, thank you for those that continue to read this, it means a lot.

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, on with the eleventh chapter.

11. Worst Reunion Ever

Matt

Malachi stared at me, blank and emotionless. There was a tiny hint of regret and guilt there, but it was clear he had steeled himself for this encounter. His resolve was set. He came here to fight.

Talon shook his head, "I'm gonna get to the point, man. Matt told me why you're doing it. It's Sera, right?"

Malachi's eyes flickered to his friend, and the guilt became more prevalent. The mention of Sera stirred his emotions. I felt a lot of sadness at that part.

He looked down at the grass in front of him. "I'm not sure how you know about that, Matt...but yes, she was used as a hostage, and I committed atrocities for that reason."

Hearing him say it, and sensing that he wasn't lying made my chest shrivel. Malachi was always so good, so pure it seemed. He wanted to do what was right, but due to his awful hand, and his evil dad, he never had the opportunity.

He continued, "But Sera and I are no more. She has ended our love, for good. Now I do things on my own volition. This is...who I am now. I am a monster, and I must accept it."

I meant to exchange a nervous look with Talon, but he just stared at Malachi, as heartbroken as I'd ever seen him.

"You ain't." He assured, "Whatever problems you're going through, we can fix it together, man. Like we always did."

I backed him up, "Yeah. Malachi, we're here to help. Ouranos doesn't have to control you anymore, if we just team up-"

"There's nothing you can do." He interrupted firmly. "Too much has happened. I can't turn back now."

Talon clenched his fists; I could feel him trembling with frustration.

"Don't give me that shit. Back on the Island, remember what you said?!"

"I said a lot of things."

"You said you would never give up fighting Ouranos! You said no matter how long it took, or how hard it became, you would always struggle with him until he died! You remember that?! You remember what I said to you afterward?!"

Malachi looked at the ground, his eyes closed. He looked like he was either about to cry, or shout in fury.

"Say it!" Talon shouted, his finger thrusting at Malachi with every sentence.

It took a moment, but he finally spat it out. Muttering, "You said you would fight by my side. You would help me kill him, even if it meant giving your own life in the process."

Talon nodded, "Damn straight. And that hasn't changed. My feelings haven't changed! Come back to our side, and we can work together to end this shit!"

I was about to butt in, reinforce Talon's words with my own, but Malachi, out of nowhere, starting matching his volume.

"Don't you understand, Talon! I cannot! I've committed too many crimes!" He shook his hands at us vigorously, like he was trying to get something sticky off of them. "These hands are soaked in the blood of innocent people! Sera doesn't want me anymore! The Malachi you knew is gone!"

Talon and I stood there, silent and dumbfounded. The cowboy looked on the verge of tears, a rare sight. His best friend was practically refusing coming back to our side. The realization that we would have to fight him, no matter what, was dawning.

Malachi steeled his expression, and it became blank once again, like a switch had gone off in his head. "The Malachi you knew is gone." He raised his hand to his side and looked at me, lightning crackled from his neck to his fingertips, coiling around his arm in a corkscrew fashion. When it reached his hand, the electricity materialized into a blue spear.

"I must kill you, Matt. You pose too much of a threat."

I put my palms up, "You know I'm not going to let that happen. We don't have to do this."

"You may not. But I do."

He was serious. Everything about his emotions and aura told me so. This fight was happening, and for the first time, it would be both of us in our right minds. Every other time we'd fought, he had either been possessed, or I had been possessed by Ouranos. Now, we were both in control.

The magician guy next to him looked between all of us, "Oh, are we through with the exposition? Good. I suppose it's time to kill these ingrates."

Talon noticed the man for the first time, gave him a once over, and snorted. "Who the hell are you? Ouranos's new birthday party attraction?"

The magician's face twitched in anger. He grinned wickedly and brought his hands up in a summoning position, "Oh this is going to be more satisfying than I thought."

Quickly, green mist formed around his hands. He threw them at me, and it wasn't until I turned, oddly, that I saw two poison-soaked daggers flying in my direction. I prepared to knock them away.

But they were shot out of the air by something else. The daggers clanged, sparks flew. The knife that hit it stopped a few inches before it hit the ground, and flew back in the direction it came, back to it's sender.

"What on Earth?" The guy said, looking around for who threw it.

I already knew who it was. I looked over at the barn, and saw Harper and Levi standing on the outside wooden balcony. The knife had just reached her hand.

The two siblings jumped from the balcony and flew in the air, simultaneously, like ravens in the night. They landed side by side next to all of us.

They both immediately recognized the man from the vision, Levi from in person.

He sneered at Levi, "You. Not dead after all, then? And I see you brought your lifesaver."

Levi spun the Heavenly Diamond knife in question and stopped it in a stabbing position, glaring at the magician guy. "The next time you see it, it'll be in your back."

Harper took a wide-eyed glance at Malachi, then at me, and didn't say anything. Her look was a question. Is this actually happening?

Yeah. I shot back; it's happening.

She nodded grimly, and turned her sights back on the magician. I really gotta find out the guy's name, I hate calling him that every time.

There we were a four on two standoff, in the middle of a field. I didn't dare look back at Eliza's house, because I could already tell the magician was the type to kill mortals. Malachi may have been ordered to do the same by Ouranos. In fact, he's probably already felt her and her parents' auras inside. I wasn't about to take any chances.

It was times like these when I wished I had telepathy. If I did, I could tell my team to keep the fighting away from Eliza's house, without magician man hearing and finding out. My buddies Zane Williams and Sigurd Borgarsson have the ability. If you don't know who they are, Zane's a son of Zeus from an alternate universe that helped me defend camp a year ago. And Sigurd's a son of Odin from our sister Norse Camp that we teamed up with to fight Ouranos. Confusing and weird, I know, but these two exist.

I kind of wished I had their help right now in all of this. The former is even stronger than me, with a load of battles under his belt in his universe, and the latter is smarter than me, which granted, isn't a high bar to reach, but I could really use his wisdom right now.

Most of all, though…I wanted my dad's advice. What would he tell me to do about Malachi?

I couldn't ponder on it. My mind would trail off and I'd get killed. I needed to focus.

Throwing caution to the wind, I said, "Guys, keep the fighting away from the farm! Take out the magician, and I'll handle Malachi!"

I felt Harper and Levi's auras spike, and their fight began. They jumped into battle against the magician. He threw various "spells" I guess you could call them, while they dodged and weaved, almost as a team, slashing knives and going for kill shots. It was cool to watch, even if for just one second. It seemed like they'd never separated, and always kept that sibling connection.

I walked towards Malachi, who stood ready for my attack. I felt Talon come up beside me, his footsteps in sync with mine in the grass.

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" He growled, "I'm helping you. Goth girl and goth boy can take care of the court jester. This…" He motioned to Malachi, "Is my fight. I'm about to knock some sense into his ass."

I didn't know how to feel about that. Malachi was dangerous right now, I could already tell, even with his aura suppressed a bit, that he was even stronger than before, abundantly so. This wouldn't be easy. But then again, Talon can't physically be harmed, due to his weird powers. So this might be just the equalizer I need.

Malachi motioned with his hand, "Come."

On cue, Talon and I both darted from view. The former pulled out his revolver, and created an extra one with golden light in his other hand. He dual wielded both of them and shot several rounds at Malachi while running, all shots with perfect accuracy. It was a distraction.

I reappeared at his side and threw my fist at his face, but just as I expected, he was faster too. He caught my punch in his palm and blocked Talon's bullets with his other forearm, the celestial bronze bouncing off harmlessly.

The delayed shockwave of my attack burst, blowing my and Malachi's hair back wildly. He lunged to my side and pushed me back a few feet in the dirt. Almost instinctively with his other hand, he blasted lightning at Talon. The attack wasn't meant to hurt him, Malachi knew better than anyone that Talon couldn't be harmed, but the force of the strike would've been enough to sent the gunslinger flying, allowing him to solely focus on me. Talon however, barrel rolled and dodged it. He threw his revolvers in his holsters, and quickly summoned a sword in his hand, seemingly out of thin air.

Talon swung down at Malachi's head, the latter sidestepped and swiped the sword out of his hand, throwing it straight at me. I tensed up and caught the blade by clapping my hands together. It stopped right in the middle.

I threw it down and we began to attack Malachi from both sides. For a solid minute, we unleashed a flurry of combos on the Demi-Primordial. Talon formed another sword, struck with it, shot simultaneously with his revolver, while I punched, elbowed, kicked, and tried with effort to land a hit on Malachi. Nothing worked. If it did, it didn't hurt him.

Finally, he had enough. Malachi shouted, and released some of his energy in a surge. It pushed both of us back, me long enough for Malachi to dispose of Talon. He leapt towards his friend and grabbed the top of his head. He shifted his weight and pushed down, smashing Talon's face in the dirt.

I charged again. Malachi noticed and quickly reached for Talon's leg. Grabbing it, he threw him away like it was nothing, sending him tumbling and crashing into the nearby woods.

I wasn't worried about him. He would be fine. I clasped my fists together and jumped above Malachi. It looked like I was swinging Viribus in an overhead arc, but it was my bare fists instead. The attack was about power, not speed. If I hit him, it would send him into the ground.

But I didn't hit him, unfortunately. Malachi crouched down and tackled me, midair. We shot into the sky like cannonballs, his shoulder in my stomach. Luckily, my endurance training over the past year was paying off, but I wasn't going to pretend I didn't feel the force of his attack. He was definitely strong.

We spun and tumbled a bit, finally, I reached over and grabbed his waist with both hands, pulling him and repositioning him towards the ground, now not even fifty feet away. Quickly, I planted my feet in his chest and pushed forwards as hard as I could. The pressure acted as a spring, and he plummeted to the trees.

There was an impact, he hit the trees and broke several limbs, even taking a chunk out of an entire shaft. Dirt uprooted in mounds, and when I landed, I couldn't find him.

I reached out with my aura sense, knowing he was nearby. Instead of aiming forward, I aimed below. He was underground.

After only one second, I found him, quickly pushing up to the surface, coming at me like a shark.

I acted to my advantage. Faster than light probably, I undid Viribus from my neck and squeezed the lion head, morphing it into my trusty club, Viribus.

I aimed the tip at the dirt and willed it to condense around Malachi. I felt the soil and rock under there tense, tighten in every way, and trap my friend in a ball. He struggled, but couldn't do anything. He was wrapped tight.

"Got you." I said, and pulled Viribus back, yanking it over my head.

The ball of rock came up under my shoes, and I saw the top of Malachi's head poke out. I reached down and caught him as he came up, grabbing him by the neck.

I squeezed with my grip, "You shouldn't have made me do this."

I had no choice. I didn't want to, but I raised Viribus to strike, with all my strength I was about to hit him in the temple, and hopefully knock him unconscious.

Before I could pay whack a mole with his head, he did something that surprised me, if these events could get anymore so that is. He widened his eyes, and they glowed, a split second, then burst at me with lightning. The twin bolts were enough to make me back away. My guard on the rock weakened for just a moment, and Malachi took that, with one swipe of his arm, he got out and reemerged.

Standing parallel to each other, now in the woods, we paused. I held Viribus tightly in hand, the wind swayed and pushed the leaves back, the grass waved at each of us, like they were telling us to stop.

I thought about saying something to him, but I bit my tongue. Malachi formed his spear in his hand and came at me. Hard.

He stomped around in a zig zag form, trying to throw me off balance and hide where he was going to attack. I knew where though, he was right-handed, he would attack there.

I was right. Like a serpent, his stab attempt was quick and to the neck. I was right handed too, so I had to use my forearm and throw it up to knock away the spear. Malachi jogged behind me with his momentum. I turned and turned slowly, following his movement.

Not a few seconds later, he attacked again. Placing the shaft of the spear on his back, he stepped towards me quickly like a crab, sideways, and let go with his other hand, the one closest to me, he threw the spear with. It was a really advanced move. You basically put the spear on your shoulders, and gamble that it's going to hit your opponent. Using one hand in such a position would be laughable for most warriors, but not Malachi. The tip of the spear came at me, glinting with blue fire. I grabbed Viribus's hilt with both hands and swung it, knocking away the attack.

Malachi used the blocking forced to reposition the spear by his waist, a quick spin and the hold of his other hand secured it. From there, he began a vicious assault.

He jumped in the air first, about six feet away, coming beside me and stabbing downwards mid air. A shield would have been really useful right now, as it was the ideal defense for an attack like that. Almost undefendable, if I'm being honest. Jumping so far above me and stabbing downward? I had no choice but the roll out of the way.

I came up from the grass quick and already swung my arms, not even seeing the attack but knowing it was coming. I guessed right. Malachi saw my back turned and went for the kill. My guess saved me from a fatal wound.

For a few minutes, most likely, but for what felt like hours, we danced together, the dance of death you could call it. Our weapons clashed in a series of parries and blocks, I bended my body backwards many times to avoid his rangeful swipes, I lifted my leg up and equal number of times to avoid him piercing it. The same went for him. Every time I swung, or tried to bash him, he would move at the last second, graceful and quick. It was like we knew each other's style so well; we couldn't hit one another. Which I hoped we did, as this is not the first fight we've had.

Finally, we reared back and slammed the middle of our weapons together, forming an X shape with them. We pushed against each other with all our base strength, blowing the trees wildly and shaking the ground with force. Not one of us got an edge over the other.

We both pushed at the same time, and jumped away an equal distance.

Breathing a little harder, we both looked at each other with admiration.

"You've gotten stronger."

"So have you."

He kept his face stone cold, "As always, we are equally matched. I knew it would come to this."

I wasn't sure what he meant, until his aura started to rise, a lot.

It grew and grew, along with it, the blue glow around his body. His pupils disappeared from his eyes, and were replaced with blue, like earlier. He was getting stronger and stronger by the second, impossibly strong. Definitely more than I can deal with in this state.

I clenched Viribus, "Not good. This is not good."

He moved his head around, maybe trying to pop it before he jumped into action. His muscles were a fraction bigger, his blue aura was a little darker too, if I'm not mistaken. It rose off of his skin like fog from a pond.

"Guess I need to power up to-"

CRACK!

I had no time to even react. That "crack" was my jaw. I felt an immense force hit me square in it, knocking me back to a tree.

I slammed against the stump and made a huge dent in the wood. I sat on my rear end grabbing my face, feeling a throb come in waves. He had moved so fast, not even teleporting. One moment he was there, and then he wasn't. Much faster than before. I'd have to get serious if I wanted to stand a-

CRACK!

Yet another hit. This time a kick to the chest. I went straight through the tree and tumbling fifty feet in the forest, my feet were behind my head at one point, and I skidded to a stop on my side, all tangled up in a weird fetal position.

I winced and let out a pained croak. Had I been hit by a godly train or something? That freaking hurt, big time.

I kipped up, and saw Malachi's spear coming at me in real time, closer and closer it got, I finally came to my senses and brought up Viribus. The lightning hit the middle of the club and dispersed in multiple sparks. Viribus was indestructible, Malachi knew that, so he wouldn't throw it at me to kill me. It was for a distraction.

Out of nowhere, he hit me again, this time in the side. All around me, he darted in a blue blur, just a trail of electricity could be seen, that was it. He ran in, hit me, and then ran off. I couldn't defend, I couldn't dodge, I couldn't do anything. He was too fast.

I took the pain and concentrated. Every time he punched, he'd flare up his aura a tiny bit. I needed to focus on that, then I could find him. I could do this, I didn't need to use the Red Aura. I didn't want it to go that far.

Even though it probably would.

Another hit, another hit. Ten more hits, and I still couldn't latch on.

Finally, I cocked my head, and felt it. My left side, aiming for my cheek.

I threw my fist up and caught his. A boom of a shockwave burst from our fingers, cracking several of the trees around us. Pain stung in my palm, but I ignored it. I clenched his knuckles tight and held on.

"How did you?-" He started, but it was too late, I squatted down and shot into his leg, lifting him up over my shoulder and bringing him to the ground.

Quickly, I switched my left grip over to the tip of Viribus, now holding it on opposite ends. I set it against his neck and pushed down with all my weight and strength. For a few moments, I had him. He grunted and tried to pull the club away.

"I'm not going to kill you!" I said, "So you need to calm down!"

His struggle against me must have instinctively brought out my true power. The faintest red glint lined my arms and hands, even though I hadn't meant to. Malachi started choking and trying to writhe his way out of it. I realized what was going on too late, as I started to move away and let him up, he used his last resort.

He pulled his head back and roared. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a blue and white cylinder. Burning agony coursed through my body, my nervous system felt like it was getting fried. I got off of him and backed away, breaking the shock.

My skin steamed and I started breathing a little heavier. I placed Viribus on my arms to heal them a bit, and my entire body honestly.

I felt his aura flare, and heard another crack in the distance. Above. I knew he was sending another one down. This time I would counter.

I raised Viribus in the air and met the strike, catching it with the tip and ricocheting it to the ground. Thunder boomed, and that was that. The second strike didn't hit me.

Malachi stayed still for a second, a whistling noise got closer in my ear, and I heard what sounded like firecrackers going off in a trail from the edge of the woods. I looked to my left and saw a small missile making its way towards him.

The explosion hit him square in the chest and combusted, Dirt and debris flew everywhere, fire billowed and blew wind in my face, a huge BOOM sounded on impact, like a tiny nuclear bomb.

I narrowed my eyes and saw Talon coming through the line of trees, a rocket launcher on his shoulder. It was huge, bulky and wide in frame. It looked like something straight out of Hephaestus's forge. The barrel was wider than my torso, giving me some idea of how big the rocket was. It might have even been made out of Celestial Bronze.

Like I expected, he wasn't hurt. He was a little frustrated though, clear on his tight lips and furrowed eyebrows. I motioned for him to come over.

"Celestial Bronze." He stated.

"I thought you could only form things that you've seen before. When have you seen a celestial bronze rocket?"

"My master used to have a lot of weird things."

Our reminiscing was interrupted by Malachi's shadow in the fire. It rose up to the top of the trees in an orange wall. That explosion could have wiped out a town if it had been aimed properly, yet Malachi stepped out looking fine, like nothing had happened.

Talon sighed and cocked his head, he knew it would happen. "Too powerful for his own fucking good. Any ideas?"

"We're not killing him."

"Obviously."

"The thing is…if I were, this might be going a bit differently. But I'm not, I'm trying to knock him out, and that's going to hold me back."

"What're ya saying?"

I squeezed Viribus, and put it back around my neck. I put my fists to my side, clenched them, and tensed up my entire body. I concentrated on my aura, the anger held inside me. I would have to do this.

"I'm going all out."

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Red Aura?"

"Yeah." I was careful in what I said next, "And if you really wanna even the odds, we could use some golden aura. Think you might be able to induce it?"

I thought he was going to snap at me for even suggesting it. Yell at me or tell me to shut up, but instead, he sort of slumped his shoulders and looked away. "I…can't. I can't control the damn thing, and I don't even know the first thing about my powers."

I didn't press anymore. "That's okay. Any help is fine, Talon."

He didn't respond, he just kept his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. I was glad, I didn't want to see shame in them.

I turned and faced Malachi yet again. This time though, my aura rose to his level. Red mist swirled around my arms, my stomach, my shoulders, my head, torso, legs, you name it, I was covered in it. The familiar red glow surrounded me completely, slightly brighter due to my training. Hopefully it would pay off, because Malachi was very strong right now, maybe even a fraction more than me. I wasn't sure how Ouranos trained him or let him do it on his own. Maybe he used another method…but I wasn't sure. It didn't matter.

The wind blew wildly, both of us stared each other down. Our full power in our reach, about to clash.

And then…we did.

SNAP! Like that, we disappeared from the ground and reappeared hundreds of feet in the sky. To mortal view, we simply popped out of existence, but in reality, we used our leg strength to push into the air, it just so happened that our strength allowed us to move that quick.

We ascended level to each other, both of us used the wind to charge. Our right fists flew at one another, knuckle on knuckle, finger on finger, they collided.

A city shattering shockwave spread all around, blowing back storm clouds and even creating more. The wind had to be hurricane level, there had to be cracks in the ground, maybe even in the air itself. The sound reverberated in my ears, ringing, and shaking with vibration. I winced and ignored the slight pain it caused. Neither one of us pushed back. We parted fists, I went under and behind him, spearing him in the back with the bottom of my shoes.

It hit perfect on the middle of his spine, sending him flying forward twenty feet. I capitalized, and pushed my legs backwards, using the wind as a launchpad. I came at him in seconds, reared my fist back, and punched in in the cheek. He flew another distance, and I repeated this process, using my left fist this time. Malachi spun and ragdolled, by the time I caught up to him, he was standing upright, and I decked him again.

Flying forward, I decided to use an aura attack. Focusing a chunk of it into my hand, I formed it into a red point. Like throwing a baseball, I threw it at Malachi. The aura morphed into a midair slice of pure energy.

Malachi's grunt could be heard from here, even over the sound of the storm. He snapped back and hovered firm. Reaching his arms out, he blocked my attack and ripped through it with his hands, dissipating it.

Rain started to fall. If this situation could get any more intense and dramatic, the very planet might explode. Our bodies were going full blast as we clashed yet again, a storm raging in the background. Our teeth showed in an effortful grit, our muscles were tensed up, our auras glowed like giant balls of light. Epic might have been the word an onlooker would have used to describe it, but me, I was just trying to stay alive, all the while attempting to subdue him in a non-lethal way.

Clearly that wasn't going to work. But I couldn't do anything else. The only way I would beat him now, is if I tried to kill him.

Malachi kicked me in the chin, I wavered and flailed about in the air for a moment, forcing my eyes to regain vision and not fail me. I practically ripped Viribus off my neck and squeezed the lion's head once again, using Viribus to stop my momentum.

I looked straight, and saw bolts of lightning coming right at me. Each one would fry my skin more and more until it burnt to a crisp, and they were fully capable of doing so. I saw them coming in regular time, but I could feel their energy, or rather Malachi's energy in them. I could dodge.

Darting forward in a straight-line position, with my belly facing the ground, I spun and weaved around the strikes, moving right to left, left to right. I knew where they were going to go.

Purely going off of aura sensing, I flew towards the ping of his energy, reared my fist back, and when I felt it get close enough, I threw a devastating haymaker.

It hit. I felt Malachi's jaw against my fist, and him instantly catapult away. I pressed through the shockwave and raised Viribus, knowing I only had a split-second window to do what I was about to do.

First, I aimed the club at the ground, letting it know it was still there. Gaea's energy took over, and the club gave off an earthy smell, dirt and plants, just like every other time I do this. I willed the wet soil below to rise, then the solid dirt below that, then farther down, the rock.

Before I knew it, I was pressing thousands of tons of natural debris in the air. The force of it weighed against my right arm as I raised Viribus higher and higher, like some kind of lightning rod or golf club. It would've been kinda funny if I actually did though. Saying hey Zeus, feeling man enough to strike me?

I wasn't about to do that. And…I kinda hoped he didn't just read my mind right then.

Doesn't matter. I focused my attention on the now hurricane of rock and dirt I had formed, wide enough to encompass the Empire State Building, it swirled higher and higher, ascending to the small dot that was Malachi. I flicked the tip of Viribus down slightly, molding the middle of the dirt hurricane to open up and formed a hollow center.

Finally, it surrounded the Demi-Primordial, and literally ate him up in a gulp. He disappeared from my view. I twirled Viribus around and tightened my grip on it, willing the dirt to compress and squeeze. The rock took control at this point, hardening and tightening. The process condensed the hurricane's size by half, but it became much harder to break in the process.

I put away Viribus and charged forward, writhing my body and pressing my legs so I could appear instantly. It was amazing how the little things in practice could make such a difference. Simply training to summon and sheathe Viribus could be lifesaving. The less time I spent on that, the better. Now free of a weapon, I broke through the barrier and dove down in the hole after Malachi. I saw him, and put my fists out in front of me, superhero style.

It didn't take long before I crashed into him. Together, we plummeted into the ground, the hurricane falling apart around us in an explosion that made Talon's rocket display look laughable. Good thing we were a decent distance away from Eliza's house. I didn't want her to get hurt, her family, or any other mortals nearby. It was my top priority to keep them alive. Waking them up and scaring them with this display…well, that's probably already happened by now.

Malachi's back hit the surface of the ground, we broke through and dug into the Earth's crust almost immediately. It was like butter to a knife, the force was effortless as I pushed him further and further, half of it was our auras literally melting the dirt away, just from the sheer heat.

Malachi struggled against my wrists, but I held firm. Him being shirtless in battle made a lot more sense now. It kept him from being grabbed or held in a compromising position. I was starting to understand that. I had to squeeze his shoulders with my entire grip strength just to keep him still.

Finally, I felt heat and liquid all around me. The brown, dark Earth suddenly became bright, hot magma. Malachi and I fell into the pool of the substance. How far we had gone down, I had no idea, but to reach magma we had to be deep underground.

The sudden shift caused me to let him go, and we faced each other again. He shook off the soreness of his muscles and popped his neck. We stood there, floating in magma like it was a swimming pool. Telling me that I would have such durability when I was younger would've earned you a laugh and a dismissive hand wave. Now, it was common. The magma felt like a warm, cozy house now. Wild.

Malachi decided to strike first this time. He came at me quicker than I anticipated, especially for a child of the sky being in a liquid environment. I guess the rule only applied to water, not magma.

He grabbed ahold of my eyes, putting his palm over them, and wrapping his fingers around the side of my head. Blinded, he delivered several blows to my midsection. After three bone crunching blows, I pushed his fist away and bashed his forearm with mine, getting my vision back.

He tried to punch, but I ducked under and shifted my weight into an elbow, causing him to double over. His back and neck exposed, I clasped my hands together and clubbed him with them, sending him further down into the pool of heat.

The buoyancy stopped him from going far, I planned a tackle with my shoulder, but he stopped me by clapping his hands together, palm on palm, like I used to do when I wanted to control wind. The force of the impact made me cross my arms to block, and stopped my tackle attempt.

Big mistake. Malachi instead slammed the top of his head into my chest, returning the favor and sending me upward. We did a one eighty of a few seconds ago, this time going the opposite way.

Eventually, we burst back through the surface, and returned to the sky.

Percy

I'm not the best at remembering stuff, but I do remember something I heard about how long a human can go without water.

Three days.

Of course, Annabeth said it was case sensitive. Pre-existing conditions and a person's health obviously are factors.

Well right now, I felt like I would last maybe another hour before I kicked the bucket.

I already lost track of time, but I hadn't stopped walking, not even for a second, across this scorching desert. Oh yeah, if you haven't caught on yet or missed anything, I'm supposed to cross a freaking desert.

Or at least from the dune we stood on to where Triton pointed. I wasn't sure if he was going to be waiting for me, or if he just left me out here to die in some evil mastermind scheme. If that were true, then it was definitely working.

My skin felt like it was on fire, my legs begged for mercy, my entire body ached and ached and yes, ached some more. I'd done workouts and intense training before at Camp, but this beat those by ten thousand miles. Huh, ten thousand miles, almost the distance it's going to take me to complete this "exercise."

I panted and looked back at the dune I started from. It was still visible, but barely so. I'd made good ground, on paper. But I knew it had already been a while, the sun was in between it's highest position and setting, so I'd say it was the middle of the evening. I hadn't ran or even jogged, I'd just walked.

Yet another thing Annabeth said, was that it takes the average person about twenty minutes to walk a mile. If that's true, I probably hadn't gone very far.

As the minutes passed by, my shoulders became slumped, my mouth opened, and I took a desperate breath each step. Sweat trickled down my forehead and dripped off my nose, my arms were like moist towels, my shirt clung to me, as if I'd smeared glue on it earlier. It's safe to say the heat is really starting to get to me.

"Come on, Percy." I said weakly to myself, "Come on. Just a little further."

But one look at the distance told me if wouldn't be just a little further. I'd have to put in everything I had just to walk ten more steps.

"Ah…crap." I said, barely able to get the words out. "This…is…insane…"

I fell to the ground. The sand hit my back and my head bobbed around. I felt so weak, no control over my body anymore. It told me it was tired, and it acted itself.

I tried to get up, but the invisible weight on my chest was too much.

"No…no, no, no, no. Come on, man, get up! Get up!"

This time, with more effort, I pushed my leg on the sand and flipped around, doing a shaky push up to my knees. One leg at a time, I got to my feet.

I breathed hard, shook my head to stay focused. I wouldn't let my vision go blurry, I would get out of this place, I would get out of here, help my dad, and be done with all this chaos.

"Come on, come on."

Not a heroic, inspirational moment. I took maybe three steps before I fell back on my face.

Splat, in the sand, nose first.

I groaned and winced at the pain. The stinging heat on my skin multiplied, the sweat collected dozens of grains of sand, basically making me a breaded version of myself.

Turning over, my chest heaved up and down, I felt hot chills all over my body.

Frustration filled me to my core. I'm the literal poster child of being a rusty demigod. I couldn't even handle walking in a hot climate, far away from the ocean or not, I should be able to do this. I've already failed everyone by not being strong enough.

Not being strong enough. It's happened before.

"Percy."

For a second, I thought it was me saying my own name, but then I registered the tone. Softer and feminine. It wasn't me. Was it an angel?

"A-are you here to help me?"

"No. I'm here to help you."

Definitely a girl's voice, and one that I recognized. A long time ago…

My vision was blurry, but as I raised my neck, I saw the outline of a small teenage girl, wearing a floppy green cap and a white parka. Her silky dark hair came down in a single braid over her shoulder, a lot like Harper. Her skin was…olive, like Nico. In fact, the more I blinked, the more she looked like the son of Hades.

"Who…are you?"

"You remember." She said, almost scoldingly, like it shouldn't even be a second thought. "Come closer."

I sighed and pushed my elbows against the sand. But like I expected, they turned to mush and I fell back down.

"I can't." I said, "I can't do it."

She huffed and grabbed my hand, firmly. Pulling me up with surprising strength, I got to my feet and faced her. I held onto her hand for stability and tried to see who the heck came all this way just to talk to me.

Finally, with the sweat out of my eyes and my vision clear, I made out an old friend.

My eyebrows furrowed, "Bianca?"

She hadn't changed since I saw her last, which was…man, years ago at this point. She still had that innocent, brave look about her, the smile that she gave when I said her name rippled her splotch of freckles in a neat pattern.

"Hey, Percy. You've gotten so…" She stepped back and gave me a once over, "…Tall. And old."

I chuckled weakly, "Thanks. What are you…I mean, how are you, I thought-"

"Dead?" She supplied, "Yeah, I am. Just a figment of your imagination, I'm afraid."

"No, that…can't be true. I just held your hand. How are you not here?"

She shrugged, "Maybe that's just how strong the memory is. Or the connection you had with me."

I smiled and shook my head, "We didn't talk that much. I do remember knocking you down in capture the flag though."

She laughed, "Yeah. You got me pretty good."

There was a silence. I took the chance to breathe, and just look around. This situation, how did I end up here? I used to be a simple punk loser, an outcast with one friend, an abusive stepfather, the best mom in the world. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary.

And now I'm in a desert, talking to a dead friend and training to fight a titan.

Bianca leaned over to look at my gaze. "What's wrong, Percy?"

"Pfft, where do I start?"

"You think you've failed." She said, "You think that since you haven't been as involved, that you're somehow less than what you used to be."

I wasn't really that shocked. At this point, if everyone in the world knows what I'm up to, I wouldn't be surprised.

"Yeah well, I have. I think everything's going to be peaceful for two years, and then next thing I know, I'm too weak to help out in the next war. I guess I was too stupid to think that it would all be over, just like that."

The weight of my words rang true. They were. I should've known that I would be drug back in somehow, whenever something of this magnitude came up. I stayed out of the Apollo thing for the most part, but even then, that was different. This is different.

"You're not stupid." Bianca said, "And you haven't failed anyone."

"I failed you."

And the temperature became a bit colder somehow. The weight of the scene pushed down on me like gravity had somehow been dialed up. Yeah, deep down I still feel guilty for that night. Seeing that giant trash monster step on Bianca and crush the life out of her, all over something she did for Nico…made me feel like a complete failure. To her. To Nico.

I felt her touch my shoulder. So real, and very un-ghost like. "You didn't fail me, Percy. Or Nico. And you won't fail your father in defeating Oceanus."

"How?"

I felt her hand slip off my shoulder, and I turned to see her step back several paces. The situation became eerie quickly. She got twenty feet away from me before she even said anything else.

I heard her as if she were still at my side though. Looking me in the eye, she said, "Remember what you're good at."

Then, out of nowhere, she was gone. A giant metal boot crashed down from the sky and appeared where Bianca stood, utterly crushing her to bits.

It smashed against the ground and created a huge shockwave, sending me flying back and splattering blood all over me. I felt the gore all over my body, I looked down and saw my clothes covered in red.

"AGH!"

I skidded on the sand, my energy all of sudden replenishing. I scrambled to get to the mushroom cloud of dust.

"BIANCA! NO, BIANCA!"

I crawled and tripped over myself to get to her. I could save her this time; I know I could…

I ran and broke through the dust wall, swiping my hands wildly to clear the way.

"Bianca! Can you hear me? Are you okay?!"

It started getting in my eyes, on my skin, everywhere I looked, there was orange. It sort of made me snap. I'd seen it all day. I could no longer handle it.

With a burst of anger, I closed my eyes shut, roared, and thrust my fists at my side.

"BIANCA!"

One second, the dust was there, and the next, it wasn't. When I opened my eyes, it had all been blown away. By me, or a random gust of wind, I don't know. I just wanted to make sure Bianca was okay. This wouldn't be a repeat of that night in the junkyard.

But when I looked to find her, she wasn't there.

Nothing was there. The giant metal boot was gone, not even a crater stood in its wake. I was so sure she was there; I was so sure that had happened. That she had actually died again…

I fell to my knees and grabbed fistfuls of my hair. I was losing it. I was seriously losing it.

Matt

After a series of clashes, Malachi and I thought the same thing.

It's time to end this.

Sure, I've been thinking that for the last several minutes, but this time…I'd use the technique to actually end it. I tried to knock him out, but that's not working. To make some real progress, I'd have to hurt him.

He had a similar idea.

At an equal level in the sky, we put our right hands behind us, and focused our aura into them. Our respective glows shifted from our bodies to our hands, a focused point, concentrated power.

Red on blue, time slowed down. Even the raindrops looked to be going a snowflake's descent, the energy that swirled, was all I could see. The blue, crackling orb he was about to send at me, and the outline of his body.

What are you thinking? I wanted to scream. No, not scream, ask softly, with care. My friend, I'm fighting my friend. What are we doing?

"I'm sorry, Matt!" He shouted, tightening his muscles as far as they could go, bringing his shoulder behind him, setting it up like a spring.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. A split second was all I had before I saw the electric drill of power come at me. I thrust my hand in a similar motion, shouting for all my voice box was worth, my lungs even pressing into it. War cry like? Nah, it wasn't that. I couldn't even hear myself over the sound of the blasts.

Like explosions in the sky, they burst forth from our limbs. I expected a beam clash, brilliant ocean blue on bright blood red. But it didn't happen that way, I didn't have to struggle.

Our beams looked like they were going to collide, but at the last second, I noticed they were on a slightly different path, and I was actually not level with Malachi. I was about two feet to his left. The condensed blast was small enough to avoid his strike. They went right by each other, maybe a few inches of difference.

I'm not sure if I could've dodged it, had I been over my shock quick enough. I probably couldn't. It was so fast, similar to a lighting strike in a normal person's eyes. Instant, there for a flash and that's it.

The tip of the bolt hit me in the chest, below my left shoulder and next to my sternum. Basically half a foot away from my heart. I may have thanked the gods, even the ones I'm not fond of, that it didn't hit me there. If it had, I would've died right then and there.

The bolt broke through my skin with ease, and pierced all the way through, leaving a golf ball sized hole. For a moment, the lightning bolt stuck in me like a spear, still connected to Malachi's hand. That is, until my blow hit him.

It did the same thing to the opposite side of his shoulder, going all the way through and leaving a similar wound. We both didn't make a noise, our eyes were simply wide, our mouths agape at what had just happened. When the pain registered, the red and blue went away…and we fell from the sky.

I couldn't muster the energy to fly or manipulate the wind, pull Viribus out, anything. I plummeted in the storm, the wind below me suddenly feeling like shards of ice. I blinked several times and tried to breathe, but the drop was making it hard. My shoulder burned and throbbed, like poison, the pain seemed to be seeping to the rest of my body. It was no wonder it hadn't fried my insides. Actually, it may have, and I was just too stubborn to die.

I fell and fell, and then crashed right into the ground.

Not even a boom, not even a pillar of dust or a crater. The rain had already made the ground turn to mush. Malachi and I simply splatted in our positions, maybe kicking up a bit of mud, but that was it. It was rather unimpressive.

For a minute, I lie there, watching the raindrops fall on my face. Drip, drip, drip, they slid down my nose, my forehead, my chest, which by the way, heaved up and down. I couldn't believe what had happened. Well, I could believe it, he was a combat prodigy. But I couldn't believe the pain, the surging poison that imbedded me. I couldn't feel my own aura, I couldn't even summon a red spark if I wanted to.

I slipped pushing myself up, both of us slopped around in the mud trying to gain our balance. When we finally stood straight, we locked eyes.

It was nearly dark now, the clouds blocked out any sunlight, giving off a gray, gloomy hue. The rain bounced off Malachi's body, trickling down his chest and mixing with the blood from his wound. His hair dangled over his forehead and eyes. I couldn't see them, but I knew he was looking at me.

I gritted my teeth and shook the water out of my face, "Alright, Malachi! You want to finish this?!"

He didn't say anything. He set his right foot forward and raised his fists, motioning for me to come at him.

I grabbed my shoulder and obliged. We both stumbled and staggered forward like two drunk idiots at a bar. Very un-demigod like, but at this point, it wasn't about that. Right now, we were just two regular people.

I swung a sloppy, tired haymaker at him, to which he ducked and promptly gave my chin an uppercut.

I recoiled, falling to my back on the ground again, my legs flying like a see saw in the air. Malachi jumped on top of me quickly and smashed my head into the ground before it even hit there itself. Boom, he palmed my nose and pushed the back of my head in the mud. The black left my eyes and a powerful sting shot up my face, he began assaulting it over and over. Punch after punch, he held my shoulder down and delivered jabs that either hit or slid off my cheek, the rain causing that problem.

Finally I moved my head out of the way and leaned up to meet his in a bone denting headbutt. A small shockwave surrounded our faces as Malachi grabbed his forehead, lurching backward and grunting in pain.

I got up and gripped his bicep, crossing him in the temple, his body spun around and he landed on his knees. I stalked forward and carefully, but at the same time quickly wrapped the crook of my arm around his neck, the other levering on my wrist in a sleeper hold type position. I squeezed and strained.

Through the attempts to scratch, pull, and writhe away, I winced and growled through my teeth at him. "What the hell are we doing here?" I spat up blood to the side, and watched the rain wash it away in an instant. Kind of like the blood from our wounds, they were deep, but even the rain couldn't clear them away. Every time a red stream would disappear, another would follow.

"Come on, man! Answer me! It's not too late!"

He tucked his chin in and used my wet arm to his advantage. Slipping out of my grip, he stuck his elbow in my side, right into my rib cage. Pain surged up to my throat and blood poured out the corners of my lips. I looked up to see Malachi rear back and aim his foot at my stomach. It was too late for me to sidestep, he pivoted forward and got me.

I stumbled, somehow not falling yet. He tucked his arms in and raised his fists, albeit with difficulty. Coming in again, he attempted a combo, to which I weaved around with the best of my ability, in this state it probably looked less like a fighter and more like a wounded dancer.

I tried to come up with my momentum and return the favor of his uppercut, but he saw it coming. Malachi moved his head to the side and wrapped his arms around my own, twisting so that his back was to my chest. He planted his feet firmly and shouted, throwing me forward over his shoulder.

I hit the mud hard, but didn't let myself lie still. I backed up on my rear and tried to get up smoothly, but the mud was too slippery and thick. I found myself using more strength just to stay standing than fighting.

Malachi breathed hard, his shoulders coming up and down, his fists clenched. He shook his head and sighed, like he was getting frustrated at how long this was taking. With a steely determination in the parts of his eyes I could see, he looked to the sky.

Gray clouds closed in on one another, I could see strobe lights darting within them. At Malachi's next command, a ball of brilliant blue light came from the center of the storm array.

It hit Malachi and washed over his frame like water from a shower. When it passed him, he became visible again, in perfect shape. Not one of the wounds I dealt him had stayed, even the one from my aura strike was closed up. I felt his aura and sure enough, it was back to where it first started.

Realistically, this battle could go on until we die of age. I had Viribus, and he had his method of healing. I hadn't even thought about that for a moment, I had been so tied up in the fight.

"Alright, then. You want to do that? We can do that." I reached to undo Viribus, but I was a fraction too slow, or I didn't expect him to charge so quickly. But next thing I knew, he was gone and in front of me.

A searing burn yet again crossed over my nervous system and skin, sending me flying back several hundred feet. Electricity crackled around my body as I tumbled, spun, crashed into trees and rocks and dirt. When I skidded to a stop, I didn't even register the pain, I immediately felt my neck.

It's gone.

"Matt!"

I heard Harper yell from a distance, her voice not so far away. I leaned up to see her and Levi crouched before Hendricks, who had a legion of weapons suspended in the air around him, green mist seeping from his hands. He seemed to be using some kind of magic against them. The pair of siblings were scratched up and tired, but they hadn't been seriously hurt. Hendricks didn't look at all fazed, no wounds or anything. Not good.

Malachi had hit me all this way back, straight to Eliza's farm. Judging from my memory, and how far we went away from this place earlier, he had his familiar strength back. And he had Viribus.

That theory was confirmed when he landed on the ground in front of me. Wind blew in my face at his fall and the ground shook.

He glowered over me and held the necklace in his palm, the lion head was dripping rain and swaying back and forth with the wind. Malachi held it up like he was trying to brag that he had gotten it. That or he was trying to give it back to me.

"Well done, boy!" Hendricks called proudly, "Now's your chance! Kill him!"

Both Levi and Harper tried to come to my aid, attempting to double team Malachi, even though they knew good and well they couldn't scratch him. I wanted to yell at them to stay back, but Malachi had stepped on my chest, bending his knee like he'd killed a big deer. That sort of stopped my ability to say anything with coherence. The drill sized hole in my shoulder was now in full blast, throbbing and pulsing with torturing discomfort.

Hendricks stopped them anyway. "Oh no you don't!" Thrusting his hand, he created a green dome and stopped them in their tracks. Levi and Harper hit the dome face first and fell back on the dirt.

I felt the taste of iron on my tongue, blood on my teeth. I winced and hardened my eyes at Malachi, "Damn, man. I'm begging you here. Listen to me."

"Malachi, stop!"

Talon poked through the line of trees in the distance, coming from the woods where we fought earlier. He had his revolver at his side, like he was ready to fire another round at his friend.

"Talon, stay back!" I said, "Stay back!"

"Yes, stay back." Malachi said, not loud enough for Talon to even hear "Only him. It only has to be him."

"It doesn't have to be anybody. You don't have to do this."

His eyes flashed every time his hair moved with the wind, revealing them in constricted orbs, staring down at me with a hint of guilt.

"I don't want to do it, no. But…I have to. This is who I am."

"Yes!" Hendricks called; annoyance clear in his tone. "Get on with it! Kill him, now!"

"Don't listen to him!" I yelled, drowning him out, "look at me! Look at me, man! You don't have to be what he wants you to be!"

He didn't move or waver, he just stood there, letting my plea bounce off him.

"Just because you think you're alone, it doesn't mean it's true. You still have me, I'm your friend. Harper and Talon, they're your friends!"

The mention of that seemed to trigger him, at least a little bit. His eye twitched and his hard expression softened.

"Th-that means nothing anymore. I'm a killer, a monster, Matt. I can never turn back from the things I've done."

"No, No!" I shouted, "You're not a monster, you're a weapon! Ouranos's weapon! Every bad deed you've ever committed was by his omission, his order! He molded and brainwashed you! You're a good person, you're just as much a hero as I am! Hell, you're more of a hero than me, because at the end of the day, through all you've endured, you still have a good heart!"

He faltered, his mouth opened halfway, letting out a soft, "I don't."

"You do!"

He shook his head and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry." He formed another lightning bolt in his hands, the tip of it whirring with energy. His resolve had deepened, despite my attempt to convince him. My eyes widened; he was going to do this.

He raised the bolt over his head and tensed his arm, preparing to bring it down on me. I couldn't move, the pain was too great, the punishment was too much, I was done for, the power in that thing was enough to kill me.

"Malachi, wait!"

"I'm sorry!"

"NO!"

Three simultaneous shouts at once. I yelled at him to wait, he said he was sorry, and the third voice was Talon. His was the most prominent, it was powerful, and boomed across the field in sonic waves. Just as Malachi started to bring down the lightning bolt on my chest, everything changed.

At first, I felt an aura, the spike of something I'd felt a couple of times before. It was god-like, no beyond that, if possible. The mixture of all the Olympians, the feel of something ancient, universal, an infinite amount of power and energy in a small bundle of light. The wind stopped blowing, the rain stopped falling, day turned into night, the world might have even stopped turning.

Malachi dropped Viribus on my stomach and lurched forward, like he'd been hit in the gut by a train. I couldn't see what happened at first, but when he raised up to look at it, I got a good view myself.

He'd been shot, plain and simple. But the bullet sized hole that now lingered in his ab area, shone with golden light. Blood didn't even come out, only a glow. It lowered his aura by half, and still dropped drastically second by second. Malachi let out a gasp and stumbled. I just lay there, dazed and confused.

Until I put the obvious pieces together. A golden light, and the aura of the Olympians, I'd felt and seen that before.

Looking to the tree line, I saw the source. Talon had his gun in front of him, a golden aura surrounded his body, bright and burning with power. His sunglasses had been blown clean off his face, displaying his now completely yellow orbs. He wore the same clothes, and his features hadn't changed, but just like Scandinavia, he also looked like a completely different person. Someone you'd see as a statue, or a painting of a great battle, the dominator, the victor.

The revolver billowed bright white smoke, golden flashes crackled in the barrel, like it was preparing itself for another shot.

Malachi looked at Talon and back down at his wound, pure shock.

"What…wh-" His eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell flat on his back.

I got up to help him, looking over to Talon for support. But he- he wasn't there. He'd completely disappeared from where he once stood. Golden light shone in my peripheral, I turned again and saw him standing next to me, above Malachi. He raised his pistol.

This time I jumped to action. Even though my body screamed in pain and every part of my brain told me to stop, to just lay down and pretend this is all a dream, I ignored it.

"Talon, no!"

I grabbed his arm, and he turned on me. His face was hard, every muscle was tensed, and his eyebrows were tight with a furious expression. The sight was nearly terrifying, very intimidating at least. It felt like I stood face to face with Zeus, an angry Zeus.

But it wasn't until I squeezed his forearm that he realized what was going on. This time, Talon took over, and Nikandreos, or whatever it was, left.

His mouth loosened, the light in his eyes faded. He glanced at Malachi on the ground, then at me, then at his revolver.

He dropped it like it was going to explode. "No…no, kid, don't tell me…"

I didn't know what to do. This had taken such a turn that nobody saw coming, I never would have expected Talon to awaken those powers once again, at a time like this. Malachi had been shot, his aura depleting faster and faster.

Talon was a bumbling mess. I'd never seen him like this. "I…I didn't…I didn't mean to-"

"Malachi?" I said, "Malachi, can you hear me?"

No answer, just a still body and a depleting aura. At this rate he would be dead in minutes.

"We gotta do something." I reached down to pick him up, "Talon, help me."

Talon stood there, his hands shaking.

"Talon, come on we gotta-"

"ENOUGH!"

A green hue of energy knocked Malachi out of my grip. Hendricks was enraged, his veins popping out of his head, his hair, formerly in a neat ponytail, was now in disarray. The guy had completely lost his composure.

Levi and Harper came over to where we were, all of us standing side by side to face the Son of Hecate now. The sight was overwhelming obviously, one look and you would put your money on us. But that would be the wrong choice, because from one look at him, I could tell that there was something off. Levi and Harper, two skilled fighters hadn't already taken him out.

"What's going on?" I whispered, "What's his trick?"

"Guy's unhinged." Harper said, "Complete lunatic."

Levi kept his eyes forward, his voice low. "He specializes in illusion magic. Harper and I have tried to hit him but nothing seems to be working. It's like he isn't there, everything is just afterimages."

"I thought you had experience with that sort of thing."

"I do. But his techniques are on a different level. We have found out that most of his attacks cause no harm. They're illusions."

"How'd you find that out?" Talon said, still a little shaken up but returning to his usual self.

Harper shrugged, "Took a fireball to the face and I didn't get burned. Pretty clear that it wasn't real."

Hendricks looked past us at the downed Malachi with disgust, "Fucking coward. No spine! Only hesitation! I guess I'll finish this. I'll do it myself."

Talon snorted, "Do what? You gonna pop a rabbit out of your pants?"

The magician's face lowered, and he took off his round sunglasses. The eyes that revealed were sinister and sadistic, his smirk snake like. If I were a normal person, I'd run from the insane man before me.

But we had no choice but to stand and fight. Malachi was hurt. We needed to take care of him and defeat this guy so that when we get to Ouranos, that's one less person to take down, and we can focus our attention on Atlas.

"Alright guys, we gotta make this quick. Malachi needs healing, fast. Let's overwhelm him with our speed. He can't perform illusion magic fast enough to deal with all of us at the same time."

They nodded at my plan, and we all got into our fighting positions. Hendricks however, heard me, and started chuckling.

The chuckle became full on maniacal laughter, to the point where it was eerie. Imagine a clown, the kind that you're scared of, the kind in horror movies. That was him.

Harper cringed, "What the hell are you laughing at? You're done for!"

Hendricks sighed and wiped the tear from his eye, "Oh my, this is going to be so much fun. I haven't killed demigods this naïve since the seventeen hundreds. You think I'm going to use petty tricks? No. You may be dumb, but you aren't weak. I know about you, about all of you, and I'm going to make this quick. Using the most powerful technique I know, I will put you all away, for good."

I didn't know what "put you away" meant, but I'm guessing he had something dangerous up his sleeve. Never underestimate anyone. That was the new philosophy of combat I had taught myself, and I was about to practice it here. The son of Hecate was about to pull out something destructive, and I would be ready for it.

Percy

It had to be miles at this point.

After Bianca "died" again, I just kept walking forward.

For a minute, yeah, I yelled and grabbed my hair, rolling around on the sand like an insane person, but after my fit, I got up and continued to cross this freaking desert.

It was to the point now where the dune I had started on was long gone, not even visible in the distance. Heck, the tenth dune that I had passed wasn't even visible. I had come a long way.

But still, no Triton.

Sweat was a clothing item now, I basically wore it. My actual clothes had become engrained into my skin, rubbing me in all the wrong ways, no doubt going to leave a mean rash in it's wake.

I gotta get out of here.

I have to do it, or I'll never live it down. Myself, that's who I have to do this for, along with my father, Annabeth, everyone. I've been out here for so long, that it's become a challenge. I have to do it, and I will do it. No more am I bummed out and thinking this is stupid. No, I'm all in and ready to complete this. It's the only thing that I can focus on right now, my only goal at the moment.

Wait, who the- who is that?

In the distance, maybe a football field away, sat a man, or a boy, I couldn't tell, on a small dune. He sat facing the moon, his elbows on his knees. Seeing yet another sign of life, I started jogging, trying my best to see who it was. Probably another ghost.

As I got closer, I saw that he had dark skin, black hair, and a muscular, tall frame.

"Hey!" I called, "Hey, who's there?!"

The figure turned to look at me, not getting up or saying anything back, he simply waved me over.

I panted and ran towards him. It took me a minute, but I finally came up on the base of the dune. It sat maybe a few feet off the ground, like a trash pile.

I put my hands on my knees and took deep breaths. "Just give me a second, man. I'm worn out."

"Take all the time you need, Percy."

The voice made my head shoot up and my eyes go wide. That can't be…no it can't. I knew that voice better than Bianca's.

My eyes darted to the guy sitting on the top. Charles Beckendorf. He smiled and nodded at me, not changing a bit. He wore the same thing that he wore when we went on that mission together, to blow up the Princess Andromeda. The day he…died.

I felt my eyes get glassy, my voice shook when I said, "Beckendorf?"

"Hey, man. Long time no see."

I rubbed my hands through my hair and started to laugh. That's right, laugh. I was turning crazy, I was literally a psycho. Hearing voices and hallucinating. Maybe it was the lack of water, maybe I was dehydrated. Yeah, that could be it.

I laughed and howled. Beckendorf raised a concerned eyebrow.

"You alright, Percy?"

"Yeah dude, mmm…I am just fine. Losing it, but just fine."

He patted the sand next to him, "Have a seat."

I shook my head and threw my hands up. Why not go along with it. Not real anyway.

I sat down next to the ghost of my old friend and looked at the low moon in the distance, it's white glow shining over all of the desert. It was beautiful, and almost made me forget where I was even at for a minute. Almost.

"So, how have you been?" He asked, "Everything went well for you since I left?"

Left. Such a strong word, an interesting one to say instead of "died."

I nodded, "Yes…and no. Some good, some bad, Beckendorf, you know how it is."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I get it. How's Annabeth? You two finally get together? Or did you go with that red haired girl?" He put a finger to his chin, "Rachel, or something like that?"

I smiled, "Nah. Annabeth and I got together. I'm actually…going to ask her to marry me soon."

He reared his head back in shock and genuine happiness, "Really?! Oh that's great, man!" He clapped me on my shoulder, which took me by surprise, big time. I could feel him, just like Bianca. How is this fake then? It had to be real.

But it wasn't. No. A figment of your imagination, Percy.

I shook these thoughts away and indulged my mind tricks. Wanting someone to talk to if I'm being honest, even if they are a ghost. "How's Silena?"

His eyes turned a soft brown, a loving expression taking over just like that. "She's doing great. Elysium is a beautiful place, man. You'd love it."

"Elysium? You guys are there…together?"

"Yeah. It's the best. All the famous heroes that died are there. There's no sadness, no pain, no hunger, nothing like that." He looked back at the moon, "She arrived shortly after I did, actually. She told me what happened, and how you all treated her when she told you…well, you know."

The memory was clear as day in my mind. Watching Silena die from poison would never leave my memory, and it would haunt me forever. She had been the traitor of Camp, the one supplying Luke with information. But in the end, she made a sacrifice. We treated her then, and still, like a hero.

"She made a mistake, but in the end, she was a hero. Made the right choice."

"I know." He said, "You're a good guy- I mean man, Percy. Sorry." He sheepishly smiled at me.

"Nah, you can call me a guy, a kid, whatever. I don't feel like much of a grown up these days. Everything seems to fall apart around me."

I gazed at him, sitting next to me, actually talking and thinking and reminiscing. I remembered when he was alive, how good spirited he was, how kind, how genuine. I'll never forget something about Beckendorf, and at the time it wasn't much of a big deal, but as I've gotten older, this detail really touches me. When Tyson first came to Camp, no one wanted to hang out with him, no one was nice to him, except Beckendorf. He didn't care if he was a cyclops or not, he didn't turn in disgust or drive him out, he welcomed him into the cabin and showed him tricks on craftsmanship. Heck, he was more open to Tyson than I was in the beginning, and Tyson's my half-brother.

I can still hear the explosion. Beckendorf giving me one last nod, telling me to get out of there, as he blew himself up to destroy the Andromeda. Me jumping off the side of the boat. That was where it ended.

My eyes stung; my lip threatened to quiver. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you, man. I should've prevented it; I should've done something. You have no idea how often I think about that. If I could go back, I'd change everything in a heartbeat."

He closed his eyes and lowered his head, nodding a little. "Percy, you have nothing to be sorry for. I made my choice, and that's that. Let go of that guilt, put it behind you, and look forward. I hold nothing against you for that day."

"I know, but I still feel guilty, I still feel responsible…for everything."

He smirked, "You still haven't learned how to let others help you carry the weight, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer, instead asking something else. "Why are you out here?"

"Why am I- well, because I need to get stronger. I need to help my dad. This is part of the process."

"I know that already. I mean why are you still out here. You should be finished by now."

I was a bit taken back. "Huh? Dude, it's like hundreds of miles!"

"I've seen you do crazier. The impossible, even."

"Yeah well, I don't have a solution to this. If you've got a suggestion man, I'm all ears."

He smiled, and put his hand on my back, "Simple. You just have to remember what you're good at."

I started to let that go past me, but I furrowed my eyebrows when I connected his words to Bianca's. "Wait, what do you mean-"

BOOM!

Out of nowhere, Beckendorf exploded next to me. His entire body combusted and burst into flames. The force of the blast knocked me off and destroyed the dune completely. I fell and skidded on the sand until I stopped, covered in smoke and ash.

I coughed and wiped my eyes, leaning up to see that Beckendorf was gone.

Disappearing just like he had died. Same with Bianca. Funny, how my mind plays sick tricks on me.

He wasn't real. She wasn't real. Yet I missed them already. I wanted to talk to Beckendorf all night.

But that wouldn't happen. Ignoring the pain, I sighed and continued my path.

Matt

"Come on!" Hendricks taunted, wiggling his fingers at us. "It won't hurt a bit, I swear!"

"This guy's crazy." I muttered, and gripped Viribus tight, shortly after healing myself with it. I instantly felt ten thousand times better. "We need to take him out. All at once, everybody!"

With that, we all jumped to action, straight at the sorcerer, wizard, magician, whatever you want to call him.

His smirk deepened, "Want to see a magic trick?" He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a fistful of something in his hand.

"Watch out!" Harper warned, but it was too late. Our momentum had already secured us, whatever it was, I just hoped I was durable enough to take it.

But it wasn't an attack. Instead of throwing it at us, he threw a handful of orange powder at the ground, billowing up like a mushroom cloud and concealing his form.

I hit it just as he disappeared, my fist going through it and hitting nothing at all.

"He's gone!"

"No I'm not! Look over here!"

I turned around and felt a sensation on my forehead. He had just poked it with his finger.

"Where is he?"

"Hey, who just poked me?"

"What the hell?"

I grunted, "Guys, watch out! It could be some kind of technique!"

I reached out to find his aura and felt it twenty feet away from us, standing with his arms behind his back. He was fast, no doubt. Either that or through some kind of speed spell. Why the hell did he touch our foreheads though? Or at least my forehead. I didn't feel anything from it, no pain, nothing.

With a surge of energy, I blasted away all the dust and saw him standing there, his hands outspread and smiling. "Like the show?"

"What's your game, dude? Are you trying to play with us?"

"Not at all. For this to work, it requires a physical connection." He gestured to the four of us, "I have touched each of you."

"For what to work?" Talon said impatiently, "Quit the damn mind games and fight us straight up!"

Hendricks chuckled, and pushed his hands together, forming an invisible ball inside his hovering palms. "Oh believe me, this will put you all away for good. No one has ever escaped this."

"Escaped?" Levi said, "You're going to trap us?"

"No." I crouched, "He's not. We won't let him!"

I leapt off the ground and charged him again. This time using the strength in my legs to disappear from view, hopefully create an afterimage in my wake and take him off guard. I came up behind him and prepared to strike his head. But he already saw me coming, somehow. He turned around and widened his eyes maniacally.

"This has been fun, Son of Hercules! I hope you enjoy your new home!"

That caught me a bit off guard. I wasn't sure what he meant, but it didn't matter right now. All I could focus on was the crook of his neck, and Viribus hitting it full force.

I swung, and he thrust his hand. Green energy erupted from it, millions of little symbols flashed all in my face, darting around and blinding me. A white light shone off of him, and suddenly the entire world faded. My movement stopped, and even I stopped. I had full control of my body, but it was like some outside force was…interfering, or transporting me to another part of the planet. A good comparison would be teleportation, actually. This felt just like that.

"Matt!" I heard someone yell. Who, I have no idea, but it rang in my ears until I couldn't hear it anymore. Falling deeper and deeper into the spiral, my eyes started to get heavy, and I lost consciousness.

Percy

Remember what you're good at.

What the heck does that mean?

It was all I could think about for the next…I don't even know. Time was gone, distance too. I could only make out the desert in front of me. It never ended, the entire world was covered in it, it had to be. Nothing could be this massive and not encompass the entire planet.

Bianca and Beckendorf had both said it. Remember what you're good at. As if I've forgotten or something. I don't really know what they mean.

For a while, I went over a list of things I was good at, or at least decent. I was a pretty good swordsman, not a bad runner, I excelled at swimming and procrastinating. Let's see…oh, I'm good at eating, yeah, that's probably the biggest one.

I'd like to think I'm a good boyfriend. Not sure about that one though, as I worry every day that somehow Annabeth is going to wake up and realize that yeah, this guy is kind of a loser, and break up with me. She hasn't though, so I guess I'm doing something right.

That couldn't be it. Romance had nothing to do with it. This was supposed to get me out of the desert. What I'm good at. It had to be something demigodly, or whatever. Let's go over it again, I'm a good swordsman, I've been around a bit, I've helped out a lot, and put my time in. Experience? Is that it?

Annabeth has a lot of that. Jason had a lot of that. They were in their respective camps longer than me, by a lot. Maybe…I don't know, I adapted well?

Ugh, this was so frustrating. I'm not a thinker, I don't do it well. Even with the help of my dead friends, I can't figure out something about myself. It's kind of sad.

"Anyone else out there?!" I called, cupping my hands over my mouth. My voice echoed, but nothing different came back.

I squinted my eyes and kept them forward for a second. It was night. How much longer would I be out here? What if this never ended? The possibility that this was some kind of trap crossed my mind yet again. But I pushed it away just as quickly. I mean, Triton was genuine…right? He wouldn't just leave me out here for good, would he?

I didn't have much time to ponder. Behind me, I heard a loud whirring, rustling sound, like a hurricane coming towards me.

I turned around and had to look up at the thing. It was a sandstorm. A wall of orange and red coming at me quickly, too quickly.

"Oh crap…" I muttered.

"Percy!"

A hand roughly grabbed my shoulder. I jumped and instinctively threw my fist at whatever had grabbed me. But to my surprise, the person caught it in their hand. SMACK! They held it tight and stared at me.

"Holy Hephaestus…" I whispered, "L-Luke?"

If Bianca and Beckendorf took me by surprise, then this might have floored me. Never would I expect seeing Luke again, in any shape or form. But here he was, the memory, the vision, or whatever of him, standing here, ahold of my fist.

He looked like he did when I first met him, but retained his size and build from when I last met him. The golden eyes were gone, the cracks around his face were gone, instead he wore a concerned expression, and he had his original blue eyes.

"Come on, Percy. We don't have time. We've gotta outrun that sandstorm!"

I stammered and shook my head, not able to even comprehend the fact that I could feel his touch, just like the others. Anymore and I'll completely short circuit. I looked back at the storm and nodded at him, gulping in the process.

"O-Okay."

"Alright, let's go!"

He let go of me and started running. I followed after him, close on his heels. All of my drained energy and fatigue was forgotten for a moment. I lifted my legs up and sprinted as hard as they would allow. Luke and I zigzagged a couple of times to avoid the sand being thrown from the storm. Judging by the impact it left when it hit the ground, it would have hurt a bit.

"Which way?!"

He pointed straight, "There! Just a little further!"

We gave it all we had, moving muscles in our bodies that hadn't been flexed or used in years. I panted and swung my arms forward, trying to give all the momentum I could. The wind was unreal, threatening to blow us off our feet. I'd never seen a sandstorm so huge, not even in those nature documentaries that Annabeth makes me watch sometimes.

"It's dispersing!" Luke said, yelling over the noise, "Just a little more, and we can outlast it!"

He was right. One turn over my shoulder and I could tell that it was getting weaker. There were gaps starting to form and sand started to leave the constructed wall.

"There's a big gap at the bottom!" I said, "Maybe we can duck under and let it pass!"

Luke took a gander, and nodded, "Alright! On the count of three, we roll and duck!"

"Okay!"

He waited a moment, and then started. "ONE!"

I tensed up, already thinking of the action before taking it. Chiron's teachings. Think before you act, physically and mentally.

"TWO!"

Here we go, we were already slowing our speed.

"THREE!"

We rolled right on cue, both of us stopping on our knees and ducking under, covering our heads with our hands. I felt a strong wind against my back and sand hit my skin. It hurt and stung, sure, but it wasn't anything life threatening. I stayed put and weathered the chaos.

When it subsided, I remained tight until I heard the wind leave my ears. I raised up and looked around, "All clear…I think. Luke, you're good."

He got off his knees and stood up, peering up to see the sandstorm completely scatter and disperse. It was over.

He let out an exhale of laughter, "Man, that was fun, huh?"

"More scary than fun." I grumbled, "Nice thinking, though. I probably would've just stood there and let it hit me."

He smiled and shrugged.

Everything was silent now, the ambient noise of wind in the distance, but that was it.

"So I guess you're another fragment of my mind, then? Bianca, Beckendorf…and now you."

He pursed his lips and cocked his head, "Now why do you say that?"

"Well…you're dead, man. I hate to say it, but it's true. I mean, how else are you in front of me?"

"Just because it's in your head doesn't mean it isn't real."

"It…kinda does."

"Maybe. But you'd have to define real if it's not."

I sighed, "Alright alright, fine. Real, not real. Why do I keep seeing you guys? Why do they keep telling me to remember what I'm good at?"

He stayed silent.

"I'm confused, Luke." I said, pleading. "I know we had our differences, but…I looked up to you, and I know that deep down, you only wanted to do the right thing. So…help me now, please."

Studying me, his eyes were hard to read. I couldn't tell what he thought now, back then with the whole Kronos thing, it was clear to see that the titan had taken over and was only thinking one thing – take over the world.

But this Luke, it was different. When he was in control, he was very good at hiding what he thought, his emotions. I truly thought for a second, he would just say screw it and disappear. I focused solely on him just in case this happened.

He turned away and cleared his throat, "You remember your first year at Camp, when we sparred in the training arena."

Not what I expected him to say, but it was something. "Yeah, I do."

"Not a bit of experience, yet you disarmed me after seeing my defense demonstration once." He smiled and pointed at himself. "Me, with years of combat training, arguable the best swordsman to ever grace Camp, and you disarmed me. Not to mention you were twelve, Percy, and I was nineteen."

"Yeah, so? What does that have to do with anything?"

He sighed, "Percy, do I have to spell it out to you? You're good at catching on to new experiences. Molding yourself in a new environment and becoming a part of it. When you were thrown into our crazy world, what happened?"

I shrugged, "I mean…I just kept going. I accepted where I was, and tried to make the best of it."

"Exactly. You went from a normal kid to a skilled demigod within a few days. Want another example? Camp Jupiter. Even though you're Greek, you joined the Roman society like you had been there your entire life. You became praetor not even a year into it!"

"How do you know about Camp Jupiter?" Was all I could say.

"You think all those demigods in Kronos's army were Greek? Come on, now."

I cocked my head. Yeah, he had a point.

"The point is, no matter the situation, you make the best of it. You're an optimist. Whatever it is, you ingrain yourself into it, and become a part of it."

I nodded slowly, trying to line the invisible dots together. Was I dumb or something? What was he trying to get at here?

"So what's the new situation, then? What does all that have to do with what's going on now?"

"You tell me."

I lightly threw my hands up, and racked my brain. I'm good at adapting, like I figured. Okay, yay, I guess. So I'm supposed to adapt to what now?

I had to think back to two years ago. When Matt first came to camp and all of this started, basically dragging Annabeth and I back into the fight. There had been a lot of new things to get used to, that was for sure. I mean, Ouranos as the new Kronos and Gaea was probably the biggest, just because he's very different from them. Smarter, more dangerous…and weirder. Yeah, weirder.

Auras. You tell me that I've had this inner force inside of me all this time that I could've tapped into and become stronger? I had no freaking idea. I was so used to fighting with Riptide and trying to stay alive, then all of a sudden, these demigods start glowing and gain planet destroying power – it's nuts.

I could go all day, really.

"It's the same thing." I said, "Just like with Gaea. New opponents, new allies, new abilities."

Luke nodded, his smirk growing.

"So I have to adapt to all of that, again. Okay, but…how do I do that?"

"You already have." He tapped on the temple of my head, "Gotta use your head. All this time you've been thinking of taking the straight, simple path. Instead of using the shortcut."

"What shortcut?"

He gestured to the desert, slowly swinging his arm around. "That."

The desert? That doesn't make any sense. How am I supposed to use it to my advantage? It's the thing that's killing me.

I heard the sand rustle, Luke dusted his jeans off. "Well, I'll see you around, Jackson."

This didn't feel right. I still had so many questions, so much to say.

"Wait." I said as he started to walk away.

"Yeah?"

"I just want to say that…I tried. I tried to keep my promise to you. I don't know if it did any good though, but I told the gods to get their act together." I shrugged, "Maybe in the end it'll matter."

He nodded and smiled, "It does matter. You've done more than you think for our world, Percy. Thank you."

I lowered my head and rubbed my neck, "Well, I don't know about-"

He was gone. The instant I looked away and looked back, he had faded into the night. I sighed and slumped, alone yet again, only with my thoughts.

Now, they were a little clearer. Those weren't just visions. Those people were a part of me. They built my memories, my foundations of belief. A lot of lessons that I learned were because of them.

I understood. Remember what I'm good at.

Luke wasn't talking about the desert, and Triton wasn't talking about water in the way I thought. The sea wasn't what he was referring to, he meant everywhere.

Water is everywhere. I am water.

Looking at the air in front of me, I had an epiphany. I stuck my hand out and spread my fingers. This time, instead of concentrating on the waves far away, I concentrated on the waves inside of me. I had no gut feeling, instead, a tingling in my brain.

Then it happened. A dim sea green glow surrounded my hand and wrist. I felt new sensations all over my skin, my senses were heightened one hundred fold. I could smell the sand, I could hear every grain moving, bugs flying and buzzing miles away, I could feel the oils on my skin, the water in the air.

The water in the air…

Smirking, I made a fist and pulled it to my chest. The moisture of the air collected and threw itself to create a ball of water. It doused me and filled me with newfound stamina. Soon, I was covered in it, the green glow, the transparent water, all of it.

I felt stronger than ever.

"I understand." I said, and looked to the horizon. My goal was within reach.

Planting my feet in the sand, I took off in a run. Going faster than a muscle car, I raced across the desert. With each passing step, more water entered me and built up, only increasing my strength. I got faster and faster, lighter, better in every way. I was alive.

Finally it reached a boiling point. Like a volcano about to burst, this unbelievable amount of energy swirled inside me, begging to be let out. I obliged, and tensed my muscles. Allowing the mental block to disappear, I unleashed it all to act. A shockwave erupted behind me, the sound barrier broke, my body went forward seemingly through space and time, and all I could see was the passing dunes going by at the speed of…something. It was so fast I couldn't even make out the shapes, only the colors.

Seconds and hours became the same, one at a time. I couldn't even process distance or reality. But when I saw the figure of a man in the vast distance getting hundreds of feet closer in the matter of a single, split second. I slowed my run.

I lifted both of my legs and planted my shoes in the sand, the only way I could think of to stop. It didn't happen immediately. My heels dug ten feet into the ground, and I skidded gods know how far forward.

Finally my momentum got the better of me, my body tilted forward, and I tripped over my speed. I tumbled and flipped probably sixty thousand times, but oddly, I didn't feel any pain, it was like the green mist acted as a shield, keeping me from even feeling one grain of sand.

I stopped in a crater, on my stomach and face. My green aura faded, and I was back to normal. Luckily, I couldn't feel the pain from my tumble, guess it's not a delayed sort of thing.

I groaned and pushed myself up, looking behind me, my eyes became saucers.

"Holy…crap."

Behind me, I had left quite the scar on the desert. A giant half tunnel dug into the now black, charred sand, like a giant worm decided to wiggle it's way across the world. Fire swayed and roared in a straight line, how, I didn't know. Can sand even burn?

"Quite the display of power, brother. You ran about a hundred miles in a couple of seconds."

I shifted around and saw Triton sanding on the hill I'd created, his arms crossed.

"T-Triton?"

"You've completed the first part of your training. Congratulations, Percy. Now…we move on to the next step."

(000)

Hope this one was enjoyable. Can't wait to keep writing and for you all to see what happens next.

Until Next Time.