Chapter three of the second crossover. Hope you all enjoy!

(Matt's POV)

When I went to sleep, sure, I expected the run of the mill, stereotypical nightmare.

But I did not expect to share it with Zane Williams, who by the way, was about six feet away from me in the real world.

We had just shared memories, and last time I wasn't prepared for that, I sort of just took in what I saw in horrified awe, but this time...well, I sort of did the same thing.

I'm not sure who had a weirder year, Zane or myself.

Just as I figured, his Labyrinth situation was very different from what happened over here. But I honestly wasn't expecting that much of a change.

I mean, to start with, he had to fight Prometheus, the Titan that hates his father more than anything, and it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Prometheus created this sort of power armor, a small mech of sorts to combat Zane.

And it worked pretty well, the Titan had him and Percy both on the ropes, not to mention the trials of the maze, Percy dying, which was probably the most shocking event in the memories. He'd sacrificed himself to save Zane, and the worst part was...it didn't even kill Prometheus.

I saw his time on Calypso's island, I saw him fall in love with her, or well him in this case, and even have relations with him.

Then the final battle, Zeus coming in to stop Luke (showing that Zane's Zeus is far different from ours) Zane's choice, and the breakup with Taylor and Nico.

So yeah, not a contest, but it would be pretty close if it was.

Back to the weird vision I was going to tell you about.

I closed my eyes, and ended up in some strange forest, definitely foreign. Zane and I stood in a bamboo clearing, the tall trees surrounded us, the sun was bright, and in a circle, there stood grass up to our knees, rocks in an odd pattern, all leading up to one rock.

And on that rock, sat Ouranos.

I looked at him, bewildered, while Zane rambled on, trying to figure out what was happening.

"I was…asleep, and then you, and we, and…" He was completely lost. "What the fuck?!"

"Dude." I said, pointing at Ouranos. "Look."

He sat on a cylindrical boulder, the top flattened just enough to where he could sit on it. It stood about eight feet above the ground, his legs were thrown over the side of it, his body was slightly slumped, and he appeared to be fiddling with something small in his fingers, like he was bored.

He had changed a little in the month since he'd escaped, due to his increased aging. He appeared about fifteen or sixteen now, taller and more muscular, all traces of baby fat gone. His features were very much like his son, only his hair was starting to turn white, traces of it clear in the locks that came down on the sides of his face, and the face itself, while very similar to Malachi's, there was just enough difference to tell the two apart. I can't exactly describe it, and it might just be the expressions they make. With Ouranos, there's always this look in his eye, or the way he smiles, that just tells you he's evil.

"Why are we watching Malachi?" Zane said, rearing his head back in confusion. He looked up at the trees and did a quick three-sixty. "And where the hell are we?"

I just shook my head, "That's not Malachi. That's Ouranos."

That grabbed Zane's attention, his eyes widened at me, then furrowed at Ouranos, studying the Primordial for a solid minute, taking in the guy that's caused us so much trouble over the past couple of years.

After a minute, Zane simply said, "That's Ouranos?" In a higher pitched voice, conveying his disbelief. "Why the hell is he so young?"

"You saw my memories, right? He was there at the battle with Atlas."

"That was him? I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, showing Malachi as a little kid or something. I never…well, I guess I just never imagined your worst enemy being so tiny."

"Don't let it fool you, man. He's the most dangerous being in this universe." I just sighed, not wanting to get into it now. We were obviously here for a reason, so I should shut my mouth. "You know what, I'll just explain it later."

Zane nodded, like it was important that I do that later, since he was so flabbergasted by Ouranos's appearance. Guess I can't blame him, after all that talk, especially telling him that he killed my father, a god, he must've figured Ouranos would be some buff, Zeus-looking old man. Proves that you should never underestimate your enemy based on appearance.

Two more figures came into view, from behind us. They passed our right, and walked up to Ouranos, stopping about fifteen feet away from the rock he sat on.

As they walked, we recognized them immediately, given that we had literally fought them a few hours ago. It was Luke and Iapetus, looking no different than before, save for Luke's differing clothing colors.

"It's those bastards." Zane said, not really a growl of anger, but more of the same level of pitch as when he saw Ouranos. "They talked to Ouranos? When the hell did this happen?"

I couldn't really think of an explanation either, it was all so confusing. I mean, I didn't even know where we were, let alone why Luke, or well, Kronos, from another universe would want to talk to Ouranos.

Ouranos looked up from his fingers, and saw the two visitors. He smirked.

"Kronos, is that you?" It wasn't angry or vengeful, like you'd expect, considering the guy plotted his death and led the assault to cut him into a million pieces. No, instead it was friendly, like his long-lost son had come home. "Well, isn't this a nice surprise."

Luke simply gauged the Primordial in slight disgust and condescension, raising his chin a little in pride. "So you're the Ouranos in this universe? Hmm, you're even more pathetic over here than in my world. I expected a grown man, at least."

This really caught Ouranos' attention, he raised his head fully, and didn't take the insult to heart. In fact, he sort of relished in the sarcasm, and smirked deeper, like he was glad to have someone to argue with today. "Wait a second…you're not my Kronos. You're different."

"No shit." Luke said, scoffing.

"No, I mean…you're not full." Ouranos looked Luke up and down, then felt his aura once more. When he did, his eyes widened, and he burst into laughter. "The son of Hermes?! Hah! You've actually fused with a demigod such as him? I don't think you have room to call me pathetic, Kronos!"

Luke's face twitched, clearly getting annoyed by Ouranos's taunts. "And what are you supposed to be, exactly? Disguising yourself as a child? No…you have a mere child's power. It's that of a common ant. What, did you find a way to de-age yourself?"

Ouranos, instead of going into deep detail as to what had happened, instead tightened his lips, but kept his smile. Like a I'll never tell gesture. He outspread his hands, "Let's just say it's all part of the plan. By the end, I'll have the gods and the world at my knees."

Luke snorted, "A foolish plan for someone so ancient. You're extremely vulnerable. Why, even that stupid god of music could probably kill you."

Ouranos shrugged, "And yet I've got away each and every time from my enemies. Every piece of my puzzle has come together perfectly. I've always been in control, and you want to know why?" He pointed to his head, and tapped his temple. "Because I planned, little titan, I planned. You should try it sometime." He chuckled, "It's obvious you didn't when you latched on to an unstable wretch like Castellan."

I was in a sort of awe, and Zane was too. Our biggest enemies, were interacting with each other, taunting each other, insulting each other, like a battle of words, a battle of wits. It was insane to watch. Yet, I could tell that Ouranos was clearly in control here, at least emotionally. Sure, Luke was far, far stronger, but he was shaking with anger, his veins were popping out of his forehead, and he was itching to power up and decapitate Ouranos. While Ouranos himself, cool as a cucumber, he kept smiling down at Luke, a look in his eye that said go ahead, try it.

Luke bit his tongue and looked to the ground, controlling his obvious anger. "I didn't come here to argue with a weak fool. I came because I need a piece of information."

"How am I the fool, if you need information from me?"

Luke ignored Ouranos's retort and growled, "I seek this universe's Koios. Do you know where he is?"

"Sure." Ouranos said, and Luke started to speak again, but Ouranos made it a point to interrupt him, talking loudly over him and turning to Iapetus. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Iapetus glared hatred at him.

"By Chaos, you're the Impaler, aren't you?" Ouranos laughed, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"He is not the focus here!" Luke shouted, "You are speaking to me!"

"No, I think I was clearly speaking to the janitor next to you."

Luke's aura flared, and he raised his index finger threateningly at Ouranos. "Shut your mouth and listen, you bastard! I'll kill you if you ignore me again!"

Ouranos threw his hands up, "Fine, fine. Koios, you want to know where he is?"

"Yes."

"And why do you want to know?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Well if I'm an accomplice now to your little scheme, I want to be let in on the plan a little. That seems fair, doesn't it?"

Luke was really boiling, his emotions were all over the place, none of them positive.

Zane next to me was in pure shock. "Holy shit, Luke's pissed. I've never seen him this mad." He snickered, "It's kind of funny."

Finally, Luke relented. "Fine. We wish to access his laboratory. That's all I'm telling you. Wouldn't want you to screw up what I have going."

Ouranos, for the first time in the conversation, let his smile fall and he raised an eyebrow. "Laboratory? The one in Greece?"

"That's the only one, so yes."

Ouranos waved a dismissive hand, "Oh, you want to get inside. Well, all you had to do was ask me that to start with."

Luke's head raised a little in slight hope, "Wait, you know how to get inside?"

That's when Ouranos let him have it. He smiled and said, "Nope. It was built after my reign, unfortunately. So I can't help you there."

Gods, Luke was really, really fed up at this point. It was taking all of his will power not to rush Ouranos and kill him. The Primordial was having a field day getting under his skin, and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying it.

"I'm done wasting my time with you!" Luke yelled, "Tell me where Koios is!"

Ouranos took his time in thinking it over. I'm not gonna lie, it was entertaining, watching him mess with Luke like this. It might've been due to the fact that the actual demigod Luke was still in there somewhat, and Kronos wasn't fully, because he was very temperamental, and impatient right now. I mean, I would be too, because it was clear that Ouranos was trying to be as insufferable as possible. But if it were Kronos, I had a feeling it wouldn't be as one-sided as it is now. Even still though, Ouranos would probably still out annoy him too.

He finally sighed, "Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to give me something in return."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What do you want? Drachma? Men? A titan? Heavenly Diamond?"

Ouranos shook his head, "None of those. As for the last one, I'm covered on that." He waved his hand, and right next to him, hovering in the air, the Heavenly Diamond spear that I'd come to have nightmares about materialized. When I saw it, it sent immediate chills down my spine, a flash of a memory in Scandinavia rang in my head. I unconsciously clenched my fist.

At that, Luke backed up a step, his entire demeanor tensing for a moment, and his eyes widening. It was clear that this little teenage version of Ouranos was more dangerous than he thought, and that was becoming clear to him now.

Ouranos smirked a little at their hint of fear. "What? Is mine bigger than yours?"

Luke regained his anger and stepped forward, "Name what you want so we can be done with this!"

Ouranos dematerialized the spear, and it disappeared from view. He didn't have to think this one over, he gave his request right away.

"Kill Matthias Beckett for me."

Luke was confused, "Matthias Beckett? Who the hell is that?"

"You have a thorn, don't you?"

The titan/demigod shook his head a little, a look of absolute confusion washing over his face. He looked at Ouranos like he had gone senile. "A thorn? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, son." He said, his tone getting serious, his face darkening with every word. He stared at Luke with devilish, hateful eyes as he spoke, but it wasn't necessarily aimed towards him. "You wouldn't be in a hurry if you didn't, and you wouldn't need Iapetus if you didn't. No, you have a thorn in your side, just as I do. What's his name?"

It seemed Luke had caught on now, and knew what he was talking about. But he didn't say anything, he just glared at the ground.

Ouranos continued, "I'm guessing he's one that doesn't give up, one that will do anything to protect his much weaker friends. He's hindered your plans…three times, no, four, I'd say. There's enough bitterness in your face for it to be more than three. I'm guessing he has a lover, furthering his will to stop you, and he's a demigod, obviously, so he has respect for his father or mother, along with most of the other fools on Olympus. Meaning he's as delusional as mine is." I knew where he was going with this, it was clear by now just who he was describing, and who he was comparing this 'him' to. "He's smart, a leader, can make difficult decisions and come up with on-the-fly plans in a matter of seconds. You wish he would wise up and listen to you, join your side even. He would be ever so useful, as your right-hand man. Why, he could help you take down the gods. And you don't lie when you say you would give him the entire world, because why wouldn't you? Any man that does that in your name deserves it, right? But alas, he'll never change, and that's what scares you, because you know he'll always stand in your way, until the very end." Ouranos gave a little gesture of his hands, "How did I do? I get it right?"

Luke was absolutely thunderstruck, and trying his best not to show it. But he couldn't help it, he'd described Zane perfectly.

I looked over at the man himself, and he was just watching on, a million thoughts racing through his head. I didn't press or say anything.

Ouranos knew he'd gotten it right, and cocked his head. "So tell me, what's his name?"

Luke said it, barely above a whisper. "Zane Williams."

Ouranos closed his eyes and nodded, "Noble name. A son of Zeus?"

Luke didn't say anything.

"Yes, you have a real problem on your hands, then. I suppose I do have no choice but to help you then, out of sheer sympathy. Let's just say I know what it's like." Ouranos pointed to the sky, as if giving directions. "Koios is still in America, recently reformed. Last I heard, he was in hiding somewhere in California. You should be able to sense him when you enter the middle of the state."

Luke nodded, ready to leave at once. "This Matthias. Where is he?"

Iapetus butted in, speaking up for the first time in the vision. "This universe's Camp Half Blood. I saw him when I scouted."

"What does he look like?"

"A mere teenager, but he does have a formidable aura. Tall, brown hair, wears a sleeveless cuirass, a lion's pelt, and some kind of strange necklace. He's hard to miss."

"Very well then." Luke glared at Ouranos once more, "I'll make quick work of this Matthias and be on my way, since you're apparently too weak to do so."

He started to walk away, but Ouranos called out to him, one last taunt apparently up his sleeve.

"Kronos!"

Luke bit his lip in anger. "What?"

"I'm going to give you a little heads up, from me to you. Call it a favor."

"I don't need your favors."

"Oh, I think you're going to want to hear this."

Luke looked at Iapetus, as if to say can you believe this idiot. But still, he turned around and looked at Ouranos. "Fine then, speak."

Ouranos bent forward, his back arched, as if to lean in and whisper something to Luke. His face was serious and urging. "When the time comes, at the moment of truth, just when you are about to take over Olympus…you will be thwarted. Not by this Zane Williams, or by Zeus, but by Luke Castellan. He will regain his mind, and when he does, he will force you out and kill himself, ridding you from this world." He raised a finger, "That, little titan, is why your little fusion plan is such a gamble. Because once the host regains his mind, it's over."

Luke didn't look afraid, he just scoffed, "You senile old fool. You don't know what you're talking about. Come on, Iapetus, let's go."

But before he could, Ouranos snapped his fingers, and immediately, mist shimmered in the grass. It swirled next to Luke, and formed several figures, and a building like structure. It was like a smoky projection of a play.

Underneath the little figures, was a broken Olympus. In the middle, it showed Luke, all around him were Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

The misty Luke had Annabeth's old knife in his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, he stabbed himself in the armpit, falling to the ground shortly after.

It was quick, but effective and clear. Ouranos snapped his fingers again and the mist dispersed, leaving Zane's Luke with his mouth open, staring where the image once was.

Ouranos was not joking anymore. "Why do you think you haven't found your counterpart here yet? Because you're dead, Kronos. You failed at the climax, all because that person you thought you'd overcame, was still there, and he changed his mind. You played your cards on the choice of a bitter, whiny child. And it was your undoing."

Luke was silent for a moment. I don't know if it was Kronos taking over, or if Luke had just steeled himself, but he didn't show a hint of fear, despite seeing his own death in front of him.

"Then that version of me was a fool. I am not a fool. When the time comes, I will not only succeed, but I will succeed by a long shot."

Ouranos expected that, and nodded. "Well for your sake, I hope so."

Luke motioned his head to Iapetus, and the Titan followed close behind, now a bit more wary of Ouranos. Luke sliced the air with his hand, an orange line inhabited it, and cut open a rift. Luke stepped through, then Iapetus.

When the rift closed, I woke up.

Sitting up in my bed, I immediately looked over to Zane, who had done the same thing. He was sitting upright in his bed, wide eyes looking at me.

"Holy shit..." we both said, at the same time.

Zane and I gathered our thoughts. I paced around the cabin while Zane sat on his bed, fingers clasped, looking down at the floor.

Finally, I broke the long silence. "Okay, we gotta talk about it."

Zane nodded, "Obviously."

"Why the laboratory?" I said, scrunching my face and stopping for a moment. "I mean, I know Koios is like the smartest Titan and all, but what exactly did he build there?"

Zane cocked his head, "Weapons and armor for the Titans, would be my guess."

"So what is it now? The same thing? Just a bunch of weapons?"

Zane thought for a moment, and then something clicked in his head, his shoulders raised and he lifted a finger.

"What if it's not a bunch of weapons, but a single, powerful weapon."

"Like Ouranos's spear?" I said, practically blurting it out. It may have been me just seeing it minutes prior, or the nightmares I have about it.

But Zane nodded vigorously, "Exactly. I think you're right on the nail, Matt. It's funny, when Luke and I fought a few months ago, he was nearly full with Kronos, yet he didn't have his scythe."

I reared my head back, and yeah...he didn't, not in the memories at least, and not when he attacked my camp.

"He didn't have it here either. Isn't that Kronos' main weapon? Why wouldn't he use it?"

"Because he's building another one in the laboratory."

The lightbulbs started going off in my head. How would Luke permanently get rid of the gods in his universe, he couldn't, not unless he had a certain metal...

"Heavenly Diamond..." I whispered grimly.

Zane nodded, with an equal tone of urgency. "We gotta find Koios right now, dude, and kill him before Luke finds him."

Zane started to get up, but I stopped him. "Hold up, we don't even know if he's still..."

"Still what?"

"Still...alive." I said, letting the last word hang in the air.

Zane shook his head, "He's gotta be, we just saw the vision. Luke's fast, and they may have gotten to Koios already, but I think if we leave now, we can at least intercept them before they reach the lab."

I chuckled, "You haven't had many visions, have you man?"

Zane looked a little annoyed that he hadn't. "Well no, but what the hell does it matter?"

I sighed. Time for me to dish out some knowledge. "Visions are by far the weirdest thing about a demigod's life. They can predict the future, they can show you the past, hell, they can show you things that have no relation to you whatsoever. I can't tell you how many times I've felt completely out of place in a vision."

"So what do you mean?"

"Visions can take place whenever. In this one, I caught that Ouranos requested Luke to kill me. That means that it had to have been in the past, since Luke tried to kill me today." I said the last part in a quicker pace, trying to get the explanation over with.

Zane nodded, understanding now. "Oh...good catch. Well then, when do you think it happened? Yesterday?"

"Probably. If I'm gonna guess how Luke operates, I'd guess that he wanted to get Ouranos's request out of the way quickly, and since he underestimated Ouranos, he underestimated his nemesis in return. Me." I kind of wanted to retract that statement, since referring to myself as Ouranos's nemesis sounded kind of egoic, but what other way was there to describe our relationship? I hated him, no secret, and he's voiced his hatred for me. Zeus may be his end goal, but in my opinion, he only sees him as a target. He sees me as a personal torturing dummy, along with Malachi, and pretty much my entire band of unfortunates. It's funny, he'll pick on the kids, but he saves the adults for last.

I continued, breaking out of my little trance. Zane was watching on with a look, like he knew exactly what I was thinking there, which I'm sure he did. Mind reading and all.

"What I'm saying is, he probably came to me first, and since it's been a few hours…I'd say that they've definitely found Koios already." I said that with casualty, but it was no laughing matter. If this guy was building a Heavenly Diamond scythe, that would only add on to the insane power he has now, allowing him to challenge even the most powerful gods.

"Giving Luke even five minutes is dangerous." Zane said, "Motherfucker can open rifts and portals, stop time even. We're gonna have to take a gamble and assume that they're already at the lab."

"And if they aren't?"

Zane smirked, "Then we wait for the bastards."

"Good enough for me." I shrugged, walking to the other end of the room and hastily throwing on my chestplate, "Just wait for me out front, I'll go get Kyros."

Zane shook his head, not looking at me. "Your bird's awesome, Matt, don't get me wrong, but we need to get there like…a few hours ago. So if you can keep up with me-" He paused, "We'll fly."

I didn't take it personally, because yeah, I guess he was kind of right. Kyros is fast, and when he really wants to go, he could probably scale the world in about an hour. But we didn't have an hour.

"Alright." I agreed, and held Viribus up to him from around my neck, "I'm ready to go."

Zane didn't waste any time, he opened my cabin door and I followed suit, practically stomping in my shoes to get them on. It was still night out, the stars were numerous, and the sky was clear, offering good light from the moon.

We ran to the beach, I unsheathed Viribus from my neck, elongating it into the familiar club. When we reached the edge of the water, we both launched off from the ground, creating craters behind us. I could hear the shockwaves trailing us, cracking like thunder.

After half a second, I glanced behind me to see the Camp's forest a mere green dot in the distance, we had already flown several miles out.

Wind rushed in our ears, I held Viribus tightly in hand beside me, willing the wind to part so I could actually hear Zane if he spoke. Which he did, shortly after forming his own little barrier.

"You know, when I imagined Ouranos, I pictured an evil version of my dad, not…well, a teenager with a weapon taller than him." Zane looked over at me, an eyebrow raised. "Was he always like that?"

"You saw my memories." I said, Ouranos isn't really my favorite subject, but if we're gonna have conversation, it's kind of hard to have one without mentioning him.

"I know, but I want to hear it from you." He sounded sincere, as if he didn't fully trust the telepathy, and my word of mouth meant more.

"Well…I mean, no, he didn't always look like that. In his prime, I imagine he did look like an evil Zeus, but when I first met him, he was just a giant face made of lightning in a storm cloud, almost like a spirit or something. Then he possessed Malachi a few times, and now he's finally taken a physical form. He started out as a fetus, and he's rapidly aging up to his prime self."

Zane was silent for a minute, at first, I wasn't sure if his barrier had fallen, or something flew in his little bubble. But when I looked over, past his long, flapping hair, I saw a face in disbelief. He was shocked.

"Wait…so in the time that he's been enacting this crazy plan of his…he's never had access to his full power?"

"No. The strongest he got was possessing Malachi in Scandinavia. He was toying with me and dad both. But then again, he was kind of using part of Malachi's power, so I guess it doesn't really count."

Zane let out a noise between a huff and a scoff, "You've got to kill him, man. If he's caused this much trouble with the little amount of strength he's had…I can't imagine what he could do with his full power."

Yeah, it was a scary thought. I'd heard about how it took every bit of both Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter just to subdue a waking Gaea, not a full powered Gaea mind you, but a mostly dazed, still half-asleep Gaea. The might of a Primordial isn't just strength, it's a force of nature, it can only be matched by a very, very select few of beings. Ouranos, at full power, is a nightmare.

I tried not to let my fear show in my voice, I cleared my throat. "He's gotten this far because of his intelligence, his charisma, and his reputation. It's not just an age thing, he's insanely smart, and he knows how to create a solid plan, he has allies literally everywhere, and can create new ones at the drop of a hat, making empty, but believable promises with that damned silver tongue of his." I shook my head, "Adding unbeatable strength to the mix, yeah, I can't imagine what he could do."

Zane's stare was piercing, but I didn't look at him. I didn't want to know what the look was, the judging look. I knew that's what it was. I wasn't like him, a small part of me wanted to be like him, or at least, I wanted his level of confidence. He had that attitude, that even if he was outmatched, he wouldn't care, he wouldn't show a shred of fear. Very few times has he ever been afraid, I could tell by the deep veins of his emotions. One was his mother's death, and the other was his first meeting with Atlas. Those two stood out the strongest. When those memories played in my mind, they pinged with warmth and color, as if indicating that those two held the strongest hints of fear.

Two times. That's incredible. I've been scared way more than that, hell, I'm scared just about every day.

He doesn't fear Luke. I fear Ouranos, and hate him at the same time. I'm afraid of everything that he's capable of, that one day his plans are going to come true, fully, and it'll be too late to stop him.

"Matt, it's okay if you're afraid of him."

I looked at him then, and he was giving me a nod of assurance.

"After seeing your memories, and how clever he was in that vision…I gotta say, you've got the worse end of the stick here, at least in terms of the enemy."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know-" He shrugged a little, "-I mean, with Luke, it's like…yeah, I know Kronos is in there, and there's definitely hints of him showing through Luke's demeanor, but he's still Luke. He's still whiny, delusional, misguided Luke. I'm cautious of him, but not afraid of him. Maybe it's because I knew him when he was normal, I don't know. But I do know that Ouranos is different, and he's put you guys through so much."

"You've been through a lot too, Zane. Don't sell yourself short." I wasn't sure if I should bring it up, but my mouth was already forming the words before I could stop them. "I saw the memories. Percy? That…had to be rough on you."

Zane's face darkened, "It was. He sacrificed himself for nothing, Prometheus wasn't even fazed." He sighed, "But he's back, and that's all that matters. The guy's like my brother."

I nodded, sensing that every word he said, he meant fully. But there was also guilt ridden in him, for some reason.

Zane sighed, and came out with it. "I was in grief, and when I landed on Calypso's Island…well, you saw what happened. I fell in love with them." Zane's tone was trailing, the way he said "fell in love with them" was like something he couldn't help, like he didn't want to, but it happened, and now he has to deal with it. "And I know that sounds stupid, since we only knew each other for about two weeks. But it was so hard not to, you know what I mean? They're the perfect combination of Nico and Taylor, and it helped me get my mind off Percy. I…shouldn't have done it, I know it was wrong and horrible, and I got what I deserved."

I didn't need to add on to that sentence. I saw the memory of Nico trying to punch Zane and calling him a piece of shit for cheating on them, and Taylor was just sad, face lined with tears. I can't say I blame them, but I knew Zane felt awful about it, and wanted nothing more than to go back and undo it.

He looked downright depressed at the whole thing. I could tell he had been trying to steel himself and move on for the past…six months? Or whatever amount of time had passed in that universe, but it wasn't working. He obviously still loved them.

I felt the need to give him some reassurance. "Zane, I can't say I blame them for breaking up with you. I mean, personally, cheating is something I can't stand. But…I do know that you did what you did in a state of grief, and you weren't in the right mind. You're a good person, and you love Nico and Taylor. If they cool off, and you approach them the right way, I'm sure that you guys can work something out."

Zane didn't look fully convinced, almost like he'd heard the same words from his Percy or someone else, and hoped that it would happen. But time has passed, and it hasn't. He still gave me a half smirk, "Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it." I could tell that he didn't really want to talk anymore about the subject, so I decided to just let it be.

"Hey, let's kick it up! Full speed!"

Zane looked over questioningly, "You sure?!"

"Yeah!"

He nodded an 'alright' and we braced ourselves. I felt our auras stir and rise, the air around us getting hot from the energy. With our bodies tense, we shot forward in the air, all of the surrounding objects, the ocean, the trees, the sky, blew past us far faster than light. Everything was a blur, like we had warped through reality. We gave it our all, pushing forward and forward. Zane was a little bit ahead of me, to the point where I could still see him, but he was smaller now. Yeah, that proves that he's faster than me, because I was really pushing my aura to the limit.

All of this happened within a few seconds, a full burst of energy would, yes, let them know where we are, but it didn't matter. They figured we were coming anyway, so why not put on a little show?

Everything was in fast forward, and then, abruptly, Zane shouted, "Stop!"

I screeched all of my movement to a halt, and felt the pressure of the wind go by me in a powerful surge. I covered my face and let it pass, all the buildup of the flight, it was more immense than I thought.

Opening my eyes, I looked down to see a giant castle-like structure on top of a mountain, much like Mount Othrys, only this one was smaller and a bit more secretive. Heck, the only way we were able to spot it was thanks to our altitude.

Zane pointed, "There. I felt their auras several miles back, it's them."

The structure itself was just barely poking out of the crater that was the mountain shape. It was odd, like a nuclear bomb had been set off in it, digging out the middle and uprooting the sides into protective, curved walls. In that middle, stood a tower, nearly white marble with gray streaks, almost blending in with the rocks, but not quite. It held enough uniqueness to be discerned.

"Alright, what's the game plan?" I said, spinning Viribus in my hand. If both Iapetus and Luke were down there, we were going to need something. We couldn't let him make the scythe.

"We make quick work of Iapetus." Zane said, "I'm tired of his annoying bullshit. We get rid of him, then we can focus on Luke." He looked over at me, "Or if you don't wanna risk fighting him, then I can take him with my Heavenly Thunder Form, and you can deal with Iapetus by yourself. Your choice."

"You saying I can't keep up, Williams?" I said, quippingly. "You may have gotten a new form and all, which by the way 'Heavenly Thunder Form'? Bro, how are you going to make fun of 'Red Beam Cannon' when you're out here naming your stuff, same as me."

Zane chuckled, "Shut up."

I smiled, "Anyway, don't count me out of the fight just yet, I'm not so far behind you…" I gestured to my watch, pointing at the small Master Bolt. "…With this."

"The Master Bolt? But I thought you could only use it five times? Don't you want to save the other four for Ouranos?"

I shook my head, "That's only if I fire it. If I simply harness it's power onto my own, I become much, much stronger. The only drawback is that I can't lose contact with the bolt, so I'd have to fight one handed."

"That's a hell of a drawback." Zane said warningly.

"Yeah, but I can manage. The sheer raw energy will make up for it." I raised Viribus to my eye level, "Besides, I normally fight with this thing one-handed anyway, so we should be alright." I looked at him carefully, "And I'd say that you've got the worst drawback of all of them. That new form of yours can kill you, man, if you use it long enough."

Zane nodded, "I know. It's dangerous, and probably stupid, but it's the only way that I can catch up with Luke." He grimaced at the words, not used to saying stuff like that. "I hate admitting that I'd be dead meat to him without it, but It's the truth. I put up that front, so my friends don't lose hope, you know? I mean, if the strongest guy in Camp is scared, and looks scared, then there's a good chance that everyone else is gonna be scared too. So I stay confident, sarcastic, acting like I don't give a shit, when really, I honestly don't know what's going on half the time."

I knew it took a lot for him to admit that. After all, Zane told me the last time we met that his goal was to become the strongest, so that no one goes through what he went through, with his mom's death and everything. So admitting that his biggest enemy would be stronger than him without a deadly last resort, is probably very frustrating.

"I know what you mean." I said, "Exactly what you mean."

"That's why I told you." Zane said, "You know what it's like. You're a leader, a fighter, you've put up that front, same as I have." He clapped me on the shoulder, "I don't respect a lot of people, simply because they usually never earn it, but you've earned it, man. You're a great warrior…with a few issues on naming his attacks like a dork, but we can let that slide."

I laughed, about to say something else, but down below, we heard a loud, deep bellow.

"ZANE WILLIAMS! MATT BECKETT!"

It was Iapetus. He stood on the very top of the tower, hundreds of feet in the distance. His aura was surging, he was channeling the chaotic energy with every second, black particles floated around him and into the sky like smoke.

"Show time." Zane said, lightning beginning to dance on his form, his blue aura whirring around him loudly.

I let the Red Aura envelop me, and looked down at the watch. It was time.

I covered my hand over it, and felt the energy of the skies all around me, reluctantly thinking of Zeus too. It was required, in order to access the connection that I needed.

Soon, I felt unbelievable warmth grip my hand, and I saw bright white light encompass it, then it took the shape of lightning, the lightning molded to a zig zag shape, about two feet long. I gripped it in the middle, the power so overwhelming. It mixed and meshed with mine, and my own level of energy rose to such abundance, it could take up the whole world many times over, the entire atmosphere got brighter, my eyesight, in it, everything was much brighter in color as well. As if my eyes were glowing.

Zane turned around; his eyes wide. "Holy shit…you weren't kidding."

Lightning and electricity crackled all around me, my aura was now a mixture of blue and red, an odd color, but a very cool combination.

"Told you." I smirked.

"Alright, let's put some of that power to use." Zane said, and glared down at Iapetus. "GO!"

The same time as we plummeted, Iapetus roared, and jumped up to meet us. The exchange that followed happened all within a matter of five seconds.

Zane reared his arm back, and with full force, he slammed his forearm at the oncoming titan, smacking him in the face. Iapetus flailed around in the air, completely dazed. The spear that he held had fallen out of his hand and was tumbling down to the ground.

It was my turn. I let the lightning from the Master Bolt surround Viribus, and I dove forward, timing my blow right, I met the titan's gut with the tip of Viribus. I stabbed as hard as I could, and the club went right through his gut, ichor exploded everywhere, Iapetus widened his eyes in shock.

"Matt, back away!" Zane shouted, "I'm gonna finish him off!"

I nodded, and planted my shoe against Iapetus' chest, pressing against him and pulling Viribus out. More ichor fell and flew all around him, Iapetus couldn't even move, he was completely struck by what had happened, and the speed at which it happened.

I willed the wind to carry me back, out of attacking distance. Zane charged lighting up into his hands, the blue coils got stronger and stronger, storm clouds clung to him, Iapetus couldn't even look at what was coming.

Then, Zane shouted a war cry, and let loose the monstrous power. A large bolt of lightning erupted from his fingertips, and hit Iapetus with a flash. The titan was there one moment, then replaced by gore, blood, and several body parts. The shield on his back flew to the side, almost out of view, with the chunk of Heavenly Diamond in it.

As he fell, Iapetus turned to gold dust, and flew away with the wind. It was over with him, just like that. We got serious, and got the job done. Now it's Luke's turn.

Zane flew down and grabbed the shield quickly, holding it on his forearm. He turned to me and motioned towards the lab, insinuating that we blow the roof off and go in.

We shot towards it, I aimed Viribus to the roof, and shot a bolt at it, destroying the top of it immediately and giving us a cracked hole to go into. We didn't even avoid the rubble, we just flew right through it, I ignored the rocks hitting my skin and armor, disintegrating on impact.

We flew inside and crashed down onto the floor, leaving a crater in it as well. But it wasn't rock that we landed on, it was marble.

We looked up and around, everywhere, was a cavern like place, with machinery and weapons and all kinds of cool stuff, gadgetry, giant pedestals, and things I can't even find words for.

But in the middle, was the main spectacle. It was a square shaped, bronze colored, absolutely massive machine, in each corner, it had little towers with small circles at the end, as if they were meant to be fille with energy, at the top, steam billowed out of a chimney shaped cylinder. In the center of it, trapped in numerous metal bindings, was a long shaft, and at the end, a crescent moon shaped piece of Heavenly Diamond.

We were too late. It had already been made.

"Well well, back again so soon, are we?"

The voice stepped into view, from behind the machine, it was Luke. He looked the same as earlier, only happier and smugger now. He was smirking, his hands behind his back, as he walked over to the scythe.

"Now Zane, you have no chance. The gods have no chance. Everything back in our universe will be mine."

Zane couldn't even say a word, he was in pure shock at the scythe. It radiated chaotic energy, far more than the chunk in the shield. It made me question what Chaos' full power would feel like, if there even was a limit to it, which I imagined there wasn't.

It held the same abundance of the energy as Ouranos's spear did, the two were about the same size, same height, everything, just the shape of the metal at the end was different.

"What did you do with Koios?!" I said, glaring at him.

Luke turned to me, "Ah Matt, I see you tagged along. And wow, much more powerful this time. The Master Bolt? Maybe you'll actually put up a fight now."

I growled, "Where is Koios?!"

Luke was in control again, he was nonchalant, casual, even. "We killed him, of course. He gave up the information of how to get into the lab, and we killed him."

Zane gained his ability to speak again, snorting "How were we able to blast through the roof then? You jackasses not try that?"

Luke shook his head, chuckling. "Don't be stupid, Zane. If someone is in the lab, then anyone can come through. When it's vacant, that's when it's very tricky to enter. But I won't get into the details. I think I'll just save my time, grab the scythe, and be on my way."

Zane was enraged, "You're not leaving here, not alive at least, with that thing."

"We'll see about that." Luke said.

There was a moment's pause, where everyone sort of glanced at each other, calculating what they were going to do. I was with Zane, and the goal right now wasn't to beat Luke, but to get that scythe away from him.

Then he acted. Luke took his chance and jumped at the machine. Zane and I both shot lightning at him, but it hit the machine instead of his body, he was too quick.

The machine nearly exploded. Sparks and wires fell everywhere, metal parts hit the roof and walls, stopping the steam from coming out and the whirring noise. It's probably gonna need a couple of days in the shop after that.

Luke gripped the scythe and yanked it out of it's metal bindings, holding on to it for dear life. He smirked at us, "Goodbye, fools."

He turned and quickly sliced the air, the familiar orange line appeared, space and reality were ripped open, and a rift was formed. It offered a view into another world, a kaleidoscope of a void of bright colors, swirling around like they were in water. It was the bridge between universes, or at least, a version of it.

"We have to go after him!" Zane said, "Move it!"

Luke jumped into the portal, and before he could close it, we followed suit.

It was now a chasing game. Iapetus was out of the picture, but that was just the start, because now we face a guy that can travel through dimensions at will, holds an absurdly dangerous amount of power in his hands now, even more than before, and on top of that, he's extremely fast.

With nothing but Luke, and his newly formed weapon in sight, we dove into the multiverse.