The Son Of Hercules

by Echoxenvy

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

89. I Enter The Pit

I'm back everyone. That's right, your boy is back and refreshed, coming at you with the latest installment of Son of Hercules.

This time, it's Book Four. Boy, am I excited. This one will be different from the others, a bit darker, diving deeper into the mysteries i've introduced, and of course, a new villain. I can't wait, and I hope you all have a good ride reading this!

Here goes nothing.

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.

Book Four: The Pit Of Fire

1. I Enter The Pit

Matt

The day was cold, gray clouds lined the equally gray sky, offering a gloomy tint over Kyros and I as we flew.

I knelt down near the front of his saddle, surrounded by frost covered treetops, the city of San Francisco towering to my left, and the Golden Gate Bridge not far from it, shining a bright red, contrasting perfectly to the bleak day. All of these things were begging to be admired, to be looked at.

I did not look.

Instead, my vision tunneled around Mount Othrys, tall in the sky, its peak, my destination, cloaked by swirling fog and snow.

December had come like a flash, no warning, just…boom, and it was here. The nineteenth, to be exact, just a few days away from Christmas.

That should've been the one thing on my mind. And on any other normal teenager's mind, it would. But me, well…if you don't know me by now, I'll keep the introductions short.

Matt Beckett, Son of Hercules, Sleep Deprived Demi-god.

That last part was evident in my face. I no doubt had layers and layers of bags under my eyes, which were probably bloodshot in their own right. My head drooped several times during the flight here, and I found myself daydreaming often, especially during class.

Man, if there was anything good about right now, it was that school was out.

Finally, I don't have to focus on stupid reports, essays, or any other mind breaking assignment. Christmas break was here, and I could focus solely on my search.

No, not what present I was going to get for my girlfriend, not what kind of pie I was thinking about eating, not what party I was thinking about going to…but my search.

Search for what, exactly? It's not really a what, it's more of a who.

Ouranos.

Ouranos was my arch nemesis, to put it in cliché terms. As if any term could properly describe our relationship. I hated him with a passion, down to my very core. Since the battle with Atlas, he's filled my thoughts, my dreams, every waking hour is spent on trying to find him.

I had a chance, a chance to kill him, but I waited too long. I let him escape into Tartarus.

"Oh I'll be going to Tartarus…not as a soul though."

The guilt almost consumed me. It still ate me alive, but I'd pushed away the thoughts long enough to at least face myself in the mirror and not hate what I see. It took a lot of steeling myself to get here today.

"Alright buddy, go ahead and land."

Kyros cawed in understanding and tilted his shoulders, his wings stretched out wide, he gave a single flap of them, and we soared downward, swooping in a great arc before skidding onto the rocky surface of the ancient mountain.

When the wind stopped roaring in my ears and silence fell, I took in the scene, feeling chills run down my spine, and it wasn't from the cold.

I still felt that familiar pain in my back. It wasn't a throbbing, or even abundant sensation, but it was there. Whether it be a tingle, or a slight sting, I would always remember it. Atlas breaking my back on that beach took such a toll on me, that even my weapon, Viribus, couldn't heal it. And it usually healed everything.

The cape of darkness on my back swayed with the wind, tickling my arms as it lightly wrapped around my body, before unfurling itself and claiming a new position.

My eyes darted all over the battlefield. I could still hear the shouts of effort, the grunts of pain…the screams of heartache.

His hand going through Levi's chest was engrained in my mind. Every time I thought of that fight, that was always the memory that came first, and then the look on Harper's face.

Harper…I didn't even want to think about that right now.

Thankfully, I didn't have to. On the edge of the mountain, to my left, came a flash of blue light, and the distant crack of thunder above. Through the light, I saw the silhouette of a tall, lean figure.

It fell out of the electricity, to one knee and hand on the ground, it's shoulders heaving rapidly, as if coughing. I couldn't hear it over the thunder.

I rushed forward, "Malachi!"

He waved me off, "I am fine…no need to worry."

He coughed once more and shook his head, as if nothing had happened. He stood up and wiped his mouth, revealing a rather casual attire in a gray sweatshirt with a lightning bolt on it, blue jeans, and sneakers that also had…lightning bolts on them.

Normally, I would comment on it and make a joke, but today was different. If I'm being honest these last three months have been different, and I've been different along with them. I don't crack jokes as much anymore, or even smile, or even really do anything outside of this search.

So when I kept a stone-cold face, Malachi didn't even notice. "Logan says I am nearly recovered."

"Nearly? Come on Malachi, I already told you, you don't have to be here. I could handle this on my own. You should be resting-"

He interrupted me, "Enough of that nonsense. We could be finding out the true location of my father today." His gaze brokered no argument, "I don't care if I can barely walk, I will be here for this."

His tone almost surprised me, but given all that he had been through, it shouldn't. See, in case you've forgotten, Malachi was coughing before because of what happened a few months ago. His father constantly fed him ambrosia to make him stronger. Ambrosia is the food of the gods, and it's common knowledge that if a demigod eats too much, they can literally combust. Malachi, luckily, hadn't succumbed to such a fate. His durability saved him from that, but it didn't save him from being insanely sick.

For months, he had been laying in the infirmary, and just a few days ago, he was given the clearance from Logan Barnes, son of Apollo and camp healer, to walk freely. I told him strenuously that he didn't have to come with me today, but he insisted.

Still though, I had to ask. "Are you sure you're alright?"

He nodded, "I'm fine, Matt. Let's just go in and talk to the Titan."

"We gotta wait on Percy first."

Malachi looked behind me and pointed, "No we don't. Look."

I turned behind me and narrowed my eyes, nearly smiling at the sight far off in the distance. Coming towards us, was the small black figure of Blackjack, Percy's Pegasus, and Percy himself on his back, wearing what was no doubt an orange Camp t-shirt.

"Right on time." I muttered, satisfied that this was moving along quickly. I didn't want to be here any longer than I had to.

Blackjack closed the distance shortly, galloping in midair, which would probably look goofy on any other creature, didn't on Blackjack. His black mane, strong muscles, and confidence made up for any off-putting motion.

He landed near Kyros, nimble and quick. The two creatures regarded each other, one with a caw, and one with a whinny. Now, Kyros is actually intelligent, and can understand several languages. Heck, I'm even able to understand some of his words through our emotional connection, but I've heard that Percy can actually talk to not just Blackjack, but all horses. So whatever Blackjack said to Kyros, Percy would have to fill me in on later.

The son of Poseidon didn't waste time, before Blackjack came to a full stop, he threw one leg over the steed and hopped off. When he raised his chin, his signature smirk fell when he saw Malachi.

"Wait, I thought you said he wasn't coming!" He told me accusingly, as if I dragged him out of the infirmary or something.

"I told him not to."

Malachi just crossed his arms, "It is good to see you too, Percy."

Percy shook his head, "Does Sera know you're here?"

"Does Annabeth?"

Percy hadn't been expecting that. He got a little red in the face and started sputtering, not sure what to say. He finally decided to turn the attention towards me, "Uh…does Harper?!"

I deadpanned, "She does actually." Well, I told her at least, she hadn't really been paying much attention, but that's an entirely different can of worms that I don't want to open right now.

I waved my hands, "It doesn't matter. Malachi's here, so let's get this over with."

Percy nodded, "Definitely. But Matt, I gotta say…you sure you're not overdoing it? I mean…" He trailed off, scanning my face, "…You looked exhausted."

I tightened my lips and looked at the ground. Why was he asking something like that at a time like this? When I iris messaged him, all I wanted to do was let him know what I was doing, and he offered to tag along for backup in case the captive inside the mountain did anything unpredictable. He assured me it would be okay with Annabeth if he "escaped" the wedding planning for one day (she insisted to do most of it anyway, so a certain seaweed brain wouldn't mess anything up.)

So I accepted his help. Ever since Percy awakened his aura and got back into training, he's become quite formidable. I mean, he's always been formidable, and very powerful, but now he's on another level from what he was before, and remains a big player, comparable to Malachi and myself.

"I'm fine" I said, rather coldly. "I've pulled some all-nighters, but it's all unwasted. I'm getting closer and closer to finding him, I know it."

"So…why are we here then?"

Percy regretted the question as soon as he said it. I indeed felt a twinge of annoyance, but held my tongue. He came all this way to help, so I'd better not get on his bad side. Deep down, I knew what he was saying was right. I hadn't made much progress in retrospect of these last couple months. I'd done a lot of research, a lot of thinking, and a lot of staying awake. All for virtually nothing. That was a tough pill to swallow.

I saw Malachi give Percy an urgent head shake, silently telling him not to push the sore subject.

"Let's just get this over with," I said.

I didn't bother to gauge their reactions, or obvious exchanged looks behind my back, and walked in front of them towards the cave.

Surprisingly, the air inside the cave was warmer than the air outside, but much, much darker. I raised my hand and controlled my aura to a bright point. The red glow came slowly, illuminating the area for at least thirty feet, brighter than anything a flashlight could provide.

"Can you guys see?" I asked absentmindedly.

"We're good," I heard from Percy, Malachi didn't say anything. I reached out with my aura sense, under the layer of their energies, I felt their emotions. They were understandably on edge, being in the domain of the second most powerful Titan would shake anybody to their core, no matter how weakened he may be.

In truth, I felt comforted by their presence, because I was feeling the same thing they were. I don't want to say it's fear, but it was something intense. My heart raced, my entire body tensed up, and most strikingly...the middle of my back ached.

"I feel his presence..." Malachi whispered.

"Me too." I aimed my sensing down the tunnel, and there it was, at the very end of the cavern, was an energy, a strong energy. I remembered a time when it was so overwhelming, so daunting, so terrifying. Now, it was a mere fraction of its former glory, but still, for some reason, it still held its weight. I knew he couldn't regain his former power, and the three of us together could easily kill him if he tried anything. But still...something about his presence, even from here, still got to me.

I exhaled loudly, sensing his aura getting closer and closer. I closed my eyes briefly to prepare myself. This was it, the moment of truth. This could determine the next step of the war. It could hinder it, or move it forward a ton.

The three of us turned a slight corner, the red light on my palm revealed an open room, surrounded by flat, rough rock. In the very back, my eyes trailed to the array of swirling mist coming down from the roof. It was attached to a pair of massive hands.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw him again. He was on both knees, back straining with effort and arms raised above his head in a horrible position.

Atlas, the Titan of Strength and Endurance. The most difficult enemy we had faced so far.

He was like an exhibit in a zoo to us, perfectly displayed for our viewing.

He grunted, long aware of our presence. "You come here to gloat, worm?"

His voice was very gravelly, very gruff, like it hadn't been cleared in months. I took note that he had healed since the battle, in which I burned him with the Red Beam Cannon and blasted his arm off with the Master Bolt. And I'm not just talking about small wounds here, I'm talking about fifth degree burns, an entire arm being blown off and disintegrated, not to mention several stab wounds from the Heavenly Diamond knives Nemesis had gathered.

Well, those wounds had remained. He still donned the long scar over his eye, along with several others, both small and large, all over his torso. It was the wounds I had dealt him that healed, and that made me furious. I couldn't hide the scowl that lined my face, nor the clench in my fist. I mean, even his mustache had grown back!

Atlas noticed, and he grinned with satisfaction, "Mad about my arm growing back?" He chuckled, "Oh don't feel too bad, worm, it hurt...it hurt damn bad. You got me good with that fucking bolt."

That last part was said with a growl of contempt, and it was enough for me to regain my resolve. "Not here to gloat, Atlas. I just want to know where Ouranos is."

He raised a gray eyebrow, "You still chasing after that slippery bastard?" He grunted some more and managed to shift around in a more comfortable position, moving around the burden of the entire atmosphere like it was nothing. "Even if I knew, why would I tell you?"

It was Percy's turn to step in, he unsheathed Riptide, the celestial bronze blade instantly erupting in bright sea-green, coated in Percy's now massive power. "Because he asked nice. Next time, we'll force it out of you."

Atlas scanned Percy, "I remember you. You're that little brat that challenged me a few years ago. When I captured the moon goddess."

"That's right."

"Then what do you think you're gonna do to force anything out of me? You couldn't even save that brat of a huntress some call my daughter."

I'd heard about Zoe Nightshade, and knew it was a sore subject for Percy. It indeed elicited a reaction of outrage from my friend, with him practically snarling in anger and preparing to charge Atlas. A part of me was all for it, but the smarter part of me grabbed Percy's arm and held him back.

"Not yet, man. Keep a level head..." I knew this might've been a bad idea, Atlas was smarter than I give him credit for. That smug grin, he knows exactly how to manipulate someone, how to control a situation even when he's in the worst possible position.

"Don't talk about Zoe!" Percy shouted, pointing Riptide dangerously at him.

"Don't let him get a rise out of you!" I said, equally as loud. I forced Percy to lock eyes with me, and I silently urged him to keep his cool. We couldn't let Atlas get the upper hand here, we needed this information.

He managed to calm himself down enough to not run at the titan and attempt to cut his head off. I let go of him and went straight to Atlas, kneeling down to his level, which even bent down, he was still taller than me. But I wanted him to see the look in my eyes, that I was not playing around.

"Listen, because I'm only going to say this once. Tell me where Ouranos is, or that Master Bolt wound will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you here and now."

He gauged my tone and saw that I was one hundred percent serious. He laughed, slightly impressed.

"Amazing, you actually meant that. Seems you've grown some balls in the time since we last fought."

My frustration reached its limit, and faster than any of us could've expected, I struck him in the face, hard. My knuckles hit his temple hard, and he turned to the side in recoil, a small shockwave burst around the cavern and blew the forefront of my hair to and fro.

"This isn't a damn game," I said, completely monotone, "Tell me where Ouranos is, right now."

He spat out a wad of saliva, and turned back to me slowly, his grin only growing wider. "You pack more of a punch too. Someone's been training."

His taunting was going to make me lose control, I felt anger rise in my chest, adrenaline filled my fist as I prepared to rear it back again for another blow. That is, until I felt Malachi grab my wrist, stopping me in my tracks firmly.

"He doesn't know where my father is."

I stood up, "What?!"

"He's toying with you. He's alone and pathetic here, Matt...he wants something to thrill him, and you getting angry is doing exactly that."

"He knows where he is!" I said, getting in his face, almost nose to nose, "He spent almost a year working for him, he had to find out about some plan or...or something!"

Malachi didn't flinch or back down whatsoever from my little tantrum, and just cocked his head to Atlas, "If he knew where my father was, he would've told us by now." He then looked distastefully at the titan, "He only has allegiance to Kronos. He'd gladly give my father up."

"Not true," Atlas said, "I had a very good time working for your father." He lowered his head and grinned again, his eye filled with bloodlust, "Why don't you let the sea spawn hold the burden so we can have some real fun. What do you say to round two?"

It was then that I saw...Malachi was right. There was an undoubtful hunger in his good eye, an itch that he desperately wanted scratched. He looked at Malachi and I like we were pieces of meat being dangled in front of him.

"Scum." Malachi said, looking at Atlas with absolute disgust, "You only care about death and blood. We are wasting our time here."

"Agreed," Percy said.

I just stood there, defeated and downcast. No. No, dammit, this was supposed to be the big lead! This was the moment where we would finally get something! After months of looking, after countless nights of no sleep, I thought we'd finally...

I don't know, find something! With this out of the window, what the hell do we have left?!

I gritted my teeth and pushed past Malach, storming out of the cavern immediately, not even bothering to leave the red aura on my hand for light. I tried my best to ignore Atlas's laugh behind me.

When I got outside, I just stood at the edge of the mountain, my hands gripping the sides of my hips tightly.

This hadn't been a big plan or anything, it hadn't been something that we discussed over a week long period, but damn...I had high hopes for this. I thought for sure that Atlas would at least have some clue as to where Ouranos planned on going after Mount Othrys.

But then again, did he even have a plan? He had to, if he thought of a backup plan to go to Tartarus and escape me. He has to...come out somewhere, right? Could it be nearby, or even in the same country?

I have no idea. None, and that's what eats me alive. It's making me go insane. He's still out there, gaining strength and no doubt manipulating people to his will.

It kills me that I can't stop that. He's already ruined too many lives, and he's not going to stop.

"You alright, man?"

I turned just enough to see them in my peripheral, standing side by side and looking at me with concern.

I sighed, "Sorry to waste your time, guys. I just thought...well, I don't know what the hell I thought."

Percy walked over and clapped me on the shoulder, "You'll have another chance, Matt, I know you will."

"I'm not so sure."

He squeezed it reassuringly, I looked at him, and saw that he was giving me a warm smile, like the calm sea spraying it's salty scent. It was comforting. "You will. Just...promise me you won't overdo it, yeah?"

I didn't have to heart to argue or say anything to the contrary. I might've been so tired that I just couldn't physically speak. Whatever the case, I managed to respond. "I'll try."

He nodded, "Tell everyone I said hey, I gotta get back to Piper's."

"McLean? Why?"

He rolled his eyes a little, "Her and Annabeth are having a field day with all the wedding plans. Unfortunately, I have to be there, even though they disagree with all my ideas."

I chuckled, unable to resist. "Let me guess, you wanted to make everything blue?"

"It's a good color!"

Malachi raised an eyebrow, "So you will not be returning to Camp with us?"

Percy shook his head, "Nah man, but like I said, tell the gang I miss them, and Annabeth does too. I swear, as soon as we get hitched, and Ouranos is beaten, we're all going on a road trip or something, mark my words." He pointed at both of us seriously for effect.

"I'll look forward to it," I said, waving at him as he got on Blackjack.

After Percy said goodbye, both he and Blackjack took off. Neither Malachi nor I said a word until he left eyesight.

My mood dropped back to its normal level as I grumbled, "I shouldn't have even notified him. That was a complete waste of time."

Malachi looked at me with sympathy. I could tell he was disappointed too. He wanted to find Ouranos as much as I did, but he remained realistic a lot of the time, while me, I guess I just put too much hope into 'big leads.'

"Don't lose hope, Matt. My father is good at hiding, yes, but even he leaves trails. If we are persistent, I have no doubt we will eventually catch him."

"We've been persistent for three months. Three freaking months, Malachi, and we've got nothing."

"What about that vision you had? The one with the bamboo forest?"

I remembered that. It was once, and vague, but I did see Ouranos in a bamboo forest one time, right after the battle with Atlas. At first I assumed the obvious, Japan. But then as I thought about it, I realized that bamboo can grow in a lot of places, and he could be literally anywhere. Just because Japan has a stereotype for it, doesn't mean that's where he is. And even if he was, what could I do? I'd felt with my aura sense all over the world, numerous times, and found nothing. It's as if he doesn't exist. But I know he's blocking me out, hiding himself on purpose. He's damn good at it.

"That could be anywhere and you know it." I muttered, "We need more to go off of than just bamboo."

"And we will get more." He said, "Trust me, the minute you lose hope is the minute we lose everything. I know from personal experience."

My eyes flicked over to the cave entrance, something Malachi didn't miss.

His expression became grim, "When I was trapped here, I lost all hope. Everything inside of me was…dead. I had no beliefs, no thoughts, nothing, I was just a husk of myself, waiting to be used by my father." He thought about his words for a moment, and I could tell the memories were replaying in his head. He smiled, "But it was you that showed me hope was not lost." He said "you" as in, all of us. Not just me, Matt Beckett. "You showed compassion to me, even when I tried to kill you. You all made me realize that I hadn't lost you, and that what I did lose, could be regained."

I knew what he said was genuine, and a good gesture. But I still couldn't shake the horrible feeling in my chest, the feeling that we're losing, bad, and that pretty soon it's not even going to be close. Ouranos will be so far ahead that we won't even be able to catch up, by any means. He's going to be too strong, and we'll have no idea how to deal with whatever trick he plays next.

"It's not that I've lost hope," I said, barely above a whisper, "I'm just trying to stay real. And reality is, we don't have much. Yeah, maybe we'll get something eventually, but right now things are looking pretty bleak."

"You don't have to worry about us. We can take care of ourselves, as a group, remember?"

"It's not you I worry about." I said, and then jumped back, knowing that was a complete lie, "Well, I do worry about you guys, but right now, it's something different. I'm more worried about the people he's going to manipulate next." I looked at him, and saw that his gaze was now intense, his ears homing in everything I was saying. Say what you want about Malachi's intelligence, but nobody can argue that he doesn't listen when necessary.

"Think about it, what he did to Levi, the rest of the Big Four. You, even. Charisma's his most dangerous quality. Wherever he is right now, whether it be Japan, the United States, or on a different planet even…he'll find a way to gather more recruits, and ruin more lives." I shook my head in anger, "He's like a black hole. Sucks in his surroundings and destroys them."

Malachi was silent, even he couldn't dispute what I said. He knew his father better than I did, so what I said was nothing new. Still, I figured he'd try and come back from that one, give me another inspirational speech. Honestly, I wasn't in the mood for it.

Thankfully, he surprised me. "What do you say we return to Camp? We could both use some rest."

"I'm fine."

He looked disappointed, but I didn't care. Everyone keeps telling me to sleep, to take it easy for a few days, to go on a vacation even. Don't they understand? There's no time for that anymore! The end of the world is on our doorstep, I'm doing everything I can to prevent it, and people want me to…take it easy? That's not how this works!

He doesn't sleep, I imagine. So I won't either. I've already told myself that I'll do what it takes to beat him. To kill him. If skipping sleep is part of that, then so be it. No matter what any of them say, no matter what Harper says, Percy, Malachi, or any of them. I'm in crisis mode, as I should be, as they should be.

I can't think like this, not right now. I just need to get back and regroup, gather my thoughts.

I placed my hand on Malachi's shoulder, "Be careful with this, I don't want your condition to deteriorate."

"I'll be fine," He said, and shot me a disapproving glance, "I won't press you to sleep, and you don't press me to ignore the convenience of my powers, for the sake of an illness I've already recovered from."

He'd thrown my words back at me, I couldn't even blame him. It was pretty hypocritical of me to chide him, when it's his powers, his body, not mine. But then again, Malachi's the type of person to push beyond his limits, even if it means getting hurt in the process.

I didn't respond. I turned my head to the side and saw Kyros scraping the ground with his right claw, interested in the rock.

"Kyros, get over here bud!"

He immediately rose to attention and sprang over, thrusting one wing out and making contact with Malachi's other hand. It was almost cute, like a dog performing tricks. Then you look at his massive size, and intimidating appearance, and suddenly it doesn't seem so cute anymore.

Once Malachi registered that we were both ready, he nodded at me and closed his eyes. I did the same, knowing what was coming next.

I felt the warmth of the lightning envelop me, just like every other time before. There was a whirring sound, then a loud ZIP! I felt my stomach lift all the way up to my chest, my entire body feeling like it had just been launched out of a cannonball. Luckily, I was used to the phenomena. But word of advice to first time teleporting passengers...you will throw up. No ifs ands or buts, it's going to happen. Even now, I still feel a lurch in my throat, and what feels like a wad of goo coming up in my mouth, but I always manage to swallow it back down. I know, that's disgusting, but it's the downside of a very convenient ability.

What was once a rough sensation on the soles of my boots, changed quickly to something much softer. Grass.

The temperature had noticeably dropped too, but not that much. Mind you, it was still December everywhere, not just on that mountain. I opened my eyes carefully and saw the comforting sight of Camp, my home for the past few years now.

The cold air had done well to mask the color of the leaves and trees, covering them with frost and light touches of snow. This entire month has been a rollercoaster of weather. Some days it just rains, while others it snows lightly. Never in an urgent downpour, or anything crazy like a blizzard, but it always comes in small doses, adding up over time.

I didn't mind it. The cold. It was a nice change in scenery, and it was a bit calmer around here, since the summer only campers had gone back home for the holidays and mortal school. One of the things I love, or loved most about the Camp was the vibrancy, the amount of people that were safe from harm. It was a safe haven, a comfort for so many that had their lives ruined. It was a stronghold, that didn't always hold up, sure, I'm not going to ignore the attacks we've been dealt, the hardships this place has suffered, but we've bounced back every single time.

There were maybe a handful of campers outside, practicing archery or warming up by the campfire, talking amongst themselves. The rest were no doubt in the training arena. It was warm in there, and practicing could work up quite a sweat. I'd say we had maybe twenty here, right now, give or take, including us.

I breathed in the air, finding it much more refreshing than the overwhelming chill on Mount Othrys. Lack of density and the altitude does more of a number than most people realize. Here, we were on solid ground, and I loved it.

"Kai!"

My head turned, and to my surprise, storming at us with an angry look on her face, was my friend, and Malachi's girlfriend, Sera Griffith.

The best way to describe Sera is to just say 'Greek princess meets ice child.' I know that's vague, but trust me, if you know her, and see her, you'd understand.

I say the princess part because she's very beautiful, and everybody will admit it, even dude's that are taken. It's not a matter of attraction, well, sometimes it is, but it's just a fact. Her beauty is uncracked, no flaws whatsoever. It's almost unworldly, inhuman, how perfect her features are. It blows my mind that she's not a daughter of Aphrodite, because in my opinion, she blows the goddess of love's actual daughters out of the water in terms of looks.

Another thing is the clothes. She dresses like she's in ancient Greece most of the time. Her style's been a bit modernized, thanks to Annabeth and Harper, but more often than not, you'll see her wearing a blue mini-dress, or whatever you want to call it, with Greek sandals, and thin metal bindings around the midsection of her lithe arms.

And that leads me into the ice child part. The fact that she's wearing clothing that reveals both arms in full, her neck, collarbone, and the tops of her knees down, in this cold weather, gives some indication that she's not normal. And she's not. Sera's the daughter of Khione, the snow goddess. She can control ice, snow, all that stuff, bend it to her will, make weapons out of it, and generally cause a lot of destruction…if she wants. Usually she doesn't, because Sera's a pacifist by nature, and wouldn't hurt a fly if she could help it.

The last, most striking part is her hair. It's white. Completely white, more so than the frost and snow on the ground. It's a bit strange, especially when I first met her, I was taken a bit by surprise. But you get used to it the more you hang around her. It goes from odd to endearingly unique.

She walked up to Malachi and placed a finger on his chest, nearly throwing him off balance. She didn't look happy, which was rare for Sera, she was always happy. But I figured I knew why in this case, and I felt guilty for it.

"I cannot believe you went! Even though I told you not to!" She scolded Malachi, scanning him for injuries while my friend just stood there, a deer in headlights, eyes wide and waiting for the onslaught to stop.

"Honestly, you just got out of bed a few days ago! And what is the first thing you do? Face the titan that nearly killed us!" Her high-pitched sweet voice was temporarily removed for this reprimanding, almost like she let loose a beast hidden away for such occasions. "I cannot believe you, Kai. You told me you would take care of yourself, not act reckless…"

Malachi was speechless, he put his hands up and cringed, "I-I'm sorry, Sera, I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't of the utmost importance. Please, you have to understand."

She bit her tongue and gave what I assumed to be her best attempt at a glare. She then turned to me, "You know how bad his condition was, Matt. Why did you let him go?"

I wasn't sure how to answer. I'd never heard Sera sound this way towards me, it made me feel…even more guilty.

"I didn't want him to, he came on his own." I lowered my head, "It didn't even matter anyway, we didn't find out anything from Atlas. Ouranos didn't tell him much apparently."

Sera's eyebrows lowered in sympathy. The reality that Malachi was okay was settling in, and her demeanor was shifting back to normal. "O-Oh…well, I am sorry, Matt. I'm sure something else will-"

"No, it probably won't." I retorted, rather harshly. It wasn't aimed towards her, either of them. I was just angry with myself, angry with the path we're on. "But I'm going to keep trying, whatever it takes. I won't rest until I've found him."

She started to say something, I could tell she was looking at the bags under my eyes, and I interrupted.

"I won't rest. Don't even tell me to. I can't, knowing that he's still out there, incognito, doing whatever he damn well pleases. I keep him in check, me, and that's the way it's going to remain until he's dead."

I hadn't realized my tone had been so angry and loud until I noticed both of them had leaned back, slightly concerned at my outburst.

Malachi himself looked a little hurt, "It's not just you, Matt. You…know that, right?"

"Of course I do, what gave you that idea?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "You just said, 'I keep him in check, me' As if it is only you struggling against him."

"I…I didn't mean that. Of course it's not just me, I was only…I was only-"

"Do not worry." Sera said soothingly, offering a smile, a forced smile I could tell. "We knew what you meant."

In that moment, my soul left my body, and stared down at it like it was a moron. How could I say something like that? 'I keep him in check' as if I'm the sole person fighting Ouranos. As if my friends have never been there to help me, as if I never had help in those multiple battles. Believe me, I'd be stupid to say that. I had so much help, more than I deserved.

So why did I have this stupid feeling in my gut? This feeling of…loneliness. It makes no sense, no logical sense at all. I've been alone before, back when my mom was practically gone, and I was young, staying in her small apartment, day after day, doing nothing. More often than not if I left the building, it would be to get food, and something would always attack me. I'd fight it, and kill it. Me, myself, and I. My father, the gods, the only ones to blame. That's loneliness in my life, not this. I'd be stupid to even contemplate that!

I have people, people in front of me that have gone through worse, much worse. This isn't just my struggle; this is a collective struggle. A group of souls fighting something bigger than they are, praying that they're wills, and strengths are enough to overcome it.

But I nag myself. I have that twinge, that twinge that recently…It seems like I'm the only one taking this stuff seriously. I'm the one putting in the most work, I'm the one trying his hardest to find this monster. Nobody else is putting in the effort.

That's egoic. I know it is, and it's horrible to think that. I try to push it away, I try to kill that thought, but it always comes back when I see Talon in his cabin, looking like he's losing his mind over these Nikandreos visions. Yet when I ask him about it, he won't elaborate, or admit a thing. When Malachi's weak and recovering, and Sera's only focused on him, his well-being, or Percy and Annabeth with their wedding.

Or Harper with her nonstop training, her nonstop aggression. Shutting me out, everyone else out while she distracts herself from her brother's death! Instead of…talking to me about it.

We're in this together, I thought! We're all connected, a tight invisible string wrapped around our fingers, all standing in a circle of seven. We're bound by fate, always together, until the conflict is over. No, not even that, we stay together even after the conflict is over.

So why is it just me?!

I had been quiet for some time now, battling inside my own head while both Malachi and Sera stare at me, confused.

"I-I'm sorry guys, I just need to be alone for a minute, if you'll excuse me."

I had already started walking towards my cabin when I heard Malachi's "Of course, Matt" not bothering to acknowledge it. I'm such a mess. I didn't mean that to be rude, I just need to sit down, I need to contain these thoughts before they overwhelm me.

And then get back to work.

---

I went back to my cabin for a little while, avoiding any stares from Campers, which wasn't hard to do anyway. Most were more concerned about getting warm.

See, with Percy and Annabeth away from Camp, that left Dionysus in charge. And here's the thing about Dionysus. He doesn't really give a crap about this place.

I mean, I'm sure he does, deep down, but most of the time he's indifferent, doesn't get involved, and just sits on the Big House porch drinking wine. You know, I heard he was cursed or something, and he was only here because Zeus punished him for trying to chase a nymph. I think it was…fifty years? A hundred? Either way, he was assigned this job, so that makes some sense as to why he seems to hate it.

But the least he could do is organize camp events. The guy doesn't even do that. I mean, I get we're a little short right now, it being near Christmas and cold and everything, but the few campers that are here, are here without choice. They don't have parents they can go home to, or guardians to stay with. This is their only home, and they're sitting around doing nothing, or basically whatever they want. It was a huge shock to me that none of the Ares kids had trashed the place.

Sometimes it gets to me, the fact that I don't know most of these people's names. I should. This is the place I love, the place I protect. The least I could do is get to know the people I'm protecting.

The people we're protecting, I mean.

But there's simply no time. When I first came here, I could tell you the name, personality, godly parent, of just about any camper here. But now…I know nothing outside of my friend group. That's horrible, but it's the way it is. I've been so focused on finding and fighting Ouranos, that I barely leave my cabin.

Snow covered the roof and doorway, when I opened it, I felt little droplets of ice fall on my bare shoulders. I had to brush them off before entering, wanting to keep my place as dry as possible.

When I shut the door, warmth overtook me, and had the effect that I dreaded. Sleepiness. One thing about the cold that I liked especially, was it's ability to keep me awake. Many nights over the past couple of months, you could find me outside my cabin door at three in the morning, taking in the chilly air, inhaling it urgently through my nostrils just to stay conscious. I'd been awake for a long, long time now. I honestly can't remember the last time I slept. I think it was…a week ago. No, no, it was longer than that. Gods, was it two weeks? Had I been awake that long?

Well, it was evident this morning when I looked in the mirror. I was a complete mess, my hair tousled, my face covered in stubble, my eyes droopy, bloodshot, and surrounded with dark bags. Each day it got worse.

But the reward was worth the cost. Sleep is nothing if I can gain ground on my search. I'll sleep when the Earth isn't in danger.

So I clasped my fingers together and pushed them forward, popping several air bubbles that desperately needed it, making such noises, you'd imagine I had a crackling fire in here.

I pulled out the chair to my desk I recently had installed. The installer, Talon. Talon's a handy guy to have around. He has this ability that lets him create almost anything from nothing. And I mean almost anything. A desk and chair was no trouble.

But of course, like any other power, there are rules to it. From what I've gathered, and what he's told me, he can't create life forms, money, or anything he hasn't seen before. It's really complicated, and for as long as I've known him, I still really don't understand how it works, how he's even able to do such a thing. His mentor, Jack Colter, told us his summarized story a long time ago, and it seems like his godly parent, Nikandreos, instilled some of his energy into Talon…allowing him to do the things he does.

But that still doesn't make sense. If he put energy in him, then it has to run out some day. And as far as I know, Talon's never met his father, so he hasn't had his energy replenished. It just doesn't add up, and it only frustrates me more when Talon refuses to talk about his visions of his father. He keeps assuring me that he doesn't understand them, and trying to tell me about them would be pointless, because he can't even put it into words.

Now I know good and well that Talon's not the most articulate guy in the world, but the least he can do is try. That's all I want. Something in there could potentially help us against Ouranos, and if they have him so freaked, wouldn't talking about it help the most? I don't know. People deal with things in different ways, so I guess it's none of my business. But still…

Ah, it doesn't matter. That's not my problem. I need to focus on this.

I raked aside several dozen books and sheets of paper to get to the one I wanted. My desk was a mess. Papers piled high on top of one another, historical books I've been borrowing from the Athena cabin, even drawings and personal notes I've written are in the mix.

I've been trying to study more on Ouranos. Whatever I can. His past, his old interactions, even relationships he formed in mythical texts. I don't care to understand him, that's not what I'm worried about. He's tried to preach his stupid ideology about a new world before, and I don't buy any of it. He's bitter, and power hungry. He wants to take the Olympian's place, and he'll do anything to achieve that. End of story. It's not complex or deep, it's selfish and stupid.

What I'm more interested in is any indication of where he could've gone after our Battle with Atlas.

"Oh I'll be going to Tartarus…not as a soul though."

That's what he said. But I don't believe for one second that he actually intended on hiding out there for a long period of time. It just doesn't make sense. That was his prison for millions of years, why would he want to go back? He would only use it as a tunnel, a gateway to his real intended location. Tartarus was like a train to him, not a permanent hideout. My gut told me so, and I was going to listen to it.

It had been months; he wasn't in Tartarus. He couldn't be, so I ruled that out.

A thought crossed my mind about entering the Pit and trying to find traces of him, but just as quickly, I got rid of that plan too. That was too dangerous. I remembered what Percy and Annabeth said about Tartarus. Even Nico had mentioned it a couple of times, that he survived being alone down there. He said he still hasn't fully recovered, and gets horrifying flashbacks often.

If a place can do something like that to a demigod like him, then I want no part of it.

But if someone told me, a vision or something, that it was the only way I would ever find him…then I might. I don't know.

But I already deduced that wasn't the case, so I turned to the books. And of course…found nothing.

So the frustrating thing is, compared to the Olympians and Titans, Ouranos wasn't around for that long. The only thing I've read is that he was formed near the beginning, along with his siblings, the other Primordials, from Chaos. The siblings part creeped me out the first time I read it, because I thought Gaea was his wife, and that would mean…his sister was his wife.

I don't even want to think about it. I get back then it was slim pickings for spouses, but come on man.

And besides that, he threw his children into Tartarus because they didn't fit his image, blah blah blah, and then he gets overthrown by the titans. Led by Kronos, they battled Ouranos and eventually defeated him, cutting him up into millions of little pieces and throwing him into Tartarus. Which in some of the books, at the time, Tartarus was an open pit on the Earth, no layers of crust or rock covering it. I couldn't imagine that, just some giant abyss in the middle of New York. There's nothing in the later pages that suggest someone closed it up though, but I imagine Kronos did, and if not, Zeus.

That's not important. What's important is that there's jack shit about Ouranos that I can find. And the worse part is, most of the books can't stick to one story. Even in the unorthodox readings that Annabeth dug up, there's little content about Ouranos, and in some, Gaea wasn't his sister, but his mother. And in others, she was his daughter. Now I don't know why these stories have such a continuity problem, but it gets on my nerves.

Nether the less, it's better than nothing. I can deduce a few relationships he may have formed. His siblings, the other Primordials, and his children, the first and second batch. The first being the Hetakonkhiere, and the Cyclopes. And second being the Titans. He hated the first, and loved the second.

I know his relationship with Gaea was romantic at one point, but then some sort of squabble happened down the line and they sort of divorced, or something like that. And besides, she was subdued a couple of years ago by our camp, and Camp Jupiter, so she's still alive, but unconscious. I find it hard to believe that he would seek help from her.

That leads me to Tartarus himself, which is tricky, because it's hard to imagine Tartarus as a sentient being, and not just a place. But he is. According to these books, and the accounts of Percy, Annabeth, and Nico, they've seen him take form, and even heard him speak. Percy and Annabeth actually tried to fight him, which utterly shocked me, because that seems suicidal. They said they had no choice, and it was probably the worst thing they'd ever gone through, considering…and that was where they trailed off. I knew what happened after that, what they didn't want to say. Their friend Bob, or Iapetus the titan, and Damasen the Giant, had been killed saving them from the Primordial of the Pit. It was hard for them to talk about.

But it was good info for me, because it told me that Tartarus was sentient, sinister, and powerful enough to try and kill two demigods, a titan, and a giant all at once. It wasn't off the table that Ouranos would try to strike up a deal with him. But he already did, when he offered Ouranos safe passage through his domain. And besides, can Tartarus even do anything above ground? Would he even bother? I find it unlikely.

Then there's other Primordials, like Pontus, Eros, Nyx, and a few others that have even less information than Ouranos. I've never even heard of several, so Ouranos hitting them up and forging an alliance just seems even more unlikely than the last two prospects.

So again, I'm left with next to nothing.

The words on the paper are blurry. I try to blink and clear up my vision, but nothing works. I still can't read them.

Frustrated, I wipe my eyes with my wrist, and again, and again, and…again.

"Son of a bitch."

I still can't see a thing. My body resists.

Sleep, you moron!

It screams at me, but I ignore it. You think I give a shit? Sleep is nothing. I've been awake for days; I can keep going. I'm a demigod, I don't need sleep right now, I need to defeat my enemy.

No, no, no. That's not it. That's not the right term. That sounds so…generic, so basic. It's not enough. He's the source of all hatred I hold, the shadow that stands above me. I can picture it clearly, there I am, standing in a plane of hellfire, surrounded by darkness and blood, and he's above me, enormous, daunting. He has no form, no shape, but his darkness is different. It has life to it, and malevolence in his heart, he's laughing at how small I am, how misfortunate my situation is.

But then there's another image, on the opposite end of the spectrum, where I'm the daunting shadow, and he's the tiny figure underneath. He's not dead, yet, but he's afraid of me…he's terrified.

Maybe this has become an obsession. Maybe I'm losing my mind, but how? I'm only doing what's necessary.

What I have to be…it's not just a teenager, it's not just an ordinary demigod, or a powerful demigod, even.

I have to be more. I have to be a symbol, something that these campers, humanity, even, puts hope in. Even if humanity will never know. I'm fine with that, I don't care about the glory, that's never been part of it. It's stopping this evil for good, and that being that. I can't remember a time in recent years where I've wanted to be normal, but now it's starting to creep in. Something that at least qualifies for something normal, that is.

And to achieve that, I need to be different. Something more than what I've been. Before, I was scared, when my father died…I was scared. When facing Atlas, I was scared. Now, things will be different, I'll become more than a demigod to face him.

Determined, I pushed the chair back and pushed myself up, promptly marching over to the cabin door and throwing it open, just as quickly slamming it shut behind me. My footsteps crunched in the frost as I jogged down to the line of woods separating Camp, and the beach.

I mowed through the short distance of trees and branches and stepped into the sand, facing the gray water and white sky. I stared at it for a moment, and then slowly, almost robotically, reached down to my right wrist and wrapped my hand over the watch. The watch that held the Master Bolt.

The lighting came out calmly, and encircled my entire body with a case of lighting. This was different than before, before, to harness the energy, I had to hold the bolt in my hand, but now, through intense training, I've been able to do more.

At first, it was horrible on my body. Trying to adjust to the extreme pressure the bolt puts on you. I remember firing it for the first time against Atlas. I held so much power in my hand at that moment, enough power to shatter everything, to destroy everything. I was the holder of pure, condensed wrath in that moment, and when released, it did my bidding. Taking the Titan's arm clean off, and even opening a hole into the ozone layer. What it did beyond that in space, I have no idea. Knowing the gods though, they likely fixed whatever it caused. Even if that, they rarely step in and do anything, as far as I'm concerned.

But the thing about that moment, was the pressure. It was so intense, I felt like my entire body was being bombarded with radioactivity, or some kind of…heat. I don't know how to describe it, but I do remember the pain. And the pain when I tried to harness the energy on my own. It's like pressing a wire from a power pole to an insect. The receiving end has such little chance to survive, it's pitiable.

But I somehow survived the first ordeal, without any permanent injuries. Even much scolding from Harper and the rest of the group, but I turned out fine. I continued my attempts, and what resulted…was awesome.

The energy of the bolt flowed through me now, my body able to handle it for a moderate amount of time, more so than before. A few minutes at most was all I needed, and that's all I could get, otherwise my body would literally combust from the inside, or just melt. I knew the risks, and I was careful. Training had been frequent, but the practices with the bolt came last, and were very short.

But even so, this had brought a lot of improvement, in not only my raw power, but the efficiency in which I use my energy. It made me understand just how lucky I am to have progressed this far, and how truly fragile aura is. Even if I don't really understand it's nature, or where it originates from, how it even differs from life force…I understand the care that it requires.

The lighting came out through the watch in waves, always going back in, and coming back out, in a cycle. The energy was enormous, and the power was thrilling, but I couldn't play around or stand too long. I ignited the Red Aura, which had become second nature to me now. Before, it took great effort, but now it's the matter of turning a switch on and off.

The glow surrounded me, pushing the lightning to surround it in two separate outlines. I breathed in and out, and looked to the sky.

In an instant, I jumped off the ground and reappeared in the clouds. Quickly, I unsheathed Viribus from my neck and squeezed the lion head, causing the necklace to elongate into a wooden club. I put my hands to my waist and willed the wind to rush me forward. It pressed behind me and propelled me at blurring speed. I could hardly keep up with my surroundings, as both the frost and thick clouds were blocking it, but I managed to discern the city from Camp.

I lapped around both numerous times like a race car driver, within seconds, I had cleared miles and miles of distance, effortlessly trying. I didn't want to create destructive shockwaves. The goal of training was never to go all out in the first place, but to gradually build up strength, and resistance to the bolt's drawbacks.

It may have been the lack of sleep, but looking at these clouds, I saw a face in them, a face that wasn't there before.

My vision tunneled, and I saw a devilish grin in the sky, the outline of a head and a long beard.

It was a moment long enough to distract me, to make me lose balance. The wind caught me in the shoulder at just the right angle, and I tumbled out of my perfect routine.

The bolt's lightning dispersed around me in a burst, sending smoke in my eye. I couldn't see, or hear, thanks to the roaring wind. But I knew I was falling towards the ground, fast.

I flipped a few more times and then crashed in the water. The cold temperature immediately fell even lower, every pore on my body perked up. Whatever sleepiness I had before was temporarily gone.

I pushed my arms down and my body went up, reaching the surface. I was greeted with that uncomfortable feeling of my hair being wet, plastered on my forehead, and the lion pelt that I had been wearing soaked and heavy. Man, it would take a while for that thing to dry off.

I managed to swim and pull myself out of the water, back on the Camp's shore. I was lucky I had landed so close to it, otherwise I would've had to fly back, and trust me, flying in this weather would've sucked.

I crawled onto the shore and sat on my rear, just taking time to breath. I was an idiot. A lucky one at that. If that lightning hadn't retreated back into the watch in time…I would've been in serious trouble. You all know what happens when electricity hits water.

That face wasn't really there. He couldn't be…watching me, could he? No, it's just the lack of sleep, it's causing me to hallucinate. That's all.

But still, I felt compelled to look back to the sky, just to make sure. And when I did, sure enough, there wasn't a face there.

---

After I dried off in my cabin, I heard a knock on the door.

It's one of them, has to be. What did they want now?

Sighing, I walked over and cracked it open.

"Oh, Talon. What's up?"

Standing outside, inches away from the door, was my friend, Talon. I could make out through the crack that he was wearing his usual getup. The trademark sunglasses and cowboy hat, along with a leather biker jacket, jeans, and boots with little skulls on the ends. He basically screamed I'm a tough guy, don't mess with me unless you want to get skewered. But the thing is, Talon can actually back it up.

Right now though, he didn't really look stern or harsh, he looked a bit annoyed. "Heard a bunch of thunder a few miles away. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would ya?"

The exhale that came through my nose sounded like a hiss, "That loud, huh?"

He stepped a bit closer to the door, prompting me to open it enough to let him in. He did, his hands in his pockets and his boots thumping with each step.

"Let me guess, you're training with that bolt again?"

"Yeah."

He looked over at the desk, eying the giant wall of books and papers.

"And let me guess…you're still on this search?"

"What of it, man?" I barked, rather coldly. I hadn't meant it to come out that snappy, but I was just tired of people reprimanding me, worrying about me. Can't they get it through their heads that I'm fine?

He didn't snap back; he just raised an eyebrow at my tone. "Nothing of it, just making sure." He then put his hands up, "Look, I ain't gonna tell you your business, kid. Are you overdoing it a little? Probably. But I ain't about to play mommy and tell you to get some sleep." I could practically feel his intense gaze through his sunglasses, "You do what you think you gotta do, and I'll leave it at that."

I nodded slowly, registering, and appreciating his statement. "Thanks. That's all I'm asking for."

He cocked his head, and walked back to the door, as quickly as he came in, "But…some people ain't gonna just leave it at that. Some people care too much."

"Some people?" I asked, "What are you getting at?"

"Goth girl." He said the nickname with a low breath, like he'd been wanting to get it off his throat for the last several minutes. "She wants to talk to you, worried about you or some shit. I don't know."

Oh, so it was this again. I already knew what I was going to hear. Another scolding. Her telling me to get sleep, me refusing, her saying I'm going too far, this and that. It usually ends up in an argument.

It made me sad, to tell the truth. These past couple of months have been rough, on all of us. Especially her, since…well, since her brother's death. We haven't talked as much as we used to, hell, we haven't even spent that much romantic time together, if any. I can't even remember if we've kissed since the Battle with Atlas, or even held hands. It makes my heart shrivel just thinking about it.

"Alright, I'll talk to her. Where is she?"

"In the arena, I think." He said, "Letting out that aggression again. You know how it is."

I scowled, "Yeah, I do."

He gave me another nod and walked back to the Zeus cabin, leaving me to my thoughts as I walked over to the arena.

When I opened the doors, warmth greeted me. It was foreign, and I resisted the urge to leave the doors open so the other campers could come in. Surely that little campfire outside was nothing compared to this.

But they closed by themselves, and I turned my gaze to the center of the building.

There, stood Harper, surrounded by half a dozen Ares kids. I know they're Ares kids, one, because the kids outside were quiet and reasonable, and two, because these guys were overly muscular, had military styled haircuts, and enough weapons and armor on their bodies to add an extra two hundred pounds.

It was clear they were fighting, and for a few minutes at least. The Ares boys were sweaty, scratched and bruised, breathing heavily like they'd been put through the ringer. They had their teeth gritted and clutched their weapons tightly, very frustrated.

Harper on the other hand, was sweating, but had taken virtually no damage. She looked calm as a cucumber, her eyes darting back and forth at each target, trying to look for a sign of attack.

She looked good, as always. Even in my current mental funk, I can admit that. Her long black hair was tied back in it's usual thick braid, good enough to keep any rogue strands from getting into her face. Her outfit was as reserved and unbothersome as possible, wearing a combination of a black tank top, revealing lean, pale arms, black jeans with rips in them, and combat boots. So fairly casual. No armor or urgency.

She did however have her knives in hand, both of them by her side in anticipation. They were celestial bronze, just like the other demigods' weapons, but in her hands, they looked far more comfortable. With the Ares kids, they were either shaking, or being clutched way too tight. There was no looseness, no thought process. They saw Harper, and felt anger at the fact that she was kicking their asses, and didn't strategize.

They all jumped at her, simultaneously. Harper reacted instantly, jumping over their heads, and planting her boots on the beefy neck of one of the boys. She used it as a launchpad and flipped off, landing several feet away.

I nearly smirked. A simple tactic to get away when outnumbered. Separate yourself, inflict an annoying attack to anger them, which in turn causes them to lose their coordination. Had she been dealing with children of Athena, they might've taken it in stride, but these are Ares kids we're talking about. They're tough, but not exactly smart.

They boy she pressed off of growled in frustration, and the group practically trampled each other to get to Harper, swords raised over their heads like they were an angry mob. Harper just kept her eyes narrowed, back crouched, ready to pounce.

The boy in front gripped his sword with both hands and prepared to swing, but by the time he did, Harper had already dashed and broken through is defensive bubble. She didn't even use her knives, she just bashed her shoulder into his chest and sent him on his back into a coughing fit, gasping for air.

The next dispatches came just as quick. She actually threw her knives in the air and planted her fists into two helmets of the boys next to her. They didn't even have time to register what happened to their friend, let alone enough time to strike. The metal of the helmets dented in on their foreheads, and Harper reached around to grab them by the necks, promptly slamming both together in a cartoonish way, but the effect was enough to knock them out cold.

The next and last three finally figured out what was going on, and saw that she had taken out half of their squad. They seemed nervous, and pretty hesitant to keep going. I mean, I would be too. This was going a bit further than a simple sparring match. This was a full-blown fight. But then again, that's to be expected of Harper these days.

She jumped up and caught the knives. Using gravity to her advantage, she came down on the Ares kid closest to her, who just barely managed to block with his sword. Metal clanged together, and the two struggled for a moment. But it was clear who had superior physical strength. Harper isn't very big. She's lean, curvy, a bit above average height for a girl, and in perfect condition yes, but compared to the roided out guy below her, you'd think she was about to get dominated.

But looks can be deceiving. The boys' knees were buckling, his arms were straining, and he was grunting his voice box off just trying to keep her at bay, while Harper only smirked and didn't even let out a sound of effort. She pressed down harder and swiped her knives to the side, knocking the weapon out of his hands.

She quickly dropped to the floor and swept him in the ankles, knocking yet another target down. The last two were toast. They exchanged a few jabs and slashes with their swords, and Harper just weaved through them, breaking through any sort of zone they had established and coming up behind them. With a thrust of the knives' hilts on the soft spot of their necks, it was over, and they fell flat on the floor.

Harper stood there for a moment, looking at her handiwork. She then shook her head, disappointed. "That really all you got, ladies? C'mon! I was expecting more of a fight!"

It was then that I decided to emerge from my little shadow. I started slowly clapping, making sure she could hear me.

She did, one good blue eye and one bad white eye drifting over. I wouldn't say they lit up when they saw me, but they did widen a little, as if she couldn't believe I actually came.

I tried to break the tension with a joke. "I can give it a shot if you'd like. I mean…I'm no Ares kid, but I think I could prove a better match than these guys." I gestured to the downed demigods, the hint of a smile on my mouth.

Harper took the joke, thankfully. She chuckled and sheathed the knives into the strap on her belt. "Alright Shark Boy, I get it. No need to humble me."

We stood in silence for a moment, a bit of an uncomfortable one. That happened these days between us. Used to, conversations came so easily, but given everything that's happened…of course there's going to be some awkwardness. But it still doesn't remove the sting in my chest.

I finally spoke again. "So…been training for a while?"

"My whole life, why?" She deadpanned.

"That's not what I meant, silly, I meant today."

"Yeah, a few hours probably." She frowned at the now conscious and groaning boys on the floor, "These chumps can't even scratch me. I guess I should start pestering Talon to spar with me or something. Maybe even Sera, if she's up for it. Though I'd probably have to smile the entire time and make it seem like we're just playing." She snickered at that last part, probably picturing Sera in armor.

I fiddled with my fingers, "Talon, um…told me you wanted to talk?"

She nodded, "Yeah." And then she motioned to the downed opponents, still groaning and trying to push themselves up, "Alright guys, I'm done for the day. Next time, try and give me a challenge, will you?"

They didn't respond, though I thought I heard one boy mutter some curse words towards Harper. Whether she heard it or not was up for debate.

She led me over to the bottom of the stands and sat down, patting the spot next to her. I took it.

"It's nothing major, I just wanted to know how it went."

"How…what went?"

She looked at me like I had three heads, "The talk with Atlas. You know, the thing you just got back from?"

Geez, I was so out of it that I couldn't even think. I nodded and blurted out some incoherent babble, "Oh right, that." I hoped that's what came out of my mouth.

"So how'd it go? Did you find out anything?"

I thought about the best way to word this. It was a simple no, but should I say it neutrally, or put my heart on my sleeve here? I mean, she hasn't done the same for me recently, so maybe I should go with the former.

"Not so good. We didn't find out crap. Apparently Ouranos didn't trust Atlas enough to tell him any backup plans, or just didn't bother."

She looked genuinely bummed at the news, "That sucks. I know you thought it would be a big lead."

"Sucks doesn't even begin to describe it, Harper. This was supposed to be the big shot, the deal sealer. Atlas worked for him for nearly a year, and he didn't even tell him anything?!" My voice got louder and louder with each word, my frustration overflowing, "It's ridiculous! We have absolutely nothing!"

She just listened to my rampage, not trying to calm me down or shush me. When I was done, I ended up with my head in my hands, rubbing my face intensely.

"But you know what? I don't even care. I'm gonna keep searching, turning over every stone, until I find him. I won't stop until I do."

I could feel the scolding coming, and sure enough, It did.

"Matt, I know you want to find him. We all do. But don't you think you're…"

"Losing it?" I said harshly, looking up at her.

"Overdoing it a little," she corrected. "I mean, when's the last time you slept? You look exhausted."

"Please," I scoffed, "I'm more awake than ever. I've trained enough by now to stay awake for days and days. That's the least of my concerns."

She wasn't convinced. "You sure about that? Cause right now it seems like I'm looking at a zombie." She pursed her lips and leaned closer, "Tell me, really, how long has it been since you last slept?"

I knew she wasn't going to leave the subject. I groaned under my breath and thought about it.

"I don't know…two weeks, maybe."

Her mouth fell open, "Two weeks straight? Are you serious?"

I nodded.

"That's not healthy, even for a demigod. You know the side effects are still the same, right?"

Here we go.

"What does it matter? You know how long a person is supposed to sleep each night?"

"Eight hours, give or take," she said.

"Exactly. Now add that up over the course of a month, or a week even, and it gets to be a damn lot. I'm saving so much time by not sleeping, precious time that I can use to find Ouranos."

"And you really think it's worth it?" She retorted, "Have you found him yet?"

"I'm going to. Believe me, I'm going to."

My voice was shaky, as if I didn't believe it. I hated that.

She started to talk again, but my mouth spoke for me, "I'm going to." It affirmed the way I wanted to say it, like I meant it.

She sighed, "Listen to me, just for one second. If you keep going like this, you're going to lose your mind, Matt. If you don't take time to let your body heal, your mind heal, you won't be able to face Ouranos even if you do find him." She put a soft hand on my knee, "I know you don't believe it right now, but rest is important. Let me handle it for a little while. Malachi, or anyone else. You can lean on us for support, it's not just a one-man operation, you know?"

In retrospect, what she said would've been soothing, and mature. But in the moment, all I heard was weakness. I needed sleep? No, a symbol doesn't need sleep, not when the literal archetype of evil is out there. I can't rest.

And of course, that small part of my brain also caught the we part. We?

The chuckle that came out of my mouth was humorless, and unlike me. "Yeah, well that's the thing, I can't exactly lean on you guys this time, can I?"

She raised a black eyebrow, "What? Why?"

"You've all got your own little things going on right now."

She looked confused, and shook her head, smiling, but not finding anything funny.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost. Little things?"

"We don't have to do this." I said, not wanting to make her angry. It wasn't even worth talking about. "Just forget I said that."

"Well I can't forget about it. You brought it up so elaborate."

I sighed. We were really going to do this, now? Stupid mouth, stupid me, always saying the wrong things. Even if I think it's true, I just need to keep everything shut. It only leads to more arguing.

"You guys have been dealing with a lot of stuff, and I get that. So…you're locking yourselves away and dealing with it, while I've been trying to find Ouranos." I tried to cover up my accusing tone, "It's not a big deal, I understand."

"Wait, you think you've been doing this all by yourself or something?" She said in disbelief, "Didn't Malachi go with you earlier?"

"Yeah, but the guy hasn't exactly been available since Mount Othrys. He's been sick, Sera's been by his side twenty-four seven. They've been uninvolved, and I get it. It's fine." I then thought of Talon, "And Talon's been in the Zeus cabin, having these Nikandreos visions that he doesn't want to tell us about. I can't speak for the guy, maybe they're so cryptic that he can't even put it into words, I don't know."

She listened, but her eyebrows didn't unknit.

"And…what do you think I've been doing?"

I lowered my head a little. Was she really going to make me say it?

"Well…you've been here, training nonstop, aggressively beating your partners to take out your anger." I glanced at her eyes and then back at the ground, "You're distracting yourself from…you know."

"Go ahead," she said, her tone dark. "Say it."

"Levi's death."

And just like that, any goodwill we had coming in here was rollercoastered. I could feel Harper's anger, even without the emotion sensing.

"Yeah," She growled, "That's a bitch, isn't it?"

I got up and started walking away, "Let's not do this."

She shot up just as quick, "How do you know I'm not just trying to get stronger?! What, you think I'm just some freak that can't control her anger?!"

I turned around, "I never said that, I just think-"

"I'm overdoing it?! Kind of like how you are?"

Silence fell, we just stared challengingly at each other.

Finally, I started walking away again, faster than before. "I'm going to visit my mom, I need to get out of here."

"Matt, don't walk away from this!"

I walked away, clearing the arena in seconds and coming out into the Camp, Harper trailing behind me, calling my name. But I didn't respond.

I unsheathed Viribus and shot up into the sky, the wind pushing me away from my responsibilities.

---

I managed to land on the roof.

From there, I found a blind spot and jumped down to the street. You'd be surprised at how many people aren't deterred by snow or cold weather in New York. To be honest, it's more comfortable for them. People are busy up here; they aren't stopping their daily habits.

Slipping into the entrance door of the mental hospital, I silently hoped the mist would hide my armor. Thinking back on it, I've scarcely worn anything else over the past few months, and I didn't have time to change into anything else since I left so quickly. Well, I guess I did, but I just wanted to get out of there.

I instantly regretted just jumping out of that conversation. I'm kind of a hypocrite, seeing that I've wanted her to talk to me about what happened to Levi, and then when we actually have conversation…I leave.

I knew I shouldn't have. Even if a part of me feels the way I do, I should've kept it to myself. So what if I'm the only one trying to find Ouranos? And even that's not true. Malachi and Percy both came with me today, I wasn't alone when we talked to Atlas.

But still, there's that nagging feeling. Frustration whenever Harper shuts me out, shuts everyone out from what she's thinking. It's her feelings, I get it, but she can't keep her emotions all bottled up. That never ends well.

It doesn't matter. I came here to leave my thoughts behind, all that stress, all that bullshit, and visit Mom.

My Mom is a special case. You already know that, but If I need to explain, then I'll keep it brief.

Mom's in this place because when I was thirteen years old, we were both walking home one night, and we got attacked by the Chimera. The event traumatized her, and she's been stuck here ever since. Now, I know that sounds weird, and believe me, I've been asking myself plenty of questions ever since that night. It never made sense why the Chimera didn't just kill her, and how she even got in this state in the first place. Maybe it performed some kind of magic on her, or maybe the mist just warped her mind. I'll never know. But I do know that from then on, I never saw a hospital bill, not one. I lived in our old apartment scot free, no social workers, or any form of government. The mist had it's hand in that one, at least.

I've accepted that it happened. Whether it makes sense or not, it's done. Here I am, for four years, still visiting. Each time I never know what I'm going to get.

But the process leading up to it is robotic. I wait in a short line, I talk to the lady at the desk, check in, and make my way to the destination. I've done it countless times.

"Have a great visit!" She says cheerfully. How can she be so chipper? In a time like this? When Ouranos is still out there?

She has no way of knowing that, idiot. None of them do. Jeez, I really need to get ahold of myself.

It's better that none of them know anyway, it would only scare them. Besides, he won't get the chance to do anything to them. Like I said before, I won't let him.

There it is again. I and we. I can't seem to decide.

I peeked through the window of Mom's room, barely able to see her thanks to the blinds on the other side. But I could make out a sleeping form, most of her body covered under the bed's comforter.

I stepped back and groaned under my breath. Of course she'd be asleep, it's just my luck. I'm not going to wake her, that's out of the question, she barely gets enough rest as is.

But I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go back to Camp, I wanted to stay right here. Even though most of the time she's out of it, talking to Mom makes me…feel calm. I guess because she was the only good thing about my old life, before I went to Camp.

I debated for a minute whether or not to just leave her alone and walk back where I came, or stay and talk to an unconscious body.

Before I knew it, my hand was on the knob. Might as well.

I turned it and opened the door as quietly as I could. I cringed whenever it creaked, but it didn't wake her up, so I just squeezed in and closed it shut quickly, not worrying if it made noise.

I pulled up a chair and put it next to her, sitting in it, I took a minute and just…looked. She was peaceful, and looked almost normal asleep. There was no blank stare, no weird mumbling, just silence.

"Hey Mom…"

I whispered it, and she didn't stir. I took that as incentive to continue.

"I uh…I'm sorry I took so long to visit. I've just been busy with…some other things."

Monsters? She'd ask, with a concerned look. A look only a mother could give, one that values her child's life above anything else.

I pretended that she actually said it, and I shook my head, smiling. "Yeah, a few here and there, but it's nothing I can't handle. Everything's going well, actually. Camp's doing fine, and Harper says hello."

Lies.

"Talon's still Talon, you know. Percy and Annabeth are doing good too, they've been planning their wedding, which is honestly something I'm really excited about. It's something we've all been rooting for, to be honest. I think they said something about a summer wedding, but I can't remember."

Silence. Nothing but the low beeping of the machines next to her.

"Malachi and Sera…took a break for a little while, but they're back together now. It sort of happened without me knowing, but I could tell right away." I snickered, "Those two are so obvious."

Mom never woke, she just kept breathing softly, not moving a muscle.

My words didn't go through her ears, so they just bounced around the walls of the room until they came back and hit me. I heard them again, and each time I only felt worse. Everything I said was true…partly. It was a veil, a veil of the horror underneath. The horror that I didn't want to share.

"Actually…I'm sorry, but that's not true." I said, my eyes in a trance on the white of her comforter. My mouth went to autopilot, "I can't keep doing this."

Doing what? She'd say.

"Lying." I replied, "Everything's…not good. It's the opposite of good. I'm not…we're not doing well."

Why?

"So much has happened. So much, and we can't escape it, none of us. Everything moves so fast; we don't have time to absorb the pain we've been dealt. And maybe…my way of dealing with that is to find Ouranos, maybe the others have their own way, whether it be isolation, aggression, or caring for others…there's always a way to deal with things."

Ouranos?

"He's at the root of everything. He's…a god, an old god that wants to destroy humanity and create a world where everything fits his image, where everyone worships him and grovels at his feet." I recalled several memories, feeling pings of pain in my head with each firing neuron. "We've been fighting him for years now, and I'm sorry I never told you about it. I just…didn't want you to worry. We'll stop him, I know we will."

I looked over at the clock, opposite the windows. The second hand moved with each of my heartbeats in rhythm.

"But time's running out. And I know that every minute wasted is fatal. I'm trying, I'm trying so hard, but I just don't think I'm getting anywhere with this. It's such an uphill battle, and it's only going to get worse."

This time, I thought about my next words before I said them, not even registering the ones I had already said, how much I had already revealed. She couldn't hear, I knew it. But they were in the air, and they couldn't be taken back.

"He's…the reason Dad's dead, Mom." I said, chokingly, "He killed him."

I almost gasped when I said it, in fear of Mom's reaction. After it happened, I tried to tell her, but it was no use. She didn't understand me. I never tried again, it hurt far too much. But here I went, and said it again, with the same results.

It's not right of me to not push the matter and get the point across. She deserves to know what happened. But isn't it…better if she doesn't? In her head, he's still alive, out there somewhere, and she might see him again, one day. It's a happy hope, and a good picture, but it's not the truth.

I wasn't sure what else to say. I didn't feel any better, to my disappointment, and she didn't wake up. I just shouldn't have come in the first place.

I didn't even say bye, I just put the chair back where I got it and walked over to the door, quickly opening it.

When I did, I almost ran into the chest of the man outside, about the grab the other knob on the outside.

"Oh, excuse me-" I started, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who it was.

"Hello, grandson."

"Zeus."

The name came cold out of my mouth. I wasn't exactly fond of the Olympian King right now, and even argued with him after the battle. I said some things about how he wasn't there to help, and other stuff that I don't care to remember.

He looked as he regularly did, sharp and powerful. He towered over me, wearing a pin-striped suit that bulged with the outline of his muscles, from his neck to the beginning of his dress shoes. He had dark black hair now, but when he got serious, it would change to white, matching his prime form from the old days, back when he was actually young. If I weren't so depleted and tired, I might've been a bit intimidated.

But I wasn't. I glared up at him, "What are you doing here?"

He glanced inside of the room, through the windows like I did. "Can't I visit the woman who is technically my daughter in law?"

My jaw clenched, "No, you can't. She's asleep right now. And besides, what the hell do you even need to say to her? I thought you were a busy King, with no time whatsoever to bestow his presence upon mere mortals."

I expected him to lash out, or lightning to crackle around his hand. My tone was pretty rough, but I didn't care. I was ready to argue again, if he was.

But the strangest thing happened. Instead of yelling at me or smiting me with a lightning bolt, he started chuckling.

"You live up to your brave reputation, lion. Talking to Zeus like that."

I reared my head back. That tone, and that smile…it wasn't Zeus. His lips were upturned all the way to his cheeks, and he was looking at me like I was a small animal he had cornered. It was far more Ouranos-like than Zeus-like.

For a second, my heart fell in my chest, and panic replaced it. I could feel sweat building up on my palms as I backed up the hall. Had Ouranos managed to progress his aging this far? I knew he had a striking resemblance to Zeus in his prime form, but this was identical. The mannerisms screamed Ouranos though, it had to be him.

"Ouranos…"

"Not quite," fake Zeus said. His smile fell, and his entire form shifted. A shadow was cast over the entire hallway, every light began to flicker weakly, any ambient noise I once heard through the various rooms ceased. Zeus's massive frame and build changed to a much leaner, lanky, and ghoulish figure. His skin became black matter, like a void in the outline of a human. The matter moved around on him, like a symbiote or parasite that had a mind of its own, with little wisps coming off his shoulders like chips of energy. It was the darkest color I had ever seen, the blackest black possible, even more so than a pitch-black room, or a night on a new moon.

The only thing I could see on his body, were his eyes. They popped out in white, with dots of ink in the middle. They had no other color, like a mortal, they were little pen pokes, staring at me.

He had no energy…at least, none that I could detect. That was very odd, because every life form has an aura, and a life force. Both are separate, but I didn't sense either on this guy. So either I'm hallucinating this entire thing, or he's powerful enough to avoid my sensing abilities entirely.

Quickly, I pushed open the double door behind me and stormed through them, intent on getting the hell out of here. But he was there, at the opposite end of the other hall, as fast as teleportation.

His voice reverberated, "Don't try to escape, Matthias. Your time on the surface world is at an end."

"What?! Who the hell are you?"

He laughed, and walked toward me slowly.

"Do you believe emotions can strengthen another? A god, perhaps?"

I looked everywhere for signs of the mortals. Were they not seeing this? Had he killed them already?

"In old times," He said, "a human's love and hope powered the gods, boosted their attributes, even." He raised his hand and looked at it. His fingers were long, inhumanly long, with claws for fingernails on the end. "But if good emotions can be a source of power…then negative emotions can be as well."

This creep seemed like the type that you couldn't really fight. I wasn't sure who he was, but he was dangerous. I'm itching to grab Viribus and take this to the skies, or even the streets, anything to get him away from the mortals.

"Look man, I don't know what you want, or who you are, but if you've got a problem with me, let's settle it one on one." I raised my arms by my side, "I'm right here, no need to involve anyone else."

I kept eyeing the door to my mom's room behind me. He makes one move towards it, I'm on the offensive, no matter how powerful he is.

But he didn't even look at it, he just kept on with his monologue. "Fear, depression, pain…all strengthen me. And right now, I like your fear the best." He pointed at me, "Matthias Beckett, the man who values the life of others above his own."

I raised an eyebrow. Negative emotions? What was he on about?

"Perhaps we should test that title."

Nothing happened for a moment. This all happened too fast to comprehend. I had no idea who this guy was, what his motivations were for confronting me, or anything. But I could tell something was wrong with him, so I was just ready to fight and hopefully find out.

But this…was different.

Suddenly, all the doors of the hallway slammed open. In them, stood the bodies of the nurses and patients that had been inside. But they weren't themselves. One look would assure that.

They seemed to be in a trance, all standing in the same position, the same dull, zombified look on their face.

But the scariest part, was their eyes. Each one had been rolled into the back of their heads, showing little strands of veins from underneath the lid.

I looked around and spotted ten, even twenty people, all under the trance. They were looking at me.

I backed up nervously, "What did you do? What the hell did you do to them?"

"I'm only borrowing them for a moment." He said casually, "I want to see if you stick to your merit."

Then, they started coming at me in a unified shuffle, the figure's intentions clear. He was going to use them to attack me, and see if I would kill them, or hurt them in anyway. He was playing some sick twisted game with me.

To hell with this. I should leave, my entire being is screaming at me to leave, that this voided figure is far too much than I know how to deal with. But...I can't turn my back on these people. It's my responsibility now.

I turned around and pushed through the double doors again, coming back out to where I was before.

My chest shriveled when I saw a dozen mortals all under the trance, my mom included.

She had gotten up out of bed, her eyes matching the mob. She was mindless, and coming at me, growling like she wanted to eat my flesh.

I forced myself to stay firm. I could figure out a way, a way to save them and myself. But...how?

One of them increased speed and darted at me. A doctor I think, based on the white lab coat he had on. He jabbed at me with outstretched fingers, to which I easily dodged. They weren't any stronger or faster than they were normally, but it was the fact that I couldn't hit back. And the voided figure knew that.

Several more came at me, and I managed to roll out of the way, letting them smack into each other. But they weren't that stupid, because their dull eyes fell on me immediately.

The voided figure clicked what sounded like a tongue. "You cannot run forever. Soon you will have to act."

"Shut up," I growled, trying to sound threatening. On the inside, I was freaking out. What was I going to do? I couldn't just leave them like this, and I couldn't let that guy leave this place, he was too dangerous to just forget about.

So what am I supposed to do?

It hit me. The Red Beam Cannon.

No, I wasn't about to use it on them, that would be crazy. But to use the thing leading up to it...not so crazy.

Whenever I charge up the cannon, I have to steal energy from others, preferably the enemy, to make it strong. Usually when I do so, it weakens them, even going so far as to knock them unconscious.

That could work here.

I slowed my step and let the mob get closer to me. Carefully, I raised my hands and easily locked on to their auras. There were so many people in this hospital, and the figure had influenced them all in his odd trance. I couldn't even question it, there was no time. I was here, and this was getting solved.

In one fell swoop, I pulled their auras straight out of their bodies, enough to knock them out cold, but also leaving behind enough to make sure they stay alive. I couldn't physically see their auras, but a change in the air, and the drowsiness that fell upon their faces told me it worked.

I encased it collectively around my fist and watched all of them fall limp to the floor. My mom was among them, hitting the back of another person and lying flat on them. She was breathing slowly. I wanted to sigh in relief.

But instead, my anger took over and I found the void man behind the array of bodies. He was looking on in slight shock, but mostly amusement.

"Very interesting," he said, "You're a clever one."

I didn't let him say anything else. My anger was making me see red. How dare he just play with people like they were puppets, especially my mom. I wasn't happy with that.

I charged him faster than anyone should've been capable to see, punching his figure with my aura encased fist. But I hit nothing. He was gone the second I jumped off the floor.

I looked everywhere, but he wasn't here anymore. I couldn't feel his aura beforehand, and that wasn't changing. The shadow stayed though, and I could hear his laugh in several directions. It wasn't Ouranos, that was for sure. Ouranos didn't look like that and hadn't really used an ability like that before. Sure, he had possessed people, but only a single body, and it was usually someone powerful, not mortals. I wasn't sure though, this guy sounded a lot like Ouranos, the way he laughed, talked, and moved. It was different, he sounded almost...like a relative. I couldn't really place it.

In my peripheral, I saw a black puddle boiling in the floor. I turned around to see it taking the shape of the figure. He slowly rose up to a tall height and looked down on me.

"Listen, whoever you are, I'm only going to ask this one more time-" I said menacingly, no longer fearful, but angry. "-Who are you?! And what the hell do you want?!"

"I already told you," He said, and pointed at me again, "Your time on the surface world is at an end. I want you."

"Me? Why?"

His small pupils rolled towards the back of his head, and he cocked it in thought, like something had just clicked. For a moment, I thought he might be trying to take my body over or something, and I was getting ready to resist as hard as I could.

But he just smiled that devilish smile again, and his eyed returned to normal. His finger leveled to the ceiling.

"I think you forgot some."

I furrowed my eyebrows. What the hell was he talking about?

Then I felt it. On the roof, were three auras, more mortals from the hospital. They were slowly walking to the edge...

My eyes widened in fear, and my knees almost gave out when I saw a body fly past the window closest to the void man. Then another came zooming by, rag dolling, and then the last one.

I ran as fast as I could, reappearing at the window in an instant, not even paying attention to the figure, who had theatrically stepped aside for me and waved his hand in a mock ushering gesture. I jumped up and smashed my shoulder into the glass, breaking it and falling out of the hospital.

The air roared in my ears, it took me a second to get my vision straight and lock on to the three falling mortals. They were completely out of it, just flailing and spinning to their deaths. Whatever he had done...it allowed him to have complete control over his victims. Even making them kill themselves.

I unsheathed Viribus and willed the wind to push me forward. They were too far ahead, and we had scarce distance between us and the ground. It was a matter of a few seconds before they were going to explode in gore on the ground.

I caught the first mortal in one arm, tucking her tightly and kicking towards the next one. It was easier than the first, a middle-aged looking man, I guessed to be a nurse. He probably had a family, in my head, I imagined he did.

He'll get home to them. I have to make sure he gets home to them.

The last one was a younger nurse. A blonde woman that looked dangerously similar to Annabeth, and for a moment, that's who I saw her as. She was mere feet away from the sidewalk, and soon her brains would be all over it.

"NO!" I shouted, "NO! NO! NO!"

I gritted my teeth and managed to hold both mortals in one arm, the woman held firm on my side and the man's shirt fisted in my hand. I sliced the air with Viribus desperately so I could catch up with her. It was so close, so close...

She might've been inches from the ground when I grabbed her collar and flipped myself in mid air, slinging her several feet above me to save her. My back hit the ground hard, but it was nothing I couldn't deal with. I heard cracks form in the road and the woman flying in the air once again, thanks to my desperate little move.

I positioned my hand to where I thought she would land and opened my palm up, as flat as I could make it. I nearly winced when she hit it, right on the spot where I predicted. I caught her right in the middle of her body, her limbs fell limp and her hands nearly hit me in the face, but I didn't mind. They were safe.

I set them gently down next to me, and I continue to lay there, my chest heaving up and down. No lost lives. I...I couldn't believe it.

My head raised and I looked around. Something was very, very wrong here, and I had no idea what to make of it. The mortals minding their own business had seen what happened and were now beginning to run for their lives. Cars were being thrown aside by something long and black, almost like a ghostly whip. But it was weird, there were like...eight of them, no twelve, just flying around and grabbing vehicles like an octopus, throwing them into buildings and the sidewalk.

I clenched my fists and shakily stood up. From the dust and now destroyed metal, came the void man. He was quite daunting now, standing much taller than before at twelve feet, car throwing tendrils snaking from his body and swaying in the air like feathers. He was very slender and lanky, with unnaturally long arms and claws, all shadowed and black, except for his eyes.

They weren't playful anymore, they were murderous.

"Ouranos was right about you." He growled, "You are insufferably persistent."

That made me straighten, "Y-You know Ouranos?"

"Of course I do. He is my brother."

That almost made me fall to the ground again. Brother? What the...wait. What the hell?

"Brother?" I said, and I started to remember the pictures I had seen, the stories I had read about. "Then that means that you're..."

His smile returned, and I felt an immeasurably strong force wrap around my wrists and legs, pulling me down to the Earth with an angry tug.

Below me, a pool of black water formed and doused my pants, making them feel wet and disgusting. This wasn't water, this was something like tar or oil.

"You see, Matthias...I rarely involve myself with an outsider's matter. Why, I have not taken a form such as this in millennia." He walked closer to me, to the point where he was only meters away.

"But I owed a favor, and I intend to give it." He shook his head at me, "I am going to break your mind, and by the end, you will wish that you were never born."

My eyes were saucers, I felt fear and panic spread through my whole body, no doubt causing it to shiver. I had chills running a marathon down my spine. Who he was, and what he was going to do to me...was becoming clearer and clearer.

The pool below me turned into an opening abyss, cracking the road and separating it. The tendrils he had formed were the only things keeping me from falling in, now acting as my life supports, instead of prisoner chains.

The abyss was miles deep, and I could feel both warmth and dread on my legs, creeping up to my neck. It was coming from down there, a dangerous place, a place that I never, ever wanted to go. But now I was being forced to.

Captured.

"Whatever hell you think you can imagine; I promise you, you will know worse, at my hand." He presented himself, "For I am the Pit. I am Tartarus."

The tendrils released, and I felt my stomach soar up to my chest. The urge to vomit was very strong at the moment.

I fell down into the darkness, and it began to consume me. I was going to hell, and there was nothing I could do about it. My friends, Harper...they had no idea.

The last thing I saw of the surface world, was Tartarus standing at the edge of the pit, waving at me in a see you soon gesture.

Then the separation closed up, and I was left completely alone in the dark, nothing but distance below me, and my horrified screams.

---

(000)

Quite the introduction, huh?

So what do you all think of the first chapter? What about Tartarus? He's going to be the villain this book, so expect a lot of mind games and dark moments. And of course, going back down to the Pit itself.

Review it up! I might start doing responses again if we get enough, and if you all have questions or concerns you want answered.

Either way, thanks for checking it out!

Until Next Time.