A Black Heart

by ChiragTheseus2008

Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon gets adopted by the god of the dead, becoming the child of the two strongest gods. He has been living in the underworld ever since. Soon, circumstances make him come out of Hades' lair making him the target of several monsters. He has to now protect his siblings and also become the child of the prophecy! Rewrite of the Raging Seas!

22. The End Of The Beginning!

A BLACK HEART Chapter 22
A/N:- So, I've been thinking about ending the story with this chapter! Yes! So, this might as well be the last chapter of this fic! Don't worry, it's not going to end here! Sequels are incoming! Also, for the last chapter and the anticlimactic end of Maresca, well, I initially thought of giving Percy a domain too, but then thought against, hoping to use the idea in the sequel! So, anyway, let's just get on with the chapter!

Percy didn't know what to do. Miranda's men had taken his friends away and he was standing in the middle of the field, wearing handcuffs that somehow curbed his godly powers, again. He was surrounded by more people and Ernesto himself.

The man in question, with the same baggy flared suit lit up a cigar. "I'm offering you a position, Jackson."

He pointed to the several men and women around him. "We got monsters, Romans, Greeks, Humans, and of course," He pointed to himself. "A god. The only thing we lack… is someone like you. So join me, Perseus Jackson! And together, we all will rule the world!"

The son of Poseidon just looked bored. "You done?"

Miranda just looked at him strangely before nodding.

"Well, then I have a position for you too," Percy said, cracking his neck. "Six feet underground in any place of your preference. Would you like for me to do it right now?"

Ernesto laughed heartily for a moment. "You're funny, Jackson, I like that… but sorry, if you can't join me, then I can't afford to have you go against me."

Percy's eyes widened as the man flicked his fingers and instantly, the son of Poseidon was pushed back, thrown straight into the deep ocean waters.

And for the first time, he felt what it was like to drown.

-TIME-SKIP-

It had been few days since Miranda had died and Percy had gotten lost in the Pacific Ocean. Reyna had tried looking for him everywhere, but there had been no sign of him.

Miranda had come for them in the basement of his building, where two girls had tied them up, but before anyone could do anything, everything turned to mud.

And by everything, she meant everything.

The entire building sloshed on top of them, rendering them almost unable to breathe.

But, somehow, they survived, and Reyna had cursed. She had wanted some action, but this was what had happened.

Gaea somehow decided that she had had enough of these guys and had turned them into mud. Why? How? No one knows.

But what the now Praetor did know, was that both her best friends were missing. And it was not a damn coincidence.

"Miss Reyna?" Hazel Levesque called out from behind the door. "May I come in?"

The daughter of Bellona sighed. Search parties had been sent out, and Hazel had been one of them. Her coming back so soon did not mean good news. Nevertheless, she got up and opened the gates.

-TIME-SKIP-

Rafael was standing there, surveying the forging of the canons when suddenly a dracaena arrived next to him and stood by.

"Speak up," He said and the monster nodded.

"There's a man in the VIP area, getting the special treatment. He wanted to talk to you."

Rafael's eyes widened and his ears perked up and immediately they started off in the direction of the glass building, inside which all the dirty work took place.

Upon reaching the floor, they could see a man tied to a chair, blood on his chest and clothes as his long black hair covered his face.

Rafael walked towards him and stopped right in front of the chair, Snape style, his cloak swishing in the air.

"I'm here, speak up… who are you?"

"That's a pretty half-assed way to start a conversation, don't you think?" The man said, his head still hung low. "But anyways, come closer."

Rafael's eyes widened as he knelt down. He had heard this man before.

"You'll take five seconds to be surprised. Then you'll take five seconds to wonder where you've heard me before. Then… you'll take five seconds… to come over your shock and say—"

"Jackson," The man said. "You?"

Percy raised his head as his hair fell back, smirking. "Still alive!"

"You were supposed to be dead! How…"

"Funny how everyone wants me dead, but anyway…" The demigod said and cracked his neck. "Some people are waiting for me to say four words. Four words and this entire place will come crumbling down, all the weapons that you've forged for the giant army going down with it. So speak up… what are you going to do next?"

Rafael laughed. "You think I care about what you do to me and the rest of my people? Death was a part of the contract when we joined the job with mother Earth! I won't sell her out to you so easily!"

Percy rolled his eyes and sighed. "You, really are not giving me much of a choice, but anyway… even if you hadn't kept your mouth shut, the fate would've been the same."

The demigod turned to his side and said, "Good to go girls?"

Hearing that, every single eye turned to them as Percy smirked when another voice came from outside, echoing clearly inside the glass structure.

"Ready!"

As soon as that word was uttered out of the girl's mouth, an explosion was heard in the distance and one pillar crashed. This was followed by another, and then yet another, as slowly, the walls broke and monsters started running frantically as flames engulfed the area.

Another explosion and a reptilian demon screamed, its tail being lit on fire.

Rafael's expression must have shown fear as Percy exclaimed, "What happened? I thought you guys embraced death?"

The contractor of weapons looked back at him and just frantically screamed. "Let's make a deal, Jackson! Let's make a deal! I tell you what you want, you let us go!"

Percy smirked as he grabbed the man by the neck and raised him in the air, making him gag. "It's too late now. So, Rafael, no deal."

And saying that, a huge piece of the roof fell down and the son of Poseidon took his hands back, to avoid getting crushed as well.

Soon, the entire place was a wreck and full of rubble as he turned around, sighed and walked out of the place. At the entrance, he was greeted by the sight of girls in silver parkas and wearing silver tiaras.

And seeing them, Percy immediately grinned sheepishly and high-fived Thalia Grace.

"Another mission accomplished, Sparky?"

"You got that right, Death Weed!"

They sat down and chatted for a while. Percy Jackson was the only male that the group had talked to in a gentle and friendly manner, and to say that that was a shocking thing was an understatement.

"If not for this hunter oath thing, I would've married him right away," Was what Ashley Clawthorne had said when she was asked about Percy by Thalia, who had laughed at that.

Yes, the son of Poseidon and Hades had tracked the granddaughter of Maresca down and had brought her to the hunters, since when, he had been taking part in their missions and all.

And, the same Ashley came now, bearing bad news. "Miss Thalia! News has come about that a giant has attacked New Rome!"

Those words alerted everyone in the vicinity and they all gathered their weapons, ready to charge into battle, but Percy raised a hand.

"I'm going, you guys stay," He said but after seeing the daughter of Zeus's expression, he added. "I have to meet a special someone too!"

And with that, he vanished.

Artemis had been watching all this from Olympus and sighed as Diana asked her, "How enticing must a male be to make an Olympian goddess who had sworn off all men fall in love with him?"

Artemis breathed heavily as she thought of when she herself had changed form and disguised herself as the daughter of Apollo after the original Camilla had gotten brutally injured.

She had had to do that at first to ensure safe passage for the demigod. Hades had been the one to demand this from her, and she, being at a loss of monsters to hunt, had accepted. Even she wanted to see who this boy was, to have piqued the interest of the grieving god of the dead.

So, Artemis seized the opportunity of Camilla Clawthorne's injuries and brought her to her brother for healing and herself reached Earth, living for five days with the Clawthornes.

And that first bloody but innocent smile of his was what had entranced her.

And then, everything was going well, until the last day. She knew that she couldn't continue this, and nor could she reveal her identity, so she chose to break two hearts, one Percy's and one her own.

By then, Apollo's daughter had fully recovered, but had lost her memories and Artemis again saw the perfect opportunity and she implanted her with fake memories and promptly placed her in camp, thinking that it'd make Percy whole again. To see your own friend again. To see your own love again. Maybe that would've kept him from going down the dark path, the one that Apollo had foretold.

And then, all that happened, and Artemis's thoughts came back full circle as she resonated with what Diana had said. 'How did I even fall in love with him?'

And the headache started again.

-TIME-SKIP-

(A/N:- HOO starts here! From the SON)

Arion shot straight under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. They tore through Berkeley and into the Oakland Hills.

When they reached the hilltop above the Caldecott Tunnel, Arion shuddered like a broken car and came to a stop, his chest heaving.

Hazel patted his sides lovingly. "You did great, Arion."

The horse was too tired even to cuss: Of course, I did great. What did you expect?

Hector and Frank jumped off the chariot. Hector wished there'd been comfortable seats or an in-flight meal. His legs were wobbly. His joints were so stiff, he could barely walk.

Frank didn't look much better. He hobbled to the top of the hill and peered down at the camp. "Guys…you need to see this."

When Hector and Hazel joined him, Hector's heart sank.

The battle had begun, and it wasn't going well. The Twelfth Legion was arrayed on the Field of Mars, trying to protect the city. Scorpions fired into the ranks of the Earthborn. Hannibal the elephant plowed down monsters right and left, but the defenders were badly outnumbered.

On her pegasus Scipio, Reyna flew around the giant Polybotes, trying to keep him occupied. The Lares had formed shimmering purple lines against a mob of black, vaporous shades in ancient armor.

Veteran demigods from the city had joined the battle, and were pushing their shield wall against an onslaught of wild centaurs. Giant eagles circled the battlefield, doing aerial combat with two snake-haired ladies in green Bargain Mart vests—Stheno and Euryale.

The legion itself was taking the brunt of the attack, but their formation was breaking. Each cohort was an island in a sea of enemies. The Cyclopes' siege tower shot glowing green cannonballs into the city, blasting craters in the forum, reducing houses to ruins. As they watched, a cannonball hit the Senate House and the dome partially collapsed.

"We're too late," Hazel said.

"No," Hector said. "They're still fighting. We can do this."

"Where's Lupa?" Frank asked, desperation creeping into his voice. "She and the wolves…they should be here."

"She did what she could," Hector said. "She slowed down the army on its way south. Now it's up to us. We've got to get the gold eagle and these weapons to the legion."

"But Arion is out of steam!" Hazel said. "We can't haul this stuff ourselves."

"Maybe we don't have to." Hector scanned the hilltops.

If Tyson had gotten his dream message in Vancouver, help might be close. He whistled as loud as he could—a good New York cab whistle that would've been heard all the way from Times Square to Central Park. Shadows rippled in the trees. A huge black shape bounded out of nowhere—a mastiff the size of an SUV, with a Cyclops and a harpy on her back.

"Hellhound!" Frank scrambled backward.

"It's okay!" Hector grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "These are friends."

"Brother!" Tyson climbed off and ran toward him.

Hector tried to brace himself, but it was no good. Tyson slammed into him and smothered him in a hug. Then Tyson let go and laughed with delight, looking Hector over with that massive baby brown eye.

"You are not dead!" he said. "I like it when you are not dead!"

Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. "Ella found a dog," she announced. "A large dog. And a Cyclops."

Hector's black mastiff pounced on him, knocking him to the ground and barking so loudly that even Arion backed up.

"Hey, Mrs. O'Leary," Hector said. "Yeah, I love you too, girl. Good dog."

Hazel made a squeaking sound. "You have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Long story." Hector managed to get to his feet and wipe off the dog slobber. "You can ask your brother…" His voice wavered when he saw Hazel's expression.

He'd almost forgotten that Nico di Angelo was missing, and then he remembered his own brother.

"Sorry," he said. "But yeah, this used to be my brother's dog, but now, she's mine. Mrs. O'Leary. Tyson—these are my friends, Frank and Hazel."

Hector turned to Ella, who was counting all the barbs in one of her feathers.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "We were worried about you."

"Ella is not strong," she said. "Cyclopes are strong. Tyson found Ella. Tyson took care of Ella."

Hector raised his eyebrows. Ella was blushing.

"Tyson," he said, "you big charmer, you."

Tyson turned the same color as Ella's plumage. "Um…No." He leaned down and whispered nervously, loud enough for all the others to hear: "She is pretty."

Frank tapped his head like he was afraid his brain had short-circuited. "Anyway, there's this battle happening."

"Right," Hector agreed. "Tyson, where's Annabeth? Is any other help coming?"

Tyson pouted. His big brown eye got misty. "The big ship is not ready. Leo says tomorrow, maybe two days. Then they will come."

"We don't have two minutes," Hector said. "Okay, here's the plan." As quickly as possible, he pointed out which were the good guys and the bad guys on the battlefield.

Tyson was alarmed to learn that bad Cyclopes and bad centaurs were in the giant's army. "I have to hit pony men?"

"Just scare them away," Hector promised.

Within minutes, the battle plan was ready and the trio charged into the battle.

Hazel rode Arion, who had recovered enough to carry one person at normal horse speed, though he cursed about his aching hooves all the way downhill.

Frank transformed into a bald eagle and soared above them.

Tyson ran down the hill, waving his club and yelling, "Bad pony-men! BOO!" while Ella fluttered around him, reciting facts from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

As for Hector, he rode Mrs. O'Leary into battle with a chariot full of Imperial gold equipment clanking and clinking behind, the golden eagle standard of the Twelfth Legion raised high above him.

They skirted the perimeter of the camp and took the northernmost bridge over the Little Tiber, charging onto the Field of Mars at the western edge of the battle.

A horde of Cyclopes was hammering away at the campers of the Fifth Cohort, who were trying to keep their shields locked just to stay alive.

Seeing them in trouble, Hector felt a surge of protective rage. These were the kids who'd taken him in. This was his family.

He shouted, "Fifth Cohort!" and slammed into the nearest Cyclops. The last things the poor monster saw were Mrs. O'Leary's teeth.

After the Cyclops disintegrated—and stayed disintegrated, thanks to Death—Hector leaped off his hellhound and slashed wildly through the other monsters.

Tyson charged at the Cyclops leader, Ma Gasket, her chain-mail dress spattered with mud and decorated with broken spears. She gawked at Tyson and started to say, "Who—?"

Tyson hit her in the head so hard, she spun in a circle and landed on her rump. "Bad Cyclops Lady!" he bellowed. "General Tyson says GO AWAY!"

He hit her again, and Ma Gasket broke into dust.

Meanwhile Hazel charged around on Arion, slicing her spatha through one Cyclops after another, while Frank blinded the enemies with his talons. Once every Cyclops within fifty yards had been reduced to ashes, Frank landed in front of his troops and transformed into a human. His centurion's badge and Mural Crown gleamed on his winter jacket.

"Fifth Cohort!" he bellowed. "Get your Imperial gold weapons right here!"

The campers recovered from their shock and mobbed the chariot.

Hector did his best to hand out equipment quickly.

"Let's go, let's go!" Dakota urged, grinning like a madman as he swigged red Kool-Aid from his flask. "Our comrades need help!"

Soon the Fifth Cohort was equipped with new weapons and shields and helmets and they were suddenly the most powerful cohort in the legion.

"Follow the eagle!" Frank ordered. "To battle!"

The campers cheered.

As Hector and Mrs. O'Leary charged onward, the entire cohort followed—forty extremely shiny gold-plated warriors screaming for blood.

They slammed into a herd of wild centaurs that were attacking the Third Cohort. When the campers of the Third saw the eagle standard, they shouted insanely and fought with renewed effort. The centaurs didn't stand a chance.

The two cohorts crushed them like a vise. Soon there was nothing left but piles of dust and assorted hooves and horns.

"Form ranks!" the centurions shouted. The two cohorts came together, their military training kicking in. Shields locked, they marched into battle against the Earthborn.

Frank shouted, "Pila!" A hundred spears bristled. When Frank yelled, "Fire!" they sailed through the air—a wave of death cutting through the six-armed monsters. The campers drew swords and advanced toward the center of the battle. At the base of the aqueduct, the First and Second Cohorts were trying to encircle Polybotes, but they were taking a pounding.

The remaining Earthborn threw barrage after barrage of stone and mud. Karpoi grain spirits were rushing through the tall grass abducting campers at random, pulling them away from the line.

The giant himself kept shaking basilisks out of his hair. Every time one landed, the Romans panicked and ran. Judging from their corroded shields and the smoking plumes on their helmets, they'd already learned about the basilisks' poison and fire.

The reinforcements weren't enough to turn the tide in the war. Sure they had encouraged the losing Romans, but still, they were heavily outnumbered and with a giant that couldn't be killed without a god, they didn't stand a chance.

"What is this?" Polybotes demanded. "What is this!?"

He roared and let loose a wave of poisonous waters that sizzled and killed every little grass or weed or animal or demigod that came in its way.

The Romans panicked and rallied back away from the upcoming wave.

Hector himself was backing away, when suddenly, the water receded, back toward the giant.

Everyone looked up at Polybotes, but the giant was as confused as everyone, and that's when it happened.

A mysterious being fell from the sky with so much force that the ground cracked under his feet. He was crouched down, wearing a hoodie with the hood up, his hands spread out on both sides.

He had black-red lightning sparking around him as radiated an immense amount of power.

"Who are you!?" Polybotes demanded.

The man smirked and removed his hood, revealing a handsome face with two different colored eyes, one black, and one green. His long hair was tied back in a messy man bun as he looked at the giant.

Several shocked gasps came from the entire crowd.

"You, you!" Polybotes screamed, fear evident in his eyes. "She said you had died! She said… that you were never coming back!"

"Guess I'm just a tough nut to crack," Percy said, as he stood up stretching his arm. "Also, why does everyone say the same thing?"

"Percy?" Hector called out from upon Mrs O'Leary.

Percy turned around and grinned at him. "Hey, Hector."

And that's when the giant took a risk.

Polybotes screamed and threw his trident at the Son of Poseidon, but it stopped right in front of his back, the weapon shattering to pieces upon impact with an invisible wall in front of him.

More gasps.

"How?" The giant asked.

"Guess, I can control water much better than you can! Though, I can deactivate this ability of mine, but until I do…"

He leaped into the air and stopped in front of Polybotes' face, hovering in the air. "You can't touch me."

Percy then spun around in the air and kicked the giant in the nose, pushing him back as the bane of Neptune fell down.

He turned around at the Romans and smirked as Reyna watched him from atop Scipio, first with shock and then she smiled brightly.

The demigods shouted a fierce war cry as they charged again with renewed vigor.

Percy dropped down and took a seat on Hector's chariot, grinning at him.

Hector smiled and felt a rush of power coursing through the standard's staff. He raised the eagle and shouted, "Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" Thunder shook the valley.

The eagle let loose a blinding flash, and a thousand tendrils of lightning exploded from its golden wings—arcing in front of him like the branches of an enormous deadly tree, connecting with the nearest monsters, leaping from one to another, completely ignoring the Roman forces.

When the lightning stopped, the First and Second Cohorts were facing one fallen giant and several hundred smoking piles of ash.

The enemy's center line had been charred to oblivion. The look on Octavian's face was priceless.

Percy then leaped up and stomped his foot on the ground, cracking it even further as the still-alive monsters fell to Tartarus.

Octavian stared at the two sons of Poseidon with shock, then outrage.

Then, when his own troops started to cheer, he had no choice except to join the shouting: "Rome! Rome!"

The giant Polybotes stood up uncertainly, looking at Percy and Hector standing side but Percy knew the battle wasn't over.

The Fourth Cohort was still surrounded by Cyclopes. Even Hannibal the elephant was having a hard time wading through so many monsters. His black Kevlar armor was ripped so that his label just said ANT.

The veterans and Lares on the eastern flank were being pushed toward the city. The monsters' siege tower was still hurling explosive green fireballs into the streets. The gorgons had disabled the giant eagles and now flew unchallenged over the giant's remaining centaurs and the Earthborn, trying to rally them.

"Stand your ground!" Stheno yelled. "I've got free samples!"

Polybotes bellowed. A dozen fresh basilisks fell out of his hair, turning the grass to poison yellow. "You think this changes anything, Percy Jackson?" He said, completely ignoring Hector. "I cannot be destroyed! Come forward, children of Neptune. I will break you!"

Percy dismounted with Hector.

Hector handed Dakota the standard. "You are the cohort's senior centurion. Take care of this."

Dakota blinked, then he straightened with pride. He dropped his Kool-Aid flask and took the eagle. "I will carry it with honor."

Then he looked at Percy and smiled. "Nice having you back, Percy."

Percy smiled back. "Thanks, go rock them, Kool-Aid Man!"

"Frank, Hazel, Tyson," Hector said, "help the Fourth Cohort. we've got a giant to kill."

He raised Riptide and Percy just got into a boxing stance, but before they could advance, horns blew in the northern hills.

Another army appeared on the ridge—hundreds of warriors in black-and-gray camouflage, armed with spears and shields. Interspersed among their ranks were a dozen battle forklifts, their sharpened tines gleaming in the sunset and flaming bolts nocked in their crossbows.

"Amazons," Frank said.

"Great." Polybotes laughed. "You, see? Our reinforcements have arrived! Rome will fall today!"

The Amazons lowered their spears and charged down the hill. Their forklifts barreled into battle. The giant's army cheered—until the Amazons changed course and headed straight for the monsters' intact eastern flank.

"Amazons, forward!" On the largest forklift stood a girl who looked like an older version of Reyna, in black combat armor with a glittering gold belt around her waist.

"Queen Hylla!" said Hazel. "She survived!"

The Amazon queen shouted: "To my sister's aid! Destroy the monsters!"

"Destroy!" Her troops' cry echoed through the valley.

Reyna wheeled her pegasus toward Hector. Her eyes gleamed. Her expression said: I could hug you right now. Then she turned to Percy. Her expression said: I could kill you right now.

She shouted, "Romans! Advance!"

The battlefield descended into absolute chaos. Amazon and Roman lines swung toward the enemy like the Doors of Death themselves.

Percy pointed at Polybotes. "He seems like a small-fry, doesn't he?"

Hector nodded. "Indeed."

The giant roared and they met by the aqueduct, which had somehow survived the battle so far.

Polybotes fixed that. He swiped his hand and smashed the nearest brick arch, unleashing a waterfall.

"Go on, then, children of Neptune!" Polybotes taunted. "Let me see your power! Does water do your bidding? Does it heal you? But I am born to oppose Neptune."

He touched the water, turning it poisonous, a sickly shade of green.

"My touch turns water to poison… let's see what it does to your blood!" He yelled and threw some water at Hector who deflected it away with his own will.

A few splashes of poison were nothing for him.

"We've seen that before Polybotes," Percy said. "Do you have nothing new?"

The giant roared and smashed the place where Percy was standing with his fist, but the son of Neptune just disappeared.

"What?" Polybotes sputtered out as he felt something hit his skull, sending him falling to the ground with an "Ooff."

The giant screamed and got up as Hector charged with Riptide, plunging it deep into his stomach, drawing out golden ichor.

He vaulted away as Polybotes staggered, removing the blade from his stomach, the wound closing up.

Percy got down and smashed the water, raising an avalanche that blinded the giant. Then both he and Hector charged, fists ready.

They hit the stomach of the giant, making him double over in pain.

Polybotes blindly swiped at Hector who just dodged and returned with a kick to the head.

Percy then kneed his chin as Hector slashed Riptide through Polybotes' stomach.

Percy then used the giant's head as leverage and jumped off of it to reappear next to Hector.

"I've got a plan," Hector said and Percy suggested he go on.

Hector whispered in Percy's ear and he smirked at that.

"AARGH!" Polybotes screamed. "You won't be able to kill me like this! I will break you!"

"Only if you catch us!" Hector called out as they ran.

"What?" the giant yelled incredulously. "You run, cowards? Stand still and die!"

The demigods had no intention of doing that.

Hector passed Mrs. O'Leary, who looked up curiously with a gorgon wriggling in her mouth.

"I'm fine!" He yelled as he ran by, then corrected himself. "We're fine!", followed by a giant screaming bloody murder.

They jumped over a burning scorpion and ducked as Hannibal threw a Cyclops across their path. Tyson was pounding the Earthborn into the ground like a game of whack-a-mole.

Percy leaped over a hedgehog, which turned out to be Frank, pricking any monster that dared come close to it.

"Die!" Polybotes yelled, closing fast.

They kept running.

In the distance, Percy saw Hazel and Arion galloping across the battlefield, cutting down centaurs and karpoi. One grain spirit yelled, "Wheat! I'll give you wheat!" but Arion stomped him into a pile of breakfast cereal.

Queen Hylla and Reyna joined forces, forklift and pegasus riding together, scattering the dark shades of fallen warriors.

Something fluttered inside Percy as he saw the daughter of Bellona he had fallen in love with, again.

He was shaken out of his stupor as Polybotes stomped the ground with his foot.

Frank turned himself into an elephant and stomped through some Cyclopes, and Dakota held the golden eagle high, blasting lightning at any monsters that dared to challenge the Fifth Cohort.

Hector glanced back and saw the giant almost within arm's reach.

"Go!" Percy yelled. "I'll hold him off… get him!"

Hector nodded and sprinted ahead as Percy stopped and turned around.

"What happened, Jackson?" The giant asked. "You finally give up?"

Percy smirked and snapped his fingers. "Never."

Polybotes gasped as his hand fell off from his right arm, then his left arm fell off from the shoulder, then his legs gave out on him, and he fell to the ground on his knees.

The giant roared as his hand started to reform, the earth helping him.

"You must not be left alive Percy Jackson!" He yelled. "You're too strong! Too strong for your own good!"

His arm reformed and he grabbed the ground, lifting himself up on his baby legs.

Percy just flipped him off and ran toward Hector, bolting for the city limits.

He saw that Hector was in a heated argument with Terminus.

"Completely unacceptable!" he complained. "Buildings on fire! Invaders! Get them out of here, Hector Babington!"

"I'm trying," he said. "But there's this giant, Polybotes."

"Yes, I know! Wait—Excuse me a moment." Terminus closed his eyes in concentration. A flaming green cannonball sailed overhead and suddenly vaporized. "I can't stop all the missiles," Terminus complained. "Why can't they be civilized and attack more slowly? I'm only one god."

"Help me kill the giant," Hector said, "and this will all be over. A god and demigod working together—that's the only way to kill him."

Terminus sniffed. "I guard borders. I don't kill giants. It's not in my job description."

"Hey, knucklehead!" Percy shouted. "You gotta help us! There's a giant in your camp! Aren't you gonna do anything about it?"

"I am doing something!" Terminus yelled back as another missile exploded.

"But, it's not enough!" Hector yelled, joining Percy.

"Enough of you two—" Terminus looked like he wanted to say something more but was cut off by Polybotes.

"I will kill you!" He screamed. "You will die slowly!"

All around them, the battle was winding down. As the last monsters were mopped up, the Roman friends started gathering, forming a ring around the giant.

"I will take you prisoner, Percy Jackson," Polybotes snarled. "I will torture you under the sea. Every day the water will heal you, and every day I will bring you closer to death. Then, when you finally die, it would be Hector's turn. All the time I will make Neptune watch, as he sees his own flesh and blood writhe and die in front of him!"

"Great offer," Percy said. "But I think we'll just kill you instead. Won't we?" He asked, looking up at Terminus and Hector.

Polybotes bellowed in rage. He shook his head, and more basilisks flew from his hair.

"Get back!" Frank warned. Fresh chaos spread through the ranks. Hazel spurred Arion and put herself between the basilisks and the campers.

Frank changed form— shrinking into something lean and furry…a weasel. He charged the basilisks, who were absolutely freaked out. They slithered away with Frank chasing after them in hot weasely pursuit.

Polybotes pointed his newfound trident and ran toward Percy. As the giant reached the Pomerian Line, the children of Neptune jumped aside like bullfighters.

Polybotes barreled across the city limits.

"THAT'S IT!" Terminus cried. "That's AGAINST THE RULES!"

Polybotes frowned, obviously confused that he was being told off by a statue. "What are you?" he growled. "Shut up!" He pushed the statue over and turned back to Percy.

"Now I'm MAD!" Terminus shrieked. "I'm strangling you. Feel that? Those are my hands around your neck, you big bully. Get over here! I'm going to head-butt you so hard—"

"Enough!" The giant stepped on the statue and broke Terminus in three pieces—pedestal, body, and head.

"You DIDN'T!" shouted Terminus. "Percy Jackson, Hector Babington, you've got yourself a deal! Let's kill this upstart."

The giant laughed so hard that he didn't realize Hector was charging until it was too late. He jumped up, vaulting off the giant's knee, and drove Riptide straight through one of the metal mouths on Polybotes's breastplate, sinking the Celestial bronze hilt-deep in his chest.

Percy then jumped up and punched the giant straight in the solar plexus, making the behemoth spit out golden ichor.

The giant stumbled backward, tripping over Terminus's pedestal and crashing to the ground.

While he was trying to get up, clawing at the sword in his chest, Percy hefted the head of the statue.

"You'll never win!" the giant groaned. "You cannot defeat me alone."

"I'm not alone." Percy raised the stone head above the giant's face. "I'd like you to meet my friend Terminus. He's a god!"

Too late, awareness and fear dawned in the giant's face.

Percy smashed the god's head as hard as he could into the Polybotes's nose, and the giant dissolved, crumbling into a steaming heap of seaweed, reptile skin, and poisonous muck.

Percy staggered away, completely exhausted, leaning on Hector for support.

"Ha!" said the head of Terminus. "That will teach him to obey the rules of Rome."

For a moment, the battlefield was silent except for a few fires burning, and a few retreating monsters screaming in panic. A ragged circle of Romans and Amazons stood around Percy and Hector.

Tyson, Ella, and Mrs. O'Leary were there. Frank and Hazel were grinning at him with pride. Arion was nibbling contentedly on a golden shield.

The Romans began to chant, "Hector! Hector!"

They mobbed the children of Poseidon, the cry changing to, "Percy! Percy!"

Before they knew it, they were raising them on a shield. The cry changed to, "Praetor! Praetor!"

Among the chanters was Reyna herself, who held up her hand and grasped both hands in congratulation.

Then the mob of cheering Romans carried them around the Pomerian Line, carefully avoiding Terminus's borders, and escorted them back home to Camp Jupiter.

Percy was given a VIP entry back into the camp something that consisted of a returned fallen hero.

Of course, some people had taken their turns punching him in the arm, Reyna included, who straight up decked him.
This all was followed by the Feast of Fortuna, something that had nothing to do with tuna.

Campers, Amazons, and Lares crowded the mess hall for a lavish dinner. Even the fauns were invited, since they'd helped out by bandaging the wounded after the battle.

Wind nymphs zipped around the room, delivering orders of pizza, burgers, steaks, salads, Chinese food, and burritos, all flying at terminal velocity.

Despite the exhausting battle, everyone was in good spirits. Casualties had been light, and the few campers who'd previously died and come back to life, like Gwen, hadn't been taken to the Underworld.

Maybe Thanatos had turned a blind eye. Or maybe Pluto had given those folks a pass, like he had for Hazel. Whatever the case, nobody complained.

Colorful Amazon and Roman banners hung side-by-side from the rafters. The restored golden eagle stood proudly behind the praetor's table, and the walls were decorated with cornucopias—magical horns of plenty that spilled out recycling waterfalls of fruit, chocolate, and fresh-baked cookies.

The cohorts mingled freely with the Amazons, jumping from couch to couch as they pleased, and for once the soldiers of the Fifth were welcome everywhere. Percy changed seats so many times, he lost track of his dinner.

Earlier he was sitting next to Hector, who had bombarded him with so many questions that he had excused himself out of that seat.

There was a lot of flirting and arm-wrestling—which seemed to be the same thing for the Amazons.

At one point Percy was cornered by Kinzie, the Amazon who Hector had warned him about.

"I already met up with your brother in Seattle, and I thought he was a good piece of meat," She said sultrily, running a hand up Percy's well-toned chest. "He never told me he had such a hunk of a brother."

Percy gently grabbed her hand and told her that he already had someone he liked.

Fortunately, Kinzie took it well. She told him what had happened in Seattle—starting from how she met Hector to how Hylla had defeated her challenger Otrera in two consecutive duels to the death, so that the Amazons were now calling their queen Hylla Twice-Kill.

"Otrera stayed dead the second time," Kinzie said, batting her eyes. "We have your brother to thank for that. If you ever need a girlfriend, in case your crush rejects you…well, I think you'd look great in an iron collar and an orange jumpsuit."

Percy couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. He politely thanked her and changed seats.

Once everyone had eaten and the plates stopped flying, Reyna made a short speech. She formally welcomed the Amazons, thanking them for their help. Then she hugged her sister and everybody applauded. Reyna raised her hands for quiet.

"My sister and I haven't always seen eye to eye—"

Hylla laughed. "That's an understatement."

"She joined the Amazons," Reyna continued. "I joined Camp Jupiter. But looking around this room, I think we both made good choices. Strangely, our destinies were made possible by the hero or heroes you all just raised to praetor on the battlefield—Percy Jackson and Hector Babington."

More cheering. The sisters raised their glasses to the children of Neptune and beckoned them forward.

Percy just smirked and when he reached the stage, he swooped Reyna in and pressed his lips to hers, in front of the entire legion, again.

This time, Reyna ran her hands through his hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss.

The entire place was silent for a few seconds, then they broke into loud cheers and whooping. Some whistled and some congratulated him.

Hector and Hylla were dumbstruck, looking at each other, confused.

When the lovebirds finally broke apart, the crowd cheered even louder, instantly saying that Percy should become praetor and that they'd make a great couple.

Percy was hesitant but when Reyna looked at him approvingly, he melted and finally agreed.

Though he still said that Hector would make a better Praetor than him, the other son of Poseidon just pushed him forward, joining in the crowd shouting, "Praetor! Praetor!"

Reyna smiled as she took away Hector's neck plate and Octavian came.

He shot Hector a dirty look, and then looked at Percy with a mix of fear and respect in his eyes.

He ripped open a teddy bear and pronounced good omens for the coming year—Fortuna would bless them!

He passed his hand over Hector's arm and shouted: "Hector Babington, son of Neptune, first year of service!"

The Roman symbols burned onto his arm: a trident, SPQR, and a single stripe.

Octavian embraced him and whispered, "I hope it hurt."

Then he did the same with Percy, who just smiled at the augur, clapping him on the back.

"I hate you," He said through a perfect, fake smile, earning the most frightened look from the son of Apollo.

Then Reyna gave him an eagle medal and purple cloak, symbols of the praetor. "You earned these, Percy."

Queen Hylla pounded him on the back. "And I've decided not to kill you for kissing my sister."

"Thanks," Percy said, flipping his hair over his shoulder.

He made his way around the mess hall one more time because all the campers wanted him at their table.

He quickly excused himself out of the party, followed by Hector and Reyna.

"So, mind telling me what happened?" Reyna asked, when they finally came to a stop.

"No, no… first you fucking tell me how you know Reyna, what they meant by 'Welcoming You Back' and how did you just go up there and kiss Reyna, in front of a crowd," Hector exclaimed.

"Oh please, he's done that before once… The first time we met, was the first anyone had kissed me, and that too, publicly," Reyna replied as Percy laughed at Hector's shocked face.

"Yeah, yeah… I know I disappeared on you guys… I know I left you alone Hector… sorry for that, but I needed that time alone with myself and my ghosts… I had to come to terms with myself and I had to… run some errands. That's how I came here, and then I had to take some kind of test of some sort… and that's when the kissing incident happened. Then Mars came and we went on a quest. And that's when I almost died… and disappeared again," Percy took a deep breath. "I promise I won't disappear again. So, what happened after I was gone?"

"Jason disappeared, Hector appeared," Reyna explained as if that was all of it.

Percy nodded and looked down.

The other two knew he was silently blaming himself and Reyna and Hector looked at him sympathetically as they both hugged him.

Percy returned the gesture and clapped both of them on their backs. "We love you, you know that?"

Percy chuckled at that and nodded.

"I love you guys too," He said and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment, not stressing himself about the disaster that was going to happen the next day.

-TIME-SKIP-
(BOO starts here! Enjoy! The middle portion and the rest of the books are the same with a little bit of tweaks that you guys can make! So, I'm following the same tactic I followed with the original version of my story!)

If Jason hadn't been strapped to the mast with one of Leo's twenty-point safety harnesses, he would have disintegrated. As it was, his stomach tried to stay behind in Greece and all the air was sucked out of his lungs.

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under Jason's legs and, with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds.

'Jason!' Leo shouted. 'Hurry!'

His fingers felt like melted plastic, but Jason managed to undo the straps.

Leo was lashed to the control console, desperately trying to right the ship as they spiralled downward in free fall. The sails were on fire. Festus creaked in alarm. A catapult peeled away and lifted into the air. Centrifugal force sent the shields flying off the railings like metal Frisbees.

Wider cracks opened in the deck as Jason staggered towards the hold, using the winds to keep himself anchored.

If he couldn't make it to the others …

Then the hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on the guide rope they'd attached to the mast. Piper, Annabeth, and Hector followed, all of them looking disoriented.

'Go!' Leo yelled. 'Go, go, go!'

For once, Leo's tone was deadly serious.

They were hurtling through the air when suddenly they stopped like the entire ship was frozen in the air, the flying debris and pieces that halted as if someone had stopped time.

But the demigods could move.

Jason looked around in surprise until he saw a black figure floating in the air, his hood removed showing off his handsome face and his green and black eyes. His long hair blowing to the side.

"Percy?" Annabeth, Hector, and Jason looked up at the figure in awe.

"Hey guys," Percy waved at them cheerfully. "' Sup Praetor?"

Piper and Leo had widened eyes as they saw the all-powerful Roman praetor in front of their eyes, the one whose tales were famous in both camps, while Frank and Hazel just waved back.

Percy smirked and then snapped his fingers as six demigods vanished from sight.

Then he looked back at Leo, did a one-finger salute, and twirled around in the air as he fell down, as the ship went on hurtling through the air with Leo on it.

On the ground, Jason saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills – cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others he couldn't even name – surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

Giant eagles circled Jason, screeching urgently, as if looking for orders.

Frank turned into grey dragon and flew alongside with his passengers, Hazel, Hector, and Annabeth.

'Hazel!' Jason yelled. 'Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods –'

'On it!' Hazel said. 'Go, Frank!'

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth in one claw yelling, 'Let's get 'em!' and Hector in the other claw screaming, 'I hate flying!'

Piper and Jason veered right towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill.

Jason's heart lifted when he saw Nico di Angelo on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his

way through a crowd of two-headed men. A few feet away, Reyna sat astride a new pegasus, her sword drawn. She shouted orders at the legion, and the Romans obeyed without question as if she'd never been away.

Jason didn't see Octavian anywhere. Neither did he see a colossal earth goddess laying waste to the world.

He and Piper landed on the hill, their swords drawn, and a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans.

'About time!' Reyna called. 'Glad you could join us!'

With a start, Jason realized she was addressing Piper, not him.

Piper grinned. 'We had some giants to kill!"

'Excellent!' Reyna returned the smile. 'Help yourself to some barbarians.'

'Why, thank you!' Then Piper added. "And we also had a little help from your boyfriend."

"Ah, yes," Reyna said. "I did tell him to go help you."

"Well, thank you for that!"

The two girls launched into battle side by side.

Nico nodded to Jason as if they'd just seen each other five minutes ago, then went back to turning two-headed men into no-headed corpses. 'Good timing. Where's the ship?'

Jason pointed. The Argo II streaked across the sky in a ball of fire, shedding burning chunks of mast, hull, and armament. Jason didn't see how even fireproof Leo could survive in that inferno, but he had to hope that Percy had done something to help him.

'Gods,' Nico said. 'Is everyone okay?'

'Leo …' Jason's voice broke. 'He said he had a plan.'

The comet disappeared behind the western hills. Jason waited with dread for the sound of an explosion, but he heard nothing over the roar of battle.

Nico met his eyes. 'He'll be fine, he has Percy.'

'Sure."

'But just in case … For Leo.'

'For Leo,' Jason agreed. They charged into the fight.

Jason's anger gave him renewed strength. The Greeks and Romans slowly pushed back the enemies. Wild centaurs toppled. Wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes.

More monsters kept appearing – karpoi grain spirits swirling out of the grass, gryphons diving from the sky, lumpy clay humanoids that made Jason think of evil Play-Doh men.

'They're ghosts with earthen shells!' Nico warned. 'Don't let them hit you!'

Obviously Gaia had kept some surprises in reserve.

At one point, Will Solace, the lead camper for Apollo, ran up to Nico and said something in his ear. Over the yelling and clashing of blades, Jason couldn't hear the words.

'Jason, I have to go!' Nico said.

Jason didn't really understand, but he nodded, and Will and Nico dashed off into the fray.

A moment later, a squad of Hermes campers gathered around Jason for no apparent reason.

Connor Stoll grinned. 'What's up, Grace?'

'I'm good,' Jason said. 'You?'

Connor dodged an ogre club and stabbed a grain spirit, which exploded in a cloud of wheat. 'Yeah, can't complain. Nice day for it.'

Reyna yelled, 'Eiaculare flammas!' and a wave of flaming arrows arced over the legion's shield wall, destroying a platoon of ogres. The Roman ranks moved forward, impaling centaurs and trampling wounded ogres under their bronze-tipped boots.

Somewhere downhill, Jason heard Frank Zhang yell in Latin: 'Repellere equites!'

A massive herd of centaurs parted in a panic as the legion's other three cohorts ploughed through in perfect formation, their spears bright with monster blood. Frank marched before them. On the left flank, riding Arion, Hazel beamed with pride.

'Ave, Praetor Zhang!' Reyna called. "Though, how does that work with Percy also being alive?"

'Ave, Praetor Ramírez-Arellano!' Frank said. "I don't actually know… but Jason somehow did that, and I think Percy must've known about it and he didn't say anything… Anyway, let's do this. Legion, CLOSE RANKS!'

A cheer went up among the Romans as the five cohorts melded into one massive killing machine. Frank pointed his sword forward and, from the golden eagle standard, tendrils of lightning swept across the enemy, turning several hundred monsters to toast.

'Legion, cuneum formate!' Reyna yelled. 'Advance!'

Another cheer on Jason's right as Hector and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood.

'Greeks!' Hector yelled. 'Let's, um, fight stuff!'

They yelled like banshees and charged.

Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. They had no organization whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

Then suddenly, the same black figure from before crashed into the ground, landing in a superhero landing, his jacket sweeping around him.

He stood up and raised his hand, as a wave of earth rose from the ground and swallowed up a dozen giants.

The campers looked at the figure in awe until the figure turned around to show Percy wearing a cheeky smile.

"So, you still want to… um… fight stuff?" He asked, raising his arms to both sides.

The greeks burst into cheers and with renewed vigor they charged the monsters.

Percy then grabbed a giant and then threw him at an upcoming wave of monsters, disintegrating half of the army.

But where one went down, two more rose up to take it's place.

Jason was feeling good about the battle, except for two, no three big questions: Where was Leo? And where was Gaia?

Unfortunately, he got the second answer first.

Under his feet, the earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress. Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into the grass.

'AWAKE', a voice boomed all around them.

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upward like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman – her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots.

'Little fools.' Gaia the Earth Mother opened her pure green eyes. 'The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.'

As she said it, Jason realized why Gaia hadn't appeared until now. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting the demigods, holding back the wrath of the earth, but even Athena's might could only last so long against a primordial goddess.

Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over the demigod army.

'Stand fast!' Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. 'Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!'

Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and the earth bent towards her – trees tilting, bedrock groaning, soil rippling in waves. Jason rose on the wind, but all around him monsters and demigods alike started to sink into the ground. One of Octavian's onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill.

'The whole earth is my body,' Gaia boomed. 'How would you fight the goddess of –'

She was cut off as a flash of black lightning struck her hard on the head, pushing her back into the ground.

"Shut Up! Earth face!" Percy said as he stood on the earth, but the primordial appeared behind him.

"A fierce one, eh? Come then, be the first one to fight me and die with honor! We'll see how well you fare against—"

Again, she was cut off with a punch directed towards her face and everyone, monster and mortal alike, turned around to see the fight, one thought clear in their minds as they froze all activities, because well, they couldn't do anything about it and also… this was a fight between a demigod and a primordial, something that you don't see everyday.

BAM!

Gaia's lower jaw was torn apart, but, immediately, it started reforming as she let loose a blast of earth debris and rocks, which technically were not supposed to hit, but when they did, millions of cuts and bruises opened up on Percy's body.

But he just smirked and the hands were unleashed as he stopped one of the earth's fists with one then another then another as this chain continued and soon their arms were a blur as the ground cracked and the sky darkened and fire erupted.

The two contenders changed positions as damage was dealt to both of them, and this time, Percy's regeneration had been slowing down.

His right hand had been broken as he decided to end the fistfight and performed a drop kick, the same one he had seen wrestlers do and it worked. Distance was created in between them, enough to allow Percy to put his plan in place.

But, the earth goddess just threw him up in the air and Percy tsked as she sent another wave of earth towards him. Before he could land however, he raised his arm and her hand was gone for a second until it grew back and she laughed. "That's your plan to defeat me? You think that'll do the tri—"

She was again cut off several slashes appeared on her body, and she just laughed and walked forward, moving through Percy's strikes that rained endlessly on her, as her entire flesh and dirt mixed with the surroundings and then the wounds closed back up, but the demigod's face didn't even show the slightest ounce of fear. Instead, he smirked.

Gaia was going through the process of disintegration again and again as she was cut into tiny pieces but, the earth again rose up to heal her as Percy had his hands closed together as they started to glow orange and just as the earth primordial was within his range, he let his flames out.

Everything in a 5 meter radius felt the heat. Everything in the 2 meter radius got burnt. And everything in the one meter radius melted and evaporated into the air.

Gaia was in between two and one as the fire burnt the twigs and the mud on Gaea's body, covering and engulfing her entire body, rendering her unable to do anything and just then, using that moment as a distraction, Percy called out.

"LEO!"

FOOOOMP!

In a flash of bronze, Gaia was swept off the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon.

Festus, reborn, rose into the sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. As he ascended, the rider on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Leo's grin was unmistakable.

'Pipes! Jason!' he shouted down. 'You coming? The fight is up here now!'

As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified and Percy bent on one knee, his injuries catching up to him as his cuts refused to heal.

Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists, and they were still reeling from what they had just seen. Sadly, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods' disorganization.

Percy slammed the ground with his foot as the earth around the demigods cracked and they rose to their feet but before anyone could turn around and thank him, he vanished.

Jason put his arms around Piper's waist. He was about to take off when Hector yelled, 'Wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all –'

'No, man,' Jason said. 'They need you here. There's still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy –'

'He's right.' Frank gripped Hector's arm. 'You have to let them do this, Hector. It's like Annabeth's quest in Rome. Or Hazel at the Doors of Death. This part can only be them or Percy.'

Hector obviously didn't like it, but at that moment a flood of monsters swept over the Greek forces. Annabeth called to him, 'Hey! Problem over here!' The son of Poseidon ran to join her.

Frank and Hazel turned to Jason. They raised their arms in the Roman salute, then ran off to regroup the legion.

Jason and Piper spiralled upward on the wind.

'I've got the cure,' Piper murmured like a chant. 'It'll be fine. I've got the cure.'

Jason realized she'd lost her sword somehow during the battle, but he doubted it would matter. Against Gaia, a sword would do no good. This was about storm and fire … and a third power, Piper's charmspeak, which would hold them together. Last winter, Piper had slowed the power of Gaia at the Wolf House, helping to free Hera from a cage of earth. Now she would have an even bigger job.

As they ascended, Jason gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed. Soon they were in the eye of a maelstrom. Lightning burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate.

Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth goddess. Gaia kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but the winds kept her aloft. Festus sprayed her with flames, which seemed to force her into solid form. Meanwhile, from Festus's back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own and hurled insults. 'Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!'

His whole body was wreathed in fire. Rain hung in the stormy air, but it only sizzled and steamed around him.

Jason zoomed towards them.

Gaia turned into loose white sand, but Jason summoned a squadron of venti who churned around her, constraining her in a cocoon of wind.

Gaia fought back. When she wasn't disintegrating, she lashed out with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that Jason barely deflected. Stoking the storm, containing Gaia, keeping himself and Piper aloft … Jason had never done anything so difficult. He felt like he was covered in lead weights, trying to swim with only his legs while holding a car over his head. But he had to keep Gaia off the ground.

That was the secret Kym had hinted at when they spoke at the bottom of the sea.

Long ago, Ouranos the sky god had been tricked down to the earth by Gaia and the Titans. They'd held him on the ground so he couldn't escape and, with his powers weakened from being so far from his home territory, they'd been able to cut him apart.

Now Jason, Leo and Piper had to reverse that scenario. They had to keep Gaia away from her source of power – the earth – and weaken her until she could be defeated.

Together they rose. Festus creaked and groaned with the effort, but he continued to gain altitude. Jason still didn't understand how Leo had managed to remake the dragon. Then he recalled all the hours Leo had spent working inside the hull over the last few weeks. Leo must have been planning this all along and building a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship.

He must have known in his gut that the Argo II would eventually fall apart. A ship turning into a dragon … Jason supposed it was no more amazing than the dragon turning into a suitcase back in Quebec.

However it had happened, Jason was elated to see their old friend in action once more.

'YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!' Gaia crumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then re-formed again as human. 'I AM ETERNAL!'

'Eternally annoying!' Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher.

Jason and Piper rose with them.

'Get me closer,' Piper urged. 'I need to be next to her.'

'Piper, the flames and the shrapnel –'

'It's fine,' A new voice said from their side as Jason turned around to see Percy hovering in the air. "She's under my protection.

The son of Jupiter looked at Percy with a look of respect in his eyed and nodded.

Jason moved in until they were right next to Gaia. The winds encased the goddess, keeping her solid, but it was all Jason could do to contain her blasts of sand and soil.

That was Percy's job, all the shrapnel that was hurtling toward Piper got destroyed few inches before impact.

His eyes were glowing with power that matched the power in Gaia's eyes.

Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter, while Percy's were like all of the world's strength had been pooled into them.

'FOOLISH CHILDREN!' Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides.

'You are so weary,' Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. 'Aeons of pain and disappointment weigh on you.'

'SILENCE!'

The force of Gaia's anger was so great that Jason momentarily lost control of the wind. He would've dropped into free fall, but Percy caught him and Piper in the air.

Jason was amazed to see that the son of Poseidon had more control over the winds than Jason himself.

Even more amazingly, Piper kept her focus. 'Millennia of sorrow,' she told Gaia. 'Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your grandchildren the gods overthrew your beloved children the Titans. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache.'

'LIES!' Gaia crumbled into a tornado of soil and grass, but her essence seemed to churn more sluggishly.

If they gained any more altitude, the air would be too thin to breathe. Jason would be too weak to control it. Piper's talk of exhaustion affected him, too, sapping his strength, making his body feel heavy. If not for Percy, the two would've fallen right on the ground.

'What you want,' Piper continued, 'more than victory, more than revenge … you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals.'

'I – YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME – YOU CANNOT –'

'You want one thing,' Piper said soothingly, her voice resonating through Jason's bones. 'One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You – want – SLEEP.'

Gaia solidified into human form. Her head lolled, her eyes closed, and she went limp in Festus's claw.

Unfortunately, Jason started to black out, too.

The wind was dying. The storm dissipated. Dark spots danced in his eyes.

Percy's eyes glowed even more as they floated in air.

'Leo! Percy!' Piper gasped for breath. 'We only have a few seconds. My charmspeak won't –'

'I know!' Leo looked like he was made of fire. Flames rippled beneath his skin, illuminating his skull. Festus steamed and glowed. 'I can't contain the fire much longer. I'll vaporize her. Don't worry. But you guys need to leave.'

'No!' Jason said. 'We have to stay with you. Piper's got the cure. Leo, you can't –'

'Hey.' Leo grinned, which was unnerving in the flames, his teeth like molten silver ingots. 'I told you I had a plan. When are you going to trust me? Besides, I have Percy. We've already decided everything. And by the way – I love you guys.'

The son of Hephaestus looked at Percy who nodded and snapped his fingers as Jason and Piper fell.

Jason had no strength to stop it. He held on to Piper as she cried Leo's name, then Percy's, and they plummeted earthwards.

Percy looked at Leo and nodded as he glowed with raw power.

Leo was burning and Percy was glowing an ethereal blue as the winds whipped around Gaia as Festus soared higher in the air.

The earth mother was dissipating into dust as Percy created a ball of water around her, keeping the disintegrating primordial in the sky.

Leo was helping in that and so was Percy.

Percy's dust technique wasn't working that effectively on the goddess as she woke up. Gaia's eyes opened and they glowed with even more power, sending a powerful wave of shrapnel in the direction of the demigods.

Percy leaped in front of Leo, as a powerful blast hit him right in the chest, his water shield bursting.

"You dirt-faced bitch!" Percy yelled and emitted pure godly power, something that no regular demigod has ever been able to do.

The clouds evaporated and the birds in the air disintegrated as entire mountains came crumbling down.

Right now, the son of Poseidon was at the peak of his power, his hair raising in the air.

He had wrapped the earth goddess in an air cocoon, crushing Gaia with mere power as Leo could only look at the demigod in front of him in awe.

He had known he was powerful, but those tales were of the past. Present-day Percy was easily the strongest demigod ever to exist.

Percy yelled. "Leo! We both might die on this one… You have the physician's cure, right?"

It was difficult for Leo to answer over the whipping winds as he nodded.

"Good, fulfil your promise to Calypso for me, will ya?" Percy said as he turned back around.

Leo was confused and scared. "Why does this sound like a goodbye?"

Percy just smiled as the son of Hephaestus' flames increased, disintegrating the earth goddess again.

Percy's hands glowed too and brought them together as blue flames were formed.

"Say sorry and goodbye to Reyna for me," The son of Poseidon said to Leo with a sad tone in his voice.

"No—" Leo's voice cracked. "You can't die! Didn't you promise Reyna something?"

He pointed to the golden ring that was flying around in Percy's camp necklace.

Percy sighed. "You promised Calypso something as well… that's a much bigger oath to fulfill. You got it from here."

Then he spread his arms out and the flames erupted, shredding Gaia to a zillion tiny pieces as the entire sky glowed gold and blue as the eruption was at par with a nuclear bomb dropping and the fire stayed for long enough and then, gone, its tendrils flying in the sky and its last rays ending like Godzilla's atomic breath as the last Leo saw of the son of Poseidon was his smiling face with blood trickling down the side of his mouth before the entire world went black.

-FLASHBACK-START-

Percy was sitting with Reyna in the Praetor's room, the daughter of Bellona sitting, blushing furiously while Percy was lounging on his seat, with the same red expression on his face.

He had just given Reyna an apple and when the daughter of Bellona cut it into two pieces for them to share, she found a gold ring with a diamond embedded and the words 'erunt in perpetuum' that literally translated to 'Be Mine Forever'.

Reyna looked at Percy in shock as he just rubbed his neck and looked down in embarrassment.

Reyna took the ring out and slid it on her finger, blushing furiously.

Finally, she spoke up. "Thanks, Percy."

Percy just smiled at her and said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Reyna said and put her arms around Percy's neck, kissing his lips softly.

After a few minutes, they broke apart as Percy had a pained expression on his face.

"I have something to tell you," Percy said. "I don't think I could survive."

"What?" Reyna asked.

Percy sighed. "The last battle with Gaia, and the last line of the prophecy… they can't win alone, they need me… and I'm afraid… because fire is of course that Valdez kid… and storm is going to be me."

Reyna looked at him in shock. "But you guys have the physician's cure, so you can be saved, right?"

"I can… but Leo has to live… he has to fulfill a broken promise, my broken promise."

Reyna looked at him again, realization in her eyes. "Can't you do something else? I would rather spend my last moments with you, than spending an entire eternity without you!"

Percy looked at her tenderly and kissed her hand. "I know, Reyna… that's why I ask you… will you marry me when we meet again in the afterlife?"

It was scarce to see tears in the eyes of the daughter of Bellona, but she nodded.

Percy smiled and stood up and grabbed Reyna's cheeks, wiping away her tears.

"Hey," He said. "Look at me. There's no way that pesky goddess can actually kill me."

Reyna sniffed.

"Besides, I will fight with Pluto to come back to you."

Reyna looked up at his face. "Promise?"

"Promise," Percy said with finality.

Reyna smiled and raised her face to meet his lips.

-FLASHBACK-END-

The battle was over with no serious casualties, except for one.

Even Leo had survived, Festus injecting the cure in him at the last moment, reviving the son of Hephaestus.

But, even though his body was never found, for the entire world, Perseus Einar Jackson died on his birthday.

-TIME-SKIP-

Reyna refused to believe it.

After the explosion, Piper and Jason – free-falling and unconscious – were plucked out of the sky by giant eagles and brought to safety, but Leo and Percy did not reappear. The entire Hephaestus cabin scoured the valley, finding bits and pieces of the Argo II's broken hull, but no sign of Festus the dragon or his master.

The rest of the cabins had gone off in the search of the hero of Olympus. Percy Jackson was gone.

Nico Di Angelo himself had confirmed it. He had felt Percy's soul pass into the underworld, his eyes tearing up and bloodshot as he announced the news.

All the monsters had been destroyed or scattered. Greek and Roman casualties were heavy, but not nearly as bad as they might have been.

Overnight, the satyrs and nymphs disappeared into the woods for a convocation of the Cloven Elders. In the morning, Grover Underwood reappeared to announce that they could not sense the Earth Mother's presence. Nature was more or less back to normal. Apparently, Jason, Piper, and Leo's plan had worked. Gaia had been separated from her source of power, charmed to sleep and then atomized in the combined explosion of Leo's fire and Percy's power and Octavian's man-made comet.

An immortal could never die, but now Gaia would be like her husband, Ouranos. The earth would continue to function as normal, just as the sky did, but Gaia was now so dispersed and powerless that she could never again form a consciousness.

At least, that was the hope …

Octavian would be remembered for saving Rome by hurling himself into the sky in a fiery ball of death. But it was Percy Jackson who had made the real sacrifice. Leo Valdez too would be remembered as a noble hero.

The victory celebration at camp was muted, due to grief – not just for Percy but also for the many others who had died in battle. Shrouded demigods, both Greek and Roman, were burned at the campfire, and Chiron asked Nico to oversee the burial rites.

Nico agreed immediately. He was grateful for the opportunity to honour the dead. Even the hundreds of spectators didn't bother him.

The hardest part was afterwards, when Nico and the six demigods from the Argo II met on the porch of the Big House.

Jason hung his head, even his glasses lost in shadow. 'We should have been there at the end. We could've helped them.'

'It's not right,' Piper agreed, wiping away her tears. 'All that work getting the physician's cure, for nothing.'

Hazel broke down crying. 'Piper, where's the cure? Bring it out.'

Bewildered, Piper reached into her belt pouch. She produced the chamois-cloth package, but when she unfolded the cloth it was empty.

All eyes turned to Hazel.

'How?' Annabeth asked.

Frank put his arm around Hazel. 'In Delos, Leo pulled the two of us aside. He pleaded with us to help him.'

Through her tears, Hazel explained how she had switched the physician's cure for an illusion – a trick of the Mist – so that Leo could keep the real vial. Frank told them about Leo's plan to destroy a weakened Gaia with one massive fiery explosion. After talking with Nike and Apollo, Leo had been certain that such an explosion would kill any mortal within a quarter of a mile, so he knew he would have to get far away from everyone.

'He wanted to do it alone,' Frank said. 'He thought there would be a slim chance that he, a son of Hephaestus, could survive the fire, but if anyone was with him … He said that Hazel and I, being Roman, would understand about sacrifice. But he knew the rest of you would never allow it.'

At first the others looked angry, like they wanted to scream and throw things. But, as Frank and Hazel talked, the group's rage seemed to dissipate. It was hard to be mad at Frank and Hazel when they were both crying. Also … the plan sounded exactly like the sneaky, twisted, ridiculously annoying and noble sort of thing Leo Valdez would do.

Finally Piper let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. 'If he were here right now, I would kill him. How was he planning to take the cure? He was alone!'

'Maybe he found a way,' Hector said. 'This is Leo we're talking about. He might come back any minute. Then we can take turns strangling him.'

Nico and Hazel exchanged looks. They both knew better, but they said nothing.

Then Annabeth asked. "What about Percy? Such an explosion would've killed anyone, even him, and there was only one cure!"

The mood darkened even more as most of the people had tears in their eyes.

Finally, Hector sighed. "He's going to come back. That dude's managed to cheat death two times already. Pretty sure he's alive and just floating around here somewhere. He's too strong to die."

Again, Nico and Hazel exchanged looks.

The next day, the second since the battle, Romans and Greeks worked side by side to clean up the warzone and tend the wounded. Blackjack the pegasus was recovering nicely from his arrow wound. Guido had decided to adopt Reyna as his human. Reluctantly, Lou Ellen had agreed to turn her new pet piglets back into Romans.

Will Solace hadn't spoken with Nico since the encounter at the onager. The son of Apollo spent most of his time in the infirmary, but whenever Nico saw him running across camp to fetch more medical supplies, or make a house call on some wounded demigod, he felt a strange twinge of melancholy. No doubt Will Solace thought Nico was a monster now, for letting Octavian kill himself.

Reyna was out of order for the next few days.

The Romans bivouacked next to the strawberry fields, where they insisted on building their standard field camp. The Greeks pitched in to help them raise the earthen walls and dig the trenches. Nico had never seen anything stranger or cooler. Dakota shared Kool-Aid with the kids from the Dionysus cabin. The children of Hermes and Mercury laughed and told stories and brazenly stole things from just about everyone.

Reyna, Annabeth, and Piper were inseparable, the two greeks consoling the miserable Roman demigod.

Chiron, escorted by Frank and Hazel, inspected the Roman troops and praised them for their bravery.

By evening, the general mood had improved somewhat. The dining hall pavilion had never been so crowded. The Romans were welcomed like old friends. Coach Hedge roamed among the demigods, beaming and holding his baby boy and saying, 'Hey, you want to meet Chuck? This is my boy, Chuck!'

The Aphrodite and Athena girls alike cooed over the feisty little satyr baby, who waved his pudgy fists, kicked his tiny hooves and bleated, 'Baaaa! Baaaa!'

Clarisse, who had been named the baby's godmother, trailed behind the coach like a bodyguard and occasionally muttered, 'All right, all right. Give the kid some space.'

At announcement time, Chiron stepped forward and raised his goblet.

'Out of every tragedy,' he said, 'comes new strength. Today, we thank the gods for this victory. To the gods!'

The demigods all joined the toast, but their enthusiasm seemed muted. Nico understood the feeling: We saved the gods again, and now we're supposed to thank them?

Then Chiron said, 'And to new friends!'

'TO NEW FRIENDS!'

Hundreds of demigod voices echoed across the hills.

At the campfire, everyone kept looking at the stars, as if they expected the two dead people to come back in some dramatic, last-minute surprise. Both of them were known for their sarcastic and joking nature and dramatic nature. Maybe Leo'd swoop in, jump off Festus's back and launch into corny jokes and Percy would just rise out of the earth with a grin plastered on his face. It didn't happen.

After a few songs, Reyna, who had recovered somewhat, and Frank were called to the front. They got a thunderous round of applause from both the Greeks and Romans. Up on Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed more brightly in moonlight, as if to signal: These kids are all right.

'Tomorrow,' Reyna said, 'we Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality, especially since we almost killed you –'

'You almost got killed,' Annabeth corrected.

'Whatever, Chase.'

Oooooohhhhh! the crowd said as one. Then everybody started laughing and pushing each other around. Even Nico had to smile.

'Anyway,' Frank took over, 'Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the camps.'

Reyna clapped him on the back. 'That's right. For hundreds of years, the gods tried to separate us to keep us from fighting. But there's a better kind of peace – cooperation.'

Piper stood up from the audience. 'Are you sure your mom is a war goddess?'

'Yes, McLean,' Reyna said. 'I still intend to fight a lot of battles. But from now on we fight together!'

That got a big cheer.

"Though, I'll be retiring from the post of Praetor. I believe I have done enough for my country, and I might just like a bit of rest," She said with a wink and the whole area quietened down. "I believe Hazel Levesque would be much suited for the role."

The crowd burst out in cheer again as Reyna stepped down and Hazel took her place, her eyes wide in surprise and confusion.

Frank gave her the necessary things and then hugged her warmly as the crowd kept on cheering.

Zhang raised his hand for quiet. 'You'll all be welcome at Camp Jupiter. We've come to an agreement with Chiron: a free exchange between the camps – weekend visits, training programmes and, of course, emergency aid in times of need –'

'And parties?' asked Dakota.

'Hear, hear!' said Conner Stoll.

Reyna spread her arms. 'That goes without saying. We Romans invented parties.'

Another big Oooohhhhhhhh!

'So thank you,' Reyna concluded. 'All of you. We could've chosen hatred and war. Instead we found acceptance and friendship.'

Then she did something so unexpected Nico would later think he dreamed it. She walked up to Nico, who was standing to one side in the shadows, as usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled him gently into the firelight.

'We had one home,' she said. 'Now we have two.'

She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval. For once, Nico didn't feel like pulling away. He buried his face in Reyna's shoulder and blinked the tears out of his eyes.

Surprisingly, he found out that Reyna's eyes were as wet as his.

Olympus had soon found out about Percy's disappearance.

They didn't say death because two weeks after the aftermath, Nico had announced that Percy's soul was nowhere to be found in the underworld.

A news that brought hope in everyone's hearts.

Poseidon was grieving, and no one could console him.

Almost all of the gods were miserable, and even Zeus shed a tear.

Since that day, a month passed, but Leo and Percy still hadn't returned.

Then six months later, Leo Valdez appeared on Festus the dragon with Calypso on his back.

2 years later, Reyna joined the hunters of Artemis, who had been informed of Percy's death, after fighting the battle of New Rome with Lester.

Thalia had been hit the hardest, and most of the older hunters, who knew him or about him, wept a few tears or so.

5 years later, Percy still hadn't come back.

50 years had gone by without him reappearing.

Hector was now 66, sitting in his apartment verandah, sipping tea looking at the sky wistfully with Annabeth sitting beside him.

They had married 15 years ago, and had two cute children, mortals.

100 years passed as Hector was lying on a hospital bed.

Annabeth had died a year ago, suffering from a severe cardiac arrest and now Hector was also going to die.

He had been diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago, and he had refused to receive any treatment. Living past the age of 116, and seeing all his friends die in front of him, was enough to make him want to die as well.

He was however still lying on the hospital bed, his body covered in blue clothes as he lay with the bandages on his hand and just as the doctor and nurses exited the hospital ward, almost ready to announce his death.

But, just as the room was empty, Hector closed his eyes and then opened them again and to say he was shocked was an understatement.

Standing in front of him was the same mix-matched-eyed man, his face still ever young and his hair still luscious as he stood tall, wearing black clothes.

Hector wheezed after a while, his breath rattled, the skin on his hands mottled and blotted. "Guess, Hades couldn't come himself?"

Percy smiled and knelt down as he held his hand. They were cold to touch and the demigod sighed, tears in his eyes as they dropped on the cool limb. "I'm sorry."

Hector breathed his last on August 12, a far and wistful look in his eyes, a tear falling down his face.

That was the last demigod who knew about Percy Jackson. His legacy though was passed down for generations.

A/N:- And, that's a wrap on A Black Heart! Hope you liked it! I for sure did! I'm happy too! I turned 60 chapters into just 22! Do drop reviews for me to read! Bye, Have a nice day! And if you're worried about Percy appearing at the end… don't… it'll all be explained in the sequel! Do stick around for it! Bye!