The Cradle of Olympus

by Rohan Rodrigues

Taking place for a brief period in Ancient Greece and beyond, at a time when the Olympian council of Gods haven't reached their full potential yet, an unknown entity has made it's presence known. What will it's connection be to Olympus, and the greater Greek pantheon as well? Arc I is complete, continuing on with Arc II.

47. Chapter 47

Authors Note: YAAAAAAAWWWWWNNN. Man, that was a good nap, hello April. Huh, it's weirdly cold for April, I wonder…oh. Oh no. *Dashes through the hallways and bursts into the auditorium, finding it caked with dust, worn out seats, and a few shriveled up bodies hooked on to IV's.* Huh…I expected things to be thrown at me but…this is worse. Man, power naps suck.

---

Chapter 47: The impended source

"Anything…Hestia?"

The goddess of the hearth slowly opened her eyes, the fire burning within her sockets gradually dimming. She gave one final glance at the hearth before letting out a short sigh, and gave Zeus a sad look, making him frown harshly.

"So she's clouded from you as well. Then it can't be my enemies." Zeus murmured, leaning back on his throne. "But then who would do it…"

"If I may." Hestia replied. "It wouldn't hurt investigating the situation yourself Zeus. She is your daughter after all."

"My wind spirits came back empty handed. And sending my children may lead to certain complications. And I would not like to see that, in case my daughter turns out to be a valuable asset. But if she becomes a liability…"

Hestia was about to reply when Zeus summoned his master bolt, and sent a bolt of lightning at the ceiling. "There, I've sent my eagles to find her. Does that satisfy you?"

"It shouldn't satisfy me." Hestia said, slightly narrowing her eyes. "And I wish to ask, where was Hades for the winter solstice meeting?"

"With Persephone of course." Zeus said shortly. After noticing that Hestia was still staring at him, he sighed. There was nothing where he could have contributed, you know that well if you asked Poseidon for details."

"That doesn't mean you can keep him from his home-"

"The Underworld is home-"

"Olympus is his home. And you, for some bizarre reason have always insisted that our brother can only visit during emergency meetings, events, and the winter solstice as time moved on. And all that has eventually decreased to just the solstice, and now you're trying to take that away?" Hestia said with a slightly accusing tone.

Zeus raised his arms in a placating manner. "He could have come to the celebration. But you know how closed off he is for those things."

"Because you don't make him feel welcome. Hardly anyone does now these days." Hestia said with a defeated sigh. Zeus's gaze was directed towards the constellations on the ceiling, a slightly uncomfortable look on his face when he saw Ursa Major.

"How are the twins after that eclipse? I heard their condition has…prolonged?" Hestia asked with a questioning tone.

Zeus slowly nodded his head. "It has, though I suspect it must be because of the nature of that eclipse. Formed without the two celestial bodies scheduled formation, which led to a big strain on my children. Strangely, even Helios and Selene were affected, when they didn't whenever an eclipse occurred. Of course, my children also didn't receive any side effects during an eclipse, but that was only because Perseus's presence helped stabilize the effects. But without him…"

Zeus then let out a sigh. "In short, the twins are tired and weak, have been for days now. There's only so much a golden apple can do."

"You're getting more agitated than usual." Hestia said, a pained look on her face from the mention of Perseus. "And you seem to avoid talking about what happened in Greece."

"And for good reason. Whatever happened was a minor inconvenience-"

"Minor, Zeus? People were injured, and have died. The twilit tree, that…thing which emerged after Perseus disappeared has vanished completely, leaving a tremor in its wake across the entire planet. The prisoner within the mountain has escaped and Perseus's last remaining temple has been uncovered. Aphrodite physically witnessed Skiagis being uncovered. And the eclipse- that happened on the same day!"

"That still doesn't warrant anything. Just what I needed, another repeat of this conversation, had to put my foot down on what my daughter was proposing. Finding him." Zeus said with a sigh. "And just when I thought we actually moved on… . We're not going to go through this again Hestia, please. Because I don't want to see you and the others hurt. There's nothing we can do, and if there was, don't you think it would have presented itself by now?"

Hestia didn't answer, and instead pulled up her shawl over her head and shimmered out of the throne room. Zeus didn't move from his place though, as numerous thoughts began to plague him, his own doubts slowly creeping up.

"All these occurrences, are these even connected." Zeus thought, gripping his arm rests tightly. "And now Thalia with gone… . Elpis, please make sure she doesn't fall into the source of all this."

---

Percy ducked behind a parked vehicle as a cop car passed by him, making him groan. The fourth one now, and he was being silly. But he didn't want to try and risk being caught by the lotus eaters, wherever they were. For all he knew, the entire residency was probably hunting him down with torches and pitchforks. Or he just watched too much television.

Making his way out of the Strip, Percy then came across a single story mall, which was closed for the night. Lightly shrugging his shoulders to balance Thalia, he walked around the back of the mall and used his powers to break through a wall, and found himself in the generator room. After navigating through the room for a while, Percy then managed to find himself within the crux of the mall, surrounded by the various shops that were shut down for the night.

"I have money." Percy muttered to himself as he phased through a shop. "So I'm technically not stealing, if I leave money behind?"

Percy then set Thalia down on a nearby couch and then began to browse through the various shelves, humming periodically as he grabbed various items he deemed useful. He then checked out the other shops and returned back with a handful of food supplies, clothes, some electronics, and party poppers, which he then shoved inside his coat.

"There we go, and a drachma for the services." Percy said, placing a single drachma on the counter. "Thalia, you still asleep?" Percy asked softly, tilting his head to the side.

"Mhhm…" Thalia murmured, shifting in her sleep.

"Okay good, get some rest." Percy said, carrying her up. He then found himself at the back of the mall again, glancing around to assess his surroundings. Even with the distant sounds of music and shouts coming from the still lively city, there weren't much people around, just a couple of sleeping people who were probably homeless. After jumping over the fence, Percy pursued his lips on seeing the bunch of pickup vans parked alongside the sidewalk, wondering if he should do what he was thinking. In the end, he picked a van and managed to open it without damaging the door much. Leaving behind a pouch of drachmas, he then tucked Thalia on the passenger seat, and after checking to see if she was comfortable, worked on starting the car up. He knew he watched a video somewhere on how to drive a car. And a video on how to hotwire one (though he wasn't really sure why, maybe because he was thinking of Hephaestus). Percy drew a sigh as he began working on the vehicle, removing the cover from below the steering column and fiddling with the various wires he managed to pull out. It took a while, and after double checking that there weren't spare car keys lying around, Percy finally got to getting the car started, and quietly congratulated himself as he tried to get the car from driving on the footpath. And after once again evading the cops, made his way across interstate 215 and slowly descended into a comfortable pace in driving.

"Let's see, where can I reach in the…morning?" Percy muttered to himself as he unfolded his map, while he brought two shadow wisps out to handle the steering wheel. "Driving away from Utah currently, a shame, I should check it out one day. Hmm, I can go to Arizona…oh, New Mexico? Land of enchantment, interesting…"

Percy kept musing and humming to himself as he circled areas on his map, periodically glancing up to check his surroundings. He had just crossed the Hoover Dam, and in turn, entered Arizona's border. But that strangely didn't excite him, the implication that he was in a brand new place. Nor the fact that he wasn't sure what to do for Thalia's birthday.

Instead, his mind was plagued with images of the Lotus hotel residents, either haphazardly roaming about in a timeless cycle, or writhing in pain from the magic of the Lotus tree. And it didn't help that remembering all that led to Tethys's parting words to echo inside Percy's head.

"One problem at a time, one problem." Percy muttered to himself, leaning back on his seat. He spied a CD slot next to the dashboard, making Percy raise an eyebrow. Making sure the wisps were steady with the wheel, he began rummaging around the front of the car, until he found what he was looking for in the glove compartment, but not containing what he thought it would.

"A music CD. I wonder if cars can play movies…I don't see a VHS slot though." Percy murmured, shrugging his shoulders as he decided to go for the music. He popped the CD into the slot, and after fiddling with the knobs, was greeted by a semi soft blast of rock music.

"Do you have the time, to listen to me whine."

"About nothing and everything all at once?"

"Green Day…Basket Case." Percy muttered as he glanced at the cover. "Rhythm is pretty good…Artemis would probably hate this."

Percy grinned to himself as he took control of the wheel, his head slowly bopping to the beat of the song. He noticed Thalia shift in his peripheral version, and glanced to see her blearily opening her eyes, a blank expression on her face.

"What's that playing?" Thalia asked with a yawn.

"Ah, sorry Thalia." Percy said abashedly. "Didn't mean to wake you, let me just-"

"Turn it louder." Thalia replied, yawning again as she nestled back on her seat. "I think I like it."

Percy smiled slightly in response. "Noted bug."

The god continued to drive across the interstate, wondering if it was considered beneath gods to drive vehicles such as these. Though he was pretty sure they still used chariots. And after entertaining a sleepy Thalia for the eight time, who continued to drift in and out of sleep, Percy finally placed a light sleeping charm on her and snuck a peek at his map. He was well into Arizona now, and if his bearings were correct, then he might reach around the central area somewhere in the morning. As for which place, that would probably be something by chance.

And if Percy had ever decided to stop for the night, then he would have most likely noticed a collection of stars shining brighter than usual, and eerily formed the shape of a face with a swirling dark blue vortex behind it. Watching curiously over the twilight god and the daughter of lightning.

---

"Woah!" Thalia said with a shout, waking up with a start as she felt the van shudder loudly. She glanced to her left to find Percy absent, and then glanced ahead to find the hood of the car propped up. And a string of words coming from behind it which Thalia was pretty sure were not in English.

"Percy?" Thalia called out, climbing out of the van. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to fix this thing up." Percy said with a deadpanned look, blinking owlishly. "…What else would I be doing?"

"Are you sure the gas didn't get empty?" Thalia asked, slightly frowning. "Do you even know how to fix a car?"

"Yes, I checked the dashboard." Percy said, wobbling inside the car. "See, the indicator, no, wrong one. Ah here, that indicator says there is still ample enough of gas in. And besides, I have another tank ready just in case." Percy replied with a sigh. "I think it's the battery, which I can't even get it to work." he muttered, fiddling with a wire.

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Can I help?"

"I don't know bug, no offense, but I'm not really sure on how you can help-" Percy began to say when he immediately paused, turning around to face Thalia, who had a very innocent look on her face.

"You just shocked me." Percy said indignantly.

"No…" Thalia replied slowly.

"You just shocked me." Percy said again, looking confused. "I didn't even feel it, and I know you shocked me!"

"You didn't feel it?" Thalia asked with surprise, then groaned aloud when she saw Percy's raised eyebrow. "Fine, you got me. But I only did it because you forgot."

"…F-Forgot?" Percy said, nervously glancing at the covered supplies at the back of the van. "Forgot what?"

"That I have electric powers." Thalia said with a sigh.

"Ohhh." Percy said with a relieved sigh, his eyes slowly lighting up. "Oh…but are you sure that will be enough to do it?"

"Percy!"

"I'm teasing bug, only teasing." Percy said with a laugh. "No, but seriously. I don't trust this machinery, if only I had Hephaestus to clue me in." Percy replied, glancing at the road ahead. "We're not that far from the nearest town though."

"Where are we anyway. All I can see is…desert." Thalia said out loud. "I thought we would still be in Vegas."

"Um, yeah. I thought that too, but I…decided to cut that visit short." Percy replied, walking to the back of the van. "Wasn't in the mood to stick around after what happened. I hope that is fine though with you."

Thalia shrugged. "I'll only miss the games in the casino, that's for sure. But it's not much of a problem."

Percy nodded slowly. "There's something else I need you to know. The date right now, is 22nd December. Still 1996 if you were wondering."

Thalia tilted her head slightly. "So…we have been driving for three days?"

Percy bit his lip. "No, definitely not. We've been on the road for at least five hours. But three days have passed, and that was because of the casino."

"But...we didn't stay in the casino for three days." Thalia replied with a frown.

"We did bug." Percy said with a sigh. "It's a bit complicated, but some timey-wimey shenanigans within the casino happened that caused the jump in time. Time stopped for us inside the casino, but remained unaffected outside."

"…Oh." Thalia said after a while, looking a bit unsure. "It's a little hard to believe this though."

"I understand that." Percy replied, rubbing his forehead. "The fact that a place like that even exists is troubling itself. Though I do understand now why none of the Olympians tried to destroy it in the first place."

"But hey, there is a bit of a silver lining to all of this." Percy said after a while, poking Thalia's face. "It's your birthday today."

Thalia frowned for a moment, until realization slowly dawned on her face. "Huh…I guess it is. That's cool."

"Just cool?" Percy asked with slight surprise. "Come on, you only become nine once. Aren't you even at least quite excited to celebrate your birthday? Do some cool stuff and all?"

"Yeah, sure." Thalia said with a shrug.

Percy then remembered Thalia's previous comments on birthdays, and bit back a heavy sigh. He really wished he wasn't so far from Los Angeles right now.

"Alright, you-" Percy then said, getting up from the back. "-are getting a birthday celebration today. And I hope to make it a good one. Nope, no buts Thalia, look-" Percy said, spreading his hands. "Just trust me on this. I won't do anything you wouldn't want to do, but I really don't think absolutely nothing should be done for your birthday, okay?"

Thalia cracked a small smile. "Alright. So, how about I get the car started then."

"I'm still not sure if it would work…"

"Hey!"

Percy chuckled to himself while Thalia rolled her eyes. The demigod then went up to the front of the car, slowly flexing her fingers. Sparks began erupting from her palm, but lightning streams were yet to be seen appear.

"Come on, come on…"

"Don't push yourself." Percy said, eyeing the mace canister. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sent out lightning to those telkhines through your spear right?"

"Yeah?"

"I wonder…but I don't want you to wholly depend on a conductor." Percy said after a brief pause. "But you still have time to improve, so I think you can use this to help you out." Percy replied, pointing at the canister. Thalia looked confused for a moment until realization dawned upon her.

"Now, I'm not sure how powerful the bolt is going to be. So just to be on the safe side, I think you should maybe try to-"

But before Percy could continue, a bright flash of light followed by a crackling sound erupted out of Thalia's spear, hitting the air exposed filter. Another loud burst of noise soon followed as that and the battery next to it exploded, soon leading to the car to slowly catch on fire.

"Ah…uh…huh…" Percy mumbled out while Thalia openly gaped at the fiery vehicle.

"Maybe we should keep aside the conductor for now." Percy said weakly.

"So does that mean we are going to be walking." Thalia said, a grin slowly forming on her face.

"I'm afraid so. Sorry about-"

"You're carrying me till the next town."

Percy sighed. "Whatever you say princess. …σκατά! The supplies!"

After going through a half burning van (and making sure the fire caused was properly put off, lest it'll make the car explode) Percy was soon walking along the road with Thalia in tow. And while Thalia kept commenting on the various (barely) things she could see around her, Percy was slowly slipping into his thoughts, most of them revolving around Tethys's warning and a conversation he wanted to have with Nyx.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you make a rocket launcher out of those weapon changing things?"

"…You have surprisingly violent tastes in weapons for your age Thalia…"

"Blame my mom's one TV show."

"Uh-huh." Percy replied, eyes darting around.

"Are you looking for something?" Thalia asked.

"Yes? I'm not really sure, just feeling a bit cautious I guess." Percy replied. He then stopped dead in his tracks, eyes narrowing as his eyes began to trail something.

"A wolf." Percy then said suddenly.

"Where?" Thalia asked quickly, her head popping up.

"No, it's a regular wolf." Percy replied absently, slowly crouching down. "But what is that doing over here, they should be down south. Not up here."

The wolf which Percy spotted was slowly trudging along the ground, just some hundred feet away and next to a cliff. It seemed to walk around in circles, only glancing up to stare at Percy once with a low growl, it's fully black eyes dully staring at the god.

"That seems strange. Too strange in fact." Percy muttered, placing a hand on the ground. But as soon as he did that, two things happened. The shadow beneath him began to flicker violently, as small wisps started to emerge from the surface. And the wolf straightened up, immediately bounding away. And then suddenly, it disappeared.

"Did you see that!" Percy whispered yelled, his head glancing from the ground to where the wolf was.

"See wha- AAAHH!" Thalia yelled out as Percy broke into a run, sending a shadow wisp to the spot where the wolf was before. The wisp hit the ground and began to shimmer, making Percy frown a few moments later.

"Shadow travel? It can't be." Percy thought, slowly exhaling. "Sorry about that bug, just wanted to check something."

"Mhm." Thalia mused, blowing a tuft of hair out of her face. "Was something wrong with the wolf?"

"Maybe. Or perhaps, it was normal for it." Percy replied, a slow smile spreading on his face, which then turned to a frown. "But back there." He murmured, placing his hand on the ground again. While nothing unnatural happened this time, Percy could still feel the remnants of something outwardly happening within the shadows.

"Percy?" Thalia suddenly spoke up. "Is it just me or is the ground white?"

"White-?" Percy asked, sloppily stepping away as he glanced down. Just as Thalia said, the ground was covered by a rather thick layer of white powdered substance, which took a long while for both of them to realize what it was they were staring at.

"Is that snow?" Percy asked, looking a bit perplexed. "I rarely see this stuff."

"I've never seen it…" Thalia replied, then frowned. "Don't you gods live on top of a mountain?"

"In a certain point of view." Percy mumbled, glancing up. "Holy- Look at that view Thalia! The rarity of seeing something like this…" he replied as he gazed from the cliff at the first set of the sun's rays breaking through the violet sky, which illuminated the white snow covered grounds and tall structures scattered around the desert, making the contrast with the red soil of the Arizona desert even more appealing.

"Can I touch the snow?" Thalia merely asked, snapping Percy out of his stupor.

"Not now, we still have to find some kind of place to stop by. Come on, off we hop. We still have to find civilization bug, can't remain in the middle of nowhere now, can we?"

"Though it can't be the middle of nowhere if people are here right?" Thalia said, staring behind Percy.

"Yep. But what makes you say…oh!" Percy said, turning around to see another pickup van heading their way, and soon slowing down.

"Wonder how this will go." Percy murmured, slightly smiling when he saw the van pull up next to them, revealing the driver, a man in his early sixties, staring at Percy and Thalia with a confused expression.

"I'm sorry but…are you travelling on foot? This early in the morning?" The driver asked suspiciously, though there was a slight hint of concern laced in his voice. "Are you and your child alright?"

"Yeah- oh no, she's um… a family friend's kid I'm taking care of. And don't worry, we're perfectly alright. Our van broke down back there, and I'm almost sure there is a town nearby so I figured we could probably walk it." Percy replied. "And what about you, sir? You're quite early yourself, and I doubt it's for groceries." He said, spying the sacks of vegetables and meat on the passenger seat.

"Oh that? Just ingredients for my diner." The driver said, slowly narrowing his eyes. "You must be headed towards somewhere I presume?"

"If it is nearby, and generously populous." Percy replied.

"Well yes, Jerome is the closest currently." Percy raised an eyebrow on hearing that, slightly raising his hand. "I'm headed there myself." The driver replied, slight hesitation laced in his voice. "Perhaps…I think I can offer you and the child a lift to the town if that's what you want. Though there isn't much place up front for the two of you. I can only offer the back, if you don't mind…"

"That would actually be wonderful. What do you say bug?" Percy asked Thalia, who gave a short nod in response. "Hitchhiking it is then."

The two then hopped into the back of the van, setting aside some bags to make space to sit. The driver pushed open the back window, in order to communicate easier.

"Thank you once again for helping us, sir." Percy replied.

"Not at all. I don't mind helping, and you two seem like alright people as well. My name is James La Rue."

"I'm Percy, Percy Jackson and this is Thalia. So you mentioned that you're heading to Jerome. Do you stay there?"

"Currently yes. Born and raised in the city you see, Phoenix. But moved here some decades ago. A nice place Jerome, even though its only reputation is that it's a supposed ghost town."

Percy asked, a mysterious smile creeping up his face. "So I've heard. Does it live up to its reputation?"

"Ghost town?!" Thalia squeaked out.

James snorted. "Depends on what angle you want to know. It's not fully deserted to be a ghost town, and there haven't been any paranormal happenings at all. Apparently. My wife always said that the ghost sightings were all hoaxes, and she checked since she lived there her entire life. As for me though, I have no personal experiences to share."

"Interesting." Percy mused aloud, still grinning when he saw Thalia's terrified expression. "How do you know about that place?" Thalia demanded.

"It came up while I was reading up." Percy replied with a shrug. "You're not scared of ghosts now, are you?" Percy asked telepathically.

Thalia frowned when she heard Percy's voice echo inside her head, even though he didn't move his lips.

"I'm talking through your mind bug."

"…Oh?" Thalia thought hesitantly, making Percy snort. "You met cyclops, and just recently telkhines. But ghosts?" Percy asked.

"…You know, you're right. I shouldn't be afraid, since ghosts don't even exist." Thalia said in her mind, though her smile faltered when she saw Percy rub the back of his neck. "They don't right?"

"Well, they are not supposed to 'exist' in the mortal world." Percy replied. "Other than that…well…"

"Percyyy!" Thalia whined, slumping in her seat. Percy chuckled in response as he shifted in his seat, so that she could be more comfortable. "Were you planning to steal the van from him?"

"Huh?" Percy replied.

"Your hand was twitching back there. Looked like you were maybe going to put him to sleep." Thalia yawned.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, I was planning to do something, but for the record, I wasn't going to throw him off on the road. Just a slight persuasion spell to make him comply, that is if he wasn't going to offer us a ride."

It was almost thirty minutes later when Percy finally got a peak at the supposed ghost town. And after spending most of his time in three major cities, Jerome seemed to be something akin to a breath of fresh air for Percy. And strangely enough, a hint of familiarity as well. An old style town mostly in the wilderness, nestled neatly on a hill sure gave Percy the familiarity of a Greek village. Or an ancient one now, he wasn't sure yet. The streets looked fairly deserted, but there were people slowly trickling out, about to start their day.

"Here we are. This is my place." James replied, pulling the vehicle to the side. Percy hopped out of it, taking in the early morning sights and basked in the last strays of night that were slowly fading away.

"Here, let me help." Percy stated, taking a sack of crops from James's hands.

"Um, that child is still sleeping over here." James asked. "You know; you can keep her in here for now if you want. There is a spare bedroom on the ground floor."

"I can? That'll be great. She'll be fine though, she needs the rest." Percy replied, entering what looked like a storage room and setting the sacks down. "So, is there anything interesting to do over here?"

James shrugged. "There are some tourist spots where…ghost sightings happened?"

"Yeah…I didn't think there's much either." Percy said with a sigh, spying a set of photographs on a wall. "Ooh, pictures. Is that family?"

"Yeah, that's my wife there, my two kids. And my granddaughter, my younger daughter's child."

"Huh." Percy replied, slowly tilting his head as he stared at the picture of a barely five-year-old girl, who looked to be quite content with swinging a tree branch on top of a crudely made pillow fort. And for some reason, looked vaguely familiar as well.

"My granddaughter is a wild one to put it simply." James replied with a chuckle on noticing Percy's gaze. "Don't know where she gets that from."

'I see." Percy replied, narrowing his eyes briefly, but then shook his head. "They live over here?"

"Oh no, they're down in Phoenix. My wife just went there yesterday. I'll be joining her and the family for Christmas soon."

"Phoenix…that's nice. Well, I think I'm going to have a look around. And don't worry about Thalia, I'll handle her."

"If you need breakfast, you can stop by here if you so wish." James called out.

"Will do!" Percy replied back with a grin, stepping next to the van and picked Thalia up.

"Thalia come on, it's your birthdayyyy. Waaaaake uuuuuuuup."

"Ngh, let me sleep for my birthday." Thalia mumbled.

Percy pondered for a while. "I guess that gives me time." He thought, bringing Thalia into the house.

"I'm surprised you can even find snow in these parts." Percy commented. "Isn't this all supposed to be desert?"

"Mostly the northern parts, and areas with higher elevation."

"So this town must have got snow?" Percy asked.

James paused. "We did. But it's all been removed from the streets and neighboring areas, collected it all in a big pile over at the outskirts.

"So…you basically have a pile of snow just sitting aside, and not being used at all? Sounds good to me."

"Huh? But the snow will be caked with dirt-"

"Not a problem for me!" Percy called out.

Percy then began his walk around town, still gaining odd looks from the locals who were starting to mingle around. It was a while until Percy found the snow pile, which as James mentioned, was mixed with dirt. Percy merely snapped his finger twice and watched as the dirt from the snow separated, leaving the snow white and pristine. Percy then got to work, and an hour later, headed back to the diner with a request.

"The kitchen? I guess you could use it…"

Another hour later saw Thalia waking up, mostly because of the scent she as smelling. Knowing undoubtedly what it was, she rushed out, only to realize that he was in a house she did not recognize at all. James had found her later trying to enter a closet, then took her down to the diner area where she spotted Percy behind the kitchen, cooking up what looked like pancakes.

"Look who finally woke up." Percy teased, flipping a pancake. "Your second half of the breakfast is almost ready."

"What's the first then?" Thalia asked excitedly. "Is it what I think it is, because I can definitely smell it."

"Kids." Jerome said, shaking his head fondly. "They always know when burgers are on the grill."

"Definitely noted." Percy replied, placing a cheeseburger on the counter. "Here's your birthday breakfast bug."

"You are the best." Thalia whispered, immediately wolfing the burger down. Percy then finished preparing the black currant pancakes he had promised, which Thalia immediately loved.

"Let me know when you're done, cause we're going to head outside." Percy replied.

"There's more?"

"Yep, and I think you might like this one."

Later on, Percy then led Thalia around the town, covering her eyes once they approached the place where the snow was all kept.

"You ready?" Percy asked, to which Thalia, nodded, he then uncovered her eyes, revealing a sort of winter wonderland with snow spread out everywhere.

"No way…" Thalia said, a laugh escaping her. "It's snow!"

Percy grinned. "Now that, you can play with." He replied, ruffling her hair.

"Yes!" Thalia yelled out, jumping into a snow pile, coming out of it a second later. "Oh, it's cold!"

Perc blinked, bursting out with laughter. "I mean…that's snow bug."

"Come on, we can make snowballs, snow angels…"

"…What are those?"

"You're kidding right?"

Percy sweat dropped. "I told you, I've only seen sow. Maybe walked on top of it?"

Thalia giggled. "Does that mean I can teach you something now?"

"Well, if you know how to do it…" Percy then entertained an enthused Thalia who showed him the ropes on how to play with snow. It was only later that he remembered that Thalia had as much experience of snow as he did, which probably explained their crumbly snowballs and awkward snow angels. And while passersby's gave them strange looks, he enjoyed doing all that with Thalia especially the snow angels which he found ironically funny.

"Best birthday ever!" Thalia yelled, laughing s Percy swung her around, finally placing her on his shoulders. "Thank you so much Percy."

"You are welcome bug."

It was almost afternoon when the two returned back to the diner. Percy then felt a change in the air as he entered the diner, immediately sensing an ancient presence. He glanced around until he found a suspicious looking figure at the far end of the diner, huddled deep in the booth. He was sure Jerome must have seen its fair share of weird strangers (like him) around here, but what caught Percy's attention was the fact that the man seemed to crave the shade, and was definitely trying to hide his face. Not to mention the fact no one seemed to pay any attention to him as well which only fueled Percy's suspicions.

"Are you going to approach me, or keep on staring at me like I'm some kind of mold?" a voice echoes inside Percy's mind, making him blink.

"…Geras?"

"Hurry now, don't keep an old man waiting." Geras replied sullenly. Percy glanced around to see that nothing else was out of place and then joined the old god in his booth.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of you visiting me?" Percy asked. Geras stared at Percy for a few moments before drawing a sigh.

"You caused a stir at the mansion of night. Mother was most displeased when she heard, forgive me, saw that you had taken in the child of lightning under your wing. But curious too."

Percy straightened up. "How do you two know about her. Who else-"

"It's limited knowledge. And wouldn't have been, if you hadn't gone blank once again on earth." coughed Geras. "Where did you go recently, Pontus?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Nowhere, I've been here only- ah. The lotus casino."

"Lotus eaters, I see…" Geras frowned. "I don't like that place."

"Of course you don't." Percy replied. "I'm sensing there's more, you won't just come to the mortal realm to deliver news now, would you?"

"...The Morai are restless." Geras replied after a while. "First the prophecy child mysteriously disappears from her residence, and then briefly from the mortal realm. Around the same time as you. Nyx is doing what she can to cover for you and the new development you have caused, refusing to elaborate on whether you have left the mansion or under house arrest, it's hilariously absurd watching them be so lost. And I heard from Eris, you may or may not have had an outburst regarding our mother. Which is strange now that I think about it, mother doing all this for you seems to look like she's making up for something unknowingly."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "And what if I did?"

Geras faltered when he saw Thalia run straight for their table. "Percy! Who…are you talking to?"

Percy's face softened. "Just a local really, not that important either."

"Not important?!"

"Your friend is very old." Thalia replied with slight awe. "How old are you?"

Geras grumbled loudly. "Two millennia." He barked, glaring at a chuckling Percy. "What caused your anger huh? Or fine, if you don't want to answer that, then answer about the child. Τι σκεφτόσασταν να φέρετε κάτω από σας το παιδί της προφητείας? She will be just a hindrance, will only pull you back!"

Percy merely raised an eyebrow while Thalia looked a bit confused. ''I'm not a bother, am I?" she then asked slowly.

"You are not a bother to me okay, never." Percy replied, gently patting her head. "Why don't you go ask James for some apple pie, I'll join you later to finish it."

"Okay!" Thalia exclaimed, running towards the bar. Geras muttered something about energy, while pointedly ignoring Percy's glare.

"I had a revelation fall onto me during my time back in the mortal world, which grew more as I pondered over it." Percy then said. "You asked for the reason for my anger, well here it is. Let's just say, it has something to with Nyx and her words…and the implications behind them."

"Interesting…" Geras muttered. Percy briefly contemplated if he should dwell with the god on his plight when he suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine, sending him on high alert. It seemed that Geras also felt something strange, for he too frowned deeply, glancing at the god. "Did you-?"

Percy didn't answer as he quickly got up and made his way out of the diner, head turning at all directions as he walked around town. He walked a good distance until he turned up in front of a graveyard, making him pause. A few moments later, Geras materialized behind him, and hissed when a stream of sunlight entered his eyes. "I have enough for mother anyway." He muttered to himself, disappearing in a flash.

"How nocturnal can they be." Percy murmured, rolling his eyes. He then knelt down next to a shadow casted by a low wall, and immediately found something peculiar. The shadow was rippling, not a lot but enough to not let him lower his guard down. He then approached another shadow where the same phenomenon was happening, making him scowl. He then brought his arm out, slowly reaching into to the shadow.

"Holy-!" Percy exclaimed as small shadow tendrils, like worms, burst out of the shadows and began spewing everywhere. The grass around him began to shrivel up and dry out, the strange effect slowly spreading inside the cemetery as well.

"Something is trying to make its way out. By the shadow plane no less." Percy deduced as he bent down to try and pick up a tendril, only for it to dissipate before he could touch it. "Not that I can't enter, but there's an unusual amount of energy concentrated here, in this spot only. Where a cemetery is…" Percy muttered to himself.

"Percy!" Thalia exclaimed as she ran towards the god, lightly panting. "I saw you run out, what happened? Did you see something?"

"Maybe…" Percy hummed absent mindedly. "This isn't the source though, which means there must be one somewhere out here. Possibly quite powerful, and I can find it. Anything like that trying to move through the shadows…" Percy muttered, his hand sinking into a shadow. His head jerked behind, making him turn around and glance at the distant desert that was in his view.

"There, beyond…it's a great distance but I can sense something…familiarly foreign." Percy muttered, his eyes slowly widening. He then bounded from the ground and ran back towards the town square, leaving Thalia behind in a cloud of dust.

Percy barged into the diner once again, startling James as he slammed a map on the counter. "Where would I come to, if I travel say six hundred miles in that direction?" Percy breathed out, pointing towards east on the map.

"Um…some town in New Mexico I suppose." James replied. "But what's the rush-"

'Nothing. I guess I have to delay Salt Lake City for now." Percy replied, raising an eyebrow when he saw Thalia slowly walk through the door, panting as if she just raced against a group of horses.

'You…are carrying me…wherever we're going next." Thalia breathed out, slumping to the ground.

"What did I do?" Percy asked, looking puzzled. "Anyway, James. Where do you think I can buy a car?"

---

"We're leaving? So soon?" Thalia questioned on seeing Percy pull up a pickup truck next to a motel.

"A change of plans, something I didn't think would come up." Percy replied, heaving a bunch of gasoline cans in the back. "After that, there's this place I'm thinking of checking out." Percy replied.

Thalia perked up slightly. "Where will we be going?"

Percy paused. "I'm not sure either. All I know is that it's somewhere in New Mexico, and it's going to be a very long drive."

Thalia sweat dropped. "Can't we take an airplane instead?"

"Do you see an airport anywhere?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Make an airplane then!"

Percy snorted. "That's not how I work."

"Can't you fly though."

"I can hover a good distance off the ground. As for actual flying, that's only during a certain phenomenon."

"Boring…"

Percy gawked openly at Thalia. "I'm already boring to you? Betrayal, that's what I'm witnessing."

"You sure she's some friend's child? Because I'm not getting that relation at all." Jerome called out from the back.

Percy chuckled. "She's a family friend. So I guess basically…family right?"

"Maybe so." James replied, wiping his hands. "Well, your luggage and car are in order. A shame you won't stay longer; we don't get that many visitors as it is."

"As if I would help boost tourism. But I wouldn't mind being here longer myself honestly." Percy replied. "It was nice taking a break from the cities."

"Well, hope you enjoy New Mexico. And make sure you didn't break down somewhere." James said, extending his hand.

Percy smirked. "I'll be sure not to." He replied, shaking hands.

The drive was uneventful in the beginning, with Percy and Thalia sitting in silence, the former occasionally checking outside of the window. At one point, Percy had stopped the car to go outside, claiming he was just stretching. Another time had him suddenly clench the steering wheel so hard it almost snapped.

"Gods…Hephaestus…" Percy muttered, shivering slightly "What is out there" he wondered, staring towards south.

"Maybe you're just hungry." Thalia supplied, on seeing him tense. "Oh, can we have McDonalds when we reach where we're going?"

"It's going to be hours before we reach there, bug. We'll have to camp out for the night. And you will be lucky if there is even one." Percy replied, glancing sideways. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much." Thalia replied, her fingers sparking briefly.

"Careful with those, we don't want another accident happening." Percy teased.

"I'm bored though. What should I do then?" Thalia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You could count shrubs." Percy replied thoughtfully, leaning outside of the window.

"Shrubs?! And again?" Thalia questioned when Percy stopped the car at the side. "How many times are you going to stop the car and why?"

Percy looked deep in thought. "There is a something I'm tracking, and that is giving out these spikes of energy which I'm tracking. As for stopping, depends on how many times I get a spike from this source. Which makes me question if it wants me to follow it or not with how much it's fluctuating. The good news is, that it's still at the same spot." Percy replied, dipping a finger into a finger into a shadow.

"Our weird? Do you know what the source is?" Thalia asked.

Percy replied after a brief pause. "No…and I hate not knowing." He replied, barely audible.

"Just a few more hours of driving, then we can stop in one of the nature reserves along the way." Percy promised. "I know this is getting tiresome, with you being restless and all. Not your fault though, almost every demigod I have met couldn't really sit still."

"Well, here we are. The Petrified Forest National Park. Known for its large abundance of petrified wood, and abundance of fossils." Percy said with a grin. "And far off from anyone to notice us too."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "I can only see desert Percy…"

"Well of course. This isn't going to be like that forest in Nevada. Though I did hope we would find something like it." Percy said, couching down. "Hmm…no. Neither Artemis or the hunters have been here. On the other hand, the source is still intact. Which I'm still conflicted on if it's a bad or good thing."

"So…if no cheeseburgers for dinner…what are we going to have?" Thalia asked.

"I'm pretty sure I can get us some venison. Have to get a camp up and ready though. Someone will have to look after it…" Percy began to say, only to trail off when he saw Thalia's slightly disappointed look. "Or…someone can accompany me with my hunt."

Thalia stared at Percy, her eyes slowly widening. "Seriously!" she said on seeing that Percy was not bluffing.

"Why not." Percy replied with a grin. "Gods forbid; you should know some hunting basics if you're going to be tagging along with me. And I have a feeling Artemis would be disappointed in me if I didn't teach you anything. Think of it as a late, but short term birthday present."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Thalia yelled, hugging Percy tightly. "I promise I won't let you down, or feel sick when hunting."

"You can stop whenever you want. Remember what I told you before. Though I am going to send you away once I find a prey. Don't want you to see anything graphic." Percy replied. "Baby steps bug, no need to rush in too fast with hunting." He said, forming a small bow from his brace. "Here you go, I'll give you a crash course on archery for now. but I'm only giving you dummy arrows for now. Currently, I will teach you tracking methods."

The two then headed out, with Percy occasionally pointing out whatever wildlife was active during night, and any possible animal tracks.

"You see those tracks, now these would be difficult to find in this kind of terrain. But luckily there is a bit of loose dirt to create tracks; and hooves too, those are definitely from some kind of deer. Maybe an antelope if we're lucky. Now, we don't have a lot of cover in this environment, which will certainly make this game interesting. Which means we have to be stealthier and quick on our feet when hunting. How's your archery holding up?"

"It's…better?" Thalia replied, her tone unsure. She took an arrow and pulled it across the bow, only for it to tilt away from the bow.

"Hmm, still ways to go." Percy decided, his head perking up. "Look over there, you see those glowing eyes. I think they belong to coyotes."

"What?!"

"Relax, they won't come close."

"Hey Percy, there is a rabbit staring at us." Thalia said softly.

"Is there now." Percy said, frowning slightly. "Come on, I can almost taste the deer…"

"It's staring at us weirdly. It's kind of creepy." Thalia whispered.

Percy hummed in response. "Probably just curious." He said absent mindedly, then frowned. "Since when are rabbits active now?"

"It just bared its teeth at me!" Thalia hissed, tugging Percy's leg.

Percy blinked twice. "Killer bunnies?" he thought out loud, glancing to where Thalia was staring. Sure enough, there was a brown furred rabbit next to a burrow, lightly scratching its face and scurrying the ground. And for some reason, it's mouth was stained red.

"There are killer bunnies now?!" Thalia hissed on hearing what Percy said.

"Wait here…" Percy said after a brief pause, slowly getting up and making his way to the burrow. The rabbit stopped scratching it's face and stared at Percy, it's nose twitching.

"So, you're still around huh. Well, that doesn't matter because I have faced your kind before, and won easily. And I am not going to let you make any moves, because you know who you are staring at? Perseus, god of the eclipse, bringer of darkness, keeper of the primal flame, and…you're just a regular little rabbit aren't you."

"Squee"

"Nothing" Percy said, gently rubbing the red stain off the rabbit's mouth. "Berries. You know, I forget sometimes how cute you lot are when you're not being roasted over a fire or ripping someone's throat out."

"Squeek?"

"Hey do you by any chance know if there are any antelopes active around here"

"Reek"

"No antelopes but there's elk bugling around? That's perfect."

"Percy?" Thalia whispered with an exasperated tone. "Are you talking to the rabbit."

"Yep. We're deciding the best on how to eat you." Percy replied with a grin, tickling her. "But I am going to be grabbing food really soon. Now, I want you to remain here and do some mock tracking. Only in this area, okay? Don't go beyond that bush, and keep your spear out. And if you are in a pinch-"

"Shout out to you?"

"I would prefer if you do that inside your head. And rabbit tracks aren't counted for tonight. I'll be back in a few minutes, and yes I mean that." Percy replied on seeing Thalia's pointed stare.

"I thought you were taking me 'hunting', to help you." Thalia huffed out.

"Accompany and helping are two different things. Besides, you can't hold an arrow right, which is not your fault. Or it technically is."

"As soon as we come across a proper forest, I'll teach you okay. Don't get eaten!" Percy called out, jogging away.

"Thanks…" Thalia said with a sigh. She took out her canister and activated it, trudging along the cold desert. The moon was almost full, which allowed ample enough of light for her to see, though she scowled at the mostly cloudy sky. She heard stories of the stars being highly visible around this area, something which L.A. sorely lacked. She crouched down on the ground, making sure she didn't accidently step on any small animal scurrying around.

"Hmm, hooves print. Percy mentioned deer, could be them or something else." She muttered. She then walked towards the other direction, her eyes widening on finding paw prints.

"Okay…" Thalia thought, gripping her spear tightly. She glanced around and then crouched next to a couple of boulders, making sure to be quiet for her surroundings. After a few minutes with just the sound of the wind rustling to be heard, Thalia visibly relaxed, only for a look of confusion to flicker across her face when she saw two glowing red specks on the ground in front of her.

"Huh. They look pretty." Thalia mumbled, crouching next to the glowing specks. She dusted the sand off the ground, but it didn't look like they were covered by the sand. She then tried to feel and pick them up, but all she could feel was the ground it was as if the specks were ingrained.

And then it blinked.

Thalia gasped aloud and scrambled back, her spear in front of her and already sparking. A low guttural growl was then heard, which only became louder as the shadow casted by the boulders began to grow. A large black figure resembling a wolf emerged from the ground, it's glowing red eyes narrowing n seeing Thalia. Thalia clenched her teeth hard and thrust her spear forward, releasing a bolt of lightning towards the figure, only for it to pass harmlessly through. With the momentarily flash of light, Thalia tried to get a good luck at what she was facing, only for her to considerably pale and look sickened on what she saw. She then leapt forward and tried to stab the figure with the spear, but that to had no effect on the specter. The figure then let out another growl as it prepared to jump, only for it to pause. And as suddenly as it appeared, it then dissolved into the shadows.

A few moments later, Percy appeared, a cloud of dust behind him and looking quite pleased with himself. "I got us elk! I promise, you are going to love what I'm going to cook up…Thalia?" Percy said, finding Thalia staring defiantly at the ground, while trembling with fear.

"Bug, what happened?" Percy asked surprised, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Did something approach you?"

"I- I think it was…a wolf?" Thalia whispered.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You sure? It could have been a coyote, there are a lot of those around. Though I can't sense any animals nearby-"

"There was one, I swear!" Thalia exclaimed. "But it didn't look normal at all, its eyes were red, its fur dirty, there were pieces of skin missing- Its ribs were poking out of the skin!"

Percy blinked a couple of times, a pensive look on his face. "Are you sure you saw all that?" On seeing her nod of affirmation, Percy narrowed his eyes and bent down, placing his hand where Thalia was staring at earlier.

"Nothing. Thalia, anything else you can-" Percy began to say when a stream of shadow tendrils burst out, and recede back into the ground after a few moments.

"That wasn't you, was it?" Thalia mumbled.

After a brief pause, Percy spoke again. "The same energy…" "Could it be following us?" he thought, making him frown.

"I think we should head back to the camp; we shouldn't stay out here for long." Percy decided.

"There we go, nice and sizzling." Percy said, carefully placing a few pieces of elk meat on a pan.

"How long does it take to make all this?" Thalia asked.

"A good couple of days or more. But being a god has its benefits." Percy replied, touching the flame. "Yep, hot enough. Just a few minutes and done."

Thalia frowned. "Where did you even have time to get all of this stuff." gesturing to the utensils, cutlery and various spices kept aside on a foldable table.

"Uh…Jerome?" Percy replied.

"Oh…oh this is good." Thalia squealed, scarfing down the venison. "Percy, you're giving cheeseburgers a hell of a competition."

"Good, those things aren't good for you. But they are still good…" Percy mused aloud. "It's quite a dilemma, because I never had to deal with delicious but unhealthy food."

"What's up? Like literally, you keep looking at the sky for some reason." Percy asked Thalia, after catching her glancing up again.

"Nothing, just…I heard that the stars were very visible around here. But there's so many clouds out now."

"Oh yeah, I heard New Mexico was quite famous for that. But I'm sure Arizona can give us a show." Percy said with a grin, resting back on the ground. He then raised his arm and waved it around lightly. Thalia wondered what he was doing and then glanced, only for her eyes to widen. For the clouds were clearing away, the night sky being replaced with more stars than one can count, with hues of pink and dark blue mixing in.

"Oh damn." Percy mumbled. "That's actually the milky way."

"How…" Thalia said with awe.

Percy patted his back. "Benefits of a god." He merely replied with a grin.

"You are the best god in the entire world." Thalia said, with all the seriousness a nine year old could muster. Percy broke into another grin, and the chuckled lightly.

"I'm glad to know that bug. You're great yourself too."

Thalia continued to stare at the night sky, while Percy fiddled with the campfire. After dimming the fire down, he then rested back across the ground, Thalia soon joining him. Percy couldn't deny, seeing the stars and the milky way like this was making him long terribly for the nights he used to go star gazing with Artemis. He decided to make himself busy, pointing out the various planets that could be seen to Thalia, as well as the constellations.

"That over there I'm pretty sure is…yep, Jupiter. Saturn should be close by…there, just next to that cluster of stars. And look, over there is the north star, and in turn Ursa Major. One of the finest mortals I've met."

"Isn't the constellation a bear?" Thalia asked.

"She wasn't always a bear." Percy mumbled. "A remarkable hunter, no doubt. Then that one down to the south is Aries. First constellation I ever pointed out when I was a little godling. And I think we have…Gemini, yes. Oh look, there's Perseus."

"Named after you?" Thalia prompted.

"Nope, the demigod hero. Lots of constellations for heroes."

"Like Hercules?"

"It's Heracles, but…yeah. Oh, who's this?"

"Which one is that?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure." Percy replied. "It looks like someone holding a bow. Oh that's Scorpio next to it. Which means that's…Orion."

"You know him?" Thalia asked, noticing Percy's shift in tone.

Percy didn't reply.

"How are constellations made?" Thalia then asked.

Percy blinked. "Um…it…requires a bit of essence of the being? Which a divine being can send out to the sky and…uh…"

"Can you make a constellation?" Thalia prompted.

"I have yet to, but yep. Can definitely make one."

The two continued to lie and stare at the sky, the questions prompted from Thalia soon leading to sleepy silence. Percy glanced at the sleeping demigod beside him and sighed. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he was very much apprehensive on what he was going to find, but that was mostly directed towards Thalia's safety. He already led her to a timeless dystopian casino, for all he knew he could lead her to some kind of trap meant for him. But he also knew, as long as he was by her side, physically or not, he would protect her.

"Goodnight bug" Percy whispered, gently brushing back Thalia's hair as he tucked her in bed. Thalia mumbled something inaudible, making him smile briefly. He then crept outside of the tent and took a deep breath, his battle clothes wrapping around him from the shadows. A claymore formed his hands, which he then lit with hellfire.

"Whatever…whoever you are." Percy threatened, his eyes glowing. "I am prepared."

Up in the sky, a collection of stars vaguely resembling a face dimmed brighter, it's two glowing red parallel stars shining brightly. Then as soon as it appeared, it disappeared within the inky blue sky, seemingly seeing enough

---

It was the next day, 23rd December, and Percy let out a slight cheer when he saw the 'Welcome to New Mexico' sign, making him just closer to where he needed to go. On Thalia's insistence, they took a quick photo with the sign and had cheeseburgers later.

"Good afternoon folks, this is the driver of tour twilight speaking, we have just entered the land of enchantment, and we'll continue to drive on the famous route 66, unless we need to make a pit stop because of a certain princess riding along with us. But buckle up, we still have long ways to go."

"How much longer though." Thalia asked, frowning at the map. Percy took the map from her, while having shadow tendrils steering the car.

"Alright…hmm…so we'll be passing along Albuquerque. But we're not going to stay long sadly. We'll see where to go from the city only, I'm sure the source is after it."

"Whatever this source is better be good." Thalia muttered, popping in a Green Day cd.

Percy chuckled nervously. "I'm not sure about good, but at least worthwhile."

"…Do you smell that?" Percy suddenly asked, scrunching his nose.

"Smell what? I didn't do anything to the car!"

"Not the car, it's from outside. It smells…wild. Overwhelmingly too."

"Wild?"

"…Or maybe it's just New Mexico." Percy said with a shrug.

The drive continued on for hours until they reached Albuquerque late in the afternoon. Thalia had to be mostly carried around while Percy visited different spots of the city, trying to gauge which direction the source was coming from.

"North…north…east. North-East, that's definitely what I'm looking for." Percy muttered to himself.

"Percy, look." Thalia exclaimed, holding out a brochure for him, which depicted some landscapes. "Mountains and forests for archery!"

Percy tilted his head. "I like mountains. Sandia Crest huh, we can check it out for a few hours if you like."

After making sure to once again get enough food for the road, ("You're bleeding me out dry bug." "You're a god though.") Percy began the drive to the summit, where to both of their surprise, found out they could take the tram to the peak if they wanted to. Percy wasted no time in getting on the tram, marveling on mortal ingenuity, while Thalia giggled at his childlike enthusiasm.

Soon enough, both Percy and Thalia were whizzing through the forest, laughing as they navigated through the snowy landscapes on a makeshift snowboard.

"Watch out!" Percy shouted, ducking down entirely so that Thalia wouldn't lose her head, since she was once again propped on his shoulders.

"Again!" Thalia shouted, once they reached flat ground.

"Oh you are going to be the death of me." Percy laughed out, his head slightly perking up. "Hold on…"

Percy closed his eyes and concentrated, his face soon relaxing as a small smile graced his lips. "I hope I'm not wrong." He muttered, gesturing for Thalia to follow him. The two walked through the forest until they came across a particular section more heavy on vegetation.

"Wait a minute." Thalia said with a frown. "This was like that one in the forest in Vegas."

"Yep." Percy said excitedly, cutting the vegetation down with a sword, which soon revealed another clearing, while overgrown, was clearly used for a large scale camp.

"Not used for a long time, but I can still sense it." Percy said with a content sigh, taking a deep breath. "That scent though…oh, there's amaranth growing here." Percy said with a smile on seeing Artemis's sacred flower. Something else then caught his eye, a look of surprise flashing across his face.

"Ooh, these are pretty." Thalia admired, holding on to the amaranth. "Oh, what are those-"

"Careful with that one Thalia." Percy remarked, gently pulling the girl back. "That flower is nightshade, a poisonous one. You need utmost care to see that it properly blooms, it's difficult to grow them. And if you mishandle it, well it'll come back to haunt you. I'll suggest keeping away from this flower patch, okay?"

Thalia looked disappointed but agreed in the end. Percy led her away, but as a precaution held up an earthen barrier for now. While he trusted Thalia, she was still a child, and still very much curious.

"So, we have a nice forest edge for us to use, hunting and archery over here would be quite nice. We even have a little winter touch up here."

"Alright, archery. Let me just go in and grab the gear." Percy said, slipping into the tent and coming out a minute later with archery kits and target stands.

"Here hold this, let me just…" Percy used a shadow wisp to place the target stands a good distance away, while he handled the bow for Thalia. 'for your size, and we had quite a few little ones back in the hunt so I'm sure I would have yep, a bow for your size. Here's your quiver, blunt arrows, and I think you're good to go."

"Now, the first tips of archery. Your anchor points, that's the point at which the bow is when you pull it back. Find a position that will be comfortable for you to shoot. Keep a firm hold on the arrow, don't touch the shaft, only the fletching. The posture, very important. Keep the bow, and arrow steady, quiver has to be easily accessible from behind. And don't let the arrow drift all over, I know modern bows have slits or slots to keep the arrow in place, but no concession like that will be given. Getting it so far?"

Thalia shook her head.

Percy sighed. "Alright watch me." He began, slinging his bow from the back, which extended to its original form. "Now, I'm pulling the string back, and this is my anchor point. You will have to find yours by trying various stances. Speaking of that, posture upright, steady, but also relaxed. Now…"

Percy then pulled the string back to where his medallion was, which then formed an arrow within his grasp on the bow, ready for him to use.

"Whoa…I want one of those." Thalia stated.

"Sorry bug, one of a kind only. Now, your turn."

Thalia nodded. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself up and steadied the bow in her arms, pulling the string with the arrow back. She bent her arm a little as she tried to find her anchor point, and once she was satisfied, let go of the string.

"Wow…okay good, you're getting the hang of it. Give it a month or so, and you'll be actually shooting the target in no time." Percy replied as he watched the arrow zip far away from the target.

"What about bullseyes?"

"Hmm, maybe three months, give or take."

After a few more hours of practicing and arrow safety, Percy then switched over with spear training, even having a little spar with Thalia, which he found terribly assuming when none of her lightning attacks barely affected him. After that, he proceeded to cook something up once again using Hestia's tricks to speed up the cooking process of the homemade meal.

"You're not going hunting today?" Thalia asked as she watched Percy prepare stew.

"I went yesterday, and I'm not in the mood for some game. Not to mention, the source. We're close to it, which means I'm currently preoccupied over that."

"How much further are we from it?"

"I'll say a good four hours." Percy replied, glancing at the sun. "If we leave in like an hour, we'll reach by eight most likely."

"Ugh…" Thalia groaned, falling to her side.

"Don't worry bug, as soon as we're done with this, we'll go to a nice place, maybe hotel this time, mortal, and probably spend time in the city only. I would love to check out Utah, any state you want to see?"

"New York city!"

Percy sweat dropped. "Definitely not for a while… . Oh, how about Wyoming, or even Nebraska?"

"No one ever wants to go to Nebraska Percy…"

"Ouch, that's harsh."

The two stayed over at the mountain range for some more time before they headed back for the road. A few hours later, Percy took a sharp turn into Route 64, and then headed north onto another road. After a few miles, the road crossed adjacent railroad tracks a couple of times, before they found a dirt road on the right. Percy continued along the road, his breathing in check as the strength of the source spiked higher. He raised an eyebrow though when he saw something peculiar on the right. Rows of what seemed to be resembling crosses littered the large patch of ground, some of them glistening under the moonlight. Percy looked pensive for a while, but then decided to carry on driving, not yet alerting Thalia on the fact that they have most likely reached. After a few minutes, Percy suddenly stopped the car when a certain realization struck him.

"We're here." Percy whispered audibly. "We're finally here."

"We are?" Thalia mumbled, slowly waking up from her nap. "Where are we…in the middle of nowhere?"

"Not exactly." Percy mumbled, staring an old, almost rotting sign up ahead that only contained only one faded bold word- DAWSON.

"Come on bug, out of the car."

"Are we at a town? Shouldn't we take the car with us then?" Thalia asked.

"Not this time." Percy replied, holding out his hand which Thalia took, the former making sure she didn't spot the cemetery behind. The two walked inside what was supposedly a town, but all they could see was empty almost dead land, with ruins of various buildings littered around.

"Percy…is the source here?" Thalia whispered.

"I'm standing on it."

Thalia shot a glance at the god. "What- Below your feet?"

"No." Percy muttered. "It's not just below my feet, it's below yours too. It's everywhere, as far as your eye can see."

"Oh.'

"And this place." Percy said, chuckling darkly. 'You remember how I said before that Jerome was an allegedly ghost town?"

"…Yeah?"

"This is a ghost town Thalia. This place…Dawson…something horrible happened here for it to be this way. And we're at the epicenter of it."

Thalia gulped, her knuckles turning white on gripping the canister tightly. 'Where's the snow?"

"Yes!" Percy said excitedly. "You are right bug, where is the snow? Because this place, given its location and altitude, should have some degree of snow. Especially if deserted. But it seems like it has been cleared off, if those piles of snow around have any indication. It was like something wanted to access this place."

Thalia's eyes widened. "Other than us? For the source?"

Percy sighed. "I pray not."

Thalia tilted her head to the side. "Can gods pray?"

Percy smirked. "Do you want to wait by the car, incase this is getting too much-"

"No!" Thalia yelled, clutching Percy's leg tightly while she burrowed her head in his coat.

"Or stick with me." Percy finished, patting her head. "I'm not going to lie, I prefer that."

The two then slowly walked through what was left of the desolate town, steering away from the ruins. Percy could make out tall smoke stacks on the other side of the town, and something out of place.

"Why is there a truck over here." Percy said, looking confused.

"A truck?"

"Yep. A trailer attached to it and everything."

Percy made his way to the smoke stacks, even finding tire tracks leading to it. Besides what looked like to be a bunch of buildings holding cooking ovens, there were two trucks parked side to side, both bearing the name 'DARE ENTERPRISES'.

"So this is a mining town. Or was." Percy shared, pointing out the smoke stacks to Thalia. "These were most likely used for refining coal, but who knows what else these people mined."

"Gold?"

"Hmm, not sure if the gold rush extended here. Huh, these trucks weren't here for long." Percy commented, climbing up the door. "Fuel tank is high, and judging from that lukewarm coffee inside, whoever was here hasn't left for long."

"So now where…?" Thalia trailed off.

"Let me see if I can sense any movement around here." Percy declared, hopping off the truck. He bent down and placed his hand on the ground, slowly concentrating on the places where the shadows touched. The source seemed to be trying to get his attention, but Percy ignored it for now, finally finding what he was looking for.

"They are…along there." Percy said, staring at the rusted train tracks that led out into the mines and their broken down tipples.

"Walking or train?" Thalia asked, staring at the train tracks.

"We don't need a train." Percy replied with a grin, summoning a shadow tendril which he then took with him inside the building. A few minutes later, Percy reappeared with a mine cart being tugged behind him by the tendril.

"Ohh…nice." Thalia said with a grin, immediately hopping into the cart. Percy then picked the cat up in the air with Thalia in tow, making her squeal.

"All aboard the twilight express now." Percy joked, setting the cart on the tracks. "Hold on tight now."

Percy then gripped the back of the cart and pushed, the weight and friction barely bothering him as he pushed the cart along the tracks. Once he was picking up speed, he then hopped into the cart, allowing the cart to do the rest.

"What are those things?" Thalia asked, pointing at the broken down but still towering structures

"Those seem like tipples. They were used to transport mostly coal to those cooking ovens, after they were extracted from the mines." He said, pointing at the closed down mine. "Let's see, we passed one so far I think…"

About ten minutes later, Percy grabbed the lever of the cart and directed it towards a tipple. Beneath it was a mine, with its entrance blocked by small boulders.

"That's not normal." Percy sniffed, flicking his wrist.

"Why?" Thalia asked as she watched the rocks float away from the entrance.

"Because I can sense life down that mine. And these rocks haven't been here long enough to warrant that this mine is officially closed- what is that smell?" Percy scowled. "Honestly, if I didn't know any better, it smells like…oh."

"Oh?" Thalia asked.

"Yep. Just…a bad smell."

"Do you know what that smell is?"

"Nope! Anyway, we're going inside now."

The two walked inside the cave, Thalia once again grabbing Percy's hand as she swung her flashlight around, while Percy felt his hand along the wall of the cave, a frown forming on his face as they crept deeper.

"What the hell happened in these mines…" Percy muttered. A creaking sound was then heard, making Thalia jump and Percy form a sword.

"Stay behind me, and keep your mace ready." Percy whispered, getting into form. They continued to walk into the cave, when they heard hushed whispers coming from the corner, prompting them to stop.

"Are there monsters?" Thalia whispered.

"I want to doubt that, but…" Percy replied, glancing back. He picked up a rock next to him, and after giving it a long stare, threw it at the wall next to the corner of the path.

"AHHH!"

"GHOSTS!"

Percy sighed. "Just mortals."

Thalia sighed in relief while Percy walked along the corner, finding a middle aged dark skinned man holding a shotgun tightly in his arms, flanked by four other men on either side of him.

"There! - what…" The man with the shotgun proclaimed, looking equally scared and surprised. "It's just a man…with a little child?"

Thalia huffed. "I'm not little!"

"Not now bug." Percy stated, lightly narrowing his eyes. "You are mortals."

The men sputtered. "What is that supposed to mean? And why do you have a baseball bat out?!"

Percy blinked. "A bat, but I'm holding…oh right, the mist. So you lot are definitely mortal."

"Enough talk!" The dark skinned man shouted, pointing the gun at Percy. "Now, who are you two, and how did you manage to even enter this mine? No, forget that…this town?!"

Percy rolled his eyes, pushing the gun down. "Don't aim that at me, come on. I'm with a kid and holding a bat according to you. I should be asking you lot on what you all are doing here, especially seeing that you all were caved in this mine for who knows how long."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Caved in? There is no way for that, the entrance was completely stable when we checked it just an hour ago. Besides, we had personnel to alert us…how did you get past them?!"

"Oh…so that's who they were." Percy said slowly, his gaze directed behind the group of men. "I'm sorry but your personnel are dead." He replied, patting the man's shoulder and trudged forward.

"Wh-Wha- you killed them?!"

"No!" Percy exclaimed. "They were dead when we reached the entrance of this mine. An hour ago I would say, judging from the smell…"

"We went inside around that time." Another man muttered distractedly.

The dark skinned man growled, again pointing the gun at Percy. "Who in god's name are you?!"

Percy merely stared at him, gently pushing the gun barrel down. "Percy Jackson. I don't mean any of you harm, and our meeting is a pure coincidence I believe. May I ask your name, and in time, trust me?"

The man gritted his teeth, his composure slowly dropping. "Philip…and I'm not going to be trusting you. First you and that child come out of the blue and tell me my employees are dead outside- why the hell would you even bring a fucking child to this place?! What kind of adult are you?!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Not a normal one. And language please."

Philip sneered. "Oh I can see that you're not normal, you're delusional!"

"Hey!" Thalia yelled.

Percy sighed. "Look, I realize this is all coming like a wave upon you, but can I please ask you to calm down. I am sorry about your friends outside, believe me if I could, I would have saved them if I had the chance. There's danger in this town, danger that has struck you and now I believe has been calling me here. So please, I need you to trust me if we are to deal with something-"

"Save your speech!" Philip shouted, taking out a walkie-talkie. "A1, radio in over. A1 are you there, over. …A1 radio in immediately, now! Over!"

"Son of a…A2 radio in, over. A2!"

"He's not going to listen." Percy muttered, glancing at Thalia. "You there with the shovel." Percy directed to a man, who immediately jumped. "Why are you lot here in the first place."

"We-We're r-representing Dare Enterprises." The man stammered. "We're here to scope this place and surrounding areas for redevelopment. Our first trip here."

"Redevelopment?" Percy echoed with a frown.

The man nodded. "That's what the business, Mr. Dare, deals in sir. He scopes out unused land and buys them for other public purposes."

"But there's only wilderness surrounding the town. He's going to tear that down?!" Percy exclaimed. "Shouldn't your boss be here if this is the first trip?"

"Well…yes. But he had to rush off to London. Something about needing to attend a close friends funeral."

"Erik!" Philip yelled, glaring at Percy. "I suggest you leave this town now. Unless you want to play prime suspect for the murder of two Dare employees? And believe me, you don't want be tangled with us."

"I already explained what I had to." Percy sad, glaring back. "Us standing here and arguing isn't going to help either of us."

"Someone killed my men. I refused to believe it, but now-"

"And like I was going to say before being interrupted, I will do whatever it takes to see whatever may have attacked them, won't get to us. I will vanquish them." Percy said defiantly.

"But first, tell me about this." Percy commanded, stepping into a corridor. Thalia quickly followed him in, while the other group were pensive on following the man.

"Woah…" Thalia whispered, stepping slowly ahead.

"Watch your step." Percy mumbled, gently grasping Thalia's shoulder. In front of them was a chasm, the surface connected by railroad tracks to deep ridges along the opposite wall. But that wasn't the only thing that had their attention, for what looked to be engraved on the wall was a symbol both of them had seen before. A symbol which Percy was hoping not to come across, and was strangely glistening by the light reflected on it.

"…Percy?" Thalia whispered. "Isn't that the same thing as your tattoo-"

"Stay here." Percy ordered, hovering over the ground. He flew towards the wall where the mark was engraved and on closer inspection, he found what was causing the engraving to glisten. For it seemed to be covered with a thick layer of greyish black liquid. Percy then gently touched the mark, immediately pulling his hand back when he felt something akin to an icy waterfall being thrown on top of him. Something which was similar to what Artemis described when she faced against-

"Doom…" Percy whispered, realizing that the engraving wasn't just covered by the greyish black substance, but it was leaking it.

"What does he have to do with this?" Percy muttered angrily, summoning his dual blades.

"Percy watch out!" Thalia shouted.

"What is that man doing…is- is he-?!" Philip sputtered out on seeing Percy.

But before Percy could try to do something with the mark, large shadow tendrils emerged out of it, almost consuming the entire cavern and enveloping everyone around it. The last thing Percy saw before his vision was consumed by black was the red glow of human like eyes, and a sinister smile of scars.

---

Thalia woke up with a shuddering gasp, her eyes darting around. She tried to make sense of her surroundings, but all she could see was black everywhere, with no source of light as well. She slowly got up, blindly reaching her hands out to find some kind of obstruction, but nothing. She then reached for her spear, but then realized it wasn't within her grasp, most likely lost after whatever had separated her from Percy.

"Percy." Thalia said softly. She then shouted.

"Percy!"

She did that thrice, and after no response stepped forward slowly. She knew she could still see, but the entire area around her being pitch black essentially blinded her.

"PERCY!" Thalia cried out again in frustration. She then ran ahead, her arms stretched ahead in case she hit something when she suddenly didn't feel the ground beneath her feet. The air momentarily left her lungs as she felt herself falling, only for it to follow with a searing pain shooting up her leg as she crumpled to the ground. Thalia let out a loud cry as she clutched her leg, whimpering as she slowly crawled forwards. Her hand then hit something metallic, making her grab it. She then felt around what it was, and after a while, deduced it to be train tracks.

"I need… light." Thalia muttered, trying desperately to ignore the pain. She reached her hand out once again, sparks slowly forming out which illuminated a bit of light, but not enough.

"Come on, something, please." Thalia muttered through clenched teeth. A quick succession of sparks erupted, leading to a streak of lightning to form and move across the room, slowly disappearing. Thalia let out a sigh as she sat up, readying herself to launch another lightning bolt when she heard a faint noise behind her.

"Huh?" Thalia blurted out, raising her arms out. "Who was that?! Percy, is that you?"

Silence followed, making Thalia apprehensive and a bit fearful as well. She glanced back and forth, wondering where she could take her chances when she heard a creaking noise again, this one echoing across the area. Thalia balled her fists, goosebumps slowly rising as she felt something brush against her leg.

"What-" Thalia yelped out, jumping slightly and immediately hissing in pain when her leg shifted. "Who's there?!" she cried out

She then heard a rattling sound, this time seemingly much closer than the one before. Soon after that, Thalia heard the faint sound of rocks falling to the ground, and didn't register what was happening until she felt a pile of dust fall down on top of her.

"No, no, no not now." Thalia breathe out, staring up to see if there were any rocks falling. But the cavern was still pitch black, and didn't stop the pattering of rocks to slow down any soon. Thalia tried to crawl away by following the tracks, but she could still hear and almost feel rocks breaking apart around her, the small pieces hitting her, as well as the unnatural feeling of something almost vapor like brushing against her face.

"No, stop it! Leave me alone, stop it!" Thalia cried out, swatting the air around blindly. Sparks flew out of her palm but those also began to diminish as she began to get overwhelmed by everything that was happening around her. Her hand then got caught across a rusted nail, making her clutch it and groan with pain as she unsuccessfully tried to stop the bleeding.

"Please…Percy please find…" Thalia mumbled, covering her ears tightly as a ringing noise began to form inside her head. "I can't…"

Everything then suddenly stopped as if time itself paused. Thalia wasn't sure as to what was happening, but she couldn't hear any rocks or rattling noises anymore, though the ringing inside her head still continued, albeit faint. Thalia let out a shuddering breath as she felt a chill run up her spine, her eyes still trying to adjust to whatever light the sparks she was producing were able to give out.

"The child of grace has fallen."

A loud screeching sound then pierced through Thalia, making her scream hoarsely throughout the cavern, until the echoes of her screams had finally disappeared.

---

Somewhere else in the same location, there was a pile of rocks covering something on the ground, when suddenly, whatever it was the rocks were covering began to vibrate, which led to the debris falling to the ground and revealing an earthen like shell. The shell then disintegrated, revealing a surprisingly calm looking Percy, and two terrified mortals.

"The roof caved in, I'm sure of it." Philip trembled. "How are we, how are we-"

"Don't dwell on it." Percy replied, stepping out. "Huh, that's strange…"

"I-I can't see anything…" the other mortal, Erik mumbled.

"I barely can too, and that's never happened before." Percy muttered to himself, bring his hand out. A split second later, a ball of hellfire erupted inside his palm, illuminating the surroundings, which was still black for some reason. Until Percy brought the hellfire closer to a wall, and noticed a black vapor like substance receding back.

''What kind of lighter is that?" Erik almost yelled.

"Keep quiet." Percy ordered.

"Forget about that, we need to contact the others." Philip shouted, hitting the radio. "Justin, come in, over. Justin, are you with the others? Over. Damn it…Kyle, can you hear me, over. Can-"

"Keep…quiet…now." Percy growled out, glaring at Philip. He then turned around, his breathing slowing down to the point he was holding it. The two mortals, while having a lot of questions, remained silent out of fear for their lives, though they weren't sure from who.

"Do any of you have a packed lunch." Percy whispered.

"…"

"Anyone?"

Erik gulped nervously but fumbled inside his back, taking out a box which he then handed to Percy. Percy then removed the contents of the box, a couple of pieces of fried chicken, and threw them in front of him. A rattling sound was then heard and then silence. Percy then stepped ahead and crouched down, the light shining down upon a couple of cleanly skinned bones.

"Who's hiding in there." Percy then called out to no response. He then crept closer, the hellfire burning brightly in his palm.

"I can sense you in the shadows, stop hiding in them and reveal yourself." Percy ordered, the steel in his tone scaring the mortals.

"Um…I don't think there's-"

"You saw the bones." Percy growled out, taking a deep breath.

"I am Lykofós Perseus of Olympus, god of the eclipse and twilight and lord of the mountains. I am surrounded by my elements, and most importantly, I control what you now reside in. So reveal thyself!"

A series of rattling sounds were then heard, which slowly began to surround the group. Percy's eyes glowed as he readied his weapons, hellfire now spilling out of his palm and falling on to the vapor which as then followed by hissing noises.

"SKSSKSKSS! Lies…SKSKSSS…SKKSSS…no more…"

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Either silence yourself, or speak my language of old. And don't try to deny not knowing Greek."

A brief silence was then felt, the air around getting heavier by the second.

"The Phantom Olympian is no more. You have no authority on us."

"Imposter…minor deity!"

Percy tilted his head. A split second later, the shadows everywhere began to contract and warp, the rattling sounds only got louder as they dissolved into what can only be described as cries of pain.

"Mistress lied!"

"Promised!"

"Who is this mistress? Did she send you here?" Percy shouted. "Who carved that symbol on the wall!"

"The shadowed one demands answers! You believe you can stop the stirring?"

"We have watched you from afar, when you hid in the plane. Away from everyone…"

"You have faced our kind though…but a lot has changed…"

"A lot!"

Percy frowned. 'Don't tell me, I'm dealing with the monsters of the shadow plane? Out of all-"

"He underestimates us…disrespect."

"He should, we are nothing but fodder."

"But not our mistress. Never fought our mistress. Knows our mistress."

"Will suffer under our mistress."

"And the hateful one."

"The impended."

"The unrepentant."

"Enough!" Percy ordered, rocks slowly starting to levitate. "I demand to see your 'Mistress'"

"He calls for our mistress!"

"Mistress wants to meet him too…"

"But mistress is busy."

"Busy with the-"

"Then I'll just deal with the lot of you instead!" Percy exclaimed, sending a wall of hellfire around him, and removing a part of the pitch black vapor that seemed to have engulfed the entire chasm. Hissing noises continued to echo around as the vapor only began to close in once again on Percy and the other two mortals.

"What…is happening…" Philip whispered.

Percy sighed. "I'm a Greek god, we're dealing with monsters. And I need to find Thalia as soon as possible."

Erik openly gaped at Percy. "You're a god…Greek god… . Are you like, Poseidon or something?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear me back there, I'm Perseus."

Erik shrugged. "Never heard of you. Or are you like a minor unknown-"

"Why does everyone think I'm a minor god dam-?!"

"Whoever the fuck you are; these smoke things are coming closer!" Philip yelled, loading his shotgun. He fired a round at the vapor patch in front of him, but the bullets passed harmlessly though it, the vapor only closing in faster.

"I warned you beasts." Percy yelled, slamming his palms on the ground. the shadows around him contorted and warped, with the hissing noises soon following again. The group watched as the vapor began to recede back significantly, until Erik screamed. Percy glanced at him to find him pointing at a spindly looking limb making its way out of a shadow. The limb was then followed by a what looked like a disk shaped mask that was covering the face. The body of the monster than tumbled out, revealing a bipedal like creature with shadow wisps attached on the top and bottom of the head, whose face was entirely covered by the stone disk. There were two tendrils attached on the back of the creature. The stone disk then began to shake, a rattling noise coming out of that motion.

"What is that blob…" Philip mumbled, squinting his eyes. "Wait, no…it's a dog?"

"Shadow beats. Never thought I would see their kind out in the open." Percy replied.

"The darkness befits us." Another shadow beast answered from behind, with more following out. It looked as if an entire horde of them were going to soon come out.

"You have been blocking my entry into the shadow realm, the lot of you." Percy replied, realization slowly dawning upon him. "You talk of this 'Mistress', someone I never met but know of. And the fact that there was essence of Moros leaking from that carving…"

"This is the work of Gello, isn't it?"

The shadow beasts each let out a series of screeches. "He spoke our mistresses name!"

"Well, I'm perceptive like that." Percy growled out, summoning out his dual swords. "Now, why don't you take me to your mistress? And maybe even leave these mortals behind, they are none of your concern."

"They are our sustenance. We need…sustenance."

"Um, what did they say?" Erik whispered.

"You really don't want to know." Percy answered, charging forwards. The shadow beats hissed in unison as they launched themselves at Percy. The god let out a short burst of hellfire towards the bests and then caught them by their throats which he then used to pile up the beasts on either blade, and then slit their throats with one hefty swing.

"Uh…did you do something, because we couldn't really make out anything with it being so dark-"

"Stop talking for now, please" Percy groaned, grabbing both the mortals by their arms. "We need to get out of this area, possibly seek higher ground. And then-"

A loud rattling sound interrupted Percy, who then found himself launched into the air along with the mortals. Percy then began to hover midair, while noticing two shadow tendrils grabbing both Philip and Erik. He then summoned his bow and launched a volley of arrows at the tendrils as he spun around, while setting himself on hellfire. As soon as he touched the ground, he sunk inside a shadow. The mortals then dropped back to the ground, dazed and confused while they were oblivious of the shadow tendrils that were spasming out of a shadow. Percy then emerged out of it looking pleased with himself, briefly noting that the shadows were being absorbed by him once again, just like what happened with Lycaon's werewolves.

"Come on." Percy breathed out, lifting Philip up from the ground. "Let's get you two out of here."

---

On the other side of the mine, Thalia was still struggling to make any sense of her surroundings. The new presence that has now made itself known to be with her was still around, unless the brushes on her face were just hallucinations. She really hoped it was.

"When my shades told me they smelled a child of lightning…I refuted that claim. After all…you are not supposed to be here, child of grace. Run away from your mother…have you?"

"Who…who's there." Thalia muttered.

"I'm not sure. I know who I am…but who am I to you? It's an interesting thought if you know what I know."

"What…" Thalia coughed out, slowly trying to get up.

"Oh darling…don't."

Thalia yelped as she felt a weight pushing her down, and winced as she felt something sharp barely dig into her skin. The rattling noises continued like taunts, and Thalia could faintly smell the stench of rotting flesh, which only grew stronger.

"I can't have you…do anything dangerous. After all, you are important. Not just to the prophecy…but to me at least…"

The speaker then revealed itself, a veiled figure with greyish dried skin with a brown stained smile that stretched out more than it should.

"You know…" Gello purred out as it climbed on top of Thalia, the insides of its body still visible and dripping.

"You couldn't have come alone…of course you haven't." Gello muttered, extending her tongue out. "This is not…a coincidence…how did you come here…who did you come with!"

Thalia squirmed as the tongue began to wrap around her neck, her breathing hitching as Gello's ace split into a sinister smile. The rattling noises coming from the shadow beasts then stopped, as several them retreated back to the shadows, while Gello looked slightly confused.

"Is there a particular reason for this…exit?" Gello asked with a frown. A shadow beast then approached her and let out a series of hisses, which made Gello's frown deepen.

"There is a god here? blasphemy, I would have sensed it immediately- …he claims to be the Phantom Olympian? Now this is intriguing."

"Percy." Thalia whispered, and for the first time since all of this, let out a laugh. He was alright, there was no doubting that. And he was coming for her.

Gello on the other hand didn't look pleased, her eyes staring off to the distance. "There is no point in turning you." She then told Thalia, as a bit of blackish-grey liquid leaked out of a corner of her mouth. "But letting you go…"

Gello then hissed out something to the shadow bats, who replied back with a rattling noise. "Not complete, but enough to hold him over. I suppose we can start early; I hope my benefactor doesn't mind…"

---

"Half of these corridors are blocked." Percy called out, placing his hands on the wall. "Structural integrity is weak too, no wonder the collapse was so efficient. We can't even go back from where we came from without harming you two and risking Thalia's safety wherever she is."

"Can you repeat…what you said." Philip breathed out. "After I collect myself that is."

"No one else is responding sir." Erik said with a sigh, shutting the radio off. "I hate to assume the worst, but in the situation we are in-"

"We are going to find them, dead or alive. I can't lose any more of my men." Philip growled out.

"You must care for them then." Percy asked.

Erik scoffed. "Or doesn't want to deal with the lawsuit that will hit him and Mr. Dare."

'What did you just utter you little-"

Percy shook his head. "That's enough. Look, I can sense a path down there that seems relatively safe to travel through. If we can make it through there, we would more than likely come across the other mines, and then exit from there."

"You're not talking about going from there are you?" Philip suddenly asked, a look of slight fear setting in him. 'that path, after what we saw…you really want to risk it?!"

Percy looked confused. "Why, what's in there?"

Erik gaped openly at him. "You came into this town, knowing nothing about the disasters here? Why the town is as it is today?"

Percy looked pensive. "I know something happened here, but disasters?"

Philip sniffed. "Mining disasters Mr. Greek god. Almost eighty years ago they took, two of them in a span of ten years. Really bad mining disasters mind you, barely ten percent survived from there. Couple those with the wars later on, and Dawson was soon abandoned, only to be run by ghost operations from various companies. Until that ended as well, with the only thing worthwhile of Dawson was the graveyard which for the miners of the accidents, and other residents."

Percy blinked twice. "And your company wanted to tear all that down?!"

Philips eyes widened. "Obviously not! The government would hound us for wanting to take down a historic site! We were only scoping out the nearby forest area, and maybe even these mines for redevelopment."

"Exactly what I'm talking about, you want to remove all that! You could just let this rest!"

"No one stays here anymore, let alone even remember this place probably!"

"Sir!" Erik suddenly said. "I just checked the date on the comms. We have been inside the mines for more than twelve hours. Its currently the 24th."

"…Christmas eve." Philip murmured, slowly sinking to the ground. "It was just supposed to be a quick scope…"

"Christmas eve huh? Who knew I would spend my first one in an abandoned mine, surrounded by monsters from the shadows." Percy said after a while, his head jolting up.

"Is something wrong?" Erik asked, seeing Percy's blank face.

"I…I think I can-" Percy murmured, his eyes immediately widening. "Thalia!"

Philip raised an eyebrow. "That child? What about her?"

"She's…she has to be." Percy struggled, clenching his eyes shut. "North side…we have to go from there!" he shouted, pointing at a barricaded corridor.

Philips eyes widened. "Are you short of hearing? I told you, we can't go from there-"

'I'll think of something, trust me." Percy replied, summoning a sword. "I can't lose her, especially not like this."

Percy then hacked through the wooden boards, while simultaneously keeping a hold on the roof of the mines intact through his terrakinesis. The two mortals looked pensive on entering the mine, but the thought of the supposed safety of the god leaving prompted them to follow him. Percy's eyes then slowly began to glow as he exerted more of his power around the mine, knowing that the wooden suspensions supporting and littered around the mine is not enough to hold the roof. Though it didn't come to the point of being a toll on him yet.

"There's a lot of coal dust here for some reason." Percy noted, brushing his hand against the wall.

"These are coal mines…sir." Philip grumbled.

"Where do you keep those bats though?" Erik asked. 'I doubt they fit inside your coat?"

"Hmm? Oh, these are actually weapons I'm holding. Swords, spears, those kinds. It's just that there is this mystical barrier that doesn't allow mortals like you to see what I'm actually holding. It's going to take some getting used to to remember mortals can't see this stuff now."

"Missed?"

"Wait…shh." Percy alerted, raising his sword. Erik and Philip paused what they were doing, the latter gripping his shotgun. For a brief minute, there was nothing but complete silence everywhere, until a low hum began to echo around the corridor. The humming only became louder as the group managed to make out some kind of low guttural song being hummed. Suddenly, a wave of shadows engulfed the walls and ceiling of the mine. The shadows were about to engulf the floor as well, until Percy stomped his foot, making the shadows recede back.

"I can only do it for the floor we stand on." Percy gritted out. "Do not touch the walls, I can only remove the shadows this much because of the weak structures around us!"

"W-What do we do?!"

"Just stay close to me!"

The guttural humming then stopped, only to be replaced by soothing tones. Philip and Erik looked confused on hearing this, while Percy looked forlorn.

"That…sounds like the…nursery rhymes." He whispered.

"The last thing they hear sometimes." A voice whispered. "Whether they are in the womb of their mother, or cradled next to their bosom. I at least allow that memory to be their last."

Percy's eyes narrowed and then launched a dagger at a shadow, eliciting a piercing laugh. Gello then emerged out of it, twirling the dagger between her fingers. Percy raised his sword defiantly while shielding the mortals behind him, who had taken to cowering and covering their eyes as soon as they saw Gello.

"Huh. Seems like Artemis's description of your appearance was spot on. Or you haven't changed over the millennia." Percy called out. "Gello?"

"Y-You k-know that demonic nun?" Erik cried out.

Gello looked unamused. "One thing I hate about the mist; no one can now gaze upon my true form. At least I have now you and the child to uplift me, hmm?"

Percy's eyes widened on hearing Gello's words and let out cry. He launched himself at her, while Gello remained motionless, only snapping her fingers. A swarm of shadow beasts erupted from the walls on either side of Percy, trying to grab him. Without even blinking, Percy struck down the shadow beasts as he advanced towards Gello, his gaze not leaving hers. The daimon chuckled, gazing behind Percy. The god paused momentarily, sensing the shadows behind him warping as a pile of shadow beasts piled out from the ceiling, reaching out for the mortals. Percy then too snapped his fingers, and a series of earthen spikes shot out of the ground towards the beasts, followed by a larger earthen spike that pierced through the ceiling of the mine.

Gello smiled "That won't hold them."

Percy shrugged, slowing his pace down as he approached Gello. He then came face to face with her, the stench of rotten flesh more prevalent now.

"You have Thalia with you." Percy growled out.

Gello smacked her lips. "I'm not answering that."

"That wasn't a question. You have Thalia."

Gello chuckled. "Finders keepers. You lost her-"

Percy called back the dagger from Gello's grasp, merging it with the brace on his right arm. He then grabbed Gello by the neck, the umbra ore slowly wrapping itself tightly around the daimons neck.

"Ah…you…" Gello wheezed, dissolving into a fit of cackles. "That doesn't look good." She gasped out on noticing Percy's greyed arm.

"I wonder if you know why." Percy replied, slowly tilting his head. "After all, you sent my adversary back to me imbued with Moros's essence, which you gave. You even aided Lycaon, who is at odds with Artemis too. What is your end goal, daimon?"

"I'm not sure myself. But I know my benefactor doesn't want your kind to be present."

"But you got me presents!" Gello screeched, gesturing towards Philip and Erik. "More soulless beings apart of my little entourage…hehehe…"

"Where is Thalia!" Percy spat out, tightening his grip on Gello's neck.

"Thalia…Thalia. Oh…the child of grace. Grace's child. Oh she…she's alive. I should thank you for keeping her company, wouldn't want anything to happen to her. Her mother would throw quite the fit, ha!"

Percy faltered. "What are you talking about…"

Gello smiled, her eyes flashing red. The arm of a shadow beast then emerged out of the shadow of Erik and grabbed him by the leg, pulling him down into the shadow until he was waist deep. Erik's screams snapped Percy out of his stupor, who watched with horror as blood began to pool from Erik's side, while his screams and shouts only became louder. Percy was about to react when piles of dust began to sweep from the cracks of the ceiling, making him wince as he concentrated on keeping the mine and shadows intact, while struggling to watch Philip desperately try to save Erik.

"Oh don't worry, his death won't be in vain." Gello sniffed. Gello then twisted her head around like an owl, an audible crack echoing across the mine. Gello's body from the head down then went limp and shriveled up, falling down like a dead branch. Gello's head then slithered out of Percy's grasp, it's spine still attached as its body immediately began to regenerate, her elongated hands reaching out for Erik's mangled and motionless body body.

"Oh look, we match." Gello cooed, sinking her teeth into Erik's chest, where the heart was located. Percy yelled in retaliation as he formed a spear and threw it at Gello, managing to pierce her with it. Gello cried out with pain, but then slowly descended into laughter as she stared at Percy, her mouth stained with red and black. Behind her, Philip continued to shoot at Gello, but the bullets didn't affect her at all.

"This time! This time I will prevail, I will summon the impended damned. Their purpose will be met; Moros will be served!"

Percy was about to lunge for Gello again when he heard the faint sounds of lightning sparks coming from behind him. Gello seemed to have heard this as well, her smile slowly falling.

"That child is resilient…" Gello growled, flying straight across the corridor, leaving Percy behind her. Another horde of shadow beasts emerged as Gello left, their stone disks rattling as they slowly advanced towards their prey.

"There's no end to this. There's no end to this at all…" Philip mumbled sinking to the ground. Percy remained motionless as he stared at the shadow beasts approaching him, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the spear tightly.

"I am the end to all this. There's no one else who will be able to stop this. I came here intending to deal with this, and I will. And there is no way I'm going to let anyone else die on my watch!"

Percy then glanced at Philip. "And that includes you." He then said, kneeling down beside him, 'I'm sorry I couldn't save him. Or any of your men for that matter, even though I made a promise-"

"Good to know that the gods aren't perfect then." Philip mumbled, blankly staring at Erik's corpse. "I don't know how you intend to save me when you're more preoccupied in saving that little girl who's with you."

"That's not-"

"It's alright, I understand. You barely know me, hell, we've been at odds with each other since we met. Besides, that's a child, of course that should be higher priority. or she's a god too, I don't care at this point."

Percy pursued his lips and then sighed. "I'll keep them busy, give you enough time to pay your final respects." He said. Percy then extended his arm which was covered with the umbra or sheath, the grooves glowing a brilliant blue. The umbra ore then detached itself from him, forming small needle like projectiles as they revolved around Percy's arm. Percy ten launched them at the shadow beats, while also raising more earthen spikes from behind him to attack.

Percy then ran along the corridor, however something strange happened as he turned around the corner. Percy found himself in another cavern, but what caught his attention were Greek structures situated at the far end of the room. That was when Percy realized that the cavern didn't contain the Greek structures, they were already there within a place in the shadow plane, which was bleeding through the mortal world like a kind of portal. Gello as standing at the edge of the portal, looking quite frustrated as she tried to make a grab for a weird ball of light, only to fall back as her body spasmed.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Thalia's voice echoed, which Percy immediately realized was coming from the ball of light, which was Thalia's body radiating and sending out electricity.

"And here I thought it was a known fact to never mess with Zeus's children." Percy said with a laugh. He summoned a hookshot which he shot at Gello, catching her by the neck. Thalia let out a yell as a bust of electricity released from her body, electrocuting Gello with an intensity that Percy didn't recall Thalia ever showing, if the hairs on his arm raising had any indication. Percy then gritted his teeth as he began to swing the grapple hook around, with Gello still attached to it. After lighting the weapon on hellfire, Percy then let go, and watched with brief satisfaction as the Gello was struck against the wall, still reeling through the after effects and now having to deal with the hellfire that caught on her body.

"Can't do lot of it." Percy reminded himself, extinguishing the flame in his palm. "…Thalia!"

"…Percy?" Thalia spoke softly as she stumbled around, her vision blurring. "You're…you're not here-"

"Hey, hey, hey bug." Percy whispered, brushing Thalia's hair back. "I'm here, I'm actually here. I'm not going anywhere, not for a long time that is. I'm here with you, and you, you were brilliant back there. Absolutely fantastic!"

"Percy…" Thalia hiccupped, clenching Percy's coat tightly. "No…no ghosts. Not, not her-"

"Not her, only me." He murmured, sending calming waves through her. "Only me bug." Percy whispered, kissing the top of her head. Thalia immediately relaxed, slowly opening her eyes to find the grinning face of Percy. Her eyes began to tear up again as she sobbed loudly, burying her face into Percy.

"I was so- I thought something- it was so dark-"

"I know, I know and I'm so, so sorry. But I got you, I got you my little lightning bug." Percy murmured, a strangled laugh escaping him. Thalia was safe, he was fine, Gello was mostly taken care. All he had to do was send that daimon to the depths of Tartarus (if daimons even go there when killed that is), grab Philip, and leave this place as soon as possible. If it weren't for whatever source he was trying to find, then-

"Wait…" Percy muttered, his brow furrowing. He glanced into the area within the shadow plane, the architecture familiar but still foreign in a way. He knew deep down, there was something else amiss, the reason as to why he came here in the first place. Because he sensed something, something that stretched as far back to Arizona, something where Gello had to be the main instigator. And the previous times Gello was involved with something, it included…

Percy then gently set Thalia down, who automatically latched on to his leg. Percy ignored that and approached Gello, his eyes slowly glowing as he readied his braces.

"Why did you come here. Out of all the places, why a ghost town where major disasters have taken place. Why did I feel it's presence all the way in Jerome? Why did you carve the Tetreja, this symbol on the wall, and have it covered with the essence?!"

Gello remained still as Percy looked down on her, his gaze not wavering. Gello then slowly raised her head, a toothy smile across her face. Her eyes then sunk back, while black liquid trickled from both ends of her mouth.

"Hear me souls of impended doom!" Gello shouted as she began to rise up. "I feel your morose, I feel your pain. I feel, the doom that was unrightfully brought down upon you. Vengeance is your birthright! Breath in the essence of morose, for you serve him now. Undertake his will!"

Gello then let out a scream as her body began to convulse, while the cavern began to shake. Percy held Thalia tightly as he watched with bated breath on what was about to come. He noticed Philip entering the cavern, his eyes wide and panicked.

"The walls! They're shifting, as if something-"

"Perseus…" Gello murmured. "Do you know something interesting about the graveyard of this place? It's not the unmarked graves, or that it is the final resting place of all of Dawson. It's interesting to know…that most of those graves…are empty. So where are those bodies…"

A tremor echoed across the cavern as dust shifted across the room. Percy then heard the faint sound of moaning and groaning coming from the exit of the corridor. It only grew louder as Thalia and then Philip glanced to see what was happening. The next thing that happened sent Percy on a short trip to memory lane, as he remembered a body of a mutilated horse/crab hybrid creature, lying in the tomb of what was supposed to be a young boy's, deep in the catacombs of Arcadia.

The first body then fully appeared, a humanoid creature that had the face of a fly, with what looked like a light piece sticking out of its forehead. The creature walked aimlessly as it tried to stay upright on its centipede like lower body. It was then followed by another humanoid, this one with horns jutting out of its eye sockets as it walked awkwardly in all fours. More of these kinds of monsters made their way into the cavern, and Percy watched as some of them began to claw their way out of the floor and walls of the mines as well.

"There's more of these in the surface world right now. But these are the bodies of those who couldn't be retrieved when the mining disasters happened, as they slowly became one with the earth, now reborn to a greater purpose. Take solace in knowing you serve a greater power, and are not wasting away in some perished afterlife." Gello commanded, raising her arms. "This is what you asked for Perseus, and I delivered. It's a shame your moon goddess isn't here to witness this, she never got to see what the essence was capable of."

"W-What the hell is that?" Philip stammered as he stared at the body of Erik slowly making its way towards him. Percy watched as Erik's head began to shrivel up and twist until it was upside down with one eye only open. Its body also shriveled up, as tentacle like parts bursted out of its chest wound and began to move about.

"Philip don't touch him!" Percy warned, pulling him back with a shadow tendril. "Thalia?!"

"I-I don't have my s-spear…"

"Ohh…remind me to put a returning charm on it then." Percy stated as he held his hand out. A few moments later, a metal canister propelled out of a shadow and into Thalia's hands, taking her by surprise.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

Percy swiveled his head as he stared at the monster with fly's face, it's mouth slowly moving.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

"Why is he saying those words…" Percy muttered as he glanced around. He noticed that almost every monster was repeating one vastly different sentence, all in the same monotonous voice.

"There's pie for supper."

"Did you hear that?"

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

Even Erik was repeating a single sentence. "Stop, no. Can't…breathe."

"Why does that sound like the words he said before he…" Philip choked out, the sentence hanging in the air. Percy wondered what he was seeing because of the mist.

"It's their imprints. Their souls have been corrupted to the point that this is all that's left of them." Percy deduced. "Their final words…"

"Percy!" Thalia shouted, sending a bolt of lightning at a monster. But the lightning past harmlessly through the monster's body, as if it was a projection. Percy frowned on seeing this and summoned shadow wisps which he launched at the monsters, but even they seemed to pass through them.

"Dammit, this is just like the werewolves all over again." Percy grumbled as he slowly backed away, while Gello's smile did not falter. "Wait…werewolves."

Percy grinned as he reached into his coat pockets, and then removed his hands to reveal his silver clawed gauntlets. In the blink of an eye, he swiftly slashed through the first row of the monsters, but his smile dropped when even that didn't seem to affect the monsters too.

"You got to be fuc- shitting me." Percy groaned, jumping back as a spider like monster grabbed his body. Percy sent an earth spike straight through the monster's body, and was shocked to find the monster disintegrate into black mist.

"Holy- I think I got it!" Percy cried out excitedly as he summoned a row of spikes from the ground.

"Percy!" Thalia cried out as she got slowly backed by the monsters. Percy launched a volley of the spikes at the monsters on Thalia, but was again in for surprise when the spikes again passed though the monsters.

"Shit." Percy yelled, flicking his wrist up. The ground beneath Thalia then began to crack, and she was soon lifted up in the air on a stone platform. However, there were a few monsters that had developed some sort of flying abilities, and they too began to give chase. Percy bit back a curse as he jumped into the air, grabbing the flying monster midair. This one was more vicious then the others, a cobra like creature with its hoods acting as wings. Percy jumped on the back of the monster, grabbing its upper jaw and began to lead it elsewhere. He then directed it down to a horde of monsters, while setting himself and the cobra ablaze. He then let go and grappled himself towards a wall, while the burning monster bombarded with the others, the hellfire somewhat affecting as they began to slow down. But it did not have the affect Percy was hoping for.

"Come on Percy, think! They are all products of Moros's essence, like Lycaon. Only difference is, he was alive while they are dead…Lycaon only had two major weaknesses…silver and my shadows…hellfire doesn't count since it's hellfire…silver and shadows…things that represent me and Artemis, who he has a grudge…"

"Wait…it can't be, can it?" Percy wondered out loud as he remembered the previous arachanid monster dying due to being impaled by an earthen spike. "They all have set weaknesses…but what if it's not random. These…redeads…are definitely stronger than the werewolves and Lycaon, even Mados was easy enough but I had him sealed. These are mutated bodies with corrupted souls, set weaknesses…Lycaon's weakness was related to silver. He had grievances with Artemis…"

Percy let out a frustrated cry as he dived down, scanning the crowds for someone in particular. He then found it, the monster that was once Erik, trying to stay upright as it reached out for Philip.

"He was killed by shadows beasts, actual embodiments of shadows that have taken up consciousness. So…shadows?"

Percy then launched a shadow tendril at Erik, and almost thanked the Fates loudly when the tendril pierced through the flesh. The monster let out a hacking fit of coughs until it went limp, slowly disintegrating into black mist.

"I got it. I think I got it!" Percy excitedly cried out as he dropped to the ground, shadows slowly surrounding him. He grinned at Gello who still held her smile, though Percy could make out the hint of fear behind her eyes."

"What are you planning to do now?" Philip yelled. "You just killed-"

"He was already dead. They all are dead!" Percy shouted. "I can't sit here and let them just play out when she's still there. I have to stop them."

"Yes Perseus. Kill them if you have to. Relieve them of their suffering if you even can. Because that's all you can do when you try to save everyone. You never succeed." Gello taunted. "Kill them once again."

Percy stilled, and watched as the number of redeads were slowly rising. He couldn't take Thalia through the shadow plane due to possible detection, and he wasn't even sure if Philip being a mortal and with what he had just witnessed would be able to handle another plane of existence.

"I don't-" Percy suddenly said, clenching his fists. 'I don't know what to do…or how-"

He could always resort to hellfire, but too much will unmask the death mist. Or as a last resort, reveal his true form and hope for the best. Or as a last ditch resort, possibly seal every single one of them including Gello in this mine. Which would probably take even more of a toll, but he was running out of options.

"I don't even know what can stop them all at once." Percy gritted out as shadow tendrils sprouted behind him. "I can't even protect-"

Percy then formed a sword and slashed a shadows casted next to him, revealing a portal to the outside world. He grabbed Philip who was too stunned to do anything and pushed him through it, then turning towards Thalia.

"No…" Thalia mumbled, looking confused and angry. "No! I' don't want to leave you again, you can't do this to me!"

"I'm not!" Percy yelled. "But it's too dangerous for you to remain here with me any longer."

"Or just being with me…" he thought.

"I don't care; I'm not leaving you!" Thalia cried out. "You said you wouldn't leave me, you promised!"

"Yeah…" Percy said, smiling sadly. "Seems like I'm breaking a lot of promises today."

A loud shriek momentarily startled Percy, who turned around to find Gello flying straight towards them.

'I'm not letting you try anything self-sacrificial this time tetrekar!" she yelled, swooping down and grabbing Thalia by the hair. "Especially when she isn't here to-"

"UNHAND HER YOU FIEND!" Percy yelled as shadow tendrils and earthen spikes burst from the ground, heading straight for Gello. Percy leapt into the air, and grabbed Gello by the head, pushing the three of them into the wide shadow portal. Percy clawed at Gello's face, grabbing her jaw and stretching it out while his umbra ore braces split into spikes and floated around them, then piercing every part of the daimon. She let go of Thalia, who then reached out to grab Percy's shirt, holding on to it tightly. Percy then thrashed Gello's body through anything solid he could find, until he was holding on to a mangled corpse.

"Can't do anything? CAN'T DO ANYTHING?! Who are you without your army, who are you with what influence? You are no one; your own pitiful shades won't approach me! Where is your god, where is he?!"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush with this!" Percy yelled, bringing out his left arm, the mark glowing and exposed for Gello to see.

"No, you're going to risk it all again?! You want to disappear again, just like what happened after Gaia?!" Gello cried out.

"It wasn't me who was the cause of my disappearance." Percy solemnly replied, his eyes burning with fury. "Unlike you, I'll still be around after sealing you off."

Gello's eyes widened on hearing this, a nervous smile on her face. "That sounds…wonderful. I think I really needed to know that."

Percy then unclenched his hand and grabbed Gello's face, streams of white energy pouring out around them out. For the first time, a look of pure fear settled on her face, and Percy relished in the feeling of seeing her struggle to break from his grip. Percy could feel the skull cracking under his grip, and made sure that Thalia was safe from what was about to happen as he directed the streams of energy towards Gello, who was slowly becoming limp.

"Enough."

A pin drop could be heard as everything in the shadow plane stopped. Percy immediately stilled with confusion and apprehension, the one word setting of every single mental alarm in his head. Even Thalia tensed up considerably, her body unknowingly sparking up as if her fight instincts were acting up as a reflex. Gello used the opportunity to break free from Percy, but even she looked considerably afraid, not as afraid at the prospect of being sealed, but still afraid. And then Percy felt something he never thought he would ever feel.

Impending doom.

A large figure made its presence known, its skeletal like appearance immediately catching Percy's attention. The body below the waist was barely distinguishable, but from the waist up, Percy could make out the rib cage extending and protruding out of the body from the back, forming what resembled to be wings. There were pieces of greyed flesh hanging from the bones everywhere on the body, with each ball joint having a spike protruding out. The figure was holding a sword glistening with a transparent like substance, the blade resembling a two bones tied together, and what looked like teeth fitted in between the gap. And as for the head, it was just a skull with rows of jagged teeth, but there were no sockets for where the eyes were supposed to be. The top of the head had little protrusions sticking up, making the top of the head resemble a crown.

"Lykofós Perseus. I have witnessed enough." The figure spoke.

"Ο Μόρος…" Gello sighed out, reaching for the figure. The figure didn't react, still gazing down upon Percy. The god didn't move either, too confused and stunned to even grasp what he was facing. But he could feel it. He could feel it crawl within him, he could feel the literal embodiment of what he was feeling staring down upon him.

"Foolish are thou, to conduct that blasphemous act within my realm. To show your forbidden and vulgar nature. Does thou know, what stands on the grounds of the mortal plane in this very moment?"

"My children, without a thought except one, to destroy. They can wreak havoc in the snap of a finger, but so can thou. I pose a threat, and so can thee. Δεν υπάρχει μεγαλύτερο αποτέλεσμα."

"But due to thy nature…I propose a solution. Something that will not make me an enemy of thee. For I shadow every enemy, and their enemy. A friend for all."

"I will recall my children from above. They will not trudge the mortal realm again, that is, if thou refrain from acting on your forbidden power. Renounce your blasphemous might tetrekar, and perhaps I might be lenient with my influence on thee. Do thou understand?"

"…I…" Percy breathed out, no words coming out of his mouth.

"Think about it…my half-brother."

The figure then reached out, cupping Gello in his palms. Percy felt a rush of air as he was pushed back. Before he knew it, the shadow plane was replaced by the bright morning sky. A cool breeze blew across Percy's face, who was shivering and clutching Thalia's body tightly. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew there was no denying it. He felt like a mortal who just had a brush with death, which made realize something. This was how it felt, how it always felt for anyone, even immortals to some extent. He didn't realize how prevalent that feeing was, until now.

"Percy?" Thalia choked out.

"Yeah…?"

"Can we please get out of here. she sobbed. 'I don't…I don't want to do this. I don't want to go to, I don't- I-"

"Yeah…yeah sure. We can do that…we can…oh gods… . I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..."

---

"Milord?" Gello asked nervously as she entered the interior of a temple. The floor of the building was flooded with the essence of Moros. As for Moros, he was crouched on the floor, carving something on it.

"Why did you let the forbidden being go?"

Moros paused what he was doing, tilting his head to the side. "I can't stop him. No matter what, I can't stop him, especially after the confirmation we both heard from him. If he didn't have a duty of care in him, to keep him grounded, he would have advanced upon me without a care of what happens up in the mortal world. So…I delayed him. Gave a false illusion that he may have just evaded me for the time being, when in reality…"

Moros got up, tucking inside his robe a stone tablet that had various markings etched on to it. "I never thanked you for bringing me this from the tetrekar when he was found in Tartarus. It has been very useful for my future plans. Our reality can be finally met."

Gello's eyes lit up. "The convergence?"

"Yes my pet. A world…rewritten." Moros muttered, staring at the carvings he made on the floor, the tetreja symbol in the center of it all.

---

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving shortly in JFK airport. Please fasten your seatbelts and await further instructions for landing as we are now going to begin our descent."

"Hmm? Already huh…" a young man murmured, yawning heavily as he stretched in his seat and glanced out of the window, the New York Skyline slowly coming into view under the rising sun.

"Merry Christmas America." The man sleepily muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Ugh, I hope Apollo doesn't leave the chariot on automatic today. It always shines brightly when he does that. I wonder if Olympus will hold a festival…wait I forgot. I'm supposed to be incognito for now. And…it's Olympus. Maybe camp might do something, haven't been there in a long time…"

"Or even the hunt." The man mumbled, dryly chuckling. "I'll probably become a human pincushion if Phoebe and Celyn find me, hence incognito. Don't want Artemis finding me out either."

"But if he finds me…I'll welcome that. Will make this whole trip worth it to be honest. Because I know you're here Perseus, you have to be. Cause there's no way…no way for any of this to be happening. And I've seen plenty of shit by myself, as camp leader, as the one of the first members of the hunt-"

"Shh! People are trying to sleep." A woman behind him whispered angrily.

"Ah…apologies ma'am." The man whispered bashfully. "Way to go Arius, centuries of living in solitude has now made you a menace to society. I should have gotten first class instead."

---

So...hi? Okay, I have no excuses for virtually going on an unofficial hiatus, I swear! It's just that, I got stuck, then a bit burnt out, then my social life for some reason exploded, then- I'm making excuses, aren't I. But man, what a year! And that's just speaking in the general sense. Like, what has come up! I can't even type it out because there's so freaking much that went down in 2022. And now we're like a week away from 2023. It's going to be Christmas! But yeah, I definitely missed you guys, man, it's good to be back. I'm scared to even look at the reviews, because I know the top page is all asking where I am. And I should stop writing because…I don't know how to write a coming back para? This is weird, never thought I would be that guy. And hey, I think some of you had an inkling I was going to be back due to the story automatically updating once I removed the two AN's (excluding the discord server, you don't count. Speaking of, I should update the links…)

Also, I by no means am trying to like downplay what happened in the Dawson mine disasters. These were actual events that happened, people have died. I do feel bad for what the town had to go through, and i really hope no one takes offence of me using this location for my story. other than that…I'm back? Yeah, I'm back…I'm back! This is my unintended Christmas gift to you all, so Merry Christmas! Bye!...\/