And we are here with chapter 19! This is going to be a pretty big one.

Hope you didn't have to wait too long.

Get ready and enjoy...

CHAPTER 19: YOUR FIRST LESSON

Everything started in slow motion.

Here we were, Val and I, staring down five armed and fired-up demigods that were running straight towards us. Like she was about to start a hundred-yard dash, Val got ready to meet them head on. In the back, I could see the light of the sun glint off of Flip's platinum coin as Emile was aiming down the iron sights of his crossbow. Nico pulled the blackened blade from his hilt as an extreme calmness overtook his posture.

And me; my backfoot dug itself into the tarmac of the flight deck, my shield raised to just below my eyeline, I could feel a surge of energy power through my calves all the way up to my thighs. The spartan pendant hanging from my neck made audible humming sounds like a heartbeat. Being in a place like this, the temple of Ares, something was different. I felt different. A breath of air escaped my lips as I inhaled it back in, filling my lungs like fuel for an engine. I saw their faces, young and expressive, but beneath all that was something far from innocent.

Everything was quiet.

Then a spark went off in my brain, an explosion. An explosion that carried itself throughout my entire body and its muscles as I kicked off the ground, charging them head on. What started in slow motion was now at a chaotic speed. Val and I hit their line at the same time. Her lightning-like agility was too much for them to react in time whilst my strength barrelled through them like a set of bowling pins.

The fight was on.

I had Trish directly in my sights, and without hesitation, I swung a heavy punch using the rim of my shield right at her but she managed to duck just in time. She was surprisingly nimble that I wasn't able to react to the hidden kick to my chest that pushed me back, knocking the wind out of me. When I looked back up, Trish had already broken off into a fight with Val and I instead stared down the boy who was the first to threaten us. He was agile and dexterous in his own right, as he quickly maneuvered in a way to strike his sword against my shield with a sturdy hit. Using that small window of time where he's still recovering from his swing, I swing back with my unoccupied fist but he managed to duck just in time like he was playing limbo. To my surprise, he gracefully regained balance with a slight backflip, using one of his hands to support.

Not bad.

Quickly checking my surroundings, everyone else got picked off into their own personal duels. The only thing I could hear above the clashing was Trish's manic laughter as she fought Val. Meanwhile, Marshall was observing on the sidelines, watching everything with an expression of mild disinterest. I think he was trying to light a cigarette but the deck was too windy so he was having some trouble. I faced down my opponent once more as I tried to keep my breathing at a steady state. I had started the fight with a little too much energy and I had the risk of getting a little too carried away. Being in a fight with Birch's kidnappers wasn't helping calm me down either. Dienekes watched my back as usual, keeping my senses sharp and warning me of attacks I didn't see coming.

I narrowly parried and blocked every sword swing that came for me from my opponent. I got cut on the shoulder once but he suffered more cuts then I did from my combat knife. I judged that his strategy was to keep away once he realized he wouldn't be able to go toe-to-toe with me if I closed the distance.

"Arthur, arrow from behind!"

Dienekes' call came with perfect timing as I rotated my shield, blocking in the direction that he told me to. There was a loud thud that hit my shield, a rogue arrow that must have slipped past the other fights. But I was so focused on my opponent that I barely felt like flinching. Even if that arrow did hit me I wasn't sure if it would have made a difference. I could see the panic start to grow in his eyes. I could sense it too which only energized me even more.

I'm donewith all these setbacks. I am not failing again.

He started getting more reckless, each swing of his getting heavier and heavier. But it only amounted to what felt like a piece of paper smacking against my shield. He began shouting and cursing in desperation but there was nothing he could do to break through my defense whilst I simply advanced. His strikes began to slow down, until he attempted one final wild arch of a swing. At the perfect moment, I dismissed my shield and caught his sword-arm mid-attack. I could see the shock in his face before I flipped him over my head, as he weighed nothing, and slammed him onto the ground where he lay there disorientated.

"Well done, Arthur."

"Not done yet, D."

"Agreed."

As I ran back towards the rest of the fighting, I did another quick scan of the battlefield. It was hectic, spreading even wider across the flight deck. It was hard to tell what was happening, but everyone seemed to be fighting everything and each other. I could only make out the distinct silhouettes of my companions thanks to our matching camp shirts. With one of them down, we outnumbered them five to four but these demigods fought like demons. Everything in my view meshed together like a blurry painting, the only thing I focused on was attacking the enemy and keeping my allies alive and unharmed. The first sign of threat I spotted was one of the rogue demigods sneaking up on Val who was unaware. I doubled my pace, summoning my shield, and doing another shield-slam into the demigod, sending him tumbling over a few feet in front of me due to the momentum.

I tried calling out to my friend. "Val! We should form up, otherwise–"

I was interrupted as I managed to spot, out of the corner of my eye, a boot coming straight towards my face. I reacted quickly enough to raise my shield but not enough to brace for the impact. The flying kick, or whatever hit me, actually pushed me back. Thankfully, I recovered quickly, only to see the mad girl Trish, a wild grin on her face as she began her ferocious assault. With a dagger in one hand and a sword in the other, she switched between both when trying to slice me, throwing in a couple perfectly executed roundhouse and front kicks. She was nowhere near as fast as Val, but her unpredictability still made it difficult to keep up. Somehow she was able to transition from a thrust with her sword to an immediate low kick to my legs that was followed up by another quick thrust with her dagger. It was almost like fighting a gymnast on cocaine.

"You know, as a daughter of Athena, I always find it exhilarating fighting another child of a war god. Who will win? Brains or Brawn?"

More of her laughter echoed as she continued fighting.

Her laughing keeps pissing me off.

My defense held strong, and almost every blow she made was met with my shield. But the more she spoke, the more it made me agitated. All I could think of was how she probably acted just like this when they took Birch. Enjoying the fact that they kidnapped him. The thought was driving me insane. The anger started getting to me, affecting how I acted. Instead of blocking a blow, I got impatient and tried countering with a quick strike of my combat knife but the moment I let my defense down, she saw her opening. In the middle of her own swing, she ducked down underneath mine and landed a straight knuckle uppercut to my chin. The blow made me see white for a few moments.

An ugly cackle escaped her. "Oooh, that looks like it hurts."

She's still laughing.

I didn't even bother trying to regain my defense, I just went straight to retaliation. I began striking more than I should have, using the shield in a more offensive manner like it was a bludgeoning tool. That fact that she's done nothing but take joy in our pain made me mad and the fact that she managed to land a strong blow on top of that, infuriated me. My mind was subconsciously going through the usual routine to try and keep me steady but I could already feel the emotions start to slip. And she seemed to be reveling in this even more.

She ran at me again, this time throwing insults to injury making me fight even more aggressively. Another mistake was made as I stupidly swung way too wide which earned me a quick cut across the chest. It didn't hit any vital organs, only cutting through the skin but the bleeding and sudden pain shock was enough to disorient me. She circled me in a terrifying motion, like a predator trapping its prey. I felt out of breath. My heart rate was going crazy now, and I could feel the very temperature of my veins rising. I wasn't sure how long I could keep going before completely losing it.

Trish didn't seem to be slowing down and she's only getting more unpredictable. I've only been barely able to block her strikes, thanks to the shield, but it's only a matter of time before a punch to the gut becomes a stab through the chest. On top of that I could feel myself getting even more restless and I think she knows that. She knows she can't get through my defense so she's goading me to go on the offensive where she has the maneuverability to deal some real damage. She fights by getting under people's skin which is the worst match-up for me, because it's working, and I'm struggling to keep it together.

My mind was like a cyclone of thoughts and unbridled feelings. I wanted to make up for it. For all of it. Every single mistake I made, I just wanted to release all that anger. I wanted to hurt her. The rage was building up in my lungs. I wanted to punch through what was ever in front of me in order to forget every negative emotion that plagued me; The pain of being alone; The regret from what I did to Hunter; The guilt of not being able to protect Birch.

Give in. That's all my mind kept telling me. Let loose. I felt a vibration reverberate from the ship to my feet, like another voice inside my head. 'Give in… let it fuel you… empower you… you could defeat them all… become invincible…' And, I wanted to.

Internally, the systems of my body were kicking into overdrive but everything around me was slowed down. But amidst all that noise was a faint pulse, almost like another heart beat layered underneath my own. Then there was another voice, two voices, almost like a memory.

'Pride's don't break rank… we keep them…'

Then that other voice spoke again, coming deep from the ship. 'Let it make you stronger and show them what true strength is.'

'A true warrior… a true spartan…' a separate voice spoke which gradually became clearer and more concise as the voice of Dienekes. "Arthur, what makes a true warrior?"

'Fury and fire…' that strange voice spoke once more before fading out.

"Do not let go of your anger," the spartan said. "Wield it."

'Wield it', the words echoed into my thoughts as I began saying it to myself. I could still feel the pent up rage inside my heart, like a river crashing against a dam. I remembered the words all the things Mom used to tell me, 'shoulder to shoulder', 'phalanx', everything I used to steady myself. However this time, something different happened. For the first time, instead of pushing it back down, I slowly let it take over me but still repeating those same words again and again in my head. Before I would always release my anger outwards, but this felt almost like the opposite. Like I was releasing it internally. The more I did so, the more things began to shift into a steady vision. The two separate pulses in my body began to merge into one consistent beat. My body and blood still burned hot, but what felt like a raging forest fire was now more akin to a warm furnace. The air that left my nostrils almost acted like steam that was released to maintain the temperature of a roaring engine. It was a sensation I've never felt before. I still felt the same rage, the anger that would drive me towards extreme action but this was new.

The only way I could describe it was that before; I was just the bull that charged wherever the man waved the red cape, but now… it felt like I was the bull and the man.

I repeated the words Mom's been teaching me my whole life.

'Shoulder to shoulder' made me feel like a rock, steady and unwavering.

'Phalanx' made my hands and fingertips feel like pikes. Dangerous to anyone stupid enough to run into them.

All of this happened in only a second of real time, and the last hint of a voice I heard was that recognisable approving grunt from my spartan ancestor.

The next thing I saw was a blade making its way towards my face. Trish slammed her sword into my shield but this time I reacted quickly, grabbing the shoulder she used to strike, holding her in a clinch whilst I delivered two knees to the stomach. Then I tried to do the same slam move I did on my previous opponent but when I flipped her over my head, she managed to safely roll out of it and spring back onto her feet, creating more distance between us. On her way up she also managed to sneakily throw a dagger right at my neck but her timing was slow and I managed to deflect it to the side with my shield.

I stared her down, my vision focused on every single detail about her. I suddenly had this new surge of energy coursing through my body. My battle senses were heightened threefold and the anger that, for so long, I had tried to resist was charging me like a battery but for once I was in total control. I let my body do one collective exhale as I circulated my anger throughout my entire motor system.

Her smiling demeanor remained the same, but I could see the slight twitching in her eyes and I could sense the slight anger seething off her.

"I never thought a son of Ares would be one to hide behind a shield." A wad of bloody spit shot out of her mouth after she said that.

In response, I dismissed my shield, sheathed my combat knife till I was left with nothing but my bare hands.

I planted my feet into the ground. "Who said I was hiding?"

She charged towards me, rearing her arm back for an attack with her sword. I readied my stance. She was about to go for a swing but then feinted and tried to catch me off guard with a kick to the side of my head. But I instantly saw it coming, I quickly blocked her left foot with my left forearm and with a newfound speed hurled a right hook with my fist directly to the side of her face. She just managed to block it and tried to counter but I swiftly collided my elbow against her nose, causing her to stumble back a few steps. Every movement felt smooth as the raging fire inside of me kept my joints warm. Each blow was met with an extra boost of strength and momentum as I channeled my rage into each one.

She wiped the blood from her face. "Hah! If only you fought this hard to protect your beloved little satyr!"

I know she was trying to throw me off but it only fuelled the anger boiling inside of me, only improving how I fought. She ran towards me again and it was almost like I knew it before it even happened; she tried to go for another one of her signature kicks but I simply interrupted it with a boot to her shin causing her to shriek in pain. I gave her another boot to the chest that almost sent her flying backwards. Now she was starting to get agitated.

She came in wildly with another swing of her sword but I managed to catch her wrist and twist it at such an uncomfortable angle that she was forced to drop the blade. I looked at her dead in the eyes, and for the first time I saw a hint of fear. I smashed my forehead against her face with a sickening crunch as her balance faltered. Then, as she was still trying to figure out what planet she was on, I tackled her and crashed her body into the ground a few more feet in front of me before I delivered a quick and efficient punch to the face that knocked her out cold.

I heard someone running up to the side of me. It was the one I slammed on the ground before, his sword raised in a wild stance and he blindly charged straight at me. I could tell that his movement was groggy, probably still recovering from our fight. As soon as he got close, I opened my shield and swung at him in a backhanded motion. I don't think I even put 100% of my strength into that blow but either way I struck him across his face as he went had a second or two of airtime before landing on the ground next to Trish where they both lay still.

Two opponents who were capable fighters, one that I genuinely struggled with, were now unconscious on the ground within a minute. I was even surprised at what just happened. I knew I had my talents in a scrap but that was to another level. My punches had an extra weight to them. My speed felt consistent. My stamina seemed never ending. And pain no longer had as much of an effect.

As I basked in this enhanced sensation, the voice of Dienekes spoke into my mind. "Your anger is your right. It is yours to control and yours alone. Anger is a powerful weapon that only the strongest warriors learn to master. In time, you will master it as well. Consider this your first lesson."

I still felt the anger coursing through me, I clenched my fists feeling a fire-like vibrance underneath my skin. I let out another breath of steam. I noticed that Marshall had been standing, fairly close to that whole encounter, simply watching the battle unfold as he took a drag of a cigarette.

"You're just going to stand there?" I growled.

He was too concentrated on the puff of smoke leaving his mouth to respond in any way. I ignored him as I moved on trying to find the next opponent. I returned my focus to the source of the fighting only to see that my comrades had done pretty well for themselves. Nico managed to tie up his guy to one of the wheels of the fighter jets. Emile and Flip apparently threw one of them overboard. And Val managed to disarm and knockout the last one. When they asked how I had fared, I simply turned to the two unconscious bodies that I left laid out on the tarmac.

"Damn," Flip said, flicking his coin between his fingers.

As usual, Flip came out of the fight with barely an injury. I noticed he had two daggers currently in his possession but I only knew where one of them was kept. I wasn't even aware that he had a second one until he pulled it out. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a third. I didn't know how to feel with the fact that there was blood on both as well. Of course we were fighting demigods but glancing at the other's weapons, there wasn't nearly as much red. I know Flip likes to fight a little unorthodox in a way that some would call 'dirty'. He goes for parts of the body that quickly incapacitate and weaken. He's a clever fighter but I do wonder sometimes if he takes it too far. Even though they are our enemy, I never wanted to entertain the idea of killing them. These weren't monsters but people.

Val rubbed the sleeve of her compression shirt along the edge of her rapier as she looked me up and down with an expression I've seen far too often. "You feelin' alright, Art?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I said bluntly.

I actually feel more than fine.

"Come to think of it, slick, you do look kinda… mad."

Val proceeded to place her hand on my arm. "Are you… heating up?"

"Whoa, what?" Emile was looking at me strangely too now.

"That's... interesting." Nico observed me like he was waiting for something to happen. He scratched his nose. "Well, it definitely isn't a blessing. Nothings changed."

Blessing?

"Yeah, Clarisse had a lot more... red," Val also added.

What does Clarisse have to do with anything?

"I said, I'm fine," I raised my voice, causing them to step back a little. "I just got a little frustrated but trust me, I think it's fine. Something happened but it worked out. I'll explain later. Right now we need to get out of here."

Flip tucked one of his daggers back inside his jacket. "Don't have to say that twice."

I appreciated them not poking at the subject further. I did want to talk about it, but not right now.

Then Nico held up his hand, grabbing our attention. He paused, like he just heard something. "Oh shit."

And just when I thought we were in the clear, I suddenly felt a shockwave effect shake violently throughout the USS Intrepid. It was large enough that the others managed to feel it too. If my warrior 'spidey-sense' hadn't kicked in, and my shield had not gone up in time, I probably would have had three metallic feather-looking knives stuck in my head right now. Just when we thought the fighting was over, another one came along. This time it wasn't demigods, but a swarm of birds. And from the looks of it, the same birds I've been suspicious about during this entire museum tour.

Who would've thought?

"Looks like the temple guards aren't happy," Nico said, brandishing his black blade in the sunlight.

"Stymphalian birds!?" Flip exclaimed. "Now!? Are you kidding me!?"

Emile started loading another crossbow bolt. "I have a feeling they didn't like our little tussle in their temple."

"Not to mention the blasphemy." Val zipped up her vest all the way as she readied the rapier in her hand.

Another wall of feather blades came hurling straight towards us, forcing us to spread out. I was lucky enough to have a shield, but the others had a much harder time. I started running around the whole flight deck like a mad man trying to protect not only myself but the others as well. Thankfully I had gotten a stamina boost from my 'rage-rush'. I thought about having to run over to Marshall as well, but he seemed unbothered, already finding himself some cover underneath one of the planes.

He'll be fine.

Things only got worse once the birds got to us. They began attempts to pick at our flesh with their bronze beaks whilst we did our best to fend them off. My combat knife did nothing to them since it wasn't celestial bronze, so I had to swing with my shield in the hopes that I'd catch a few. Nico looked like he knew what he was doing, using the arc of his sword to simultaneously strike a couple down and keep the others at bay but he suffered a few pecks in the process. I made my way over to Flip and Val, who were currently struggling back-to-back trying to kill these birds. I thought the best thing I could do was provide them with some protection. Val's rapier was definitely not made for killing birds. She almost got carried away once she got separated from us but Flip managed to make his way over and strike at the birds with his daggers whilst I covered for him.

But more just kept coming.

Nico joined up with our huddle of three as well once he started feeling the pressure. Sticking together was our only way of dealing with them. Whoever gets picked off on their own would easily get overwhelmed. I tried to find our last group member, Emile, amidst all the monstrous birds, only to hear him yell out to us from underneath a plane.

"Hey! Little help over here!"

Emile was taking cover, using one of the jets, but the birds began piling in. I'm not going to lie, seeing him struggle with a bunch of birds would have made me happy if only I wasn't suffering from the same thing. We powered our way through to regroup with him. I managed to snatch one of the birds out of the air and smash its head against my celestial bronze shield. Once we reached him, the four of us created a perimeter around the jet. These monsters were pretty easy to defeat, the only problem was that there were a lot of them. We take one down and immediately another just fills in the gap.

With the amount of fire I still had burning in me, I could've gone for another hour or so but the same couldn't be said for everyone else who was visibly getting exhausted. The only one who didn't seem to be really fighting was Emile. Once we got the birds off him, he just started messing around with his bundle of tools as we continued fending off the horde of monster birds.

"Asshole! What the hell are you doing!?" I yelled in frustration.

But he didn't respond.

Maybe he couldn't hear me over the birds.

I called out to Val who was the closest to him. "What's he doing!?"

"Beats me!" she cried out in response.

Our circle got smaller and smaller, soon we would have nowhere to go. And still, Emile was doing whatever it was that kept him so occupied from helping us.

I turned around, yelling at him one more time which caused me to catch a beak to the wrist. The pain didn't register but my annoyance did. "Emile! What the fuckare you doing!?"

This time he responded, only in a way I didn't expect. "Saving your life, jackass."

I didn't expect the surprise I was in for when I turned around. There was one distinct loud 'chk-chk' as Emile racked the hunk of metal currently in his hands. The guy was no longer holding his regular crossbow and his music was playing so loud that I could hear it through the ear buds.

"Move."

I stepped well out of the way of his line of fire, covering my ears knowing just how loud a shotgun was.

From what I could tell, the initial structure of the firearm took the shape of the Remington's found in the Camp Armoury, only this was heavily modified. The fore-end had a custom grip that seemed tailored to Emile's hand. Similar to his crossbow, the top of the gun, where the iron-sight would be, had a rail that looked like it equipped different sights for different ranges. The butt-stock had a shell holder for extra ammunition, in addition to the shells that Emile would take from his bandolier of pouches strung across his body. It also had a sling that was attached from the barrel to the stock which meant it could be hung from the shoulder as well. To top it all off, the shotgun had a bayonet like attachment where at the end of the barrel was a blade glimmering in celestial bronze.

Nobody saw this coming, especially the birds.

A round from a shotgun had a wide spread which meant a singular shot took out a whole clump of birds. What I assume was celestial bronze rounds began melting through the flocks of birds, taking out multiple batches at a time. That first loud bang made everyone duck as Emile began cleaning house. I was also impressed with the efficiency in which he loaded the firearm. I could tell that he's had some training. There was not a single ounce of wasted movement. And whenever a bird got to close, he simply impaled it with the bayonet. Emile with his shotgun quickly moved to the front, creating gaps where the rest of us could fill in and help finish off the birds. Though, I doubt our help was making him go any faster.

Sure enough, the number of birds that were attacking began to dwindle until the rest fled. The amount of golden dust that was left behind, floating in the air was enough to give anyone an asthma attack. And just like that, after a solid minute of loud shotgun bursts and screaming birds (do birds scream or caw?), everything seemed to have quietened down. The ship fell silent and I could no longer sense any strange vibrations. At the same time, I felt the anger within me slowly die down as I returned to a more neutral state. My skin felt more sensitive to the cool breeze of the windy deck as the air cycling through my lungs felt more natural and calm.

That was the first time I had wielded my anger, to channel my rage like Dienekes said. This could be the start of something entirely new. I have no idea how it works or how to describe it but it just… happens. More importantly it felt great. It's like my body unlocked a new form.

I guess we're just gonna have to see where it goes and trust the old man.

We all took a moment to catch our breaths. The sleeves of my Ares Cabin overshirt had a few small holes in them from the constant pecking I endured, which made me a little frustrated.

Man… I like this shirt.

Other than me, the rest of us were exhausted, Flip most of all. But despite our energy levels, we all turned to the Son of Hephaestus, standing tall, inspecting the weaponry that was in his grasp.

"Where the fuck have you been hiding that?" Flip huffed, breaking the silence.

"I've actually never seen anyone use the ones at camp before but man that thing is useful," Val said, making a rather good point.

"It's been a personal project," Emile explained. "The guns we have at Camp are pretty mediocre, so I took one of them and improved on it with my own tweaks."

"Are you using celestial bronze for ammunition?" I asked, genuinely curious. Not going to lie, just looking at the gun just made the Ares-weapon-nerd in me giddy.

"Yes, but only half the amount you'd think. More cost-efficient, since celestial bronze is not exactly a common material."

"May I?" I said in the most respectful way I have ever been to this guy.

The others started to disperse, taking stock of their things whilst also making sure we were truly in the clear. There might have been a few straggler birds still skulking about. As I asked the question, Emile just stared at me with a suspicion in his eyes and a clear sense of hesitancy. He pulled the shotgun tighter to his chest.

"I promise I won't do anything stupid," I reassured with sincerity. "You did save our lives, so… I owe you that much."

I thought there was no way he was gonna budge and that would be that, but then looked down at the gun and sighed.

"You saved mine." He carefully handed me his shotgun. "Consider it even."

The gun felt hefty in my hands but not too heavy to be uncomfortable. At closer inspection, it was a much rougher design than I thought but it definitely held in terms of its functionality. Like any other weapon, it felt natural in my hands but this wasn't the first time I've held or shot a gun either. I moved around with it a little, pressing the stock against my shoulder with a snug fit as I aimed down the sights.

"Pretty nice, huh." Emile said, with some pride in his voice. "You look kind of at home with it. Not surprised – being a son of Ares and all…"

I shrugged, being cautious of my trigger safety. "Eh, my mom took me to the gun range as soon as I was old enough. So Ares or not, it's still familiar."

"Your mom taught you how to shoot?"

"Pretty much," I answered. "How about you? You've got some skill. Mom teach you that too?"

He blinked, his gaze fixated on the shotgun in my hands. "More or less."

For some reason there was a creeping atmosphere of awkwardness arising, more so than the usual awkwardness between us, so I thought I'd try and move it along.

"I see what you did with the modifications," I told him. "Not only does it give you more options but the added weight helps…"

"...reduce the recoil."

The two of us said it in unison, finishing the sentence simultaneously. There was a crack of a smile from the two of us but we quickly wiped them away.

I still don't know what to think of him. 90% of the time he pisses me off but he does have his moments.

Looking back at the gun one more time, I noticed a small detail that I hadn't spotted before. On the underside of the gun next to the trigger, engraved into the metal, was a golden insignia of three muskets with the tips of their barrels intertwining. Below it was three letters: 'B', 'S', 'A'.

"What's 'B.S.A.'?"

As soon as I asked the question, Emile snatched the gun out of my hands as he rubbed his finger against where the insignia was. I was a little taken aback by the defensiveness.

"That's personal," he said, using his usual aggressive tone.

But this time I wasn't going to retaliate like I usually would.

"Alright," I surrendered.

Look, I'll respect the dude's privacy.

"Let's get back to the mission, shall we?"

Emile slung the shotgun around his shoulder, alongside his bundle of tools.

I have no idea how he manages to carry all that.

"That's the first good idea you've had," he said.

"Prick," I replied.

"Moron."

We rendezvoused with the others after doing the tedious work of rounding up the unconscious demigods that had ambushed us only moments ago and that weren't thrown overboard. Nico had the clever idea of tying up the remaining three to the wheel of the jet, alongside the one he had already captured previously. Now there were four demigods huddled up around a piece of landing gear with their hands bound, using some zip ties that Flip had on him (because of course he does). We tried questioning them as the rest started to regain consciousness.

"Fuck. You."

"Well, that's not nice," Flip scoffed.

"Oh shut up, Flip." The boy that Nico tied up first, scowled. "How's camp life treating ya? Still kissing horse ass?"

"Better than sucking Titan dick, that's for sure."

Val stifled a laugh as the boy cursed back at Flip.

The guy in the hoodie that I fought first, eyed Nico intensely, who was silent up till now.

"You know, I've heard about you," he said. "After everything that's happened, you still throw yourself in with them."

"I have my reasons," Nico responded, a sigh leaving his mouth as he did so.

"So do we."

"And those reasons are enough to kidnap a satyr?" I snapped. "Enough to hurt other demigods?"

"Gods, you're blind."

"We knowyou're working with Melinoe. Her torment on a bunch of campers – kids, doesn't bother you?"

"She's a god, it's what they do. Besides, it's about time they had a wake up call."

I clenched my fist. I didn't know what he meant by that answer, all I knew was that I didn't like how he said it.

The progression of our conversation was cut off by more of Trish's laughter. I thought I was never going to have to hear it again, but here we are.

"What's so funny now?" Val met her with a piercing gaze as she muttered something under her breath.

Trish grinned. "Oh nothing. Just when you mentioned 'hurting demigods'. Personally I find fighting demigods so much more entertaining than fighting a monster. The things they do in the face of death… it's satisfying."

"This bitch is crazy," Flip whispered.

"Haha! I still remember my reaction when I discovered how they blew up the Princess Andromeda. Priceless!"

If Emile hadn't stopped Val in time, I swear Trish would have been missing a face. Though, I bet Emile struggled with holding himself back as well.

The more we tried to question them, the further away we got from making any actual progress. We only succeeded in getting agitated as the interrogation went on. They seemed adamant on not giving anything up on who sent them, how they found us, anything about their organization or where they're keeping Birch. It got to the point where Nico had to pull me aside and suggested that we leave them tied up here and just go.

"We have what we need," he said, referring to Marshall. "Let's get out of here."

Speaking of the man himself, Marshall came out from wherever he was completely unharmed. He had been simply waiting this whole time, going through his pack of cigarettes. Nothing about what happened seemed to faze or interest him in the slightest. I thought that at least the birds would bother him but at most it was a mild inconvenience. There was not a single scratch on him or his leather jacket. Underneath the jaw-clenching beard, I swear his face only had two expressions; unscrunched or scrunched eyebrows. I guess he'd throw in a 'raised eyebrow' too. The man truly was a mystery.

"You kids done fighting?" he said. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be condescending or if that's just how he spoke.

"You know, you could have just left," I said to the Merchant. "Why'd you stay?"

"It's my job." He flicked his finished cigarette.

"Lame job," Val commented.

"Yeah, it can feel a lot like babysitting sometimes… though I admit this was pretty entertaining."

"You seem like fun," Flip said.

The rugged man didn't say anything back, but just made a face that was almost in acceptance. I realized this was the first time Flip, Nico and Emile got to witness the bluntness and aura of indifference that was Marshall.

Taking Nico's advice, I rallied the other three and told them it was time to get out of here. The two groups exchanged looks at each other as we started packing up to leave.

"You guys are fools if you think you can–"

The tied up demigod's rant was cut short by a quick jab from the butt of Emile's gun to his mouth. "Just stop fucking talking."

The five of us, plus Marshall, started heading back the way we came, to the door that would lead us back inside the museum.

We almost made it to the door until I heard something that made me stop. Suddenly, my heart sank, and so did every other organ in my body. I began to feel sweat pouring down the back of my neck, followed by a cool shiver. Even the windy air felt like it had stopped as the five of us froze. I was in near shock. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing– no, I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. It was a cold, chilling melody that carried itself along with the wind. A tune that was hummed with a vibration that rattled my bones,

"What in the Hades is that?" Emile said, the strength in his voice faltering.

The song had stopped, but the feeling remained. My instincts knew what was coming before my words could form. The only noise that managed to break through the sudden shock was one more cry of Trish's maniacal laughter. Then, something began soaring through the air, heading straight towards us. It looked like a small black pouch with a cord attached to it permeating with green flames.

"Greek Fire!" Nico shouted.

A substance I had heard about in Chiron's lessons but never actually seen in action. Whilst the rest immediately started running away, I, however, (stupidly) attempted to try and swat the bomb away with my shield like a baseball bat. I heard voices behind me, warning me of something but it was already too late. As the bomb made contact with my shield, it coated the whole thing in emerald fire. The impact of the bomb blew me back a good few feet as I landed flat on my back. There was a ringing in my ears as I tried to hold on to my consciousness. Everything went all over the place. The past few seconds were like an artillery strike on my senses and it took me a moment to try and maintain my focus. I had no idea where I was in relation to the others. It had all happened so fast. All I saw when I looked back up was the ground around me already engulfed in green flames. The sheer initial impact had managed to char and wreck the two planes closest to the blast radius.

It was even difficult to hear Dienekes over the ringing in my head. I tried spotting the others with my vision through the flames but the only thing I saw was a dark figure, walking through the flames. His body, clad in black armor that made him look like a shadow. The cloak that hung off his shoulder billowed in the wind. A shield, broad and imposing that looked like the void. A spear of gold and black metals that were as elegant as it was deadly. The figure was coming straight for me. The simplicity in how he composed himself was menacing. He would run his metal armguard across the blade of the spear, creating a sharp ringing sound that pierced the air.

But above it all was the song he sang that haunted my ears. How could something so beautiful be so terrifying?

'...our song will never end.'