AN: I don't normally start off with ANs, and I'm still working on a more permanent way to consolidate all of Percy's skills, so for now, here's a list of some of the less familiar ones that he'll be using in this fight, in case you forgot about them, along with a small sentence or two to remind you how they work:

[BATTLE][WIS] Immolator, LV- 20 (30%)

The proof of achieved self-esteem is your soul's shudder of contempt and rebellion against the role of a sacrificial animal, against the vile impertinence of any creed that proposes to immolate the irreplaceable value which is your consciousness and the incomparable glory which is your existence.

+ [ELECTROKINESIS] perk!

+ [BOLT] skill tree!

This perk essentially allows Percy to use a variety of lightning-bolt and lightning-related attacks.

TRAINING][WIS] Lunar Lullaby, LV- MAX

The gravitational attraction of the original gaseous matter present in the Universe caused it to begin coalescing, forming stars — and the stars to group together into galaxies — so gravity is responsible for many of the large scale structures in the Universe.

+ [GRAVITY CONTROL]

This perk lets Percy control the effect of gravity on himself, including allowing him to change how heavy he is in any given moment.

[ACTIVE][VIT] Angelic Trigger, LV- MAX

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

Angelic Trigger lets its user enter a heightened state of awareness, granting super speed and heightened damage; just like yoga.

MP COST: 40 MANA PER SECOND!

This perk allows Percy to emulate the boost he gets while he's underwater while he's above ground.

[ACTIVE][WIS] The Mirror of Venus (Corrupted), LV-5 (20%)

The mirror is one of the greatest symbols of your wife. Significantly boost the power of any attack going through it, but run the risk of losing control of the attack due to your corrupted version of it.

MULTIPLIER- (TIME x MANA x WIS x ORIGINAL ATTACK)!

MP COST- 1000 MP/MIN!

A method used to amplify the attack and damage capabilities of otherwise small amounts of mana.

[ACTIVE][DEX]The Reaper (Level 3) UPGRADED TO The Grim Reaper (Level 6):

TIER 1: The Reaper is ruthless and cunning, and is willing to use any means, no matter how amoral, in order to attain his goals. The Reaper can cause opponents to temporarily go blind, get staggered, weakened, crippled, bleed, or even knocked down. Level 1 gives a 5% base chance, which is doubled anytime a combination of subsequent hits is applied (must be within a 5-second timeframe).

TIER 2: The Grim Reaper is capable of immobilizing enemies in one hit. Gain a bonus multiplier of 10! for hitting your enemies' weak spots, with the chance to cripple or kill them outright!

TIER 3: Upon reaching 100%, your next attack will deal 50x the amount of damage it normally would, before resetting your progress to 80%

Pretty self-explanatory, but converted to my new format.

I had this one teacher back at Yancy- in sixth grade, I think. You know, my ex-super-lavish, lush-pine-tree-surrounded school for problematic spoiled children. That place.

Anyway, the reason I remember this one teacher so vividly- when I've forgotten all of the rest, except Mr. Brunner, who ended up being Chiron, and Ms. Dodds, who ended up being a Fury- is that he's probably still the most intense guy I've ever had the misfortune of meeting.

There were all sorts of incredulous rumors about him floating around the school at the time. Some people said that he was honorably discharged after getting too close to a landmine. Others claimed he was forced to quit after killing of one his own bunkmates for looking at him funny. A third, more outlandish group of people claimed he lied about being army the whole time when in reality, he was a ballet dancer, but the truth is, but we never did find out the actual reason.

The man was six and a half feet tall, with a neck thicker than a tree trunk. You couldn't call him teacher, or Mr. Malkovich, no- it was captain. Every question had to be answered starting with a yes, captain, or a no, captain. There was no middle ground.

He'd march into class with army fatigues on, and when- not if- you got a question wrong in his class, he'd either bring you up in front of the class and ask you to consider the problem over again, or he'd give you the generous option of giving him twenty push-ups.

Rain or shine, he walked into class exactly five seconds after the bell, and before even starting the lesson, he'd make us all stand up and do the pledge of allegiance.

Well! You know what I'm going to ask you to do! Why won't you just do it, then? The same argument every morning. Sometimes he'd go on for a bit more, but without fail, he'd stare us all dead in the eyes afterward, slam his hands on the desk, and reiterate this one saying he was supremely proud of: Misfortune preys on the unprepared. If this was the real world, you'd all be dead.

I have a feeling that he'd be pretty condescending about how that turned out for me.

"Kill me?" I repeated, raising my arms. Riptide stood tall and proud, glinting in the morning sunlight. "Wow. You're not even going to, like, try to convince me to join you?"

"Do you want the join me?" Luke asked, with only a little bit of sarcasm leaking into his tone. His companions looked at him weirdly, and I discreetly began pulling some of the water out of the lake I saw earlier.

It was still a decent bit away, right under the road we were currently standing on to be exact, so I had to keep them talking, or the fight would be over before it even started.

"Well, no," I said, turning my attention over to his companions and examining all of them closely. "I just feel like this is a bit out of the left field. You usually do things differently."

Iapetus [Titan of Mortality, Pain, Violent Death…]

LV- 300

HP-1,000,000,000,000+

MP- N/A

Iapetus is the Titan lord of mortal life, the brother of Kronos, the father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius by Clymene, who was the daughter of his brother Oceanus and his sister Tethys.

REP: NEUTRAL!

Perks: Odynokinetic, Impaler, Bloodstained…

Stats: N/A

Thea [Moon's Progenitor, Shining Light…]

LV- 100

HP-1,000,000

MP- 500,000,000

Thea is the Titan goddess of sight and the shining ether of the bright, blue sky. She was also, by extension, the goddess who endowed gold and silver with their brilliance and intrinsic value. Thea bore the Titan Hyperion three shining children-Helios the Sun, Eos the Dawn, and Selene the Moon. Her name was derived from the Greek words Thea "sight" and theiazô "prophesy". She was also named Aithre (Aethra) "Blue-Sky" and Euryphaessa "Wide-Shining."

REP: NEUTRAL!

Perks: Matron, Blinding Lights, Hesiod's Greatest Hits

Stats: N/A

Luke Castellan [HERALD OF THE GOLDEN AGE]

Level- 68

HP- 70,000/70,000

SP- 50,000/50,000

MP- 10,000/10,000

Allegiance- Kronos

STR- 68 (+10)

VIT- N/A

DEX- 97 (+20)

INT- 73 (+15)

CHA- 60

WIS- 57

LUC- N/A

Perks: Budding Titan Host, Unbreakable Spirit, Curse of Achilles*

*THE PERK [CURSE OF ACHILLES] MAKES THE USER IMPERVIOUS TO ALL PHYSICAL ATTACKS EXCEPT FOR ONE TRAINED AT THEIR WEAK SPOT.

My grip tightened around Riptide.

Fighting these three, while protecting Malcolm? That just isn't going to be possible for me.

Even in the best of circumstances, the only way I could hold out against the three in front of me is if we were all completely submerged underwater. I guess, even then, I'd need to activate [Pyrokinetic] and [Angelic Trigger] to not be eventually destroyed.

By the message, I'm guessing Jason's on his way. His earliest attempt at calling me was this morning, maybe an hour and a half ago? If I can hold out for a bit, he should be able to touch down in time to pitch in. Maybe if we all fight at once...

I shook my head.

Even if he gets here in time, that'll just lead the both of us to our deaths. Dragging Silena into the fight is a bad idea, too. There are too many variables to consider: Luke is invincible, Iapetus is significantly more versatile than some of the other strong opponents I've fought, and Thea, well, she's just there to be annoying. I have no idea what their range of abilities are, I don't know how far they're willing to stoop, and worst of all, I don't even know if I could stop them from seriously harming her.

One miscalculation and Silena would be an afterthought. She doesn't have the durability I have, nor the speed Jason does. If she chooses wrong just once, that could mean the end for her. Something tells me they're not above harming demigods.

I turned back to Thea. Out of all of my enemies right now, she's the weakest. Barely clocking in at a million HP, a fully charged [Thousand Hand Technique] could take her out in a hit. Hell, even a half-charged one could take her out of the fight.

The only problem with that strategy is dealing with the collateral damage. After my fight with Carcinus, I got rather methodical about that ability in particular.

While I was underwater it was all well and good, and I could spam it to my heart's content, but without the everpresent healing of being fully underwater, I needed to learn how to pick and choose my moments with that ability sparingly.

My body, despite being boosted and stuff, is still a mortal body. So, even when I use properties to physically augment what I can do, I still get hurt proportionally to how a normal human does.

Not the exact same, of course, but proportional.

[The Thousand Hand Technique], in theory, is absolutely busted. I could charge it up for an inordinate amount of time, and deal enough damage to fully destroy just about anyone. The drawbacks to this, of course, fall somewhere in line with Newton's Laws.

The first, of course, is the damage goes both ways. Whenever I do some sort of damage with that skill, a modified version is sent back to me.

So, if I were to one-shot Thea, I'd be grievously injured afterward. I don't think I'd die, or faint, but that sort of force could easily rip my arm out. Especially if I don't have any sort of water around.

The second drawback works hand in hand with the force equation. To increase the hypothetical force of something, you also have to increase its mass or acceleration. Increasing either one of those too drastically would give me a one-way ticket to my uncle. Not the one at Olympus right now, mind you.

I looked around the parking lot. Toward the end of the lot, behind the trio, water was just beginning to snake into view. Damn!

I needed to get the water here, fast.

A rudimentary plan was beginning to take shape in my head. If I were to stall for a couple of minutes, I'd be able to endure this horribly one-sided battle long enough for Jason to get here. Then, all that would be left would be to use the water to distract our opponents long enough to convince him to leave with Malcolm and Silena.

"Well, normally, sure, but I've learned I can't take that sort of approach with you. I mean, Percy, you have this annoying talent of messing up even the best of my plans," Luke snarled, drawing his sword, Backbiter. "The lightning bolt ruse, Arcas- why can't you just leave it alone, man?"

"Arcas?" I scoffed. "Jason. Jason Grace. Did you even know he was Thalia's brother? What do you think she would say if she saw the things you let happen to him? The things you pushed for?"

Surprisingly, Luke's eyes did soften for a moment. A brief, fleeting, moment before they hardened back to steel. "The dead don't want anything, Percy. Besides, I'm doing this because of what happened to her. Don't try to turn this against me. The gods stood there and watched us suffer when they could've stepped in at any moment! They're the reason she's dead!"

"And you think the titans will be better?" I laughed, pulling out my spear. I twirled it with my left hand. "Come on, cousin. You know this history better than I do. They're horrible. Even your friend on the left is looking at me with contempt."

"I'm looking at you with contempt because you killed my older brother and son," Iapetus snarled, veins popping to life on his head. "For that, I will tear you from limb to limb."

"Oceanus offered to merge with me, you know," I said as the water from the lake began pooling into a small pool behind them. "He told me we could rule the world. Promised me that cretins like you couldn't rise to oppose us. I highly doubt you'd be saying the same thing if I'd agreed."

Iapetus didn't respond. Instead, he disappeared in a blur of light. I ducked as every instinct in my body screamed at me.

A large steel axe swung right where my head had been a moment ago, with enough force that a small crack appeared in the ground underneath us.

I hefted Malice and twirled Riptide, beginning a series of slashes and jabs designed to throw the Titan off balance.

Right, left, right. The weapons blended with ease, crisscrossing, and building momentum as the clash continued.

To my disappointment, but not surprise, he parried all of them with ease. As the speed and ferocity of my strikes increased, he matched the gradual climb with a steady surge of his own. "If this is the best you can do, child, your death will be quick."

I muttered, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

I kicked the speed up a notch, aiming for weak spots in his armor. Knots near his shoulders, the joints of his limbs. Crevices from earlier battles. I felt the muscles in my arms tighten a bit as I funneled more and more strength into my attacks.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Iapetus moved his axe with hypnotic ease, batting away my weapons with deadly efficiency. Not a single drop of energy misspent, not a movement wasted. Rings of ozone began expelling outward from the center of our battle, flattening the grass around us.

I jumped his next lunge and Riptide's tip flickered with fire. I swung it at Iapetus, but he sidestepped it with ease, and the fire dispelled into the ground around me, charring the grass. Another missed cut from me, and the grass was neatly trimmed.

You know, if this whole saving the world thing doesn't work out, I might have an up-and-coming career as a very specific landscaper.

Luke joined in the battle, just as I was settling into a groove with Iapetus, of course. His mouth was set in a thin line. "You're impressive, cousin. As much as it pains me to say that, you're damn impressive. If only you'd join us. The gods would've been crushed."

"Yeah, along with everyone I love," I gritted my teeth as Backbiter smashed into Riptide, sparks flying off the blade. Luke pushed his blade forward with monstrous strength- strength he definitely didn't have when we first met. "Fat chance."

I ducked under Luke's slash. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I blurred out of the way as Luke's sword somehow followed me on the way down, bending unnaturally fast.

I noted Luke's eyes briefly turning gold. "Merged with him then, have you?"

"Not yet," Luke replied, rolling his shoulder. "Doesn't mean I didn't pick up a few tricks along the way. Useful for taking out trash, like you."

"You need to decide whether you're impressed with me or disappointed," I said, panting. "All this foreplay is a bit much for me."

CRUNCH!

Thea!

I'd nearly forgotten about my third opponent as a station wagon came hurling toward Malcolm. I leaped into the air and smashed the car down with my fists, only to be met with Luke's sword upon my landing.

I grunted, deflecting his hit, and kicking him in the chest. I flicked my wrist, and another whip of fire fulminated from my fingertips, wrapping around the car, and dragging it into Luke.

A column of fire erupted from my fingertips and washed over the gas tank, lapping together like waves on the seashore.

FWOOM!

I flipped backward as the car exploded into a million different pieces.

This fight was getting out of hand, fast. I knew I couldn't use all my trump cards at once, or I'd be dead in the water, both figuratively and literally, but still.

Iapetus roared, hauling his axe toward me with a mighty heave. I sidestepped the massive lunge and shot forward. As he raised his arms to block me, I activated a [Death's Leap] and teleported behind him.

(100 x 72) + (100 x 43) + (100 x 43)!

15, 800 HP!

After my attack sunk its claws into him, I forced him back up to me with a grunt and brought Riptide down in a wide arc, stabbing into his shoulder.

I flung myself around his body, still holding the hilt of Riptide and incrementing [Lunar Lullaby]. The gravity on my body grew exponentially, and I plummeted into the ground almost instantly, bringing Riptide down with enough force to tear the Titan's arm off.

Iapetus roared in agony, and I was forced to turn to Luke as he tried to capitalize on his buddy's moment of pain.

I felt better about fighting now since my two attacks from before boosted [The Reaper] enough for me to start hammering away at Luke's defense. I was banking on the fact that even though his body was invulnerable, he still felt internal pain. Maybe enough of it would take him out of the fight, even for a moment.

I bent backward, weaving under Luke's slash. I poured some mana into my kick, and my converse glowed a bright blue as [The Thousand Hand Technique] shimmered to life, smashing into Luke with enough force to crush an eighteen-wheeler.

He blasted backward a little bit.

I dropped to my knees and spun, summoning multiple [Mirrors of Venus] around me. While significantly less powerful than the monstrous one I'd used against Carcinus, they still burst open with pink dragons, most of which burned holes in Iapetus' armor and smashed him back into the ground as he struggled to stand.

Melting into the grass, Iapetus showed up behind me, with Luke already pressing forward again, my kick forgotten. I clanged my sword against Luke's and raised Malice to block Iapetus, but he phased through the spear and punched me in the face.

Well…how do I describe it?

I've been hit by gods before, and don't get me wrong, it hurts. Bad. It's like the equivalent of getting hit by a car or slammed by a metal battering ram.

Iapetus' punch was just as powerful, sure, but there was something else.

I crunched under his punch, folding, and dropping to my knees.

He grabbed my head, holding it steady with his bare hand. I vaguely noticed his fingertips glowing red and boom.

The hurt was so intense, so all-consuming, every other thought left my brain. It felt like white-hot knives were piercing every inch of my skin, carving through my body and leaving blistering wounds. My nerve endings felt like lava had just been scooped into them. My ribs felt like I'd inhaled glass shards.

Through the haze of pain, I barely even noticed the fact that I was screaming. Rather loudly, at that.

Right when I thought the pain couldn't possibly get any worse, it stopped. A white hieroglyph blazed into existence in front of Iapetus, and his armor was crushed around the chest piece as he went shooting backward, stumbling on the ground. A small line of smoke rose from his body.

I looked up at the grassy knoll, where Malcolm was holding the wand, shaking. "Don't hurt Percy!"

I wanted to move. To scream. To tell him to run. I couldn't even move, though. I couldn't even blink. Whatever Iapetus had done to me had shut down my motor function.

Iapetus got back up a moment later, brushing off pieces of charred metal off his chest. The fight hadn't been too kind to him, either- he was leaking ichor, his armor was brutalized, and some of his skin was charred. I had no doubt in my mind that if he was any regular human, he would've already been dead.

He pointed his one good hand at Malcolm, "Boy. You should've stayed clear of this fight. Watch closely, Perseus. Let me demonstrate to you what it's like to lose someone you care about. Perhaps then, you'll understand a fraction of the pain you've caused me."

He stalked toward Malcolm slowly.

Malcolm had nowhere to go. He looked back uncertainly at Alcyone, who was trying to pick him up and fly.

Iapetus snapped his fingers, and Alcyone keeled over, squawking in pain. "Now, now, little birdy. You wait your turn."

No! NO!

Gritting my teeth, I tried to get up feebly, but I fell to one knee. Gods damn it all. I wanted to tell Malcolm to run, but I still couldn't speak.

"No good deed goes unpunished, cousin," Luke said solemnly, twirling Backbiter and stabbing it through my hand, pinning me to the ground. I felt my vision go blurry for a moment, and the game pinged again, telling me how much health I'd lost, but honestly? I couldn't even make it out at the moment.

I was dimly aware of Malcolm shouting, trying to get the spell to work again. Little light flickered at the end of his wand, but it kept fizzling out. Egyptian magic required a calm state of mind, and not that I blamed him, but he was too scared to get it to work properly.

The ichor leaking from Iapetus' arms and chest kept pooling, little streams trickling down from his wounds as the droplets flicked onto the ground, almost like a little lake.

Lakes. Streams. Water.

Honestly, it might've been from whatever Iapetus did to me, I found myself croaking out a laugh. I was so stupid! Blood was liquid. I learned that in science class! If I could…pull water out of the air, out of flowers, I could do this!

But was ichor truly like blood, or was it something else entirely? Were gods even…Titans…

I forced myself to focus. I felt woozy, but I knew that if I didn't lock in right now, things would be over. I couldn't lose Malcolm. I wouldn't lose Malcolm.

I mustered up every piece of anger I could. I thought about everything that made me mad. Focus, Percy! Hurt him. Kill him! That's what I want! That's what I need, damn it!

I glared hatefully at Iapetus, hatred spreading through my body like a wildfire. I felt myself concentrate so hard that something inside me cracked– almost as if a crystal ball had shattered in my stomach.

Warmth flowed through me. Iapetus stopped in his tracks, confused. "What is this trick, boy?"

He won't touch Malcolm. I won't let him.

I focused even harder, and I felt a huge tug in my gut.

The Titan's ichor was flowing all around him now, making the ground steam and the air burn.

Get. Away.

Iapetus came shooting back toward us, and I finally got my wits back, ripping Backbiter out of my hand and rolling out of the way as the Titan smashed into Luke, sending them both tumbling down the hill.

I was losing blood, fast. I summoned all the water I'd been siphoning off the lake to me. It began wrapping around my arms, encircling around my legs. It traveled up my neck to my face. The wounds on my body started healing instantly, and I felt a buzz of energy in my body, as if I'd just taken four expresso shots down the hatch.

I flicked my wrist, and a stream of water blasted Backbiter into Iapetus' chest before he could react. His roar of pain felt like music to my ears.

Luke grumbled as he stood up, brushing off his jeans. "You're a real bore, Percy. Has anyone ever told you that? Why can't you just sit down and die? Is that really so much to ask for?"

"You…won't touch him," I said, struggling to talk. My insides still ached painfully. Whatever Iapetus had done to me felt like someone had electrocuted my insides. "I won't let you."

"Noble. But what will you do when- hey! Here's our final guest!" Luke switched gears, smiling brightly as Jason dropped down out of the sky next to us.

He let go of Silena, who went sprinting toward Malcolm, while he flew over to me. His forehead was creased with worry. "Percy…what did they do to you?"

"No time," I whispered, waving my hand. The water in the parking lot instantly turned into mist. It swirled around my opponents, blanketing them in a haze while I tried to talk to Jason as fast as I could. "Jason, you need to take Silena and Malcolm, and get out of here."

Jason's eyes widened so much I thought they'd bug out of his head, "What! Percy, have you lost your damn mind!"

My ring burned. I ran multiple electromagnetic currents through the mist, pulling cars from all around the parking lot into the middle. Let's see how they like playing dodge with the cars.

"Luke has the curse. He's invincible. There are two Titans," I ground out, clipping every word. My body felt painful shocks every time I spoke. "We'll die. I need you to get the apple to camp and protect- agh, protect them. Aphrodite knows what to do."

"Percy—"

"Listen to me, Jason," I wheezed. "If I go all out, I can give you a half-hour to run. I can cover your escape. If we die here, everyone at camp will too. One of us needs to live."

Tears formed in Jason's eyes. "But…I can't just leave you here!"

My eyes felt hot, too. I heard Iapetus roar in annoyance from inside the mist. We wouldn't have much more time.

I pulled out the Apple and Hades' credit card. "Here. Take this. You need to protect everyone."

Jason's mouth opened and closed a few times. For the first time, I noticed how utterly tired he looked. Poor Jason...I needed him to be strong for just a little bit longer. I closed his hand around the two things.

I stressed again, "You need to. I can fight while you run. We don't have time."

I couldn't keep arguing with him. I know Jason, and there's no real way he'd leave me here. We could argue back and forth until the cows come home, but if he doesn't want to go anywhere, believe me, the man won't budge.

I took a deep breath in, activating [Pyrokinetic] and [Angelic Trigger]. My body was encased in a soft, ethereal glow. The watery armor around my body started bubbling. "Save Thalia."

And with that, I blasted off my spot on the mountain, landing firmly in the middle of the mist. I activated my [Storm Generation] skill, manipulating the moisture in the air around me in a circular motion while drawing water from the mist and water around me.

This wasn't about winning or even surviving anymore. It was about covering the rest of my friends' escape so that they could get back to camp! I needed to draw every ounce of attention to me.

Iapetus' beefy hand shot out at me from the mist. Having learned my lesson about that particular move, I pulled some water up and encased it around his arm. It froze and splintered off, pinning him to the ground as I cocked back and slammed my spear into him.

I was rewarded with a fleshy thunk and a howl. I grunted, and Malice's tip flickered with electricity. Before I could repay Iapetus fully, Luke slammed into me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist and tackling me through the mist.

The water on my back shielded it from being cut up by the metal railing on the side of the road, but Luke's attack had swished out all of the water in my armor. I felt some of the tiredness seep back into my bones.

Fuck. Now since I'd sent Jason and the rest of the gang off, I needed to find a way to turn this fight in my favor. The easiest way?

Getting it into my environment.

Eyes narrowing in concentration, I pointed at Luke. The water pooled around his ankles and pushed him toward me. I slid behind him and grabbed his head with both of my arms, digging my fingers into his ears and eyes and sprouting as much lightning as I could.

To my surprise, Luke screamed loudly. Maybe the curse doesn't protect Luke from this!

As Iapetus started charging toward me, I returned Luke's tackle, except this time, I tackled him over the edge of the railing.

"Percy, you idiot!" Luke screamed as we went crashing through trees and bushes. I ignored the various aches and twinges of pain as the branches snapped against my back. "You absolute imbecile!"

Luke got his bearings back. He pulled us out of the air and we both landed awkwardly on a branch.

We exchanged blows for a bit on the branch of what I noticed was a particularly large pine- ironic really- until his good friend Thea tossed another car at me.

I sidestepped it and even blocked Luke's next attack, but that left me open for Iapetus' axe bash. While I was seeing stars and trying to unblur my vision, Iapetus brought his hands together in a ball, and straight-up volleyball spiked me as hard as he could.

CRUNCH!

I cried out in pain as my body was sent smashing into the ground. I'd never suffered an injury like it before, but I could just tell my entire back was absolutely obliterated. I definitely broke some stuff.

There was this severe, harrowing pain between my spine and lower back. Zeus, each movement made my back explode in a series of fireworks and numbness.

I lifted my head with no small amount of struggle. The lake! It was right there!

I turned my head back in time to see Iapetus jumping off the tree, the edge of his axe glinting.

I teleported on top of the lake's surface, and the water shot out to stabilize me.

"Come on, cousin!" I grinned, holding out both my weapons. I tried to ignore the ever-present ache in my body. "We've had the whole fight on your ground! It's only fair I get my turn, yeah?"

"How fitting, boy!" Iapetus called from the shore. "I'll kill you in your father's domain! I'll water the steps of Olympus with your blood!"

I tried to ignore the obvious signs my body was throwing my way. Even with the water refilling my HP, I knew I'd be out of this fight if I wasn't careful.

My first order of business had to be lowering the number of people in this fight. If it was just Luke or just Thea, maybe even just Iapetus, I could've won. The problem lied in the fact that they were all working together.

Besides, if this goes how I think it's going to go…I need to make sure Jason can survive the next battle. That means taking out as many of them as I can.

Logically speaking, Thea needs to be my first target. Even if the water keeps me alive, my body is still eventually going to give out, and I can't afford to be caught by a projectile when I'm in a weakened state.

I concentrated on the water and felt its power surging through me. I advanced toward Iapetus, running over the top of the water.

Iapetus moved like a tornado, slashing so quickly I barely had time to dodge the strike before his axe splashed into the water next to where I'd been standing.

I pushed my body even faster by activating [Accelerate].

The water exploded and froze instantly around his axe, traveling up to his good arm like a spiderweb. I jumped upward on a jet of water and landed on his chest, slashing left and right with a series of shallow cuts.

I knew I'd only have one shot to do this, so I need to do it right!

[The Reaper] slowly ticked its way up to 100% and I found myself grinning.

I slowly ran out of the skill, and Iapetus reacted instantly, shattering the ice, and swinging his axe at me.

I teleported again, but this time, right next to Thea. Her eyes widened, but before anyone could do anything, I skewered Malice through her throat. I followed up with a super-powered slash from Riptide that cleanly removed her head from her body.

"THEA!" Iapetus' roar shook the lake. "YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEST!"

A wall of force slammed me through the air. I sailed backward for about three hundred yards and smashed into the ground. I groaned loudly again- now I really felt like I'd broken every bone in my body.

Iapetus closed on me with blinding speed. Without the water, I could barely move my arm in time to block his first slash. He followed it up with a second, and a third, and a fourth.

The lake was bubbling now. I felt another tug in my gut, and the water swished and swayed, exploding into the air. The molecules hung in the air, swirling together and forming a darkening storm cloud. It started migrating toward the cloud I'd begun creating earlier.

Iapetus' strikes didn't let up. The sixth one knocked Riptide out of my hands, and I was sent careening into a tree with a massive punch. As he stalked closer, I tried to exercise my control over his blood again, but I just couldn't seem to summon the same anger I'd had before.

All I felt was pain and tiredness.

Iapetus retrieved his axe and disappeared again, this time, slamming his axe into my chest with full force.

My vision pummeled, the edges of it tinged red. The game threw a dozen different notifications at me.

My mouth opened in a silent scream. This pain was…so much more than anything I'd ever felt before. I didn't have any words to describe it.

Above Iapetus, the storm cloud had full-on evolved into a storm. The sky, not just the little parts around us, but the whole sky was tar-black and the large clouds were moving together, churning together like they were in the world's biggest blender. I heard a tapping on the window and then it became a pitter-patter.

Torrents of rain began pouring down on me, keeping me conscious, if only barely. I could feel the cold liquid running down my face.

"Yes…feel that pain, you insect," Iapetus grinned wildly, twisting the axe handle in my chest. I let out little screams. "A shame you won't live to see what happens to your loved ones."

I have no idea what my expression must've looked like, but Iapetus' grin only grew. "Oh, come on! You spoke so highly of yourself before. Do you truly think we would've let your friends escape like that? Silly boy. This was never about them, or your vaunted apple. It was about killing you! And now—"

Luke finally got out of the lake, his clothes slashed apart. Backbiter shook in his hands. "Iapetus! Enough! The boy can still tell Hades—"

"Then let him tell," Iapetus growled loudly. "He took my family from me! I will do the same to him, and take great pleasure in it. We're coming for your gods, boy. When you get down to the Underworld, you let your uncle know. Don't be alarmed- your family will follow soon."

I felt [Last Breath] activate.

I trashed under his axe, gritting my teeth. Anger began blooming in my body. I wasn't going to let that happen. I'd…I'd find….a way…

"How amusing," Iapetus said patronizingly, shaking his head softly. "The boy thinks he can do something. Go on. Make your move."

He moved backward, letting go of the axe. "Do something. You can't, can you? You're weak."

The anger that had been constantly building exploded in my gut again. My attention was drawn back to gleaming ichor on his face and body. The way it was intermixing with the rain, leaving diluted trails down his face.

I felt the call of power somewhere deep in my chest. This was my rain, wasn't it? I made it.

I closed my eyes and summoned every last bit of willpower I had. I imagined his nose and throat filling with his own blood. I imagined the rain working its way into his body. Deep into his ribcage, hardening like little spikes of ice and embedding into his lungs.

Iapetus gagged. The ichor blasted out of every crevice in his body, reaching his feet, all the while sizzling like droplets on a hot iron. He wailed and stumbled back.

Luke tried to make a rush at me, but I used my last remaining bit of energy to use a [Pillar of Fire].

It boomed to life around him and bought me enough time to pull Iapetus back to me. He stumbled down next to me.

The rain splattered down my face even harder. I raised my hand and jabbed it into his eyes, crushing them. More and more ichor blasted out of the empty sockets, splattering against my hand.

Iapetus was suffocating. Badly.

I didn't have enough energy to be specific, but the moment I touched his ichor, I could feel all of it. It was like the same feeling I got when I stepped into a lake, ocean, or pool. Every ounce of it was mine to command.

I forced his ichor to explode out from his wounds, dousing me in the golden substance. It reminded me, oddly enough, of a dysfunctional sprinkler.

I knew I probably wasn't going to make it, so I just stopped caring.

I wanted Iapetus to suffer and die.

The rain gave me enough energy to stop him from escaping. I encased my hands with [The Thousand Hand Technique] and started wailing on the Titan.

My fingers and knuckles broke on the first hit. The second hit sent shockwaves that traveled up my arm and shattered my ulna. The third hit cracked my shoulder in half.

As I kept crushing his body, I took my sweet time hardening the ichor that was stuffed down his throat. Slowly, the explosion of ichor that was expelled out of his body began to still, and his body sat there, empty. A husk.

Luke finally made his way back over. He looked at the scene with wide eyes. "You…you…"

I wanted to say something witty, or smirk, but I'll be honest, my eyes started to feel heavy. My fingers stopped moving on Iapetus' body.

I could feel my body seize up. The rain wasn't enough to combat the injures I'd sustained while fighting. I fell over, leaning on Iapetus' corpse.

I took some comfort in knowing my friends were long gone by now. Not only that, but I'd managed to kill two of their protentional enemies. Ha!

Luke stepped forward, brandishing Backbiter. He propped me up against a tree for a second. To his credit, he did look sad. "I'm sorry, cousin. Really. I never wanted...I don't want to hurt my own family. I'm doing this for us. For all of us. I promise. This won't ever happen again."

I didn't even feel the slash, but the force of it knocked me sideways. I stared up at the inky darkness of the storm, and soon, that was all I could see.

AN: Hello!

Not too much to really say, except I'm going to have another poem-esque chapter so I figured now would be a good time to address those chapters as a whole.

This is a strictly Percy story in the sense that it's only ever going to be told from his point of view. Those ambiguous chapters are my way of introducing concepts, fourth-wall breaks, foreshadowing, other point-of-views- all of that good stuff without shifting the point of view to account for it.

The last chapter like this, Chapter XXX, was foreshadowing in some pretty big ways. The following chapter is a point-of-view. Who is it a point-of-view for? Meh. I'll let you guys figure it out.

Now, I'm not going to explain them. This is really as far as I'm going to go in terms of even talking about them because I want them to be purposefully vague and allow readers to gather what they want from them.

I think this following one should be rather obvious, though.

Besides that, my school has started again, so some updates may be late as a result. I'm already almost at my word goal for the year, so, I'm not too concerned. Stay safe everyone.