Sennacherib All Over Again

Yep, like I said, we're going to finish this story. There's really not many chapters left from this point. Maybe one or two more. There's just no point in drawing out the Battle of Manhattan.

Beyond that, I need some input from you guys: How many want to see a dedicated ending to Voidwalker, versus how many are like me, and are fine with just ending it more or less as it is? Kind of in the same style as Sea Devil where it's just one expositional chapter.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC

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Inspired by historical events and an over-active imagination, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a single-cultural team of one religious faith and belief, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

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Thanks to the power of a tooth diagram, the healing power of Will Solace because Michael Yew got archery abilities, the general magic power of Lou Ellen, and Percy's water powers, they were all able to get Annabeth's mouth put back together.

"Everything feel good in there?" Will asked.

Annabeth ran her tongue around her teeth. "Yeah."

"Bite this." Will handed her a cold apple fresh from the fridge.

Annabeth took a generous bite, the apple crunching and releasing an explosion of sweet, juicy flavor throughout her mouth. No pain, no aches, no soreness, no blood, and no teeth sliding, moving, or falling back out. Annabeth chewed her bite and swallowed.

"All good," she said. "Uh, thanks. That was weird. And a waste of time, I think."

Percy shook his head. "No. The devil does many things, but wasting time isn't one of them. He wanted to make an example of you, to instill fear and doubt in the kids."

Annabeth's mouth set into a thin line. "He did say that, yeah. He said that God allowed him to come and, er, test my faith? Something about the Book of Job?"

Percy went absolutely rigid, something that did not go unnoticed by Will and the two girls.

"Uh, you okay, Percy?" Will asked.

Lou jumped in. "This conversation is over. Just keep getting ready for battle. We'll be leaving in ten minutes."

Percy held up his hand. "It's okay." He looked at Annabeth and Will. "The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Biblical canon. Its completion predates Moses writing the Pentateuch by about four centuries-"

"What's the Pentateuch?" Will asked.

"The first five books of the Bible," Annabeth answered. "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. In that order." Then she looked at Percy for confirmation. "Right?"

"Numbers comes before Deuteronomy, but great job."

"Darn it," Annabeth muttered.

"As I was saying, Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It tells the story of Job—shocking, I know—a man who was rich, owned lots of land and livestock, was happily married, and had a bunch of children. Most importantly, he gave thanks to God for everything that he had. One day, Satan went up to heaven and-"

"Wait, Satan's not chained up in like, the ninth circle of hell or however it goes?" Will blinked, unable to stop his ADHD.

"Firstly, there are no circles of hell," Percy said patiently. "That was something Dante came up with for his poem. Secondly, no, Satan is not chained up in hell. There's no one in hell at the moment, as hell is a place reserved for the second death after the Second Coming. Satan is free to move around all over the planet as he so desires, even able to visit heaven and personally speak with God."

Will looked shaken by this. "Huh. How much of the Bible have I been lied to about?"

"That depends on what you think you know about the Bible, which we'll have to get into later. Anyway, Job was a faithful and righteous man, and Satan challenged God that the only reason Job was faithful was because of his blessings. So, God allowed Satan to put Job to the test by afflicting him with one tragedy after another until Job had nothing left. Long story short, Job remained faithful to God, and God rebuked the devil, and gave Job twice the amount of riches he had before his test. There's a lot to unpack and a lot more to go over, but that's the short version. God will allow the devil to test you, and if you have true, genuine faith in the Lord, not only will he get you through the test, but He will greatly reward your faith."

"And God let Satan put you through a test, and greatly rewarded you," Annabeth surmised.

"Yes," was all Percy said to that.

"…okay, where's my reward? I'm still faithful."

Lou Ellen coughed awkwardly. "Er, not to downplay what you went through just now, but uh…skin rash and dental problems aren't at all comparable to what Job and Percy went through, especially because all of us were right here in the first place to undo everything the devil did to you. Percy healed your sores, and we were able to put your teeth back in."

"But to that point," Percy said, stressing the syllables, "just because you are not immediately rewarded does not mean you won't be rewarded. In one respect, you could still be on trial right now. As in, does your faith merely extend to expecting rewards, or does it extend forever? Another way to look at it is this: Satan could've picked on anyone here at camp. He could've come for me again, or he could've come for Lou Ellen, or anyone. But he explicitly and expressly chose you. He got permission to test you. The devil doesn't come for just anybody."

After that speech and that insight, Annabeth actually did look brighter. "Huh. Is feeling proud that I'm faithful enough for the devil to personally visit me a sin?"

"Don't let it go to your head," Percy cautioned. "While being 'important' enough for Satan to take a personal interest in you is certainly impressive from a certain point of view, it's still never a good to be excessively proud about anything."

Annabeth nodded. "Stay humble and give thanks to the Lord, right?"

"Precisely. Now, as Lou Ellen said, we leave in ten minutes. Have your cabin in front of the Big House as soon as you can get them there."

Annabeth nodded again and left.

Percy nodded to Will, who nodded back, and Percy took his own leave, Lou Ellen trailing close behind him.

"Do you think this is going to be a recurring thing?" Lou asked as they headed for the Big House. "Satan popping up to curse everyone?"

"Don't know," Percy answered honestly. "Depends on the will of God."

"Just saying, but isn't that a little screwed up?" Lou asked. "God just being like-"

"No," Percy cut her off with a simple yet pointed answer. "Having your faith tested is a great honor, because it means you're considered faithful enough to be tested in the first place. Not many people can say they're that faithful in the first place. Besides, if you have true faith, then you'll have no problems passing the test. Therefore, in short, being tested by God is basically free rewards."

"I suppose," Lou shrugged. "I guess it kinda comes down to how much a bitch you are. Whether you can tough it out or you cave in."

"…kind of," Percy said, a slight uncomfortable edge to his voice.

"What—oh. I'm sorry. That's…not what I meant."

"I know," Percy said gently. "Let's put this behind us. We have a great show ahead of us to look forward to."

He took her hand in his and lightly pecked her cheek.

Lou Ellen blushed and kissed him back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Amazingly, within that ten minutes, the whole camp was ready, including the Ares cabin.

"So…what happens now?" Connor Stole asked.

Percy grinned. "Labyrinth, I need a passage to the front of the Empire State Building, please."

The front steps of the Big House dropped down, revealing a stone passage lit with torches.

"Did you just say 'Labyrinth'?" Katie Gardiner asked. "As in the sentient death maze?"

"It was a sentient death maze," Percy confirmed, "now it obeys me. Courtesy of Daedalus. He gave me ownership."

There was not a moment given for anyone to process this, as Percy made a motion with hand.

"Follow me, everyone!" He then proceeded to delve into the passage, singing a merry tune to himself, "My God's not dead—He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion…"

Thoroughly befuddled, the 100-ish demigod of CHB followed the eccentric son of Poseidon, with Lou Ellen bringing up the rear to make sure no one was left behind. All the demigods were on edge, of course, travelling through the Labyrinth, but it was okay. There was light ahead as Percy ascended up into an alley adjacent to the Empire State Building, arriving in the middle of the afternoon.

Immediately, a huge problem was identified: it was quiet.

Being one of those cities that never slept, Manhattan was never supposed to be quiet. There was always the sound of moving cars, honking horns, foot traffic, and people talking. None of that today, right now, however.

Percy poked his head of the alley. His eyebrow arched at the sight of there being people up and down the streets, and people in the cars on the streets, and all of them were sound asleep, many of them snoring soundly.

Lou Ellen came up to Percy after the campers had filed out of the Labyrinth. "The work of a god. Morpheus, I think."

"And see the world in endless sleep," Percy recited. "Interesting. Okay. Onward, then."

Percy made his way around the sleeping bodies, entering the Empire State Building with the demigods in tow. Luckily, the lobby was empty, and was spacious enough to accommodate everyone.

"What now?" Clarisse asked.

"We read," Percy said simply. "We read until the enemy is at our gates, and then we will pray to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for deliverance. And then we will behold the power of God."

There were many mutterings and grumblings over this.

Clarisse was decidedly vexed. "Are you kidding me? Our defensive strategy is sit here and sing kumbaya while the Titans march on us, and once they're here, we sit here some more and pray to some god?"

"No," Percy said simply. "We will sit here while I read you the Word of God, and once the Titans are here, we will pray to the God. There will be no need of any kind of defensive strategy or maneuvering. We will only need to watch and enjoy the show. Then your faith will be affirmed."

Clarisse humphed. "Yeah, okay. I'll believe that when I see it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to do some actual work around here that'll give us a real fighting chance."

Percy changed in that moment. His eyes narrowed, his back straightened, and his jaw squared. Clarisse saw this, and she was instantly on the defensive, reaching for her spear slung across her shoulder.

"You have no chance in fighting me, child," Percy said.

Lou Ellen froze when she heard him speak, and heard how he spoke. She realized that she wasn't standing in the presence of Percy Jackson anymore, but Il Mentore. The man of rigor and discipline that led the Brotherhood of Assassins in the absence of Ezio, and spearheaded one of the most powerful eras of the Brotherhood's history. The man that had once again taken command, and had rebuilt the Brotherhood, carrying it back into an era of glory as they got their feet back under them in this Templar-dominated time.

Clarisse could feel it, too. Everyone could feel it. They didn't know about the Assassin part of things, but they could tell that they weren't dealing with the average demigod warrior anymore. Percy was something else right now.

"These are the instructions of the Lord of Armies," Percy continued, "'Do not permit any demigod to take matters into their own hands. Do not permit them to erect fortifications or to draw battle plans. Do not permit them to march into battle against the enemy. I will win the day. I am the LORD.'"

And based on the hard, cold, unyielding look in Percy's eyes, Clarisse and everyone had no doubt that he would enforce his mandate with force if need be, and considering the aura brimming off his form right now, not a soul present wanted to cross him.

Clarisse gulped and nodded. "O-Okay. I'll sit here and enjoy story time, I guess."

Percy nodded once, and then he proceeded to spend the next ten minutes looking every single demigod present in the eye to affirm their cooperation, no matter their age or their affiliation with him. Not even Lou Ellen was spared The Look.

From there, it was like something straight out of the Bible, the parts where there was a mass gathering around someone who was reading scripture and sharing the Gospel. Percy pulled out his Bible, got comfy, and started reading from Genesis 1:1. Everyone else also got comfy, as well, and that's when a true miracle occurred:

All these ADHD-ridden kids between seven and eighteen actually sat there with rapt attention, none of them fidgeting or complaining about being hungry or needing to go to the bathroom, nor bombarding Percy with a million questions after every five words from his mouth. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood hung on to every word of the Word for hours on end, until it was time.

"And we'll continue this later," Percy said, closing the Bible.

There was actually a chorus of disappointed awwwww's that rose from the young heroes.

"Now, now. We're about to bear witness to the real fun." Percy exited the Empire State Building. It was nighttime. With the city completely quiet, it was easy to hear the sounds of distant marching.

And with all the city lights out, it was easy to see an exceptionally bright star above.

And it wasn't Olympus.

"Lord, have mercy on their souls," Percy prayed.

The light above broke into a number of smaller lights, and the lights soared across Manhattan towards the bridges and tunnels around the island. That's when the screaming started.

A child came up to Percy. "Are they…are they going to be okay?"

"The Lord knows their hearts and their intentions," Percy said. "Of those demigods that joined the Titans, the Lord knows why. He knows the ones that are lost and deceived, the ones who think they are doing the right thing by opposing the Olympians, the ones who seek revenge and justice for how the Olympians treated them, the ones who fight on behalf of their godly parents so that they receive proper respect, and the ones that are truly corrupt and seek only power and dominion. The Lord is just, and will deal with them justly."

The child swallowed. "My big brother left to join the Titans. He said he needed to do it because the gods aren't doing anything to make the world a better place, that they're letting all the bad guys win, and that the Titans were the best shot at fixing the all the things that are wrong. Is he right?"

"Partially," Percy admitted. "It is true that the Olympians have been complacent in their centuries in power, and are glaring hypocrites. From one side of their mouth, they preach about they can't get involved in mortal affairs, with the other side of their mouth is full of getting involved in mortal affairs."

The child blinked. "What?"

"The Olympians say they can't get too involved with mortals, but that doesn't stop them from mingling with mortals, nor does it stop them from engaging in petty squabbles that result in untold amounts of death and destruction."

"Oh."

"But Kronos and the Titans cannot be trusted. They say many good things, but mean none of them."

"So the Titans are liars?"

"Yes, they are."

"Is my big brother going to be okay?"

"How about we pray for him?"

The child nodded, closed his eyes, and did his best. "Um, hi…er…God. I've never done this before, so I hope I do it right. Um, my big brother, he went to fight with the Titans because he thinks the Olympians are bad, but the Titans are bad too, so could you…er…could you please keep him safe? I don't want him to get hurt, or killed. Um, I'll give you a burnt offering of the best food off my plate the next time I eat? Is that something you like? Burnt offerings?"

"It's a good enough first step," Percy supplied, recalling the importance and significance of burnt offerings in the first place according to the Old Testament.

The child nodded again. "Okay. I'll send you a burnt offering in thanks for keeping my big brother safe. Uh, amen?"

"Amen," Percy said.

The child looked up at him. "Is my brother really going to be okay? I've heard God answers all prayers, but sometimes he says no."

"The prayers of a righteous man availeth much," Percy recited, "as do the prayers of the faithful. Have faith in the Lord, and your brother will be fine."

"But what if he's not fine? What if God really does kill him?"

"In that case, your brother would have done something very bad in order for the Lord to take his life tonight, something you may or may not want to believe."

The child grabbed Percy's hand and pressed his small head against his side. "I'm scared."

Percy knelt down next to him, looking him in the eye. "What are you scared of?"

"That your God isn't any different or better than the other gods, and we're all going to die hopeless and alone."

"Nonsense," Percy said firmly. "Tonight, your faith will be affirmed."

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The screaming echoing through the quiet city didn't last long. It didn't need to. It's not as if the angels of the Lord needed to put forth any kind of effort in annihilating the Titan army, or in sifting the good demigods from the bad ones.

However, the excitement of the night was far from over. It wasn't even an hour later after silence reigned that some demigods hanging out in front of the Empire State Building, allowed by Percy to roam a little so long as they promised not to do anything that could be considered as heading into battle per his literal God-given mandate, saw an entourage approaching under a white banner.

They informed Percy immediately.

He came out and saw that there were no monsters in this group, only kids of ages matching his own small force. The demigods of the Titans. Leading them was someone that appeared to be a man, but was very tall. He wore a three-piece suit with his black hair once slicked back and tied off, but now undone and messy. His scarred face was haunted and pale, and similar expressions were on the faces of the demigods.

Clearly, they had seen something world-shaking.

Clarisse stood next to Percy. "Trojan Horse tactic?"

"No," he said. "God sent his angels. If they spared these, then that means we will trust in His judgement. Clarisse, I want you to work with the other counselors. Make sure these kids are given a warm meal, and are treated kindly."

Clarisse nodded once and got to work. "Connor, Travis! Get your asses over here! We've got kids to take care of."

The corner of Percy's mouth quirked up as he watched Clarisse, the girl who would've been calling for slaughter only yesterday, readily spearheaded the relief effort of the wayward Titan-affiliated demigods.

Percy approached the tall man who was carrying the white banner, and extended his hand. "I am Percy Jackson. Who are you, my friend?"

The tall man gingerly accepted the handshake, clearly shellshocked. However, it seemed that Percy's firm gripped jarred him back into coherent thinking. "Er, yes. Yes. A pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Jackson. I am Prometheus."

"The Titan of Forethought?" Percy mused. "If God spared you, you must have something incredible for me."

Prometheus swallowed. "Considering God just wiped out the entire monster army, spared most of the half-bloods, basically deleted Hyperion, and sent Kronos fleeing in terror, I guess there's a reason I'm alive?"

Percy hummed. "Join me, please. There's a really big Starbucks in here. I'm sure they won't mind if we help ourselves to the amenities so long as we clean up after ourselves and leave enough money to cover the bill."

Prometheus blinked. "I suppose…"

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A short while later, Percy and Prometheus were sitting within the Starbucks of the Empire State Building, the Titan with a cup of straight black before him, Percy with something that was basically pure, liquefied sugar.

"If I recall, you supported the Olympians in the first war," Percy said, "and if I had to guess, given their four millennia of crime and debauchery, you've decided that they need to be removed from power and otherwise punished."

Prometheus's brow twitched as a passionate fire practically erupted in his eyes. Before he launched into a righteous tirade, however, he settled, took a breath, and calmed himself. "That is putting it mildly."

"I see."

"How did you guess?"

"Oceanus. He told me the reason he was waging war against Poseidon was that he was displeased with how my father had been managing the oceans, and how he'd been conducting himself maritally. He found that Poseidon needed to be deposed and punished, so that he could take over and start cleaning and conserving the oceans."

Prometheus stared at Percy with something akin to hope in his eyes. "And? What did you do?"

"I made him and my father make peace, and make a pact to work together."

Now Prometheus really did have hope in his eyes when he looked at Percy. "I am very glad to hear that."

Percy raised a brow. "Why? Was is any of that to you?"

The Titan sipped his coffee. "I trust you know the main ideas of my story?"

"You supported the Olympians during their rebellion, then you gave fire to mankind, Zeus punished you by chaining you to a rock and let an eagle eat your liver every day, and then Heracles took pity on you when he came around, and secured your freedom."

"All true. Do you know why it is that I gave mankind fire?"

"No."

"Because I believed you could be more—that you can be more—than what you were during Kronos's Golden Age. Zeus forbade fire because he wanted to keep mankind in the same docile state they were under his father, and he justified his edict by claiming that mankind wouldn't be able to handle fire. He argued that men would use fire to burn down villages and forests, and harm their fellows. I agreed, but argued that was why we needed to be their guides and shepherds, to teach them how to use fire, and to bring them laws on what they can do to punish those who misuse fire. Zeus still refused, so I did what was necessary to advance your species."

Percy only nodded, idly wondering how the Greek myth of Prometheus and fire was supposed to coincide with the Genesis account of Adam and Eve being created as intelligent beings who didn't need the advent of fire.

Prometheus continued, "And after Heracles freed me, Zeus that it would be funny to label me as the Titan of…Crafty Council…because of the ox situation—another example of how Zeus wanted to screw over humanity, though this time only figuratively. Anyway, after being freed, I picked up right where I left off, doing what I could, where I could, for whom I could, wherever I went. I did my best to advance law, the arts, sciences, and society.

"I helped Pericles of Athens refine democracy. I assisted the establishment of the senate in Rome. I helped draft the Magna Carta, showed a number of young men how to design buildings, young men who went on to become the greatest architects of the time period known as the Renaissance, helped the Pilgrims cross the Atlantic, helped draft the Declaration of Independence—I even got to shake the hand of Captain Jake Swallow-"

Percy blinked at that one, trying to wrack his memories of Jake for any instance in which he'd shaken the hand of a heavily scarred man. He was drawing a blank, but it was a long time ago, and it was possible Prometheus had been in disguise.

"-and I helped the framers write the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I was friends with Henry Clay, and helped him devise many of his compromises during the early 19th century in order to keep the Union intact. When the Civil War ended and it was time to rebuild the nation, I talked with President Lincoln, and convinced him that the best way to undergo reconstruction was with kindness, forgiveness, and compassion, but that's when the Olympians really started to hinder me."

Prometheus's eyes adopted a faint glow as his anger spiked.

"In centuries past, Zeus would find it amusing to send one of his children to inhibit me from doing something. For example, I tried to speak with Emperor Nero-"

Percy had to physically stop himself from flinching.

"-about how his persecution of the Christians was going to be the downfall of Rome. Zeus sent Ares to stop me every time I tried. Not that I considered the god of war stronger than me, but that I knew fighting him would undoubtedly destroy the city, if not a decent chunk of Italy. Then there was the simple fact that disobeying an envoy of Zeus was tantamount to disobeying Zeus himself. There were numerous other instances, of course, but jumping back to Reconstruction, I attempted to meet with Congress following Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Bill to propose a different bill, only it was Athena, this time, sent on behalf of Zeus. Because I was stymied from Congress, American history now has a chapter referred to as Radical Reconstruction, the events of which set forth a chain reaction that we still feel to this day."

Prometheus paused to breathe and drink his coffee, then he massaged his temples.

"I understand Yahweh," he said, "or at least, I think I do. To have such love for the people you created, the desire to see them triumph and flourish, and live lives full of kindness and compassion, only for the people to actively choose to do everything that is the opposite. Death, murder, rape, thievery, deception, lies, trickery, corruption, malpractice, debauchery—evil." Prometheus looked Percy in the eye, and Percy could feel the weight of the old Titan's soul.

"I marched with MLK, you know. I even spoke with Malcom X, Dennis Banks, and Cesar Chavez. I was there doing what I could—what Zeus allowed me to do—for the sake of justice, freedom, and equality. And because it was Zeus holding my leash, I wasn't able to warn Malcolm X about the NOI's plot against him right here in Manhattan back in 1965, nor was I able to warn MLK about James Earl Ray, nor was I able to warn the Kennedy's—all because of Zeus. Because he thought it was funny, because he knew how much I cared for humanity, and wanted to see them achieve peace. It's been a joke to him to get in my way every time I tried to prevent history being altered for the worst. It's been a great pain to me for these past decades to be helpless to prevent the undoing of the work of the Founding Fathers and the Civil Rights leaders."

Prometheus chuckled mirthlessly.

"All the great strides that were being made in the 60s….And now look at things. All of that effort wasted. Black people now infamously renowned for being approximately 13% of the population, yet contributing 52% of all crime in the United States. Memes of this persist all over the internet: pattern recognition, engage!, and guess that skin color! whenever there's an article or a story that pops up in the news about criminal activity, but the race of the criminal in question isn't mentioned whenever it's a Black man, but, in contrast, the article will identify a White man. And then Latinos aren't helping their cause either, illegally flooding across the border, cartels, drugs, human trafficking, with Mexico itself being a cartel-run shithole of a country. Native Americans can't even claim to be great, with their social reputation these days being that they're a bunch of slobs living on drugs and welfare that can't even keep their reservations clean."

Percy hummed slightly, resolving to have a talk with Piper about that the next time he saw her. Given that her public persona was that of a young, spirited, and passionate Native American activist, she would most likely have greater insight than this brief conversation with Prometheus.

"A heartfelt speech," Percy said evenly. "I can see why you would join Kronos against Olympus, given their centuries of transgressions against the human race. What, exactly, was your plan to address all of these societal wrongs? You spoke of being like a shepherd to mankind, earlier."

"Short version: a complete overhaul of the United States of America," said the Titan. "I was going to launch extensive investigations into the FBI, CIA, FDA, NSA, IRS, the Cabinet, House, Senate, Supreme Court, state governments, and local governments, using literal divine intervention to root out and expunge the rot. Yes, that does mean I fully intended to kill several people on the grounds of their criminal acts while in office. For example, embezzlement, abuse of power, election fraud, bribery, and probably no small amount of pedophilia. After cleansing the government, I was going to turn my attention to other criminal organizations, like the previously mentioned gangs and cartels. I also had several plans for the economy, the education system, the criminal justice system, immigration, the power grid, labor, inflation, the Federal Reserve, and just so many other things. Things for the Olympians, and things for the mortals. I've got a playbook centuries in the making, but now…"

Prometheus sighed heavily.

"I would like to see this playbook," Percy said.

The Titan stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"At first you had my attention, but now you have my interest. I would like to review your playbook and see if it compatible with my own ideals."

"Your own—you are not even fully sixteen years old yet. What ideals do you have?"

Percy flexed his wrist, and Hidden Blade sprung forward. "Ones that involve killing people for reasons deemed worthy of death."

Prometheus stared at the Hidden Blade, and then his eyes flicked to Percy's. There was recognition in those old orbs, along with reignited passion. The Titan opened his mouth to say something, but Lou Ellen came rushing into the Starbucks.

"Percy! It's Kronos! He's flying up to Olympus!"

"He can fly?" Percy blinked.

Prometheus's brows were furrowed. "That's an incredibly stupid idea. Olympus is a magic fortress with millions of wards and protections, along with the 24/7 rotating staff of minor gods on constant guard duty. In his contained form, he has no chance of physically breaching the mountain."

"Well, he's trying anyway."

Percy looked at Prometheus. "We'll have to continue this later."

"Agreed."

They rushed outside to see what was going on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sure enough, Kronos was actually flying over the city of Manhattan, heading straight for Olympus.

"Not gonna lie," Lou Ellen said, "but he does look really badass."

Percy honestly couldn't refute that. The black armor, the billowing cape, the scythe, the blonde hair, the glowing golden eyes—Kronos-in-Luke's-body did make for an imposing sight.

However, Percy's eyes narrowed. Despite the distance and speed at which the Titan was flying, Percy could see that he was not alone. Kronos had a little serpent passenger coiled around his arm, its head standing up next to his own.

"It seems that the lord of time made a friend," Percy said. "He has a snake with him."

Given what had already happened today, Lou and Prometheus both paled.

"Satan is working with Kronos?" Lou asked, utterly bewildered.

"Apparently so, yes, and if he's being backed by the devil, then Olympus stands no chance."

And sure enough, when Kronos got within Olympus's airspace, he smashed right through the invisible shields and kept going, shrugging through the other defenses of the mountain.

Percy grabbed Lou's hand. "Keep the kids from panicking or doing anything stupid. God is still with us, and His orders still stand. I'm going up. We'll handle Kronos."

Lou Ellen nodded. It did not escape her notice that Percy said "we" instead of "I."

Percy nodded to Prometheus, who nodded back, before he drew the Sword of Destiny from over his shoulder. The sword glowed gold, shrouding Percy in a golden aura, and then he was soaring up the building, tearing through the air after the Titan lord.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Percy arrived, Kronos had already done a number on the city. Streets were torn up, buildings had either collapsed or were on fire, and there were a number of bodies strewn about. Considering their golden wounds, they were unconscious and beaten minor gods that had been no match for Kronos even in his weakened state.

Percy soared down Olympus, following the trail of destruction. His grandfather had really been on the move, considering Percy wasn't even three minutes behind him.

Percy had to fly all the way to the heart of Olympus, the throne room, where he found the huge doors had been blasted wide open. Kronos was inside, staring down a little girl of barely eight years, wearing a comely red-and-brown dress. When she saw Percy, she smiled.

"You're in trouble now," she said confidently.

Kronos turned and snarled at Percy, the snake hissing at the sight of him too. "How poetic. The great hero arrives just in time for the last battle in order to save the world and take his revenge."

Percy arched a brow. "Revenge? Are you referring to how you tried to murder me in my infancy?"

"Yes?"

Percy snorted. "I suppose that would be grounds for revenge, yes, but don't you know? Thus sayeth the God of Armies, Vengeance is mine. I will repay."

The serpent hissed even more violently at the reciting of Scripture.

"Well," Kronos growled, "I don't see him present at the moment, so I guess you'll have to take matters into your own hands for now."

"Oh, no. Our hands."

Kronos blinked. "Our?"

"Me, the Holy Spirit that dwells with in me, and them."

Percy brought the Sword of Destiny up, holding the hilt over his chest, the blade running between his eyes. There was a mighty pulse of golden light, and from this light, Kronos saw six figures come walking out. His eyes widened when the light faded, and even the serpent recoiled in fear.

Standing in a V with Percy as the vertex, they were all together as one.

"It can't be," Kronos muttered.

"It can," Percy countered. "Through God, all things are possible."

Faris Ibn-La'Ahad drew his curved saber.

Vergil Cavaliere da Roma drew his sword.

Captain Jake Swallow drew his cutlasses.

Cheyenne Nightshade drew her twin eight-barreled flintlocks.

Peter Frye drew his twin revolvers.

And Konrad Richter produced a set of brass knuckles and a Luger.

"Insieme per la vittoria," Percy said under his breath.

"Vittoria agli Assassini," said the Six.

"Amen."

Then they charged.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And the next chapter will be the last.