All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 33

The Truth Revealed

(Diana)

I flashed us into the camp the moment the Nemean Lioness appeared from over the crest of the hill. She had wasted no time in charging towards the nearest marine monster. Her sharp claws quickly mauling the Telkhine perimeter guard into nothing but dust before she passed into the open and released a fearsome roar.

Suddenly, every monster in the camp focused their eyes on her direction, before a shower of arrows appeared from the trees a hundred yards away erasing another squad of the monsters in a matter of seconds. However, as a result of the massive lioness clearly taking up more of the enemy's attention, the hunter's actions remained undetected for now at least. Percy and I as she grabbed the next poor monster in her mouth and shook it viciously, until his truncated body flew to one side and crumbled into a golden stain.

Now that I knew they were distracted, their eyes were not on their prisoners giving the minor gods a chance to rescue them or at least take them to safety. For their part the campers seemed just as enraptured watching the lioness tear the other monsters to pieces as everyone else.

However, none of that was my immediate concern for now. As Percy and I faced down the pair of Titans who were regarding us coolly.

"Well, well, well. The legendary hero finally appears at last." Oceanus said mockingly regarding Percy, who was holding Riptide aimed at his fellow Titan Lord. The elder Titan Lord of the sea did not seem concerned about the blade, as he was instead focused on the face of the guardian.

Much to my chagrin, I saw that Tethys was also more focused on him as well despite my proximity to her. Now if I had been at full strength, I could have probably ended half this battle there and then. However, in my weakened state I knew I could not be hasty as I instead held my bow aimed low with an arrow already placed on the string.

"What do you mean, here at last?" Percy growled out, only for the Titans to laugh.

"I thought you were going to spend forever behind that hill cowering with your little bunch of girlfriends." He replied after calming down throwing the pair of us for a loop. Why would he know we were here and yet do nothing to stop us from our attempted rescue?

"How could you even know we was coming here?" Percy asked in complete confusion which made sense. After all I had only made the decision last night and had told the hunt about it this morning. How could he have first gained that information and second gone to such trouble at a moment's notice.

Let alone plan and mount an ambush requiring successfully attacking a camp full of powerful enemies and even incapacitating an Olympian god. No matter how pathetic said god actually was.

"You forget son of Poseidon; I am the father of all the spirits of rivers and lakes. My daughters dutifully keep me supplied with all the information I will ever need on what you and your usurper father do." He answered haughtily, although he spat out the name of his successor with barely concealed hatred.

His explanation made sense though, of course no one had been able to detect him or his consort. If all the nymphs had been working under him and hiding him from detection as well as providing misdirection to us and information to him.

"But why would you even go to all this trouble. Why the deceit of hiding all this time and attacking here of all places?" I asked and finally getting the pair to look at me. The pair arrogantly looked toward me as if I was not even fit to grace their presence.

"Because of him. How could we stand by while the murderer of our brothers and mother walks around unpunished. He defiles their memory and our home with every step he takes in Orthrys." Tethys spat out angrily, finally talking. Even as she did so she wasted no time in summoning a trident to hand. Only for her husband to place a hand in front of her and seemingly hold her back, for the time being at least.

"Wait, you are doing this for revenge against me. Then why go to all the trouble of attacking the camp? You could have attacked me anytime in the last year whilst I have been at Orthrys without needing to do any of this." Percy replied waving a hand around the camp and I noticed the skirmish was at a standstill for the time being. Only because the number of monsters heavily outnumbered the attackers despite their rapidly increasing losses. If the two Titans were concerned about the loss of their forces, they did not show it.

"I could not just walk into 'my' palace and challenge you now, could I? Especially now that the rest of my foolish family has sworn oaths not to attack the weak Olympians, such as your girlfriend here." He asked ridiculing us and inadvertently causing my cheeks to warm up at the thought, despite it only being used as an insult.

"What do you mean 'Your' palace?" Percy asked angrily. If he was bothered by Oceanus's last sentence, he did not show it.

"I am the firstborn child of Gaia and Ouranos, the leadership of my fellow Titans should have been my birth right, instead of my foolish youngest brothers. Then that fool gets himself defeated yet again, when I had victory over your father within my grasp. As a result, I was forced to retreat and hide, even with the two of us we cannot stand up to all of Olympus combined. Then just as mother made her move at last, that little brat dooms everything by making you, his heir. I will defeat you and claim your domain, making myself the rightful King of the Titans. As it always should have been." He proclaimed loudly. I absently wondered if he was the only person to ever refer to Kronos as a 'little brat'.

"So, what you mean to say is. You think that by beating me will make the others follow you without question? Are you insane? From what I have seen the Titans follow only their own interests. Have you ever thought that maybe they actually like how it is now? That perhaps they don't want to get dragged into yet another fight they could end up losing and ending back in their prisons." Percy asked seriously and I could tell the question bothered him when he flinched slightly backwards, placing a hand at the hilt of the coral inlaid sword secured to his waist.

"Here is another even better idea, one that doesn't see me covering the camp in your ichor. I drag your sorry ass to Olympus; they shove you in a prison for a while to cool off and as punishment for your unprovoked attack on my father and I let your wife go free. After all, at present she is still innocent of your crimes. I am even willing to overlook this entire charade going on today. Deal or no deal?" Percy followed on cold enough to send shivers down my back, as he focused on the taller figure's eyes.

"I will never submit to those conditions, besides what chance do you have of defeating me when even your own father could not? I should never have stood aside during the first Titanomachy, since then you gods and your precious mortals have done nothing but ruin our domains. I will crush all of your civilisation beneath the waves and wash the slate clean." He proclaimed drawing his serpent sword, only for the animal to straighten out and change form. Becoming that of a large silver blade, one of a metal I did not immediately recognize.

"So, I guess you want to do this the hard way then. Remember this when you are enjoying Tartarus's hospitality, I offered you a way out and you refused it. Last chance for you to Tethys, go back to Orthrys peacefully now. Otherwise, you will share his fate I don't want to have to fight you." Percy said calmly turning to the Titaness. However, from the first time she had spoken her body language had made it clear that she had no intention of this ending peacefully. If anything, she appeared to want to fight more than he did.

"I stand by my Husband! Coward!" She spat angrily waving her trident around and Percy simply lowered his head in perhaps sadness and sighed before straightening up into a combat stance.

"Then so be it. Diana, I need you to keep her off me while I deal with her husband" He asked, turning to me with a look of determination. Suddenly he ran towards the much larger figure, sword held high, and I replied by simultaneous raising my bow and drawing an arrow towards my own opponent.

(Percy)

The battle had begun well enough, as Riptide clashed against the strange silver blade in a flurry of blows. Despite my initial thoughts he at least appeared to be competent enough with the blade even I gradually began to push him back under my onslaught. The guy certainly had power behind his attacks, but this was countered by my shield having an equal or greater force when used. However, it was not long before I managed to find an opening in his guard and stab him in the gut... or so I thought at least.

For a second I stood there looking at my entrenched blade in surprise, as the Titan showed no physical side-effect of receiving the wound. Smiling coldly at me from above, Oceanus stomped his right foot on the ground. The action releasing a blast of energy that knocked me back from him a dozen yard, similarly to what the other Titans had done to me in the past. Both in friendly duels as well as actual combat. It was something that I really wished I could do as well but to this day I was ultimately unsuccessful in replicating.

Still the move was generally harmless and so I quickly rose to my feet. Looking back at him only to find him holding the ancient bronze blade in his free hand appraisingly. Before casually tossing it aside with no further regard.

"Fool, did you really think a blade made from my own daughter Pleiones power would be able to hurt me?" He asked mockingly, great so my primary normal weapon was a no go against this guy. I thought bitterly even as I drew Chasing Wisdom and slung my shield across my back. Even now I was still loath to use the more powerful weapons, what with the hunters nearby. Even despite the level of the threat Oceanus presented.

This time I charged, I tried to focus some energy on slowing time for the Titans as I made my strikes. Yet once again every blow from both blades was intercepted by the silver sword as if he was not affected by the magic at all. Quickly I began to feel its use draining my strength and I was forced to release the spell.

"You truly are a fool to think you had the power to affect me with that trick. You are not even a full Titan, my own brother as Titan King was not able to affect me with that. As I believe your father once put it, the sea it does not like to be restrained." He stated mockingly, as I looked up at him with the three blades locked together between us.

I was able break the deadlock when I slid the pair of knives up the length of his sword in a X shape with the points scratching his forearms. I was happy with the outcome, as this time the attack at least had some affect, a small amount of Ichor became visible dribbling down towards is wrists.

The Titan seemed to regard the wound for a second with a frown before launching into a series of attack of his own. He swung his blade with enough force to make my arms shake with each blow that I was forced to block. It felt as if I was metaphorically fighting the weight of the ocean, with the smaller one-handed weapons I was using it quickly became a pain to parry the attacks. Hopping back, I was forced to break away and try another tactic.

(Diana)

Despite my best efforts, things were not going well for me against the Mistress of the Seas. While the larger Titaness was unable to strike me with the trident, she bore in her right hand. Nor could I inflict any injuries to her with my arrows due to the fact she bore a shield made of clear ice on her left arm. Now a shield made of Ice normally would have made little sense to me, yet it remained terribly effective no matter how many arrows I hit it with. With the fact it was transparent she remained able to see through it despite occasionally having to conceal almost her full body behind it. This meant I had no way of flanking around her.

Instead, while the arrows would strike the ice and cause it to crack slightly or chip pieces off the edge. Fresh water would flow out from the centre to fill the damaged areas and repair it instantly. My main concern was the fact we seemed to be moving away from the other dual and the camp itself. Worryingly for me, we were slowly moving towards the sea which I knew would make this fight a lot harder for me. It became clear I had to defeat her now before she reached it, otherwise who knew what could happen? I doubted even Poseidon could have fought the pair at the same time under the sea.

Dropping my bow due to it clearly being no use in this situation. I instead drew my knives and dashed towards her hoping my agility advantage on land would allow me to fight her up close despite my present weakness. It was only when my left knife struck the shield, did I notice something wrong. I found that rather than bounce off as I expected the blade to do off a solid object like my arrows had done, instead the knife stuck fast at the point of collision.

I watched in horror as water quickly rushed along the length of the silver-plated bronze blade freezing instantly only to be followed by more flowing out from the shield. To late did I realise the sudden danger I was in, when the ice suddenly passed the hilt and touched my fingers. I instantly found myself unable to pull them back as they had become frozen to the blade.

Despite everything including releasing my true form for a fraction of a second, I could not free myself from my icy trap. All the while the ice continued to grow along my arm.

Too late did I realise that I would have to sever the limb and make my escape. The Titaness regarded me coldly with a smile before she merely prodded my abdomen with the points on her trident. Suddenly I found ice growing on my stomach and expanding outwards rapidly. All I could do, as I stood there slowly being encapsulated in ice and frozen, both physically and mentally in horror at the situation was scream for help.

(Percy)

I had found myself on an even playing field after I had switched to my Spear and shield. The longer weapon gave me more reach to compete with the Titans own longer and wider blade. I could also wield it in one or two hands alongside the shield which again allowed me to shrug of the force of the blows.

By now though both of us had now sustained blows, although thankfully he was the only one who was injured due my curse of Achilles protecting me, for the moment at least. Although my coat and shirt had acquired some hefty slashes in them, including across my chest, bicep and shoulder where the sword had bounced off me. Due to his height most of his attacks would naturally hit my upper body rather than my legs for obvious reasons.

Oceanus however was suffering several stab wounds where the head of my spear had penetrated his flesh before the flames on the spear had immediately cauterized the wound while inflicting further burns slowing down any recovery he may have made.

With this I had felt myself finally gaining the upper hand over the elder Titan Lord, when I heard a scream coming from near the shoreline. I snapped my head around to look, only to find that Diana and Tethys were nowhere in sight. Horror filled me as I realized that it had been a women's scream. I quickly forgot about my own battle as I dropped my spear and shield and ran towards source of the scream.

I barely even noticed the Titan following me, albeit slowly due to a recently punctured kneecap forcing him to drag the injured leg.

(Thalia)

The battle for us had been going well until we heard the scream. Reyna and I had focused on keeping the attacking monsters that strayed too close away, while our fellow sisters attacked the distant ones who were trying to act as counter archers. Fortunately, the dog/seal monsters were not very good archers at the best of times. Certainly not while under actually accurate arrow fire and with a large golden lioness rapidly tearing her way through their rear ranks.

The ones who did get close to us were unable to breach past the pair of us, as we covered each other with shields and spears. A blow would strike off one of our shields only to be followed by the other's spear killing the attacker.

It became rapidly clear that despite their superior numbers, the monsters were losing, and I noticed that my brother and his fellow gods were fulfilling their part of the plan. Piper and Hazel maintained a barrier around the unconscious bound campers while Leo, Frank and Jason would flash in and out with a camper or two.

The only one not participating in this was Nico as the son of Hades knelt with his Stygian Iron sword buried to the hilt in the soil and summoned a ring of ghostly warriors that also attacked the monsters. Slowly the monsters were being pushed back away from the dome of light around the group and closer to both us and the monster dust coated lioness.

Eventually, I began to notice small groups of the monsters breaking away and running towards the camps borders before they suddenly all broke into a full-scale rout abandoning any pretext at still fighting. Where they were chased by the arrows of both us hunters and Frank who had begun to fire flaming arrows out of the dome. Until finally the last survivor had just made it past the invisible boundary, albeit with Nemea's claws passing through its chest as it did so, the Telkhine crumbling to dust on the other side.

It had been then, when I thought we were all done, that I had a women's scream echo throughout the valley. I turned around and found all the hunters still on their feet and other than perhaps a little tired we were fine. The only ones of the gods of heroes who was still here were Frank and Nico, as the others had dropped the barrier to move the campers faster evidently now that the main threat was gone, looking past those two I noticed there were no female campers left amongst them.

As I computed this information, I deduced that left only left one option as I grabbed Reyna and ran for the direction, I thought I heard it from.

(Percy)

The sight in front of me chilled me to the bone, no pun intended. I looked at the Titaness gazing down fondly at the frozen figure of the goddess who was encased in a block of ice.

How could I have been so stupid as to forget the fact that she had control over sea ice? After all her vacant throne in the Palace was unmistakeably made of the stuff.

"Freeze there Perseus or I will shatter it with her still inside." She said calmly with a cruel smile even whilst tapping the icy figure's head with her trident. At the threat I had stopped slowly moving my right hand towards my opposite wrist and Maelstrom.

Reluctantly I did as she ordered, as I quickly tried to comprehend how this could have happened to the goddess. There was little I could do for Diana as I was currently unarmed in my haste to get here, and I predicted my control over time would be as ineffective on Tethys as it had been against Oceanus.

I remained there still despite the sound of heavy awkward footsteps behind me, followed by the cold feel of metal against my neck. As Oceanus pushed the blade against my throat slightly nicking my skin, I felt some liquid running down my back and probably the blade.

"Now you will be coming with us Perseus, I am going to have fun torturing you in the depths. I will inflict every horror you can think of to you for what you did to our mother. The best bit is afterwards the water will heal you and I can do it all over again and again." Oceanus whispered sadistically from behind, all pretence of calmness now tossed aside now I was at his mercy.

I felt my blood boil at my own inability to do anything in this situation. Once again, in my haste to save someone I loved I had left myself vulnerable, this time however there was no getting out of it.

"Oh, and Perseus he will not be the only one doing it, you will surely beg for mercy soon enough. Now hurry up Oceanus and grab him, the last of Telkhines have fallen, and they are coming." She said cruelly though her tone gaining urgency as the situation in the camp changed.

Her words were met by the larger figure behind me grabbing me under the arms in a full nelson. As such I was lifted off the floor completely, my arms pulled backwards painfully so I was unable to grab my watch with my opposite hand, so I could not even reach Maelstrom even if I had the chance.

"Good now that we have him let us go." Oceanus said from behind me.

"One last thing, while we are here. Why don't we finish what our incompetent nephew started all those years ago and rid the world of this insignificant half-blood creature." Tethys stated turning back towards the frozen figure slowly drawing back her weapon as if to strike it. It was like the world went into slow motion as I began to panic. How could I stop her was all I could think of. Fractions of a second ticked by before I thought of a possible solution.

It would cause me problems if I survived but I would rather those consequences than lose the one I loved.

After all, I had sworn that my wish to have my true nature remain concealed would not obscure my capacity to do my job as their guardian. The time for lies and deception was over I thought as I snapped my wings open as hard and fast as possible, hoping this would work.

(Thalia)

Now I admit I had trouble comprehending the scene in front of me to start off with. Originally, I was surprised enough to see what was happening with the four figures in front of me. But that was nothing compared to the state of shock I was in now caused by the sudden turn of events. I had initially arrived to find Lady Artemis (or Diana, it was hard to tell from here) unmoving and surrounded by ice. As if that wasn't bad enough Percy was being held aloft by the other Titan captured and restrained.

Yet the moment the female Titaness went to make a move against the unmoving goddess, there was a sudden glint of gold between Percy and Oceanus followed by a mighty scream of pain from the Titan Lord of the Sea.

As if in response to his sudden trauma, Titan released a blast of energy that blew Percy away from him. I guessed it was accidental, but the blast inadvertently ended propelling Percy towards his compatriot who he then collided with full force. The Titaness surprised by the sudden turn of events as much as everyone else and unable to respond, before he hit her knocking them both scrambling to the ground.

It was only when they rose from the dirt that I noticed something strange about Percy. Covering the entirety of his back was a large mass of gold in what from this distance resembled a series of wings but that could not have been right. Surely that was impossible? Why would Percy have wings now?

However, that explanation could wait as all I knew now was my sister and cousin needed my help. I was about to run towards them when I was suddenly grabbed from behind and lifted into the air. I was about to panic when I was swung onto the seat of a saddle and found myself sitting behind Reyna on Scipio.

I was about to protest my fear of heights to her, but I knew it was too late now. Scipio's hooves had already left the ground besides Artemis needed our help. Taking a deep breath and holding onto the other girl for dear life I attempted to remain calm in this situation.

(Reyna)

"Reyna, do you have any idea why half of Percy appears golden now?" Thalia asked pointing at the figure below us who was now clashing sword to trident with Tethys.

"That would be because he has golden wings." I replied simply turning towards her and leaving her with a look of shock.

"How do you know that, and why are you so calm about all of this?" She asked wide-eyed.

"I have always known about them ever since before I joined the hunt. It was the only way he could catch me, but I was forced to swear not tell you anymore. Not without his permission or unless he openly revealed them." I answered closing the matter as Scipio came around in a spiral descending.

The fight between the two Titans from what I could see, was a little one sided as Tethys was kept on the defensive under the furious assault being launched against her. The lower we got the more of the smaller details I could make out about what was happening in the duel. Like the weapon now wielded two-handed by Percy as being the same one I had seen when he tortured Octavian. The sword of Saturn cleaving through any defence the Titaness could raise between them, it cut through her icy shield with ease only for the shield to reform. However even as it did so the rate of repair was not keeping up with how swiftly he cut it to pieces repeatedly.

The other Titan seemed to be out of the fight as he sat cradling the stumps of his arms, whatever had happened before I arrived, had severed his arms at the elbows. What was left of the now discarded limbs were lying in the dirt several meters away slowly crumbling to dust. Finally, we did one last circle over the ocean before coming back in to land.

(Percy)

To be truthful, I did not actually think opening my wings would work. I had simply hoped the force of them spreading would cause Oceanus to loosen his grip on me and drop me. So, it was much to my pleasant surprise when the sharpened feather edges actually severed his arms completely at the elbow, to make things even better for me. He had released another blast of force as a result of the sudden pain that had sent me flying away from his and into his wife, knocking us both to the floor and more importantly. Knocking Tethys away from the goddess with me now between her and the vulnerable goddess's frozen form.

As I rose to my feet, I grabbed my watch and once again held the familiar weight of Maelstrom. Lacking another effective weapon for the time being I held the blade in two hands. I knew we were likely being watched at this point, with my wings on clear display there was no point hiding the other sword for no reason.

For the first time, Tethys did not look so smug or confident as she snapped eyes from her wounded husband who was incapacitated and in pain, to the bi-metal sword I held in my hand.

"Last chance, free Diana and leave." I growled out levelling the sword towards her.

The Titaness did not reply other than jab at me with her Trident, which I parried away with the flat of my sword before launching a strike at her of my own. The Titaness quickly grew a smile on her face as my sword made contact with her shield, I realised to late that this was what must have happened to Diana. Only for her face to fall quickly as the blade rather than become frozen in place, continued to travel through the ice before passing through the other side severing the shield neatly into pieces. However, my perceived victory was short lived as it simply reformed from fresh water.

"Free her? No, I think I will shatter her into little pieces and then throw them into the pit after I am done with you." She screamed out. At the threat to the goddess, I lost control and began to attack her with increasing momentum, severity and viciousness as I sought to inflict as much pain on her as possible, no one harms those I love.

However, despite the lethal cutting power of my blows and the speed I was attacking with, I remained unable to inflict a physical injury on the Titaness. She would always narrowly manage to deflect the sword's edge with her trident at the last moment, blocking it in a shower of sparks or it would narrowly miss her by a matter of millimetres. Like her husband she was unaffected by my Time powers annoyingly.

It was ironic that out of all the Titans I had fought; the hardest fight was against a Titaness, but it was truthful. Krios, Kronos, Hyperion I had battled as a basic demigod albeit with the curse of Achilles, or even against Iapetus without it. Yet here was Tethys resisting me far more capably than they had despite all the power I had now. Perhaps it was because she actually had a brain and thought about her attacks before going into a frenzy of stabbing like her male counterparts did. It was especially jarring considering that she was not using any form of supernatural powers like they all would. She was simply very skilled in combat it seemed.

Still as I continued the assault on her I noticed something worrying happening. The dirt beneath my feet began to change in texture and become softer. It was only then did I notice that she was slowly retreating towards the sea, for either a power increase it would likely provide or perhaps to escape.

True I would also get an increase in strength, but I doubted it would be anything near what she would gain back inside her home domain.

Despite my efforts to change the direction of the battle away from the shore, I was unable to stop her taking a final step back into the surf. I watched as her legs fused together into a single fin as she settled slightly half below the surface regarding me coldly. The moment she stepped into the water I had leapt back so to reduce the chances of her doing something and catching me by surprise. I could already feel any chance of victory over Tethys fading away quickly.

Standing there watching her raise her arms I saw to my horror, a dozen spikes of ice the length of my spear appeared around her from the waves. Yet I quickly saw that they seemed not to be aimed at me as she cryokinetically pushed them forward with a sinister smile.

Suddenly, six figures arrived around me in a flash of light right in front of the ice spear's trajectories. Somehow Tethy's had known exactly where they were going to appear and fired at them. I had a split second to react as I stretched my wings out to their maximum extent hoping to protect my friends. They may now be immortal but that did not mean it was okay for them to get hurt, because of my failure to defeat the renegade Titaness.

I felt myself knocked backwards as the spears made contact with the Imperial Gold of my feathers, the ice shattering on impact with the metal. However, I was not able to stop the final two to my left-hand side, the target just outside of my wingtip. Thankfully it did not matter as the final target over there was Leo who spotting the icicle lance simply raised a hand and a wall of fire appeared in front of him. Melting the projectiles before looking at the Titaness with a cheeky smile.

"Hey Bitch, why don't you crazy senoritas never realize that the cold doesn't affect me." He shouted laughing at the Titaness, who I could see was having trouble keeping calm at her failure just now at instant killing them all. I think the following taunt by a minor god of all people was probably affecting what little sanity and rationality she had left judging by the vein that was throbbing on her forehead.

Slowly I lowered my wings revealing the other five gods and goddesses who all were looking at her weapons raised.

"Next time interloper you won't be so lucky. Mark my words you will see me again!" She spat angrily before disappearing under the surf with a splash of her tail. It seems that despite her having home field advantage, seven against one was not a risk she was willing to take. Or perhaps like most women she just didn't want to spend time near the god of fire.

"Hey cuz, don't worry we have got your back." Nico said placing a hand on my arm causing me to slowly lower my sword.

"Now let us go and clear the other piece of sea scum out of our camp." Leo joked running over and grabbing my other arm and suddenly flashing me back to the camp itself.

We suddenly reappeared back where I had left Oceanus and Diana and found them both basically in the positions, I had left them. As a result of his injuries the Titan lay surrounded by a growing pool of his own Ichor, barely moving as I stomped towards him with the blade before me. Using the sole of my foot against his forehead I pushed him onto his backside, so he was looking at us now.

"Where would she go?" I growled at him angrily pressing the blade against his throat. Slightly cutting his flesh just as he had done to me earlier. Even just a small cut inflicted by Maelstrom must have hurt like crazy.

"I will not betray my wife; while she lives, revenge will be ours!" He said spitting ichor at me, and I remembered that amongst the earlier injuries I had inflicted to him one had included a spear to the lung.

"Bzzt wrong answer pal, try again." Leo joked from behind me.

Unfortunately for Oceanus, he was not the only one who had prior experience with torturing someone.

However, the Titan never got a chance to reply to the god. When a bronze spear suddenly appeared through the back of his throat before colliding with my own blade. I don't know who was more surprised by the sudden turn of events, me or the Titan. All I could do was watch as he slowly crumbled into dust, revealing the figure of an angry looking Hunter in his place.

"Look Thals… I can explain." I said raising my arms and dismissing the sword. I was hoping to settle this diplomatically with her, only for a lightning bolt to fall from the sky and next to me singeing the grass. The air suddenly filled with the unmistakeable tint of ozone.

"That wasn't me, Percy. I am afraid you are on your own for this one, have fun." I heard Jason say from behind me.

'Sure, what a pal you are, she is your bloody sister. The least you could do is try and help.' I thought to myself as the silver garbed figure stomped towards me. Past her I could see the mounted figure of Reyna looking sympathetic.

Now considering the size difference between me and Thalia and the fact I looked older than her, the scene must have been highly amusing for any spectator to watch. Sure enough, I risked a look around only to find the six now all sitting in chairs watching the scene in front of them avidly.

It would have been amusing to watch them for the fact that Leo was now wearing a beer cap with Coke cans in it and Nico had a large glove saying 'Go Thals'.

However, I was jerked back to the present situation by a blow to the gut, I turned back to find the blunt end of Thalia's spear poking out of stomach making me drop to one knee in what was left of Oceanus.

"Explain Now!" She shouted demandingly.

"Okay now hear me out, let me start at the begin—Oww." I began only to be cut off by a bolt of lightning striking my uppermost wings and them acting as a conductor. The single attack shocking me several times, as the bolt passed from one pair to another down my back. Leaving my entire right-hand side set painfully numb and unresponsive.

"Ok, as you are in no mood for stories, I am now technically a Titan and have been since the last war." I confessed and her look slowly changed from rage to one of confusion.

"Thalia now is really not the time; we need to rescue Lady Diana. I don't think she likes being an Olympsicle, unless you want to explain to her what the holdup was." I said gesturing towards the still frozen goddess behind the six, who immediately lost their accessories now the angry daughter of Zeus was looking in their direction. Even with them being gods, they did not want to get on the bad side of the enraged hunter.

"You and I are going to have a chat when we are done here." She said glaring at me before noticing something on the floor at her feet in front of me.

Slowly she bent down, brushing aside a patch of golden dust revealing the blade of a silver sword that had been partially obscured by Oceanus's remains. Lifting the blade upwards so it caught the light I could see it was not the same as when the Titan wielded it. It was now much smaller and if anything bore more than passing physical resemblance to Riptide, which I guessed was more than a coincidence, seeing as how she had wanted that sword.

"Congratulations you finally got a sword, now can we go help the goddess?" I said after a cursory inspection of the blade she now held enraptured. Unlike my weapons that had belonged to a Titan, the sword she now held was only a regular weapon with no added power or at least that was the case if my rapid examination was correct, it was just another spoil of war.

I suspected it was because she was not in any way a Titan that she did not get the added benefits I did when I defeated another Titan, even if she technically stole my kill. She had simultaneous kept both the Oceans domain and the sword out of my grasp for the time being I realised somewhat bitterly.

"Valdez make yourself useful, what metal is this?" She demanded of the god who snapped to it, clearly not willing to see her pissed off at him as well as me.

"Well, it is not normal silver that is for sure, but it is certainly different. The only thing it reminds me off is Artemis's chariot, from the brief look I got of that when she brought it by my dad's place. Let me go ask him back in a second." The Latino god said hurriedly before flashing away.

"Okay now how do we defrost someone without fire?" Jason mused aloud only to be answered when I re-summoned my spear from where it lay and back into my hand, holding it aloft I increased the flames momentarily.

"You improvise." I said simply walking over towards the frozen goddess with a look of sadness and remorse. How could I have been so stupid as to send a weakened goddess against a full-strength Titaness without any support. In doing so I had put her in unnecessary danger and ultimately compromised myself as a result. Now while I had little concern for my own well-being, the fact that I had failed in my duty as her guardian and allowed her to become incapacitated and captured was unacceptable.

Starting at the edges of the icy mass, I slowly moved the flaming spear around her form melting the ice on her extremities first. Taking care as to not accidentally burn her, I watched as meltwater ran off her before moving onto her torso and head last. Now this may have seemed strange, most would surely have recommended starting at her core first. However, I was wary of the fact I did not want her to suddenly become conscious mid-way through the defrosting. If so, she may start moving around and possibly injure herself while the rest of her was in the ice mass.

Eventually, the majority of the ice holding her upright had melted and she suddenly collapsed to the floor. Fortunately, I was able step forward and catch her before she hit the floor. Taking great care, I slowly lowered her to the ground. Now whilst her body or at least the outside was now free of the ice, she remained physically stiff telling me that her body was frozen internally too. Using my control over the water to dry her clothes and remove the water that still coated her flesh, I moved onto the next problematic phase of the thawing.

Because she had been fully encapsulated in the ice, it meant that some of it would have frozen in her throat, lungs and other organs. Which was why she was still cryogenically unconscious; As such I had to raise her internal heat and melt the ice before I could summon it out as water.

Fully aware of the spectators watching every move I made, I slowly wrapped a row of wings around and below her. As I did so I carried on holding the spear against her back, careful to keep the heat gentle at around one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit, so it did not burn her but only heat. Obviously stuck inside the humid cocoon I had created, sweat ran down my brow copiously as I continued the slow process. It would be almost twenty minutes before she was finally de-iced, and I was able to summon the majority of the water out of her.

Her skin had finally taken on a tone of light pink rather than icy blue which was progress, likewise her limbs now felt soft and moveable. Yet as far as I could tell she was still not breathing. Putting the spear away I slowly unravelled and folded my golden wings away.

"Okay does anyone here know CPR?" I asked the group of godlings. Desperately hoping for a female answer, otherwise I was a dead man.

"I do." Leo said excitedly raising a hand even as every girl present suddenly glared at him. I realized I had not even felt him return due to the fact I was so focused on the task in hand. Now whether he actually knew the procedure or just wanted to get within kissing distance of a girl was beside the point. Diana would never live it down if that was the case and it defeated the point when I could just do it myself if any male was going to have to.

Besides I really did not want to see another guy with his lips touching hers.

"Does anyone else know it, Thalia maybe?" I said hopingly but she looked sheepish at the prospect. I was pretty damned certain most of the girls did know the basics of first aid, but because Diana was a goddess, they were getting cold feet at the prospect.

"Okay then Thalia, Reyna. Remember I am only doing this to save her and because there is no alternate option. So, please don't hurt me afterwards more than you are already going to." I explained before I bent down and closed my lips over the goddesses.

(Tania)

We had secured the camp following the battle, making sure the monsters had all been killed and to check for more prisoners. Other than finding the stables barricaded from the outside and with a quick swipe of the paw of our feline guardian, the wreckage was cleared and out came a group of panicked Pegasi that immediately took off in fear.

With the area now secure, there was little else for us to do, other than police our arrows from the golden dust.

The battle itself had been anti-climactic, considering the overwhelming numbers of monsters against us, they had put up a pathetic fight. All I had had to do was sit back with the others and snipe at them while Thalia and Reyna did the hard part of keeping them away from the rest of us. I would much rather have fought them up close with the pair, but I understood as I watched them that the pair made a better unit at fighting close together. Besides, I did not have a shield for defence like they did currently.

Finally, when we were all done with the securing of the camp. We followed Phoebe who was temporarily in charge, seeing as Artemis and Thalia and even Reyna was absent down towards where we suspected the goddess and that battle had gone. It had been some time since the sounds of conflict had faded suggesting that the battle there too was over.

Still as we passed the last of the cabins and moved into the open, we saw what was happening. I did not know what to make of the scene before me, but I did not care. All I could see when I came into view was the tall figure of our so-called 'Guardian' bent over the goddess with his face to hers!

Around the pair of them the gods just sat and watched as did Thalia and Reyna. The lot of them seemingly not willing to stop what he was doing.

I would not let this blatant breach of trust slide, however. Without hesitation I dug into my quiver and pulled a special arrow out from amongst the others. Setting the golden fletched shaft to the string before lining up the shot. I could not help but smile and think of the irony as I released the arrow.

(Diana)

I felt consciousness return as I seemingly found myself with a large weight pressing down on my chest in a rhythm somewhat painfully. However, I remained unable to find out what it was, as a result of my eyelids being seemingly still held shut.

It was only then, when I remembered what had happened to me that I began to feel panicked. However, that was all forgotten when I felt a pair of lips against mine and all my worries disappeared as I smelt the aroma of the sea from my saviour. For only third time in my life, I felt the soft caress of lips against mine. This time however I was not the one who had instigated it. Sure, I quickly realised what was happening and the gesture was not meant as romantic in any way, but that did not mean I couldn't savour the moment for a few moments longer.

However, suddenly the lips were wrenched off of mine followed by an ear-splitting scream of pain. This immediately seemingly overrode any and all of my remaining frozen paralysis. I snapped my eyes open and jumped to my feet before looking down to find a screaming Percy rolling around on the floor. I watched as he desperate grasped at what remained of the shattered shaft of an arrow that was embedded in his side. Whilst the arrow had almost certainly torn through his kidney which was painful enough. It was only when I saw the golden fletching on the broken end of the arrow, I finally understood the true source of the problem. The worst bit was I recognized that particular arrow along with the golden stains that encrusted it as belonging to Ichor, particularly my own.

Whoever had shot the arrow, had taken it from my tent after it had been used to injure me. Which meant only one thing, his assailant was a hunter.