Chapter 33:

Endless Dead End

The stench of the end was everywhere. It festered in the halls of Mount Othrys like a mold, infected the people that passed through them and carved a way through the fortress like a maggot crawling through flesh.

The sounds of the battles outside were faint and muted inside the black obsidian halls. But despite that Percy could still tell what was happening outside as soldiers, monsters and other 'things' passed them by, rushing to bolster the defenses or pass on orders.

A battalion of Dracaena ran past, the end and all of its terror etched into their expressions as they made way to deal with a Drakon. They didn't even notice Percy or his friends as they prepared to enter the forsaken battlefield.

The halls of the newly reformed Elysium were spacious and big. Kampê could freely walk without fear of trampling anyone underneath her, yet despite the size it still felt incredibly cramped. Weapon stockpiles, military equipment and soldiers were everywhere. Some taking a break, others helping wounded or preparing to head into the fight, but regardless of all the liveliness the shadow of the end was ever-present.

It felt like that day. It seemed a lifetime ago, maybe even longer, but he could starkly recall the day the god's announced the message. The day they announced their goal to exterminate mankind.

Walking through Elysium he felt that similar dread from all the way back. Elysium felt it was crushing down upon him, the end coming from inside its heart and oozing out.

Through a small window in the wall Percy could see the battle outside continue as it had before, the gods' vengeance never ceasing or slowing and Elysium pushing back as hard as it had to.

He had no way of telling how he knew, but the end came from inside this place.

"This place, it feels wrong," Percy finally said when the pressure became unbearable.

Nico opened his mouth to say something but Kampê cut him off. "This is a titan's stronghold, the nemesis of Olympus. This place must hate your kind."

"I see," Percy muttered.

They passed by more mortal soldiers. There was little coherence to the troops of Elysium. Warriors from every era walked the halls. He saw a spear wielding norseman walk alongside bayonet carrying soldiers from the civil war. A world war 2 tank was being augmented by what he assumed to be Hecate's children, while a stone's throw away a cyclops and a human engineer were working on a chariot.

Some of them were dead, others had yet to die, somehow Percy knew that instinctively.

"Cheer up," Nico smiled. "The other's will be so happy to see you!"

The next room they entered took Percy's breath away.

He couldn't see the ceiling. Black marble pillars rose up into a pitch black night sky. The room stretched out in all directions and every bit of space was in use to prepare a fleet the world had never seen.

Helicopters, pegasi, chariots were but the most comprehensible things he could make out. Other things he saw just caused his brain to blank out.

They were all grounded for now, but if they were to be set free then bombers, metallic birds the size of planes and golden boats would swarm the world and the sky would be the strangest it had ever been.

Kampê was grinning, reveling in all of the weird sightseeing. For once, she was the most mundane thing in the room, excitedly her tail swept back and forth behind her.

Percy could feel the end growing stronger here. The rumors around him were a blur but he could pick out just enough details. They were preparing for a big operation. Something called the Endless Crusade.

Kampê jabbed Percy in the side with her tail and pointed at something large in the distance. It was far from the most noticeable thing in the room nor was it the largest but it did make Percy's jaw drop.

"I thought it was destroyed when we were sent back to Manhattan, how?"

Kampê shrugged. He turned to Nico for an answer but the boy was already ahead of them, cutting through the people like a sharp knife towards whatever he was looking for.

Percy spotted a flash of purple in the crowd. It belonged to a cloak, worn by a brown skinned girl. She was shouting orders and commanding people around her.

His eyes widened. "Is th-"

"Yes!" Nico grinned from ear to ear as he approached.

So Reyna is alive. Percy's heart felt a bit lighter, a smile played on his lips. He couldn't help but beam at the thought.

Nico put both his hands to his mouth and yelled. "Reyna!"

Nico's tone was jovial but when Reyna's eyes snapped towards them, a chill flushed through Percy's body.

Reyna's eyes bore into him, a vicious glare. She said something to her assistants and then dismissed them.

"Where's Khione?" Reyna asked.

Nico was quiet for a brief second, before he finally answered, "She faded."

"I see," Reyna sighed and turned around. "Follow me."

She didn't wait for them and was already on the move.

They followed Reyna. She navigated with ease through the chaos. She moved with haste and it was hard for Percy to keep track of her. Oftentimes the girl would appear at the end of the room for only a moment, before diving deeper into Elysium.

Percy couldn't help but feel uneasy, those eyes, they hehe was probably just tired of it all. Reyna would be the same. She led them through tunnels and a network of hallways, not saying a single word all the while. If she was happy to see Percy it was hard to tell.

There were less and less people around him until it was again, just Nico, Kampê and him again. Finally, when she apparently decided this place was private enough, Reyna came to a stop.

She leaned against the wall, her expression remained unreadable.

"I told you he would be alive," Nico said proudly. "At last. We found him." He waved his arm in Percy's direction.

Reyna's eyes were cold and calculated. She didn't flinch in the slightest when she looked at Kampê. She assessed the threat the jailer posed and then moved her gaze towards Percy.

Reyna wore her Imperial Gold armor with the cloak hanging over her back. The ends of it were tattered and ripped, the purple had faded into a sad grayish color, yet she was unmistakably a praetor's despite everything.

"You look dead," Reyna looked Percy in the eyes.

"I feel that way, you look…well, less dead." Percy tried to joke but it was hard. A pounding headache was forming in the back of his head, thumping slowly.

A brief moment of distraction was all that was needed for Reyna to move. Like a flash of lightning she was in Percy's face, the sharp edge of her sword biting lightly into his chin.

Nico and Kampê both moved but the drop of blood sliding down Reyna's sword stopped them dead in their tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kampê threatened, the animal heads at her belly growled towards Reyna.

"Don't do anything stupid," was all Nico said.

"When was the first time we met?" Reyna hissed at Percy, pushing the tip of the sword slightly into his weak flesh.

"Spa! Resort, Circe's island." The word flew out of Percy's mouth.

"Good, next question. Why do the gods want to end the world?"

A pang of guilt stabbed Percy in the heart. He still didn't know the reason for the destruction.

He promised Leo to find it and yet, here he was. Almost at the end of the world and still as clueless as day zero.

Maybe the cluelessness was the answer, or maybe the guilt ridden face. Whatever it was, Reyna eased a little.

"Very good. Third questio-"

Blood boiled over and years of training finally kicked in. With a single motion Percy hooked his leg behind Reyna's and twisted her wrist.

The praetor fell to the floor and let go of the sword. Percy immediately stepped on the flat side of the weapon, pinning it to the floor.

"No, now it's my turn to ask questions." Percy said.

An awkward and shock filled silence permeated the room.

"Ha," Reyna let out a dry chuckle, a familiar laugh Percy had missed so dearly. "It is the real you. After all this time, the hero finally arrives."

"You okay?" Kampê asked Percy softly while Reyna got up.

Percy hesitated for a second before saying, "yes." He turned his eyes to Reyna. "What in Hades' name happened to you?"

Reyna laughed again. "Well, I think the same as everyone else. The gods announced they wanted to end all of humanity, and now we're here." Reyna waved towards the black walls of Elysium like it was a big joke.

"Camp Jupiter was attacked as well?"

"It was, but we didn't suffer many casualties. I thought it was a joke or a mistake when they made that announcement, but it's a Roman protocol to take every threat to Camp Jupiter seriously." Reyna grinned like a fox. "So we did. Rome wasn't built in one day, but it can be evacuated within one. We still didn't take it seriously, that was until the tremors hit the state and the earth started spewing out undead."

Reyna and Nico shared a brief look. "I heard the Greeks got it worse, I'm sorry to hear that. There are some survivors from Camp Half blood here but most of them who were present got killed the first day."

"It's fine." Percy closed his eyes for a brief second. "So what about Hazel and Frank? Are any of the seven still alive?"

"You didn't tell him?" Reyna asked Nico.

"I felt something watching us. I didn't tell him anything. I told him to wait until we reached Elysium."

"I want a full account of your journey later." Reyna looked at Percy, studying him while her own expression remained stoic. Even as she said the words Percy knew in his heart all along.

"You're the only one from the seven who survived."

"If it matters, they died on the first day. Most of them didn't suffer," Nico revealed.

The end clutched around Percy's heart, it felt heavy as it sank deeper into his stomach.

"What about Lupa? Did she side with the gods?"

"Lupa was the one who told us to go to Mount Othrys. I think she knew that it would be one of the god's targets after the first week. We came here, followed Lupa's instructions and lit the beacon. Soon creatures from all corners of the earth came to us, either to aid in the fight against the gods or to destroy it."

"Alongside mortals and monsters." Kampê mused.

Reyna shrugged. "The Amazons and what remained of the government provided us with a lot of resources to set up infrastructure. More people and things came, things got a bit strange, and then stranger even."

"Yes," Kampê said. "I sense so many influences and powers here. This place is brimming with paradoxical powers, to the point it is almost tearing itself apart."

Reyna shrugged. "We'll do whatever it takes to stay alive."

"How many more places are there like this?"

"We're the last one," Nico answered in Reyna's stead. "Others have fallen or are about to fall. This is the last bastion of humanity, that's why we need to act soon," the last part was aimed at Reyna.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Whatever that was about, the conversation topic withered away when neither person said anything else. Percy felt there was more to it, but he had too many questions to spend time on this one.

"Any other questions?"

"Why?"

"Why what?" Reyna scowled.

"Why did the gods attack humanity?"

Reyna grimaced. "If you did know, I would have cut you down on the spot."

"So that's why you asked me that question," Percy figured. "Why is that question special?"

"Because everyone who knows the answer is out there killing people. And people who figured it out join them,"

"Someone on our side figured it out?" Nico asked, surprised.

"Last week, Thalia and her hunters were near Olympus for a reconnaissance mission. One of her hunters overheard a conversation between two Olympians. Afterwards she tried to attack her friends with the same animalistic ferocity the gods had."

What was there to say? Percy kept silent.

Reyna sighed. "We don't know why the gods attacked humanity, and at this point no one really cares anymore. All I care about right now is putting an end to them, which is why you are here."

"And why exactly are we here?" Kampê asked, "Nico and Khione danced around the topic, I'd like some answers.".

"I'll explain tonight during the war council," Reyna started walking. "In the meantime Percy, why don't you tell me what happened to you?"

Percy started telling his story. Like all the stories he heard so far it started on that day. He described to Reyna how he landed on Ogygia. This took her by surprise.

"You went to Ogygia twice?" She asked.

Percy nodded. "I think the magic that made it invisible faded." He continued to recount how he found Leo and Calypso's graves, alongside the destroyed metal dragon.

What came after didn't get a reaction out of the girl. She solemnly listened as Percy told her about all the things he saw and all the things that saw him.

He told her everything. About the dreams, the fading gods and Whitefall.

Reyna listened patiently.

As he talked Percy couldn't help but to feel the end surrounding him, embracing him like a soft blanket. His quest to find the truth had been going for a while.

Supposedly, knowing the truth would turn him into one of them. The thought made Percy sick. How could such a basic question make him turn on his friends? They had to be wrong, right? Yet Hestia and Khione said something similar as well.

Every person that knew decided to brutally slaughter all of humanity.

Despite this he was still determined to figure it out, regardless of the consequences and costs. He simply had to know why.

The stench of the end was coming from inside him.

A/N And as Percy noticed, slowly but surely this story is heading towards the end.

I don't know how many more chapters until that is the case, but I hope you're all are still here.

Cya

-CaptainMoonShine-