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[oddyssey77]

Not So Alone - Clarisse

POV Clarisse La Rue

I felt a throbbing pain in the back of my head as my eyes shuddered open. What had happened to me? How did I get here? As I struggled to remember the explanation for my situation, I was interrupted by an Australian accent.

"You're awake!" a boy of about seventeen exclaimed, "I was getting worried." He looked at me with a smile that made my heart quake. I opened my mouth to speak but my lungs were refusing service.

"Don't strain yourself," he said. I looked around, my vision blurred. Was I in a cave? I couldn't be sure.

"You took quite a hit when that stone guy threw you against the tree. I don't know where we are now but we'll find our way back. Just the two of us," He spoke each word like it was a gift.

He had a certain contentment even in this dire situation that I couldn't help but admire. I managed a weak smile and spoke, "Who are you?"

The question caught him by surprise. He looked at me quizzically and seemed to put things together in his head. But before he could respond I passed out again.

The next time I woke up wasn't as peaceful as the last. I was propped up against the wall of the cave and I was still with the boy. He had messy dark hair and a wild look in his eyes. His ears were pointed like an elf's, and his skin was overrun by acne. I felt like I knew this boy. No, I was certain I knew this boy. Sadly, I wasn't going to get a chance to stare at his chocolate eyes and patchy complexion much longer.

His face was smeared with blood and his expression ached with sorrow.

"Clarisse," he said, and I realised that he was talking to me. Was that my name? Clarisse? "Clarisse listen to me!" he hushed. A tear streaked down his face. He placed his hand against my cheek and directed my gaze right into his. 

"Whatever you do, stay right here. No matter what happens to me, you stay right here! You got that?" I nodded weakly, "I love you Clarisse. Gods of Olympus, I love you so much." Even now he managed to keep smiling. I remembered one thing about him in that moment. That I loved him too. I tried to say it but I just choked, still winded.

In one last gesture, he reached out and kissed my forehead gently. After that, all I could see was his back as he retreated from me and headed deep into the tunnels of the cave. I heard the clashing of a sword against scales nearby. A Dracon roared and the Australian boy yelled in response. 

As fire lit up the caves, I tried to get up, to fight. I heard one last shout from the boy.

"For Hermes!" his war cry echoed through the cave system. I was blinded by a burst of light so great that it illuminated the cavern completely. 

The light receded into one last form. The boy in an orange t-shirt and tattered jeans. Except this was more of a spirit than a physical form. An echo of his life, contained into one teenage golden form of light. He smiled at me one last time as he floated through the roof of the cavern, toward the surface and the sky beyond.

~One Day Later~ 

I remembered more by then. The t-shirt I was wearing had the word camp on it and another word that had faded off overtime. The orange t-shirt meant home. That I was sure of. The spear I was holding had some sort of magic to it because whenever I touched the tip, I felt a jolt of energy shudder through me. I also knew there was something special about me. Something powerful. Maybe I was a witch from Harry Potter. Something told me I would make a great Slytherin.

Or I could be a spy working for the government. Which government? I wasn't too sure. What if I am a goddess? That would be cool. I could tell I was getting close. Clarisse: Goddess of electric spears and getting Australians killed. I was sure that was it.

That meant all of the others from my home of orange t-shirts were gods as well. I remembered one specific goddess from my home. She had long blond hair and grey eyes. I think her name was Annabeth, goddess of super smartiness and winning too much of capture the flag. Then I realised that the boy who loved me must be Hermes, god of travellers and messengers seeing as his final words were something about that god.

I identified why I couldn't remember anything. I had been hit on the head. The wound still ached. I wasn't sure how or when but I was pretty sure it was in battle. I had been staying put just like he had told me to for about a day but I had gone out for water after that and found a nice little burned down jungle cavern with a dead stone warrior and a corpse sizzling on burned firewood. 

I had sipped from the stream and found some, not too burnt, mangos from the trees. After that, I went to examine the burnt up body. It was a teenage boy with short fair hair and a scar scrolling through his left eye. I had seen this boy before. I felt like he had been a friend but I wasn't too sure. I hoped that whoever killed him wasn't looking to do the same to me.

I also had found a furry robot that resembled a Minotaur. It had been shot in the back of the head with a golden arrow. The golden arrow represented Apollo. I knew that because the silver ones represented Artemis. I was proud of how much I was remembering. Well done Clarisse, you are a very good goddess.

I looked up at an opening in the ceiling of the cave. It was high up and looked like someone or more had already climbed out by scaling a pillar of vines. I felt blessed that an exit had been left for me by the previous attendants of this cave and gladly began climbing the vines.

CRASH!

I found out the hard way that I was still too weak too climb vines. 

~3 Days Later~

I was insufferably lonely. It had been days of living in the jungle cavern and mangoes weren't enough to sustain me forever. I wished for a lot of things; my memories, a way out, a better food supply, people to help me, but most of all, I wished for the Australian Hermes boy who loved me. 

I curled into a fetal position and sobbed. I could tell that it was not in my nature to show emotion but that didn't matter, nor did I care. After hours of feeling sorry for myself and wallowing in my own tears, something happened. Or more accurately, someone.

"Clarisse." a soft, kind voice exclaimed, "How are you here?"

I looked up in a daze and tried to make out the figure standing before me. She had long, wavy, auburn hair and was wearing a flowing white dress adorned with flowers. Her spectral blue eyes gleamed against the sunlight and her smile had a way of melting all my troubles away.

"Who are you?" I asked, scrambling to my feet.

"My name is Leena, I live here." 

"You live in these dark scary caves by yourself?" Something about my tone seemed to offend her.

"I can handle myself," she assures me, "And I live on this whole island!" she described this place as if it were some paradise and I wasn't about to die of starvation. 

"And I am not by myself. I have many friends here. I just need to find my way back to them."

"Did you get lost?"

"I wish," Leena sighs, "I was taken from my home. I was sent on a mission and now I have to complete one more task before I can go back." Her face droops and her eyes brim with tears.

"Why?" 

"My home has a lot of rules. I think I broke a few of them and this is my punishment."

I began thinking about how familiar she seems. Maybe her home is the same as mine with the orange t-shirts.

"Can I go with you to your home?" I said and her eyes light up.

"That would be a fun idea! You can meet all my friends. Like Michael! You'd love Michael."

"He sounds cool," I say, wondering if I can find out anything else, "How did you know my name when you found me?"

"Because we are friends Clarisse! Did you forget? We were at Camp Half-Blood together."

"Camp Half-Blood?" I say puzzled. 

"Yeah, our home." She points to my t-shirt and smiles. I wonder if she is still referring to the place that sent her away or a different home. I wanted to ask more when I realised that she wasn't focused on me anymore. Her eyes were scanning the cave until they settled on the campfire with the singed body rotting and decomposing inside of it.

EEEEAAAKKK!!! 

"WHAT HAPPENED TO LUKE!" Leena cried

"Luke?" I wondered, glad to know the name of the dead guy.

"He was also our friend," she sighed, "One of our best friends."

"Who was he?" 

"He was a son of Hermes." She replied and my heart begins beating rapidly.

"Hermes? I met him down here." I began thinking of the Australian who I hadn't really stopped thinking about to begin with. Leena looked up with a quizzical expression

"That's not possible. The only gods allowed on this island are Hades and Demeter."

"How are we here then?" That made Leena laugh

"We are not gods Clarisse. We're demigods." A wave of understanding washes over me as I hear the last word. As if it were unlocking memories I had lost. I remembered the cabins, the archery range, the strawberry fields, Thalia's pine. I remembered Chiron and Mr. D. I remember fighting alongside my fellow demigods in two different wars. But the one thing that I still couldn't remember was the other demigods. 

I couldn't think of their faces or their names. Their personalities or powers. It was if those memories were still being held back from my mind. It no longer felt like only the wound was poisoning my mind. It was as if something else, something much stronger, was trying to overtake me.

"Demigods are the mortal children of the gods." Leena explained. She sounded so patient with me. She was so helpful and kind that I wasn't sure how I was friends with her. Something told me my usual friendship circle was a little more aggressive than that.

"I am a daughter of Aphrodite." Leena said, "You are a daughter of Ares."

Ares

That is the god of war. I am a daughter of the god of war. Somehow that didn't surprise me but that didn't mean I liked it. 

"We are going to get home Clarisse." Leena cups her hands around my face and stares at me defiantly. But first, we are going to find who did this and kill them. She looked at my spear with a grin and gestured to her left. The son of Hermes named Luke still lay dead in the campfire. 

"We'll kill them." I say, glad that I am going back to Camp Half-Blood with my new/old friend Leena.

This Chapter is Dedicated to Nina

[oddyssey77]

Fearless - Percy

POV Percy Jackson

"OOWWW!" I yelled.

"OOF!" I tripped.

"GAHHHHH!" I ran.

I felt a large thorn protruding from my abdomen. I was trying desperately to escape the maze. But there was no way out. No end. I cursed myself for allowing the thorn to pierce my skin. I knew it was poisonous and it was crippling through me, weakening me. Running seemed pointless. It certainly wasn't what Annabeth would do. 

She would sit down, legs crossed, and calmly think of a plan. A plan that would surely work. I felt stupid sitting down and doing nothing. Well, not nothing. I was thinking about how I could escape this poison maze. I didn't like thinking about the problem. Fighting was much more fun. 

I looked around at the tall rows of cacti towering over me. I knew that I couldn't wait this out. Just like Eurytion had told me, I was going to have to escape on my own. I thought about Nico and how his problems were probably a lot worse than mine. I felt guilty for caring more about my own situation than trying to find a way to help the kid. He had already been through so much pain. So much heartache.

Of course, most of that heartache was about me. I tried not to think about that though. Nico was over me. I had never liked him back. There was no point in feeling bad about how I treated him. And besides, Nico and I were buddies now. He was no longer cold or shy around me. I would never say this to either of them but I think this is partially thanks to Will Solace.

Will was really opening Nico up to his feelings recently, making him more comfortable with himself. They were becoming best friends. But part of me hoped they might become something more. I wasn't even sure if Will knew Nico was gay. Annabeth and I are the only people who did know. Well, Jason knew as well, before he... well... never mind.

I finally realised that I had sat down to think of a plan but ended up trailing through my own thoughts for what felt like hours. I was about to draw a mind map in the flame-red sand when the cacti shuddered. They creaked and began closing on me. I leapt up and hurried out, leaving my mind map to get squashed. 

I did not want to get impaled by another prickly thorn from a cactus. I still didn't feel poisoned. Just a little dizzy, but that was possibly from blood loss. I wasn't sure if I could die down here. Normally, you don't die in the fields of punishment but this was different. I had never died in the first place. We had just fallen through into the Underworld.

Unless... No. We didn't die. I was almost sure of that. From that point on, whenever I found a nice spot to sit down, it would soon get enveloped by the cacti. The maze wanted me to keep moving. No breaks. No rests. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to avoid the pricks of the cacti. But the one spot that I had been pricked was starting to make my brain feel like it was splitting in two. The poison was working.

"Percy!!" I heard Annabeth call. Shock overtook me as I realised that I had finally found her. I knew that she was down in the Underworld with us. I just had to find her. And now I had. A joyous grin sparked across my face and I sprinted toward the sound of her voice.

"PERCY!!" she called even louder. I turn a corner with such speed, expecting to find my girlfriend standing there. I gasped as I nearly crashed into a wall of cactus. My heart sank. I nearly cried in disappointment until I heard it again. Her voice was speaking from the cactus.

I looked closer and saw a small image shimmering into focus on the face of the cactus. It was like an Iris message. Like I was being sent this vision to further torture me. She was right there and I couldn't reach her. 

I watched as she trudged through a large, endless fjord of wheat. Calling out a name. But now that I had found her, it didn't look like she was calling my name. She was calling someone else's.

"Will!" Annabeth shouted, "Please, come back! We can talk!" She looked troubled and scared. I wanted so much to be with her in that moment it made me want to cry. Then, the vision turned a kind of purply shade.

CRASH!

Two gorgons, identical to the ones that had chased me into Camp Jupiter, lunged at her and she screamed in horror as one of them took a large chomp out of her side. I watched, terrified as the unstoppable Annabeth Chase got torn apart and killed by things as simple as gorgons. 

I sobbed and fell to my knees. I was about to just lay there and allow myself to be consumed by the maze when I heard another voice.

"PERCYYYY!!!" she screamed. It was a much younger voice than Annabeth's. I gasped in shock as I heard the sound of my little sister Estelle screaming for me to save her.

As much as I had been broken by what happened to Annabeth, I forged ahead. I had to find a way to save Estelle. She could not go the same way Annabeth had.

Once again, I only found a wall of cactus and a vision of my sister plastered on it. Like Annabeth, she hadn't been verbally calling my name, more like beckoning for my assistance. My 3 year-old sister was hiding desperately behind a rock in a large cave open to the sky and sobbing.

"Estelle!" I called helplessly. Behind her marched an army of the stone warriors that had attacked camp. They were standing in formation as an out of view woman yelled orders at them.

"My soldiers!" she boomed, "The time has come for us to claim our rightful place among western civilisation!" 

Not if I have anything to say about it I thought but I was still focused on Estelle.

"As you know. We have acquired the dove and the eagle! The diamond has fallen, taking one of our automatons with it. Our remaining targets still run rampant amongst the fields, caves, cliffs, and flames!"

I heard Estelle let out a sob. And if I could hear it, the chances are, the soldiers could hear it too. The vision shifted, it took on a slight purple tone just like Annabeth's had. As if something were changing.

"In fact, one of our targets is hiding amongst you right now!" 

Estelle was a smart girl. She knew when to run. She made for the exit of the cave. Trying with all her might to make it. But the guards noticed her and wrestled her down. She screamed and sobbed. The guards didn't flash a sign of remorse for the child as he raised his dagger.

"NOOOO!!!" I yelled. But it was too late. I had never seen such a horrifying sight. Except for when my girlfriend had gotten killed maybe moments ago.

I turned my head in despair but only found myself face to face with another vision. My mother was sitting in our apartment sobbing at the kitchen table. Trying to fit an eighth blue cookie in her mouth. 

"How could this happen?" she croaked, "How could I lose both my children at one stupid festival!" I wanted to call to her. Tell her I am here and alright. But then I'd had to tell her about Estelle. And that would've killed me.

"There was nothing you could've do-" Paul Blowfis began. I could tell he had been crying too but he seemed to be trying to hold things together for my Sally. But the vision shifted purple again. Paul sneered and stood up, slamming his chair. 

"This is all your fault!" He picked up her glass of water and smashed it on the ground. Making her yelp. It mirrored what I had done to Gabe that terrible night all those years ago. He grabbed Sally by the forearm and began yelling at her. Why would Paul do this? He was such a kind-hearted man. I thought he was perfect for my mom. 

I looked away, shattered. My girlfriend was dead, my sister was dead, and I was watching my mom get abused again. I turned back to the vision but heard about three separate voices calling me.

I ran through the maze and found a vision of Nico getting killed on an operating, a vision of Grover getting killed by a group of terrorist draiads, a vision of Rachel Dare collapsing and dying from the power of the oracle, Coach Hedge drowning with his kid Chuck, Reyna getting led to her death by a larare of Octavian, Thalia falling from the sky, and Leo getting crushed by a rock. All of these visions had the same purple shade to their depictions.

It didn't make sense to me how everyone I loved was falling in ways that I was terrified to see them die in. I shattered. Fell to the ground and sobbed. There was nothing I could've done. That's what hurt the most. I thought about Annabeth. How she would look at me and tell me...

"Get up Seaweed Brain! Stop slacking off."

"I'm sorry Annabeth," I said, "I'm useless."

'Percy, listen. This isn't real. You need to escape.'

"How!?" I cried

'Let go of your fear. Embrace the love.'

Embrace the love? I thought. It sounded like something to be written on the doormat of a hippie's caravan. But the word that she had said to me. Fear. I had to let go of my fear. Then it clicked. It's not real. No one had died.

Just like HSS torture had forced me to embrace my worst memories, I was being forced to face my worst fears; My mom getting hurt, my sister getting involved in my world of demi-gods and monsters, all of my friends getting killed with me being able to do nothing about it.

But I was yet to face one more vision.

"You failed me." a voice  chided, "We were friends and YOU FAILED ME!"

Standing in front of the cacti was my best friend. Jason Grace son of Jupiter looked down on me with a stern expression. His blue eyes bore into my soul, stabbing me with his words.

"I'm sorry Jason. I should've been there. I should've been able to help." I couldn't bear it.

"You are not worthy of the love you receive. You deserve punishment!" he yelled. I watched in tears as he knelt down to my level.

"You are not worthy." he repeated. Jason looked at the ground in front of me and spit on it. He stood up and marched back toward the wall of cacti. I thought about what Annabeth had said. Fear, Love.  I had been afraid that Jason would blame me. That he might resent me for what happened to me

But I realised that I couldn't have helped him anymore than Reyna could have. If she had failed to save him from the Dracon, I probably would have too. Jason would've understood that. The real Jason would have understood that.

Jason's ghost hadn't come to visit me in the Underworld. It was just a figment of my own worst fear. Just like the visions, just like this stupid maze.

"NO!" I bellowed, making the cacti shake.

Jason turned with shock painted across his face.

"What did you just say?"

"I said NO! You are not real. I am not afraid of you!" Jason looked like he wanted to charge at me and kill me but instead he evaporated wispily and floated away. I sat down, my face covered in a combination of blood, grime, and tears.

But the maze didn't seem interested in letting me catch my breath, it contracted towards me, this time leaving no route for escape. I didn't know what to do. Except I did. I felt Annabeth's words still ringing in my mind. Let go of the fear. Embrace the Love. My mom, Estelle, Annabeth, Nico, Reyna, Grover, Rachel, Thalia, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Coach Hedge, they all cared about me. And I wasn't afraid anymore.

"GO AWAY! I AM NO LONGER SCARED! I LET GO OF MY FEAR!" It was as if the maze was reacting to my every word. I willed it into submission and conformed it to how I wanted it. And I wanted it gone.

The entire cactus maze wisped away from me like fog, just like Jason had, leaving me standing alone in the barren wastelands of the fields of punishment. I wasn't alone however, as I squinted into the distance and saw a black little blob running toward me.

As it got closer, I recognized it as my Underworld companion, Nico Di Angelo.

"Percy!" he huffed, completely out of breath, "We have to leave. Now!" I took his word for it and ran but the son of Hades was not going to be able to keep moving for much longer.

"You're alive!" I panted. I had assumed that the visions I had seen had not been real but it was nice to have that confirmed for me.

"I ran away from the dismemberment room! But Eurytion's not far behind."

As if saying his name had summoned him, Nico and I crashed directly into the tall, buff, torturer that we unfortunately knew as Eurytion.

"Hey guys. You didn't think you could escape without facing period 3, did you?" he chuckled.

"What's period 3 again?" Nico asked, his voice going overly high-pitched from all the running.

"Duel to the Death." Eurytion stated, "Oh, and don't let me forget, you two are the ones dueling."

I turned to Nico with a pained expression, "Oh F-

This Chapter is Dedicated to Lucy

[oddyssey77]

Legal Trouble - Annabeth

TW: Lawyers :D

POV Annabeth Chase

We clambered out of the cave through the crevasse in the roof. I still couldn't understand what was happening to us. I wanted to believe that Percy and Nico were out there somewhere looking for us as well. I also began to notice that Will was starting to act uncomfortable when we talk about the attack on the camp. As if he were holding something back from me.

We were standing in a large, endless wheat field and no matter how far we'd travel through it, nothing ever changed. I decided to not bring up how little I knew about our situation. I was completely lost and had no plan whatsoever. None at all. 

Nothing, no matter how hard I thought, made any sense to me. It was completely illogical. Are we in another realm? Are there more stone warriors looking for us right now? Is Luke really dead? Can Athena help me? Is Percy out there? Does he know what's going on? How is Ethan Nakamura involved in everything? Are Will and I going to make it back?

"It'll be alright, Annabeth. There is something about this place, Something not powerful." Will told me.

"How is that alright?" I argued

"No, good powerful. It feels similar to when I met my father last year."

"So Apollo's around?"

"I'm not sure."

"Before the attack started on the camp I could see it coming. I think Apollo sent me a vision." Will sounded very uncomfortable talking about it.

"Well what was in the vision?"

"I could see them marching up the hill. And there was a voice. It was chanting something. A prophecy."

"What was it?"

The Engineer and his fall from grace,

Once more shall you see his face

In caves, cliffs, fields and flames

You must escape the worst of games

"Well we've been to the caves and now we're in the fields." I said, "That just leaves cliffs and flames." 

"I think I like our two better." Will decided. I nodded absently, agreeing with him, but I was still focused on that prophecy. 

"Who could the engineer be?" I muttered, "Valdez maybe."

Will looked at me ominously, "Annabeth. There's more."

The Sun, the star, the ocean, the wise,

Will fail to stop his inevitable rise.

The boar, hammer, strength and flight

One will die from the wretched blight.

"Well that's jolly." Will chuckled sarcastically. Will always deflects negative thoughts and expectations or he covers them up with humor, "So it looks like I'm the sun, you're the wise, and I'd be willing to bet the ocean is Percy, wherever he is."

I shook at the sound of Percy's name. 

"The boar is the symbol of Ares," I sighed, "That could be Frank."

"The hammer's Hephaestus. So that's probably Leo." Will stated

"So we are just missing the star, the strength and the flight." 

"Flight would've been Jason." 

The silence was so loud it hurt my brain. Jason. It had only been a few weeks since his death. We were all still shook to the bone at the thought of him. Will loved Jason. They had been best friends while the Argo II was being built. Will treated grief differently though. 

The rest of us wanted to distract ourselves. Think about anything other than Jason. Or, in Percy's case. Just cry. But Will didn't grieve. He pretended to himself that everything was alright. As if Jason were still here or something. He would forget that anything was wrong and just carry on smiling, hoping that the nightmare would end without him having to face it.

"Well that's an unsettling prophecy," I sighed

"Then you're not going to like this."

"What?" 

"There's more."

To save the dove who's eyes bleed red,

But wind up calling upon the witch of dead.

Face off against the fallen king,

And suffer the pain of his final sting

"Oh gods."

"So no matter what we do, this king will still win?" Will asked

"Not necessarily. It's possible that we still win but the king will still manage to do something terrible."

"Well dove is Piper. Something bad is going to happen to her. We all had to share a paragraph. She gets this one all to herself."

"So whatever happens, Piper is in danger." I sighed, worried about my friend.

"Something like that."

~Some Time Later~

After slashing our way through the endless fields for another few hours, my stomach was starting to groan. Will and I hadn't even thought about food. We were in desperate hunger by now though, and it wasn't getting any better. 

"What's this?" Will pondered as we approached the only clearing in the wheat for miles round. There was a pile of rocks in the center with an engraving that read Ὁ Δικαιόπολις βραδέως ἐκβαίνει έκ τοῦ οἴκου.

Shrine of Demeter I translated,

"Don't suppose Demeter's around?" 

"She couldn't be behind this could she??" Will asked

"Well I'll bet she's at least behind all of this wheat." I muttered, "Stupid wheat."

"STUPID WHAT?!" A voice boomed from behind us.

Demeter was standing there, in her green flowery dress with a pouty expression on her face. 

"Demeter," Will gasped, "I meant not to insult you or your crops."

"He really didn't." I assured.

"Alright. I believe you. If I am being honest I am not here because of that." the goddess huffed, "Your friend was here not long ago. daughter of Zeus."

"Thalia??" I gasped in shock

"Yes. With the Roman she was. She gave me quite a stern talking to. I was almost convinced to change my ways. But with everything that is going on underground, and with Apollo's desperate need for my help, I didn't deem now the appropriate time to repopularise the farming industry."

"What's going on underground?" I asked inquisitively.

"What's going on with my dad?" Will asked in succession. 

"Oh, Apollo came to my palace yesterday. He has been there ever since. He's gotten himself into quite trouble with Olympus. Zeus is not happy."

I was about to share my deepest apologies for Apollo's situation and turn the conversation back to the underground thing. That is, if Will hadn't had butt in.

"Take me to him," Will demanded.

"Will," I muttered angrily, "What are you doing?"

"I have to see Apollo. I have to."

"Very well." Demeter granted. "But you must swear to do something for me, son of Apollo. You too, daughter of Athena."

Something about this request made me very uncomfortable.

"This may feel like an attack, you being here, but it is not. This is a quest. On this quest, you will venture through caves, cliffs, fields and flames."

The line of the prophecy I thought. 

"When the choice comes, Solace. You must save her. Or I will whittle out every curse I know onto your mortal bones."

"Jolly," Will muttered.

"Save who?" I asked her. But she didn't respond.

"Swear it, Solace."  she bellowed

"Careful, Will." 

"I swear. I swear I'll save her. Whoever she is." 

Demeter nodded approvingly and the area around us lit up like Christmas. I was forced to shut my eyes and felt a searing headache hit from the intense brightness. I felt the soft grass get replaced by cold, solid flooring. 

I hesitantly opened my eyes as I realised that I was crouching in the porch of Demeter's official palace on Olympus. I looked around at the tall green marble columns holding up the large pediments. I designed this I thought. 

Demeter's palace was a tricky one for Annabeth to plan out. It needed to have nature bond with the fundamental man-made aspect of a palace in general. Annabeth was proud of her work though, she had tinted the marble green and had vines growing around it.

"In we go!" Demeter shouted indignantly. The doors large, ornate doors opened by themselves and the stubby, little goddess trotted inside like she owned the place, which of course, she did. Will Solace shuffled close behind and gestured for me to follow. 

"Whoa," he gasped, amazed. I could tell Will never spent much time up on Olympus.

"Welcome to Mi Casa!" she announced. turning to face us. She expected for us to see an elegant, peaceful lobby to her palace filled with fancy decorations, and expensive bronze busts of her head, just like I had designed it.

It did not look like this. 

THUMP!

Demeter was instantly thrown off her feet and slammed into the ground, as Hermes flew past, propelled by a pair of winged Converse. Demeter tried to crawl back to a stand, but Artemis skipped over her, clipping Demeter's head with ankle and hurried off.

Behind them, Hephaestus skirted up a flight of spiral stairs, knocking pricey ornaments over as he frantically typed into a computer. 

Demeter huffed as she watched all of these gods run around her home, wrecking the place. But she didn't look mad. In fact, it put her into a much sadder mood instead. She solemnly looked at them and sighed.

"Apollo's legal trouble had overrun my palace. Hermes, Artemis, Hephaestus, Poseidon, and I are his legal team. We are using my home because it is the furthest from Zeus's throne."

"What legal trouble?" Will questioned. But I think I already knew the answer. 

"Zeus is trying to prosecute your father for the crimes against Olympus that he knowingly committed last summer in the war against the giants."

"That's so unfair!" 

"What will they do to him?" I asked

"If Zeus has his way, Apollo will no longer be a god. Gods follow the rules was his argument."

Zeus isn't much of a rule follower himself. I thought, thinking of Thalia and Jason. But I decided not to say it. Can't be good to insult Zeus in his own kingdom. Will didn't have the same restraint on the matter though...

"Zeus can take his bull crap rules and shove it up his-" Thunder boomed. 

"Apollo's trial begins in an hour. We must hurry." 

As Demeter led us through the rooms of her palace, I began thinking of my mother, "Where is Athena?" I asked and Demeter stopped abruptly, causing Will and me to crash into her.

"Athena?" Demeter said her name with such disdain it angered me, "Athena took one look at Apollo and this ragtag team and turned her back on all of us. On her own brother. 

"She wouldn't have-" I began to say but Demeter wasn't finished.

"Then, she invited all of her lawyer demigod children up to her palace, and damn does she have a lot of them, and created not a team, an army of different beings, all hell-bent on wiping Apollo off of Olympus!" 

Annabeth didn't want to believe that her mother would've done something like that, but she didn't know what to believe anymore. Demeter calmed down and turned to Will. 

"He's just through here," she ushered him through a set of doors and Will told me that he would rather speak to Apollo alone. I understood this and waited outside. I glanced at a pile of files sitting on a cute little desk, covered in flowers and picked up 3 of them. 

In the event of our success in this trial, I willingly hand over my domain of disease and healing to Demeter, goddess of agriculture, in return for her full assistance in my defence team. 

Signed: Apollo

I was so mad, I wanted to throw this contract across the lobby. How could Demeter talk bull about my mom when she's only helping out so she can become the goddess of disease and healing as well as agriculture and farming? I felt so bad for Apollo. He risked a lot for us, giving Leo that prophecy too soon, and now he had to give up everything he loved? It wasn't fair. How could Athena not see that?

She shuffled through the other two contracts which were similar, promising Hermes poetry and Hephaestus the Sun. The whole Sun! Apollo would hardly be a god anymore if he had to give that away. I realised that Poseidon and Artemis were the only gods choosing to stand with Apollo. It made sense that Artemis would because she is his twin but Poseidon I couldn't figure out.

"Annabeth?" I nearly jump, scattering the papers I should not have been looking at across the floor. Poseidon chuckled and stared at me, understanding what was troubling me.

"Hermes and Hephaestus would have stood with Apollo anyway," Poseidon assured me, "They just wanted to see if they could get anything out of it."

I looked into Poseidon's eyes and saw the same green swirls that I would see in my boyfriend's every single day. Oh my gods. Percy! I had completely forgot about everything. The attack on Camp Half-Blood, the fight against Luke, the hike through the endless wheat fields. 

I needed to get back. I needed to find out what had happened. But maybe Poseidon knew.

"Where is Percy?"

"Percy?" he pondered, "Where is Percy?" 

"You don't know??"

"Well I knew about the Camp getting ambushed by stone warriors, supposedly killing Will Solace, Nico Di Angelo, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Thalia Grace and, well you. And Percy of course, but I knew yous were still alive. I just didn't know where you all were.

"So Percy's alive?" I gasped, relieved by the news. 

"Yes, but something about his current state has a deathly aspect to it. Like he's not fully dead. As if he's dead but his soul can't reach the Underworld." Poseidon chimed as if he hadn't just proposed the concept of his favourite son's afterlifeless death, "Or..."

"He could be alive, but in the Underworld!" I gasped, glad to finally have a lead. 

"If you want to know more. You should talk to Artemis. She should be in Demeter's study. Poseidon smiled warmly at me. I tried to ignore the pain behind his eyes. He couldn't get involved in mortal matters like this as much as we could get involved in Apollo's trial. Being a god probably sucked more than any of them would care to admit.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in!" Artemis called. 

I made my way into the study. It was adorned with bookshelves and plans, there was a work table, a writing table, a garden table, an architecture table, a cartography table, there was a table for everything. So exactly my kind of room. 

There was a teenage goddess in the centre with her hands placed firmly on the astrology table, which was made of a glass globe that projected a map of the stars. You could swipe through the constellations and map them as you go. Her head was hung low and I thought I glimpsed Zoe's constellation on the table but Artemis swiped it out of view before I could check.

"Annabeth Chase," she chided, "To what brings thou to Olympus on this dire hour?"

I forgot about Artemis's Victorian dialogue and was instantly stunned by my nerves in the presence of the goddess. I never felt very comfortable around Artemis. She had always been my biggest what if? If I had lived my life any differently, I could've been a huntress right now. Leading the pack with Thalia.

I realised that she was still waiting on an answer and blurted out, "A Demeter teleportation special." 

I didn't mean to crack a joke but it seemed to be effective in cheering up her half-aunt.

"My brother is being wrongly prosecuted, the huntresses are scattered, my chief lieutenant is missing, and Z-" she cut herself off and bit her lip.

"And what?" I asked

"T'is nothing of importance," she shrugged.

"Lady Artemis," I bowed, "You were there that day. The Festival of Jason Grace."

"I was," she admitted, "When the warriors laid siege I made a swift escape up here to help my brother with his dilemma."

"Yes," I remembered, "Will says you couldn't get involved?"

"Alas, no. As much as I desired to 'nock some arrows' as one might say, I am forbidden to assist in demi-god matters. And I think we have enough trials to suffer as it is."

I nodded and focused in on her Astrology table.

"What are you looking at?" I dared the question

"Uhh, the path of Sagittarius." she responded wistfully 

"That's Virgo," I stated glancing down at the table. I expected a goddess of the moon and stars to know that. Artemis cursed in Greek which I doubted would be approved of around the huntresses. She shuffled around the table, trying to find Sagittarius but after a few seconds, Artemis did something I never thought she would do.

She collapsed into her chair.

She shrouded her face in her palms, giving up hope. Tears poured down her face. I think this is what's known as a divine breakdown.

"I can't keep doing this." she croaked, "This job. It hurts too much." 

Annabeth met her wet, teary eyes and spoke kindly to her.

"What happened?" 

Artemis scooted toward the table again, trying to keep things together. 

"She's gone. Zoe, from the stars." I couldn't believe my eyes. Right where there should've been a constellation of a teenage huntress with her bow drawn, willing to sacrifice everything for those she loved, there was nothing.

"The problems never stop piling up!" she cried. I had never seen the goddess like this and I soon found myself doing something I never thought I would. I gave this 16 year old-looking 3000 year old a hug. A big squeezy hug.

I heard the voice of Hermes call through the mansion.

"Alright Team Apollo!" he yelled, "The time for trial is now! Everyone gather outside!"

Artemis stood up and her expression sharpened. The tears faded completely and her outfit converted to a suit that much resembled one of a lawyer.

~Some Time Later~

I watched as Team Apollo left the building all in identical suits and it was quite a beautiful sight.

"Very Legally Blonde" I muttered. But Will didn't laugh. He hardly looked like himself at all.

At that moment, Demeter, in her cute little suit, without even turning to face them, snapped her fingers above her head and the whole scene changed leaving Will Solace and I back at the Shrine of Demeter in the endless fields. 

RUSTLE! 

I turned and couldn't see anyone who could've made the noise. Except that was the problem. I couldn't see anyone. Will had ran away.

This Chapter is Dedicated to Sophie

[oddyssey77]

Eye of the Storm - Hazel

POV Hazel Levesque

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" Leo yelled into the endless clouds. 

"IS ANYONE OUT THERE??" I heard Piper shout.

"LEO? IS THAT YOU?!" Frank bellowed, coughing and spluttering.

I hobbled through the fog, arms outstretched, in hope of finding something or someone.

THUMP! 

Piper and I collided and embraced out of relief. 

"Hazel. Where are we?" She choked, sounding terrified.

CRASH!

Piper and I are thrown off our feet by the impact of Frank Zhang charging into us.

"Hazel! Is that you?" He asked.

"Frank. I'd appreciate it if you got off of me." Piper said, breathless, with Frank squishing her.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!!!!???" Leo called, still alone, "GUYS???"

"Leo, we're over here!" I announced, "Follow my voice!"

Moments later, we found Leo. He panted in relief when he saw us. Frank, Piper, Leo and I, were standing on a large mound of grass encased in a thick, steamy, fog.

"Frank," I stated confidently, "Wanna go for a flight? We can get a scope of the area."

Frank looked down at me inquisitively, "Are you sure? We don't know what's out there."

"Exactly. We need to know what's going on."

Without saying anymore, he transformed himself into a large bald eagle. I winced when his talons gripped my neck and lifted me into the air. I felt weightless as we flew higher and higher but the fog did not end. 

"Oh yeah, just leave us here to die then!" Leo called up to us.

"We'll be right down!" I shouted back, but I doubted he could still hear me. 

SWOOSH!

I felt a large breath of fresh air fill my lungs as we breached the roof of the fog. But it wasn't much happier up there. It was a storm. A large swirling storm of dark clouds circling the grassy summit of a large, rocky hill where Leo and Piper were waiting for us.

The clouds from the storm were filled with toxic chemicals and gases. When Frank and I had flown far enough away from the cloud, we saw what was below. At the foot of the hill and all surrounding it, were endless fields of wheat. The fields went on forever, stretching across the horizon.

CHIP!

An arrow flew into Frank's wing and I his talons loosen from my shoulders as pain crippled through his body. I heard his bird beak make a noise that sounded like a scream but cam out more like....

YEAKAKEKAS!

We plummeted towards the fields of wheat. I worried that we may have to end up ditching Leo and Piper on the hill but Frank managed to maintain a steady glide, directing us to crash headfirst into the cliff face. 

"FRAAAANK!" I screamed. Frank had let go of me completely seconds before hitting the mountain to save me from the impact and I plummeted for a few moments but landed on a wide ledge where I caught my breath.

It took me a few seconds before I realised, I completely forgot about Frank. I looked up and saw my wounded boyfriend with an arrow protruding from his side. He had crashed right into the rocky face of the cliff and had fallen onto the ledge.

I stretch my arms out, trying to shift his ledge towards me. Forcing all my power into the rocky earth. But it wouldn't work. Somehow, I couldn't feel any power over the earth like I usually could. It was as if the powers of Pluto were receding from me. From everything.

"Frank!" I called. He didn't respond. He didn't even shift. I loved Frank. I wasn't going to let him die.

"I'm coming up there Frank! Just hang on!" wedged my feet in the wall of the hillside and reached up. I am way too short for this I thought. As I pulled myself up, I only thought about Frank. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't.

After a few strong minutes of climbing I gripped the side of Frank's ledge and hauled myself over. I made it. Panting and coughing, I placed my head to his chest to examine his breathing. I checked out the arrow that had punctured his wing while we were flying. It was a silver arrow with an engraving on it; Nightshade. He was threadedly inhaling the poisoned, stormy air around us.

My boyfriend was still alive. Now that I was up here, I realised that I didn't have much of a plan when it came to saving him. He exhaled silently and I waited for him to breath in again. I waited for 30 seconds before panicking. He had stopped breathing. He was dying. He was dying and there was nothing I could do. 

"Frank!" I wailed, "No, no, no. Please No!" 

CRACK!

A small, golden cracker landed right next to Frank's limp body. It was glazed with a similar golden sauce. It was an edible delicacy that Piper used to make for us. The cracker was ambrosia and the sauce was nectar. My heart stopped out of joy when I picked up the ambrosia and fed it to Frank generously. I looked up to see where it had fallen from.

Leo Valdez was looking down at me with a wild grin on his face. He was far too high up for us to communicate but I am so grateful they spotted us. Frank's breathing returned to normal, he shifted weakly in place. I watched his eyes open as he tried to figure out what was going on. There wasn't enough ambrosia to completely fix him up but at least he was alive.

"hmhuhuh!" Leo called down but I couldn't make out the words. It looked urgent though as he kept waving his hands and ducking his head. Then Piper pushed him aside and waved a grappling hook from Leo's tool belt around and proceeded to gently drop it on Leo's head to symbolize what they were about to do. She tossed the grappling hook down the side of the hill and I dragged Frank out of the way as it flew rapidly towards us.

CLANK!

The metal hook hit the ledge making the ground shift slightly. I worried that the ledge wouldn't hold for much longer but I kept that to myself for now. Saving Frank was the priority. I wrapped the rope around my boyfriend making sure it was tied tight and trying not to let the hook dig into him too much.

Leo and Piper, gripping the other end of the rope, began hauling Frank up the hill. They were straining, trying to get him up quickly yet carefully. I saw Leo say something to Piper that I guessed was something like Wow! this Chinese Canadian baby man is heavy I felt the ground quake beneath me and I knew I only had moments before the ledge slid down the mountain, burying me. 

Frank was only half way up when the ground fell away. It started with a crumble, until, the whole ledge began to shift. I jumped and caught a grip on the side of the hill, like when I had to climb up to that ledge in the first place.

I looked up to see Leo and Piper pulling Frank over and untying the grappling hook. Then Piper noticed my situation and they hurried up the process. While Piper went to help Frank, Leo looked at me fearfully and gestured to suggest that he was about to throw it.

AHHH! LEO!

I slipped and fell from the cliff face and felt gravity plummeting into me. I saw a bright red light flying toward me from above. Then it came into focus. Leo Valdez was propelling toward me, accelerating his fall with a boost of fire. I am about to hit the ground when...

I felt myself get snatched by Leo at the last second and I panted with relief. He had been holding on to the grappling hook and Piper was holding the other end at the top of the hill. I gripped onto him and Piper began hoisting us up.

"Thank you, Leo. I thought I was a goner." I realised that I hadn't looked at Leo properly once since he caught me, "Leo?"

I turned to look at him but he wasn't looking at me. His head was tilted backward, looking up at the sky. His skin was puffy and flushed red. He was clearly not well. The impact of falling that fast just to suddenly stop falling must've done that to him.

"LEO?" I sobbed. Now I have to deal with the possibility of Frank and Leo dying in one day. It was impossibly unfair.

The next few minutes were miserable. When I got back to the summit of the mountain, the fog had receded, properly revealing the storm swirling around the hill. Piper gasped in shock when she saw the state Leo was in.

"Where is it?!" Piper yelled in frustration. She was rooting around in Leo's toolbelt, searching for the ambrosia. He was breathing weakly, staring up at me. Piper pulled out an ink cartridge, a trombone, a fossilised skull of some creature and a bag of half-eaten Jolly Ranchers before she could find it.

"YES! It's here!" she shoved the ambrosia down his throat and he slowly returned to consciousness. 

"Hey, Pipes." he chuckled. I waited for his swollen face to go back to the way it was but it didn't. Piper noticed the same thing and looked at me shamefully. 

"That was the last of the ambrosia."

I worried that we may have needed more if we wanted to get Frank back on his feet as well. 

"Where's Frank?" Leo asked, getting to his feet. I looked around. Scanning the grassy surface for Frank. 

"Oh No." I heard Piper say.

"Frank?!" I called. I kept shouting his name, even though I knew that if he was anywhere near, I would've been able to see him.

Piper, Leo, and I split up to search for him. Dread filled my soul when I thought about what could've happened to my Frank. He was gravely wounded only seconds before, so I couldn't see how he would've made it very far. And why would he run? Why would he just up and leave? Something must've happened. I knew it.

~Some Time Later~

Leo, Piper and I were sitting around a campfire Leo had whipped together for us.

"What do you think happened?" Piper asked. 

"Maybe he was kidnapped by pirates!" Leo suggested unhelpfully. Piper elbowed him. "Or he could've gone for a walk with a unicorn? We really can't know."

I opened my mouth to respond but no words came out. I began coughing relentlessly again. The air was not getting any less toxic or difficult to breath.

"We need to get out of here," Piper stated.

"But Frank could be out here!" I finally choked.

"We don't have a choice," Leo argued.

"What we need is to figure out where we are and what is going on," I emphasised, "And besides, it's just wheat down there. We have no idea how to get back to Camp Half-Blood or Jupiter.

"Well at least we can breath down there!" Leo was shouting now.

"Leo's right. If we don't get out of this air we'll die." Piper said. 

"Piper, your eyes!" I blurted in shock. 

"Holy Hephaestus!" 

"What's going on?!" she asked.

"It's your eyes Pipes."

She pulled out Katoptris and gasped in horror when she saw her face and the blood leaking from her eyelids. Her cheeks were stained red as pure, thick blood trickled down her cheeks. Her eyes were bleeding. There was no nicer way of saying it.

"What's happening to me?" she choked.

"It's the air. The air must be poisoning her lungs!" Leo realised.

"We have to get out of here." I admitted. But I wasn't giving up on Frank even if that meant leaving this place.

"Hazel." Leo gestured to talk to me privately. Piper looked sad to be excluded but stayed next to the campfire while Leo and I took a quick walk

"What is it?" I asked

"Back in Texas, when I was a kid. There was a guy in my neighbourhood who would cook some illegal things in his basement and his brother would sell them."

"What are you getting at?" 

"He got sick Hazel. His eyes started bleeding. Next, he would cough up blood, then his salivary glands shut down, preventing him from being able to swallow solid food. He died two weeks after his eyes started. What if the same thing happens to Piper?" Leo was starting to break down,

"I don't know if I can handle losing them both." he sobbed in reference to Jason. "We came to camp together, we did a quest together! I don't want to be the only one left!" his head fell on my shoulder, tears soaking my tunic but I didn't mind. I gave him a hug and reassured him. 

"Leo listen to me. We are not going to lose her. We will all make it back. You, me, Piper, and Frank. We will not lose her."

He smiled weakly and turned to go back to the campfire. But Piper wasn't there. 

"PIPER!" he called. But it was too late. Just like Frank, we had lost Piper.

~Some Time Later~

After searching for Frank and Piper relentlessly, Leo and I had realised we were going to have to climb down the mountain. It took us a while to find the perfect spot to descend from but eventually, after hiking to the other side of the summit, we found a slope that was not nearly as steep as the one Frank and I got trapped on.

"Are you sure we can just leave them?" I asked, my voice sounding terribly hoarse from 

Leo sighed solemnly, "We don't have a choice. There could be friendly people down there."

"Who do you think shot Frank out of the sky!" 

"By a huntress! Maybe they just didn't know it was us."

"Well, nothing good will come from us standing up on this hill for another second." I stated.

With that, we began clambering down the slope. I guessed that we were about a kilometer into the air. We couldn't even see the ground until we got to about 750 meters and even at that height it was just a distant plain of yellow crops. 

"Oh My Gods" Leo said, looking out into the distance. "Look where we are!"

I look out and my stomach churns at the sight of the ocean. It was far off but it was there nonetheless. I began to lose hope in us getting safely out of here. This was an island meaning no one would know where we are or how to save us. 

Then I heard the voice. 

"Hello my friends." a mysterious French voice spoke from above us. "It is such a pleasure to meet four of the legendary seven who saved the world."

He said four. he must've seen Frank and Piper earlier because it was only me and Leo on the cliff. Could this monster have taken them? I looked up and found myself face to face with a monster I had heard too many stories about. The Manticore.

He was as terrifying as they said. His lion's mane brushed against the rocks, his human eyes snarled at me, his scorpion's tale floated above his head. His paws walked across the slope, ignoring gravity. Leo slid down to a large ledge and drew a small knife from his tool belt. I leap down to join him, equipped with my spatha, ready for battle.

The Manticore growled in French, clearly not interested in continuing the conversation. I went to slash at him with my sword but he spun around and knocked it out of my hand's with his tail. Leo lashed out, stabbing the monster deep in the throat with his dagger. He didn't have time to reclaim his knife however, so it remained in the neck of the beast.

I charged again, without my sword and leapt on top of his head. I pulled desperately at his horns and the Manticore roared in pain. I tried to further wound him but he threw me off of his head and I crashed against the rocks. I tried to get back on my feet but I was too dizzy. I watched as Leo picked up my Spatha and put up a great fight against the monster with fire in one hand and my blade in the other.

Leo was soon overpowered though, as he is more accustomed to fighting machine troubles, rather than Manticores. He was slammed against the rocks, just like me, and I realised that If we had any chance of fighting this, I would need my powers. 

I tried again, this time with all my strength to summon the power of Pluto, but I can hardly feel a twitch.

"It is time for you to join your friends in my cavern." he teased. I knew it! It had been the Manticore

"Leo." I said, "Get them out, Get everyone out." 

Leo looked up at me, hardly conscious but I think he understood what I had said.

"And you," I muttered, talking to the Manticore, "You can go straight to Tartarus."

With that, I lunged at the beast. I charged at him with such force that he was thrown off his feet. And his feet were standing on the ledge." I knew that this was a suicide mission but I had done it anyway. I fell, endlessly, with the Manticore fighting against me. I tried to use the Manticore to break my fall but it was too difficult to maintain control over him. 

As the ground loomed closer, I felt my vision begin to blur. It lit up ethereally and I think I felt us hit the ground but that was when I was completely blinded by light and felt my body vanish from place. 

I hope Leo makes it.  I thought.

This Chapter is dedicated to Maggie

[oddyssey77]

Endless - Reyna

POV Reyna Avilla Ramírez Arellano 

"HELLO?" I yelled.

I scanned my surroundings, hoping for any signs of life, but it was impossible to see anything through the endless wheat and maize. I was standing in a field of tall, high-grown crops.

"ANYONE?!" I screamed even louder. 

It was useless though. I analysed my situation, only there wasn't much to analyse other than the facts that I didn't know what happened, where I was, or why I was here. I thought about the last thing I remembered; The stone warriors attacking, Artemis leaving because she couldn't get involved, the Romans and I getting our butts whooped by Ethan Nakamura, running into Thalia, and finally, falling into a bottomless pit that opened up, right beneath our feet.

I didn't feel like I was in too much danger, that was until the arrows started flying.

SWOOP!

One arrow landed right where I was standing. I unsheathed my sword and prepared for a battle. I quickly realised that there were far too many to handle. So I ran in the opposite directions of the arrows and eventually got clipped in the arm by an arrow shot with excellent precision. I wanted to yank it out but that could take too long and I didn't want to risk losing any blood. 

Whoever was was hunting me had been trained well. They had an excellent strategy. But I was fast. They were only moving in one direction so I had the chance to escape. I begun moving further and further left as I ran, until I was right at the edge of their field of vision. I crouched instantly, slowly rustling through endless stems of wheat.

Once I had traveled far enough away, I stopped sneaking and began running as far away from them as I possibly could, all while trying to ignore the writhing pain in my elbow, where I had been shot.

THUMP!

I tripped over something soft and lumpy that I hadn't been able to see before due to all the wheat. I crawled over to investigate. I reached my arm out, feeling around for the lump and placed my hand on it. It writhed and wiggled until I realised that this lump wasn't just any lump, it was a body. And this body wasn't just any body, It was Thalia.

She looked over to me with a weak expression. 

"Reyna?"

"Yeah, what happened to you?" I asked. She was clutching her side where it looked like something had bit her. 

"G-g-gorgons," she gasped, pointing into the depths of wheat. I ruffled around in there until I evidently found two dead Gorgons sprawled on the grass. They reminded me of the attack on the Roman camp where Percy slayed the gorgons in the river.

"Nice job Grace," I said to her.

She staggered to her feet, with my support and turned to face me.

"Light work," she chuckled, "And don't call me Grace."

I let her lean on me and we made our way over to the two slain gorgons.

"Why haven't they evaporated yet," I asked her 

"I don't know."

She crouched down to examine the bodies. I watched as she brushed the snakes out of the way and uncovered a large metal plate on the back of the gorgon's skull. Her head lifted and her eyes flashed me a concerned look.

"These aren't real gorgons." Her tone darkened, "They're automatons."

"What could that mean?" I awaited a response but one never came. Thalia's face turned paler than snow and her arms began to tremble. I caught her just in time as she slowly lost consciousness and her breathing shallowed.

"THALIA?!" I yelled. Thalia and I had never really gotten along but I certainly didn't want her to die. I dipped her in my arms a bit and her hair dropped down into a pool of the gorgon's blood. This gave me an idea. 

I examined the bite in her side and realised that the Gorgons must have fatally poisoned her during the fight. I rush to the body of the nearest one and find the right side of it. 

"I'm sorry Thalia." I muttered as I tilted her head toward the body, opened her mouth, and placed it on the body, allowing the blood to flow right into her mouth. I hoped upon hope that It was the right side that heals and the left that poisons. If not, Thalia would be surely dead.

First, I felt a pulse, then, movement, her breathing returned and her skin regained color. She subconsciously began sucking on the side of the Gorgon, trying to get more of the blood. Then her eyes opened with a look of disgust on her face

"BLEGHH!" she choked, removing her mouth from the monster, clearly revolted. "That's terrible!" 

I went to help her up but she didn't seem to need me. She was pumped full of energy and ready to go. All of her scratches, wounds and bruises healed and she looked like she could fight an army.

~Some Time Later~

"OMG," Thalia shrieked in excitement.

"It's a clearing!" I said, amazed.

We were standing in the only patch of this field that had not been covered in wheat. It was a perfect circle and in the center was a rock. Thalia rushes over and sits down on the rock comfortably. But I stayed where I was.

"Come on, Reyna," she beckoned, "Don't tell me you're not tired."

"I am. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Something just isn't right," I said uncertainly.

"Don't be such a Goldilocks!" Thalia replied kind of drunkenly 

"What?"

"A Goldilocks. You know too little, too much, just right. Have you not heard that story."

"Thalia, you are not making any sense."

"The story is about three little piggies. Wait. No. That's not right. It's about..." Thalia's voice was slurring and trailing off as if she was something that the mortals would refer to as... High.

"Thalia!" I said urgently, "What's wrong with you?!"

"Have you got any more of that Gorgon juice? It was reeeeaaalllly good." 

"I think you've had just enough Gorgon juice." I said definitively while I sat her back down on the rocks.

I looked around, trying to find what had seemed off about this clearing before. It had a certain ethereal aspect to it. Godly almost. Then I spotted something shiny in my peripheral. I turned back to the rock and noticed a bronze plating with something engraved on it. I examined it closer but bit my lip when I saw that the writing is in Greek.

Ὁ Δικαιόπολις βραδέως ἐκβαίνει έκ τοῦ οἴκου.

"Thalia? Can you come over here?" She looks down at me, still high, with a look that told me she was offended that I would even suggest she get off her comfy rock for a quick second.

"What does that mean?" I asked her, gesturing at the golden Greek engravings.

"That is a bronze plate with golden, Greek engravings Reyna, I'd expect you to know that." 

"OMG Thalia, the writing! What does it say?!!

"Oooooh. Gotcha. It says...  Ὁ Δικαιόπολις βραδέως ἐκβαίνει έκ τοῦ οἴκου."

"IN ENGLISH THALIA!!! ENGLISH!!!" 

"Oh. It means Shrine of Demeter." She replied, very casually as if I hadn't just broken the sound barrier getting her to simply break the language barrier.

"Hmm. Demeter," she pondered absently, "I met Demeter once. Such a bitch."

I tackled Thalia to the ground making her start hitting me like crazy as if I was the enemy. I wish I had known the Gorgon's blood would do this to her. Maybe I wouldn't have let her consume as much of it if I had. 

"Why would you say something like that?!"

"Like what?" she asked innocently.

"You can't call a goddess things like that!" I hushed urgently, "Bad things can happen."

"Yeah well what's the Goddess of Agriculture going to do? Decompose my apple before I get the chance to eat it?"

"THALIA! WE ARE LITERALLY TRAPPED IN A FIELD OF AGRICULTURE!!!"

"Alright, Alright, No need to..."

FLASH!

"I am A WHAT!"

Thalia and I remain blinded for another few seconds before the light cleared to reveal the short, chubby, fruity goddess that I knew as Demeter. Instinctively, I bowed and forced Thalia down with me.

"She meant no disrespect at all, I swear!"

"No, No, NO! I meant all of the disrespects little lady!" Thalia announced, "You are a hippy little bitch!"

Demeter's face turned as purple as a plum and the wheat around us began to shake. I made a silent prayer to Zeus for him to make his daughter shut the hell up but the lord of the sky did not come through.

"You are a TERRIBLE Goddess! You'd rather stand here and argue with teenagers than actually go out and DO YOUR JOB! No wonder the entire agricultural, farming industry is dying. Oh and one more thing, You're a short, fat, GREEN BEAN!"

I bent my head and prepared for the little goddess to explode.

"You are one of Artemis's ones aren't you?"

 

"Yes. She is and she is very sorry" I said respectfully. 

"Shut it YOU!" she snapped back at me. But her face softened when she turned back to Thalia.

"Never in all my years has someone told me how I can be better. And I must admit, it is refreshing! Thank you Thalia Grace, for being honest with me. With Pan gone and everything, it has been hard to hold together. But I suppose, if we want to save the agricultural aspect of our world, then we have to fight for it."

"Anytime, little lady." Thalia replied, "And while you're at it, how would you feel about further promoting the growth of mariju..." 

I kicked Thalia before she could finish that sentence which caused her to go back to hitting me. I swatted Thalia away and returned my focus to the Goddess. 

"Demeter, How can we get out of here?"

"Ah, I suppose I owe you an explanation, don't I? Well how about this? You're not getting one! But... I can offer you directions."

"Please, anything that could help us." I begged

"If you walk in that direction for a few miles, you will find a crevasse. There, you will assemble for answers."

I wanted to ask what Assemble for Answers meant but I had a feeling she wouldn't explain. 

"Goodbye, Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis. And you." She nodded distastefully to me as she said that last part. Demeter rises into the air from the rocks and flashes into her true form as I force Thalia's eyes away from her.

"Goodbye Green Bean!" she yelled as Demeter vanished.

We trundled along in silence for about 30 minutes and Thalia wasn't getting much better. She noticed the wound on my arm with an arrow sticking out of it. I had completely about the arrow and I had come to ignore the pain of it.

"That's cool!" she said, "I have one of those."

"No you don't Thalia," I said impatiently, showing her her own arms. It felt like trying to talk to someone with a serious case of Alzheimer's 

"No silly, not there." she said pulling her arms away from me, "Here." She had reached back to her quiver and pulled an arrow. I gasped when I realised how identical they are. The only difference was the engravings. One had Thalia written on it and the other had the name Nightshade.

"Isn't Zoe dead?" I asked her. A tear stroked down Thalia's face.

"Gods, I miss Zoe. She was such a funny bunny." 

"Thalia, if Zoe is dead, how could she have shot me?"

SWOOP!

I take cover as more arrows flew. Thalia leapt back in shock when a figure emerged from the crops.

She was a huntress. Her dark brown hair lay in a plaid down on her shoulder

"Z...Zz...Zoe?" Thalia shuddered.

"Hey, Thalia," But Zoe didn't seem friendly.

Thalia looked into Zoe's eyes and all of a sudden she looked fully sober.

HYAH!

Zoe went to smack Thalia across the face with her bow but Thalia caught it in her hands. 

"Zoe, It's me!" she yelled but it was no use. It was like she was in some kind of a trance. I jump up to help Thalia and tackle Zoe off of her. When I stand up to fight however I am interrupted by-

THWACK!

I feel the flat of a gold blade knock me off balance and I rolled to the ground. I hear a voice from behind me chuckle.

"Hey Reyna." My whole body stops working at the sound of his voice. The voice of Jason Grace

~Flashback~

"I can't wait to get back home," Jason said reminiscently, "If I stand here another day I may just collapse."

"Same." I replied, "You'd think they'd find a new dragon by now."

Jason and I were standing in front of a tree sprouting golden apples with our swords drawn. The garden of the Hesperides was looking beautiful today, a lot of that was because Jason was in it. We weren't expecting a fight, simply preparing for one just in case. That was the job of a warrior and Jason was the best one I knew. Looking at him stand there heroically like that made my lips tremble. I knew that Piper had won Jason fair and square but still, I was never going to get over him.

"Can I just say it is incredible that you are willing to do this for us," One of the Hesperides chimed, "Ever since the dragon fell ill we have searched tirelessly for a replacement and this morning we found one."

"That's great!" Jason stated, "When can it get here?"

"Well it was in Mexico so it will take it aa few more hours to make it up here."

"That's alright. We will stand guard as long as you need."

Jason looked annoyed that I said that. I could tell he was getting tired of standing out here with me guarding the Golden tree of the Hesperides. He wanted to see Piper again. I felt selfish to want to spend more time with him.

"Well here is a letter that we feel commissions our deepest gratitude for your service." The little girl reached out and handed me a letter. I began to open it while she trundled away down the hill.

"What does it say?" Jason asked.

Dear Reyna Ramírez Arellano and Jason Grace.

You and all demigods have torn apart our world for thousands of years. It is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Starting with you, all demigods and those who aid them will be slaughtered. This will be your final reckoning. 

The King shall rise again.

And say hello to Ebony for us.

Jason and I glanced at each other in horror as we read the letter. 

"Who's Ebony?" Jason asked. I look up to the sky with the most fear I had ever felt.

"Ebony is the dragon."

ROARRR!

FSSHHHH!

Flames danced through the sky as the dragon who had never truly been ill swooped down and went for the kill on Jason. 

"NOOOO!" I yelled as I stabbed my sword deep into the dragons throat. But it barely pierced the scales. The dragon shook me off and my sword remained in its neck. I regained consciousness and tried to think of a way to get to my sword without getting killed. I could hear Jason fighting with the dragon but I knew that even he wouldn't be able to kill it. 

His sword flew off the side of the hill and he backed away from the dragon nervously. 

"What do we do?" I asked him.

"Run." he replied. I never liked to retreat but I felt like this was the necessary opportunity. My mistake was never checking if Jason had been running with me. Once I had gotten far away. I turned to where Jason should've been standing. When I see that he isn't there a wave of dread envelops me. I turn around and spot him in a one on one with the dragon, up on the hill.

"JASON!" I yelled uselessly. I ran toward him but I knew I couldn't make it in time. My brave praetor had only told me to run to get me out of there. He thought he could face this on his own. He couldn't. Jason made eye contact one last time with me as the dragon's jaws split him clean in half and slurped the rest up.

"NOOOOO!!!" 

~End of Flashback~

"Jason please," I begged, "It's me, Reyna. What's wrong with you."

Zoe and Jason were not acting themselves. Their skin was paler than the moon. Their eyes were as dark as the night. Whatever had happened to them had sent them into rage mode because they would not stop fighting us. 

"DIE!!!" Jason yelled. Between Jason and Zoe, Jason looked a lot worse. His tunic was tattered and his hair burnt up as if he had been electrocuted. It looked like he had only just been in another fight.

I looked over to Thalia as she fought against Zoe. I could tell she didn't want to fight but she had to. I knew I had to as well I just couldn't. 

CRASH!

Jason had tried to stab me but I had twisted his sword around and whacked him with the flat of his own blade. He yelled in frustration and I took it as an opportunity to disarm him. He roared at me this time and punched me relentlessly. 

SMACK!

Jason was knocked out when I had stuck him between his eyes with the hilt of his sword. I turned to Thalia and it seemed like she had taken out Zoe as well. She looked at Jason and a tear swelled in her eyes.

"I almost forgot he was your brother, Grace."

"Don't say was Reyna. He is my brother. And don't call me Grace."

Happy Birthday Julie

This Chapter is Dedicated to Charlie.

[oddyssey77]

Van Gogh - Nico

POV Nico Di Angelo

"Are you alright?" Percy asks as I kick away the HSS box.

"Y... Yeah... I think so," I reply shuffling around a bit. "How about you?"

"I'll be fine." he says begrudgingly. I could tell he had been crying but so had I so I don't mention anything. He looks over at me and softens up a bit, "I saw Tartarus, the council and a memory from when I was a kid."

I wanted to ask what that memory was but I assume he left it out for a reason. Then he asks the question I had been hoping he wouldn't

"What did you see?" 

I grit my teeth

"Tartarus, Bianca and when we were in the labyrinth." I hope that Percy doesn't detect that I had lied about all three of those things and thankfully he doesn't.

I look around and we are still on the hill tied to the rocks except Eurityion is nowhere to be seen. Percy looks down at the schedule and turns his head to mine. 

"I think this is our break time," he says unsurely.

"Great," I say sarcastically, "I am so glad Hades was generous enough to give me twenty minutes off before I get killed." 

I shut my mouth instantly, cursing myself for nearly revealing my secret to Percy

"Come on Nico, you aren't gonna get killed. The worst they'll do is cut off some fingers. It'll hurt like hell but you'll be okay." he reassures me kindly but it doesn't work. 

He begins to look around as if he thinks there is a way for us to escape. I fidget with my ears protectively as I wonder what my father is thinking about right now. I try and ignore the hurt I am feeling. "How could he let this happen to me." I think to myself

"It hurts doesn't it" a familiar voice recites to me.

"I can make it hurt forever." I want to run but I remain chained to this stupid rock.

"Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, Welcome to the game." My mind is transported back to the vision of the tunnel with the golden doors with the insignia on it. It has been worn away and scratched off but it still looked familiar. 

I walk into the room to find a trashed office with desks turned over and blueprint plans scattered across the bronze floor. It looks like a bomb went off in here. In the center of the room there is a hole going deep into the ground. There are creepy vines covering the interior and I know that in movies, creepy vines usually attack you.

"You are in my house now." a shiver rolled down my spine

"And you will remain here eternally. For this is your reckoning."

I open my eyes to find Percy shaking me, trying to wake me up from whatever trance that had been. I decided to tell him about my vision, but not the voice. Something about that voice made me feel like I was in danger. Not Percy, not Will. Me.

"Heya fellas," Eurytion calls as he staggered up the summit of the hill.

"Here comes the rancher from hell," Percy mutters, making me chuckle a bit.

"Are you guys ready for period two?" Eurityion says menacingly then he looks over to me. "I hear this one's got a sharper edge than HSS."

I shudder. I normally wouldn't be afraid of this but I knew that I was going to die, leaving Percy on his own down here. I am not even too sure what will happen if I die. I mean, I am already in the Underworld so am I just going to end up right back where I am now, or go to Elysium, or go to Asphodel or would I remain an ambassador for Hades, just as a ghost instead? 

I think it's the not knowing that scares me most. It almost makes me feel mortal. Almost.

Then a queer thing happens. Eurytion's face begins to become mushy and squishy, like it was melting somehow. Next, his face begins to reform, but not one face two. The same thing starts to happen to the rest of him; the melting the reforming as duplicates. All the way until there is two Eurytions standing before us. 

"You might wanna get that checked out," Percy tells them.

"Or maybe you should," the left one replies, "Because I am like a cancer. I will multiply and grow until I kill you. "

"You're comparing yourself to cancer?" I ask quizzically.

"Cancer is one of the star gods," the right one corrects me, "I am a cancer."

"Three guesses what kind of cancer," Percy mutters to me. I laugh and the Eurytions lose their patience. 

One of them marches over to me and begins to push my rocks closer and closer to the cliff's edge. Once I get over how confused I am by his ability to move the impossible Andromeda rocks, I begin to try and fight it, try to stop him.  The other one begins pushing Percy and his rocks as well and I reach for Percy's hand. I stick my arm out as far as I can, eventually getting a grip on Percy. We try to use our combined force to knock the Eurytions off of us. 

But no matter how hard we try, they just keep pushing. We are only inches away now and we're no longer holding hands for tactical reasons. Then it happens, I lose grip of Percy and feel utterly weightless as I descend toward the foot of the cliff, still chained to the stupid rocks.

Crash! I feel myself fall onto a stack of sand bags in the back of a pick-up truck. I begin to lose consciousness from the fall as I hear the truck begin driving. 

I black out. 

Flashback-

I open my eyes to find myself not in a truck driving through the underworld, instead I am trapped in a memory. One of my HSS memories that had been haunting me for the past year. It was the incident. The one that put Travis Stoll in a wheelchair.

I am sitting on my obsidian bed in cabin 13 and I am filled with a cloud of emotions that I can't even define. I look around and everything is black; the tables, thee ornaments, the decorations, the statues and the walls, it is all dark as nightshade. I feel my head sink into my palms as my eyes swell with tears.

"Nico Di Angelo, right?" a voice says from behind me 

"Yeah," I say, wiping away tears, "Yeah, that's me, I've only lived here for seven months." he ignores my sarcasm however, and instead he focuses on my sadness.

"Are you alright?" the boy says, sounding worried but not very empathetic. I turn to face the kid.

It is Travis Stoll.

I want to reply but my mind is still drowning on thoughts of my life. My life that I hate. I am thinking about who my father is and what that has made me. 

Then I break.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I am perfect right now. But it isn't like you should care anyway. I've heard what they say about me. Everybody either hates me, avoids me, or fears me. So yeah I'm okay."

"Listen, I..." but I cut him off

"Death Boy. Ghost King. Skeleton Summoner. Ambassador to Hades and NOTHING ELSE! That's all they see in me. I've been an outsider all my life! And somehow after all I've done no one even cares to talk to me!"

Before Travis could reply, I find that I have been shadow travelled down to the underworld. At the foot of my father's throne. 

"Stop, Nico. You're embarrassing me." Hades tells me, his voice echoing through the palace, "You're making a mistake."

"I've made no mistake father. What I speak is the truth!"

"I DON'T CARE!" he bellows. "I allowed you to reside in that camp on the sole condition that you would stay out of trouble so end this silly tantrum this once!" 

I open my mouth to shout back at him but I don't get the chance because the next thing I know I am back in my cabin with Travis no longer standing in front of me. I reach out my arm, summoning my stygian iron blade. My heart beats rapidly as I stand myself up and take a good look at the statue of Hades in the center of the cabin.

SLASH

The top half of the statue smashes to the floor creating a crashing noise that echoed across the whole camp. I hear footsteps rushing to my front door but I am not going to let anyone see me like this.

I strain myself as I try desperately to gain control over my cabin.

SMASH

was the sound of the door frame collapsing in on itself, blocking everyone out. 

CRASH SLICE BOOM ARGGH

I am yelling as I reduce everything at my disposal to nothing. The only fraction of my room that has managed to avoid this state of destruction is my framed photo of Bianca.

Then, through the cracks of the broken door, a light so bright shines in, blinding me. The whole front door crumbles because hallowed obsidian is not designed to withstand light as it is formed in the Underworld.

I catch a glimpse of Will Solace standing in front of all the Apollo campers who collectively shone my door down. Percy and Travis rush into the room. In one final attempt to keep them out I throw my sword downward, into the floor of the room, creating a crevasse dividing the room in two. 

But the crevasse was too wide. And Travis couldn't stop in time. He fell right into the chasm and I hear him yelp in pain when he hits the bottom. Percy looks down the hole then looks back up at me resentfully. He no longer wants to make sure I am alright.

My father took me to the underworld that day and kept me there all the way up until the festival which was my first day out.

-End of Flashback.

"Get off me!" I yell as Eurytion drags me toward the operating table. I wrestle against him but it is no use. I look around, in search of Percy but I don't expect to see him anywhere. He will be going to the Poison Maze, not the dismemberment table.

The table is a large slab of rock equipped with surgical equipment and chains. I'm going to be brutally honest; it did not look fun. Eurytion goes to punch me but I roll out of the way and kick him in the shins. I try to find an exit but somehow, this room doesn't have any.

"You're going to regret that!" he bellows, charging after me.

"You're going to regret trying to torture a child of Hades!" My sword appears in my hand and I go to stab Eurytion with it.

SLASH! SLICE! STAB!

Eurytion is strong but he is no match for me and he knows it. I am not the scared 11 year-old kid who appeared on his ranch anymore. I am about to completely overpower him when a force starts ringing in my ears, a chill runs down my spine. I know the feeling. It is the presence of Hades.

SHATTER!

My stygian iron sword that has served me for years crumbles to a million pieces. My father had disarmed me, leaving me defenseless against this rancher. He lunges forward and I back away nervously. I forget to look where I am going and bump right into the surgical table.

I fall backwards landing right onto the surface of it. I try and roll off in time but this table wasn't made from any old rock. It was also made from the rocks of Princess Andromeda. Chains begin to strangle my wrists and ankles and Eurytion flashes me a wild grin. 

"You're making this easy for me kid." he says with a look of anticipation in his eyes that scares me. He equips himself with a large knife and walks over to me. I try and hide myself away from his blade but he grasps my palm with his huge, leathery hands and holds up the knife.

SLASH!

My mind is momentarily transported to the hardest memory of my life. I am drowning in pitch dark water. Bubbles flying out of my mouth. Water filled my 11 year old lungs and I feel a terrible curse stabbing all over me. All except my ears. But It was only a three second glimpse of the memory and I quickly returned to reality

I look down at my hand to examine whether or not any of my fingers were harmed but I already knew what I would see. My serious lack of pain already said it all. My fingers remained. But that only made me more nervous.

"How... is that possible??" Eurytion says, massively perplexed. I stay silent.

SLICE!

I am back drowning again for another few seconds. I feel the same power controlling me. I breach the surface and see a tall figure looming over me. The original ghost king, Minos. 

Once again, Eurytion's knife fails to affect me. He tried stabbing it and slicing it all over my body hundreds of times more but nothing ever happens.

"UGH!" he grunts and slams the sword into the table like Excalibur, "You little runt! What magic is at work here!"

Once again, I remain silent. But I am happy to know that he is giving up which means I may not be killed after all. He is frustrated but seems to get an idea. He leans down to the ground and retrieves one of the shattered pieces of my recently murdered sword.

I try and wrestle free before he attempts to use it on me but the chains remain as tight as ever. He goes for my fingers again and this time he finds some success in his efforts. I feel a pain attack me as a small cut appeared on my finger and it began to bleed. 

Eurytion tried to force it down further, to hopefully completely remove the finger but the cut does not get any deeper. The curse resisted. He went back to his ways of trying all over my body, this time leaving small bleeding slits everywhere. 

Finally, moments before he gives up, he looks me in the eyes, he scans my whole face and an idea seems to appear in his mind. He doesn't seem too confident in this plan, but it seems more like a last resort more than anything else.

He brings the shard of stygian iron right up to my face and begins to trace my left ear with the point of the shard. I wince, preparing myself for what is coming. I think about my life and all of my failings and successes.

I think about Will and how he and I never got a chance. I think about all of my friends; Hazel, Rey-

"OWWWW" I yell in endless pain as my left ear comes clean off, with no resistance like the rest of my body. The pain is crippling me and I catch a glimpse of the doors of death but I am pulled back in some way. As if there is something still holding me to my life. And then I realise. It is my other ear.

"That was fun," Eurytion relishes this moment maniacally, proud in the fact that he has finally found some success. He goes for my right ear and this time, despite the pain still enveloping me, I fight back. I try and use the chains to hit him and actually get a couple lashes in.

But he pulls a chord from beneath the table and I feel the chains tighten leaving me no longer with that advantage. He raises his arm but is stopped abruptly by a voice speaking into the room somehow. A voice I knew. My father's voice

Don't touch the boy! We want him alive! And if you remove both of his ears HE WILL DIE!

"But why, sir?" Eurytion asks respectfully.

Because, you idiot, he bears a curse. And not just any curse, No, this one is special. Nico Di Angelo bears the Curse Of Achilles. 

This chapter is dedicated to Reggie.

[oddyssey77]

The Campfire - Will

POV Will Solace

"Are we dead?" I call out, hoping Annabeth is still nearby 

"I don't think so," she replies from right next to me, "The Underworld is a lot more fiery than this."

Annabeth and I had fallen through the ground and somehow woken up in this pitch black room. The ground is cold and rocky and not very comfortable. I try with all of my might and eventually manage to create a glow emanating from my fingertips. 

I look around and realise we are in a cave with pale grey stone interior. It reminded me of the caves I would explore in Minecraft when I was a kid. Except I didn't have a golden apple in my inventory this time

Annabeth tries to get up but she hurt her ankle in the battle. I quickly craft a splint using some of the twigs and sheets of rock that I found on the ground and help Annabeth to her feet. She finds a long branch that she can use as a walking stick.

"Thanks Will," she says trotting forward. 

"How are we going to get back up there," I say. "We are just in a cave underneath the camp so theoretically we just need to dig up."

"No," she mutters to herself. "No I don't think so." I wait for her to elaborate but she doesn't. She is looking around, scanning for any clue that could tell her where we are. I watch as she closes her eyes and tries to put the pieces together. And then something clicks.

"We aren't beneath camp," she states defiantly. "We are somewhere else. Do you remember when we were falling, and it was pure darkness?" 

"I am pretty sure I passed out from over exertion of whatever muscle is in charge of screaming."

"Ok well I didn't. The last thing I remember is seeing a circle of light below us. We must have fallen into it and woken up here."

"That still doesn't explain how we aren't just below the surface," I say, massively confused.

"You really aren't getting this are you? That thing we fell into, it was a portal," she states revelling in her discovery, "Which means we aren't in the real world anymore. We are in another realm."

"Like the Underworld!" I say, finally understanding, "Except we aren't dead."

"The Underworld is one example," She mutters but her face turns deathly pale, "Or we could be in..."

She shakes her head as if discarding whatever she was about to say. I open my mouth in an attempt to ask more questions but I am rudely interrupted by a loud noise.

STOMP STOMP STOMP

We run and hide behind a rock as we notice the loud footsteps echoing through the cave, getting closer each time. Then they stop. I don't want to look around but there is a certain force beckoning me to look out from behind the rock. I tilt my head and find myself face to face with the Calvin Klein logo. A stench so putrid fills my nostrils and I realise that I am staring at a pair of underwear. 

Annabeth pulls me back into hiding but I feel like there isn't much hiding to do. Only running. I fall backward as the rock I had been planted against gets lifted up and removed from it's place. I am lying on the cold stone floor and feel a huge drop of saliva hit the top of my head.

I look up slowly and realise that I am making every rookie mistake that gets made in horror movies so I decide to look up quickly instead and I find myself being stared down upon by the angry bull face of the Minotaur.

"Run!!" Annabeth yells. I realise that I am still lying here not moving. I try to hide it from Annabeth but I am terrified. I had fought many monsters in my life but this was the only one I truly feared. I try to fight the urge and instead try to get out of there but the next thing I know I am in the midst of a flashback to 3 years ago on the streets of Manhattan.

The battle was raging and I was trying my best to fight off Kronos' army. I was fighting alongside my fellow Apollo campers and I could feel my 13 year old self getting tired. Then he showed up. Ethan Nakamura, the same bloke who had led the attack on the camp a few hours ago.

I saw Percy Jackson charge at him but he got quickly overwhelmed my the monsters at Ethan's side. Ethan went to stab Percy at a point in his back but Annabeth lunges in the way and takes the hit.

I was then distracted by a fleet of shouts coming from my fellow campers when the Minotaur charged into the fight. I watched as it wounded or killed many of the other Apollo kids. I jumped into action and began firing arrows at the beast but it was no use. It was equipped with enough armour to stop a freight train.

I knew damn well that I wasn't great at close range attacks but I charged in anyway. I slipped my dagger out from it's holster and slid toward the Minotaur. While it was distracted by the other arrows flying at it. I knee-slid toward the monster and planted my blade firmly into his abdomen where there had been a separation between two armour plates. It yelled in pain and a roar went up from the crowd of Apollo campers.

But the victory was short-lived as the Minotaur had only been wounded. It picked me up and was about to throw my little 13 year-old body into the river when Michael Yew the head counsellor landed an arrow right in the monster's eye. It roared and dropped me giving me the opportunity to roll out of action.

I watched as Percy and Michael simultaneously two-on-one'd the beast and eventually came out victorious. But not after the Minotaur got the chance to hurl Michael into the Hudson. 

Percy fell to his knees. It looked like he was trying to feel if Michael was alive down there but it was useless. A tear streaked down my cheek. I had looked up to Michael. He was my brother, and he was the second counsellor we had lost in the span of two years. I look around and everyone is staring at me. Percy walked up to me with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

"That was impressive how you stabbed it like that."

"Thanks," I mutter. But I wasn't thinking about my quick moves on the Minotaur, I was thinking about Michael.

"You know," Percy began, taking a large breath in as if he did not want to have to say what he was going to say, "Cabin 7 is going to need a new leader for the time being at least. And with moves like that I think everyone can agree you can handle this." 

I was frozen in place. It had been my dream to be a counsellor one day but not like this. Not because Michael had died and they needed a speedy replacement. Ever since that day I have been counsellor for the Apollo cabin and I have never had a night where the Minotaur didn't haunt my dreams.

When I return to the present, I am seated next to Annabeth in a much brighter place than where we had been before. I look around and find myself in a lush, green jungle area. We are still in the cave but this is a much larger room that is overgrown with greenery and life. It is naturally lit from a crack in the roof that opens up to the surface.

I then look down and see that Annabeth and I are tied up with rope. The Minotaur couldn't have done this I think to myself and seconds later notice two stone warriors standing across from us armed with spears. I feel Annabeth shake awake and turn to me

"Well done Will, you've managed to get us captured by the Minotaur." she states frustratingly 

"What happened?" I ask my voice slurring. 

"I'll tell you what happened. You took one look at the Minotaur and passed out and it didn't take long for that thing to deal with me seeing as I was spectacularly unarmed."

"I am sorry. I won't freeze next time." I decide not to tell her about my flashback.

"Damn straight you won't," She still sounded mad but she sounded a bit more friendly this time.

We sit quietly for a few hours while the guards just continue to stand there. The sun is beginning to set by the time that I break the silence.

"You must be worried sick about Percy," I tell Annabeth. "He and Nico fell in, I saw them."

"Yeah," she admits. "To be honest though, with the amount of times I have needed to be worried about Percy, I have gotten well used to it by now. But you must be out of your mind worried about Nico."

I freeze. 

"Wha.. what.. Why should I be worrying about Nico specifically?" I stammer. Annabeth looks at me suggestively.

"Come on Will, I have seen the way you look at him."

"We are just friends." I retort

"Yeah, because 'just friends' spend 3 weeks of their lives painting murals on each other's rooves." she states triumphantly. I am running out of ways to convince both myself and Annabeth that I do not like Nico. I have always liked being around him but I have never honestly thought about him in that way before.

"But I... I..." I am hopelessly trying to help my case here. "I am not gay though." I tell her.

"I never said you were." she snaps back, "But it doesn't mean you can't like Nico."

I am relieved for this conversation to end when I hear the ominous footsteps of the Minotaur slowly echoing toward us. I look up and see that it is now nighttime and most of the natural light had slipped away from us.

A stone guard steps forward and her pale hand sets ablaze. It reminds me of Leo's power over fire which then reminds me of how Leo and Hazel are probably trapped in these caves as well. The guard uses her flames to light a campfire sitting in front of us. 

Then I see the Minotaur emerge from the endless tunnels. It looks angry and he is huffing and puffing his way toward us. I hear Annabeth gasp as another figure marches behind the beast.

He is tall and has cropped fair hair. When he steps into the firelight I recognise a scar going through his left eye. The figure was someone who must've somehow been returned to life like Ethan Nakamura had. The figure was the unmistakeable Luke Castellan

"Annabeth!" he greets her exuberantly and acknowledges me with distaste. I look over at Annabeth and she has turned paler than the guards. Her eyes were painted with both terror and shock. 

"How are you.. here." she stammers

"Oh Annabeth there is nothing to be afraid of my dear..." he places his hand on her cheek and catches a tear. Annabeth wrestles to escape her ties but it is useless. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of those ropes in just a moment." He sounds way too friendly which is making me skeptical. 

He trots over to me and leans down to me.

"Will Solace." he mutters. His face is only a few millimetres from mine and I couldn't help but be disgusted. "A shame we never got acquainted, did we?" 

"No," I mutter, "I never had to put up with your presence before, but now that you are here it is much as I expected it to be."

"Oh yeah," he says teasingly, "And what's that Solace." 

"You're as vile as they say." I lash out and knee him in his man parts with as much force as I could muster whilst being tied up. He slams his fist against a tree but he doesn't seem mad

"I knew I'd like you Solace."

"Luke please," Annabeth begs, "You chose the right thing on Olympus, you can do it again." Luke just chuckled

"Yeah, I did the right thing in the end, didn't I. And where did that land me?!" Now he sounds mad, "WHERE?!"

Annabeth just looked away solemnly. 

"I stepped OUT OF LINE from the GODS and they put me where they put ANYONE LIKE ME. WHERE WAS IT ANNABETH?"

"The fields of punishment." 

"That's right, it didn't matter how many right or wrongs I had done. The second I stole that bolt it was decided where I was going. WITH NO ROOM FOR REDEMPTION!"

Annabeth was trying to hold it together but I could tell she wanted this nightmare to end. I try to untie myself using the point on the end of my bow strapped to my back.

I feel a release of pressure as the ropes snap. Now all I have to do is take out Luke and the guards. This is the perfect opportunity to strike because the Minotaur is off getting firewood. I lunge forward and whack Luke across the forehead with my bow. I spin around him and place the string of the bow around his neck and begin to strangle him.

He tries to wrestle me off but I stay firmly planted. Then all of a sudden I feel a force pulling me off of Luke and I crash to the ground. I feel around the back of my head and find blood. The guards had yanked me off of him and are dragging me toward the fire. 

"Nooo!" Annabeth yells

"STOP!" Luke yells angrily, "He's a child of the sun god, the fire might not achieve it's intended purpose if you toss him." Annabeth looks relieved but I am not.

"Drag him over to that pond and then you do your thing Jace..." He cuts himself off from finishing the name of the guard he was ordering.

"Now Annabeth, you are about to feel the pain of watching your friend die. How does that sound?" Luke sounds like he is trying to please a toddler.

The guard that Luke had named Jace pulls me to my feet and proceeds to drop me into the pond. I am not a strong swimmer but I just manage to get my head back up to the surface. Jace pulls me out and places me back on the ground. I hate being tossed around like a ragdoll but I can't do anything to stop him and neither can Annabeth. 

I am wondering what the point in dunking me was when I see Jace remove his grey glove and flash his pale, fleshy fingers. I think I see a tattoo on his wrist but I am not sure. His fingers light up with electricity and I realise what is about to happen. I try to run but I can hardly stand. I feel a crippling pain overtake me as every cell in my body is electrocuted.

Then it stops. I can hardly feel anymore but Jace is paying me no mind anymore. He and the female guard run into action to defend Luke but they are too late. Luke had been kicked into the campfire by Annabeth he must've tried to get out but Annabeth had overpowered him. Luke was dead (again). 

I want to help her but I am too weak. I drag myself toward her but I know it is going to take a while to even get close. I watch as Annabeth takes out the female guard with firepower but not before she got the chance to set the whole jungle ablaze. Annabeth struggles a lot with Jace. 

I watch as she cuts two vines with her knife which had somehow not been in her possession before. She ties the vines around Jace while they are fighting, then, she drags the fight toward the pond and jumps to the other end of the pond which was quite a risk seeing as if she touched the water, all Jace would need to do was spark it.

She tugs on the vines with enough might to pull Jace across the pond. She kicks him mid-air and he lands in the water he sends a flash of lightning her way but she throws the vines in the path of the lightning. The vines conduct the electricity back to him and electrify the whole pond.

You would think that being electrocuted would empower Jace more but clearly there was too much water and too many volts for him to survive it. Annabeth begins to run to me but she is plucked from the ground and thrown against some rocks. She staggers to her feet trying to find the might inside her to take on the Minotaur. But I know she won't be able to.

I crawl closer to the campfire. I begin to pass out but I won't let myself. I can't let Annabeth down again. I snatch a thin piece of firewood and I feel around for my bow. I can hardly remember what happens next but I think I shot the fire wood at some vines that happened to be the only remaining things holding a tree from collapsing.

Once the vines had been shot the tree fell hard on the Minotaur. 

"Well done Solace." Annabeth says, mocking Luke's nickname for me

The Minotaur was dead. It had to be. So why wasn't it turning to dust?. Annabeth seemed to be wondering the same thing as she makes her way over to it. She pulls a plating off of its head and gasps in shock.

"This isn't the Minotaur." she says 

"Well what is it then?"

"It's an automaton."

This Chapter is dedicated to Emma.

[oddyssey77]

Punishment - Percy

TW: Domestic Abuse

POV Percy Jackson

I remember getting punched in the back, my weak spot. It wasn't a hard enough blow to kill me but it must've been strong enough to leave me incapacitated for the rest of the fight because when I open my eyes there is no more fighting. I am lying down in a massive barren wasteland. It looks like a desert except all the sand is red and it isn't much like sand at all, more like rocks. Now imagine all of that and then set it on fire. That is what I am seeing 

I look up to my right and see a figure standing over me. He is scanning our surroundings with a look of disbelief on his face. He didn't look to worried or scared but he definitely new where we were and didn't like it. It was Nico Di Angelo. I try and say something to him but I am too dazed. I realise that I must've been hurt more than I thought I had because I can hardly move at all. Nico helps me up and begins to walk us through the fiery dunes. I think he is trying to bring us up onto one of the hills but I pass out somewhere along the journey 

I wake again as he hauls us over the top of the hill and sets me down on the ground. He is waving his arms about trying to get some help to us. I turn my head slightly and look over the other end of the hill. There was a pile of rocks atop a cliff that overlooked something terrible. I lean over and see thousands of people being tortured, burned, enslaved and abused. It is the most horrible thing that I have ever seen before. Except I had seen it before. I know this place. I remember seeing it back on my first quest. It was the fields of punishment. Only this time, I wasn't looking down at them from Hades' palace I was inside of them. Nico and I were in the fields of punishment.

Nico turns to me noticing that I have gained some level of consciousness and begins speaking.

"Percy, we're in the fields of punishment."

"Yeah, I figured," I say, trying and failing to stand up.

"We're gonna be fine," he says, "I am a 0.03% shareholder of the underworld. Once my father knows we are here, he will come and save us." I can't help but feel like Nico is being a little to confident that Hades is just going to happen to notice two beat-up half-bloods sitting on one of his torture dunes.

"Can you help me up?" I ask him, a little impatiently.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just prop you up on those rocks over there." He begins transferring me from the ground up to a pile of grey stone rocks. I couldn't help but notice how out of place they looked. Everything here, including rocks, were red and coated with flames. Why were these rocks grey. I decide to trust Nico seeing as the Underworld was his domain and let him place me on the rocks.

The rocks are cold and wet, they remind me of the sea. I still couldn't shake how off they were, I recognize them from somewhere. And then it hit me. 

"Nico! Get me off!" Nico doesn't seem to understand the issue but lunges toward me anyway. He is too late though because the rocks start to vibrate like crazy until I feel four cold chains wrap around my wrists and ankles. They were made from hallowed obsidian which was the metal of the underworld and was virtually unbreakable. I try and wrestle my way out of them but that just makes them tighter.

I had remembered what these rocks meant only seconds too late. These were the rocks that the Princess Andromeda had been chained to in the old stories. It was one of the most famous punishments in Greek mythology so of course it only made sense that it would be prevalent in the fields of punishment. I had seen these rocks before on the front of Luke's ship and I assume they found their way to the Underworld when Beckendorf blew it up.

"Oh, Percy I am an idiot!" Nico exclaims. He sits down and against a ruined structure and bashes his head into it frustratingly. I stay calm, acknowledging that I probably wasn't going to be able to go anywhere anyway and choose to cheer Nico up instead. 

"You can call me Prince Andromeda," I tell him trying to do my best royal bow impression while being chained down. He laughs but loses focus shortly after. He stares blankly at a wall looking somehow paler than before. He returns to reality with a look of shock painted on his face. I think he must have had a vision of sorts.

"I uh.. I saw something Percy," Nico says trying to remember every detail, "I was in a cave, in front of me was a set of large of golden doors with a symbol painted on it. I couldn't make out what it meant but there was a voice. It was terrifying." 

"What did the voice say?"

"Nothing, it just laughed. It laughed maniacally with no end."

"I am not all that interested in finding out who that was," I say sarcastically. But my voice isn't as strained anymore. When I try and move myself it comes easily. It is like I had never been hurt in that fight back at camp. I am still chained to the rock but part of me feels like that is what helped me. Nico notices my newfound wriggle room and looks at me like he expected this to happen.

"Those chained to the rock are immortal," he tells me, "That's what makes it torture." There is a grave tone in his voice, as if he is starting to think we might not get out of here. 

"Hello, my damned friends, it is I, Eurityion, torturer of evil souls." a hooded figure approached us and looked like he was an evil mastermind. The tone in his voice however, made him sound more like a weatherman advertising bright and sunny skies. Then he looked at us more closely and his face turned sour.

"It's you two!" he snarls, "The ones that sent me down here!"

"Alright buddy," I say calmly. "We have sent a lot of bad guys to the Underworld so you're gonna have to narrow it down." He looks even angrier now.

"I tried to kill you a few years back." Nico and I continue to stare at him blankly, "At the Triple G Ranch in the Labyrinth." he suggests.

"Oooooooh," Nico and I say in unison. 

"You're that Eurityion!" Nico states as if greeting an old friend.

"SHUT UP both of you!" he yells and we both do what we are told, "As you can tell, you are in the fields of punishment! So, it is time for your first punishment." He says the word punishment like it is his favourite in the dictionary. Although I am not quite sure he can read the dictionary.

"I am the son of Hades and if you think you can..." Nico begins sounding outraged before getting interrupted by the man.

"Oaghh," Eurityion yawns. Nico draws his sword but gets instantly shoved by Eurityion and lands on the rocks with me. He tries to get up but is is too late. Nico has become the newest member of the Andromeda club.

Eurityion pulls out two sheets of parchment with schedules written out on them and hands one to each of us. I look down at my piece of parchment and read the following

Percy Jackson Torture Schedule Day 1:

Period 1: HSS Torture

Break Time

Period 2: Poison Maze

Break Time 

Period 3: Duel to Death 

End of Day 1 - Receive Day 2 schedule following day

I compare schedules with Nico and notice we both have the same timetable except for Period 2 Nico has Dismemberment instead of Poison Maze I can't help but feel a little relieved that I don't have to go through dismemberment today.

"This is so unfair!" I shout at Eurityion. "We aren't even dead! We just fell through a whole in the ground and landed here. You know Hades is going to have your head when he finds out about what you are doing to his son." I wait for Nico to back me up but he doesn't. He doesn't say anything at all. I look over at him and he is staring down at some small print at the bottom of the page. He finally breaks through the barriers between dyslexia and small print and reads it out it says...

Signed: Hades, Lord of the Dead

Nico looks like he wants to cry. 

"How could he... Why would he..." He can't decide what to think and instead just throws the parchment off of the cliff. I try and comfort him but the chains don't exactly allow for hugs.

"When is our first period?" I ask Eurityion. Eurityion chuckles

"Now." he growls.

He pulls out two cardboard boxes that look like amazon packages and places one on each of our heads. I try and wrestle it off but it is no use. A robotic voice speaks to me inside of the box.

Welcome to HSS torture. Here you will have to relive and face your Hardest, Saddest and Scariest memories hence the name HSS. This process can take however long your memories are. The box can only be removed from the outside so it is no use trying to remove it yourself.

Everything fades to black. I open my eyes and I am standing in my bedroom at my Mom's apartment. I feel a lot shorter than normal so I look down on myself to see that I must only be about six years old at the time. It is in the middle of the night and I am supposed to be asleep. I hear loud noises coming from the next room over. It is Gabe Ugliano. He is shouting and screaming as if something terrible had happened. I know what this memory is and I definitely don't want to relive it.

He is shouting at my Mom fully enraged. I am too scared to go outside so instead I retreat to my bed and cover my ears with my pillows. I curl up into a ball and pretend like nothing is happening. That is what I would usually do in situations like this. The shouting gets louder and louder and does not stop. I hear things smash and glasses break. My mom screams every once in a while. I don't want things to escalate further because I don't know what to do than I hear a clapping sound and my Mom yelps she sounds like she is begging for Gabe to stop. 

I knew that he had just hit her and my instincts kicked in. Terrified I creak the door open and step out of my room. Mom looks over at me and her heart sinks Gabe calms down for a second when he sees me. Mom rushes over to me and sweeps me back into my room.

"It is okay honey," she says choking on her tears. Her hair is messed up and her face is ridden with tears. There is a red mark on the side of her face but she tries to cover it with her hair, "You should be asleep."

I try and say something but she puts a finger over my lips and tucks me into bed. I try to protest but she tickles me and somehow I feel like everything might just be okay. I curl up into a ball and do as I am told. Mom tries to get into the bed and cuddle me for a bit but Gabe calls for her. She kisses me on the forehead and reenters the warzone.

Gabe isn't as mad as before but he shouts at her to clean up the mess and I hear him slump down into the recliner, pop a beer can and switch on the television. When I hear him shouting at the game I finally lose it. I get up again and this time my mom doesn't notice me at all I sneak across the room and stare at Gabe with all the anger in the world.

There is a glass of water sitting on the coffee table. It begins to vibrate like crazy. He reaches for it curiously and tries to figure out why it was shaking I am not even doing this on purpose but at that moment, the glass exploded in his hand. Water spilled everywhere and shards of glass struck his palms. He screams and storms over to the sink trying to wash the blood off his hands. Once again I black out. That was my scariest memory.

I open my eyes and I am standing around the senate table at Camp Jupiter. Annabeth and I had been called to the Roman camp for an emergency meeting. We are all seated around the table. All of us except for two. Jason and Reyna had been on an important mission to guard the garden of the Hesperides because the dragon had fallen to ill to continue after three thousand years of service. Jason and Reyna had been ordered to guard the golden apple tree until a suitable replacement could be found. 

They had been set to arrive back at Camp on this day and we had all assembled to greet them. A few of the guards gasp as Reyna made her entrance into the room. Her stola is torn, her sword is missing, her hair looks like a rats nest and there is a huge three-clawed scratch going through her stomach. Her face was painted with tears and blood and she was holding something in her left hand. She stumbled toward her chair with the help of Frank and opened her hand to reveal an imperial gold coin. 

"Jason Grace is dead," she choked, "It was a trap set by the Hesperides, the dragon was never dead. They were serving someone who wants to kill the demigods. All of them." Everyone stood up in shock. Annabeth collapsed into tears. Nico stormed out of the room. I just stood there in disbelief. I black out. That was my saddest memory.

Next thing I knew I was falling endlessly into Tartarus with Annabeth by my side. I am not excited for this memory which I assume is my hardest because I know it i going to take a while. But at that moment, the box flew off my head. I never thought I would say this but at that moment, the underworld was brighter than I had ever seen it.

I realise that I am crying now from my memories. I look to my left and see Nico is trying to escape the nightmare. His arms and legs are flailing everywhere. That must be what had knocked my box off. Tears are streaming down his face and I realise that Nico Di Angelo is having a much worse HSS experience. 

This chapter is dedicated to Marks

[oddyssey77]

The Festival Part 3 - Annabeth

POV Annabeth Chase

I am fuming. How can he still take her side after all of these years. I have spent so long trying to rebuild my relationship with him and he still chooses his gold digger wife over me. I lie down by the creek questioning whether or not I should return to the camp or not. I wish I had never reentered my mortal family's life. It would've be so much easier that way. It would've meant a lot less pain.

"You know, it's hard for him as well," I hear a voice telling me, "He never sees you and when he does she holds him back."

"He should leave her then." I tell the person behind me. 

"But why would he do that to himself? Why should he leave her, when you are the one who left him." It was Reyna speaking.

"She was seven years old!" another voice states. I turn my head and see Thalia and Reyna bickering over me.

"She still left, and that would've broken him. No matter how justified it was."

"Reyna's right Thalia, I did leave. I took his seven year old girl, his whole world, away from him. It's fair enough that he should care more about his wife than the girl who disappeared for five years and broke his heart."

"Annabeth, you were struggling with yourself, it's okay that you got scared." Thalia put her hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"I know it's okay. And I don't blame him either. Or her. These things take time and it's allowed to suck for that time. If it's alright with you guys, I think I need some time alone."

"Okay, come back when you can." Reyna pats me on the back and turns to leave. Thalia shifts me a smile and walks away with Reyna. They get smaller and smaller as they get further away. I can see that they have already found something else to argue about because Reyna is making angry hand gestures and Thalia's mouth is opening and shutting like mad. I turn away letting myself forget about the world

I breath in the sweet, salty air of Long Island Sound. It reminded me of Percy. I stare down at the sea and notice something. The waves look like they are acting up. They aren't flowing as calmly as they were before. In fact, they were crashing violently against the rocks. I got a flashback to when the Manticore captured Percy and the river began to flow rapidly. I stand up, worried that Percy might be in trouble. 

They stop. The waves stop moving almost completely. They slowly thread their way toward the shore. A fish reaches the surface. Then another one, then a third, and a fourth. I notice how the fish aren't moving. They are dead. I turn and run toward the camp. Percy was in trouble, I knew he was. 

I dash through the woods, trying to guess what was happening. I was running so fast that I almost didn't notice the small body lying motionless on the soil. It was a boy lying face down with three arrows in him, one in the small of his back. I remember Percy's weak spot and get worried for a minute before noticing that this isn't Percy. This is someone who I know well. A tear finds its way down my cheek, as I realise that I am staring down at Malcolm Pace, my best friend from the Athena cabin. He weakly draws his eyes to me.

"No, No, No," I choke, "Not you Malcolm. Why you?"

"It's okay, I can be with Lee now." I cry desperately trying to see if I can save him. 

"Please Malcolm," I beg

"I see him now." His eyes lose focus, his hand loses grip, his neck loses pulse. He was talking about his long-dead boyfriend, Lee Fletcher who died when Luke's army attacked the camp a few years ago. I feel my insides collapse. How could I have let this happen. I should've been there. I shouldn't have left. 

My mind shifts from Malcolm and I realise that those arrows didn't just appear in his back. The camp was under attack. It had to be. I run further toward the camp and hear the clashing of swords, the yells of war, the sounds of battle. I charge toward the cabins and begin to see the huntresses fighting a horde of stone warriors. Not like Medusa stone, more like warriors equipped with stone armour. You can even see their pale grey eyes flashing with all kinds of emotion. The longer I look at them, the more I feel that there is something off about them 

The huntresses are struggling to fend them off. I look around but Artemis is nowhere to be seen. I see Thalia struggling as she backs up into Reyna who is fighting alongside the 12th Legion Fulminata. I look around for Percy but I can't see him anywhere. I dash toward the Athena cabin to grab my knife and shield.

I burst the door open and rush toward my bed. I reach under the pillow and snatch my knife. I shuffle underneath the bed to find my shield but I can't find it. I give up looking and head toward the exit of the cabin ready to join the fight. I pass Malcolm's bunk and feel my heart swell. I place that aside and burst out into the courtyard. I see Will Solace and Leo Valdez fighting for their lives. 

"Annabeth!" Will calls to me. 

"Where is Percy!" I yell back.

"He was over that way with Nico a minute ago," Leo shouts gesturing toward the Hades cabin. "I think he got hurt," I say nothing else and try and make it to Cabin 13 which was on the other end of the courtyard. I fail. I am flanked by a stone fighter. I stab him deep in the neck which was about the only spot that wasn't protected by armour. He chokes and falls to the ground. I look into his eyes as purple, rotten blood spills from his neck. I feel bad for him. That has never happened before. Never have I felt guilty for killing anything that attacked me. It was like I could relate to him somehow.

I forget about it and move on as I get attacked by more warriors. I kill each one, getting more beat up each time though. I still felt that shred of guilt with each of them like I did with the first one. I look across the yard and see Clarisse dashing toward me. 

"Where have you been!" she growls at me. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know we were under attack," I reply but she isn't focusing on me anymore. She is staring in the direction of Cabin 10 where Drew Tanaka was fighting a stone warrior. But Clarisse wasn't looking at drew. She was focusing on the stone warrior as if trying to decipher something about them. The stone fighter had a feminine appearance and was fighting sloppily with a sword but not as sloppily as Drew. She stabs Drew in the abdomen. Drew falls to the ground motionless. Clarisse's eyes flood with both shock and fear

"That's, it's she's..." There are tears poring down her face. I know it isn't Drew's death that had scared her. it was something else, something about the stone fighter. She is about to say a name but is interrupted when she is snatched up by a huge stone warrior with massive hands. She gasps once more, with a look of complete terror on her. She looks into his eyes and looks like she is about to faint. This isn't like Clarisse. Clarisse doesn't get scared. Clarisse usually fights back. I try and fight for her but I am shot in the arm by a warrior with a bow and arrow.

"How are you..." Clarisse utters but he didn't seem interested in answering her question because at that moment, it hurled her across the yard and into a tree. Her head strikes it first. She must be dead. No demigod could've survived that at least that's what I thought. 

Her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, rushes across the battlefield to come to her aid. He looks so scared. I want to go and help her but the big one goes for me next. It goes to punch me but I dodge and leap onto it's flying fist. I am so enraged I wanted to curl into a ball and explode. 

"You killed Clarisse!" I yell at it. A few campers turn their heads noticing what happened to Clarisse, their greatest fighter, "I'LL KILL YOU!" I climb across it's back and tear some of the stone plating off it's back I stab it repeatedly and this time, feel no remorse. I feel like I recognize the singed tunic underneath the armour. It falls to the ground, dead. My eyes dart around the conflict looking for the spot where Clarisse had been thrown. I see Chris cradling her carefully. He looks up at me with a glimmer of hope. Somehow she had survived.

I feel a wave of relief wash over me. It is short lived however because I hear an explosion. The big house had been reduced to rubble and marching out of it was a pale demigod with an eyepatch. It was someone who had died a long time ago. Someone who couldn't be there. It was Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis. I remember how he had helped us in the final battle against Kronos and I don't understand why he isn't fighting with us. 

I then notice, to my right, Percy. He is unconscious and is being dragged out of the line of fire by Nico. I want to go and help. But all of my other friends were dying by the second out here. I make the decision to stand my ground and continue helping everyone else

Ethan is charging through the crowd slaying demigods, satyrs, huntresses and nature spirits as he went. The sword he is holding is unusual it is long and glowing a sky blue colour. He yells something in Latin with his sword raised toward the sky. Everyone looked to him, including the stone warriors. The Roman demigods, Hazel Levesque looks shocked as she must recognize Latin.

He plunges his sword deep into the ground and glowing cracks open up and start expanding rapidly. I see Leo fighting alongside Hazel and I see them sink into the ground as one of the cracks had enveloped them. I hear Leo's struggled yells as he falls deep into the crevasse with Hazel trying to slow their decent by sticking her sword into the side of the hole. But it is useless. The crack closes taking them with it. I begin to run. There is another crack heading straight toward me. 

I trip on a tree root, twisting my ankle. I try and get up but I simply can't I see a crack close up where Clarisse and Chris had been. I turn and see one heading right for the Hades cabin which was where Nico had taken Percy. I feel a hand pick me up and start helping me away from the only remaining crack in the ground which was hurtling toward us. But something else appears ahead of us, Ethan Nakamura with his sword drawn begins charging at us. We are now sandwiched between the one-eyed demigod and the crevasse trying to eat us.

I feel the ground give way beneath me. Will yells as we fall through the ground, the sky getting further and further away until the crack closes itself off. All I see is darkness. Will holds me tight. But I am not too scared. I've fallen into worse holes than this.  A few seconds later, I black out.

This chapter is dedicated to Julie

[oddyssey77]

The Festival Part 2 - Nico

POV Nico Di Angelo

I had been looking forward to the festival for weeks. And no, not because Will Solace is going to be there. Ok maybe a little. I have been pining over Will for weeks and no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get over him. Somehow though, every step toward the camp that I took, I became less and less sure that I was doing the right thing by coming to this.

I am now questioning whether I should've come at all. I hang at the back of the crowd as I normally do in situations like this. Children of Hades were never truly welcome amongst other half bloods and I have gotten well used to it. The dirty scowls, the nervous glances, the trying and failing to ignore him, it all builds up. And it always hurts. I wasn't even sure I'd be welcomed back at camp after the what happened last year.

It took over 45 minutes for Camp Jupiter and the huntresses to get themselves organised and for the rest of us to get in line. I spent most of my time leaning against a tree picking at my nails, but I also talked to Grover for a bit.

"You know, you couldn't look any broodier over there," Grover notes to me jokingly

"Yep," I say, "I am meticulously planning my operation to bring Kronos back to power and bring on the fall of Olympus all while staring deeply into a nailfile."

Grover laughs, which helps me loosen up a bit.

"So how are things going with Juniper?" I ask him. He shifts uncomfortably

"Gods man, I haven't seen you in forever." he says completely skipping over the question as if he hadn't heard me. I decide not to push it and help him change the subject.

"Well while you go around restoring the land of life, I reside in the land of the dead helping to assure people get fair judgement of their lives. So it's not like our to jobs cross paths all that much."

Grover laughed again, but had a pained look in his eyes.

"You haven't seen, umm..." He mumbles shyly. He looks like he is about to cry.

"Who?" I ask him, "I haven't seen who?"

"Never mind, its nothing" He states. I was about to press him on the matter a bit more but Grover isn't looking at me anymore. He is staring out into the field trying to make out a large figure with one eye.

"Is that..?" he begins "Tyson!" Grover leaps forward to greet Tyson while I hang back 

"Goat Boy!!!" Tyson yells as they run towards each other and meet in the middle for a hug like something out of a movie. They confer for a few minutes until Tyson looks over Grover's shoulder and notices me.

"Ahhhh!!!" he yells, still looking at me "ITS SCARY EMO DEATH BOY!!!" Tyson runs away from me while Grover chases after him.

"Alone again." I mutter to myself grumpily.

"Not for long..." a voice whispers in my ear. I look around but can't see anyone. "I've been looking forward to our reunion, Ghost King." I know he is talking to me even though no one ever really addresses me as Ghost King. "See you soon." I knew I recognised the voice from somewhere in my past but I just couldn't remember what it was. I wait for the voice to speak again but it doesn't.

~30 Minutes Later~

As the march up the hill begins I very much consider leaving and pretending that I had never been here. It would be easier that way. I didn't want to have to go up to Chiron on this day of joy and tell him about a spooky ghost speaking in my ear and telling me something's coming. Something bad. On the other hand though, this doesn't concern the rest of the camp and bringing my trouble here is only going to mess things up for everyone like it did last time. I finally make a decision and turn to leave when someone taps me on the shoulder. I pounce back from the jump scare. Human contact can catch me off guard sometimes seeing as I spend most of my time with floating, transparent souls.

"Hey, Nico," I finally pay attention to the person who was trying not to giggle at the fact that I jumped 5ft from being tapped on the shoulder. It was Percy, Percy Jackson.

"Are you coming in or are you just going to stand there?" I was going to tell Percy the truth about how unwelcome I felt but I didn't really want to share my feelings with someone who I only see a few times a year. Although, a few times a year is a lot more of me than people see of me nowadays. I also realise that now I have been greeted by Percy there was no way I could get away with disappearing.

Percy is walking me through the camp when I see my cabin. Cabin 13. I hadn't even thought about having to stay in my cabin. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to face being in there again since the incident. I try to find an excuse to turn around and go somewhere else but nothing comes to mind. Every step closer to the cabin, my lungs get tighter. Percy starts to notice.

"Are you alright?" Percy asks clearly worried for me. I can tell he's being nice to me mainly because we were both besties of Jason

"I don't think this was a good idea," I tell him, turning away from the cabin.

"Listen to me Nico. Everyone has forgiven you for what happened. Even Travis."

"And Connor?" I ask him already knowing the answer.

"Just go into the cabin Nico, I promise you will love it."

Hesitantly, I make my way to the front door. Everything looked the same as before I wasn't sure what Percy meant when he told me I would love it but so far I was definitely not loving it. I reach my trembling hand for the door knob when Percy stops me.

"Wrong door Nico," he says to me as he turns the corner around to the side of the cabin. I walk around the side and realise that the whole thing has gotten an extension. There was now a new room attached to it, one that wasn't quite as black as the rest of the building and had instead took on a more dark grey color. Painted on a plank of wood were two words NICO'S ROOM.

I couldn't believe it. They cared the other campers cared about making things better for me after what happened. When I walk into the room I notice that I am smiling for the first time in months. I look around see a classic teenager's bedroom that still retains my whole darkness theme.

There is a desk with a load of notebooks and sketchbooks ready for usage. There is a framed photograph of me and friends on the bedside table. Oh, and the bed, the bed is a incredible. It was soft and comfy, with black silk covers. It has a dark wooden frame with a large bedhead with an odd array of buttons. I decide not to ask about them and instead think about how much comfier this bed is than the one on the other side of the Hades cabin which was made of hallowed obsidian from the underworld. 

"It's beautiful," I tell Percy, still in shock.

"You have to do one more thing," Percy says, "Close your eyes and lie down on the bed." I do as I am told, trusting Percy to safely direct me to my bed without bumping into anything on the way. I lay down, face up and Percy tells me to open my eyes. I am staring directly at a mural on the ceiling and I am shocked. A tear streaks down my cheek. 

I was looking at a navy ceiling with a ton of painted white stars and in the center, painted skillfully was my sister, Bianca. She isn't dressed in her hunter's outfit or a camp half blood tee, instead she is simply wearing casual, human clothes. Her hair is tied in a singular braid that was hanging down the front of her left shoulder. She was leaning in with a kind smile and an outreached hand as if to help someone up after falling down. 

I hadn't realised just how much I was crying. I didn't like how vulnerable it made me feel but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

"Who painted this?" I croaked

"I did," but it wasn't Percy who had responded to me. I turned around and saw Will Solace smiling at me. I put my feelings aside and hugged him.

"Thank you," I sob, "That's the first time anyone has recognized Bianca as anything other than a huntress or a daughter of Hades. That's the real her, that is my sister."

~4 Hours Later~

It is 5 o' clock and I am on my way to see if I can help prepare the Dining Pavilion for dinner. On my way, I decide to visit Cabin Eleven to talk with Travis Stoll. I slowly make my way to the cabin door trying to find the right words to say to him. I knock on the door, even though it wasn't much of a knock, more like a nervous tap. The door is opened by a tall figure with slick, black hair. It was Connor Stoll.

"You," He grumbles malevolently, looking like he wants to punch me. I couldn't really blame him though could I, "What do you want."

"I want to talk with Travis." The other Hermes campers notice me standing on their porch and start whispering frantically with each other.

"Why, so you can break his arms too!" he is furious now and I begin to think this wasn't so great an idea and step back to leave

"Connor, who's at the door?" a voice speaks from the back of the room and I know its Travis. But before anyone could say anything else the door slams shut in my face and I think I hear Connor telling Travis that it was nobody.

~1 Hour Later~

When everyone arrived at the dining pavilion for dinner, I was taken aback by the sheer amount of people standing there waiting for Chiron to speak. Mr. D commanded the group to....

"SHUT THE F$*k UP!!!" Everyone fell silent. "Thank you all for coming to this event and stuff. To the parents, can I just say that your kids are a joy, and it has been a pleasure to teach and train them everything I know over the last years. So if anyone would be kind enough to write a recommendation letter to Zeus about how my punishment deserves to be expedited a few decades please see to the pen and paper I have placed on that table."

"Alright, that's enough Mr D," Chiron managed to interrupt him before Mr D got the chance to convince people to get him some wine. Chiron continued with a much longer and more boring speech so I decide to step away for a few minutes. I see three people over by the Athena cabin. It is Annabeth and a short, middle-aged man with glasses who I assume is her father. They seem to be in a three-way argument with a Korean woman who looked like she could be Annabeth's step-mom. It ends with Annabeth storming into the woods and Dr. Chase trying to go after her but the woman holds him back. They turn toward the big house and make to leave the camp. I spot Percy look in Annabeth's direction trying to figure out what happened.

"Now let's eat!" I hear Chiron shout. Behind him is a large array of tables all in one line. No one was separated by Cabin like things usually are. Instead Anyone sits down anywhere. I am invited by Will, Leo and Percy to sit with them and shyly make my way over there. The tables were adorned with all kinds of meat, vegetables, sauces, stuffings and soups. I pick a small piece of chicken onto my plate alongside some carrots and peas. 

"That's all your getting?" Will asks me curiously.

"For now, I'll grab some more later," I tell him through my teeth. Will nods his head but didn't really look like he was paying attention to me anymore. He is staring into the distance as if he's dreaming. It takes a few seconds but he eventually snaps out of it with a look of shock on his face

"We have to go, They're coming," he says looking more terrified than I'd ever seen anyone in my life.

"Who?" Leo asks urgently.

"My father sent me a vision. It was an army of stone warriors, marching up the hill," he is shaking now "they are on there way and... they just killed Annabeth's parents"

This Chapter is dedicated to Ella

[oddyssey77]

The Festival Part 1 - Will

This story takes after Heroes of Olympus and 4 weeks after Jason's mysterious death. Everyone is grieving and Will has set up a festival in his honor. Jason died in my own original way that will be explained later in the story.

POV Will Solace 

The day of the festival had finally arrived. I had prepared tirelessly for this and made sure that no detail had been left unchecked. I leapt out of bed and began ordering some of the Apollo campers around. All the cabins were looking perfect. Yesterday I managed to convince Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon to pressure wash the cabins which was a job that had needed to be done years ago.

I meet up with Piper, the head counsellor for the Aphrodite cabin, and begin doing the cabin inspections.

"Big day today," Piper says, clearly noticing my nerves.

"I know," I reply trying not to think about it, "Gods, I hope this works out."

"It will" she says reassuringly, "I bet they'll even make it an annual event."

I liked that idea. Imagine how cool it would be for an idea you came up with yourself to become a yearly event to take place for decades to come

Most cabin counsellors had taken initiative and had made sure that the campers had tidied up their messes but there were a few stragglers as always. So as Piper made off to pull Clovis out of bed, I made my way to Cabin 3 where I would have to confront the son of the sea god

When I enter Cabin 3 I am instantly hit by the stench of dirty laundry. The room was a kip. Everywhere I looked there were piles of old t-shirts, dirty socks, dead sea plants and old food that hadn't been cleaned away. The only part of the room that managed to avoid this state of destruction was the mantelpiece.

There are photos of friends, family and fallen demigods. I immediately recognized the faces of Lee Fletcher and Michael Yew, two previous Apollo campers who died in battle. I also saw Selina Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf and in the center was Jason. Then I heard a snore, I looked to my left and there he was... Percy Jackson, the guy who saved the world, the camp, and Olympus, lying sprawled over his bed in boxer shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

"Not today Will," Percy groaned at me, half asleep, "I don't feel like getting up."

"Percy, today is the festival," I said impatiently "So stop being a baby, tidy up this bombsite, and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"Ughhh," Percy sighed but just rolled further into his bed, "I won't celebrate anything. Not without Jason here."

I feel bad for Percy. It had been 4 weeks since Jason's death and Percy had not been taking it well so I decide to leave him. I look up at the big house and see a woman with soft hair and kind eyes making her way down to the camp. She is holding hands with a young child who seemed to be her daughter. The little girl was looking around, clearly amazed by how cool the camp was. Then, Annabeth Chase, Percy's girlfriend, greets them graciously. She looks over at me and gives me a look to signal

"Is Percy still in bed?" 

"Yes, we should probably leave him," I gesture back at her. 

Annabeth tilts her head toward the woman and I realise that I am looking at Percy's mother Sally Jackson. She must have come early to help set up. They finally get close enough to me to communicate with Annabeth properly, but she seems to have forgotten I was there. She looks like she is desperately trying to redirect Percy's mom and stop her from going into cabin 3 and seeing both the mess and her son lying around carelessly. I decide to jump in and help.

"Hi, I'm Will Solace from the Apollo cabin. You must be Sally Jackson."

"Yes, that's me," she says kindly, "and this is Estelle." she gestures at the little girl who hadn't paid me any attention and was instead trying to tell her mother something.

"Mommy, someday I wanna be as pretty as those girls!" she was pointing at the Aphrodite girls standing outside cabin 10. Piper who was just on her way back from the Hypnos cabin seems to have overheard this because she walks over to us chuckling and tells Estelle that someday, she'll be prettier than all the Aphrodite girls. This made Estelle giggle. 

"If you want, I can show you around camp," Piper tells her 

"Please, Mommy, pleaseeee," Sally looks hesitant but Annabeth assures her that Piper will take good care of Estelle. 

"Alright," Sally sighs, "Don't show her anything scary."

"I won't," Piper promises

"Now, where is Percy?" Sally asks. Annabeth gives up trying to make excuses and instead tries to block the door, in an attempt to shield Percy from his mother. But then I step in.

"Have you signed in yet?" I asked Sally. Annabeth looked confused 

"What do you mean?" Sally asks

"You need to sign in at the big house before you come into the camp or the harpies will eat you." Sally looked stunned. 

"Is Estelle going to be okay?" she says looking worried.

"You can sign in for her" Annabeth suggests finally copping on

"I can take you up to the big house," Annabeth tells her while flashing me a look that I read as "get Percy fixed up fast." 

I was going to remind Annabeth that I was the one who planned the festival and I have duties other than tidying the Poseidon cabin but I decided that I could probably sacrifice some time for Percy.

After I finish helping Percy with his cabin, I make my way up to the dining pavilion to help prepare for our guests but once I get there, I am greeted only by Leo Valdez, counsellor for cabin nine, Hephaestus. I look around and realise that there's no one else there except for him and all the work had already been done.

"Brooo," he says to me, "Where have you been?" 

"What do you mean, It's only eleven o' clock," I say looking at my watch

"Nah it's twelve, you gotta keep up with the daylight savings man." 

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I, a child of the sun god, forgot daylight savings.

"Chiron's mad that you didn't help out" Leo says to me calmly

"Where is he" I ask with a more urgent tone in my voice but Leo remains relaxed

"Out by the tree greeting the visitors with the rest of the camp,"

I begin to panic

"Why aren't you there then" I had already begun to sprint for the camp entrance. I wasn't really awaiting a response, I just assume that Leo simply wasn't bothered to stand around welcoming people that he has never met before and probably won't ever meet again. As I am running, Percy catches up with me. He must have also realised that we were an hour off and had a look of terror in his face that I could only interoperate as "Annabeth's going to dice me like an onion."

I shuffle into line next to Clarisse from the Ares cabin. She scowls at me but no one else seems to notice my late arrival. All of the campers are arranged by their cabins with the counsellors lined up at the front. I hear a horn blow in the distance as a banner is raised. Camp Jupiter, the Roman counterpart to Camp Half Blood and the slightly scarier version. We all watch as the 12th Legion Fulminata march up the hill. I recognize a few faces at the front. Reyna, Hazel, Frank and others that I remember from various battles. I also notice Jason Grace's absence from the group. The Romans are greeted by Chiron and make their way into the campgrounds.

Following behind Camp Jupiter was a slightly smaller group and one that I don't know as well as the Romans. An assortment of teenage and preteen girls all in warrior gear march up the hill led by a girl who looked about 16 and had long, luscious, blonde hair. I didn't recognize her but I couldn't help but be a little attracted to her. Then I realise it is my aunt and get a little disgusted with myself. Artemis walked confidently through our guard of honour followed by her huntresses. I recognized her lieutenant carrying her banner by her side as Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, who was basically my idol.

Behind Artemis and her pack is a much less organised mix of people making their way to the festival. There is Grover Underwood, Protector of the Wild leading a pack of satyrs and nature spirits to the festival. There is a cyclops named Tyson who seems to have brought a few of his cyclops friends with him. I see many mortal parents of demigods and half who have been invited past the camp boundaries just for the weekend to attend the festival. Sally Jackson and Estelle are also in this group. They must have left the camp just so they could reenter with everyone else. And then I see him, at the very back of the group, a pale, dark haired teenager who I knew as Nico Di Angelo.

This Chapter is dedicated to Carlota who inspired me to write this.