Chapter 1 : End of a war

Three days after the end of the second Gigantomachy.

The earth was turned upside down and mud streamed everywhere; broken trees and rocks littered the ground. Percy was on the Half-Blood Hill, near the entrance of camp, watching the aftermath of the battle that took place here.

Well… If it still could be called a hill.

All this devastation had been Gaea's doing, a primordial who caused countless deaths among the demigods' ranks. Even three days later, demigods from both camps, Half-Blood and Jupiter, could still find dead corpses hidden under the mud, buried six feet underground or smashed under rocks for the most unlucky.

From her presence alone, Gaea had completely redefined the landscape. The eastern and western hills surrounding the camp were bigger now, some could even be compared to mountains. It was as if what was inside this circle of land sank deeper into the ground, as if the earth itself tried to swallow the entire camp.

The strawberry fields were entirely ravaged, the climbing wall collapsed, the forges 'disappeared' into a giant bottomless hole.

Every building had holes or chinks, even the new ones. And even the most powerful and ancient buildings like the Cabins or the Big House had fissures.

Cracks and rifts on the ground were commonplace.

Primordials really are on another level, thought Percy. He knew that it was already a miracle that the place wasn't entirely destroyed. How could he see it so clearly, so certainly ? He himself couldn't understand why. Maybe that was because his father was known for causing earthquakes and other natural disasters. He could 'sense' deep inside him that the damage could have been far worse. And he also knew that this, at first glance, a calm and stable land, was in fact hanging by a thread.

Everything under their feet was standing on a precarious balance. Gaea had made sure of that. She'd played with the crust of the earth like a child would have played with his lego.

Destroying and reassembling it without a second thought.

That thought alone sent shivers down Percy's spine. He remembered the terror he felt when he faced Nyx and Tartarus, how hopeless and powerless he was. And so he was even more amazed to see Leo sacrifice his life to put an awakened Gaea back to sleep.

Percy felt guilty about each of the countless deaths, especially Leo's. He had slept for two days straight and couldn't bear to rest for another one in the infirmary.

He was tired but at least it was over, the war was finally over. He was at home, at camp, with his friends and Annabeth. He didn't want to admit it, since the general mood at camp was rather gloomy, but he was relieved.

Relieved that, at long last, he could think about his life for once without worrying about the end of the world.

One of the rare good things in that tragic situation is that with Percy around, the cleaning was undeniably faster. He carefully summoned massive floods of water which swapped away the several debris and the mud around.

Seeing the sadness and rage that his fellow demigods had, Percy tried to lighten the tension, so that the others could feel better. He had to force himself sometimes because even though he was not really in the mood to laugh, he thought he had to make an effort for the greater good.

When we were finished, the hills were almost like before. With emphasis on the word 'almost'. Most of the missing corpses have been retrieved and properly given the ancient rites. I could still sense some bodies buried in the earth, but they were far too deep to be recovered. So I decided to not tell anyone about it, to not let them know that there were dozens of unrecognizable dead people brutally killed and compressed under our feet.

I felt awful for doing this. To honor them, all we could do was burn their shroud.

There were still a lot of people injured, but thanks to the Apollo cabin, their recovery was fast. I went back to the infirmary to pack my stuff and see Nico, who was still lying unconscious after overusing his power. The place was unsurprisingly crowded by heavily wounded people, some still on the verge of death. But the doctors did their best to take care of them all, as painlessly as possibl…

"AAAAAAAHHHH !" I suddenly heard someone scream.

"Ohhh, nice voice, very acute. Care to show me again ?" The doctor casually said next to this plastered boy.

Something was strange about him, apart from being so carefree in a place like this. First, he was a grown adult. Now, that may probably seem irrelevant to you but usually, the people who were used to fighting to the death for their immortal parents were children or teenagers like me. Only the Romans had the decency to hire older half-bloods in wars but he clearly wasn't one.

And on the other hand, he had this familiar and mysterious glowing aura around him that clearly meant that he wasn't anybody.

Then he turned his head and I recognized immediately that hot, literally hot, face.

Apollo.

I was surprised to find out that the god of medicine himself was here helping his children. He seemed irritated and was planting syringes at full speed, without really paying attention, and without proper aiming, causing pain for the poor lads already half-dead. But even so, not a single doctor here was complaining, it seemed that the syringes were all perfectly well-placed, despite his perceived carelessness.

Then he caught a glimpse of me and smiled a little bit too sadistically for my taste.

"Oh my, if it isn't my favorite cousin and hero, Percy Jackson !" He overreacted, like always. He gradually came closer and closer until we were face to face. "Are you maybe feeling bad ?" He cornered me against a wall. "I'd love to help you, you know, and finally hear your beautiful voice fully. Now come here…" He smiled and pointed a syringe at me. "Don't be scared…"

He was the same old shirtless, all-sunny, all-smiling god. But this time he was wearing a white blouse, gloves, and a mask with his regular sunglasses. Making him the spitting image of what I would think about off a beach surgeon if they existed. I didn't know if all these equipment and tools were really necessary since he could heal people with just the palm of his hand, or if it was just for showing off. But since I wasn't an expert, I just kept my mouth shut.

"No no no ! Thanks, but I'm fine, really." I answered immediately, but that didn't stop him from moving that cursed pointy 'thing' at me.

"I swear !" I screamed in fear. I quickly thought about a way to change the subject. "And you, how are you ? Zeus didn't punish you too severely ?" I anxiously sneered.

"Don't even talk about it !" He finally reacted and suddenly shouted at me while holding up his finger to his lips, while looking at the ceiling. He stayed silent for a few seconds and I wondered if it wasn't the first time I saw him shut his trap by himself.

Somehow it was really refreshing. Unfortunately, this bliss didn't last long.

"He wants to wait until tonight's celebration before taking a decision, but I'm sure he just can't decide what type of torture he wants to use on me yet."

And there he goes prattling again, I thought.

"He blames me unfairly, but still needs my help ! He forces me to heal everyone here. Can you believe that ? I'm supposed to be a god ! This is beneath me. But of course, I bet my generous aid will not be taken into account by his stubborn bullhead. Noooo, my father thinks that all things in existence should be granted to him ! But do one tiny, minuscule error and then all the blame comes down on you. As if he wasn't guilty too, he just needed a scapegoat and guess who'll have to pay for everyone's fault: ME ! And he still wonders why I'm his most rebellious son. 'Why did you rebel against me with Hera and Poseidon thousands of years ago ?', 'Why…" He kept on his rant.

"Sucks to be his son, I guess." I muttered, trying to interrupt his rampage. But somehow my comment was for once noticed and took him by surprise.

"Because you think you're better, Percy ?" He genuinely asked. "My father may be the worst but yours is top tier too. You've never seen barnacle head on his bad side. His fatal flaw is anger and you better never see him like this. He could kill you right on sight."

Were we really talking about the same person ?

"As if it would ever happen to me," I laughed. "I already saw him angry a few times but I'm still here, right ?" Even though I must admit that each time I saw him angry, I was getting petrified for a moment. And not in a Medusa way, more like in an I'm-sorry-don't-kill-me-please kind of way.

And that time when I sat on his throne on Olympus. There I really thought I was gonna die.

"I'm his favorite son, remember ?" I grinned, trying to reassure myself. "But more importantly, you said there was a celebration ?"

"Oh yes, tonight the gods will feast on Olympus and the Greeks and Romans will do it here as well, it's already in preparation. From what I've heard, even the Hunters and Amazons will be here for their contributions in the war."

"Why don't we all go to Olympus like always ?" It was risky to ask him too many questions, he could go on chattering endlessly again at any time. But I found it really weird that for the first time in all the quests I made over the years, we wouldn't go to Olympus to celebrate it like we used to. Moreover for the end of the Giant war.

"The gods are still divided by their Roman aspects, even if it's less important. Some of us are still troubled by our counterparts and are very unstable. It's still dangerous to have both camps on Olympus. Even me, who's basically the same between both camps, just by being here between Romans and Greeks, it makes me feel a little fuzzy in the head !"

Now that he mentions it, it's true that he seemed a little intoxicated. Not as much as Mr. D of course, but still. His form wasn't really clear, as if it was more liquid than solid.

"Now where was I ?" He looked at the patient next to him. "Ah yes !"

"No, no, no no no no no no…" The scared boy next to him dreadfully muttered.

Good luck kid. I thought before cowardly leaving him to his demise.

I came out to help prepare for the party and saw a lot of new faces with orange shirts on the way to the big house. There must have been a new arrival of demigods since I left nine months ago. There were a lot of new cabins too. I suddenly realized that they were all thrown into a bloody war for their first year.

Poor children.

I talked to a lot of them on the way, but each time I saw either fear or astonishment in their eyes and the discussions ended quickly. It must have been the last battle that had traumatized them. I certainly still had nightmares about it when I was asleep.

Then I heard glimpses of conversations in my back.

"It's him… Percy Jackson… Hero… You heard that… Tartarus… Prophecy… St-Helen… Leader… Titans… Only Poseidon's… It seems that… Giants… Achilles' curse… Labyrinth… Both Ares and Hades… Hyperion… Underworld… Kronos…"

I didn't like that at all, it felt like I was a circus freak to them, something else entirely compared to them. As if I was so different I couldn't be seen anymore as one of their own.

I hated to stand out like this, to be excluded, one against all. I wasn't 'normal', I knew that much, I'm not your typical teenager and neither could I really be classified as an ordinary demigod (as if the demigod could be considered common in the first place), but I wasn't that special either, right ?

At the Big House, there was a meeting between the counselors and the centurions, with the Seven also present. The meeting room with the ping-pong table never felt so cramped. They were all quite busy talking between them about all that party stuff and also about some conflicts among the Romans and Greeks, apparently mostly due to the Ares kids, which is, I must say, the most familiar thing I saw so far since coming back to camp. Who would have thought that I would even miss and finally appreciate the most notorious camp bullies ?

I joined them and shook hands with everyone, which was as tedious and tiresome as doing it in your regular office party. In the end, I got to Jason who was sitting in a corner on a massive wooden desk I'd never seen around before. It was full of piles of paper and he was writing intensely on every single one.

He didn't even look up when I approached him and certainly didn't see my hand right in front of him, still waiting to meet his.

He's not the child of the wind god for nothing, I cried inside my head.

"Hi Percy," He finally said, vaguely aware that I was there. "Glad to see you back. And thanks for helping clean the hills."

He was pressed, and busy planning with other people what seemed like an endless list of matters and problems. He looked like a relentless chief, bossing everyone around. I wondered if he had always been like this during my absence, I don't remember him being so bossy on the Argo II. Maybe it came from his days when he was in New Rome.

The meeting continued. I had to go with Frank and Hazel to the Roman camp to help make the preparations and calm the tension. I was pretty good at calming others, being a son of Poseidon, I was naturally a chill dude.

The Romans were totally bewildered by our camp, so not disciplined, so not organized, so not Roman I traduced. It's true that for them it must look like a summer camp, well it is one, after all, just a really weird one. I was playing the guide for them until some asked about our cabins or structures that I myself never had seen before. Ironically, there were already some modifications that felt like they came from New Rome. Was it planned by Jason during my absence ?

I apologized to them. "I've been missing for a while, so even for me, this is pretty new."

So many things had changed in only a few months, and since the battle with Gaea, Camp was now looking barely recognizable to me. The idea that things went by and happened without me, that I was irrelevant, or worse, disposable, just like a pawn controlled by greater powers, made me a little sick.

Hazel then suddenly took my hand.

"You're doing great," She said. "Don't worry too much about it." She was so young and yet so kind and intuitive.

"If you need someone to talk to," Frank came in as well. "We're always here."

Name a more supportive pair than those two.

"I'm fine, guys." I anxiously grinned. "And you should be more concerned about your new job, Frank." I tried to change the subject. "Praetor is a tough position, maybe even too much for you to handle." I teased him.

"Thank you for your wise advice, former Preator," He suddenly answered with an unexpected grin. "Who got dismissed the first day after his election."

That was maybe the first time ever that Frank successfully roasted me. It almost made me proud. Would be totally the last too, boyo. You don't mess with me like this without consequences.

"By the way," I said. "You know why Jason is acting like this ? It's the end of the war and yet he looks like he has no time to waste."

"I heard that during our trip," Hazel said. "He met a minor goddess and swore to her that he would give her a shrine at camp Half-Blood and camp Jupiter. That it gave him the motivation to give some recognition to all minor gods and improve the relations between them and us."

"Ah yes," I exclaimed. "I remember that ! It was during our fight against Polybotes underwater." I would have preferred to forget that one, I really sucked back there. "Well, that's nice. He decided to concretely plan something noble."

Something I couldn't do, I thought.

"That's true, but I think he's taking it too far." She continued. "Nowadays, it also seems that he wants to absolutely resolve the differences between Greeks and Romans. He wants to be a 'bridge', like he says, between them. It worries me because I feel he's rushing things and he's taking too much on his shoulders. I know that he just wants to be useful and recognized, but he's not being reasonable here. At this rate, Camp Half-Blood will just be another New Rome.

"And from what I see around," Frank said. "It already began."

Then the party began.

It was decided to have a Roman Style celebration, Jason personally insisted on this, thinking it was the most efficient way. Thus, people were organized into groups composed of friends and people from the same cabin or cohort. Romans and Greeks mixed, with tables for each group. We wanted to make them feel at ease while forcing communication and coexistence between the two camps.

When we saw during the day all the sad, gloomy, depressed if not angry faces that everybody had, 'Afraid' wasn't enough of a word to describe how we felt.

It could go horribly wrong. And all the improvements we struggled to gain so far during the war would have been crushed. I was drinking my blue soda tensely, ready to intervene at any moment.

But we were surprised when we saw that, gradually, the atmosphere was getting warmer and friendlier. Almost all campers were drinking, eating, and singing. In a word… Festing. And we were amazed that a lot of people were going from one group to another to talk.

One of our plans worked without a hitch. That alone must have been one of the most shocking things I've experienced as a half-blood.

For the first time since the end of the battle, Camp Half-Blood felt alive and the hearth was reaching new heights. I guessed war also had its good points, and could even re-unite ancient enemies…

Never tell Ares I thought this. I secretly noted in my mind.

I sat beside my friends, all the crew were here, except for Nico, Reyna and... Leo. We all mourned him, but Jason was even more depressed. Piper, on the contrary, was sad, but honestly not as much as I thought she would be.

"I'm sure he's not dead." She kept saying but I seriously doubted it. Nico himself told us he was gone on the other side at the end of the battle.

Back to more happy matters: Food !

I was known for my legendary appetite, so naturally, the whole table where I sat was a festival of blue food. I had never eaten so much in my life. I noted that the older I got, the more I ate.

Duh, you'd probably say, but I meant it seriously. Between this year and the one before, I must have doubled my diet, yet I never seemed to catch fat. Well, it must have been because I was still in full growth and constantly fighting.

I was eating my seventh pizza when I felt a sparkle on my neck that almost made me throw up.

"For gods' sake Jason, will you…" I said hastily while turning back, but stopped immediately when I saw who I was talking to.

"Wow !" She raised her voice, smiling. "Calm down, kelp head ! It's only me."

"Thals !" I shouted. She sat down with me, and we talked together for a while.

"So two times the savior of Olympus," Thalia said, sneering. "You're becoming quite popular, eh ?"

I laughed, but popularity wasn't something I liked a lot.

"I don't care about being popular," I said and she raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. "In fact, I'd like to be untroubled right now. Step back from all the Myths and the gods and the monsters ! Just being at camp with Annabeth like this is per-fect."

"No way," She overreacted, full of sarcasm. "You're telling me that the mighty Perseus Jackson doesn't want to fight anymore ?"

"Exactly my dear cousin," I answered with my irritating grin. "I, the mighty and magnificent Perseus Jackson, just want for once since I was twelve to be left alone by the gods and their damn business."

"Ha, good luck with that !" She laughed, then suddenly became strangely serious. "The gods will always have something in store for you, Percy, and us too. They need the demigods to do their dirty work, and we can't refuse them. You just can't escape your fate."

"Surely, after two wars they will let us get some rest, I think…" Then I seriously wondered about the matter. "At least I hope. Anyways, I won't help them this time even if they beg me."

She looked at me doubtfully. "And if your friends are in danger ?"

"Well, then I will go, of course."

"You're so predictable, kelp head," She smiled. "You make the perfect pawn."

This annoyed me a bit. It made me think of Gaea when she called me her 'little pawn'.

"Are you saying that you wouldn't do the same for me, pinecone face ?"

"Hm, touché." She admitted. The irony made me laugh.

"Poor simple mortals that we are." I half-joked.

It was nearly three in the morning when Annabeth and I decided to go to the beach to have some time for ourselves. I began to feel very sleepy when she came and whispered it to me, but I couldn't refuse her this little escapade. It was so romantic, and romance was something that we didn't have since I was gone, since Paris to be exact. Too many things happening in the meantime, like literally falling into hell for instance.

The view was beautiful, we couldn't see the stars because of the large clouds in the sky, but the moon was visible at the horizon. The sea was dark with the night, so the lights of the campfire and the torches were being reflected on the water. This was the most magnificent picture I had seen in my life, with the equally most magnificent person I met on earth.

However the only thing I was able to say was:

"Wow… This is just… Wow."

Very subtle, I know, thank you. But what can I say ? Describing things was never a strong point of mine. And why bother describing when you can just live in the moment.

"You said it, seaweed brain," Annabeth said. She had a large smile on her face. The scenery was so perfect, we just sat down on the sand and kissed each other for a long time.

"What have you planned from now on, wise girl ?" I gently whispered to her.

"I don't know," She had her head resting on my shoulder, her eyes gazing the farthest they could at the horizon, soon ready to enter Hypnos' realm. "I still have to make some arrangements on Olympus, I plan to build... "

I interrupted her, knowing she would have gone for an hour of architecture lessons. "You still haven't finished after all this time ?"

She got her head off and locked eyes with me. Maybe I made a mistake, maybe I should have let her think and talk about architecture. Who knows, maybe it was her way to get to sleep every night. I could certainly imagine her doing that.

"To be fair," She said while counting on her finger and raising her voice. "I was very occupied with the new war, the fact that Olympus was closed, or again plainly by the fact that I was desperately searching for some seaweed brain across the country !"

I felt the tears rise, I couldn't even imagine what she had to go through during those months. I, personally, couldn't even think of a life without her at my side.

"Don't worry," I hugged her, unable to let go. "I'm here now and I promise I won't leave you again, never."

"Eh ! That's playing dirty ! Hugging me like that out of nowhere." She protested, but it didn't sound like it bothered her, on the contrary. She embraced me back and I swear I could feel her crying a little. She didn't make a sound, of course, my wise girl was good at hiding her emotions. But unfortunately for her, I could sense the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You're not forced to hide yourself from me." I attentionally reassured her while caressing her head. "I'll always be by your side. Your weakness is my weakness, and your strength is our strength. We care for each other. We stand as one."

"I know." She confirmed. "We'll always be together." Her voice almost broke because of her emotions.

We stayed like this, unable to let go of each other for a while.

At some point, a light wing appeared. It woke me up a little and I saw in the distance someone slowly approaching us from the sea. I looked at him for a moment, confused, then suddenly I felt a strange chill surging through my body. It was as if someone splashed me with a bucket of cold water—it woke me up instantly ! Annabeth and I stood up at the same time, she must have felt it too.

This person coming from the sea suddenly began to look really menacing to me.

"Who is it ?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know." I anxiously answered.

In the darkness of the night, the figure was too far to be recognized. I decided to take out Riptide from my pocket to be prepared for any eventuality. This could be a Monster, a god, anything. And Annabeth had nothing to defend herself.

"Stay back," I told her, swinging my arm backward while entering the water.

This was my element, where I would be the strongest and more secure. The stranger came closer and I was able to discern a green suit and a stick in his hand... No, not a stick.

A Trident.

"Dad !" I shouted and chuckled nervously. "Oh my gods, you scared me !"

Poseidon came closer. His usually understanding and passionate green eyes were strangely now so serious. His look had no empathy, no pity.

"Perseus," He said with the deepest voice I ever heard from him. It sounded like it came from the abyss itself. "Come with me."

The weather was becoming worse and worse. Thunder appeared and the sea became abruptly agitated.

"What ?" His sentence took me by surprise. "You mean right now ? This can't wait until morning ?"

I don't know if I said something wrong, but he seemed annoyed.

"I SAID, come with me, NOW !" He suddenly shouted and it sent a shockwave so powerful, it instantly shifted the sea, blasting the sand, the trees, and me backward. Even though it was undeniably weaker, I personally felt like I'd been struck by a truck.

I was more than 'petrified'.

Lightning appeared nearby, flashing us and illuminating his face. "You will face the consequences for what you did." He finished

He radiated power. And though it was hard to discern precisely in the dark, I could clearly see the barely controlled anger that was carving his face.

I was just speechless, he never talked to me this way. And what did he mean when he said I would face the consequences ? What did I do ?

Annabeth saw my distress and helped me.

"Lord Poseidon," she kneeled in the water. "Please calm down ! If you need assistance, we would be honored to help. So please explain the situation to us." An answer worthy of the child of Athena, who tried to calm down the tension without irritating him.

"Do not talk to me, you impertinent brat !" He stormed at her. "I don't need your help, and I am only here for my son. Now begone !"

This was too much, I couldn't let her be disrespected like this !

"What's happening, dad ?" I stood up to him, getting between him and Annabeth. "Why are you acting like this ? Aren't you ashamed of yourself ?"

Suddenly, he took me by the neck and lifted me up. Annabeth tried to help me, but a massive wave swept her away on the beach.

"Don't you dare talk back to me this way, Perseus, this is you who should be ashamed !" He screamed. "On Olympus, Zeus and all the gods mocked me all night because of you. Because you did nothing against Polybotes when you were in your own element. Even worse, it was Zeus' spawn who had to save you ! Because you were the one to wake Gaea, and yet you didn't even harm her during the battle. You were utterly useless in this war !"

Seeing his rage so close now was honestly terrifying, panic took over my body and I couldn't even think straight anymore, I just wanted to get the Hades out of here. Moreover, his traits seemed to unnaturally move and change, like there was something else inside veiled, trying to break free.

I already saw something similar with other gods, was he influenced by Neptune ?

The weather was getting even worse, the light wind became a storm and an earthquake shook the ground. I felt a loud cracking vibration deep in the ground and I knew for sure that it was nothing good.

I was astonished, so this is what it was all about… Pride. Just another quarrel with Zeus. How could my immortal father be so childish ? I didn't care for the glory or the achievements if, in the end, we could do what must be done to succeed. I tried to speak, but my throat was too compressed. However, it seems that he was able to read my thoughts.

He yelled louder than anything I'd heard before in my life.

"Don't think like a WEAKLING, you're so much better than this ! I can feel all the power that lay inside of you, far greater than your friends or most demigods who have ever lived ! Your pathetic mentality must be the influence of this filthy spawn of Athena !"

I was like a little child again, getting yelled at and dominated by Gabe, except this time, I actually cared and couldn't do anything except shut up and wait fearfully for the next blow to come, powerless. As I thought the worst was behind me, he began to maniacally laugh for a moment, far enough to creep me out.

"But don't worry, Perseus," He looked me dead in the eyes, smiling. "Because I will prove it to them soon, you will prove to them that you are the best demigod of all time. I will personally organize a trial so hard that no one could ever deny it. Something far worse than any quest, something far worse than the labors of Hercules himself !"

Dread overwhelmed me.

No, not again, this couldn't happen again. I couldn't leave right now, not after all I have been through ! I couldn't lose Annabeth, camp and my friends one more time ! I struggled to try to break free, but Poseidon or Neptune, I didn't even know any more at this point, his face seemed melted, didn't even budge.

I tried to summon all the water I could to make him let go of me, I made waves higher than ten feet and crashed them against him...

But nothing. All he showed was a cruel smile.

"Yes, like this, let it loose ! This is the behavior I want to see for your trial. But no matter how much you struggle, son…" He came closer and whispered in my ear.

"Don't ever forget that you will never be stronger than me."

My green eyes were red with rage. As he turned towards the sea, I pushed violent screams of denial and despair, trying in every way I could to break free from his control over me.

But I couldn't do anything.

And so, as he violently dragged me into the sea, the last things I saw before I passed out were the people running at the shore, and the lonely again wise girl to whom I had sworn that I would never leave again, crying on the beach, desperately trying to reach out to me.