Assassin of Chaos – Hollow

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series, all rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 6 – Fall of a Hero

3rd Person POV

Thalia slowly opened her eyes from where she slept in the Zeus cabin, the small amount of light that was able to penetrate the blinds attacked her eyes continuously, forcing her to squint so that she could reduce the discomfort that they caused. Her surroundings were still and calm unlike what most of the other cabins experience, this being due to the lack of any siblings at the camp. Although most people would feel lonely, she preferred it this way, surrounded by empty beds where her brothers and sisters were supposed to be. It meant that she had a place all to herself where she could escape the mess that the camp had become.

It appeared that she had fallen asleep wearing yesterday's clothes again, which was now a common occurrence for the young heroine as she usually had no energy to change by the time she returned to her cabin. Her entire existence hurt as she recovered from yesterday's brutal training session with an annoyingly strong son of Hades, who she knew would also be in a very similar or worse state at the current moment. Ever since the two of them had decided to conduct their training privately in the forest with only one another, they had each grown into their own and developed quite a bit with their physical capabilities as well as their powers.

Thalia had also packed on a decent amount of muscle in the recent months. She was much stronger now, definitely stronger than the other campers, but her more feminine features were still very clear, even more so actually. She had grown slightly to an impressive six-foot-tall, making her appear even more intimidating, while also gaining a more distinct hourglass figure with her training 'unintentionally' allowing her bosom and backside to develop to that of a super model. Neither were obscenely large but were more than enough to gain the attention of the guys in camp, even some of the Aphrodite girls were jealous of how much she had matured. To go with these changes, she decided a while ago to stop spiking her hair up and instead allowed it to flow like a waterfall down her back, reaching just past her shoulders. Her facial features were also slightly more defined, adding to her beauty, and her electric blue eyes were so bright that they seemed to hold even more electric than they used to.

Thalia was extremely happy with the changes that she made to herself, even if it meant that whenever the campers saw her, she would get stared or ogled at. She never paid any attention to them, although occasionally she had to put an arrogant jerk back in their place who thought it was a good idea to get too close to her, but she found enjoyment in doing so. Even though the majority of the male campers constantly tried to get her attention when she was around, in her eyes, there was only one person who she ever thought about in that way, the one who had so selflessly endangered himself over and over again for his friends, only to be betrayed by the girl he chose over her… but now she had a chance.

Her powers had also become much stronger than they previously were, and she had been able to develop some new ones that she thought would come in handy in the future. Unfortunately, this led to even more intense training as she and Nico needed to be able to fully control these new abilities. This sadly had the side effect of making mornings very difficult for them, as seen by the fact that they were both still in bed. After the first few weeks, Chiron finally decided that he wouldn't be able to wake them up at the scheduled time so he would have to let them do it in their own time, so the mornings were entirely theirs to do with as they pleased, which was mostly sleep.

The training was one of the best decisions that Thalia and Nico made, and it was all because of that one night. Ever since the situation at the beach with that arrogant, self-centred, jerk and Her, they both made a sort of pact. They would never let them, or anyone get stronger than themselves, but they soon realised that they not only wanted to beat the two individuals, they wanted to destroy them. This is what led to the brutal training sessions becoming more regular until they ended up doing them every night, it was a good thing too as the camp had become insufferable soon after. The campers no longer focused on their training, instead they would follow Aiden's ways and spend their time doing nothing productive. Most of the guys spent their time trying to get the attention of the girls and the girls spent their time enjoying this attention and being jealous of each other.

Because of this, Thalia and Nico hardly spent any time in the camp anymore, preferring the company of each other and the setting of the forest in which they trained. If they were lucky, they sometimes ran into a monster to kill but even they started to avoid the forest after so many of them had been killed. Chiron tried to get the two of them to come back so many times that even he started to annoy them, he would say that they need to help get the campers training again, and that their new abilities should be an example to what they could all achieve with hard work. Both of them highly doubted that anyone else could achieve what they had, except of course for Percy, but out of respect for the father figure that they shared, they decided that they would give it a try, but as per usual it was ruined.

When they both entered the arena to begin the class that they were teaching, they found that no one was there except for Aiden and his most loyal followers. He gloated about how he told everyone to take the day off and that Thalia and Nico weren't good enough to teach them, soon enough the entire group that was present were laughing. The fact that everyone listened to someone like him made their blood boil and confirmed that training the campers was a hopeless dream, so they left after giving a short display of their new powers. Thalia had shot a weak arc of electric from her hand which was quickly followed by a small ball of what one could only describe as darkness from Nico, both of which struck their intended target almost simultaneously. The group of loyal followers stood still in disbelieve as their leader was thrown across the arena, afraid that they were about to receive the same thing but when nothing came, they rushed over to help him as the pair who committed the act left. They heard that it put him in the infirmary for over a week, but they didn't care enough to find out if it was true, and if it was, even Chiron didn't care enough to come and punish them for it.

After that day, neither of them spent any more time than they needed to in camp, and it hurt them inside every time they denied Chiron's requests, seeing the sadness in his eyes even though he understood their reasons.

Back to the present, Thalia now managed to sit herself up on the side of her bed and looked over to the small table beside her, actually at the photo resting on top of it. The photo was a reminder of the most important people in her life as it showed herself, Nico and Percy laughing together in the camp arena. The one problem with the photo was the area in which a particular person used to be before Thalia scratched them out of it. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of the photo entirely, so this was the next best option. The photo was one of the only physical things that she had that reminded her of Percy since when she was in the hunters, she couldn't exactly keep a picture a male, let alone two no matter who it was, so she would often find herself staring at it.

It had been more than six months since Percy left for his quest and she missed him so much, nothing was the same without him and if it wasn't for Nico, she would have probably gone crazy by now. They had both wanted to go search for him so many times after he was gone for more than a month, but every single time, they were denied permission to leave camp. Chiron would always say that it was something he needed to do alone and that he was sure that the young hero would be fine, but this did nothing to settle their nerves. It wasn't that they didn't believe in Percy, they both knew that he could overcome any challenge, but they just wanted to know that he was ok and after they found out about Aiden and Her, they wanted to tell him that the quest was a waste of his time. They could sneak out, and they had planned to, but Chiron reminded them that they were two of the few people that could actually defend the camp, so they decided to stay and protect their ungrateful campmates. A decision that they both regretted, but at the same time they knew it was the right thing to do.

After a few more minutes, Thalia finally mustered the strength to stand up and using this newfound momentum, she jumped into her shower to clean off all of the sweat and dirt that she had gathered the night before. Usually she would take very short showers as she was never comfortable in water, with her being a daughter of Zeus, but lately she started to take longer ones. She discovered that the feeling of water running down her body made it feel like Percy was nearby, like she was safe from all harm and the warmth she felt was his arms around her, but then she would force herself to leave the water before she was lost in further daydreams.

She quickly got dressed into some training clothes instead of her normal punk rock clothing as she found the extra manoeuvrability was necessary to perform at her best. The tight top that she wore was black and unlike the normal training tops that girls in camp wore, this top didn't show off any skin or other features like one would expect, she only needed functionality, nothing more and nothing less. The same went for the pants she wore as they were also skin-tight but flexible enough to allow her to run, climb and do anything else that she needed to do. Even with the none revealing clothing, they hugged her figure and every curve, leaving almost nothing to the imagination but she found it difficult to prevent this with her new… enhanced body. They were both black but had a line of yellow running down each arm and leg, to symbolise her powers, which at first she fought against but then warmed to the idea of everyone wearing something to represent themselves, Nico in black and Percy in blue. This image actually made her smile as she imagined the unstoppable team that they would be, obliterating anything that got in their way.

Having now got dressed, she checked the time to see that it was around lunch time, which was actually the normal time she wakes up, so she wasn't bothered by this at all and made her way towards the door.

The doors of the Zeus cabin swung open and the rays of sunshine took their chance to illuminate the dark interior of the cabin. Thalia quickly exited so that she could move onto her next task of the morning, waking up Nico since he was usually unable to get up without some 'assistance' from her electric. To be honest, Thalia would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy shocking him awake every morning, the look on his face could make even Hades smile as his eyes shoot open and he launches himself out of his bed.

While walking over to the Hades cabin, she noticed that some trees appeared to have fallen down in the night but not only this, as there actually seemed to be a decent amount of damage around the cabins. The Demeter cabin's garden had a large crack through the middle of it which the cabin's inhabitants were trying to fix, the kids from the Aphrodite cabin were sat outside crying over some smashed mirrors, typical, and then the entire Ares cabin seemed to be admiring how the Athena cabin had almost been split in half. Thalia was extremely confused as she remembered seeing that everything was fine before she went to bed so whatever did this must have happened through the night. She figured that she must have slept through it because of how tired she was and guessed that Nico had as well.

Finally reaching the Hades cabin, she knocked rather loudly onto its doors, completely expecting the only inhabitant to not be anywhere near awake. After a minute or so with no reply, she decided to go in as her uncle Hades really didn't care, even he knew how lazy his son could be, but as she was reaching for the doors, they opened and emerged the figure of Nico di Angelo. Now unlike the Zeus cabin where light immediately penetrated into the cabin, the Hades cabin stayed dark and gloomy, as if the light didn't dare go in it, which would terrify any other camper, but Thalia actually found it quite funny as it showed how Apollo feared their uncle. Ever since Percy got Hades' throne back, he had shown his lighter side to the three of them, so they no longer saw him as the terrifying embodiment of death that everyone else did.

Nico stepped out of the darkness and visibly winced at the light of day, obviously preferring the dark atmosphere of his cabin. He wore very similar training clothes to Thalia except they were entirely black to symbolise his powers over the shadows and darkness but anyone who looked at him could instantly see who his godly parent was anyway. He had also grown in height to six-foot-one-inches which was very tall for a 14-year-old but what was most impressive was the muscle that he developed throughout the training. His arms were now quite large but not excessively so like some of the other campers, instead they made him look like the perfect specimen and to go with this, his legs, back, abs and pretty much every part of his body had also developed to that of an Olympian. The clothing that he wore stuck to his toned body in a similar fashion to how Thalia's stuck to her, and it had very much the same effect on the campers, as the girls drooled whenever they saw him, and the guys glared at him with eyes full of jealousy. You'd think that the girls would remember that he preferred the company of males rather than females, but ever since he broke up with Will, their attempts to change his mind had become even more persistent, which he found incredibly annoying and somewhat… cute…

Thalia looked at her cousin who was essentially her brother in everything except blood, and noticed how he was looking around the cabins, confused or troubled at the things he saw, confirming her suspicions that he had also slept through whatever had happened. It was a good thing that no one had needed them to help with whatever had occurred as neither of them would have been able to get up.

"Well good morning death breath, you're looking as radiant as usual"

Nico looked down at her from the top of the steps that led into his cabin, a smile on his face at the sarcasm filled greeting he had just received.

"Good morning to you too, Sparky"

The smirk that had been present across Thalia's face was instantly replaced with a scowl as she heard her least favourite nickname. To make matters even worse, some sparks could be seen flying off of her which only served to make Nico laugh even more than he already was, but he was soon followed by Thalia as she realised what was happening. They both stood there laughing for a good minute until they composed themselves and started moving towards the dining pavilion, talking about anything that came to mind. It wasn't long until they started talking about their surroundings and the damage that they could see.

"What do you think happened Thals? It looks as if the Minotaur had a party in camp"

After a small laugh, Thalia looked around her and found even more fallen trees and damaged sections of camp.

"I'm not sure Nico, I don't think any monsters did this as they can't even get into camp, and if they did, Chiron would have definitely tried to come and get us to kill them since everyone else seems to be NEGLECTING THEIR TRAINING", a group of passing Apollo children gave her an angry look as the statement was clearly aimed at them, but it was quickly diminished by her own harsh glare.

"Good point, maybe we should just ask Chiron, it obviously wasn't that serious, but we should find out if it could happen again anytime soon"

With that, they both started moving towards the Big House, finding even more damage as they did so they figured that the entire camp had been affected by what must have been some kind of earthquake. After about a minute of quiet walking, the two of them reached their destination to find the old centaur looking rather distressed and worried on the house's porch. As they approached, he seemed to finally notice them and visibly relaxed a little, but he still looked very distraught.

"Ah, good. I was just about to send someone to try wake you guys up. You two should really try waking up earlier you know, you waste almost half of the day"

The statement was more of a request than anything else as the two in question looked at each other, they both knew that he disapproved of their routine, but it was what they needed to do...

After recovering from the moment of awkwardness, Thalia decided to steer the conversation towards the subject they were here to discuss, before Chiron started to try guilt them into helping the rest of the camp again.

"Yeh… sorry Chiron… anyway, what happened to camp, it looks like the Minotaur decided to have a party, was there an attack through the night?"

Nico glared at Thalia for stealing his metaphor while she just stuck her tongue out at him playfully, although at the mention of the devastation dealt to the camp, Chiron nervously looked back into the Big House, as if he was afraid that someone was about to come out. The pair noticed this and instantly knew that he was hiding something.

After reassuring himself that no one was there, Chiron turned back towards the teens who had a confused look across their faces.

"No there was not an attack, if you didn't work yourselves so hard, you would have been woken up just like everyone else did" the statement caused them both to drop their hands in shame. They shared the same thoughts about not being ready if it was actually an attack and silently decided that they would need to do something about it.

For the next minute, the two kept their eyes glued to the floor, avoiding what they thought would be a disappointed look on their mentor's face but in reality, the centaur's face showed no disappointment to them, instead it seemed to be aimed towards himself.

Chiron was already immensely disappointed with himself for what he perceived as failing Percy. He had not been able to sleep at all after the incident last night as his head was filled with scenes from over the past few months. These scenes haunted him as they very clearly showed how Annabeth had changed, and how he had missed or willingly ignored it in the hope that it wasn't true. The new disappointment that he now felt was due to purposely making his other two favourite campers feel ashamed, he knew that what they were doing was for the best, but he still missed having them around.

"Come inside you two, there is a lot that we must talk about and I don't want anyone else hearing any of it"

Thalia and Nico looked around before nodding and following the centaur into the house, soon after they arrived in Chiron's office. Everyone took a seat, Thalia and Nico in front of the desk while Chiron positioned himself behind it, now in his wheelchair form so that he would fit better and be able to converse with more ease. The pair looked at their teacher, waiting for him to tell them what was on his mind, the troubled look on his face still present with no signs of leaving anytime soon.

"So, as you two have probably seen, the entire camp was struck by an earthquake last night, a powerful one at that," the pair instantly looked to one another. They knew that if Poseidon was angry enough to cause an earthquake at camp, something big must have happened, and if it was one of their father's that caused it, they could be a target. Normally, they wouldn't be afraid of that if Percy was around, but he isn't, or it could involve Percy… which scared them even more.

Seeing the panic that he had caused, Chiron quickly finished what he was saying, "I know what you are probably thinking, and no, Lord Poseidon did not create this earthquake. Someone in camp caused it but they were able to control themselves before anything irreversible could happen"

Both Thalia and Nico were shocked that someone within the camp could have caused something that damaged the entire camp to such a degree, they were even more shocked that it was an earthquake. They both knew that if Poseidon was not the one who caused the earthquake, it must have been one of his children and as far as they knew, the only child of Poseidon within the camp at that time was Aiden.

Their shock instantly turned into anger, blue sparks started to fly off of Thalia and singe the carpet that their chairs were on, but as well as this, the room started to get darker and colder as the shadows within started to snuff out the light and surround Nico. Soon enough, the only light and heat that could be seen or felt in the room came from the sparks generated by Thalia. Neither one of them could believe that Aiden would ever be able to do something like that or be anywhere near powerful enough to do something like that.

As their powers started to get even more out of their control, the sparks got larger to the point where they would soon start fires and the shadows were so thick that they would soon suffocate them all. Chiron didn't know what to do, he never thought that they would react like this to anything, and he definitely hadn't seen anything like this before, at least not from a demigod. Quickly thinking back to what he had actually said, he understood how it could anger them so much, he knew that he needed them to calm down before they destroyed the entire house and possibly injured someone outside or… someone inside the house.

"YOU TWO NEED TO CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE GOING TO INJURE SOMEONE OR EACH OTHER!"

Thalia and Nico said nothing back, instead they looked to one another and started to see that their powers were indeed starting to hurt each other. Thalia saw that the sparks she was generating were starting to burn the ground they stood on and where they landed on Nico, small burns were being left behind. Nico noticed that Thalia was now struggling to breath normally and seemed to be choking on the darkness around her, she was also shivering a bit from the cold that his powers created but because of her rage, she wouldn't notice until she passed out.

Realising that their rage was only going to hurt each other, they focused on controlling their powers, reducing the sparks and dispersing the darkness. If one thing in the world was clear to them both, it was that they never wanted to hurt each other and that they would do everything possible to protect one another.

The room returned to its original state, as if nothing ever happened but the small burn marks on the floor and the cold chill in the air begged to differ. Chiron sat there in silence, trying to understand what he had just witnessed, to understand how two young demigods could have so much raw power within them, but more importantly, what had caused them to almost lose control of said power, even though he had a good idea what and silently cursed himself for how he explained it. Recounting the conversation that they had conducted before the incident, he figured that they must have been angered by the fact that someone within camp was able to create the earthquake as it probably took a lot of strength… or a traumatic event…

"Now that you two have managed to calm yourselves down, do you want to explain to me why you had that reaction. It is unlike either of you two to react like that without a reason"

Thalia and Nico may not be expressing their anger through their powers anymore, but they were still feeling every single part of that emotion right now. Their minds were racing and trying to figure out how someone like Aiden could ever manage to create what seemed to be a somewhat powerful earthquake when he doesn't train or put any effort into anything except making himself look good. Nothing they came up with made any sense, in no situation would Aiden be able to use his powers over earthquakes, even Percy found it difficult so Aiden should find it impossible.

After coming up with no answers himself, Nico decided that the next best option was to ask Chiron, but to do this he would probably have to stop ignoring him and answer the question he was being asked.

"We reacted like that Chiron because it should be impossible for someone like Aiden to create an earthquake powerful enough to damage the entire camp! But what I think we're angrier about is that even with our training, he isn't as far behind us than we thought!", the words were spat out of his mouth like venom but were not necessarily aimed at Chiron, instead they were just being used as an outlet for some of his anger. He knew that none of this could be Chiron's fault, but his anger was overwhelming him, the good thing was that Thalia seemed to be taking it better but still hadn't said a single word.

Silence fell upon the room once more as Chiron processed the information he had just received; his initial suspicions were correct but that didn't do anything to ease the feeling of shame he was feeling for messing up yet again. The only thing that he could now do was tell them what really happened last night and hope that they wouldn't react the same way. He looked towards Nico who was waiting for him to say something, a look of anger present on his face but not towards anyone.

After a minute, he shifted his gaze to Thalia who hadn't moved ever since she managed to get control over her powers. Chiron knew that Thalia had a very impatient and explosive attitude, as well as this, any competition caused her to want to be the best and could have some devasting effects on her, but she was just sat there, not saying anything or even looking at anything in particular. She seemed to be trapped within her thoughts, trying to come to terms with what she thought the situation was, but she was clearly struggling. He knew that if he didn't tell them the truth, they would leave here and do something that they would later regret, but in their current state, they won't be able to do what is desperately needed of them.

The silence of the situation was then interrupted as floorboards creaked above everyone's heads. The two children instantly looked towards the ceiling of the room, the conversation they were currently having left their heads for a second as they tried to decide whether or not it was someone listening in on it. They both knew that the only other person who would be in the house is Mr D and he wasn't in camp at the moment, and he wouldn't even care enough about their conversation to spy so it must be someone else.

Everyone in the room remained silent as they listened to the sound of someone walking above them, the fact that the creaks were common and loud meant that the person who caused them did not feel like they needed to hide, this became even more evident when the creaking stopped and a shower turned on to replace it.

Thalia and Nico were still looking at the source of the sound when they heard a loud exhale from their mentor which instantly diverted their attention towards the centaur in the room. The troubled look that was previously present on his face was briefly replaced by one of sadness before it reverted back, he then looked towards the guests he had and gave a defeated sigh. Chiron couldn't think of any other way of completing his new task without involving the two young people in front of him, so he made the final choice to tell them the truth.

"I understand why you children would be upset by the thought that Aiden is a strong individual, even without any training… but he was not the one who created the earthquake that shook the camp" the statement confused Nico, he couldn't see any other way an earthquake could be created, Thalia on the other hand seemed to connect the dots instantly. Her previous motionless state disappeared as her eyed suddenly widened, her hands tightened around the armrests of her chair before she stood from her chair with the speed of a lightning bolt. Her eyes settled on a glimmer of determination, but she couldn't hide the hint of worry that she was feeling, Nico was further confused by the reaction she had to such a vague statement. Thalia turned her head once more to look at where the footsteps had been created and the shower still ran, an extremely faint scent of the sea oozed from the wood separating the different floors of the house. Her mind was both racing but focused at the same time, her emotions ran wild, from happiness to anger, excitement to worry before settling on what she could only describe as hope. This hope replaced all of the other emotion in her eyes as she lowered her head to look her mentor, tears forming and ready to fall at a moment's notice.

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, no matter how hard she tried, nothing could come out. Her entire world seemed to have been turned upside down with the hope she felt and if it was destroyed, there was no doubt that she would fall and crumble to dust…

Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder which caused her to turn her head to look at who it belonged to. Nico's face was covered with worry and… fear… any anger he felt was replaced with concern for his sister, he had never seen her this way before and it actually scared him… because he didn't know what he could do to help her…

Thalia looked into his worry-ridden eyes, the concern he had for her evident in every second that passed. A warmth filled her body from the sibling love that they shared, and she finally realised that she had been shaking where she stood, but now she wasn't. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she closed her mouth and straightened herself to her full height, her eyes closed, then she took in a deep breath.

For a moment, time seemed to stop, until a single tear ran down her left cheek as the breath exhaled from her body…

"P-Percy…?"

The hope in her voice was refreshing to Chiron, replenishing a bit of his own as all the doubt he had about telling them the truth disappeared. Nico, who had remained confused up to this point finally managed to figure out what caused Thalia to react in such a way, his eyes widened as he waited for an answer to the question asked. The amount of hope present in that small room became so large that even the goddess of the hearth herself would have felt it on Olympus, if she was actually there.

Everything remained still and quiet, as if the entire house or even camp was waiting to hear the response from Chiron. Thalia and Nico got more hopeful with every second that passed but with this hope came the fear of losing it. Neither one of them thought that they'd be able to recover if it was ripped from under them, leaving nothing but a pit in which their minds would most definitely be lost in.

With one final look at his students, seeing the hope in their eyes and the fear on their faces, he calmly spoke, relief clear in his voice and a hint of happiness to follow it as he finally said it out loud.

"Yes, young Perseus has finally returned from his quest…"

Those were the only words that Chiron could get out before the door of his office was almost torn off of its hinges. Thalia was already halfway up the stairs of the house, climbing up five steps at a time as if she was flying up towards the guest room. Even though she didn't wait long enough for Chiron to tell her where her friend was, with every step taken the familiar smell of the sea filled her nose but there was something different. The smell seemed 'off' to her; it was definitely the same smell that she came to love but it was as if it was slowly decaying until it finally disappeared.

Stopping outside of the guest room, she stared at the door and listened to the shower that she could hear within, the hesitation giving Nico enough time to catch up to her until they were both waiting next to each other. Both of them wanted to rush inside to their best friend but neither knew what they would say to him first, not wanting to ruin the reunion with bad news straight away but not being able to think of anything else to say at the current moment.

Nico was the one to finally reach up and knock on the door, leaving three loud knocks before retracting his hand back to his side and looking to his left to see Thalia still stuck in her thoughts. Grabbing her hand, he gave it a reassuring squeeze then the shower was cut off and the sound of another door within the room was heard. Footsteps and creaking floorboards indicated that the inhabitant of the room was getting closer until they stopped, and the door opened.

As soon as the figure in the doorframe was accessible, they both lunged forward a trapped him in a hug, their eyes shut tight as if they were afraid that it was all a dream, but the feeling was much too real to be created in a dream. Tears escaped down their cheeks as the feeling of relief and happiness flooded their bodies, relieved that their friend was ok and happy that he was finally back with them, but the lack of a returning embrace did not go unmissed.

After what felt like a lifetime, they pulled back and finally looked at the person they embraced, only to see someone with skin paler and more colourless than Nico's father, hair even more lifeless and eyes that they didn't recognise, black, hollow eyes where there should be beautiful sea green ones.

The person in front of them was both unrecognisable and unmistakably their best friend, Percy Jackson.

Meanwhile at Atlantis

The underwater city of Atlantis was a serene place where the people of the sea could live without concern of what happened on the surface above them, their king made sure of this with his power over the domains allocated to him. The city towered over the rest of the sea floor, climbing high towards the surface but maintaining a safe distance from it, ensuring that no one from the surface could venture down and discover it. Coral thrived everywhere you looked as well as the most exotic and beautiful sea flowers, creatures of the sea could be seen swimming around and doing their part to preserve such an incredible atmosphere. The buildings were made of the finest stone you could gather from the vast oceans, along with some of the largest and most magnificent pearls anyone could ever imagine, all blended together perfectly to create structures that could rival the ones on the great city of the gods.

The one individual who was most impressed and proud of the city was the king himself, Poseidon, who saw its many developments and recoveries after the wars as massive achievements. Ever since the gods had been changed by the actions of the demigods, they had been able to put even more care into their own domains and take more action in what happens. Poseidon had been able to take care of his own underwater kingdom to a better extent since his son had won the gods both of the great wars, this allowed his people to thrive and he couldn't tell his brother, but it had also made him stronger.

The god was currently relaxing in his throne room, listening to reports being given by his loyal subjects, each of which brought good news about the development of the city. Unfortunately, the happy feeling that this created soon came to an end when there was a blinding flash signifying the arrival of another god.

Knowing there was only one god, or rather goddess, who could enter his domain without his permission, he looked towards the new arrival and smiled brightly, expecting the same in return instead of the grief-stricken face that looked back. This was not an expression he ever wanted to see on this beautiful face.

Acting quickly, he rushed towards the goddess and embraced her in a hug as tears finally started to escape down her face onto his shoulders. Her knees seemed to buckle as he found himself supporting the entirety of her weight before he carefully lowered them both onto the floor, maintaining the hug and comfort he was trying to instil while she continued to sob into his neck.

Seeing the situation playing out in front of them, the sea creatures that were previously giving reports rushed out of the room before closing the door behind them, intending to give the two gods the privacy that they obviously sought. Poseidon noticed this and internally thanked his subjects for their ability to read their environment and the respect that they show. He then pulled back slightly to look into the eyes of the distraught goddess in front of him. The previously soft, understanding, caring eyes that normally graced her face were replaced by ones of pain and loss, slightly puffy from her crying which had yet to stop.

"What's wrong Hestia… what's happened… please tell me…"

Poseidon's voice was tender and quiet, barely above a whisper, afraid that anything he said would cause the goddess now identified as Hestia to lose herself even more.

Hestia couldn't even begin to piece together any words as she struggled to control the overwhelming pain that coursed through her body. She had been on Olympus tending to the hearth throughout the night as she usually did when she suddenly felt as if someone had driven a sword through her heart. The sudden pain had almost caused her to collapse but luckily she was one of the strongest Olympians, even if she was a pacifist, so she was able to fight through the event.

The night had given way to the day before she was able to recover enough of her energy and find out what had happened. The only thing she knew was that something had happened in her domain, but what could cause this event to be so significant was beyond her knowledge. She quickly searched through Olympus for any sign of this disturbance but found nothing, so she extended her search and found herself looking at Camp Half Blood. The camp looked as if it had been attacked which could explain why she felt something but the pain she experienced must have been caused by something much worse.

Hestia had asked Iris, the goddess of the rainbows, to show her what had occurred at camp and the scene she watched almost destroyed her. She saw how Percy had returned from his quest and talked with his mentor, which she enjoyed very much because of the evident care and love that they shared, but then she watched as he made his way through the camp and towards the beach. The next thing she witnessed is what caused her the pain she was currently experiencing as she watched the hope be ripped from the hero's body, along with the happiness and joy that he normally brought to her and everyone around him.

She saw what had caused this to happen but couldn't linger long enough to allow herself to become angry as she went to Atlantis immediately to see her brother, where she was currently being comforted, still unable to say or do anything except cry.

Poseidon didn't know what to do at the sight of his beloved sister in such a distraught and fragile state. Anything he came up with felt like it would have no impact, so he just continued to hold her, trying to get her to tell him what had happened. His theories ranged from possible family arguments to the death of someone important to her, and anyone important to her was important to everyone which scared him greatly. Whatever it was, he was beyond angry at it for hurting such a loving and caring woman.

He was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of Hestia trying to speak, her tears still running down her face and her eyes showing that there were still more to fall. Poseidon reluctantly released her from the hug and took her hands in his, giving them a slight squeeze in a hope that she would feel safe enough to tell him what had happened to her. His efforts were rewarded as her breathing became calmer and she managed to reach his eyes with her own.

"Perseus…"

That one word managed to escape her mouth in a choked tone, but that was all she needed to say. The effect was immediate as Poseidon's world shattered, his face being struck with fear and worry, millions of thoughts racing through his mind trying to think of what could have happened to his son, all of which were events he couldn't bear to think about any longer.

The sea god stood and collected his trident with unbelievable speed and was about to flash away when his arm was grabbed by the now standing goddess that had somehow been pushed to the back of his mind. A look of concern and determination met his own and the reason for this was understood instantly as he only nodded, and the two gods flashed away from Atlantis.

Camp Half Blood

Thalia sat on the bed in the guest room of the Big House, watching the bathroom door that her beloved friend had just gone back into. She was currently in the room by herself as Nico had left to talk with Chiron who had been left alone in his office when the two of them rushed to see Percy. Apparently he had something more to say to them before they did this, but Thalia didn't want to leave Percy now that he was finally back, so Nico left to talk with the old centaur. Soon after he left, Percy had gone back into the bathroom as the only thing he was wearing was a towel around his lower half. This had caused Thalia to blush, a blush that she was still wearing, as she realised how close she had come to accidentally seeing him naked, not that she would've minded but it was most definitely the wrong time for this to happen.

Although the son of Poseidon was no longer in her direct view, Thalia couldn't forget the appearance of the young hero and the changes that she had seen. She was expecting to be greeted by the fun loving, happy and life-filled form of her best friend but was instead greeted by what she could only describe as an empty husk of all these things. Even when they had all reunited after half a year of separation, he had little to no reaction except when he tensed up as they trapped him in a hug, a hug that he didn't even return, a hug that the normal Percy would've loved… but this was clearly not the normal Percy.

Nothing Thalia came up with would explain why Percy's appearance had changed so much, she even considered that a god could have done this but quickly dropped this chain of thought as no god would risk angering Poseidon by targeting Percy. Then there was the cold, empty feeling that overtook her when she first looked into his eyes, a feeling that she could only combat because of the immense happiness she was feeling at the time. Something had definitely happened to him and she was going to find out, then she was going to get the Percy she remembered back.

The sound of a door unlocking snapped Thalia out of her thoughts as her vision focused on the emerging figure that was Percy. Although she had only just started to view her friend, she once again averted her gaze and blushed the colour of a strawberry when she noticed that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. Even with her reaction, Percy didn't seem to care and walked over to a set of drawers where he found some clothes that he then started to put on. Thalia couldn't overcome her curiosity as she peaked at his form, noticing the extreme amount of muscle that he had, but also noticing that in a similar way to Nico, there was the perfect amount, no more, no less. Unfortunately, his physical aspects were overshadowed by the pale colour of his skin, a colour so lifeless one would think he had spent years underground.

Continuing to cautiously examine his appearance, Thalia's eyes soon found their way to his right arm where a large, painful looking scar covered almost its entire length. Once again losing to her curiosity, she hesitantly asked him about it, hoping that it wouldn't be a touchy subject for him.

"Percy… what is that scar on your arm?"

For the first time since he came out of the bathroom, Percy acknowledged the presence of Thalia and looked down at his arm, no emotion on his face except for the underlying sadness that had been present ever since last night.

"I got that from my quest, a run in with a monster that got the upper hand on me"

His tone gave no impression that he was trying to hide something, but the statement did nothing to appease Thalia.

"What monster could possibly get the upper hand on you…" is what she replied with, adding a nervous laugh in an attempt to break the staleness of the conversation.

"Kampȇ"

Thalia froze at the mention of Kampȇ, panic flooded her body as she pictured the hideous monstrosity that this particular monster was. Her heart tightened as if someone had it clenched in their hand, but she soon replaced this feeling of unease with further worry and confusion as Percy once again gave no reaction.

Kampȇ was one of the worst, despicable and most powerful monsters that ever existed and Percy was acting as if she was some insignificant hell hound, granted he had beaten her once before, but he was helped the first time. This time though, he had been all alone… but he was here now meaning that he must have managed to beat her again… at least that's the only outcome Thalia could think off.

A thought suddenly appeared in her mind, 'What if Kampȇ was the reason for Percy's change, maybe she cursed him or something!'. Just as she was about to ask Percy for more about the encounter, Nico came back into the room and asked to speak with her. Though reluctant to leave Percy, she followed Nico out into the hallway and closed the door to the guest room.

As soon as the door shut, Thalia turned towards the son of Hades and impatiently waited for him to say whatever it was that he needed to say.

"Chiron told me some things about last night, when Percy returned to camp…"

Hearing the hesitation in Nico's voice, Thalia continued to look at him with a piercing stare, one that told him to get on with it otherwise something bad was soon to happen to him… yes, this was a stare he had seen many times before.

Continuing with his side of the conversation, Nico began to finish what he was saying, "When Chiron first saw Percy last night, he wasn't like this," he gestured towards the closed door "apparently he was his old, lovable self but then he went for a walk around the camp. Soon after, the earthquake happened and he returned to the house looking like he does now, though maybe not as sad according to Chiron"

This new information shocked Thalia, just like it had shocked Nico when he was first told it. 'What on earth could have happened last night to cause such an immediate change, and within camp too', this was the thought dominating her mind at the current moment, and once again she couldn't think of anything answers.

Before she had the chance to reply, Nico started to speak again, giving her little time to complete her thoughts. "Chiron thinks he might know what Percy saw last night but he wouldn't tell me because he wasn't sure. He then told me that he wants us to stay with Percy and try help him recover from whatever is happening to him until he can find out exactly what has happened. He recommended taking him to the arena and showing him some of our new powers"

Upon hearing the suggestion, Thalia's attitude slightly improved as this was something she had wanted to do for months. Quickly agreeing with Nico, she turned back to the door and slowly opened it, but suddenly stopped when she saw that Percy was now stood in the middle of the room. She watched him as he admired something in his hand, slowly rotating it as if it was something completely foreign to him, but at the same time, familiar…

Taking a small step forward into the room, she managed to get an unobstructed view of the object and was surprised to see that it was Anaklusmos or Riptide as it was commonly referred to as. This sword held so many memories, from the betrayal of a demigod, to the life and sacrifice of a precious friend, Zoë. Saying that the sword was important would be a massive understatement.

Percy continued to inspect the weapon until a small sea green light started being emitted from the blade, a light that started to shine brighter until it became almost impossible to look at. The previous cold, gloomy atmosphere of the room was replaced by an all too familiar feeling of warmth and joy, a feeling that would normally be present when Percy was around but had been absent up until now.

Thalia and Nico bathed in this new aura even though they were forced to shield their eyes, but soon found that the light started to dim. Being the first one to be able to adjust and open their eyes, Thalia witnessed the green light from the sword surround Percy before finally disappearing completely. The reason for this event was unclear, but then she saw it… something that gave her hope in the darkest of times… a smile… a small half smile but a smile none the less… on the face of the person she loved.

Author's Note

I know its been a long time since I've uploaded a new chapter to this story and I apologise for that, it's just that I sort of fell out of love with it for a while. This doesn't mean that I am abandoning it, I'm going to finish it at some point, just don't expect chapters to appear regularly. I've still got lots of ideas for where it could go but I also have other projects that I want to do, projects that I feel more excited about and can't wait to start. This is why I am going to be starting a new story and revisiting this one every so often when I have more inspiration for it. I don't know when the first chapter of this new story will be completed but I am going to start it as soon as possible so be on the look out if you want to.