Chapter Five: Black Darkness

Percy recalled the moment, years ago, when he had met Ylfin in New York. Ylfin had disguised himself as a prominent businessman, yet had spoken to Percy about the future, about him. Percy could barely recall the words that Ylfin had spoken.

"You will die, Percy Jackson," Percy vaguely recalled these words.

Pulling himself back to the present, Percy looked through his helmet with disdain at Ylfin, and chose his next words carefully.

"Percy?" He snarled. "Who the hell is Percy?"

Ylfin smiled, and waved his hand, collapsing the walls next to him.

"When I first met you, Arko, I thought about killing you. You had so much potential. But now, you are a servant of Chaos." He paused, waiting for Percy to speak.

"You speak as if it is a curse," Percy replied slowly, walking towards Ylfin.

"I wouldn't call it a curse," Ylfin said, drawing his sword. Unlike Percy, who was dressed in full white, he was dressed in full black. "But you would have done much better being my comrade, serving Nyx with me."

Percy looked back at the Olympian Gods, his two lieutenants, and the campers.

"Those Dark Lords that you saw?" Ylfin chuckled. "Those weren't even real. Do you think that you could kill a Dark Lord that easily?"

"This is your dimension, not ours." Percy said. "Do you think that you could beat us fairly?"

"I'm not one to let others goad me to rash decisions, unlike you. I can see the raw anger in your eyes. It's unnatural, but if harnessed properly, you would be powerful indeed."

"Where are you going with all this talk?" Percy asked.

"I think you and I both know the answer to that," Ylfin turned his back on Percy, and Percy stopped moving forwards. "Follow me, and serve Nyx. Gain the power to destroy anything, and the power to protect everything."

He began walking away, and Percy looked at him with emotionless eyes before turning around to face the group of defenders.

After discussing defensive strategies, Percy had walked into the middle of the fort, where Daran was sleeping against the big post.

Percy knelt down, picking up some of the snow. It felt empty in his hands.

"Daran," Percy called. "Look at this."

Daran slowly opened his eyes, but they weren't their normal black. He lunged at Percy, who sidestepped the deadly attack. Thinking quickly, Percy stepped forward, smashing Daran's face with his elbow, knocking him out.

He looked around frantically, looking for Oplique.

"Oplique!" He shouted. "Where are you?"

The campers were too exhausted to wake up from his shouting, but the Olympian Gods heard the panic in his voice, and they put themselves on guard.

Percy looked up at them.

"If he wakes and he isn't himself, knock him out or bind him with the most powerful magic you have. This place is unpredictable."

He thrust Void into the snow, and began whispering incantations to discover Oplique's location. After several minutes, he paused. There had been no effect, none whatsoever.

He looked around, hoping for some sign of his lieutenant, but he could find none.

"You three, come with me," Percy ordered three of his warriors. "I want the three of you to look for her as a group. Don't get separated. And be careful."

"Yes, commander." The three of them said in unison and left the fort.

"He didn't accept the offer," Ylfin reported. "He seemed rather bent on fighting me, in fact."

"Don't jump to conclusions like that," Nyx replied. "But I do admit, I am not disappointed with his loyalty. It will make my prize all the sweeter."

"My lady," Ylfin spoke. "What are we waiting for?"

Nyx didn't reply for several moments.

"Send a Dark Lord to them. A real one." Ylfin nodded in response to the order, and turned away to carry it out. "I almost forgot," Nyx called out, and Ylfin stopped. "Make sure to kill one of the Olympians. They really have been quite annoying."

Percy had also ventured out of the fort, leaving none of his Chaos Warriors inside, except for Daran. He wasn't taking any chances with the effects of the snow.

As he continued walking through the snow filled paths, he heard a small sound, far away. Immediately, he raced towards the sound.

As he got closer to the source of the sound, he heard a scream of fear, and he drew out Void.

When he arrived, he found two of his warriors dead, the other one desperately fending off a man dressed in a black cloak, a hood covering his face.

As he sent a wave of dark energy at the third warrior, Percy launched himself into the path of the strike, taking in the deadly force. He stumbled to the ground, cursing.

"What are you?" Percy gasped out at the cloaked figure, his warrior kneeling down and summoning a shield.

The cloaked figure raised his staff, seemingly ready to blast them again, but before he began the downward motion, he stopped, as if hearing a message. He lowered the staff, and dissipated into the air.

Percy's breastplate had been severely damaged by the attack, and he groaned as he got up.

"Are you alright, Commander?" His warrior asked him.

"Yes. You're Gyvin, right?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Commander."

"What happened before I came?" Percy asked.

"We were looking for Oplique, when suddenly, Jerva lost control and began attacking us. We tried everything, but in the end she had overpowered us and was about to kill us." Gyvin gestured to one of the fallen warriors.

"How did she die?"

"Before she struck, that figure appeared out of the snow and blasted her, and she screamed before falling. After that, we attacked him, but he knocked us back and blasted Pylin."

Percy nodded slowly.

"It would do us best to get back to the fort before any other incidences occur." He said. He looked at Jerva and Pylin. "We can't even bury them."

There was a sudden sound, the sound of an explosion, the sound of battle. As Percy looked to the East, there was a flare, a wave of energy that bounced into the sky.

"Let's go," He said to Gyvin, and the two of them raced towards the source of the blast.