Sorry about the long intervals between chapters, high school life isn't treating me so well. And I don't have much time to write at the speed I used to, so please bear with me.

Chapter 3: Greed

The Vault

Ann POV.

Ahh, finally, I can walk on my own two feet, it feels nice to be able to slice monsters in half on my own again, I thought grinning, but then I looked back at Master Percy. He was bleeding profusely and Ly, after killing the giant that held him, was trying to stop the blood loss. Damn, I was a little rough removing myself from Master's stomach, hang on Master Percy, I'll take care of the enemy's for you.

"Hey girl, you done talking to yourself or are we gonna get this party started?" asked Greed, licking his lips.

"I'm just about done, I was just telling myself how fun it'd be to cut that loose tongue of yours," I replied.

"Heh, you'll pay for that insult. Guards! Get her," Greed sneered and several different monsters charged at me. They tried dog piling me, but that failed as several different parts of my body turned into blades and launched at the oncoming monsters. They didn't even touch me before being impaled by a blade.

Hmm, nice trick, what do you call that?" the little green-eyed monster called.

"One of my many abilities. I can turn any part of my body into a blade, as well as transform myself into a sword," I replied, and just to prove it, I turned my hand into a celestial bronze blade about the size of my arm.

"Whoa, neat trick. You know, I wish I could do that. It's shame I have to kill you, you'd make a valuable asset," he replied.

"Well, I don't really work for others other than the people I'm assigned with and in this case it's that guy over there," I said, pointing to Master Percy.

"Hahaha, that pathetic whelp? He can't even save himself! Why don't you just quit and come with me?" asked Greed, holding his hand out once again.

"You know, I'm getting real tired of you asking the same damned question!" I shouted, turning my hands into blades and charging full speed at Greed. I can tell by the way he looked that he was completely caught off guard and only had moments to turn his hands into cobblestone to be able to block my attack. But while he was occupied with my hands, a blade popped out of the middle of my chest. He managed to move his head to the right to avoid being impaled, but the blade stopped and made a sharp turn to the right, cutting Greed's forehead. He jumped away as soon as he acknowledged the wound and we were back at square one.

"Heh, looks like there's more to you than meets the eye, but unfortunately for you, you missed," Greed said grinning.

"Maybe, but I cut you which is more than you managed," I snarked back.

"So?"

"So, I cut you on the forehead, a very specific spot in your forehead…" I said as a stream of blood started dripping from Greed's forehead and onto his eyes, "The kind of spot that tends to bleed. A lot."

"Tricky little bitch," snarled Greed, wiping some blood out of his eyes.

"Trust me, I've got more 'tricks' up my sleeve," I replied, transforming both my hands into blades and charging. Greed charged at me and tried to get past my guard by jumping into the air and changing his legs to cobblestone, but he failed when I dived out of the way. The ground crushed beneath the force of Greed's kick, but his guard was completely put off and I took that chance to strike. Greed barely managed to dodge and tried a counter attack by swinging his hand in a wide arc. But the blood got in his eyes and momentarily blinded him. I took my chances and swung my sword-arm at Greed and got a direct hit across his chest. He staggered in the air and I kicked him and sent him flying towards the vault. He landed hard and slightly dented the door whilst crushing the stone around him. I landed on my feet and surveyed the damage. I'd taken a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing fatal, but Greed was a different story. He was slumped over on the door of the vault, his head bleeding and basically not looking too hot. I smirked thinking my job was done and nonchalantly turned around, my hair flipping behind me.

"So is that it? I thought you said you had more 'surprises'," said Greed, I turned around and saw Greed standing up and brushing himself like nothing happened.

"You're still alive?" I asked, preparing myself for an attack.

"Tch, like a weakling like you could kill me, although, you did give me quite a run for my money," Greed drawled, examining his wounds and torn clothes.

"Oh, I aim to please," I replied, smirking.

"*Sigh* I was hoping not to have to go all out for this one, buuut I don't wanna be Sloth so let's just get this over with," answered Greed. He then removed the, now torn up, vest he was wearing and put his hand on the vault door. Just then his fingers slowly were starting to be covered with metal and it kept moving up to his arm, then his torso until it covered his entire body including his face.

"Heh, so you covered your body with metal, big deal, that still doesn't mean you can win!" I shouted, bolting towards Greed and slashing my arm downwards, but my arm-blade glanced harmlessly off Greed's skin. He smirked as he raised his fist and punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending me flying all the way to the other side of the room. I landed on the wall, making a huge crater in the wall and sending rubble and rocks flying everywhere.

"Argh, damn…" I barely managed to finish my sentence as Greed appeared in front of me. My eyes widened as Greed smirked and punched me in the stomach again. I coughed up some blood and spat as Greed kept a straight line of punches, all aimed at my stomach and chest. I tried turning my torso into bronze, but I still felt the force of impact from each punch. After a few minutes, the punches finally stopped and basically I was a complete mess, I was coughing up blood and more than a few of my ribs were broken and I couldn't really feel my legs.

"Heh that all you got?" I asked weakly. I coughed, spitting out some blood and I think a couple of teeth. Hmph.

"No, but I'm guessing that's all you can take. How bout' we end this little slap fight?" he said, raising his hand and I saw small claws come out.

"If I can't have you, I can at least can have your heart as a prize." The moment Greed said "heart" I literally froze, I couldn't move a muscle, but I couldn't tell if it was in fear or anxiety. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid to die, but something about what Greed said triggered something in my head. Time seemed to slow as Greed prepared to impale me. But before he could do anything, a large object flew through the air and collided with Greed's head. The little green monster turned to meet whoever threw the object, but was met with a foot to his metallic face.

"Ly, two more!" shouted Master Percy as he flying-kicked Greed and sent him back a bit.

"Right!" said Ly as two earth swords, sprouted out from the ground and into Master's hands. He then started hitting Greed like a cave man, smacking him on the head and on his torso. Greed tried to counter Master's attacks, but the occasional water or fire blast from Ly stopped him. Soon enough Ly was too occupied with the monster henchmen/guards to help master, but the number of earth swords that Greed took to the face was good enough to tire him a bit.

"*Huff* Tell me. I skewered you! How the hell are you still alive?" asked Greed, taking a knee.

"Hah, long story short, Ly got free from you're goons and healed me," Master explained. I didn't really understand how Ly could heal Master, but I saw the area around his stomach, the prison jumpsuit around the wound charred and a large burn wound covered the injury. That's when it hit me, that Master Percy burned his wound closed.

"Well good for you, but just being able to close your wound doesn't mean that you have a chance against me!" Greed practically roared. "

Screw you," Master growled, preparing himself for an attack. Greed quickly launched himself at Master. But the second he was about to slice Master in half I used whatever strength I had left to transform my arm into a sword and launch it at Greed. The sword ricochets off of Greed's head and sends him veering off to the left of Master Percy.

"Dammit why do you two have to aim for my head? God, I'm gonna have a huge headache," said Greed, groaning and rubbing his head.

"Ann, what was that for?!" asked Master Percy.

"You can't fight him. All your attacks will just bounce off him!" I said.

"Well, what do you suggest I do?"

"Use me…" I replied and seeing the confusion on Master's face, I mentally face palmed. Slow idiot. My body started emitting a bronze/green color and my form started shrinking and changing until what was left in my place was my Celestial bronze sword form. At that moment Master realized what to do and I got some well-deserved rest.

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The Vault

Percy POV.

A bronze/green glow emitted from Ann, and in her place sat a three-foot Celestial bronze sword. A smile slowly crept up my face as Ann literally flew into my hands, sparking with power.

"Well, I guess we can finally fight on even terms now Greed," I said, twirling Ann a bit. Admittedly it was a bit weird talking about my sword like it was a living person.

"Good luck with that!" said Greed, charging at me, trying to slash me with full force. I managed to block with Ann, but the sheer force broke the ground under my feet.

"Gah! Try and be gentle with me please!" shouted Ann, but in sword form, her voice had a slight humming sound.

"At least you're made of bronze, I still have my fleshy, vulnerable body, so what else can I use to defend myself? My face?!" I asked, jumping out of the way before Greed could squash me with his foot. I landed on a wall and launched myself back at Greed and slashed downwards. The impact from the jump, combined with my swing, hit Greed's head with so much force, the ground cracked below him and forced him onto the floor, and aside from Greed, I was flipped over and landed on the floor. Hard. 'Ouch' would be very accurate.

"*Hah* Is he dead?" I asked, but I got my answer when Greed slowly brought himself up. I readied myself for a fight, but I didn't have time to defend myself, because the moment I blinked, Greed's metallic face was staring into mine and an enormous slash appeared on my chest. My eyes widened as I dropped Ann and fell on the ground as Greed stood over me, smirking.

"Game. Over," grinned Greed. My vision started blurring and both Ann and Ly started shouting as Greed raised his hand, about to jab my chest. Ly started fighting furiously to reach me, Ann reverted back to human form, but found she couldn't, as I waited for my second death, but again luck was on my side when suddenly a new presence made itself aware to me.

"Room…" said the voice and a large transparent dome appeared over the entire battlefield.

"Wha- oh shit!" Greed cursed turning around to face the mysterious voice. The man looked similar to Greed, but considering that he had an enormous straw hat covering his face, it was hard to tell. He wore a black ancient Japanese samurai kimono, wooden sandals and held a samurai sword that was about as tall as he was. From what I could tell, he had brown hair that grew all the way down to his nape, pale skin and glowing red eyes, or eye, considering he wore an eye patch on his left eye and his right eye kept glowing an eerie red. Creepy much?

"So this is where you've been hiding little brother. Father is very angry with you," said the man.

"Pops? You mean the old man's still looking for me?" asked Greed.

"Yes, and he is quite mad that you moved your domain. He is even more furious that you had the gall to steal the armor," said the man, his single, red eye glowing.

"Hey, I had to sell my little disappearing act, and the armor looked shiny! You can tell me everything about how angry Father is when you come for your next visit Wrath," said Greed, smirking and Wrath's freaky/disturbing red eye just glow a brighter crimson.

"I have been ordered to bring you back, and I intend to accomplish my mission at all costs Greed," said Wrath, pushing up his sword a bit. I winced as I felt a small pain on my cheek, and when I touched it, I felt a small cut and blood running from my face. Greed seemed to be on edge, he looked angry or focused and in a battle stance. "Scan…"

"Good luck with that Wrath, cause I've got different plans!" shouted Greed, charging at Wrath with full force, and surprisingly, Greed's claws were able to cut Wrath.

"Ha, got ya!" crowed Greed, but his eyes widened when the form of Wrath started to shimmer until, instead of Wrath, a Laistrygonian stood in his place, a huge claw mark on his chest from Greed's attack.

"W-What the…?"

"Takt…" said Wrath. Greed did a 180˚ turn to see Wrath pointing his finger at the celling.

"If you think that pointing is gonna do anything, then you've got a lot to leeeaar-n!?" shouted Greed, his voice pitching up at the end. Greed was about to charge at Wrath, but as soon as he took a step, his body started to fly into the air, and it wasn't just him. Everything in the transparent dome started floating, monster guards were squirming in the air; Ly was using his wind powers to fly around and attack helpless monsters, Ann shouting - still stuck in sword form - and I was trying to make sure I don't pass out from blood loss and pain.

"Mission, complete," smirked Wrath, jumping into air and fully drawing his sword. Greed's eyes widened in shock as Wrath disappeared and landed back on the ground, and a few seconds later Greed's arms, legs and head fell off him, leaving him scattered like a jigsaw puzzle

"Release…" said Wrath and the transparent dome disappeared and everything fell back to the ground. Ly landed face first, Ann clattered to the floor with a few choice profanities, I did my best to soften my landing but I still hit the ground pretty hard, and Greed, along with all his separated body parts dropped to the floor. I thought Greed would die from blood loss and decapitation, but I noticed there was no blood and Greed was still breathing and talking grossly enough.

"Hey, Wrath, was this really necessary?!" shouted Greed, maneuvering his body, or what was left of it, to face Wrath but Wrath just bent down and picked up Greed's head. Icky.

"My orders were to bring you back. There weren't any specifications as to how I bring you back, so shut up and get in the sack," Wrath commanded, bringing out a large potato sack.

"Oh no, don't you dare…!" shouted Greed, but Wrath just threw him into the sack, along with his other body parts. A few muffled sounds came from the sack, but Wrath just violently shook the bag and the sounds stopped, although some sort of liquid was dripping out from the bottom of the sack, which I'm guessing was puke.

"Time to go," said Wrath, sheathing his sword, fixing his hat a bit and walking to the exit, wherever that was.

"Y-You're not gonna bother us?" I asked, a pretty stupid question, but nonetheless a good one.

"No, you aren't on my mission, and Father did not specify about you, only Greed, so as of now, you all are unimportant." answered Wrath in a monotone as he turned his back towards us, but as soon as he took a step towards the exit his head perked up, like someone was calling him.

"Father…" said Wrath, bowing down, completely ignoring everything and everyone else.

What's happening? I thought

"He's getting a call," replied Truth.

From who? I thought back.

"His Father," responded Truth as Wrath started muttering some words like "Order" "Heal" and "The Boy". A few seconds later Wrath's muscles tensed and relaxed as he once again faced us. He started to make his way towards us, Ly tried to help but the monsters he was fighting overwhelmed him, forcing him to return to battle, and Ann was still stuck in sword form, leaving me defenseless in Wrath's path. I narrowed my gaze in anger, trying to intimidate Wrath, but I'm guessing that barely did anything, as Wrath's glowing red eye seemed to pierce my soul.

"If you want me you've got me, but just leave my friends out of this," I said. I know pretty cliché, but I was pretty much scared out of my wits, so being heroic was the best I could come up with.

"Quiet. I have a new task and this time it involves you boy, I am to give aid to Perseus Jackson and his companions until they are fully healed, so hold still," said Wrath, reaching into his robes and pulling out some medical gloves and a syringe with a clear liquid. I could do nothing as he stuck the needle in my neck and injected me. I started to feel a bit drowsy until my vision started to get blurry and my entire body went numb.

"This is a very powerful anaesthetic, I will save your life as …is…my…mi…ssion." That was the last thing I heard before everything went black, aside from Truth's voice in my head saying:

All is going as planned.

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The Vault

Percy POV.

"Ma…Mast…Master…Master Percy, can you hear me?" shouted Ann as my eyes fluttered open and I shot up from the cold ground. But as soon as I did, an immense amount of pain coursed through my body. I clutched my chest and groaned as I took note of my surroundings. Ly was kneeling beside me, covered in dirt and blood which was probably from all the bodies of monsters lying around. Ann was back in her human form, her wounds bandaged and clothes repaired. I slowly started to inspect myself finding out a few things: 1. My prison uniform was nearly, if not completely ruined, 2. I just found out I've been wearing the same pair of boxers for several years, 3. My wounds were all bandaged and healed and 4. Wrath was gone.

"Wha-what happened?" I asked.

"Wrath happened, he took out the bulk of the monsters and left the stragglers for me, used his weird dome-thingy ability to fix blondie over here and performed a bit of a rushed surgery on you and saved your life," explained Ly, earning a punch on the shoulder from Ann for that "blondie" comment.

"Ow! Well, at least we can finally open this damned vault. I might as well get started." Ly set his hand on fire in a concentrated flame and headed for the vault door, but before he could reach the door Ann literally launched herself at Ly and punched him into the ground like she was playing whack-a-mole.

"OW, AGAIN?!" he protested loudly.

"Relax kibble-kid. It'll take you longer than it takes you to clean out your fur to get that door open, let me handle this," said Ann, walking over to the vault door while Ly was still healing and cursing.

"Huh, and I thought the Warden was the only one who would bring something like that up," grumbled Ly as Ann reached the door and put her hands on it. It was silent for a few seconds but eventually something happened. The vault door started to shrink. Actually, it was more like they were being absorbed by Ann. Soon the entire door was gone and what was left was the gaping doorway into the Vault and a very sick looking Ann.

"Ann!" I shouted, springing into standing position and running to Ann and catching her before she collapsed. A soon as I stopped, the pain from that little exercise rush through my body as Ann started to look a bit green, then…her face turned into iron? Her face turned a iron-like tone then she started to make weird hacking sounds, like she was trying to spit something out. "Are you ok?!"

"*Hack* Dammit! Let *cough*, go of me!" said Ann and with the look on her face, I had to comply. I gently put her on the ground as her face started to turn an even more iron like. She started to roll around and punch herself like something was stuck in her stomach. I was about to help her again when something happened, her face started to turn back to normal, but as the iron color went away. Ann's cheeks started to fill up with something and just as she looked like she was going to explode, a rod of stygian iron literally shot out of her mouth. It nearly impaled me, but luckily I was able to avoid the rod, but Ly wasn't so lucky. After recovering from Ann's little beat down he had dusted himself off, but as soon as he looked up, the rod more or less impaled him in the shoulder. At first he didn't notice anything, but as soon as the friction from the moving rod started smoking. That was when Ly started yelling.

"GAAAH, WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?!" shouted Ly, turning into air and removing himself from the rod, completely healing the wound.

"Sorry, that time it was an accident," said Ann, wiping her mouth and turning over to me. "If you're wondering, I can absorb any metal as long as it has my base metal, in this case, celestial bronze, but all other metals I have to eject otherwise the metal might enter my bloodstream and I'll pretty much turn into a living statue."

"Oh. Ok. Well, after you," I said, gesturing to the gaping doorway that was the vault entrance. "Don't mind if I do," Ann sang as she entered the darkness with a very angry Ly and me heading up the rear.

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