A/N:

So, before you start I have to say a few things. Writing is hard, to some of those who really try. I find writing when I don't have motivation extremely difficult or down right impossible. Like my profile says, I don't exactly want to rush my stories and this means force them out. This would produce bad quality I guess. Both this story and Team of Two are not dead, in fact for those of you who follow Team of Two, I have actually managed to start writing it again, and hopefully will get a chapter out before December.

A lot of things happen in this chapter, read and find out I guess.

Most of you will have already come to understand that this story's world of Percy Jackson is the future of Naruto. Forty Thousand Years in the future or more to be precise. To clear it all up, humans went though a stage of peace where the need for shinobi died out and effectively chakra became unused and seemed to just fade away as time went on. Now in these days, Demigods and Gods have a similar system to chakra.

This is NOT chakra coils. It is in fact different. I is a similar network that runs through their bodies that works like chakra but is more specific. E.g. Poseidon = Water Affinities. Zeus = Lightening Affinities. The characters in this story can eventually learn how to mold chakra, but that will be very later in the story and there will be a special kind of training they will have to complete to be able to do so.

I want you guys to understand that at the moment, Book 3, as in The Titans Curse is more or less an introductory Arc for the main characters this story is going to focus around. Percy, Zoe, Artemis, Nico and Thalia. Those are the main five. Supporting characters will be Annabeth, Luke and some others.

Battle of the Labyrinth will be much longer than the Titans Curse because I will be implementing more Naruto stuff to mix and change the flow of the story. I'm trying to curve away from cannon Percy Jackson, and really get to the crossover features that I can see make a interesting concept.

So what I am saying is don't except the same checkpoints once we hit Battle of the Labyrinth and the Last Olympian. I can assure you that these arcs are going to happen very differently now, especially with the way I plan to take it. I might also ask for a beta reader at some point so let me know if your interested.

Chapter Four: Breaking the Hatred

Zoë stood a fair way away from the group when something broke her out of her soulless gaze into the distance. A pink flash of light appeared before her as she was forced to shield her eyes. The being that stood before her was none other than the famed goddess of love herself. Zoë did not bow, she did not say anything, and she just scowled in the direction of the love goddess.

"I can see that your typical huntress judgmental stare is as piercing as ever Ms Nightshade." Aphrodite commented lightly as the two seemed to stand off. The love goddess could be just as, if not more intimidating than Artemis some times. She was literally the image of beauty, and if she wanted, she could seduce females, just as effectively as she could males. Zoë just remained scowling attempting to keep up a facade of authority, just like Artemis would do in the presence of this goddess.

"It's your fault isn't it? The way that I'm feeling about Perseus. You have manipulated my feelings to try and make me fall for Perseus." Zoë growled while the love goddess just groaned with annoyance. Aphrodite's menacing stare was hurting Zoë's confidence. The goddess of Love was undeniably powerful in a special way. She could make even the greatest of warriors fall with a single look. It was haunting just what Aphrodite was capable of.

"Silly huntress, it is not my personal doing that has forced you to become hopelessly infatuated with the son of Poseidon. Although I do tend to get myself involved in possible romantic demigod couples, I took it upon myself to come down here to talk to you about your growing affection for Perseus because it concerns the fate of Olympus." Aphrodite replied. Zoë stepped back.

"What do you mean? How does my growing feelings for Perseus affect the fate of Olympus? That sounds absurd. It could be anyone else, why me?" Zoë said. Aphrodite such sighed.

"To be quite honest I was trying to pair him off with someone else. Annabeth Chase was a nice pick, and Thalia was also quite a nice choice, but ever since I felt his affection grow for you and yours for him, I've had trouble accepting this. Ignoring the possibility of me finally bragging to Artemis about how her most favored hunters has once again fallen for the beauty that is love, the circumstance that this presented before myself is most interesting." She said. Zoë raised an eyebrow, Aphrodite wasn't normally this talkative… especially to a hunter.

"I suppose I see this as an opportunity to break Artemis out of her repulsive shell." Aphrodite confessed. Zoë returned to her scowling form, disgusted at the way this conversation was heading.

"Lady Artemis would never turn her back on her followers! Why do you persist to hound my mistress into such lustful and shameless activities with vile males?!" Zoë growled fiercely. Aphrodite growled as she flaunted her godly aura. It was powerful, demanding, and vicious and… angry. Zoë had seen first-hand the chaos an angry love goddess could inflict.

"I am NOT just the goddess of sex you short-sighted girl!" Aphrodite boomed. Zoë stepped back once again, hesitant to talk back to her. Goddess or not, Aphrodite could very well destroy your life, your pride and your confidence in one sentence if she wanted. The aura calmed down and Aphrodite took what seemed to be a deep breath and smiled.

"Listen Zoë, love is a wonderful thing. I'm being honest here. In reality, when I see you hunters, I can understand why you distrust and dislike males so much, given your terrible unlucky experiences with them. However there are people like Percy out there and you miss that because you are too busy looking at all their flaws to see their positives." Aphrodite said. Zoë remained silent as she couldn't really argue with that.

Who really is Perseus Jackson? The name questioned her and ate away at the huntress and had been for a while now. When she had first met Percy, he had been arrogant, competitive, annoying and rude. Was that just a front? She had seen his break down, he was lost and in need of guidance and a friend. He truly had no friends. She wasn't sure what these feelings of hers meant but she could feel them affecting her actions. Was it truly love? Could she really give it a category?

"That's why I want you hunters to experience love. I may have caused wars, and fights over the millennia, but when it comes to my domain, I will take care of those that fall under my jurisdiction. That goes for other gods as well, and you Zoë. Love does not always mean sex, Zoë. I have watched males and females fall in love, get married and never have sex! Love is the purest feeling and that's why I wish Artemis and her hunters, and all those others to experience it." Aphrodite said.

"I know what love is Lady Aphrodite." Zoë said respectively. She turned away from the love goddess and looked down at the ground, her eyes betraying shame.

"I have followed Artemis for over two millennia, and it's only now that I have discovered a male that forces me to second guess myself on my actions and I don't know if that's good or bad. It really feels like a distraction or an inconvenience, and for some reason I feel that I have found myself falling for him. It is confusing for me to feel such emotions again, and I find myself questioning my faith." She said sadly.

"I cannot give you the sound advice you desire, Zoë, It's up to you to make the decision. Not me, not Artemis… you. I can almost say for certainty that if you were to give up your faith and court Percy, I'm sure Artemis would respect that." She said. Zoë raised an eyebrow at this.

"How can that be so? I have witness lady Artemis cast out unfaithful followers and never look at them again. How can you say she would not do that same to me?" Zoë asked, generally interested in the love goddesses view. Aphrodite chuckled a little.

"You said it yourself, you have followed her for two thousand years Zoë Nightshade, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. She has seen you at your lowest, and at your best. She knows you from head to toe, inside and out. She has read every single page of your life and know exactly what type of person you are. If she saw you with Percy Jackson, what would that say about him?" She asked. Zoë had to admit, Aphrodite had a very good point. She and Artemis were practically best friends.

If she were to suddenly consort with a boy, Artemis would surely investigate and find out what made this boy so special to earn the attention and affection of Zoë Nightshade. Artemis wouldn't just cast out one of her best and most loyal hunters, regardless of the pledge.

"I will admit, Artemis is one of the smartest Olympians, smarter than myself. However, her short-sighted hatred that spawned after that repulsive Orion debacle has clouded her rather better judgement for the better half of two millennia." Aphrodite said. Zoë didn't respond. Orion was… a strange man, almost seemed like the ideal male… until he did what he did. Artemis had never been the same since.

"Look, all I came here to tell you was that your feelings for Perseus aside, a decision will come to you naturally. Don't try to over think it too much. Friendly advice from one female to another, just don't over think it." Aphrodite said before flashing away, leaving Zoë no time to reply.

The huntress stood in silence, the sound of wind rushing past her ears was her only comfort. Her fazed eyes stared at the spot the love goddess had been in a loss. She was well and truly confused with her feelings and had no idea how to confront them.

"Why has this romance developed so quickly? I hated that boy not even a couple of days ago. It makes no sense for me to have these feelings right now, but I feel as if they have grown on me over time." Zoë muttered to herself. The huntress shook her head and decided she would address these feelings at a later date, right now they were burning time they didn't have, and the winter solstice was a day or two away from arriving, and Artemis was required to be present.

With that in mind, Zoë returned to the group on a much lighter note.

The group was well and truly moving now, their only way forwards was clear. The way through the junkyard was a gamble, and they decided to take their chances at it. Walking through the graveyard of metal and junk, automatons, objects and weapons seemed to lie dormant and silent. Nothing but the wind could be hear and the occasional sound of creaking metal.

Piles upon piles of junk lay before them, a maze of metal and electronics that the gods had deemed worthless and decided to flush down the metaphorical toilet. Some of this stuff could come in handy, but there were guards hidden here for a reason.

Strolling through the maze, they were trying to find an exit of some sort, trying their best not to touch anything of any kind of value. However, Grover hadn't been looking where he was going and clumsily tripped over a piece of metal, bumping into Nico, who fell forward and hit Thalia, causing her to fall into a mountain of junk.

Thalia sprang to her feet in time to dodge the various metal parts that were now falling because of the sudden impact. She had hit a large tower of metal, and it had seemed to knock it off balance. Metal and junk, creaked and clanged as it fell down to the ground and brought other pieces with it, causing possibly the loudest crash the group was trying to avoid making.

The three managed to run to safety and join Percy, Bianca and Zoë, while the three looked at the other three with disapproving glares. When the mountain slide of metal had ceased and remain stationary again, the group breathed, but that was halted as somewhere off in the distance of the junkyard, something creaked and groaned. After a few seconds, silence… then a large thump, followed by another large thump seconds later.

"Shit… Talos is awake." Percy said. Zoë growled and looked at the three culprit who had closed their eyes and cursed their stupidity, Thalia glaring at Grover for the cause of the situation.

"You should watch your hooves more carefully goat-boy!" Thalia hissed. Grover whimpered a little, both in fear of Thalia and their current, unfavorable situation. The six turned to the nearest path in the yard and ran like their lives depended on it, which it did. Both Percy and Zoë were scanning the area, looking for a way out that could possibly save all of them, but the lines of the prophecy were distracting them.

A shadow started to creep up behind them, and the thumping and vibrations on the ground got even more apparent and obvious that Talos was now chasing them, and it would be no time before it caught up.

"Don't worry, this Talos is much smaller than the original one. He's probably defective too." Zoë said, trying to find the positives in the situation. The thumping seemed to get louder and louder after that insult, causing Zoë to grind her teeth.

As she was running she spun around and shot half a dozen arrows in a couple of seconds. The arrows bounced harmless off the large automaton. It was a good attempt but it was quite obvious that normal weapons were not going to be much help here.

"Put your weapons away and run! They will do us no good here. We must find a way out!" Zoë said as the group rounded a corner, however Talos had finally caught up and cut them off, stepping over the large piles of junk and stood firmly in front of them. Past the giant legs of the metal guard, was a clear exit.

"Scatter!" Percy commanded. The group split off, running in completely different directions, confusing Talos and making him choose his target instead of crushing the entire group as one. The group members all found a hiding spot, out of the way of Talos. Grover used his magic to try and tangle the automation, while Zoë and Bianca fired arrows at the giant metal man. Thalia was firing lightning bolts at it, while Nico hid behind her.

Percy in the meanwhile was trying to examine the automation, and was trying to look for a weak spot in its design. He always knew everything had a weak spot. No matter what it was, every single thing had a flaw that something else could exploit and right now it was about finding out what it was.

After about eight minutes of Talos stumbling around trying to find the group, Percy managed to spot it just out the corner of his eye. Right under the defective model of Talos was a hatch, which was obviously made for a man to fit through. Someone could get inside Talos. Percy started to gather the necessary natural chakra for Sage mode when he was distracted by Bianca making a break for the foot of the Giant.

"Bianca stop!" Percy screamed, getting the attention of the giant defective Talos. Bianca ignored him and managed to slip under its foot and into the hatch. She had obviously saw it before him and had enacted her plan before he could. Percy entered Sage mode and dashed for the giant. The giant roared and lifted its foot and brought down on Percy.

A surge of anger flowed through Percy like a rushing river, as he caught the foot and managed to keep the giant from squashing him. An amazing feat and display of strength that would have killed any demigod period, or any mortal, and here Percy was lifting what could have been compared to as about more than five trucks of weight, stacking on his shoulders.

With a grunt of pain and anger, Percy pushed with all of his strength and energy and managed to cause Talos to lose its footing and stumble backwards, but not fall over. The large automation was then struck by a bolt of powerful lighting causing surges of electricity to flow up and down the metal structure.

Talos then lifted its sword to strike Percy, and the latter readied for another direct attack, but it never came. The group seemed to collectively hold their breath as Talos seemed to be frozen in an attack stance. Percy was brought out of his thoughts as the giant jerked and twitched, bits and pieces of him disengaging and falling off.

However, just when things seemed to get better, a large explosion ripped through the remainder of the giant, blowing it to pieces. All of the group members were thrown back by the backlash of the explosion.

Percy shot backwards into a pile of junk, a thin rusted metal bar piercing his left shoulder. Percy gasped in pain as all the air left his body, and his sage mode lifted.

Agonizing pain shot up his left side. He lifted his right arm to clutch the wound only to find that the metal bar had wedged itself between his shoulder bone and his collar bone. The pain was excruciating, and his vision was blacking out. He found that he couldn't breathe, the adrenaline and shock was kicking in, dulling the pain as best as it could, but the pain was still unbearable.

"…shit." Percy wheezed out. He tried to lean forward and slide the metal out but another surge of pain shot up his left side, causing him to fall backwards into his previous position. Percy closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, and attempted to control his breathing. He could feel the metal grinding against his shoulder bones every time he breathed in and out.

Eventually Percy managed to slow his breathing to a controlled state, and opened his eyes. He had been blown into a mountain of junk and rubble from the explosion and the metal had caved in on top of him. Percy attempted to lift his right leg, and with this remaining strength, he kicked.

He was shrouded in darkness, only slithers of light made it through to him. He breathed in again and kicked. Light poured in as some of the metal gave way. He could hear voices getting closer, to him. He licked his dry lips, only to taste blood. His mouth was caked in wet fresh blood. That disgusting metallic taste almost made him vomit.

"Percy? Percy where are you!?" He could hear the sound of Zoë's voice just outside his area. He then heard metal moving, and then suddenly light found its way to his face. He squeezed his eyes shut at the intruding light as two shadows appeared before him, block the sun out of his vision.

"By the gods… Percy, are you alright- holy shit!" Thalia choked, stepping back at the horrid sight of Percy's state. Luckily none of them had been injured except for Percy. The metal bar turned out to be rather large and thin, its width was quite wide, about seven centimeters across and had pierced his shoulder from back to front. Cutting right through his flesh like butter.

"Thalia, find my bag! There are bandages, medical supplies and ambrosia! Quick before we lose him to!" Zoë screamed. Thalia didn't need to be told twice and took off to find the huntress bag. Zoë knelled down in front of Percy and carefully stroked his face. Artemis would do the same thing to hunters who were critically injured. It calmed them in some way for form.

"Perseus, listen carefully to me. You need to stay with me now. You have lost a lot of blood and you're on the verge of a comatose state. You, Need, To, Stay, Awake!" Zoë said. Percy swallowed and breathed out. He could feel his arm coated in his blood, and he started to feel very sick, and light headed.

"Zoë…" Percy breathed out. He felt himself slipping away. The pain was just too much. Zoë started to panic, in her group with the hunters, she wasn't a sharp one when it came to medicine, but some of the others had given her some pointers. So she jerked Percy forwards a little bit. Percy's eyes shot wide open.

"AHHH!" He screamed. Pain and adrenaline surged through his body once more. He could feel his heart beat in his ears, going a thousand miles an hour, then starting to slow down. He was breathing heavily now.

"Percy you need to stay awake! You lose consciousness and you die! You can't do this right now! We need you!" Zoë said as she started to see him slipping away. She remembered the words Aphrodite had spoken to her previously, and was starting to see just how much of an impact Percy was having on her. "I need you…"

"Zoë!" Thalia came up to her with the bag. Zoë let go of Percy and ripped open the bag, pulling out various bottles, bandages and squares of ambrosia. She managed to get everything she needed. She quickly placed the item in front of her and turned back to Percy.

"Percy!" She yelled, gently slapping his cheek. He had well and truly passed out. Zoë growled and ripped him off the bloody metal bar that had pierced his shoulder. His sleeping form jerked a little before going limp. Zoë then placed him on a towel and began to disinfect the wound.

At the same time, Grover started to play his pipes, keeping Percy stabilized and alive while Zoë worked. Nature magic was one thing Grover was good at. Meanwhile Thalia and an emotionally destroyed Nico watched.

Zoë worked furiously to keep Percy alive. Percy was slipping in and out of consciousness, seeing only Zoë kneeling at his side, working on his shoulder. He watched her, with glazed and distant eyes. He could make out genuine care and fear of losing him in her eyes. Her eyes darted from one thing to the next, occasionally a hand would lift into his vision, only to see her beautiful hands covered in his blood.

Percy started to drift off once again, however this time her heard Grover say something.

"Zoë, you have to do it now! I'm losing him! He won't last much longer! He's lost to much blood!" He said with panic in his voice. Zoë growled as her eyes lit up with anger, determination and lastly… fear.

"I am not losing you as well!"

The group managed to find a working van a few miles outside of the junkyard. Grover using his naturally strong Satyr strength had no complaints carrying the unconscious son of Poseidon on his back. Zoë took the staring wheel while Thalia took the front seat. Grover lay Percy down in the back seat and rested the boy's head on his lap while the Satyr channeled some pain dulling magic into Percy's mind, to keep his thoughts and dreams pure.

Nico sat in the back with the others, but remained extensively quiet. The boy was pale white, emotionless and broken. He watch his sister ripped apart by an explosion, saving the quest group. He would admit it was a heroic way to go out if he wasn't so angry with himself for not being stronger. Grover reminded him that he was still young, and the life that Bianca had chosen was one that he shouldn't argue with. He grudgingly accepted it, however much he hated it.

"This is just great, Bianca is dead and Percy's out cold. What the hell are we going to do?" Thalia grumbled. Zoë ignored the girl and kept driving. The ride was rather quiet, and all they could hear was the slow steady breathing patterns that Percy exhaled. Zoë knew he would be out for a while.

She was feeling a little woozy and upset herself. She had lost Bianca and had to perform a risky blood transplant in order to keep Percy alive. With the medical help of Grover, she managed to save Percy's life and prevent him from dying from blood loss. However, she was strong, and she would remain that way as a fate worse than death awaited her at the end of this quest.

They eventually pulled up at a canoeing hire place. The river would take them upstream towards Hover Dam, and from there they could make their next move. Hopefully it would be easy to do, any more trouble and they would be placed in a very, very bad predicament.

They hired the boats they needed and traveled downstream. Zoë took the boat with Percy, while Thalia and Grover took another boat. Nico took a boat by himself because he was emitting an aura that frightened the group to a certain degree.

Percy's breathing was staying regular as his head lay on Zoë's lap. She tried hard not to do anything while they floated down river. Apparently with Percy on board, the naiads decided to lend a helping hand, due to the fact that their prince was on board. They carried the group down river towards the Dam.

Aphrodite's words were fresh in Zoë's mind, almost plaguing it like a disease. It was incredibly hard to concentrate on the task at hand with the boy she was crushing on for the first time in two thousand years. She carefully cradled his face, his head on her thighs. She would gaze off into the distance, a painful look on her face. She had done the same with Hercules when he had been injured, and look how that turned out. The only difference between the two was that Percy grew up with pain and hardship. Hercules was given almost everything, his strength his powers, his everything. Percy lost everything and gained strength off that.

She was almost afraid to admit it, but Percy really grew on her. She found herself falling for him faster each hour. He was on her mind all the time, up there with Lady Artemis. Their little battle at camp had shown her that Percy was slightly different from the males she had encountered over the years.

Her thoughts drifted to when she first met Thalia, Annabeth and Luke for the first time. She had offered Annabeth and Thalia a place in the hunt, and they were hesitant and unwilling to abandon Luke so easily. She was annoyed and downright furious that those girls placed so much trust in that man, and just like she had said, Luke let them down and turned to Kronos. She had those thoughts about Percy too, until she traded blows with him. He was looking for a reason to fight, even his break down back in New Mexico… she was starting to have second thoughts.

They managed to get up Hover Dam and make into the food area where tourists rained in the hundreds. As they continued to walk, they managed to find a few seats. Zoë manipulated the mist around them to make it appear as if Percy was uninjured and talking with them. She was very good at it.

"What's our next move? We need to be in San Francisco by tomorrow or we are going to run out of time." Grover said looking towards Thalia and Zoë for a plan. Zoë scowled, they needed to keep moving, but the recent casualties had them slowing their pace. Percy was still unconscious and Zoë kept replacing the bandages.

"We find another ride, and make for Mount Othrys and rescue Lady Artemis, that's what we are going to do." Zoë said. Thalia raised an eyebrow and gestured towards Percy who sat in his chair almost completely lifeless. If you were an on looking demigod or clear sighted mortal, Percy side was covered in bloodied bandages and was breathing in and out steadily.

"What are we going to do with him? He's slowing us down… but we can't leave him…" Thalia said running a hand through her hair. Zoë rubbed her temples as she turned to Grover. He sighed.

"I can't do anything. I'm out of tune with nature here so I can't provide a safe travel back with him. I would if I could, believe me, but I can't. Nature doesn't respond very well around this particular area. We are too close to Titan territory." Grover said sadly. Zoë grumbled as she turned to Nico. The boy was still deathly pale and relatively ignoring the rest of the group.

"We will bring him with us, we will not be leaving him behind." Zoë said. As she said this, the entire food court erupted into panic. Woman and children screaming as monsters dashed out of nowhere, straight at the unprepared group. Zoë leaped up out of her seat only to be tackled to the ground by a hell-hound, however it turned to dust as a spear pierced the back of its neck turning it to dust.

Zoë managed to stand up, her head dazed and her eyes blurred from the impact. Thalia had saved her in that split second, but had realized they were all under attack from all angles. Nico was holding his own just fine, the darkness and ground would split open in his anger and swallow monsters whole, confirming his status as a Son of Hades. Monsters recognized Percy's weak form and attempted to capture him. Zoë growled and rushed to his aid.

The monsters dropped to dust in her fit of anger. Her powerful demigod aura glowed brightly as she stood protectively in front of Percy's defenseless form. He was bleeding again, his shoulder, despite mostly healed, was still leaking blood. She hissed at the remaining monsters, daring them to come even close to Perseus. They took heed of the warning and started to circle the two, cutting them off from the others.

The area had been emptied of civilians and had now been turned into a battle ground. Zoë's eyes darted from one monster to the next, their eyes trained exactly on her, but snapped to Percy's form in shock and confusion. She raised her eyes at this and turned to see Percy, shrouded in a red bubbly energy. His hands lifted into the air and flew through hand seals, despite him not even being conscious or awake to do it.

He placed his hand on his stomach and smoke popped around the area they were in, causing both her and the monsters to cough and splutter. As the smoke cleared, their eyes widened as a crimson red fox, about the size of a horse stood proudly and tall with nine lashing tails coming from behind him.

"That was harder than I originally expected. Reverse summoning through the host is something I haven't tired in thousands of years. That was a pain." Kurama growled as he leaped down from where Percy was lying. He was placed on a counter by Grover to keep him elevated so he wouldn't get trampled on.

"Now, time to squash some bugs." Kurama grinned sadistically, as he pounded into action. The monsters were nowhere near prepared for the assault and thrashing the fox gave them. Golden dust flowed like a river and skeletons that had been chasing them erupted in flame, turning their very bones to dust. Zoë and the rest of the quest group couldn't help but gawk in awe and shock as this fox rampaged through the area, incinerating and cutting down every single monster effortlessly.

"This isn't even amusing! Put up a better fight than this! This is pathetic… and demigods fear you, how disgusting!" The fox howled. The smaller and more fragile monsters were covered in a crimson red bubbly liquid before being incinerated just by being in the fox's presence. Zoë could feel the power radiating off the beast in front of her. It was in-calculable, so unrivaled, so raw and powerful, almost indescribable!

The fox let out a blood chilling roar, and the monsters caught in the sonic blast from the fox's mouth were destroyed in seconds. Those mythical monsters hadn't even had the chance to register the fear and scream before they were sent back to Tartarus in the most painful way possible. Kurama finished his howl, and looked around. Golden dust littered the place. He turned to the quest group who stood in guard of Percy's body.

"It's good to see the Ningen getting some friends for once that would actually watch his back." Kurama said as he walked over towards the boy. Zoë sensed the familiarity in the fox's tone as her eyes widened. She stepped back, in a bit of fear and awe. She did not know who this fox was, but she recognized the legend that he was… the Legendary Nine Tailed Fox, so ancient, so rare. He had only been sighted by humans for brief seconds. It's where his legend came from. Unfortunately, she and the hunt had never come across such a creature.

"You must be Percy's mentor… how did you get here? I thought he said you were trapped on Mount Othrys?" Zoë said in confusion. Kurama chuckled as he turned towards the huntress after examining the injured boy, transmitting a bit of his chakra over the boy to accelerate his healing.

"I still am. Though I managed to send a portion of my power through the contract the Ningen made with me, and I managed to reverse summon myself. I could feel through our connection that you guys were in some serious trouble and he's too busy sleeping to help." Kurama said. Zoë came to a realization, and so did Thalia and Grover. Nico was too busy looking at the very being that had given skill and experience to his hero.

"You're a physical manifestation of your power? You managed to send a conscious part of your own power through a bond to help us? How much power do you possess?!" Zoë almost screamed. That feat would take serious amounts of power. Artemis had never managed to do something like that, and only the big three and some of the higher titans and Giants were able to pull off something like that.

"There are still a lot of things you haven't explored yet little huntress. I can use my power to transport you to San Francisco, but you'll be on your own from there. Time closes in, you must make it on time." Kurama said as a red sheet of power covered the quest group, before they could even quest what was going on, they had vanished, Kurama smirking and disappearing back to Mount Othrys.

The quest group ended up being teleported outside of Annabeth's father's house. It was rather coincidental that they appeared here seeing as they had an injured boy holding them down, one who was still unconscious. Thalia had done most of the talking, seeing as the father recognized her and owed her a favor. They spent some time with him, gathering supplies and stocking up on ambrosia before leaving Percy with him. It was a gamble they had to take, but they couldn't afford to waste any more time.

With them leaving, they made their way into the city and decided to look around. Zoë and Grover were still following the trail while Nico walked along side Thalia silently. The daughter of Zeus tried to make casual conversation, but Nico ignored her. She couldn't blame him, he had just watched his sister get blown to bits. He must be in absolute disarray.

"We need to find Nereus. This is the area he hangs around in this type of weather. Hot, humid and smelly. He's the old man of the sea, said to know everything. He will know what to do." Zoë said as they hit a dead end on the trail. They were close, but they still had yet to figure out what the bane of Olympus was.

"Great, Seaweed boy would really be handy right about now." Thalia muttered. Grover sighed. They a fair idea as to where to look, but the idea Zoë came up was rather… not delightful.

"We follow the smell, that terrible sickening smell." Zoë said. Grover sniffed the air and felt like he just wanted to kneel over and die. It was a cross between sewage and seaweed. It was dreadful, especially to his Satyr senses. He could only describe it as foul.

Along the way, following the smell they fought a few stray monsters, not enough to draw unwanted attention to themselves. Zoë would manipulate the mist to mask their presence as a mere traveling street show group. Eventually however, they managed to find him, however Zoë stopped them from getting close.

"He can smell demigods from a mile away. He'll know and he'll escape." She said. However, Nico seemed to just walk forward, regardless of what Zoë had just said. However before she could stop him, and old man on the wharf got up and started running towards the water. Zoë was about to scream at Nico for his stupidity before he vanished into a shadow and appeared right in front of the man.

Black zombie like hands shot out of the ground and entangled the old wise sea god and effectively trapped him. He struggled, changing into different animals, trying to wriggle out of the binds that he was trapped in, however Nico ordered the arms to start to squeeze the life out of him.

"A child of Hades I see… hmm, never thought I would see the day when old death breathe would get out and get himself a nice mortal girl." The hands around him squeezed tighter, almost cutting off the circulation in his old fragile body.

"I have no time for games old man, tell us what we need to know." Nico said dangerously. There was a dangerous, insane glint in his eyes that spoke volumes of what he would do to the man if he didn't talk. Zoë, Grover and Thalia had managed to catch up, all three of them were shocked when they saw the power radiating off Nico and the type of bond Nereus was being held in.

"We seek the Bane of Olympus, what is it?" Zoë asked. Nereus eyed her carefully from his bonded prison. She felt rather uncomfortable as he cracked a smile and started laughing, which eventually turned into a full blown laughter.

"The blooming hunter, how nice to actually meet you in person. A lot of events in the future are shaped around you and that sage. How interesting, I didn't foresee the meeting of us." He smiled. Zoë growled while Grover and Thalia looked at her funny.

"Answer the question! What is the Bane of Olympus?!" She yelled angrily. Nereus sighed and managed to point towards the water behind where they were standing. Zoë walked over to the edge and looked over the side. Her blood almost went cold when she saw the creature that was swimming happily around in circles just below here.

"The Ophiotaurus… how could I have not seen this?" Zoë murmured. Grover's eyes widened while both Thalia and Nico seemed mildly confused. Nico kept a tight hold on Nereus with his power, making sure the slimy old man could slither out of his death grip while Thalia was trying to piece together where she had heard that name before.

"The power of sacrificing the innocent… very powerful, enough to topple the gods." Nereus said. Nico scowled as he gripped the man tighter, this time cutting off the circulation of the old man. He gasped as the pain made itself known to all of them.

"Did I say you could talk?" Nico growled, the dark aura growing all the more powerful around him. Zoë examined the boy from a far. She saw black smoke curling off the boy as if he had just had water thrown on him for being on fire. He was hot with anger, something that would not be quelled anytime soon.

"Ah, Nico Di Angelo, the time confused sibling of the supposed dead girl." He said. Nico froze, the grip on Nereus loosening for the slightest second before tightening. The shadows seemed to swallow the area around Nico, making both Grover whimper slightly and pushing Zoë and Thalia to ready their guard. A child of Hades when angered was extremely dangerous.

"What do you mean supposed? Bianca is dead." Nico said. Nereus just laughed.

"Did you find a body? Foolish demigods, there are forces even greater than the Titans at play here. Only the fox truly knows what lies in the darkest pits of this cursed world. The next sage has his plate full that's for sure." Nereus said. Nico's eyes shook with crazed anger.

"Is Bianca alive?! Answer me! If you know where she is tell me!" Nico yelled. Zoë was starting to lose her control on the mist around the area they were in. Mortals were starting to become curious as to what was going on, but luckily she maintained control.

"She is alive, but she hidden away by a force older than the Titans. She's in pain, quite a bit. I can feel it, she grows weaker, her will cracking… that is all I can say, and I have exerted my time here. I wish you luck in the future demigods, you will need it." Nereus said before vanishing into a green mist. Nico was about to scream out his name but he had already vanished.

"Damn it! At least I know she's alive. What could have taken her?" Nico said. He was back to his old self, the power and corruption of Hades leaving his system. Zoë brought in a deep breath and exhaled, relieving the stress that had been building, however there was still a problem at hand.

"Grover, take the Ophiotaurus and return to Olympus. They must know of this development. We cannot leave it here for it to fall into the enemy hands." Zoë said. However before they could even react, a new familiar voice spoke up.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Luke Castellan said walking onto the scene followed by Dr Thorn and a couple of other monsters. The group spun to face the new threat that had made itself known. The monsters were snarling, waiting for the command from either Luke or Thorn to attack the demigod group. They were two demigods down, one of them, effectively being the strongest.

"The Ophiotaurus is property of the Titans, and thus, I must be taking that thing from your custody now." Luke said. Thalia stepped forward, angry tears in her eyes, thoughts of betrayal and disgust clear on her face. Luke almost looked hurt if he wasn't so sure of himself.

"You bastard… what have you done with Annabeth!? Where is she?!" Thalia said, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't even look at Luke now without wanting to gut him for his betrayal. The thought that she used to like this guy made her sick, and brought tears to her face faster than anything could.

"She is safe from harm, I assure you, there has been no harm done to her." He said. Zoë growled, grinding her teeth. She knew she should have shot an arrow through this arrogant man's head when they first met so long ago. If she had, this whole Titan business might have taken a lot longer to take place. This horrible son of Hermes had been an instigator for these series of events.

"I knew you were bad news from the moment I met you Castellan. I should have killed you right then and there but I didn't because I still think people no matter who they are should be given a chance to make the most of themselves. How could you turn out this way, for what reason?" Zoë spat. Luke snarled.

"The gods need to pay for their ignorance. I have watched too many demigods stroll into camp with nothing but scars and mental trauma, and it's all the gods fault. What do they do? They just sit up there on their thrones doing nothing to help the children they sire! They need to be taught a lesson in humility." Luke said. Zoë almost laughed at the notion.

"And siding with the Titans is the way to go!? I should kill you now you idiotic child." Zoë retorted. Luke scoffed.

"As if you have any room to talk daughter of Atlas. The daughter of a Titan, criticizes a child of the gods for siding with her biological family, how the fates must be laughing at you Zoë Nightshade. Your own family hates you enough to cast you out of even ancient myths." Luke taunted. She unsheathed her hunting knives in a fit of anger.

"They are not my family. The hunt is my life and forever will be until the day I die. Can you say the same? You are a tool to Kronos, and that's all you ever will be." She said with venom in her voice. Luke waved her off.

"The gods will pay one way or another, I will see Olympus razed, and your goddess will remain in chains as long as I see fit. This charade stops here, this area will be your grave." Luke said. Suddenly a voice echoed from behind Zoë and Thalia, a voice so chilling and dark that it scared even the monsters at Luke's side.

"I'm afraid you are wrong there, you see… this will not end here." Nico said walking forward. He snapped his fingers, his eyes going as dark, soulless, void of any mercy. The ground beneath the monsters opened up and swallowed them within a few seconds. Luke and Thorn had panic written all over their faces.

"This is where it begins." Nico said as he plunged his sword into the ground. Black smoke shot up around the area they were in, completely surrounding the remaining monsters, Luke and Thorn as well as trapping Zoë and Thalia with him. Zoë took this chance to push Grover out and order him to escape with the Ophiotaurus. He complied and was gone within the instant.

"Rise servants of the damned, for I am your master. Let the alive weep in fear and the dead scream in agony." Nico finished as the ground before him split open and a pack of hellhounds crawled out of the ground. Both Zoë and Thalia were horrified at the incantation Nico spoke.

"Where in the name of Olympus did he learn to speak like that?!" Thalia whispered in a panic to Zoë. The huntress grimaced as the ground started to shake, flaming dogs crawling their way out of the molten earth and making their way to Nico's side. She was rather worried about what was about to transpire.

"I don't think he learned it, it must be the instinct of a child of Hades, just like every demigod has an instinct for their parent's domain. Percy is always in tune with water, children of Zeus loves the sky, high places…" Zoë said, Thalia scowled at Zoë, the huntress silently apologizing for unknowingly mocking her for her ridiculous fear of heights.

"However, I haven't bore witness to many children of Hades over the millennia. He is a very secluded god and rarely interacts with mortals. Nico and Bianca must be within the very, very few children Hades has ever had. I think his power relates to incantations and cultists. Children of Hades tend to be very fragile with their mental states, and I think Bianca's death may have sent him over the line.

"What has Nico gone insane?" Thalia asked. Zoë shook her head mildly.

"No, I think he's hungry for souls." Zoë responded. Nico grinned crazily.

"Fetch me their souls." A ghostly voice hissed. The dogs went berserk and charged the remaining monsters. What could be only described as a blood bath took place. Monsters and dogs alike crumbled to dust as the battle started. Nico charged straight for Luke who was forced to defend himself as Nico's blade was encased with a black flame. Zoë could only gawk at the power Nico was displaying, however Thalia was clueless.

"Black fire? What in the name of Olympus? What is that?" Thalia asked. Zoë could only swallow, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. She wouldn't admit it, but this Nico actually frightened her. He was only ten or eleven years old but the darkness and stench of death seemed to flow around him, fueling his power and anger, even with the inexperience he had with a blade was still causing problems for Luke, because both he and Zoë knew what that fire meant.

"It's Soul Fire. It's said only Hades could use that power, it could strike past mortal flesh and wound even the soul. It's a very destructive and tormenting power to think about. The very thought of Nico utilizing it… how can he use it when no other demigod in history that has been a child of Hades has been recorded of using it?" Zoë thought.

"Whatever it is he is doing, he needs our help, come on Zoë!" Thalia said unleashing her spear and shield, charging into battle. Zoë scowled before quickly notching and arrow and firing it within the space of a second. The arrow landed pinpoint on Dr Thorn's right eye, causing the Manticore to scream in pain. Finally, Thalia finished the job and gutting the Manticore as he went up on his hind legs. He didn't have a chance to scream again before he was sent right back to Tartarus.

"That's one problem dealt with, now onto our next."

Luke had just finished kicking Nico off of him. The brat was slightly skilled with a sword, but his anger was making him a brawler and hard to deal with, especially the power that was circling his blade. It was a tough thing to notice, but to him, he wasn't sure the Curse of Achilles was going to help him here.

"You've managed to surprise us here, but be sure that it won't happen again. Turn back and leave this place, or I will be forced to cut you down if you progress any further." Luke said retreating back to Mount Othrys. Nico growled as he watched Luke's retreating form. The ground opened back up and the hell-hounds crawled back down to their home.

"Coward." Nico spat. Thalia was rather upset while Zoë was still standing tall and tough. She wouldn't let her feelings fail the group. She had to keep up her strength so that the moral of the group so that they wouldn't crumble to pieces, especially with Grover guiding the Ophiotaurus back to safety and out of reach of the Titans, and Percy out cold. However it seemed like Bianca wasn't actually dead, but hidden somewhere and it had seemed to return some of Nico's sanity.

"Come, we must follow him. We must save Artemis before Nightfall or die trying." Zoë said. There were no complaints. They had come this far, and they were intending to see this through. There was nothing that would stop them now. Thalia, Zoë and Nico, the only remnants of the group decided to make their way towards Mount Othrys, unknowingly of what awaited them.

It took them a few hours but they managed to reach the Garden of the Hesperides, the ex-sisters of Zoë. She was reluctant to enter at first but seeing no other option the three progressed into the garden together, only the huntress knowing what they might find. Surely enough, it was only a few minutes after stepping into the garden that her ex-sisters made their appearance.

"Sisters." Zoë said respectively. The three woman sneered at her, making both Nico and Thalia growl. Nico wasn't having any of this, and out of anger, once more, black tendrils radiated from him, emitting a dark dangerous aura around him. The Hesperides stepped back in unison, in fear of the child of the damned.

"We see no sister here, only a huntress, a child of death, and a child of Zeus." One of them said. Zoë felt rather sad, being here again and seeing them. She hadn't seen them or talking to them in two thousand years. It had been so long since they striped her from her powers and immortality and cast her out. However, she still had a soft spot for them.

"We require safe passage through the garden towards the Mount. Step aside or get stepped on." Nico said dangerously. Zoë nudged him. Despite her dislike towards her sisters for casting her out, she still held a decent amount of respect for them. They were still biological family after all, she couldn't hate them, and however she did hate her father.

"Insolent child! None of you will be any sort of match against our father. Atlas is one of the most powerful Titans, you stand no chance in comparing to him or saving your pathetic goddess." Another sister said. Zoë growled, if there was one thing you did not do in her presence, it was insult the goddess who had been nothing but a mother to her.

"You will step aside on personal command of Lord Zeus himself." Thalia growled. The sisters snarled.

"Make us." They said. Zoë growled, then smirked.

"Fine… Awake! Ladon!" Zoë yelled out. There was a groaning roar from the tree in the distance. A horrific monster with more heads than anyone could count awoke. It stared menacingly into the distance before getting to its feet and circling the tree defensively. The Hesperides sisters looked at Zoë as if she had gone crazy.

"You have a death wish Nightshade, you will regret awaking Ladon. Insane child." The sisters said as they ran off away from Ladon. Zoë cursed her sisters, knowing and reminding herself that Ladon had always favored her over the others. Zoë walked carefully towards Ladon, showing no signs of hostility.

"Zoë! What are you doing?!" Thalia hissed. Nico was also wide eyed, watching the brave hunter walk towards her potential doom. The lieutenant turned and looked at the two out of the corner of her eye.

"Ladon will recognize me. I always use to sing to him. Get around the tree while I distract him. I will make sure he does not see you. Just make sure you do not make a sound when moving around the tree." Zoë said as she turned back walk forward towards the large dragon. It hissed and snarled, egging her to come closer to it could sink its teeth into her flesh, however was suddenly paralyzed as a familiar singing voice sounded in the area.

What could only be described as an angel singing to the heavens could be heard! Ladon stopped hissing and tilted its head in an obvious confusion, however it then brought its heads down to the ground, on eye level with the source of the beautiful singing. Both Thalia and Nico were stunned to begin with, but snapped out of their stump as Zoë frantically motioned for them to move.

As quietly as they could, they slipped around the tree and onto the other side as Zoë's beautiful singing distracted Ladon. The dragon seemed almost at peace however, when Zoë got within range, it turned violent, remembering what had happened. It thrashed at her angrily, forcing her to stop singing and dodge. One of the fangs managed to nick her, sizzling her flesh badly. She cried out in pain, but soldiered through, managing to evade the rest of Ladon's attacks and join her group members.

"Zoë! Are you okay? You're hurt." Nico said with concern. Zoë moaned as she ripped off the cloth that Ladon had snagged. She was bleeding heavily. The wound already looked infected. It basically sealed her fate. Artemis would have enough power to heal this, and with Percy not here, she was wondering what the last line of the prophecy meant.

"I'll be fine. Let's keep moving." Zoë said bandaging her wound. She didn't bother to disinfectant the wound because if this didn't eventually kill her, her father would. She knew her fate was death, and was already ready to face it. She wasn't the type to just shy away from the prospect of death. She would face it head on, and refuse to back down to it.

As they continued to climb Mount Othrys, they noticed the obsidian castle like palace to be rebuilding itself with some kind of magical force. It was a majestic sight to see, and would have been really amazing if it weren't so creepy. Black clouds circled the fortress like some kind of cheesy horror movie.

"I'm not sure what's more creepy. The fact that the Titan Olympus is rebuilding itself, or the fact that the sky looks like it's about to send this place into the next dimension. Please tell me we aren't too late." Thalia said. Nico grumbled as Zoë was breathing heavily. She could feel the deadly acid burning her body from the inside out.

"The power of the Titans is returning. War is guaranteed, this is not looking good for us at all." Zoë said. Nico walked over to the edge of the mount and looked down. His senses weren't wrong. He had started to see mortal spirits wandering the land, lost and confused. However they served to be his scouts as they started to whisper to him, warning him. It was something he was still getting use to since the Junkyard.

"We have a big problem." Nico said pointing downwards. Zoë and Thalia joined him looking over the edge and down to the bottom of the mount. There walking up the dirt road to the top, was a fully-fledged army of monsters that had walked off a cruise ship that was docked at the bottom of the mount.

"There's got to be at least a thousand of them. We can't fight all of them." Nico said. Zoë growled as she turned to walk back to the top of the mount. They had no other choice to continue on forwards to their destination.

"We have to keep going. No turning back. This is our end game. We must push on." Zoë said. The other two nodded and joined her as they made their way towards the dark fortress, the insane force of darkness clouding the area they were heading to. It had a dark evil feeling to the area they were in. Not quite like death, but like the road towards it, and they felt out of place. Maybe because this was the place of the Titans instead of the Olympians.

As they walked through the doorways, they made their way silently to the main throne room where Atlas was condemned to holding the sky for all eternity. When they entered, they saw Artemis, her eyes clenched in pain while holding the sky. Her aura was faulting and wavering, her godly form weakening with each passing moment. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"Milady!" Zoë rushed to her side. Artemis's eye's widened in shock and confusion. She couldn't believe her lieutenant was here at her side! Why had Chiron issued the quest? They had fallen into his trap perfectly!

"Leave! You must leave before it is too late! It is a trap Zoë. He is waiting and has been all this time. I was the bait Zoë Nightshade. Run, escape while you still can!" Artemis commanded. Zoë shook her head violent tears leaking from her eyes.

"I'm sorry Milady, but I refuse to follow such an order. We came here to save you, and that is exactly what we are going to do." Zoë retorted. Artemis was forced to smile, but before she could respond with a heart filled sentence, a booming laughter tore through the darkness of the castle. Zoë's head turned slowly to the source as the man responsible for this entire thing walked into plain view.

"Father…" Zoë growled, venom in her voice. Atlas chuckled hearty. He was dressed in combat imperial golden armor fit for a general of an army. He had his spear at his side, and he looked like he was ready to spill blood for the conquest of the Titans.

"What a pleasure, Zoë Nightshade. How fitting to see my pathetic disappointment of a daughter grovelling at the feet of a goddess in chains. How far you have fallen. You disgust me." Atlas sneered. Zoë stood up, revealing her hunting knives in both hands, having already cut Artemis's chains free from her.

"I'm going to take pleasure in cutting you to pieces father." She said with disdain. Atlas chuckled a little at his daughter's blatant hatred for him. He remembered the day he watched her walk away from him and her sisters after they had effectively disowned her. He had been opposed to the idea at the time and generally was concerned about her all those years ago, but as soon as he heard that one of his flesh and blood and joined that disgusting moon goddess, his disdain and disgust for her was born.

"You can try, you may even have the first move. Go on, I won't even try to block." Atlas said. Zoë hesitated, her anger not just for her father but for arrogant and vile males in general. Two thousand years of bottled hatred was about to spill out, and not in a good way. Nico joined her at her side, ready to fight, his dark aura influencing her in strange ways, empowering her and making her more angry than usual.

Thalia was off to the side, engaged in a battle with Luke who had entered the scene a short while ago and pulled Thalia to the side. Annabeth was bound with her arms behind her back and her ankles tied. She was also exhausted, grey strains of hair clear in her luscious blonde hair.

"I know Percy isn't here, but I swear I will fight on his behalf. I will fight by your side Zoë. I may not agree with you in terms of letting Bianca join the hunt, but I respect her decision now, and thus, I will fight with you." Nico said. Zoë nodded.

"Thank you Nico. If we survive this, I will stop at nothing to find Bianca, and then we can punish her captor together." Zoë said. Nico nodded and charged Atlas with Zoë close behind him. She fired off a couple of arrows as Nico summon his Hell-hounds to him. Atlas resumed a defensive stance as the three fighters clashed.

Nico took the primary offensive, using his powers over darkness to empower him to attempt to match Atlas's physical strength. Naturally and obviously it wasn't enough to full match and Nico was still significantly weaker than him, but one lesson Percy taught him occurred to him. If he couldn't match him in power, then excel past him in speed.

Nico used short distance and quick shadow travels to confuse and throw Atlas off, but the Titan of Endurance and Strength was a well versed fighter and matched it, not with speed, but with intelligence. However while he was matched with the son of Hades, he still had to worry about his daughter who was firing off arrows at all of his weak spots.

"Curse you two, this isn't honorable combat." Atlas said blocking a volley of arrows. Nico growled as he managed to slash Atlas's left leg, cutting deep into the muscle. Atlas yelled in pain, and instantly forced some of his divine power to heal and mend the spot that had been injured.

"This is a battle of life and death, there is no such thing as honorable. What good is honor when you're dead!?" Nico yelled again clashing with Atlas's spear. Nico was thankful his sword was holding up against this Titan's divine weapon. Atlas growled. This boy was a sniveling mess not a few days ago back in New York, what kind of mental and physical change had he undergone to acquire such an aggressive form of offensive?

"Such barbaric tactics. It will be justified to end your existence here boy!" Atlas boomed. The ground ripped apart and a pack of hell-hounds sprang out of the ground and attacked Atlas all over. The Titan lost his balance as the dogs pounced him and chowed into his armor. Atlas in a fit of rage broke the sword lock he had with Nico and kicked the small demigod back.

The son of Hades flew backwards skidding to the goddess's feet who was still trapped under the sky. Nico cursed as he got up. His head was killing him, but he had to act smart here. He knew he was young, but this journey had forced him to mature. This was no game, they could all die here and it could be riding on a decision that he had to make.

He turned to Artemis.

"Give me the sky." She looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Give you the sky!? Have you completely lost it? It will crush you. Don't act stupid, get back there and help my Lieutenant!" Artemis ordered. Nico was close to breaking. He got right up to Artemis's face, anger and rage written all over it. He was not going to take shit from this goddess, and he did not care who she was.

"Listen you! I don't care if you're a divine entity or not! My sister is probably dead, and the only person who I'm even remotely close to is in a coma! I'm not nearly as skilled enough to fight Atlas, even with the aid of my powers. You're more of a match than I am, so SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE SKY!" Nico boomed.

He didn't wait for the goddess to answer. He slipped under the sky and shoved her out of the way, causing her to fall to the ground. He took the weight of the sky, grunting as he did so. The force was unbearable, but his hatred rose, and so did his power. Black flames burned around him as a black death like helmet appeared above his head. Nico screamed in blind anger and rage as his entire body radiated black smoky power.

"The blessing of Hades, what power…" Artemis said with awe. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen this display of pure brute strength from will alone. Hades must have been aiding the boy, his anger giving him the power and strength needed to control the forces of darkness.

Artemis wanted to yell back at the boy, scold him and smack the boy for even daring to yell at her, but now was not the time. He had made it pretty clear that he was no match for Atlas, and seemed to think she had the best chance of matching him. She quickly summoned her gear, restoring some of her strength with the ambrosia she was carried in emergencies and took off to fight Atlas at the side of her Lieutenant.

Percy awoke to find himself on a comfy bed. He sat up slowly, the pain in his shoulder had vanished, but as he looked to his left, his entire left shoulder, right down the mid-section of his arm was covered in bandages. Some of which had looked like they had been replaced quite recently.

He looked around, he was in some kind of room. It was quite clearly a girl's room, judging by the stuff and smell. The bed he was lying on was a pinkish colour and the room was lined with books, paper, blue prints, and architecture stuff.

Where was he? Where was the group? What was happening? He stood up, feeling a little bit woozy and managed to make his way out of the room and down a flight of stairs and into the living room. The quest group was nowhere to be seen. Percy sat down on the couch, deep in thought. What day was it? How long had he been out?

All these questions and he had no idea what was going on, and where his group was. He frowned as he looked out the window, it was midday and judging by the silence, he was here alone. He sighed as he got up and moved his shoulder around a little.

"Hello there!" A voice said from behind him. Percy spun around to see a middle aged man. The strange frazzled man had blonde hair and brown eyes, and he seemed to be covered in grease, probably from building something.

"Uh, Hi…?" Percy said sheepishly. He wasn't quite sure if he was still asleep or awake. The last thing he remembered was Zoë tending to his wounds and healing him. Where were they, they didn't seem to be around at all. He was seriously starting to get concerned.

"You must be that Percy Jackson fellow those youngsters brought in with them when they arrived. There is some food on the table if you want to take a bite to eat." He said with a smile. Percy was stunned and happily took up the offering of food. They were just some sandwiches, but for some reason, his stomach as growling and he felt extremely hungry.

"Excuse me, uh, sir? Do you know where they went?" Percy asked heading for the door, and past the man. Percy opened the door before the man could respond and what Percy saw shocked him. He was in the middle of San Francisco! This brought him so many more questions that needed to be answered.

"They left around an hour or two ago. They were heading to Mount Othrys to complete their quest. They told me they would be back to pick you up after they rescued my daughter and Artemis. Your condition would hinder them if they continued to carry you around the place." He said. Percy turned back to look at him strangely.

"How long was I out?" Percy asked. The man raised an eyebrow.

"A day and a half. That nice boy Grover had been carrying you around. Once they got you here they managed to finish treating you. It was a miracle you were still alive after all the blood you had lost. If it hadn't been for that huntress girl, you would have surely died!" The man exclaimed with a light chuckle.

Percy cursed to himself lightly. They had already left, and were probably already at the mountain confronting Atlas and attempting to free Artemis. Kurama was still up there! He had to get there now! There was no more time left!

"Alright thanks Mr… eh, what's your name?" Percy said, feeling slightly embarrassed. The man smiled friendly. If Percy didn't know any better, he swore he could have seen some fear in his eyes.

"Fredrick Chase. Annabeth's father." He said with a smile. Percy just smiled back and saluted.

"Thank you for having me Mr Chase, I need to go now and help my friends, and your daughter. I'll see you later I guess!" Percy said as the boy took off. The man smiled as he watched the boy take off. As soon as the boy was out of sight, a grim frown crossed his face as he turned to walk back to the workshop. He had celestial bronze bullets to make, and some bastard kidnapping monsters to mow down.

As soon as Percy had left Fredrick's sight, the boy gathered Sage Chakra with haste. He had no time to lose and he could already tell a vicious battle was about to take place on Mount Othrys. The natural energy from what Percy could make out in sage mode, was gathering in a dark fashion around the mountain. The negative energy was incredible and suffocating!

With haste, Percy burnt rubber and sped through the streets of San Francisco and up the Mountain. The Mountain that Percy had started to climb with incredible speed, was actually Mount Tamalpais, which housed the broken form of the Titan version of Olympus. However as Percy ascended to the top of the mountain alone, he found that the fortress was slowly rebuilding itself.

As he ascended, he passed through the Gardens of Hesperides. During his dream with Zoë, who he had taken to not mentioning in great detail due to her emotional state inside the dream, he could depict that she was previously a sister of the Hesperides, however her helping Hercules must have been the factor that had forced her to find Artemis and join the hunters.

Finally he came to his first road block, Ladon, the infamous dragon type creature that's breath was acidic and melted bone like butter on a frying pan. It seemed to be awake and aggravated as its heads were lashing around viciously, as if trying to hit and bit something that wasn't there.

However Percy spotted something, a piece of silver fabric caught on one of its teeth, and that specific tooth had spots of red human blood on it. Percy grunted as he examined it from a distance. From his deduction, Zoë had tried to reason with the creature and tried to communicate with it like she could a long time ago. However obviously it had turned sour and attacked. From what he could see, she had taken a hit, and he knew from Legend that taking a hit from that dragon was almost guaranteed death.

Zoë was hit. Zoë was hurt. That made him both angry and terrified.

Why did that bother him so much? Oh that's right, because he really liked her. Ever since he met her back in Maine, he had provoked her when her words had hit him rather harshly, causing him to lash back at her, something that he wouldn't have done if done by anyone else. Something about her caught his eye, and ever since then, a place for her was always reserved in his mind.

Using his training he had received from Kurama, Percy easily ran towards the dragon, leaping with ease between his multiple acid-dripping heads with sage mode activated. The dragon could not even get its jaws even remotely close to the fox sage. Percy's senses were through the roof, and knew what was coming from every angle. He had been using this mode for years, and was close to mastering it completely.

Percy emerged from the other side of the dragon and continued towards the darkening fortress that held Atlas, Artemis, Kurama and the rest of the group. However Percy noted that there was a burning on his left shoulder. His wound hadn't quite healed yet, but the medical treatment Zoë had given him had definitely sped up the process of healing him. He would have to ask her what she did.

Finally as he got closer to the top of the fortress, he started to hear voices, and raised ones at that. The sound of fighting echoed off the obsidian marble walls of the castle. Percy slowed to a fast walk as he made his way through the corridors, weaving through unaware monsters. As Percy made his way towards the commotion he noticed an entire army of monsters emerging from a boat at the bottom of the mountain, from the opposite side he had come up, and they were slowly but surely making their way up.

Percy dashed through doorways until finally he came to the main room. Inside Artemis and Zoë stood facing off against Atlas, while Thalia was fighting another boy much older than him. His eyes drifted over to Nico who was suffering under the sky. His face was beat red, his eyes bulging from the intense weight of the sky. He was also crying, but they were tears of anger and sadness. Using the loss of his sister to make him stronger, the fatal flaw of Hades was holding grudges, and he was holding a heavy grudge towards the people that caused her to fall into that unfavorable circumstance, and that was Atlas.

His anger was giving him strength.

Percy was peering into the room, scanning for openings until he saw a blonde girl on her knees. Her blonde hair had streaks of grey in them, obviously from holding the sky. The rest were engaged in an intense battle. However Grover was nowhere to be seen.

Percy was suddenly brought back to the confrontation with Artemis, Zoë and Atlas. The General had broken the guard on both girls and thrown them backwards. Artemis grunted as she was thrown back into a wall, leaving a dent in it. Zoë however was caught by Atlas and lifted up to his face.

"What a disgusting sight for a daughter of mine. All smitten with the virgin goddess and her pathetic squad of weak little girls. I see this fitting, the first blood in a new war!" Atlas boomed. Artemis was too dazed to react.

"Don't expect me to beg Atlas." Zoë spat. The Titan boomed with laughter as he disarmed her and threw her to the ground. Artemis growled, her silvery aura growing larger with every action taken against Zoë. She shot forward without another word, but was hit hard when Atlas spun around and hit her hard with the blunt end of his spear.

Artemis slid across the floor, dazed and defenseless. The Titan growled and rolled his eyes.

"Pathetic as always. For a goddess who praises the strength and will of the female gender, you are disgustingly weak and predictable." Atlas sneered. Golden Ichor was leaking from countless slashes and stabs on Artemis's body. Atlas was in a rather similar state, but was bearing the pain a lot better than she was.

"Leave Zoë alone! It's me you want right?" Artemis said trying to stand to her feet. She tried to look ready for battle but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. Atlas just laughed and walked over towards Zoë and raised his spear. Zoë swallowed hard and closed her eyes. This was her fate, she would die to the hand of her father…

This was her fate.

"Good bye… daughter." Atlas said as he projected his spear towards her heart. Tears flowed from Artemis as she tried to force her body to respond but it refused. All she could do was watch as the spear of the Titan pierce her best friend's heart. However, out of nowhere, a blur shot towards Zoë and caught the spear dead on, stopping and halting its decent. Atlas's eyes widened.

"If you want to kill her, you going to have to kill me first, and I guarantee I'm not so easy to kill you bastard." Percy growled as he pushed him back. Atlas stumbled back but held onto his spear. Percy held onto the end of it firmly, blood leaking from his hand, but he didn't care. As long as Zoë was safe from harm, he would do everything in his power to protect her.

Atlas, for the first time got a good look at Percy Jackson. Their chance meeting back in the Museum was interesting but this was a real stand-off, and a real display of the prophecy child's power, and to be very honest with himself… the pure power to stop his spear dead on, this strength, and those crimson slit eyes. A look of pure hatred and desire to protect.

Zoë opened her eyes as soon as she heard that voice. She looked at the back of Percy, standing tall in front of her, acting as her shield from her father. She couldn't figure out what was more surprising. The fact that he was standing in front of her right now, or the fact that he was alive and well enough to fight again.

"Percy! You're okay..!" Zoë said with happiness. However she suddenly turned to scowl at him, her happiness fading away to a look of anger and annoyance.

"What the hell are you doing here you idiot! You're supposed to be resting! Not trying to get yourself killed again!" Zoë practically screamed. Percy just chuckled as he pulled the spear from Atlas's grip and snapped it over his knee, much to the horror of said Titan. He sighed, he may as well come out with his feelings now. He may die here, so he might as well live it out as he can.

"I would be lying if I said that I just ran all the way up here now just to save Kurama and Artemis, but what also occurred to me was that I didn't want you to do this without me." Percy said. The look on Zoë's face was utterly priceless. Artemis and Atlas even more so. Zoë blushed and stepped back, her heart racing at an overdrive. The poison in her system from Ladon's attack was still weakening her, but she was still ready to fight at any time, however right at this moment she was frozen in a state of shock.

"Now isn't exactly the time for this…" Artemis couldn't help but groan. However, being the idiot Percy happened to be, he continued regardless.

"At the beginning of all of this, I was arrogant and spiteful. I thought I could do everything by myself. I had the power and skills to do so as well, but considering how easily one can fall, I started to see just how much of an error that was. You're much smarter than me, and warned me not to do the things I did, and you were right Zoë. I was an idiot, naïve fourteen year old boy who didn't know any better." Percy said, not taking his eyes off Atlas.

"I don't care if you hate me, but you have been the first person to teach me the value of friendship and having people around you. Without you Zoë, I would have died in that junkyard." Percy said. Zoë's heart stopped figuratively. Her hands were shaking as she brought her hands close to her chest. She was completely at a loss at how to react to all this. Then he said those words that literally turned her entire world upside down.

"I think I'm in love with you." Percy said with a smile as he turned to her. Zoë just stared at him, unsure of how to respond. Artemis felt like dying right then and there. That was possibly… the most ridiculous confession she had ever heard.

"JACKSON, THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE AND NOW IS NOT THE TIME!" Artemis screamed in frustration. Percy turned to her indignity and pouted sadly.

"Hey, I'm facing potential death in the face! I'm entitled to speak my mind!" He replied indignantly. Artemis groaned, the timely nature of this confession couldn't have been worse. Zoë was blushing madly, both from the blood rush and the acid that was burning her from the inside out.

"Percy you idiot…" Zoë muttered blushing madly.

Percy just sighed as he turned back to Atlas with a growl, pulling out a bronze pen that made Zoë gasp. He uncapped it as it sprang to life. It was a gift from Kurama a long time ago. He didn't use it often, but for this occasion, he would make use of it.

"That's why I'm going to put this asshole down, and put him back in his place so he doesn't bother you again." Percy snarled. Atlas's eyebrows rose as the Titan burst into hysterical laughter. A singular demigod challenging a Titan? It was unheard of, not without the assistance of a god of course.

"A touching confession Perseus Jackson, I must appalled you for that. However, even with your strange strength and unnatural abilities, I assure you that alone, you have no chance of defeating me." Atlas boasted. Percy just grinned.

"I never said I was doing it alone." Percy chuckled. Atlas looked around comically as if to look for another challenger to join the fight, completely ignoring Artemis, much to her irk. As much as it hurt her pride to think this, it was up to Percy now to fight this battle. Most of her godly power had been drained from holding up the sky, and then fighting Atlas.

"Oh? And who are you going to fight with? Artemis? Please, look at her, she can't even stand up." Atlas laughed. However that laugh was cut off by a sudden burst of demonic red energy that erupted from one of the doorways leading into the room. In the darkness, a pair of two demonic red slit eyes opened.

"I'm sure I will fit the roll quite nicely, puny Titan." A deep voice sounded from behind the Titan. The Titan spun around only to see a seven tailed fox dash out of the darkness and launch straight for him. Atlas had no time to react as the fox sunk its teeth in the shoulder of the Titan. Golden Ichor flew everywhere as the fox disengaged and landed next to Percy. The Titan howled in pain.

"It's about time, what the hell were you doing Kurama?" Percy said with a smirk. The ancient fox grinned sadistically. Kurama was easily the size of a truck, a little bit taller than Atlas's Titan form. Percy just remained standing by the large demon fox while all other fights ceased. Thalia and Luke had come to a halt in their emotional battle to watch the battle that was about to unfold between Percy, the fox against Atlas. Zoë's mind was in overdrive, and Artemis was just smiling.

"Foolish Ningen, I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. I didn't want to get involved if I didn't have to. However with Artemis down, it looks like I have to step in." Kurama grinned. Atlas looked at the chakra demon with wide eyes.

"What in the name of Tartarus are you!? What kind of vile creature are you fox?" Atlas's voice trembled with fear as he stood up and took out his personal sword. Kurama licked his lips, ignoring the Titan's question.

"I've never eaten a Titan before… I wonder how tasty they will be." Kurama wondered out loud, laughing at Atlas's horrified expression. Percy just sighed.

"You can't eat him Kurama, he needs to go back under the sky." Percy said with a slight chuckle. Kurama howled with laughter, laughter that shook the entire fortress from head to toe.

"I'm sure there are plenty more Titans I can devour. I'm sure I can skip this one, he doesn't look all that tasty anyway." Kurama snarled. Before Atlas could even respond, Kurama roared. A vicious wall of wind and intense force slammed against the titan, completely throwing him off his feet.

Percy took this opportunity to dash towards the Titan and deliver countless blows to the titan, spilling golden blood all over the polished obsidian marble floor. Percy then proceeded to pound the Titan's face into the ground with his enhanced strength. Sure enough, Atlas exploded in rage.

Percy got up from Atlas and retreated from the glowing Titan, radiating anger, pain and rage from being outclassed by a fox and a demigod. Kurama had to see the irony here, he had witnessed his old friend outdo just about every opponent he came across, even when all the odds in the world were stacked against him. Looking at Percy, it was almost like looking at the blonde idiot once more, and he was proud to be standing by his side.

"ENOUGH!" the Titan bellowed so loud that the foundations of the building shook. "I WILL NOT HUMILIATED BY A CHILD OF POSEIDON AND A STUPID FOX!" Atlas raised his spear, which Percy and Kurama got into a defensive form for. Atlas charged stupidly. Kurama reacted first, dashing to his side and wrapping his tails around Atlas binding him and restricting his movements completely.

"NO WHAT IS THIS!?" Atlas struggled against the bounds of Kurama's tails, but the fox only tightened them. Atlas was about to bellow again, but all the air left the Titans lunged. Percy had delivered a well-aimed, fully powered Senjutsu punch right into his abdomen. Percy then proceeded to deliver the same punch over and over.

Golden ichor flew out of the Titans mouth over and over, and to finally finish off the humiliation. Percy leaped into the air and round house kicked Atlas in the face, sending the Titan flying right towards Nico, who slid out just in time for the sky to collapse right back on top of Atlas. The man was too beaten and bruised to even let out complaints.

Kurama then shrunk down to a much smaller fox and leaped onto Percy's good shoulder. The seven tails the fox previously had, retracted leaving him with two tails now. Percy breathed out as he let the Senjutsu fade from his body, and falling prey to exhaustion effects. Percy turned to see Thalia looking for the boy she was fighting, and cursed as she found that he had escaped in the chaos, and instead, rushed over to Annabeth instead.

Artemis was carefully treating to Zoë, who was now in a state of confusion and pain. Percy decided it was best to keep his distance while Kurama just smiled on his shoulder. Artemis had managed to reserve some of her godly power to restore Zoë's from and health. She was save, because of Percy's interference at the last minute.

"You know, this reminds me of a lot of times my old friend use to act around females. He had no clue what to do and always decided to stick to what his instinct told him to do." Kurama commented as the two observed Artemis treat Zoë's injuries. Percy just sighed.

"I've fallen for her Kurama. Somehow, in some way, I've fallen for a huntress who hates males with an absolute passion. This sucks." Percy said as he turned away and walked over to the edge of the room, looking out over the city of San Francisco. Night had fallen and the beautiful moon had risen.

"Love works that way sometimes. In time it will become clear. You just have to bear with it. It was no easier for him." Kurama said. Percy sighed once again, this time out of annoyance. Kurama always referred his old friend, but never saw in giving Percy the name of this person.

"You're never going to tell me who 'Him' or 'my old friend' is, are you?" Kurama just laughed as he turned to Percy. The fox clearly had something planned for him.

"You will find out for yourself soon enough. I have already made plans, now I just have to wait to see if my predictions are correct." Kurama said with a smile. Percy just looked at him, then shook his head and returned to star gazing. It wasn't for another few minutes that Percy was brought out of his thoughts by a voice.

"Perseus Jackson." The voice belonged to Artemis. She was standing, regaining her power by the second. She had her eyes closed, her silvery aura returning. When she opened her eyes again, they were full of life.

"I would like to have a serious conversation with you about your confession towards my best friend, but for now, we must make haste for Olympus. Please step aside." She said. Percy nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Artemis to step out. After a few moments she had summoned her chariot and everyone hopped on.

Percy sat at the back, while Artemis sat at the front with Zoë. Thalia sat with Annabeth in the second row of seats, Nico sat off by himself, struggling to stay awake from all the power he exerted while under the sky, while Percy and Kurama remained in the back. Percy then turned to Kurama.

"You said you made plans. What did you mean by that?" He asked. Kurama closed his eyes, the wide brushing his orange fur. His small form perched on the seat next to Percy could be considered adorable. However this was a being capable of leveling mountains at the peak of his power.

"I had a small chat with our friendly neighboring goddess over there. I will say this now, that ever since then, she has been going through some of the changes Zoë has been going through. Her hatred is dulling." Kurama said. Percy looked at the back of Artemis, silently watching the two huntress's converse with each other.

"I noticed she was a lot calmer when she addressed me." Percy analysed. The son of Poseidon ran a hand through his thick black hair and sighed. What exactly was the fox trying to imply? Sure Percy was quite intelligent, but he was still rather dense, and even he had to admit that.

"What happened?" He asked. Kurama just huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Listen… the uprising of the Titans is a concern in itself, but there is something underlying going on here. I have been feeling a presence lately, and it feels very familiar but I can't put a finger on what it is. It's scared me and I needed to act." Kurama explained. Percy narrowed his eyes.

"It scared YOU? What aren't you telling me?" Percy asked with disbelieve in his voice. What force on this world could possibly scare the great nine tailed fox? What kind of force could that possibly be?

"Just be prepared for anything Percy. Kronos might be the least of your problems soon if my hunches are telling the truth. Something is going to happen soon, and it's going to bring about the end of the world. An ancient evil is lurking." Kurama said. Percy shuddered. The lord of time was a serious power and here Kurama was telling him that he might be the least of his problems?

"I don't like the sound of that one bit. I've got enough on my plate now. I'm sure Artemis hates me for confessing to Zoë like that. That and I'll probably die to the prophecy if it isn't about Thalia." Percy said off-handily.

"She will be joining the Hunters. She already knows she's not strong enough to bear the weight of a prophecy like that. Plus, the prophecy refers to a 'he', and it's obviously not Nico, unless you die before that." Kurama chuckled causing Percy to frown and turn away from the fox.

"That's very reassuring." Percy said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "How would you know if Thalia is joining the hunters? That seems like a very farfetched assumption."

"I'm not assuming anything. I've been watching her and she doesn't seem to particularly fond of bearing the weight of this prophecy. She'll look for an escape." Kurama said. Percy raised an eyebrow and looked over towards where Thalia and Annabeth were sitting. Thalia seemed pale. Her sixteenth birthday was tomorrow and she had to make a decision.

"We are here." Artemis spoke up. Everyone looked forward to see Olympus in all of its glory. The whole place was completely breath taking. The lights lit up the night sky, dark fluffy clouds paved the polished marble road towards the giant temple that was Olympus.

The chariot landed and its passengers dismounted. Kurama hopped to the ground and turned to stop Percy while the others had already started making their way towards the throne room, where all the gods awaited.

"After the meeting is over, meet me outside the front of Camp Half-blood. We have much to do." Kurama said before turning and leaping off and disappearing through the dark clouds of Olympus. Percy just sighed as he turned around and followed behind the others.

As they reached the throne room, they were greeted by twelve Olympian gods and goddesses. Artemis had already made it to her throne and was sitting on it comfortably, gazing at the demigods as they walked in, especially Zoë and Percy. She narrowed her eyes and the latter.

"Welcome Heroes, I would like to thank you for putting yourself in harm's way to save Artemis. It is an incredible feat to be able to best the Titan of Endurance and strength and for that… we have decided as a council, not to kill you." Zeus started in a board tone. Percy could help but stifle a silent chuckle at Zeus's wording. It was like the fact that they were allowed to live, was a luxury.

"Furthermore, it has come to our attention that we do have a problem on our hands." All heads turned to Thalia, making her slightly self-conscious about her current position. She swallowed hard and stepped forward and knelled before her father.

"Please stand my child. You must understand, we are hesitant with both your fates and the child of my brother's fate." Zeus said eyeing Percy dangerously. Percy didn't even flinch and stared right back. Zeus sat back in his throne and breathed out.

"Tomorrow you are to turn sixteen, and bring about the fate of Olympus. You can either choose to accept this fate, or we can kill you, and help you avoid this fate. My heart weighs heavy on the latter decision, but there are no other options." Zeus said as he closed his eyes. Thalia couldn't help but tear up, but stood up and faced Zeus.

"Excuse me father, but there is another way." Thalia said. Zeus perked up at this and eyed her suspiciously.

"What is it, my daughter?" Thalia took a deep breath and released it, gathering her nerves.

"I have decided to join the Hunters of Artemis." Thalia stated. Instantly there was murmuring among the gods. Zeus sat back in his throne, relief flooding his eyes. He would not have to kill his own daughter, and she would not have to live out the prophecy.

"I will stay fifteen forever. I will not bear the prophecy." Thalia finished. The murmuring was cut as all heads turned to now the fourteen year old Son of Poseidon, who stood tall and firm, confidence in his posture. He had been taught strictly and harshly by Kurama. He was not afraid of the gods. Not one bit.

"I guess that leaves me huh? And sadly, I do not have the lovely choice of becoming a hunter of Artemis." Percy joked slightly, causing a bit of laughter out of the male gods. Walking forward and standing next to Thalia. She lowered her head and sent the boy a silent apology for dumping the fate of Olympus on top of him. He just smiled reassuringly and put a hand on her shoulder, as if to say 'don't worry about it'.

"There has been a lot of strife upon Olympus because of you boy." Athena said with piercing cold grey eyes. The very second she looked at him, she was analyzing him, his strengths his weaknesses and his darkest secrets. She knew, she was the goddess of intelligence and wisdom. While he had been trained by an ancient spirit, you cannot hide anything from Athena.

"Because of your stupid disappearance, seaweed brain over there almost started world war three!" Athena growled. She was about to stand out of her seat, but was interrupted as a trident slammed against the floor. Poseidon glared at her as he got out of his seat and approached his son. Percy felt very strange. This was the first time actually meeting his father, and the man seemed like a very defensive guy. No doubt that the very look in his eyes told Percy that he rained down hell on Hades after Sally was murdered and Percy disappeared.

"Percy… my son, I have failed you." Poseidon said sadly. Percy suddenly felt extremely guilty. He had caused his father such grief, and had almost brought about a war with the sea and a war with the underworld. It showed just how much Poseidon cared about his child.

"Don't worry, I don't want to say it was your fault." Percy said, his eyes displaying painful emotions and memories of the moment Sally was killed in that 'accident' years ago. The event that had turned Percy into a man, and had given him a will to live. "It wasn't your fault. You were bound by ancient laws from interfering." He finished. Poseidon looked down.

"I tried my best, but it seems that even we gods, are not perfect." Poseidon said. Percy just smiled bitterly, Poseidon doing the same as the two shook hands, and finally exchanged pleasantries.

"It's good to see you." Percy said. Poseidon just smiled.

"It's good to finally see you too, son." Poseidon said as he returned to his throne. The gods had taken to talking among-st themselves while Percy and Poseidon had made up. Zeus cleared his throat to speak again.

"The problem still stands. A child of the big three still lives and gets closer to sixteen every day. How do we know that he is capable of preserving Olympus? We lucked out with Thalia, but Percy cannot join the hunters!" Athena said. The Olympians were silent.

"We will not kill my son. He saved Artemis, he is to be treated as a hero." Poseidon said with authority. Athena growled and stood up out of her seat. Percy could feel the raw tension between Poseidon and Athena. She was a woman of logic and reason, and he could see himself that if they killed him now, the prophecy would be delayed another few years because of Nico. However Poseidon was extremely defensive for Percy, and would not tolerate any kind of action like that towards the son he had failed to protect.

"It is illogical to not deal with this matter now. We know not of what he is capable of and what decision he will make when the time comes." Athena protested. Poseidon was about to speak up before Artemis decided to add in her own input.

"If I may, I personally watched Percy engage Atlas on a one on one. Although he had help from an ancient spirit, Percy still managed to break Atlas and match him with strength and cunning ability. He, Zoë and their quest group saved me from an eternity under the sky. If killing him is Olympian justice, I will have none of it." Artemis declared. Athena sighed and sat back down. The gods were silent.

None of them seemed to particularly care really. Ares was sharpening his swords. Aphrodite was looking and apply some new make up in a mirror. Apollo and Hermes were listening to music while updating their Facebook. The rest were listening but, didn't really seem to have an opinion on the matter.

"I believe this matter should be closed until we cross this bridge at a later date. For now, let us enjoy the party." Zeus said as music started to boom throughout the hallways of Olympus. It was purely preference songs that played. Percy found that his favorite songs seemed to play on a looped cycle.

Demigods, satyrs, nature spirits, and all sorts of nice people were invited, some of the minor gods even attended the event after the council. Percy found that he wasn't much of a party person and decided to leave early. He had managed to make his way out of the building before he confronted by Artemis.

"Hello milady." Percy said nicely. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"I take it you're not really a party person?" She asked, amusement in her voice. Percy sighed as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Not really. The social crowd is a bit too much for me. Plus I'm going to meet with Kurama. He said he had something planned. Probably more training if I were to guess." Percy said. Artemis nodded her head in understanding. There was a slight awkward silence as Percy decided to get nervous. Finally she asked the question he had been dreading.

"So, you have developed romantic feelings for my lieutenant. Can't say I'm particularly happy about this." Artemis said. Her tone in her voice wasn't anger, but more curiosity. Both he and Artemis were in a rather secluded location, and obviously she had planned this. She had caught him right in her trap.

"Apologies milady, I cannot control who I have feelings for. If it's any consolation, I won't bother you or her about it. That confession was rather stupid, but I needed to get it off my chest." Percy said respectively. Artemis just sighed and closed her eyes, turning away from the son of Poseidon.

"Normally I would ignore an instance like this, however she happens to be in the position where she wants to return your feelings. She feels the same way about you Perseus." Artemis said opening her eyes and turning back to him. She could see the hope in his eyes light up.

"Milady?" Percy looked up. She gazed at him, examining him once more before speaking again. She had to play her words right, and although she was very confused about the entire idea of Zoë and Perseus being together, it wouldn't be… so bad, if Zoë found someone in her life that could make her happier than she ever could.

"I have never done this before… it goes against everything I stand for, but… if you swear on your life, on Olympus, that you will always protect her, make her happy, and fight alongside her… I will let you… eh… what do you mortals call it again?" Artemis said, struggling to find the right words. Percy couldn't believe he was hearing or what he thought he was about to hear.

"I think its date. You may date her, and I will allow her to remain in the hunt. However if you are to ever hurt her…" Artemis pulled out a knife and lowered it to his crotch. "I will make sure you never walk again." Percy, although frightened slightly by the gesture just smiled and pushed the knife away.

"I would never hurt Zoë, and it's my dream to protect all of my precious people. I would take you up on your offer, but it's really up to Zoë whether she wants to or not. I will not force anything on her." He said. Artemis nodded approvingly. Artemis was a hard person to please or bargain with, and Percy knew this to be a fact.

Out of nowhere, Zoë walked out of the party room, fully dressed in her hunter gear with a determined look on her face. She saw both Artemis and Percy conversing and felt a rather excited light within her light up.

"Milady, when do we leave?" Zoë asked. Artemis turned sharply to Percy. Percy could feel the tension the Goddess was feeling between the two. Zoë was rather impassive, her face not showing anything, but the goddess knew she was nervous around Percy. He was the complete opposite of what males were and what she had expected them to be. Percy was an anomaly to her. Artemis knew Zoë didn't like anomalies.

"Now. We'll be in touch Perseus, try not to get yourself killed." Artemis said flashing away with Zoë at her side. Percy brought in a deep breath and then exhaled. He was rather shaky when talking to the legendary man-hating goddess. He sighed.

"Of all the people that captured my attention… why does it have to be that damned Lieutenant? For the love of the gods Aphrodite, why make my life more complicated than it already is?" Percy groaned as he sat down on the Olympian sidewalk. He hung his feet over the edge, a drop that almost guaranteed certain death.

"You need to lighten up kiddo." A female voice said to his left. He turned to his left to find said goddess he was complaining about sitting right next to him. He placed his head in his palms, moaning about his situation. Aphrodite only laughed at his expense as she placed a friendly hand on his back. He suddenly felt very self-conscious and very vulnerable.

"It's because of you that I have these conflicting feelings for her. Why pair me with a forbidden love? How could you be so cruel?" Percy cried with fake tears. He was rather upset that Aphrodite was finding amusement out of all of this.

"Well, I wouldn't say it is completely my fault. I can't force love on someone who clear doesn't want anything to do with it. I was rather surprised when little Nightshade started showing signs of maturity. That flower is beginning to bloom." Aphrodite sung. Percy rolled his eyes. He was sure there was some kind of sexual innuendo in there somewhere, but his exhausted state rendered his mind to process that as fast as a potato could.

"Please stop." Percy said. Aphrodite only gave him a kiss on the cheek, something he had colossal difficulty hiding his blush from. She was the goddess of love! How could he possibly ignore a kiss from the incarnate being of love and sex? He needed a cold shower for multiple reasons.

"No can do sweetie, your relationship with that love-sick huntress is possibly going to be my biggest hit yet! Maybe this can finally break Artemis and show Hestia and Athena that their vows for maiden chastity are silly and pointless." Aphrodite said. Percy stood up and turned away. In a way he was slightly angry at the love goddess for using his feelings.

"What does it matter to you what they decide. Sounds like you're trying to whore them out. Their decisions are their own, and by no means affect you." Percy growled. His anger was starting to get the better of him. He sensed no anger from the love goddess, but he only heard her sigh.

"You sound just like that Nightshade girl. Everyone always jumping to conclusions when it comes too little ol' me. Look here Perseus." Aphrodite said standing up. She transformed into what looked like a normal girl about his age. Percy looked at her, interest filling his eyes. He wondered what she was trying to prove.

"I've always been an underestimated goddess. Just because I am the deity of love, doesn't make me weak, or a whore. It's the modern day generations that write me and consider me a whore because I'm the closest deity there is to sexual relations and what not. However what most people overlook is that love is probably the most powerful desire there is in a human." She said walking around Percy. He narrowed his eyes.

"It's a primal desire, something that all humans treasure and protect. When it is threatened, there is no limit to what a human can achieve… You know this." Aphrodite said. Percy growled as a memory flashed in front of his eyes. His mother in the car with him that very day. She, at the last second and used her own body as a shield for him when that truck slammed into their car. She did it out of love.

Another flash, briefly. He saw Zoë above him, treating him back to health in the middle of a junkyard. Her eyes portrayed love and desire to keep him alive and by her side. He gently raised a hand and touched the wound that had long since healed. Love had been a factor in saving his life more than once.

"The only reason you are even fighting for Olympus is because of the people you have come to love. You love that fox spirit that saved you, as you would love an uncle. You love your father, you love Zoë, and you even love Artemis for accepting you. Nico Di Angelo for looking up to you. You don't realise a lot of things Percy, but yet you still fight to keep them all safe." Aphrodite said. She stopped walking around him and smiled.

"Try not to feel so glum, I'm sure Zoë will confess to you some time in the future. You have my word." She said. Percy sighed. He turned to head for the exit of Olympus, the love goddess watching his retreating form. She smiled rather sadly. The boy was in despair, and so alone. The time throughout the quest had probably been the happiest for him.

"You will understand someday, Perseus Jackson. Love will help you save this world." She said before disappearing into a cloud of pink smoke.

Percy had made it back to camp where Kurama was waiting silently on top of Zeus fist. How he had managed to get into the camp borders without the shield kicking him out was beyond Percy. Kurama was over forty thousand years old, he had his own tricks up his arsenal. Percy dropped down in front of the fox causing the fox to open his crimson eyes.

"Took your time Ningen. We have a problem." Kurama said looking down. Percy looked down as well. He knew what Kurama was looking at and referencing. It was the fact that when Percy was here last in Sage Mode during capture the flag, he sensed that time and space beneath this rock bended and twisted. Percy was going to investigate but was interrupted by the call of Kurama that very night in his dreams. Now he had time.

"Yeah, I noticed a while back. What is it?" Percy asked. Kurama hummed to himself in thought. They had a serious situation here, and with Krono's army getting larger by the day, if they discovered this then it was going to be a serious problem.

"Between these rocks lies the entrance to the Labyrinth. Problem is that I can't open it, and I can't get inside. The magic prevents me from entering. However you can." Kurama said. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I want to go down there?" He asked. Kurama once again hummed to himself. It wasn't an easy task. It was clear what needed to happen but how he was supposed to achieve that was far beyond what Kurama could know. There were even some things about the mythological world that still confused the old fox.

"It's a doorway for monsters straight into the heart of camp! What do you think? If Kronos knows about this; and I wouldn't put it past him, I would suspect he's going to find out how to navigate the maze and then destroy camp half-blood. Cutting off the defensive force that will defend Olympus. In short, if Camp Half-Blood falls, then this war is as good as lost." Kurama explained. Percy leaned down and pushed some rocks out of the way, revealing the Daedalus symbol.

"What's my objective then, what should I do?"

"Either find out how to move the entrance to somewhere other than inside the camp, or destroy the Labyrinth in its entirety." Kurama replied. Percy deadpanned. His mentor, his teacher… just asked him to destroy something as legendary as the Labyrinth? One of the greatest architectural piece ever created?

"You're asking me to destroy the Labyrinth. How exactly would I go about doing that?" Percy said. Kurama hummed. If he were to go by the myths, the Labyrinth was tied to the maker's life-force, but that was only one of the very many myths out there.

"You would have to find Daedalus. Only that way can you actually succeed in anything. I'm not sure, but you're going to have to improvise. I have never been down there before, so I don't know what to expect. However I have seen what it can do to people. Keep in Sage Mode at all times. Isolation down in the Labyrinth could make you go mad. Make sure you are in sync with nature before descending." Kurama advised. Percy nodded.

"Before you go, I need you to put your hand on this." Kurama said summoning a small black box with a puff of smoke. The orange fox held up the small box in front of Percy. The son of Poseidon frowned a little before making a face of confusion. He scratched his head.

"Eh? What's that?" Percy asked. Kurama just chuckled and grinned. It looked like just a regular black box. Percy wondered what was so special about it. He did sense a rather small sensation coming from the box.

"It's a box." Kurama said plainly. Percy deadpanned as the fox shook the box in front of his face mockingly. The fox was obviously playing with him. If he wanted Percy to put a hand on it, obviously there was something about the box. Percy hesitated for a split second before raising his hand and placing it on the box.

Instantly he felt a strange surge of power flow through him. It wasn't quite Senjutsu but it was different, felt like the box was transferring some kind of power. Percy gritted his teeth as the power continued to surge through him, it was like something out of a fairy tale! Blue light seemed to float around him, a faint aura covering the lower half of his torso, slowly making its way up his body.

The blue aura suddenly vanished abruptly leaving Percy feeling refreshed and confused. Kurama erupted into laughter, like he had finally achieved something and was so happy about it. The fox grinned as the box popped into smoke as Kurama walked around Percy.

"I knew it! I absolutely knew it! Descendant you are, but I never thought you would actually be of Uzumaki blood! Unbelievable. Maybe it's the fates playing with me. Perseus Uzumaki Jackson, it's nice to finally meet you." Kurama laughed. Percy was beyond confused. He examined his hands to notice a strange symbol.

"Uzumaki? What is that? What are you talking about?" Percy said as he examined his body for any physical changes. Apart from the strange small circle symbol on his right hand, nothing had obviously changed other than the fact that he felt more aware and slightly more powerful. Kurama had to regain composure of himself before turning to face Percy again. It had been too long since he had met an Uzumaki descendant.

Kurama knew from the start that Percy was the prophecy child, but that he would also unite the gods and campers, along with the Romans, and bring about a new era of peace and prosperity. He couldn't do it alone though, but never would he have thought that Percy actually had dormant Uzumaki blood! It was a long shot yes… the box had been given to him by his old partner to help confirm blood lines, he never thought he would use it till now.

"Back in my time, there were a number of clans that ruled the nation. I have told you this story, remember? One of those clans was the Uzumaki, very powerful." Kurama said. Percy nodded understandingly. It was rather easy to comprehend, however what he didn't understand was how he was a descendant of a clan that existed forty thousand years ago.

"Wait, how is that possible? Wouldn't the bloodlines get so diluted after that long? How could I possibly have Uzumaki blood?" Percy asked. Kurama chuckled a little.

"Bloodline's don't just die out that easily. It has nothing to do with being diluted. The fact is that after the fourth Great War, there was a long period of time where peace reigned. The need for shinobi grew thin and eventually over time died out, along with the need for chakra. It was a stage in evolution, but DNA and bloodlines can be passed down for millennia without being noticed. Eventually the names vanished and nobody thought of them anymore. There could be hundreds of Uzumaki walking around the world right now and they wouldn't even know it." Kurama explained. Percy frowned.

"So wait a minute, you're telling me descendants from all those different clans are just walking around going about their daily life? Nobody's noticed the inner abilities the blood holds?" Percy asked to confirm. Kurama just nodded.

"The blood abilities remained dormant and out of sight from human technology. It's incredible how well the blood hides itself, however… when presented with familiar chakra, the dormant genes start to reawaken." Kurama said. Percy shuddered as his body started to feel heavy. He felt healthier, fitter and more aware. Not quite on the level of Senjutsu, but still, he felt like a meta-human.

"However, you still do not possess chakra coils. However you should find some noticeable changes in and out of combat later. Especially since you've inherited the sage genes from the Uzumaki line. Amazing, I never would have guessed." Kurama grinned. Percy had to smile himself, he felt much better now. Whatever that box had done, regardless of the explanation, he was happy.

"I should get going. I'll keep in touch." Percy said as he placed his hand on the Daedalus symbol. The rocks slowly rolled out of place to reveal a dark hole. Percy wasn't sure how far it went down, but he knew he could survive any kind of height as long as he stuck the landing. Perks to being a powerful demigod.

"Good, don't die. Don't want your girlfriend getting all upset now do we?" Kurama said mockingly. Percy scowled and dropped into the hole without another word. Kurama chuckled to himself as he hopped off Zeus's fist. He had hunters to watch. Now that Artemis knew of his presence, maybe he should give them a hand.

He had a feeling Percy wasn't the only demigod with descendant blood.

A/N: SO YEAH, LONG CHAPTER

Lot's of stuff happened, and I can tell a lot of you have questions. So, basically if you have any urgent questions, PM me. I'll try an answer them if I have time. Between School, my job and other responsibilities, I am extremely busy so I'll do my best.

Firstly, Percy is indeed a descendant of Naruto. Let me just clear that up now. This in turn makes him a descendant of Ashura. Right now, Percy doesn't really understand this, and has no idea of of the magnitude of the power he just gained. He also has no clue as to how to use it, and he isn't going to use it for a long time. Let me put this straight out there now...

Sage mode makes Percy powerful enough to match someone like Artemis. Now... if Sage Mode can do that... what exactly is Six Paths Mode capable of? Well, we don't know yet, and wont find out for a while because Percy has no clue he has it, and how to use it. All he knows right now is that Kurama awakened some kind of blood-line within him and hasn't pushed for anything more. So don't expect god-like Percy any time soon or ever in that matter. I don't want god mode characters going around owning everything.

On another note, Percy's confession was stupid, I know. I wrote it to be comical relief, bite me. He and Zoe will have a proper confession moment later in this story.

Nico is turning into a badass, just the way I like him and wished he'd be. Nico seriously needed more to his character. I haven't finished Blood of Olympus and House of Hades, but from what i have read on the reviews, i don't think i will. House of Hades sounds alright, but apparently Blood of Olympus was below average for an ending to a really good series.

However let me get this straight right now. Percy isn't going to be a Naruto. Percy will be his own character and make his own decisions. Whether there cruel or merciful is too be seen, but he's not going to be anything like Naruto other than the fact that he wants to protect his precious people. You'll see what I mean as the story progresses, if you decide to stay for that long that is.

So if Percy's an Uzumaki descendant, who's the Uchiha? Or the Hyuuga? Interesting? Any one guess? We shall see...

Sneak Peak for coming chapters:

"There's millions of them. That's not an army. It's a extinction force..." - Nico

"Milady... you're blood. It's red!" - Thalia

"I should have known it would be you, it's always been you. Hiding in the shadows for so long. That's just like you isn't it..?" - Kurama

"The Titans and the Gods are so fragile and weak minded... all it took was a few whispers to the right people. Mother is very patient." - ?

"You killed her right in front of me. That's a action you are going to regret for eternity!" - ?

Next chapter: The Maze of Madness...