(Unknown, Artemis POV)

I stared at the woman standing in front of us, sizing her up. She had black hair, dark eyes, and a tanned complexion, which when mixed with her toned body and a pitch-black sheath at her side, she not only looked powerful but radiated power equal to that of an Olympian. The sheath had a golden band at the top with an infinity sign engraved into it, other than that, there was nothing else of notice except for a few tiny points of light that moved across the scabbard. Upon noticing me examining the concealed blade, the woman smirked.

"Interested in my sword, Artemis? It's similar to your symbols of power, just a little better," she said with a cheeky smirk.

"No, I don't care about your sword, I care about why Dionysus was here recently. What have you done with him?" I growled in a low voice.

"I didn't do anything to him, what you should be worrying about is what Pontus has done to him. Your little brother has been turned into a mindless lackey for that watery prick. He even tried to attack me, can you believe that!?"

"If you don't work for Pontus, then who are you?" Athena spoke up, eyes narrowing as she shifted her hand to the belt that was her infamous spear in disguise.

"Relax Athena, before you do something hasty. I'm fighting on behalf of my master, who is at war with Pontus, which makes us temporary allies. As for Dionysus, he flashed out of here because I handed his ass to him, and now I gotta find him and finish his punk ass off. Don't ask why, but he is currently unable to flash around for the next two days. And since we have the same goal, I say let's team up, because your gonna need help taking him down."

"Why would we need your help taking down that loser?" sneered Ares.

"And why should we trust you?" Athena questioned.

The woman glanced at the two Olympians for a second, before turning her gaze to me.

"I really only care about your opinion, Artemis. Your tracking skills are legendary, no doubt even better than mine. Whaddya say?" she said with a smirk

I hesitated. Something about her told me she wasn't lying, and that she really did consider us allies, if only temporarily. And I knew firsthand if Dionysus really was turned then we'd need all the help we could get in taking him down.

"Fine, but afterwards I have some questions for you."

"And I have some answers," she replied.

(Camp Half-Blood, Nico POV)

I awoke with an incredible headache and fever, not even able to open my eyes. I was laying in a bed, probably in the Hades cabin, and could hear someone breathing next to me. By the sound of it, they were asleep, and at the moment I wished I was too.

I groaned, trying to get their attention, and was rewarded when they stirred.

"Nico! Are you awake?" a familiar female voice asked.

I only groaned in response.

"Here, take some of this," she said, opening my mouth and placing a square of ambrosia on my swollen tongue. After a minute the ambrosia worked its magic, and my headache started to fade. Slowly I opened my eyes and found a worried Rachel Dare hanging over me, her lips pursed.

After seeing my improved condition, she grinned and procured a bottle of nectar from seemingly nowhere and began spoon-feeding me it.

After finishing the whole bottle of the sweet drink, I was finally starting to feel better.

"You saved me, didn't you?" I croaked, locking on to her green eyes.

"Just a little," she said playfully.

"Thank you," I whispered. A small smile graced my lips.

"Aww, of course, your my friend, and would do the same for me," she said with a pout.

Noticing my eyes were starting to droop, she got up.

"Sleep tight, I'll check up on you in the morning," she said softly, and quietly left the room. My vision faded as I returned to the realm of Morpheus, and this time it was peaceful.

I spent three days in my cabin before I was fully recovered, and even though I got a few visitors and was tended to by the Apollo cabin regularly, Rachel stayed with me in the cabin the whole time, sleeping in the other bed to my left.

I was glad she had because by the end I was starting to get stir crazy.

This morning I had finally been released from bed rest and was leaning against my porch railing, taking in the beautiful sight of the camp in the morning. It seemed more subdued than usual, with almost no activity going on and no laughter echoing throughout the camp. Almost as if something bad had happened.

I heard the sound of footsteps on the grass and turned left to find Rachel walking up to me with a huge smile.

"Glad to see you're finally out of the cabin, Nico," she said, wrapping me in a hug.

"Wouldn't be here without you," I said with a smile. She leaned on the railing to my right, taking a deep breath.

We stood there like that, enjoying each other's company and the silence for quite some time.

The calm was broken when Grover walked up to us with a somber expression.

"Hey guys, I hate to dump some bad news on you so soon after your recovery, but I thought you should know a few of us older campers are going to the Poseidon cabin to try and cheer Percy and Madeline up in a few minutes," he bleated sadly.

I gave the new camp director a quizzical look. "What happened?"

Grover sighed, and had a look eerily similar to that of people who were haunted by a traumatic past. "Clarisse was killed by an intruder three nights ago," he said, choking on the word 'intruder'.

Rachel gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth in horror. His words shocked me to the core. "What! Did you guys find out who did it!?" I asked, feeling a numbness emanate from my chest.

Grover just shook his head as a few tears slipped out from his eyes.

"But why?" Rachel asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Nobody knows, it happened late at night," Grover said as he wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"Anyways, we're going to get together to cheer each other up, hopefully get our minds off this tragedy," he said as he bid us farewell and trotted off to the Poseidon cabin.

Rachel tackled me into a crushing hug, and I hugged her back. We stood like that for a few minutes, before she let go and sniffed.

"Let's go, we'll feel better surrounded by our friends," she muttered.

I nodded quietly and we began walking after Grover.

(Death Valley, Odysseus POV)

I flashed to Death valley, intent on getting Pontus' location. I found Dionysus, crawling on his hands and knees, weakened and melting. Being so far from any water and having used up most of his power just to flash here, he must not have been able to shield himself from the intense heat.

Upon seeing me he groaned, and desperately tried to get away, clawing at the sand.

I reached him in a few seconds and slammed my foot on his hand.

He shrieked in pain.

"You're gonna tell me where Pontus is right now, or this desert is gonna feel like heaven by the time I'm done with you!" I roared, anger coloring my vision red.

"I...I can't," the Olympian muttered weakly.

"Why not?" I growled, twisting my foot on his hand.

"Nobody knows where he is! He's too smart to reveal his location! Please, just let me go!" he cried desperately.

"You had to have met him in order for him to transfer his blessing on you! So stop playing with me, before I really lose it!"

"I really don't know! Please! I'll tell you everything I kno-" he started pleading, but suddenly went still.

I froze, listening to a quiet rumbling coming from the ground. It got louder and louder, and soon the ground began shaking violently.

I reflexively jumped back, and right where I had been standing a geyser of water exploded from the ground, bathing both of us in its refreshing coolness.

When it died down, I came face to face with a renewed Dionysus. He smirked. "Time to make things interesting."

He closed his eyes, and a bright light surrounded him. When the glow faded, he was surrounded by four minor gods who had been turned. I believe the correct term for them was Hydrocines.

Dionysus extended his arm out and his thyrsus appeared, lowering the temperature to near room level, quite the feat considering where we were.

His thyrsus seemed to empower the Hydrocines, and they each pulled out their weapons. One wielded a spear, two pulled out swords, and the last strung his bow.

I knew I was outmatched, but if I played this smart I could take Dionysus' smug ass down.

I pulled out my longsword, and with a single thought, it began vibrating and glowing. After a few seconds, I had two short swords in my hands.

I knew that archer would have to be dealt with first, otherwise, I'd be finished off quickly.

The two swordsmen began circling to my sides, one on the left and the other on the right. Dionysus stood in front of me, and the spearman stayed behind to protect the archer.

They were all cautious, and I knew this time Dionysus would not be as impatient in battle as he was with Hylla.

The archer strung his arrow and fired at my shoulder. I quickly deflected it with my left sword, but it was enough of a distraction for the two swordsmen to attack.

Activating the power of my swords, I created a large wind that would buffet the Hydrocine on my left and quickly turned to parry the one on the right.

The swordsman on the left overcame the wind and slashed at me, but I managed to jump back at the last second. He stumbled forward, and knowing I had the perfect shot I threw my left sword right into his icy skull.

The blade embedded itself into his head with a resounding thump. The swordsman shrieked in pain, and melted into a puddle of water, my sword clattering to the ground.

Dionysus grinned, sure he had me now. He motioned with his hand and the spearman ran up to take the place of his fallen comrade.

The archer cocked an arrow, waiting for the perfect time to strike, and the spearman thrust his spear at my midsection. I jumped back once more, but the swordsman on my right attacked, and I barely managed to parry his string of blows.

I heard the twang of a bowstring, and Dionysus howled in delight, thinking he had won.

I stretched out my hand, and the sword laying on the ground flew right to me. I deflected the arrow with my reacquired sword just before it would have wreaked havoc on my face and kicked away the sword-wielding Hydrocine.

I was panting, these guys packed a lot of power behind their blows, and it took a lot of energy to counter them all.

Realizing if this continued he would lose his lackeys, Dionysus took a step forward and brandished his thyrsus.

I paused, sensing a small group approaching us. 'Damn it! The Olympians can't know about me or Lady Ananke yet!' I thought. I growled, realizing I wouldn't be able to finish this fight.

(Death Valley, Artemis POV)

We had crested a hill just in time to see that strangely familiar man teleport away in a flash of dark purple once more.

Then I saw what had happened to Dionysus. It made me sick to see my brother look just like my roman counterpart had; incredibly unnatural.

He looked triumphant for a second, seeming to think he had won a huge fight, but then his icy eyes widened in shock when he saw us (in particular the mysterious woman accompanying us), and after a few quick orders, he flashed away along with his minions in an instant. Before any of us could say a thing, Hylla sighed loudly.

"We lost him for now," she said in a defeated tone.

"What do you mean? I can still find him you know," I said, looking at her quizzically.

"No, he's definitely gone back to Pontus, and that would be a death trap if we followed him," she reasoned. "Well, this was nice, we should do it again sometime. Bye!"

Before any of us could respond, she flashed away. If you could even call it that. In fact, she seemed to do the opposite, drawing in darkness around her and simply fading from sight.

I concentrated on the spot she had been standing on, but try as I might, I couldn't detect any traces of lingering energy. Usually when an immortal teleports they leave an energy footprint that a skilled tracker can follow, but there was nothing there, which could mean she was either both skilled and powerful enough to conceal her energy footprint, or she was using a form of teleporting that didn't leave behind any energy, and she fit into both options easily.

Remembering the mysterious man whom I had seen with both Dionysus and Hylla, I went to where he had been standing and tried to see if I could find out where he had gone.

I found the usual traces of energy, but something seemed off. After close examination, I realized they had been altered on purpose to mislead anyone who tried to follow him. To do something like that would take even more power than simply concealing it, and I quickly backed away. He was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

'At the very least I can find out Pontus' location,' I thought as I wandered to where Dionysus last stood. His footprint was not in the least bit concealed, and I started following the trail.

After a few minutes, I had narrowed him down to the Midwestern United States. His trail abruptly ended, however. 'Pontus must be concealing any energy trails near him with some sort of barrier,' I thought as frustration edged its way through my calm demeanor.

We had trekked across half the country and had nothing to show for it.

Growling, I spun around and marched back to my siblings to inform them of our failure.

(Camp Half-Blood, Nico POV)

I parried a powerful strike from my opponent and jumped back before he could launch another one.

"I will defeat you!" I growled menacingly. I slashed and jabbed, attacking from every angle possible, but no matter what I did I couldn't seem to get past his defense. I rained down a flurry of blows, each one faster than the next, yet he seemed almost disinterested.

I was running out of energy, and my blows got slower but more powerful. He parried a particularly powerful swing, and with a well-timed flick of his wrist sent my sword sailing into the air. It clanged on the ground roughly ten feet from us.

"Well that's that I guess," I said despairingly. "I can last barely ten minutes against you, I need to improve."

Percy grinned. "Lasting more than a few minutes makes you better than everyone in this camp Nico. I can't believe how much you've improved," he said glowingly, clapping me on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go eat something."

Grinning, I picked up my sword and rushed to catch up to him. As he was opening the door, he looked at me with a sad smile. "Thanks for this Nico, I needed to take my mind off of... some things."

I smiled and gently squeezed his shoulder. "We're always gonna be here for you because you were always there for us," I said as we left the building and saw all of our friends playing a quick game of volleyball as they waited for us.

(Camp Half-Blood, Percy POV)

The sun was setting, and after a whole day of having fun with our friends and taking our minds off of everything happening outside the camp, Madeline and I were relaxing on the shore.

In the short time I had gotten to know her, we had grown inseparably close. It felt like we had known each other for years.

As I stared out across the ocean, I sent a silent thanks to my dad. Getting through Clarisse's death would have been impossible without Madeline.

I vowed then and there that I would protect her no matter what. All the Primordials and Titans in the world wouldn't be able to take her from me.

As soon as I thought that I remembered getting absolutely destroyed by that icy goddess. 'I need to get stronger,' I thought as despair began to crush me. 'I can't protect her unless I get stronger. I... have to figure out how I summoned that trident!'

Suddenly I was abuzz with energy. I leaped up, startling Madeline, and waded into the water.

"Percy, what are you doing?" she asked. I ignored the question, focusing on the water, focusing on the feeling I had when I summoned that mysterious trident.

"Percy?" she asked again. This time I looked up into her eyes.

"I won't let anything hurt you, or anyone else for that matter. I'm done slacking off. I know I have the potential for great power. I don't know why me, but I know I do. And I'm gonna use that power to protect you. All these Primordials and Titans and Olympians, all running around, not caring for who they hurt, I'm gonna end it all. I'm gonna end them all!" I snarled.

My whole life I watched as the immortals destroyed the lives of demigods and mortals alike. They don't care about us. They care only for power. 'Well, I'm gonna show them power. So much they won't ever want for it again!' I began focusing on the water again, knowing I didn't have any time to lose.

Madeline stood there, shocked. I heard sand spraying everywhere, and I assumed she was running back to the cabin. Surprise rippled through me when I heard splashing water.

I looked up and found Madeline rushing towards me. She enveloped me in a hug so tight my breathing was restricted.

"I know you have power in you too, and if anyone can make this world a better place, it's you, Percy," she said quietly. Her sea-green eyes searched through mine for what seemed like an eternity.

"Let me help you. If the two of us buckle down and focus, we can do it!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

I smiled. Holding her hand, I began to focus on the water again, and this time looked deep inside myself as well. Ten minutes passed as I was searching for that mysterious power deep inside my body, and like a beacon lighting up the night sky, I saw it. And if I concentrated, I could feel it. I could feel an almost invisible strand of energy connecting me to something far away.

The more I focused on it, the more an image began to appear in my mind. An image and a feeling of something dark and powerful. I saw fleeting images of a massive structure made of very dark stone. It almost seemed to be a sort of sculpture or statue, and it was sunken halfway into the ground. It was very hard to make anything out because of how dark it was. As I looked on, I finally noticed that it was deep underwater, buried into the ocean floor.

Finally, I began to make out the features of the statue. It was buried on a steep angle, so its head was almost touching the ocean floor. Taking a better look at the face told me nothing. It was featureless, eyes closed and face expressionless, almost as if it was taking the biggest nap of all time.

Without realizing it, I had immersed myself in this image so much it was like I was actually there. I opened my eyes, and instead of seeing the shore and Madeline, I saw the statue lying fifty feet away from me, and I could sense I was at least several miles under sea level. I looked around, pinched myself, shook my head, but nothing I did proved to me I wasn't somehow transported here in person.

Try as I might, I couldn't tell exactly how far under I was, or even where I was. It was as if the water around here didn't respond to me. I barely had enough control to stop the pressure from crushing me like a tin can.

I took another look at the face again and almost wet myself. Its eyes were wide open, and they glowed a terrifying dark blue. They seemed to bore into my very soul, almost as if it was watching my entire life like a movie.

Suddenly massive waves of power began to emanate from the statue. They were so powerful the water started frothing and heating up to unbearable temperatures.

An incredibly loud groan emanated from the ground, and the statue slowly sunk into it even more. Now just it's upper chest and head were visible.

If I stayed any longer I would literally burn to death by scalding water, so I closed my eyes and thought of the shore I was just on. I thought of Madeline, standing next to me and holding my hand.

I felt something soft in my hand, and as I squeezed it I could tell it was Madeline's hand. The heat began to dissipate, and the water level fell down to my knees.

When I opened my eyes I found myself exactly where I had been, questioning if what I just saw really happened.

AN: Not gonna lie that last part was really fun to write. Getting into the main part of this story feels awesome. Now I know there isn't really much Artemis/Percy interactions yet, but be patient because it's not that far off. As always thanks for reading and have a great day :)