Alternate Path: Son of the Underworld

AU; Don't know; OOC

Point of View: Omniscient (The all knowing and seeing eye)

Percy's eyes widened as the taunting laughs of the campers filled his ears. Everything that they had done to him played before his eyes. His hands slipped, and he fell into the chasm. Time slowed, allowing him to float down to the ground.

"Good," the voice cooed. "Now, tell me your name, Little Hero."

(The first step of his plan was in action.)

"Perseus Jackson," Percy said. "Yours?"

The voice chuckled. "Kronos."

Percy's stomach turned. "If I do this, you have to promise me something."

"Anything, Perseus."

(He would do anything to get out of Tararus.)

"Spare my mom," Percy said. "Do what you want with the rest, but let me keep my mom."

"Deal," Kronos said.

(It thrilled him that he had more leverage to use against Percy.)

"No harm will come to your mommy."

Percy swallowed and nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"You will let me possess your body," Kronos said.

"What?" Percy tensed.

(He hated the idea of being a puppet.)

"You will be conscious," Kronos said.

(He knew that most beings hated giving up control. He needed Percy's cooperation.)

"I will only do what I promise to, and I will check with you before taking action while I control your body."

"I'm not so sure," Percy said biting his lip. He stepped back; though there was no where to go.

"It will only be until I can get my own body," Kronos said. "I'll need my body parts, and the golden fleece for that."

"So how do you get your body back?" Percy asked.

"I need to get out of here first," Kronos said.

(He left out killing the gods because he wasn't sure of how Percy would react. A tool doesn't need to know what it's being used for.)

Percy bit his lip. "Okay, how do we do this?"

"I would have influenced you, and made you jump into the river Styx," Kronos said.

Percy swallowed.

"Instead, since you fell down here," Kronos said. "You will have to consume me."

"What?" Percy's stomach turned. Bile climbed up his throat.

"I will live in your stomach for a time, feeding my power into you, and when it is time, you will regurgitate me," Kronos said.

"I'm going to be sick," Percy muttered.

"This is the only way," Kronos said. " I can prevent others from hurting the way you have."

Once more, Percy's memories flashed before his eyes. Each one horrible and sad. Then it changed. It showed Luke stealing the lightening bolt, and getting caught by Ares. Then it showed Luke stealing Hades's helm, and giving it to Ares.

Percy's stomach boiled and his back burned. He snarled.

"Traitors," he spat.

"Yes, Percy," Kronos purred. "That is what the gods and their children do. They use people, and then throw them away. Look at how Hades treated your mother."

"My mom?"

"Hades slept with her, something he swore against, and had you," Kronos said. "He denied her help. No call, no visits, not even child support."

"He should have been able to do one of those things," Percy muttered. He remembered asking his mom why every other kid had fathers, but he didn't. She had been so sad.

(The truth is, Sally had been wistful. She wanted a happy family, something that would never be.)

"And you know he would be able to," Kronos said. "How hard would it be for a god to call or send money? Instead, your mom forced herself to work long hours. "

Percy frowned as his vision swam. He could see his mom behind a counter getting yelled at by bratty parents and worse children.

(Those events were far and few in between. She had more pleasant costumers than unpleasant, and she loved her job at the sweet shop.)

"She pretends to like her job." Kronos said.

He picked through Percy's mind, supplying believable images. He created the image of Percy's mom fixing a smile on her face before opening the apartment door.

(Most days, Sally would leave with a small sack of candy in her pocket, and most days that smile was real.)

"Then she has to deal with Gabe."

"I hate Smelly Gabe," Percy muttered.

"And with good reason," Kronos said. "He's a large, abusive, monster. Worse than any monster here."

"He is pretty horrible," Percy said. He remembered all the times Gabe shoved him into walls, and yelled at his mom.

(Gabe believes that women and kids should obey the man no matter what. He has control issues. Sally hates this attitude, and put Gabe in his place when he pushed Percy. That's why he only did that when she wasn't around. Otherwise, Sally ignored Gabe's attitude for Percy.)

"You think your mom would have to deal with him, or give up her dreams of being a writer, if Hades had stepped up?" Kronos said. "He could have saved you and your mother from years of suffering."

"You're right," Percy said, clenching his fist.

(Hades had offered Sally a place to live. She declined.)

"Think of all the demigods who will suffer like you or worse!"

(Kronos knew that Percy still had a shred of sympathy. He would play on Percy's need to prevent the suffering of others.)

"We can stop this terrible cycle of abuse. All you need to do is follow my orders."

Percy swallowed. "I need to eat you."

"Yes," Kronos said. "The first bite is at your feet."

Percy looked down. There in the purple dust and dirt, was a small cube with a golden shine. He picked up. It pulsed, warm in his hand. Golden blood dripped off of the sides.

"It's still bleeding," Percy said. His hands shimmered with Kronos's blood.

"I am immortal," Kronos said. "My scythe prevents wounds from healing, and since Zeus used it to cut me into pieces." He trailed off.

"You're never going to heal," Percy said. He winced.

(The very concept was unimaginable.)

"Get me the golden fleece, and I will heal," Kronos said. "Then I can make everything right."

(He would destroy everything the gods and humans had built.)

"Isn't there another way for me to get your pieces out of here?" Percy asked. "I have a backpack that fell down here."

"Hades and the other gods would be able to feel me if you put me in a backpack," Kronos said. "If you carry me, then I can use your aura to cloak my own."

Percy grimaced. "So there's no other way."

"No," Kronos said.

(Kronos didn't relish the idea of being eaten again.)

Percy stared down at the cube of flesh in his hand.

"Think of it like a chicken nugget," Kronos suggested. He had seen that Percy had loved chicken nuggets as a kid.

"I'm never eating chicken nuggets again," Percy groaned. He pinched his nose and plunged the meat into his mouth.

The taste surprised Percy. Sweet, salty, and savory. The texture was that of raw fish. As he chewed and swallowed, he saw a memory of Kronos's. He was a child, raised by Gaea and Uranus. Running through valleys, over hills and touching the sky. It seemed nice.

"Oh, it was very nice, for a time," Kronos said. "Then Father got paranoid and wanted to eat us."

"So that's like a thing in our family," Percy said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I suppose so," Kronos said. "Now locate the other pieces of me and devour them, so we can get out of here."

"Why did you taste good?" Percy asked. His stomach rolled.

(The truth is that Percy enjoyed eating Kronos. Food was food. But the idea of eating something so close to human, made him sick.)

"I trick your mind into enjoying it, so that you would be more willing," Kronos said. "See, even if the action is unpleasant, I can make it better."

Percy grimaced.

(A puppet. Out of control of one's own mind. Being able to not trust one's self, is a harrowing experience. Even if it's working in one's favor.)

He walked over the bumpy ground of Tartarus, stopping each time Kronos told him to.

"And you swear that you won't let anyone else be treated the way I was?" Percy asked.

"Of course," Kronos said. "Why would I treat someone of your power and talent like that?"

Percy flushed.

(He had only been complemented by his mom, or at least those are the only ones he could trust to be true.)

He reached for a cube of flesh.

"And you'll leave my mom and me alone, to live in peace?"

"Yes, yes," Kronos said. "Get on with it."

Percy popped that piece of flesh into his mouth.

(It frightened him that he wanted more. He tried to reassure himself. It wasn't cannibalism.)

Another memory flashed before Percy's eyes. This time it showed a giant blue man with white curly hair, and gold eyes. He grabbed onto Kronos's brothers and sisters and ate them. Kronos charged at him wielding his scythe. He slit Uranus's stomach open. Titans and intestines spilled out over the rolling hills. His blood pooled, creating giant bodies of water.

"So each time I swim, I'm swimming in blood?"

"Or semen," Kronos said.

"Ew," Percy yelled with a screwed up face.

He gagged as Kronos directed him to the next piece. He rounded the rib cage of a giant, only to run into a monster.

"You," hissed Medusa.

"Uh," Percy took a step back.

"I'm going to kill you!" Medusa shrieked as she charged at Percy.

(She had been alive for centuries, living in a paradise, and Percy had ruined it all.)

Percy's muscles tensed. He could hear her snake half scraping against stone. Her hair hissed as she screamed. His body heated up. He bent his knees ready to jump out of the way, when the noise stopped. He cracked open an eye.

One of Medusa's claws had stopped a centimeter from his nose. He backed away, mouth agape. He kept his eyes away from Medusa's head as he walked around her. Her body had holes all over it. Sand pits that leaked every few minutes.

"How?"

"I froze time around her," Kronos said.

(He knew if he helped Percy then Percy would be more willing to believe him.)

Percy cleared his throat. On top of hearing Kronos in his head, he felt his voice box vibrate as if he had been talking.

(To be out of control of one's voice is a strange, and frightening experience.)

"That's handy," Percy said.

"Is it not?" Kronos said.

(It pleased him that Percy appreciated his powers. It had been too long since he had been the object of awe.)

"The next piece is right next to that rib."

Percy hurried over to the rib. He had to dig through the dust to find the chunk of meat. He picked it up, licked his lips, and popped it into his mouth. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. He hummed as another memory flashed into his mind.

A beautiful wedding to a gorgeous titan. Rhea. Her red hair with golden highlights fell down to her shimmering silver gown. Percy's cheeks burned and his body heated up as the wedding spilled into the honeymoon.

Kronos chuckled. "Good memories. Rhea was a wonderful wife, until she betrayed me. She bore me strong children, listened to me, and tended to my needs."

"She, uh, seemed," Percy coughed. "Like a good fit."

Kronos laughed again and directed Percy to the next cube of flesh.

Percy ran.

(He refused to acknowledge this.)

His tongue tingled with anticipation. His body burned. After he devoured the cube, and witnessed the memory of the birth of Kronos's children, he asked:

"Why is it so hot?"

"Tartaurs is a hot place," Kronos said.

(He relished the feeling of sweat sliding down Percy's temple. It had been eons since he had felt something besides agony.)

"Besides, my blood is now circulating through you. Your stomach lining absorbs some of my blood as does every other tissue that comes in contact with it. You now have Ichor flowing through you."

"Will it make me immortal?" Percy's heart raced at the thought.

(Not dying sounded wonderful. Not having his mom sounded horrible.)

"No, you might have a longer life than most mortals, but you will not be immortal," Kronos said.

"Good," Percy said as he located the next piece. "I don't want to live forever."

"Why not?" Kronos asked. "Most humans would kill for the chance, several have."

"It's too much work," Percy said. "Besides, it sounds kind of lonely."

"It can be," Kronos said.

(He wanted Percy to sympathies with him to lessen the chance of betrayal.)

"As a ruler, few understand you. As an immortal, friends will become enemies over time. Even family will turn their backs on you given long enough."

Percy frowned as he continued his search. Each piece danced on his tongue, more delicious than than last. Each piece gave him a memory to witness. He saw Kronos's fear of being overthrown. Kronos eating his children. The fight he and Rhea had. Zeus and the other gods dethroned Kronos, tearing him to pieces and Percy felt every moment.

Percy gasped for breath. He leaned against the craggy side of Tartarus. He shoved the last piece of Kronos into his mouth. He forced it down, certain that he would explode. The gods tossing Kronos into Tartarus was the last memory to play before his eyes.

"Perfect, Perseus, perfect," Kronos said.

(He now knew what his brothers and sisters went through when they were in their father's stomach. Stomach acid is not a pleasant thing to feel.)

"Now, let us leave this place."

"Alright," Percy muttered. His eyes fluttered closed. He reached out for the shadows, and fell into the cold, loud, darkness.

(He thought of the cliff where he had fallen, unbeknownst to him, Kronos took control.)

The shadows spat him out in the alley of DOA studios.

"What?"

"It is safer this way," Kronos said. "Your dad would have felt you fall into Tartarus. You can tell him you escaped."

"Right," Percy said.

The shadows swarmed him. He passed through the shadows without batting an eye at the roaring monsters and screams. When he materialized at the crosswalk, one road leading to Tartarus, he went straight this time.

(Why hadn't his father help him? The question picked at his mind like a vulture.)

He marched past the strange decor in Hades's castle.

Before long he stood before his father. Silent, Hades stared down at him.

"I thought you were dead," Hades said. "I was awaiting your ghost."

(He kept his joy carefully hidden.)

"Why would you think I was dead?" Percy asked.

(He hated the thought that Hades didn't even get up to check, or help him in any way. He wanted to scream at him. Curse him. Hit him.)

Embers lit in his stomach. He closed his eyes. The warmth spread through his body. He relaxed.

(Kronos kept the warmth going to keep Percy relaxed.)

"You fell into Tartarus," Hades said.

"I caught myself," Percy said. His voice flat. "I shadow traveled away from there."

Hades stared at him for a moment.

(He knew that it was near impossible to escape Tartarus.)

"I see."

"You didn't even look for me," Percy said with narrowed eyes.

(Despite Kronos's efforts to keep him calm, Percy still ached with the thought that Hades left him to die.)

"I cannot descend into Tartarus," Hades said.

(Doing so would awaken too many old things that were best left asleep.)

"If you had fallen like I had expected, then I would have to wait until your soul ascended to see you again."

"So you would have left me to suffer and die," Percy said. His face carved from stone.

(He hated that Hades made it sound like Percy's dying would have inconvenienced him.)

"You would not have suffered long," Hades said. His stomach sank at the look on Percy's face.

(He's tired of his children hating him.)

"Now come, I have a gift for you."

Percy glared as he followed Hades to a side room. He glanced at the sword in the middle of the room.

(He craved to have it for his own.)

Hades bypassed it and rummaged through a drawer. He turned to Percy and held out his hand. Percy took the velvet box, and opened it. Ruby earrings gleamed up at him.

"Earrings?" Percy said.

"They can help you focus, and use your shadow travel with ease," Hades said.

(Truthfully, Hades had hope for a girl, and he had never expect Percy to live long enough to receive them, so he never changed them.)

"That's it?" Percy asked. "Earrings? No weapon, armor, or anything?"

(It seemed that everyone besides Kronos and his mom wanted to kill him.)

Hades frowned.

(He disliked that Percy was spurning his kindness.)

"This is the best I can do at the moment."

"Bullshit!" Percy yelled as he threw the gift on the floor. "You're a Greek God, and you're telling me you can't summon me a weapon or armor?"

"I don't like your tone, Perseus," Hades said. His eyes flints of stone.

(The only one he could tolerate disrespect from is Persephone and by extent Demeter.)

"Well, I don't like how everyone is trying to get me killed," Percy said. His hand plunged into the jacket's pocket without his consent. "I don't like how I was sent on this quest with crappy weapons, no armor, and no help!"

His hand pulled out an old fountain pen. It's golden head sparked as it grew in size.

"Perseus," Hades said as he took a step back. His heart trembled. "What are you doing?"

Tears streamed down his face. "You were suppose to be my dad!"

"I am your father," Hades said.

(He knew something was terribly wrong.)

"No," Percy said. He took a step forward. "You're not. A father would at least have some contact with his child."

"I talked to you for years, watched out for you," Hades said.

(He had done so because he was tired to being alone, and with Persephone as Percy's Godmother, he could bond with Percy in ways he couldn't with his other children. Of course, when Percy rejected him at camp all of that came tumbling down.)

Percy hesitated in his approach.

(He remembered hearing Hades's voice in his head. His guardian angel. His consistent friend.)

His eyes flashed gold.

"He may have talked to you, but what good did that do?" Kronos's voice said layered over Percy's "He left your mom to suffer. He is the reason you are alienated."

"Why didn't you send some money? Or protect me from monsters so mom wouldn't have to marry Smelly Gabe!" Percy asked as Kronos receded.

(He prayed his dad had a good reason.)

"Your mom refused to accept any money," Hades said.

(He remembered trying to convince Sally to let him help. Her pride forced her to refuse.)

"And my aura would just draw more monsters to you if I tried anything."

Percy stopped and stared up at his dad. His eyes flashed between emerald and gold.

(Percy wanted to believe him.)

"He lies," Kronos hissed.

(He could feel his influence over Percy slipping.)

"He is deceitful like the rest."

"Percy," Hades said. He reached out for his son. "We can fix this. Let me help you."

"He abandoned you," Kronos said. "He could have claimed you and stopped all the harassment."

"Claiming you wouldn't have helped," Hades said. "You would still have had been an outcast. You still would have had to sleep in the Hermes cabin."

(He remembered how the other demigods treated all of his other children.)

"Besides, you asked me not to claim you. I was just respecting your wishes."

Percy whined, clutching his head. "You could have done more. It hurts so much."

"I know," Hades said, touching Percy's shoulder. "But I won't let it go on anymore. I'll talk with your mom. I'll move you both here. You won't be alone anymore."

Percy clenched his teeth as Kronos filled his head with images. Percy saw how everything could go wrong if he trusted Hades. His mom would be turned into a plant by Persephone. He would die trying to save her. A monster would tear him to pieces. Or worse of all, nothing would change from his current situation.

"Liar," Percy hissed as his eyes turned gold.

(Kronos took control, focusing on Percy's weakness. He refused to lose his chance at power.)

He stabbed the lightening bolt into Hades's stomach.

"Do not fret, Son," Kronos hissed. "I will take care of Percy and Sally."

(He knew that Percy could hear him.)

"Unlike you."

(Percy's consciousness flinched.)

Hades's pained eyes stared at Kronos masquerading as his son. He opened his mouth to speak.

(To apologize. To tell Percy he loved him.)

Golden Ichor coated his lips.

(He wondered what he could have done to stop all of this.)

Percy's eyes flashed back to emerald. They widened. He jerked the lightning bolt from Hades's stomach. The heat of it cauterized the wound, but Hades did not heal. Hades fell to his knees, staring up at his son.

(Because the wound was caused by an immortal's weapon, it would heal slowly.)

"I-I'm sorry," Percy said. He reached out for his father. "I-I didn't–"

Hades fell over before Percy could touch him.

"Oh, gods, oh, fates" Percy said as he pulled at his hair. "What am I doing?"

"You are making things right," Kronos said. "Hades could care less about you. He wanted to use you. He would leave you to die. He refused to lift a finger to save you when you fell into Tartarus. I did. I slowed your descent with what little power I had left."

"You're," Percy stepped back from Hades.

(He knew he couldn't back out know.)

"You're right. What do I do now?"

"Now you need to find the Titan to take Hades's place," Kronos said. "Doing so will slow Hades's healing rate."

"Won't he heal anyway?" Percy asked as he walked out of the side room.

"Yes, but as long as someone else rules over this realm, then his rate of healing will decrees. It will already be slow because we used a godly weapon, but this will guarantee that he can not rise and attack us." Kronos filled Percy's head with the tortures that Hades would put them through.

"Why?" Percy asked as he shivered from the thoughts. "How does putting someone in his place slow his healing rate."

"The power he gains from this realm will direct itself to another," Kronos said. "He'll have to live on scraps, and if all goes according to plan. He will not be able to reform."

"So where is his replacement?" Percy asked.

"Iapetus is in Tartarus along with the rest of the Titans," Kronos said.

"I have to go back down there?" Percy groaned.

"No," Kronos said. "All you have to do is go to the throne, tap it twice, and say that you give it to Iapetus."

"Okay," Percy walked over to the bone and stone throne. He reached out when he felt Kronos take over.

"Or more accurately, I have to do this," Kronos said.

He rapped Percy's knuckles against the arm of the throne. "I, Kronos, Titan of Time and Ages, claim this throne for Iapetus."

A see through version of Iapetus appeared on the throne. For a moment, Kronos released control. He allowed Percy to take in the might of his brother. Percy took a step back from the towering figure. Iapetus was bigger than Hades, wearing shining armor made up of shattered bones.

(He had collected the bones from his enemies and victims over the years when the Titans ruled.)

"Thank you," Iapetus said. "Will you now release the others?"

"Soon," Kronos said.

"The demigod?"

"Has promised to help," Kronos said. "We will create a perfect world where he and his mom can live in peace."

(They would also create a world of tragedy and strife.)

Iapetus inclined his head. "Fates be with you, Brother."

"Thank you," Kronos said. "Siphon enough power from the throne, and rise. Then toss Hades into Tartarus. The prison where you were held would be a nice fit."

(Kronos wanted Percy to stay on his side, and the term Torture Pits, wouldn't keep him docile.)

Iapetus grinned, sharp and vicious. "I plan to."

(Iapetus relished the idea of hurting Hades.)

Kronos walked out.

"Prison?" Percy asked.

"It is where the Titans that sided with me are held," Kronos said. "Would you like to see?"

(He knew Percy would refuse, but if he didn't offer, Percy would feel slighted. Kronos wanted to give the illusion that Percy was his equal.)

"Do I have to go back to Tartarus?"

"Yes," Kronos said.

"Then no," Percy said.

Kronos chuckled. "I do not blame you. If I never see that place again, it would be too soon."

He took out the pearl from Percy's pocket.

"How did you know about that?" Percy asked.

"When we merged I received all of your memories," Kronos said.

(Percy wasn't sure how he felt about that.)

(Kronos figured it was a fair trade since Percy had seen all of his memories.)

"Shadow travel us to Santa Monica Pier," Kronos ordered. The lightning bolt shrank back down into a fountain pen. He stuck it into the jacket pocket.

(He could taste vengeance and victory on his tongue.)

Percy blinked. He raised his hands and clenched them.

(He had never lost control of himself like that.)

(Percy took comfort in the fact that he could still talk even when Kronos controlled his body. )

(But even that was only because Kronos allowed him to, not that Percy knew that.)

"I don't know what Santa Monica Pier looks like," Percy said.

An image of the rolling waves hitting a skull white beach next to a wooden pier popped into his head. A large Ferris wheel lit up as the sun went down as it spun. Percy nodded and fixed that image in his mind. The shadows crawled toward him. The travel was different. Slower. Colder. Human screams replaced the monster's growls and roars.

"What?" Percy gasped for air. He buried his freezing hands into the warm sand. "What? Was that?"

"The switch in power has changed your own," Kronos said. "It is nothing to worry about."

(It would have left him powerless, if Kronos hadn't been siphoning power from the Underworld for him.)

"It was so slow," Percy said. He shivered. "And those screams."

"Hades is out of power," Kronos said. "So your powers have diminished, but do not worry. I will pick up the slack. As for the screams, I would guess it is all the tortured souls the Gods had condemned over the centuries."

(In reality, it was the screams of those who would suffer at the Titans' hands.)

Percy's stomach sank.

(Losing a part of yourself is never easy.)

"It is a part of the change, Perseus," Kronos cooed. "You always lose a part of yourself when you move on to better things. So take comfort in that. You will be okay."

Percy took a deep breath.

(He took comfort in Kronos's words.)

He stood up and looked down the beach where a lone figure leaned against a motorcycle. He marched over the sand.

(He would need all his energy to fight Ares. He wondered if he could pull this off.)

In the back of his mind, he heard Kronos chuckle.

"I will help you take care of this," Kronos mumbled to Percy, using Percy's mouth and voice.

"Thanks," Percy whispered.

(He hated the feeling of someone else's voice coming from his mouth.)

"There you are brat!" Ares said as he turned to Percy. "I was starting to wonder if you had kicked the bucket."

(He would have been disappointed.)

"If I did, it would be because of you!"

Ares tilted his head at Percy's glare. "I told you I can't enter another god's domain."

(Part of him recoiled at the look on Percy's face.)

"That's not what I meant!" Percy spat. "You stole the lightening bolt. You stole the helm!"

"I didn't steal the lightening bolt," Ares said as he uncrossed his arm. "I just delayed in returning it."

(He didn't want to lose Percy's respect. He had already lost it.)

"You continued this cycle," Percy said. His eyes darkened.

"What cycle?" Ares asked.

(The only cycle he could think about was the cycle of war, and his motorcycle. Humans were partially to blame for one, and he wasn't letting Percy touch the other.)

Percy stuck his hand into his pocket. He fingered the fountain pen; the lightening bolt in disguise.

"The cycle of the gods using demigods and humans for their own amusement," Percy said. "You betrayed me. Used me. Made me think you were on my side. I'm going to make you pay."

(The pain of betrayal ran deep.)

Ares snorted. "Newsflash, kid, everyone uses everyone. You used me for protection."

(He didn't understand what the big deal was. In war people were used daily.)

"You didn't protect me from shit!" Percy yelled. "You stood back and watched with front row seats as I fought for my life!"

(The best theater for a Greek God was the struggle they can never understand. The struggle between life and death.)

Ares shrugged. "It's not like you'll live long. You might as well serve a purpose and go out with a bang."

Percy's heart stopped. He had hoped that Ares would tell him that it wasn't true. That Percy had value.

(Compared to Ares, Percy's wouldn't live long, but what he said still sounded like a threat.)

"I told you, Perseus," Kronos said. "They play with human lives like a child plays with a doll. You are a toy to them. They will thrown you away once you cease being entertaining. And your poor mother will be left all alone."

"No," Percy whispered; his eyes unfocused. "No, I won't let that happen."

"You alright there, Jackson?" Ares asked. "You're talking to yourself."

Percy looked at Ares. "I'm going to make you pay."

Ares snorted. He towered over Percy. He tensed his muscles. "Yeah, and how are you going to do that?"

(He refused to remember his defeats.)

Golden flecks appeared in Percy's emerald eyes. "By destroying you."

Ares stilled and tilted his head. "Watch the way you speak, Boy."

(Ares could handle some disrespect, but he had his limits.)

"You watch how you speak to my vessel, Grandson," Kronos said.

(He wanted Ares to know who he was dealing with.)

Ares startled. He reached out for Percy. "Jackson?"

(Despite himself, he cared for the boy.)

He froze. His eyes bulged, and looked left and right. His muscles bulged as he tried to move.

Kronos laughed. "You might get your powers from war and conflict, but I get mine from time."

Two copies of Percy appeared on either side of him. One was five years old, and the other twenty. They spoke as one. "I am the past, present, and future. You are nothing against the pull and push of time."

Ares shrunk into a baby's shape. He grew into an old man. He changed between those two forms again and again. Kronos chuckled at Ares's muffled scream. He leaned in close.

"I apologize, what was that?" Kronos leaned back and laughed. "And the best part. I would not be able to do this if you and the demigods had not treated Percy so badly! But since you did, I can use my full power."

Ares aged up. His skin wrinkled and liver spots appeared. His teeth fell out. His hair thinned. He bowed over; his spine curved. One of his legs folded, shriveled up and scarred.

Percy's eyes turned back to emerald, but gold flakes remained larger than ever. He stared down at the crippled Ares.

"Do it," Kronos said. "Strike him down, get revenge."

He pulled out the fountain pen. It transformed into the lighten bolt. The white light reflected in Ares's wide eyes. Percy hesitated for a moment.

"What did you mean you wouldn't be able to do this?"

"I would need a weapon to channel my powers if another demigod, who equally abused, had agreed to help me," Kronos said. "Because you are a child of the Big Three, we do not have to worry about that."

"Why?"

"Because your body is already used to holding vast amounts of power," Kronos said. "Now are you going to destroy Ares or should I?"

"I–"

"If you do not do this, then more demigods will be mistreated by the gods and their children," Kronos said.

(He was growing tired of Percy's insecurities.)

"Stop this cycle."

Percy swallowed and plunged the tip of the lightening bolt into Ares's eye. The hiss and smoke that rose from the wound turned Percy's stomach. Ares stayed silent.

(Percy wondered if it was because he was stubborn or because Kronos still held him hostage.)

Ares fell.

( Percy wondered if this was all worth it.)

"It will be," Kronos said. "You and your mother will be safe from everything. The gods will no longer be able to abuse those supposedly under their protection. Their children will respect their betters."

Percy swallowed as he stared at Ares's prone form. Ares twitched, and Percy jerked back.

"He is healing faster than I thought," Kronos said. "It must be the state of this world. How horrifying. We, Titans, never had such chaos."

"He's going to kill me," Percy whimpered.

"No, he will not," Kronos said. "Cut off his arms and legs with the lightening bolt. We will open up a portal to Tartarus and toss him in."

Percy swallowed and knelt in the sand next to Ares. He laid the lightening bolt across Ares's right arm. The smell of burning flesh singed his nose.

"Don't do this, Percy."

Percy looked up. A see through Ares stood near by. His form flickered.

"I have to," Percy said. "I have to make sure no one is ever used, like I was."

"No, you don't," Ares said. "I know what it is like to be used. Kronos used me too. Yes, I tricked you, but so is he."

"Lies," Kronos hissed.

"He's using you to take down the gods."

"The same way the gods use their children?" Percy asked. Tears stained his eyes. "The same way women and men are nothing more than cattle? To be slept with and then left to die?"

"That's not how it works," Ares said. "I loved, love, some of my partners. Others were one night stands. Some I returned to. I kept an eye on all of them."

(Most of his partners had taken him up on his help with their PTSD. Most of them allowed him to supply them with child support.)

"You're just like all the other gods," Percy said. "You probably never even helped the women you got pregnant. You left your children to die. Or used them for your own entertainment."

"I sent money, and helped my women as much as I could," Ares roared. "I took care of them from a distance. Yes, I wasn't there for my children, but it's for their own good! My essence would have increased theirs, making them bigger targets for monsters. If they die, it's because the Fates decree it."

Percy shook his head

"Demigods are only toys for the gods," Kronos said.

(He hoped to tighten his hold on Percy.)

"You think it would be any better underneath the Titans?" Ares asked.

(He had to try to get Percy to see reason.)

Percy froze. Ares suppressed a smile.

(He had reached him, but not really.)

"The humans grew under the care of the gods. The Titans will turn back all the progress the humans have made," Ares said.

"Is that true?" Percy asked. He tightened his hold on the lightning bolt. His flesh sizzled and burned. Kronos healed his woulds.

(Percy felt the damage to his flesh, but it seemed far off. As if it was happening to someone else on a movie screen.)

"We will return the humans to a simpler time, a safer time," Kronos said. "You and your mother will no longer have to worry about gods, monsters, or demigods."

Ares snorted. "The Titans will turn the humans into sacrifices. You think things are bad with the Gods in power? The Titans will be much worse. Whatever Kronos has promised you. It's a lie."

"I–" Percy blinked down. "I don't know."

"I have not lied to you, Perseus," Kronos said. "I will provide protection to you and your mother."

Percy gripped his head. "I don't know who to believe."

(This sentence triggered desperation in Kronos, and hope in Ares.)

"He will kill you!" Kronos barked. "You've already aided me. You're in too deep to be forgiven. You will die, and so will your mother. The gods are cruel. They will punish all those you love. Think back to the myths! When have they ever let the littlest slight go?"

(Kronos was right, but also wrong. If Percy had backed out then, he would have been killed, but his mother would have been spared in so many ways.)

Percy's eyes widened. They moved back and forth unseeing. He lifted his hand from the lightning bolt. His bubbling flesh healed before his eyes thanks to Kronos. His eyes hardened.

"You're right."

"Percy, don't do this," Ares said.

Percy's hands shook.

(He remembered laughing with Ares and talking with him on the road.)

He swallowed. "I won't."

Ares breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kronos," Percy said. "Can you do it?"

His eyes turned gold, as a sharp grin passed over his face. "With pleasure."

Ares's skin hissed as Kronos forced the ruff edges of the lightening bolt down into his arm. Smoke, tinted gold, rose up. The image of Ares roared in pain. Kronos made quick work of Ares, ripping off his limbs. He tapped into Percy's connection to the Underworld to tear open the earth. A jagged hole leading to Tartarus opened up. Kronos picked up the pieces of Ares, and tossed them in. He forced the hole closed. Sand hid the fact that it had even been there.

(Still, humans staggered because of the tremors.)

"Now, let us head to Olympus," Kronos said.

"Do you know where Olympus is?" Percy asked.

"Yes," Kronos said. He turned to Ares's bike. "Killing Zeus will be easier with Hades's Helm. The cycle of abuse will finally be over."

(He's said it so many times, that he's starting to believe it himself.)

He walked over to the helm, and picked it up. Sensing Percy's curiosity, Kronos allowed Percy control. Percy turned the helm around in his hands. The golden metal reflected back his warped face. It changed in his hands to a floppy black hat. Percy puts in it on, and looked down at himself.

(To his disappointment, he could still see himself.)

"The helm stops others from seeing you," Kronos said.

"Oh," Percy said. "That's cool."

"Yes," Kronos said. "Now shadow travel us to Olympus."

"But," Percy said. "My powers aren't strong anymore."

(A nervous flutter echoed in his stomach. He would be killed if he went to Olympus.)

"The helm should have strengthened your powers," Kronos said. "It is connected to the Underworld, not to Hades."

Percy focused on the shadows around him. The shadow cast by the pier prowled forward.

It embraced him. Snug within the shadows, Percy glided to Olympus. He stepped out in front of golden doors with holographic symbols of the gods.

"Tacky," Kronos snorted.

"That was so different," Percy whispered in awe. "The shadows were warm, and I didn't hear screams this time. I heard..."

He turned around toward the bustling city. "I heard Olympus."

The cries of vendors selling their wares, singing, and laughing filled the air. He had heard of all of that as he traveled through the shadows. It had been so nice.

"You were connected to the shadows of the destination," Kronos said. "You knew what shadows to go through. The helm gave you more power over them. Better than blindly fumbling through shadows, and almost running into monsters, hmm?"

"Yeah," Percy whispered.

(It may have been nice for him, but for everyone else it was the beginning of the end.)

Percy turned to the golden door. He swallowed.

(His brain couldn't wrap around the fact he was going to do this. He had forgotten he was little more than a puppet.)

"I will take control from here," Kronos whispered.

Once again, Percy was thrown back into his mind, watching as Kronos opened the doors. Kronos kept Percy's head down as he approached Zeus. He knelt down, laying the lightening bolt down in front of him.

(Only the satisfaction for what was to come, kept the seething anger at having to kneel before his son back.)

"Zeus," Kronos said.

Zeus sniffed. "I see you got my lightening bolt. Tell me what happened, demigod."

Kronos looked through Percy's memories, and told him what had transpired.

(All things considered the quest had been ridiculously easy, even with Ares tailing Percy.)

"Ares, huh," Zeus sighed. "He always did like to cause trouble."

(Part of him looked forward to punishing him. He didn't get to exert his power over others as much any more.)

Zeus stood up from his throne. He walked toward Percy and stopped.

"Pick up my bolt, and hand it to me."

Kronos stayed still. His golden eyes looked at Zeus through Percy's bangs. His fingers, Percy's fingers, itched to tear Zeus apart.

"Hurry up, demigod!" Zeus barked. "I haven't all day. I'll need to get your germs removed from my weapon."

(No matter how thankful Zeus was, he would not be disrespected.)

Kronos grabbed the lightening bolt. He slowly rose from his kneeling position. He kept Percy's head bowed. He stepped forward as if to offer the lighting bolt to Zeus, but instead he reached for his powers.

Time slowed down in the throne room. Zeus's eyes bulged as he strained to move a muscle. He could hear the bustle of Olympus continuing as normal. His eyes darted from the ornamented golden doors to the demigod.

"You were always too arrogant for your own good," Kronos said as he lifted Percy's face.

Golden eyes stared up at Zeus. Kronos frowned slightly.

"This body is so short," he said. "I will relish getting my own body back."

He patted Percy's stomach before he lashed out with the lightening bolt. He rolled Percy's neck as he released his hold on time. Blood bubbled forth as Zeus's head inched its way off of its shoulders. The body fell.

(A shutter went through Olympus. Most ignored it thinking Zeus was having a fit. Others watched the doors, waiting for their king to come out in a temper.)

Kronos stepped over Zeus's body and sat in Zeus's chair.

"How ostentatious," Kronos said as he picked at the golden eagle etched into the chair.

He could feel Percy's panic bubbling in the back of his mind. Kronos closed his eyes and concentrated on the tornado of fear.

"Be calm, demigod," Kronos said. His voice echoed through the marble room. "He will not be able to re-materialized. Godly weapons channel the power of the user. The more power the user has, the longer it will take for the victim to re-materialized."

Percy pointed out that Zeus must have been extremely strong to have kept Kronos down for so long. Kronos's face tightened.

"Tartarus shifted frequently," Kronos said. "It slowed my reformation."

Kronos opened his eyes. He placed Percy's hands on the arms of the throne, and pressed his back against the cold marble.

"Now," he said. "I, Kronos, Titan of Time claim Olympus as my own."

His flat voice, as loud as one would have to be to have a regular conversation, carried power. The throne underneath him shifted. The arms were replaced with giant hourglasses with golden sand within them. His fingers clutched the smooth wooden edges. The marble back changed to smooth crystal. Kronos smirked as he stood up.

(The changes ran along his taste, and it was sweet to erase his son's influence.)

The throne room darkened. The white marble grayed. Giant statues in his likeness holding scythes stood beside the door. Kronos stepped out of the dark gold doors. The symbols of the gods had been scratched out and replaced by the faces of the Titans. Kronos caressed the etching of his wife.

(He missed her.)

"Well," Kronos said as he turned away and put on the helm. "Time to get to work."

He disappeared from sight and froze time. He shuttered at the sudden silence. He craved their screams, but refrained, no need to set off an alarm.

(He didn't want to give Poseidon cause for concern.)

(Poseidon already knew something was wrong. He had felt Hades and then Zues's death, and he rallied his troops.)

Their fear filled eyes made his loins tingle.

(The inhabitants of Olympus had no idea what was happening. Some had an inkling, but they buried that thought as soon as it arrived.)

He grinned as he walked down the streets. Bulging, terror filled, eyes flitted from one place to another. He patted the cheek of one Nymph, and was rewarded with a muffled yelp.

Kronos chuckled. He loved the taste of fear in the air. His grin broadened as the Nymph peed herself.

(She prayed to wake up from this nightmare.)

He whistled as he walked through Olympus. He killed the main gods and goddesses. He whispered promises to the minor gods and goddesses. They would be worshiped again. Held in high regard. He allowed their mouths to move, and gave them an ultimatum. Join him or suffer. Most of them agreed. Those that didn't, lost their heads. Before long, most of Olympus had a coat of golden blood. Kronos ordered the gods and goddesses that had joined him to start cleaning up.

(He had promised them power, but they would only know servitude.)

He tapped into Percy's powers, smiling at the boy's numbed feelings. The events so far had horrified Percy, but he wouldn't back out. It had gone on too long.

"I will uphold my promise," Kronos told Percy. "You and your mom will live in peace."

Kronos shadow traveled to the outskirts of camp Half-Blood. He stepped onto camp grounds. The barrier flared and fell. Mr. D appeared at the foot of the hill. Chiron, with his bow out, galloped out of the Big House.

Kronos felt Percy's reluctance to kill Chiron and Dionysus. Kronos knew that Chiron would cause trouble for Perseus if left to live. He smirked at the two of them as they looked for a threat.

(Mr. D's eyes kept straying to Percy, but he refused to believe what his instincts told him.)

Demigods came to investigate. Percy's rage roared at the sight of the demigods.

(He would never forgive them.)

"Soon," Kronos muttered. "Let me take care of Dionysus and Chiron."

He strolled down the hill. A splattering of campers noted the flattened grass, but ignored it. They believed that his footprints had been caused by a fellow camper earlier that day. Kronos stopped in front of Mr. D.

Mr. D yelped as a cut appeared on his arm, unknown to him caused by the lightening bolt. His eyes widened as he tried to contact Zeus or any of the other gods. The buzzing connections in the back of his mind, that he had learned to ignore, was silent. He knows now why he had been so on edge.

"Olympus has fallen," Mr. D whispered.

Kronos took off the helm, and smiled up at Mr. D.

"Hello, Dionysus," he said.

"Percy?" Chiron's voice came from behind Kronos. "You're back."

Mr. D stared into Kronos's golden eyes. He snapped his fingers. The scent of grapes filled the air. Vines wrapped around Kronos. They held his legs together, but burned away each time they got too close to the lightning bolt. Kronos yawned as Mr. D swallowed.

(They both knew that Dionysus would not be able to stand up against Kronos alone. And he was alone.)

"Chiron, get the campers out of here!" Mr. D ordered. The least he could do was give the campers a chance to survive, and hopefully, restore Olympus.

(They wouldn't restore Olympus.)

Chiron sensing Mr. D urgency snapped into action. He bellowed for Argus to get the moving truck. The campers scrambled to spread the word that they were getting out of there.

(They had no idea what was going on.)

Kronos ignored them all as he smirked up at Mr. D.

(Percy would deal with the campers, as Kronos had promised.)

"You will succumb," Kronos said.

Sweat dripped down Mr. D's forehead. "Shut up."

More vines wrapped around Percy's legs. Kronos rolled his eyes as he shifted the lightening bolt. Arches of lightening burnt the vegetation to a crisp.

"Percy?"

"Dad, what's going on?"

Kronos turned his head. He heard Percy's whispered thoughts about the approaching demigod with blond hair.

"Hello, Will," Kronos said as he waved cheerfully. "How is it to be safely at camp while Perseus struggles to stay alive?"

(Will's heart throbbed at those words. He deeply regretted not helping Percy.)

Will froze at the sight of Kronos's golden eyes. "Percy, why are your eyes like that?"

"Dad?" Castor asked, glancing between Percy and Mr. D.

"Go," Mr. D said, his eyes never leaving Kronos.

"But–" Castor said.

"Go!" Mr. D yelled. "Get your brother and follow Chiron out of here!"

Castor ran off. Will stepped forward.

"Percy?" Will reached out and grabbed Percy's shoulders. He shook him, light coming out from under his palms.

(He believed he could heal Percy, lift whatever spell or compulsion was on him. Normally, he would be right.)

"Snap out of it."

Kronos's grin widened as he allowed Percy to take over. His golden eyes turned green.

(This would be fun.)

"Will?"

Will grinned. He turned to Mr. D. "See? He's just under a spell. A little bit of quarantine and healing and he'll be–"

Percy stabbed him with the lightening bolt. Will froze and turned his head to Percy. Percy glared at him.

"How does it feel to be betrayed?"

Will opened his mouth, but crumbled to ash before he could say anything.

(Percy squished the regret that bubbled in his stomach.)

His eyes turned gold as he turned back to Dionysus. "Are you not going to run?"

Dionysus stared at Kronos with a face carved from stone. He snapped his finger. Kronos raised an eyebrow. He snapped again.

"You were suppose to turn into a pig," Mr. D grumbled.

(He hated feeling powerless. He hadn't felt this way in a long time.)

"Cute," Kronos said.

He eyed the campers running by. He side stepped the vine that tried to pierce his heart.

"Why are you holding back?" Kronos asked. "Not that it would make a difference, but I am giving you a fighting chance. Why not go all out?"

Mr. D glanced at the stream of demigods running past them to the moving van.

Kronos laughed. "I thought you hated demigods."

Mr. D's jaw tightened.

(The demigods had grown on him like a fungus, especially his children. Besides, they were his. His to punish, and his to protect.)

Kronos felt Percy's doubt, so he decided to remind him why he had joined him.

"I mean, you stood aside and allowed those demigods to attack Perseus."

Percy's rage throbbed.

Kronos froze Dionysus, and watched the rest of the campers get into the van. He waved as the van drove off. Kronos leaned against Dionysus. He could hear Dionysus straining against his powers.

(It was futile, but still Dionysus fought against time.)

"What?" Kronos asked, grinning up at Dionysus. "You think I'm going to give you a fighting chance now?"

He took the lightening bolt and traced it over Dionysus's stomach. A line burned into his shirt. His stomach split open. It didn't bleed. Kronos reached in, relishing Dionysus's pained groan. He pulled out Dionysus's intestine. The gold covered organ glimmered.

The sound of a conch shell echoed through the silent camp. Kronos cut off Dionysus head, and stepped over him. He walked to the ocean's edge where Poseidon's army emerged. Poseidon, himself, rode in a chariot pulled by dolphins. His son, Triton, blew a conch shell by his side.

(It was a shame that Kronos's fun had ended so early, but work before pleasure.)

"Really?" Kronos asked. He froze time and then pointed at the army.

They floated in the air, until they reached the center of camp. Kronos let them drop. They left craters in the earth. Still as statues. Kronos could feel the pain radiating off of them.

"You are drenched, and I have this." Kronos stood over Poseidon, holding the lightening bolt aloft.

Poseidon stared up at the sky. He thought of his life, and all the things he would have done differently.

(There were several things he would have done differently. Mostly, in how he treated others. Mostly, in how he never got to know his children, safe as they may be.)

Kronos caressed Triton with the Lightening Bolt. Electricity arched through the sea's army. He chuckled as he looked down at them. He stepped on the bodies of Poseidon's army until he stood in front of the sea king.

"The Age of Gods is over," Kronos said. "The Age of Titans has returned."

He shoved the lightening bolt through Poseidon's eye. The organ sizzled and popped as Poseidon's face bubbled and blackened. Kronos waited until the lightening bolt melted through Poseidon's skull. He then beheaded the Greek God.

Kronos breathed in deeply as the powers of all the Greek gods shifted to the titans. Someone had to rule. The titans had the most power. So the energy that kept Olympus and the Western World standing shifted to them.

Percy shifted in the back of his mind. He reflected on how strange it was to be a passenger in his own body. He wondered about the campers, and if they would seek revenge.

Kronos chuckled. "They will not be able to."

He called up the shadows and stepped in. The shadow world passed by him in a second. He appeared in a dark corner. The metal floor and walls rattled around him. Campers curled up against each other in small groups. Sobs, cursing, and quiet talk filled the air.

"Don't despair, Campers," Chiron said. "We will be alright. As long as we hold strong, and stick together, we will be alright."

Kronos smirked. He wondered who Chiron was trying to convince, himself or the campers?

(Both, and he was failing.)

"How will we be alright?" Clarisse demanded. "That freak has the lightning bolt, and he attacked us!"

She wondered where the gods were. Why weren't they helping them? Surely, a titan attack warranted divine help.

(Deep inside a voice whispered that of course it didn't because the gods don't care.)

"Mr. D is probably dead," a daughter of Apollo, Sally, screamed. "He killed Will!"

She sobbed. Her favorite brother had been killed right before her eyes. She had stood there and watched, before fleeing at the sight of golden eyes. Disgusted with herself, her skin crawled.

(If she had survived Percy's attack, she wouldn't have been able to live with herself.)

The noise level exploded as each camper tried to overtake the others. They argued about going back, about Mr. D being alive, and screamed that they were doomed. Dionysus children screamed that their dad was fine; fat tears rolling down their faces. Kronos stuck a finger in Percy's ear and wiggled it around. He snapped his fingers and froze the campers.

"Finally," he sighed. "You are all much too loud."

He walked over to Chiron. One touch with the lightening bolt and he disintegrated.

"Alright, Perseus," Kronos said. "Revenge is yours."

His golden eyes turned green. Percy blinked as he looked at the frozen campers. Some had tears stuck to their cheeks. Others had their mouths open, ridiculously large. Others had bulging, raged, filled eyes. Percy snickered.

"You all look ridiculous," He said. He put down the lightning bolt, and took out his knives.

(You would think he would regret what he was about to do, what he had done, but Kronos had taken ever negative emotion Percy had and sealed them. They would eventually explode.)

He whistled as he strolled around the campers until he found the one that had tried to kill him when he first got to camp.

"Hey," Percy chirped, his emerald eyes flecked with gold. "Remember me?"

Her hazel eyes stared back at him. Tears stuck to her cheeks.

(She had been one of the ones prophesying their deaths. She feared for her fate.)

"Of course you do," Percy said. "You tried to kill me."

He traced her neck with one of his knives. A line of blood followed the blade's edge. The camper's insides went cold.

(She knew that she would die.)

"I'm going to make you pay," Percy said with wide eyes. He turned to the rest of the campers. "I'm going to make you all pay!"

He stabbed the girl in the eye. He kept stabbing her until her face was a slushy of blood, meat, skin, and chips of bone. His hand hurt from stabbing bone. He buzzed with adrenaline. He looked at the campers with wide eyes. Even though they couldn't move, he could smell their fear. It smelled like piss.

"Why don't their eyes move like the gods?" Percy asked.

(He wanted some indication that they were alive.)

"I allowed the gods to move their eyes," Kronos said.

"Is there any way you can make it to where I can hear them scream but no one else can?" Percy asked as he approached Clarisse.

"Yes," Kronos purred.

(He like the vindictive part of Percy. He wished he could keep it up, but to fulfill his part of the bargain, he would have to let Percy go. Plus, his hold on him would weaken once he had his own body.)

"Jackson!" Clarisse yelled. "You, son of a bitch!"

Percy jabbed his knife through the bottom of Clarisse's jaw. "Don't talk about my mom that way!"

(That wasn't what she meant. Despite the pain she was in, she relished getting under his skin.)

He slaughtered the campers. Some begged him to spare them, others cursed his name, and then there were Silena and Luke. Silena stared at him. She whispered how sorry she was and closed her eyes.

(She knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind, and if she could, she wouldn't accept his mercy. What was the point of living when all your loved ones were gone, and the world would follow?)

Percy hesitated a moment before killing her. He granted her one of the quicker and painless deaths.

Luke begged Kronos not to kill him, saying how he had been a faithful servant. He talked how he had done everything in his power to get Percy on their side.

"So, all this time," Percy said. "You were never really my friend?"

(Kronos had a hard time keeping that knowing hurt from ruining Percy's happy calm.)

Luke's face paled. "Percy, I–"

"I don't want to hear it," Percy snapped. He asked Kronos to freeze Luke. Even though he couldn't hear Luke's screams, the slow removal of his skin was therapeutic.

Percy stood panting in the middle of carnage as the truck came to a stop. Kronos took control, and vaporized Argus. Percy watched from the back of his mind as Kronos hunted down the golden fleece. He had zero problems pin pointing its location and getting it. Percy wondered if things were just as easy for the gods, if so, then countless demigods died for no reason.

(It was that easy, but at the same time it wasn't. The gods had rules to follow. To break them would result in them being powerless. For a god to touch the golden fleece, is a death sentence.)

Kronos smirked at the flash of Percy's anger. He laid the shimmering fleece on the white sands. The corpse of a cyclops stared at him. The fool had tried to attack him.

Kronos forced Percy's body to throw up beside the fleece. Once all of the chunks of Kronos had left Percy's body, Percy was left in control. He blinked down at the cubes of flesh, holding onto the fleece. He threw the fleece down on the bloody clumps. He marveled at the golden fleece as a white light came from under it.

A pair of legs grew from under the fleece as piece by piece Kronos built up his body. Kronos pulled off the fleece once his body had returned to its former glory. He smirked at the gaping Percy.

"Thank you, Perseus," Kronos said as he ran his hand through his silver hair. "Without you, I would never have succeeded."

(Not nessesarly true, but it would have been a lot harder.)

Percy stared up at him, shaking. He ran over everything he did. He swallowed once. "My mom's going to hate me."

(She could never hate him, but Percy's self loathing would convince him different.)

"Why?" Kronos asked as he peered at him with a golden eye.

"I killed people," Percy said.

(He had done more than that. He had tortured them.)

"Worst of all, I enjoyed it."

Kronos smirked. "She can remain ignorant about this."

"I won't keep it a secret from her," Percy said. "Not forever. It'll come out eventually."

(The nightmares alone would give away what he had done.)

"What do you want?" Kronos asked. "You helped me, so I will give you anything you want. So what will it be? Power? Money? Immortality?"

"Honestly," Percy said. "I just want to go back to before I knew I was a demigod. I want to be with my mom, and forget all of this."

Kronos hummed. "So be it."

(It was better this way. If Percy remembered what he had done, he might try to overthrow Kronos. This was just a mess less way to deal with him.)

He touched Percy's forehead. Percy's eyes rolled into the back of his head. Kronos caught him as he fell, and cradled him to his chest.

"I will not turn back time," Kronos said. "But I will give you peace of mind."

He flashed to New York. Already, things were changing. Nothing noticeable to the humans, but he could feel it in the air. His brothers and sisters were returning to power.

He walked up to Peresus's apartment. Since his hands were full, he willed the door to open, and it did. A TV blared over the sounds of a poker game. Kronos curled his lips.

(Percy's feeling towards Gabe and his "friends" had rubbed off on him.)

"Who the hell are you?" Gabe demanded. He raged at the idea of some stranger barging into his home.

(He had been planning how to get Sally into bed with him once his poker game was over.)

"Gabe? What's going on?" Sally asked as she came out of the kitchen, wiping a dish down with a rag. Gabe had asked, read demanded, once again for her to make guacamole for his poker buddies.

(She had put some crushed Lobelia into the guacamole. The Lobelia is a gift from Persephone (Who hated Gabe, but understood Sally's choice). She put in just enough to make Gabe sick.)

The dish shattered as it slipped from her fingers. "Percy? Percy! What happened!"

She rushed toward Kronos, and despite Percy's size, took him from his grasp. She stumbled over to the couch and laid her son down on it. She brushed back his hair, chanting his name, and asking what had happened.

(She amused Kronos. How she didn't seem to care a lick about who he was.)

"What the hell is going on?" Gabe demanded as he stood up. His poker buddies followed his lead, cracking their knuckles. They didn't care about Percy or about Sally's distress; they just wanted a fight.

Kronos glared at them. "This does not concern you."

He had been privy to Percy's thoughts, his memories, and emotions. Every hit, shove, and spat out word that Gabe has done against Percy had been done against Kronos. If Gabe knew what was good for him, he would leave that place immediately.

(Sadly, or not, Gabe is an idiot.)

"Get out of my house!"

Kronos flicked his finger towards Gabe and his gang. Gabe and his friends exploded. Their blood and flesh coated the walls. Sally screamed as she became covered in blood. Kronos grimaced before he snapped his fingers and vanished the gore.

(He hated the feeling of gore in his hair.)

"Sorry," Kronos grunted.

Sally stared at him with a gaping mouth. Her hands shook. Her throat closed. She couldn't find the words to tell Kronos how wrong that was.

"Anyway," Kronos said. "Your son helped me rise to power, so I will grant him what he wanted."

"What did he want?" Sally forced out.

"Peace," Kronos said. "And for you to be happy."

He snapped his fingers. The rundown apartment disappeared.

(Along with all the people in it except for those in that room.)

In its place was a cozy cottage. The dilapidated furniture was replaced with new, expensive, ones. The rickety card table with metal chairs surrounding it disappeared. In its place was a low oak coffee table.

"Who are you?" Sally asked as she collapsed next to Percy's head on the elongated, leather, couch. Her fingers tangled into his hair.

"Kronos," he said with a smile.

Sally paled. She had been an avid reader, and Greek Mythology had been her favorite. Her mind turned to Hades. She knew he wasn't safe, but she prayed that he was anyway.

(At that moment, he was trying, and failing, to pull himself together, along with the other gods.)

"Your son will wake in a few hours," Kronos said. "Feel free to explore your new home. I will not be by again."

Kronos disappeared.

(He had an empire to build and run.)

After a few moments, Sally got up from the couch and explored their new home. Her hands shook, but she could feel an artificial calm taking over. It's as if the walls radiated calm and happiness. She wanted to hate everything that had happened, but should couldn't.

(Kronos had made it so that everything in the cottage negated negative emotions. He used the Mist for that. Sally and Percy Jackson would have their happy ending as long as they let the magic work on them.)

The living room was bigger, and smelled better. Less like cigar smoke and cheap beer, and more like fresh pine wood. All of the run down furniture had been replaced with new ones. The holey armchair that had sat next to the rabbit eared TV was gone. In its place was an blue easy chair and a flat screen TV. The rickety fold out table that Gabe and his friends had surrounded had disappeared. Instead, there was a low oak coffee table. A bookshelf, filled to bursting, leaned against one wooden wall. A small entertainment center rested in front of the TV. Sally glanced at Percy. She knew he would enjoy that, but she did wonder how Kronos knew about those things.

(Kronos rules over time, so he knew how everything had changed over the years.)

Sally moved from room to room taking in the changes. Her hands had long ago stopped shaking. The longer she wandered her new home. The more accepting she was of the change. She never asked why all the windows were covered.

(Kronos knew she could see through the Mist. He didn't want the spell to break so soon.)

A large stainless steel kitchen. Sally smiled at the sight. She would no longer cook in the small cracked one. A polished marble table replaced the wooden one. A little ostentatious for Sally's taste, but it would do its job during family meals. Sally thrilled at the idea of eating with Percy again.

Two bathrooms instead of one. Relief flooded Sally at the knowledge she would no longer have to share a bathroom with Gabe. Guilt prickled at her right after. She had seen him murdered right before her eyes, and yet she didn't care.

(The Mist wiped away her guilt as fast as it came.)

Lavished bedrooms, and extra rooms that Sally, personally, found excessive. Exercise rooms up the stairs. Indoor green houses. A movie theater, and a spa in the basement. A bowling area down the hall.

Sally returned to the living room with a shake of her head. Percy still lay on the couch, unconscious, so she went to the front door. The door refused to open. She jiggled the handle. She slammed her shoulder against the wood. The door stayed immobile.

(Kronos had rigged the cabin that as long as the occupants were willing to stay, they would be locked in. After all, why would they want to leave?)

In the living room, Percy awoke with a groan. Sally bustled in. She ran to the couch and hugged Percy.

"Thank goodness you're alright."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Percy asked. "I was just taking a nap."

"A nap?" Sally pulled away and stared into Percy's eyes. "Percy, you were unconscious."

"Uh, yeah, you kind of have to be to take a nap," Percy said. He gave his mom a puzzled smile.

"Kronos brought you in," Sally said.

"Kronos?" Percy tilted his head to the side. "Whose Kronos?"

At first, Sally thought Percy was playing with her. She pressed him, and as he got more frustrated, she came to realize that Percy wasn't faking it. Percy's memory had been wiped clean.

New places added to the home each time they wanted something new, and the fridge never ran out of food. Sally found as time went by that it wasn't just the mythological part of his life that he had forgotten. All of his memories had been modified. He insisted that they had always lived there. Gabe had been scrubbed from his mind. He questioned whether Sally was sick or if she had a vivid dream. Most days, Sally could pretend along with Percy, she forgot Gabe and enjoyed their new home.

Sometimes, she wondered if this was all there way, if they was all there ever was. Whenever she needed a reminder that this hasn't always been, she would try to leave. The front door, and the back screen never opened. If she looked out the window through the Mist, which usually showed a field of flowers and tall trees, she could see the world beyond, the world she and Percy were no longer a part of.

Buildings decayed and fell to pieces. Fires devoured everything. Greek gods marched in chains. Monsters pulled them apart for the Titans entertainment. Humans were eaten or kept as pets. After a week of looking through the mist, Sally succumbed to the sweet dream that she lived in with Percy.

…

Until, Percy decided he wanted to go outside. He tried the back door. The windows. And finally the front door. When it wouldn't open, he pounded his fist against it.

Sally followed the sound, she had been reading in the small library. Her eyes widened at the sight of her son slamming his fist against the wooden door. She stepped forward, raising her hand.

"Percy, what are you doing?"

"I want to go out," Percy said. "I'm tired of being inside."

Knowing what was outside their home, Sally said. "What's wrong with the green house?"

Percy frowned. "Nothing. I just..."

His eyes slid to the ground. "I'm having nightmares. I know they're not real, but something seems off."

(Kronos had not renewed the Mist over their home, so his spell over Percy was weakening. Given enough time, Percy would remember all that he had done.)

Sally took a deep breath.

(She could tell him to let it go, but she knew that he would push. He would find out by himself that they live in a fantasy world. Better for her to show him, and protect him.)

"Come with me," Sally said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the living room. She stopped in front of the curtained window. She pulled back the curtain and motioned to the grassy scene outside.

(She knew what lay underneath.)

The false image flickered before her eyes. Rubble rose above the trees. Asphalt replaced grass. The flowers became glass.

"What do you see?"

"The garden," Percy said.

"But how does it feel?" Sally asked. "Does it feel wrong in any way?"

Percy shifted and rubbed his arm. He squinted at the window. "Well, yeah, but I don't know why."

"Look closely at it," Sally said. "Try to think of why it's wrong."

"I don't know why it's wrong," Percy grumbled as he crossed his arms. He squeezed, knuckles turning white. His eyes darted from the trees to the flowers. His frown deepened.

"Everything," he said. "Everything is wrong."

(Kronos's hold on him disappeared completely. Then tension between Kronos's shoulders eased.)

Percy blinked. The garden had vanished, leaving behind a ruined building.

He stepped back. "Where's the garden?"

"Percy, there is no garden, there never was," Sally said. "Kronos tricked you."

"Kronos," Percy pressed his hand to his head. "Ugh, my head."

"Are you alright?" Sally asked.

(Percy had shown signs of being able to see through the Mist before, but it had never hurt him. The block Kronos had placed around his memories collapsing.)

"I–" Percy stopped. "I think I need to lay down."

"Alright," Sally said observing his pained expression.

She watched as Percy shuffled out the living room. She bit her lip and looked out the window. A large shadow passed by. She shivered and rubbed her arms, letting the curtain fall. She swallowed and walked out of the living room.

"There has to be a bag or backpack around here somewhere," she whispered to herself.

She entered the greenhouse and walked over to the tool shed. Shears, trowels, and other gardening utensils lined the walls. She looked under a table. Fertilizer. She bit her lip, tears stinging her eyes.

(A bag had been under the table before, but Percy had moved it after using it to haul tools.)

She got off her hands and knees. She rushed over to the other table, and looked under. Her face brightened. A gym bag for lugging around the gardening equipment. She grabbed the black strap and unzipped the green bag.

"Empty, good," she whispered. She zipped it back up and stood up as she shouldered the bag.

She started for the door when she paused. She looked at the shears on the wall. The silver metal gleamed in the low light.

"Better than nothing," she whispered as she took them off the wall.

She clutched them as she hurried to the kitchen. She grabbed as many water bottles as she could and some canned food. She rushed to the living room and snatched the thick blanket off of the couch. She was about to hurry to her room to get an extra set of clothes, the house shuddered.

She stared, wide eyed, as a chunk of the living room ceiling crashed down. A giant fist sat in the corner of her living room. She coughed as the dust settled. Booming laughter came from outside.

"How did we miss this one?" The voice shook the windows.

"I don't know!" The laughter that followed made her bones vibrate.

Sally ran for the bedrooms to get Percy. Somehow he had slept through the attack.

(He was too far into his own memories to pay much attention to the world around him.)

"Percy," Sally screamed over the crashing sound. She shook him. "Wake up!"

He stirred but didn't wake. Sally glanced at the roof as it shuddered. She shook him harder, but still he slept. She fumbled with the zipper of the bag. She pulled out a water bottle, opened it, and poured it on him. Percy sputtered as the water went up his nose. His eyes opened as he rubbed at his face and blinked up at his mom.

"What was that for?" He asked before the room shuddered.

"We have to go," Sally said as she grabbed his hand.

She pulled him out of the room and down the hall. The living room was in shambles. Barefoot, they slipped out the back of the kitchen, and into the decimated world around them.

"What?" Percy looked around him. "What happened?"

"The end of the world," Sally said.

Percy gripped his head. "Ugh, my head."

Sally glanced at Percy before yanking him down an alleyway. She pushed him to the ground next to a dumpster. She crouched down beside him, pressing him against the cool metal of the dumpster. She strained her eyes and ears for any sign of danger.

"Try to calm down," she whisper. "Let the memories come."

(She wasn't sure that would work, but it sounded good.)

Percy nodded. He took a deep breath, and stilled. Tears slipped down his face as his memories came into view. They played like a movie.

(He wished they were a movie. It would be so much easier.)

"I did this," he whispered.

"What?" Sally asked.

"I did this," he said a bit louder. He opened his eyes and stared at the rubble in front of him.

"I did this," he whispered. His hands shook. His eyes moved back and forth, unseeing. His heart hammered. He gasped for breath.

"No," Sally said as she moved in front of him. She grabbed his shoulders and kept moving her head to retain eye contact. "No, you didn't do this. Kronos did."

"But I helped him," Percy said. Tears filled his eyes. "I helped him."

"He manipulated you," Sally said. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was," Percy said. He stood up and stomped away from his mom into the street.

(A giant lizard stomped its way down the street. It spied Percy, and quickened its pace.)

"Percy!" Sally hissed. "Get back here!"

"Look at this," Percy said gesturing around. "I was so angry, I gave in! I could have stopped him!"

"Percy!" Sally shrieked. "Get back over here!"

(He never saw the scaly foot coming down until it was too late.)

Sally stared at the clawed foot. It twisted left and right, smearing her son into the broken pavement.

A hissing laughter filled the air. "I love the way they feel between my scales."

Sally collapsed to the ground and cried. She stayed quiet as the monster walked away shaking the ground and tumbling buildings as it did.

(She had no idea what type of monster that was.)

Her brain went numb. All she could do was lay there and cry. Several hours passed. She only moved when the sky turned gray.

(She had to set this right, and maybe, maybe Percy would be allowed to come back.)

She wiped her cheeks, grasped the strap of the bag, and walked down the streets. She took back alleys, and stayed in the shadows. She avoided monsters by causing distractions. She threw rocks away from where she hid. The sound echoed off the ruins. It was far too quiet for New York.

(She had a few close calls.)

Her goal was the Empire State Building. She remembered Hades complaining about Olympus. And that it is on the three hundredth floor of the Empire State Building. She would free the gods or die trying.

(Most likely due, if the Fates were not on her side. They didn't like one part of the world ending, but the rest thrived.)

She made it to the rubble that had been the Empire State Building. In its place stood a large temple made of onyx. She stepped onto the polished steps. A woman appeared. She flowed down the stairs towards Sally. Her long black hair covered her crop top. Her forked tongue flicked out tasting the air. She stared at Sally unable to blink. Her brown snake like lower half rasped against the cold stones.

(She salivated at the thought of human flesh. She was so hungry. Without a supply of heroes, and with the humans dwindling, monsters were starving.)

Sally took a step back. "Echidna." She whispered.

The woman smiled a closed lip smile. "It's always so good when a meal knows my name."

Sally took another step back. She reached her hand into the bag. Echidna lunged at her. She wrapped herself around Sally, squeezing her. With her arms pinned to her side, Sally couldn't reach the sheers.

(Not that it would do much good. It's harder to kill a monster with human weapons than with demigod ones.)

Echidna chuckled. She rose above Sally. "Don't worry, this won't hurt much." She squeezed the air out of Sally. "Oh, and by the way, please don't struggle. It's bad for my digestive track."

Echidna unhinged her jaw reveling her pink tendon covered mouth with only two sharp fangs on top.

"Why don't you paralyze me?" Sally wheezed out.

(She wanted to keep Echidna talking, so she could find a way out.)

Echidna stopped. She relaxed her mouth. "Because I don't have paralyzing poison. I have the type that melts your skin off, and liquefies your insides. I prefer my food uncooked."

She opened her mouth again.

"Wouldn't you prefer something bigger?" Sally blurted out.

"Bigger?" Echidna asked, staring at Sally with slits for eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"There's a whole band of humans back there," Sally jerked her head behind her.

(The truth was that there was no humans back there, they had moved away from that safe house. Sally had saw the remains of their camp.)

"Really?" Echidna looked behind Sally. "You are not fooling me?"

"Nope," Sally wheezed out. "A whole group of them."

"They are probably skin and bones," Echidna hissed. "Less to enjoy."

"But," Sally said. "But the quantity. The number alone, will keep you fed for a while. Plus, they've dug a hole to hide out underground. It's a food supply, you don't have to share."

Echidna stared at Sally rocking her upper body. Then she unwrapped from around Sally.

"You better not be lying, human," she hissed as she slithered away.

Sally lay on the cold stones gasping. As soon as she got her breathing under control, she picked up her bag and ran up the steps to the temple. She pushed open the Celestial Bronze doors, edged with the angry faces of the Titans and covered in blood. She slipped inside.

A sweet smoke filled the air, blurring the room. Soft voices cooed in hidden corners. Large shapes milled around carrying trays. Chains scraped against the floor. Sally jumped back to avoid a man twenty feet high carrying a plate filled with cups. His curly black hair hung limp around his shoulders. His dark gray eyes looked at her.

(Zeus has seen countless humans eaten over the time he had served Kronos.)

"You have made a grave mistake coming here, Human."

Laughter like metal scraping against stone filled the air. The fog dissipated. All around Titans sat with the gods at their feet. Sally couldn't look at them. To see such strong beings at the feet of another turned her stomach.

(She would never know the torture they gods endured.)

Kronos stared at her from his place at the front of the room. He lounged in the largest chair made of crystal with hourglasses as armrest. Never ending golden sand fell within them. Sally turned her head towards a gasp. Astraeus sat with Aphrodite on his lap. His black hair flew around his head. His blue eyes speckled with gold and pink sparkled as he slipped a hand up her torn shirt. Aphrodite shivered, her face twisted in disgust. Ares and Hephestus lunged toward Astraeus to the amusement of the Titans.

(It was one of their favorite games. To infuriate the gods, and watch them squirm.)

"Sit," Kronos ordered Zeus after taking a cup from him.

Zeus sat at his father's feet, hanging his head. Kronos smiled down at him. He took a sip, and then spat it out onto Zeus's head. He upturned the rest of the drink onto his youngest son.

"Do you honestly think I would accept a drink from you after the last time?"

The Titans roared with laughter.

(Kronos said the same thing each time Zeus served him a drink. It was one of his favorite pass times. The other one was making a mix like the one Zeus made him drink, and forcing him to drink it.)

Kronos turned his attention to Sally, who took a step back. He leaned his head into his hand.

"Sally Jackson," he drawled. "What brings you here? You're suppose to be safe under my enchantment."

Sally heard chains rattle to the left of her. She glanced over. Hades stared at her, emotionless, except for his eyes. They screamed for her to run.

(Hades remembered how Percy had stabbed him. He also remembered the pain and regret his son radiated. He believed without doubt that Kronos had taken control of Percy, possessed him some how. He had hoped that Percy and Sally were safe. To see Sally here about to be a sacrifice tore him to pieces.)

Sally turned to Kronos. "Percy's dead. The cottage is destroyed."

"Oh," Kronos said. He studied his trimmed nails.

(Say what you would about Aphrodite, she knew how to give a mean manicure.)

"That's a shame. I liked him."

Sally swallowed her burning anger. She clenched her fist and blinked back tears.

Kronos sighed at her silence. "What do you want?"

"Can you bring him back?" Sally whispered.

Kronos studied her. "Sadly, no. Death is irreversible."

Sally slumped. Her eyes dulled.

(Hades smothered the need to run to her.)

(Persephone, arranging flowers in the corner of the throne room, covered her mouth.)

(She had looked forward to meeting Percy.)

Kronos leaned back with a sigh. "This wouldn't have happened if he had just taken my gift of immortality, but he valued his mommy more."

Sally flinched. Tears leaked down her face, splattering on the floor.

(It surprised her: they didn't freeze with how cold the Titan King was being.)

"But I am a man of my word," Kronos said.

(Zeus held back his snort.)

"I can remake the cottage," Kronos said.

"I just want my son back," Sally muttered. She covered her face with trembling hands.

Kronos hummed. "I can put you to sleep until the day you die. Let you dream of your perfect life. You'll have it all. The love of your life. Your son. Your home."

Sally nodded.

Kronos stood up to perform the ritual.

(It would only require him to touch her forehead, but he was feeling dramatic.)

He muttered nonsense words in a low voice that Sally had to strain to hear. The wind picked up. The room grew cold. Sally shivered as goose pimples rose on her arms. He stopped before her. He lifted his hand. Sally closed her eyes as his fingers drew closer to her.

A bell tolled. Kronos stopped. He looked at the golden doors. He smiled. The Titans laughed as they got up. Sally crept her eyes opened.

"We'll finish this later," Kronos said stepping around her. "It's time for a show."

"What?" Sally turned to watch him and the rest of the Titans leave.

"Stay here," Kronos said. "Play with the gods."

(He didn't think she could free them, so there was no fear there.)

Sally rubbed her arms as the door closed behind them.

"Sally," Hades whispered. "Get out of here. He'll kill you."

"It doesn't matter," Sally said. "I've lost everything."

"Sally, Sally, no," Hades said. "You can get through this."

"We can reunite you and your son," Hera said.

Hades froze as Sally turned to the chained queen of the gods.

"Asclepius, son of Apollo, can bring your son back to life," Hera said.

(The gods banned Asclepius from bringing people back to life with the Gorgon blood for eons.)

(Hera knew that Kronos had possessed Percy; she had no intention of letting him come back to life.)

(Hades knew that Hera was up to something, but he stayed silent, unable to kill the hope in Sally's eyes.)

"You can?" Sally asked stepping closer to Hera.

"Yes, yes," Hera hissed, "But you must free us."

"How?"

"My weapon," Zeus said. "It's behind Kronos's throne. It's just out of reach. It can melt these chains."

(Zeus had strained and struggled for days to get to his weapon. So did his brothers. But Kronos had placed a barrier around them that kept the gods from reaching them.)

Sally hurried over to the throne. She walked around the back.

"Hurry, Sally," Hades said, watching the door.

Sally grabbed the lightening rod. It sparked and transformed into pure light. It warmed her hand, but didn't hurt her.

(Sally thanked the Fates.)

She rushed out from behind the throne and stepped toward Hades.

"No," Zeus snapped. "Free me first."

Sally hesitated, before turning to Zeus. She pressed the rod to the chains, they melted, freeing Zeus. Zeus stood up and snatched the bolt from her. He blasted the remains of the chains attached to Kronos's chair.

"Well, there goes our element of surprise," Hermes muttered.

Apollo nodded from beside him.

Zeus turned and walked passed Sally. He muttered thanks as he wiped where she had touched his weapon with the remains of his burning shirt.

(Kronos had given him human clothes. Instead of the resilient godly clothes he usually wore.)

He walked over to Hera and freed her.

Sally looked at Hera with bright eyes. She wrung her hands. "You can bring back my son."

Hera looked at her with ice in her eyes. "Your son is the one who caused this mess. Why would I bring him back?"

A physical pain came from Sally's heart. Tears filled her eyes.

(Hades winced from his place beside Poseidon. He could never stand seeing those he love cry.)

"But," she whispered. "You said–"

"I lied," Hera said waving her arm. "Now stand out of the way. I need to get my sword."
Sally clenched her eyes shut. Her hands shook. She screamed as she rushed at Hera.

"Bring him back!"

Hera looked at her and swatted her away. Sally flew across the room, and hit the wall. Cracks formed in the marble. She landed on her back. Blood trickled from her mouth. As soon as Hades was free he rushed to her.

"Sally," he whispered. He cradled her in his arms.

Persephone placed her hand on his shoulder.

(She had grown fond of Sally Jackson throughout the years. She still hated that Hades had cheated, but Sally had included her in her life. Had let her hold Percy, feed him from a bottle, and let her feel him kick. She had grown to love Sally.)

"Percy," Sally gurgled. "I want to see," she gasped. "Percy."

"I'll put you in Elysium," Hades promised. "Just wait until the battle is over. I'll place you both there."

Sally smiled as she died.

(Hades upheld his promise. He gave them the best home in Elysium there is.)

Review! Is there anyway I can improve my writing? This was my first time doing the "All Seeing Eye" how did I do? Sorry it took so long. I wanted to release the original chapter and the alternate at the same time. This chapter is 52 pages long with ~15349 words.