Third Person's POV
"Are you guys okay down there?" Sally voices asked in concern as the screams that echoed a few moments earlier couldn't have come from anything else but Rick and Glen.
"We're okay." Rick called back. "We just- We'll tell you when we get back up."
"Breathe." Sally told Annabeth as Sally turned to her daughter-in-law. "It'll be over soon, I promise."
"How long till I give birth?" Annabeth asked. "I'm terrified Sally, how long do I have before I go into panic?"
"You don't have to go into panic." Sally calmed her down as she knelt in front of Annabeth. "You've still got about up to 12 hours after your water breaks. If you can't handle it, we can ask Vinnie to deliver."
"Is that normal?" Annabeth asked as the pain jabbed through her back. "It's getting worse."
"It does that sometimes." Sally said. "Why don't you go and sit with Hestia by the fire, maybe she can calm you. I'll wait for the boys."
"No I'll be fine." Annabeth groaned. "I'll be fine. I've been through worse, I don't know why I'm being such a baby about it."
"No, you won't if you don't breathe." Sally told her. "You're being a baby about it because it's your children. Trust me I panicked just as much when Percy came."
A thunder of steps emerged from tunnel as Glen ran out with Rick hot on his heels.
"Close the door, now." Glen yelled as Rick stepped out. Sally slammed it shut without any question.
"What happened?" Sally asked after.
"Annabeth said it was dead." Glen shook his head violently. "It wasn't."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth said. "It's been dead since Christmas."
"Well when I was getting it's spine out-" Glen tossed thre joined piece of vertebrae to Annabeth, who gagged. "-T5, 6, and 7 by the way. The Harpy moved, and it was screaming, and Mr. Riordan took my dagger and stabbed it."
"And Glen decapitated it with a surgical saw." Rick said.
"Better safe then sorry." Glen shrugged. "If at the point where it could move even after I took it's spine out, I had to take all the safety measurements."
"So that's why you ran?" Sally eyed them.
"Okay, get this away from me." Annabeth tossed the bones back as she tried to hold her vomit. "Blood's too much smell for the pregnant lady." She shook her head. "Track it for me would you?"
"On it." Glen said as he went to the kitchen to was the blood off the bones.
Annabeth had been wheeled into the living room where Hestia and Hecate were sitting silently when Glen hopped onto the couch and plugged in the bones into the laptop.
"Glen, why did you take the entire bone?" Sally asked.
"Because the device was built into it Mrs. Jackson. I can't carve it out. This'll have to do." Glen said. "And it's speaking gibberish." Glen sighed as Greek letter showed up on the screen.
Hecate, without being asked to, walked closer and placed her hand on his head once more.
"Thanks." Glen said as he began typing lines of codes. He nearly broke through when Annabeth's hood began to vibrate. "Is that supposed to happen?"
"I think someone's calling." Rick said, and Glen swiped into a different window.
"This is a funny looking phone." Glen jokingly said as he accepted the call.
"Hello?" Nico's voice rang over the line. Glen swapped the windows and continued on with his tracking.
"Oh thank goodness." Annabeth mumbled. "You won then?" She asked immediately.
"You're talking to the god of Tartarus." Nico said proudly. "I hear you're okay too."
"Sort of, don't tell Percy." Annabeth said instinctively. "What do you need?"
"So, your plans of sending the mortals are working. Sort of. They killed a lot of hybrids. But they're coming back." Nico said. "Any ideas?"
"The harpy in our bunker also came back." Annabeth said.
"We have a harpy in our bunker?" Nico's voice filled with confusion. "Anyway. Any plans?"
"Well-"
"Oh my god."
Annabeth stopped her words and turned to her friend. Rick and Sally peered over Glen's shoulder and gasped at the screen.
"What? What is it?" Nico asked.
"He's in Presidio High." Glen said.
"He's where?" Annabeth asked. "Nico you need to go there."
"Uh huh, and how do I kill him?" Nico asked. "I'm so worn out, how do I trap him in the body?"
"As long as there's no mortals around, he shouldn't be able to transfer, right?" Annabeth asked.
"He could disappear." Nico said. "Maybe he has a body stored somewhere, maybe he had mortal bodies just hanging around? Even if he doesn't, how do we end him?"
"Luke's backbiter!" Annabeth said. "It's part scythe right?"
"He fought with last time, it doesn't look like it did much." Nico told her.
"Yes but with the Trident, Helm, Masterbolt, and the Soul Sword, you could do so much more." Annabeth said. "Then you could lock his soul in Tartarus."
"That's not how the soul sword works." Nico said.
"Yes it is." Annabeth said. "It is if you're now the god of Tartarus."
"Alright, it's worth a shot." Nico said as the shouting behind him got louder. "People are clearing the monsters, they've stopped reforming. For now. We just need to get rid of the hybrids, and we're on our way home."
"Is everyone okay?" Annabeth asked.
"Sort of." Nico said truthfully. "A couple of people were knocked out, few have horrid burns and scars. Apollo managed to get everyone out before they die, although a few of them might lose a leg, or walk with a limp. There's been a couple amputees. Everything here is probably poisoned. It's a miracle us demigods don't get lung cancer."
"Oh gods." Annabeth muttered.
"I'm sure it's fine." Nico said. "Death is the worst case scenario, anything less is considered a win. We can take care of that later, but we need to handle the hybrids before someone dies."
"Okay. Good luck." Annabeth said and the line went dead.
Nico glanced around at the havoc around him. He ran to his father, who beamed as brightly as ever.
"Tell me I'm wrong to turn you into a god." Hades teased.
"Not wrong." Nico chuckled as he pulled a running Alex into a hug. Alex melted into his arms and planted a kiss on his cheeks.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Alex said.
"Yeah. But Tartarus' last blast woke the hybrids. I should've known, but-" Nico shrugged. "Now we've got to find Ouranos. He's not here, Tartarus made that pretty clear."
"So where is he?" Alex asked.
"I'll tell you later we've got to get everyone else. We're probably gonna need Jason, Thalia, Percy, Luke. I- Hey, you two!" Nico yelled towards the direction of two goddess who were smiling at him. "Looks like I'll be working with you guys for the next couple of thousand years."
Athena chuckled and gave the boy a hug. Nico accepted it and they had a small celebration.
"Does this mean I get to stop calling you guys ladies?" Nico asked.
"Sure. You could call us whatever." Artemis nodded. "But cross me and I'll be mad forever. And I won't hesitate to end you knowing you'll just come back."
"Where's Poseidon?" Hades asked.
"Recovering." Athena replied. "The blast really took a toll on him."
"Sorry about that." Nico shrugged. "I can see why Zeus uses it though." He handed the masterbolt over to Athena. "You're gonna need to handle that, we've got to go."
"Why?" Athena asked.
"The monsters aren't reforming. I took care of that." Nico said. "But the hybrids. The dead ones too, they're coming back to life. I gave Annabeth a call, she's got an idea. But we've all got to go."
"Where exactly?" Athena questioned.
"High school." Nico said. "Presidio high to be exact. We need the Scythe, which Luke has. We need Poseidon's Trident, which if he can't use it, Percy could. You, Jason, or Thalia could use that."
Alex had called for Luke and Thalia whereever they were while Jason and Percy came by.
"Dad can use the helmet, I can use this thing." Nico pointed to the sword embedded with a key. "And we go hunt a protegenoi."
"I'm coming." Poseidon said as he limped forward. Hades went to his right and helped him stay up, while Athena visibly prayed that Poseidon wouldn't say anything. Artemis also noticed that Athena didn't say anything and avoided all forms of eye contact.
"Dad, what happened?" Percy's eyes widened as he went to Poseidon's left allowing him to lean on both side.
"The blast. It's not important." Poseidon shook his head. "I'm healing already, but I'm going to kill Ouranos."
"No you're not. Clearly you can't even stand." Nico said.
"I can stand just fine thank you very much." Poseidon said as Percy poked his back and Poseidon winced. Poseidon glared at Percy for his betrayal, and Percy just shrugged.
"He's right." Percy said. "You can come, but you're not fighting."
"Admit it." Poseidon joked. "You just want to use my Trident."
"Not gonna lie, I kinda do." Percy smiled. "You think Hephaestus can make me a mini Trident?"
"Jason." Athena cleared her throat. She handed Jason the masterbolt. "Your father's not around, you're gonna need to use it."
"Let Thalia do it." Jason raised his hands.
"No. I'm not using that again. I don't want to." Thalia shook her head. "I'm more useful here, I've been running the twins, Mel and Monica. If you don't need me I'm gonna go back. I need to take care of the boys Luke left."
"Fred and George have it covered." Luke waved easily.
"Still in the middle of war Luke." Thalia planted a short kiss on his cheek before pulling an arrow from her quiver and running back towards the warzone.
"We have to go, now." Nico said.
"Yeah of course." Athena nodded. "I'll stay here.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come Athena?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, I've got it covered here." Artemis encouraged.
"Maybe Aphrodite wants to go." Athena said as she turned and looked for Aphrodite.
"Athena." Nico said. "We might need you."
"No. Who you might need is Aphrodite." Athena said. "That's her father we're talking about."
"You know what?" Nico said. "We're going to go, if you ever find Aphrodite or if you decide to go, you know where to find us." He nudged his dad and immediately disappeared. Everyone followed and they appeared at the familiar parking lot of Presidio High.
"This is where you've been spending the last year?" Hades shuddered. "I don't like it."
"No one likes it." Percy agreed. "It wasn't our idea in the first place."
"Still. I think Zeus knew something." Luke said. "Why do you think we're here? Because everything started here. Ends here."
"We better end it then." Jason said. "Spilt up and find where he is?"
"I say we go together. The school is empty, there's no chance he doesn't no we're coming." Nico explain. "There is no reason for us to split up and get killed one by one."
"Alright then." Poseidon said as he regained his strength and walked in forward. "Let's go." He limped forward. Percy followed close behind, while everyone else had their weapon in hand.
The group of men walked through the eerie halls of the empty high school, turning at every creak, and checking every classroom for any inhabitants. There were walking past the cafeteria when Hades tensed up.
"There are people in there." Hades said in a whispered low voice. "I don't know how many, but they're in there."
"I'll go check it out." Percy pulled his sword out. Luke stayed close next to him.
"After you commander." Luke said.
Percy slowly opened the doors of the cafeteria, and took a step in. There was no one in sight. Luke came in seconds after, and Nico was next.
Percy turned to his friends, confused out of his mind, but Nico placed a finger in front of his lips and nodded towards the kitchen.
Nico led the way next, passing all the tables straight to the kitchen area. Percy and Luke were ready with their weapons when Nico grabbed the handle of the freezer. Nico threw the door open and Percy and Luke nearly dropped their swords.
There were people. Probably dead, all trapped in the freezer.
Jason, Poseidon, and Hades came in moments after gaping at the sight.
"Is that-" Jason tilted his head and stared on. "Percy I think that's Jessica."
"That's Cat and Justin too." Nico nodded. "I think these are the people Ouranos have used."
"That's Terrence." Luke said, and Nico sighed. "That's the guy from the tour bus. And is that-"
"The waitress from the restaurant we went when the mall hijacking happened." Percy said.
"Ouranos would've known, he would've planned it." Poseidon said.
"They're not dead." Hades informed. "Not all of them anyway."
Percy knelt down and pressed his two fingers over the pale body of his classmate. Jessica woke up with a gasp, but Percy was quick to place his hand over her mouth before she screamed.
"You can't scream he might know you're here." Percy said. Jessica's eyes were wild, darting left and right, and when it landed at the body of the most likely dead Terrence, she nearly bit Percy. "If I take my hand off your mouth, please don't scream I beg of you." Jessica nodded.
"I don't-" She started, her head shaking violently.
"Do you know who he is?" Percy pointed at Poseidon, who at this point during the day, can't even afford a fake smile.
"Coach Jackson." Jessica nodded.
"How much do you remember?" Percy asked.
"That's the problem." Jessica shook her head. "I don't. I don't remember. Some days I just, black out."
"Okay." Percy nodded. "Go to coach Jackson, he'll keep you safe for now." Percy said as he helped her up. As a crying Jessica walked into Poseidon's obligatory guardian hug, Percy could hear her muttering apologies.
"Are they okay?" Jessica managed to ask. "He- Whenever I can't come to school or I go somewhere else, he'll go with Cat or Justin. Are they dead?"
"No. I think they'll be fine." Poseidon said. "I'll get them somewhere safe, you guys go find Ouranos."
"You sure?" Percy asked.
"Definitely." Poseidon said. "They're my students, my responsibility." Poseidon handed his Trident over to Percy. "You can handle yourself."
"You come find us when it's over, okay?" Percy asked, and Poseidon nodded.
As Poseidon tended and started waking up the mortal victims of Ouranos, the rest walked out of the cafeteria and back into the halls.
"None of them are Ouranos right?" Jason asked Nico. "You're sure? You can tell?"
"If you don't trust me, you can trust my dad." Nico said.
"No it's not him." Hades shook his head.
"Alright. Wouldn't want to leave Poseidon with Ouranos." Luke said. "I think I know where he is though." He nodded towards the computer lab. The only room with light shining out from the crack at the bottom of the door.
"He's controlling the hybrids. Maybe he needs technology." Nico mumbled. "Maybe he's a dweeb. I mean, it's a funny story. The oldest god in existence is the most hip."
"You did not just use the word hip." Percy shuddered and Nico simply laughed.
Luke placed a hand on the door and waited until everyone was ready. He turned the knob and swung the door open dramatically revealing Ouranos, in a different body, sitting in front of 6 different screens.
Ouranos grinned when he saw the door swung open but he didn't look up.
"Can you come back later? I'm kind of busy." He said, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Stop." Luke told him. "Shut it down." He threatened.
"What are you gonna do?" Ouranos chuckled, and Luke pressed Backbiter against Ouranos' throat. Blood started to trickle down the blade. "Ah, the scythe." Ouranos leaned back away from the blade, hands in the air. "I knew the touch left familiar. My son must've given that to you, am I right?"
"Stand up." Luke pushed the blade up Ouranos' chin forcing him to get up.
Ouranos scoffed but obliged, though the gleam in his eyes told them he had so much in store.
"What are you gonna do?" Ouranos stared at Luke. "You're not going to stab me. You're not going to kill me."
"You don't know what I would do." Luke threatened.
"But I know that you're a coward." Ouranos said. "Born and raised just like your father, why do you think your talent is running." Luke clenched his jaw but Ouranos kept on talking. "Even with my son inside your head, you still don't have the guts to take over the world."
Luke's gaze wavered, and he shook his head violently.
"Running and running and running. From your destiny, from your wife?" Ouranos mocked. "Always running because you're a coward." Luke's blade shook.
"What's happening?" Percy asked.
"Psychological Warfare." Hades mumbled. "Literally." Nico walked forward his sword raised High to Ouranos.
"Oh little death." Ouranos said sweetly. "It's cute that you think you can defeat me. You may have ended Tartarus, but my child, do you think you'll get your happy ending?"
Nico was immediately taken aback by the glint in Ouranos' eyes. Ouranos tilted his head and smiled at Hades.
"You too." He told his grandson. "Charming your wife, hanging out with your kids. You really do think you could get a happy ending." Ouranos chuckled. "What you did was drag your son down with you. You could never be happy. Death is not a happy job." Hades flinched at his every word.
"You, son of Jupiter." Ouranos called. "When will you realize your life is going to leave you? You are not a hero, you are not a praetor. Not anymore. You are nothing. You think you're great, but no one remembers you, respects you. You can't replace your father. You can't even replace your sister." Jason could barely move.
"And you son of Poseidon." Ouranos snuck away from Luke's blade only to walk closer to Percy. No one moved. They should. Luke should've stabbed Ouranos, Hades should've disappeared, and the Masterbolt and Soul Sword would be very beneficial now. But no one moved. No one could.
"Son of Poseidon." Ouranos repeated as he crossed his arms, and examined Percy's face. "Gotta hand it to you kid. You are a hero." Ouranos tapped his foot. "Saved Olympus, saved the world. Model citizen. Perfect family? Check. Commander of a group of superheroes? Check."
"But you know you're not perfect right?" He asked. "What you did to Zeus?" Ouranos whistled. "Props to you, I wish I could've seen his face. Have you ever thought about why bad things happen to you? Maybe you're here because you're just unlucky, but I know your friends and family are here because of you."
Percy's mouth twitches but still, no words left his mouth. Ouranos stepped out into the hall where Percy stood and took his diamond sword out of Percy's belt. Percy couldn't even move.
Ouranos raised the sword and was just about to bring it down when a voice screamed stop. A thunder of steps approached the frozen scene.
"Stop." Aphrodite said again.
Ouranos slowly turned his head towards the goddess.
"Hello." Ouranos managed to choke out.
"Hi." Aphrodite said with a weak smile. "I-" She sighed. "I'm your daughter. I've never met you before."
"You are so beautiful." Ouranos marveled. "Not a giant, not a cyclopes, not a titan. Beautiful." Aphrodite's eye darted to her friends stuck in time.
"What's happening?" Poseidon asked.
"He's my father." Aphrodite explained, and Ouranos doesn't seem to mind the wait. "I can charmspeak, he can-"
"It's a psychological warfare." Athena said. "He's battling them for their consciousness. That's how he gains controls to the mortal bodies."
"That is true. Though I have to admit, demigods and gods are a tad bit harder." Ouranos said. "The sky is where dreams are made, it's where your souls live when they're not in your body. The sky hold countless opportunities. The sky-" Ouranos gazed at Aphrodite. "The sky will get what he wants once he has his beautiful princess by his side."
Aphrodite took many steps back and hit Poseidon, who simply steadied her.
"You can't do anything." Athena said. "Most of these are empty threats, they will win the warfare. They are strong, they-"
"Are they?" Ouranos said mockingly. "I didn't notice. See if you could do it." He mumbled. "What secrets do you hide Athena, darling? Why do you bury yourself in work? Why do you think you don't need love? Why do you not take care of your children?" He asked rapidly. "See how you live when I tell you that you- You are scared of being so belittled that you learn everything so you can prove people wrong. You are scared of raising your children because you're scared that they would leave you once you're attached. You are scared of loving because you're scared of rejection."
Athena's lips waivered but she too was stuck in a trance.
"You are scared. Because deep down, like any other beings, you have insecurities. You just don't want these insecurities to be recognized as your typical woman insecurities now do you? Children, rejection, underestimation?"
"Stop that." Poseidon stepped forward.
"Ah the man." Ouranos clapped his hands together. "I must say, retaining your consciousness will be my greatest achievement. Your son had already proven that the sea is hardest to control." Poseidon glanced at Percy, trying hard to shake out of it.
"Try me."
"High spirited, I like it." Ouranos grinned. "Man of the ocean, lives always second to his brother. Trying hard to have a good relationship with your family, but how many secrets are you keeping, Poseidon?"
"Just enough to keep me going." Poseidon managed to answer.
"Really? How many times have you gone behind your wives back? How many illegitimate children have you had Poseidon?"
"Too many." Poseidon said.
"How many times have you disappointed your son Poseidon? Are you think by being his swim coach you can make up for it? You can't even help him protect his wife!"
"I've disappointed him so many times, and no I don't think I can make up for it. But he is a great man, he deserves the best, and I will try to give him the best." Poseidon answered truthfully.
"You-" Ouranos pulled his last weapon. "You don't even know what you're doing! You can't be a parent, or grandparent. You can't be a good husband, or a good ruler. You are more powerful than you imagine and your son only proves that, but you- You are just incompetent. You can't even succeed in love." Ouranos breathed. "You are insignificant, you are useless, what make you think you can defeat me?"
"I know my weaknesses, I know I've done things that I'm not proud of." Poseidon answered. "The sea of wild, but at least it understands that it's wild. I'm not a good king, or a good father, or a good husband, but I know where my place stands. Even if my entire purpose in all these thousands of years was to simply be the lesser half of Percy Jackson, then I will gladly receive it."
"You don't know the half of the things I go through, the pain, rejection, failure, and loss." Poseidon glared into Ouranos' eyes. A familiar storm of darkness brewed within him. "I'm too far from a decent being to be fazed by your words. If I were not a god, I'd probably be in Tartarus for what I've done. The same reason why you are not fazed is because you too have zero morals." Poseidon stepped menacingly forward, his dark gaze pierced into the souls of the primordial. "You can't fight me because no one in this world hates me more than myself. I don't need to know how useless I am, but you need to know that I don't care. I will still try and be a good father, I will try to be a good husband, I will try-"
Poseidon's fist flew through the air and punched Ouranos straight at the jaw. Ouranos slammed into the wall behind him, blood dripping from his nose. Everyone woke up from their catatonic states.
"I will try to defeat you." Poseidon exhaled.
Poseidon's Trident flew across the air towards him and Poseidon was seconds from bringing down at Ouranos when he laughed. Poseidon stopped in his tracks.
"You kill me." Ouranos threatened. "You'll never see Zeus again."
Everyone froze.
"He's lying." Athena said immediately. "End him."
"I know what he did." Ouranos said.
"What is he talking about?" Jason asked.
"Oh, so his own son doesn't know?" Ouranos looked amused. "Well. My eyes can tell the story."
Poseidon stared into his eyes. For the first time since their encounter, everyone noticed the body that hosted the Primordial god of the sky.
The body was on the thinner side, early 20s. But somehow, even if they had stared into his eyes, no one had noticed the shade of blue it holds. The electric blue that Jason and Thalia has. Combined with the mop of black hair on top of his head, the body could only belong to the mortal Zeus.
"I have to say, getting his body and taking over it was hard. Not as hard as Poseidon, but hard enough." Ouranos chuckled. "He's still screaming up here." He pointed at his head. "But I knew I needed the guarantee. And look where we are now."
"Nico is this true?" Poseidon asked, his gaze never leaving Ouranos.
"I can't tell." Nico said truthfully. "Ouranos is too strong, and mortals smell different."
"Well I can tell you it's true." Ouranos wiped the blood off his face. He pushed himself off the wall, and stepped away from the crowd. "Tell you what? If you let me go, Zeus can live. I'll let you shut down the hybrids, I'll even tell you the detonation code."
"The detonation code?" Athena said in shock.
"Ah yes. I must've forgot to mention." Ouranos said. "I'd placed a time limit of half an hour. If I am not back at my table within that time, all hybrid bodies, dead or alive, will obliterate anything within their mile radius. How long has this been?" He asked mischievously.
Athena turned and ran into the room, but Ouranos seemed confident that she wouldn't be able to stop it. Ouranos slowly stepped back, but Poseidon only stepped closer.
"There's a harpy in your basement if I'm not mistaken." Ouranos looked over Poseidon's shoulder and met Percy's eyes. "I'd hate for it to blow when your wife, kids, and mother are on the premise."
Percy lunged forward, but Poseidon caught him. Before Ouranos could run however, Luke had his scythe against his throat.
"One more move-" Luke said. "Give me a reason to kill you I beg of you."
"No, Luke." Nico said. "There is a harpy at our house. There are hybrids everywhere. Thalia, Bianca. We can't let him win."
"Well we can't let him go either." Hades said.
"Yes you can." Ouranos said. "I promise I won't kill you until next year?"
"Zeus." Aphrodite said.
"What?" Ouranos asked.
"Zeus." Aphrodite called again. "Zeus, Hera's looking for you."
"You think that's gonna work?" Ouranos scoffed.
"Zeus. Hera has something to tell you." Aphrodite said.
"I know you're lying." Ouranos yawned lazily.
"She's not." Athena walked out of the computer room. "We only have 6 minutes left."
"You've failed have you?" Ouranos sneered at Athena.
"Zeus. Hera's pregnant." Aphrodite blurted out. Ouranos' eyes widened and he gasped as a pierce of pain made him close his eyes. He opened his eyes and stared at Aphrodite.
"She's what?" He asked.
"Is that Zeus?" Hades moved forward.
"Yes." Zeus said, as he groaned and hit the wall. "I can't hold him for too long." He let out a scream.
"Aphrodite are you serious?" Poseidon asked. "Or are you just-"
"I'm telling the truth." Aphrodite said. "Zeus knows it, he spent a night with Hera."
"Kill me." Zeus said. "You kill me now, brothers." Zeus yelled at Poseidon and Hades, both of whom stood frozen. "Before he comes back. I give you permission to kill me."
"No, you can't!" Jason yelled.
"Jason." Zeus was bent over, pain throbbing through his head. "You can take of your future brother or sister for me right? You'll help my wife?"
"Dad-"
"Please." Zeus begged. "You'll take care of her?"
"Yes, of course." Jason said hesitantly.
"Even if I wanted to, Zeus we need the detonation code." Poseidon said. "I can't let you die."
"I won't allow it." Hades said.
Zeus, eyes wild and breath ragged holding in the pain, pushed his last bit of energy to run towards Nico. He dove for the Soul Sword, and miraculous obtained it from the Ghost King.
"No." Nico said.
"You tell Thalia I'm sorry for everything. You tell Hera I'm sorry she can't get her restart." Before anyone could even blink, Zeus had plunge his sword through his torso.
There were screams and people lunging forward to stop him but everyone was late. By the time Nico got his sword back, the bleeding body had another occupant.
"So he's out of the picture." Ouranos said in the same eerie voice. "But you still need the code."
"Poseidon, trust me. Kill him." Athena said. "Kill him now!" She yelled.
Poseidon didn't hesitated and stabbed his Trident through Ouranos' throat. He was held against a wall.
Percy swept through the floor and took his sword back, both of which he stabbed through Ouranos' legs, pinning him to the wall.
If it was painful, Ouranos certainly didn't show it. Hades brought the darkness down on them, as Nico lunge his sword through Ouranos' chest. The storm outside brewed as Ouranos' laugh echoed through the hall.
"You think you can stop me?" He laughed.
"Yes." Luke said as he brought he sword down on Ouranos' head. For a moment, it didn't seem like it worked. But then again, it didn't matter. Jason had stepped up and brought down a massive lighting through the school roof. The light was too bright that no one could even see Zeus' mortal body. All they knew was that the next thing they saw was their weapons on the wall, and dust on the floor.
"Is he dead?" Percy broke the silent panting of breaths.
"We don't know, but we need to deal with the hybrids." Athena said.
"What?" Poseidon exclaimed. "I thought you've handled it!"
"No." Athena said. "But I knew if you kept him alive, it would've been worse."
"Worse than your daughter being in a house with a bomb?" Poseidon yelled.
"I'll get it done!" Athena said as she ran back into the computer room.
The clock on the screen was ticking down from 2:47 to zero. Everyone was waiting intently, but Poseidon had disappeared only to reappear with a rather confused Glen.
"Oh good." Athena said, getting off her seat as Poseidon pushed his star student into the seat. "Can you detonate the bomb?"
"Can I what?" Glen asked wide eyed, but his hands have started typing.
The clock was on 2:09.
"We have to evacuate." Hades said.
"I'll get to Annabeth." Aphrodite said. "You guys deal with Times Square." Before disappearing.
Percy, Jason, Nico, Hades, and Luke all left Poseidon, Athena, and Glen to work, as they prepared for the worst case scenario.
The clock ticked to 1:33.
"If I can't do this." Glen said as he typed as quickly as he could. "Could you guys just try to unplug it at the last minute? Blast the satelite too?"
"Would that work?" Athena asked.
"I don't know." Glen shrugged. "I'm too scared to try. Just be ready to blast the roof when I give the signal."
We're down to 59 seconds.
"Poseidon, you blast the door where the cable ends, Athena, be prepared to just slice through the computer." Glen shook his head slightly, his fingers never resting. "I don't think I'm going to make it."
"Well, we pray that they've evacuated." Athena said taking her sword out. Poseidon steadied his Trident at the roof.
26 seconds.
"Steady." Glen said, line of codes going past. "I almost got it, but I don't know if it'll work."
"That's okay." Poseidon said sincerely. "Just focus."
8 seconds left.
Athena had raised her her sword. Poseidon aimed towards the roof.
3.
Glen pressed enter.
2.
Code sent.
"Blast it, blast it now!" Glen yelled as he dove out of the chair as Athena blade cut clean through the screen. She went over and covered Glen as a blast of fire blew the roof into rubbles.
As the last of the dust cleared out, Glen stood up and looked hopelessly at their destroyed surroundings.
"I'll pay for that." Poseidon glanced at the roof.
"Did it work?" Glen asked timidly.
"There's only one way to find out." Athena said solemnly, offering a hand to Glen. Poseidon met Athena's eyes as they shared a nod before disappearing to the center of the Times Square, where they would be met by either ruins or death.
Poseidon left earlier than Athena, so Athena and Glen arrived later. There was smoke falling from the sky, but Glen was immediately attacked by Poseidon.
"Anything you want, it's yours. Straight As, scholarships, anything." Poseidon told him.
"You did it!" Athena said gleefully.
"I did?" Glen questioned.
Demigods were running down the streets yelling in joyous victory. People were jumping and cheering around the fallen hybrids.
No one thought they were going to make it out alive.
Poseidon, Glen, and Athena went over to a particularly familiar crowd.
Glen was tackled by his friends, yelling in awe.
"I can't believe you did it!" Percy patted his back. Fred, George, and Dean celebrated, as well as the girls.
The mood simmered down when a certain goddess made her way through the crowd towards Poseidon.
"Poseidon." Hera called. Poseidon took a step back, but Athena wouldn't let him go further than that. "Poseidon."
"Yes?" He asked.
"Hades won't talk to me." Hera pleaded. "Where's Zeus?"
Poseidon sighed.
"I'm sorry." Poseidon told Hera. Her eyes widened and she shook her head.
"No. You're lying." Hera kept shaking her head. "He- I've wasted years wishing he was dead, and now-" She gasped, but Poseidon simply pulled his sister into a hug.
Thalia was pulled to the side by her husband as he told her about what happened to her father. Jason was talking to Piper, who pulled him into a hug.
The mourning was interrupted however, by Aphrodite popping up in between them in panic.
"Percy." Aphrodite called.
"What is it?" Percy asked.
"Annabeth's going into labor." Aphrodite said quickly. "Like now. You have to go, we have to go."
"What?" Percy said. Aphrodite took hold of his shoulders and shook him.
"Go, now!" She yelled. And he did so.
"Go." Hades told Poseidon as he took Hera off Poseidon, allowing her to fall on him. "Your family needs you."
"I'll be back." Poseidon said, his hand patting down Hera's hair softly, before disappearing with Athena close after him.
Percy showed up at the house completely confused.
"Where is she?" Percy asked the juniors.
"She's at the pool." Harley exclaimed as he told up and ran with Percy.
"Why?" Percy asked as he made his way through the kitchen.
"Because your babies are premature, and we haven't stolen the incubators or even a labor bed." Harley explained. "So water birth it is!"
"And who's dealing with her?" Percy asked as he started to take off his cloak.
"Um." Harley hesitated.
"Talk Harley, talk!" Percy barked.
"Vinnie." Harley said.
"What?" Percy snapped. "She's seven!" Without another word he turned to the pool, where he saw his wife, his mother on one side, and a seven year old at the other.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. Percy dived and swam next to her. He took her hand from Vinnie, who in turn swam away when she saw her father Apollo, and her brother Thomas dive into the pool as well.
"I'm here, I'm here. It's okay." Percy said as Annabeth squeezed his hand.
"He's almost out." Apollo said. "Good job getting into the water, who thought about that?"
"Me!" Vinnie said proudly.
"Great job girlie, I'm taking you for ice cream after." Apollo said, throwing his daughter a quick grin. "Your kids are going to be fine, the water's going to help them." He told Percy. "We just need Annabeth to push."
"I am pushing!" Annabeth let out a piercing scream. Poseidon and Athena ran and got themselves into the pool, surrounding Annabeth.
Poseidon gave Apollo a makeshift air bubble helmet as he went underwater. Thomas swam to the side, taking scissors and clips that he could.
Demigods were walking towards them when they heard Annabeth scream. Thomas handed his dad the scissors, and Apollo cut the umbilical cord. Sophie tossed them a towel, which quickly got soaked as the baby didn't seem to want to leave the water. Apollo wrapped the towel around him and pulled him out of the water, and that's when the first cries of the baby was heard.
"Oh, he's beautiful." Apollo cooed, as he passed the baby immediately to Poseidon, who stood closest. Annabeth reached out for the baby, but Apollo shook his head. "You can hold him later, I'm sorry, but your girl's coming right about-"
A jerk of pain shot through Annabeth, as she too let out another scream. Apollo simply went underwater once more and waited.
When the baby girl came out, the fields were already filled with demigods and mortals alike. Apollo cut the umbilical cord, caught a flying towel, and wrapped the towel around the baby before pulling it out of the water.
Both babies were small, too small in fact as they couldn't be more than 4 pounds each. Poseidon had handed the baby he's been crying about for the past 5 minutes to his son, while Annabeth, who was also crying, received her daughter in her arms.
"Keep them close to the water, they seem to really like it." Apollo said teasingly.
"Hi." Percy said to his cooing son. "Hi baby." The baby took his finger and Percy's heart melted. His son had stopped crying, and looked up to his dad. "Oh my gods. He's got my eyes. He has green eyes."
"Annabeth, they're beautiful." Sally said, as Percy handed her mother, his son.
"Mom." Annabeth hastily wiped her tears. "Would you like to hold her?" She asked Athena.
"Me?" Athena asked. Annabeth handed the little girl to Athena, and she was rendered speechless.
Percy pulled his wife into a kiss, as she clung onto him.
"We won." Percy said. "We did it."
"We did." Annabeth said. "We talk later yeah? I'm so tired."
"Of course, I'll help you out." Percy said as he walked her up the pool. Annabeth managed to stand up on land when Sally finally handed her, her son.
"You look just like your father." Annabeth told his baby boy. Percy grinned as he first met his daughter.
"You are going to be my second princess." Percy said, as he swung with the baby in his arms. "She looks just like you Annabeth. Like a mini you." Percy planted a kiss on Annabeth's head.
People were gushing over the couple and their newborn babies, and for a second there no one remember that they're just fought and won a war.
Or so they thought.
"No!" A voice yelled from the crowd.
A blonde figure was at the front of the crowd, a gun in her hand, aiming at Annabeth. Moreso, the baby in her arms. Annabeth's eyes widened as she turned and covered her baby. Percy covered her as well.
A shot rang through.
Silence followed.
Damning silence.
Percy knew taking of his bulletproof vest along with his cloak was probably a mistake, but who would've thought that he'd need it during his wife's labor.
To tell you the truth, Percy was expecting a pain that never came. And the trashing in his arm tells him his daughter was okay. Annabeth standing up with his son only made him feel more relieved.
He turned to the scene.
Jessica, or maybe her body, was tackled by the likes of Thalia. A bullethole was visible on her chest. Percy turned and saw none other than Rick Riordan on the other side of the gun.
The English teacher immediately dropped his gun, while Thalia got rid of the gun on Jessica's hand. The whole crowd was stunned. Aether made his way into the front lines and stared at the girl.
"Ouranos." Aether greeted.
"Defeated by the daughter of Zeus, and a mortal." The girl choked out. "How ironic." Her head fell to the side as the life went out from her eyes.
Percy let out a breath that his was holding, trying his best to comfort the daughter crying in his arms. He turned to Annabeth, who was shaking.
"Uh." Percy called to Thalia. "Thalia. Would you like to hold your goddaughter?" Thalia wordlessly came and took the baby off Percy. "Mom. Can you take him?" He slowly got his son to his mother, leaving Annabeth standing alone. "We'll talk later, I think Annabeth needs to go inside."
Percy picked Annabeth up from the ground into his arms, as he started to walk inside. No one attested, no one even spoke. Percy took the elevator once they were inside. He's left his babies to be cooed and showed around to everyone.
Percy and Annabeth silently walked down their empty hall, her head resting on his shoulder. Percy swung the door open, and kicked it closed once they were inside. He took a clean pair of pajamas and helped Annabeth change out of her hospital gown before walking her to her side of the bed.
Annabeth's eyes were heavy, and she settled herself under the covers. Percy sat by her side, planting another kiss on her forehead.
"I should've told you. The bank, the kids. Ouranos wanted me dead, he knew I wouldn't tell you. I'm sorry." Annabeth mumbled sleepily.
"I should've listened." Percy kissed her hands. "I'm sorry too."
"Is this it though Percy?" Annabeth asked. "Are we done?"
"Yes." Percy nodded. "We're done. We won." He smiled. "We did it. All we need to do now is tell them what names we've decided for our children."
"Hm." Annabeth closed her eyes. "I thought we thought about that already?"
"Oh did we?" Percy asked. "Well I guess we'll just have to tell them tomorrow."
Percy stood up and started to clean himself, before crawling into bed next to Annabeth. Annabeth, with great struggle, turned to her side and looked at Percy, who after hours of fighting, was just as tired as she was.
"Percy?" Annabeth called softly. Percy had closed his eyes already, but he wasn't quite asleep.
"Yes sweetheart?" Percy replied with a dreamy smile.
"What was that passcode you gave Euclid?" Annabeth asked. "Something only I would know, made by you, and involves love?"
"You didn't get it?" Percy opened one eye. "I'm disappointed."
"I was in pain, I'm sorry." Annabeth said flatly. "Couldn't you be a bit more specific?"
"It's what I said to you before we fell." Percy said. "As long as we're together."
Annabeth smiled and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"As long as we're together."
A/N
This chapter is nearly 7300 words, that should keep you busy until tomorrow.
Thanks for your support, the book will end in like, 3 chapters. It's been a great ride. Don't forget to vote, comment, follow me! See you guys tomorrow!