Ch. 18
Perseus sat on a pure black throne on Mount Othrys. He was alone with the exception of Atlas, who stood several yards away in the far corner of the throne room as he continued to struggle under the weight of the sky, grunting and groaning in pain as while held the the primordial god of the sky at bay. The general had long since tired of cursing Perseus out from under his burden and simply focused on not letting the lust of Ouranos crush him as he strained to embrace his beloved Gaea once again.
The God of Night's face was distracted, his thoughts drifting to the past as his mind often did. Like so many times before, his memory replayed his battle with Zeus, recalling the events that led to his defeat, watching the scene over and over again. It was a memory he'd recounted a million times before and just as with every other time, he felt his heart break as he watched the end of the battle play out in his mind. He had been mere seconds from victory and becoming king of the gods when it had happened. No matter how many years passed, he couldn't erase that memory. It felt burned into his brain, forcing him to relive the moment he lost everything over and over again. The memory was like a scar on his immortal soul, never letting him forget the moment when his destiny was changed forever.
He shook his head, trying to force himself to think about anything but that memory.
He sighed deeply, looking around the room of half reformed thrones. This wasn't where he wanted to be. The titan palace was a thing of the past. It was ancient history. There was no power in ruling this place. Those fools Kronos and Atlas thought they could resurrect the power of the titan stronghold but their dreams were injudicious. A desperate hope to bring back the days of titan dominance, which was always destined to fail. Too much time had passed. The titans were relics in the minds of mortals and could never truly reclaim their former glory and replace the gods like Zeus had done to them millennia earlier.
He was on the wrong side of the country. His true home was on the other side of the United States. His old throne had been taken by that fool Dionysus, though he didn't really hold any ill will against the wine god.
No, his real throne was currently occupied by the being he hated more than any other in the cosmos. His father, Zeus, had somehow managed to hold onto to power in the millennia he'd been imprisoned in Tartarus. He should have fallen all those years ago if it hadn't been for her.
His blood boiled at the thought of his wife. Despite everything that happened, the truth was that she still held that title. No matter how much he loathed her very existence, it didn't change the fact that she was still his wife, at least technically.
He was pulled from his memories when he felt a powerful presence appear in the throne room. He was pleased to see the shadows solidify in the back of the in the far wall of the room as Hades stepped out of the darkness and walked towards where Perseus was seated in his throne.
"Perseus," the God of the Underworld said respectfully.
"Uncle," Perseus smiled, "What news do you have?"
"Nico and Bianca have confirmed the way is clear. It is time to launch our attack on Camp Half Blood."
Perseus looked up at his uncle and gave him a small smile. The backing of Hades had been essential to his plans. Like him, Hades had been an outcast of Olympus. But as the oldest son of Kronos, Hades had more of a right to challenge Zeus than Perseus could ever dream of. Yet, to his relief and surprise, Hades had immediately agreed to join him, not wishing for anything but a chance to take his rightful place on a new council of immortals.
"Good... Good.." Perseus rose from his throne, stepping down to approach his fellow god. "Do you still wish for Nico and Bianca to lead our forces into battle?"
Hades' lips curled into a dark smile, "Oh yes, nephew. I will enjoy watching my children lead an unbeatable army into that camp very much."
"You understand the plan though, right?" Perseus asked cautiously, making sure he and Hades were on the same page.
"Yes," Hades agreed. "I understand your plans and Nico and Bianca are well aware of what they need to do."
Perseus smiled, "Good. Then we shall deploy our forces at sundown. Soon, my friend, the children of Hades will take their rightful place as the heroes they have been denied for far too long."
Hades looked pleased by his words and gave him a small nod of appreciation before he was engulfed by shadow and vanished from Mount Othrys. Perseus watched him disappear before he too was swallowed by darkness as he headed to gather his forces as they prepared to enter the Labyrinth in just a few short hours.
Line Break
Thalia paced in front of the encampment set up in the woods of Camp Half Blood. The demigods had spent the past few days setting up the defenses of camp in the clearing surrounding the rock formation that made up Zeus' fist.
Tents were pitched intermittently along the edge of the the clearing. A command base, an infirmary and a weapons tent circled the edge of the forest leading towards camp.
In the area directly in front of the rock formation were rows and rows of traps. Land mines from the Ares Cabin and booby traps designed by the Hermes cabin covered the first forty feet of land leading out of the entrance to the Labyrinth.
Strategically placed at the edge of the trees leading into the forest were catapults designed by the Hephaestus Cabin. Each one was loaded with a different deadly payload. Celestial Bronze cannon balls, Celestial Bronze shrapnel and glowing vials of greek fire were loaded and primed, waiting to be launched into the attacking army. The first two glistened from a healthy dousing of greek fire as well, ready to be lit before being fired at the enemy.
The Apollo Cabin and the Hunters had built tree stands in the trees surrounding the clearing, each one holding archers with several extra quivers, all with clear lines of sight to the entrance of the Labyrinth. The rest of the campers were running around to help with last minute preparations. But when the battle came, they would fall into a half dozen phalanxes spaced intermittently between the tree stands and catapults, prepared to repel whatever enemy emerged from the maze.
A nervous energy ran through the campers as they waited for the battle to come. It had been a few days since Thalia, Clarisse, Grover and the hunter Celyn had returned from their quest and the entire camp walked on eggshells knowing the attack was imminent.
Daedalus stood in the command tent, offering advice the the Athena campers as they prepared battle plans.
Thalia walked alongside Chiron with her spear strapped to her back, as he inspected the defenses. She eyed their forces closely before a sudden realization occurred to her.
"Chiron," she asked looking around, "What about the nymphs and dryads? Where are they?"
Chiron's lips pursed and his back hooves shuffled back and forth nervously as he looked around, making sure no other campers were within earshot.
"Grover has rallied as many as he can," the old centaur said quietly, "they will do what they can to help when the battle begins."
"As many as he can?" Thalia asked raising an eyebrow.
Chiron sighed and gave her a look that said she already knew what he was about to say.
"Pan has returned," he shook his head, "and he is already influencing many of the nature spirits. They aren't going to help Perseus' army in this fight but they also won't fight against him."
"Cowards," Thalia growled under her breath only to be cut off by her mentor.
"Pan is the God of the Wild, patron of all nature spirts," he explained, "They are simply following the orders of their god. We should be grateful that they are not joining the attack against camp."
Thalia wanted to argue with him but knew better than to even try. Chiron had lived for millennia and his wisdom was basically unquestionable.
"They're cowards," she growled under her breath, even though she didn't really blame the nature spirits.
Chiron tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the expression didn't reach his eyes, "We will hold the camp. We don't know what kind of troops the enemy has but I have faith the gods will guide us to victory over our enemies."
Thalia stared up at him, her expression doubtful, "Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "because the gods are usually sooo helpful when it comes to their demigod kids."
Chiron's expression sobered but he forced confidence into his words, "Have faith, child. Above all else, we must not lose our faith."
Before she could say anything else, the ground rumbled under Thalia's feet. The sun was at its highest peak, as the surprised and anxious campers began to scramble to their posts. They had expected the attack to come at night, the time when Perseus would be most powerful.
"Form up!" Clarisse bellowed to the campers and they sprinted to their phalanxes and locked shields, dozens of spears bristling out of their defensive formations as they prepared for battle.
They looked like giant porcupines curling up to avoid the attack of a predator.
"Ready the catapults!" Thalia called back to the Hephaestus campers. Chiron shouted orders to the Apollo campers and hunters who were perched in the trees while Malcolm from the Athena Cabin ran back and forth along the clearing, reminding the campers of the plan for when the enemy emerged from the Labyrinth, Daedalus following a few feet in his wake with his own sword held at his side.
The ground rumbled again, this time more violently and the campers had to steady themselves to stay on their feet.
As they tensed, preparing to the enemy to appear, the campers were suddenly sent into a panic as all light vanished from the day, leaving them in complete darkness. It was barely past noon and the sun had shone brightly just seconds before. Somehow, the sun had been swallowed and a shadow had fallen over the world.
The only light illuminating the clearing was the faint light from the moon and stars. The camp leaders tried to keep everyone calm but the defenses had been thrown into chaos. The phalanxes broke apart as some campers staggered backwards nervously while other stepped forward and prepared for an attack from the enemy.
Some of the Apollo kids fired arrows wildly, panicking as soon as they had lost their sight of the battlefield, launching arrows blindly in the general direction of the entrance of the Labyrinth.
Thalia, Clarisse and Chiron tried to settle the demigods but their voices were drowned out by the confused and nervous chattering of their troops.
That was when the enemy burst out of the entrance to Zeus' fist. In the dim moonlight, all they could see was the dark silhouettes of the bodies of the enemy as it charged out of Labyrinth.
A wave of explosions lit up the sky as the landmines exploded when the enemy marched into the waiting explosives. Thalia watched with satisfaction as she saw the vague forms of humanoid bodies being blown into the sky as dozens of the attacking army mindlessly stepped into their explosive defenses.
Thalia smiled at the success of their first line of defense until her eyes adjusted to the fiery light given off by the explosions. Her look of satisfaction changed to one of shock once her eyes made out the skeletal forms of the undead being blown to pieces by the landmines lining the entrance to the Labyrinth. The next wave of attackers marched past the area where the mines had been planted, stepping over the dissolving forms of the other the other undead like they were nothing but rocks planted in a path.
The next wave of attackers fell mindlessly into the traps set up the Hermes Cabin. Dozens of holes built into the ground swallowed up the mindless chattering attackers. They fell into the holes until they were piled so high on each other that the next line of zombie attackers stepped right over the top of their previously incapacitated brethren.
"Fire the catapults!" Thalia yelled as she felt a sense of panic creep into her heart.
Flaming projectiles flew into the area in front of Zeus' fist, obliterating dozens of undead warriors. The greek fire burned wildly, giving a dull light to the area in front of the entrance of the Labyrinth. More undead soldiers marched into the blazing green flames of the greek fire, barely registering the fact they were engulfed in fire until their bodies crumbled into ashes.
Thalia felt her confidence grow as she realized the campers could handle this army of the undead easier than if it had been an army of monsters like they had been expecting. She ordered the campers forward, their phalanxes rebuilt after the initial shock of seeing the zombie army pour out of the Labyrinth.
As the campers shuffled forward, they froze when they heard an inhuman screech emanate from the boulders of Zeus' fist as the next line of attackers approached the entrance to the Labyrinth. Dozens of shadowy figures exploded out of the maze, their shadowy wings flapping excitedly and circling above the remaining undead army. Chiron trotted up beside Thalia, his face looking as pale as she had ever seen it.
"Di Immortales," Chiron gasped as he watched the flock of winged monsters circle above them.
"What?" Thalia asked as she watched Chiron look nervously at the winged creatures. "What are they?"
"The Arai," Chiron said back in a hollow tone, "Straight from the depths of Tartarus."
"Arai?" She looked at him confused.
"They are the spirits of curses. Do not attack them." He tried to yell over the sounds of the panicking campers.
An Ares camper who obviously hadn't heard Chiron's warning sliced one of the winged demons in half as it swooped down at him. He smiled smugly before suddenly clutching his throat. Blood poured from the inexplainable gash across his throat. He tried to cry out for help before the image of an Empousa he'd killed years ago rushed back into his mind. The memory of him slashing his blade across her throat appeared in his mind before the camper fell back onto his backside, trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound.
Though nothing had touched him, the camper frantically tried to clutch the gash in his throat while his fellow campers just stared in utter shock. After a minute, the son of Ares' struggling slowed before stopping completely. He lay on the forest floor pale and still, his eyes still open and glassy.
He was dead.
"What the Hades was that?" Thalia screeched, unable to pull her eyes from the unmoving demigod.
"They are curses," Chiron said again sounding frantic, "If anyone, monster, mortal or god has ever cursed you, an Arai was created, the embodiment of that curse." He gestured to the dead child of Ares, "Someone cursed Felix to have his throat slit, probably a monster he defeated at some point in his life. If you kill an Arai, it will impose the curse it was born from upon you."
Thalia turned away from Chiron, looking back at the phalanx behind her. She was about to order them forward, towards the growing number of undead soldiers when she suddenly felt a wave of confusion. She felt panic course through her body and she couldn't stop herself from screaming, "Run! Run away!" Right after she spoke those words, more flew out of her mouth without her brain telling it to speak, "Fight! Kill them all! Kill everything!"
As soon as Thalia managed to get control of herself, she felt a pair of strong hands grab ahold of her. Chiron yanked her off her feet, one hand covering her mouth.
"Quiet, child." He hissed, his eyes darting wildly around the clearing. "I have felt this presence before."
Chiron's actions had come too late as the phalanx behind Thalia followed her orders to a T.
Half the campers scrambled back into the trees while the other half charged forward wildly, slashing and hacking wildly into the lines of the undead. They mowed through dozens of the resurrected soldiers until reaching the entrance to the Labyrinth. With nothing left to kill, the demigods began attacking each other, fighting wildly like they didn't recognize their brothers and cousin, their vision red and their minds focused on nothing but killing everything around them.
Thalia pulled Chiron's hand off her mouth, "What are you talking about?" She spat, "What presence."
Before Chiron could answer, a new figure flew up from the entrance of the Labyrinth. Thalia felt her body shiver as she watched a woman float into the air above the attacking army. She wore a black dress and her eyes gleamed even in the darkness. She smiled insanely, like one you would see on a sociopath. She was slender with pale skin and long straight hair and blood-red lips.
"May the gods save us," Chiron whispered sounding terrified. "Eris."
Thalia managed to control her panicking emotions enough to ask him, "Who is Eris?"
Chiron swallowed with difficulty, "Goddess of Chaos, Strife and Discord," he whispered, "she's a daughter of Nyx."
Thalia's eyes widened, "Daughter of Nyx?" She asked worriedly as she remembered her dream about Perseus and his encounter with the primordial goddess in Tartarus.
The goddess simply floated above the battle smiling maniacally as she watched another one of the phalanxes break into utter chaos. Some of them fled while others turned and fought anything around it. Some charged the next line of undead soldiers as the emerged from the Labyrinth, while others attacked their fellow campers. The well trained phalanx of demigods fell into pure anarchy.
Thalia's eyes were pulled away from the phalanx in pandemonium when a second figure rose from the entrance of the Labyrinth. This one was dressed in a snugly fitting crimson red dress. She had dark hair and a beautiful face that was marred by the blood red eyes that glowed from her otherwise gorgeous features. Her slim but athletic body floated next to Eris, her alluring figure would have been appealing until she opened her mouth, revealing fanged teeth that she barred into what was probably the closest she could get to a smile.
"Gods of Olympus," Chiron squeaked in barely a whimper, "Lyssa."
Thalia looked back nervously but couldn't even ask the question before Chiron answered it.
"Goddess of Rage and Fury," he said weakly, "and another daughter of Nyx."
Thalia watched the goddess as she cast her glowing red eyes on another one of the phalanxes. In seconds, the tightly formed military formation broke apart into mayhem. The campers attacked anything and everything they saw, including each other. They fought like rabid animals, clawing at each other with their bare hands if they were disarmed. Thalia had to look away as she watched her friends start to tear each other apart.
"How is this possible? I thought gods had to be challenged before fighting demigods?" Thalia asked frantically.
"They aren't fighting," Chiron said bleakly, his eyes still faraway as he did nothing to quell the chaos overtaking the campers. "They are simply exerting their wills over the soldiers, as the gods have done for millennia."
Thalia felt her face pale at his words, "Then what do we do?"
This seemed to break Chiron from his trance as he turned his eyes to her with an urgent look on his face, "Run, Thalia. You must escape! You're destiny still awaits you and it may be our only hope! You must escape or all may be lost!"
For a fleeting moment, Thalia considered listening to his words. But as she watched Connor Stoll claw at his brother Travis with his bare hands, ripping apart the flesh of his face with only his fingernails, she felt her resolve harden.
"No!" She said quietly before steeling herself, "No! We have to help! We have to fight back! If we lose camp then we'll never hold Perseus back when he makes his move on Olympus, prophecy or not!"
Thalia ran away from Chiron, towards the phalanx that was consumed in a civil war. She slammed Aegis into the side of Connor Stoll's head, knocking him off the bloodied form of his brother. She reached down to help Travis to his feet but was taken by surprise when Travis kicked her legs out of from under her, knocking her to the ground. Before she could recover, Travis rolled her onto her back and started throwing heavy fists at her face. She managed to raise her arms and block most of the blows but his relentless onslaught was beginning to overwhelm her as a few blows struck her head, making her head spin and her vision darken.
Just as she began to feel herself losing consciousness, her arms slipping away from her face, the weight of Travis' body suddenly disappeared from atop her.
It took a second for her vision to solidify so she could see the two or three or maybe four figures looming over her. She shook her head as the form of Daedalus solidified into one body, offering her his hand.
She took it groggily as he pulled her to her feet.
"We can't win." She said dejectedly.
She was about to thank him for saving her when her body suddenly went rigid as two figures materialized out of the darkness on each side of the old inventor.
"Perhaps not," Bianca Di Angelo said intently as she met Thalia's eyes.
"You!" Thalia hissed as rage shook off all her grogginess from Travis' attack. "I'm going to kill you!" She pulled the spear off her back and stabbed it into Bianca's stomach only for it to pass right through the daughter of Hades. Bianca's body had melted into shadows before Thalia could strike again and she disappeared from sight.
"Don't be a fool," Nico growled, glaring at her for trying to attack his sister. "We're here to help you but if you do that again then I have no problem sitting back and watching your entire camp be destroyed." Bianca reappeared next to her younger brother shooting Thalia a look of annoyance.
"You two serve Perseus," Thalia sneered, "Why would I ever trust two traitors like you?"
Both children of Hades rolled their eyes, "To be traitors," Bianca said annoyed, "Then we would have had to have been loyal to Olympus in the first place. Our father has always been an outcast of the Olympians, despite being the eldest child of Kronos. Don't judge us. We're simply loyal to our father, the same reason you're standing here in camp waiting to be massacred."
Thalia opened her mouth to respond but Nico cut her off, "Thousands more of our forces are waiting to climb out of the Labyrinth. And if those don't destroy your camp, Perseus has other, more dangerous surprises waiting for a chance to kill all of you. We're here to offer you a way to stop that... If you'll actually listen."
Thalia bit back the venomous retort she'd been about to give and looked at Nico skeptically.
"Why would I ever trust you? You're working with Perseus, this is obviously some kind of trick or trap."
"If we wanted to, we'd just sit back and watch our forces crush you and the campers," Bianca said smugly, "but Perseus has asked us to try and help you."
Thalia's head pulled back, unsure of if she'd heard correctly.
"Perseus ordered you to help us? From the army he sent to destroy us," she narrowed her eyes, "Stop playing games!"
"He wanted you to know that if he wanted to," Nico answered her, "then you'd all be dead. But since he actually cares about demigods, unlike the Olympians, he's offering his help to repel the army marching into camp."
Thalia tried to comprehend their words but soon felt her anger grow at the arrogance of their offer. She managed to swallow her anger as she watched an Arai swoop down only to be cut in half. The Athena camper who killed the winged monster soon spun around, his eyes milky white and completely blind.
"You blinded the cyclops Tyson when he only wished to ask you for help. He cursed you to see the world as he now has to." The cackling voices spoke from the circling flock of Arai hovering above the battlefield.
Before his fellow campers could reach him, the boy was run through with a bayonet from a chattering zombie dressed in the bright red coat of a British officer.
Thalia wanted to attack these two arrogant children of the Hades but something in her gut stopped her. Somehow, she could tell they weren't lying. Maybe it was intuition. Or, more likely, it was just that this kind of arrogant show of power was exactly the kind of thing Perseus would do, trying to show that he was omnipotent but also merciful.
Her blood boiled at the thought of using her friends lives just to prove his point.
"What do I need to do to stop the attack?" She asked through gritted teeth.
"Not you," Bianca said, her eyes drifting to the figure standing silently behind her. Thalia turned and saw Daedalus with a look of terror on his metallic face, his eyes darting from side to side like he expected someone to try to slit his throat any second.
"But the decision must be his," Nico continued, his eyes meeting the nervous ones of the inventor, "You have lived far too long, son of Athena. We offer you honest judgement in the Underworld but you must forfeit your life willingly.
Thalia stared at him confused when Bianca picked up where he left off, "We know Minos has hunted you for millennia. Offer up your life and he will not stand at the judgement table when your afterlife is decided."
Daedalus stepped back nervously, "I... I..." he stuttered nervously, "I will be thrown into the Field of Punishment. I... committed..."
"We know what you did," Bianca cut him off, "And now, you have a chance to save dozens of lives. Accept your death and the Labyrinth will die with you, stopping the forces of the Underworld from marching into this camp. You could save every camper still alive if you do what you know is right."
Daedalus looked around nervously, looking like he wanted to make a run for it into the forest, even if he had to pass through the growing number of undead warriors as they continued to funnel out of the Labyrinth.
"Choose quickly," Nico said curtly, "Your moment of redemption is quickly passing you by."
Thalia watched as the ancient demigod became completely still, his body looking more like a statue than a living being, even a mechanical one.
Finally, after what felt like minutes, the still automaton body of the inventor seemed to slouch, his eyes rising up to meet the two children of Hades.
"You're correct. If I can save these demigods then I must. I must do what I can to atone for my sins. May your father have mercy on my soul."
Bianca stepped forward and placed her hand on the shoulder of Daedalus, "Rest," she said with a severity that made Thalia shiver. "You're long life in the mortal world is over. I release your soul from this body so you may find your eternal peace in the Underworld."
Though nothing happened that she could see, the form of Daedalus seemed to dull, the light leaving his eyes before his body fell to its knees, then collapsing to the ground and breaking into dozens of pieces.
Before Thalia could ask what that had done to help the campers, the ground underneath shook with such violence that it made the approach of the enemy army seem like a shiver. Thalia was knocked off her feet and she could sense the caverns beneath her collapse as the Labyrinth was destroyed along with anything or anyone who might have been marching through its passages.
Thalia was shook from her images of the collapsing maze by the sharp point of a blade being pressed to her throat.
Bianca stood over her with narrowed eyes, "Don't forget this moment, daughter of Zeus. It very well may be the last time Perseus shows you and your little camp mercy. You will do well to remember that it is only by his mercy that you and your little friends are allowed to see the sun rise on another day."
Before she could respond, Bianca and Nico both dissolved into shadows. Thalia blinked and when she looked up, she couldn't find the hovering forms of Eris and Lyssa in the sky above. She climbed back to her feet and saw what remained on the undead army being turned to dust by a flurry of silver and golden arrows from the Apollo campers and the Hunters.
Within a few minutes, the battlefield fell silent with the exception of the weak cries of pain from the injured campers. The Apollo kids were down from their tree stands in seconds, abandoning their bows as they set to work on treating the wounded.
Thalia was in a daze until she felt a presence at her side. Chiron stood over her, his face bleak, showing no signs of happiness at their survival of the battle.
"Come," he said solemnly, "we must help the wounded first but afterwords, I think it is time we sit down and talk about the great prophecy and what to expect in the next three months before your sixteenth birthday."
A.N: Before anyone complains, things will be changing as we head towards the conclusion of the Great Prophecy. Perseus may seem like he's walking into a cake walk but I promise you, things will get much more challenging in the chapters to come. To be honest, I haven't even decided how this story ends... But I promise, there will be twists and turns that will make the conclusion of this story interesting and undecided until the very end.