Chapter 2: A Way Home - Percy's POV

We all stared at Chaos, unbelieving. Clarisse was the first to unfreeze.

'We can go home?' she stuttered. Wow! I'd never heard Clarisse stutter before.

There was only silence. Chaos said nothing. He just waited for the full impact of his words to sink into the fifteen gathered before him.

'Uh,' I managed. 'Like Drakon said, do we really get to go home?'

Chaos turned his gaze on me. In the last 10 000 years, I'd gotten use to those eyes that housed every feeling, but they still unnerved me sometimes.

'Yes, Epsilon,' he smiled. 'You get to go home.'

The spell of silence broke and we all started talking at once. Out of all of us, I think that Perseus, Atlanta, Jason and Theseus-because they'd been dead such a long time before I brought them back-looked the most excited . But then, the rest of us could've given them a run for their money. Scratch that; we didn't have money, we didn't need it.

Chaos held up his hands and we all fell respectively silent again.

'The Gods are in need of our help. An old enemy has surfaced, one that I thought would never have the strength to threaten anyone,' he stopped, his eyes showing more sadness than usually. Then the moment passed.

'Go put on your armour and cloaks. You must not be recognized,' Chaos said. 'If you wish to, you can reveal your identities. But as we will first be going to the throne room of the Gods, you must stay hidden. Meet back here in 20 minutes.'

And with that little speech, Chaos melted into the darkness.

I turned to the others, 'Well? Don't we have some packing to do?'

We all sprinted for the doors.

                                                                     ***

20 minutes later, we were gathered back in the training room. I had my celestial black armour on, my long, wickedly sharp knife at my belt and my cloak up. Current was sheathed at my side. Everyone else was dressed similarly. Our cloaks all had hoods that would only reveal our faces if we wanted them to. Otherwise, the inside of the hood just looked like darkness.

I clapped my hands to get everyone's attention, 'Okay, everyone. Get into formation.'

My elite team took their places and I took mine at the front of the group. Luke-my second in command-was stationed to my right and Clarisse-my third in command-was stationed to my left. Funny how I bring her back from the dead and suddenly we're brilliant pals.

'Alright,' I shouted, trying to sound commandy and not like an excited 3-year-old. 'Lets go!'

I waved my hand and a portal of darkness appeared, not unlike the one Chaos had created for me all those years ago. I took a deep breath and led my excited elite team into the throne room of the Gods.

Nico's POV

I stood impatiently to one side of the throne room, waiting for someone to tell me what in Hades was going on. The gods were all fidgeting nervously. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.

'Could you just tell us why we're here?' I burst out.

The gods and the other five demigods there stared at me.

I realized what I'd said and started to back away muttering, 'Sorry, sorry, sorry.'

Zeus shook his head, 'It's alright, son of Hades. We're all impatient. We're waiting for an old ... friend.'

I looked back at my friends, thinking that that was a kind of unsatisfactory answer. We all wanted to know what was going on.

20 minutes ago, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel and I had received summons to the throne room.

I was excited because I thought that they might've found out what had happened to some of the spirits of the dead. I went to Elysium a few years ago and found half of my old friends were missing. We consulted the gods, but they had no more an idea than we had.

I also hoped that they might have information on a friend that vanished ages ago. Percy Jackson had been missing 10 years. Camp thought that he was dead, but I explained that he couldn't be because I hadn't found his soul. I'd been searching since he first disappeared.

Anyway, I locked eyes with Annabeth and silently asked for her help. She still looked the same as she did 10 years ago. Just after Percy vanished, the gods decided to grant the six of us immortality so we could search for him.

'Lord Zeus,' she bowed. 'May I ask who this friend is?'

'That would be me, I suppose.'

All the gods and half-bloods in the room turned to see a tall man in a hooded cloak step out of the air. The gods stood respectively. Next to me, Annabeth had a sharp intake of breath. The gods were being respectful to someone else? What was going on?

Zeus stepped forward, 'Lord Chaos. It has been many, many years.'

'Too long, it would seem,' the man, Chaos, said conversationally. 'Please, there is no need to stand.'

The gods sat.

Zeus turned to us to explain, 'You all know that we are facing a war with an unknown force. At a meeting not long ago,  a message came that Lord Chaos knew who our enemy was and was willing to help.'

Chaos might've smiled underneath his hood, 'I have brought my best team to contribute to the war.'

'Lord Chaos,' Annabeth said, bowing. 'Who is your best team?'

'Well,' Chaos checked a black watch on his wrist. 'They should be here around about-'

A portal opened just behind Chaos and a squad of around 15 cloaked figures marched out in V formation.

'-now,' Chaos finished,

The figure at the head the group walked forward to stand beside Chaos. The person bowed deeply to the gods.

'My Lord and Ladies,' he said in a deep voice. 'I am Commander Epsilon of the Gennaios Squad; the elite team of my Lord Chaos' army. What is the service that you require of my warriors?'

'You sound familiar,' I decided. 'Do I know you?'

Commander Epsilon looked over at me and my friends and faltered slightly. But he attempted to smooth over the mistake.

'I don't think so,' he said. 'You would remember me.'

I couldn't help thinking that he was lying. But turning back to Zeus, Epsilon asked, 'Who is our enemy?'

'I believe that question is directed at your master,' Zeus nodded at Chaos who stepped forward.

'I do indeed know our enemy,' he said. He looked at his army, 'It is my twin brother, Destruction.'

'What?!' Epsilon's voice suddenly changed to something a lot less deep. He seemed to realize that and, in his deep voice, said, 'You never told us you have a brother.'

'Had,' Chaos corrected. 'I thought he was gone. In the beginning of time, we were one and everything. We decided to created a universe so we would no longer be alone. When we were done, he turned on me. I realized that he only wanted me to build something so he could tear it down. But looking down on my creation, I couldn't let it be destroyed. We fought and I won. I locked him in a pit not unlike your Tartarus. History never knew of him. I thought no one would ever need to. But it seems he has being growing in strength. And now he has broken out of his prison.'

Silence. No one said a thing. Well, what do you say to a not-so-inspiring speech like that?

Pretty soon, Epsilon got over his shock, 'My Lords and Ladies-'

He stopped suddenly, 'Where is Poseidon?'

Zeus shook his head sadly and I winced.

'He never shows up on this day,' Athena said gloomily.

'Why?' Epsilon persisted. I was confused. Why did Epsilon want to know so badly?

'Because,' Hades sighed, 'Today is the anniversary of his son's disappearance. Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, has been missing for 10 years.'

'10-' Epsilon seemed to stunned to continue. '10 years?'

Chaos quickly whispered something in his ear and Epsilon nodded slowly.

'So, we need to defeat Destruction,' he said with a flitting glance at Chaos. 'When will he attack?'

'As we are twins,' Chaos said, 'we can sometimes glean the others thoughts. I can tell that he will not be ready for another week or two.'

'You can all stay at Camp-Half Blood until the attack,' Annabeth added.

Epsilon faltered again

'Okay,' he stammered. Something about us demigods worried him. Or scared him.

'You mean, where all the heroes are? The ones that fought in the wars?' one of the girls (I could tell it was a girl's voice) at the back of the group stuttered.

'Yeah,' I confirmed. Why would she be worried about staying with heroes? 'Is something wrong?'

The girl looked to Epsilon for support and some sort of understanding passed between them.

'If you want, Pegasus,' Epsilon said kindly, gesturing to his hood.

Annabeth and I exchanged glances. Neither of us like where this seemed to be heading. It kind of looked like they knew something that we didn't. Which I suppose was true anyway. They knew who each other were.

'Pegasus?' Annabeth asked shyly.

The girl, Pegasus, turned towards her, 'I use to go to camp. I was in the Titan War, but I made a wrong choice.'

I frowned, 'You mean you fought on Kronos' side?'

'Worse,' Pegasus replied sadly.

'We've forgiven all those who fought against the gods in the Titan War,' Zeus said.

'Really,' the boy who stood to the right of Epsilon spoke up. 'All of them? What about the one who hosted Kronos?'

'He was the first we forgave,' Zeus replied gently. Wow, the gods really have changed.

The boy exchanged a glance with Epsilon who laughed, 'You can too, Iroas.'

The boy, Iroas, shook his head slowly, 'Not yet.'

'Okay, that's cool. Pegasus?' Epsilon called back.

Pegasus stepped forward, 'I know I cause a lot of damage during the war, especially to camp,' she looked towards the demigods. 'And especially to you Annabeth.'

Annabeth took a step back. I couldn't blame her. A girl with the name Pegasus comes in and just happened to know your name? Freaky.

'Who are you?' Annabeth asked cautiously.

Instead of answering, the girl drew back her hood and I almost had a heart-attack. There, in front of me and very much alive, stood one of the missing spirits; Silena Beauregard.

'Silena-' Annabeth gasped. Then she ran forward to hug her missing friend.

'How?' was all Annabeth managed.

Silena looked over at Chaos who shook his head the tiniest fraction. She looked back at Annabeth.

'I'm sorry, Annabeth. Father has forbidden me to tell.'

'Father?' Annabeth looked confused.

Epsilon chuckled, 'We all see Lord Chaos as our father. He is our saviour from death.'

'You're all dead?' Annabeth asked, bewildered.

Everyone but Epsilon nodded, 'They all were. But now they live again. I was never dead, but my life was a living hell. Father saved me and gave me command of his armies.'

'Who were you in life?' Annabeth asked.

Epsilon stiffened, and I saw his hand tighten around his sword, 'I would rather not say. I was betrayed by all my family. I don't know whether they are worthy of my forgiveness. When I am sure, I will reveal my identity. If my family knew, they would do everything they could to convince me that they are sorry. But when Chaos found me and took me to his planet, they all hated me. So I will wait.'

Annabeth nodded, disappointed.

'Wait,' I said. 'Chaos' planet? You've travelled the universe?'

'I have.'

'Then you may have seen a friends of ours,' I exclaimed, truly excited for the first time in years. 'His name is Percy Jackson. We've all been looking for him for 10 years.'

I could sense that I'd said something wrong. Everyone in the army exchanged looks and Epsilon hesitated just a little too long.

'I have not seen him,' he finally said.

But I knew that was a lie.

'Well,' Piper stepped out from our demigods ranks. 'We better take them all to Camp, yes?'

She laced a little charmspeak in her words so we were forced to obey.

I nodded, 'How will we get there?'

'Leave that to me,' Epsilon sounded rather cocky.

He turned and waved his hand. A portal blacker than a nightmare shimmered into existence behind the warriors who marched through confidently. Silena hurried back to her position, hauling up her hood as she did. Only when the were all gone did Epsilon turn to us.

'After you,' he said.

The six of us shook our heads.

'It could be dangerous,' Annabeth said nervously. 'I mean, we're all demigods, and we're also alive.'

'Lucky for you,' Epsilon said. 'I'm a demigod, and I'm alive, too.'

Then he grabbed mine and Annabeth's arms and pulled us through the portal, leaving the others no choice but to follow.