AN: I dedicate this chapter to all my friends who have been there for me from the beginning and have always encouraged me to follow my heart and pursue my dreams.

Chapter 5: Thalia Joins The Party - Thalia's POV

The Hunters were just settling down for the night when a glittering image of my old mentor, Chiron the centaur, shimmered into existence in the middle of our camp.

I raced over to talk to him and the Hunters gathered behind me.

'Chiron,' I said, smiling, 'What's up?'

He grimaced, 'We have another upcoming war. This time with one of the most power beings in the universe.'

I frowned, this wasn't a good way to start a conversation. 'I thought that was Gaia.'

I shook his head and stroked his shaggy beard, 'I'm afraid this threat is worse than even that.'

I stood frozen to the spot as he told me all that Annabeth had told him. I'm was especially anxious about this mysterious army. When he was done, I almost didn't believe him. But I knew that he would never make a joke about something so serious.

'So we need your help,' he finished, 'the Hunters help.'

I nodded, 'We'll be there by mid-morning.'

He sighed in relief and the image dissipated. I turned to the Hunters.

'Get some sleep,' I told them, 'We've got a long journey tomorrow.'

***

The next day, we arrived by mid-morning, just like I'd told Chiron. The Hunters always keep a deadline. Unless we're, you know, captured and/or killed.

I told the Hunters to wait in the Artemis cabin. All except for Phoebe, who was my second in command. The two of us raced off to the Big House where Chiron had told me a meeting was being held. We skidded to a halt when we saw the small group of warriors gathered at the base of the porch.

All in all, there was about 15 of them. Not a huge amount, but from what Chiron said, they would've been specially trained by Chaos himself. They all wore armour darker than obsidian underneath their hooded, jet black cloaks. They groups weapons ranged from swords to bows to hunting knives. They looked pretty menacing.

As we watched, one of the group, who appeared to be the leader, sent the rest away. They wandered in all directions. But no one drifted away on their own. I guess they were under orders not to. Makes sense.

Phoebe and I walked right up to the two figures who had stayed behind.

'Hi,' I said as casually as I could.

They both whirled around and stumbled when the saw me.

'Th-Thalia?' one of them gasped.

'Who are you and how do you know my name?' I demanded, my eyes narrowing.

He tried to stammer out an explanation, but it sounded mostly like grunts. His friend came to his rescue.

'I am Commander Epsilon of my Lord Chaos' army,' he said wearily, like he'd said it way too many times lately, 'and this is my second in command, Iroas. We've come to help defend the camp, and the Earth, from Destruction.'

I blinked, 'OK. But that doesn't tell me why he knows my name.'

Commander Epsilon was quick.

'Annabeth told us,' he claimed. But I could tell that he was lying.

'Come on,' he started up the stairs to the porch.

'Wait!' I called. I ran to catch up and grabbed his elbow. Wrong move.

Without warning, he suddenly swung around and had a pure black sword that matched his armour resting against my throat. I couldn't see his face, but I imagined his eyes burning.

'Epsilon,' Iroas warned.

He hesitated, then removed the blade from my neck and took a step back, 'I’m sorry.'

He fidgeted with the hilt of his sword, the sheathed it, 'It's just ... never mind.'

'No,' I was surprised by the eagerness in my tone, 'please. I'd like to know.'

Epsilon looked out over the strawberry fields, 'Everyone would.'

I exchanged a glance with Phoebe. This guy sounded plenty mysterious. That made me both suspicious and oddly curious. He seemed so full of sadness and pain. He reminded me of Percy, just before he left camp; sad but trying to be happy, for everyone else's sake.

Argh! No, don't think about that, I told myself.

Epsilon started up the steps again, and this time, I knew better than to try and stop him. We marched straight into the Rec Room where our war councils were held. Already there were the councilors plus who was left of the seven demigods; Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper and Annabeth, and Nico. Chiron sat in wheelchair form at the head of the table.

Also present at the meeting was Rachel Elizabeth Dare; the mortal who was given immortality so she could a) help look for Percy and b) keep on being the Oracle. See a while back, a lot of freaky stuff happened, then bippity boppety boom, Rachel became the Oracle. She accepted the spirit of Delphi and became our sort of vision provider. So she could see the future and speak prophecies and stuff. It was so spooky, I shuddered at the thought, then snapped myself back to reality.

Focus, Thalia, I scolded myself.

Epsilon, Iroas, Phoebe and I took our seats on one side of the table.

The six demigods, two hunters and two ... whatevers, waited patiently while Chiron explained the threat of Destruction to the rest of the councillors. It sounded even crazier now then when he told me in the cover of darkness, last night. When Chiron was finished speaking, one of the other campers leaned in and spoke up; Conner Stoll.

'So, we're all going to die?'

(AN: By the way, I forgot to mention that a bunch of campers were made immortal for various reasons, not just the 7 of the prophecy. So, yeah. Just in case you were confused)

No one acted like it was a stupid question. On the contrary, everyone acted like it was an expected question.

'No,' Epsilon said in his strange deep tone, 'Absolutely not. The army of Chaos is here to help, now. There is no way we would succumb to our masters greatest enemy.'

I had to admire his confidence. His bravery, his pride, his determination, it all reminded me of-no, not thinking about it. Just plain NO!

'But are all of us together a strong enough force to hold back destruction?' I asked, 'I mean, we're all pretty powerful, right? But do we have power to match Destruction's?"

Epsilon turned to me. I couldn't see his face, but I thought that he was grinning mischievously under his hood.

'Would you like a demonstration of our power, Thalia Grace?' he asked me.

How did he know my last name? I was starting to get a bit scared of this guy. I was wary, but I nodded slowly.

Iroas and the Commander exchanged a quick glance before looking straight at me, then they both melted away into the darkness. I caught my breath.

'We can do many things,' Epsilon's voice seemed to echo all around me, and just for a second, he became visible on the other side of the table. Then he faded again. 'We can change our form or become darkness itself.'

'Chaos gave us so many abilities,' Iroas' voice rung in my ears like Epsilon's. 'We can both create and destroy. We have the power of Zeus' master bolt.'

'We can do anything,' Epsilon's voice whispered in my ear and I jumped. He became visible behind me before fading. Then they both appeared, sitting where they had been moments before, as if nothing had ever happened.

The councilors all seemed in shock. Even Chiron look slightly shaken.

'Well, he said slowly, 'after that ... display of potential. We need-'

'Commander!'

Epsilon turned and stood to see a cloaked girl rush into the room. Pulling down her hood, I almost had a heart-attack. It was SIlena Beuragard; the girl that was a spy for Kronos before she'd tried to correct her mistake and died. The other demigods (with the exception of the councilors) looked completely at ease. I realized that they'd known about her. Chiron, on the other hand, appeared startled.

'Commander,' Silena rasped. She looked like she'd run a long way, 'Blaster is having a bit of trouble. He's down at the forge. The some campers are trying to get him to remove his hood.'

Epsilon looked her calmly, 'Pegasus, breathe. Is he OK?'

She shook her head, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes.

'They,' her voice broke a fraction, 'They're threatening to kill him.'

Percy's POV

I rushed out of the Big House and down to the forge, Luke keeping pace next to me and Silena trailing behind, winded from her run. Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Jason, Piper, Thalia and her lieutenant ran after us.

We hurried into the forge, thinking that we'd find campers with their swords at Beckedorf's throat. But the sight we saw when we arrived was so funny I bent double with laughter.

Beckendorf was using the power of Chaos to melt into the shadows and effectively teleporting all over the room. He kept appearing behind the campers and frightening the Hades out of them. Then he would disappear and leave them swinging their swords randomly.

'Gah!' one of the campers shouted and, with a chill, I recognized Xavier; the son of Ares that Annabeth had chosen over me.

He yelled again, 'come back, you twisted soul. Come back and show us your face or we'll send you to Hades.'

Beckendorf became visible behind him. Xavier didn't notice.

'And how will you do that if you can't find me?' he whispered before fading again, leaving Xavier waving his sword around, the blade passing harmlessly through the air.

Behind me, I heard as Luke burst out laughing. Even Silena had to try incredibly hard to suppress her giggles. Hearing our laughter, Xavier turned his blade on me. I rested my hand on Current's hilt, just in case a fight broke out.

'You,' he growled, 'Who are you?'

'I am Commander Epsilon of Lord Chaos' army,' I announced, standing up a little straighter, 'And you will leave my warriors alone or I will run you through.'

I was thrilled to see an expression of fear flicker across his face. But then-

'Xavier, back down.'

My heart sank as far down as the Underworld as Annabeth marched in and took in the havoc that had unfolded before her. I almost broke to see her standing next to the son of Ares. But wait, something didn't add up. She was looking at Xavier with an expression of ... anger? Hate? Scorn? Or was that just my wishful thinking?

Xavier's hostile expression matched her's. I stood to the side awkwardly while they stared daggers into each other. I cleared my throat and they both jumped a metre in the air.

The rest of the demigods rushed in after Annabeth. But the quickly assesed the situation and backed out, waiting outside the door. I returned my gaze to Annabeth and Xavier.

Um,' I said, my tone questioning and deep.

She frowned at me, 'Epsilon this is Xavier. Xavier, Commander Epsilon.'

I smirked at him, until I remembered that he couldn't see my face.

I gestured at Luke, 'This is my second in command, Iroas. And I see you've already met Blaster.'

Xavier gulped as Beckendorf and Luke positioned themselves behind me; Luke slightly to the right, Beckendorf to the left. I guess we did look really fierce and intimidating. My hidden smirk grew even wider.

Luke nudged me. I guess he could tell what I was thinking. We've grown to be like brothers the past 10 000 years ... 10 years ... whatever. We kinda got over the whole he-liked-Annabeth-right-before-he-died-then-I-came-along-and-dated-her thing. So we were pretty cool now.

I shook myself out of my daydream and turned to Beckendorf, 'You alright?'

He nodded, 'I'm fine. No thanks to these rotten Ares kids.'

Xaviers mouth fell open slightly, 'How did you know we were Ares?'

I laughed humourlessly, 'Not hard to figure out. Only one god is so cruel and heartless.'

I watched in amusement as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish that  was starved of air. Even Annabeth seemed entertained by his unease. After a while he just stormed out of the forge.

I smiled at Luke and Beckendorf, 'Come on, you guys. We better catch up with the others. See you round Annabeth.

She appeared startled that I was addressing her. But she gave me a small smile before I left the forge with my warriors right behind me.

Annabeth's POV

After Epsilon, Iroas and Blaster left, I was left alone with a few whiring machines. Knowing that the forge was pretty much a minefield of untested projects, I left with haste.

I bumped into the rest of the seven, Thalia and Phoebe standing at the door to the forge. They all llooked quite lost.

'Thank the gods, we were getting worried,' Thalia said, rushing over and grabbing my hands, 'Xavier left, and then so did the Epsilon and his guys. But you never came out!'

'I just took some time to think,' I reasurred her.

There was silence.

'Has anyone else noticed,' Piper mused, breaking the quiet, 'that Epsilon is a lot like Percy?'

I stiffened. Piper realized that she'd crossed into unfriendly territory on that one. The poor girl looked almost scared of what she'd said. I sighed guiltily and smiled at the daughter of Aphrodite, letting her know that it was OK.

Thalia nodded, 'Percy and Epsilon are very alike. Except, Epsilon is so much darker. He seems older. And he's got some wierd powers. Other than that, they could be twins.'

'Yeah,' Jason said slowly, keeping one eye on me, 'Do you think Percy could be part of Chaos' amry?'

I sighed sadly, 'No. Epsilon said that they were all dead.'

'She's right,' piped Nico, 'I never found Percy's shadow. So he couldn't have died and joined Chaos' amry. He's alive out there somewhere. I asked Epsilon if he'd seen Percy, but he told me he hadn't. But I could tell he was lying!'

'So Epsilon has seen Percy!' I whispered excitedly, 'He could help us find him!'

'If we can convince him to help us,' Hazel pointed out while Frank nodded his aggreement.

I groaned. But my storm filled eyes suddenly blazed with new determination. I would find Percy, hug him to death and explain how sorry I was for cheating on him.

Everyone else around me (with the exception of Phoebe who barely knew Percy anyway) had the same fiery light in their eyes. We would find Percy and we would all tell him how much we cared bour him.

AN: Hey everyone. Thanks for reading my book. I know its not very exciting so far, but I need some good ideas. If you have any, please feel free to comment. I really appreciate it. Also, you might wanna pop over and read my other Percy Jackson FanFic, 'The Daughter of the Sea.' That needs more ideas too. So, thanks guys and see y'all later!