They left the great palace and entered a war-torn city. Percy didn't even know how the buildings became demolished, but he guessed someone like the Hephaestus or Ares kids had explosives. Either that or Heracles had smashed every building looking for more victims.

He also didn't know how the hell Heracles would be defeated. It would likely come down to a one on one between him and the war god, and then perhaps Percy and Artemis could take out the winner while his back was turned. Sure it was a sucker move, but all's fair in love and war.

The streets of Olympus were eerily quiet, and both Percy and Artemis found themselves clutching their weapons tighter and checking both directions as they walked. They also inspected various wrecked buildings for hovels to hide in, but none were safe enough, either from the enemies or just the house collapsing entirely.

Artemis was right, gunshots started sounding from the market area. Someone had obviously come face to face with someone keen on winning. Their pace increased as they briskly walked in the opposite direction from the noise. They did not want to get caught up in that fight.

Suddenly, the worst possible thing could happen. They heard rapid footsteps, and Ares' voice from around the corner. "Come on! It's coming from that way!" He shouted, and the two gods panicked.

They looked around frantically, but there was no place two adults could hide should a horde of Ares and Mars children come barrelling around the corner. They didn't have any time.to set some elaborate hiding spot up, since they'd only have a few seconds. What happened next likely saved their lives. "Psst."

Their heads snapped to the side, and saw a door was left ajar. No one was there, but they could hear a voice behind it. "Quickly!" It hissed. Not wanting to disobey it and die, Percy and Artemis rushed inside.

The door was quickly shut behind them, and Percy could just barely see the first sets of feet come dashing around and down towards the market. None seemed to have spotted them, which meant they were safe for now. "Uncle?" Artemis asked, and Percy's head turned in surprise.

Poseidon stood there with his arms folded across his chest, grinning at the two of them. "Percy! Artemis! I'm so glad you guys are okay." The bearded clone of Percy exclaimed, hugging them both tightly. Despite her usual distancing from men, Artemis allowed it. Times were tough, maybe a hug was what they all needed.

He pulled away, and Artemis was immediately tackled by someone with a head of blonde hair. "Sis!" Apollo cried, squeezing her tight. Artemis choked, and put her hand on Apollo's face, trying her best to push him away. "Apo- can't... breath..." He managed to get out, and he let her go.

The goddess gasped for air as Percy and Hermes greeted each other, and the two gods awarded him with fist bumps. When she got some Aether back in her lungs, she looked up at their friends. "How? We thought you got caught by Heracles?" She asked, and Hermes shook his head. "Old dummy lost us after a couple hundred metres. Hard to chase the fastest god and the sun when you weigh as much as a mountain." He laughed.

Percy and Artemis gave each other a nervous side-glance. "So he's still out there. Great. Let's just hope Ares and his gang manage to overwhelm him." Artemis mumbled, crossing her arms. Poseidon chose to interject. "Actually, we were talking about that not long before you guys arrived. Heracles' armor may be impenetrable, but that doesn't mean it's glued to his skin. All you gotta do is get the jump on him and tear just one piece off, then he has a weak point." The god of the seas told them.

Percy turned to his father. "How are you still alive? Have you been hiding here all day?" He asked, hands on his hips, and Poseidon gave a cheeky grin. "You betcha." He said. Artemis looked over at him. "Do you know who's still alive?" She asked, and immediately the god's face fell.

"Hera killed Zeus, Hephaestus killed Hera, Aphrodite killed Hephaestus, Ares killed Aphrodite. Hades turned the gun on himself after Persephone's death. I saw Dionysus and Demeter's bodies, as well as Athena. I don't know about anyone else." He told her. Artemis' face became horrified as she heard the fate of her sister, but she didn't say anything.

"You got the same tactic as us?" Percy asked, and Poseidon shrugged. His face was worn and aged. He looked to be in his mid-forties, instead of his usual early-thirties. "If you guys are planning on waiting it all out, then yeah. This building's already been searched, as you can tell, so no one should come back. Even if they do, there's five of us, so we can get the jump on two or three of them." He said, gesturing to the small pile of weapons in the corner.

Percy and Artemis nodded, and walked over to put their weapons down. Percy kept his sidearm at his hip though, hidden under his shirt, just in case he couldn't make it to his rifle in time. Hermes and Apollo went over to sit down against the wall, and Poseidon walked over to a table. "You guys hurt?" He asked.

Percy looked over at his girlfriend. Artemis was slightly hurt, with a cut on her cheek and blood on her elbow and both knees. "Yeah, band-aids would help." Artemis said, reaching up and touching his cheek. She turned his head from side to side, inspecting him. He liked the touch of her hands on his face. It was a feeling he'd missed, despite it not being too long since he'd last felt it.

Poseidon chucked them a pack, and the two sat in a corner. Percy pulled Artemis close to him and began to dress her wounds. She insisted he didn't worry about the cut, as it didn't need a band-aid. She wasn't a 'little girl'. So he settled with patching up the scrapes so that she could touch those areas without feeling pain.

Artemis tried to numb her body with every band-aid that was applied, and she was doing pretty. All she'd managed so far was a hiss, so at least she didn't scream or cry like a 7 year old.

"So Perce, we never really talked last night. What happened to you?" Apollo asked, and Hermes looked over too, lying on his back. Poseidon pulled a chair over and sat down, looking at him expectantly.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as they all stared at him, but then went back to work treating Artemis' minor wounds. "Well, I got really bored waiting for the winter solstice to start, and since nothing really important was happening, I decided to go buy some snacks." He said, and Poseidon looked at him annoyed. "You thought it'd be a good idea to go out at night right before the most evil day of the year?" He asked, irritated.

Percy shrugged. "Where I come from, that's Halloween, and I didn't see no spooky scary skeletons or budget Klan members roaming the streets." He said, and Artemis slapped him on the side of the head as he fixed her knees.

Hermes rested his head on his hand, turning to lay on his side so he could look at him. "So what took you so long? You weren't there half an hour later when the Fates showed up." The god noted.

Percy grinned sheepishly again. "Well, a lot of things happened. I got distracted a lot, and then when I was heading to mom's place to see if she was alright, some homeless guy gave me a back of candy for a few bucks. Then, I dunno, time just sorta flew by." He said.

Apollo and Hermes looked at each other incredulously. "You ate a bag of candy that a homeless man sold you?" The blonde one asked, and Percy nodded. "Yeah, so what? I know I shouldn't talk to strangers but he was nice, and it's not like he was in a white van."

Poseidon sighed. "Let's just move on." He said. Hermes and Apollo nodded, and Artemis shifted so she could dress Percy's wounds. Her thumb brushed away a little bit of dirt from his shoulder, and she started applying band-aids where necessary. He didn't really need any, but it helped to just get the minor wounds patched up.

Artemis began to ask Apollo and Hermes some questions as she worked, but Percy wasn't listening. He was staring at the wall to his left, which was a pale white and made of wood. He wasn't focused on the detailing, however, more on the wall itself.

It looked like it was moving, swirling around like he was blackout drunk. He felt himself getting disoriented by it as colors started showing, small rainbow patterns all over it. There can only be one. A misty voice whispered into his ear. He felt like snapping his neck to see who it was, but he couldn't. He was paralysed. There can only be one. Another one hissed. There can only be one.

"Percy!" Artemis hissed at him, trying her best not to scream his name. Startled, Percy jolted and looked at her. She had her hands in the air beside her head, and she tilted her head sharply towards the door, as if indicating towards something. He looked, and his jaw dropped in surprise. "Are you kidding me?"

The twin gods of fear and terror, Phobos and Deimos, stood there with weapons raised and pointed at them. I barely even had time to rest, Percy complained mentally, and when he stood up he looked to their right and gasped. "Dad!?" He exclaimed.