Chapter 31: The Last Line

Sorry there are such big gaps in between updates for my stories, but that's the way it be.

Chapter 31: The Last Line

The group of demigods arrived at Mount Saint Helens early in the morning. The massive mountain stood tall and proud in the clear morning sky. Arianna stared up at the snowy mountain top in wonder and amazement. They were a long way from Manhattan.

The war children all exited from the school bus, looking up at the mountain with either disinterest or utter fascination, depending on their parent.

Jason slammed the door to the jeep, looking over to make sure everyone was out and ready. "Okay, everyone good?" He asked, receiving many nods and a few 'yep's in return. The god nodded, then turned around. "Okay, follow me." He ordered, marching off towards the mountain.

The entire convoy moved behind him, with two of the Seven at the front and back with one on either side of the large caravan. The small force came to the base of the mountain, when Jason stopped them.

Annabeth stepped forward and studied the rock, stroking her chin in deep thought. She approached a flat stone wall and began to feel around, looking for some kind of hidden key like the one on Daedalus' Labyrinth.

The Ares, Mars and Athena campers all looked at each other in confusion as they watched 'Percy Jackson's ex' use her world-renown brain skills to solve this predicament.

Suddenly she noticed something, and proceeded to attack it with everything she had -intellectually, of course. As Arianna moved closer to the wise girl, she noticed there was a slight crevice in the stone, too perfect to just be some geographical feature. Annabeth was trying her hardest to pry it open like it was on a hinge, but it would not budge.

"Here you go, Annabeth. Give us a go." Frank said, stepping forward with Jason. The two gripped the groove in the wall tightly and looked at each other. Frank counted them down. "3, 2, 1, pull!" The two gods pulled their hardest, back towards them, off to both sides, even down, the stone wouldn't budge. "Are you sure this is a door, Annie?" Jason asked, panting.

Estelle folded her arms, impatient at her unofficial step-cousins. "Maybe its a push door?" She said sarcastically, but was soon shoved aside by someone. It wasn't rough, but she still glared at the person who moved her.

"Step aside, ladies. My time to shine." Leo declared, grinning at all four gods who were standing next to the door. The four of the Seven standing there all rolled their eyes as Leo rolled up his sleeves like a cartoon character. He spat on both hands dramatically for extra grip, and did some fake stretches in front of the door.

The entire crowd looked entirely unimpressed as the son of Hephaestus took his sweet time, but they were thankfully saved from the torture not long after.

Leo placed both hands firmly on the crevice, taking deep breaths. They all waited for his underwhelming show of macho and strength, and oh boy it came.

With seemingly no effort, Leo slid the rock to the side like it was a backyard glass door. He grinned and turned back to the crowd, dusting off his hands effortlessly. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" He boasted jokingly.

Frank and Jason's jaws had dropped while Piper facepalmed. Annabeth sighed. "I guess Hephaestus locked it so only him and his children could enter." She admitted in defeat, but Leo hadn't heard her.

The minor god of the forge had already taken off into the darkness, shouting with a long and drawn out 'wheee!' as he went.

Arianna was the first in after him, and soon the entire group followed. The sound of weapons and light armor clunking as they jogged along the dark hallway was deafening to Arianna, but thankfully Leo had started a fire on his palm up ahead, providing light as they went.

They ran for well over a minute, before finally the hallway expanded and they found themselves in a much larger room. There was light coming from ahead of them, so Leo snuffed his flame. "Woah." He said, walking forward towards the light. The Seven finally caught up with him, and they all stared down into the glowing out that Leo was fixated on. Arianna soon followed, and her eyes widened exponentially.

There was magma at the bottom of the crater, but it wasn't black or orange or gray like you'd think. It was pure gold, like a pool of flaming hot ichor. The magma ran deep, as you could see an extremely large silhouette a few meters from the surface of the pool.

"Typhon." Michael whispered, speaking everyone's thoughts aloud. For some reason, Arianna felt her stomach churn at the name, and staring down into that pool was like staring into the lifeless eyes of a dead body. It was not a comforting feeling.

Jason turned around and called two Ares campers over. He found two sticks on the ground and held them out to Leo, who got the message and lit them ablaze. "Go light this place up a bit." He instructed the Ares kids, who nodded and ran off with the torches like Olympians. The sportspeople, that is.

Annabeth wandered around the derelict forge of Hephaestus. It hadn't been used for over a week, which had very clearly taken a toll on the stratovolcano. All the machinery was shut to a halt and cobwebs sat in every corner, giving off a haunted, eery vibe.

She walked past a doorway free of doors, which held a staircase inside. She hummed at the find, but knew it was not the time to go exploring in the pursuit of knowledge. This was a military campaign, they were to hold the mountain so that the Romans could reorganise themselves and create a proper front against the monsters. This mountain was their last line. If it fell, New Rome was cornered.

Arianna walked past her friends, who were by a stone pillar chatting calmly. Aaron nodded at her as she passed, and she nodded back in recognition with a smile. She approached her sister, Estelle. "I don't like this place." She told the girl.

The newest hunter of Artemis looked around the cave. "Yeah, same. Feels like there should be ghosts. At least the lava provides light, I guess." She said. Michael then walked over, hands in his pockets. "Actually, we're in the volcano, so it's magma." He corrected. Estelle rolled her eyes, arms still folded. "Nerd." She muttered.

Michael cracked a grin at her before turning to Ari. "This place is nice." He told her, to which his shivering girlfriend shook her head. "I'm tempted to jump into the magma just so I can warm up." She joked.

Michael smirked and gestured with his hands, which were still in his pocket. "Shoulda dressed warmer. It was like 6 when we left." He reprimanded her, earning a glare from the daughter of Poseidon. "Okay, Ragnar. Just because you dressed like a viking doesn't mean we all thought Washington was gonna be sub-zero." She said irritatedly.

Michael laughed. He had dressed in a thick fur coat, made of possum or coyote or something. Ari was never good with furs. She, on the other hand, was dressed only in a blue t-shirt and skinny jeans with a hoodie on top. She looked on at Estelle's parka and Michael's coat in envy.

The son of Jason smiled and held out his arms. "Oh, come here you big baby." He said, and Ari leaned into his embrace. The noticeable change in temperature was not missed, as Ari had to fight not to moan at the salvation.

Estelle rolled her eyes and gagged. "Get a room, you guys. Or... cave, I guess." She said, looking around at the rock above.

Jason clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Alright, I guess this is the part where we hold it. You two, go find a place you can act as lookouts, a vantage point where you can see all around, or at least east and south. Not much coming from the other directions. And watch out for booby traps, I don't know if Hephaestus is the type of guy to set them but I wouldn't be surprised. This place is pretty important after all." He announced, ordering around two Athena kids. The blonde boy and girl nodded, then set off down one of the dark hallways.

"The rest of you," He said, looking out over them all. "Get some rest. You may need it if Perseus' forces do decide to come." Jason flinched at the name. He still hadn't gotten used to or even properly accepted that the Hero of Olympus was now its greatest enemy, and that the humble and kind son of Poseidon was determined to kill them all. None of them had. None of them would.

"Hey guys!" Alex called, approaching them. He pointed a thumb back at their friends. "Me and the guys were gonna go find somewhere to sit outside, get a nice view. Wanna come?" He offered.

In truth, Ari was not at all eager to go out into the cold morning air, and she voice this opinion. "Uh, hello, it's like 5 degrees in here! Outside's probably way worse." She said, crossing her arms. Alex shrugged. "Catch some sun then." He advised, but she countered this. "I'll catch some wind, you mean."

The daughter of Poseidon was stubborn, and Michael got tired of this. "Oh for crying out loud! Just take my coat then, you baby." He sighed in defeat, slipping his fur coat around his girlfriend's shoulders. She smiled at the warmth and kissed his cheek, making Alex and Estelle once again gag. "Such a gentleman." Ari smirked. Michael rolled his eyes. "Come on then, let's go." He said.

The four of them met with Aaron and Crassus, and the gang ventured out into the mountain. They took a different hallway to the one to lookouts had gone down, and within minutes they found a staircase off to the right. It looked promising to the demigods, so they ascended, and doing so would be one of the greatest mistakes of their lives.

Not because there were traps or monsters or anything, but because the climb was so damn long. Arianna, despite her training and stamina, found herself panting after the first full minute. After two minutes, she was nearly dead, and half a minute later they reached the top.

Crassus was the first to reach the top, and he looked around in sheer confusion. "Okay, that stairway is magic, because we did not climb enough for this." He said, gesturing to the view.

Ari was third to summit the steps, and soon she realised what her friend was talking about.

They stood at the peak of Mount Saint Helens, or one of them at least, on a small cliff that jutted out from the cave entrance. They were far too high up for it to have been only a two and a half minute climb, likely confirming Crassus' suspicion that the stairs were enchanted to allow for a quicker trek up to the top.

"Wow, you can see everything from up here. This... this shouldn't be possible." Aaron said, scratching his arm. Ari did a 360 degree turn and realised her friend was correct. They could clearly see the ocean, which was not possible from the peak of Mount Saint Helens. It was as if their rendering distance had been increased a thousand fold. As she turned north, she could swear the landmass she was looking at was Canada.

The group stared out in wonder across the many mountains and the fields and the hills, far past the cities and borders and coastlines. They stared until one of them noticed something in the distance. "What is that?" Estelle asked, walking closer to the edge and squinting out at the distance. The group walked up beside her and looked out, noticing something faint.

It was a blur from such a distance, but it was big, far too big to be a vehicle, and it was moving in their direction. They all pieced it together relatively quickly, but Arianna was the one to speak the name aloud. "Perseus."

The second she said that, they all shot into action. The six of them clambered back into the cave and rushed down the steps. It was made all the much harder by the fact that they were descending stairs, and could only move so fast. Many times Alex at the front was nearly shoved over by the group behind them as they tried to get back to the forge to warn everyone. They couldn't be sure that the lookouts had seen what they had seen.

Since they were running, it took only a minute to reach the bottom, and they sprinted for the forge where they had left all their allies. When they reached the large clearing, it was nearly empty, save for the Seven.

Jason marched over, slightly annoyed. "There you are, what took you so long?" He demanded, mainly from his own son. Michael was silent for a second, shocked at his father's snappish attitude. "We-" He tried, but Jason sighed. "Sorry, just... Perseus' army is here. We've sent the war children out to defend the mountain, but we're going to stay in here." He told them.

Ari stood forward in disbelief at the son of Jupiter. "Stay here? What the hell is that gonna do when our friends are out there fighting by themselves? Did you not hear how many there were? There must have been hundreds, thousands!" She cried, shocked that he would even contemplate sitting inside the mountain.

Annabeth spoke up from beside Jason, saving the two from an argument neither wanted to have. "It's best if we stay inside, Ari. It wasn't just monsters out there, it was..." She choked on her words a bit. "The Athena kids said they saw Percy, or at least how he had been described at Olympus. Head of the army along with a few others, tall, menacing. Different from the monsters, at least." She said. "If Percy's here, I don't think he intends to stay on the field." She said.

Jason clenched his fists. "That isn't Percy." He grumbled with gritted teeth. Annabeth looked down in sadness, realising he was right.

Ari looked over to her boyfriend, who was still in a bit of a shock from his father snapping at him like that. He made a side-glance towards her and smiled reassuringly, despite the tense atmosphere.

The group of friends walked over to one of the rock walls, away from the Seven, and Ari leaned against the hard rock. She rubbed her face tiredly, and her sister came closer. Needing the support, she transferred her weight onto her sister's shoulder while she did the same, and the two stood practically holding each other up.

Arianna thought back to everything that had happened the past couple of weeks. One day she was fine, eating breakfast in the dining pavilion with her fellow demigods. Her friends were still happy, Selena was still there, Percy was dead. Then it all went wrong. Now Chiron and most of the Greeks were dead, Selena and Artemis were missing and likely kidnapped, and everything was just so confusing.

"So, like, what do we do after we hold this? Do we stay here or head back and let this place be taken?" Crassus asked, and none of them could answer. It all seemed so pointless. If they stayed here for the whole war, New Rome would surely fall without its best fighters, but if they left then the enemy would have a gigantic advantage over the demigods. It was all so futile.

"I just wanna go home." Alex said weakly, crossing his arms sort of in a self-comforting fashion. Aaron frowned and put a hand on his companion's shoulder, but it didn't do much to help.

Suddenly Michael's head snapped up like a dog, and he was now on high alert. "Did you hear that?" He asked, and the rest of them frowned at each other. They turned around to find that the Seven had also been alerted by the noise, and were gripping their weapons tight.

With a loud bang, the great doors to the tunnel burst open, and Ari felt herself become heavy and slow. She felt like she could hardly raise her arms, and as she looked she saw she was raising her arms, but extremely slowly. Seemingly the only part of her still working at a normal speed were her eyes and brain.

Everyone else in the room seemed affected by this, or at least her friends. Much of the Seven still seemed free, if a bit disoriented and confused. Her eyes snapped to the door and widened.

Five dark shapes sped out of the blackness, quicker than anything she had seen before, and she felt her breathing constricted slightly.

Suddenly she could move normally again, except that she couldn't as she felt something holding her back. When she looked side to side, the daughter of Poseidon realised there was an arm around her waist, and a familiar blade at her throat. "S-Selena?" She asked raspily, only for the hold on her waist to tighten.

"Be quiet and do as I tell you." She said quickly, and Ari's mind went into overdrive. She looked around the room and her eyes widened. Four of her own friends suffered similar fates.

Michael was held by the other girl, Estelled by the smallest guy, Aarom by the largest guy, and Crassus by the other guy. Alex stood off to the side in panic, and backed up close to the Seven. Hazel and Annabeth parted to let him stand next to them, as the Seven had formed a back-to-back circle in the middle of the room.

As the demigods calculated what to do next, a sharp clapping came from the dark hall. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. And from the shadows emerged a man, a greatly powerful man, and one Ari knew immediately. Some may have thought of him as the devil, with his charming looks and malicious grin and devious eyes, but she knew that face. It was the face of legends, legends that were far from the present truth.

Perseus, Bane of Olympus.

"Oh dear, Jace. I knew you were never much of a tactician, but come on. Did you really think that you could hold this place with such a meager force? I'm afraid all you've done is divide and conquer, minus the important bit." He chuckled, strutting into the room with the swagger of a movie villain.

Jason glared. Perhaps no one hated the man in front of him as much as the Son of Jupiter. Most were confused, in denial. Jason Grace was unforgiving. "You." He hissed you clenched teeth.

Perseus carried on though, ignoring the comment. "I mean, you had Reyna to convince you not to do this, or did she perhaps come up with it? I don't know the current chain of command at Camp Jupiter, but I do know they're left without gods to pray to like usual. I mean, you of all people, Wise Girl, should have noticed how stupid this is." He ranted.

"What do you want, Percy?" Frank asked, eyeing the other people in the room warily. Percy laughed.

"You know, have I even introduced you to my children yet? Ooh yeah, bet you didn't know I had kids. Well, except for the one I actually had, over there." He said, pointing at Selena. Ari's breath hitched for a moment as she thought he was pointing at her, and despite having listened to the conversation, thought hid pointing would signal her execution.

"Well that one holding my dear sister is Urion, the youngest. The one with the big boy son of Ares, dios de la guerra, is my boy Achilles. The guy with the other dude I don't know is Calix, and the girl holding your son is her older twin, Larissa." He introduced.

Larissa, as he said, rolled her eyes. "Dad, can you hurry up?" She asked impatiently, and he chuckled. "Okay, okay, here's what we're gonna do. We all know you can't fight us, so I'm willing to make a deal. You can leave happy as Larry and we will not attack you on your return to New Rome, provided you hurry your asses up of course." He said.

Jason looked around at the five hostages. The god sighed in defeat. "What's the catch?" He asked blandly, knowing there was something else to this. Percy smiled and looked down, then looking back up to meet his eyes. "My sisters are coming with us." He declared.

Instantly, Estelle cried out and both girls rushed forward to escape their captors' grips. Estelle was unsuccessful, as Urion put pressure on the knife to her neck, but Selena lost control over Arianna.

The girl tumbled forward, and suddenly all eyes were on her. She drew her swords and Selena stepped back a bit. "Ari-" She tried, but was immediately cut off.

"Don't! Shut up! You're working with them! The same people who destroyed camp, who doomed New Rome!" She cried, nearly in tears of rage as she brandished her weapon. No one moved to stop her, so Selena sighed.

"Please. We just want you safe, both of you. They won't hurt you, mom and I will take care of you. You're our family. We want you to come home." She pleaded, and Ari laughed.

"Home?! They took my home from me! How can I trust you?!" She shouted. "Ari-" An adult voice said from behind her, and she whirled around. "Shut up! How could you! You were a hero! We looked up to you!" She was on the verge of sobbing as she looked her older brother in the eye. "Mom and dad would be ashamed of you." She whispered.

That sentence broke the Dark Lord's heart, but he did his best not to show it. "I spoke with her." He told her, and for a second Ari's arm failed and she lowered her blade. "W-what?" She asked with a shaky voice.

Percy swallowed. "I spoke with her, and Paul, by their graves at Montauk. They want you to come with me, both of you. They want you safe." He tried convincing them, and try as she might, Ari could not find a hint of deceit on his face.

The teen backed up a bit, before remembering Selena was behind her and whirling around, expecting an attack. Selena had not moved, however, but was frightened by her friend's scared and aggressive movements.

"Ari!" She heard Estelle shout, and she turned to her adoptive sister. The huntress shook her head. "Don't go with them!" She warned her, and Ari already knew that was her course of action. She would not abandon her friends for a family she never knew. Not like Selena.

"What happened to you Percy? This is not you. The Percy I knew would never turn his back on his friends. He would never actively seek to hurt them. This is not the Percy we loved, that Artemis loved, that the world loved." Annabeth said, her dagger wielded by a shaky hand.

Percy rolled his eyes. "The Percy you knew was a wreck thanks to the small event of being dumped by his soulmate, or who he thought was his soulmate anyway. You know, Artemis and I are getting married after this war. Like a real one with cake and shit. If we're still on such good terms, I'll be sure to invite you all." He joked.

Hazel shook her head. "Percy, I know the gods are bad, that's no secret. But... do all these people deserve to die?" The daughter of Pluto asked.

The former son of Poseidon was silent for a moment, his face darkened at her question. "The gods are tyrants. The demigods are silent. It really seems that I was the only one brave enough to stand up to them, and as we all know: 'If you are neutral in times of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.'"

"We're not letting you take them." Jason said, and Percy suddenly spun around as if only just remembering he was there. "Oh, really?" He asked in fake astonishment. "Larissa." He said slightly, as if an unspoken order.

Surprising everyone in the room, the silent Jackson girl suddenly spun Michael around and grabbed his arm, throwing him over the cliff and into the magma. Or, at least she would have if she didn't grab onto his wrist and keep him there as he was mid-fall.

Jason and Piper shot forward to go help but were blocked by Percy. "Oh, Amazing Graces, we may have a deal. How's this. We'll let you all go, blonde kid included, on the condition that you not only give us the girls, but you also agree to surrender and cease from attacking us any longer." He proposed.

Jason's fists were clenched. Steam was practically pouring out of his ears, but he somehow managed to keep it cool. "Jason." Piper whispered from beside him, and the god looked to his immortal wife. She nodded silently, and he turned back to Percy.

Percy raised two fingers, ready to snap in a moment's notice. "It may be very hard to kill gods, but it is very easy to do so much worse to you." He threatened. In lieu of his words, Jason had decided that he had had enough.

With the swiftness of Hermes and the strength of Ares, he shocked everyone in the room with one move, and punched Perseus in the face.

The deity stumbled back, clutching his nose, and Michael moved into action. Before Larissa could react, he latched his other hand onto her arm and pulled to the left.

The two swung around each other, and as Michael'd hoped, he ended up swinging back to the ledge. Larissa, on the other hand, was thrown towards the magma pit and stumbled against the ledge.

Estelle saw everything going on and took the chance to escape, delivering an aggressive stomp to her nephew's foot. More shocked than anything, Urion let go of her, and the huntress drew her blades.

Urion got over the pain quickly and drew his own, getting in a defensive stance. Estelle had never paid much attention to that half of training, so she had no idea how to break his defense. As such, the girl merely lunged at him swinging wildly.

The son of Perseus was much more skilled than that, and he parried her knives with one hand. With the other, he flipped the knife around and brought his fist back against her face. The butt of the dagger smashed into her cheek, sending a shockwave through the Blofis girl's head.

Surprisingly, she managed to hold her ground, and merely spat out a bit of blood.

Aaron, who was held by the second son Achilles, brought his back quickly against his opponent's face, surely damaging his nose. The strong godling grunted, falling back and clutching his nose in pain. Aaron got his sword out and went for the strike, not caring how much of a dick move that was.

Achilles saw this coming and looked up at him with one eye. With seemingly no effort, he brought his godly axe up from out of nowhere, and Aaron's eyes widened as the gilded blade sliced through his sword.

Calix saw his siblings all lose their hostages and prepared, tightening his grip on Crassus when he tried to escape. "Oh no you don't." He hissed, trapping the son of Dionysus.

The room was in a standoff. Perseus and his children were outnumbered, but they all knew that no one of them could take any of them. The battle would be tough, but just maybe it could be anyone's game.

Larissa growled as she struggled to hold onto the side of the rock, and looked up. Michael still hadn't walked away from the ledge, and the eldest daughter of Perseus smirked. She was sweating due to the heat, and the silver-streaked hair was falling in front of her eyes.

Despite this, she persevered, carefully climbing the wall. Her hands gripped every nook one by one silently, and it seemed no one noticed her ascent. Perseus was still staring Jason dead in the eye, bloody-faced. With one cold armored hand, he wiped the blood away.

"Well, I guess the tables have turned." Jason said, not with arrogance and sureness. Percy's eyes darted around the room, looking for all the ways he could perhaps get an upper hand. One of the demigods was still in the clutch of his son, but one hostage would not be enough to hold off thirteen people all in the same room.

As Larissa's arm finally surfaced over the edge, his eyes widened slightly. Her other arm came up, and she reached down to her pocket. With silence and determination, she drew a small pocket knife, which glinted in the torch and magma light. He smirked towards his old friends. "Have they?"

With true fury and loathing, Larissa drove the knife into Michael's leg, eliciting a cry of pain. They all whirled around to view the commotion, only to see the eldest daughter of Perseus beaching herself on the rock and trying to stand up.

In grief and fear for her son, Piper drew Katatoptris and charged Larissa, who was crawling over to Michael, either to finish the job or take him hostage again. She saw the woman coming and brought up her knife to block.

The small pocket knife didn't do much however, as Katatoptris missed and plunged into Larissa's hand. The room's knees weakened as the sound of bone being destroyed rang out, and Larissa screamed. She yanked her hand away, bringing Katatoptris with it, and Piper was left unarmed.

While Jason's back was turned, Percy took the chance to strike back by transforming his sword into a hammer and swinging. The rectangular rock collided with the centre of Jason's back, eliciting a loud crack and sending the son of Jupiter flying.

The entire room shot into action as the Seven dispersed, going to help their younger companions against the threats. Annabeth threw Piper a spare dagger, and the daughter of Aphrodite caught it competently.

Frank ran to help Aaron fight Achilles, Piper once again ran to her son, Annabeth helped deal with Urion, Leo and Alex went to free Crassus from Calix's grasp, and Hazel joined Ari in helping to talk Selena down.

"Selena, please, don't do this." Ari begged the niece she thought of as a sister. The daughter of Percy Jackson backed up at the two armed individuals approaching her, and brought up her sword defensively. "Back up! Stay the fuck back!" She yelled, startling the two girls.

"Selena, just put down the sword. We can get you out of here, we can take you home." Hazel negotiated, but the girl laughed. The laugh was nervous, Ari realised, she was unsure of what to do with the two of them cornering her.

"Home? What home? Olympus has fallen, Camp Half-Blood is gone, the Hunters are in hiding, and New Rome will fall within the next week, at the most." She told them. Ari shook her head. "No, Selena. I don't wanna sound corny, but home isn't a place. It's where your friends are." She told her.

Selena shook her head. "You're wrong. Nothing's more important than family, home is where your family is, and I'm with mine." She said, nodding her head to her siblings who were currently engaged in fights with the others.

Crassus had broken free of Urion's grip, and he was now fighting three people at once, one of them a god. "Sis! A little help!?" He yelled, catching the attention of Larissa. With quick thinking, she grabbed the crippled demigod and pulled him to his feet, pressing her blade against his neck. "Don't move or he's dead." She threatened to Piper, who cursed.

"Leo!" She yelled, and the god in question turned around. "Shit." He muttered, fiddling around with his pockets looking for something useful. He found something, which resembled a crossbow, except instead of a sharp-tipped bolt it had a rock on the end.

He took quick aim at Larissa and fired, and the girl had to side-step in order to not be thrown into the hot pit. As the younger girl was forced to let go of her hostage, Piper whirled around. "You could have killed him!" She scolded, and the son of Hephaestus shrugged. "Hey, you, go help them. We can hold skinny penis off." He said, talking to Alex. The son of Apollo nodded, running off to aid Michael and Piper.

Urion looked offended by the name, and lunged at Leo with his knives.

Ari frowned at Selena's words. "We're your family too, Selena. We're practically sisters. We were brought up together. How... How could you betray us like this?!" She said, getting angry again, and Selena looked on the verge of breaking down. "That's why you need to come with me. Both of you. Dad will protect you two from the war. You can stay behind with mom, she's neutral. Please, come with us." She said, reaching out a hand.

Hazel looked at Ari, as if waiting for her decision. The girl in question had tears in her eyes as she shook her head, staring at her niece and friend. "I don't even recognize you anymore." She hissed, making Selena back up a bit. "You're not Selena. The Selena I know would never betray her friends, would never side with the enemy. The Selena I know is gone."

Selena was nearly crying and her lower lip trembled. "Family, Ari." She whispered. "We're family." Ari shook her head, sucking up the tears. Her face was stone cold as she got in a fighting stance. "You're no family of mine."

I had no idea where to end this chapter. Originally it was gonna be like 8000 words, then I thought I'll split it in half and end it when Percy enters the room, now I'm gonna end it here. Be prepared, people are gonna die in the next chapter. Shits gonna get real. Also, what did you think of that ending? I thought I'd make it emotional just so you guys hate me I guess. I'll probably update No Choice next. @Paige_9900 gave me a good idea that can actually get some character development and will help work on Artedite's relationship. Now, I just realised I'm gonna become a senior tomorrow, so I'm gonna go get some McDonald's. Adios.

Word Count: 5826