Will

As I fought my way through the endless wave of demigods and demi-titans, my thoughts kept shifting back to Nico. Seeing him disappear right in front of my eyes, knowing that he was going to try and rescue the prisoners, scared me. 

It scared me because Perseus wasn't on the battlefield. No, he was waiting inside Olympus, waiting for the arrival of Artemis, Apollo, Hades, and my dear sweet boyfriend. 

I gritted my teeth and swung my sword, cutting a deep gash in the demigod's armour that I was currently fighting. He stumbled back in shock, and I knocked him out with a hard kick to his head. 

Nico will be alright. I know he will be. The small son of Hades had gone through Tartarus a second time just to save some of the Olympians and bring them back safely. 

Hell, he's heck of a lot stronger than me, that's for sure. 

I heard an enraged yell echo throughout the battlefield, and I spotted the former lieutenant of Artemis drive her hunting knives through the chestplate of one of the demigods from our army. 

"Why won't you all just get out of my way and die?!" Zoe snarled as she shoved the demigod aside roughly. She raised her knives to finish the demigod off when a blur of silver appeared in front of her and her prey. 

Zoe blinked in shock as I saw another girl standing between Zoe and the demigod. She was wearing the traditional outfit that the hunters of Artemis usually wore, and a bow was clutched in her hand. 

"Phoebe." Clarisse said in confusion. "What? I thought she died years ago...." "Percy must have brought her back to life." Katie interjected. "He probably brought her back to make her serve him, and then she defected." 

"I knew you would betray us." Zoe growled at Phoebe. "Oh well, now I get to kill you!" The daughter of Atlas swiped at Phoebe with her knives, but Phoebe vaulted back, landing lightly on her feet. She quickly drew her bow and shot an arrow, impaling Zoe in the leg. 

Zoe cried out in pain, and Phoebe turned to the stunned demigod on the floor behind her. "Quick! Get out of here!" The demigod quickly jumped to his feet and ran off, away from the two former hunters of Artemis. 

Snarling, Zoe pulled the arrow out of her leg, throwing it aside and brandishing her knives. "Percy should have killed you once he found out that you had plans to defect." 

Phoebe dropped her bow to pull out her hunting knives, a scowl on her face. "Well, I'm sorry to say this, but he didn't." 

I exchanged a look with Clarisse, and we rushed forwards to stand beside Phoebe, who gave us a confused look. "What are you two doing here?" 

"We're here to help you kill this bitch." Clarisse replied, raising her spear that crackled with electricity. Phoebe raised an eyebrow before giving Clarisse a small smile. "I'd appreciate that." 

Zoe's eye twitched at being called a bitch, and she lunged at Clarisse in anger. Before she could even land an attack on the daughter of Ares, Phoebe had rushed in, delivering a strong kick to Zoe's midsection. 

She staggered back, hunching over, and I took the chance to stab Zoe in the side with my sword. 

The black haired woman's eyes widened in shock, and Phoebe whispered "You're getting what you deserve. And what you deserve is death." As Phoebe finished speaking, she drew her bow again and shot one final arrow.

The arrow embedded itself in Zoe's throat, and with a strangled cry, she fell to the floor. Phoebe lowered her bow, staring at the still form of her once best friend, 

"With Zoe dead, surely this would enrage Percy." I said as Phoebe slung her bow over her shoulder. "Yes, it would. Perseus is inside Olympus right now, fighting a group of your friends." The ex-huntress mused. 

My heart rate quickened at hearing that, and I grabbed Phoebe by the arm, surprising her. "What? How long ago did you see them?" The girl's lip curled at being touched by me, but she didn't pull away.

"I just left Olympus about fifteen minutes ago. Why are you so concerned?" "Are you kidding me?" Clarisse asked in disbelief at the ridiculously stupid question. "We're concerned because this is Perseus they're fighting! He'll kill them without a second thought!" 

Phoebe lifted her gaze to the castle, a frown appearing on her face. "What was your plan, exactly?"

"Well, part of our plan was to go rescue the prisoners." I said. "Nico and Hades would shadow-travel Artemis and Apollo inside with them." 

Phoebe's face paled at the mention of Apollo. "I didn't see Apollo with the group that was fighting Perseus." 

I quickly turned and gave Clarisse a horrified expression. The daughter of Ares had a similar look mirrored on her face. "No." I whispered, clutching the hilt of my sword tightly. "No, he can't- My dad-" 

"I'm sorry." Phoebe said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But I'm sure your dad won't want to see you like this. He would want you to continue to fight for what is right. For the world." 

I stared at the ex-huntress, mulling over what she had said. She was right, Apollo wouldn't want me to give up now and grieve over his death. I had to continue to fight and give it my all.

"Thank you." I said, and Phoebe gave me a nod. The three of us turned and ran forwards to engage the remaining members of Percy's army. 

Nico

I jumped back to avoid a hit from Percy, and I landed next to Artemis. I put my hands on my knees, breathing hard. My whole body ached, and I had received multiple wounds from my cousin. 

Hades appeared beside me, glaring angrily at the King of Olympus. Percy smiled, and he was about to attack us again when he stiffened, his eyes widening in shock and horror. 

He dropped his scythe, and stumbled back, his hands going to his face. "Zoe." Percy whispered, his hands trembling. "No, this can't be possible." 

I glanced at my dad, but he had a huge grin on his face. "Father. What's happening?" I asked. 

"Zoe Nightshade is dead. That's why he's reacting like that." Hades explained, gripping his sword. "So our army managed to do something. They took out Perseus' own girlfriend."

Percy's head snapped up, his eyes burning with a fierce hatred. I took a step back from the rage Percy was practically emitting. "They took her." The former son of Poseidon muttered. His gaze honed in on our small group as fire erupted around him. "You killed her!"

"I don't get why you're still smiling." Ares said from behind Hades and I. "Rage is like fuel. When someone experiences rage or anger, they get stronger because they don't think." 

"I'm smiling because we at least did something." Hades answered. "We got some sort of revenge for everything Perseus did to us. Even if we do fall here today, we also took the love of Perseus' life." 

My cousin grew even more furious at Hades' words, and he charged towards us. Percy thrust his scythe out, going for Hades' chest. My dad jumped back, but he didn't see the tendril of fire that came of nowhere to wrap around his arm. 

Hades gritted his teeth in pain as the fire burned him, but he summoned shadows to swat the fire tendril away. Percy didn't stop his relentless attacks as more fire appeared around my dad. 

"Father!" I shouted as Percy sent Hades crashing to the floor with a hard fist to the jaw. I ran forwards but Percy simply thrust his hand out. A wall of earth rose up in front of me and then abruptly moved forwards, slamming hard into my chest. 

I stumbled back just as chains appeared around my ankles, forcing me to the ground. I looked up in shock to see Percy impale Hades in the shoulder with his scythe, pinning my dad's body to the floor. 

"You can't shadow-travel away this time." My cousin snarled. 

Ares, Hestia, and Artemis tried to move towards Percy, but more chains appeared out of nowhere to bind the three weakened Gods. Reyna and Jason stayed back, knowing that anything they tried would result in them getting restrained as well. 

"Let's see." Percy mused, kneeling down beside Hades and staring down at the trapped God. "What should I do to you?" 

"Please, don't kill him!" I shouted from my position on the floor. "If anything, kill me instead!" 

Percy glanced at me, a wicked smile appearing on his face. He disappeared and appeared beside me, scaring the shit out of me. His hand shot out, gripping me by the jaw and forcing me to look at him. 

"I know about your small crush on that son of Apollo." My cousin murmured, his breath tickling my face. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my best not to have my whole body tremble with fear. 

"Maybe I could kill him, and make you watch as the life leaves his eyes." Percy whispered, tightening his grip on my jaw. My eyes shot open at that and I glared fiercely at him. "Don't you dare touch Will!" 

Percy chuckled and released me, taking a few steps back. "That actually sounds like a great idea. An eye for an eye, or should I say, a loved one for a loved one?" 

"STOP! LEAVE WILL ALONE!" I screamed, clawing at the chains trapping me. I can't lose another person I care about. 

Percy turned away from me, and he was about to probably head out to find and kill Will when something hit Percy in the face. 

The former son of Poseidon flinched from the unexpected attack, and I heard footsteps approaching. I saw a guy approaching us, his face full of anger and surprise at the same time.

"Frank!" Jason shouted, his face showing some relief at the newcomer. Percy clicked his tongue and bent down to pick up the object that had struck him. He held it out and I saw that it was the broken shaft of a broomstick. 

"That's rude." Percy said, throwing the object away. "But that was quite a throw." 

Frank spotted Ares among the small crowd of people, and his expression changed to confusion. "Dad?" Ares grimaced as his form flickered, and I knew what was going on. Frank was roman, and his dad was Ares' roman aspect, Mars. 

"Right, sorry. Ares." Frank said quickly before he turned his attention back to Percy. His eyes scanned the current predicament: Ares, Hestia, and Artemis were currently not able to fight. Hades and I were also not able to fight, which leaves Frank, Reyna, and Jason. 

The full situation crashed down heavily on my shoulders, and I almost wanted to break down and cry. Frank, Jason and Reyna had no weapons, and they were weak from spending five years as prisoners. 

I thought that we would have a chance. A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. But Percy was simply out of our league. 

We were going to lose. 

Word count: 1874

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