CASSIDY DIDN'T KNOW WHEN EXACTLY THEY'D PASSED OUT. They recalled stumbling through the forest, using the low-hanging branches as handrails. They'd placed Apollo on Fluffy's back. Branches and twigs snapped. A woman with tinted glasses and a silver and gold tiara in her dark braided hair appeared accompanied by two lions. Their memory failed them from there and faded into a dream.

"Something’s moving above us" Annabeth whispered. "Gather up" She, Cassidy Bob and Percy closed ranks, standing back to back. Cassidy strained their eyes, trying to spot movement in the dark. They couldn’t see anything. Not until the first minster monster dropped to the ground only five feet away. The first thing Cassidy thought of was Percy's former demon grandmother math teacher. They'd never had the pleasure of meeting Alecto as Mrs Dodds but they'd heard a lot from Percy and the time the furies tried to kill them in a bus when they were twelve left quite a lasting impression.

Whatever this thing was looked almost exactly like a fury. A wrinkled hag with bat-like wings, brass talons and glowing red eyes. She wore a tattered dress of black silk, and her face was twisted and ravenous. Every bit the demonic grandmother the furies were. Bob grunted as another one dropped in front of him, and then two more in front of Percy and Cassidy. Soon there were half a dozen surrounding them. More hissed in the trees above. They were clearly demon grandmothers, just not furies because there were only three of those.

"What are you?" Annabeth demanded. "The arai. The curses!" A voice hissed. Cassidy couldn't locate the one who'd spoken. The problem was that none of the demon grandmothers had moved their mouths. Their eyes looked dead, their expressions were frozen, like a puppet's. "What- what do you want?" Annabeth asked, her voice wavering as she tried to maintain a tone of confidence. The voice cackled maliciously. "To curse you, of course! To destroy you a thousand times in the name of Mother Night!"

"Only a thousand times?" Percy murmured. "Oh, good… I thought we were in trouble" The circle of demon grandmothers closed in. A voice that didn't belong to the arai called out Cassidy's name as the first one lunged. He reacted quickly, charging them with a dagger in each hand.

Tartarus disappeared. A wooden floor replaced the red ground. The sun shone in through a nearby window, covering the room in pleasant light. Cassidy struggled to catch their breath, their heart pumped wildly in their chest. It wasn't an arai they were attacking. The arm with the raised dagger fell to their side, the weapon clattering to the ground. Cassidy felt two sets of hands latch on to them, pulling them away. They spoke to him but their voices seemed distant and incoherent. They buried their face in their hands and pressed their legs against their chest, curling into themselves. It wasn't the arai themselves that had scarred them that day but the taste of the madness that they inflicted on others. Specifically the madness they had inflicted on their stepfather.

The worst part? Even after they had felt the agony they caused him they didn't regret it. They never truly would. What sort of monster did that make them? Cassidy didn't know how much time had passed until they finally calmed down. Realistically it could have only been a few seconds or minutes but it felt like hours. They slowly raised their head, forcing themselves to meet the others' eyes. Will and Nico stood on either side of Apollo. All three of them looked at him with concern. It made their stomach turn knowing they didn't deserve it. Apollo had a cut on his neck, Cassidy knew that was probably their doing. "Sorry" they muttered.

"Cass, what happened?" Will asked gently. Cassidy tried a casual shrug "Nightmares, you know how it is" They decided to change the topic before Will could ask any more questions. They hadn't spoken a word about what happened in Tartarus to anybody, including Percy and Annabeth, and they sure as hell weren't going to start now. "How long was I out?" They asked.

"It's noon now. You, Fluffy and Apollo arrived at six in the morning" Nico said. "Six hours!?" Cassidy got up immediately, secretly relieved when their legs didn't give way under them again. "We need to find Meg, now. Where's Fluffy?"

"We'll go but we might have to leave Fluffy" Apollo said. "Leave Fluffy? Are you crazy? Neither of you are at a hundred percent" Will protested. "Let us help you" Nico said. "Tell us where she is and I can shadowtravel-" he began "No!" Apollo snapped catching everyone, including Cassidy by surprise. "No, you have to stay here and protect the camp" Will gave him a look of apprehension "Protect the camp from what?"

"I- I’m not sure. You must tell Chiron the emperors have returned. Or rather, they never went away. They’ve been plotting, building their resources for centuries" Apollo said Nico’s eyes glinted warily. "When you say emperors-" he began "I mean the Roman ones" Apollo confirmed. Cassidy's head spun, what the fuck had happened while they were out? Will stepped back. "You’re saying the emperors of ancient Rome are alive? How? The Doors of Death?"

"No. The emperors made themselves gods. They had their own temples and altars. They encouraged the people to worship them" Apollo said "But that was just propaganda. They weren’t really divine" Nico protested. Lester laughed mirthlessly. "Gods are sustained by worship, son of Hades.
They continue to exist because of the collective memories of a culture. It’s true for the Olympians; it’s also true for the emperors. Somehow, the most powerful of them have survived. All these centuries, they have clung to halflife, hiding, waiting to reclaim their power" Will shook his head. "That’s impossible"

"How did nobody notice this?" Cassidy asked as they pulled a purple coat over their camp half-blood t-shirt. "I don’t know! Tell Rachel the men behind Triumvirate Holdings are former emperors of Rome. They’ve been plotting against us all this time, and we gods have been blind. Blind" Apollo stated "The Beast is planning some sort of attack on the camp. I don’t know what, and I don’t know when, but tell Chiron you must be prepared. Me and Cassidy have to go"

"Wait!" Will called as the two of them reached the door. "Who is the Beast? Which emperor are we dealing with?" He asked. "The worst of my descendants. The Christians called him the Beast because he burned them alive. Our enemy is Emperor Nero" With that Apollo broke into a run towards the armoury, Cassidy ran after him, pushing down the several questions that were bubbling on the tip of their tongue.

Several campers gave the two strange looks. Some called after them, offering help, but Apollo ignored them. Cassidy turned them down curtly, they needed to get to Meg as soon as possible. When they reached the armoury Apollo picked out a bow, the same one Cassidy had tried to give him yesterday. "Are you sure?" The child of Dionysus asked.

"I already broke the oath" Apollo replied, studying the bow. He then looked up at the sky "If you want to punish me, Father, be my guest, but have the courage to hurt me directly, not my mortal companion. BE A MAN!" He yelled. Surprisingly, the sky remained clear and not a single rumble of thunder was heard. Cassidy gaped at him "Woah tone it down sunshine. I'm no fan of Zeus and I'm all for insulting gods but you're already twice cursed" they warned.

"To Tartarus with him" Apollo muttered back, grabbing a quiver and stuffed it with all the extra arrows he could find. Cassidy winced at the name, they were glad Apollo wasn't looking at them. The sky above remained surprisingly clear. Once he was done he nodded at Cassidy "Lead the way"

The two of them ran through the woods, Cassidy followed a path they commonly used for capture the flag. As they passed Zeus's Fist Cassidy took a second to give the pile of rocks the middle finger. Soon they were crouched behind a fallen tree, studying the myrmekes’ lair in the clearing ahead. A steady stream of soldier and drone ants swarmed in and out of the mound. Some carried fallen trees. One was dragging a car. They'd given up trying to count the ants. "Just follow my lead" Apollo nocked an arrow and stepped into the clearing. Cassidy drew their daggers and followed.

When the nearest myrmeke spotted the two, he dropped his car. He watched them approach, his antennae bobbing. Cassidy's grip tightened on their daggers but Apollo subtly shook his head. He ignored the bug and strolled past, heading for the nearest tunnel entrance. That confused both the Myrmeke and Cassidy. Regardless, the child of Dionysus followed, holding their head high. Several other ants gathered to watch which caused Cassidy's nerves to spike. "Apollo, what are you doing?" They whispered.

"I’ve learned that if you act like you are supposed to be somewhere, most people or ants will not confront you" Apollo whispered back. "You better be right about this" Cassidy murmured. Turns out he was, in fact, right about it. They made it all the way to the inside of the nest without being challenged. Then Apollo began to sing.

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[Edited?: Yes]

[Author's note: Haha angst go bbrrrrr

Unlike the previous one I really enjoyed writing this chapter]
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