Guess what! I'm still alive yayyy. Turns out month long vacations and back to school work is terrible for updating time.

Harry's POV

I stood warily, helping Hermione up as well. The Great Hall was in ruins, the majority of the school had been enslaved and were on their way to Olympus, and no one knew what was coming. There was going to be a massacre unless we could stop it.

I looked to my left, seeing Sophia approaching us warily. "What were those things?" she croaked, dusty and defeated.

I shook my head. "Nothing I'd know anything about. Even Percy couldn't identify them. Hermione?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. But we need help. The three of us won't do anything against an army of that size."

I groaned. "Who's going to help us? If we're going to stop this, we're going to need some serious firepower."

As if on cue, a bronze dragon flew through the hole Steven had created in the wall. From its back came two figures.

"Did someone say firepower?"

Leo.

I let out a sigh of relief. Then I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are you doing here?" He grinned cheekily at me, slinging his arm around Calypso.

"Just on my way from Hong Kong. We were going to Paris, but then I heard firepower and couldn't help myself." He raised an eyebrow. "So what happened to this place? It looks like one of the gods was trying to kill Percy again."

I tilted my head to the side. "Well, pretty much."

I told him about Steven, our problem, and the march upon Olympus that was going to occur unless we could stop it.

"So basically people are going to die because my dear old uncle Lightning Rod made a supreme screw up a hundred years ago?"

Sophia seemed to be considering his answer. "Yeah."

He cracked his knuckles and climbed back onto Festus. "Par for the course. What do you need me to do?"

Hermione answered for me. "I need you to take these two to Camp Half Blood, get Luna, Snape, and anyone else you think can help. Then lead them to Boston..."

She faltered as her eyes landed on Calypso, who was giving her the 'are you insane' look.

She took a deep breath. "Lead them to Boston so you can find Annabeth and have her take over as the team leader."

We let out a collective sigh of relief. "Meanwhile," she continued, "I need to find out what those spirits were, because they definitely weren't Eidolons. I don't know if you noticed, but did you see the blank looks in their eyes as they followed Steven? Whatever those things were controlling them, they weren't intelligent. I just hope the library's still intact. I'll Apparate to you once I'm done."

I looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure? Because I can stay and help. You don't even know where Camp Half Blood is."

She smiled softly at me. "Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out. Go save my idiot of a boyfriend."

Leo grinned, reaching a hand out to help the others onto the dragon. "Let's go, mis amigos. We've got some bad guys to beat."

I stared back at Hermione as she watched us fly dramatically off into the distance like characters from a movie. I was flying into the unknown, and this time without my friends to back me up. But this was so much bigger than Voldemort.

I couldn't sleep, knowing I could fall off of the dragon at any moment. Still, it was exhilarating, feeling the wind in my hair as the thrill of flight overwhelmed my senses again.

We reached the United States quickly. I didn't recognize the city or the people, but soon enough we were headed toward an assortment of cabins and training areas.

I watched the warriors spar and campers climb up and down a rock wall as lava spewed from all directions and life endangering obstacles popped out of the formation.

They seemed unfazed among the danger, and I realized that this was the haven of the demigods, where they train to protect and survive.

As soon as the dragon landed, we were swarmed by campers. Leo leaped off Festus, making muscles and acting like a superstar amidst hordes of paparazzi.

"I know the McShizzle is smoking, but you're gonna have to back off a little," Leo said, flashing smiles and waving the campers back, "On official hero business here."

I hopped off of Festus, catching stares from the demigods. They made me feel small and overdressed in my wizard robes and tie. I kept my head down nervously as I followed Leo to a black cabin straight out of Halloween.

It wasn't wooden like I'd expected a summer camp cabin to be. Instead, it was made of obsidian illuminated with a pair of green fire torches. The skull hanging above the door seemed to stare at us as Leo barged through the door.

"Nico Di Angelo," he bellowed, making Calypso roll her eyes, "You have been summoned before the Supreme Leader of the Argo II, Leo McShizzle Valdez, in order to save Uncle Lightning Rod's sorry-" He cut himself off abruptly, looking around the empty cabin.

He threw his arms up in the air, sighing. "He's not even here," Leo whined, "Let's go, Potter, I guess we're saving Olympus by ourselves."

I took Leo by the arm, feeling a burst of confidence now that we were no longer being stared at by the demigods. "Leo," I scolded mockingly as I dragged him out of the Hades Cabin, "What did Hermione tell you to do?"

I wasn't looking at him, but I was sure the son of Hephaestus was pouting like a five-year-old. "Get Annabeth."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Let Annabeth steal my hero moment, thus crushing my childhood dreams."

I grinned as I reached Festus, making Leo climb on. "Exactly."

As it turns out, we didn't even need to take off before the daughter of Athena found us. "Harry?" She asked, crossing her arms, "What are you doing here?"

I looked down at her from atop the gleaming bronze dragon. "Actually, looking for you."

She sighed, smacking her palm into her forehead. "Let me guess. Percy's been taken captive again."

I shrugged, not able to hold her pain-stricken gaze. "Kinda. I'll explain on the way."

Time Skip to Olympus. Are we gonna save Percy's butt, or are we gonna let Steven knock Zeus off of his throne? I'll be honest, probably both.

We crashed through Olympus, spurting fire and taking out soldier after soldier from Steven's army. He quivered in fear and begged for mercy, offering to escort himself to the Underworld without any trouble. Percy and Annabeth's reunion was a beautiful thing to watch. Ginny, surprisingly enough, collapsed into my arms, wrapping me in a powerful hug.

If only it had happened that way.

It happened slowly. There was no charge into battle, no declaration of war. It was just me, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, and Sophia in an elevator to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. I may not have been American, or even known about American monuments until now, but even I knew that the Empire State Building had a lot less than 600 floors.

Of course, I should not have been surprised. I was a wizard, we made the supposedly impossible possible every day. It was a subject in school.

The tensions were running high, and Annabeth's frantic muttering was not doing anything to help the mood.

"I leave that Seaweed Brain alone for one month to help out my cousin," she whispered under her breath, "And he goes and gets himself stuck in the Death Eater army. Typical."

I watched Sophia put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder, and I couldn't help but wish that Hermione and Ron were with me.

We had gone through so much together, and now we're all doing different things for the war. I was riding a metal box up to the battle, Hermione was doing her research thing trying to figure out what was up with Ron, who wasn't even going to be fighting on my side.

It had been my idea to keep the group down to a small elite team in order to surprise Steven.

We wouldn't be able to take out the entire army by ourselves, of course, but he was stronger than us in every way. We needed the element of surprise.

Of course, the first thing we would have to do was return some of the wizards and Percy to our side.

"Even one person can make a difference," I remember telling them, "And if that person is Percy Jackson, all the better."

The golden doors opened before us, and we crept along the walls towards the Olympian Council Room. I had to stop and stare at the beautiful architecture, despite the promise of doom that awaited us. I recalled Percy saying that some places were even more magnificent than Hogwarts, and now I realized he was right. Not even the founders could compare to Annabeth Chase.

Right before we entered, Annabeth stopped us. "Wait," she cautioned, "I knew something like this might happen again, a direct attack upon Olympus, so I made some secret entrances." She paused to smirk. "But don't tell Zeus that."

It led us a couple feet up from the floor, in a corner that was blocked from sight by a statue of Athena. It wasn't nearly as grand as the Athena Parthenos I had seen while flying over Half Blood Hill, but still a masterpiece.

I watched Steven, careful to stay hidden, as he paced before the cowering figure of Zeus.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, Zeusy," he said mockingly, "A chance to wreak my revenge upon the gods."

"No," Hades gasped, "No, this cannot be happening."

Steven only curled his lip in a sneer. "Oh, but it is, father. Think of it as the... How do mortals say it nowadays? Ah, yes. The teenage rebellion that I never got to have because you, the eldest of the three brothers, could not stop your puny little brother from killing your own son in cold blood."

"You made a mistake, keeping me out of the Fields of Asphodel," he continued, "You knew that Zeus was the one that struck me down, and you knew that the fatal flaw of a child of Hades was all too often holding grudges. And yet you chose to believe in the best. You grew soft, father. Soft in a way that I am not. You let yourself be pushed into submission, and this will not continue any longer. Not if I can help it."

Steven gestured with a single pale hand toward where Percy Jackson was leading the army of wizards. Ron, Ginny, and Raydon in the first row, quickly followed by professors and other students. "And I can help it."

He took another step forward, a wreath of shadows wrapping itself around his hand. "First, let us see how long it takes for my spirit to corrupt you. It will not take long, I promise." He placed his unused hand on his chest, smiling in mock sympathy, "After all, you are already a twisted deity."

I heard a quick intake of breath behind me and Annabeth mutter, "We need a distraction," before I was shoved off of the platform and onto the marble floor below.

Steven turned slowly, the shadow dissipating into the air. "Ah, Potter," he greeted as if he had foreseen this happening, "How nice of you to drop in." He snickered at his own awful pun.

I got up, dusting off my robes. "Umbrano," I said curtly, "You started your invasion without me."

He chuckled like he knew something I didn't. "I believe I've been misleading you all of this time, Potter," he replied with a grand wave of his hand, "Umbrano is my chosen name. Umbra is a name of darkness and shadow. You would be interested to know my given name."

I raised an eyebrow, not quite sure where this was going.

"Riddle."

I drew back a step, reeling in shock. "Lies," I sputtered, my head still spinning, "Voldemort's only child was Sally Jackson. His father had no brothers or sisters, and he certainly didn't either."

"That is where you are wrong," Steven scolded, "Voldemort had a half brother. Me. I was born in 1926, Potter. After Merope Gaunt fell madly in love with Tom Riddle Sr, she had an affair with Hades. When she died later, we were sent to different orphanages. He was found by the wizards, and I by the gods."

"Stop!" I screamed, unable to help myself. I marched up to him and grabbed him by the collar, only for him to phase out of my grip. "I took down Voldemort, and even if you speak the truth, I will send you to him."

He seemed to rise off of the ground as I glared at him, his hair floating and moving like the flickering shadows from a torch's flame.

"I know you, Potter," he said, his voice appearing in my head, "I know your weakness, your strengths, and your greatest fears. One of which is to disappoint your friends, and the other, to see the Dark Lord face to face again, back from the dead. Unfortunately for you, I can do both. Right now."

He raised a single hand, shadows starting to form. There was nothing I could do to stop him.

There was a crack and a muffled grunt as a blurry figure popped into existence above Steven, sending him crashing to the ground.

I watched as a familiar head of bushy hair popped up from the ground and rushed over to me, slinging her arms around my neck.

"Harry!" She gasped, "I just Apparated blind! I could've Splinched."

I grasped her arms to steady her, forgetting the undead terror slowly pulling himself from the ground.

"Maniae," Hermione whispered, "Spirits of insanity and madness. And like all of these godly deities, they have two sides. The other is revenge. Servants of the Erinyes, fearsome goddesses of vengeance."

Steven let a wicked smile appear on his face. "Yes, Miss Granger, some of the greatest things in life. Insanity. Vengeance. Both of which I will inflict upon you."

He flicked his hand, and this time, there was nothing to stop him from raising a spirit from the depths of Hades and launch it into my mind.

The entire world was spinning at this point, and I felt something enter my soul. I was breaking into a cold sweat. My heart shouldn't be beating this fast. My breath shouldn't hitch in my throat, making it hard to breathe. The entire world shouldn't look like an image from a fun house mirror. And yet it did.

"Harry," a voice, cried, "Are you alright?" My natural instinct was to nod yes, but the unbalanced movement of my head sent me stumbling.

Hands cupped my face, but I could barely keep myself from convulsing.

"Dionysus," the voice yelled, sending a ringing through my head, "I know you can fix this. So fix it!"

The voice was demanding, and thankfully it was not aimed at me. There was a loud sigh and a tap on my forehead.

My vision cleared. I stopped sweating. I could feel myself calming down.

"Now why did you have to do that?" It was Steven, marching up angrily from behind Hermione. I placed myself in between them protectively, attempting to distract him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth and Sophia leap down from the ledge and land quietly on the ground. Steven, of course, was focused solely on me and spitting as he talked.

"He was this close to cracking!" He yelled at her around me, "I know the limits of the human mind. I know how much pressure it can take."

I could almost feel her roll her eyes. "Yes, I'm so sorry I didn't let you drive my best friend insane. The sincerest of apologies."

I glanced around at the gods, taking in each of their expressions. Zeus was a coward. His lightning bolts and threats had no effect on Steven, and he was shrinking back in his throne. Poseidon was too caught up worrying for his son to do anything. Hades was glaring furiously at Steven, and could not do much to stop him.

Most of the gods weren't even present, which was probably better for Olympus anyway.

Steven's eyes twinkled as he turned back to me. "As I was saying, Potter, my brother will be joining us shortly."

The ground split open, and before Hades could wave his hand and stop it, Percy's arms came up and blasted the god with fire, his Stygian Iron Armor melding to his throne.

Steven chuckled. "Ah, yes, thank you, Perseus."

Hades struggled, his eyes lighting purple with fire, but found himself unable to move.

"You are no son of mine," he growled through gritted teeth, "You had a good life in the Underworld. Why must you demand more?"

Steven's own face became twisted in anger. "You give up your birthright as the eldest son of the Titan Kronos to rule the entire world to your pesky younger brother. You allow him to shove you into submission like a fool. And even now you need such a dull child of the sea to earn you respect? Where is your pride, old man?"

Steven's lip curled in distaste. "You may not understand desire, father, being the god of wealth, but I do. Mortals spend their entire lives striving for dreams that may never come true, happiness that they could never acquire, fame that few would ever live to achieve."

All of this time we had thought his fatal flaw was grudge holding. But it was greed, though not for things normally associated with it. He wanted a life in the mortal world. He needed a sense of importance and acknowledgment. He craved revenge against the one that deprived him of all of that nearly a century ago. And he would never have any of that if he didn't first topple the gods.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as a pale, curled hand shot out of the ground. If I was going to get to him, I was going to have to do it fast.

I stepped forward, motioning for Hermione to stay behind me. I wasn't going to pretend I had never cursed at my messed up life. My childhood, my struggles, my losses. I cursed at whatever divine entity might be controlling my life. Back then it had been the prophecy. Now I knew it came from the gods, the fates, the oracles.

"I understand you like many others don't," I said, keeping my hands out in front of me. I drew my wand from my cloak and watched him tense up, but I dropped it to the ground and continued to move to him. "I know how it feels to hate your life, or lack thereof."

Good and evil was in no sense black and white. In fact, it was all grayscale and completely in perspective. I remembered fighting Voldemort, how he had wanted to conquer the wizarding world.

Never had it occured to me that he might have had his own reasons, that he thought he was doing what was best. Admittedly, someone who murdered others to preserve their own life was never considered good by any standards, but still.

In all of my experiences with demigods, though, I had seen both sides. I had heard many stories. I remembered Luke, trying to improve the lives of demigods because their parents had always neglected them. Left them to fend for themselves.

A second hand appeared, both of them pressing themselves into the ground to lift out the body. just the sight of the bald head coming into view was enough to send me spiraling into fear. But I swallowed it down and continued.

"You were abandoned, my parents were murdered. I grew up an orphan in the care of hateful relatives. I slept under the stairs. I wasn't fed enough. I was called a freak more times than I care to count. I never had a normal life. I was in constant danger, facing incredibly terrible odds. I never had a normal life either."

He took on a guarded look, but didn't stop me from coming closer. "This year was supposed to be redemption for all of the life that I had missed. But it wasn't. A son of a god came to my school and blew up my life. The same one you resent for saving your father."

I stopped, less than a yard away from him. "If there's one thing I learned from being with the demigods, even for a year, it's that when things are bad, they can always get worse," I paused, holding my hand out, "But so too, can they get infinitely better."

He eyed my hand warily, searching for a trick that wasn't there. "All you have to do is let it. I made great friends. I found my own way. There are other ways. You probably have one of the most caring fathers a demigod could. He took you under his wing when you were sent to him. Let Zeus keep his throne, and I swear he'll get better. I'll make sure of it."

He needed to experience a kindness he was never shown. The only person he's ever been around was his father Hades, who wasn't all that good with people. He needed to know he could accomplish things by means other than absolute control. I was going to show him that compassion. In some ways I was the only one that could.

In that moment, I saw all of the emotion he'd ever hidden. Anger, betrayal, confusion. He bit his lip and gave me the first genuine smile I'd ever seen from him. He waved his hand over the chasm in the ground, sending the body back to the underworld. My heartbeat slowed. I took a shuddering breath, not wanting to think about what could have happene if I hadn't gotten through to him.

"If I'm going to have a fresh start," he admitted warily, "I'm gonna need to confess something."

I tilted my head wondering what could've been so important.

He met my eyes almost guiltily. "You know that satyr? Percy Jackson's best friend?" Grover Underwood, if I remembered correctly. I nodded.

He wrung his hands together. "Well, I sorta kinda kidnapped him."

My eyebrows shot up. As he hung his head to stare at something apparently extremely interesting in the ground, I nodded to urge him forward. "And tortured him."

I heard a shuffle from the army of demigods and wizards and saw Percy Jackson charging at Steven, his sea green eyes swirling in anger. I stepped between the Steven and the sword en route to decapitate him.

Percy's eyes cleared and he flicked his wrist, sending the blade into the marble floor instead of through my neck. He lunged for Steven, and I caught him around the torso, moving one leg back in the defensive position he taught me in self-defense.

"No!" I shouted, trying to placate son of Poseidon, "He's going to stop the siege on Olympus! Just give him a chance."

"I've had enough of this!" Percy yelled back, "A second chance is one thing. Maybe he could've earned it. But he tortured my best friend. No one does that."

I stared into his eyes, surprised that I could contain his wrath. "Percy, look at me." He did so grudgingly, but didn't stop trying to push past me. "He's going to change. Just like Luke, remember? He was wronged by the gods, he tried to take over the world. Same as any one you've ever had to fight. But all of those people turned good. He will, too."

He relaxed, sending a cold glared at the son of Hades, who returned it with one of his own. I was so occupied with turning one of the worst villains I had ever faced and the staring contest between both demigods that I had completely forgotten about Annabeth, Sophia, and Leo.

A gleaming bronze dragon crashed onto my new ally, coiling around him.

There was no time to stop it.

He was trapped.

And filled with more anger than ever.