Thalia' POV

Things were bad. Okay that was putting it lightly. Trees were on fire, a big black goo guy was stomping around, and I had my leg wedged awkwardly in two tree branches hanging upside down. Needless to say I was terrified.

"Can someone get me the hell down?" I yelled.

"How did you even get up there?" Malia asked, pausing in her attack to stare at me wide eyed.

"There's nothing like being thrown like a football," I replied sarcastically. Malia sighed and scampered over to the tree beginning to climb. Zuri was down below trying and failing to put the fire out while Sam was frozen solid in the familiar black casing. I mean, she'd have made a cool statue but when you realized she was still alive inside that stuff it kind of takes away the aesthetic.

All anyone seemed capable of was irritating whatever this creature was. To me it looked like a giant slug had managed to breed with a bear: not flattering at all. In fact, don't even think about that.

"Geez." Malia breathed, drawing my attention. She peeked out from behind a cluster of branches and began cutting at the branch that had locked my leg in place. "Doesn't anyone ever tell you to be careful?"

"Yes. My wife." Malia rolled her eyes at me and kicked at the tree branch. It snapped and before I knew it I was tumbling to the ground. Landing roughly, it took me a moment to figure out where exactly I had landed.

"Up and at 'em." Someone gripped my collar firmly and jerked me to my feet and out of they way of the monster's large foot. Glancing up it was none other than an irritated looking Zoë Nightshade. "You're rusty Grace, what have you been doing?"

"Well..." There wasn't exactly time for a response as a loud thundering roar shook the ground as the beast slammed a large fist into the trunk of a flaming tree. It must have been made of flammable material as its arm caught ablaze along with other trees. "Who started the fire?"

"It was an accident!" Phoebe yelled defensively.

"Whatever the case this thing clearly doesn't like it," Zoë noted. "I have an idea. I need your help."

"Tell me the plan." Zoë relayed her idea and it seemed like it could work only I had to be careful not to get too close to the fire. The last thing I needed to be was extra crispy.

Running as quick as I could I ran the length of the fire's perimeter. The goal was that each loop I'd get faster condensing the flames into a spiral of heat while the monster was driven into the inferno.

The only problem was that it was hot. Within seconds I was sweating profusely. It was not a good day to wear pants, or any clothes for that matter, and maybe even skin. The smoke burned my lungs and made my eyes water but it was working. The flames stopped leaping to other branches and brush.

From an outsider's point of view it would have been pretty terrifying to witness a giant funnel cloud of fire. Figuring it was sufficient enough I skidded to a halt a good distance away.

The others were supposed to guide the monster into the flames where it would hopefully combust and disintegrate. If it hadn't been extremely fiery already there's nothing like seeing a gigantic torch blazing in front of you. Leo would at least appreciate the master piece of it.

Thankfully, things went as planned and the monster slowly melted before disappearing all together. On the down side I looked like a half burned troll doll according to Phoebe.

"Every time I end up helping out with things I look like a hot mess," I whined, Phoebe rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah, the mess is right," Zuri quipped, earning a high five from Phoebe.

"I call you friends." The mock pain I portrayed was enough to make them laugh. "Anyways, let's get to the nitty gritty. What's been going on? Give me the details."

"Well, it seems to me that the universe is trying desperately to get rid of all of  us for the six hundredth time. Only, this has no physical enemy we can fight. At least not right now. If Order truly has been abandoned then these monsters and creatures I presume are the children of chaos," Zoë explained with a sigh. "Which is rather unfortunate. If what I've said is true then they're most likely reincarnated souls of the most chaotic and sporadic human beings. The ones who've experienced the most chaotic energy. This also means that while we kill one, it will simply respawn somewhere else in the world while more are created."

"So you're telling me that there's not much we can actually do to avoid what's happening? It's just an endless struggle I frowned.

"Yes." Zoë winced at the harshness in my tone. "At least until the quest succeeds. Once Order returns it should select a warrior to host its form to combat the chosen warrior of Chaos."

"A battle of the ages," Phoebe agreed. "The two driving forces of the universe clashing once and for all."

"What happens when one wins? Does the other die?" I asked, crossing my arms and trying to process all of this information.

"If Chaos wins we disappear.  If Order wins we don't die," Zoë explained. "But it's complicated. It's more than a battle of physical force. It's a battle of morales."

"Explain." Was it just me or was I the only one confused by all this metaphorical shit?

"See, Chaos isn't necessarily in the wrong here. The human race has been driven into a chaotic state in all aspects of society. Politically, economically, socially. It's too much Chaos for the world to actually function. He is trying to preserve the earth by starting over and in a way saving Order." Zoë paused sorting out her next thoughts. "However, Order is designed to protect the human race. Whether we are chaotic or not and whether it means destroying her husband or not. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. There's no real good guy or bad guy," I record. Zoë nodded in agreement. "So the best we can do is try and stay alive."

"Yes," Zoë sighed, looking tired at the mere thought of such a task.

"Do we have allies we can ask? I know Hylla's forces are stretched thin and there's only so much  we can do. We asked the gods for aid but they refused so that's not an option." Zoë nodded in understanding despite my sympathetic look.

"Artemis is in Europe requesting aid from allies of ours," she explained. "They will most likely agree. We are fortunate to have many allies across the globe."

"I actually had no idea we had allies other than the Amazons." This was an entirely new concept to me. I wasn't sure why I'd never thought of it before but it never occurred to me to even as questions about it.

"Some of our ties go back centuries. There is a warrior band of women in Africa. Fierce hunters and fighters. Then there is the middle eastern division. The women there are very calculated and smart. They value learning as it is often restricted. Don't even get me started on the secret division in Russia." Zoë shook her head a look of awe coming over her features. "They're like bears. Strong and loud."

"My people," Malia grinned proudly.

"Good to know. We have a whole army that would have been useful, like I don't know, more than once?" I couldn't help but be sarcastic. I mean, if we had so many allies why didn't we use them?

"There are...conflicts. It is...hard to unite all of our forces at once. It's not an easy thing to do with different nationalities and ideologies," Zoë frowned. "Humanity is meant to disagree with one another until extremes push us to agree. For instance, the cross roads we are facing now."

"Understood. Has there been any news on the quest? They're all okay right?" I asked, remembering once again that two weren't supposed to make it back.

"I don't know much," Zoë admitted. "I do know however that an old friend of ours is already making things difficult."

"Who?" I demanded.

"Lycaon. They got away but it was a tough ride." Zoë stated shaking her head. "Perhaps that will be the worst opposition they have to face."

"Yeah. Let's hope so." Sighing, I turned to see the charred remains of the trees. Grover would be sad. "I'm going to find a place to clean up."

Zoë nodded and our conversation was dismissed for the time being. A part of me finally understood why it was so difficult for Gods to remain out of quests. It was extremely hard to not want to find Thia and help her. To make sure things went smoothly but I knew that could make it worse. The fates had a plan, hopefully it was a good one.

I wasn't quite sure where I was going but I couldn't help but ponder the information I had been given. Europe of all places? How come Zoë didn't seem as interested in them as the others?

Besides that, how in the world were all of us supposed to survive this end of the ages apocalypse situation? If there really were monsters popping up all over and we could never really kill them then chances were we'd lose from mere exhaustion.

Maybe Reyna was having better luck with her sister. One of us had to, right? Maybe I'd get a chance to message her and see how things were going. My thoughts slowly wandered back to camp. How was CJ? How was CHB? Were the others able to stay safe?

"No need to over think." I mumbled to myself finally leaving behind the charred remnants of the fire stricken trees. "Just hope I guess. The quest is going to work out. It has to."

If it didn't? Well, I wasn't going to think about that at the moment. Hopefully that bridge would never have to be crossed. In the mean time I simply had to do what I was told. As for the rest there was only one thing I could really do. Hope and pray.