Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book Six

“The Dark Olympians”

Chapter Four: Never Go to Westport, Connecticut

I never fell back asleep. I couldn’t. Not after that. I had given myself to Kronos. After far as I knew, Jack could be Kronos, masquerading as Old-me. How were any of us to know?

Just before Apollo drove the sun across the sky, I dressed and left my bunk, ready to duel Jack to the death if need be to find out the truth. He supposedly slept in the Big House, but I didn’t see him inside. The mess hall was all but empty save for a few satyrs, and even the beach was desolate. I finally found him inside the amphitheatre.

His shirt was stuck to his chest from sweat-glue, and still he assaulted the practice dummies. I was about to yell down to him when I heard the huffed retort, “Oh, and you thought that was smart? Here I thought you dated the Goddess of Wisdom.”

Jack sliced off the head of a practice dummy, flicking sweat about like a dog shaking after a bath. “We need Luke, and Thalia and Annabeth want to see him.”

“They’re going to be in for a surprise,” came a calm but stern voice. He sounded like a father or mentor, and ducking behind the concrete boundary, I peeked over the edge. On the bottom bench of the amphitheatre sat an older man, perhaps in his mid-forties, with a brown go-tee and short hair to match. His sun-kissed face appeared jovial. His shirt tails hung over his khakis, making him look like a business man on the beach during a hot day. He smiled at Jack while leaning back upon his elbows.

“You know you’re asking him to die again.”

“He chose to die the first time.”

“You don’t believe that.”

Another dummy met his end. “What do you want from me? I’m only one man.”

“You are only one god and the last Olympian. You have more power than you know, and it’s about time you realized your true potential.”

Jack whirled toward the man, heaving Riptide to threaten. “You’re never satisfied.”

The man pushed the sword away like it was a tree branch. “Not with the foolish decisions you make.”

“Says the god who failed to retake Olympus.”

Say what?

The man seemed amused by the jab. “But I did rule it at one time, Percy. Now listen. Luke played his part in the first prophecy. He sacrificed his own life for Olympus and you. He deserves a second chance away from all this death and destruction.”

“What do I deserve, huh?” Jack demanded, his fist and sword trembling at his sides. “I played my part in the first prophecy, too. What do I get because of that?”

“Greatness.”

Jack swiped as if to kill that single thought. “I don’t want greatness. I never wanted greatness, especially not at this price.”

“Then you have responsibility. I know that might not be what you want, but it’s what you deserve. You followed the Olympians, put your faith in parents whom you hardly see, who thought it was better to stay away from you than to help you.”

“And the Titans were a better side to take?”

The man sighed and looked away. Was he ashamed? “At that time, no. All any of them wanted was death on a large scale, and you would have been a pawn. But you’ve been a pawn, Percy, even for the Olympians. Your first quest was to serve your father, and because of your success, you became their most prized hero.”

Jack flopped down next to the man and leaned back, his elbows holding him up. “What do you suggest, then? I can’t run from this, and I wouldn’t anyway.”

“Stubborn as a current, my boy.”

“We need Luke. He’s one of the seven half-bloods mentioned in the prophecy.”

With a great heave, the man ruffled Jack’s sweaty hair. It reminded me of the way Paul mussed with my hair when I passed tests with a B or higher. Hey, it happens every so often.

“Then once again, we will run the blood of innocents for a just cause,” the man spat. “Now, I must take my leave of you, and you must take a shower.” The man rose to his feet and looked up directly at me. A chill ran down my spine, and for a moment, I thought my heart had stopped—or was that just the world? “Hello, Percy. Good to see you without the depressing mug.”

Jack stuck out his tongue but didn’t seem surprised that I was ease-dropping. The man hit him in the shoulder good-naturedly, muttering, “Watch it, or it might get stuck that way.”

Then, his body disintegrated into dust and was carried by the wind.

I pulled Riptide but kept it in its pen form, just in case I needed to use it. Jack didn’t look at me as I approached. He sipped the bottled water, winded from his workout.

“So, what’s got your flippers all entwined?” he asked.

Cutting to the chase. Oh, so me.

“You gave yourself to Kronos.”

Jack coughed as he sat up, spilling water from his mouth. When he finally breathed again, he refused to meet my gaze. “How else do you go back in time?” he snorted. “You go to the one who commands it.”

Riptide grew in my hand. “Are you insane? How could you ever even think—”

“I wasn’t there when she died.”

The gutted whisper tore through my being better than any sword. “W…What?” I asked equally as low.

Jack stood and beseeched Riptide, as if his sword held all the answers. “I was fighting Momus and Moros, and Moros—he told me her fate. I…I tried to get away, to stop it.” His entire body trembled, his back still facing me. “I keep telling myself there was something I could have done. Some way to have prevented it. After all, gods can’t die, right?”

He suddenly turned to me, seeking a truth I couldn’t give. I’d been told gods couldn’t die by Hermes. After the final battle, he explained to me how Kronos wasn’t gone forever, yet here before me stood Jack, the God of the Sea.

I looked into his eyes, and for the first time since I saw them, they mirrored mine. I knew what I saw. I knew what I had become and what I sacrificed to be there, and I realized the truth Jack truly sought.

Would I do those things? Would I be willing to give up everything for the chance for something?

I touched the fourth bead on my camp necklace, the labyrinth quest Annabeth headed.

For her, I’d give up everything.

It was my fatal flaw.

Jack saw the resolve in my eyes and nodded. He still creeped me out, but we came to an understanding.

Dipping into a workout bag, Jack slid out a long blade of celestial bronze and steel.

Backbiter, Luke’s sword.

Jack held it out for me to take. “When you find Luke, give this to him.”

I couldn’t. It was a perversion of everything we fought for. It could kill an innocent mortal and a monster in one swipe. Kronos himself had given to Luke.

Jack noticed my reluctance. “This isn’t your choice to make, Percy. It’s Luke’s, and trust me. He’ll make the right one.”

Somehow, I knew that. I didn’t know why, but the last time I’d seen Luke, he’d changed.

“So, if Thalia, Annabeth, and I are going to collect Luke, what are you going to do?” I asked.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Jack inhaled sharply and turned toward the rising sun. “I’m going to greet the Day.”

*^*^*

Since Annabeth’s car was totaled from her accident with Eris, we decided to take one of the camp vans. Annabeth was loading breakfast and extra nectar while Thalia double-checked the weapons. I secured Backbiter and brought Luke some of his old clothes (Annabeth had kept them) when a green arm laid harpoons and fishing twine on the flatbed. I craned my neck.

“What are you doing here?”

Triton shrugged, now in jeans and sandals with a tight surfer’s T-shirt. He flashed a daring grin. “What does it look like? I’m coming with you.”

“This is a quest, y’know. Gods have nothing to do with them.”

“You say ‘quest,’ I say ‘end of the world.’ So, since, y’know, that concerns me, I figured I’d tag along.”

Crossing my arms and leaning against the side of the van, I pinned him with a neutral stare and blinked. And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

“Okay, fine, you’re not immortal yet, all right? From what Jack’s told me, the next fourteen years or so are going to suck, and I want to make sure you make it through.”

“No making me immortal without my okay.”

“I’d have to steal a golden apple from California.”

“Promise.”

“Oh, gods—”

“Promise or I’m getting my hellhound to sit on you.”

That lifted up Triton’s hands in a surrender gesture. “Fine, you win. I promise.”

I slapped him on the back and climbed into the driver’s side of the van. Before I even shut the door, a soft tap stopped me from starting the engine.

“Nuh-uh. No way I’m letting you drive,” Annabeth challenged.

I furled an eyebrow. “Says the girl who slammed her car into a pole.”

“That was Eris, and you almost took my fender off merging last time.”

“That guy totally should have let me in.”

“If there’s not enough space, you can’t make some.”

“Shows how much you—”

“ALL RIGHT!” Thalia fisted her hand in the front of my shirt and dragged me out the door. “I’ll…drive?”

Now occupying the driver’s seat was Triton. “Why don’t we let the god drive, huh?”

We mortals fell silent, but as we climbed into the back, Thalia snorted, “Minor god.”

The van squealed as Triton pressed on the gas. “I heard that.”

We left camp.

*^*^*

Jack

I hadn’t been to the West Coast in sometime, and when I first went when I was a kid, I was scared witless. Hades had my mom. The world was ending…

Okay, maybe things hadn’t changed as much as I would have liked.

The cool, Pacific air blew through my hair as the morning light shone in California. At dawn, she exited Tartarus, taking the reigns from her mother to guide us. At dusk, she entered, tired, exhausted, but smelling like dandelions on a summer day.

She, perhaps, was Persephone’s best friend.

Hemera.

Day.

Her hair was golden, spun into a ponytail that was held by a wrap of clouds. Her dress shone like the rays of the sun, which glimmered from Apollo’s tracks. Her eyes shimmered silver, possibly from the wake of the moon’s own light, and her smile lit up the world.

Literally.

When she came to stand before me, she gave a respectful curtsey before granting me a peck on the cheek. “Perseus Jackson. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

I probably should mention that after Annabeth’s death, Hemera tried to “comfort” me. It was her mother’s way of trying to turn me into a Dark Olympian. It didn’t work, but still, that smile made me want to smile.

I didn’t. “You know why I’m here, Hemera.”

Sadness crept into her gaze, and she turned her face toward the ending of night. “You should leave before my mother comes.”

“I didn’t come to talk to your mother. I came to talk to you.”

She bit her bottom lip, a sign of weakness and innocence, but I refused to soften my glare. I knew she would talk to me. I knew she’d tell me what I wanted to know. She couldn’t let the Dark Olympians destroy the Western Civilization because if that happened, I would die.

She loved me.

And I didn’t love her.

I felt bad pushing her like this, but after all her family did to me, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

Beckoning me, she sat down on the very edge of the cliff in front of the Hollywood sign, her own light slowly dying.

I sat next to her and waited. She didn’t hold back very long. “As you know, the Dark Olympians spoke with Kronos, made a deal with him to send us back in time. Unlike you, who live parallel to you younger self, we took the place of our younger selves. This way, when we finally conquer you once and for all, we will not lose time with the war.”

“But why come back in time at all?” I demanded. “The Dark Olympians had complete control over Western Civilization.”

“Did they?” Her bright eyes beseeched me quizzically. “In order for Olympus to truly fall, all twelve Olympians needed to die.”

“And they did.”

“No, you lived.” She cupped my cheek, brushing her thumb across my cheekbone. “You, God of the Sea, represented all that was left of Olympus. You had to fall for the Dark Olympians to truly take over.”

Gods, I’ve been stupid. “So the Dark Olympians came back in time to kill us before we take our parents’ position.”

“And they have the power now.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “I promise, Percy. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Who’s him?”

Hemera’s eyes slipped closed. “They have the seventh child.”

“Who?” I snatched her shoulders, my fingers digging into her glowing skin. “Who is the seventh child?”

Her eyes radiated like the sun; her voice droned like Rachel’s in Oracle-mode. “Night will fall across the land. The boy is known, part of your clan. You will struggle to save his hind, but first your other kin must die.”

Her lids closing, Hemera collapsed, the power overwhelming her. Then, breathing heavily, tears trickled from her eyes in the form of light beams.

“I’m so sorry, Percy.”

“Sorry? For what?”

Sobs overtook her frame, and I hated knowing what she would say next. “For saving you.”

*^*^*

Percy

It took us longer than I thought to hit I-95. Halfway up, we stopped at McDonald’s, and I have to tell you. Triton packed away three Big Macs without a single burp. It was weird and at the same time kinda cool.

We were getting off the exit when I finally asked, “So where’d you go after the fight? I thought you would have gone to Olympus to hear the gods’ interrogation of Jack.”

Triton shrugged, a little distracted. “Please. I’ve had enough of those myself, thanks. I don’t need to watch someone else squirm, too.”

“What’d you do?”

For the first time, I saw Triton’s cheeks flush red and a sheepish smile cross his features. It was nice to see him normal. “Um…let’s just say that Aphrodite’s daughters do spring break a lot, and spring break happens to be on a beach.”

I tried to hold it in. Really, I did, but an incredulous snort came out, followed by a hard laugh. “No way!”

Triton flushed even darker. “Then there’s always fun to pretend to be the God of the Sea with some litterbugs or place water balloons on Zeus’s chair.”

“Stop…it…” I heaved, trying desperately to catch my breath. “Just…stop…”

Triton chuckled and turned onto a side road. “I’ve been around a long time, Percy. I’ve seen a lot of heroes come and go. I’ve seen a lot of battles, but…sometimes it’s just boring. What do you do all day? I help Dad with the tides sometimes. Save some seahorses…blah. I don’t want to have kids because most of the time they die, so what good is it to bring them into the world just to have them killed? So I have do something.”

The whole kid thing kinda hit me hard, but I didn’t show it. “What happened? How come Zeus didn’t blast you?”

“Heracles calmed him down. The Old Big Guy was one of the Zeus’s favorites, y’know, like Thalia.”

Even though Thalia had been sitting in the back, talking to Annabeth about Luke’s smell or something, she stopped for a moment. Our eyes met, and she smiled softly. Yeah, it was always good hearing that your parents care about you.

“So you and Heracles are close?” I asked.

Triton nodded. “Best friends. Have been since the Big Guy became a god not too long ago.”

“Not too long…Triton, that was like, thousands of years ago.”

“Ah, what’s a millennium here and there?”

And that was when he became all godly again.

We pulled up to the house I remembered as May Castellan’s, wondering why we were coming here again. Last time we visited, Ms. Castellan thought we were all Luke, and the peanut butter was moldy. Not kid friendly

We unloaded, taking probably a few more weapons than we should have, just to be on the safe side. I also took Backbiter, hooking the holster about my waist. I decided to take point, thinking Ms. Castellan probably would think I’m Luke and not go completely bonkers. Oh, who were you kidding? She would, but if Luke was in there, we had to get him.

The doorbell chimed like a dove cooing, and it seemed to calm us—something I never was at May Castellan’s house.

“Coming!” a motherly voice called, warm and sweet, but when the door opened, the person who answered it was anything but motherly. He had on a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, while a hat flattened down his hair to hide his horns. A go-tee scraped along his chin and smashed carrots dribbled down his cheek.

“Oh, thank the gods you’re here,” Grover muttered before opening the door wide enough to let us in. “Hurry! Hurry!”

Once Triton made it through, Grover cast one last worried look out the door and slammed it shut, locked it, and then played a Selena Gomez song on his lyre to grow roots about the door handle. Nothing was getting through that door.

“Grover, man, what are you doing here?” I gave him a quick one-armed hug, and he returned it.

“I was assigned to protect Luke until he’s ready to come to Camp Half-Blood.” Grover motioned for us to follow him through the living room and into the kitchen.

Everything was different since the last time I’d been there, and by the looks on Thalia and Annabeth’s faces, they noticed it, too. Gone was the clutter—thrown books, overturned couches, and clothes. They were replaced by elegant furniture, a white carpet, and abstract art on the white-washed walls. The kitchen was immaculate with a bowl of fruit on the counter and a plate of warm cookies waiting for us. A simple high-chair occupied the table, and before it sat an all-together May Castellan with her hair tied back in a tight bun, her once middle-aged and crazed features replaced by that of a vibrant and lovely woman. When she looked at us, her eyes crinkled with delight.

“Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, welcome. Thank you for coming to see Luke.”

She stood and threw a spotted towel over her shoulder, revealing a bright-eyed and cubby baby playing with his pureed food on the high chair.

Luke.

He was hardly older than a year with glistening blonde hair and a charmer’s smile. Even now, he looked primed for glory.

Ms. Castellan stepped forward and put her hand out to Triton. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Triton, is it?”

Even the minor god bowed for the lady, taking her hand and kissing it gently. “Ms. Castellan, the pleasure is mine. You have a lovely home and a lovely child.”

She sighed contently back at Luke with a kindness and appreciation I never saw before. “He is my pride and joy.”

“Ms. Castellan, I’m…I’m sorry to ask,” Annabeth stammered, but she pressed onward, always searching for knowledge. “How did you…recover? You were almost…um…”

“You can say it, dear.” Ms. Castellan wiped Grover’s cheek clean and offered us cookies and milk. They actually tasted good. “When the spirit of the Oracle refused me, I was literarily driven insane by the vision of Luke’s fate.”

My head spun, and I almost dropped my cookie completely in my milk. Luke’s fate. May Castellan had seen Luke’s future. Did that mean Moros had something to do with it? Did he drive her insane, which in turn, made Luke lose both his mother and father?

She carefully plucked Luke from the chair and held him securely in her arms. “When Luke came back to me, I could no longer see his fate, but I knew, this time, I’d do it right. This time, I’d keep him safe and not let his other world take him.”

Thalia choked on her milk.

Ms. Castellan petted Grover’s longer-than-usual locks. “I was so grateful when Chiron asked Grover to look out for Luke. He’s been keeping the monsters away.”

Oh, gods. Now what was I supposed to do? Jack told me to collect Luke, but how could I take May Castellan’s sanity? Luke was her only child, and she already lost him once. How could I take him again?

I looked to Thalia and Annabeth before finally locking eyes with Triton. My brother didn’t seem to really care, finishing his milk, but my friends? Our decision was made. The Go-teed Man was right. Luke had paid his price. He deserved a second chance at life, and we had no right to take that away from him.

I came forward and kissed Ms. Castellan on the cheek. “It’s good to have you back, ma’am. I hope you and Luke have a calm and peaceful life.”

Thalia and Annabeth gave similar good wishes, and Triton once more kissed her hand. We were halfway out the kitchen door when a warm yet melancholy voice stopped our exit.

“I’m sorry, my dear, but the life of a half-blood is never peaceful.”

By the time I turned, Hermes stood behind May, one hand cradling Luke’s head, the other May’s cheek.

“N—No!” May cried, tearing away from Hermes. “You promised we’d be safe this time. You promised he’d be all right!”

“He will be.” The messenger god gazed over at us, a tiny smile upon his lips. “Luke’s in good hands.”

May still seemed reluctant, and I opened my mouth to comfort her—but of course, that was when the front of house was blown in.

Don’t you just hate when that happens?

I jumped at Annabeth, pushing her down and covering her from the blast. The explosions rocked the foundations of the house and pounded in our ears. The world seemed cut off as I heard nothing but my own breathing. Then, slowly, I heard Luke’s soft—but shrieking—cries before the world rushed in again.

Thalia lifted Aegis in front of us, blocking any debris. When they died down, a handful of dark entities stood at the opening of Ms. Castellan’s house, which was now literarily two feet away. Apparently, Grover’s thorns couldn’t hold back the Dark Gods’ attacks.

They stood just before the opening to the house, each looked deadly in his/her own right.

The first looked like Draco Malfoy from those Harry Potter movies. Seriously, he did with dyed blonde hair and dark eyes. Next to him stood a girl with brown hair pulled back in a tight braid with a pierced eyebrow and sinister smile. On the opposite side of Draco leered an angered teen with a varsity jacket and leather jeans, cracking his knuckles like a wrestler. Finally, a little girl with pigtails and a sweet smile seemed out place in her little jean jacket and thin skirt.

Triton swore under his breath in Greek.

“You know these guys?” I asked.

Triton swore again. “Yeah, they like to bully the minor gods’ kids on Olympus during the Solstices. Meet Algos.”

Draco.

“Pain,” Annabeth translated, pulling her dagger.

“Hysmine.”

“Battles.”

“Neikos.”

“Quarrels.”

“And Ponos.”

“Toil.”

“Their mother’s Eris.”

Thalia gripped her spear until it groaned in her hand. “Oh, then we have a personal score to settle. No one attacks Annabeth and gets away with it.”

I nodded. “Totally.”

Algos rasped from under his hood, “Bring it.”

In hindsight, it was a bad idea. We should have run, but at the moment, I was so angry at these guys. They almost took Annabeth from us, and in the future, their side did. No, I wasn’t going to grant them any mercy.

I unclipped Backbiter and handed it to Grover. He stayed back to protect Luke and May as we charged. Lunging at the first god—Algos—I clashed my sword against his.

“You are weak,” he hissed at me, sounding now more like Voldemort. “When I’m done with you, you will feel nothing but agony that will never cease.”

I gritted my teeth and met him swipe for swipe. “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that one before.”

“I mean it.”

I realized then he had already given it. As I swiveled, my eyes caught sight of Annabeth, her golden hair wisping about her head as she fought. She would disappear and reappear to confuse Hysmine, but she would—as we all would—ultimately lose. From one look into Jack’s dead eyes, I knew Algos had given me never-ending agony. He took Annabeth from me. Eventually, everything else would be taken from me.

The blinding thought slowed down my reactions, and as I whirled to clash my sword with Algos’s, the blade lingered just an inch shorter. It sliced my bicep, but the flesh wound still hurt like Hades. His arm clamped over my wrist.

The pain wracking my body was overwhelming. I could hardly keep from screaming, and finally, I didn’t. I let it out, girlish and embarrassing.

“How…how is this possible? You shouldn’t be alive.” Algos muttered, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Paul’s silver band was glowing. “No matter. Struggle. Fight against sorrow and pain. I’ll just give you more.”

I couldn’t hold my sword. I couldn’t hold a thought. All I knew was Pain, and he was winning. I didn’t know how much more I could take.

Just when I knew I would lose, light tore through Algos’s chest.

I dragged my body out of the way as Algos crashed to the ground before me and disintegrated into dust. The light wind swept him away, revealing my new adversary.

I’d seen him before, in my dream the night before. He was shorter than me probably because he was younger than me by about five years (the time most half-bloods’ smell attracts too much attention from monsters and they come to Camp Half-Blood). He had sky blue eyes that were angry but didn’t look like they should be. The kid looked like he should be laughing—or making me laugh, and I didn’t know why.

Algos’s attack still clung to my body, only slowly slipping away, but I had to push past it. I wasn’t going to let some thirteen year old destroy the world.

“Percy,” he called. If I didn’t know better, I thought he might have been begging. “It’s time to join us.”

I hesitated but kept my hand on my sword firm. “…Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but you will.”

He took a step forward, and lighting—white lightning, like Zeus’s—cracking about his sword.

No, his sword itself was lightning with flickers of black bolts, like Thanatos’s torch.

“Wait!” I yelled, but the lightning clashed toward me.

“PERCY!” Annabeth shrilled, but it was too late.

I put up my sword, and the white lightning tickled as it danced off my blade and shoulders. The back lightning shocked me the core, though, but not as much as Algos’s power.

I slowly recovered, so when the little guy charged me, I was barely strong enough to repel. Our blades clashed, and lightning crackled off both our swords, pushing us back. My sneakers and his boots scraped along the ground until we stood at least five feet away.

The boy looked at me, and I looked at him. “How’d you do that?” we asked simultaneously.

He then raised his blade indignantly as I raised mine. “I didn’t do that!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Triton now stood on the other side of the Dark Kid, his shirt torn, blue blood seeping through his wounds. “You’ve come to the end of your pole. Give up, or my brother and I clean your clock with salt water.”

Cool.

The boy’s face twisted in a terrible, almost pathetic frown. “Brother? He’s mine, not yours!”

The kid’s limbs snapped into a fighting pounce, his eyes even more wild than a minotaur outside of a labyrinth. Now, black lightning danced across his blade—only the black lightning.

“He’s mine, not yours!” he screamed over and over again as he jumped toward Triton. “Mine not yours!”

Triton jumped out of the way of the blast, clashing his trident with the kid’s sword. I lunged forward, too, slower than usual but still capable, and when I slashed, the kid turned toward me, his eyes now glowing with black light.

“Mine!” He swiped with his sword, but white lightning shot from my sword, creating a makeshift shield to protect me.

Don’t ask me how. I don’t know. Lightning isn’t one of powers…or is it? Maybe Zeus likes me now?

I didn’t have time to think about it. The Dark Kid’s black blade became pure black, and he focused the power directly at me.

A force slammed into my side.

“NO!” I screamed futilely.

Triton had no white lightning to protect him.

The black lightning tore through his side.

When he slammed to the ground, his body smoking, I gritted my teeth and rose to strike. The Dark Kid took a step back, his eyes distant, now a sky blue again. I didn’t care. No one blasted my brother and got away with it…except this kid would.

I struck time after time but the white lightning formed for him as well, protecting the Dark Kid from my attacks.

“Percy!” Thalia screamed, and I looked away from the kid for a moment. He took that time to disappear.

What happened to Eris’s other kids, I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I guessed that Thalia and the others had defeated them, but at that moment, all I cared about was Triton, on his back, not moving.

I ran to him, falling on my knees by his wounded side. Annabeth had her hands pressing down on the injury, but blue blood still leaked from his heaving body. My hands trembled, and I didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter, though. He was a god, right? He couldn’t die.

Then why did he look so pale?
Triton reached out to me, his own hand shaking, and I gripped it harder than I had anyone’s before.

“Per…Perceee?” he called, his voice weak, his grip even weaker. “He…He’s won…this round.”

“No,” I demanded. I wouldn’t let him.

Triton’s eyes softened. They looked…mortal. “Listen to me…He is the seventh child, and he has the power…that’s been denied others for ages.”

“What power?”

“...To kill a god.”

“No,” I breathed. “No. No. No. Nonononono—”

Triton shushed me, his gentle hand rubbing mine. “This—This is good, Pers…Persee…” He heaved as blue blood overtook his mouth. “I…I didn’t want this anymore. There wasn’t any…feeling…left…until you. I know what it’s like to be mortal, and for the first time, I’m scared of what is next.” His smile was tired but content. “We will meet again.”

Then his body liquefied before me and seeped into the ground, leaving nothing more than a sand dollar.

Triton said he had feeling again, yet I felt nothing. It was like I was watching somebody else’s life unfold, apathetic to what was happening. Triton couldn’t die. Gods couldn’t die, and he…he was my brother. He was afraid I was going to die, and then he…he just…

Thalia wrapped her arms about my neck from behind, holding me close, murmuring into my ear that it was going to be okay. Annabeth said nothing as tears coursed down her cheeks, her hands in mine.

Triton wasn’t gone. He just couldn’t be.

“Don’t worry, Percy Jackson,” a new voice cooed, and before me still a man so dark that it seemed like the night bore him. “I’ll take all your pain away. Come with me, and you’ll never hurt again.”

Instinctively, I knew who he was. I’d called him through my misery. Lethe AKA Oblivion.

That’s where I wanted to be—away where I couldn’t feel the grief.

“Sorry.” Backbiter tore through Lethe’s stomach. “You’re not his type.”

When Lethe disappeared, Luke stood in his place. He wasn’t much older than when I first met him at camp, his early twenties at the most. He wore the clothes Thalia and Annabeth had brought for him, his face immaculate without the scar he’d received from the dragon.

He would have been smiling, I knew, if not for Triton.

If not for my brother.

Annabeth and Thalia didn’t pull away from me, as I thought they would. Instead, they held me tighter, and Luke, with a hand on my head, joined them in their comfort.

I wish I could say it helped.

*^*^*

The days after that were a blur. I sat on the beach for hours just staring out at the Long Island Sound. I thought of all the days I walked past Triton after he gave me extended life. He came every day to see me, and I couldn’t be bothered. No, it was worse than that. I didn’t want to be bothered. I was so angry at what he had done that I didn’t want to know him, but now…how could I have been so selfish? Clarisse’s brothers had given her such a hard time when Ares let her drive his chariot. Even Annabeth found out how Daedalus had killed his own nephew.

Me? My god brother never wanted to feel the pain of my death. Now, I was living with his.

Annabeth sat beside me here and there, holding my hand and just being there for me. She left when a being emerged from the sea. He had a long black beard that seemed to have gone gray. Dark olive eyes replaced his usual mischievous sea-green orbs.

“Dad…” I croaked.

He stood before me, watching me, anger growing in his eyes. His face twisted in a horrible scowl, and I was ready for all he had to yell. Triton had been his closest son, his heir, his lieutenant for all eternity, and now my brother had died, saving my life.

Would my father ever forgive me?

I knew I would be found drowned somehow, floating down the Hudson River when Poseidon said nothing, only motioned for me to stand.

I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, to maintain some semblance of dignity. Sniffling, I think I might have managed it, but I definitely did not flinch when he raised his hand. I thought he was going to slam me to the beach, but he simply gestured for me to come forward.

He entrapped me in a strong embrace.

I don’t know how long we stood there, my face buried in his shoulder, sobbing. For the first time, I didn’t care how I acted in front of him. He was my father, and he’d come not to beat the seaweed out of me. He’d come to comfort me in my time in mourning.

After what seemed like forever—and I still didn’t feel any better—Poseidon pulled away and looked deeply into my eyes. His look of sadness shook me to the core.

“Percy…I have more bad news.”

No matter what had happened to me prior to this point, nothing prepared me for the single eyeball he held in his hand.

*^*^*

I know what you’re thinking. I’ve lost it. Even Dionysus, the god of sanity, couldn’t help me now, and guess what? You’d be right.

I don’t know when the thought came to me. Maybe it was when I was burying Tyson’s body. Maybe it was when my mom started to cry, and the baby kicked. I thought of what the Dark Olympians would do to Little Guppy Jackson-Blofis, and I snapped.

The Throne Room of Olympus was quiet, most of the gods observing a day of mourning for Triton. This left me with no resistance.

Approaching the tank my dad and Hephaestus built, I softened my voice and cooed, “Hey, Bessie. How’ve you been?”

Gods, that was lame, but…I had no choice. I had to stop these Dark Olympians, and Bessie…he was the key. Inside of him was the power to save or raze Olympus, and I—I was going to save the only sibling I had left.

Riptide formed in my hand.

“Don’t worry, Bessie. I promise. This isn’t going to hurt.”

I was insane.

I just knew it.

Tears coursed my cheeks once more. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I couldn’t…but I had to. I wasn’t going to let them take him away from me, and that seventh child…I wouldn’t let that demon destroy my new brother/sister. Right before me was the power to prevent all that and stop the Dark Olympians once and for.

Before me was the power to kill them.

I raised my trembling hand, ready to open to the tank—

“You won’t.”

The calm voice I’d heard before, and when I turned, I saw the Go-teed Man who had spoken to Jack at the practice arena. He was wearing trendy jeans and a leather jacket, reminding me of Paul. His eyes looked ancient, a dark gray that mirrored storm clouds over the ocean.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

The man shrugged. “To save you, Percy Jackson. Imagine that.”

Who the Hades was this guy? I asked him that.

He laughed, contented and jovial. “That remains to be seen, but I do know you, Percy. Even more than Triton, you have a love for the sea and every being within it. No matter how good your intentions are, you will not kill this animal.”

“Then why are you here?”

He winked. “Just in case.”

Okay, I’d had enough. “Look, I don’t have a choice! That demon child—”

“He’s not a demon child.”

“—that demon child and those Dark Olympians killed my brothers, and I’m not going to let them to do that to my unborn brother or sister! And if this is what I have to do to save him, then this is what I’m going to do.”

I turned toward Bessie, his little eyes looking at me with that ever-grateful twinkle. “MOOOOO!”

I glanced over my shoulder at the Go-teed Man. “Aren’t you going to stop me?”

“No. I’ve already said my peace. Do what you have to.”

Don’t you just hate when people do that? You’re all set to do something, y’know like kill one of the best half-serpent, half-cows in the world, and then this guy just comes along and says, “Yeah, you do that.”

It sooo makes you not want to.

I hate that.

My sword clanged against the tiles in the once silent room. I couldn’t do it. I’d do anything for my mom and the little guy, and I will. I’ll stop these guys, but right now, Paul was watching out for them. I knew he would take care of them. I just had to stop the Dark Olympians before the guppy’s birth.

The Go-teed Man clasped my shoulder tightly. His touch reminded me of my dad’s, full of love and power. “Are you ready to stop the Dark Olympians once and for all?”

I glanced up at him. “Why should I trust you?”

“Jack trusts me.”

“Not good enough.”

“All right. Understandable.” The man thought. “How about this: If you don’t trust me, all you know will be destroyed.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Jack’s here, isn’t he?”

I muttered a Greek curse, after which the man slapped the back of my neck. “Hey!”

He smiled. “I won’t let anything happen to you, though I doubt you believe that. What have you heard about the Doors of Death?”

“Other than the prophecy?” I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Hades and later my other kin Nico rule over the realm of the dead; however, Death is the one who puts people in that plane.”

“So what does that have to do with me?”

Another playful slap. “You want to stop your loved ones from dying, don’t you? Then you stop Death.”

That…made a lot of sense. “Okay, but how?”

“The Doors of Death lead Thanatos’s personal chambers in the Underworld.”

“So why doesn’t Hades just stop Thanatos from killing the Olympians and their children?”

“The Doors are in the Palace of Hypnos, in Morpheus’s Dreamworld. It’s the only place in the Underworld Hades doesn’t rule.”

I hated jumping through hoops, and I was beginning to feel like a circus clown. “Your point, Yoda?”

Another slap. “The power to defeat Thanatos and all the Dark Olympians is there.”

That was all I needed to know. “Good. Then I’ll find it.”

I pushed past the man, but he snatched my elbow. “Wait. This is a quest you cannot forge alone.”

“I’m not putting anyone else in danger.” Just the memory of how Jack spoke about Annabeth’s…no way I was letting that happened.

The man didn’t bulge. “Like every other victory you’ve had, Percy, this one must be won collectively. Take Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, and Nico with you. They will protect you.”

I scowled at the thrones. “Yeah, but who will protect them—whoa.”

He was gone.

I would say that surprised me, but let’s be honest. It didn’t.

*^*^*

“Is it me, or are the nights getting longer?” Connor Stoll relayed.

I really didn’t care, but yeah…they seemed to be. The camp, itself, was one big bash, though. Dance music pounded against the rec room walls, and lights glittered from the eating area. Most resembled Christmas lights, but a few were orange and black, courtesy of Nico. The weirdest part of the whole fiasco were the skeletons. Apparently, no one danced as well as them, and Nico had no choice but to conjure them up to prove his point. Now, the Daughters of Aphrodite were doing the electric slide with the boneheads, and it was all just a little too weird for me.

Or at least it would have been if I wasn’t staring out the window of the Big House rec room at the quiet Long Island Sound.

The War Council was called once I came back to camp, and Annabeth was angry that I left without telling anyone. I couldn’t tell her what I almost did, though I thought she knew.

“So the Doors of Death, huh?” Luke commented. Oh, yeah. We let him join us. Just seemed right after we went to bring him back to die. “Sounds a little fishy.”

Even his bad humor couldn’t get a laugh from me.

“So this ‘go-teed guy’ has no references other than Jack, whom we all know we can’t trust, just comes and tells you to go on a quest, and you say yes?” Thalia demanded.

I really thought I’d be getting this lecture from Annabeth. “Yeah, and I’m going. He told me to take you, Luke, Nico, and Annabeth. I…I’d rather do this alone, but—”

“Then we’ll go,” Annabeth replied, standing from the ping pong table.

“Annabeth, you can’t be serious!” Thalia retorted. “You of all people know what this will—”

“Yes, it’s suicide,” Annabeth agreed, “but Percy needs us right now. After everything we’ve survived together…we can do this.”

Pride was her fatal flaw. I just hoped it wouldn’t be this time.

“Hades, yeah!” Luke wrapped me in a one-armed hug and scrunched my shoulder warmly. “I’m in.”

Chiron now cleared his throat. “Luke, realize what you are saying. You’ve been given another chance at life—”

“Yeah, and this time I’m going to do it right.” He smiled down at me, brotherly like he used to when I first came to camp, and it reminded me too much of Triton’s gaze. I looked away.

Thalia threw up her hands. “Fine. We’ll all die together. Why not?”

“I’ll put in a good word for us,” Nico laughed dryly, his ankles crossed on the table. “But seriously. What I don’t get is why we’re not going after this seventh child? Shouldn’t we be finding his sorry—”

Wet sneakers slapped against the hardwood floors of the foyer. Salt water dribbled off the man’s body as he broke into the room, his sea-green eyes frantic, his hair astray.

Jack beseeched the room, then me, his eyes meeting mine. No words needed to be spoken. Pain contorted his face. Algos was right after all. He and his siblings’ fight would leave me in agony forever.

“And just where were you?” Thalia demanded, thumping her spear against Jack’s wet chest. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking—electrocution hazard here—but the lightning only tumbled off his shoulders. “You were the one who was supposed to find the seventh child? You were supposed to stop him and bring him to our side, not let him kill Triton!”

Jack’s eyes snapped open, and he snatched Thalia’s shoulders. “You saw him?”

His orbs were hypnotic, and his intense gaze hampered Thalia’s speech. “Y—Yeah…we all saw him. He was with Eris’s children.”

From his pocket, Jack produced a drachma and flicked it to me. “Call Iris. Ask her to show you the seventh child.”

It couldn’t be that easy. Seriously. It just couldn’t.

I exchanged looks with Annabeth, but she twitched a shoulder. “Try it.”

Words of wisdom from the goddess’s daughter herself.

We went outside and used some Christmas lights and water I helped produce. When the rainbow formed, I prayed, “Oh Goddess, show us the seventh child.”

When my offering was taken, the boy from my dream and later Westport surfaced. He was draped all in black, sitting in a daze-like state with dark irises and a blank expression. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was being brainwashed.

And seriously, if I didn’t know really any better, I’d swear he looked like Paul, though he had my mom’s hair color.

Jack gasped, and unlike I’d ever seen him before, he seemed tired, old, and…me. He looked like me when I learned about Triton, tears already glassy in his eyes, his knees too weak to hold him.

Luke caught him. “What?”

“Do you know this child?” Chiron demanded.

Jack nodded, fearful and trembling. “Yes…he’s Fyn…Fyn Jackson-Blofis.” Our eyes locked, and understanding once more exploded between us. “He’s my little brother.”

To Be Continued…