Ezousia crashed onto my bed, while I slumped down on the couch, facing her eager face. I was going to tell her how I became the Conqueror of Shadows.

It wasn't something I was fond of narrating.

Flashback:

I was able to manipulate shadows to travel, to store things and sumon beings like Mrs. O'Leary and other things. I was pretty proud about my achievement, but there was one thing I was curious about. It was about using shadows to fight. I had seen Erebus, Nyx and Eris doing it and always wondered how they did it.

I decided to ask my father Erebus.

After asking him about it, he looked at me thoughtfully.

"I can tell you how to do it Perseus, but it will affect you. It might even scar you for life."

"What's the worse that could happen?" I asked, curiously.

"You could loose yourself," he explained seriously.

My eyes widened.

"Only I have complete authority over shadows," he slowly explained. "Shadows are formed because of the obstruction of light by a darker object. This will be hard to understand but I will do my best."

I nodded slowly.

"Okay, imagine you are the light. You strike a dark object and the shadow of the object is cast on the background. Most of my children wield this power. I have taught all my children other than Eris, Algos and another two how to manipulate shadows formed only due to light. But now, imagine instead of having a light to create a shadow, you are dark enough to mask the object and create a shadow formed by darkness."

I stared at him, my mouth agape.

He cursed under his breath. "I shouldn't have told you this. Your mother will kill me. It's a secret we decided to never share."

"Teach me," I pleaded.

My father chuckled, "my dear boy, don't you think that if it could be taught, I would have already taught everyone?"

I looked at him confused.

"It can only be achieved Perseus," he said. "To be able to become dark enough to cast shadows of darkness, use a person's shadow to fight them and creat a shadow in broad daylight and complete darkness, one must bring out the darkness from within them. You have to conquer the worst darkness inside you and cast it out so that it's so dark it can form a shadow."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"You will not," he said strictly. "It is a journey that takes place within one's self. The only way to bring it out is to relive memories that broke you, that scarred you and hurt you the most. Memories that brought the darkest darkness out of you."

I gulped. The only time that had happened was when I was cast out by the Olympians and betrayed by the one I used to love. I shuddered.

Erebus nodded. "I don't want you reliving any of that. You can use the shadows as it is. You may push yourself and train yourself to bend and manipulate shadows, but fighting, creating and becoming a literal one with the shadows is too dangerous. A person can loose themselves to it."

Let's just say I didn't listen to him and got into a whole lot of trouble. Yep, you heard me. I messed up big time.

The thing was, I had no idea how to use the shadows to fight.

I just tried the normal summoning shadows; which caused me to sweat a lot. I tried to form a weapon with it, but failed miserably and lost my grip over the shadows.

Eventually, I gave up and took a stroll through Tartarus. I plugged in my earphones and played some Yanni from my ipod shuffle. Don't laugh.

I looked to the skies and saw my sisters, the Arai, flying above me. It almost seemed peaceful.

I then came across the reformed Minotaur. He doesn't stay dead that easily huh?

He took one look at me and charged. I let him approach. As soon as he was within yard of me, I pulled out my Stygian iron sword in a swift motion and decapitated him.

Most monsters stay at bay as they've all seen me action by now. Some monsters like old beef brain don't get it through their thick skull.

As I walked over the dust, realisation dawned on me. The first time I had ever stepped out and done something brave or gone all out was during my first fight with the Minotaur. After that, during my fight with him in New York, I had stood toe to toe with him and beat him infront of his entire army and killed Hyperion with help from Grover and the nature spirits.

Each and every single time I had shown any courage and fought was for someone or something. The first fight, was to save Grover after what happened to my mortal mother. Then, it had been against Luke to defend my friends to buy enough time, against the Manticore to save Nico and Bianca, against Atlas to protect my friends, against Anteus to get myself and friends out of the Labyrinth. After that, it was against Kronos himself to save the world. Then against Alcyoneus' army to keep Hazel and Frank safe, against Polybotes to protect camp Jupiter, against Chrysaor to protect my friends and against Ephialates and Otis to save Rome.

All my life, I fought, gave my everything and almost died for the well being of the world; to save and protect my friends and family. In the end, they betrayed me and cast me out like I was yesterday's trash.

I wanted one thing in return for all that. Revenge. I felt my eyes glow with darkness. The pit started to vibrate with the shadows around me.

I was about to teleport to Olympus and obliterate everything, but the cry of an Arai made me stop. I wasn't alone. I had a family. If hadn't been for the Olympians showing me their true nature, I would have never found this family that I had.

Then I thought about all the friends I had lost, who died fighting for the Olympians.

There was a lot of darkness in this world. But I had no reason to be afraid of it. No way. I was the child of Nyx, the Primordial goddess of Night, the second being to ever exist and Erebus, the Primordial god of Shadows.

The darkness was a part of me! I embraced the power around me and released my own darkness, creating my own shadow.

"You did it," I heard from behind me.

I turned around and saw Erebus looking at me with Pride evident in his eyes.

Well that was pretty anti climactic.

There was a rumble and a flash of black lightning rocked the entire place. The lightning widened and my mother stepped out. Erebus palled and stepped behind me.

There was a loud groan. "Could you all please stop flexing your powers in me?" Tartarus complained.

"Night," Nyx threatened. "Right now!"

Erebus and I paled and teleported to the mansion of Night and got ready for the storm.

End of flashback.

Ezousia stared at me with eyebrows raised.

"You're that bad at taking instructions huh?" She asked.

I smiled sheepishly and blushed, while she rolled her eyes in response.

"Common, let's go for a stroll," I suggested.

She shrugged and teleported us to the garden of Night.

The garden was huge and one of the most beautiful gardens in existence. It had a variety of flowers, plants and shrubs.

It also had plenty of water fountains, grasslands and obsidian pathways.

I needed to overcome my fear now. I have no idea how she brought us to the best place to this, but I'm just going to go with the flow.

"Ezousia," I said, "I need to tell you something."

She raised her eyebrows and looked at me, surprised by my serious tone.

"I don't know how to put this," I started, "but I've fallen in love with you. It's fine if you don't feel the same, but I just wanted you to know," I rushed out.

Ezousia stared at me with wide eyes. She then smiled widely and blushed.

"I've felt the same about you Percy," she said.

It was Christmas!

She leaned towards my ear and whispered, "Happy birthday Perseus," and kissed me. It was just a small peck but I loved every bit of it.

It was my birthday!

I guess I had finally found someone who loved me. I had found a new purpose, restored a new order and found love. I was happy, at last.

Ezousia and I locked eyes and smiled at each other.

"Took you long enough," Aether muttered to us, as he walked past us with a giggling Hemera beside him.

Well, my family.

Thank you for sticking with me till the end of this series. When I started, I never expected to get this far, and I have you amazing readers to thank for that. Thank you for sticking by me, motivating me, appreciating me and correcting me. Hope you enjoyed the journey.

-Bombardier