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"Percy get down!" Annabeth cried as the massive bat swooped down, baring its ugly fangs.

The bat's unhinged jaw snapped at the place he had once been, crying out wretchedness. It charged at a smaller girl from Aphrodite and she screamed as it came barreling towards her.

"Move!" Percy yelled but it was too late, the wings wrapped themselves around her like pincers and squeezed her to death.

"Quickly!" Chiron yelled, a flicker of pain dancing in his eyes.

The Apollo kids sent another barrage of arrows peeling into the sky. The bat dropped the girl's twisted remains and rolled sideways, its razor-sharp wings clipping the grass as it dodged another arrow.

The injured bat was flying lopsided, arrows pinned its wing, scratching chinks into its leather skin. It pinwheeled sidelong and crashed into a tree, screeching and crying as it tore up the earth and burrowed into the dirt.

"Steady!" Chiron asserted and Lee's eyes flared with determination and he notched another arrow.

"Aim."

The archers all stood to attention and picked one target; the bat that was already grounded, clawing desperately with injured wings.

"Fire!"

Another multitude of arrows hit the bat, crying for pleas of frantic mercy as the arrows pierced its flesh. The bat let out one more frivolous roar before it erupted into a tuft of hazy smog, like feathers shivering into dust.

The other two bats screeched in outrage and one darted for Annabeth. Percy leapt to her aide, making a break and jumping with all his momentum. His sword caught the bats flesh and he tore through, catching itself on the skin of his wings. Percy swung himself up in the heat of the moment, flying across the bats back and landing awkwardly on its tail.

It screeched, wings fluttering manically. It banked right, trying to shake Percy off, but his grip on his sword was even stronger. It's boney back undulated as it tore away, surfing low against the ground until it veered into the sky.

Percy's head spun, waves of dizziness flushed over him. His face turned a little green and bile threatened to rise in his throat.

The bat screamed as it tunnelled, desperately trying to shake him off. Percy jerked, almost sliding off the bats back as his sword slipped, but he managed to hold onto the creatures backbone as it tried to buck him off. He sunk Riptide deeper into the bat's ribcage, and it shrieked.

It twirled sideways, diving down from the cloud bank and straight into the forest. It's wings clipped trees as it dodged in and out of the moss and leaves. The other bat turned towards Lee and his siblings and they darted in all directions, barrel-rolling out of its way. Despite having bows in hands and quivers on their backs, they pivoted quite smoothly.

Percy lurched sideways and grabbed the bats leathery skin. It snapped and snarled, wringing its neck in an attempt to catch him out. Percy gripped its saggy skin with one hand and drew Riptide from its ribcage with the other.

At the sight of the celestial bronze, the monster squealed. Percy plunged to the sword right into its spine, which was followed by a sickening crack and then the monster's wings fell limp agaisnt its sides.

Percy started to fall, using the monster as leverage when they crash-landed into the grass, tearing up trees by their very roots. Percy prayed to the Gods they weren't nymphs or dryads because he doubted Demeter or Persphone would let him live it down.

Blood and dirt splattered his skin, oozing from his hair and trickling down his face. Annabeth came trampling over with tired, quiet eyes.

The last bat was shot out of the sky like a pigeon by Clarisse's repaired spear and a couple of arrows. The remnants of conflict and crackling heat were the only things left. People stood with dirty, desperate faces as they panted breathlessly.

Blood covered the once rich grass, fire divided the field and the smell of flesh; a horribly pungent odour, wafted in the air.

Swords covered in blood and flesh lay in piles, corpses sunk into the ground, intertwined with wildflowers and weeds from nature magic. Clipped batwings and mutilated shapes spread across the track.

Lee Fletcher and his siblings started to collect the wounded and round them towards the infirmary. A young boy with blue eyes herded most of them, his name was Will Solace.

"We did it," Annabeth breathed out as she held Percy by the torso.

Percy felt wrecked, like all the energy he could ever have was sapped from his being. He stared down at Annabeth, uncomfortable with how tight she was clutching his chest, but he didn't say anything, mostly because he couldn't find the words.

Clarisse let out a roar of victory and high-fived her brother.

Annabeth looked back up and tears of relief were glassy in her eyes.

Percy sighed, and slumped agaisnt the ground, pain washing over his body.

But they had celebrated too early.

A chilling laugh echoed across the valley. The smiles on peoples faces were instantly wiped, victorious cries of joy turned to stomach-flipping silence, it was eery and everyone was scared.

"Well done young demigods," a voice called out.

Percy froze up and his skin crawled.

"You seem to have forgotten an important detail," Hades materialised in a thick haze of darkness. He had a cruel smile, his coal eyes shimmering sinfully.

"I'm the God of the Underworld. My henchman is Thanatos," he snapped his long pale fingers and a loud groaning noise erupted from the plain. Overcast wickedness towered over the demigods who'd survived.

"No..." Annabeth paled.

Percy whirled in confusion and he strained his eyes into the mist. It swarmed from the distance like a small, annoying tornado, but as it got closer Percy realised it wasn't just any mist.

It was thick, black ashes.

The hellhounds that had once been slain emanated from the ground in a sprinkle of spirited animation; they looked angrier, uglier and more dangerous than before. Their beady eyes glowed with hunger, coats glowing in the sunset.

"You don't play fair!" Clarisse screeched as she charged the God.

Hades rolled his eyes flicked his wrist, her body jerked, and the went impossibly still. Clarisse's eyes widened before she was sent flying backwards a hundred metres and slammed into a cabin wall.

"I never play fair, Ares child," his voice was cold and Percy felt his heart drop. All the hope of winning sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

A million more Cerviels grew from the ground. Their skin looked tougher, their eyeless holes gleamed a ghostly blue and they groaned, jaws clicking was they stumbled back into the world.

That bat monster Percy has just slain screamed awake, spines aligning and cruel purple eyes analysing its surroundings.

But there was always a price for life and death. Like two sides of a dirt coin. Hades couldn't directly control who lives or dies, just as he cannot control who may love or lose. Which meant all the friends Percy had watched die gasped into life and looked around in bewilderment, as if their brutal demise was just a dream.

"You're a monster," Annabeth wept, rubbing her eyes.

Hades turned, his head cocked in amusement. Chiron branded his hooves agaisnt the floor, gaining the Gods attention.

"Oh Chiron, I will never understand why you chose to help these little brats," Hades muttered.

The statement jarred Percy, and suddenly all he had ever done seemed so insignificant in comparison to the immortal God in front of him.

"Any last words before I obliterate this pathetic excuse for a camp?" Hades questioned.

Chiron stared, his face trembling slightly.

Percy felt his world collapse looking at his mentor give up.

Chiron was always the one to look on the brighter side of life. The harsh, but true optimism in the rough world of demigods and monsters. Seeing him shake with fear, actualised his deepest fears.

"Hades!" A disgruntled voice added to the fray. "Suck my left nut."

Percy's eyes widened and everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the girl standing in the doorway of the infirmary. She looked, in one word, pissed.

There was a certain rage in her eyes that looked familiar. She had dark hair that sat at her shoulders, it curled slightly at the ends, and rippled like ocean waves down her back. Her eyes were sea-green, glowing so brightly that Percy swore she'd injected glow-stick liquid into her eyes. (He also felt like an idiot for calling it glow-stick liquid because he was fairly certain it was called phosphorescence.)

She had sun-kissed skin, almost like a Mediterranean princess had walked out of the ocean, except for the fact she was wearing an orange tee-shirt and some faded jeans.

But that wasn't what everyone was staring at. It was a strange symbol that shimmered above her head, something that not even Chiron recognised.

"No way," Annabeth muttered.

"...(Y/N)?"

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