Prologue

Wind whistled through the campsite, making the tents rustle. There were a couple of people sitting around a fire and a few more on guard duty; they all pulled their coats tighter in an effort to keep warm, but the girl didn’t. She liked the wind, it was cooling and helped her to think.

150 years had passed since the war ended and humanity had yet to recover. People no longer lived in cities or towns, rather bands of people wandered around, moving from place to place, trying not to get killed by the monsters who had grown stronger since the war.  Josie had known no life other than this one, and at eighteen years old she was used to it. She lived with her dad in a roving band of people who travelled around what would have been the USA. They were currently settled in an area of the country known as ‘the empire state.’ It was dangerous there, but they needed to pass through in order to continue on their journey. She often wondered what life had been like before the world had been shattered and humanity flung into chaos. It actually sounded quite boring to her, never moving about, no monsters to fight daily. That was what life was for wasn’t it? As Josie jogged, deep in thought, she didn’t notice that she had cleared the edge of the campsite and was headed for an old, walled in graveyard. Amazingly, it appeared to have been untouched by the roaming monsters of the area. Her curiosity spiked, she opened the nearest gate and stepped through. The sight that greeted her eyes surprised her; every single one of the gravestones was spotless and free from scratches. She checked the dates on some of them and… yes, some of them were from during the war, some even before then. Before she had much time to think about how this was even possible she caught sight of someone at the far end of the graveyard, standing by a tombstone and looking at it. Cautiously she made her way down the graveyard, trying to get a closer look at the person. Getting closer she could tell it was a young man. Josie crouched down behind a large tombstone (for someone called Perseus, apparently) and took off her gloves. Before she could make up her mind on what to do, he called out to her.

“I know you’re there, it’s ok, you can come out.”

She got up nervously and approached him. Up close he looked extremely tired, with a sad look in his eyes.

“Are… are you ok mister?” she asked him, worried about him.

“I’ve been better, I haven’t rested in a long time”

Josie shuffled nervously, wondering what to say next.

“Do you want to like come back to my camp with me? We have warm food and a spare bed," she ventured. The man smiled and shook his head,

“It’s been a long time since anyone showed me kindness, what’s your name?”

"Josie, I come from out west,” she said gesturing. “Who are you visiting here?” Her voice was soft as she asked, trying to see the names on the tombstone.

“My family,” he replied, “The war and its aftermath took them from me.” Josie stayed silent for a while, before speaking gently,

“I’m sorry about your family.” The man smiled sadly and turned from the gravestone to observe Josie.

“That’s ok, I think I’ll take the offer of some food and a bed. I have some interesting stories I could tell you.”  Josie smiled and beckoned for him to follow her and they started to head out of the graveyard. Before they left the graveyard Josie cried,

“Oh! I left my gloves in there, sorry. Just head in that direction." She pointed back to the campsite, “Just tell them I sent you and they should fix you up with a meal.” The man smiled.

“Thank you Josie, I’ll see you later,” He said before jogging off. Josie watched him go before shaking her head and walking back into the graveyard. She got to where her gloves were and picked them up, putting them on. She checked to see if the man would come back and approached the gravestone he had been at. It appeared to be even better kept than then others, polished to a shine, with fresh flowers next to it.. She bent down to read the inscription, wondering who could merit such a well-kept grave.

The writing on it was neat and tidy, spelling out the words,

“In loving memory of a wife and daughter, survived by the Prince of Darkness. Violet and Lilah Baen.”

********

Danni.

The sun rose over Camp Half-blood, lighting up the area. Danni watched as the daylight spread over her home. A home that was under constant threat because of the war. She sighed and sounded the all clear for the morning before heading towards the big house to make a report. On her way she passed people getting ready for the day ahead, most of them now had hardened looks in their eyes. That was what three years of war ad done to the campers; it had taken what little fun they could have from them and changed them. Everyone dreaded the day that the gods actually started to have an all out war, at the moment they were doing things like sending lightning strikes to hit mail vans and other stupid things. The camp was kept busy defending against monsters that had gotten bold since the war had started, especially since there wasn’t a neutral party to speak of any more, the gods had chosen sides.

One good thing that had come out of the gods’ actions, Danni mused, was that the camp was once again united as most contact had been broken with the gods and people weren’t getting messages to avoid or attack children on the opposing side of the war. Oddly enough, the two gods who had started the war; Hermes and Athena were the only ones who made any sort of contact. The fact that they only contacted their respective cabin counselors meant that Danni and Ben were elevated to be the De Facto leaders of the camp. People looked up to them as their parents often let slip where they planned to strike next. As much as she liked her new responsibility, it was also a huge weight on her shoulders. Most of her day was taken up with meetings and advising the camp on how best to handle the situation.

As she reached the area around the big house, she spotted the one remaining neutral god stood before her. Janus smiled,

“Good morning Danni. All is well I trust?” She rolled her eyes.

“About as well as it can be in this situation.” The god did nothing but smirk knowingly, and toss around the key that he kept with him.

“Have you made a decision yet?” he asked coolly.

“No, Janus, my answer is the same answer I’ve given you every time you’ve asked. This camp is not choosing a side.” He merely nodded and slotted his key into an unseen lock and vanished, leaving behind a shimmer in the air. Danni shivered. No one knew why Janus chose to hang around while the other gods fought. All he did was ask campers if they wanted to join a side. Nobody dared in fear of the wrath it would incur from the gods; they had enough monsters to deal with.

As she stepped inside the big house Ben greeted her with a small wave,
“All quiet on the borders then?” he asked while looking at a large map on the wall.

“Nothing to report, no monster raids but I did spot a cyclops in the distance,” she said, slumping at a table. Ben nodded and wrote something on a clipboard.

“How’s Elliot by the way?” He asked, looking up. Danni smiled,

“He’s good thanks, we finally got our house sorted” Ben chuckled at something.

“What’s so funny now mister?” she asked, smiling a little.

“For a child of Fortuna, he’s certainly had a lot of bad luck when it came to building a house for you two.”  Danni grinned and flicked his ear.

“It isn’t his fault there happened to be a giant spider nest right there” They both started chuckling and flicking each other, though the fun stopped as a group of people came into the room, lead by the Oracle herself; Rachel. She smiled at them.

“Hello Danni, Hello Ben.” Both of them were silent. Rachel never usually came out of her cave. Ever since the war, she had gone into seclusion to seek contact with the spirit of Delphi.

“Everyone, please sit down.” Rachel told them, motioning to the long table that sat in the middle of the room. As everyone settled, she took her place at the head of the table. Once she was confident that everyone was silent and paying attention, she began.

“Thank you for gathering here. I asked you to come because I can feel that the Spirit of Delphi wants to speak and it will probably be in this meeting that it does.” Everyone began murmuring. There hadn’t been a prophecy for ages so something serious must be about to happen. They all looked to Danni and Ben, causing Danni to clear her throat and stand up.

“Whatever happens, we will keep the camp going and we will get through the war.”  At this reassurance people seemed to settle down a bit. Danni breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to speak any longer than was truly necessary so it was good that everyone was calm already. She  turned to Ben and smiled, though it was quickly followed by a frown as he came close and whispered in her ear.

“That’s all well and good, but what if the gods do something stupid?”

********

Medusa

She had to admit, after years of pain, being back on earth was good. Medusa walked around her new home, an abandoned mansion, and admired her new possessions. She had started to build up her statue collection again after she had been slain by that Perseus child. She sighed. She didn’t blame the boy, he was only doing what he was born to do, just as she was doing what Athena had forced her into doing. Thinking over it, she wouldn’t mind if the young boy came back. He was quite cute and she wouldn’t mind getting to know him better.  His pretty little friend could go rot in Hades, however; she didn’t want to meet with any children of Athena just yet. She reached a larger room in her new home and leaned against a stone dragon that stood there. Yes, it made a fine addition to her collection. It had been a nice black dragon in life but now it stood in a lifeless state, forever roaring at something only it could see. Medusa chuckled heartily, it was a pleasant life she lived now. She had gone back to her roots, rather than luring people in with the promise of a rest, some food and maybe a garden statue; she just stayed in her mansion, taking anyone who was foolish enough to investigate. Just as she got comfortable leaning on the dragon, she heard a noise from downstairs. A grin spread over her face and she made her way through the house, silently, moving to get a look at her next victim.

“MEDUSA! I’m going to kill you.” She shivered with excitement. A demigod! She hadn’t seen one in a while, not since this silly little war had started.

“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to Skia!” the voice cried out. Now Medusa could hear it was male. And the owner of the dragon. apparently. Oh how marvelous, she thought. Today must be her lucky day.

The young half-blood was making his way up the stairs in the main room but halted as all the lights went out. For all the faults humans had, Medusa thought, electricity was quite a good comeback. She stepped away from the switch she had just flicked and made her way towards the boy.

“What is your name little one?” She said seductively.

“Pinfree! And I’m here to avenge my friend!” he replied, swinging around as he tried to pinpoint where her voice came from.

“Oh, you mean the little dragon I have sitting in my collection? Mmmyes, a very pretty creature, but alas she was interfering with my little home here” The half-blood was getting really angry now; Medusa swore she could see a vein pulsing in his forehead, even in the darkness. She quietly moved to the top of the stairs, where the boy was headed. She lay in wait as the boy approached.

“You took one of my lifelong friends from me, you monster!” he cried, growing ever closer.
“Why don’t you come out and face me you coward?” His voice grew louder and clearer as he reached the top of the stairs.

“I might just do that young one” she replied, drawing herself up to her full height so that the poor boy could see her at last.

Later on Medusa sighed happily as she hung a hat off her new statue, it had been a good day and she was just about ready to turn in when all of a sudden the front door was utterly disintegrated in a blast which threw Medusa off her feet and into a wall. She hissed and shielded her eyes from the blinding light that poured from the gaping hole in her wall.

“MEDUSA!” A booming voice called out, tearing into the very fabric of Medusa’s being.

“Who are you?” she cried out, trying to crawl away from the light.

“Do you not recognize me? I made you Medusa!” The light faded to reveal a wise looking woman with shocking grey eyes.

“You?!” Medusa cried, struggling to her feet. Athena stepped forwards into the mansion, her eyes stern.

“Yes, me. now listen closely, monstrous one, I have a proposition for you.” Medusa snarled at the goddess.

“How dare you suggest that I help you in anything, oh wretched one? You took my life from me!” She advanced down the steps, towards Athena. “And now you try to involve me in your petty war? What incentive could I possibly have?” The goddess’ eyes glowed and Medusa shrank back.

“Incentive? Why, I would give you your life back.” She said, waving a hand. Medusa opened her mouth to snap back at her but something fell down in front of her face and she swatted at it to go away. It didn’t take long for her to realize it was hair. Real hair. Her hair. She gasped and ran for the nearest mirror. In it she found a sight that bought her to tears: it was her old face. She stared longingly into the mirror trying to drink it all in, but as she watched, her hair started to shrivel up and the snakes returned, her face distorting back to the familiar ugly one.

Athena stood behind her, watching, waiting.

Medusa turned; heart full of rage and longing.

“Name your price Oh grey eyed one.” Athena smirked and beckoned towards where the door once had been.

“Tell me, have you ever been to Olympus?”

****

Rachel.

Rachel smiled at Danni and Ben. She found it helpful how they could get everyone to calm down, especially in a time full of so much conflict. It had been a number of minutes since she had made her announcement and the meeting had moved on to reports from the borders and the situation in the war. Currently Blaine was giving a report of the camps western borders where last night a group of Scythian Dracanae had tried to break through but was repelled successfully.

“Eighty seven of them had been slain and yet they continued to try and break through,” he said, pointing to a map on the wall. “The remaining ninety or so tried one last time to breach our defenses.” Here he shifted uncomfortably,

“We sustained a number of injuries. I myself got caught in the shoulder with a hurled javelin. Thankfully, there were no deaths and we killed off the rest of them quickly enough.” He sat down, rubbing his shoulder. Rachel nodded. It wasn’t often they escaped an attack of this magnitude with no loss of life. Someone else stood up to make a report, but as they did Rachel felt the spirit of Delphi stir within her.

“Stop your report, now!” she said, standing up at the end of the table. Everyone fell silent and stared at her as the green mist came pouring out of her and she spoke the words of the spirit:

A vile war to end all wars
Secrets pass through many doors.
To the end the gods will fight..
When blood….

Suddenly the words cut out and the green mist evaporated away.

Rachel collapsed and people rushed to her.

“What… what happened?” she asked, trying to get up.

 “Your prophecy stopped halfway through!” Ben told her, offering her a glass of water.

“That’s impossible!” she said, waving away the water. Everyone backed away as she stood up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Danni asked her.

“I’m going to see if I can commune with Apollo himself.” With that she strode outside, everyone following her anxiously.

Outside the sky was grey, even though there were no clouds. In the distance, towards the city a massive storm cloud was brewing. Birds were flying in the opposite direction in an effort to get away from it.

“That can’t be good,” Rachel murmured as the crowd gasped and pointed around her. At that moment a huge flash was seen in the sky where Olympus would be and seconds after in came the thunder, roaring through the camp like nothing they had ever heard. Rachel watched in horror as streaks of light tore away from Olympus in pairs, sometimes more, and shot inland and out of sight.

By now all the campers had gathered outside the big house to see what was going on. One of the streaks of light hit the ground creating a shockwave that sent many of the campers flying. Once the smoke cleared Rachel could see that it was in fact two gods, Iris and Phobos. The two gods stood up, shaking off the dirt from the impact and Phobos made his move. He darted up to Iris and punched her, sending her through a nearby cabin. Iris retaliated with a rainbow blast that caught Phobos dead in the chest and sent him flying away into the distance. With that she leaped after him, shooting off in a ball of rainbow light.

“By the gods… everyone go get your armor! The gods have started fighting in person, and we can’t afford to be caught off guard.”

The assorted half-bloods scrambled to be ready as Rachel stared off into the distance. She prayed that they may survive this new development, but she feared the repercussions would be felt all around the world even underneath it.

****

Joss

Down in the underworld everything was as normal as life in the underworld could be. Joss sat in Elysium, about to play a game of cheat with Shakespeare, Socrates, Abraham Lincoln and Leonardo da Vinci, just another normal day really. Throughout Elysium people laughed, danced, and talked. They didn't have a care in the world, or under it, for that matter. The war hadn’t reached Elysium; all they knew of it was that a few more souls were pouring into the underworld.

Any other news they had came from the souls that were lucky enough to have got into Elysium. It was never anything specific, just which god had changed sides or that a certain monster was back.

Joss had stopped visiting his father’s palace since the war started and just stayed in Elysium. It was, he thought, a lot nicer. His house was a lot more comfy for starters, plus the company wasn’t bad.

His thought process was interrupted when Shakespeare spoke up.

“Young master Joss, wherefore do your thoughts wander?” Joss sighed and turned his mind back to the present.

“Do you always have to speak like that, Will?” He said in an exasperated voice. The Bard shrugged in reply and turned to Da Vinci.

“So, dost thou know how to play this game of cheat?”

“I can work it out as I go along,” the painter replied, riffling through the pack of cards.
Abraham sat in silent contemplation up until now, but he reached out and took the cards.

“Are we going to play or not gentlemen?” he asked, shuffling the cards and dealing them out.
Socrates lent close to Joss, “May I ask but a single question?” Joss nodded.

“Sure, so long as it isn’t just the word why. ” Socrates chuckled.

“No worries my friend, I’ve dropped that habit. No, I only wanted to ask this; why did you invite a man whose nickname is ‘Honest Abe’ to game where cheating is involved?” Joss struggled for words.

“You know, I hadn’t thought of that. Never mind, he’ll just have to make do.” With this, they started the game.

As they had gotten into the swing of their game, a large rumble resonated through the underworld. Shakespeare looked up from his cards.

“What in the name of the gods was that?”  Everyone else looked up.

“I have no idea, could be a giant drill for all I know,”  Joss said.

“Joss you blithering idiot, why would there be a drill in the underworld?” Socrates said reproachfully. In the distance a glow rose up from Hades’ palace and shot into the ceiling.

“Something must have pissed him right off,” Da Vinci said whistling to himself.

“Leo! Where did you learn that sort of language?” Joss asked incredulessly. Da Vinci gave him a long look.

“My friend, when you spend 500 odd years down here, you pick up new things.” Joss nodded in concession and they continued with their game.

When they finished the game they sat there in silence for a while before anyone spoke up.

“Abe?” Joss asked, “would you mind explaining how you… honest Abe… just won a game of cheat.”  Lincoln smirked and tapped his nose.

“You don’t become the President of the United States of America without picking up some tricks here and there my friend,”  he told them, chuckling heartily.

****

Zeus.

Zeus was pacing around his throne room, not in his true form but rather his giant state. He was fuming. how dare his daughter bring that vile beast into the very throne room of Olympus! It had been but a flick of his hand to destroy the mewling wretch but the damage had been done. He had supported his daughter at the start of the war, but this action? He had had to remand her severely, as a consequence of this his fellow gods had started fighting. He paced back and forth, occasionally staring into his map of America, which changed with real time events. He supposed the massive new lake in the middle of Texas would be Poseidon’s work.

He turned his gaze to Oregon and winced as he saw his wife Hera being attacked by Ares. He growled and hefted a lightning bolt into the map and at the offending god. His aim was true and the war god was blasted away from his wife. He dared not use the master bolt for fear of hurting Hera. Zeus sighed and cast his eyes over the rest of the map. All across America there were battlefields where gods had landed and had begun fighting with one another. The mortals were in utter chaos.

Suddenly, without warning, the gods started speeding back towards Olympus.

Zeus growled and gripped the master bolt, he would not see his kingdom fall. He stood proud in the throne room as one by one the gods flooded in. They still held enough respect for the thrones that the two sides stayed on opposite ends of the room.

The room, having never designed to take so many gods groaned with energy. In a flash Hermes and Athena appeared at the heads of their respective sides.

“ENOUGH!”  Zeus cried. “Why did you two bring your armies here?” The two warring deities glared and pointed at each other, speaking in almost perfect unison,

“To destroy their throne.” They started glowing round the edges.

 “Contain yourselves! You shall not fight in your true forms in the throne room!” The rest of the gods, from minor to major, bristled and also started to glow. Zeus drew himself up to his full height.

“If you do not stop this I shall have to cast you all out!” No-one was listening to him. The two sides edged closer and closer together, glowing brighter as they did. Hermes raised his Caduceus as if to strike at Athena. She sneered at him.

“Trying to finish what you’ve started? I’m not leaving until I have crushed you under my feet” Having said this, she pulled out Aegis and advanced. Zeus watched the tension rise until he could bear it no further.

“May the Universe look kindly on my actions,” he said quietly to himself before charging the master bolt.

At this point all the gods were in their true form and the combined energy was starting to wear down the fabric of the room. Zeus transcended into his true form, took aim and threw the master bolt into the middle of the two warring factions.

A moment of silence.

A white light.

And the world tore itself apart.

New York was completely eradicated. The half-bloods at camp had barely time to register anything before the wave of pure energy washed over them, vaporising them. There were a few lucky ones, ones that had been in the secret bunkers but were for the most part  decimated.
The whole world shook on its foundations as the shockwave continued round the globe, taking out all modern technology as it went.

The war had finished, but there was next to no life left to celebrate.

*****

Epilogue

The man carried the old woman along the path, the Mediterranean sun beat down on them mercilessly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll soon be there,” he said reassuringly.

“Logan, why did you bring me here? I’m too old for this sort of thing,” she said shifting about. “I showed you kindness ninety eight years ago, now show me some kindness and let me rest for a minute.” Logan lifted her off his back and  helped her to a rock where there was some shade.

“I’m sorry Josie, I should have realised this would be difficult for you,” he said, taking out a water canteen and handing it over to her. The woman drank her share and handed it back.

“What are we doing in Greece, anyway? It’s far too dangerous out here for us.” Logan grinned.

“I heard some rumours that I really want to be true” Josie only rolled her eyes and rested a little longer. After a while Logan hoisted her up again and continued along the path.

“What are we even doing climbing this mountain anyway?” she moaned as the path steepened.

“The ancients believed this to be a special mountain,” he replied secretively. As they neared the top they could see a group of people huddled together. Logan let Josie off his back and led her towards them grinning widely.

“I knew the rumours were true!”

“What rumours, Logan? Why don’t you tell me anything?” He remained silent, but as they drew closer Josie could hear the ragtag group of people saying, “We must rebuild, we must come back, we must rebuild, we must come back” over and over again. Josie approached the one that appeared to be leading this strange chant.

“Excuse me? Sir? Who are you?” The man turned and she caught a whiff of ozone as he turned his grey eyes upon her.

“I am Zeus We are the gods. We must return.”