The Chaos War

And because the last chapter was cut short and didn’t feature crucial dialogue, this will be the chapter that features the crucial dialogue.

Jason returns with several other important dead characters because of the way dying honorably works, and Piper finally has her sit down with her old friends.

After that, well…pretty much all action, really. The capture/defend campaigns, and the Olympian rescue missions.

Disclaimer: I don’t own PJO or any other crossovers featured herein

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“The hotel is ready for us,” Shin’en said, and he didn’t waste any time.

His eyes turned red as his Sharingan flared, and using an old trick he learned so many, many years ago when he was experimenting with his eyes with Obito, Shin’en meticulously used the water droplets in the air as mirrors, reflecting the light from his eyes into the eyes of every human person in the room. In a second, Shin’en put all the parents and mortal half-siblings into a Mist-based, genjutsu-induced sleep.

In the next second, once again using Ame-no-Minaka, Shin’en teleported everyone into the Feast Hall. The sudden arrival of a few hundred people sent the murmuring einherjar and magicians into silence. Luckily, no outbreak of violence occurred as Odin and a number of the other Aesir gods were already present, along with Helgi, who was already rushing over.

As for the Greco-Roman demigods, they all felt a strange tingle in their bodies that quickly faded away. The enhanced power of an einherjar had taken hold in all of them.

“Mr. Shin’en, welcome, sir!” Helgi said, breathless and red in the face.

Odin was right behind him.

Now, those that have read the Magnus Chase books probably remember the All-Father as being a goofy, borderline idiotic joke of how he is compared to traditional Norse myth, along with all the other Norse gods because Rick was writing for kids and thought that kids needed dummy Nordic gods. Or he was trying not to directly copy the MCU in his portrayal of the Aesir. Whatever the case, that was not the case herein. This present Odin looked more like the Viking warrior god he was known for, boasting a large gold breastplate complete with armored shoulder pads and a flowing fur cape, heavy bracers, dark trousers with heavy greaves over his boots, and a big helmet sporting wings on the side and horns on the top. A gold plate was over his missing left eye, his ravens were perched on his shoulders, and his mighty spear, Gungnir, was in his right hand.

His expression was stern, focused, and professional. He approached Shin’en with all the energy of one general coming to greet a general of higher rank: they were both great figures of authority and power, but one knew who his superior was.

“Thank you, Mr. Helgi,” Shin’en said. He extended his hand to the All-Father. “Odin. A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

Odin shook Shin’en’s hand. “It is an honor to have you in my hall. The Norns have informed me of your deeds, and I watched as you repelled Tartarus’s assault.”

Shin’en nodded. “Then we already have an understanding.”

“Aye. My soldiers are yours, and mine shall fight at your side.”

“Very good. Could you do me a favor and have the humans sent to their rooms?”

Odin’s one eye briefly glowed, and all the sleeping humans were teleported straight to the beds that had been prepared for them. Sally, Paul, little Estelle, Frederick, his wife, their sons Bobby and Matthew, and all the other parents and family members of the demigods, were effectively removed from the better part of the remainder of this story.

By design because there are already so many characters to juggle as it is.

Of course, seeing their families suddenly poofed away caused a great commotion amongst the demigods before the assembled einherjar and House of Life magicians, but Shin’en was quick and fierce to restore order.

He literally brought his foot down. Only he brought it down so hard the floor splintered, the entire hotel shuddered, and there was a terrific BOOM accompanying the impact.

“Take a seat,” Shin’en said calmly, gesturing to the array of open seats close by in the stadium-esque arrangement of the Feast Hall.

With slow and careful steps, the demigods planted their butts, with Percy and Annabeth managing to catch the eyes of Carter and Sadie, who were sitting in the front row with the other magicians.

Magnus and Alex were up a lot further in the seats, along with a number of other individuals who were antsy and excited to see some familiar faces down below.

Once all the demigods had been seated, the only ones standing were Shin’en and his entourage: Leviathan, Asteria, Virgil, Tobi, Kraken and his siblings, Gunslinger, Wheels (sitting, actually), and Piper. Even Helgi had returned to the thanes table, and Odin was with his tribe of gods, Thor eyeballing Virgil because he had seen the Bible on Virgil’s belt.

The air was tense, everyone on edge, confused, trying to figure out what was happening, what had happened, where they were, who all of these people were, what happened to their families in the case of the Greco-Roman demigods, and a thousand other questions.

Shin’en stepped forward, and his voice carried throughout the entire Feast Hall.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed warriors from across the ages. My name is Shin’en Yūrei, and I will be your general in this war. Behind me are my comrades, Leviathan, Asteria, Virgil, Tobi, Kraken and his siblings, Percy and Persia, Gunslinger, Wheels, and Piper McLean. We represent the leading chain of command. If any of you would like to question this, please refer to the educational material showed to you not even thirty minutes ago.

“As most of you are aware, Armageddon is currently underway. The cities of men have been mostly destroyed, and most of mankind itself has been wiped out. Billions are dead, with approximately only five million remaining, of which it is estimated 4.85 million of those are military. This was accomplished by an alliance consisting of Tartarus, Nyx, Akhlys, the New Triumvirate, Setne, and the defeated Loki, who is with us now.”

Shin’en indicated the horrific lump of golden meat.

“In response, we have made our own alliance. Us, the einherjar of Valhalla, the magicians from the Egyptian House of Life, and the demigod warriors from the Greco-Roman camps. As such, I ask the leaders of these forces to please step forward and introduce yourselves to the people you will be working with. Carter, Sadie, Amos, Thalia, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, and Chiron.”

Yes. Not Percy, nor Annabeth, but Nico and Will.

But of course it would be Nico and Will at this point. Percy and Annabeth hadn’t stepped foot in Camp Half-Blood in four years. They’d been living in New Rome for all that time. Objectively, they were no longer the recognized leaders of the Greek camp. Whereas, Nico and Will had been there this whole time, having become directors along with the centaur and Mr. D.

As for Percy and Annabeth not being called, they both felt mixed emotions. A small amount of relief that was overshadowed by guilt but then counteracted with rationalization. It stung a bit not being the ones to stand up there, but that was what they had wanted in the first place. A quiet life away from the madness of gods and monsters. Only they got exactly what they asked for, couldn’t say they were happy about it, and now this. Their whole lives gone up in smoke and fire before them, the world on the brink of wholesale destruction, and now they weren’t being called to task.

Maybe now they realized that their life’s mission and duty was not to retire quietly, but to continue the righteous fight against the forces of evil, including evil men.

Those called came to stand on the other side of Shin’en, as his entourage was situated to his right.

The Kane family introduced themselves as the Chief Lector, the pharaoh, and the pharaoh’s second in command, then Thalia as the daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the Hunt, Frank and Hazel as the praetors, and Chiron, Nico, and Will introduced themselves as the directors of Camp Half-Blood.

“And Odin in the leader of the einherjar,” Shin’en concluded. “But there is one more group with us today. A special forces division within the einherjar.”

Murmurs broke out, and Piper’s heart lurched in her chest.

Shin’en’s eyes traveled to a section of high-up seats in the Feast Hall. “Jason Grace!”

Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Leo, Reyna, Chiron, and all the Greeks and Romans that knew Jason all went rigid.

“I am aware of the reasons behind your secrecy, but those reasons are now null and void. Please, stand, and join us here,” Shin’en said.

And without any kind of grand ceremony, Jason did exactly that. From where he sat in the stands with the other special forces einherjar, other demigods that had been scooped up by the Valkyries and brought to Hotel Valhalla to receive special powers and special training for this exact scenario, Jason stood up and took to the air, flying over everyone to come to a soft landing amongst the leaders. His appearance hadn’t changed from when he’d saved Piper during her battle with Incognito four years ago, sporting golden armor of Greek design, a purple cape that softly settled around him as he landed, and a gladius was sheathed at his side. His helmet, shield, and spear were back in his room at the moment.

Percy, Annabeth, Leo, and Reyna had been on their feet when they saw Jason flying down, and they gathered around him along with everyone else, eyes wide, unblinking, jaws agape, all of them unable to believe what they were seeing.

Thalia was the one in front of Jason first, her eyes swelling with tears. Her fingers reached out, gently brushing over her little brother’s face. “J-Jay? Is it…you’re really…?”

“I wanted more than anything to come back and tell all of you that I was okay, and warn you that you all needed to prepare for something huge coming, but because of the rules I was under, I couldn’t,” Jason said stoically, voice calm and level, eyes serious and devoid of any mirthful sparkles.

He was in Roman mode, if you will. The no-nonsense attitude he had adopted whenever he had to be the praetor of the legion, the leader. Because of that, he managed to quell most of the emotional response from his old friends. They were, after all standing before a congregation of over 424,000 warriors, and they were in the middle of what was basically World War Three. In short, business now, tearful reunion later.

Jason fell into line next to his big sister, who had a firm death grip on his hand. The other demigods wisely made their way back to their seats, and once they were planted, Shin’en moved things along.

“This is Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter. He is also an einherjar, along with a number of other scions of the Greco-Roman gods. Their presence here was part of a plan made between the Fates and the Norns as they had foreseen the current events coming to pass, and sought to create an army powerful enough to give you an edge against the end of the world. As they are already demigods with incredible powers, being granted the enhancements of the einherji made them even stronger. They have lived and trained in secret here for many years so as to avoid any potential conflict between them and all of you, and also to be an ace in the hole in the event that the enemy managed to infiltrate these halls.”

Shin’en paused to let everyone consider this information before moving with a change of subject.

“The enemy is vast and numerous, employing destructive mortal weapons, and also staffing plenty of divine beings. Those of Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter will remember the Titans-” Wheels snorted behind Shin’en, and Shin’en ignored him- “and the Giants. Those of Valhalla will recognize what’s left of Loki, and also appreciate that there are still more threats out there than the mischief god. Surtr is still at large, as is Fenrir and Jormungand. Those from the House will remember Setne, and will be horrified to know that he has used a modified spell to summon back Apophis’s shadow in part in order to absorb the serpent’s power, but not his consciousness, and has donned the completed Crown of Ptolemy. He currently sits on the throne in the Duat, having defeated Ra and his fellows.

“Yes, our situation is grim and dire, but with cooperation and unity, we will yet be victorious. We can rebuild. We can start over. There is hope. What has been lost can be found.”

Shin’en paused once more, letting the Inspirational emotion take hold before moving on with the conclusion of his speech.

“Our objectives in this war are simple: we must take several key locations in Midgard, and then defend them from the enemy. We must find and liberate the captive Olympians, and take back the Duat. With the combined powers of Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Scandinavia, we will be able to tackle the final objective: the annihilation of the forces of evil. We must destroy Tartarus and his ilk, Surtr and all those that would stand against Midgard, and Isfet itself. Once these things have been accomplished, victory will be ours. Now, this meeting is soon to conclude, and all of you will be free to conduct yourselves as you will. By the end of the next three days, I will have organized this great army into legions and have chosen officers by which to form a chain of command. You will be notified of your assignments by raven. Any complaints you may have can be addressed to the head of our HR department, Tobi.”

Tobi happily waved his hand with a grin that showed way too many teeth.

Sadie Kane leaned over. “Uh, you have a human resources department, and it’s run by that guy?”

“No, Ms. Kane, not human resources. Human removal.”

Tobi pulled a couple of ribs from out of his chest in sprays of blood, causing cries and shouts to erupt amongst the congregation.

Gunslinger leaned away from Tobi.

Sadie turned ashen, as did a lot of people. “Er, noted.”

“Indeed,” Shin’en intoned. “It’s the end of the world, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t have time for people whining about how they didn’t get the rank they feel they deserved, or they’re underneath someone they think is inferior to them, or how they weren’t placed in the same legion as their best friend or hallmates or whatever. I’m glad we all reached this understanding. Now, thank you all for your time and attention. This meeting is now over, and all of you are dismissed.”

“Wait, what happened to our families?!” one of the demigods shouted. “They just vanished!”

“Manager Helgi will be the one to inform you of the functionality of Hotel Valhalla,” Shin’en said dismissively.

Helgi paled a little when a few hundred assorted kids, teenagers, and young adults turned their eyes to him. He looked at Odin, and the All-Father merely looked back at him like, You heard the man. Start explaining things.

Helgi sighed and stood up.

The einherjar started filing out.

Shin’en looked at Wheels, gave him the nod, and the two started getting the Feast Hall prepped for their operational needs. Shin’en also looked at Piper, giving her a nod as well, and his eyes slid to Virgil, who nodded in understanding.

Piper and Virgil joined Jason and the other important demigods.

The air grew a little tense between the Greeks and Romans as Piper and Jason stood before one another. They all knew the two had broken up—objectively shocking to everyone that heard about it, because as far as they had seen, Piper and Jason were going to go all the way like Percy and Annabeth—and they knew that Jason had died shortly after the breakup, with the two of them having not reached closure.

Or at least, that’s what they all thought because they weren’t privy to the full scope of events that took place in Tahlequah four years ago.

Piper looked at Jason.

Jason looked at Piper.

Everyone looked between them, trying to figure out how this was going to go down. The former couple stared at each other, their eyes swimming with emotions, but as the clock continued ticking, everyone started to get inklings of ideas. The way they were looking at each other wasn’t as if they were being reunited after all this time, and finally given the chance to talk things over and smooth things out. Piper didn’t have the same kind of guilty, regretful look in her eyes that Percy, Annabeth, and Leo had.

It clicked in Thalia’s head first. Her pupils dilated, the static electricity shot up so high that everyone’s hair started rising, and she glared murder at Piper. “You knew!” she shouted. “You knew he was alive this whole time and didn’t come tell me!”

Everyone looked at Piper, who calmly looked at the furious Thalia.

Jason spoke to his big sister and all his old friends. “When Piper fought the medicine man Incognito four years ago in Tahlequah, she was almost overwhelmed. I was allowed to come back and help her out, but that was it. Like I wanted to go tell all of you I was alive, but couldn’t because of the reasons Shin’en just explained, I had to make Piper swear to keep this a secret as well.”

“Don’t you think I wanted to tell you all that night I IM’d all of you?” Piper asked. “Don’t you think I wanted to tell you two years ago when I first warned all of you that this was going to happen, and you all needed to start preparing? Do you really think I would’ve kept Jason being alive from you without a really good reason?”

Virgil held up his hand. “Let there be peace between us for the moment. Jason, I take it you have quarters here?”

“Yes, sir. And they’re big enough for all of us. Come on, I can take you all there, and we can get it all out of our system.”

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Minutes later, after a quiet and tense walk and elevator ride, and a lot of people were situated in Jason’s room. Like all the einherjar suites of Hotel Valhalla, Jason’s room was the definition of opulent and comfortable, and tailormade just for him based on the life he lived. A large tree occupied the center of the room, reaching for the atrium above to support the ceiling with its branches. From there, the suite was divided into four equal sections by walls, with the first being a foyer by the door, and then clockwise from there a kitchen area, a living room area with sofas, recliners, a coffee table, and a large television sporting fancy speakers and numerous gaming consoles, and then the bedroom, with a queen-sized bed covered in royal purple blankets, soft purple carpet. A closet full of outfits and sets or armor, a dresser full of socks, underwear, and weapons, and of course of bathroom complete with sink, toilet, towel cabinet, and a bathtub that served as a tub, hot tub, and shower.

Everyone gathered in Jason’s living room. Him, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Leo, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Will, and even Carter and Sadie because they were standing right there when everyone got together in the first place and it was best that they were involved because of their connection to Percy and Annabeth, and also Magnus and Alex, who had made a beeline down from where they were sitting to catch up to Percy and Annabeth as well.

And Virgil, who was off to the side.

A total of sixteen characters gathered in one location to hear Jason and Piper’s story. Their story had already been told, though, and their recounting of it was short. Piper had exhausted herself fighting the Asgina and then Incognito, Jason swooped in in the nick of time to save her and give her a boost, and together they defeated the evil medicine man, routed his army of spirits, and were finally able to have their heart to heart and make their breakup official. Jason explained what Shin’en already did, in that he and Piper needed to keep their secret because they were meant to be a surprise counterstrike team against the foreseen enemy, and they wanted to remain a surprise.

While the reason was understood, there was still some bitterness at being kept in the dark.

After Jason and Piper’s piece was said and done, the torch was then passed to Carter and Sadie, and the magicians stood up to tell their story, from their mixed-race parents Julius and Ruby, their childhood mostly separated, their adventures in the House of Life, and their tale culminated in their encounters with Setne alongside Percy and Annabeth, which then led into them having to explain why they kept their own secret regarding the Egyptian pantheon. They had all experienced the power of hybrid magic, Greek demigods utilizing the power of Egypt’s magicians, and it had been devastating in just the brief moment they had it.

If hybrid magic became a well-known and widespread thing, it could’ve spelt ruin beyond the Titans and Gaea.

A notion everyone appreciated with a strong sense of morbid irony, though there was a feeling of hope. If there was ever a time in which the demigods of Greece could use the magic of Egypt, it was definitely now. It was resolved to pitch this to Shin’en after Virgil approved of the idea.

Then it was Magnus and Alex’s turn to explain who they were. They shared their life stories, how Magnus was the cousin of Annabeth on the mortal side and the son of Frey, and how Alex was the transgender and gender fluid child of Loki, who was Alex’s mother because Loki decided to be a woman during conception. A moment had to be taken in order for Alex to explain what it meant to be trans and fluid, since being trans implied a physical transition of the body, while fluid implied an ever-changing state of mental identity, and then rationalize how it was possible to be both trans and fluid because the two seemed to offset each other based on principle.

Either Alex sucked at explaining things, or everyone in Jason’s room was stupid, because absolutely no one understood how Alex could call herself transgender and gender fluid.

But given the pressing situation of Armageddon, no one really cared about wasting the mental energy on trying to rationalize Alex Fierro.

Magnus and his significant other continued their tale, Magnus recounting the events of his first adventure, starting with dying at the fireball of Surtr, ending with his battle with Fenrir, and then Alex picked up, explaining her own death and ferrying to the hotel, and then the two of them bounced back and forth to recount the events of retrieving Thor’s hammer Mjolnir—also explaining that the “must be worthy” idea was purely a fabrication of Marvel Comics, and the truth was that Mjolnir was just so ridiculously heavy that Thor himself actually needed magic gloves in order to wield his own hammer properly, something that garnered mixed opinions from everyone—and their adventures leading up to the flyting and defeat of Loki on Naglfar, something that was clearly all for naught because Loki got free anyway, but then was neutralized by the one called Tobi, the head of Shin’en Human Removal department.

Everyone looked at Virgil for an explanation.

Virgil explained by shaking his head. “All of you will be much happier not knowing about Tobi’s life. Just don’t ever talk to him, look at him, or come within ten feet of him, especially whenever he is bored. He is a sadist and a masochist, and his idea of fun is psychologically and physically torturing people.”

“And he’s supposed to be me from another timeline?” Percy blanched.

“Yes.”

“Uh…”

“Don’t think about it,” Virgil counseled. “You’ll go mad the more thought you try to put into it.”

“Then how am I supposed to mentally categorize him?”

“Think of him as some distant cousin three times removed on your mom’s side.”

“Okay.”

And that’s when Reyna stood, glaring murder at Percy and Annabeth. She’d been holding something in since Carter and Sadie explained some of their powers, particularly Duat fast travel.

“Rey?” Thalia asked.

Reyna continued glaring at Percy and Annabeth. “All these years, and I stood by the idea that the two of you had done enough, and with communications down there was no way you could’ve known, but if you had known, you would have done everything you could have to come help us that day. And now here we are, being told that there was a way, that you knew these two-” she whipped her arm up, pointing at the magicians “-who could have traveled through a subspace dimension basically, like a wormhole, and could have been on our doorstep in seconds, able to relay information between the camps around the clock. Transport troops…and reinforcements…”

And just like that, it got extremely tense in Jason’s room.

Even Frank and Hazel were looking at Percy and Annabeth, who had the decency to look beyond ashamed and guilty.

Magnus came to their defense. Or tried to. “Hey, they said that mixing the pantheons could have resulted in huge problems because of hybridizing the magic-”

“And that justifies the slaughter of my people!?” Reyna rounded on Magnus, her pupils glowing red as a red aura, like flickering flames, began forming around her.

Thalia was on her feet. “Reyna, listen to me, I need you to bring it back.”

If Reyna heard her friend, she didn’t show it. Instead, she was coiled and ready to attack, eyes locked on Magnus. Alex stepped up, ready to fight, garrot wire between her hands.

“Most of them are here.”

Reyna snapped back to herself, pupils returning to black, aura vanishing. Her head whipped around to Jason, as did everyone’s. “What?”

“Most of the legion that died that day, and a lot of demigods from Camp Half-Blood, from the Giant and Titan Wars, are here. Even ones that fought for the Titans.” Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy lurched as they all had the exact same thought. “The Fates and Norns made sure the special forces division had a lot of manpower, and boy do we. We’ve got demigods here from as far back as the Civil War.”

Reyna lips trembled. “So…you mean…all that we lost in the battle…?”

Jason nodded. “Most were picked up by Valkyries and brought here.”

“Most?”

Jason’s expression became tight. “A stipulation from the Norns was that those brought here had to die honorably, or courageously, or valiantly, or however heroically. Because of that, not everyone that died during the battle was permitted here. Not everyone died a hero.”

A shadow came over Reyna’s face. “I…see.” She was quiet for so many seconds, and then she looked back at Percy and Annabeth, her fire having once again ignited. “But that still doesn’t excuse them! Before the Imperial War even started, the two of you knew about Carter and Sadie, and could have called on their help as soon as communications were jammed! Especially after the war began in earnest when Nero attacked Camp Half-Blood!”

“Reyna-” Thalia tried, but she was interrupted.

“Why didn’t you call us up?” Sadie asked Percy and Annabeth. “I know we talked about trying to keep our groups separate, but for something like that, we could have come up with something. Like, we’re the kids of literally any of your Greek gods, trying out an experimental travel spell.”

Percy and Annabeth looked haunted, broken, fatigued, worn out, tired, and like they wanted to be anywhere but here.

The reason why this whole conversation stung so badly was because they had even had this conversation themselves four years ago, as stated in the first chapter of this story.

Annabeth opened her mouth to try and speak, try and say something to apologize, but for once, in a rare turn of events, her fat mouth had nothing to say.

But the hostilities were brought to an end by Virgil. “Enough of this,” he said in the voice of Il Mentore, and when he used that voice, enough really did become enough.

Reyna noticeably simmered down, Percy and Annabeth relaxed a little, and bit of peace was restored.

“What’s done is done,” Virgil continued. “Lamenting over the past will bring naught but undue grief and sorrow. I’m sure Percy and Annabeth have been drowning in regret and guilt these past four years and wish nothing more than to be able to go back and do things differently, but that will not ever be accomplished due to the headaches involved in temporal anomalies.”

“Huh?” Frank blinked.

“Time travel,” Nico answered. “Alternate timelines, time loops, paradoxes, etc.”

“Oh. Right.”

“There’s nothing you can do about the dead,” Virgil continued, “and there’s nothing any of you can do to change what happened. What you can do, is move on. Don’t make the same mistakes again. Going forward from this point on, there will be no more debate or argument about the Imperial War, or about what could have been done, or should have been done, or would have been done. There will be no more animosity, and no more anger. Do I make myself clear to everyone in this room?”

There was grumbling and mumbling.

“I said: do I make myself clear!?”

This time, there was a resounding chorus of Yes, sir!

Virgil nodded. “Good. Piper, you have the floor.”

Piper stood still for a few seconds, staring at the floor, and then her eyes closed as her face broke into a mirthless smile. “Well, after a speech like that, lamenting over the past and moving on, I don’t think what I have to say has any real meaning anymore.”

“You need to get it off your chest,” Virgil said.

Piper sighed. “Yeah, I do.”

She sighed again and opened her eyes. They were cold eyes, dark eyes, eyes that burned with a cold, simmering anger for everyone and everything.

“What I’m about to say…doesn’t come from any logical place. It comes from pure, raw emotion, and jealousy, and self-loathing, and pent-up rage and frustration that hasn’t had anywhere healthy to go, and before I go any further, I want all of you to know that I don’t really mean what I’m going to say, and I’m sorry in advance. Now that we have that established…”

Piper had to take another breath, her eyes starting to glisten. She paused to take yet another breath, and then she finally exploded.

“FUCK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!!”

Her furious, booming, roar came out so loud that some of them winced from the genuine pain inflicted upon their ears.

Like a breaking dam, Piper’s emotions came flooding out.

“I was out there, fighting the forces of evil, while all of you were fucking off! I have seen things the likes of which none of you can even attempt to imagine, because you haven’t been exposed to the stimulus necessary with which to even imagine it! I have seen people stick a white-hot metal rod right into a little boy’s penis, and melt it off, and then turn around and do the same to a little girl’s vagina. I’ve busted open cargo containers full of kidnapped people, and had to go throw up somewhere because of the rotten stench of BO, human waste, and actual rotting corpses because they died in transit. I’ve taken down human trafficking rings where they kidnapped boys, cut their dicks off, and then sold them as girls, and other rings where they just film the people they kidnapped being tortured to death. I’ve even torn apart true psychopaths with my bear hands, because I found them trying to recreate the fucking human centipede. I have seen…so many things…” Piper’s eyes widened and her voice lowered as her expression morphed into the exact one in the textbook next to the word “haunted.”

“I legitimately think I can’t have sex anymore,” Piper continued in that same faraway voice, “or even finger myself without a million horrific memories flooding back at once. The things I have seen people do to each other in the name of pleasure…the way men and women, and even children…have been exploited and abused. The things you only read about in books, or see in movies or on TV, things that are supposed to be fictional because there’s no way any real person would ever do such things to another person…I have seen proof otherwise. I once saw a girl beat her own little sister to death so she would be spared being raped, only for the people that kidnapped her to rape her anyway, and then throw her to the dogs, where they ate her alive and tore her apart….And the things I have seen parents do to their own children….There was this hillbilly cult over in the Wyoming mountains. Incestuous, all of them. Their thing was that they’d get their cousins and sisters pregnant, and then they’d take the baby when it was born, chop it up, and put it in a meat pie.”

Piper chuckled so darkly it made Nico grab Will’s hand.

“I tried to not ever take pleasure in killing the bad guys, that way I don’t lose myself and become a monster, too, but guys…there are some people that I relished in killing. I took my time with them. Made it slow. Made it hurt. And prayed that when Hades got a hold of them, that he put them on the express track straight to the Fields of Punishment.”

Piper fell silent again after that one, and the tension hung heavy in the air. Almost like they all knew what Piper was about to say next, and sure enough:

“And what the fuck were any of you doing!?” Piper roared, holding true to what she had said about her tirade coming from a place devoid of logic. She looked at Percy and Annabeth. “You two, with your heads so far up in each other’s assholes one could almost see your faces poking through your stomachs.” Piper looked at Leo. “And you! All your technological genius, and you went for a garage? A fucking garage!?” Piper looked at Hazel. “And you….As far as your powers go, at least you’ve been using all the money you have access to to help people in need, funding charities and stuff, but still.” Piper looked at Thalia and Reyna.

“Hey,” Thalia said, “we got the Hunters together, spoke with Artemis, and we gave it our best shot-”

“But you still gave up!” Piper shouted.

“Because it was awful!” Thalia shouted back, getting to her feet. “And look what the…the crusade…or whatever you want to call it, has done to you! You’re depressed, traumatized, bitter, angry, and’ve been carrying around all this emotional baggage for the better part of four years, and you’re finally falling apart. Us and you are the two extremes, Piper. You, the side that went balls to the wall and dedicated her life to the cause, forcing herself to face the most horrible things the world could throw at her, and I guess the rest of us, who decided to kick back and do practically nothing.

“I’ve seen this before, Piper. I’m part of a group of immortal girls that have been around for decades, centuries, and even thousands of years. What you’re preaching, I’ve heard. What you’re going through, I’ve seen. And I’m so sorry for you. I’m sorry because I know what’s really eating at you: you’re jealous. You’re wishing that you hadn’t gone so far, that you had refrained and taken a life more like ours, where, while not the greatest, is nowhere near as bad as what you went through. And you’re bitter that we weren’t all right there with you, side by side in the trenches, sifting through the human filth as we tried to make the world a better place. And on top of those two things, you hate yourself for feeling that way. You hate yourself for wanting all of us to have suffered with you. You hate yourself for wanting what we had, even thought you made the choice to live the life you did. You’re stuck in a state of back and forth arguments with yourself, like you were four years ago. Telling yourself things like we have the right to live how we want, and also telling yourself we still have a responsibility to adhere to.”

Thalia paused to take some breaths herself before continuing forward with her own speech. Tears were openly running down Piper’s cheeks as the daughter of Zeus hit every nail right on the head.

“I’m sorry, Piper. I’m sorry that none of us were motivated like you to go off and fight evil. I’m sorry that you lost yourself in the fight and never took a break to detox and relax. I’m sorry that you hate yourself for hating us because we weren’t right there with you the whole time, one big demigod superhero team changing the world for the better one day at a time. I’m sorry that life didn’t let us all stay together after the Giant War.”

Piper exhaled, her lips quirking upwards while a little gleam appeared in her now-dark eyes. “Life didn’t let us stay together, or we just didn’t make the effort? I mean, serious question, guys, were we ever really a team of closeknit friends, a big found family, or we just group project friends? Friends only because the teacher put us in a group together, and we made it work, but once the schoolyear was over, that was it. Our friendship was rooted only in the situation.”

An uncomfortable silence fell on them as they really pondered it.

Piper closed her eyes, wiped them and dried them, and exhaled. “Well, I feel a lot better now. I’ve been carrying that around for at least two years, since I graduated high school and really started to get my hands dirty. Thanks for listening and putting up with my bullshit, guys. I appreciate it. I really do.”

Percy shook his head and stood up. “No, that wasn’t bullshit. That was…something you really needed to say, and maybe exactly what we needed to hear. I don’t know, but maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess if we had been with you. Maybe if Tartarus saw that we were still a team, still kicking ass, and were actually…you know…killing people, and saw we meant business, maybe they would’ve backed off.”

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda, Percy,” Piper said stoically. “Like Virgil said, what’s done is done. At least we know that if we could go back, we definitely would do things differently.”

There was a knock at the front door, and Jason made his way through his suite to open it. It was Shin’en.

“May I come in?”

“Oh, uh, sure.”

Jason stepped aside and Shin’en entered, making his way across the suite at a purposeful pace. In his hand was a box full of keycards.

Jason shut the door and hurried behind Shin’en to join him with all the others.

“These are the keys to your rooms here,” Shin’en announced. “They are all on the same floor, and all down the hall from each other. I figured that you would want to be close together during this time of crisis.”

Shin’en passed the box out, and the demigods quickly found that each card had their name on it. Before a minute was up, everyone had their keycards.

Shin’en looked at Piper with expectations in his eyes.

She nodded. “I’m good. I got it all out.”

Jason set a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

“Do you regret it?” Shin’en asked Piper. “Taking up the life?”

“Considering all things? No. I helped people. I saved lives. I punished evil and wicked beings. I’d do it all again, but I would not do it the same way.”

“Good,” Shin’en nodded. “You have the next three days to rest. Enjoy yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Shin’en turned away, giving Virgil the nod, and Virgil walked away after him.

However, they paused when they heard Nico ask Piper a question, trying to hasten the fading tension.

“So…how’s Shel doing?”

Piper’s eyes became hollow, her mouth setting into a thin line.

Nico’s blood froze, as did everyone’s when they realized. “N-No…” Nico breathed.

Piper barely nodded. “She was on a bridge in the hills one night. Tire exploded. She lost control and smashed through the guardrail. Fell 300 feet to the valley below. Car exploded on impact. She was cremated onsite. Other than the unbridled terror of falling to her death, experts say she probably didn’t feel a thing. Less than six months after we graduated.”

Nico teared up and threw his arms around Piper. Piper hugged him back, and Jason joined, then Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Will, Sadie, Carter, Magnus, and Alex found shoulders to put their hands on for the sake of morale support.

Through all the people hugging her and sobbing with her, Piper was still able to catch Shin’en’s eye.

He was heartbroken for her.

He and Virgil gave her respectful, sympathetic nods, and then they took their leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And there we go. Perfect start to the New Year.

Now I ask a question: where do y’all want the story to go from here? Jump ahead to the end of the three days and begin the campaigns, or go over the three days with the characters interacting with their DI-verse counterparts? Talking and drama, and maybe some character development.

True to Virgil’s word, there will be no more Imperial War bashing. I think it’s pretty clear by now what I think of ToA and how Rick wrote the characters, and at this point I feel like I’m beating a dead horse. I mean, I did write this huge essay detailing my criticisms against ToA, so there’s that.

What’d you think of the chapter? Shin’en’s speech, Jason’s reintroduction, Piper’s big scene, etc.

In the meantime, please Fav, Follow, and Review!