The Chaos War

All right, the Jason idea was well received. I’ll give it a shot after this chapter, I think. See what happens.

Before we get to this chapter, though, something to address:

A Guest has made it known that it feels weird that Piper and Jason got back together. I’ll address this. One, I am a staunch advocate that Piper never should have broken up with Jason in the first place, and that it was a poorly written thing from front to back. Rick has Piper saying things that don’t make sense canonically and have no logical support from the books. So, sad and pathetic as it may be, this story, and Piper’s Untold Story as a whole, are both literal cope in terms of Piper and Jason. Two, I like Jason and Piper as a couple a lot more than I do any of the others, actually, and so it makes me happy to put them back together. Three, back in-universe, the conversation between Jason and Piper following Incognito was four years ago. A lot has happened to Piper and Jason in those four years, a lot of off-screen stuff and character development, so while it could be argued as being lazy writing, I make the case that in those four years, Piper and Jason have both matured, figured themselves out, and upon being reunited, have determined that they really do love each other like that after all.

Maybe I’ll make a Piper’s Untold Story Part Two one day, exploring the four years between Incognito and now.

Anyway, to this chapter! Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason meet the Xenomorph Goddess, my second story, Asteria Jackson!

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

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There was an unknown source of dim light in what was basically the tunnel of the hive. Even with the door to Asteria’s “room,” if it could really be called such, closed, there was still enough illumination for the four heroes to see they were walking in what looked like the inside of a beast. It really was like stepping into the reactor of LV-426. It was humid, dank, foreboding, all with a general air of tension and unease.

The four of them were in a place they were not meant to be, a place where they were being watched and monitored by unseen eyes.

Asteria had certainly been busy with her floor plan. It appeared that she had knocked down all the walls of what was her suite, and then built up this whole cramped place. As the four followed the Albino Xenomorph, they saw corridors leading left and right, with more corridors attached that looked as if they angled up and down. They were also keeping a close eye on the walls, their heads on swivels, looking for anything that looked like a curled Xenomorph tucked into the wall.

They found nothing like that, but they did find the other most terrifying thing to find in an Alien hive: victims.

They passed one corridor, and when Piper looked down, she gasped and went running, the other three right behind her. It was Bianca. In the time between when they’d seen her at the test simulation and right now, she’d apparently been kidnapped by Asteria, cocooned into the wall just like in the movie, and if the dead Facehugger on the floor in front of her was anything to go by, impregnated with Asteria’s child.

So, in short, raped.

The four heroes stood there, wondering what to do. They had all seen the movies, they all knew what was inside Bianca, and they knew there was no easy way to get the little creature out, but they also knew this was Hotel Valhalla, knew that Bianca was an einherjar, and that einherjar had infinite respawn while in the hotel.

Percy was the one to voice that. “When that thing comes out, and kills her, is she going to come back?”

Bianca’s eyes hot wide open with a huge gasp, making them all flinch and jump away. “Oh, hell. Of all the ways I’ve died in this place—grrk!”

The telltale sound of cracking bone was heard from within her body, and her expression became pained. “Don’t just stand there—hrrn! K-Kill me before this thing—ahh!”

Piper, being the closest, just went for it. She swung her tomahawk at Bianca’s neck, lopping her head off with a single chop. The head of Nico’s big sister rolled across the floor, settling at Percy’s feet.

“Oh. My. Gods,” he said, pale as paper, recalling the last time he’d seen Bianca die.

As for the baby, it stopped trying to ram its way out of Bianca’s chest, and instead decided to slither up and out. The four demigods found their attention drawn to Bianca’s body when it started shaking, blood spurting from the stump of her neck, the red, gory tissues bulging up and out, and then, with a victorious screech, the Chestburster erupted from Bianca’s neck, covered in blood and mouth wide open, its second jaw fully extended.

And then Bianca’s body suddenly vanished, and the snake-like creature unceremoniously dropped to the floor with a splat. Poor thing looked a little lost and confused, like, Where’d my throne go? It looked up at the four heroes, gurgling, and all four of them had to restrain themselves from stepping on it.

They figured that Asteria would not be pleased if they killed her newborn.

…would it respawn if killed in the hotel?

Whatever the case, the little nightmare saw its big brother, made a happy noise, and went skittering across the floor to be scooped up and nuzzled by the Albino in a macabre display of sibling affection.

“Er, guys?” Annabeth pointed with a shaky finger.

They looked, and they all went pale and rigid at the sight of multiple dead Facehuggers on the floor, multiple alcoves in the walls where bodies used to be, and alcoves that were currently occupied with bodies that had Facehuggers presently attached.

“She’s…she’s…she’s harvesting einherjar,” Jason breathed.

Annabeth gulped. “I-I g-guess…from a-a logical standpoint…infinite respawn…i-infinite hosts…i-i-infinite army…”

“D-Did-” Percy’s voice cracked, so he tried again, “Did Shin’en authorize this? Does he even know-”

‘Of course he knows. No one in this hotel can make a bowel movement without him knowing about it. Annabeth’s logic is valid. The einherjar will respawn back in their suites, thus providing me with infinite hosts with which to make powerful children, a needed edge in this war.’

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “Powerful children—they’re all legacies, aren’t they? Every one of them, a child of you and whichever godly parent—or even god—they came out of. Legacies of Poseidon. Legacies of other gods.”

‘Correct. I do have many back in my world, but they are currently inaccessible at the moment. Dimensional bruhaha and such. Therefore, I have begun making a new hive here.’

“But this is wrong!” Percy shouted. “You can’t just kidnap the einherjar, cocoon them here, make them give birth and die, and respawn, over and over again!”

‘I quite literally can and am doing that.’

“But it’s wrong!”

‘I understand your human point of view. The ‘rape’ connotations. The human rights violations. Rest assured that I do not care. The logic is sound and inarguable. The einherjar are an invaluable resource for the war effort, both as warriors and as hosts. Their bodies have multiple excellent uses.’

Percy’s fist clenched and his teeth grit. “I don’t care about how logical it is, this is just vile and heinous and-”

A low, rumbling hiss sounded from the Albino. As terrifying as that was, sounding off throughout the rest of the hive were even more hisses.

‘And what, little boy?’ Asteria said in their heads. All four them could feel her easygoing smile. ‘How would you stop me? At the current moment, there is a wall to your backs and my son to your front. You also don’t know what else is hidden in that corridor with you that you can’t see but can see you. If you were to get past my son, then you would have the rest of my children to contend with as you either fought to escape, or fought your way to me. If you made it to me, I would simply defeat you all and harvest you. If you escaped, you would still never find refuge in the hotel. I know your minds. I know your scents. I know where your rooms are. You’d never hide from me. My children would hunt you. You’d be mine. Your one and only chance for survival is to surrender.’

“You’re a rapist monster,” Percy growled.

‘From a certain point of view.’

“How are you possibly me!?”

‘That’s the thing: I’m not you. None of us here are you. We are ‘Percy Jackson’ only through the name. Our lives are all so radically different from yours, that we bear almost no similarity to you. We might as well be completely different entities altogether, only with the name ‘Percy Jackson’ slapped onto us. Which still technically isn’t true in my case, as my name is Asteria.’

“Were you born with that name?” Jason asked. Of course, he was also wondering just what in the hell Poseidon had fucked to produce Asteria in the first place. Had the sea god really boned a Xenomorph or something?

‘No. I chose it for myself. My father also did not have sex with a Xenomorph. I was born a human demigod. A boy at that.’

They were all thrown for a loop because they had seen Asteria naked. She walked around in the nude. She was clearly a female.

“A boy?” Annabeth balked.

‘And you are my adopted daughter.’

“Excuse me?!”

‘I even wiped and diapered your bottom.’

Annabeth turned bright pink. “E-Er…”

Percy shifted uncomfortably, clearly disturbed by the thought of how, in another life, Annabeth was evidently his daughter, not his girlfriend, and he wasn’t even her father, but her mother, and she had apparently changed Annabeth’s diapers. Yuck, gross, and weird.

“What were Jason and I?” Piper asked.

‘Hosts. The way my story went, I never met either of you in person. The Titan War never started like it did here.’

“Oh?” Jason blinked. “Then what happened?”

They all felt Asteria smile in their heads. ‘I wiped out the human species, harvesting all that I could, killing the rest, even the many gods themselves. My hive back home is over ten billion strong.’

All four of them went cold, not at all doubting Asteria for a second, realizing that they were in the lair of a true, legitimate, actual creature from hell.

“If you don’t mind,” Piper said in a voice that very well hid her newfound terror in the wake of appreciating just how much of a monster Asteria was, “we’ll be going now. Lots of others to speak to before we have to go fight in the war.”

‘Oh, I think not. You desired to sit with me and learn about me, and I am happy to oblige, but in person. Not being able to see each other’s faces doesn’t have the same meaningful impact.’

“You’re really not just going to let us leave, are you?” Percy asked.

‘Not alive, no. Not unless you sit with me.’

“Would Shin’en stop you?”

‘He already knows you’re here in my hive. He told me to play nice. Besides, you are the ones who decided to go poking around us, even after Gunslinger told you not to.’

“Wait. Hang on-”

‘I’ve been monitoring you four since you made the decision to come to our suites.’

And all four felt understandably violated. Between Shin’en seemingly having constant awareness of everything they were doing in the hotel due to the water in their bodies and the water in the air, and Asteria presumably either having the same power due to also being a child of Poseidon or by using her telepathy to track their minds and their very thoughts, they felt like exposed and completely without privacy.

‘Annabeth, dear, please do take an extra moment with the toilet paper the next time you poop. I know you’re presently feeling a small itch from not having wiped as well as you thought.’

Annabeth screamed.

The other drew weapons.

“What’s going on?!” Percy shouted. “What’s she doing to you?!”

“You didn’t hear what she said?”

“No? What’d she say?”

“She—never mind. Let’s just get this over with.”

Annabeth briskly brushed past her boyfriend and old friends, face pink, refusing to look any of them in the eye.

Percy’s eyes darted between Jason and Piper, and they both shrugged.

Less than a minute later, they were all gathered in the central room. It was a breathtakingly underwhelming sight, especially because the four heroes expected Asteria to have the gigantic ovipositor connected to her crotch and strewn around the chamber, depositing the titular slimy eggs. Instead, Asteria was casually lounging in a steaming hot tub built halfway into the floor, sitting perpendicular to them.

Upon their gathered presence, Asteria rose with regal, natural elegance, stepping over the side of the tub with a flowing movement. The four noticed a small blur of color around her crotch, and the slit and mounds of her vagina were gone, replaced by flat, black skin like the rest of her body. A trick of the Mist, they realized, for the sake of decency.

Asteria was shorter than Percy, standing at 5’10 compared to his final 6’2, and her physique was so much leaner, lither, and compact. Solid, feminine muscle, though she barely had any chest to speak of, just two small bumps where her breasts were supposed to be. Her tail gently coiled around her midsection, forming the world’s heaviest, thickest belt. She had a gentle smile on her face that showed her black gums and translucent, pearly teeth. Her eyes, however, belayed on almost sadistic amusement. She found their discomfort, their anger at her with her harvesting operation, and their arguments against her, to be humorous.

What terrifying eyes she had, too. Vertical slits for pupils, like a crocodile, and irises that were of a similar, venomous green, all framed by inky black sclera, devoid of all white, giving the illusion that her eyes were being held suspended in pools of deep space. And the soul that was reflected in those eyes…inhuman. A mind in there that operated on inhuman logic, not quiet machine, but…well…alien.

If there had been any vain hopes that Asteria was anyone’s definition of “good,” they were certainly gone now. The four of them well and truly accepted that Asteria was no friend to them, and they were probably going to have to fight their way out of here.

‘No need to be so critical,’ Asteria’s voice chimed in their heads. ‘I am an excellent mother to my four children, and a faithful wife to my husband.’

“Husband!?” the four of them balked in unison, finding the concept of Asteria being married to be almost unfathomable.

‘Yes, husband. My genetic clone, Cain. Almost like Adam and Eve, in a sense, with Eve having been made from Adam’s rib, therefore his DNA.’

“Genetic clone?” Annabeth blinked.

Asteria’s smile turned into a smirk, showing her sharpened incisors. ‘Here. Let me show you.’

And then she basically projected most of her life straight into their heads. The best way the heroes could describe the experience would be to liken it to a 3D movie playing out on sped up film. They were there to witness Asteria’s horrific life as written in her story, Xenomorphic.

They saw Asteria’s formative years when she was still a little boy, Subject 3. The surgeries, the augmentations, the physical experiments, making him run, lift weights, obstacle courses, and fight to the death. Then the horrifying body transformation after he was injected with the serum that altered his DNA, his skin transmogrifying, tendrils erupting from his body, becoming a cocoon that lifted him off the ground, then his emergence as her, the macabrely adorable child version of the walking nightmare they knew and hated now.

They saw the young Asteria’s exploits, her increased strength, hunting capabilities, the other experiments done on her such as when she was strung up and the durability of her body tested by way of different calibers of guns.

They saw Asteria fighting against the Flock, the group of young recombinant bird experiments comprised of Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, their flourishing friendship in the School. They saw Asteria be sent to Antarctica where she fought the Predators and the Xenomorph Queen in somewhat humorous accordance with the first Aliens vs Predator movie from 2004. They saw young Angel’s stupid martyrdom plan unfold in the School, with the Flock making a desperate escape attempt, only to all of them die, which led to Asteria destroying the School in a gigantic, blazing inferno.

They watched Asteria chase after the Director in those absolutely bonkers transforming jet planes, the chemical fire Asteria started somehow managing to follow her across the state of California, setting a decent swath of the state on fire in an episode of morbid IRL foreshadowing. They saw Asteria finally kill the Director, that evil bitch, by way of acid kiss, Asteria putting their lips together and then pumping acid straight into the evil woman’s mouth, melting her face and body into goo.

They saw Asteria almost commit suicide, be rescued by Poseidon, and then her therapy under the Olympians. Then they saw Asteria’s integration with Camp Half-Blood, her rocky start with Annabeth, and the eventual culmination of Asteria almost killing Annabeth for her choice words. Thing got a little weird after that, as they saw Annabeth’s “regression therapy” unfold, in which the Annabeth of Asteria’s world was stripped of her big girl privileges, so to speak, and reduced to the status of a toddler in potty training, complete with pull-ups, scheduled potty breaks, sippy cups, and more.

It was either that, or Annabeth would’ve faced Poseidon’s wrath for having insulted his daughter.

Asteria’s story continued to unfold in fast motion before the eyes of Percy, Piper, Jason, and the original Annabeth, finally culminating in Asteria starting puberty, her first period setting her on the path of a true Xenomorph: harvesting everything she could for the establishment of the hive, and killing whatever was left. They watched, genuinely horrified, as Asteria became an extinction event.

Xenomorphs of all shapes and sizes overran villages, towns, and suburbs. They scaled skyscrapers and broke through the windows. They tore through bunkers and tunnel systems. Overturned trucks and derailed trains. Swarmed upon ships in the sea, capsizing them or sinking them. Asteria even broke into the Duat of all places, after harvesting Carter and Sadie Kane in London, and she harvested as many of the Egyptian gods as she could in that retirement home, including Ra himself.

The four heroes saw Asteria’s battle with Cain, her victory over the hulking creature, and also her time spent with the girls, Amelia, Ariel, and the absolutely wild twist story of Asteria’s Annabeth being turned back into a little girl and Asteria re-raising her as her own daughter. Then there was Arcadia, Asteria and Cain’s natural born son. A morbid, macabre, happy family of genocidal demons.

Like the Addams family, but less weird and abnormal and more bloodthirsty and vicious.

When Asteria was finished uploading the main parts of her story into the heroes’ heads, they all collapsed to the knees, rendered almost unconscious by the mental assault.

‘There,’ Asteria thought flippantly in their minds. ‘You have now gotten the full story of me. For the most part anyway. Has your curiosity been satisfied?’

Piper was the first one to drag herself to her feet, after having wiped an amount of drool from her chin. “You’re a monster.”

‘Monster is a relevant term, Piper. To a canary, a cat is a monster. You are used to being the cat.’ Asteria’s lips quirked up. ‘If you would like for me to save all of you the time of talking to the others, I can also show you their stories as well.’

“N-No, thank you,” Percy got to his feet, shaking and pale. “I think I’ve had enough of you all, actually. We’ll be going now.”

He helped Annabeth get up, as she was slowest to rise, no doubt still stuck trying to process what she had seen of herself in Asteria’s world. The four of them turned to head back down into the tunnels, but two black Xenomorphs—Astermorphs, in truth—were blocking the way back. They hissed, jaws opening low, secondary mouths sliding out, saliva pouring down their chins.

Percy uncapped Riptide, Jason drew his sword, Piper drew her tomahawk and Katoptris, and Annabeth her drakon bone sword. All four of them were painfully aware of how much of a disadvantage they were in melee combat against creatures with acid for blood.

Asteria even made note of this. ‘And what do you hope to accomplish fighting my children in close quarters? You would need to strike them from a dist-’

There was a gut-wrenching crunching sound, like stepping on a large bug, but worse, and Asteria’s mental dialogue was ended. There was a heavy thump, and the four heroes whipped around to see something that was equal parts uplifting and terrifying.

Virgil was somehow here, and he was standing behind Asteria’s corpse, her head having been severed from her neck, the lengths of her tendril-like hair past the cut all scattered around the floor. A sword was in Virgil’s hand, long, slender, with a cross guard like stylized wings and a pommel like the profile of an eagle’s head. Asteria’s blood was upon the blade, but the weapon wasn’t steaming or hissing or melting. It was perfectly fine.

Even the floor around Asteria’s body was fine despite the acid blood leaking upon it, but that was primarily because the material of the hive could withstand the molecular acid.

Back to Virgil, though…just what the hell!? When and how did he get into the hive?! How did he know they were in trouble, or had he been there for an undetermined amount of time, just standing there? How did he sneak up on Asteria? From her memory movie, the heroes knew she had the seismic sensing thing that Toph had through Earthshaker powers, and her physiology allowed her to see pheromones coming off people, and she had enhanced hearing and vision, and she was a telepath! It was impossible to sneak up on her!

Or so it apparently seemed.

Then there was that sword. It had cut right through Asteria’s neck, through her bones and muscles, and that super tough skin, as if it were all a stick of bamboo. Additionally, the metal wasn’t sizzling and melting due to the acid. It was just fine. What was that sword?

Whatever the case, the fact of the matter was that Virgil was here, at just the right time, and he had actually killed Asteria by way of unseen assassination.

The Astermorphs took great exception to this, of course, and attacked. The ones in the central chambers seemed to materialize out of the walls, and yet more came rushing out of the adjacent corridors. Virgil was completely unphased. He merely held the sword aloft, the blade glowed brilliantly, and then released beams of light in targeted directions. The beams shot right through the Astermorphs, blowing huge, cauterized holes into their bodies, killing them all.

Then it was quiet and calm. Thanks to the material making up the floor of Asteria’s hive-altered suite, and the fact that the Astermorph wounds were cauterized by the light beams, there wasn’t even the acrid smell of acid melting through material, or the telltale hissing, either.

“H-How…?” Percy was the first to speak to his counterpart.

“Faith in God is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be…unnatural,” Virgil answered in a low, menacing voice, but the corners of his mouth were twitching, showing he was trying not to smile.

“Seriously?” Annabeth deadpanned. “A Star Wars reference?”

Virgil grinned. “Yep! But in all seriousness, this sword is a great blessing, and lets me do a lot of things. Completely hide myself from all of Asteria’s sensors is one of them.”

“You followed us in here,” Jason realized.

“I shut the door behind all of you,” Virgil confirmed. He stepped around Asteria’s body, not over it as most would. He adopted a small frown. “She is an excellent, wonderful, caring, and loving mother, and a faithful wife. That is the extent of my good opinions of her.”

The heroes had varying levels of nodding. They couldn’t refute that she was a good mother or a good wife. They had seen her story. Asteria had gone from being seconds away from scooping out her Annabeth’s brains, to changing her diapers and literally re-raising her as her own daughter, along with raising Amelia and Ariel. For the wife thing, she was loyal to her mate, Cain, and didn’t cheat on him, or demean him, or treat him in any unfair way, despite how she had been the one to win their battle.

But like the Assassin said, that was about the only positive things they could say about the genocidal female Percy Jackson.

“Let’s go to my suite,” Virgil said. “I don’t like this place.”

They followed him back down the main tunnel, pausing only when he took a detour down one of the “birthing” corridors to deliver a mercy killing to the entrapped einherjar to spare them the death of the Astermorph’s birth, not caring if he killed the creature within during the process. Out in the hallway, finally free of the terror of Asteria’s miniature hive, the quintet of demigods happened upon the tail end of a conversation between perhaps the worst combination of characters.

Alex Fierro got into the masked face of Kraken—or at least, they assumed it was Kraken, since the individual was wearing blue jeans, a modified purple t-shirt, and correspondingly modified lorica segmentata armor, the same as the Ghoul Percy had been wearing, but now there was a mask added to the ensemble, a somewhat elaborate deep blue mask that looked like the face of a sea creature, with deep almond-shaped eyeholes, ridges along the top half of the mask leading up into appendages like the arms of coral reefs, and the bottom half had a multitude of little tentacle-like adornments—very angry, while Magnus was standing behind her, looking nervous.

“No, you have no idea what it’s like to live in a country full of people that despise you!” Alex shouted into the masked face.

Kraken crossed his arms. “It’s not legal for the police to kill trannies like you on sight. In my Japan, us Ghouls don’t have that protection.”

“Bullshit!” Alex insisted.

“What’s going on here?” Virgil asked as he interrupted the argument.

Alex turned to him and scowled. “Oh, great. The Christian.”

“Isn’t your sister a Muslim?” Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You do realize that Muslims actively kill members of the LGBT in their countries, right? Like, they have actual legal protection and authorization to kill gay and transgender people.”

“Yeah, but they’re not supposed to.”

“…but they still do…or at least, they used to,” Jason added as an afterthought, appreciating that all the Muslim countries had been flattened by Tartarus.

“It’s really wild,” Piper started, “that you would give us the evil eye for being Christians, and I’m presuming for the transphobia stuff, in that we don’t support transgender ideology and tell you that boys cant be girls and girls can’t be boys, while you totally dismiss the fact that Muslims actually execute transgender people at will. I mean, the people who just tell you your lifestyle is wrong, versus the people who kill you because of your lifestyle.”

Alex offered no counter, opting to continue to scowl angrily.

After so many seconds, Magnus said, “Let’s go, Alex. We’ve only got a few more hours left before D-Day or whatever.”

“And here I was hoping you other Percy’s would be reasonable people,” Alex spat.

“We are reasonable people,” Kraken said. “We just don’t bother trying to reason with lunatics like you.”

Alex rounded on him again, only to get skewered by a number of Kraken’s tendrils.

“Mesu inu,” he said in Japanese, the words being translated as “female dog.”

With a violent yank, Kraken ripped his kagune free of Alex’s body, literally tearing the daughter of Loki to bloody, horrific pieces.

Magnus, Piper, and Jason barely winced, Virgil sighed, while Percy and Annabeth were a little greener at seeing such gore. It had been a while since the Giant War, in which they’d had to help scrape bodies together for the funeral.

“Anything you would like to say?” Kraken asked Magnus, his tendrils still splayed, dripping, and covered in slight viscera in places.

“I’m sorry about her,” Magnus said. “She can be really overbearing-”

“She’s an asshole,” Kraken said flatly. “She’s a rude, arrogant, holier than thou asshole that thinks her being trans gives her special privileges, and that she can get away with saying whatever she wants because she’s ‘suffered’ more than anyone else. Either keep her ass in line, or I will literally eat her alive.”

His piece said, he went back into his suite, pulled his kagune back into his body, and slammed the door.

Alex’s remains “despawned,” as it were, and Virgil looked at Magnus. “Wanted to learn more about us, I take it?”

Magnus nodded.

“Talked to anyone else?”

Magnus shook his head.

“Would you like to join us? I was going to share with them my story.”

“Thanks, but, er, no thanks.” Magnus’s eyes briefly glanced at the Bible holstered at Virgil’s hip.

“I understand,” said the Assassin. “Have a blessed day Magnus.”

“Thanks.”

Magnus went back down the hall by himself, not even looking at his cousin Annabeth.

“What was that about?” Percy asked.

“If I had to guess,” Virgil said, “Alex and Kraken got into an argument about socio-politics, apparently regarding who has the worst life situation, transgender individuals or Ghouls-”

“Ghouls?” Percy blinked.

“As in Tokyo Ghoul?”

Four contemplative looks.

“I think I heard some kids talking about that back in high school,” Piper said. “Something about the manga being better than the anime and the anime not following the manga at all?”

“Wouldn’t know myself,” Virgil said. “I don’t watch anime or read manga. Anyway, as far as Kraken goes, in his world, being a Ghoul marks him for death by the Japanese government. Think of him as akin to a Jew living in Nazi Europe.”

“And Alex was getting into his face about how hard trans people have it, being socially discriminated against,” Annabeth concluded.

Imagine telling someone you had a harder life than them because people called you a delusional freak while the person you were talking to was given a death sentence at birth for being born different.

Nothing else needed to be said on this topic, though curiosity had grown regarding Kraken.

“And the triplets thing?” Percy asked.

“A very long conversation that is their place to tell you. Now is hardly the time, however. He is quite angry.”

And so they followed Virgil to his suite. It was a very homely and simple place, like the ideal well-kept house of a functioning adult.

Percy had a look on his face though.

“Yes, Percy?” Virgil asked.

“There’s, like, no big crucifix or something in here. I figured you’d have some big cross with Jesus’s body on it or something, and that’s where you’d worship or something. I don’t know.”

“I don’t need a statue or a large chunk of carved wood to worship God, Percy.”

“I know, I just—I don’t know. The whole Christian demigod thing is confusing to me.”

“I may be able to clear that confusion. Please, sit.” Virgil indicated the comfy couches in the living room section. “Is there anything any of you would like to drink? My fridge has waters, sodas, tea, and fruit juice.”

All four requested waters.

Percy and Annabeth sat on one of the couches, Piper and Jason on the other, and Virgil came back with four water bottles, handing them out before occupying the recliner.

“So. The whole ‘Christian demigod’ thing. Well, in order to explain that, allow me to explain a little bit more about me.”

Virgil gave them only the quick rundown of his past six lives, Faris Ibn-La’Ahad, Virgil Cavaliere da Roma, Captain Jake Swallow, Cheyenne Nightshade, Peter/Priscilla Frye, and finally Konrad Richter, and then his own as Percy Jackson. Only the “quick” rundown, as explaining even Faris’s life in full detail would take hours, much less the life of Virgil and Jake, and all the twists and turns of Cheyenne and Peter. Even just what he said up front took almost two hours of solid talking and answering questions as they popped up.

“And through all of that,” Virgil concluded, “that is why I follow the Christian God. What holds the two of you back from giving your lives to Christ? Questions of science? The Big Bang? Evolution? Deep time? Or questions of philosophy and theology? The problem of evil, perhaps?”

Percy and Annabeth, and also Jason and Piper, were given no time to think on or process the surface level of Virgil’s story as he immediately thrust the former two on the spot.

Percy was quicker than Annabeth to answer, but still slow in his words. “I guess…well…given Olympus and the Underworld…Elysium…I guess I never really thought it was something to consider. Like, what do I need with Jesus? People tell me I saved the world, fought monsters and stuff, and I’ve been to the Underworld, I know the Judgement Pavilion exists, and I guess I always kind of thought that…after everything I’d done, I’d get Elysium and that’d be the end of it.”

“How about now?” Virgil asked.

Percy gulped.

“It’s interesting you bring up the Underworld as the final resting place for your soul. What if I told you that wasn’t true? Revelation 20:13, ‘The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to their works.’ Romans 14:12, ‘So, then, each of us will give an account of himself before God.’ 1 Peter 4:5, ‘They will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.’ Elysium, and the whole Underworld, and the Duat, and even this place, this Hotel Valhalla, were and are only temporary places. All the dead that were and are here will be called before God.”

Percy swallowed again. “Okay…but…”

“But what?”

“Well, at one point, I saved the world. Twice. But now, er…”

Virgil opened his mouth to say refute that, but Piper beat him to it. “Percy, you know that’s not how that works. Uh, sorry.”

The Assassin shook his head. “No, by all means, please. Perhaps it’s best this comes from you. You know them and have been walking with Christ, while I’m a stranger to all of you.”

Percy and Annabeth turned their attention to Piper.

She said, “It’s one of the toughest pills to swallow, I know, but good works does not get you into Heaven. You do good works because God told you to do them, and because, as a Christian, being the light unto the world and the salt of the earth, the representatives of God to the nations, you show the world what God looks like through your actions. What actually gets you into Heaven is confessing that you are a sinner, flawed and imperfect, and that you need salvation because you can’t save yourself, and the one you turn to for salvation is Jesus Christ, calling upon his name, accepting Him as your King, Lord, and Savior, believing that He died in your place, His blood being shed as substitutionary payment on your behalf, and that He rose to life on the third day, thus conquering death and thereby being able to grant eternal salvation.”

Percy’s brow furrowed. “Okay, but…I guess I don’t agree with the concept. Confess you’re a sinner and accept Jesus, and you’re done? You’re not required to do anything extra? Jesus is your free ticket into Heaven? Sounds way too easy and convenient.”

“It would be if that was how it actually worked,” Jason answered. “Jesus is not your get-out-of-hell-free card. He is supposed to be looked upon as Lord and Savior, Master and King, Creator and Lord, Sovereign and Supreme. By thinking of Him as your free ticket to Heaven, you’re not coming anywhere close to how you’re really supposed to be thinking of Jesus, to the point where you’re wasting your time and breath. Big difference between ‘I call upon you, Jesus, to be my ticket out of hell and into heaven instead’ and ‘I call upon You, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Author of Reality, Master of the Universe, and accept You as my Lord, my Savior, and my King, and believe that You are the Son of God, and God Himself in the Flesh, and that You came as a man to die a man’s death so that I may have eternal life with You in Heaven, shedding Your perfect, sinless blood as payment for my sins against You, because You loved me.’ Big difference.”

After that epic speech, there was stunned silence.

Percy and Annabeth were gaping at Jason. Piper was gaping but slowly smiling, and Virgil was already smiling.

“Amen,” he said.

After so many more seconds, Annabeth voiced her doubts. “I can see why good works…on paper…wouldn’t get you into heaven. As in, if there was a metric or something, people would just strive for that metric, hit it, be like, Well, I did all I needed to get in. Guess I’m done now, and then stop being ‘good’ or whatever. Kind of like the C’s get degrees mentality, where a person only applies themselves just enough to pass, and that’s it. I can also see the pride aspect. Don’t want people to showboat and be like, Look how great I am! I did all the things required to get into heaven!...” Annabeth trailed off, brow furrowing.

“But?” Piper prompted.

“Percy and I…and a bunch of others…aren’t like that! We didn’t fight the Titans and Giants for brownie points. We fought because it was our duty and responsibility as heroes, using our powers to stop the forces of evil and save the world—Imperial War notwithstanding, I know already, quit looking at me like that—so we didn’t do it for recognition or anything, so why would we still have to do the salvation thing? Why isn’t it that when we die, we meet Jesus, and he says, Thank you for fighting the bad guys and saving the world twice. Welcome to heaven.”

“Because fighting the bad guys and saving the world twice doesn’t forgive your sins,” Jason said.

“What sins?” Annabeth demanded. “I haven’t ever murdered, or stolen maliciously, or cheated on Percy-”

“You’ve looked down on others,” Piper started to list, “demeaned them, made fun of them, used people like pieces on a chess board, spoken ill of others, definitely taken the Lord’s name in vain, and probably the most obvious and prevalent of your sins that I know of: hubris. Literal, actual, excessive pride. The same sin the devil committed. Remember the sphinx? Arachne?”

Annabeth’s jaw clenched as she definitely remembered those two encounters, along with so many others through the years, especially in her youth.

“The way it works,” Piper continued, “is that sin must be paid for. Sin is rebellion against God, going against what He told us to do, and rebellion won’t be tolerated, and so the penalty for sin is death. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin are death, and just like it was in the Old Testament times, sin must be paid for with blood. Sacrifice. Life for a life. The Israelites and the Jews had their laws for animal sacrifices, but animals were never, ever going to be enough, hence Jesus. The perfect Man, the perfect Life, the perfect Sacrifice. His perfect blood paid the penalty for all sin, and so it comes down to this choice: you can either reject the blood of Jesus, therefore rejecting Him as King, Lord, Savior, Messiah, and pay for your sins with your own blood, or you can bend your knee to Jesus, admit you can’t save yourself through any means, and let His blood save you. That’s really all it ultimately boils down to: accept Jesus, or reject Jesus. There is no other way.”

Silence returned.

The seconds ticked by, Percy and Annabeth deep in thought, Piper, Jason, and Virgil studying them.

“Why do either of you not want to submit to Jesus?” Virgil asked.

A few more seconds of silence, Percy fidgeting slightly, but Annabeth smirked sardonically and a rueful smile appeared on her face.

“Well, I guess it’s like Piper said: hubris. I don’t like the way God operates. I disagree with what he says is sinful and what’s not. I don’t see any reason as to why being gay is a condemnable offense, and I don’t see any reason as to why boys can’t be girls and girls can’t be boys. Now, pedophilia? Adultery? Incest? Cold-blooded murder? Rape? Yeah, absolutely, but being gay and/or trans? I don’t see any problem with that. And I think the whole salvation system needs work. Sure, the idea of earning enough good guy points is a bad idea, but just ‘I believe that I suck and Jesus will save me’ isn’t enough. It needs to be both. You need to submit to God and have to do a whole bunch of good works, with the exact benchmark being unknown, that way everyone is locked into being good a good person for the whole rest of their life if they really want heaven that badly.”

Annabeth sighed with a self-aware smile.

“And because I disagree with God, that obviously means God is the one who’s wrong and not me. So I guess that’s it. Why don’t I just submit to God? Because I think he’s wrong about certain things, and I’m not going to bend my knee to someone I think is wrong.”

Piper’s expression was flat. “You literally have bent your knee to Hera, Zeus, Ares, and a bunch of other gods.”

Annabeth’s mouth set into a thin line. “I suppose…because I knew that if I ever went against them, I’d instantly be punished. I mean, did you guys know that I’m still under that cow patty curse Hera placed on me when I was fifteen? That was seven years ago now. Just two weeks ago I stepped in one. When it comes to God, though…disobeying him…I guess…because there were never immediate consequences, I figured he was just talk. I-”

Piper rolled her whole head instead of just her eyes. “Dude, will you shut up, already? I’m getting annoyed listening to you tell us how petty you are. This isn’t rocket science, this isn’t your college final exams. This is just straight up will you let go of your pride, humble yourself before the Lord, admit you’re a sinner, believe He died for you and rose to life, and become my sister in Him, or will you not? The debating’s over. Let go of your pride, or don’t.”

Jason slightly inclined his head. “Given the circumstances, with Elysium being destroyed, and this perma-death system now in effect, do either of you really want to take that chance? Give God the finger and spend eternity in hell because you refused to admit He’s right and you’re wrong about things, or relent, and admit to yourself that you’re wrong, and accept what He says is right? Are you really going to be so full of pride that you’d rather be in hell so you can say you’re right, instead of Heaven after saying you were wrong?”

That hit Annabeth a lot harder than it did Percy.

As for the son of Poseidon, after weighing his options for two seconds, he made his choice. “How do I do it?”

Piper snorted a little. “I mean, we already told you how. You confess that you’re a sinner, you call on the name of Jesus, accept it as fact that He is King, Lord, and Savior, and believe with your heart, mind, body, and soul that He is who He said He is, that He did for you, and rose to life on the third day.”

“That’s really it?”

“No. You have to really believe it, too.”

Percy swallowed and nodded. “Okay.” He got off the couch and took a knee, having the expression of someone who didn’t really know what he was doing, but was giving it his best shot. To Percy’s surprise, Jason, Piper, and Virgil all stood up and knelt next to him, putting their hands on him.

“We’re here, dude,” Jason said. “Go for it.”

Percy nodded once more, and went for it. “Er…I…ahem…I’m Percy Jackson. And I’m a sinner. The first thing that really comes to mind is when I chose to stay out of the Imperial War, I guess. Maybe not hold the gods accountable to their oath to be better parents—and a bunch of other stuff. Point is, I’ve sinned. And I’m sorry. And now I’m calling on your name, Jesus Christ. I do believe that you’re really God, and that you really do love me, and died for me, and that you’re king of everything.” Percy breathed. “I accept You as my Lord and Savior, the Living God that died in the name of forgiveness of sins, and rose to life on the third day. Amen.”

“Amen,” said the other three.

Jason squeezed Percy’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you again, bro.”

Percy smiled. “Y-Yeah. I actually do feel different.”

“That’s the Holy Spirit,” Piper said. “Now you’ve got the full power of God with you wherever you go.”

Percy pondered on this. “That sounds really cool, but somehow I think that’ll lead to false expectations. Like, Oh, I have the power of God now, and then I get my butt kicked.”

Jason and Piper chortled.

“There’s a lot to walking Jesus,” Piper said.

“I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time me to walk with Him. War and all.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jason shook his head. “You’re sealed with the Holy Spirit now, so your soul is saved. When you die, you’ll have eternal life in heaven.”

“And you two will be there?”

“Yeah,” Piper confirmed.

Virgil turned around. “And you, Annabeth? What’s your decision?”

“…I definitely don’t want to go to hell, but….Ah, screw it. I need to get rid of this hubris thing, anyway. It’s the end of the world, right?”

Annabeth got down on her own knee, breathed in, breathed out, and everyone gathered around her, laying a hand on her. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever prayed to you, and it’s basically right here in the middle of Armageddon. Honestly, it feels kind of cheap, but better late than never, right? Anyway, I…I’m sorry. It honestly doesn’t make sense for me to be afraid of Hera and the other gods and not be afraid of you. I guess…just…no…nevermind. I-I confess that I am a sinner…and that I’m wrong, and that you’re the one who’s right.” Annabeth took another breath. “I call on Your name. I believe You died for me, rose again on the third day, and that You are God in the Flesh. I accept You as my Lord, my Savior, and my King. Amen.”

Piper actually squealed, throwing her arms around Annabeth and hauling her up to her feet in a huge bear hug.

Annabeth’s eyes were almost squeezed from their sockets. “Plz…hlp…”

Piper stopped trying to crush her friend’s skeleton.

“What do we do now?” Percy asked. “Like, do we have to start memorizing the Bible?”

“Oh, no,” Virgil said. “The two of you march off to war tomorrow. Far too much scripture to memorize. Instead, you both will get more than enough hands-on faith experience. Remember to pray before your operations, and you’ll be fine.”

Percy and Annabeth nodded.

“What about Frank and Hazel?” Annabeth asked. “Nico and Will? All the others? Won’t they…won’t they all be going to hell?”

“They are finding counsel of their own,” Virgil assured her.

“How do you know?”

“I asked Jesus to provide for all of you guides to Him. You two ended up in this hallway, following Jason and Piper. The rest found guides of their own. It’s all on them to make the choice.”

“I really hope they do,” Percy said.

“As do I.”

“Can we talk more about your past lives?” Annabeth asked.

“Of course we can.”

Virgil took his seat again, and everyone else got comfy on the couches.

“So, my first life, Faris….”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And so it was.

Three days came and went, and true to Shin’en’s word, he had organized the entirety of the einherjar, the legion, the House of Life, and the Greeks into divisions with chains of command, and notified everyone of their positions via raven. There weren’t any complaints, as no one dared to even so much as think about dealing with whatever walking nightmare Tobi was supposed to be.

In the Feast Hall, the army was assembled.

Shin’en stood next to the Team and the well-known leaders of the other factions, all of whom had been given their own assignments. The supercomputer whirred behind them all, showing magical livestreams of Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, the Waystation, and Brooklyn House, the four key objective locations as assigned by Chaos.

Shin’en took a step forward, and his voice echoed throughout the Feast Hall.

“Everyone here knows what’s stake. Everyone knows what’s out there. Everyone here knows that this is it. When you die, you won’t be coming back. This is the final war, ladies and gentlemen. The final fight for the future of the world, and mankind itself. No one here needs a peptalk, because everyone here has already made that choice and come to terms with what it means.” Shin’en looked to his friend. “Virgil. Pray for us, please.”

Virgil nodded. “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.”

Over half a million voices rose in unison to speak the prayer together.

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us for our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Thine is the kingdom, and the glory, and the power. Forever and ever. Amen.”

Then there was Tobi with his addendum. “In the name of God, all impure souls of the living dead shall be banished to eternal damnation! Amen! Now let’s fuck ‘em up!”

Shin’en nodded to Wheels.

Wheels opened the doors of Valhalla, and Odin led his einherjar into Armageddon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yay! New chapter! And it didn’t take me a month this time! Hope you liked it, because this might be the last one of this story for a time.

I desire to at least begin the Jason story previously mentioned. I have a solid first chapter already envisioned. That being said, in order to ensure story accuracy, I may have to reread Heroes of Olympus again to catch all those little snippets and mentions about Jason and his mysterious past, so that could definitely Delay some things.

I’ve also been heavily thinking about rebooting Dragon Princess. Especially because that story was originally published eighteen months ago. Fair warning about that one, though, and it’s the same warning that applied last time: due to all the gaps and unanswered questions regarding Elden Ring lore, a lot of the story would have to be made up by me. Which shouldn’t be an issue anyway, since it’s still a fanfiction at the end of the day, but there’s always that one person who’d be like, “This isn’t true! This obscure item clearly says bleh!”

Yeah, probably. I’ve seen a decent amount of lore videos. I have my own theories. No one has the full story, though, and we never will.

But anywho.

What’d you think of the chapter? What are your hopes and dreams for the coming chapters? How do you think this story will ultimately end? I actually teased it so many, many years ago when I first proposed the Chaos War. Any veterans still around that can remember?

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