Second Chances

Chapter 17 - Lux et Veritas

(Thalia's P.O.V.)

A young girl poked her head into the frayed tent opening, looking slightly frightened as she cleared her throat before announcing she was there.

"Thalia, we've spotted something unusual across the plains."

It took me a moment to notice that it was one the Hunters, the girl had been recruited not all that long ago really, just a little more than a few months. I racked my brain to remember her name and whinced in pain as I struggled to sit up.

"Are you alright?" the girl's young and cautious voice shook slightly with concern.

"Yes, I think I'll be able to manage." I forced what must have been an unpleasant looking smile, as my thoughts drifted to where Percy might be at this early hour, before shifting back again to the girl.

"Emily, right?" I remembered the girls name, which earned me a small nod and appriciative smile. "Well, what's the matter then?"

I certainly hoped I didn't sound as cross as I felt, but the Emily's hesitation was broken by a slightly two older girls who I didn't have any troubles with who they were.

"Emily, please wait outside for just a moment." It was a reassuring and kind voice, only stung with a hint of bitterness. I knew that it belonged to Cassidy, while the other girl who I could clearly see entering the tent was Elyssa.

"Thalia, someone opened the Trojan gates last night." Elyssa didn't pull many punches with her topics of straight forwardness.

"Is that where Percy and the others are, then?" I asked back to the trio of Hunters, when the resemblance caught me, causing me to ask without giving it the thought I should have. "Emily wouldn't happen to be your younger sister, would she Elyssa?"

This didn't go over very well but confirmed what I suspected immediately by the response.

"We were only asked to deliver you the message, so the Chiron and the council could know if you felt up to joining them."

I nodded at the girls as the two left, Cassidy staying behind for a brief moment to apologize. I pained through a smile but stayed sitting on the bed as I thought over what might be going on now. It was only a few minutes before a thundering crash could be heard from down in the valley, making me struggle to my feet to catch a glimpse of what the commotion was about.

"Di immortales." Chiron cursed from our overlook of the valley, as I finally gathered myself enough to reach the small crowd.

Percy quickly helped support me as I got my first view of the c*****e down in the valley below us. I noticed the demi-titan boy from before attacking Troy by himself, bashing in the crumbling walls with his fists in a seemingly violent rage.

"What's going on..." I could help but slip out, but nobody turned to look at me or bothered to answer my question. We all stood transfixed on the boy and the crumbling ruins across the plains in front of us, before it became painfully obvious what was going on.

"Percy, he's destroying Troy to make the underworld open up." I snapped my head to Chiron, after hearing his explanation of what was taking place.

"What good would that do?" Percy called back as the c*****e kept up at a slightly ground shaking pace.

"Didn't you say that someone had stolen some corpses already, of the Knights?" Chiron asked in his calm and calculating tone.

"Someone needs to check our the shrouds and forrest behind the encampment." Annabeth was a step ahead of our thoughts with her words.

"Well... Zeus be damned!" The curse caught me by surprise, as well as a few others, when Fumio ran a hand through his messy morning hair. "If he can create a new opening to Hades, well... he would presumably gain access to any of our recent dead that have yet to be judged."

"Which is pretty much half our armies... fantastic luck we have." I glanced at Percy, rolling my eyes at his flair for the obvious.

"Chiron, shouldn't we try to do something to stop him?" I was barely able to squeeze out before the last remains of Troy sank into the ground.

"Too late." Tyson remarked from behind us, with a small group of Centaurs and Satyrs. "Sleeping people back awake now."

I couldn't help but cringe at the thought, when something hit me like a brick to the face.

"Thalia!" I heard Percy cry quickly and come rushing to my side, along with Annabeth and Chiron.

"Just hold.." He was cut off by a basketball sized rock that slammed into his chest, and another landing at the feet of our group. We were being barraged by basketball rocks, being thrown faster than a baseball pitcher would hurl fastballs.

Many others were running or falling to the ground unconscious, Chiron calling for everyone capable to pull back and secure the injured. Somehow though, I knew that the attack was meant to only stun us and gain time for the undead to escape.

"Emily! You freak, leave us alone!" Elyssa cried loudly, screaming at the stoic reaper of the dead, who was hurling stones at us. That was when I saw the small body of Emily, crushed underneath a much too large boulder. I felt the pang in my chest, knowing that a Hunter had fallen, and then I drifted into my own unconsciousness.

(Hana's P.O.V.)

I was tempted to give Theia a peice of mind then and there, but it had been hours since we'd left our comfort at Mount Shasta, and arrived at Mount Tam, down in southern California. Hopefully Brian has reached the demigod camp by now and was beginning one of our last preparations before our course of action would be truly determined.

"Lance, welcome to our second home, if you would." Theia motioned for the black half-ruins of Mount Tam, before Chang noticed the far corner of the dark palace.

"Is that.. really.. Atlas?" He broke with a trembling voice, trying to slowly back up to the entrace. This route was cut off by a wave of Theia's hand, and a rush of some of our younger friends.

"Would you like to meet him?" She looked as if she were about to say more when Atlas rumbled him his place between the earth and sky.

"What are you possibly scared of, in such a docile place like this..." Atlas bellowed at Chang, causing a few stifled laughs from among our group.

Arty nudged Chang from behind, pushing him into the center of the room, as we encircled him fully. Jace sighed as Theia motioned him into our makeshift fighting arena, then made an odd promise.

"Lance, if you can get through this trial, we can properly introduce you to our whole nice, little family." She smirked with a beguiling smile before indicating for the battle to begin.

Chang didn't seem to find himself with much of a fighting appetite, and who could blame him in front of such an intimidating audience. He eventually gripped his spear firmly and cautiously approached Jace, prodding towards him like you would with spooked cattle.

Jace simply kicked the spear out of harm's way and started to nock his bow and fire off arrows. He was testing Chang's defensives to start off, putting each arrow to the corners of the body, making the young Knight reach and stretch further and further to block the arrows.

Chang finally started to recompose himself and get a little more assertive, but his failed attempts at closing the gap in distance made him switch to the short bow. He seemed fairly competent with the small bow at first, but the gap in skill became suddenly obvious. Chang was still on the defensive as Jace casually deflected each arrow with one of his own.

The tension and built up nervousness suddenly evaporated, as Atlas started to mock Chang.

"Cmon flea... show some bite!"

The Knight broke into a frenzied rage, slashing his spear in wide arcs and a cocky fury. This was a similar style that he had used before against Trevor, but it only caused Jace to smirk wide.

"You think I haven't dissected this overly wild attack style of yours? Lance indeed." Jace mocked the pun of the name Theia constantly referred to him by.

This only seemed to infuriate the boy more, as he caught Jace off guard initially with his next series of attacks. Chang had begun leaping into the air on varied steps, slashing the spear downward as he sprang into air. Jace cursed at the gash along his right forearm, before calculating the new attack into his plans.

"One, two, three, leap. One, two, lunge. One, two, three, leap." Jace smirked as the pattern indeed become obvious now that it was pointed out. Both fighters were dancing inside our circle like a convoluted ballet, slashing and twirling wildly but with a sadistic and bloodthirsty precision.

Chang altered his third predicted step, lunging instead of making a lead. Jace quickly ducked and rolled towards the wall, spring and running up the first ledge of rock. We all stood watching the brilliant show, as Jace backflipped and twisted midair to fire off a volley of arrows that successfully struck Chang in both legs.

Jace landed with a balancing hand on the black marble floor, as Chang toppled backwards. The count was five total arrows, nestled in both thighs. Brock stepped in and declared the fight offical.

"Now, since you've performed so admirably, proper introductions are in order." Theia smiled cruelly, as we all gathered facing Atlas. Chang was sitting off the to the side, being treated by Kyrene and Amara.

"Show me the bodies, Theia." Atlas commanded, which caused a slight flinch from Theia before she had boy that Brian had found previously, drag the bodies to the center of the room. Nobody needed to tell him to open them and soon enough, lay the bodies of three fallen Knights.

"Well, who are they?" Atlas demanded in between curses from under his burden.

"Martyn Paolino." Chang said, pointing out the first body. It was pale white, but the boy had shaggy black hair and was physically small, appearing to be around fourteen.

The next bag was opened to reveal a large, hulkish body that lacked a head. Chang shuddered in his seat, but stayed resigned to his current fate.

"Andrew Biha, former son of Hercules. He died protecting my brother." His voice was heavy and resonating with guilt and pain.

"Ha.. what a fool, losing his head when the other boy's life was forfeit to start." Atlas smiled between curses. This caused a small wave of shock, as out of the final bag was Chang's brother himself.

"Tajima!" Chang would have sprang to his feet, had he not be rendered unable to stand for a while. It was a brief and pointless struggle as Atlas growled with a hint of frustration.

"Theia!" Atlas coughed and sputtered as he cursed at our leader.

"Right, right. Introductions, how droll." She waved her hand dismissively towards Atlas, but kept up her menacing smile. "Let's begin, so we can get this out of the way then."

Brock took the preverbial center stage, gesturing wildly, as if he was conducting a grand performance before thousands.

"Chang Kou, former lieutenant of the Knights, allow me to introduce you to the Veritas!" Brock beamed with pride and a touch of joy as Chang frowned for a moment.

"Veritas, like as in truth?" The question was put forth and Brock relished the moment to explain further.

"Lux et Veritas." Brock paused for a moment. "That is what we are, Light and Truth."

Chang nearly scoffed but Brock just kept on explaining it all.

"We're the proper guardians of light and truth, and these are our sworn upholders of such. Starting with the Duchess, Theia, who is a daughter of Hyperion."

Theia took a small bow before letting Brock continue.

"Our Queen, Hana, is the daughter of Asteria and myself, as King, am the son of Perses. Which brings us to our Lords and Ladies."

The group stepped forward, making Chang notice the count was just one short from the throne at Mount Shasta.

"Lady Cassandra, daughter of Selene and Lord Artyom, son of Helios."

Cassie had short black hair, light brown eyes stepped foward and bowed politely. Artyom was right next to her, a few inches taller but with dark auburn hair that sported a natural black streak through it. I couldn't help but smile to myself as the pair blatantly held hands as they were being presented.

"It's finally a pleasure..." Cassie began to speak, only for Arty to finish her thought. "..to meet you formally."

Brock held back a laugh as he kept going.

"I believe you're already familiar with Amara, daughter of Eirene and Kyrene, who is the daughter of Klymene."

Chang nodded at the two girls, both with brown hair, the differnce being Amara had curly pigtails and brown eyes.

"Let's see. That should bring us to the Ladies, Stella and Sam." Brock commented as the girls both made a step forward.

Stella looked elegant as always with her flowing black hair, that held a twinge of green in it. Her eyes were mixed with splashes of brown and black both, making her extremely exotic. Sam, being one of our oldest members, hair burning red hair that sparked with her hazel eyes. She was fairly small in stature, only taller than Kat and Amara, but was a very skilled fighter.

I playfully elbowed Brock in the side. "Oh yeah.. Stella is a daughter of Eurybia, while Sam is a daughter of Circe. Which leaves the three you last faced in your trials. Jace, son of Prometheus and Trevor, son of Epimetheus. Kathryn being the daughter of Styx."

Trevor didn't bother making himself stand out as he glared at Chang from beside Theia, with his neck length brown hair, slight tan and teal eyes. Kat seemed equally disgusted with having to be presented before Chang. This left Jace, who walked over and patted Chang on the shoulder.

"Sorry about the whole battle thing, Brian was protecting you before.. if I had my choice, I wouldn't have fought you, but trials are trials." The smile was friendly enough, but Jace paused then leaned in to add some extra words. "I think you hold back to much, you're a twin right? So you can't be that much worse than your brother was."

I looked to see if anyone else had heard the comments, but fortunately due to the proximity of everyone it wasn't very apparent.

Atlas cut off the silence, with a harsh growl. "Present me the newcomers, to be appraised."

Arty and Trevor ushered the newcomers up in front, as Theia, Brock and myself frowned and fussed over them for a moment.

"Make yourself known!" Atlas boomed loudly, causing the first girl to squeak back with a hint of venom.

"I'm Elise Berkeley, sixteen years old and I want that boy, by the wall." She pointed directly at Jace, smiling wickedly. Elise had brown hair worn in a french braid over one shoulder, with slightly slanted grey eyes.

"Elise... daughter of Lelantos." Atlas said a bit coldly, before looking at the next girl.

"I'm, uh, Alexis Forster." She had black hair and dark brown eyes, and was the second oldest of the group next to Elise. Alexis was the girl who had sought Brian out before.

"Alexis, daughter of Astraios." Atlas said dismissively, expecting the only boy to speak.

"My name is Aaron Lunsford, sir." Aaron had short, spiky black hair with a red stripe down the front. A bit opposite from the auburn look that Artyom had. Aaron also had icy blue eyes, but he was rather short for a boy, maybe standing around 5'7 or 5'8.

"Aaron, son of Astrea." Atlas mimicked back.

"Carmen Voelker." A girl with an annoyed disposition announced, she had calm brown hair with black eyes that seemed to sparkle shades of brown.

"Carmen, Eunomia." Atlas replied to her with similar disdain.

"My name is Hayley..." A smallish voice called from behind the last girl. Hayley, had short black hair and black eyes, and was definitely the youngest out of everyone.

"Girl, speak up!" Atlas bellowed at her.

"Hayley Carroway." She replied just loud enough to hear, but at least properly audbile this time.

"Right. Hayley, daughter of Dione. Now, to our last."

"I am Kendall Spraggs, age fifteen, and I like changing the streaks in my hair on a monthly basis." Kendall beamed towards Atlas with her shoulder length black hair that was hidden under a match black beanie, her grey eyes poking out from underneath the mess of hair in her face.

"Kendall, daughter of Eurynome." Atlas looked slightly annoyed as he scanned over everyone, then growled at Theia once more.

"Theia Tedrow, where is my son?"

I watched Theia's jaw flinch before setting defiantly. "Obviously... he isn't here."

"I'm aware of where he is or is not!" Atlas roared back at her in anger.

"Well, if you know where he is, why are you pestering me about it?" Theia snapped back, in a similar arguement that she had with Brian before we had set off.

I jumped into the conversation before things could get any worse. "General Atlas, he set out just a before we left for here. He was off to collect more necessities from the demigod camp at Troy."

Atlas glowered at me, before staring down Theia with pure hatred. "If he went east, why is he in Hades right now?"

I felt absolutely stunned and couldn't help look at the astonished faces to see similar responses. Even Theia seemed taken back by the words.

"You can't mean he's dead..." she replied without the luster or determination that she had just moments ago. The wind had been effectively knocked out of all of us.

"Brian can't be dead.. surely there's a mistake." Kat yelled at Theia, as Atlas started to laugh before he silenced us all.

"It seems not even the great Theia can account for all of her court after all."

Theia just sneered at Atlas in response. "If you're done with us, may we take leave of your presence?"

Atlas bellowed out a laugh and snarled back. "Yes, for now, and you better hope that Brian returns back alive, for your sake."

I caught Theia by the arm as we all headed back deeper into the black palace's caverns.

"What did you do to Brian? Did you send him to his death, knowing you would infuriate Atlas, before we got here?" I had so much frustration built up that it seemed to explode at her all at once.

"No... even chained, I wouldn't start an unnecessary battle with the General right now." She seemed unnerved by Brian failing, as I did.

"Do you think he really failed?" I couldn't help but ask, noticing Kat run past us both and into the shadows.

"Brian... Brian wouldn't ever fail... it's not possible, Hana." Theia paused lightly. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not sure we can trust Brian anymore."

Theia stomped off as I was left there with my head spinning. There was entirely too much to process now, and I desperately needed time to think.