Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 59: Plan B. (And the resulting fallout)

Erebus walked through the facility, grumbling under his breath. Every worker who passed him widened their eyes in fear and dodged around him, wishing to stay out of his way. The doors to the meeting room slid open automatically, and he walked through, sitting at the conference table. Tartarus and Ouranus, who were the only other two people in the room, stared at him. 

"Why have you called this meeting?" Ouranus asked. "The pick-up isn't for another week."

Erebus sat down on a chair with a thump. "Something unexpected happened, and now we're transitioning to plan B."

Ouranus looked at him questioningly. "You never mentioned a plan B. What is it?"

"This," Tartarus responded as he shot forward and impaled Ouranus into the wall with a sword.

Ouranus coughed out blood and looked down at the sword in shock. He raised his hands and grabbed the sword blade, looking back up at Tartarus. He narrowed his eyes.

"Octavian was right about you," he said as he began to smile. "It's good he managed to get through to me before this happened."

Tartarus stepped back as red lights and alarms began to flash and blare throughout the facility. With a grunt, he tore the sword out of Ouranus's chest. The sword was stained silver, the same color as Ouranus's blood.

Ouranus fell to the ground, clutching his wound. With a cough of more blood, he spoke. "Now I wonder who betrayed who, considering the prophecy and how I made precautions for this."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote, pressing a button. "You aren't getting access to those supplies."

Erebus growled and launched off his seat, picked Ouranus up by the throat. "What do you mean we won't get the supplies? You said everything was almost completed!"

Ouranus laughed and dropped the remote, letting it break on the ground. "You really think I would help you after this? Please. The facility is now under lockdown, suicide level. You want those supplies? Get the prisoner out."

Erebus roared in anger and plunged his hand into Ouranus's chest. After grabbing what he wanted, he ripped out the primordial's heart and let him drop back to the ground. he gave the heart to Tartarus, who gladly grabbed it and sucked it into his face. His body glowed red with the new power boost.

Erebus looked at the immortal on the ground and knelt down. "You don't get to die quite yet," he said with a sinister smile. He tapped the body with his finger, and it flashed complete black. When the flash died down, the only thing on the ground was a small, black spike. Erebus grinned and picked it up, looking through the hollow black cone at the slowly regenerating body of the primordial he once called teammate.

"You'll be stuck in there for a while.  Honestly, couldn't you have just accepted your death? It would have been easier," he said.

A blaring voice rang out through the facility. "All associates have been evacuated. Executing lockdown procedures in 5,"

Tartarus looked at Erebus. "We don't have time to get the materials."

"4"

"Fine!" Erebus yelled. "Then... fine!"

"3"

Tartarus disappeared, going back to his dimension, leaving his brother behind.

"2"

Erebus angrily stomped on the ground. "Fine," he said to himself.

"1"

He turned into complete darkness, escaping the ship. "Guess it's plan C."

"0"
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Down at camp, Percy ate his lunch with his team, enjoying the simple talking and joking, when he heard a boom. His third eye flicked up, looking through his brain (he didn't think he would ever get used to that) and looked far into the sky. Needless to say, he immediately started to act.

"EVERYBODY TO THEIR CABINS!" he yelled, standing up.

Multiple campers, including Chiron and Dionysus, looked at him like he was crazy, but he didn't care. 

"I SAID TO YOUR CABINS!" he roared.

"Hope, why are you -" Nico began before getting cut off by the sound of a massive explosion. Everyone looked up and immediately began to panic, rushing around and trying to get to their cabins.

"What... the hell?" Luke said, staring up.

A massive, fiery cube seemed to be falling towards them. It continued to burn on its descent down, and chunks of debris would tear off of it every couple of seconds. Dionysus stood up and calmly walked into the Big House while Percy turned to his team. 

"Alright, here's the plan. Bellerophon, you and Screwbolt will try and change its trajectory so it hits the water and I'll try and contain the splash, while Hero-"

Calypso pointed towards the giant black city above the forest. "What about them?"

Percy cursed. "I forgot about them. Let me think... okay! Hero, you go up there with Icarus and Skull. Pull people out of the way and destroy incoming debris if you can. Everyone else stay in the camp and do what the others are doing in the city. Protect the cabins, and please don't purposely let something get destroyed."

Everyone nodded and rushed into action as the giant block got closer and closer. Percy ran to the lake front and stared at the mucky water.

"Right," he whispered to it. "I'm back."

He stepped into the water, and it immediately cleared, becoming crystal clear again, as if an old friend had rejuvenated it. He looked up to the cube and smiled. Bellerophon, who was riding Pegasus, called out instructions to Leo, who was riding Festus. Slowly but surely, the cube moved closer and closer to the lake, until Percy could feel the heat. He thrust his hands up, and all the water in the lake shot up in high, massive spirals, attempting to catch the falling cube. The cube slammed into them and continued to fall, albeit slower.

Percy made a fist and pushed up. The water copied his movements, and the water in the lake bashed into the cube, slowing it down massively. The tendrils grabbed the cube and slowly lowered it into the water, setting it down with a large thud! It was massive, and took up a lot of space in the lake. Leo and Bellerophon landed next to Percy.

"Is that it?" Leo asked.

"Never say stuff like that," Bellerophon said as he blocked the sun with his hand, squinting. "What even is that?"

"Probably a facility," Percy said.

"Oh," Leo said. "What're we gonna -"

Reyna ran up behind them, panting. "Skull told me to- oh geez, that was such a long run."

She rested her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "Skull told me to check with you if everything is over."

Percy nodded. "It seems like it's -"

He was interrupted by the facility exploding. Percy instantly raised his hands, and  a giant ball of water surrounded the ship, containing the explosion. The ball glowed a bright white for a moment, heat evaporating most of it, but it managed to hold.

When the light faded, Percy dropped his hands, sending what little remained of the water back into the lake. "Oka- woah."

Half of the facility was utterly gone. The cube was basically cut in half, with railways and catwalks and who knows what else dropping into the water or hanging limply from the giant opening.

"Wow," Leo said. "I can... feel the metal."

Bellerophon chuckled. "You get used to it after a while, trust me."

"Alright," Percy said. "I need to scout this. Reyna, Leo, you two come with me. Bellerophon, you tell the others of what we're doing."

"Wait, me?" Reyna asked. "But I'm just -"

Percy turned and looked at her. "Do you really want to run back up to the city?" He asked, deadpan.

She opened her mouth and then closed it. "Nope. I'm good."

Percy turned back to the facility. "Good. Let's go."