TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS

DGH's forces were meager compared to my twenty-five hundred fighters. But this was my first time leading an army. The history of war has not shown much kindness to those that make mistakes. Even little ones.

So, due to insecurity, I wanted a backup boost. Kronos had approved of my request to have demigods on our side accompany me, although only a few. Having fifty juiced-up kids brought some comfort, though.

I ordered a forward charge. A segment of my army(excluding only Mei and the empusai) dashed to meet Anatasia(who had disappeared).

That was concerning. If Anastasia ran to warn the gods(the cult should be very busy now), the entire operation could be screwed. Even if that wasn't her intent, the daughter of Ares was too proud to flee combat. What could she be up to?

I was too busy focusing on protecting myself to think about it, though. Javelins hurled through in the air, sparks lit up the area. Blood danced in the sky. As I parried and dodged, I heard the screams of the injured and the battle cries of the desperate. More bodies lined the ground, eventually forming a river of blood.

I cut my way forward, striking down those who fought me. One was a child of Ares, whose brute strength almost overwhelmed me. One of Dionysus's brats grew tree vines around my legs. Thankfully, he was fatally wounded by one of Hypsipyle's soldiers before he restrained everyone on my side.

Speaking of my side...I really wanted the fewest casualties. If I couldn't save everyone, then I'll save those who fought with me, a reward for their loyalty. Twenty of the demigods I brought are children of Apollo and Hecate - and rock at healing(I had them set camp near our ship). If one of my troops gets a grave injury, they're mandated to fall back and be treated: if they don't die, that is. No worry, though - the empusai can fly them back to the camp.

We threw a lot at the enemy, and before they could get a swipe at us, we fell back. They gave chase, falling prey to Mei's squad, who was behind us, situated in a crescent moon shape. The opposition was surrounded, and I applied as much pressure on them as I could. Hypsipyle's forces shot arrows at frantic demigods, immediately killing them.

Surprisingly, I was forced to let the enemy withdraw. Children of Ares were good fighters, but DGH's firepower came from those with a strong affinity for anima. Children of Zeus, Poseidon, Hecate, Hephaestus(bombs and trinkets), Dionysus, and Apollo cut their way through the ranks of empusai. They managed to create an opening and regroup, but the damage was done. According to Mei, we lost one hundred empusai. DGH's forces had been cut in half.

Most people would rejoice, but I found that statistic disturbing. Even with so many advantages, I still suffered a hundred casualties. On top of that, Apollo's children were a nuisance. They were good shots, and they had plenty of ammo. Then, there was the fact that their arrows were poisoned, meaning they were a one-shot kill if they pierced you. Zeus's children used thunderbolts and Poseidon's water that fell to the Earth. It's not fun dealing with lightning and whirlpools.

Magic was invaluable, so Hecate's children were a bother as well. Luckily, they weren't all little Vittoria's. The quality of their casting was worse than hers. And Hephaestus's kids were the only ones with guns - probably enchanted. Plus, they had bombs. And Greek fire. I had to upgrade my side's weaponry later in the future.

But there was no second clash. A bright light descended from the heavens, blinding me. The scent of grapevines, wine, and a touch of madness entered my nostrils. When the light dimmed, a familiar short man appeared. He was accompanied by a much taller man, somewhere around six feet, who had a full quiver and a bow at the ready. It seems Dionysus and Apollo wanted to play here as well.

I looked behind me. Prometheus was as calm as ever, with the same aloof smile - which was not calming to me. Apollo snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving behind a trail of gold dust. He was probably going after Vittoria, who was targeting DGH itself. Unfortunately for him, Hecate was beside her daughter. And the cult was likely done by now.

See, DGH is located on New Shoreham, a small island not far away from Long Island. Folks come here for vacation every summer, and DGH makes most of its revenue by serving them. So every summer, I have to play waiter. Thankfully, it's fall, so my campaign won't risk the lives of any civilians. Of course, it's easy to control mortals through the mist. Way too easy. I can almost make them my slave if I wanted to.

Anyways, New Shoreham is surrounded by water on all sides, so I had my side occupy one side and Vittoria the other, trapping the demigods here. A detachment of empusai, as well as the fifty demigods, surrounded the perimeter. We also damaged many of DGH's ships, so they won't be escaping anytime soon unless they rob ours. Hopefully, everything was going well for Vittoria. With Hecate by her side, I doubted the cult could pose a threat, but if she hadn't finished them off by now, things would get a lot harder for her.

Ok, I probably should focus on my own situation now. Dionysus was here. Other gods might come as well. Ares could be one of them - he needed to earn his reputation back. Zeus too, but I think him joining would be "overkill." He probably thought his current predicament was not all that problematic. A few gods could solve it for him, and he wasn't far off. However, if Dionysus and Apollo were all he sent, then he fucked up.

I had two Titans on my side. I still should consider Zeus coming here personally. Of course, Athena, Artemis, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon were equally likely to come.

But it would be fine even if they did. I didn't come here to exterminate DGH, at least not this time. No, once Vittoria finished her part, we could retreat, but there was no need to. Once Vittoria got back, I could initiate the second part of my plan, and the gods will be of great help.

The problem with Dionysus is that he is the god of wine. He can make people intoxicated or insane. It's as easy as a wave of the hand. Fortunately, Prometheus was here, and he went to work. My teacher threw the wine god fifty meters into the air, who landed somewhere deep in the forest. Good. If Prometheus engages with Dionysus in the woods, the wine god will be too far away to derail me. I could have a speedy victory.

Or so I thought.

The god of war wanted to play, too. "Pfft! It'll take a minute to wipe out this little bunch. And Zeus thinks Kronos is a threat; how hilarious! Is the Titan Lord so desperate he has to send some delicate mortal women to do his bidding?"

Welp, change of plans. I gave command of the army to both Hypsipyle and Mei. As for me, I'll be dueling with the war god. Last time, I would have died without Vittoria and Helen. But that was well over a year ago. After absorbing Prometheus's lifeforce and all the training I received, I felt ready. I could kill Ares. Well, I actually could. And it won't be that difficult.

I stepped up to face the war god, who smirked. "You seem confident. You think you can take on the literal god of war, boy?"

I didn't answer. I took the first swing. Ares countered me, but I cut his cheek. I jumped back, dodging his giant sword as it drove into the ground.

We were locked in a stalemate. Neither one of us really had the advantage, and we didn't give any openings. Ares tried baiting me, but I ignored him.

But that would not be the case forever. It was tiring to keep up with a god. And I couldn't use any of Hades's powers. Of course, that didn't rule out spells, which I gleefully used. I had applied two booster spells and shot fireballs and the like at Ares. I used shadow magic to get behind the war god, but Ares was really good at combat. I couldn't sneak up like that so easily.

I led him to the forest. He slashed at me, and I ducked. I jumped and kicked him in the face and then got thrown a mile, landing into a bush. I barely rolled away from his sword and managed to prop myself up. Here in the forest, I could bury Ares. The gods were probably focused on the battle, so they paid more attention to the cult and Prometheus. I was only one dude, so it "should be" a clear win for the war god, right? After he's done with me, he can just go back and eliminate my party. And they'd be right. Ares is immortal, and I'm not. Even if I make him leak ichor from everywhere, he won't die. And as a mortal, I eventually would. Well, if I didn't have my father's scythe, that would likely happen.

But I did have his scythe.

I let Ares disarm me. He grinned. "Say your prayers, but the gods won't be nice to you." Before his blade could reach me, I stopped time.

I whipped out my scythe and jammed it into Ares's neck. I felt the power of his lush soul flow into my body, and I understood why empusai went after people's vitality. It was delicious.

As I devoured Ares's soul, his face began to wither. His body thinned, becoming a stick. He now made me look fat(well, he didn't look that malnourished). I hacked furiously, and now Ares was a bloody mess, so I let time flow again.

Ares was dumbfounded. The proud, mighty war god was on his knees, and he couldn't get up. He lost to a demigod, and he didn't even know how.

Without a soul, Ares could not live. Before he could scream, growl, cry, or say anything, he just plopped to the floor, idle. I now had the power of the war god within me. Anatasia could literally make weapons follow her will - an ability she inherited from her father. It made it impossible to best her in combat because you couldn't hit her. Well, the same goes for me now. And I could negate Anatasia's power with the strength I robbed from Ares, or so I thought.

But I can't have everything. When I got back, DGH had reinforcements. Young girls wearing silver hoods shot arrows with such precision it would make the Apollo kids jealous. Well, it did. I now only had six hundred empusai left, and two hundred of Hypsipyle's followers had perished. And Mei confirmed it. Artemis had come here too.

The goddess of the hunt left her followers here to help DGH's forces. Artemis herself scampered away, and based on what Hypsipyle told me, it was likely she was after Vittoria. I didn't know where Prometheus was. I informed him of the situation, and I learned the wine god had been apprehended. Anyway, Prometheus agreed to help Vittoria, which was very calming.

But back to what I was facing. I could stop time and sweep the whole army. It's super easy to kill immobile people. But Zeus might just send someone else, someone more powerful, like Poseidon. Or he could just come here, and I was not ready to take on the two most powerful gods yet. Until Vittoria succeeded, I had to hold my ground. Without heroes, the gods will have no choice but get involved themselves, more than they already have.

The empusai were so handy. The vampires flew in the sky, avoiding the many arrows that tried to steal their life, and plucked anyone they could grab. Of course, that added to the casualty count, but not so much. The deaths piled up on DGH's side.

Still, I had lost another one hundred empusai. We were in a stalemate, and the enemy barreled towards us. Hypsipyle had lost another two hundred troops, but thankfully, not all were killed. Many of them were critically injured, and the empusai rushed them back to camp. But I had lost a lot of fighters. My army of twenty-five hundred was now only sixteen hundred. Nine hundred losses in all - which was really bad. But I took solace in the fact that not all nine hundred were dead.

But today was a day in which one ordeal was replaced by another. Anatasia had finally come back. Great. She was the head of DGH's army for a reason. She was way better at leading soldiers than I was. And that was only one of the two major problems.

Anatasia was adorned in armor from head to toe. It was traditional spartan bronze armor, with a shortsword at the side and a shield latched onto her back. And from a glance, I could tell they were enchanted. Vittoria informed me that Anatasia had received those weapons as a gift from Zeus and Ares. Her armor is forged with consecrated gold, a metal the immortals use. It was similar to astral(or celestial) bronze and Stygian metals in that it was on a tier of its own. With the added enchantments, it was a slight exaggeration to say she was a tank. And then, there was her sword. It was blessed to always hit her foe, which was scary. It's kinda unbelievable the gods gave this much power to a teen.

Our sides met again. Anatasia was a monster. We managed to push her forces back, but at a high cost. DGH's forces were a third of what they once were. Disturbingly, Anatasia single-handedly cut her way through three hundred empusai. Only one thousand of Hypsipyle's forces could still fight. It's funny how Ares's daughter was a better fighter than the actual god of war.

Initially, I was going to have Mei aid Vittoria. Hypsipyle's forces were well-trained, sufficient to win against this battered army of demigods. Of course, Anatasia changed all that. I needed Mei to stay here until Anatasia was defeated.

The two of us charged at her. Anatasia bashed her shield at Mei, who staggered backward, and met my blade. She swung with so much force I couldn't repel her strikes, lest I wanted my arms to rip off. It was impossible to dodge. Her sword flew everywhere, and I got cuts all over my body. I tried to get in close to hit back, but she clearly was waiting for that. She smacked me with her shield and punched the hell out of me.

I touched my left cheek. The mask Vittoria had given me broke, and a small part of my face was visible. But not enough to identify me. I had to avoid getting hit in the face.

I sparred with her again, this time after releasing the power of Ares that was within me. The ability to control weapons was not the only power he had. I felt his energy coalesce around me, adding to my aura. The more injuries I got, the stronger I became. Time to level the playing field.

I willed for Anatasia's blade to miss, and it did. I was finally able to dodge it now. Now, time for an upgrade. I hit Anatasia in the head with the butt of my blade, dazing her. Her blade fell to the ground, and I took it. I swung it furiously, and Anatasia hid behind her shield.

I gave my old sword to Mei, who approached Anatasia from behind. She couldn't use the shield against both of us, and she had nothing but her hands to fight with. Being the daughter of Ares, that was not much of a drawback. Anatasia was equally skilled with her hands as she was with a sword.

I raised my new blade, surprised to see it bounce off of Anatasia's chest plate. Her armor must also be made of consecrated gold. While unbreakable, the metal wasn't perfect. It, like astral bronze, could melt.

Mei used a flame spell to create rings of fire wherever Anatasia stood. I instructed her to make it as hot as possible. She also shot giant fireballs at her. Since Anatasia was busy with us, I ordered Hypsipyle to rout the enemy now.

I sparred with Anatasia yet again. Her blade missed while mine hit home. I couldn't do much, but I managed to bait her into Mei's trap. She screamed as a pillar of flame rose from the ground.

I was impressed she survived. Sadly, though, her armor didn't melt. But it wasn't shining anymore, nor was it gold. It was enveloped with black stains, meaning it had burned nicely. Hopefully, I could actually break it now.

I forgot Anatasia also had Ares's powers. Now, she was stronger after Mei's attack. She almost took her sword back from me. Luckily, I managed to disarm her. I slashed at her chest, and bits of her plate armor fell apart. It was crumbling, and she realized it. Anatasia took her armor off, and naturally, was ten times faster. And she had a weapon all along.

I'm guessing her new spear must be her trump card. Like her old one, electricity flowed through it. The only difference was that this was also made with consecrated gold, and I couldn't melt it. Mei was too drained to attack, and I couldn't unleash a powerful flame spell in the blink of an eye. I wanted to stop time and get past Anatasia, but I decided against it. Hypsipyle's forces were marching to a victory. I had already sent Mei to aid Vittoria. It was easy to distract Anatasia. Like her father, she was too proud. A few insults, and now I took all of her attention. Of course, I hesitated to do it because I didn't want to deal with an angry tank. But I can't exactly have her ruin everything for me, either. I knew she knew that she could change the tide of the battle - if she engaged with my army, not just me.

Anatasia grabbed my head and threw me to the ground. She brought her spear down for the kill. I didn't die, but she had impaled my leg. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. I grabbed her spear, pulled myself up(yes, the spear went deeper into my leg), and drove her sword into her shoulder. After dislodging her spear from my leg, I managed to slash her chest. She jumped back, but she still got injured. But it was hard to stand.

Anatasia lunged, and I stopped time. I wanted to save the power if another god came, but I could have died just now. Sadly, I was too tired to maintain it. Anatasia's spear brushed my cheek as I grabbed it, pulling her towards me and driving my sword into her other shoulder.

Anatasia coughed blood. She let go of her spear and proceeded to brutally beat me up with her fists. She got her spear back after punching me so hard I formed a crater as I fell to the ground.

Well, I gave my all. I was too weak to stand. Why was it Julien, Nick, and Adan that had to get the fleece? Why was Anatasia left out? She could have succeeded. I sat up, seeing Anatasia in front of me. I refused to die here, though. I grabbed her spear and didn't let go, regardless of how much she kicked me.

The sound of feet thundered above us. Screams of a surprise attack could be heard. An order to retreat was given. Anatasia forgot about me, and I let her go. I was too weak to do anything, anyway.

Mei flew above me. Vittoria had come back, then, meaning the mission was a success. Yes, the empusai behind her numbered in the thousands. If I remember correctly, Vittoria had a thousand five hundred empusai under her command. Five hundred supported her, while the other one thousand surrounded the island perimeter and guarded our boats. Either she hardly lost any of her troops, or she called every empusai she could.

Then the second phase of my plan can finally begin.

Vittoria noticed me. "Let me guess, you fought Anatasia. Yep, that's her sword."

"Yes," I nodded. "I must say I've been thoroughly humiliated."

"Looks that way. So, what about your plan? Sure you want to carry it out like this?"

"Yeah. It's actually better if I do it like this. Well, no. I would appreciate it if you patched me up a bit. The rest of the plan does require me to move, after all."

"Got it." Vittoria hurriedly spoke with Hypsipyle, who nodded, telling the both of us to hurry up. "Would it not be better for him to be carried to the camp by the empusai?"

"Yeah, Mei's on her way. Don't pursue the enemy for now. Once I get back, I'll explain everything. Yiannis, I will be needing your-"

"scythe's in my pocket," I groaned. "Just take it."

The two of us were carried back to the Black Pearl. Vittoria gave me over to the demigods in charge of one of the med camps we set up, and they went right to work. A team of them had gotten me healed in no time, although it had drained them. Some fainted, completely exhausted. They had attended to more than a hundred people today. I told them to pack up and get ready for departure. Vittoria had explained the situation to them, so they didn't ask any questions.

The two of us talked once the demigods on our side had gotten on the Black Pearl. Vittoria started our conversation. "You sure Hades will respond? He doesn't know your lineage to Kronos, and Hades has sworn allegiance to him as well. I don't see why he would defend Olympus."

"Well, I'm ready to have a long chat. It's the first nondangerous thing I've done ever since our adventure."

"Even if you're is son, Hades may still ignore you. What are you betting your hopes on?"

"Helen. Hey, Hades is her dad, and if there's someone he cares about more than me, she's on that list."

"Like father, like son," Vitoria rolled her eyes. "Alright, then inform Lord Kronos about this. If he supports you, he can give Hades an explicit order to do it."

"Will do." I sat, legs folded, about to quip prayers, when Vittoria turned around. "Yiannis?"

"What is it, Vitti?"

"You did well. Really well. You've decisively won your first battle. Well done."

"Yes, and I killed a lot of people, in-including James."

Vittoria's eyes softened with sympathy. "I know. I saw his dead body on the way." She crouched beside me. "How'd you react to it?"

"Him dying? I..."

I sighed. "I cried, ok? I just realized I'm an asshole. I only focused on saving my sister, and I had no qualms with everyone else just dropping dead."

Vittoria then did something that made me forget where I was. She KISSED me. Her lips tasted sweet, and I wanted those tender lips to stay. It felt like she was embracing me, in a way. Those lips radiated warmth, something that could cure my chilly melancholy.

"While you can't get everything, now you can try to save the innocent. If you perform your script well, Nick can position himself to become the head of the cult. If he succeeds, as I previously told you, you can give demigods to Lord Kronos."

"And what happens if he says no? With control of the cult, he can have Nick locate and kill demigods. We half-gods are a threat, you know? And then who'll support me? I can't do it alone."

"But you're not alone, my Lord. You have servants. Hypsipyle, Mei, and of course, myself...do you think we won't suffice?"

"Vittoria, locating demigods across an entire country and sneaking them over to our camp without the gods noticing is on a different scale. It's going to be about impossible to not get caught. And if Kronos doesn't give me support, then will Nick disobey Father?"

"Probably not. But have faith in your father. He's done nothing but given you the green light so far. And it's quite mean of you to doubt me, my Lord."

"After this, I'll be needing my servants more than ever. I can't have them risk their lives for my selfish wishes, especially when Nick is better suited to carry them out. Regardless, I admit I will need you, Vittoria. Mei and Hypsipyle, too. The cult is too small now to covertly redirect dozens if not hundreds of demigods across the U.S."

"Then shut up and stop complaining." She helped me up. "Good luck, my Lord. You'll need it." She pecked me on the cheek before leaving me alone. I could get used to this.

Anyway, back to work. I kneeled, hands in supplication. First, I prayed to Father, hoping he'd give me the green light again. Then, nervously, I prayed to Hades, asking him to aid DGH in this time of crisis. "Helen and I could die, and every demigod here eradicated if we don't receive any support," I muttered. "I need you, Father."