Saving Thalia Part Three: The Beginning of Something Permanent (Thalia, Excelsior)

Odysseus heard noises from what remained of the mostly destroyed throne room. He watched as he saw the reformed Titan Lord enter the room, which mean that Jacen no longer was the host for him, anymore. Odie looked horrified a moment, and then realized that the Titan Lord wasn't yet at full strength, so that meant that he would still be tied to Jacen, for the most part.

He didn't move as he prayed to his mother for help. He knew that she would answer his prayers. At least he hoped, as he realized how much more difficult this had come with Pallas returned to a weaker version of his old self. Not to mention, that Thalia had been brought into the throne room, which made things much more difficult. He'd tried to protect the other three, by keeping them out of the fight, but it looked as if they were going to have more trouble now that Thalia was here.

That was when he heard Kyle's voice say,"Hey there, Jake, old buddy, remember me?" That was when he saw the demigod guarding Thalia go flying into one of the destroyed columns. When Pallas turned to the noise, that was when Odie came out in full battle gear, with his mother's spear lowered and his shield raised; and he had a gray hue about him, the blessing of Athena.

He said,"Well, Titan of Warcraft, we meet again, and this time you will not get away. I have my mother to help me."

Pallas turned around and had a look of fear in his eyes as he realized that Odie had the blessing of Athena. But he quickly covered it with a smirk, and said,"So, son of Athena, you finally came to save your girlfriend at last. Bravo, took you a lot longer than I expected, though."

Odie, looked at him through his helmet, and said,"You will let her go, Pallas. I love her, and I will not let Kronos use her to destroy Camp Half Blood. She is coming with me, and by the name of my mother, who defeated you once before, I will defeat you." That was when he charged.

As Kyle watched the events unfold, he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen enough. There was that son of Ares that had always been his competition as commander of Kronos demigod forces. Though Kyle won the bid, he'd always had a hard time facing that son of Ares in combat. He decided that a little surprise, and he could hopefully free Thalia, so that Odie could focus on taking down the Titan.

He sneaked around, and while Jake was facing the other direction, he swung his battle ax with the flat part to knock him aside, and said,"Hey there, Jake, old buddy, remember me?" The demigod went flying into a stone pillar, and Kyle turned to face Thalia.

He looked at her for a short second, and then started swinging his battle ax trying to cut her chains. He said,"I'm sorry, Thal, but you look terrible. Doesn't look like hospitality comes easy in this part of the world. Solania's on her way here, she should be busting through the front gates now, and she'd kill me if I didn't take the time to free you." He grinned sheepishly at the last part as if afraid to get into trouble, and continued trying to cut her chain while Jake still had the breath knocked out of him, and Odie was keeping Pallas busy.

Jacen came out with a huge force of demigods and monsters. The monsters who had been panicking were given renewed morale, at the sight of a massive group of reinforcements led by one of the best swordsman in the Titan Army, besides maybe the Titans themselves, Jacen. He quickly found Sam, and went after him.

"Hey, Sam, long time no see. Oh, I do have a wonderful surprise waiting for you inside, your mother. Perhaps, you would like to surrender and join our cause, then I could get your mother her freedom. Should you fail to join, then there's nothing stopping your mother from being killed. I do hope you will join, I'd hate to have to beg for your mother's life, only to watch her be killed right in front of you. You're outnumbered, and no matter how hard you try, there are only more. Why don't you and your friends surrender, now. It will be a lot easier, this way.

Samuel's snarl would have impressed a hellhound. First off, he was extremely touchy about his mother--he didn't know what to think about her other than to protect her life. Second, one of the things he hated most was the prospect of surrender. He was not that weak. And third, the only thing he hated more than surrendering was evil.

The son of Morpheus briefly debated pulling out his pistol and pumping Jacen full of bronze. However, he remembered Odie's warning that Pallas could manipulate modern weapons, and decided against it.
"Buddy, I got a blade with your name on it," Samuel growled. Raising both his swords, he switched them to his trademark reversed grip, which told his enemy something about his exceptional fighting skill. Then, he went at Jacen like a whirlwind.

Kyle laughed as Jake weakly knocked him back like two feet. "I wouldn't really call me a traitor if I picked a side, now would I? If you really loved Thalia, would you really have whipped her like you were told to? I don't think so. Besides, if my girlfriend were here, you'd have an arrow right through your head, oh and I bet you didn't realize that Thalia is completely freed, now did you?"

He lifted the last piece of chain in the air with a smirk. "Looks like you can't watch her and fight me now does it? I mean, just look at Odie, he traveled all this way from Camp Half Blood and is facing a Titan Lord all by himself, just to save Thalia. If that isn't love, then I don't know what is."

Kyle charged in, and swung his battle ax at Jake, lifting his shield to compensate for any attack the son of Ares might try to land. He laughed, and smirked at the fear in the enemy demigods eyes. He had Jake right where he wanted him.

Odysseus continued to press against Pallas, and he was doing really well, despite the insults that the Lord of Warcraft was trying to throw at him. The Titan actually looked afraid, but Odie kept pressing his advantage. He owed it all to the blessing of Athena, he was literally unstoppable. he automatically knew everywhere Pallas was going to strike long before he struck, and he was much stronger.

He yelled,"You can't defeat me, Pallas. I have the blessing of my mother, and I love Thalia with all my heart. If Kronos hadn't lied to me and told me he would kill her if I didn't break up with her, then we would still be together, and she would never have been in this hell-hole. I love her with all my heat, and no one is going to stop me from bringing her back out, alive. Your time has already ended Pallas, I cannot and will not let you win, now."

Pallas looked at him, and said,"You cannot defeat me, I am the Titan of Warcraft. You have no power over me, demigod."

Odysseus laughed, as he knocked the Titan off his feet and to the ground. "That is where you are wrong, Pallas. I have the blessing of Athena, my mother. I can and will defeat you for the gods."

He struck again, but this time, Pallas was ready. He pressed Odysseus back, but Odysseus spear, Shockwave, was sending massive shockwaves that kept knocking the Titan back. Pallas knew he couldn't hold much longer, but he had a plan for saving himself. He would renter Jacen if he failed to defeat the son of Athena. He looked angry, and as his sword was knocked away by the power of the spear.

Odysseus struck Pallas, exactly the way he remembered that his mother had, and he was defeated. He then turned to get Thalia and get out of there. Little did he know that Pallas had merely reentered Jacen, but was severely wounded.

He grabbed Thalia's arm, and quickly rushed her out of there while Kyle kept Jake busy. He said,"Look, I know you probably fear me, and hate me for what I did to you, but we can deal with that later. Now, let's get you back to Camp. You can hate and fear me later, if that is your wish, but know this Thalia Elizabeth Rose Grace, I love you. I do understand if you hate me though for what I did to you, but I only did it to protect you. I hope that one day you can understand that."

Jacen laughed, as he dodged Samuel's blow, and shook his finger. "Ah, ah, ah. You made the wrong move. You should have left well enough alone."

He turned back, and yelled,"Bring out the prisoner." He smirked, and deliberately ignored the remarks from Solania. As he waited for them to bring out Sam's mom, something happened inside of him, and he fell to the ground. Then, he realized with fear, that Pallas was entering him, again. He was racked with fear, he hated being controlled, and the Titan had lied to him.

As he lay on the ground, trying to clear his head, he thought about the promise he had made to his sworn brothers Kyle and Odie.

Samuel's mouth twisted into a wolfish grin as Jacen suddenly fell to the ground, clutching his head. The son of Morpheus didn't care why his enemy had dropped, only that now, he had a clear shot at someone who had been ticking him off for a long time. And he wasn't going to miss.
With a snarl, Samuel drove one of his swords deep into Jacen's leg. "How do you like them apples?"

Odysseus sighed, and shook his head. "We don't have time for this Thalia. Fear me later. Right now, I'm trying to get you out of here and back to camp. Sam, Zoey, and Solania are right outside the gates and Kyle's fighting with his life for me to get you out of here. If you won't save yourself for me, do it for them. I don't want to lose any of them, and the more time you waste by trying to run from me, the easier it is for one of them to die. If you don't care anything for me, then I understand. I am the one after all who broke your heart to do what I thought would protect you. At least have the decency to come with me, and let all of us get you out of here."

He reached down, and reached his hand out for her, and sighed. He continued,"Look, maybe you think I'm this all evil person, but you know that Solania isn't; and she trusts me. So, if you want to stay away from me for the rest of your life, then that is fine, but at least trust her judgement long enough to let me get you out of here and to her. I don't betray my friends, and she trusted me with leading the quest to rescue you, so trust me to get you out of here for her sake. I can understand if you want to spend your life fearing me, but now is not the time to do so. Fear me after we are all safe and away from this place, if that is your wish, but at least trust me to get you out alive in once piece. I didn't just defeat the Lord of Warcraft so I could kill or torture you, if that's what you think. I did it to free you, because I love you, but I can understand if you don't share those feelings."

Jacen screamed in pain, as Pallas was starting to enter him. He kept fighting it, but with Sam trying to kill him it was only going to make things worse. He realized that he had to try to talk some sense into Sam before he made it easier for Pallas to enter his body. He raised his other foot, and kicked Sam aside just getting the sword out of his leg.

He yelled, as he fought being possessed,"Stop, Sam. You have no idea what you are doing. You can't kill me even if you wanted to, and if you weakened me, you'd only make it easier for Pallas to enter me. I'm fighting him trying to possess me, again, now. You have to go find Odie. I need him to stab me through with Redemption just before the Titan gains control of my body. He lied to me. He told me that he would never possess me, again. You have to help me fight this. You go find Odie, and I'll distract the monsters. Please, I need your help. Besides, your mother is really here, and if you kill me, then they will execute her immediately, and if the Titan gains control of my body, he will kill her too. Please, you have to help me. You go get Odie, and I'll keep fighting him."

He tried to stand, as the monsters and demigods began fleeing at seeing Jacen fall. He got to his feet, and then fell, again. As he felt the force growing stronger, he began bending his own will even harder. He knew he couldn't stop the Titan, but he could slow him down, and that's all he hoped to do before he sacrificed his life to redeem himself, now that he realized that the Titans were liars and never truly cared. They only wanted power.

Samuel's first instinct was to pull out his pistol and empty a magazine into Jacen's chest and head to finish the punk off for good. But fortunately, intuition stopped him from doing that. Everything the other demigod was saying made sense. Jacen would not welcome his own death unless he had turned from the path of the Titans and was now acting against them.
"I'll find Odie. But if you're lying, we'll cause you more pain than a Titan ever could," Samuel promised. Taking up his sword, the son of Morpheus rushed off to find Odysseus.