[Third Person’s PoV]

As Lucian finished crying tears of joy, he looked at the ring in his fingers. He slipped it off and examined it closely.

‘This thing has been with me for a very long time. I’ve had it longer than I’ve known the others… And now that I’m a Cursed Knight, I’ll need it more than ever. I think it’s time to give it an upgrade. With my artisan abilities, I should be able to add a few enchantments,’ Lucian thought as he transformed the ring into his other weapons.

He studied the weapons carefully. “I should be able to enchant one thing on each weapon. Too many enchantments would overload them, causing the structural integrity to become unstable and crumble,” Lucian muttered.

A wisp of magic formed around his fingers, leaving a trail of light whenever he moved.

An hour and a half later…

Lucian was seen writing and drawing symbols on the flat part of the blade. As he finished, the symbols burned their markings into the sword, becoming part of it.

Lucian let out a sigh, happy that it was finally over. “Let’s review…”

The enchantments of each weapon:

Scythe – Soul Reaper: Drains the life force of enemies and restores vitality to the wielder.

Sword – Morphblade: The sword can transform into any other sword, adapting to the wielder’s preference.

Bo Staff – Titan’s Growth: The staff can change its size, growing in width and length.

Spear – Gravity Pierce: Each strike with the spear increases the weight of the target, slowing their movements and making them easier to finish off.

Bow – Piercing Star: Arrows fired from the bow ignore physical and magical defenses, hitting enemies as if their armor or barriers weren’t there.

Chained Sickle – Binding Force: The chain can increase or decrease in strength, allowing it to restrain targets with varying levels of force or be used as a powerful impact weapon.

Ring – Telekinesis Boost: Allows the wearer to move objects they should be able to physically carry with their mind, granting minor telekinetic abilities.

Lucian looked at his ring and kissed it before slipping it back on his finger. “I should give you a name…”

He smiled mischievously. “For now, your name shall be Bloody Mary.”

—

A few hours earlier, after Lucian disappeared…

Thalia turned to the others. “Let’s keep going. Lucian’s fast; he’ll catch up in a bit. And it looks like we’ve got a long way ahead of us.”

As they started walking, Clarisse slung her bag over her shoulder and looked at the group. “I just want to say, you guys are idiots. You let Lucian leave without getting your bags back from him. Who knows what you might need?”

Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover froze at that realization.

“He won’t take long… I hope,” Annabeth said, sounding a bit uncertain toward the end.

Meanwhile, Thalia noticed Percy lagging behind, staring at the ground. She slowed down to let him catch up.

“Thinking about your father?” Thalia asked, breaking the silence.

“It’s all I’ve been able to think about,” Percy admitted.

“Let me guess, you’re worried that since your father’s done some bad things, that makes you a bad person too, right?”

“A bit… Am I wrong to think that? But it’s more than that. I’m disappointed. I was really excited to meet him. I thought, ‘Wow, my dad’s someone important, one of the three biggest gods in Greek mythology!’ But now, after hearing what Medusa said about my father, I’m ashamed to be his son.”

“Believe it or not, I understand how you feel,” Thalia said, nodding. “I was the same way about my father. I mean, come on, the sky father, ruler of Olympus, There was a time when I was really proud to be his daughter. But I was naive…

As I got older and learned more about him, those feelings turned into disgust. From what I’ve heard, he’s a womanizer who can’t keep it in his pants. He’ll sleep with anything that moves… He’s a total sexual deviant.”

Thalia turned to Percy with a straight expression. “You want to hear something crazy?”

“What?” Percy asked.

“I have an ant half-sister somewhere out there. An ant. Just think about that.”

“Really?” Percy asked, looking at her incredulously.

Thalia’s deadpan look was all he needed as confirmation. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Want my advice?”

Percy shrugged. “I guess…”

“Don’t let your parents decide who you are. You decide that for yourself. No one but you can choose who you want to be. You want to be like your father? That’s up to you. You want to be like your mother? That’s your call. Just because your dad did bad things doesn’t make you a bad person… unless you decide that.”

Percy sighed and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I am my own person, not just the son of Poseidon.”

Thalia patted his shoulder and walked ahead, hands in her jacket pockets. ‘I’m so good at this,’ she thought smugly.

As they continued walking through the forest, Percy seemed in better spirits after his talk with Thalia.

Thalia, now walking ahead, held up her hand, signaling the group to stop. She motioned toward a nearby tree, indicating for everyone to hide behind it. They obeyed, crouching low and peeking over the edge.

Ahead of them, they saw a group of Laestrygonians, cannibalistic giants. Around ten of them were gathered around a campfire, their grotesque forms illuminated by the flames.

Percy almost gagged as he realized what they were doing. The giants were spit-roasting a human—a man who appeared to have been an outdoor camper. One of the giants lazily twirled the man over the fire before picking him up and slurping him down whole. The giant chewed loudly, then used the spit as a toothpick before flicking it away.

“I think I’m gonna get sick,” Grover whispered, his face turning pale green as he covered his mouth.

“Let’s finish this quickly,” Thalia whispered back, quickly formulating a plan.

“With my speed and power, I should be able to distract at least five of them.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Percy hissed, keeping his voice low. “Don’t you see how big those things are?”

“Just listen,” Thalia said, maintaining her calm. “Annabeth can handle three of them—she’s smart and resourceful enough. I need you and Clarisse to take down the remaining two. Each of you focuses on one but keep an eye on each other. Grover, I need you to stay back as our lookout. Make sure to call out if anyone’s in danger.”

She grabbed a stick and quickly sketched a rough plan in the dirt. “We’ll stay spaced out so we’re not clumped together, but close enough to help each other if needed. Grover, use the trees as your cover.”

Thalia then turned to Percy and Clarisse. “If either of you finishes your fight early, jump in and help Annabeth or me. We all need to be ready to adapt if anything goes wrong. Clear?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Good,” Thalia said, standing up. “Weapons out. Let’s go.”

She drew her spear and raised her shield, Annabeth spread her wings, Clarisse gripped her spear as its tip sparked a red glow, and Percy’s tattoo shone brightly as it summoned his trident into his hands.

“Good luck, everyone,” Grover whispered as they all charged forward, ready for the fight ahead.

********************************************

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