TJ Eckard and the Death of a Hero

by Himaru Kishimoto

A son of a great god excepts a task that may end his life. Meeting new friends and making horrible enemies.

6. Chapter 6

T.J. Eckard and the Death of a Hero

By-Himaru Kishimoto

Chapter 6: Mountain of lava

Author Note: This chapter is dedicated to my brother Lee. I love this fanfic. I do not own the Percy Jackson franchise or the song "for the good times".

Of course we can't have one peaceful day. We nearly die but, all in all I think this is the best day of my life so far. We were breaking camp, which was easy since we didn't need to put up tents. I had made the clouds go around our camp site and we slept on patches of grass.

As if by some daily routine we immediately find ourselves in hot water. Literally, when we woke up some stupid little river god who resembled a giant rainbow trout with limbs who called himself Budlighteus after the name of the river where teenagers would, well, throw away their empties. He splash us which wasn't to bad except for some debris but what I was really mad about was he soaked my jacket which Sammy had just dried with one of his balls of light. I wasn't even sure about this guy being an actual god. He looked like the result of a god who liked fish a little too much.

"Look here, guppy. I'm not convinced you're anything close to a god so get your ugly face out of here before you get hurt, you deformed naiad."

"Watch what you're saying buddy. I'm most definitely a god. And, you better get away from here."

He obviously hadn't known my parentage. So, I gave him a warning shot, and I accidentally fried his right leg. Of course he swam away, but what I hadn't known is he was working for my new worst nightmare, the titan of space and mother of Hecate, Asteria. So, technically Em and Colleen's grandma. She hated me immediately.

"Son of Zeus, why do you attack my deformed, mentally challenged, naiad friend?"

"He wouldn't let us move. I just wanted to get out of here."

"You blood thirsty barbarian. You're exactly like your father. Leave my precious granddaughters alone."

"Never tell me I'm like my father! And I hate to break it to you but, you're granddaughters are with me by their own will."

"I refuse to believe that!"

Suddenly a black hole appeared below me, and then I remembered that Asteria is the titaness of space and therefore could send me anywhere she wants me to be. My feet started to sink in farther and farther until I was only there from the waist up.

"Choose where you'd like to go to son of Zeus; as long as it's far away I don't care."

"No, T.J. fight back. Don't go." Says Em.

I had gone on vacation once to visit family who were by now dead in Kansas. I knew were I wanted to go and how we would meet back up. I just turned and said…

"Meet me half way in three days in McCook, Kansas. And take care of Aionios. Asteria, take me to see my brother Lee in Amarillo, Texas."

"Nice choice. That puts three states between you and my granddaughters."

The black hole sucked me in the rest of the way. For less than a second I was in space. No not just what you would call space. I was in the center of everything. I could see the edges of the universe. I saw a planet that would take a million life times to get to from earth teeming with the early stages of life. Then I was immediately dropped head first onto the back of a bull. A few hours and a couple of bandages on my head and back and legs later I was in front of my brother's house in Amarillo. In my right hand I held a letter my brother had sent me years ago after he snuck out of the house and moved hear with the money he got from selling his first song. I read the letter inside that I had kept for nine years.

"Dear little bro,

I miss you kid. You really need to come out here someday. I know you always looked up to me but, I just had to go to get away from cramped apartments and the pressure mom's putting on me to go to college. I know you've been eyeing my guitar. The black one with the silver eagle painted on it. It's a little small for me now so, it's yours, even though it is probably big on you. I also put a song in here for you. You're three now, right? This must be hard on you but, just know that no matter what anyone says, I didn't leave because of you. I wish I could have taken you with me. Remember, you always have a happy home with me, should you need one."

I took out the song and started singing to myself as I approached the door.

"Don't look so sad

I know it's over

But life goes on

And this old world

Will keep on turning

Let's just be glad

We had

Some time

To spend together"

I was almost to the front door when I tripped over a news paper laying on the walkway. I picked it up and looked at the date. That paper had been from a month ago. I wondered what happened. I ran toward the door and rang the doorbell until I realized, my big brother was long gone.

I went into town and found an old diner. I was hoping to get some info from one of the locals who seemed like country music fans. The thing is about my brother and me is when we're not hanging out with future criminals, we're listening to every nugget of wisdom the old men in our neighborhood could tell us. I found a couple of old men in the corner playing hold 'em and drinking beer. These guys seemed like his type. I pulled up a chair and struck up a conversation. The one on the left still had hair but he was a little hard of hearing. He was wearing a button down white shirt and faded jeans. The one on the right was bald or at least I thought he would be if he wasn't wearing a baseball cap. He had a plaid shirt under overalls that were as faded as the jeans of his friend.

"Hey fellas, who's winning."

"WHAT?" said the man who I had though was hard of hearing because when I walked in everyone had jumped a little when he said "WHAT?" but not too much so I thought they were regulars.

"He is" said the other man. "You want in on this."

"WHAT?"

"I'M GOING TO PLAY A HAND, SIR!"

"WELL DEAL, WOULD YA! MY ARTHRITUS IS ACTIN' UP!"

I sat down and started dealing.

"So, I also had a question."

"Tell ya what kid. If you win I'll answer your question."

"Okay."

"WHAT?"

"I'M DEALING!"

"By the way my name is Al and we call him W for…"

"WHAT?"

"That's it"

I started shuffling and even though I didn't know how he could help, I prayed to my dad for some form of aid. A second later a strong breeze blew through the open window blowing the cards to the floor, and when I went to pick them up they blew together to form the deck. I dealed the cards. A minute later…

"Pair of tens." Said Al

"WHAT? I GOT THREE PAIR OF SIXES!"

"Four aces."

"What?" said Al and W in unison "How'd you get so lucky?"

"I don't know. About that question"

"Whatever you want. We'll answer"

"WHAT ABOUT A SUGGESTION?"

"THIS BOY HAS A QUESTION! What is it boy?"

"Do you know about a man named Lee Eckard?"

"HEY W, THE BOY'S ASKIN' ABOUT LEE. HAVE YOU SEEN HIM LATELY?"

"HE WENT CAMPING ABOUT A MONTH AGO, TO THAT SECRET SPOT OF HIS NEAR PRAIRIE DOG CREEK."

"There you go kid, but why do you need it."

"I'm his little brother."

"You're the cute little kid from all those pictures Lee showed us? You got tall."

"Thanks"

After talking to them for about an hour, I got a map to his secret camp ground. It was nestled among the giant rocks of the mountain. It was about half way up in the middle of a field. In several places large amounts of white flowers popped up. Not only flowers but, several trees with purple flowers that were a deep red in the center grew out everywhere. I walked up to the cabin and saw no one had been there then I heard something, a whine. I broke through the door and upstairs where the whine came again. Suddenly I found myself in a room with a black and gray kitten. I found a bag of food and gave it some. I looked at its tag, it was definitely Lee's.

"Well little guy, that's enough for two days. If I'm not back by then, you might as well go outside and hunt because I might never come back."

"Mew."

He rubbed up against my leg and I left. I was wondering were my brother could be. For a second I sat down on a tree root and thought out my next move. I always thought of him as a god, immortal and awesome. Where do I go? Then a mushroom started growing out of the ground. It got bigger and bigger until it was the size of a bean-bag chair. Then a cloud of dust swirled around it and when it was gone a satyr appeared. No not a satyr, this being had the face of a goat too. He seemed strong as well, and at the sight of him the flowers perked up even more. Like sons trying to look good for their father. No satyr I've met can do that.

"Hello young one. My name is Pan. What perplexes you?"

"Wait! Are you Pan, the god of the wild? Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"No, I'm just, in human terms, sick. I may fade away soon though. Now what's the problem?"

"Well, I can't find my brother. He was supposed to be here."

"Well, is that it? I know him, not personally but, my dad has told me about him."

"How does he know about him?"

"Never mind young one, I know were you will find him."

"Where is he?"

"Don't worry; at the top of this mountain is a small opening about fifteen feet from the summit. You will find your brother through there."

"Thanks, but how are you here."

"I am very sick but I can appear in small pockets of nature like this one. I must depart, young one."

Before I could respond he disappeared in another cloud of dust. When the dust settled I found a gift. I hadn't eaten for a day easily, and there before me was a bowl of vegetable soup. I silently prayed a thank you to Pan and then asked him to keep this place beautiful forever.

About half an hour later I ventured up the mountain. I used a cloud as a sort of escalator. I was up no more than fifty feet when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bunch of demon like ghosts coming at me. I dodged and fell twenty feet before a cloud caught me. I finally got a good look at these demonic beings. They were all six feet tall at least with horns and an aura of black energy around them. These were not regular ghosts; these were resurrected just to kill me.

I flew forward; I was now engulfed in lightning armor. Like a cannonball I took out two of the five. I threw myself at the strongest looking one. I could swear that even though they had no faces that they were infuriated by the lightning armor. I thought I saw there emotionless faces of emptiness turn mad. When I tried to punch one he dodged and grabbed my arm. Then the other two got behind me and they were attacking me with balls of dark energy. Everywhere I looked another ball made contact with my skin, lighting up like fireworks that slowly eroded the armor. I blacked out for a second and a dark cloud formed around me like a cocoon and sent a shock wave through my body and theirs, if you can call them bodies. The only difference between me and them is the lightning invigorated me. When I came out all that was left were masses of dark goo bubbling into the ground.

I turned toward the direction they came. Floating there on wings that were seemingly made of celestial bronze and rotting flesh was a monstrous looking man. He flew at me with a blade made of black metal. We rammed up against each other. Luckily, I grabbed my feather that I had recently learned becomes my sword when blown on. I had discovered it by accident yesterday morning when I yawned on it. I blew on it and instantly it grew to the three foot long gleaming silver sword I had come to call "Alexikeravno" meaning lightning rod.

"You're pretty good with blades T.J."

"You're not so bad yourself, but you have a stronger blade. At least it looks stronger. How do you know my name though?"

"You obviously don't recognize me under my armor. I made this out of the bones of a dragon. The wings are made of hollow celestial bronze rods. I can make this thing grow skin for stronger armor and fight."

It looked like it. His head seemed like it was being eaten by the dead dragon head. His limbs were about twice as wide as mine, so I assumed he had made the bones hollow to accommodate his arms and legs. He most likely just slid the rib cage over his torso, except it would have needed some alterations to fit perfectly as good armor needs to. The spine probably held the whole thing together with the wings interlocked in it. His hands were exposed, but under the dragon skin covering them, claws grew out. The same went for his giant feet except I couldn't see his human feet, just dragon claws and skin.

"And if you don't recognize me, TJ; Maybe I should expose my face."

In a matter of seconds, the dragon skin disintegrated and bones dissolved into part of an object that I couldn't make out. When I saw his face I faltered and loosened my grip on my sword. He flung it away and slashed me across the chest. I fell thirty feet to the ground. When I regained consciousness I saw him, just as I expected him. In his black Metallica t-shirt and faded black jeans, intentionally washed with his black clothes so the colors ran into the pants. His dark curls cut close to his head. His sword ad turned into a black claw necklace which now hung from his tightly closed fist. Another item, a ring was on the middle finger of his right hand. I guess that's where the dragon bone armor had grown out of. He looked stronger than I remember and stood up straight instead of slouching from his years of spinal cord problems. He now loomed over me like a mountain about to be caught in an avalanche. If he decided to kill me, I would be unable to fight him off.

"So, you lived to be thirteen, huh?"

"Oh yeah; they said I'd die but, somehow I held on three years longer. Then I had a surgery. I had close calls but I just would not die. They fixed me up well enough for me to live a normal life. Then I met my dad. He replaced my spinal cord with a nice healthy one. Now guess; who is my dad?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because, you always looked down to me."

"That isn't true."

"Yes, it is. You always fought with the bullies and nearly killed the ones who made fun of me! Do you know how low that made me feel? To be pitied by the kid who everyone thought of as the scum of the earth!"

"First off, only the mothers thought that. Second, those kids are in juvenile prisons now. They would have killed you. I stood up for you because I didn't want to lose you. You were the only one I could talk to about rebel stuff, man."

I started crying. This was the first time, since I could remember. I grew up without a dad, my mother died shortly after my brother left home when I was three, nobody wanted to keep me after that except my uncle Vinny, and most of all, I was considered the scum of the earth. I never cried once, never. I never dared get attached to anyone or anything. I'd fought since I was aloud out of the house. I'd lost it all. I lived in a poor neighborhood with stepdad after stepdad and a mother who only tolerated me. I began to laugh at the age of four; I'd laughed for everything that a normal kid would cry for. When the mothers had turned off the lights in there houses and closed the curtains when I walked by; I laughed because I didn't care about what they thought of me any more than when my blanket was so small I couldn't cover my feet at night. It was the most miner annoyance possible. I didn't even cry when my David, my best friend and the satyr who was the reason I was alive had died and turned into a tree. But now, when my best friend betrays me because I have protected him like I would myself, that is were my eyes draw the line.

"You know, I never really liked you. You're pathetic dude. What did they used to call you, Stone face? I can't imagine why. Later loser."

With that, he threw a rock at my head and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the cabin. I looked up, my vision still blurry. All I could tell was it seemed brownish in color and kept jittering. My vision cleared and I could not believe what I saw. I'd lost a friend but it would seem some merciful god has given me one back.

"So, the nectar and ambrosia worked."

"I guess so. How are you alive, David?"

"Pan helped me."

"Really?"

"Tommy, man, Pan can create dodo birds and mammoths out of thin air. Do you really think turning a tree into its Satyr form was hard for him? I feel stronger than ever! Now that you know about this stuff, you should see what I can do with acorns and sunflower seeds. You demigods really don't treat us with enough respect. We're just as powerful as most of you. We're like sons of Pan, minus the DNA thing."

"So does this mean you're gonna help me?"

"This time, Tommy, but after this I have to get back to camp, k?"

"You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Why did you think I called you that?"

I had two days before I had to meet up with my friends. It was about 7:00 am when we left to go up the mountain. I was pretty well rested and David had some cans of his favorite energy drink, Beast, in his bag. He had on what he had worn in the dessert when he'd died, a hoodie that was sliced down the front by a sword, with a rare red camp half-blood t-shirt underneath. He kept complaining it was too hot in Texas, which it was for him considering he was raised in New York and he was really furry from the waist down which was convenient since Satyrs didn't wear pants often.

We had just gotten to the hole in the mountain that Pan said was there. David didn't really want to go into the mountain, and neither did I considering my dad's worst enemy is Hades, the ruler of the earth and the dead. I pulled myself together and shot a tiny quick lightning bolt at David's butt to get him moving.

It was dark. I lit the way with tiny sparks. The stairs were bumpy and uneven. It was hardest on David until I thought I should get a cloud down here. I learned that the farther down you go, into the earth, the harder it is to get clouds. I went up a while and called down three clouds which is my limit. We went down faster with my emergency clouds following behind. We finally got to the bottom. A giant set of bronze doors barred the way. They were obviously to heavy to push open.

"Maybe it's about time you showed me exactly what you can do with acorns and sunflower seeds."

In a minute, David had placed seeds in the ground and pulled reed pipes out of his bag. He started to play and two oak trees popped up and pushed the doors open. Then we barged through the door with some angry looking sunflowers behind us as back up.

The room was filled with lava, and in the center was an island. At the center of the island, in chains, was my brother, unconscious.