Chapter 9: Towards the End

Ugh. SO MUCH WRITER'S BLOCK


Bran woke up with a small smile on his face and a woman's arms around his waist. He felt Lianna slowly let go of him and get up first. The brunette went to take a bath, much to his dismay. He wished they could cherish this moment forever. He wished time could stop around them so all he could care about was Lianna.

"Are you going to take long in there?" he called her.

"I'll be out in a few." she called back.

"Just get back here when you're done."

"Or you could join me in the bathtub."

Bran didn't even hold back his chuckle. He decided to take her request so he got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. He saw her in the bathtub, which was filled with soapy water. Her clothes were right next to the base of the tub. Lianna turned and looked at him with shock.

"I didn't expect you'd accept my offer." she admitted.

"I didn't expect you'd be naked in my bathtub." he replied.

"So, you wanna talk about something?"

Bran leaned forward against the edge of the bathtub until he had his face pretty close to hers.

"I'm sure you're the one who wants to talk about something." he said, smirking.

Lianna started blushing real hard. As if on instinct, she slowly got closer to him and planted a kiss on his lips. Bran kissed back and he was now making out with the daughter of Artemis, who was still in the bathtub. This little session of theirs continued until they separated a minute later.

"I was hoping this would happen a little later." Lianna admitted.

"It's just the two of us here." Bran replied. "I'm making the most of this."

He kissed her again. Only this time, as he did, Bran sensed something wrong. He stopped, ignoring the fact that Lianna was now kissing other parts of his face until she saw the look on his. It was one of insecurity and shock.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"Something's up. Get changed." he replied before hurriedly leaving the room to put on his robes and all his gear.

Bran went outside of the tent to see Manhattan being bombarded by a series of explosions.

"By the Wyrd." he gasped.

Lianna picked that time to show up. She held her bow in her hands and her sword and dagger were sheathed.

"What's going...on?" she gaped at the ongoing destruction in Manhattan. "I think I parked a little too far."

Bran turned to his left to see an old dump truck covered in dirt and whatnot.

"What's that supposed to be?" he asked Lianna.

"That's where I dumped you when you were knocked out." she answered. "They were using it to transport all the debris from my Greek Fire sabotage mission."

The blonde prince-assassin gave her an incredulous look before sighing.

"Well, let's head back. You drive." he said to the daughter of Artemis.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work. The Atlanteans will have all the bridges sealed off." she answered.

"Well, where do you intend to go?"

"The sewers."


"This sucks." Bran groaned as he and Lianna traversed through the strangely undamaged New York sewers.

"Shut up and deal with it." she replied.

"The explosions stopped minutes ago. You think it was just a warning?"

"Probably."

He just groaned again at the stench itching in his nose. Lianna thought of something and turned back to him.

"Remember, no fire. This tunnel has been building up methane for years." she told him.

"I feel like I am living fire." he replied, chuckling a little.

"If that's true then we would have died thirty monutes ago."

"Okay, then."

They continued walking through the smelly tunnels until Lianna stopped near a ladder leading to the surface. She turned back to the blonde.

"Okay, you stay here while I check what's going on." she told Bran, who just nodded. The daughter of Artemis climbed the ladder and peaked out. There was nothing happening. Nothing but loyalists scrambling, smoke rising in the distance, and fires raging across the city.

"Place is on fire." Lianna explained.

"Anything else?" Bran asked her.

"Nope. Just loyalists running around."

"I'll check. I'm feeling ill in this place."

Lianna made some room for him to climb the ladder. He finally reached the surface and scanned his surroundings. Nothing but buildings, fire, and the sounds of screaming and shouting. He was about to say something when he heard a familiar voice.

"YOU!"

It was Samuel "Sammy" Zhang. That's when the legacy realized he royally f***ed up. Bran just raised his hands up in surrender, not even looking at him. The blonde heard Lianna curse under her breath as she slowly closed the lid, most likely trying not to be detected.

"You have some nerve to come back here, you traitor!"

That was Frank's voice. Bran muttered a curse in the Ellywe language under his breath. Hopefully, Aunt Nehemia didn't hear him. He walked a little forward then got on his knees, awaiting his inevitable death. He heard people walking towards him.

"Frank, killing him isn't really the best idea."

That was Hazel.

The next thing he heard was the sound of metal clanking, Lianna screaming, and Hazel and Sammy sounding like they were thrown onto the ground. He quickly turned around and saw Frank glaring at Lianna, who was on a knee, with the son of Mars's wife and son on the ground behind her.

Bran grabbed Frank in a chokehold until he was out cold, not even giving him time to shift. The daughter of Artemis did the same to Hazel and Sammy.

"We good?" Bran asked her.

"Sure, lad. We gotta hide them somewhere." Lianna suggested.

The three dragged their unconscious bodies to the nearest building.

"Now that that's done, any ideas?" Bran asked her.

More explosions sounded as the war cries of the Atlanteans got louder.

"I've got one. Kill something!" Lianna replied as she ran out the building, drawing her bow. Bran followed suit, drawing Goldryn and a throwing knife. They ran through the abandoned streets to see an army of Atlantean soldiers marching from the distance.

"Now that's...a lot." Bran groaned, not even noticing that the army aimed their weapons at them.

"MOVE!" Lianna screamed as she dragged him to the nearby alley, dodging laser fire here and there. She threw Bran down and fired back, shooting several Atlanteans with clean headshots. Bran recovered from his stupor and threw his knife and returned to cover.

"How many are there?!" he asked Lianna, who nocked another deadly silver arrow.

"No clue, but there's a lot, alright!" she replied in her thick British accent before firing another arrow. "Can't your fire powers help us out here?!"

"I need cover to bring out a big enough firestorm!" he replied. "It's gonna sap a lot of my energy so be quick!"

Lianna nodded and ran out of the alley, dodging more laser fire and shooting more arrows as she took cover behind a turned over car as Bran followed suit. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes, preparing for what was about to happen.

"Hurry up, Brannon! Can't hold them off too long." Lianna spoke.

Bran finally got over the car and unleashed a massive blue firestorm. It roared through the streets towards the Atlanteans, who all tried to get away to no avail, as they were already ashes.

That took all of the golden haired prince's strength. He slowly lost his footing and fell off the car only for Lianna to catch him.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked him.

"Fine..." Bran groaned weakly.

"No, you're not. You're clearly hurt."

"No, I'm just exhausted. Do you have any more ambrosia?"

Lianna glowered in frustration then looked at a nearby building. Left with no other choice, she hauled Bran towards the building and left him inside near the doorway. She handed him a bar of ambrosia.

"Eat up and stay put. I'll be right back." the daughter of Artemis told him.

"Can I get a kiss first?" Bran joked.

"Not now." she replied before running out the dark building, nocking an arrow.

Groaning, he simply unwrapped the ambrosia and started eating. He munched away quickly in an attempt to recover his strength. The golden haired man heard Lianna's screams of pain as she is suddenly thrown into the building through the open doorway.

"Lianna!" Bran screamed as he ran to her side. She pointed at the doorway and the silhouette of a large man holding some kind of polearm loomed outside. He scrambled to raise his sword and protect Lianna from whoever it was. The man drew closer to the room, and entering was a tall brown haired man with sea green eyes. He was holding a trident and wearing a set of ancient Greek armor.

"Triton." the former assassin spat as she got up and nocked an arrow.

"You will pay for deserting us, traitor." Triton spat back. "Besides, we have ways to...make you ours again, like...dear little Kestrel?"

"I will kill you if you lay a finger on Kestrel!" Lianna screamed with all her voice. Clearly, Bran knew there was something between her and this "Kestrel". He then jumped into the conversation. "You all lied about her mother and do you really think you're forgiven for that?!"

The son of the sea merely laughed and looked at him.

"So you're my Percy's son? Ha! I expected more." Triton mocked.

"Don't tempt me to kill you." the golden haired prince snarled back.

"As if you can."

Triton charged and brought his trident down on the two, who rolled out of the way in separate directions. Lianna shot an arrow towards the tall seaspawn, who merely swiped it out of the air before it even connected. This distracted him from Bran, who slid underneath Triton and stabbed his legs with his Hidden Blades. He fell on one knee while Bran grabbed Lianna and ran out the building.

"What are you doing?!" she asked.

"I'll cook him alive, somehow." he replied sheepishly.

"Are you kidding?! You just ate! And there's no rest at a time like this!"

Bran's next few words were cut short when Triton stormed out of the building and attacked, swatting the blonde to an old lamp post. Lianna rolled out of the way and nocked an arrow, which she fired at Triton's right leg. He screamed in pain then willed sewer water to explode from the nearest manhole to attack Lianna, who didn't react quick enough. Triton had it form a bubble around her head and restrain her with the intent on drowning her.

"This, this is what you get for turning your back on us!" he screamed. "But, no matter, my beloved father, half brother and sister in law will bring you all to your knees!" Triton screamed.

"NO!" someone's raging screams were heard as the place suddenly got hotter by the minute, literally. Triton turned around to witness Bran, in a burst of blue flames, tackle him and knock him down. The young prince punched Triton repeatedly until he inadvertedly creates spiky Fatelight gauntlets on his arms. Ignoring the change, Bran continued to pummel the ever loving crap out of his "uncle" until his face was nothing more than a bloody mess. He slowly dissolved to dust shortly after.

Savoring the bloody act he just pulled, Bran looked up into the sky as he breathed heavily, only to remember Lianna.

He looked at her. She was drenched in sewer water, passed out on the floor. He ran towards her and started compressing her chest until she awoke, coughing up dirty water.

"B...Bran?" she asked.

"You okay?" he asked back.

Lianna nodded and got up on her feet. The blonde picked that time to ask her.

"Who's Kestrel?"

The daughter of Artemis sighed and began to speak as they walked back to the building, ignoring the explosions and sounds of fighting in the distance.

"Bran, look, I...I wish I could tell you...but maybe when this is all over. When this is all over, I'll introduce you to her."

The sound of war cries were heard, which got louder and louder until Bran and Lianna saw the loyalists and Atlanteans squaring off over Triton's dusty remains.

"What do we do?" Lianna asked.

"To the roof!" Bran replied, dragging her to the stairs. They ran up around five floors until they reached the roof.

"Okay, now what, blondie?!" Lianna asked.

Her attempt to rant even more was suddenly cut off by a blast of wind nearly blowing them off the building. Bran could sense something...or someone familiar. He looked up and saw a golden shuttle. Its bay doors opened to reveal...

"Elise?" Bran spoke.

"Got your message, brother. Get in!" she shouted. "And bring your friend in, too."


"Bran, this flight lasts for three minutes so tell me who this is." Elise spoke from the pilot's seat. The couple was strapped in on other two seats in the cockpit.

"This is Lianna Trine, daughter of Artemis." he replied.

"That's impossible."

"She is. Her eyes don't lie. Lianna, this is my younger sister, Elise Galathynius Jackson."

"H...Hi." she nervously greeted.

"Okay, back to the matter at hand." Elise said.

"Poseidon. You found him?" Bran asked.

"A couple of minutes ago. His army's a distraction so that he can hit Olympus. Believe me."

"Then let's go."


Turns out, Elise wasn't kidding. The Empire State was left untouched by the attack. Leaving the shuttle, Bran, Elise, and Lianna ran inside the building.

"There should be a doorman around here with the key!" the younger sibling said.

"Why didn't Poseidon just flash in?" Bran asked. "Did they ban him or something?"

"I'd say yes." Lianna replied. "All the gods on Poseidon's side can't flash into Olympus. With every other god busy, we're all that's left."

The three ran and ran until they saw a dead guy with a keycard soaked in blood near the elevator.

"They forgot about the card to Olympus." Elise said.

"It could be a trap." Lianna pointed out.

"Let's go for it anyway. We can't let Poseidon win no matter what." Bran spoke.

And so the trio piled up in the elevator as it took them to Olympus.