AN: Hello little biscuits, it is time for another chapter, and boy, did this take some major thinking and planning for the future. I hope you enjoy it, and be prepared for a new chapter sometime in July. Kisses!
Screams, horrible screams that filled the air with noise and chaos.
The familiar smell of blood stained the air as crisp winds blew throughout the battlefield.
The metallic and acidic taste of defeat was poison in the mouths of every defending soldier.
The magic in the air was felt by everyone present, a horrible and twisted dark magic that only caused destruction.
Every man, woman, and child could see that the end of Alba Longa was at hand, except for one person, one god.
This, however, was not just due to the fact that he was blinded.
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"And you're sure this will work, grandpa?"
"Of course Iulus, I am a god, aren't I?"
The, then, five-year-old Iulus watched with fascination as the minor god closed his eyes in concentration, hands splayed palms forward in the air. Soon, green energy gathered in the air and floated like mist. With a small wrist flick, yellow energy was added to the mixture, which blended into a brown, sand-like color.
"Now, for the finishing touch." Percy whispered, purple and green eyes opening to display his seriousness. He thrust his hand out, summoning an object into his grasp. It was small, only barely peeking out of his fist, and very dark.
"What is that?" the young boy asked with curious eyes. "This is a creature that will spread my lovely disease, when the time is right." the god said, opening his hand to show an all black rat with a slender pink tail.
It looked around with beady eyes, screeching once, before curling in on itself. Percy slowly brought the swirling mist forward, almost being sucked into the small mammal. The disease seeped through the fur, settling inside the vermin with no noise of protest from it. The god held the rat up with a victorious smile, Iulus smiling at the look as well.
"When will you use it, grandpa?"
"When I have no other way out of a sticky situation, my young pupil." he stored the creature in a small pouch, before vanishing it with a mere thought.
"Now, back to your training."
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"If there was any a stickier situation…" Percy mumbled, thrusting his hand out blindly, due to his, well, blindness.
He felt the weight of his precious, disease-filled rat appear in his hand with no hesitation.
'Akila, are you there?'
"Yes master, what is the matter?" the familiar voice of his loyal cloak was a small joy.
'I need you to be my eyes, I am blind.' The magic cloth shifted slightly in shock. "Of course master, whatever you need." The god stood with hesitance, using his hands to keep from running into anything while the sounds of battle continued around him.
'We are look for a dead soldier of this female army. With haste.'
"Right away, master." As he walked, small tugs from the cloak and verbal instruction led Percy to a fallen Amazon.
"Alright, time for some magic." he said aloud, trying to stay calm. He raised his hand over the body, concentrating on her blood. The crimson liquid formed a ball in his hand, which he quickly turned into a small mist of red. "This should work on the warriors, but this Samson will need special care." Percy said, pushing the red mist into his disease ridden rodent.
The black rat squeaked, standing on all four limbs and preparing for its first attempt at spreading the plague, a process Percy liked to call the Transference Stage. With a jump and a squeal of determination, the rat took off through the battleground, an almost invisible green mist seeping from its body.
"Akila, what's happening?"
"It seems to be… working!"
True to his word, the green mist was slowly creeping upon the mysterious Amazons, sinking into their skin and causing their veins to pulse a dangerous shade of purple.
"Fantastic! You might want to look away for this next phase, if that is something you can do. I call it the Ascension Stage." the god spoke with pride and dignity, though the scene on the island was far more terrifying than even Percy could imagine.
The women warriors fell to the ground, gasping for air and clawing at their throats in, screaming in agony. Green mist sprung from their eyes, mouth, ears, and pores, spreading the horrible plague faster. Boils and rashes covered the ghostly pale skin of each Amazon, as well as blisters that popped open to spew blood and pus in any general direction. Their bodies twitched and spasmed, foam gathering at the mouths, and each one releasing waste from their body in more than one way. The battlefield stunk of blood, urine, and other bodily fluids, but nothing could cover up the horrible smell of the corpses rotting at an unthinkable rate, almost crumpling in on themselves.
All of this, in less than three minutes.
"Merciful Zeus…" Akila's voice was full of horror, but this did not sway the minor god in his celebration. "It worked! I can't believe it actually worked! Did you see the boils? And the blood-vomiting? That was my special addition to this wonderful creation." as he spoke, the remaining soldiers of the Alba Longa military force gathered around the ecstatic god.
"My lord, we have not won yet." spoke on of the captains. Percy stopped his ramblings and faced, as well as he could, the man.
"Yes, well, of course. We must stop this Sun Sorcerer fellow, whoever he is." Speak of the Devil, Samson approached with a livid face and angry features.
"Just who the hell do you think you are, killing my army? I am a sorcerer!" Percy turned to his voice with a smirk, flexing his wrist to summon a fireball. "And I am a god, mortal."
Samson backed up, face twisted in shock and fear. "L-lord P-P-Perseus, I-I-I did not know y-you would be here, he he." as he talked, though, the sorcerer took notice of the god's apparent blindness. He slowly grasped the ruby that floated atop his staff, the red light flooding into his skin slowly.
"Yes, it is I, Perseus, God of Disease and Dark Magic. I am here to tell you that these people are under my protection, from anyone. Especially the likes of you, false sorcerer." he spoke with much contempt, like poison in his words.
The Alba Longians slowly backed away as the magical beings faced off, each one slowly growing in power. "I am no false sorcerer, Lord Perseus. I have harnessed the Crystal of Helios, the Titan of the Sun!"
Suddenly, he rose in the air, red energy crackling across his skin in small bolts of electricity. His skin cracked like ice, red light shining through like the sun, and his eyes turned completely orange, glowing brighter than any star.
"You call me mortal, and yourself a god, but what is a god to being of higher power?"
Percy could only listen to his words, not seeing the being the mortal had become. 'Is it getting brighter?' he thought as the blackness he had been thrusted into started to fade slightly. "You? More powerful than a god? I think not, mortal."
"Oh, but I am no mortal. I am your superior. You may be a god, but I am the God, the ultimate being of power and control!" Percy gasped out in pain as bright light filled his vision, filling his mind with searing pain. When it died away, he found he had his sight returned, only to see the creature before him. Samson had grown two orange wings, the size of boats, and a long, leathery tail the color of a star's core. His eyes were billowing red mist, the power he absorbed taking physical form and transforming the, once mortal, into a powerful god-like humanoid.
"And now," his voice was several decibels lower, deeper than Hades. "You shall feel my wrath!" Percy couldn't stop the shock wash over him, but swiftly pushed it down.
"You may have power, but the Ancient Laws still stand." and the minor god was definitely not breaking those again anytime soon.
"Perseus!" a glint in the air, and, with reflexes no mortal could hope to have, Percy caught the bronze and silver blade with ease. He turned, catching Sylvia's eyes that shined with controlled fear and anxiety. He just smiled, winked, and turned back to the once-mortal. "Alright, let us battle, Samson."
"Do not call me by my mortal name, fool! I have ascended to divinity! You shall call me… Rao, the Red Sun!" His words were followed by action, as he soared toward the minor god with speed that could rival Hermes.
Just as he got close enough to hit Percy, the God of Dark Magic backhanded the winged god out of the air. Rao turned with a growl, launching himself at Percy again, this time connecting his fist with the other god's chin. He was launched backwards several yards, ending up almost a mile away from where he was.
"Akila, prepare for battle. This 'god' is about to be shown where he belongs." And with that, Percy took off at lightning speeds toward the New God. Halfway there, he could see the red of Rao coming at him, fists coated in violent flames. Percy raised his blade, preparing to strike with force. As they collided, it seemed the sword struck true as Rao was sent hurdling into the air, spinning end over end until he couldn't be seen anymore.
Percy looked at the clouds with slight hesitation, anxious for another attack.
"Was that it?" the cloak on his back wondered, shifting with his master's anxiety. The minor god was about to speak, when the sky darkened. Clouds rolled into a single point in the sky, where a ball of red energy was gathering and beginning to glow increasingly bright. Lightning struck down, but it was not normal, blue lightning; but red lightning that created craters in the earth.
"YOU DARE QUESTION MY GLORIOUS POWER!" Rao's voice thundered from where he floated inside the glowing orb.
In a single instant, no longer than a second, all noise stopped, the lightning froze and clouds halted, and the ball dropped toward the ground at breakneck speeds, heading straight for Percy. "Akila, put all your power into shielding from the blast!" he had just enough time to shout the command, before the energy collided into him.
Pain, like nothing he had ever felt before, like the unholiness of the sun burned through his veins. His screams were drowned out by an enormous BOOM, throwing chunks of land in every direction. When the dust settled, Rao was sweating heavily and heaving, gasping for air.
The New God had spent just about all of his energy in that blast, and it payed off graciously. Percy was on his back in the center of a huge crater, covered in Ichor and dirt, drained of energy.
"Master… I… I am very depleted of energy. If I had not shielded us, you would have died! He is far too powerful, master!" the minor god stood, though it took several minutes to his shame.
"No. I will not let him win."
"Master, you are heavily wounded and have no godly energy left to spend, lest you want to die." Percy crawled out of the pit, coughing Ichor out onto the ground as he wheezed through dry lungs. He stood up in pain, lifting his sword up in a sloppy fighting position.
Rao turned to him, eyes wide and teeth bared. "That should have killed you! How can you be so powerful! You are nothing but a minor-" before he could finish, he was on the ground, fifty feet away, with a diagonal slash across his chest that bled heavily.
"I am getting tired of being called a minor god." Percy spoke angrily, holding an arm across his torso to at least try and stop the bleeding. He could feel himself healing, but the process was slow, slower than normal anyway. The god wouldn't be completely healed for another day at least, and that was if he didn't spend any more energy during this fight.
Rao stood up, stumbling a bit as he examined the wound. His blood was a mysterious mixture of mortal, red blood and godly Ichor. "I will kill you!" the New God bellowed, lunging forward at high speeds.
Percy prepared for the hit, prepared for the one-way trip to Tartarus that followed, and prepared for the shame of letting down the people of Alba Longa. As the fiery fist descended on him, the god closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
What he didn't expect, was a loud 'Diiiiinngg' that sounded across the island. When he opened his eyes, Percy gasped in awe. Standing before him was a woman almost as tall as him, with long, black hair that fell to her waist and skin as tan leather. She wore red and blue gladiator armor, with a red leather war skirt attached to the bottom as well. On her arms were gleaming bracers, glowing with an ethereal energy, definitely divine in some way. Her boots were similar, as well as a golden tiara on her head that signified a princess.
A sword, glowing golden in the light, was strapped to her waist along with a glowing, yellow lasso. On her arm, and what stopped the flaming fist of Rao, was a circular shield made of a glowing bronze much like Celestial Bronze, with a large 'W' on the front.
The New God backed up, fear filling his eyes as the woman arose from her stance.
"Impossible! I killed you!"
The woman smirked, blue eyes shining in challenge.
"You will find it takes more than some illusions and tricks to kill me, Samson." She drew her blade, which glowed brighter once out, and pointed it at Rao.
"Now, we shall see just how powerful you are, for I am Diana Prince, Princess of Themyscira and the Wonder Woman."
And with that, the three superpowered beings charged at each other with the intent on being the only survivor.
AN: For all you comic book nerds out there, Rao is indeed that Rao, and will be an antagonist throughout the fic. Wonder Woman to the rescue! I thought it would be a good tribute to the film released earlier this year (absolutely amazing btw). Next chapter will show not only the combined work of WW and Percy, but the unlocking of Percy's true potential as the first Son of Poseidon! See you next time, Sam out!