Chapter 10: Tying Loose Ends
"Let her go, Jason!" I screamed. Jason smirked as the hair seemed to get thinner. Tears filled my eyes. She's my best friend...my only friend besides Ivan…was about to get dropped into a canyon.
"Give me your life, and I'll let her live" said Jason, smirking.
"Duel for her" I decided.
"Very well. Might be in order…" said Jason, considering the odds of him beating my face in.
"Please Jason. Mighty son of Jupiter. You don't want to disgrace your father, do you?" I asked. I had him there. I had him in my web.
"I will sacrifice you, which would bring honor to be father!" said Jason proudly. Uh-oh. That back-fired.
"Just—please. Duel me for Sam" I pleaded. This might save her life. Or destroy mine.
"Very well" said Jason. He flipped his sword and a lance landed in his hand. Really? How many weapons did he have? I lifted my daggers, ready to get Sam.
She sat on the edge of the canyon, curled into a ball. I knew this would save her life. And my life was nothing without hers.
"Jeremy Harold Grace…You know, I am your cousin. Your mom is my aunt. But that won't hold me back. I'll skin you like a kill" said Jason. What was up with all this?
"Don't underestimate me" I said, leaping at the two-hundred pounds of pure muscle. I swiped but it didn't seem to even rip the skin. I elbowed him in the nose, again, for nothing.
"I would give-up now. Mars is on my side" said Jason, lifting his lance high. It arced down and we deeply into my side. He pulled it out and I recoil in pain.
The cold trickle of flesh blood—well—tickled me. I don't know why but I wanted blood to pour forever berceuse I love this feeling.
But I had to save Sam.
I jabbed both daggers at once, making a dent in his chest. No blood came out but I could tell it at least CUT him. Now I knew he could get hurt. Now I knew I could win.
I sliced around wildly. The on the handles was—blood soaked. How? Oh, yeah. At least an hour ago I was facing bloody monsters. Right.
But there was something about this Jason—he did look kinda like me. We had the same sandy blonde hair. We had the same nose. Similarities end there.
"Don't worry. I'll make your death quick and painful" said Jason, landing his lance in my left shoulder. I screamed in pain as I fell to my knees.
"Why do you hate me?" I asked, putting my hand over the hole in my shoulder.
"1) You're Greek. 2) You're son of Saturn. 3) I want you gone and 4) I am Jason Grace. Slayer of Krios. And because of the Greek's, our work on Othyr was a waste of time. Now I will spill your blood as revenge" said Jason, arcing his lance down to hit my heart. I braced for death.
But it never came.
I looked up to see the lance coming through a body. A girl's body. She had sandy blonde hair and gray eyes. She stared at me in shock. Jason yanked the lance out and the woman fell to the floor, coughing.
She crawled to the canyon edge and grabbed Sam's face. "You look a lot like your father" said said the woman, nodding. It was clear this would be her last conversation.
"Thank you, Annabeth. I love it when people say I look like Poseidon" said Sam.
"No. He isn't your father. Forgive me my dau-" but she fell, no blood, no life left. I looked back to Jason.
"Happy with what you did?" I spat at him.
"Annabeth deserved death. Even more than you. But, I must end you. For Jupiter, for Mars, for Vesta" said Jason, bringing the lance up again. I knew no one would save my life again. It was over.
"STOP IT!" roared Sam. Jason glared at her. "He will take Kro—I mean Saturn down! It's his job! When he turns sixteen…" but her sentence was caught short by a lance jamming into her arm.
"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT HER!" I roared, tackling Jason. I landed punch after punch on his face. "Don't" Punch. "Hurt" Punch. "My" Punch. "FRIENDS!" A million punches at once.
I looked at his scared face. Sam got the lance from her arm and threw it to me. Kill him with his own weapon.
"I'm sorry but you made me do this" I said, arcing the lance. Then, mercifully, I laid it down. I stood up then did the meanest thing to the meanest Demigod alive.
I kicked him off the side of the mountain.
I picked up the lance and flipped it. A golden coin landed in my hand. I stuck it on my back pocket and shelved my daggers. I turned to Sam.
"You killed him" said Sam.
"He was going to kill you" I protested.
"Doesn't make a difference. You just messed up your quest. They might not let you into camp" said Sam. She looked sad.
"Maybe—maybe they'll give me another chance?" I asked.
"Second chances are never given" she said.
"Let's not tell them" I suggested.
"Zeus already knows" said Sam. She was shocked and I could tell.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Because Jupiter is right behind you" said Sam. I turned to see a twenty foot old man. He glared down at me like a was an animal gone wrong.
"I—I truly am sorry. I was just saving my friend" I said. Was I about to die? I mean, he held a huge lighting bolt, that could burn me to a crisp.
"Never mind that. We Olympians have a problem and we want you to fix it" said Jupiter.
"Yeah? What's the cost?" I asked.
"We—as in all twelve Olympians—are stuck in our Roman forms. We do not like these forms to much so we need you to switch us back" said Jupiter.
"How?" I asked.
"We think it might be something about the rise of Orion, creeping towards us" said Jupiter.
"So?" I asked.
"We also think my daughter, Diana's son has something to do with it" completed Jupiter.
"So?" I asked.
"We want you to find him and see if he can tell us more about Orion" said Jupiter, his glare lightening.
"You see—I haven't even finished this quest. Let me tie up some loose ends on this then I'll do it in a couple of months, m'kay?" I asked.
"But by then Orion might have rose" said Jupiter.
"Don't worry. He won't. I have that feeling" I said, nodding to the ground.
"Very well. We will give you to the Winter Solcace for you to take off" said Jupiter.
"Thank you for your patienta. Now, do you think you can zap us back to camp?" I asked.
"Sure" said Jupiter, zapping us with a blot from his finguer.
So how'd you like it? That wrapped up the plot but there's going to be two or three more chapters just to end it up. Imma post the summary of The Demititan: The Son of Diana so you'll know sorta what's coming next ;)
Write on,
~Derek