Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter
The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: The Trials
Chapter Eleven: I Battle Skeletor in the Pale Moonlight
Beta: ShadowofAxios
The Hall had descended into chaos. Throughout it hordes of inferi, zombies and skeletons were literally tearing apart anyone they came across. At the same time, vampires slinked through the ranks of the terrified and confused crowd of wizards killing anyone trying to restore some semblance of order and mount a defense. Some bright souls tried to escape the carnage via magic, only to badly splinch themselves as a set of creepy green wards came up and blocked them.
The surprise of the attack was total and in the minutes that followed, hundreds of innocently partying people were brutally killed.
Amidst the brutal mayhem, the heavy head of Rhode's blade sliced through the undead with ease as she fought to save lives.
She was just dispatching a skeletal swordsman when she was forced to quickly whirl around as an inferi launched itself at her. Rhode dodged to the left and the creature barreled past her, unable to correct its course in time. Casually, she lopped its head off before it could get back up.
Using her shield to block a strike from another skeletal warrior, Rhode scowled at the disadvantageous position they were trapped in. Being stuck in the Great Hall was akin to being in a kill box.
The daughter of the sea used the shield of Achilles to bash the warrior, causing it to falter. Capitalizing on its disorientation, Rhode cut off its arms with two swift slashes.
"We need to-" Rhode shouted, intending to rally some of the other defenders into an attempt to break out of the Hall.
Apparently she wasn't the only one with the same idea as she was cut off mid-sentence by a massive blast of green energy that cut a swathe of destruction through the ranks of the undead and their Death Eater garbed allies surging through the wall of broken windows. This was followed by a series of bombardment spells from all around the Hall that helped keep the breach in the enemy lines open.
"Charge! Move! Move!" Rhode shouted as she raced towards the opening that was given to them. Su followed at her side, using her plants to corral the enemy and hold them back. Above her Lee and Jack provided air support, the son of snow with blasts of chilling frost while the son of the messenger god rained down waves of his Celestial Bronze knives. Behind them, a small group of wizards followed their lead.
"Their lines are broken!" A voice shouted from inside the Hall. "Force them back!"
In response, the weight of spellfire from the defenders seemed to intensify tenfold and the attackers began being pushed back.
At the same time, Rhode alongside a few brave wizards charged into the flanks of the Death Eater's firing line.
Stupid terrorists, making my life more difficult! Rhode complained to herself as she froze the tip of her sword and the face of her shield. As abominable as the Death Eaters were, they were still mortal and her Celestial Bronze weapons were useless against mortals.
Their mortality didn't stop her from killing them in the slightest however. Her clothes glowing from the runes that enhanced her strength, speed, and reflexes, she became a tornado of death as she slaughtered dozens of the terrorists before they seemed to get the picture and began falling back. Most were cut down by the spellfire from the defenders as they finally pushed the attackers out of the Hall.
She was just finishing with kicking a Death Eater's body off her blade when she finally caught enough of a breather to assess the situation. The sight that greeted the demigoddess caused her to suck in her breath.
The entire lawn of Hogwarts was covered in row after row of undead. Unlike the disorganized horde that swarmed the Hall in what Rhode now realized was only a distraction, this was a properly organized army. The vanguard consisted of mobs of inferi, zombies and other fleshy undead who soaked up the defender's spellfire. Leading the front ranks were a dozen giants that stood at seventeen feet with muscular physiques, thinning, bone-white hair, sunken, glassy eyes, long, curling fingernails, and ashen-gray skin. Behind them were orderly squares of skeleton warriors equipped with large shields that they had raised in tortoise formations that protected both them and the odd archer or Death Eater marching with them that fired on the defenders with arrows and spells. In the air were swarms of ghosts that flew above the army. Mixed within the ranks of these specters were poltergeists who used their ability to lift objects to throw javelins at the defenders. Worse of the spirits though were the wraiths, looking like grim reapers these undead flew around the battlefield and cut people down with their dark scythes while becoming ghost like and immune to most spells whenever they were flung their way.
At the very rear of the army, its leader floated along. It was a skeleton cloaked in green miasma, dressed in black robes that flowed from its unnatural form and an obsidian crowl. Its limbs were supported by raw magical energy and a dark light shone from its eye sockets.
A fucking lich? Ugh, can't ever be a simple megalomaniac can it?
In an ADHD moment, she wondered if she should call Thanatos to ask Hades if he was missing some dead.
Cedric Diggory's best day in his life had quickly turned to hell.
As waves of living dead attacked everyone, he rallied as many people as possible - his father, his schoolmates, Ministry personnel, anyone willing that he could reach really - to help defend who they could. Together they fired away at the mockeries of life. While they fought, his mother had gathered a group of those unable to fight - his younger schoolmates, those whose nerves had collapsed in the wake of the sudden attack, the injured - behind them, trying to help them as best as she could.
"We need reinforcements. We can't hold these blighters off for long." His father wheezed out, looking out of breath.
Cedric nodded in agreement. All around them, other students had gathered into clusters to try and gain some sense of order in the Great Hall as they fought a desperate defense.
He saw Granger and the youngest Weasley fighting alongside her brothers and a few of the older Gryffindors while shielding a group of noncombatants. The two girls were moving like a well oiled machine, fighting with the kind of teamwork that Cedric had never expected to see outside of longtime Auror partners. There was no doubt that the continued survival of their group was largely due to the two of them.
Madam Maxine and her students had adopted a defensive ring to protect a number of wounded from a pack of vampires. Flying funnel-like things floated all around them, shooting at the living dead with beams of light. The strange magic seemed to be the work of the very pregnant government agent, Audrey Burnes if the green glow that enshrouded both her and her funnels were anything to go by.
The Durmstrang students were all fighting individual battles and thankfully gaining ground for them. Though nowhere near as much as the ground being won by Banagher Burnes and Rhode's group.
The man was walking through the Hall like a hero straight of legend. His whole body was glowing with the same green glow as his wife, but many times more intense. Also unlike his wife, he needed no trinkets to destroy his enemies. His hands in his pockets, he seemed to leisurely stroll right into where the living dead were thickest in the Hall. Wherever he went, the abominations just disintegrated as if exposure to his aura alone was too much for them.
If Banagher looked liked a hero then Rhode and her friends were like demons. The way they fought were cowing and inspiring. All of them were ripping apart living dead as if it was as natural as breathing.
He was glad he never had to fight Rhode in the Tri-Wizard.
He had hoped Dumbledore would somehow save the day, but the great wizard himself looked exhausted.
The wards shattering must have taken its toll on him.
He nevertheless rounded up the other Professors to begin a counterattack.
Glancing across the hall, the Headmaster caught Banagher's eye. The man gave him a nod and they both turned to face the broken wall of the Hall where even now the enemy was pouring in.
"We need to-" Cedric heard Rhode shout even as the two men took action. Banagher sending a massive blast of green energy at the wall that decimated hundreds of living dead and burnt at least three Death Eaters to a crisp. This was followed up immediately by Dumbledore and the Professors as they rained bombardment spells into the enemy, widening the breach.
"-arge! Move! Move!" He heard Rhode shouting once he got his hearing back from the jarring cacophony of explosions.
"Let's join them." Cedric called out to his group even as he raced to follow Rhode's lead.
"Their lines are broken!" Dumbledore declared, as he too ran towards the hole in the enemy's formation. "Force them back!"
As one, the Hall's defenders surged forward, encouraged by the shifting tide of the battle. What followed was brutal close quarters fighting as he dueled with the Death Eaters that made up the bulk of the enemy at the Hall's perimeter.
In the confused melee, he thought he saw Cho get hit by something and fall but before he could even fully register it, he was forced to evade a barrage of deadly spells. Hoping that his girlfriend was alright, he plunged back into the fray.
After a few minutes - or an eternity. Cedric quickly lost his sense of time - the Death Eaters seemed to finally get that they'd lost and began running away.
"We've won?"
"Not by a long shot." Banagher, who had somehow ended up beside him, told him looking off into the distance.
Following his gaze, Cedric gulped and felt himself break out in cold sweat. His entire body turned stiff, fright running down his spine at seeing the army of living dead and especially the skeletal being at the rear. It was clearly the leader.
A Lich.
Against this formidable force of the living dead stood only Rhode, a handful of other demigods, a crowd of civilians, two psychics, and a few wizards who were actually able to aid in the battle.
"Defensive positions!"
"Find some cover!"
A number of other commands were being shouted all around her as the daughter of Poseidon tempered her nerves, praying to her Dad for whatever aid he could offer her.
Regaining her calm, Rhode drew her wand with her shield hand and pointed it at the rapidly closing enemy.
"Bombarda Maxima!" Rhode cast towards the lich, only for it to lazily raise its wand and shoot a spell of its own that intercepted her own. It caused it to go off course mid flight and resulted in an explosion that blasted some of the units in the middle of the army, but it continued to march on regardless.
A number of other spells were similarly intercepted either by the lich or by the Death Eaters, with only a handful of spells getting through and causing little damage. That didn't last long though as the enemy quickly seemed to tire of playing missile defence. Suddenly a large chunk of the ghosts surged towards the defenders. They were joined by hundreds of their ilk that swarmed out of the castle itself, though these were slowed down by Hogwarts' own resident specters who engaged them in brutal hand to hand combat.
Those guys must have snuck in earlier and sabotaged the wards! Rhode's ADHD mind reasoned, just as the first wave of ghosts fell on her position.
"Lumos!" The brunette repeatedly cast, scaring a few of the approaching ghosts away as they began harassing her. The damn things couldn't really hurt her per se, but their touch chilled any person they touched to the bone and was incredibly distracting.
"Leave the ghosts to the kids!" A man that Rhode recognized as a Ministry flunky shouted. "Focus your spells on the army!"
"Lumos!" Colin Creevey cast as he came up to Rhode, scaring off a ghost that had been coming in from her side. The boy was a third year Gryffindor and had been a fanboy of hers once, before she'd set him straight. From what she remembered he wasn't anything special and she was pleasantly surprised to see him step up now to help protect the school.
"I'll watch your back Rhode, go kick some butt." The boy said with a tired grin.
"Thanks Colin." The daughter of Poseidon said with a nod.
Charging into the now closing ranks of the enemy vanguard, Rhode called out to her friends. "Campers on me!"
Su, Jack and Lee fell in around her as they engaged with the horde of walking corpses, all while under the soothing light from Creevey's wand.
Jack had to agree with all he had heard about Hogwarts.
It was absolutely messed up.
If this was what Rhode, Lee and Su had to deal with on a yearly basis, he didn't see why they kept coming back.
Chilling blasts and icicles the size of lances fired from his staff as he channeled his unwanted powers through it. He felt his skin crawl every time he used his powers now. Knowing they came from the monster that had spawned him.
Yet through all the grief he was going through, Rhode had somehow stuck by him. He appreciated that, even if at the time it didn't seem like he had. So he kept close by her during the battle, keeping the sky safe as best he could while she fought like the hero she was.
That however did not mean that he was too preoccupied to get a picture of the battle so far. And what he saw of the wizards left him feeling more unimpressed than ever before. Sure the wizards fought hard, but that was only those of them that worked up the nerve to do so. And they were clearly the minority. Plus, even among those who were fighting no one really stood out.
The only person who did stand out was the psychic man as he blasted a swathe of destruction through the ranks of the enemy army. It didn't matter what the bad guys threw at him. Skeletons, vampires, wizards, zombies, he killed them all. All while looking like he was taking a stroll through the park, at least it looked like it from the air. No matter what they attacked him with, be it spells, javelins, arrows or even the superhumanly fast thrust of the vampire's blades, he seemed to be able to see them coming and evade or counter with ease. In contrast, his enemies were not so lucky and were easily reduced to ash by his energy blasts.
Alright, now that is one wicked dude. Jack thought as he swung his staff through a pack of ghosts, his weapon forged as it was from the sacred wood of his grandfather Boreas easily dispelling them where the mortals seemed hapless against them.
Having dealt with the latest group of nuisances, he returned his attention to the battle below and saw a squad of vampires slinking unnoticed towards Rhode's unprotected back. Su and Lee having been bogged down a distance away, seemingly deliberately, by a large mob of zombies. Jack was just about to shout a warning and fire a beam of frost at the vampires when a green energy blast took them out.
A moment later, Rhode finished off the undead giant she had been fighting. The thing fell backwards, crushing some zombies in the process. Ignoring that, the daughter of Poseidon spun around as the psychic walked up to her. She seemed visibly nervous as they talked.
Jack was too far away to hear, but whatever he said seemed to make her more and more nervous. Though the cryokinetic couldn't be sure about that either as a wraith materialized in front of him.
He barely avoided being eviscerated by the thing's scythe thanks to his demigod reflexes and replied with an ice blast to it's face before it could shift into its incorporeal ghost state, thus killing the thing.
Turning his attention back to Rhode, he saw that her chat with the psychic had been cut short, as a group of utterly creepy old women with floor length black hair, skeletal faces, and green skin had hobbled through the battle to engage them. The old hags were taking turns to screech at anyone who tried to attack them and every time they did, every living thing around them that heard the cry just dropped dead.
He didn't know what they were, but Jack knew that they freaked him the hell out. Jack's heart stopped as they got close to Rhode and took a deep breath.
Even though he was too far away for Rhode to hear, he nevertheless shouted with all he had. "Rhode, get out of there!"
As if on cue, the old women cried as one. The psychic seemed to stagger under whatever they were doing. Rhode however amazingly enough was unaffected by their deathly cries and just launched herself at the creepy screaming grannies.
Clearly shocked that their power didn't work on Rhode, the old bats couldn't react in time to do anything before the daughter of the sea's kopis sliced them to ribbons. She had no mercy, making sure that each and everyone was killed. Even the ones who tried to flee were not spared the demigoddess' wrath.
Jack knew it would take a lot to take down Rhode, but it was seriously scary how she ignored a deathly wail.
Damn! She's even scarier than I thought. Jack thought as an apprehensive chill went down his spine.
Voldemort watched as his army massacred the weak fools who stood in his way. There were some hiccups here and there. The psychics his informants had told him about and Potter's friends were proving a lot more of a challenge than he had expected. Overall, however the living were dying in droves while his army suffered only modest losses.
Things were all proceeding within his expectations.
Yet, the sense of accomplishment eluded him. He should be feeling joy or at least satisfaction at his plans going well, but he felt nothing. Nothing at all.
He hadn't felt anything since becoming a lich. This fact alone would have left the him from before the ritual appalled, but as he was now, he couldn't muster any emotion. His new existence was driven by only three things: his ambition to rule the world, a need to destroy the living, and self-preservation.
Without his emotions, all that was left to him was ruthless pragmatism as he worked to fulfill his goals. Even if it meant allying with the accursed living such as the Death Eaters, or putting on the mask of a bloody tyrant that the fools believed him to be, he was willing to do it. All so he could become the ruler of all he surveyed.
A goal he could only achieve if he defeated the most powerful wizard alive, Albus Dumbledore.
Spotting his target leading a cluster of Hogwarts Professors as they hunkered behind a piece of transfigured cover, he waded through his troops intent on facing the old man for a final time.
A few of the living tried to get in his way but he dealt with them with mere flicks of his wand as he passed.
"VOLDEMORT!"
The elderly wizard bellowed like a warcry. The lich looked at him dispassionately, assessing with the cold detachment that characterized its entire being now how Dumbledore looked like he was on his last legs. The backlash from the collapse of the Hogwarts wards and the prolonged battle had clearly taken their toll. He was breathing hard and he was covered in a sheen of sweat. The living were so fragile.
The Headmaster's companions moved to support him, but Voldemort was having none of it. Facing Dumbledore alone would be a challenge, allowing the man's followers to assist him would push the fight into something truly dangerous. Fortunately, he had just the solution for this dilemma.
"الموت والتفسخ. (Almawt Waltafasukh/Death and Decay)." The lich intoned with a flick of his wand. In response, a thick cloud of sickly green miasma poured from his form and blanketed the whole area. Immediately, all living within the vicinity began to die as they spasmed in agony as they rotted away.
Filius Flitwick, famed former duelist; Minerva McGonagall, the greatest transfiguration mistress of her generation; and at least two other lesser known Professors died futilely trying to counter his magic. As expected, only Dumbledore succeeded. His quick reflexes allowing him to cast a whole body variant of the bubble-head charm in time to save himself but not quickly enough to save his colleagues.
His living self would have mocked him, rubbed salt in the wound. Once more, Voldemort felt nothing but detachment from his victory.
Dumbledore raised his wand, a shivering sensation coming over the lich at seeing the focus crafted out of elder wood. It called to him, whispered in his mind, urging him to take hold of what his senses were telling him was the famed Death Stick.
For the first time in his existence as a lich, he felt a semblance of true emotion as an intense desire to claim the fabled wand for himself was kindled in his mind.
The trill of a phoenix rang in the air and brought his attention back to matters at hand as Dumbledore's companion joined the battle.
The old wizard looked at him with a mixture of rage and horror. "Maiorem Incendio (Greater Incendio)!" Gouts of flame erupted from the tip of his wand and the old man got talkative.
"Death Magic, Tom? That you would stoop to becoming a living dead for power. Is there no depths you would not go?"
Voldemort was unfazed by the fire and simply raised his wand. "Magnam Protego (Grand Protego)."
The lich conjured a shield spell that easily protected him from the flames and the fire forked over him, the flaming waves burning the living dead around him into crisps.
No, not in life and certainly not in living death. Voldemort thought to himself in reply to the old man's question. After all, he'd always sought power at all costs. Certainly, there had been times he'd chosen not to pursue particular paths to power such as becoming a living dead to unlock the ability to use Death Magic but that was only when alternatives like Horcruxes were available. When things had changed, there had been no hesitation to embrace this new path.
He voiced none of this however, there was no point in wasting time conversing with someone who was about to die. Instead, he chose to counterattack. "Sagitta Infernum!"
Hundreds of arcane bullets shot from the lich's wand as he swept it through the air, and streaked across the battlefield at Dumbledore. The old man was forced to cut off his stream of fire to counter with his own Sagitta Infernum.
Using the opening of Dumbledore focusing his attention on directing his arcane arrows to intercept his own, Voldemort cast one of his most powerful spells. "والهدف من كل الحياة هو الموت. (Walhadaf Min Kuli Alhayat Hu Almawt/The Goal Of All Life Is Death)."
Voldemort's words came out of his skull like a howl that echoed all around them as he shaped his magic into his latest spell. As the last word escaped him, the few dozen living around him dropped dead. Even Dumbledore stumbled and he had the lifegiving song of his phoenix counteracting it from where it was perched on his shoulder.
"H-How?" The old wizard uttered in shock as he looked at the sudden death all around them.
Voldemort didn't reply, he simply pointed his wand at the old man and fired off a Bombarda.
The explosion the spell caused sent the old man flying backwards, but his phoenix easily caught him in its talons and placed him back on his feet.
The Dark Lord was about to press his advantage when the Headmaster counterattacked.
"Ignis Lanceam (Fire lance)!" The old man muttered even as a javelin of flame shot from his wand at the lich.
If he had been human, Voldemort would have quirked an eyebrow at the simple spell the wizard had chosen. As a lich, he merely automatically raised his wand and countered with an Aguamenti.
The water from his wand easily quenched the fire lance. Returning his attention to his opponent, Voldemort could tell from the Headmaster's posture, that he had something big in mind for the next round of their duel.
Voldemort raised his wand to interrupt him and barked out a quick barrage of Confringos but the old man was prepared for him. Acting faster than his advanced age should have allowed, he jabbed his wand at the lich in rapid succession with a series of rapid cries of "Avis!" With each thrust, a flock of conjured birds erupted from his wand with a blast and a burst of smoke.
Acting on his command, the avians suicidally intercepted his barrage. The sheer number of birds the Headmaster conjured meant that dozens survived and flew to harass the lich, giving the man the window he needed.
"Ferrum in terra. Ferrum ad vitam. Golem veni foras (Earth to iron. Iron to life. Golem come forth)!" Dumbledore intoned, while Voldemort was on the back foot dealing with the old man's conjured pests. As the wizard finished his incantation, the ground rumbled and a massive twenty foot tall iron golem pushed itself to its feet out of a hole in the ground that matched its shape perfectly.
The hulking mass swung its fists about, and each step it took made the ground rumble.
Voldemort floated backwards, flourishing his wand and pointed it at the ground.
"المشي هذه الأرض مرة أخرى: روم (Almashiu Hadhih Al'ard Maratan 'ukhraa: Rom/Walk this earth once more: Rom)!"
Bones and rotted flesh broke free of the ground, and the Rom crawled out of the ground with a horrific groan. Once it got to its feet, it hobbled towards the iron golem. In moments, the two giants were locked in a melee that pitted the Rom's undead flesh against the golem's metallic body.
The golem conjuration however turned out to be a mere distraction. With a cry of "Soliferreis Phalaricisque (Iron Javelins)!", Dumbledore had used the moment that Voldemort took to create the Rom to fire a brace of conjured javelins at the lich. Caught off guard, the Dark Lord could not defend himself in time and was pierced in multiple places.
He felt no pain however, and none of the lances had dealt more than superficial damage, thus Voldemort simply ignored his injuries and counterattacked.
"Crepitus soluti (Explosion burst)."
At those words, an explosive shockwave with Voldemort as its centre spread across the battlefield. The blast dislodging the iron javelins from his body even as it sent Dumbledore flying once more. It was even powerful enough to cause the still brawling giants to stumble, though they barely noticed it besides shifting their footing to compensate.
While his opponent regained his bearings, the Dark Lord decided it was time for a little recovery of his own.
"لمسة فامبيريك (lmst Fambyryk/Vampiric Touch)." Voldemort cast pointing his wand, not at Dumbledore whose Phoenix would have just used its powers of life to negate his spell but into the distance at a young man too preoccupied fending off a pack of his ghosts to even notice. As the blood red curse touched him, the boy began convulsing and a stream of energy poured from his body and flew across the battlefield into Voldemort's skeletal body. The energy repaired the damage the lich had sustained in the duel so far even as its loss left the boy nothing more than a shriveled corpse.
Attempting to continue fighting, despite Voldemort showing how easily he could heal from injury, Dumbledore started to chant lowly.
Voldemort didn't give him the chance and rained Bombardas on him, all while steadily advancing. The instantaneous spells however exploded harmlessly on a barrier that Dumbledore's unintelligible chanting must have called up, not that he mattered. There was one spell that Voldemort had in his arsenal that no magical barrier could stop.
"Avada Kedavra." The lich said as he cast his old mainstay, the Killing Curse, to deal the finishing blow.
Immediately, the elderly wizard's phoenix flew into the path of the spell, sacrificing its current life for its companion. Exploding into flames, the fiery avian fell to the ground as a chick.
If Voldemort had still been alive he would have smirked at the bird's predictable behavior. Instead, he simply reached past the bird as it fell and grabbed hold of the wrist of Dumbledore's wand hand that had been in mid motion for a spell. With an application of his undead strength, he snapped it. The wand fell out of the man's hand.
The old man grunted in pain and his eyes swam with shock at Voldemort's unorthodox move. Not that either response concerned the lich as he raised his wand, "Avada Kedavra."
The old man was struck and fell into a heap. Life's strings finally cut from his being as the howls of his werewolf allies echoed in the background. It was disgusting to have to ally himself with living beasts such as them, but it was necessary. For now.
Putting aside thoughts of the day when he could rid the world of all the living, Voldemort plucked the elder wand from the ground next to Dumbledore's corpse. As he did, a powerful sensation rippled through his hollow being, the only sensation he has felt since changing into a lich.
He marveled at it, like a child would a toy.
An idea came to mind and Voldemort pointed the wand at Dumbledore's corpse.
Yes, it would aid his campaign greatly. Any living wizards who saw their once great leader fighting alongside the enemy would be greatly demoralized.
All he needed was a little time and a lengthy incantation and an undead Dumbledore would roam the earth as his servant.
Before he could say a word however he spotted movement in the corner of his eyes. Spinning around, he raised a shield to guard himself.
It blocked a dozen moderately powerful Sagitta Infernum conjured magic arrows. He stared off at the distance as his attacker called him out.
"Hey Chucklehead, didn't anyone tell you to respect the dead?"
The Potter girl glared at him with defiant green eyes. Her frame coated in an aura of red light that flickered like a small fire.
~ A short while ago ~
At times like this I wished the magicals had a damn military.
Rhode mused while using Spellbound to finish off a inferi. She'd been forced to switch to her trident after battling an especially skilled vampire - the dude was loads better than all the other vampires she'd fought so far - that broke her kopis. Bloodsucking asshat. So she cut it down with Spellbound instead.
She couldn't wait to hear Gaige's bitching once she got back to Camp.
"Stop worrying about your sword." Su said as she ordered a dozen of Helel's vines to coil around the legs of an undead giant advancing on them, binding it in place. "Just be glad the vampire was too surprised by you whipping out Spellbound to react in time."
"Yeah, otherwise I doubt you'd have beat it." Lee commented as he threw his knives into the giant's eyes. "It was insanely good with that sword of his."
The daughter of the seas pouted as she rushed the pack of inferi that had been escorting the giant and swung her trident like a scythe, cutting them down.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Don't pout Rhode," Jack chimed in as he launched a icicle the size of a small telephone pole through the giant's chest. "It was probably just super old or something."
"Whatever, I still killed it in the end and that's what counts." Rhode countered as she put down the last of this batch of inferi. "And I'm not worrying about my sword either. I'm just annoyed."
"And this is why you have a focusing problem!"
Rhode conjured a brace of icicles from the water in the air and launched them at a dozen skeletons charging at her, shattering them.
"Shut up."
"Can you two not have a lovers spat right now?" Lee asked as he tossed several daggers at an attacking vampire. Riddling his body with several new holes.
"We are not!" Rhode and Jack shouted at the flying wizard. The child of Poseidon was ignorant of Su's angry face as the daughter of Demeter snapped several skeletons into piles of shattered bone with her pet plant's trunk sized vines.
Rhode's pocket buzzed and she frowned.
Who the hell is texting me now? Of all times!
"Guys, cover me for a second." She said pulling out her phone as a wave of ice appeared in front of her.
"Are you checking your phone? In the middle of a battle?!" Lee shouted at her.
"Only gods and my best friends have this number. It could be majorly important." Rhode shot back as she scrolled through her menu to open the message.
It was from Thanatos.
Tom Riddle is protected by a phylactery.
Rhode knitted her brow, The Hades? I thought I took care of him! Ugh, of course it's him! Why not? And what the shit is a phylactery? Some kind of upgraded Horcrux?
If it is not destroyed, he cannot be killed.
I was right. It's a freaking upgraded Horcrux. Rhode mentally sighed. Great! And he probably wasn't dumb enough to actually bring it to this fight either.
Rhode pondered for a moment as a trunk of a vine coiled around her protectively even as a wraith materialized next to her. The vine pulled her out of the way just enough to avoid getting cut in half. At the same time, a dozen thorns burst out of the vine and impaled the specter before it could go ghost and killed it.
Through it all, Rhode didn't even blink. She fully trusted that her friends would keep her safe while she was distracted. Instead, she focused on trying to think of a way to kill the arse behind this bloodbath. But what could she do? It wasn't like Rhode could just… Well there is one thing I can do.
She scrolled through her contacts and hit speed dial even as Su's vine uncoiled from around her and moved to deal with a batch of skeletons.
It rang twice, and the demigod heard it be picked up on the other end.
"Hey, I need a favor. Now."
A low chuckle came from the other end, "Hehe. Well, if it ain't Banaclebeard's girl-wait. Is that death and carnage I hear in the background? Hold up. Aaand record! Alright, what's up, Killer?"
She had called Ares, the god of war.
Rhode's response was cut off by the howls of wolves coming towards the battlefield. Looking up, she saw the full-moon hanging in the sky. She groaned at the sight.
"Artemis, for real?"
"Yeah, she's a real bitch. Ain't she?"
Looking into the distance, Rhode spotted dozens of werewolves running onto the battlefield from the woods. They were just about to get within a hundred feet of the castle when beams of light started streaking down from the sky and causing massive explosions in the middle of the werewolf packs.
Turning to spot the source of the beams, Rhode noticed a twelve feet plus machine shaped vaguely like a knight flying rapidly through the air that was firing powerful energy beams from a suitably sized gun at the werewolves. Below it, squads of Aurors on brooms were racing up to the castle and firing spells at any enemy they could find.
"Reinforcements!" Rhode heard many defenders cry out in relief from across the battlefield.
"Bah, barely a proper battalion. Those dainty idiots don't deserve any boon from me."
Voldmeort's army wasn't about to let the good guys win that easily however and acting in perfect order, a full two thirds of it turned around to cut the new arrivals off.
The Aurors fired spells into the undead formations, but like before the Dark Tosser's troops simply started playing missile defense and sent the ghosts at them. The tactic proved so effective that not only was their advance halted, they were being slaughtered as the confusion the harassing ghosts created left them vulnerable. Within moments, dozens of wizards died.
In stark contrast, the mechanical knight was utterly decimating the bad guys. It was incredibly fast and maneuverable and easily flew circles around the harassing specters. Added to that, its armor seemed practically impervious to anything the enemy could throw at it and that was if they could hit it at all. Something it had no problem doing to them, as it fired volley after volley of energy beams into the undead formations, creating massive holes in them with the explosions its weapon caused.
"Meh, I've seen better."
"And what about me? How do I measure up?" Rhode quickly asked with a scowl. She didn't really want to play the war god's games but if that's what it took to get his help then she had no choice.
"You, little war-machine? Hm, I do like your work. And I've got no beef with your old man. Yet, hehe. So what's your problem?"
"I've got an unbeatable lich here and need some divine help to end him."
"Really? That sounds kind of fun. What's your kill count so far?"
"Preeetty high." Rhode answered, she'd taken down a good part of the enemy.
"Pretty high? Good. Good. Now you want some kind of weapon, or an army to come in? War has so many options." The demigod could practically hear him salivating at the thought.
Before she could respond, a vampire broke through the defensive line the other Campers had made for her. She barely twisted out of the way, its sword cutting her cheek as Rhode counterattacked. The strike lopped off its head, its corpse falling to the ground.
"He's got the item that keeps him around hidden away. So I need that to beat him."
"Or! You just need some umph that allows you to strike his soul. Letting you rip him asunder right then and there."
Rhode was stunned, she hadn't actually thought about that.
Before the daughter of Poseidon could put much thought into what Ares had in mind, a shadow loomed over here. Turning around she saw it's owner and fought the urge to gag.
It was a twisted twelve foot abomination with a mutilated body comprised of multiple dead limbs and body parts from various human corpses. It was a bloated imitation of a troll with one oversized arm, a human sized one and a third emaciated limb that was closer to a tentacle than anything else. There was a gaping hole in its belly where it seemed the stitching that held it together had burst open that revealed its gore filled insides and trailed viscera. It dripped blood as it moved and smelt like a disease ridden slaughterhouse. It was armed with a large cleaver and various sickle-bladed hooks on its disproportionate limbs.
"Man this fucker is gross! What kind of sick experiments is Voldemort doing to create something like this!?" Rhode complained as she jumped away from the monster's swing of its oversized cleaver.
"Hey, Ares what-Hello? Hey!" Ares had hung up. The jerk. "What?! Oh come on!"
Not that Rhode had time to get upset over that as the beastie threw its tentacle out to grab her. Dodging the hook attached to it, unfortunately just brought her in range for another swing from its cleaver. Quickly putting Spellbound into a guard, she managed to block it and change a deadly blow into simply one that sent her flying.
As she hit the ground, she rolled to bleed off her momentum. All whilst, she heard the monstrosity's lumbering footsteps as it closed on her once more.
Getting to her feet, she took a quick glance at her friends. Unfortunately, it looked like she was on her own. They were bogged down by a pack of horribly twisted zombies that had gaping maws filled with shark like teeth, massive talons for hands, exposed rib cages that peeked out of their decayed flesh and which moved hunched over like some kind of animal.
More of Voldemort's experiments, I'd bet. Rhode reasoned even as she drew her wand and aimed at the unholy abomination she was fighting.
"Bombarda!" The explosion spell blasted into its exposed stomach. She caught it in mid swing of its cleaver and the force of the spell sent it stumbling backwards. It also made the smell of burnt rotten flesh fill the air, but she didn't relent. "Bombarda! Bombarda! Bombarda!"
The chain of explosions rippled over the monster, blasting off chunks of twisted flesh while the rest burned. Even then the thing refused to go down. Damn, this thing is stupidly durable.
Focusing her magic, Rhode cast once more and aimed at its head, "Scorpionem Seras!"
The powerful arcane bolt tore the hulking undead's head right off its shoulders. Unfortunately, the damn thing seemed to make do fine without it and it staggered forward again, though with a more unsure gait.
"Oh this is just a joke." Rhode growled and aimed her wand again, "Why won't you just die? Bombarda! Confringo! Bombarda!"
The barrage of spells finally seemed to take their toll and the abomination began to keel over. Rhode wasn't falling for it though, and didn't let up. "Confringo! Bombarda! Sectumsempra!"
The last spell cut off the hand with the cleaver as the mass of desecrated flesh gave one final quiver before finally stilling.
"And stay dead, dammit! Gods."
Rhode surveyed the battlefield, "Now where's my phone? I have to call him back!"
She'd lost her hold of it when the pesky mountain of stitched together corpses had sent her flying that first time.
With a flick of her wand, she said, "Accio: Cellphone."
The device jumped up from the ground and flew at her. Catching it, Rhode was about to call Ares back when she received a new message.
You have my boon, Killer. Use it and wreak havoc on the battlefield. -Ares
As she finished reading, a faint red aura like a wisping fire covered her body.
"You want fucking blood? Fine! Let's end this asshat."
The daughter of Poseidon looked for Voldemort in the chaotic mess that the Hogwarts grounds had become. Her friends were still busy fending off the super zombies who had now been joined by a cluster of skeletal warriors and a couple wraiths who were keeping Jack and Lee busy in the air. The Aurors, decimated by their foolish initial charge, were having a tough time as they were now surrounded by undead that were pressing in on the steadily shrinking defensive circle they'd set up. The flying mechanical knight was too preoccupied with a pair of skeletal dragons that had shown up and which breathed frost at it to help. Banagher was on the case though and was marching to their aid, right through the undead army, backed up by his drones that he finally deigned to summon. The Hogwarts survivors were all clustered around the edge of the ruined Great Hall firing spells at the hordes of undead from whatever cover they could find.
It was at the edge of this barely holding defensive line that she saw the lich that had to be Voldemort advancing on Dumbledore while raining Bombardas on him while the Headmaster hunkered behind some magical shield and worked on some big spell.
Rushing towards the duel, she found herself waylaid by a pack of vampires.
"Out of my way!" Rhode screamed as she swung Spellbound in a wide arc, sending a crescent of razor sharp ice that easily bisected the bloodsuckers.
Their distraction wasted enough of her time to allow Voldemort to close into grabbing range of Dumbledore and as she watched, he did a very un-wizardlike thing and reached out to break the old man's wrist. This caused the Headmaster to drop his wand and leave him defenseless as the lich shot him with a Killing Curse at point blank range.
As she watched Dumbledore fall dead, Rhode grunted. Sure, the guy had tried to control her, and she would have loved nothing but to smack him around, but he could have at least taken -or tried to- Voldemort with him. The brunette knew that he was seen by Wizarding World as the "greatest" wizard. And yet he couldn't even manage that?
Stupid old codger.
Setting aside her own dislike of the old coot, she aimed her wand at Voldemort's back.
"Sagitta Infernum!"
The lich turned around, blocking all her magical arrows with a flick of its wand.
Glaring, Rhode said, "Hey Chucklehead, didn't anyone tell you to respect the dead?"
"Rhode Potter." He rasped out, as if trying to understand her name.
"Evans."
"Always… So impudent. Even before your demise."
"Shut up and die!" Rhode cried as she charged the lich.
Unflustered, the undead just flicked his wand at her. "Avada Kedavra."
Smirking Rhode simply slapped the Killing Curse away with Spellbound, sending it flying harmlessly away into the sky.
Looks like he forgot- Rhode's self-congratulatory thoughts were shattered as a spell slammed into her gut, breaking a rib or two and sending her flying back.
Landing on her side, she cast, "Aquamenti." The water trickled out of her wand and she used it to quickly heal herself.
"Hmm, you can heal with water." The lich observed clinically, even as he raised his wand again. "Sitim (Powerful Thirst)."
Immediately, the water that Rhode was using to heal evaporated and she was wracked by an intense thirst.
Rhode tried to scramble to her feet, ignoring her parched throat.
"لفائف الموت (Lafayif Almawt/Death Coil)." Voldemort didn't let her finish getting to her feet and sent a sickly green spirit that screamed in agony coiling through the air at Rhode.
The demigod dodged to the right but the spell, or the spirit that fed it, simply redirected itself mid-flight and zeroed in on her. Thinking quickly, Rhode brought up the Shield of Achilles and blocked the attack. The spell hit the shield hard enough to send the girl stumbling back and exploded into a cloud of miasma that chilled her to the bone.
Without letting Rhode recover, Voldemort pressed his advantage. "Sagitta Infernum."
Literally hundreds of arcane arrows shot through the air at her.
"Fuck!" She shouted and huddled down and held up her shield.
It was as if she were the Spartans going against the Persians at the battle of Thermopylae. Only Rhode was the single soldier taking the brunt of the arrows.
The moment of waiting for them to hit was the most unnerved Rhode had felt in a long time. Not helped when Voldemort undercut her by hitting her with a Knockback Jinx that sent her sprawling and utterly open.
Acting quickly she reached out to her minor earthshaking ability and pulled a chunk of earth out of the ground to shield her. The desperate move took up a big chunk of her already depleted stamina however and she was left panting heavily.
When the rain of arrows finally stopped, the demigod got up and ran, refusing to let Voldemort have a chance to pin her again. She was wise to do so as her former position promptly exploded thanks to a Bombarda.
Spotting a nearby wall of ice Jack had made earlier in the battle, Rhode called out to it and a chunk of it changed it into a blob of water. Hoping for a moment to use it to heal in some way, shape or form. The blob was gone a second later as it was evaporated by a gout of fire courtesy of an Incendio from her opponent.
Dammit! Every time I try to get some water he's going to stop me. Rhode scowled, the growling from her throat felt like it was shredding it.
It was then an idea struck her.
Water, she needed as much as she could get.
Calling on the rest of the wall of ice, Rhode turned it into liquid and blasted it at Voldemort.
Without comment he just sent a wave of fire at it, reducing the water into a relatively harmless cloud of steam.
And that was just what the demigod wanted.
Her runes burning at maximum power, Rhode ran like a cheetah into the steam cloud that obscured her from Voldemort's vision. The steam only tickled her due to her heat resistance and the half-blood emerged from the smokescreen with Spellbound raised.
Rhode shouted out a warcry, her trident striking down towards Voldemort's chest.
"Sectumsempra." The lich cried out without any hesitation, using the invisible magical sword slash to parry her blow.
Landing on her feet, Rhode didn't let up as she swung Spellbound once again. Voldemort didn't have time to counter. Her superior demigod reflexes gave her the advantage and her thrusts struck true, causing him to flinch with each blow that cut deeply into his skeletal frame. But there was no vital areas on the lich and nothing seemed to be able to cause him a fatal blow. The daughter of the seas tried to take a limb, but even though she was faster the lich was no slouch either and always managed to move just enough out of the way to avoid it.
"سور، بسبب، بون (Sur, Bsbb, Bwn/Wall of Bone)." Voldemort said calmly, despite the haggard feel that Rhode picked up from the lich.
Instinctively Rhode jumped back, just in time to avoid a wall made of tightly compacted skeletons shooting out of the earth where she stood and which now separated her from her enemy.
Realizing that the lich wasn't going to let her get any respite, she wouldn't either in his place, she dove out of the way as the wall of bone exploded in her direction thanks to a powerful Bombarda Maxima. The blast sent jagged shards of bone flying everywhere and Rhode hissed as she was peppered by them, cutting her on her exposed face and neck. Thankfully, none of the larger ones had impaled her.
She didn't let the pain bother her though, as she tried to close the distance with the lich once more. With his superior repertoire of spells, fighting him at range put her at a severe disadvantage.
He wasn't going to make it easy though and sent a barrage of those spirit shaped spells her way. Raising the Shield of Achilles over her head, and trusting in the armor effect of her runes, she powered through the barrage even as the spells exploded all around her and filled the area with miasma. Rhode fought through the bone chilling sensation and as she finally noticed, the stamina draining effect of the sickly green fog too.
She had to get closer to the lich. Rhode refused to back down, she couldn't.
The lich was doing its darnedest to make her change her mind however as he began mixing up his spells, adding in the odd Confringo and Bombarda, while simultaneously floating away from her. Rhode just began zigzagging to throw off its aim and continued charging.
I'm not making progress. Rhode noted with a frown. Gotta try another approach.
Concentrating, she glared over the edge of her shield. Focusing on the ground behind Voldemort, she reached out to the groundwater trapped beneath the earth.
Careful to avoid catching the lich's attention, Rhode formed a small glob of water behind the Dark Tosser.
"Eat this, you fucking lifeless prick!" Rhode taunted as she called a small tidal wave's worth of water out from in front of the floating skeleton. Predictably, the lich responded quickly. With a cry of "Incendio Murum (Incendio Wall)", it drew a line in front of him with his wand. Immediately, a wall of white hot flames taller than her wave sprung into being and easily blocked her attack.
Just as planned. Rhode mused with a victorious smirk as the glob of water she'd been forming behind the bony jerk leapt into the air and shot at him at the speed of a bullet.
Distracted, by her frontal assault, Voldemort was caught completely unawares as the water bullet hit the back of his skull, shattered the bone and ripped through the front before flying through the air to splash harmlessly against her chest.
"Boom. Headshot." Rhode grinned viciously as she pounced on the staggering lich.
Spellbound's blades sliced through the bone with ease. He raised his wand to cast something at her, but Rhode just cut his whole hand off.
"Nope. My turn, Tommy-Boy."
Twirling, jabbing, slicing, and bashing, Rhode didn't relent until he was a pile of splintered bone chips.
The jaw of the skull warbled, as if he was trying to speak one final time.
Rhode just stomped it beneath her heel.
Like Hades I'm listening to some damn speech about revenge and other shit.
As his body stopped twitching, the bulk of the undead army stilled before most of the skeletons and inferi suddenly just collapsed. Seeing the writing on the wall, the remaining undead turned to flee. Skeleton lords with the handful of their retinues that remained standing fought desperately to make it to the relative safety of the Forbidden Forest. The massive undead giants following suit. The vampires just melted into the night and disappeared. In the air, the lone surviving skeletal dragon broke off the dogfight it was having with the mechanical knight and flew away at top speed, evading pursuing fire through impressive aerial acrobatics.
Rhode ignored all that, instead leaning down to pick up the wand that Voldemort had been using. As she did, she felt a pulse of power from it. As if it was whispering to her, calling to her.
The child of Poseidon ignored it as she pointed at the bone pile.
"Incendio."
And thus, Tom Marvelo Riddle was cremated.
"May you rest and not fuck up someone else's life, you asshole."
Her fiery aura bled away as her phone buzzed in her pocket, even as the defenders erupted into cheers. Ignoring the idiot wizards, Rhode flipped open the device to see that she'd gained the contact for Athena, goddess of Wisdom and Honorable Battle.
Bethy's mum, huh? Must have impressed her with my plan during the fight.
The daughter of Poseidon was distracted from further contemplation on the matter when a throng of wizards came forward to congratulate her for defeating Voldemort.
Rhode let them have their moment, she was wiped out. Though she couldn't help the sinking feeling that they were gonna be annoying as hell from now onwards.
She just had to be a hero twice to the Wizarding World, didn't she?
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.
Wow, and I mean wow. I think this is the most epic fight we've offered up to Voldie since the start of these trilogies.
Nameless: I think this might be the most epic battle we've written so far.
What I really enjoyed was showing how unnerving Voldie can be without his ego. Seriously, it was only holding him back. Still, in the end he was just a sad little mortal not willing to move on because of said ego. In the end he became a monster for it.
Nameless: Yup. He always struck me as needing a little more pragmatism to cross the line from cartoonish bad guy (after having seen much better villains that's how canon Voldemort appears to me) to serious villain. That said, time to do my duty and drop some lore:
The mechanical knight is basically Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn. More details will be revealed in the next chapter.
The stitched together corpse golem is an Abomination from Warcraft 3, as are super zombies which are Ghouls. The skeletal dragons were Frost Wyrms of course and lastly, Voldemort's appearance was based on a Warcraft Lich.
The wraiths are basically evolved versions of poltergeists. They can go fully ghost i.e. dematerialize and become immune to magic and physical attacks (something poltergeists can't do in our verse but ghosts can), but can also materialize and freely interact with the physical world (something that ghosts can't do). They like to dress up like the grim reaper and use scythes. At least the ones Voldemort recruited did.
Voldemort's Death Magic spells come from Warcraft and Overlord (anime). They are in Arabic (thank you Google Translate) as a homage to the Necronomicon, the most famous grimoire of forbidden knowledge in pop culture. How does it do that? Well, the Necronomicon was originally written in Arabic by the half-mad Arab Alhazred. At least that's the fictional origin as outlined by H.P. Lovecraft, the guy who first conceived of the foul text.
We used different perspective to show off the battle. We have demigod, mortal, and a villain one. But whoo! That battle, right guys? We had young wizards stepping up, we have our demigod heroes fighting outside a Capture the Flag event, and deaths. Dear lord the deaths! Ah, I love killing major characters. Hope you enjoyed how we had Rhode go about this. Calling Ares was a grueling task, but that's just how Rhode is. Everything she has at her disposal is a tool to survive, even if she has to stomach the god of war. At least Athena appreciated her thinking, huh? Or was it to spite Ares? Who knows.
Nameless: Hopefully people won't accuse us for being too dark over this. I mean we foreshadowed this since we first showed Voldemort's necropolis! Why else do you think he'd need to build an undead army except to fight some massive battle that would lead to a ton of dead people? So if you find the story suddenly too dark for you after this battle then you really have no one to blame but yourself. Mean, yes, but I'm damn tired of people complaining about the story being dark when we clearly signpost that's exactly what's it's going to be well in advance.
Hopefully, but there will always be that one guy.
Nameless: I know. [pouts]
Well you guys know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! Now, no flames and peace off my peeps!
