Hello Readers! It's been a while! I am so happy to see that many new Septimus Heap fics have appeared on this site since I last updated! The fandom is alive and kicking!
Thanks, as always, for the reviews! I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up. School's been keeping me busy... but I'm slowly but surely getting this story to the finish line! To answer a question from a guest review- I do want to know more about Marcia's mother, and also why Marcia thinks witches are a waste of space. :-D Maybe once these bloody Olympians are gone, we can go back to late night conversations by the fire at the top of Wizard Tower- If Wizard Tower is still there...
In this chapter, Marcia keeps four spells going at once. Good lord. Also, I would like to say that the story's not over yet. That is all.
Marcia swore. Septimus glanced at her, impressed, but she had already raised her hands and begun to chant. The wind tore at her words, almost as if to keep them from joining together to form a spell, but despite its efforts, a Magykal Fog was rising over Port. It was a Fog designed to hide and protect the panicked inhabitants of the seaside town.
"Septimus, begin the Barricade!" Marcia shouted, jerking him from his awed state, then she turned back once more to the sky, where the thick clouds now hovered. The wind died as it glanced off of the shield of white, and the waves retreated. It was a beautiful spell- and a perfect mix of Olympian power, Magyk, and Darke. Septimus shook his head as he rushed down the street. Phillip was right- Marcia was much more powerful than she knew.
The townspeople were streaming through the streets, screaming for their friends and family. The docks were already a mess of crashed ships, and Septimus passed several buildings where the roofs had been torn off from the wind. He glanced quickly around the town trying to think of the best place to gather, then muttered a quick spell to Amplify his voice.
"Everyone, move to the warehouses! Move to the WAREHOUSES!"
Those nearby stared at him in shock, but their panic caused them to recover quickly.
"It's all right, it's the deputy!" one man shouted, waving his arms wildly.
"Go to the warehouse! Simon Heap's orders!" another woman screamed, gathering a child under each arm and sprinting away.
Septimus stood stunned in the middle of the road. They thought he was Simon?! He never thought he would see the day when people recognized and trusted his ex-Darke Wizard brother more than they did him. But he quickly shook the thought away and rushed up the street to begin the Barricades on the Warehouses.
Marcia paused in the middle of her spell for a precious second to watch her ex-Apprentice run down the road, his straw-colored hair rushing wildly around his head. He was taller than her now, and more a man than a young adult. But there was something about him: his crooked smile, or his dry humor, or his innocent face- he would always be a boy to her. Always a child.
He's nearly as stubborn as you, that boy of yours.
Marcia frowned as Phillip's voice echoed in her head. She was already regretting not fighting harder to send them both to safety, but she knew Septimus had been right- they would never have stayed in hiding.
"It does take a powerful sorcerer to suspend a spell, but is it quite necessary at the moment, θεία?"
Marcia jerked away from her thoughts and found herself staring at a boy with very blond tousled hair and a wry smile. He was absently tapping a long metal caduceus against his thigh, and his wide eyes were piercingly blue.
"Where is your sister?" Marcia demanded, irritated to be caught absentminded. She snapped her fingers and the Fog solidified- a final touch of genius.
"Ares and a band of his warriors attacked them at the portal- no, do not fear; they will prevail. Athena is far more cunning than he."
"So long as she arrives before they Break Through," Marcia muttered, scanning the sky anxiously, but she shook her head and pulled herself together. It was no use speculating- either way, she had to act. If being the ExtraOrdinary Wizard for twenty-five years had taught her anything, it was the importance of staying two steps ahead.
"Did you inform the Castle that Athena is under attack?" she asked quickly. Hermes smiled knowingly.
"He is not called Seeker without reason, θεία."
Marcia sighed, then said,
"Go and join them. And take Septimus with you."
"He will not want to leave you," Hermes said stoically, glancing behind them at the glittering Warehouses.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Marcia snapped as she turned away. Hermes shook his head and watched as she rushed forward across the glassy sea. Her Olympian blood was not tainted as with most demigods'; he could see in her the deep undercurrent of power that all children of Oceanus had, but it was brought to the surface by her fiery Romani blood. It was a strange, but deadly mix.
The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted Hermes' thoughts, and he steeled himself as Septimus emerged from the crumbled ruins of the town.
"Where did she go?" he demanded without preamble, his green eyes flashing.
"She did not tell me, Voyager," Hermes said, not looking at his friend. Septimus glared fiercely at the childlike god for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped as he realized he was telling the truth.
"We're stronger together, why doesn't she understand that?" Septimus muttered angrily, pacing up and down the rubble.
"You are safer apart," Hermes said absently, scanning the sky. "She does not need you, child. She truly does not need any of us."
"I need her," Septimus snapped, realizing too late how much he was sounding like a whiny boy.
"Come, Septimus, we must leave now- they are here," Hermes said quietly. Septimus paused, and the muffled sounds of furious knocking could be heard echoing across the still sea. The Olympians were attacking the Fog, attempting to chip away at the powerful spell. Septimus shook his head, then opened a small pouch on his belt and drew out two objects.
"Voyager, she has ordered me to bring you to the portal where Athena is under attack. I do not intend to fail-"
"Oh, be quiet, Hermes," Septimus said irritably as he gazed down at the Gold KeepSafe Marcia had given him when he left for Massalia. It laid shiny and buzzing with Magykal energy in his palm. Next to it lay a tiny charm shaped like a pair of wings.
"Fly Free With Me," Septimus muttered, and then he was hurling forward into the Fog, leaving the shouting Hermes behind. The hammering had stopped abruptly, and Septimus' heart pounded in his throat as he emerged from the billows of the Magykal Barrier. He was greeted with the terrifying sight of Marcia Overstrand hovering in midair, her arms outstretched to ward off the thousands of lightning bolts crackling around her. An angry scream was echoing across the black clouds as Zeus realized his powers were being thwarted, and a shadowy outline appeared in the midst of the flashing bolts.
"Mortal fool! You dare challenge-" The booming voice dropped off at once as the shadowy figure froze, then materialized into an old man with a long, white beard and a handful of blinding thunderbolts in his fist. Septimus felt his heart turn to jelly and he gripped his KeepSafe tightly. It was not so long ago that he and Phillip was running for their lives toward the portal with an enraged Zeus on their heels. However, the god's gaze was fixed on the sorcerer who had managed to defy his power.
"Metis?" Zeus whispered in disbelief as he strolled forward. A roll of thunder echoed across the distant sea below. It had been thousands of years since he had devoured his first wife, the beautiful daughter of Oceanus, but this humanoid figure before him now was an unsettlingly splitting image of her.
"Don't be ridiculous, how could I be-" Marcia began scathingly, but she stopped abruptly as Zeus suddenly whipped up his arm and hurled a bolt of electricity at her. A Thunderflash leapt out to meet the thunderbolt, and there was a deafening crash as the two collided. The crowd of Olympians screamed as their thousands of shadowed faces were lit by the impact. Then light died and Zeus was left staring at the scorched remains of the bolt scattered across his palm, littering down to the black clouds below. He gazed at his burned hand for a long moment, then slowly looked up at the woman who was standing across from him. An eerie silence fell as the two powerful cousins stared each other down.
"You think your heritage will save you," Zeus finally said, his voice a low, barely understandable rumble. "But you will beg for mercy-"
"We certainly do not have time for that," Marcia interrupted, snapping her fingers to deflect the surge of power Zeus had abruptly launched at her. The redirected spell shot upward and singed some unfortunate Olympians who had been hovering overhead.
"I have thousands of immortal gods surrounding you and your son, waiting on my command to attack. If you think this is anything but a game, your arrogance has overcome your senses, mortal," Zeus replied imposingly, grasping for the upper hand. Marcia startled and fought to maintain her SafeShield, Mindscreen, and Prediction Spell while furiously searching the crowd for her wayward, disobedient, and stubborn ex-Apprentice. Zeus smiled as Marcia's defenses wavered, and he nodded to a band of his sons.
"Bring him to me. Let us teach them both a less- AHHG!" the god choked suddenly as waves of a powerful spell rushed into him, hot and burning like acid, eating away at his immortal insides. Zeus had underestimated his rival's ability to multitask.
Marcia winced as he flailed helplessly, but determinedly shook away the sick feeling rising in her stomach. She had never taken a life, but she had seen in the god's mind what he planned to do to Septimus, and there was no chance of her ever letting that happen. Marcia gripped the Ahku Amulet in one hand and turned quickly to look directly at her Apprentice, small and trembling amidst the crowd of Olympians.
"Begrid and Preserve," she whispered, pointing at his pale, beautiful, terrified face. Septimus had raised his arms to ward off the approaching gods, but all at once he found himself falling into the warm embrace of Magyk, mixed with the wild power of the Olympus and the stubborn strength of Darke. The sons of Zeus shouted in dismay as he disappeared, eclipsed and protected completely from their sight and attacks.
"Stop trying to save me and finish him off!" Septimus hollered, seeing that Marcia's defenses were dangerously low. He threw a handful of Blinding Sand into the crush of leering faces and anxiously pushed forward. The gods howled and scratched at their eyes, but Septimus' grim satisfaction quickly turned to terror he saw Zeus give a strangled roar of anger and raise his fist. Marcia's already shaky defense spells instantly disintegrated at his command, catching her off-guard.
"Shield us from light and Darke-" Septimus began to shout, but it was too late. Zeus had taken a shuddering step forward, and the world stopped as he drove a razor sharp lighting bolt through the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's defenseless body.