Chapter 12: The Assassins Enter the Fray
Holland Tunnel...
A group of monsters marched down the tunnel, accompanied by the newest and most populous members of Kronos's new army: infernal orc-like Greek hoplites and Roman gladiators armed different Greek and Roman weapons. Though numerous in number, they don't really have proper training, so their fighting styles were pretty dull. Regardless, these monsters, called "Pit Warriors" by the Olympians, were nasty, all thanks to the Sword of Tartarus.
On the other side, there was a company of Olympian forces consisting of Roman campers, satyrs, and volunteer mortals who chose to fight for the gods and risk their lives. They stood at a defensive position near the end of the tunnel.
The army of Olympus consisted of demigods, mortals, nature spirits, and many others. Due to the war, Manhattan was cut off from the rest of the world, all thanks to Kronos keeping mortal military forces busy everywhere around the world.
"Stand fast, everyone! They cannot reach Olympus no matter what!" the leading demigod: a brown eyed son of Mars, ordered.
Their morale faltered when the armored Minotaur showed up and gave out a war cry.
"Get out of the tunnel!" a mortal screamed.
And they ran out of the tunnel as the Minotaur charged through pile-ups of cars, which slowed him down, so the bullman didn't end up hitting any of his enemies, By the time the defenders were out of the tunnel, the rest of the attacking charged. The son of Mars checked on his force for anyone missing. Noticing a strange shadow, he looked at the top of one of the nearby buildings,
and saw four mysterious figures clad in red, blue, purple, and brown robes and masks, each with their own weapon set. The man in red had a bastard sword with a golden hilt that has a big ruby on it sheathed on his back, the man in blue had two Roman swords, the woman in purple carried a dagger on her belt, and the man in orange had a grenade launcher-axe strapped on his back.
The son of Mars blinked for one second, then they disappeared. He got back to his senses just in time right before a Pit Warrior took his head off with its sword. A massive battle ensued, with neither side getting the advantage.
"What's the plan, Perce?" Jason asked as they walked down the roof of the building and towards the the other side.
"Keep the defenders from dying, and rout Kronos's goons. Leo, with me. Jason, Piper, stick to the rooftops if you can." Percy replied.
"What if the guys we try to save try to kill us?" Piper asked.
"Don't let them. We're entering the fight by surprise."
No one was gaining ground in the fight. Monsters and defenders alike were dying left and right. It seemed pretty hopeless,
until the Minotaur suddenly explodes.
Everyone turns around to see the still-masked Percy and Leo, the latter's guillotine gun smoking hot, walking towards the direction of the Titan army with their mouths emotionless.
Several Pit Warriors ignore the Manhattan defenders and charge the two Assassins, so they charge as well.
Percy quickly grabs two Pit Warriors by their pikes and makes them stab each other. When they died, they became piles of volcanic ash, and their weapons remained intact. More Pit Warriors swarmed on him. One tried to slash him with his scimitar, but the crimson red assassin slashed it across the throat with his Hidden Blade, then spun, pulled out his steampunk pistol, and fired all four rounds, destroying more enemies, including Dr. Thorn, who was at the back the whole time. When one more charged at him, Percy resorted into using his Phantom Blade, and shot a bolt right into the Pit Warrior's eye.
Leo engaged another group of Pit Warriors on his own, sweeping one off his feet before bringing his guillotine gun down on its neck. He loaded another grenade into his weapon right as more charged at him, so he jumped onto a discarded car and fired, blasting the monstrous warriors to ash as van behind the blast radius went up in flames. The son of Hephaestus ran to the other end of the car, jumped off, and landed a powerful downward axe slash on a Pit Warrior's brain.
As he was surrounded, Percy aided him by assassinating some of the Pit Warriors while Leo took on a shrunken crowd. The champion of Ananke grabbed a Pit Warrior's battleaxe and disarmed it before using the handle to sweep it off its feet. He then threw the axe at one of the enemy cyclopes causing him to turn into golden dust.
"Get to safety! Now!" Leo ordered the defenders.
"No! This is our home! We're not giving up a fight for it!" the son of Mars shouted back.
"Then try not to die." Percy said coldly, walking towards the direction of the rest of the Titan force.
Meanwhile, Jason and Piper gave cover fire for the defenders from atop a nearby building. A while later, they jumped off the building and onto a discarded trailer truck with a bashing noise. The four assassins regrouped.
"I thought I told you two to stay on the roofs." Percy scolded.
"We're not missing out on this much action." Jason replied, drawing his two swords, with Piper following with her dagger and pivot blade. They all reload their respective ranged weapons and looked at the charging army.
"Take them all out. Use the cars to your advantage." the crimson robed assassin ordered.
"Yes, Mentor." the three replied as they ran at the Titan army.
"Haven't been called that in a long time."
And another fight ensued as Percy leaped from a car and onto an empousa, assassinating the she-demon with his Hidden Blade.
"Who are those guys?" one mortal with a spear asked. "They're badasses."
"Well, they're on our side. Let's give them a hand." a demigod suggested.
Jason was a whirlwind of death cutting down his foes at every step and every movement he made. He mixed up his slashing and stabbing with his pistols and hidden blades. Two Pit Warriors with swords lunged at him so he tossed them to the side of a car and stabbed their faces with his swords. Piper shot another Pit Warrior attacking him from behind with her crossbow. When they swarmed on her, she drew her dagger and cut down anyone who tried to attack her. Leo joined in on their fun and blasted a group of Pit Warriors with his guillotine gun. He reigned his axe-gun down on the Titan forces.
Percy, while all alone, wasn't even trying. In fact, every Pit Warrior and monster in his path were barely giving him any of difficulty. The only things he was using were his hidden blades and whatever weapon he disarmed his foes of, even if it was, for some reason, a dark wooden club that broke when he swung it at a telkhine's face.
"I wish I stayed in retirement." he groaned as he dodged a Pit Warrior's sword before it tried to attack him from behind, so he spun, drew Goldryn, and cut down the monster with his gleaming sword. More Titan forces were cut down by the mystical otherworldly blade that is Goldryn.
"Who are they supposed to be?!" Stheno asked.
"I don't know, sister, but Lord Kronos must know at once!" Eurayle replied.
Before they could react, Percy shot them with his pistol and unloaded the last pair of bullets onto a female Laistrygonian. While the other monsters and Pit Warriors retreated, only one Laistrygonian was left.
"YOU DUST-IFIED BABYCAKES!" he screamed. Percy knew this guy was Joe Bob.
"Whatever, dude." the assassin hissed, signalling the defenders and other Assassins to back away.
Joe Bob hurled fireballs everywhere as Percy charged full speed towards him. One fireball blasted a car at his direction, causing it to roll and tumble towards him. The assassin slid underneath the flaming vehicle, lunged, and stabbed the Laistrygonian with Goldryn, destroying him. Sure he'll reform in Tartarus, but hopefully they won't be seeing him for a long while. Percy notices a strange metal sphere with glowing yellow lines in the middle of the carnage.
'An Apple of Eden?' he thought. He knew that it contains the powers of Lady Order, but what he wondered about was how it got there. Perhaps it must have slipped out of his robes, but how did they get there in the first place?
The Holland Tunnel defenders set up a large military tent for the assassins, much to their shock.
"Thank you for your hospitality, but we won't be exactly staying for too long." Piper said to the son of Mars.
"What about your leader?" he asked them.
The three turned back to Percy, who sat cross legged alone in the tent, staring at the Apple of Eden.
"Is he okay?" a mortal asked.
"I guess so." Jason replied.
Percy recalled how Altair Ibn La Ahad used an Apple of Eden to revitalize the Order. The aura on the Apple he got seemed to give off an aura of wisdom, intelligence, and, well, godly magic. An image suddenly appeared on the ground in front of him. It looked like schematics for a sword similar to Reyna's: with a handle that can extend.
'If it is possible to pull this off, then it's worth a shot.' he thought, wondering if Goldryn could be made into a similar weapon. The first thing to do was to lighten the blade,
and probably sneak out, leaving Jason, Piper, and Leo stranded on Earth like a douche.
Ten minutes later...
"Looks like the others were successful." Leo told his two best friends as he read a few texts, saying that Barcelona, California, and Venice were safe.
"Sorry. Gotta go. I promised my wife I'd come back when I'm free." Jason read a text from Percy.
"Darn it." Piper muttered.
"Looks like we'll be using this tent after all." the son of Hephaestus said.
The son of Mars, who introduced himself as Cody McDouglas five minutes ago, returned only to find three assassins instead of four.
"Where'd he go?" he asked.
"He couldn't stay long. He's supposed to be...retired after all." the son of Jupiter explained.
Hours later...
Percy made it back to New Orynth, barely managing to park his ship correctly out of haste.
"Lord Perseus! You're back!" a guard greeted.
"How's Aelin?" he asked.
"Grand news, sir: she has given birth to a healthy baby girl. However, she could barely move after the process."
Percy seemed shocked at the guard's words.
"I see. Thank you for telling this to me."
And so the assassin ran with haste to his wife as the Apple of Eden glowed in his pouch.
"Aelin?" Percy called as he entered the bedroom.
He saw his loving wife lying on the bed wearing a sleeveless green tunic, but the blanket covered the rest of the clothes she was wearing. Lysandra looked after two cribs nearby. Fleetfoot came over to greet the assassin by rubbing her head against his legs. Percy returned the favor by patting the robot wolf gently before moving over to Aelin.
"Hey, baby." he greeted, kissing her softly. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Percy. Elise reminds me of myself, with a little bit of you rubbed off on her." she replied smiling.
"Really now?"
Lysandra picked up something from the crib and in her hands was an infant girl with green eyes ringed with gold.
"Here she is, Percy: Elise Galathynius Jackson." she introduced.
Filled with unbridled happiness, Percy gladly took the baby in his arms.
"You will grow up as a beautiful young lady." he cooed.
And Percy spent the rest of the day with his family.
Which reminds him...
'Oh right...Thalia's going to skin me alive for this.' he thought as he cradled Elise in his arms while sitting next to Aelin.
Apologies in advance. I don't really know what happens after pregnancy and how long the process is.
The idea of turning Goldryn into a sword with an extending handle came from this fanart of Goldryn as a spear. No, really, I saw one like that.