And so the endgame commences...This chapter might be a bit long.
"Hello Leon. I have been expecting you."
Leon was startled beyond belief at the mention of his name. How did this creature know of him? He had never seen anything like it before.
"How do you know about me?" he asked.
Echidna just laughed, a strange snake-like laughter. It was actually very disturbing seeing a half-woman, half-snake laughing as hard as she was.
"Oh my dear, do you not think that a mother would not know what was killing off her children? I have known about you since you killed my son, the Nemean Lion. I hoped that my other child, the Hydra, would be able to do better. But you slew even him. And when I sent my Chimera to get you, your little friends just had to go and distract him. But that does not matter. I have you right where I want you, my sweet. And so I shall take care of you personally."
She smiled slowly, a very scary sight indeed. Her teeth were pointy, and her tongue, forked it seemed, slithered out and tasted the air around her, like it was savoring his fear. But Leon bit his tongue, and refused to show any sign of discomfort near this monstrosity.
Echidna slithered, yes slithered, a little closer to Leon, and Leon tried to casually lift his arms a little higher, to conceal the fact he was reaching for his blades at his back. Echidna smiled her snake-like smile.
"You really think you have a chance at killing me? I am the one who gave birth to those you slew. I am the mother of monsters! You honestly think I will get killed by some runt?"
"Never underestimate someone Echidna...Typhon was taken down by the Olympians, was he not?"
Echidna snarled in a reptilian way. But her eyes then locked on to something. Something shining on Leon's neck, just above his chest. And her eyes flew from Leon's eyes to the necklace on his neck.
"So it is true..." She muttered aloud.
"What is?" Leon asked, rasing his arms a little closer to his knives.
"The rumors. I didn't believe it until just now. But that necklace on you proves it. You really are the Son of the Huntress. Artemis broke her vow, hasn't she?"
Leon heard the insulting tone to his mother and his face became a mask of rage. He was not going to stand for that one...
"For you information, oh queen of monsters, there are several ways for a mother to have a kid besides sex."
Echidna grinned, realizing that she had hit a sore mark.
"Ah, so it IS true. You are the child of Artemis. A forbidden son...an abomination..."
"Your one to be talking, ya' damn snake!" Leon yelled in retalitation.
Echidna only chuckled. Leon wished she would stop doing that strange snake laugh, as it really was creepy...and really getting on his nerves. He was about to attack just to shut it up.
"And so the abomination of Half-bloods is going to try to kill the mother of all monsters? Tell me Leon, do you think the Olympians, or even better, the world itself will respect you? Knowing that you are an outcast of their whole society?"
"What do you mean?" Leon asked, his anger building.
"You should not have been born...at least not have been male? Do you think your mother really loves you? Artemis makes a pastime of turning men and boys into helpless jackolopes and other animals, so they can be hunted by predators in the wild. Do you really think that she loves you? You are, in her eyes, a disgusting boy. She could never love you! And the world around you scorns you for your bloodline. You are a forbidden child Leon...and the world will never accept you..."
Leon felt the weight of her words. Despite all his efforts, despite the monsters he had slain, despite the fact that he was just aware of it all several weeks ago...It struck him hard. She ws right about a lot of people finding him strange, and some outright hating him for his mother. But His mother had always showed him love, if just in the few times they have met. This creature could not possibly be right...could she? Could Artemis have just faked all the love for him, just to toy with some helpless boy? Could she...
"Don't listen to her," a voice echoed in his head.
Mother?
"I truly love you Leon. I do not care if you are a boy or not. You are of my blood...and you have proven yourself quite enough to the world. You are my son Leon, and you have proven it truly..."
So his mother was still connected with him. And she was disproving all of Echidna's taunts and rants. He felt a surge of pride in the brief message his mother sent him, and stared at Echidna long and hard. Then he reached behind him and drew the blades from his shoulder sheaths. They rang out with a satisfying metallic sound, and he held them in front of him, daring Echidna to attack.
"This has been a nice chit-chat, you little snake...but I've got a job to do, and I you don't mind, I would like to get this over with soon."
Echidna stalled at his words, and her smiler slowly returned.
"If you wish to die right now, that is fine by me...You probably should be worried about your friends outside though..."
"What do you mean? They have got that Chimera covered. It doesn't stand a chance against my friends out there. Besides, Thalia is probably going to dice it within a minute!"
"Ah yes...the little huntress, daughter of Zeus. Now there is someone who should not have been born."
Leon snarled.
"Shut up!"
"Oh really, do I sense some protectiveness about her?"
Leon gripped his blades tightly. She wouldn't dare...But she did.
"You speak of underestimating, then you should know just how deadly the Chimera can be. It has killed a large amount of heroes, and if you think one little huntress can kill it, regardless of those other three, then you are a truly foolish boy indeed."
Leon felt his knuckled go white from gripping his blades so tightly. His body rippled from the muscles tensing, ready to spring.
"And maybe, when I am done with you, I will go out there and see to her personally. I might even place her head on a pole outside my cave, so that all may know that nothing can stand against me!"
"All right bitch, that does it. Your dead."
Leon sprung forward on pumped muscles, savoring the rush of power that always came upon him when facng these monstrosities of life. Echidna allowed him to rush forward, and then hissed, before springing forward to meet his attack...
-Thalia-
The Chimera was fast...very fast.
The group had surrounded it and were taking turns striking out at it from their side. But the chimera seemed to have a sixth sense, and would be able to dodge their attacks. Thalia had activated agies, but the Chimera seemed to know no fear, as it whirled around and snapped at the shield, almost taking her arm off. She lunged with her spear, but the Chimera jumped up and managed to slip away from the group. It looked like it was going back into the cave after Leon, trying to help it's mother.
Not so fast, Thalia thought.
She dropped her spear and shield and summoned her bow, aiming at the rear of the beast. She fired a shot that the Chimera seemed to sense and it just barely managed to dodge. But the time it took it to dodge moved it away from the cave...and Leon. The Chimera regained it's balance, only to find Connor and Malcolm in front of the cave entrance, guarding the entryway.
"Sorry beastie. A friend of ours is conducting some business with your momma, and they shouldn't be disturbed." Connor said to it.
The Chimera snarled and then pivoted around to face Liana, snapping at her. Liana managed to arch her back and dodge the jaws, and she swung her sword, the blade crossing over just centimeters from the Chimera's head. The Chimera snarled and flipped around, snarling at the two at the cave entrance. But it's snake-tail snapped at Liana, and she was forced to back off. But not before swinging her sword at the snake's head, and slicing it off at the mid-point. The Chimera howled.
Thalia was impressed. The daughter's of Aphrodite never showed much fighting prowess. But Liana seemed to have grown out of her life of make-up and skimpy bikini's, for just this moment. Thalia decided she never again would underestimate an Aphrodite child again.
The Chimera gave a howl of pain, and then turned, snapping at Liana once again. Liana gave Thalia a look of "Now's your chance!" and then ran a few dozen feet away, the Chimera obviously pissed at the loss of it's tail, chasing behind her.
Thalia saw her opening and fired.
The arrow caught the Chimera in the shoulder and it howled in pain. It fell and began to thrash in the snow. Thalia retrieved her spear and slowly approached it, minding not to get in reach of those claws. And then she braced her spear and drove it into the Chimera's chest, hearing a death howl tear out from it. She tore her spear out and the creature gave several weak attempts at getting up. But eventually it slowed and stayed still. With a shower of gold dust It disintegrated, leaving a scattering of dust in the wind. Which was exactly what it now was, until it reformed and Thalia met it once again.
Connor and Malcolm approached her and clapped her on the back, congratulating her. And Liana even seemed impressed, which for an Aphrodite child to a Huntress, would have been a very huge deal. But Thalia's thought were not on the praises of her companions. They were on the events that might be unfolding within the cave. Leon was in there now, and probably had met Echidna. She needed to find them and see if there was anything she could do, even if she technically could not get involved with the actual fighting.
"Come on!" She yelled to her friends. She retracted her shield and withdrew her bow. Then she held her spear in front of her as she charged into the caves darkness...
-Leon-
They seemed to be equal.
The two of them struck and thrust and fought like wild dogs, devoid of care or anything of value, except of killing their opponent. Leon fought with his blades, and Echidna with her large claws. She would swipe at his face and he would cut at her chest, right where human and snake met. Echidna snarled and jumped back from his attack, but Leon was not doen with her. He leaped forward, again putting himself practically eyeball-to-eyeball with her. She swiped and Leon blocked it with his blade.
Then she swiped with her other clawed hand, and Leon brought up his other blade to block it. Echidna struggled to bring Leon's arms closer to his body, in an attempt to get a good position for a head-bite. But Leon fought against her force, keeping his arms apart. In frustration, Echidna snapped her head forward and snapped her jaws at Leon, drool flying from her mouth and hitting Leon's face.
"Damn," He grunted out. "You are in desperate need of some mouthwash lady!"
Echidna snapped again, her mouth closer to Leon's face this time. He turned his head away to keep the disgusting mouth juice away from his frontal face. Echidna could not make any progress in pinning Leon's arms to his sides, and Leon was having no success in forcing her claws away either. Then a thought came to him...which Echidna could never attempt, for it involved legs.
Leon, keeping his arms where they were, holding the claws at bay, kicked one of his legs forward, smashing into Echidna's snake-like waist. Echidna grunted at the unexpected move, but she barely managed to keep her claws forced against his blades, to make sure that he would not be able to utilize them. Then Leon kicked again, and again her air was forced from her.
Then Leon, bracing himself against the force of her claws on either side of him, then jumped up and kicked her full force with both legs. This forced Echidna back, and she actually was thrown several feet away, the strength of the Half-blood shocking her. But she was quick to regain her balance, and shrieked in anger. She launched herself at Leon, who was getting up from falling on the ground due to his double kick, and drive him back a few feet as well, the force of her body-slam knocking the wind out of him.
Leon rolled upon impact, and Echidna was right there, to bring a slash against his leg, as the Lion skin around him only protected the torso area. Leon cried out at the feel of her claws slashing his mid thigh, and he doubled over slightly, deeply in pain. Echidna grinned as she lunged forward to deliver a death blow to his head. But Leon was not out for the count.
When Echidna was just about to make contact, he spun in place and slightly to the side. And as Echidna flew past him in a missed, second body-slam, he reached out his blade and drove it into her snake-like under body. Echidna felt her lower self be sliced open, and shrieked in incredible pain. Black blood oozed from the long cut, and Echidna shrieked again, this time in fury. She made several claws at his face and lower body, but Leon ignored the pain of his leg and coolly back stepped with her, blocking all the blows she launched. Leon managed to put some distance between them with a jump back, and Echidna allowed it for some reason.
Leon was gasping for air and bleeding from his leg wound. He also felt as though he might have sprained something from being slammed around a bit, though he didn't feel anything broken. He was bleeding somewhat badly from his leg cut, though he thought it was not very bad. He struggled to catch his breathe while Echidna who didn't look very good herself, bleeding badly from the huge cut all along her lower body, smiled.
"I will commend you Leon. I did not expect you to be as capable as you are. You might have only discovered you were a demi-god a little while ago, but you are quite the fighter."
Leon decided to humor her. Anything to allow him a moment's peace from her relentless attacks. He stood a little straighter, hiding the urge to double over to keep a steady flow of air, and grinned.
"Well Mrs. Snakey, I will admit that you are definitely the most deadliest creature I have fought yet. As long as I don't have to use a sword, I'm pretty good."
Echidna laughed.
"So you can't use a sword real well, truly?"
Leon just grinned.
"Nope. But as long as I have these," He twirled his knives, "I don't need one."
Echidna nodded her head. But before Leon could stall any longer, Echidna rushed him, swinging herself from side to side, in an attempt to make Leon guess where she would come from. Leon followed her movements closely, and was just able to make out the attack was going to come from his left and spun around, blocking her claws with one of his blades. Then he swiped at her face with his other, but Echidna managed to twist her face away and force Leon to block her other attacks, forcing him back more toward the rear of the cave, away from the entrance.
The she leaped back and then made a short leap into the air. Before Leon could deduce what she was doing, she spun around very rapidly, and her snake body slammed into his torso with huge force. Leon felt himself thrown clean across the cave, smashing into one of the walls. The Lion skin apparently did not protect him from blunt-force trauma, as he could swear he felt a rib or two break. He cried out in pain at the burning sensation racing through him, and he dropped his blades, holding his torso in an agony unlike any he ever felt.
Echidna smiled in triumph, feeling her moment was upon her. She slowly approached Leon, her claws seeming to get bigger as she approached.
"Now you see, child of Artemis? You cannot defeat the mother of monsters. In the end your efforts were futile. And so you will die within this cave, and I will make a pile of your bones, before smashing them and scattering them across the land, as a warning to those who would dare try to hunt me..."
Leon could only glare in silent defiance at her. He would not cry or scream. He would face her dead in the eye as she struck at him, and not once would he flinch away. He had made his peace with himself. He was the son of Artemis. He would not beg for his life...
And then a noise at the entrance to her lair...
Echidna turned to the lair's entryway. And there, Thalia Grace stood there, her eyes wild when she saw Leon lying hurt on the ground. Her eyes flashed to Echidna and for the first time in many a while, she felt fear.
Echidna snarled.
"You...that must mean my child is...dead..." She muttered. Then with a cry of rage that equaled nothing Leon had recently heard from her she launched herself at Thalia, who had no chance of evading or blocking.
"NO!"
Leon had never felt such agony as he felt when he forced himself to his feet. Time again seemed to slow as he picked up his blades. Echidna began to slither faster than Leon had seen across the large lair that was their battleground. But Leon was faster, managing to run past Echidna just as she was crossing the half-way point. Thalia still did not seem to realize what was happening.
You will not hurt her! Leon's mind screamed.
Leon could swear he may have felt more ribs breaking as he forced his legs to move. But that just have been the intensity of the pain from his efforts. But all pain would not stop him. All Agony could not touch him. Nothing would mater if he did not stop Echidna from laying so much as one finger on Thalia Grace.
He reached Thalia, just in front of Echidna. He had just a moment to look into her shocked blue eyes...And he tried, in that one second, to tell her using only his own eyes, just what she had done to him. She had reached into his heart and healed it after it was shattered by the truths about what he was. And then he whirled, just in time for Echidna to throw herself in a dive a Leon. Her claws were outstretched, yet Leon made no effort to block them. He only raised claws of his own, the blades her received from Camp-Half blood.
And they connected. He felt Echidna's flesh give way beneath his blades razor edge, and Echidna's gurgling scream of pain. He stood there for a second loving the sight of Echidna's face of shock and anger. He smiled, though he felt a little blood dribble out.
"And that is how it's done." He taunted.
Echidna grinned, which surprised Leon. She was slowly turning to gold dust, but she still smiled and Leon wondered why. Then he happened to glance down...
Echidna's claws had managed to stab into an area just below his neck, just outside the Lion skin of protection. Leon opened his mouth to gasp out in the sudden pain he felt, and nothing but blood flowed from his mouth, and he coughed, spitting out even more. Echidna gave a gurgling laugh before her face turned to gold dust, though her clawed fingers, imbedded with Leon's mid-chest, were the last to disappear.
With the claws gone, the blood flowed freely from the vicious wounds. He turned slowly to Thalia, standing behind him in shock of what she had just seen, and she saw the wounds Leon had just suffered. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened.
"Oh gods...HELP!" She called to the group following behind her.
The rest of them came from behind Thalia and Leon slowly fell. He had pain like something unimaginable racing through his chest. Fire burned in his veins as he gasped for air through his blood filled mouth. But he was caught as he fell.
His angel had caught him. Well, the huntress he loved had.
Thalia had rushed forward and caught his falling body in her arms as he began to topple down, his legs refusing to hold him any longer. Thalia leaned over the bloody wounds and screamed for ambrosia and held her hands over the wounds, trying everything she could think of to stop the bleeding. Leon felt someone shove an ambrosia square in his mouth, and he weakly chewed it. He managed to swallow a little, but he was forced to cough most of it up, blood still filling his throat and oozing from his mouth. Ambrosia was not going to help these kinds of injuries...this was fatal.
Leon felt life ebbing away from him. It actually felt calm and warm, despite the now dulling pain in his chest. He saw images of his mortal adoptive parents, his father and mother. Yes, despite the fact that they were not his biological parents, they had certainly earned the right to be so.
He saw images of several of the huntresses he managed to get to warm up to him. Julia smiling at a joke he had nervously told, and the group of them that had come to his defense when attacked by the Aphrodite children.
He saw mischievous Connor and brain-guy Malcolm laughing at the movie back on the plane and making the whole section of the passengers howl with laughter.
He saw Liana, the Aphrodite child that had regretted her earlier actions and had joined them on this test, laughing and giggling with joy as she shopped through the numerous clothing stores they found.
And, gods, he saw Thalia. The huntress. The daughter of Zeus. The one who had successfully hunted and claimed his heart, however inadvertently she had. Her smile, her courage, her eyes...yes, her eyes. Those electric blue eyes that he gazed into now, lost to everything but this moment of passing. If there was going to be a final sight in his eyes, it would be her face, though he would not have wanted her to be actually crying and pleading with him to stay alive...
The angel should not be crying...it is not right...
He opened his mouth to force words out. There was something that needed to be said.
"Tha...Thalia..."
"Don't talk. Save your energy..." She told him.
"Thalia...I...I lo..." But he was gone. His view went to black, and he knew no more...
-Thalia-
It had happened so quickly...
She had never expected the sight before her. Leon battered against the wall, the creature Echidna approaching, to deliver the killing strike. Then the creature swirving around to face her and charging. Leon showing some effort worthy of Artemis, chargin forward with obvious difficulty, and darting in front of her, to shield her from Echidna's attack. And the sight of the two of them, fatally delivering wounds to one another...
No, he can't be dying!
He couldn't be laying here, not after all they had been through. She kept seeing flashbacks of her times with him, of him stealing glances at her when he thought she would not notice. Of noticing how different he acted when she was talking to him. How he...
No, she mustn't think of him that way...it was not proper...
And so she sat here, cradling his head in her lap as she watched the life flowing from his eyes, crying and her friend doing everything they could think of to prevent what seemed to obviousl be his death. She cried...and cried.
He had just closed his eyes, and she let out a sob, when a brilliant flash of light filled the chamber. The group momentarily forgot about Leon and shielded their eyes. But the effect was only for a second and then what looked like a twelve year old girl was in the room. She was clad as the huntresses, and her eyes glinted like the moon. But the moonlight in her eyes was foggy, as she had tears in them as well. With an incredibly amount of speed, she was at their side, her eyes on the dying boy lying in Thalia's lap. It was then that who is was registered in Thalia's mind.
"Lady Artemis!"
Artemis had tears in her eyes as she surveyed the damage done to her son. She had witnessed the whole battle against Echidna, and was shocked at the power and determination to carry on, despite all the bone-shattering blows Leon had received. And she saw run in front of Thalia, despite the fact she sensed several broken ribs in him, and take the stab of claws intended for her. But not before he drove his own blades at the same time into the monstrosity of Echidna.
"My Lady...I thought...I thought you could not interfere with the test..." Thalia sputtered through her tears. Artemis could see that she had gotten close to her son, but that was not her concern. All her efforts were now concentrating on Leon, hie eyes now closed, and his breathing dimming with each minute.
Artemis looked into Thalia's eyes.
"Thalia, I have never had a child. My oath had forbidden me from having any such encounter that may result in one. But now that I have been able to have one of my own without breaking my oath, I have grown to love him just as much as any mother, perhaps even more. And I do not care if the laws of my father forbid me from directly interfering...He is my son, and by the fates, I WILL NOT LOSE HIM!"
Artemis had screamed her last few words. The tears in her eyes did not dampen her resolve. These wounds were too harsh for her healing abilities. She would need someone more specialized, and she knew just who was needed.
"Thalia, and the rest of you, thank you. Return to camp Half-Blood by whatever route fits you, I will be taking Leon."
"Where?" Malcolm asked.
"To Olympus. Now please go. I will tend to him."
Thalia shuddered one last time, then allowed Leon to be hoisted up by his mother, the twelve year old looking goddess picking up someone a head and half taller than her with no effort whatsoever.
With a flash, she was gone...
Thalia stood stunned for a moment. Leon's blood was still on her hands, and she stared at them like it was a sign. Liana laid a hand on her shoulder, and Thalia stood up. Connor and Malcolm had grim expressions on their faces, and Liana was on the verge of tears herself. All four of them had bonded with the forbidden son of the goddess. And each was suffering in their own way. But Thalia slowly composed herself and, without a word or a glance back, led them away. Connor and Malcolm made a point of picking up Leon's gear before they left.
-Artemis-
There was a flash as the goddess entered Olympus. There was no one in sight, and she ran for all she was worth, directly for the palace of the sibling she now needed, more than ever before. His palace loomed ahead of her, and she wasted no time knocking, just kicked the door down with one smashing blow.
"APOLLO!" She screamed.
And so Leon slew Echidna. And suffered horrendous wounds fighting her, and then saving the girl he loves. Will Apollo be able to save him? What will happen to Leon, if he can recover from the wounds, now that his test has been passed? We will find out in the Epilogue, coming shortly.
I hope you all who have read my story faithfully have enjoyed this tale. And I have the sequel planned in my head, which will begin shortly after I complete the Epilogue. The Epilogue may be a little long as well, as I debated having more in this chapter, but decided to take a break. I hope you all enjoyed the final battle, and will stay tuned for the final chapter and the start of the sequel!
Sincerely, RWBRyan.