(A/N) Writer's. Block. Sucks. I had to update my other story and I had writer's block on that one so it took a long time and now I have writer's block on this one so that's great.
Disclaimers: I do not own PJO
Jason was stumbling across a beach, trying to run from a creature that was unknown to him. It didn't make a sound as he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, rendering him unaware of whether it was gaining or falling behind, or even if he was being chased at all. All he could register was overwhelming fear. Fear that gripped him like a vice, nearly freezing him in place, and it felt like he was running through Jell-O as he pushed himself further, away from whatever it was he was afraid of. His heard slammed against his ribcage, roaring in his ears and pounding in his temples until they throbbed, and his breathing was ragged as he forced his lungs to work, to take in more air. Yet it still wasn't enough.
He sunk into the sand, which slowed him down as he tore across the shores barefoot. Jagged shells cut up his feet and made them sting as sand clung to the wounds, and he couldn't seem to tear himself away from the edge of the water, which loomed next to him like a dark grey mass. It crashed and roared at him, lapping at his ankles and making them bitterly cold, though at least it numbed the pain from the cuts. The sky was starless, and seagulls laughed and cackled at him with human voices, circling and diving down to attack him before retreating back too swiftly for him to swat them away.
"You're worthless!" Thalia's voice jeered as a beady-eyed gull clawed at his face and eyes, dancing out of reach before he could strangle it.
"You can't even run an operation!" Orion cackled as one of them slashed at his arms with claws that were a bit too much like an eagle's talons for Jason's liking.
Jason lunged for one swooping low, but it darted away and made Jason stumble, though he thankfully was able to recover his footing. He didn't want the beast to catch him. "You're toooooo slow!" the bird crowed in Alpheus' voice, flitting away to rejoin the others as they took turns diving at the poor demigod. Was it just him or was he sinking even farther into the sand, now? The stench of the ocean, which was normally pleasant and comforting, filled his nose and overwhelmed his senses until it was sickening, and it made it hard to breathe as he struggled against the seagulls and the sand alike, though he swore he could hear low growls coming from behind him. It all the more fueled his fear. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth from where it'd dribbled in between his lips from cuts on his face, and that, combined with the reek of the ocean, swarmed his senses and made it difficult to even run in s straight line as he began to feel dizzy.
The ocean and the sand were having a tug of war with him, and now he was sinking ankle-deep into the ground before being nearly toppled by the increasingly more violent waves trying to pull him towards it. He had slowed to barely even a walk, and he heard his muscles screaming in agony, or was that actually him? He couldn't tell anymore. The sea's murky grey waves were demanding him to come to it, to drag him into its murky depths until his lungs filled with water and he became nothing more than a skeleton whose bones had been picked clean by fish. He was like a cornered animal, crazed and panicked and terrified all at once, and he ceased his running to take a few swings at the seagulls, who laughed and mocked his pitiful attempts to knock them out of the sky.
Then one of them, who looked a bit weaker than the rest, circled a bit too close, and Jason was able to grab it. It let out a screech and struggled, but Jason held on tightly, gritting his teeth as it squawked and pummeled him with its wings. Half of his calves were now submerged in the sand, and his thoughts dwelled on Gaea, which made his heart beat so hard he was sure it was going to burst out of his chest. The other seagulls had disappeared, leaving Jason with the weaker bird in his hands, though it had finally stopped struggling and was staring at him with cold black eyes like shards of obsidian.
And then he was holding a child in his arms.
It was too small to be healthy, too frail, and it cried, reaching out to Jason with meaty little fists. Jason heard the telltale growl of the beast, and he hugged the child against his chest and held its face against his neck as he forced his way out of the sand, which had crawled up to his thighs, putting on a burst of newfound energy. The child continued to cry, and it was so tiny, its heart fluttering against Jason's, and the son of Zeus found tears leaking from his eyes as he cradled the child, who must've been as scared as he was. He was vaguely aware of the fact that it used to be a seagull, but that was background information. All he could think about was getting this child to safety. It still had so much to live for, so much to do and so much to see. He didn't want it to die on this beach, its little body getting sucked into the sand to an earthy grave as it wailed for someone to save it.
"It's okay, it's okay," Jason choked as he ran, and he knew that he couldn't do this forever. The baby was somehow getting heavier, weighing him down and making his moves slow and sluggish. If he discarded it he'd be able to run faster, to get away from the beast, but the sand clinging to his feet hardened his resolve. He would carry this child to the end. He felt tears leaking down his cheeks as the baby grew heavier and heavier, nearly impossible to carry as he staggered across the beach, and he had no idea how something this small could be so heavy.
You should just leave it, said a sick, twisted voice inside of its head. At least one of you will survive. He shoved that voice out of his mind as he held the life in his arms. It couldn't've been more than a few hours old, and he continued to cry at the thought of leaving it to get swallowed by the earth, to as sand buried it in a smothering blanket. He couldn't do that. He would die with it. The beast was gaining, and now Jason could hear the sound of heavy hooves and paws landing on the ground. Jason collapsed to his knees. The baby was too heavy. He couldn't carry it and run at the same time.
The baby wailed, its tiny little hands burying into Jason's shirt as he hugged it close to his body, cradling it and whispering words of comfort as the beast came closer. Closer. He hoped that it would give both him and the baby a quick death, which was better than the premature burial he was going to experience at the sand's hand. The waves continued to lap at him, though with less ferocity, but it was slowly making him tingly and numb all over as the sand stretched over his knees and began working up his waist. The baby continued to cry, and he pulled it away to see its big, round green eyes. Eyes that were slit like a viper's. It grinned, revealing serrated teeth.
"Mommy's home," Perseus giggled as the beast stopped right behind him, its hot breath ghosting over his neck-
-Ω-
Jason woke up screaming, startling Alpheus, and he nearly flew off of the demon's back as he bucked.
"What on Earth do you think you're doing?" Alpheus hissed coldly after regaining his composure, his tail lashing in agitation and his dragon head turning to bare its teeth at the demigod. The zebra head looked no less thrilled, its ears pinned back as it tossed its head, all six eyes glaring at him.
"Sorry," Jason replied sheepishly, trying to grasp for the strings attached to the retreating memory of the dream. He could make out the smell of the ocean, the screech of seagulls, and the cry of a baby, but that was pretty much it. "Just nightmares." Alpheus scoffed, his two sets of bat wings flapping in his irritation, and the son of Zeus was mildly annoyed at the demon's inability to feel sympathy.
"You do understand that we are nearing the heart of demon territory?" Alpheus snapped. "Something like that could alert the other demons and get us all killed."
"Well it's not my fault," Jason defended, "I can't control what I do in my sleep!"
"You little-"
"Enough, you two!" Perseus snapped, and even though his panther head's gaze stayed locked in front of him, his zebra head gave them a very disapproving glance. "We're close." The demigod and the demon fell silent as they noticed the trees beginning to thin out, the light of the very late afternoon shining dimly through the boughs. Jason inhaled sharply but that was it, and the Hunters all began to shift warily as they approached, unwilling to enter the opening but reluctant to stay behind in the trees, where any number of things could be hiding. Jason dismounted, drawing his sword silently and joining up with Nico and Will, who'd been hitching a ride on Perseus and were now gazing around warily, and approached the edge of the tree line to get a glimpse of the demons' headquarters.
Apparently, it turns out that the entire quest would be one huge anticlimax after another. The cave was dull and unimportant looking, just a decent-sized hole in a cliff wall that would probably house a bear or something, but it only seemed to go five feet deep at the most from the outside. When Perseus announced that it was, indeed, the demons' headquarters, Jason found it quite hard to believe. Other than the huge claw marks that had marked the territory, which they'd passed a couple of days ago, there was absolutely zero sign that anything demonic lived here. The only other demonic activity had been when Orion had been slaughtered in cold blood, the body having been buried and a service held in his memory, and Jason was a little broken up about it but also scared out of his mind that their army of two wasn't enough (which was completely true, but he didn't want to think about it that way).
Since Orion's death, the two demons had been on high alert, never changing out of their true forms, which were swifter, stronger, and deadlier than their human ones. They'd seemed a bit restless, and Perseus had been avoiding his brother like the plague for some odd reason. It wasn't any of Jason's business, but he had to admit that he was at least mildly curious about the demons' family issues. Were they in a fight? Would it inhibit their ability to work together and thus doom them all to become some demon's dinner? The son of Zeus didn't think so. Percy was avoiding him, but he was kind when they did interact, though it was hard to decipher the expressions of their three animal heads.
He still couldn't believe that this was the demons' command center. There were no creepy sounds, no tingly feelings, and certainly no demon sightings. It all screamed "TRAP", but at the moment Jason couldn't find it in himself to care. At least if they died, they would die in a blaze of glory, which was a pretty depressing thought once he really dwelled on it. The Hunters were shifting uncomfortably, not daring to make a sound, but Jason could see the uneasiness written all over their faces as they gazed warily at the gaping maw of the cave, which was looking more sinister by the minute. He didn't dare ask what they were going to do, only waited for Perseus and Alpheus to react, which was pretty damn sad; this entire operation was meant for them to control the demons, harness their powers to lay waste to the rest of their kind, but now the demigods were taking orders from them and some demons were going to walk free from this whole endeavor.
The demons flicked their wispy tails, their six sets of ears flicking and twitching in a silent communication that was awe-inducing and a bit creepy at the same time, considering the deep green eyes of their middle heads were still trained upon the opening. Slowly, they stalked out of the safety of the trees, and when the others started moving to follow they cast disapproving glances back at them. Jason was more than happy to oblige, really, but he didn't think that their biggest weapons should be exposed like that. He didn't dare argue, though. Their huge hooves and paws made zero sound as they treaded across the grass and towards the entrance, and Perseus' panther head reached out and sniffed the opening while the forked tongue of his dragon head flicked in and out, tasting the air.
Alpheus was a bit more tense, his flanks quivering and his tail lashing back and forth as he watched Perseus with three sets of blazing sea green eyes. His long grey fur was bristling, and his panther head licked its chops. Perseus' two sets of bat wings were outstretched in warning and wariness, and all of his heads were focused on the opening as he slowly edged one hoof inside. Jason should've seen the way Alpheus pawed the ground with his hooves, should've seen the way his haunches tensed up, because when he shouted, "Watch out!" and Perseus whirled on him, it was already too late.
A terrifying bellow ripped through the trees as Alpheus leapt on Perseus, whose zebra head shrieked in alarm as they rolled in the grass. It took a moment for everyone to process it, but by the time they all unfroze Alpheus had taken a good chunk out of Perseus' zebra neck, blood gushing forth, showing no sign of healing like it would've done had his attacker been anyone else. They would've come to his aid had another roar not ripped through the trees, with another joining it. Jason slowly let his gaze rise to the top of the cliff, watching slack-jawed as two demons leapt from the edge, landing on the ground silently as the twins writhed on the ground, locked in a heated battle.
They weren't in their true forms, but that didn't make them any less scary. Their pupils were mere slivers and their teeth gleamed in the dying light of day, long talons having grown to replace their fingernails. Then the hairs on the back of everyone's neck stood straight up, the air filled with static, and then lightning arced down from the sky, blinding everyone for only a moment before the two demons staggered, bolts of electricity leaping from their bodies as they collapsed. Jason hadn't expected it to be so effective. That seemed to be the wakeup call for everyone because in a flash they were upon the demons, swarming them like flies. Perseus and Alpheus continued to tear at each other, blasting fire from their dragon heads and clubbing one another with their wings. The wound on Perseus' zebra head was pouring now, blood slathering his right side, and one of Alpheus' smaller wings had been ripped clean off.
The two demons were on their feet now, and the group had unconsciously split up; the Hunters focusing on one while the demigods took the other. Jason knew that they couldn't kill him, only hold him off long enough until Perseus hopefully killed Alpheus and returned to help, and even then there were so many factors that contributed to it, though the odds were clearly stacked against them. This demon was female, her blond hair straight and stringy, and her blue eyes savage and inhuman. She was slight and delicate-looking, but as soon as she lunged at Nico it was clear that she was anything but.
It didn't take long to realize that demons' fighting techniques were like a deadly dance, and the person whose footing fumbled would be the one to die. Jason, Nico, and Will circled her, keeping her tightly boxed in as they warded her away with their weapons, though she didn't seem fazed in the slightest. In fact, she grinned, looking like she was having fun, and it was obvious that she was just toying with them. Jason could only hope that they would last until Perseus came to the rescue, but then again he twinkle in the demon's eyes told him otherwise.
-Ω-
"Why are you doing this?!" Perseus bellowed as his dragon head sunk its teeth into his brother's shoulder, causing the demon to yowl in agony. A hoof clobbered his main head across the face, making him dizzy, and it would've incapacitated him had his two other heads not been very much alert, sending signals and information to his middle head's commanding brain at a mile a second.
"Cain told me that we'd rule together if I did!" Alfie snarled, bludgeoning Perseus with his wings, which might as well have been clubs as they battered the demon's body.
"So he told you to kill Orion, too?!" Percy raised his cloven hooves and slammed Alfie in the chest, probably breaking some of his ribs. It was painful to fight his twin, but not only physically. Mentally, he was breaking down. This was someone he'd strove to protect, someone he'd been loyal to until the bitter end, someone who he risked raising the entirety of the demon species in order to bring him back, and now that was getting thrown back into his face. Sure, he and Alfie had had their occasional scuffles, but never like this. Perseus knew he was going to be weakened by blood loss, the gash on his zebra head's neck a particularly worrisome injury, but he had to keep going on, had to kill Alfie if it meant surviving. He'd thought his brother was different, but now he was working for Cain. The Cain. The Father of Murder. It explained his "long walks", and there was no doubt in his mind that Lilith was working for Cain, too, which also explained why they'd never been ambushed much when they were together, even though Lilith would've sent every one of their brothers and sisters to hunt them down.
Under it all, it was all Cain.
He hoped that he survived as Alfie recovered and lunged once more.