Chapter Thirty Five is here! And with it arrives the action! In this chapter you get to see Hugo again, and this time he's brought along Atlas! Who's a scary mofo that almost caused Jiper to get divorced! So lets see how this chapter goes, shall we? On with the story!
(Charlie POV)
His cousins were disturbingly good at sneaking around, Charlie didn't know whether he should be proud or worried.
The six of them crept along the dark walls of the underground tunnels, deep beneath the coliseum. No sound escaped them as they easily maneuvered themselves around monsters, completely silent in their communication. Charlie led them down a dark, damp hallway with Ethan bringing up the rear, the terrors placed between Silena and Lily.
None of them had their weapons out, not wiling to give their enemies a hint of where they were despite the fact that so far no one was aware of their presence. Emily was silently telling Charlie where to go according to her astral projection trip. They went down many hallways, twists and turns there only to confuse them. Emily thankfully had an incredible memory.
Eventually they came upon a darkly lit room, empty with the exception of a cage sat in the middle of the room. Charlie could just barely make out the outline of bodies, small and lying down. He resisted the urge to sprint into the room and instead turned to his cousins.
'This is it.' He mouthed, gesturing inside the room.
His cousins all nodded, waiting for their orders. Charlie pointed at Ethan, Lily, Silena and Zack then moved his hands to the corners of the room, wanting them to wait in the shadows for a potential ambush. They nodded in understanding. Charlie turned toward Emily and silently told her to back him up. She gave an incline of her head.
The plan formed and understood, Charlie crept into the room.
He made his way over to the cage, silent the entire time. Emily quietly followed him, eyes flickering all over the room wearily. Charlie's hand hovered over the bars of the cage before backing away, not trusting the bars to be spell free. Instead he waved his hand at Emily to come over and check the bars. She tiptoed over and raised her shimmering hands. She furrowed her brow as she worked, something that made Charlie's heart pound. Something wasn't right.
While Emily worked, Charlie glanced over at the little ones. He noted that they all seemed to be asleep rather than unconscious, to his great relief. He made a quiet clicking sound with his tongue, hoping one of them would hear it and wake up.
It worked. Louis raised his head and glanced around in confusion. His eyes landed on Charlie and Emily, widening as he realized who they were. Charlie brought his pointer finger to his lips, motioning for Louis to be quiet. He nodded and started waking up the others, the little ones grumbling as they were woken up. The three girls looked like they wanted to simultaneously scream and cry once they saw Charlie and Emily.
Charlie frantically waved his hands, desperately hoping they would understand. Louis quickly slapped his hands over Gabby and Gemma's mouths, shaking his head at Zoe. Zoe's eyes widened further as she realized why they were shaking their heads. She brought her hands over her mouth and looked around the room, shuffling closer to Louis. The twins, Alejandro and Andre, thankfully stayed asleep, wrapped up in their blankets.
Emily finally put her hands down and gave a nod; the cage was fine to open. Charlie quietly put his hands to the bars and waited for Emily to unlock them, once she did he pulled with everything he had, the rusty cage fighting him the whole time.
Finally with a loud sqeeeeek the cage opened. Charlie winced at the noise and dove into the cage, scooping up the twins and hustling the younger ones out. Emily quickly hoisted Zoe up onto her hip, the little girls leg still injured. The others emerged from the shadows, each one scooping up their respective sibling, Ethan taking Andre from Charlie to free up one of his arms, the seven month old sleeping through it all. Alejandro squirmed in Charlie's arms, cuddling into his warm chest.
They all filed out of the room, silent as they could be.
Five minutes later they stumbled into a giant opening, one they had passed on the way in.
"I can't believe we did it." Emily gasped, tired from holding Zoe up. Charlie quickly traded with her, propping Zoe up high on his hip. The five year promptly burst into tears once she was in her big brothers arms. Sobs wracked through her as the other siblings followed suit, the ones staying calm being the twins.
Charlie cooed at his baby sister, rocking back and forth as he rubbed her back. "It's okay," He murmured to her. "I've got you, it's okay."
Silena, Zack, and Lily were doing similar things with their siblings, Zack bouncing on his toes and singing softly to his little sister. After a few minutes, they calmed down but still held their older siblings in a death grip. The twins had woken up and were gurgling happily in Emily and Ethan's arm.
"Come on," Silena said as she transferred Louis to her back. "We need to get out of here, that was way too easy."
"You're right," A voice called out from behind them. "It was too easy."
They whirled around, Charlie's hand moving to his pocket and pulling out Riptide in pen form. Standing a couple yards away from them, two feet above them on a ledge, was Atlas Pierce.
His white blond hair shined brightly as a spotlight hit him, violet eyes sparkling with a malicious intent. His 5'8 height hidden at the moment, his lean body was positioned casually with his hands shoved into his designer jeans pockets, a loud button up shirt paired with a leopard print bomber jacket covering his upper half. His head tilted to the side slightly, a pair of vintage sunglasses slipping a little down his nose, giving him an 'I could care less' aura. He looked like a runway model.
Standing beside him was Hugo Moore. If Atlas looked like a model, Hugo looked like a crappy rent'a thug. His closely cut auburn hair looked scraggly and greasy, his hazel eyes staring straight at Charlie angrily. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, black jeans, combat boots and a camouflage hoodie. He had his arms crossed tightly, standing head and shoulders above his comrade, standing at 6'2. His sword hung by his side, swing slightly.
"This is gonna suck." Emily said simply.
Atlas smiled viciously. "Yes, it is."
OoOoOoOo
Charlie was man enough to admit it, he extremely grateful Payton hadn't shown up as well. As much as he hated her, she scared him like nothing ever had before. Still Hugo and Atlas posed a great threat as well, Hugo was a deadly opponent and Charlie had no idea what Atlas could do in battle but he knew it was nothing good.
Very slowly he put Zoe down on to her feet and stepped into front of her, keeping his eyes on his two enemies watching them.
"Hey there, guys," he said calmly. "Didn't see you there."
"We know." Atlas smirked. "We're so hurt."
Lily made an annoyed noise to his left. "Why don't you go away and cry about it, Pierce."
Atlas's expression shifted to glare. "Screw you, Valdez. Mommy and Daddy aren't here to protect you, I'd keep your trap shut."
Lily grinned without any happiness. "I don't need my parents to take you down, wimp."
Atlas clenched his fists and made to jump off the platform he and Hugo were on. Hugo's hand snapped out, roughly grabbing him by the collar.
"Easy," Hugo rumbled, still staring at Charlie. "She's baiting you, dumbass."
Atlas took a deep breath and opened his hands, putting on a strained smile. "Right, of course she is. But it's not going to work today."
"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Seemed to work pretty well to me."
Atlas just glared at her darkly before he continued speaking. "Payton wants you all captured and/or injured. She specially told us not to let you get your siblings out. So I'm gonna need you to give those brats to us."
"Nah," Zack spoke up, shifting Gemma in his arms. "I don't feel like it."
Atlas took another deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he set his jaw and pulled out his own sword. "I'm not telling you twice."
Charlie uncapped Riptide, the sword springing to life. "Then it looks like you're gonna have to make us."
Atlas gritted his teeth. "I thought so. Hugo, go get those kids."
Hugo obeyed, jumping off the platform and striding towards Charlie, an evil glint in his eyes. Charlie fell into his stance and quickly shouted at his family.
"GO! Get them out of here!" He screamed before leaping toward Hugo.
Ethan, Emily, Zack, and Silena took off running, Ethan snatching up Zoe without breaking his stride. Lily passed Gabby over to Silena before pulling out her own dagger, giving Atlas the finger. The son of Aphrodite screamed in rage and instantly ran for her, sword swinging wildly.
Charlie and Hugo clashed, locking their swords together. Charlie's muscles screamed at him as he pushed as hard as he could, Hugo baring his teeth at him the whole time.
"God, your breath smells." Charlie grumbled, hoping to throw his opponent off.
It worked, kind of. Hugo snarled with rage and ended their battle of wills, instead slashing his sword forcefully. Charlie swore as he dodged, jumping over the blade when the son of Ares went for his ankles.
He stabbed forward, forcing Hugo to back up to steps. Hugo retaliated by thrusting forward, managing to rip through a small portion of Charlie's shirt sleeve. Charlie scrambled away, taking quick nimble steps. Hugo followed immediately, never letting up. They continued through the motions, Charlie ducking and dodging for all he was worth.
"Hey, Lily!" Charlie called as sidestepped a lunge from Hugo, slapping him back with the flat of his blade. "How're you doing?"
Lily grunted as she got up from a hasty roll. "Oh, you know," she shrugged. "He could be doing better."
Atlas cursed her out as he slashed wildly at her, Lily yelping in surprise as she dodged. Charlie huffed a breath as he focused his attention back on his own fight. 'C'mon, Charlie, think. How does this fight end?' Charlie frantically thought, as he moved instinctively.
'There.' He found Hugo's opening, he left his left side open every time he lunged for Charlie, anger making him forgetful. Before he could attack though the ceiling started shaking violently, dust falling from it heavily. Both battles paused as they stared up at the ceiling.
"Shit!" Atlas swore immediately before giving them intense glares. "This isn't over."
With that, Hugo and Atlas darted out of the room, a door Charlie hadn't noticed before slamming shut behind them. Lily limped over to him, thigh bleeding slightly.
"What was that about?" she panted out, putting her dagger back in its holster.
"I have no idea." Charlie said back, his own injuries aching. Hugo had managed to get him fairly good across his left bicep, the wound stung like a bunch of fire ants biting him all at once. "But I have a feeling we're going to find out."
OoOoOoOo
Turns out what caused the ceiling to shake ended up being the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis. Oh joy.
The scene he and Lily stumbled on was not a good one. They were standing in a gigantic room, filled with cages and contraptions that Charlie had no idea about. Piper was lying on the ground next to a dazed Nico. Jason and Percy stood side by side, warily watching the twin giants. Dionysus stood in front of them, petting a pair of leopards. It would seem like Charlie and Lily had stumbled in right as the wine god appeared.
"Really, Ephialtes." the god tsked. "Killing demigods is one thing. But using leopards for your spectacle? That's over the line."
Charlie and Lily traded disbelieving looks as they quietly made their way over to Jason and Percy, stealthily moving between all the clutter in the arena.
The giant, Ephialtes, made a squeaking noise. "This- this is impossible. D, D-"
"It's Bacchus, actually, my old friend." Bacchus said. "And of course it's possible. Some one told me there was a party going on."
The giants spear quivered. "You- you gods are doomed! Be gone, in the name of Gaea!"
"Hmmm," Bacchus sounded unimpressed to Charlie. The grandson of the sea god had to fight off a giggle.
Finally Charlie and Lily were standing next to the heroes standing side by side. Jason and Percy jumped as they suddenly appeared by their sides. Percy stared with Jason at the two of them as Charlie fidgeted in place. The two shook their heads and muttered something under their breaths, grabbing the two cousins and dragging them in between their bodies. Charlie stood tucked into his dads side while Lily was tugged as close as possible to her godfather.
"What are you doing here?" Percy said through gritted teeth, gripping Charlie's hand.
Lily and Charlie traded winces as he answered. "Saving our siblings?"
"What." Jason said flatly, staring at Lily disapprovingly. Percy did the same to Charlie as Bacchus walked around insulting the twin giants 'props'.
"We saved our siblings." Lily replied, scuffing her shoe on the floor.
Jason scowled. "That's what I thought you said, I was hoping I heard wrong."
Charlie bit his lip and quickly gave them the short version as to why they were there. As he explained the two men grew exceedingly more distressed, especially when he mentioned they fight they had been in. Percy moved to say something, probably to berate them, but the giants interrupted.
"STYLE?" Ephialtes yelled in fury. "I have mountains of style. I define style. I-I-"
"My brother oozes style," Otis defended his twin.
"Thank you!" The giant cried in response.
Jason and Percy gave Lily and Charlie looks that clearly told them this wasn't over as Bacchus stepped toward the giants causing the twins to back peddle quickly.
"Have you two gotten shorter?" the wine god asked to the anger of the giants.
"Oh, that's low," Ephialtes growled lowly. "I'm quite tall enough to destroy, Bacchus! You gods, always hiding behind your mortal heroes, trusting the fate of Olympus to the likes of these."
He sneered at Percy, not even noticing the addition of Charlie and Lily. Charlie felt a little insulted by that.
Jason apparently agreed since he lifted his sword. "Lord Bacchus, are we going to kill these giants or what?"
"Well, I certainly hope so," the wine god said, waving his hands dismissively. "Please, carry on."
Percy and Lily stared at him disbelievingly as Charlie and Jason forced back groans. "Didn't you come here to help?" Percy managed to get out over his shock.
Bacchus shrugged uncaringly. "Oh, I appreciated the sacrifice at sea. A whole ship full of Diet Coke. Very nice. Although I would've preferred Diet Pepsi."
"And six million in golds in jewels." Lily murmured lowly at the same time as Percy. The two smirked at each other slightly as Charlie rolled his eyes at them, Jason shaking his head in amused exasperation.
"Yes," Bacchus continued, seemingly ignoring the shenanigans happening in front of him. "although with demigod parties of five or more the gratuity is included, so that wasn't necessary."
"What?" Jason asked.
"Never mind," Bacchus waved off the question. "At any rate, you got my attention. I'm here. Now I need to see if you're worthy of my help. Go ahead, battle. If I'm impressed, I'll jump in for the grand finale."
"We speared one," Percy said. "Dropped the roof on the other. What do you consider impressive?"
Charlie stared at his dad in shock. Percy instantly looked like he regretted asking as Bacchus smiled creepily.
"Ah, good question." Bacchus tapped his thyrsus in thought. "Perhaps you need a little inspiration! The stage hasn't been properly set. You call this a spectacle, Ephialtes? Let me show you how it's done."
The god dissolved in a purple mist, taking Nico and Piper with him.
"Pipes!" Jason yelped. "Bacchus, where did you- ?"
Jason was abruptly cut off by the rumbling that suddenly surrounded them. The ground trembled and began to rise. The ceiling opened in a series of panels. Sunlight poured in. The air shimmered prettily as the sound of loud, wild cheering flooded into Charlie's ears.
The floor had ascended into the Colosseum. Charlie felt Percy and Jason gawk as they realized where they were. Lily just huffed in anger as she pulled her dagger out of its holster. Charlie copied her and pulled out Riptide, uncapping it.
"This is a proper show!" Bacchus's voice boomed from above. He sat in the emperor's box, dressed in purple robes and golden laurels. Piper and Nice sat next to him, being tended to by nymphs.
Percy glared up at him. "You're just going to sit there?"
"The demigod is right!" Ephialtes bellowed. "Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods."
The god gave a lazy smile. "Juno says she's assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Give me a reason to do more. Being a god has its privileges."
With that, he popped his soda can. The crowd cheered loudly, covering the sound of Charlie's heart dropping to his feet.
Chapter 35 has arrived! Did you like it? Was the siblings scene good? Are you happy with my lazy ass for posting this long than normal chapter? Let me know in the reviews!
See you next chapter! Comic out!
EspeonAuraGirl55- Charlie will, eventually. I can neither confirm nor deny if your theory is correct or not. I can confirm that there will be a cliff hanger though. ;D See ya!
aaquater- They reason I did it like this is because a. I'm lazy, and b. Payton has a sneaky ass plan for the little ones. Remember, Charlie is the oldest at 14, almost 15. Percy hasn't exactly been able to teach him how to drive yet XD. Also, I fixed that typo, thanks for catching it and letting me know! This is why I need a freaking beta. I just don't know any. Catch ya next time!
emenem3211- You're very welcome for the shoutout! Everyone always seems so happy when I do them which in turn makes me happy. Binge reading from chapter 11 to 34 is quite the feat, nice job! I'm so, so glad you like this story enough to reread it! You only have a couple more chapters to freak out over because there is only a few more left for me to write. Then it will be on to book two! See you next chapter!