Chapter Seventeen
Reyna
Reyna didn't particularly like the capital of the United States, the preeminent power of man's world, but she had been given a task, and she would not fail. But there were schedules, and meetings, and acceptable attire, whatever that meant, so she found herself walking through the city more often than not, simply because if she didn't, she'd draw her sword on whatever misogynistic fool was tempting her. It was on one of those walks when she heard the sound of the sky tearing open and watched as what could simply be described as a massive metal egg clawed its way out of the rip. People started screaming, and what Reyna would charitably call Daimons flew out of the egg. Reyna felt a grin spread across her face as she drew her sword and shield. Finally, something she was good at. A fight.
She launched herself into the air with a war-cry, her sword arcing out and intercepting one of the monsters before it could snatch up a woman from the street. Several people, civilian and uniformed, had drawn firearms and were firing at the creatures, to no avail. Each shot seemed to just irritate them, rather than harm. She watched helplessly as two men were torn apart by the creatures, so she avenged their deaths as soon as she was able to.
But she was only one warrior, and there was only so much she could do. For every life she saved, at least two more were taken. Reyna hated to admit it, but she wasn't enough. Her sword arm was far from tired, but the numbers were overwhelming. They were emerging from the egg at unprecedented numbers, and she knew that it likely wouldn't be the only one. This was not a terrestrial threat.
She drew her focus back to the battle at hand, her sword bisecting several demons as she protected a small group of women and children. Her shield was covered in the ugly green ichor of the beasts, and it dripped down the blade of her sword. Reyna was almost certain there was some on her face and in her hair as well. She imagined it made quite the sight. What she didn't have to imagine was the knowledge that she was about to be overwhelmed. There were too many of the creatures, and only one of her.
She drew herself upright, flicked the blood off her sword, and prepared for a glorious last stand. Her deeds would echo in the halls of Olympus, and she'd be remembered for trying to help the innocent. It wasn't a bad way to go.
But it wasn't her time to go yet. As she charged the monsters, they were struck in the flank by a projectile moving fast enough to break the sound barrier. She blinked as the group that had been charging her literally vanished, only a spray of green mist indicating they had ever been present. And there, floating above her, was Praetor, the man who had helped bridge the peace between her and Perseus.
"Sorry it took so long to get here," he said, "I had to destroy one of these things in Moscow, then turned around and came straight here. Only three in the world, one in Russia, one here, and one over the Atlantic. They've already adapted since Moscow. I can hear the energy pulsing around this one. Some sort of shield."
"Magic," she nodded, "I can feel it. And we're surrounded, I thought you should know."
"I noticed," Praetor nodded, and she thought she heard a lilt of amusement in his voice, "but we're not alone anymore. Some…colleagues of ours are here, you could say."
"Colleagues?" She blinked, right as a large pillar of fire erupted on the other side of the Mall.
"That would be Vulcan," Praetor told her, "a pyromaniac with a heart of gold I found in Texas. He was very excited to be able to burn some bad guys."
Then, a roar filled the air, and an honest-to-the-gods dinosaur snatched one of the demons out of the air, while a large wisp of black smoke fractured into several and impaled even more of them. Reyna traced that to a small girl in a hooded cloak, only glowing green eyes visible underneath.
"That's Changeling and Sorceress," Praetor said, "from Canada and New Orleans, respectively. They're a duo. And finally, somewhere around here is—"
"You talk too much," a quiet voice came from behind her, and Reyna whirled, her sword drawn as she found herself looking at a short man in a dark, armoured bodysuit. There were no symbols, no eyeholes, nothing to indicate that he could even see. It was…disconcerting, "there's no strategy to their attack other than that they're snatching people off the streets and killing anyone who fights back. And I can't figure out why the last carrier is above the Pacific. If they were going for hard targets, Beijing would have been a better choice…"
"This is Ghost," Praetor introduced him, "and we can figure out why they're doing what they're doing later, for now, we need to get as many people to safety."
The Dinosaur in the distance shifted into something far smaller, flying above their heads before landing and changing back into human form, which came as a massive oriental man with a very squishy-looking face.
"Hi, we haven't met yet, I'm Frank," he said before blinking, "shoot, I'm Changeling, not Frank. Can we pretend I didn't say that?"
"Say what?" Reyna's lips quirked, and Frank—Changeling—looked immensely relieved.
"Oh, right, there's a bunch of these things coming from the Potomac, but they almost look as if they're running to the egg thing—"
"Carrier," Ghost corrected, "but you're right, my drone shows them fleeing the water. Why?"
"I can't imagine anything good," Changeling said, "they completely ignored Vulcan, and the other demons. Like they're scared."
"I think they are," Praetor cocked a head to the side, "I can hear…oh..."
"What—" Ghost never finished, because at that moment, the Potomac River exploded, a wave of glowing water overtaking a group of the demons and dragging them under.
One of them managed to escape the deluge, and was flying for safety when a golden object was flung out of the water, impaling the creature and sending it crashing down to the ground, where it was then pinned by a very familiar trident.
"Oh my," a soft voice said, as Sorceress joined them. She was young—very young, and looked at the Trident with awe, a hand reaching out for it, "that's very old magic."
"Yes, it is, and everyone else who's tried to touch it has cut themselves, so I'd suggest that you don't." Perseus strode from the river-front completely soaked, but with a cut on his forehead and chin. He yanked the Trident from the body of the demon, kicking it off with enough force to break the beasts face when it slammed against the concrete. "I'm very tired of these things trying to hurt people. How do we get rid of them?"
"Magic, I think," Sorceress said, "it's woven into the carrier, but I think something powerful enough to counter it could take down the shield. Maybe."
They all looked at the girl, and her head tilted down as if she was…oh. She was embarrassed.
"Good idea," Perseus said, and Sorceress looked at him with awe. He held up the Trident with one hand, "this was the artefact of a god, would it be powerful enough?"
"Excuse me, what?" Ghost turned on Perseus, "that belongs to a god?"
"I mean, technically it belongs to me, but it used to belong to a god," Perseus shrugged, "not the point, and I was asking the expert, not the midget in the armour."
"Oh, I, uh, yes, it should work?" Sorceress blinked.
Perseus grinned at her, "are you asking me or telling me?"
"Yes," she said more firmly, Perseus' natural charisma working it's magic, "it'll work."
"Damn, dude," the person who could only be Vulcan arrived, he was aflame as he set down, but the fires vanished at once, leaving a short, soot-covered man with impish features. "Nice fork."
"Trident," Perseus corrected tersely before stepping forward. He pointed the trident at the carrier, and for a moment, nothing happened.
"Hey man, everyone has performance issues sometimes," Vulcan teased, but that was when the first lightning strike happened, slamming into the magical shield around the carrier. The shield rippled but stayed in place. "Oh, damn son."
A second hand gripped the trident, and the next strike was not only more powerful, but consisted of multiple branches of lighting. Perseus' jaw was clenched so hard it looked painful, but he persisted. More and more lightning joined to the point where it wasn't even stopping, just pouring down electricity on the shields, crackling against them, popping loudly in the air. Then, something close to an explosion of energy occurred, blue magic spreading across the air before dissipating. Reyna blinked as she felt the shield fade, before a savage grin spread across her face.
"The enemy's walls are down," she said, "this would be the time to strike, no?"
"You guys go ahead," Perseus said, sagging down, only held upright by the trident, "that was…that was…that was something else."
"Are you alright?" Reyna asked as she slipped underneath his other arm.
"Yeah, just… a lot," he sighed, "I've been fighting non-stop for like, five hours now, and I had to swim from the middle of the Atlantic here. And that was after swimming from the Pacific to the Atlantic."
"Here," Sorceress stepped forward and pressed two fingers each on Perseus' temple. There was a warm glow, and the tension in his body seemed to vanish. "I've been waiting for the chance to use that on someone else. How do you feel?"
"Like I just had the world's greatest nap after eating the world's greatest cookies," Perseus blinked. "That was awesome. Thank you."
He pulled himself to his feet and looked at the carrier.
"So…" he said, "do we want to tear that thing up?"
"Oh, hells yeah," Vulcan grinned, "I think we might get along, water-boy."
"Call me water-boy again and I'll introduce you to my favourite sharks," Perseus warned, "let's go blow shit up then."
"Is swearing the way things are done in the man's world?"
"It's the way it's done in my world, babe," Vulcan winked.
"Oh gods, it's Travis Stoll all over again," Perseus swore under his breath. "Okay, I'm just going to…go kill some things."
He took a running start before leaping into the air. He reached about half the height needed, but a jet of water emerged from the reflection pool and he used that to bound the rest of the way. Reyna watched as he smashed an entrance into the metal, before looking at the others.
"You guys waiting for an invitation or something?" Praetor asked them, before flying upwards. Reyna quickly followed, and she allowed Praetor to make his own hole, while she entered the one that Perseus had gone through.
Immediately she was graced with an image of pure carnage. Bodies of the demons were strewn across the halls, the walls and floor and been ripped to shreds, and there were long streaks where it looked as if Perseus had dragged his Trident along the wall, often with a body on it.
This was something deeper than just a fight. This was anger, sorrow, and fear expressed through violence. This was a berserker rage. It was everything she had been warned about when it came to Atlanteans. It also contradicted everything she had been told, and seen, about Perseus. She followed the trail of bloodshed deeper into the bowels of the ship. When she finally reached Perseus, it was in the midst of another massacre. He had one of the demons pinned to the wall with the front of his trident, while the other was impaled on the haft, limp and dead. He twisted the trident as he removed it, letting the body fall to the ground. He didn't even look as he shoved the other body off.
"Perseus," she called out, and he looked over at her. There was nothing in his gaze. No rage, but also no horror. To him, this was simply a chore. She wasn't sure if that made it worse or not. "I will accompany you."
"There's no need," he said, "these ones either aren't warriors, or aren't their best. I passed rooms with captives, go help them."
"You misunderstand," she said firmly, staring him down, "I was not asking permission. I will accompany you."
"Fine," Perseus replied dismissively, "let's keep going then. This ship is almost designed like an Atlantean one, in its own way. The way the halls are designed, I mean. Very fluid. I guess flying and swimming aren't too dissimilar. I just don't know where it leads."
They heard an explosion in the distance, and more closely, a low rumbling. The rumbling became more pronounced, more spread out, and Reyna realised that it was thumping. Heavy thumping. It was above them for a moment, and Reyna thought she heard screams. Whatever Perseus heard, he thought it was amusing, because he snorted.
"I like this Changeling guy," he said, "he keeps apologising to the demons as he tramples them."
Reyna couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. It was funny. Perseus stared at her for a moment before smiling. Then he turned back to the hallway, head titled slightly upwards.
"If you're saying my name, lightning boy, I can barely hear it. I have better hearing than most, but it's not on your level." He spoke aloud. A moment later, the roof was torn open, and Praetor dropped in.
"Ghost found something we need to see. It's…not pretty." He told them.
"Wonderful," Perseus sighed, "lead the way."
They clambered through six levels of carnage before reaching Ghost. Changeling, Sorceress, and Vulcan had joined him at this point. It didn't escape Reyna's notice that Ghost's armour had suffered some damage, revealing pale skin underneath. In fact, except for herself, Praetor, and Perseus, the others looked somewhat fatigued.
"I was following the civilians taken from the street," Ghost explained, "down what's essentially a conveyor line. It led here."
"A broken conveyor line," Vulcan noted, "it's been blown up."
"That's because the civilians went in one side, and those demons we've been fighting came out the other."
Beside her, Perseus stiffened.
"Are you saying these were people?" He motioned to the still bodies around them, "these were innocent people?"
"Were being the operative phrase there," Ghost stressed, "they went in terrified and they came out with the intent to kill. Just because they were once human doesn't mean they are anymore."
"There has to be more of these," Perseus ignored Ghost's words, "they wouldn't be able to produce enough. We need to destroy this—now."
"I agree," Praetor nodded, "so how do we do that?"
"Like any ship, this one will have a power source," Perseus noted, "likely somewhere incredibly well protected. My guess is that it'll be in the core of the ship, right in the middle. There'll be a bridge, too, where information comes in. If we take the bridge and the power source, we control the ship."
"Does that make us pirates?" Vulcan asked.
Perseus looked like he was about to snap back at the man before pausing, a grin taking over his face.
"Actually," he said, looking far too excited, "I think it does. I always wanted to be a pirate. Let's go do pirate stuff. Praetor, take Ghost, Vulcan, and Sorceress with you to find the bridge. The Princess, Changeling and I will find the power source."
He flipped open a compartment on his left gauntlet and pulled out several beads, fiddling with a display that appeared from nowhere. She recognised the script as Atlantean, but she didn't know enough of the language to translate it.
"This is set to a private channel," he informed them, "it'll feel a little weird going in at first, but after a moment you won't notice that it's there. Don't mess with it. It'll allow us to talk with one-another."
They all took one of the beads, following Perseus' example when he removed his from his ear and then place it back in, cupping a hand over it. When Reyna did the same, there was a slight hiss, she felt the bead expand, securing itself snugly in place.
Perseus stepped into the next room.
"Can you hear me well enough?" He asked, voice strong in her ear.
They all replied in the affirmative, and the matter was settled. She and Changeling followed Perseus while Praetor dropped down one of the holes he had created, his group on his heels.
"I saw you in San Francisco!" Changeling blurted out after a while, and Perseus glanced over his shoulder, "you had just busted that human trafficking ship from Hawaii, and you followed it all the way to the bay. You're why I do this."
"I'm glad that something good has come from my actions," Perseus said after a moment, "I don't do what I do for selfless reasons. Mostly it's to keep the government off my back."
"That's a lie," Reyna said immediately, "I've seen you, Perseus. I wouldn't go as far to say I know you, but I watch. You have a good heart. It's just…scarred. Bitter. Don't sell yourself short."
"You're right," Perseus said, "youdon't know me."
There was silence again after that for several more minutes. Perseus raised a hand and pressed an ear to the wall. Then he rammed his trident into the floor, cutting right through the metal, and peeling it back, creating an opening to the floor below.
"There's a humming that's too steady to be anything but a generator, or maybe an engine. Regardless, I bet that's what we're looking for." He paused again, this time just placing his hand on the wall. "Something's coming. It's big and heavy, and…it's moving fast."
"Can we avoid it?" Reyna asked him.
"It's bearing down on us fast, it'll find us eventually," Perseus shook his head, "down a floor, keep going the way we were going. I'll delay it as long as I can."
"Perseus—" She tried, but he wasn't having it.
"Go," he said softly, "finish the fight."
Reyna hesitated, but conceded. She knew what battles she could win.
"Come," she said to Changeling, "we have a ship to capture."
He looked torn, but Perseus gave him a nod and a smile, which was enough.
"May the gods bless you, Perseus," she told him, before dropping down the hole he had made.
If he responded, she never heard it.
MMXX
So we've got the first meeting of the Seven, which is analogous to the Justice League or the Avengers. To sum up each member, we have Percy=Aquaman, Jason=Superman, Reyna=Wonder Woman, Nico=Batman, Hazel=Zatanna, Frank=Beast Boy, and Leo is a weird mix of Firestorm and/or the Human Torch from Marvel. If you didn't gather that Nico is Ghost, then ya need to re-read the scenes with him carefully. Anyway, I don't actually know what I'm going to call their little group, because while the Seven is a cool name, they won't stay as seven forever. Any help would be appreciated, so as always, leave a review and/or send me a PM!
Cheers, CombatTombat