This has been my favorite chapter to type so far.
Emperor Nero and his forces thought they had prepared adequately for an attack from Camp Half-Blood. The hundred and twelve-story building had been equipped to handle anything gods or mortals could attack with.
If it had only been the camp attacking, Nero would win ninety-nine percent of the time. He had planned for every scenario and had hundreds of backup plans.
Except it wasn't just Camp Half-Blood attacking. He was able to handle three attacks striking together, he hadn't planned for having blessed mortals, minor gods, and troglodytes launching attacks from the outside, inside, and underground simultaneous.
There was also the fact that Rachel was gaining control of her powers again. She was now having multiple visions every few minutes.
Of course, it also helped that the Makai had scared hundreds of workers away thinning their ranks. Floors one through twenty, had been emptied thanks to them and their siblings, the Hysminae and Neikia.
The Phonoi and Keres were terrorizing enemies in the stairwells or the elevator cars.
The Anemoi had split up and each claimed two floors for themselves. Boreas was having fun spreading his cold winds on floors twenty-one and twenty-two.
In the back of his mind, he was thankful that he had left his children back with his wife Oreithyia (goddess of mountain air). His wife had pointed out the kids would be attacking their allies given the chance. She would keep them chilled out!
Floors twenty-three and twenty-four belonged to Eurus. The winged god was enjoying himself as he created hot air to toss the Germani in all different directions.
Notus claimed floors twenty-five and twenty-six. His specialty was whipping up stormy weather. He was very pleased that he had enough power to cause a thunderstorm on all four floors.
Zephyrus was very busy on floors twenty-seven to twenty-nine. His gentle winds were tickling the mercenaries keeping them pinned. His wife, Chloris (goddess of flowers) would be pleased he was protecting their many times' great-grandson Peaches' friends.
The Graces had taken over floor twenty-nine. Aglaia (goddess of beauty), was working her way through the different offices of the remaining employees.
She used her beautiful and caring nature to lower the guard of the employees. That's when her sisters, Euphrosyne (goddess of merriment) and Thaleia (goddess of festivity) would come up from behind. They would use their powers to lightly knock out the workers.
The Hours were on floor thirty dispersing out their brand of justice against the pandai. Eunomia, (goddess of lawful conduct) was doing her best to force the big-eared individuals to stop attacking.
Her sisters, Dike, (goddess of justice), and Eirene, (goddess of peace) were using their symbols, a set of scales and a scepter, to fight back. Dike was swinging her scales around beaming anyone that got too close.
Likewise, Eirene kept tapping the creatures with her scepter to make them give up peacefully. Since she lacked a symbol, she picked up a ruler in one of the offices to use as a weapon.
There were mad dashes to get off of floor thirty-one. The Erotes were flying around shooting their deadly love arrows everywhere. Eros was not the leader of the group for this mission because of his stunt against Nico the year before.
Instead, Anteros, (God of mutual love), was in charge. He lined up an arrow and shot two Germani before vanishing. Hedylogos (God of flattery) appeared using his charisma to talk the Germani down.
Nearby, Pothos (God of longing passion) was working with Himeros, (God of sexual desire), to redirect the mercenaries into janitor closets to live out a fantasy in their minds.
Only one had faded from this group. Hymenaeus the God of Weddings had faded away centuries ago. The Christians God had taken his place.
Floors thirty-two to forty-one belonged to one of the nine Muses. The goddess of the arts and inspiration were ingeniously using their gifts to handle several monsters that had been unleashed.
Calliope used epic poetry to counter the Leucrocotta's voice mimicry. Clio was reading the complete history of poetry to a Catoblepas so the beast wouldn't lift its head. Euterpe used her double flute to perform her lyric poetry to keep the lamiae off balance.
Thallia was acting in a funny skit for some Artabititae. Melpomene was monologuing the tragedy of her siren daughters to a Hippalectryon. Terpsichore enjoyed having a dance party with a dracaena.
Erato was causing the blemmyae to riot as she recited love poems with mentions of sexual acts. Polyhymnia's performance of religious hymns caused the telchines to sob. Urania was giving an astronomy lesson to a few directionally challenged cyclopes.
Floors forty-two and forty-three were occupied by the Litae and Menea. They were combining their forces to modify Zeus's view of the battle. This allowed the C and D list gods/goddesses to assist while giving the appearance of indirect action.
The Asclepiades had gained control of floors forty-four to forty-nine. They were using the floors as triage areas. A few of the harpies from camp had come to their aid by snatching soldiers who got too close to the triage area.
Outside, the Winged Enforcers: Bia, Nike, Kratos, and Zealos (force, victory, strength, and rivalry), were doing their best to keep unwanted media attention from reaching the building.
On street level, the Oneiroi were doing the same thing. They also gave bad dreams to the police when they got too close to the building. Nero needed not to get any more help than he already had.
The minor gods and goddesses had scattered to assist Camp Half-Blood, who had taken control of the terrace which wrapped around the entire fiftieth floor. Chiron was giving orders to the campers from a makeshift command center.
Meanwhile, the Acolytes and Champions were keeping Nero's forces from reclaiming control of the balcony and command center.
On the terrace, Chui happened to glance up and saw Germani troops repelling down the side of the building. Aiming his crossbow, he fired three shots.
The bolts hit their targets fraying the ropes. He brought his lantern up and guided the sacred flames to point of the bolts. He fired again and this time the bolts sliced through the rope cleanly.
He swung his lantern away so he didn't have to see the immortal Germani fall to the grounds. He let out a hiss of pain as a bolt from one of the Germani's crossbow nicked him in the shoulder.
Chui ignored the pain and weaved between the fighting. Gripping his fire poker tightly, he swung it at the Germanus. The soldier's weapon fell out of his now broken hands.
The Acolyte of Stately Order kicked the man in the chest taking him out of the fight. He felt his patron's aura surround him as he tapped into his blessing
A group of mortal security guards was rushing him. He straightened up and spoke in a booming voice, "STOP RIGHT THERE!" The security forces stopped abruptly.
"WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMIES, THE GERMANI ARE! STOP THEM FROM HURTING ANY KIDS!" The guards turned about-face and hurried to stop some Germani who were attacking the Hypnos's kids.
Heather had set the terrace railing ablaze with her lantern. The flames grew higher as they started to form a protective barrier around the terrace to keep outside forces from attacking those on it.
She was currently fighting against two Imperial demigods. Each one carried a set of golden scimitars. Heather did her best to block the attacks with her fire poker and seax. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she pushed back.
"Surrender to the Imperial Household mortal! You have no chance against trained demigods," the male demigod demanded. His dimachaeri style allowed him to evade her knife strikes.
The blond teenager remembered the time Meg had attacked Sherman and Connor at the pavilion. The gladiator style called for getting in close to fight effectively.
There was one disadvantage to fighting so closely and Heather took it. When the boy attacked her again, she let the blades dig into the lamellar armor on her right arm. This left her left arm free to stab her poker through the boy's right foot.
The demigod screamed as he pinwheeled on his injured foot. Heather shoved him away so he crashed into his partner, a female demigod. The girl lost her grip on one of her scimitars.
The Acolyte of Family slid past the demigods and managed to snag the falling weapon. She quickly drove it into the girl's shoulder to prevent her from using her other blade.
Spying her friend Julia nearby without her weapon, the teenager called out to her. "Julia, catch!" She tossed the scimitar as hard as she could.
The daughter of Hermes caught it. With a nod of thanks, she rushed into battle to protect her younger siblings.
Heather looked around and decided against using her blessing at that moment. It was too early in the battle to renew her family's strength.
Iggy rode on top of the transformed Xylon. The half lion/half pig hybrid was having a lot of fun with the Germani. He was stomping them or chewing them as he swung his weight around.
Iggy was having a grand time as well. Whenever Xylon attacked, Iggy's signal whip would lash out, either knocking weapons out of enemy hands or just frightening them enough to be overtaken.
The Acolyte of Symbolism's blessing was bubbling under the surface as he used it minimally. A few mercenaries had been turned into statues of Hestia. Hopefully, his blessing wouldn't run out for a bit.
Sidonia was holding back a few cynocephali after using her blessing to conjure up temporary hearths with her candle collection. The wolf-headed beings would snarl and try to jump over the candles, only to be burned by the flames.
"Take that! Go home doggies! Leave this city!" she called out as she used her club to strike their muzzles. The Acolyte of the Hearth would have felt bad about it if the cynocephali weren't trying to tear her hand off. Where was Animal Control when you needed them?
Eunice was doing her best to keep the security guards swarming the far side of the terrace. She had managed to jam one of the emergency doors with her fire poker.
Her lantern was also hanging on the doorknob to the doors leading out to the terrace on this side. The guards who tried to open them got their hands burnt. Now she was just dealing with the twenty who had managed to make it out to the terrace.
One of the guards had shouted a list of obscenities at her when he attempted to hit her. The Acolyte of the Domestic Arts had yelled back it was time for him to clean up his act.
Her aura flared brightly as she summoned every cleaning product, broom, and mop throughout the building. The items had torn through the floors creating small holes as they went.
At the moment several of the security guards were being beaten by brooms, having mops push the humans into buckets, or evading spraying chemicals. Eunice was engaged in a personal fight against the rude guard.
"Your robot vacuums will run out of power soon enough *****! If you know what's good for you, you'll **** surrender yourself," the guard informed as he got a creepy look in his eyes.
He swung his baton at her and she sidestepped him. She brought up her hammer and took a swing at his head. Eunice's missed her mark and got smacked across the face.
Blood spurted out of her broken nose. Despite the injury, she was not giving up.
Maui kicked off the wall and flipped over two Germani. He had lost his fire poker earlier. He was reduced to using his Ihe to protect himself. These Germani were a lot tougher than the ones he had encountered before.
"A Koa warrior never gives up!" Maui shouted as he charged them. The Germani were waiting for him to get close enough to grab his spear. However, the young boy stopped short swept his weapon across the ground.
The guards weren't expecting that. As they hopped up to avoid it, Maui called on us blessing. He pulled out a model of the climbing wall from the camp.
He shot-put it and watched it grow in size until it was just big enough to squash the men. The Acolyte of Architecture pumped his fist in victory before returning to the fight.
The Champions were inside guarding Chiron as he called out orders to the campers. Each young one was paired with an older sibling to keep them safe.
Sherman Yang was busy trying to force some of the security guards out into the hall. His new little half-sister Everette was assisting him as she tried to use her dagger to slash.
She was overcompensating and Sherman kept having to protect her left flank. "Everette! Watch your left flank already!"
"I'm trying!" she snarled back as she took her eyes off her opponent.
The security guard shoved his taser into her stomach shocking her. "AAHH!"
The guard bent down slightly to taser the girl again. Before he could, Uma's valari hit the guy's head. He reached up and his fingers touched blood.
He angrily rose to his feet intending to taser his attacker into submission. What he got was a face full of pepper spray making his eyes water. He turned to get away and ran into a chair before crashing into the floor.
The Champion of Marriage dashed to Everette's side. The girl seemed fine and was shaking off the tasering. Her eyes went wide at something behind the Champion.
Uma's blessing activated and without looking behind her she used it. The Imperial demigod started choking as the invisible Mangala Sutra tightened around his neck.
Everette slashed the demigod's heel tendons, taking him out of the fight. Both girls grinned at each other.
Wyatt and Leilani were fighting on opposite sides of the room. Both the Champions, of Emotions and Womanhood, were doing their best to provide cover for the older campers to help keep the younger ones safe.
Wyatt had discarded his pistol when it ran out of ammo. Instead, he was using his cuirassier armor to protect him as he pushed his way into a skirmish between three Germani against two daughters of Aphrodite.
The girls were trying to use the demigod abilities to make the Germani turn into lovers and not fighters. It was not working.
Wyatt saw two of the Germani grab the girls then shoved them to their knees. The third one raised a sword to cut off their heads!
"NO!" Wyatt shouted as his blessing turned all his emotions into raw power. He aimed his rondel at the Germanus with the sword then thrust it forward.
A brilliant white light containing his and his patron's emotions tore through the Germanus's neck. Wyatt repeated his actions twice to free the girls. "Find your older siblings, now!"
The girls did as he asked running towards their big brother Mitchel. Satisfied they were safe, the Champion plunged into battle once more.
Leilani swiped a water bottle off Chiron's bag as he galloped by. After quickly re-hydrating the teenager used her backup weapon, three darts dipped in frangipani sap to save a child of Hermes from becoming an amputee.
"Thanks!" the girl yelled. Leilani simply nodded before loading her primary weapon, her slingshot with her metal balls. She aimed her weapon at an Imperial demigod with a lighter.
She let the balls fly and to her satisfaction, they knocked the lighter out of the demigod's hand. That gave the dryad a chance to move her tree to safety. She decided to use her blessing to empower all the dryads with girl power.
The Champions of Motherhood, Heavens, and Glory had managed to get into the hallway before separating into different rooms to aid the other groups or the troglodytes.
Tino came into one of the offices swinging his macahuitl cutting a swarm of flying snakes in half. The troglodytes rushed over and stuffed their faces with the new delicacies.
The thirteen-year-old stood his ground as more flying snakes entered the office. As he fought them off, he saw the monsters were coming out of the overhead vent.
"Cover your mouths!" he shouted as he threw his smoke bombs into the air vent. The flying snakes stopped coming out of the vents now that they were disoriented.
"Are you okay?" he asked the troglodytes. They gave the boy an amused look as if they should be asking him that.
Tino mentioned he had seen a sign for an employee lounge a few doors down. The trogs could store their snacks in the mini-fridge if they wanted before searching for more hats.
The troglodytes cheered in delight before heading off to do just that. Tino sighed and trudged after them, ready to use his blessing if the need arose.
Vitas was glad his mother wasn't here. She would not enjoy seeing him using his backup weapon, a kunai to blind people.
He flew with his peacock wings unleashing cosmic energy to anything electrical he passed. Twisting in midair, he went down a different corridor using his pyeongon to clear a path for the heroes.
Orlanda was having fun with the troglodytes. They had never seen a blind warrior before. The Goball player detached two more balls and with precision aim hit the Germani right between the legs.
"Ha, ha, ha! Come and get me!" she taunted her enemies. They came after her alright. She waited until they were a foot away before whistling loudly.
A flying pig plushy barrow rolled down the corridor carrying a small group of trogs. They jumped off the enchanted stuffed animal and tackled the Germani so hard, they were shoved into the floor.
The preteen enjoyed stepping on their faces as she used her cane to navigate down the hall. She wasn't going to use her blessing until she absolutely needed to.
"Alright, my new teammates. Where do we go next to have more fun?"
It was chaotic on floor fifty-one. Isra had summoned Griff's pack and a few local griffins with her whistle. The princess of griffins was issuing orders to them.
"Griff! Make sure those elevator doors can't open! Brianna, take out the lasers! Watch out for traps!" Isra shouted as one of the griffins narrowly escaped being dropped through a trapdoor to the incinerator.
A Germanus tackled her from the side before wrapping his hands around her neck in a choke hold.
The girl thrashed trying to break free. Black spots started appearing in her eyes as it got harder to breathe.
Isra faintly heard a griffon screeching. A few seconds later she could breathe again.
Taking some deep breaths, she beheld the carnage around her. Two local griffins had torn the Germanus in half. One of them was already feasting on the man's intestines.
"Are you okay Princess Isra?" the local griffin asked.
"My throat is sore, but I can still fight. Can you take me to the central corridor? I want to check for more traps."
The beast kneeled and let the teenager climb aboard. With a flap of its mighty wings, the duo was in the air. The griffin smashed through doorways and clawed through aerial obstacles.
Arriving at their destination, the local griffin hovered as Isra pulled out her Mother's Mirror of Truth. In the last few months, she had learned to wield the relic without injury.
She could use it four times in one day now. Any more and she risked blowing up. "Show me where all the secret traps are on this floor."
The mirror glowed and the mirror's reflection revealed where all the traps were. Pulling out a paper and pen, Isra quickly drew a map of every trap's location.
She called out for her friend, "Brianna!"
The female griffin came zooming down the corridor. A piece of metal dangling from her beak. "Yes, Princess Isra?"
"Take these plans to my mom and Quieta. They'll show them where the traps are located. Make sure they know to be careful!"
Once Brianna soared away, Isra gently squeezed her legs. "Come on, I know where a lot of metal weapons are. I'm sure your hungry for a snack." The griffins cheered as they took off in another direction.
Quieta was with her godmother Hesykhia. They were working with four other daemons: Eucleia (reputation), Eupheme (acclaimed and praise), Euthenia, (prosperity), and lastly Philophrosyne (friendliness.).
The four sisters were the daughters of Hephaestus and his second wife Aglaia. They were sometimes called the younger Graces.
Hesykhia was using her powers to keep their footsteps from being heard as they made their way down a corridor. According to the blueprints Rachel had, there was a secret room behind the wall at the end of the corridor.
It was important to see what was hiding there. Quieta took the lead keeping her battle fans ready. They were coming up on a juncture and she signaled for the group to stop.
The teenager pressed herself up against the wall. Inching forward, she took a quick peek down the hall. She quickly pulled back when she saw the danger coming.
Lycanthropes! Nero must have captured them after Lycaon was sent back through the Doors. We have five heading our way right now!
Hesykhia told her goddaughter to stand behind her and let the other goddesses handle the lycanthropes. Knowing this wasn't the time to argue, the teenager did as she was asked.
The four sisters looked at each other coming up with a plan. Once they had one, they jumped out into the open. The wolves howled in delight. Getting into formation the proto- werewolves attacked with ferociousness.
Eupheme teleported behind one of the wolves. She yanked on its tail and then let out a little shriek as the creature turned to snap at her. The lycanthrope swiped one of his paws at her.
The goddess leaned back so only the bottom part of her dress was torn. Displeased, the beast launched himself at her throat.
Eupheme protected her face and throat with her forearms. She screamed as the creature tore at her arms causing ichor to drip. She needed to get back to her feet.
She managed to kick the beast off of her. Springing to her feet the goddess attacked. "You will not kill me so easy beast. I am a goddess and I'm much stronger than I look!"
She started shouting and clapping loudly. She was praising her parents' accomplishments. She then moved on to cheering on her sisters in their fights. The more she did this, the weaker the beast became.
Eucleia was wrestling against her wolf and fighting dirty. Not something you would expect from the goddess of reputations.
The goddess bit down on the wolf's ear as she tried to rip it off. The lycanthrope rolled across the floor trying to throw her off. Eucleia refused to let go.
She used her weight to cause the wolf to roll in the opposite direction. Now she was directly on top of the beast. The wolf snapped its jaws at her and managed to pull out a large chunk of hair.
"You're going to wish you hadn't done that!"
Euthenia was quickly learning that a lycanthrope had the advantage over her because of its strength and speed. The goddess stumbled around trying to avoid being bitten.
The lycanthrope bit her in the butt before she could get out of the way. "OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWDCCCCHHH!" It was a good thing she was a goddess or she would have been turned.
She exploded with the immeasurable wraith. A burst of divine power vaporized both her wolf and the one attacking her sister Philophrosyne.
Philophrosyne blinked a few times. She had never witnessed her sister's raw power like that before. "Warn me a little next time sister. I don't want to be vaporized along with your target."
Meanwhile, the last wolf had chased after Hesykhia and Quieta when they tried to slip past the juncture unseen. They were now up against the wall they had been searching for. The problem was they didn't know where the secret doorknob was.
While the goddess searched, Quieta used her two tessen to keep the beast at bay. Using one fan she could block a bite and use the other to club the creature on the head.
When the lycanthrope went for her leg, she managed to catch its muzzle between the two fans. Quieta unfurled her tessen causing the creature to yelp in pain.
The tips of the fan had punctured the face in different places. Breaking free, the wolf ran away to tend to his injuries.
Quieta relaxed a smidge. Just because the lycanthrope had run off didn't mean it wouldn't come back.
She heard her godmother let out a series of ancient curse words. She quickly turned around and brought her hand over her mouth.
The secret room was apparently a holding area for monsters. Not even regular monsters.
Nero had gotten creative and started trying to create his own chimeras.
There was a hippocampi whose tail was replaced with the legs of sphynx. There was a hell hound who had bull horns growing out of his head.
Other hybrids included three hydra heads that were attached to a centaur body. One monster had tiny crab legs with a huge serpentine body.
The most painful one was seeing a unicorn who was half boar with tusks. The creature cried pitifully.
The duo didn't know what to do. These hybrids had been engineered killing machines. If they set them free it was likely they would attack their rescuers. However, neither one had the heart to leave them there.
While they debated what to do, Aletheia was enlightening the mortal security guards who their boss really was. Normally she would never use her powers to undo what the Mist conjured. Right now, she was willing to make an exception.
"Listen to me, please! You don't truly see what is happening here. Your boss is a man that died centuries ago! He is using you to destroy the world as you know it!"
The guards ignored her as they reached for their sidearms. The goddess of truth dispersed her power into the air. The Mist dissolved revealing what was truly going on around them.
The guards were blinking in confusion as they witnessed a demigod use a Celestial Bronze dagger to kill a lycanthrope near the threshold of an office. The goddess Hedone (pleasure and enjoyment), was manipulating the Germani to enjoy the pleasure of not fighting, further down the hall.
A few mercenaries were using whips to force the Cercopes monsters to steal weapons and shields from campers. Once they were disarmed, the creatures would jump on them and tried to strangle their target.
"This madness is because your boss Emperor Nero desires to become a full god. Right now, he is torturing a child! A child who watched him murder her father and no one stopped him!"
Aletheia pushed her powers to their limits as she made the security guards relieve the experience of Nero's victims. The harrowing experience caused each of the guards to break down.
"Do not continue on this path! You need to own your actions! Try to make things right for those who were harmed by your ignorance."
The goddess used her powers to gently move the squad into a nearby office and shut the door. They would need time to recover. The middle of a battlefield wasn't the ideal place for that.
Floor fifty-two wasn't as chaotic as the last two floors. This floor didn't have any living enemies on it. Instead, the campers along with Brooke and Ulster were dealing with automatons.
Brooke was wearing her magical armor and her hero aura was the brightest it had ever been. Beside her, Ulster was in his hero form. The duo had moved away from the campers so she could use her deadliest weapon without fear.
The lethal Gáe Bulg had already taken out a dozen automatons. Normally, Brooke would have to cut the spear out of the enemy to retrieve it. With the automatons, she simply had to yank hard for it to come out.
Ulster howled as his fiery paws took out three automatons before he jumped on one and tore its head off. He was then dog-piled by a group of automatons determined to kill him.
It was a big mistake since you should never dog-pile a supernatural dog. Ulster threw them all off his body with the strength in his pony-sized body.
He whirled around a few times letting the flames build up to form a shield. Hidden doors in the walls opened as automatons made in Caligula's image came out.
They started firing live rounds. Between the ordinary bullets, there were ones coated in the three magical metals. Ulster barked a warning for his person.
Brooke heard it and dropped down behind Dubán. The magical shield was able to withstand the bullets similar to how it withstood the passage of time. "Ulster, watch out!"
Her hound rushed through the bullets. They recoiled off his armor as he increased his speed. The dog focused on his target as he got ready to use a power he never had before. Generally, because it wasn't very suitable in battle.
When he was two feet away from the Caligula automatons Ulster leaped into the air. He opened his mouth and vomited wine on the machine men. Landing behind them he wonder if his plan worked.
The automatons were liquid proof so they didn't break down when they were saturated. However, that wasn't why he had done it. Ulster had used this power to give his mistress a chance to get to her feet.
"Ulster, fetch!" Brooke called out as she hurled Gáe Bulg towards him. The deadly weapon went straight through all the Caligula automatons causing them to explode.
Once the smoke cleared, Ulster trotted to his mistress. He was carefully carrying the spear in his mouth to avoid injuring himself.
"Good boy Ulster! Yes, you're a good boy! The best dog a girl could ask for," Brooke told him once she secured the spear in its sheath. She switched to her sword, Cruaidín Catutchenn, as she prepared to rejoin the others on the floor.
"The Victor Twins might like my spear, but at least if you cut them by accident, it won't be fatal," the warrior woman whispered to herself.
"Woof!" Ulster agreed. He hope those crazy twins didn't try to ride him like a horse. Both warrior and hound let out their battle cries as they headed off to help the others.
Floor fifty-three was the start of the residential floors for the building's full-time inhabitants. First were the kids and the next floor was for the various slaves/servants. Several floors were homes for Nero's soldiers.
There were a variety of training rooms, libraries, and lounges for relaxing. Not to mention mega crazy rooms billionaires like to use as trophy galleries.
The elevator was the only way to reach the throne room on floor one hundred and twelve. As Malcom had predicted, these floors were the ones most heavily guarded.
Raquel and her soldiers had been separated when the automatic defenses had activated the security gates. Each one was dealing with their own dangers. Instead of panicking they kept calm.
They were not as green as Chiron suspected them to be. Sure, they had only been in one battle and just started legionnaire training. They compensated for that with their survival instincts from living on the streets.
Currently, Raquel was fighting against three hybrid monsters. They were a cross between the Nemean Lion and Diomedes flesh-eating horses.
The creature's legs were that of the lion. The rest of the body was equine. Instead of a horse's mane, tail, and teeth, they had been switched out with lion traits.
The teenager ran towards a wall with the beast following her. She manage to get up a few steps then flipped backward. The lion-horse missed her by mere centimeters.
Raquel landed on the creature's rump causing it to whinny. It bucked and threw her off. She quickly rolled out of the way to avoid being stomped. Getting back on her feet she scanned the beast for any weakness she could exploit.
I can't get through the mane it's too dense. Its skin is very thick, but not impenetrable. I'm not strong enough to wrestle it nor can I overpower it without help.
Maybe I need to think of a different labor Herakles did. Wait, his sixth one! He used a river to clean the stables of Augeias! Maybe I can use water to help me.
The creature smacked her on her right side with enough force to cause her to skid up against the gates. The creature growled as it smelled the girl's blood.
The girl pressed her hand against her side and hissed. The lion-horse claws had penetrated several skin layers. She was losing blood and knew she had to put pressure on it.
Right now, that wasn't an option. Raquel needed to end this quickly. How was she going to flood this space?
She hadn't seen any signs of a sprinkler system. That didn't mean there weren't water pipes in the walls. The residential area would have the most of them since the showers, baths, and pool were on the upper levels.
"Come on you overgrown colt! See if you can get me!" she called out as she edged along the wall. She watched the beast as it stalked closer with its horse head displaying the creature's fangs.
Raquel watched the lion-horse eyes, knowing they would tell her when it was about to attack. Shuffling another few steps, she heard the sound she had been searching for.
The monster launched itself at the teenager. Time slowed down as it had in New Rome. Raquel stood still as the beast came closer to deliver its killing bite. As it got closer, she slowly slid down the wall to the carpet.
When the beast was above her, she slid across the floor on her bloody side to get out of the way. Time resumed its normal flow as the lion-horse claws were stuck in the drywall.
Pulling out her gladius, she swung it in a wide arc. The lower part of the creature's tail was severed. The beast didn't die though.
It ripped free from the wall exposing the water pipe. With no time to think, Raquel sent her gladius spinning through the air.
The lion-horse ducked and whinnied as if it was taunting her. Raquel held her side as she smirked at something behind the beast. Her gladius had cut straight through the pipe and now the area was flooding with water.
The lion-horse found himself in a pickle. He had the large lungs of the horse to maintain buoyancy. Along with the creature's endurance to swim for nearly thirty minutes.
The sad part was with paws instead of hoofs, the creature wasn't able to stay afloat. Lions were designed for the land, not the water. They also only swam in the shallows because their hair was added weight causing them to sink.
Raquel was trying to stay alive as she watched the creature start to drown. Her vision was becoming blurry so she couldn't tell if the creature's hide would remain behind.
If it didn't then she would have nothing to fix the pipe with. Meaning the water pressure would build until the glass shattered.
Raquel could tread any longer. She was sinking beneath the water and had no strength to swim up. Right before everything went black, she thought she saw someone appear in the water.
The teenager didn't ever expect to wake up again, but she did. The area was completely dry and there was no sign of the monster.
Someone was patting her on the back, encouraging her to cough up the rest of the water. Raquel heaved as the last of the water came out.
"You're very lucky I was nearby," a mature voice said. Her rescuer walked in front of her and offered a warm towel.
Raquel recognized her from a picture from one to books back home. She was Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth
The goddess looked like her mother. Yet, she did appear to have inherited Zeus's sternness. "I'm not an expert when it comes to healing, but sewing your wound shut was just like the old days."
"Thank you for saving my life, Lady Eileithyia."
The goddess smiled at being called a lady. "I'm glad I was able to help you, child. You need to dry yourself then rest shortly. Even with your wound healed, you need to wait until you regain your strength."
"I'm not going to argue with the original OB-GYM." Raquel hoped the others were doing well.
Two blast doors down, Roselyn was doing his best to avoid becoming bird food. He was facing off against a scarier version of the Caucasian Eagle, the very bird that at Prometheus liver over and over.
Roselyn held up his shield as he made a blind stab at the creature. Its screeching voice let him know he missed.
Roselyn had met the giant eagles at Camp Jupiter. They were intimidating, but he hadn't felt like they wanted to eat him.
This one was even bigger and he wondered how it could maneuver so well in a tight space. The creature's beak was covered in Imperial Gold as were its monstrous talons.
The boy ducked as one of those talons ripped his shield away. The creature lunged for him. He jumped onto the eagle's foot. The creature screeched as it swung its foot around trying to detach the irritating human.
Roselyn held tightly as he could to the eagle's leg. The spicules were a blessing and a curse for him.
He could hold on tight because of the spicules. The problem was the skin was cutting into his palms. A trickle of blood was running down the leg causing the boy to slip slightly.
"Settle down, settle down please! I've always been kind to eagles!" Roselyn wailed as the swinging got more intense.
The giant bird didn't want to cooperate. He ducked his head as the bird tried to grab him with its other foot. He felt the talons cut the top part of his hair off.
"At least it's only a buzz cut. AHHHHH! I got to get off this bird!" It was too dangerous to stay on the creature's leg.
Somehow, he had to climb up the bird's leg and find his way to the back. From there he could crawl to the beast's head and use his net to force the bird to land.
He started to climb as the eagle decided to fly up to the ceiling. It probably thought he could be scraped off. The teenager forced himself to pick up speed.
The eagle started to turn and he nearly lost his grip. The creature was bringing up his leg. Roselyn had no choice, but to jump forward.
The eagle cried out as the discomfort moved from its leg to its belly. Deciding to land, it used its beak to start preening its feathers. It would find that irritating human quickly.
Roselyn was scrambling to avoid the eagle's beak. The sharp point grazed his arm. He lost his hold and fell to the ground.
The giant eagle hopped around until it spotted the kid on the floor. Letting out a triumphant trill, it moved to swallow the teenager whole.
Yet that didn't happen. Instead, it smashed its beak on the floor. The bird of prey began to flap its wings widely as the pain got stronger.
It didn't even see a net being thrown at its head. The eagle screeched as it went crazy trying to get the net off, but it grew heavier. The beast didn't understand why.
Roselyn was sheltered behind Feronia (wildlife). The pure Roman goddess was shrinking the bird until it was the size of an ordinary bald eagle. The young woman walked over and gently freed the creature from the net.
"Calm down, your safe now. No one is going to hurt you. I promise," Feronia assured the eagle. The bird instantly relaxed in her arms. "I apologize for leaving during this battle. This eagle needs to be set free before it becomes stressed further."
"I understand Lady Feronia. Thank you for the assist," the teenager said as he held out his hand.
Feronia took his hand and shook it. "You're very welcome. Good luck with the rest of the battle Orbona's chosen." The goddess faded away leaving Roselyn alone.
Raquel and Roselyn's other friends were fighting side by side with minor Roman deities. The kids were determined to avenge the deaths of their fallen community members through honor.
LaShawna was working with the goddess Numeria (counting). Lashawna's shoulder still bothered her a little from the attack on New Rome, but it wasn't slowing her down.
She handled her long hasta spear with ease. She thrust it into the stomach of three Germani and pulled it back out. The wounded soldiers wobbled for a few seconds before fainting.
"That's for Jamal and Jackson!" she informed her unconscious enemies. "Numeria, how many more soldiers left?"
"At least sixteen! Shall I count down as they fall?" The goddess asked curiously.
"Indeed!"
Chesnau was assisting Devera, (midwife protector), as they swept fought against actual security robots. Not automatons, but the state-of-the-art security bots.
Chesnau rolled out the way as a robot shot at him. Devera stopped one bullet, but the other robots were already firing more rounds at the boy.
He blocked the shots with a Celestial Bronze shield he had borrowed from the armory at Camp-Half blood. He pushed forward as he listened to the robots moving in different directions.
"Lady Devera! It's time to sweep the floor!"
"I always do enjoy sweeping away evil," the goddess sassed. She conjured a large broom and started sweeping the robots off their wheels.
Chesnau would use his spatha to pierce the metal before twisting it to create a hole. With great pleasure, he would rip out the wires before cutting the machine in half.
"That's for my best friend Japa!" he snarled.
Delora was not having an easy time. When she had been blocked off from the others, hidden hydraulics had started pushing the ceiling down on top of her. The doors weren't budging.
The space she was trapped in was just an empty section of the hallway. There was no furniture to slow down the ceiling. Her bow and arrows were not going to make a dent in the blast doors.
"If there is any deity nearby, I could use some help right now! Please, someone, come help me!"
As soon as she said that a powerful force pushed the ceiling back into position. The blast door next to her opened revealing Mena, (menstruation).
"I'm always happy to help a woman out. Especially if she asks nicely."
Jaime was struggling to get the door to his section open. His movements were sluggish. The zone he was trapped in was being pumped with an unknown gas.
He coughed again and tried once again to shove the blast door up. It wasn't working. He gasped trying to breathe in the air only to cough badly as the gas filled his lungs.
"Lady Mefitis, cough, I pray for cough, cough, help! Please, save my, cough, cough, life." He fell unconscious believing he would never wake up.
Mefitis heard his prayer and appeared in the room. She had never thought she would be invoked by anyone from New Rome. When her daughter Mimi nearly destroyed the city for revenge, she had expected to fade away.
Raising her hands, she started pulling the gas into her body. Since she was a goddess, it didn't hurt her in any way. Taking a deep breath she released the purified air back out.
She knelt next to Jaime and gently shook him awake. "Are you okay child?"
The kid coughed a few times and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm okay. Thanks for helping me." He let Mefitis help him stand up.
"I would be honored if you joined me in taking down Nero's forces."
Mefitis smiled and told him she would be happy to join him.
Apollo burst into Meg's bedroom with an arrow drawn. He expected to see the bedroom the same as it had been during his astral visit. Instead, it looked like the room had never been a mini jungle.
The furniture had all been replaced. The holes in the wall were gone. The giant corpse flower was nowhere to be seen.
That made him extremely angry. Meg had worked hard to grow that floor inside the building. It seemed wrong to take it away.
Next to the bed on the nightstand was a laptop. A sticky note was attached to the lid. It asked him to open the lid for a video call.
He was about to open it when Sonya and Screech-Bling entered the room. The teenager looked like she had run two marathons. Screech-Bling was wearing six new hats.
"Where's Meg?" Sonya asked between gasping for air.
"I'm about to find out. Both of you get out of sight. We can't let Nero know you're here."
The troglodyte with surprising gentleness guided Sonya out of sight. They listened closely as Apollo and Nero talked harshly to one another.
"You should give up Nero. Your tower is under siege and your forces are being depleted by the second."
"You think I'm concerned about that? I can always build another tower. Maybe I'll make Camp Half-Blood my retreat. Your friends did leave the camp defenseless."
Apollo laughed at him. "You still think you can take the camp for yourself? News flash, the camp is never completely deserted. I trust the nature spirits and my sister's Hunters are winning right now."
"They won't last for long. No one will be returning to the camp alive I assure you. Not when I have Sassanid gas on my side."
Sonya felt Screech-Bling trying to jump out of his shoes. His grip tightened around his wrist. He sneered in anger.
"It was an ingenious weapon designed by the Persians. Sulfur, bitumen, and other deadly ingredients. Highly poisonous causes excoriating pain to anyone who is exposed to it. In close quarters it can kill entire armies in a matter of minutes."
"You really are crazy! Everyone in the tower will die, including your troops and the Imperial Children!"
Nero looked very smug on the other end of the call. "My children and I will be safe. My throne room is completely sealed off from the rest of the building. It even has its own ventilation system."
Nero chuckled as he stated if Apollo hadn't pushed him to this point, he wouldn't have to make an example by killing everyone. "A father has to make difficult choices I'm afraid. Showing I will not let bad people corrupt my children is a good place to start."
Apollo couldn't believe he was hearing this. Nero sounded like he believed in his lies. The only corrupt force was Nero himself.
"Where is Meg?" he demanded. "I want to see her now."
"You can see her. I'll give you fifteen minutes to crawl your way up here to visit her. If you fail to get here on time or bring someone with you, then I'll release the Sassanid gas killing everyone."
He paused as if he was just remembering something. "Oh, I also added something special to the gas. Something my scientist cooked up in the lab. A virus that targets anyone with ichor in their veins."
"What?" Apollo asked as his face drained of color. Nero looked pleased by the reaction he caused.
"Yes, anyone one with ichor will also be killed by the virus as it destroys them from the inside out. I learned from my colleagues' mistakes. Make sure you get rid of every god you encounter."
Sonya felt numb listening to this. A virus that killed immortals? It was ingenious and insidious at the same time.
She missed the last exchange as her imagination conjured up images of everyone in the building lying dead. Noticing the laptop was off she looked at the former god in desperation.
"Please, tell me he's bluffing about killing deities with a virus. The minor deities all came here to show they are strong enough to fight to have their broken promises made real."
Apollo gave her a grim look. "Nero never bluffs. Even if I make it up to the throne room, nothing will stop him from unleashing it."
"Sassanid gas screech is bad!" The troglodyte looked a little scared. "The Red Priestess was right to send us here."
The former god's eye lit up. "Rachel, she's okay?"
"Yes, she's been having visions every few seconds. How do you think we found our way here and scored all these beautiful hats?" Sonya asked.
He hadn't noticed before, but Sonya had two more knit caps on her head. No wonder Screech-Bling liked her so much.
"Can you and your people disable the gas in fifteen minutes?" Sonya asked anxiously.
"It will be tight. Lester-Apollo try to stall for time! Mortal-Sonya, make sure he succeeds!" Screech-Bling disappeared, leaving the two alone in the bedroom.
"I'm going with you. Don't argue," Sonya told him.
"You can't! He'll release the gas the second he sees you!"
"Then he won't. Astrape and Bronte showed me a trick with the weapons. Catch me, okay?"
Apollo didn't know what she was talking about when she tied the lightning earrings around the shield medallion. Before his eyes, Sonya started to shrink from sight rapidly.
He lunged and caught her tiny body in his palm. She was about four inches tall.
"Ta-dah! The twins mentioned their weapons change size. Depending on how big and loud they have to be seen and heard. As long as they're together, I can stay small!"
Apollo sighed, "I don't have the time or energy for this. Get in my pocket and stay hidden."
Sonya did as he said, squirming deep down. It was time to take down Nero.