Rage of a Demigod

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Well, this one took a bit more to arrive, but I hope that the wait was worth it. We finally get to see some action after all this time. Enjoy!

Now to reviews.

Gamelover41592: Indeed.

Crazzytony: Well I didn't want to copy Ascension exactly, and there wouldn't be much of a point in Zoe, Percy, and Annabeth going if Marcus could just free himself.

trollpatrol117: Well wait no more.

jaffa3: Well, at least you get a part of it in this chapter.

20 Bug Problems

Marcus kneeled inside a chamber made of white marble and gold, with an entire section open to the elements in front of him, shining daylight unto his chained form.

The moment Zoe saw him she looked shocked. She finally saw him after all this time, but the state he was in made her heart ache. She quickly hurried over to him, pretty much disregarding her Hunter instincts for danger. Orkos protested behind her but she didn't listen.

"Marcus!" she called out as she ran to him. The moment she reached him she kneeled down and saw just how bad he was. His muscles have shrunk, his hair grew really long, and he had an unkempt beard on his face. The more horrifying thing was the wounds that covered him, the scratch marks on his torso, arms, and legs, all of which seemed to be fresh.

Zoe pressed two fingers on his neck and sighed in relief as she sensed a heartbeat. She then turned to the others. "Get over here, quickly!"

Percy and Annabeth blinked their shock away before quickly running over to the two, with Orkos staying behind, not wanting to risk exposure in his state.

"Oh, no," Annabeth said as she looked at the state of her friend.

"For gods' sakes, what did they do to him?" Percy asked.

"It doesn't matter right now. Get some ambrosia and nectar ready," Zoe said and the two quickly went for their packs. Zoe then put her hands on the sides of Marcus' face, slightly lifting his head. "Marcus, can thou hear me?" He let out a pained moan in response, but his eyes were shut. "We're here to help thee! Please, open thine eyes!"

Marcus' closed eyelids twitched, slowly opening to reveal his red orbs. Feeling strange sensations on his cheeks, he almost recoiled back but only let out a sharp breath as his sense of pain from the scratches and muscle soreness kicked in, as well as his general exhaustion.

Zoe didn't like what she saw. Instead of the usual fire, his eyes only held tiredness and uncertainty. But she couldn't blame him, especially after what he has been through.

Marcus gazed upon a familiar face, the dark braided hair and circlet combo he knew all too well. The red orbs then widened in surprise.

"Z-Zoe? Y-you're here?" he said with quivering lips.

Zoe let out a smile when he spoke to her. "Yes, I am here. And I didn't come alone."

Marcus raised an eyebrow before he noticed two more figures next to him, Percy and Annabeth.

"You… you shouldn't be here," Marcus said. "You are in grave danger. It's only a matter of time before she returns."

"Dude, we've faced grave danger before. This is nothing new," Percy said matter-of-factly before kneeling down with Annabeth. "Now come on, eat up. We need you back in top shape."

They extended some ambrosia cubes, which he stared at for a few moments before opening his mouth and taking a bite out of the one in Annabeth's hand. He quickly ate it and immediately went for Percy's.

"Whoa, slow down!" Percy said.

"Percy, he hasn't eaten anything properly in who knows how long," Annabeth said. "I think he can afford a bit of hurry."

As Marcus finished, his wounds began receding, and his energy was returning to him, and he looked like he could at least stand on his own two feet. The trio smiled at seeing their friend slowly recover.

Annabeth then took out a small bottle of nectar and put it to his lips. "Hurry, drink thi-"

"What is going on here?!" a screechy voice said making them jolt in surprise, with Annabeth almost dropping the bottle but Marcus reacted quickly and caught the uncapped bottle with his teeth.

Zoe, Percy, and Annabeth turned around and saw who yelled at them. It was a woman dressed in bronze formfitting armor that only covered just over her breasts, some bronze shin guards on otherwise bare legs, and a helmet with a blue plume. While she looked human enough, she had monstrous features, such as a black clawed arm with the right one appearing to be cut off, her shins and clawed legs were also colored black, and she had four insect-like appendages on her back that reminded Annabeth too much of that of a spider, not to mention some holes on top of her breasts. Another thing was a peculiar jewel clipped at her hip.

The woman growled. "So, the intruders are here," she said as she glared at the trio.

The three of them took out their weapons, while Orkos retreated back into the path while making sure he isn't seen. He would have helped them but with how weak he was he would only hinder them.

The monstrous woman then focused more on Annabeth and Percy. "Ah, I remember you two. You caused me and my sisters quite a bit of trouble some years ago."

"You're one of the Furies?" Percy asked.

"Indeed I am, Perseus Jackson. Megaera is the name," the woman introduced herself.

Percy and Annabeth were surprised since Megaera looked nothing like she did before, where she pretty much looked like a stern old woman and some demon lady in a monstrous form. Could that have also been a restriction on her?

"I wonder, what are you doing with my favorite toy?" Megaera asked as she tried to look over to Marcus who was obscured by the three.

Zoe glared at the Fury as she readied her bow. "He isn't thine toy, monster."

Megaera chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. All of you will join him, and you can be my toys together!"

Two appendages reared back before flying at them, with the trio quickly moving out of the way as they struck into the ground where they stood.

Zoe fired an arrow at the Fury, but Megaera was quick and she moved one of her appendages to strike the arrow mid-air, destroying it. Percy then charged at Megaera, slashing at her with Riptide, but Megaera used the spider legs to lift herself up away from the attack, stunning Percy for a moment.

Megaera then let herself fall down right on top of Percy, her two feet slamming into his chest, his back hitting the ground, cracking it, and making Percy yelp in pain.

Marcus glared at the Fury as she fought his companions, and he knew he needed to act. With the bottle still between his teeth, he wrapped his lips around it and moved his head upwards, quickly chugging the nectar.

Megaera narrowly dodged another arrow sent by Zoe before glaring at her. Then the Fury barely reacted as Percy thrust his sword up, almost piercing through Megaera but she dodged, with the sword slightly cutting her just below the stump of her right arm.

The Fury then kicked Percy away, then two of her appendages struck behind her, nearly hitting Annabeth who was about to strike Megaera in the back, with the daughter of Athena barely dodging it with a yelp.

"Nice try, Owl spawn!" Megaera mocked with a smirk before swatting at Annabeth with one of the spider legs, with Annabeth blocking the strike with her dagger but the force knocked her away. The blonde demigod landed on the ground with a grunt.

Zoe then dashed forward and slashed at Megaera with her dagger, but the Fury evaded and struck with her appendages with Zoe moving fast enough to block and deflect the attacks.

Marcus finished drinking the nectar, and let the bottle fall out of his mouth and shatter on the ground. Normally, this amount of nectar plus some ambrosia would spell certain death even to a demigod, but he wasn't a normal demigod, and he was also pretty low on energy.

Marcus grit his teeth and shut his eyes as he felt a sudden surge of energy coursing through him. He started swelling up, the muscle mass he lost during his time here coming back swiftly from the effects of divine food.

With a loud grunt, Marcus stood up swiftly, the contraption around his neck that restrained him down shattering and falling down with a loud clang.

Megaera took her eyes off her opponent, and towards the noise she heard. Her eyes widened as she saw Marcus back in his prime condition, and currently pulling on the chains that were still stuck on the wall.

"NO!" Megaera yelled as she avoided another slash from Zoe before knocking her away. "You won't escape!"

The Fury then moved closer to Marcus and shot two of her appendages at him. Red eyes moved to meet their attacker, and in a fraction of a second, Marcus reacted by moving out of the way and wrapping the chain of his right arm around the two spider legs.

Megaera panicked, with her being stuck as her legs were restrained by the chains and open for attack. She began pulling back with all her strength, with Marcus actually helping her, and the blade that was stuck in the wall was ripped out, freeing Megaera and Marcus' right arm.

Using all his strength, Marcus pulled on the other chain. Megaera then rushed forward, trying to use this opportunity to strike at Marcus, but the red-eyed demigod ripped the blade out. The blade then swung in Megaera's direction, slicing her torso, with the blade cutting through the bronze armor as if it were made of tin.

Megaera yelled in pain as she put her remaining arm on the bleeding wound. Marcus snarled at her and prepared his blades to attack but Megaera then turned and began running, with Marcus quickly following.

The Fury then jumped over the edge as Marcus reached her, but when he looked down she was nowhere in sight. Marcus scowled as he really wanted to tear the woman to shreds after what happened.

Percy, Annabeth, and Zoe then quickly walked up to him and looked down to see the Fury was gone.

"Do you think she ran away?" Percy asked.

"Seaweed Brain, when were things ever so easy?"

"Right. Forget I asked?"

Not seeing her appear, Marcus quickly grabbed the long hair behind him and with one slice of a blade shortened it to reach his shoulders. That much hair could possibly be used against him, but he didn't have time to properly cut all of it.

"We need to find her," Marcus said. "She may alert the other Furies, and that is the last thing we need."

"What? Marcus wai-"

Percy was interrupted as Marcus jumped down and landed on the platform below. Zoe quickly followed him, and while Annabeth and Percy were confused for a moment, they went after as well.

Marcus looked around, his blades ready at his sides. He grit his teeth in anger as his eyes almost became feral. While not remembering much, he knew a lot of the thing that the cursed Fury did to him, and he was ready for some payback.

Once they landed on the platform, the trio was on alert. While Annabeth and Percy had a confrontation with the Furies before, this seemed to be a completely different beast altogether. When fighting an old demon woman who had wings, claws, and fangs you can guess what she would do, but they had no experience with the form that Megaera was in now.

Zoe remained vigilant as always, her eyes searching for any sign of Megaera. She honestly shouldn't have been surprised that their reunion with Marcus would be cut short and that now they had to fend for their lives.

It was quite an unusual trip they had. Normally it was monsters that she would be fighting against, but now monsters ended up helping them, and they were currently fighting someone who should be an ally to Olympus.

A chittering sound reached Marcus' ears, one that he had faced before. He quickly went to address his allies. "Be on your guard, she's sending the scarabs!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean scarabs?"

His answer soon came as from the edges of the platform came several insect-like creatures which did indeed look like scarabs, with green shells and thoraxes that glowed bright yellow. There were easily over twenty of them and they began surrounding the four.

Marcus, Zoe, Percy, and Annabeth moved so they were back-to-back, with the beetles coming closer to them.

"Oh, of course, she would have some creepy crawlies with her," Percy said as he moved his sword forward.

"How do we fight them?" Annabeth asked, wanting to know if there is anything special they could do against these monsters. Though she was glad those things weren't spiders.

"Slice them to pieces," Marcus said.

"Short and simple. I like it," Percy said. "So, should we attack, or-"

"Duck!" Marcus quickly exclaimed making Percy jolt in surprise. Several of the bugs hissed and extended their wings before suddenly leaping at them.

Zoe, Annabeth, and Percy ducked as Marcus told them, but Marcus himself had other ideas. With those three safely out of range, he let loose the handles and grabbed the chains of his blades before turning and swinging them around in a full circle.

The bugs that leaped cut easily as the flaming them went through them in a fiery circle, with their green blood splattering on the floor.

The three then got up as Marcus' attack finished, with Zoe quickly running at one of the scarabs, and cutting through it with her knife before pulling out the blade and letting its green guts fall out.

Taking this as a sign of attack, Percy and Annabeth went on the offensive as well, with Percy quickly slicing another leaping bug in half, while Annabeth slashed one along the torso, spilling its insides before it dropped dead.

More scarabs appeared and attacked, but the four warriors were able to fend them off.

Zoe ducked under two flying scarabs before quickly shooting two silver arrows into them. Percy pierced one through the thorax before throwing it into another, which had a surprising effect of making the pierced bug explode and taking the other one with him, making Percy blink in shock before he avoided another bug and sliced through him. Annabeth slashed one across the face, making it stumble before piercing its back.

Marcus slashed through multiple giant insects with his fiery blades, almost painting the floor beneath him in green. He kept watch on the others as they fought off the bugs, and he was glad to see them holding their own.

Then out of nowhere, he was tackled by someone and was slammed down on the floor. He looked to see that it was Megaera who attacked him, no doubt using the scarabs to distract him.

Marcus went for a slash but one of Megaera's spider legs quickly grabbed his arm and pinned it to the ground. Another appendage then grabbed his other arm while the other two pinned his legs.

"You are such a bother, you cursed demigod!" Megaera shouted as she pulled her clawed arm back, readying to pierce through Marcus.

Zoe noticed what was going on and quickly dispatched another bug before taking out an arrow and quickly aimed at Megaera. She let the arrow loose, hitting Megaera straight in the back, making the Fury scream in pain.

With the grip on him loosened, Marcus' right arm wrenched out of the grip of the appendage holding it and he quickly sliced off the appendage holding his left arm before kicking the Fury off of him.

Megaera grunted from all the damage done to her, now with yet another limb lost thanks to Marcus. She gave a snarl before running to the edge of the platform and then using her appendages to make an astounding leap that got her all the way to Cottus' arm.

Percy bisected the last of the insects, his hand drenched in green blood which he quickly wiped off. He was confused? Weren't these things supposed to disappear into golden dust?

Then he, Annabeth, and Zoe saw Megaera retreating from the battle again on the arm of the Hecatonchires before disappearing into the buildings.

"Oh, great, it will take us forever to find her this way," Percy said annoyed.

Then to everyone's shock, Marcus also ran and leaped off the edge. Then he threw one of his blades at one of the smaller immobile arms, with the chain being long enough for the blade to pierce through. Marcus then pulled on the chain with great strength, the force produced actually hurling him forward a great distance before his feet landed on one of the house rooftops.

Zoe, Annabeth, and Percy stood stunned as they saw Marcus perform that stunt.

"And I thought he couldn't get more creative with those," Percy commented.

Zoe quickly turned to Annabeth. "Quickly, give me a rope!"

Annabeth nodded before taking a rope out of her backpack and throwing it to Zoe who caught it and quickly beginning to wrap it around an arrow.

Marcus ran through the streets as he saw Megaera flee from him. He would have waited for the others but it was probably best if he took care of the Fury alone without putting them in danger.

As he ran, one of the doors burst open and Marcus was once again tackled by someone. He saw that it was a man, but on top of his head and on his back he had an embedded scarab. Marcus threw the man away and quickly swung his blade, slashing him in half.

Then several more men came his way, all of whom had those insects embedded into them. They let out growls instead of words and lunged at him. Their fate wasn't any different from their comrade's as they quickly ended slice to pieces, with Marcus even throwing one of them on the ground and stomping on his head, reducing it to paste.

He heard some panting noises behind him and saw that the trio caught up to him.

"Man, you're really a hard guy to keep up with," Percy said as he panted from all the running he did.

"Where is Megaera?" Zoe asked.

Marcus quickly turned back to the way he was chasing her, but of course, he couldn't see her since she was able to once again distract him.

But just then he noticed something right on top of one of the arms that was located above them. It was Megaera, standing right on the outstretched palm of the Hecatonchire. The trio noticed it too and they quickly went on guard.

"Let's see how you face the might of the Hecatonchires!" Megaera exclaimed. Then, out of the holes on her chest, several more bugs came out before dropping on the arm, quickly burying themselves into the flesh of the palm.

Percy suppressed a gag reflex. "Okay, that's one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life."

"I think I agree with you," Annabeth as she felt like she would gag.

The arm then began to violently twitch as several black spots appeared on it. The fingers bent in unnatural angles as the arm began morphing. The middle of the palm began to split as a giant head appeared out of the middle finger, with the other fingers quickly morphing into arms which instead of hands had some sort of blades that seemed to be made of some black and hardened material. The head then sported two large tusks from each side of its mouth as well as some sharp teeth.

The group couldn't stare too long at the monster made out of the Hecatonchire's arm as Megaera jumped off it and the monster roared. It swung one of its arm blades at them, forcing them to duck as the arm sliced through a house as if it was made of butter.

Letting out another roar, the creature then raised all four of its arms and hurled itself at them. The movement actually made the whole street turn sideways, with the creature moving the very arm of Cottus. The four quickly found themselves falling as the street turned ninety degrees, but Marcus was able to stop himself as he struck his blades into the road, with Zoe quickly grabbing his leg. Percy then used Riptide to do the same as Marcus as the blade pierced into the stone and he used his free hand to grab a hold of Annabeth's hand.

The creature itself seemed dazed by what happened as it lay hanging on the arm and staring into the water below, obviously not its actions to move the entire street.

Seeing the creature was confused, Zoe quickly gave Marcus a serious look that he easily read. Marcus then swung his legs from side to side before making a powerful swing that sent Zoe flying at the monster once she let go of Marcus's leg and quickly found herself at the monster's head.

Not letting it have any time to react, Zoe took out her knife and began stabbing at the creature's head, making it howl in pain as it spilled red blood. The stabs didn't kill the monster as its skull was incredibly thick but it did make it reel back, with the street no longer being bent at such a deep angle but still somewhat unbalanced.

The monster then moved one of its arms to strike at Zoe but the former Hunter saw it coming and quickly moved out of the way by jumping off. Marcus used the opportunity to swing his chained blades at the creature, slicing off one of its tusks.

Roaring in pain, the creature swung two of its arms at Marcus with great speed, which Marcus blocked with the blades but the force sent him flying some distance away.

The monster then turned to the worried trio and roared at them. It struck with its arms, with Zoe, Percy, and Annabeth moving away from the strikes that pierced through the very ground they stood only a moment before.

Getting an idea, Percy moved away just enough for him to be close to it when the blade arm struck and swung his sword quick and with much force, slicing through the black material of the arm and went halfway in.

The monster then quickly went to pull its arm out, but the force applied completely broke off the part that Percy loosened with Riptide, and some red blood spilled on the road from the stump.

Zoe then went for her bow and arrow and let the arrow fly, finding its target right in the left eye of the monster, making it howl in pain again.

Then Marcus quickly came into the picture as he ran towards the monster. He jumped and propelled himself forward when he swung his blades into one of the monster's arms and pulled on the chains. He found himself standing on top of the monster's head, and with his blades still embedded into the monster's arm, he pulled, his great strength moving the arm against the monster's will.

The blade arm soon found itself close to the monster's neck, with it shaking as the monster struggled to move it away. But Marcus' strength was greater, and with a mighty pull, the blade arm soon found itself piercing the creature's neck, spilling tons of blood. Deciding to be sure, Marcus pulled again, causing the blade to pierce through the side of the creature's neck, spilling even more blood than before as a whole side of the neck was open. The creature didn't utter a sound as it soon found itself limply hanging, lying lifeless as the blood spilled onto the ground.

Marcus hopped off the creature and landed on the ground before giving it one last look to confirm if it was dead.

"So, big mutated arms," Percy said. "Can't believe we could actually find something weird after all we have been through."

"And we aren't done," Marcus said. "We need to get rid of Megaera, and quickly!"

He then once again began running, making Percy groan in frustration.

"Oh, come on! Can't we just catch a break?!" Percy complained but still ended up running after him along with Zoe and Annabeth.

As they ran, they noticed that they got closer to the end of Cottus' arm and neared his head.

"Are you sure this is where she went?" Annabeth asked.

"This is the way she ran, and considering we weren't attacked yet I can say that she didn't stop," Marcus explained as they got to a stairway that located at the end of the street, leading right unto the platform that was held in Cottus' mouth.

They quickly climbed the stairs, with the three curiously looking around, especially within the mouth of the once great giant, while Marcus was on the lookout for the Fury.

Annabeth looked at Cottus' face and saw the pained expression that seemed to be stuck on him. She then also looked into his eyes, and now they seemed to be… moving.

Yeah, she noticed that his eyes were moving, and they were currently looking down at the four of them.

The daughter of Athena couldn't help but feel sad at this. This… she couldn't describe the cruelty of the Furies for putting the giant through this. She remembered when Briares, another Hecatonchire they met at the Labyrinth, said how he missed his brothers and that they were gone forever.

She could only imagine the feeling Briares would feel at seeing his brother in such a state. It is quite a cruel irony that at last one of his brothers is still alive but trapped in a state of torture.

Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Percy try to give her a comforting look.

"Don't worry, Annabeth," Percy said as he smiled. "We'll free him from this. Just as we freed people before."

Annabeth smiled back at him, knowing Percy meant what he said.

"You two should focus on more important things than rescuing a giant," Marcus said as he continued looking around.

Percy let out an annoyed grunt. As much as he considered Marcus his friend, sometimes he could be frustrating.

"Look, Marcus," Percy said. "I don't know how you usually operate, but we do help when needed. And we aren't going to just leave Cottus to suffer."

"And just how do you plan to free him?" Marcus asked. "I doubt that you have any sort of means of removing every building from his flesh."

"Maybe not right now, but we will have something later," Percy said in a confident tone before looking back at Cottus. "Don't worry, big guy! We'll get you out of here!"

"You aren't freeing anyone, Perseus Jackson!" came the voice of Megaera as she appeared on Cottus' head before moving near his eye, with all four of them turning to face her. "You may have defeated my creature, but let's see how you deal with THIS!"

The small parasites once again began crawling out of the holes in her chest, and right down on Cottus' eyelid. The eyes of the giant began moving frantically as if in some sort of panic, with the parasites beginning to burry themselves into the eyelid and some right into his eyes, with Percy and Annabeth cringing at the sight.

Soon the black spots began appearing on Cottus as his skin seemingly began to crack before actually tearing off. Then over a dozen spider-like appendages shot out around his mouth as his teeth sharpened.

The group, Marcus less so looked in horror at what was happening. It looked like Cottus himself has been turned into a creature similar to what they fought a few minutes ago.

Cottus then let out a chilling roar and quickly bit down the platform they were on, only barely missing the group as they moved away from the bite, with the sharp teeth and the appendages sinking into the metal platform.

Before they could do anything else, they heard another roar, this time coming from behind them, and saw that on the other side of the platform was yet another monster, pretty much the same as the one they fought.

"Oh, this is not good," Percy said as he saw that they were attacked from two different sides.

Cottus went for another bite, with those appendages actually moving closer to crush them but the group moved away. Marcus then quickly brought his behind him and blocked the sweeping strike made by the other monster.

Zoe then shot an arrow at the creature, burying it into its shoulder but it only grunted before going back to attacking them. It swung all four of its arms at them with the four of them once forced to dodge but having to stop themselves as Cottus made another bite, this time almost hitting them.

"We need to move to the side!" Annabeth exclaimed.

They followed her lead as they avoided being bitten and crushed under the insect-like appendages from both of the creatures, whose simultaneous blows shook the platform and almost caused the four to go off balance.

Marcus then swung his blades being him, and they were able to find a target, slicing off one of the smaller appendages on Cottus' mouth, the giant let out a roar in response. Zoe shot another arrow at the monstrous arm of the Hecatonchire as it hurled itself at them, causing it to miss and strike the ground beside them, with Percy using this chance to run closer to the monster and pierce its side, making it hurl backward.

And just in time as Marcus pushed them away with Cottus once again biting the place they were at.

"We won't last long like this," Zoe commented as they saw how outmatched they seemed to be. Their attacks, while damaging, barely hinder the monsters before they immediately go on attacking them.

"And how exactly can we fight the Hecatonchire?" Annabeth asked. "We can't just have him hit himself."

Then something clicked with Marcus. That suggestion actually wasn't that bad. "Zoe, I'll move closer to the mutated hand! When you see the opportunity, shoot it!"

"What are thou-?"

Marcus didn't really explain himself as he ran at the monster, swinging his blades as he did so but the monster moved away from the attack.

The trio then moved away from another giant bite that nearly turned them into a bloody paste as the platform shook. Zoe then turned back to see Marcus avoiding the onslaught of the four blade arms the creature had.

Deciding that it would be best to attack it when it was focused on Marcus, Zoe took two arrows out of her quiver and aimed at the monster before firing. As the monster attempted a double strike at Marcus, one arrow struck it in the chest while the other at the side of its head. While not doing any major damage it was enough for the monster to come to a halt.

Smiling at the opportunity, Marcus quickly jumped at the creature and stuck his blades into its chest. Then he quickly moved up the creatures with the help of his blades. As he climbed up he avoided several strikes from the creature that attempted to throw him off.

When Marcus found himself near the monster's head, he grabbed one of the tusks and swung himself upward, planting at the sides of the creature's head. He put a hand right on top of the head while the other held a blade, one that he used to pierce the creature to the shoulder.

The mutated hand let out a howl of pain, moving away from the platform. Marcus continued striking the shoulder, causing the creature to move to the side away from the platform before he went to pierce its back, making it move forward as he controlled this creature like a mount.

Zoe, Annabeth and Percy again dodged the strikes from the giant before they saw Marcus riding on top of its hand and moving it closer to Cottus' head.

Once Marcus decided they were close enough, he buried his blade into the creature's back once again but this time left the blade inside. He then began twisting the blades, making the mutated hand swing its arms wildly and striking Cottus at the side of his head, with the giant howling in pain.

Marcus then twisted the blade inside the creature again, making it trash around with his grip on the creature's head keeping him from being thrown off. The creature struck Cottus head again, and with a twist of the blade, the creature struck again.

On the platform, the trio got a moment of reprieve from trying to stay alive. They couldn't help but marvel at Marcus' ingenuity as he used the hand as a weapon against Cottus.

Though while not attacked, the strikes attacking Cottus did cause the platform to shake so they had to make sure not to fall off.

"Talk about thinking outside the box," Percy said as another shake followed forcing him and the others to keep their balance.

"Thou art right, Percy Jackson," Zoe commented. She knew that Marcus was quite a warrior but he seems to keep impressing her.

Marcus then made another twist of the blade, this time digging it even deeper than before making the mutated hand scream before it lunged itself forward, with all four of its arms piercing the side of Cottus' head, making him bleed quite a bit of blood.

Cottus then moved his head to the side, his sharp teeth biting on the mutated hand and making it howl in pain as it quickly went limp.

Marcus then jumped forward and landed right on Cottus' head and ran to Megaera who was still located at the eyeball. Before she could escape, Marcus threw his blade at her and pierced through her leg. He then pulled her closer to him before attacking her with the other blade, slashing her shoulder, chest, legs, and torso.

After piercing her side, Megaera let out a large grunt before using two of her spider legs to attack Marcus but the demigod quickly pulled his blade out of her side and slashed off the legs, making Megaera scream in pain.

Then Marcus grabbed her and threw her off the Hecatonchire before jumping after her himself, his blades pointed at her.

Zoe, Annabeth, and Percy saw the two falling on the platform they were on and quickly moved out of the way. Megaera struck the ground first but was soon followed by Marcus who landed on top of her with his blades piercing right through her chest, spilling blood on the floor.

Megaera let out several choking sounds and grit her teeth as she glared at Marcus, but her head fell on the ground as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her mouth hanging open and spilling blood.

Marcus let out several pants as he stared down at the fury before wrenching his blades out of her and rising. He saw the Fury lying motionless on the floor, her blood spilling out from all the wounds she received.

The trio then walked up to him and saw that the Fury wasn't moving.

"Is… is she dead?" Percy asked.

Marcus put the blades on his back and turned to the son of Poseidon. "She is."

"But… but shouldn't she turn into dust and return back to Hades?"

Marcus shook his head. "This place is out of Hades' reach. The Furies are not bound to him here. And neither were those creatures. If they die here, then they are going to stay dead."

"So if we kill the Furies here, they won't be a threat to Olympus anymore?" Zoe asked.

Marcus was silent for a few moments before giving Zoe a confirmative nod.

"Wait a minute," Percy said before looking up to see the state that Cottus was in. The Hecatonchire was still mutated from Megaera's parasites, the appendages, and the sharpened teeth still there. But there was another problem. He wasn't moving.

True, he was unmoving before but at least they could tell he was alive. This time, his expression wasn't the one of agony, his eyes remained still and his head hung limply as blood continued flowing from him.

"No," Percy whispered.

Zoe and Annabeth looked at the state of Cottus. Zoe gained a saddened expression while Annabeth looked just about ready to cry.

Cottus the Hecatonchire was dead.

"No, no, no, no," Percy said as he tightened his fist. "This isn't fair! We were supposed to free him! We were supposed to reunite him with Briares!"

Marcus grabbed Percy by the arm. "Listen, there was no guarantee that you would have been able to help him. Besides, he would have preferred the freedom of death over the constant torture he endured."

"But… but now he won't be able to enjoy his life! What kind of freedom is that?!"

Zoe sighed. "It is a sad reality, Percy Jackson. Sometimes death is the only option, no matter how tragic."

Percy remained silent as he looked at the dead Hecatonchire. He made a promise to free him, and now he laid dead. He was glad that he wasn't suffering anymore, but not to be able to enjoy your freedom… Percy wiped a tear from his eye, deciding to mourn the loss later.

Marcus then once again looked at Megaera, or more specifically the green jewel she had on her hip. He reached down took it from her corpse, seeing the green oval with gold some gold highlights around it.

Zoe then took a curious look at the object Marcus was holding and noticed how he looked at it with some sort of familiarity. "What is that?"

Marcus rubbed the side of his temple. "My memory is a bit hazy from what happened, but I remember getting this during my travel here."

The demigod's red eyes stared at the jewel for a little while as he remembered how this artifact came into his possession.

AN: And that is it for now! This chapter was pretty much just a big action scene so I hope that I didn't disappoint you. And yeah, as some of you noticed I'm focusing more on Rage of a Demigod over my other fics, but I just want to bring this arc to a close before I can focus on other stories so you can expect this to be updated next as well.

And once again, implore you to check out my other stories. And please leave a review, they are great motivators.

See you next time!