Rage of a Demigod
AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Sorry, this chapter should have come out earlier but I was feeling a bit under the weather as of late, but I was finally able to upload it. Hope you enjoy!
Now to reviews.
Crazzytony: Thank you.
Gamelover41592: Well, Hades is limited anyway considering not everyone goes to his afterlife. Besides, I needed a way to actually get rid of the Furies.
jaffa3: Thanks, and wait no more!
RedHood001: Um, I think you mean Cottus, not Cetus considering that Cetus dropped them off and swam away. And the reason for that was because I needed to have those Furies killed like they are in the game. And I wouldn't describe it as Cottus' domain but that of the Furies.
Still, thanks for all the praise.
21 Seeing Green
As Marcus' eyes gazed on the green jewel in his hands, the mist that clouded his mind after many months of torture slowly began to disappear.
He remembered the day Orkos came with the offer to release him of his oath to Ares. Of course, Marcus was suspicious but swearing on the Styx helped ease his doubts. It turned out that the Furies were the keepers of the blood oaths, and to rid himself of the oath he needed to confront them at the place where they could permanently die, at a certain place within the Sea of Monsters.
But instead of just going there, Orkos told him that he would need some special tools in order to fight the Furies as they had powers to which he didn't really have counters too. His first target was the eyes of the Oracle of Delphi.
Marcus looked up at the temple in front of him. A big structure seemingly made of gold sat on top of a large mountain, and it shone brightly under the sun. The sides of the temple were adorned by two large snakes that faced each other and there were two burning towers.
The entire place pretty much screamed glory, as artificial as it is.
"Orkos," Marcus called making the black avatar of the Fury appear. "You could have appeared sooner."
"I'm sorry, Marcus," Orkos said. "But you know that my communication with you is limited."
Marcus grumbled. "Fine. Where exactly are the Eyes located?"
Orkos pointed at the temple. "There is an elevator right in the middle of the temple, and you will need to use it to take you…" He then began lowering his finger until he stopped at about the quarter length of the mountain. "…there. That's where you should find the Eyes."
Marcus gave a nod before looking up the mountain once again and getting ready for climbing.
"Wait, Marcus," Orkos called out, making the demigod stop. "Listen, the Eyes are guarded by the Gemini, the brothers Castor and Pollux. They also possess an item that might help you in your quest."
"And just what does that item look like?" Marcus asked.
"You'll know it when you see it," Orkos said before he disappeared.
Marcus sighed before unsheathing his blades and jumping up, getting quite a distance before he stuck his blades into the side of the mountain and began climbing.
After some time of traversing the temple, and fighting off several guards, who were just normal humans armed with bronze spears so that task was easy, he finally arrived at the elevator. It was a circular platform made of marble with a lever pointing upward in the middle of it.
Marcus walked up to the lever and pulled it, and the sound of gears turning can be heard as the platform shook a little. The platform then began descending, and suddenly an image made of light appeared. Marcus' red eyes examined the image, and he realized that it was a representation of the temple and the mountain.
There was also a yellow line on the image which was descending down, no doubt the representation of the elevator as it descended.
After a little of just listening to the scraping of gear against gear and watching the image, the yellow line finally came to the place he was supposed to go, and Marcus quickly put the lever back to pointing upwards, with that position no doubt being the one to stop the elevator while the one to make it climb up would be if he completely pushed it to the other side.
The gears stopped grinding, and the marble door on the wall opened, revealing a large cavern-like structure with a huge bridge in the middle. Marcus walked out of the elevator and onto the bridge. He looked down at the abyss below, seeing only darkness as his eyes narrowed.
A few meters in front of him, he saw a giant of a man sitting on some sort of throne. He was in his elder years, with long gray hair and wrinkles on his body. One side of him was covered by a blanket, he wore a golden crown with green diamonds, and around his neck was a large green jewel. He was also dressed in simple pants and black boots.
There were two men at his sides, armed with bronze spears. On the man's lap was a scantily dressed woman who looked like she really didn't want to be there.
The man finally seemed to notice Marcus as he walked across the bridge before resting his head on his hand. "What business brings you here, traveler?" the man asked in a deep voice.
"I seek the Eyes of the Oracle of Delphi," Marcus said.
The elderly man raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you now? And what offerings have you brought to deserve such privilege?"
Marcus crossed his arms. "I brought no offerings."
The man chuckled. "You come here searching for the Eyes, yet bring no offerings? You think you can look at them for free?"
Marcus just scoffed. He had no time for this nonsense. "Well, you obviously aren't much help. I'll go myself." Then Marcus just walked away beside the throne.
"I don't tolerate insolence," the man said before snapping his fingers. "Kill him."
The two guards then departed from the throne and ran over to Marcus, with their spears pointed at him. "You! Halt!"
Marcus stopped before turning back and glaring at the two guards, who froze in place as they looked at the piercing red eyes. Their hands began shaking as they backed away a little, their breathing also became heavier. After intensifying his glare a little more, the two guards quickly turned tail and ran away, passing their master's throne.
"Ugh, it's impossible to find good slaves these days," the man said before pushing the female slave off of him, with her running away as well. He then took off the blanket of his chest, revealing a small bald man merged to his right side showing they were conjoined twins, the Gemini. The jewel around his neck began to glow, restoring the man's youth and the limp bald man now came back to life.
As Marcus walked, there was a flash of green light and suddenly Castor and Pollux were in front of him. The demigod's eyes widened in surprise before he scowled and took out his blades.
"It would appear this child doesn't know who he is dealing with, Castor," the little man said in a raspy voice.
"He'll learn, brother," Castor said as the two outstretched their arms as the green glow appeared on the amulet.
The ground beneath Marcus shook as the bridge began cracking. With his great reflexes, Marcus was able to jump off the spot as it crumbled down. He then glared at the Gemini and swung his blades at them, only for them to disappear in green light and appear further away.
"Bold. Stupid, but bold," Castor commented. "But you won't get out of here alive!"
The green glow emanated from the twins as suddenly the whole bridge shook. Marcus almost lost his balance but regained it quickly before running towards the twins. The bridge behind him began to crumble as he ran towards Castor and Pollux.
The twins started retreating as they used the magic of the jewel to make the bridge slowly collapse. Marcus chased after them, jumping over a hole in the bridge that appeared in front of him. Then another portion of the bridge was destroyed but Marcus swung his blades at the two pillars that collapsed into each other and swung himself over.
"He gains, you idiot!" Pollux chastised his brother.
"I know he gains!" Castor said. "But it won't matter in the end!"
As they ran, the end of the bridge became nearer. Marcus saw that there was a statue of Apollo, with a crown on his head that resembled the sun, and in his stony hands, he held a platform that had a cage on it.
Then suddenly, a large portion of the bridge broke off and turned to an angle, forcing Marcus to slide down its length. He then stuck one of his blades into the bridge to slow his descent before jumping off, grabbing onto one of the falling rocks with his blade and propelling himself slightly upward, before using the other blade to grab unto the end of the bridge and swinging upward, finding himself back on the bridge.
Marcus stood across the twins on a huge platform that was surrounded by pillars. Just across it, he saw the statue of Apollo and the cage he was holding, with a clearer view of what was inside. In the middle of the cage floated a sculpt of the upper part of the face with two real eyes in the sockets.
Castor and Pollux casually paced back and forth as they looked at Marcus. "Quite persistent, isn't he?" Pollux said as he fiddled with his fingers.
"His persistence will only mean his death," Castor said before extending his hand, and in a flash of green light, he was holding a spear.
Then the two disappeared in yet another flash of green light, making Marcus' instincts flare into overdrive. He quickly moved to the side, just barely avoiding getting skewered by a spear thrust from behind. He turned around and swung his blades, but Castor blocked the attack.
Marcus pressed on the assault, his blades giving him enough distance from the mortal/demigod duo so he wasn't in danger against that spear. The two disappeared again, and Marcus quickly turned around and swung his swords, but the blade of Castor's spear deflected the attack. Then Marcus noticed that the spear was only half the length it was before. Marcus didn't notice Castor swinging the other end of the spear like a club until it was too late and the metal club striking him on the head and sending him flying backward.
The unclaimed demigod couldn't afford any sort of daze, so he just bared the pain and got to his feet, looking at the twins with the glare as Castor smirked at him while Pollux seemed annoyed.
"Kill him, Castor!" Pollux yelled, impatient to finish this.
"Oh, I will!" Castor exclaimed as he went on the offensive.
Marcus avoided the double strike made by Castor and was quickly forced to block the slashings, stabbings, and bashings sent his way by the giant man. After a little while of blocking, Castor and Pollux disappeared again.
But this time, Marcus was prepared. He immediately made a huge jump backward, flying over Castor's attempted stab at him. With a swing of his blades, Marcus cut the conjoined twins on the back, making them scream in pain.
Marcus then slashed at them, but Castor turned around and blocked the attack with his spear and club, with the two warriors ending in a bind, but Marcus kicked him on his deformed chest and sent him flying back.
As Marcus prepared to attack, Castor teleported several meters into the air before quickly descending down, and slamming both of his weapons on the floor, creating a large green shockwave. The platform began shaking, and the rock around the Gemini began slowly rotting away before collapsing down piece by piece.
Marcus quickly moved away as the effects of the attack reached where he stood, but found that he didn't have any place to move away, with almost the entirety of the floor rotting away. Looking around, his mind began racing on the solution. Then it came to him.
As the floor beneath his feet rotted away, Marcus sheathed his blades before making a huge leap thanks to his strength. His legs planted to the side of one of the pillars and he quickly jumped off it, snapping the pillar in half in the process and hurling himself straight into the twins.
He slammed into them shoulder-first, disrupting whatever magic they were using to rot away the platform as it came back to normal. Marcus was upon them and began hitting Castor repeatedly in the face. Whatever effect his de-aging magic had seemed to wear off as with each punch his face turned elderly for a moment.
There was another shockwave of green energy produced from the twins that sent Marcus flying back. They then began floating into the air, with Castor seemingly out of it while Pollux glared at Marcus.
"You will never reach the eyes!" the demigod of the twin duo said before turning around to face the statue of Apollo. Taking control of his brother's arms, all three began to emanate the green glow and the platform that held the eyes began to crumble, making them fall down with their cage.
Marcus' eyes widened before narrowing in rage. He ran at the floating twins but castor was able to send several energy blasts in his way, forcing him to dodge.
"Snap out of it, Castor!" Pollux yelled, waking his brother up. He then used his magic to summon back the two weapons he had and rejoined them in a spear. "Now, finish this!"
Castor grabbed the spear, which began emanating green energy and slammed it into the ground, making the entire platform slowly crumble. Marcus, who had enough of these two, ran at them while swinging his blades in a circular arc, building enough momentum and slashing at them, making Castor and Pollux fall down.
Marcus stood over them and was about to strike, but the two teleported again. Having already got the feel of their fighting style, Marcus blocked the attack from behind and cut Castor across the chest.
The two then teleported again, this time above, making Marcus jump upward and intercept the attack before turning them around and slamming them back into the platform. The floor beneath them cracked before giving away, forcing all three to begin falling.
Not deterred by his current situation, Marcus grabbed hold of Pollux by snatching his arm and his head. He planted his foot under Castor's chin for leverage and began pulling. Pollux screamed in pain as Marcus pulled on him, tearing him away from his brother. Blood began spurting from Castor as Pollux was pulled, and Marcus gave one last pull and completely tore Pollux off Castor's side, making the shorter one scream.
They fell for a little while longer before coming into contact with the ground below. Marcus landed on his feet, cracks forming beneath him. Looking in front of him, he saw all the stone debris that fell down, either with them or from before. On some of the rocks, he saw Castor lying there, dead.
Looking down he also saw Pollux, trying to crawl away with his single arm.
"Please, I'm an innocent," he begged. Marcus then began approaching him. "It was my brother who-"
Not wasting any time, Marcus immediately stomped on him, with the last of the Gemini letting a small whimper before dying. Marcus then approached Castor's body and grabbed ahold of the jewel around his neck before snatching it away.
He knew that the magic that de-aged them, made them teleport, or made all those things crumble away came from this jewel. He knew that this was the object that Orkos was telling him about.
Putting the jewel away for the time being, he quickly looked around for the cage that held the Eyes. He was able to find it almost immediately, though it was in an incredibly mangled condition. Looking over, he found that the Eyes were gone.
Thinking they may have ended somewhere around here, he began searching. After a little while, they weren't there. He checked every corner, turned every stone, double-checked and triple-checked, and nothing.
He then came to a realization. Someone took the Eyes after they fell.
Marcus blinked away the flood of memories that came over him and looked over to the trio that helped him escape.
Worried, Zoe put her hand on his arm. "Are thou alright? Thou were silent for a few moments."
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine," Marcus said before shaking his head.
"Hey, Marcus," Percy said before walking up to Marcus. They stared at each other for a moment before Percy smiled and extended his hand. "It's good to have you back."
Marcus was silent for a few moments before smiling back and taking Percy's hand in a handshake. Being delighted at the sight, Annabeth also walked up to him and gave the red-eyed demigod a hug, one that caught him off guard.
Quickly breaking the hug, Annabeth looked up at him. "So, what now? Shall we return to the Camp?"
Marcus' face got serious again. "No," he answered. "I came here for a reason, and I'm not leaving until I fulfill it."
"Wait, you mean breaking your oath to Ares?" Percy asked.
Marcus nodded. "I need to kill all the Furies for that to happen. And this is the only place where that can be accomplished," he explained. "I would tell you not to get involved, but after what happened, the remaining Furies should already know you're here and there is no way that they would let you get out of here alive. Sticking together is our best bet."
Zoe nodded. "Then we will assist thee in thine quest?"
"Well, there is no way that anyone of us would abandon you anyway. You can count on us," Percy said.
"I agree with Seaweed Brain. We've been through too much together already. We're helping you."
Marcus couldn't help but let out a small smile. True, he didn't want them in danger but their attitudes were heartwarming. Even he could see that.
Then there was a screeching of a bird which made all three of them look up. Zoe, Annabeth, and Percy recognized that bird from before when they were inside the now decease Hecatonchire, while Marcus narrowed his eyes, also recognizing the cursed creature.
It would appear that they weren't getting any rest before trouble finds them. And that was a sad reality that they were used to.
AN: And that's it, my dear readers. Mostly an action flashback chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it.
And I hope you check out my other stories, trust me, they are worth your time. And leave a review, they are great motivators.
See you next time!