AN: Ok, I know I've been slacking off with the word count of the chapters recently, which is why we have a three thousand word chapter here!
Enjoy!
Responding to reviews
In response to "Deeznuggets2121": I think I'll be able to make the plot work, I'll make sure this story isn't rushed or anything.
In response to "HellRaiderS": Thank you, and thank you for reviewing!
In response to "Guest (I'll just call you faithful guest from now on to distinguish you from other 'guests')" : Thanks! Yes, Ouranos is back, what kind of trouble will this stir up for Perseus?
In response to "AG23": It might become a five way battle, or it might not. Who knows? Maybe some parties will team up, and perhaps others will be eliminated even before the full out war begins.
In response to "gangui": Good point, although my earlier chapters weren't exactly the best in terms of quality. I believe I've improved now, so if one reads through all of it, I think the reader would be more than satisfied. Perhaps even a little unsatisfied due to the fact that this fic is currently incomplete!
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The Beginning of the End
Ascension of the Fallen: Chapter 15
A group of five girls could be seen from a bird's eye view, traveling in the scalding desert with temperatures rising to unbearable heights.
"Behold, the Junkyard of the Gods."
The daughter of Atlas looked up to see Thalia pointing her spear at the approaching junkyard.
"You are so awful at 'grand' voices, Thalia," Phoebe deadpanned.
Thalia rolled her eyes at that, as the rest of the group hummed in agreement.
"Not my fault I'm not as much as a drama queen as my dad."
The five let out soft snickers at that as the skies rumbled slightly above.
Phoebe smirked at Thalia, shaking her head. "Careful with that, drama queen above might just smite you, even if its his own daughter."
The group entered the colossal yard of junk.
A range of hills spanning until the edge of the horizon was visible… but they weren't your ordinary, countryside hills, which were full of wavering, green grass.
The hills were just enormous mounds of old mortal cars, appliances, old crowns, refrigerators, computer monitors, smashed chariots, everything. Shields and swords glistened tantalizingly in the sunlight. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on until the ends of time, the great garbage yard of the gods.
"Remember! Do not touch anything," Zoe warned, "any touching of any item will bring bad fortune to us."
The group walked forward in comfortable silence, well, as comfortable one can be when walking through a gigantic junkyard.
After a few minutes, Thalia noticed that the daughter of Athena was no longer with them and cursed, looking around to find her.
She and the others turned around to see Annabeth racing towards some ancient gadget that mesmerized her.
"Annabeth, stop!" the lieutenant of the hunters ordered her, frantically running towards her.
The ten-year-old was inches away from touching the gadget when the daughter of Enyo quickly tackled her, stopping her from touching it and landing with her on the ground.
Annabeth's eyes were instantly wide with regret, and Thalia harshly scolded her for trying to reach the gadget and potentially putting all of their lives in danger.
"But it-it was calling to me…"
"Annabeth, you know we would all be dead right now if you had touched that."
The ten-year-old started crumpling under the pressure of all the girls glaring at her, and she started sobbing, bawling her eyes out.
Celyn comforted the daughter of Athena, knowing that she was still a kid despite her Athenian heritage and accelerated development.
She turned to the others with a light glare. "I don't want to see any of you pushing her too far on this quest. Annabeth is still a child after all."
The others relented in their gaze as they realized what the daughter of Apollo said was true and turned around to keep moving.
More than a few things appealed to the daughter of Zeus, including an ancient spear that seemed to fiercely call out to her. Decorated with ancient runes, Thalia guessed that it was of east Asian origin, and it was just pulsing with pure, blue power. She almost reached out to touch it, but the girl resisted, knowing that any touching would trigger something, and it was best left alone.
They walked for hours straight, pausing to rest here and there to rest.
Things were actually going well for once. No random monster had tried to attack them, and the five were all keeping away from the gigantic piles of junk that now surrounded them, avoiding even getting close to the junk in fear of touching anything.
From bows to shields to even mortal guns, crashed chariots to refrigerators, the never-ending mountain range of numerous divine metals and mortal metals were filled with tens of thousands of items.
And all of them kept away from the piles like they were some kind of plague.
Of course, that all had to go to shit.
The instant indication of danger that the group had was an ear-piercing screech made all of the group cover their eardrums in pain, cringing as the sound vibrated throughout the area.
Thalia immediately expanded her watch into her copy of Aegis as her can of mace turned into her spear. She crouched, scanning the horizon for anything that was looking to come kill them.
It looked like a normal mortal, except gigantic, and full of celestial bronze.
"Holy shit!" The daughter of Enyo exclaimed, voicing the thoughts of the rest of the group, "What the actual FUCK is that?"
Standing in front of the five girls and towering more than thirty feet high was an utter monstrosity of celestial bronze and mortal steel just aching to kill them.
"Who touched something?" Zoe and Thalia called out in unison, as everyone simultaneously turned their eyes to Annabeth, who raised her hands in defense.
The group started searching each other, checking each other's pockets and even the insides of boots.
Thalia spotted something glimmering on Phoebe's boot, and she gestured for her to lift her foot up.
A coin.
A fucking coin was stuck to the bottom of Phoebe's boot.
The daughter of Zeus almost wanted to rip her hair out in frustration, as she cursed loudly, attracting the rest of the group's attention.
They plucked it off her boot, quickly throwing it away in the hopes that it would stop pursuing them, but the massive behemoth of metal was fast approaching them, menacingly.
"Why does it keep coming towards us?" Annabeth panicked, searching for guidance within the rest of the group.
"Well, it sure looks like it's defective…" Phoebe suggested, as the prototype turned its eyes to them and raised a huge broadsword.
"I don't think it likes being called defective," the daughter of commented, as the prototype brought the god-sized broadsword down on them.
They split up, Phoebe and Annabeth diving to the right and Thalia, Celyn, and Zoe diving to the left.
The impact of the sword kicked up a massive dust cloud; Thalia couldn't even see her own hand through the dust.
As she was too arrogant to call Perseus, the daughter of Zeus ignored the temptation to tap her necklace given to her by him. After all, she wanted to prove that she could handle something without his help.
She heard the daughter of Atlas and the daughter of Apollo scream furiously at her, and when she looked up, the foot of the Talos prototype was right above her head.
The daughter of Zeus frantically dove to the right, diving into a roll, but the prototype quickly improvised, stoically backhanding her across the junkyard with tremendous force.
She landed in one of the junk piles with a painful thud, and she struggled to get up.
Meanwhile, the automaton pursued Annabeth, who bobbed and weaved to avoid the lumbering prototype.
Zoe stepped up, peppering the face of the automaton with arrows, causing it to shift its attention towards the huntress.
The daughter of Atlas soon ran away, the prototype hot on her heels, when the path came to a dead end.
Zoe futilely peppered it with arrows, but to no avail. This was her end. She closed her eyes, praying.
However, a massive bolt of lightning worthy of Zeus himself came down from the heavens, electrocuting the automaton. The daughter of Atlas took the chance to slip away, as numerous, smaller strikes of lightning came, continuously striking the automaton.
The automaton wobbled unsteadily, as Thalia used all her might to electrocute the automaton.
She brought one final bolt onto the prototype before blacking out, as it now took steps like a drunken mortal.
Phoebe and Annabeth had found a somehow functioning cannon in one of the junkpiles, and Annabeth, somehow knowing how to operate a thirteenth century cannonball, had taken the time to set it up with a cannonball and some gunpowder that Phoebe had found in another pile.
Heavy though it was, the two managed to aim it at the stumbling automaton, which now leaned on a junkpile for balance.
With a powerful shot, the cannonball tore itself into the automaton's chest, hitting and severing several wires.
The thing exploded in a blast, as the rest of the group scrambled to look for the unconscious daughter of Zeus.
Far away in the distance, a pair of sharp, magenta eyes watched the group closely.
"Their little group is rather skilled, don't you think?"
"I'm more worried about the daughter of Zeus. I would rather just shoot them down now," Valx replied coolly.
"In due time, sister. Wait until he gives the command, lest we receive punishment by his hand."
In a dark room lit only by fiery red torches, one could hear voices vehemently arguing with each other.
"General Atlas, with all due respect, that is an abysmal idea!" Mars argued emphatically, pacing around the room as the light from the torches illuminated only half of his face, leaving the other half dark.
"And why is that? A full-frontal assault will most definitely crush this ridiculous Council of Seven and the demigod camps like flies! We could be done with this entire war in just two months, I tell you! TWO MONTHS, if Perseus didn't waste his damn time caring about all those useless demigods, we could march right in, and this war would be over!" the titan of endurance slammed his fist on the table, cracking the marble.
The god of war stepped forward calmly, facing the powerful titan despite knowing that Atlas could overpower him rather easily. "An oafish point made by an oafish immortal. A full-frontal assault will cause unnecessary losses to our troops, and Perseus likes to suffer minimal, if not zero losses. Don't be so idiotic. You always think a full-frontal assault is best. No wonder you lost the First Titanomachy. I have no clue why Perseus keeps you as a military advisor. Perhaps you should work at one of the demigod camps, cleaning the horse stalls. Then you'd at least be somewhat useful."
"I AM THE TITAN OF STRENGTH!" The General furiously roared, spittle flying from his mouth as the room shook with tremors, and Mars slid backwards from his roar as the titan advanced threateningly.
The roman god of war drew a spear and an imperial gold shield out of thin air, preparing to defend himself.
The titan god of strength summoned a mighty broadsword, one that was so heavy it was meant to be wielded with two hands, but Atlas preferred to wield it with one.
Atlas charged with immense speed, raising his broadsword and nearly cleaving the god of war in half, but Mars jumped out of the way at the last second.
The combination of the broadsword and Atlas' strength caused a shockwave, sending Mars into the arena down below, where they practiced.
The minor gods ceased their practice as they watched the god of war land on his back with a loud thud.
Menoetius and Pallas' jaws were hanging wide open as they struggled to comprehend what was happening in front of them.
The General jumped down beside him, and with a mighty roar, he split Mars' body like a lumberjack felling a tree.
Or so he thought.
The titan whirled around as Mars quickly struck his spear towards Atlas, who jumped out of the way to avoid being skewered.
Nevertheless, the former bearer of the sky was infuriated to see that Mars had landed a glancing strike on his left thigh, the roman god of war drawing first blood.
The fearsome General roared in frustration and anger, backhanding the god several hundred yards away with strength rivaling even Perseus himself.
Mars landed into a roll as dust kicked up in the arena, coming back to his feet.
Despite his chest plate, his sternum seemed to have cracked, and the war god grimaced slightly.
The General chuckled at the grimace on Mars' face. "A mere backhand can do that to you! My, you must be beyond weak! Look at you, the pathetic thing who calls himself the god of war."
The god of war calmly flicked two throwing knives at Atlas, one of them hitting its mark and landing in the chinks of the titan's armor.
The two immortals charged at each other, but a voice cut in sharply, making the two freeze in their tracks.
"What in the name of Chaos is going on here?"
Both immortals stiffened, their spines going visibly ramrod as Perseus strolled into the massive arena, exuding a massive aura of power that announced his arrival.
To be frank, neither of them wanted to fight the eldest son of Kronos; fighting him meant sure death.
The god of war gulped in front of his idol. "We were just, uh, having a friendly spar with each other! Yeah! Right Atlas?"
The titan grumbled a bit, but he nodded in agreement despite his rivalry with Mars.
Perseus nodded his head, unconvinced. "Mhmm. That's why you have a gash on your leg, and he," the god of time pointed at Mars, "has numerous large cracks in his sternum."
"Spars can have… some, unintended, consequences," Atlas shrugged, the General doing his best to act nonchalant, "after all, we do need to improve."
The former king of Olympus smirked in response. "Then, would you allow me the honor of sparring with you, Atlas? After all, we want to improve, don't we?"
The General gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear. Atlas still remembered the last time they had faced off, and he had gotten his ass handed to him on a silver platter.
Atlas reluctantly shook his head, as he did not want to be humiliated in front of all their forces. They would immediately lose their respect for him, and he would be mocked.
Perseus nodded his head. "Good."
"On a side note, I do care about the demigods, Atlas. For more than a few reasons. They've had a hard life, and I do not want to eliminate all of them and write them off as 'collateral'. It is not their fault that the gods have committed the atrocities that they have. Demigods are more than just 'collateral damage', as my father would likely write them off as. Demigods can be useful assets, but more importantly, they are innocent," he explained, "like mortals, they have no part in this war, and the only time we will hurt them is if they get in our way. So at this moment, don't even touch them. Understood?"
Mars and Atlas gaped like fish, as they realized that Perseus had heard their entire conversation.
Atlas begrudgingly bowed his head. "Yes, Perseus."
"Good. I'm glad we've come to an understanding."
The powerful dark god turned to Mars, but he noticed something rather peculiar. His features were slowly changing, and Perseus could see the beginnings of mean features and a sneer gradually appearing on his lips.
Mars was shifting into his Greek form, Ares, bit by bit.
The god of mountains narrowed his eyes. "Mars, let your Greek form out. I will deal with him promptly. We'll talk about this later."
The roman god of war nodded mutely, clearly in pain as his Greek form was pushing out aggressively.
Instantly, the roman was gone, replaced by a grinning, blood thirsty Ares.
A massive aura of red could be felt from the god of war, and the minor gods moved away from him, as they could feel the anger of Ares motivating his blood thirst.
The Greek god of war pounded towards Perseus, launching a fist straight at his face with immense power.
The dark god caught Ares' fist, stopping it in its tracks while not moving at all himself.
He ignored the fuming war god, calling out to the rest of the arena. "Leave, or if you want to watch me make this buffoon into a pancake, back away and simply observe."
He turned back to the Olympian, watching him futilely struggle in his grip. Ares tried to slam his left fist into Perseus' abdomen, but Perseus caught his fist with his other hand.
With a powerful kick by the dark god, several bones in Ares' chest cracked as he flew several hundred yards away.
The war god quickly bounced to his feet, but he was met by a flurry of metal from Perseus' sword, as the two engaged in a deadly dance of sparks.
Immediately the war god was on the defensive, furiously blocking and parrying, but to no avail. Gashes opened everywhere, leaking gold ichor as he got increasingly tired.
"You really are pathetic," the disgraced god sneered at the frantic war god, toying with him.
He launched several fakes before a left uppercut launched Ares high into the air, almost reaching the ceiling above the arena.
Before the war god could hit the ground, Perseus unleashed a powerful blast of darkness, leaving him a broken heap on the ground.
The arena became silent, dimming as Perseus stalked towards the wide-eyed Ares with a grace worthy of the former king of Olympus.
The formerly powerful god of war tried to crawl away, but the god of time simply grabbed him by the throat, lifting Ares into the air with one hand.
Perseus tilted his head at the god. "Pathetic war god. Did you really think you could defeat me?"
The god of darkness began squeezing his hand, choking the war god as Ares struggled in his grip, kicking and gasping for air, all while clawing at his hand.
"Let this be a warning to the Olympians."
He accentuated his point, tightening his grip even further, as Ares completely slackened in his grasp.
"The Ascension of the Fallen has begun."
AN: I had Thalia do a significant amount of damage to the prototype of Talos to showcase that her powers are already very well-developed, and as a child of Zeus, she is no longer a complete 'raw' talent newbie demigod, and is more refined, although she does black out.
I wanted to fully show Perseus' dark side here, since I don't think I've shown it before in any of my chapters. What did you think of the new characters introduced?
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'Til next time!
-thann3