The Father of All Monsters
Ascension of the Fallen: Chapter 26
Zeus coughed up golden ichor, laughing maniacally, "I will show you the true meaning of strength, brother," he sneered the word as if it were poison, electric blue eyes cockily meeting his dark ones.
Perseus took one good look at him, raising an eyebrow at his pitiful state. He clocked him in the face.
With no defenses, the hysterically laughing Zeus elegantly dropped flat on the ground, knocked out. Perseus closed his eyes, sending a mental message to the phusias to assist New Rome and Camp Half-blood. It wouldn't do to allow them to perish as he was fighting this... thing.
"My friend, Chronos, if you would."
"Gladly," the primordial intoned mentally.
After a few moments of silence, a hand extended itself out of thin air, grabbing the unconscious god of lightning and thunder by the ankle. It dragged Zeus back into the portal from which it came, the primordial demonstrating surprising strength despite his age. Father Time bowed to no one.
As he finished, the god of darkness looked back at the raging monster that was Typhon, taking a deep breath.
He had defeated him once before, and that was when he had been a mere godling, terrified and shaking. Yet, he hadn't run. He had been determined to set a good example for the rest of the Olympians, and he had faced his fear, this monstrosity. He could do it again.
"You are one ugly motherfucker," he whispered, partially to himself, and partially to the thing that stood in front of him.
The combined two hundred serpentine heads on both of his hands turned to regard him, hissing violently at him, as if they had heard him. The giant turned, each step sending tremors that rocked the very ground, but Perseus stood still. It was said that mortals or weak demigods who looked at Typhon's face for too long would go insane from trying to comprehend it. Gods would flee in terror from this giant.
"Back for round two, are you?" he taunted, a smirk slowly settling over his features.
Typhon chose to answer him by spewing a torrent of searing fire the width of several acres from his maw. The flames were so hot, one would be scorched alive from just standing within the impact zone.
He raised his arms, forcing a thick sheen of pure darkness outwards from where he stood. The resulting shockwave sent wind through his hair. The scorching flames were pushed back, as he forced the darkness back at the monstrosity.
It barely did anything, however. The father of all monsters didn't even stumble, not even deigning to bear the attack with a grunt.
Suddenly, the ground shook forcefully, and even Perseus stumbled slightly. In the distance, Mount Saint Helens erupted, the molten hot lava flowing towards them. Tornadoes formed in front of him, whipping up to hundreds of miles per hour, blinding him and forcing him to shield his eyes.
The bright blue sky turned bloodred and black, tremors running through the Earth.
Perseus sent a burst of godly energy out clearing the fog and debris. He stared at the fiery globs of lava the size of entire fields that Typhon had in each of his hands, watching as the giant stomped into the Earth to retrieve more from under the ground. That wasn't something he did the last time...
Had he decided to grow a couple braincells?
Evidently he stared for too long, because the bastard took an opportunity to heave the globs of magma at him.
He boosted himself, manipulating the strings of time to put on a burst of speed. Still, he watched with some regret as the globs burned the entire field of wheat that he had been standing upon.
Perseus leaned backwards, barely avoiding the poisonous spit that was spewed from Typhon's hands, as the giant made passing grasps at him.
Flicking his fingers outwards, the glowing strings of time manifested themselves. He twisted and manipulated them, crossing the threads with each other and pouring his power into them.
A rotating wheel of golden threads was formed, and he forced them forward. They unleashed arcs of power through the air faster than the naked eye could see, and no sooner had he released the threads did they slam into Typhon's monstrous body.
They cut into his flesh slightly, causing him to let out a pained roar. Perseus cringed from the sound, his eardrums vibrating in pain.
"Shut up, you big fat baby. That barely hurt you," he muttered angrily. His own power wasn't going to be enough. He needed something else here.
He flicked his wrist, willing his divine symbol of power to his hand. The hilt fit itself into his hand, the pure black blade humming. Golden lines flowed down the sword with pure, untapped strength, as he gave his sword an experimental twirl. It was perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
He looked up to see Typhon bearing down on him with hands the size of mountains, venom spewing from the serpentine snakes that hissed in anger at his presence.
One moment, the puny god who had humiliated him all those years ago was in front of him, and the next, he was gone.
Perseus leapt into Typhon's guard, layers of darkness and time protecting him as he thrust Zoferós into the giant's stomach.
It pierced straight through, surprising even himself, as he'd never been able to pierce through the nigh invulnerable skin of Typhon. Typhon bellowed in pain, the shockwave hurting his eardrums again. And then he sensed the return strike coming.
He boosted himself out of the way, but Typhon's fist was the width of a mountain, and it still hit him, the poison only being deflected on virtue of the layers of darkness Perseus wore like a second skin.
The resulting impact sent him flying, speeding across the sky as his own mind reeled from the sheer power behind the blow, uncomprehending of what was happening. His brain sloshed around inside his skull as if he were drunk, barely registering the aching, searing pain in his limbs, muscles, and tendons.
The mortals only saw a black blur streaking amongst the clouds as if it were a comet, crashing into the deep Pacific.
Typhon followed, using a hop that stretched the length of several states to reach the Pacific.
The impact tore up the ground of the small island, Perseus righting himself as he skid backwards on the ground. He slammed Zoferós into the ground, using the sword to stop his momentum. He slowly crawled to his feet, his bronze skin smoking and charred. He allowed the strands of time to heal him, as he grabbed his blade once more. He gave it a twirl as he waited, relishing in the comforting humming of the blade.
He should have seen it coming, but he had been so tunnel visioned on killing Typhon that he had paid for it.
He craned his neck upwards to watch as Typhon approached, each step causing entire hurricanes and tsunamis to spring up in his path. The god blocked, pouring all of his godly power into his weapon. He felt it hum with unaltered potential. It was pure, it was raw. It was primal.
His eyes glowed golden with warning, as Perseus slashed downwards.
Arcs of pure power vibrated, slashing and curving through the air. Darkness erupted from the blade, blotting out the very sky. The very ocean violently split in two, as the Earth groaned under the sheer stress of the power.
Mortals would later describe an abnormality occurring, a new fault line being formed as the Pacific Plate would inexplicably reave in two. A new divergent boundary was formed that day, creating a buzz among the mortals.
He could see Typhon's eyes widen in abject fear. The giant even tried to dodge, but to no avail. His power, that of primordials, cleaved straight through the giant's shoulder. Another bellow of pain erupted like lava from the giant's ugly mouth, causing the god to cover his ears from the pain in his eardrums again. A limb, his arm, the size of entire cities, fell into the ocean.
The impact caused another hundred foot wave, as the arm sunk into its watery depths.
Perseus narrowed his eyes as he bore it all with a mere grunt. He sliced again, sending out arcs of power into Typhon, the impacts sending the monstrosity skidding backwards.
He burst forth in a streak of speed, launching himself upwards. Time slowed to a crawl as Perseus manipulated it to boost himself. Threads of time cut into the monstrosity's body, Zoferós thrusting at borderline Mach speeds, each strike piercing through Typhon's body.
The father of all monsters toppled backwards, roaring as he futilely tried to defend himself with his single remaining arm, but to no avail. It was just too much for him. Ichor leaked from the monstrosity's numerous wounds, splurging like a large waterfall as it fell into the sea.
Threads of time wrapped themselves along the abnormality, keeping him restrained to the ground. With such little distance, Perseus raised his hands, trying to pierce the father of all monsters with spikes grown from the Earth, but they were too weak to fully penetrate its skin.
The god of time frowned, before clenching his fist, tightening the threads. The action caused Typhon to let out another pain-filled roar, bellowing to the heavens. This time, Perseus was smart enough to have preemptively blocked his hearing senses, so he didn't cringe. If anything, he could almost taste victory.
Perseus had to end it all, he knew. The father of all monsters had to not just be locked away for millennia to come, but to be killed, permanently.
He went straight for Typhon's neck, Zoferós leaving arcs of pure gold and black behind it. It was a beautiful harmony, a beautiful symphony of power that sung to the heavens with its strength. He swung for the neck of the father of all monsters with fury, watching as the blade easily dug slightly into the thick neck.
Before an incomprehensible force made itself known, striking his body.
He was blown hundreds of yards away, again, skidding on the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Using his strands, he pushed the impact of the blow to later in time; he couldn't allow himself to touch the ocean without knowing who was there. Using Zoferós, he built a small platform of darkness to stand on.
He then allowed the impact from the blow to register, and he gasped, doubling over as he collapsed to one knee. The blow had knocked all of the wind out of his lungs.
After a few deep breaths, he stood back up. Yet, he could still see Typhon's massive body in the distance, the father of all monsters sporting more than a few wounds from their battle...
So who had hit him?
The answer came just a few seconds later.
An oppressive presence made itself known in the atmosphere, bearing down on the god, and asking- no, demanding, that he kneel. It radiated pure malevolence, the theme of someone who had gone insane. However, he resisted with little more than a grunt, being able to shrug it off with his own presence and aura.
Moments later, a dark, swirling void appeared in the watery depths of the Pacific, as something- no, someone, shot up from the deepest parts of the ocean.
The first thing the god noticed about the person was his face. His face was something that even most gods would find terrifying; it would drive most demigods insane just by looking at the sheer monstrosity of it, and yet Perseus stared at it, fascinated.
His face was a swirling whirlpool and inward spiral of pure darkness, as if everything were being drawn inward rather than outward. He stood at several inches taller than Perseus himself.
His purple, glistening flesh rippled with muscle, and Perseus could tell that it wasn't just for show. His fingers were tipped with razor-sharp, black talons, and he wore a breastplate that had the faces of gorgons, cyclopes, dragons, and all types of monsters pressed against it, screaming silently in agony, as if they were trying to escape.
Tartarus, the Pit.
"I see I made a mistake in allowing you to escape my domain, godling," Tartarus stated calmly, inclining his swirling vortex of a head. His voice sounded like it was being drawn back inward, rather than projecting outward as he rumbled.
Perseus did not answer, only readying himself for the fight that was to come.
"Make no mistake," he warned, "As powerful as you have grown, you have no hope of defeating me."
The god of darkness had to admit he was right, but if he was going to go down, he was going to go down swinging, and swinging hard.
"Hello, brother."
Perseus felt another primordial enter the scene, this time from behind him. It was a woman, who oddly reminded him of Amphitrite, except somehow more... regal.
She wore an elegant crown on her head, a frown upon her beautiful features as she glided across the ocean. She wore golden armor on her robes, a glowing spear present in her right hand.
Tartarus crossed his arms, a disgruntled noise building in the back of his throat, "What are you doing here, sister?"
"To find out why you are attacking Perseus, herald of the Golden Age," Thalassasmiled, but there was no kindness behind it, only mere courtesy.
"He was going to fade Typhon," Tartarus frowned, "And we cannot allow him to usurp the Olympians. The Earth is the domain of us protogenoi. We deserve the right to rule, because we are strong, and they are weak."
"Is he, though?" The female Protogenos of the Sea only gestured to the god of darkness in question, "Eldest of Kronos, who has ascended to our status? He deserves the throne of Olympus, if not to bring peace to our time, no?"
"He challenges our way of life," the Primordial of the Pit bluntly stated, "Protogenos should always be the strongest. We are the originals, we are the eldest; we are the most powerful. Below us are titans, giants, and godlings like him. They cannot challenge us, they will not challenge us."
"And yet, here he is, challenging your authority right now, is he not?" Thalassa looked slightly amused. Tartarus narrowed his eyes at the both of them, a dark energy building up around him.
Perseus readied himself again, bending his knees slightly. Surely even the Primordial of the Pit wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could beat the two of them?
Apparently, Perseus had guessed wrong. Tartarus simply chose to summon a pitch black broadsword in his hand, saying nothing more. It was malevolence, it was spite, it was bitterness, everything negative rolled into one, single blade, honed to an edge.
"Prepare to die, godling," the Protogenos of the Pit rumbled, "No more resurrections this time."
AN: Happy late 1 year birthday of this fic!
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