Chapter 19:
If anyone who Markus knew had seen the way he was living in his apartment, he would convince them that he was acting responsibly and maturely.
But really, he was living like a king, and he fucking loved it.
It was two weeks since he had left Camp Half-Blood, and since then, he'd been enjoying his stay in his new apartment. At first, he didn't know how to adapt to this kind of lifestyle, since he was so to living on the streets. Living in an extravagant apartment? Big difference.
But he quickly learned to adapt to it. He wasn't used to living in these conditions, nor having this much money. He didn't even know what to buy. A few days after he came back to his apartment, he bought a laptop to look at what he really needed in his place. He didn't think monsters could track him, since he was using a laptop instead of a phone. And if they could track him, he was willing to risk it. He needed new stuff for his apartment. He may have the essentials already, but it couldn't hurt to do a little more shopping.
However, when he quickly got onto the laptop, he quickly got infected with the problem many people had with access to the Internet and a lot of money.
Internet shopping.
When he quickly got a look at all the stuff that he was interested in, like a Playstation 2 and an Xbox 360, along with a couple of games, he quickly ordered them to his apartment. Thankfully, there wasn't a problem with them selling this stuff to a thirteen year old boy (his birthday being August 29) who lived on his own. No problem whatsoever. No use of the Mist applied to convince them. Not at all... well maybe a little.
Anyway, back to his lifestyle. Ever since getting his hands on the gaming consoles, he'd been slowly turning into a gamer. But it's not like he could help it. He had really cool games, like Call of Duty 2, the Devil May Cry series from 1-3, Dead or Alive 4, and many others. Though it was a little distracting with his ADHD sometimes, he didn't let it distract him. Surprisingly, playing video games seemed to help him with his ADHD a lot by making him focus on certain details in each game he played. It wasn't much, but it was still something.
That didn't mean Markus neglected his demigod training. Oh no, he still trained with his powers and swordplay, though not much on swordplay since he was still in an apartment. Hr doubted he could step outside to practice, even with the Mist helping him. He'd probably look like a fool.
But anyway, Markus still trained with his water powers. He practiced mostly in the bathroom, which had a large bath tub and a lot of fancy-looking stuff. He filled the bathtub with water and trained in different ways with it, from creating several spheres of water in mid-air and holding them together with his mind, to forming different shapes with the water, from tridents to swords and even small sea creatures. It may be silly, but it was great practice that helped with his concentration.
Also, since his encounter at the Lotus Casino, he'd gained an interest in several manga. He'd tried reading some online, but it felt better actually reading physically. So, he went to the nearest comic book store, which also sold manga. After browsing through the manga section, he had become interested in several different types. Ones like Naruto, Bleach and Fairy Tail had caught his attention. Intrigued, he'd purchased them and brought them home, where he read a few pages. Needless to say, he'd quickly become hooked.
Markus even took some interest in watching anime that he'd downloaded on his TV, though he still preferred reading manga better. Unknowingly, he'd quickly become what was dubbed an 'otaku', though Markus would deny it if he became aware of it.
Currently, he was taking a hot showe, which he enjoyed to the fullest. He wasn't bothered by the heat, being a son of Poseidon. Water temperatures didn't bother him. If he tried hard enough, he could change the temperature of the water if he wanted. Something to look into later, he supposed.
As Markus finished his shower, he grabbed the towel on the rack and stepped out, wrapping the towel around his waist. He walked out of the bathroom, whistling while doing so. He stepped into the kitchen, completely missing the new resident in his living room.
"I see you are enjoying yourself, Markus Henderson," a familiar voice said.
Markus jumped, his towel almost falling off his body. He whirled, turning to the person who just entered his home uninvited, but then calmed down when he saw who it was.
"Hecate," he responded in greeting. The goddess of magic was seated on his couch, wearing flannel jeans and a red blouse. She was still had the same physical appearance as when he met her in his dream, though her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders. She finished her look with sandals on her feet. She looked casual enough, though Markus knew this wasn't a normal meeting. It never was with gods.
He sighed. "Well, what do you want? Since you can't seem to knock." He wasn't really happy to see the goddess unannounced. He had enough of jump scares. Plus, it was embarrassing to talk to your boss in a towel.
Hecate's eyes narrowed. "You should watch your tone, Markus. Many gods will not take kindly to disrespect."
Markus rolled his eyes. "In case you didn't notice, I'm a dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a god for a parent. Not to mention I fight monsters who want to kill me. Oh, and I also am basically a wizard who knows magic. The stress gets to me sometimes. I'll ask again: what do you want?"
Hecate's eyes narrowed even more, if that were possible. She had a deep scowl on her face. Markus got why she was a bit pissy. He might be a little disrespectful. But he was just being honest.
Thankfully, Hecate decided not to blow up. She exhaled sharply. "I forgot how it was."
"Forgot how what was?" Markus asked.
"How it was dealing with a Henderson," the goddess answered, a small smile on her face.
Markus nearly choked on his own spit. Dealing with a Henderson? He immediately knew that Hecate was talking about his mother.
Markus smiled sadly. "She had the same attitude as me, huh?"
"Oh yes," Hecate nodded, a melancholic smile on her face. "The same sense of humour, the same snark that I can see in both of your eyes. It brings back memories. Your mother was special, that I can tell."
"Yeah," Markus nodded. "I know."
An awkward silence permeated through the room. Markus, who was uncomfortable, decided to break it. "Back to the question, Hecate. What do you want from me?"
"Ah, yes." Hecate's melancholic expression faded, replaced by a serious one. "I came here because I need you to do a quest for me."
Markus sighed. He was expecting the goddess to show herself at some point to offer him a quest. So he wasn't too surprised by the offer. Still, he had to ask. "And what quest do I have to do?"
"I want you to retrieve an ancient tome for me," Hecate answered, her eyes narrowing at the word tome.
Markus' eyebrows raised. Guess Hecate didn't seem to like this tome. "And what's up with it? From looking at your expression, I can tell that you don't like it."
"Indeed," the goddess agreed. "It's called the Tenentem de Obumbratio."
"Holding of Shadows?" Markus questioned, easily translating the Latin words.
"Yes. It was created by one of my children in the 13th century. He was a necromancer named Adrian Bemus, but that's not important. What is important is the tome's secrets that it contains. Like the name suggests, it contains dark magic. Black magic. Magic so vile that it should not be unleashed." (A.N. - Think of the Darkhold from Marvel comics, only much more weaker).
Markus blinked. That was some serious stuff. And she wanted him to retrieve it? "Hold up," Markus said, raising his hands in a time-out gesture. "If this tome is so dangerous, why do you want me to get it? It's probably protected by magical barriers or something like that."
Hecate shook her head. "Oh, no. The tome isn't protected by a strong barrier. In fact, it can easily be overcome by brute force."
"Then what's the danger behind this quest?" Markus queried. He refused to believe that it would be that easy. It never was.
"The tome might end up in the wrong hands. Anyone who opens the book will immediately be consumed by the darkness within. It won't have much effect on gods, maybe minor deities. But demigods, woodland creatures and anyone else? They would be corrupted by black magic."
Markus gaped. "And you want me to get that? What if I get corrupted while trying to retrieve it? Uh-uh. No way. Not happening."
Hecate rolled her eyes. Markus had a feeling that she'd be doing that often. "Honestly, Markus. Do you think I would send you on a quest with full knowledge that you'd die and not fully prepare?"
"... Is that a trick question?" Markus asked cautiously and somewhat jokingly.
Hecate scowled. "You do not need to touch the book to be corrupted. Only if you open the book will you be corrupted. To protect you, you can carry a sack with a rune on it to protect you. Surely my disciple can draw a simple protection rune?"
"Ha ha," Markus said mockingly. "You're hilarious."
"The Tenentem de Obumbratio is located in Quebec, Canada. There is no set time-limit, but I would appreciate if you could retrieve it soon. The longer it remains unattended, the more risk there is that it will fall into the wrong hands. I need to correct the mistake that my son has caused."
Markus nodded, then blinked. "How am I going to travel to Quebec? In case you didn't notice, I can't go in a plane because Mr. Thunderfart himself will shoot me down."
The sky rumbled with thunder in response to Markus' naming of the sky god. He shrugged. It was true.
Hecate decided to ignore his nickname for Zeus. "I will take care of that. Take this." She held out her hand, and a stone appeared onto her palm. It was smooth, and was the size of a tennis ball. On top of it was a Greek letter: Eta, meaning H. Markus thought it was a symbol of Hephaestus, but it wasn't. Surrounding the letter was a symbol of magic, signifying that it represented Hecate. It was like one of those magic circles that you see in some fake fortune-teller stuff. Though this was very real.
"It is a magic circle that is tied to me," Hecate explained. "When you are about to leave, it will transport you to your destination. When you have completed your objective, the magic circle will transport you to your apartment, where I will meet you. It will automatically react to the dark magic of the Holding of Shadows as well as your magic. This will signify that you have it in your grasp."
Markus nodded, taking in all the information given to him. It sounded like a simple quest, but he knew it was going to be anything but. He just had to prepare for it properly. Speaking of...
Markus turned to the goddess and nodded. "Okay. I'll take the quest. But before that, could you possibly teach me some battle spells? You know, for preparation for the quest."
Markus didn't expect much of an answer. He didn't mind if she had said no. But as soon as he asked that question, Hecate's features narrowed, even more than before. But it didn't look like she was angry. More like disappointed. Markus felt a small shiver down his spine at her expression.
When she spoke, her tone was blank, but also grave. "You must control yourself, Markus Henderson."
Markus blinked. Control himself? He just asked to be taught a few spells. A simple 'no' would be fine. "Wha-"
"I have noticed something about you, Markus," Hecate continued, strangely stern all of a sudden. "I have watched over you, observing you. From the time you realised that you were a demigod, to the duration of your quest, to your return to your camp. And through those observations I have noticed instances of your fatal flaw. More specifically, flaws."
"What's a fatal flaw?" Markus asked. It sounded self-explanatory but there seemed to be a deeper meaning behind it.
"A fatal flaw is a mental weakness possessed in all mortals, demigods and gods. If it's not controlled, you may end up dead. Most have only one fatal flaw. You, on the other hand, have two. Anger and greed."
Markus processed this new information. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised that those two were his fatal flaws. He had lost himself to his anger on more than one occasion. Instances like his meeting with Poseidon and mind rape of Gabe flashed into his mind.
And greed? That wasn't a surprise. His living in his apartment showcased it fully. He already knew that he was greedy about a lot of things. Hecate just confirmed it. "It's that bad, huh?"
"Yes," Hecate said, nodding. "I suppose your anger is not completely your fault. Your father was known for his temper in ancient times. He seems to have mellowed out, but that anger still remains today. Demigods inherit more than their parents' power. They mostly inherit their flaws. You have inherited Poseidon's anger. It is like the 'calm before the storm'. The sea has different sides. You have inherited the vengeful side of it. "
Markus winced. Yeah, that was pretty bad. "And greed?"
"You want more," Hecate said simply. "Be it power, wealth, knowledge, it is the same. This is more of a self-developed fatal flaw, most likely from your times living on the street. You wanted more, didn't you? You didn't want to live in the situation you previously lived in."
Markus listened with rapt attention. The way Hecate said it, it seemed like a bad thing. He licked his suddenly dry lips. "W-what is it that I want?"
Hecate thought for a moment. "Power. But sometimes wealth as well." Seeing Markus' expression, her features softened. "It is not necessarily a bad thing. If you learned to control your fatal flaws, it could be beneficial to you. Think of it like this, you can control your greed so that you can become stronger, while also controlling your anger to give you the drive. The anger is the fuel, while the greed is the desire. Hand-in-hand, they can become a deadly combination. Both to you and your enemies. But you must learn to control them. Greed especially. It is a common sin amongst mortals. I have seen many fall due to their greed. I do not wish the same upon you."
And on that happy note, Hecate handed several books that she made out of thin air into Markus' hands. Then she disappeared. No bright light. No rush of wind. Just simple disappearance.
XXX
Markus grumbled as he appeared out of purple smoke. He landed on the ground, appearing to be on the outskirts of a city. The reason he was so grouchy was because he landed on his ass. It hurt a lot.
"Stupid magic goddess. Stupid shitty magical transport," he continued to grumble.
Immediately he could feel the change in temperature. Now that he was up north, he could feel the cold prick his skin and try to get under his clothes. It way way too windy.
The change in temperature didn't really bother him that much, but he would prefer to find the Holding of Shadows as soon as possible.
Quebec was a bit different to what he was used to. It wasn't like New York, which was loud, or Los Angeles, which was big and imposing. It seemed to be somewhere in between. The city seemed to be quiet, yet the city felt large and grand. It was currently around mid-afternoon about now. In the distance was a large castle. Who lived in a castle nowadays?
Anyways, Markus had to focus. He was thankful that he was able to learn two new battle spells from books that he received from Hecate. One of them was called Sagitta Spiralis, which launched a large spiralling arcane bolt that was similar to a missile. The other spell was called Stella Inspiratione, which was basically an overpowered flash bomb. In addition to blinding enemies, it also unleashed a large bomb of superheated light that burned almost anything in its radius. Though this spell took quite a bit of time and magic to perform.
Markus was giddy to test out his new spells and the power behind them. Then he remembered what Hecate talked about before he left. He promptly put it out of his mind for the moment.
He brought out the stone that had the magic circle on it. Immediately, the circle flared, showing that it was outlined with a black colour. When he moved a certain distance, it pulsed strongly or faded weakly. Markus guessed it was kind of like a magic metal detector, indicating if he was close to the Holding of Shadows or not. Pretty cool.
Markus walked in straight ahead, entering the city but walking near the suburbs. The magic circle pulsed strongly, showing that he was on the right path. Markus wondered how it was going to show the location of the tome. Was it going to start flashing? Maybe sound out an alarm or something? He didn't know for sure.
He kept on walking for twenty minutes. He felt he was about to lose any semblance of patience and throw the stone in his hand on the ground and crush it out of frustration when the magic circle suddenly flared. The black outline o the magic circle turned a deep ebony, the design making it look like the stone was bleeding black blood along the surface.
Markus looked around, seeing an empty clearing with trees, a field of grass and a small bush. No tome.
But he knew that it was here. The magic circle was clearly indicating that it was. Trying to sense it, Markus spread out his magic. It wasn't really sensing where it was, more like learning what the Holding of Shadows' magic felt like. It was a technique that Alabaster taught him. He said it would help with his ADHD and concentration. This was a skill most Hecate children were taught.
As soon as he spread out his magic, he recoiled as if he were burned. When his magic was spread out in a particular direction, he could feel something foul, as if Hades himself was standing in front of him with an aura of death, which he knew since he had met the undead bastard in the Underworld.
It wasn't exactly like Hades' aura, he noted. It was much weaker, but had the same kind of malice. Markus recalled that the Holding of Shadows was made by a necromancer. Necromancy was death magic. Shadow magic. He bet Hades wouldn't be too thrilled if he knew of this.
Following the source of the aura, Markus turned to look at the area behind one of the larger trees. The aura kept on growing stronger the more he moved. As soon as he touched the ground, a magic circle appeared.
This one was different from the one on the stone Markus had. This one was a deep purple, with symbols that Markus had never seen before. He could see that one of them was an eye, like the one Egyptians had with purple eyeliner. Another was a skull with a serpent in its mouth.
Markus decided to ignore the magic circle, and focused on trying to break it.
Standing up and backing away from it, he put out his palms and spoke the words of his new spell. "Sagitta Spiralis!" As soon as he said those words, a large spiralling bolt of magic shot forward and hit the purple magic circle. Markus made sure to limit the power of the spell, as he didn't want the tome to be harmed.
A large bang echoed out through the forest, along with a small cloud of dust. When Markus was able to see properly he saw that the magic circle was slightly broken, with a few cracks on it. Along with that, the surrounding area was damaged by the collision of magic. Trees were snapped. The grass was covered in soot. Damn, guess he was going to need more firepower.
He walked up to the magic circle and raised his fist. He channelled earthquake energy, making his fist vibrate very quickly. He brought it down hard, striking the magic circle, making a loud boom echo across the forest.
The magic circle gave way, collapsing and fading away into particles of purple light. When Markus looked inside the hole that was protected by the circle, he could see the Holding of Shadows inside.
It was a large book, with more pages than a normal phone book. It had a black cover, with no intricate carvings or markings on it. Nothing to indicate that it was a necromancer's book. It did, however, have a large stylish 'A' that was gilded with gold. Markus didn't know what the 'A' standed for. Maybe 'Adrian'?
As soon as Markus drew closer to the Holding of Shadows, he could feel its foul presence again, only much stronger. He could hear dark whispers in his mind, tempting him to open the book, to devour its secrets.
Markus knew that the book was bad news. That it would corrupt him if he opened it. But a small voice, deep in his head, kept on telling him, Open it. Consume the power. You could gain more strength. More power. To protect those you hold dear.
Now Markus understood why Hecate said greed was a terrible thing. If he was actually tempted, he could... no, best not think about it.
He reached into his pocket and brought out a black glove and a sackcloth. Both of them had a Greek rune on them, the rune for 'light' and 'protection'. The glove for when he picked up the Holding of Shadows, and the cloth for containing it. The sackcloth was double-layered with protection runes. He'd rather be safe than sorry.
Wanting to get it over with, Markus put on the glove and reached down, taking hold of the tome. It felt cold in his hand, like he was touching a corpse. He resisted the urge to drop the book out of pure revulsion. The whispers in his voice got louder. Stronger. It was like listening to Kronos' voice on the tips of the pit Tartarus.
He quickly placed the Holding of Shadows in the sackcloth, tying it with a string and muttering a few incantations, making the runes on the cloth light up and take effect.
He sighed in relief. He put the sackcloth in another rucksack that he brought with him. He was thankful that it was over.
He was about to reach into his pocket to take hold of the stone with the magic circle when he heard the flapping of wings overhead.
Markus muttered, "Goddammit." Well, at least he was prepared for confrontation. He just knew that this quest was too easy. So something had to go wrong.
He looked up and saw two winged men approaching him. Markus thought they were monsters. Or gods. He really hoped that they weren't gods. He didn't want to deal with the drama that came with that.
"So this was where all that noise and light show was coming from," commented the one on the right in a really bad fake French accent. He looked full of himself, like an arrogant douchebag. Oh, joy.
"Kill! Destroy!" the one on the left barked. He looked more brutish than the other guy, like a jock.
"So what's a kid like you hanging around here?" the arrogant one asked, peering down on Markus. "You're not supposed to be here."
Markus raised his eyebrow. "Oh, I didn't know I needed papers to enter this spot," he muttered sarcastically.
"This is a restricted area," the arrogant one continued, his piss poor accent making Markus want to punch him in the face.
"Says who?" Markus asked.
"Us!" the brutish one said with a smirk. "Me Cal!"
"Short for Calias. I'm Zethes," Zethes said with a smirk. "My brother is, unfortunately, limited to words that are fewer than two syllables."
"Destroy! Kill! Pizza!" Calias bellowed.
Zethes shrugged. "Those are his favourite words, apparently. So kid, we're going have to ask you to leave."
Markus sighed in relief. Finally, something going right for him! "That's what I was about to do before you guys came and interrogated me! Now, if you'll excuse me..." Markus took out the magic circle and was about to be teleported away but was interrupted by Zethes. "Wait, hold on, kid."
Markus growled in frustration. "Godsdammit, what now?! What is so important that you had to interrupt me?! You just told me I had to leave. So what the hell do you need me for?!"
"Since you were responsible for that little light show, as well as the damage around the area, which did disturb us, we kind of have to destroy you," Zethes said, smirking with each word said. His brother seemed to like that idea, judging from his loud grunts and nods.
Markus gaped. What kind of bullshit reason was that? First he was told to leave, and now he was told that he was going to be killed?!
He growled. "You're serious? You're actually going through with this? Because if you fight me, I'm going to retaliate. And I'm very angry right now. You will not like me when I'm angry. You should see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off."
"Don't care! We destroy! You die!" Cal said with a scowl. "Boy mess up place! Have to pay!"
Markus clapped his hands slowly and mockingly. "Wow, congrats, big man. You said five sentences. Excellent use of vocabulary. You want a gold sticker for that? Or a certificate for you great progress?"
Zethes shrugged nonchalantly. "Sorry, kid. You mess up, you have to pay for your mess. No hard feelings, though." He brought out a bronze sword, while Cal brought out a hockey stick. He was really completing the image of a dumb jock.
"... You know what, fuck this shit," Markus said, scowling. He just knew that something was going to go infinitely wrong. Fuck you, Fates. He concentrated on using the Mist around him. Soon dozens upon dozens of weapons appeared around him out of Mist. He waved his hand towards the two brothers, shouting, "Arma Verberare!" He basically just said 'Weapons Barrage' in Latin, just to sound cooler. Saying 'Weapons Barrage' out loud sounded a bit lame.
With his command, the weapons launched themselves at high speeds towards the winged brothers. They tried to dodge the barrage, barely getting skewered by the different weapons.
Markus just waved his hand in their direction, and the weapons doubled their efforts, heading in the brothers' direction faster this time. They tried deflecting a few of them, but it was pointless. Zethes' sword swings couldn't keep track of the weapons' speed, and Calias' hockey stick was broken when the first weapon came into contact with it.
Pretty soon, the brothers looked like oversized, winged porcupines with the amount of weapons sticking out of them. It was a good thing for them that they were somewhat resilient, or they would be dead by now.
They weren't without injury, though. Dozens of cuts and wounds appeared all over them, on their face, ripped clothes and torsos, legs. Zethes wasn't smiling any more. Now he looked murderous. He was glaring holes into Markus' head. "You're going to pay for that, brat," he growled, though his voice sounded weird with his fake French accent and his pained voice, like a whiny Transformer.
Calias didn't say anything, though he gave Markus the same look as his brother. Though it was kind of funny with him glaring with his jock looks and weapons sticking out of him.
Markus just smiled sweetly. "Aw, damn it. I didn't kill the two chickens properly. I'm starting to grow hungry. Oh, well. If skewering you won't kill you, guess roasting you guys will have to do." And with that, he held his palms out, glowing with the preparation of his Stella Inspiratione spell. "It's such a shame. You guys were amusing. Guess you just have to settle being food for me."
Zethes tried to look arrogant, but Markus could see the fear in his eyes at his 'chicken and roasting' joke. Damn, did he really think he was going to eat them? He wasn't a cannibal.
Just as he was about to launch his spell, a cold voice interrupted him. "Pathetic. How could you two fools suffer this much damage from a demigod?"
All three heads turned to see a woman of about twenty-three coming from the clearing of the trees. She had pale skin, like white-as-snow pale, with a beautiful face. She was wearing an icy blue dress that clung to her form. She had black hair that cascaded down her back as well as dark brown eyes that were glaring at all three residents.
Markus almost whistled in appreciation. Damn, she was hot. She even had the whole ice-queen theme going on. She reminded Markus of Killer Frost from the comics.
The woman looked at the two brothers with disgust in her eyes. Now that Markus could look closely, he could see the features of Zethes and Calias properly. They kind of looked similar to the woman who had appeared. Maybe they were siblings.
Then she looked at Markus with the same look as the two almost-skewered guys. He was kind of insulted.
"I am Khione, goddess of snow," the newly dubbed Khione announced. Well, Markus had guessed that she was a goddess. She had the looks of one. "So you are the nuisance that has been causing havoc among our area."
Markus' eyes narrowed. Nuisance? Oh, hell no. He pointed at Khione. "Listen, Ice Queen. I didn't want to come here in the first place. I'm on a quest from Hecate and just finished until these two dumbasses bothered me. So I'd appreciate if you'd actually be a little more polite because your attitude is just shit." Okay, once he'd said that aloud, he could kind of see where Hecate was coming from with his attitude towards gods. He blamed it on his ADHD. All blame towards it.
Khione's eyes narrowed to slits. Uh oh. "You impudent brat. You think that you can talk to a goddess like that and still expect to live?!"
Markus put his hands to his chin a thinking gesture. "Uh, yeah. Listen, lady. You aren't the first god I've battled before. Granted, I had help, but still."
Khione sneered, her beautiful features turning sharp. "Oh, yes. I've heard all about you, Markus Henderson. As well as your brother, Percy Jackson. I heard all about your little quest and how you retrieved Zeus' bolt like a good little lapdog. You think that just because you are a son of Poseidon that you can talk to me, the goddess of snow, like that?"
Markus just noticed that Zethes and Calias had moved from their original position to float behind Khione, grinning with glee.
He then turned his gaze to Khione. "Okay, quick question. You weren't going to let me leave even if I hadn't insulted you, were you?"
Khione gained an evil smirk in response to his question. Huh, well that answered that.
Markus cursed. He didn't want to fight a goddess at the moment. Not only did he know nothing about her, apart from her being the goddess of snow which indicated snow and ice powers, but he also wanted to just go to his apartment and watch anime. Oh, well. Battle first, then relax later.
He couldn't cast a Stella Inspiratione at the moment since that took up time. And he guessed that was something Khione was going to give him. Well, he was going to have to improvise.
He raised his hands. "Sagitta Spiralis!" he shouted out, a bolt of spinning energy heading towards the trio. Khione just scoffed. She lazily swept her hand and a wall of jagged ice erupted from the ground and blocked the magical attack. "I pity Hecate if this is who she sent to complete a simple quest," she mocked.
Markus blinked. Well, that didn't work. He was about to think of a plan when he was interrupted by ice spikes being sent his way. He raised his palms again, this time conjuring the blue defensive magic circle to his palms, blocking the ice spikes.
He dropped his left hand and kept his right hand raised, keeping up the defensive magic circle. He kept on blocking incoming ice shards while he used his left hand to reach into his pocket and bring out his rune-writing ink and brush.
He crouched back still blocking the ice shards as he drew two runes on the ground. Both of them read, "Vερό." Meaning 'water' in Greek. He was getting used to quickly drawing runes on the ground.
He jumped, dropping his magic circle and dodging the ice shards which hit at his previous location. He aimed his hand towards the runes on the ground. "Vερό!"
With that, two small geysers of water erupted from the ground where he wrote his runes. Mentally taking control of the water, he shaped it into water spikes and sent them towards Khione, who repeated her earlier action and summoned another ice wall. Without moving her hands, she summoned ice lances that appeared behind her, sending them his way.
Copying her, Markus made a water wall, hardening it so that the ice lances didn't pierce through the shield. When he felt that Khione had stopped shooting, he used the same water of the water wall to form a large water dragon with no eyes. His practice with water had allowed him this kind of control of water.
Roaring, he sent the water dragon towards the snow goddess, who didn't react to his display of water control. As soon as the water came a few meters towards her, it started to freeze. Slowly crystallising, the water dragon turned into an ice dragon.
With another sneer, Khione sent the newly made ice dragon towards Markus.
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. That was so not fair! When the ice dragon came close, Markus jumped, his contact with the water making him jump far higher. The ice dragon slithered on the ground beneath him, an icy trail left where it had touched the ground.
Quickly taking out Wavebreaker, he sliced the blade towards the neck of the ice dragon, making it shatter. Because of that, the head dropped to the ground, getting it shatter too. With that, the body of the ice dragon was left on the ground.
Markus sighed heavily, creating a cloud of vapour come out of his mouth. Wait, vapour? He turned to look at Khione, who was releasing an aura of coldness that affected the atmosphere around her. The air felt cold, like it was already winter instead of late autumn. Ice started creeping around her feet, spreading towards the surrounding area and freezing the plant life around her. It looked like an ice palace. One where he wouldn't want to go to. It might be smart for him to not touch the ice, lest he get frozen solid.
The change in temperature didn't really bother him. But he'd rather not take his chances. Turning to a nearby tree, he quickly wrote down, "Θερμότητα." Heat.
He turned to write on the other trees, but he noticed that they'd been flash frozen. Okay, no touching them, he guessed.
Activating the rune, heat started to surround the tree in which he'd written the rune. Going behind the tree, he immediately felt the heat surround him, making him feel warm and toasty. He knew that if he didn't hurry, he'd be turned into a dairy treat. It was a good thing he wrote that heat rune.
Markus mentally went over what he could do against the goddess. Okay, so water didn't work. She'd just freeze it. Fire was the obvious choice. But he was a son of the sea god. Writing a fire rune would make it weak. And anyway, Khione would just make more ice. And any attack she would block.
Damn, if only she couldn't freeze the water. He'd have probably drowned her if it weren't for that fact. He wished he could do the reverse.
Wait, reverse?
Markus felt like slapping his head for his own idiocy. Dumbass. Ice was water. Frozen water, but still water. If he could control it like he did with water...
But he'd never tried controlling ice before. He didn't know if it was going to work. But he might as well try it.
"Are you finished daydreaming, Markus Henderson?" a nearby voice said. Thank the gods for his battle reflexes. Markus immediately ducked, narrowly avoiding the ice javelin that would've taken his head off.
He rolled to dodge incoming ice javelins. He looked at Khione, who still had the arrogant smirk on her face, similar to Zethes. Huh, now he could see the resemblance.
Not wanting to test his theory out and end up dead, Markus quickly wrote the rune for 'fire' on Wavebreaker, "Φωτιά." Activating the rune, Wavebreaker immediately bursted into flames. He didn't know whether Wavebreaker could withstand the heat, but then he remembered that it was forged in Atlantis. Which was underwater. He figured it would be fine.
Charging forward, a flaming Wavebreaker in one hand and a defensive magic circle in another, he leaped out, tanking ice javelins and avoiding the icy parts of the floor, not wanting to slip. That would've been embarrassing and he could end up dead.
He swatted any ice attack with a flaming Wavebreaker, the ice melting when it came near the flames. He was nearing Khione, who had a fearful look at the sword. Well, the ice goddess doesn't like fire. Good for him.
She tried to make another ice wall, but he stabbed forward, the flaming blade piercing it. The ice around the sword quickly melted. Yanking out Wavebreaker, he swung, cutting into the ice wall like a hot knife through butter. The wall fell apart and with that, he jumped over it, taking a swipe at the goddess.
Khione produced an ice sword and met his attack. But the sword quickly melted. And she insulted him? What kind of idiot thought that ice would beat fire? Apparently her. Markus guessed that she really couldn't use anything else but ice.
Markus swung at her, making a cut appear on her dress as well as her stomach. Considering that his sword was still on fire, that had to have hurt badly.
"Aaaah!" she screamed in agony, her wound appearing as an angry red burn that looked like a huge contrast with her pale skin. There was no ichor, as his attack cauterised the wound. There was even parts of the wound that was black as well. Well he didn't really feel sorry for her.
"Damn you, you filthy brat!" she roared in pain. She swept her hand before Markus could go for another strike. He was immediately swept in a small icy tornado of wind.
"What the hell?!" he yelled. Since when could she manipulate wind?! Markus tried to get out of the tornado, but it was a losing battle. The icy winds buffeted him, slicing against him, giving him small cuts with a feeling of ice.
He didn't have time to feel the pain as he was swinging around, being swept from one place to another. How the hell was he going to get out of this? He was already getting vertigo, and he felt like he was about to throw up.
He tried to look at his surroundings to see something, anything to hold onto. But he was being thrown around so fast that everything became a blur to him.
Deciding to try his luck after seeing a brown blur that looked like a tree, Markus stabbed down with Wavebreaker, which was now fire-free thanks to the wind.
Feeling his sword dig into something, and also feel his arms almost being pulled out of their sockets, Markus held onto Wavebreaker as the wind tried to drag him away. But he held on as if his life depended on it. Which it did.
After a couple of minutes of not suffering from cold slicing winds, Markus was free from the small tornado that swept him away. He looked up to see Wavebreaker stuck into the bark of a tree. Unfortunately because of gravity, he fell down, his sword out of his hands.
He had the pleasure of landing hard on his ass. He groaned, feeling very dizzy. Suddenly, his reflexes were screaming at him to move, which he did. However, he wasn't fast enough to dodge the ice lance that lodged itself into his arm.
He yelped in pain as the cold weapon dug into his arm, the cold freezing his blood and skin. Markus looked up to see Khione nearby, smirking at him superiorly.
"It was fun, Markus Henderson. You lasted surprisingly long for a nuisance such as yourself. But now you die!" she yelled, her arms outstretched. Suddenly ice started to creep up Markus' legs, slowly starting from his shoes, then up to his shins. He could feel the biting cold now, numbing him instantly.
Markus was trying to come up with a plan. He had no weapon, and no time to cast any spells. He was injured in one of his arms and was slowly being turned into a popsicle. He tried to think of a solution when one came to him.
Closing his eyes, he tried controlling the water in the ice. He concentrated, but nothing happened. he could still feel the cold creeping up to his calves, almost to his waist. He couldn't feel anything below his waist now.
Khione laughed seeing this. "Are you so desperate that you're willing to pray? It's too late, Markus Henderson. The cold won't stop! You'll soon be turned into an ice statue that I'll crush with glee!"
Ignoring the goddess' words, Markus imagined a very tiny river in his mind. He moved this image from his head to the ice surrounding him. It sounded weird, but Markus became desperate. He imagined that this river was frozen solid. Then slowly, he started turning the ice to water in his mind. He didn't feel any change, but he didn't care. Maybe it was anger at his situation. Maybe he was growing angry at Khione's mocking words. He didn't know. But his rage kept rising. And he gladly used that rage to try to free himself.
Soon, he could feel droplets of water running down his legs. Then the droplets became a small stream. He looked down to see that the ice that coated his legs had now turned to water. He didn't get wet, but he could feel the water against his clothes and skin. It now started to pool at his feet. He took out the ice lance from the wound on his arm, which was slowly closing from the brief contact of water. He held the lance in his hands, ignoring the biting cold that he felt. He tried turning it into water, using the same method that he used earlier. Soon, the ice lance turned into a water lance, Markus using his control to keep maintaining the shape of the weapon.
He grinned, looking up to see Khione's surprised face. "Surprise, bitch!" he yelled, turning slightly and throwing the water lance towards Khione. Despite his poor skill in archery, his aim was true as it headed towards Khione, who managed to break out of her stupor and turn the attack into ice, though she didn't send it back at him. "Don't think you've accomplished anything!" she shrieked. "You still can't defeat me!"
Markus smirked in return. "We'll see about that." He jumped, plucking Wavebreaker from the tree. He stabbed the sword into the ground and held both hands out, this time casting the spell that would be useful in this situation. "Stella Inspiratione!" he yelled, a large ball of light shooting towards Khione, who was blinded by the attack. She tried to dodge, but it was futile. The attack hit her, causing her to scream in agony, louder than when he'd struck her with a flaming Wavebreaker. A loud explosion occured, smoke obscuring the area for a moment.
Using that distraction, he quickly wrote water runes on the ground. Then he pointed his hands towards the ground. "Vερό!"he yelled, causing geysers of water to erupt from the ground. He looked to see that the smoke had cleared slightly, and he could see Khione's infuriated expression.
Her dress was torn and burnt in several places. Her pale skin looked lobster red, with third degree burns on her body. Small droplets of ichor bled down from a large gash on her arm. Her face was contorted in sheer rage. Not annoyance, but actual rage. She shrieked in fury, her eyes diluting into slits so sharp she looked like a serpent.
"Damn you, boy! Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!" she roared.
Markus responded the only way he knew how. "Hey, it's not so bad. You look much better without that 'Ice Bitch' facade. Want me to turn up the heat even more?"
She screamed in anger. She swept her arms, still managing to conjure some small ice swords. Markus raised his hands, making the water rise and spread across the ground, wetting it. Concentration heavily, he attempted to turn the the water on the ground into ice, imagining a small river freezing slightly, until it was frozen solid. The water on the ground turned into ice quickly, creating an ice floor.
Grabbing Wavebreaker, he dashed towards the incoming projectiles, crouching low and sliding across the floor like a baseball player. He slid quickly, like he was on a slide. The ice projectiles flew overhead as he slid under them. Stabbing Wavebreaker into the ice, he stopped his movement, his arm feeling like it was ripped out of his socket. Channelling earthquake energy into his fist, he struck the ground, making a large crater where he'd punched the ground.
The ground shifted a bit, rumbling a little like a small earthquake was occuring. Khione stumbled a little, unbalanced because of the tremor.
That was what Markus needed. Quickly standing up, he dashed towards the goddess, his sword alight with flames from the Φωτιά rune on it. When he reached her, Markus stabbed forward, the flaming sword pierced the goddess through the chest.
Khione looked shocked, as if she couldn't register the pain she was in. And then she screamed, even louder than before. Then she slowly turned into a shower of gold dust, the same way monsters disappeared when they were killed.
Markus panted, the flames extinguishing from his sword. He fell to the ground, landing on his ass in exhaustion. Damn, he was tired. Who knew trying to locate a fucking book could lead up to this.
Markus was about to lie down on the ground and rest when he remembered that the two brothers were still there. Turning his head slightly, he could see the both of them staying in the same place, their jaws slack in disbelief. Markus raised his eyebrow. "Well? Do you want to end up like her?" he asked, pointing to the remains of gold dust on the floor that was slowly fading.
The two brothers stared at the gold dust, then looked back to Markus. Then they flew away, their wings flapping frantically, trying to get away.
Markus sighed in relief, his head resting on the ground. That last part was a bluff, as he couldn't really move right much about now. At least he got something out of this trip. He was able to perform battle magic in an actual battle, and see the results. Not to mention that he learned how to control ice! He was happy to gain a new power. He wondered what else he could do.
But that was a thought for later. Turning Wavebreaker into a figurine on his keychain, he grabbed the stone with the magic circle of Hecate, and was promptly teleported home.
Whew! That was quite a chapter!
Hello to you all! Good to write to you on this story! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
So here, we saw the lifestyle Markus lived in, learned about his fatal flaws (if you didn't already figure them out, well shame on you), saw my first magic fight, Markus learning how to use ice and a fight with Khione the snow goddess. Yippee!
Hope you enjoyed the fight. The reason that Markus mainly won the fight was because Khione underestimated him, as do gods when fighting mortals. Plus he well trained now, learning magic and all that.
Question: do you want Markus to learn necromancy? I would say no, since he might dip into Hades' territory, and may kill him because of that (I'm being realistic. A son of Poseidon learning death magic? Hades will not be happy). But I'll see what I can do. Let me know in the reviews.
I may do one more 'development' chapter for Markus, then it's back to canon with the Sea of Monsters! Something I'm not too eager to write since it's not my favourite book. But hopefully I'll spice it up.
Oh, and next chapter we also see our first Hindu god. Which I did promise will make appearances.
Thank you. Read and Review!