Chapter 46:
(Markus vs. Christopher and Abigail)
The son of Susanoo and the daughter of Amaterasu only had a moment to recollect themselves after the initial clash. Then Markus was on them. Whenever black flames appeared, they were frozen solid. Any lightning or wind attack was either deflected or absorbed by darkness. Abigail only had a moment to blink before clashing swords with Markus, who still had red supernovas for eyes. Whenever she tried to coat her body in black flames, Markus used the darkness to absorb them.
Shocked, Abigail could do nothing but try to defend herself as Markus relentlessly attacked her. Scoffing at her pathetic counter, Markus caught her wrist. Ignoring the blistering heat her body produced, Markus snapped her wrist easily. Before she could so much as cry out, Markus yanked forward and - with great strength - ripped her arm out of her socket.
Abigail howled in pain as her fresh stump poured blood like a fountain. She grit her teeth to block out the pain, stumbling weakly. Though that wasn't the reason for her sudden fear. The reason was because Markus held up her dismembered arm to her, showing her something. The 'blood warding' seal.
With a sadistic grin, he crushed the severed arm into bloody chunks and bits, the blood and flesh sliding off of his arm. Before he could use his blood-bending abilities, he grabbed Chris' sword with his Devil Bringer. Chris was struggling to overpower Markus, not able to get his sword out of his grip.
"You are pathetic," Markus said calmly, getting him to sneer. "I don't see a powerful warrior. All I see is a whiny jealous baby who can't accept that his dad wants nothing to do with him. And I can't blame him. You're not even impressive as a fighter. Hell, the bitch did more than you did during this fight."
"Shut up," Chris whispered, loosing his cool.
"Oh? I thought that you were the calm guy who always kept his expression. Guess I was wrong."
"Shut up."
"Aw, are you going to cry, now?"
"I said shut up!" Chris' body exploded with lightning, yet it did nothing to Markus. He only grinned. He made to say something else, but saw the incoming sea of white flames. Markus noted that Chris didn't move, instead only grinning sadistically. Ignoring it, Markus just froze the flames solid, though it took him quite a bit of energy to do so.
Raising an eyebrow to Abigail - who had cauterized her wound - he saw that she trying to get some distance. Markus turned to see Chris release his sword and back away as well. He snorted. As if they were going to get away from him.
Holding both his hands to the two of them, Markus whispered, "Dark Gravity."
Darkness pulsed through the air as Abigail and Chris were dragged towards Markus. Both their respective elements surrounded the two Shinto demigods as they tried to attack Markus, but it was for naught. A wave of shadows spilled from the son of Poseidon as two giant shadowy arms formed and grabbed the two of them. Shocked, they could do nothing as Abigail's black fire and Chris' lightning were soaked into the darkness, as if hungry for the elements.
Abigail screamed as she was slowly being crushed by the arm, her ribs being cracked. Chris struggled futilely, only grunting as the same happened to him.
Markus smiled as he watched them. "Let's see which one of you pops first. My money's on the crybaby." He gestured to Chris, who glared at him. "Regardless if you're acting tough now."
Abigail screamed even louder, flinging curses at Markus. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking burn you and make sure that nothing but ashes remain!"
Markus whistled. "My, do you have a mouth on you? Though I'd thought that you'd bring more heat." Markus groaned, palming his face. "Okay, bad joke, bad joke. But still, you get what I mean."
"Will you shut up?" Chris growled, going red in the face.
"But I'm about to pop you both like a balloon," Markus whined. "The least you could do is respond to my taunts. Are they that bad? You can tell me. I'll cry and have my heart broken, but I promise I can take it."
Now both Shinto demigods were going red in the face, the sound of bones breaking being louder. Suddenly, Abigail roared, trying to make her body combust into flames. Though that didn't work as the darkness kept on eating them up.
Markus raised an eyebrow, smirking mockingly. "You know, if the first time didn't work..."
Abigail ignored him and kept heating her body up, making the surrounding air burn. The surrounding air felt like it came from the Sahara Desert. The black ice that they were melting on started to melt a little. The daughter of Amaterasu had a fiery aura around her now, the darkness trying to soak it all up. Embers of flames started flickering around her. A giant visible heatwave was started to surround her.
Markus' eyes went wide as the shadowy arm was suddenly being burnt away. Hell, he was even feeling the heat himself, which was a shock because there were practically only a few types of flames or heat that could make him feel heat.
Abigail bellowed as her body became enshrouded light, then exploding like a supernova. Markus covered his body in ice to protect himself from the heat. Chris disappeared in a burst of lightning to escape, his confinement having melted.
Everyone fighting could feel the heat and see the light show. The Shinto demigods didn't look worried, only worried about the heat. The Greeks only focused on the fight, knowing that Markus would prevail. He had to.
The light and heat felt as if a miniature sun had been summoned. This only continued on for ten seconds before it reduced rapidly, shrinking in size. The result was that half of the pier was instantly vaporized, while the other half was melting slightly, the others still fighting.
The ice that the three combatants stood on was destroyed, having been melted instantly. In fact, a large size of the water that wasn't covered in ice evaporated instantly, leaving the sea barren.
A dome of floating black ice appeared, slightly smoking but still firm. It broke a few seconds later, revealing Markus, using the winds to fly. His clothes were smoking slightly, but were still fine. He wasn't burnt, just felt a little hot. He whistled loudly, inspecting the barren space that used to be a sea. "Damn. Maybe she isn't so weak after all." Sensing the heat surrounding a certain area, he narrowed his eyes to see what was hidden. "Well, I'll be damned..."
Surrounded by a wave of boiling heat was Abigail, although it was hard to discern her form. She was practically bathed in flames. Not only that, but the black flames coalesced to form a fiery avatar. That avatar was a giant phoenix, as tall as a skyscraper. The image looked both beautiful and deadly at the same time.
Markus admitted to himself that he was in awe of the spectacle. "I'm going to assume that's the blessing of Amaterasu... or just some hax transformation. Now, where is-" Markus had to swerve to avoid a swipe from a claw made out of electricity.
Swerving to see what tried to hit him, he groaned. "Not you, too..." he said in response to seeing that a giant dragon made out of lightning tried to hit him. Correction, a dragon made out of lightning, swirling winds on the wings, and a lower body made out of water. It had glowing red eyes. The dragon was smaller than the fiery phoenix, but still looked menacing nonetheless.
Markus only raised an eyebrow. "Are you guys copying me? Because I'm the only demigod with giant elemental constructs. It's kind of my thing."
"You're not the only one that can do this," Phoenix-Abigail replied, her voice carrying a sort of elegance. "But it doesn't matter. You have no water to use, so you have no hope of defeating us."
Markus gave a deadpanned look to Abigail. Then looked to Chris. "Please tell me that you're not as stupid as your cousin. I can't take this amount of stupidity."
Abigail growled as Chris snorted, lightning being exhaled from his nostrils. "As much as it annoys me, she has a point. Though she could do well with not underestimating people."
Abigail scoffed, but said nothing.
Markus shrugged. "That's fine. Because it makes this much more fun. Επικαλούμαι: Avatar της θύελλας." A geyser of emerald energy erupted from his body. Even with the distance between the two elemental and celestial beasts, they were blown away by the eruption of power. Abigail's flames diminished slightly before regaining their intensity while Chris wavered slightly.
A wave of power washed over each and every combatant, making their skin crawl. The energy started to coalesce and form Markus' storm giant. His construct eclipsed Abigail's and Chris' constructs by a lot, towering over them and looking down upon them like they were ants.
Markus grinned on top of his storm giant, lightning crackling across the ethereal body. "What was it you said before? How I had no hope of defeating you? You're right, I don't." Markus' grin went wider. "I have absolute certainty of annihilating the two of you. And I'm going to show you why it was so foolish trying to challenge me."
No more words to say, Markus commanded his storm giant to fly forward. The phoenix and dragon only narrowly dodged. Without any warning, the storm giant grabbed the phoenix by the neck while it was in mid-flight.
"Let me go- urgh!" Abigail choked out, throat being crushed. Chris charged at the storm giant head-butting and launching lightning bolts from its maw at it. Scoffing, Markus commanded his summon to move and swiftly backhand him, sending the dragon flying.
Abigail heated her phoenix body up, the hand holding her neck slightly burning up. But it was futile. Grinning sadistically, Markus commanded his giant to grab the beak, cutting of her screeching. Then he blasted a storm laser directly onto her beak and down her mouth. Abigail couldn't even make a sound as her mouth was charred and destroyed.
Satisfied, Markus threw Abigail at a recovered Chris, their elemental bodies colliding and sending them careening down the empty void that used to be a sea. Ten seconds later, there was a loud BANG, signifying that the two had hit the bottom.
Markus made his avatar's hands outstretch in their direction, palms glowing. Then he unleashed laser after laser, each beam heading towards the duo in a flash. The air was heated up as Markus continued his assault. He continued this for a good couple of minutes, then ceased the barrage. The only evidence that the attack had occurred was the humongous amount of smoke produced, and the burnt air.
He waited for the two to emerge, and he wasn't disappointed. A loud roar dispersed some of the smoke as Chris sailed upwards, his dragon body diminished in both size and power. There were no visible bruises on him, but Markus could tell that he was extremely injured. He gave a roar of defiance as he flew.
Markus wordlessly summoned an ethereal bow and quiver full of arrows out of magic that was fit for his giant's size. Prepping an arrow, Markus released it, the giant projectile heading towards Chris.
Not missing a beat, Chris dodged the arrow as it sailed downwards. Markus continued firing arrows, creating a hailstorm that Chris narrowly managed to dodge. He didn't escape unscathed, though, as some of his upper body was peppered with arrows. He growled loudly, but didn't relent.
Having enough, Markus commanded his lower body to disassemble, as it was entirely composed out of water. A stupid move on Chris' part. The son of Susanoo showed surprise as his lower half quickly fell apart, only leaving his upper torso. Markus commanded the water to draw towards him and coalesced it into a sharp sword made entirely out of ice. His storm giant grabbed the sword and flew downwards.
Chris tried to dodge, but it was too late. Markus gained on him quickly and slashed horizontally. The giant ice blade sliced cleanly through his lightning body. Not satisfied, Markus then beheaded the storm dragon. The lightning was dispersed as the dragon's glowing eyes dimmed.
"Sayonara," Markus smirked, dispersing the ice sword and making his giant hold one hand out, a storm laser being unleashed. The laser connected with the severed pieces of the dragon, engulfing Chris completely, the body disintegrating.
Markus ceased the attack, seeing the ashes slowly disappear. He grinned seeing and feeling the familiar glow and heat. "And then there was one..." he muttered.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Abigail screeched, flames burning brighter than ever. She flew up, practically upon him in the blink of an eye. She tackled him, sending his giant up in the air and burning it severely. She was too enraged to notice anything around her, just wanting to destroy the son of Poseidon. And he took advantage of that.
Markus commanded his giant to wrap the fiery phoenix in a bear-hug, pinning it down. Abigail, who was too furious, didn't notice anything. Markus chanted a spell that ended everything. "Kurakōri Keimusho. (Dark Ice Prison)."
Abigail the Phoenix turned from a fiery bird to a giant ice sculpture. Her heat that was at the level of absolute hot turned to absolute zero in a millisecond. Her body was stuck at a horrified and painful expression. Markus released her as she fell, breaking apart into pieces of broken ice. As soon as she hit the abyss, she was nothing but microscopic pieces of shattered glass.
Markus sighed. "That was anti-climatic."
(Zoe, Adria and Grover vs. Joshua, Thomas and Rose)
Zoe was struggling against her battle with Rose. While she had been able to negate most of her flames, she didn't escape unscathed. Her silver parka had burns on them, she was sweating profusely and she had almost died many times. The only reason that she hadn't was due to the her opponent's arrogance. Something that made Zoe grudgingly admit that she herself fell prey to a lot.
The daughter of Kagutsuchi had several wounds from Zoe's arrows, but was mainly unaffected. She still had her arrogant expression, making Zoe want to hit a woman for the first time. "Is that all you can do?" Rose taunted. "Pour a little fountain and shoot some arrows? You're pathetic."
Zoe grit her teeth, but didn't say anything. She unsheathed her knives and charged at Rose. Sneering, Rose decided against using her fire and forming a spear from the flames (A.N. - The same way Cinder forms her weapons in RWBY). As the Hunter got nearer, she started to attack widely. Zoe was able to counter her strikes, her experience in battle aiding her.
Scoffing, Rose started to use her pyrokinesis to cover her space with flames. Zoe - having enough - decided to go for a risky move. She dived through the flames, curling into herself to avoid most of the damage. Rose's eyes widened as she received rather large cuts on her abdomen and cheek.
Zoe's parka and skin had serious burns, but she ignored the pain in favour of attacking Rose. She moved like a gazelle, ducking and weaving with a grace that showed her skill. The daughter of Kagutsuchi was unable to defend herself, her spear useless in close combat. Snarling, she produced a blast of flames that forced Zoe to retreat.
Zoe panted, partly due to exhaustion and also due to her oxygen burning up quickly. Though she kept her gaze on Rose, who was now snarling.
"You stupid little girl!" she snarled, blood trickling down her face. "You scarred me! You actually scarred me!" She started to become hysterical, her scarlet eyes glowing. A wave of fire started to surround her, coating her in a sort of armour.
Zoe clicked her teeth, annoyed. She had no way of getting past the armour of flames. She was running low on oxygen. And despite having an unlimited supply of water, there was no way that she could penetrate the armour due to her poor skill in water control. Something that she was starting to regret.
What to do, what to do..., Zoe frantically thought. She was forced to halt her thoughts as she dodged a sea of hungry flames. She kept dodging and weaving, her movements graceful. She tried shooting arrows as she moved, but the armour of flames just devoured them.
"Do you see how useless and pathetic you are, you delusional bitch?!" Rose roared, the flames rising in intensity in response to her emotions. "You can't hope to defeat me! So die like the useless cur that you are!"
Growling, Zoe tried to come up with a number of different strategies, but it was useless. She couldn't get through the armour of flames, and the more she kept dodging, the more energy wasted. Pretty soon, she was going to drop, and then it was over for her. So how was she going to get past Rose's defences? An answer came to her, albeit a risky and somewhat unsuccessful one.
"Where's your confidence now, bitch?!" Rose taunted. "You can't touch me! You'll never be able to disperse my flames!"
"I don't need to," Zoe said, opening her canister and producing more water. Instead of shooting it off, Zoe commanded it to form a long and durable water spear. Mother, please. Be with me, she prayed, hoping beyond hope that she would prevail. Taking her last breath of oxygen, she sent the water spear hurtling.
Before Rose could taunt her again, the water spear reached her wall of flames and started to evaporate slightly. Fortunately, it managed to pierce Rose's fire armour and leave a small opening. An insignificant one, but an opening nonetheless.
Zoe whipped her bow out and took aim. Lady Artemis, guide my arrow to victory, Zoe mentally prayed. Her eyes narrowed, taking in every detail, the rapidly closing hole made from her water spear, the fiery silhouette that was Rose, the pain of her straining muscles, everything. Focused on nothing else but her target, Zoe released her arrow.
The metal on the arrow glowed silver as it sailed through the air. Towards the small opening in Rose's wall of flames. Fortunately for Zoe, her prayers were answered. The arrow managed to sink into the fire and pierce Rose's side.
Rose stared incredulously at the arrow that punctured her hip, as if she couldn't believe it. The shock from actually getting injured made her control over her flame armour to diminish in size and potency.
Taking advantage of this, Zoe dashed forward, hunting knives in her hands. She swiped at the surprised Rose, who dodged. She kept on attacking, running on fumes. She couldn't stop. Not now. She had to save Artemis, so she couldn't die here. Thankfully for her, Rose was slightly weakened from using her armour of flames, so her movements were sluggish. This allowed her to get cuts on her dress and skin.
Just as Zoe disarmed her and was about to go for the finishing blow, Zoe's body failed her. Her lack of oxygen from the heat and the burns proved too much for her, causing her to collapse, barely conscious.
Rose panted, the surprise that Zoe had dropped down evident. After a couple of seconds, however, her shock was replaced by smugness and anger. "Hehehe...," she started to chuckle. Then she threw her head back and laughed. "Hahahaha! I-Is that it?! All of that hype and you fail hilariously!" She continued to laugh deliriously. Her anger had gotten the better of her, causing her to lash out with a kick into Zoe's ribs. She grunted as Rose kept on kicking her while she was down. "You. Stupid. Arrogant. Little. BITCH!" Rose's kick hit a couple of burns on Zoe's side, causing her to cry out in pain.
Grinning sadistically, Rose continued to stomp on Zoe's wounds, making tears leak at her eyes. Nevertheless, she didn't cry out anymore or beg. "Come on, bitch!" Rose kicked her face, causing her nose to break. Another stomp on her face caused Zoe's eye to forcefully shut. The Hunter grit her teeth as more and more attacks rained down on her. "Where was all of that bravado that you had?! I want to see it! Come on! COME ON!"
As Rose was huffing, Zoe's body had numerous bruises all over her. Along with the burns that she had received. The pain being too much for her, she passed out.
Scoffing, Rose produced another spear from flickering embers on her hands. "We're not done yet," she whispered, bloodlust in her eyes. She raised her weapon to continue torturing the Hunter when she had to dodge a silver arrow headed for her.
"Get away from her!" Adria shouted, about to shoot at her again. She had to duck to avoid a stray beam of moonlight from Joshua, who had an annoyed expression on his face.
"Can you stop dodging?" he asked, annoyed.
"Then you stop being a coward and start fighting!" Adria retorted, aiming arrow after arrow at both Rose and Joshua. Rose had to roll out of the way to dodge while 'Joshua' faded away the moment the arrow touched him.
Adria ran over to inspect Zoe, who was still unconscious. Cursing, Adria had to literally drag Zoe away from the battle, though she didn't get very far. A spear sailed towards her, making her push Zoe out of the way and narrowly avoid the weapon.
"You're not making this fun," a voice said. No, not voice. Voices. Dozens of clones of Joshua circled the Hunter. Adria had her bow at the ready, except she didn't know who to aim it at. Truthfully, she didn't have much of a problem dealing with the son of Tsukuyomi. The only reason that the fight lasted as long was because of his illusions. Adria didn't know how he did it, and she didn't care. She was having no luck trying to discern which one was the real one. Each one was a perfect copy of each other. And when she was close to hitting him, he just disappeared.
Rose came forward, another spear in her hand. She glowered at a clone of Joshua. "Why are you taking my prey?" she growled out.
"Because I was bored," Joshua intoned. He did a double take at her state. "Well, well. The girl give you trouble?"
Rose snarled, not wanting to admit that fact. "Shut up!"
Adria took that moment to shoot an arrow at the Joshua that Rose was talking to. Sadly, that seemed to only be an illusion. Annoyed, Rose hurled her spear at Adria, who managed to avoid the projectile. She reached into her quiver, only to pale at the fact that she had ran out of arrows. Seeing this, both Rose and Joshua smiled.
A loud cry of pain caught all of their attention. Both Shinto demigods looked to see where the sound came from, only to smile at the sight. Adria inspected what they were looking and paled.
Thomas stood over a bloodied Grover. The boost that he had gotten from the natural energy had faded away. His fur was coated in blood. His left arm was twisted at an odd angle. But the most damaging thing was that one of his horns had been ripped off and stabbed into his eye. The satyr whimpered as Thomas grinned sadistically.
"Come on, goat bitch," he taunted, stomping down on Grover's other arm. He whimpered as Thomas laughed. "Seriously? Is that all you got? You put up a good chase, but you're so fucking weak! Like, seriously! I know dogs that could give better fights than you can! You're so pathetic!"
Grover didn't even get to whimper in response as Thomas stomped down on his other arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
"No!" Adria screamed. She made to charge at the son of Fūjin but had to jump back as a large fireball exploded in her front.
"Oh, no," Rose chuckled. "You're not going anywhere." She lit her hands on fire as Joshua glowed with moonlight. Adria grit her teeth, knowing that it was futile. At this rate, they were going to die. They were going to fail to save Artemis. The feeling of dread and hopelessness built up in her stomach, knowing that she, Grover and Zoe were going to die.
As Thomas was laughing, he stopped as he felt a presence behind him. He whirled, but it was too late. All he felt was two hands - one large and rough and the other human - grab his head, covering his face, followed by agonising pain, then nothing.
Rose, Joshua and Adria gasped as they watched Markus swiftly rip Thomas' head straight from his neck, the remains of his spine clinging to the severed part of the neck. The son of Fūjin's body fell lifelessly to the floor. The two Shinto demigods saw that the son of Poseidon looked radically different. He had black, curved horns on top of his head. His face was covered in black scales. And his eyes contained bloodlust not seen in any mortal or god. And his Devil Bringer glowed brightly. With nought but a twitch of his hands, Thomas' skull was crushed. Brain matter, blood and shattered bone trickled down his hands.
Joshua made the smart decision and tried to escape, but it was too late. In less than a heartbeat, Markus was in front of him. His Devil Bringer was punched through Joshua's chest and ribcage. Joshua only felt pain as Markus' arm twitched inside his body, bringing out a beating heart, bloodied and very much beating with life. That changed as Markus crushed it in his hands. Snarling and baring his fangs, Markus promptly bitch-slapped the demigod... and his head and upper body turned into nothing but red paste. No flesh, no bones, just bloody paste.
Rose stood frozen as Joshua's body fell in a heap. She could do nothing as Markus muttered something. Then she felt nothing and her vision turned black.
Markus merely looked at the frozen sculpture that was Rose. Snarling, he commanded the ice to shatter, with Rose inside of it. Thousands upon thousands of ice particles landed on the ground, looking like fine dust.
(Percy vs. Alex)
Percy fought two battles: one with the daughter of Suijin, and the other inside of himself. His mind went into override as he fought the attempts at bloodbending while struggling to fight Alex. Speaking of which, her dull expression turned into a frustrated one throughout the fight. That was kind of good, he guessed.
He was actually getting the hang of fighting Alex's blood control. The only downside was that the two were at a stalemate again: they couldn't damage each other until one got the edge over the other. That changed quickly.
As Percy was still fighting, he stopped feeling something wrong. That something became clear when he bent over and violently puked, vomit pooling across the floor. He dropped his swords, disorientated. "Wha-" He winced as fluids started coming out of hit body: snot from his nose, tears from his eyes and other fluids from his body.
Alex's frustrated look turned into a satisfied one. "Finally. You're really annoying, you know?"
"What did-" Percy violent hacked and leaked all kinds of fluids. "-you do?"
"You're a smart boy. I'm the daughter of the god of water. Think about it."
Percy's eyes went wide. She was taking control of all the liquids in his body. She was pretty much tearing him from the inside out, if what he was feeling was accurate. He groaned, his body feeling like it was being burned by acid.
"You'll probably die a very messy death. I'm not known to be very nice when I do this kind of thing." Alex walked forward and bent down, patting his head like a dog. "Just don't get any of it over me, 'kay?"
Tears leaked down his cheeks as he stared at Alex due to her control. He couldn't move. He couldn't even scream. He was going to die painfully. The thing that hit him the hardest - well, apart from his own death - was that he would die against someone that he should've beaten. And yet he was outclassed greatly. He had been throughout this entire fight.
"And now here comes the fun part..." Alex muttered, a curious look in her eyes.
Percy screamed, spewing up liquid after liquid. His stomach was probably burning at this point, literally. He remembered bits and pieces of biology from school through his pain. And he knew that if all the liquids in his body were to be free, he'd die a very painful death. No, he couldn't accept it. He couldn't! And yet he was powerless to stop it. Mum, Dad, Markus, Grover, Thalia... Annabeth. I'm sorry.
And in that split moment, he didn't want to die. No matter how unfair this battle was, he just wanted to live. He wished it with all of his heart. He... He wanted to live!
At that moment, something broke inside of Percy. It felt like a glass ball had shattered. Along with Percy's restraint. He unconsciously pulled on the tug in his gut that he called upon. And with that, several things happened.
One: the pain from Percy's tugging caused him to pass out along with the feeling of all of the liquids inside of his body being messed with. Two: Alex was so focused on Percy's internal liquids that she didn't notice anything about her own. Three: all of her fluids inside of her body - the hydrochloric acid, saliva, bile, cerebrospinal fluid, etc. - all violently popped out of where they were held. The result...
A shocked Alex suddenly combusting in a disgusting and messy shower of fluids, blood, bile and acid. Percy wasn't able to witness this, however, as he was blissfully unconscious.
(Thalia vs. Lucas)
Thalia had to continuously dodge each swipe of Lucas' knives, each strike more deadlier than the last. She was able to recover from having her nerves scrambled, if only slightly. She managed to solve this by discharging her own lightning throughout her body to counter Lucas' own. It was hard, but she managed. Though she was kept on her toes as she dodged each strike and countered with her own. She was really thankful that she wore the Nemean lion pelt, otherwise she'd receive much more damage.
"You know that you can't win," Lucas drawled, not even winded. Scowling, Thalia decided to go for a different approach. Her body was coated in lightning, crackling with power. Using this, she dashed forward, meeting his attacks with her own and stopping him from turning into lightning. She figured that he actually needed to be solid to hit her. His lightning trick didn't work on her anymore, and lightning itself didn't do anything to her. So she could use that.
Lucas scowled as Thalia kept on attacking him. He was actually being pushed in combat, something that hadn't happened in a long time. "You're good," Lucas grudgingly admitted, pushing away her spear and going for an overhead strike. Thalia ducked, using her shield to swipe him off his feet. He jumped, high enough to stomp down on her shield that she raised in time and jump away. "But not good enough."
Thalia scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to do something that she'd seen Markus do. Her hand crackling with lightning, she threw it in the direction of Lucas. Though instead of a bolt of lightning, two small hounds created from lightning sped towards the son of Raijin. These were much smaller than what Markus had produced, and much more weaker, but that wasn't what Thalia wanted.
The hounds dashed forward, darting towards Lucas, who stood still. He had a disappointed look on his face, knowing that the lightning could do nothing against him. Just as he was about to absorb them, they both exploded in a large and flashy shower of sparks. Again, Lucas was not impressed at all, and was about to voice his thoughts when he was stabbed from behind by a spear tipped in wind. At first, he wasn't worried, his body automatically turning into lightning to avoid the damage. But then he felt the pain, small as it was.
Lucas looked down, seeing his lightning body regenerate the wound, making it slowly close. Though when it finished closing, a small wound was there, slowly dripping blood.
Thalia was just as shocked as Lucas was, surprise on both of their faces. Lucas winced. The pain wasn't much, but the actual sensation of pain was alien to him. For a long time, he'd never been able to be injured. But now... "What did you do?" he whispered, stumped.
Before Thalia could respond and say that she didn't know, the son of Raijin exploded. Literally. "What did you do?!" he bellowed, lightning exploding from his body and swarming Thalia, who was too shocked from before to properly dodge. While she wasn't harmed from the blast, her nerves were another matter. Her body simply shut down, spasm after spasm hitting her. She dropped her weapons, her body not responding in time. She tried to overcome this, but she was interrupted by Lucas suddenly appearing and kicking her like a football, launching her backwards.
Again, she was extremely thankful for the Nemean lion pelt, otherwise she was sure that her back would've broken from the impact. As she was coming to her senses, she screamed as Lucas' knives embedded themselves into the palm of her hands, sinking into the ground. The pain scrambled her thoughts, not allowing her to come up with a good plan of escape. Her body was in spread like a starfish, her hands above her bleeding.
Lucas walked forward, anger replacing his calm expression. "That," he said slowly, breathing in and out slowly, "was a shock. I don't know how you managed to injure me. And I'm pretty sure that I don't want to find out how." With that, Lucas stomped on her left thigh.
Thalia grit her teeth, the wind picking up slightly. "Let me go."
Lucas scoffed. "Make me." He then stomped on her stomach a couple of times, making her cough harshly.
Thalia snarled, the air becoming heavy and powerful. "I said let me GO!" The vibrations in the airwaves between herself and Lucas, amplifying her voice with a loud sonic blast. Surprised, Lucas was launched backwards like Thalia was previously.
Panting harshly, she decided to ignore how she did that and instead concentrated on trying to escape her impalement. She wracked her brains, thinking on how she was going to get out. Eventually, an idea came to her, but she didn't like it. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her arms from the knives in her flesh. Tears prickling her eyes, she ignored the pain and pulled with all her strength. She heard the tearing of flesh, but she ignored it, feeling the knives dislodging themselves from the ground. Finally, her hands were free, long and deep wounds that showed the holes in her palms.
Rejecting the incoming tears and the small wave of nausea, Thalia inspected Lucas, who was sitting up slowly. His clothes were torn, showcasing his bleeding torso. His calm expression went away completely, and an angry light shone in his eyes. "You little bitch..." he whispered, furious.
By now, Thalia was able to figure out that wind was the solution to actually injuring him, not lightning. Gritting her teeth harshly to not think about the stinging pain, she knew that she had to do something unexpected. She had to get the higher ground. Meaning that she had to fly.
While her fear of heights appeared at the thought, she knew that if she didn't, she'd probably die. Thoughts of dying here, of not seeing Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Markus due to her weakness filled her head. And suddenly, her fear was replaced by anger. Anger at herself.
With the wind whipping around her, she took a steady breath and rose quickly into the air, actually flying for the very first time. Her fear ate at her as she was flying so quickly for the first time, but she ruthlessly suppressed her fear in favour of examining her opponent.
Thalia could see Lucas frowning in annoyance, launching lightning after lightning at her. Knowing better than to just take it, she dodged the lightning, her movements quick and graceful in the air. If she weren't so focused on the fight, she'd actually take the time to appreciate that she was flying for the first time. And that she'd actually enjoyed it.
Her next actions came easily to her. Yelling loudly, she summoned a large tornado, sending it to engulf the son of Raijin. Knowing that using his lightning body would do no good, he tried to disappear in lightning. But as the tornado got closer, he found that his lightning was fizzing it slowly. He growled. Why was his lightning body not working? In fact, why couldn't he teleport? His questions didn't get to be answered as he was engulfed by the large tornado. Unlike the last time, he actively tried to fight against the swirling and biting winds.
Eyes sparking, he roared, unleashing an explosion of electricity that blew back the tornado surrounding him. Though he was successful in blowing away the tornado, he was not unscathed. His body was covered with cuts and wounds, his blood seeping into his clothes and pooling on the floor.
Lucas growled, having enough of this. He was going to kill this girl, then he was going to behead her and take her head a trophy. And then, oh, and then-
His thoughts were halted as Thalia's spear suddenly shot through his neck, the tip covered in his blood. Eyes wide, Lucas could do nothing but stare at the bloody tip of the spear that was impaled through his neck. He tried to turn his neck, but found that he couldn't. He coughed up a large amount of blood - the liquid dribbling down his chin - as he knew that the girl was the one to pierce his throat.
And he was right. Thalia panted as she held her spear, the pain from her palms screaming at her. Her body was high on adrenaline as she kept the spear in Lucas' throat, pushing it forward sharply.
Lucas threw up a waterfall of blood as his eyes lost focus, his life ebbing away rapidly. The only thought that was in his head was that he couldn't believe that he would die so easily and carelessly. But he couldn't complain, or do anything, really. As that thought finished, his body tilted, his neck sliding off the spear with ease as he fell face-first in his own puddle of blood, the liquid of life soaking his dead body.
Thalia's body felt numb as she dropped her spear, eyes wide. She ignored the pain in her hands in favour of inspecting her damage. She killed somebody. She actually killed somebody. This wasn't just another monster that faded into golden dust. No, this was an actual human being, demigod, whatever. And she killed him. Sure, he was going to kill her, and she was in the right to defend herself. But...
She shook as the thought haunted her. She was a murderer. She-She killed someone. A living breathing person. Oh, gods... she wasn't sure if she could face camp like this. Heroes weren't meant to kill mortals. She didn't know if demigods applied to this rules, especially if that demigod was of another pantheon.
Just as the panic was getting to her, Thalia felt someone embrace her. She was about to hit the person who touched her, when a familiar voice - tinted by anger but also love - spoke. "Thalia..."
(End of Fights)
Thalia turned, seeing Markus in his demonic form again. She didn't know why he was in that form again, and she didn't care. She held onto him as she shook slightly, tears at the corners of her eyes. Markus wrapped his Devil Bringer and now scaled arm around her, making her flinch slightly. But he didn't care. Tilting her head upwards with his scaled arm, Markus leaned down and kissed her passionately. Thalia responded in kind, wanting the comfort.
The two stayed like that, wrapped in each other's embrace. Thalia didn't let go of Markus, a whirlwind of fear and panic inside of her. Though that slowly faded away as she kissed him.
The two separated for a moment. Markus was about to say something when he saw the blood on her hands, and the wounds. Taking her hands in his, he inspected the wounds, seeing Thalia wince. Markus kissed her slightly to make her feel better, then looked at the wounds. Holding his hands over hers, Markus muttered a healing spell that made his palms glow a red colour. After a few seconds, Markus removed his hands, showing Thalia's now healed hands. All that was left were only small scars on her palms.
Done with healing her, Markus' red eyes looked to her fearful electric blue ones. "You aren't a murderer," Markus said simply, leaning down to place his forehead on hers. "You only killed in self-defense. That makes you a fighter, not a killer. There's nothing wrong with what you did. The guy was hardly innocent anyway. He was going to kill you. You just returned the favour. Don't ever think of yourself as a murderer again, do you understand me?"
Thalia nodded, smiling lightly. "Thanks."
Markus smirked, fangs bared. "No problem."
"Um, can you change back? I liked it when you weren't all scaled and horny."
Markus laughed at that, his demonic features disappearing. Pretty soon, he was his normal, handsome self. Markus held her close. "Come on. We have to tend to the others."
Now Thalia had a worried look on her face. "What happened?"
Markus grimaced, which wasn't a good sign. "You'll see."
Markus guided her to the others. Markus' speed clones were tending to the questers. Zoe and Percy were awake, Percy drinking water - a lot of it - and wasn't going to stop. Zoe was being tended to, ice covering parts of her body. It was a crude way to take care of the burns, but it was effective.
The worse was Grover. Thalia almost cried at the state he was in. He was unconscious, blood dripping from his eye, blood matting his fur, one of his horns broken off crudely, and cuts all over his body. It was a miracle that he was actually alive. She knelt down at his side, trying to comfort him, but the satyr whimpered, even while unconscious. "Grover..." she said sadly. She remembered Grover leading her, Annabeth and Luke to Camp Half-Blood. Even though she almost died and was turned into a tree, she was still very fond of the satyr.
Everyone looked at him in sadness. Markus grit his teeth. If only he'd been faster... if only he hadn't toyed with his opponents, then maybe the others would've been alright. Maybe Grover would be alright. Maybe the others wouldn't have to face opponents that were out of their league. It was a miracle that they were all alive. A thought came to Markus. Was Nereus right? Were all of the non-Greek interventions on the quest his fault? The demons, Samael, the Shinto demigods... were they all due to his actions? Even the Heracles incident was his fault, due to Markus' actions. If he hadn't dabbled with other pantheons, would the others be alright?
A hand was placed on his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. He looked to see Thalia giving him a firm look. "It wasn't your fault," she said knowingly.
Markus frowned. "But-"
"No buts. I know what you're thinking, and I'm telling you that it's not your fault Grover's like this. You didn't and couldn't know that the demigods would attack us. You had no idea. So you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. And as for being a champion of a god not in our pantheon, something that you didn't tell me-" Thalia frowned "-I'm just going to say it was one of your idiot plans. Even so, we don't blame you."
"She's right," Percy agreed, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat, then spoke again. "We don't blame you for any of this. If anything, it's their own fault for picking a fight. We sure showed them, though." Here, his voice turned hollow, betraying his words.
Frowning, Markus walked up to his brother. "You alright?" he asked, bending down and placing a hand on his shoulder. He'd seen the remains of Alex. It wasn't pretty. He was impressed at Percy's finishing act, but was worried of the effect it had on him.
Percy nodded listlessly. "Yeah." His voice was small and weak.
Markus gave him a one-armed hug, then brought something out of a small portal that he created. A small vial containing a emerald green liquid. "Drink this."
Percy stared at the thing cautiously. "And that is?"
"A calming potion. It'll relieve you of your stress quickly, and put your mind at ease."
"So, like medication?" Percy compared, taking the vial from his brother and inspecting it.
"Pretty much, but quicker, and more reassuring."
"Not really eager to trust anything magic."
"Is this about the guinea pig incident?"
Percy turned red as Thalia laughed, having a knowing look. "No," he quickly denied. He sighed, before removing the cap and downing the potion in one go. He blinked a couple of times, shivering a little. "Woah. What a rush."
"Does it work?" Markus asked, a grin on his face.
Percy didn't say anything for a moment, searching for his guilt and earlier panic. "Yeah. I still feel it, but it's... reduced, I guess. Thanks."
Thalia frowned. "Why didn't you give that to me?"
Markus turned to her, a smile on his face. "Because my method worked just as well. And as much as I love Percy, I'm not kissing him."
Percy snorted as Thalia smiled a little.
"Joking aside," Adria interrupted, trying to get back on track, "we need to focus. We need to get to Mt. Othrys and rescue Lady Artemis."
"I agree," Zoe said, trying to stand up.
Markus snorted. "And where do you think you're going? You're not healed yet."
Zoe glared at him. "I don't care. Lady Artemis is trapped while holding the sky. As her lieutenant, it is my duty."
"Even at the cost of your own safety?" Markus enquired.
Zoe scoffed. "Of course. Would thee not rescue thine brother or Thalia herself at the cost of thine life?" At his silence, she continued. "Lady Artemis is my friend, the one that I trust completely. She is not only my superior, but someone I would die for. Besides," Zoe gained a sad look ,"my life will be short anyways."
The others were confused as to what she meant, except Adria and Markus. The son of Poseidon frowned. "Because of the prophecy?"
Zoe nodded sadly, although she had a determined glint in her eyes.
"Woah, woah. Back up. What about the prophecy?" Percy asked, out of the loop.
"'And one shall perish by a parent's hand,'" Thalia muttered, looking at Zoe incredulously. "It's you, isn't it? Atlas is your father?"
Zoe's shoulders' slumped, a slightly shameful look on her face. "Yes."
Percy and Thalia looked shocked, while Adria and Markus already knew. Adria comforted Zoe slightly. "Look, that's not important," Markus said firmly. "Zoe, if you want to go, that's fine. But you're not going to die."
"And how do you know that?" Adria asked, an angry look on her face as she glared at him.
"Because, if I recall correctly, you were supposed to die at Hephaestus' Junkyard, and yet here you are." Adria's surprised look was enough for him. He turned to look at Zoe. "Adria was supposed to die, and yet she didn't. The same thing can happen to you, Zoe. You're not going to die. I won't let you."
Zoe frowned. "And why do thou care about whether I die or not? Thou has made it very clear that thou hate me and the other Hunters. So why?"
Markus paused, trying to formulate an answer. She's right. Why did he care whether Zoe died. Before, he'd be joyous at the fact. Take a victory lap and celebrate. But now... "I don't know," he finally answered. "Maybe it's because I hate prophecies. Maybe it's to give the middle finger to the Fates. Or maybe it's because you've grown on me. Like a rash. A very irritating, annoying, almost cancerous rash that you initially hate, and still hate till this day and you somehow bond with it in some odd way-"
"We get it," Percy said, mirth in his eyes. Thalia also smiled as well.
Markus sighed. "My point is, while it may say it in the prophecy, I don't care. You're not dying, and that's final."
"Why?" Zoe asked, curious.
"Because I said so," Markus nodded with absolute seriousness.
Zoe looked at him, and did something unexpected. She laughed. She threw her head back and laughed loudly. Markus raised an eyebrow as the others were stunned at the Hunter. Zoe never laughed. At all. In fact, Adria had never heard her laugh that loudly at all, and she's been with her for a long time.
Zoe continued laughing, clutching her stomach. Markus would've found the sound beautiful if she wasn't laughing at him. The daughter of Atlas ceased her laughing, wiping some tears from her eyes. "Thou... are the most arrogant, stubborn, pig-headed, foolish and annoying male that I have met in a long, long time. Yet, why do I believe in thine words?"
"Okay, a) because I damn well mean what I say. And b) you are the most stubborn, arrogant, bitchiest and stupidest person I have met, bar gods and monsters. And yet, I'm suddenly concerned for you. Life works in weird ways."
Zoe stepped forward, looking directly at him, tilting her head up to look at him. Usually, if she got into a male's personal space, it was usually to gut him. This was different. "So I have thine word that thou will not let me die this day?"
Markus stared her down, wondering why he was so concerned for her. And why did it feel like she was testing him for something? "You have my word."
Zoe smirked. "Good. Maybe you aren't such a disgusting male after all."
"And maybe Kronos has risen already if I'm wanting to actually save you. Don't make me regret doing this."
"Can you save your flirting for later?" Thalia asked, making the two back away with disgust.
"Honestly, Zoe. I thought you were a faithful Hunter. And yet I see you flirting with some boy," Adria scolded, but the others could tell that she was teasing.
Zoe growled and Markus scowled. "No way," they both said at the same time. Then glared at each other for repeating what they just said. Before they could argue, a speed clone appeared out of existence and gently grabbed Grover, taking care of his injuries. Then - carefully - he ran off.
"Where'd you send him to?" Thalia asked.
"Camp. He needs to recover, and he's in no shape to continue this quest. Now, we all good?"
They all nodded.
"Okay. Zoe, where's the Garden of the Hesperides?"
Zoe frowned, but answered anyway. "Off west. Why?"
"Because we're travelling my way," Markus answered.
Percy frowned, standing up. "I thought that you said that it'd be risky to teleport to places that you haven't been to before?"
"True, but we're close, so I shouldn't screw up too badly. Plus, it's quicker. So everybody link hands. We're vapour-travelling."
All of them linked hands, the Hunters holding hands and Adria holding Thalia's hand. Who held hands with Percy and Markus. Concentrating, Markus made all of them disperse into vapour, travelling to the west. The large body of vapour passed through the Golden Gate Bridge, past forests, hills and steep ravines. Until finally the vapour gathered at an empty road that had Mist - both the magical substance and the natural kind - strongly present.
Markus commanded the vapour to coalesce and gather to form the bodies of himself and the others. It took a while, but the group managed to appear from the vapour in one piece. Immediately, the others began checking their bodies to see if they were in one piece. Markus glared at them. "Stupid, faithless..." Markus grumbled.
All of them inspected the area that they were in. Sheets of fog drifted across the road. The sun was setting slightly in the distance, casting a yellow/orange glow on the landscape.
"Well?" Markus said towards Zoe. "Lead the way."
However, before she could do anything, a powerful light shone across the area. This was different from the light from the sun. This felt like the glow from a bonfire. An extremely hot bonfire. The group looked to see that the glow was coming from ripples in the air. These ripples parted slightly, creating holes that hid a powerful fire inside. Markus sensed a familiar presence from the ripples. He sighed. "I'm not in the mood for this shit."
The others got their weapons out as more ripples occurred, creating an opening in the air that looked like a gate. Suddenly, the opening exploded with powerful flames as something burst out in a large and fiery display. It landed on the ground in front of them, melting the concrete and heating up their surroundings to absurd levels. Adria and Thalia started sweating instantly, their skin turning red from the heat. Zoe, Percy and Markus felt the heat and broke out into a slight sweat, which was surprising.
The creature - Markus knew that it was a demon - looked like a cross between a lion and a centaur. It had the lower body of a large bull, the legs and feet of a lizard or dragon, the upper body of a human, and a feline-like face, topped with vicious horns. His body is black, like cooled lava, with large, wing-like jets of flame sprouting from his humanoid shoulders and more flames cascading off his long tail. In his hand was an eight foot long spear that was tipped with orange and black flames. (A.N. - Basically DMC 4 Berial's appearance but with a spear).
"Anyone know who this is?" Percy asked exasperatedly.
Markus sighed. "A fucking demon."
"Markus. You know when I said that it wasn't your fault that we're facing non-Greek beings?" Thalia said.
"Yeah."
"Feel like retracting that statement."
"Don't blame you."
The demon roared, a shockwave being produced. Its fire burned the entire floor, turning it into molten sludge. Even the air was being burned by his mere presence. Flames sprouted from his form and sprayed everywhere. Markus created an ice barrier to shield the others from the intense heat.
"Ahh, the human world," the pyrokinetic demon rumbled, swiveling its head to inspect its surroundings. "It's been a while... hmm?" The demon turned to look at Markus and the others. It - possibly a he - grinned. "Oh? So you must be the demigods that the Titans told us about?"
"Who are you?!" Zoe questioned, bow raised.
The demon cackled loudly. "Who am I? I am Infernus, a Duke of Hell and the King of the Fire Pits. And you..." Waving his hand, fire pooled from his fingertips and made flames suddenly combust out of the air. From the flames, dozens of smaller demons jumped out, each looking similar to Infernus. They had the same black, crispy body that looked like lava, but looked less menacing. "... are trespassing. On my word as a Duke of Hell and a King, I must destroy you. Tremble in terror before my-"
Infernus was interrupted by purple lines appearing from him and his demons. They glowed brightly as the demons were mystified as to what had happened. Instantly, they all burst into showers of flames, disintegrating. Infernus himself screamed as he exploded in a shower of bright, orange flames. All that was left of him was one of his horns.
Having an idea as to what had happened, the group turned to Markus, who had already sheathed Yamato. "Nope. Not dealing with this," he said simply. He walked forward to where Infernus' horn was, putting it into his backpack. "I just want this quest to finish. I'm already annoyed."
"... Agreed," Zoe nodded, none of them surprised at his speed at which he'd killed the demons. They've learned to hide it for a while. Zoe turned towards one of the sheets of fog. She stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. The others looked at each other.
"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind." She stepped into the Mist, the others following her.
When the fog cleared, They was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like Markus and Percy had seen in their dream.
If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place any of them had ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and they weren't yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. They were real golden apples.
"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."
Markus hummed. "I might want one. They look good."
The others looked at him incredulously. "You do know that if you do that, Hera will be pissed at you, right?" Thalia said slowly, as if to make sure that he'd heard her.
Markus raised an eyebrow. "What's your point?"
"... Fair enough," Thalia sighed.
The others could see Ladon, who looked pretty scary. It was not like how people usually picture a dragon. Markus thought that Samael was much more terrifying. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than they could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.
Then the shadows in front of them began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped his hand.
Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. These were Zoe's sisters, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe - gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.
"Sisters," Zoe said.
"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and two Hunters. All of whom shall soon die."
Markus breathed through his nose, getting annoyed. "Listen, I'm only going to say this once. Get. Out. Of. Our. Way. Now."
The girls' glassy and volcanic eyes turned to him. "Markus Henderson," one of the girls said. "Yes, we were warned about you."
"Good. So you know what'll happen if you don't get out of our way."
"We must approach the mountain." Zoe stated.
"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."
"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."
The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."
"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.
"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"
At that, a bullet swerved past one of their cheeks, grazing it. Eyes wide, the girls all looked to Markus, who had his gun out and an annoyed expression on his face. "Move. Now."
At the sound of the gunshot, the dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Markus. "Are you mad?! Now you will die!"
Scoffing, Markus clicked his fingers, opening a blue swirling portal underneath Ladon's body, which was his size. With a yelp from a hundred heads, Ladon the dragon fell through the portal, which closed instantly.
Eyes wide, the Hesperides and the others looked at where Ladon used to be. Meanwhile, Markus walked towards the apple tree and rose from the ground slightly, using the winds to fly. He plucked all of the golden apples from the tree, inspecting one.
"Hmm," he hummed, before putting them in his personal pocket dimension. "Not yet. I at least want to grow a bit more before I eat one..." He walked back to the others. "Let's go."
The questers quickly shook off their surprise as the Hesperides continued to look confused. The five of them made it out of the meadow and headed up the rocky trail leading up to the peak of the mountain. The storm continued to rage, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.
"What happened to Ladon?" Zoe asked as they walked.
"I'm keeping him in suspended animation. He's essentially frozen in one of my pocket dimension until I bring him out," Markus answered.
"But why didn't you just kill it?" Percy asked as Zoe had a painful look at that question.
Markus grinned. "Because I want to keep it as a pet." At their stunned looks, he looked curiously at them. "What?"
"You... you want to keep Ladon... as a pet?" Thalia asked, straining to understand the being that was her boyfriend.
"Yes," Markus answered slowly.
"Why?" Zoe asked.
"Because he's a fucking dragon. Seriously, who wouldn't want a dragon as a pet? Plus, I can sic him on any monsters that attack camp. And Peleus can have a new best friend!"
Percy and Thalia facepalmed while the Hunters looked confused, but ultimately didn't say anything. Markus scoffed. They just didn't see the pure awesomeness of owning a pet dragon. His mind went to all of the badass stuff he can teach Ladon to do once tamed.
So with that thought in mind, they ran up the mountain in complete silence. Zoe's sisters were still not even singing. Still, that was good in Percy's point of view. After meeting them, he felt that the song would be more for a funeral.
At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.
"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."
A few yards ahead of them, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what Markus had seen in his dream.
"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, Adria hot on her heels. But Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."
Loud laughing cut off any more conversation. The group of demigods turned as one. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were the one-eyed demigod Markus had seen in his dream and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos.
The General, Atlas, chuckled. "Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing yo-"
Before he could continue, Atlas was decked in the jaw and sent skidding away, his feet dredging up clouds of dust. He wiped a trail of golden blood away from his jaw with a smile. He was hardly fazed.
Markus had his arm outstretched, clenching his fist in the place that Atlas was previously. The dracaenae and demigod were surprised and tried to scramble back.
"Ah, Markus Henderson. So we meet again," Atlas greeted with a smile.
Markus clenched his fist again and looked at it, feeling it sting. "Huh. I actually felt that." He looked up at Atlas. "Just hurry up and use whatever power-up Jashin gave you. It'll be more funnier when I beat you."
Atlas stared at the boy. "Aren't you impatient? Alright. If you want to die so badly, be my guest."
The Titan held up a red ge, the size of a phone, and he promptly jammed it into his chest. He gave a roar of power, a shockwave being produced from the release of a tremendous aura. Some high winds kicked up, blowing the hairs of everyone and pushing all of them back slightly. Artemis groaned as she struggled to contain the sky. Cracks started to form in the ground, with a sudden burst of light rising up and lighting up the sky. A sense of small sense of dread that settled in the guts of everyone watching.
The red energy around Atlas faded, revealing his new self. The Titan was probably eight feet tall and packed tighter with more muscle than what should have been allowed. His skin was bleached white, and from the glowing red rock in his chest, a smattering of red veins shot out and covered his entire body, makinhim pulsate with energy. Atlas opened his eyes, revealing that his irises were now red and his sclera black.
Markus whistled, inspecting the new form. "Not bad. I'm actually going to have to sweat. Quick question, when Jashin gave you a power-up, did he expect the way a typical battle goes? You get a power-up, overwhelm me, then I get a power-up and-"
Atlas moved with such incredible speed that Markus' demigod reflexes failed him, having been surprised. He took a right cross that sent him bouncing across the mountain before slamming into a pillar that toppled on top of him. Markus lifted the rubble off of him, having applied Hierro in time. Still, there was a bruise on his left cheek.
Markus spat out blood while still looking at him. "And then I overwhelm you, right?" he finished. "Well, let's play it a little differently, shall we?"
Cracking his neck, Markus' body exploded in a crimson light, his eyes red. His Rage of Sparta activated, Markus grinned.
"Let's dance, Titan of Endurance."
And... finished. This was a lot longer than expected.
Sooo, to recap: Greeks won against the Shintos (only barely, though) and have arrived at Mount Othrys. The demon fight was kept short because Markus didn't want to waste any time. Same thing with Ladon, only Markus wanted him as a pet. Because why not? Dragons are awesome. He didn't eat an apple of immortality because he wanted his physical body to grow so that it'll reach its prime, so he can then eat it. You can guess why he took the rest of the apples.
Next chapter will be the fight with Atlas, and then the Olympian council meeting (which will be fun to write. Really fun).
Oh, side note: just wanted to list the powers of the Shinto demigods, so people will know either why they lost or how powerful they are.
Abigail: high-level pyrokinesis using divine black flames and white flames. Black flames burn for seven days and nights unless countered, and can't be extinguished by normal means. The white flames burn only those the casters seeks to kill or those pure of heart. Abigail's trump card is the blessing of Amaterasu, in which she transforms into a giant phoenix avatar. The heat from her flames reach absolute hot in this form. Her skills in using weapons are mediocre, since she mainly uses her fire.
Christopher: high-level electrokinesis, aerokinesis and hydrokinesis. He can't go beyond the normal type of electricity, though his skills surpass children of Zeus and Poseidon. Well, except Markus because he's much more stronger. Like Abigail, Chris' trump card is the blessing of Susanoo (different from what Markus has as a champion of Susanoo), which allows him to transform into a giant dragon. The dragon has an upper body made of lightning, a lower body made of water, and wings made of wind. His skills in using weapons is better than Abigail and the other Shinto demigods.
Joshua: can control moonlight the same way Artemis can, but slightly limited. He much prefers using illusions to trick his enemies by using light. These illusions trick the target into seeing something that's not there. His illusions can be countered by sensors, gods and stronger beings than him. His physical attributes are terrible, hence he sticks with his illusions.
Rose: high-level pyrokinesis that is weaker than Abigail's. She can use her fire in any shape and form, and can even form weapons from her flames, making any kind of shape that she wants. She can also create armour from her flames to shield her like a normal suit of armour. Her physical attributes are quite strong, though she mainly uses her flames.
Alex: high-level hydrokinesis that surpasses Percy's and is just under Markus. She can turn her body into water like Markus can, and can even manipulate internal liquids inside a person's body, e.g. blood, sweat, tears, gastric fluids, etc. Her physical attributes are somewhat strong and are just below Rose's.
Thomas: high-level aerokinesis that surpass any child of Zeus. While not a lot of his skills were displayed, he can do a number of things: turn his body into wind, create blades and cocoons of wind, and can also suck the oxygen from his target's lungs or expand the oxygen inside one's body and cause them to explode. His physical attributes match Rose's but are below that of Chris.
Lucas: high-level electrokinesis that surpass Chris' and any child of Zeus. He can turn his body into lightning, create explosions of lightning from his body, and can shoot bolts of lightning. His lightning body can be countered by high amounts of wind. This is because most negative lightning strikes (the most common kind) consist of multiple discharges in very rapid succession. Since hot/ionized air is a much better electrical conductor than cool air, each subsequent strike will tend to follow a similar path as the one that preceded it. Essentially, cold wind (which is what Thalia mainly uses and has given no indication of using warm or hot air) is a very poor conductor for electricity. So Lucas' body can be countered because his body (which is a large conductor basically) can't produce enough lightning to counter large amounts of cold wind.
Now... review answers.
1) To Apollyon: (not sure if I replied to you) thanks very much for the suggestion on Thalia's powers. I really like it, and am glad you gave me useful bits to hopefully write down in the future. Thanks.
2) To Power Suggestor, I love the ideas. The main reason that Markus doesn't use that many branches of magic is because he can easily destroy his enemies with his physical prowess, power-ups or divine powers. But I'm really grateful for the ideas. The armour is something he'll get later on in the story, so don't worry. And the blood warding does ward off just blood, but the reason Markus didn't take control of any other liquids is because I wanted to have the others to fight. Simple as.
3) I understand that Markus' could've easily killed all of them, but I wanted to give the others a chance to fight. It doesn't make sense, true, but that's what it is.
4) Thanks for the idea, Power Suggestor.
5) I'm not going to complain or rant at your stupid point. So what if I copy and paste from the original books? Frankly, I'd be surprised if I didn't. And as for my grammar mistakes, fair enough. That's true. But other than that, I'm not going to bother with you. Just... no.
6) Yes, I do.
7) I prefer if I write him as a dick. As long as he's not too dickish, I'd like that over him being nice at any unexpected and unneeded moments. And both their views will change as time goes by, don't worry.
So... since I'm very tired, I'll just say this: thanks to all those who f,f,r and r the story and my other ones as well. Read and Review. And, uh... yeah, that's it. Bye!