*Me laughing nervously at the reviews with people starting to get worried about Luke.* Oh you poor poor suckers you have no idea. No idea at all. All I can say is poor everyone by the end of this. Especially poor Percy and Luke. Protective big brother is just doing his best.
Sorta poll for Sally's parentage/who she's a legacy of. I won't be including the vote for Vesta because she's a maiden.
Terra: 24
Nox: 9
Venus: 6
Saturn: 4
Ceres: 3
Baccus: 1
Jupiter: 1
Pluto: 1
Neptune: 1
Apollo: 1
Mars: 1
Caelus: 1
Tartarus: 1
Daughter of Venus: 18
Daughter of Ceres: 2
Daughter of Terra: 1
Percy expected an attack- Kronos was expecting it too- he expected Ethan to strike her down, to give him the chance to get to Percy himself- but instead, even as Percy hit the ground from the force of Ethan's sudden movement he was passing her, and Percy's head snapped around, following the movement as Ethan sprinted towards Kronos.
While Kronos was still on his knees, Ethan brought down his sword on the Titan lord's neck. Percy screamed- the blade skidded against the invulnerable skin, useless, but a brave act nevertheless- and Kronos lashed out, his arm hitting Ethan in the chest hard, sending the son of Nemesis flying backwards across the throne room, crashing into Luke, who had started to try and rise again, knocking them both to the ground as the Titan roared his fury. "Treason! You will pay for that boy." his expression was vicious.
"You've feared drowning since the day in the arena- well boy, I can't drown you here, but I can make sure you don't take another breath-" and then a golden band was around Ethan's throat and he let out a choked scream, clawing at it frantically, his eyes wide as he tried to tear it away from his throat- and Kronos laughed, seeing the horrified look on Percy's face.
"Stop it! Stop!"
"I don't think I will- in fact-" Kronos waved a hand and suddenly an identical band was around Luke's throat- and Luke desperately tried to breath, doing much the same as Ethan, both of them sprawled on the ground, clearly terrified as they tried to get the bands off their throats.
"Luke!" Percy sprinted towards the two demigods, her eyes wide as she looked between them- they were both red in the face, the bands digging into the skin around their neck, cutting off any chance of air, and Percy felt her eyes filling with tears as she grabbed her brothers hands, "Luke-" and she could see the horrified look on his face, he couldn't speak, not with the way he was being choked. And Percy felt tears pouring down her cheeks as she glanced over at Ethan- tears stained his cheeks, they were going to die- they were going to die- and she remembered Hestia's words. If she didn't want to break she had to bend.
She swallowed hard, closing her eyes, hands shaking as she squeezed Luke's hands, pressing her lips to his forehead, "You once told
me I was your hero. But you've always been mine Luke."
Luke must have seen something in her eyes because he shook his head frantically, hands clawing at her wrist as she forced herself to her feet and she turned to look at Kronos- and she was surprised that she wasn't crying- she wanted to but it was as if the tears had been stolen away. "Kronos." her voice cut over the choking noises from Luke and Ethan, "Stop it. Stop it now. Let them live and I will marry you here and now." she felt Luke's hand gripping her ankle and, hating herself for it, she stomped on it with the other foot, causing a pained wheeze from Luke as he was forced to let go of Percy's foot and she moved forward, striding towards Kronos. "I have no weapons. If I surrender and marry you here and now you will release my brother and Ethan."
Kronos raised an eyebrow at that he smirked cruelly, waving a hand, and the bands around Luke and Ethan's necks loosened- though sets of bands materialised around their wrists and ankles- and given the way Luke strained, trying to move even as he choked in great wracking lungfuls of air, coughing and spluttering as he did, Percy could assume that they were pinning the two demigods in place, trapping them.
There would be no help from either of them- but Percy hadn't expected it.
A part of her had known it would come to this ever since her dream of Rachel. Since she'd seen the painting on the wall.
"Does that make you happier my bride?" Kronos raised an eyebrow at Percy, "They shall be our witnesses- that you chose to marry me. I will have no one say that you were forced- not now that you've agreed willingly-" it was a power play Percy knew, a way to humiliate her- he knew she didn't want to marry him, but the fact that she'd chosen this- being able to tell people that? He loved it, she could see it in his eyes, he took a kind of sick pleasure in it.
"If that means they live then yes." Percy's voice shook slightly as she stepped forward, approaching the Titan slowly- and he held up a hand, and Percy gasped as her clothes shifted and changed- suddenly she wasn't wearing dirty bloody torn up jeans, her armor and a tee, she was clad in a shimmering white chiton that almost seemed to be silver in certain lights, it was fastened at the waist by a golden belt, the centre of which was a circle of abalone, the shell almost shining with the beautiful shades of blue and green.
The shoulders of the dress were gathered with golden ornamental clasps with a scythe embossed on each of them, and Percy felt weighed down by the sheer amount of jewellery that adorned her body- golden bangles around each of her wrists- and she could feel the chains of anklets hidden beneath her Chiton.
And there were rings on each of her fingers, her hands felt heavy with them- especially the ring adorning her left thumb- the gift from May Castellan. From Luke's mom.
There was a necklace now around her neck, with abalone shells pressed into the gold to match the belt wrapped around her waist. And she had a band of gold with aquamarines embedded into it perched on her head from which flowered a silvery veil that covered her face and reached down to just below her armpits- and Percy knew how she looked- she'd seen it in the painting that Rachel had destroyed.
Rachel had seen this, she'd seen this and she'd known. And Percy closed her eyes, breathing in slowly, a steadying breath.
It was strange- the thought was almost comforting.
She was ready, whatever happened next she was ready for it.
Then she heard Luke's voice, a hoarse croak. "Sephie no! No please- don't do this for me do-" he was cut off, letting out a choking noise again and Percy's gaze snapped back towards her brother.
"It's okay." her voice was soft but confident, "It's going to be okay Luke. Kronos stop it. Stop hurting him. I'm cooperating aren't I?"
"Fine." Kronos huffed the word- but at least Luke was suddenly able to suck in a breath again, though when he tried to speak no words came, and Ethan tried to speak too, but it seemed like Kronos had stolen their voices.
Percy turned her gaze back to Kronos, who had a gleam in those molten gold eyes. "Am I not a merciful husband."
"You're not my husband yet." she pointed out, "I don't- I don't know how the ceremony's supposed to go."
Kronos smirked, "Well, we shall have to skip the ritual bathing thanks to your stubbornness, and I think in the circumstances the sacrifices would be laughable. In any case I am the King of the Titans. And who will argue with me. I shall removed your veil, and kiss you and you will be bound to me, my bride, for the rest of time itself. You won't die, I won't allow it, you will be mine for eternity-" he paused, tilting his head, "And if you're hoping for some miraculous rescue, my bride, then I would think again."
He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-message. Percy saw Nico and their parents down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies. In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless. Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed. A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore. Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.
The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and Percy saw Typhon clearly for the first time.
It was a terrifying sight, one Percy wished she could forget. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face would've driven her insane, so she focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin reminded her of a meat loaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.
"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."
Zeus threw a thunderbolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. She could feel the shock even on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing. He staggered a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing.
Percy felt tears stinging her eyes- even if she could defeat Kronos- and she had no clue how she could do that, it would mean nothing if the gods didn't defeat Typhon. Typhon stepped into the Hudson River and barely sank to midcalf as Percy watched- and then, Percy's heart soared with joy at the sound of a conch horn from the smoky picture. . The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon.
All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot—this one pulled by massive hippocampi, who swam in air as easily as in water. Her father was, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs. Poseidon was no longer an old man. He looked like himself again—tan and strong with a black beard. As he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.
"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"
"NOW, MY BRETHREN!" Poseidon's voice was so loud that Percy wasn't sure if she was hearing it from the smoke image or from all the way across town. "STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!" Warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. It was a legion of Cyclopes, and leading them into battle was...
"Tyson?!" Percy let out a giddy laugh despite herself, her face lighting up. He'd magically grown in size. He had to be thirty feet tall, as big as any of his older cousins, and for the first time he was wearing full battle armor. Riding behind him was Briares, the Hundred-Handed One.
All the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains—big enough to anchor a battleship—with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him. Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains, pulling some of the Cyclopes off their mounts; but there were too many chains. The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper.
The trident flew back to Poseidon's hand.
The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed Typhon in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire. And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bridge—but down he went as Poseidon opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river—an endless waterslide that would take him straight to Tartarus. The giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.
"BAH!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.
"They did it-" Percy let out a triumphant yell of joy, whirling to face Kronos, "They did it you-"
"NO!" Suddenly Kronos was in front of her, his hand wrapped around her throat and she heard Ethan and Luke struggling frantically.
"I haven't even begun Persephone. And I will start by taking you as my bride!"
