(Uploaded: 9/29/19)
Chapter 17: The Clash of Lions
(Author's Note)
Hey everyone! I'm back again! This was EXTREMELY hard to write for reasons you'll see. Normally I say more but after reading what I wrote I don't feel like it. So, I hope you… 'enjoy' this chapter.
Fyi, the recap was cut down for a reason. I liked this opening better. Full recaps will return next time!
Chapter 17: The Clash of Lions
The Prophecy:
"Olympus beware the Mortal of Might
The heir shall strike War and Love in the night
A long forgotten foe shall rise, an Angel and Lion in disguise
The Mount shall fall and the Sky will rise
The Son shall follow the fate of those before
And slay his father at the door"
x ~ x ~ x ~ x ~ x
"The bravest are surely those who have
the clearest vision of what is before them,
glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding
go out to meet it."
~ Thucydides
[Recap: "Would you?" She asked softly. "Would you go against what you must do? Would you not fight him?"
"If I had my way?"
She nodded weakly. "Yes."
"Then of course." He answered slowly. "I don't wish to kill him, truly, but it has been foretold in a Prophecy. And you cannot fight fate."]
(June/15/2011 - The Strait of Gibraltar)
~Seven days later~
A figure of immense height and height landed on the beach, the soft sand parted under him. He was adorned in the Nemean Lion Skin Cloak, Spartan armor and had the Golden Fleece tied around his bare chest. With a shaking breath, it walked towards the center of the island to were the Pillars were.
After walking for some time, the figure silently stopped when he came face to face with a towering muscular man in a royal purple toga.
"Hello, Leonidas." The man in purple said slowly. "I had wished for years to finally meet you, but I must say that I didn't wish to meet like this."
"Heracles." Was Leonids' only words at seeing his father for the first time.
Heracles' face dropped slightly. "You call me by my name? Not father?"
"My father was a kind farmer from Kansas that died because of me." Leonidas told him as he kept his face neutral. "Why would I call a man who I have never met 'father'?"
Heracles' reply was delayed. "...I can understand that, son." He looked to Leonidas with pained eyes. "I can also understand the pain I have caused you, but you should know, what you plan to do, I can't let you."
Leonidas' brow rose. "You know?"
"That you plan to kill me then attack Olympus in an attempt to destroy the Thrones and kill all the gods on it?" He asked slowly. "Yes. Hebe has been keeping me informed about you since she learned of you."
Leonidas clenched his fist. "Then you know why I must."
"Because you believe that doing so will save the world."
Leonidas shook his head. "No, I know that destroying Olympus will save the world! If not, then the Fates would not have Weaved the Tapestry of Fate so!" He let out a calming breath through his nose. "Everything happens for a reason. Be it the destruction of Olympus or my mother's death."
Heracles let out a low growl under his breath, his eyes narrowed. "That wasn't my fault, Leonidas. I wanted more than anything to go down there to save her… but Zeus wouldn't let me." He slowly lifted his hand to point at the stone Pillars behind him. "Those two slabs of rock are my shackles. They are what keep me a prisoner on this island in the middle of this gods-forsaken sea. As long as they stand, I am trapped here. And as long as I stand, I must protect them."
"...Tell me, did you love her?"
Heracles' answer was instantaneous. "Of course."
"..."
The god studied Leonidas' face, noticing the confliction on it. "You were wishing that I said no, didn't you? So that you had more reason to kill me?"
"The only reason why I wish to kill you now is because of the Prophecy." He told his father, not making eye contact. "The hate and anger I once held for you is gone. Now, all I feel is a need to achieve my Fate. And right now, that means killing you."
Heracles let out a long, deep breath as he watched his son. "What if you're wrong?" He asked suddenly. "What if you're wrong about being able to change your Fate?"
"I'm not-"
"But what if you are?"
Leonidas let out a slow breath as he placed his hand on his tattoo, summoning his hammer. "I can't be wrong… Because if I am… then my entire life would be for not. I would have no purpose."
He let the head of his hammer hit the soft sand with a solid 'THUD'. Seeing this, Heracles summoned his mighty club and took a more defensive stance. "Don't make me do this, son." Heracles begged as his son moved into his stance. "You know who I am. What I've achieved. I'm the strongest being on earth. If you fight me… I'll have to fight in defense of Olympus. Don't make me hurt you, Leonidas."
"I'm sorry, Heracles. It is true that I have cursed your name in the past, but I have long since moved beyond seeking your approval or love. If it were up to me… I wouldn't be here, but it is as the Fates decree, I must kill you. So it says in the Prophecy, so it must be done." He briefly paused to look his father in the eye for the first time in his life but quickly tore them away as he realized it was like looking in a mirror. "...As a father myself, I feel your pain. It is a shame she will never meet you. I would never wish for my Astraea to have to strike me down, but it isn't up to me… I am truly sorry." With that last word he dashed towards his father, driving his mighty warhammer into the gods' cheek and sending him flying into a large boulder.
'CrrrBOOOM!'
The god let out a groan of pain as Leonidas drove him deeper and deeper into the ground as he attacked him over and over with his hammer.
'BAM!' 'BAM!' 'BAM!'
"Raah!" Leonidas cried out as Heracles brought his large fist into his stomach, sending the demigod stumbling back. Heracles quickly jumped to action and grabbed Leonidas by the arm, spun on the spot and slammed him into the large stones lining the beach.
'CrrrBAAAAM!'
As Leonidas shakily rose to his feet, his father summoned his mighty club to his hand and with strength that could level mountains, drove the godly weapon into his face! Crimson liquid sprayed from Leonidas' dislocated and unmoving jaw like a nozzle, but Heracles could see that the Golden Fleece, combined with Leonidas' superior healing factor, was already healing some of the damage done. His remarkable self healing combined with his godly strength and durability, the Golden Fleece and the Nemean Lion Skin Cloak made him more than a match for the God of Strength and Bravery.
Without wasting a second, Heracles slammed the club into Leonidas' head and drove it deeper into a large boulder that was crumbling under the consecutive attacks. Leonidas tried to dodge the fourth hit but his father was faster and brought his club low and struck it against the side of his knee, causing his son to drop to one knee in excruciating pain.
"Gaaah!" The demigod roared out in pain as his knee snapped under him.
Leonidas let out a few enraged pants before starting to rise, only to have his father throw his club at him, sending him flying back several meters until he slammed into one of the Pillars bearing his father's name. Leonidas fell to the ground in front of the Pillar as Heracles raced to him, summoning his mighty club as he ran. He was only a second away before Leonidas reached back, grabbed the crumbling Pillar and threw it overhead at his father like a ballistic missile.
Heracles brought back his club and easily destroyed the Pillar with one strike without losing speed and went to swing it back around for another attack only for Leonidas to leap through the flying debris, grab his face in his large hand and slam him to the ground with enough force to shake Hades below them.
'BOOOOOMMM!'
Leonidas quickly slammed his father's head into the ground twice more before lifting him by the face and sending him flying back with a shattering punch from his left hand. Heracles roughly landed several dozen meters away and before he could catch his breath Leonidas dropped down on him with his hammer and drove him several feet into the dirt.
He then lifted his father and continued to punch him further and further back. "I want you to know, father, that I act on the will of the Fates. The Tapestry of Fate itself demands that one of us die today... You have my sympathy... Because it will NOT. BE. ME!"
With a powerful punch he launched his father back and followed up by driving his shoulder into him. Heracles hit the earth, causing it to tremble as if Atlas dropped the sky. As his father laid beaten on the ground Leonidas hit him again.
"Yield!" Leonidas ordered with a shout as he stood over his father, his hammer pointed at his head, his large foot on his panting chest. "For your sake! With the Promised Day so close you are no match for me! I. AM. STRENGTH! I don't want to-"
"For the sake of Olympus I shall not yield!" His father cut him off, quickly rolling to the side and punching his son a few paces away. "You may be my son, but I am the Gatekeeper of Olympus! I yield to no mortal or god!" He quickly thrust his mighty club into the sky and the heavens tore apart as if Ouranos had struck the earth. The winds howled, lightning summoned from Zeus himself danced in the sky like wild horses, rain pelted the land, the sea crashed against the shore and the very earth below them shook as if a thousand war drums were beating in perfect sync.
"If you wish to destroy Olympus than you must destroy me first!" The god let out a raging cry to the heavens as the sky crackled with lightning and energy. For the briefest of seconds his battle-focused glare disappeared, replaced by sadness and shame as he slowly lowered his mighty club to point at his son. "I'm sorry, Sara."
Then the look was gone the next second as the club was aimed right at Leonidas' chest. Lord Heracles suddenly shouted for all the heavens to hear!
"FOR ZEUS! FOR OLYMPUS!"
At that moment all the lightning and energy collected in the heavens bore down at Leonidas like a laser beam from Chaos herself, engulfing and quickly destroying all his surroundings.
"GrrrAAAAAHHH!" Leonidas let out a pain-filled cry as he felt like he was standing on the very surface of the sun. Every molecule, every atom, his very soul, felt like they were on fire. He could feel his bullet-proof skin melting and charring from the heat, the pain as the very liquid in his eyes boiled as he lost his sight, the roaring then deafening waves of energy that ruptured his eardrums after a few seconds, the sheer mind-numbing agony as he felt the very bones in his body almost liquify from the assault, the stench of his burning hair and skin.
It was by far the most pain he had ever experienced. As well as the closest he had ever been to death.
But he couldn't die now.
Too many people were counting on him…
The only two people he cared for on this earth would die if he fell to his father…
...So he simply did what he had done everyday of his life for the past few years, he fought past the pain and instead focussed his mind on his goal: A life with his family among the stars.
Truly, his mind was willing to fight…
...But his body was finally at its limits.
The dust and debris settled after some time. The very earth stumbling from the blow. Heracles, drained from using the very last of his power, forced himself to his feet and immediately looked for his son among the rubble with the hope that his son survived, but what he found… made him wish that his son hadn't survived his final gambit.
A red and black, charred and smoking corpse of a figure stood on now thin legs among the shattered and torn earth. It's blackened flesh oozed thick, darkened blood and foul liquid as the light wind blew some of it's charred flesh away. It's once bright amber eyes were nothing but hollow pits that were as dark as voids. It's perfect teeth were reduced to melted stubs. It's lips and upper layer of skin completely melted off. It's once hair-covered head was bald and misshapen, parts of the skull were visible where flesh used to be. It's nose was just a cavity and all of it's armor and clothes besides the Golden Fleece and Nemean Lion Skin had been burned away with the power of a thousand suns. It's once heavily muscled chest was torn open like a tree struck by lightning and it's internal organs were visible but mostly unharmed.
The figure standing before him was not his son, but a lifeless husk of a body from the pits of Hades itself. It was at this moment that it hit him.
What had he done?
Heracles wordlessly dropped his mighty club and ever so slowly at first crept to his son before quickly picking up speed and running at full pace to the unmoving body just as it's legs gave out from under it. He carefully caught his son and as gently as possible brought his charred body to his and embraced him for the first time.
"GAAAH!" Heracles let out a trembling cry to the heavens as the realization kicked in.
He had killed his son.
"No no no!" He cried into his sons' blackened shoulder. "Fates no! Why?! I- I didn't wish to-"
Heracles could only hold his sons' still form as he let out screams that shook the ground that soon turned into sobs. "Oh Sara, what have I done? Our boy… I killed him."
The god of Strength used the gentlest embrace he could as he held his son for an unknown number of minutes after the attack. He was sobbing so loudly that he almost missed the slightest sound of an intake of breath.
*Gasp*
Heracles quickly pulled back to face his son and what faced him back brought the breath back to his lungs. Leonidas' charred, black and red flesh and exposed muscle was rapidly healing. Fresh, pale skin was quickly spreading over his body like a swarm of fire ants. His bones were quickly reforming. His deformed facial features were regrowing before his very eyes.
His son was coming back to life!
* "M-my son! You're alive!" A weak smile quickly formed on Heracles' face as he watched his son struggle back from death. "I- I knew you couldn't- T-this is a sign from the Fates themselves! You were not destined to die this day! That must be why Thanatos didn't come to collect your soul!" His weak smile grew wider as his sobs were replaced by relieved laughter. "This- this is wondrous! I could not live with myself if I killed you!"
*Gasp* *Gasp* … *Gasp*... Leonidas' slow, shallow gasps became more frequent and drawn out as his reforming lungs struggled to fill with air despite a few holes still in his chest. His throat gurgled as his tongue and vocal cords regrew. His entire body shook as new muscle and nerves intertwined with what remained of his destroyed ones. His bare skull became covered with flesh and then later hair as the last of his his superhuman healing factor aided by the Golden Fleece worked doubletime to revive him.
Without warning Leonidas stumbled forwards and his father made sure to catch him, amazed, awed and no doubt happy that his son was alive again before his very eyes. That is, until the demigod suddenly grabbed his forearm and with one quick motion snapped it like a twig.
"GAAAHHH!"
Heracles let out a high cry as Leonidas grabbed him by his shoulders and slammed his head into his father's, disorentating the god long enough for him to pull back his hands as his warhammer appeared in them and upon impact launched the god like a cannonball into and through several large smoldering boulders and petrified trees.
'BAAAMMM!'
Without warning Leonidas leapt after his father and delivered and powerful stomp onto his father's chest and he landed with the force of a falling freight train.
"Son- son stop-" Heracles tried to put up his good arm to block the flurry of attacks but he was easily overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rage and fury Leonidas was emanating. His son bellowed like a beast of the night as he thrashed down on his father with the savage brutality of a cornered, starved and rabid animal.
"Please-" But Leonidas only kept up the assault by lifting his father up by his bloody and torn royal purple toga before sending him flying back with a powerful, bone-shattering punch. Leonidas' shimmering amber eyes were bloodshot as he bellowed like a beast.
"HrrrrRAAAHHH!" His low cry shook the very ground beneath his feat.
"RrrraaaaAAAHHH!" Leonidas jumped forwards, grabbed the side of his father's head and began to pound into it over and over with his other fist.
'BAM!' 'BAM!' 'BAM!' Each blow had enough power to shatter entire islands and each devastating punch tore apart the heavens as if Zeus were casting down his lightning.
"Leo- Leonidas… PLEASE!" Heracles was trying in vain to beg for his son to stop as he tried to push him away. "I YIELD!"
'BAM!' 'BAM!' 'BAM!'
"I said I YIELD!" But Leonidas didn't stop, he only continued to drive his bloodied fist into his father's misshapen face as he let loose feral cries. "S-stop! Please!
"RrrrAAAGGGHHHH!" Bloodied spit flew from Leonidas' mouth as he bore down on his father with the force to level the island under them.
"Leonidas! *punch* Please! *punch* SON!"
Heracles' vision was blurry and faded and his body no longer obeyed him. He tried to force his son off of him, but he could sense it. He was dying.
Leonidas let out another cry as he lifted his dripping fist over his father's unmoving face but was suddenly blasted away with a beam of energy from behind.
"GAAAH!" Leonidas hit the broken earth like a brick but wasted no time climbing to his feet in his rage, his clever mind now gone to his wrath.
"Husband!" Lady Hebe appeared by her husband as he tried to force himself to his feet. "Stop moving!" She ordered as she embraced him and hastily began healing him. "You are dying! If you push yourself anymore you will die!"
"You were foolish to come here, Hebe!" Heracles shouted to his wife as he moved his focus to his son as he quickly made his way to them. "He'll kill you too!"
"GrrrAAAAAHHH!" Leonidas barreled at them like an out of control train, violently swinging at anything, smoldering rock or charred tree, that got in his way.
"I could not leave you to be killed my love!" She shouted to him as she sent another weak blast of energy at Leonidas that only slowed him down for a moment. "Let us leave! I'm sure mother and father will grant you permission to leave this place! Come on!"
"No!" Heracles pulled his shoulder free of her grip, grabbed her around the middle and jumped away at the last second as Leonidas brought his fist down on the shattered ground.
As soon as they landed Heracles jumped again. It wasn't until they could no longer see his son did he stop. "Gah!" Heracles dropped to the ground in immense pain. Hebe cautiously watched the distance they came from as she began to heal him once again.
"Why is Leonidas trying to kill you so? Why do you not yield and call upon father?"
"I can't!" He told her in between bloody coughs. "Even if I call father to request his aid, he is too weak right now! I cannot risk it! If Leonidas were to face father in one on one combat I have no doubt father would die!"
Hebe let out a surprised gasp. "Then Leonidas is that strong?" Her husband nodded gravely. "Then let me flash you back to Olympus! Apollo and Asclepius can heal you there!"
"No!" Heracles yelled back as he tried to once again rise to his feet. "I cannot leave the Pillars. My life is tied to them like yours is to the Fountain. If I don't protect it then he can easily kill me!"
Hebe bit her lower lip as she heard Leonidas' bellows sound over the horizon. "Then why hasn't he already? Why chase you down instead of easily destroying the pillars?"
"B-because he isn't thinking right now." He explained. "My Fatal Flaw of Wrath… must have been passed to him. It is as I feared, I cannot hope to defeat him, Hebe. Not alone. And I cannot risk your life. His- my son's strength and skill rival my own now… but his Wrath is quickly consuming his soul. And soon, he will lose himself to it. And if that were to happen…" He paused briefly to face his son as he burst through a boulder a few dozen paces in front of them, screaming in rage. "Then he will be lost to his Wrath forever." He clenched his fist as he shielded Hebe's body behind his own. "I will not allow you to die, Hebe. Flee this place! Flee to our father and have him and our uncles destroy this island! Erase it from the earth itself! That is the only way to stop him now!"
"GrrrAAAAAHHH!"
Hebe tried in vain to pull him away. "No! You cannot-" But she was cut off when Heracles countered Leonidas' fist with his own. The shockwave alone knocked her to his feet. "AAAH!"
The Lord of Strength and the Prince of Power clashed with more than enough force to send shockwaves of earth and stone as their mighty blows landed. Leonidas attacked with a wild ferocity as Heracles was forced to stay defensive.
"GrrrAAAAAHHH!"
Leonidas continued to pound into his father with a never-ending barrage of powerful punches. Heracles shielded himself with one hand as he kept his over around Hebe as she shrieked in fear.
The two Lions of Olympus violently clashed as radiant waves of energy rolled off of their bodies. Heracles let out one last yell as he brought back his shattered arm in preparation to unleash the last of his strength, "I'm sorry Leonidas!" as he brought his fist to his son's face.
The Mortal of Might stumbled back from the blow, his neck bent back at an odd angle. Buying Heracles just enough time to jump away again so he grabbed his wife around the middle and went to flee but at the last moment found his legs useless.
"No!" He cursed the Fates and prepared to face his son again but was met with a fist to his broken face.
'BAM!'
The Divine Protector of Mankind's body fell back to the earth with a heavy 'THUD'. Hebe let out a terrified cry as her husband fell before her eyes. "HERACLES!" She latched onto his large shoulder as Leonidas aggressively stepped up to them, his bloody fist brought back to strike him again despite him being defeated.
"Leonidas! Leonidas please! STOP!" She raised her arm to blast him with energy but instead let out a cry why he gripped her forearm, snapped it like a twig and tossed her roughly to the side. "GAHHH!"
Leonidas immediately began pounding his father's unmoving body into the ground. Not even aware that his foe was defeated. "GrrrAAAAAHHH!" Leonidas brought his shattered fist back again to finish off his opponent.
"STOP!" The goddess used the last of her energy to jump in front of the punch and held out her broken arm to protect herself and Heracles. She braced herself for death, but felt nothing. With a shaking breath, she opened one eye and what met her stole the breath from her lungs.
Leonidas' mighty fist was one inch from her nose. So close that she could feel the heat and rage coming from his body. She opened the other eye and they fell upon his. Leonidas' once bloodshot and furry-filled eyes softened to their normal amber hue. His screaming face softened as his fist fell beside him. She could literally see his mind come back to him.
"W-what have I done?" His voice was hoarse and broken from his screaming, but it was the first words he had spoken since his rage started. He suddenly stumbled backwards as if his legs couldn't hold his weight and he fell to his backside.
Leonidas looked to the dying man in front of him and the reality of what he had done in his state hit him. "Father… No..." The Prince of Olympus quickly crawled to his father and carefully cupped his broken and bloodied jaw. "No no no… I- I didn't mean to…"
Hebe dropped next to them and immediately began healing her husband. "Oh Fates above, I did not believe that you would break free, Leonidas." She spared a moment to look at him. "Your Wrath… is greater than even Menoetius or Lyssa's, the embodiments of Anger and Rage. Your curse… is unimaginable. H-how do you contain it so?"
Leonidas' face dropped as he remembered the face of the child whose mother he killed in his rage. "I… can't. It's my Fatal Flaw… there's no fighting it. It must be broken." He let out a shaky breath as he forced himself to his feet despite his pain. All the damage he had taken in and before his rage just now coming to him. Once he was standing he lightly took Hebe's shoulder, gaining her attention.
"...But like my Flaw, you cannot fight Fate or the Prophecy. He must die. I am sorry."
"No!" She cried as tears washed down her face, unable to fight against his strength as he pulled her away from Heracles. "T-there must be a way!"
Leonidas slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but there isn't." He carefully pushed her back a little. "Go. Head back to Olympus and tell that what has happened. Tell them… tell them that their fears are true. I will be attacking it on the Promised Day." He bit his lip in frustration. "I am sorry, but I cannot fight Fate. The Fates wish me to attack Olympus on the Promised Day, they need me to do so! Because if they didn't… if they didn't then they would have had let me die today! Or at one of the dozens of times in my life where I was on the brink of death."
He faced Hebe, looking right into her watery eyes. "This… is my destiny. My Fate. I must kill my father. I must attack Olympus. I must kill Zeus and destroy the Thrones so that a new age can begin! I don't want to, but I must! Everything that happens, happens for a reason. The only reason why I am alive today is because the Fates need me alive. The Tapestry of Fate wills it so!"
Leonidas clenched his fists as he screamed to the sky. "Hear me Fates! Chaos! Why must you torture me so?! Why must I be forced to kill my father and thousands of gods?! I know I must save humanity from the gods to usher in a new age, but there must be another way! I am but your servant, so I beg you… Free me of this burden! This Labor!" He threw his bloodied hands into the air and cupped the silhouette of the sun. "I- I'll give up on my dream! I'll leave Eos and Astraea! I swear it! Just free me from my Fate! Let them live!"
But the heavens were silent. As they always were when he cried to them.
Letting out a curse, Leonidas dropped his fists in defeat and turned back to Hebe. "Go, Hebe. You should not have to live with the pain of seeing the love of your life dead before you." He took a shaky step forward. "Go to your father and mother and tell them what has happened. Then, use your last days to spend with everyone you love. And finally…" His strong facade broke as their eyes met. "...Will you apologize to the gods for me? I am so sorry, but I must kill them."
Hebe broke out into a sob as she let him hug her for the first time. Leonidas silently wondering if this is what it would have felt like if he had been able to embrace his mother or Cheryl. Pulling back, he looked into her eyes. "I now believe that there are innocent gods amongst you… but it does not change Fate. I am truly sorry." He let out one last long breath.
"I am but a man serving his Fate. Now, tell me, will you do this for me?"
~ x ~ x ~ x ~
With gentle hands, Leonidas lifted his father from the embrace of the earth and silently carried him to the Pillars. As he slowly limped, he apologized to his mother. Ashamed to have had to treat her love in such a way.
After some time, they made it to the Pillars of Heracles, the boundary of the Greek world and the symbol of the God of Strength's power. Leonidas gently leaned his father against a large, crumbled boulder a few paces from the still standing Pillar.
"...Father, I- I do not know what to say." He hung his head in shame to avoid his father's barely open eyes. He could hear his father's breath as he tried to speak, but he simply didn't possess the strength.
"There- there is something you should know before…" He bit his lip, forcing back a sob. When he finally looked back to his father he found his dim eyes on him, breaking his will even more. "She- mom… mom waited for you at your gazebo. She didn't give up on you."
It was slight, but Leonidas could see his father's eyes brighten ever so little. He didn't possess the ability to do so, but Leonidas believed that he would be smiling.
"I never realized it until now… But she taught me what true love really is. And that is why I am sorry for what I must do. You will reform after the Promised Day ends, but a murder is still a murder." He tightly shut his eyes as he lifted the hammer his father had gifted him as a boy. "I'm sorry dad."
'CRASH!'
~ x ~ x ~ x ~
(Later)
Camp was in shock when they received word from Lady Hebe and Olympus that Lord Heracles, the strongest god to ever live, was dead.
The entire Greek and Roman worlds were spinning at the news. This was the first time that a god, an Olympian, was killed by a mortal in eons. It served as an uneasy wake up call for the campers and gods alike that Immortality isn't forever. That the gods could die. And that, if they didn't stop Leonidas or the Titans on the Promised Day… that the entire Greek and Roman Pantheons would die.
Jason, the son of Jupiter and the step brother to Heracles, was the first to look to Percy after the gods left camp. They had been gathered at the amphitheater and not a single soul had moved since their appearance. "...Percy… w-what do we do?"
The son of Poseidon wordlessly took a step towards the crowd, finding almost a hundred pairs of shocked and unblinking eyes on him. After letting out a long breath, he spoke.
"The Promised Day is only six days away… We will do whatever we have to in order to protect Olympus and the world. We alone must do so." At his words a majority of the campers put their clawed fingers over their hearts in a gesture to ward off evil.
"Camp Half-Blood… let us prepare for war. Let us prepare for the end of the world."
(Author's Note)
This was… hard to write. Keeping the emotional and action-y balance was extremely difficult. Hopefully I did alright. I wanted it to stay true to the man Leonidas has become. Hopefully you can see that. I don't doubt you guys have questions, so feel free as always to ask them.
The action doesn't stop next time either.
Question of the day: 'What is your favorite Pantheon?' Meaning Greek, Roman, Norse etc.
Bonus Repeat Question of the day: Any American Football, Wrestlers or Lacrosse players out there? I need some help with a future project I'm starting up(It's only in the early ideas phase and won't be announced for some time! I'm excited though!). I'm creating a female character that plays girl's lacrosse but is also on the boy's football and wrestling team and I'm trying to figure out the best position for her to play in football and lacrosse. I was a band geek in HS so I've never done these sports so I don't know what position she should play. Any ideas? Let me know. I know that when girls play football in fiction they are usually the Quarterback, but her personality, size and skills better lend themselves to a defensive/offensive position in my mind. But here's some background: she's very tall, 6'5"+ and about 160lbs+ at ~16 y/o and very muscular and fit. Think Clarisse or Mika in terms of size and build. Oh, and she's not exactly human, so she's faster, stronger and tougher than the normal person. I was thinking of having her be an Offensive Guard in football due to her height, weight, build, strength and bursts of speed but don't know which position would suit her best, let me know. I was getting a sort of Larry Allen Sr vibe when coming up with ideas for how she plays if you know who that is(he's her idol in the story, btw). Feel free to Review or PM me and I'll give you some more info on her, or at least as much as I can without telling you what story she's a part of and the plot. Thanks for any help on this, and yes, we'll see her in a future story but I can't say what it is yet. Man am I excited for it. (Thanks to 'parafron' and 'BlueStreaksGreenWave' for already giving me some feedback!)
Next Time: 'Three Wolves And One Lion'
