The Heroes of Old, the Prophecy of Seven members, Annabeth, Clarisse, Reyna, Octavian, Grover, Thalia, and Hylla were gathered on a high slope a few miles away from New Thermopylae. The group laid flat on their bellies to avoid being spotted by the army of monsters a few hundred yards south of their hill. Between them and the monsters was a wide open mountainous plane. Behind the monsters was the supposed entrance to the valley where Death's Doors were hidden. The group couldn't see the entrance due to the three-thousand monsters blocking it. There was a lot of open ground to cover between them and the monsters. They were susceptible to aerial attacks, artillery strikes, arrow bombardment, and the plane was most likely booby trapped
"How about we stage our archers and a couple of cannons here?" Odysseus suggested referring to the slope they laid on. "The archers can lay down covering fire for the main assault."
"My Riders can keep the skies clear as well," Bellerophon added.
Achilles scratched his chin thoughtfully, "That could work."
"Yeah, but we still have to deal with all those booby traps out there," Frank put in gesturing to the wide open plane.
Leo agreed. "I can spot out a dozen from here; land mines, gas canisters, trip wires, and pit falls. I can disable them all but they would take me weeks."
"We don't have weeks, let alone hours," said Achilles. "I didn't say this in front of the others to prevent panic but the enemy is most likely getting more and more reinforcements as we speak. The assault must be now."
"But there's still things we have to deal with!" Annabeth protested.
"We haven't even taken on Echidna's pets yet," Percy groaned.
"And look over there," said Leo pointing to the army of monsters. He was specifically pointing at futuristic cannons. "Midas has been funding Gaea's army and he has even set them up with state of the art weaponry. That's probably where they got the booby traps and those laser turrets."
"What are laser turrets?" Hercules asked confused.
"You know, guns that shoot light beams that disrupt your molecules, causing you to spontaneously combust?" Leo tried to explain.
Hercules shrugged, "I still don't understand."
"Never mind," Leo sighed in defeat as if he was talking to a child, "it's a future thing and it's bad, and you definitely don't wan't to get nailed by one of those."
"Understood," Hercules nodded.
Percy narrowed his eyes scanning the crowd of monsters and then scoffed in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"What now?" Achilles sighed knowing all to well it was most likely bad news.
"See that chariot with the three 'g's' on it?" Percy said.
Achilles nodded.
"It signifies the Triple G. Ranch. It's Geryon," explained Percy
"Who?" Leo asked.
"A giant with three torsos," Hercules said taking his turn to explain. "He can only be killed if he is hit in all three of his hearts at the same time. I've killed him before so he shouldn't be a problem."
"He isn't the problem," said Percy. "The problem is that he owns a farm that breeds man-eating horses, fire breathing monsters, and plenty more goodies. He's most likely stocked their army with them."
The news was getting worse and worse as they studied their enemy. The confidence within them was starting to leave their spirits. Their two previous victories were beginning to seem miniscule. The odds were being stacked against them and being constructed into a great tower.
"Damn it!" Jason Grace snapped spotting a symbol imprinted on the shield of a dracaena.
"What?" Piper asked quizzically.
"Look," he told her.
Piper's face drained of color, "It can't be!"
"No way," Leo exclaimed understanding what they were looking at.
"What is it?" the original Jason asked worried.
"The 'M,'" Jason Grace managed to say.
The original Jason spotted what they were looking at. "'M,' meaning what?" he questioned but he didn't have to. He had a feeling that he already knew the answer.
"Medea," his modern counter-part told him gravely. "We met her several months ago. She tried to kill me, Leo, and Piper but we escaped...barely."
All eyes set on the original Jason who's face looked as if had seen a ghost which was somewhat true.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that she's here," Hazel put in hopefully. "She could be somewhere else and her products are just being put to use."
No one responded or said anything else due to fear that they would jinx their current situation or upset the past Jason even more.
"We're screwed," Grover said cheerfully breaking the silence.
"Laser turrets, Geryon, M-M-Media? Does anyone have any brilliant ideas? Now would be the time to share," Achilles said expectantly.
"Uh," mumbled Leo. "I may have a couple..."
All eyes turned to him.
"And they are...?" Reyna urged him.
Leo nervously cleared his throat. "We have four remote controlled, fully armored, and mobile battering rams on the ship. I was thinking we rig them all to blow with greek fire, send them across the plane, they will set off at least most of the booby traps as they go, allowing us safe passage across the field. I'm not assuming that they'll take out most of the traps and even make it to Gaea's arm, but if they do we can detonate the greek fire and take out monsters in the process. As for Midas's technological weapons I've been working on something with Jason Grace. We thought it might come in handy one day and this looks like the day. Plus it's got a badass name."
"Tell 'em," Jason Grace said with a smirk.
"It's called an EMP; short for electro-magnetic pulse. It has the ability to shut down any and all electrical devices by emitting a pulse," Leo explained. "Jason, being a son of Zeus, is able to control electricity. I was thinking Thalia, Hercules, Perseus, and Jason Grace combine their powers to emit an EMP. We're going to have to be close though and that means taking the Argo II. My siblings, the names I just mentioned, and I will board the Argo II. We take the wounded and the dead to a new and safe spot. We fly the ship above the monsters. We'll engage the enemy and then release an EMP. Once all their weapons are down, the rest of the Argonauts can attack and we'll provide covering fire."
"Leo, thats genius," said Annabeth with a grin which soon died, "but wait, wouldn't the EMP also knock out the Argo II?" Annabeth asked.
"I thought of that," Leo said matter-of-factly. "I have installed the ship with an EMP shield. The ship is alway sending out radio waves that defends us from such attacks."
Everyone looked at Leo in a new light. They new he was great with his hands and savvy with machines but they never thought of him as a genius. They could tell he knew because he wore the widest smile on his face and his cheeks were red.
"Perseus and I," began Hercules, "may not be as gifted with our father's domain as the Grace siblings but we can still command some minor storm magic."
Achilles nodded, "All right, it's settled then."
He cleared his throat, "Here's the plan: we unleash the battering rams across the plane, each displaced equal from one another so they can cover as much ground as possible, and hopefully they discharge most of the traps. The archers will set up here with some cannons. The Riders will take to the sky but will not engage till the laser turrets are down. The Argo II will attack first and will deploy the EMP. The Riders will then engage. The archers will fire a few volleys and then the ground forces attack, that's everything. Dismissed!"
"Yes, sir!" They all shouted and took off in different directions heading to complete their tasks.
"Jason!" Achilles called.
"Yes, sir," Jason Grace asked.
"No, not you, the original," Achilles said a bit annoyed.
"Yes, sir," the original asked.
Achilles looked around to make sure the others weren't in ear shot. "Are you going to be all right?" he whispered .
"What are you talking about, sir?"
"About, you know, the 'M' word."
Jason's eyes widened in understanding and he wore an offended expression. "I will be fine, I am fine!" Jason said defensively.
A lie, obviously, but Achilles decided not to press and make it worse. He may have been the main general but Jason was his elder and he respected him; he sought his guidance. He wasn't going to ruin the relationship they had; especially not before a battle.
"That is all then."
"I would like to make a request," Jason said.
Achilles nodded for him to go ahead.
"I want to be aboard the Argo II with the children of Zeus and Hephaestus."
"May I ask why?"
"I feel something profound is going to happen today. I would feel better aboard the Argo II. I sailed aboard it's predecessor and I'm going to fly aboard this one."
"I could really use you here on the ground," Achilles told him.
"I feel better with my ship."
It was actually Leo's ship but Achilles knew what he meant and again he respected Jason.
"Go."
"And they're off," Will Solace commented as he watched the four battering rams burst from their starting points and race across the plane.
The battering rams were the size of pickup trucks. Each one sat on four gigantic wheels, they were covered in bronze and gold armor plates, and the actually battering ram was the width of small Redwood trunk that was thirty feet long. At the very tip where the ram was meant to strike gates, doors, or fortifications, was a gigantic bronze ram's heads. Each battering ram had the emblem of Festus, the symbol of the Argonauts, spray painted on it's armor. The rams zoomed across the open grassland detonating booby traps as they went.
"I hope this works," Will prayed.
"Aye," agreed Odysseus beside him.
The two of them and the other hundred archers were gathered on the hill that the battle plan was formulated on. They all had their bows at the ready as they continued to watch the four remote controlled battering rams. The rams set traps off as they went. As they raced along; mines exploded, toxic fumes were released into the air, and spikes exploded from the ground. Nothing was slowing them.
"Go, go, go!" Will cheered them on.
"What we didn't take into account was if the booby traps are reusable, and if they are, do they reset," Odysseus formulated, worried.
"Well, at least we know the location of them," Will said optimistically.
The monster army realized what was happening and began firing arrows and launched projectiles at the rams. They merely bounced off the rams' aroma harmlessly. The rams continued for a little while longer getting closer and closer to their target. One suddenly exploded into flames as it hit a patch of earth loaded with land-mines. There was an even larger secondary explosion that echoed through the mountains and sent up a huge column of smoke and dust. Rubble rained from the sky. Another ram went down into a hidden pitfall never to be seen again. There was two left and they continued to truck along, approaching the monsters closer and closer.
One finally exploded when a stray boulder thrown from an Earthborn struck it exactly were the Greek Fire was located. The ram exploded which made the ground shake. The explosion was still close enough to vaporize a dozen monsters. The final battering ram managed to make it through their lines causing fifty to be knocked backward, crushing a score into dust, and another dozen to go flying. The ram finally stopped deep within enemy lines. The ram stood in it's spot unmoving. The monster growled and began attacking it with swords, hammers, axes, and clubs. Nothing happened and when they realized it was harmless they backed away and then faced the Argonauts across the way, both armies preparing for battle.
"Crap, it didn't detonate!" shouted Will frantically. "The detonator isn't work!"
"Nothing we can do about it," Odysseus said. "At least it took out most of the traps."
"What do we do now?" asked an archer.
"We wait," Odysseus answered.
"Damn it!" exclaimed Leo in frustration from the Argo II high in the sky directly above the monsters. "That should've worked!" he continued to shout as he analyzed the results of the failed battering ram and the pretty much intact monster army bellow them! "It's just sitting there uselessly."
"They did most of their job," the past Jason reassured him. "Right now we have turrets to kill and it's only a matter of time before they spot us."
"Too late," said Perseus as he pointed down at the horde of monsters on the ground. They were prepping catapults and their turrets hummed to life. "They're taking aim!"
Leo's mind went into autopilot as he gave out orders to his siblings. "Man the cannons! Prepare to fire! Starboard side, starboard side! Target their war machines, their war machines!"
"Aye, Captain!" They all replied.
"Raise the shields, weapons to maximum!" Leo yelled into the microphone of the ship's PA system.
Jason Grace cocked an eyebrow while giving him a sidelong glance. "Aye, aye, Captain Kirk!"
"I don't think we have enough shields to cover the whole ship," Hercules stated picking up spartan shields and trying to barricade the railings.
"Forget it," cried Leo, "it's a future thing!"
"Understood," Hercules understood.
"Guys," Thalia snapped.
Leo went back into action. "Fire for affect on my mark!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"MARK!"
"FIRE!" echoed throughout the ship and the mountain plane.
The cannons roared to life as they hurled cannonballs to the monsters bellow them. The monster fired back with arrows and boulders launched from catapults or thrown by cyclops and lesser giants. Those forms of attack merely bounced off the strong hull of the Argo II. What really did the damage was the turrets. They fired green bolts of energy up into the air which exploded into the side of the ship causing it to rumble, creek, groan, and buck. Slivers of wood and metal were picked up into the air as holes were punched into the hull of the ship.
"Maintain fire!" Leo yelled over the ruckus in the PA. "Thalia, Jason Grace, Hercules, and Perseus to me! Let's go people we don't have much time." Leo felt a terrifying sensation in his gut. He had a scary hunch that something bad was going to happen.
The group assembled in the middle of the deck.
"Jason, your javelin!" Leo requested.
Jason took a deep breathe, flipped his coin, and caught it as a javelin. He held it gingerly and kissed it. "It's time buddy," he said stroking the weapon. "I know we just met but its time to part ways. You knew it had to come to this."
Thalia rolled her eyes.
Leo continued to give out orders but he had to shout over the noise of the cannons and the turrets. The ship continued to shake and groan in protest. One of the turrets scored a major hit causing the ship to buck and the passengers to scramble to their knees.
Once back in his feet Leo shouted, "Hercules, your bow!"
From a trunk, Hercules produced a massive long bow. It was larger than Odysseus's. Although Hercules preferred his club over a bow, he was still proficient with the weapon, not as good as Odysseus, but whenever the time called for ranged attacks, he would use it. He rejoined the group. Jason handed Hercules his javelin. Hercules notched the javelin into his bow string and aimed it towards the army of monster bellow. He summoned the kingdom of his father within him and transferred it to the tip of the javelin. He felt the hair on his skin rise from the electricity coursing through his body.
"Okay," shouted Leo to the rest. "You guys, now!"
The others outstretched their arms to the tip of the javelin. Bolts of lightning arced through their finger tips. Leo felt the air pressure drop causing his ears to pop and he tasted metal in his mouth. The children of Zeus felt a tug in their guts and the world spun around them as they put all their energy into the tip of the javelin.
"When Leo?" Thalia grunted through gritted teeth. "We can't hold this forever!"
"Just a few seconds," Leo said licking his lips.
"Leo..." gasped Perseus. "You do realize your ship is going to be shot to pieces if we don't deliver this EMP!"
"I'm giving it all I got captain but I'm going to need a bloody miracle," yelled Jason.
"NOW!" screamed Leo.
Hercules released his grip on his bow string and sent the javelin, acting as a gigantic makeshift lightning conducting arrow, flying through the air. The children of Zeus broke their lightning contact with it and feel to their knees. The javelin screeched as it cut it's way through the sky like a meteor, traveling faster than the speed of sound, amped up from all the electricity it was charged with. In mere seconds, it crash landed dead center in the army of monster. There was a bright white light and the very Earth shook. Monsters screamed. It was only later on did the group realize the explosion that they caused was similar to one that of he Master Bolt but only smaller. When the white light faded, it revealed that where once a thousand monsters stood, there was only unoccupied mountain terrain. There was a rushing of wind as a transparent tidal wave of electricity, originating from the javelin, pulsed outward in circulate formation through the monsters' ranks. It was the EMP. The turrets lost power, ceased fire immediately, and died into useless metal shells.
"Holy crap,it worked," Leo said dumbfounded. "IT FREAKING WORKED!" he cheered as he jumped up and down.
Everyone else on the ship cheered as well. The ship may have sustained a lot of damage but at least they survived and got the job done.
The original Jason smiled. "SIGNAL THE REST OF THE ARGONAUTS! LET THE ASSAULT BEGIN!"
From the crow's nest, Perseus raised his sword in the air and waved it like he was waving a flag. From the clouds came Bellerophon leading his Pegasi Riders. They soared over the deck of the ship and dive bombed down on the enemy army bellow. They swooped down and wreaked havoc on their enemies.
"Cannons, aim for the turrets!" barked Leo. "They could come back on line any minute. Your second priority is those catapults."
"VALDEZ!" Perseus called from his high perch. "Incoming Venti, Gryphon, and dragons!"
"Crap!" said Leo.
Jason Grace looked to where Perseus was looking. He spotted the dragons, venti, and gryphon. There were seventy in all. As for the dragons, there were a lot of them but they were very small in comparison to Festus, Peleus, and the dragon Frank fought the other day. This was doable, they were killable.
"Come on Thalia let's go!" he yelled.
He sprinted across the deck towards the railing. Before he jumped over the side, a son of Vulcan threw him a gladius, which he caught. Thalia and Perseus were right behind him. Once all three were over the railing, they caught the current of the wind and flew off to intercept the incoming winged beast. A squadron of Riders lead by Butch, Hazel, and Frank (in eagle form) joined them.
"Do we send in the ground troops?" Hercules asked the original Jason.
"Not yet," Jason told him. "We deal with this airborne threat and soften up the ground enemy a little more. We don't want to take any chances."
Hercules nodded and the two looked off into the distance to monitor the battle.
The cannons continued to barrage the ground resistance who, after losing their turrets, offered little response to begin with. All their turrets were destroyed and a few catapults remained. The sky battle was the intense aspect. Bellerophon and Pegasus weaved through the enemy air-units like they were wind themselves. Bellerophon fired arrows with great accuracy even though he sat on Pegasus' back and the wind stung in his eyes. Venti exploded and Gryphon dropped. A dragon tried to snap at him but he rolled out of the way, drew his spear, and thrusted into the creatures soft belly. The giant lizard exploded into a million pieces. Bellerophon flew Pegasus at top speeds, his spear level to the ground, and it's tip slicing through monsters. He threw arrows like throwing knives as he passed by monsters. Columns of fire breathe would try to engulf him which he dogged. Lightning bolts were shot at him but were deflected with his spear. Claws tried to grab at him which were hacked off.
Perseus was back to back with Jason Grace. Jason cut away with his gladius and Perseus his adamantine sword. Thalia kept targets away with her bow and whenever a monster got too close she would draw her hunting knives. Hazel slashed away with her spatha and Frank as an eagle gouged out eyes of dragons. Everything was going well. They turned a hopeless battle into a winnable one.
Everything was going well until that flying golden chariot pulled by two golden sun dragons appeared from behind the clouds. The chariot was manned by a women with an elegant face, long dark black hair, a black dress, red fingernails, and tons of jewelry. It was no one other than Medea, the Princess of Colchis and expert sorceress.
"Don't look into those dragon eyes. You'll be paralyzed," the modern Jason shouted and then dodged a column of fire and deflected a lightning bolt from a Venti.
Medea's dragons breathed fire as she threw potion vials like grenades at Riders that tried to attack her. The vials shattered in their faces releasing nauseous gases. Some choked to death, others died instantly, and the unlucky ones disintegrated into dust. Medea cackled wildly as she lobbed potion after potion killing Riders as she went. Bellerophon gritted his teeth in anger as he watched his Riders die. The were the first casualties of the war and the ones who took the most abuse. He wasn't going to stand for it any longer. He dug his heels into the sides of Pegasus and urged him at full speed toward Medea. Medea saw him coming and turned into a cloud of smoke before his arrows could hit her. As Bellerophon got closer, he shouldered his bow, and readied his spear, but he was knocked off balance when Pegasus rolled out of the way of a fire column from one of the sun dragons. When they recovered, Bellerophon flew straight into a potion vial that exploded in his face. A cloud of smoke surrounded his head and filled his lungs. He began to cough and gasp for air, then nothing. He didn't disintegrate, choke to death, or die. It was only a decoy potion, a distraction, a smoke grenade. That's all it was, nothing else.
Bellerophon smirked. "Your dark magic can't work on me witch!" Bellerophon scoffed to Medea but realized in his coughing fit that she had already gone on to the Argo II.
"It's her!" Hercules shouted in panic.
"I'm aware of it," the original Jason snarled as he spotted that beautiful yet evil face.
"Cover your ears!" Leo ordered everyone while ducking under a Venti. "She'll charm speak you!"
That wasn't Medea's intention though. She steered her chariot above the ship, selected a vial from her satchel, and dropped it onto the ship's deck. As soon as the vile shattered and it's contents emptied; the substance caught fire. Her sun dragons melted a few cannons with their breathe. The children of Hephaestus manning the guns jumped back. Medea flew around the ship with her dragons setting everything in sight on fire. Medea continued to throw more vials which either exploded on impact or ignited into flames.
"Ah," Leo yelped. "She's worse than the Green Goblin!" A fire vial hit him in the chest and lit him on fire but he extinguished the flames with his mind. "First you get my mom killed, you try to kill me and my friends, you burn my ship, and then you try to burn me. YOU HAVE OFFICIALLY GONE TO FAR LADY! TAKE HER OUT! KILL HER!"
"We can't, she's destroyed all of our cannons," Nyssa informed him on the brink of hysteria.
Medea flew around the ship throwing vial after vial like she was having a water balloon fight. Huge fires spread throughout the ship.
"Fire extinguishers," Leo ordered.
They got out the fire extinguishers and began to spray white foam on the flames but it was to no avail. The fire only got bigger and bigger. Leo tried to control the glowing flames with all his will but they were to large and strong. Medea cackled causing him to flinch. He really hated her.
"Hercules, children of the ugly smith god, you cannot stop me," she howled. Then she noticed that familiar and handsome face. "J-j-j-Jason?" Not Jason Grace, it was the original, her Jason. It was the one she fell in love with.
She was distracted for a few seconds and this small time frame allowed the modern Jason and Perseus to land on the backs of her dragons. They began slashing away with their swords. They stabbed, hacked, and cut. The dragons roared in rage as blood spurted from between their scales.
"STOP!" Medea shouted at them using charm speak.
The two looked up at her and stopped. They didn't know why, they just did, they had to listen to her.
"GET OFF!"
The two nodded dumbly and jumped of the dragons and fell to their deaths. Luckily, Butch and Hazel caught them and flew them to safety. Medea shook her head violently knocking thoughts of Jason out of her mind. She resumed her attack. Her presence distracted the children of Hephaestus/Vulcan away from the other dragons, gryphon, and venti which allowed them to come in and start making a mess all on their own. They snatched up a couple sons of Vulcan and a few daughters of Hephaestus. They screamed in terror as they were lifted into the sky and dropped to the ground bellow. The venti fired lightning bolts at anything in sight and the dragons lit everything on fire. The ship began to lose altitude.
The Argo II became a raging inferno.
"SAVE THEM!" Bellerophon ordered his Riders. "GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" He fired an arrow at Medea but he missed by inches.
"All systems failure," said a robotic female voice over the ship's PA system.
"Shut up!" screamed Leo as he ran to the controls at the helm. He scrambled around panically. He ripped out wires and reconnected them, he banged away with his hammer, and screwed with a screwdriver. His hands were a blur as he worked. He picked up the Wii-motes and windmilled his arms like an idiot. He had to save the Argo II, he was going to save it.
Riders began to land and pick up as many survivors as they could.
"Leo, we have to abandon ship!" Jake Mason screamed in his ear over the roar of the fire.
Leo shook his head, "No!"
"Leo!"
"NO!" Leo screamed. "You guys go. I'll stay here."
"What are you doing?" Nyssa screamed back into his face. "This isn't the fourteenth century. The captain doesn't have to go down with his ship. This is suicide Leo!"
"NO! I'm staying and that's final!"
"You're going to have to realize sooner or later that not everything can be fixed!" Nyssa shouted as she climbed on to a Pegasus. The rest of their siblings followed. They left Leo by himself dumbfounded, speechless, and hopelessly trying to fix a lost cause.
"Hercules, throw me!" the original Jason yelled.
"What?"
"You get away with Bellerophon. I'll take care of Medea," Jason said courageously. "If we don't now, she'll follow the others back to the main force, and who knows what sort of damage she'll do!"
"You're crazy! You'll die!"
"I die here, I die over there, and I died a three-thousand years ago! This is my fate and I'm trying to set things right!" Jason said grabbing him by both shoulders and shaking him.
Hercules gulped. He was supposed to be the bravest one out of all The Heroes of Old, but at that moment, his very knees were shaking. He felt like a coward but he knew what he was feeling wasn't cowardice. This was compassion for his fellow Argonaut, a comrade, a brother in arms. Hercules nodded and picked Jason up with both hands and prepared to throw him like a spear. He took aim at Medea's chariot. Jason drew his sword.
"Good luck," Hercules whispered which was somehow audible over the roar of the flames.
"Yeah, yeah, good luck and the rest! NOW THROW ME GODS DAMN IT!"
Hercules let out a mighty roar and hurled Jason with all his might. There was no time to watch the results of his throw. He jumped behind Bellerophon aboard Pegasus and together they took off into the air. They left the Argo II behind them which was burning to ashes.
"All systems failure," the robot lady voiced again.
"I know, I know," Leo said irritated as he fiddled with some wires. "Why does everything I love crash and burn?" he groaned.
"All I have to do is activate the ships sprinklers and maintain altitude! Is that that so much to ask for, no, actually it's quite freaking simple! Now fix yourself! FIX YOURSELF, DAMN YOU!"
The flames surrounded him. He felt it's heat but it didn't burn, that was impossible, but he still sweated profusely, and he was constantly wiping his face as he worked. The tool in his hand caught fire and melted. That was his last one and there was no time to wait for his tool belt to recharge. The ship needed to be fixed immediately.
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Goodbye," the robotic lady said this time and her voice whirred as it slowly drained itself of life.
"SCREW YOU!" Leo screamed at her.
The Argo II was fully immersed in flame. The ship that took him eight months to build and now it was burning. The project he put blood, sweat, and tears into was on fire. His greatest creation was enveloped in flames, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He could only sit helplessly in a raging inferno. He wasn't allowed the privilege to be burned alive to save himself of the shame. Controlling fire wasn't a gift, it was a curse.
"WHY?" he screamed to the sky hoping any god would answer. "DAD? ZEUS? HERA?"
No reply. The ship was now plummeting to the ground with nothing stopping it. Leo sank to his knees and sobbed into his hands.
Then he sucked in all his sorrow which was replaced with anger and bravery. Leo took one final breathe and he knew there was only one thing left to do. "If I'm going down, I'm taking as many of sons of bitches with me!" He said it with determination, accepting his fate. He had a crazy idea-yes, most of his ideas are crazy, but the one he had at that moment took the cake.
Leo closed his eyes and concentrated on the fire around him. It was harder than he expected. There was a lot and he had never tried to manipulate this much at one time. Leo felt a tug in his stomach and heard air whooshing around his ears. The flames around him grew bigger. He felt the ship lurch and begin to descend even faster than before. Leo gritted his teeth and moaned as he forced the flames to grow larger and larger. If this wasn't a dire situation, it would have been comical because he probably looked as if he was constipated. He used the flames to accelerate the ship faster and faster towards the ground. Leo's world crumbled and fell around him. This was it.
Earth below him...drifting...falling...
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
There was a loud crashing sound, Leo lurched forward from where he sat, there was an explosion, and then blackness.
Hercules's throw could't have been more perfect. Jason soared through the air in a perfectly straight line that was dead on with his target. As he approached the chariot the two sun dragons opened their mouths to burn him. They were fast but not fast enough. Jason swung his sword with all his might. He felt the blade tear through flesh, then it struck bone, crushed through the bone, cut through more flesh, and came out on the other side. In summary; one dragon decapitated. The weight of the headless dragon pulled the chariot downward and caused it rapidly lose altitude. Jason landed the back of the other dragon. He gripped on to the scales and used them as handholds. He hacked away with his sword against the dragon's hide causing it to groan as they descended even lower. Jason climbed up the scales hacking away each time he advanced. He slowly made his way to Medea's chariot. The wind stung his eyes as the chariot sunk lower and lower out of the sky. Jason reached the dragon's tail and leapt from it onto the chariot.
"AH!" Medea squealed as Jason collided with her.
The two wrestled for dominance. She was stronger than she looked. She tried to open her mouth to charm speak him but she found his hand over her mouth. She tried smashing a vial over his head but he knocked it out of her hands before she could do so. She tried clawing at his face with her nails but he caught her hand inches away from his nose. He could smell the poison on her nails. Suddenly the dragon crash landed and the two of them were bucked out of the chariot and sent flying to space.
Jason hit the rocky ground hard while rolling awkwardly. After a few seconds of tumbling over sharp rocks, he stopped. He looked up to the blue sky and coughed. He laid there for a few seconds with the world spinning around him but eventually he got to his feet groaning. He looked around him and saw the monster army slowly marching toward him. In the distance he saw a giant fireball fall from the sky and land into a section of the monsters. There was a massive explosion and a five-hundred monster burst into dust. The shock wave of the explosion knocked Jason off his feet and onto his back. He stood up slowly with his ear ringing. The monster army was knocked to their feet as well and a good chunk of them were dead. They got back up and resumed to slowly march toward Jason. He was to dazed to care. Jason shook his head and tried to figure out what just happened. After a few moments of trying to organize his thoughts, he realized that giant fireball was the Argo II, which now laid in flaming ruins. If he wasn't so disorientated he would have actually got to his knees and start to start sob.
Instead, he stumbled around in the dirt looking for his sword, he search for something real he could cling on to. Was he in a dream? He found the hilt of weapon and slowly wrapped his fingers around the familiar leather grip. He pulled the sword of the dirt and stumbled some more till he came across the carcasses of two sun dragons. He limped past the bodies and found a beautiful women laying on her back, dressed in black, plenty of jewelry, it was Medea.
Jason scrambled forward and fell to his knees beside her, dropping his sword with a clang. He began to stroke her forehead, he didn't care that she had just tried to kill him and she destroyed the Argo II. She looked in pain. Her eyes cracked opened and she screamed in agony. A rock fragment was buried within her chest causing blood to seep out of the wound.
Their eyes met. "Jason," she managed to whisper short of breathe.
"Oh, Medea," he said gently. "What have you done?" He was referring to all her past exploits. He wasn't accusing her though. He took more of a kinder tone that a mother would take when lecturing her children.
"I know," she sobbed. "I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I'm a terrible person!"
"Sh, sh," he said taking her weak body into his arms and cradling her. "You're not a bad person, I am. You only did the things you did because I came along and corrupted you. It was my fault not yours."
"No! You don't understand! You haven't seen the things that I've done!" she choked. "When I look back on them, it scares me."
Jason continued to hold Medea. She took in a deep breathe which made her wince in pain. She was dying and there was nothing Jason could do. He looked her over. Earlier she looked like an evil witch but now she looked twenty years younger and twenty times more beautiful. It was like the first time they met.
"Jason listen," she gasped. "I don't have much time so let me speak," she was short of breathe.
Jason shook his head. "I can get you help!"
"Jason, listen! I have done terrible things." Her voice was raspy and she had to pause between each word. "I am going to the place where bad men go and Jason I don't want you to do anything to get me. Leave me where I am." Jason opened his mouth to protest. "I accept my fate, my role. I am taking responsibility for my actions and I realized who I am, I'm the bad guy."
"I-d-don't-"
"Take this vial," she gulped in air while saying it. She handed it to Jason and he took it. "It will set off the greek fire in that undetonated battering ram. All you have to do is break it. Help me redeem myself Jason."
"Medea, no! I can get you a medic or something. I can save you!"
"Jason, you all ready have," she whispered raising her hand weakly to his cheek and stroked it. She shook her head. "Tell Leo I'm sorry...for everything. I don't expect him to accept my apology but I mean what I say."
The two looked into each others eyes for what seemed like eternity. She wore a weak smile on her face. "I love you Jason," she whispered with her last breathe.
Jason fought back a sob and gently lowered her limp body to the ground. He looked at her face and eyes one last time. The life faded from her pupils but so did the evil.
"I am so sorry Medea." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. He gently closed her eyelids. It didn't look like she was dead, she was only sleeping peacefully.
"I love you."
Jason slowly stood to his feet and picked up his sword. He turned to the ever approaching monster army. They were taking their time, but so was he. He twirled his sword experimentally and studied the vial of potion in his hand. The liquid was a neon green color that glowed like a fluorescent light. Jason took a deep breathe and closed his eyes; summoning all the strength, courage, and rage he had. This was Medea's final wish, an act of redemption, and he would see it through. He scanned the ranks of monsters that continued to advance on him. He spotted the abandoned battering ram; it only a hundred feet away. All he had to do was fight his way there.
Jason raised his sword in front of his face and walked to met the incoming monster. They saw him and snarled in response. Jason broke into a steady jog that lead to a dead on sprint. He let out a mighty roar and charged the army of monsters with sword in one hand and potion in the other. He deflected their spears and slammed his body into the mass of disgusting monster bodies. He slashed left and right with his sword. Medea's death had turned him into a mad man. He slashed and hacked his way through the Earthborn. Left and right he stabbed into cyclops. He kicked, spat, bit, and screamed. He decapitated dracaena, he impaled Hellhounds, mutilated telekhine, dismembered Earthborn, skewered Laistroygian, and cut Empousai. He rolled and leapt through monsters and dodged arrow volleys. He was unstoppable. He felt an arrow slam into his chest but he ignored it. A sword slashed at his inner leg but he didn't feel it. A club bonked him on the head but he remained standing and he fought back with blows of his own.
He finally reached his destination. The battering ram stood only a few yards away from him, but it was blocked by old enemies. Twelve Skeleton warriors, armed with swords and shields, intercept his path. The skeletons jaws chattered away as they pointed at him. The skeletons charged forward and Jason stepped to met them. His sword turned into a deadly arc of destruction as he whirled it around him like a defensive shield as he walked toward the ram. The skeletons were chopped into bits. It didn't matter if they put themselves back together because each time they stood back up to face him, they found a sword slashing them up again.
Jason was five feet away from his target when a skeleton managed to get through his defense and stabbed it's sword into Jason's stomach. Jason feel to his knees as he clenched his gut now gushing blood. The skeletons stepped back. The fight was over. Jason was covered in gashes all over his body, he had three arrows in him, and he had already lost a lot of blood. The skeletons ignored him and focused on their next target, the rest of the Argonauts across the plane.
"Hey," called Jason. "We're not done yet."
Skeleton Warriors weren't supposed to have any emotions but for a second it seemed like they were astonished that Jason was still alive. Jason began to slowly crawl forward on all fours, slowly making his way to the battering ram. The skeletons stepped forward and all twelve of them began to stab down on him with their array of weapons. They stabbed him like he was a pin cushion. They stabbed till he finally stopped moving. There was three dozen bleeding holes in the fallen hero. The skeletons determined he was finally dead and stepped away. He was so close yet so far.
Jason began to laugh and blood spurted from his mouth. He laughed like a maniac. He laughed for the Argo II, he laughed for his kin, he laughed for Medea, and he laughed for all he was worth. The skeletons watched him silently.
With all the strength he had left he screamed, "FOR MEDEA!"
He threw the neon vial and it shattered against the ram, it's contents spilling all over the place. There was a white light and then nothing.
"WHAT THE HADES IS GOING ON OUT THERE?" Achilles screamed at the returning Argonauts. He was referring to the Argo II, or what was left of it.
Nyssa wiped the tears from her eyes and nudged past Achilles ignoring him. The others did the same. Achilles studied each one of their faces. They all looked exhausted, tired, and covered in soot. Bellerophon was the last to approach.
"Medea, dragons, fire!" Bellerophon sputtered.
"Slow down, what happened?" Achilles said changing his tone to a gentler one.
"You didn't see it?" Bellerophon asked in disbelief.
Achilles did but he didn't believe it.
"The Argo II is gone! Most of my Riders are dead! Leo Valdez is dead!" Bellerophon screamed.
Piper started to cry and she buried her head into Jason Grace's chest. All the Argonauts within ear shot began to murmur.
"What was that second explosion? It looked as if the last battering ram detonated?" Achilles pondered.
Bellerophon shook his head. "You're not even going to mention Valdez?" He asked in offended amazement.
"You said he is dead. There is nothing we can do for him now!" snapped Achilles. "Wait, where's Jason, the original?"
"I saw him," Odysseus choked. "From the hill, he was amazing, killing monsters left and right, he set off the last battering ram with a potion he got from Medea. He's dead."
"Jason is dead!" Echoed throughout the Argonauts.
Before those words could even sink in, someone yelled, "Reinforcements!"
It was true most of the monster were wiped out from the three explosions: the EMP, the Argo II, and the final battering ram. However, more monsters came into sight. There were thousands of them. The Argonauts even picked out a few gigantic drakons slithering toward them. Leading the way was an evil snake women riding a five head Hydra; it was Echidna. She was cackling like a witch. She was backed by four more Hydra, a pack of two-headed dogs, a clone of Cerberus, a clan of Nemean Lions, and two Chimeras. Geryon was beside her riding a chariot pulled by man-eating horses.
That was the final straw, the destruction of the Argo II, the death of Leo, the death of Jason, and now Echidna and Geryon, this was too much to handle. Slowly, an uproar broke out and people began to argue. Everything that they had accomplished had just been taken away from them in one fell swoop. All their confidence was in that ship and it was gone, blown to Kingdom Come. Also, two of their best Argonauts were dead.
"HEY!" Tyler yelled trying to get everyones attention. "HEY!"
Slowly the outburst died down. They all looked surprised to see Tyler was standing in front of them commanding their attention. What was even more surprising was his appearance. He had a clean haircut, he wore a Festus shield on one arm, and he even donned Argonaut armor. He looked like a true warrior.
"LISTEN TO ME!" Tyler screamed with confidence. "WHO ARE YOU TO BITCH OUT AT THE LAST SECOND LIKE THIS?"
No reply.
"Seriously, are you Argonauts? Because right now I see a bunch of babies! Jason and Leo are prime examples of true Argonauts! Even in the afterlife they will still be Argonauts! Live together, fight together, die together, right?"
There were a few nods within the crowd.
"Look, we may have lost our ship but we still took out a large part of their army, machines, and defenses. Besides, the Argo II is not who we are. Being a crew member of the Argo doesn't make you an Argonaut. Being an Argonaut makes the Argo. If we give up now the spirit of the Argo, the Argo II, and the Argonauts will die forever."
Tyler scanned the faces seeing his words embedding in their minds. "We will prevail. We are warriors who fight to the end, just like Jason and Leo. They would want us to fight to the end!"
"Yeah," a few Argonauts agreed.
"I was under the impression that there are seven-hundred battle ready Argonauts standing before me, prove it! Prove it to Jason and Leo!"
"AHOO!" Leonidas roared.
"AHOO!" The Argonauts pounded on their shields.
"What I'm going to do is run out there and face the enemy head on. Who's with me?"
"AHOO!" Two more shield beats.
"Fight for Leo!"
"AHOO!" Another two shield beats.
"Fight for Jason!"
"AHOO!" Again, the shields were pounded twice.
"FIGHT FOR THE ARGONAUTS!"
"AHOO! AHOO!" The Argonauts began to beat their weapons to their shields erratically.
"NOW! LET'S GO!" Tyler screamed. "FOR JASON AND FOR LEO!"
"FOR JASON AND LEO!"
Tyler turned around and raced toward the army of monster marching towards him. He heard the thunder of footsteps of his fellow Argonauts behind him. He heard the twang of the bow strings from the archers and the arrows streak past him. As Tyler got closer to colliding with the enemy, he raised his trench knife, and let out a blood curling scream. He realized his true power. The true gift that his mother gave him. It wasn't being a vicious psycho, it was the power to rally those around him to fight to the end...
...And the end that Tyler saw was victory.
Review please and if you haven't already hit that favorite button, you can do so bellow, and it's much appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcomed and questions and comments will be answered. If you add the story or review you also get a high-five. Note that I just gave you one for incentive.