Hey guys! Next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it!
astroboyosh: Thanks for your many reviews! Keep reviewing, but all under the same name please! :) Information about sequels will be given at the end of the last chapter!
PlotTwist: I'm glad you like my story1 I have actually already got my own version of how the prophecy works, though I'm sure it will be different to the one Rick Riordan uses! But I have my own interpretation worked out, so it will be too late to include yours. but thanks for the suggestion!
MissNightmare: Thanks! :) Keep reviewing!
I will post the next chapter when I reach 40 reviews, and it has to be by at least four different people! I know you can do it! read, enjoy and REVIEW! :)
Leo
Leo had never messed up more. And that was a big statement coming from the kid who had managed to briefly start a bloody war between two camps at a time when it was necessary for them to be united. But this time was worse. Annabeth and Percy were gone. No one was in the mood to talk. It wasn't just him who felt bad. They all felt like they had failed. They should have been there to help their friends. Now Gaia was going to rise. He trudged over the bare earth, small tufts of grass poking through small, snakes cracks. His head hung low. His thoughts swirled, and suddenly came to Calypso. Leo realised he still hadn't told his friends about her. Sadness overpowered his mind, as he realised she had little idea of what was going on and he would never be able to go back to her. He was about to die. Gaia was about to kill him. Calypso would never be free. The depressing thoughts drifted in his mind. It must have been about ten minutes since the battle, and the light of the day was beginning to die.
"We have to hurry up," muttered Frank. "We need to raise Ouranos before Gaia rises, before Percy and Annabeth-" He didn't finish, but everyone knew what the end of that sentence was.
Jason nodded. "He's right."
"C'mon!" Hazel replied as she started to jog onwards. They were following the glow of the Spear of Ouranos, which Jason held. They all increased their pace, led by the glow emitted from the huge spear. The tip shone a light in front of them, and no matter what direction they turned it always pointed to the same place, like a compass. They hurried across the cold terrain in silence. Leo's breath steamed in the air, the numbing wind whipping his hair into his eyes. He saw Frank shiver, and Piper's lips tremble.
Leo's left hand burst into flame, the sparks sprinkling the brown earth, warming himself and his friends. Piper glanced at him gratefully. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed the thinning of the trees. He pushed on, forcing the others into a quicker jog, almost a run descending the mountain. "We're nearly there!" he whooped, breaking into an all out run.
The sun began to set. Slowly but surely it worked its way down, the ball of fire ambling towards the horizon. The heat of his flames gave them all a burst of energy. But Leo was starting to feel a presence. And not a welcome presence, but a powerful and evil presence. It grew and grew, and felt like a small stone sitting in the pit of his stomach.
The dull orange, fiery glow of the spear led them like moths to a flame. Leo felt his breath get heavy, as he rocketed round a tree, which was rare as the trees dispersed rapidly.
Suddenly the dull orange glow grew and transformed to a fluorescent tangerine colour. It's vividness shone out above the trees, and everyone noticed as it flickered, like the tongues of a flame. The bulb-looking light shone out at the point of the spear, which was thick and ended in a funky and modern looking glass bulb shape. When the spear entered the clearing, small bolts of yellow light sparkled off the end, acting as electricity, countering the flames. Jason caught the lightning and harnessed it in a subconscious decision. For a second he sparkled with energy and then he dimmed down again.
"How did you do that?" Piper asked, slightly shocked.
"I- I don't know. It just happened. I can feel the deep pools of energy in the spear!" Jason answered.
Leo examined the colossal clearing they had entered. Here the grass carpeted the ground like an emerald blanket. A stream trickled through the right hand side of the clearing, weaving its way like a ribbon. It carved its way through the lush ground, and, although it could have been a trick of the light, it seemed to be tinted red. It tinkled as it flowed steadily downwards from higher up the mountain. As Leo looked around he noticed they were really low down on Mount Olympus, and must have descended at least 100m.
In the centre of the whole clearing was a small pedestal. Leo padded towards it. He started to read its words, which were written in Ancient Greek.
Mount Olympus, Greece.
Here lies the great and almighty primordial deity,
Ouranos, Lord of the skies and heavens,
And other realms above earth.
The most powerful of all,
His blood saturates the earth here.
Never to rise again.
His Spear, The Spear of Ouranos,
Is the last remaining contact to this terrible creature,
It harnesses his power,
And leads the way to this forgotten place.
Impressed they all scanned the four-foot pedestal, admiring its pink drainage, and it's carving grandeur. It was getting dark and the sun was approaching the horizon now.
"Hello demigods," a voice boomed out. All five of them spun round, to meet a mysterious figure. "I am Montem."
The figure was extremely muscular, and towered above all of them, at least five metres tall. It seemed to be made out of rock, typical brown rock. Towards his head was a coating of snow. All of this struck Leo in a blink of an eye. "I'm afraid you cannot pass here. I will not let you."
In an instant all five of them attacked simultaneously. Jason swooped up into the air, sword in hand. Frank immediately transformed into a magnificent lion, with a bright red, Mars coloured coat. Piper leapt into action, freezing the cracked earth with her sword. Her cornucopia hurled out random shapes of food at incredible speed. Leo's hands burst into flame, and a droid that he has created previously shot out of his tool belt, alert to the danger. Hazel had called Arion and was now letting him kick giant pieces of bronze and other metals from the earth at the monster in front of them.
Suddenly something very strange happened. Leo felt a hand on his back and he began to be lifted upwards. He squirmed and turned to face another monster, exactly the same to the first. In unison they spoke, "We are two of the Ourea, ancient mountain spirits. We are Montem and Colnis. Our names inspired the ancient Greek words for mountain itself. For years we rested, but now Gaia has given us the power to awaken and formally address our mountain visitors. She has given us the job of protecting the dead spirit of Ouranos."
Leo stared at the Ourea, Colnis. He decided Montem and Colnis were too long names. "I'll call you Monty and Collin," he announced. Collin snarled, and raised his hand. Quickly, Leo continued his assault, hurling fireballs at the head of the monster to attempt to melt its peak. Collin yelled in pain, and dropped Leo. He watched as his droid, whizzing through the air, catapulted a cask of Greek fire at Monty, setting its head on fire too. Frank was pouncing at them, his lion-teeth bared.
At first the Ourea seemed to struggle, but then they took the upper hand. Monty succeeded in punching Piper hard enough to send her into the stream, unconscious. It might have been Leo's imagination, but did the river turn slightly redder? They also destroyed all of Leo's creations, and had overcome the fire they had been burnt by. Monty had a much more horrendous burn mark, which was how they were distinguishable now. Jason was darting about above them in a cloud. A thick coat of electricity surrounded him and lightning bolts continuously struck the Ourea, stopping them from reaching him. Frank, human again, now pulled out his arrows and sent four flying at Collin, and two struck its eyes. It cried in surprise and pain, but then the arrows dropped out, and its eyes healed miraculously. Leo, who had recovered from the three-metre drop from the monster's hands, sprinted over to Frank and frantically handed him some arrows from his tool belt.
"Here," he said breathlessly, "these will do the trick!" He handed a few arrows over, winked and then dodged as a ball of rock the size of Leo rocketed past him. The Ourea were now using their own mountain as a weapon, hurling huge rocks at them. Piper, who had waded out of the river, managed to freeze most of them, or her cornucopia would neutralise the rocky missiles with its own ballistic food. Hazel was darting around them on Arion, confusing and dizzying them as they tried to hit her. The footsteps of thunder echoed from above and Leo turned his face up to a brilliant storm, summoned by Jason. Grey crowds brewed and gathered and whirled, flinging trees around like feathers.
"STOP!"Piper yelled, charmspeak heavy enough to make the five and the Ourea stop still. Leo stood still. He knew Piper wanted them all to stop, even the demigods. If they continued fighting, they would lose more valuable time. "Ourea, stop this, you want to preserve your mountains. Gaia will not give you your mountain." They narrowed their eyes. "She will destroy Mount Olympus, to uproot the gods, but she will be uprooting you,"she continued, charmspeak still an underlying tone.
Monty laughed. "Daughter of Aphrodite, your power cannot bewitch us."
"She tells the truth!" Hazel cried out. "Charmspeak or not, you of all people should know of Gaia's trickery. She was the orchestrator of the death of Ouranos, the being who gave you your power!"
Piper nodded in agreement. "You, the mighty Ourea, born with the world, as old as everything ever, will be destroyed by your mother, like Ouranos was. Do you really want this?" Collin's nostrils flared.
"We are not fools. We do not trust Gaia. But we cannot stop her. Our only duty is to protect the fallen spirit of Ouranos, and that means we shall not let you disturb him."
Piper carried on. "We want to raise him though! Ouranos shall rise once more! He is the only being powerful enough to destroy Gaia! Then he can return to his slumber, for evermore!"
They were silent.
"You- you want to raise Ouranos?" Monty asked slowly.
Frank nodded. He picked up the spear, which had been cast aside in the heat of the battle. As Monty and Collin saw the spear, their faces changed to one of shock.
"You have the spear!" Collin declared. "You may raise Ouranos!" As they said this, the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and the Spear was the only light other than the moon.
"How do we raise him with the Spear of Ouranos?" Leo asked quickly, constantly aware that time was short.
Monty answered. "We must raise him quickly, Gaia will awaken soon."
Collin continued, "The spear is the key to the summoning. It is Ouranos' weapon, the most ancient spear ever. While Ouranos has power over storm-"
"Storm?" Jason asked. "I thought that was Jupiter?"
Collin looked at him. "Jupiter is now ruler of storms, but Ouranos was the one who originally gave power to storms. He still has power over them." Jason looked confused, but nodded. Collin carried on. "While he has power over storm, the spear's power is fire." Leo's spine tingled.
Storm. Fire. The line of the prophecy ran through his head. Could this be what the prophecy was relating to? The line ran through his head. To storm or fire he world shall fall.
"Someone with the power of fire must hold the spear. The spear's power shall then summon his blood from the earth surrounding this power. Unleashing the bulb of fire, at the end of the Spear, Ouranos will form, soaking up the presence of the fire, which the power must be surrounded by. Finally, these exact words must be spoken, else he will fall back to the earth, once again:
Rise, King of the Skies,
Lord of the Heavens,
Ruler of above.
Form the Eye of the Storm,
The Blue of the Sky,
And Reign,
Excellency,
Use the Power of thy Spear!
Then thrust the Spear to the sky." The Oureas' eyes glowed royal blue, and they seemed mesmerised by the Spear.
"A power of fire," Jason muttered.
"Leo!" Hazel answered.
"C'mon, power of fire," Piper said, smiling, trying to hide her nervousness.
Frank handed him the Spear, and then the Ourea pushed Leo's friends backwards. In a flurry of panic Jason resisted, but then they reassured him.
"We must it be in the way, else we could be destroyed, Leo will be in the eye of the fire storm, but we will not. Come back to the shelter of the trees, my friend, the mountain will protect you." Before they retreated, Monty looked at Leo. "Remember, you do not have to do much. You are just the vessel of power, but the power is actually of the spear. Just focus on surviving- the spear will ebb at your power." With those reassuring words, he left, and Leo was alone.
Leo started the ritual. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard. As he lifted the spear, the fire that surrounded him burned vivaciously, by far the most powerful Leo had ever raised.
"TIME HAS COME. RISE OURANOS!" Leo yelled, using the words that came to his mouth. He pointed the Spear to the Earth, and suddenly a dull red colour rose from he earth, until it formed a humongous shape, as tall as the empire states building. It looked fearsome to Leo, and he almost wimped out of performing the ritual, but then he thought of Calypso. For Calypso's sake.
Leo was scared out of his wits, and started to perform the second part of the ritual. He flicked the Spear with as much power as he could, and the glowing bulb at the end hit the figure and exploded in blinding light. Spots appeared in Leo's eyes as he uncovered them again. He almost closed his eyes as he noticed the transformation of the red monster into a whirlwind of blue and clouds, which seemed to be sucking off his firestorm. He felt more tired as more and more brooding clouds and lighting were emitted from the figure. Finally a blood-curdling roar rose from deep inside the figure, which floated above the trees. Leo recounted the words.
"Rise, King of the Skies,
Lord of the Heaves,
Ruler of above,
Form the Eye of the Storm,
The Blue of the Sky,"
He paused, trying to remember the next words, as Ouranos seemed to collapse in on itself. It must have only been a few seconds, but it felt like 10 minutes to the others. Finally he finished the sentence, allowing Ouranos to rise further.
"And Reign,
Excellency,
Use the Power of thy Spear!"
Leo finished in a holler, thrusting the Spear, which was blazing with fire, to the sky above. It was ripped out of his hands as thunderous ebony eyes watched him from high above. The god above him was made out of coils and tendrils of clouds and lightning flickered across his body. Leo felt the power in him, unequalled. He held the Spear in his left hand, and compared to him it looked like a fiery dagger, and was shrouded by a sphere of energy. Wraiths of blue sky and dusk colours rippled across his body, which immediately turned to match the night sky.
He transformed into the night god, a huge moon where his heart would be, twinkling with stars, which danced across his body. His body was a deep navy blue, and occasionally a pinky, dusk colour would flare up and flash across his body. He was the god of the sky, and so his body was essentially the vessel, the image of the sky itself.
"WE NEED TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN!" Collin yelled, above the vast, rolling noises of the stormy god above. He started to run, Monty in tow. Leo followed suit, and quickly a silent chain of demigods and mountain spirits proceeded over the mountain.
"Should be called the demigod procession," Leo muttered.
"What about Ouranos?" Piper barked. Collin (or was it Monty? It was too dark to tell now) shook its head.
"He will still want to wreak revenge on Gaia, and he will feel her presence when she wakes, he will come to kill her, don't worry."
Hazel looked at it, puzzled.
"She planned his death, he knows it, and he will feel her presence, and then he will destroy her. Trust me, you will feel her presence too. Then you must go and help in the battle," the other mountain god finished.
As if destiny heard their words, they all felt a sudden flare of presence. Leo felt his stomach filled with hatred and anxiety.
"Gaia. I believe she's awake!" Frank said, his voice cracking. As if in response an ear-splitting roar filled the mountain. Leo almost crumpled to the floor. That was it. Gaia was awake.
Leo responded quietly. "I believe Ouranos has awoken."
Next chapter will be the final battle! Will the demigods win? Find out :)
As I said before 40 reviews by four different people please, before I post the next chapter! I know we can do it! Review now!