Upon seeing the image, I felt sickened. Next to me, Annabeth was clutching my hand tightly, her body visibly shaking. Looking around me, I could see the campers with similar expressions on their faces. A number of the Aphrodite kids had just flat out fainted, while the still conscious ones were in shock.
"Every news channel in the world is showing this image." Chiron said quietly. "At least now we know where she went."
I looked at the image again. It showed what appeared to be a cross in the center of Times Square. Chained to the cross was the unconscious form of Aphrodite. While she was clothed, a large amount of her skin was visible. On every inch of exposed skin, sigils had been drawn. While I couldn't read the sigils, I could feel their power. They were runes of binding, of sealing and restraint.
Suddenly, a bolt of lighting crashed before the cross. I could hear mortals screaming as figures stepped out of the smoke. I watched as the Olympians moved to dismantle the cross and rescue Aphrodite. Ares was the first one to reach the cross. As he reached over however, he suddenly gave a yell and pulled his hand back.
Both Apollo and Poseidon, upon touching the cross, also reacted the same way as Ares.
"Impossible…the cross." Next to me, I heard Annabeth murmur. "Is it made of that?"
"That?" Annabeth nodded her head. "Annabeth, what's that?"
"It's…Damascus Steel." I raised an eyebrow.
"Damascus Steel? Is that like Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold?" Annabeth shook her head.
"It's much more dangerous then that. Damascus Steel was created long after Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. It's named after Damocles of Legend."
"Damascus?" Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm not the smartest person on the block. You are."
Annabeth scoffed softly. "Glad you know that Seaweed Brain. Anyways, Damocles was a king. A powerful and great ruler, Damocles was famous for his humility. The source of this humility was said to be the sword that hung above his head, known as the Sword of Damocles. Legend has it that Damocles hung this blade above his head to remind himself that even as a King, he was still mortal and could die at any moment. Damocles Steel was named after him due to its special attribute. The steel causes all that touch it to become mortal. In other words, it drains Divinity."
"Drains Divinity?" My eyes widened. "But that means-"
"Yes. Damocles Steel is an Anti-God weapon." Annabeth murmured. "And the only people who could create Damascus Steel are those who inherited his will." Annabeth's grey eyes met my blue ones. "The Will of Damocles is kept in the Vatican Vaults. Our enemy is the Church and their billions of followers."
The Church. I felt my strength leave me. I had fought Kronos. I had fought Gaia. In both fights, I had fought not just for my friends, but also for the fate of the world.
But this enemy was different. The Church had, spread out among their numerous factions, over two billion believers. Two billion mortal believers. To fight them would be to fight against nearly one third of the world's population. I could kill monsters, but to kill humans? The mere thought made me sick in the stomach.
"I…can't." I said. "I can't do this." The sheer magnitude of my enemy made me sick in the stomach. "I can't fight mortals."
Around me, I could see the other demigods struggling with this revelation. Battle hardened as they were; fighting against mortals went against everything they were ever taught.
Even Chiron was silent, with no words of wisdom to console his students.
It was when moral was at its lowest that things got weird.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
"Sup mothertruckers!" A voice shouted. "Seems like you're in a bind eh? Well luckily, you've got this old man to help you out!"
Weird old man alert. And yes, he did say "Mothertruckers"
Review and fave if you enjoyed it.
Daemon