Divine Intervention
Alec's POV
Fear leads to Pain. Pain leads to Anger. Anger leads to Suffering and Suffering leads to Death.
BULLSHIT!
It is not suffering that leads to the death of a demigod. No, it's never suffering. Most of the time a demigod dies in the line of duty, facing a monster perhaps. The rest of the time and I'm telling you this happens rarely that another demigod is responsible for the death of heir comrade. Whether by negligence or a challenge, I don't view it less than murder.
It's especially sad to see a demigod die young. I would know about it as I have lost several of my cohort initiates in battles against monsters and in some cases even rogue demigods.
I stood in the corner of the darkened council chambers, the sky above a dark gray with swirling clouds menacingly lining the sky, arching to form a tomb for the lost child of Belladonna. There she lay at the centre of the grand chamber staining the spotless white marble floor a deep crimson. Bloodied and battered, she laid there unmoving her sword still clasped in her hand and her armour torn to shreds.
A silence had fallen around the room. Everyone's gaze was trained at Reyna's lifeless bloodied form. Disbelief, fear and shock etched on everyone's face, everyone except the demigod standing across the chamber from me.
He was seething with anger, his electric blue eyes alive with static. His cropped black hair spiked with the static electricity coursing through his body. With his hand tightly grasped on the hilt of his sword he took a step forward, then another.
Taking one slow step after another he finally reached Reyna and came to stand in front of her. He crouched beside her and turned her body.
A collective gasp went round the chamber at the sight of her mutilated body. The winds that swirled in the hurricane had cut through her body; she had died due to exsanguinations i.e. excessive blood loss.
The hurricane had dissipated long ago, as soon as Delilah had walked out through the double doors sheathing her sword and proclaiming her victory by summoning Reyna's hounds Aurum and Argentium to follow her which would only have happened if Reyna had died in an honorary challenge.
The hounds had left their mistress's side to take to the heels of her killer. Seething with anger, I withdrew myself to the back of the chambers and walked out from behind. I couldn't take this crap anymore.
Jason' POV
Was being a demigod a good thing?
That's one question that no demigod would answer truthfully.
I being a son of Zeus, the son of the King of the Gods, Heavens, Skies and Justice often found myself at crossroads when I questioned myself and the honest answer to that was 'No'.
It had never boded well with me to be trained as a soldier. I didn't want to be a demigod warrior at the beck and call of the gods. I didn't want my life to be tied to Olympian politics. I didn't want a secret life for myself. To always have to defend myself against monsters and sinister gods.
I wanted a life for myself and those I cared about, especially Piper. I had lost too much early in my life and I didn't want to lose anyone else.
It pained me now to see Reyna before me, bloodied and lifeless. I wanted to cry out in grief but I found my voice to be choked. No, she couldn't be dead. She was strong; she was the daughter of the Goddess of battle.
I stepped forward but was stopped by Piper, her hand tightly clasped at my arm. I looked into her eyes which were full of pain. Piper and Reyna could never be friends but I knew that they greatly respected each other, especially Piper. With one last look at her I removed her hand and slowly walked to my friend.
Every step that I took built the dread in me. I didn't want to lose her, she meant too much to me. My eyes pained from the strain of keeping my tears back. My jaw clenched and my hand tight around the hilt of my sword.
I crouched beside her, slowly taking my hand forward to turn her over. She had to be still breathing. She couldn't have died like this. The fates would never allow it. Slowly and with great care I turned her over.
Her luscious brown hair matted with blood, her lips slightly apart; playing on them was the ghost of her last scream. Her golden brown eyes looked vacant and hollow.
With trembling fingers I closed her eye lids when it was evident that she was no longer breathing. I sat there with her head on my lap. Her blood pooled around me staining my greaves and armour.
Why did she have to die? This was so unfair. This wasn't how it was supposed to end for her. She deserved to be happy, to be loved. This wasn't right. My thoughts kept on replaying in my mind like a continuous loop.
I looked at the people around me. Their heads bowed to honour Reyna's soul. Here they were, her comrades; offering prayers to the Gods to grant her Elysium, all of them except for one, Percy.
Percy's face gave way too much. He still hadn't learnt the art of masking his feelings. Everyone knew he wore his heart on his sleeve. The pain that I felt was clearly etched on his face. He had been bereft of a friend, an advisor and a comrade.
Reyna mean much more to Perceus and I than we would actually admit and now the irony, we would never be able to confess it to her.
The pain he was in, it was reflected by his eyes... his emerald green eyes, the eyes that belonged to the person who had killed Reyna.
I instantly saw red. My blood boiled at the thought of her. Anger coursed through my body.
I wanted to avenge Reyna, vengeance cursed through my body mixing with my blood as if becoming one with it.
I closed my eyes, breathed deeply and kept my hand.
As I breathed out I prayed, "Nemesis, Great Goddess of Retribution. Guide me to the path that I seek to avenge the death of Reyna, Daughter of Bellona." As soon as the words left my mouth I slit my palm to offer my blood as payment.
Nemesis was the goddess of balance. She'd grant my wish in return of my offering. I let the blood ooze out of the cut not making an effort to staunch it. It was my obligation to offer the blood and her to accept
The blood soon started dripping from my hand but no one made an effort to stop, no one except Piper who was held back by Thalia.
I continued to stare at Reyna and I don't know how long I did. It was only when my hand burned with a searing pain that I looked away from her.
I seethed in pain, holding my injured hand with the other. Where there had been a cut was a white scar, the blood on my hand had disappeared.
Now there was only one thing to do, Find Delilah and bring her to justice. She had become a threat to all and I won't let anything like this happen to anyone else, never again. I removed Reyna's head from my lap and stood up.
Looking down at her I said, "We need a shroud for the Daughter of Bellona." And with those words I turned on the spot to hunt for my prey my cloak billowing behind me.
Delilah's POV
It felt so nice to have won and that too so easily. All this time I had thought Reyna would prove to be a challenge, a daughter of Bellona and everything but she had turned out to be a weakling. Good that I put her to rest.
A smile crept on my lips at the thought that followed.
With Reyna out of my way and the other council members soon to go on a trip of their own; now was my chance to establish authority. It was now or never. No one else from the former councillors stood a chance against me, except for maybe Jake Mason.
His power was nowhere near mine but his authority was greater than mine. A veteran warrior and leader of the second Titanomachy, Jake was revered by his father, Hephaestus, God of Smith, Fire, Metallurgy etc.
It'd be difficult to undermine him but then if he becomes too much of a nuisance he'll just have to follow in Reyna's footsteps to the underworld.
And with that last thought and the smile still paying on my lips, I walked towards the city centre to amuse myself. I might even buy myself a drink from The Drunken Satyr.
After all the occasion did call for a celebration.
I wasn't the one to daydream but then whatever I thought of I made it a point to achieve. I simply nailed everything. Building castles in the sky was becoming a hobby, this would simply not do.
As I walked to the plaza at the centre of the city I observed that the sky had grown dark, not from nightfall, No but with dark thunder clouds.
Strange, this surely wasn't the monsoon season. Nor was there any bulletin regarding a cyclone.
Averting my gaze from the darkened sky I continued on. The people around the plaza were staring at me, or were they?
I hated it when people stared at me for no rhyme or reason.
I pulled the demigod nearest to me by his collar. Looking him in the eyes I seethed, "What are you looking at?" I could feel him tremble. He was scared for his life but then he should be.
"Leave the kid alone Elliahd your battle is with me" came a voice from behind me.
My eyes widened with surprise. No one knew my real name. I hadn't heard anyone call me that since I was six feet under. No, I was no longer Elliahd but I was still the same person. Just as driven and just as lethal, fashioning myself a new name from my old one was the right choice, Delilah; the perfect anagram.
I let the kid go, put a smile on my face and turned to see who had dared to take my name.
Who I saw didn't completely surprise me. I had half expected him to attack me when I was killing Reyna but I guess the shock was too severe for him to take it all at once. I gave him my sickly sweet smile.
"Jason, how are you cousin?" I said rolling the words in my mouth.
His rage was barely controllable and he did just what I expected of him. Growling like a feral lion he charged at me. I was cornered; I sensed two others coming for me from the crowd.
I jumped high up in the air to avoid Jason but wasn't prepared for more assaults. If they had planned this I must commend them for doing so at such a short notice. I avoided a couple of daggers by mere centimetres and closely missed another spear from behind.
This was the limit; with the oh-so familiar tug in my gut I summoned a Typhoon from across the sea. Gale force winds began to blow, swirling around my body as if I were the eye of the cyclone, forming a protective cocoon around my body. I sheathed my sword and focussed all my strength on my influence over the Sea. My father might not be the god of the skies but he was the Stormbringer, the title that I had inherited in recent times and from the clouds above I summoned mini twisters to the ground below to defend myself.
Most of the people ran to seek shelter, only few handful warriors seemed to remain. Anger etched on their face however they stank of fear.
I lowered myself to the ground, dissipating the wind and storm with the same ease that I had called them with.
As I touched down I saw six Roman Demigod warriors surrounding me in a loose circle with Jason and I at the centre. Weapons and armour donned they looked battle ready, no let me rephrase that; they were ready to kill.
Behind the six a dozen or more warriors stood in position and formed a secondary perimeter. I looked at the six that surrounded me, observing them from head to toe. Dull gold roman armour, scarlet capes, imperial gold swords and the insignia of an eagle with a lightning bold clutched in its talons. They were undoubtedly from Reyna's previous cohort. This had suddenly got very interesting. If killing Reyna had got me my seat on the council then I could also lay claim to the command of her cohort, so technically... I looked at my right hand. On the fore finger was a platinum band inscribed with the name of the cohort.
"Who's the second in command?" I asked in a voice of authority, staring Jason in the eye and lifting my right hand for everyone to see. The warriors surrounding us immediately put their weapons down their eyes wide in shock, some still unsettled about the transfer of power and others feigning rejection but they couldn't disobey the law that governed the rings of hierarchy. The only way to break free was abandonment or exile.
As for Jason, well I don't have any words to express the look on his face. His hatred for me, his pain at the loss of Reyna and the anger at his own helplessness gave form to a potpourri of undefined expressions on his face. I had driven him to the point of insanity and then a step further than that.
Percy's POV
The children of the big three had always been a cause of concern and now I knew why. I stood on a tower with Annabeth, Thalia, Michael, Jake and the Stoll twins overlooking the plaza where a battle was about to unfurl between the children of two of the most powerful gods in existence. Jason Grace, Son of Zeus and Elliahd, Daughter of Poseidon.
They began circling each other, closing the distance between them and then without any warning Jason summoned bolts of lightning from the sky, attacking Delilah at multiple spots trying to get her off balance. Delilah began to dance around the bolts of lightning which left scorch marks on the tiled floor and causing surface cracks to appear.
Jason continued to assault her with lightning and she continued to dance around them, dodging them as if she practiced everyday but with every dodge her agility decreased she was beginning to tire. She didn't show it but I knew because Thalia and I had done the very same thing at the beginning of our relationship but this was completely different.
They weren't fighting to prove their point. They were fighting to kill.
With one last attempt Jason brought down multiple bolts of lightning together. Delilah again managed to dodge one, then two, then three simultaneous bolts but the fourth one grazed her back and the fifth one hit her full on.
A blood curdling scream of pain escaped her mouth echoing her agony across Fort Olympus. The bolt of lightning unlike others didn't dissipate on making contact with her. Jason intended to electrocute her to death.
I closed my eyes. While it was true that I didn't particularly like Delilah, I simply couldn't ignore the fact that she was my half-sister. I sighed and without wasting another moment I jumped from the tower.
My eyes closed, I could feel the cool wind slapping across my face. The earth's gravity applying its force on my body but I knew better, I somersaulted while in air to land on my feet. I touched ground with the balls of my feet absorbing all the pressure.
Some would even call it graceful though it's nothing but practice.
With Jason still busy electrocuting Delilah I walked towards them at the pace which would ensure Delilah's life (no matter how much he suffers) and also bring a sense of relief to Jason that he was able to punish the person who killed Reyna but I knew he actually wanted her dead and I couldn't let that happen.
The warriors parted to give way to me and it wasn't long that I came to stand beside Reyna's second in command, who bowed to me and stepped two steps back. He signalled his men to do the same which they did.
Another few steps and I came to stand beside Jason.
"She deserves it you know." He said his voice lined with venom and pain, more of the latter than the former.
The next instant the bolt dissipated and Delilah fell to the ground face forward.
"You don't need to tell me what to do Perceus. I can handle myself pretty well." Jason said turning towards me examining the platinum ring on his hand. With a glance at the warrior standing behind me he walked off with the entire cohort falling in line behind him.
I looked at Delilah, lying on the ground face down just like Reyna was some time back but unlike Reyna she was alive.
With one last look at her I too walked away keeping in mind to send some healers to take her to the infirmary.