Disclaimer: In lieu of the fact that Indian Election results recently came out, I am happy to announce that I have been elected the Prime Minister of India...
Well, you really didn't believe that, did you? I guess you won't believe that I am Rick Riordan either-and you are also aware of the fact that I don't own anything related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Damn.
Chapter 14: Under The Gaze of Saturn
Percy's mind was working in overdrive even as he deflected another projectile; he had to figure out a course of action, and fast! As soon as the next projectile acquired a trajectory, he pulled Artemis by her hand and teleported them right into another part of the temple.
"What the hell, Percy? Why did you bring us here? We should have stood and fought him-it would be easy to take him down if we work together." Artemis grumbled. Her hunting knives were unsheathed and they seemed eager to taste the blood of an enemy.
Percy took a deep breath, "Artemis, listen to me carefully-I have told this time and again, he is not like any monster you have ever seen. Even though he is not at full strength, he is very, very strong-stronger than both of us combined, I believe. Here's what I want you to do-leave this place, tell the other Olympians about Bessie and launch an all-out offensive against the monster guards around her. You guys don't have much time left-and I will meanwhile hold Mahishasura off. Please." His tone had turned pleading by the end.
Artemis bristled for a second as she felt Percy insinuate that she was weak-but as she thought about it, Percy was only speaking the truth. Athena had outlined all the characteristics of Mahishasura and gave them all the information she found on him, which unfortunately didn't reveal any of his significant weakness. Although she was proud and confident in her abilities, she knew that it would be extraordinary if she could last long against this monster. Plus...
Percy had noticed the rapid changes that flitted across her face and he now gave a small smile as he realized that she had figured it out. "Remember, Artemis, what I told you that day by the spring-side?" Seeing her nod, he continued, "I was solely chosen for this purpose, and this is my duty-and I have a much better chance of making it out alive than you believe. If the prophecy which Arjuna gave me was correct, the final conflict won't come for still some time. This room is also well suited for using my abilities." It was true; the crystal structures that overhung the arching roof was not only for decoration, but also made of two elements-hydrogen and oxygen.
"But you haven't fully recovered from your injuries, Percy! You will be unable to use your most destructive weapons today against him. And what if you misinterpreted the prophecy?"
"Hmm...then at least I would get to brag in Elysium that I dated you for awhile." Joked Percy, eliciting a small smile from Artemis.
"With the amount of trouble you have given my uncle, I think your chances of making it to Elysium are very slim." She fired back, now causing Percy to chuckle. Suddenly, both of them stopped their laughing and stared intently at each other; it was time. Artemis' eyes held a last request to Percy to leave alongside him to save himself-but Percy was determined. Unless someone held Mahishasura back, he would upset their plans, and the one holding him back will be Percy Jackson!
The sound of thumping footsteps in the background alerted them to their surroundings. They were heavy and careless, of a person who is confident that his adversary stood no chances against him.
"Go, Artemis. Now." Percy urged. As he finished, Artemis pulled his face close to hers and kissed him softly on the lips. "Be safe." She whispered.
"I'll try." Percy promised.
As she turned and vanished in the familiar flash of silver, Percy mentally prepared himself...this was it. At that instant, the looming and hulking head of Mahishasura entered the room-for all the increase in his bulk, he had not lost one iota of agility.
As Mahishasura was still looking about the room, unable to see Percy inside the Hydro-sphere he had conjured on the spur of the moment (refraction is really awesome), Percy tried to sneak up on him, only to find his attack repelled and he was thrown on the side of the room before he could blink. The lash-less yellow orbs of hate turned towards him, "Did you really think you could sneak up on me, Percy Jackson?"
Percy brushed himself up, groaning, "It was worth a try." Then, he closed his eyes and a bright sunlight seemed to encapsulate him. When he opened them again, his eyes had changed too-they had the look of a battle-hardened wizened warrior, with a beautiful, invulnerable shield covering his body.
"The Kavacha and Kundala of Karna-think that would save you from my wrath, boy?"
"Let's find out." With these words, they charged each other and the battle began in earnest.
Riptide clashed against the scabbard of Mahishasura-Narakagni, the Fire of Hell was an appropriate name for it, Percy mused. Dizzying hand movements were at place, both combatants twisting and turning faster than the eye could follow, but there were patches of light where their weapons clanged and guttural roars could be heard emanating from their throats as two fundamental forces battled each other out.
Percy ducked low to avoid the wide slash of Narakagni and kicked his leg out to deflect it from Mahishasura's hand, but he increased the pace of his motion and Percy's feet met only with air-using his momentum, Mahishasura closed in and elbowed Percy in the gut. Even inside his armour, Percy winced before teleporting to Mahishasura's left. He quickly jumped two steps backwards to dodge another two swipes, before surprising Mahishasura and charging him head on with Riptide raised still. Twin fireballs crashed into him, but he didn't slow down and pounced on Mahishasura, knocking both of them downwards. Percy teleported up and in an instant, let himself fall on Mahishasura from a height, all the while focussing on the water splattered on the floor to bind him. The water obeyed his command and turned into a many knotted leash, slowing him down for a split-second; that was enough for Percy as he plunged Riptide deep inside Mahishasura's chest. He howled in agony and slammed his hand downwards on the floor-as Newton's third law stated, the floor underwent a violent jerk, robbing Percy of his concentration and thus breaking the hydro-link. Mahishasura sat up, grabbed Percy by the neck and slammed his head down on the metal floor repeatedly, making him see stars. He couldn't teleport away with someone holding him-but he could do this! As Mahishasura lifted him up once more, he bent like a spring and kicked his opponent in the chest as hard as he could, sending him stumbling back and wriggling out of his grasp. Percy focussed as the water turned into ice daggers and raced towards Mahishasura, but they disintegrated on striking the translucent shield he had conjured. Mahishasura grinned, jumped high up in the air and started spinning like a corkscrew-as his body was enveloped by a column of flame, he came hurtling towards Percy with the force of a missile. Percy was thrown back again, but he gritted his teeth, made his bow reappear in his hand and fired the Vayuastra at him-the divine winds worked against the flames, neither giving an inch until Percy's eyes darkened to a much deeper, soulful shade of sea-green and like a vortex, those winds started to suck in all the moisture available in the room, blossoming into a mini-typhoon and then they changed into a pocket Tsunami before crashing onto Mahishasura, finally 'cooling' him down. As Mahishasura seethed and slammed his fist into the ground once more, Percy copied his move this time with an even more piercing battle-cry-He had the strength of Bheema within him and he was the son of the Earthshaker to boot. The twin shockwaves send the floor ripping and it gave way, sending both of them crashing to the ground floor-but gravity couldn't interfere their bout as they were locked in combat even in midair, Percy's deadly projectiles being dodged or blocked easily by Mahishasura, while his force projections weren't able to touch Percy inside his armour.
Percy made a squishy pile of snow erupt where he fell while Mahishasura landed head-on without even flinching. He didn't wait before charging Percy again while he tried a different approach-he glided on a mass of water that obeyed his every command, shaping and reforming as time passed. Sometimes he rose up on ice mounds-as soon as it broke under the assault of the demon, you could see him assuming a different stance with another ice structure. It wasn't long before Percy suddenly gave another cry and raised his arm towards the skies, praying for a final aid-if one were to observe outside their frame of reference, thunder clouds had already occupied that area for a long time and now lightning flashed through them; the sizzling sparks illuminated the sky before destroying the roof and slamming into Mahishasura-even he felt the pain of millions of volts of electricity coursing through him as he was thrown up. He rose up, but not as readily as before-his skin too was charred in places and smoke seemed to rise from them.
'This is it!' was the only thought on Percy's mind as he slammed into the body of Mahishasura, with the vortex re-engulfing them. However, it wasn't long before it suddenly destabilized and the water spattered everywhere-showing a rather ominous sight.
Mahishasura was holding Percy by his neck, while his body was limp. There was no trace of struggle from the mighty warrior and the armour was nowhere to be found.
"Say your last prayers, Jackson; and I will make your death quick." Hissed Mahishasura as his hands constricted Percy, who didn't have any more strength to fight back; he had gambled and lost. As the demon went for the killing blow, suddenly a shrill trumpet-tune rung out from inside the temple; a sound with frequency so severe that it would have instantly killed a normal mortal, but it crashed against Percy's eardrums and seemed to wake him from an eternal sleep. It filled him with a courage and hope he didn't knew he had. Where was the vice-like grip now? As Percy cautiously re-opened his eyes, he saw Mahishasura had drawn back, and was now looking straight across him to another spectacle. And indeed, a spectacle it was; as Percy turned back, his gaze rested on the three strongest children of Kronos; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, in their full battle regalia.
Poseidon removed the trumpet from his lips and growled, "You have been on a free leash for too long, demon. You dare to try and kill my child? It is time that you are put down for good."
"Stay back, nephew; it is our fight now." Zeus announced in a majestic tone, strongly gripping his Master Bolt that seemed to pulsate in bloodlust.
The Lord of the Dead seemed to be bored with the entire situation and casually remarked to Percy, "It seems that Artemis was right to send us here as soon as we recovered the Ophiotaurus; you seem about ready to travel to my domain, Jackson."
'Good old Hades', thought Percy with a wry grin. Then, with some invisible signal, the four combatants immediately blasted into action. The fight was carried on with an unimaginable ferocity; Percy could scarcely believe how fast they moved. His mind was getting dizzy from just trying to keep up with them. He mentally cursed his weakness; if he could join his uncles in battle, the advantage would surely be theirs...
Suddenly, all the movement in the room ceased. It took only a moment for Percy to surmise the conditions of the gladiators-while all the Big Three had golden ichor splattered across their body, Mahishasura was in a far worse condition; one of his limbs were bent in an unnatural condition, and blood was flowing freely from a gaping hole in his torso. But the look on the faces of the Olympians indicated sheer alarm. It was Zeus who broke the silence by whispering, "No. It can't be..."
The rumbling laughter coming off the mouth of Mahishasura spoke volumes about his glee. "Yes, you foolish Big Three. Did you really think that I would be so mono-directional as to only rely on my strength for my safety? Today, you may have bested me in combat, for I have yet to assume my full strength, but what about your children? They are being slaughtered at this very moment." With this announcement, his body changed into the form of a hawk which slipped out of the crumbling walls. The stunned Olympians made no attempt to stop him, but Poseidon touched Percy's shoulder as they all were transported to another location. It was also during this travel that Percy lost his consciousness. It was really a bad hobby of him.
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Percy stood in the deserted hallway of the once mighty city of Olympians, trying to control his emotions. They were a mixture of both righteous fury and hopelessness...and the most overwhelming of them was probably guilt and sorrow.
He could still remember the lifeless stare in the eyes of the nine Olympians that had been left in the protection of Olympians while the Big Three had travelled to the temple to assist him. They had been attacked by Vritra, the personification of drought, sorrow, age and weakness-the strongest enemy of Lord Indra, the king of the Indian gods. His weapon, Vajra had been specially designed from the bones of sage Dadhichi to kill Vritra. Only a weapon that was forged by the willing and complete sacrifice of an innocent being could kill Vritra.
The Olympians had been forced to ask for assistance, distracting the Big Three and giving Mahishasura the chance to get away from them. They had managed to fight off Vritra, but it was far too late-Vritra was immortal in a way, and before being forced to retreat, he had simply sucked out the life-energy from the other gods. They were barely alive, for the sole reason that they were immortal too, but for all intents and purposes, they were now lifeless statues-and none of the Big Three had any ideas on how to help them.
Oh, and one couldn't forget about the Quest performed by the Seven, thought Percy with even more bitterness. They had been played too by Mahishasura-they had set out on a suicide mission without their seventh and strongest member, Percy, by their side. Mahishasura knew that he would not be able to join the demigods, not with him being involved in the task of helping to find Bessie, and he had used this to his advantage and crippled the greatest adversary team that his allies, the Giants would have to face. Although the demigods had given an immensely impressive performance, managing to defeat the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis, the cost had been too high; the enemy of Lady Athena, Arachne had managed to trap both Jason and Piper within her web and thrown them inside Tartarus, from where no one, mortal or immortal had ever escaped.
'Damn it Jason, why couldn't you have waited for me?' Thought Percy as his hands balled into fists. Everything seemed to be his fault. If he hadn't come up with the stupid idea, he could have been with the Seven when they were facing their adversaries and he could have saved them. And...and, she wouldn't have been hurt in this way. He shook his head in anguish-he had failed to save Artemis, just like he always failed the save the ones that mattered. Some hero he was. It was as if the gaze of Lord Saturn himself was resting on him.
Of course, if his plan wasn't formulated, the gods would have become powerless anyway, but that fact wasn't important to Percy's mind right now. He slammed his hand on the marble-like walls, causing it to splinter. Oh, if only Mahishasura was here...Percy would have torn his horn out and impaled him on it.
Wait a minute...Horns? Suddenly, a stray image came to the forefront of Percy's mind-a splinter of the memories he had seen within Mahishasura's mind, but his eyes suddenly brightened with hope and his drooping shoulders straightened-they were now looking more like the shoulders of a hero who had held up the sky itself.
Zeus was broken out of his reverie by the sound of Percy's footsteps. As he looked up to meet Percy's eyes, he noticed that they held a stray gleam of hope. And when Percy opened his mouth, he uttered an even stranger request than usual.
"Uncle, I would like your permission to collect the lyre of Orpheus from the collection of Lord Apollo."
"And what would you like to do with it?"
Percy smiled, "Why, take a trip to jolly old Tartarus of course."
A/N: Phew, a lot happened there. Sorry about the fight scene and though I think it's below standard, if Percy was going to defeat him now, why wouldn't he have done it earlier? Please note that Mahishasura isn't dangerous for nothing. Sorry about the wait too, but did you expect the twists and turns that dominated this chapter? Hopefully the next chapter would be out soon...See you then, and don't forget to review, guys!
Oh, and to a guest reviewer: Yes, it was based on Perplexahadron.