Hi Guys! Sorry for the really late update. I had exams and its been a busy year. Anyway, to celebrate Chinese New Year, I am posting a new chapter. Enjoy reading! Once you're done, please review. Commendations are welcomed, constructive criticism is even more welcome. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character below.
The world looked as the six demigods stared straight into the eyes of the grim reaper himself.
The blonde-haired kid sauntered towards Percy. His eyes were white. Completely white. His pupils were gone and what was left was two white orbs, emotionless and devoid of happiness, pain or sadness. But it was not the "Pure" kind of white. It was like a sun bleached bone, white, yet it was black, bright, yet it was dark. It was not the "Good" kind of white. it never meant safety or calmness. It meant death.
A smile played across his lips, a twisted sad smile. Kronos had risen like the others, gladly accepting Night's offer, ready to get its revenge on Perseus Jackson.
"Luke… You have fought him before… Fight against his will. Don't succumb to his strength. Luke. You can do this…" Annabeth pleaded, seeing her old friend change into such a monster sent tears streaming down her cheeks. Yet Kronos seemed to have no challenge in forcing Luke's subconsciousness away…
All at once, the ground exploded, sending tarmac crashing into Annabeth throwing her into a car. The back of her head hit the car, blood spewed out of the open wound on her head.
"Annabeth!" Percy raced over, slowly bringing his hands to the cut on her head and healing it with water. Then Luke's lips parted. The sound of Luke's voice sent shivers down his spine.
"Annabeth?"
Luke screamed in alarm and it was Kronos and Luke fighting for control all over again, Luke gained control for a while and suddenly, he stabbed himself. (again) His eyes glowed again. Yet nothing happened. Golden ichor flowed from the wound… But slowed and stopped… Luke was no longer there. Luke Castellan sacrificed his final strand of life to help. yet it was for nothing. Grief and horror washed through the seven. Kronos no longer had his achilles heel… yet he was stronger. In full possession of a body. there was no stopping a god of time.
But the seven knew that no matter what, they could not give up. It did not that the master of the titans was against them as well as all their enemies they ever faced. It never mattered anymore. They would fight no matter the odds.
They charged.
Metal hit against metal, blades slashing, shield clanging. The battle raged. Blood and dust, crimson liquid poured over the battlefields, splotching and staining the tarmac ground. Gravel crunched under Percy's Nike sneakers, now torn and tattered, the designated swoosh no longer white against the black contrast of their shoes. It used to be a joke between the demigods, Nike, a personal goddess that they had met. The shoes supposed to bring them good luck. So far, it was not working. Well, they could not blame Nike, she was chained up in Mount Olympus with the other gods all tortured by the horde of monsters. They had come so far, fighting for days and nights, fatigue wearing them down, yet they stood strong. They will never fall. Not for the whole of humanity. Ironically, that was what was at stake.
The six slid under the dragons and hydras, slicing off their heads while Leo burnt their stumps, stopping them from regenerating. The ever growing ominous cloud loomed overhead, lightning ending horde after horde of monsters down like the elevator at the Doors of Death in Tartarus. Except, there was no way to stop it.
Every time a monster was killed, it would disappear into dust before getting sent down by Night's cloud repeatedly. How they would do it, they had no idea, but they would find a way. They knew that this meant sacrifice. There was no other way. Piper knew this. She saw it in her bronze blade the day before… She had to get the others to safety, at her price as a sacrifice. She knew that the story was true again. She was just the skeleton dog. Already dead.
"Guys," She smiled weakly, "I'll hold them back… Get to Mount Olympus. Win." A single tear rolled down her right eye. This time it was true. Everything she lived for, her superstar dad, the whole of humanity and Jason. "One more thing… Jason, I love you."
With that, she slammed her lips into Jason's with all the passion she could manage. He kissed back hungrily, knowing this may be the last time this would happen. Their hands hugged each other, holding each other by the waist, deepening the kiss. Whatever, space between the couple had been reduced to nothing. Sparks flew wherever he touched. And Piper knew it was not because of his electricity. After what seemed like an eternity, they separated, Jason giving a last wistful look as he ran ahead, away from his girlfriend, away from his life. But he had to sacrifice his life. For the billions of others at stake.
Piper screamed and held the monsters back while the other five continued up, Percy and Annabeth climbed up the mountain with Jason, Leo and Nico. She spoke with the most comforting voice she had. Charmspeak, her final weapon and defense.
The Empousa came charging. "Hey…" She whispered to one… The other one called you ugly." She placed all her concern into it, as well as a smirk, as if she was gossiping.
But the empousa were not hindered a bit. They advanced, speaking as one in an unearthly voice: "Piper McLean, you have no power. Now take your blade and insert it into your heart."
Piper knew. She saw herself sprawled on the floor, dead when she saw the visions of the future. She now knew that it was charmspeak that she would die from, ironic was it not? That was the last thing she thought of until the glistening blade broke through her skin, into her heart.
'Piper! No!' Jason screamed in anguish. Thoughts of rage went through him and his only intent was to kill every single monster in his way until he killed every one of the filthy things.
Jason stood forward and shouted back, 'Guys! Proceed without me, I will hold them back!' He summoned a lightning bolt and sent it into the midst of the monsters, scattering them. As he moved forward and his sword became a blur, his eyes glinted with fury.
Jason called in a favour as a son of Jupiter, calling the venti to help him. They could not disobey him, especially after Aeolus told told them to follow him.
He and his miniature army charged forward, slicing down every monster in their path.
A laistrygonian giant charged towards Jason, his arms primed for a steady punch. He raised his arm and swung it towards Jason.
Jason felt a sharp pain in his side, sure that at least 2 of his ribs were broken. He could not give up. This he knew. The same thoughts were circulating the other teenagers. Battles from Kronos, Gaia, all of these monsters. Years of hate and fear. This was it. The final battle. He knew they had to win. Even if it meant the price of a second demigod.
He commanded the spirits, venti, the winds from the corners of the earth to do his bidding. To help him rise. A gush of wind so strong it knocked back the earthborn trying to attack Jason threw Jason up into the stormy sky. His eyes turned white and grey, an ominous cloud in the white of his eye. He screamed. Clouds rumbled. All of a sudden, a deafening roar swept across the battlefield. Thunder and lightning fighting the monsters like angry dogs, chasing and grappling at them.
Jason steadied himself, concentrating to keep aloft. It would not be easy, sending such a huge storm over Manhattan. Already, his sword felty heavy in his hands. He lifted his bruised hand, raising his sword towards the sky, imperial gold shining in the flashes of lightning. He shouted.
Lightning raced across the world, meeting Jason's swordpoint. He swivelled the sword, pointing it towards the ground, aiming at Kronos himself. He was 200 metres up in the air, lightning coursing through his body. Concentrating the energy in his body, electricity in his sword, drawing it all together, in a final attempt to attack the oblivious Titan of Time.
Then, it happened.
A sharp pain hit him in the back of his head. It was a small rock, hardly the size of a nickel, blunt and light. Yet, for one second, Jason's concentration wavered, the lightning leaving his body as he plummeted towards the solid ground.
The Laistrygonian giant that threw that piece of rubble would celebrate because of his triumphant victory. However, he would have to do so after he was reborn in Tartarus. Jason's fall crushed every monster in a three-metre radius, including Jason's slayer. In fact, the lightning that was released as he dropped did disintegrate a few monsters, not enough, though. But he was already forgotten, his friends and companions knowing that there was much better things to do than to grieve over one death- They were sure there were many more to come.
Leo was thankful for Calypso's fireproof clothes. Without them, with all that Greek fire and stuff, he would have been standing and fighting there without a stitch of clothing on his body. That would have been embarrassing.
He knew that he was supposed to be gifted with the fire, only two people from Hephaestus' cabin ever harnessed that ability and was to love and embrace that special skill… But, was it not a little too far to be pummelled with a hundred vials of fire every minute? Of course it did not bother him but still… Were the fates trying to be ironic now?
Oh wait… He realised, the fates are probably tied up...
Nevertheless, he felt a certain feeling that whatever was in control, now had a weird sense of humour…
"Hey uglies! Still so dumb that you want to throw fire at me?" He smirked, knowing that the taunt would work on the giants. They spun, hot rage in their eyes, screaming 'BURN! BURN!' while throwing Greek fire at him, as he stood there a placid and bored expression on his face.
Leo, standing there waiting for the giants to use their bird-brains, suddenly collapsed to the floor in pain. He looked behind him. Hyperion was strolling towards him, his spear sending out waves of burning light.
'So… Son of Hephaestus, you said you're tired of fire, come and try some light!' With a fearsome battle cry, Hyperion charged into battle, his spear poised to strike.
Leo, realising that he had no chance against a titan and an army of fifty thousand monsters, summoned his trusty flaming hammers, and charged at Hyperion. He thought: If I'm going down to the Underworld, you're going down to Tartarus! The monsters, seeing their general attacking the demigod, charged to kill Leo.
'Stand down! This one is mine!' The monsters, fearing Hyperion's wrath, charged at the other demigods and attacked them.
Leo raised his hammer, knowing that his only chance at beating Hyperion was approaching. As the lord of the east charged, Leo concentrated, summoning within him a power that would destroy him.
Damn it! I need more time! Desperately, Leo threw his hammer at the approaching titan. To his utter astonishment, Hyperion was hit! The titan staggered, then fell to the ground, but Leo knew he only bought himself some time.
Leo began chanting: Φλόγες μέσα μου, να αυξηθεί και να χτυπήσει όλους όσους τολμούν να πλησιάσουν. Άνοδος και εντελώς να καταστρέψει όλους τους εχθρούς μου! Like a pulse of energy, the fire started from inside Leo's body, and expanded like a growing flower. A flower of flames…
Suddenly, a piercing pain struck through Leo's foot and spread through his leg. He shrieked in pain. Leo's blaze was wrenched out of his body before it could reach deadly mass. Despite Hyperion's extreme resistance to fire, Leo's fire spell was still enough to sear his immortal body so badly he looked like a piece of Titan jerky that had been thrown into the furnace of Tartarus.
Despite all the pain he had caused Hyperion, Leo was in no shape to celebrate. He looked down and saw a pair of jaws clamped onto his left leg, like a bear trap. He remembered the first Battle of Manhattan. Under the command of Hephaestus, Daedalus had planted many traps and hidden defenses to protect Olympus. Some traps were being re-armed to defend against another assault, while others had not been activated yet.
Presently the ground at Leo's feet erupted. Thin cables forged out of Celestial bronze shot out of the ground and bound Leo, wrapping around his arms and legs. One grew a razor-sharp blade and slashed Leo's hand, causing him to drop his weapon. He was now powerless, at the mercy of Hyperion (which Hyperion had none of). Hyperion was still smoking a bit from his little barbecue, but he managed to heave over to Leo.
'Tell me, young hero. How does it feel being trapped by one of your pathetic father's pathetic inventions?' he croaked, with an evil grin decorating his face. Leo screamed in fury. Hyperion seized his spear, and struck through the net at Leo.
A firestorm erupted. A blaze whipped through the Titan army, charring every monster within
two hundred metres. Hyperion simply melted from the heat. The Hyperion Goop slipped through a crack in the ground and Hyperion's essence spilled through the abyss, one drop at a time. He was banished back into Tartarus.
Arrows whizzed over the heads of the three remaining heroes. The last time they had fought the Titans in Manhattan, there were forty heroic demigods fighting to defend Olympus, excluding the nature spirits, centaurs, children of Ares, and other reinforcements that had come to assist in the eventually successful defense of Olympus and defeat of Kronos.
Nico felt as if the Fates were toying with him, tying knots in his life-line. Of course, it was not the Fates' fault, for they were tied up in their own unbreakable threads of destiny atop Mount Olympus. As a result, all human lives were messed up. Mortals could still die, but their fate was now neither in the power of Hades nor the Fates.
Nico slammed his sword into the dirt. Spirits started swirling around the Stygian iron blade. Bones started to encrust themselves around Nico's sword. Finally, Nico wrenched his blade out of the earth. An assortment of bones flew off the sword and assembled themselves in mid-air to give birth to a deadly, acid-spewing bone dragon.
"Wow. That dragon must have had something that gave it serious indigestion for its last meal, for it to have to vomit so much in death," Percy commented as he watched the dragon vaporise entire hordes of dracaenae at once.
"Let's hope that will give us a bit of breathing space." Nico panted. "I need to kill more monsters and suck up their essence before I can unleash another of these babies."
Sadly, their advantage was short-lived. A team of Cyclopes mounted a modified onager and blasted the dragon into prehistoric artefacts.
Nico cursed. But he still had a few tricks left to play. He let out the blood-howl of a wolf, and watched in delight as all the hellhounds within earshot turned on their comrades and started shredding monsters into Doggie Treatz.
"You can command wolves and hellhounds like that? Oh my gods, that is so cool." Annabeth gushed.
"Actually, it also works on any creature of the Underworld, just that most of the other Underworldly beasts are either imprisoned, dead or banished, which is why you don't see any other monsters obeying my commands." Nico replied.
At that point, one of the hellhounds stopped its blood-rage and stood still for a moment.
"Quick! Kill it! When it shakes it head like that, it means it is coming back to its senses. It will soon recognise its true allies and enemies again. The other hellhounds should be waking up soon. If you see a hellhound standing still like that, kill it before it is too late!"
Percy and Annabeth got to work, quickly slaughtering hellhounds before they could wake up. But there were still many monsters left. Nico followed, trying to catch his breath, which was no mean feat as he also had to slay monsters and regenerate his energy at the same time.
At that point, more of Nyx's reinforcements arrived on the scene. Annabeth was the first to notice the new threat. The Furies. How they had come to be on Nyx's side, she had no clue. They were probably corrupted with darkness, turned against Hades.
"Nico, how the heck are these flying idiotic chicken grandmothers back on the scene? Firstly, I thought they were on our side! Secondly, I thought you said that the Underworldly creatures were either imprisoned, dead or banished! What are these coconut-headed geese doing round here?" Percy screamed.
"I don't know! It's not my fault!" Nico yelled.
"Courtesy of our dear Miss Nyx, I guess. Now there are even more nincompoops out to kill us. Flying nincompoops. What a day." Annabeth sighed.
Apparently, these Furies had no qualms about attacking the offspring of their former master. The Three Furies yanked Nico into the air. Nico managed to slash one into feathers, but despite the size of the Furies' wings and their combined weight, two Furies could still generate enough lift to raise Nico right off his feet. They dumped him on a nearby verandah, out of the reach of his friends. Percy and Annabeth could only look on in despair.
Nico still could put up a fight before his inevitable demise. He stabbed a second Fury, and knocked the last one off the verandah. He yelled, "Percy and Annabeth, behold my last gift to you! Hopefully you will survive!"
With that, he clapped his hands, drew some of his own blood and flung the drops onto the tarmac. Giant bones erupted from the road, knitting themselves into a giant skeletal warrior standing ten metres tall. He started to crush monsters into roadkill.
The summoning took a lot of Nico's strength. The last Fury flew up onto the roof. Nico recognised her - Alecto. The very same Fury that had protected his childhood, the same Fury who had taken care of him as a baby when Hades was away and Maria was busy - was presently going to end his life as he knew it.
He remembered a promise his father Hades had made to him - if he did not survive a quest, his father would prepare a room in the palace for him and decorate it with the skulls of deceased monks. He doubted Hades could ever fulfill that promise, especially as Hades might never be able to attend to his son's soul. He raised his sword in order to protect himself, but it was too late. Nico could hear Percy and Annabeth scream in anguish just before Alecto slit his throat.
'No…! No…! NO!' Percy yelled in anger as he saw Nico Di Angelo, the little brother he never had fall to the ground, his face paler than ever. Percy saw red as his all his thoughts turned unto killing the monster responsible for Nico's death. Alecto. Alecto the fury. Alecto, seeing Percy advance towards her in a berserk like manner, started to fly away as fast as possible.
'Yah!' Alecto suddenly stopped mid-air as Percy Jackson willed the water vapour in the air to surround the fury. 'You damn monster! You're responsible for killing Nico, your master, for that, you will suffer eternal torture. Percy slowly increased the pressure on the beast, causing it to shriek in alarm. Annabeth, put a comforting hand Percy's arm. 'Save your strength, were going to need it if we are going to kill those damned Primordial Gods.'
Percy nodded and released Alecto, before swinging Riptide straight through her skull. Percy could never forgive these monsters for bringing on this carnage.
Nevertheless, not a single tear watered his stinging eyes as he climbed up to Mount Olympus.
The only way he could continue climbing was to understand that he had to carry on the legacy of the fallen. He had to finish this stupid quest and unchain the Gods. Better, he told himself, to grieve later.
He and Annabeth proceeded into the Empire State Building. They never looked back.