Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series.
Story: Champion of Olympus: Child of the First One
Chapter 23: The Light and the Dark
Third Person POV
Mount Olympus – throne room
Loki continued to chant his spell as the black aura surrounded both Gaea and Rhea. Rhea screamed in agony as she writhed in pain on the floor beside her mother. Hera stared on in fear. The black aura slowly moved to surround the Queen of the gods. Hera shook in fear as the black aura surrounded her body. She screamed as the searing pain surged through her. She blacked out as the pain and loss of energy was too much for her.
Zeus watched as Loki continued to speak the ancient spell that would doom the gods and the world they led. When Hera screamed; he looked away, unable to watch his beloved wife suffer. He closed his eyes as he heard her screams. When her screams ceased he looked back. Hera was unconscious beside their mother. The sight before him was hypnotic; he couldn't look away.
Suddenly, a sound from above tore everyone away from the scene in the throne room. They looked up at the broken sky light. The darkness of outer space shone through the broken glass. An object made of dust, debris and a white energy raced toward them. Everyone in the room stared at it wide eyed. As the object drew closer a look of realization spread across Athena's face. "A comet," she said. Everyone stared at the comet that flew towards the throne room at incredible speed. "Everyone get on the ground, now." Demigods and gods alike dropped to the marble floor as the celestial object grew closer. An explosion of light, energy and debris blew through the throne room as the shockwave from the collision was unleashed.
Loki dropped to the ground. He never finished his spell. He stood up carefully as he brushed the debris from his clothes and armor. He looked toward the crater that was formed from the great collision. His mouth dropped open when he saw the man in the middle of the crater. The man stood still with his eyes closed. He was a tall man with pale skin and fiery orange hair.
"Who are you?" Loki asked apprehensively. It was the first time anyone had heard Loki speak in such a way before.
The tall man opened his eyes, but he didn't have eyes, instead, orbs of energy occupied his eye sockets. The man looked at Loki and smiled. "My names is Njall; the protector of the light and child of the first one," Njall said.
Loki stepped back. "A child of Chaos," he said. Njall nodded. All the gods and demigods in the room marveled at the son of Chaos. "Why are you here?"
Njall laughed at the question. "I'm here to destroy you," he replied.
Loki snarled at the answer. "I cannot be destroyed," Loki declared.
Njall's smile turned into a sneer. "We shall see," he said.
Loki's body began to glow before he unleashed a powerful blast of fire toward Njall. Njall raised his hand and the fire was engulfed by a blast of white smoke. The flame extinguished immediately. The white smoke touched Loki; he shivered as the cold surrounded him. "Carbon dioxide," Loki said.
"A bit cold, but it works just fine," Njall replied.
Loki narrowed his eyes. His body glowed as he turned into the giant cobra. Njall smiled at the sight. "Why are you sssmiling?" Loki hissed.
Njall's eyes glowed bright as his body was engulfed into a cloud of white dust. When the dust settled the man that was the son of Chaos was gone. In his placed was a bright red dragon. The beast was a little bigger than the snake. The snake looked at the dragon in fear.
"I see fear in your eyes," the dragon said.
The snake opened his mouth showing his fangs and the green venom that dripped from them. He lunged towards the dragon, but Njall stood still. The snake moved to bite the throat of the dragon, but was met with two clawed feet that thrust forward. The claws of the feet clasped the neck of the snake and middle of its body. Loki screamed in agony as the claws of the dragon cut through the snake's scales. Golden ichor pooled on the floor of the throne room.
Njall gave the snake one last squeeze before throwing the snake across the room. The snake struck a stone column shattering it. The snake began to glow until Loki's humanoid form returned. He knelt on the ground; he clutched his ribs as more blood dripped from his wounds. He stood up carefully. He concentrated on his body before black energy formed around his body. His wounds closed up. He turned toward Njall with an evil grin on his face. "Is that all you got?" he asked.
Njall laughed at the question. "I could say the same thing to you," Njall replied.
Loki's scythe appeared in his hands before he charged Njall. Njall's eyes flared; a shaft of light appeared in his hands before it turned into a spear that was taller than the son of Chaos. He spun the spear to block Loki's strike. Njall twisted his spear and knocked Loki to the ground. Loki stood up quickly with the help of his scythe.
Loki glared at the son of Chaos. A black aura of power pulsed around the body of the god of evil. He raised his scythe high above his head and charged. Njall stood with his spear parallel to the ground. Loki moved as fast as a Cheetah, he swung his scythe as he closed on Njall. As the blade of the cursed weapon moved to intercept Njall's neck, the son of Chaos dropped to the ground and fell forward at the same time. He pushed the spear forwards as he fell. The spear struck Loki in the shins. The god of evil fell forward as his legs were knocked out from under him. He fell on the ground hard; his scythe fell from his hands and skidded across the marble floor. The scythe stopped at Hestia's feet. The goddess held the scythe in her hands before she tossed it into the hearth. The fire of the hearth surged into the air as the flames destroyed Loki's weapon.
Loki stood up as anger surged through him. He turned and stared in shock as the point of Njall's spear was directed at his throat; the blade was only a few inches from the Norse god. "Give up Loki, you've lost," Njall said.
Loki's black eyes glowed; he balled his hands into fists and let loose a blast of dark energy that struck Njall's spear. The weapon flew through the air, until it struck Mjolnir that was still held in its force field prison. When the spear struck the energy field it interacted with the energy of the force field and the power of Mjolnir. The mix of energies overloaded; a massive explosion rocked the throne room. Everyone fell to the ground as columns and sections of wall toppled over.
No one was seriously hurt, but the stability of the throne room's structure was severely compromised. Annabeth turned toward her mother. Percy's girlfriend's eyes were red and puffy. She wiped her eyes. "The structure might collapse; the structural supports have been severely damaged," Annabeth explained.
Athena nodded as she looked at the few columns that remained. "We need to get out of here," Athena said. Annabeth nodded; she rushed to find Jason and Thalia. She found them under the debris of a broken column; Thalia's leg was broken. Nico and Bianca appeared out of the shadows and ran to help. Jason, Annabeth and Bianca lifted the column while Nico pulled Thalia out of the way. He carried her bridal style as they ran toward the elevator. The gods all disappeared, except for Athena and Zeus. Annabeth and the other demigods were in the elevator. Annabeth screamed at her mother as the elevator door closed. The last thing she saw was her mother next to Zeus, as she tried to get him to leave.
"Father, we need to go," Athena urged.
Zeus stared at the destruction inside the force field. The black aura was still around Hera and the others. Loki and Njall were both struggling to regain consciousness. "I can't leave her," Zeus said.
"We can't stay," Athena pleaded. "It's too late for her, please father, we need to go."
Suddenly, the ground stopped moving. Athena and Zeus watched as Njall stood up, his eyes glowed brightly. Loki stood up as well. The two enemies turned towards each other.
Loki smiled as he looked at the lifeless forms of Gaea and Rhea, only Hera looked alive. "It's over child of Chaos; you've lost," Loki declared.
"Hope is not lost as long as I still live," Njall said.
Loki's evil grin widened. "I can take care of that," Loki said before he balled his fists and unleashed a burst of dark energy toward the son of Chaos. Njall intercepted the blast with a blast of light energy. The two forces collided; the air in the room buzzed with energy as the two sources of power struggled against each other. Light energy versus dark energy. Goodness versus evil.
Athena and Zeus watched in fascination as the two polar opposites struggled for dominance. Loki focused with all his might on the dark energy within himself; his power was immense. However, Njall held his own; the power of light was just as strong.
"You can't win; I was born to rule," Loki said.
Njall gritted his teeth. "I was created to stop you," he said as his eyes became as bright as a supernova. His power grew; Loki's dark eyes dimmed at the sight. "I will not… let you… win." At the last word Njall pushed with all his might the blast of light energy surged forward and overcame the power of darkness. Njall moved forward as his power overwhelmed the god of evil. He pulled Loki into a death grip. The Norse god screamed in frustration and in fear. For the first time the god of evil showed fear. Athena and Zeus watched in admiration as Njall held onto Loki.
"You can't stop me. I can't be killed," Loki yelled.
"All things must come to an end. Today is your day," Njall said. The light engulfed the two opponents. Athena and Zeus looked away as the light was blindingly bright. A sudden pulse of energy basked the entire throne room with light. Athena and Zeus covered their eyes. When the light ceased; the two Olympians looked into the throne room. The force field was gone and there was no sign of Loki or Njall. Gaea, Rhea and Hera were still chained to the thrones. Zeus ran to his wife's side. He broke the chains that bound her; he held her in his arms. Athena knelt down beside her father. She touched Rhea and Gaea, but they were as cold as death.
Athena looked up at her father. "How is she?" Athena asked.
Zeus looked down at his wife a few tears dripped down from his eyes. "She's dead," he replied. Athena's own tears flowed. She could tell her father was heartbroken and the sight broke her heart as well.
Sounds from behind the two gods revealed the presence of the other Olympians. Thalia and Jason joined their father. Thalia touched her adopted mother's hand. She flinched away when she felt the ice cold flesh. She buried herself into Jason's shoulder. She cried again. Jason stared at the woman that was his patron, and then his adopted mother. He held in his own tears. He had hated her for the past year, but now he felt sorry for her. He knew now that the Hera that died was not the same Hera that took revenge on his mother. This Hera wasn't the Queen; she was a mother.
Annabeth stood beside Nico, Bianca and Malcolm. "Mom, where is Njall?" Annabeth asked.
Athena looked up with sadness in her eyes. "He's gone, but so is Loki. The war is over," she said. Her voice held no happiness. The war was won, but at a terrible price.
Suddenly, a black vortex appeared in the middle of the throne room. Everyone looked on in fear. The vortex was a mix of energy and light. A being of pure light and energy stepped out of the vortex. Zeus was in no shape to approach the being, so Poseidon and Athena walked towards the entity.
"Who are you?" Poseidon asked warily.
"No need for alarm. I am Chaos, creator of the universe," Chaos replied. A round of gasps circulated through those present.
Poseidon and Athena both bowed to the creator. "My lord, why are you here?" Athena asked.
"I am here to fulfill the last request of my son and one final duty to this world," Chaos said. He raised his hand; a ball of blue light sat in his palm. "This is all that is left of Njall. It was his final wish to protect this piece of himself."
Chaos walked towards the far end of the throne room. The body of a dark haired demigod lay on the ground. His skin was pale and his body was deathly still. Chaos knelt down beside the boy that was the Champion of Olympus. He laid the blue orb of light on the boy's chest. The light moved through the boy's skin. Suddenly, waves of blue energy surged through the boy's body. The boy convulsed as the energy surged through his body. Chaos stood up before the boy stopped moving. Percy opened his eyes; they were sea green now. He sat up and looked around. When he saw Chaos a broad smile stretched across his face.
"Did we win?" he asked.
"Yes my boy; you've won," Chaos replied.
"Percy," Annabeth yelled as she charged across the throne room. She land on the floor beside her boyfriend and pulled him into a tight embrace. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she hugged him. All the gods and demigods smiled at the sight.
Chaos turned toward the gods and said, "The Champion lives."
AN: One more chapter to this story, so stay tuned.