Chapter 45
By the time Percy and the others had made it back to the street level of the Empire State Building it was too late. Saturn's army had advanced, and formed a perimeter around the building. They were trapped, and the demigods were fighting on their back legs desperate to stay alive.
The Praetorians were scattered, but small pockets of them could be seen attempting to rally the Greeks to stay in the fight. The situation appeared desperate, and the son of Neptune could hardly believe the situation had deteriorated so quickly. Searching for answers he motioned for his group to follow him to the street.
When Percy stepped out the front doors he immediately felt a powerful sensation sweeping over him. A feeling of hope and strength coursed through him, and his eyes scanned the battlefield to see Michael and Reyna fighting side by side. The gift of empowerment was in full effect as Percy could see the girls' tattoos glowing from across the battlefield. Reyna was screaming encouragement around her, and slicing through monsters with Michael at her side as if she were born to be a leader. These demigods were not going to give up, and neither were they.
Percy's eyes fell to Saturn who was marching calmly towards Olympus with only one obstacle left in his path, Chiron. The Centaur stood with his bow notched at the Titans eyes while Saturn chuckled darkly, "Hello little son. Come to surrender?"
The banter that was exchanged was drowned out by Percy's orders, "Elemental abilities only. Light up the vanguard, and let's get down there before the old horse gets himself killed."
Jason, Bianca, and Thalia, accepted his orders at once as the children of the skies raised their weapons into the air and brought devastating lightning bolts upon the giant vanguard that followed closely behind Saturn. Bianca disappeared in a flash, slicing the empousa queen in two before reappearing back behind Percy safely. Percy in the meantime had not been idle. From the time the first bolt of lightning fell from the sky Saturn was attempting to dismantle his son with the swings of his scythe. With a wave of Percy's hands the sewer lines burst from under the city knocking his grandfather back, and Chiron was tossed backwards by the wall of water in the opposite direction.
Percy ran beside the centaur shaking his head, "This is my fight Lord Chiron. These heroes will still need you when this is over. Assist your brethren. I will fight your father."
Chiron looked like he wanted to argue, but suddenly the wall of water was absorbed by a hot golden energy, and Percy whipped his head around pulling his trident off his back. Saturn stared hatefully at the demigod that offered him a sarcastic half bow, "Grandfather. You're going to pay for the demigods you have killed."
"You are no match for me demigod." Saturn chided, "How many times must we prove this? Step aside, and live a little longer."
"We will see about that." Percy growled in return, but before he could launch himself forward into an attack mode a horrifying war horn erupted through the area.
The ground began to rumble, and Percy looked on in surprise as he glanced down 5th Avenue to see an army of the undead rising from the ground giving the Titan army nowhere to flee. Percy looked questioningly towards Bianca whose eyes were as wide as his. To his left Nico was riding a familiar black hellhound, and he seemed as confused as they were. What was happening?
The answer to his questions came thundering down the street in a massive black war chariot. Lord Pluto with the helm of darkness on his head shifting from one terrifying crown to another was followed by Lady Ceres and Prosperina in full battle armor. The Titan army parted for the Lord of the Underworld clearly in fear of the horses made of shadows that guided the chariot with three gods on it. Upon their arrival Saturn was looking on in amusement at his middle child as he leaned on his scythe casually.
Instead of addressing the Titan however Pluto dismounted the chariot, and flicked his hand out causing a familiar blade that was black as a nightmare to shoot to his hand. The double edged stygian iron sword was the new symbol of power for the Lord of the Dead, and he greeted Percy like they were old friends, "Nephew, Olympus has received word of your plan, and it's risky, but we love it. In my little brother's infinite wisdom he decided it would be best if you had some real power to back you up so I was pushed away from the fight with Typhon to join you. I must say this is the preference. After all, we have become quite adept at killing Titans together. It would be a shame not to finish the job."
Faking astonishment, Pluto's hand shot to his mouth, "Father? Is that you? My you are looking young. What a happy family reunion this is. Sorry about how insensitive I just was. I think between Perseus, myself, my daughter, and the son of Jupiter we have killed at least four Titans now. It was nothing personal when we removed your brother's head from his body, but I am afraid that is the nature of this family business."
Trash talking to the Titan Lord? Was that Pluto's plan? Saturn glanced at Percy in bemusement, and Percy caught a wink from the Lord of the Underworld. Saturn finally broke the awkward silence that had halted the battlefield with a laugh that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, "My my, Pluto, you have fallen from grace when your siblings send you to fight with demigods. Your talents and amusing humor would be much better suited among my own ranks. If what you say is true and you have killed my brothers and nephews I left in charge then they will have deserved their demise. Join me, and become the new Titan General. More powerful than Atlas, More-"
"Are we really doing this right now?" Pluto yawned, "Obviously you were not listening to my speech, because I have no interest in joining the losing side of this war. Two millennia and some things never change. I grow tired of this conversation father. Besides I did not come to fight with the demigods, I have come to send you back to Tartarus! NOW FIGHT ME! For the House of Pluto will be called the saviors of Olympus!"
An aura of dark godly power radiated off Pluto, and the demigods surrounding Olympus cheered! Saturn growled, and kicked his scythe into his hands, "I don't have time for this."
With a slam of his weapon Saturn impaled the infamous scythe into the ground causing an eruption of energy to encircle the Empire State Building. The blast of energy threw the entire battlefield off balance tossing everyone backwards, and upturning cars, and leveling everything within a twenty foot radius.
When Percy found his way to his feet he defensively held his trident up as Saturn completely ignored him, and marched towards the entrance to Olympus. Percy went to go forward, but Bianca latched onto him, "No Percy. Let's take Jason and meet him in the throne room. If we try to get in his way he will slaughter us. Look around you. This is it."
Looking around Percy saw as Pluto was roaring with rage as he attempted to blast through the barrier that separated him from gaining entrance to the Empire State Building. The mortals were awake from the spell Somnia had placed on the city as well, and clearly whatever they were seeing was not good. Screams of panic were heard throughout the city, but Percy locked eyes with his Uncle who seemed to realize there was nothing further he could do. With a nod Percy understood what had to be done. The lord of the Underworld would take care of the army, but the son of Neptune would have to do the rest.
The man whirled around with a blast of power knocking out a legion of monsters. Prosperina, Ceres, and the army of the dead were a superpower against the seemingly endless monster army. Whatever happened on the ground level was out of his hands.
Percy looked to Jason who was watching the chaos through gritted teeth clearly wishing he could help, but there was nothing they could do. Turning to Thalia, Percy took a deep breath, "Thalia, rally our forces, and prepare for what comes next. If we can't stop Saturn a child of the eldest gods must survive. The three of us will stop Saturn."
Thalia looked between the three who all held grave, but determined faces, and shook her head, "I can't let Jason, or any of you do this alone."
Jason shook his head pulling the girl into a hug, "This is our fight, Thalia. Percy has to do this, but we swore to him we would do it together. This fight may not end here, and someone will have to carry it on."
Tears welled up in the girl's eyes, and Bianca warningly said Percy's name. Time was of the essence and they could not afford to waste anymore, "Jason we have to go."
Jason nodded as he kissed his sister on the top of the head, "We will see you on the other side."
Bianca took Jason's hand then took Percy's telling them to take a deep breath before shadow traveling them up to the Olympian throne room. Percy and Jason had become accustomed to shadow traveling over the last few years, but when they arrived they didn't let go of each other's hands.
Percy took an anxious breath before saying, "Only attack with your demigod abilities. Don't engage him with your weapons. I won't be responsible for killing either of you. If we have to level this throne room to the ground we will do it. No more help is coming."
"Percy, Typhon will be arriving in New York soon. With Pluto being here, how are the gods going to stop them?" Jason asked with worry in his voice.
"Don't worry, there is a plan. Saturn is our only focus now. If he destroys the thrones of the gods they won't be strong enough to finish their fight. We only have to hold him off till they arrive, but after all we have sacrificed…let's kill the bastard properly." Percy said with steel in his voice.
The thundering voice of Saturn echoed around them, "BRICK BY BRICK, that is what I promised. We will tear down Olympus, brick by brick!"
Swallowing hard, Percy pulled Bianca's hand to his lips placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand, "I love you, guys. You two were the best friends I ever could've asked for."
Bianca stood on her toes kissing him softly on the cheek, while Jason finally released her hand coming to pull his brother in all but blood into a hug, "You can do this Percy. The gods chose you for a reason."
Suddenly the throne room doors were thrown open, and the children of the eldest gods all released each other. Percy turned pulling his trident off his back as he prepared for the fight that he had trained for his entire life.
Saturn held out his hands in welcome, "Children. The final defense of Olympus. I must say I expected better."
Percy growled out, "We could say the same about you. We were expecting a grand army at your back, but even your honor guard has been vanquished."
Saturn looked angry by his words, but Percy just continued, "Face it, my lord. Even if you kill us. Even if you defeat the Olympians today. You will be the ruler of nothing. We have destroyed your army. We killed your brothers and nephews. Toppled your throne. You will be nothing."
Bianca immediately added, "My father doesn't even have a throne on Olympus. The fight will carry on even if we all fall attempting to kill you."
"But we won't." Jason said fiercely, "This ends now."
Saturn looked back and forth between the three and he began a slow sarcastic clap, "Your defiance is admirable, but misplaced. I offer you all one final chance. A chance to have your lives. If nothing else you three have proven to be a more competent team than I could have imagined. Together you three could be great. The gift of immortality could be yours. Someone will have to replace your parents when I rule the world."
"You have no idea what we are capable of." Jason said angrily.
"But you are about to find out." Percy said.
The man snapped his wrist and his scythe appeared, "Stand together. Die together."
The man began to stride forward, and Percy stepped forward to meet him, but in a flash he was ducking under the powerful blow of the scythe. An Ozone smell entered the area, and a blast of lightning rang down from the heavens, but before it could connect with the Titan Lord he swatted the bolt with the blade of his weapon. In that time the room dimmed as shadows danced around the room taking corporeal form in an instant as Bianca screamed in exertion sending her creations to aid Percy as he attempted to find his rhythm in a blitz attack on his grandfather.
With a stomp of his foot Saturn slowed down time as he quickly slashed through the shadows, and slashed Percy across the chest sending him backwards. His invulnerability protected him, but it still felt like he had been hit by a cerberus size dumb truck.
Ricocheting off the throne of Mars Ultor, Percy launched himself over the Titan that attempted to decapitate him, costing Lord Mars one of the arm rest on his throne. Percy pulled water from a tank that held the ophiotaurus, and hurled it at Saturn as Jason electrified the water with another blast of lightning. This in turn proved to be extremely effective. Percy wasted no time in charging the man and slicing his trident through the stunned Titans armor multiple times. He was lucky to dismantle a few pieces, but was not lucky enough to find a point of vulnerability.
He tried to think tactically with each shift of his weapon. Knocking the Titan over in his stunned state wasn't too difficult after he swung at the teenage body. The neck area on each side were his first two targets. Then he slammed his weapon into different parts of his arm and legs hoping to catch a grimace of pain, but nothing. The shadows had even rejoined him in an attempt to hack the Titan Lord to pieces, but nothing was breaking through.
The victory was short lived as well as a golden beam of energy struck Percy in the chest sending him flying across the room once again and incinerated all of Bianca's creations. This time Saturn did not go for Percy, but for Jason. Along the way the Titan launched a golden ball of energy that caused the throne of Vulcan to explode, knocking Bianca back into the wall with a cry of pain.
In a panic Percy launched more water at the Titan in an attempt to knock him away from the young man he saw as his brother, but it wasn't enough. The water evaporated from golden godly energy, and Jason was fighting for his life. Percy surged forward to assist, but Jason was slashed across the chest causing the boy's eyes to immediately widen.
Screaming in rage Percy felt the earth shake at his feet, and he was on the Titan Lord with fury. The ocean's rage seemed to fuel his power. Feint, parry, slash, slash, slash, Percy mindlessly flowed his trident through the air combatting the Titan Lord. Another disruption in the flow time hit him, and he was sent backwards hard. Before he could rise he felt the scythe on his neck burning into his skin, "You've lost Jackson. The son of Jupiter will be dead soon. The daughter of Pluto under the wreckage of a god that would've done nothing to defend her had the situation been reversed. You fought for the wrong side. Now behold the destruction of western civilization."
A mist appeared in the throne room, and showed Percy a horrifying image of a monster that was tall as a New York skyscraper. It seemed dots around the size of angry bees were swarming the monstrosity, and whatever they were doing didn't appear to be slowing it down. Lightning flashed through the skies, volleys of arrows that were silver or made of fire connected with the beast's rapidly changing face, but it was all ineffective.
"Your gods will lose, and they won't even be here to witness your destruction. No aid is coming son of Neptune. You. Are. Doomed." Saturn roared with laughter.
Percy glanced at the hearth across the room seeing it was almost burnt out. Jason was unmoving across the room. Bianca was laying somewhere under the wreckage that he couldn't even see, and Typhon would march on New York City any moment. They had lost.
The fire in the middle of the throne room continued to fade and Percy bowed his head in defeat.
"What's this?" Saturn asked in outrage.
Percy's head shot up looking at the image to see Typhon stepping into the Hudson. The water was already bubbling and hope swelled through the son of the seas. A massive shell carriage pulled by two of the largest hippocampus Percy had ever seen pulled his father out of the water. Chains erupted from the ocean latching onto Typhon in seconds, and battle cries of massive Cyclops could be heard all the way on Olympus.
Neptune was looking much stronger than when he had during their encounter in Atlantis. The man's beard was jet black once again, and he looked every bit the powerful son of Saturn he was as he rose to his godly height commanding his forces, "My brethren! Attack, FOR OLYMPUS!"
Roars of approval could be heard, and the Olympians that were combatting Typhon seemed to get a second wind as lightning and storms bombarded the beast. The arrows seemed much larger than before, and they were actually making Typhon flinch under the power of the strikes. The killing blow however came in the form of a massive trident that impaled Typhon in the throat. With a titanic effort the cyclops yanked the beast down with the momentum of the trident, and a portal in the water seemed to open up that would take the beast straight to Tartarus.
The Titan Lord roared with rage, and swiped through the image with his scythe allowing Percy to get back to his feet. With speed that surprised him he caught the scythe in between the prongs of his trident, and ripped it from the Titan Lords hands sending it across the room into the now raging hearth.
His insides felt like they had been caved in from the impact of the last blow, but now he had the Titan Lord weaponless, "You have lost, my lord. The Olympians are on their way."
"By the time they arrive Western Civilization will have died, and you shall be dead." Saturn growled.
The man did not even reach for another weapon as Percy surged forward hitting the man over and over again in a variety of spots. Most of the strikes were blocked by Saturn's armor, but there was no doubt Percy had him on his back foot. The Titan Lord was beginning to glow, but the champion of Olympus was relentless.
The first Olympian flashed into the throne room, and seemed to be prepared to intervene, but Percy roared out, "No he's mine! I can do this!"
This deity and his followers had taken everything from him. Saturn was responsible for the death of Gwen, Mark, Dylan, and so many more. Jason was lying in the corner of the room now possibly gone from the world, and Percy was determined the Titan would never take anyone from him again.
More Olympians flashed into the room, and they watched in silent respect as their champion hacked away at the Titan Lord. Time would slow, but Percy would break through the spell with earthshaking bellows of power.
With a roar of rage he became a blur of speed as he hacked at the Titan Lord until the tip of his trident sliced through his left underarm causing golden ichor to spray across the room. Sensing blood in the water Percy slapped the teenager's arm away, and dug his trident into the underarm of the Titan of Time. His eyes glowed gold, and Percy kicked the being to the ground.
The Titan heaved for breath choking on ichor that was now spilling from his mouth, "I won't forget this, Jackson."
"You've lost, my lord." Percy spat, "Enjoy Tartarus."
With that Percy summoned the trident back to his hand, and turned to the stunned Olympian council as he dropped to a knee to thunderous applause and the bang of weapons. An explosion of golden light happened behind him, and what remained of Luke Castellan's body was incinerated.
"Rise my son." Neptune called out approaching the young man as he shrunk to a human height.
Without hesitation Percy rose and embraced his father strongly, "Jason, Bianca?"
"The daughter of Pluto is fine. The son of Jupiter, I'm afraid…" The man trailed off, and Percy forced himself apart from his father looking at the powerful being in disbelief.
Looking around the room the other gods were still hugging each other in celebration, but Percy only had eyes for a young looking man that was standing over his brother with a defeated look on his face. Bianca was sitting beside them looking lost. Her eyes had not left the fallen son of Jupiter, and Percy felt his heart fall into his stomach as he limped over to the two feeling exhaustion begin to set in.
Falling to his knees Percy recognized Apollo looking grim, "My condolences, consul. He died a hero's death."
He could hardly believe the words that were spoken. Jason's eyes were closed and he looked like he was merely sleeping. Apollo had already sealed the wound across the son of Jupiter's chest, and cleaned the blood stains as well. He looked at peace, but that didn't stop the tears from rolling down Percy's eyes. The rest of the world was gone. It was only Percy and Bianca, leaning over their fallen comrade. A member of their little family.
It seemed Bianca couldn't even gather the strength to cry. Instead Percy crawled over to her, and wrapped her in his arms as she buried her face in his shoulder. This may have been a win for Olympus, but Percy could not help to feel that they had lost.
Suddenly a massive presence approached the two demigods, and Percy looked up into a familiar pair of electric blue eyes, but they did not belong to his fallen friend, instead it was those of his father. The man did not look sad, instead he had a soft smile on his face, "He died for his friends. People he saw as family. He prayed to me many times over the years for the protection and safety of the two of you. In all my years of existence none of my children have ever prayed for the protection of my nieces and nephews. I could not be more proud of the man this Praetor became. Jason Grace, a hero of Olympus, will never be forgotten."
Percy pulled Bianca to his feet, but never released his hold on her. He turned to face the rest of the Olympians, all who were watching him closely, "We will need a shroud. A shroud for the son of Jupiter!"
(A/N) Jason Grace has fallen. Lots of parallels shown here between The Last Olympian, and what we saw in this chapter. Lots of similar dialog used in completely different situations. We have one chapter to go, and I won't lie to you it's probably going to be pretty short. This story has worn me down, and will be my longest completed story to date. I lost my way on this story many times over the last 2 years, but we all owe it to my Discord people who constantly harassed me to finish this story. It is because of them we will send an end to this, and I have nothing but love for all you guys!
Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon with the final update of Rise of House Neptune.
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