Chapter 22: A War on Three Fronts
"T-Typhon, how?" Artemis asked after a collective moment of silence, her voice trembling.
Percy mirrored her fear at the threat of the Father of all Monsters. The gears turned in his head as he realized that that must've been what Tartarus was waiting for; he'd needed another year for Typhon to wake.
"Um, we don't actually know yet," Hermes started, "We just know he's tearing a warpath north, and we believe his target is, this time, the original Mount Olympus."
Artemis steeled her nerves and her bow materialized in her hand.
"Alright, where are we headed? Where is he now?" she asked.
"He's running straight up the border between the African countries Ethiopia and South Sudan,"
"What about the people?" Percy cut in.
Hermes appreciated his concern.
"Most countries in the region have centrally located populations. Thankfully, that means Typhon has avoided all major cities in the area. The Olympians there now are going to direct him towards the Red Sea to minimize casualties in Sudan and Egypt. We think he won't notice since it's still essentially en route to his target," the god explained.
Percy nodded and turned to Artemis.
"I'm coming with you," he affirmed.
Artemis' eyes widened as she immediately shook her head, causing a brief argument before Hermes murmured in the background.
"I can't believe he was sleeping under Kilimanjaro this entire time; that mountain is probably in tatters now."
Percy's nerves turned to ice as he spun towards the traveler god.
"That's where my dad is. That's where Oceanus told me they were holding Poseidon," he breathed before turning back to Artemis.
"I'm going to go get him out, and then we're coming to deal with Typhon," Percy said definitively, and Artemis knew there was no point to argue with his tone.
The goddess simply nodded and was saying goodbye to the surrounding hunters before Hermes' phone pinged with a dozen texts in rapid succession. He pulled it out, and the surrounding parties watched his eyes widen further and further as they ambled down the screen.
"What happened?" Percy asked worriedly.
Hermes swallowed a lump in his throat before he spoke.
"Uh, that was Iris; she was also on the team assigned to finding Poseidon. She sent out her butterfly scanners to Africa, the last continent we had to search, just hours ago at the exact moment the yearlong pause was done. Her rainbow drones just sent these images back from deep in the Sahara Desert and well… see for yourself," he said, turning the phone to Percy and Artemis.
Grainy winds fuzzied the quality of the images, but there was no mistaking the return of monsters to the world. What was most concerning was the gaping holes they were climbing out of by the hundreds. Inlaid at the base of dozens of sand dunes were massive, endless pits filled with fire that glowed a dark orange. The burning red haze sauntering out of the openings struck a nerve with Percy, and he knew those passages originated in Tartarus. Every kind of monster he could think of was clawing its way out of the bottomless craters and amassing into the burgeoning mob as a sandstorm raged around them.
The demigod's mind raced as he thought about what to do next. Artemis beat him to it, quickly snapping out of her stupor after seeing monsters for the first time in a year.
"Percy, we are going to inform Chiron of the situation and tell him exactly what needs to happen to mobilize the demigods to the desert," the goddess started before turning to the hunters, "Girls, get to sleep right now. Once we discuss this with Chiron, we will advise him to move out at first light. You will need all of the energy you can get for the coming battle. Thalia, with us."
The Hunt marched into their cabin dutifully, knowing it was not the time for discussion. Artemis told Hermes she'd be right behind him after speaking to Chiron, and he nodded before vanishing. The goddess, her guardian, and her lieutenant moved swiftly to the Big House. They made their way inside to find the old centaur standing with his back to them, staring at pictures of the camp's demigods decorating the walls. When Chiron turned to face the presence he felt behind him, his mouth dropped.
Percy lunged forward and wrapped his old mentor in a hug before he could say anything, glad to see him but still holding a grim expression on his face. Chiron was unwilling to pull away, and the demigod felt terrible wriggling out of his vice-like embrace.
"Chiron, I'm so sorry. It's so good to see you, but we have horrible news," the demigod said.
The camp director's face shifted from a tearful smile to a glowering scowl as Percy quickly caught him up to speed.
"Alright. I agree with you and Lady Artemis; there is no need to wake them now. The demigods will move at dawn, as will you," Chiron said.
Percy started to protest but the centaur continued.
"You and Thalia must gather the rest of the camp leaders and bring them here; a vast majority of the army can sleep, but the de facto commanders need to be here and briefed in advance. Leo is also visiting New Rome from Olympus. We especially need him. He informed me months ago that he needed to create some methods of transport now that demigod numbers had skyrocketed. Go!" Chiron shooed.
Before the two demigods left, Percy grabbed Artemis' forearm.
"Please be safe," he said worriedly.
Artemis rolled her eyes at him.
"I just got you back; it would take far more than the Father of Monsters to separate us again," she said confidently before kissing him and vanishing in a flash of silver.
Percy stood dumbfounded before Thalia physically dragged him out of the Big House for their friend-collection errand.
(Line Break)
At the break of dawn, Camp Half Blood had completely mobilized into a war hub, heavily abuzz as over a thousand demigods prepared for battle. The clang of swords on shields and armor being strapped on was collectively deafening while the army geared up. The demigod commanders stood separately, each in front of their own division, shouting orders while their troops filed into ranks.
Leo stood out ahead of the rest of his friends, acting as an air traffic controller. Instead of the glowing orange batons used normally, Leo held flaming columns of fire as he directed ten identical Greek triremes to land adjacent to each other along the beach. Each one looked like the Argo II, except sleeker, and was equipped with its own autonomous dragon head at the forefront.
Percy looked on in amazement from his position atop a hill that bore over the beach. He saw with his own eyes exactly how hard his friends and the rest of the demigods had worked over the year he was gone. He also laughed to himself as he found his friends wearing deathly serious expressions, organizing the largest army in demigod history just hours after their animated, sobbing reunion at the Big House.
Jason and Piper led Division Four together, a combination of Greek and Roman demigods that'd bonded over the last year of training. The duo had been the most emotional at Percy's return as the only ones not present during the last battle. Percy had never taken Jason to be such a crier, especially considering his present stoic disposition as he finished whipping his group into perfect ranks.
Reyna and Annabeth led Divisions One and Two respectively, each only made up of either Romans or Greeks. The Roman Praetor had been shocked and verbally elated to see him, and Annabeth had silently hugged him as she'd cried. Percy watched in admiration as the pair expertly rallied their assigned groups and herded them onto their respective warships.
Frank stood ahead of Division Three, corralling just over a hundred Roman demigods onto their ship. He barked orders, already battle-ready in his Minotaur form, and Percy wondered if he'd taken that shape a few hours ago while hugging him, because it would explain the crushing feeling in his ribs.
Leo led Five and Nico rallied Six onto their ships as well, all Greek demigods. The immortal son of Hephaestus clacked away, hard at work on his trireme's dashboard, syncing all of the dragons to his ship. Calypso stood alongside him talking to Festus, who Leo had built back into the ship for their journey.
The last four divisions were all, as Percy was calling them, theme-based. Hazel led the cavalry unit, the Seventh division, aboard their more-crowded ship due to their equine passengers. Clarisse headed group Eight, who had lovingly dubbed themselves 'the Berserkers' because they were all either children of Ares and Mars, or were just plain aggressive and got along with the war gods' kids. Group Nine rallied under Will Solace as a division of medics. The final division was just the fifty hunters led by Thalia, who was calmly goading them aboard their trireme.
Once every demigod was off of the beach and into the transports, Percy unfurled his wings and flew out above the docked ships. He'd never been big on orating, but Chiron had thrown the idea out during their meeting, and the rest of his friends had unanimously agreed on it. As the demigod descended out in front of the ships, the morning sun cast a shadow from behind him.
The ships' occupants surged to their boats' bows, riddled with shock and confusion at the dead man walking, or rather flying, out above the ocean. All heads turned to the ship commanders, who just stared proudly at the floating demigod, whose awkward expression was hidden from the onlookers by the sun behind him. Every ship besides the hunters' exploded in a throng of voices questioning how it was possible.
Instead of waiting for a natural silence, Percy called to the ocean below him and, with a powerful tug in his gut, unleashed a hulking geyser of water hundreds of feet into the air. The ships fell silent as the water dispersed like spray from the sky.
"I know you've all got questions," he started, projecting his voice as loudly as he could, "but we've got much more important things to worry about. Today will mark the greatest battle in both Greek and Roman history!"
Shouts rang out across all of the triremes, none louder than Clarisse's Berserkers.
"Our enemy is made up of the most fearsome monsters to ever live. The Primordial of the Pit, the Father of all Monsters, and thousands on thousands of their children, all waiting for us in the Sahara," Percy warned, letting the danger sink in.
He uncapped Riptide and raised it overhead.
"But they've got no idea what's coming! Our parents are facing off against the single greatest monster to ever walk the earth, and they know they're going to win! They already did it just years ago, and they're going to do it again!"
More cheers rang out as the demigods raised their own weapons.
"And look what's right in front of us! The most powerful Army of Olympus to have ever existed! Time and time again, our enemies have underestimated exactly what we're capable of. Titans, Giants, Primordials. They had no idea how powerful we are! They only fight for their own selfish goals; we fight to protect the people beside us! WE SHOWED KRONOS!"
The army on the ships whipped into a frenzy as they roared and beat their weapons against their shields.
"WE SHOWED GAEA!"
The shouts rose higher.
"WE SHOWED EREBUS!"
Each time the voices seemed to reach their crescendo, their amplitude climbed further.
"AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO SEND TARTARUS TO A HELL BELOW HIS OWN!"
The dragon heads joined the deafening orchestra, billowing columns of fire as the vessels roared to life and lifted off of the beach. Percy stumbled back in midair as the ships accelerated much faster than he remembered the Argo II ever had.
"I saw that, Perce!" Leo shouted, laughing as he barrelled past.
"Rocket-propelled! You like?" the immortal son of Hephestus asked, his voice fading as the roaring engines tore him away from the flying demigod.
Percy smiled and shook his head as he flapped his powerful wings, easily bridging the gap to the rocketing triremes. The demigod made his way to the tenth ship, landing next to Thalia.
"Some speech, Kelp Head. Who knew you had it in you?" she mused, serenading him with a teasing golf clap.
He rubbed his neck awkwardly but thanked her.
"Okay, so here's the plan. You all are heading with the others to the Sahara. I'm going straight to the mountain to get my dad; it's a little further, and I'm faster than these ships, so we should get to where we're going at about the same time. After I free him, we're going to go fight Typhon, but dad will flash us to you guys first in case there's any immediate help needed. Let the rest of the commanders know," Percy said.
"Alright. But how do I use that weird, ugly keyboard thing to talk to the rest of the ships?" Thalia complained.
Percy gave her a lopsided smile.
"Man, you're not old enough to act this old. Look at grandma Pheebs; she's already figured it out," he said, gesturing to the eldest huntress clacking away.
Percy turned to find Anna looking sadly at him. He knelt down to meet her eyes.
"You're coming back this time, right?" she asked quietly.
The demigod's heart clenched, but he smiled and nodded before extending a finger.
"Pinky promise I am," he said, and she laughed as she wrapped her own pinky around his.
He looked around at all of the hunters before he took off from the soaring ship, the demigod launching at warping speeds in the direction he'd charted Kilimanjaro to be.
(Line Break)
Hours later, the triremes thudded to rest one after another as they sank their keels into the coarse sand. Reyna's voice rang out over the buffeting sandstorm.
"Form ranks!"
The demigods filed off of their ships, soldiering into formation as they used their shields to block out the storm. Hazel's unit struggled the most, blindly goading their horses as they shielded the animals' eyes. None of the demigods could see more than a hundred feet in front of them, but the dragons had picked up on the monsters' presence and chosen the landing beachhead themselves.
The divisions lined up in sets of four. One and Two established front and center with Three and Four on their wings. They were going to act as an immovable line while the four immediately behind them were designed for support and offensive strikes. Will's medics would create their infirmary center further in the rear while the Hunters positioned themselves as central ranged attackers for any direction.
Thalia and Jason found each other in the assembly and came up with an idea to handle the blinding storm. They closed their eyes and honed their focus on a spot just above their heads. The siblings called to the winds around them and compressed the air in an attempt to explode it outward to disperse as much of the billowing grain as they could. Their bodies tightened, and the obeying drafts erupted.
But it wasn't enough; the whirling sands drifted a meager distance, only giving them a hundred-foot radius of clear skies. It didn't even create enough space to keep the grains out of the eyes of the full army. The pair tried again, straining harder. They felt an intense pull as the winds churned violently above them. The pair forced them away again, and the torrential explosion knocked them and a dozen surrounding demigods to the floor as the sandstorm cleared for a mile in every direction.
As they climbed to their feet, bewildered, a voice laughed and spoke behind them.
"Now we are completely even, son of Jupiter."
Jason whirled to find a retirement-age man with crazed eyes, white hair, and a sky blue suit sewn in with moving clouds. Behind the figure, a demigod whispered.
"That's Aeolus, Master of the Winds."
The botox-laden man spun around to correct him.
"Actually, God of the Winds now. Zeus finally gave me the promotion I oh-so deserved on the condition that I come join the demigod front of the war instead of the Olympian one. That was a steal to me; I didn't want to fight Typhon anyways."
Jason looked dumbfounded at the newly anointed god before thanking him for his help. With the sandstorm gone, it unveiled the primary danger brewing in the desert. Half a mile ahead, right before the demigods' eyes, there was an amassing army of impossible proportions.
Thalia got a firsthand look at the images on Hermes' phone as the deep, burning pits ahead belched neverending waves of monsters onto the sandy terrain. The ranks of demigods collectively shuddered as the realization settled in of exactly what they were about to take on. Leading the mobbing pack of monsters stood fabled figures, both old and new to the present demigods.
Annabeth's eyes darted from being to being as she identified them.
Pallas, Gration, Atlas, Prometheus, Porphyrion, Antaeus, Python.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the churning pits of fire suddenly heaved themselves shut, to the shock of both demigods and monsters. At the front of the sea of enemies, a towering figure took shape.
The Primordial of the Pit wore a blood red chestplate and greaves, both pieces of armor instilling fear through the hellish designs etched onto them. His arms were uncovered, his glistening purple flesh packed to the seams with muscle. Tartarus held a sickle in each taloned hand, dragging the massive curved blades along the sand as he released a mountain-shearing laugh. The dark whirlpool of his face trained on the demigod army, unleashing its innate rage onto them.
Dozens of demigods fainted instantly. Swords and shields also clattered to the ground as the ones left standing stood frozen in terror. A few of the demigods at the front lurched their heads forward, averting their gaze to the sand below. Reyna stumbled forward as he caught herself, shivering as sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Find it in yourself to tear your eyes away!" she shouted.
The army slowly recovered, bodies shifting from the primordial. Tartarus laughed again.
"It would be untruthful of me to say I am not impressed by your display of strength… for a race of ants. Ah, I sense a god hiding among you as well, a slightly larger insect. See the level of being that stands against you, heroes," the primordial spat, raising his sickles.
"But I am here to enjoy a bloody battle full of your pain, of your suffering, and of your futility, not a massacre where I eviscerate you in an instant. Enjoy my Berserkers, demigods!"
Tartarus gestured to his army before he vanished into the ground. On queue, the endless pits roared back to life, and the seemingly endless monster army charged, led by their own chain of commanders. Clarisse and her division shared a look as they realized they'd had the same idea for a name as the most malicious being in existence. The daughter of Ares gritted her teeth before addressing her troops.
"That sorry sack of eggplant skin isn't taking anything from us! We'll show him who the real Berserkers are!"
Division Eight whipped into a frenzy as Reyna walked out to address the entire army.
"Don't let our enemy fool you into thinking he's unbeatable! He only wins by breaking our spirit! But that cannot happen; we are the Army of Olympus, and we have a job to do!" she shouted.
Every demigod responded with renewed vigor as the previously unconscious ones climbed back to their feet.
"Not even Tartarus is invincible! He needed to disappear there! It is draining his energy to hold open gates to the overworld without the Doors of Death! See through every lie the enemy throws at you! Every being has a limit! Rip apart his army and show this terrible deity that not even the entire pit is enough to take us!" the Roman Praetor roared, hoping her assumption was right as she mounted Pegasus.
Everyone raised their weapons in response as the thundering monsters drew nearer. The leading line of demigods picked up on the blackish-red glow around the commanders of the monsters. Each one tearing towards them wore an unnerving expression, as if they'd gone mad. Annabeth quickly surmised that they were the ones Tartarus was describing as his Berserkers. She turned to the army.
"Anything that glows, target it together and keep attacking even after you think it's dead! They're blessed by Tartarus and will be much harder to kill!"
Aeolus' head whipped between the demigods surrounding him, mindblown that he was the only one that seemed terrified.
"I've made a horrible mistake, when is everyone else getting here?" he bemoaned towards no one in particular.
A groaning screech ripped through the air from behind the demigod army, and all of them whirled around. Leo whooped as the top half of his ship creaked and curtly disassembled its leading mast. Festus roared as its head lifted, revealing the bronze body built back into the hull of the ship. The dragon took flight, belching columns of fire as it coiled above the onlooking demigods.
The son of Hephaestus pressed a button on Festus, and the other nine triremes followed suit, shedding their sails as their dragons became airborne. Calypso hopped onto the nearest one, the same dragon she'd flown in the last battle.
"We're all we've got, Airhead! Now let's kick some ass!" Leo shouted over the sound of roaring dragons and incoming sea of monsters.
The demigod army added their own shouts to the cacophony, energized by the scaly armada as they surged forward, barrelling into the monsters, and the sounds of war ripped across the Sahara.
(Line Break)
Torrential rain battered Artemis as she rolled her chariot away from the building-sized fist that she eluded by mere inches. She shot a dozen more arrows into the center of the storm overlaying Typhon's eye. The demonic monster unleashed a shaking roar as he swatted at her again. Artemis willed her chariot faster as she hastened from him. Typhon trudged towards the goddess, veering off of his route by a few steps before he turned back to it. The monster shifted his glowing red eyes towards another one of the carriages orbiting him.
Artemis was shocked at how easy it had been to goad Typhon away from his straight path to Olympus. The monster had become more bloodthirsty than he'd been at their last encounter, choosing to attack the gods over marching to his goal. The goddess figured it must have something to do with the crazed look in his massive eye and the thin, hellish glow enveloping his body. Artemis couldn't imagine how much power it took Tartarus to maintain his enhancement of Typhon; the monster was simply too large to be blessed autonomously.
It was a worthwhile investment, though, because the gods were making no progress against the monster. They'd slowly guided him from the populated countries onto the banks of the Red Sea, but had taken serious losses in the process. Like last time, Typhon had swatted Dionysus into the ground at breakneck speeds. Alongside the wine god, Demeter was out of commission as well as Hermes, both having their chariots brutally shattered by the monster's lizard tail.
Artemis had never felt so helpless against a threat before. She watched as her father hurled bolt after bolt at Typhon, billions in total volts of electricity, and the monster didn't do more than momentarily shudder. Ares revved his weaponized Mustang as he shot an entire military's worth of ammo and explosives at the head of the monster. Typhon roared and shook his head before turning towards the war god. The Olympian reversed his vehicle, baiting the monster deeper into the Red Sea.
Typhon followed, tearing forward until the water climbed up to his knees.
"NOW, TRITON!" Zeus bellowed, striking again with his Master Bolt.
Artemis tore into the fray, joining the rest of the gods as they bombarded the monster with everything at their disposal. Hephaestus launched molten lava, Hestia threw fireballs, Apollo shot volley after volley of arrows, and Ares fired nearly every nameable human weapon under the sun.
Triton shouted as he flew up from the Red Sea, his hands raised overhead as he called on the ocean. A whirlpool formed beneath the mountainous monster, and he stumbled forward. Artemis felt her first glimmer of hope since she'd arrived, but the feeling was cut short. Typhon bellowed and spun much more quickly than anything his size should have ever been able to, whirling his spiked tail and catching Triton in the chest midair.
The immortal son of Poseidon let out an agonizing cough as he cratered against the banks of the sea, and his whirlpool dissipated. An army of Atlantean Cyclopes, led by Tyson, ripped from the slowing water as they looked around frantically while wielding their chains. Typhon stared down vengefully from his innate perch, seemingly recalling his last defeat. The living mountain raised his fist before he ground over a hundred of the retreating Cyclopes into dust.
Hades looked on despondently as he took off his helm, watching the bodies vanish. Hestia covered her mouth, and Zeus' expression turned horrified. The King of the Gods saw Triton shift from his broken position on the bank. Typhon saw him as well.
"Triton, get away from here! If you can still fight, go assist the demigods!" Zeus shouted.
The Prince of the Sea barely nodded as he inched into the ocean and dissolved into the current.
Typhon roared as he continued to tear across the sea that no longer held any savior to imprison him. The monster had returned to his march, and the gods resumed their hopeless assault.
(Line Break)
Percy fell to his knees at the base of Kilimanjaro, breathing heavily. He wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead as he took in his surroundings. The mountain was missing half of, well, its entire base. In its place was a hole that ran easily a thousand feet deep, where Tartarus must have raised Typhon from the Pit.
Above the hole were huge masses of jagged rock that continued to fall as the mountain actively splintered. Percy was shocked at just how much damage Typhon's awakening had done to Kilimanjaro. He was brought out of his awe by a hulking rock dislodging from the mountain and tearing towards him.
The demigod beat his wings, shooting backwards as the house-sized chunk of rubble collapsed where he'd last stood. Percy caught his breath before he tore up towards the towering peak, where he knew his father was being held. As if responding to his presence, the mountain groaned, and pieces independently tore from the cliff faces above the rocketing demigod.
Percy flew into a tailspin as more rubble hailed down. He gritted his teeth through the smaller boulders impacting his shoulders and legs, his new strength allowing him to keep pushing. But the slabs grew larger and more frequent as the demigod climbed, forcing him to dodge all of the debris while the air thinned.
The demigod was bewildered when he sensed panic from the mountain itself as he neared the peak.
"Go away! You're not supposed to be here!" a frightened male voice screeched.
Percy stumbled midair, stunned by what he believed to be a talking mountain. In his stupor, he couldn't escape the several-ton chunk of rock that barrelled into his chest. The demigod heaved against it, coughing up blood as he sank back towards the earth at terminal velocity.
(Line Break)
Jason lay unconscious in a bloodied heap surrounded by a segment of his division. Piper stood over him, battling back a pack of ravenous hellhounds while her own head gushed with blood. The giant king Porphyrion roared madly, leaving no trace of his former mouthy personality, as his crazed eyes hungered for more victims. He slashed at Reyna flying overhead on Pegasus as she desperately tried to keep his attention from the overwhelmed demigods below.
The hunters were scattered along the allies' ranks, but a small circle of them stood in the middle around Thalia, who had a spear through her shoulder. The daughter of Zeus stared vengefully at the giant Gration, the owner of the weapon. She gritted her teeth as she tried to stand, only to fall back as the pain flared.
Leo rode Festus alongside an airborne Aeolus as they panickingly weaved through packs of flying monsters. They were surrounded by harpies and Stymphalian birds, and had to avoid snapping drakons when they flew too low. Festus shook violently when Python lunged into the air and ensnared the bronze dragon, dragging it and Leo to the earth. Aeolus watched, petrified, before he was stifled by the bodies of the aerial monsters around him.
Annabeth limped forward in her dented armor, wielding a sword against Atlas, the former sky bearer. She hadn't had the chance to learn how he was there, because it was taking every ounce of her concentration to not be killed by the raging titan. Annabeth slashed with her sword as he charged her. She cut into his arm before he rammed her flat into the sand, forcing her to release her blade and fight to stay conscious.
Clarisse was battered and bruised but didn't stop shouting as she faced off against the giant Pallas. Beside her, Nemesis lay spilling ichor because of a spear through her stomach, courtesy of the giant. The goddess had arrived minutes after the battle had begun, answering Zeus' call to assist the demigods. She hadn't seen it coming when Pallas impaled her on his weapon, but Clarisse had quickly come to her defense. The daughter of Ares wasn't faring much better than the goddess, being whaled on by the raging giant's bare fists.
The unending wave of monsters had slowly shoved back the defensive line of the four divisions. The demigods had to decide between being forced back or being run straight through by the burgeoning wave. Frank still stood front and center, as a Hundred-Handed-One, holding back a thousand monsters from ripping through the middle of the line. Bleeding from dozens of cuts, he knew he couldn't hold out for much longer as his stamina reached its limit.
The Olympian cause felt hopeless on all fronts as their spirits waned against the forces in front of them. Deep below the earth, Tartarus' grin sparked with malicious glee as he watched his war unfold. He knew the beginning of his reign was imminent.