Chapter 23: An Olympian Stands
Frank's leg buckled under the ever-increasing weight of the ravenous mob trying to tear past him. He dropped to a knee and, in his hulking transformation, still towered above the enemy's frontline. The demigod looked ahead in a panic as he watched horses without their riders whinny and screech before being mercilessly silenced by packs of hellhounds.
He shut his eyes for a moment, begging to every god he could name that Hazel was still safe and on horseback. His prayers were answered when she appeared a dozen meters ahead, riding Arion and tearing a hole through the thick ocean of monsters. Frank's relief was quickly wiped away when a lucky empousa jumped forward at the perfect moment, sinking her teeth into Hazel's upper shoulder while Arion blazed past. The daughter of Pluto vanished into the mob as the vampire ripped her from the horse's back, and Frank snapped.
The son of Mars shouted as he climbed to his full height and explosively shoved the line of monsters back, giving him a moment of free space. Frank was already in motion, transforming back into the Minotaur and unstrapping Ultor from his back. But the moment he grasped the spear out in front of him, he instinctively let go because its red-hot metal sheared through the skin of his palms.
Frank stared at the sizzling weapon in the sand, the legendary spear burning a bright red. The war raging around him faded to background as a pulsating echo emanating from Ultor reverberated inside the demigod's head. Frank's confusion pulled at the memory of when he'd received the weapon.
Mars unstrapped the rifle from his back and it transformed into a spear, nearly identical to the one he'd given Frank before the demigod's quest to Alaska. He handed it to his son, who held it tentatively. The demigod examined the familiar weapon, and the only difference was that instead of a drakon tooth at the end, this one had a tip of Olympian Silver with an engraving of a wolf's head on either side.
"This is Ultor, after my title of Mars Ultor. As Praetor, you will be the leader your troops look to in times of battle. At any time, you may use the power imbued within the spear to rally your legion together. But as you know, Ultor means 'avenger.' If you use it at a time when you are losing the battle, you will see its full power as a tool of vengeance. As a Roman, you fight to be victorious, but it would be unwise to not plan for possible failures."
The violent storm surrounding Frank returned to the forefront of his mind, deafening him. He involuntarily stumbled forward as Ultor pulled at him from the sand. Frank gritted his teeth as he wrapped his hands around the scorching weapon. His palms bled and his head throbbed as Ultor exuded vengeance, demanding to be released. The son of Mars lifted the legendary spear overhead, threw up his bullish maw, and roared.
Ultor unleashed waves of light that tore across the battlefield in every direction. The energy instantly incinerated the nearest hundred monsters to it and scattered their surrounding allies. Frank felt ungodly adrenaline coursing through his veins as he tore forward with his spear.
"Advance!" he shouted, not waiting for a response from the demigod lines behind him.
He didn't expect the most terrifying sound he'd ever heard as over a thousand demigods unleashed their own war cries and thundered forward, empowered by the spear. The armada of monsters collectively stumbled back in response, revealing Hazel already on her feet, feeling the effects of Ultor as she beheaded the horrified empousa.
Frank grinned, transforming into a drakon as he surveyed their own now-monstrous army, his eyes flicking between all of his formerly thrashed or unconscious friends that had begun battling like demons, and he finally understood Ultor's true power.
(Line Break)
"OH, HELL YES!" Ares whooped over the raging storm, looking down at his hands glowing a bright red that mirrored the rest of his body.
Typhon was continuing his warpath towards the Suez Canal ahead, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and leading him closer to his goal. The hollering and the obnoxious revving of a floating Mustang diverted the monster's attention, and he turned towards the nuisance. By the time the towering monster spun around, the racket had silenced and was instead replaced by the sound of two sharp cracks that reverberated across the sky.
Mars stood in a black Mercedes convertible holding a smoking heavy sniper. The Roman god let off a dozen more shots in rapid succession from his seemingly endless magazine. The bullets didn't break Typhon's skin, but the brute impact of so many heavy shots was enough to force a slight stumble in his step. For the surrounding Olympians and gods, that was all they needed to reinvigorate their hope.
"Understand what it means to court war with Olympus, creature. Your thick skin is not enough; even a mountain can be cut by a stream with time. EXURGE MARS!" the war god roared.
The rest of the Olympians echoed their own battle cries as all but Athena transitioned to their Roman forms, and all of the gods present continued their onslaught. Khione, who'd arrived in the hopes of regaining Olympus' favor, zigzagged between Typhon's scaly legs. She periodically froze sections of his lower half using the abundant sea around her, if only to stall the Father of Monsters for moments at a time.
Jupiter vaulted from his chariot, charging into the center of the storm that whirled around Typhon's sickening face. The God of Thunder buried his Master Bolt in the creature's skull as deeply as the most powerful Olympian weapon could dig in, mere inches, and unleashed millions upon millions of volts directly into Typhon's body. The hellish being shuddered before shaking his head violently, and he launched Jupiter off of him like a rocket.
Diana and Apollo combined over a thousand arrows a minute, discharging a never-ending volley into Typhon's visible eye. The twin archers split their chariots as Typhon roared and swung the clawed building he called his hand at the pair. It missed them, instead impacting the banks of the sea below and ripping open a deep crevice.
Vesta stood at the center of a flame avatar, launching massive fireballs at Typhon's torso while Athena weaved as closely to his body as she could to scope out the weakest spot. Mars continued his sniper's onslaught while Pluto called upon huge hands of shadows to tangle and burden the monster.
Even with their renewed violence, Typhon's energy didn't seem to be waning as he aggressively stomped and swiped at the deities that looked like gnats swarming his body. The Father of Monsters became more enraged at the gods' refusal to give up, and he focused his attention on breaking their spirits. The berserking creature climbed onto dry land between the two seas as he closed his fist and swung at the recovered Jupiter barreling towards him.
(Line Break)
Even with the skies cleared from the earlier storm, the raging war along the Sahara still kicked up blinding amounts of sand. The reinvigorated demigods tore forward while their own godly reinforcements continued to arrive. The commanders of each army met in heated clashes, forcing the rest of the hordes to steer clear or risk being vaporized.
Jason, back on his feet, had summoned his own desert twister as he clashed against an enraged Porphyrion. Piper had willingly disappeared into the mob, tearing apart dracaenae with Katoptris. She'd elected to change her target when Hercules had arrived, the arrogant god excited to get away from his Mediterranean outpost.
The legendary hero swung his club at the berserking giant king's legs while Jason kept his attention and Reyna stabbed from above. The trio scattered as Porphyrion flailed, stomping where Hercules had stood moments ago and stabbing his spear at Reyna's afterimage, missing by less than milliseconds. As the giant steadied himself, Jason barreled forward and threw currents of sand into his eyes before deeply piercing the giant's stomach with his golden gladius.
Porphyrion roared, and his enveloping blackish-red glow burned darker. His wound didn't heal itself, but Jason could almost physically feel the giant king get stronger. Every hair on his body stood straight up as Porphyrion reared back his weapon, and the demigod used the winds to rocket out of range. When the giant brought down the spear, the sands parted as a fissure spread through the ground.
Hercules' eyes widened before he locked in and charged, whaling his club against the giant's knees and thighs. Pegasus launched forward, headbutting Porphyrion and forcing him to stumble as Reyna slashed her own gladius across the giant's head. Jason jumped in, using the winds to propel him as he blazed past the monster and stabbed him with his electrified gladius.
Porphyrion continued to swing madly, becoming more and more violent with every wound inflicted on him by the overwhelming trio. The demigods promptly slowed their attacks, their natural instincts forcing them to be apprehensive towards the power emanating from the monster. Hercules had shed that "weakness" after becoming a god. His eyes were wild as he continued swinging his club up close, crumpling the back of the giant's knees.
Porphyrion's leg buckled, and he fell forward for a moment before he caught himself. The giant vengefully roared as he whirled around, lifting his foot in the air. Hercules backpedaled too late as the giant king stomped down on the god, repeatedly grinding him under his foot with a barrage of impossibly fast steps. Jason and Reyna watched horrified as Porphyrion relented his attack for only a moment before he raised his spear overhead and drove it through Hercules, burying the staff deep into the sand.
The god lay limp in the crater as Porphyrion mindlessly stood over him shouting. The giant king's breathing was labored as he felt the damage of the dozen wounds all over his body. Reyna and Jason shared a glance before charging towards the waiting giant, knowing they'd have to somehow finish him themselves.
At the center of the tide of monsters, Leo had created a circle of fire around himself after being dragged out of the sky with Festus. He climbed to his feet wielding his ball-peen hammers coated in their own flames. The demigod willed the fire further, charring the dozens of monsters trying to rip into Festus. He suddenly felt the power from Ultor coursing through his veins, and the son of Hephaestus steeled his nerves, facing off against Python and Antaeus in his ring of fire.
Festus jumped up, protectively wrapping around his pilot and belching columns of flame at the duo of enemies. Python spat poison, dousing the fire coming in his direction while Antaeus allowed the remaining column to envelop him. It burned through his skin only for the sands to rise and heal him while they smothered the flames. Leo faltered as he watched his opponents effortlessly dismantle his greatest advantage. The demigod patted his dragon's head.
"Festus, I need you to get out of here. I've got these clowns," he said, feigning confidence.
The dragon groaned, but Leo shooed at him.
"I need you to trust me, buddy. Help Aeolus and your siblings. I'll call you when I need you; go!"
Festus creaked and took off into the sky, unleashing a beam of fire into a horde of Stymphalian birds.
"So, which one of you two ladies wants to get whooped first?" Leo asked.
"S-s-silence," Python hissed.
Leo jumped back, startled that the massive snake could speak. He had no chance to recover before Python tore forward, his petrifying slits stunning the demigod. Right as the monster's fangs reached Leo, a piercing cry shook the battlefield, and the hulking snake's eyes snapped wide in fear.
"Aetos Dios? Zeus?" Python whimpered as his gaze turned to the sky.
A massive golden bird dove towards them, impaling its beak through Python and eliciting a shriek from the monster. The hulking avian flapped its wings violently as it ripped its beak out and slashed at the snake with its talons. Antaeus backed up towards the edge of the ring of fire while Python writhed in both pain and fear. The bird began to vibrate as it stumbled towards Leo, who was just as shocked because he recognized it.
The creature shrank, transforming back into a human, and Frank shuddered as he struggled to maintain his balance. Python recovered, though bleeding profusely, and hissed as his blessed aura glowed darker.
"S-s-sorcery!" he shouted.
Leo stuttered as Frank braced himself with Ultor.
"T-that was the eagle from the -"
"Yeah, from the Roman flag and staff. It's a personification of Zeus and it's a bird, so it's Python's natural enemy. First time impersonating a god and it almost immediately knocked me out," Frank laughed shakily.
"THAT WAS SICK! Okay, you deal with Hi-s-s-s-y and I'll handle Mr. Sandman," Leo said quickly, charging Antaeus before his friend could respond.
Leo extended the ring of fire even further, incinerating another hundred monsters as he gave the pairs more space to duel. Antaeus rushed to meet the demigod barehanded, which Leo found odd as he swung his hammers. Leo's opponent ducked under his weapons, getting inside his guard and wrapping the demigod in a headlock.
"You've never heard of me, boy? I am Antaeus, a son of Gaea and the greatest wrestler to ever live!" he declared before he lifted Leo overhead and slammed him headfirst into the sand behind him.
Dazed, the demigod climbed to his feet as he processed the painful flip he was just forced into. His throat throbbed from Antaeus' vice-like grip, but he shook off the unsteadiness and rushed him again. Leo holstered his tools and decided on trucking his opponent. Antaeus grinned, bracing his core as the demigod ran into him. To the wrestler's shock, Leo knocked the wind out of him and left him sprawling in the sand.
"Yeah! Not so scrawny anymore, am I?" Leo shouted, flexing his physique at his confused enemy.
Leo realized the son of Gaea had no idea what he used to look like. Sands swept up from around Antaeus, repairing any damage Leo had done to him, and the wrestler climbed back to his feet. The demigod looked at him disgruntled, only for Antaeus to shrug.
"My mother blessed me with the ability for the earth to heal me from any wound."
"Oh yeah? I dropped a super-bomb on your mom and sent her to sleep for a billion years. Have her try and heal that instead," Leo retorted.
Antaeus glowed from Tartarus' blessing, his face contorting as he charged Leo again. The demigod mirrored him and they clashed barehanded, making a silent agreement to wrestle the other into submission. The son of Gaea reached for Leo's legs, only to be kicked in the face as they both fell to the ground.
Leo locked his arm around Antaeus' neck and squeezed as hard as he could. Antaeus choked and jerked violently, rearing his arm and punching Leo in the face several times. The man eventually broke out of the headlock and whirled around towards the demigod, who was massaging his own jaw. Antaeus became more apprehensive of his opponent.
"How are you resisting my prowess?" he asked before charging.
"Because…" Leo started, answering his charge.
The pair met again, but Leo dropped to the ground before they clashed. He grabbed the son of Gaea's leg before locking his own around it.
"My girlfriend…" he continued, gritting his teeth and tensing his lower body while Antaeus tried to break out of the leg lock.
Antaeus shouted as Leo strained further.
"Is a TITAN!" the demigod finished, ripping back as hard as he could and shattering his opponent's femur.
Antaeus groaned weakly as Leo stood up. He stepped back, leaving the son of Gaea facedown and whimpering in the sand.
"And she hits a lot harder than you do."
Leo rolled his eyes as the sands shifted and reset Antaeus' bone. The son of Hephaestus would have to think of something else.
Frank dodged another dart of poison from the sentient serpent before he transformed into the Minotaur and lunged. The serpent hissed as he withdrew, but Frank rushed forward and pierced his opponent's tail into the sand with Ultor. Python shrieked and glowed brighter as he bit towards the demigod, who transformed into a chihuahua to shrink out of the way.
Then immediately shifting to a massive drakon, Frank dwarfed the prophetical snake and spat his own poison. Python just angrily took it head-on before biting his own tail off to free himself. Frank watched the move in awe, seeing no fear in the monster's eyes, and he realized he'd have to try the godly transformation again.
Frank closed his eyes as he turned back into himself and picked up Ultor. Python dove onto him, and the demigod caught his fangs against the spear.
"Just a little longer this time," he whispered to himself as he transformed into Aetos Dios, Zeus' golden eagle.
Python's narrow slits turned fearful again, and Frank realized it was the only way to beat him; the snake's natural predator was the only thing that inspired enough terror to counteract the berserking blessing. Frank felt lightheaded as the Olympian transformation continued to drain him, so he got to work.
Python shrieked and slithered backwards as Frank ripped him apart. The monster didn't even try to contest the godlike bird, deeply frightened by his direct biological superior. Leo and Antaeus took a simultaneous glance at the terrified Python disintegrating into dust after Frank relentlessly tore him to pieces. Leo's eyes widened as he realized how to beat the earthen son of Gaea.
"Festus! Seven!" he shouted into the air before slipping under a high lunge.
Leo had flattened onto his back. He tucked his knees to his chest before exploding his legs like pistons at the son of Gaea looking down at him. The demigod lifted his opponent off of the ground, sending him several feet into the air. Antaeus flailed as he started to fall again, only to hear mechanical creaking from the sand clouds behind him.
Festus and a chrome green dragon tore forward side by side, each snatching up one of Antaeus' arms and playing tug-of-war. Leo grinned as he made a gesture with his hands that he'd learned from his new favorite show, Dragon Ball, and a burning sphere of fire appeared between his palms. He charged it for a moment before unleashing it at the screaming son of Gaea, who promptly dissolved into mud.
Frank, shuddering violently as his normal self, propped himself up with Ultor as he walked up to Leo.
"Dude, you named your dragon Seven?" the son of Mars asked.
"Okay listen, I didn't have enough time to name them all really good names. I'll do it after we get done here," Leo explained as he supported Frank's weight.
"Alright, we've still got a long way to go," the demigod replied, gesturing to the still endless sea of monsters surrounding their haven of fire.
Thalia charged forward wielding a foreign spear that'd previously been lodged in her shoulder. The giant Gration had stumbled back after seeing the demigod he'd fatally wounded utter a bloodcurdling cry and rip his weapon from her wound. Thalia reached him in the blink of an eye, burying his spear into his own shoulder.
The daughter of Zeus brandished her normal spear and shield as Gration glowed, gritting his teeth as he dislodged his returned weapon. The giant narrowed his eyes as he readied his stance.
"How are you standing, huntress?" he spat, "Even with that damned legendary spear, my weapon should have severed your arm."
Before the demigod could reply, a new voice spoke from behind Gration.
"She must have gotten lucky," it said, giggling.
Thalia rolled her eyes as a woman came into view; it was Tyche.
"You know, as a goddess, you should be making better jokes," Thalia complained.
"With any luck, you'll just forget I said it," the Goddess of Luck and Fortune responded cheekily.
"You're very annoying."
"I know! Now let's kill him!" Tyche cheerily exclaimed.
Gration spun around, caught in the middle of their conversation, and slashed his spear at the goddess. Tyche ducked under it before spinning on her heel and kicking the giant in the chin. He roared and slammed his fists into the ground, shaking the pair, and Thalia ran forward.
The giant caught her spear as she swung it, ripping it from her grasp and throwing it at Tyche. The goddess sidestepped the weapon before chasing it down and pulling it out of the ground where it'd buried itself. Thalia braced behind her shield as Gration pummeled it with his fists. Her Aegis began to crack under his onslaught, and her forearms burned.
Tyche returned to the fight, impaling Gration through the knee with Thalia's spear. She gave the giant two swift kicks to the throat before bounding away as the demigod reclaimed her weapon. Ichor gushed from the wound, and Gration stumbled back in a rage. He charged forward again, and Thalia threw her spear into his foot, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Use my spear!" Thalia shouted to the goddess as she swapped to her bow.
"Lucky me!"
Thalia rolled her eyes again as she peppered the giant with arrows.
"Always you damn hunters!" Gration shouted as he swung blindly.
Thalia's arrows left the giant with no sight, and she ran forward into the fray. The demigod electrified her shield as she bounded forward and bashed it into the giant's family jewels. He crumpled under the strike, and Tyche roared with laughter. The Goddess of Luck used her gifted spear to behead the giant, and Thalia summoned a lightning bolt to strike his bare back, forcing him to vanish into nothing.
Prometheus charged forward, a shell of his former self. The berserking titan held no esteem of his previous intelligence as he ran rampant among demigods and monsters alike. Hazel charged forward, noticing that he was unconsciously implementing the Mist into his attacks. She realized that the formerly brilliant titan may have had some level of mastery over it.
The daughter of Pluto steeled herself and called Arion, hopping on his back and they charged the raging titan together.
"Hello, my student. Show me what you have learned," a voice rang in her head.
Hecate appeared behind Prometheus. The Goddess of Magic twirled her hand, and Prometheus responded when Mist swarmed around his head. The mindless titan speared through another demigod before he turned towards Hazel and roared. He took off in her direction, and Hazel closed her eyes to concentrate. As the titan drew closer, beads of sweat appeared along the demigod's forehead as she considered any possible uses of the Mist.
Hecate covered her mouth, eyes wide when Prometheus rammed into Arion, sending the horse sprawling, before the titan thrust his spear forward and skewered the daughter of Pluto. The goddess dashed forward to avenge her death when a black shadow appeared behind the titan.
The body impaled on Prometheus' spear vanished into purple dust as a form in pitch black armor jumped onto the titan's back and stabbed a blackened-gold cavalry sword deep into his nape. Prometheus' following shout was cut short by a guillotine blade conjured by the goddess lopping his head clean off. Hazel turned around to find Hecate giving her an approving nod before the pair moved to handle the heaving monster army.
Atlas clasped his hands overhead before he slammed them into the ground, causing a shattering quake. The titan second only to Kronos in strength spun wildly as he searched for the shifty daughter of Athena. Annabeth, reinvigorated, ducked between his legs and threw on her invisibility hat to shake him. She'd successfully stabbed the titan several times, wounding him though making him much stronger. The demigod was doing her best to evade his unbelievably heavy blows, but she needed answers.
"How are you here?!" she shouted, barely dodging the clenched fist slamming down where she'd stood.
"Tartarus freed me!" the monster responded, spinning to track her shapeless voice.
Annabeth's analytical mind raced as she thought about how that could be possible. Every idea drew a blank besides the primordial forcing a being into Atlas' place. And only an Olympian would be strong enough to hold the sky for any reasonable length without the domain coming crashing down. Her heart clenched as she realized who it'd have to be.
"Did he leave Poseidon with your burden?" she asked fearfully.
Atlas laughed as he continued to play whack-a-mole with the invisible daughter of Athena.
"No! He has become far too weak to withstand that weight! Tartarus trapped quite a powerful enemy under there. It was his own son, Damasen."
Annabeth whipped off her invisibility cap as she shot the titan with a look of unbridled hatred. The demigod didn't say a word as she charged with her sword, not caring how powerful her enemy was. She felt sick that Damasen would have been trapped in hell all this time as Tartarus brewed his malicious plan. Atlas laughed as she swung her sword.
Her bronze weapon cut deep into his hand, but he just grimaced as he wrapped his fingers around the blade before wrenching it from her grasp. Annabeth flew forward only to be caught by Atlas' free hand and battered into the sand. The daughter of Athena coughed up blood as she helplessly struggled against his unshakeable grip.
"You feel passionately about that pacifist… I will send him your regards," Atlas said as he raised his fist.
Across the desert, Clarisse buried her spear, Maimer, deep into Pallas' stomach only to be violently swatted as the titan clashed against Nike.
"This will be our victory!" Nike screeched before Pallas punched her in the face to silence her.
The daughter of Ares climbed to her feet, shouting and pumping herself up as she charged again. Pallas roared as he met her in a clash. The giant slipped back as Nemesis returned to the battle. The Goddess of Revenge had blown off the steam of being impaled by killing several thousand lesser monsters single handedly. But she'd returned to face off against Pallas, knowing her revenge was against him, not his cronies.
Nemesis wielded twin blades and darted at the giant, slipping underneath his punches and ripping into his chest. The goddess dragged her daggers through his torso before he wrapped her in a bear hug. She shouted as he crushed her against him before he grabbed her legs and threw her into the recovered Nike.
Clarisse subbed in as his opponent, maddeningly charging the bleeding and stumbling giant. Pallas reared back his fist before a hundred silver arrows riddled up and across his arm. The daughter of Ares took a moment to glance behind her and saw a dozen hunters all firing their weapons. Clarisse continued her charge, confident that there was no chance even a single one of them would misfire and strike her.
Pallas backpedaled from the neverending series of arrows. As Clarisse jumped into the air, thrusting Maimer from overhead, Nemesis swung her blades towards the back of Pallas' knees, and Nike removed her helmet to stab the spiked wings into the giant's spine. All of the attacks struck at once, eliciting an ear-splitting roar from the giant before he fell, his form reduced to a pile of slop.
Monsters were being massacred at a rate faster than the endless waves from Tartarus could replenish them. Nico had torn open a crevice in the ground and called for Cerberus, who'd appeared with Persephone as his rider. The goddess was shredding a hundred monsters at a time atop her hulking hellhound. Overhead, Iris danced in between Leo's dragon armada as they all flew alongside Aeolus and sheared apart massive lines of enemies. Triton, having recovered as best he could, arrived from the Olympian front against Typhon and found his stride slashing through waves of monsters. Terrible battles still raged across the still-massive expanse of enemies, but the war no longer felt one-sided on the Saharan front.
(Line Break)
Percy shoved against the hulking boulder barreling towards the ground with him pinned underneath. He braced his core and twisted, lightly shifting the several tons of earth and slipping out. The demigod flapped his wings aggressively and slowed himself just before he would have struck the earth. To make up for lost time, he tore upward with a vengeance.
Percy felt ready to take on the whole mountain if he needed to. He ripped through the air, all the way to the peak, without a single rock dislodging quickly enough to slow him down. After he reached the tip of the mountain, he closed his eyes and pushed out his senses. Moments later, the demigod picked up on the slightest hint of water, and his heart skipped a beat. He crossed his arms in front of his face and dove towards it.
The demigod busted straight through walls of solid rock, hell-bent on reaching the source he'd felt. After tearing open a particularly thin layer of earth, Percy found himself in a spacious room with an ominous throne in the center. He had no chance to take in his surroundings before a creature, towering at twenty feet, stumbled out from behind the throne.
Ourea seemed to raise his hands to fight, and Percy's face turned to rage as his fists glowed blue. He covered the distance between them in an instant, swinging and sending shattering impacts through the primordial, who wailed in surprise.
"Where is Poseidon?!" Percy shouted.
Ourea lifted his finger only for the demigod to barrage him again and repeat the question.
"Percy," a voice whispered from behind him.
The demigod froze before he promptly dashed towards the voice that'd come from the dimly lit wall. His eyes welled instantly as he found Poseidon's withered form chained to it, his father smiling weakly at him. Percy's flaming hammers cut through the chains, and he caught his slumping father in an embrace as he cried into his shoulder.
"Yo-you are not supposed to be here," Ourea said, tentatively walking up to the hugging duo.
Percy's eyes sparked again before Poseidon placed his hand on the back of his son's neck.
"Don't hurt Ourea, Percy," he whispered, "He is just another victim of his brothers' malevolence; he doesn't even know it was you that rid this world of Erebus. Go. Tell him that it will be okay."
Percy didn't fully understand, but he had no will to disagree with his father in that moment. The demigod turned towards the imposing figure.
"Ourea, I'm just here to save my dad," Percy started cautiously, "I know you're scared of your brother, but I'm going to deal with him just like I did Erebus."
The demigod felt very strange talking to a being eons old like he would a child.
"Th-that was you? Bu-but no. Tartarus is bigger and stronger than Erebus. He never loses. Ever. You cannot beat him."
"Ourea, I need you to trust me. We're going to do it."
"Trust?"
"Trust, just this once. Can you do that for me?"
"Only once. Okay," the primordial said before vanishing into the rocks below.
Percy turned back to his dad, gingerly sitting him upright against a large rock. Poseidon pulled him into a hug, only making him cry again.
"I am so proud of you, Percy. Even in my imprisonment, I have watched you grow into the greatest man I could ever ask my son to be," Poseidon said, his voice emanating pride.
Percy laughed through his tears at the ridiculous sentiment.
"Come on dad, you got too old. Let's get you into the closest ocean so you can go back to your regular self," the demigod said, lifting Poseidon to his feet.
The Olympian grunted as he sat himself back down.
"I need you to know that. You have made me proud beyond measure. Thank you," he wheezed.
"Now's not the time, dad. We've gotta go so I can show you all of the really cool things you haven't seen in my life yet. And also so we can kick Typhon's ass together," Percy said, trying to raise the god's spirits.
Poseidon laughed, and what looked like black ichor spilled out of his mouth. Percy stumbled before he dropped to his knees in front of the Olympian.
"Dad?! What's wrong?! What is that?" he asked, panicked through his tears.
"Come on, Perseus. I was here when Erebus discovered Mnemosyne's collusion with you. Did you truly believe he wouldn't try to destroy my soul as well? It was only through watching you and because of my will to see my family again that it didn't fully succeed on me." Poseidon explained as more of the liquid poured from his lips.
Percy's head throbbed as his mind raced to figure out how to fix the unknown damage. The demigod's hands glowed orange as he wrapped them around his father's torso.
"What do you mean watching me?" Percy asked, confused at the few times Poseidon had mentioned it.
The god ignored his words.
"And then Tartarus also attempted it immediately after the yearlong contract ended. I was certain I would succumb to it soon, but I had to hold out until I saw you again, my son."
Poseidon's breathing shallowed as he sadly smiled at the demigod.
"Έχω επιλέξει κληρονόμο. Υποτάσσομαι πρόθυμα να επιστρέψω στο κενό του χάους."
Percy's mind automatically translated the god's Greek words, and his eyes widened before more tears sprang forth. An invisible force suddenly shoved him away from Poseidon. Percy clawed to his feet and ran towards the Olympian, only to be knocked away again. The tightness in the demigod's chest threatened to rip consciousness from underneath him. He ran at his father again.
Percy slammed his fists against the invisible barrier, swung shocking blue lightning, launched flaming hammers, sliced with Riptide, all to no avail as Poseidon fell to his knees. Through his vision blurred by his tears, Percy could barely see his father smiling at him.
"Dad! Stop! Please! I don't want to be your heir. I just need you to come back with me. Hestia can heal you! We can fix this!" he begged, breaking both of his hands pounding against the invincible wall.
Through the barrier, Poseidon held his assured smile towards his son while still emanating the same pride as before. Slowly, the Olympian's body began to flicker.
"It is only this form that is fading; I will always live on through you as well as everyone else that remembers me. And take good care of my niece, young man," Poseidon said, his eyes creasing with his knowing smile, "Once you have prevailed in this war, I believe it is time for you to learn the true nature of what you two call your 'Sea Jewel.' Goodbye, Perseus."
Percy beat his head against the barrier, sobbing uncontrollably while listening to his father's last words. He fell forward when both the Olympian and the barrier vanished. Shakingly pulling himself up, he found a floating, ocean blue drop of water in their place. It drifted forward, implanting itself in Percy, and the demigod felt an immense explosion of power flood through his body.
Evening fell while Percy closed his eyes and sat quietly inside the expansive cavern of Kilimanjaro. He could feel the movement of every current, every tide, every ocean like it was a part of him. No, like it was him. The former demigod set his jaw, pushing aside his grief for the time being. He stood from the floor as the newly crowned God of the Seas, shaking in his anger as he took off towards the battles with the intent of showing Tartarus exactly what the primordial's actions had wrought upon him.
A/N: Now we're getting into something, aren't we? RIP to my favorite god unfortunately. But who could die next? A blessed Porphyrion and Atlas, easily the two freakiest and most powerful monsters on the field, are still standing and have our friends on the ropes. Still more monsters than anyone can count running amok. And Typhon really seems like he doesn't care about this so called blessing of Ultor. I really hope he doesn't destroy the original Olympus, that seems like it would have real consequences. Anyways, hope you enjoyed haha. Let me know what you think!
levisorous: Oh lord, the cliff hanger and the suspense is killer. You've also got the power to kill people off lord, help us all now. Great chapter tho, loved the fighting scenes. Keep it up man, hope university doesn't stress ya out too much.
Hope you didn't think the suspense would be quite over yet haha. And yes I do, wonder if anyone else will be killed. Thank you so much for the review and the concern. I'm loving university; I have so much time besides classes to spend in the gym and work on my side projects. And, though I won't reveal where, my campus is gorgeous.
PokemonAndPJOFanboy: Oh boy, these next few chapters are going to be agonizing aren't they? Well…here's hoping for some literal deus ex machina lol.
Heh, I hope Ultor didn't seem too much like one because they're definitely not out of danger yet. I've been so excited to use it since I wrote the line back in Chapter 1 and always made sure to emphasize Frank using it in any scene he's in. I hope this chapter wasn't too agonizing for you either!
Dragon21356: Woah nice, I'm in University too. I think if I find the time this seemster I'm going to start my own fic (you've inspired me hehe), have a good one!
I'm honored, this is so cool. Please do and send me a PM or just review again when you post it! I want to be the first one to read it and review haha.
HeroOfAlexandria: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Okay, seriously, this is fantastic stuff. I should be asleep in bed, so that I'm not a complete zombie at work tomorrow, but there is no way I'm falling asleep when there's a new chapter of this out. I think you painted a picture of hopelessness and impending defeat very well in the last bit there; waaay too suspenseful. I'm wishing you the best of luck in school!
Haha thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying it! I hope you weren't too tired going into work but I won't lie and say I'm not happy you decided to read instead. Hope the suspense paid off at least a little this chapter before it unfortunately came back some more, too!