This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer because honestly I've been waiting so long for someone to tell me if they like the story or not.
ayden762: first of all, thanks for reviewing. Second, don't worry, because I don't intend to make any of the maiden goddesses be in a relationship. That thought never once occured to me. Finally, I'm sorry if you're offended but I just cracked up hearing your review and I just had to respond. It was so random and so out of topic and I just had to laugh. Don't worry though. Artemis and Athena won't play a supreme role in the story although Hestia will be an important role in joining the two worlds. Oops, a spoiler. NVM. Main thing is, none of them will be in a relationship and they will stay maidens. Once again, thank you for reviewing. You made my day.
Everyday brought more deaths. It was a line both the Gods and the Titans could agree on. It was a line I remember now, staring down at the village. Percy's arm tightened around my shoulders, almost like she wanted reassurance I was there. I couldn't blame her. It would be better if Frank was here, but I was content as it is. Percy's face was hidden by her golden mask, a mask I helped forge, but I saw it in her eyes, she didn't want to see the destruction happening. I pressed my cheek closer to her, focusing on Enigma's beautiful ruby scales. She was truly merciless as she blew fire to the houses and people. "I can say from personal experience that having fire on your skin is never nice." Percy murmured, her eyes soft. She didn't judge the people for their fear but neither did she sympathise with them. I didn't know their names, I didn't know anything about them besides they are the Gods' allies. They aren't human, which made it slightly better. They weren't all that innocent either.
"How long do you think this can continue until we step in?" I asked, unconsciously fingering my dress, or what people saw as my dress. It was a knee-length floral gown with a lavender trail. People see that but don't realise it's all a part of my disguise. Enchantress, rings a bell?
"You tell me, Góissa." Percy said with a slight, adoring smile. I didn't need to see her lips, I could see it all from her eyes. Those sea-green orbs that simply melt around those she cares and loves. They speak a language only those who really, really know Persephone Jackson can understand.
I glanced back to the dragons. We had gotten Enigma and her two cousins, Jaz and Cop. They're mates, by the way. I haven't had the luxury of talking to them, this is our first mission with them. If you're asking how did Percy talk to them then I'm going to smack you. She's Percy, what do you expect?
"We should stop once most are dead I suppose." I said, looking at the people who were trying to run away, and those who are courageous enough to go help the people get away. Brave.
"As always then. I don't know. I think before the dragons actually cause some permanent damage we can't undo. Never ending destruction isn't what we want." Percy opposed. And she still questions why she is the leader. She's better at this anyways. The sea is constantly changing, adaptable. Percy got the best characteristics, none of the bad ones. She always adapted quickly to whatever happens. A good thing because I don't know how to act. Never been a villain before this year.
"We'll do that then." I paused. "You think the Gods will finally show their faces?"
"They know what we are capable of. Mostly. I'm sure they have spies. However, this is one of their bases. Where their survivors stay. I'm sure they'll come. That's what we're waiting for." Percy said calmly as I jolted. I did not know that's why we were waiting. Then again, I should've asked. "I suppose you already planned for that?" Percy snorted.
"It could be any God or even an Olympian." Percy shrugged. "I'll use Annabeth's most hated strategy—improvising."
She didn't even flinch when saying Annabeth's name. Maybe it was a good thing we talked three weeks ago. I leaned my head on her shoulder. There was no rush. No rush at all. Time was beyond us. When we die, we die. I didn't care about death. I can almost welcome it. If only it would come.
Percy suddenly tensed. "I sense something." She hissed. "I sense the unwelcome presence of giants."
I flinched. "Giants?"
"Not Gaea's children." Percy snarled. "Normal giants from the myths."
"Oh Titans." I sighed. "Those." The weird Giants that are weird. Oh wait, I already said that.
"Yeah." She could've done the human thing and just stood up. Instead, she suddenly vanished and only years of real life experience kept me from falling from the ledge we sat on. As I regained my balance, she appeared just centimetres away from me, a hand on Kósmina. I also summoned my spatha (Mist stuff) and got up. She pointed to the south, where Jaz was breathing flames. If I squinted, I could see people running towards her. Great, unwanted attention. The good thing is, Jaz is talented. Bad thing is they know how to kill dragons and I refuse to let Jaz die. Percy leapt off the ledge and Vapour-travelled as I ran to the nearest shadow. The coolness of the shadows welcomed me as I pushed past them, appearing in Jaz's shadow. I yelped and ducked out of the way as her tail came down on me. I usually have better accuracy than this! (My fault for not focusing) Percy's hand suddenly appeared and pulled me to the side. We ducked out of sight. "It's him, Hazel." She whispered in English. When I looked up, her eyes were wide beneath her mask and she was trembling slightly. I followed her gaze and froze. It was Chiron, surrounded by giants. He was definitely younger than when I last saw him. Less grey hair, less calm. He was holding his bow and yelling "attack the dragon! Protect the citizens!" or something along those lines in Greek. Percy whimpered. We thought we were fighting strangers, not her mentor. Yes, we knew he would be here, but not now! Percy needed more time. "Chiron." She muttered again. She grabbed her head. "Kronos. Building. I wanted to protect him. Mrs O'Leary. But… he's my enemy?" She sounded so uncertain. I grabbed her arms. "No. Calm down, cousin. Don't worry." I said soothingly. "Chiron is the Titans' enemy, not ours. Remember? We talked about this." Internal conflict is rarely logical, it's most likely she won't remember unless I remind her.
"We won't?" Her voice was so tiny, so vulnerable. It broke my heart. I wish, no I hope, for her sake, Chiron does not break this. If he does, I will not feel guilt as I kill him painfully.
"No. Chiron will not die, but the giants must. I need you. Jaz needs you, or else she'll die. Can you do that?" I felt bad, but what could you do in war?
"I- yes." Her hands fell and she breathed heavily, staring behind my shoulder. I could see the raging fire reflected in her eyes. "Yes I can. Thanks Hazel."
"Don't thank me." I pressed a kiss on her cheek. "It's what you would've done." She replied with a strained smile. "Yeah." She heaved a sigh and raised Kósmina. "Yeah." She repeated, drawing her strength. "Let's do this."
She disappeared again. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help smiling fondly. She really loves her ability to vapour-travel, a little too much. I went out from where we hid. Jaz seemed to get a message from Percy and went somewhere else to spread havoc. Percy right now was between Chiron and the giants and Jaz, and I shadow-travelled next to her, positioning my spatha to cross her sword in an X. "Prodosia…" one of the giants seemed to recognise Percy while another almost seemed to sneer at my 'clothes'. (I was wearing proper armour beneath the disguise)
"You recognise her yet not me." I said in Greek, "how disappointing."
"Enough talking." Chiron growled. "Surrender now, you are outnumbered and in our territory."
"Was your territory." Percy corrected smoothly. "We're here to take it." She rotated Kósmina. "The thing you should know—we don't do surrender."
She launched forward the same time Chiron released his arrows. Percy deftly dodged all of them, and I used the Mist to make them all vanish. Those that managed to escape the powers of illusion, I cut them all down. The spatha was usually meant for when riding a horse, but it is my preferred weapon. I trained endlessly with Percy until I got used to using it with and without Arion. (I miss my sweet darling…)
Most went after Percy, which was their mistake. They forget, just because I don't attract the same attention as my cousin did, doesn't mean I'm not equally dangerous. I cut through them as they chased after Percy. Their shocked expression stayed with them, even as they fell to the ground and I used their bodies to propel myself forward. I dislodged a giant's head from his body, and stabbed another in the heart. By the time they took me seriously, I already killed 7. From 30 giants to 18.
Percy was also doing well, but unlike me, she was trying not to harm Chiron. The best way to do that was to kill the giants next to him. However, she got his full attention. Unlike me, she also had his arrows to deal with.
Finally, I lost interest in keeping on the ridiculous gown because I made it too realistic. It slowly disintegrated until all the giants could see was a girl, features blurred.
They finally recognised me. "Góissa." Three of them said at the same time. I used the Mist to summon fireballs from nowhere, making them hover above me in a circle.
"Now you see me…" I said, my voice like a slithering snake. "Too bad you did so too late."
It was their turn to flee as I rained fireballs at them. It didn't matter they weren't real, the heat coming from the fire completely fooled them. I made sure none of the fireballs hit them, or else the play was over. I did, however, hide the burning fires from their view. One of them ran straight into a burning house. As I approached the fleeing ones, I heard his screams as I passed that house. I didn't obscure all to arouse their suspicion, but enough to make more than one of them run into the fire.
I frowned. Something was off. I whirled around to sense a portal close, a few miles away. The danger was so big that Enigma, Jaz and Cop converted to their true height, chasing after the danger. Then I felt it. Straight from my bones, I felt the fire burning. It wasn't the dragons' fire, it was something completely out of league. I gasped. "Enigma! Jaz! Cop! Stop!" They couldn't hear me. But Percy did.
From where she fought, Percy straightened from her stance, completely stopping in her attacks. Chiron and the other giants did as well. They all felt the power. I had no doubt that if the three of us joined forces, we could defeat this power. Maybe we only need Percy, but something was off. I could sense the power. It was like a volcano's heat, at least it was like to me. Only I could sense other people's power, but this was completely off. It didn't seem alive. What in Tartarus was it?
"What?" Percy asked in Latin. The harsh tone was supposed to keep Chiron and the giants off-track, but I felt it. I disowned Hades, but I still knew. I could sense when people were about to die. It was most effective if I was close to them, and tears burned my eyes. "Let them go." My voice was barely higher than a whisper, but demigod senses were stronger than most. Percy heard that. I heard her growl, and the cantering of Chiron's hooves.
"We need to stop them." I pointed to the dragons who were breathing fire on one target. "Prodosia! Stop them!" My voice was higher than I thought as Percy winced all the way from where she stood. She ran towards me, reaching in only a second. "Come on then." We held hands and she teleported away since it was clear I was in tears. But suddenly, something that never happened before happened. Mid-teleporting, I heard Percy grunt and let out a scream. We were thrown back. We were- we were intercepted while teleporting. How the- ?
Percy moved so she would be behind me and we abruptly stopped and she grunted. I was flung to the ground, as Percy intercepted whatever blow I was supposed to feel. I hurriedly got to my feet, checking on her. The building that stopped us falling was burning, and a long, thick, jagged piece of wood had managed to pierce through her armour and into her gut. Blood leaked out. Too much blood. "Oh Gods, Sephie!" I hurriedly took out some ambrosia.
"How did that happen?" She asked, before bending over in a coughing fit as I grabbed hold of the burning wood, and imagined it gone. The Mist worked overtime, swirling around the fucking wood, until nothing remained, disintergrating from my fingertips. Percy's nature had stopped the worst of the burns, but I still fed her ambrosia. Our world ambrosia, thank you very much. I imagined a glass of water just in my hand, and I got what I asked for, tipping the contents in her mouth.
"I think that's why." Percy lifted her head and I wished I also didn't.
Not even a second later, a horrific explosion rocked our entire world. We weren't where we had been. No, we were teleporting in a straight line, before that power had knocked Percy sideways. By my calculations, we were east of where we had been. Still the explosion was worse than anything. The houses around us just disintegrated. The fires were extinguished from the strong force of wind. Percy threw her hands out, and the earth rose and covered the two of us. Even still, I could feel the brutality of the force battling against Percy. Still, they lost as Percy roared in defiance and compelled them to stop. When she let go, nothing remained. I finally let my tears slide down. Because Enigma, Jaz and Cop were gone.
They were nowhere in sight, and it was their deaths I had sensed before. "What the…" Percy had a hand on her mouth as her armour restored to its normal shape, not even a dent seen.
"They're dead." I cried. "Sephie, someone killed them. The Flame killed them." Because only the Flame could've summoned a fire big enough to even disintegrate the dragons. It was its power I sensed just now.
"No…" horror dawned her eyes. "No, no, no, no!" She thumped her fists on the ground. All around us, lightning struck the ground. The earth trembled. The air moved, pushing yet pulling at us. I sensed hundreds of plants, maybe even some humans, drowning as Percy caused a humongous tsunami on Earth. Nature itself was unstable as Percy grieved. I sobbed, not believing my own words. How? How was that possible? How could- A cold fist clenched around my heart. How foolish of me. How naive of me. Of course it was possible. The Fates weren't done playing games. Of course they weren't. We three can escape death, because that's not what they want. No, for some reason, they want us to suffer. No, instead of letting us die, they will kill anyone we were ever close to.
"I hate you." Percy raged. "I hate all of you." She pulled me close, and I stumbled, falling into her embrace. My tears soaked her as she did the same to me. I let her grieve. Enigma, Jaz and Cop were my allies, but they were her friends. Yet another batch of friends were dead.
It could've been minutes or even hours until Percy finally got up. She kept a firm hand on mine, like I would disappear if she didn't. "I hate all of you!" She screamed in Greek. "Olympians, mark my words! I will hunt you down. I won't rest until all of you are dead!" I wouldn't be surprised if people all the way on Earth could hear. I held her as it started pouring. I was drenched, but I didn't care. What was a little rain? At least I could still feel this. Unlike the dragons who would no longer ever be able to even feel.
Now I stared down at the village impassively. Any survivors were gone. We had successfully conquered the place, despite the deaths. None survived after the Flame made her presence known. I couldn't care. Those deaths were on her hands, not ours. Usually, we would regrow the land. But under a silent agreement, Percy would hand it over to Saturn to do as he pleased. Maybe even let the rest of the dragons visit, let them do whatever they want to this place. To honour the deaths.
Percy stood next to me, trembling in shock. Her eyes were wide, but her sea-green irises were hardening. "The Flame will pay. Won't she?" She muttered.
"She will." Maybe the Flame did it in self-defence. Maybe she did it because she could. I don't know and I don't care. I just know I want revenge for the dragons. If we can't get it from the Flame, then the Olympians. Someone has to pay. I don't care who.
"I thought, if the friends I make are strong, I won't be worried. But that's not true. Everyone has someone that is more powerful than them." She turned to me. "Now I fear it's the same for us."
"No," I grasped her fingers, "no it's not. Everything we've done, we've done to surpass that. We are above that. Today is a lesson, one we will never repeat again. We forgot about the Flame. Granted, we didn't think she was a living being, but now we know. We will defeat her, and we will win. Then, no one can take any more from us again."
"I just wonder sometimes if what we are doing is right." She told me.
"We all know it isn't." I didn't bother sugar coating the words. "The path we have chosen is evil and devious, and we did it for us. People die because of us. But we want the Gods dead. And nothing is going to stop that."
"You're right. All that's important is revenge. Is to avenge those who died. We have already fallen. Fallen angels. But still as powerful as ever, and we'll get revenge for those who are unable to." She nodded. "The Gods will fall, and after that, only after that, will we care about the mortals."
"That's about right." I gave her a side hug, slightly tiptoeing.
"The Gods will pay…" we seem to be functioning on those words, but they are true. The Gods must pay for all they have done. Must pay for the pain they brought to not only the demigods, but the whole world.
They will pay for the pain we have felt.
What then? Something inside me whispers sadly. With them gone, it's not like all those who died can come back.
I sniffled back a cry. The voice was right. Death is a part of life. And we aren't excluded from that.
