AN: DOOM! What do you think this chapter will be about?
Time: A Week Later
"Alright, we go in here, when Percy goes here. Thalia and Phoebe go here when I go here. Remember we have six seconds to win back the zone, six seconds!"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "You speak too fast."
It was night, and the sky was a dark, jet black, almost as dark as Nyx's silky hair, complete with a generous spattering of twinkling stars that could rarely be seen from the congested cities of mankind. The Milky Way was visible as a bright splash of colour on the dark canvas of the clear night sky, visible through the thick, dark canopy of the forest. Foliage rustled and whispered mysteriously in the gentle breeze of the nocturnal forest, speaking in a language that even Artemis could only ever hope to understand. Insects and nocturnal birds and animals had set up a chorus of sounds, rejuvenated by the presence of the sacred Hunters of Artemis amongst them. Several smells floated over, the pleasant smoky scent of the campfire mixing with the smells of the forest to revive Percy's mind and refresh his senses.
He had been sleeping through the entire day, preparing for an assault at night, under the cover of beautiful darkness.
They- the Hunters and him, were in a small clearing in the middle of a forest in Wisconsin, on a week-long hunt for a few monster nests that had cropped up in the area. Most of them were sitting around a crackling campfire, as usual, the orange flames a few feet high, enough to illuminate all of them. Artemis was in front of them, going over their strategy for one last time.
She looked dangerously like Athena, as she stood in front of the small clearing, marker pen in hand. There was a whiteboard behind her, with several pictures and texts scribbled on it, with arrows marking directions and symbols standing for everything. It honestly looked more like Percy's football whiteboard where he scribbled tactics, imagining himself to be Jose Mourinho.
He did not understand why the other dam Americans did not like football. Proper, real football. The one actually played with feet and a ball.
"Can we just kill some monsters already?" Thalia whined impatiently, stamping her feet on the ground. Her thick, durable and trusty black combat boots crunched on the thick carpet of dry leaves covering the soft earth.
Aegis rested at her feet, while her spear was gripped firmly in her hand, its butt buried in the soil. She was wearing a sleek, black leather jacket and her signature Death to Barbie t-shirt, accompanied by slightly ripped black jeans, that hugged her lithe frame, accentuating all her sexy curves. The black choker that sat around her neck looked suspiciously similar to a collar, making Percy fight his will to keep staring at her smooth, creamy exposed neck. Her neon blue highlights, mirrored by Neo's hairstyle, stood out in the darkness, her pale skin glowing slightly in the moonlight, thanks to Artemis' blessing. The simple, elegant tiara marking her as the lieutenant of the Hunters gleamed silver, proudly sitting on her brow. Her full pink lips looked sweet, glistening slightly in the orange light of the campfire, reflected in her electric blue eyes.
The temptation to sink his teeth into her soft skin was becoming too hard to resist by the minute.
He should probably explain what was going on. They had been Iris Messaged by Chiron, telling them that demigod scouts had spotted several monster nests in close proximity to each other in a small patch of untouched forest in Wisconsin.
And of course, the Hunters were the ones to be called. Even few in number, they were still the elite Olympian force feared across the lands. And obviously, they would be accompanied by Percy.
Artemis crossed her arms. "Yeah, and I wouldn't be so worried if it were only us. We are the Hunters, we never fail."
She raised her nose in the air in visible pride that was the mark of the moon goddess feared by all men, well, all men except one, her silver parka shimmering in the light. Her black t shirt was visible through the open middle of her parka, clinging to her gentle curves. Her lush, auburn hair looked like molten flame straight from Olympus, ready to burn monsters to the ground. She carried her longbow on her shoulder, her quiver strapped to her back, full of the deadliest arrows known to mankind. The arrows were not dangerous, per se, it was the one shooting them that made them one of the most dangerous.
"Hey, what's wrong with me?!" Percy asked, feeling insulted.
Everyone else offered him an incredulous look, as if they could believe he was for real.
"If anyone gets hurt, or even worse, dies, then I swear on the Styx, I'll not keep Percy alive," Artemis growled out through gritted teeth. "That goes for you too, dumbass. So make sure you get out of there in one piece."
"Don't worry, I'll not let any of you get hurt," Percy said seriously for once, pointedly ignoring the part about himself, not promising anything. Knowing his luck, he would somehow manage to get hurt.
Ruby snuggled into his side, nuzzling his cheek affectionately with her nose. "We know, Jackson. We just want you to take care of yourself, too."
"Pfft, Jackson can take care of himself." Thalia's eyes flickered to him, mirrored by everybody else, before she added, "Well, when he is not being stupid."
"Like now?"
"Yes, exactly like now." She nodded in agreement.
"Still, that doesn't explain why you think I'm the weak link."
Phoebe cuffed him on the back of his head, making him pout childishly.
"I don't see anyone else here taking this lightly, Percy. You're the only one, probably ever, doing a cosplay while going in to fight monsters, several hundreds of them."
Oh, so this was about that.
"I told you, this is not cosplay! I just want to feel the unbridled power of the Doomslayer flowing through my veins as I slay demons- monsters, I mean."
He stopped for a moment, before grinning. "Yes, unbridled."
He had a new fancy word.
He could feel Artemis trying to burn a hole in his head with her ferocious glare. "I know I won't be able to change your mind, but I hope you know what you are doing, Jackson."
"We want a Doomslayer cosplay, too!" The Little Big Three whined, but were silenced by a smouldering glare thrown their way, courtesy of Thalia.
"Alright, now, if everybody's ready..."
Percy stood up, grabbing a firm hold of his gear. Alright, this might be silly, but he really, like really really, wanted to try out his new shotgun. And what better way to do it than in a Doom outfit?
He chuckled silently to himself remembering Reyna's reaction when he revealed that it was called the Praetor suit.
He had the standard green metal armour, manufactured meticulously out of godly metals and alloys thanks to Leo's excellent skills as a son of Hephaestus. The metal seemed to be green itself, not a hint of bronze visible, a pleasant, metallic green that perfectly captured the original's look, moulding to Percy's frame but allowing him enough freedom of movement at the same time, unlike regular armour. It was designed to be worn to battle, so Percy now had two sets of armour. Perhaps he should have told them that it was as strong as his godly armour, but he liked seeing them worry and fuss over him.
It was cute, and heartwarming.
And of course, it came with its own set of weaponry. Percy, of course, had his axe and Anaklusmos hidden on his person, but they were last resort weapons for this mission.
This time, he was going to use his new super shotgun, a Doom blade that Leo had delivered to him later, and of course, a- no, not a- THE chainsaw.
The super shotgun compressed into a small pair of knuckledusters which he could always carry around on his fists. He could bash in enemies with the small knuckledusters, before letting the shotgun grow to its original form and pumping them full of lead. He had a belt at his waist to carry different sorts of shotgun shells, which was self-replenishing. There were mortal shells, Celestial Bronze, silver, Greek fire, and explosive shells, a complete arsenal in a belt that made him a formidable walking fortress.
The Doom blade was as expected, a perfect carbon copy of the one in the game, just on steroids. Its serrated edge glinted cruelly in the light, eager to taste monster blood. It was attached to the left wrist of the Praetor suit, normally just a straight sword strapped to his left forearm. Percy had no idea what mechanism it used to move, nor did he care, but he just had to flex his wrist, and it sprang out, faster than lightning, slicing through concrete like butter.
And... the chainsaw needed no explanation. It was strapped to the back of the Praetor suit, ready to be whipped out at a moment's notice.
He was practically salivating to test out all of them.
It was such a shame that Leo was having problems with the prototype BFG9000. Percy would be unstoppable with that in his hands, a force of pure destruction and death. Even the thousands of drachmae Percy had pooled in from his godly bank account as investment on Leo's efforts, were unable to accelerate his success.
But Percy was patient. He kept everything to himself, only dreaming of the day it would rest in his hands.
He looked down, checking over the iconic helmet that completed the Praetor suit, held firmly in his hands. The green glass visor was stronger than many mortal buildings. It was... beautiful, magnificent, awe-inspiring.
Seeing that everyone was still waiting for his expected inspiring pep talk, looking up at the standing Dark god, he shrugged.
"What are you all looking at? I'm not Optimus Prime, I cannot pull iconic speeches out of my ass at will. Let's eat, then go out and kill monsters. I'm hungry."
He moved towards the small pot boiling over the campfire, before stopping in his tracks. "Whoever gets the most kills wins, and will get a favour from each one of us. That's all the inspiration you need."
Did they sweatdrop? Percy hoped they did, just for the laughs, but he did not look back, trying to pass off as cool, and not dumb.
And a few minutes later, all of them were standing in the treeline, hidden by the darkness of night, behind thick tree trunks. The monster nest in front of them was crawling with monsters of all shapes and sizes, empousai and draceanae and hellhounds, with the occasional telkhine. And of course, Percy's luck just had to have the Minotaur there.
Doesn't matter, he will add his other horn to the collection this time.
"Alright," Artemis whispered, holding up her hand to warn them all to be quiet. "Remember, when we start shooting, Percy goes in and wreaks havoc. As soon as they reorganize, Thalia and Phoebe move in. Atalanta on standby for immediate medical assistance. Sydney and Cynthia, sneak in to find anything of importance. Rest of us will keep overwatch. Watch out for friendlies. Got it?"
Silent nods were shared and whispers of warning exchanged, before the Hunters dispersed in the tree line, climbing up trees, hidden by the darkness of the night.
It was raining heavily, a veritable storm that set the mood perfectly.
Rain pitter-pattered against the ground, on every leaf on every tree and on the ground, drowning out whatever little noise the veteran Hunters made as they stealthily sprinted to their respective positions. The ground was becoming soft and slightly muddy, with glistening pools of water that reflected Percy's face slowly turning murky. Their boots sank into the wet earth, not making a sound as they moved forward. The sky was dark with an endless sea of clouds, that blotted out the stars and the night sky, a far cry from the clear weather they had had a few hours back. Flashes of lightning briefly lit up the night, allowing Percy to catch a quick glimpse of everything that was going on in the monster nest, before it went dark again, followed by a deafening roar of thunder. The leaves of the trees rustled as the tall trees swayed dangerously in the strong wind screaming through the forest, drowning out all other sounds.
The wind swept the rain across the land in sheets of grey and white, a constant, persistent drumming of nature against everything on the ground. The sound of the rain formed a grey haze that made it difficult to distinguish any sharp sound. Every surface in sight glistened slightly in the darkness, as if everything around them was a mirror.
Percy could only be thankful for his visor as he used his water powers to keep it dry, not bothering about the rest of his Praetor suit. Leo, that thoughtful little bastard, had added night vision to the suit, but Percy did not need it, as he could see well enough in the darkness, seeing it was his domain. The super shotgun rested in his right hand, its barrel touching the ground. Percy could shoot it with a single hand- he had tried it earlier, so it left his Doomblade free for more slaughter. He shifted slightly in the Praetor suit, enjoying the cooling system Leo had introduced, feeling cool yet warm and comfortable inside the armour. The soft, expensive velvet-lined interior was a stroke of genius that made Percy feel like he could wear the heavy-duty full body armour all day long. The green metal glistened in the rain, as he looked up, waiting for Artemis' signal.
He laid his left hand on the tree trunk, feeling the rough bumps of the bark through the metal as he stared up, trying to spot Artemis' finely concealed form somewhere up in the tree branches. A glimmer of silver told him where she was, looking straight at him for the go. Sending a nod of confirmation her way, Percy looked back down at the crawling monster nest, tightening his grip on the super shotgun before checking the barrel.
Ready. Set. Go.
The words were barely articulated in his mind when a storm of arrows rained down on the monsters in front of him, turning an uncountable number to dust at once. There was no stopping them, and there was no time between two arrows shit from the same person. Arrows were notched and shot at a rapid, breakneck pace without any delay, no time taken to aim properly, yet every shot was fatal. The incessant rain did not deter them, and somehow, their arrows stayed true to the path despite the wind and rain.
Percy grit his teeth, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he ran into the fray, shotgun in hand. His feet dug into the soft, muddy earth, the heavy Praetor suit weighing him down somewhat, yet his speed was worthy of a god of his stature.
He was not worried about the storm of arrows raining down on and around his position, the suit was too strong for even the Hunter's arrows to make him feel anything.
Yet, the Hunters managed to surprise him yet again as they continued to shoot at the same rate, somehow managing to avoid him entirely.
The monsters were running helter-skelter in search of cover, in ankle-deep golden dust of their fallen comrades. Some of the luckier ones had managed to hide under some boulders and behind fortifications, but they were going to have the surprise of their life.
Percy sprinted towards what he thought, and hoped, was a weak point in the stone fortifications of the nest, using the heavy weight of the suit and the runny, wet earth to his advantage as he slide tackled the rocks head-on.
He had only enough time to admire the strength of the Hunters arrows, puny things that had already set deep cracks in the stone, before his foot made contact with rock. His weight and sheer strength sent him crashing through the boulder-like Sergio Ramos through Mo Salah, slide tackling the monster nest where it hurt.
His green visor (and shotgun barrel) met the confused, scared faces of a variety of monsters scampering for weapons behind the protection of rock, and Percy grinned gleefully under his helmet before the loud roar of his shotgun, like the crack of lightning, drowned out everything else.
The few monsters in front of him burst into golden dust as he pumped them full of the heaviest Celestial Bronze shells Leo could get his hands on.
Percy sprang to his feet smoothly, feeling quite cool as he used his momentum to pivot on his foot, completing a smooth circle as he turned to face the monsters.
With a roar, a hellhound tried to jump him, immediately met with a faceful of Celestial Bronze as Percy emptied the second barrel of the shotgun, holding it in his right hand, leaving his left hand free.
He did not stop, merely switching his shotgun for his left fist.
The empousai behind the hellhound flinched, expecting a metal gloved punch from the strange demigod. She was met with a Doomblade through her face.
Percy's grin widened as he felt the Doomblade stab the empousai, but he did not hang around to gloat. The super shotgun shrunk to knuckledusters on his right fist as he swung the sword attached to his left arm, ignoring the heavy, limp corpse impaled through the face on his sword as if it wasn't even there, lobbing off another's head. The two empousai burst into golden dust simultaneously, leaving Percy's arm free.
He did not stop, using the momentum of his left arm to reach towards his back as he spun. The Doomblade retracted of its own accord as he brought out the chainsaw, not bothering to switch it on as he finished his spin, swinging the chainsaw in a wide arc like an axe.
He was on a combo, as he moved the chainsaw out of the way, using his spinning motion to test out the knuckledusters in a devastating punch. He grinned as he felt his fist crunch through flesh and bone, going into the gooey mess of whatever brain the unseen monster possessed, showering him in gore.
Now, time to turn on the chainsaw.
His sadistic grin widening until it almost threatened to rip his face in half, Percy pulled on the chain, bringing the chainsaw to life with a loud roar.
The mechanic buzz met Percy's laughter and monster's screams as the chainsaw crunched through flesh and bone, some of the most satisfying feeling Percy had had the pleasure of ever feeling.
The Praetor suit was caked in gore, brain and golden dust thick with blood, but Percy found himself unable to complain, even as a piece of brain struck his visor with a wet, audible smack. The only thing he needed now was some... brutal metal. He did not care what, black, death, heavy, whatever. Doom metal would be ironic.
There was another crash as the rock fortifications came tumbling down, finally brought down by a combination of the Hunters' arrows and the panicking monsters.
Percy briefly stopped his wanton slaughter, merely holding the bloody, gory chainsaw limply in his hands as he admired the view of the bloody battlefield, swept by an endless torrent of rain, and illuminated by lightning. The wind swept the rain against the metal of the Praetor suit, forming a pleasant pitter-pattering that was the contrasting background music to Percy's rampage.
There were twin thuds on his two sides, and Percy did not even bother to acknowledge their presence, as Phoebe and Thalia landed on either side of him, executing two simultaneous air assassinations with their spears, stabbing them through the heads of two telkhines sneaking up on him.
With a little grunt, Phoebe jerked her spear out of the wet ground, shaking off the dust caking it as she came to join Thalia beside Percy.
She looked Percy's gory form up and down, wolf-whistling. "Damn, Jackson. That was pretty hardcore."
Thalia elbowed him, at least she tried to. "You owe me now, Jackson."
Percy did not bother to enlighten her that he had seen the two telkhines a mile away, but had wanted to know how crunching telkhine skull beneath his boots felt.
"There are still monsters left. Let's go. As soon as we can complete this, we can go back and have dinner. We are already a few hours late." He said, striding forward purposefully as he put the chainsaw back, instead allowing the super shotgun to grow again.
The hail of arrows never stopped, only slowing down slightly as Sydney and Cynthia joined them on the ground. Percy ignored them, merely loading his shotgun again, taking great pleasure in the slaughter that awaited them.
The monsters seemed to have taken the little time to regroup, and they charged them, summoning every little ounce of their stupid, mindless bravery.
They were met with two quick, explosive shotgun blasts that sent several of them screaming as they caught on Greek fire. Percy did not wait, merely reloading the break-action super shotgun. Sydney yelped as she jumped to the side to dodge the steaming, ejected casings. Percy reached down to his belt for two new Celestial Bronze shells, hanging back slightly as he watched Thalia and Phoebe sprint forward, spears in hand.
He quickly emptied the two barrels again, vaporizing at least sixteen monsters with two shots.
He was a god.
Literally.
Grinning slightly at the unintended joke, he reloaded again, the hours of practice he had put into it shining through as he reloaded it in a single second.
He was unable to empty them, however, as he turned to face the Minotaur charging towards him, roaring. He swung around his omega-shaped axe wildly, killing his own allies but forcing Phoebe and Thalia to steer clear of him.
All the better. The Minotaur was Percy's prey.
Percy widened his stance, his feet tensing as he prepared to launch himself. His shotgun was held firmly in his right hand, and he did not bother to retract it.
The Minotaur seemed to have an innate sense for Percy, recognizing him despite the Praetor suit. His roars were louder, his rampaging was wilder, his speed faster until he was in front of him, axe raised high to finally cleave the annoying demigod, the bane of his existence, in half.
Percy jumped backwards as the axe came crashing down, lodging a few feet deep in the wet, muddy earth. He did not waste any time, taking advantage of his strong armour to jump onto the blade and use it as a launching pad.
Percy's right arm shot out, using the extended reach thanks to his shotgun to hook onto the Minotaur's horn. His upper body strength and remarkable flexibility put into display as he used his hold onto the Minotaur's horn to swing himself up, ignoring physics and the heavy Praetor suit as he sat on the Minotaur's neck.
The monster roared in protest at the humiliation of carrying someone on his back, swinging his head and trying to get Percy off, but he was unshakeable from his perch. If only the monster knew that Percy was trying to remember which horn he was supposed to take, not even attempting to acknowledge the monster's feeble, laughable efforts to shake him off.
However, the Minotaur, the Bane of the Labyrinth, was smarter than most gave him credit for. Finally figuring out a way to shake the Dark god off his back, the Minotaur charged headfirst into the nearest tree.
Percy's eyes widened as he felt the Minotaur switch direction, its hooves stomping strongly, shaking off the wet, sinking earth as if it did not even hamper its movement as it headed straight towards the tree Rose and Violet were occupying. Percy could see what would happen if he was allowed to continue on his course, it did not take a genius. None but a fool would underestimate the strength of the Minotaur's skull.
Making a quick decision, Percy swung into action.
The Doomblade shot out again, ready to heed its Master's orders as Percy sliced off the Minotaur's left horn, making the monster roar in pain and shake his head, even as Percy clutched his trophy possessively.
Deciding it was time to put this to an end, Percy used his grip on the Minotaur's still intact horn to launch himself forward, twisting mid-air with his right arm stretched out, so that the overgrown, steroidal bull was staring down the barrel of his shotgun.
Two loud cracks, and both the barrels were emptied in the Minotaur's head at point-blank range.
Perhaps that was overkill, Percy thought with no great amount of remorse as he was thrown backwards by the recoil.
He turned inwards, protecting his trophy as he landed on his back, not stopping even for a moment as he rolled back onto his feet with a slight grunt.
Spotting Sydney running towards him in worry, he shoved the Minotaur horn into her hands, reloading his gun again as he sprinted back into the fray.
The slaughter was exhilarating, even therapeutic to an extent. The rush of adrenaline, the sadistic pleasure of killing monsters, sent beautiful, twisted ecstasy pumping in his bloodstream, was something that he missed dearly during his stay at Ogygia. A predator was always a predator, and no matter how much his mind soared at relentlessly breeding his beautiful mates, he would always return to hunting, to killing, to slaughter.
He gripped a Cyclops' head in his grip, trying to decide what to do. Doomblade, or the old crush a head in his overpowered grip?
His gleeful, too wide to be normal smile gained a cruel edge as he realised his opportunity to conduct a live test for his powers.
The Cyclops screamed in abject pain, writhing and trying to claw Percy's hand free as its legs kicked out, caught in the throes of a painful, excruciating death that seemed to go on forever and ever. Every second stretched on for an eternity of burning, torturous pain that made the cursed, desolate depths of Tartarus feel like Elysium, as the Cyclops died slowly at the hands of an unhinged Dark god.
But for Percy, the feeling was ecstatic in a very twisted manner, even as he heard a Huntress puke their guts out in the background. He did not care, the feeling of the Cyclops' skull slowly turning to dust under his touch occupied all his senses, seeing the gore, blood and brain ooze out between his fingers. Its blood and muscle was rotting rapidly, turning to a messy, gory soup, its singular eye having melted a long time ago, reduced to grey goo streaking the dark monster blood with white and grey.
The lightning lit the sky behind the Dark god, booming thunderously and lighting up the mountains of angry, dark clouds that continued to shower the earth in neverending, torrential rain. Glistening droplets and rivulets of clear rain streamed down Percy's green visor, cleaning away some from the blood caking his helmet, but Percy could not be bothered less about that. The water washed away the rotten gooey soup of the Cyclops' head, forming a puddle on the wet earth.
Percy's other arm was limp, resting the muzzle of his shotgun in the earth, not caring or not noticing that it was in contact with the disgusting gore.
He let the Cyclops go, and its limp body slowly slid to the ground, slowly crumbling into golden dust, its head and a good part of its spine gone. Percy could not feel his fingers as a wave of nausea hit him, he just stood there, wondering how he had come to this. Basking in the slaughter, yet fearing it. The nightmares, the whispers in his ears, the feeling of intoxication that should not be there.
Out of nowhere, a shout broke him out of his reverie.
A shout in a familiar voice.
A shout, which was more of a blood-curdling shriek of warning.
The Dark god replaced by Percy, he whirled around, lifting his shotgun to face whatever coming threat.
His blood ran cold, and his feet moved before he could comprehend what was happening.
Artemis was running towards Cynthia, shouting nonsensically, shooting with all her godly strength. Thalia was blasting monsters left and right, trying to get to the daughter of Nemesis as quickly as possible. Phoebe was screaming with rage, stabbing with her spear and swinging her bare fists to mow down monsters. The dark-haired Huntress stared at Percy bewildered, pale-faced, and confused, frozen in place in abject terror. Her legs refused to move, despite her experience, she stood still as stone, still feeling Percy's Darkness, his glee as he burned the Cyclops face off, not believing that the wanton cruelty belonged to her crush. Yet, her hairs stood on end, and she could feel Thanatos' cold fingers upon her, frozen in place, afraid of turning to face her death.
There were two loud bangs, a scream, a silver flash, and Cynthia instinctively dove to the ground.
Percy emptied both barrels of his shotgun in the Nemean Lion's side, but in vain. Its impenetrable skin stood strong despite the heavy, Celestial Bronze shells, but it definitely felt the punch that accompanied the shot.
The golden lion, which had been slumbering when it was woken by the scream of the Cyclops, had snuck up on Cynthia, unnoticed and silent, its voice drowned out by the storm brewing around the battlefield, and the agonising screams of the poor, tortured monster which had its face burned off.
It landed on its side, whimpering slightly as it felts several of its ribs break, but reluctant to let its prey go. Killing a Huntress was a feat few monsters could boast of, but the Nemean Lion definitely could, and it was eager to add to the list.
Scampering to its feet, the Nemean Lion launched itself, pouncing on Cynthia.
Cynthia, finally brought to her senses by the loud bangs, turned with wide eyes to watch the Nemean Lion get blown to the side. She tried to crawl away, desperately kicking her legs to back away, but she was hampered by the mud and dirt.
Her movements stopped when she saw the monster pounce.
Her mind kicked into overdrive, but Cynthia found herself able to notice only the insignificant details.
Artemis was sprinting towards her, glowing, ready to burst into her immortal form. Percy, clad in the Praetor suit, shotgun in hand, was sprinting towards her. His steps seemed too slow, too desperate. The green metal glistened in the rain. The bright lightning seemed to illuminate everything, the electrical light showing everything in great detail. Her fingers sank into the wet earth, slick and muddy with blood and gore, pooling around her palms.
Cynthia's only regret was that she couldn't see Percy's face for one last time. To see his eyes, to touch his hair, to caress his lips.
She closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate.
The water glistening on her cheek- tears, sweat or rain?
A drop of muddy water from the Nemean Lion's matted mane hit her cheek, and she felt it like it was the only thing she could feel.
A desperate scream of sheer, unadulterated rage that made her heart lurch from the sheer bloodthirst that it conveyed made her eyes flutter open.
Her dark eyes glistened with unshed tears, her ruby lips trembling as she was drawn to safety by Artemis.
Percy had punched the Nemean Lion in the mouth, halting it midway. His green visor made him look cold, emotionless, hiding his enraged, hateful features, as cruel as the chainsaw dripping, soaked in, monster blood on his back. The two seemed to defy gravity as they stayed in the air for what seemed like an eternity, with Percy's left arm between the Nemean Lion's jaws. His arm was inside the monster's maw, till his shoulder.
Had... had Percy...
Then the moment was broken as the two landed in the mud with a wet splash. There was a moment of struggling, before all stood still.
Everyone turned fearfully to the two, all fighting forgotten.
Slowly, Percy lurched to his feet, pulling the limp body of the Nemean Lion with him. Its jaws remained tightened around Percy's shoulder, not letting go even in death.
A cold, metal gloved hand was put on the Nemean Lion's muzzle, to pry its jaws open.
And Percy retracted his arm, letting the dead Nemean Lion's body fall to the wet, muddy floor.
His arms fell limply to his side as he just stood there, trying to calm himself, his shoulders shaking in fury.
The muzzle of his shotgun again laid limply on the muddy earth, sinking in a few inches in the soft, wet soil.
The Nemean Lion's blood and pieces of its brain dripped off the extended Doomblade on Percy's left forearm, dark crimson flowing down the blade that had finally ended the monster's pathetic existence.
Rain continued to pitter-patter on the land, apparently ignorant of all that had transpired, ignorant of the wrath of the Dark god, who had dropped all pretences of sanity, of control. The wind had dropped, leaving all in the deathly stillness of Thanatos. Not a sound was heard, not a leaf moved. The endless sea of dark, black-bellied stormclouds overhead rolled with occasional bright flashes of silent lightning. Even they did not dare to make a noise, to break the serenity of death, the calm that preceded the real storm, a cyclone to destroy worlds, that made this gale look like a drought.
Thalia gulped. She had seen this before.
So had all the Hunters, who started sprinting as far away from Percy as possible.
This had been Percy after Annabeth's death. Just this time, he had managed to save Cynthia, which made it even worse. The sizeable space in his heart occupied by despair at Annabeth's loss was replaced with sheer unadulterated rage and bubbling, boiling rage.
Apparently, the monsters seemed to feel the dark, destructive emotions rolling off the unhinged, dangerous and insane god in waves, thick and continuous like a suffocating ocean. They dropped all weapons, all courage and all divisions, fleeing the area as fast as their legs would carry them. There was no division. Even those incapable of higher thinking could feel the killer instincts, raw murderous intent that Percy was oozing, and their instincts told them to flee from this alpha predator, this apex predator that ruled over all monsters and beasts.
And the volcano erupted with a roar.
Artemis cowered, whimpering in fear of her enraged, overprotective dominant, flashing away every Hunter to the safety of Ogygia as soon as she could.
The next day, every single person in the world would read about the 'freak meteor strike' that had escaped everybody's notice and had come out of nowhere. The meteor that had never been seen approaching the Earth, that had never existed.
The meteor that had turned a lush, stormy forest teeming with life in the middle of Wisconsin to a dead, several kilometer wide, drought-afflicted and bone dry desert, without any sign of life- plant or animal- and drier than theAtacama in a single night.
Only those with immortal blood would ever know about the fifteen-foot tall purple flames and the tortured screams that had accompanied the desert's birth.
A desert born in fifteen seconds.
AN: BOOM! How was the ending? How was the chapter?
Okay, poll. Next two chapters will be the first threesome in the book. Guess who? But really, the poll is about whether I should do a 20-22K mega lemon spread over 2 chapters of 10K each, and omit the date altogether or should I do a normal 4K word date and an 8-10K word lemon?
Also, about last chapter, I apologize if anybody felt uncomfortable. It received mixed reactions, some said it was pretty hot, while others were against the idea. I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone, and dare I say it, it turned out pretty good in my opinion. But my opinion only matters 95% of the time, and this time, I want to know- should I edit Roman Reigns: Part 2 to omit the... more extreme bits?
Alright, keep calm and headbang!