Wow, my first double update! Got a chance to write two chapters back to back, so I'm not waiting a day to upload them. Here's the big fight! Hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.
2. The Long Awaited Battle
(Eons Ago)
Zeus eyed his new throne, his new palace, carefully. There was the slightest curl on his lip, as if he were disappointed with the entire thing.
"I suppose it's worthy." He said, "It's not as big as I wanted, but it will do."
His new wife, Hera, sighed at the antics, crossing her arms. "You're too hard to please."
"I am the best, so I deserve the best. I'm not convinced this is the best." He scraped his finger across the new marble of the armrest. "It is acceptable, for now. Perhaps I should request an upgrade."
He sat down in it, and cocked his head. His lip twitched in the slightest of smiles. "Well, it is comfortable. I'll give them that." Shifting around some more, he shrugged, "It's not like I'll be sitting in it much, anyway."
"No?" Hera said, "You don't want rest? You've been fighting your father for years. I'd say you deserve a break, dear."
He glanced at her, "I'll spend time with you, of course. But as far as sitting around...no. I'll continue to prove my strength to whoever challenges me."
Hera scoffed, "Kronos was the strongest creature in the world, and you defeated him. There is no one left to challenge you."
"We are gods, my love. We live forever. There will be someone to challenge me again one day. I'm sure of it."
"Well if you end up fighting another war, I'll be far from it. You can do the fighting for both of us."
"Don't worry. I'll only get stronger. It may get to the point where I can take on any army single handedly." He looked straight ahead, "I know one thing that's certain. I will never lose again, as long as this city still stands. I am this city."
(Present)
Zeus and Ouranos stood apart from each other in the now empty courtyard, Typhon lurking in the background. He was very aware of the old foe, he might as well have eyes in the back of his head.
Zeus sized up his Primordial opponent, finding his appearance oddly unnerving. He looked like a younger version of himself. Clean shaven, medium length gray hair, tan skin, they were about the same size, and he was even wearing a similar toga. The difference was subtle, but if Zeus had looked in the mirror plenty of times, and caught it straight away.
There was a dark, sinister gaze in Ouranos's eyes. It was victorious, but the hunger was still there. Zeus had a hunger, and a drive, but that was different. That was out of arrogance and pride. Ouranos was hungry for the fire brimming out of the Earth's core, as everything that had been built burns away, withering in the wind.
He'd seen hatred in the eyes of his enemy before. Every last one. But never had he seen an intensity equal to this. It wasn't out of respect that he inwardly admitted this, but he recognized that Ouranos wanted to achieve his goal at any cost. He would do anything within his power to assure it happens.
Funny. Zeus would do anything in his power to assure it doesn't happen.
Ouranos laughed, "Relocating the entire city population? That's unlike you, Zeus. I didn't think you cared what happened to the common man."
When he'd teleported Matt and the others, he teleported the entire city with them. Every single mortal, every pet, anything with a life force, was secure. He knew that if he had to fight Ouranos, eventually, a stray shockwave would get away from him and destroy the city, killing millions of people.
"You came for me, did you not?" He countered, "The mortals have no quarrel with you."
"But they don't belong here. This world, it isn't there's and it isn't yours. It's mine. I'm here to take it back."
"The world belongs to not one person. It's big enough for everyone." Zeus frowned, "Except you, it seems."
Ouranos shook his head, "This is completely out of the blue. Zeus, saying that the world doesn't belong to one person. I always pegged you as a narcissist."
"I was. But I've changed over the years. Things changed me. People changed me. I recognized my mistakes, and I'm trying to make up for it."
"By facing me alone? That was a bad move, old friend. If you'd kept Matthias and Amaterasu, you'd have a chance. But you worry for them, or more specifically, him, too much. That will be your downfall."
"We'll see." Zeus gestured with his head towards the palace, "We will fight in my personal training room."
Ouranos smirked, "What's the matter? Afraid the planet will get blown up? Don't worry, Zeus, I wouldn't destroy my own world. I need it for the future."
Zeus decided to indulge him, and goad him a bit. "True, but you want to fight me at my best, right? If the world's at risk, I'll be holding back to thwart the stray shockwaves. In my training room, I can go all out."
Zeus hoped and prayed that Ouranos would want to accept his challenge. History proves that he's a snake, and more than willing to fight dirty. But he took a chance, and that was better than not trying at all.
Ouranos pondered this, staring through Zeus's forehead as if he has laser eyes. "It would be disappointing to defeat you while you're holding back..."
It was working? Zeus couldn't believe it. He fully expected Ouranos to just smile like a devil and charge him, with Typhon as support to distract him.
He held back from goading him further, deciding to let the path take its course.
Eventually, Ouranos nodded, without making an expression. "Lead the way. I'll accept that term."
"Are you sure you don't want to bring your pet with you?"
Typhon had enough intelligence to understand what he said, and growled in the distance, squeezing the center balcony with his hand, breaking marble with ease.
Ouranos held out a hand in his direction, "Easy Typhon, you'll get your turn. I promised to give you the finishing blow." He shrugged in a mock polite way at Zeus, "He's just itching to kill you."
"Let him try. You don't have to hold him on a leash. I'll give him the same taste of lightning I gave him all those years ago when I killed him."
"Heh, I'm afraid it's like you said. This is between you and me. I've waited a long, long time for this."
"Let's not waste any time then." Zeus turned around and began walking towards the palace, hearing Ouranos's footsteps close behind. He had his guard up, walls high, he fully expected a back stab or a sneak attack. But as time went on, and the further they went down the hallways of the palace, Ouranos didn't do anything. He just followed Zeus, as he said he would.
Zeus felt a sense of deja vu. For the time he led his grandson down this hall and into the training room. This was different on every level.
Finally, they reached the end of the line. Zeus opened the door and stood, waiting for Ouranos to enter.
But the Primordial stopped right before it, deadpanning at Zeus. "This isn't a ploy to capture me, is it? Because I can tell you right now, it won't work."
Zeus sighed, "I'll go in first."
He walked inside, stared at Ouranos, he nodded, and joined him, closing the door after entering.
It was a white room, through and through, ready to bend to Zeus's will, and appear as he wanted. Ouranos looked around, as if viewing a new house.
"A bit dull in here, isn't it?"
"Where do you wish to settle this?"
Ouranos raised an eyebrow, "Where do I-" His mouth parted with realization, "-Oh, I see. This place. It's made of your aura. Well, if I get to choose - Ancient Greece. The Olympus of old."
"I figured." Zeus snapped his fingers, and his surrounding, stored aura, molded itself to appear and take form as Ouranos's request. A long, vast landscape of mountains shaped on all sides, dark gray storm clouds hovering in the sky, dimming the whiteness that once resided. They now stood on the tallest of the mountains, the peak that towered above all the rest. It was the Olympus from the earliest days of the Golden Age. When Greece was still in its prime. The palace was similar to how it looked now. The marble was the same shade of color, the thrones had the same number, but they were a far distance from New York City.
Ouranos admired it, "That's more like it. This feels like home."
"This isn't your home. It will never be your home." Zeus pointed at the shiny floor, "You didn't build this legacy. We did. You may be older than me, but I've been on the Earth far longer. I've been King far longer. I deserve this title. Despite my short comings as a moral being, I worked hard to get where I am, through blood and physical challenge. What did you do? You were killed the first chance your son became intelligent enough to realize there were no boundaries keeping him from taking power."
Ouranos's demeanor shifted in an instant. What was playful, became hateful. Zeus knew he was getting under his skin. It wasn't hard, but Ouranos was good at hiding his frustration. Everything was reduced to a twitch of the lips or cheek.
"You weren't there. You don't know what happened. I was caught off guard by the utter greed of my wife and child, that was it. I thought things were okay, I thought we were on the same page. But I was a fool then, because I cared. I loved them. Love is the biggest weakness in existence, my friend, it's like a poison that seeps away at your strength. It blinds you. That's why you're weaker than me, because you aren't willing to do what it takes to move the obstacle in front of you, at any cost. Again, point in case, you chose to fight me alone."
"Love gives you something to fight for." Zeus said, "You only fight for yourself. You're alone, Ouranos. You have nothing to lose, and that makes you dangerous, I'll admit. But like everything, there is balance. It's equally dangerous to have everything to lose."
Ouranos's real face showed itself for a few moments. Zeus knew pointing out his loneliness cut deep, but again, Ouranos was good at this. He covered any bitterness up with another smirk, straight from the depths of the underworld.
"I suppose it's an equal fight then." With a jerk of his hand, a weapon as long as its wielder formed from thin air, flashing a blue, crystal transparent color as it hit the ground, cracking the floor. The Heavenly Diamond spear sat comfortably in Ouranos's hand, radiating chaotic energy that stung the back of Zeus's neck, just from being in its presence.
Zeus couldn't remember if he'd ever been in the presence of the famed weapon that took his son's life. But just looking at it infuriated him. It filled him with a raging fire that urged him to rip Ouranos's head off. It was the biggest crafting of Heavenly Diamond that he'd ever seen, and it certainly upped the ante. Zeus knew that he needed to be careful, and he prepared for this, or the idea that he could slip up and take permanent damage. One scratch is all it takes.
As soon as he let the tip of the spear hit the floor, Ouranos disappeared. He didn't teleport, but he darted around, leaving afterimages of himself around the room. Zeus could barely follow with vision alone, but that wasn't the optimal way to follow here. Or in any fight. If you relied on your base senses at this level, you would die.
So he kept up with his aura. It was fast too, but he could place it down to the impact point. He was coming at him, straight forward.
Zeus summoned his Master Bolt in a nanosecond, coiling the two-foot lightning rod in his palm. It brightened the room and whirred with power, like a sword with the sun's core in its metal.
When the blinding blue light hit Ouranos's eyes, they widened. There was the slightest hesitation in his swing that separated a devastating blow from a good blow. When the spear hit Zeus's bolt right in the middle, he felt the force behind it, and knew that it could've been greater. A part of Ouranos's nerves got the better of him. No matter how much he talked, or how much he bragged, Zeus was still the king of the gods. He still had his reputation, and Ouranos feared that to a degree.
His strike was strong, however. Zeus had to use both hands to hold against it. They stood like that, weapon on weapon, for quite some time, allowing the power to surge from both sources.
Zeus was incredibly grateful that the fight had been moved in here. Otherwise, a stunt like this would've destroyed the universe several times over. Ouranos was powerful enough now to match him, and Zeus knew his own limitations. His strength could reach beyond this realm, and several others. He could turn each star to dust with a blink if he wished, and wake Chaos itself with an explosion of his full power. Adding a duplicate on top of that would surely destroy everything.
He wasn't even sure this world, in its infinity, could withstand the pressure. He would have to try and end this quick.
"Weaker than I thought!" Ouranos taunted, stepping forward with his foot and pushing Zeus further back, his arms closing in dangerously. "This is the power of the mighty Zeus?"
Zeus growled, "Judging a battle by the first clash? Dumber than I thought!" He brought his head forward and bashed it to Ouranos's, sending him stumbling back, freeing their weapons from their clench. "The tide can always turn!"
He slashed at him with the Master Bolt, aiming to touch the shoulder and cleave right through to the opposing hip. But Ouranos dodged, jumping back and bouncing forward in one fell swoop, stabbing the spear at Zeus's face.
Zeus's dodge was far narrower. The tip of the spear missed him by two inches at most. It was then that Zeus realized what kind of fight this would be. He was used to being on the offensive, but not here. He'd have to play defense against a weapon like that. His one strategy was going to be trying to avoid a strike from that cursed spear, then find an opening for a direct strike with the bolt. He knew that the bolt held just as much destructive power as the spear. Both are infinite at their core, and only an infinite being can access that full power. Both he and Ouranos are limited, in their own way.
But chaotic energy is more dangerous to harness than the bolt. The bolt has more explosive power. A graze from it will cause more damage than a graze from the spear. Zeus held the advantage in power, but the consequences of the spear were far deadlier.
He couldn't quite gauge if Ouranos was faster than him yet. If he had to guess, he'd say he was, if not equal. In terms of strength, Zeus was still stronger, he had more fighting experience, and better combat intelligence. Ouranos may be cunning and unpredictable, but that will only get him so far. His biggest advantage is that the unpredictability is coupled with the deadliness of the spear. One dubious move could earn him a great victory.
Zeus could win. Zeus will win.
Ouranos fought for his own desire for power. His bitterness drives him. It was like a boxing match. It all came down to willpower. And Zeus was more than his match in that department. He had thousands of things to protect, things that have hit a different light recently. In the past, if anything happened to Hera, he wouldn't care. But now, knowing that the beast Typhon held her in his stomach, and is actively using her energy to strengthen his own, it infuriates him.
For the first time in a long time, he wanted to tell Hera he loved her.
He wanted to tell Matt that he loved him too.
That's what gives him strength. That's stronger than a want for power, or hatred for the world.
Zeus saw his big opening. Ouranos held his lunge from his stab attempt a moment too long, allowing Zeus to close in on his personal bubble and land a powerful cross to the cheek.
His fist hit him hard enough to knock him back, skidding on his heels, thirty feet towards the makeshift thrones. A shockwave burst around the point of impact, shaking the palace.
Zeus immediately followed up by pitching the bolt at him, throwing it like a light speed javelin. Ouranos brought up the spear to block it, but the attack was a feint. A distraction.
Zeus teleported behind Ouranos and decked him in the back faster than the bolt could arrive. He hit him in the center of the spine and earned a groan of pain from the Primordial. Ouranos remained sturdy enough though to not get knocked on his face. He even did something that really surprised Zeus. He took the brunt of Zeus's punch and dodged the bolt's path, turning the strike on Zeus.
He of course didn't let his own weapon hit him. He snatched it from the air with his left hand and tried to stab Ouranos with it, like a knife, reverse grip. Ouranos slammed the shaft of the spear against the bolt's end, smacking it away.
Ouranos's face said it all. I got you.
But he was naive. Did he not know that Zeus could control the bolt without touching it? All of that training wasn't for nothing. There wasn't a person alive with a closer connection to a weapon than Zeus.
Ouranos swung the spear like a sword at Zeus's head, but quickly, he summoned the bolt back with telekinesis to deflect the blow. It came shooting in like a bullet, hitting the end of the spear and knocking Ouranos's swing back to the start.
Zeus willed the bolt to emit several branches of lightning. All of them burst from the cylinder and bounced off the ground like hounds of electricity, targeting Ouranos.
The Primordial cursed under his breath and opted not to take the attack head on. He jumped back, thinking the strikes would hit the ground as they pounced. But like missiles, once the target moved, they moved, and changed course. Ouranos bounced, the lightning hounds bounced too, veering just before hitting the ground.
Zeus stood there, moving them with his mind. Though he stood still, the battle was still happening. Ouranos was using his physicality to avoid being hit, and Zeus was using his mind to the best of his ability to make the hit happen. But like he said, Ouranos was fast. If he wasn't sure before, he was now. He was slightly faster than what he could keep up, visually. But with his aura sensing, he could track him without much difficulty.
Which is what kept this going. In the back of his mind, he kept his 'sights' on Ouranos, following wherever he went. Ouranos was smart though, just moving at the last second in an attempt to catch the lightning hounds off guard. Each attempt was close. He flexed his legs and hit the roof of the palace, pressing off of a marble pillar just before the attack could reach him. It was like a pinball machine. Only a matter of time.
Finally, Ouranos decided enough was enough. Zeus had good enough control to keep this up for hours. He skidded to a stop on the floor and sliced at the lightning with the spear, dispersing two of them in blue fireworks.
Zeus strained his muscles and used all his might to change the direction of the remaining hounds. They stopped abruptly and corked under Ouranos's knees, curling upward and coming back down, forming the shape of a blue triangle beside his body, and then cutting his skin.
Ouranos flexed his aura to disperse the rest, but he wasn't left undamaged. Across his exposed body, and in the rips of his toga, were little cuts, leaking golden ichor. It was as if he'd taken a jog through a cactus patch. The wounds weren't deep, but they were numerous, and a start. Zeus had drawn first blood.
He wasn't stopping, either.
While Ouranos was dazed, Zeus reappeared in front of him and planted his fist in his gut, doubling his body over on his arm. More ichor came from his gut and out of his mouth.
"AGH!" He howled.
Zeus brought his knee into Ouranos's chin, straightening his back and opening him up for several blows. But Zeus only chose one route.
He summoned the bolt back to his hand, gripped it with both and stabbed downward as hard as he could. Ouranos quickly powered through his stunned state and blocked the stab with a push of his spear shaft, positioned horizontally so they were pressing against Zeus's wrist.
The shockwave that resulted from the clash burst around them like Saturn's ring, destroying every pillar that held the palace up, knocking the roof from it's place and sending rubble exploding into the mountainside.
As the roof caved in, they never stopped struggling. The force that radiated around them melted and disintegrated every rock, every broken piece of marble and stone, eroding it all away and never touching the two. Eventually, nothing was left of the palace except the foundation. They were exposed to the open sky and wind now.
Ouranos was strong enough to hold him for a few seconds, but Zeus was superior, and had better leverage. Soon enough, Ouranos's arms crumbled under the pressure, buckled, and fell to the push. The Master Bolt burned through Ouranos's shoulder and pierced the skin. Two inches, three inches, the lightning pressed deeper into his body, earning a pained growl that got louder from Ouranos's throat.
He screamed out in frustration and jumped up, pressing both feet to Zeus's stomach, kicking him backwards.
Zeus's balance wasn't shaken whatsoever. He stiffly skidded back on his heels, stopping twenty feet away and slowly lowering the bolt to his side.
Ouranos's breathing was rapid. He glanced down at the new wound, the circumference of the hole cauterized enough to keep a fountain of ichor from pouring out, but not enough to keep it completely blocked. A trail of gold dripped down Ouranos's chest.
Zeus could sense that his aura was strained. The wound was close to the lung, but farther from the heart than he'd like. Still, it was a good showcase of his power, showing Ouranos that he's out of his league here. In just minutes, he's already stabbed his shoulder, and drawn blood.
Of course, Ouranos could heal. Zeus wasn't blind. All gods have an incredible healing factor, it just comes with the territory. The only real damage that could be done, would come from the opposing weapon. Or, if Zeus manages to blow Ouranos to smithereens with the bolt, erasing his physical body completely. That could work. But he wanted there to be absolutely no chance of this scum crawling his way out and back into society.
Ouranos touched the wound and brought his finger out in front of him, staring at the little drop of gold that clung. "Good. Very good. You're actually improving as we fight. It's amazing."
"I'm not improving." Zeus said, "You're just realizing that you're in over your head. Way over."
"Perhaps you're right."
Zeus was surprised that Ouranos would say such a thing. Admit such a thing.
But he continued, "You're stronger than me. There's no doubt about it. But...did you really think that I'd challenge you without a trick up my sleeve to even the gap?"
A trick?
"What kind of trick?"
Ouranos smiled, "Watch."
He slammed the brunt end of the spear to the floor, cracking it. Zeus watched as nothing extraordinary happened, at least, to his eyes. But something started happening inwardly that Zeus took notice of.
The chaotic energy was being siphoned out of the spear, and into Ouranos's own aura, willingly. It was happening under his command. Soon, Ouranos's dark blue aura began to show itself, but it was mixed with a horrible shade of black. Not the color of night, but the color of oil, almost a sickly, poisoning, deadly pigment that made Zeus cringe. And he knew it was the energy of chaos. It had entered a place it should never. Diamond could withstand such a thing, but life couldn't.
Zeus's eyes widened as the shade of colors surged around Ouranos's body. He was taking a huge risk by doing this. Mixing chaotic energy into one's own aura was like killing themselves essentially. Eventually, it would take over the user's soul, and erase them.
But Zeus knew that Ouranos's threshold for chaos was stronger than his own. As was the other children directly born from the infinite being. They were the first beings to exist, they spawned from it's energy, which means a part of it resides in them.
Yet, they can't go forever embodying such a thing. But they can last a lot longer than most. For instance, Zeus knew that if he were to try such a trick, he'd probably only last five minutes. Whereas Ouranos could last thirty.
Ouranos's wound from the bolt closed up immediately. His aura spiked to a level previously unseen, dangerous for Zeus. Every statistic he held gained tenfold, and was steadily rising. Every second, as the chaos poured into him, he got stronger.
"You're killing yourself for power." Zeus said, almost a whisper of disbelief, "You're taking chaos into your own soul to get stronger. That's a huge risk."
"A risk worth taking." He said. "With every passing second, I get stronger. Eventually, even you won't be able to stand against me."
He was right. If Zeus didn't end this fast, the gap would close, and he would die. He couldn't die. If he did, his plan would be thrown out of the window. The plan of dealing with this by himself and keeping the others safe. He has to keep them safe.
He knew Matt and his friends were capable. He'd seen firsthand that Amaterasu was capable, but deep in his heart, he knew that this was his job. He felt a responsibility for it.
He also wanted this. He'd killed his son.
Ouranos's aura surged once more, shining a giant beam into the sky and covering his entire frame within, making it a shadow. Not a second later, that shadow disappeared.
Zeus felt a strong force hit his jaw, knocking him off of the palace foundation and down the mountainside, shooting across miles of distance in a single second, crashing into the river below.
The sound of rushing, whistling wind was immediately replaced by bubbles underwater, rushing to the surface. Then, there was nothing. Zeus felt himself flowing with the river's soft current, sinking underwater. He could see nothing around him, not even the sky, the storm clouds had gotten darker and heavier. The artificial sky was bending to Ouranos's will now.
With a flex of his aura, the entire river disappeared. Water shot up all around him and landed on the shores of the green hills beside him. Ouranos was there, on top of one, staring down at Zeus with glowing eyes.
"It's my turn to draw blood." He said, "Real blood."
Zeus felt the throb on his jaw. He had to admit, that one hurt. Ouranos's aura wasn't stopping anytime soon. The chaotic energy had the exact effect he worried about.
Both of them blurred from view this time, meeting each other between the distance, and clashing with their respective weapons. Bolt met spear, then again, and again. Soon it became a rapid dance across the hills of the chamber, covering hundreds of miles of distance, heights, and widths. They found themselves surging through the depths of the "Earth's" crust, in between mountains, and in the sky. Nothing was safe. The shockwaves shook the entire chamber, in all its infinity. Zeus knew there was no way it could last.
After millions of clashes, Ouranos dematerialized his spear and changed pace, grabbing Zeus's wrists in his hands. They were positioned deep in the clouds, high in the sky. All it took was a spin and shift of Ouranos's weight, and he threw Zeus back to the Earth, a straight plummet to the ground.
His body pierced through the hill and into the dirt, leaving a tunnel that left him facing Ouranos in the sky. Storm clouds clung to him as he summoned a giant lightning bolt of his own. It coiled in strobing light through Zeus's blurry vision, but he knew what was coming.
Zeus stiffened and immediately pressed his aura to get him out of there. He teleported just a hundred feet away in the air, and watched as the lightning bolt narrowly missed him, crashing into his previous position.
The strike eroded the hill away before it even touched it, then the rest of the landscape, in its entirety. It was like a hurricane had come through, destroying everything. It flattened out the horizon to the point where every hill and blade of grass was gone, leaving nothing but flat dirt. Even Olympus was gone, caught somewhere in the blast.
Zeus used his aura to form two portals. Using the technique he taught Matt, he summoned energy from the dormant dimensions to his own, and formed a big, blue disc shaped shield to protect him from the nuclear wave that came with Ouranos's bolt.
Quickly, before it could reach, he closed the portals and took Ouranos's blast. The shield protected him from any stray debris hitting his skin or blinding him. Rocks and dirt bounced off, never hitting him, but the force was enough to blow him back. Still, he wasn't knocked to the ground, due to being able to take flight, and hover himself in the air.
But once it was over, Ouranos was behind him. Unexpectedly. He was much faster now, even too much for Zeus's aura sensing to keep up with. Usually, he was able to detect Ouranos when he was about to teleport or move. There was a flex, and a strain to his aura. But now, he was moving so fast, that it was untraceable. Zeus couldn't find him.
He turned around in time to see the glint of Heavenly Diamond cast against the scarce moon through the storm clouds. Instinctively, he backed up. But the spear had incredible range, and managed to slice him across the chest.
About as deep as the cuts he gave Ouranos earlier with his own attack. It was a shallow, but long cut that stretched from his shoulder to his opposing rib area, leaving a little line of gold in its wake. Zeus felt a small portion of his aura flee. Permanently.
The world was a raging storm now. The wind had picked up to a level that the real world wouldn't have been able to take. Humans measure hurricanes with their own system, an F5 being the strongest. But if this could be measured, it would be an F10. It was almost hard to concentrate with the combination of disasters happening. Thunder, lightning, the wind, it was all in Ouranos's control.
He smirked at the sight of Zeus's blood, "There it is. There's what I've been looking for. You have no idea how satisfying it is to see that."
Zeus looked down at it, scoffing. "Please. You'll have to do much better if you want to beat me."
Ouranos's face twitched at the nonchalance. "Okay then!" He moved so fast that Zeus didn't see him throw the spear in his direction. He made to dodge, but realized that the spear wasn't aimed for his chest or head. It was aimed at the bolt.
It hit the cylinder of lightning directly in the middle, knocking it right out of Zeus's hand and into the sky. Ouranos used telekinesis to summon the spear back to him, his position higher than Zeus's now, with his knees at eye level.
Ouranos snatched the spear out of midair and swung down, ready to cleave him in half, starting at the skull.
But Zeus moved his head just in time, reaching out with his hands to stop the spear's path. Well, it only partly worked. He slowed it, but failed to stop it.
The spear's momentum was so great, that it managed to catch Zeus's shoulder, and dangerously close to his neck. Just an inch deep, but it hurt, and took another small piece of his aura with it.
Zeus grunted, his face red with effort. Ouranos was enjoying all of it.
"That's twice in a row!" He yelled, "At this rate, you won't last much longer!"
Through his pain, Zeus managed to respond, "You must have forgotten who I am, Ouranos! I'm still the king of the gods! You can hit me with this spear all you want, but I'll never fall! My body will never hit the ground in defeat! And I will never have a scar on my back! NEVER!"
With one hundred and ten percent of effort, beyond his own threshold, Zeus pushed the spear out of his skin and back towards Ouranos. The Primordial's eyes widened with surprise as Zeus temporarily overtook him.
He knew he couldn't do this for long, so in a last-ditch effort, he twisted his hips and threw his arms to the side. Ouranos howled in pain when the tip of the spear caught his cheek, nicking it.
Zeus followed up by kicking him in the chest with all he had, sending Ouranos flipping back in the air dozens of feet, to an abrupt stop.
His cheek was bleeding. The scar would be small, but he'd done it. He'd reversed the blow, and dealt permanent damage to Ouranos. Even if it was just a tiny fraction of aura taken, it was a victory regardless.
Zeus smirked.
Ouranos seethed, "What the hell are you smirking at?! I'll destroy you!"
It happened in the span of a nanosecond. Ouranos charged forward, Zeus knew it was coming, even if he couldn't see it. So he opened ten portals to dormant dimensions, summoned their energy in the small amount of time he had, enough to form another shield of energy, and then close them back up so they wouldn't be destroyed. The act was incredibly fast, not even another Olympian would've been able to see it.
The spear hit the shield and dispersed it instantly, the force of Ouranos's strike knocked Zeus into next week. His back was against the wind as he flew and flew, farther away.
Zeus knew he was running out of moves. He only had a few to resort to now for defense.
With a pull of his will, he brought the bolt back to his palm. Confidence returned, and a little bit of control in the sky too.
Upon his command, hundreds of bolts of lightning rained down and collected themselves into the bolt. With each ray of energy, the bolt grew bigger, to the point where it towered over the landscape, bigger than any of the mountains that once sat scattered. It sat behind Zeus like a colossal tree, connecting itself to the sky and ground in bright blue light, enough to rival the sun.
And there was Zeus, floating in front, the bearer of the tree. This was only a fraction of the bolt's infinite potential, but absorbing its own element allowed more to be brought out, in a physical manifestation of its power.
Zeus watched Ouranos look up in awe at the giant tree, gulping at its power. He quickly steeled himself and dove upward, spear raised out in front of him.
The reaction was immediate. The bolt tree shot out a branch of lightning that met Ouranos in his path, knocking him out of the sky.
The proceeding series of events happened in a flash. Zeus smacked Ouranos away from him millions of times. Boom, boom, boom, each hit was a crack of thunder, Ouranos would bounce off the flat Earth and back forward, ever persistent on trying the same tactic and bull rushing up.
It was a nigh impenetrable defense. One that could only be employed for so long. The current game was simple. Be fast enough to defend. But at this rate, Zeus wouldn't get a single attack in, because none of these swats were doing anything to Ouranos. Nothing more than knocking him back.
And the chaotic effect wasn't a bluff. Ouranos was growing stronger with every second. This wasn't looking good.
When Ouranos came back the next time, he slashed the spear in front of him, releasing a thick line of black chaos. The energy grew into a crescent, as big as the tree, hurdling towards Zeus.
He quickly let go of his control and backed away behind the bolt tree, just in time to avoid a direct hit from the chaotic strike. It cut through the bolt tree and caused an explosion that destroyed the entire chamber. Zeus could literally feel his own stored up aura being ate away by the effect, disintegrating before his eyes and senses.
Zeus had an idea and took hold of it. If he could get through the door in time, and the chaos was going to destroy the chamber completely...he could trap Ouranos here. Eventually, it would catch up to him, and if he held out, that would kill him.
The force of the explosion already sent Zeus flying, but he used that momentum to propel him down towards where he knew the door was. He hadn't seen Ouranos through the bright lights, or the smoke, but he was still in here. That's all that mattered.
Like a rocket, he flew down and skimmed the ground, eyes on the door. With telekinesis, he opened it just before zooming right through, and closing it behind him.
Using his aura, he constricted the rift to that separate dimension, and got rid of the entrance entirely. The door disappeared, along with the portal to that chamber he created long ago. It was gone anyway.
But on the bright side, Ouranos was still in there. Trapped. Even if he exited that new chaotic form of his, the energy he already released would come back to eat him. He would be erased slowly. In a way, it was fitting.
Zeus almost smiled at the prospect. He had his hands on his knees, catching his breath. When he felt enough air fill his lungs, he pushed off and stood straight.
To find Ouranos standing right in front of him.
Casually. Unharmed. Leaning on his spear, with a smirk on his face.
"What took you so long?"
His smirk turned into the smile of a demon as he darted forward, faster than Zeus could blink now, grabbed him by the throat, and threw him as far as a hail Mary in Football.
Zeus soared through the open palace, hit the side of the wall, crashed through, and landed in the courtyard, back where they started.
He felt Typhon's energy, still at the same spot, beside the balcony, waiting patiently. And he felt for Matt at the camp, hoping to the universe, and the higher gods, even higher than him, that he was still there.
When he locked on, he felt that Matt was flying towards Olympus, desperate to help him. He and his friends were awake now, from the trance he'd put them in when he teleported them.
Quickly, he formed a large dome around the city, blocking anyone from entering. Even in his weakened state, it was enough to keep Matt out. He felt his grandson hit the barrier like a wall, and his pleading thoughts to get through.
No, Matt. I can't let you. I can't let you die the way he did.
Matt gave no response. He wasn't even sure if he heard it, but he hoped he did.
Zeus tried to stand up, but the explosion must've hit him harder than he thought, because immediately, he was struck with throbbing and burning all over his body. He looked down, but saw no burn marks, or wounds, other than the slice Ouranos delivered to his chest. The stray chaotic energy in the air must've hit his skin or something, because it was stinging, and only getting worse.
Ichor came out of Zeus's mouth, the taste of it filling his tongue. He could feel himself getting weaker.
Ouranos flew through the hole he made when he tossed him, smug and satisfied. Zeus hated admitting it, but he had him. There was nowhere to run.
He had failed.
I'm sorry, Hercules. He thought. I couldn't avenge you.
Still, he stood up straight, ignoring the pain, and glared at Ouranos, right in the eyes.
"You're looking worse for wear, Zeus." Ouranos chuckled, pointing at his own lip, "You've got a little something here."
Zeus didn't move. He stood stoically. "I haven't fallen yet, Ouranos. I told you."
Ouranos's smile fell, "What?"
"I told you I wouldn't fall. If you can't even make me fall in defeat, never to get back up, then you haven't won. You haven't beaten me."
He shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows, as if he were listening to a senile old man talk nonsense. "Of course I have. Look at you. You're bleeding, your aura's draining, you can barely keep your eyes open!"
"I'M STILL STANDING!" Zeus roared.
The sudden shout caused Ouranos to flinch, and look at Zeus with hatred. He came out here, expecting to see a beaten king, fetal on the stone courtyard. But instead, he found a proud king, refusing to admit defeat. Even if he already had inwardly, he would never let Ouranos know.
Typhon growled, and shifted on the balcony, but Ouranos waved him off.
"Not yet, Typhon. I've got this." He grabbed his spear with both hands, "You won't be standing for much longer! This is it, Zeus! This is your last chance to do something to save yourself!"
For a second, Zeus actually thought about what he could do. There weren't many options. But one thing came to mind. Something he hadn't done in a long time.
Godspeed.
The last resort he showed Matt in training. Fusing your power with the bolt's, in the same way Ouranos did with chaotic energy, multiplying your power by a near infinite amount, but killing yourself in the process. In the state he was in, it would surely kill him, but Zeus knew it would also have a chance at defeating Ouranos.
He was willing to try.
But just as he materialized the Master Bolt to enter the form, Ouranos lunged forward and delivered the last blow.
Zeus felt his entire body go numb, a tightness in his stomach that turned into twisting pain, excruciatingly hot.
He looked down and saw the Heavenly Diamond spear through his gut, half of the spear inside him.
Chaos spread through his internals, like poison, wasting no time in eating away at his soul and taking aura with it.
Ouranos held his spear there, "Now, the king can fall. Just like his son."
The words brought fire to Zeus's heart, and invigorated him, clearing all of the oncoming blurriness and numbness. When Ouranos stood straight and slowly pulled the spear out of Zeus's body, even with all the waves of pain, and clumps ichor piling out like a water fountain...Zeus stood.
His knees buckled, but he stood. He did not fall.
Even with a hole in his chest, he was unwavering, and looking to the sky, not even at Ouranos. In Zeus's mind, he wasn't worth being the last thing he saw.
"I'm...still...standing." He laughed, "That...was a weak strike, Ouranos. Not even...worthy...of...a little godling."
Ouranos's face contorted with fury, his entire body going red with rage.
"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BRAT!" He quickly tensed up and dove forward again, driving the spear back through the same wound, deeper this time. "HOW'S THAT FOR WEAK?!"
The excruciating pain got even worse. It was mind bending, unbearable, like the fires of hell burning at your intestines nonstop, with needles being raked across every muscle, every vein. The worst thing imaginable.
But Zeus still stood.
He smiled through ichor-soaked lips, making sure Ouranos could see. This time, he chose to look at him, and give him a smile that he knew, would haunt the Primordial for what little time he had left before he was beaten.
"If that's all you've got, then Matt will destroy you. You're never going to win."
Ouranos's eyes were like saucers. He pulled the spear out of his stomach, and backed up in fear, and horror. Whispering, "I-Impossible...you can't still be standing..."
Every part of Zeus's soul told him to just fall and relieve some of the pain. Admit defeat. But he couldn't. His own pride, the pride that he held so long ago, at a much younger, more egoic time of his life, returned in a fleeting moment. Perhaps, his last.
As much as he didn't want Matt to be involved, he knew it was up to him now. He was better. He had the potential to be so much better.
It's up to you now, grandson. I see it now...this was your destiny, not mine. I'm sorry I tried to keep you from that. I couldn't help but worry.
Ouranos pointed at Typhon, desperately, "Typhon, dispose of him!"
Zeus's aura was weak enough now that the beast could do whatever he wanted with him. But when the monster wrapped his giant hand around Zeus and picked him up, he knew what was going to happen. He was joining the others, down in his belly.
That's why he'd gotten stronger. And that's why his children, the other Olympians, went missing. Typhon absorbed them, and was using their power.
He'd share the same fate.
Yet he didn't lose his smile for a second. The last thing he saw wasn't Typhon, but it was Matt.
And then the monster sucked him into his mouth, and swallowed. Zeus was gone from view.
The area had grown silent. Ouranos was still shaking, and Typhon looked at him expectantly, waiting for orders.
Ouranos shook his head and exited the trance, sighing and forcing a smile. "Well then...that's taken care of. Now, time to destroy that pathetic son of Hercules."
Before saying anything else, he noticed something bright lying on the courtyard floor, just behind his peripheral. Ouranos turned around and spotted Zeus's Master Bolt lying there, like a toy, glowing with dim blue light.
He smiled wide, like the Grinch. "I knew I would get a spoil of war for besting the Olympian King. Got to say...I'm not disappointed."
He briskly walked over and picked it up. The Master Bolt immediately recognized its new user as a god of lightning, and a being of the sky, and its color brightened, whirring with energy.
Ouranos admired it, and loved the way it looked in his palm.
With new confidence, he ordered Typhon, "Alright, my friend, your time has come. I held my end of the deal. You got to have the finishing blow, and now you possess what's left of Zeus's power. It's your turn to hold your end of the deal. Destroy Camp Half Blood for me."
Typhon's growl was one of excitement. With a single jump, he left the balcony of Olympus in ruins, and bounded across the sky, heading for Camp Half Blood.
"Soon, Matthias." He squeezed the bolt, "Soon, you'll get a taste of your own medicine."
Ouranos took his time in walking inside the empty palace. He was the only person in the city now, he had it all to himself.
He spotted Zeus's cracked throne, and walked over to it. He didn't even like the style, its size, or really anything about it. But just because he could, he sat down in it, and relished in the feeling.
Of being the new King.
(000)
Until Next Time.
