We're back. Let's not waste any time.
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.
16. Tsukuyomi Eats His Mom
Matt
Maybe once all this is over...I'll write a guidebook on surviving hellish places.
And by hellish places, I mean literally. Hellish places. Like...Hell. Underworld. Tartarus. And Yomi.
It's pretty crazy how I've been to just about every stretch of an afterlife there is, saw how different they are, and yes, been creeped out by them all the same. It's pretty jarring when you see it for the first time. You picture it in your head every now and then, read it in books, see it in movies, and that's all decent, but it never truly prepares you for the real thing.
The real thing sucks. It's hot, dark, uncomfortable, and ugly. Oh, and filled with monsters.
I'm hoping that nobody from the next generation has to go to any of these places, but just in case...I'll write this guidebook. So they know what to do.
A few steps right off the bat. Not in order, but just on the top of my head...take nothing at face value, look out for holes in the ground, demons around the corner, fire from above your head, and most importantly...guardian gods. Hades, or otherwise.
Now, I know there are more steps than that. Hundreds. Yeah, I get it, I'll have my work cut out for me, but the idea's in my head. People need to read stuff like that.
Because buddy...the underworld, in any form, is weird.
So let's catch up. Get off the guidebook thing, back to the present...we are about five feet into Yomi, all huddled up together, with me in the lead. Only thing missing is a flashlight and we'll be the mystery gang.
First thing's first, let me just take a second to describe this place. At least, the lobby.
It's actually different from the Underworld or Tartarus in a couple of ways. First of all, it's not dim with fire and lava, or humid in a sweat your armpits out kind of way, it's...pitch black, and cold. When I say pitch black, I mean completely dark. You can't see you hand in front your face here.
And cold isn't freezing in a blizzard, but it's uncomfortable enough to compare it to sitting inches away from a full volume air conditioner.
And in the distance, there's this noise. Like standing in the parking lot of the high school gym during a basketball game. There's this weird rumbling noise in the distance, with hints of voices and moans behind it. Not ghosts moaning or anything, but more like grunts of effort, fighting noises, if I had to guess.
But fighting? Down here?
All of us took tiny, simultaneous steps in a circle, arms pressed against each other, voices right in each other's ears.
Harper's whisper took space in mine. "Okay, I know I'm half blind, but is it pitch black in here? Or just me?"
"Nope." I said. "Definitely pitch black."
"I can help with that." Amaterasu announced, pushing past me to take the lead. "The creatures that reside here don't like the light. Especially from me."
Next thing I knew, the darkness faded. At least, a little bit, from Amaterasu's glowing hand. It started out like a candle, then grew into a torch-like flame, illuminating a ten-foot circumference around us.
"So, Amaterasu..." Percy started, a little tremble in his voice. "...You uh, said you've been here before?"
"Yes. There are many levels, far and wide, so stay close."
"Is this a place of punishment?" Annabeth asked, "Or is it different?"
"Punishment. And there are many levels. Again, stay close."
The way she said it, implied confidence that we could handle it, no big deal. But I'm always pretty anxious when it comes to the unknown, especially in a completely different pantheon. I had no idea what to expect, or where Tsukuyomi could've even gone. We couldn't hear him from here, so he had to have already gotten pretty far, right?
I wasn't sure. It should've given me more hope that we were travelling into it with someone that knows what she's doing. The leader of this entire thing, no less. It's like following Zeus into Tartarus, in a way, it's reassuring.
But her face betrays that, in my opinion. I believe it's Amaterasu, just by what my friends say, even if I don't know the context. But she looks...way different than what Amaterasu did in my head. I'd seen a painting once in some book of Annabeth's, and there, Amaterasu had really long hair, a red kimono with little designs of the sun littered on it, and skin that resembled Tsukuyomi's. As if it had been covered in makeup.
Here, she looked nothing like that. She was shorter than Harper and Annabeth by a couple of inches, dressed in tattered, baggy ninja clothes, with hair the complete opposite of that painting I saw, reminding me more of Malachi's than anyone else's. Jet black, thick, coming straight down over her ears and stopping at her jaw, loose bangs dangling in front of her forehead and eyes, with a...very normal face. Pretty, but nothing that would give her away as a goddess.
And her aura was also really weird too. I mean, I felt it before back at Camp, but reading it now, knowing that she's really Amaterasu, it feels a little too small to be such. If she's the strongest of the pantheon, she should've been able to take out Susanoo in the same way I did. It's not that she's holding back, it's just...being blocked by something. A barrier, almost.
I knew this would only stay in my thoughts for now. Curious as I was about her hiding her true identity, I figured all of that must've been revealed in the five days of my training. Besides, this is the worst time possible to be asking personal questions.
We started to pick up the pace into a slow, but steady walk, now that we had light. Reaching maybe fifty feet past the Yomi Gate, the tunnel around us widened into an open cavern, wide enough that Amaterasu's light couldn't even reveal it all.
Behind me, I heard Annabeth make a small noise. "What are those?" She whispered.
I glanced to see her pointing at something on the walls. When I looked back, I flinched at the sight. In a straight line, huddled in their own little stone cubbies, stood a legion of creatures, resembling gargoyles. I use resembling loosely, because that's the only way I can really describe them. Maybe Imp would be another word.
They were fifteen feet tall, every one of them, and they stood in these big, carved out dents in the rock walls, watching us and hissing as we walked by. They were hairless creatures, with what looked like gray skin, and wings tucked behind their back. Shadowy, bald faces, with thick fangs and slits for nostrils.
"Guardians." Amaterasu answered, looking at them as if they were normal birds anyone would see out of their car window. "They make sure the souls that are supposed to be here get where they're going."
"Aren't we not supposed to be here?" Harper asked, lip curling at the guardians' appearance.
"We aren't. But like I said, they hate the light." For emphasis, she lifted her hand closer to one, and it backed itself further in its little cubby, hissing and growling in protest.
But when Amaterasu did that, she darkened the area beside her, and one of the Guardians took its chance to pounce.
It jumped out of its cubby, snarling and opening its jaws to clamp down on her. Just as Annabeth shouted for her to watch out, she snapped back around and shoved her makeshift flame in its face, burning the tight flesh on its forehead. The Guardian screeched and backed away immediately into its cubby, slapping its own head to make the fire go out.
Amaterasu just glared at it, while we all got closer together, a little freaked out. "They'll take whatever chance they can get. Best to move quickly."
She walked faster and we followed close behind, hardly an inch of space between us.
"This is the beginning level of Yomi, where souls travel to enter their zone of punishment." She explained. "There is a difference between an afterlife for wicked souls, and an afterlife for good ones. Also, make no mistake, each level here is no better or worse than the other. They all target a specific sin."
"Sounds like the Christian Hell." Annabeth said.
"That's a good comparison." Behind us, one of those guardian things made another noise, and what sounded like the flapping of wings getting closer. Amaterasu turned around and shoved her arm past my shoulder. The guardian saw the light, squealed, and immediately lurched back to it's original position like nothing happened.
Her orange eyes glowed a little in the dark, and they fell to me. "Activate your aura, just to be safe."
I nodded, and did as she said, conjuring a red glow equal in size to her light. She continued her explanation without missing a beat.
"Anyway, in life, people can do all sorts of bad deeds. It depends really on what your 'specialty' was. For instance, a murderer has its own realm of punishment, along with adulterers, thieves, and so on and so forth. You get the idea."
"Where does this path end?" I asked, not only interested in how this place worked, but curious as to where we were even going. "Like, how do the souls get to their punishment zone?"
Amaterasu pointed down the tunnel, "At the end of this path, there will be a room with nine different doors, where an ancient spirit directs the souls to their chosen door."
Percy nose was scrunched up, "What if the souls resist against the spirit?"
"He throws them in by force."
"Oh...well, sounds like a nice guy."
Amaterasu ignored Percy's quip, instead shaking her head. "Tsukuyomi's gotten farther than I thought. I can trace trails of his energy, but they're faint. We must hurry."
She picked up the pace a bit to a fast walk, and with my light supporting hers, everyone was a little more comfortable, opting to spread out a little and not crowd each other.
I figured for the few seconds of spare time I had, I could show off to Harper for a second. I missed her more than I realized.
Nudging her on the arm, I pointed up towards my temple.
She raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Just clear your head, and listen."
I locked on to the energy inside her brain, opening a temporary link between our minds. She was going to love this.
What's up?
Her entire face went slack with shock, and I couldn't help but smile. It was even more priceless than I expected.
She responded in her head, voice as clear as if she were speaking. Woah! Holy shit, dude, you learned telepathy?!
Sure did. Pretty cool, huh?
Totally. So does this mean we can like, talk to each other now and nobody will even know it?
Pretty much. I can add the others into the conversation if I want. There's no limit to the size. Well, I say that now, but I'm not completely sure. I haven't tried it with more than just one person yet.
At the thought of that, I got even more excited. Oh, and you'll never believe it! I can actually talk to Kyros now!
She reared her head back. I thought you guys already talked.
Nah, that's just emotion reading. Now I can actually speak to him, like I'm speaking to you right now. He has a voice and everything!
Her eyes were wide with awe, mouth open with a half-smile of disbelief. That's crazy! What does he sound like?
Just the question I knew she'd ask. Honestly, he sounds like a teenager. His voice is lighter than mine, actually.
Really?
Yeah, I would've never expected it.
She shook her head, chuckling silently so nobody could hear. You'll have to let me hear it sometime.
Oh, I will. Believe me, everyone needs to hear it.
We both chuckled within our thoughts for a moment, and then her demeanor changed, one eyebrow curving while the other stayed straight, offering a rather...sly look to Harper that I only saw when we were alone together.
You know...I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about what we were doing in your cabin before we left for Japan.
At that, I stiffened, suddenly not feeling the cold air of Yomi anymore. My own blushing heat overcame any chill this place could offer.
Oh...that. Yeah, that was really something.
It was. I'll be honest, Matt, I had no idea that was going to happen, but it just...felt right, you know? Like I knew exactly what to do. It was...new, and a little weird, but a good weird. I liked it.
At that moment, the memory came back in a flash, and I felt every sensation now as I did then. Her hands running up and down my chest, lips planted to mine, hands grazing the inside of her thighs...
It sort of overwhelmed me, and my next words came out more nervous and jumbly than I intended. Oh yeah, a good weird. It was...definitely new, I agree.
I inwardly cringed at the way I said it. Way to go, Matt, now she's going to take it the wrong way.
Which is exactly what happened. Her sly look melted into one of concern, and a hint of guilt. It...freaked you out, didn't it?
No! Gods no! Harper, I-
She interrupted. Matt, it's okay if you didn't like it. Hell, it's my fault it went that far in the first place. I'm sorry about that, I guess I got a little carried away.
I wanted to slap myself. No! No, no, no, Matt, don't let this happen again. This is literally what happened on that first quest when she kissed me. I stood there like a fish out of water, and she got the wrong idea!
Not happening this time. No sir.
I managed to calm my racing heart and control my words so they actually sounded coherent. Harper, listen for a second. First of all, don't apologize. I kissed you first. Second, even if it were the other way around, I had no problem with it at all. I really liked it too. It was just...like you said, new.
Her face changed to the cutest expression I'd ever seen on her. Like a cat perking its head up when finding something interesting. Oh. So...it didn't freak or gross you out?
I snickered. Not at all. It was awesome. I mean, you know, I hate we got interrupted.
That sly look returned, and yeah, it sent pleasant shivers down my arms. Well, there's always time when we get back to Camp.
By now, Percy had noticed what was going on between us. As in, Harper and I had been staring at each other as we walked for a minute straight, not saying a word, but making expressions and reactions, as if we were talking. In retrospect, yeah, it probably looked a little weird.
"Uh...what are you guys doing?"
Both our heads turned to him at the same time, so fast that it made Percy flinch. My face burned with embarrassment, and I'm sure Harper's was a little red too.
"Uh..." Great Matt, you lost your ability to talk again.
Luckily Harper's better at keeping her cool than me. She saved it. "Matt's got telepathy now!"
Percy lit up like a little kid, "Seriously?! Dude, use it on me! Use it on me!"
I was about to, when Amaterasu hissed at us, "Your telepathy will have to wait! We're approaching the ancient spirit!"
At the scolding, Annabeth backed it up by lightly smacking Percy on the arm. "Stop acting like a little kid."
He whined, "But Matt learned telepathy, Annabeth. I wanted to try it out!"
"Shush!"
Much to Percy's disappointment, he didn't get to try out the telepathy, and we remained silent as we walked through an entrance to a dead end. The open cavern fell into a clear, oval shaped doorway made of stone, leading into the place Amaterasu talked about.
Since the doorway was big enough, we all kept our formation as we walked in. The place looked a lot like the cavern, with the same rock covering us in a small, cathedral like setting. Dim candlelight over each door in a semi-circle shape, and at the center, stood the ancient spirit.
If Amaterasu hadn't called him that, I wouldn't even know. Sure, he looked weird, but he wasn't transparent or ghostly in appearance. He just looked like a really tall, lanky, bone-thin old guy.
He wore old, worn cloth that might've been a kimono a few centuries ago, but time had withered away at it. He had wild gray hair on both his head and face, but the thing I took the most note of was what covered his eyes. A thick layer of fabric wrapped around his head, covering both eyes like a blind man.
Annabeth commented on this, "He's blind?"
"He is." Amaterasu said, "He sees not with sight, but by reading one's soul."
The spirit stood dead center, as still as a corpse. You know, upon closer inspection, he could really pass for one. His skin was so tight, it practically clung to his bones, wrinkles and all. But he wasn't lying down or leaning against anything, he just stood right in the middle, hands by his side.
"You are not dead." He commented, voice raspy and weak, no real vibration behind it. "You aren't mortal, either. Half-Bloods...and a god?"
Amaterasu nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "It is Amaterasu, old spirit. You may not remember me."
When he moved, there was a cracking noise in his neck, as if he hadn't done so in centuries. "I remember well. But you are different now than when we met before. Your soul is...underneath another. The soul of a half-blood."
"Yes. That's a long story, but rest assured, it is me. I'm here with some allies- I mean, friends, because we're tracking Tsukuyomi. You remember him, right? The god of shadows, the moon, the darkness..." She trailed off.
The spirit immediately responded. "Of course. He passed through here just moments ago, too fast for me to even register. Through the door belonging to the murderous souls."
Amaterasu sighed, her voice low. "That's a particularly chaotic door. Smart of him to delay us."
I was a bit surprised at how smooth this was going. This guy was just telling Amaterasu everything she wanted to know, no hesitation, no riddles, no fighting, just boom, here you go. Kind of makes me wonder what he would do if it was just us, without her. I get the feeling it wouldn't be as cordial.
Huh, I guess being the leader of a pantheon comes with some perks. Go figure.
She began to walk past the old spirit, in the direction of the third door from the left. "Thank you for your help. Much obliged."
"My lady, you know the dangers of this place, but these half-bloods do not. Be wary of their safety."
Amaterasu paused, her hand on the door knob. I thought she might turn around and pull a by the way, I didn't tell you about this certain thing but she didn't. Whatever other danger we were in being here, she chose to keep to herself. That was comforting.
She turned the knob and pushed it open quickly. Beyond the door, was no tunnel or cave. We were greeted directly by the hell for murderers.
I wasn't sure what I was picturing when she mentioned it, but this turned out to be a pretty close match. In front of us, sat another open cavern, lit up by magma creeping through the stalagmites and jagged rock, fire raging on the walls surrounding a pit of blood-soaked water. In that water, moved thousands of bodies. Not even husks or zombies of humans, just skeletons with pieces of flesh hanging off their bones, swords in hand, fighting each other.
The door closed behind us, all by itself. For a second, I just stood still and watched the battle rage before me. Even though none of these souls had voice boxes, they were screaming bloody murder and war cries, all of them overlapping each other. It felt like we'd entered the scene of an ancient conflict, or the middle of World War three.
The mound of flesh bashed into each other, stabbed each other, cut the other down in shattered bone fragments. But every time someone would die, they would just resurrect seconds later, the bones picking themselves up and reattaching, good as new. Then they would go right back to it, as if nothing ever happened. Over the course of ten measly seconds, I watched this happen a dozen times. It was an endless cycle.
Annabeth looked horrified, craning her neck to see the vast army. "There must be millions of them."
"Why are they fighting?" Percy asked.
Amaterasu didn't share our expression. It was clear she'd seen this before. "This is the punishment for murderers and warmongers. Fighting for all eternity, with the inability to die, to rest, to eat or drink." She took a few steps forward, bent down in front of the bloody lake and dipped her finger in it. Immediately, her skin sizzled, steam billowed from her fingertip, like she'd pressed it to a boiling hot pan.
She retracted her finger, showing us the red mark left there from the burn. "The water is toxic as well. So they can't drink."
"That's awful..." Annabeth whispered.
"It is harsh, I will admit." Amaterasu said, "But I didn't create this place." She looked around at the water, gauging it's depth and how far we would have to cross. "This will be tricky. Percy, you can manipulate all liquids, correct?"
He cocked his head, "Usually, yeah. I don't know about magic water, though."
"Can you try?"
He stared at the water for a moment, then let out a nervous huff of breath. "Yeah, I can."
Placing his hands in front of him, I saw Percy's jaw tighten in concentration. The water rippled and began to move, bubbling up as if it were going to boil. But instead, it did the exact opposite, solidifying into solid ice, in the shape of a raft.
Percy relaxed his arms, "That should do. But we'd better hurry, the water around it will make it melt."
Amaterasu nodded, "Hop on, then."
We all did as she said and got on the ice. Around me, I could feel the heat of the water on my exposed arms, little stinging sensations dripping into my pores. That made me a bit nervous, thinking about something going wrong and actually falling into that stuff. If I could feel it just standing here...it must be awful to be knee deep in that stuff.
"Reminds me of the Styx." Percy muttered distastefully, rowing the water with his manipulation. "Just as dirty, too."
We got closer to the battle, and now, I could really see the sheer amount of souls going at it. It was a sea on top of the sea we already floated across. Just dots of black across miles of distance, focused on nothing else but one goal; killing the person in front of them.
It dried up my mouth thinking about it. Being down here forever, fighting and fighting, with no end. Surrounded by water that you couldn't drink. That was a pretty horrible punishment.
My thought led to another, and I wondered if there were souls down here that had only killed one person, and maybe tried to change their ways, but didn't have enough time. It seemed a bit extreme to send them here. But I don't know enough to contemplate that. For all I know, these could be the worst people imaginable.
It just goes to show how diverse the different underworlds are, yet one thing about them all remains the same; there's some sort of suffering involved. Always.
Percy pushed us at the forefront of the battle now. I half expected the souls to turn our way and attack, grouping together like crocodiles to a piece of meat. But I wasn't too surprised when they didn't even notice us, and just kept fighting.
"They don't see us?" Harper wondered, leaning down to stare at a particular soul that the ice raft bumped into.
"They can't." Amaterasu explained, "They can only focus on one thing." Without further elaboration, she pointed ahead. "Speed up! The end is just up there!"
Percy obeyed, pushing with more strength and forcing the raft to speed up. Below, I could see the toxic water seeping through the ice, melting it rapidly.
"Uh, yeah, you might want to go a little faster, man!" I shouted.
"I'm going! Just hold on!"
It wasn't much of a surprise that the distance was so short, because the entirety of this punishment zone sort of acted like a river. As we crossed, I saw no end on both sides. They stretched out farther than our eyes could see, probably going on forever.
So the width was infinite, but the length from that door to the next was pretty short. Didn't really make sense, but I'm glad it's not taking us that long to get across. I don't want to end up wading at the waist through this burning river.
The shore entered sight once we rammed through the last line of souls. The ice raft hit the rocks hard, and we jumped off at the perfect moment, just before the water overtook the ice and melted it, sucking into its own element.
Percy dusted his hands off, "Well, that was a close call."
"Come on." Amaterasu said, walking over to another door, oddly placed in between disfigured rocks. "Just beyond here is the void, where the Oni reside."
Before any of us could even ask what the 'void' was, she had already opened the door and pulled us in.
Or rather, something pulled us in. An unknown force that tugged on every fiber of our body, and didn't stop. We gained better footing, and the force was more of a dull thing than intense. It couldn't harm us, if we were on guard.
Ahead, we saw just what was going on, and what she meant by the void. It reminded me of Tartarus's nucleus. No inhabitants, just infinite darkness and fog.
It seemed to have no end, in length, width, and height. I glanced behind us, the door wasn't even attached to a wall or anything, it just...floated there, by itself.
At the center of it all, sat a swirling, black hole, appearing like the eye of a hurricane, sucking in gray fog into a giant vortex. Below that, stood hundreds of what I guessed to be Oni. Faceless shapes wearing dark samurai armor, all facing a single direction, the area just under the black hole.
"These are Oni?" Annabeth whispered, not wanting to gain their attention. "What's that thing up there?"
"This empty dimension leads into nothing but Chaos." Amaterasu whispered back, referring to the weird hurricane thing. "We can't get too close, or it will pull you in."
"What are we gonna do?" Percy asked, tone even. He looked ready to draw Riptide.
"They seem to be facing one thing, which means..." Amaterasu paused, then stiffened. "The Kusanagi...of course! They're looking at Tsukuyomi!"
Without a heads up, or a warning, Amaterasu lunged forward and thrust her hand at the crowd of demons, ejecting fiery light. It sailed twenty feet before hitting the ground and exploding like a bomb, sending dozens of them flying.
She ran forward, her very energy acting as a repellant, knocking Oni back and out of the way, revealing just what they were staring at.
Tsukuyomi, and who I guessed to be...Izanami.
It was right then that I knew we were too late. Tsukuyomi sat on his knees, head bent down towards his mother's neck, teeth dug into her leathery skin. Izanami herself looked barely alive. Unmoving, gray, decomposed, but not quite so to be dead for thousands of years. Maybe a week or two at the most.
The sight made me want to throw up. Tsukuyomi seemed to actually be drinking her blood, absorbing the energy that way. And it was working. I could feel the remains of her dormant aura entering him, and filling his own up like a gas tank, offering incredible power.
"Tsukuyomi!" Amaterasu gasped, wide eyed.
The moon god gathered the rest of his fill, draining the Primordial completely, and leaving her as nothing but a shell on the ground. Her eyes were lifeless, mouth wide open, and neck...a huge chunk taken out of it.
Despite that, when Tsukuyomi stood up, he had no blood on his lips, which told me there was no blood left to even drink. He had absorbed only aura.
And it made him a great deal stronger. Hundreds of times what he was before. In fact, he was comparable to Kagutsuchi now, which meant he could stand up to me, and I'd have to take this seriously.
"You're a little late, Amaterasu." Tsukuyomi said, smirking. His skin began to shift completely, changing from ashy white to black gradually, the color between the rest of his body and his tattoos becoming opposite, with the moon markings glowing white.
He sighed, spreading out his long, bat-like wings. "I now have all the power I need to destroy you, and claim everything that's mine."
Amaterasu's breathing quickened, and I could tell by reading her emotions that she was panicking, but didn't want to show it.
The Oni hadn't been thrown out of the picture either. They recovered from her attack and regrouped around Tsukuyomi, glaring at us. Like dogs protecting their master.
"They obey the Kusanagi. So they obey me." His smile deepened, "They'll take care of your new friends while we have our fun."
He reared back the sword. I tensed up, preparing for him to jump at Amaterasu. With the power he's at now, he'll completely overwhelm her, and I'll have to step in. I thought of a scenario to block his attack when...he didn't jump.
No, instead, he sliced at the air, releasing a clump of black energy, intended for the door.
Amaterasu screamed, "Don't let him destroy it!"
I acted quickly, reaching back with telekinesis and grabbing onto the blast, squeezing with my mind as hard as I could to disperse it.
Amaterasu grabbed all of us, me included, and gathered us into a tight huddle, creating a dome around us made of her energy.
The teleportation process had just started when Tsukuyomi darted at us, the Oni following.
We zapped out of that dimension and back in front of the gate, luckily, in one piece, without our arm being where our leg should be, or something. But Tsukuyomi's impact still had effect. Her teleportation dome shattered, and we all tumbled back on the grass.
Save for me. I managed to keep myself on one knee, eyes never leaving him.
He stood there, with all those Oni behind him, still smirking, still playing with that sword. I made sure to reach out with my energy to see if Malachi, Sera, and Talon were doing okay. They were, but they were still fighting Ouranos. Not a good sign, but it could be worse. At least there weren't any other threats, from what I could tell.
Tsukuyomi glanced at Susanoo beside him, still in a fetal position, groaning and beaten from where I finished him in one blow. He scoffed at his brother, and walked over to stab him in the neck with the sword.
All of our faces went slack with shock as the Kusanagi's effect took over. It killed Susanoo instantly, turning him into nothing but gold dust.
"Pathetic." Tsukuyomi growled. "Worthless excuse for a god." He then glanced over at the Samurai I'd also beaten, and swung the sword lazily at their direction. A black piece of energy left the blade and landed on all seven men, killing them in a less fashionable way. They died like humans, with all the blood and gore you could imagine, being cleaved in half by the aura of death itself.
Once done, Tsukuyomi turned to me. "Stay out of this boy, this is a family matter."
"Not happening." I countered. "As long as I have the power to stop you, and I do, I'll use it."
He laughed before I could even finish my sentence. "You're strong, I'll admit. Zeus taught you well. But this sword...eventually you'll slip up, and it's power will reach you, taking you into the depths of the other world, where you cannot return."
I shrugged, "Well...guess I just can't let it hit me."
His face twitched, no hesitation when he pointed the sword at us, yelling, "Kill them!" And the Oni obeyed, charging without making a single noise, save for the stomping of their boots.
I wasted no time in drawing Viribus to defend against that Kusanagi. I knew it was really dangerous. It had the aura of death itself, that much was clear. I wasn't sure if I believed that at the time, but now, seeing it in action, I surely do.
So I'd have to be careful.
The Oni met my friends in a clash, and I met Tsukuyomi. In midair, our weapons hit each other, producing a loud, thunderous sound. I felt the wind brush against my hair, the shockwave being let out on the world, parting a few clouds in the sky.
We didn't say anything to each other, didn't have to. Our eyes were locked in a battle of wills. His was pretty strong, I'll give him that. He was like Ouranos, in that he fully believed what was doing was good, at least, good for himself.
But I returned the look, letting him know that I'm not just going to stand around and let him cause any more destruction.
I kept one hand on Viribus and took the other to grab his arm. Shifting my weight, I threw him down towards the ground, where he landed perfectly on his heels, not missing a beat.
I flew down after him and swung Viribus towards his head, an attack he easily blocked.
We held our weapons there and struggled for a moment, neither of us really giving much effort. If I could keep him calm, or in a state where he wanted to test out his new abilities, I could probably keep that sword from getting dangerously close.
But I knew eventually I'd have to end this somehow. I knew for sure what kind of offensive power that thing held, but I wasn't sure about it's defensive power. Or if a Cannon would work on it. The Master Bolt, maybe?
I'm jumping to conclusions too fast. Don't think about that yet. Just focus on right now.
Tsukuyomi's aura rose little by little, and it became harder to hold him down. So I did the natural thing and powered up too, activating the red aura around me to bring him to his knees.
I managed to put my boot in an opening under his arm, hitting him in the chest. The death sword left its tussle with Viribus as he was forced back, again, on his heels. Tough posture. It wouldn't be easy to break his balance, which meant I'd have to target another area, perhaps a more vital one.
At the current distance, I figured I had enough time to quickly gauge how everyone else was doing. It only took one scan to see...not so well. I mean, they were still alive, and I knew my friends were more than powerful enough to handle these demons, but their power wasn't the problem, it was their numbers.
They outmanned us ten to one. I'd say there's...a hundred of them, give or take, here right now. It reminded me of when Sigurd and I took on an army of Draugr in that cavern a while back. Indivually, they weren't very powerful, but together, they were a real threat. It was kind of like that here.
They managed to hold their own though. Harper had her sword out, slicing up Oni by the pair, the same went for Percy, as he skillfully ran through half a dozen in one series of stabs. Amaterasu attacked them with beams of light, while Annabeth held Harper's Heavenly Diamond knife, which must've been exchanged before the fighting started to give her an equalizer.
And that was the only thing that seemed to even be killing them. The knife. Harper's sword, Percy's Riptide, and Amaterasu's blasts did nothing. The goddess herself even seemed to be surprised by them coming back, and putting their bodies back together after each 'death.' It must be something that Tsukuyomi did, some kind of spell.
"You might want to pay attention, boy."
I turned back around, Tsukuyomi was walking towards me casually, completely confident. That was the only emotion raging within him right now. Not a hint of fear.
He came at me in a blur, but thanks to my sensing abilities, I tracked him with no trouble, anticipating an attack from my left. Sure enough, it came, and I blocked it.
We exchanged a series of blows, one after the other. I had no well-timed thoughts, no quick scramble to come up with a strategy, just pure instinct. I used to have trouble with this, but now, I found it rather easy to just let it take over. To turn off that switch. When I saw his arm go a certain way, my body reacted, and when I saw his leg twitch, my body reacted. It just knew what to do, based on sight, and muscle memory.
This went on for another minute, when an outside force entered our little battle.
I felt a spike of energy behind us, and didn't pay attention to it at first, until I heard it talk. It sounded like...Talon.
"No time! I just need to go, right now! He said it would be my only chance!"
The urgency in his voice, plus the fact that he was even here, made me push back against Tsukuyomi with all my strength to face my friend.
There he was, standing in front of a huge pile of snow Sera no doubt created, who stood behind him, waging war against the Oni in...Absolute Zero? Yeah, that was it. I'd recognize that look anywhere. The dark blue eyes, the blinding white hair, the level of aura. She must've broken it out during their fight with Ouranos.
Speaking of. "Woah, wait a second...Talon? Sera? Where's Malachi? And where's Ouranos?"
Talon groaned, and said the worst thing he could possibly say right now. "Matt, Kagutsuchi is still alive! You didn't kill him! He's a man now, and he's coming this way!"
That sentence threw a spear of chaos in my little bubble. The bubble I had going with Tsukuyomi, where everything made sense. Where I responded to every attack with perfection.
Kagutsuchi?!
The image of the Master Bolt hitting the dragon came to mind, but shattered the moment I heard a loud roar, and saw bright fire in my peripheral.
I turned around, and everything disappeared the moment I saw him. For a second, time froze, my friends, and foes around me faded to black, pushed away by the pillar of fire billowing towards me. Behind that...the silhouette of a man.
The energy matched. It was him. I hadn't finished him off.
Time sped up again. My dry mouth fell open, in tune with a powerful heartbeat that led into a racing rhythm. "Oh shit!"
I looked back at Tsukuyomi, who only had his eyes planted to Amaterasu. It was clear he didn't give a rat's ass about me, just her. I was a nuisance in his way. He'd deal with me if he had to, but I wasn't the target.
But I'm the only one that can stop him.
And then Kagutsuchi. I'm the only one that can stop him.
I had to make a split decision here. Two powerful beings intent on killing us. I have the power to take out one, but not the other. Whoever I go after, the opposite will take interest in my friends. Not to mention the Oni...
But that's to say they can't handle themselves. Again, it slipped my mind just who my friends are.
They've been with me every step of the way. Hell, they've been the ones carrying me across this wild ride, not the other way around.
Again, such power and hubris got to my head. Thinking I'm alone in this fight. But that was never the case.
I shouldn't be afraid for them. In fact, as far as we've come, I should have more faith in them than myself.
I looked to Harper, and she gave me the push that I needed. Nodding at me, "It's okay Matt! Just go! We'll be fine!"
Closing my eyes for just a split second, I remembered something my dad told me a long time ago. Well, what felt like a long time ago.
"It's a gift and a curse to fight with a team."
"What do you mean? How's it a curse?"
"If you fight alone, you only have to worry about yourself. But if you're fighting with allies, or worse, friends, you have to worry about them too."
"Obviously. But that's fine with me, I've been alone way too long."
"Just be careful. Distractions can cost your life in a fight. And friends are big distractions."
"Well...how do you even deal with that?"
"Two ways. Don't fight with friends, or have full faith in them."
"Full faith?"
"Not my cup of tea. I always had trouble with that part. But I don't know, kid, if you trust them enough, I guess you don't really have to worry about them."
"No way. I can't just stop worrying about my friends. There's gotta be some sort of middle ground here."
"If there is, I've never found it."
I heard it as if he were whispering in my ear. I knew what he meant then, and I know what he means now. But then, I found the idea pretty dumb. Now, It's what's going to let me defeat Kagutsuchi.
Nodding at Harper, I surged the Red Aura and jumped after the fire god, leaving a trail of the hot energy behind me. That was the last time I looked back. Whatever happened next...was in their hands. I knew my goal. It's up to me to achieve it.
I soared over Kagutsuchi's nonstop, uncontrollable fire blast, the heat burned my eyes and skin, just short of melting the skin off. I managed to keep my eyes open and down, until my body matched the level with his body.
Staring down at the top of his head, I nodded to myself. "Got you."
BOOM!
The crack of a shockwave rang out behind me as I flexed my energy. I reappeared in a flash on Kagutsuchi's head, planting my boots on his skull. A testament to his durability, because I didn't hear a crack or a pop from the force, he took the brunt head on, with just his mouth clamping down on the fire, dimming it a little.
Anyone else would've been obliderated. Skull cracked in half, probably. But this was different. This was going to be hard, even harder than his dragon form. At least with that, he was a bigger target.
I gently jumped off his head and flipped my body around completely, my hands ending up where my feet were. I grabbed Kagutsuchi's head and used my weight to slam him on his back, head in the ground.
He started to open his mouth again, fire building up behind his teeth to burst through. Stupidly, on instinct, I clamped his mouth shut. Feeling the heat immediately.
It burned. A lot. Bad. I don't really know how to describe it. I've never felt such a horrible heat in my life. It started out so cold, I figured I would freeze from my fingertips all the way to my core, and then it got hot, turning my hand numb. I knew it was only a matter of time before my entire limb melted off.
I had no idea why the hell he couldn't control his fire, but it was incredibly dangerous. Trying to think quickly, I concentrated all of my aura towards my hand, materializing it as a solid bar. And when I say bar, I mean a biter mask, like the kind the killer wears in Silence of The Lambs.
It managed to keep a hold on his fire, because I didn't feel anymore heat. Thank Olympus.
Kagutsuchi growled from his chest like a wild animal, obviously not liking being pinned. He waved his arm around, eventually finding my throat, and squeezing.
His hand was so freaking big, it wrapped around my entire throat, and then some, like a Pepsi can, able to wrap his fingers around his thumb comfortably.
My windpipe constricted down to the circumference of a pen tip; all air blocked off. Kagutsuchi sat up slowly, lifting me off the ground and standing up.
Our positions had completely changed.
"Ack!" The sounds I made went something like that. Pathetic puffs of exhaling air and desperate chokes for even the softest bit of air. "Gah!"
My vision started to fade out, spit escaping my limp mouth. I felt all feeling in my body leave me, so much so, I couldn't even hold on to Viribus. Everything was draining further and further...
You know, outside of my body, if I had to rate this choke hold with my other fights...I'd give it an eleven. This one is pretty solid.
Okay, instinct time is over. I need to think fast!
What do I have right now? If I can't use my hands or legs, what can I use?
My mind...
In the last scrap of effort, I reached out with my aura and felt for Viribus. On the ground, just below me. It took a second longer than I wanted, like pushing your hand around back and forth in a dark room to find something.
But finally, I latched onto Viribus. Yanking it off the grass and into Kagutsuchi's ear.
It bonked him, rather comically and cartoonish. It was enough of a left field surprise to loosen his grip. Just loosen, not let go. But it was enough for me to meet it halfway.
Breathing in a sweet deep breath, I regained half of the energy I'd lost. I brought my hands up and turned them into fists. With all I had, I slammed them down on the insides of Kagutsuchi's elbows, the vulnerable soft spots.
They were vulnerable enough to drop me, at least. I'll take it. Upon impact, Kagutsuchi's grip broke, I fell out of it, on my feet. In a stumble, no less, my vision still shaky and body still all Jell-O like.
"Gah!" I coughed, "Man!" I took a second to breath in several times, each one so fresh I couldn't believe it. I never thought air could taste so good after being choked. Taste? Is that even the right word?
Kagutsuchi was in much better shape than me, barely effected from any of my blows. It was then that I finally got a good look at him. Through rapid blinks, my vision cleared a little, and I saw a massive figure, coated in tan skin, enormous, Atlas-sized muscles, with nothing but burlap pants on his lower half, ratty and patched.
Beyond the makeshift biter mask, I could see the rest of his face. In human years, he probably appeared...forty, or so. Harsh eyes, constantly scrunched up with fury. Thick, black eyebrows, and long, wild black hair, sleeked back behind his shoulders.
I'd faced enough big, twelve-foot-tall guys by now to not be afraid of the size. And I wasn't here, not even from his power, either. But I was definitely cautious, and aware.
But It's opponents like these, the ones so close to your own strength...that you can't give an inch to. You have to have full focus.
That's when it hit me. How long it's been since I had a nearly equal fight. For so long, it's been overwhelming opponents that all of us have to fight together. It's nice to change things up a bit.
I took a deep breath, keeping my eyes forward. I wouldn't look back, because I knew I didn't have to.
(000)
Stay tuned for the next one! It's going to be a big one!
Until Next Time.