I stared at the words.
|| Limit Break activated! ||
Huh?
What does that mean?
"Help?" I mumbled under my breath. Nope. Nothing. "More info?"
The words bobbed up and down for a moment. The bright blue letters faded, and a small, gleaming paragraph took its place.
|| Congratulations! You have activated your Limit Break! Limit Breaks, also known simply as Limits, are powerful combat techniques bestowed upon you in times of need. Limit Breaks are among the most damaging moves available to you, and several Limit Breaks are level-locked- good luck in your battle! ||
Limit Break (1)- gain unlimited mana!
[Time Limit]: 5:00:00
"Yo, what are you looking at, punk?" Ares called out from in front of me. He was impatiently tapping his foot and swinging his bat around, smashing holes in the sand. "I got shit to do, ya know. Come get some and we can both get the fuck out of here."
I willed the words away for now. Unlimited mana, huh?
I raised a watery hand. Little drops of seawater hung off the top of my fingertips, which were completely encased in the translucent substance. I felt a tug in my gut as a rush of mana shot through my hand.
Fwoom!
I blasted seawater toward Ares. He easily sidestepped it, but I grinned to myself. I didn't lose any mana off that!
4:59:52
Ah, right- the catch. I only had five minutes. An uncomfortable feeling squeezed my throat- I had to find a way to make this count.
He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder again. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"
I showed him my sword.
"That's cool, dead boy," He said. "Classic it is. I can't wait to see the face on ol' Barnacle Beard when I deliver him your head on a silver platter."
I got the faintest idea that Ares loved to talk trash. I can't really tell you why, though. He's a millennia-old deity (whose domain is war, by the way) fighting some kid who didn't even know what a demigod was until about a week ago. It's like if you swung by the Barclays Center to watch the Nets play and Kevin Durant started calling you a bitch.
Actually, that's a bad analogy. Kevin Durant's definitely the kind of guy to do that.
Maybe it's just something fun he likes to do. Maybe it's a battle thing- the few times I'd fought some of the Ares kids, they taunted me the whole damn time, like it was a requirement for them to not shut up while fighting.
Something told me this battle would be a little different than that, though.
I ignored the red-hot feelings of anger in my chest. I needed to be calm and in control. If I wanted to get in his head, I had to make sure he wasn't in mine, first.
The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth. Looking back, it was definitely for the intimidation factor, but the skull's mouth started opening and closing, emitting a dark cackle, "Bring it on, then, sea spawn."
Pressure started building in my ears. You know that feeling when you're at the top of a rollercoaster, looking down at the track, and your ears pop?
Yeah, that's what I was feeling.
The air shifted. Ares cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.
My body thought for me. The watery armor pulsed at my feet, pushing me into the air. I catapulted over him, slashing as I came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.
A loud crack was heard. Particles of water hung in the air for a split second and SHWOOM!
Oh, man.
The speed. The rush.
My stomach dropped, and I felt my body contort into nothingness. All the air left my lungs. I disappeared from my spot suspended in the air, my body flashing behind him instantaneously.
"How-" WHAM!
Ares' face rocked sideways, and he backpedaled. A black line formed on his face, almost like a car drifted on it for a second. It sizzled in the Santa Monica heat, making Ares' face look like he poured some oil on himself.
"Nice job," I taunted back, the watery whip retracting back into my armor. "The God of War gets smacked around by a twelve-year-old. I wonder what Uncle Zeus thinks about that."
- 270 [MP]!
- [5%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
- ((.2 x 34) +34 x100)) + (100 x 20) = 6080 [HP]!
"Nice try, Jackson," Ares said, cracking his jaw and rolling his arms a few times. "It's going to take more than that to get in my head. I've been doing this longer than your puny, little, walnut of a brain could comprehend."
I took another look at him, sizing me up from across the dune. His muscles rippled in the sunlight. For a moment, I felt helpless. He was big, strong, and manly. Not really sure what that last part has to do with the fight, but, yeah...not to mention, he's basically royalty- wait!
A grin formed on my face. I knew how to play this one. Yeah, I knew exactly how to play this one.
Look I'll be the first to tell you I don't have much experience fighting deities of mass destruction- it's just the truth. I'm twelve, in case you forgot. Twelve.
Getting into other people's heads, though? Especially the rich kids? Well, let's just say there was a reason I was in detention all the time back at Yancy. Pampered kids are easy to break down- hopefully, the same method would work on Ares.
I started wracking my brain, trying to remember some dirt on Ares. He was a god- there had to be something I could use on him. He'd been around for centuries! For now, though...there was a surefire way to get inside the head of any man...
"Ha!" I screamed, another ring of [Mana Manipulation]expelling from my fingertips. It slammed into him, and he grunted in response. Unbeknownst to him, I snuck in a second one. It was the size of a small penny, and I concentrated the mana to shoot out with my first ring.
It smashed right into his groin.
"Sheesh," I said, feigning disappointment. "It didn't even feel like anything was there. Next time, I'll just aim for your fingers or something."
- [10%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
"You're so dead," Ares growled out at me, pushing forward. I ducked under his slash and parried the next one. He twisted his sword, and his jab went glancing off of Riptide. He backpedaled but turned his shoulder, trying to ram into me.
The watery armor extended, catching his shoulder and pushing him away. The sheer force of the impact pushed me back a few inches.
There were no two ways about it-his strength truly was monstrous. If I hadn't been reinforcing every movement I made with water, I honestly think he would've sent me flying.
I had to be careful here. I knew from looking at Nemesis that even with my Limit Break, I lacked the raw power to take on a god. I had to look for another way to beat him- getting in his head was my only option.
Ares was a terrifying, century-old guy, but at the end of the day, he was a guy. A proud one at that. If you consider Zeus a rich guy, Ares was just like those kids at school with the millionaire parents- the ones who used to try to walk all over Grover and me. It took a while for me to realize how to mess with those kids, but it was tough for a poor kid from the city to stack up against those trust-fund brats. Well, until I figured out their weakness- and believe me- they all had the same weakness.
4:12:34
I was drawn out of my thoughts as I looked at the timer again.
Damn it. This Limit Break was draining fast.
Well, I guess I'd just have to abuse it while I could.
- 270 [MP]!
- [20%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
I flashed under Ares now, Riptide heading straight to cut his leg. He jumped up in the air, only to get smacked by another elemental whip.
- ((.2 x 34) +34 x100)) + (100 x 20) = 6080 [HP]!
My watery arms exploded forward, latching onto Ares. They steamed in the summer sun, and burned his shoulders, pulling him into another combo.
-8000 [HP]!
- [Bleed] afflicted! The opponent will continually lose 50 [HP] per second!
- [20%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
"Argh!" Ares screamed out, a bloody cut appearing on his right shoulder. "You fucking bitch!"
He slashed again; this time, I was forced to jump up to avoid his sword. I tried to sidestep, to move back towards the water, but Ares seemed to know what I wanted. He outmaneuvered me, pressing so hard I had to put all my concentration on not getting sliced into pieces.
"Taking me seriously now?" I panted, a little bit of sweat forming on my forehead as I kept deflecting his blows. This was tiring…
3:42:19
"You got lucky," Ares said, scaling back as I unleashed another ring of mana. He dodged it and came toward me, his black leather duster trailing behind him. His sword glinted like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited, and I quite literally can't die. What have you got besides luck?"
"A big can of whoop-ass with your name on it," I returned, tossing a few fireballs at him. They splashed harmlessly against his sword. My brain started hatching a plan. "Not that I need it."
Ares growled at me. "What are you on about, now?"
I smirked at him, launching another barrage of flaming [Death Drop] mixed in with a barrage of fireballs and blasts of seawater.
The water splashed in his eyes, allowing my fireballs to make an impact on him. They slammed into him, lighting his jacket on fire.
- [5%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
Aw, man. Did [Reaper] reset itself already?
Ares roared in annoyance, trying to put out the flames. Unfortunately, it wasn't as much of a distraction as I'd hoped. He deflected two of my slashes and a [Death Drop], but a little spin let my second one burrow into his ribcage.
- 270 [MP]!
- [10%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
- ((.2 x 34) +34 x100)) + (100 x 20) = 6080 [HP]!
I'm not going to lie, I was really getting the hang of this thing. I should've been focusing more on my offensive powers all along.
[Death Drop] was quickly becoming one of my favorite moves. By expending a little more mana, instead of just moving fast, I entered a dimensional void. Because of Limit Break, I couldn't tell how much, but I knew it was just a little bit more.
Anyways, the dimensional rift let me instantly teleport to my desired location whenever I wanted to, regardless of distance. Well, within reason. I don't think I could [Death Drop] to camp, for example.
Maybe if I leveled it up more and cranked enough mana into it, I could [Death Drop] across entire cities. Cross-country, though- I'm not too sure about that one.
"What I mean is, even if I can't beat you, I'm sure Piper or someone will," I laughed at him, beginning to bluff. "I've kicked Luke's ass before. If he could beat you that bad, I'm sure you'll be easy to destroy in a bit."
Ares screamed in pure frustration. "What does that even mean? You're getting your ass handed to you! I'm very clearly stronger than you!"
See, if there's one thing I know about people like Ares, they hate being told that their achievements mean nothing just because of who their parents are. Hell, one time, I almost got punched in the face for chanting "daddy's money" at some kids after they stole Grover's lunch.
Kind of odd that they stole it, considering one of them drove a Maserati to school, but I digress.
If I was right, this would start to piss him off. Unluckily for him, all of those myths Annabeth tried to drill in my head before I left started coming back to me. Oh, I was about to have some fun.
"It means, you must be really weak," I continued, relentlessly hurling fireballs at him. His sword flashed up impossibly fast, cutting through my fireballs like they weren't even there. "Gods can't steal each other's symbols of power. That means Luke took the lightning bolt, you caught him, but then he must've hammered you so bad he bought your silence."
"You don't even know what you're talking about, godling," Ares said fiercely. The tips of his duster caught fire. "I've been fighting for years! There's no way a demigod could beat me!"
"What about when you fought Hercules, huh?" I grinned at him. "You ran away with your tail in between your legs, and then complained to Zeus. Daddy's boy, through and through, huh? Uncle really had a chip off the block with you!"
"Shut up!" Maybe I pushed him too far. He shot at me full force. I tried to move as soon as I saw his legs tense, but I was too late. Ares punched me in the face, and I went shooting across the sand.
-10,000 [HP]!
Damn, that guy hit like a truck. A few more of those, and I'd be down for the count. Hell, the only reason I could move right now after that one was because of the insane regeneration this water armor was giving me.
"Did I push the wrong buttons?" I replied, standing up and wiping a little bit of blood off of my chin. "Sorry, sorry. I just find it interesting how the greatest son of Zeus wasn't even a god at first."
Death wish. I have a death wish.
This fight itself was only really competitive because of the Limit Break.
The water around me was in a constant state of keeping my vitals safe and high, but let's be honest, even that couldn't magically make me keep up with a god.
The water, along with being Hestia's champion is what was really keeping me in fighting shape. It was lessening the effect of hits, boosting my reflexes, and strengthening my healing factor- do I need to keep going?
Maybe I was finally doing something as a demigod that I could be proud of.
Not to mention, this whole armor thing probably looked cool as hell, too. I felt like I was a Power Ranger in one of the giant robots.
The only real downside was the steep mana cost, but I didn't have to worry about that for the moment. As long as I was in fighting shape, it didn't matter.
Well, somewhat fighting shape.
"Hercules got lucky!" Ares defended, stalking toward me. His sword dragged against the sand, cutting a deep line into the beach. "If it wasn't for Athena, he'd be a grease spot!"
"Speaking of which," I said, still laying down on the sand. The sunlight felt great on me. "She's kicked your ass a couple of times too, right? I didn't read the Iliad, but my friend told me you switched sides mid-battle to help Hector and the Trojans, and were still defeated by your sister, Athena, twice- and then ran crying to Zeus. Am I in the ballpark, here?"
"That was different! Father already decided Troy would fall!" Ares yelled. For a moment, he actually whined like a little kid, being made fun of by his friends. I suppressed a grin- it was working! "Diomedes got lucky, too!"
"I get it, I get it," I placated, raising my hands. A small grin formed on my face- this one was the real kicker. "Pick on someone your own size, right? Well, maybe not that, either. The last time you did that, it didn't really work out. Did Otis And Ephialtes really trap you in a jar for thirteen months?"
"I didn't know that the jar would do that!" Ares screamed, raising his hands. A wave of fire spawned at his feet and shot towards me frighteningly fast. I rolled over, and it crashed into a sand dune. "They tricked me!"
"It's okay, man, don't worry. I'm not going to judge you based on your record," I hopped off the sand, flipping Riptide in my hands. I ignored the feeling in my face- the water was already swirling around it. "The God of War who runs from fights- a little bit rough on the performances there, but it is what is, right? I remember hearing a lot of older men your age have something called 'performance issues'- is that what you're dealing with, too?"
"Shut your mouth!" Ares roared, and the fire behind his glasses burned so brilliantly that it left a steaming hole in his Ray-Bans. Maybe I crossed the line. "I'm going to kill you and drag your body to Olympus!"
2:21:52
We met in the middle with a truly breathtaking display of swordsmanship. Ares jabbed, lunged, slashed. I hate to admit this, even now, but he truly lived up to the moniker God of War.
I'd never fought anyone like this before. If I didn't have Limit Break, I would've been slaughtered at a moment's notice.
Each movement he made was incredibly precise, with the power of a semi-truck. If one of those things even clipped me, I had little doubt in my mind that I would be pulverized on the spot.
I duck and wove gracefully, surrendering my body to [Moon's Dance]. The water poured out of my holographic avatar, pushing and pulling my body left and right, helping me dodge easily.
Clang!
Both of our swords met in the middle. I strained against his force, but more water came shooting out of the Pacific to reinforce my armor. "Is that why you're so obsessed with Aphrodite? Do you feel the need to, like, prove your worth? Listen, I don't know if you know, but there's this mortal thing called Viagra-"
"Shut! Up!" Ares gritted his teeth. I hate to say this, but he caught me off guard right there. I was so focused on keeping Riptide from slipping, I didn't even notice his knee. It smashed into the hilt of Riptide, causing my grip to slacken.
He knocked my blade out of my hands and tried to kick me in the chest.
FWOOM!
Water spilled out of the armor and wrapped around his leg at the least moment, not fully stopping his monstrous kick, but severely lessening its impact.
-1000 [HP]!
Even with the save, I went airborne-twenty, maybe thirty feet. I would've broken my entire body if I didn't have the water protecting me.
1:11:34
"It's okay," I got up, brushing myself off again. The water gleamed brightly around my chest. "I get it. Luke is a resourceful guy. Tall, and handsome, too. Maybe since he stole the helm, you think he can teach you a thing or two about performance. I hope it works out."
"For the love of Zeus!" Ares roared. He swept his hand, and another wall of red flame rolled across the sand, toward me. I swung a hand, deflecting it towards the street.
I probably should've thought that one through.
It slammed into the streetcars. The hobos barely had time to dive for cover before the vehicles exploded. A crowd started to form behind the railing, screaming. The ADHD part of me wondered if Nemesis was somewhere over there, still watching.
"What I wonder," I continued in a last-ditch effort. "How did Luke even do it? I mean sure, I'm kicking your ass right now, but he must've been terrified when he went to the Underworld. How he got away from you is unbelievable. Did you lead him there, or something? Was it a trick?"
"Luke! Luke didn't do a thing!" Ares finally snapped at me. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill. "Attack!"
It charged at me. I rolled back, slashing it in half instantly, "I mean, I'm sure he must've. You could've killed him right there and taken the bolt for yourself," I taunted as the wind roared, tossing the remains of the boar onto the sand.
Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I...yeah…with that kind of fire-power..."
I dropped in behind him and whipped another elemental attack at his unprotected back. I didn't have Riptide on me right now, but I had to use Limit Break while I could. "Because he beat you. That's what I've been saying."
Ares sidestepped my attack. He seemed to be getting faster and faster now. "Don't make me laugh, boy. You think Luke is smart enough to come up with something like that?"
0:11:14
"Then who is?" I questioned, spamming all of the attacks I could- not that it helped, anymore. Ares was starting to glow, easily sidestepping all of my attacks. "Did one of your kids come up with the plan?"
This was getting out of hand. I need a finisher- and I needed one fast.
I took a deep breath for a moment. I felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly I had an idea.
0:05:10
I screamed, and a huge trident coalesced in the water, before launching at Ares, full-speed.
"Oh god," I said, rubbing my temples. This was a low blow, but I was at my wit's end. "No way. You're-you're gay, aren't you? Is that why you need Aphrodite? A sham marri-urk!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ares bellowed, rushing towards me just as my Limit Break ran out. The water armor dropped around me, and he slammed his fist into my stomach, mid-sentence. Maybe I really did push him too far.
CRUNCH!
My god. It was like being hit by a car. I felt my entire left ribcage crack under the impact of his punch as I was sent floating upwards.
At this point, I was barely coherent. A part of me registered the fact that I only had 1000 [HP] left- if I got hit with something, it was the end. That regeneration factor was the only reason I was still alive and kicking.
It was looking like that end was coming faster than I could have expected, too.
The moment his punch launched me in the air, Ares was ready- his hand was waiting, his sword ready to skewer me. I activated {TD}at the last second but my body was too battered to move at a fast pace to do anything.
All I could do was watch as the point of his sword got closer and closer.
15…
What did I do?
Well, I panicked.
14…
I activated my [Pyrokinesis] and willed it to burn the cloth around my eye- and it started, at a frighteningly slow pace.
13…
Come on, come on. I could see the thread start to fall apart. Watching the whole encounter in slow motion while my brain continued to work at its normal pace was surreal.
12…
A small hole, maybe the size of a pea formed in the middle of the cloth. The thread around it now began to burn away faster.
11…
Score! The cloth burned wide enough for my left eye to look at his arm.
10…
I felt a sharp pain in Medusa's eye. I watched in fascination as lines of gray started to line Ares' arm, twisting and connecting.
9…
They looked like veins, outlining his entire arm. When the last vein connected with the base of his arm, his entire skin lost its tan color.
8…
It stiffened. His arm lost all tone and bulk, reducing to a gray, chiseled stone.
I was dragged out of my dilated vision at the precise moment the mana cost registered. Luckily, Ares' sudden loss of an arm made his movement falter just a bit, and instead of cutting me in half, the sword sheared a part of my shirt off and just barely nicked my skin.
I fell to the ground, exhausted and beaten. My left eye closed automatically, unable to handle the strain of the sunlight for too long after being under darkness for hours at a time.
Ares screamed in pure horror as his arm cracked and fell off of his body, his sword still held by the stone.
"You fucking bitch!" He picked me up. At this point, he was barely holding his mortal form. Parts of his body lit up pure gold, like scales. I could feel the heat emanating from his hand. "I'm going to kill you, and that bitch over there. I'm going to find your mom, and I'm gonna-"
"I gotta hand it to you, Ares, you sure make one hell of a threat," I gave him a tired smile. At this point, I knew the fight was over. Might as well go to my uncle with a smile.
The look on his face was honestly worth dying for. His eyes, now completely visibly behind the hole in his glasses, bulged. His face dropped, and I couldn't tell if he was going to bust out crying or end my existence.
"You little prick," He trailed off. "You annoying, little, son of a bitch. You just can't keep your trap shut, can you? I should've fucking killed you when I used the helm instead of watching you squirm around. What a waste…I should've stolen his fucking sword or something instead of his useless helm."
My face cracked an even wider grin. Better late than never. "Thanks…"
Ares regarded me with a confused expression. "Thanks for what, punk?"
"He means, thanks for this," My uncle said, appearing out of the thin air next to Ares as if he'd been waiting there the whole time. He lightly tapped Ares, and he went flying towards the railing like he'd been hit by a rocket. Hades caught me out of the air before I hit the sand. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I saw that fight."
"You should've just taught me that move from the start," I complained to him weakly, every breath hurting. This feeling was amazing. I had done it! "Still, though. I kicked his ass."
Hades laughed at me, ruffling my hair. "I know, kiddo. I'm proud- you did a great job. Sit back and enjoy the show."
I was gently placed on the ground. Even though I was teetering in and out of consciousness, I kept my eyes trained on Hades. I wanted to see this.
He was slowly walking towards Ares, clucking his tongue. As he got closer, his leather jacket melted into his skin. Two bony wings shot out of his back, pointing towards the sky. The helm flew off of Ares' motorcycle and rested itself on Hades' head.
"Well, then," Hades said smoothly. To my trained eye, I saw a blanket of mana form on the beach, far denser and heavier than it had been when Ares used the helm. Unlike before, it was also a pitch-black color.
For the first time, I saw mana take a liquid-like form. It started rushing and swirling around Hades, almost like the watery armor had done for me. He took a deep breath and boom!
The small little circle of mana exploded. An immense black shockwave shot out of my uncle, transforming the color of everything it passed over. Pretty soon, the entire sky and ocean got drowned by the ominous darkness that was radiating from my uncle.
It felt like a dream. I knew by now it should've been early morning, but to my eyes, it looked like it was the middle of the night. I swear to Zeus I heard whispers coming from the ground. Tantalizingly slow, feminine whispers. For some reason, I felt like going into the ground. I kind of wanted to go underneath...even for just a moment...
I forced myself to snap out of it.
A shadowy aura formed around my uncle. It shot up, covering him in monstrous darkness that only left his helm visible. It was like he was sucking up all of the light in the world.
He slowly squatted down next to Ares, who was now whimpering and trying to get away from him. "Hello, Ares."
I shuddered. You know in the horror moves when the killer calls the protagonist's house, and they use the voice masking thing where it sounds like multiple people are talking at once? That deep, creepy one?
My uncle made that voice sound like a little girl. The voice that came from him sounded so inhuman, so macabre, I honestly felt like closing my eyes and sucking on my thumb like a little baby until it went away.
The worst part was- this was nothing. I knew it was nothing.
If Hades really wanted to, he could show me things that would leave me somewhere in a mental ward for the rest of my life, shrieking about things that would make absolutely no sense to anyone. This was the power of an Elder God.
Gigantic, shadowy arms of pure mana erupted from Hades' body, pinning Ares in place. A deep, rattling laugh came from the shadowy specter that was my uncle. "Going somewhere?"
"P-please, uncle," Ares said, all of his bravado gone in the blink of an eye. His entire being was trembling. The gold patches on his body were completely gone- Ares was scared shitless. "It wasn't my doing! I was being controlled!"
"Not good enough," Hades replied, a dark smile crossing his face. It looked like the smile on a scarecrow, nails crisscrossing in a shape barely reminiscent of a smile. The only way I knew he was smiling was the amused chuckles that were coming from him. He turned back and looked at me. "Perce, can you walk over here?"
I shakily stood up and hobbled over to my uncle. Another arm exploded from his back and helped to stabilize me. "What's up, uncle?"
Hades grinned at me. Honestly, it was kind of disconcerting to look at. "Look at his pocket."
I did. Sure enough, in his attempt to hurry away, a little bronze cylinder had started poking out of his pocket.
"Grab it," Hades instructed. His arms pressed down on Ares. "Ares won't move, will you, Ares?"
Ares whimpered. "Please…make it stop…"
"No can do," Hades said, and I noticed that his eyes were glowing a crimson red beneath the helm. I must've been staring pretty hard, because he nudged me. It felt like getting dunked in an ice bath. "Perce, the bolt."
"Oh, right, sorry," I apologized, trying to put a little distance between myself and Hades. I gently removed the tiny bronze cylinder from his pocket. As it touched my hands, it transformed into a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.
Hades laughed behind the helm. It was pretty fucking terrifying. I'm not sure what it sounded like to Ares, but he started wailing the moment he heard it. "Now, then. Weren't there some things you wanted to ask Ares?"
Oh, right! Excuse me for forgetting...
"Ares," I said, awkwardly pointing the bolt at him. Little arcs of lightning sparked off of the end. "Do you swear on the River Styx to never touch or try to cause harm, in any way shape, or form to Aphrodite- or any woman- ever again?"
I don't even think he was looking at me. His face kept moving left and right, his eyes darting back and forth incessantly. "Yes! Yes! Just make it stop!"
"Yes to what?" Hades urged, his eyes glowing brighter behind the helm. I didn't even think it was possible, but his voice dropped even lower. "Say it out."
"I swear on the River Styx to never touch or try to cause harm, in any way shape, or form to Aphrodite- or any woman- ever again!" Ares sobbed, tears running down his face.
Thunder rumbled somewhere, off in the distance.
"That's just pathetic," I said, frowning at the sight in front of me. I looked at my uncle. "What's he even seeing right now?"
"Beats me. Go get your friend, we're going straight to Olympus," Hades informed me. I nodded and started walking over. I stopped halfway, tossing Hades my sword, which had been embedded into the sand a few feet away. "For you."
"Ah, nephew," Hades said brightly as he stabbed Ares through the arm. "A man after my own heart. Thank you."
"No problem." I walked towards Piper with a spring in my step as Ares' pained screams rang out over the beach.
What a good day.
[SIDE][STORY] Quest Alert!
{Love's Arrow!}
|| Aphrodite has been trapped between the gods of Olympus for centuries! Free her from her binds and help her find true love! ||
{Rewards:}
- 50,000 EXP!
- Your mother's safety!
- You have gained [Aphrodite] as a companion!
[STORY] Quest Alert!
{All's Well That Ends…}
|| Your mother is alive! Help your uncle find the true thief and bring him or her to justice! ||
{Rewards:}
- 1000 REP [GAINED] with Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus!
- 100,000 EXP!
- You've gained the title [GODSLAYER]!
- You've gained the perk Clairvoyance!
- You've unlocked ONE free special perk!
- You've gained access to [Special Armor]!
[PERSEUS JACKSON]
[SON OF POSEIDON]
[HESTIA'S FAVORED]
[ECHIDNA'S BANE]
[GODSLAYER]
[LVL]: 29 (7000/18,000)
[HP]: 12,000/12,000
[SP]: 18,500/18,500
[MP]: 14,000/14,000
[FEALTY]: N/A
[STR]: 40 (+5)
[VIT]: 17
[DEX]: 32 (+5)
[INT]: 18
[CHA]: 12 (+5)
[WIS]: 15
[LUC]: 7
[SP]: 55
[PP]: 5
[$]: 46USD, 53D
|| Son of the legendary God of the Seas and Sally Jackson, Percy is the current [Child of Prophecy]. Despite his murky past, Percy is ready to take on his future with determination. ||
|| The title [SON OF POSEIDON] permanently grants 1000 [MP] and boosts the rate of mana regeneration. ||
|| The title [HESTIA'S FAVORED] permanently regenerates your health by 30% and increases by a factor of 5% for every 1000 [HP] below half! ||
|| The title [ECHIDNA'S BANE] allows the user to be immune to all poison! ||
|| The title [GODSLAYER] grants the user double EXP when involved in a fight with a deity! This effect scales, doubling for every immortal opponent and tripling for every Olympian! ||
[NEW] Perks:
[XXX] {FOOL'S GOLD} (LV: MAX)
|| Ka-ching!
Well, you did it, you crazy son of a bitch. Every time you kill a monster and/or win a battle, there will be a monetary prize as well! ||
AN: I hope that fight lived up to expectations! I honestly had a ton of fun writing it! Thank you to everyone who reviewed it! As always, let me know what you thought! I honestly had a ton of fun writing this one, I can't lie. Anyways! Onto my favorite part...
UnGamer: He has a lot of skills, so I wasn't planning on displaying all of them, but if it's really wanted, maybe I can work something out. Maybe I could put in a chapter with all of them or something, but I think putting them at the end of every chapter would be an unnecessary use of like ~2K words. Hope you understand.
Evyplayz121: Haha, sorry! Hopefully, this one made up for it…
SpartanBoy: Of course! The best part about continually working on a story is the feedback…I love hearing from you guys! It makes me better as a writer. I like your solutions, and I might honestly use them (if I do, I'll give you credit) but for now, I'm just going to go with the flow. See what happens. That sort of thing. Thanks again, though.
XenonDark: A two-parter! I love these. To answer your first question: no, I'm not black. Second question: it just seemed like an epic place to stop! Nothing against my loyal readers!
Huntingkiddo13: Why thank you! I'm not sure if I did a good enough job of the "in-game" description, so I'll reiterate here. Think of Limits as once-in-a-while boosts he'll get when he's in way over his head. That's not to say he'll always get bailed out by them- sometimes, he'll just have to try his best. Even with the Limits, he won't be unbeatable, as you saw.
Naturally, there will be different Limits that do different things, but the Limit he got during this fight was the basic version. I hope that clears things up, even a little!
King0609: Thank you! I think an important part of Percy's entire personality is his humanity. Even when he's calculating, he's a kid. You can't expect him to just shut off his emotions- I'm glad you're with me on that.
kyuubi7: Thanks a ton, man! I enjoyed talking with you earlier!
Yesirsski: Thank you! I'm glad you liked that touch! I was hoping someone would mention it! Also! I'm thinking of a pretty slow burn for the eventual romance between our hero and Aphrodite. Aphrodite needs to get used to a life where she can do what she wants, and she'll need to "develop" a personality and all that- it's going to take a while.
Piper will most definitely develop feelings for Percy…and she won't be the only one. I'm looking forward to writing some more awkward scenes where Percy is torn between his natural loyalty (even though he didn't want to be involved with Aphrodite) and his undeniable feelings for other women in his life.
Also- you know it! I love reading reviews, they make me so happy! If you take the time to leave a thought-out review, you bet I'm going to read it and leave you a thought-out response!
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed it! See you guys soon!
-Maroon
EDIT (4/20/21): Again, not much to change. Most of the changes were for the earlier chapters, but I figured I might as well see it through and make everything a little more clean and more consistent before continuing the Atlantis arc. If you're reading this and wondering about the next chapter, I plan on updating you on the one-year anniversary of this fic!
EDIT (2/27/22): Visuals!
EDIT (11/7/22): Some grammar.