Author's note:
To Foolishly Reading: I always thought it was a shame how most writers never bother to blend the worlds together besides an occasional mention here or a brief crossover there. Don't worry, I am just getting started.
Additional thanks to danielchester998 for the positive review.
Now onto the story!
--
Chapter 8: Final Battle and Final Goodbye
When we finally landed at a dock at the base of Mount Tam, we strategize over how we are going to approach attacking the forces at the summit.
"Okay, so there are two valid paths," I say as I look over the Google Maps app on my phone as I keep wiping rain off of the screen so I can see. "One goes up a hiking path along the steeper side of the mountain while the other goes up the flatter slope on the opposite side. My guess is that the hiking path will be the harder trek, but whoever goes shouldn't expect much resistance from the enemy. They will likely focus their defenses on the other side where the incline isn't as bad. The best idea would be to split up into teams and take both paths. Whoever takes the easier path can draw the enemy's attention and give the others a better chance."
"Okay," Thalia says. "Me, Percy, and Bianca will take the hiking path while you and Zoe are the distractions."
"Wait, what?" Zoe asks. "Why wouldst thou pair me with the oaf?"
"We are the mini Big Three," Percy says as he points to them. Then, he points at us. "You two are the moon guys. The groups speak for themselves. Alright, see you up there."
The other three immediately walk away while Zoe and I are still trying to come up with an argument in our defense. Ultimately, we just had to accept that we were stuck together.
--
"Stop fidgeting," I tell her as we walk up the main trail. "You have been doing it for the last ten minutes. It is starting to get annoying."
"Thou shouldst learn to hold thy tongue," Zoe snaps. "It is none of thy concern."
"You wouldn't leave me alone," I point out. "Why should I give a shit?"
"If it would silence thee, I was worried about what lies ahead," Zoe says. "Beneath the mountain where the earth meets the sky lies the garden of the Hesperides."
"Isn't that the place with Hera's special apple tree and the roided up hydra?" I doube check. "I was never the biggest on Greek mythology."
"Yes, tis the garden which holds Hera's sacred tree which bears the golden fruit of immortality," Zoe confirms. "The dragon with one hundred heads, Ladon, guards its bounty. The only ones who may tend to it are the Hesperides, the daughters of Atlas. For their father's sins, they are bound to the garden as penance for eternity."
"That is pretty fucked up," I say. "It's kind of funny how often the pagan gods blame people for their family when they are one giant family, especially given how often they sleep with each other."
"Can thou not remind me of their inclinations?" Zoe asks with a tired look. Still, I could see she was slightly amused by my comment.
"Still doesn't explain why you sound more scared of the garden girls than the dragon," I point out as she tenses in realization. "I could understand if it was Ladon, but what is the deal with them?"
"They... are my sisters," she admits.
"Oh, that makes sense," I say. "I bet they are a bunch of cunts."
Zoe stops walking and stares at me in shock. I just kind of look down at myself to see if a bird shit on me or something.
"That is the only thing you have to say?" Zoe asks in genuine surprise.
Now it is my chance to be confused. Did she want me to insult her sisters more?
"They sound like bitches too?" I offer.
With that response, Zoe just bursts out laughing. So she did want more sister insults? I guess she might not be on the best terms with them.
"How are you two so similar?" she asks once she catches her breath. "That sounds exactly like something Nick would say."
Shit, time to play it cool.
"I guess genius must run in the family," I reply as I run a hand through my hair cooly. "Same with handsome too."
"Yes, yes," Zoe says with a relieved smile. "Humble too."
"I didn't want to say anything, but yes," I agree. "I am burdened with greatness, but I carry it with style."
"Just attempt to restrain thyself," Zoe requests. "It might be trying, but I would appreciate it."
"Of course," I say. "After all, it is your privilege to hit your own family members. Make sure to use your hips when you slap them. It really helps you get all the torque you need for a true bitchslap. Just wind up and let it fly."
"It should be of no surprise that is thy first impulse," Zoe says with a sigh. Like I can't see the smile on your face, woman! She is just dreaming of smacking her sisters, I can feel it.
--
We duck behind a rock after rounding a bend and getting a look at the garden. Oh, it was nice and all with the flowers, brooks, massive gold fruit tree, yada yada yada. The main thing that ruined it was the army's worth of cultist mercenaries blocking the path around the tree and up the mountain.
"You know, this isn't exactly a bad thing," I say to Zoe as we peek around the edge of the rock. "We should see it as a blessing in disguise."
"How might a hostile army be a blessing in disguise?" Zoe asks.
"Just think about how pissed your sisters are going to be about having to clean it all up," I tell her with a grin. "Who knows what all of the blood is going to do to the groundwater? I won't hazard a guess how the iron will affect soil nutrients either. Don't even get me started on the pH balance."
"Why, twould be a dreadful shame if their hard work was damaged in such a way," Zoe replies as a smile spreads across her lips and an evil look dawns in her eyes. "Twould only be worsened if fires broke out as well. Tis for the best that there art no individuals with access to such flamable weapons."
"Exactly," I agree. "But you never know. I could always make a mistake and pull out the wrong weapon. You never know what might happen in the middle of a tense battle. Incendiary grenades always feel like smoke grenades. I guess we will just have to hope."
"Whoever kills the least loses," Zoe says before she vaults over the rock and sprints toward the waiting army. That cheater! She hasn't changed a bit!
Oh well, I guess I will just have to catch up.
"Maximum effort," I say before I vault over as well. Time to fuck some shit up!
--
It was like we had never missed a beat.
I dodge under the swing of a khopesh before I grab the mercenary's wrist and swing him into the path of an arrow. It sinks into his throat and I snatch the sword from his shocked grip before I throw it into the back of a cultist about to tackle Zoe. The blade juts out of his chest as he collapses and Zoe is unimpeded as she buries her knives in the neck of another.
A cultist magician cast a fireball with his staff, but I slam my foot down and a wall of ice erupts from the ground to block it. I slam a fist into the side and an icicle blasts out. It finds its way into the cult magician's skull and he drops like a light. Zoe rips the icicle out before he can hit the ground and slams it into the eye of a cultist she was dueling against.
I flick out my scythes and make short work of some more. In a burst of speed, they were collapsing into pieces before they even knew they were cut. I toss the blades into the air before I proceed to draw a series of throwing knives out of my suit and send them flying. They all find their marks as they land in eyes, throats, and hearts. I catch my scythes in time to finish off two cultists who thought they had the drop on me. For mercs, these guys sure suck at fighting.
I front kick a guy so that the arrow blasting through one of his buddies' skulls takes a trip into his head too. I don't even stop to watch as I separate a magician's hand from their body, catch the wand they drop, shove it into their mouth, and turn his brains into a mist out of the back of his head after I fire off a burst of magic. I take the boomerang shaped wand and throw it like one. It stabs into a guy's head and he crumples to the ground.
At one point, Zoe channeled her powers as Artemis' head priestess and fired an arrow that scattered into two dozen copies as it multiplied with moonlight constructs. These decimate a group of mercenaries before she looks over and gives a smirk.
That cheeky bitch!
Not to be outdone, I conjure my Khonshu avatar from the waist up around me like an early level Susanoo from Naruto. I use its staff to crush a massive swath of cultists before sweeping it out and annihilating even more. When it fades away, I blow Zoe a kiss as her eye visibly twitches even from this distance.
Eventually, we both run out of enemies to kill as we pull off increasingly flashy and over the top moves to try and one up each other. In the end, we are standing in the center of massive devastated field of dead bodies with both of us covered in blood. We stand back to back as we pant in exhaustion from our competition.
"How many did you kill?" I ask as we lean against each other to support our weight.
"Four hundred and sixty one," she says panting. "And you?"
"Same," I admit. "Four sixty one. Fuck, who got their last kill first?"
"I cannot remember," Zoe says. "A draw?"
Just then, we both hear shifting in the piles of dead bodies. In sync, we both pull out knives and throw them. They simultaneously land in the throat of a cultist who chokes for a moment before collapsing.
"Yeah, it's a tie," I agree reluctantly.
We hear shuffling to the side and we prepare another attack only to see that it was several girls who looked eerily like Zoe. If I had to guess, they were probably the sisters she mentioned.
"Zoe," one of them says with a tone of disdain. "So you have come crawling back to the garden after all of these years. Funny that you left with a man and returned with one as well. Do you let him fuck you too, whore?"
"Zoe!" I exclaim in shock. "I can't believe you never told me about you and your sisters!"
They all seem confused before I continue.
"You are adopted!" I shout as I point at her. "You look nothing like them!"
They look at each other and then look at me with the same deadpan expression.
"What are you talking about, Kringle?" she asks.
"It's like I said," I reply with a knowing grin. "You look young and normal. They are all shriveled old hags who never left home and garden all day. You know, like the weird rich old ladies with superiority complexes they never earned who creep everyone else out whenever they crawl out of their houses. No time to chit chat, you shriveled cunts. Zoe, here's an early Christmas present. It was at the top of your list."
I toss Zoe a detonator which she catches before smiling at her sisters.
"Twas real, twas nice, but was it really nice?" she asks. "Not really. As a friend of mine would say, 'Get bent, bitches.'"
Zoe clicks the detonator and several napalm charges explode across the garden. It was hard as hell to plant them during the massive fight, but I still managed it in the end. They blast their scorching payload all over the garden and turn it into a ring of fire around the immortality tree in the center. The dragon guarding it lifts its heads to snarl at the flames surrounding it, but it does not leave its position since I made sure to arrange it so that the central tree wouldn't be threatened. Hera's special apple tree would be just about the only thing left in a sea of ash.
Is this fitting behavior from someone who is pretty much part nature spirit? Absolutely not.
Do I actually give a shit? Fuck no! Bitches shouldn't have called Zoe a whore.
As the sisters futilely try to end the blaze destroying their garden which has flourished for millenia, I hold out a hand to Zoe like the gentleman I am. "Milady, I do believe that we have more pressing matters than these losers," I tell her. "Should we be off?"
"Of course," Zoe says with a grin as she takes my arm and we go happily strolling away from the bloodbath and bonfire in our wake as the screams of her sisters provide a soothing serenade.
--
Everything had gone to shit without us. Percy was being crushed under a swirling pillar of sky that he held on his back. Thalia, Bianca, blondie from back at the military school, and Artemis were being absolutely clapped by a ten foot guy in a dark suit using a spear glowing with grey light.
"I am assuming that's your dad?" I ask Zoe as I point at the asshole beating the shit out of the three girls and the loli goddess. "If so, I understand why you ditched your sisters and the garden."
"We must aid them," Zoe says. She almost runs off before I grab her arm and stop her.
"I don't have enough firepower for anything crazy after that army and I doubt you do either," I say. "We aren't going to win an all out battle. So, we should do what champions do best: harass him to the point that the god can just dunk on his ass. The clouds are starting to clear up, so she should be recharging once the moon comes out. She was probably holding up the sky if Percy is any indication. We just need to buy enough time for her to get her shit together."
"Dost thou have some gambit to manage that hidden up thy sleeve?" Zoe asks.
"Why, yes I do," I say as my voice drops into a rumbling growl.
Fur sprouts over my body as my bones shift and rearrange. My fingernails turn into claws, my teeth grow sharp as razors, and my jaw stretches forward into a snout. My knees invert as my shoes turn into simple foot wrappings so I stand on the balls of my reformed feet.
I pull down my mask after I transform and give Zoe a tooth-filled grin with my new maw. I didn't have to worry about disguises when I was a hulking wolfman in a red and green poncho.
I looked... awesome.
I also looked like I would be in a world of trouble if Dreamworks lawyers ever saw me like this. It was an unfortunate coincidence that I looked like the canine Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It was also a coincidence that I carried scythes and whistled hauntingly as I stalked my enemies. Yep, a total coincidence.
"What do you think?" I ask. "Pretty good trick, right?"
"Yet again, men art proven to be lowly dogs at their core," Zoe says with a grin. "But yes, tis impressive, Fido."
"First one to beat Atlas wins," I say before I rush in. I just give a barking laugh as I hear Zoe curse and follow.
--
I might have been just a wee bit too cocky.
Despite carrying the weight of the sky for over two millenia, Atlas isn't the Titan of Endurance for nothing. I can tell he isn't at full strength, but that it isn't stopping him from being a massive pain in the ass to fight. Every attack seems to do jack shit at slowing him down or even making him feel pain.
I slash across his Achilles tendons with my sickles only to leap out of the way as he stabs his spear down where I was just standing. The cut had already healed before the golden ichor thrown by the attack had even finished flying through the air.
Zoe peppers his exposed back with silver arrows, but they are just like needles to him. Sure, they were annoying, but they never graduated from annoyance to threat. At the very least, it was a decent distraction that let me make the most of my heightened speed to carve into Atlas as much as possible. My sickles were coated in the titan's ichor despite him seemingly regenerating without a care. I can't tell if he is weaker from carrying the sky or if he is just getting used to moving again.
"Why so slow, Atlas?" I ask as I avoid a slash of his spear and tear a bloody line across his back with my blades. "I guess you must be a little rusty after all of these years. How long has it been since you were out from under the sky? Oh yeah, the last time was before Hercules tricked your dumb ass into getting back under it."
Atlas gives a roar of anger at the reminder as he grabs a chunk of black marble from the damaged area and throws it at me. I leap on top of the flying debris before springing forward and cutting across his eyes to momentarily blind him. He curses as he wipes the ichor away to see once his eyes regenerate, but Zoe proceeds to fire several arrows into his fresh eyes as soon as they clear up. This prompts the titan to swing his spear blindly in an attempt to clear the area so he can heal his vision.
"Aren't you four going to help?" I ask as I skid to a stop near where Percy, Thalia, Bianca, and the blond owl girl are taking a breather off to the side. I had created a double who was currently using our remaining Egyptian magic to manifest a limited Khonshu avatar and hold up the sky. It was just from the waist up like earlier, but it got the job done.
"You guys seem to have it," Percy says to the girls' muttered agreements. "I feel like I would just be ruining your moment."
I growl at the statement, but I am forced to focus on the fight again when Atlas almost stabs Zoe with his spear. I rush forward and slice open the backs of his knees in order to distract him and give her some room to maneuver.
It would be a lot easier if Artemis would ever fucking help, but she was off to the side absorbing moonlight like a plant or something. We could sure use her help already!
"Having fun?" I ask Zoe as I dash past her and continue to peck away at Atlas. "You seem to be enjoying yourself!"
"Perhaps!" she admits before firing an arrow that rams into Atlas' eardrum and causes golden ichor to drip down the side of his head. "I prefer a more relaxed evening, but thou art not poor company at least."
"I aim to please!" I laugh as I slash into the titan's forearm and loosen his grip on his spear only to be backhanded into a column which I crack in half as I crash through. I wince from the feeling of a broken rib, but I charge in nonetheless. "I would rather be watching a musical, but this is a nice change of pace from planning for the Christmas season so I can't complain."
"What breed of musical would thou watch other than one of Christmas?" Zoe asks as she fires a series of arrows into the soft tissue of Atlas' face. He guards with both hands after he smacked me with his healing arm and accidentally dropped his spear from his weakened grip.
"I am always up for watching Annie again," I admit. "Technically, everything is kind of Christmasy if you think about it hard enough. Family and all that jazz. Well, I guess you might not get it since your sisters suck and your dad is a living punching bag."
"Enough childish prattling!" Atlas roars before he slams his fists into the ground and blast us both back in a burst of raw titanic power.
As I pick myself out of some rubble, I feel a shift of the power in the area. My eyes dart to the side where Artemis is aiming her bow at Atlas with an arrow blazing with intensely concentrated moonlight. Her total focus was on the titan in her sights.
In that split moment, I saw the entire field. Atlas was directly lined up with the sky pillar my other body was holding up. If Artemis hit him, then he would go flying right there. He could escape with a dodge to the side, but his spear was closer to the pillar in the same line of fire. There is no way that a warrior like Atlas would dodge when he could strike first instead. Zoe saw this in the same instant. Just as her father wouldn't let someone try to attack him without retaliation, she wouldn't allow her goddess to be hurt.
It all began as that moment passed.
The sun'll come out, tomorrow.
I let my double holding up he sky fade into snow now that it isn't necessary anymore. I need every ounce of power I have and I can't afford to be divided. The sky starts pushing down through the fading remnants of the avatar as it plummets toward the ground.
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun.
Atlas rushes back towards his spear, his footsteps cracking the marble beneath his feet with their speed and power.
Zoe bolts forward as she casts aside her bow and quiver. She doesn't want them to slow her down. After all, she won't need them if she succeeds.
I dash forward from the other side as I try to close the gap. The worst part is that I am further away than Zoe is. That means she has a headstart I need to overcome.
When I'm stuck with the day, that's grey, and lonely
I vault over a collapsed pillar, my claws digging into the side and helping to push me forward just a hint faster. I need to be fast enough.
The sky continues to drop like a hammer preparing to crush the earth. I don't really care right now. It isn't my job to stop it. My only job is to stop Zoe.
I just stick out my chin and grin and say oh!
Atlas reaches his fallen spear and grabs it from the ground before winding up. The gray energy of his power coats the weapon as he channels as much as possible into his attack.
Artemis continues to build up her own shot, the moonlight infused in her arrow becoming almost blinding.
Zoe reaches the center first and dives forward to block the impending spear. She is going to protect Artemis, even if it cost her life.
The sun'll come out, tomorrow.
Atlas hurls his spear with all of his might, its form turning into a streaking blur that shoots across the battlefield like a gray comet across the night. It bore down on Zoe and Artemis with a grim finality that spelled death for the hunter and goddess.
So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow,
Come what may!
With a burst of strength, I leap across the final stretch. The last of my magic supporting my transformation fades away and returns me to my human form as I activate the watch on my wrist. Like all of Noel's gifts, it was a masterpiece of craftsmenship. It even tanked a moderately strong moonlight blast from Artemis without a scratch. I was banking on this durability to get me through this.
However, as the spear came closer, the concentrated power I could feel it emitting blew the arrow I blocked from Artemis out of the water. That was a casual attack designed to swat an annoying fly. This was a wrathful strike from the General of the Titans meant to slay the Olympian goddess of the moon. It was an order of magnitude greater in every way.
Still, I trust Noel.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow.
You're only a day away.
The spear collides with the shield and seems to be held at bay only for the tip to puncture through the enchanted metal and pierce into my arm. I grit my teeth at the pain, but I push it down and ignore it. My right hand grabs onto the emerging spear shaft and tries to hold it in place while I strain the muscles of my injured arm to slow down the spear's passage. Everything I am doing appears to just be pissing in the wind since the spear still buries itself in my chest and drives me and Zoe into the ground.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow
You're only a day away.
Once we were hit by the spear, Artemis releases her arrow. It cuts across the field in a flash that seemed to travel at the speed of light. Then again, it could just be my vision going from the shock and blood loss. Nevertheless, it hits Atlas like a truck and sends him tumbling back since he was still off balance after throwing the spear.
The titan flies across the ruined throne room, his body skidding off of the ground and tearing up the black marble floor. He manages to correct himself by landing in a crouch and skidding to a stop, but it was too little, too late.
The sky comes crashing down on his shoulders once more, the sound almost like the gavel of a divine judge sentencing the titan to his eternal punishment once more. It drives him down and pins him beneath its incomprehensible weight. The only thing left for him to do is howl in impotent rage at his defeat.
"NOOOO!!!!," he screams as his freedom is ripped from him once more.
"Kringle?" I hear Percy call from the side. "Oh, shit! Kringle!"
The sideliners rush up in a panic and surround me and Zoe. What are they so worried about? We won.
Oh yeah, the spear. The spear in my chest. The spear that is currently killing me. The giant spear.
It was buried through my shield, the arm attached to said shield, and into my chest. My shield and my grip on it were the only reason that it didn't keep going through me to hit Zoe. If it had just hit her, it would have kept going to hit Artemis.
"Of course you show up after the fight is over," I groan as my blood is leaking from my unexpected body piercing. "I bet you guys were always picked last for dodgeball if you suck this hard."
"Nick?" I hear Zoe ask from the side. Her eyes are wide with surprise and horror as she sees me without my mask and realizes who I actually am. I had pulled down my mask after tranforming, but it was still down when I had run out of magic to keep the change going. Oh well, the secret is out.
"Hey, Zo," I say before I wince from the pain. "It's been a minute, hasn't it?"
"You died," she says. "How are you here?"
"I got a second chance to say goodbye," I tell her. "I thought one last hunt would be fun. I didn't plan on revealing myself though. I wanted to fade into the night after I knew you would be okay."
My voice trails off as my eyes unfocus and stare into the night sky. Everything around me seems to quiet as people hold their breath in silence. That is really convenient. I was worried about them all talking or something.
"Hey, guys," I say. "Before we keep going, could someone for the love of God cut this spear so my arm isn't pinned like this the entire death scene?"
Everyone seems surprised for a moment since they all seemed to think I had bought it, but Lightning Lass gets her shit together first.
"We got it," Thalia chimes in as she and Bianca hold the shaft of the spear in place before Percy slices through it. Since Atlas wasn't directly fueling it with his power, it was much weaker than during the fight. I could finally rest my arm to the side and focus on the emotional goodbye.
"Could someone prop me up too?" I ask. "You fuckers are all positioned terribly and it is killing my neck trying to see you."
Zoe immediately helps to pull my torso up and rest my head on her lap so I can see better. Oh, I have missed a Zoe lap pillow. I could just take a nap right now.
Snap out of it, Kringle! You have a death scene to do right now! You can take a nap later! Don't fall for the seductive pull of the lap pillow! You are stronger than that!
"Water Boy!" I call out. "Percy, I don't really know you all that well. We just met a couple of days ago and we never had a chance to talk that much. Still, I like to think I can read people pretty well. People don't go on quests across the country against Titans to just rescue a friend. Don't be an idiot. Hold onto your happy for as long as you can. Don't waste time pretending you don't see it."
Blondie might not have seen it, but I caught how Percy's eyes flickered to her when I said that. I hope he actually tells her how he feels soon. They seem cute together.
"I don't really know you Blondie, so I am just going to skip over you," I say to an agreement from her. "Thalia, you are next."
"Are you going to give me some life advice before you kick the bucket?" she asks. "What is it going to be? Wear brighter colors? Smile more?"
"I know emos like you can only pick long sullen silences or sarcastic insults, but I was hoping for a silence," I respond as she give flips me off. "What I was trying to say is that you should ditch the Medusa shield. I know your dad gave it to you and everything, but the look has already been done by Athena. Find your own path, not one laid out by someone else. In my eyes, fuck fate. Life will always be a mystery even if you can see down the road. You always miss the best parts when you are not looking."
Thalia seems surprised by the genuine wisdom I was tossing around. She looks down at her shield bracelet in thought for a moment as she considers the idea.
"I see a light," I say as I gaze sightlessly upwards. "Do you see that big beautiful light?."
"No wait, that is just the moon," I continue after a moment. "Don't stare at that. If you do, a loli moon goddess might think you are perving on her. Bianca, your turn."
I wince as I slip my hat off of my head and pull out a sleeping Sid wrapped in the Nemean lion jacket with my right hand.
"Give these to Nico," I say. "I thought they would make for some nice Christmas presents. Tell him that I'm sorry I couldn't bring them in person. Make sure he looks after Lupa too."
"I will," she says as she takes the kitten and jacket from me.
"Don't give up on family," I say. "There is the family you are born with and the family you choose. It doesn't matter if you were born his sister. Nico chose you. Don't wake up with regrets in a hundred years. I know I would give just about anything to spend another day with my mom. I know Nico feels the same way about his big sis. Trust me on that."
"I guess it is just you left, Zo," I say with a wet cough as some blood starts to fill my lungs and my organs fail. "Sorry I can't hug you or anything. I am a little injured at the moment."
"Why didn't you tell me who you were?" she asks. "Why did you hide it?"
"I didn't really hide it," I admit. "My last name really is Kringle. I got it from my mom's side of the family, funny enough. I get what you mean though. In all honesty, I never meant for us to cross paths again. I didn't want to break your heart a second time. I didn't want you to have to choose between me and the hunt. I just wanted you to be happy."
"I was happy with you," she says as tears start trailing down her cheeks.
"I know," I say. "But I am my father's son. It's my job to brighten people's lives, but I can never stay. It is kind of like a curse. I always have to keep going, otherwise I will just make a mess."
"Why did you keep reaching out then?" she asks. "Why didn't you stay away?"
"Cause I am still in love with you, Zo," I tell her. "I wanted you to move on, even if that means I am in the rear view."
"What if I can't?" she asks. "What if I don't want to?"
"Then just try to forget me a little more every day," I suggest. "Keep my memory around if you need it, but let it fade when you don't. One day, I will just be a fond glance over a campfire. I am okay with that. It was better than I thought I would get."
"Do you regret coming with me on that hunt?" Zoe asks. "Do you ever wish you had just stayed behind at the Workshop instead?"
"Never," I say honestly say as my vision starts to swim with dark spots. "I am happy. I even get to die with the woman who will always hold a piece of my heart."
"I love you," Zoe whispers. It was like it was a secret she was just admitting to herself as well.
"I love you too," I say as I use my fading eyesight to trace every line of her face into my memory. This is the last time I will ever see her.
"I should give some final words," I call out with my remaining strength. "Cassowary! Pastafanarian! Meningitis! Abercrombie!"
Then, a fleeting spark of memory flickers across my mind. It was the phrase that had set me on this path so long ago on the day I had met the first love of my life.
"Do you want to build a snowman?"
--
(3rd Person POV)
With those final words, the light fades from the eyes of Kenneth Nicholaus Christopher Kringle. The hat he had been holding in his right hand slips through his fingers and lands on the ground with a whisper that seemed to echo with a grim finality.
The Son of Saint Nick was dead.
The assembled halfbloods lower their heads in reverence to the boy who had sacrificed his life to make their victory possible. They knew that most of them would not be standing here if it wasn't for his unyielding strength despite the world of danger that had stood in their way. He had just laughed it off and fought through it to the bitter end.
The only sounds that cut through the air were the cursing from the imprisoned titan and the sobs from the lieutenant who looked like her world had ended.
We're talking away.
A white snowflake emerges from Nick's body and begins to twirl and float upward on a phantom wind.
I don't know what
I'm to say. I'll say it anyway.
Today's another day to find you.
Snowflake after snowflake rises from his form as he slowly fades away, his mortal form returning to nature.
Shying away,
I'll be coming for your love, okay?
Zoe's gaze follows the snowflakes up and she watches as the little fragments of Nick fly away in such a peaceful final act. The beauty of it calms her heart, if but for a moment, and stems the flow of tears.
Take on me (take on me).
Take me on (take on me).
I'll be gone
In a day or two.
The flurry of snowflakes continues as more of Nick's body flutters away in crystalline magic, the pieces forming a pillar of sparkling light up into the night sky that outshines the moon itself.
So needless to say,
I'm odds and ends.
But that's me I'm stumbling away,
Slowly learning that life is okay.
Percy and the rest of the demigods have their breath stolen by the sight that they bear witness to. It was massive, over the top, and put any attempts at a follow up to shame, but it had a calm perfection that made it truly stunning. It perfectly represented the boy they had known as Kringle.
Say after me,
It's no better to be safe than sorry.
Take on me (take on me).
Take me on (take on me).
I'll be gone
In a day or two.
The last flickers of Nick's body float up into the night, joining their fellows as they swirl and dance in the still air.
Oh, things that you say.
Is it a life or
Just to play my worries away?
You're all the things I've got to remember.
Zoe clutches onto Nick's hat like a lifeline, but snowflakes begin to pull away from it as well. The final piece of Nick was leaving too.
You're shying away.
I'll be coming for your love anyway.
In that moment, she lets the boy she had fallen in love with go. She opens her hands and watches as the hat breaks up into the glittering snowflakes. They spin and circle around her before journeying up to join the pillar of twinkling light.
Take on me (take on me).
Take me on (take on me).
I'll be gone
In a day or two.
The pillar of swirling snow rises up into the sky and breaks apart, the snow scattering in the night like stars before they disappear in the sea of constellations.
I'll be gone
In a day or two.
A final tear traces its way down Zoe's cheek as she watches the snow disappear.
In a day or two.
"Goodbye, Nick," she whispers.
--
(Nick Kringle POV)
I open my eyes to see my old apartment again. Just like before, my mom is sitting in her seat as she looks out the window. She turns and her eyes fall on me as she smiles.
"Hey, Nicky," she says before she stands up. "I was worried you were going to keep me waiting. You know Heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be without my favorite person in the world here with me."
"Mom," I whisper. I take a step forward, but I freeze up right before I reach the point where the barrier kept us separated before.
"Come on, you goof," my mom sighs with a fond smile as she grabs my wrist and pulls me through. My ruined suit fades to a t-shirt and jeans as I cross the barrier and stumble forward. She looks me over as I regain my footing. "You are late."
"Sorry, there was a bunch of handy capable children stuck in a tree," I say.
"Nope," she says.
"Yeah, but there was a kid though," I admit. "Sorry I gave away Lupa."
"It's okay," she says as her hand strokes my cheek. "She was always meant to be with a kid who needed her. You have grown so big. You aren't my little boy anymore."
"I'll always be your kid, Mom," I say as tears well up in my eyes. "I'm just not the one looking down for once."
"No, you are a man now," she replies as she wipes the tears away. "Already a real heartbreaker. I didn't miss the little love story with that huntress of yours."
"She is better off without me," I say. "I am not the kind of person she needs."
"Maybe not now," Mom agrees. "But maybe one day. After all, you didn't finish following my advice yet. You gave your heart to more girls than just Zoe. You lived a life with each of your names and left a piece of your heart behind each time. You can't move on until your past is settled."
"It seems a little late for that," I joke. "I can't see a dead man pulling that off."
"You are forgetting the deal you made, aren't you?" Mom asks before she looks past me at something. I turn around to see a jackal-headed man dressed in a black robe with hieroglyphs and trim stitched from gold thread standing next to a skeletal figure in white robes with a bird skull for a head. "It's not your time yet. You still have work to do. Death can't hold you, not for long. But don't worry. Heaven can wait for you a little longer. I will be ready for you when you are old and grey like your dad. Also, call the sandwhich girl back. She seems sweet."
I chuckle as I walk back towards the pair of waiting gods until my mother calls out one last time.
"Hey, you are really going to leave your dear mom without a hug?" she asks as she holds her arms out. "Well, come here."
I just run towards her, my height fading with each step until I am just a kid leaping into my mother's arms as I cling to her sweater. I feel her hands slowly stroking my hair while I sink into her warm embrace one last time.
All too soon, I feel a tug on my soul as I am pulled back. I am dragged through the barrier of life and death until I am reborn once more.
--
I bolt awake, the soft cushion of a bed beneath my body. Wait a second, I know this bed! If I am here, that means...
My head whips around until I see the person sitting next to the bed and I give a sigh of relief. I was really worried for a second there.
"That is your first response?" Gunilla asks with an unamused expression. The daughter of Thor and captain of the Valkyries scoffs. "Of course it is."
"I think it is a perfectly normal response," I reply. "I thought I was going to have to run for a second there."
"You are lucky I did not inform Samirah so she could be waiting here instead," Gunilla says as a shiver runs down my spine at the threat. "I do not know why my father favors you so highly. Even if Khonshu and him are 'Marvel god buddies', it is bizarre that it overwhelms his distaste for your father. After all, his feud against Christ extends to the posterboy for the man's birthday."
"Pays to be the Fist of Khonshu," I shrug as I hop off the bed and admire my new body's reaction times. Say what you will about dying, it sure makes living a lot cooler.
Gunilla just sighs and gives me a hug. "Don't think this will happen again, mister," she warns. "It was only because my dad asked and you are paradoxically somehow my friend. We are not supposed to claim the same soul twice. I am risking my job, even if Dad probably talked to Odin."
"Love you too, Gunilla," I say as I pat her back affectionately. She could be such a tsundere at times, but I loved that about my friend.
She pulls back from the hug and looks me in the eyes. "I hope this is the last time I have to say this," she grumbles. "But welcome to the Hotel Valhalla, Christopher."
Different name, same shit. Well, nothing for it.
"Good to be back," I reply with a grin. "Let's get started."
--
Author's note:
The Kringle arc is finally done!
I wanted to finish off the first part of the story in style and I think I succeeded.
Does it resemble Deadpool 2 a little bit? Maybe!
Do I care? No!
I think it is perfect the way it is and I hope you all agree. I tried to capture as much emotion as I could in the writing and make it feel genuine in its own way instead of a knock off.
As for the songs, it was 'Tomorrow' from Annie and 'Take on Me (MTV Unplugged) by A-ha.
Feel free to write me a review and let me know how I did. I am practically fueled by reviews, so don't be shy. I always make sure to take all reviews to heart and respond to any questions at the beginning of each chapter.
If you liked the story and want to keep up to date, favorite and follow to get notifications when new chapters are released.
If you are interested in my other work, you can find my stories through my profile.
A pleasure as always,
Titan900
Current Favorites: 61, Cirrent Follows: 71, Current Reviews: 25