Advice and Conflict
Ichiro wandered through the gardens of Aeolus' palace, disinterested in the chaos around him. His hydra chewed on trees whilst one of his more recent captures, the drakon, snored in the shade the palace provided. It was relieving to have his body empty of the monsters he usually carried with him.
The thin material that made up his robes made it so the heat was no issue, and it was to a good length on his ankles that he didn't fear getting it dirty with earth.
He couldn't believe that Kassandra girl had gotten away. Damn Aeolus, he should have restrained the wind master better. Unfortunately, he was too important of a character to kill, no matter how many times Ikari pleaded with him. Without him, all the winds on the continent would spiral out of control and there'd be too much chaos even for his brother.
Soaking in the rays of Helios, Ichiro took a seat on a vacant bench. Everything had been so odd lately, what with the plan to overthrow the Olympians and Kassandra. Kassandra...
That girl annoyed him far too much, maybe it would've been for the best to have killed her back at the palace of Boreas. Not only does she escape Medea, but also Lycaon. Stupid werewolf, shame he was a part of the greater plan. Or so he was told.
Then again, her companions were more than competent. Jason Grace, Leo Valdez and Piper McLean. The satyr was an annoyance at most, but those three demi-gods, yes it made perfect sense why they were members of the seven prophesied ones. Perhaps he should properly test their skills his way.
"Found you brother!" a voice called out from behind a nearby tree. From its shadows emerged Ikari.
"And what a shame that is," he muttered, moving up the bench to make room for his insufferable brother.
As his younger sibling approached Ichiro, he made a faint hand gesture beneath his robes. Behind Ikari, the drakon stirred, and within an instant its tail came crashing down to where Ikari stood. Unfortunately, the rush of wind next to the summoner indicated he had been to slow.
"You are funny brother! But slow too, so I guess no one's perfect."
They sat there for a minute, enjoying the environment. Ichiro may have been old, yet he rarely got such serene moments. The air was so clean, filling his lungs with a sense of re-freshness. He sighed.
"I miss the old days," he remarked, watching the cloudless sky.
Ikari frowned. "You go on about the 'old days' so often like some old king reliving his glory days. If they're so memorable, what were they like then?"
Ichiro stared off into space. "Good. Roaming the lands with no constraints. Enjoying what the world had to offer, it was all so liberating. Before I became a weapon. Before this," he said, gesturing to everything around them.
He tilted his head back and took it all in for a few more minutes, savouring every second.
"Ssssir!" cried out a voice. Great.
Sighing, he got up and brushed himself down before turning to be faced with a dracaena. One with a tattered dress, modern for the style of her kind. He could remember when he found her, just scraps of dust remained after most of her essence was decimated by an explosion. Still, he had pieced her together.
"Yes Elara?" he said, cracking his neck.
"The Lady wisssshes to sssssssee you," she hissed, gesturing back to the palace.
"Thank you dear. Return to your post."
The dracaena saluted, her wrists equipped with some sort of weapons. He had seen her playing with them before, never bothering to enquire further.
"Best be off then brother. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting," said Ikari, not bothering to open his eyes. When he did, Ichiro was long gone.
The summoner knelt before the throne of Aeolus, the throne occupied by the body of the god of demi-gods. Back in female form, 'she' now shifted in the seat, fidgeting to find a comfortable position.
She was older, now looking to be in her 30's compared to earlier when she looked like a young adult. Her appearance was still flawless though, perfect skin and hair. Ichiro knew that since only a fraction of the Mother's essence had passed into the body there was a mix of personality between her and the god of divine healing.
Ichiro coughed to announce himself. "You called for me mistress?"
She straightened up and sat more formally. "Yes I did. We are to discuss how we go forwards now."
He looked up. "Go forwards?"
"Yes, continue with our plan. How we are to continue what I have spent millennia putting into motion. And to start that, do you still hold your end of the deal with Tartarus?"
Ichiro nodded eagerly. "Of course, Ikari manages to attain the blood by the month still and sacrifices run smoothly."
At this 'female (Y/N)' nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response.
"So, I propose, well actually I order but we're past that by now, an assault of the Greek demi-god camp."
Ichiro's eyes widened.
"You mean Camp Half-Blood?"
'(Y/N)' nodded, the flower jiggling in the socket.
"An attack as a show of strength. We have gone far enough to kidnap Hera and so there is no point of hiding our activities anymore. Three of the seven prophesied ones are on this quest, and the fated daughter too, so you shall strike when they return from their quests."
"Should we not just take them by surprise now?" questioned Ichiro, "Surely it would be more advantageous to avoid such a large scale conflict in exchange for a few quick blows whilst they are unprepared?"
"Tsch, that camp has been an annoying reminder of how the Olympians children thrive whilst mine suffer below. It would be better if we levelled the whole place."
"But how would we bypass the defensive spell? Only the children of the gods can enter, either that or those invited by someone already inside. Ikari and I aren't exactly children of the gods so I expect you have something planned?"
"Well of course I do, if anything you should listen to your own words. You are the son of a goddess, remember? The mortals may have changed terms over time, but primordials are still gods."
Ichiro nodded again. If he had learnt anything about the woman before him, it was that nodding and agreeing resulted in staying alive, no matter who you were.
"So your orders for now ma'am?" he asked, lowering his head once more.
The suited woman rose from her seat and strutted down to stand before Ichiro. She placed a hand under his chin and raised his head.
"Relax, my dear. Take some time off with your brother to cool off before the assault. I'll notify you when you are needed, I can handle this from here. Perhaps you should go spend time with that lover of yours, I'm sure you'll find a way to get past Zeus' blockade."
"Thank you mistress," he said, standing and turning to the exit.
As he walked off, the flower-woman spoke one last time.
"Do stop calling me such formal names Ichiro. This may be the body of (Y/N) (L/N) but we are still family."
"Thank you then, mother," he commented, exiting the throne room.
The taxi could only fit a maximum of 4 passengers, so Kassandra strapped herself to the roof. Somehow the driver was okay with it, so she sat up there enjoying her bakery treats. It would've been nice if they could've ridden the vehicle all the way to the top of the mountain, but luck was not on their side.
The cab made lurching, grinding sounds as it climbed the mountain road, and halfway up they found a ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way. Kassandra leapt down and lent on the car, the window rolling down for her to listen to the conversation inside.
"Far as I can go," the cabbie said. "You sure about this?Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you."
"We're sure."
Leo was the first one out, followed by Jason, Piper and Hedge. They joined the daughter of Rome on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Leo handed over a generous sum to the driver, way more than Kassandra would have offered.
"Keep the change," Leo said. "And get out of here. Quick."
The driver didn't argue. Soon all they could see was his dust trail.The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns-grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives- the kind Kassandra had only read about.
"That's Concord," Jason said, pointing to the north."Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills.And that way..." He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills.The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."
"Jason?" Piper touched his arm. "You remember something? You've been here?"
"Yes... no." He gave her an anguished look. "It just seems important."
"That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nodded toward the west."Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."
It was also the land of the Romans.
"I wanted to see New Rome for myself," said Hector, "I couldn't find the entrance though. In Elysium I met a couple of the demi-gods from there, but never got the location. Perhaps one day I'll get to see it. Aeneas did well, it's good thing he listened to me when I appeared to him on the night of our cities fall."
"Then perhaps I will take you there one day," responded Kassandra. "My parents are joint patrons of the city after all, so it is my birthright to be welcomed. If I am ever granted the chance to reveal you the people there would love you."
Kassandra stretched out her legs, but found she had slightly sunk into the earth. The others seemed to be suffering from the same sort of trap too.
"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled.
He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed the shoes to Leo."Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."
Leo snorted. "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"
"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."
"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.
Jason pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, it could have been a cloud, but it wasn't. Something was burning.
"Smoke equals fire," Jason said. "We'd better hurry."
As they made their way up the mountain Kassandra found herself walking with Piper. Whilst Jason took the lead with Hedge and Leo fell back slightly, fiddling with scraps and gears.
"So, you and Jason are pretty close?" started the young goddess.
Piper nodded. "He acted a little weird when you guys picked us up at the Grand Canyon but we're close, yeah."
They continued in silence till Kassandra found the confidence to pick up the conversation again.
"So, what exactly do you do in your relationship?" she squirmed, wondering if it was rude to ask.
Piper seemed slightly taken aback by the question going rigid, but went back to her regular posture fairly quickly.
"Well, we talk about personal matters, we spend time together doing different things like when we were back at our school before all of this, we dance-"
"No," interrupted Kassandra, "Like what do you do in your relationship," she asked again, heavily emphasising the 'do'.
It took the daughter of Aphrodite a second to understand but she soon did and nodded her head, understanding.
"Well we're still young, so we keep it pretty low, hugs and kisses, y'know? Anyway, why'd you ask?"
Kassandra looked off into the distance. As much as she tried to keep a poker face, Piper read her like a book.
"Oh, so there's someone special!" she said, looking rather pleased with herself. "Someone at camp?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah."
Piper clapped. "I'm happy for you, who's the lucky one?"
Kassandra flushed a tint of red before she answered quietly. She couldn't understand why it was such a sensitive topic for her to openly talk about, maybe it was Aphrodite's fault. Of course, blame the goddess.
"Her name's Aspen, she's a tree nymph," she sighed, a slight smile creeping onto her face. "I've known her since day 1 of coming to camp, and things have just kind of gone along."
McLean nodded. "Well, if it's advice you're after I'm not the best daughter of Aphrodite to ask. You'll probably get better advice from someone else in our cabin."
"But I know you speak truthfully, and that's more than I can guarantee for quite a few of your sisters, no offence."
Piper smiled at the compliment. "Well then, I guess it depends on how far in you are and what sort of relationship you're going for. Like how serious you want it to be. How long have you been dating?"
"Well, I sort of only asked her out the day before we left," she muttered under her breath, slightly ashamed. It sounded a lot worse to say aloud.
"It's... a start, we all start somewhere," said Piper. "But if you're only really just starting, take it slow. Be more mental than physical, pay compliments like how nice she looks or how you love her smile."
Kassandra was hit with a flashback of what Aspen said, how she would have to owe her for leaving on her quest. She gulped.
"I'm... I'm a little afraid," she admitted. "I had my parents then I lost them. I had the hunters then had to abandon them. And now I don't want to risk losing her. What if I do something wrong?"
"If she does like you, then she'd understand. I've known you for just a few days and yet you're such a good person. I mean you saved me when we arrived at camp, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Kassandra admitted. "If anything I'm most afraid of your mother messing things up..."
"My mother?" spluttered Piper, "Aphrodite's involved?"
"Yeah, she makes me do things that I guess have been working but are a little odd. I think she possessed me to get me to kiss Aspen on the cheek."
"What the-" started Piper, before she walked right into Jason who had stopped, crouching behind a stone wall.
"I like this one," announced Hector bluntly in her mind.
Whilst she took cover with the others, she could only smile and shake her head.
The five of them struggled to completely fit behind the stone wall, Hedge's head poking over the top. Leo grabbed him and pulled him down.
"I don't want to get my outfit dirty!" Hedge complained.
"Shhh!" Piper said.
Reluctantly, the satyr knelt.Just over the ridge where they were hiding, in the shadow of the mountain's final crest, was a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus must have setup camp.
Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment- an earth mover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver and a long metal column with an axe blade, like a sideways guillotine. How a giant could operate such machinery, Kassandra didn't know.
Then she saw him.
To start with, he was thirty feet tall- easily as tall as the treetops. If he looked up he probably could've seen them behind their ridge, but he seemed intent on the weird purple bonfire,circling it and chanting under his breath.
From the waist up, the giant appeared humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armour, decorated with flame designs. His arms were like trunks themselves.His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure of Prometheus, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.
From the waist down, he was even more terrifying. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet- like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire,turning the metal molten red. He was on another level to them. This was a being who could fight gods, the one who opposed Athena.
"Okay," Coach Hedge whispered. "Here's the plan-"
Leo elbowed him. "You're not charging him alone!"
"Aw, c'mon."
"This guy's an idiot!" moaned Hector.
Piper choked back a sob. "Look."
Just visible on the other side of the bonfire was a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so they couldn't make out his face, but Piper didn't seem to have any doubts about who they were.
"Dad," she said.
"There's five of us," Hedge whispered urgently. "And only one of him. Besides, we've got a goddess on our side."
"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo asked.
"And, you know, he's a child of Gaia?" reminded Kassandra.
"Okay," Hedge said. "So you, me, Valdez and Jason distract him. Piper sneaks around and frees her dad."
They all looked at Jason.
"What?" Jason asked. "I'm not the leader."
"Yes," Piper said. "You are."
As a son of Jupiter, he just seemed to carry the position of leader with him, like Percy Jackson.
"I hate to say it," Jason sighed, "but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance."
Not a good chance. Not even a survivable chance. Just their best chance.
They couldn't sit there all day and talk about it, though. It had to be close to noon- the giant's deadline- and the ground was still trying to pull them down.
"Let's boogie," Leo said. "Before I come to my senses.
The plan took a nose dive pretty fast.
Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo,Jason, Kassandra and Hedge walked straight into the clearing.Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!"
Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a sabre-toothed tiger's.
"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise."
As the giant admired the four of them the daughter of (Y/N) watched Leo edge to the bulldozer, one small step at a time.
Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your-"
"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up."
Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."
"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment."
"You on the other hand," the giant boomed, gazing down on Kassandra, "Will not be so fortunate. I assume your lack of bonds means the daughter of Aphrodite has failed to make true on her promise. You demi-gods are pretty durable, right?"
Without giving them time to respond, Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.
"Scatter!" Leo yelled.
Jason and Hedge dove to the left as the giant blew fire- a furnace blast so hot Hephaestus would have been jealous. Kassandra narrowly leapt upwards, swinging on a tree to safety. She landed across from the others, to the right of the giant.
Jason rose and charged the giant. Coach Hedge ripped off his canary yellow jacket,which was now on fire, and bleated angrily.
"I liked that outfit!"
Then he raised his club and charged, too.Before they could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.
Kassandra was knocked from her feet and fell to the ground. Jason staggered to his feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees. Disgusting.
The giant bellowed, "I see you, Piper McLean!"
He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes behind him. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her. Enceladus laughed.
"I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"
"I am no one's prize!" yelled Kassandra, pulling her bow from her back and launching a volley of energy projectiles. Surprisingly, he winced at the attack with a little fluid dribbling from the wound, but not before frowning and plucking them from his skin.
"I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"
Kassandra turned her head to get a better look at Pipers father. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned. He may have been handsome usually, but he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly.
"We'll save you Mr McLean!" called out Kassandra. As everything unfolded in front of her, Kassandra's mind began to churn.
"Dad!" Piper yelled.
Mr McLean blinked, trying to focus.
"Pipes... ? Where..."
Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"
"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty tome, and we have no problem. Only these others must die or be bound in chains."
Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad.
"He'll kill you," Leo warned. "Don't trust him!"
"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? The master made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren- I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"
Jason was on his feet now, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared- a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.
At the edge of the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. Kassandra couldn't have sensed them before which could only mean one thing; they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.
The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms- one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, they could smell them.
Hector wretched in her mind.
"The Earthborn," she said. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason- the first Jason."
"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounded delighted."They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment-"
"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual."Vroom, vroom!"
"Yes, thank you, boys," Encedalus said. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."
"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay-son? Kill Yay-son!"
Enceladus smiled. "You see, Piper, you have a choice.Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."
Piper stepped forward. Her eyes blazed with such rage, even the Earthborn backed away. She radiated power and beauty, but it had nothing to do with her clothes or her makeup."You will not take the people I love," she said. "None of them."
Extremely powerful charm speak, even Kassandra was compelled to leave.
Her words rippled across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn muttered, "Okay. Okay, sorry," and began to retreat.
Kassandra laughed a little, and tightly squeezed her fist. She had a plan too now.
"Stand your ground, fools!" Enceladus bellowed. He snarled at Piper. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earthborn! I will show you Jason."
But the giant didn't point to Jason. He pointed to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hung helpless and half conscious. "There is Jason," Enceladus said with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"
They seemed to come to a game-plan just by looking at each other. Kassandra locked eyes with Jason and the two threw themselves at the giant whilst Leo went for the Earthborn and Piper for her father.
Kassandra could explain her ability to dodge the attacks of Enceladus, that being her godhood. Jason however was explainable. His speed and swift dodges were comparable to nothing she'd seen before, besides when she had watched her parents spar in the garden. But they were god. This was a mortal.
Whilst Jason parried and deflected with his lance, keeping the fight at a range, Kassandra ran laps on the giant. She sliced and diced his neck but seemingly to little effect. If anything the ichor that leaked from the wounds made it more difficult to maintain her grip whilst traversing Enceladus' body.
Enceladus roared with laughter and malice as he fought, finding joy in combat. Whilst Kassandra usually would share the feeling, there was too much riding on the outcome. If they lost this, her new friends would all die and she'd be taken prisoner to who knows where. And that was bad.
As Jason was forced to lose even more ground to the advancing giant, Kassandra increased her assault. She dropped to his calves and sliced at them, drove daggers into the sides of his torso and even scampered to his neck and beat his head with her fists. It had little effect.
Then, the worst struck with Jason being slammed into a tree by Enceladus whilst attempting to dodge a blast of fire. With the son of Jupiter taken out of the fight for now, the giant could now turn his attention to the annoying ant on his back.
Enceladus shook himself rapidly, with Kassandra creating hooks to dig into his back. She stuck on, and the giant roared madly.
"Get off of me girl!" he bellowed, sending tremors through the encampment.
He eventually ditched the effort to shake her off and began to wildly grab at his back.
"For an opposing force to Athena herself you act like an idiot!" Kassandra mocked. She was hoping that if she could enrage the giant enough he would become erratic enough to manipulate into some disadvantageous position.
It seemed to be working, Enceladus roared once more, but his rage seemed to push him a little too much over the edge for Kassandra's liking. He successfully grabbed her in his hand and squeezed; tightly.
The daughter of war wasn't afraid to admit that she screamed like a little girl, her lungs being crushed inside of her rib cage. The giant laughed chaotically.
"Let's see just how durable you are, child!"
She was tossed like a rag doll to the ground, rolling through the dirt and mud until hitting the wreck of some machinery. She wheezed, gasping for air.
Kassandra squinted, rubbing dirt from her eyes. When she forced them open she was practically blinded by the bright lights of Enceladus' teeth lighting up.
Then the scorching heat of the flames blinded her, Kassandra's skin charring before she lost consciousness. The last thing she heard was her own screams.
"Mother!"