Divergent Path

Together Against Hell

Chapter 24: Together Against Hell

The silent, dim demeanor of Olympus was interrupted by a muffled echo. The denizens of the godly city atop New York spilled out into the streets, anxious chatter hanging in the air. The echo sounded again and all heads snapped in the direction of the closed throne room. Since the news of Typhon's return, the doors had remained shut with all of the Olympians off to battle. That only led to more confusion when the clanging echo became louder and more frequent.

"Who could possibly be in there making that racket?" a naiad asked.

Her question was answered with an explosion. A gold projectile ripped a hole through the doors from the inside, shearing the thick marble designed to withstand Titans. The golden blur rocketed east at blinding speeds, leaving far behind the bewildered inhabitants of the city.

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Pegasus gasped shallowly as he tried to stay conscious, wincing while Reyna struggled to dislodge herself from underneath him. The pair was slammed into the sand by a devastating punch from the rampaging giant king. Reyna groaned as she slid away, her hip very obviously broken. The demigod's jaw dropped when she saw Pegasus' collapsed torso, having at least half of his ribs shattered.

"Oh gods," Reyna whispered, limping to cradle his head.

Pegasus whinnied weakly as ichor spilled from his mouth. Behind them, Jason zipped around the giant as quickly as the winds could carry him. Porphyrion shuddered and groaned with every step due to his crippling wounds, but refused to go down. The demigod pair grew frustrated by his refusal to die as Hercules remained permanently out of commission and Pegasus just didn't have the offensive strength to deal a godly fatal blow.

Their only hope was to stay alive long enough for one of the other gods on the battlefield to reach them. But, with night now fallen over the desert, they didn't see themselves surviving that long. Every one of the thousands upon thousands of monsters present thrived in the comfort of darkness, gaining confidence as a collective. They seemed to be pooling in even greater numbers from the roaring pits of hell as Tartarus turned up the heat against the defiant army of Olympus.

Jason shouted as his left arm shattered while blocking a fatal swing from Porphyrion. The demigod parried the brutal backhand but intense shocks sparked across his arm as he tumbled into the sand.

"You... die... Roman," Porphyrion groaned tiredly, speaking his first words while he ripped his spear from Hercules' limp body.

The giant king was slowly stumbling towards the crippled trio when a sonic boom ripped through the air followed by a blood-curdling stream. Pitch black arrows poured from the sky like a torrential rain as monsters exploded into dust by the dozens. A familiar earthshake of blue lightning exploded at the deepest center of the still-amassing monster army as a figure crashed to the ground.

An incinerating wave of blue electricity cremated over a thousand monsters before anybody could react. Pandemonium broke out in the middle of the monster army as they trampled each other to escape the roaring demon that descended from the sky.

Atlas, far from the impact, stood momentarily stunned while bringing a fatal fist down on the trapped daughter of Athena. The titan shrugged the scene away to finish his current objective. Annabeth looked up at the monstrous creature in fear before she turned to surprise. The titan mirrored her expression, looking down to find the bronze tip of a sword protruding from his sternum.

Atlas faltered, stumbling forward, before the figure behind him shouted and lifted him off of his feet using the weapon he was impaled on. Annabeth's eyes widened further as the man behind the titan was revealed. Percy lifted Atlas overhead, twisting his sword and making the titan shout in agony. Annabeth leapt forward and grabbed his sword hand, meeting his rageful eyes.