บท 52: Second Trial of Misery (III)

Soundtrack: Footsteps of Doom OST Attack on Titan

{Misery Dream, Unknown Time}

Sinking into my shadow I appeared before one of the titans, summoning my spear and ordering the shadows to enter my body, strengthening me empowering me beyond what any other demigod was capable.

Standing before the row of 11 titans that eclipsed my very being, knowing that I had to stop them from getting into camp.

"Demigods are truly puny don't you think so Theia!" One of the bugger titans said as he laughed looking down on me both literally and figuratively.

I didn't reply back simply summoning my hooked tendrils, dozens escaping from the surrounding shadows, trying to ensnare the Titan who had just laughed.

My tendrils were inches away from ensnaring the Titan, yet in a moment they were all burnt too ashes a now flaming sword in the Titan's grasp.

"Puny traitor don't you know attacking mid conversation is rude."

"Hyperion just kill him already." One of the Titanesses said her silver hair, and eyes drawing my attention if it weren't because of the enormous spear in her left hand.

Hyperion seemed to adhere to her command, performing a downwards slash the heat around us intensifying but I sank into my shadow once more, instantly teleporting behind them.

I needed to stop their advance for as long as possible so that people could escape through pegasus or any other means.

Seeing my form reshape a few meters from them, Hyperion laughed once more "HAHAHAHA, Brothers, Sisters you can keep going to the traitor's camps I will keep this demigod company for a while longer."

The others didn't reply back and simply kept on walking towards camp like an unstoppable force of nature. I couldn't exactly let 10 Titans walk unhindered to camp so drawing as much strength as possible from the surrounding darkness and shadows I did a move I had been practicing lately.

Putting the spear in front of me, clasping it with both hands Hyperion simply looking at what I was doing with interest probably unfettered by the actions of a one demigod.

A low almost unhearable mutter escaped my lips "Dome of shadows."

The shadows from trees, myself and even the Titans heard my call, no, my order. They started encircling all 12 of us a dome beginning to rise from the shadowy permiter encapsulating us in mere seconds.

"Sorry but as unwanted guests it is my job to kick you out." I said towards the 11 Titans, heaving in small breaths as using the dome was difficult in it and of itself.

The Titans stayed silent simply looking down on me before a blond haired black eyed Titaness materialized a silver bow and a golden arrow in her hands, shooting it at me, which I dodged once more by sinking into the shadows.

The air crackled with the power of the titans, their footsteps thundering like the drums of doom. I stood, my back against the shadowy dome, the only thing keeping them from reaching camp and allowing the campers to evacuate in times. The titans, colossal and indifferent, marched forward, their eyes set on the destruction of the camp behind me.

"Is that all you have, little demigod?" Hyperion's voice boomed, his flaming sword casting a hellish glow over the battlefield. I could feel the heat licking at my skin, the desperation clawing at my throat. I was alone, outnumbered, outmatched.

With every ounce of strength left in me, I called upon the shadows once more, feeling them surge through my veins like dark, forbidden adrenaline. "This is not the end," I whispered to myself, more a plea than a statement.

A titaness with silver hair and eyes that mirrored the moon's glow took a step forward, her spear poised to strike. "You fight in vain," she hissed, her voice a melody of malice.

I dodged, barely, the tip of her spear grazing my clothes and skin which I stitched up quickly with my black threads.

"Enough of this charade." The smallest of the Titans' wielding a scythe said before disappearing from my view and reappearing once more infromt of me slashing with his scythe like a sickle collecting wheat.

Summoning shadows from whichever place I could I formed a wall at my side, stopping for a few moments the scythe and allowing me to teleport once more.

"Sorry.. ha… but as long as…ha.. I'm here no one is.. ha… getting past this border."

"Are you so sure about that, demigod because it seems your shadows are beginning to fail you."

Then I noticed my teleportation was causing me to lose control of the shadows making the dome, I had to either let down the dome or stop teleporting to keep it up.

"Don't like either of those so let's make a third." I murmured drawing even more shadows into my body, before exploding forward with unexpected strength.

Rushing towards the nearest Titan who was at least 10 meters tall, I lunged forward with my spear piercing into its ankle.

"AAAAGGG, YOU INSCET YOU ACTUALLY TOUCHED ME!" The red haired, green eyed Titan yelled not in pain but in fury.

Hitting his ankle with his other foot he sent my body spiraling me, before I could reposition myself, another Titan with copper hair and hazel eyes but otherwise identical to the other Titan kicked my ragdolling body.

Two more Titans joined in on the fun, while the other 7 made their way to the border before beginning to smash it in with their weapons and powers alike.

I tried defending myself in a desperate attempt while getting treated like a football by the Titans. In mid flight from a kick, I spun the only thing I could do in this condition plunging my spear into the ground stopping my ragdolling.

I looked at all the Titans slowly breaking through the border no matter how much I focused on it.

"Ooooh Coeus the thing caught itself." the red haired Titan spoke.

"Meh Iapetos who cares, look at him it's not like it wa scene fun to hit it anymore it's all disfigured."

To prove his words correct, my body involuntarily spat some blood onto the ground beneath me I started using my dark threads unifying the bones in my body little by little, I needed to heal I needed to fight.

Yet as that thought crossed through my hands a shattering noise reached my ears as I felt the connection to my dome wane completely, the Titans had broken through.

Thalia (Misery) POV

Ozzy's shadow dome had shattered menacing one of two possibilities either the Titans had broken through with their own strength or…

Yet my doubts were answered in that exact moment as right in front of me Ozzy's broken body appeared.

I ran to him worriedly, yet just as I was about to make him drink some nectar I had with me I heard his voice.

"Did you evacuate who you could?"

"Yes, yes, we did, everyone else is prepared to fight not you just need to rest." I answered, which was true he has given us 20 minutes more than enough time for demigods, to both evacuate or strap their armour and weapons to prepare for war.

I brought him into my father's cabin since that was where I had been standing outside of placing him one of the beds, and making him drink some ambrosia before going back outside to meet Annabeth, Luke, the copycat and to face the Titans.

{Unknown Place, Unknown Time}

"You know being trapped in this place for almost 4 years inside the Misery Realm is pretty weak. I expected more from my offspring and an anomaly though I do guess that you're fighting another of my children so I guess either way my genes turn out to be pretty strong."

The primordial voice rang inside my head, making me open my eyes though I couldn't move, not even a single fear. Yet something had changed from the past years I had lost my eyesight once more being able to see solely in black and white.

"Shut up, I'm tired."

"Now that isn't a good way to speak to your daddy old dad now is it."

I simply stayed silent at his words tired beyond belief.

"I mean I could give you a way out but I'm, not sure you can take it, meh I'll give it to you take it as your 13th birthday gift, let's see how much you can take."

"Οπάλιον σβέσον τὸ φῶς σου (Opal dim your light)

Ἄκουε τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν ταύτην (Hear this fatal plea)

Οἱ τὴν ἄμμον τοῦ χρόνου ἐπιτείνοντες (Spur the sands of time)

Καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλεύθερον ποιοῦντες (And set the spirit free)

Μαραίνει καὶ σήπεται (Wither and decay)

Τελευτήσατε τὴν μοίραν ταύτην (End this destiny)

Σπάσατε τὰς γεινομένας ἁλώσεις (Break these earthly chains)

Καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλεύθερον ποιοῦντες (And set the spirit free)

Τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλεύθερον (The spirit free)."

I tried listening to everything but I could only make out fractions of it, meaning I only heard or could understand Οπάλιον σβέσον I knew it was in Ancient Greek I simply couldn't understand the rest.

"Welp that's enough help from daddy, to the misery realm you go."

{Misery Dream, Unknown Time}

I was laying in a bed which I didn't know how the words my father had spoken clear in my mind, I didn't know why but instinctually I said them aloud my voice coming off in a weird tone almost primordial like "Οπάλιον σβέσον."

The words were said slowly almost at a rhythm or a melody, yet as soon as I said them power surges within me, my broken bones were fixed quickly as the dark threads ran through my body fixing everything the could find.

"Time to go kill some Titans.' I said surprised at the strength in my voice, before leaving the cabin. Yet what I sensed through my shadows was something I had never wanted to see, the bodies of everyone, Thalia, Chiron, Percy, Annabeth and even Luke all dead with missing parts at the doors of Camp Half-Blood a safe haven for demigods and yet the perpetrators were simply munching some campers.

A wild scream full of desperation ripped through my throat "AAAAGGGHHHGGAA!!"

The Titans heard my scream, looking towards me in surprise, the two words I had just learnt echoing louder in my head Οπάλιον σβέσον, Οπάλιον σβέσον, Οπάλιον σβέσον.

Without a second thought I appeared in. Front of the Titans, giant tendrils eclipsing even them, rushed at them penetrating the heads of all of them except for one who had dodged it with its scythe.

Golden Ichor mixed with the red blood stained ground, beneath my feet. The Titans dead bodies smashed into the ground, yet my tendrils continued tearing through them.

Kronos, the Titan of Time, could only say through both distorted and feminine voice "What are you?"

I didn't answer simply summoning my spear band throwing it at the mad Titan, he dodged it by titling his head aside, but I teleported once more reappearing in my spear's shadow before catching it, turning it and shooting it once more into the Titan's chest, before he could react.

Teleporting onto my spear once more, shadows started entering my body, more and more each millisecond, my black eyes shining with primal power, my spear respond in kind to my increase in power thrusting the spear deeper into Krono's chest through its ribs before bursting apart the heart of the Lord of Time.

"Not enough." I murmured standing over the Titan's body, looking at the stars which had previously looked so beautiful.

The words Οπάλιον σβέσον kept echoing in my mind as if it were a calling, more tendrils, shadows and darkness gathered around me making me stronger by the second, even the stars seemed to timbre in my presence, as the sky started to shatter, pieces of it falling at my sides before shattering as they hit the gold red bloodstained earth.

{Real World, September 10th}

Akhlys POV

I didn't know what was happening the boy had begun to release massive amounts of misery which was all well and good that was normal the not so normal part was that the more his misery increased so did his power, I was beginning to lose control of his consciousness rapidly.

Yet just as I thought that two eyes previously completely white now looked upon me with the same darkness my father had, I didn't know what I had awoken simply that it was my death.

[Greek Myth Fact: I'm gonna talk about my favorite Titan Iapetos. Iapetos was one of the elder Titans. Led by Kronos, Iapetos and his brothers ambushed their father as he descended to lie with Gaia. Krios, Koios, Hyperion and Iapetos were posted at the four corners of the world where they seized hold of the Ouranus and held him fast, while Kronos castrated him with a sickle.

Iapetos and his three brothers probably represent the four pillars of the cosmos which are described in Near-Eastern cosmogonies holding heaven and earth apart. Iapetos himself would have been the pillar of the west, a position later held by his son Atlas. When the Titanes were later cast into the pit of Tartarus their cosmological role shifts from being supports of heaven to bearers of the entire cosmos.

Iapetos "the piercer" was probably also the Titan god symbolising mortality and the mortal life-span as his sons Prometheus and Epimetheus were the creators of mankind and all other mortal creatures.]

*Author Note: my patreon is Joanjudo Stories, I have advanced chapters, secondary novels and more on there, you can also join my discord through here https://discord.gg/J2N4c5V7*