LRAB Chapter 81: Olympus Has Fallen (823 BC)
Chapter 81: Olympus Has Fallen (823 BC)
Chapter 81: Olympus Has Fallen (823 BC)
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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 10 chapters ahead as a bonus. I just finished the Ancient Greece arc and I just uploaded the first few chapters in the X-men arc.
I would like to thank my beta, AvidReader2425, for his help in this chapter.
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823 BC, Olympus
(Medusa POV)
Shit, I was fighting a Horcrux, all this time. I just decapitate the man and start sensing for a soul piece. I quickly find it in the form of the serpent staff that Herpo held. With a sneer on my face, I conjure some Fiendfyre and direct it at the staff. A high pitch scream pierced the previous silence, signifying the Horcrux's destruction. After I was done, there was nothing left of it but ash.
This could end up catastrophically, I needed to deal with it before it's too late, if it isn't already.
With no one to stop me, I through the gates of Olympus. I wear my invisibility cloak; the deathly hallow allowing me to bypass the ritualistic wards as if they weren't there and I finally enter Olympus. The sight that greeted me was the complete opposite of how I saw it in Hestia's memories. The city of Gods was supposed to crowded, filled with markets and young gods trying to sell their goods. But now, Olympus was deserted. There was no sign of life anywhere and the silence was deafening.
I walk around and try to sense for any sign of magic; a ritual of the scale Herpo described should have been pulsing with magic. I was not disappointed; there was powerful traces of magic leading me to what I assume is the coliseum.
I make my way there and, suddenly, my magical sensing came blaring into life. If what I was following was a spark, what I sensed now was an entire bonfire of energy. Shaking my head to focus on the task at hand, I step into the coliseum to find it entirely full and completely quiet. The center of the coliseum was turned into a copy of the council room; every member given a seat with Zeus at the top. The stands were also full with what I assume are thousands of minor gods.
But even though all of the Olympians were there, there was not a single sound; everyone seemed to be in some sort of trance. The energy was so dense that it started to get visible. There a beam of energy coming from the sky and concentrating on something in front of each Olympian.
I focus on the object; it looks somewhat circular. The light from the energy is too dense to make sure. But then I realized that the light is different for every participant in this ritual. The members of the council, particularly Zeus, had a much stronger light than the others.
I look at the object in front one of the minor gods at the back and discover the object to be an apple. However, it was halfway gold and was slowly turning into gold completely. I look around and find that in the front row, Hestia was there.
She was also in the trance but she was chained down as if she was forced to do this. That's my Hestia; resisting to the very end. She was also holding our bracelet; she must have tried to contact me somehow. Now that I know that Hestia was somewhat safe, I had to focus on the ritual.
Analyzing the magic, I discover something startling. This energy wasn't magic but soul energy. They were absorbing the soul energy and storing it in an apple somehow. Each apple was connected on a deep level to each participant. The apples are fundamentally changing; the amount of soul energy was too much for it not to. The apples served as a stabilizer as a constant influx of souls would be too much for anything with a soul to handle. The soul is a person's identity and taking on the soul of another will fundamentally change who you are. But the apples are somehow being used to remove the identity of each soul and just storing what appears to be pure soul energy.
The choice is simple, I'm going to stay. Maybe I'll even bang some sense into the idiots that remained of my first home.
With my decision being made, I stop resisting the sanctum's magic and let the gate close for good but before it could close, some sort of wraith got out of what I assume is Hades' body and flew and went through. That must be Herpo. Hades then turned limp and fell dead. To tell you the truth, I was too tired to care about it. I slowly limp towards Hestia, to make sure she's okay. I remove her bindings and to my relief, I could feel her moving. She sleepily mumbled, "Medusa?"
"Yes, it's me, love."
Her eyes then were wide awake and she jerked up, "Medusa, you have to stop them, they're doing something horrible"
Before she could continue, I interrupt her, "I already took care of it. How do you feel?"
"I feel weird. Not bad just different. What happened?"
"I had no choice. It was either that or you dying. I created a new place, just for Olympians, just for us, away from the mortals. What you're sensing is the new magic going through this place."
She looked at it confusingly, "So you trapped everyone here? What about you?" she asked pleadingly, "are you going to stay?"
I smile at her, "It will take something extraordinary to take me away from you."
I kiss her deeply and slowly lose myself in the sensation. I was interrupted by some sort of jerking motion, pulling me away from her. I thought it might be one of her brothers but, it was some sort of shadow. I try to resist but I can sense its power and it feels cold and almost infinite. I know that I don't have a chance.
I look at Hestia's worried eyes and say, "I love you!"
I was completely swallowed by the shadow and all I could see was darkness. I don't know if it was my kidnapper or my own exhaustion, I pass out all the same.
I didn't realize then that this would be the last time I ever looked at Hestia's face. I only wished I could have had more time with her. It was unfair but life is unfair, the only thing that's truly fair in this world is Death.
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AN:
I'll be honest, I know most of you will not like the ending of that arc. I actually don't; it was rushed, and just didn't feel right. To be fair, the arc was getting long and I felt like it was slowly turning into an Ancient Greece fanfic instead of the MCU X HP I promised. So the next chapter will be the sort of conclusion of the arc and then it's back to the present.
On other news, I'm thinking about rewriting some of the earlier chapters, like the ones with shitty grammar and maybe add some substance to the Atlantis Arc and what happened before the time travel. Those chapters really turn off a lot of readers so I wanted to get your opinions about it because I'm really undecided. This shouldn't interfere with my upload schedule so don't worry and I'll notify you if I change something substantial (Not Grammar or actual plot stuff). So what do you think?