#damasen

Leo didn’t want to die at Tartarus’s hands. That was maybe a bit rude of him, considering it was apparently a huge honor, but at this point in his life, Leo didn’t feel the urge to bear the weight of any more “honors.” No, he wanted to live out the rest of his days quite dishonorably. He wanted to stay up late watching sitcoms that should have been canceled a decade ago because they weren't even funny anymore, he wanted to eat junk food he couldn’t even be bothered to make himself, and he wanted to ignore every problem that knocked on his front door. 

That, unfortunately, wasn’t an option, because Tartarus himself was bearing down on them.

Just like Nyx, Tartarus wasn’t exactly all there, but Leo suddenly understood why Damasen had compared him to a boot hovering over an ant. Tartarus was a sort of gravitational force made of pure, unmitigated awfulness that permeated every breath and pressed down on the whole world. Leo could understand how it had completely crippled Piper if even he could feel the negative emotions radiating off of the guy.  Leo was on his knees, gasping under the weight of it all,  but Piper had curled in on herself, gripping at the sides of her head and making little wounded sounds into the dirt.

For a moment, Leo panicked. They couldn’t fight Tartarus, no way in hell, and Piper wasn’t in any condition to try and Charmspeak him, which meant that it was supposed to be Leo’s time to shine. It was his job to be the one who thought his way out of impossible situations. Be quick and be clever, Tía Callida had always said. Right now, with his eyes going in and out of focus in a pathetic attempt to comprehend Tartarus while he drooled on his Drakon-leather tunic, he didn’t exactly feel very quick or clever.  He wanted to run, to hide, to at least run his mouth and make sure his last breath was delivering a punchline, but he couldn’t. He was petrified, frozen in place until Tartarus decided to vaporize him like he had Hyperion and Krios.

Oh, I had forgotten how good a helpless demigod’s terror smelled, Tartarus said, his voice hissing through teeth that weren’t exactly there, but weren’t not there either. No creature of the darkness trembles quite so nicely. I will take great pleasure in this.

Leo wanted to argue, to tell Tartarus that they weren’t even a little afraid of him and he could shove his pleasure up his non-corporeal ass, but that was a damn lie. He was scared, he’d never been more scared in his life, not even when Nyx had shown up, because at least Nyx made it clear that she had better things to do than torment demigods. Leo somewhat hysterically wondered if maybe getting Tartarus a hobby to occupy his time would help the situation. Maybe a nice, relaxing session of diamond painting to the tune of beach waves would chill the Pit of Damnation out a little bit. Somehow, he doubted it.

Then his vision was completely filled with silver light as Bob stepped up, brandishing his broom at nothing. “Begone! Your presence is not welcome here!”

My presence? Tartarus echoed, sounding almost incredulous. Puny little Iapetus, you are in my realm. I am the lord of all creatures of the darkness, and I will do as I please. You will do as I please. Kneel, pitiful Titan.

Before Bob could do anything, the world let out a horrible howling sound that seemed to resonate from every empty space. Leo let out a sharp cry of pain and clutched his ears, but Bob only stumbled before righting himself with a defiant jut to his chin. He stabbed his spear into the ground, which Leo figured was more symbolic than an actual attempt to harm, even if the ground was literally Tartarus. “I repeat myself! Begone!”

Why do you not kneel? How do you resist? Tartarus hissed. You should vaporize under my thumb like your brothers.

“I am not my brothers, and I am not a creature of darkness for you to command. I am Bob.”

Bob? What is a Bob?

Before Bob could answer, his coveralls bulged like that scene in Alien before Small Bob leapt forth with a tiny, ferocious kitten snarl. However, as he fell to the ground, he grew exponentially until he was a massive saber-toothed tiger. His skin flickered, showing his true skeletal form for another moment before he lowered himself into a hunting crouch with another, far more intimidating tiger snarl. Big Bob gripped his spear. “This is Small Bob.”

Leo got the feeling that Bob’s answer hadn’t exactly explained anything for this terrifying  primordial being, but Much-Less-Small Bob’s ears flicked back for a moment before he launched himself at what looked like absolutely nothing to Leo. Bob, however, must have seen the target, too, because he charged forward with a war cry and thrust his spear like he was stabbing something. Much to Leo’s shock, a massive blob of blindingly golden ichor beaded up around the broom handle. 

Tartarus screamed in what was either pain or outrage or both and both Bobs were flung backwards. You will die first! he roared. You dare raise your hand to me? You will suffer in agony for all eternity!

Bob forced himself to his feet and Small Bob was immediately at his side, saber teeth still dripping with primordial blood. Bob held out his hand, then flexed his fingers and the broom-spear unlodged itself from where it was stabbing Tartarus and shot back into his grasp. Bob grinned, looking almost feral with pleasure, and Leo suddenly understood how he’d gotten saddled with “The Piercer” as his go-to nickname for family events. 

“You speak of killing me, but you have yet to even face me properly!” Bob challenged. “Tell me, are you too cowardly to manifest in your own realm?”

The very air vibrated with pure rage, and Leo felt the floor fall out of his stomach. He couldn’t help but think that maybe Bob had been a little too confident, asking for a face down with Tartarus. He knew that demigods like him and Piper had no hope against someone like Tartarus, but he doubted Titans were all that well-equipped for it either. He lifted a shaky hand and clutched at Bob’s coveralls. “Bob…”

Bob didn’t take his eyes off his target, but he did gently place his big hand on Leo’s head like he was soothing a toddler. “Friend Leo, you and Friend Piper take the Doors to the surface. I will deal with Tartarus.”

A loud, booming laugh echoed across the field, devoid of any amusement. Deal with me? Tartarus mocked. You speak as if you hold any power over me. You are nothing but a measly little Titan, a product of my beloved’s failed attempts. If you wish to face me, then it will be my pleasure to remind you of your place, Bob.

As he said the last word, the world shifted. Tartarus rose from the ground, rocks and dirt sucking together to create the constantly-shifting flesh of a warrior so massive that he made every Giant and Titan Leo had ever seen look like PeeWee soccer players. He wore an armored skirt made of blackened bones, and his breastplate was a murky black with tortured expressions coming in and out of focus. Leo got the sudden, awful feeling that if he were to look closely, he’d see Hyperion and Krios looking back at him.

But worse than that, worse than anything imaginable, was Tartarus’s face, Or, rather, the lack thereof. He wore a helm of twisted black metal, the same as his breastplate, but where his face should have been, there was just a void. A swirling vortex of darkness that sucked light into its depths. Leo shuddered with a sudden cold and realized that his own life force, along with Piper and Bob's, was being visibly sucked in, too. It wouldn’t matter if Tartarus decided to fight, he could dissolve them into nothing just by existing.

Well, arrogant little Titan, you asked to face me, Tartarus said, and his voice still came from everywhere, but loudest from his new physical form. Witness now a fraction of my power manifest. It is more than enough to handle a gnat like you. As for your little mortal pets…

Tartarus lifted a hand, and suddenly the monster army, which had been oddly silent since his arrival, came to life. DESTROY THEM!

Fortunately, either the threat of imminent destruction or Tartarus narrowing himself down to one semi-manageable spot was enough to let Leo drag Piper back to her feet. She had her scary new Drakon bone sword in her hand and stood to face the charging monster army. She was still slightly wobbly, so Leo’s hands hovered. “Beauty Queen, you good?”

“I’m fine,” she said firmly, and Leo couldn’t help but wonder if she was telling him or the Fates themselves. A pair of demon bat ladies swooped towards them, but Piper vaporized them into glitter with one wide slash of her sword. When she spoke next, her voice was sickly sweet, but resonated with loud, undeniable authority that her Charmspeak didn’t use to have. “Turn around! Your ticket group hasn’t been called! You were told to wait your turn!” That slowed most of the monsters down and even had some retreating, at least temporarily, so she turned to him. “Get the Doors!”

Leo offered her a very sloppy salute before he scrambled to the chain closest to him. He started sawing away at it with his hacksaw, but that just seemed to make the chain thicker with every pass. He gritted his teeth and sawed even harder before he suddenly remembered Hazel and Frank telling him about freeing Thanatos in Alaska, and how they’d used Frank’s magic firewood. He grabbed the chain in his bare hands and superheated it in an instant before yanking it apart. “Yes! Point for Team Leo!”

“Get the other side before your touchdown dance!” Piper ordered. She was still wildly swinging her sword around in defense. It was clear that she had very little clue what she was doing (she was better than him because she at least went to sword classes, but she’d focused on her knifing skills), but Drakon bone was apparently very sharp and flailing about was good enough when paired with Charmspeak ordering her opponents to stand still and let her slash them. 

Beyond the little bubble she’d managed to secure around them, Leo could see Bob and Small Bob were going head-to-head with Tartarus. Team Bob was actually holding their own, using their significantly smaller size to their advantage, rushing in and attacking, then retreating before Tartarus could retaliate. It probably wasn’t doing much damage-wise, but it was keeping them from being pulverized as Tartarus lunged and swiped at them, missing with every swing. He was obviously still getting his sea legs, and Leo was worried that was the only thing keeping his friends alive.

Leo shook the thought from his head, unwilling to play that what-if game at the moment, then rushed around to the other side. He yanked those chains apart, and almost instantly the Doors shuddered, then opened with that absurdly pleasant ding! Leo quickly stuck his foot in the way like he would at a hotel. “Show’s over, Pipes! Time to go!”

Piper stumbled over to him, wincing but looking no worse for wear. “An arai gave me a pain curse. Bad back, I think,” she said before he could ask. She gestured at the Doors. “Get inside. I’ll hold the button for you.”

Leo’s jaw dropped in pure shock before fury bubbled up in his chest. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he hissed venomously. “Duck.”

She did as he said and he lobbed a fireball at a gryphon, which exploded in a cloud of feathers and monster dust. “Someone has to stay behind and hold the button, Leo,” she said, and she had the audacity to sound like she was being reasonable.

“Well, it’s not going to be you,” Leo snapped back. “You heard those old ladies. We’re stuck together forever. You and me, remember?”

“Me and you,” she echoed automatically before she grit her teeth. She glared at him and forced as much Charmspeak into her voice as she could. Leo could see the pink mist at her lips. “Leo, I need you to get on this elevator, please.”

Leo bared his teeth in a grin right back at her. “That little trick didn’t keep me from following you down here, it sure as hell won’t get me to leave you behind now.” He looked over her shoulder at the monsters closing in and frowned slightly. “Hold that thought.”

He sucked in a deep breath and reached out for the Phlegethon, trying to channel that specific fire into his chest. Then he released a sharp huff of air, and the area around them went up in white-hot magical flames, incinerating some empousa who had gotten a little too close. That managed to get the army to stop and reconsider, at least, but Leo knew it wouldn’t be long before they got their wits about them and realized that the fire wouldn’t stay if someone managed to squash the fire boy.

Piper didn’t even flinch at the flames, even though everyone else on the planet would have at least had mixed feelings about finding themselves in the middle of an inferno. She was too focused on trying to kill herself to care about that, apparently. “Leo, you have to go. We can’t both stay.”

“Alright, fine, you can go and I’ll stay behind,” he said with false chipperness. Her face twisted and he let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, not so fun when the shoe’s on the other foot, now is it?”

“Alright, fine,” she snapped. “What’s your brilliant idea?”

Leo wished he had one. The simplicity of the situation was cruel, in a way. The answer was right there. The Doors of Death were open and waiting, and there were two of them. The mechanic part of Leo’s brain had no problem with the math of it, but the human part of Leo was jamming up the system. The human part of him couldn’t look into the eyes of this girl – this girl who had been the first person who loved him since he was eight years old, who had been the first person he’d let himself love – and know that his choice would mean they’d never see each other again. They were stuck because a perfectly balanced equation wouldn’t compute, and if they didn’t make a decision soon, the monsters would close in and make it for them.

Leo frantically looked over to the Bobs Vs Tartarus showdown, hoping for a miracle, but what he saw made him sick to his stomach. Tartarus had obviously gotten the hang of his new gear, and the Bobs were beginning to wear down. Bob’s attacks were getting slower, and when Small Bob lunged at Tartarus, the primordial smacked him sideways so hard he shrank back into kitten form. Bob let out a bellowing war cry and charged, but Tartarus just laughed and kicked him down the hill, yanking his spear away as he fell.

YIELD!

“Never,” Bob spat, slowly forcing himself to a kneeling position. “I do not answer to the likes of you.”

Very well, I will give you the honor of dying in defeat, Tartarus spat. You Titans were never worth the dirt Gaea sacrificed to pull you from. The Giants, my children, were always the ones destined to reign supreme. I will give them one less obstacle. 

To prove his point, Tartarus snapped the spear like a toothpick, and Bob wailed in agony and doubled over. Small Bob, still in kitten form but slowly growing, leapt onto his back and hissed, swiping at the primordial in defense of his friend, but Tartarus just laughed.

“Leo, he’s going to kill Bob,” Piper said, her voice thin and eyes wide. “I’ve got to–”

“You’ve got to stay right here,” Leo snarled, yanking her back. “What good do you think you’re gonna do, huh? That’s Tartarus, Piper! Way, way out of our league!”

Piper’s eyes were bright with tears and determination both. “I can’t just stand here and watch him die, Leo.”

Leo had an argument bubbling on the back of his tongue when the world suddenly clicked into place, and the equation spat out a new answer. Two going up was impossible and one was unacceptable. But there was another option. Leo sucked in a deep, shaking breath.

“You and me,” he said softly. This was it. If he took his foot away from holding the Doors open, they’d vanish. He and Piper would be stranded in Tartarus forever, and they’d die. But at least they’d be together.

Piper’s eyes widened as she examined his face before she nodded sharply, grief and understanding clear on her face. “Me and you.”

Leo was about to pull his foot away when his desperate prayer for a miracle earlier decided to finally answer itself. There was a ripple through the army, followed by a lot of panicked screaming. There was the loud, rhythmic boom, boom, boom of massive feet running across the ground, followed by a loud, terrifying cry that Leo would have never guessed he’d be happy to hear.

There was a massive blast of bright green acid, dissolving everything in its path, and through the destruction came the Maeonian Drakon, frilled collar spread like something from Jurassic Park and poisonous gas billowing from its wide open jaws. Sitting astride it like someone who had heard a fairytale about a prince riding in to save the day and a dragon, then got very confused, was a Giant with green skin and a massive beard woven with flowers. 

“Damasen!” Piper cried.

The Giant smiled kindly at them, which was odd because he was fully decked out in red leather armor and wielding a massive Drakon bone lance, but Leo was willing to take any friendly face he could get at this point. “Piper McLean, I believe it is time for me to choose a new fate.”

Tartarus was a lot less happy to see his least favorite son. You, he hissed. Why now have you found your courage to show your face? Have you not disgraced yourself enough for eternity?

Damasen gave Leo and Piper a look that clearly said Get a load of this guy, before he yanked on the Drakon’s lead and whirled around in place. “Why, father, I came because you called! You spoke of your brood in such kind terms that I had to answer. You want a challenge, yes? Perhaps you would like to see if your pride was misplaced.”

Pathetic Damasen, Tartarus spat venomously. You have been a failure, a blight on my honor since you were sired. A peaceful Giant believes he will overthrow his father. How quaint.

“I am peaceful,” Damasen agreed. “But I have learned that peace is not merely the absence of strife, it is something that must be protected, with force if need be. Allow me to prove my point with your destruction.”

With that, Damasen let out a war cry with the Drakon‘s cry echoing as a backtrack and charged. Even at a hundred feet long, the Drakon still managed to look middling compared to Tartarus’s sheer mass, but neither it nor Damasen seemed to care much. They charged forward, Damasen stabbing with his lance and his steed belching acid and poison alike, forcing the primordial to retreat, one begrudging step at a time.

Bob managed to stumble away from the fight, bleeding heavily and leaning on Saber-Toothed Bob for support, but he still managed to force a smile when he reached Leo and Piper at the Doors. “Go. I will hold the button.”

“Bob, you can’t!” Piper gasped. “Look at you, you can’t possibly hold them off.”

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, unable to look at Bob, but he still managed to grit out, “get in the elevator, Piper. We’re out of options.”

“No, I won’t leave him,” Piper insisted, all but stamping her foot. “We go together or not at all.”

Beyond the firewall Leo had erected, the monsters were drawing closer, and even beyond that, Damasen and Tartarus were clashing in a fight for the ages.  Damasen managed to stab Tartarus and ripped out a chunk of his veiny purple flesh so the Drakon could spit venom directly into the wound, but even that seemed to do little more than enrage the primordial. 

Bob followed his gaze and nodded grimly. “Twelve minutes. I will hold the button, then I will fight with Damasen.”

“You can’t!” Piper said again, one of Bob’s fingers clutched tightly in both her hands. “Please don’t. He’ll kill you, and that’s it. There won’t be a regeneration from that.”

“Perhaps you are right.” Bob placed a hand on Piper’s head and smiled. “Or perhaps you are not. Monsters are eternal, and so are Titans. Perhaps if you remember me with kindness, I will return.”

Tears were streaming steadily down Piper’s face as she made another wounded noise. “How can you gamble like that? ? You can’t know what’s gonna happen.”

“I don’t know. What I do know, Friend Piper, is that you must go,” Bob said gently. “It is your Fate. You are destined to go above, to put a stop to Gaea’s plans, once and for all.”

“No!” Piper looked even fiercer. “I choose a different Fate! One with you in it!”

“This is the Fate I have chosen for myself. I would gladly give my life to save the world, but I would do anything to save a friend,” Bob replied. He met Leo’s gaze and Leo realized with a sickening feeling that there would be no way to convince Piper to step foot through those Doors. He gave a tiny nod, and Bob smiled. “Tell the sun and stars I said hello.”

With one smooth movement, Leo withdrew his foot holding the Doors open, hooked his arms under Piper’s and flung her inside before following her. He paused only long enough to meet Bob’s gaze one last time. “We won’t forget you, Friend Bob.”

Then the Doors ding!-ed shut and Piper let out a gut-wrenching howl of grief.

“Bob! Damasen!” she wailed, clawing at the seam and frantically trying to pry the Doors back open. “Let me out! They’re going to die!”

Leo watched in complete and utter horror as the Doors started to slide open under Piper’s bloody fingernails. “Out of the way!” he barked, surging forward and violently shoving her aside. He made his hands go white-hot and sank his fingers into the now-soft metal so he could grip the Doors and shove them back together.

“Oh god oh god oh god,” Piper babbled. She was curled up in the corner, rocking softly back and forth as she yanked out her hair. “I killed them. I killed them both. It’s my fault, all my fault.”

“Piper, please; it’s not your fault,” Leo begged. “They chose it. They chose to help us.”

“I Charmspeaked them, I know I did,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to. Pleasepleaseplease. They’re going to die.”

“I know, Piper. Fucking hell, I know,” he croaked, pressing his forehead to the metal hard enough to really feel it through his skull. His whole body ached. The Doors desperately wanted to open, and he was the only thing forcing them together. He could feel every muscle in his arms and across his neck and shoulders strain under the pressure, but they refused to tear. He was in agony, painful and sublime, but it was nothing compared to the way Piper’s broken sobs clawed at his heart. 

“They’re gonna die,” she cried helplessly. “They’re going to die for us, and we just left them there.”

After what felt like years, Piper finally quieted down, not because she’d calmed, but because she’d wept herself into complete exhaustion, Leo glared death at the twisted black metal in front of him. This was Gaea’s fault. Every awful thing that had happened to him since he was eight had been that miserable dirt lady’s fault, and this was nothing more than another crime that she’d pay for. And Leo would absolutely make her pay. 

“I will kill you,” he growled for only the earth outside the Doors to hear. “Whatever it takes, I will end you once and for all.”

In response, the earth tried even harder to push its way in, but Leo refused to let it, he refused to bow. He had to hold this for twelve minutes while he prayed to whoever would listen that Bob managed to hold that cursed UP button long enough. It would work, it had to. A Giant and a Titan had fought side by side and sacrificed their lives to ensure the escape of two mortal demigods so they could save the world.