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The children of the Big Three were first.
NICO was confronted by Bryce Lawson during the trip back to New York with the Parthenos, Reyna, and Hedge, and he lost control.
Everyone there felt the power of the Son of Hades as he unleashed himself with a hoarse scream. The clearing they were in darkened, shadows slinking to their master as he stormed to the terrified son of Orcus.
With a wave of his hand, Bryce began sinking. He tried to plead for mercy, but the stoic figure wreathed in shadows ignored him. The Underworld had no mercy.
As Bryce’s ghostly figure disappeared, sealed into the ground, Nico turned, and Reyna sucked in a breath.
He was flickering in and out of existence, between flesh and shadow. His eyes were solid black.
Reyna made to step forward, but Nico’s raised hand stopped her.
He chuckled softly. “I understand now. The price must be paid.”
Despite her fear, Reyna again made to step forward, but he flicked a hand, and she, the Coach, and the Parthenos fell into their shadows, to be deposited on Half-Blood Hill.
Nico was left alone on the hill, and he tilted his face upward, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face for one last time, before he too fell into his shadow. But unlike his companions, he did not come out.
———
PERCY was grief-stricken when news reached them of Nico’s sacrifice. He remained in his room for a solid day before emerging.
Only Annabeth noted the resignation and determination that was overshadowed by the grief, but she thought it to be desire to end the war. She wasn’t exactly wrong.
The Parthenon was reached. The trap sprung. And the Son of Poseidon faced the Ocean’s Bane, with his father by his side.
The battle was hard, but in the end, Polybotes knocked Poseidon away, and focused on the brat that killed him before.
Percy met his eyes without fear, and charged. Right as he reached the Gigante, a massive wave rose up behind him and struck both of them.
When the water was gone, no trace remained of either fighter.
———
JASON faltered when he heard the Sea God give a primal shout of grief and rage. Turning, he saw nothing but a puddle of seawater, and a grieving god next to it.
Sadness and resolve filled him as he jumped back into fighting next to his father.
Porphyrion narrowed his eyes at the demigod charging, spear raised.
He felt a wind swirl into existence around him, quickly forming a tornado.
Blinded by the debris around him, he didn’t notice the demigod with the purple shirt until the spear sank into his skull.
The tornado imploded, sending gold dust flying everywhere, with the only remnant being a befuddled Lightning God.
———
HAZEL stumbled as a powerful wind blew over her, nearly letting herself get impaled by Alconyeus as she recovered her balance.
Twisting out of the way, she saw the two missing Gigantes and her cousins, and her heart filled with grief.
Turning back to the Invulnerable Gigante, Bane of Pluto, she decided enough .
Stabbing her spatha into the ground, she watched a crack grow in the earth behind Alconyeus.
She ran at the Giant, tackling him and pulling with her powers, the duo fell into the broken ground that sealed behind them, leaving no trace.
———
THALIA knew they couldn’t last much longer. The Earth Mother was too strong. So when the Son of Hephaestus came along with his bronze dragon, she jumped on.
Gaea fought. She fought hard. It was a constant battle to keep her contained. But one they were winning.
And they kept rising. Thalia tried to not look down. But she had to. Their plan depended on it.
So Thalia watched the ground, and kept summoning a lightning storm.
When the fighting below was merely a speck, she tapped Leo on the shoulder and shouted “It’s time!”
The fire-user gave a solemn nod of respect and gratitude, before tapping out a pattern on the neck of the dragon.
Thalia stood up, and ran forward, jumping off the dragon and calling the storm as the Earth Mother was thrown.
The lightning responded to her call, and she was wreathed with enough lightning to rival her father’s Master Bolt as she made contact with the Primordial.
There was a deafening boom, and a blinding flash of light, but when it cleared, the sky was empty of all but that bronze dragon with its rider.
———
FRANK was heartbroken when Hazel disappeared. But he had a duty. He was a Roman Praetor, and had to lead.
Which led him to the battle now. The Triumvirate had decided to collectively destroy the demigods.
Frank threw himself into the battle, shifting with impunity. He was a dragon, a wolf, a lion, a hydra, a swarm of bees.
He was only human to lead the legion. It was easier as an animal. So he kept shifting.
Cobra, hyena, elephant, hellhound, gorilla, bear.
Frank was a demon on the battlefield. He kept shifting, kept fighting.
Eventually, a haze descended, and he forgot what it was to not be in this constant state of flux, constant state of change.
The Legion watched in awe, and wondered who this being was.
———
LEO knew that this battle would be spoken of in the history books. He knew that they were on the edge of losing.
On the edge of demigod-kind being destroyed. And he couldn’t just let that happen.
So he reached deep and burned .
Fire exploded from the Son of Hephaestus, and for a time he burnt a swath in the army. Then he was surrounded.
With nothing left to do, and no one around him, his fate was sealed.
Those fighting temporarily paused as an explosion rocked the battlefield, originating with the fire-user. The ground around where he stood was scorched, all monsters within 100 meters vaporized.
And of the demigod himself, nothing was seen.
———
REYNA sat in the command tent, directing the battle, and sending as much strength and courage as she could.
It wasn’t enough. She wasn’t enough. They were losing.
The Daughter of Bellona sent the last messengers out, then settled in a meditative position.
It was dangerous. It might kill her. But she would do all she could. It was the only thing left that she could do.
Focusing, she reached deep, deeper than she ever had before, and sent as much courage, strength, and sheer will, to her troops as she could, unaware of her skin starting to flicker.
When the runners came back, they found an empty tent, with a battle plan written on the map.
———
PIPER had more power than was often credited to her.
She was the daughter of Aphrodite, last-born of Ouranos. Child of seafoam and starry skies.
Is it any wonder she discovered her charmspeak to be more powerful as a song?
And what a song it was when she sang.
Her melody drifted across the battlefield, ensnaring enemies and bolstering allies.
It seemed to any watching divinities that Orpheus had been reborn in this tanned woman, the woman who brought an entire battlefield under her spell.
What could stop her? What could end her? Enemies approaching found themselves wandering away confused, her song still ringing in their ears.
She calmly walked into the center of the enemy forces, singing all the while.
And when the battle was done, her song still went on even as she was unable to be found.
———
GROVER was tired. Of the campaigning, of the politicking. All he wanted was to help the Wild.
Was that too much to ask?
Deep down he knew what would be required to fulfill his dreams.
It had been calling him since Pan named him his successor.
He didn’t want to acknowledge it, didn’t want to make it real.
But in his core he knew that it was what was needed.
So he went to a secluded grove, ordered all the spirits away for a day, and finally acknowledged the pressure that had been building since that cave in the Labyrinth.
The spirits, upon their return, found nothing, just a wind blowing some leaves into the air.
———
ANNABETH knew something was off. Despite the haze of grief, her Athenian mind was working overtime.
All of her friends had simply disappeared. No trace of them was left, which didn’t make sense.
So she studied, trying to figure out what had happened.
She spent months secluded in libraries across the world, to no avail.
In final desperation, she prayed to her mother for aid, for access to her mother’s library she shared with the Charioteer of the Sun.
She knew the risks. The tales of those lost in the maze of books and scrolls, never to return.
She didn’t care. It was the only place left that might hold the answers.
She sacrificed her offering at dinner, and went to bed with a prayer in her heart.
She woke up surrounded by books, with a note and a pendant in her hand.
Daughter, this pendant is a tracker. Tap the jewel in the center 3 times, with a heartbeat in between and I will come get you .
Annabeth set out, heart comforted by the care her mother showed, and determination renewed to discover what happened.
5 months later, Athena grew concerned for her daughter, and consulted the tracker before flashing to it.
She found nothing but the pendant, and a note next to it in Annabeth’s neat handwriting.
Mother, I understand. I know what happened. And it happens to me even now. I thank you for all you have done for me. And so I leave.
Those outside of Athena’s temple wondered what had happened to wrench such screams of grief from the Grey-Eyed One.
———
OLYMPUS was nearly overrun. Millennia came and went, and another army rose, headed by those who lost the last wars.
The last remnants of the Olympian army gathered in the Throne Room and waited with bated breath for what they knew was coming.
The hearth was low, lower than it had ever been in the last thousand years.
BANG
The army tensed, ripples of nervousness spreading through them.
BANG
The doors shuddered, almost ready to fall.
BANG
The doors skidded across the room, coming to a stop right before the first demigods.
The Giants and Titans that walked in didn’t do anything to help the nerves spreading. Instead they seemed to revel in it, laughing and exclaiming that this was how it should be.
Then all paused as musical laughter echoed around the room, coming from unseen sources, and the Olympian army felt courage and strength fill them. Legs stopped shaking, backs straightened, formations tightened.
Shadows snaked around a Gigante’s feet, grabbing and pulling the Gigante into the shadows.
Quick as a whip, a rope made of water grabbed a Titan and launched it into the air where a massive bolt of lightning obliterated it.
A whirlwind swirled to life, blinding a gold Titan as a bear came out of nowhere and mauled it before shifting into a dragon and roasting it.
The ground swallowed up another.
Two were incinerated by a wave of fire.
Vines grew out of the ground and enveloped a Gigante, cocooning it until no part was visible.
The last Titan frantically looked around, sword wildly waving, only to stop and go slack as a blank look washed over his face. He dreamily walked towards the edge of the throne room and stepped off into the abyss.
The demigod army could only stare in confusion and disbelief at what had transpired in front of them. What could possibly be powerful enough to do this?
A whisper floated through their minds, telling them to fear not. They are safe for today. They can rest easy.
———
A clearing in the middle of a forest stood undisturbed, as it had been for centuries.
Then they started arriving.
First was the shadows lengthening, creeping towards the center.
Then a wave washed through, and stayed in the clearing, constantly moving, constantly circling.
Next a whirlwind blew in, twisting throughout the clearing.
Gems started popping up.
Lightning struck, and electricity crackled through the treetops.
A being in constant change, constantly shifting from animal to animal, rampaged in, coming to a screeching halt at the sight of the gems.
Fire flickered through the grass, burning the creature’s paws before whisking up to join the lightning with what seemed to be laughter emanating from it.
The next visitors weren’t seen, but any there would have noticed them. Courage emanated throughout the clearing, followed by an soft melody, unceasing and ever-changing.
Vines crept up the trees.
And finally, the last visitor swept through the minds of all there, just a wisp of thought.
They all remained there for an indeterminate amount of time, simply enjoying each other’s company. They knew what they had become. They knew what they had sacrificed.
But they wouldn’t change it. They wouldn’t seek another route knowing how many lives they saved with theirs.
They were content as they were.
To most, their existence and what they had done, what they had given, would be unfathomable.
But they were not most. They were the most powerful of a generation. The most powerful of their kind. They did what they had to do so others wouldn’t have to.
They became ELEMENTAL.