Out In The Open

|Chapter 17| Golden Divinity

If Leo Valdez was being honest, he felt not one ounce of unease when he heard the pounding noises.

He was at Camp Half-Blood, for the gods' sake. You get concerned when you haven't heard explosion noises or when there isn't screaming, not when there is. That's just how it is.

But when Nyssa burst into Bunker 9 and told him that Chiron needed him to get to Thalia's Pine, he wasn't concerned. Chiron was a chill dude, and the only thing Leo had done recently that was slightly bad, was stay up past curfew.

But when he got to Thalia's Pine, he did become concerned.

A large swarm of people, mortals if Leo had to guess, were pounding against the barrier. Every hit was making the normally invisible barrier shimmer and crack.

Leo looked at Chiron in concern. His face was impassive, but Leo could see the unease in his eyes. "Mr Valdez, I'm not sure if you are aware, but Calypso, You, and I are the only immortals at camp currently. Others are on their way but likely won't arrive for at least ten minutes. I will assemble the campers in the mess hall, and I need you and Calypso to hold the barrier." he turned to him, "Can you do that?"

Leo grinned, "Of course I can!"

Chiron galloped off, just as Calypso made her way to Leo's side. "Will the barrier fall?" she whispered to him.

"I wish I could say no, but that's not true. The barrier isn't perfect, and it just so happens they've managed to find and exploit its biggest weakness. The barrier can hold against monsters pounding, but mortals with their tools..." Leo trailed off, not allowing himself to think about that.

Sometime later, a shadow passed over the couple, just as things were growing dire. They looked up to see the Blood-Red chariot that belonged to Clarisse La Rue. They did not let their guard down though.

Clarisse, Chris Rodriguez, Chiron, along with a few other immortals in tow, ran towards them. All of them, having fought side by side for years, immediately jumped into action.

Annabeth Chase laid out a plan if, when Leo wanted to correct, the barrier fell to the mortal crowd. They would not be killing them, much to the disdain of Clarisse, simply taking prisoners.

The group, some twenty strong set off to their determined positions, ever ready for the barrier to fall.

And fall it did.

Leo knew the exact moment it fell, because a shockwave, powerful and unyielding, rippled across the air. And the sounds from outside, the sounds the barrier had muffled, suddenly spilt into the scenic valley.

Leo shook his head, dispelling his nerves, and set off into the fray.

The battle, if you could even call it that, was an embarrassingly easy win to the demigods. Within moments the mortal mob, who had been so sure of their victory, found themselves reminded of the divinity of their foes.

Lighting crackled across the battlefield, shocking mortals into unconsciousness. The flames that danced around them never seemed to die, always rebirthing from its cinders, like a phoenix.

And once the battle was over, and every single mortal was unconscious and disarmed, life continued on for the children of the Gods. This was another task for their day, and more had yet to be completed.

For a mortal battling even the weakest demigod, was like an ant fighting an anteater. Impossible, doomed from the start. Refusing to acknowledge the grave you are digging yourself into.

Divinity flows through their body.

They are half a cold human, half a burning immortal. Ichor and blood mixed to form them, a mix of two extremes. A mix of two worlds, foot in both, but never fully submerged in one or the other.

And the truly divine that graced the battlegrounds that day, they were the ones to fear. They have lost the mortality that keeps the ichor in their blood in check, lost all the shackles restraining them.

They are the divine themselves, blessed and adorned with titles. Respected by the demigods they used to be like, and feared by those who meet the end of their blade.

Ichor.

Kings and Queens.

Golden.

Divinity.