Lelantos' hands continued grabbing at the dagger but the blade didn't budge. The blade in question seemed to eat at whatever it had embedded itself in, and Percy felt a rush of power.
The silence around him amplified, and he could hear breathing, heartbeats, and sounds of footsteps pushing around millions of grains of sand. Percy dragged the dagger down the front of the Titan, pushing the blade through whatever it ran into.
No more vaguely amused remarks came out of the Titan's throat, just a gurgling sound and a rasped cough that sound almost like laughter.
Colorful images, like he suddenly had thermal vision, started to flash before Percy's eyes. Lelantos was on the ground, dead, with a crooked smile on his face. There was a gaping hole that the dagger had made from the Titan's throat to the Titan's hip bone. The reason Percy hadn't heard the Titan fall was because the sand he had fallen on hadn't moved. It had remained undisturbed as if the Titan didn't even exist.
Percy himself felt weightless, the feeling different than anything he had felt dead or alive. The sand under his feet seemed to turn into solid ground and like the fallen titan, not a single grain of sand was disturbed.
The dagger still burned in his hand, but if Percy's newfound thermal vision was reliable then the dagger should be cool to the touch. Was it in his head?
"You don't even know the power you wield, warrior," a familiar chilling voice said.
Percy's gaze snapped back towards the Titan's body, thinking that somehow the wound had healed and the Titan had resurrected himself. It hadn't, and the titan of air was still dead.
"Yes, yes, you've won, warrior. I'm still dead," Lelantos' voice said. Percy did notice how the titan's voice no longer sounded like it was blowing right past his ear, but instead like it was coming from a corner of his brain. It stayed in one spot, no longer bouncing back and forth from every direction. Not that it would matter if it did. Whatever power Percy had now not only improved his sight in the darkness and let him see details from a distance that should be humanly impossible, it caused a flood of white noise that proved to be more disturbing than Lelantos' voice bouncing around.
"Then are you real?" Or am I going crazy?
"I'd like to think so. You know nothing of the Death Bringer, do you?"
"Other than the fact that it brings death?"
"What it brings is power. How are you not overwhelmed by it, warrior?" The titan's voice carried genuine curiosity, but it didn't seem like he actually wanted an answer. Not that Percy had one. He assumed it was because he was dead, so sensory overload was the least of his problems no matter how jarring his new sight was or how much all of this noise wreaked havoc on his eardrums. "I will not be here long, warrior. I thank you for the game," Lelantos carried on gleefully, not sounding the least bit upset that he was now a corpse because of the man he was thanking.
Percy didn't know what to say to that, and was going to say something stupidly simple, like "ok," but mumbling caught his attention. Not mumbling from one or two people, but hundreds of voices discordantly chorused from all around him. It was... disorienting, to say the least.
Strangely, there was not one sound from a dog.
"You should get to your companions, warrior. I did promise that they wouldn't get hunted down if you won and well..."
"What?"
"Well, my presence kept the little terrors away. Now, there's nothing to fear from a dead master," Lelantos warned. What he was saying was pretty serious, but that cold, light, and airy tone that gave the impression that the titan was teasing didn't leave his voice. It still sent a chill down Percy's spine hearing it.
However, Percy's fear would have to wait. He had gotten pretty far from them, and whether Lelantos said it creepily or not, he was right. If Lelantos was the only thing keeping the others safe from monsters, then they were all in danger now.
"Don't worry about finding them, warrior. They aren't very far," Lelantos said, the chill in his voice making his words less reassuring.
"I wouldn't say that. I ran pretty... Far..." Percy trailed off. He had taken a few steps back the way he came and he could already see the others huddled around a glowing Max. How? Percy felt like he had run miles. Percy voiced this, and Lelantos' answer was an irritating, "Yes, I have that effect on people." He was quickly going from an intimidating hunter to an annoying roommate.
"Remember when you said that you wouldn't be here long...?" Percy questioned, closer to the others now. He wasn't in any particular rush despite his initial concern. Now that he was this close to them, he wasn't worried about getting surprised by any monsters trying to claim Lelantos' now unowned territory. He could see everything clear as day, and he knew if he wasn't careful that this power would make him grow lax.
"Yes, well, I guess I won't tell you where Perses is."
"Wait, wait, how do you even know I'm looking for him?" Percy asked, then it clicked.
"You know who I am, that's why you keep calling me warrior. Hell, you called me hero before," Percy said, involuntarily shaking at the memory of Lelantos' cold hand touching his face.
Percy could almost hear the dead titan's grin. "You could say I am a fan. It's why I used your friends to spice up our little game. You'd be dead if you were anyone else. Though, I didn't expect to actually lose."
"Wow. I'm flattered."
"Do you want to know where the Destruction Titan is or not? If not I could fade away right now along with any possible information--"
"Alright, alright, I want to know," Percy said.
"Clockwork?" Jasmine called, as he was close enough for her to hear his voice. She probably still couldn't see him because the darkness made it difficult to see 3 feet past the glow Max provided. They had all turned back to normal, despite Percy looking down and seeing his body was still that of his younger, alive self. All except Jasmine herself, that is.
"There are spirits down here that want to help you. Don't underestimate how popular you are," Lelantos said, unhelpfully.
"Was that help, or a riddle."
"Help, of course. Riddles rhyme."
"Wow, ok, so do you really choose when you finally die or..."
"No, actually there's just this gaping wound from my neck and down my abdomen that kind of makes my body uninhabitable. I didn't choose anything."
Percy let out an audible sigh.
"Truthfully though, you did well. Most of the beings down here can live long past what should bring them to fade. Destroying their bodies is the only way to stop any physical harm. However, there are a select few that are like me and can find a way into your head," Lelantos said lightly. His praise and warning were still coated in the chill that Percy just accepted as part of his voice. "And don't put too much faith in that blade, either. It dulls the more it kills," Lelantos mentions, his voice never wavering from its eerily happy tone.
"Of course it does. I wish Ares shared just a sliver of information that you have. Reap their existence and utilize their power, was all I got." Though he also mentioned how normal people would go insane if they held the blade.
"I see that boy still hasn't changed. I'm sure I've annoyed the fates enough now by telling you so much. My lingering consciousness is keeping enemies at bay, so I will finally get out of your hair. Or rather your head."
"Even the Titans this deep in hell fear the fates?" Percy's question caused a loud snort to sound in his head. Percy decided to ignore that joke.
"Hardly fear. Their word has little power down here. Even you, whose fate has been long decided, can unravel their plans. I simply don't plan to regenerate, and trying to fade when those specific family members are furious would complicate things." The cold tone had almost left his voice when the titan said that, or maybe Percy was just getting used to it.
"Give Hephaestus my regards. The bow and arrows he built for me remain my favorite weapons," Lelantos chuckled, and Percy instantly remembered the arrows that were inches from killing him not too long ago. "And thank you for entertaining me, Percy. After all this time."
Then, Lelantos faded. Percy could feel his spirit leave. And as soon as he did, a new noise started getting closer from all directions. The seconds it took Percy to reach their side the others heard it too.
Monsters from all around.
Hope you enjoy this part!!