Normally, this would have been the time where Liam would wait for his brother to crack a joke, in lieu of the situation. Jensen always had something to say to ease unspoken tension. Scylla however, was no laughing matter. Piercing sounds rippled through the air as the dragons teetered around her; anxious to lunge at the Destroyer.
Feeling his heart in his mouth, Liam gripped the railing and was unable to keep his eyes off of her. Scylla's monstrous power could easily snap the ship in half if they veered too close to the cliffs. The waves around the ship spiked and peaked, splashing over the bottom deck. If this was any other storm, Liam would be right back where he was--feeding the fishes with his nausea. Lucky for him however, he had nothing left to give, and was too frightened to even try. He wasn't a coward. At least, this is what he told himself deep inside. He had a reputation to withstand and a twin brother to compete with. While he may be more reserved and less of a wise-ass compared to his brother, seeing Jensen look utterly stuck struck Liam with fear.
"Liam, some help would be nice!" someone shouted from behind him. Forcing himself to recognize the dire situation that they were in, he nodded in defeat as every inch of him wanted to just hold onto the railing and let the rest of the group take care of her. Instead, he pulled back to quickly assess the situation at hand. Jensen ran around the deck, most likely trying to come up with a plan to distract Scylla. To Liam's left, Dottie was overwhelmed with the task of getting the door to the weapons room open in the midst of the chaos. Elio was no where to be seen, but in fairness, Liam often forgot Elio was even a part of this quest.
"I said some help Liam!" Phah snapped, digging her fingers into his right shoulder. Wincing, Liam turned to look at her and was surprised to see her so fired up. Normally, Phah's presence was hardly recognized. To see her in a state of fury made Liam snap out of the dazed and frozen state that he was held in. Pushing a spear into his arms, she ordered him to get ready to attack.
Battles back at camp could never have trained him for the situation that they were in. A hard pill to swallow, he watched as Phah attempted to raise an army of dead around them. Skeletons of past warriors arose from the sea; displaying armor and weapons that had been rusted through years of salt corrosion. Although it was pretty rare for demigods to see their fellow camp members display their own and gifted abilities, seeing Phah work her way with her mediumship abilities seemed to have surprised everyone on and off-board the Destroyer. Scylla shrieked upon seeing the dead come from the waters; rising out to climb the cliff-face and drag their tired bones onto the shore.
Taking swipes at the dead distracted Scylla, allowing for Jeanie to maneuver the ship further through the breach. Liam looked at the spear in his hand and dropped it as it clanged onto the floor. Looking up at the sky, he grimaced but realized that the weather was perfect to manipulate; as the son of Zeus. Clearing his mind to the best of his abilities, he focused on creating lightning bolts that could be directed towards Scylla.
Liam was never good at working with his abilities; as it was prohibited to use most of the time. He wondered briefly how Phah was able to raise the dead so effortlessly, but the thought quickly vanished with fear settling in again. He needed to do something.
The sound of thunder rolled in overhead, causing him to crack a small smile. Closing his eyes once more, he focused in again to hone in on his powers. Please Gods, if I can do anything right--let me get this right, he prayed and imagined what it would be like to strike down Scylla with flashes of lightning. He imagined the way she would sear, and how hot her flesh would become. He imagined the white-hot energy that it would take, and the possibility of knocking her dead instantly.
The Destroyer pulsed through the ocean, rifting one of the sails down in half as Scylla recognized Phah's tactic. One of Scylla's dragons hurled it's large neck off of the cliff, making the boat look like a small pin in sheer comparison to the size of it's body as it lashed out at them. Screams came from behind Liam as the dragon swiped, managing to graze the upper deck. About to admit defeat, Liam tensed up in anger as the other dragon swatted dead soldiers back into the water like a cat toying with their prey.
Darkening the sky, Liam conjured up enough energy and the bolt rained down from overhead, afflicting two out of the four dragons that aided Scylla. Their slain heads fell off over the cliffs and into the ocean, causing the waves to amplify and send the ship sailing forward. Amazed, Liam fell to his knees with the biggest grin. "I did that, I just did that-!" He whispered under his breath in excitement.
"Nice going, idiot" Jensen shouted at him, coming over to drag him back up onto his feet. Confused, he watched in horror as the gaping holes he created in Scylla returned to grow. Twisting, they sculpted back into the dragons--this time with an extra set of heads.
"I-I didn't mean it, I didn't think-" Liam was able to gasp out. The ship was so close to reaching the other side of the breach; smooth waves and sunny weather just on the other side.
Phah was visibly drained from raising the spirits from their graves. With one last burst of energy, she called on any last dwellers to help, spanning the radius of the cliffs where Charybdis attacked. With an influx of current, waves rushed over the deck and swept everyone off of their feet. Finding a moments weakness in the group aboard the ship, Scylla snagged Phah off of the edge, talons ripping through her skin.
Much to Scylla's success, Scylla hissed down at the ship, "A life for the lives you'll live is hardly the price of such freedom," her voice echoing through the thunder, "consider our transaction just, demigods."
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Happy Holidays everyone!
-Margaret Qualley as Jeanie St. Clair
Daughter of Hephaestus