The Son of Storms 22

“Come out, Carlos!” he shouted, standing outside the doors to the bar where the son of Ares was. He weaved the mist around the whole bar to

“Come out, Carlos!” he shouted, standing outside the doors to the bar where the son of Ares was. He weaved the mist around the whole bar to prevent any mortals from coming by as he took out his sword. “I know that you know I am here, so don’t drag this out any further and put these mortals in danger.”

“You could just turn away,” came the reply as the doors opened, revealing Carlos standing with a longsword in his hands, the edge already gleaming with crimson fire. “It was a bitch to keep this weapon from returning back to the armory on Father’s commands, you know? Glad I get to test it out fully, especially on an asshole like you.”

“You actually stopped a God from summoning back his weapon?” Harry questioned as he raised an eyebrow, slowly taking a step forward as Carlos did the same, his eyes lowering to the sword in the demigod’s hands. “I would have called that impressive if it hadn’t resulted in the deaths of two demigods.”

“You don’t know what you are talking about pipsqueak,” he growled back, whipping out his other hand to materialize a knife in it, its black blade seeming to absorb the light around it, the mere sight of it making his hair stand on end. “I am going to tell this to you only once Potter…move away, or you will end up on a pyre.”

“I don’t think so,” He shook his head, fully confident in his abilities to take down Carlos, pointing his sword at the older boy. “Surrender now, and I will take you back to the camp, and maybe Lord Ares will forgive you for your treachery?”

“Treachery?!” The boy hissed, and Harry narrowed his eyes as he visibly saw the muscles on the boy grow slightly, a red sheen coming over his skin as Carlos took a step forward, his sword rising to point at the forest. “What do you know of treachery you little shit?! I loved Diana from the bottom of my fucking heart, and she fucking fucked a guy not ten feet away from me! What do you know of betrayal, you entitled little prince?”

‘Why has Ares not withdrawn his blessing if he wants Carlos’ head?’ he thought, bringing up his blade as Carlos suddenly shot forward like a cannonball, his sword coming down in a brutal overhead swing. Grunting as he stopped the blow, Harry felt himself slide back from the force of the attack, surprised at the strength shown by the Son of Ares. ‘And how the fuck is he moving that fast with that injury? Bloody hell, this is going to be tougher than I thought. I need to take him towards the forest, can’t raise a ruckus here.’

Moving forward, he parried the slash coming for his midsection, and his fist landed squarely right on the bandages on Carlos’ abdomen. The Son of Ares reacted instantly, stumbling backward with a pained hiss as his hand reflexively went to his injury, and Harry looked at the blood blooming out on the bandages. “You are in no condition to fight Carlos. Last chance to throw down that sword.”

“You think you are some big-shot hero or something? You bully a few hellhounds, shoot a few thunderbolts, and think you are hot shit?!” the boy hissed back, ripping off the bandages, and Harry’s eyes widened slightly as he saw a red glow emit from inside the ghastly-looking wound, before it healed before his very eyes, leaving behind just a pale scar. Flicking away the blood on his fingers, Carlos rolled his neck and looked him in the eyes, raising his sword once again, the crimson glow around him intensifying even further. “Let me show you how wrong you are.”

“Fine,” Harry growled, shooting forward in a blur of motion as his xiphos glowed blue with the electricity he was pouring into it, the edge cutting through the air towards Carlos' shoulder, only for his longsword to come in between. In return, the knife in his other hand came right for his heart, but Harry pulled back and swerved to the side, kicking out toward his shin with all the power he could muster. However, the demigod simply raised his foot, shifting backward to launch a punishing kick at his chest. Back and forth they went, exchanging dozens of blows in moments—swords clashing and parrying, sparks flying in the air as Harry felt himself be put more and more on the back foot.

It wasn’t simply a matter of skill, for in that, he and Carlos were relatively equal—a cut opened up on his shoulder right at that moment, and Harry growled, feeling his iron-tight control over his powers slip as a wind kicked up around them. Other than their swordplay, what was making this fight more dangerous for him was the fact that Carlos was older than him. His limbs were longer, and his frame was bigger, giving him a physical advantage that he lacked. And as strong as Harry was, he couldn’t unleash his full power without beginning to destroy the environment around him, something Carlos was not restricted by, the Blessing of Ares empowering the already powerful demigod to ludicrous degrees moment by moment. And finally, Harry was used to fighting monsters, not empowered demigods. Sure, he could fight, but it was a major difference in avoiding swipes of claws and smashes of fists compared to slashes of a sword. Something Carlos was not burdened with, as he seemed to see through his moves more and more, his movements appearing to be happening without thought as the Son of Ares weaved his blade in offense and defense seamlessly.

‘Brat, is this all you are capable of?” Ares’ voice rumbled in his mind as he leaned back, avoiding getting his eyes cut apart, barely bringing his sword back up as Carlos flipped his grip and brought the longsword back in a swift slash. ‘A shame. It seems I was mistaken in choosing you to bring him back.’

‘Respectfully Milord,’ he thought back, taking care to not let his mounting anger bleed into his words as he swiped his fingers through the air, sending a scythe of sir towards the demigod, catching him by surprise and opening a small cut on his chest, blood welling from the wound instantly, ‘if only Carlos wouldn’t be able to access your blessing, things would be much simpler. I don’t want to cause havoc in this town by using my full power, but I can’t defeat him in a purely physical fight.’

‘You think I would not have done that already boy,’ Ares’ voice suddenly changed in his head, turning from a relaxed drawl to an angry rumbling as the God’s presence bore down upon his thoughts, and Harry nearly stumbled, escaping Carlos’ attack by a hairsbreadth at the last moment, feeling his blade cut through the front of his shoulder instead of the neck. However, the War God gave him no respite, his mounting anger pressing down on his thoughts like a tangible weight. ‘Carlos is not drawing upon my power actively, but something else is feeding him. What or who, I know not, but he can’t sustain it for long. Use your powers over my father’s domain and fry him right now, before he manages to gain the upper hand in the little shitshow you are presenting!’

‘But the mort-’

‘Are going to die one day anyways,’ The God of War’s voice cut in with finality, and before Harry could think of something, he felt all that anger, all that violence brimming in his thoughts suddenly explode. ‘That should do it. Remember little brother, I won't tolerate failure. End Carlos before this strange power that is empowering him does something more dangerous!’

‘I commanded you not to tarry uselessly,’ the soft, coiling whispers that had greeted him in his dream echoed in his mind, even as Carlos felt his arms and legs begin to burn. ‘I cannot sustain you much longer, Carlos. Disengage and move towards the forest to escape, or else the Son of Zeus will begin to lose his own control, and call upon the thunderclouds.’

‘Why can’t you make me escape right here?’ he asked back, his blade cutting through Harry’s shoulder, and as he made to press his advantage, a blade made of wind cut through the air in an instant, opening his chest in a string of blood. ‘You do realize that the moment I start to leave this town, this will free him up to use his elemental powers, don’t you?’

‘The situation is that even if you stay here,’ the voice replied. ‘I am empowering your nature as the God of War’s son, but I am not yet at the strength where I can do this for long. You need to escape, for your own good, demigod, lest this abomination forgets his sensibilities and unleash his full might. Your survival won’t be as assured then, as much as it is with trying to escape. The shadows in this forest are brimming with the energies released by the deaths of those two demigods, and I will find it much easier to help you escape there. Now make haste and don’t wast—RUN!’

‘Wh-oh shit!’ His question turned into alarm instantly as he felt his hair stand on the end, watching how yes suddenly turned an electric blue as the sky turned white, a pillar of lightning dropping towards them. Jumping backwards, Carlos brought his hand in front of his eyes as the road was blasted apart by the bolt, stones and pebbles peppering his front as the smell of ozone filled the air around them. ‘What happened to him not wanting to kill the mortals?!”

‘The War God has interfered, raising his bloodlust and desire for battle with his anger,’ his mysterious benefactor replied, the tiniest bits of anger audible in its words, as Carlos felt all of his injuries and tiredness disappear once more. ‘Rush to the shadows and strike the ground with the knife to escape, boy. I won’t brook disappointment on this matter!’

“Fuck this,” the said demigod’s voice echoed from behind the lingering smoke left by the lightning, and Carlos unthinkingly took a step back as a neon blue glow lit up where Harry had been standing, the sound of crackling lightning filling the space around them. “I wanted to do this peacefully, but you have to make me angry, didn’t you? Do you think you are my equal Carlos? Powerful enough to ‘show me how wrong I am?’...think again.”

This, this was what he was wary of. Physically, he knew he could best the Son of Zeus, maybe not easily, but he could. But with the elemental abilities coming into play, the runt was sure to get the upper hand, since not everyone was born with the ability to be a transformer and shoot thousands of voltages out of their fucking ass! Deciding to leg it before his own mounting aggression made him do something stupid, Carlos turned around and bent his knees, before jumping off the ground with enough force to leap clear over the houses and the shops, the ground shattering beneath his feet from the force of his jump.

“Jumping into the air, not very smart,” a voice echoed from his left, and a bolt of lightning struck him mid-air. Gritting his teeth as he felt himself get blasted off course, Carlos felt himself punch through a wall, pouring more of his focus on healing the small burn smoldering on his left side as he stood up, his crimson eyes meeting the glowing blue ones of the son of Zeus. “Do you still think whatever is powering you up can save from me?”

“I don’t need any power to defeat the likes you, you arrogant fucker,”  he snarled, swiping his blade through the air as he jumped, clearing dozens of feet within an instant, pushing his body to limits it had never seen before as he slashed at Harry’s chest. His sword bit into the flesh of the demigod before him, and Carlos grinned at the blood that spurted out of the wound…only for Harry to grab his blade as it started to move away from his body. Blinking in bewilderment at the action, Carlos had just a moment to raise his eyes to see the smirk on Harry’s face, before his world turned into a sea of agony and hundreds of volts traveled into his body directly.

“Fucking hell!” he grunted, feeling the Blessing kick into overdrive as it increased his resistance to the electricity, hardening his body and muscles to resist the element as he felt the pain lessen by the second. Fisting his left hand, he pulled it back despite the spasms and jitters that were shaking his whole body to its core, and slammed it in Harry’s surprised face with all the power he could pull. “Take this, motherfucker!”

Instantly, all the lightning around them was blasted away from the force of his punch, as Harry’s face snapped back with a vicious crunch, his jaw clearly broken as they both began to fall towards the ground. However, as much as his fingers were hurting with the blisters and bruises upon them, Carlos knew he wouldn’t get a better chance to escape the dazed Son of Zeus. Bringing his hand back the moment his feet touched the ground, Carlos threw his sword like a javelin, the sound barrier shattering from his power the crimson celestial bronze stabbed toward his enemy’s midsection. With how close they had been, there was no chance of Potter dodging his throw completely, and knowing that, Carlos turned on his heel and jumped again, his eyes seeing nothing but the treeline a couple hundred feet away from him. Behind him, he heard the sound of his sword sinking into Harry’s flesh, the pained, warbled scream making him grin—even as he felt blood begin to drip down from his nose, the overuse of the divinity being fed to him taking its toll on his mortal body.

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“Your son has turned traitor.”

“I know,” Ares answered, staring westwards with his hands clasped behind his back, his crimson mane swaying in the momentary wind, while his baleful orange eyes turned with barely contained anger. “That is why I sent Potter to kill him.”

“And yet you didn't take away the powers your seed grants the boy? And neither did you restore his power that was damaged by Artemis’ attempt to crush his mind.”

“I did,” the God of War grunted, staring past the clouds and the cities in an instant at the fight going on between his traitorous spawn and the Son of Zeus, “but somehow he is still able to access the powers of the Blessing. And something divine is feeding that Blessing, considering that I have cut him off from my powers ever since he turned traitor. Regarding Potter’s powers…I judged them enough for Carlos…not this empowered, fully healed version of him.”

“That sounds troublesome,” the God beside him mused out, humming a little as he crossed his arms, “something capable of restoring powers without the deity’s knowledge…or is it mere imitation?”

“That looks a bit more powerful than being just a mere imitation, dear brother,” a second voice joined him, and Ares sighed as ethereal golden light shone down upon them, the sounds of a violin being played echoing in the silence as a sweltering heat enveloped the area. The clouds by their feet were banished away, burning away in a blaze of golden as Apollo’s chariot came to a stop by their left, the cherry-red Supra roaring quietly. Getting out of his chariot-turned-car, the Sun God gave them a salute, and as the door closed behind him, Ares saw the disheveled, unconscious nymphs inside. “Greetings brothers, I see you have decided to spectate our littlest brother.”

“Not sure ‘brother’ is the correct term for someone like him,” Ares shook his head, looking back on the battle as Harry used his powers over the wind, cutting Carlos’ chest. “He is barely out of childhood, and a demigod at that. We see dozens like him every millenia.”

“Not like him,” Apollo shook his head with a laugh, “his future is the most interesting one I have seen ever since I gained my sight.”

“Do tell,” Hermes raised an eyebrow, raising a hand as a nymph appeared by them, holding up a platter with Nectar-infused wine upon it. “I myself find myself intrigued by his deeds and future, especially since the children of the Three are known to be the supposed downfall of Olympus.”

“I don't know.”

“But you just sai-”

“I know, but I find his future interesting because it is hidden, obscured from my clairvoyance in a way that nothing has ever been,” the Sun God answered, a small frown tugging at his handsome face before it was gone. “Someone has gone to great lengths to hide him from my sight, that list is of those capable of that is very small. But the entities who can replicate a God’s power…only a couple come to mind. The first being Hecate, who can manipulate all kinds of energies to a degree under her dominion over magic, and the second being our father, as the King of Gods, and the third being the Three Daughters themselves.”

“This is getting nowhere. I need to know who has the power to dare pretend to be me,” Ares grunted impatiently, turning away from Apollo and Hermes towards Lancaster, a brief flare of power emitted out from him. “Finally.”

“You put the mortals in danger, Ares,” Hermes frowned, able to feel Harry begin to draw more on his elemental powers, the sky above Lancaster beginning to shift. “Dozens could die if this continues.”

“Lancaster suffers storms and tornadoes all the time,” Ares scoffed, crossing his massive arms as he saw Harry blast Carlos with a bolt of lightning. “For once, it won't be because of some air spirits fucking around or Father being annoyed.”

“Damn, that looked painful,” Apollo winced, as Carlos socked Harry’s face, actually creating a shockwave that shook the ground and the houses around them, shattering the windows in an instant. And it looked as if he wasn't done, throwing his sword right into Harry’s front before making a run for it. “Missed his kidney by an inch.”

“Any of you feel that?” Hermes suddenly narrowed his eyes, raising a finger towards where the fight was happening, looking at his brothers. Frowning as they both shook their heads, the God of Travellers and Messages closed his eyes, bringing but a pinch of his power to bear as he focused on his domains. Following the vibrations in his being to the source, he opened his eyes, irises glowing a dull golden. “Carlos is going to escape…due to an interdimensional gateway. The Knife! It is the key to it! Command Harry to capture that knife at all costs, even if Carlos escapes!”

“You would let the killer of your son escape?” Ares raised an eyebrow, watching Harry wrench out the sword in a spurt of blood, and his eyes widened as he saw dozen of bolts of lightning drop all over Lancaster, fierce tornadoes beginning to form over the area as the son of Zeus lost control. Absorbing the electricity from the storm he had begun, Harry rushed through the air towards Carlos, his eyes twin suns of powers as his body healed itself, arcs of lightning trailing off his body.

“Carlos will die one way or anther one day,” Hermes answered, reaching out towards their demigod brother, “I would rather pull out the guts of whichever upstart thought it was a good idea to manipulate him, and use him as a puppet to kill my child. They are the bigger issue here if they can just emulate and give out powers like this.”

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‘Harry, get that knife. It is paramount, more than killing Carlos.’

‘Who is th-Lord Hermes?!’ He thought wildly, past all the anger flowing through his thoughts as he raised his hand, gathering a lance of electricity in his hands, even as he directed hundreds of blades of wind at Carlos’ back. Satisfaction surged through him as they found their mark, his tattered shirt getting bloodied, ‘Lord Ares ha-’

‘I know, but he won't say anything. Now hurry. We want that knife.’

‘As you command,’ he acquiesced, feeling the hole in his gut finally close up, his whole body burning due to the amount of electricity he had absorbed to heal himself, a thunderstorm slowly enveloping all of Lancaster. Grabbing Carlos’ sword by its hilt, he poured lightning into it, and threw it back towards the Son of Ares. While he wasn't much of a marksman, aim really wasn't his intention here. The sword landed a few feet ahead of the running demigod, and with a thought, Harry made all that energy inside the weapon explode out in a blast of roaring winds and blinding electricity. Ignoring the truck that exploded from the force, Harry caught sight of Carlos amidst the billowing smoke and debris, the son of Ares stumbling for a moment from the blast, as well as the injuries on his back. “Got you you fucking traitor!”

Swooping down, he brought down the prepared spear in his left hand right on Carlos’ head. A scream of agony left the demigod, and Harry choked on his breath as the Son of Ares trashed wildly, one of his fists hitting him in the neck. Getting his breath back, he barely had a moment to raise his xiphos, blocking Carlos’ longsword as he met the Son of Ares’ eye…  1`half of his face was a burnt, flaking message covered in raw burns and blisters, his left eye socket nothing but a ruined, bloody crater. His cracked, destroyed lips moved slightly, and Harry winced the white veins imprinted upon his skin.

“K-Kill yuh,” Carlos rasped out, a blister on his face popping from the motion, and his leg kicked at his stomach suddenly. Caught off guard by the attack, Harry shifted sideways, but still, it couldn't save him from getting a cracked rib for his troubles. Sparks flew as he attacked, xiphos against longswords as the storm continued to rage around them, harsh winds from the expanding tornado threatening to pick everything clear off the ground. However the winds were of his creation, his element, and they ignored him entirely, as if he didn't exist for them. Carlos swayed due to the storm, his balance shaky as his blade started to lose against his, and Harry grunted, pushing with all of his might against the failing blade lock. Blood flew into the air as the Son of Ares faltered, his xiphos instantly sliding over the longsword’s edge to cut through the demigod’s chest, giving him another cut crossing over the previous one, forming an ‘x’.

However, Carlos wasn’t a demigod who had survived many years without being a slouch in combat. His hand grabbed Harry by his collar, and threw him over his head like a rag doll, slamming him back first into the ground with enough force to crush a car into scrap. The ground shattered around the Son of Zeus, and Harry vomited a sprout of blood, feeling his ribs shatter yet again as Carlos stomped over his chest, pushing him further into the ground. Summoning the parts of his brain that weren’t clouded by the burning pain, Harry grabbed the leg crushing his sternum and once again shocked the burnt demigod, pouring hundreds of volts of electricity into Carlos like a live transformer. But right as he did that, Carlos stabbed his longsword into the ground by his head, the celestial bronze grounding all of his divine-powered electricity into Gaea.

For a moment, Harry could do nothing but blink in shock at the sight of the dying sparks shooting down the sword by his head, feeling every ampere of power in his grip get soaked by the Earth, and negating his attack in a way it had never been done before. His eyes rose past the blade towards the Son of Ares, whose single crimson eye stared down at him balefully, with nothing but a twitch going down his body to show for his attack. Struck dumb, it took him a minute to realize that Carlos had jumped off him towards the forest, the winds slowing down as his mind wavered from the pain and the shock. “Fuck,” he grunted, pushing himself to his knees, almost falling down again as he vomited blood again. Feeling his ribs shift over his lungs, as well as the burn that signified the puncture, he glared at Carlos’ back and raised his hand. “Lucky bastard.”

Gathering the last vestiges of his power, Harry glared past his swimming vision at the tree line, the magical blood within him somehow shivering, feeling a buildup of energy in the shadows as Carlos neared the forest. The sound of chirping birds filled the air as his hand once again burst into violent electricity, concentrating all of his power into his xiphos as the white-hot power flowed into the blade. The divine metal vibrated in his hand, and Harry bit his lip, feeling it grow hotter and hotter as he fed every drop of his remaining strength to his sword, pulling his arm back as Carlos stumbled the final few feet into the forest, the evening shadows stretching around him as the clouds above cleared up. “Take this, you fucking traitor,” he muttered past his bloody lips, throwing his xiphos through the air towards the Son of Ares.

The crackling, glowing blade spun like a javelin, burning arcs of lightning into the ground as Harry fell to his knees. His eyes turned towards Carlos, watching the demigod raise his knife, the dark metal beginning to glow a dull red as wisps of crimson began to swirl around it. The Son of Ares plunged the dagger down into the ground, and Harry shivered despite himself at the unnatural chill that suddenly permeated the whole area, snuffing out the lingering winds within a second.

The shadows around Carlos swirled alive, rising off the ground like a curtain before stilling back into a pool at his feet—and Harry watched with stoney eyes as the demigod stepped into the darkness. His heart thundering in his chest, the Son of Zeus met the single, remaining eye of his target as he began to sink into the portal, and as one, they both turned towards the xiphos barely a foot away from him…however, the smirk of victory on Harry's face was far different from the look of surprise and fear on Carlos’.

For a moment, everything slowed down for them, their battle instincts kicking into overdrive as if detecting the pivotal moment. Their eyes followed the blade as one, the rapidly spinning blade slowing down, and even the lightning trailing off it moved at a snail’s pace, the blue-white glow beginning to illuminate the darkness in which Carlos was sinking down, already having disappeared up to his knees. Carlos’ mouth opened, the beginnings of a shout starting to come from his already torn throat, his single eyes staring at the spinning tip of the sword coming at him, even as his hand moved to bat away the blade…but it was too late.

His hand spasmed as he tried to move it, and Harry internally crowed with victory as he realized that not all of his lightning had been mitigated, even as time resumed itself. Carlos fully sank into the darkness, the short scream of rage silencing itself as the Son of Ares disappeared along with the swimming darkness. And with him, the eerie, subduing coldness that had started to suffocate the area also went away, leaving him gasping for breath as his body finally responded to his will, slowly standing up to his feet. Rolling his shoulders, he walked forward, idly looking around at the destruction his short stunt with his powers had wrecked on Lancaster. The tornadoes had condensed into one, ripping off roofs and trees, and with most of the houses being made of wood, they were not spared either. Fires burned across the town, from gas lines and electrical damages, but the slowly falling rain might quell those soon enough. Coughing a little as he stumbled on a loose stone, he kicked it off the path as his eyes rose to the sky above, exerting a bit of his will to make it rain just a bit harder. Gritting his teeth from the effort as he literally felt his insides twist with agony, Harry soldiered on towards his sword, the silver edge gleaming upon the forest floor. Coming to a stop besides it, he levitated it softly towards his hand, the celestial metal not rejecting his magic like the others—probably because it had been with him for so many years or something, he thought.

But that was something he could ask Chiron later, since right now, he had a meeting with two Olympians, he decided, looking down at the burnt stump of the elbow where his xiphos had severed Carlos’ arm. His eyes traced the still smoking stump, the charred, jagged flesh covered in blisters, before his eyes trailed down the arm towards the still fingers, the ornate black dagger clasped between them.