AN:
Alright, I've seen other authors do this so I'm hopping on the bandwagon.
If we hit 110 Power Stones by the end of the day, I'll toss out another chapter like it's hot.
No pressure. Just casually bribing you with content.
...
( Annabeth POV )
The explosion of power and golden glow seemed to save her … if only barely. Pallas' aim was off as his sword bit into her left shoulder and stayed there as she bit her lips to suppress a scream. However she fought through it as she looked to her daughter again, almost gasping at the sight as several of the minor gods shook of their daze from being so close to her daughter including Deimos.
There stood not her daughter but a woman rising to nearly fifteen feet in a fully divine form. Billowing golden and red streaked hair with glowing red eyes surrounded by steely grey likes rubies trapped within iron and skin literally glowing with her divinity.
Her clothes though hadn't changed since she lacked domains or divine forged armor leaving her pajamas to stretch to their absolute limits making it look more like skin tight short shorts and a tube top over a rather generous bust, something that it seemed the other gods had noticed judging by their looks.
"Cloelia?" she asked in a hushed whisper, however, what surprised and alarmed Annabeth the most was her daughter's right or more accurately, what she held.
In her right hand was Riptide of all things, the sword having grown with her and radiating a cold mist. But, looking to her hand Annabeth was alarmed to see the skin of Cloelia's right hand rapidly paling with streaks of black and blue slowly rising up passed the wrist like corrupted veins. 'The curse!' she thought but was still unable to do anything from her position as she watched her daughter before noticing the small bracelet still around her right wrist with a glowing, icy blue wolf pendant that seemed to pulse every few seconds.
"Get away from my mother!" was the snarl like shout as the goddess charged in Annabeth's direction but Deimos was still close as he suddenly rushed before her, his own sword at his side.
Cloelia saw it and glared with glowing eyes as she raised Riptide and struck down with it as Deimos made to the block it … the fool. Like Pallas he'd underestimated her. Like Pallas he had remained and looked on as she assumed a divine form and thinking her to be weak, didn't assume one as well. And now he stood in her way thinking he could take her but unlike Pallas, Deimos' decision was immediately apparent and lethal.
With a roar Riptide was brought down as Cloelia suddenly added her second hand to the grip and collided with Deimos' raised blade but the resistance didn't last long. Without both hands Deimos was already weighed down and an audible snap and scream from him was heard as his arm gave out from the goddess' savage blow as the sword continued on.
They all watched as Riptide sliced down, pushing Deimos' sword as the blade itself met Deimos' helm and cut through before continuing on. They watched as the gleaming blade minced through the god from crown of the head to his gut, gushing ichor in a near frozen slurry as the god's scream died out with him.
Shocked silence lasted for all of a second as Deimos split in half moments before bursting into golden dust and Cloelia continued on without pause, her eyes set on Pallas even as the titan dwarfed her.
However a roar of rage erupted behind her as Phobos, coming out of his own shock, assumed his divine form in a mad frenzy and charged the youngest goddess. Annabeth wasn't sure how but it seemed Cloelia already had the instincts for combat as she stopped and spun in time to block Phobos' spear jab before knocking the weapon aside and returning with a neck-high slash.
Phobos backpedaled out of reach, his own skill and experience shining through even in the frenzy he was in as suddenly Cloelia and Phobos became the center of combat. Both in divine form with Phobos measureing some seventeen feet or so showing he was stronger than Cloelia, one dressed in his armor while Cloelia was little better than naked and yet she wielded a legendary and now cursed blade as if she'd been born with it in her hands.
Annabeth watched in equal parts shock and awe as her daughter managed to hold her own. Every slash and stab was performed with almost practiced ease yet carried an underlying savagery more befitting of war deities as Cloelia pressured the enraged Phobos while the rest watched.
A few minutes passed at the back and forth as Cloelia managed to score some cuts along Phobos' arm. However none were deep wounds and every time he would pull back and without hesitation, flare his power around the afflicted area until it literally burst, riding himself of the cursed flesh. Following this left him with several horrid open sores oozing ichor around his arms and legs but while painful, none were life threatening.
However Cloelia was looking progressively worse as she started to pant and tire out as her power fluctuated and her right arm up to the elbow was already an ashy grey with blue and black streaks which made Annabeth wonder how her daughter could even still use that arm. Cloelia herself didn't even seem to be aware of it as she continued on, weaving in and out of every stab by the skin of her teeth while Phobos attacked and attacked, almost foaming at the mouth as he screamed every profanity and curse he knew at her.
Annabeth saw all this and knew she had to act. Cloelia may have jumped to a divine state but it wouldn't last long and with so many other gods around, it was only a matter of time before they decided to attack together and completely overwhelm her. Looking back up at Pallas she could tell he was too interested in the other battle and confident that she was pinned by his sword … underestimating her yet again.
Gritting her teeth she let go of her dagger and then suddenly pulled her arm back, slipping it out from under Pallas' foot as the titan staggered slightly from the sudden loss of balance. As quickly as she could she arched her back and reached to the back of her armored skirt, her thumb and pointer finger wrapping around the currently tiny gun still left even after she'd assumed divine form.
Never before had she been so thankful for a god's ability to distort the shape, size, and structure of the objects around them as with just a mental command, the gun grew to size in her hand as she aimed up into one stop that luckily, wasn't covered very well in Pallas' armor.
Pallas' crotch.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She started unloading just as the titan had looked down only to scream in a mix of shrill agony and murderous outrage as round after round of Celestial bronze blasted into his groin, splattering bits of leather, ichor, and flesh all over her. Overwhelmed with pain, the titan doubled over as he used one hand to reach for his mutilated genitalia but she wasn't giving him any rest.
She pulled into a crunch as her knees touched her chest and legs aimed up before kicking as hard as she could and impacting the covered head of the titan with a nice crunch coming from his face as he was sent falling back. She gave a short cry of pain as his sword was torn out of her left shoulder but she still kept moving as she rolled over and got into a crouch.
Pallas' scream had drawn attention to her again and two of the gods were already charging at her as they erupted in golden flashes mid-run, assuming divine form to better match her but she responded with raising the gun yet again on them.
A part of her wondered why wasn't she out of rounds but then remembered infinite recharge cartridges that re-summoned used Celestial bronze rounds were actually rather simple to make and a standard addition for the guns Leo made for demigods so it wasn't unbelievable that Pallas his forces had similar. With that in mind she took aim just as the gods were almost on top of her.
Bang!
The first shot was true as one of the god's jerked back as his throat popped like a golden cherry and gurgled as he fell limp and already turning into ashen white dust while his ally kept coming, completely uncaring of his fallen comrade.
Annabeth found such gods worse than trash as she glared at the god, rearing to her full height and towering over the other god by several feet. Still, he seemed confident that with her injured arm that she'd unable to fight and his shield was raised in front of his body, covering up to his neck.
What she did next surprised him though.
Turning onto her left side and adjusting her arm she slammed herself into him, giving a short cry as her left arm was violently popped back in. Shaking her head of the sudden sense of vertigo from the pain, she used her newly restored arm to grab the edge of his shield as she jumped, the sudden weight making the god falter forward.
Mid-air she used her hold to turn herself over and drive her knee into the back of his head, the ring echoing as the god lost his foot and fell with her landing on his back before making the killing blow.
Without hesitation she placed the tip of the barrel at the back of his neck as he groaned and unloaded once again, each shot blasting apart the back of his neck as he thrashed under her before going still and beginning to dissolve into ashen white dust.
Another faded god.
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
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