Middle School Half-Blood: Saving Hestia

Chapter 25: Gaia

The group has finally reached Gaia, at the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Tension rises as they come closer and closer. "Ah, I see you have finally come!" Gaia says, towering over the group. "Yes, we are here! And we will free my mother and defeat you!" Matt exclaims. Gaia laughs, "You think you can actually defeat me? I'm impressed you were able to defeat my minions, considering the fact that your the weakest." "I think you're underestimating his character!" Clarisse chimes in. "Am I now?" Gaia says doubtful. She raises her left hand and five spirit warriors appear, "Mumkhar, Xord, Gadolt, Egil, and Nemesis, kill those who cross your path and who try to save the goddess, but leave her son to me!" She commands. Her spirit warriors engage the group, "Split up!" Clarisse suggests. Taika, Zea, and Hannah confront Nemesis, Danny and Rosario go against Mumkhar, Ian and Musubi go after Xord, Clarisse fights Gadolt, leaving Matt all alone with Gaia and Egil. Nemesis is a robotic being with a human operating, but due to Egil's memory wiping abilities, she has no memory of her past, so she fights ruthlessly. Nemesis is of a race known as a Mechon, basically a robot. She is quick on her feet and fights with dual knives. She is a Silver Face Unit, one of the strongest Mechon next to Egil and Gadolt, she is very curious girl, and if someone comes between her and the target, she will ensure the passerby is safely away from the area, she still has a bit of humanity left in her.  While fighting Nemesis, Zea begins to think of a strategy, "She uses dual knives as a weapon, so if Taika and I distract Nemesis, Hannah get attack her blind spot." She informs Hannah and Taika of her plan, Taika and Zea engaging Nemesis, not noticing Hannah, she is able to sneak behind her and waits for the opportune moment. "You will feel the wrath of the Mechon!" Nemesis yells as she lunges toward Taika and Zea. "Now!" Taika yells, Hannah goes in for a direct hit, but is stopped by beam of lighting, "Damn, so close!" She complains, "Sorry!" Clariase shouts out, "Didn't think he was a sharpshooter!" Now onto Gadolt, he was originally known as Jade Face, being that he is made from Jade and is a Face Unit. Later found out to be the famous hero, Gadolt of Colony 6 in a world where it's a flat ocean and people live on one of two titan, the Bionis or Mechonis. He was famous for his flawless accuracy, but the only time he will ever 'miss' is when his human emotions leak out. His memories of his human life were erased by Egil. Mumkhar is a flat out dick! He betrayed his people just for power, all he got was his memories erased, except the ones involving envy, that's what fueled him, it's complicated I know. Mumkhar uses long and swift claw attacks, he is the fastest Mechon of the warriors. Xord is the biggest one next to Egil, he uses a hammer to fight, he isn't very fast, but he makes up for it with strength. Finally we have Egil, the leader of the Mechon. He has turned away from their faith and goddess, Mayneth, when some beings of Bionis known as Telethia and the Bionis' soul, Zanza attacked Mechonis, which led to the death of most of those who inhabit Mechonis, who are called Machina, half human and half machine. Egil is the strongest and the biggest Mechon, since he is the leader, he is also quite strong. He fights using the Apocratha, a system in his Mechon body that cancels out all magic for a limited amount of time, he also gained most of his power by praying to the Mechonis and getting it to let him be the Mechonis' soul vessel, instead of Mayneth, just like Bionis, there is a vessel who has the soul of the titan. Now that introductions are done, let's get back to the action. Zea, Taika, and Hannah are still going through with their plan, this time Nemesis stops them, "Stop!" her voice a little higher than before, "Her voice is different, why is that?" Hannah asks, Nemesis' body opens up and shows the human operating it. "I don't understand it, but something inside me tells me to help you, maybe it's the girl's heart." Nemesis explains, "What is your goal exactly?" Taika steps up, "We are trying to save the goddess, Hestia, and avenge those who have fallen under Gaia's control. We need to save Hestia, because if she is hear any longer, a war between the gods and titans will break out again. Also, the guy with Gaia, that's her son" "What!?" Nemesis says shocked. "Didn't they tell you all this?" Hannah asks, "No, we were told you were trying to destroy Olympus, and you were going to 'save' Hestia!" Nemesis replies, "You were lied to! Why don't you help us! Maybe you can live on as a human." Zea suggests, "That would be fun, but I am needed at Mechonis, for I am Mayneth, the Mechonis' soul!" She charges at Egil, "I will help you, and hopefully give you the girl back! Focus your efforts on Gaia, I'll handle Egil!" Matt just stands there in awe. "Why? This is going to get yourself killed! Don't do this!" Matt calls out, "Don't worry," her voice has changed, "Mayneth will make sure I'm ok, she cares for all beings." "Wait, are you the girl she's using as a human vessel?" Matt asks, "Yes, my name is Fiora." Fiora says, "I don't understand this, they're spirits, yet this is happening," Taika says confused. "Haven't you noticed their appearances changed, they look more real! They aren't spirits anymore!" Zea answers. "Gadolt! Remeber Sharla! And Juju! Remember the colony, all those you wanted to protect, if you don't snap out of this, you'll end up hurting them!" Fiora tries to communicate with Gadolt, "I know no one, I protect myself, I AM A MECHON!" Gadolt yells, and aims his gun at Fiora, "Linear Laser!" Gadolt shoots a huge blast of ether at Fiora, "Mercury Aqua Barrier!" Matt forms a huge barrier of liquid mercury. "Why did you help me?" Fiora asks oddly, "Well, you're helping us defeat Gaia! You are now a friend of mine, and a trusted ally!" He smiles back at her. "Thank you! Now, I'll handle getting Gadolt his memory back. Go after Gaia, Egil will probably come after me, so don't worry about him." Fiora remarks. Hannah, Taika, Zea, and Matt approach Gaia, with Clarisse closing in, "Wait up!!! I'm coming too!" "You finished him up?" Taika asks, "Lets say he isn't much of a robot anymore, he just disappeared when I short circuited him." Clarisse says. They all go forward to fight Gaia. "I see most of you made it, now as promised, here's your mother," Gaia shows the goddess trapped in a room that blocks out all magic. "Oh my god!" Matt gasps, Gaia gets rid of the image, "Now, what will you do, fight me, or will you come here willingly and I'll hand your mother over to your friends?" Gaia asks. Matt turns around, gives everyone a quick hug, and nods at Hannah, "You know what to do!" Matt exclaims, Hannah nods back. Matt walks to Gaia and kneels down to her. "Good choice!" She snaps her fingers and he's engulfed in a dark aura, he screams out in pain, Hannah surrounds herself in her pink aura, "That won't work daughter of Aphrodite. This spell can't be manipulated!" Gaia announces, Hannah stops, "No, no! What do we do now!?" "I don't know," Zea says trying not to become an emotional wreck, "Now, Matt go entertain your friends there!" Gaia orders, Matt attacks them, shooting about twenty water shots. "Aegis!" Zea uses her custom made Aegis, "What?!" Gaia yells furiously. Hannah's body begins to shake, her aura turns from pink to blood red, "What's with power!" Gaia questions, "Its the power of Aphrodite mixed with the power of Hestia!" someone says, "Who's there!?" Gaia yells. "Oh just little old me!" Aphrodite appears, still with the southern accent, "Oh and I'm not alone. A bright light appears, and a figure appears, "Is that?" Taika questions,  "No way!" Clarisse says, too shocked to move. A heavenly figure is now very visible, "Thank you, I'm sorry I put you through all this, and I'm sorry my son, I was such a burden on you," the figure says, everyone stopping in their tracks, even Gaia's warriors stopped. "Hestia? I'm surprised you've recovered so quickly." Gaia smirks, "I didn't need to recover, I've had my energy coming back to me since these kids arrived. And now its time for me to repay them for their help." Hestia explains, she pulls out a bow and arrow and aims for Egil, Xord, and Mumkhar. "Now, return to your world!" As she lets her arrow loose the arrows have a trail if glittering light, "I feel..... powered up!" Everyone except Hannah yells out. As the arrows make contact, the warriors are dragged into a portal leading to their world of origin. "You must go, I'll get Matthew back, don't worry," Hestia suggests, no one moves, everyone stays, "We all want to save Matt, he's our friend, that's what friends do!" Hannah says, still engulfed in a blood red aura. "You know what do girl!" Aphrodite encourages her daughter. She charges toward Matt, "I'm sorry I have to do this!" She concentrates her aura on her hand, Matt attempts to avoid her, but is held down by a mysterious force, Hannah then slaps Matt with enough force, he almost goes flying off the statue, "Head Shaker!" Hannah yells as she makes contact, "This attack will not only hurt you, but it will bring back your humanity and memories. Its really meant for situations like these." The aura cloud surrounding Matt dispells and turns him back to normal, "Holy crap! That hurt!" Matt complains while cracking his neck, "Didn't I tell you two she had a lot of potential!" Hestia and Aphrodite nod, but are still focused on Gaia, "Oh yeah, Gaia, we still need one more thing, TWO to be exact." Matt mentions, Gaia laughs, "And what would that be?" "Minato and Kusuno! Give them back!" Musubi cries out. Gaia scoffs and snaps her fingers, a young man and a little girl appear in front of them. "MINATO! KU!" Musubi yells running to them. "Something seems off," Matt and Zea think to themselves, but they know what the other is thinking, they look around to see if anyone or anything had appeared to hurt them. After seeing that it was fine, they relax for a brief moment, but they hear the sound of metal being dragged against the floor and hearing a blood curdling scream. "We should do this later, when we are on the ground!" Taika yells, as they quickly make a run for it, Matt is separated from the group by a pillar of rocks and vines. "Go on without me!" Matt instructs, "I'll finish her off myself!" Sadly, no one understands why he did it, so they descended. "You know how I told you that every half blood has an incantation based off their godly parent?" Matt questions, with a evil smirk. "Yes, I vaguely remember, why?" Gaia replies and questions. "I lied, some of us have two, sadly you'll only live to see one!" Matt yells and is surrounded by a rainbow colored aura. "You will pay for all the suffering you have caused, the deaths, the lies, and the damage you have caused people and gods!" He begins, "You will pay for forcing my friends to join your little 'discipline squad' and for capturing my mother! Time for you to experience a pain worse than death, a second incantation. The thing is, the second incantation is a double edged sword, it harms me as well. And I'm willing to die, in order to protect everyone." "Bah, you're bluffing!" Gaia says worried. "By the bonds between mother and son. My mother's enemies shall be vanquished!" Matt finishes, and as soon as he does, the aura starts to go toward Gaia, and the Statue of Liberty begins to shake, as the aura reaches Gaia, it wraps around her leg. It begins to disintegrate her body but it does the same to him. "Taika, Zea, Ian, Danny, Hannah, Rosario, Clarisse, Musubi, Aphrodite, and Mom. Please, don't worry about me, I may be dead, but my spirit will always stay at Camp Half-Blood and it will accompany you. I knew what I was going to ever since the night of the school trip." Matt's thoughts are portrayed to the group, Taika, Zea, Clarisse, Musubi, and Hestia begin to sob. And of all people to comfort Taika, it was Aphrodite. "I''ve lived a good life, some things I wished I changed, but I met some amazing people, I even saved my mom and friends from a certain death! Now I know I can die peacefully." As the rest of his body disintegrates, he lets out one last tear, "Thank you everyone! Its been fun, see you soon!" Matt's  thoughts are sent to the group. The crown of the statue is engulfed with light. You see chunks of earth falling down. "Looks like we finished our quest, I guess all that's left is to go home," Taika says very upset. Hestia generates a portal to the camp, and instantly the entire camp cheers and claps for them, but they can't be happy, not after what just happened. After explaining everything to Chiron he has one thing to say, "Giving that Hades does owe him a lot, it may be possible for Matt's spirit will come here faster, or even better, he gets his old body back." "Well, we will see when it happens," Taika says. She walks back to the cabin, and makes a memorial to Matt. After finishing it, it seemed that everyone at camp heard what happened, "Do you mind if we--" someone asks, Taika moves out of their way, "Go ahead, this is why I made it," Everyone from camp has their turn with a prayer. Then comes, Hannah, Zea, Ian, Danny, Clarisse, and Rosario. "Hey, you ready to go to our personal memorial?" Rosario asks. They all go to the Hestia cabin, and pray to their personal memorial, "Thank you! For being an amazing friend, and always being there for us!" Everyone thinks to themselves. "Well, now what?" Ian asks, Taika turns around and heads for the door, "We live the life Matt saved, this is what he would want," Taika replies in a somber tone, "We. Live."

~Alright guys, that's it for this one, hope you enjoyed THE FINAL CHAPTER!!! Please Vote and Comment! See you guys, whenever I update anything!