Percy Jackson and the Incarnate-5: The Mahayudha

CHAPTER 20 POV: Percy Jackson

After about ten minutes of chants, I felt a huge power surge. I looked at Veda Vyasa and Hari who looked grim. The demigods and Hindu Soldiers were safer inside the bubble made using the powers of both the Greek and Hindu Gods. Indra, Chandra, Surya, Brihaspati, Shani, Rahu and Ketu, the Ashwini Twins, Vishwakarma and other gods also came to help. The only people who were outside the bubble was me, Veda Vyasa, Hari and the Narayani sena along with Vishwaksena.

"How long?", Hari asked.

"Five more minutes.", Veda Vyasa replied. But they had a look like 'We don't have time'.

"Percy! Be ready! Remember who you are.", Hari bellowed as I nodded and took my stance with Riptide. My trusted sword. My friend through all the battles. Veda Vyasa sped up the chanting up a notch and Hari was seated in the middle of the Rangoli, folding hands and trying to connect with the power of Lord Shiva. A huge advantage we have is that the enemy doesn't know Hari to be an avatar of Lord Shiva too.

The enemy was vanquished by the Narayani sena. They decimated the remaining monsters after the giants were killed. Thanks to Justin and the rest of the seven. And Nico. It was eerily calm. A calm before the storm. I saw Annabeth from inside the bubble praying for my safety. Ironic considering even the gods are inside the bubble and cannot do much.

The sky darkened. Considerably. It was as if Nyx had enough power to manifest in front of us. That would be absolutely disastrous. The temperature dropped by a few degrees. I started to shiver in the cold dark afternoon. After a few minutes of tense waiting, something moved. It was moving towards us. It was not Kali. It was Shukracharya. He had a mad glint in his eyes. He was that madman who tortured Justin. On thinking about it, my blood started to boil in anger.

He just slit his palm and let a few drops of blood water the sandy ground. The situation was all too familiar for me. I waited. A few seconds and the temperature turned a few degrees lower. It was too cold for me and I shivered violently. It was like trudging on snow in Manhattan in just a tee-shirt and jeans.

Then the clouds parted at a place. Instead of sunlight peeking through, a dark light peeked through. The winds started to increase in speed. Jason, Aeolus and Vayu were trying their best to control the wind but were failing miserably. A small tornado formed and the dark light started to circle around it. I went back a few steps and looked around. The Narayani Sena had flashed away back to Vaikuntha. Hari and Veda Vyasa were unfazed as they continued chanting the mantras.

After a few seconds, the dark light emitted a huge amount of energy. I used riptide to deflect the energy, but it was too powerful. I barely managed to holp on, Riptide shaking violently in my hands. I had to protect Hari. I had to for the earth. Just a few more moments. The beam looked like it could break through the bubble, but the Sudarshan Chakra rescued matters and it dissipated the dark light energy coming towards the bubble. I understood why the Chakra was required now.

"Perseus Jackson!" I heard a whisper in my head before I got the biggest headache of my lifetime. I closed my eyes and saw everything. Greed, discord, murder, pain, anger, fear, repulsion; you name it, I experienced. I saw gruesome scenes; how I failed to save my friends and family, how the Gods were arrogant; How Zeus was Paranoid and killed Hari's father through torture. I saw a scene where Justin did not show remorse for being a spy and tried to kill me for his bloodlust. I saw Annabeth fight with me and break up with me because of her pride. All negative emotions. I felt the world was devoid of hope; devoid of anything good. I wanted to give up.

'Percy!', a soothing sound reverberated through me. I saw Hari inside my head. He looked calm and happy.

'Hari! What happened?'

'Kali! He is the personification of discord and grief. He is trying to destroy you. But you can defeat him. Defeat him by remembering the good. He is as allergic to good as Nyx to light.'

Hari's image began to flicker and vanish in the darkness. The darkness started to surround me like fog. I felt suffocated like I was in Alaska. That was a distant memory. As I remembered, I started to suffocate. I gasped for the non-existent air. I felt despair. I then heard the faint voice of Annabeth. Her lovely and beautiful voice. I felt her touch me. The scenes flashed in front of me. Our first meet, 'You drool when you sleep', our first kiss at Mt. Saint Hellen, the underwater kiss, our date in Paris, the reunion at Camp Jupiter, At the stables of Argo II, every good memory with her made me happy and hopeful. My friends. Grover. How I used to protect him from bullying, how I reacted when he had Goat hooves, Being a Satyr. His quest for Pan. All those felt like millennia ago. All those were good old times. I smiled. I felt the darkness recede around me. A bright light shone, momentarily blinding me before I opened my eyes.

Stood in front of me was the most grotesque creature I ever saw. Let us just say, it made Medusa look like Ms. Universe. It was surrounded by darkness, and face looked like that of an ugly disease-ravaged dog. It had fangs that yellowed like it never brushed its teeth ever. It had brownish-grey skin, if that was possible, and had pointed ears. The worst part was the body hair covered all over his body. And the hair was a nasty shade of green. I could have puked on seeing it. But it was the truth. Kali had arrived and he looked very much angry.

"Who are you? Puny human!!", he said in an ugly voice, and I shivered for a minute. But before I could respond, I felt another power surge from behind. I felt relieved and turned around to see Hari glowing brightly. I could just feel his power radiating out of him. So much power, even Chaos paled in front of him. Then I saw something I never expected.

He split himself into two, one part dressed like Lord Vishnu while the other was dressed like Lord Shiva. I didn't know this was even possible. The Shiva part started to dance! And not just any dance. The Taandav. The dance of destruction.

It was a beautiful yet terrifying dance. Hari's face was full of anger and fury. For every movement, all the five elements responded. Every kind of natural calamity, from floods to earthquakes, droughts to tsunamis, everything was happening in the battle field. Had I not been the son of Poseidon, I would have died in the Tsunami. It was total destruction. Veda Vyasa was in a bubble made by Hari's Vishnu part. Both started to slowly come to me. To help matters, I decided to swim to them. The people in the bubble saw with horror what destruction looks like. This would leave all of us scarred. This was what a Pralaya looked like. This was the apocalypse.

I could feel the whole earth shake violently. I saw dad look pale. Maybe the hurricanes, earthquakes caused by the dance was too powerful for his control. The land around us shook violently and it surpassed any other earthquake ever felt on earth. It was then and there I realized why Hari wanted the war to be fought here of all places. This place can bear the brunt of the war and destruction with minimum impact.

The other part of Hari, the Vishnu Part came to me with his sword in two hands and Gada in the other two. I won't understand how he could use both weapons without any interference from the other, but I knew for sure that I was safe. Behind him, was Veda Vyasa who looked calm. He had complete belief in Hari.

"Percy Jackson. Follow me and let me escort you back to the bubble.", he said and I nodded. The Percy five years ago would have tried his best to save him, even if I die. But now, I got over my flaw. I feel less guilty. If it was written in fate, so be it.

I felt myself flash to the circle. Veda Vyasa and me barely managed to enter the bubble and close the bubble when a beam of disgusting yellow color hit Hari at the back. I saw him flinch, but stayed strong until the bubble closed and the chakra circled around it, giving a bigger protection.

"Percy! You are all right!", Annabeth said and hugged me. I was tackled by my other friends too and I was over a heap.

"Guys! Choking. And you all are gods now!!", I choked out. They laughed and gave me breathing space.

"Now, what happens?", Leo asked.

I was about to answer when I met Hestia's eyes. She looked normal from the outside, but the embers in her eyes died. She knew what would happen. Knowing Hari, he would have confided Hestia with everything.

"Ready a shroud for Hariharan Sivakumar. Son of Hestia. He deserves a proper funeral.", I said with a heavy heart, and the gasps from my friends were drowned over by a roar of fury from the outside.