Return of the Disgraced Archangel

Chained Gods

      A telekhine waddled forth with a spear in its hand. Old, dried blood stained the point. The light of the magma made the spear point glitter with orange light.

     "Light the forge." Another telekhine barked.

     A fire lit in the center of the underground room. The first telekhine held the spearpoint above the fire. A cup was placed below the spear. Slowly, as the heat began to melt the blood, it started to drip into the cup.

     Drip.

     A minute of flickering flames passed.

     Drip.

     Another minute.

     Drip.

     Fifty eight seconds.

     Drip.

     As time passed, the blood dripped faster into the cup. Soon, all of the blood had melted off of the spear point and the telekhine threw it to the side, discarding it. It had no more use to them.

     Another telekhine grabbed the glowing, red hot cup and almost dropped it.

     "Careful!" Barked the Lead telekhine. "We don't have much to begin with, If we lose any, the Earth Mother will take our heads."

     The telekhine quickly placed the cup on the anvil. The lead telekhine waddled over to the cup and looked inside. Deep, dark, crimson red liquid glowed inside. The telekhine grinned as much as it could with its dog face.

     Once the cup had cooled down, and was within holding temperature, the lead telekhine put a lid on it and picked it up. He presented it to the other telekhines in the forge. "Behold!" It barked. "The King shall award us for such a good job!"

     The other telekhines cheered. The lead telekhine lowered the jar and turned around.

     He walked out of the room and down the hall. He went up the stairs and walked into the main hall of the underground complex.

     On the throne sat the King Giant, Porphyrion. The room was underground, and devoid of light, so one could only see him as a dark figure in a dark room. Like a sleep paralysis demon. He watched carefully as the telekhine came forward with the cup.

     The telekhine bowed before the giant and presented the cup. "My lord, it is done."

     Porphyrion leaned forward and rested an elbow on his knee. He held out his hand to take it. The telekhine gave it to him. His hand was so big, the cup looked like a tic tac in his hand.

     "Good." The giant's deep voice rumbled. "With this we are one step closer to waking the Earth Mother. Now we need one more person's blood. That of the husband, Lucifer Morningstar."

LINE BREAK

     The Argo II hovered above Sparta. They had arrived in the morning. Piper had a vision in her knife, showing fire consuming a room. And so, they elected Percy and Leo to go, since they were both immune to fire.

     They stood on a hill, overlooking Sparta. The ancient ruins, that is. They had already been to the modern city and found nothing but a nice little restaurant called Factory Coffee & More.

     Percy got a club sandwich and a can of Amstel. Leo got a can of Ultra Blue Monster. Percy paid for them both. They sat down at a small booth. Percy opened the can of Amstel and took a sip. He put the can on the table.

      "I've never been one for beer." Percy mused as he unwrapped his sandwich.

     Leo didn't say anything as he opened his Monster and took a long gulp. He sat it back down on the table and wiped his mouth with his hand.