A Son From Lands Unknown (PJO x Male Reader)

Returning a Judge

"Minos, you say?" (Y/N) asked, ensuring he heard the man correctly. "Cause if you are Minos, you're an awful long way from home."

"Indeed, I am," Minos lamented. "I was once a king! I deserve to be as I was in life, but no! Instead I am imprisoned on this wretched rock, with a tail constantly biting at me!"

"And if you were where you belong, you'd be a judge..." (Y/N) muttered, remembering what Annabeth had said on the journey into the Greek Underworld. "Look, Minos, I appreciate-"

"KING Minos!" Minos interrupted.

"Right, King Minos, I appreciate your predicament, but I need to get past you. I would be happy to raise a complaint with the lads in charge, but I really can't do that unless you let me pass."

"And I cannot let you pass until you admit your sins," Minos said. "All that you committed while alive."

"How can I admit to that which has not happened?" (Y/N) asked. "I still live, and your question is necessarily for the dead."

"What?" Minos asked, surprised. "If you still live, then how are you here?"

"I have business to address down here, like I told the ferrymen at the river, preventing Armageddon. So, I ask again; let me pass."

"I... I wish I could help you," Minos said, standing and stretching. "Truly, I do. But, those in charge of this place may take issue if I let you go without a fight. They would find a way to make my situation worse."

At full height, Minos towered above (Y/N). In fact, the son of Mammon was only as tall as the ancient king's knee, forcing him to raise his voice if he wanted Minos to hear him.

"I'm sure they'd make an exception to prevent Revelations," (Y/N) said, pulling out his cane sword and Tentazione. "Whatever you think has to happen, it doesn't."

"Ah, but that's the thing about a fight, now isn't it?" Minos chuckled. "Only need one party willing to engage, and I don't think I can afford not to."

Minos slammed his hand down toward (Y/N), trying to flatten him beneath his palm. (Y/N) managed to jump out of the way and to the right. He instantly ran at Minos's leg, trying to cut the ancient king's Achilles tendon. Minos noticed, however, and moved his leg out of the way. His serpent tail hissed and launched at (Y/N).

The son of Mammon stopped running and got into a defensive stance, parrying the snake. He went for an overhand slash, trying to cut the head clean off, but he missed, so he opted to take a couple of potshots at it. Seeing his distraction, Minos kicked at (Y/N), trying to send him into the Acheron.

"Shit," (Y/N) swore. He sidestepped it and delivered a slash at Minos's ankle. It connected, but not quite where he was aiming. Rather than hitting the Achilles tendon as he intended, he instead hit the king right on the joint. It would surely be an issue, yes, but he would still be able to stand and fight, rather than end the fight.

(Y/N) backed away from the king, shooting him as he went. It wasn't doing nothing, per se, but it wasn't as effective as (Y/N) would have liked. It seemed the king's skin had taken on a piercing-resistant quality, likely due to constantly getting bit by his tail for the last few millennia.

"Gramps damn it," the son of greed swore. Suddenly, he felt a sharp wind against his back, one that simultaneously felt like it was flaying his skin and freezing his bones. Minos took this chance to throw a punch at (Y/N), threatening to crush him beneath the giant's fist.

(Y/N) was, thankfully, able to dodge out of the way in time, but felt the resulting wind blow by his face, nearly knocking him to the ground. Instead, he only fell onto a single knee, but that was still enough for Minos to take advantage. The ancient king sent a kick at (Y/N), one which connected. (Y/N) felt himself rise into the air, at least until gravity overtook him and sent him crashing back into the dirt of the Lust ring.

"OOF!" he sighed, hitting the ground hard. He felt like his non-mechanical leg was on fire, and his back felt like it had been hit by a truck. He shook his head, trying to get the buzzing out of it. He looked up just in time to see Minos running at him, trying to get the fight over with. He rolled out of the way just in time, seeing the explosion of dust from Minos's footfall. (Y/N) put his arm up to keep the dust from his eyes before kicking his arm out with Tentazione, taking more shots.

'C'mon, think!' (Y/N) thought to himself, looking around. 'He's a judge, used to be a king, so he's probably got something tying him here. If I can just take care of whatever that is...'

(Y/N) shook his head. 'No, focus on bringing him down first. If I can't do that, then there's nothing I can do. There's gotta be something around here to use for that... There!' (Y/N) saw a boulder on one of the hills. That gave him a second option beyond the Achilles tendon. If he could just get him to run into it...

Minos put his hand up to ensure that none of them would get into his face, but that was exactly (Y/N)'s plan. He continued firing Tentazione, grateful for the fact that it used bullets made out of infernal magic instead of metal.

"Hey Ugly, come and get me!" (Y/N) shouted. Minos turned toward him, still keeping a hand in front of his face.

"Shut up and die!" Minos exclaimed. He charged directly at the son of Mammon, trying to crush him underfoot. As a result, when (Y/N) dodged out of the way of said charge, Minos fell face-first into the dirt. The wind picked up again, threatening to flay (Y/N) to the very bone, but he knew he had to press on, as there wasn't much time.

(Y/N) quickly jumped up onto Minos's ankles, severing the Achilles tendons as he went. The snake tail was trying to swallow him whole the entire time, but (Y/N) was thankfully able to parry it each time. He had just cut the tendon on the back of Minos's left heel when it hit him.

Both the snake and a realization.

"Damn it all!" (Y/N) shouted, flying off Minos's leg. "The snake! That's what's keeping him bound here. I just need to cut it off..."

He planted the tip of his sword into the dirt, using it as a crutch to stand up. Due to the severed tendons, Minos was able to do little more than crawl across the plains of Lust, allowing (Y/N) to catch up very quickly. He hopped onto the ancient king's back, once again batting the snake away every time it tried to hit him.

He was able to make it all the way to where the snake grew out of the small of Minos's back, grabbing the base of the snake. It seemed that was where the snake was weakest, as it wasn't able to reach him there.

"No... no!" Minos shouted. "I will not die here! Not a second time!"

(Y/N) was breathing heavily, not used to running this much on the mechanical leg. "King Minos, I thank you for your service to Hell. I release you from her service and allow your return to the Greek Underworld, where you belong. Now go, in the name of the Lord."

(Y/N) cut clean through the base of the snake, the stump of which erupted in flame as soon as it was fully severed. (Y/N) ran, jumping off of Minos before he could be caught in the flames. He walked away as quickly as he could, feeling the heat from the burning body behind him.

He could hear the sound of the fire crackling as he looked around at the plains of Lust, realizing there was no way of knowing where to go next. For Limbo, there was an obvious gate he could sail through, no such luck here. He was going to have to look, the winds meant to punish the promiscuous trying to skin him the entire time.

"Well... shit..."