CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
VIOLENT ENDS

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DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU began the story, it was about Luke Castellan. Even before he died, before everything spiralled, Kit had been dreaming of the estranged son of Hermes and a life of possibility. However, as opposed to now, where Kit's dreams were hallucinations inspired by guilt, his dreams back then were real.

When Luke first fled from Camp Half-Blood, he was alone. And in some ways, despite physically being surrounded by people every day, so was Kit. Part of his subconscious longed for Luke to come back, despite what people said about him, what Kit knew deep down was the truth. Perhaps this was why he said nothing when the dreams started, Luke visiting him with seeds of doubt always revolving around one thing.

Everybody knows, Kit.

Ares never claimed Kit Dempsey. It was a fact everyone knew, and it wasn't something Kit could ever forget. Eventually, everyone else would get sick of hearing it, but how was the neglected child inside of Kit supposed to accept that his father hated him enough to leave him with a life of isolation. Luke pointing this out hurt. Truth be told, Kit would've preferred a punch to the gut over Luke taunting him with what he knew Kit feared.

Even Percy knows. Ares told him. Perfect Percy. Do you think Ares would've preferred him as his son?

Kit knew logically it was bullshit. If Percy was to die tomorrow, Ares would've been the first in line to spit on his grave. But that was the thing about fear. It was irrational but unavoidable.

I want to make things right for you, Kit. You're like my brother. I thought you felt the same, but you're not here so maybe you don't.

Luke would never find out just how wrong he'd been. Or maybe he was aware the whole time, and the part of him that opened up Kit's heart was lost long before he died. Kit would never know either way. He never got to speak to Luke one last time. The years went by, Kit fled Camp Half-Blood with Ethan, watched as Luke Castellan's soul -- the misguided boy, Kit's brother in every way that counted -- was replaced by Kronos and never really seen again. At least not by Kit. The last to see it, of course, was Percy Jackson.

No one would even notice if you left, Kit. What's stopping you from joining me?

Kit wasn't sure when he reached breaking point, when Luke's words became his thoughts and the rest became history. 

But even now, with Luke long gone and Kit standing on a battle-field much like the one his brother bled and died on, Kit's mind whispered with doubts planted eons ago. His first instinct was to fight, not just the urge in his heart that told him to run towards the commotion head-first, but to war against his own subconscious with the intent of protecting himself and himself only. Thalia's presence certainly didn't help any. Kit took one look at her face and the voice in his head became all the more distinct.

Who are you doing this for, Kit? RUN--

"Jason!" Thalia screamed, her voice almost drowned out by the roar of an Earthborn.

It had appeared in her path before she could reach them, a raised club in each of its six hands. Despite the fear, the instinct that Kit often struggled against, Thalia had everything under control. Pivoting like a gymnast, she was quick to notch an arrow into her bow as she landed on her knees several yards away. The arrow pierced the space between the Earthborn's eyes, and down, down, down the monster went until nothing but melted clay remained.

"Damn it!" she cursed and kicked the pile with evident bitterness. "That was my last one... Ugh! Stupid ogre!"

"Nice shot, though," Leo commented, starry-eyed.

Thalia didn't so much as look at him before launching herself at Jason and throwing her arms around his neck. "Just in time," she breathed out, looking very reluctant to let him go. Still, she did, and took an additional step back for good measure. Jason smiled. Thalia managed a grimace. "My Hunters are holding a perimeter around the mansion, but we'll be overrun any minute now."

Jason's smile was quick to fade into a frown. "By Earthborn?"

"And wolves," Thalia shuddered. "Lycaon's minions. Oh, also storm spirits--"

'But we gave them to Aeolus!" Piper protested.

"Who tried to kill us," Leo pointed out with a scoff. "Maybe he's helping Gaea again."

"Oh, he definitely is," Kit said. When Leo raised an eyebrow at him, he just shrugged. "What? Gaea does have the upper hand here. You'd have to be blind not to see it."

"Look, it doesn't matter right now," Thalia interjected. "Monsters keep re-forming almost as fast as we can kill them. We took the Wolf House with no problem, surprised the guards and sent them straight to Tartarus. But then this freak snow storm blew in." Something like realisation twisted in Kit's gut, like someone was poking around in his brain trying to remind him of something. "Wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we're surrounded. I don't know who or what is leading the assault, but I think they planned this. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera."

"Well, that definitely narrows it down," Kit grumbled.

"Where is she?" Jason asked -- well, more like demanded.

If Thalia disapproved of his tone, she didn't comment on it. "Inside," she answered instead. "We tried to free her, but we couldn't figure out how to break the cage. It's only a few minutes until the sun goes down. Hera thinks that's the moment when Porphyrion will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night, so if we don't free Hera soon..."

"Never thought I'd see the day where you willingly help Hera, Thalia."

Thalia regarded Kit with a grudging look of agreement. "To be honest, neither did I."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Jason prompted, returning his gaze to where the Wolf House loomed almost ominously. "Lead the way."

Thalia didn't need to be told twice. The four of them followed her into the ruined mansion, where Kit frankly had no idea what to expect. They didn't get very far, though, before things took a turn. No more than a minute had passed when Jason collapsed, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He swayed towards Kit, then when it became clear that Kit wasn't ready or eager to make sure he wouldn't hit the ground, Leo lurched forward to prop him up himself.

"Hey! None of that, man! What's wrong?"

Jason hesitated, his eyelids fluttering almost as fast as his mind was racing. "This place... sorry... it came rushing back to me."

"So you've been here," Piper confirmed what everyone was already suspicious of.

"We both have," Thalia answered for her brother. Her face was haunted, brows pulled into furrowed lines. "This is where my mum took us when Jason was a child. She left him here, told me he was dead. He just... disappeared."

"She gave me to the wolves, at Hera's insistence," Jason filled in the missing pieces when Thalia trailed off tearfully. "She gave me to Lupa."

"That part I didn't know," Thalia mumbled. "Who's Lupa?"

She didn't get to hear Jason's answer, if he even had one, before an explosion threatened to upend the mansion roof on their heads. A cloud of smoke drifted through the archway behind them, followed by a cold blast of air that raised the hairs on Kit's arms. He pulled Leo's jacket tighter around himself, directing his eyes towards the boy in question as he inched closer to Kit's side.

"Maybe this isn't the time for questions," he chuckled nervously. Making a show of clapping his hands together, he turned to Thalia, "Show us the Goddess."

For a while, they walked in tentative silence, casting weary glances at every shadow-shrouded corner like they expected Porphyrion to be lying in wait. As he slowly gathered his memories, putting the pieces together like some sort of complex thousand-piece puzzle, Jason took the lead instead of Thalia, eventually bringing them to a courtyard of sorts. In the centre was a dip, a pool without water, with spires of rock and root tendrils splintering through the surface. Between the spires was a hulking figure, an unfortunately familiar giant rising waist-deep from the Earth.

And on the other side of the pool was Hera. She shattered the silence as she beat her fists against her prison, shaking the bars of a thickly-woven cage. She went quiet at the sight of them, her eyes narrowing into an attempt at a fearsome glare. Despite the look, Leo cackled with delight, dropping into the pool to approach the cage. Reluctantly, Kit followed after him.

"Hola, Tía. You in a little bit of trouble?"

"Don't inspect me like I'm one of your machines, Leo Valdez," Hera huffed, folding her arms across her chest, as if she had the room to be difficult with them. "Get me out of here!"

"Or we could leave her for a while," Kit suggested, plastering on a shit-eating grin that Hera immediately recognised.

The Goddess' nostrils flared like a dragon ready to breathe fire. "You."

"Ah, Hera, how I've missed you so."

Thalia intervened with a pointed glance between the two of them. "We tried everything we could think of, Leo, but maybe my heart wasn't in it. If it was up to me, I'd just leave her in there."

"For once, we're in agreement, Thalia," Kit smirked.

Hera snarled. "Thalia Grace, when I get out of here, you'll be sorry you were ever born."

"Save it," Thalia snapped before the Goddess could even think about moving onto Kit. "You've been nothing but a curse to every child of Zeus for ages. You sent a bunch of intestinally challenged cows after my friend, Annabeth--"

"Ah, good times," Kit sighed as Hera insisted, "She was being disrespectful!"

"And you dropped a statue on my legs," Thalia continued like neither of them had interrupted.

"It was an accident..."

Thalia shot her a disbelieving look. "And you took me brother! Here, on this spot." All of a sudden, things had gotten very uncomfortable. For Kit, at least. He didn't know where to look; at Thalia's teary eyes, Jason's upset frown, Hera's impatient sneer. Everything was tense, fuelled by emotion. "You ruined our lives, Hera. We should be leaving you to Gaea!"

Before the Goddess could make things worse by responding, Jason reached out to squeeze Thalia's hand. "Hey, Thalia, sis... I know. But this isn't the time. You should help your hunters."

"Fine," it pained Thalia to do it, but she'd back down, and just because Jason asked her too. Kit had the feeling she'd do anything for him, even if it put her own life in peril. "For you, Jason. But if you ask me, she isn't worth it."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, leaving the air to shift into uncertain silence. At last, Leo turned back to Hera, regarding her with a sense of respect that Kit quite frankly didn't understand. "Intestinally challenged cows?"

"Focus on the cage, Leo," she scowled. As Leo got to work, she turned to Jason. "You are wiser than your sister. I see I chose my champion well."

Something about the word champion rubbed Jason the wrong way. Scowling, he snapped, "I'm not your champion, lady. I'm only helping you because you stole my memories and you're better than the alternative." At the mention of Porphyrion, five pairs of eyes glanced over at the giant, who had risen so that part of his thighs now peeked out of the ground too. Not long now. "Speaking of which, what's going on with that?"

"That, Jason, is the King of the Giants being reborn."

"Gross," Piper grimaced, and Kit had to agree.

Well, until Hera also voiced the same sentiment.

There was nothing more mind-changing than spite and a sense of determination.

"Porphyrion is the strongest of his kind," Hera continued. "Gaea needed a great deal of power to raise him again. My power. For weeks, I've grown weaker as my essence was used to grow him a new form."

Leo's eyes brightened, and a shit-eating grin tugged at his lips. "So you're like a heat lamp. Or fertiliser."

Kit snickered. "Definitely fertiliser. Good job, Valdez. Can't believe I didn't think of that one myself."

Hera scowled, fists curling around the bars like she was imagining they were the boys' necks. "Joke all you wish," she said. "But by sundown, it will be too late. The giant will awake. He will offer me a choice; marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be destroyed. And as we die, Gaea will awaken."

"I mean, I don't see why you can't just take one for the team," Kit shrugged. "Is marriage seriously worse than death? I thought that was your thing..."

"Enough!" Hera howled, having reached her wit's end. "So help me, Kit Dempsey--"

"What?" he sneered. "Last I checked, you were in there and I'm out here."

"Why, you--"

"Can't we blow it up or something?"

Cue Leo cleaning up Kit's messes, as usual.

"Without me, you do not have the power," Hera struggled to tear her glare away from Kit's belligerent smirk. "You might as well try to destroy a mountain."

"Well, we've done that once today," Jason pointed out with a bemused frown.

Hera whined, a sound caught somewhere between undying rage and a wounded animal taking its last breaths. "Just hurry up and let me out!"

All too aware of the Goddess waiting for them, Jason turned to Leo and asked, "Leo, can you do it?"

"I don't know!" he sighed, wincing when Hera's eyes narrowed, again. "Besides, if she's a Goddess, why hasn't she busted herself out?"

"Oh, use your brain, Leo Valdez," Hera huffed at him. "I picked you because you're intelligent. Once trapped, a God's power is useless. Your own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg, beg him for my freedom and apologise for throwing him off Olympus."

"Sounds fair," Leo muttered.

"I've watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you."

Kit was sure that was the nicest thing Hera had ever said to a demigod. The Gods only knew she wouldn't be making a habit of it.

"But it's not a machine," Leo protested, tearing at his hair like he was beginning to lose his mind. It was then that he gasped, freezing. "Wait! Hold on. I do have an idea. Piper, I'm going to need your help. And we're going to need time."

As it so happened, time was the one privilege they did not have. In mere seconds, everything went wrong. Surprise, surprise. The last of the room's heat drained from the air, frost coating the walls in a way that confirmed Kit's suspicions. The door slammed open as a blur of venti rushed in, this time shaped like horses that crackled with bolts of lightning. Behind them came an army of wolves and Earthborn, two monsters allying to face one common enemy.

One severely outnumbered common enemy.

Kit's sword felt useless but he held it up anyways. At the same time, Piper drew her dagger and came to stand by his side, Jason following with an ice-covered plank of wood he'd snatched off the floor. Leo searched his tool belt and through the mess of useless bits and bobs, he finally managed to draw out a hammer. The four stood facing the masses -- waiting for what, Kit didn't know -- when one of the wolves broke in front of the others and dropped a statue of ice from its mouth. Thalia. Kit knew it was her before the surprised look on her face even registered in his brain.

"Thalia!" Jason cried, not thinking as he took an emotion-fuelled step forward. "Who did this? I'll kill you myself."

Khione laughed -- cackled -- the sound sending a chill down Kit's spine. He watched with furtive eyes as she stepped into the light behind her army of monsters. The rest gasped in shock. "Bonsoir, mes amis. Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? Why, I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."

Jason took another step forward, demanding, "What have you done?"

"Oh, so many things," Khione simpered. "Your sister's not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once." The wolves snarled their agreement, prompting Khione's smile to widen, red-painted lips pulled across her teeth. "Your sister almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon, Porphyrion is going to arise, and we shall rule the world."

"Traitor!" Hera howled. For once, Kit was grateful the title wasn't directed at him. "You meddlesome, D-list Goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world."

If Hera's biting words affected Khione in any way, she did not show it on her face. "You are tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia."

Hera gasped, outraged, but the sound was drowned out by the crackling of ice encasing her cage, leaving no gaps between the bars for her to screech through. "That's better," Khione sighed at the sudden silence. "Now, demigods, about your deaths..."

"You're the one who tricked Hera into coming here," Jason accused. "You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus."

A flicker of impatience reared its head as the wolves started and the storm spirits cackled, waiting eagerly to begin their attack. Khione didn't so much as spare them a glance as she raised her hand, an order for them to be silent. "Patients, my loves. If he wants to talk, what does it matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side." One-by-one, they went quiet, and Khione allowed her attention to return to Jason. "Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It's easy for me to whisper to the other Gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus's ear that he should issue an order to kill demigods. It is a small service for Gaea, but I'm sure I will be well rewarded when her sons and the giants come to power."

It was foolish, but in a sick and twisted sort of way, Kit understood Khione's eagerness to appease Gaea. She wanted her favour, and was willing to do anything to get it. Praise like that was hard to come by; from strangers, from fathers... Kit detested the thought of understanding Khione, but he couldn't deny that he did.

"You could've killed us in Quebec," Jason pointed out, confused. "Why let us live?"

Khione sighed like it should've been obvious. "Messy business, killing you in my father's house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would've been lovely if he'd agreed to turn you to ice. But once he'd given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn't openly disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he's still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the throne of the North Wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail."

"And to help us with that," Leo scowled, "You knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head... that was your fault. You're gonna pay for that."

"You're also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us," Piper added, remaining unphased despite Khione's laughter. "We've been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip."

"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!" Khione grinned with delight. "Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to ask Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House." Khione smiled at Jason; like Hera, she saw him as her champion, just for entirely different reasons. "You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood... well, some more than others. They'll believe the Greeks have conspired with giants. It will be just... delicious."

"You'll set demigods against demigods."

"As I told you, I only encourage what you would do anyway."

"But why?" Piper frowned, shooting the woman a beseeching look. Power trickled into every word, like a lullaby soothing a child into sleep. Khione's army shifted restlessly. "Khione, you'll tear the world apart. The giants will destroy everything. You don't want that. Call off your monsters."

Khione laughed, but Kit wasn't the only one to notice that she hesitated beforehand. The four of them exchanged a look as Khione scrambled for control. "Your persuasive powers are improving, girl. But I am a Goddess. You can't charm-speak me. We wind Gods are creatures of chaos! I'll overthrow Aeolus and let the storms run free. If we destroy the mortal world, all the better! They never honoured me, even in Greek times. Humans and their talk of global warming. Pah! I'll cool them down quickly enough. When we retake the ancient places, I'm going to cover the Acropolis in snow."

Realisation dawned on Kit at the same time as it hit Leo. The latter's eyes blew wide, "The ancient places... that's what Enceladus meant about destroying the roots of the Gods. He meant Greece."

Kit's stomach twisted as Khione regarded Leo with an impressed smile. Slowly, she creeped closer, a viper hissing venom, "You could join me, son of Hephaestus. I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these three were to die. Reject that ridiculous destiny the Fates have given you. Live and be my champion instead. Your skills would be quite useful."

For a heart-stopping moment, Leo seemed to genuinely be considering it. Kit's eyes caught his, and Leo burst into laughter, the kind that shook his shoulders, made his eyes bead with tears. "Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can't believe I thought you were hot."

Kit's stomach went warm, like his insides were melting into mush. He smirked as Khione roared with anger. "Hot? You dare insult me? I am cold, Leo Valdez! Very, very COLD--"

Snow met fire in a fight for dominance. Khione's face burned red as Leo created a barrier of flames against her sleet of snow, steaming the ice until it dissolved into a steamy cloud of smoke that clogged Kit's lungs. He coughed, waving a hand in front of his face until the air began to clear revealing Khione's stupefied expression.

"See, lady?" Leo grinned. "That's what happens to snow in Texas. It freaking melts."

Any other time, Kit would've judged him for his joke. But it served its purpose, worming its way beneath Khione's skin until she looked ready to blow a fuse. "Enough of this! Hera is failing! Porphyrion is rising!" With that, she turned to her army and screamed,

"Kill the demigods! Let them be our king's first meal."

The wolves didn't hesitate. They were closely followed by the Earthborn, who paused to mould mounds of earth into spears and swords of stone. Kit raised his own weapon once again, inhaling to calm the erratic beat of his heart.

And then he charged.

It was hard to describe the feeling in Kit's chest whenever he stepped into battle. In a war of logic and emotion, everything seemed to slow and speed up at once. Kit's senses focused on his hands, on the way he gripped his sword, the feeling of it ripping through flesh and bone as one monster fell after the next. The sounds around him went quiet, until the only thing he heard was the even thump, thump, thump of his chest. In seconds, he was surrounded by a ring of fallen bodies, wolves with their teeth still bared in one last fruitless attempt. Earthborn without arms or heads whose bodies slowly melted back into the Earth they'd come from.

For once, Kit felt solely in control.

Until he saw Leo facing off against Khione, just the two of them, fire and ice battling for one last victory over the other. Everything seemed to weaken then. The sword in his hands, the way the world went quiet. His friends' screams, the wolves roaring, Khione summoning ice dagger after ice dagger to blast at Leo's chest. Everything returned like the way a person's ears would pop on an aeroplane. He didn't hesitate, fighting his way through the chaos until he could reach Leo's side.

Kit wouldn't watch him die. He couldn't.

But as it so happened, Leo was handling himself far better than Kit could've expected. By the time the son of Ares had reached him, his whole body had been engulfed with red tongues of flame that advanced on Khione like swords of his own creation. Khione was forced to back away, her calm expression faltering into panic as Leo melted the last of the ice around them and left her defenceless.

"You're too late," she snarled, just loud enough for Kit to hear. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan is never going to work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can ever stop us."

"Leo," Kit called, and Leo's eyes turned to him almost immediately. "Do me a favour and shut her up."

Leo grinned, the expression saying with pleasure. Khione twisted into a blur of snow as Leo set his hammer ablaze and sent it spiralling towards her. The fire struck its mark, and snow rained down like a waterfall, leaving a steaming mound of mush in its wake.

At the same time, Jason and Piper joined them, the last of the Earthborn and wolves piled up behind them. Together, the four demigods regarded Hera, who was peering at them through the melting ice on her cage. "Oh, don't mind me!" she scowled. "Just the Queen of the Heavens dying over here!"

"Wow, really?" Kit deadpanned. "I never would've known."

"Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?" Leo added with a confused frown.

"No, you dolt. The earth is claiming me! Hurry up!" The last of the ice melted away under Leo's hands. What he revealed was admittedly concerning, even to Kit. Hera's legs had been encased by the Earth, liquid rock hardening up to her knees. Hera's face grimaced with pain. "The giant wakes! You only have seconds!"

"On it," Leo nodded, and quickly kneeled in front of her. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

"What?"

"Talk to it," he repeated, much to Kit's amazement. "Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep, or lull her into a daze, just slow her down! Try to get the tendrils to loosen while I..."

Trailing off, he just gestured at Hera's sulking form. "Right," Piper nodded, then leaned in closer to whisper at the bars, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

Kit wasn't sure if it was making much of a difference, for Leo had started searching through his tool belt and was growing more frantic with every wasted second. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in!" He handed Kit a circular saw, which Kit held up with a confused frown just as a spirit horse zipped through the air towards them. Kit shrieked, stumbling back a step as electricity crackled beside him, but the horse made no move to attack as it whinnied something in Jason's direction.

"Really?" the blonde boy frowned in response.

Kit gaped at him incredulously. "You befriended that thing? Are you kidding me?"

"That thing is called Tempest," Jason's frown shifted into a scowl. "And I befriended you, didn't I?"

Kit wasn't prepared to break down that -- he frankly wasn't sure whether or not to be offended -- and thankfully he didn't have time to think about it as the circular saw suddenly whirred to life in his hands. Kit flinched, nearly dropping the thing on Leo's head. Looking down, he realised that Tempest the spirit horse had offered his flank as a charging port, allowing the prongs of the plug to connect with a bolt of lightning shooting through him.

"Sweet!" Leo exclaimed. "Your horse comes with AC outlets!"

He reached for the saw in Kit's hands but pulled back all of a sudden when, behind them, the other spire crumbled like a tree snapping in half. Stone and wood splintered through the air, and the group scattered as Porphyrion finally rose from the Earth. He was clad in bronze armour, with scaly dragon legs similar to Enceladus. With daggers, axes, swords of all ages hanging from his belt, he was well and truly ready for war.

And if he had his way, they would be his first victims.

"Alive!" he roared, loud enough that Kit's ears began to ring. "Praise to Gaea!"

Well, shit.

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A/N: Softcore by The Neighbourhood gives me major Kit and Leo vibes... just saying...