56 DESTINY
The sound of the Herspides' music echoed in his ears as he made his way up the mountain. The dragon heart was safely tucked away in his watch and a spartus carrying a Stygian Iron greatsword walked in front of him looking around for any threats. The Hesperides did mention that scaling the mountain would be his doom and Gaea had warned him that the Nemean Lion was the beginning of the end. He didn't want to go up with no help whatsoever but also wanted to save his dragon teeth. Though one spartus may seem useless knowing that Ladon levigated six of them numerous times, they were anything but. They were incredibly strong and dangerous but Ladon was Ladon.
He had acquired Luke's Blood and The Apples of Immortality, which he had no intention of handing over to Demeter. It didn't matter what tantrum she threw - she had tried to kill him twice. Moreover, It was an absurd request and he had other plans for the apples anyway. All he had left to do here was cut out the heart of the Titan Atlas, The Bearer of the Heavens, aka The General. It seemed simple enough but Gaea may always decide to mess things up for him.
A few minutes went by and he could now vaguely see the top of the mountain. Blocks of black granite - as big as houses, protruded from the ground while many a broken column littered the rocky earth, supporting the ghost of what was once a palace so grand that the one on Mount Olympus paled in comparison. Large bronze statues of the Elder Titans lay on the ground, half-melted. It was the work of Zeus' master bolt. The superweapon that cut Mount Othrys' height by half.
The summit was still a few hundred yards away where grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that rested on the back of a lone figure. It was too far away to make out his exact features but Athos knew exactly who that was.
Just then, the spartus' head jerked to the side and Perastos tightened over his body as though warning him. Without bothering to think twice, he rolled out of the way and turned invisible.
*BOOM*
A huge meat cleaver descended from the sky, bisecting the poor spartus in two and cutting a large gash into the earth. The weapon was followed by a large figure dropping from above, squashing the reforming spartus underneath its frosty-white draconic feet.
Leviathan immediately materialised in Athos' hands and he moved into a more battle-ready stance. Once the dust cleared, his assailant's aspect became much clearer. Contrary to what he expected, his attacker wasn't all that intimidating. He was a shrivelled, wizened giant whose slightly hunched back reduced his height by a few feet. Ratty grey hair slightly covered his milky white eyes that stared blankly at him. A tattered sackcloth tunic covered his body and his wrinkled face was devoid of any emotion. If not for the giant meat cleaver and his twenty-foot height, he would've looked like one of the homeless guys on the streets with a crippling drug addiction.
"I am Thoon, Ruler of Destiny and Butcher of Purysho. Fated to slay Fate and destined to take their place." His milky white eyes narrowed, staring straight at the invisible Athos. "I am the true FateBreaker! Yet a mortal dares to take my place?", his calm voice thundered.
Athos did not answer, slowly moving to the side but Thoon's eyes followed him.
"Do you really believe that such meagre magic can fool my eyes?"
'Fuck this mask!', Athos internally swore.
His mask's invisibility was quickly becoming useless the more powerful his enemies were. None of the powerful gods he met was fooled and Thoon was one of the Gigantes - Immortal beings born from the union of Gaea and Tartarus for the sole purpose of overthrowing the Gods. Porphyrion was the anti-Zeus, Polybotes was the anti-Poseidon and Alcyoneus was the anti-Hades. But Thoon? He was the most mysterious of all. He was born to slay the Fates themselves! Athos vividly remembered a chilling quote from Poryphyrion, "He will strangle the old ladies with his bare hands. He will shred their yarn and destroy their loom. He will destroy Fate itself!"
Thoon was physically much shorter than other Gigantes and did not possess the same absurd combat prowess of his brethren but his powers lay elsewhere. Powers that were never mentioned in the books.
"Never hurts to try. Did Gaea send you?", Athos asked, his sweaty palms gripping Leviathan harder. If it was any other Gigantes, he wouldn't be this worried. Thoon's presence in the books was fleeting at best. He could be the most powerful or the least powerful, but given his fated opponents, the latter option was unlikely. The one advantage he would have is that he was probably in a weakened state after being awakened for the Great Stirring.
"The Great Mother would've sent more of my brothers if they weren't still in deep slumber. She hates you with passion - second to only the Gods", Thoon grumbled and grabbed a large chunk of granite next to him. "I fail to see why. You are but a bug."
White flame swallowed the block of granite and it transfigured into a spear. Immediately, it shot towards Athos but shattered the moment it touched his duster. He grinned but the very next moment the pieces reformed into the very same spear, shattering against his duster once again.
"What is the point of this?", Athos asked, confused, as the spear reformed for the third time.
Thoon's wrinkled face grinned slightly and he waved his hand. The spear that was reforming for a fourth time stopped and disintegrated.
"Just showing you a sample of what I can do. I am the antithesis of the Fates. While they wield Fate, I wield Destiny. I changed the destiny of that rock to attack you.", Thoon's grin widened, "What if I change your destiny to die the moment you take your next breath?"
Athos' breath hitched.
"Living beings are tougher in my current state, but you have graciously given me a sample of your blood", Thoon bent down and grabbed the spartus that flailed about.
"Shit! Spartus! You're dismissed! Disintegrate!", Athos yelled but Thoon merely grinned wider.
"Too late. Die!"
The spartus was consumed by a white flame and Athos' heart skipped a beat. He refused to let fear consume him and he grit his teeth. With an internal 'Fuck it!', he charged toward Thoon hoping that his Khaos-tainted soul could mitigate whatever the Gigantes did but Thoon didn't seem to care. The Gigantes didn't bother protecting himself either.
One second passed.
Thoon's eyebrow twitched.
Two seconds.
Thoon's smile wavered.
Three seconds
Thoon frowned, realising that something was wrong but it was too late.
Athos leapt into the air boosting himself on the meat cleaver and his full mask morphed into the red half-mask. Leviathan's blade was aimed at the Giant's throat but Thoon managed to raise his left arm in time.
"ARRRGH!!!"
A large, old, wrinkled hand slammed into the ground and Thoon stumbled backwards, yelling in pain. Athos did not relent, swinging again and again earning howl after howl. Just as he was about to decapitate the Giant, Thoon stomped the ground, blasting him back in a surge of energy.
Athos tumbled and somersaulted backwards but managed to catch his footing fast enough.
"WHAT ARE YOU!! YOU....YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!", Thoon bellowed. "FINE! If I can't change your destiny....." White flame consumed his body, "I'll improvise."
Athos frowned. Thoon had altered his destiny, but how? If he could do that, couldn't he have changed his destiny in the books to 'I am destined to kill the Gods?' Or was there a price?
The white flame disappeared, leaving a Thoon who looked drained. Dust poured out of his wounds more furiously and he leaned on his weapon. He looked as though he would keel over and die right there, but the next moment, he stumbled forward and raised his cleaver.
Athos ignored it and hurled Leviathan at Thoon.
It missed.
"What!", Athos gaped. He could've sworn his aim was true.
"RAAAA!!!', Thoon yelled and he brought down his weapon coated with white flame. Athos wanted to snort at the attack. It was slow and clumsy. Thoon was really not good with weapons. He jumped to the side, dodging the attack.
"Huh?"
He looked up finding the cleaver still bearing down on him as if he had jumped right into the attack.
*BOOM*
***
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