CHAPTER FOUR: THE GODSLAYER

( mark of athena )

✲*'。

HERA KNEW IT WAS only a matter of time before the god-slayer came for her.

She had seen the signs, seen the way the madness was beginning to creep, seep it's way into her daughters veins. Ever since Kronos revealed her parentage, ever since he spoke the truth that Hera had hidden away, a carefully locked vault inside Ezra Min was awakened. Instead of chaos coursing through her veins, the power of old seeped through her being.

There was a reason Hera never had a demigod child; the reputation that preceded her, now passed to her daughter, like a crown being passed off to it's heir.

The sweet girl Ezra used to be never stood a chance against the madness.

If anything, Hera was impressed, her daughter had managed to starved against the madness for nearly seven months before she crumbled. Ezra Min was like no other child the Queen of the gods bore; she was the child that would herald her into the golden age. It was a pity she was a demigod, and not one of her children by Zeus.

Her bastard child would be the harbinger of such glorious carnage, the saviour of the Min's and the seven. Her daughter was wired differently to her sisters by choice, her fellow demigods. Ezra Min was calculated, cold and vengeful, Kronos had what was coming to him when his granddaughter dealt his final blow.

But of course, Kronos did not leave the world without the last word. Hera's bastard may have won the war, but her actions would cost her. Ezra Min's sanity, that had been barely holding, teetering slowly but surely towards madness that had burst like a dam.

Hera's carefully kept secret was bared to the world.

It was only a matter of time before the godslayer; as Apollo had decreed her in his many poems, would come. In their brief meeting before the Winter Solstice, when the lost hero, his companions and the remaining Mins saved her, Hera had sent her daughter away with the flick of a wrist. She couldn't avoid the unavoidable forever; she sure as hell wouldn't be having it that day however.

So, three months later, when Hera awoke to Kronos' scythe pressed against her throat, a smirk coated her lips. The godslayer had come for her after all.

"I do believe I owe you some answers, do sit my darling daughter. We have a lot of ground to cover in such little time... Do sit."

✲*'。

SCREW WHAT SHE SAID PREVIOUSLY, Ezra Min had no intention of protecting sisters who were out to cause her bodily harm. Erza know's she is probably being dramatic, but given the circumstances, she wholeheartedly believes she in the right.

Here's some context:

From the moment Mel woke up in her arms, her baby sister had been unnaturally clingier; even more than she usually was. Ezra was like a mother duck, Melanie like her young, hiding behind her sister, avoiding her very confused boyfriend who couldn't get a word in thanks to Mel leeching herself to Ezra's side.

It really didn't help things when Annabeth arrived in her room, her footsteps were heavy and loud, a clear indication that the daughter of Athena was stressed.

"How is she?" Annabeth murmured, her fingers reaching forward to card their way through Ezra's loose locks. It was something she had seen the girls elder sister, Penelope, do a thousand times to help calm the daughter of Hera; a mechanism to help ground the overwhelmed demigod.

"She'll be fine," Ezra murmured, gently tracing her index finger around her sisters face. "Just a little gash."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Annabeth murmured, quietly mindful of the unconscious Melanie near them. "Her anniversary..."

Ezra's reaction was immediate, where her body had been slackened in a poor attempt of resting, her limbs tensed, ready for battle, her fingers itching for her bracelet. "Don't you dare bring that up, not now." She quietly snarled, fingers clenching where she had gripped Mel's hand.

Before every Ezra could rise on her haunches, allow her chaos to explode, she felt Melanie's soft hand squeeze hers gently in silent support.

"Ez..." The little demon crooned out, her hand reaching up to touch Ezra's cheek in a display of silent support. It was something Penelope used to do, an alternative technique to stroking Ezra's hair when the adopted daughter of Eris was too far gone to the chaos.

Ezra paused for a moment, listening intently to Annabeth's sigh of defeat. The daughter of Athena pressed forward, squeezing Ezra's shoulder before taking her leave.

Ezra deliberately waited until she could hear Annabeth was out of hearing ranging; until she could no longer make out the distant sound of Annabeth's sneakers meeting the ground in a desperate grasp for control as she made her to the top deck.

"She's gone Ez," Mel murmured, cocooning herself in between her sisters arms, burying her head into her sisters neck. Like she had done when they were younger, Ezra gently wrapped her own arms around her sisters shoulders, waiting for the moment Mel would implode.

"I don't like her," She half snarled like a vicious kitten, prompting an amused grin from the blind demigod. "First she's taking Leo away and now shes going to take our sister."

Huffing, Ezra ran her hand up and down Mel's back. "Mel, she has a boyfriend already, I highly doubt she's going after Leo ...." She shuddered in disgust at the mere thought. Ezra really did wonder what attracted her sisters to their buffoons of men.

"I'm being serious Ez!" Melanie whined, as she pulled herself from her sisters arms so she could jump up. Ezra sighed, slumping against the wall, as she listened to the rhythmic pace of her sisters gentle strides.

"I don't think you should be up walking," She warned as her fingers began to caress Penelope's pin.

Erza's words seemed to be the catalyst, the trigger that finally prompted Melanie to lose her cool, finally allowing the blazing fire to melt the ice.

"I can't do this anymore Ez!" Melanie shouted as she raced back to her sister, clumsily climbing onto the bed. "I'm so tired, I can't depend on anyone! Leo is obsessing over the girl that Annais is going to abandon us for! I don't want to burden you because Penelope's anniversary is coming up and I can't lose you too!" She broke off, sobs beginning to wrack her body as Ezra finally had enough.

Sitting forward, she pulled her baby sister forward so she was cradled in her embrace. It was awkward, Mel was taller and had longer limbs than Ezra herself, but it didn't matter. The sound of her sister's sobs, gnawed on Ezra, burning down her walls in an instant.

Ezra had been lucky; she and Penelope had seamlessly fit together from the get go. Their hearts fought as one, beating the same tune as the two connected as one. Penelope had been like her mother, her sister and her best friend all inter-connectively. Penelope had been half her soul, and with her death a part of Ezra's soul died along with her.

For the first time in almost a year, Ezra felt those long dormant instincts tiding over, like an undiscovered plot of land hidden away by the sea. Melanie Min was adrift, crying out for help.

Ezra refused to fail another sister.

Which brought her to the current moment; being tethered to none other than the idiot Leo Valdez.

From the moment Mel begged her to go on this damn quest, Ezra had been hiding out by the bow of ship, stubbornly ignoring Leo who hovered close behind her. For once, the fool was silent, almost sensing the tension in the air.

Behind her, the stairs creaked. Ezra huffed, leaning against the metal bow.

From beside her, Leo piped up in concern. "Is Jason—?"

"He's resting," Annabeth said. "Annais' keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."

Ezra cocked her head to the side as she heard Percy creeping up beside her. "Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?"

"Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—"

"Sorry?" Percy growled, his hands unintentionally coming to tightly rest on Ezra's shoulders. In response, in an attempt to cool his fiery temper, she gently hummed, placing a hand on his arm.

Annabeth moved towards them, a hand on her boyfriend's chest and the other on Ezra's hip. "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"

As Leo began to explain what actually happened, Ezra lent her body back against Percy, allowing her weight to help ground and stabilize him. She knew it wouldn't completely work, but she hoped that at least Percy wouldn't lose it with Leo.

That was Ezra's job; Leo had to suffer somehow for hurting Mel after all.

She wasn't called the godslayer for nothing....

"Perfect." Leo sighed with relief.

"What's perfect?" Annabeth said. "I could use some perfect about now."

Leo managed a smile. "Everything we need in one place. Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."

Of course things couldn't be so simple for the moment they got there, it wasn't a pretty landing. With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. Ezra had strapped herself down below with the others others strapped—except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail, yelling, "YEAH! Bring it on, lake!"

From where she sat down below, cushioned between Percy and Mel, Ezra dug her nails Percy's forearm, keeping her mouth stubbornly shut as she forced away the bout of nausea churning in her stomach.

From above, Leo rang the All clear bell, prompting a sigh of relief from the daughter of Hera.  Huffing, Ezra squared her shoulders and let go of Percy ignoring his pointed gaze of concern as she followed after Mel to the dining table.

Nobody spoke, what could they say?

Opposite her, Percy sighed, gently nudging Ezra's leg with his foot for comfort. "So we've landed," Percy said. "What now?"

Beside him, Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean...that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"

"The what?" Leo asked.

Frank explained how their harpy friend was freakishly good at memorizing books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.

Penelope would have loved her, she would have loved learning the knowledge hidden inside of Ella's mind. The thought alone made Ezra feel queasy. In a silent display of support, Melanie laid her head on Ezra's shoulder, ignortant to Hazel's curious stares.

"That's why you didn't tell the Romans," Leo guessed. "You didn't want them to get hold of her."

Percy didn't speak for a moment, his attention elsewhere. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want... It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."

Ezra sighed, feeling Annabeth reach over to lace her fingers with her own. "Let me think about the prophecy—but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"

"The easiest thing is tar." Ezra was glad to change the subject. She was sick of all of this and the bloody quest had just began. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

"Guys...I don't know what happened. Honestly, I—" Leo trailed off.

Annabeth hummed her agreement.  "We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been you, Leo. That cold feeling you mentioned...I felt it too. It must have been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened—"

After a gentle nudge from Annabeth, Mel spoke up. "It wasn't him, it was a spirit."

Frank grunted. "How can we be sure it won't happen again?"

"I'm fine now," Leo insisted. "Maybe we should use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Annais, Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team into town to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."

"Split up?" Percy said. "That sounds like a really bad idea."

"It'll be quicker," Hazel added in. "Besides, there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"

Ezra cocked her head to the side as Annabeth began to rub her palm up and down her wrist. "You're right. The same reason we needed the Argo II...outside camp, ten demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."

Percy huffed not one bit happy about it, but Ezra tensed as she felt him place his on her and Annabeth's intertwined hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."

He surely couldn't mean .... no, Ezra was just being foolishly hopeful.

Hazel spoke up, an optimistic tint to her voice. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"

Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I...I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Sa—with Leo and Melanie..." Before Hazel could say another word, Mel squeezed her shoulder hard. Hissing, Ezra growled out, "You're both with me. Mel's with Percy and Annabeth. We leave here in five minutes. Get ready."

Pulling her hand out from Percy and Annabeth's grip, Ezra Min stormed away, to gather the supplies she would need. All the while, she was cursing Mel's name under her breath wondering why she was doing this again.

( in the back of her mind, Ezra Min fought away the little voice arguing the point she was also doing this to avoid being around Percy and Annabeth.... )

✲*'。

AUTHORS NOTE: So after all of deliberation I decided to change Ezra's fc, and I'm high-key vibing with it!! This chapter is more of a filler for whats to come so my apologies for that but the next one is over 7K and will be out by Monday at the latest! To conclude, I just want to say a huge thank you for all the love being shown on Last Man Standing. Have a nice day/night!!