Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 14: Hydra Blood

The monster roared and I glanced back at the opera house, frowning when I noticed that the group inside was frozen solid, like statues. “We can’t have the mortals panicking now can we?” Helios called before laughing. “It’s a real shame. You could have been great Helen. The new Titan of the forge,” he said before shaking his head. “You cling to mortality, in hopes of what?” He asked, the Hydra moving towards Amanda and I. I swallowed nervously before scowling and moving forward.

“Mortals are needed to keep the world in order,” I began, but he laughed before aiming at me with his hand then firing off a ball of fire. I threw myself to the ground and it passed over me, heading over to a wall and hitting it hard. The wall began to crumble and I gaped in horror before looking to Helios and narrowing my eyes in anger.

“You’re a fool,” he said with something akin to disappointment in his voice. “You see the world in shades of black and white, you refuse to see it like how it really is. You and I, we have more power than our parents. We are strong. We are rulers. You don’t need to do this!” He said while Hydra moved forward, roaring to the sky before attempting to bite into Amanda. Amanda instantly shot off like a rocket, summoning her whip and cracking it down in front of the Hydra. The Hydra flinched back and I glared at Helios, feeling power gather in my own hands.

“I’ll never join you,” I said lowly, watching as he shook his head before sighing softly.

“You’re so stupid. You can be so much more! You don’t need the gods. Were the gods there when you grew up? Were they their when you were a baby? We’re they there when you lost your leg?” He asked, smirking when I faltered. “I thought not. Why help them when they’ve done nothing for you?” He asked before waving his hand and firing three blasts of fire at me. I flinched and raised my hands, watching as a brown energy shield appeared in front of me and the fire hit it. I slid back, wincing before moving forward and glaring. “A pity, you could actually make a difference. If only you and Atlas could see it,” he said before raising his hand. I looked up and paled when a large fireball came down from above almost crushing me. I barely was able to stop it, wheezing then falling to my knees and gritting my teeth in pain as he began to bear down with more energy.

“You think I’m some kind of idiot?” I growled out, pushing up and concentrating on the crest, hidden within my dress. The crest instantly activated and I felt my clothing change into the armor Hephaestus had gifted me. “I’m smarter than you think!” I snarled, shoving up and tossing the fireball to the side. It crashed into the Hydra, which was closing in on Amanda, and I turned to Helios, creating a ball of fire of my own and launching it at him. He yelled out in shock and panic, throwing himself to the ground while I summoned my shield and the second weapon I had been given, a war hammer. “Amanda call the others!” I yelled, narrowing my eyes on the downed man before beginning to move forward.

“Astounding,” Helios said softly, lifting his head before looking at me and laughing almost crazily. “You have so much power and all it’s going to do is grow!” He cackled before pushing himself up and shaking his head. “You think that’s all I have? I’ve been gaining power too,” he said with a dark smile, waving his hand and creating a dome of fire around him and me. I winced at the intense heat and ground my teeth, watching as he began striding forward, his clothes changing into a golden set of hoplite armor. His head had a golden circlet on it and he shook it before jumping up into the air. “You are interesting demi god,” he said before cackling again. “Too bad I have to destroy you!” He yelled before firing a ball of pure red energy at me. I jumped, rolled and brought up my shield as he fired again, the energy hitting the shield and almost knocking me back into the fire around us. I quickly stood and jumped out of the way of another blast of pure red energy, before blocking three arrows that came out of his fingertips.

He launched another ball of energy at me and I used my other hand to grab the handle of my hammer and sidestepped it, hitting the energy with the head of my hammer and launching it back. His eyes widened and he moved to the side while I aimed with my hand and fired a reddish brown ball of energy at him. He noticed it a second too late and it slammed into his chest, knocking him into the fire dome and causing him to yell out. “You little-,” he growled out before glaring at me. “That’s the only hit you’re going to get,” he snarled before moving both of his hands into the fire dome. He tugged out a bow and arrow set before taking aim and firing at me. I stumbled back and the ground exploded as soon as it hit the area in front of me.

I deflected two more arrows before grunting when a pillar of fire came from above and almost hit me. Sweat began to pour down from my face, soaking my armor and I looked up, noticing the opening at the top. I looked back at Helios and cried out in pain when an arrow hit my shoulder and knocked me down, my hand grabbing the area. He laughed and I pulled the arrow out before looking at it nervously. “I don’t need tricks demi god. If I’m going to kill you then it’s going to be by my own hands,” he said before aiming at me again. I scowled and threw the arrow to the side before standing, blocking the next arrow with my shield before looking up. I needed to get out. Crouching, I jumped and winced as my back burned slightly before I realized I wasn’t going back down. “You have got to be kidding me,” he growled out, but I took that moment to escape, flying out of the dome and sighing in relief at the cool air that hit me. I scanned the ground and found Elei, Zoey and Ginger were helping Amanda disable the Hydra.

The three heads it began with had multiplied to ten, but they were beginning to close the wounds from where they had cut the heads off. I grinned and turned back, flinching when I found Helios was in front of me. “You flew too close to the sun,” he whispered before a blast of energy to the chest threw me into the Hydra. I hit its side hard and coughed, wheezing as I tried to breath, looking up and coughing again as he marched towards me. “You could have done so much good in the new world Helen,” he said in almost a disappointed tone of voice. I winced and gritted my teeth, raising a hand and aiming at him shakily. “You’ve lost child! You have no more power and I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you,” he laughed before kicking my hand to the side. I narrowed my eyes before digging deep down and sucking in a deep breath, wincing at the burning in my throat and stomach.

Leaning in, he smirked down at me, but I blew into his face, fire coming from my mouth. He screamed in pain, stumbling back and grabbing at his face while I coughed and wheezed a bit, swallowing to get the rest of the fire to stop. I heard a growl and looked over, groaning as one of the Hydra heads focused on me and began trying to get to me. Elei cut through it before burning the wound closed then running over. “Oh god. Helen…did you just breathe fire on him?” She asked frantically.

“Yeah,” I wheezed. She shook her head while Amanda and Zoey ran over, Ginger following and tossing the still screaming Helios a look.

“We need to move!” She yelled. Zoey scooped me up and Amanda shot me a nervous look before gasping. I looked over and stared in shock as Helios lifted his head and glared at us, part of his face burned and marred. It began to heal and he roared in rage, his hands curling into fists before he looked to Hydra and sneered.

“You’ve made a grave mistake demi god. I will not pull my punches next time we meet,” he growled before disappearing in a swarm of fire. I groaned lightly as everything swam before I passed out, listening to the others panic.

When I woke up, we were back in the hotel and I groaned before sitting up, hissing in pain when my shoulder pulled. I frowned and looked around before leaning back against the pillows I had been propped up on. I glanced about before focusing on Ginger, who was in the middle of eating and looking at some kind of map. “What are you doing?” I asked, watching as she jumped before looking at me with wide eyes and heading over.

“Hey how are you feeling?” She asked back, placing a hand onto my forehead. I frowned and shrugged, hissing when I jostled my shoulder and pain lanced through it. She laughed lightly before shaking her head and gently unbuttoning the top of my shirt just a bit. I frowned when I realized I was in some black baggy flannel pajamas and she looked over my thickly wrapped shoulder before shaking her head. “Well you haven’t popped the stitches so that’s good. We need to change the bandages and I’ll fill you in on what happened after you fought Helios two days ago,” she said. I frowned in shock before shaking my head and letting Ginger help me without complaint.

“So what happened?” I asked after she finished cleaning then bandaging my wound and began throwing the used bandages away. She was frowning and looked to me before shaking her head.

“You passed out and we all got really worried. Your body suddenly began to heat up and we tried giving you an ice bath, but you started screaming as soon as you touched the water. We managed to get into contact with your father and he said it was normal. You just needed to be kept comfortable,” she said before shaking her head. “You slept for two days, but we got info on the brothers. They have a shop that’s been vacant for a while now. We’re allowed to look around for clues,” she said. I nodded and rubbed at my shoulder before letting her help me up from the bed and over to where our bags were. “Dress for the cool weather, it’s gotten really cold,” she said softly. I nodded and she helped me change before leading me to the front area of the hotel room, where Zoey, Elei, and Amanda were talking to one another.

“If she gets any worse then we have to take her to a hospital,” Elei said with a frown on her face.

“We can’t afford a setback,” Zoey began. Amanda looked ready to snarl at her, but noticed me and relaxed, a small smile appearing on her face.

“We don’t need to worry about that. Look. She’s up and about,” Amanda said before laughing, walking over and hugging me tightly and whimpering. “Oh god I thought you were dead,” she sniffled. I hugged her back the best I could and gave Elei and Zoey a tired smile.

“I’m not down for the count. I still have fight in me left. Let’s head to where the brother’s shop is and get looking for some clues,” I said before gently prying Amanda off.