Where The Dead Ones Go Book 1 -Magistracy-

Chapter 7

"Aristaeus: Stinger Swarm!"

A massive number of bees are unleashed by the son of the god of bees on our direction that forced Morris to counter with a spell.

"Reach and torn, sunder, impale my opponent right now! Earth Element: Dust Needles!"

The moment he slammed his scythe on the ground, countless needles made of the soil erupted in front of him and wiped out the bees of the Cretonian who shifted to a more offensive abilities of his father in defiance.

"Aristaeus: Nectar Flow!"

A flood of sticky honey erupted from the ground and made its way toward us.

"s**t! Run, Vivet!" Morris ordered as we went on the opposite direction only to be ambushed by a son of Ares who raised his spear and charged right at us.

My companion is clearly showing signs of fatigue because he keeps on slinging spells left and right to defend us. 

"Athena: Shield of the Enlightened!"

A flash of gray light erupted and a steel shield appeared between us and the charging child of the god of war. The spear hit it and the attacker was repelled in such force, he was sent flying almost half a kilometer away from us.

"Stop and cease, freeze, immobilize my enemies! Ice Element: Glacial Tundra!"

The flash flood of honey heading towards us are frozen solid and the son of Aristaeus decided to try another target instead of us.

"What are you doing?!" a familiar voice shouted at us and the girl who smuggled us inside appeared next to us in an explosion of snow, "Keep moving! You two are sitting ducks begging to be attacked right now! You are barely halfway. It's too early to take a rest!"

Before we can answer, several trees erupted from the ground and began producing fruits right before our eyes, "Demeter: Fruit Typhoon!"

Numerous mangoes began to pelt us painfully that forced us to separate from the daughter of Athena who used her sword to cut the trees in half before charging at the son of Demeter who tried to entangle her in vain.

"We better follow her advice, Vivet! The longer we stay here, the worse it will be!" Morris said as he grabbed my hand again and dragged me away from Triton's daughter who is sending us fearsome water creatures in vain attempt to take us out.

"Triton: Parading Fishes!"

From the puddles appeared several fearsome sharks of all sizes made of water lunging at us at incredible speed and following us from any bodies of water we ran into.

"Sheets of ice and glaciers, converge, protect those whom I hold dear! Ice Element: Cold Shelf!"

A massive wall made of ice appeared out of thin air effectively cutting us off from Triton's son and giving us a brief moment of respite.

"Damn it, why the hell am I helping you two when we are enemies?!" a voice of a boy asked from behind us and we saw our frail new friend sighing, "Well, no matter. Just keep on going! Rebie is located just a few meters ahead of us, preparing to knock us all out here!"

He then created an ice ramp and slid through it on his way back to his comrades who obviously questioned his decision to help me and Morris but he just shrugged them off before casually collapsing the ice wall he made and using it to push me and my companion towards the direction of the attacking coalition of the Scythians and Anoixians.

"Brace yourself, Vivet. Rebie is leading them!" he warned me and indeed we saw the new close friend of Taurei and Narcine heading the charge and is now outstretching her hands to attack us, "This is a big spell. After I cast this, I am sure I will practically drain more than half of my reserves. However, I am sure that if we get past them, we will be halfway through our goal. The headmistress is located true north of where we are. The moment I unleashed this, we will run straight ahead. Got it?"

"Got it," I answered calmly as I steeled myself and hold my rust-covered staff close to my heart as he planted his rusty scythe on the ground defiantly and looked straight ahead.

"Rise and crush them, pulverize, rolling rocks smite my foes! Earth Element: Reigning Rockslide!"

We heard Rebie's loud echoing incantation and sure enough, massive boulders rose up from behind her and began raining down on us.

"Eternal and moving, rise, conquer and divide those who stand against us! Earth Element: Tectonic Plates!"

Morris coughed blood after chanting the incantation and to my surprise, gigantic rectangular slabs of earth emerged from the ground by the hundreds and stood up defiantly against the raining boulders of Rebie which crashed onto it and crumbled apart.

"Not yet!" my companion shouted as he slammed his hands on the ground, "Stumble and fall, crash, scatter the aggressors like dusts in the eternal winds! Earth Element: Collapsing Wall!"

The very slabs of earth he summoned began to c***k and dismantle itself towards the group of Rebie who is deflecting it with walls of fire and earth giving us enough time to slip past them.

I grabbed Morris' scythe and put his right arm over my shoulders and we began to move past the panicking Scythians and Anoixians still trying to find cover from the falling walls of my companion.

"Amphitite: Delivering Waves!"

To my horror, I saw the daughter of the goddess of the waves sending a crashing wave of water towards us and I thought we are a goner but instead of drowning us, it carried us away from her group as she raised an eyebrow at us before facing the incoming horde of the triple alliance of Auralians, Pagosians and Cretonians.

"I'm sorry, Vivet. It seemed that I overestimated my reserves. I'm almost depleted," Morris thought as we wade through the raging battles of the children of Athena and Ares who are not paying us any attention as they fight to the bitter end, "Don't mind me, just leave me behind. I'll only slow you down."

I shook my head as we saw the smoke above the fighting children of the deities of war began to form the silhouette of their godly parents.

Above Gala and her siblings forms a gray feminine figure of a sixty feet tall woman dressed in full battle regalla holding a formidable spear and a shield with a head of a gorgon.

On the opposing side, a figure of a burly man riding a chariot pulled by giant horses appeared from the red smoke raising its sword in defiance to the woman pointing her spear at him.

"We've come this far together, Morris. I will not leave you behind," I said to him seriously as I decided to steer clear from the battle of the war spawns, "I've followed your lead earlier. Now you will follow mine. If we pick our paths carefully, we can at least get past them unnoticed and unhampered. Hopefully."

We managed to get around the first pair of demigods settling their personal differences with each other in a neverending dance of war where Ares' children will try to land a hit only for Athena's spawns to dodge at the last moment and launch a counterattack that is subsequently blocked.

And they go on and on with their fight signifying that mortals or immortals, the fighting may subside from time to time but it will never end as long as we exists.

"Well, will you look at that, Vivet," Morris thought in surprise as he pointed the path ahead of us that leads directly to the fight against the children of the agricultural Olympians, "It's like the forest is fighting the vines as odd as that sounds."

I looked at where he is gazing and to my surprise, he is right.

A giant plant version of the goddess of sustenance made of greeneries tower over the forest her children summoned from the ground in direct opposite of the god of grapes whose form is made of grapevines grown by his children.

Demeter's children called forth plants that tried to ensnare Dionysus' offsprings that defended themselves by erecting a wall of vines.

Their battle encompassed the whole field before us and there's nowhere else for us to go but forward, "As crazy as this might sound, we just have to push our way through. I hope you can at least run now, Morris."

"I think I can cast another spell, Vivet," he said before heaving a pained breath as  he try to steady himself, "Don't worry, this is not as big as the ones I unleashed earlier. We just need a path to follow. Allow me."

He raised his scythe in front of the encroaching forest and vines before chanting, "Chasm and depths, emerge, split away my adversries! Earth Element: Great Divide!"

Morris then slammed his scythe on the ground and the earth before us excavated a path that cleaved the forest in half.

"Run!"

I heed his order and we sprinted as fast as we can through the divide and when we reached the middle, the plants began to encroach again as the roots and vines tried to tangle us. Thankfully, we managed to move away at the nick of time as the path he created was overrun by greeneries as fast as he created it.

The moment we cleared the forest, we don't have time to take a breather as the next battlefield we found ourselves into was that of Hermes and Apollo's children who are fighting each other with arrows and curiously, exploding packages dropped down by the flying spawns of the god of messengers.

Apollo's silhouette can be seen as a glimmering figure of a handsome god glaring against the cloudy figure of a young hermes hovering with his children in the sky.

We decided not to tarry and longer and managed to sneak our way past them only to land smack dab in the middle of probably the most erratic and weird battle in the field.

It is a bitter and obviously very personal fight between the battle of the goddess of beauty's children and the smith god's spawns. 

As expected of Hephaestus' kids, they have natural affinity with fire and metal which they put into good news by raining down burning chunks of scrap irons down the makeshift barricade of Aphrodite's children who are surprisingly holding themselves rather well by using the surprisingly powerful abilities of their mother not limited to exploding handbags, poisonous perfume bottles and turning their enemies against each other.

A molten and burning figure of the lame god is standing behind his burly children directly facing the smoky pink figure of a very beautiful goddess looking down at her kids as if encouraging them to fight on.

"I'd rather face the last battles than this one, Vivet," Morris whispered in my mind as we discreetly and quietly walk our way around them and when we are in the clear, "I think that's it. We should be close to the headmistress right now. A few more steps and we're done."

I smiled at him and nodded. 

Who would've thought that a homeless, dirty and shaggy boy like him can be this powerful and dependable? I wouldn't even reach halfway if not for him. Judging by the strength and diversity of the earth element spells he can use, I can safely say that he is no ordinary young man. 

The sheer power to stop an entire horde of demigods is no small feat to say the least.

"Uhm, Vivet. I can hear your thoughts," Morris said in my mind that made me chuckle and sigh, "Well, I guess I'm happy that you managed to appreciate what  I have done for you. It feels so nice to feel needed and depended upon. Being with you is the happiest thing I've ever experienced ever since I woke up."

I nodded and took a deep breath, "I guess I could say the same thing to you. Now, all we have to do is give this to headmistress and we can head back to our office."

"Well, about that, Vivet. I think we are still not out of danger just yet," Morris suddenly said while looking up as I can see his eyes widen in fear, "I guess you could say that we have just stepped in the most dangerous part of the battlefield."

I blinked and looked at the sky above us and realized how close we were to our goals yet, so far. The final obstacles are nigh-impossible to overcome. 

Summoning storm clouds, Zenith, the son of Zeus flies high above the skies as the winds started to howl and electricity began to course through his body as he looked down at the son of his father's brother and eternal rival, Poseidon, Vaski, who is standing proudly on one of the dozens of towering earthen spires pointing towards the sky as if trying to reach it.

The two are the ultimate representation of Zeus and Poseidon's bitter feelings with each other. Poseidon will forever look up to the sky and will have to live eternally being only second to his younger brother who rules over the heavens while he commands the seas.

"I'm sorry, Vivet. It seemed that I'm at my limit. I have absolute confidence with my elemental prowess but in the end, it amounts to nothing compared to the heirs of the kings of the heavens and seas," Morris said sadly as he just sat on the ground in defeat and leaned on his rusty scythe, "There's no way we can sneak past them without being blown into smithereens. I can already feel Vaski's absolute control over the ground right now and I doubt Zenith will just let us pass if I try to make a land bridge to the skies."

I looked at the other side of the two demigods and saw the throne of the headmistress directly north of us. It is located at the highest box of the collosieum and is guarded by dozens of security details.

"So close..."

My companion smiled as Zenith suddenly unleashed a lightning strike aimed directly at Vaski which didn't even move as it streaks towards him and at the last second, it diverted to one of his spires that acted as lightning rod and absorbed the electricity before crumbling to dust.

"The least I can do is use the last of my strength to protect you," he said as he touched the ground beside him calmly, "I know I promised I will help you to the bitter end but I don't want you to get hurt on my watch. Sorry for doing this but you have to stay put."

"Wait! Morris!"

He didn't bother listening to my plea as he began chanting, "Defiant and stalwart, protect, solid granite defend us from harm! Earth Element: Absolute Rampart!"

Slabs of smooth black granite erupted from the ground and surrounded the two of us. Shielding us from all directions before covering us completely.

"Stay safe, Vivet..."

I screamed when Morris lost consciousness in the pitch darkness prison we are in and I managed to catch him before he fell on the ground.

I rested his shaggy head on my lap as I sat at the middle of the cage he built for me. Repeated lightning strikes and rumblings of the ground tells me that a fierce battle is still raging outside my protective shell.

"Morris..."

I tried to talk to him in my mind but only defeaning echo of silence answered me. 

What I'm gonna do? Just wait here to perish? As strong and sturdy these granites that Morris summoned, it will easily crumble before the powers of the sons of Zeus and Poseidon.

I guess what I can do is wait for my eventual demise with my companion...

"Seriously, is this how you will end it all?"

I opened my eyes once again and looked around at the darkness inside our cage to find the voice that suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

This is not Morris' voice...

"Who are you, Vivet?" the voice asked in return, "Nothing but a useless deadweight from the beginning up until the very end? Always needing someone to help you. To hold your hand and protect you. First it's your foster mother, now, it's your new friend. Must you be always be at the mercy of others?"

"I..."

What the voice said was so true it hurts me so much. He is right, I am nothing but a deadweight.

Powerless and weak.

I always need someone to guide me.

To defend me...

"It is the truth," the voice agreed solemnly, "But must it always be true? You will do nothing to change that fact?"

"What can I do?!" I shouted angrily, "I can't change anything. I am what I am. Powerless and pitiable."

The voice laughed and to my surprise, shimmering dusts of white light appeared around me and Morris and it converged in front of me to form a familiar figure of a thin boy around my age with its back facing me.

"You can do everything, Vivet," he said encouragingly as he looked up at the darkness above us, "All you have to do is believe. Believe in yourself.  That's all you need to do."

A loud explosion was heard and the granite covering us was blasted away completely raining down slabs of stones over me and Morris.

I screamed and used my body to cover the head of my friend even at the cost of my own life.

The pain of being pummeled by countless stones is too much I was about to lose consciousness but I tried to cling on as much as I can and endure the seemingly neverending suffering I am being subjected to.

The least I can do is protect the one who lead me up until this point.

He did more than enough for me already. 

I will not let anything happen to him...