Haunted || Leo Valdez

30 - Rebecca Gets Really Scary for a Second

Watching a giant about to slice his sort-of-almost-maybe-girlfriend to bits was not the highlight of Leo's day.

As Porphyrion raised his spear, Rebecca straightened and held up her blade, but Leo knew there was no way she could take it. He wanted to stop and tackle her out of the way, but one look from Hera and he knew he had to keep sawing.

Why wasn't she moving? Leo wanted to shout at her to get out of the way, but something told him not to.

It happened in slow motion. The moment the giant's spear met Rebecca's blade, it cracked in half.

Porphyrion looked at Rebecca in surprise. Maybe Leo was seeing things, but Rebecca seemed to be glowing with black light like she had in that vision he'd had that followed the one of Nate's death. He wondered if her eyes would be completely black if she turned around.

"It can't be!" Porphyrion exclaimed. The big guy looked completely terrified. "The spirit has not appeared in decades!"

"Surprise, giant," Rebecca said, and Leo felt a chill run up his spine. The voice that left Rebecca was not hers. It was the voice of something ancient, something evil, or at least dark, and Leo understood why Porphyrion was scared.

Even Hera looked nervous. "So that is why Hades refused to let us kill her."

"What are you talking about?" Jason demanded.

"She is the host of the Malignant Spirit," Hera explained. "A dark and ancient being descended from Chaos itself. Every time its host died, the Spirit would reincarnate, finding a new host. Some of the most evil figures in history have been the hosts of the Malignant Spirit, people such as Jezebel, Caligula, Attila the Hun, Ivan the Terrible, Elizabeth Bathory--"

"Wait, so Rebecca's evil?" Leo blurted.

"No, she merely has an evil spirit dwelling inside her and possessing her."

"Oh, thanks. That's much better."

"Should she be on fire like that?" Piper asked uneasily.

It was true, Rebecca was on fire. But this fire seemed like the complete opposite of Leo's fire. While his fire was bright orange and warm, melting away the snow Khione had summoned, Rebecca's was dark purple and cold, seemingly summoning the snow back.

"Hellfire," Hera said. "More destructive than Greek fire itself."

Rebecca blasted Porphyrion with the hellfire, causing the Giant to retreat a few steps. He tried summoning his spear again, but Rebecca was too quick for him. She charged the giant, slashing at his ankles with her swords and causing the giant to roar in pain.

The giant Porphyrion backed away. He said nothing, but he gave Rebecca one last look of hatred. His message was clear: Another time. Then he slammed his spear against the earth, and the giant disappeared into the ground like he'd dropped down a chute.

Rebecca stopped glowing. The Malignant Spirit must've stopped possessing her. She stood still for a few moments, then looked around, confused. Leo realized she had no idea what had happened. The wolves seemed to notice the Malignant Spirit was no longer a threat and was in fact vulnerable. Growling and snarling, they pounced on Rebecca viciously. She could barely keep up with them.

"No!" Leo shouted. His saw ripped through the last of the earthen tendril.

"Sleep!" Piper said, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring.

The stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo had sawed through the base of the thickest tendril and cut off the cage's connection to Gaea. The tendrils turned to dust. The mud around Hera disintegrated. The goddess grew in size, glowing with power.