Chapter set during the final battle against Gaia in "Blood of Olympus"
Percy (POV)
You know, today would've been a nice day. It was warm outside, there was a nice breeze blowing through, and the smell of strawberries and saltwater was wonderful and heavy in the air. However, I was beginning to smell less of the sweet strawberries and more of the sour pungent of monster slime.
But the fight against Gaea was going pretty well, you know, considering all things.
Of course, personally, I wish I never HAD to fight Gaea, you know the EARTH goddess, on a beautiful day like today, and not just because she happened to have a whole army of crazed, blood-lusting monsters at her disposal. Though I'll admit, that was a very big downside to my otherwise horrible situation.
But, you know, it was going fairly well all the same.
Sounding a loud battle cry, I charged an ogre swinging an ax the size of my body at my head. Now, I know what you're thinking: Percy, we don't run TO the ax. We run AWAY from it. But don't worry, it's okay. I do this a lot.
I deflected the strike of the ax off the side of my blade, which gave me an open shot at the ogre's bulging belly. See, I told you I know what I'm doing. Seconds later, I was gingerly wiping residue monster gunk off of Riptide with the ogre's greasy loincloth. Not the most glamorous spoils of war, but considering my head was still attached, I wasn't going to complain. Nearby, Annabeth was engaged in battle with an evil centaur. I didn't like to fight those guys, they reminded me too much of our good, coffee-smelling centaur teacher, Chiron. I know Annabeth didn't like to either, I could see it in the furious gleam in her eyes, but she knew it had to be done. We both did.
Her blonde hair was tied into a messy bun on her head, and she wore a ripped and dirty Camp Half-blood tee under hastily, but professionally, strapped chest plating. She stood in front of the centaur, legs boxed and tensed, and waited for an opening. Blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face, she feigned a dive to the right, before swinging back to the left. The centaur fell for it, hitting the ground with his club where her head might've been, before whinnying in alarm when he realized he made a mistake. With a warrior's cry, she lunged upward and plunged her drakon bone sword deep into the centaur's chest. The club was dropped on the ground as the monster crumbled away into dust. Annabeth grimaced and shook monster dust out of her hair as she wiped the remaining monster gook from her sword onto her jeans.
Di immortals she looked stunning when she annihilated the enemy.
I was snapped out of my musing by the thundering charge of another ogre, perhaps the buddy of the one I'd just killed, as it came running at me with a hammer aligning with my head. The hammer came down. I forced myself to wait a second more before diving out of the way, doing a tuck and roll so I landed on the monster's unguarded flank. The ogre looked at the crop of grass he crushed with a surprised, "Huh?" before he joined his pal in the monster underworld.
Despite almost having my head crushed in, I grinned. I turned to Annabeth, who also had a smile on her face. Cause we were crazy like that.
"Good to be home," I said.
"Sure is."
We charged into battle again.
I would've loved to sit down in the grass to chat, or relax on the beach and catch up with my Camp Half-Blood friends after being gone for nearly two years - yeah, thanks, Hera - but that was a reunion I would have to save for later. That's what happened when you crashed a battle mid-fight. But I suppose I could always do some catching up while I worked.
I ended up face to face a cynocephali (two-headed men with 3X the stink) next to an old frenemy of mine. "Welcome back Prissy." Clarisse briefly greeted, before screaming with the might and fury of Ares and plunged Maimer into the head of a cyclops. We liked screaming around here.
Ignoring the nickname, I replied, "Glad to be back." before jabbing at the cynocephali, unsuccessfully.
She faced off against an ogre. "About time you got here." she criticized, dodging a sword strike before literally punching the ogre in the face. She didn't sound angry though. I shrugged, knocking the feet out from under the cynocephali before separating from one of its heads.
"Sorry I was late," I snarked, "I must've lost track of time fighting giants in Greece."
She gave a small, breathy chuckle before our fights led us away from each. With each new opponent I faced, I saw others of my Camp. Katie Gardner strangling a Cyclops with a some rose bush vines, the Hermes twins-but-not-twins Connor and Travis who were alternating between stabbing monsters with swords and shooting them with spiked, celestial bronze BB's, and Chris Rodriguez who was pulverizing a group of drachnea with his sword, among others.
Up on Half-Blood Hill, Will Solace was deviating from helping injured half-bloods and warding monsters off with arrows. Nico Di Angelo wasn't far off, with his obsidian blade cutting through monsters in an arc of black and death, leaving a trail of monsters spoils and gunk in his wake.
So, like I said, the battle was going fairly well.
Off to the side, the Hermes cabin rallied around Jason. He and Connor exchanged a few care-free words, small smiles on both faces ending up on both faces. From over the ruckus of battle, Reyna's powerful voice rose above all else, yelling, "Eiaculare flammas!" and in response a wave of fire-tipped areas shot past the legions wall of shields, disintegrating a large cluster of ogres.
Somewhere down the hill of Camp Half-Blood, Frank yelled as well, "Repellere equites!" followed by a massive cry of panic from evil centaurs as the Roman legions' other three cohorts appeared behind the unsuspecting monster's flank. Hazel was somewhere on the left riding Arion, slashing at enemies as her horse trampled them underfoot.
Reyna and Frank exchanged a few words, soon after I heard "Legion, CLOSE RANKS!" from Frank. The Romans cheered as they all grouped together into one fine-working machine of destruction. Frank pointed his sword forward and the golden eagle - the exact same one he, Hazel, and I saved - crackled with electricity taking out several hundred monsters in one go.
I'll hand it to the Romans. What they lacked in creative diversity they made up for in monster annihilation.
Somewhere along the hill, the Greeks from Camp Half-Blood were reuniting as well. I caught Annabeth's eye from across the battlefield. We smiled and both ran to join them. As I ran, slashing and dodging monsters, Reyna shouted, "Legion, cuneum formate! Advance!" It was in that moment that Annabeth and I joined our fellow greeks.
Camp Half-Blood all cheered as we joined their ranks. Standing there, I figured since Reyna and Frank, leaders of Rome, were encouraging their troupes, then I was obligated to as well. Good leadership and all that.
"Greeks!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, grabbing all their attention. "Let's, um," I scrambled for something inspiring to say,"fight stuff!"
Okay, so it wasn't like my speech during the Battle of Manhattan, nor was it some fancy order in Greek, but it did the trick. Camp Half-Blood roared with raucous approval and together we charged, probably looking and sounding like a bunch of wailing banshee children. But the monsters look freaked out, so it was definitely worth it.
Aw, how I missed this place.
After that, our advantage only grew. Everywhere I looked, monsters were being over-run or chased down as we fought to defend our home. Camp Half-Blood has survived for centuries, there was no way it was going to see the end today. Even the Romans, despite this Camp not being their home, fought with the enthusiasm of a greek to protect the Camp. It was, admittedly, kind of inspiring.
Unfortunately, I should've known it wasn't going to last. We half-bloods have a reputation for having bad luck. And soon enough, the other boot dropped. The ground beneath our feet shivered, before rippling like water and causing everyone – half-bloods, and monster alike – to tumble to the ground.
"AWAKE," the definitely-not-still-asleep voice of Gaea boomed all around, resonating through the hills, trees, and grass-like one megasonic microphone. On the crest of a hill, dirt and grass trembled as it rose up, swirling and whirling in the air like a tornado at such a speed that hearing over the scraping of rocks, sand, and trees was almost impossible. Dirt came together to solidify into the figure of a woman, towering about twenty-feet in height. Her dress was woven from millions of strands of grass, her skin became pale and white from the quartz rock gathered from the ground and her hair grew dark in the tangled curls of roots. "Little fools," Gaea spat, as a beautiful face was molded into the quartz. Her eyes opened, practically glowing a pure green as if she had sucked the very color from the plants at her feet. "The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me."
My eyes flickered over to the giant statue of Athena, Annabeth's mom. I'll be honest, I hadn't really noticed Gaea's absent until now. But I had no doubt that it had something to do with the statue. Athena had a way of warding people off.
Gaia's words spread like a disease. Pure, unaltered fear shivered through the army of half-bloods, both Greek and Roman. Nor did I didn't blame them. Just looking up at Gaia, I was struck with the memory of a different primordial-being looming above me with the intent to hurt and kill. It was in sharp detail that I recalled the feel of my heart stopping, my lungs refusing to work under the immense power crushing it, nor could I ever forget the way my sword had slipped from my fingers as all I could do was gaze up in terror.
Shame, just as I felt before, burned inside me for doing such a thing. Almost unconsciously, I clenched my fist around the hilt of my sword tighter, refusing to do the same thing twice. Even so, my knees were knocking in fright at the sight of Gaia. The sheer overwhelming feel of her power was enough to leave any half-blood wide-eyed and frozen, like a deer in headlights. Somewhere over the ground came Piper's voice, "Stand fast!" Her charmspeak washed over the crowds like a warm, reassuring hug that snapped most of us out of our stupor. "Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!"
Yeah! I found myself agreeing. Who cares that she's big, and tall, and powerful, and made up of the entire Earth! We got this!
But all Gaia did was laugh, as if the very thought was nothing but an amusing joke. She spread her arms wide and the Earth constricted and leaned toward her. Tree's tilted, soil ripped from the ground, and rocks tumbled. Tree and plant nymphs screamed in terror and rushed to abandon their homes. But the ones who were not quick enough were crushed beneath falling rocks and tree. Horror-stricken, I wanted to look away from the gruesome scene, but all I could do was stare and wonder in growing horror if Juniper, a friend of mine and girlfriend to my best friend, was among the crushed dead. Bile soured my tongue. No, she's HAS to be fine. Juniper HAS to be okay.
Something hot and angry grew. Teeth gritting, I stepped forward to run and help the nymphs, but, instead, found my feet sinking past into the ground. The soil at my feet had softened and was now sucking me in. A cry of panic arose from the other half-bloods too, and I deduced the same was happening to them. Even the monsters were trapped. They growled and swiped at the dirt, a few even glared up at Gaia like 'Hey lady, we're on YOUR side!'
"The whole earth is my body!" Gaia cried, sweeping her arms around. "How would you fight the goddess of—" a flash of bronze came streaking by, and grabbed Gaia, carrying her off the hillside. I paused, momentarily stunned. The ground stopped inhaling teenagers and monsters, but for the moment all I could do was look up at Festus who was soaring higher and higher in the sky with Gaia in his talons. A grin grew on my face and I let out a loud whooped. Above, Festus spewed fire in excitement.
Leo sat on top of him, grinning madly. "Pipes! Jason!" he shouted, barely heard from his immense height. "You coming? The fight is up here!" eyes widening, I quickly realized what he was referring too and I dug myself out of, literally, my own grave. I spotted Jason and Piper across the field. Around me, monsters worked on digging themselves out too, albeit faster than the half-bloods were, so I slashed at any I came across as I ran.
By the time I got to the end of the field, Jason already has his arm around Piper ready to lift off. "Wait!" I yelled. "Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all—"
"No, man," Jason interrupted gently. "They need you here. There's still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy—"
"He's right." Frank appeared behind me, his voice was firm but gentle, even so, I felt his hand come up to grip my arm tightly as if to hold me down from flying at Gaia myself. "You have to let them do this, Percy. It's like Annabeth's quest in Rome. Or Hazel at the Doors of Death. This part can only be them."
I didn't like it, and they knew I didn't too. The 7, we were a team. We were ALL brought together to defeat Gaea, not just Jason, Piper and Leo. Besides, those three might need help! This was a primordial we were talking about. If a whole army of half-bloods didn't have a good chance against Gaia, what did three have? And if that wasn't enough, I wanted to personally give Gaia a Poseidon sized stab in the head for what she did to the nymphs.
I wanted to argue. The words were already piling in my throat, but before I could let them loose, a flood of monsters swept over the half-bloods.
"Hey! Problem over here!" Annabeth shouted, and I decided to let Jason and Piper go. I wanted to argue, I wanted to refuse to stay on the ground when there were bigger fish to fry up in the talons of Festus. But I didn't. As much as I wanted to be there for Jason, Piper, and Leo, I wanted to be there for Annabeth more. I ignored the breath of relief from the four behind me as I kicked up dirt running in the direction of Annabeth. She was still stuck in the dirt but had stopped digging herself out to defend against an approaching Hellhound. I ran up behind the giant dog and raked my sword across its back, with one agonized howl it exploded into dust.
"Thanks," Annabeth said, spitting monster dust from her mouth. I smiled back, still feeling sorry for not going with Jason and Piper, but ignoring it enough to help dig her out.
"What are boyfriends for?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, but quickly caught sight of Jason and Piper flying up to me Leo. I followed her gazes, nerves gnawing at my stomach like gnashing teeth. Grimacing, I held Riptide tighter in my hand. "Hey," she said, drawing my attention back to her. Her grey eyes were warm against mine, her smile soft and reassuring. "They got this. It's gonna be okay. They've got the cure, remember?"
I nodded. "Yeah," I tore my eyes away from the sky. "yeah okay. Come on Wise Girl, we got an army to defeat." Annabeth gave me another reassuring smile, this time with a rushed peck me on the cheek.
"Let's go, Seaweed Brain, let's show these monsters what happen when you mess with Camp Half-Blood."
I raised Riptide, "They won't even know what hit them." I promised, allowing determination to momentarily push my nerves aside. I met my girlfriends faze with a smirk growing "Bet I can kill more than you!"
"Oh, it's on!" Annabeth shouted. We both ran to help the half-bloods still stuck in the dirt, killing monsters and warding off attacks as we went.
_________________________ ∆ _______________________
The monsters numbers were steadily depleting.
Despite Gaia's official rise and nearly sucking the entire demigod army into the ground, the Camps were back up, pumping with adrenaline and wielding their weapons with renewed vigor. With Frank and Reyna working alongside Annabeth and I to command the demigods, we became the perfect union of Roman and Greek; two types of demigods brought together into one harmonized weapon of monster killing power. We no longer fought each other, but as one; protecting our lives, our friends, and our home.
Up with the fight against Gaea, it was a whirlwind of air, fire, and shrapnel. The spiraling cyclone was dark with black soil and purple-grey clouds, stretching far up in the sky, towering over everything and sending a dark, foreboding shadow across the entire battlefield. Jagged bursts of stray lightning lit up the tornado at random, sending sudden bursts of light across the field as thunder roared so loud it rattled the ground. Or maybe that was just Gaia trying to reconnect with her element, I wasn't sure.
The wind around the cyclone was intense, and tore at loose articles of clothing and flung hair or the occasional leaf into faces. The lightning, while somewhat beautiful and awe-inspiring, was bright and distracting, sometimes blinding people who weren't quick enough to look away; thunder drowned out the agonized shouts and cries of war, popping ears and ringing in heads. I squinted past the wind blowing in my eyes and tried to focus on the empousai swiping her claws at me. Her talons snagged on my shirt, but it didn't catch skin. I tucked and rolled to the other side. The empousai followed with a hiss, only right in that moment, lightning tore from the cyclone not too far from us. The empousai wailed and rubbed at her eyes, but by the time she could see again my sword was already lodged in her stomach at the hilt. I was looking up at the cyclone before she completely crumbled to dust. At least the lightning was an advantage to both monster AND half-blood. Occasionally the wall of wind and debris would split, and for just a second I could see Piper and Jason flying around in the air where Festus held-fast onto Gaia, who was flailing and fighting as the dragon shot torrent after torrent of fire on her.
Leo was engulfed in his own flames, raining fire down at the Earth goddess as well. I couldn't help but keep glancing up at them in between fights, pushing sweat and hair out of my eyes to see. It made it harder to kill monsters, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to be up there, helping, finally getting rid of Gaia so that maybe – for once – Camp Half-Blood could actually have peace.
And Camp Jupiter, of course, they've been through a lot too.
But, I resigned, cause deep down I knew Frank was right. Only Leo, Piper, and Jason could finally put an end to this war and finish the prophecy; but that didn't mean I wouldn't worry about them. One sentence still kept reoccurring in my mind: An oath to keep with a final breathe.
That part of the prophecy was yet to be fulfilled, and whoever it fell on made me very concerned. I didn't think it was me, or Annabeth, nor Frank, Hazel, Piper or even Jason. Leo was the only person I thought of when hearing that line. Leo met Calypso, and I didn't need to be a child of Aphrodite to know there was something there, I wasn't sure why yet, I felt it was Leo who that line belonged to, and I had a feeling the prophecy was going to officially come true very soon.
They have the cure, I told myself. I'll be okay because they have the cure.
Taking a deep breath, I forced all thinking from my head and allowed my body to react by instinct. I ducked as a sword passed over my head, the air around it whipping a few strands of my hair silently before I fell to my side and kicked the monsters kneecaps as hard as I could. The monster, a small Cyclops, grunted painfully and staggered before stumbling. It caught itself on its knees. Swiftly getting back to my feet, I hit the butt of my sword into the Cyclops wrist, forcing it to drop its weapon, before plunging my sword deep into its chest.
Once the Cyclops was gone, I turned to my next closest enemy. A big Hellhound, about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide that had pinned a Roman soldier to the ground, whose sword had been flung off to the side close to me. Reacting immediately, I ran forward, scooped up the fallen sword, and shot it at the monster much like a javelin. I wasn't too good at aiming spears or javelins, and don't even get me started with a bow, but the sword did manage to clip the Hellhounds flank, making it to yelp and turn in my direction.
"Here boy..." I shouted, whistling and waving my arms to catch its attention. "Or girl - boy - girl. C'mere you big flea-bag!"
It happily turned away from the Roman kid to stalk toward me.
I eased myself into a defensive position, holding my sword threateningly in front of me. The Hellhound snarled and circled me; its thick fur looked dirty and knotted with blood, as its claws dug trenches in the soft dirt with each step. It made me wonder if Gaia could feel it. I hoped she did.
I raised my sword and took an experimental jab at the over-sized dog. It avoided the attempt with ease, then growled and snapped at me with its giant maw of teeth. Narrowly avoiding its fangs, I spun around and slashed at it again. Riptide managed to slice across the Hellhounds front leg, making a deep gash, but not enough to kill. It glanced down to briefly check it's wound, before glaring back at me. Judging by the extra murderous look in its eyes, I figured it didn't take too well to being cut. Or maybe it just really liked that leg. Either way, it roared murderously and charged. I poised myself, readying to duck away when it got close. But then, right as the Hellhound started running, there was a sudden, extremely bright arc of lightning that raked across my vision.
Hissing sharply, I cursed and blinked rapidly to get rid of the lingering bright dots that speckled my sight. My vision was still dancing the Swan Lake when I managed to catch a glimpse of a dark shape hurtling toward me. An icy snarl filled my ears and I felt something big hit my chest. Hitting the ground knocked the breath out of me, but with instinct, I brought my sword up just as a mouth of wickedly sharp fangs clamped down.
Riptide was lodged in the Hellhounds jaw, angled horizontally with the sides slightly digging into the monster's mouth - which definitely wasn't enough to kill it - while its hind legs kept my legs pinned. We were suddenly locked in a pushing contest with the Hellhound trying to snap its way closer to me, serrated teeth clanging harshly across the blade, while I worked on forcing it away. The hand holding Riptide by the hilt wasn't enough to keep the Hellhound at bay, and I was forced to reach up and grip the celestial bronze blade with my other hand just to keep up with the strength of the monster.
The sharp edge bit into my fingers, slicing the skin enough for a stream of blood to pool on the blade and drip down on the grass by my shoulder. I grit my teeth, bullying the stinging sensation into a corner of my mind while pushing back with all my might.
But it still wasn't enough to give me leverage. I was stuck.
The Hellhound was getting more aggressive as our struggle continued, now swinging its head around and chomping down on the blade with renewed vigor. Its own blood dripped from the corners of its mouth onto my shirt. I looked around desperately for anything or anyone that could help, but there was nothing there for me either. Everyone else was too busy handling their own monsters, or the monsters were too busy handling their own half-blood.
Which meant I was stuck AND alone.
Great.
Wrestling with the Hellhound was beginning to seriously wear me down. My arms shook with the strain, and the claws digging into my legs were hardly helpful. I'm wasn't sure how much longer I could fight back.
But just as my arms almost gave out, the Hellhound suddenly froze, before combusting into a flurry of dust, all of which rained down piling on me like the worlds most disgusting mound of kitty-litter. Grimacing, I spit up monster remains and I glanced up to see my rescuer.
It was the Roman kid I saved earlier; he had retrieved his sword and was now holding it tightly in his hand with a bit of monster slime coated the tip. He offered me a grateful smile and thrust out the opposite hand, which I happily took. "Thanks for the save," I told him.
The kid shrugged, "Thank you for the assist."
We gave each other one last grateful look, before splitting ways. I didn't even take a few steps before Gaia's annoying voice was booming out, "YOU CANNNOT DEFEAT ME!" I looked up at the cyclone again. It had intensified drastically while I was in the tussle with the Hellhound, now swirling with more detrimental vigor. Lightning arced in the sky crazily, tendrils of energy whipped around, striking the sky like its only purpose was to rip it to shreds.
"I AM ETERNAL!"
Clutching my sword tighter, I forced myself to look away again and just keep fighting. Leo, Jason, and Piper could do this; I had to have faith in them. Bracing myself for another attack, I hefted my sword and charged an ogre.
Only, the fight above with Gaia only got more intense. The goddess was yelling and screaming things now. "FOOLISH CHILDREN!" and not far after that was "SILENCE!" I figured it was either Leo's taunts that were riling her up, or Piper was using charmspeak again. At hearing Gaia scream with frustration and anger a smile found its way on my face– Welcome to my life for nearly a year now, I thought, directing it to the ground and hoping Gaea somehow heard.
"LIES!" Gaea screeched this time. Her voice was getting more sluggish and tired; internally a spark of hope rose. We were so close, so close to this being over, so close for this war to finally come to an end after months of tirelessly working and fighting against her.
"I – YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME –" Gaea was yelling, her voice getting softer and weary. "NO – NO YOU CANNOT –" she paused for a moment, and despite the roaring of the wind, it was tantalizingly quiet. Then, as if realizing that she was doomed, Gaia cried out with the last of her consciousness. "YOU WON'T WIN SO EASILY! ATTACK! ATTACK NOW!"
"Easily?!" I demanded. "As if!" Then paused. Everything seemed eerily still.
Suddenly a wispy flapping sound whispered over the cyclone, like a dozen legion flags snapping in the wind. A cold, cruel laugh drifted out among the battlefield like ice and I shivered, despite myself. There was something oddly familiar about it in a way that turned my blood to glass.
The battle had stopped. I noticed as monsters hefted up their weapons, but they didn't look threatened, in fact, they looked almost excited. A few Hellhounds snarled in amusement and backed up a few steps as if to make room. I brought up my sword uneasily. A collection of chuckles coiled in the air and a chill raced down my spine. Around me half-bloods eased up in a defensive position, easily feeling the presence of something sinister approaching.
From across the battlefield, I caught Annabeth's eyes. She looked as skeptical as I did. Our eyes met, and a silent question was passed between us: Where have we heard this before? I hefted my sword and went in a beeline toward her.
I weaved around half-bloods, most giving my curious glances and following my movements with their eyes, but I kept going, needing to reach Annabeth. She would know what to do, she always did. But halfway there I stopped dead in my tracks as I felt a dark sensation creeping along my neck, like something that should be dead was breathing down on my spine. I whirled around but I saw nothing. Swallowing thickly, a deep sense of dread filled the pit in my stomach, and my sword suddenly felt heavier in hand.
Then a soft, barely distinguishable cackle whispered in my ear with sickening glee, "We are the curses, and we're back."
Realization hit me harder than the hellhound. Fear, raw and untamed coiled around my core. I looked back at Annabeth and judging by her horrified expression, she must've remembered too. I broke out into a run for her, right as a horrific shadow erupted from the forest on wings of black.
I didn't need to look at them to know what they were. Arai: demons who served the fallen, hellish beings who dished out revenge and pain in the name of monsters who had been slain with a whisper of revenge on their lips. They were wrinkly, winged, and evil hags with leathery batwings and sharp brass talons, they're eyes shone like freshly spilled blood and gleamed with blithe malice. A dress of black silk threaded with the dark souls of evil beings was wrapped around their grey, shriveled bodies.
A whole flock of them swooped from the forest and descended over the half-bloods like a demonic shadow. Cries of fear rose up from the half-bloods as the Arai attacked. It wasn't a big flock, small compared to the one Annabeth, Bob, and I faced down in Tartarus; a rough estimate of about 20, maybe 30.
But when I saw half-bloods raise their weapons to kill this new threat panic stabbed my chest.
"Don't kill them!" I shouted as loud as I could manage, but my order fell on deaf ears. The few Arai went down with a malicious laugh as the half-bloods who killed them gasped as a curse settled on their shoulders.
"Stop!" I yelled, trying to catch as many demigods attention as I could. "DO NOT KILL THEM!"
My hopeless yelling brought the attention of a few Arai to me. "Percy Jackson," they hissed, flying around me in a tight circle. "How nice to see you again."
I raised my sword as a cold trickle of sweat drizzled down my neck. "Wish I could say the feeling was mutual," I managed to reply, but could barely keep the shake from my voice. The Arai merely hissed in amusement. Their talons glinting with malevolence whenever a streak of lightning tore aggressively at the sky; the demons licked their withered lips, wing flaps increasing with anticipation.
"So many curses that still linger over you, so many dead monsters who wish to see you burn." One cackled.
"But there is one even our Master wishes to inflict on you." Another piped up behind me, I whirled around to face her. I hated being surrounded, anywhere I turned I knew I had one to my back. "Master?" I questioned, "Uh, I'm sorry but I'm not supposed to associate with servants of the dead till I'm 20. Come back in a few years and then we'll talk, kay?"
"Not so fast half-blood," an Arai to my left scolded, of which I wanted to snap that I had nowhere to go. "Our Master doesn't do well with escapees, not when they leave unscathed and unbroken."
Unscathed? I glared at her in disbelief, and for a minute I wanted to point out that Annabeth and I were definitely scathed when we left Tartarus. But the Arai lunged at me, aiming her claws at my chest.
I rolled to the side as another dived down, "Why do you fight son of Poseidon?" the one in front of me demanded. "You have already tasted the bitterness of the monsters you've hurt, why must you fight and make it harder? Give up and accept your fate, murderer!"
Murderer? I was no murderer. Monsters...they hunted half-bloods, they killed half-bloods! It wasn't me, or the other campers who sought their blood. We weren't murderers! We were only protecting ourselves.
The Arai snarled, as if hearing my thoughts, "You half-bloods have hunted and killed monsters for glory and trophies for eons; some monsters were made to suffer at the hands of you spawns! Stop resisting, realize what you've done, and rightly receive your punishment! Both you and that girl must get what's coming to you."
Annabeth. At the mention of her, I glanced around. Past the Arai in front of me, and the chaos around, I saw Annabeth's blonde ponytail bob among the crowds as she warded off a horde of Arai of her own. She had several cuts on her arms where talons had slashed her, but she seemed to have avoided getting any curses.
I couldn't let them hurt her again! Seeing Annabeth helpless and blind had been more painful than any curse they could've put on me. I needed to group up with her. Together, we can take them down. But there was no escaping this rings of Arai, not without a little pain. With a shout of fury, I slashed at the Arai in front of me. The heavy weight of a curse fell on my chest, and I felt the first few stabs of pain hit my body instantly, like a volley of arrows. But I ignored it, and with an open path, I raced to Annabeth.
However, it wasn't as easy as that. All around me half-bloods and monsters got in the way, as Arai came swooping above with their raspy laughs. Some half-bloods were being ganged up on, getting forced to choose between a monster or a cursed demon. Near me I saw a Roman girl fall to her knees, clawing at her chest as if to pull some imaginary weapon out. Her spear fell and the Hellhound behind her pounced for the kill.
Another flash of pain resonated through my body, as if in repercussions for stress bearing down on me. A spike of agony in my leg brought me to my knees and I was suddenly acutely aware of all the screaming and chaos. Demigods shrieked in pain, others were on the ground, moaning and groaning. I saw monsters jump the defenseless half-bloods, taking them by the throat or tearing them by limbs. My senses all sharpened, till I could practically taste the blood that tainted the air, I could see the death of the battlefield as clear and sharp as glass, I could feel my own pain as the curses pricked under my skin like over-heated cactus needles.
"Watch your camp whither Son of Poseidon, watch as they all pay the price of their crimes!" an Arai hissed behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, as the icicle touch of talon grazed the back of my neck. Across the field, I heard Annabeth's scream of fury.
Just like with Misery, I felt that ball of glass in my chest shatter, cutting me with thousands of broken shards. "Enough!" I yelled and turned just as the Arai dove for the kill. The demon stopped in her tracks. With my senses running wild, I felt everything pertaining to my element. The ocean by the beach, the water in the air, the sweat running off the brows of half-bloods, even the microscopic bits of water running through the Arai. Everything had water in it after all.
I glared hatefully as something wild and untamed churned in my gut, wanting to fight and surround and destroy. With a shout of rage, I clenched my hand into a fist and all of the water in the Arai drained out, dripping off her limbs into a puddle on the grass.
The Arai's eye bugged as her skin withered beyond what it was naturally, turning to flakes on her bones. Her mouth fell open as a gasp slipped out. Even so, she managed to meet my eyes and rasp, "Bear sufferage under the curse of Tartarus, Percy Jackson!" before she obliterated into nothing. I turned to the other Arai, feeling an intense weight settle over my soul. It was different than the curses I've had before, yet, familiar with all its prickling sensations. It left me feeling heavier in soul and crazy in mind.
The remaining she-demons squawked in terror and turned to fly off, but I wasn't letting them go so easily. I focused all my energy on their retreating form and did the same to them. They shrieked inhumanely as their bodies withered and dried into dust.
More curses settled on my soul.
I turned back to the battle. The monsters and half-bloods closest to me who bore witness to what I did stared in a mixture of apprehension and horror.
But my body still burned with an untamable energy, and when I looked at them I could feel the water running through their veins too. The demigod's eyes widened in fear at my gaze and the monsters to a wary step back. Up in the sky, the cyclone was beginning to disappear. There was a giant roar, then a fiery explosion of gold and fire lit up the entire sky.
My breathing was heavy, my skin was sweltering, I felt like someone had set fire and acid to the insides of my body and now watched as I slowly burned to ash. It was agonizing as smoke began rolling in waves off my skin, pain licked around every nerve and cell, I felt as if my own body was being drained of all its liquid.
Looking back over the battle-field, with the hands of fire and torment playing with my soul, I felt the sides of my eyes tint red. It was too hot, there was too much pain, too many sensations.
Help. I need help.
My gut surged with power as a new flood of pain overcame me. The ocean on the beach heard my call and bent to my will. A giant wave swelled from the sea, rising and rising past its sandy barriers, making its way past cabins and arenas. It rolled across the ground, barreling through the rocks, trees, and plants to serve me. The water hit monsters and Arai with the force of a raging tsunami, causing many to explode into dust on impact. It hit half-bloods too, but with a much softer pressure, but still enough to carry them away with the tide. Finally, it reached me to. The cool touch of the ocean soothed my body, and chased away ache of the curses, seemed to weaken them, if only slightly.
The sea swallowed me whole and, for a blissful moment, everything was better.
But it wasn't enough and all too soon the waves ceased, leaving the soaked and water-logged remains of a battle behind. The swell of the ocean fell back down, exposing my upper body and lowering to my ankles and agony rippled through me once more. Muscles and tendons were being torn to shred, bones and cartilage were shattering, my blood boiled and burst from the confines of veins. When I glanced down at my skin, it looked blistered and angry.
The pain was so much I couldn't even scream.
I fell to the ground, only vaguely aware of the sputtering of half-bloods as they stumbled to shaky feet.
Water glistened in the grass, coming to life with the colors of gold from the sky. A residue of the explosion still shone brightly against the black clouds shrouding the camp. Gaea, Jason, Piper, and Leo were nowhere to be seen.
But I couldn't find it in me to care. I shriveled on the grass, overcome with my body turning against me. My vision slowly rotted away into black. Faintly, someone shouted my name. For a second, I wanted to answer, but I was already gone.
Will be continued...
I do not own the Pecy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo, or Magnus Chase Books or its characters.