Hey, guys! This is my first chapter and first writing ever, so I hope it's not too bad. I welcome reviews and feedback on how to improve.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the Olympians
Percy
I pretended I hadn't noticed. I had not seen my father's human form falter and flicker out of sight. I hadn't seen the flash of panic on Poseidon's face once he returned. I hadn't noticed how he lost his balance for a few seconds. But I did.
Still, we were fighting Otis and Ephialtes, and I could not afford to lose focus. I dodged a club and rolled under a pair of giant legs, cutting the back of the knees. The giant lost his balance and feel on top of his twin.
"Dad, are you okay?" I asked, taking advantage of the situation.
My father nodded grimly and warned, "Pay attention, son,"
"But you-"
"We don't want any more mistakes."
I sighed. My stupid nosebleed had woken Gaea (Annabeth will never let me live this one down, and apparently, neither will dad) so I shut up and put my thoughts aside. I would be able to ask questions once all of this was over.
A cry pierced the air, and all around me, the giants were struggling to fight both demigods and gods. Frank was an elephant (still unfair) smashing through entire rows of giants with Ares. Hazel was a blur on Arion, and with the help of Hades and Hecate, she was knocking down her enemies left and right. Piper was doing pretty good, considering her only aid was words of encouragement and hoards of doves from Aphrodite. Jason and Zeus were beating down Porphyrion, and I almost felt sorry for him. Leo was still on the Argo II, this time with Hephaestus, moving levers which either hurt the giants or helped keep the ship afloat.
And Annabeth, well, Annabeth was amazing. I could see the gears inside her head working as she fought Enceladus with her mother. I would never tell her this, but she was hot when she was fighting.
"Percy!"
My attention returned back to my father, and as I prepared an apology, his form started to waver. Worry filled me and I started towards him but Otis, getting up from under his brother, cut me off.
"Told you it would begin soon, Ephialtes!"
"What has begun?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing," continued Ephialtes. "Just Mother's backup plan. If we can't rule, neither can the gods!"
"Backup plan?"
"Yes," the twins replied, a smirk on both faces. "All shall per-"
They were cut off by a blast of water in the shape of horses, which sent them soaring through the sky. I turned and looked at my father. I opened my mouth to speak, but Poseidon held up his hand.
"We'll talk later. We still have work to do."
Ashes filled the Parthenon and pillars lay strewn all over the place like legos. I couldn't help but savor the moment. We had defeated the giants. After months of running, we had finally won.
We.
My head whipped up. I scanned my surroundings, looking for that head of blonde, curly hair. Then I saw her. Annabeth was running to me with smile on her face. I ran to meet her and stumbled over loose rubble. She laughed as she helped me regain my balance.
"All that work only to be brought down by rock? Good job, Seaweed Brain."
"Wise Girl?"
"Hmm?"
"Not funny."
Everyone gathered around Zeus. We were battered, covered in cuts and bruises. I headed towards my father but Poseidon sent me an ask-and-you-will-not-eat-blue-food-ever-again frown. Demeter's basket of wheat suddenly seemed very edible and appealing. I went and stood next to her.
At some point the gods started talking, but I was too tired to care. I stared at Annabeth, glad that she was fine. Every now and then, I had to speak up to defend myself when someone mentioned my nosebleed *cough*Zeus-and-Leo*cough* and to decide how the gods were getting us back to camp without actually helping out. Then Zeus mentioned how he could slap us back to Long Island and I wanted to cry. Flying? Okay. Shadow traveling? Fine by me. But being thrown like a football around the world, faster than the speed of sound? I just needed to decide what flowers looked good on a blue coffin.
The whole trip, I counted down to the moment the ship fell apart. I could hear the mainframe of the Argo II rattling and every time there was minor turbulence, I gave myself a life span of 10 more seconds.
"GUYS! COME ON UP!" yelled Leo through the speaker. Annabeth tugged on my hand and pulled me to the deck. We came up just as we passed the Atlantic, Long Island in the horizon.
Suddenly, Frank the Dragon grabbed me and Annabeth, and jumped off the side of the ship.
"I hate flying!" I cried, causing Annabeth to laugh. I took deep breaths and looked around. From up here, I could see my camp, an island in a sea of monsters. Once we were over camp, though, my worries washed away. I was back after eight months: back to my home, back to my family, back to my life. Sure, there were monsters everywhere and there were a few burning trees, but it was a sight for sore eyes.
"Frank, can you drop us off there?" Annabeth asked, unaffected by how high we were. Frank grunted in response and switched course. He looked for a clearing where he could land.
As soon as we were back on the ground, monsters headed our way. Back to back, Annabeth and I slashed our way through centaurs and earthborne. Together, we headed towards the other demigods, who were being pushed back by hellhounds.
"You go left, I take right," I whispered. Annabeth nodded and took off. She got in position and the both of us charged. A hellhound leapt at me, claws out, fangs showing, and I ducked, bringing Riptide up and impaling it. Annabeth was taking on three hellhounds with her drakon-bone sword. Once the campers realized we were helping, they joined the assault. Pretty soon, there was nothing left but ash.
"Percy!" called Connor Stoll. "Guys, Percy's back!"
I was greeted by cheers from my fellow campers and warmth spread in my chest. I saw many faces, some of which i hadn't seen in over a year: the Stolls, Katie Gardner, Jake Mason, and Clarisse La Rue. They were all looking to me, like they had so many times before. I really was home.
"Greeks!" I yelled. "Let's, um, fight stuff!"