Let me just say that this story will be very comprehend. You will no doubt ask yourselves, why would this happen? Well I do too. Unfortunately, the time it would take to figure out and document the events that both lead up to and follow this fight are too intracite and complex for my as of the moment limited attention span. Which is why Im making this just a two-shot. DONT ask me to continue this.
Percy felt his heart tear itself apart as he gently set Annabeth's head down. He prayed to the gods she'd make it to Elysium. She deserved it a dozen times over for what she's done. She'd saved them all. Her and Leo both. And now they were both gone.
He looked around the ruins of what had once been the city of Athens. Flames still lingered, structures were destroyed every way he turned. The mortals, the poor unfortunate mortals, would never know the truth about how this had happened. His ADHD brain, no matter how filled with remorse, couldn't help but feel curious as to how they would explain this to themselves. What had they seen, during that battle between Olympus and the giants?
Percy shook his head. He didn't know, and he didn't care. So many friends dead. So many lives lost. Yes they'd saved Olympus. Yes, those who survived would be celebrated as heroes. Percy didn't care. He wanted to die. To die so he could see Annabeth again. And Hazel, the girl from the Roman camp. He still remembered that they almost—
But Percy shook it off. It was time to rebuild their lives. Get back to fighting the gods' wars for them. Those stupid, stubborn, immortal bastards.
Without warning, Percy let out a cry of anguished rage and stabbed Riptide into the ground. It went in a good eight inches. He wanted to cry. But he wouldn't. Not with his fellow campers depending on him. Fearless leaders don't cry. They don't crack under pressure. And—
It was then he noticed Jason. Zeus's kid, from the Roman camp. What did they call Zeus in Rome? Jason was with Piper, the girl from the Aphrodite cabin. They were in each other's arms. Jason kept telling Piper something, Percy couldn't hear what though.
Gathering the shambles of his mind, Percy walked over to the pair. He didn't immediately speak up, and they didn't notice him. But, all good moments have to come to an end. The lingering warmth on Percy's lips was testament to that.
"Jason," the son of Poseidon spoke up.
The two broke apart, and Jason turned to him. "Now Percy? Can't it wait?"
Which translated as: Please go away and let me enjoy a moment with my girlfriend.
Too bad buddy, Percy thought in his head. "We need to get everybody out of here," Percy reminded him. "Dead and alive alike."
Jason knew what he meant. Two dead, battle torn half-blood corpses, even with the Mist, was going to cause serious commotion. Something the survivors couldn't afford to handle, or maybe just didn't want to. The Argo II would be waiting.
"Alright," Jason sighed. "Piper, get the others back on the ship," he told her. "Percy and I'll meet you there once we…you know."
Piper nodded her understanding and gave Jason a half-second peck on the cheek before walking off. Jason and Percy sighed in unison, but for completely different reasons. "Who should we pick up first?" Jason asked. "Hazel or—"
"Hazel," Percy said quickly. He was going to avoid the other body as long as possible. Jason raised an eyebrow at Percy's too quick response, but never the less nodded. Together, the two brought Hazel's body onboard the Argo II she would have a proper funeral later, when they got her back to her home camp. Who knows? Maybe after this little venture, there would be one unified camp.
Now the two camp leaders made their trip back to retrieve Annabeth. They reached her, and Percy had to look away. Still embedded in the ground only a few feet away was Riptide. Percy retrieved and recapped it before turning back to Annabeth's body.
She looked so peaceful… Percy felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm…sorry," Jason tried. Percy shrugged the hand off.
"Let's get this done," Percy said coldly. As much as he loved Annabeth—and he did with all his heart—he hated looking at her body. It served as a physical, constant reminder that she was gone from his life.
"You okay?" Jason dared to ask.
Here, alone with no one to see, Percy let a single tear loose. "No."
Something poked at the edge of Percy's mind. Where it came from, he wasn't sure. He only knew the feelings it brought. Hate. Pain. Fury. Loss. And an uncontrollable desire to take it out on someone.
"It's your fault!" Percy said suddenly. That was all it took. Two words and a contraction, and the age old rivalry, so easily suppressed in face of a common enemy, came out once more.
"My fault?" Jason said disbelievingly.
"You could've saved her," Percy insisted. "But you didn't! I could have saved her, but you had me protect the ship!"
"How was I supposed to know Piper wouldn't get there in time?" Jason defended. "What needed to be done was done. Now deal with it, you stupid Greek!"
Jason surprised himself with the last part. He hadn't meant it to come out. He hadn't even thought it. But, as if ingrained into his very being, the instinct to look down upon the Greeks took hold. And there would be no turning back.
Percy was silent, and for a brief moment Jason hoped Percy would let the comment slide. All that hope vanished the moment Percy decisively uncapped Riptide. The sword elongated in what seemed to the two to be dramatic slowness. It only served to push Jason to the edge of his patience as well.
A single coin flip, and Jason was leveling his Imperial gold sword against the son of Neptune who only minutes earlier he had fought and bleed alongside. The two circled each other slowly and decisively, although Jason noted Percy was slowly maneuvering them away from the body of Annabeth.
Jason briefly considered taking a deliberate step towards the body, but decided to give his opponent—even if he was Greek—a little of respect and leave his dead partner alone. After all, it was Percy he was enraged at.
Thunder rumbled in the sky. Not far off, Jason could hear waves violently crashing against the shore. Poseidon versus Jupiter. Neptune versus Zeus. Greece versus Rome.
When they had circled an acceptable distance away from the body of Annabeth, Percy attacked.
Percy leapt forward, up and over Jason, and took a single swing at the child of Rome's head as he passed over. Jason easily blocked, and took a slice at the still airborne Percy. Percy, rather than blocked, twisted to avoid the blade as he sailed through the air. The blade missed by inches and Percy swung his sword at the same moment he landed.
Jason blocked, but the sheer force of the swing sent vibrations through the hilt and into Jason's skull. Jason backed away to get enough room for his planned attack, and once he had it, let loose with a powerfully electrified sword strike.
Percy impulsively blocked and was rewarded with a serious amount of voltage coursing through his body. He went flying backward, crashing into and denting a nearby car. Percy cursed and yanked himself free of the impression he made in the car's exterior.
Jason let loose another blast of lightning, this one from his hands. Percy was smart enough to bat this blast aside with his sword, and came at Jason in a flurry of strikes.
Even though Jason was in no immediate danger of being killed as he blocked attack after attack, he had been forced onto the defensive. The skies opened up with more thunder and lighting, and rain began to fall. The two combatants continued to trade blows as they made their way, Jason realized, toward the not too far off oceans.
"You want to level the playing field?" Jason taunted over the worsening weather. "Fine!"
The winds responded to Jason's call, and a gust sent Percy flying backward into the waters that crashed and roared offshore. Jason stormed toward the waters, knowing full well this wasn't over.
Sure enough, a powerful jet of water hit him full in the face. It felt like something you might feel when you set an adjustable hose nozzle to jet, but it steadily grew more powerful until it had the force of a firehose.
Jason raised his sword in an attempt to block some of the waters from reaching his face. The result sent his weapon flying out of reach, and the waters once again struck and blinded him. It was then Percy chose to reappear.
Shooting form the waves like a torpedo, Percy surged forward. A kick to the chest sent Jason rolling across the ground, and a quick series of slashes led to Jason being on his back with a new cut on his lip and Riptide pointed at his throat.
Jason's own sword lay just out of reach to him now. Another lightning bolt surged from the skies above, and Percy fell to the floor in a convulsing heap.
Jason scrambled across the by now slick wet ground to reach his weapon .Percy struggled to recover as he grasped his own. Jason secured his weapon first and brought his weapon down as hard as he could on Percy.
The son of Poseidon raised his sword just in time to save himself. The two blades locked as the two combatants entered a test of strength, shoving their swords against each other as hard as they could. Percy fighting for escape; Jason fighting for the kill.
Percy, not about to go down on his back, swung his leg in a wide sweep that took Jason's legs out from underneath him and brought Jupiter's son down to the sea spawn's own level. Percy, rather than attack, chose instead to roll to his feet. His opponent did the same.
Jason and Percy charged at the same time. Their swords became a blur of bronze and gold. Sparks flew as the metals clashed violently against each other. All the while the wind and rain had continued to grow more harrowing. The rain drops were coming down in cascades, some droplets as large as golfballs. The wind howled in gusts, changing direction and power every two seconds.
Keeping ones footing became just as big a battle as the one fought on the field of arms. Percy parried a thrust that would have made it impossible for him to have children and made a stab of his ownsaimed at Jason's chest.
Jason, his sword still too low from his strike, was forced to bend backward matrix style to avoid being impaled. Percy took his opening and kicked him hard in the groin. Jason, put off balance by his dodge, fell to the ground, and his sword clattered out of reach. In desperation, Jason scooped up a handful off pebble ridden mud and hurled it at Percy's face.
The tactic worked, and Percy dropped his own weapon. Jason let out a battle cry and tackled Percy to the ground—the latter was still trying to wipe mud from his eyes. Jason wasted no time in pummeling Percy Jackson with fist after unforgiving fist, until Percy managed to grab a fist before it made contact.
With a grip of impossible strength, Percy squeezed hard until Jason felt and heard the series of cracks and snaps. Percy followed with a brutal headbutt which could have easily broken Jason's nose had he not already been moving away.
Jason clenched his good fist, and it crackled with a torrent of electricity. The punch made Percy's hair stand temporarily on end and send him flying backward. He fell to the ground charred and motionless. Jason clutched his wounded hand in agony, panting with exhaustion.
So he was unprepared when Percy suddenly jumped to his feet and came running at him. Jason took two consecutive fists to the head followed by an uppercut to the gut, and was then given the privilege of experiencing what it felt like when someone was trying to choke the life out of you.
Jason, tried to pry away Percy's death grip with little success. With no other thoughts besides self-preservation and retaliation, Jason gave Percy a knee to the groin. The grip on his throat released, Jason took in a gulp of air before crashing to the floor next to Percy. Dazed, both fighters struggled with all their might to stand up.
And this is where things get seriously edgy. You the readers will decide which combatant emerges victorious. Leave who you want to win in a review...and actually review if you have the time.