Will Sanders
3/2/10
My Fatal Flaw
Summary: Annabeth falls in battle. Will Percy's fatal flaw kill him?
As soon as she fell to the ground, helpless to defend herself with an arrow in her stomach, my world stopped. The image kept replaying in my hyperactive brain, Annabeth slowly tumbling to the ground, pain spreading across her features, and I forgot about everything. I no longer cared that Olympus was about to fall and that I had to defeat Kronos. All I wanted to do was to help Annabeth. Suddenly the battle returned to full ferocity and once again the sounds of war attacked my ears, but I ignored them and listened intently for her voice.
"Percy!" "Percy!" The voice was gradually getting softer and softer; her musical voice was fading. I was terrified that I would lose her. From past experience, I knew that I couldn't last with out her. A roar of rage grew in my ears and I slashed and hacked through the horde of monsters, killing ten or more with every swift stroke of my sword. With a cry of anguish, I leaped into the air and cleaved a giant clean in half before landing with a thump behind three Hermes boy, frozen in place, memorized by an Empousa's beauty. I barged through the boys, breaking them out of their trance, before shoving my sword between the ribs of the monster. Remembering my urgent task, I quickly ripped out Riptide and sprinted in the direction of her now nearly inaudible voice. As I ran I stepped into a lull in the battle and I saw a shaggy black minotaur running, wait, screw that, lumbering towards a prone figure on the ground with blood spreading on the ground under her. I knew I couldn't reach her in time and as if on cue the Minotaur slowly turned its head, still running towards Annabeth, its glowing red eyes making the message clear that this was revenge. I felt tears pricking at the back of my eyes. After all the quests and monsters we faced, a stupid, freaking Minotaur was going to… "Not today." I growled. "Not ever!"
I concentrated on clear blue water, powerful and dangerous. After a few seconds I felt a surge of power flow through my body and a gentle breeze brush across my cheek. Annabeth's soft whimper filled my ears but I was concentrating to hard to notice. I looked up and realized that Riptide was coated in crackling blue energy. I focused on the Minotaur and with an inhuman howl of desperation I hurled the sword. The sword whirled past everyone, just missing an Athena fighter, a glowing instrument of destruction. I kept running, hoping, praying. The Minotaur was still making its way towards Annabeth, blissfully unaware of its imminent doom (I hope). At the last second, the Minotaur looked up in time to see a sword that had killed it once already, bury itself in his furry neck. As I watched the beast crumble and blow away with the wind and I continued my frenzied race towards Annabeth, covering the last 100 yards in 10 seconds. I knelt down beside her and looked at her. Her face was streaked with dirt and blood and her normally calm, intelligent gray eyes were clouded with pain and desperation. She looked at me and she broke out into a shaky smile. She softly whispered, "I knew you'd come seaweed brain, you always do."
I blinked back hot tears. Hold on, why was I crying? She isn't dead yet, I told myself firmly. We can still make it. I looked towards the harbor and felt the familiar tug in my stomach. I gazed up at the sky, wondering if I was capable of doing this. I saw two thin streams of water flowing through the air towards us and I knew that I had succeeded. The water formed a dome around us and with one final burst of energy I froze the water around us. A mini-war raged inside my head. Use your powers to heal her now! She might not make it to Olympus! Another more logical voice spoke inside my head saying, if you use your powers now you'll barely be able to make it back to Olympus anyway. Of course, me being the seaweed brain I am, I chose number uno. I gently lifted her armor up and looked under and gave an involuntary shudder. The wound was way, way worse then I thought. It was a jagged hole in the middle of her navel, blood flowing freely from the hole. The arrow was still sticking out of the wound. I slowly eased her out of her armor then cautiously lifted her Camp Half-Blood shirt over her head. I looked down at her smooth, tan skin in contrast to the horrible hole in her stomach. I started to lower my hand, but Annabeth spoke first.
"What are you doing?" She asked, her confusion evident by the lines on her sweaty brow.
"Healing you," I said soothingly.
She looked up at me and relaxed before mumbling, seemingly to herself, "I trust you and… and…"
I watched her expectantly, waiting for her to finish but I realized she had fainted. When my right hand gently touched down on her stomach she twitched and smiled to herself before murmuring something intelligible. With my right hand on her stomach I placed my other hand on the shaft of the arrow. Before I could have second thoughts I jerked the arrow as hard as I could and she screamed. I felt really nervous now, maybe I should have left this to Chiron, I thought. After this thought I realized with a jolt that Chiron might be dead. I gently wiggled the arrow until it came out with the sound of a suction cup. Believe me, I almost puked when I heard it so you're not alone. Then, with the last of my nearly depleted strength I used the ice around me to heal the rest of her wound. I was suddenly conscience of how smooth and supple her warm skin was. With a contented smile I leaned down and gently brushed my lips against her forehead. I suddenly felt embarrassed and tried to stand up, giving myself a nasty bruise on the head. Once again I knelt down beside her and picked her up. With a cry the dome around us shattered and I stood up, blinded by the sunlight. I slowly started to turn around, surprised by the silence. As I turned around I caught sight of something that made me catch my breath. Luke, I mean Kronos, stood a few feet in front of me sneering coldly, his white scar stretched tight. He slowly lifted up his bow and said "Turn around."