This story is from Annabeth's POV during TLO. Her thoughts while she took the blade for Percy. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING that you recognize. This is just my take on events.
This story was co-written with owlreader, my great beta who made my story WAY better. Actually, she wrote a large portion, so I'm putting that she co-wrote it! :)
I stood back to back with Percy, fighting as if my life depended on it. Well, I guess it figures, 'cause my life did depend on it.
My blade flashed, catching one of the snake-women on the arm and cutting in pretty deep. She screeched in pain and slashed back. I leaped out of the way, her own knife missing my ribs by mere millimeters. Behind me, I felt Percy as he protected me from getting stabbed in the back, as I was for him. It steadied my fighting arm and took the shakes out of my legs.
Drachenae, demigods, hellhounds, heck, even some giants felt the wrath of my blade. Monsters of all sorts pressed in around me, vying for a chance to spill my blood. It steadied my fighting arm and took the shakes out of my legs.
Another demigod came towards us, a battle cry on his lips. I hated it when they came for me like this. I actually knew this one- his name was Jackson, one of the undetermined ones from Hermes cabin. He'd gone missing a few months ago. I guess this is where he went.
Now, I'm not a murderer. I tried to only injure the other demigods. I calculated that if you hit them at a certain angle with your weapon, something like 50-60 degrees, you'll draw enough blood to get them good and scared, but they're pretty safe from death. It's enough for them to stop fighting. Inside, I know that this is a loser's strategy. My mom wouldn't be proud. But sometimes there's more to winning than just killing everybody. Besides, when killing a demigod got to be the same as killing a monster, I was in trouble. Deep trouble.
I ducked and rolled, slashing and hacking with my knife, trying to get through the enemy's defenses Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan Nakamura, the guy we'd saved last year, take a stab at Percy. Time slowed, and if I didn't know better, I would have sworn that the King of the Titans himself had done that time-slowing-thingy again.
In slow motion, I saw the angle of descent of Ethan's knife. The calculations did themselves in my head.
The sword was going to end up between the two flaps of armor that Percy was wearing, right on the exposed flesh of his lower back.
It was too late to warn him.
It was too late to knock Ethan away.
It was too late to do anything.
That shouldn't have been a problem. He'd gone for a swim in the Styx. No one could hurt him, right?
A cold shiver ran through me. Without thinking, I jumped in front of the descending blade.
It sank into my flesh, right up to the hilt. It felt like ice. I guess I screamed in pain, but I don't really remember. The world started to turn fuzzy at the edges, and a black virus seemed to be eating away at my vision.
"Annabeth!" Percy cried.
Hot blood ran down my skin. I fell to the ground.
"Get back! No one touches her!" Percy shouted hoarsely. He stepped over me, slashing his sword in front of himself to prove his point. From my rather limited vantage point on the ground, I saw the shuffling feet of both monsters and demigods step away.
"Interesting..." mused Kronus. "Bravely fought, Percy Jackson. But it's time to surrender…or the girl dies."
Boy, did I hate that scum. A long second followed. Could he actually be considering the offer?
"Percy, don't," I groaned.
Unless some miracle occurred, I was dead anyway. Odds were that the dagger had been poisoned, and at any rate, it had probably punctured a lung or something else equally important.
"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.
Oh, I thought. Blackjack. Ingenious. Of course, I should have thought of that...
Blackjack soared through the air and grabbed me by my shirt. As I was dangling in the air, hoping that I wouldn't fall off, I made peace with Rachel. Sure, I would still be jealous if she came around, but I knew that Percy wasn't for her. And I think he knew too, deep inside. Rachel can't stand in the way of that- no one can. His armor sure isn't shining, and his horse might not be white, but Percy is my hero.
I know this was very short, but please review and tell me what you think! All reviews are greatly appreciated, as they help me become a better writer. Thanks!
~wisegirlwiseeyes
