This chapter is the big one. The Kahuna.
Apologies in advance for bad chemistry references.
Sigh, Percy's not mine.
Chapter 8: In which Dad's chemistry lectures kick some major butt.
Let me tell you something about me. There are a few things I really cannot stand, like chalk (it feels nasty), uncut fingernails, and hair in my face. But there's something that I hate even more, because I can't avoid it when it comes each year.
The cold.
The winter is quite possibly the thing I dread the most. I despise the feeling of goose bumps, runny noses, and lacking warmth.
So, when Nico and I were running for our lives through the forest, explaining to me that the monster was a Hyperborean giant, I was not too thrilled.
"They freeze everything around them, but the good thing is they aren't too smart. Though, now that I think of it, it's in the middle of spring. Why would one be here anyways? It's too uncommon…"
"Just cut to the chase, will you?" I snapped, growing impatient.
He glared at me. "This is serious, smart egg. It's escaped prison in Olympus. Something's wrong. But for now, we have to eliminate it before it reaches anyone else,"
"Peachy," I muttered. "So what do you plan to do?"
"I really have no idea. The best I can come up with is setting some undead warriors on him, then trying to beat it up while you go and run for help. I would love to brag that I can take this guy down by myself, but he could probably eliminate the skeletons faster than I can conjure them."
"Can you just open up the ground and swallow him up?" I panted, skipping over a tree root that was in my way.
"I'm totally spent," he admitted. "Truthfully, Chiron didn't want me participating today, but I insisted."
The giant roared, sending a cold breath that froze everything in its path. It's body was a deep blue, and waves of icy steam rolled off him
Liquid nitrogen, I remembered my Dad saying once. Its temperature is about negative 320 degrees. If organic material touches it and enough force is applied, it could shatter it into a million pieces.
That was way colder than winter.
Suddenly, things were not looking too bright.
The Hyperborean giant hissed, flashing its blue biceps. I tried not to look back, instead concentrating on the path before me.
"Come back, you tasty little morsels," it taunted, transforming what it touched to ice. It put a hand on the ground, and sent a wave of icicles out from the earth. Nico pushed me out of the way before they could get me.
"Stay on your toes!" he yelled. He turned around, and raised a wall of rock behind us. The giant shattered it like a house of cards.
"Why doesn't it ever get tired?" I said, trying to catch my breath.
"It's a monster. Do they ever get tired?"
"Do you always have to be right?"
"Yeah."
I quickly dodged another sheet of ice. The air around us was chilling quickly. I sneaked a quick glance behind me, and noticed the trees glistening with frost. Either that, or they had been broken like glass, looking like pointy ice sculptures.
"Idiot! Watch out!"
I didn't have time to react as the monster roared, shooting ice picks from his mouth. If Nico hadn't tackled me then and there, I would've looked like a pincushion.
We crashed to the ground, rolling a few feet till we came to a stop.
My back ached, but other than that I was okay. I turned to my savior, a grateful smile finding its way onto my face. "Thanks, you totally saved me—"
I stopped short.
Nico was not okay.
He must have been hit with part of the giant's attack, because his leg was bleeding and more than a frozen dozen needles were stuck there. He groaned. "And I was healing so well too…"
Another wintry blast of air froze the trees around us. Then the Hyperborean giant emerged from the forest, snapping the trees like toothpicks and looking like a really ugly mountain. He smiled evilly. "You're cornered now," he gloated.
The ground rumbled and split open, and hordes of skeletons poured out. They rushed toward the monster, attacking it with spears, but it was no use. The moment they touched its icy skin, they froze, unable to move. The giant finished them off with a few punches and stomps, sending shattered skeleton remains everywhere. The undead kept coming, but it looked like it was taking its toll on Nico. Sweat beaded across his forehead and his skin was pale and sickly.
I felt completely useless. I had no nectar on me, and had no powers to boast of. No swordplay skills, archery, or anything.
Mom, I yelled angrily in my head. Now would be a GREAT time to tell me who exactly I am, before I turn into monster lunchables!
As usual, no answer.
Thanks mom.
At that moment I was so extremely fed up, I didn't even care that she hadn't answered me. I knew the skeletons were proving to be an annoyance, but nothing more. Sooner or later, the giant would get rid of them, Nico would pass out, and there I was, unable to help.
The Hyperborean giant bellowed, throwing off the skeletons on him. "Pesky little ants! You shall all be crushed under my might and power!" He swiped an arm, eliminating half the army. Then he turned his eyes on me, and I felt chills run up my spine. He grinned, revealing teeth that looked like icicles. "When I get rid of you, they won't have to worry anymore."
They? Who was "they"?
I didn't have time to think anymore before I jumped to the side, evading his frozen breath. I took out my hammer. If I was going to die, then I was going to die fighting. The hammer looked like a useless weapon in front of the huge blue man, but it had proved its worth before. I grit my teeth and took a protective stance. I was not going to end my life like a coward, unable to do anything.
As soon as that realization hit me, the feeling happened for a third time. The world got sharper, like someone had focused my vision. I could sense the entire surrounding forest. I felt the giant's weight on the earth (it was really heavy), and I could hear the trees breathe behind their frozen shock.
The Hyperborean laughed, a roar that shook the forest floor. "You're going to come at me with a hammer?"
I looked it in the eye and adjusted my aim. "Yep."
The projectile hurtled toward his eye, and when it hit he clutched the injury in pain. "Half-blood! You will pay for this!"
The trees around me shook, and with a slight wiggle of my fingers, their branches shot out and wrapped themselves around the giant's body. He batted them away easily, their wood frozen and brittle from his icy touch.
Dad's memory flashed before me again. If organic material touches it and enough force is applied, it could shatter it into a million pieces. But, he said, smiling, what if it wasn't organic material? Do you think a force could be great enough to shatter the bonds of iron?
Too bad we have nothing except organic material here, I thought. The trees themselves wound around the giant too, but still to no avail. Bushes, weeds, grasses…all the plants nearby grew and tackled the monster, climbing up his legs and knotting up his torso. He broke them apart easily once they had successfully turned to ice.
"Foolish child. You cannot hope to defeat me with your array of stupid plants," he spat.
Nico looked at me. "You attacked him with plants?"
I shrugged. "Wasn't intentional, they were kind of the only things I had on hand."
He shivered slightly. "You think you can hold him off for a while longer? I'm going to make a trip."
The cold was getting to me too, apparently. Because I thought he just said he was going to ditch me—
Nico blended right into the shadows, sinking into the darkness, leaving me alone with a Hyperborean giant who was out for my life.
"Looks like even your comrade has abandoned you." The giant smirked, looking down at me with one black eye. The trees were still doing their best to twist around him, but I knew he would snap them with no problem soon enough.
I concentrated hard.
Do you think a force could be great enough to shatter the bonds of iron?
Slowly, I felt myself changing the trees' chemical makeup, changing the living to the inanimate. The cells died out, transforming into iron atoms as metal rushed on the trees' trunk like a wash of dark paint. They squeezed tighter when they realized the giant could not shatter them like before, and branched out, leaving the monster in an iron prison.
To his credit, he looked terrified. "Look, okay, I get it! You can let me go now! I promise I won't hurt anyone anymore," he pleaded as a branch found its way to his mouth, preventing him from spewing ice.
I clenched my hand into a fist. "Fat chance."
He howled and burst into sand as the metal trees crumpled and bound him tight.
I sat there for a while, contemplating what I had just done. I looked at my hands like they might hold the answer to my mysterious power.
What was that?
I heard a rustle in the woods, and I was instantly alert again. I stood up and picked the hammer off the ground, prepared to fight.
However, I didn't need to be so alarmed. Nico burst out of the trees, with ten or so campers, Lars, and Chiron with him.
"Hey guys," I called out, cheerier than I actually felt. "I'm okay."
They stood there, dumbfounded.
"You did this?" whispered Nico, looking at the huge and twisted metallic lump of trees. I gulped. It was my fault this time, right?
I scratched my head. "Uh, I think so, not really sure how it happened."
Really, how did I do that? Then, like I had been struck by Zeus's lightning bolt, I had a sneaking suspicion.
The cold air was slowly disappearing since the Hyperborean giant was gone. Soon, the forest would be back to normal. I smiled, weariness suddenly sinking into my bones. The fight had made me tired, and my body was screaming at me to go to sleep to recover.
Everyone was staring at me, then back at the iron trees, then back at me. I frowned. "What is it? I'm not injured or anything…"
I looked up.
There, spinning, was a holographic image of pale golden poppy. It glowed for a while, then disappeared like the wind, leaving only the faint scent of wheat behind.
I looked at the crowd for help, unsure of what to say.
I knew what this symbol was, and I was starting to panic. It should not have worked out this way. My suspicion had been confirmed.
I knew who my mother was.
"Congrats," said Lars stepping forwards. "You've been claimed."
"I know," I whispered. But now that it was here and now, I didn't know if I wanted it anymore.
He grinned. "Mother of the Earth and bringer of life, goddess of the harvest. Welcome, May Wang, daughter of Demeter."
A tad obvious, yes. A little like Percy's...yes. ARGHHHH sorry it didn't come out better :(
R&R. Next chapter will for sure be unique.
