HOLA! :) I'm back! Update time! Yay! Shout outs:
Wisdom's daughter: That's good :)
8EternallyMortal8- Your fanfic made me cry, BTW. I totally loved it, though! (Incredible one? Hm, lets see if I can get my sisters to call me that… ;)
Random demigod- A bit, I suppose. I hope that's ok!
Myusernameisoriginal- It's ok :) Thanks for coming back and reviewing anyway!
LighElf99- You. Are. So. Close. I mean, it's almost scary how close you are, I'm not kidding. You're wrong on a few details, but for the most part… did you go through my laptop somehow or something? (And thank you!)
Disclaimer: Me? RR? Who does that make you guys? Santa? I own nothing.
Percy's POV
"You ok?" Asked Annabeth carefully as we walked down the street.
"Fine," I said, my mind reeling with what we'd learned. "Why?"
"Well, you know…" Annabeth began awkwardly. "With your mom dating and all."
"Oh," I managed. "Yeah, that. Uh-"
"Guys? We've got trouble!" Called Rachel, jogging back to us.
"What?" Asked Annabeth immediately.
"Those earth-bounds we saw earlier are looping around. They'll round that corner any minute…" Rachel trailed off as the lumbering shaped turned the corner. "Oh, look. There they are," she said weakly. Her face was pale, making her freckles stand out.
I wasn't sure I looked much better. This was all too new to me, and now that I knew the earth-bounds had to do with a powerful evil union- well, it didn't help.
On my other side, Annabeth looked around for some sort of weapon. She wasn't pale, but her hands shook slightly. Four earth-bounds. Three untrained children of the gods. We were toast.
"Hey! This ally is roped off!" Called a policeman from the other side of the road. We were stuck. The cop kept coming closer, unable to see the muddy monsters just fifty feet behind us.
"Haven't you kids heard of all the gang activity around these parts lately?" The cop scolded. "It's not safe to be out on your own."
He continued lecturing us, but we had bigger problems. The earth-bounds were just feet away from us.
"Get their eye- that's how Chiron killed them," Annabeth hissed under her breath to us.
"Got it," I muttered back. "What do you think the cop will see?" Rachel snorted, although she was still pale.
"Us attacking thin air like lunatics?" She joked weakly.
"On my mark… NOW!" Annabeth cried, charging toward the nearest earth-bound. Behind us, the cop stopped rambling, yelling something about 'resisting arrest.'
We ignored him, Rachel and I both picking an earth-bound and charging. Thankfully, earth-bounds weren't very fast. They were, however, destructive. If they got you cornered, you were a goner.
"Come and get me, ugly!" I taunted, making the earth-bound come closer. I was terrified, but I was also determined not to let it show. Had my dad, wherever he was, fought the same creatures?
The earth-bound roared in fury, swiping out at me. I dodged, rolling between the creature's legs, and jumped to my feet behind it.
"Too slow," I taunted, picking up a trashcan lid that had rolled to a stop near my feet. Throwing it like a Frisbee, I let it soar toward the creature's head. He turned just in time to get a trashcan lid to the eye. The red peeper blinked, and then went out. He didn't cry in pain, just collapsed, and then dissolved back into the ground. Creepy.
"Percy! Behind you!" Cried out Annabeth, just moments too late. A muddy fist closed around my neck and lifted me off the ground. I choked for air, scrapping at the shapeless fist desperately. I'd forgotten about the fourth earth-bound, and now I was paying the price.
Annabeth and Rachel, occupied with their own earth-bounds, were too far away to help. My vision began to turn dark at the edges, and I my lungs felt like they were on fire. Just when I was about to black out, the earth-bound threw me through the nearest abandoned store window.
The window exploded with the impact as I went sailing through, the glass nicking my legs and arms. Crumpled on the floor, I gasped for breath, the shattered glass all around me.
The low hanging sun was suddenly blotted out as the earth-bound lumbered into the store through the broken window, ready to finish me off. I managed to get to my knees, but it made the room spin and head pound. There was no way I'd be able to get back to my feet right away, let alone fight properly.
If I can only get to the eye, I thought desperately. I considered throwing a piece of glass, but doubted my aim would be any good. There was too big a chance the flat side of the glass would hit the eye instead of a sharp edge.
I need something more pointed, like a stick or a dart or even… even a ballpoint pen, I realized my hand darting instinctively to my pocket. I'd only have one shot at this.
Pulling out the cheap pen, I too a deep breath, waiting for the earth-bound to get closer. I'd never written with it, but I always kept it with me. I'd won that souvenir the hard way- in a fight with Luke and Kronos. I wasn't about to lose it.
All too soon, the earth-bound was looming over me. If I didn't know better, I'd swear a triumphant smirk crossed over its face. I took a deep breath, uncapped the pen for a better point, and hurtled it at the earth-bound's eye as hard as I could.
Several things happened all at once.
Mid-air the pen began to change. It grew in length, sharpening and almost emitting a bronze glow. In the blink of an eye, my useless pen had changed into a full-length bronze sword with a wicked edge.
The sword found it's mark, and the earth-bound collapsed, dissolving into the ground like it's twin. Across the ally, Rachel and Annabeth had managed to beat their own opponents and now stumbled toward me, looking shocked.
"H-how…" Rachel stammered, staring at the sword in amazement. "How did you do that?"
"I have no idea," I answered honestly. "It was a pen just minutes ago!" Annabeth picked up the sword, studying it carefully.
"Percy," she said slowly. "I think this belonged to your father."
"What?" I gasped, stumbling to my feet. The room pitched and spun, but after a few deep breaths, it wore off. Glass crunched under my shoes as I stumbled over to her, leaning heavily on the wall.
"What makes you say that?"
"This symbol," Annabeth replied, running a finger over the sword's hilt. At the top of the hilt, a bronze trident was engraved into the leather handle. Picking up the cap to the pen, she re-capped it, and it shrank back into your average writing utensil.
"Percy, where did you get this pen?" She asked, handing it back.
"The fight with Luke and Kronos," I recalled. "Luke had been almost… scared of it. I didn't really give it a second thought at the time. He must have known what it could do."
"If it was your father's sword," Rachel said slowly. "How did they get it?" We all fell silent at her question.
"Hey, you kids!" Yelled a voice, and we turned to see a very red-faced, furious looking cop headed our way. "I'm gonna have to take you in for this!"
"You're arresting us?" Rachel said incredulously. "Why?!"
"Destruction of property, trespassing," the man ranted, gesturing to the busted window. "I don't know what you were thinking, kid, jumping through this window!"
"Jumping?" I asked in disbelief. "I didn't jump. I was thrown."
"Yeah, sure," the cop snapped sarcastically. "And I'm the Easter bunny."
"C'mon, Percy," Annabeth said, turning from the cop distastefully. "Lets get out of here."
"Are you part of that gang? Hey! HEY! GET BACK HERE!" The cop roared, pulling out his radio to request backup.
Leaning heavily on Rachel and Annabeth, we somehow managed to escape the ally. We needed to get back to the others and make a game plan, as well as get the rest of the answers from Chiron. Something was seriously wrong.
Action-packed chapter! Hope you guys liked that :) And, I believe you will be getting more answers next chapter about what a defender is and what's going to be expected from Percy and his friends. Yay! ;) Reviewer's question: The cop mentioned a gang a few times. Important future characters, or just a reason the cop was in that ally way? And if you think the gang is going to be important, who do you think they are? This should be interesting. :) Until next time!
