TAW Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the TAW so please do not accuse any members of the TAW on Anything…thank you.

Blackjack

"Don't I get a kiss for good luck?" Percy heard himself say.

"Come back alive, Seaweed Brain, then we'll see." He heard a girl say.

"Percy! It's coming right at us!" Lexi screamed, but Percy didn't hear anything. The delirium that caught him at that moment was unwavering, until Lexi gave him a big slap across the face. "Percy! Wake up, gods damn you!" she yelled to his face.

Percy shook his head violently and only now, heard the loud, vicious roar of one of the hugest monsters he had ever seen. It had sea green scales and a gigantic neck the length of a 7 storey building. It's head was as big as a house, with rows upon rows of sharp, shining teeth and a tongue that pierced like the sharpest sword, with barbs upon it. Eyes like that of a snake, they were colored sea green as well, and were quite menacing.

The Scylla opened it's mouth again and gave another roar that would have deafened a regular human being. Fortunately, Percy was far from regular, even for a demigod. There was no way he could battle the Scylla with his bare hands, and he doubted Heracles could either. He had heard stories, however, from unclaimed children and from Chiron that the one that claims the heart of the Scylla and the Hydra would have his strength grow twofold.

Those stories can't be true, Percy thought. I'll have to ask Annabeth about them. She'd know about that more than anybody else. He sacrificed a split second to think about her and let the thought of her motivate him to survive. The most powerful weapon he had at the moment was the crystal, and the thought of using it suddenly became the best idea he had.

"Lexi, the crystal! Give me the crystal!" Percy told her.

"Percy, no! What if you lose it? What if you die and it takes it? You can't even wield it!" Lexi shook her head stubbornly. "You can defeat it without the crystal. You've done worse before."

Percy stared at her in alarm for a second and then realized she was right. It was foolish to use the crystal: he had no idea how to summon it's power, and perhaps the Scylla did. Then what?

He drew the sword he claimed from the underground before the fight with Hephaestion. It was longer than Riptide, but may not be as reliable as Riptide used to be before it failed him a couple of times. There must be some way to append the power of the crystal to the sword, but Percy didn't have that knowledge. He propelled the boat sideways and got ready to jump out of it.

"Lexi, you have to stay out of this fight, you understand? I can't drown since I'm in the water, and I'll have a better chance fighting it off if you can distract it from the boat. Can you do that for me?" Percy asked, as the Scylla surveyed them from the distance.

"Yes, I can. Don't worry. Just keep me far enough from it." Lexi said hurriedly. "Now go!"

Percy didn't bother wasting time answering. He jumped from the boat, sword in hand, and swam swiftly towards the Scylla. Meeting it in one on one combat is probably suicidal, but Percy was in his turf, he was in the water. But so was the Scylla. He had to use it's size to it's disadvantage.

I can distract it with waves from the sides. Also, Lexi should make a good distraction; she's an Aphrodite, though I don't know how much she can turn the Scylla on. It's heart must be in it's chest, unless there's something I'm missing, and I should go straight for it.

Percy summoned high tidal waves as he swam. He got used to doing this after the war against Kronos, when he had nobody to fight, so he would create and improvise his own scenarios with other half-bloods, but he usually won very easily since it was in the water, unless Tyson was playing.

The Scylla wasn't going to stand still. It also moved, and by that, the waves Percy summoned were quickly washed away into nothingness. He felt the water pressure change as the Scylla lunged towards him and he sprang away into the air just in time. It soon became a dance, at least for Percy: the Scylla would lunge mercilessly, biting with it's mouth, slapping with it's tail, smashing with it's neck, but Percy would avoid them, and with great difficulty.

A moment came for Percy to jump on the neck of the Scylla, and he did, but couldn't hold on without losing his sword. He watched the sword fall into the water like it fell through the air: undisturbed. He cursed as he held on to the Scylla's sharpened scales.

It roared in frustration. Percy tried speaking to it as if it was another sea creature, but it's consciousness was nothing like he had ever experienced before. It was more ancient than the gods themselves, and acted thusly. It could not be tamed in any single way, shape or form. With nothing else to do, Percy tried summoning more waves as he climbed up the neck of the Scylla to it's neck.

Please do something, Percy thought, as he searched the waters for Lexi. He saw a revolving light, that was the brightest he had ever seen, and had to close his eyes. A split second later the Scylla roared in pain for the first time, and when Percy opened his eyes he saw a thick ray of white light shining right onto the Scylla's eyes. Seeing his chance, he jumped upwards and upwards until he reached the head, and held on to one of it's horns.

He pulled as hard as he can, and he felt it slowly detach from the head. It's roar became an eerie scream, and Percy pulled harder and harder, and eventually tore off one side of the base of the horn. It was two times taller than a spear and maybe 3 times as thick. The blinding light then stopped, and the Scylla raised it's head in relief, which caused Percy to slip off the head and slide down the neck, with the horn in hand.

As if it were planned, due to Percy's speed and strength, the horn's sharp end stabbed into the base of the neck of the Scylla, and it roared again, a much weaker one than before. Percy was forced to let go, unless he wanted a broken body, and landed on a wave near the body of the Scylla.

He quickly summoned the waters to return his sword and swam under the Scylla to it's chest. He heard its great heart pumping out gallons of blood to sustain it's gigantic body. He then stabbed and sliced, and his vision was blinded by the thick blood of the Scylla. When he cleared his vision, he saw it: a great green stone, shining warmly in the shadow of the waters under the Scylla's body.

Percy forcefully took the heart of the Scylla, and heard the creature die from underwater, as he swam back up to the surface. "I'll come back alive, Annabeth. I promise." He whispered, as the Scylla sank into the depths of the sea.

Annabeth woke up with a start. It was the first time she had slept in a bed, and she was sleeping worse than when she was sleeping on the road. How could she sleep, when she had seen Percy's alarmed face? He may not even be alive now. They tried out the mirror again yesterday after they finished showering, and nothing appeared except their reflections.

She looked towards Tori, who was sleeping facing her, on her stomach. She was only in her underwear, and Annabeth already got used to sleeping with her around. She's a good person, Annabeth thought. No wonder Percy and her had something. She couldn't imagine another Athena doing what Tori did so far; the whole leaving camp and running as far from the gods as possible thing.

"You can't sleep either, huh?" She heard Tori's voice, which sounded frustrated. She opened her eyes and looked at Annabeth. "You're thinking about him too."

Annabeth frowned. Was it that obvious? "You heard that thing. Anyone wouldn't be able to sleep after hearing that."

"Knowing Percy, he might've been through worse than that. Plus, he's in Greece, Annabeth. There's nothing we can do, even if we wanted to." Tori sat up on the king sized bed and covered herself with the sheets.

Annabeth sat up and got closer to her, letting their bare shoulders touch. "Percy's not invincible."

"That he's not. But he has the will to act, more than any other person I've seen. Other than you, at least, before the war ended." Tori sighed. "I know what you're thinking."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at her.

"You're wondering why I'm thinking about Percy, aren't you? Look, Annabeth, I'm sorry." Tori looked away. Even though the room was dark, she could see the perfect proportions of Tori's face contort as she frowned.

"Sorry about what? It wasn't all you. Percy was part of it as well. It's not like I've not been with other guys." Annabeth said impatiently.

"You two have a connection like no other demigods." Tori snorted. "To be honest, I'm just jealous you have someone like that."

"Well, we have been through a lot together. Basically everything. Well, not everything. Not yet." Annabeth took Tori's hand. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're an Aphrodite. You can get any guy you want."

"Not any guy. Percy didn't love me like he loved you. Loves you. I'm 100% sure he still does, and always will." Tori didn't take her hand back.

"Nothing lasts forever, Tori. Nothing. At least for us mortals." She chuckled. "He was an inch away from immortality. I don't think any other hero would have said no. Imagine what Clarisse would've said."

"What bothers me even more is what he's up to. He's not just looking for a new sword, right?" Tori asked Annabeth seriously.

"I'm not sure…He definitely dismissed Riptide quite fast, for such a powerful sword. If I were to guess, he's trying to face his fears. And a journey to Greece sounds exactly like something a hero would do to purge himself of his fears." Annabeth replied, looking at the ceiling.

"Fears? What does he fear? He beat Kronos!" Tori exclaimed.

"He dreaded facing Kronos. But he did what he had to do. We all did. But now it's different. It always begins with fear. At least for him and me." Annabeth shook her head. "He's brave in the sense that he'll fight anything and anyone that could hurt him or the people he cares about."

Tori didn't answer. She appeared to be in deep thought. "I think you're right. It begins with fear. He fears the gods, maybe?"

"I'm sure it's more than one thing. I'm afraid of losing him forever, so he might have that fear too. I guess that's why I can't sleep."

"If he's dead, we'd find out, Annabeth. You can bet he's alive. I'd bet my life on it." Tori squeezed Annabeth's hand hard. "There would be a change in the atmosphere."

"Let's stop thinking about this. Do you feel like going out or something? It looks like the sun might rise soon." Annabeth got out of the bed. "Let's have a walk. Then we can eat."

"Sounds like a plan." Tori got out of bed.

They were finally on land, and they had no idea where they were. They headed further southwest after the battle with the Scylla, but unlike Lemnos, this island was completely abandoned. They found no sign of any humans, but they found abandoned settlements near the shore. Percy first had to clear the shack of any rats and other petty dangers, so that they could settle down.

"Nothing to eat, is there?" Lexi smiled at him, despite everything that had happened in the past two days.

Percy frowned. "Start a fire for me?" he asked as he headed out of the shack. It had a bed on it, with a desk and a small fireplace. It was still light out, so he figured he might be able to catch something before all the animals go to sleep.

Lexi looked around the shack for a bathroom and immediately didn't find one. She exited the shack and looked into the other ones. She found picture books and a kitchen in one of them. She found a makeshift bathroom in another, but no shower. She needed to get clean desperately, because she stank of sea salt, and her skin was really dry.

She looked around for any possible water sources. She didn't find any. She went back to the shore, and took off her clothes slowly, inching into the lukewarm water. Despite everything, she felt better. The water was crystal clear, even in the weak sunlight. And there was no Scylla, not anymore.

She swam in a breast stroke for a few minutes until she dipped her head inside the water and got out, shaking her head violently. She screamed when she saw Percy looking down at her from his water boat.

He smiled a really small and amused smile. "Trying to relax, huh? Well, I got a fire started. Let's go inside. It's about to get dark."

"You scared me! I'll see you inside. I just need to get some clothes on."

"I'll get you some fresh clothes. See you inside."

When she got back on the shore, she dried off with her old clothes and saw Percy coming towards her with a handful of clothes, which she snatched quickly from him. He walked away chuckling.

"Shouldn't have done that. Foolish." Lexi muttered. He gave her one of her comfortable shorts and a long sleeved shirt. She didn't like his selection, but she wasn't about to tell him to come again with new clothes. She put them on, and headed inside to see a crackling fire and big pile of leaves.

"We're gonna have to go vegetarian tonight. These leaves aren't poisonous. At least according to the fish that eat them in the streams. I got us some water as well." He pointed towards a small table beside the bed, where there was a large bucket of clear water.

Lexi raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's only temporary. We'll be in civilization tomorrow. Having an Aphrodite around makes it much more difficult to camp. Lucky we found a shack." Percy joked.

They munched on the scarce berries and leaves and were still hungry. "Where to next?" Lexi inquired.

"Delphi. Not directly though. The Oracle no longer resides there, and it's a ruin to regular humans. Maybe to us it would be different. It could be the new lair of the Fates."

"How long till we get there?"

"Who knows? How many monsters are we going to meet?" Percy munched on a berry. He still felt the pounding beats of the Scylla's heart, which was in his pocket.

Lexi heard the beats as well. "How does it feel? Can I hold it?"

Percy put his hand inside his pocket and extracted the heart delicately. It still shone a warm green, and radiated a massive amount of energy. He couldn't possibly imagine wielding it in battle: it didn't seem like a weapon of any kind.

"I think you can append this to your sword, and make it stronger. Like a temporary black crystal." Lexi commented, staring at it in awe.

"Chiron once told me that the one that wields the heart of the Scylla and the heart of the Hydra will have his strength increased greatly." Percy replied. "I should keep it as a trophy, like I did the Minotaur horn. Until the heart of the Hydra at least."

"How did you kill it? I didn't doubt you for a second, but how?" Lexi looked at him with an amazed look on her face.

"Luck was on my side." Percy dismissed her amazement. "Your distraction helped quite a lot."

"That was nothing. You killed it." Lexi shook her head in awe. "Seeing something so great die…is nothing like I've ever seen before."

"We killed it." Percy put his hand on her shoulder.

They chatted for a bit about lighter things, like memories of when they were back at Camp Half-Blood. Then their eyes failed them as they slept on the same bed. The next day was bright and warm, and they were ready to leave. But they were still hungry and tired.

"There's bound to be a proper settlement on the next island. Let's go." Percy and Lexi left the shack a little more messy, but were thankful for it's shelter. They trekked to the other side of the island, and approached the shore, ready to leave again.

As Percy was about to command the water to form a boat, he heard a neighing sound further down the shore. Refusing to give into a wild wish that just popped into his mind, he saw a Pegasus colored a pure black, with intelligent eyes. He then heard the voice that had grown familiar to him, but a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Hey, Boss! Need me?" Blackjack neighed happily.