Chapter Eleven
I didn't scream. No. That would be stupid. Instead, I veeeery slowly lifted my bow off the floor of the car and reached for my quiver.
"The Laestrygonians sent you, didn't they?" Nico assumed, sounding brave and yet still terrified.
Lamia laughed. "Of course. But they did not need to. I can smell children from miles away."
"Why do you work for them?" Percy demanded.
"Stupid boy," she hissed. "I work for no one. But I work to oppose Hera."
"What has Hera ever done to you?" I asked.
Whatever it was, it wouldn't surprise me. Hera was notorious for ruining women's lives.
"Zeus loved me," Lamia moaned. "I was a queen. Then that nasty, dirty, nosy scum Hera stole my children, my poor, beautiful children...and Zeus turned me into this so I could get my revenge."
"By eating other people's children," I whispered.
"That's right!" she cackled. "And now, I'm going to eat you, my lovely demigods!"
"Wait!" Nico exclaimed desperately. "How will eating us get back at Hera? I don't understand."
I understood what Nico was doing. The will to live and our survival instincts were kicking in, momentarily numbing our fear. Nico was buying me time. While Lamia was distracted by her fury at Hera, she wouldn't notice me nocking an arrow.
"That wretched goddess. You see, darlings, if I destroy you, then I will be able to destroy the others. Your camps are pathetically helpless. Hera needs her heroes. All the gods of Olympus need their heroes," she snapped.
I silently and swiftly nocked a single arrow.
"And children of the Three!" she gushed. "I could smell you from five miles away. You, loves, are going to taste fantastic."
"We don't taste fantastic!" Percy told her sincerely. "I-I have salt water in my blood. Tastes terrible."
"And I, uh, my vital organs automatically electrocute anyone who, er, tries to...eat me." I spread my hands. "Sorry."
"My skin is made of Underworld dirt," Nico said matter-of-factly.
Lamia sneered. "I think not. I've eaten many demigods in my day. You don't fool me, children. Why don't we start with you, little son of the sea god?"
She lunged for Percy, and I lifted my bow. Before I had time to fire it, Lamia grabbed it and snapped it in half with surprising speed. Percy fumbled for his pen as Nico drew his own sword. Lamia's red eyes flared and her long skirt turned to ashes, revealing a serpent's tail. I was still in horrible shock at my bow, which was sitting in two pathetic pieces.
Nico yanked the car door open and leaped out to help Percy. Fighting inside the car was too hard. I regretfully put down my broken bow and followed his lead. Percy was trying to dodge Lamia's wicked claws, but she was too fast, and he was stuck. She dug them into the carseat, missing his arm and tearing five large holes in the leather. Nico and I ran around the side of the car just too late. Raking her claws across Percy's face, Lamia yanked him out and smacked his legs right in Nico's face.
Nico staggered back, clutching his nose, so I took the opportunity to grab Riptide out of the car, where Percy had dropped it. Breathing fast, I swung it at Lamia, and she hissed. I swung again, but she backed away, still holding Percy.
Before I could take another stab at it (literally), she let Percy stand and put him in a half-nelson, holding her claws up to his bleeding, gashed face.
"No," I pleaded breathlessly. "Stop! Wait!"
She smiled wickedly at me. "You are no match for me, daughter of Zeus. Your internal, long-inherited fear of me is holding you back. You are afraid. If you weren't, I'd say you had a death wish! A painful, slow, torturous death wish."
I was scared to move any closer as she dragged his claws lightly over Percy's already-injured face.
"You have lost, little heroes," she snarled. "Look at you, Percy Jackson. They told me that you would be my biggest challenge. Ha! Look at you now, son of Poseidon."
Percy growled and struggled against her.
"Percy," Nico whispered. "Stop."
"My father will know it was you!" I threatened. "He'll know you killed us and he will come to avenge us!"
"Your father!" Lamia shrieked with laughter, throwing her head back. "Child, it is your father that keeps me alive! He will not kill me. He has pity on me. I know he waited long to claim you. You were forgotten. The Lord of the Sky will not come after his dead, forgotten daughter."
I felt like she had just punched me in the gut. Then I started to get angry. And very desperate.
And that was when I fried her like a McDonald's chicken nugget.
It happened really fast. I don't quite remember exactly what went down, but I think it was something like this:
"I'm not dead or forgotten!" I snapped at her, feeling a familiar tug in my gut. I grabbed my needle-like lightning bolt necklace and showed it to her. "He gave me this."
"A necklace in exchange for all those years he took from you," Lamia hissed. "If he had claimed you earlier, you could be the most powerful demigod alive. Why, then, did he leave you at the doorstep of a silly little summer camp, if you had not been forgotten?"
I glared at her, and the clouds got as dark as my stare. The rain poured harder, starting to heal the wounds on Percy's face.
"Put him down, or I'll do it," I threatened. "I'll kill you."
She hissed. "I don't think so, daughter of Zeus. You are untrained. If you try to use lightning, you risk killing him, too."
"I would never," I said adamantly.
Maybe he was thinking of what happened to Camp Half-Blood when I lost control, but Percy whispered, "No! Use my sword!"
Lamia laughed sadistically and stared at me. "Your own friend has no faith in you."
That being the last straw, I summoned every ounce of my strength and directed it at Lamia. My determination not only to kill her, but to keep Percy alive and prove to him that I knew what I was doing, allowed me to send a thin, crackling lightning bolt straight down on the monster, using a vicious wind to tear Percy out of her grip.
Lamia didn't have even a second to shriek when it hit her. Her body blackened and then exploded into a starburst of gold dust when I slashed through her ruined form with Riptide. Percy went flying across the road, unharmed, but still in shock. The gashes on his face were almost completely healed under the pouring rain. Nico was grinning at me, like he knew I could do it.
Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself. I smiled up at the sky and shouted, "WOOHOO!" in delight. A firework show of lightning flashing in the sky, I turned to Percy and Nico. Percy stood and shook the rain out of his hair, walking towards me.
"Come on," I told them. "Let's get away from this place."
I turned to go back to our ruined car and see if I could make any repairs, but Percy grabbed my arm and spun me toward him. He didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at me with this inexplicable look in his eyes.
"Has anyone ever told you," he asked, "that you're incredible?"
And then he leaned forward and kissed me. Just like that. The second his lips touched mine, an explosion of lightning flashed through the clouds, setting the sky ablaze with electric light. The wind swept around us like a blanket, as if we were the only things that mattered on Earth.
And to me, in that rainy, wild, moment-
We were.
Author's Note:
Hello again! Wow, it's been such a long time since I released a new chapter. Next time, the fight scene will be longer, I promise you. Just needed to add in a victorious moment for Carrie. Reviews are always welcome, of course, and favorites make my day:)
Sorry it took so long for the update. I've been really busy with this novel I'm writing that I plan on getting published. The next one will be sooner.
~Writer's Wings
