Um so yeah... review please!
All of my muscles felt as though they were on fire. It had been a very long time since I'd had to use them like this, to say the least. My energy was begining to wane so much so that I could feel my hair growing damp – not from sweat, but from the water around me. The water was taking longer and longer to regenerate into huge watery fists after each time I smashed the ground. I hit the ground with my fist again, spraying up water. In the spray, a rainbow glittered up at me and an image formed.
It took me a while to be able to make out what was in the image. First all I saw was chaos and flying droplets of water and shadow, and I couldn't tell if the water I was seeing was my own water, or if it was part of the image. Then, a mop of black hair flew across the image, holding onto something bright orange. I managed to make out Leo's face attached to the black mop of hair, and he was yelling something.
"... Adrian... Adrian... ADRIAN!" his voice gradually grew louder, and then his face appeared. "Help! Ship under attack! DRAGON!" His face was yanked out of the image again, followed by a bright orange body and a lick of orange flame. "AAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIAAAAAANNNNNNN!"
"I got it, I got it! I will go get them and we'll rush back. Five minutes, tops!" I said, dropping my watery fists and flying out of my suit. I looked around and saw Jason first, spinning through a field of purple cloaks. I skimmed through the air over the heads of Greeks and Romans alike.
"Jason!" I yelled, my voice cracking slightly. "JASON!" We gotta go, now! Get the others and meet me back at the tree!" He didn't look up at first. He was standing perfectly still, but I realized he was shorter than everyone around him. He wasn't standing; he was on his knees. He looked up at me slowly and with his head out of the way, I saw something that made my jaw drop. There was a sword between his ribs and his orange shirt was rapidly overcome with crimson stains. Reyna slowly pulled her sword out and he fell, collapsed in the mud.
I stared for a moment in shock. "TYSON!" I screamed, using my powers to carry my voice along the wind. "HEDGE! NICO! FRAAAAAAANK!" After I said their names I fell through the air, shooting straight for Jason. I used huge gusts of wind to slam the Romans to the ground and away from Jason. Adrenaline provided me the strength and energy I had begun to lose, and I ripped Jason's shirt from his chest. I pressed it to his ribs, trying to stop the blood flow. His eyes had begun to flutter and I cursed, putting more pressure against the shirt.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" I yelled, turning my head to face Reyna. "YOU DUMBASS, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON OUR SIDE! I THOUGHT YOU WERE INTELLIGENT?" I would have gotten up and punched her in the face if I wasn't too busy trying to keep Jason's intestines from spilling onto the dirt. I looked over my shoulder and saw, much to my relief, that Tyson had heard me and was running up the hill. He picked up Roman troops like rag dolls and threw them across the hill, racing towards me with Mrs. O'Leary fast on his heels.
The flood of warmth under my hand was beginning to eb, and I looked back down at Jason. This could mean one of two things: One, I had managed to staunch the blood flow. Two, he was running out of blood to lose. My stomach twisted and I watched him carefully. His eyes were closed but he was still breathing in rapid, uneven breaths.
"You again! How did you get here?! Who are you?! And why do you even care?!" Reyna yelled over the wind.
"He's my flesh and blood, dipshit!" I yelled at her. "I thought you had a crush on him?! You don't just go and spill your crush's guts all over the bloody ground!" I reached with my free hand, grabbed a rock, and threw it at her face. She dodged it easily but I didn't reach for another one because Tyson had reached me.
"Sister, what happen – Jason!" Tyson bellowed, so loudly that I was tempted to take my hands away from the bloody shirt and cover my ears.
"Tyson, I need you to pick him up very carefully," I said. "Make sure you hold this shirt against his side, okay?"
Tyson nodded his over-sized head and bent down, scooping Jason up into one arm as though he was weightless. He clamped down on Jason's side with his other fist and looked at me expectantly.
"Tyson, the ship is also being attacked. We need to get back ASAP, alright? Go with Mrs. O'Leary, yeah? Wait for me under that tree where we first arrived," I said, wiping my bloody hands on my jeans. Tyson nodded his head again and then turned and plodded down the hill. I turned back to Reyna and her eyes widened in fear. Before she had a chance to run, I wrapped the wind around her to hold her utterly still.
"Don't you ever... ever... get near any of my family again," I said. My voice was low and purring, and I walked closer to her, smiling. I then smashed my fist into her face and let go of her with the wind at the same time, watching her fall to the ground. "Understood? Great."
I jumped up into the air and used the wind to coast over the Roman legions, ignoring arrows and flying balls of catapulted stone. I found Nico first, and sent him looking for the others; I had something else to do before we left. I looked for Chiron and found him, trying to help a very young camper to safety.
I took my necklace from around my neck, the necklace that I hadn't parted with since I was very small, and held it tightly in my fists. I whispered some words in ancient Greek over the pendant and then landed in the grass beside Chiron. He looked up in surprise, but relaxed when he realized who had landed next to him. I reached out and handed him the necklace.
"If you burn it, it will keep the Romans out indefinitely," I said, watching him carefully. "But it will have the same cost as keeping the monsters out. Only do it if it becomes absolutely necessary." I turned and looked at the Roman legion, which was retreating over the hill. "They'll probably stay retreated for a few days, though, and that should buy you some time. Enough time to get back Percy and Annabeth."
Chiron nodded and I turned to walk towards the tree. "Mavum," he called. I paused, but I didn't look back. "Be careful this time, would you? If something happens again to make your mind snap, it would be very dangerous." I looked over my shoulder at him with narrowed eyes.
"Naturally," I murmured. Some cowardly part of me wanted to take that necklace back and undo the magic I had given it. Just like I had made the barrier to keep monsters and mortals out of Camp Half-Blood, it had the magic in it to keep the Romans out. But in the same way it would kill me, and this time I wanted to live more than anything. But I couldn't take it back. To take it back when it could save 300 lives or more would mean valuing my life at 300 times more than that of any camper. I had gotten this second life out of pure chance, and these kids hadn't even gotten to live their first life. If I did take it back, and I survived when they died, that wouldn't be a life I wanted to live. So I took a deep breath and I kept walking.
I hated that cowardly little voice in my head. There was a little voice in the back of my mind, an egotistical little voice that said, Take it back, Mavum. You are 300 times more important. I hated that little voice with every fiber of my being, because it marked me out to be a pathetic, arrogant coward.
Shut up. I told it, sprinting back to the tree. The voice just laughed.
Perhaps my mind was already breaking again.