I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Jasper
Alyx was a monster.
Literally. She slaughtered one pirate after another, slamming her sword into their stomachs, slicing off their heads and even slitting their throats. We were in awe and shock, and a bit scared.
She stood in the middle, blood and rain dripping off Riptide's blade, glowing a bit. Her hair had come undone and fell to her butt in wet waves. Her clothes were saturated with rain. To say the least, she looked hot.
We began to stand, running our fingers through our sopping hair and wet clothes. Phillip frowned and looked up at the sky as thunder rumbled, a lightning streak going through the clouds.
"Alyx?" Hank asked. There was a whistle and a dart landed into her arm, making her gasp and sway, then collapse.
"Such a shame." A voice identical to the first guy's said, but way more smoother and persuasive, like charmspeak. A man appeared, clothed similar to the first guy, but the shirt had no frill. Same black hair and blue eyes and tan skin. "But my brother got the more idiotic side of Father."
"Father?" Caleb asked. Gray and Jasmine pulled Alyx to safety, pulling out the dart. She was unconscious, probably from the dart.
"Yes, the man she killed." He pointed to Alyx with a throwing knife. "Akira."
"Akira's your father?" Fiona said, in disgust. "Gods, Alyx could go totally psycho on you if she found out." He shrugged, hopping down from his railing.
"How about this." He twirled the knife in his fingers. "You," he pointed to me, "fight me in a battle of words."
"Words?" I asked, standing and hooking Katoptris to my shorts.
"Yes." He snapped his fingers, a scale appearing to his left. "If our heart wavers during the movement, that one loses and loses their life." Phillip grabbed my wrist.
"Don't do it." He pleaded. I patted his head and stepped forward.
"Fine. I accept it." He nodded.
"Then I'll go first." He straightened, grinning like he had just won. "I'll take over my father's plan to rule the world. I'll build up my empire and make an offer to the gods."
Good luck with that.
"Then if I win over Zeus," he said.
Highly doubt it.
"I'll simply take over with Zeus, and conquer over the world. But I would need a queen to rule with me." He grinned at me. "What do you say?"
I closed my eyes, sighing. The scales hadn't moved.
"To be honest," I said. "I think your plan is idiotic."
"What?"
"One, the gods are purely on the demigods sides." I pointed to my friends. "Hence having grandchildren to carry on their legacy." I scratched my chin. The rain begin to let up, drizzling now, but there was still distant rumbling in the distance.
"Fine, then tell me what you want for the future." He sounded irritated.
Honestly, I never thought of a future. I just wanted to be alive by the end of this quest. But I did have a few hopes… Living in a house by the beach with Ray and maybe a few kids… The kids going to Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood in the summers…
I cleared my throat.
"I want to live." He raised an eyebrow. "I want to live for the future, so I can watch my future kids and husband grow. I want to win this war." He scoffed.
"That all?"
"No." I glared, wind starting. "I want to make sure my friends stay safe and happy, my parents, my siblings." I thought of my baby sisters, their happy smiles and laughs when I would read to them or play with them. "I'm going to build a business, if I live through this. A business where families can come together and be happy, to shop carefree."
"So like a clothing store…?" He asked, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, but the look of you right now, I can immediately tell you have Aphrodite's blood in you." I grinned.
"Thanks. It comes naturally." He huffed. "By the look of you, I can say you're pretty handsome yourself."
He grinned, puffing out his chest and running his hand through his hair.
"Why thank you." I nodded.
"So why are you trying to rule the world?" I asked, crossing my arms. The wind settled, and the rain had stopped. He frowned.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" He said. He pointed to the sky. "The gods have messed everything up since Gaea had given birth to the Titans. They've corrupted this world, and I want to make it better."
"And…?"
"And by killing the Next Seven, I'll have the world to myself."
We all deadpanned.
"You do realize if you kill us, our parents will get very mad and go all pyscho on you, right…?" Phillip said from my right.
"Yeah! Not to mention they're veterans so they know how to deal with scumbags like you!" Leon shouted, her fingertips lighting on fire.
"Don't forget that it was my brother that took down Kronos." Scott said.
"And the Seven defeated Gaea."
"Yeah."
"And fought evil magicians."
"Okay!" He yelled, growling, pulling out his sword. "Then I'll take her as my bride!" He grinned at me, like he'd just won. His sword was about three feet long, like Riptide.
Percy's voice rang in my head.
"Remember, you have a smaller weapon. You'll come across opponents of all different kinds of sizes. Use the dagger to your advantage." He lunged at a few dummies to demonstrate, who had long swords. He slashed upward when one came close to slicing his head off and cleanly sliced it in two.
"The smaller the weapon, the better." His eyes had been pained, like the memories of being younger pained him.
"So cool!" I remember Alyx shouting. "Daddy, teach me! I want to use Riptide!" He laughed and ruffled her curls.
Of course, that was back when he had been teaching sword class in Camp Jupiter, but it was directed toward the ones who had smaller length weapons. I pulled out my dagger, the metal shimmering in the light that was beginning to appear from the clouds as they parted.
"How about we fight for it?" He tilted his head. "If you win, I go with you to become your queen. If I win, you won't be bothering any demigods from now on."
"Fine."
He lunged first, going for my side. I side stepped and hit his head with the butt of my dagger. He gasped, turning around and scowling. I had to step over corpses that were beginning to disintegrate for some reason. I blocked and dodged his wild swings, using my smaller body to duck under his swings. Jasmine and Gray had disappeared for a moment, taking Alyx and then coming back up. I was aware of Fiona and Leon shouting me on, but their shouts seem muffled and blocked like water was in my ears. I was aware of Ray gripping onto Robin's arm, biting his nail. Phillip was holding onto his sword like it was his lifeline, his eyes wide with fear. The others either were watching in suspense or looking away if it looked like I was losing.
"I'm surprised." He said, panting. We stood in a face off, sweat dripping off us both. "You are worthy to be a wife." He grinned maliciously, and lunged. I lunged as well, extending my dagger and going for his wide open chest.
I felt a rippling pain in my neck, and the sight of blood spurting from Katoptris lodged in his chest came to my vision.
And everything went black.
To Be Continued...