SURPRISE! Hey everyone! So...apparently, my cousins got wifi, so I'm able to update. Although we are going on a car trip soon, so...yeah. But here's an early Christmas gift from me to you! As promised, Ally in action. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally, Percy Jackson, or anything else you recognize.
(Okay, usually there's a line break here, but I'm experiencing some technical difficulties right now, so let's just pretend it's here. Good that? Good that.)
Chapter 28
Ally's POV
Ally was getting tired of all the fighting. She just didn't get it. Why couldn't the Romans see that the Greeks were exactly the same as they were? Both groups were demigods, both had camps, both did the same type of activity. The only difference was that one side were descendants of Romans gods and the other was of Greek gods. However, if you thought about it, they were the same people. After all, all the Romans did was take the Greek gods and change their personalities a little-made them more Roman. Technically, they were still the same people. Why couldn't the demigods see that? Too many people were getting hurt.
Austin had been super lucky-August had gotten the antidote just in time, and Ally was super grateful for that. She didn't know what she would do if she lost Austin, if he died. She couldn't imagine life without the blonde pop star constantly spicing it up for her. Yeah, they definitely had been super lucky this time, but others might not be so lucky.
The infirmary was filling up with injured campers, keeping Will Solace, Isaac, and all the healers as busy as Hermes was around the holiday season. Demigods on both sides kept getting injured-she'd seen Romans being carried out of battle. People couldn't keep getting hurt. Someone was bound to die sooner or later if this kept happening.
"We need to get back to the fight," Percy's voice broke into Ally's thoughts. "We're needed out there."
"Yeah," August agreed. "We need to help Jason and Piper and everyone else. With more people being brought to the infirmary, we're going to need everyone who's able to fight if we want to save the camp."
The others started to get up and grab their weapons.
"Wait," Ally said, reluctantly letting for of Austin and lifting her face to meet Percy's, Leo's, and August's eyes. They stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
"Ally, you can stay here," Leo said kindly. He gestured to the sleeping Austin, who had fallen asleep after promising Ally he wouldn't die. "Look after him. You can also help the Apollo cabin with all the injured. They need help in here."
"But that's just it," Ally replied. "So many of us are getting hurt. Is that really worth it? I mean, yeah, we need to defend ourselves, but injuring them also isn't the answer, even if we are just knocking them out. They're going to wake up with nasty headaches. Pretty soon, all of us are going to be hurt. Then where would we be? At a draw?"
"I know," Percy sighed. "But what can we do? If we stop fighting, they'll destroy us. What choice do we have? We have to defend our home. We can't just let them destroy us. What are we supposed to do?"
Leo added, "Yeah, there's really nothing we can do. Unfortunately."
"But guys, I'm saying if we can talk some sense into the Romans-" Ally tried to explain.
"Talk sense into them? There's no talking to the Romans," Percy said. "If Reyna and Frank couldn't convince them, no one can."
"Why not?" Ally asked. "Maybe there wasn't enough time to talk to all of them. Dakota, Gwen, Leila, and a bunch of others switched sides. Maybe everyone else will too. They're not unreasonable people. They're just doing what they think is right. We just have to let them see that attacking us isn't the right thing to do."
"No," Percy stubbornly replied. "It's too dangerous. There's no telling what they'll do."
It was August's turn to look at her sympathetically. "Just stay here with Austin, okay? We'll make sure no one harms either of you."
The three of them picked up their weapons and walked out of the room, leaving Ally alone with Austin and her thoughts.
Great. Now what? Ally wondered. She had to do something. She couldn't just sit and do nothing while everyone else hurt themselves out there, not when she could do something about it. There has to be a way.
"You're right, you know," Austin said, making Ally jump out of her own skin.
"Austin! You scared me!"
Austin smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. But you're right. I bet they can be reasoned with. The Romans, I mean."
"You really think so?" Ally asked hopefully.
Austin nodded. "Really. All you have to do is talk to them. I'm sure they'll understand and listen to you."
"But how?" Ally wondered. "Talk to them one by one?"
"That's not a bad start," her best friend replied. "Get some support, then spread out in groups. I mean, the Greeks already agree with you, but the Romans need work. I'm willing to bet that at least half of them don't agree with Octavian."
Ally wasn't so sure now. She was beginning to doubt herself. Could she really do it? Could she really convince them to stop attacking Camp Half-Blood? "I-I don't think I could do that," she confessed to Austin.
"Of course you can!" Austin was quick to reassure her. "You're Ally Dawson!" If anyone can do this, it's you. Trust me. Besides, if you don't do this, more people are going to get injured. The fate of both camps rest on your shoulders," Austin added dramatically.
Ally rolled her eyes. "Thank you, so much, for the pressure," she said sarcastically.
"Come on, Ally. If you could get over your stage fright, you can do this. How hard can it be? What's the worst thing that could happen? That they don't listen to you? That they keep fighting? They're already doing that now. So either you make it better or nothing happens. I'll even go with you if you want." Austin offered.
"Absolutely not!" Ally was quick to deny his offer. "No, you have to stay here and rest."
"But Ally," the blonde whined. "It's so boring here!"
But Ally was standing firm. "You just fell from the sky in the clutches of a griffon, got a broken arm, was poisoned, and nearly died. You just recovered! No way are you going out there again."
"Okay, okay," Austin laughed. "Sheesh. Now who's being dramatic?" he teased.
"Haha, very funny," Ally said dryly. "I'm serious. Promise me you won't leave the infirmary."
Austin nodded. "Got it. So, are you going to do it then?"
Satisfied with his answer, Ally took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to try." She still wasn't sure she could actually convince the Romans to stop fighting, but Austin was right. If she didn't, everyone was going to get hurt sooner or later. She couldn't let that happen. She turned to leave when she felt Austin's hand grip her wrist. She turned back to face him.
"Good luck," he said. "I believe in you. You can do it."
Ally smiled. "Thanks, Austin."
He released her, and she left the room.
It was complete and utter chaos outside. The clang of metal on metal rang through the air, and while the Romans were hurting the Greeks, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood were doing equal damage to the Roman legion. At least they were trying not to injure the Romans, only knocking them out and dragging them to the Big House. The Romans, on the other hand, were wildly stabbing their opponents, not caring who got hurt. This made Ally mad.
Up in the air, Percy sat on Blackjack, swooping down to help those in need. Reyna did the same on her Pegasus, Scipio, and tried to talk to the Romans, trying to convince them to stop fighting. No one was listening to her.
Hazel sat on her horse, Arion, while Frank, who had changed into a dragon, hovered protectively nearby.
The Hunters, cyclops, satyrs, nature spirits, and Party Ponies must have decided that all the Romans were already in the camp, because they were no longer keeping guard at the Hill, the forest, or the beach. Instead, they had joined the battle, fighting side by side with Greek demigods. Ally spotted Tyson knocking Romans out with his club and yelling, "Bad Romans! Go away!" while Ella fluttered nearby, dropping small rocks on the enemy.
Somehow, Camp Half-Blood had managed to drive the Romans back so that all the fighting was happening at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill or in the strawberry fields.
A random thought popped into Ally's head. There goes our strawberries. The fruit must be completely trampled by now.
As the battle raged around her, Ally made a decision. There was no time to talk to people one by one. Ally ran for Half-Blood Hill. If she stood up there and yelled at everyone, surely they would be able to see and hear her.
As Ally ran, many Romans attempted to attack her, but she defended herself and kept on running. At one point, something grazed her arm, making it bleed. She ignored it and kept going, ducking under swords and jumping over javelins.
Suddenly, Leo appeared next to her. "Ally! What are you doing?"
"Have to get to the hill!" she replied without slowing down.
The son of Hephaestus ran beside her. "Shouldn't you be inside with Austin?"
"Have to get to the hill!" She repeated with determination. "I might be able to stop this!"
"And you might die!" Leo countered.
"But if I don't try, other might die!" Ally replied. "I have to try! Are you going to help me or not? Don't try to stop me!" She ducked under another sword, running ahead while Leo stayed behind to fight the Roman.
He reappeared next to her a minute later. "Fine, I'll help you, but don't die, got it? Austin will kill me!"
"Agreed!" Ally said, and kept running. It was getting harder to breath, but she refused to stop, determined to reach the Hill as fast as possible.
Leo ran beside her, making sure she wasn't hurt by any swords or javelins. When they reached the bottom of the Hill, Leo yelled, "Go! I'll make sure no one follows you!"
Ally didn't say anything, saving her breath, but she nodded and began to climb. Halfway up the Hill, she thought she was going to collapse, but she forced herself to keep going. Almost there! she told herself. Just a couple more steps!
Finally, she made it up the Hill and actually did collapse. Ally allowed herself a couple minutes to catch her breath. She lay there, chest heaving up and down, gulping air into her lungs.
Suddenly, a voice from behind her said, "Enjoying yourself?"
Ally jumped up and turned around, sword drawn, to face…Octavian. A the sight of him, Ally was filled with anger. The Roman augur was casually standing there, leaning on his gladius without a care in the world.
"What do you want?" Ally spat, barely able to control her anger. Never had she been this angry at anyone before. It was a new experience.
"Just…enjoying the view," Octavian replied. "Aren't you?"
"No," Ally said hotly. "People are getting injured, not just Greeks-Romans too."
"A mere sacrifice to defeat you Graecus scum," the augur replied.
"Don't you care that your own people are getting hurt?" Ally asked. How could anyone be so heartless?"
"Told you. It's a worthy sacrifice. We will defeat you Greeks." Octavian said the word Greeks as if it was a curse.
"But we're basically the same!" Ally tried to convince the augur to see things her way. "We're both demigods. Both have camps, both basically do the same activities. The only difference is that we're Greek and you're Roman. We shouldn't be fighting-we should be helping each other!"
"No!" Octavian yelled, grabbing his sword and pointing it at Ally. "We are not the same! Romans are better than Greeks, and we will always be better than you! Our ancestors hated you, and we always follow in their footsteps."
"So change! You can easily do that. You can join us instead of-"
Octavian's shrill voice yelled, "We will never join you!" He lowered his voice and sneered at Ally. "Besides, you Greeks are so weak. I mean, look at the boy I personally put in the infirmary. Austin, I think was his name? I imagine he must be nearly dead from that poison I injected into him. He never stood a chance."
At the mention of Austin, Ally's blood began to boil.
"Imagine the newspaper headlines tomorrow," Octavian continued. "'Overnight Internet Sensation Found Dead in the Streets.'" He made a sad face. "Boo hoo. Who cares? Everyone's probably already forgotten about you guys anyway. But don't worry. You'll join poor little Austin in the Underworld soon enough." He lifted his sword and charged at Ally.
The daughter of Zeus had had enough. She was tired of the fighting, tired of the insults, tired of Octavian's annoyingly skrill voice and overconfidence. She was filled with rage, and now, all her emotions began to boil up into one big storm. Literally. Before she knew what happened, a white light blinded her and she was surrounded by a warm sensation. When she regained her eyesight, Octavian had been flung ten feet away from her, and all the fighting had completely stopped. Everyone was staring at her in shock.
Later, Trish told her that she'd summoned enough lightning to fry every single demigod on the battlefield. She'd surrounded herself with this lighting, and the force had knocked Octavian ten feet away from her. Of course, everyone had stopped fighting and gaped at in wonder, and now Ally, encased in lighting, began to talk.
"Greeks! Romans!" she yelled. "Stop fighting! Put your weapons down!"
Of course, nobody moved.
"Can't you see that you're all fighting each other? Romans and Greeks are exactly the same! Both sides are demigods. Both sides have camps. Both sides do similar activities! Why are we fighting?" she asked.
Then she addressed the demigods of Camp Half-Blood. "Look at them!" she said, referring to the Romans. "They're us! How are they any different? And Romans! Just because we do things a little different and we've hated each other for hundreds of years, doesn't mean we can't change!"
Some of the Romans started to nod as if what she was saying made sense to them.
Ally plunged on. "Percy and Jason were able to make friends among the Romans and the Greeks. They were able to push aside the bad feelings they had and found new homes at each camp. We can do the same thing. We can make new friends. We can make peace between us. Isn't that better than fighting for no apparent reason? All we have to do is put down our weapons, stop fighting, and be willing to start over."
"No!" Suddenly, Octavian's shrill voice pierced the air. "No! Don't listen to her! She's just a spineless Graecus scum who doesn't know what she's talking about." Octavian had recovered and was on his feet again.
Some of the Romans shifted their feet, unable to meet their augur's eyes.
Ally said, "Look, if you don't believe me, believe your praetors, Reyna and Frank. They know what they're doing. Has Reyna ever let you down? No. And she's not going to start now."
"Don't listen to her!" Octavian repeated. "Reyna crossed the Mare Nostrum. She broke the rules. Our praetor broke the rules. She shouldn't even be praetor anymore."
Ally was about to say something, but Cassidy, daughter of Venus, beat her to it. "Reyna did. She broke the rules, but she did it to save the world. The way I see it, some rules can be broken if it's for a good cause. Such as…oh, I don't know…saving the entire freaking world." She dropped her sword. "Ally's right, guys," she continued, gesturing to Ally. "Why are we even fighting? Because Octavian said so? When has Octavian ever been there for us? When has he ever done what's best for us? Everything he does is for his own benefit. Reyna, on the other hand, has always, always put our needs before hers. Everything she does, she does for us. I trust her more than Octavian, and if she's joined the Greeks, then so should we. It's time we do something for our praetor."
"She's right, you know," Hazel spoke up. "I know I'm not the only Octavian's blackmailed into helping him. This is our chance to make a difference. Stop letting him bully you."
She too put down her sword.
"Octavian's such a bully," Percy said. He also put down his sword.
All around, Romans nodded and agreed with them. They dropped their weapons. The Greeks did the same.
"No!" Octavian shrieked. "No! Don't listen to her!"
"She's right," another Roman, this time of the Second cohort said. "All Octavian ever does is order us around." He and the entire Second cohort dropped their weapons.
"No!" A desperate Octavian yelled. "Jacob?"
The Eagle bearer of the Twelfth Legion merely stared at the augur and made a big show of dropping his sword.
"Come on, Jacob," Octavian tried to convince him. "Pick up your sword and let's fight stuff!"
Jacob shook his head. "No. I'm done serving you."
"Michael?" Octavian almost begged. "You'll stand by me, right? You always do. Michael?"
Octavian's right hand man stared at him. And stared at him. And stared at him. He seemed to be weighing his options.
"Michael?" Octavian asked hopefully.
Finally, Michael spoke up. "I'm sorry, Octavian, but the girl's right. Reyna's right. They're all right. Why are we fighting, Octavian? The Athena Parthenos is returned, Gaea is defeated. There's no need for war. I'm with them." Without taking his eyes off Octavian, he let his pilum drop to the ground.
Ally smiled in satisfaction as Greeks and Romans alike allowed their weapons to drop to the ground. Her plan had worked. The battle was over.
Then, beside her, Octavian exploded. "Fine! If you all want to be friends with the Graecus scum, go ahead! Be my guest! I'll defeat all of you by myself! I will be the savior of Roman! I will!"
Ally stepped forward. "Give it up, Octavian. It's over."
"You!" Suddenly, Octavian turned and faced Ally, his scowling face just inches from hers. "You started all this! You turned them against me. YOU WILL PAY for what you've done! That boy in the infirmary-Austin-the one you care about will die!" He bolted down the hill toward the sickbay.
Ally had begun to calm down when she saw that her plan was working, that everyone was agreeing with her, but when she heard Octavian's threat, her blood began to boil again. She couldn't let Octavian kill Austin-she had to do something.
Down below, people tried to stop Octavian, tried to block him from reaching the infirmary, but he shoved them all to the side and kept going. Ally saw Trish trying to stand in the augur's way, but all he did was shove her out of his way and kept on running. Trish stumbled sideways, and unable keep her balance, she fell. Thankfully, Dez just happened to be there and caught her as she fell. Ally kept watching to make sure Trish was okay.
Good thing she did, because Dez set Trish gently on the ground and checked her ankle. He took off her shoes, and Ally saw that her foot was twisted in an unnatural way. A broken foot. Ally's anger toward the augur increased, and once again, lighting cracked around her. She let loose a yell: "DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!" and a blinding white hot bolt of lighting arced toward the running augur.
Then things happened in slow motion. Simultaneously, everyone close to Octavian jumped away in an effort to get as far away as possible from him. Austin, who must have been curious about all the noise, walked up to the doorway of the infirmary and looked on as things unfolded. True to his word, he didn't not step a foot out of the infirmary.
In that split second, Ally realized what had happened, what she had some, and in a last ditch effort, tried to yell at the augur to get out of the way. Her voice wouldn't work.
Ally watched in horror as the white bolt of lighting streaked down from the sky and slammed into the augur, completely surrounding him in a cocoon of bright white light, so bright that Ally and the others had to look away to avoid being blinded.
Octavian's girly shriek was the last thing that ever left his mouth.
(Insert another imaginary line break here...)
And that's it for this chapter! Super long for you guys, my amazingly awesome readers! As usual, feel free to leave a review on the way out! And for those of you who wanted Octavian to die a painful death...here you go.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (If I don't update again before then...)
~amillipede
