Sorry for the late update and bad chapter, but I tried to throw in some Percabeth at the end. Enjoy.


At first it just seemed as if the ground was shaking, pebbles bouncing and sand shifting as if another section of heavy cavalry were galloping by. I almost lost my balance, regained it and took another step towards Percy. I was afraid that if I moved too quickly I would cause the Ádi to attack— something I was trying to avoid.

Then, around the ground where Percy had stabbed Riptide into, a fissure opened up, five feet long and one foot across at widest. The Ádi leader looked at it, snorted in disdain and took a step closer to Percy.

Water exploded out of the fissure, roaring upwards like a tidal wave pulled from the ground itself. Percy yelled and shot his arms out to the side, leaving himself wide open to a strike from the Ádi if were to come. The water followed as if by command, splitting down the middle and curling around to come behind Percy in a roaring, surging wave of pure power. I felt the ground shaking more as water continued to pour out of the ground, surging from beneath the surface, coating the sand in droplets that fell from the heaving, growing stream Percy was holding control over.

I had never once seen him use his powers to their full extent like this. It was a breathtaking display of power and focus. It was a demonstration of just how deadly he was. It was awing.

It was terrifying.

With a yell that was louder than a battle horn, Percy thrust his arms forwards and the water surged past him, slamming into the Ádi commander and all the Ádi around him. The water continued to flow, carving through the ranks of Ádi, throwing them off their feet, sending them tumbling to the ground and losing swords, shields and armor.

I saw the Greeks retreating and realized that pretty soon I was going to be throwing off my feet as well by the terrifying wave that was coming my way. Before I could, however, Percy gathered himself again, coiling his muscles and shutting his eyes tightly before bringing both arms up with another yell.

The water followed in command, lifting off the ground, swirling around Percy in a frothing, twisting whirlpool that picked up anything it came across. I fought my way closer to Percy, closer to the eye of the storm where I knew it would be safest. He didn't even look at me, his attention fully focused on the hurricane of swirling, speeding water that he was creating. The roar was immense, like standing next to an erupting volcano as lava spewed into the sky. Water sloshes back and forth, waves crashing in to each other, throwing up foam and spray, sliding past each other, dragging desperate Ádi beneath the surface to never be seen again. The walls on all sides rose up in a petrifying, spinning single wave that threatened to crash down at any second, burying us all.

And then Percy collapsed.

Later I would realize it was probably an affect of the long, hard days he had been spending, hour after hour trying to carve his way through a seemingly endless swarm of British, Arcadians, Ádi, Barons and any other enemies that would throw themselves his way. The constant strain of captaining the flagship of Greece on the most important quest it had ever undertaken was starting to get to Percy, despite the invincible façade he wore every day.

The light went out of his eyes and his legs crumpled as he hit the sand. At the same instant the water froze for a single, timeless millisecond, suspended in mid-air, not moving as if it had been turned to eyes.

And then it came crashing down with a booming, thundering smash that shook me from my feet and hurled my down. I buried my face in the sand and clenched my arms around Percy as the water swept over us, tugging at me, trying to tear me away so it could consume me and choke the life out of me.

Finally it poured away, spreading out over the ground, rushing away from me and letting sweet, hot air fill into my lungs. Gasping and spluttering I rolled over and climbed to my feet, gripping my dagger tightly as I picked shook the water out of my shield and readjusted it on my arm. Percy was now defenseless, and I had to protect him.

As it turned out, Percy didn't need much defending. Most of the Ádi were gone, swept away by the torrents of water and wind Percy had summoned. Before they could recover the Greeks rallied in a charge and slammed into them, hard. Swords rose and fell with terrifying frequency as the Ádi were slowly decimated. Hector of Troy and Jason were slowly working their way towards the leader of the Ádi.

He got to Percy first.

With a twisted smile on his face, the man cut down the two nearest Greeks, saw me standing over Percy and took a single step forwards. I gripped my shield tightly and held my knife up, feeling hatred spill into my body at the sight of him. He was the man who had caused all this, who had ordered his people to come and attack Percy and divert us from our course. He was the reason Hazam, the faithful, fearless Darker now lay dead at our feet.

And now he was coming to kill Percy when the son of Poseidon lay unconscious to the ground.

"I'll give you one chance," I called out to him. "The same offer Percy gave you. Surrender now and a quick death will become of you." He laughed, a harsh sound that echoed around the rapidly diminishing battlefield.

"I'll give you my own offer, little girl," he taunted, wielding a gleaming silver sword that was not much longer than my own knife. No shield lay on his arm.

I soon discovered he didn't need one.

He feinted left than right, spinning around to draw extra force in his strike as his sword clanged against my shield. I grunted with impact and jabbed at him, but he was already moving; sliding sideways away from the strike and bringing his sword around again. I brought my blade up to parry, feeling the impact jar my arm to the elbow. Desperately, I swung my shield flat, catching him in the ribs and sending him stumbling.

He came at me like a whirlwind, sword flashing left and right, slashing, cutting parrying. All around us the Ádi fought to their last breath, desperately overwhelmed by the numbers and coordination of the Greeks.

"Your… people…. Are dead," I gasped, blocking a cut, spinning to avoid a thrust and jabbing out with my knife. "You might as well give up now."

"I will have my revenge," he spat, and the suddenly he came at me twice as fast as before, sword raining down from three angles in almost at the same time. I stumbled back, prepared for another attack, but the Ádi instead turned, took two steps away from me and lunged for where Percy lay, his sword screaming through the air.

"No!"

I swung my shield, releasing the handle and feeling it slip off my arm as it spun through the air, a thirty-pound disk of metal that missed the Ádi leader by inches. I followed it instantly, my knife coming up, knowing that in my heart I was too late. Percy was dead.

The Ádi leader struck down.

There was a flash of bronze.

And then, like a miracle, a sword was there, intercepting the strike. The tempered blade, twisted like a nightmare and no doubt forged by the best blacksmiths' the Ádi village had to offer, snapped clean in half, one end spinning towards the ground. The leader, thrown completely off balance, hit the ground and was on his feet in an instant, staring disbelievingly at the remainder of his sword.

"Stygian Iron," Nico smiled, a look of pure hatred twisting his features. "One of the strongest metals on the planet."

"Next to Celestial Bronze, of course," Hector said, appearing at the son of Hades' side with an equally terrifying smile on his face.

"And Imperial Gold," Jason added, materializing from the battle that was quickly winding down. Hector looked expectantly at me as I climbed slowly to my feet from where my last, desperate lunge had caused me to fall. The leader of the Ádi looked from one face to another, seeing no sign of mercy in any of the four faces staring him down. He snarled like a caged tiger, gripping the broken half of his sword tightly. I picked up my shield and faced him in the classic ready position, the three-foot disk of bronze covering everything except for my legs, my knife showing over the top. Jason readied his spear; Hector brought his sword tip up and Nico slouched lazily, his Stygian Iron blade resting against his leg.

The Ádi leader lunged for Nico.

The son of Hades smiled.

Faster than the eye could follow he brought his sword up, blocking the blow, spinning around and stabbing backwards with deadly precision. His blade slid right into the Ádi leader's neck, sticking there for a second before the power of the Stygian Iron kicked in and the man literally disintegrated into dust.

Percy

I woke up to a pounding head and a sore throat, every limb in my body feeling as if it was being run over by a horse-drawn carriage. I groaned loudly and tried to pry my eyes open, but they were stuck together and wouldn't budge. I could feel a soft bed beneath me, the gentle rocking motion of it telling me that we were at sea. Something soft enveloped my right hand, intertwining its fingers with mine. With a great effort I forced my eyes open, blinking once or twice in the seemingly bright light before coming into focus.

"You're awake," Annabeth commented from above me. She had a smile on her face and in my half-dead state she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"Barely," I answered, groaning and propping myself up on the pillow behind me. She helped, pulling gently up from my shoulders until I was settled in comfortably.

"How do you feel?"

The question had a pretty obvious answer, but I guess it's a customary thing to ask people who've just woken up from an injury. I felt to my right and my fingers closed around the comforting feeling of Riptide sitting there.

"Like… the night that we defeat the S.S Crusher in open combat and officially became the flagship of Greece," I answered groggily, trying to remember what happened. Annabeth cocked an eyebrow at me, showing she didn't understand. "Back when Luke was Captain," I explained. "The crusher was the British's new design of battle-ship— it was supposed to be undefeatable in combat. Luke took us right at it, swung to port and utterly demolished their sails. Then we came back around starboard and fired again, lighting them up like Christmas in Jerusalem. He led the boarding party and we took her and sunk her without spilling a drop of blood."

"Did you get injured?" Annabeth asked. I smiled, thinking of that battle; the one that had made me first name, the battle that had made Luke Castellan a household name in Greece."

"No."

"Then what made you feel like you do now?"

"The drinking after," I grimaced. "We were out of ale by the time the sun had come up— for the second day, that is." Annabeth winced.

"You— the Argo— were out of ale?" she asked, and I nodded. She was silent for a second, before bursting out laughing. I felt a weak grin climb to my face.

"We were all pretty horrible," I admitted, before a bolt of pain shot through my head. "But now I feel worse." I winced, looking at her through half-shut eyes. "What happened?"

"You kind of lost it," she answered, holding my hand in between two of hers. "Summoned a lot of water, turned it into a whirlpool and swept away most of the Ádi. You managed to keep it up for a good five minutes before completely collapsing. You had almost completely burned yourself out; Will wasn't sure you would make it."

"The Ádi leader," I asked, groaning as more pain laced through my body. "Did he get away?"

"Nico got him," Annabeth answered, and I felt a bolt of relief go through me. I was glad that I could count on my crew, even though the fact I had blacked out in the middle of a battle was humiliating. Annabeth saw the look on my face and immediately read what I was thinking.

"You can't always be the invincible captain, Percy," she said, leaning closer. "You are human, and the whole crew knows that. You already go above and beyond what you should be able to do, and what Greece expects you to do."

"But I don't manage do get done what Greece needs me to do. I didn't do what Hazam needed."

Annabeth didn't answer that. She just leaned down and wrapped her arms around me, adjusting herself so she was in a comfortable position and staying there. I felt her warm body pressing against me, her face tucked into my neck and her golden hair tickling at my chin.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, neither of us talking, just lying still and enjoying the others' breathing. Finally Annabeth untangled herself and stood up, but not before leaning down to kiss me.

"You don't have to be invincible, Percy," she told me, her face tinged with red. I had no doubt mine was flaming, but I managed to nod before she walked away, leaving me lying there in pain. Despite my throbbing head and the ten-thousand pound that felt like it was on my chest, I was smiling.


So, the next update might not be for a while. I'm doing the Three Day Novel challenge over Labour Day weekend, and after that I have a feeling that I won't be typing for a bit. Then school starts and I'll be pretty busy then, but I'll stick to it.

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