Hi! We are actually alive!

Sorry for not updating. You may have noticed that we mentioned NaNoWriMo at the end of the last chapter? Well, I'm still going. AHermioneH gave up after, like, three days, but decided that editing without me was a far too arduous task to attempt alone. And today's the first day we've both managed to find a computer and sit down to edit, so sorry about that.

Well, here is an intense chapter in which we kill yet another of our cardboard OCs.

Review Replies:

Hagbraten (Walley): Your reviews touch us every time we read them. It's amazing that you think that two teenagers with an unhealthy obsession with these characters should receive such a large audience, when we don't even think that. This is your proof that we are going to continue (sorry about that slightly unexpected mini hiatus) and that we are going to post the end of this fic pretty soon. (ish, anyway)

Sierra Delta (Guest): We're both pretty surprised that you liked some of our other stuff, considering the fact that we both think that this is by far our best work (and we don't even think it's that good).

StormSunfire and AHermioneH


Percy POV

After a couple more days, Will finally let me out of the infirmary.

Finally.

I wasn't fully healed, but apparently Will thought that I was unlikely to kill myself, so I was therefore finally allowed to leave before I went completely nuts.

The first thing I did was rush into the Athena cabin, barging past Malcolm to get to Annabeth's bunk, where she was sitting with a pile of blueprints. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her off of her bed, not even giving her a chance to say anything, and hugged her.

"Percy, what-?"

"Shhh, it's alright." I stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Her tears had started rolling into my shirt.

"For scaring you and for not being strong enough and just for everything."

She shoved me as she broke our hug. "Seaweed Brain." She rolled her eyes. "How could you ever think that you weren't strong enough? You've been to Hell, twice. Nobody can ever say otherwise."

"I'm still sorry for scaring you."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I don't care." I dragged her by the hand again and out of the cabin. "Come on. I got something set up for us."

o0O0o

I led her down to the beach, where Will, Nico, Danny and Ellie were waiting for us. I'd asked for Danny to set up a little picnic for us by the sea. And true to his word he had.

There was a basket and some glasses and a checkered rug and it was basically just a little and completely adorable picnic. Annabeth gasped behind me. "What is this?"

I grinned back at her and led her under one of the lines of bunting that Ellie and Will had strung up for us. "And you thought that I couldn't organise a date. Pfft." I sat her down on the rug next to me and grabbed one of the cans of coke that Travis had smuggled into Camp for me.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at me. "It's surprising, I have to say."

Danny came forward holding a ukulele. He'd spent all of freshman year learning how to play it. I grinned as he pressed the ukulele to his chest and opened his mouth to -

The sky went black, as if squid ink had been poured into it and diffused swiftly across the whole of the sky, obliterating the sun.

"Schist."

o0O0o

Okay, I'll admit it. I jumped straight up and began yelling at the sky.

What was wrong with that goddess? The one time I tried to make a romantic gesture, without the help of a god, and then she comes and crashes the party.

Naturally.

Annabeth and Ellie legged it to find gear.

I flexed my shoulder nervously. That was the nastiest of the wounds that Nyx had given me and would definitely impede my fighting, as it was my sword arm. I pulled Riptide out with my right arm and left it in pen form, worried that even the weight of the sword might pull my stitches. I hit the button on my watch, pulling up the replacement shield.

It felt way heavier than usual.

Gods, I should not be fighting.

But hey. Nyx wasn't exactly giving me a choice.

Well, speak of the devil and he appears. The Queen of Hell herself landed on the beach in her war chariot with a rattle of wheels and a swirl of dark energy.

Gods, someone really needed to teach those horses about bad words. They needed their mouths washing out.

"Perseus Jackson, fancy seeing you here."

"Whenever someone says that, I know it's not a coincidence. And please, it's Percy."

"You know, I am extraordinarily surprised that you made it here alive. It is an impressive feat, you know. You had help, no doubt, but I am impressed anyway." She smiled, or rather bared her teeth, and waved her hands in the air, much like the Wicked Witch of the West.

"Unfortunately, you are about to die!"

She swung her arms down in a vicious chopping motion, and the very sand erupted with black energy. I prayed to my dad as I pulled the water over the sand as quickly as I could to cover the darkness. The water swirled through the shadows. For a second I thought that I was winning.

Then tendrils of darkness began to ooze into my wave.

I doubled over, the strain of holding back whatever shadows Nyx had created almost too much to bear.

But maybe my dad had answered, by giving me the strength I needed to hold the inky black at bay for a short while. Nico jumped into the shadow, doing the same dramatic thing as Nyx, but swinging his arms in an up motion.

Most of the darkness dissipated. What was left swirled aimlessly for a few seconds before winking out of existence.

I nearly collapsed with exhaustion as Ellie and Annabeth arrived back at the beach. I looked up and realised that Danny was standing in the sort of awkward superhero position.

It clicked; it hadn't been Dad helping me, but Danny; finally mastering his powers. Maybe he couldn't directly control the water, but he could lend strength to those who could? I had no idea, but Danny didn't look like he would be able to lift a raindrop right now. Or ever; but I never said that, nope, never.

Besides, whether or not Danny had powers was not going to be a major issue right now. I flinched as Nyx manipulated Nico's own ribbons of darkness into seizing his wrist. Schist, that went badly way too quickly. Almost as soon as I thought this, a shot of light slammed into Nico's wrist and pulled him away from Nyx. Only one thought was running through my mind at that point and it was not child friendly (in front of Danny). I turned slightly to see Will standing there, looking furious.

"Don't you dare touch him. I don't care if you're a goddess or even godsdamned Chaos! I will kill you!"

That was quite extreme. I could've sworn that Will was a pacifist and generally thought that violence was stupid and meant that he had to work extra hours to keep people alive.

But apparently that all went out of the window when his boyfriend was concerned. Another tendril of light wrapped around Nyx's wrist and stayed there, even as she tried to shake it off.

She changed tack and shot a concentrated bolt of darkness from her free hand, using it like a chainsaw to sever the light beam. As the link from the beam to Will was severed, the light faded out and vanished.

And then it returned as Ellie gripped Will's wrist, crimson flames wreathing around her. Will looked up at her in confusion, before clearly grasping what I could not.

Then it hit me.

Of course.

Ellie's powers didn't work on physical injuries because she wasn't healing them.

Her power was much more like Reyna's: giving strength to others, not simply he

aling them.

Hey, it wasn't quite like how the Phlegethon worked in real life, but it was cool.

I was going off track again.

Even from my distance, I could tell that Ellie was fading. Her powers were great, but only extended to short bursts.

She was going to collapse from the strain and then Will would be on his own again.

His light powers were new.

He was going to get pulped by Nyx.

That thought train was exhausting for my slow and already exhausted mind, but I got there in the end. I sent a ribbon of water towards Nyx, wrapping it around her waist and pinning her wings to her back.

Her horses whinnied at me furiously, stamping their feet even as their legs shimmered, made from ethereal darkness.

Nyx herself turned to glare at me.

Well, it wasn't quite what I had intended, but it had given Will a moment's respite.

He hit her right in the eyes. Go William.

Nyx snarled at both of us (an impressive feat, considering we were standing about fifty metres apart), before slamming a black wave into me.

Hey, I had no time to react. I managed to get my shield up, but the wave was so potent I was simply whacked backwards like I'd been hit by a giant baseball bat anyway.

I landed on something very hard.

Then whacked against something very hard.

The impact rang in my very bones.

I opened my eyes slowly, before very carefully trying to sit up. That was a really bad idea, as a wave of agony swept through me. I didn't think that I'd broken my back on landing, but whether I had any ribs left in one piece was questionable. Eventually I managed to sit up and see where I'd landed. In the porch of the Big House. Literally in it.

Wow. That meant I'd flown a good four hundred metres.

Maybe that was why impact had hurt quite so much.

I put my right hand behind me and managed to push myself upwards enough to actually stand. It was a massive mistake. The twisting action caused my stitches (which had already taken a bashing as I landed) to pull. Blood began to trickle from my shoulder.

I swore fluently. No doubt I'd pull the ones in my leg as well walking over to the fight which Nyx had so helpfully thrown me miles away from. And the ones in my stomach? Well, they were still intact for the time being, but as they'd pull as well if I had to start fighting hand-to-hand.

So, all in all, I was a wreck.

But I still had to help.

A fire began to boil inside me.

I wasn't going to let Nyx hurt anyone that I cared about. So I put one foot in front of the other, even though it hurt.

That goddess was going to pay.

Well, assuming that Will hadn't killed her already.

I gave a whistle, deciding that I was more likely to keel over than actually reach the fight.

Mrs O'Leary materialised from a shadow, faithful as ever. I somehow managed to haul myself onto her back, and pointed her in the right direction. She leapt off, making short work of the distance back to the beach, and coming to a skidding halt at the top of the dunes.

I slid from her back and found my feet, feeling somewhat unsteady.

The fight was not going well.

Hey, I was maybe expecting worse, but that didn't mean that it was good.

Ellie was crumpled in the sand, completely unconscious. Will had a nasty cut in his hairline and was blinking blood out of his eyes, but otherwise looked relatively alright. Nico had his work cut out deflecting shadows from everyone. Clearly nobody else wanted to get thrown to the Big House. Danny was looking about as good as I felt, and holding a sword that was clearly too heavy for him. Nyx hadn't walloped him, so apparently didn't see him as a threat. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. I hoped that meant that she was wearing her hat, and hadn't also been smacked halfway across Camp.

The picnic was abandoned on the sand a little further off.

That alone made me furious.

Somehow, my fury lent me strength, and I dug deep, before releasing my anger in a ten-foot wave that crashed into Nyx, drawing from strength reserves that I wasn't even aware existed.

The goddess shrieked, slapping at the water that now reversed direction and swept around her like a cocoon. My breath shuddered in my chest as I willed the water to freeze, forming an almost impenetrable cage of ice around her.

I lowered my hands slowly, exhaling heavily and generally relishing the momentary respite.

Will turned to look up at where I was standing on the top of the dune, looking somewhat confused.

I gave him a weary wave.

He waved back, in the fashion that people often do when waving back at someone who they don't recognise.

There was a cracking from the ice prison.

Couldn't the damn goddess stay down for one minute?

I pulled at the ice shards, melting and refreezing some of them and reinforcing the cracks.

The cracking grew louder.

I concentrated harder, pouring all of my remaining energy into maintaining the ice walls.

The pressure on the walls ceased. I let the power leach from the walls, only concentrating on keeping it frozen.

That was my biggest mistake, as a sudden surge of power smashed against the walls. I lurched forwards in a desperate attempt to hold them, but it was far too late.

The walls shattered, shards of ice flying.

My hold slipped completely, and Nyx burst from her icy prison in all of her darkness and rage. "What part of 'I will kill you, puny demigods!' do you not understand! I am going to destroy you all!" Nyx roared and the tendrils, of darkness started to unfurl towards us again.

What was wrong with that goddess?

Seriously. Try one thing. It doesn't work. Try it again.

It was exhausting.

I summoned up more water to try and attack Nyx again, but all that I could lift was a couple of drops, and even that had me seeing stars.

My concentration wavered just slightly as a pulse of agony shot through me.

The droplets of water fell from my control.

Thank goodness Peter arrived just in time to help.

Him and seven or so others ran onto the beach, each of them holding a strange variety of weapons. Kayla and Austin were there holding their bows. Lou Ellen, though not holding a physical weapon, had a ball of purple fire in her hand. Piper had Katoptris and other people appeared, but I couldn't tell who they were, as spots started to close in on my vision.

I shook my head to clear the dizziness and spots, then began to walk slowly down the sand dunes. Gods, it felt like it was longer than it was.

Why was I even doing this? I couldn't fight. I'd have uncapped Riptide, but doubted that I'd be able to even lift the point off the ground.

Peter brandished a gold sword in my general direction. "Try and get your energy back. Sit in the sea or something. Leave it to us." I wasn't sure how I could leave it to them, considering only two of them had powers that I knew about.

And besides, Nyx wanted to kill me above anyone else.

And thirdly, I could tell that sitting in the sea was not going to do very much for my present state.

So I refused. "Guys, Nyx wants to kill me more than anyone else. I'm staying."

Peter looked at me skeptically. "Can you even lift a sword? Percy, you don't look like you should be standing, let alone fighting." He pleaded with me. "Sit."

I shook my head. "I won't get up again."

"That's okay."

"No, it most definitely is not."

"Percy, you're going to bleed out if you're not careful right now. You've ripped those stitches in your shoulder pretty badly."

"There's no time for this now. I'll live."

Peter shook his head now. "You might not, Percy."

"Then I'll die trying to destroy this goddess, then."

A familiar blonde demigod materialised at my side. "I'll fight with you, Percy."

I realised then that Annabeth was the only reason that anyone had come to help.

I pulled Riptide from my pocket and uncapped it, bracing myself for the wash of pain from my injured arm as the weight pulled at the wound. Peter glanced over at me as I hissed softly. He raised his eyebrows, but thankfully didn't say anything. I lifted the tip of my sword a little more, into a defensive stance (well, sort of). I heard Peter beginning to speak over the pounding of the blood in my ears. "-ready, guys? Okay then. One, two, three!"

We surged forwards as one unit, diving for Nyx.

Gods, it was painful.

But I still launched myself into the fray, swinging Riptide furiously at Nyx, who only laughed at our efforts and effortlessly batted me aside.

Suddenly she had an enormous Stygian Iron sword in her hand, and the tip was drawing blood at my throat, effectively pinning me to the ground on my back. I mean, I didn't really want to slit my own throat by trying to move. That would be kinda embarrassing.

Then the sword moved. The flip? I turned my head to Nico, who had closed his eyes intently. Oh, Stygian Iron, right. But then Peter jumped in front of the sword.

Confused? So was I.

Then again, you're probably not lying on your back in the middle of a battlefield like I was.

"Listen, please!" Peter begged Nyx.

I didn't hear the next part of the exchange because I rolled over very slowly and tried to stand up.

Key word: tried.

Put weight on sword arm? That folded, landing me face-first onto the ground again.

"-you listen to us, we'll be able to reach some sort of agreement! It's them you want, not the whole world!"

"If you defend them, then I shall kill you too!"

I rolled over slightly just in time to watch Peter get skewered by the Stygian Iron sword. I flinched at the sight of him dripping with blood as Nyx shook his limp body off of the blade.

"Stupid demigod," she said. "He was cl-" She was cut off by golden light travelling up the sword, wrapping sinuously around the hilt.

That and the fact that she was stabbed from behind by a familiar-looking spearheaded broom.

Damasen and Bob were stood side by side, repeatedly pummeling and stabbing Nyx with either a broom or a drakon-rib spear.

Nyx shrieked. "What is going -" Her bottom half disintegrated into shadows that were vanquished by another flash of light from Will.

Wow.

Well, I understood now not what, but who, the last line of the prophecy spoke of.

The end of Peter.

And of Nyx.

And I could tell that they were going to need my help.

Well, the help of someone who could wash away the pieces, anyway.

I turned to look up at Nyx, who was now thrashing around and throwing bolts of darkness everywhere.

Then I summoned up what could only be described as strength that I didn't have, and unleashed my fury upon Nyx. Or rather what remained of her.

Yes, fury.

A wave rolled over Nyx once, erasing the motes of black dust that were drifting around her after being struck by Will's light bolts.

She spun to face me, a blazing anger in her onyx black eyes.

She shot all her remaining bolts of darkness.

Straight at me.

Oops. I let the upper half of my body fall flat on the floor again (bashing my nose - it hurt), ducking to avoid the bolts. I raised my hand as much as I could and another wave of water hit Nyx as she slowly began to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West (again).

Unfortunately, she still wasn't done.

Why?

A dark oily liquid spread from where Nyx was melting, trickling in random directions as if searching for something, or someone.

I had a really bad feeling that it would not be a good thing if it hit me.

Unfortunately, my strength and concentration was completely focused on disintegration of an unpleasant goddess.

The oil came closer. The grass around it withered and died.

I threw all of my remaining power into a single, final wave that cannoned into Nyx, scattering her essence to the four winds.

I shut my eyes as the oily substance reached me and seemed to pour liquid fire into my very bones.


Wow, wasn't that cheery? Yay.

Anyway, thanks for reading and putting up with our spontaneous hiatus. I wouldn't expect any more this month, but after that we'll get back to regular updates for a couple of weeks until the holidays start…

Anyway, thanks and see ya next time.

If you could drop us a review, that would be great.

'Til next time.

StormSunfire and AHermioneH