Percy POV
Finally, I walked far enough away to stop hearing Ben's cries. His protesting really showed how much he wanted to be involved in this. But it wasn't for him to fight. Honestly, I'm sure the only reason Allie and her family were still involved with camp was since this was all connected to me and my children. So, in the end, I was causing the harm. Ben needed to stay safe for Allie, I had lost a lot, but Allie had lost arguably even more than me and I couldn't take her husband away from her too.
I think back and wonder what it would be like if Athena hadn't altered my state of mind on that day I was going to propose to Annabeth. I would have married her on the spot and we could have raised the triplets together. Maybe Katie would have never died and Eric either. We would still have found Allie when she was 14. Maybe Ben wouldn't have had to go on the quest. Luke never would kill their son. So many maybes. But it wasn't that way.
In that moment, I realized how much of this was me. If I hadn't left Annabeth that night, this all could have been avoided. Or maybe not. Maybe another demigod would have started the war and we would be in this same spot. It just wouldn't be my kids leading the battles.
Unconsciously, I made it to the water. Again, how did I get sidelined by my daughter? But I knew it was for the best. It was the same thing I wanted when I told Ben for him and Allie to have another baby. I wanted her out of harm's way. I knew she could have helped, and probably would have made it through, but there was a slight chance she wouldn't. It helped me knowing her and my wife were safe. Plus, Lily is stubborn just like her mother so there was no real use in arguing with her.
The water was calm and serene compared to the battle nearby. I had avoided any run ins with monster, I was kind of upset about that, due to walking the backside of camp. But then I realized the water was calm. Almost too calm.
I took out my pen and clicked it quickly into a sword and approached the water's edge. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary after a first glance. However, I used my water powers to graze over the surface of the water. Something was off, something was very off.
I barely had time to back away when a giant sea serpent burst out of the sea. I quickly dove to the right as it snapped the spot I had just been standing in. I barely had time to recover when I rolled out of the way as it snapped at me again. I was doing more dodging than stabbing.
I rolled behind a rock to regain myself for a second. The serpent was a bright blue-green and must have been almost 100 feet long. Thick scales grazed the serpent's entire body, yet, it's head was the worst. Flaps mirrored each other on either side of the face. Black eyes glowed on the head. And finally, hundreds of sharp gray teeth with spit foaming continually gnawed around.
My problem now as how to defeat it. From previous experience with monsters, I knew it would be useless to try and attack the monster's body. And there was no one to distract the monster. I just wish Annabeth would have been here. She would know how to defeat the monster, as well as what exactly it was and who else has defeated it in the past.
The next moment, I heard the monster shriek with pain, not once but twice. I was about to look over the rock to see who or what caused that pain when someone slide up right next to me.
"What'd I miss?" Ben said smiling next to me.
"You can't be here," I whispered.
"And why not? Your daughter assigned both of us here if I do recall, and I'm a son of Athena so I have a pretty god memory." He continued.
"Because your daughter predicted our deaths," I retorted, and Ben's smirk fell. He turned almost cold.
"Prophecies aren't meant to be broken, and in the end, I don't believe they can be changed. We may not understand the full meaning of them, but they always work out the way they were meant to be." He sighed. "So yes, by the end of this I expect both of us unconscious in a pile of blood, but it doesn't have to mean our deaths."
I faltered. After Ashlyn predicted my death, I thought that was the end of it. I had finally accepted my death. More than the prophecy at 16 or the prophecy of the 7. I thought this little child, my niece, had finally done it. But maybe she hadn't.
I hesitated. "You think we can make it through this?"
Ben nodded. "We have to. I mean, I'm sure our wives and children could be fine without out us, but they shouldn't have to be. Allie and Ashlyn are strong, but I love them too much to let them go. You love Annabeth too much to let her go. And you can't leave your sister either."
I nodded. "Okay so how do we kill this thing without getting killed ourselves?"
Ben smiled. "I already started it. I somehow managed to land two arrows in its eyes so its blinded. Then we need to hit the underside of the beast. The stomach is soft, we will be able to get a hit there."
I nodded, grateful to have a child of Athena on my side. "Okay, so I'll distract it while you go underneath and kill it."
Ben's eyes went wide. "No, I can distract it. I've already started that step by blinding it. You go underneath-" I cut him off.
"No, I'm always the one who distracts." Ben looks like he is going to protest when I burst out from behind the rock. "Come and get me you ugly serpent."
Luckily, that sound got the beast's attention. He stopped looking around confused and turned his head right at me. Now this was the distracting I needed to do. Ben slowly stepped out of his spot behind the rock and made his way over to the monster.
All this while I was side stepping, dodging, and stabbing at the monster. I used my water powers to spray it in the face a few times. Unfortunately, the serpent having been raised from the water was only momentarily surprised by the water, but not hurt.
Finally, Ben was at the underside of the beast. He took the plunge into the belly and the serpent screamed in protest. Not being able to see Ben, the beast lunged after me. I was too busy watching Ben to notice the beast until I heard a scream.
"Percy!" Ben screamed.
It was too late I noticed the crazed face was on me. He picked me up in his jaws and lifted me into the air. I dropped my sword in surprise. Bad move. The monster was playing with his food: me. He didn't bite down to kill at first. His hundreds of teeth just entered my skin and I screamed in resistance. He thrashed me around and slowly sunk into me more. I started to lose consciousness from the pain and loss of blood.
"NO!" Ben shrieked.
With a final blow, Ben scrapped his dagger down the beast's belly. The monster shrieked in surprise dropping me down. Unfortunately, he dropped me a few stories up and I hit my head on a tree on the way down. I couldn't feel anything anymore. My brain was in shock.
I turned my head slightly and saw the beast going down, but not without taking Ben with it. The serpent's tail hit Ben directly against the rock we were hiding behind earlier before turning into dust. Everything around me was swirling.
Ben was lying below me, unmoving. I was losing life. And all I could think about was leaving Annabeth alone.
Annabeth POV
"Allie, what are you doing?" I asked.
She had just gone outside and whistled. "I'm calling for my pegasus, and another if you want it."
"What? Allie we can't leave here," I tried reasoning with her.
She crossed her arms. "Really? And why not?"
"There's a war going on at camp. Fighting and death all over. Percy and Ben wanted us out of that," I said even though every muscle in my body wanted to reach camp as well. "We have to trust them."
Allie shook her head. I haven't seen her this determined in a while. "By the time we get there, the war will already be done and won. Whether it's by Luke and the monsters or Lily and the camp. If it's Luke, he will leave the bodies there to rot. If it's Lily, the bodies will be shrouded for burial." Allie's eyes misted up. "I just want to see my husband and brother again, even if it's just holding their bodies."
I sighed. She did have a point. By the time we got to camp, everything would be over with. There would either be no danger or so much there's nowhere to hide.
"What about Ashlyn?" I retorted.
Allie was about to respond when Ashlyn came waddling in. "I'm coming too."
Allie looked down sadly at her daughter. "Honey, you can't. Daddy and Uncle Percy wouldn't want you to see them like that." She placed her hand on her daughter's face.
"But I've already seen it," Ashlyn said a matter of fact. "Plus, your pegasus and it's daughter horsie are coming so I can ride on her."
"She has a point Allie," I added.
Allie sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine, sweetie, you can come. Just stay by my side."
"Okay mommy," Ashlyn responded. Allie turned around and stared out the window looking for the pegasus. However, in that moment Ashlyn's face went white and tears started flowing down her face.
"Ashlyn," I gasped. Allie turned around in time to see her daughter crumble in a childhood despair. "Honey what is it?"
"It's daddy and Uncle Percy," was her response. And that's when I knew it had happened.
Thank you all for the reviews and continuing to read my story. Thank you epically to Nyacandy for the PM and making me want to write again! A lot of things have been going on in my personal life, so I haven't had time to write but thanks for seeing me through!
Please, continue to tell your friends and reviewing my story. Honestly, I can't say this enough, I write for the people who read and review my story! Let me know what you think will happen next or where the story is going. We are reaching the end of this tale. Thank you again, and please leave a review, comment, or even question or PM me!
