Chapter 21: Creation
Percy POV
I paced the floor of my prison cell, worried for Mom but also excited to hear the news she would bring back. Then I saw her running back, and relieved, I jogged to the bars of my cell. "Did you hear anything, Mom?"
"Yeah, but it isn't exactly good news. Pontus is not the leader of our enemies."
Shocked, I asked, "What do you mean, Pontus isn't the leader?"
"It's someone much more powerful: Primos, Chaos's father."
"Chaos has a father?" I asked, confused.
"That's what it seems like," she responded.
I was shocked. This meant that all our efforts would be useless against him. After a few minutes wondering what to do, I decided we couldn't just let Primos take over the world. So I decided that our first action would have to be to escape. I called for Chaos in my mind. Immediately, he responded. "Yes, I know, Percy. My father is the true leader of our enemies. To get out, you will need to use the realm of creation. Percy, the secret is similar and different to that of controlling the Mist. You will see what you believe you will see. If you truly believe that something will be created with just your concentration, it will be willed into being. You must truly believe that what you want will happen. But beware: this will only help you against Pontus. My father was the first being in the universe, the true creator of all. The power of creation can only be battled with a strong will: if you put all your efforts into believing nothing will be created, it won't be created. My father can stop any creation of yours with a blink of his eyes, and can create anything he wants without being stopped. Even I can only hold him off for a while."
A minute later, I concentrated on the floor of my cell, trying to imagine a sword lying there. Ever heard someone say that if you concentrate enough you can lift something without touching it? This was something similar. It was hard to believe this would work because I didn't think I was powerful enough to do it. Also, I knew the next shift would start in a minute or two. Then I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Chaos had blessed me with the power to do this. Who was I to contest what he said?
Opening my eyes, I again imagined a sword lying on the floor, but this time truly believing something would happen, and also putting some force into my will. Sure enough, a sword appeared. Now confident in my abilities, I picked up the trident and slashed open the bars of my cell. As if on cue, the first guard reached his position, and turned around when he heard me step out. Shocked, he called the other guards, who ran toward me and surrounded me. Not intimidated, I fought in a quick-fire series of slices, and killed all the guards easily. Only slightly out of breath, I jogged over to the cells of my friends and freed them all. Knowing that the sea gods would soon realize we had escaped, I quickly told my friends my plan.
We advanced as quickly as we could toward the place my mom had told us Oceanus and Pontus were. Mom shot all the soldiers she could, and we killed the ones who weren't hit. When we reached the room, Oceanus and Pontus were already outside, alone but grinning broadly. "You think you can kill us, puny demigods? Go ahead, let's see what you can do," Oceanus said.
I immediately lifted my hands and unleashed a barrage of hellfire toward the two sea gods. Oceanus was immediately incinerated in the blast. Pontus was wounded and in pain. He was clearly shocked that his comrade had been destroyed so easily and quickly. Taking advantage of his shock and pain, we all attacked together with the exception of my mom, whose gun would be useless against a primordial. Pontus recovered quickly. He raised his arms, and we were all blasted backward. He raised a hand, and a boulder levitated into the air at the same time. He threw it straight toward me, but I wasn't expecting a straightforward attack. I quickly grabbed my pendant. But under pressure, I wasn't able to channel power into it. The boulder seemed to be moving in slow-motion. My legs were frozen in fear, and I realized I would die. But suddenly, a figure intercepted the boulder. It dived into the air, and the boulder hit the figure, breaking into debris at contact. I rushed toward the figure, and realized who it was. Thalia had just sacrificed her life for me.