AN: Got a couple reviews about how short and rushed the chapters seem. I did warn you guys– I lost patience with the story and opted to rush to finish it instead of just abandoning it. I'm sorry that the quality is deteriorating slightly, but that's just the way it is.
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CHAPTER TWENTY SIX:
Percy stood on the deck of the Argo II, watching over the lounging demigods. All of the other gods were travelling to Greece some other way, while Percy was elected to play babysitter.
In the end, Zeus had chosen Jason, Hera chose Leo, Poseidon chose Nico, Hades chose Bianca, Ares chose Clarisse, Athena chose Annabeth, Apollo chose Will, Artemis chose Thalia, Hephaestus chose Charles, Hermes chose Chris, and Dionysus chose Pollux.
Percy had ended up taking Castor, Pollux's twin brother, because they didn't want to be separated and Percy didn't really have anyone he would've rather taken. Hera had unfortunately called first dibs on Leo– Percy had totally forgotten that she had been his Tía Callida when he was little.
They had passed across the globe with relative ease; apparently, Gaea hadn't had enough time to set up as many traps and obstacles as last time, which was a huge boon.
As they finally descended over a field roughly a mile away from the gathering giants, the Olympians flashed in to meet them.
"Pair off!" Zeus commanded.
All of the demigods moved to stand behind the god that chose them, except for Castor who joined his brother behind Dionysus. Percy stood alone, as his fight with Gaea was to be his and his only.
"Athena has briefed all of the Olympians on their pathings and positions. Demigods, follow your assigned god, and follow orders, no questions asked," Zeus continued. Upon receiving nods from all those gathered, Zeus returned with a nod of his own. "Good luck, all."
/
"Hmm," Percy muttered to himself as he stalked along the treeline. "Porphyrion, Polybotes, Enceladus, Ephialtes, Otis, Clytius, Orion, Hippolytus, Mimas, Periboia. We've got a full house today."
There were only about 300 monsters, so Percy assumed that they were there more for decoration than anything else. As planned, he flashed into the center of the horde, assumed his divine form, and vaporized all of the monsters, leaving behind naught but dust. He knew that his allies, having seen the flash of light, were now on the move from their hiding spot, where they had been sitting just outside the danger range of his true form. The giants gathered also noticed his arrival and subsequent lightshow, but remained undamaged, as they were much stronger than their little monstrous companions.
With mighty roars, they stood and began lumbering towards Percy, who began to take evasive maneuvers in his search for the Earth primordial.
As the giants made their way across the field towards Percy's retreating form, they were promptly intercepted by the gods and demigods who poured out of the trees on either side of the battlefield.
Zeus and Jason engaged Porphyrion center-field with twin booms of thunder and crackling tendrils of lightning.
Poseidon thrust his trident at Polybotes, unleashing a jet of high-pressured water towards 30 foot monstrosity. As the mass of water approached the giant, Nico emerged from the water's shadow and stabbed Polybotes in the knee with his Stygian Iron sword, spraying himself with a gout of golden ichor. Polybotes let out a roar of rage and brought his trident down on Nico's head, only to smash into the ground after Nico vanished into the weapon's shadow.
Athena, equipped with a spear and her trusty shield, Aegis, and decked out in full Greek battle regalia, charged at Enceladus. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, but it was likely that she was sneaking up on Athena's bane under the cover of her Invisibility Hat.
Dionysus and his twin sons teamed up with Apollo and Will to take on Otis and Ephialtes, the twin entertainers. Dionysus was surprisingly formidable, equipped with his deadly pine cone staff– ahem, thyrsus.
The brawl between Hippolytus, Hermes, and Chris was by far the fastest. The giant, god, and demigod weaved in and out of the battlefield, dancing around the other fights at a speed faster than most could track.
Leo shot fireballs at Periboia as she was desperately trying to parry the strikes of Hera's sword. Because she didn't fight often, many forgot that Hera was a warrior goddess whose finesse was reflected in her championed group of warriors.
Hephaestus and Beck… were doing something to Mimas. Honestly, the complicated machinery and weaponry was beyond both explanation and interpretation.
Ares and Clarisse were responsible for most of the non-weapon-clashing noise on the battlefield, letting out guttural battlecries as they assaulted Clytius, the bane of Hecate. Clytius was a tricky opponent with his connection to magic, but it seemed that the father-daughter duo were attempting to overcome him with sheer strength and aggression.
Finally, Artemis attacked Orion with fiery hatred, assisted by her demigod half sister. Thalia fired arrow after arrow, impeding the hunter giant as he attempted futilely to fend off the furious strikes of Artemis' hunting knives.
With a satchel strapped to his back, Percy made his way to the front of the battlefield where he had finally spied Gaea watching over the fighting with a cold and detached look in her eyes.
"Gaea!" Percy shouted once he was a dozen feet away. "Stop this madness!"
The primordial of Earth turned to look at him with a rather deranged smile. "It is madness, isn't it? You were so, so organized. You knew my plans! I'd heard rumors that you came back from the future, but I thought to myself– that cannot be! Never has one travelled so far back, yet I feel myself lacking any better explanation! But alas! It is as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound. You may have the upper hand, but I will see this endeavor through!"
Percy shook his head, unsure if Gaea remembered what it was she was even fighting for. "This is not the way."
"Foolish child," Gaea hissed back. "This is the only way."
With that, Gaea formed a jagged sword out of the earth and swung at Percy's neck. Percy summoned Klepsydra just in time to block the vicious strike as his battle armor melted onto his body.
Gaea withdrew and lunged again, but Percy caught her blade with his own, and flicked it to the side, dodging out of the way as her momentum carried her to follow through. As she came up even with his position, he kicked her ribs, causing her to stumble to the side.
Once she regained her balance, Gaea stood back, watching Percy with a careful eye. They circled one another as they traded light blows, testing the waters rather than actually attacking.
Finally, Gaea lost her patience and lunged again. Percy sidled to the side again, only too late realizing that her attack was a feint, receiving a vicious kick to his sternum as soon as she got close enough to him.
Percy fell backwards but quickly recovered and rolled back to his feet, raising his sword in a ready stance. When Gaea swung her sword down in a deadly, overhead arc, Percy was prepared. He drew on his Time domain as hard as he could, allowing him to slow Gaea's movement just enough to use his open palm to slap the flat of her blade, redirecting the sword into the ground. In the same movement, Percy drove his own sword forward and pierced her right shoulder, leaving it a mess of silver ichor.
"First blood," Percy taunted as he panted lightly. Exerting his domain on a primordial was far more effort than he was used to.
Gaea snarled in response and switched her sword to her left hand as the earth rose from the ground to heal her stab wound. Percy took the opportunity to switch his sword out for his scythe, Dexiótrofos, in hopes that it would give him a range advantage.
Alas, it was not to be, as Gaea's earthen sword extended upwards and downwards from her hand, transforming into a bo staff. Oh joy. A blunt weapon. Perhaps she intended to beat him to death.
They began to exchange swipes, each blocking the other with annoying consistency, all the while both searching intently for an opening.
Finally, after several minutes of futile attempts to injure one another, Percy's mind formulated a viable plan, which he instantly put into action. He took a step back to position himself in the correct range and swung his scythe in a sideways strike, the blade catching Gaea's staff. Percy left his guard open and continued with a forward lunge towards Gaea's legs. Seeing Percy's scythe out of position, Gaea instantly struck her staff downward.
It would have been a devastating hit, but Percy was waiting for it. Counting on it, even. With her momentum going forwards and downwards, Percy stepped past Gaea, hooked the blade of his scythe around her ankle, and pulled, sending her careening face first into the ground.
As soon as she impacted the Earth, Percy dove onto her prone body and pinned her down to the ground. Working quickly, he flipped open his satchel and pulled out his prized possession. After latching the immortal-catcher firmly onto Gaea's back, Percy finally released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Gaea screamed as red and blue tendrils of energy coiled out of the contraption and wrapped themselves around her, forming divine chains and a eventually glowing cage.
Percy backed away and grinned as she began hovering in the air in her new prison, now unable to move or to speak. He finally turned away to survey the battlefield and found 11 gods and 12 demigods watching him attentively.
He smiled and gave them a cheeky wave. "Hi guys! No one died? Surprising, but not entirely disappointing. A little miffed that no one came to help me out though, but that's okay."
Poseidon chuckled at his son. "It looked like you were doing fine, Percy."
"Well, I mean, of course I was doing fine. I'm me, after all," Percy agreed readily. "But that's only because I'm awe–"
Percy was abruptly cut off as he disappeared in a blur of silver and a flash of golden light.
Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Was that Artemis?"
The other gods began to look around when Thalia noticed that the spot next to her was now decidedly empty. "Uh, yep."
"Huh. She really doesn't like that word," Apollo concluded. "Wonder where she took him."
"Good question," Athena acknowledged. "Do you think she realized that she dragged the primordial along with them?"