Sup guys! Sorry I couldn't update yesterday. Normally, the way I write is just sitting down when I've got free time and nothing to do, at any time in the day. But by the end of yesterday, I only had a bit of the chapter done. So I went and did double for you guys! 2300 words, I'm so proud. *Sheds tear*
DKay37: Thanks! I really like it when people tell me what they're enjoying in the story, cos then I know what to do more of!
Sorry guys, but my phone almost dead and I want to release the chapter today, so I can't reply to any more.
Anyway, without further ado, I present chapter 28!
Hwyl fawr!
Alex hesitated for just a second as he saw the bird's actual target. Should he help her? Nah, not after what she'd done, right? Knowing Percy was in the right, she'd joined Annabeth. But... Percy had said they had a duty. And he wasn't wrong, Alex thought.
As he had thought this, the bird had almost reached Thalia, it's talons ready to grasp her like an owl catches a helpless rat. Said girl, along with Phoebe, was only just turning around in shock and raising her shield in a futile attempt to ward it off.
Alex stretched his hand out to try and push it off course with ice. Percy was right, again. To be honest, if he just followed Percy's example, he'd be fine in any situation, he thought, always looking for a way to follow his brother.
But just as ice started to form in front of the bird, Alex stopped it in confusion. For some reason, the eagle had veered off course. His hands dropped to his side in utter bewilderment as, with no apparent force acting on it, the monster spun off and crashed through several trees. Alex looked around, only to see Percy with his eyes closed and hand already outstretched.
The older brother had not hesitated at all. He'd immediately started sensing the molecules in the air, and particularly how the bird's wings sliced through them. He had then pushed the molecules together more and more on one side, making more resistance and causing it to turn and careen off. He looked at his brother. "Can't be hesitating like that, man." He reproached the boy.
Alex looked down in shame. He'd be faster next time, he thought. Suddenly, the eagle burst out of the trees that had collapsed on top of it, shrieking in anger. Everyone scattered, and Phoebe drew her bow and started shooting shot after shot into its plumage.
It only got angrier.
It lunged at the hunter with its beak open, ready to clamp down on her. Alex, without pausing this time, immediately created ice under Phoebe. She slipped and fell, and the eagle passed over her, instead biting into some trees.
After millennia of eating into a giant's body, the monster's beak had been hardened till it was as hard as diamond, and sharpened to the level that it sliced through the trees without even slowing the bird's momentum. Looking at it, Phoebe gulped, imagining if she'd still been in the way when it had been there.
Nevertheless, she turned to Alex. "I had it, why did you interfere?" She said angrily, readying her weapons for another assault but still finding the time to look at the boy venomously.
Both Percy and Alex slapped their respective foreheads.
The eagle flew up high, turned, and swooped towards them at high speeds. The hunters again started firing, with the boys defending whichever hunter it went for. This continued for a few more passes, before the eagle retreated a bit, seemingly to assess the damage they were doing to it. The only weapons that had actually damaged it were Artemis' sharp moonlight shafts, but even those weren't penetrating enough to do much damage.
The hunters and their guardians took a step back to regain a little organisation, the two demigod hunters glaring furiously at the boys.
"WHAT THE HADES DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, IDIOT?" Thalia yelled, getting up in Percy's face. The boys, due to their extensive training, hadn't even broken a sweat. Phoebe stood behind Thalia, folding her arms and nodding angrily in agreement. Percy looked at her bemusedly.
"What in Artemis' name are you talking about?" He asked calmly, using Artemis' name because he knew she'd feel it, especially since she was so close. Sure enough, the goddess flinched, then smacked him over the head when he started laughing.
"What am I- WHAT DO YOU THINK, YOU SLIMY PIECE OF SEAWEED? Why are you sitting back and relaxing while we did all the hard work? You and your brother are worthless in this hunt." Thalia said, poison dripping from every word.
Whereas Percy would've risen to this bait before, he now just looked at her calmly, then turned away. She really wasn't worth it, the traitor.
But Artemis and Alex were having none of it.
"We were defending you, you airheaded sky spawn! You'd be dead several times over if not for Percy!"
"Indeed! Thalia, that behaviour is not befitting of my lieutenant!"
Artemis didn't even know why she was defending Percy, she'd just felt a sudden push to do so and followed it wholeheartedly. And it looked like Phoebe was beginning to suspect something, judging by the way she was looking with eyes narrowed at the goddess.
Artemis blushed, and turned away. "But I'm sorry, Percy, both of you are better fighters than all three of us. For Hades' sake, Alex beat me in a duel!" She said, and the eyebrows of the two hunters behind her shot up.
Around the clearing, under the cover of the trees, the rest of the hunters, who had regrouped, all looked at each other in surprise as well.
Artemis continued. "So, you two should attack it, while we lay down cover fire for you. I think that's the only way this will work. Olympus' sake, what was my dad thinking when he made this thing?" She said, her voice dropping to a mutter at the last bit so said father didn't hear from wherever he was.
Percy nodded, but his mind was working at high speeds. Yes, the god of the sky had made the monster, but he'd also given Heracles the permission to kill it. So technically, it couldn't come out of Tartarus on its own.
Meaning something, or more likely someone must have brought it out.
His mind flashed to the information he'd gained from monsters. Could it be? Those two giants that were raising armies against Olympus? Surely not, right?
Percy was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the eagle was back, and that all the other participants of the fight except Alex were scattering.
He looked up, just in time to see the eagle's massive beak about to bite the whole upper half of his body off. He jumped violently in surprise, closing his eyes in preparation to be killed.
Is this really how I'm going out?
He landed on his feet, eyes still closed. Then he realised, for him to still feel the ground with his feet, he must still be connected to said feet. He opened one eye cautiously, and saw Alex dropping his mental hold on a giant floating ice fist that looked like it had just a thrown a solid punch -its knuckles were cracked and it was facing to the side instead of forward.
Percy opened both eyes, and spun around. The eagle had been sent spinning in the opposite direction, crashing into just about every tree it could find. It had grown to about the size of three Percys in its anger, and was shrieking so badly he wanted to cover his ears.
Alex looked at his brother. Honestly, who zones out during a battle?
Oh wait, he'd done it about fifteen minutes ago.
Anyway, he looked back at the out of control eagle, gathering his thoughts. He didn't expect any thanks from his brother. In fact, even though the guy had just died, knowing Percy, he'd probably crack some sarcastic jo-
Percy grinned. "What are you, an icy Green Lantern?"
There it was.
The boys both grinned, and turned to face the eagle, which had regained control and started flying towards them again. The hunters started shooting, but it carried on unaffected, paying them no heed.
But instead of swooping in at them to try grab one, it had seemingly altered it's tactics. It landed in front of them, and swung at Percy with one of its wings. Since the eagle was now around eighteen feet tall, just one wing was around thirty-six feet long, and it was swinging at Percy with the momentum of a train. Both boys raised their tridents to try and block it, knowing they'd fail and already preparing to flip backwards when it hit them to control their landings.
Suddenly, a black and white blue sped past them, and latched onto the wing, because of its immense speed actually managing to stop the wing, and even make the eagle stagger a bit. Then a black pegasus flew in and kicked it in the eye, making it stagger more until it lost its balance and crashed to the ground.
"Blackjack!" Percy yelled in relief: he would've been fine and had a controlled landing, but he'd rather not go for an uncontrolled flight if he didn't have to if he was being honest. He looked back at what had caught the wing, and what both boys had mistaken for a single black and white blue had actually been Oscar and Sadie sprinting beside each other.
The boys sighed happily, then nodded at each other and raced at the eagle, which had just started getting up again. It did so by repeatedly flapping it's wings at the ground, pushing itself up as if it was flying.
Naturally, the wind this created made the boys feel as if they were trying to run through a hurricane.
Percy threw his trident at the joint between wing and body, seeing it as a potential weak spot. Sure enough, it was one of the few places where a weapon sunk in, and he called it back, nodding at the hunters and also looking at the hunters in the treeline, having noticed their presence a few minutes ago.
Sure enough, they understood his message, and within seconds, so many arrows sprouted from each wing joint that the two spots on either side of its body looked like porcupines had latched onto it.
The eagle shrieked again in rage, and Percy grimaced. He'd make it pay for all the ear damage it was undoubtedly giving him. Although, it definitely wouldn't ever be flying again -it could barely move it's wings- so he guessed that was payment enough.
Once it wasn't able to fly, it was a lot easier to take down. Percy and Alex kept throwing their tridents, looking for weak spots, and every time they found one it would be filled by arrows within seconds, speedily followed by Artemis shooting her moonlight shafts. They were strong and sharp enough to have penetrated the tough plumage of the bird before, so when they hit these weak spots , they were really able to do some damage. Soon the bird toppled over, almost dead.
Percy looked at Artemis, who nodded, trusting that the demigod would be able to deal with any final, desperate attacks. He stepped up to deal the finishing blow, but with all his attention focused on any potential moves the eagle might make, he wasn't prepared for any other threats. He was pushed aside by Phoebe, and due to not having any sort of readiness for something like that, stumbled. "I'll do it, male." She said angrily.
And while they were both distracted, Percy staggering aside and Phoebe looking at him spitefully, the eagle struck.
And the hunters screamed as Phoebe fell to the ground. Or well, some of her did.
The bird had done the same thing it had almost done to Percy earlier, except it had taken off everything from her feet all the way up to her stomach.
Percy regained his balance and finished it off, drawing Riptide and slitting it's throat using a weak point he'd found.
He then turned around to find the hunters all gathered in a circle around the fallen girl, Artemis holding her hand as she said her final farewells.
Percy and Alex stood aside, respectfully silent. Alex shrugged helplessly when Percy looked at him questioningly. Eager for the thing to finally be killed, nobody, probably not even Thalia, had expected Phoebe to do that. Thinking the battle was over, Alex was caught off guard just like Percy was.
The younger boy looked down angrily. She may have been a b, but she was on of the people they had to protect. And they'd failed, the son of Poseidon thought bitterly.
Percy blamed himself less. In fact, he didn't blame himself at all. He knew that Phoebe's own actions had endangered her like that, and he couldn't have changed a thing. He was sorry for her death, but he didn't regret anything at all.
Artemis gave the girl a final blessing, and the fallen huntress disappeared. She turned to face them, tears streaming down her cheeks. Percy looked at her sympathetically, and she sprinted and launched herself at him. He raised his arms, about to try defend himself, when she latched onto him with a tearful hug.
Percy's hands dropped to his sides in shock, and he looked at Alex and the hunters helplessly. They were all giving him looks, as if there was something he should be doing.
Boss, I love you and all, no homo. But you a real idiot. Hug the dam woman back already!
Percy tentatively put his arms around the distressed goddess, who held on even tighter. He gave the pegasus a look, like what would you know?
Blackjack somehow understood.
A dam sight more than you, Boss. I got all the female pegasi all up in my IMs. You can't even tell when a girl likes you.
Percy rolled his eyes at the pegasus, and then looked down at the goddess he was tenderly holding. She liked him back? There was no way, right?
You trippin', Boss.
Alex, who could hear this one sided conversation, slapped his forehead, grinning.
Percy turned, leading Artemis away, and everyone else followed. Then, a voice boomed out behind them, a voice that Percy would never forget.
"JACKSON!"
