Chapter 4
Percy and his brother trudged slowly up the hill in the direction of the pine tree, hoping that somehow it would mean safety for their little group.
Percy risked a glance back just in time to see Gabe's car explode in a fiery heap, a large, menacing, figure silhouetted in the flames.
After the red disappeared, Percy got his first good look at the monster, a beast built unlike anything he had ever seen.
The thing that threw him off about the thing was it's pair of boxers, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.
The "bull" was currently bent down over, sniffing the remains of the cars. It became obvious that it was relying on its nose as opposed to its other senses.
"It can only smell." Breathed Percy with realization. His mother only nodded.
Percy had hoped that due to this disadvantage, they could get away, but this wasn't true as the monster perked up and turned towards the four.
With a large huff and a roar, he started charging uphill with ease, despite the steep and slippery slope.
"Run!" Yelled Theo, but before they could do anything, there mother yelled out, "No don't! If your try to run from that thing you'll stand mo chance!" She said, and the two knew she was right.
Theseus immediately wanted to oppose splitting up, but realized he didn't have the time for that. Before he could utter a word, his mother pushed Percy and Grover to one side as Theseus and herself jumped back.
The monster thundered past them before eventually slowing down, turning back with an annoyed look.
Percy groaned as he had landed on a sharp rock in an attempt to save Grover's unconscious body. It was something unlike him, but he couldn't let the goat get hurt.
He got up slowly with a struggle, only to see the bull-like beats looking at the two with a curious expression.
The monster blew out steam before getting low, preparing to charge again.
"NO!" Yelled a voice from behind the beast, but Percy couldn't focus as he watched, frozen in fear, knowing he could do nothing as the beast charged at him point blank.
As it seemed like the end was here, a small figure came in from the side of the bull, knocking it off its course and onto its side.
The figure dropped down as the monster tried to recover.
Percy stared in awe as he saw his brother get up. How in the world he had reached them in time, he didn't know, but he did know his brother had just saved him, probably costing him his shoulder in the process.
Before Theo could say any words of comfort, there was a low growl to his side.
He turned around to see that instead of focusing on himself, the monster was looking at his mother, who was lying down and by herself.
Percy just now noticed her legs bleeding heavily, and realized she probably couldn't walk on her own.
"Mom..." breathed the boy as the monstered roared, louder then before, shaking the trees in the area. Somehow, the beast was even louder then the bellowing thunderstorm.
Without saying a word, the brothers watched as the monster swiftly reached their mother and scooped her up.
With ease, he lifted her up and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Percy, Theo, reach the house no matter what!" Was the last thing she uttered before the monster blew his hot breath onto their mom before gripping down, causing Mrs. Sally Jackson to burst into a cloud of gold dust.
"What?" Breathed Theo with confusion and hurt in his voice.
"Foooooood?" Said Grover in a daze.
The monster looked at the two boys before turning up towards the sky.
"ROAAARRRRRRRRRRR!" It said, yelling towards the moon.
Theos clenched down, hard. He looked down as his rain soaked hair covered his eyes. He was a second away from doing something when a black mass flashed by his side.
Theo looked up, surprised to see Percy charging forward with a fist ready. Though he was filled with anger, he didn't want to see his brother crushed into pieces.
"Percy wait!" He called out, but it was too late as his brother jumped forward, punching the beast in its burly chest. Under normal circumstances, this would've done literally nothing besides maybe break Percy's hand, but due to some un-human like power, Percy was able to knock the bull a couple steps back.
"Gah!" Said Percy, dropping down and clutching his hand. It was obvious he was feeling the repercussions of his actions. Though, the pain didn't come without gain.
The large monster was clutching his chest, seemingly surprised that he had taken damage. It didn't seem to do much physical damage, only serving to knock the air out of the beast.
The monster soon recovered, and Theo stepped forward in front of his brother who looked up at him.
Instead of looking back, the boy was staring at the minotaur, a determined look on his face.
The monster looked at the boy as if to ask "Your challenging me?".
With a huff that seemed similar to a laugh, the beast lowered its head and charged.
Theseus didn't move until the last second, rolling away, letting the bull hit his head with full force on the large tree.
The oak splintered in half, the shattered pieces falling with a thud as the monster only shook his head, shaking his thick fur.
Theseus scowled as the monster got down and ready to charge once more.
Perseus shook himself out of his stupor, getting up with wobbly legs. He spit out before he reached for his neck. He struggled to get a grip due to the rain, but decided he didn't have time as he ripped off the dark chain necklace.
He waited for the piece to turn into a sword, and grew more frustrated by the second as nothing happened.
After growing tired, he called out. "Screw it all!" as he ran forward to intercept the bull, his chain flailing in his hand.
He didn't know exactly what he was going to do with a piece of metal, but he didn't have to think much as as soon as he was in range of the monster, it swung out his hand, swatting away the younger brother.
With no resistance, Percy flew back and landed into the mud, the Minotaur not even faltering in its charge.
Percy tried to force himself up, but couldn't even lift up a single hand. He watched with fear as he thought his brother was about to be squashed, just like his mother had been.
He didn't know what to do, and prayed to whoever was up above for his brothers safety.
Apparently, whoever it was had heard him as his brother rolled away with no time to spare.
Percy was about to feel some sort of relief when he saw that Theo had not escaped without injury.
Obviously on the brothers left arm was a prominent streak of blood, one that made his arm hang limply.
The smart thing to do here would've been to turn and run, hopefully making it to the house below before the monster turned around, but Theseus thought otherwise as he wasted no time in rushing forward, jumping on the creatures exposed back.
The beast immediately panicked in a way most normal bulls did, jumping around wildly, trying its hardest to shake the boy off, but he held fast.
It had almost succeeded when it ran into a tree, the sheer force temporarily knocking Theseus unconscious, but somehow the boy didn't let go.
With a second to breathe, the boy looked towards his brother.
"Take Grover and run!" He said urgently, caring only about the safety of the others.
This proved to be his downfall as with his head no raised, the monster was able to reach back and grab the boy, quickly slinging him forward, sending him flying through the air.
"Theo!" Percy struggled to his feet only to drop to his knees a second later. He cursed as he felt helpless, completely at the monsters mercy.
The Minotaur huffed as he shrugged off the damage Theo had done before turning towards Grover.
Percy looked over at Grover then frantically towards Theseus's direction.
He saw his brother laying in a shallow puddle, lifeless. He didn't move and Percy grew worried as his face was completely submerged in water.
After seemingly minutes passed, the Minotaur finally reached Grover and bent down, smelling his soon to be new meal.
Percy's heart spiked and his eyes danced as he saw Theo's body twitch. With a push, he lifted himself from the floor and looked up towards the bull.
His face was covered by his damp dark hair as he stood to his feet.
The boy took a single step forward, and as soon as his feet made contact with the dry floor, all the water on him exploded off, making him dry even in the heavy rain.
Percy didn't have time to process as the Minotaur looked back at Theo, annoyed his dinner was getting interrupted.
After realizing the boy was still alive, it puffed up, standing to its full height. Percy grew worried, but Theseus didn't stutter.
Without hesitation, Theseus rushed forward and the bull did the same. The floor rumbled as the monstrous specimen rushed the boy, and Percy wondered what his brother planned on doing when they met.
The bull grunted as he was close to impaling Theo with his horns, but didn't expect the boy to leap upwards into the sky, landing on his back once more.
Using his momentum, Theo diverted the monsters head into the floor, making a deep trail in the dirt.
After a couple of yards, the beast slowed down as it reached the pine tree, going back to trying to throw the boy off.
Though, this time it seemed like Theo had a plan as he wrapped his hands around the beasts horn. With his legs wrapped around its torso, Theo reached back and Percy watched as the bull cried out in pain.
Where his right horn should've been was a pool of black blood.
Theseus clung on tightly as the monster bucked about harder then before. Percy was snapped back into reality when he heard his name being called.
"Percy!" Said his brother. "Catch!" Percy watched as the horn traveled towards him in slow motion, catching it with a juggle.
Percy didn't know if his brother knew he couldn't walk, but it became obvious what he needed to do.
With strength he didn't know he had, Percy got up and stumbled towards the Minotaur, avoiding his hands as he swung them around wildly.
The beast didn't even seem to notice him until the last second as he jutted the horn forward, impaling the beast right in its chest.
The monster looked down at Percy with wide eyes, looking almost human before he looked into brown dust, unlikes his mother, flowing in the wind.
Percy watched his brother land with a thud before he looked at him. Theo took a single step forward before Percy fell back, his body giving out.
He heard his brother rush to his side, but he didn't react. He only gripped the necklace in his hand and stared at it, raising it up in the air above him.
He cursed at himself and the chain. If only he had thought to use it earlier, maybe his mom...
He didn't have time to think as his vision went blurry. He blinked and he felt himself around the shoulder of Theo, Grover adjacent to him.
The next time he blinked, he was on a wooden porch with two new people looking down at him and his brother as they finally collapsed.
He heard his brother whisper some words before the man in front of them ordered the younger girl to take us in.
He didn't hear much, but he did catch the words "help my brother", before he fell into the darkness, his body reaching its limit.
After not posting for a while, I would like to do a longer A/N, but I'm gonna save that for the my actually authors note story lol.
But I guess something to say is that I spent a long time trying to decide which one of the brothers would drag the other across the property line, and this wasn't how I originally planned the chapter to end, but oh well.