Chapter 8: Ouch, that hurt.
(Reyna)
Well we are screwed
That was the first thing I told myself the moment I saw Orion. I personally encountered him more than a few times during the quest to bring the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood, to say that he is a formidable enemy would be a mistake. There was a reason why Lady Artemis herself was impressed with his skills while Apollo was jealous of it and his bond with his own sister. So the moment I heard his voice again sent the coldest shiver down my spine.
Luckily for me however, Percy and Lady Artemis volunteered to kill him so I was partnered with her lieutenant, Thalia Grace.
Aside from her eyes, Thalia had nothing in common with Jason, he used a sword she used a spear, he had blonde hair hers was black. However underestimating her in combat would be your fatal mistake because I have not come across a hunter who was well trained in close quarters combat until now. She was a violent wave of destruction, the rank of lieutenant suits her well.
As me and the hunters were slowly decimating the monster horde, I would constantly peak towards the directing where Percy and Lady Artemis were battling Orion. I believe their strategy was that Percy would engage him in a melee battle while Lady Artemis would continuously shoot him with arrows, I could not exactly see how the battle was going, but I don't think it was going well for Percy and Lady Artemis.
By the time me and the other hunters killed the remaining monsters, the three of them were nowhere to be seen. We could only hear the continuous clashing of metal and the twang of a bowstring. We quickly re grouped and headed over to where the sound of the battle was originating. When we arrived, we were shocked with what we saw.
(Percy)
To say this battle was going well would be a lie. It was going horribly wrong.
Many would say that I am the greatest swordsman they have ever seen in action, and I would admit I am relatively decent with a sword, however to go against a ten foot tall giant holding a bow that is bigger than me and a knife that was the length of my entire upper body was something I have not exactly trained for.
Sure, I had Artemis helping me, but even our combined efforts were not enough to even wound Orion. I on the other hand have lots of cuts and bruises from when Orion slashed me with his ridiculously large knife or slam his bow on my body.
While Artemis was keeping him distracted, I tried a different strategy where I slowly creeped behind him. You can call me stupid for trying this. Gee Percy, why don't we quietly sneak behind the giant that was born to oppose Apollo and Artemis.
Yeah that did not end well.
As I was about to stab his leg he quickly turned around and smacked me with the flat side of his blade hard enough to launch me towards a massive boulder. I hit the boulder headfirst and could slowly feel the blood oozing from the massive cut I now have on the top of my head.
The strange thing was, I could only feel the pain of the cut and the aching of my bone however I have not lost my consciousness and most of all I do not feel disoriented. I quickly sat up and saw that the hunters have now engaged Orion as well and were helping Artemis take him down slowly. They were doing quite well in overpowering him, however before any of them could make the killing shot, the ground opened and seemed to swallow him whole. He has escaped for now.
As he disappeared, everyone looked confused until they noticed me. I then saw Reyna running towards me swiftly followed by Thalia and Artemis. Once she reached me, she immediately grabbed my head and began inspecting the large cut across it. Thalia and Artemis soon arrived with ambrosia and nectar, I was then forced fed like a toddler by three women that were not so gentle.
As I slowly felt the wound closing up, I started feeling weak and that is when my exhaustion took over. It was at this point that I started falling face first into Reyna's lap then my vision went dark.
(Reyna)
To see Percy in that state scared me more than Orion himself. When I first saw him after Orion disappeared, the whole right side of his face was covered in dark red blood. Were it not for the fact that he was sitting up, I would have genuinely thought that he was dead. I immediately ran towards him and cradled his head and began inspecting the large wound. I was relieved to see that it was only a massive cut and that his skull or any part of his bones were not fractured.
When Thalia and Lady Artemis arrived, they swiftly fed him the maximum amount of ambrosia and nectar a non-divine being can handle. Slowly but surely I could see his wound closing and relaxed a bit. That was when he suddenly fainted and landed face first into my lap. I managed to catch him before he broke his nose in my armor and slowly laid his head down on my lap. That was when both Thalia and Lady Artemis looked at me curiously.
"Thalia, go re group with the rest of the hunters and make sure that they are all okay. After, I want you to set up camp by Percy and Reyna's tent, we will be joining them in the future hunt for hostile groups but for now we must rest and wait for Percy to heal up completely before moving." Lady Artemis commanded Thalia.
Thalia nodded and looked at me one last time before standing up to leave and started making her way towards the large group of hunters. She then commanded some things that I was not able to here as they started making their way towards the camp site.
"I see that you have fallen for him as well." Lady Artemis told me.
"Milady I-."
"It is okay, you do not need to explain yourself. You are not my huntress, as such you are not bound by an oath. He has been through a lot, it is clear he needs someone to fill in the void that has formed in his life. If that person is you then fate shall prevail, however, if you hurt him you will encounter my wrath as he is my closest friend. Are we clear Reyna?" She told me firmly.
"Yes Milady, I understand." I answered. "What did you mean fallen for him as well milady? Who else has fallen for him?" I asked curious that she said that.
"He has looks stunning enough to tempt goddesses and Titaness' to love him. Thalia was briefly tempted earlier when she hugged him, but she made sure that no temptation will affect her that is why she slapped him again earlier. If you are asking why I know, my hunters have sworn an oath to me, as such I am able to know if one of them gets tempted or starts going errant on their vows." She finished.
I didn't have anything to say so I just nodded and started stroking Percy's blood-stained hair. I guess it did make sense, me and Percy have practically been alone with each other for the past two weeks. We have bonded with each other, protected each other, laughed at each other, and opened up to one another. As such, I cannot deny the feelings that have been building up already.
For better or for worse, I am in love with Percy Jackson.
(Percy)
Being unconscious as a partial immortal demigod isn't fun. Dreams and visions usually happen. But this didn't feel like either of them. This felt very real.
I was in a field, the sun was out and the sky was clear, small hills were all around me, nature and wildlife were everywhere, it was a peaceful sight. Suddenly all of that changed.
What happened first was that the ground started to shake, the sky suddenly turning blood red and the animals disappearing. Then there was an explosion, a bright red fiery explosion in front of me. But what was weird was it didn't seem to be expanding, it seemed to be forming into something. Something sinister, something that nightmares are made out of.
This was Tartarus personified.
Unlike when I encountered him in the pit, he seemed to be scarier in any way shape or form. His entire body seemed to be made out of magma, his face is covered with a large helmet but his red inferno eyes, it was like it was sucking away all the life inside my soul.
"Perseus Jackson, at last we finally meet properly." He spoke to me, his voice was very deep but incredibly loud.
I was unable to say anything, I felt like suffocating and falling on the floor. However I chose to remain standing as best as I can, I will not show him any weakness.
"Incredible, most people would die from the amount of power I am exhibiting now, and yet you still remain in two feet. I have always known of your greatness Perseus and for that you have my respect." He told me, "With that in mind I would like to offer you a deal, I have control of all life in the pit which means that I can just kill anyone down there with a domain and give it to whomever I wish. Perseus Jackson, join me and I will give you all the power you can ever dream of. All the past titans and giants that you have slain are down here. I can strip them of their domains and give them to you. You would become the most powerful being in the universe. But maybe you do not want power? Maybe a peaceful life with your friends and family, away from all the conflict that the selfish Greek gods have thrown at you time and time again. I can give you that life Perseus, all you have to do is join me."
"N-never." I managed to say. I would not betray all that we have accomplished now just for this, I did not believe a single thing he said. He is right, I have no care for power, I only want to finally have a life of peace where I can enjoy living with my friends and my family.
"So be it, on the sunrise of your birthday, I will rise along with the legions of hell with me and we will wipe your planet free of existence. It is finally time for the world to be restored free from pests. If it is through war, then you will have war." He said with untamed rage.
The last thing I was able to see was another explosion the engulfed my whole body in flames and then there was nothing again.
I woke up to find myself in my tent. The first thing I noticed was that I was very sweaty. Then I saw Reyna, Thalia, and Artemis were looking at me worriedly.
"Ughhhh." I moaned, holding my head due to the headache that I was experiencing.
"Percy are you okay? We heard you screaming and we rushed here." Reyna asked me with a voice full of concern.
"He is- He is coming." I managed to say before I began screaming again because of the massive headache I was feeling.
It was at this point that Artemis grabbed an entire jug full of nectar and pushed it straight into my mouth, what happened next was the feeling of relief overcome me, my headache was no more.
"Thanks Arty." I told her, trying to catch my breath.
"Seaweed Brain what the hades was all that screaming about?!" Thalia asked me
"Tartarus, we do not have much time anymore. He is coming."
"When?" Reyna asked me.
"On my birthday…"
When I said this everyone seemingly froze from shock, my birthday was a month away from now and to have such little time left has made everyone silent.
(Reyna)
"But, we do not have that much time to prepare…" I told him and it was true, the gods only announced the threat 6 months ago, that is when we began training everyone again for the next war.
"I-I must inform the council of this, they must know so that we can start the preparations…" Lady Artemis started rambling on and on, it was strange to see the normally confident goddess turn so nervous and anxious.
"Arty, I suggest you hurry, we need to get a move on." Percy told her.
"Milady Percy is right, time is of the essence here, I think you should inform the council now while we prepare to move out for the next hunt. Percy are you ready to move?" Thalia asked.
"I'm fine now. I will go with Artemis to Olympus to explain to the council what is going on." Percy answered.
"I'll coordinate with Thalia and the rest of the hunters to strategize and plan our next attack, as well as calculating the fastest method to locate the next monster group." I told Percy and Lady Artemis.
"Very well, Thalia you have command while me and Percy are gone, coordinate with Reyna and start preparing everyone." Lady Artemis commanded.
"Very well Milady."
"Let's go Percy." Lady Artemis told him.
Me and Thalia looked away as Lady Artemis flashed away with Percy to Olympus, I was about to head out of the tent when Thalia grabbed my arm and forced me to look at her.
"Tell me Reyna, why are you in love with seaweed brain?" She asked me.
Dear gods, am I really that bad at hiding my feelings.
AN:
Apologies for the delay. I wrote the first scene right after I released the previous chapter. However, I got lost in work that I forgot all about it until I opened it up and could not remember what I was supposed to type next. Regardless here it is.
It is nearly mid April which means school is nearly ending and the summber break is nigh. As such, when that time comes you will find that I will be posting more frequently. For now thank you for bearing with me.
As always don't be shy to leave a like and a comment!
Chapter 9 this week probably.
Till next time!