Authors' Notes: Who's late? Us? Not a chance. You're just in the wrong time zone.
—Parsek
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PERSEUS
Lvl. 51 Raider
Jason appeared in front of Percy in a burst of yellow with a yell and a swing of the golden spear that had, just moments ago, hurtled towards him across the chamber. The Lancer's face was hewn out of stone and his eyes cycled hypnotically through the colours of the rainbow. Percy lost track of the spear in the chaos and kicked himself for it before he became more preoccupied with the crushing blows from Jason's knees and elbows.
He could almost hear Luke's voice, it sliced through the panicked haze this sudden death match had sprung on him and whispered directly into his ear. "Remember Perce… best thing to do with a spear is to get in close, get behind the head. They lose their reach and their leverage, then it's just a matter of poking enough holes in them."
Percy dodged another swing, stumbled back and narrowly avoided impalement by pushing the thrusted spear off course with his rope-wrapped forearm. The enchanted gold sliced a shallow cut into his cheek before he could move out of the way and Percy cursed as he felt hot liquid drip down his face. He was prepared for the next attack however, and ignored his tightly wrapped arm in favour of presenting his torso as a target. Luke, Khiron and common sense screamed out against his stupidity but no one had ever counted on the pelt of the Nemean Lion. Jason's spear buckled against an impenetrable wall, the magical weapon squealing in protest at the treatment.
All thoughts of accomplishment fled as Jason's next blow sent him tumbling across the ground. The lion's pelt protected him from the lethal spear tip but did nothing to stop the sheer force the Lancer was delivering. It was almost as though the blond was growing stronger as time went on. Percy grabbed the opportunity with both hands, gathering his breath and letting out a loud roar. As the reflected wave burned in the pit of his stomach he let the now-familiar strength settle into his bones. It was less than when he'd fought the lion, far less in fact, but that was to be expected given Jason's new situation.
Jason continued to push Percy back towards the wall, the Raider found it increasingly difficult to block or parry. The Lancer's originally sluggish movements had been replaced by a mechanically precise onslaught of blows. All the while Percy felt the effects of Warcry fading.
A few minutes later as Percy struggled to gather the dregs of his borrowed strength Jason's spear sliced through the air, caught a gap in the Nemean lion pelt and landed a deep gouge in his thigh. Percy screamed in shock, the fire racing through his leg mixed with the shock of his aborted attempts to renew Warcry.
Percy huddled down around his fresh wound and stared out at Jason. He was unwilling to take his eyes off his opponent and the Lancer seemed to be returning the favour. Jason paced leisurely just out of range, content to let him recover for some reason. Percy sucked air into his lungs, tightened his grasp on his kopis and flexed Knots and Trimming to shift a length of the rope off of his forearm to bind the weeping cut on his leg. Assured that the wound wasn't immediately dangerous anymore Percy's mind turned back to the problem in front of him. Jason had been eerily silent the entire fight, the powerhouse wasn't even winded.
More than a few half-formed ideas swirled around his head and Percy picked the best option. The Raider subtly adjusted his weight and watched Jason like a hawk to ensure the blond hadn't noticed. Percy pulled on Warcry once more and ignored the itch building in his throat from constant shouting. He shoved the incoming flood of strength into his legs and launched himself straight at the Lancer.
His second wind was obviously expected but the cables he sent to snake around the Lancer weren't. Percy took advantage of the blond's shock to shoulder him back a few paces and begin to tie a series of knots that would secure Jason's hands to his spear. Percy pushed Knots and Trimming farther than he ever had before, pushing for speed rather than precision or strength. Percy launched another Warcry empowered attack and bought himself a few more podes of breathing room.
The abnormally stoic Lancer steadied himself and looked down at his own bound hands in what Percy decided to charitably interpret as confusion. The Lancer raised his blank gaze and twisted his body before swinging wildly at the air in front of him. With the spear locked in his hands awkwardly, the hit lacked any power and with the new distance between them, Percy felt secure that he was out of danger. A fact that was proven conclusively wrong as in the next instant Jason's eyes stopped strobing to glow blue and a solid wall of air rushed at the Raider.
A hasty dodge was enough for Percy to avoid the worst of the gale. He cursed loudly again, Luke had not mentioned anything about Spearmen being able to do that in his lessons. Percy's legs throbbed with temporary enhancement and he lunged forward, dodging another two cannon shots of pure force. Twisting in a way that twinged a muscle in his back, Percy placed the lion skin between him and Jason, blocking another attempt at bludgeoning him; if he survived this fight his entire body's worth of bruises would punish him in the morning.
With Jason's hands bound his motion was severely limited Percy was able to avoid Jason's skill flattening him. Percy landed a series of horribly telegraphed overhead blows, the Lancer managed to block everyone with his spear haft but the metal groaned at the abuse. Percy clawed back the distance lost and forced the blond toward the centre of the room with brute strength. Pushing him back once more he stopped his assault to take a breath when Jason stumbled back and nearly lost his footing.
Percy wiped the sweat out of his eyes and froze. The manic Soothsayer had a spindly arm wrapped around Annabeth's shoulders and was holding a long symmetrical triangle-shaped blade up to the Saboteur's neck. The blonde was utterly ignorant of the danger, she stood slightly slack-jawed with a vacant expression, and stared off into the middle-distance. The Soothsayer's lackeys whose names he hadn't bothered to register we're keeping Grover and Rachel in a similar hold.
Dread wracked him and nailed his feet to the spot. His spiral into feelings of despair was stopped only by the loud cracks of Jason snapping his own bonds. The Lancer redoubled his efforts and within half a minute there were as many cuts littering his unarmored skin. Under the unexpected battering, it was all Percy could do to angle the fight towards the rest of his party in a desperate hope to get closer.
Several heartstopping exchanges later Percy shouted again, he clutched miserably onto the new strength Warcry had brought him and threw it and everything else he could muster on his own to his defence. He abandoned the idea almost immediately and leapt backwards instead.
The stone-faced Lancer pursued him, his legs eating up the gap between them when he stumbled and sucked in several shallow breaths. The constant strobing glow in Jason's eyes faded to leave their usual clear blue and the blond collapsed to his knees. His body was wracked with painful coughs, worry pushed to the forefront of his mind, the Lancer looked like he was going to hack a lung out. Large mauve stains grew across his chest and Percy caught sight of blood leaking down the Lancer's chin.
The Raider acted immediately, he would apologise afterwards, but even Jason would agree to take full advantage of an enemy's weakness. Percy ignored Grover's, "NO!" and punched out with the kopis's hilt, the elaborately fashioned horse's head on the pommel served as a weight and lent the strike he landed on Jason's sternum devastating force. Percy felt several of Jason's ribs crack as the blond was sent flying. He was dimly aware of Annabeth wresting herself from the now screeching Soothsayer's grasp and knocking her back. Out of the corner of his eye, he tracked Annabeth as she made her way to free Rachel and Grover. Percy trusted her to handle it and strode forward quickly to deliver one final blow.
He collected the rest of the power in his body and reared back. Jason, who was still coughing a nauseating mixture of purple and red, showed enough wherewithal to bring the haft of his spear up as a guard. The Raider swung down and the kopis whistled through the air until it clanged against the enchanted gold. The already damaged weapon held for only a beat before the celestial bronze sword pushed on and splintered through. Jason spasmed out of the way and left Percy's sword to smash against the ground, the blonde looked down at the two pieces of his spear and started to scramble backwards, as though deathly afraid. The metal glowed orange as it began to violently shake in the dirt.
Percy's entire world turned white as a column of crackling golden light and heat blew upwards.
The explosion caused by the shattered spear sent Percy flying across the room, his sword ripped from his hands and flung out of his reach. He came to a stop dozens of podes away and tried to stand only to immediately fall over again. His exposed skin was raw and tingling, covered in angry burn wounds. There was a horrible piercing ringing in his ears and the Raider felt every bone in his body rattling in tune with it. He collapsed onto his back and looked up at the now open sky, the chamber had been flooded with dust and Percy hacked to try and clear the chalky taste out of his mouth.
Sunlight from beyond the Labyrinth streamed into the fresh gaping hole that had been ripped in the ceiling, its warmth providing no comfort in the face of the fact that his entire world felt like it was twisted into a knot and his body would be sore for years. The Nemean Lion pelt meant he'd avoided most of the danger but the concussive blast had caught him full on. The pain alone was mind-numbing.
The ringing grew louder and Percy felt like his stomach was about to empty itself before the world jolted again. A reverse explosion rushed through him and existence forcibly righted itself. The flip-flop left Percy reeling, laid on the ground where he had fallen, clutching impotently at his head. So he was completely vulnerable when Piper the Soothsayer crawled towards him and knelt on his chest. The crazed woman appeared weak, but in his current state, he could only watch as she fumbled for his hand and pressed her triangular dagger into his palm. She pulled their joined hands up to his neck and stared into his eyes. Her dishevelled hair shifted to reveal kaleidoscopic eyes.
"How dare you… You're going to take this knife and slit your own throat. And I will watch as you suffer for what you did to my Jason." Percy was slammed with a deep wave of vertigo and gagged as a blinding prism of light overtook his vision. His mind grew numb under a soft pressure that weighed down on him from every direction, but before he could be swept away something inside of him clicked and rattled him back into balance.
"The ground feels unsteady; instantly adjust for full movement."
After almost half a minute of stilted silence passed where he didn't hack into his own neck the Soothsayer face screwed up with confusion. Piper opened her mouth, possibly to issue another command but Percy interrupted her with a pommel strike to the temple. She collapsed bonelessly over him and he threw her off with what little strength he could marshall. Her knife was thrown the other way, out of sight.
Percy coughed again and waved his hand back and forth to try and clear the air around him. The Raider stared out through the smoke in Jason's direction, dreading the thought of facing the blond again. A scream rang out in the distance, it was silenced abruptly. Percy's heart began to pound, he waited breathlessly and was rewarded with another aborted cry of agony.
A silhouette loomed through the orange-tinted cloud of dust and debris and Percy's heart fell through his torso. Had Jason killed Piper's lackeys? He caught a glimpse of shimmering white and gold armour. The figure came to a stop over what looked like a lumpy pile of rocks and rested a smooth grey staff against her shoulder.
As the dust finally began to clear, Percy was able to properly identify the strange prone shape as an unconscious Jason. The armoured warrior above him was the one that had caused those eerie screams. He took in the woman's cropped black hair and unbothered smirk. She might as well have been out of a walk with how carefree she looked. Her eyes sent shivers down his spine though, they were flat and steely, she looked like a shark circling her prey.
Thalia the Cavalry hmm'd and nudged Jason with a foot. The Lancer was unresponsive and Percy spotted massive burns running down his side. Thalia cast a careful eye over the rest of the room, pausing ever so slightly at Annabeth. The blonde choked and attempted to stumble forward. The Saboteur only managed a few podes before falling over, too injured to proceed.
"You don't keep the best company, do you Little Brother?" The Cavalry dismissed the rest of the ruined chamber in favour of Jason. Thalia reached into the air and her hand disappeared up to the wrist. She drew a… pine cone from her magical storage space and her eyes flashed a deep blue as she brought the staff in her other hand to its base. The jury-rigged construct twisted and grew, stretching into a long, even staff topped with a spearhead made of gnarled wood, covered in jagged, serrated spikes.
"But you, on the other hand… level sixty-two at sixteen. Father would be proud of you, Jason." Thalia thrust the newly made weapon into his heart. Percy couldn't stop the scream ripped from his lips as the bubbling heat of Exp tore through him. "As am I."
PERSEUS
Lvl. 65 Raider
Aspects
Mnd: 143
Bdy: 390
Brh: 233
Sol: 187
Rkn: 279
Passive: Shorelegs
The ground feels unsteady; instantly adjust for full movement.
Skills
Knots: It's said that a practised hand can tie a proper knot in an instant. A true sailor doesn't stop honing his technique until he surpasses this legendary expertise.
Trimming: A masterful sailor can control his ship as if it was a muscle. Rather than shaping the sail one line at a time, he can adjust them all without ever leaving the helm.
Gather Dread: The horns of battle forewarned hapless victims of their inescapable doom.
Drain: Either in barrels, bowls or their tightly cupped hands, every seafarer gets used to moving water.
Sea Shanty: Amongst the scarce breed of universal tongues, none enrich the Soul as effectively as music.
Warcry: A Raider's greatest strength is drawn from his fellows, brought to arms under his rallying cry.
Glossary
Khiron — Master: Son of the Titan Kronos and nymph Philyra; the Immortal trainer of heroes.
Nemean Lion — A giant, monstrous lion with impenetrable skin and metal-shearing claws; First killed by Herakles
A/N: He He He… So remember that cliffhanger Bibleo promised we wouldn't leave you on… Anyways both this chapter and the one directly before were written concurrently in the space of twenty-four hours as a sort of mini experiment to see whether we should tackle the rest of this series that way. Results were largely inconclusive since both Bibleo and I were able to devote a lot more time to our chapters on account of finals being done but we will let you know soon when we make a decision.
As for content, all I can say is I hope you guys liked it. If you did like it then stick around, this isn't even scratching the surface of all the stuff we have planned. If you didn't, try and stick around anyways, give us a chance to win you over.
—Boots.