In which Percy should not be fighting yet but oh well- also I enjoyed the next couple of chapters I will admit. Percy has no sense of self preservation.
Replies:
Ant-death: It really is hard. Like, I spent so much time on this it's unreal.
Undeath9087: Okay you are not wrong there lol, and yeah, dear old Tavie is not gonna have a good time.
Guest: Thank you so much you really have made me smile.
Percy could feel the terror flowing over her. She was dead. She was dead, all of them were dead they just hadn't been killed yet. They had failed and Gaea was about to rise. They were all surrounded by the giants, helpless with the Argo II sinking, and she and Luke were both very badly injured.
There was no way they could survive. Percy could fill her eyes filling with tears and shame filling her at that thought. They'd failed.
She felt as if the world was falling apart, as if she was crumbing into a thousand pieces. She'd failed lots of times but never so badly. If she'd just controlled herself- if she hadn't let the sight of the Argo II affect her so- but those thoughts were useless. And she could feel Luke's arms wrapping tight around her as he babbled hushed apologies into her ear.
She wanted to sooth him- to promise her big brother that it was okay. That it wasn't his fault that any of this had happened but the words wouldn't come.
And then it happened- Because Percy was on her back she was in a prime position to see it. And she watched with shock as the clouds parted over the Acropolis- and a slow smile spread across her lips at the sight- because they didn't show blue skies.
They showed black space, spangled with stars- and she saw the palaces of Mount Olympus, gleaming silver and gold and far more beautiful than Percy remembered them. and even more beautiful than that was the sight of the army of gods which charged down from on high.
In the lead was Zeus, riding into battle on a golden chariot, his master bolt held proudly, crackling in one hand. Pulling his chariot were four horses made of wind, each constantly shifting from equine to human form, trying to break free. Percy knew who they were- she did have some brains after all. The four wind gods. She felt like laughing hysterically.
And watched as on the underbelly of the Argo II, the glass bay doors split open. The goddess Nike tumbled out, free from her golden net. She spread her glittering wings and soared to Zeus's side, taking her rightful place as his charioteer.
"MY MIND IS RESTORED!" she roared. "VICTORY TO THE GODS!"
At Zeus's left flank rode Hera, her chariot pulled by enormous peacocks.
Percy pulled a face at her- though she wasn't in much of a position to comment or complain.
There was Ares too- bellowing with glee as he thundered down on the back of a fire-breathing horse. His spear glistened red.
Then she didn't see anyone else- for good reason because Hermes was there above her and Luke, pushing Nico backwards gently and crouching at their sides quickly. "Son, Persephone- don't move-"
"Dad-" Luke's voice cracked, "Dad you came-"
"Of course I came kiddo." Percy could see the worry on Hermes' face as he laid a hand on Luke's back, eternally gentle with his favorite son. "We all came-"
"I can't see you-"
"You've lost a lot of blood son- I'm going to help but it'll hurt-"
"H-he's gonna be okay right?" Percy asked, her voice panicked- and she was blocking out the fighting all around her- all she could think of was her big brother- the way his face had lost all of its color, the dullness of his eyes that had always been so bright and lively. And she didn't even think about the fact that she had also been impaled.
"Calm yourself-" Hermes was clearly focusing before he called, "Apollo!"
And then Apollo was there in a flash of bright yellow light, and he didn't hesitate, reaching down and placing a hand on Luke's shoulder just as the oldest Jackson kids eyes fluttered closed- and Percy almost sobbed as color flooded back into his face, and then Hermes was lifting his son, and Apollo was moving to touch Percy's shoulder but the daughter of Poseidon was on her feet before his fingers could touch her- and she didn't care about the pain, didn't care that she was bleeding heavily as her eyes flicked around- as she saw the fighting everywhere around them.
If she'd been thinking logically she'd know that her best chance would be to let Apollo heal her and then to rush into the fight but in that moment she didn't care. All she wanted was to tear Porphrion- for he'd been the one to throw the sword, he'd been the one to hurt her big brother- limb from limb.
She didn't care that Zeus, Thalia and Jason were already fighting him- she wanted to hurt him.
She made it only ten steps or so before her father was in front of her. His expression was soft- a brief look of joy crossing his face and Percy glared at him for perhaps a second before that soft smile and the relief in his eyes broke through and she faltered as his hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"Persephone." his voice was soft, but it said all that needed to be said in that moment, and it really was stunning that in the middle of a raging battle so much could be said without being spoken aloud.
So instead of charging at Porphyrion- and undoubtedly getting in the way of Jason, Thalia and Zeus, she and her father charged towards the giant twins- the others were mostly being dealt with.
And Percy was willing to admit that it was kind of insane how much easier it was taking them down with a god actually helping fight them. Every time their guards dropped Percy was there, ducking and dodging and weaving through them, dagger slashing through flesh, golden ichor spilling from the myriad of gashes she sliced into their skin.
Meanwhile her father was using his trident with as much talent as Percy weilded her sword, thrusting and parrying their attempted blows.
And then, when they stumbled, clearly exhausted from the battle Poseidon thrust his trident forward and it transformed into a firehose- and the god sprayed the giants out of the Parthenon with a high-powered blast in the shape of wild horses.
Then Poseidon was in front of Percy again- the battle was still raging around them but it was slowing now- they were winning, and Percy almost melted into her fathers arms when he wrapped his arms around her tightly- though Percy did still make a point of peering out from his shoulder to look around.
And she could see the others all fighting still- Frank and Ares were smashing through an entire Phalanx of giants- with Frank in his Elephant form.
Hazel raced through the battle on Arion's back, disappearing in the Mist whenever a giant came close, then appearing behind him and stabbing him in the back. The goddess Hecate danced in her wake, setting fire to their enemies with two blazing torches.
She saw Nico, fighting with his father, shadows tripping giants as Hades made the ground open beneath their feet.
Annabeth and Rachel were back to back, defending themselves from hoards of monsters and keeping them back- and Percy noticed that Athena was there too, though Annabeth kept her back turned from her mother, clearly not forgiving her one bit.
Piper was fighting Periboia, with her mothers aid, and Percy could see Leo and Ethan up above, racing across the deck of the Argo II, Ethan clearly following Leo's bellowed orders.
The strangest sight had to be the old giant, Thoon, who was getting bludgeoned to death by three old ladies with brass clubs – the Fates, armed for war.
The fates- Percy resisted the urge to laugh hysterically as she pulled away from her father and darted towards Annabeth and Rachel- grinning as she saw Rachel sending knife after knife into the eyes of monsters, whilst Annabeth ducked and weaved beneath various monsters attempts to attack her.
Poseidon stuck by her side- which Percy found made her chest suddenly feel rather tight. He was trying not to make it obvious but it was easy to see why he was hovering over her so protectively.
He was trying to act as her own personal guard- but then this was the first time he'd seen her since she'd come back from the dead.
Percy pushed those thoughts aside, reaching her girlfriends in time to pounce on the back of a Laistrygonian giant that was trying to bludgeon Rachel- and she sprinted towards it, leaping onto the monsters back and letting out a whoop when he reared backwards to try and knock her off.
And she was willing to admit to being immensely entertained by the way her fathers eyes widened and he let out a strangled yelp at the sight of his demigod daughter riding a monster like a bucking bronco- tightening her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso, though a particularly harsh buck had Percy remembering that she was, in fact, still injured, because the pain that ripped through her shoulder and arm was pretty intense.
Still, even in pain the daughter of Poseidon was as stubborn as they came and she gritted her teeth and held on tighter- until Annabeth was ducking in under flailing monster arms and plunging her dagger into the monsters neck, just beneath Percy's clinging arms.
The monster disintegrated and Percy let out a startled cry- though it was cut off very quickly because Annabeth was there, catching her before she could crumple to the ground, arms slipping around her waist almost instantly, a familiar smug little smirk flickering across the daughter of Athena's face.
"You are insane Seaweed brain-"
"You really are." Rachel was by their sides then, her lips brushing against Percy's cheek before she tossed a knife behind her without even looking, nailing an Empousa between the eyes and turning it into monster dust in a rather impressive feat.
"Ah hem." Poseidon's little cough was awkward and Annabeth loosened her grip and stepped back slightly.
"Lord Poseidon-"
"Hey." that came from Rachel, who gave a rather relaxed casual little wave of the hand. "Nice to finally meet you-"
"Unfortunately it's not under better circumstances-" Poseidon aimed a blast of water at a Cyclops that tried to throw a chunk of stone at the three girls. "Persephone you should have let Apollo-"
"I am fine." Percy straightened as best as she could, forcing herself to ignore the sharp pain and the wave of dizziness. "I want him to focus on healing Luke-" Percy whirled and kicked away a Karpoi that had tried to sneak up on them.
And before she could say anything else Percy heard yelling- Porphyrion Percy realised and she whirled to look- the giant was clearly losing his battle- he'd fallen into his makeshift throne, destroying it in the process and he yelled, "You cannot stop us! It is done! The Earth Mother is awake!"
In answer, Zeus blasted the throne to rubble. The giant king flew backwards out of the temple and Percy saw Jason and Thalia rushing after him, his father at his heels.
They backed Porphyrion to the edge of the cliffs. Lightning had melted all the weapons in the giant's hair. Molten Celestial bronze dripped through his dreadlocks like caramel. His skin steamed and blistered.
"It seems that your friends and my brother have their king handled." Poseidon looked like he was relaxing- and Percy glanced around and she could see why. The last of the giants were being disposed even as Porphyrion was being defeated- and Percy might have said it was too easy, except for the fact that she knew that the giants had never been the biggest threat.
No, no that was Gaea.
She almost flinched as Rachel's fingers were suddenly wrapping around her hand, more out of startled surprise than anything else, and Annabeth was grabbing her other hand, careful not to jar her injured shoulder.
"It's not over yet." Percy's voice was quiet, "We can't celebrate yet-"
"Maybe not completely over-" Rachel remarked, "But I think we did pretty good, all things considered."
"We did." Annabeth nodded- and Percy noticed that she was tilting her body away from her mother, who was watching with slightly worried eyes. "Now let's go join the others."