OUTSIDE POV!
Casey wanted to scream. She wanted to raise her sword and slash through everything but she couldn't move. There was nothing she could do. She hadn't felt this helpless since the day she watched Jason fall.
Oscar's hands flailed, throwing his blanket to the side. He laid on the ground behind Artemisa and there was nothing Casey or any of the others could do to get to him.
"Oscar!" Casey screamed his name, although she knew there was nothing the baby could do. She'd lost one brother already. She was not ready to lose another. "Don't touch him!" her voice cracked.
She wished she'd taken advantage of the calm times while they lasted. Since they'd lost Jase, safe days were hard to come by. She should have known that a family picnic outside Camp borders would lead to this. Of course a monster had to find them now.
Artemisa smiled wickedly. "This is the last one, isn't it? The last one of the Jackson boys. You'll be next after I kill him, Perseus."
Percy growled and his hands trembled. He needed something to fight. He needed to help. His job as a father was to protect his children but lately it seemed he could only fail. When Jase fell, there was nothing Percy could do. He had that same feeling now. Oscar looked up at him, his eyes wide and shining with tears.
Artemisa raised her sword. Percy readied himself, moments away from springing forward to take the hit. Before he could, they were interrupted.
The shadows flowing behind it violently swayed. Something emerged from the darkness. A figure. A tall, broad, dark mass. He pulled the shadows with him, using them to create the appearance of a young man. His clothes were torn, his hair was wild.
He quickly dropped to the ground and kicked his leg out, sweeping Artemisa off her feet. He scooped up baby Oscar and held him protectively. Percy noted that he was missing his right arm he said nothing. Even Artemisa was speechless. The glint of what looked like a blade glimmered in the shadows.
"Who are you?" she finally screeched.
The figure's features became defined as he frowned and raised one arm in front of him steadily. "I warned you," he growled. His voice flowed as calmly as the shadows he was made of. "I warned you all. I warned you not to touch my family."
Annabeth gasped and clenched her husband's arm. In front of them, Jason's disembodied form held his baby brother.
"Impossible, you died! Akhlys killed you!" Artemisa spat.
"Dead or alive, I said I would hunt you down and kill you if you touched my family. Don't you dare think that you are excluded from that threat just because you weren't in the pit when I made it." Jason stood tall and proud. His eyes were just black orbs; the shadows didn't show the familiar green in his eyes.
"You want a real fight? Leave my family alone, come find me. I didn't trek through Tartarus, navigate the Labyrinth, face my literal worst fears, fight with the blood of my ancestors, and die just to come home to find some pathetic monster like you took away what I've been fighting for. So come and get me. I'll be waiting." Jase looked down at the baby in his arm and quickly kissed his forehead. He carefully set the baby on the ground, pulled his blanket back over him, and turned away. As soon as his eyes left Oscar, they turned cold and calculating. He raised a familiar looking dagger and swiped it through Artemisa. In a flurry of shadows, both Jase and the monster he intercepted disappeared.
Immediately, Annabeth ran to scoop up Oscar. Leo knelt to the ground. He let the ash trickle through his fingers. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Percy," Annabeth whispered. Her eyes were glued to Oscar. The baby gleefully played with a strand of her hair.
"What? Is he ok?" Percy quickly cradled his arms around Annabeth and his son.
"Look at his forehead."
On Oscar's head was the bloody outline of lips. Dirt speckled his face, but the grass around them showed no trace of open soil.
"How's that possible?" Percy traced the mark, brushing his finger through it and smudging it against Oscar's skin. He finally looked up at Annabeth. "It's real," he whispered.