Update: As I've been writing this next part, I realized it would be way longer than the other chapters, so I split it into (as of now) three different chapters. This first part of DE will probably end up closer to fifteen chapters now instead of the ten I originally planned for.
That being said, I was planning on splitting DE into three parts to avoid having one really long fic (~35 chapters), but now I'm having second thoughts. I have a poll up and would really appreciate your feedback on if I should split this story up!
Onto the story!
All character rights belong to Rick Riordan.
Annabeth
"Duck!" Annabeth called out. Percy threw himself to the ground, the hydra's teeth snapping through the air where he was a moment before. Annabeth would have breathed a sigh of relief if she didn't have her own heads to deal with. Twisting out of the way of one pair of teeth, she slapped away another head with her sword before rolling back out of range to catch her breath for a second. Percy had gotten separated from her during the fight and was coming around the other side of the hydra to her when his eyes widened and he screamed her name. Turning, Annabeth saw a spray of acid flying towards her at speeds she would be unable to dodge.
She'd like to say that in the face of death she came to peace with her life, but all she felt was a simmering resentment towards the life of a demigod. She had saved the world three times now, given the incident with the magicians last month, she'd dealt with four different pantheons now that she'd finally reconnected with her cousin, and she survived freaking Tartarus, all to die by something as simple as a hydra. She locked eyes with Percy one last time before taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the burn of the acid.
It never came.
Percy's eyes burned with furious determination and his hand flung out towards her. Annabeth remembered seeing a similar look in his eyes during the Battle of Manhattan all those years ago when she had taken that dagger from him. The air crackled, and goosebumps rose on her arms. She turned to see the acid floating in front of her. Percy's eyes were locked onto the hydra, who just looked confused at why the acid hadn't melted the demigods yet.
"Acid burns, right?" Percy asked her through clenched teeth as he drew close.
"Yes?" Annabeth replied. "But what does that have to do-" Her eyes widened as she understood what her fiancé was implying.
"Good." He rolled his neck, several cracks resulting from the movement. "I hope this works." He raised his sword and sprinted at the monster. With a squelch, one of the hydra's head flew to the side before the ball of acid flew up and encased the remaining neck. The hydra screeched as smoke rose from the stump, head flailing as they tried to rip Percy to shreds. Riptide was a blur as it deflected teeth and severed heads, Percy manipulating the acid to burn any stumps before more heads could grow. Annabeth watched, frozen, as the son of Poseidon destroyed the beast in a few short minutes, dropping the acid to the ground as the hydra burst into dust.
Suddenly he was hugging her tightly, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he chanted around his sobs. Annabeth awkwardly returned the hug with her sword still in her hand until he calmed down some. As he pulled out of her embrace, he wiped his face.
"I know I said I wouldn't do that again but it was that or watch you die and I would rather you be alive to hate me than die when I could have prevented it," Percy explained, his voice cracking. Annabeth took longer than she cared to admit to put the pieces together.
"You're worried I'll react like I did with Ahklys?" she asked. Percy flinched at the name but nodded. Annabeth sheathed her sword and pulled her fiancé in for another hug. "Percy, you were twisted by the Pit then. You were attacking out of the want to hurt something then. This is different." She pulled back slightly and looked him in the eyes. "Self-preservation is one thing, Seaweed Brain. I just didn't want you to lose yourself."
Percy breathed a sigh of relief and Annabeth felt the tension drain out of his frame. "Okay, good." He let her go and rubbed his face tiredly. "That was exhausting," he complained a few second later. Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly before something occurred to her.
"Didn't you say you summoned a storm on accident the last time you were on Olympus?" Percy gave her a confused look.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with controlling poison?" he asked.
"Neither of those are powers you should technically have, but you do," she explained, "and both left you pretty tired afterwards." Percy nodded. "So, first, you should probably train those powers so they don't leave you so tired."
"That's… smart, I guess," Percy agreed. "But I'm a little worried at the second point I feel coming. You have your I'm-making-a-plan face." Annabeth made a face at him, too excited about her new theory to be truly annoyed.
"Second, let's figure out how many other powers you could develop."
"Let me get this straight: you think that because Percy is the son of the Stormbringer, he should be able to use similar powers to me?" Jason asked incredulously. Percy shrugged his shoulders as Annabeth nodded.
"Every time he's expanded his powers, it's been while thinking about how it connects to the powers he already has or how it relates to his father," she insists. "I know this will work."
"This is crazy though!" Jason argues. He turned to Percy. "What could you have possibly done to convince her this would work?"
"First off," Percy says calmly, "she's dragging me along, not the other way around. Second, I, ah, might have possibly controlled poison once or twice before?" Jason gave him a disbelieving look. "Alright, look, I'll show you." Percy reached around for his backpack, digging around in it for a few moments. "Where did I put it?"
"Percy," Annabeth cuts in. He turns around to see her holding a pale green vial. "You gave it to me to hold onto so you didn't break it."
"Oh, right! Thanks Wise Girl." Percy took the vial with a grin as Annabeth sighed.
"Seaweed Brain," she muttered.
"Hey, you agreed to marry me," he protested, still grinning a mile wide. Annabeth heaved a dramatic sigh.
"Well, I suppose I shouldn't disappoint Piper. She was very excited to plan the wedding." She tapped her chin mockingly in thought, laughing when Percy made a face at her. Jason coughed lightly and Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"You done flirting?" he teased.
"Never," Percy responded. "But I suppose we can continue with my magic trick." Percy waved the vial in front of Jason's face. "This is a vial of hydra acid." Jason jerked back from the container and Annabeth held back a snicker. "Totally poison, very dangerous, is not supposed to count with the whole water control thing. Too bad I don't care."
Percy flicked the cap off of the vial and wiggled his other hand dramatically over the opening. The acid slowly rose out of the container, slowly twisting and generally looking very creepy. Jason stared in shock as Percy formed the acid into a ball, then a cube, then a snake that snapped its jaw in front of Jason's face. A few droplets splashed onto the ground by Jason's feet, the grass hissing and smoking upon contact with the liquid.
"Okay, okay, I believe you, now put that stuff away!" Jason said in a rush, clearly freaked out by the poison floating so close to his face. Percy smirked and directed it back into the vial, popping the cap back on and promptly handing the container back to Annabeth.
"Now, since Percy usually picks up new skills while trying not to die, you two should probably have a very intense power spar. Throw him around with a tornado or something," Annabeth stated, ignoring Percy's indignant protest in the background.
"If you're sure about this…" Jason replied reluctantly. Annabeth pat her bag.
"I've got plenty of ambrosia if you're worried about getting hurt," she said in mock concern. Jason scowled at her, then closed his eyes and heaved a sigh.
"I'm sure I'm going to regret this. Sorry Perce." He grabbed Percy's arm and flung him towards the beach, enhancing the throw with a huge gust of wind. Jason winked at Annabeth as Percy's cursing reached their ears and flew after him. Annabeth just shook her head in exasperation.
"Boys," she muttered. She slipped the vial back into her bag and started making her way down to the beach at a fairly quick pace, waving to a few demigods as she passed but for the most part thinking about other powers Percy might develop. She stopped short of the beach, though, when she looked up and saw the tornado. "I know that's what I told you to do, Grace," she said to herself, "but that might be a little bit overkill."
She watched as a figure shot out of the funnel into the ocean, a huge splash marking their crash into the water. The tornado died down and Jason landed softly on the sand, laughing as Percy shot towards the shoreline.
"You can do better than that, Kelp Head!" he teased. Annabeth could feel Percy's scowl as he climbed out of the waves.
"You've been spending too much time with Thalia," Percy complained.
Jason shrugged. "What can I say, I enjoy complaining about you to someone who understands." He laughed at Percy's expression and dodged the spray of water sent his way. Percy grumbled to himself a minute more before his expression smoothed to one of determination.
"Alright, let's try again." Annabeth sat down on the edge of the beach as Jason raised his hands, the winds picking up and swirling around the duo. Sand flew around the beach as a new tornado formed, obscuring the two sons of the Big Three from view. After a few moments where nothing seemed to be happening, Percy once again was sent flying out into the bay, and the funnel died down. Jason turned to her tiredly.
"I still don't think this is going to work," he admitted. Annabeth frowned slightly.
"You've only tried twice, and he knows you aren't actually trying to kill him. Give it some time," she replied. Jason gave her a look she couldn't quite figure out the meaning of before turning back to Percy as he returned. After a moment, she shrugged, deeming the strange expression unimportant and pulling a book out of her bag as she settled in to wait.
She was jerked out of the story what felt like a few minutes later by sand pelting her. She whipped her gaze up to see Jason's hand flung out towards her, his gaze locked onto Percy's. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing but never got the chance, instead shrieking as she was launched up into the air. She caught sight of the shock on Percy's face before a tornado formed around her, picking up sand and cutting off sight of the outside world.
I'm gonna kill that Roman! she seethed. I can understand why he might drag me into this, but a little warning would have been nice! She wrestled the pages of her book flat before snapping the book shut, hoping it hadn't been damaged in the high winds. Suddenly, the winds in the tornado switched direction, dropping her a few feet before halting her fall. As she was gently lowered to the ground, she prepared a few dozen insults to throw at Jason before the sand fell to reveal Percy looking at her in concern.
"You okay?" he asked, inspecting her for any possible injuries. Annabeth gazed around him in search of Jason for a moment before focusing her attention.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Grace so I can yell at him?" she asked. Percy grinned and pointed out to the water. Confused, Annabeth squinted out into the waves before she made out the shape of Jason swimming back to shore. After a moment, it clicked. "It worked?" she asked Percy excitedly.
"I don't know, Wise Girl," he answered with a smirk, "you tell me?" He held out his hand, a small funnel slowly forming on his palm.
"This is amazing!" The gears in Annabeth's head started spinning. "You actually, consciously developed a new power! Who knows what else you could do? Is this something all demigods can do? Is it just you? Why would it be just you if it is? How about-" Her excited rambling was cut off as Percy pressed his lips to hers. She melted into the kiss, the familiar taste of salt doing nothing to calm the adrenaline running through her.
They broke apart as Jason crawled gasping onto the beach. Annabeth watched in amusement as he lay on his back, panting and weakly glaring up at Percy. "That's so not fair," he complained.
"Hey, I'm just as in the dark about this as you are," Percy replied. "Besides, I'm going to need a lot more practice before I'm anywhere near your level of control." Jason grunted and closed his eyes, laying still in the sand. After a moment, he shot up, wiping a hand over his face.
"Hades!" he swore, ignoring the light rumble of thunder.
"What's the matter?" Annabeth asked him. He looked up at her tiredly.
"I must have lost my glasses somewhere out in the bay," he groaned. "I'm sick of losing them all the time." Annabeth ignored the smirk on her fiancé's face at the statement.
"Well, Percy and I will look for them," she promised, ignoring Percy's protest as well. She started walking towards the waves, Percy trailing after her a moment later.
"You do realize that they don't float, right, Annabeth?" Jason called out. She turned and raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I realize that." Jason gave her a sheepish grin. As she turned back to the waves, she called over her shoulder, "Percy's not the only one with new tricks up their sleeve!" before diving under the waves.
