A/N: Thanks to all of you who have followed and favorited this so far! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this story.
***The poll has decided on one long book! I'm going to reduce the title down to just Demigod Empire, but it's still the same story.***
I know you guys are itching for the gods to catch on to what's happening, and it will happen soon! There's a TON of plot stuff being set up right now so bear with me for a couple more chapters.
I'm not Rick and I'm not making money off of this.
10 – Annabeth
Annabeth swore as she dove out of the way, a giant icicle spearing the air when she had stood a moment ago. "I thought you were still supposed to be in lockup?" she yelled in frustration. Khione laughed, a cold sound that cut through the icy winds she was maintaining.
"You think the Olympians could keep me contained? How foolish." Khione swung her arm towards Annabeth and she once again had to throw herself out of the way to avoid becoming an icicle.
Where the Hades are you, Percy! she thought angrily. They had been taking a late autumn stroll through Central Park when Khione had suddenly appeared. The two demigods had been blown apart, not expecting the attack, and Annabeth had yet to see him through the snowstorm. Knowing Percy as well as she did, he probably got blown into a tree and knocked himself out. She knew if she could get closer, she could take down the ice princess, but her ring only protected her against getting wet, not the frigid temperatures being tossed around.
"Do you know how much I lost because of your meddling?" Khione snarled. "My own father disowned me. Me! His only daughter! I lost my future throne, all of my statues, everything!"
"To be fair," Annabeth called back, "I would also probably disown my daughter if she were a psychopath."
She threw herself behind a tree as Khione screamed at her, ice shards shredding the ground behind her. "Insolent mortal! You should have stayed in the Pit!"
Oh boy, now you've made me mad. Annabeth grit her teeth in anger. She thought through all of her options. My sword won't do me any good if I can't get closer; same with my dagger. My ring doesn't protect against snow. Percy is MIA. I can't call anyone for help, not that they would get here in time anyways. Styx, I could use Magnus right about now. She continued her mental rant as she dodged around the park, which was slowly filling with snow. The mortals would probably freak, seeing how it was only October.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She switched out her sword for her dagger, focusing on what Sadie's wand had looked like before she had grabbed it. She hissed as the same numbing feeling washed over her, and the dagger transformed back into the wand. Annabeth wracked her brain for a useful hieroglyph, glad she had spent all of that time after the incident with the Kanes researching their pantheon and language. She remembered the word she was looking for and leapt out from behind cover.
"A'max!" she yelled, pointing her wand at the goddess. Khione gave her a confused look that quickly turned to terror as red hot flames burst out of the wand and raged towards her. Annabeth grinned savagely and drew her sword again, dual wielding her weapons as she charged the goddess.
They traded blows for a few moments, but eventually Annabeth tired out. She shouldn't have been surprised; Egyptian magic wasn't exactly a normal thing she did. Frankly, she was surprised she could work any magic at all, considering she needed Sadie's secret name last time, and that had worn from her memory.
As Annabeth tried to dodge a blast of snow, she slipped on ice that had crawled underneath her. The icy wind rocketed into her, and she went sprawling towards the edge of the clearing they had created. Her sword clattered away and her wand snapped against a tree, the two pieces flying off in opposite directions as they turned to ash.
"You see? You cannot hope to defeat me!" Khione crowed. She raised her hand towards Annabeth. "After I turn you into a statue, I am going to smash it to a thousand pieces and cast those back into the Pit!" A blizzard erupted from Khione's hand and rushed towards her. Annabeth knew she wouldn't be able to dodge.
Of course, that's when Percy finally decided to show back up. Right before the blizzard hit Annabeth, it dissolved into a warm, wet breeze. The snow melted in a circle up to five feet around the demigoddess, and she looked behind her to see Percy with his own hand extended towards the snow goddess.
"It's about time you showed up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth called. Khione looked angry beyond belief at having her attack stopped. Percy shrugged in embarrassment.
"Sorry. Took a blow to the head when we got blasted, and it took me a minute to fight off the vertigo." He glanced around the clearing. "What were you doing, throwing grenades?"
"No, I was using my wand as an actual wand for once. Fire spells are a lot more fun than I thought they'd be," Annabeth answered.
Percy's eyebrows creased in thought. "I thought you could only use magic because you had Sadie's secret name?"
"Apparently not anymore." Annabeth shrugged. "We'll figure it out later. You should probably take Elsa here out first. I think she's mad at being ignored." Percy looked back at the goddess, whom Annabeth noticed was frozen in rage. Shards of ice swirled around her in a barely controlled frenzy.
"I am so sick of being ignored!" she screamed. Khione pointed a finger dramatically at the couple. "Once I kill you two, Olympus will never dare to belittle me again!"
Annabeth rolled her eyes at the cliché posturing. "Send her to Tartarus, would you dear?"
"Of course, sweetheart," Percy replied.
Normal people talk like that about doing chores, Annabeth thought. Although, at this point taking out angsty immortals is basically a chore. She slowly sat up and caught her breath as Percy advanced on the goddess. Everything she threw at him split around him or fell to the ground. The air started to swirl around Percy as he started to create his own blizzard, picking up ice and snow as he made his way forward.
"How are you doing this?" Khione shrieked. "I am the master of snow, not you or anyone else. This is my domain!" She attempted to wrench control of the elements back from the demigod but nothing happened.
"True, this is your domain," Percy started, "but this is my birthright. I am the Storm Bringer, the Hero of heroes, the Destroyer. I defeated Ares at twelve years old, I held up the sky, I've taken down Titans and Giants, and I survived facing the Pit himself. Monsters avoid me for fear of my wrath, and the Olympians themselves are wary of the two of us together. You think you pose a challenge to me?"
Khione had grown successively more fearful as Percy's boast continued. The snow grew in a huge funnel around the three of them, thunder crackling amongst the hail. Sparks crawled around Percy's arms, the winds whipping his hair as snow, ice, and melted water froze in the air around him. The ground rumbled in the eye of the growing storm, spires of rock surrounding the edges as thick clouds rolled over the top. Even from behind, Annabeth thought her boyfriend in that moment was one of the most intimidating sights she'd seen outside of the Pit.
That, and incredibly attractive. Not that I'm about to admit that to him, she thought to herself.
The goddess' face looked strained as she tried vainly to stop her element from turning against her. Annabeth watched as realization finally dawned, the snow witch trying and failing to teleport away as Percy grounded her in her own element, refusing access to the outside world.
In a last, desperate attempt to escape, Khione lunged at Percy, her fingernails growing into icy talons. Annabeth grabbed her sword and rushed to Percy's side, the both of them stabbing forward at the same time. Khione looked down at the two swords in her torso in shock, golden ichor leaking around the blades and staining the snow beneath them. With one last cry she dissolved into golden dust, leaving behind an icy crown.
With a wave of his hand, Percy melted the blizzard, ice and snow turning into water and then into steam. The ground flattened out and stilled, and the clouds dissipated. Within a few seconds, the park was clear of precipitation and no evidence remained of their confrontation besides a few scorched trees. Annabeth debated picking up the spoils of their fight, but decided it wasn't worth it. Percy seemed to agree, and clenched a fist towards the tiara. With a crack, the crown shattered and melted, leaving no trace of the goddess.
As the two demigods left the park, Percy heaved a sigh. "As cool as all these powers are," he started, "I really don't understand why I have all of them."
"I don't know, Percy," Annabeth replied slowly. "I've been wondering, too, but I haven't figured anything out, yet."
"Well, I guess the Fates must have something in mind. I just hope they realize that I won't be pushed around anymore."
"Well, after your last few displays, I'm sure they're aware." Annabeth gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Let's not worry about that right now. Sally's probably worried about us." Percy nodded in agreement and the couple started back towards home, leaving their unanswered questions behind.
