Okay, so Percy is epically badass in this chapter- but also, she is still just a nine year old so I mean, she's not invincible.
Replies:
Guest: Yeah, Desjardins definitely has a lot of suspicions, but he doesn't actually know anything. As for the goddess- Percy isn't letting herself consider it- but she won't have much of a choice soon. And thank you!
Undeath9087: I did consider making it longer but I knew I needed Percy to re-join them by a certain point and it was how it best worked.
Ryan Fowler: Percy is a little shit and we all know it. She kicks major ass and she take no bullshit- or she won't take bullshit as she gets older- she is still young so she's not quite as badass as she will be yet.
There was a moment of stunned silence and then Carter and Sadie were both moving, Carter practically flew into the water, smashing into Percy- knocking them both over- and laughter bubbled past her lips as they dipped beneath the surface of the water- and when she managed to straighten up, Carters arms were wrapped around her tightly.
"Percy. Percy. Gods I- I thought-" and then they were knocked under the water again, this time by Sadie, who shoved Carter away from Percy, so that she could punch the younger girls arm- which made her drop her Khopesh.
"You scared us!"
"Hey- hey guys it's okay I'm-"
"You idiot!" And Percy yelped in pain when Sadie grabbed her hair and yanked hard, glaring fiercely at Percy, "You little- where were you?"
"I-" Percy paused- because she couldn't get angry at Sadie- not when she could see that look in the other girls eyes. Sadie wasn't being mean- not exactly. She'd been scared- which was a real weird realisation because Percy hadn't thought Sadie really cared- even if she had started warming up to her. But no one would be that angry about
it if they didn't care. "You guys-"
"Out of the water you three." Bast's voice was firm, and Sadie and Carter each pulled back and latched onto one of Percy's arms, dragging her towards the bank of the river, "Come on, now. We can trade stories now. Your timing was perfect Percy but those crocodiles are a bad sign, they could mean-" she trailed off, a look of dawning horror on her face, and Percy turned her head to look back over her shoulder, swallowing hard.
The water almost looked like it was boiling- and she didn't even think, focusing on her powers and pushing the three of them out of the water, sending them flying onto the banks of the river, skidding several feet- and Percy was rolling and turning even as she hit the ground, surging to her feet as Carter and Sadie started to turn to look and see what was happening.
Her mouth dropped open when she focused on the figure rising out of the water.
It was sort of man shaped- sort of, the guy was twenty feet tall. He was all flesh and blood. His chest and arms were human, but he had light green skin, and his waist was wrapped in a green armored kilt like reptile hide. He had the head of a crocodile, a massive mouth filled with white crooked teeth, and eyes that glistened with green mucus.
His black hair hung in plaits down to his shoulders, and bull's horns curved from his head. If that wasn't weird enough, he appeared to be sweating at an unbelievable rate—oily water poured off him in torrents and pooled in the river.
Percy thrust her hand into the duat, pulling her wand out of it and dropping, scraping a curved line into the sand even as Bast screamed; "MOVE!"
The- whatever he was- smashed into the hastily summoned shield- and it held- somehow it held, though Percy could feel the strain of it at the heavy blow as the thing bellowed, "HORUS! Do you hide behind children now?"
And Percy's eyes narrowed as she glanced back towards Carter and Sadie, her mind racing- "Stay behind us-"
"Percy-"
"Carter Kane stay the fuck behind me-"
"Percy that's Sobek-" Carter looked incredulous, "You can't-"
"Watch me!" and Percy was launching herself forward, focusing on the water- on her khopesh which had landed on the river bed- and a moment later it was flying through the air and she caught it as she bent her legs before pushing upwards, almost flying into the air, flipping gracefully over Sobek's head and bringing her Khopesh down on the
crocodile gods shoulder, pushing down with all of her weight and the force from her fall.
Sobek let out a roar of pain and fury swinging around, dislodging the blade from his shoulder, his other arm flying out to smash Percy away- and she flew backwards, smashing into the water and going under with enough force that it would probably have severely stunned anyone else.
But the water was just Percy's element and she twisted, using the water to push herself back towards Sobek from beneath the water, and she slashed at the back of his scaly legs and the god stumbled forward, whipping around- and Percy yelped when Sobek caught her arm and hauled her up out of the water, a furious look on his face.
"How did-" he froze, staring at Percy before growling. "A demigod. That explains it. One of Poseidon's spawn." at which point Percy snarled and yanked down hard, ripping her hand free from his grip and hitting the water hard- though she didn't go under.
"Leave." she growled the word, "Leave now before I destroy you myself-"
"You have strength." Sobek's voice was almost- was there respect there? "But I will be the one doing the destroying."
"She's right!" That came from Carter, who was stood a distance away from the bank, standing protectively in front of Sadie, with Khufu by his side, "Leave now! Leave my sister alone and leave or we'll destroy you."
"Hah!" The god actually laughed at that- which in Percy's opinion was very rude. "Your sense of humor has improved Horus. Perhaps the little Greekling might put up a challenge, but you and your kitty will destroy me?" he turned his gaze to Bast- who had drawn her knives and was clearly ready to leap into action "What brings you to my real, cat goddess? I though you didn't like the water!"
On the last word, he aimed his staff and shot forth a torrent of green water. Bast was too quick. She jumped and came down behind Sobek with her avatar fully formed—a massive, glowing cat-headed warrior. "Traitor!" Bast yelled. "Why do you side with chaos? Your duty is to the king!"
"What king?" Sobek roared. "Ra? Ra is gone. Osiris is dead again, the weakling! And this boy child cannot restore the empire. There was a time I supported Horus, yes. But he has no strength in this form. He has no followers. Set offers power. Set offers fresh meat. I think I will start with godling flesh!"
He swung his staff towards Carter but Percy focused, water surging upwards in front of it, blocking the gods blow- which made his gaze snap to her again. "Fine. If you wish to battle I will battle you first and kill the godling after!"
"Godling this godling that-" Percy ducked when he swung his staff at her, and she focused, "HA-WI!" and the god stumbled backwards at the force of the spell. "Yeah Carter and Sadie are special but what about me? I'm no godling and I'm still kicking your stinking ass you giant loser." and in the distance she could hear the noise of a car- faint but it was heading towards them from downriver- it had to be her mom. All she had to do was buy them a little bit more time.
"Go kitten!" Bast let out a laugh, moving back so that Percy could have more space.
"Why you little-"
"Hu-Ai!" and Sobek fell backwards onto his ass- which made Bast laugh loudly as Percy darted forward, slashing her khopesh across his chest.
And honestly Percy was pretty proud that the spell had worked as well as it had on him- Sobek was definitely one of the more powerful gods and she'd actually knocked him down- though he started to raise a moment after Percy had sliced up his chest- and he was looking more pissed off than ever with his green blood dripping from the wounds she'd caused.
But Percy didn't let him rise, water shot out around him, wrapping around him, forcing his arms to his chest, and Percy moved, ducking under his arm, snatching his staff from his grip.
"You dare try to control my element?!"
"It's not just yours snot for blood." Percy shot back, "I'm the daughter of Poseidon you dumbass." But Sobek was a water god- and- she'd never struggled with controlling the water before. Not like this. Sobek was fighting her for control of his domain- and Percy could feel the strain- sweat was pouring down her face from the sheer effort.
And she knew that as strong as she was she wasn't going to win this battle of wills. Not if she didn't end things quickly.
She gritted her teeth, the bands of water tightening around Sobek's torso, and Percy launched herself at him again, ignoring the exhaustion that was draining her.
And in a surprisingly smooth motion, given the fact that Percy's vision was beginning to tinge black from the effort of holding Sobek back, and she used every bit of strength that she had left, she cleaved through the gods throat- green blood gushed out- and gods but that had to be enough that had to be enough to kill him- and she was falling back into the water- and even the water couldn't wash away this exhaustion.
Then it happened- Sobek took a step forward as the watery bonds dropped- Percy couldn't hold them anymore- and she watched as he staggered before she glanced back over her shoulder, giving a weak smile when she saw Carter and Sadie gaping at her- and she could see the car now- not that either of the other Kane's seemed to have noticed- they were focused purely on the fight.
And then she saw their expressions shift into ones of horror- and Percy turned her head to see Sobek swinging his arm towards her- and she knew- she knew that as weak as she was there was no way she'd be able to dodge, no way she'd get away- and even as weakened as he was- even if it was a dying blow there was no way she'd survive it with the force that he was swinging.
And the next thing Percy knew she was being pushed under the water- she saw a flash of leopard print, and Percy screamed as Bast took the blow for her.
The next thing Percy knew the world was turning green and there was a burst of energy, an explosion, and Percy managed to grab for Bast- even as her figure seemed to shrink down- and her arms wrapped around tiny ball of fur as they flew through the air from the force of the explosion- and when she hit the ground everything around her turned black.
...
Sadie screamed- she screamed and screamed, ripping her arm free from Carter- she barely even noticed the car that skidded to a halt behind her and Carter- she could hardly hear it anyway over the sound of the explosion- her ears were ringing from it- and she dropped to her knees when she reached Percy- the girl had hit the ground hard, she was on her side, body curled around a tiny ball of fur in her arms.
"Percy- Percy- Bast oh gods-" Sadie let out a choked sob as she rolled Percy over gently so that she was on her back- and the younger girl was so limp, her face was so pale that it scared Sadie.
"Percy!" Carter had tears pouring down his cheeks too as he skidded to a halt next to them.
"PERCY!" The scream was a voice Sadie didn't really recognise, and she glanced over her shoulder- and- it had been years but she recognised the woman's face at least- Sally.
"She's not moving!" Carter's voice was a broken sob, "She's not moving mom!"
And then Sally was there, gently grabbing Carter's shoulders and pulling him away so that she could get to Percy better, and she chanted softly under her breath, resting her hand on Percy's too pale cheek.
After several long moments she pulled back slightly, her face pale. "She's hurt but she'll recover." Sally's voice was shaky- and it was strange. Sadie had never seen her as a real person before- just- just a horrible woman stealing away her dad. Seeing Sally now, seeing that look on her face- Sadie couldn't hate her like she wanted to. "We need to get to the car- we need to move." and Sally shifted, carefully pulling the ball of fur from Percy's hands, handing it to Sadie with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry."
And Sadie looked down slowly- the cat was alive- she could feel the movements of her chest as she breathed, but as she watched she saw the little collar around her neck, the talisman of Bast that had always been there, crumble away into dust.
And Sadie let out a soft sob as Carter rushed to her side to stop her from falling to her knees.
Muffin was alive.
But Muffin wasn't Bast.