A/N Hello! I'm sorry for the long wait; I'm not the greatest at balancing all of my projects. I'm hoping to update all of my stories this week for sure once, probably twice, hopefully more. I'm excited for the next few chapters in this story - the plot is going to start picking up more! As always, thanks to those of you who reviewed/PM'd since the last update - it means a lot to know you guys like what you're reading and that you care enough to critique and remind me to actually post.
Characters from the books belong to Rick Riordan.
14 - Percy
Percy wiped the sweat off his brow as he looked between the nearest approaching monsters, trying to decide which was the biggest threat. After what felt like minutes but was really seconds, he shrugged and slashed his sword in front of him. A couple dozen ice shards formed in front of him, all the size of his forearm and sharp as knives, and sprayed towards the front line of the monster army, slicing the nearest monsters to ribbons and leaving frost burns on those not immediately destroyed. He nodded his head and retreated a dozen or so yards as the monsters regrouped, looking ahead to see how far Annabeth and the demigod they were rescuing had gotten. He cursed at how close they were before running to catch up.
"Why are there so many monsters after this kid?" He asked as he drew near. Annabeth glanced at him, then shifted her gaze around to examine the army behind them.
"Catch your breath, Richie," she said calmly. The young demigod they were escorting back to Camp Half-Blood leaned down to brace his hands on his knees. As the fourteen year old son of Hephaestus caught his breath, Percy joined Annabeth in scanning the army.
The horde following them was disorganized, but massive. Dozens of dracaena made up the front lines, followed by cyclopes and a handful of empousai. Hellhounds milled about the group, sometimes rushing ahead towards the demigods, sometimes falling behind, distracted by the strange scents other monsters gave off. Percy made a quick head count, and assuming there weren't any multiheaded monsters this time, figured there were easily around two hundred monsters on their tail. The beasts made a sparse column a kilometer long and a quarter as wide.
"Why do you think there's so many after this one demigod?" Annabeth wondered. Percy blinked.
"I had assumed they were mostly because of us, but you're right, they did almost beat us to the kid," he replied. Percy turned to preteen. "What did your mom tell you about your dad?"
"Not a whole lot," Richard replied. He stood up straight, wincing and rubbing his left thigh as he did. "He couldn't stay, he was super crafty, not very good with people but she thought that it made him cute." The demigod made a face. "I can't say I disbelieve he was a god after seeing what's chasing us, but still… Seems like someone with that much power would be able to stick around a bit longer."
Percy snorted. "Welcome to the mythological world. Our parents at best wish us a happy birthday once before we die. Usually not."
"Focus, Percy," Annabeth chided, ignoring the slight rumble of thunder. Her gaze never left the monsters slowly catching up. "Anything else, Richie?" He frowned, thinking.
"She mentioned once how she met dad through his brother… She didn't talk about my uncle much. I guess he and dad didn't get along? I'm not sure, sorry."
Percy turned and met Annabeth's gaze before closing his eyes tiredly and groaning. "Please tell me you thought of some other son of Hera that dislikes machinery?"
"No, sorry," Annabeth replied. "That does explain why these monsters are so unorganized, though. They don't have much of a commander." Thunder rumbled at her statement, making her smirk.
"But why would Ares focus so much on this specific rival kid?" Percy wondered. "Ares may be dumb, but he's usually got a reason behind what he's doing."
Annabeth thought hard for a moment. Percy waved a lazy hand towards the monsters as she did, throwing a gust of wind that blew the leading line back some yards. Richard looked warily at the approaching horde, obviously nervous but trusting the two veteran demigods to get him to safety.
"Maybe…" Annabeth said slowly, "your mom met Ares first. They flirted for a bit, but something turned your mom off to the war god. Hephaestus, seeing a chance to tick off his brother, swoops in and steals the girl, and now Ares wants revenge." Percy rolls his eyes while Richard looks horrified.
"You're telling me I only exist as payback?" he asked, voice strained. Percy looked back at him sympathetically.
"If it makes you feel any better, the first time I met my dad he said that he wished he hadn't been born."
"What he means to say," Annabeth cuts in with a glare to her husband, "is that there's plenty of us who've gone through similar unpleasant realizations. Your mom obviously still loves you for you, and your siblings and the rest of camp will take you in no problem. We're all family."
"Literally," Percy comments. "Kinda hurts to think about sometimes, but-" He grunts as Annabeth digs an elbow into his gut.
"Less talking, more delaying monsters," she gripes. "We've got to get back to moving. We're too close to mortal civilization to risk any earthquakes, but you might try slowing them down with some snow."
Percy grinned at her and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on; I'm right behind you."
Annabeth and Richard started running again, and Percy turned back towards the monsters, hefting his sword higher. As the nearest clump of monsters reached him, he felt himself slip into autopilot, slashing and spinning and generally causing chaos. He parried the sword of a dracaena, redirecting the blade to slash into another monster before spinning into the monster's guard and cutting it in half. He rolled into a summersault from there to avoid a cyclops' club, leaping over a charging hellhound and blasting the empousa behind it with lightning. Snow and hailstones stared to while around him, deflecting a couple of stray arrows and denting the armor of any monster that drew too close. The temperature dropped around him, leather armor creaking and the breath of a dozen monsters condensing into clouds of steam and fumes.
With one final flourish, he finished off the last cyclops and was turning to look back at the oncoming army when his instincts screamed at him. He threw himself backwards, barely avoiding the massive sword that swung through the space his neck was just in. Percy continued back, rolling into a back handspring and landing on the balls of his feet about ten yards back from where he started, sword at the ready in front of him and eyes on his new opponent.
"I gotta hand it to you, punk," Ares drawled, "you always make for an interesting fight. Annoying, but interesting."
"Finally gave up on trusting the monsters to do your dirty work?" Percy snapped. He hoped Annabeth was paying enough attention to notice the god. He knew he was good, but he wasn't good enough to delay a god and an army of monsters by himself. Well, not yet, at least.
"Look, the kid has to die," Ares said.
Percy felt a wave of anger roll over him that had nothing to do with the war god's aura. "What, you didn't get laid so you have to kill someone to feel better? Seriously? I know you gods are selfish, but that takes it to a whole new level." Thunder rumbled and Ares glared at him.
"As much as I hate dear old brother, you're right. Normally, I wouldn't go to this much effort for revenge. This is beyond that. I'm merely following Olympus' will."
"Oh, cause that's so much better," Percy bit out. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders before lifting Riptide up to point at the god. "You going to explain what's actually going on, or are we just going to start the rematch?"
Ares laughed, a grating sound that conveyed more ill-intent than humor. "I think I might actually miss our banter in a century or two." The god shifted his grip on his sword and sprung towards Percy, much faster than any mortal would be able to see. Percy shifted to the right, just enough for the blade to miss as he stabbed forward, piercing the god lightly in the arm before skipping back out of range.
"That makes three immortals in the last few months who have attacked first. What happened to those precious divine laws that you always hide behind?" Ares growled and attacked again, and Percy was forced into silence as he concentrated on the fight. The demigod's focus narrowed to the fight. Swing, parry, dodge, stab, repeat. His body almost on autopilot, senses straining for the merest edge up on his opponent. Ares was fighting harder than he had the last two times, and Percy was tired from the constant fighting and running he had already done.
He held off the god for a half hour before something went wrong. As he parried a blow from Ares, pushing the god's blade to the side, the god suddenly stepped back, retreating out of range. Percy looked at him in bewilderment. Ares just smirked.
"Looks like you lose," he mocked, pointing ahead. Percy turned to see what Ares meant and paled. Annabeth had fallen behind to delay the monsters that made it around Percy, leaving Richard to run ahead on his own. Annabeth was holding up fine, but at the moment there were more monsters than she could fight at once. Percy watched in horror as a dracaena archer maneuvered around Annabeth and let loose an arrow. It sunk deep into Richard's side, the demigod screaming then coughing up blood as he collapsed.
Percy whirled around, furious, and Ares actually backed up a step. He clenched a fist and dozens of spears of ice materialized around him. He swung forward, but as the ice flew towards the god, Ares flashed away. Percy roared in anger. The temperature dropped below freezing in an instant, frost racing across the field in all directions. Annabeth glanced at him, looked back to Richard and swore, decapitating the empousa in front of her and racing towards the younger demigod's side.
As the remaining monsters turned to Percy, he lashed out. Frozen projectiles shot out towards the army, monsters trying and failing to avoid the onslaught. Within a few moments, the battlefield was covered in slush and golden dust. The temperature slowly returned to normal as Percy raced towards his wife and the fallen boy they were trying to escort.
Annabeth looked up when he approached and sadly shook her head. "The arrow punctured a lung. I can't pull it out or he'll choke on his own blood, but he can't breathe with it in, either. Ambrosia and nectar aren't going to work fast enough on their own, and we don't have a healer close enough to help." She blinked fiercely and turned away, trying to hold back her tears.
Percy thought furiously on any possible way to save Richard. "Could any amount of ice help slow stuff down?"
"Not without giving him frostbite, which would be worse." Annabeth held Richard's hand tightly as the kid fought to breath. "We're so sorry," she whispered.
"No." Percy started quiet, then got louder the more agitated he got. "No, no, no! I refuse to let this happen! Think, think, think!" He paced back and force for a minute before freezing. "I have an idea that might work."
Annabeth looked at him questioningly, but he just knelt by Richard's head for a moment. "Hey, kiddo, hang in there just a little longer. We promised we'd get you back, and we will." Richard groaned and tightened his grip on Annabeth's hand, not quite coherent through the pain.
Percy stood back up, pulling a drachma out and creating a veil of mist in front of him. "Fleecy, do me a solid. I need to talk to Nico." The mist shimmered for a moment before resolving into an image of Nico laughing at something Will was saying next to him. It looked like the two were in the infirmary at camp. Nico looked up and grinned at his cousin.
"Hey Percy, what's up?" The son of Hades frowned as he noticed the state Percy was in. "You don't look too good."
"Hi, long story, I need your help like now," Percy rushed out. "You need to shadow travel with Will out to us; we've got a new demigod bleeding out due to an arrow through his lung and we've no chance of healing him without your help."
Nico blanched and Will leaned forward seriously. "We'll grab my stuff, but I can't promise we'll be able to save them, Perce."
Percy shook his head violently. "We can, just get out here quick." He swiped his hand through the message before they could argue with him and knelt at the son of Hephaestus' side.
"What are you planning, Percy?" Annabeth asked gently.
"Something probably super dangerous," he admitted. "Here's hoping no one's watching." He placed one hand over Richard's chest where his heart was pumping weakly, and another just below the arrow head sticking out of his ribs. He screwed his eyes shut and reached deep inside himself, searching for the liquids inside himself. The tug in his gut turned painful, and he felt the same feeling of something shattering deep within him, but he kept on pushing. With one final spasm, he felt the walls crash down, his mind flooded with information. He could feel the sap flowing sluggishly through the plants in the field around him, the water vapor in the air, the rolling acid in his stomach.
The blood leaking slowly from the boy in front of him.
He focused, willing the blood to circulate normally around the wound. He heard Annabeth's gasp of surprise as the blood raced back into Richard's body. It trickled around the arrow and through the gap the wound created, finding the arteries and veins it should be flowing through seemingly effortlessly. Percy began to sweat with the strain of this new control, silently pleading for Nico and Will to show up soon.
Percy heard the whoosh of shadow travel and the intake of breath from his friends, his attention wavering just for a second. Blood started to leak from the wound again. He cursed in his mind and tunneled his focus on this one task, literally willing his charge to stay alive. He screwed his eyes shut against the sweat dripping down his face. As he sensed Will reaching to remove the arrow, he shifted the boy's insides around, making sure the shaft and fletching couldn't damage anything else on its way out.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the wound began to close, and Percy let more and more of the blood flow naturally until finally it was done. With a last bit of nectar poured over the wound (which with his new awareness glowed with barely restrained energy), it closed up, and Percy released his control completely with a gasp. The weariness and aching he had been ignoring crashed into him, and he groaned, falling heavily onto his rear before lying down completely. His ears rang, and he didn't bother to try opening his eyes against the dizziness that swept through him.
Will (at least, he assumed it was Will) pressed a square of ambrosia against his lips. He shakily opened his mouth to swallow the godly food. The worst of the nausea and aching melted away, though he still felt like his insides went through a blender. He cracked his eyes open as a hand ran through his hair to see Annabeth kneeling next to him. He tried to smile to ease the worry he could see on her face but it came out as a grimace.
"You're too heroic for your own good, you know," she said shakily.
"What can I say," he replied. "I'm a sucker for underdogs."
Annabeth scoffed, but grinned at him. "You're a dork."
"Yeah, but you picked me and so now you're stuck with me." He sighed dramatically. "I know, it's unfair, but I suppose you'll just have to manage." He grinned as she chuckled at his antics.
With a groan, he sat up. His head swam for a moment and he pressed his hand against his forehead until it settled. Will looked at him in concern through his own fatigue. Nico looked a mix between concern and awe. Percy glanced to the side, where Richard lay unconscious but whole. The blood soaked arrow lay next to him in the grass.
"So, Percy," Nico started, "since when can you blood-bend?" He glanced around for a bit. "Actually, since when can you do anything other than water?"
"What, you don't think the scorch marks are me?" Annabeth said with false insult. Nico made a face at her and turned back to Percy expectantly.
He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "What's the worst thing you've ever done with your powers, Nico?" Will immediately looked angry, but Nico waved him down before he could say anything. His gaze never left the son of Poseidon as he thought carefully.
"I turned a traitor into a ghost and wiped his name from existence," he eventually answered, "and I feel more guilt about the fact that I should feel guilty for that brutality than I do for the act itself." Annabeth and Will looked at him warily, but Percy knew it was more out of concern for him than of him.
"I almost drowned the goddess of misery in her own poison and tears," Percy admitted. "I wanted her to feel as miserable as she made everyone else." Nico blinked in surprise. Will snapped his gaze over to Annabeth to confirm Percy's words, then looked back to the son of Poseidon.
"Tartarus makes you stronger, but it also twists you," Nico agreed with Percy's unspoken sentiment. "You got better, but you didn't want the extra powers, did you?"
"Gods no." Percy shuddered. "I thought what I had before was plenty terrifying. But now? I can control water with tremendous accuracy, I can vaporize monsters with currents of electricity on par with Thunderpants' lightning, winds and storms the likes of which send mortals running in terror. Poison control, and that's at best tenuously connected to my powers. Ice storms stronger than anything Khione could summon." He took a shaky breath. "Now this? All the fluids in every living thing, I could rip out with a snap of my fingers. I could become a master puppeteer and control all of your actions. Monster giving you a hard time? Just boil its blood!"
"But would you?" Nico interrupted.
"Of course not!" Percy denied.
"Then you need to not worry so much," Nico said calmly. "You can do amazing things, yes, but your first instinct is always to use them for good."
"You literally developed the blood bending just to help Richard," Annabeth cut in.
"Yeah, exactly – wait, what?" Nico looked at Annabeth in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"A lot of those powers he's developed were conscious decisions in the moment," Annabeth explained. "So – and correct me if I'm wrong, hun – he looked at his situation, tried to figure out some way to possibly save it, latched onto the fact that the biggest problem was Richard bleeding and decided to stop it."
Will looked at Percy in astonishment. "That's incredible."
Percy just shrugged, embarrassed. "The point still stands, the gods have been wary for a while. This? This might just push them over the edge."
"How long did it take them to notice the other stuff?" Will asked.
Percy thought for a moment, then rubbed the back of his head. "Well, actually, now that I say it, I don't think they knew about it until I used a bunch of my powers to restrain my mother-in-law at our wedding." He turned to Annabeth and made a face. "Ex-mother-in-law?"
"Cousin, technically?" Nico butted in. Percy made a face and Annabeth shuddered as Will laughed.
"The point is, as long as we're not talking about it in a place we know they'll hear, I think you'll be safe." Will grinned tiredly. "I might ask for your help occasionally in the med tent from here on out, but you can trust me not to tell anyone."
"Same here," Nico agreed. Percy breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks guys." He stood up and stretched, groaning at the ache in his muscles. "Now, let's get home. You got enough juice to bring us all, Nico? I doubt we should be walking that far with junior here after that whole incident."
The son of Hades thought for a moment before looking at Will. "If we try that balancing thing it should be fine."
"Alright. I trust you," Will responded.
Nico blushed at Will's statement and grabbed his hand. "You know the drill. Hold on tight or you'll be lost in the shadow realm and your soul will be lost forever blah blah blah." Percy snorted at the description. He made sure he had a good hold on Richard before joining hands with Annabeth. Nico and Will put their extra hands on the older couple's shoulders. "Ready?" Nico asked.
"Go for it," Percy answered. With a rush of air, shadows coalesced around the group and they vanished from the clearing.