Hehehehe.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Ah, but is it so nice? We shall see :).
Percy's arms wound around Luke's shoulders and she forced back a pained whine as she craned her head to look towards Porphyrion- who had a sword sticking out of his back.
It looked more like a dagger in his skin of course- given how huge he was- and Percy was smart enough to know who was responsible for that. She wrapped her arms around Luke tighter.
At least it wasn't Episkopos. Percy would have felt rather sad if Luke lost that blade for her sake.
He was reaching back, gripping it and tugging the sword out to toss it to the side.
And the others had clearly decided to take advantage of that small moment of distraction because there was a deafening blast.
A white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason's body as he leaped, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.
Percy felt her mouth dropping open as the son of Jupiter fell on Porphyrion with such force that the giant crumpled to his knees – blasted with lightning and stabbed in the neck with a golden gladius.
And the others were moving too.
Frank unleashed a hail of arrows to drive back the giants closest to Percy and Luke.
Thalia rushed towards Annabeth- who had reached Rachel with the help of Piper and gotten her to her feet- the daughter of Zeus was surrounded by flickering lightning and Percy almost felt sorry for any giants that dared to come too close.
And Hazel was moving too, Arion rearing before speeding off, almost faster than the eye could see, raining attacks on giant legs before they had the chance to respond or fight back.
And then Luke landed and he was moving, still clutching Percy close and she realised that he was rushing her towards Nico and Will- and Will had his little bag open already, clearly they'd anticipated needing a medic- and Nico was on guard duty- it brought back memories- she remembered kids in school talking about video games- remembered one of them saying that the other kid always lost because he didn't protect his medic.
Clearly no one here would make that mistake.
And then, just as Percy thought it couldn't get any better the Argo II rose above the ruins and all the ballistae and catapults fired simultaneously. Leo must have programmed the weapons with surgical precision. A wall of Greek fire roared upward all around the Parthenon. It didn't touch the interior, but in a flash most of the smaller monsters around it were incinerated.
Leo's voice boomed over the loudspeaker: "SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY ONE SPANKING HOT WAR MACHINE!" and Percy felt a bubble of laughter slipping past her lips as she heard a groan in the background and;
"Seriously Leo?" and that had to be Ethan.
"Valdez!" that outraged howl came from Enceladus.
"Yo!" Leo's voice was far too amused, "Enchiladas! My main man-"
"Enchilada's?" and that was Grover, "There's enchiladas?"
"Long time no see- bet you miss being a crispy BBQ- and I gotta say I love the new headgear- real fashion statement-"
"Oh Leo." Percy laughed before it turned into a pained wheeze as she saw the giant pulling Piper's dagger out of his head.
"GAH! Monsters! Destroy that ship!"
The remaining forces tried their best. A flock of gryphons rose to attack. Festus the figurehead blew flames and chargrilled them out of the sky. A few Earthborn launched a volley of rocks, but from the sides of the hull a dozen Archimedes spheres sprayed out, intercepting the boulders and blasting them to dust.
Then Percy was being set down and Will was leaning over her, a determined look on his face as he shoved a square of ambrosia into her mouth before she could even do more than open her mouth to say anything. "Eat." his voice was sharp and his hands were moving, pressing over Percy's chest as he started to hum and they began to glow.
As he focused on healing her Luke and Nico took up their positions as guards, slicing down any monsters that tried to target the most badly injured of the seven and the healer responsible for helping her.
Within a few seconds the pain was easing away, a familiar warmth flowing through her and she let herself breathe- swallowing down the cube of ambrosia. And that didn't hurt anymore- surely a good sign.
"Will-"
"I know." Will's voice was tight. "I can't do a thorough job like I usually would but I can at least get you to fighting standard again-"
"Duck!" the call came from Nico- and Will did so- Percy couldn't really since she was led on the ground- and she noticed Will shielding her as he bent over her- and she saw a wall of darkness appear just for a second, heard a frustrated cry from some monster and then it disappeared in a flash.
And that was really smart of Nico. Holding the shields for too long would drain his powers which was the last thing they wanted or needed. Summoning it for brief bursts when they needed it would conserve his power-even if it did mean they were slightly less protected.
Then Will held out a hand and Percy accepted it, hauling herself to her feet with his help and looking around, her eyes wide.
She could see Kekrops and his snake people- clearly they'd chosen to join the fight after all. In four or five places around the ruins the ground had turned to green goo and armed gemini had burst forth, Kekrops himself in the lead.
But clearly Percy wasn't the only one who had noticed because Hazel was pointing her blade at the nearest tunnel. The ground rumbled. All the gooey membranes popped and the tunnels collapsed, billowing plumes of dust. Kekrops looked around at his army, now reduced to six guys.
That made him have a change of heart- shocking how that worked Percy thought, rolling her eyes as she automatically slipped her hand into her pocket even as Frank cut them down with his arrows.
She felt a smile twitching her lips as her fingers curled around the familiar shape of her pen and she pulled it out, twirling it between her fingers before moving automatically- Luke was fending off a Laistrygonian giant and an Emopousi had slithered up from his blind spot.
Percy didn't even falter, sprinting forward and dropping so that she could slide and skid under Luke's arm as he thrust his sword forward and up into the giant's shoulder.
She saw his wide eyed startled look and gave a little wink and a wave even as she ducked her head and turned it into a forward roll, slicing upwards as she moved to her feet in a fluid motion- there was still the pain in her chest- tight and very unpleasant but not so bad that she couldn't fight. And she watched as the newly halved monster crumbled to dust before pivoting, leg flying out to catch a Cyclops in the stomach as it tried to sneak up on her, sending it staggering backwards as she tried to take just a moment to take it all in- to see where she'd be most needed.
She spotted the giantess- she'd thawed and was trying to target Annabeth and Rachel- and failing, much to Percy's amusement.
Between the two of them they were leading her in circles, Annabeth using the giants own hunting knife and Rachel using her somehow inexhaustible supply of the daggers that Clarisse had given her what felt like a lifetime ago.
The giantess was starting to look like of like a giant pincushion. And she was getting very, very annoyed.
Her gaze shifted and settled on Thoon and her eyes narrowed. The old giant had somehow reattached his hand and found his meat cleaver again.
She pursed her lips.
Percy did try not to hold grudges, really she did. But trying to chop a girls head off could put anyone in a bad mood as far as she was concerned.
So she had her target- that was always fun- and it quickly became apparent that she was much, much faster than him, even aching and tired as she was.
Sure his big meat cleaver could do a lot of damage if it hit her- but Percy refused to let it hit her.
She ducked and darted and wove around him, leaving dozens of small cuts, small but deep- she was good at what she did. And she found she was almost enjoying it- that feeling of satisfaction, of knowing she was one of the best at what she did.
she pushed away that thought- as pleasant as it was it wasn't actually productive.
And slowly- or quickly Percy could never tell in the heat of battle, she noticed something.
What had started incredibly well for them was going down hill fast- they were losing ground- all of them were starting to wane, struggling against the giants.
Annabeth and Rachel were losing ground, Hazel got knocked out of her saddle.
Jason summoned another lightning strike but this time Porphyrion simply deflected it off the tip of his spear and he smashed Jason aside.
If Thalia hadn't moved so quickly and caught him midair he'd have probably been in a great deal of trouble- not that they all weren't in trouble.
The giants were bigger, stronger and there were more of them. And the giants weren't tiring like the demigods were already starting too.
This wasn't like the Battle of Manhattan Percy knew that painfully well.
They hadn't needed to deal with many Titans- and the Titans hadn't been unkillable.
Percy had exhausted herself fighting just one- though she'd had to keep fighting.
This was different. This was undoubtedly worse.
Well, in most ways anyway. Nothing could ever be as bad as fighting Kronos had been- she'd stand by that statement forever.
Then it happened.
Another volley of Earthborn rocks hit the Argo II. This time Leo couldn't return fire fast enough. Rows of oars were sheared off. The ship shuddered and tilted in the sky.
Then Enceladus threw his fiery spear. It pierced the ship's hull and exploded inside, sending spouts of fire through the oar openings. An ominous black cloud billowed from the deck. The Argo II began to sink.
Percy felt panic ripping through her.
She could hear the others yelling- hear Jason calling Leo's name- but it all sounded distant over the roaring in her ears.
And she was moving, screaming as she turned her back on Thoon, surging towards Enceladus, the ground beneath her very feet shaking as the fury built in her chest.
She'd kill him. Gods or not she'd kill him she'd find a way she'd tear him limb from limb she'd rend him-"
"NO!" the scream came from Annabeth Percy was pretty sure and she could hear Rachel too.
"Percy!"
And then something was smashing into her- someone Percy realised, knocking her to the side- and as they did something else hit- piercing through her shoulder- if she hadn't been knocked off course it would have pierced straight through her chest, killing her instantly- and whoever had knocked her over had been caught by it too. She could feel the weight as they hit the ground- and she screamed in pain at the impact and the white hot pain of the fresh wound.
She whimpered slightly as she turned her head slowly- and her eyes widened when she saw Luke's face, his eyes wide and horrified above her- it looked like it had caught his shoulder too- that was good. Percy's thoughts felt slow, sluggish. Non fatal.
So why was he mouthing sorry?
Then she felt the realisation slowly dawning on her and she shifted her head slowly some more, looking at the ground beneath them even as Nico was suddenly over them ripping the sword out.
Percy could feel her blood already soaking into the ground.
And on it's own that might have been bad but it wouldn't have been world ending.
But even as Nico yanked the blade out a drop of blood dripped off the end of it, hitting the ground next to the puddle.
Percy's blood maybe- but mixed with Lukes.
And Percy felt as if she'd been dunked into a vat of ice.
After all. No one said that the demigods who's blood were spilled both had to be members of the seven.
