Happy Birthday to our seaweed brain! I hope you guys enjoy.
Replies:
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: This is Percy, we love her but she does not think things through.
Chadbunger: Percy's in trouble! and thank you.
All of that rushed through Percy's mind in a single heartbeat- the next she was plastering herself against the wall, to avoid any of them brushing against her as they walked past.
He had two monsters with him as they walked- they looked like twins but definitely not human ones. They both stood about eight feet tall, wearing only blue jeans. Which made sense because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snout like, and their teeth were all pointed canines.
Percy gritted her teeth- she didn't have a clue who they were- presumably one of them was Agrius, and one of the twins let out a growl. "I'm not pushing you! I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off-"
"It'll pay off," Luke snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."
And oh but that didn't sound good. And gamble? Percy had a horrible feeling that he was talking about something connected to Thalia's tree- they all thought that the man must be behind it. Percy needed to know what they were talking about though, that much she was sure on, even if she wasn't totally sure of anything else.
So she didn't even hesitate, creeping along behind them.
She kept her distance- not because she was worried they'd see or smell her, but she wasn't sure how good the bear dudes hearing would be, so she needed to keep back to avoid being heard.
So she followed them, moving as quietly as she possibly could, walking past tourists- and a couple of kids not much older than her who didn't seem to be under whatever spell was effecting the mortals. Did that mean that they were demigods then? That thought was not a nice one. But if Kronos had brought Luke to his side then he could undoubtedly sway other demigods... and she didn't like where her mind was going- because her mind flashed back to the war against Apophis- how the serpent had used Menshikov, and then later Jacobi and Kwai- how they'd manipulated a lot of otherwise good people into fighting their war against the Kanes. And these guys were kids- and kids could be impressionable, more vulnerable to manipulation.
That made her feel sick to her stomach- it was one thing for kids to choose to fight for what was right but- well, when they were being manipulated by something like that? Yeah it was not a nice thought.
Percy pushed it away and forced herself to keep moving- she'd faltered when she'd realised that the other kids must be demigods.
She had to speed up slightly to try and catch up with Luke and the monsters- and her delay had cost her. She caught up just as two grand looking double oak doors swung shut with a click. Presumably the door locking. She pursed her lips, inching closer to the doors.
They were thick, she pressed her ear to the wood- but no, no too thick. She forced back a groan. That was annoying. Not the end of the world but still, annoying. She silently reached into the Duat, pulling out her wand and carefully carving symbols into the wood of the door. She whispered the spell and then pressed her ear against it- and there it was.
"You really think the old horseman is gone for good?" that was a new voice- probably the other bear man- the one who hadn't spoken when she'd first seen them. And horseman? That had to mean Chiron right? Annabeth had told Percy about the Centaur. Gods if he was dead she'd be devastated.
"They can't trust him" that was Luke again- and Percy forced back a sigh of relief. Not dead then. She wasn't going to have to go back to the boat and tell Annabeth that her main father figure was dead. "Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."
And at least that confirmed that Luke was responsible for it- though Percy felt a rush of anger for Annabeth's sake. As if Castellan hadn't already sunk low enough. Thalia had once been his friend as well as Annabeth's big sister. Percy would never understand how someone could destroy something that was all that was left of someone he once claimed to love.
She shook off those thoughts, forcing herself to focus on the conversation going on inside of the room.
"And what of your plan? The Camp has yet to call for a quest-"
"I am aware." Luke's voice was sharp, annoyed, "I thought someone would figure it out by now- but Chiron leaving seems to have left them without anyone with sense enough to figure it out. But that doesn't matter. If I have to give them a little hint then I will. We need that Fleece and I for one don't want to have to journey though the Sea of Monsters to get it. With everything I've given up- I am not failing again. We will get that Fleece and with it we'll revive Lord Kronos." and Percy sucked in a sharp shocked little gasp at that, pulling her head away from the door. Because holy shit but that would be very bad.
She knew the story of Kronos- he'd been chopped up- theoretically if they had enough pieces- and if the Fleeces healing magic was strong enough- Percy swallowed hard. Oh she did not like this at all.
She shook her head, forcing down the rush of worry as she pressed her ear against the door again- just in time for it to swing open- and she let out a pained cry as the hard wood smashed into her head and she toppled backwards, and the shock made her control on the spell waver, sparks flicking through the shroud of darkness- and for a moment her mind flashed back to Russia, back when she was nine years old, spying on Menshikov- and her vision was blurred- fuzzy.
And wow but she must have hit her head super hard because for a moment she thought she could see Menshikov- those scarred eyes- somehow sharp despite the ruined skin around them, a twisted look on his face. And she could hear his voice.
"I told you, Persephone Kane, that your fate with me would be better. You should have let yourself become his eye-"
"No-" Percy almost whispered the word, "No- Mensh- you died-" she blinked rapidly- and not good- she closed her left eye, wiping over it with the back of her hand- she was bleeding, the impact with the door must have split her head open- and when she managed to open her eyes properly again she was relieved to see that the cloud of darkness was still concealing her- though it didn't seem quite as thick and steady as it had. She needed to get moving and get out. Before the spell failed.
She pushed herself up onto her elbows, swallowing hard when she saw the the two bear men were stood in the doorway, the doors now wide open.
Luke was stood between them, all of them looking around.
"Are you sure you heard something?" Luke demanded- and one of the bear men, Percy couldn't remember the name right now, was nodding.
"I heard a gasp. There is someone here."
And the brother was sniffing the air, "I smell blood."
And wonderful, just wonderful. Percy was not happy-especially when Luke drew his sword- two metals, Percy could remember it from their earlier meeting even though he'd not had the chance to use it against her so far- and right now she'd rather avoid a fight.
Unfortunately the bear dudes were sniffing the air, and Percy very slowly started inching backwards as they noticed some blood on the edge of the door.
"Here-" One of the bears pointed at it, "Blood."
"Someone was listening in." Luke's expression darkened. "Where did they go?!" his voice was furious. And one of the bears sniffed again before suddenly pointing towards Percy, "I smell blood there!"
And Percy was on her feet a second later, sprinting through the hall- and the bears were behind her in an instant, rushing after her through the halls- but the bears had longer legs than her.
If Percy had been any slower she'd have had a real problem, but luckily the bear dude only just managed to swipe at her back, tearing through her top- slicing open her flesh- and she thrust her hand into the Duat, the invisibility spell sparking and flaring again even as she whirled, her back a white hot pain, and she sliced through the bear dudes arm, cutting it clean off with the khopesh she'd just retrieved.
The bear roared in pain and Percy was moving again, head down as she ran, gripping her blade as tightly as she could, heart pounding in her chest.
She had to get out of there- she glanced back over her shoulder, wincing when she saw that she was leaving a trail of blood, well that was just great.
And she really shouldn't have looked behind herself because she crashed straight into someone, stumbling backwards and hitting the ground hard.
She cried out in pain as she did, the spell failing as a dozen golden sparks shot up from her shroud with a loud happy shrieking noise and the cloud of darkness dissolved- and Percy found herself staring straight up at Luke, who was baring his teeth as he glared down at her, his sword gripped in his right hand as he lashed out and grabbed Percy by the neck of her shirt and hauled her to her feet.
"It seems we have an intru-" he paused, eyes narrowing- "Do I know you? I know you don't I?" and that made sense, her hair was completely hidden and her face had to be covered in blood from the door cracking her head open- and it really was painful. A hot throbbing pain- with a sharpness every few seconds like she was being stabbed through the skull.
In any case he'd never gotten that great a look at her face in the first place.
"How rude!" Percy let out a fake huff of offence, "I thought everyone knew me how could you not-" and the confusion that flicked across Luke's face was enough, his grip loosened and she brought up her knee between his legs, and he hunched over with a groan, letting go as she drove her elbow into his stomach and used the hilt of her blade, ramming it against the side of his head.
Then she was running again, feet pounding against the floors of the ship, and she ran for what felt like a lifetime but couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes before she was sprinting out onto the main deck, shoving people and monsters out of the way as she went, slicing through the monsters with her khopesh, though she was moving before the monster dust had even settled each time- and soon enough she was launching herself over the side of the boat- on the opposite side from the one where her little boat was waiting with Piper and Annabeth.
Then she hit the water and she almost sobbed with relief as she pushed herself beneath the surface, diving deeper and deeper, the warmth and strength flooding through her, pushing back the pain from her wounds.
She could feel her head getting clearer and she took a deep breath as she reached the bottom of the Princess Andromeda, taking a moment to calm herself before she swum under, pushing herself towards her boat, surfacing on the side of it not facing the Princess Andromeda and hauling herself onto the deck, and instantly, clearly responding to her wishes the boat started moving, speeding through the water away from the Princess Andromeda- and Percy had to hope that Luke thought that she was on the other side or he'd give chase.
And then Annabeth was there, leaning over Percy with wide terrified eyes, "Percy! Percy what happened there's blood- oh gods your shirt- Piper!" She was calling back into the cabin of the boat, "Piper Percy's back! She's hurt!"
