So, uh, Percy is a badass bitch who is literally a one woman army now that she has the Curse of Achilles, but she is also still our dumbass Percy who loves her friends and family. And Kronos honestly is just like 'Ah yes, I seem to have chosen my future Queen well' which Percy does not like. I hope you enjoy the changes I've made in this chapter, poor Beckendorf, Luke, and Percy honestly, it's not a good day for them all. Please review!
Percy fought, she fought with all the fury burning in her heart, she fought with every fibre of her being as she and Kronos almost danced, whirling and clashing once more, leaping over injured monsters and demigods- and she could see out of the corner of her eye, see Luke and Beckendorf desperately fighting monsters and demigods, they were back to back, blades clashing against swords and claws, howls of fury and yells from demigods filling the air around them.
But she couldn't focus on them- she had to believe that they could handle themselves- though she didn't feel very sure of how they were going to get out of this, without her they wouldn't be able to get away in the water, she needed to get to them if she could, she had to try.
She wasn't sure how long the fight went on before she heard the scream of pain and she heard Luke screaming in a way that made Percy's heart almost stop, "Beckendorf!"
She whirled around, her eyes wide as she heard it, and she saw Beckendorf stumbling backwards, clutching at his right arm- and gods but it was mangled- one of the monsters had slashed it all open from shoulder to wrist, and even from a distance she could see that the wound was smoking- it had to be some kind of venom from a monsters claws though she didn't know what monster it was, and he crashed into Luke, and Luke caught him with one arm, waving his sword wildly to keep any other monsters away as Beckendorf passed out from the pain, he couldn't fight now. Not while holding up their friend like that. No, no he didn't stand a chance anymore.
Percy felt dread pooling in the pit of her stomach as she met Luke's gaze, his blue eyes shining with terror, visible even across the distance, he looked battered, cuts on his face and littering his arms- then his eyes widened with horror and he screamed again, his tone a warning.
"SEPHIE!" and something hit her from behind across her shoulders- it should, by all rights have sliced her back open, it tore through her armor like it was little more than paper, it should have probably sliced through the muscles and bones- instead it sent her flying forward and she could hear Luke's terrified screams, they didn't stop, even when he had to breath or just pass out the pause was barely noticeable. And it was a scream of pure agony, of grief and rage.
She landed face down several feet away, and she heard Kronos' laughter. "How disappointing- such a shame, I was looking forward to the wedding-" and he hadn't realized yet- and she realized that had happened. None of them had. They thought that she'd been struck down.
And gods but if the blade had actually cut her she'd be dead. He'd sliced across her back with the Scythe- the blade that could sever a soul from the body.
And Luke was still screaming- she must be covered with blood from monsters and other demigods- there was no other reason that Kronos and Luke thought that the blow had done it's job.
She felt a sliver of grim determination as she pushed herself upwards, spinning around, a surge of water smashing into Kronos at her silent command and sending him staggering backwards, a shocked look on his face- and she heard Luke's scream cut off abruptly and she took the brief second in which Kronos was distracted to glance back at him, to meet his stunned gaze.
"Run! And remember the mission! If you can do it, do it!" she screamed the words, and Luke stared at her for one heart wrenching moment before he shifted his grip on Beckendorf and dragged him towards the edge of the Helipad, moving as fast as he could, almost running at the end and leaping into the air, carrying the unconscious son of Hephaestus with him, and together they plummeted into the sea.
Then Percy was whirling, catching Kronos' scythe with her own blade before it could hit her again- and there was a gleam in Kronos' eyes, "It seems that you decided to follow Alabaster's lead."
"What can I say, I figured it was a good idea." she gritted her teeth as she twisted her blade, sliding it away from Kronos' as she stepped back, wishing that she could rush after Luke and Beckendorf- but she knew Kronos wouldn't let her, she was too far from the edge of the ship, she'd be intercepted, he wasn't going to let her end this face off early. "Are you surprised?"
"Oh I am." Kronos's expression shifted, he looked almost amused, "It took me some time to convince Alabaster to do it you know. It was most annoying, I had to threaten him into it-"
"I'm sure you did. It's not exactly an easy chose to make after all."
"You though. You chose to do it of your own free will- you truly are far more impressive than I expected- you've surpassed my expectations every step of the way. I look forward to calling you my Queen."
"Yeah no that's not what I was going for." Percy rolled her eyes, "I was more going for being the one who gets to kill you." and then they were clashing again, and monsters backed away as they did- and very slowly Percy tried to subtly move the fight towards the edge of the ship- she didn't know how long they had, she didn't know if Luke would be able to actually press the detonator- it had been on Beckendorf's left wrist so it shouldn't be broken- and if he was going to do it he'd probably do it sooner rather than later. That meant that she needed to rush if she wanted to get off.
It felt like it took a lifetime for her to back him towards the edge of the ship and she felt a thrill at that- admittedly she knew he was playing with her more than anything else, that he wasn't fighting with his full strength, he was testing her- and hopefully she'd manage to get the jump on him.
When she judged that he was close enough Percy dropped Riptide and sprinted forward- Kronos' eyes widened in confusion, and for the second time she leapt upwards, pulling water up from the sea as she did, and her foot landed on his head just as it had earlier- but he'd clearly learned his lesson there before his fingers were curling around her ankle and Percy cried out as he did.
Fortunately she'd half expected him to grab at her- she'd half expected him to realise what she was doing in time to grab her, which was why a rush of water smashed into his back again, hitting him with the force of a bus, he stumbled forward, not much, and his grip loosened very slightly, enough for Percy to kick his wrist away with her free foot as she tumbled forward- it wasn't the graceful flip and dive as she used Kronos' head as a springboard that she'd planned, but it would do, because she managed to push herself forward enough that the momentum of her movement sent her flying over the edge of the Princess Andromeda, as she did she managed a little wave as he turned, his eyes burning with fury as she called out, "Kronos! You probably should have checked the engine room!" because he'd never have the time he'd need to actually stop the explosion now, or to evacuate- she wasn't even sure if she'd have the time she'd need to get away from it- though she wasn't honestly sure what effect the explosion would have on her given the fact that she had the curse of Achilles.
Then she was falling- she'd like to say that she managed to straighten up and turn it into a graceful dive, but that would be a lie, she tumbled head over heels as she fell.
She didn't feel any fear though, even as arrows shot past her, a few of them hitting her uselessly and falling on into the sea- and it was kind of pathetic that they were still trying, considering the fact that Kronos knew they wouldn't work unless they could figure out her mortal spot- and she highly doubted that they'd manage that. It was clearly a last ditch effort to stop her from getting away.
She closed her eyes as she plummeted, there was a sort of freedom in the free fall, she was untouchable in that moment.
As she fell Percy heard a rumbling from deep in the ship, it was distant, and she could probably only hear it because she was listening for it but as she hit the water she found herself smiling, letting herself sink deep, enjoying the rush of the water around her as she did, and usually she'd make sure to take a moment to just savor the rush of strength and energy that the water always gave her- but there was no time for that and she knew it.
Instead, as soon as she managed to collect herself she surged upwards, surfacing with a gasp, her eyes flicking around frantically, searching for Luke and Beckendorf desperately- a part of her knew that it was insane to think that she'd see them swimming a short distance away.
For anyone other than her hitting the water from that height would have been like smacking concrete- she tried to force down the wave of horror and dread that that thought caused. She had to have hope, she had to try and find them. There was a chance they'd survive the fall, after all Luke had clearly managed to activate the detonator based on that rumbling noise that was getting louder and louder- and she reached out with her senses, mentally searching for their shapes in the water- but she couldn't feel anything nearby- and she didn't have time, she couldn't spend hours searching for them no matter how much she wished she could, because she could hear the rumbling getting louder, so she dove back under the water, pushing herself away from the Princess Andromeda as fast as she could, still reaching out with her powers to desperately try and find the two other demigods, she couldn't handle the idea that they'd died, she didn't want to imagine it. The mere thought of it was so painful it was unreal.
And of course that moment she'd taken to try and see if she could sense Luke and Beckendorf had been a mistake- she didn't manage to get even nearly as far away as she should have.
When it happened the explosion shook the world and Percy felt heat searing the back of her head as the Princess Andromeda blew up, and it truly was an impressive explosion, Percy could see the glow of green- since the force of it hand knocked her son hard that she'd tumbled over and over, she'd seen flashes as she went, every time she was facing towards the cruise ship- she could see the massive fireball of green flame in the darkness, consuming the ship.
She knew it wouldn't kill Kronos, she wasn't a fool, but- well she felt a rush of satisfaction at the thought that they'd just wiped out a huge portion of Kronos' army.
She was also pretty sure that if it wasn't for the curse of Achilles the force of the blast would have killed her- as it was she felt it in her very bones- even if she couldn't be cut she could apparently still feel pain because as she kept tumbling through the water, propelled from the shockwave of the blast her entire body felt like she'd been battered, and her last thoughts before she sunk into blissful unconsciousness was: Father, please, find Luke and Beckendorf. Please save them.
And then she was gone
