Hey guys! So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I think you will, lots of action and such, also, a surprise badass arrives. And a lil bit of news, I was talking with my friend and discussing my plans for the fic and I told her how I wavered for ages about which path to take and she made some points and I am rewriting some of it so I'm not as far ahead as I thought I was, but I am still a fair chunk of the way ahead and some of it just needs minor edits to work. Anyway, please do review!
There was a moment of stunned hush that fell over the bridge as Percy straightened up, a grim smile on her lips as she face down the army- now the odds were slightly better, instead of around two hundred to one it was now one hundred and ninety nine to one.
Percy shrugged, "Oh well." and then she was charging.
And Percy tore through the army- their attacks missed or skidded across her skin and armor- she was like a whirlwind, on more than one occasion arrows bounced off of her harmlessly- and Percy was enjoying herself, it was almost laughable how easily she was tearing through the enemies armies.
Percy was aware of the others behind her, rushing out to help, arrows flying through the air from the Apollo kids and the Ares kids hacking at any monsters that got too close as they forced them back, stopping them from rallying.
And before too long the monsters turned and fled- with maybe twenty of them left alive out of the two hundred that had attacked- as far as Percy was concerned that was a real good result.
She heard Sherman yelling, "Wahooo! Fuck yes Jackson kick their asses!"
And they drove the monsters back towards the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. Percy could see the toll stations ahead.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"
And Percy hesitated- a part of her wanted to keep going, wanted to wipe the monsters out entirely- she could do it- she knew she could- but then came another voice from back at the end of the bridge.
"Sephie!" and Percy glanced backwards- Luke and Thalia had arrived, Luke launching himself off the motorcycle, Thalia right behind him as they started making their way up the bridge, and Percy nodded to herself, letting out a breath.
"Alright- Pull-"
"Oh gods-" Sherman was pretty much at Percy's side and he cut her off, his expression horrified, and Percy turned her head to follow his gaze towards the base of the bridge on the Brooklyn side. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design.
The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and Percy recognized Kronos himself, his eyes like molten gold, instantly focusing on her, a nasty smile forming on his lips.
Percy felt Annabeth reaching her side and skidding to a halt- heard her girlfriends sharp little inhale at the sight.
"We need to retreat." Annabeth's voice trembled, "We need to retreat now-"
The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. The Apollo archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.
"Oh gods-" Percy felt sick, "Retreat!" She yelled the words, "Everyone retreat! I'll hold them! Annabeth-"
"I'm staying with you-"
In a matter of seconds the enemy were on them.
Sherman and the other demigods tried to retreat- while Percy and Annabeth stayed next to each other as Thalia and Luke tried to rush across the bridge towards them, though when Sherman reached them he grabbed Luke and tried to drag him backwards- much to Percy's relief- because even fighting side by side Percy and Annabeth were slowly being forced backwards up the bridge. Kronos's cavalry swirled around them, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Percy's stomach twisted with fear as they fought- and Percy desperately tried not to kill the demigods- they were enemies yes but they'd been manipulated and used- Percy didn't like the thought of killing innocent kids who'd been groomed by Kronos.
Admittedly that did slow her down- she slashed off the legs of horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate, after the first few demigods fell from their mounts the rest figured it was probably better to dismount and fight on foot.
They were being forced backwards- Percy felt her stomach twist before one of the enemy demigods was suddenly in front of her, and Percy raised her sword before she heard;
"Now!" and suddenly maybe fifteen or so of Kronos' demigods were whirling around, turning against the other demigods under Kronos' command, and the helm was being pulled off and tossed to the side and Percy let out a stunned laugh as Annabeth gasped loudly.
"What the-"
"I figured I should do something big to make up for being used by that creep to get information. And I knew who was wavering and who wasn't. It was easy to convince them to switch sides, even without using Charmspeak." Drew shook out her hair, a smirk on her lips as she spun around and caught one enemies blade with her own before he could slice her from behind.
And with the extra help they were doing better- the newly turned demigods were fighting on their side now- the odds were more even, and Percy grinned brilliantly at Drew, "You're amazing-" and then Percy felt a chill run down her spine- and then there was a cry- so very familiar- and even as it happened Drew was crying out loudly in horror- and Percy whirled around.
"ANNABETH!" and she did it in time to watch her fall clutching her arm. A demigod with a bloody knife was stood over her and Percy let out a scream of pure fury- and she could hear Luke's panicked yelling and Thalia's scream but they were distant over the roar in her ears.
The world around them shook, and demigods stumbled and screamed in terror, stumbling away as a hand twice the size of Percy made out of water burst up from the river and smashed into the enemy demigods sending several of them straight over the edge of the bridge, screams filling the air- though the demigod who had stabbed her was left standing- and Drew was dropping to her knees at Annabeth's side instantly as Percy surged towards the demigod who had stabbed Annabeth even as she processed what had happened- judging from the position of his blade he'd have- probably by sheer luck, taken her in the small of her back.
Annabeth had thrown herself in the way- maybe she'd sensed it somehow, or maybe it was just instinct- the desire to protect Percy combined with the newness of her invulnerability. Either way Annabeth had taken the blade instead, and Percy was screaming as she dropped Riptide, hands wrapping around the enemy demigods throat, they both hit the ground hard, Percy squeezing tightly as she screamed with fury, shaking the demigod beneath her violently, smashing his helmeted head into the ground beneath him repeatedly before she let go of his throat with one hand and she drew back the other, fist smashing into his face repeatedly in her fury. She could distantly hear Drew whistling and ordering her group of Demigods to form a protective ring around Annabeth.
Then Percy focused on the face she could see, the eyes beneath the helm, one covered by an eyepatch, the face bloody, from the beating and she froze in shock, just for a second and Ethan managed to kick out, knocking her backwards for just long enough to scramble out from under her and sprint back towards Kronos, a look of terror on his face- and Percy swung her head as a familiar Pegasus swooped down from the sky above them and Drew, who had Annabeth in her arms tossed
Annabeth over her back and leapt on herself.
"I'll get her to safety-"
"Interesting-" they both turned their gazes towards Kronos as he spoke, and his eyes were glued to Percy- but Drew shook her head and took off before they could be stopped, and Kronos stepped forward as Percy pulled herself to her feet.
"What's so interesting gramps?" Percy asked through gritted teeth- he had to suspect something didn't he? He knew something had happened.
"We shall see-" Kronos' gaze flicked to the dot that was Annabeth, Drew and Lady. "One of these days I'll make Pegasus soup- those creatures have a habit of helping you too much. But never mind." he focused on Percy again, "I shall let them escape for now-" he dismounted, his scythe glistening in the dawn light. "It's time you come with me."
"No!" Percy could hear Luke screaming- but she didn't turn her head- hopefully Thalia would be holding him back to stop him from interfering- and the other demigods were retreating- those who had defected from Kronos were rushing back towards the end of the bridge and those still on Kronos' side were backing away in the other direction- they all knew that this was a fight they didn't want to get in the middle of.
Percy shoved her hand into her pocket as Kronos approached, and Riptide was in there, she pulled it out and uncapped it just as the Titan king reached her.
Percy met his first strike with Riptide, the impact of it shook the entire bridge but Percy didn't falter, spinning, her leg flying out to kick his legs out from under him, knocking him down, and Percy was moving, no hesitation as his scythe slipped from his grip and skittered across the pavement- Percy heard pounding footsteps racing up from behind but she didn't look, stabbing downwards only for Kronos to roll to the side and grab Percy's ankle as he did, yanking her off balance- and Percy let out a yell as she hit the ground, kicking out with her free ankle, catching Kronos in the face- and out of the corner of her eye she saw that Sherman had managed to sprint up the bridge and he was reaching for the scythe- Percy felt a rush of horror and she shook her head, "Sherman no!"
And Kronos flung his hand as he got to his feet, the scythe flying up and towards him- and there was nothing Percy could do as Sherman tried to dive out of the way.
It sliced his arm- and Percy screamed in horror as Sherman's face drained of color and he crumpled- and Percy didn't have to check to know he was dead- though she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards him anyway, dropping to her knees next to him. She rolled him over so that he was on his back, tears pouring down her cheeks as she saw the blankness in his eyes, and she lifted her head, turning her gaze to Kronos- who looked amused.
"Sweet young Persephone, you never learn do you. The more you fight it the more people you'll lose." and then he struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted Percy backwards. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Kronos' own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and Percy skidded halfway back to Manhattan, the force of the blast had forced her to let go of Sherman's body and she'd seen him go flying over the edge of the bridge. She felt almost numb as she staggered to her feet- and Percy looked around- at least there were no more of her campers on the bridge- they were gathered at the end of the bridge- except for a lone figure, sprinting towards her.
Luke. Thalia was screaming at him, held back by someone- Percy couldn't see who from the distance.
"Sephie-"
"Luke get back-"
"No!" Luke reached her, grabbing her hand, "We have to get out of here-"
"He'll cross-"
"Then destroy the bridge! Percy you made the fucking earth shake when Annabeth hurt you can destroy it! Look at it!"
And Percy did- she looked down and saw fissures in the pavement. Patches of the road were half melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast.
And Percy gripped Luke's hand tightly before she stabbed Riptide into the bridge- and the blade sank to it's hilt in asphalt as she focused, stomach tugging- and salt water shot from the crack as if she'd hit a geyser.
Percy ripped Riptide out and the fissure grew as Percy willed it to get bigger and bigger, the spray soaking her and Luke- the bridge shook and began to crumble.
Chunks the size of houses fell into the East River. Kronos's demigods cried out in alarm and scrambled backward. Some were knocked off their feet. Within a few seconds, a fifty-foot chasm opened in the Williamsburg Bridge between Kronos and the two siblings- but of course the chasm had been opened right at their feet- and
Percy cried out as the ground beneath Luke's feet crumbled first and she lost her grip on his hand and he plummeted downwards.
And Percy screamed, reaching down for him only for the ground beneath her to give out too- and then she was falling, still reaching for Luke.
And she knew that if she didn't reach him, if she couldn't grab him on time the impact against the water would kill her brother.
