4/24/20

Uhhhhh new chapter. Quarantine is cool, I guess.

All Characters belong to Rick Riordon

Wordcount: 1244

The Dream

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Percy POV:

Percy had an even worse dream than he had last time he slept. He was on the Argo II, it was nighttime and everyone on board was asleep. The stars twinkled above him, and his eyes flickered to the Huntress constellation. The memory was bittersweet. On one hand, it was a way to always be able to see one of his late friends, but on the other hand, he couldn't look at it without feeling sadness and regret. He should have taken the sky sooner, he couldn't have beaten Atlas, he should have seen through her lie that she was fine after Ladon bit her.

Drawn out of his thoughts by a soft thunk, he looked down from the sky and back to the deck of the Argo. He drew in a sharp breath as he surveyed a dozen monsters on the deck. He reached into his pocket for Riptide but came out empty-handed. The monsters barely gave him a glance as they marched downstairs, into the depths of the ship, where the sleeping crew would be. He tried to move, to stop them from taking his friends, but his legs wouldn't respond to him.

The sounds of fighting reached his ears as the monsters presumably reached his friends. The noise soon cut off, however, which made Percy's stomach sink in dread. One by one, the monsters emerged from the stairs, carrying the limp bodies of his friends. They threw his friends at his feet and bound them in ropes. A cyclops waddled over and woke each member of the crew with a sharp kick to the ribs. They jerked awake, eyes darting around before they settled on him.

(Next section is pretty violent, so skip if you can't stand that kinda stuff.)

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed, "Help us!" Percy desperately tried to move his legs, and he repeatedly patted every pocket he had, searching for his trusty sword, but nothing worked. They continued calling his name, begging him to help. While he was focused on his friends, a Laistrygonian snuck up behind the bound crew. It brought it's club down on the Demigod on the far left, Leo. Blood splattered across the deck and on the girl sitting next to him, Hazel. She let out a hoarse scream and began dry-heaving. She was soon silenced as a sword protruded from her chest.

As she slumped over, Percy opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. He watched in horror as every member of the quest was executed. Nico was shocked to death by Jason, who was then mauled by a hellhound. Frank, unable to change forms, was poisoned and burnt to a crisp by a basilisk, and Piper was disemboweled by her own knife.

Annabeth was the only one left, and she was bawling her eyes out, murmuring Why Percy? Why? Percy watched in horror as the monsters attached weights to her legs and began trowing the corpses overboard. Realizing what was going to happen, Annabeth began crying even louder. Soon, all the corpses were disposed of, and Annabeth was hoisted by the monsters. She struggled against the binds, but it was no use. She was thrown overboard with the rest of the bodies. As soon as she passed out of his sight, he collapsed to his knees, sobbing.

(Violent scene over now)

Percy awoke with a start, his eyes burning with unshed tears. Bob was leaning over him, concern plastered on his face.

"Who is Annabeth?" Bob questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh, What?" Percy oh so smartly replied.

"Annabeth. You were calling out her name in your sleep."

"She's uh, a friend of mine," Percy answered. It wasn't the whole truth, but it was all Bob needed to know for now. Bob nodded, accepting the answer, and held his hand out to help Percy up, "Come, we have a long way to go."

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Percy POV:

They had been walking for a while, and the surroundings slowly changed. Gone was the open expanse of nothingness, now they were in the middle of a forest. Well, Percy wasn't quite sure if the qualified as a forest. Black trees stretched into the sky, branches bare of any vegetation. Every once in a while, a branch would break and Percy would scan the surrounding, but see nothing. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up, and his senses screamed RUN! But he could do nothing but follow Bob as they trudged their way through the forest.

Another twig snapped and Percy spun around, but this time he was not greeted by an empty forest. Standing half a dozen yards away was a group of monsters. At first Percy thought they were the furies. He knew Mrs. Dodds hated him, and her going to Tartarus to kill him wasn't a stretch of the imagination. He instantly wiped that thought out of his mind. There were only three furies, while there were at least a few dozen of them stood in front of him. Bob was stood next to him, spear out.

"Bob, who are they?" Percy whispered, but apparently they heard him, as they answered for Bob.

We are the Arai, the spirits of curses a disembodied voice stated, We have many curses to share with you, Perseus Jackson! With that, they charged. Percy reached into his pocket and brought out Riptide, the gleaming bronze blade hissing in the air. He glanced at his watch and wondered how to turn it into a weapon. Just as he thought that his watch disappeared and a sword appeared in his left hand. It was an exact copy of Riptide, but it was half steel half Celestial bronze, and instead of the word Anaklusmos, it read Vengeance in greek.

Percy grinned and readied his swords as the first Arai came close to him. He blocked her claws with Vengeance and swiped through her neck with Riptide. Instantly, he bent over in pain. Both sides of his chest felt wet and it felt like someone shoved an iron rod through his chest. Or an arrow.

A gift from Geryon! The voice cackled, For every one of us you kill, you bring down a curse upon yourself! With that, they moved forward again. Percy blocked with Riptide and instinctually swung with Vengeance, cleaving the monster in two. He winced and waited for another jolt of pain, but none came. His eyes widened and he capped Riptide. He turned to face bob, who from the looks of it, had killed several of the curses. His overalls were stained gold and he was leaning on his broom.

"Bob," Percy spoke. Bob lifted his head and looked at Percy, "You need to leave, Find the doors and get out. I'll find my way there and close them after you. Find the Argo, tell them I'm ok." Bob looked shocked and opened his mouth to argue but Percy cut him off.

"Go!" Percy commanded. Bob slowly nodded before disappearing into the trees.

Getting rid of your only backup, demigod? The voice mocked, we didn't curse you to lose your mind… yet.

"You," Percy decided, "need to shut up." And with that, he charged into the mob of curses.

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Boom, that's done and done.

Bring Zoe back?

Yes: 14

No: 7

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