5/5/20

New month! Yay! Enjoy the new chapter! I changed chapter 3 a little and am going to try to update every week.

I own none of the characters, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Wordcount: 1202

Getting cursed

Percy Pov:

He had been fighting for what had seemed like days, continuously hacking away at the horde of Arai with Vengeance keeping him safe from the curses. As long as he killed the spirits with the blade, the curse wouldn't take effect. Occasionally, he would have to kill one of them with the pommel or some other part of the sword, and a curse would befall him. Most of the curses he received were small, like a twitch in his eye and a slight shiver, but he did receive a few larger ones, like one of his ribs snapping. Every once and a while, the demons would get a lucky strike and rake their claws along his armor, which was little more than scrap metal at this point. Any time they tried to strike a death blow, they would seem to slow down, allowing Percy the opportunity to gut the offending monster.

He was dealing with the last few Arai when one sacrificed itself to wrench Vengeance out of his hands. Two monsters were left, and one rushed him, and Percy lashed out with his fists. Hitting it square in the cheek, its head snapped to the side, it's neck snapped, and exploded into gold dust.

Percy fell to his knees. The air in his lungs was forced out as he wheezed. His heartbeat thrummed weakly in his ears, slowing down with each beat. He coughed, and blood splattered on the red dirt between his legs. His vision darkened as his heart beat one last time before giving out and lying still in his chest. He fell forward and tried to catch himself on his forearms, but they gave out, too. He rolled on his back and stared at the red clouds far above him. The last Arai hovered above him, cackling.

A curse! It mocked, from Annabeth! Percy's brain felt numb as he took that in. "Wh-what?" he managed to choke out. It ignored him, Interesting. You should be dead, but Thanatos cannot come down here to claim your soul.

"Why?" Percy croaked to himself, tears threatening to spill from his eyes, "Why would she curse me?" It decided to answer that one.

You disappeared for 8 months, sea spawn, it laughed, Sometime during that, she wished you were dead, and another joined our numbers. Percys hand drifted to his pocket and closed around Riptide. The Arai continued on, Don't you see how hopeless this is? Even your little girl- He thrust Riptide, still in pen form, into her mouth, before flipping the cap off, showering him in gold dust.

Percy's quickly darkening vision spun as he fumbled for his canteen, which contained the last of the godly drink from the temple. His fingers felt numb as he messed with the clasp that held it to his belt. It finally came free and he wrenched the cap off. Bringing it up to his mouth, he gulped the liquid down, the taste of his mother's homemade cookies grounding him back in reality. The darkness in his vision faded and the wounds littering his body closed.

He thought about what it had said, Annabeth had cursed him? Hera, he decided, This was Heras fault. She took him from Annabeth. She made her curse him. He reached for his other sword and switched it back into a watch. He tried to stand, but darkness called for him and he passed out.

Third-person POV:

The Argo II was silent. The loss of Percy, and more recently, Annabeth weighed heavily on the crew. With both leaders gone, Jason had to pick up the slack, creating plans and making schedules. He did as well as he could, but it weighed heavily on him.

The crew was currently eating lunch. Hazel forced Nico to sit down and eat with the rest of the crew. He was still sickly pale and thin, but he was eating a little, which was progress. The room was silent, with only the occasional sound of silverware on plates or shifting furniture the only sounds.

Nico was half-heartedly picking at his food when he jerked upright. The crew looked at him in concern as he closed his eyes in concentration. He murmured under his breath, likely a prayer. Finally, he slumped forward in his seat and buried his head in his hands. His shoulders shook as he silently cried. Finally catching on, horror washed over the crew.

"Nico," Hazel spoke up, her voice shaking, "Who-"

"Percy," Nico interrupted, voice cracking. He drew in a shaky breath and looked up, "He's gone"

Percy POV:

Percy jerked awake. Sitting straight up, he uncapped Riptide and scanned the surroundings. Yet the surrounding forest was empty. He stood up and realized with a start that all his wounds had healed. He had drank some Nectar before passing out, but even that would only heal him a little. Yet, he was in tip-top shape, ribs fully healed and all. His armor, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe Tartarus had helped him, he mused before pushing the thought out of his head. Despite being blessed by the pit, Tartarus did not seem the type to help any more than he has already. He decided not to dwell on it, and went on his way, hoping to run into a monster he could, ahem, question, about the location of the doors of death.

Percy had managed to find his way out of the forest and was back into the large empty plains. He was walking in a random direction when a monster bubble exploded next to him, and a Telekhine crawled out. Vengence appeared in his hand as he went to question the monster.

The Telekhine looked up at him and snarled. Percy put his foot on its chest, pushing it into the ground, and leveled his sword at its throat.

"Where are the doors of death?" Percy demanded. The monster merely laughed at him. Percy scowled and thought for a moment. He turned his sword back into a watch and grabbed one of its feet and pulled it up to his chest. He placed his foot on its upper leg and asked again, "Where are the doors of death!" It started to laugh but began to scream in pain as Percy put pressure on his upper leg. He didn't let up until he heard a Snap! As the knee broke, bent the wrong way. He grabbed it's other foot and repeated the question, "The Doors! Where are they!"

The beast merely pointed in one direction. Percy dropped it's leg and stepped back. It tried to stand but Percy shoved it back down. It stared at him as he lifted his leg and stomped its throat. It made a muffled cry as it burst into dust.

Percy didn't even blink as he began to walk away.

Ok. Percys beginning to lose it. :)

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