Author's Note:
Oh my gosh, it's the Part 1: Finale! Shall we see Jess's success or lack thereof of freeing Instinct?
Oh, and there's one thing to clear up: Yes, they most definitely represented the seven. The one representing Piper was certainly the correct choice, because out of the seven, she relies the most on instinct. She was not gaining anything from Piper herself, but she would only have received Instinct's blessing if she chose that path. And if you are a clever reader, (which I'm sure you all are) then you may have discovered the fate of some major characters in HoO! Not saying anything else!
Cheers!
justapercyjacksonfan
Chapter 21: Part 1 Finale
It went straight through her. Even so, Jess felt as though she had been sucker punched. She folded over, groaning.
"What-"
"Interesting." Instinct drawled. "It appears you are not important enough for Chaos to harm. I'm sure he'll remedy that problem for himself."
"What do you mean I wasn't harmed?" she complained. "Wait …..you don't mean this is actually Chaos?"
"Oh dear gods no. This is a part of him, a bit of his power, if you will. You wouldn't survive a look at the true face of Chaos."
"Of course." she muttered. "Of course this is a mini boss. How do I fight it?"
"If I knew that do you think I'd be tied up? Just feel your way through. Use instinct."
Jess shook her head, and turned to see the cloud of malice coming towards her again. "Oh fu-"
Rather than slamming into her, it split into two just before colliding, and enveloped the girl stopping her cold.
"What the-? How am i supposed to - ugh! Right, no planning just do something." She unsheathed her daggers and slashed at her opponent. It only created a gash that closed itself the moment her weapon was gone. "Okay. I can work with this." She stabbed her knives into the cloud, one high above her head, the other as low as she could reach, and then pulled the two blades together, before pulling them apart in the opposite direction. It created a gap in the cloud large enough for the daughter of Nemesis to tumble out.
She was breathing heavily, but she got to her feet, turning back on the cloud. It was racing for her again, and she took off at a run towards it, before dropping at the last second allowing it to harmlessly pass over her, while dragging her knives through it.
I can't do any real damage to it unless- "Instinct! How do I get to solidify?"
"How do you think?"
"Make it angry?"
"The primary rule of quests. When in doubt, make it angry."
"I have no idea how to do that."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. Aren't you the one who sees flaws?"
"It's a cloud!" But even as she said it, her senses opened up. She noticed everything about it. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to the way it was behaving, which made sense because it was Chaos, but it always seemed to make its way back to the pillar before charging at her again. Speaking of which-
She stood waiting for it as it rushed toward her again, like a malevolent wind. Just as it reached her, she brought her knives up, pointing straight into it. The moment it made contact, she pulled them apart, opening the cloud up to pass on either side. It began retreating to the pillar, and she took off after it. She had only a few seconds before it charged out at her. Jess crouched down, and started hacking through the bits that bound Instinct. Being a magic cloud, they rejoined as soon as her knives left it, but it did the trick. When Chaos finished his recharge of sorts, he came with a vengeance, enraged she would dare attempt to free his prisoner. And when he hit her, the blow was real. Oh yeah. He was angry.
"Perfect." Jess muttered under her breath. It was followed by a groan. As she rolled across the floor from the attack. She picked herself up, only to see a fist hit her. It felt like being hit by a truck, but somehow, she managed to get up. The cloud had morphed into a roughly humanoid shape. Jess was swaying on her feet, and she was missing a dagger, but she clutched the one she still had tightly. Chaos came for her again, and just as his fist came to punish her for all the troubles she had caused him, her legs gave out underneath her.
On the upside, the blow passed over her head, and caused him to stumble and almost fall over when there was no impact. It also put her near his left leg, and she took the opportunity to slice at it. Rather than passing through harmlessly, her blade lopped off everything below the knee, leaving the primordial howling, a leg flopped against the ground, and a puddle of what she had to assume was the blood of Chaos dripping from the wound.
But it didn't self heal. That was all she needed. As the threat in front of her cried out in pain, she tried to dig the ambrosia square out of her pocket, only to come up empty handed.
"That little shit." she whispered to herself, remembering she had given it to Bri. Woozily, she began to stand up without any magical healing. Her steps would be better described as stumbles, but she made it to the Chaos. With a yell, she drove her dagger into its chest.
It didn't have a face. There was no mouth for it to speak from, but when it looked down at her, Jess could hear it loud and clear.
You have won nothing. I have only learned more about you. Do not think you can defeat me. Your friends will suffer if you hope to challenge me. If you proceed to the next pillar, your father will be the first to feel the consequences. His blood will be on your hands.
She screamed, if only to drown out the voice. She pulled down on the knife, and sliced the thing down the middle. As the two halves fell to the ground, they dissipated into mist, before disappearing completely. She saw the bits that were binding Instinct fade away. The blue clad man stood up stretching. Her senses dulled, and she could hear the shouts of her teammates and someone running towards her. Her knees buckled, and she passed out.
When she came to, the only thing she could see was a big blue face. Something was touching her forehead-
A blue arm drew away from her. "She should be fine now."
Her other senses slowly started kicking in. Her mouth was very dry. She was sitting against someone. Maybe they had caught her before she hit the ground? She thought she remembered fainting.
Slowly, she stood up. A glance around the courtyard revealed that her friends had been allowed to find her the moment the fight was over. And if they were all standing that meant Caleb had caught her. She really hoped she hadn't gone as pink as she thought she had, given she had just fainted into the most attractive member of the group like some sort of fairytale princess in need of rescuing.
"Jessica Tewers. Speak with me." Instinct called. She turned to find him standing next to his pillar. The blue light had grown brighter. She nodded, and went to him.
"First off, it's Jess. What do you want now?"
"Jess, you have shown true bravery and instinct in your battle against Chaos. You and your friends have many challenges ahead of you. My sister, Growth, is similarly bound as I am. You will need to free her as well if you are to beat Chaos. I can only recommend you seek out the Hunters of Artemis. There are two among their number who have seen it's hiding place before. Ask for the daughters of Zeus and Bellona. And now you, Jess, will need something from me."
"Yes, could you give us a way off your island? We're kinda stuck."
"I suppose. But more importantly, my seal. You are a true guardian of order. You have saved a pillar of creation. Any of my brothers and sisters will treat your word as my own."
He placed a hand on her head. When he removed it, a tiny symbol appeared, glowing the same royal blue as his runes. It shimmered, and faded.
Instinct clapped his hands. "Farewell demigods! You still have a long journey ahead of you!"
Author's Note:
Part two begins next week
I'd love to hear what you thought about the first part, as well as any theories as to where the second pillar lies (remember who Instinct said they should ask for. Here's a hint: they saw it at different times, and Thalia saw it first.)
Have a lovely day!
justapercyjacksonfan
