Chapter 11: Attack of the Chihuahua
Disclaimer. I do not own this story or these characters, though I would really love to!
Hey everyone! Here is the 11th chapter to Betrayed Son of the Sea! Hope you all enjoy! Now on with the story!
Attack of the Chihuahua
Previously…
Nico looked at me for a second before pulling me into a man hug. "Thanks man. And I will call you if I am ever in any trouble, you can count on it." He said as he pulled away.
"Ok man, I gotta get going. Tell your dad thank you for me for letting me into his realm and all." I said backing away waving.
"Ok bro. See ya later! Keep in touch!" He said waving back.
I spread my wings and concentrated on the location of the hunt and flashed away in a column of fire. I reappeared on the outskirts of the Hunt and I heard something that sent ice through my veins. The sound of battle, war cries, and enraged hisses could be heard all around me with the clang of metal hitting each other.
The Hunt was being attacked and I teleported right into the middle of a battle!
Now…
Third Person POV
It was pandemonium. The sounds of battle raged in Percy's vision as the bodies of monsters burst into dust and the hunters cried out in pain. The sound of metal slicing through skin and smashing against bronze rang throughout the clearing as the hunters tried to fight of the massive hordes of monsters.
There were over two hundred monsters in the clearing, packs of hellhounds attacking from the shadows, legions of dracaena, groups of Laestrygonian, and hordes of Cyclopes. He saw the hunters surrounded by the monsters. Each hunter was their own little island in the sea of monsters, each shining with a silver aura as they were blurs on the battlefield. But Percy knew that with so few hunters and the mass of monsters that they would soon be overwhelmed.
Percy was tired from his fight in the Underworld with Nico but he would not stand by and let the people he was supposed to guard, die on his watch. He summoned up two huge squares of Ambrosia and stuffed them into his mouth. He began to feel feverous and felt like his blood was on fire. He knew it was dangerous to consume too much of the godly food as it can make him burst into flames, but his gamble paid off as the burning ceased and he was filled with energy. Wasting no time, he pulled out his two swords, one glowing bronze the other glowing green, and launched himself into the air.
He gained altitude rapidly, 20 feet, 50 feet, till he was one hundred feet in the air. He scanned the battlefield, his mind processing every weak point, planning potential battle strategies, and in no time at all, was able to locate Artemis. She was a whirlwind of death as she glowed a harsh silver colour. Her hunting knives flashed through the darkness as each stroke took put another monster. He watched as she shifted forms as she fought, much like she did when she battled Atlas all those years ago. He reached out with his mind, through the link he shared with her when he became their Guardian.
Artemis! He yelled in his mind. He saw her jerk in surprise nearly getting hit in the head by a club from a Cyclops. She snarled and slashed her knife across his throat, decapitating his head from his shoulders.
Perseus! Where are you? About time you showed up! As much as I hate to say it, we're not going to last much longer! She cried out in her mind, fighting the whole time she was talking.
Listen to me! He thought back in earnest. I need you to erect a shield around the hunters and do it quickly!"
Hearing the tone in his, she knew better than to question and threw up silver shields made of pure moonlight around all the hunters. All the hunters found themselves encased in silver domes as the monsters bounced off. They looked at the domes in bewilderment before letting out roars of rage, attacking the shields in earnest. Sweat began to form along Artemis's brow as the strain from maintaining multiple shields as monsters beat on them was taxing her strength.
From high in the sky, Percy surveyed the battleground and knew he had to act quickly. Lighting his body, wings, and swords on fire, he closed his wings and plummeted towards the ground.
"BANZAAAAAAIIIII!" He couldn't help it. He always wanted to say that.
He looked like a flaming comet, hurtling at terminal velocity towards the ground. The monsters felt the heat from the fire and looked up in fear and terror at the flaming figure heading towards them and before they could do anything, the figure ploughed right into them.
As Percy hit the ground, he hit with such force that the very ground blasted back from the impact, creating a smoking crater. Fire exploded from the impact point, the shockwave completely obliterating all the monsters within a 50-foot radius. Percy managed to summon a shield of water around himself, cushioning the impact and casing maximum damage.
The shockwave from Percy's impact caused all the shields around the hunters to disperse, leaving them all unharmed and shocked at the flaming figure that fell from the sky. Artemis was exhausted, sweating through her clothes and her powers taxed. But she couldn't help but be awed and a little intimidated by Percy's display of power.
The monsters watched in horror at what they thought was a fallen angel, more like demon, walk out of the smoking crater where it just fell. The figure was clad in black with a hood covering its face, obscuring its feature but two glowing, sea green eyes glowed in rage from under the hood. They watched as two, midnight black wings extended from the figures back and cried out in fear as the wings lit on fire. The figure looked like a fallen angel, cast from heaven and looking to extract its unholy vengeance on all that got in its way.
Percy smirked as he saw the monsters expression of fear and the hunters were looking slightly afraid, with even Artemis looking at him warily.
He pointed his swords at the monsters. "Attack!" He cried as he launched himself at the shaking group of monsters.
He shifted into his warrior mode, shutting down all essential thought and went with is instincts. He became a whirlwind of flaming death, his swords glowing with tongues of Greek Fire as he cut down all the monsters that stood in his way. He slashed, hacked, blocked, stabbed, rolled, and even flew into the air, all the while destroying monsters.
The hunters watched with wide eyes as they saw their guardian slaughtering the monsters in front of them. They would never admit it, but they were awed by his fighting prowess, as they watched him behead two Laestrygonian at once, before spinning, stabbing a Cyclops in the stomach and shooting a ball of flames al a group of hellhounds.
Thalia was the first to snap out of it, turning to her fellow hunters, brandishing her shield and spear.
"Well? Are you just gonna stand there and let a male have all the fun?" She taunted as she sprinted directly into the fray.
That question broke the hunters out of their daze as they let out a bunch of war cries, before they rushed after their sister. They weren't going to let a man have all the glory!
Percy heard the war cries of the hunters and smiled as he snapped the neck of another monster. The monster turned to dust and he launched himself into the air, before dive-bombing and slicing two hellhounds in half.
"Hunters! Arm you bows!" Thalia cried out.
As one, the two-dozen immortal maidens pulled out their bows and sent a virtual wave towards the rest of the monsters, most finding their mark and piercing their skin. Percy was quick enough to fly out of the kill zone, before the arrows could skewer him. The arrows did their job and soon, all the monsters were dead and golden dust littered the ground.
"Hey Thalia! Give a guy a little warning next time!" He called down to his cousin as he began to descend to the ground.
She smirked up at him. "That was for freezing me in a block of ice!" She retorted at him.
He looked at her in disbelief. "Really? You were going to let a bunch of arrows skewer me during the middle of a fight? What if I got hit?" He asked incredulously.
She just shrugged her shoulders. "I knew you would be able to dodge them. And if not, you have those impenetrable wings, don't ya?" She said, still smirking.
He just shook his head in disbelief, before Artemis stomped over, her silver eyes flashing in anger. Now, normally a short, twelve-year old girl stomping over to you would look pretty funny, but Artemis managed to make it look intimidating. Once she was close enough to him, she hauled off and smacked him across the face. Percy's head snapped to the side, his hand flying to his cheek, with a stunned expression on his face.
"WHAT THE HADES WAS THAT?!" She screeched at him. She was so angry at him for that stupid stunt he did, plummeting to the earth in a flaming fireball.
He just stared into his glowing silver eyes and couldn't help but think about how beautiful they looked and how cute an angry Artemis looked. He quickly snapped himself out of those thoughts before meeting her angry eyes.
"I'm guessing you're talking about when I dive-bombed the monsters in a fiery inferno?" He asked.
Artemis could not believe the audacity he was showing her. "YES! That was so stupid and reckless of you, that I cannot even BEGIN to describe how idiotic that was! I have hunters that could have been harmed in the crossfire of your little stunt and that is something that I will not tolerate!" She seethed at him, infuriated that he did not even flinch at her words or glare. The hunters were all glaring at him as well, save for Thalia.
"Milady, I have calculated over 10 different battle strategies in order to engage the monsters and the one I picked had the greatest chance of destroying a large portion of them with minimal harm to the hunters." He replied smoothly.
Artemis's eyes furrowed, her anger diminishing slightly with her curiosity perked. "And pray tell, how is that possible?" She asked with a little more control, but still angry.
He just shook his head before looking at her. "The monsters would never expect an attack from above, so dive-bombing them was an effective tactic in surprising them and the fire and force would be enough to scatter and disorient them. Also, with you providing the shielding, seeing as there was still moonlight out and your powers are stronger at night under the moon, you would be able to keep the shields intact during the attack." He explained to the dumbfounded expressions on the hunter's faces, before they quickly turned back into glares.
Artemis was still not satisfied, but the accusations on her tongue were beginning to die. She still looked at him accusingly, but he simply cracked a lop-sided grin at her.
"Also, as insurance, I summoned up a few water shields around your shield, giving double protection to them." He explained.
"Are you saying that you thought I was incapable of holding a few shields around my hunters?" She asked with deadly calm.
He only shook his head. "Not at all. You are quite capable in your powers and abilities. I just wanted to ensure complete safety of them as it is my duty as their guardian to ensure their safety.
Artemis wanted to protest, but his logic was fool proof and she couldn't find any holes in it. A slight blush formed on her cheeks when he complimented her, but she quickly hid it. She just settled on giving him a glare, which to her disappointment, he didn't flinch at. Damn he is so confusing! She thought, her emotions rolling around inside her.
"Damn Kelp-Head. Since when did you get so smart?" Thalia asked in surprise.
Percy just chuckled. "Athena gave me her blessing. I can now analyse different situations and plan battle strategies accordingly. Plus, I think it also increased my vocabulary." He said. Thalia just looked at him with complete shock.
"I didn't think anything could shock me after the weapons and the wings, but how on EARTH did you get ATHENA of all goddesses to bless YOU?" She exclaimed.
His eyes quickly flashed with pain, before he pushed it away. "Let's just say that she felt like she owed it to me." HE said shortly.
Thalia wanted to protest some more but Artemis interrupted her.
"So, Perseus, what did you have to do in the Underworld? And you were almost late." She said, pointing at the sun that was just peaking over the horizon.
He smiled at his reunion with his cousin, friends and teacher. "Just had to go visit Nico and let the little goth know I was alive and back. Did you know that he likes to go to poetry-" He stopped midsentence as his whole body tensed up.
Without warning, he whipped out his wings to block a blast of flames coming from the forest that would have fried half the hunters. With lightning reflexes, he spun around, while pulling out a throwing knife and launched it into the forest. They all heard a roar of pain, signalling he actually hit something.
They all watched as two figures emerged from the forest. One was the size of an elephant. The front of its body was that of a lion, with a blood-caked mane, sharp four-inch fangs covered in black foam, and intelligent, wild eyes that zeroed in on Percy. The back half of its body was that of a goat, with a goat head growing from its spine and having the back hooves of one. Finally, from the base of its spine, ten-foot, diamond back rattlesnake, its head whipping back and forth. Percy's throwing knife was embedded in its side and it was glaring at him in hate.
The other figure, was much more intimidating. It was obviously a woman, albeit, a very ugly one. Her lowered body was comprised of a thick and incredibly twenty-foot long snake tail, which was grafted onto a fat upper body. Her arms were covered in scales and her head was no less ugly than the last time Percy saw it. Forked tongue, reptilian slitted eyes, and a face that would make anyone cry for their mother.
The figures before them were the fire-breathing monster, the Chimera, and the Mother of All Monsters, Echidna.
Slithering forward, Echidna smiled at the frozen group before her, her mouth filled with sharp fangs.
"Lookey here sonny! Look what we have here. A bunch of pre-pubescent girls, a sexist moon goddess, and a feathery son of Poseidon! Why you have got to be the weirdest group I have ever seen!" She said cheerfully, not at all concerned by the dozens of arrows pointed at her face.
"Echidna." Percy and Artemis snarled, his eyes darkening and her silver eyes flashing.
Echidna focused her sights on Percy before a malicious smile crossed her lip.
"Perseus Jackson" She hissed out, "I haven't seen you since that the Arch back in St. Louis. How have you been?" She asked condescendingly.
The hunters and Thalia all gapped at Percy, hearing that he faced of against the Mother of All Monsters.
"Percy! You faced off against her before?" Thalia gasped in surprise.
Percy nodded his head, not taking his eyes off of Echidna.
"Yep, when I was retrieving Zeus's Master Bolt, he sent her to test me." He said.
Echidna smirked. "And I seem to remember my sonny beating you, and you falling 600 feet in the air on fire and poisoned. Looks like you did have faith after all little hero." She said smiling cruelly.
Percy pointed his swords at Echidna threateningly. "Much has changed since then, Echidna. I have grown stronger since our last encounter and I will not allow you to harm the hunters." He said in a steely voice.
Echidna just tsked at him. "Now why would I want those little hunters? Sure, they have killed thousands of my children over the years, but that is nothing compared to what you and the little moon goddess have taken from me." She sneered at them, eyes flashing in hatred.
"What I want, is revenge and all I need to do to get it is to capture the moon goddess over there for my new master." She said pointing at a furious Artemis. Artemis was confused by her statement but was interrupted from that thought
"Over my dead body!" Percy yelled out defiantly.
Echidna had a wicked smile plastered on her face. "I was hoping you would say that. Sonny, ATTACK!" She cried out. From the forest, another fifty monsters exploded from the foliage and attacked the hunters.
The Chimera launched forward, blasting a column of fire at the hunters. Percy leapt in front of them, absorbing the attack and feeling energy from the fire. The Chimera tilted its head to the side in confusion as Percy just smirked.
"That little trick won't work anymore." He said as he launched his own fireball at the monster, hitting it in the side. The Chimera flew backwards and hit a tree, obliterating the tree into a pile of splinters, but the monster wasn't even affected. It roared again and ran full speed at Percy who ran forward as well, meeting the legendary monster head-on.
The Chimera swiped it claws at Percy, but hit nothing but air, Percy ducked to the side at the last possible second, rolling on the ground off to the monster's side. Coming up to a knee, he took his swords and plunged them into the Chimera's side, all the way up to the hilt. The Chimera roared in pain as it felt the weapon sink into its flesh. It struck out with a paw and sliced its claws across Percy's chest, sending him flying.
"PERCY!" Thalia and Artemis cried. They rushed forward while the hunters were using their bows as cover fire, trying to distract the beast, all the while fighting off the other monsters. The Chimera shot a column of flames at Thalia, but she dodged and jabbed at the monster with her electrified spear. The Chimera batted the spear away, lunging forward with a speed that did not fit with its size and sunk its teeth into her leg.
Thalia cried out in pain as it felt like her leg was being sliced open with scalding, razor sharp metal. The Chimera continued to chew on her leg, with Artemis doing all she could to make the beast release her. She lashed out with her knives again and again at the monster's flesh, but the wounds seemed to have no effect on the beast. The goat's head and shake tail was making it very difficult to even get a shot in. The Hunters were doing all they could but they didn't want to shoot their mistress or Lieutenant.
Echidna laughed in the background. "You cannot harm my Sonny! He is one of my strongest children and you have no hope of defeating him!" She mocked arrogantly.
The Chimera Chomped down even harder and Thalia gasped in pain again. All of a sudden, the Chimera was flung off of Thalia. The Chimera flew up 20 feet in the air before hitting the ground with a satisfying smack. Through the pain, Thalia looked to see who saved her and she saw Percy and he was pissed.
The claws marks were oozing blood and he was covered in cuts and bruises from the fight. But the look of absolute rage on his face was terrifying. His once sea green eyes were replaced as roiling green flames were burning in his eye sockets and they promised vengeance on whoever harmed his cousin.
He looked at the Chimera who flinched at his stare. "I am going to destroy you." He said in a deadly tone that promised pain.
Quick as thought, he rushed at the monster and delivered a massive punch to its face. Reeling in shock from the unorthodox attack and from the force, the Chimera stepped backwards. It tried to swipe at Percy but Percy ducked with inhuman speed. He brought up his two swords and brought them down in a deadly arc, severing the paw from the monster in one fell swoop.
The Chimera looked at the stump where its paw was before it roared in pain. The snake tail tried to lash out and bite Percy, but his reflexes were so much quicker. He grabbed the snake's head in his head, squeezing the life out of it in his strong grip. He then plunged the snake fangs into the Chimera's shoulder, delivering the deadly poison into its own system. The Chimera was in agony now and tried one last desperate burst of fire.
It failed as Percy collected the flames in his outstretched palms. The Chimera's eyes widened in terror as it couldn't stop the stream of flames coming from its mouth.
"You like to play with fire do ya? Well let's see if your insides are as flame-proof as your outsides." Percy said in a voice filled with vengeance.
Manipulating the fire, Percy reversed the stream of flames and shot them back into the Chimera's open mouth. The Chimera's cries of pain echoed throughout the clearing as the fire stream was forced down its throat and into its body. Red-hot cracks began to form on its skin as its body was being burned from the inside out. With a final roar of agony, the Chimera exploded into ashes and dust that quickly dispersed into the wind.
The Hunters and Artemis, who finished killing off all the other monsters, were frozen in shock at how Percy was able to beat one of the strongest monsters in the Greek world. What was more frightening was how brutal he was after he saw what it did to Thalia. He was very protective of his family and would not stand by and watch them get hurt.
What the hunters did not know was that when his loyalty was broken with his other friends, his loyalty to his remaining family and friends strengthened the bond he had to them, making him want to protect them even more than he already did. To the point where he would exact retribution against any who harmed them.
Percy was breathing heavily as the flames in his eyes shifted back into regular eyeballs. That was when they heard a wail of anger. Percy had almost no time to react as Echidna barrelled right into him, knocking him down. She lashed out with her tail, striking him in the chest, before it wrapped around him and began to tighten.
"You killed him! You killed my Sonny! How dare you destroy my son! For that I will destroy you and let my children wreak havoc on you soul!" She cried out in fury.
He just glared at her, but winced from the pressure around his chest." Yeah yeah, heard it all before you big Anteater." He said sarcastically.
Here face turned a dark green and brown. "I HATE AUSTRALIA! DIE!" She shrieked.
Percy heard the sound of his ribs began to snap at the impossibly tight hold of Echidna began to tighten even further. Blood began to trickle from his mouth and he was fading fast. With the last of his strength, he summoned water from within himself and blasted her back.
Echidna hit a tree and was slightly dazed from the impact. Dripping wet, she snarled and tried to attack again but water bonds leashed themselves all over her body. She shouted out in defiance as she strained against them. Percy was struggling to contain the Mother of All monsters before he had an idea.
"Thalia! Can you summon a lightning bolt?" He called out in a strained voice.
Thalia winced in pain, but nodded her head, before closing her eyes and concentrating. The sky darkened as storm clouds formed overhead. Thunder boomed across the sky as rain fell, soaking everyone. The water was enough to heal a little of Percy's wounds and was able to strengthen the water bonds on Echidna. Lighting flashed through the sky and the Mother of All Monsters looked to the sky in fear.
"No! You cannot kill me! I am Echidna! I am the Mother of All Monsters! I am-" She was cut off as a bolt of lightning hit her, millions of volts traveling across the water bonds, making it even more deadly. She cried out in pain as the lightening arched across her body, before she exploded into golden dust.
"You are dead." Percy said. He stumbled to his feet over to where Thalia lay on the ground. Artemis was already there, checking up on Thalia's leg, and her face was grim. The hunters surrounded there fallen sister and they too had bleak expressions on their faces.
She looked up when she saw Percy approaching. "Her leg is severely damaged. The muscle is torn from the bone and the heat melted all her skin. I…I don't think we can save the leg." Artemis said with tears in her eyes.
Thalia looked like she was hit by a truck and looked ready to vomit. Percy saw her look on her face and his eyes filled with determination. He pushed past the hunters and knelt by his cousin's side. HE saw the heap of flesh that was once Thalia's leg and knew this would be difficult.
"Artemis, stand back." He commanded. The hunters glared at him.
"What do you think you can do boy? You can't save her leg don't you get it? Without her leg, she can't be in the hunt!" Phoebe hissed out, but she looked on the brink of tears. She obviously cared for Thalia and it pained to think of her fellow sister not being able to stay in the Hunter.
Percy ignored her protests and focused on the task at hand. He summoned some more water from within himself and placed it around Thalia's leg. It glowed a slight green and the look of pain on Thalia's face lessened.
"Percy, only children of Poseidon can heal with water. She's a daughter of Zeus, there no way you can-" She was cut off as Percy laid his hands on Thalia's leg. His hands then glowed a bright orange colour and imbued it with the water. Artemis watched on in amazement as the wounds in her Lieutenant's leg, slowly but surely, began to close and heal. The muscle grew back and melded itself to the bone; tendons reconnected and sank back into her flesh. Her skin went from black and blistered, to angry red, to a light pink, back to its original colour. Within minutes, all sign of the wound disappeared except for a few small, nearly unnoticeable, white marks that were from the Chimera's teeth.
Percy pulled his hands away from Thalia's leg. He was sweating profusely and his skin tone was pale. Artemis was in astonishment and Thalia was looking at her leg dumbfounded. She gingerly poked her leg and flexed it. The toes moved, the leg flexed; she struggled to her feet and found her leg was perfectly fine.
"H-how?" Thalia stuttered.
Percy took a deep breath. "The power…of the Hearth…has the power to heal…as well as harm." He gasped out, trying to get his breath back.
Artemis nodded her head, but looked at the pale Percy in concern when she saw how pale he was.
"Percy? Are you alright?" She asked worried.
Percy was about to nod his head, but his vision suddenly blurred. The adrenaline rush from the fight faded and he was hit with pain from his wounds and overwhelming exhaustion. He pushed his powers to far and now he was paying for it. He collapsed to his knees and fell to his side. He heard Artemis calling his name in a panic and felt Thalia kneeling by him, gripping his hand.
The last thing he saw, was his cousin's worried face and Artemis's silver eyes filled with panic as she called for Apollo.
He then succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness.