A/N: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Simple as that.
Chapter 19
Perci POV
Blackjack swooped into the clearing at the same time the newborns broke through the trees, startling the lead ones completely. Snorting at such a rookie mistake, I quickly decapitated one with Riptide, before hopping off of Blackjack.
"Get back in the air, we'll need to know if we miss any!" I told him, feeling my adrenaline pumping as newborns flooded the clearing, the pack charging in after a minute of newborns going down left and right, with Jacob charging in a moment later. After taking out a few newborns, I noticed one trying to get its arms around Paul, and charged over to him, using my powers to make its venom boil in its veins. Within seconds, the vampire had let go of Paul, screaming while Paul took off its head.
"Let's find a better way to celebrate getting engaged later, yeah?" I asked, looking over at him with a smile. He huffed a wolfy chuckle, before giving me a gentle nudge to head back into the fray. Smirking, I nodded, and charged another newborn, using the new trick I had just discovered to make its venom boil, taking it out with ease, before feeling a hit against my armor. Glancing up, I noticed a newborn female, that now looked very alarmed to see that there wasn't even a dent in my armor, before taking her head off with Riptide. Glancing around the clearing, I noticed only a small handful of newborns remaining, and decided to let the Cullens take care of it. It only took a few minutes before all but one newborn was killed, throwing the bodies into the flames. Suddenly, Alice let out a gasp of horror, her eyes staring at nothing in a vision.
"What is it?" Jasper asked, going to her side.
"The guard, they're coming." She said, prompting me to raise an eyebrow in interest. I hadn't met any of the Volturi before, so this might turn out interesting. Turning to make sure we had gathered up all the pieces, I noticed a female newborn cowering behind Carlisle, and pointed at her with Riptide as Paul came up to my side.
"Why is there one still alive?" I asked, biting back a smirk at seeing the newborn shake harder at the sight of Riptide pointed at her, and figured she must have seen me take out a few of her fellow newborns with it.
"She surrendered, Perci." Carlisle said, making me scoff and roll my eyes.
"So? If the Volturi guard are coming like Alice said they were, do you really think they're going to care about that? No, all they will see is a newborn that is not dead, and they will rectify that themselves. But hey, if you want to give her false hope, go for it." I said, sheathing Riptide just as Bella and Edward entered the clearing.
"They'll be here in three minutes." Alice said, prompting Carlisle to take action.
"They won't be happy about us allying ourselves with the pack, they need to get out of here." He said. I was about to protest, but Blackjack shouted a warning of a newborn coming out of the trees, just as Leah caught sight of it.
"Leah, don't!" Edward called, as I pulled out the hair clip that was my new trident and allowed it to take form, chucking it at the newborn while sending a silent prayer to Apollo and Artemis that my aim would be true. I could see a faint shimmer of silver around it, adjusting where my trident flew before the three tips impaled the newborn to a tree by the neck, the force actually severing the head from its body, just as Leah got to where it had been. Once she realized that there was no longer a vampire there, she turned to see my trident pinning its head to a tree by the neck while the body laid crumpled below it, and gave me a look that plainly read 'no fair!'.
"Go ahead back to the res guys. I'll stay to make sure things get taken care of properly and let you guys know what happens." I said, walking over to the new body, ripping my trident out of the tree and turning it back into a hair clip and putting it back in my hair while Emmett grabbed the body to burn. Sam nodded at my request, and the pack started making their way out, with Paul stopping by my side to give me a quick nuzzle before taking off with the rest of the pack. Turning back to the clearing, I smiled as I noticed Blackjack on the ground, glaring into the fire.
"'Stupid bloodsuckers didn't stand a chance, Boss.'" He said, making me giggle.
"No, they didn't. Do me a favor and keep watch from above, will you? I'll need a lift back to the reservation when this is done." I said, earning a huff from him before he grumbled, but took off anyway.
"'I expect doughnuts for this!'" He called as he took off, making me snort, shaking my head. That Pegasus was going to get fat if he continued to eat so many doughnuts.
"Less than a minute." Alice chimed, earning an eye roll from me, though I watched the section of trees I saw them focusing on as well. Sure enough, less than a minute later, four figures emerged from the treeline that I recognized from the descriptions I'd heard as Felix, the largest one, Demitri, the second tallest, and the two smallest being the twins, Jane and Alec.
"Impressive, we've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact." Jane said, surveying the size of the bonfire.
"It appears we missed an interesting fight." Alec said, actually sounding a bit disappointed.
"If you'd arrived a half hour earlier, you would have fulfilled your purpose." Edward said stiffly, and I resisted the urge to face-palm. Was he trying to get himself or Bella killed?
"Pity." Jane said, and I detected a subtle pout behind the malice dripping from her tone as she glanced at him, before she focused on Carlisle, clearly done with Edward, not that I blamed her. Then I noticed a subtle gleam in her eyes as the crimson orbs landed on the newborn I had noticed earlier.
"You missed one." She said, surprise, and a tiny bit of glee in her tone.
"We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender." Carlisle explained, making me snort. Like he had any authority to offer such a thing, even I knew how this would end for the newborn.
"That wasn't yours to offer." Jane told him coldly, before looking at the newborn, and clearly giving her a dose of her pain inflicting power.
"What is your name? Who created you?" She asked, adding the second question when the first went unanswered.
"You don't have to do that, she'll tell you what you want to know." Esme said, surprising me.
"I know." Jane responded, obviously not caring about what the Cullen matriarch had to say.
"I don't know, Riley wouldn't tell us!" The newborn gasped out, looking at Jane fearfully.
"Her name was Victoria, perhaps you knew her." Edward said accusingly, glaring at the female guard.
"Edward, if the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would have taken care of her, isn't that right Jane?" Carlisle informed the idiot, looking at Jane for confirmation.
"Of course. Caius will be interested to know that your pet is still human, but who are you?" She said, before laying eyes on me. I stood straighter, reaching for my hair clip to turn it back into a trident when Felix spoke up.
"You smell of the sea." He said simply, cocking his head in curiosity, making me smile as I pulled the clip free again and turned it back into a trident.
"I do. I apologize for not introducing myself, I am Persephone Jackson, immortal daughter of Poseidon. Based on your comment about her humanity, I assume Bella is to be turned then?" I asked, making their eyes widen, while Felix smiled slightly.
"Indeed she is, miss. Alice Cullen informed us she would be turned, and yet she remains human." Felix said, making me narrow my eyes at Alice for leaving this information out, before facing the members of the guard again.
"I was uninformed about my cousin's fate, I apologize for my ignorance." I said, trying to remember the lessons in diplomacy and politics that I was given during some of Paul's patrols about life in Atlantis as a princess.
"The fault is not yours." Alec said, giving me a kind smile.
"Indeed, Felix, please take care of the newborn. I'd like to go home, so we may inform the masters of Miss Jackson's presence here in Washington." Jane said, making the large vampire move forward, toward the now screaming newborn. Luckily for her, it was a quick death, as Felix broke her body in half with a quick snap, tossing her into the flames.
"I hope we meet again, cousin." Felix said as he passed me, making me reach out to halt his progress back to the rest of the guard.
"Who is your parent?" I asked, actually a little excited to know that demigods could be turned. I wondered if Chiron even knew this, since this would mean he had a chance of running into some of his old students again.
"I'm a son of Ares. Please give Chiron my best next time you see him, and if possible, give my father my thanks for allowing me to keep my strength upon turning." He said, making me smile.
"Of course. It was nice to see you, perhaps I will send an invitation to my wedding to you in Volterra." I told him, earning a beaming grin in response.
"I'd like that. Until next time, cousin." He said, giving a nod as the guard left the clearing.
"You could have stopped that, Perci! They would have listened if you told them not to kill her, why didn't you?!" Bella demanded, stomping up to me to get in my face, either not realizing or not caring I was still holding my trident.
"The gods do not get involved in Volturi law unless asked for guidance. It was not my decision on if that newborn lived or died, though I knew she wouldn't see sunset. Don't get pissed off at me for not saving one newborn when you don't even realize I've saved your life today. Are you aware of the fact that they don't offer second chances? It's because I called you my cousin that Jane didn't tell Felix to kill you too, and your precious Cullens wouldn't have been able to do a dam thing to stop it. So why don't you take a step back and realize who you're talking to, because while I may be your cousin, I am the daughter of a god who is very protective, and I have a very overprotective big brother. My father was known to flood cities in Greece just because a few residents displeased him. The sea cannot be restrained, Bella, just remember that next time you decide to think you've got any say over me." I told her harshly, before whistling for Blackjack and taking off the second he landed.
Once we were in the sky, I breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be away from the crazies known as the Cullens and Bella, before directing Blackjack to the reservation.
"'You alright, Boss?'" Blackjack asked, making me smile at his concern.
"I'm fine, Blackjack. Just tired of dealing with Bella thinking she has any say over what I say or do." I said, relaxing at the sight of the reservation coming into view.
"'She's a crazy one, Boss. I think you did good keeping control of your temper not to blow up on her.'" He told me. I smiled softly, rolling my eyes in amusement, before giving his neck a quick pat as he slowly began to descend toward Sam and Emily's.
"Thanks buddy, that means a lot." I told him, making him preen as he landed.
"Perci!" A chorus of voices called as there was practically a stampede to get outside while I climbed off of Blackjack, getting swept up into Paul's arms seconds later.
"You're okay, right? The bloodsuckers in charge didn't try anything did they, I'll shred them if they did." He rambled, looking me over, as if checking for injuries, while the rest of the pack just laughed quietly behind him.
"Paul, I'm fine, nothing happened. Unless you count Bella stupidly assuming shit again, but that was pretty much it." I told him, making him sigh in relief, before I told the pack exactly what happened after they left. They were relieved nothing happened, and shocked about Felix being a demigod, but that was about it.
"Now, my alibi for the battle included me spending the weekend here, so I'm gonna take Paul to camp to introduce him to everyone, and take him to Olympus to inform the council of our engagement. Does anyone have any problems with that?" I asked, and the pack collectively shook their heads, nearly every one of them smiling.
"Go ahead and kidnap him, I think the next couple days off is the least I can do for a newly engaged wolf." Sam said, grinning.
"Good, Blackjack, let's get you back to camp! I want to see who at camp threatens Paul first, and see if anyone can come up with one good enough to make him faint." I called, earning a scowl from my fiancee and laughter from the pack.
"'You got it, Boss! Climb on!'" He said, coming up beside me. I was quick to hop on, but had to spend a couple seconds convincing Paul, eventually resorting to calling him a wimp, just to get him on behind me.
"See ya, we'll tell Charlie when we get back!" I called, before giving Blackjack a nudge, prompting him to take off. Paul gasped, before holding tighter to me, not that I minded, while I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride.
"I've never traveled by Pegasus before, how long will this flight last?" Paul asked me, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the wind.
"Not long, actually. Flying by Pegasus can get you from California to New York in about two hours, believe me, I've done it." I told him, not noticing the way his eyes went wide at that information.
"'Boss, I think he's a nervous rider!'" Blackjack said, making my eyes widen as a slow smirk curled my lips.
"Are you a nervous rider, Paul?" I asked, twisting slightly to look back at him.
"No, of course not. Why would you even think that?" He asked, shifting his eyes to look anywhere but down or at me.
"Because Blackjack can sense it. Are you afraid of heights or something?" I asked, causing him to give a mild glare to Blackjack, before he nodded slowly.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Paul. It's not like it's more weird than Thalia being afraid of heights, and she's a daughter of Zeus!" I told him, making him snort as he became distracted.
"Thalia is afraid of heights? Well, that's ironic." He said, making me laugh, even as I nodded.
"I know, right? It's like me being afraid of water." I said, making him chuckle. He seemed to relax after that, and the rest of the trip was pleasant. Soon enough, Blackjack was landing on Half-Blood Hill, and we dismounted.
"You can't get through the border without permission, that's why we stopped out here." I told him, in response to his curious look, making him nod.
"I, Persephone Jackson, daughter of Poseidon give you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood." I told him, before gently tugging him through the barrier, Blackjack following on his own. As Paul's eyes widened, I smiled, taking a deep breath of the familiar scent of strawberries in the sun, and the breeze coming off the Long Island Sound. I was home, and my fiancee was here to share it with me.