Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1
Chapter 9: The Hound of Tartarus
-Outside emergency room-
The moment the surgeons had wheeled Artemis inside, Percy had made liberal use of the Mist to mask himself and strode in after them. They were competent enough but they were moving so slowly; he could tell from the way that the residents hands trembled ever so slightly as they intubated her for auto-transfusion that they had never dealt with something of this magnitude like this before. He bit back the desire to punch the operating surgeon's completely lackadaisical approach to the entire situation – he was acting as if this was nothing more than a routine cadaver dissection, rather than a real live patient! But she's not just any patient, now is she? the voices in his mind chorused. To you, she's the most important person in the world…
Percy tactfully ignored the voices and focused on the surgeon as he casually glanced her over and started working slowly, seemingly ignoring her drastically dropping blood pressure. This apathetic approach continued right up to when Artemis started flat-lining; the surgeon started manual chest compressions even as the nurses wheeled a crash trolley over. All that seemed to accomplish was send small, fading spurts of blood out of her chest. Percy shivered as her body was held down and they placed the electrodes on her – he had forgotten how grotesque it looked when the human body was electrocuted back to life. After a few more half-hearted attempts at defibrillation, the surgeon stepped back and looked at the clock.
"Looks like she's dead; bullet must have gone straight through her heart. Time of death-" He started.
Percy snapped, and wove magic around himself once more; his suit was replaced with standard issue scrubs, a surgical mask and hair net covered his face as he walked in and punched the surgeon in the face; with a grim satisfaction, he felt the man's nose shattering. "You imbecile!" he roared out, eyes already roving over her body.
'Hole is approximately half a centimetre to the left of the sternum, therefore, it should have just missed her heart, no serious damage to that organ, so therefore, all that blood has to be coming from an artery, the bullet must have nicked it on its way through her; ergo, we need to open her up.'
The scalpel seemed to almost leap into his hand. Taking a deep breath, he moved his hand, hovering precariously over her sternum, and made a precise cut, like the ones he had used to perform so many years ago. 'Retractor!' he called out; a few seconds later – a few seconds too long, his mind whispered – they were slapped into his hand. Without hesitation, he inserted them in and spread them. He held back the urge to break down as he saw her internal organs, and forced her blood to flow in the only possible way he could at the moment – internal cardiac massage. Gently, he squeezed her heart with his left hand; a tiny spurt of blood welled out of an artery, just to the side of her heart. "You, squeeze her heart," he commanded, "we need to make sure her body is as oxygenated as possible so she doesn't suffer any brain damage".
As they hesitated, looking at the surgeon he had punched in the face for instructions, he roared out, "DO IT!"
As the shocked resident moved and began to numbly squeeze her heart, Percy found a needle already in his hand; he spared the nurse a brief nod of thanks and set to work, hands and needle weaving her artery back into a whole blood vessel. After perhaps a minute of him feverishly suturing her artery back together, he stood back and relaxed minutely. It was shoddy work, he knew, nothing compared to what he could have done back when he had still been a foundation doctor, but it would do, it would hold till she got to more skilled surgeons. He glanced at the clock; only one and a bit, maybe two minutes since she had flat-lined. Good, brain cells only began to die after about three to four minutes at room temperature; therefore, her mental faculties should still be intact…hopefully…
He grabbed the electrodes.
"Charging" he called out.
He pressed them to her chest.
"Clear!"
Miraculously, she started hacking, coughing hoarsely. And then her chest began to rise and fall. Still not pausing for a second, Percy sutured her chest back together. As Percy sighed in relief and began to move away, the surgeon he'd punched earlier moved in front of him aggressively, hand clapped over his bleeding…well, he didn't exactly have much of a nose anymore. "Who are you? Who do you think you are?"
Percy levelled him with a merciless glare. "I know that I'm not an M.D – that stands for 'massive dick', by the way. I'm the man that just did you the biggest favour one doctor can do for another. I'm the person who stopped you from killing your patient. If you're not prepared to fully commit to the job, then do us all a favour, and get out, before you end up killing somebody else."
-Outside Artemis' room, a day later-
John patted his friend's shoulder awkwardly, trying not to notice the red-rimmed eyes; in all the time that they had known each other, he had never seen such an overt display of emotion – perhaps the closest prior to this had been the time Percy had thrown a CIA agent out of the window multiple times. Even then, though, his impassive mask had been fixed tightly in place, never lapsing for even a second…not like this. Calling in a favour from Hecate to weave the Mist around him, his friend had barely managed to avoid litigation for assault, wiping his intervention away from everyone in the building, save for himself and the surgeon he'd punched – leaving everyone else in the emergency operating room wondering how a restrained patient had ever managed to punch said surgeon in the nose. The pair of consulting detectives had since spent their time at Artemis' bedside, waiting impatiently for the doctors to arrive and try to bring her out of her morphine induced coma. Just in case Percy felt tempted to relapse, John subtly placed himself next to the IV stand. Seeing his friend – his best friend gazing desperately, almost tearfully at Artemis, John felt like an intruder, yet neither could he tear himself away. After all, Percy crying was the probably the equivalent of a normal person starting to enter a mental breakdown.
He cleared his throat – he had to do something to banish that awkward silence!
"So, you, uh, operated on her?" John asked him.
"Yes, didn't I tell you that before?"
"The doctors have mentioned that somehow, whilst restrained, Artemis punched her attending physician in the face."
"She's a very resourceful person."
"Was that really necessary?"
"Oh, forget him, he's an idiot." Percy snarked, eyes flicking over to the monitors she was linked up to – reading them almost hesitantly, John realised.
"How come you never told me you're an Oxford medicine graduate? And why does no one seem to know about it? With our recent Internet popularity, surely someone would have stumbled across it…"
"It never exactly came up as a topic of discussion. Molly and a few others know; Mycroft. And before you ask how I got all those degrees done in time, well, I do have a superior intellect compared against humanity in general."
"So what made you quit being a doctor? I can tell that those sutures were expertly done – you're obviously a very practised surgeon, with a sizeable amount of clinical experience seeing how quickly you acted to save her – and with your mental capacity, you could have been a brilliant doctor. What happened to make you become a detective instead?" John fired out, desperately hoping for his partner to show something – anything, other than…. than this growing listlessness.
Before Percy could say anything, the door slid open and a resident moved in, squeaking slightly as Percy fixed his eyes on him; unblinking and completely unresponsive to the resident as he tentatively said hello. "We're going to be bringing her out of the coma today" the resident squeaked out, cowering back as the door banged open; Moron (as Percy dubbed the attending physician in the ER) stormed in.
John frowned at him – this was a hospital, not a bar, and any half-baked doctor, hell, even an intern should know better than to be so unprofessional and loud in a healing environment. I can certainly see why Percy detests him, at any rate.
"I don't know what the hell you did, but no one seems to believe that you hit me." Moron shouted, before noticing John – more specifically, the way John's hand was resting on Percy's shoulder. "What do you guys call each other? Husband? Partner? Lover? You bastards make me sick."
The two demigods exchanged amused glances with each other – after all, weren't all demigods bastards? John winced slightly as Percy turned his gaze onto Moron, gaze sharpening into a murderous glower. He thought about trying to defuse the situation, before remembering that Moron had nearly killed Artemis with his incompetence, and that judging from the tension practically screaming from Percy's back muscles, he really needed something cathartic. He stepped back slightly and watched the fireworks as they exploded.
"You know, Moron, just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any more of an idiot than I already thought you were, you go ahead and do this. Did your mother not consult a doctor before you were born? Did she have no choice but to give birth to you? I can't believe that out of the millions of sperm that could have impregnated your mother, yours was the one that won the lottery."
"That was a bit harsh, don't you think?" John said mildly as Moron stormed out, body shaking, face pale after several minutes of Percy's blistering tirade. He elaborated, "He might be completely incompetent, but I doubt he'd want a dead patient on his hands."
"Cancer cells don't mean to suffocate healthy ones, they just do." Percy shrugged off, still staring at Artemis desperately.
A few minutes later, Molly burst in, having apparently heard from Moron that her 'boyfriend' had punched him in the face.
"He deserved it." Percy defended himself. "A doctor not fully committed to their job is nothing more than a liability to their patients."
Molly looked at him, the way he was gazing at the fallen goddess in a fiercely protective manner, like a mother tiger its cubs, and decided to drop the topic.
-A few hours later-
Artemis' eyes fluttered open slowly; she found herself staring up at a blank white ceiling. She winced as, almost immediately, a sudden flare of pain ignited on her chest. She hissed painfully, even as the monitors around her started beeping loudly. In her peripheral vision, she could just faintly make out Percy and John stirring from their chairs – and, she realised with a sudden cold chill, that pretty doctor she had briefly met before at Christmas, Molly, was sitting next to him, holding his hand. The next moment, Percy was standing right next to her; for a moment she read raw concern on his face, only for it to be replaced by the distant mask she had become acquainted with over the past month or so.
"How is the pain Artemis?" he asked, squeezing her hand soothingly, the way he had once done, almost a lifetime ago it seemed; in the background, she could see Molly's jaw dropping whilst John gave his partner a considering look.
She tilted her head and focused on the man's face, ignoring the pain that seemed to flare up as she saw his eyes – distant, closed off to her. "Like fire." She managed to get out. "It burns."
"That's to be expected given the fact that I – they had to cut your chest open." Percy muttered, head whipping back and forth almost feverishly to the monitors, then to her.
"How about the area around your heart, is it throbbing, or anything?"
"No." She said after a moment. Percy nodded, and after a few more minutes of questioning, had finally decided that it was safe enough to allow her some morphine. As she began to feel drowsy and he began to pull away, she tightened her grip on his hand.
"Don't go." She pleaded. After a moment, he nodded, and pulled his chair a little closer.
As the mysterious woman's eyes closed, Molly raised an eyebrow at Percy. "I see you operated on her – what happened?" she asked him, taking the direct route.
"Let's just say that the surgeon who was supposed to be working on her is a complete and utter idiot," Percy sighed, "I had to intervene."
Molly nodded, soaking in the information and asked him suddenly "Is she your girlfriend?"
"You think she's my girlfriend because I operated on her? If that's the case, there's a few hundred women back in the UK from when I was doing my obstetrics rotations…"
Molly smiled slightly as he deflected the question; she could see from the way he had so easily reverted back into his doctor persona that he really cared for this woman, whoever she was.
Maybe…
"You're an amazing detective Percy, but I think you were a better doctor." She said honestly.
The male demigod turned to look at her, still keeping Artemis in his peripheral vision, and said simply,
"Thanks".
-Unknown-
Jim Moriarty smiled as he viewed the video footage. I can definitely use this…but first, let's see how dearest Sherlock reacts to my next play…Smirk growing across his face into a full blown grin, until he could barely hold in the urge to burst into hysterical laughter, he forwarded the video onwards.
In another location, dead, icy blue eyes, similar to that of a shark's floating aimlessly through the ocean snapped towards their owner's phone.
Have fun! – JM
Slight frown creasing their brow, they started to play the video.
-British Consulate General New York-
Mycroft looked up from his laptop as Percy suddenly rose out of the shadows in front of him. "What do you want?" The elder Holmes asked.
"Moriarty declared war on me, that's what happened" Percy snarled out.
"He took the fight to my companions, made it personal. What I want, Mycroft, is your complete assistance."
The elder Holmes' eyes narrowed as he studied his sibling. "Very well, if we don't remove him now, he'll grow to become a bigger threat anyway one day. Have a seat, and brother dear, do tell me everything if you want my assistance."
Percy pulled over a chair and said, "Jim Moriarty is…"
-New York Residence -
It had been about a month since Artemis had been shot, three weeks since she had been discharged from the hospital, and two weeks since Percy had felt comfortable enough to allow her outside of their house. During the time that she had spent confined in his house, Percy had made it his personal mission to educate her on the wonders of technology, especially the Internet, and after the initial few stumbling blocks, she had taken to it right away. To his great pleasure and surprise once she had started joining himself and John on their cases, some of their deductive prowess seemed to be rubbing off on her; she was certainly much more perceptive than she had been before.
Artemis looked up from her laptop as Percy stormed in and did a double take. "You walked here across half of New York like that?" John asked as he took in his partner's appearance: bloodstained face and shirt, matted hair and an incongruously crisp pair of business trousers – classic symptoms of sheer boredom.
And, incongruously, holding a bloodstained harpoon.
"None of the cabs would take me!" He snarled out; Artemis couldn't help but feel her lips quirking up in amusement as she saw his petulant glower.
-Half an hour-
Percy was petulantly walking around the living room, glaring outside at the suburbia every few minutes or so. "Look at it," he said despondently the fiftieth time he was standing at the window, "Calm, peaceful….quiet…it's so…monotonous…"
A stabbing pain shot through his head; Percy winced, gingerly feeling his head. For some reason, he'd been having some pains in his head lately…moving with a sudden energy that belied his previous lethargy, Percy jumped onto the coffee table and crouched on it, staring at John, harpoon still in hand.
"John, I need some, get me some!"
To his credit, John's composure never wavered despite the harpoon being brandished in his face. Nonchalantly turning the page of his newspaper, the son of Apollo made his reply rather short.
"No."
"Get me some!"
"No!"
Percy screamed and drew back his arm, Artemis dived behind her armchair, whilst John remained perfectly still; Percy threw the harpoon into the wall.
"I need a case!' he howled out.
"You've just solved one! By, harpooning a pig, apparently!" Artemis shouted back, wincing as she felt her side; there was definitely going to be some light bruising there in the morning.
"That was this morning!" He whined, pacing back to the window.
"When's the next-" Percy broke off as his senses suddenly screamed that some divine beings were outside his front doorstep – demigods, judging from the strength of their auras. Maybe they have something interesting, he hoped as he bounded towards the front door, suddenly brimming with an endless fervour. Not checking to see who his visitor was, he opened the door, lips curling into what was supposed to be a charming smile. Said smile immediately shrivelled and died as he recognised the four people there to see him – well, to be honest, there was only one person he was displeased to see.
"You three, get in, you, get out." He snarked and walked back in, leaving the door open.
As Thalia and Phoebe made small talk with Artemis, and, reluctantly, John, the other two visitors – Nico and Will Solace were looking at Percy, completely nonplussed at the way he cradled his legs, assuming the foetal position, rocking back and forth.
"Did…we come at a bad time?" Solace asked his demigod brother tentatively.
"No, in fact you had perfect timing" John said in reply.
"Percy, this is getting a bit embarrassing now…" he trailed off as he realised Percy was now playing Minesweeper on his laptop. Sighing, John grabbed the man's MacBook Pro and snapped it firmly shut.
"They wouldn't have come if it wasn't urgent."
"The world stands on the brink of destruction every day; if people just accepted that, then they'd live a much more carefree life!" The son of Poseidon pouted, reluctantly seating himself.
"I think twenty times my normal rate will do." He shot at his visitors. John delicately raised an eyebrow at him.
You don't have a normal rate, he pointed out.
I know, remind me to make one up before they leave, Percy beamed back. The Son of Poseidon turned his attention back to his 'clients' just in time to see them gaping.
"Y-you want more money?" Phoebe shouted at him.
"I don't want money, but it pays the bills" the demigod shrugged back, fingers steepling into the prayer position. "Now what do you want?" he demanded. As she opened her mouth, Percy wagged his finger at her.
"No, not you" he admonished, turning to Thalia expectantly; after a few seconds of quiet chuckling, she regained her composure and looked at him seriously.
"We were sent to investigate-"
"Mmm, not interested. Moving on,"
"- the activity of monsters around L.A. –"
"Go contact the Roman demigods, I'm busy." Percy sighed, moving towards the kitchen.
"I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight!"
"And maybe we would, if they were in any condition to help." Thalia sighed; the only signs of her irritation were her fists clenching and the tiny sparks that started to dancing around her. Percy paused as he opened the fridge door, waiting expectantly.
Sensing that he was hooked, Thalia continued, "They were attacked yesterday by an army of monsters."
"That's what demigods do, they get attacked by monsters for no reason other than because they exist – so do get to the point, Thalia."
"From what we've managed to glean from Jason and Piper, the army was led by something huge: coal-black fur, with glowing red eyes….."
"Hellhound?" John suggested.
"Or a genetic experiment." Percy shrugged, turning back to his pizza.
Ducking his head inside, he called out, "Do you want pepperoni or not, John, Artemis?"
"Are you laughing at us, Percy?" Solace demanded.
"Why, are you joking?"
"I'm not sure you can help us, Percy, since you find this all so funny." Will growled out, standing up. Thalia shook her head at the son of Apollo and motioned for him to sit back down.
"When we got the call for aid, the gods flashed us to Camp Jupiter as fast as possible…" Thalia paused and shivered, which caused Percy to suddenly focus on her – she was one of the most fearless people she knew, so this definitely piqued his interest. "…the army was gone by the time we got there, so we just assisted in the clean-up and treating the wounded…but when we were examining the battlefield…we found footprints."
"Yes, Thalia, generally things with feet leave footprints, they could mean anything, therefore, nothing. Now if you're done wasting our time, there's the door." he sighed, about to spin around and go back to the fridge.
"Percy, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" She shouted at him. The male demigod paused, foot still half-raised in the air. Slowly, he turned back, eyes suddenly darkening into a murderous gleam.
"Say that again." He whispered softly.
'We went to Camp Jupiter to help out-'
"No, your exact words, exactly as you said not a minute ago." He interrupted, jumping onto the coffee table so that he was right in front of her.
"What. Did. You. Say"'
She blinked at his sudden proximity, and said slowly, "They…were the footprints…of a gigantic…hound."
"Size of the footprints." He demanded, "How large were they?"
Thalia hesitated, glancing back at Nico, who spoke up, "We didn't measure them, but they were at least as large as Cerberus', if not more."
Cerberus never leaves the Underworld, therefore, he could not have made those tracks, and in any case, he is loyal to the Olympians, and I don't see my uncle ordering him to attack Camp Jupiter for no reason, Percy frowned. It couldn't be…but if it is…
"Said Hound also managed to incapacitate most of the gods defending Camp Jupiter and New Rome." Thalia added, sensing that his interest was well and truly piqued. "Hazel, Frank, Reyna…even Piper couldn't take it down."
"I'll help you hunt it down and find it.' He announced.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, it seems very promising."
Percy, what's going on?, John sent out, just as Artemis beamed over to him.
A minute ago, these footprints were boring; now they're very promising?
Ignoring both of them, Percy strode to his room, and shouted back to them, "Yes!"
Long since resigned to his habit of deflecting questions, they sighed and went to their rooms to pack.
-Camp Jupiter-
John looked around them; just like Thalia had said, massive, unmistakeably canine footprints dotted the earth on the Field of Mars. They were enormous; John estimated that whatever hound made those prints could easily quash Percy's New York house – the depth of those prints was at least one metre! He frowned as he saw that the tracks abruptly stopped as they reached the Little Tiber.
"What do you make of these tracks?" Percy asked, looking directly at Artemis.
She shrugged, and bent down a little closer to study the footprints, delicately inhaling through her nose.
"Nothing you don't already know," she said finally, "A huge canine creature was here, then it disappeared after facing down Jason and Piper."
"Brilliant," he told her. At her frown, he added, "Really. I mean, you missed almost everything of importance, but well done."
She sighed and flapped her hand at him.
"Get it over with."
He pointed across the Little Tiber. "What do you see?"
"Flat bare ground, but I don't think that's what you wanted me to see."
"Actually, that's exactly what I wanted you to see. Now, even for a hound the size of Cerberus, a leap across the Little Tiber wouldn't be enough to carry it out of sight; therefore, it must have left tracks after passing through the Tiber. A glance at the land across the river, however, shows us no tracks at all. Thus, we can safely conclude that the hound we are pursuing has a method of travel similar to that of flashing. Artemis, you got shot through the chest, not through the brain," He sighed, "You're better than this."
The former goddess bristled at the reminder of how very close she had come to death and was about to shout at him when she remembered what John had said to her a few weeks ago when he had forced Percy out of the house on a case, citing that it was 'unhealthy and frankly a bit creepy' that he hadn't left her bedside since the shooting.
Artemis raised an eyebrow at John as he checked for the fifth time that Percy was gone. "What did you need to say to me that you couldn't with him here?" she asked, gratefully accepting the Ibuprofen John offered her.
"I know that…the two of you have your issues," he said tentatively as she focused her gaze on him, "And I have no intention of getting involved in them, it is after all none of my business, but as his friend, and, I hope, yours, I won't let you two continue to hurt each other by continuing…whatever it is that's happening between the two of you."
"I hurt him?" she said incredulously.
"I'm sorry, Watson, but he was the one that said we were colleagues, not friends," She said coldly, "I didn't choose for us to be estranged."
"He said that?" John said in surprise.
"I thought, because of…" he trailed off as he remembered how Percy had told him, in no uncertain terms, to not tell Artemis about how he had operated on her. She deserves to know, though, he mused.
"Because of what?" She demanded.
"I thought…I thought, well, I suppose it's a bit ridiculous, but I was under the impression that the two of you were very good friends ten years ago…and even now."
"People change," Artemis shrugged, silver eyes piercing her nephew, "But that wasn't what you were going to say."
John hesitated, he could imagine Percy being angry at him if he ever found out about him telling her…but on the other hand, Artemis had more than earned her reputation as a man hating goddess, and judging from the way she was glaring at him, she wouldn't take kindly to any deflections. Almost as if she had infiltrated his mind, she casually pulled out her knives, pointing them at his nether regions.
John gulped, and cracked. "The person who operated on you and saved your life wasn't me like he told you…it was him."
Artemis blinked in surprise at the confession, momentarily taken aback. "That changes nothing, he was just doing his duty," she rationalised. "I doubt even he would want Zeus angry at him."
"Which explains, of course, why he was crying right afterwards when he called me and why he nearly fell apart after operating on you. Trust me, he cares for you," John reasoned.
"Look, I don't know what happened between the two of you – it's not my place to interfere, like I said before, but as his, and, I hope, your friend, I would appreciate it if the two of you kept your disagreements in private and keep from making me mediate between the two of you."
Artemis frowned. Did she consider Watson a friend? Certainly, she got on well with him, and he had been quite kind to her during her stay…so yes, she thought that they might well be on the road to becoming friends. As John awkwardly cleared his throat and returned to his own work, she found herself lightly tracing the thin line along her sternum. She vividly remembered that the last thing she saw before falling unconscious that day was him peering down at her, eyes wide in shock, with just the faintest hint of moisture welling out of those oceans. And Watson said that he had nearly fallen apart after she had gotten shot? A tentative smile grew on her face. Perhaps their relationship – whatever it was now – was still salvageable. She hoped so, despite the pain and bitterness between them now, she couldn't imagine a life without him in it. No, she thought, rather, a life without him in it isn't one worth living.
"She got shot?" Phoebe shouted.
"How incompetent can you be?"
"I wasn't aware you could pronounce polysyllabic words." Percy deflected, wincing as the gory image of her helpless body, bleeding out right in front of him, rose to the forefront of his mind again.
"And she's fine now, is she not?" he said roughly, fingers reaching into his pocket, curling around the plastic bottle he kept there for emergencies. He couldn't get that image of Artemis out of his head; his breath caught – the colours were so vibrant, even the rushing of the Tiber made him feel like he was standing next to the Reichenbach Falls. Before he could take out the bottle, John's face suddenly bloomed across his entire vision.
"Percy, focus on my face," He said, in that gentle yet firm voice near-patented by doctors, "Breathe slowly."
For the first time in a very long time, Percy decided to follow his doctor's instructions. Thanks, he nodded at John as his panic attack melted away. At a pointed glance from John, he reluctantly uncurled his fingers around the bottle, and started moving towards the Tiber, ignoring the startled looks that everyone else was sending him.
Yes, it is most definitely capable of flashing, or an equivalent…so it would be impossible to track it down on foot…however…Extending his senses, Percy tried to sense for any monsters…lots of them crawling around near the Caldecott Tunnel…but I don't sense a strong aura that a monster that size should be giving off…monsters tend to be much stronger at night, therefore, if this hound is indeed leading the army, it's likely that it'll appear then.
-Campsite in the middle of the Field of Mars-
"Make dinner!" Artemis demanded as she stood in front of Percy; he glanced up at her for a few seconds from his book – a rather fascinating read on biochemistry. He took a few brief moments to admire her angrily flushed, beautiful face, gaze lingering just below her collarbone for a moment, where a razor thin line stretched down her sternum. Even now, he still felt guilt whenever he looked at her; he had failed in his duty and she had very nearly paid the price for it. Quickly, he pressed his hand against his left coat pocket, relaxing as he realised his supply was still there. Only for emergencies, he reminded himself.
"Why should I?"
"Because you can magic it up." She pointed out.
"Yes. And as I recall, I told you that I'm not going to be your slave. If you want me to do things for you, then pay me."
The male demigod yelped as she snatched the book from his hands.
"I'm not giving that back until you make dinner." She threatened.
As he started to relent, Phoebe sneered out, "Why do you even bother with him, my Lady? He's nothing more than a burned out hero-"
Last I checked, people's physical peak only ends in their early thirties, and I'm twenty…I don't know my exact age…twenty something this year, Percy confided to the others, who were looking at Phoebe, completely stunned at her blistering tirade.
"- who abandoned us in our time of need-"
Like I was Olympus' lapdog, running at its every beck and call, he continued snarking; their lips twitched in amusement.
"- he is a disgrace and an embarrassment-"
"That's enough!" Yelled out Thalia, and, surprisingly, Artemis. Percy's gaze sharpened and focused on her left hand, absent-mindedly touching her sternum. She KNOWS?, he panicked. He turned to John, who was smirking at him.
Judas! Why did you let her know? John shrugged and beamed over.
Well I certainly wasn't going to let her believe that incompetent saved her life.
Percy frowned at John as Thalia dragged Phoebe off for a 'chat'. He frowned as he noticed a light fog slowly rising out of the forest, only vaguely aware of Artemis standing in front of him, her mouth moving. Temperature differential between dew point and ambient air is far too high, so not a natural fog…why does it seem so familiar?, He wondered.
His eyes widened as he realised where he had seen this fog, this very particular fog once before; he rose and started running towards it as fast as he could, ignoring the others behind him shouting in surprise, plunging recklessly into the forest depths. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of something that might have been bare black fur, and he redoubled his pace. He growled as he realised that somehow, incredibly, whatever he was chasing was still outrunning him, and pulling away; abruptly, it vanished without a sound as Percy shot into a large clearing. Without so much as batting an eyelid, Percy swivelled and dived behind a nearby tree, drawing Riptide and his baton out.
Ha, like it'll help you hide from something the size of a seven forty seven, mind-John snarked.
A low growl sounded throughout the clearing; he could see ominously flashing red orbs, the length of his body in diameter, glaring straight at him. As the fog slowly cleared, his baton and Riptide fell from his suddenly nervous fingers. WE HAVE TO GET AWAY FOM IT, WE MUSTN'T LET IT GET US! IT IS HIM!, his mind shrieked out at him; for once, the voices were all in unison. He's here…he's coming…
"Are you alright?" Artemis asked Percy, whose lightly tanned face had suddenly paled. She stepped a little closer, trying to get a better look at his face, when he suddenly stood up and bolted for the woods at a such a speed that she was sure he could have outrun a speeding bullet.
"Wait!" she called out, blurring into motion herself. She snarled, exerting her powers over the wilderness; the trees and animals parted before her as she continued forward. She nearly tripped as two noises almost simultaneously sounded: a most definitely canine howl…and a cry of terror, that could only have come from a human…Percy, she realised. As she burst into a clearing, she could just barely make out an ominous black silhouette fading away, but the majority of her attention was drawn to the figure prone on the ground: Percy.
She bit back a gasp as she caught sight of his face: a pale pasty green that reminded her faintly of vomit. Artemis suddenly gasped as she felt the overwhelming urge to void her bowels as she glanced back at where the hound was, directly into its eyes even as it continued to fade away into nothingness. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally faded away; the painful icy grip of raw, unadulterated fear on her loosened its grasp and she began to breathe again. Her eyes widened as she gave the clearing a brief glance: no prints on the ground at all, nothing to indicate that the hound had been actually there…had it not been for the evidence of her own eyes, her body's betrayal of her, and Percy lying prone on the ground.
She slipped her arms around the male demigod and awkwardly hoisted him – he's so light, she mused in concern. As she set back to camp, she found herself glancing again at his face, now covered with a thin sheen of sweat, and felt a painful tug in her heart as he let out a moan stricken with agony. What did that hound do to my Percy?
-Tartarus, over ten years ago-
Percy glanced back at Annabeth as they loped behind Iapetus and Damasen towards the elevator – the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. It would be so easy to just kill her now…she's most definitely a traitor, but if I kill her now, the two of them will most likely attack me and slow me down…and for some reason, she's still involved with the prophecy…one way or another. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind of sombre thoughts, at least for the moment, but casually dropped his hand to Riptide anyway…just in case.
For a few moments, he thought that they were all going to make it, that if they could just get to the elevator door, then maybe he could jam the button with Iapetus' spear…obviously, he wasn't exactly a great judge of character when it came to Chase, but he knew that the Titan and the Giant loping ahead of them were no threat to the Olympians.
No, it's more than that…they're my friends. We are friends. Bonded by trauma, he told himself. He smiled.
"It looks like we're going to get out of this stinking pit after all-"He broke off as he felt-rather-than-saw the shadows warping in front of the elevator, coalescing into a single mass.
"Stinking? Stinking pit?" A hollow voice whispered, rolling across the plains. For a moment, the group of four were perfectly still in the silence that ensued – even the monsters ceased their wailing for several seconds.
Then a roar echoed throughout Tartarus: "STINKING PIT?"
Percy flinched as he beheld the being standing in front of the Doors: at around forty metres in height, it was far taller, far greater than any other deity he had met to date. Slowly, the figure shrank until it was perhaps only two and a half metres tall. Clad in a black plate armour, similar to that of a medieval knight's, he could faintly see a swirling darkness inside the slits of its visor, a darkness that he knew could swallow his entire being if it was so inclined. It spread its taloned hands, a low chuckle escaping its mouth, a trickle that cascaded into a pounding waterfall.
"After so long, I have finally created a vessel for myself…so this is the manifestation of my power. So this is all that opposes me from joining my consort Gaea in the mortal world once our children have destroyed the gods. So this is you, Perseus Jackson, The Mortal God, The Supreme Demigod of the Modern Era. You're less impressive than I expected."
Tartarus himself. Percy licked his lips. 'How…how do you know my name?' he stalled, making little gestures with his hands for Iapetus and Damasen…and Chase, he thought with a flash of fury, to cut the chains on the Doors.
"All who live in this pit know your name, all who have tasted your blade were sent here in death" it rumbled. As the primordial stepped towards him, closer and closer, he could feel an ever-growing need to void his bowels. What a way to go that would be, he snarked, slowly, trembling, raising Riptide. He vaguely noticed that behind the armoured figure, the chains had just snapped away from the Doors. Excellent. Although initially paralysed like himself, Damasen and Iapetus moved forward, circling the being – the traitor, he noticed, was pathetically feigning an attack from behind.
'If she was really serious about making a stealth attack, she wouldn't have let that drakon bone sword drag on the ground', his mind pointed out. Tartarus took another step towards him.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Then, as it lifted its left foot upwards, Iapetus snapped his spear outwards, in a manoeuvre that he doubted even Thalia could replicate, stabbing it deep into Tartarus' side.
At the same time, Small Bob leapt out of the Titan's shirt, growing as he flew through the air into a massive saber-toothed tiger. It swept its claws across the primordial's breastplate, sending Tartarus skidding backwards a few metres. It – he – must not be used to having a physical form, Percy reasoned as Damasen levelled his lance and charged forward at his father atop his Maeonian drakon.
"ENOUGH!" The primordial roared, stomping his foot; in an instant, the Titan and the Giant were blown away like leaves before an autumn storm, sent crashing solidly into the Doors as a wave of pure force erupted around Tartarus. Percy shivered and moved forward.
How can you fight him, when even they could not?, his mind mocked. How can you stand against one who has endured since the beginning of time?
Because I made a promise that I would see them out of Tartarus with me.
A promise? To who, Jackson, do tell, his mind sneered.
Oh, shut up, he told himself.
No one…I just swore…to my soul! And, having said that, he charged forward right at Tartarus.
"Do you truly mean to fight me, boy?" The spirit of the abyss mocked as it swung its taloned hands forward, catching Riptide with ease.
Tartarus snapped out his leg, forcing the demigod to hop back several metres.
"Allow me to show you what happens to those who oppose me." He rumbled, fingers reaching out to Iapetus. Percy felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"NO!" he screamed out, moving forward – whatever it was the primordial was going to do, he knew it wouldn't be healthy for the Titan. Although he was faster than any Olympian athlete could even dream of being, he knew that he wouldn't make it in time…luckily, he didn't need to, because just as the being's talons delicately kissed Iapetus' face, drawing thin rivulets of blood, the drakon's tail slammed right into Tartarus' torso, sending him stumbling backwards.
In an instant, Percy changed direction, and without hesitation, drove Riptide through the being's armour; golden ichor began gushing out of the primordial's body as he stabbed it a few more times just to be safe. Impossibly, incredibly, the primordial was still somehow feebly struggling to rise.
"Let's go!" Percy roared, scrambling for the elevator with the others – Chase, he noticed cynically, seemed to have collapsed. How very…pathetic, he mused, wondering whether he could get away with kicking her into the elevator. Whether he could have was a moot point, because the next moment, a sudden chill, an overpowering fear swamped his entire body as a lifeless grey mist suddenly fogged his vision – even the moment when Tartarus had blasted Damasen and Iapetus didn't compare to this sudden, primal terror that gripped every bit of his body.
"Destroy them, my Hound!" Tartarus boomed.
A howl erupted behind him, as he slowly turned himself around. He barely glimpsed whatever it was – a flash of black fur, monstrous, glowing red orbs filled with hatred, promising death…the force of the Hound's paw swipe sent him and Chase skidding backwards into the Door.
In response, as one the Titan and the Giant retaliated with a wave of pure force that, despite being able to send humans flying back hundreds of metres – which he could attest to from personal experience – barely moved the gigantic Hound back a few metres; momentarily stunned, the Hound swayed back and forth uncertainly, yelping as Not-So-Small-Bob and the drakon leapt onto it and started biting, slashing away with their claws…Percy's view of the spectacle was cut off as Iapetus moved protectively in front of himself and Chase, jamming the button with his spear.
"Tell the sun and the stars hello for me." The Titan said, half-turning to face the Hound and its master.
"I- I can't." Percy babbled, feeling moisture gathering in his eyes, knowing that this was quite possibly the last time that they would ever see each other alive.
"Yo- I, friend-"
"GO!" Iapetus roared at him, tears trickling out of his eyes.
"We are expendable, but you, you must live!"
Percy looked at the Titan – really looked at him. His lustrous, silver Einstein spiked hair had dulled into a steely grey, Percy realised with a shock as he took in the rest of the Titan's face: large black bags sagging under his eyes, his face was gaunt, haunted, with his cheekbones sharply prominent against his skin. Somehow, in that brief moment of contact, Tartarus had sucked the vitality out of Iapetus.
A chill ran down his spine as he sensed how weak the Titan's aura had suddenly become, and as he saw Tartarus incredibly getting to his feet – it wouldn't be much longer before the primordial had recovered enough to kill them all. After a long moment, the demigod nodded.
"I will save you, I swear it." he whispered as he threw Chase inside the elevator, grimly satisfied as she crashed into the wall.
As the elevator doors opened in the House of Hades, Percy glanced up at the lonely stars, twinkling in the night sky, and whispered…
"Bob says hello."
-Present day-
Artemis gazed down at Percy's face as he continued tossing and turning intermittently. It looked…tormented, she decided. There were so many furrows and frown lines creasing his brow she thought – how she wished she could smooth them all away. Artemis frowned to herself.
Where in the world did that come from? When had she started thinking of him as "hers"?
"My Lady, what happened out there?" Phoebe asked respectfully, a little red-faced from embarrassment after Thalia's chewing out. Around her, Thalia, Angelo, Solace and Watson looked on expectantly for her tale.
"We saw it. A gigantic…Hound" Artemis replied, shivering as she remembered the apparition looming over the two of them.
"It…it was like nothing I've ever seen before," she continued, "It was…it was like Hades was present with his Helm of Darkness."
"Are you suggesting that my father had something to do with this?" Nico scowled.
"No, because I know for a fact that he would not risk the death of his Roman daughter. But that feeling…I've only ever felt like that when in the presence of Hades with his helm on-"
Artemis broke off as Percy suddenly stiffened, breathing deeply. Her eyes widened as he started thrashing around in his sleeping bag even more than before; she feared that said bag might very well get torn through his sheer strength if they didn't wake him up.
"Watson!" She called out.
"Help me-" she snarled as the male demigod's flailing fist clipped her jaw; in response she pinned it down, trying to hold him still.
"Wake him up!" She ordered.
"Pour some water on him!"
Mere seconds after John had dumped icy cold water from the Tiber on Percy, the soaking wet demigod stilled; his eyes opened, staring up blankly at the night sky. After a few moments, they refocused on Artemis.
"You…you saw it too?" he rasped out, gratefully accepting a drink of water from John. Artemis nodded, then stopped halfway through the process of lifting her head up, worried at the sudden pensiveness that had settled on her…colleague-friend.
Abruptly, Percy scowled to himself and dug his hand into his coat pocket as he walked away, tossing over his shoulder.
"Thanks for bringing me back to camp."
"Where are you going?" John called after him, gaze zeroing in on the hand Percy had in his coat pocket.
"I need some air."
John cursed under his breath and followed his friend as he stalked off, giving Artemis an apologetic glance.
"And this is the man who's supposed to-" Phoebe began, before promptly being slapped by Thalia, who was now quite literally a human lightning rod.
"I don't know what your problem is, but for the last time, Percy's leaving did not kill the Hunt!" She shouted at her subordinate.
"It wasn't his responsibility to defend the Hunt back then – it was mine! So if you want to blame someone, blame me, blame any of the other immortal campers, but don't you dare carry a grudge against him for something that he wasn't responsible for!"
Clearing his throat, Nico passed around some rations bars for dinner; in the awkward silence that ensued, nobody noticed Artemis had slipped off behind the pair of consulting detectives.
I don't have long, John's going to be here any second now, Percy panicked as he unscrewed the bottle and delicately picked out one of the anti-depressant pills inside. As he raised it towards his mouth, running just a little ahead of schedule, John slapped it out of his hand, ripping the bottle away from him the next moment.
"What did I say about using them?" John said in a calm, controlled voice that let Percy know he was absolutely furious.
"Not to." Percy said grudgingly.
"Now give them to me."
"NO!" John shouted.
"You think I haven't noticed you taking one every few hours every day since she got shot? You need to deal with this Percy, and using happy drugs is not the answer!"
"That's easy for you to say, you're not haunted by the body of someone you care about bleeding out right in front of your eyes!" Percy roared back, eyes flashing murderously. He instantly regretted it as he remembered just who he was talking to.
'"I don't, huh? I suppose that all those soldiers I saw die, on the battlefield, on the operating table, they were nothing, huh?" John said too-calmly.
"I saw them die Percy, saw them die thinking that they died for nothing," He laughed hollowly, "And you know what? I think they were right," he admitted, before his voice hardened into steel, "But I didn't take drugs to manage it; nor should you, especially with your past drug history."
"I'm sorry." Percy told him, letting himself slide down against a tree, "I just-"
"I'm not finished."
"What do you want from me?"
"I don't know Percy, but I'm worried about you. I don't know how many times I can watch you cut off pieces of yourself like this. One day you're going to be in the ICU, then it'll be the morgue. You're miserable, and you're angry at yourself for not detecting that sniper, and I want you, to actually deal with that, and not just try to ignore it or medicate it away."
"You know what I feel right now? I don't feel miserable or angry, feel good or bad, I feel…nothing. It feels great."
John looked on at his friend sadly, pocketing his pills.
"Percy, please…" He pleaded.
The other male demigod cleared his throat, feeling awkward at being so vulnerable, even in front of John, and said, 'Let's go inspect that clearing for cl-'. He swivelled around, catching a hint of silver. 'I know you're there, Artemis' he sighed. 'You can come out now.'
Reluctantly, the former goddess stepped out from behind the tree she had used as cover.
"You never told me that you had a drug problem." She said slowly.
"It never exactly came up as a topic of discussion." He shrugged.
And I don't need your pity.
She looked at him – really looked at him, truly seeing him for the first time in over ten years. He looked…beaten. Her eyes narrowed as she detected a few grey hairs here and there about his head, the frown lines that only seemed to have become more pronounced…and inferring from what Watson had said, he'd only started spiralling downwards like this after she had been shot?
"Let's go look at that clearing." he said, determinedly not meeting her eyes – he didn't think that he could take the disappointment they would almost certainly have…angry, accusing…just like the silver eyes that, without fail, greeted him whenever he woke up.
-The Clearing-
"There are no prints here, Holmes." Phoebe pointed out; to her surprise, the consulting detective in question completely ignored her, face still a little pale as he looked around the clearing. She frowned as she saw the man trembling – despite her hatred of him she still respected his power…especially after those thrashings he had regularly given her whilst Artemis had still been a goddess.
No prints, nothing to suggest at all that it was actually here, other than the fog and our reactions to it…but I saw it with my own eyes…
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE, WE NEED TO GET AWAY, HE IS COMING, IT IS HIM!, his mind screamed out.
"Shut up." He mumbled to himself as he stumbled around the clearing. As the others watched him in confusion, John, and, surprisingly Artemis, walked over to him and drew him aside.
"Percy, are you sure you didn't just hallucinate-" John started.
"She saw it too." Percy pointed at Artemis, who nodded in confirmation.
"We saw it, John. The Hound!" He said in a strangled whisper.
John reached out to steady his friend; he was swaying so much that John feared he might fall into a dead faint.
"Look, Percy, we have to be rational about this, OK? Now you, of all people…" He hesitated, and changed tack, "Let's just stick to what we know, shall we? Stick to the facts" He said instead, gesturing around at the clearing.
"No footprints on the ground, and the hound we're chasing after is the size of a jumbo jet.." Je stopped, eyes widening in disbelief as he saw how Percy was shivering even more now, mind torn in half between the past and the present, "Take it easy," He said softly, "You've been pretty wired lately, you know you have. I think you've just gone out there and got yourself a bit worked up."
"Worked…up?" Percy hissed out; his trembling seemed to have stabilised at least. He laughed hollowly.
"Look at me John. I'm afraid." He bit out.
"For a long time now, I've been able to divorce myself from feelings…but my body's betraying me now. Interesting things, yes? Emotions – the grit on the lens, the antagonist of clear reasoning."
"You should probably calm down." Artemis said soothingly, placing a hand on her colleague-friend's shoulder, remembering how she had used to pacify him whenever he had a panic attack so long ago. What Artemis was not prepared for, though, was the way he immediately stiffened under her touch – oddly, she felt a painful knot twisting in her stomach at his unease around her.
"There is nothing wrong with me, do you understand?" He hissed at them, taking deep breaths.
"You want me to prove it, yes? OK, fine, where shall we start? How about them?" He spat out, words almost stumbling over each other as he swivelled and pointed at Will Solace.
"Is he a surgeon? The answer's yes! 'How the hell do you know that Percy?' Because of his hands – well muscled from training and using a bow and sword, but surprisingly soft for a warrior, wouldn't you say? Their smell as well – from that, you can tell he's been using the beeswax lotion used by doctors to protect and moisturise their hands to keep them from being dry from latex gloves and repeat washings in the hospital, so, not too much of a leap then to say that he's a surgeon, or at least a doctor of some kind. Now, as for Thalia – she's a fan of the New York Times, yes? Yes! Why? Because she has newspaper ink smudges on her fingers, very distinctive ones I might add; and as for why it's the New York Times, I saw her folding it into her bag when she arrived at our house, and that's not cheating, that's observing, I use my senses, unlike some people – I could go on more and more, but I think I've made my point now, so just leave. Me. Alone." He growled out, not noticing that his voice had gradually risen in volume throughout his monologue until he had been practically shouting, drawing concerned looks from the others.
John and Artemis looked away from the furious demigod; as a result, they didn't register him wincing slightly and raising a hand to his head.
It's getting worse.
"As the Hound was leading an army of monsters against Camp Jupiter, and the first attack was unsuccessful, then it stands to reason that it would make a reappearance tonight." He ground out, hating how his tongue seemed to be resisting him.
"And what makes you say that" Artemis challenged. Percy stood up and pointed in the direction of camp; in the awkward silence that had fallen in the clearing, the clanging of weapons clearly reached them.
"Oh."
As one, they bounded for the camp; Percy spat out frantically:
"The Hound is a creature from the depths of Tartarus; its sheer presence induces fear that I can only describe as mind bending. From what I remember in my brief encounter with it in Tartarus…"
-Camp Jupiter, Field of Mars-
The Hound roared at Jason Grace, rearing up on its haunches and swiping downwards with its front paws; Jason flew up, paws missing him by mere centimetres, and tried to strike down with his gladius, only to freeze up, his blade dropping from suddenly nerveless fingers as the Hound flared its aura at him. It was so strong that, even without being the direct target of its assault, Artemis and the rest of the party, save for John and Percy stumbled – John because he was a trained soldier, Percy because despite his fear, right now, he was far too angry to be afraid. Still, if he was going to go up against the Hound up close, he would need some insurance… unnoticed by anyone, his hand slipped inside the breast pocket of his shirt.
The Hound roared, and pounced, only to be hammered by gale force winds that stopped it dead in the air. Grimacing and clenching his fist, the young god unknowingly tried to do what his sister had done to Hyperion a while back – he tried to remove all the air around the Hound to suffocate it, then suddenly relinquish his grasp over the wind to smash it into oblivion. Sadly, the simple logistical fact of the Hound being the size of seven forty seven escaped the young god; caught up in trying to wrap an airless bubble around the Hound, he received a paw swipe for his troubles that smashed him halfway across the camp, forming a crater two metres deep and five metres in diameter.
It was to this that Artemis and the others found themselves bursting in upon; out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hol-Percy trembling a little. For a moment, she briefly thought of reaching out to comfort him, help him steady his nerves. Then the Hound turned and roared. With the ease born of millennia of practice, she called her bow to her and began to fire, along with Thalia and Phoebe; their combined onslaught seemed as a silvery purging rain falling down from the heavens upon a grotesque denizen of Hell – more specifically in this case, Tartarus.
The Hound seemed to be chuckling – a low, rolling growl that resounded throughout camp like a gong of death. Then it flared its aura, mist suddenly rolling off its skin in vast spurts that oddly reminded her of blood pouring out of a human body. And then the screaming began.
Percy scowled as Not-Thalia collapsed into a foetal position, screaming – couldn't she at least have the courtesy to scream somewhere else, or at least when he didn't have a killer headache pounding in his skull? He glared at those crimson spheres that had often tortured him in his sleep, knowing that the owner of those orbs was the reason why two of the best people he had ever known were trapped in Tartarus…the reason he had been forced to abandon them. Then the Hound spoke – a harsh grating sound that only served to redouble the pain in his skull.
"So, you have come." It rasped out, and swept its paw at Phoebe, Thalia and Artemis, the latter two having since collapsed onto their knees. Swearing as he realised John, Nico and Will seemed to be momentarily frozen, he grabbed Thalia and Not-Thalia, and pivoted, tossing them behind him. As he came about to face Artemis, he wrapped the woman in his arms and awkwardly jumped over the incoming paw – not enough though. Percy bit back a scream as his left leg got clipped; he thought that he could see his femur breaking skin.
Artemis stared blankly as Percy landed on his injured leg.
"Percy, you-"
"Yes." he grunted, gently touching his ruined appendage; before her eyes, the flesh knit itself back together, bone welding itself together and moving back into place, with an audible, gruesome snap. Almost before it had stopped healing, Percy had moved over to John, forcing a pill down his throat. "The antidepressants can temporarily counteract the Hound's fear inducing capabilities," He explained, "You might want to use your powers to increase their onset of action and potency in general." He added as he turned to face the Hound.
I will kill you, he vowed to himself. He charged forward. The Hound chuckled again, sending another flash of excruciating pain through Percy's mind even as it lazily lifted a paw, ready to smash the audacious demigod. Taking a deep breath, Percy pushed away the pain, focusing entirely on the paw pulling back, drawing deep upon the power inside him. Just as the appendage seemed to have reached the apex of its path, about to descend upon him with the force of a thousand men, Percy released his power.
The Hound yelped in surprise as a sudden hurricane formed around the demigod. Only, this was no ordinary hurricane; far stronger than even the winds Jason had thrown against it before, the Hound was flung backwards, despite digging its paws into the ground, skidding all the way across camp until it reached the Tiber. Perfect. Two massive aqueous hands rose from the river and began to pummel the Hound; its cries of agony seemed to echo throughout the hills. Yet, impossibly, it rose, and roared, preparing to obliterate the man that had dared to defy it. As it crouched, preparing to pounce against its mortal enemy – the one man who had ever escaped it – the sky screamed, splitting apart, a massive forked lightning bolt suddenly illuminating the heavens. The Hound arched its back, throwing its head back in agony.
Quick as thought, Percy responded, the hands suddenly melting away, wrapping the beast inside a massive bubble of water. Yet from the thrashing inside, even that wouldn't hold for long, he knew. Some more help right now would be appreciated, he broadcast to his companions, grimacing and falling to his knees as the beast continued to resist.
Just as he realised that he had to release it, or risk dying himself, the Hound's struggles began to weaken, and he felt Will's hand on his shoulder, bolstering him with his own strength. He held the Hound as long as he dared, and then released it, collapsing onto his knees. And then, what he could only describe as a complete blitzkrieg began.
Thalia was raining down lightning bolts from the heavens, even as she, along with Not-Thalia and Artemis, began sending out a rain of arrows that blotted out the skies. As he watched, Nico shadow-travelled directly to the Hound, moving until he was right in front of the hellish pits that served as eyes, plunging his Stygian iron blade deep inside. The Hound howled, shaking di Angelo off, staggering onto its paws, only to be pounded down again by Thalia. And then a wide beam of radiant golden light blasted through the creature, leaving a wide, gaping hole through its chest, about a metre wide – right through its heart.
But for a creature that size, even that wound won't kill it immediately, Percy mused from his slumped position as the Hound weakly tried to get to its feet. And then massive spears of darkness, far larger than anything he had ever seen Nico produce before, rose up, skewering the Hound. The creature howled mournfully, holding it for several seconds, before it gave a great shudder, and, at last, was still.
-A few minutes later-
"Oh, this case Thalia, it's been brilliant!" Percy exclaimed, spinning around frenetically, feverishly. John's eyes widened in shock as he took in the flushed, yet somehow deathly pale face, the rapid, laboured breathing, the swaying movements. Concerned, he reached out and put a hand on his friend's shoulder to still him, surreptitiously sending in a pulse of power simultaneously to scan his vitals. His eyes widened as he felt the man's heart rate –
Twenty beats per minute…..
And dropping.
"Percy,' he said slowly, "Your heart…"
And, having said that, his best friend collapsed to the ground, face suddenly beady with sweat.
The tall blue-eyed man smiled wolfishly at the woman in front of him.
"Please state your full name for the record."
"Charles Augustus Magnussen."
Author note: First off, I have some great news for all of you - CrazyBearFaria has volunteered to be the beta reader for this work, so please give him/her a standing ovation everybody :). CBF is a pillar in the PJO fandom - at least, to me, he is - so I definitely recommend checking out their stories as well!. Unfortunately, I also have some rather bad news: I have recently started my first year of university (or college, I believe the term is, if you are American), and my workload is rather intense at the moment...so I will most likely not be able to publish chapters as fast as I did before. However, do not fear, because just for you loyal fans, I am staying up at night tirelessly, and will try to get out at least 2-4 chapters before August. Thanks so much for your loyalty, readers both new and old, and I hope that this new chapter is to your liking. In concluding, I'll include a little light-hearted teaser for the future at the bottom of this page, especially since this story is going to take a rather dark and grim turn very soon. In concluding, as ever, please leave a review! :)
Beta Note:
Why hello there folks, my name is Crazybearfaria, and I am now (somehow) the beta for this story with my partner in crime, Phoenix.
This is my first official beta-ing, so let me know if I did an okay job. I had to do this whilst I had the flu, so there may be an odd mistake or two, but as I go back and check-up on the rest of the stories chapters, I will make sure that this one is also not spared any scrutiny.
Anyways, enough outta me, I have Call of Duty to get back to!
Keep it real folks.
CBF.
Teaser:
Dimly, she heard him say, "I feel the same", his own arms tentatively wrapping themselves around her. Drunk as she was with the feeling of being with him, she leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling faint pinpricks in his eyes.
Percy's voice – panicked, dimly said, "Are – are you crying Moonlight?"
"Good tears Percy. Good tears" she whispered back, quickly wiping her eyes. She pulled back slightly to look at him, and saw his deep sea green eyes – caring, worried, and a hint – just a hint – of what she thought might be affection. In that moment, she knew that she was head over heels for Perseus Jackson, and she was powerless to stop it. Briefly, her mind flitted to the Artemis of ages past – would she have been disappointed, angry at her present self for falling in love with a member of the species she had so professed to hate for so very long? No, she assured herself, she would have approved of it. The Artemis of before Percy Jackson wouldn't have been disappointed, or even sad. She would have been happy that the person she had fallen for was Percy Jackson, who, despite all his faults, was the best and the wisest man she had ever known. She didn't regret falling for him for even a second. And so, acting on that niggling impulse that had wormed its way into her brain almost the moment she had met him, that only now roared and forced itself to the forefront of her mind, she did something that she never thought that she would do, not even with Orion – before she had discovered that he was a rapist, the epitome of what she had taught her Hunters to avoid – had she even flirted with the notion. She kissed him.