A/N: Hey guys, I tried to get this one out sooner than the last one, but I was having some serious writers block. I fought through it just for you guys! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, or just visited. I even got over 25 follows, my first milestone! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
P.S. There is ALOT of cursing in this chapter, just FYI.
Camp Half-Blood, Hermes Cabin
Percy POV
I felt the knife pierce flesh, but it didn't hurt like I expected it to. I felt warm blood splatter on my hand, but it didn't seem to come from the right direction. I heard the sound of air leaving someones chest for the last time, but it didn't come from my lips. I opened my eyes finding myself in a dark room, yes, but not the one from before. I saw people sleeping on beds, and the floor, all around me. I looked down at my hands, wondering why they weren't behind my back, and what I saw caused a scream to rip from my mouth. Chris Rodriguez was staring up at me from where he lay on his bed, Anaklusmos stabbed into his chest, his last word ringing in my ears.
"Why?"
I was brought back to myself when a sword slammed into my right arm, snapping in the process.
"You bastard! Murderer!" screamed Travis, still in his pajamas and holding the broken sword.
"What. The. Fuck!" yelled Connor, swinging his own sword at my head.
"It was an accident!" I hollered, pulling Riptide from Chris' body with a sick squelching sound . "I didn't mean it!"
"Bullshit, you had your blade hilt deep in his chest!" shrieked Travis. "That was no 'accident'!"
"I must have been sleep walking!" I roared back, blocking another slash aimed at my midsection.
"Liar! Travis, go get help, I'll hold him off so he doesn't kill anyone else!" Connor yelled at his brother.
As Travis ran out of the cabin, I realized if I didn't leave immediately my friends would eventually subdue me and I would be jailed at best and killed at worst. I wouldn't die like this, I had to at least clear my name.
'See, I knew you couldn't do it,' gloated the voice in my head.
'Shut the fuck up, you caused this!' I screamed in my head.
'Ah, but I am you, am I not?' taunted the voice.
I was brought out of my internal musings by once again being hit with a sword, this time across my left ribs.
"Connor, please stop, I can explain, I don't want to fight you," I pleaded.
Connor gave me a hard look. "All you have to do is make an Oath that you didn't kill Chris on purpose." he relented, pausing his attack. "Like I thought," he stated, stabbing at me with his sword once again, after I didn't make the Oath.
I sighed, I couldn't swear because while I didn't consciously mean to kill him, subconsciously I was trying to kill someone, and I couldn't take the chance of Styx being a technical bitch.
"Connor, you know you can't beat me in sword play, even without the Blessing of Achilles," I replied, my eyes hardening. "Don't make me hurt you."
Connor chuckled darkly. "Just because I'm not a 'Big Three' child doesn't mean I can't put up a fight, and I don't have to beat you, just delay, like I am right now." he smirked, charging me once more.
"Actually, it does," I replied, feeling my rage grow. I flung Riptide in an arc, knocking his sword aside before the blade could reach me, I saw his eyes widen slightly in shock, and, before he could stop his charge, I kicked him straight in the sternum, feeling several of his ribs break beneath the blow. From the power of my rage he flew across the room and met the wall with a gruesome crunch and collapsed to the ground, unconscious. That's when I heard the crying, I once more cast my gaze around the room and saw the older Hermes campers standing protectively in front of their younger siblings, as if waiting for me to attack and slaughter them all. Ashamed, I felt my rage recede as quickly as it had come and I rushed out the door towards Half-Blood Hill without looking back.
Just as I was about to reach the Big House, I heard a scream of pure agony, rage, and blood lust echo across the valley.
"PERSEUS JACKSON!" screamed Clarisse. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
I turned to see Clarisse, and a group of Ares kids, dashing at me shield and spear in hand. Watching it crackle with red electricity, that was intended for me, I suddenly didn't find the name 'Maimer' very funny anymore. I turned on my heel and began sprinting as fast as I could, hoping to escape my lynch mob. Fifteen minutes of straight sprinting later, I looked behind me only to see Clarisse about the same distance away, a blood red aura covering her body like a second skin, her cabinmates long out of the chase.
'Damn Blessing of Ares, it's allowing her to keep pace with me,' I thought, frustrated. 'I can't run to the sea because I'll just get electrocuted by that spear of hers.'
'I guess that leaves only one choice, doesn't it?,' smirked the angry voice in my head.
'This time we agree on something and that worries me, a lot,' I responded.
'Fuck off, coward,' it responded.
'Stop calling me a coward!' I mentally shouted.
With that I stopped and turned around to face my pursuer, who stopped as well with about ten feet separating us.
"Finally figured out you can't out run me, eh, Prissy?" growled Clarisse. "I'm gonna enjoy finding your mortal point."
"Don't do this Clarisse, I didn't mean to kill Chris," I stated placatingly.
"Oh? You didn't mean it? Well then I guess we can go back to being friends then," responded Clarisse with fake cheer. "Bullshit, you murdered him because we told you the truth of your actions today and you wanted revenge, but you were too much of a chicken-shit to do it fair and square, so you did it in the dead of night. Now that you're caught, out comes this 'I didn't mean it' and 'I was sleepwalking' horseshit. Now you can surrender or..." Clarisse grinned sadistically. "You can put up a fight, and I'll 'accidentally' shove this spear into your weak spot."
"Fine, but know I won't hold back," I said resignedly, reading Riptide in my left hand.
"Oh, now where would the fun in that be?" asked Clarisse, beginning to circle to my right.
Wanting to end this quickly, I rushed forward feinting towards her right shoulder and as she raised her shield to block, I twirled and crouched slicing for her left leg, but she retreated swiftly, leaving her with only a slight gash. Clarisse ignored the wound and sent a flurry of jabs at my torso, not letting me counter with the speed of her strikes. Knowing I needed to interrupt her flow, I leaped backwards out of her range, stabbed Riptide into the ground, and wrenched it out causing dirt to fly into her eyes. Using her temporary blindness, I ran up and grabbed her shield and, with a grunt, yanked it away and threw it out of reach.
"Tsk, so we're playing dirty huh?" Clarisse snarled, wiping dirt from her eyes.
"All's fair in love and war, shouldn't you know that, you know, being Ares' bastard and all?" I sneered back, knowing that the easiest way to beat Clarisse was to get her into a rage.
"AHHH!" screamed Clarisse, her eyes and aura flaring blood red.
'Then again maybe that wasn't-'
My thought was cut off by her attacking me again with renewed vigor, forcing me to dodge with all my speed. I couldn't block and dodge everything, however, and when I avoided yet another stab, she followed through with the butt of her spear, cracking me hard across the face. Figuring she would continue her onslaught while I was disoriented, I ducked and rolled to my right, her spear passing within millimeters of me, feeling the morning dew cool my feverish skin.
'Wait, dew? Water!' I thought, standing with Riptide held in a defensive pose.
"Was that the best you can do? I've felt harder hits from a five year old!" I taunted once more.
"GRRR" Clarisse ground out, barreling towards me.
Seeing Clarisse charging at me yet again, I willed the dew to form a slippery puddle on the floor in front of her, feeling the familiar tug in my stomach. Confident in my trap, I stood loosely to attack her when she lost her balance, so I wasn't prepared when I felt my control over the water vanish the moment she got near.
'Wha-,' was all I had time to think before I was stabbed in the chest with Maimer, causing the air to fly out of my lungs, electricity to course through my body, and for me to be thrown into a tree, all in the span of about 2 seconds. Luckily I still had the Blessing of Achilles overwise I'd be dead, instead of in so much pain I can only see stars(fuck you Krios). As I sat groaning in pain, I could vaguely hear Clarisse stalking towards me and after a few steps I felt pain erupt on my right shoulder and electricity run through my body once more.
"Fuck!" I screamed from the pain.
"Hmm, not there...how about here?" Said Clarisse, putting her foot on my chest and prodding me once more with her oversized cattle prod.
"Damn I didn't know you were an S," I said through gritted teeth.
"And I didn't know you were such a little bitch," Clarisse retorted and I could feel the smirk on her face.
'So this is how the great Savior, Perseus Jackson, dies,' laughed the voice. 'To a vengeful girlfriend.'
I decided to try just ignoring the voice and figure a way out of my predicament, feeling myself scream every time Clarisse stabbed me. In the back of my mind, I could feel my rage and bloodlust growing, but I tried to keep it under control because I didn't want to hurt Clarisse like I hurt Connor and Chris, no matter what she did to me.
"Where?!"
Stab.
"Is!"
Stab.
"Your!"
Stab.
"Weakness?!"
And, with what felt like all her strength, she stabbed me right in the groin.
"AHHH!" I yowled, holding my balls so they wouldn't be injured further.
"Well, that's one job taken care of," laughed Clarisse. "We wouldn't want you to have children, now would we? I wonder if the rest of your family is as disgusting as you are? Maybe I'll give them a visit after I'm done with you."
With that comment I felt the barrier to my rage collapse and all the pain I felt from her earlier blows wash away, consumed to feed my anger. I could still feel her still stabbing at me but it felt like light taps that could be ignored without comment. When I finally managed to stand, I looked her straight in the eye and saw her flinch away from the fury etched on my face.
'Kill...'
"Don't. Ever. Threaten my family, bitch," I said coldly, as I raised my sword and began hacking and chopping at her with all my strength and speed. I was so enraged that I didn't use any technique or strategy, attempting to beat her with brute strength. Therefore, Clarisse was able to block and dodge all my attacks, ending with her managing to hit my wrist causing me to drop Riptide.
"Now die!" yelled Clarisse, stabbing at me once more.
'Kill'
I just laughed cruelly and readied myself for impact and when she stabbed me in the chest, instead of flying back like I had before, it stopped dead with the point on my chest. While Clarisse was still stunned, I grabbed Maimer with both hands and wrenched it away from her just like I did her shield, causing her to stumble a bit.
'Kill!'
"Say goodbye to Maimer," I said, bringing the weapon down hard on my knee, snapping it in two; throwing the pieces behind me like trash. "Ready to concede defeat?"
"Never!" Clarisse roared, throwing a right hook at my jaw.
'Fine then,' I thought, ducking under the blow and bringing my left fist into a crushing uppercut that lifted her off her feet.
'Kill!'
I felt Riptide return to my pocket so I pulled out and uncapped it, while I walked toward my groaning opponent. I reached down and grabbed Clarisse by the neck, lifted her in the air, and pointed Riptide at her heart.
'Kill!'
"Do you surrender and swear to stop chasing me?" I growled threateningly.
Clarisse responded by spitting a bloody loogie right in my face.
'KILL!'
'NO!,' I internally screamed, bashing her over the head with the hilt of my sword causing her to crumple to the ground.
'You should kill her, she is a threat to you and your family!' the voice screamed.
'No! She is-was my friend, and I don't kill my friends!' I yelled back.
'You already have and just like you said, she isn't your friend anymore, she will hunt you down!' the voice argued.
'So be it,' I said with finality. 'I deserve it.'
As I studied my surroundings, I noticed that the ground had been cracked open and some trees had been toppled. I shrugged, figuring I must have caused it somehow, and checked to make sure Clarisse was still breathing and had a pulse. After I was satisfied that she would live, I decided to put her in a tree, in the hopes that no monsters would notice her up there. When that was finished, I reached for my pack to get some ambrosia and nectar and realized I had forgotten it in my hastened escape from camp.
"Damn! Damn! Dammit!" I cursed. "I specifically didn't want to visit my mom! Fuck!"
'Wow, you're language has gotten bad. Tsk, tsk, what would Sally say?' the voice goaded.
'Nope, it's not there, ignore it,' I thought.
'Hey! That's rude I'm right here!' the voice protested.
I decided not to respond and set off to my mom's apartment to get some supplies, and, hopefully, some blue cookies.
New York City, Sally Jackson's Apartment Building
After I finally got someplace with a little more people, I managed to hail a cab and get to my mother's apartment, that she now lives in with Paul Blofis. I hadn't been around the guy very often, but he seemed a good enough man and he made my mother happy, so as long as he kept that up I was good.
'Oh, the baby has probably been born by now,' I thought, my face lighting a little. 'I hope he's healthy.'
Then I looked down at my tattered and dirty clothes and wondered how I was going to explain that, the fact I was going to disappear for awhile, and that they should get out of town for a bit without arousing any suspicion from the mortal. I sighed.
'I guess I'll just wing it, like everything else I do,' I thought and walked into the building and up the stairs. 'Maybe I could use the Mist? Mom would probably not want that, though.' I finally reached the right floor and began to search for the right one.
'Where is it? Where? Ah, here it is," I thought while searching for the right number.
As I raised my hand to knock on the door, I began to hear sounds emanating from inside. After years of being hunted and ambushed, I decided to err on the side of caution and put my ear to the door to make out the sound. When I began to make out male moans and the sound of slurping, my face turned bright red and I turned on my heel intending to come back later.
'I really did not need that picture in my head,' I said, slightly disturbed.
'You've killed people and seen people be killed by horrible monsters, and your disturbed by something like that? Seriously?' said the voice flabbergasted.
'Yes,' I replied simply.
"...someone...help...m..." came a muffled voice.
At that I whirled, just barely hearing the origin beyond the door I was standing in front of, and, not bothering to knock, kicked it in, wood splintering everywhere.
A/N: So there's the chapter, I know it was a little shorter than normal so don't kill me!
*hides under desk*
But thanks for reading and I'll try to update quicker, but I can't promise anything because I did recently get a second job. How was the fight scene? There will be more so I really would like some feedback! Anyhow, review, follow, favorite, and as always tell me what you did or didn't like! Swordnoob out!