YEEEESSSS! INTERNET! AND SPARE TIME! WOOHOOOO!
...Ahem.
Sorry for the long wait, people! D: My power got knocked out by Hurricane Irene on the night I was going to write this, and it stayed out. It finally got back days later, but by then, school had started. Now it's the weekend, which means I have time to write at last! :D And when I came back, you know what I realized? I'D TURNED ONE. 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
DISCLAIMER: Over the week, while my power was out, I somehow managed to blackmail Rick Riordan and Scholastic into giving me rights to the series through e-mails that somehow I was able to type and send without the Internet, then proceeded to wait for the power to return so I could post my story on some random Web site instead of getting it published in stores like a sane person. Yup. That's exactly what happened. I also grew a pair of wings for each of my fingers, and my pet cow learned to skateboard and sing "Sweet Home Alabama" in the key of F. My pet cat also started leaving a rainbow trail wherever it went, and badgers starting popping out of the – wait. Why the heck am I chained to the bed?
Whatever. I'll tell you right now: This chapter will be big. Not necessarily long, but big. The one you've been waiting for. (Or, to be grammatically correct, the one for which you've been waiting.) Annabeth has reached Percy. Time to bust him out, no? Well ... that might be a problem for her. xD And I switch POV's a lot, so ... I don't think it'll really be that confusing, but it could be, so bear with me. xD Are you ready?
Then let's go.
...
...*wonders if his dramatic moment worked* *hopes it did, but thinks it didn't*
*moves on anyway*
~THE KIDNAPPED HERO TRILOGY 3: FRAGMENTATION~
III: Reclamation
{DAY EIGHT}
PPOV:
The sound hurt my ears.
My eyes opened in surprise. I slowly looked up. After two days of silence, the sudden noise was unexpected. Then it repeated. Again. Again.
But what was it?
I looked around my small area. Nothing much to make a sound in here, and it had sounded as if it was from outside.
Was the Chimera trying to do something out there?
My eyes widened. Not more water.
I wouldn't take more water. No.
But then I heard a curious grunt from the Chimera. It sounded like it had come from down the hall, in the opposite direction.
Was the noise from the front door? Outside the school? Was that even the direction of the exit? I couldn't remember.
But it continued to sound. It was getting progressively louder. Again and again.
I listened more closely, my hearing starting to come into focus.
It sounded like …
… footsteps.
APOV:
Percy, here I come.
I took a step into the building. Nothing threatening happened. No traps sprung. Nothing. I grinned. This was going to be amazing.
I started slowly walking down the hallway. I tried to keep a watchful eye open, but I was elated. Percy was somewhere in this school. I was sure of it. And that was all I needed to know.
I chuckled, because the entire school was a single hallway, and I could see the exit from here. The perfect way to watch for potential rescuers. The perfect place to elude the curiosity of the public. This really was an excellent hiding spot.
For people who didn't know what to expect.
I continued to walk down the hall, peeking into the windows of the many classrooms lining the walls. All were dark. Most were bare; some had a table or two still remaining. All looked practically ancient.
"Percy?" I called softly.
He was here. He had to be.
Somewhere in this dusty, old building, he was hearing my voice for the first time in days.
I could feel his excitement. (Or maybe it was only my own.) If it wasn't for potential danger, I would have been skipping down the hall, giggling in ecstasy and almost chanting his name repeatedly. I was finally about to find him.
It was finally about to end.
PPOV:
A voice. That had to have been a voice. The word was unintelligible from my position in the closet, but the sound had been there.
Someone was in the school!
I would have hopped to my feet and begun to pound on the door and scream if I wasn't so weak. But, confined to the floor, the closest thing I could do to this was let out a small yelp.
I almost wanted to cry again.
Please.
Please.
APOV:
I heard movement.
My eyes widened. A grin grew on my face. I felt my body beginning to shake.
Here we go.
This is it.
A classroom door opened at the end of the hall.
I felt my heart go numb for a second, as if it had missed a beat. Here he comes!
Through the doorway stepped the Chimera.
My spirits fell. My face hardened.
This monstrosity had taken him away.
It wasn't going to get away with it.
The body of a goat. The tail of a snake. The head of a fire-breathing lion with a mane coated with blood. I should have been scared. Horrified. I should have been trembling.
But I wasn't.
"You!" I called. The monster grunted.
This was the moment. This was when I was supposed to give a long, noble, cliché speech about life and how everything connected, but how I was destined to take back the boy hidden in the building.
I gulped.
"Die, you beast."
I ran, pulling my dagger as I did. The Chimera watched me approach, faster, faster, carefully sizing me up.
Why isn't it moving? I was almost to it. It wasn't reacting.
I let out a scream, then sliced at it. It whipped its head out of the way, then whirled its body around to behind me. I spun, before I heard it roar.
My eyes widened as I quickly shot to the floor. Flames flew over me. I rolled to the left before the heat could singe me. When I hit the concrete of the wall, I leaped to my feat and got my knife ready.
Suddenly, it was there! In a flash, the serpent was right at my face. I snapped my knees shut so that I went down, and I tried to swing at it, but I missed. Before it could strike again, I jumped out of there, into the middle of the corridor, and tried to put some distance between myself and the creature.
Pain! I yelped and reached for the source instinctively. The back of my right hand was red and raw, freshly burned. I cringed at the sight.
Then, bam! My sleeve was on fire! I tried to pat it out before it spread, ducking and running as I did so I wouldn't be hit again, but the pain stayed.
I turned, watching it from down the hall. How could I get close enough to stab the thing?
I couldn't.
I chucked my dagger at it like a spear. That was a terrible mistake, one which, looking back, I probably would not have made had my head been clear. The diamondback grabbed it with its mouth and chucked it to the other side of the school. It flew and hit one of the doors.
Then it came to me.
The doors.
Riptide was somewhere in this school. I knew that.
Riptide was what I needed.
I knew keeping it in a room with a window simply wouldn't make sense, even by my standards, so that eliminated the classrooms. I ran for a closet door and threw it open. Empty. I grunted, then ran toward the next
Heat by my back! The Chimera shot another round of flames, missing me by less than inches. In a panic, I flew into the nearest room. It was bare, the concrete walls and scraped floors echoing all sounds, making the room feel smaller than it was. Entering was another of my mistakes; now I was cornered. Once I had turned around to leave, it was already there in the doorway.
I swallowed and took a few steps back. The monster slowly started walking into the room, confidence and satisfaction radiating from it; it knew it had won.
I shot a glance over my shoulder. Windows. A lot of them. What if I could –?
Catching movement from behind me, I threw myself to the ground as more fire erupted above me. Glass shattered, spraying down on the world outside like a bomb had gone off. I stood quickly, and jumped out the opened hole. I was outside, on the grass! Laughing gleefully and calling out my quick thanks for the beast's help, I darted for the left, toward the front door.
Then I froze. My knife was in the other direction.
Going back to take a peek through the broken window, I found that the Chimera had already gone to meet me. In which direction it would run, I didn't know, but I had to hope. I flew toward the back entrance and opened the door.
The snake's head flew at me. It had been waiting for me there! I screamed and snapped away, but one fang lightly grazed my arm, causing a small dot to open up. Without pausing to think about the pain I now felt and the poison that very possibly had just entered me, I dropped to the ground and slid underneath the Chimera, coming out the other side and breaking into a run.
Dodging more fire, I grabbed my dagger from its spot on the floor. Then I started opening all the closet doors, struggling not to be hit. One empty closet. The next was almost empty, but it contained a small table, atop which stood three water bottles. One was opened with the cap on the floor, and most of its contents were already gone.
Riptide lay capped on the table.
My heart leaped in relief. I reached in and grabbed the open bottle and pen.
When I turned, the lion's head was right behind me, mouth agape. Before I could react, fire shot at me. This time, when I tried to duck out of the way, I wasn't so lucky. I felt pain from above, and I realized that my hair had been caught. I splashed the water onto it, then chucked the bottle at the monster's face. Using the distraction to my advantage, I darted from the closet and slammed and locked the door behind me.
Racing away, I uncapped the pen just as I heard a loud crash behind me, and the sound of wood slamming heavily into the concrete floor. I whirled around, and the pen mutated into a celestial bronze sword as the Chimera stepped angrily from the closet.
I paused.
Come and get me.
It let out a small roar before running toward me. The tail struck, but this time, I was completely prepared. I swung my arm up, and as I ducked away, the sword cut directly through the snake's neck, severing its head and sending it spinning down the hall before dropping lifelessly to the floor. The Chimera yelled and backed its end away from me, ichor spilling from the hole.
I grinned, and sliced through the air again. A large cut appeared in the side of its body.
It roared with ferocity and turned. I could see the light shining rebelliously in its eyes, surprised that I was holding my own. Then I saw confidence move in. What made it think it would win now?
Flames flew directly at my chest. My eyes went wide, and I tried to duck, but they hit my face and sent horrible pain everywhere. I hit the ground. It cawed and sprayed my body, covering me, enveloping me. I screamed.
It was everywhere. Pain. Fire. I twitched and curled into a ball. My mind was slowing down. Too much to bear.
With a final effort, I thrust out the sword. I felt pressure and a brief resistance before breaking through to something more. The fire suddenly stopped coming. I shakily opened my eyes, and saw that I had cut the monster very nearly in half. It screamed, and ichor flew.
I dropped the sword, and it clattered to the floor as the Chimera combusted into a pile of dust.
I had won.
I lay on the floor, currently unable to stand. The pain was agonizing, but there was a strange sense of satisfaction mixed in. I'd done it.
After an indeterminable amount of time passed, I attempted to stand. I was able to get to my feet, but after taking one step, the pain returned more sharply than before, and I fell against a wall. My shoulder felt as though it was being crushed.
Noticing the peeling, raw, bright red skin covering my body, I knew I had to be more careful. Using the wall for support, I slowly moved forward toward the next closet. When I reached it, I pushed myself away from the concrete to stand before the wooden blockade; the process caused a terrible hurt to fly up my body that was nearly unbearable.
It was too much.
I again felt my brain slowing, and my eyes began to blur as consciousness slipped away. I reached out and tenderly undid the lock, then pulled open the door before I crumpled.
PPOV:
I was terrified.
Sitting in my dark prison, listening to the sounds of battle from behind the walls, I quaked, fearing what was happening.
Time slid on, and after a short while, the sounds abruptly ceased entirely. The silence was more deafening than the fight had been.
What if it's Annabeth? Grover said he would stop her. What if it's Grover? What if it's somebody else?
What if whoever it is was killed?
I sat there in agony.
And then the door swung open.
I opened my eyes in surprise, and looked up in time to see a body in front of me fall to the floor.
I squinted in discomfort and waited for my eyes to adjust. When they finally did, I saw ... light. There was light. And the person on the ground ...
Blonde hair. Orange shirt.
No.
Wincing, I pushed her over.
No!
I closed my eyes and silently cried. It had killed her. It had killed Annabeth.
Then I saw something that nearly stopped my heart. I saw her chest rise slightly. It then fell back down, and as I watched in bewilderment and shock, it slowly went back up.
She was alive!
But then I noticed the burns. They were everywhere, covering her. Her skin was red and blue, as well as other colors that were starting to form. She wouldn't live without help.
I struggled to get my mind to focus. If I'd been given water, there must be a stash somewhere in this school. I had to find it.
In the same manner as I had four days before, I wormed my way from the closet and down the hall. Some cuts reopened, and I felt fresh pain as my blood again began to stain the floors.
I noticed an open closet door, beside which was an empty water bottle. My eyes widened.
When I finally made it there, I spotted two new bottles on a table. I pulled on one of the legs, and it fell, bringing the bottles to me. After fumbling with the cap, I got one open.
This is it. Water.
I actually smiled slightly as it ran over my fingers. I poured it across my body, and slowly, it closed the wounds and began to heal them. Moments later, the blood had retreated, and my skin was gaining its color back. The pain faded.
The bottle was gone, but I was new again.
I still felt dizzy – while a bottle had done most of the work, it wasn't enough to let me regain my full strength – but I managed to get to my feet with help from the doorknob. I took the last bottle of water and opened it, before walking back into the hall. It felt good to literally be back on my feet, although waves of nausea sickened my stomach.
I knelt down beside Annabeth and lightly laid a hand on her leg. Slowly, I poured the water on her body, and I watched her reform.
I suddenly felt exhausted. I needed more water, but there was none.
Before I drifted off to a deep sleep, I glimpsed what looked like a gigantic fox standing in the open entrance. It stared at me, before slowly walking away.
The woman stood on the edge of a field, staring down at the innocent children that went about their daily lives beneath her. She could see them, but they could not see her. She waited for a sign, something to show her that she could leave this camp and let them be. But a part of her knew that this was unlikely.
She waited for hours, standing, watching. She bore no fear.
Eventually, another woman joined her, but this one was different. Below its human face, this woman was a lion.
The watcher turned to look at the newcomer, relieved that it had finally come. She waited for the news.
The newcomer solemnly shook her head, then slinked away.
The watcher sighed. She had to admit she'd seen this coming. Such a shame to let all these innocent lives go to waste.
She stood for a few moments more before beginning the descent, upon the camp and upon the souls of so many that would never see her coming.
Did you think my last chapter was short? Well, if you did, this is compensation for it. xD
I hope I did okay with the fight. I'm not very good at battle sequences. :/
So. THE CHIMERA IS DEAD. PERCY AND ANNABETH ARE HEALED AND TOGETHER. BUT ALL IS NOT WELL. DUN DUN DUN.
Where is Grover? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about him. xD
...Sometimes I wonder if I amuse you guys, or just flat out annoy you. xDD
Well ... yeah. That be all. :D Sorry again for the long wait; hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up much more quickly. :D BYBY NOW. *vanishes*