"Holy Hera!"
Jason Grace heaved his legs upwards and kicked Percy in the stomach, launching himself backwards and ripping free from Percy's grip. Thrown off by Jason's momentum, both demigods scrambled to regain their footing and stood to face each other once again.
"Percy! What's going on?" Jason begged, taking a step backwards for each step Percy took forwards. "Is it the Hyde? Is that why your eyes are glowing?"
"Of course it's the Hyde!" boomed Aralus, slamming his giant vein-covered hands on the table and bellowing a deep laugh. The impact of his hands sent tremors through the table, making Nico, Hazel, and Piper stumble backwards; Nico tripped over the fallen air vent, sending the freshly-settled dust back into the air. "Whenever Perseus sees a demigod, he is forced to kill. Why else would he turn on his own friends like this?"
With a powerful yell, Percy charged at the only demigod left standing in front of him. Jason swiftly sidestepped and had second to breath before the son of Poseidon was on him again. Imperial gold clashed against celestial bronze over and over, neither demigod letting the other gain an advantage.
Nico, Hazel, and Piper had a challenge of their own. Aralus had balled his hands into fists and was pounding down around the demigods, trying to squash them like spiders. It looked disturbingly like a giant game of Whack-A-Mole.
"Warriors!" Callisthenes grinned, gesturing around at the spectacle before him. All of the giants, save for Aralus, turned to listen to their commander. "This is our first taste of battle- our practice round, so to speak. It is time to spill the first blood of war!"
Forterae smiled menacingly at the half-bloods scrambling before her, and with a dramatic sweep, she brushed the maps, papers, and broken air vent off the table. Nico jumped over each roll of paper and ducked under the occasional flying pencil, while Hazel ran up each roll as if she was surfing the tidal wave of charts and documents. The indigo giant proceeded to pull a silver dagger out of her bushel of black hair- storing weapons in hair seemed to be a common giant thing- and brutally stabbed the table, barely missing Piper. The wood of the table splintered underneath the blade, and the torches on the wall cast dancing shadows across the desk that flickered around the weapon. The giants and Callisthenes laughed at the shock clearly showing on Piper's face.
A pure white giant draped in golden cloth and the blue giant that had picked up Percy earlier brought out daggers of their own- these ones gold- and joined Forterae in impaling the table wherever a demigod appeared. The thud shink of the knives being stuck and pulled out of the wood echoed around the room, and the monster's laughter added to the cacophony. Hazel yelped as the white giant's knife nearly cut her in half, fortunately just grazing the back of her dark jacket.
Jason continued to battle Percy one on one on their side of the table while the sixth giant- a big ugly orange beast- watched and cheered Percy on. Jason jabbed and Percy deflected; Percy lunged and Jason parried. The two were evenly matched, and they continued to lock swords and avoid being speared by each other as the others battled the giants.
"Percy," Jason pleaded, knocking Riptide away from his heart for the fifth time. "Listen to me. Fight back. You-" Jason sucked in a breath and hopped back a foot as Percy's sword swung uncomfortably close to his stomach. "You can fight this. Listen to your heart- listen to me!"
"I don't listen to good-for-nothing jerks like you," Percy growled, swiping Riptide repeatedly, each time a millimeter closer to Jason's chest. "You all deserve to die." Percy jumped towards Jason and sliced him on his shoulder; Jason reeled back and deflected the next swing- barely. Jason looked up into Percy's burning orange eyes and swallowed hard. Where he usually saw a compassionate, loyal friend, he saw a ruthless killer. That usual a glint of mischief had been replaced with a flash of murder.
Jason's gaze hardened, and he changed his approach to fighting Percy. He couldn't afford to stall because Percy was perfectly capable of killing him at any moment; Jason had no time to lose. He leaped off the ground, using the air to fling himself over Percy in a messy somersault, and dropped down behind his friend. Jason hurriedly chucked his imperial gold sword to the side and launched himself on to Percy's back.
"Get off of me!" Percy screamed, reaching back with Riptide still in hand. The celestial bronze blade scratched Jason's back through his black long-sleeved shirt, but the son of Zeus didn't notice. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He could hear his heartbeat hammering against his chest. Jason reached out with one hand to grab Percy's wrist, the other arm wrapped securely around Percy's neck. Percy tried to yell again, but his voice was cut off as Jason's chokehold tightened. With a grunt, Jason's hand shot forward, all of his body weight moving with it, and grabbed Percy's sword arm, digging his nails into the tanned skin.
Percy dropped Riptide and fell forward with Jason's momentum. The two boys tumbled to the ground, and Jason scooted over to his sword and rearmed himself. He prepared to attack again, but before he could move, an enormous bronze axe slammed down in between the two boys. Hectamedes, whose hands were wrapped firmly around the axe's leather grip, let out a loud guffaw. The axe was three times Jason's height, and he could see his ragged and sweaty reflection in the giant blade inches in front of him.
Nico ran up next to Jason, panting and dragging his Stygian iron sword alongside him. "You okay?"
"Yes, but Percy's still in his trance. I don't know how I'm supposed to get him to snap out of it."
"Didn't the giants mention that Percy reacts to sight? We could-"
Nico stopped mid-sentence as he heard a battle cry from over to his right. He spotted Percy vaulting up on to Hectamedes' large, green hands, and from there he leaped out towards Nico, sword poised to stab the demigod through the head. The light of the torches surrounded him in a red glow, and his dark sillouhette was punctuated with those two smoldering orange eyes.
"Di immortales!" Jason yelped, and he tried to pull Nico away, but his hands grabbed at air. He turned just in time to see Nico collapse into the axe's shadow, disappearing into the darkness. Riptide stabbed the table where Nico had been standing moments before. Seeing that his sword hadn't tasted blood, Percy snarled and yanked Riptide out of the ruined wood.
"So close," he growled. Turning to face Jason, Percy smiled his trademark crooked grin and twirled Riptide in his hand. "Guess it's you and me again, Sparky."
Jason grumbled but lifted his sword yet again. "Let's go, Seaweed Brain."
As the two half-bloods engaged in combat once more, Piper and Hazel continued to survive the stabbing fiasco that the giants were playing, speedily bounding across the table as knives plunged around them. The wooden table was wrecked at this point, splinters jabbing out every couple of feet. Out of the corner of her eye, Piper spotted the blue giant's dagger plunging down once again and slid to hide behind an unusually large splinter of wood. Piper knew that they couldn't keep this up forever, and she stole a glance at Hazel, only to see the poor girl losing steam, each of Forterae's strikes cutting closer and closer.
It was then that Forterae poised her knife straight over Hazel's head, and Piper was about call out when the giant yowled and dropped the weapon, fortunately letting it fall out of harm's way. The big purple giant seemed to be staring at something under the table. Hectamedes was the next to yelp, grabbing his foot and rubbing it. What's going on? Piper thought in confusion, and she rushed to the side of the table to see what the problem was. Underneath the desk, Nico was sprinting from massive foot to massive foot and stabbing the giants' toes. He must have shadow-traveled down there, concluded Piper. With a soft chuckle, she mused, It sure is a good thing giants still wear Greek open-toed sandals. Not a very good fashion choice for war. The son of Hades noticed her watching and gave Piper a thumbs-up. He had things covered down there.
Piper pulled herself back up onto the table, determined to think of a plan- the longer they fought, the more likely someone would get hurt. She was tired already, and poor Jason was still fighting Percy, sword on sword. Piper had watched Percy practice sword fighting at camp; not only was he the leader of most of the sword fighting exercises, but he had incredibly long stamina when it came to sword fighting. She'd seen him defeat fifteen demigods consecutively once in trai- Piper gasped. She'd thought of a plan.
Piper cleared her throat and directed all of her attention to her voice and the sound and power behind it.
"Gee, Hazel, it sure is a good thing these giants are busy fighting us and not the others."
Hazel watched Piper as she ran away yet again from Aralus's slamming hands, confused as to what Piper meant.
"If they knew about the fifty other demigods we brought, they'd realize that we aren't the main threat." Piper cast an innocent glance up at Aralus, who slowly lifted his fists and paused his smashing spree.
"Fifty…other demigods?"
"Oh, you don't know?" Piper charmspoke, batting her eyelashes for effect. "There are at least fifty of us storming the castle this very minute."
The giants all exchanged nervous glances.
"I saw some them on our way in through the vents," Piper lied, strutting down the edge of the table. "They were totally winning. We brought cannons, archers, a Roman cavalry- mm, I can even smell the fires we set!"
Piper' gaze shifted to Hazel and she lifted her eyebrows. Fire, she mouthed, and Hazel nodded in response. Calling on the Mist, Hazel shut her eyes and focused on the magical talent given to her by Hecate. The temperature in the room gradually rose, and as Piper expected, the smell of smoke wafting through the air from the torches grew stronger. Hazel has been practicing, Piper smirked. The daughter of Pluto had gotten extremely adept at manipulating the Mist.
"She's right!" the orange giant exclaimed, hopping to his feet. "I can smell it!"
"Of course I'm right; you can trust me," Piper affirmed. "You should all go out and fight them instead."
Aralus and Hectamedes also stood, grabbing their weapons in excitement. "Let's go fight the demigods!" All six giants yelled and stormed out of the room, completely engulfed in Piper's lie. The last giant that pushed through the double doors slammed them shut, leaving the room almost silent- except for the sound of Jason and Percy's ongoing duel. Jason was now flying above Percy and occasionally jutting down with a stab of imperial gold. Percy hadn't taken his eyes off of Jason and was entirely focused on their fight.
One monster, however, had not left the room. Callisthenes sat at the head of the table, hands covering his ears.
"Aphrodite's eyes," Piper moaned, dragging her hands down her face. Why did he have to stay? Piper had had enough experience with Cyclops during her first quest; needless to say, she wasn't particularly excited to encounter one again. She approached the stubborn Cyclops and stood in front of his ugly face. "Hey, One Eye!"
Callisthenes snarled at the demigod and hesitantly removed his hands from his big ears. "I know charmspeak when I hear it, girl- I've worked with monsters of all sorts, and a fair share have a knack for vocal magic."
"Yeah, well, looks like I'll have to take a different approach with you." Piper stepped back and gestured to the area in front of her. "Fight me, one-on-one."
The Cyclops laughed. "You? Against me? That's a death sentence." Piper didn't budge, her gaze fixed on the monster before her. Her expression said, Come at me, bro.
Callisthenes's eyes narrowed, but he could tell that Piper wasn't going to back down. Besides, he couldn't resist a challenge. The Cyclops heaved one armor-clad leg, then the other up onto the table and stood to face Piper. "Your mistake, girl." Callisthenes unsheathed a long golden sword and grinned smugly.
Piper didn't waste time. She dove for the Cyclops's legs and swiped at his knees, managing to cut his left one before he kicked her away. She slid across the wood- no doubt earning some gnarly splinters along the way- and scrambled back to her feet. She knew that her small dagger against a Cyclops and his sword wasn't exactly the smartest way to battle, but she was done. This beast was part of the reason that her friend was beating up her boyfriend- and vice versa. They needed Percy back- their Percy back.
Piper lunged, and the two began their battle. As Piper parried each thrust, she noticed Hazel creeping behind Callisthenes. Hazel held a finger to her lips and pointed to Callisthenes. She was going to attack from behind. Piper gave her a curt nod, careful not to give Hazel away to Callisthenes, who was bearing down harder with each stroke.
"So," Piper panted, blocking another stab from the Cyclops. "How did a weakling like yourself pin the position of Commander?"
"I am no weakling," Callisthenes growled, and as fast as lightning shot forward and smacked Piper's dagger out of her hand, skidding it across the desk. Piper balled her fists, still refusing to back down; Callisthenes only laughed. "I earned my title because I slaughtered the most demigods during Gaea's War last summer. Now I'll add one more to the mix." He pulled his sword arm far back, but before he could lunge with a stab that would have immediatly killed Piper, Hazel jumped up onto the monster's back and hung on for dear life.
"What is the meaning of this?" the Cyclops roared, spinning and twisting and bucking, trying to shake Hazel off. "Let go, you insolent child!"
"I hope you enjoyed your 'taste of war,'" Hazel taunted him, raising her spatha with one hand and clinging to Callisthenes's neck with the other. "'Cause you aren't going to see the final one."
The golden blade speared Callisthenes through the heart. The monster screamed, clawing at the blade sticking through his chest and spitting blood and curses in Greek. Then, he exploded in a shower of golden dust, dropping Hazel onto the table.
Piper offered Hazel a hand, a large smile spreading across her face. Both girls stood, taking a second to catch their breath and recuperate.
"Hazel Levesque," Piper sighed. "You continue to impress me every day." They high-fived, but their celebration was cut short by a cry far behind them.
Hazel and Piper's heads whipped around to spot Percy clutching his arm. Jason seemed frozen, staring with wide blue eyes at the son of Poseidon.
"Oh gods, I'm sorry," Jason apologized, holding his hands out in a plea of peace. His comment went ignored by Percy, who glared at Jason with unnerving hatred. He made no reply, but instead hefted up his sword and charged with a ferocity matching that of Ares. Piper and Hazel sprinted as fast as they could over to the two boys, tennis shoes echoing on the wood with every step.
"Jason!" Hazel called as the son of Zeus shot up into the air, where he was safer. "Aralus said that the Hyde is triggered whenever he sees a demigod!"
"Nico said the same thing, but it's a little late to stop him from seeing us now, isn't it?" Jason replied, rising higher each time Percy jumped and tried to catch him.
Piper gasped as she caught on to Hazel's plan. "We need to blindfold him!"
"With what?" Jason yelped as Riptide sliced his ankle; he shot haphazardly over to the girls and landed beside his girlfriend.
"Where's Leo's tool belt when you need it?" mumbled Piper, looking around for anything that could be used as a blindfold. However, she didn't have much time before Percy was facing the idle the group, sword in hand.
"Now," Percy began, spinning Riptide and still bearing that crooked smile. "Which one of you would like to die first?"
"Percy," Piper said, approaching him slowly. "We are not your enemies."
"You're right," Percy replied, startling Piper. "You're not my enemies. You're everyone's enemies, and I'll be doing them a favor when I slit your throats!" Percy ran at the group of demigods, heading straight for Piper. She reached for her dagger- and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she had left it over where Callisthenes was killed.
Piper ducked as Percy swung his sword and rolled to his right. She kicked out a leg and tried to trip Percy, but he saw it coming and hopped over it.
"This isn't you!" Hazel exclaimed as she ran towards Percy, arms outstretched. He cast her side-glance and elbowed her out of the way with enough force to knock her down, landing with a thump. Groaning, she tapped around her eye and cheek gingerly. In an hour or so she'd have a nasty black eye.
"For Hades's sake," Hazel sighed, wiping her shaky hands on her jacket.
She nearly screamed when something massive came flying out of the shadows. In front of her stood Nico, hugging a giant roll of maps and smiling proudly, like a little boy who just beat you at Mythomagic.
"Did someone say Hades?" he smiled. Nico turned to help Hazel up, and the end of the giant roll of paper that stuck out behind him smacked Percy in the back and swept him away from Piper.
"Nico, what're you doing?" Hazel asked, taking his free hand to help her to her feet.
"I knew we needed a blindfold, so I figured part of the map-" He took a corner in his thin, bony hands and ripped a slice down the side, about six inches wide and four feet long. "-would do the trick."
Jason snatched the paper out of Nico's hand. "Let's do this." Jason, Hazel, and Nico turned to face their opponent. Percy Jackson stood, sword poised for skewering and eyes darting between his enemies angrily. His eyes locked on Nico.
"Watch where your going, creep," Percy sneered, and before anyone could lift their weapons, Percy rammed into the son of Hades, slamming him onto the table with his shoulder. The maps went flying from his hands as he collided roughly with the table. A foot to his left, a giant splinter stuck out of the ground like a stalagmite, and Nico gulped. He could've been impaled.
Percy dropped down and pushed his knee against Nico's chest. "Goodbye, Nico Di Angelo. Tell your dad I said 'Hi.'" Percy laughed, a sound cold and dark, and raised Riptide above his head, where it shone ominously in the firelight, and-
"Gah!" Percy yelped as the map shred was flung over his lava-like eyes and yanked backwards. Jason pulled Percy off of Nico, making sure to keep the improvised blindfold securely over Percy's face. "Stop!" Percy fought, arms and legs flailing. Riptide went flying.
"Now!" ordered Piper, and she, Hazel, and Nico flew onto Percy and dog-piled him. Their combined weight held him fast, with Jason behind to hold the blindfold. Faces were slapped; shins were kicked; arms were punched. "Keep him down!" wheezed Jason- Percy had just elbowed him in the ribs.
"Let me go!" Percy cried, fighting with all his might for freedom.
"This better work," grumbled Piper, her nose bleeding after Nico's head accidentely struck her face while he fought off Percy.
Jason's hands were sweating with effort. "Eventually, his body will have to realize he can't technically see us. That is what the giants said: he only fights when he sees us."
"That's going to be problematic," Nico responded, ducking under Percy's arm and pinning his right leg to the ground. "We've still got to get him out of here."
"He'll be wearing that map for a while, then," commented Hazel, who bounced up and down as Percy's torso jerked about, her arms wrapped tightly around his chest. A full minute passed before Percy showed any signs of slowing. He stopped kicking first; then his torso went limp. His punches didn't pack as much force as before. Then, as if someone had tapped his Achilles's spot, Percy gasped for air. Chest heaving, he grasped for support, finding Nico's sweatshirt and Hazel's arm to cling to.
No one spoke; they were all in shock. The swing in his emotions was incredible. One moment, Percy was fighting as if his life depended on it. Now, he panted as if he'd almost drowned in muskeg again. It took a good thirty seconds worth of shaky breaths before Percy managed to speak.
"Is…Is everyone okay?" he coughed.
"Oh, thank the gods!" Hazel sighed in relief, and she pulled Percy up and into a hug. "You're back."
"Yeah," Percy smiled, but it wasn't heartfelt. What he had just done…oh gods.
"Here," Jason said, tying the map firmly around Percy's head before letting go. "No more Hyde attacks."
Percy let out a dry laugh. "Hopefully." Everyone decided to shuffle back a few inches in order to give him some space. The room was eerily quiet.
"Are you, um…How do you feel?" Nico inquired, not sure of what to ask the guy who had just attempted to murder everyone present. Percy lifted his head as if to look at all the demigods, then realized it was pointless. He sighed heavily. "Guys… I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. The Hyde is terrifying. I can see everything I'm doing, but I have no control over myself whatsoever. It's like living a nightmare, hurting all of you." He paused.
"If I hadn't lost control in Dr. Derideo's lab-"
Hazel held up a hand to stop him, but after realizing he couldn't see it, she replied, "Percy, we don't blame you. What happened, well, happened. There's nothing we can do besides move on. We still love you, you have to remember that."
She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're still our best friend, Percy. No super powers are ever going to change that."
Percy's eyes watered, but no one could tell.
"So…" Piper began, wiping her bloody nose on her sleeve. "What do we do now?"
"I don't know about you guys," Percy replied, putting a hand on his stomach, "but I could really go for a cheeseburger."
The demigods all laughed, a welcome sound in the dark room. There they sat, in the middle of a giant mauled table lit only by torches, deep in the caverns of a monster-infested castle on the verge of war, and the sound of their laughter was the only thing that mattered.
A/N: So...three weeks, huh? I am incredibly sorry about that, guys. I hate making you wait, and trust me- I never forgot about this. It all just came down to finding the time to write. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully the Hyde thing is clear; what I meant in the last A/N is that Percy, after triggering the Hyde, wouldn't try to stop the reaction himself. The blindfolding would only work if he did it before or, as was the case here, his friends force it on him for a prolonged time. Luckily, the next chapter's outline is completed and should be up BEFORE three weeks passes- yikes. Review, por favor! I read them all and love your feedback!