No One is Perfect

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Previously: We watched them fight monsters and travel across the country. That was, at least, until Chiron came in the room with a panic-stricken look on his face. Tommy and Rachel were immediately alert, "What happened?"

Sophia's POV

"Camp is under attack! Part of Typhon's army is at the border!" Chiron explained.

We all sprang to action, even Rachel. I was nervous, so I fumbled with my pen as I tried to take the cap off. I managed to remove the cap and Earthmover sprang from the tip. Hallie produced her new knife and I couldn't help but notice the confidence that radiated from her as she held it.

The godly gloves discarded on the couch, we all ran out the door. Greg and Tommy ran off to get bow and arrows. I saw campers in battle armor racing to the border, and thought that I should put some on too. Chiron noticed this and said, "No time!"

A camper glanced at our group as Greg and Tommy rejoined us, "You're going to let a mortal fight?" he asked, amused.

Rachel glared at him, turned her attention to the closest monster (which was pretty far away) and flung her bronze-edged boomerang at it. Its head sliced cleanly off and the monster disappeared in a cloud of golden dust, "You were saying?" she asked as she caught her boomerang on its return.

"Nothing," the camper responded with new respect as he ran off into battle.

Four campers were defending Thalia's pine. I saw Tracey and Tanya among the archers. Greg and Tommy ran over to join them. I ran to Stella with Hallie on my heels. We joined the fight, and I remembered my shield. I slammed down on the face of the watch that Tyson made for me, and Hallie followed suit. The shield sprang just in time to block a swing of a talon. I didn't get a chance to see exactly what monster swiped at me, because as I moved my shield to see better, the monster erupted into a cloud of dust and an arrow clattered to the ground. I recognized it as one of Greg's. I smiled in spite of myself.

I began to fight an empousa, and I began to use my instincts rather than my mind. Everything was a blur, but I was doing well, I could tell. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stella surrounded by monsters on all sides. She had a determined look on her face, but I could see through that mask; she was terrified. I jabbed at the empousa. I managed to get past her armor and she disappeared. I watched Stella take a deep breath and stretch her arms out as far as possible in each direction. Her two swords clanged into monsters. She let out a loud, determined shout and swung her arms towards each other, destroying the monsters in the way.

The monsters that she did not destroy advanced on her. I ran to help her, and she looked grateful as I fought the monsters with her. More monsters surrounded us both, trapping us in a circle. I saw a weak spot, and I pushed Stella through it. She looked confused as I yelled, "I'll handle them!"

"They're too much!" she shouted back, over the sounds of the battle.

"Trust me!" I told her. She bit her lip but ran in the opposite direction nonetheless. I yanked my invisibility cap out of my pocket and jammed it on my head. I immediately disappeared, and the monsters were angry and confused. They lunged, and I exited just in time through a new opening. I watched as the monsters attacked each other, thinking that they got me. Soon, they were all gone. I took my cap off to let Stella and Greg (who I knew was watching) know that I was okay.

I attacked a dracaena from behind, only to find that it had been fighting Hallie. When the monster disappeared, I saw my sister. She was bleeding from a wound at her shoulder, "I'm still not good enough," she said.

"That's not true!" I protested.

"Yes it is. You're not wounded," she pointed out. I never wished that I was wounded until now.

"No one is perfect!" I maintained.

"You are. Perfect boyfriend, perfect hair, perfect battle skills, perfect looks," Hallie listed.

"You just wait and see. One day, there will be something that you can do that I can't. I just know it," I racked my brain for that thing and smiled, even though we were in the middle of a battle, "I can't handle a knife for the life of me."

Hallie snorted, "I bet you could if you tried. Hold on," she said as she lunged at a monster that was creeping up on me. She handled her knife with a skill I had never seen. She parried and jabbed with fantastic accuracy, and the monster was a goner within seconds. I noticed that she had switched to her non-dominant hand since her shoulder of her dominant hand was bleeding. I made a mental note of that for future training.

I backed away from Hallie, who was fighting yet another monster. I bumped into something. I whirled around to see what, prepared to strike. I saw it was a Cyclops. But not just any Cyclops; it was the same Cyclops that I had run into that day I met Greg. I was frozen with the fear I had that day, my memories bringing it back. The Cyclops smiled at me, and it wasn't a welcoming smile. It was an evil smile. I was frozen to the spot. The Cyclops raised his strong fists as if to punch me.

Hallie screamed, "Sophia!" I was still frozen, "Sophia, fight!" she yelled. I couldn't move. The Cyclops punched me square in the face, knocking me all the way to Thalia's Pine from the other side of the road. I heard Greg cry, "SOPHIA!" I saw Hallie run at the monster with an expression that was different for her. It was of anger, determination, and hatred. My nose was bleeding pretty badly along with my mouth.

She stabbed the Cyclops first in the heart. It didn't disappear, but screamed in anger. She next stabbed in the eye, and it wailed louder. It raised its fists to punch her, but Hallie was quicker. She stabbed him in the exact same spot at the heart as she did before, driving the blade deeper into the monster. She let go of the jammed handle, her hands bloodstained. I began to black out from all the blood loss that I was getting. The last thing I saw was the Cyclops disappear, Hallie pick up her knife from the ground, a shower of gold dust falling behind my head, and Greg at my side.

I was slowly coming back into consciousness. I heard voices, "Sophia please; wakeup. Please," a female one begged me. It sounded familiar

I realized that I could feel someone's hand in mine, "Sophia," a male whispered, "I'm so sorry." I recognized that voice as well. I squeezed the hand in mine, slowly opening my eyes.

"She's awake!" the male exclaimed. Through my half-closed eyes I could see Greg and…my mom?!

"Greg? Mom?" groggily, I mumbled.

"I am so sorry that I couldn't save you!" Greg rushed out. I smiled weakly.

"It's not your fault," I told him, still mumbling.

"How do you feel?" Mom asked me.

"I'm fine. So you're the one who made it back. That doesn't make sense at all…," I mumbled, "The last time we saw you, you guys still had a day of traveling left."

"You saw us?" Mom said, bewildered.

"Yeah," I stronger voice than mine answered from the next bed. I looked over there and saw Hallie sitting up with bandages on her shoulder, "We found the gloves Hephaestus made for Dad."

"It's been three days since we watched them," Greg told me softly.

"That doesn't make sense either," I responded, my voice growing stronger, "I was only bleeding from my nose and mouth. Wounds like that don't take days to heal an unconscious person."

"Before you blacked out, you were injected with a poison. I killed the monster that did it," Greg explained.

"So, the next part of the prophecy must come true now that the one who escaped returned," I mentioned.

"Yeah, just who will the next five be?" Hallie asked. I couldn't help but notice that there were five grandchildren of the gods here: Stella, Tanya, Greg, Hallie, and I. I didn't say anything; my mom probably already noticed.

"Hey Sophia, I have a question," Hallie said. I looked at her expectantly, "Why didn't you fight the Cyclops?"

"It was the same one that confronted me that one day. The fear I had then came back to me, and I couldn't move. See, Hallie; I'm not perfect," I explained.

"So you didn't just do that because you wanted to prove your point?" Hallie asked.

"I told you that you would find something you could do that I couldn't. You found two. 1) Handle a knife. 2) Fight a Cyclops. I didn't do either of these things to prove my point, because I wouldn't risk my life just to do that," I explained.

Hallie sighed, "I guess you're right; no one is perfect."