Chapter 12: Where the Dead Walk

Percy sat down tiredly, looking out around the water all around him. Usually water made him feel safe, strong. But these waters were dangerous. Very dangerous. Infested with monsters never seen to humans, islands populated with creatures that would kill and eat anything that crossed their path. Percy knew his limits, and he also knew he had to be very careful about what islands he visited. Some things, not even he could defeat.

This one was more of a very large boulder, maybe twenty feet across, jutting out from the water. The sun was sinking rapidly, lowering towards the sea below and turning the waters blood-red. Percy watched it until it disappeared, plunging his world into darkness. Usually, darkness didn't bother him at all. But here, it could be the difference between life and death. And death was constantly looming.

He often was drawn into situations like this. Time and time again he beat his head against a mental brick wall until his brain hurt, berating himself for very nearly getting himself killed way too often. He'd spent half of his childhood living with Daedalus out in the world, hitching rides whenever he could, and that often led him to finding monster nests. He also knew that, since the monsters would always come back no matter how often they were killed, he had made a lot of enemies. Among monsters and men. They'd even given him a nickname, which he found terribly inconvenient.

He was pretty sure it had been started by Kelli the empousai. After he'd put his sword through her, oh, two or three times, she'd started calling him the Demon Killer. Somehow, against all odds, the name had spread, until a disturbingly large amount of monsters in the U.S. knew of the Demon Killer. It was true that he disliked demons even more than the rest of the monsters, but was the name really necessary? Most of the monsters he fought immediately recognized him as the "Demon Killer", and that made of them even more determined to kill him. It got really annoying.

So of course Percy had tracked down Kelli and put Ashrow through her stomach again, but hey, he had good reason to. He was pretty sure that made her even madder at him. And he knew from experience that monsters were bad at forgiveness. A real-life example was the Scythian dracanae he'd brain with a hammer at the age of nine. She'd found him a few months ago and was still angry at him. So he'd gone and removed her head for her. Much better.

He was fairly certain that not many monsters here knew of him, seeing as how unattached from the rest of the world they were, but he couldn't take any chances. Only visit empty islands. New, permanent rule.

He laid down on the surprisingly warm rock and drifted off to sleep. When he woke, he knew instantly that something was wrong. Sitting up, he looked around very carefully. After his unfortunate encounter with Charybdis and Scylla that had ended up with him stuck in a giant sea monsters mouth with a few minutes and then launched like a cannonball straight over Scylla's head, he'd started being a bit more careful. He was still kicking himself over not noticing a giant whirlpool several football field's long and wide until it was way too late.

The surface of the water was calm, and the rest of the rock he stood on was empty. But something wasn't right. Then he saw it. Far, far away, something rose up out of the water. He could just barely see it, but he could tell it was humanoid. Something was very different about it. It almost seemed like he had tentacles broiling out from his body. The figure slowly began walking towards him, but since it was so far away, it was barely noticeable. It took about five minutes before Percy could really tell he was moving towards him. He tapped his fingers and Ashrow appeared, along with his shield. There he stood waiting for the creature to approach him.

Turns out it never got the chance. When it was roughly halfway to the rock, the water beneath it boiled, and a huge sea serpent exploded out of the water, snapping its jaws over the creature and receding. A moment after it submerged, a massive water spout exploded into the air, and then the sea was still again. Percy waited a good five minutes, in case either came back, but they didn't. "Well that happened." He said finally, and ran off across the water.

Line Break

Percy stood on the water, looking around him and frowning. This accursed fog was everywhere! He couldn't see past ten feet in all directions, and usually less than that. He knew that he was near wherever the island was, but at this point, he was more likely to run straight into the rocks headfirst. This was turning into a fine mess!

Irritated, he summoned Ashrow and slashed through the mist. Surprisingly, the fog drew back away from the sword. Percy blinked and swung again. Wherever the blade went, the fog rolled back, trying not to go near it. He took a step forward and his way began to clear. Grinning, he stepped forward and began waving his sword all around. He kept moving forward, and soon he saw a massive crag rising from the water. A thin strip of gravel served as a beach. He stepped onto it and froze.

The instant his foot touched the gravel, something happened. He knew the entire layout of the island, could feel every pebble, every breath of air. And he could feel the temple at the very top and the creature within. It only lasted a moment, but Percy knew that whatever was at the top knew he was there, and was waiting for him.

There was a very thin, very steep pathway leading to the top. Percy began to walk up it, sword and shield ready. He didn't know how long he was going up that path, but suddenly he was at the top. Looking around, he realized it was really a small plateau. A few feet below the top, fog obscured the bottom, so he had no idea how high up he really was.

His attention was yanked to the temple, a strange pavilion-like structure with a roof and wide-open doors. Almost in a trance, he walked forward, weapons held ready. His eyes lingered on the skeletons standing by the door, spears in their hands. They were frozen, but Percy had the feeling that they weren't always still. He stepped warily past them, waiting for a movement. The instant they shuddered, he whirled, sword blade flashing. Two piles of bones collapsed onto the ground. Moving on, he stepped through the doorway.

The first thing he saw was a set of blue armor, curling like the waves, hung on the wall against a throne. It glowed when he looked at it, as if responding to his presence. He was transfixed for a split second; then he saw the guardian.

A body was slumped forward in the throne, a corpse from ages ago. Dressed in tattered battle clothes, a mangled crown resting its head, it seemed like just another museum relic from a time long ago. At least, until it started shaking. Darkness gathered around it, obscuring its body from view. Only the head showed, and it was vibrating something awful. Then it snapped up, and Percy took a step back in horror. Its eyes were black, empty pits, sucking all light into them. They were pure, complete evil.

The figure stood up slowly, watching him with contempt. "Sssooooooo." It hissed, and Percy jumped. "Yooouuu aaaarrree the hheeeerrrooo cooooommeee toooo taaakke the aaaarrrmoorrr."

"You'll save yourself a lot of pain if you just hand it over." Percy said with a lot of false bravado. The thing laughed.

"The lllaaaaaassstt ooof the draugr wwwiiiiillllllll consuuuume yoooooouuuuu." It said, and slowly lumbered forward. Percy swallowed, trying to move, but he was rooted in place. The giant draugr, at least ten feet tall, came closer and closer. It raised one hand and Percy remembered how to move. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the swipe of its hand. The draugr smashed a fist into the ground so hard it cracked. Percy rushed forward, lunging forward and driving his sword into the back of its knee. The draugr turned towards him emotionlessly, tearing the sword from Percy's grasp. He realized that it wasn't hurt by that at all, and that he was as good as dead.

His shield saved him. Raising it above his head, he received to full force of the draugrs fist, driving him to the ground and denting it beyond repair. Another backhand hit the metal circle, putting another huge dent in it and throwing him across the temple. It began lumbering towards him, intent on killing him. Percy stayed back, summoning his sword again. He began to assess the thing. It was strong; really strong, but it was also slow. That was his only advantage. Unfortunately, his sword wasn't affecting it so far.

He rolled straight between its legs, inches away from the fist that shattered the marble floor. Standing up, he rammed his sword straight into the draugrs lower back. It spun around faster than he thought and attacked. Percy barely got his shield up in time. This time, it shattered into a ton of little pieces, and he was hurled into a wall, driving the breath from his lungs. Black spots danced across his eyes. He could barely make out the draugr coming slowly closer.

He managed to stagger to his feet and ducked under the draugrs fist, and the wall behind him crumbled as the draugrs force blasted the stone outward. He stumbled away from the monster, trying to recover from the last blow. The draugr smashed a large column, sending a chunk of the roof crashing down to the floor. Percy barely managed to avoid the falling marble.

He needed to find this thing's weakness before it killed him, which wouldn't take long in his current state. He stood in the middle of the temple, waiting for the draugr to approach. When it did, he stepped aside from its hand and grabbed onto its arm. Angrily, the draugr threw him up into the air. Percy twisted and managed to catch onto its neck. He almost blacked out form the impact.

Enrage, the draugr began to throw itself around the temple, slamming into walls and columns. Percy struggled to hold on during all this. Finally he slipped and fell off, crying out when he hit the floor. The draugr smashed another column, and half the roof gave in. A huge pile of rubble smashed into it, burying it under a ton of rock and marble.

Percy stood holding his side. He watched the rubble warily, waiting for the draugr to emerge. It wasn't moving. He couldn't believe he'd won already.

Turns out he hadn't.

The rubble exploded, flying in all directions. Percy threw himself downward, but not fast enough to avoid a sizeable chunk of rock slamming into his shoulder, tossing him backwards. He landed flat on his back, gasping for air. The draugr stood up, roaring in anger. It was missing a ton of already dead flesh, including a large portion by where its heart was supposed to be. Percy noticed something odd. A sickly yellow thing was nestled there. He realized this must be the draugrs weakness.

Unfortunately, the draugr noticed him at around the same time. It picked him up in one huge hand and lifted him high into the air. Percy summoned his sword and prepared to attack. The draugrs arm moved forward and Percy struck. It hit the yellow thing and the draugr screamed. It let go of Percy, but the forward momentum was still there, and he ended up hitting the far wall hard enough to crack it. He dropped onto the throne, rolling off it in agony. The draugr was crumbling, returning to the dust from whence it came. Unfortunately, Percy could feel his life force draining away. He crawled towards the throne, hoisting himself onto it. Reaching up, he touched the armor.

It vanished, and he could feel something appear around him. Probably the armor.

He collapsed then, staring vacantly at the ceiling. Darkness formed around the edges of his vision, and oblivion took him.

Line Break

The Black appeared at the top of the island, eyeing the wreckage of the temple in distaste. He never had like draugr. Curling his lip, he walked in, blackness rolling off of him and exploring the room. He found the dust that had been the draugr, but more importantly, he found the body of his enemy. He stood over him, shielded in the accursed armor.

His mouth twisted in anger, and one of the tentacles lashed out, responding to his anger. Half of the wall was blown outward from the blow. He couldn't touch him; not here, not now. He turned around and swept out of the room, leaving the lifeless body behind him.

A.N.: Wassap, it's DragonGTN again.

So, I told you the Black would be back, and this isn't the last time you'll see him. I bet no one expected a draugr to be the guardian, right? Just so you know, it's from Norse mythology.

Now to respond to reviews.

Thatonekidnobodylikes: I understand your anti-OC attitude, but just give him a chance. And yes, it is a he. Sort of. I really don't know, but saying "it" sounds kinda weird.

Harmonicbunny: Thank you! I do happen to think my writing style is pretty darn good, but thanks for noticing. And yeah, that's the reaction the Black is supposed to get. Just so you know, I'm actually writing an original piece, so keep an eye out for it in, like, five years (it's a long process to write). I think you might like it.

Guest: I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do with Annabeth. I'll figure it out.

Thank you all for reading, following, and favoriting. Please review.

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