A/N:First, I would like to apologize for not updating for almost six days. Partly because I'd been busy, as it is Christmas day here in the Philippines, and partly because I'M HAVING A FREAKING WRITER'S BLOCK! Yeah, I was. At least I hope it's over now. There's nothing more frustrating than sitting in front of the computer for two hours and when you review your file, you realize you added three pages on your story. I hate that feeling. Now I managed to finish Chapter Four, thanks to Linkin Park's Iridescent.

And, oh, two days ago, December 23rd, was my father's 18th death anniversary. He died when I was one. Just sharing.

R3D NEBuLOS17Y: Yeah, betcha. :D

Blazing Crusader: You think Lester and Skylar will be a cute couple? Just asking. :D

NiniCere: That must mean I'm doing something right. And don't worry, you're not the only one who thought it was Michael Yew. :D

Potterjay all the Way: I guess you'll just have to wait to find out. And thank you for the PM. :D

MysticWishes: Just wait. :D

CimFan: Oh, well. If that's what you think. :D

Elena-Amare-PJOAEVERFAN: Thank you for stopping to read my story. :D

And MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL! :D

"Battle lines are not always drawn where you might think."

-Rachel Sexton

(Deception Point)

WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN 2.0:

DARKNESS ARISING
Chapter 4: YOU'RE UNDEAD TO ME

PERCY

For some time, the creature and I looked at each other, analyzing, waiting for one another's move. I'd been too fixated with its front body that I forgot that it makhai had another one attached on the back. The thing suddenly charged to where we were, daggers drawn. I pushed Calypso aside and brought out Riptide. I uncapped and raised it just in time, blocking the attack. That's when the makhai turned around forcefully, throwing Riptide aside, and I was reminded that it had two bodies.

How did I forget that?

The other body had daggers as well. Riptide was on the sand and I had no weapon to defend myself. It slashed to me. I twisted my body to the side, avoiding the majority of the attack but the tip of the blade grazed and cut the skin on my shoulder. I fell to my knees.

The makhai raised its dagger again to deliver another blow. I looked down to retrieve Riptide but it was a few feet away and I couldn't reach it. Then I saw my crutch. I brought it down hard on the creature's foot. The thing howled in pain. I hit the side of its face with the butt of my crutch and it crumpled down in a heap, dazed.

I limped to where Calypso was. She was looking at the makhai, her eyes wide. I grabbed her shoulders, and in a quick voice, said, "Listen, Calypso." My voice seemed to bring her back to the present. I knew she wasn't used to seeing monsters, which was why she was frozen in place. "I need you to run to the Big House and warn Chiron about what's happening. Hey! Can you hear me?" Calypso nodded slowly. "Warn Chiron and the campers. Got it?"

"But what about you?" she wondered.

The makhai was already standing up. I knew I needed to get Calypso out of there, as she wasn't used in fighting. Besides, I didn't think I could defend her and myself in my condition. "Go, Calypso. Hurry!"

She stood up shakily and ran to the direction of the cabins. I turned around and faced the makhai again. It shook its head – the one I hit – and glared at me. It charged again and I dove to the side, rolling on the sand and grabbing Riptide on the process. I was lying on my back when the thing stabbed down hard. I brought my sword to my chest and blocked the attack. Sparks flew where our blades met. I kicked it on the chest and it flew a few feet back.

I stood up on one good leg, waiting for its next move. The makhai growled and threw one dagger. I sidestepped to the left to avoid the blade but the monster anticipated my move, it spun and the other body threw another dagger to the point where I dodged. The air whistled and I thought the dagger would sink itself between my eyes when someone tackled me from the side and sent me crashing to the water. The blade, however, still nicked my ear.

I didn't get wet, of course, as I didn't will myself to, but the person who pushed me aside was dripping. I looked to see who it was and saw a pair of stormy gray eyes glaring at me.

"Annabeth," I said.

"What the hell are you doing out?" she asked. "It's past curfew, Seaweed Brain!"

I saw something glistening in the moonlight and moved without thinking. I threw myself over Annabeth so I was covering her body with mine and commanded the water to form a shield behind me. I felt the force of the attack and nearly fell crashing down to my girlfriend. She gasped as she saw my reaction.

I had complete faith in water, that it would hold and protect me, but there was still a chance that the makhai's blade could pass through it, which was why I put myself between it and Annabeth. Let's just say that I have no intention of letting that daemon hurt my Annabeth.

(Did I just say my Annabeth? Dang. I'm becoming possessive, too.)

I sued the water acting as a shield and sent it crashing to the creature's face. It spluttered and tried to wipe its eyes dry. I went for the kill. Since Riptide was underwater and I had no time to pick it up, and I saw Annabeth gripping her dagger tightly, I grabbed her wrist with one hand and her waist with the other. With the strength the water was providing me, I propelled Annabeth to the air and used her dagger to stab the makhai on the forehead. My girlfriend landed on my arms with a yelp. I stole a quick kiss.

She pushed me off and jumped to her feet. Behind her, the makhai was disintegrating to dust, its essence returning to Tartarus.

"Did Calypso warn you?" I asked Annabeth when the creature was fully gone.

Annabeth shook her head. "No," she answered. "I saw you go out of your cabin with her. I followed you, and well . . ." she trailed off and I knew she saw us hugging.

I sighed. "Look, Annabeth . . ."

She held up a hand. "Later, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Let's go to Chiron to take care of your wounds."

She grabbed my hand and assisted me in walking. Water could heal me and standing in thigh-deep water, I could feel my left leg healing. I'd thought about it but since I didn't want to raise any suspicions, I thought I wouldn't heal myself. But now that's not happening. I could walk on my own with only a slight limp. No doubt my mortal friends would wonder how I got better easily.

Maybe I should ask Annabeth to re-break my leg. Just a thought.

I had an arm around Annabeth's waist and she wasn't pushing me away so I thought really mad at me. "Makhai," she muttered under her breath. "Daemons of battle and combat, children of Eris. How did it get inside?"

I shrugged. "Someone summoned it," I said.

Annabeth glared at me. "I know, that, Seaweed Brain," she said. "You know I meant who would summon them."

"Um, the Stolls?" I suggested. "They like playing pranks."

"Travis and Connor won't do something like that," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, and they won't piss Peleus off and make him chase them to the cabins area," I countered.

Ananbeth was about to answer when she was stopped by a noise I just heard a few minutes ago. Another makhai? I thought. The answer appeared a few feet off the ground. Annabeth stepped in front of me, no doubt thinking that I was still injured. I rolled my eyes as I summoned water and sent it to the creature. It flew sideways and crashed to the trees.

Annabeth shot me a dark look. "What?" I asked. "I protected you."

"You know I can kill that one on my own," she said.

"I know," I said. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Then of course, my girlfriend blushed. I have no idea how she could do that, even in life-threatening situations, but I still felt elated that I was the only one who could do that to her. The second makhai growled and circled the two of us, looking for an opening. When the creature started sauntering forward to us, Annabeth and I charged forward. We'd been fighting for a long time together that we could read each other's thoughts based on our facial expressions.

I met the makhai head on as the diversion while Annabeth went on for the kill. Riptide had reappeared in my pocket and while I was running forward, I brought it out, uncapped it and struck hard, the force of the attack pushing the makhai backwards. The thing tried to do what it did earlier and spun around, the other body wielding its daggers to hit my face, but this time I was prepared. I blocked the attack and landed one of my own, stabbing the creatures abdomen. However, before I could bury Riptide to the hilt, the middle pair of its hands smashed the butt of its dagger on the side of my head. I crumpled on the sand, disoriented and my vision swimming in and out of focus.

I heard Annabeth scream and grunt, next thing I knew, I was being showered by monster dust. I looked up and saw my girlfriend, poised to attack, her dagger in hand. "Nobody gets to hurt Seaweed Brain but me," she said, offering a hand to me.

I accepted the hand and stood up, dusting myself and muttering, "Um, thanks."

That's when we heard the noise from the distance.

Annabeth and I looked at each other, knowing what that meant. Camp Half-Blood was under attack. Whoever summoned the monsters must've thought that it wouldn't go this far. But it did. Now the only safe haven for someone like me was in danger.

Ananbeth and I both ran to where the sound was coming from. When we reached the area, I immediately understood why no one came to our help while we were battling the makhai. It was because there were monsters attacking the other campers, and with the day being in the middle of the semester, there weren't many campers in,

There were at least a dozen monsters. They looked like makhai in a sense, because they had an extra pair of arms. But the similarity stopped there. Unlike makhai, who looked like they spent their free time burning each other's skin off, the monsters present inside weren't ugly. They were, in a creepy way, beautiful. It was white in color – and I mean that; its hair black and wavy, reaching just above its shoulder; on its heads were a strings of what looked suspiciously like miniature skulls, each face contorted in different degrees of torture; pebble-size red gems decorated its foreheads and necks, making them look like monsters addicted in jewelry. When the closest one to us moved, only then did I notice that it had another pair of extra arm just behind where the first pair was.

Or at least I thought it was another pair of arms.

The right one was thinner than a teenager's arm and ended in an orange fish tail, while the one on the left was a serpent.

"Androktasiai," Annabeth muttered behind me.

I looked at her, wondering whether my girlfriend just muttered an incantation. I wanted to tell her that she really should stop hanging around with the Hecate lot – not that there was something wrong with them – but instead, I asked, "Androk – what?"

Annabeth scoffed. I knew something like Here goes Seaweed Brain again was running in her head. "Androktasiai," she repeated, pronouncing the monsters' name slowly. "They, like the makhai, are believed to be Eris's children and the siblings of Lethe, Ponos, Limos, Hysminai, Phonoi, Neikea, Pseudologoi, Amphilogiai, Dysnomia, Ate, and Horkos."

My eyes glazed over. "Okay," I mumbled. "You can't honest expect me to remember all their names." Hey, I had enough trouble remembering the gods' names and throwing in the monsters' as well, and their siblings, daddies, mommies, granddaddies, grandmommies? Forget it.

"They are the female personifications of manslaughter," Annabeth added.

"Your boyfriend is stupid," I pointed out. "Don't give him information his brain will have trouble recalling." I withdrew Riptide. "Besides, our friends need us."

Annabeth nodded and held up her dagger. We charged together. I went for the one the Katie and her brother, Calvin, was fighting, not because it was the nearest, but because with one quick survey of the surroundings, I saw that Katie and her brother were almost defeated. Calvin was wounded and Katie was panting hard.

While the monster's attention was focused on the Demeter siblings, I went in for the kill. I drove Riptide through its ribcage and the androk-whateveritscalled howled in pain. It started to crumble to monster dust but not before the serpent tail lashed out and hit my left side, knocking every wisp of air out of my body.

I fell to my knees clutching my side. Katie and Calvin were about to run to help me but were cut off by another white monster (Let's just stick with calling them the white monsters, as their name is too much for my brain). Katie used her power to grow some thick and sturdy looking vine and made it wrap around the monsters leg while Calvin threw his spear, but he must've been totally exhausted, or confused, for the weapon changed in midair and morphed into a deadly and life-threatening long-stemmed red rose.

Katie's vines bought me enough time to duck under the white monster's fishtail arm and drive Riptide deep into its spine. The thing arched its back, yowling in pain as it slowly crumbled to dust.

Calvin helped me up. "Thanks," I muttered.

"No worries," he said, his face red. "Though I'm sorry for the rose."

"That's okay," I said as my eyes scan the area, looking for Annabeth. I found her fending off a white monster with her brother Malcolm. To her left, I watched as Clarisse stabbed one of the white monsters in the eyes. The thing disappeared in a cloud of yellow dust.

A white monster was charging towards me. I sidestepped its attack and hit its back with the flat of my blade like the creature was a baseball. It fell face first into the ground. I would've laughed at it but one of its hands flailed as it searched for handhold and managed to catch the side of my shirt with the tip of its dagger, opening a deep gash on my left side.

I almost crumpled to my knees as intense pain exploded on my left side. I'd been battling monsters for a long time that I knew what it meant. Poison. The white monster tried to lunge at me, and almost succeeded, but I managed to raise my sword on the last second, blocking the thing's blade. I kicked its chest, jumped back to my feet and stabbed it on the chest.

The white monster and I fell together, me clutching my bleeding side. I felt like every ounce of my strength was seeping out of my body to the wound. I gritted my teeth and searched my pocket for a square of ambrosia.

Then I heard my girlfriend yell. I looked up in fear, seeing her determined and angry face as she drove her blade into the monster's gut. I understood too late what was happening. Annabeth yelled because Malcolm was knocked out. It was too late to stop my running feet.

Annabeth looked up at me and met my eyes. Her hard eyes suddenly turned into an expression of absolute horror. "Percy, stop!" she yelled.

I was a few feet away from her when the ground beneath my feet exploded.

[Next - Chapter 5: IRON FIST]