The Loss Of A Hero

by bdawgwarfear

Percy dies, but he becomes a special sort of spirit. Annabeth and Nico deal with his death in their own ways... which might or might not be the best way, sometimes. this is my first fanfiction, and if you're tempted to just scroll by and read something else, just give it a shot. no harm in trying, right? Read and Review, please!

17. Chapter 15

Hey, all. I decided to slack off again, so here I am, writing! Let's see how this goes, shall we?

Thanks to novaking2832 for following!

Thanks to Irianna Marie for following and reviewing! And thank you very much for your kind words ^-^

The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Fifteen

Percy POV

We fell out of the darkness just in time. A few seconds longer, and we would have gotten sucked straight into the power of the pillar of darkness. "Everyone okay?" I shouted.

"I'm fine."

"All good here."

"Mr. Bears says he's okay!"

"I'm fine, punk."

"I'm alright!"

"I'm okay."

"Good to hear it," I said. Everyone picked themselves off the ground, brushing themselves off. We turned and looked at the dark pillar, about a mile or two away. Up near the top, a figure with big black wings was flying around, but I couldn't see what was going on. Sierra. A burst of black hit her, and she rocketed toward us, falling. I raised my hand, calling water to catch her. Nothing happened. No water, anywhere. I swore in Ancient Greek. "Someone, catch her!"

"Mr. Bears can help!" Zoe said, then put the teddy bear in front of her. It walked under where Sierra would fall, and I just about had a coronary. Then it grew to about the size of a minivan.

I shook my head. "Okay, then…"

The giant teddy bear caught Sierra in its arms. She took one look at it and fainted. "Sierra!" I ran and picked her up. Her wings disappeared, which helped me carry her. I rested her against a fallen tree. "Right, anyone here able to make a barrier or forcefield?"

Raven nodded, and extended her walking stick…no, her staff, and a purple field of energy surrounded Sierra. "Thanks," I said. I turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, guys! One Nico, seven of us. This isn't a physical fight. This is a fight of magic and power. Um, sorry, Clarisse, I don't think you'll be altogether that helpful."

"What'chu say, punk?" She growled.

I backed up a step. "Um, I mean, maybe your aspect of fighting will have little effect against the forces that we're facing."

"Hmph. Maybe not, but I can still help." She closed her eyes. A few moments later, everyone jumped back as they were surrounded in a cocoon of red, flickering light. "Blessing of Ares, punk! Invulnerability in combat! Tell me now that I couldn't help!"

I put my hands up. "Alright, alright, sorry."

"Dunno how long it'll last with the seven of us. Not very long, so hurry up and win, punk!"

"We'll do that. Now, Will, Annabeth? I'm making you two the brains of our operation. What tactics should we take?"

"Umm… It's hard to say, never gone up against anything like this before…" Annabeth mused, "But I think that, making an educated guess here, I'd say that our only hope is to somehow block the energy filling him. Maybe we could construct force-fields?"

Raven shook her head "I don't think I can make one nearly strong enough. His power is almost infinitely more than mine. There's almost nothing we can do. For it to work, we'd have to be at least even in power."

"Sorry, did you say even?" Chloe stepped up. "He may be insanely powerful right now, but he's still a demigod, and he was never meant to channel that much power. I can briefly block out the force that is shooting the extra power into him, which will reduce him to the maximum level of power he personally can bring. However, he'll still be controlled by the force, I can only block the power. It'll be the job of the rest of you to defeat and subdue him, and then Raven can put a shield around him to cut him off from the source."

"Not that I mind a straight-up fight, but why waste time beating him?" Clarisse asked. "Can't we just stick the forcefield around him and call it good?"

Raven sighed. "If only it were that easy. The forcefield will only work if he can't fight it, or else he could shatter it easily. Forcefields are only impenetrable from the outside. And if he breaks one, I won't have the strength to make another. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, didn't you ever learn that? So, no, he would have to be subdued or unconscious first."

"And there's another problem," Chloe added. "Like I said, he'd be going on the maximum level of power that he could. If we don't stop him quickly…"

"He'll burn up," Raven finished.

"Exactly," Chloe nodded.

We turned and looked at the dark pillar, which had been advancing on us the whole time. It was now no less than a half-mile away. "You guys ready for this?" I asked.

"Ready," they said in unison.

"Right. Will, Annabeth, you stay back. Clarisse, you stay here until Chloe blocks out the outside power. Chloe, like I said, just focus on blocking out that power, and just stay back and hold it as long as you can. Raven, you'll help me fight, but conserve your energy for the forcefield. Zoe… Um…"

"I'll help fight, too!" Zoe said proudly.

I looked at Raven skeptically. "You gonna let her do this?"

"Mr. Bears will keep Zoe safe," she promised.

I shrugged. "If you say so." I pulled the newly-shaped Riptide off the catch on my coat. "Alright, then. Let's go free our friend."

End of Chapter 15

I only just realized that there were seven. My favorite, and lucky, number. Also the number of demigods in the Heroes of Olympus series. (The events of which are not counted in this story, this is based off the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, in case nobody knew) let's give a hand for coincidences! *claps* …no? Ah, well.

Sorry that the chapter's short, I promise that the next one will be long to make up for it!

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