Hey, gang! Look at that, it's only been two days. Weird. I guess I'm feeling generous. I'm currently (like, right this minute) writing the huge seven-chapter final battle sequence for this and it's just got me in the mood to post another chapter, haha.

Thanks those of you that reviewed the last one! I like this chapter set. It's a lot of fun; very exciting all around. You'll see, I guess. Enjoy! :D

XXV
PERCY

Percy hated being helpless.

Since the start of the Shadow War, the situation at Camp Half-Blood had been rocky. Everyone was on edge, fearing that any day Erebos could march through their defenses and rain havoc down on their feeble corner of imagined security. Percy couldn't stand seeing his friends that way—so weary and on-edge, constantly worried and afraid but trying their hardest to hide it in a small effort not to erase all hope. It was the Titan War—the Giant War—everything all over again. And it was wrong. Kids like them shouldn't have to live each day not knowing if they'd ever see another one—slowly forgetting the light of the sun and the feeling of safety.

The list of things Percy would give up for a way to end all this was extremely impressive. His friends and fellow campers had sort of looked to him for guidance ever since he'd been claimed by his father during his first summer at Camp Half-Blood, and at first he'd hated it. He'd never asked to be a leader or wanted the spotlight at all. But as time had worn on, he'd more or less grown used to it. Before he knew it, he'd settled himself into the role everyone around him seemed to expect. He wasn't in charge or anything, but rather he began to take the safety of his friends on himself—to take responsibility for helping and protecting them. It wasn't a choice or any kind of conscious decision, it was just something he did. It was as natural as breathing. And being powerless to do anything to ease his friends' pain and fear was like suffocating.

And things were getting worse. According to Piper, one of her cabin mates had been (or would be; her magic dagger hadn't been specific about timing) taken captive by Erebos' army. The message hadn't been clear, but apparently the girl, Drew, was supposed to act as some sort of bait. The trouble was, they hadn't received any kind of ransom yet. Percy wanted to take a team to Olympus and try to find her, but that idea had been shot down before it had fully left his mouth. They weren't, as everyone was quick to point out, completely sure Drew had been taken yet at all. The other Aphrodite kids were scouring the camp, searching anywhere and everywhere for their missing sibling. But a few hours had passed and still there was no sign of her. Percy was starting to get anxious—and he definitely wasn't the only one—but as Annabeth and many of the other Athena kids kept reminding everyone, if Erebos did intend to use Drew as bait they would hear from him before long. Then they would be able to decide what to do.

Sensible as that plan may be, it did absolutely nothing to alleviate Percy's frustration. So in the meantime, he had to handle it in other ways—like training at the arena, for example.

He shook his head back to attention just in time to duck the wide swing of a cavalry sword aimed at his left ear. Focus singling in, he aimed a quick jab down low and was unsurprised when Hazel jumped sideways to avoid it. She spun in a circle, gathering momentum, and this time Percy threw his sword up to block hers. A resounding clang rang through the arena as her heavy sword collided with his lighter one, jarring his arm. But it didn't altogether block the low sound of dirt crunching behind him, and he quickly shoved forward, using his advantage of weight and strength over Hazel to push her arm aside. He kicked her breastplate, knocking her over onto her back, and whirled around, raising his left arm and ducking behind his buckler so that the dulled blade of Frank's gladius glanced off the shield's curved surface.

Frank stumbled to the side and Percy straightened, stabbing swiftly out with his sword. Frank turned just in time and caught the blade against the flat edge of his heater shield. He flung his arm aside, almost throwing the weapon from Percy's grip, and swung his gladius. Percy turned sideways instinctively to dodge the strike aimed at his ribs and again heard the sound of nearby movement. A glance to his left showed him that Hazel had regained her footing, and he ducked a swing of her sword and shoved her backward with his shield before aiming a back-swung jab at Frank that collided roughly with the side of his stomach as the son of Mars raised his arms and tried to start forward. Frank grunted in pain and staggered backward, arms dropping, and Percy returned his attention to Hazel as she swung her spatha at his legs. He jumped—which was more difficult than usual, given the added weight of armor and equipment—and stumbled when he landed, dropping to one knee. Hazel spun again and aimed a slash at his left shoulder, but he blocked it with his shield and twisted to the side, using his position to push her blade to the ground and trap it beneath his shield. He then landed a powerful stab at her chest that probably would have impaled her had she not been wearing armor and had his blade not been blunted. As it was, she cried out and let go of her sword as she fell backward.

One down, Percy thought as he kicked Hazel's spatha out of the way and sprang to his feet, turning to see where his other opponent had got to. He didn't see Frank immediately and frowned, eyes narrowing. Wondering if he'd gone to check on Hazel, Percy started to turn back around. But he hadn't gotten far before something hard and metal slammed into the back of his head. He stumbled forward and swore loudly as flashes of light blotted his vision, regretting the fact that he'd chosen to forgo a helmet. He landed on his hands and knees, watering eyes squeezed shut as he tried to focus on the person he knew was about to strike again and not the massive headache that was trying very hard to distract him. He barely heard the clink of armor behind him and rolled to the side, opening his eyes to see Frank's sword swing down cleanly where he'd just been a second before.

Angry that he'd left himself open, Percy growled and threw himself at Frank, tackling the son of Mars and dragging him to the ground. Frank seemed caught off guard at first but quickly regained his focus and shoved at Percy, bowling him sideways so they rolled over one another. Though an inch or two shorter, Frank was much bulkier than Percy and had the advantage in strength, and Percy very narrowly avoided being brained by his heater shield again. Fueled by frustrated fury, Percy finally managed to force himself on top of Frank and shove the blunted blade of his sword under his friend's chin, effectively ending the struggle.

The adrenaline in Percy's body seemed to have realized that the fight was over, because it all faded in an instant, leaving him considerably tired and sore. He blinked hard a few times, shaking his head as the pain reduced to a dull ache and the resulting anger disappeared. Breathing heavily, he climbed to his feet, switching his sword to his left hand and holding out his right. Frank, who was also visibly out of breath, took it and allowed Percy to pull him up next to him.

"Wow," Frank said breathlessly, unfastening the shield from his arm and rotating his shoulder. He gave Percy an awed sort of look. "You're getting really good."

Percy grunted noncommittally in response. He was still thinking uneasily about that brief instant a few seconds ago, when he could have sworn some part of him had been ready to slice his friend's head off. He wanted to think it had just been the fault of his natural battle reflexes, but deep down he wasn't entirely sure. The Oracle's warning had him extremely worried—if there really was some kind of darkness inside him, then how long would it be before he snapped and turned against the people he cared about? Was that what the prophecy had been predicting? Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail. What if he would fail to protect his friends by bringing about their deaths himself?

But when he looked at Frank and Hazel, the latter of whom was stretching her arms as she approached the boys, he felt nothing like that brief, scary moment. No anger, no darkness, no strangely uncharacteristic desire for blood and death. He saw them as he always did—as his best friends, the two people who'd helped him after Hera had stolen his memories, who'd stood by him when he had no home, no past, and no sense of self. It wasn't only that he didn't want to hurt them, but he wasn't going to. He couldn't possibly ever see it happening. And even that small bit of reassurance was comforting enough.

"Frank's right, Percy," Hazel said in response to her boyfriend's statement, obviously interpreting Percy's lack of response as skepticism, and he shook himself out of his own head and back to the conversation. "You're gonna run out of sparring partners soon."

Percy shook his head. "It's still not enough." For some reason Hazel rolled her eyes and laughed, and Percy frowned at her. "What?"

She exchanged a hopeless sort of look with Frank and answered, "Only you could be the best fighter at camp and still not be satisfied."

Percy wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended. "Erebos is a god," he said, suddenly feeling like he had to explain himself. "Somewhere along the line, somebody's gonna have to fight him. And, you know, not die."

"We know that," Frank agreed. "But, well…" He shifted a bit awkwardly and looked to Hazel for help, and she seemed to get whatever message he was sending.

She stepped toward Percy and said seriously, "It's great that you want to protect everyone. But you don't have to take so much responsibility on yourself. Who says it's you who has to fight Erebos?"

"No one, it's just—"

"We'll do this together, just like we always do. Because friends fight for each other." Hazel smiled, golden eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Anytime you want to hone your edge, just let us know. But don't expect us to let you take the spotlight when the time comes. If you really care about us, you'll give us a chance to care about you, too."

This time Percy couldn't help returning their smiles. He really did have some pretty great friends. "You got it," he replied. "All of us together, the King of Darkness doesn't stand a chance." Hazel and Frank grinned, even though they knew as well as Percy did that it wouldn't be that easy. Still, pretending like it would had a way of keeping them from losing hope, which, as they waited for Erebos to make his move, was more important than anything.

"We should get this stuff put away," Percy said, nodding to their equipment. "The Aphrodite kids'll have our necks if it's not all back in its proper place." He bent down to pick up the blunted gladius Frank had been using and a sudden and uncomfortable wave of dizziness caused him to falter. He groaned and forgot the sword, instead straightening and pressing his free hand against his forehead.

"Sorry," Frank said at once, looking guilty and hurrying to retrieve the sword himself. "That's my fault, isn't it? I could tell right away I hit you harder than I meant to."

"It's fine," Percy insisted as the dizzy spell passed quickly. His skull did ache, but he'd suffered worse head injuries. It wouldn't be a problem. "Don't worry about it. I asked you to fight seriously, didn't I?"

He grinned reassuringly and Frank proceeded to look unconvinced. "Yeah, but if—"

"Percy!" a voice interrupted, causing all three of them to look around. Miranda Gardiner from the Demeter cabin was running toward them, dark hair flying behind her back and an anxious look on her face.

"What's up?" Percy asked immediately.

"Trouble with an extraction team. They need your help!"

"What?" exclaimed Hazel at the same time Frank asked, "How do you know?"

"Lou Ellen," Miranda explained, leaning over to catch her breath. "She sent her pegasus back with a magic letter asking to send reinforcements. A lot of people are either busy or away from camp, but I thought you'd—"

"Where are they?" Percy interrupted, throwing aside the blunted sword he'd been using and pulling his own from his pocket in pen-form.

"Near Central Park. There are pegasi in the stables—"

"Thanks, Miranda. Do me a favor and find Annabeth, will you? Let her know what happened and tell her she doesn't have to worry. I'll bring them back safe."

As Miranda agreed and headed off at a run, Hazel said firmly, "We're coming with you."

Percy nodded, knowing he'd be glad for the extra help, and waited while she and Frank quickly went to retrieve their own weapons. Not wanting to waste time running to the stables, he called out for Blackjack with his mind, glad when the pegasus was quick to respond.

Good to hear your voice, boss! You know, we never talk these days. Not like we used to. Brings a tear to the eye.

Yeah, well, we can lament times of old some other day. Right now we've got bigger fish to fry.

Fish? Ugh, I hate fish. Give me a nice box of glazed donuts or some French fries any old day, but if it's been kickin' I sure ain't lickin'.

It's an expression, horse-brain. Get down to the arena. And bring two friends.

So are you sure—?

There's no fish involved!

Alright, alright. One black beauty with a double side of wings to go, comin' right up. I don't suppose you're taking us on vacation?

Percy grinned wryly as Frank and Hazel returned, and despite the situation they smiled back. Rescue mission. Now get your tail in gear. We've got some teammates to save.

Fun times, comin' up. Next two chapters are a bit longer than this one, and almost straight fight scenes. Man, I love writing fight scenes. I know that's kind of rare, seeing as most people hate them, but I dunno I guess I'm just weird that way.

Reviews? Maybe? Pretty please? Love you guys! Later days!

-oMM