Hey gang! Another Tuesday, another update. Thanks to those of you who reviewed for me! Enjoy!

XXVII
PERCY

"Okay…" Clarisse said slowly as all eyes fixed on their new visitor. "Now what?"

The second drakon was smaller than the first, its scales a much darker gray that helped it blend with the eternal night around it. Both its eyes were intact, however, shining pale gold light on the ground as it slithered menacingly nearer.

"Well, we've got no choice now," Percy said reluctantly. "We've got to split up. Letting those two things get near each other feels like a bad idea to me, how 'bout you guys?"

"Chat time's over!" Lou Ellen called from where she and the three boys stood a few feet away. The first drakon had succeeded in swallowing two of her shrubs and was now busy tearing the third in half. She abandoned the enchantment and ushered her charges over to the rest of the group. "We've got seconds before that thing realizes we're still here."

"Okay, okay," Percy said quickly, thinking fast. "Look, the Lydian drakon's the only one that has to be killed by a child of Ares, right? So technically, the other one is anyone's game. Clarisse and Frank, you guys should both stick with the first guy. Hazel, you back them up. Lou Ellen and I'll, uh… take care of the new one." He shot a questioning glance at Lou Ellen, and she nodded grimly.

"Right," Hazel said at once, and she and Frank hefted their weapons and started over to reengage their friend. Clarisse rested her spear over her shoulder and followed without a word or so much as a look back, which Percy was more than happy about. He didn't need an affirmation from her—a simple lack of argument was definitely good enough.

"You guys should hide," Percy addressed the boys behind Lou Ellen.

"I can help you," the older guy volunteered, stepping forward and clenching his hands into fists.

Percy raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to focus on that creepy white eye. "You ever fought a drakon before?"

"Well, no—"

"Then trust me, now's not a good time to try it. You look like you can handle yourself, I'll give you that. But drakons are a whole different ballgame than gang fights behind closed grocery stores." The guy scowled but didn't argue. He'd probably seen enough of the battle so far to know that drakons weren't exactly pushovers. Even if he had some battle skills, there was no way he'd be ready to fight a monster like a drakon. Percy knew what it was like to start your demigod battle career on something considerably overwhelming—his first real fight against the Minotaur had been terrifying.

"Look," he went on, "watch the kids, okay? All three of you get somewhere safe."

"I can help with that," Lou Ellen suggested. She waved her hand, and suddenly the three boys vanished.

"Whoa," Percy said appreciatively. "Where'd they go?" He stepped forward and reached toward the empty air in which the tallest boy had just been standing. But his fingers hit some invisible force, a voice yelled "Ow!", and he jumped backward in surprise saying, "Whoops, sorry."

"They're still there," Lou Ellen explained, rolling her eyes. "I just made the Mist around them denser."

"I thought half-bloods could see through the Mist."

"In normal quantities, yeah. But if it's thick enough, it can fool even the most trained minds. The drakons won't see them through this."

Deciding that that was as good a hiding place as any, Percy shrugged and started toward the smaller drakon, Lou Ellen on his heels. They needed to head it off before it got too close; that way the two fights would stay separate. It saw them coming a few yards away and gave a great roaring hiss, spewing greenish-yellow poison on the pavement.

Percy and Lou Ellen stopped just outside its reach. "Got a plan?" Lou Ellen asked.

"Yeah. Not dying."

"Good plan."

With that, the drakon lashed out and they both leapt to opposite sides. Percy struck instinctively with Riptide, but predictably the blade bounced off the monster's dark scales. It swung its head toward him and he ducked, rolling across the ground. He stabbed upward, hoping to find a weak spot, and miraculously his blade buried itself at the base of the drakon's neck. It shrieked and jerked, yanking the sword from Percy's grip and spraying a mouthful of poison in every direction. A few tiny drops landed on Percy's forearm as he ducked out of the way, and small as they were his arm suddenly felt like it had been dunked in boiling water. Biting back a scream, he staggered away from the drakon, looking around to make sure Lou Ellen hadn't been hit. He didn't see her, and before he could decide whether to look for her or try to get his sword back he suddenly stepped backward into empty air. The jogging path dropped down a step into a muddy slope and he hadn't been paying attention to how close it was. With a surprised yell, he tripped backward and slid down through the mud directly into the shallow bank of the reservoir.

The water didn't inhibit his breathing, just like always, but regardless he still seemed to choke on it in surprise. After all, he hadn't been expecting to be suddenly submerged like that. He stood up into dry air, breathing heavily, and shook his head to regain his bearings, blinking away another brief dizzy spell. His clothes felt damp, which was surprising—until he looked down and realized he was covered in mud. With a groan, he ducked back under the water and willed it to wash away the grime, deciding that wet was better than muddy in any case. When he stood up again, he realized something else—the brand-new burns on his arm hadn't healed, but the pain had disappeared. This wasn't saltwater, after all, but it was water, which was evidently good for at least that. The only unfortunate fact was that it didn't do anything for his headache.

Feeling better regardless and suddenly a lot more confident, Percy looked up, craning his neck to get a good look at the drakon. Lou Ellen had drawn a long dagger, sort of like a dirk, and was dodging the monster's teeth while simultaneously trying to get a good shot at any spot between its scales. Deciding to give her a hand, Percy dug his feet into the mud and reached out to the water around him with his mind. All around him it responded, rising up behind him in a great wave that towered over his head. He raised his arms and thrust them forward, sending the wave harmlessly past him and hurtling up the hill. Ahead, Lou Ellen turned at the disturbance, and her mouth dropped open just before gallons and gallons of water crashed into both her and the drakon.

Flinching in alarm, Percy scrambled up the muddy hill and hurried across the wet and slippery grass. The drakon had, thankfully, taken the brunt of the attack and was now thrashing around on its side, slipping on the damp ground. Lou Ellen was lying on her back a ways away from it. Percy ran up to her just as she sat up and spit out a mouthful of water.

"Sorry," he said at once. He hadn't meant for her to be hit as well, but thankfully she seemed to be alright.

"It's okay. But, you know, maybe a warning next time? Tsunami baths aren't exactly my favorite kind."

He helped her back to her feet as the drakon roared in anger, righting itself and lunging for them immediately. Lou Ellen turned and must have met its eyes, because she seemed to freeze in fear. Without looking at the monster, Percy grabbed the daughter of Hecate and dragged her back to the ground, throwing them both out of harm's way as the drakon's head skirted past them. Not wanting to wait for it to attack again, Percy snatched Lou Ellen's arms and stumbled to his feet, yanking her after him. They backed a good few yards away from the creature, which now rested between them and the reservoir.

Percy felt the weight of his sword returning to his pocket, which provided a small bit of comfort. Still, they needed a plan. He chanced a glance over his shoulder at the others, a bit afraid of what he'd see, but Clarisse, Frank, and Hazel were all still standing, though they didn't appear to have made much progress. Arrows were sticking out of the Lydian drakon's flesh in a few places and green blood was trickling over its silver armor, but its attacks seemed just as vicious as ever.

Lou Ellen drew his attention back to their battle by shoving him roughly to the side before the black drakon could swallow them both whole. They landed side by side on the wet grass and rolled to avoid the following spray of poison that sizzled against the ground. Percy dug his hand into the pocket of his damp jeans and pulled out his sword, uncapping it immediately so the gleaming bronze blade grew to life in his hands. He knew the eyes were a drakon's biggest weakness—easier to hit than the tiny chinks in its armor—but they weren't exactly a cakewalk to get to. The drakon reared again and opened its mouth, lunging at the ground with surprising speed. Lou Ellen dodged left and Percy dodged right. On a whim, he leapt for the monster's head the instant it hit the ground, throwing his arms over it and digging his fingers under its scales to keep hold. It pulled its head back again and Percy felt his feet leave the ground as he suddenly rose twenty feet in the air. He heard Lou Ellen call his name, but if he released any small bit of concentration he'd lose his grip and fall. It took all his strength and probably looked extremely ungraceful, but somehow he managed to swing his left leg over the top of the monster's head, getting a better hold, and with a strained yell he reached forward and stabbed Riptide into its right eye.

The drakon gave a raspy howl and swung its head in pain. With only one hand now holding on, Percy felt his grip loosen and his eyes widened as he was thrown from the monster's back. For an instant he readied himself for a very painful landing, but it never came. Something solid wrapped around his ankle and stopped his trajectory midflight. Dangling upside down in the air, he tried to lean up and see what had caught him, but the shock must have messed with his brain because he could have sworn he saw an angel.

A second later he was dropped a foot or so to the ground and he got a real look at his rescuer to see that it was, in fact, an angel—a stone angel, one of the statues from a nearby monument. It gave him an absurd-looking salute before spreading its gray wings and taking flight again. Percy stared after it wordlessly as it disappeared into the darkness.

"You okay?" Lou Ellen asked as she ran up and held out a hand, which Percy took sort of numbly.

"Yeah. Did you just…?"

She waved a hand dismissively. "Object animation is kind of my specialty. It was better than letting you fall, right?"

Percy grinned. "I'd say so. Thanks."

A reptilian snarl interrupted and they both rounded on the monster, which was still swinging its head and trying to free the sword from its eye. Percy had been hoping that blow might be enough to take it down, but unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case. They would need to try something else. He let his eyes sweep over their surroundings, and when they landed once again on the reservoir, an idea began to form.

Percy turned back to Lou Ellen. "Think you can get it into the water?"

She gave him a careful look, seeming to realize that he had some sort of plan. "I can try," she replied.

He nodded and said, "Then try," before turning and taking off for the reservoir. He skirted a wide berth around the monster, trying not to draw its attention. Thankfully it didn't notice him. It did, however, appear to give up its conquest on the blade still lodged in its eyeball and instead face the ground, its one remaining searchlight-like eye scouring the area for prey. Lou Ellen held out a hand and two park benches from the lawn across the road from the Met sprang to life, skipping toward the drakon as though about to engage it in a game of hopscotch.

They weren't far away, which meant that time would be short. Percy sprinted across the jogging trail and slid down the small, muddy incline to the reservoir. He strode right into the water and waded out until it rose a few inches above his waist, then closed his eyes, once again reaching out to it with his mind. He would need as much help from it as he could get, and seeing as it wasn't seawater he wasn't sure how easy that would be. Controlling it before hadn't been difficult, but this task would require a lot more strength and concentration.

Before long, he felt ripples on the water's surface and realized that the snarling had grown louder. He opened his eyes to see that Lou Ellen had accomplished her task—the benches were dancing over the reservoir, taking turns smacking the drakon in the nose as it slid into the water, chasing after them and trying to bite them out of the air. Percy stayed still where he was, a mere ten feet from the monster's scaly body, but it didn't seem to notice him. It slithered past him in pursuit of the benches, and he forced himself to stay calm and wait until the end of its tail had slid onto the muddy incline before turning to face its head.

The tables had led it in a wide circle so that its body was curled in on itself, half-submerged in water with its head rearing up every few seconds for an attack. Percy gathered his strength and clenched both hands into fists, feeling a wrenching pain twist in his stomach as all the water around the drakon began to shift and slide, slowly rising and washing over it. It took a few seconds for it to realize something was wrong, and by then the water had just closed over its head, forming a sort of blanket. The surface of the reservoir was no longer flat and now had a large, drakon-shaped bump in it as the monster was trapped beneath a curtain of dark water.

The drakon flailed and writhed, trying to break free of the watery sheet holding it down, and it was all Percy could do to keep his hold. Just a little bit longer, he told himself. It couldn't last forever. Just hang on a little longer. It was suddenly getting hard to breathe, like he was trapped under a suffocating river of swirling water just like the drakon. He felt like something was trying to yank his lungs from his chest. But it was almost over. It had to be.

And then finally, after a very long minute, the monster's struggling weakened. Its movement slowed to a stop, and the long, spiral lump vanished as black dust rose to the surface of the reservoir and the water grew still.

Percy gasped as all of a sudden he could breathe again. Remaining on his feet was difficult when his legs felt a lot like warm Jell-O, but somehow he made his way back up the bank and over the sidewalk before collapsing on the grass and lying flat on his back, eyes closed and chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon.

"Did you just… drown it?" Lou Ellen asked from somewhere above him.

"Yeah," he replied breathlessly. "Barely. Not a trick I'll be pulling off again anytime soon." He was too lightheaded to stand up, let alone try controlling any more water.

"Wow," was her only reply.

But then a kid's voice spoke up, "That was AWESOME! You guys are CRAZY!"

Confused, Percy opened his eyes and turned his head, but he couldn't see anyone aside from Lou Ellen. She caught a glimpse of the look on his face and smiled in amusement, before waving her hand in the air. The three boys she'd been protecting earlier materialized about four feet to her right.

"Oh, yeah," Percy muttered after a brief start. "You guys."

"Do all half-bloods have magic powers?" the older of the two brothers asked with wide eyes.

"A lot do," Lou Ellen explained with a shrug. "Though it's different for everyone. And don't expect to be able to do something like that." She nodded at the reservoir, then jerked her head toward Percy. "This kid's, well… special."

Percy pushed himself up on his elbows and shot Lou Ellen a pointed look. "You make me sound like an idiot."

Her mouth twitched in a smile. "A very useful idiot. Heck of an introduction, though." She glanced at the boys. "You just got to see one of Camp Half-Blood's best in action. Welcome to the life of a demigod."

The guy with the scar looked impressed but wary, but there was something about the excited grins on the two younger ones' faces that bothered Percy. Climbing slowly and shakily to his feet, he looked at Lou Ellen and jerked his head, beckoning her forward. She walked closer and he said in a low voice, "You did tell them what camp is like right now, right? About the war and everything?"

"Of course I did," she insisted. "But, well… You know how kids are." She shot a sympathetic sort of look toward the young brothers. "Let's not ruin this for them, okay? Hope still matters, doesn't it?"

His eyes traveled over her shoulder to the kids behind her. The older guy looked serious, like he understood the danger of the situation they were in. But the two younger boys were now talking excitedly, probably speculating what special abilities they could have. Percy was reminded suddenly with a painful pang of the first time he'd met Nico di Angelo and his sister Bianca. Nico, like the two kids now, had been excited to learn that he was half-Greek-god at first. But then before long the reality of the life of a half-blood sent all that happiness crashing down around him, turning him against the world that made it happen. He wasn't the same innocent kid anymore. He wasn't really the same at all. How long would it be before the same thing happened to these boys?

"Yeah," he replied after a minute. "Yeah, it still matters." Lou Ellen was right—any small bit of hope had to be kept alive. It was the only way any of them would make it out of this.

Lou Ellen smiled as though she'd followed the same thought process. She opened her mouth, but before any sound came out, a shrill scream interrupted her. Percy whipped his head toward the sound, unconsciously running a few feet and skidding to a halt when he saw Hazel on the ground beside the Lydian drakon, smoke rising from her armor.

"Hazel!" he yelled, throat tightening in dread. How had he forgotten about the other creature, even for a second? His friends were still in danger, and here he was standing around doing nothing to help them. He jerked forward, but Frank had already stumbled up beside Hazel. He looked down briefly with wide, anxious eyes, before turning to the drakon with a furious expression. He grabbed four arrows with bright orange fletching and nocked them all at once, drawing and loosing in half a second. The arrows flew into the drakon's open mouth and it reared, shaking its head back and forth.

When it didn't immediately turn to dust, Clarisse, who was standing nearby holding only the top half of her spear, snarled angrily, "Well, now that we've fed it—"

"GET DOWN!" Frank shouted, completely ignoring her. He threw himself over Hazel and Clarisse snapped her gaze back to the drakon just as a great, fiery explosion ignited at the back of its throat. Clarisse was thrown off her feet by the force, landing hard on the grass as Percy and the others stumbled in the resulting hot breeze. The monster gave a thunderous roar as its head and neck were disintegrated by the heat, and a burning cloud of flame rose quickly into the sky and faded as the rest of the Lydian drakon turned to dust.

And just like that, it was over. Both drakons were dead.

Legs still wobbly, Percy ran toward Frank and Hazel, sliding to his knees as Frank dropped down and leaned over her. The drakon has sprayed her with poison, but it wasn't as bad as it had looked from far away. Most of it had been blocked by her armor, which was now melting more by the second. Frank grabbed the straps and tore them, yanking the mangled metal from Hazel's chest and tossing it away. Some of the liquid had landed on her shoulder and burned through her T-shirt. Beneath it, a small patch of her skin was dark red.

"Are you okay?" Frank demanded, leaning over the wound. "How bad is it? Anybody have some ambrosia?"

"Our stock is out," Lou Ellen, who had hurried up behind Percy, informed them regretfully. "We can get some back at camp."

"I'm so sorry," Frank said to Hazel, shaking his head. "I missed that shot. It shouldn't have attacked you."

"No, it's okay," Hazel insisted with a smile. "I'm okay. I promise. It's fine, see?" She shifted her shoulder and winced, but her movement was okay, which meant that the burn couldn't have been too bad. Frank smiled weakly and bent forward, leaning his forehead against Hazel's.

"See what I mean?" Clarisse spoke up as she approached, brushing dirt and dust from her clothes. "Failing someone you care about gives a child of Ares strength. We're protectors, plain and simple." Her voice was gruff, but Percy noticed something about her words—it was the first time she spoke of herself and Frank as equals. She was actually acknowledging him as her sibling. Frank seemed to realize this, too, because he sat up and gave her a stunned sort of look. She met his eyes briefly, before sniffing loudly and turning away, throwing her broken spear over her shoulder. It seemed that was all the sentimentality they were going to get from her.

"The other drakon?" Hazel asked as she sat up, shrugging off Frank's attempt to help.

"Sent to a watery grave," Percy said with a grin, climbing back to his feet. "Let's get out of here before more show up." He looked around for Coach Hedge and found him snoring a few yards away, perfectly oblivious to the end of the fight.

As Frank and Hazel stood, Lou Ellen frowned thoughtfully. "Where do you think they—?"

Suddenly Percy's head exploded in pain. He yelled and staggered backward, doubling over and gripping his head with both hands. Everything around him vanished and without warning there was Erebos, standing in front of a huge, black throne made of dark glass that rose in jagged spires. The empty, shadowy holes where his eyes should have been seemed to stare straight into Percy's mind. He couldn't move. He didn't know if what he was seeing was real. And when the King of Darkness spoke, his voice echoed from all directions at once.

"Percy Jackson. It's good to see you again." He didn't seem to want a reply, which was good because Percy wasn't sure he could give one. The whole image flickered and became brighter, and he realized that Erebos wasn't alone. His pale hands were resting on the shoulders of a terrified-looking Asian girl with long, black hair—their missing camper, Drew Tanaka.

Annabeth had been right, and the time for Erebos's ransom request had come.

"I take it you've been wondering where your friend had gone?" the god asked with a ghost of a smile. He slid his fingers through a lock of Drew's hair and she cringed. "Allow me to end your search for you." He turned his hand over and a shiny, black blade formed from shadow between his fingers—a blade he swept wordlessly across Drew's throat.

Her eyes widened as blood spurted from her neck and Percy wanted to scream, but he knew now that this was only a real-time vision sent to him from Mount Olympus. He was helpless to watch as Erebos nudged Drew's shoulder forward and she slumped heavily to the floor, twitching weakly before falling completely, deathly still.

"Now that I have your attention," Erebos said, looking coldly pleased, "I would like to make you an offer. The lives of your friends against your freedom. You will come to me, unarmed, on Mount Olympus, or more of your friends will die." He smiled. "And do not think their deaths will be temporary. The god of death is now reporting to me." A low, rumbling chuckle reverberated around the room as Erebos laughed. "You have one day to make your decision. If you choose rebellion, then each day following another of the people you swore to protect will die. How many will you fail before you give in to the darkness? The choice, Percy Jackson, is yours."

His evil smirk widened, and he finished confidently, "Until soon we meet again." And with that, darkness swirled over Erebos, the vision flickered and faded, and Percy was back in Central Park as though nothing had happened at all.

He was in shock. The images of Erebos's shadowy eyeholes and Drew's bleeding, still body flashed across his mind. She was dead, and it was his fault. Erebos wanted him. And he was willing to kill anyone to get what he wanted. The days they'd spent biding their time, training up and waiting for the King of Darkness to act were over. Now, the real battle was about to begin.

Looking up, Percy saw his friends all straightening and looking shaken as well. Frank had a hand against his forehead and Hazel was leaning on him, her mouth open in shock. Lou Ellen had tears in her eyes.

Slowly, all eyes turned and stared at Percy and he swallowed hard, his heart turning to lead. "Let me guess," he said weakly. "You guys saw that, too?"

OH SNAP!

So every time I write the phrase "lean up", Microsoft Word underlines it in blue and asks if I meant "clean up". No, Microsoft Word. Read the sentence that way and tell me it makes sense, because it doesn't. Yeesh. Stupid office software thinking it's smarter than me.

Anyway, whatever. How 'bout a review? I'll probably update on Friday. Next chapter's about the length of this one.

Later days, guys!

-oMM