AN: So it hasn't been at all as long as last time, but despite that here I am with another chapter. Mainly though this is because I am still reading through my other stories, trying to refamiliarise myself with them after my brief hiatus. Plus I've also been cross-posting some of my stuff on another site called Spacebattles. But yeah, here is the next update for this story, and I have to say it was a surprisingly hard chapter to write, much more so than I thought it would be.
That said I do hope you enjoy it and leave a review. Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the Riordanverse.
Betaed by Arch_Angel and Silver.
( - )
(Last Time)
"Good. Now that they have the scent they won't stop until she is dead." The General said before he then turned and looked over at the blonde teen, "Remember Luke, you must separate the daughter of Zeus from the others. The beast will come to her."
Frowning at the mention of Thalia, and some kind of beast, Percy leant even further around the pillar, his focus now entirely on the General and Luke.
Only, before Luke could reply, the General suddenly whipped his head around, his pure, molten silver eyes locking with Percy's dark eyes, and his cruel, blunt features twisting into a snarl. "We have an eavesdropper Lock the building down!" The giant then hissed, his gaze boring into Percy, an oppressive force already starting to weigh down on the adopted son of Melinoe's shoulders as the giant immortal turned to fully face him.
( - )
Chapter 9
( - )
(With Percy)
A single moment passed as Percy's dark eyes locked with the general's coldly, amused eyes. Coal-black eyes bored into icy, molten silver ones.
A single moment in which everyone in the room; monster, undead, Demigod, and Immortal Being alike stared at him.
A single, oppressive moment that seemed, at least to him, to stretch a lifetime. Right up until Percy promptly turned and ran.
The oppressive power emanating from the General weighed down on him as he fled. He could hear the chittering, screeching, and shouting of the monsters in the room following him as he ran. The monstrous beings in the room. The Empousai, Scythian Dracaena, Hellhounds, Laistrygonian giants, and skeletal warriors, quickly took up the chase. Their actions were no doubt being spurred on by the loud immeasurably powerful voice of their immortal master.
"End him, and his companions," The General's voice echoed after him.
The cold authority in his tone sent a shiver down Percy's spine as he threw the doors open and continued to run.
His body took on a golden glow now as he drew on his Demigod ability, 'Meteor'. His body felt a thousand times lighter as he used the ability to speed himself up. His feet barely made a sound as they pounded the marble slabs beneath him.
His every step took him much further and faster than would normally be possible, even for a Demigod. A stream of golden light trailed behind him as he ran, and the air around him shimmered, and the floor beneath him cracked and warped at his passing.
Subtlety, and his cover as a child of Melinoe, could take a hike right now as far as he was concerned. His life was far more important than any job or any secret.
Taking a risk as he reached the next set of doors, Percy chanced a look behind him. Just in time to see dozens of monsters pouring through the doors at the other end of the room. An unnerving sight for sure, especially when the eldritch monsters of myth and legend were chasing him, and seemed to be clawing and fighting one another to be the one to catch up with him. To be the one to gain their immortal master's favour.
More unnerving than even that though, were the skeletal beings that had just been summoned. The grey, fleshless monstrosities shoved aside other monsters as they pursued him. Their empty sockets fixed unerringly on him. Their movements were jerky, yet vicious and relentless, like that of an automaton.
"Shit," Percy cursed, throwing the next set of doors open as he rushed through it. His mind was moving a mile a minute as he started running down the hallway. Ignoring the shouts and cries of the mortals around him as he barged and shoved his way past them.
The mortal's cries and shouts rapidly turned into shrieks and screams, after the doors at the far end of the hall burst open with a loud bang and the monsters pursuing him spilt out and into the mass of oblivious mortals.
Exactly what they saw, Percy didn't know. The Mist tended to manipulate what mortals saw into something more rational. Something that their closed minds' could better comprehend, than the reality of the Divine World.
That said, whatever it was that the mortals behind him were seeing must've been especially inventive. As without even a pause the monsters started tearing into anything and everything that got in their way.
Claw-like hands rendered flesh, and barbaric blades slashed and tore at screaming, fleeing humans. All while fangs bit through and ripped out throats and fleshy sinew from still-living and shrieking bodies.
Blood spattered the walls and floor behind him as he ran, with him occasionally hazarding a look back at the ensuing carnage. His lips firmed into a grim line as he saw hungry ancient monsters reduce once-living humans down into little more than lumps of grizzled meat.
Unfortunately, their currently one-track minds' were still fixed on him as far sooner than he would have liked. they abandoned the corpses and continued their relentless pursuit.
Only now the skeletons were at the front of the pack as they bulldozed their way through panicking mortals, as they continued to try to catch up with him.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Percy repeated, sweat beading on his forehead as he exploded out of the gallery. Only for him to immediately turn and run off in the direction that he had last seen the others going. Mortals spilt out of the doors behind him, clogging up the doorway. Their panic rapidly spread throughout the entire Smithsonian, as the horde of monsters continued to rip and tear into the panicking mass.
"Percy!" Thalia shouted, her voice catching his attention as the glow around him faded. His eyes flitted over to where the punk-haired girl was waving to him from a dozen or so meters away. Her brow furrowed in concern. "What in Hades is going on?"
"Monsters, and skeletons and fuck knows what else!" Percy shouted back, changing direction and shoving his way through the crowd as he ran over to the girl.
Heading for her, he quickly saw the other three members of their party with her; Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe were all standing beside her their bows were drawn and their expressions tense.
"I think a Titan is here, him and that Hermes brat, Luke. And they've summoned some skeleton warriors and have sent them and a shit tonne of monsters after us. Fuck knows how many monsters are after me, and after you, Zoe!" Percy finished, gesturing at Zoe as he came to a halt just in front of the four, his breathing harsh and ragged.
"What are you saying, why are they after Zoe?!" Phoebe snapped, ignoring the mortals running all over the place in a panic, as she instead locked gazes with Percy.
"Don't know, probably because they know that she is the one leading the rescue effort to find and save Artemis," Percy shrugged, before he continued, his eyes flitting back to the building he had just fled. "But we can talk about that later. For now, we need to get out of here and either find somewhere more defensible or, well fucked if I know, just get out of here. This place is way too open and too full of mortals!"
"He's right," Zoe said instantly, her face firming up as it changed from surprise and a slight hint of concern, and instead into a look of determination. "We need to distract the monsters from the mortals and draw them into an environment that favours us."
"No, we need to get the fuck out of here!" Percy shot back, his breathing still rushed as mortals continued to flee all around him. Turning around, he could see monsters were already beginning to emerge out of the main building. Some of those coming out of the doorway, he could see, were completely drenched in blood and gore. Whilst others leapt out of windows, shattering glass and cracking tarmac as they landed.
The newly arrived monsters' gazes quickly fell on Thalia, the three Hunters, and him.
"I don't think you understood the part about, Titan! Some giant, silver fucker called 'the General!'" Percy continued. Pulling his borrowed longbow - courtesy of Camp Half-Blood - out of his satchel, even as he pulled out a wrapped-up sheath of arrows to go with it. "We need to retreat!"
Zoe's face noticeably went pale at the mention of 'the General', and Phoebe sent her a worried look.
Thalia, however, shrugged her shoulders and lowered her spear. "A fighting retreat then?"
"No, we are leaving right now," Zoe snapped in response. Her eyes widened as three of the skeletal warriors shoved their way to the front of the mass of oncoming monsters. The mob numbered close to forty strong now. Additionally, the panicking mortals were now either dead or long gone, which completely freed up the oncoming hordes' path.
"Spartus!" Phoebe hissed at the sight of the warriors.
Percy didn't even bother asking this time, as he instead turned and ran. Bianca quickly followed his lead, with Zoe, Thalia, and Phoebe then trailing after him.
Thalia, he noticed, occasionally turned to send blasts of lightning from her spear at the pursuing monsters.
Glancing back, he could see the bolts reduce one or two of the monsters to golden dust with each blast. Percy, Bianca, Phoebe, and Zoë meanwhile all added their own arrows to the mix as they continued to retreat. Their arrows scything down monsters left and right, as the group of five retreated up some steps and into another one of the buildings. The National Air and Space Museum.
"We can't keep this up!" Percy shouted, unloosing one of the Celestial Bronze arrows as he did so. The bodkin head smashed into, and through the skull of one of the 'spartus', felling the warrior for a moment. Only for it to then stand up moments later, only for its gnarled, bony, claw-like hand to pull the arrow out of its skull as it continued to pursue them.
"Less talking, more fighting!" Thalia snapped back.
"It's not working," Percy replied. Dodging a Laistrygonian giant that lunged at him as he put an arrow through its eye socket. They were rapidly reducing the normal monsters to dust. A task made easier with all four of them, all save Bianca, fighting. "Those skeletons aren't staying down."
"That's because their spartus, they are not just any common monster." Phoebe snapped back, the five of them now standing on the second floor of the National Air and Space Museum, and sniping down the monsters that were attempting to rush their position.
They had been herded and were now trapped.
"I still don't know what they are. But whatever, I'm just glad that that 'General' guy didn't bother joining in the chase." Percy replied, releasing another arrow as he did so. They had been retreating/ fighting for ten minutes now, and already he was down to his last sheaf of arrows.
The way things were going wasn't sustainable, sooner or later they would be cornered and forced to make a stand.
Already he could hear sirens outside and the sound of gunfire.
Though whether the police and whichever other emergency service had arrived were fighting monsters or more mercenaries though, he didn't know.
Nor did he particularly care at the moment.
Either way, they were on a time limit.
Either the police would all be massacred. After which the ones fighting them would come in here as reinforcements. Or the General would call off his minions, and thus allow the police to rush into the building. At which point they would have to fight the police off to avoid arrest.
No matter what happened, they were probably screwed.
"We'll need to make a break for it soon, we can't keep this up," Thalia spoke up, her breathing heavy, and the stench of ozone rolling off of her form, as she blocked the stairway with her shield, blocking and impaling any monster that made it up to her. Only to then rain lighting down on the mass of monsters below whenever she got the space and opportunity to.
Despite them having whittled down the monsters' numbers, there were still close to thirty of them left.
More had arrived as reinforcements over the last ten minutes. On top of which, there were a dozen of the implacable spartus trying to get at them too.
The skeletal fuckers just wouldn't go down, no matter how many times they were shot and hit with lightning.
No, for some reason that only kept them down for a short while, after which they would start to get up again. Their bones constantly melded back together, and their bodies reformed, even after being blasted into splinters by Thalia's lightning. Which of course meant that the five of them - Bianca had finally started fighting - had to keep futilely wasting ammo and energy. Bringing the spartus down when they could just to stop them from being overwhelmed.
"Hey ghost boy, don't you have some powers that can deal with this shit?" Phoebe snapped, looking sideways at him. "You're a brat of one of the Underworld goddesses aren't you!?"
"Do they look like ghosts to you?!" Percy snapped back, blood running down his hand as he continued to nock arrows and release them. His movements were practised and fluid, even as the weight of the two-hundred-pound bow began to wear him down, and the reinforced string began to cut into his heavily calloused fingers.
"Only a child of Hades could turn away a spartus and force them back into the Underworld. That or a god. Otherwise, we would need to defeat the summoner, which is not a possible task." Zoe replied swiftly.
"Oh great, do any of you happen to have a spawn of Hades just lying around?!" Thalia shot back sarcastically. Jabbing her spear forward with brutal force, she knocked a snarling Empousai back down the stairs and into one of the advancing spartus.
The skeletal warrior lashed out with its arm in response, reducing the screeching monsters into gold dust, as it then continued trying to ascend the stairs. Only for a silver-tipped arrow to smack into its head, and knock it back down the stairs moments later.
Percy couldn't help looking sideways at the sweating and exhausted Bianca, as he heard Thalia's sarcastic comment.
"No, but you were right in that we can't keep this up," Zoe replied, a shadow of a grimace passing across her face as she admitted the daughter of Zeus was correct about something. "We will need to create a distraction so that we can escape."
"Any volunteers?" Percy asked bluntly. "Because I'm sure as fuck not sacrificing myself to save you lot, no offence."
"Typical scavenger," Phoebe muttered in disgust.
"I prefer survivor," Percy shot back. "Though I don't see you volunteering. Surely one of you immortal Hunter types have lived long enough that you're ready for some eternal rest?"
"Nobody is sacrificing themselves!" Thalia cut in sharply.
"Then what is the plan?" Percy asked, throwing his bow to the side as he did so. He didn't have the time to stow it away properly, and with him being out of arrows it was now useless to him.
Arming himself with his khopesh and Imperial Gold gladius, Percy glanced at the other Hunters. All of them looked to have nearly run out of arrows too. "Because this isn't how I intend to die."
"Welcome to the club!" Thalia shouted back, her shield in front of her as she saw two more spartus climbing the staircase. Neither of the skeletal warriors so much as flinched at the sight of the gorgon head embossed onto the silver shield's surface.
Before Percy could reply, he and the rest of the group, along with the remaining fifteen or so monsters froze momentarily. As a loud growl echoed across the room. The deep sound was easily audible over the sound of battle, and the sirens and gunshots still going off outside. The resonance of the growl sent a shiver through Percy's body as he quickly started looking around for the source.
A feeling of foreboding rapidly started to rise up within him as the growling continued.
Down on the ground floor, the remaining monsters seemed to be overcome with the same feeling. As moments later they scattered until the only ones in the room were spartus and their group.
Drawing her arrow back on the string of her bow, Zoe's mouth barely moved as she spoke. "Everyone get ready."
"That growl, it sounds familiar," Phoebe tagged on, her eyes locked on spartus as they continued to try and climb the staircase, advancing toward their position.
Growling at this, Percy gripped his swords tighter, his dark eyes flicking to the sides of the stairs as he pondered destroying the staircase. Which would be a difficult task considering how solidly it was built. Not that he suspected that bringing down the staircase would be much help in stopping the implacable spartoi. "You fancy enlightening us on what that is?"
In the end, though, Zoe didn't need to enlighten them on what was coming.
Not when, with a loud bang, a gigantic golden lion crashed down onto the floor below. A deafening roar left its maw as it landed, the tile floor shattering beneath it. Noticeably several of the spartoi went flying as the colossal cat. Which was over ten feet tall at its shoulder. Turned to look at them.
The giant lion's black lips curled upwards, to reveal gleaming, yellow fangs as it stared up at them. Its immense muscles bulged as it lowered itself closer to the ground, preparing to pounce. A single flick of its tail sent another spartus flying into a nearby space shuttle that was hanging from the ceiling. Bringing both the model and the skeletal warrior crashing down to the floor with an almighty crunch.
"That fucker, he sent the Nemean Lion after us!" Percy gasped out, sweat beading down his forehead as he stared down at the beast of legend. A monster that was so powerful that even other monsters feared it. A creature with a hide harder than diamonds, and claws that were so sharp that they could rend Divine metal into scraps with ease.
"Can we please start running now?" Bianca asked, her voice faint and hoarse as she stared at the giant cat.
The skeletal warriors noticeably recovered and continued their approach.
Letting out a roar, the lion started stalking toward the group too.
"Everyone split up," Zoe yelled straightaway. Releasing an arrow aimed at the beast's eyes. Even as she and a scared-looking Bianca ran to the left and Phoebe ran to the right. Both groups of Hunters adapted on the fly. "We'll keep the spartus down, and wait for a chance to kill the lion. You two distract it."
With that said the trio ran off, their actions leaving Percy and Thalia standing alone at the top of the staircase. Both of them looked down at the spartus and the Nemean Lion for a moment, before exchanging glances.
"You're not asking for much, are you?" Percy shot back, only to be ignored as Zoe instead shot one of the skeletons' in the head. The arrow went straight through the skull and knocked the Spartus to the ground with a clatter of bones.
"You distract it with your ghost thing, I'll try to find a way to finish it!" Thalia shouted to him, as she ran down the steps. Kicking up golden dust as she then skidded to a stop at the bottom of the staircase and then ran away from the lion as it pounced.
The force of its pounce caused the staircase to partially collapse as it skidded onto the marble floor. Which in turn nearly sent Percy flying.
"This is so not what I signed up for," Percy gritted out, leaping from the staircase, bending his legs as he hit the floor, and then ducking a swing from one of the spartoi. His khopesh whipped around to catch the skeleton's sword in the curve of the blade, even as he ducked around it and swept its blade away from its body to leave an opening. Before he then lashed out with his gladius. Impaling it through the gut, and partially severing its spine.
Kicking the skeleton away, his gaze flicked down to its damaged spine as he did so. The bastard's vertebrae were already moulding back together. Fixing the damage he had just caused.
Unfortunately, Percy didn't have long to look as moments later he had to throw himself backwards as the lion lunged at him. Its clawed golden paw ripped up the remains of the stairs as Percy started sprinting away.
Lunging forward, the lion alternated between chasing him, and chasing Thalia, as the daughter of Zeus sent blasts of lightning at the cat. Attracting its attention, only for Percy to then shout. Or throw something at it to regain its attention.
The both of them were practically running in circles around the beast. Occasionally avoiding spartoi as they weaved in and around the different attractions. Arrows occasionally struck down a spartus that got too close as they manoeuvred around the lion.
"The mouth is the weakness, isn't it?" Percy shouted as he slid under a model of a 'moon buggy' thing. The buggy itself went flying moments later as the lion attempted to swipe at him with its claws.
"Yeah, that and its eyes. But it seems to already know that, as it is keeping its eyes squinted and its mouth closed." Thalia shouted back shortly, her spiky black hair now matted to her face, and her breaths coming out more like rasps than anything. "We need to find a way to make it open its mouth!"
"Can't you just zap it, you know, electrocute it?" Percy shouted back, once again sliding onto the floor. Only this time he did so to avoid the swing of a spartus' sword, the momentum of his slide knocking the skeleton clear off of its feet as he did so.
"I've not got much juice left!" Thalia replied grudgingly, bashing her shield into one of the spartus' and knocking it back a step. Only for her to then flee as the lion leapt at her. Incidentally crushing the spartus she'd just hit beneath its paws. Sending its bones clattering across the floor all around it.
Looking around Percy could see that most of the spartoi were now down. Most of them were just scattered bones. Bones that he could already see were slowly but surely clattering and scraping across the floor, as the foul necromantic magic that empowered the eldritch monsters tried to put them back together.
"Percy, watch out!" Thalia shouted, catching his attention, as he turned and saw the Nemean Lion leaping at him from mere meters away. The annoyingly intelligent beast had taken advantage of his momentary pause.
"Shit!" Percy shouted, throwing his arms up instinctually as he did so. Even as he drew on Melinoe's power to go intangible with everything he had.
In response, he suddenly felt very light, and very lightheaded. His head raised to look up at the lion as it leapt at him. Only for him to have to continue looking up as he felt his body sinking uncontrollably through the earth below him. His vision soon went dark as he completely disappeared below the surface.
Letting out a gasp at this, his mind began whirling as he tried to work out how to get himself out of the ground. It felt like he was in a void, he couldn't breathe, smell, taste or see or touch, or anything! It was terrifying, and suffocating.
Moments later, however, though it felt like hours, he felt his intangibility vanishing, even as the earth promptly spat him out moments later.
His own eyes were wide as he then smacked onto the floor and rolled.
The lion skidded on the floor a dozen or so feet away, already turning to pounce at him again.
"Nice dodge!" Thalia shouted, running passed him as she did so, lightning crackling on her spear as she rushed in. Only for her to have to leap to the side to dodge the lion's retaliatory paw swipe before she then jabbed it in the side.
"Er, yeah…," Percy replied slightly breathlessly. That wasn't something he was going to do again anytime soon. The unnerving feeling of sinking through the earth, unable to breathe, or to get any traction. It was honestly terrifying.
"Spartus behind you Jackson! Get your head back in the fight!" Phoebe's voice sounded out. Catching Percy's attention as he twisted around, already jumping to his feet. His mind snapped back to the here and now as an arrow whizzed over his shoulder. It bounced off of the spartus' sword glancing off of it mid-swing.
Letting out a breath of barely constrained anger and fear. Percy's heart hammered in his chest as he just lost all sense of restraint and patience.
Fuck this, was all he thought, his eyes glowing golden as he returned his gladius to its ring form. His khopesh meanwhile whipped up and around, striking the spartus' sword mid-swing. Adding to its momentum as he ducked, making it miss him by mere inches.
He didn't care though, not at the moment.
No, all he felt at the moment was anger and fear, in equal measure.
Thrusting his now free hand forward, Percy didn't flinch or hesitate as he wrapped his hand around the skeleton's bony, sharp spine. The hand visibly glowed a golden white. But only for a moment before flames erupted from it, exploding forth in moments and completely consuming the skeleton in the golden fire as it did so.
"Burn fucker!" Percy bellowed; his eyes gleaming golden now as he continued to bathe the spartus in the fire. The golden flames ate away at what little flesh remained on its bones before then fully consuming the bones. His fire rapidly reduced spartus to ash in seconds.
"Percy, how…!?" Thalia gasped, momentarily looking Percy's way as she did so. The eyes of the Hunters rested on him too.
Not that he cared, not when his heart was still hammering in his chest, and sweat was beading on his forehead.
No, he didn't care right now. Not about them, not about his mission, not with a furnace fuelled by anger and fury burning away in his chest.
No, at this moment in time, all he cared about was destroying these gods' damned skeletons and, that fucking lion!
"Get out of the way Thalia!" Percy shouted, his eyes leaving behind literal trails of golden light as he moved. Both hands were now wreathed in golden-coloured flames as he dropped his sword. Letting the Celestial Bronze blade clatter on the floor below him.
Taking one look at him, Thalia needed to hear no more, as without a word she turned and ran up the wing of a nearby fallen plane. One which had until recently hung suspended from wires by the ceiling. She then managed to vault from the wing. Gaining just enough height to grip the ledge of the balcony overhead.
Glancing in her direction to make sure she was out of the way. Percy waited for her to pull herself up and onto the balcony.
His gaze surveyed the remaining spartus, and growling Nemean Lion.
At his feet, he could see the ashes were already starting to shift.
Curling his lip in anger at this, Percy let out a bellow of anger, even as he threw his hands out in front of him. Channelling all his anger from this situation. The fear that had been plaguing him ever since he had felt the Titan's gaze on him. He forced it all into the fire he unleashed from his hands.
Golden flames erupted forth in a torrent that quickly swept through the area all around him. Consuming fallen planes, shuttles, and the spartoi. The flames were egged on and strengthened by the sun that shone through the glass ceiling overhead. The beams of light were just visible through the charcoal grey sky.
"Burn!" Percy shouted, his eyes gleaming golden as he continued to bathe everything around him in purifying fire.
His flames raised the heat in the room by dozens of degrees in seconds. Causing sweat to bead on all of the watching Demigod's faces. As the fire rapidly began to consume the spartoi below.
From the side, the Nemean Lion let loose a roar of surprise and irritation. As the sea of all-consuming golden flames lapped at its body. The fire was noticeably hot enough to crack stone and reduce metal into molten slag. But despite that, it didn't affect the lion in the slightest. Or at least not in the conventional sense.
The amount of heat the fire created though, as it swept across the floor burning and devouring all the oxygen in the area, was enough to affect the giant cat though.
It was enough to get it to roar and open its mouth wide as it desperately attempted to breathe. Which was all Zoe Nightshade needed to land an arrow straight through the monster's throat and into the back of its head. The single shot reduced the monster to golden dust, even as flames continued to eat away at the surrounding area.
( - )
AN: So that turned into a real shit show didn't it. As I said it was a difficult chapter to write, but hopefully it works. That said I would love to hear some feedback.
It was also I admit very action-heavy, and yes there was a lot of swearing, then again most of us were teenagers once, and can remember how fun it was to swear back then. I mean I used to do it every other word when I was playing rugby and such, and only really restrained myself when I was in school and around my parents. Which in Percy's case aren't existent, plus he's in a mighty stressful situation right now and has to deal with a bunch of rascally undead, and a mangy cat.
But anyway yes, that's the update, I hope you enjoyed it and leave a review. Also please do check out my other stories if you have the time, there may be some you like.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you later.
Greed720.
