I'm sure you guys are desperate to know what happens next! I did leave it on a bit of a cliff hanger didn't I? Heheheheheheh. Also, we get to see a little bit of Luke's thought process.
Replies:
avaatje: You'll have to wait and see my lovely.
Guest: There's a lot of unspoken 'I think I know' and 'I know that you think you know' ect. It would have been a mistyping, and yes Greeks know about the Egyptian systems. They know about the Egyptian gods and how they work. They simply believe that Egyptian gods and magicians faded centuries ago because they appeared to disappear. In reality the gods were sealed up and Magicians simply went somewhat underground. And Percy only uses Chaos power when she think's it's necessary. As you will see.
Krypton Writes: I mean, there's always near death experiences!
Undeath9087:Yeah. I mean theoretically Chaos magic could completely kill them, erase them from existence. But it would take a lot of power- and I do mean a lot. Enough that Percy could very easily burn out trying it.
Guest: I hope you enjoy!
Percy clawed at the sand beneath her, kicking back desperately with the foot that wasn't in Atlas' grip even as she tried to focus her own powers, tried to drag Atlas further into the surf. A glance back told her that wasn't working. Atlas was too physically strong to be dragged around easily.
He was using his free had to drag himself away from the water, even as the hands Percy had summoned desperately tried to drag him back.
"You're not getting away Magician!"
Fuck. Fuck Percy needed to get away she- she cried out as he yanked her back harder- and her fingers were almost certainly bloody messes from her struggles, even as she twisted and flailed up at him frantically. "Let me go!" he was leaning over her, and his huge fist struck her face hard, with a force that almost knocked her out cold.
But Percy was a fighter. She'd been born a fighter and she'd die a fighter. She closed her eyes, forcing down the panic and reaching deep into herself as she lashed out, grabbing his hand with both of hers as he went to pull it back for another blow. And she let the power flow out of her, red wisps curling around her fingers, thickening and glowing brighter as she drew on that raging well of power deep inside of her- the storm darkening and getting fiercer, the pounding of the waves on the beach matching the echoing of her heart pounding in her own ears.
"What is this?" Atlas' expression became confused, "Some petty trick. It tickles-" and Percy focused, pushing the chaos magic out, making it curl up his arms almost like snakes- and as it did the skin beneath the sparks and curls of chaos started to blister and redden, cracking and drying all at once. His expression turned pained, "What is this- what-" he yanked his hand free, toppling backwards as the magic twisted further up his arms, "What is this-" and Percy clenched her fists as she pushed herself up on her knees, ignoring the pain and the waves of exhaustion that rolled over her. She'd ignore the feverish feeling, the way the world seemed to spin around her as she rose to her feet, and she could see the red magic crackling out from around her feet, lancing like bolts of electricity towards Atlas as he struggled to his own feet, clearly fighting the effects of chaos magic.
Percy's vision was tinged with the red. Her skin was prickling with the heat and magic pulsing through her. She watched as the magic arced across his skin, climbing up his body, spiralling around him, striking him and damaging his flesh, ichor dripping where it bit deep.
Percy hadn't used this much chaos magic on top of normal magic and her demigod powers before. She could feel her head spinning. Could feel the darkness wanting to swallow her but Percy would not allow it. She watched as Atlas fell to his knees.
And she wondered if she could do it. If her chaos magic could kill a Titan. She knew chaos devoured and destroyed all it touched, she knew it was poison. If she could kill a Titan there would be no reforming for him. A final death.
But no. No she was hurting him but she wasn't going to be able to kill him. Maybe she'd have stood a chance if she wasn't already exhausted from everything else but not now. Not when each moment made her feel more exhausted, more feverish.
Percy focused, taking a small step back, "TAS!" She screamed the spell, and thick ropes with red chaos magic flickering through them suddenly wrapped around his arms, yanking them to his sides.
Atlas bellowed in pain, the noise echoing around them and Percy released the chaos magic even as she, with a last effort of will power pulled another wave to crash over him, sending him crashing to his knees even as she turned and took off, feet pounding against the sand, back still throbbing with pain.
She stumbled more than once, skimming her knees, dirtying the white fabric of her dress, but she righted herself each time, ignoring the way her whole body ached, ignoring the way the world was spinning around her.
All she could think about was reaching Luke and Artemis. Once she got to them and portalled them out of there it would be okay.
"PERCY!" that was Luke's voice.
Percy lifted her head, blinking trying to clear her vision- and yes, yes there they were, Luke and Artemis side by side, and Luke was peeling away from Artemis, sprinting towards her and meeting her half way- luckily for Percy because his arms caught her before she could fall.
"Oh god, oh god-"
"Quick!" Artemis' voice was panicked, "We must escape-" there was a roar of fury in the distance.
Atlas had freed himself. Artemis was right they needed to move. If only Percy wasn't so dizzy. It would be so much easier if she could just take a moment.
"She's barely able to stand let alone open one of those portals!" Luke's voice was almost frantic as he half dragged her to where Artemis was waiting- "And won't we have to climb up-"
"Can open the portal slightly lower." Percy managed to say, forcing herself to focus, forcing her vision to clear- and wow the wind was still pretty loud even now that she'd stopped fuelling the storm. Whoops.
"Do it then-"
"Don't talk to her like-"
"Stop arguing." Percy pulled away from Luke, managing to stand, though she was still swaying.
It took her three tries to open the portal- and Percy could see Artemis starting to get more and more panicked- understandable since they could hear Atlas coming, and Luke was shaking his head.
"We need to run- she's too drained I can't lose her like Thalia I am not doing that again-"and then it clicked. Percy almost laughed hysterically as the swirling purple portal opened in front of them.
"Go! Go go go!" Artemis screamed the words, and Percy felt Luke grabbing her by the waist as he dragged her and jumped into the portal.
She glanced back as she let herself be thrown forward, and there was Atlas, too far away to catch up, too far to follow them through the portal- and she felt cold terror strike her as he realised it, as he raised his hand, sword held almost like a javelin- and he threw it.
His aim was good. Maybe not as good as he'd hoped but white hot pain shot through her as it struck her shoulder, and Percy felt the darkness swallow her.
...
For just a moment when they tumbled out of the portal, Luke thought that it was over. That they were safe.
It was dark when they landed, and cold, but that was better than the alternative, and he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He'd let go of Percy during the fall- she was probably passed out- his gaze landed on her in the dim light of the moon and his breath caught, horror ripping through him.
She was led face down on green grass, Atlas' sword in her shoulder.
Fuck. Fuck no. No this couldn't be happening. He moved quickly, pulling the sword out and tossing it to the side as he pressed his hands against the wound to slow the bleeding-"
"Here-" Artemis was at his side, and for a moment he decided to allow his dislike for the ex goddess to disappear as she tore her top to shreds, "Use this for pressure and the strips for bandages to hold it in place. We must get her somewhere she can heal."
"Where-" Luke shook his head, "I don't know where we can take her. I don't even know where we are."
"Central Park. The Obelisk." Artemis was helping him roll Percy over. "We can't take her to Olympus but I can think of somewhere we can take her, though we would both need to be given permission to enter by a demigod as I'm currently mortal and she is a magician."
"You-" Luke faltered.
Camp. Chiron. If anyone could heal Percy then Chiron could. Fuck but the thought was terrifying. He would be lucky if they didn't kill him on arrival- and understandably so.
Fuck. He'd screwed up so badly.
He never should have listened to Kronos. He never should have let his voice whisper in his ear. He should have known he was being manipulated sooner- but Kronos had been so kind at first, had helped him, advised him on his quest, even if it had gone terribly wrong. And he'd felt so angry all the time. And... and- and hating the gods was less painful. It hurt less than hating himself for failing Thalia. He should have stayed with her- he shouldn't have let her stay there on that hill.
He'd abandoned her. He'd failed her and he knew it.
And the gods were to blame too. He was certain of that. Of course he was. He would never forgive them for the way they treated him and the other demigods. Especially his own father and Zeus. He would never forget how they had caused so much pain. And it was easier to focus on that than the deep dark loathing he felt for himself, for his own cowardice.
But- it had been like a poisonous fog dripping in his ears day after day after day since he was fifteen years old. And he'd let himself get dragged deeper and deeper until he was stealing from Zeus and planning to overthrow the gods.
Which was- it was insane. He could see clearly now. As bad as the gods were- and they were seriously bad, Kronos would be worse. And Luke would be just another pawn on his board as the people he'd once wanted to protect were killed one by one.
And then Annabeth- gods Annabeth, thinking about her drove a dagger through his heart every time. He'd broken every promise he'd ever made the two people he'd cared about most. Annabeth was gone because of him. He'd killed her with his own selfish stupidity. He'd underestimated her and she'd paid the price. The one person he'd swore never to hurt.
And then Percy had come along and she had talked to him rather than fighting, had called him out, had been... had been reasonable. Understanding even.
He'd hated her. He'd wanted to kill her. But every time he slept he heard her voice, whispering that he could do the right thing still. That he didn't have to keep going down the path he was on.
So he'd freed her. He'd freed her on Mount Tam and he'd freed Artemis too even though he'd have been happy to see her rot. And he found that he actually liked the younger girl. She reminded him a little bit of Thalia. Stubborn and brave and self sacrificing. It had been startling to realise that he was starting to see Percy as a friend, a genuine friend. He hadn't had any true friends in far too long. He'd shut people out for a long time. And not many of them had been people he could confide in- those that had been older or the same age had disappeared or died as the years passed until he was alone. He had to be the one people came too. He couldn't confide in them. He had to be strong.
And she'd come back for him. She could have escaped- he'd thought she would. He wouldn't have blamed her but she'd come back and they'd escaped with Artemis and he'd started to think that maybe things really would be okay.
And now she was led half in his lap, bleeding badly, her white dress stained with blood, her face too pale.
"I have some drachma's." his voice cracked, "I- if we can get her to a road I can summon the Gray sisters. They'll get us to camp faster than any taxi." he watched as Artemis tied the makeshift bandages, "Will- will she survive for long enough for us to get her to Camp?"
"I don't know." Artemis met his gaze- and for the first time they were truly united in something. "But we have to try. I don't think she'll bleed out now but- Egyptians have been known to burn up from using too much magic. If she is burning- I don't know how to help her." and her skin was hot to the touch. Fuck.
"Then let's get the fuck out of here."
