Hey so im having technical issues again and will be without my laptop for a while, which means I will have to update from my phone. which means its very awkward to reply to reviews and it will be harder for me to check my work so I apologise for any mistakes made.
I do thankfully have a little backlog of chapters but I will likely slow updates a little more in case of delays as typing up entire chapter's on my phone would be difficult to say the least.
The screams as Zoe slammed the break and swerved the car were piercing, to say the least. And Percy braced herself, gripping at the seat as they spun- and there must have been a slight dip at the edge of the road because as they hit it they lurched and the car flipped.
There was the sound of glass smashing, metal shrieking as it ground together, loud and overwhelming to say the least.
Percy felt the pain as they were thrown around- thank the gods they all had their seatbelts on or they'd have probably been thrown around the car a lot more than they were. But even with the belt on Percy felt her head smashing against the window- felt glass shards flying around them, slicing at her arms. She felt her ribs protesting at the sudden jerk of the car as the belt pulled tight to stop her from flying through the window.
She closed her eyes tightly until the moment the car came to a halt, hanging from the seatbelt. Then she opened her eyes quickly, heart pounding in her chest.
What had she seen? It had been so quick that she hadn't gotten a good look, and the headlights didn't show everything- but she'd seen animals of some kind, golden spotted fur- a flash of green scales- and there had been more than one- she hadn't been able to tell how many there were at a brief glance but enough to know that ploughing into them with the car would not have ended well.
Though the skid and swerve hadn't gone well either had it?
"Everyone- I need to know if everyone's awake." Her voice sounded almost fragile after the cacophony of the crash. "I need a check in. I- how bad is it?" she had to be the leader now.
"W-we're awake." That came from Bianca, "Thalia and I are awake-"
"I'm not dead." Grover groaned, "But I want to be-"
"We're all alive. Though I know not for how long with those monsters prowling outside."
"What- what were those things?" Thalia's voice was stunned, "There- I didn't get a good look but what were those things? I didn't recognise them from learning about monsters at camp."
"I don't- I didn't get a good look." Percy could hear howling from up on the road, getting closer.
And it was a strangely familiar growling. Percy could swear she'd heard it somewhere before.
"If we don't get out of here we'll be sitting ducks."
"What do we do? What were those things?"
"I don't know." Percy grimaced, her hand moving to the seat belt- and it took three times to get the damn thing to release, and she gasped as she dropped down, hitting the car roof with a thud that jarred her ribs even more.
Fucking wonderful. Just what she needed. Percy ground her teeth. "You guys focus on getting yourselves out of the car-"
"What are you doing?" that was Thalia and Percy shifted some more, kicking out at the door.
"I'll deal with the monsters."
"Percy you can't!" that was Bianca, her voice panicked, "Just wait- ugh I can't get my belt off-"
"My legs are trapped!" That was followed by a panicked bleating.
"My belt it stuck too!" Percy could hear Thalia and Bianca both frantically tugging at the belts- though when she looked back she couldn't see it very well. It was too dark inside the car and outside.
"I- I can get my belt off but I can feel that one of my arms is trapped-" Zoe sounded scared too. Percy hadn't really heard her sound afraid before. "If I take my belt off I'll be hanging by it-" and that could cause damage Percy realised, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Sounds like I am alone." Percy kicked the car door again. "Thalia, Bianca you guys focus on getting your seat belts off and helping Zoe and Grover!"
The howls were getting louder. Closer. Fuck fuck fuck this was bad. This was so bad.
She had to kick twice more before she felt the door shift- and the third time it shifted, tearing up grass and mud- but it opened enough that Percy was able to squeeze herself out, wheezing slightly as she did, ignoring the others horrified cries behind her, the way they were screaming for her.
She could understand why. There had been more than one of the… whatever they were, out there. She hadn't seen how many but there had been more than one.
She dragged herself to her feet, forcing herself to ignore the aches and pains. She wasn't sure how hurt she was but she had to push it down. She'd be fine. What she needed right now was a little light to see by.
She pulled Riptide from her pocket, uncapping it- and there, there was the faint glow from the Celestial Bronze. Perfect. Her gaze shifted towards the growls and howling and-
"Holy Ra's stinky gym shorts."
Well. Percy recognised the monsters now that she could see them properly. There were a dozen of them. Twelve. Twelve damned Serpopards. The last time she'd seen them it had been at Brooklyn House after Set had sent them. And there had only been two.
Alina had to be blamed for this, though Percy had no clue how she'd managed to send the monsters after her.
They were prowling, slowly getting closer, though they seemed weary of Percy's sword.
Good. Good the more weary they were the better it was for everyone.
Then she froze- a memory hitting her.
Serpopards were creatures of chaos. Set had sent them after the Kanes once. Because he was a god of Chaos.
But Percy was more than that when it came to chaos. She was Chaos incarnate. If Serpopards were creatures of chaos then surely that meant that they were hers to command more than they were anyones.
So when one of them decided to lunge Percy was surging forward, darting to the side at the last second, dropping her sword as she did, flinging out her arm and hooking it around the monsters neck, using both of their momentum to swing herself up and around.
She grunted as she landed on the monsters back, gripping at the scales on either side of his neck.
The monster reared back, howling loudly, trying to shake her off. And it felt like her shoulders were practically being forced out of their damn joints but she held on as it landed back on it's paws.
And she was facing the rest of the Serpopards, who was snarling and milling around her current mount.
Percy forced herself to straighten up, snarling back at the monsters. "You're creatures of chaos! You bend to Alina's will? She's not your mistress I am!" the snarling and growls seemed to lessen slightly. That was good. Or, she hoped it was. "I am Chaos and you will bow to me." She felt it, the heat beneath her skin, crackling at her fingertips- and she met one of the Serpopards gazes, and she saw her own eyes reflected in the monsters- two sparks of flickering red.
And slowly, one by one the monsters bowed to her, lowering themselves, heads bowed almost submissively. The one she was sat on also lowered its head, and Percy slid off the back, forcing her shaking legs to hold herself up. No weakness. She would not show weakness not now or ever.
She was doing it. The monsters were listening to her. She had to stand tall.
But she could see it in their eyes- there was a spark of defiance there. Percy knew that all it would take would be a moment of weakness and they'd be on her and her friends. She was the physical embodiment of Chaos, that gave her some power over them. But Chaos wasn't easily controllable and nor were it's creatures. She knew that from experience, she was an embodiment of that. They wouldn't want to obey her no matter that she was Chaos in physical form. She could not, would not take the risk of losing her control over the monsters at a vulnerable moment.
"Leave." She put as much force, as much command as she could into her tone.
The monsters seemed to hesitate and falter, clearly uncertain about if they needed to follow her command- and she forced herself to straighten, a glow growl in her voice- which almost seemed deeper, more inhuman. "You will leave." Her lips drew back over her teeth, which she bared at them, and the monsters bent low again, backing away from her- but they were still resisting her command.
They didn't want to leave now. They wanted to bite and tear and rend. But she would not allow it. She would not stand for it.
"LEAVE!" The scream had power in it, raw power, magical power, rippling across the monsters forms in crackling red sparks, causing howls of pain, and they swung around, bolting instantly, and Percy clenched her fists, watching them go- glaring after them until the monsters were out of sight.
Then and only then did she show any weakness.
Her legs gave out beneath her, the world spinning around her as she dropped to her knees. Percy closed her eyes, sucking in desperate lungfuls of cold night air.
She felt hot. That uncomfortable prickling feeling across her skin. Her vision was going blurry too. She felt like she was going to puke-
"PERCY!" that was Bianca's voice. And there were footsteps. "Percy! Percy oh my gods-" and there were hands on Percy's shoulders, steadying her, fingers digging into her skin.
"I'm-" Percy forced herself to take a deep breath, shivering slightly as her vision started to clear. "I'm okay. I- Bianca-"
And it was definitely Bianca crouched in front of her. She was still pale and there was blood on her cheek from some glass cutting her during the chaos of the crash, but she looked fairly unscathed all things considered.
"Percy- Percy breathe." Bianca took a deep breath- and Percy realised that she was automatically copying Bianca, her ragged breathing steadying to mimic the daughter of Hades'.
"The others?"
"Fine, they're fine. Thalia got our seatbelts off and she's got Grover out. They're helping get Zoe out without hurting her now."
"Good." Percy closed her eyes, tilting her head back slightly. "Thank the gods for that."
"Are you okay? What did you do to get them under control- you used Chaos didn't you- I thought-"
"I wasn't going to be able to take on that many Serpopards on my own."
"But I thought you were waiting until we're closer to use magic-"
"I planned to. But I had to deal with the Serpopards without risking you guys. And I'm okay." And she was. There had been a momentary scare but now that it was over she was feeling steadier. "On the plus side at least we know I'm not going to burn myself out reaching into the Duat to get Gramps' scythe. I got a little dizzy but nothing severe. We've got hours to go and I'll try and take a dip before we head up the mountain. If I can do that I'll be fine."
"I really hope you're right." Bianca's expression was still worried as she pulled Percy up to her feet. "Maybe Thalia has some more ambrosia."
"We'll see." Percy rolled her shoulders as she regained her balance once she was on her feet. "It would probably help a little-"
"And you can stop running into danger on your own-"
"Literally none of you could help me."
"Uh huh. Well it was dumb."
"And yet I pulled it off-"
"That does not make it less dumb." And as the two girls bickered they made their way back towards the car. And Percy felt something easing in her shoulders as she saw that Thalia and Grover were helping Zoe to her feet.
All three of them were battered- Grover was limping, Zoe's arm hung awkwardly by her side and Thalia was bloody and had several cuts- which Percy realised was because Bianca was wearing her jacket.
But even so they were all alive. The crash had been terrifying but they were all alive. And sure they were battered, but she knew that they'd be able to make it to the nearest town to regroup.