Percy Jackson and the Four Horsemen

Chapter 8: Shadow in the Snow

PREVIOUSLY ON THE FOUR HORSEMEN:

As soon as Mac smelled the petrichor, he grinned. He had just finished setting up the Wolf House for Khione. He let his Mistcloak fade away, leaving white swirls of pure Mist in his wake. He watched the clouds get darker and darker, before it began to snow.

Percy, a little dizzy, managed to stand straight despite the nausea of being stretched across space. Strapping his backpack tightly, he grimaced at the sudden cold. The gods could have at least sent him with a sweater or something. Those New Rome University hoodies looked sick.

He trekked across the snow, leaving small green tracks across the white snow that covered the ground. Fortunately (or unfortunately, Percy had to wait to decide,) the weather confirmed Khione, his target, was or had been at the Wolf House. Of course, the sudden blasts of what sounded like incendiaries going off probably meant she was still here.

He picked up his pace and tried to navigate through the mansion, which looked pretty much the same since the last time he was here. The roof had fallen in a long time ago, but the walls were mostly stable except for a few rooms (if you could call them that) that were covered in dirty ice. Some of the red ang grey stone pillars had distinct burn marks covering them, either from the original burning or from his friend Leo Valdez's special treatment. Another series of incendiaries set off, much closer to Percy. Even before Percy could take another step, however, a swirl of snow filled the area and a pale woman fell to her knees and struggled to get back up.

Percy assumed that this woman was Khione, goddess of snow; and her pale complexion did match the brief description Jason, Piper and Leo had given him on the Argo II. However, Percy wasn't sure whether the pale skin was natural or from the chunk of her torso that was missing.

"So, like, do you normally appear with some part of your body missing or?"

She hissed in response, before looking and standing up.

"Perseus Jackson. An honor. Unfortunately, I am currently occupied so I cannot be of any help to the gods."

"About that, turns out you did some horrible things to my friends. And Olympus."

"I'll tell them I'm sorry after this." She quickly pulled out a dagger from nowhere and swung at Percy.

Percy quickly sidestepped, pulled out Riptide, and parried Khione's next strike.

"I NEED TO LEAVE!" She yelled, a bunch of ice crystals shooting out of her towards Percy. Her aim was bad, not that Percy could talk, but Percy weaved past the shards only to be pushed back by a beam of power and suddenly, he was frozen to the wall.

"Look, Perseus." She caught her breath. "I do not regret my actions against your allies. I did what I thought was right."

"You did it for power."

"It's the same th- I have no need to justify myself. However, the gods perhaps can see that me, leaving you alive, is a potential peace treaty between us."

"You're going to face justice, Khione. You can't escape it."

"Watch m-"

Khione was blasted forwards towards where Percy was trapped, breaking the ice and setting Percy free. Both tumbled to the ground. Khione got up first, and shouted, "Have some decency, assassin. Show yourself before I kill you." Percy groaned and got up, the ice around the two melting.

Khione's comment seemed to have amused the attacker, as a chuckle came from where she was blasted back. Suddenly, Percy felt like he was seeing Mrs. Dodds for the first time again. The Mist rippled and dissolved in the air, revealing just another dude.

"Unfortunately, goddess, you do realize that the two people here have killed a god before."

Percy said, "I don't know who you mistook me for, man, but I haven't killed a god."

The assassin's eyes turned towards him, a bright shade of purple.

"Akhlys disagrees. Now, Khione, I hope you have realized that you are doomed. You will not leave this place alive."

Percy brought Riptide up again.

"She is now my charge. She will face justice the Olympian way."

Both the demigods seemed to notice that Khione was slowly trying to sneak away. Percy rushed towards her, trying to help her to a safe spot before he summoned Hermes. The assassin put a wrench in those plans, blasting Khione with some invisible force through a pillar.

Percy changed direction, and swung Riptide at the other demigod, who dodged, reached out into the air, and a sword formed in his hands made of what looked to be marble.

"Solid Mist. A beautiful substance, but not as versatile as the actual Mist. Shall we play, Jackson?"

"Before we begin, I'd like to point out that it's not fair you know my name, but I don't know yours."

The demigod smiled, and it was warm, but something was just… off, kinda like what a serial killer would smile like.

"Call me Mac."

"Mac? Like the Big Mac?"

"Yep."

"Is that your actual name or-"

"Irrelevant. You're stalling now."

Mac slowly paced around Percy as the two sized each other up.

"Khione has to face the council."

"Their justice will be the same as mine."

Mac raised his sword above his head and brought it down on Percy, who blocked it and, using the flat of his blade, pushed it down back to the ground.

Percy recognized the strategy. He had dueled enough times to know what Mac was doing. He was testing Percy, which meant Percy had the advantage if he began to press Mac.

Percy immediately began with his onslaught of slices, parries and stabs. He could see it in Mac's movements that defence was not his style, and he was quickly failing. The first sign was when Riptide managed to curve a little bit close to Mac's sword arm, leaving a small scratch. Mac quickly recovered, pushing Percy back by parrying his next strike.

"No wonder they call you the best swordsman."

"I can do a lot worse."

Their blades clashed again, and Percy disarmed Mac with one of the first techniques he ever learnt.

"Now will you let me take Khione back to Olympus?"

"Nah, I don't think I will."

This time, Mac caught him off guard as he ran towards Percy unarmed. Percy swung Riptide, trying to keep him away, only for Mac to… stop it? With his hand?

"What the fuck?"

Mac wrenched Riptide by the blade out of Percy's hands and tossed it away. Again, the Mist faded away from Mac's arm, revealing a metal dark as the void, which suddenly caused the temperature to fall by another few degrees.

"Enough of swords. You're a demigod. Fight like one."

"A demigod fights with his sword, you idiot."

"No. A demigod fights with his powers."

With that, Percy was immediately thrown back a few metres by what felt like an explosion. He tumbled through the snow before getting back up again.

"Not fair, man. You have a Stygian Iron arm."

"If you want, I could get you one too."

"No thanks, McNugget. I'd rather have both my arms."

"Are you sure? The arm comes with some extra benefits."

As he said that, the fingertips of Mac's arm elongated a bit, forming claws.

"Come on. That is not a demigod power."

"True, but you're Percy Jackson. I need all the help I can get."

"There is zero water around me."

"Not my problem."

Mac proceeded to fling himself towards Percy. Perhaps 'flinging' wasn't entirely accurate, but Mac was not fully in control of his trajectory. Either way, Percy stopped thinking about how to describe it when Mac's body slammed into his, causing both of them to topple down. Percy quickly got up and scooted away from Mac, the latter taking a little longer to get up. Before Percy could escape, another 'explosion' threw him back.

"Come now, Percy. Khione is mine."

Percy felt his pocket for Riptide, which had reappeared. He drew his blade again, ready to fight Mac.

"Again? I said NO MORE WEAPONS!"

A powerful blast sent Percy flying back, crashing through a pillar. His mouth bleeding, Percy felt his ribs, sensing a crack. Riptide had flown out of his hand and landed somewhere.

"YOU'RE PERSEUS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE GREATEST HERO EVER AND YET ALL YOU CAN DO IS SWING A SWORD?"

"I think you should take medication for your issues, bro."

Mac blasted the pillar in front of Percy, toppling it almost directly onto him. Percy rolled out of the way and back up, facing Mac, who was heavily breathing.

"I don't have issues."

This time, Mac began to fight Percy hand-to-hand. Years of combat training (and Annabeth) was the only thing that kept Percy on his feet. Clearly, Mac was much better than him at hand-to-hand. But he could only keep it up for a minute or two.

Mac, who sensed the opportunity, grabbed Percy by the neck with his Stygian Iron arm and slammed him into a pillar, raising him up.

"You're weak still. Perhaps I was too hasty to push you out of Camp."

"Let m-me go-"

Mac tossed Percy away like a ragdoll. Percy crashed into a wall, barely breathing. He could feel another few ribs broken, and his neck hurt like Hades. At least he was still alive. If he could just reach into his backpack for ambrosia, nectar, water, something. He could barely speak. In his slipping consciousness, he tried to search for any water. As if the Fates themselves were laughing at him (like they usually were), all he found was nothing.

He felt his breath slowing.

Through his blurry eyesight, he could make out the silhouette of Mac leaving, which left him to think. He wasn't dying, thank the gods. The pain was unbearable but as he stayed still it began to reduce. With the fog of pain fading, he could feel something.

Water?

No. Not water.

It felt like water, though. The tingling and energizing feeling he got when near water. It was… locked away. Behind some sort of barrier. He just needed to break it.

And preferably not erupt another volcano in the process.

His attempts were in vain, and Percy felt his breath slowing even more than it probably shouldn't have. "That's not good.", he thought to himself.

"Percy Jackson."

Percy knew that voice. But it had been so long since the last time he heard it.

"Lady Hestia. Where are you?"

"I cannot be where you are, hero. I speak to you through your mind. Even so, your adversary must have already sensed it."

"He is a demigod?"

"He seems to be. His aura troubles me. I cannot make out who his parent is."

"He's strong. I do not know if I can take any more battles, milady."

"You are stronger, champion."

"You saw him beat the shit out of me, Hestia. His powers… even Jason couldn't control the air like that."

"What I saw was not true control. His powers are much like yours, not something that can be restrained."

"Either way, I don't think I can handle him."

"Keep hope, Percy Jackson. Perhaps I will lend you some of my strength."

"Thank you, milady."

The words barely left his mouth (technically mind but whatever) when he felt a soft warmth fill his body.

"Hestia?"

No reply. Guess that meant she couldn't help further. But he was back to regular now. No broken bones and he was filled with stamina.

Time to face Mac again.

Mac could see the panic and fear in Khione's eyes. She was stronger than he expected. But her ice storm would not last long, not with how much of her was remaining.

In the preceding chase, Mac had managed to rip off her arm. In his mind, he was a bit glad that in his line of work, there wasn't much blood and more golden dust. As soon as the arm was severed, it dissolved, leaving little gold particles in the snow.

The goddess, of course, almost broke down and would've frozen Mac if not for his handy Mistcloak. Of course, at around that time, Mac noticed that another god was nearby. He had spent enough time with the goddess of hope to not recognize her aura. By the time he managed to restore the god-block he had set around the area, Khione managed to escape. Again.

She was a good hunt. He just needed to keep her down long enough to test his plan. Of course, he wasn't expecting the Percy Jackson to come and take Khione down. He had hoped that the problems at Camp would have kept him there.

Either way, him being here made it easier to stoke the fire there.

A quick surge of godly power caught his attention, a few tens of metres in the forest. Mac grinned again. He had already torn away some of her essence, leaving her without some of her godliness. The surge faded away just as quick, which meant Khione couldn't flash out.

He Shattered the air around him, propelling him upwards, before pushing himself towards the location of the surge.

Mac was quickly met with an ice blade to the face, something he barely dodged. He quickly recovered, and grabbed his attacker's wrist with his metal arm, crushing it.

"You have caused too much pain, goddess. Usually, I'd repay that pain. A thousand times over."

Khione shivered, possibly going into shock. She couldn't heal anymore, it seemed. Not without her full essence.

"Sadly, I must trust that Tartarus will repay. Today is your lucky day."

Mac reached out into the Mist (Duat, really, but they both embodied the same thing) and brought out a golden dagger, glinting with the shine of Imperial Gold. Before he could land the killshot, he was tackled to the ground, knocking his head.

"Fuck you, bitch.", was all Percy had to say to the unconscious body lying on the snow.

He helped up Khione, who he now saw was missing an arm and was also covered in scratches. Her wrist was swelling and was the colour of Dionysus when he drank cranberry juice thinking it was wine.

"Come on. We have to go to Olympus."

Without a word, Khione nodded. She looked like a scared animal, trembling and barely supporting herself. It was the first time Percy had seen a god like that.

Percy yelled out for Hermes but no response.

"The assass…" Khione drew in a breath, "…the assassin set up some sort of block to prevent gods from flashing. We should travel a bit away from here… and him."

"Oh. That's why you're still here."

"He- he caught me by surprise. He removed some of my essence."

Percy never thought he'd be comforting a goddess, let alone Khione.

"We're safe now. He's knocked out cold."

"You're safe now, Perseus. I do not wish to fight anymore. Not after him. Olympus is cruel, but the coldness in the assassin's eyes…"

She shivered again. Mac must've really made an impression if the goddess of ice was saying someone was cold.

"Is this far enough yet?"

Khione shook her head.

"I cannot sense it. You should try."

"Uh, okay. Hermes? We are ready."

Silence again.

"Must not be far en-" Percy broke off when he heard something like static. Through the noise, Percy could make out the voice of Hermes.

"Percy?"

"Yeah, we're here. Teleport us quick."

"I can ba…. Sense Khio… aura. Did you…. her?"

"She's missing an arm. She's not a threat anymore."

Khione shivered even more. The snowstorm around the Wolf House had begun to fade, letting a few rays of bright sunlight through.

"Alri..t. Commencing…. 3… 2… 1."

A beam of brilliant white light shot from the sky, hitting the ground a few feet away from Percy.

"Let's go."

A few feet behind the two, the Mist rippled, revealing Mac.

"Percy Jackson. Going somewhere?"

Percy looked back for a brief second, seeing the demigod and noting the dagger in his hands. With a fleeting sense of satisfaction, he also saw the big purple bruise on the side of Mac's head. Unfortunately for Mac, they were at the beam.

"Teleporting...", Hermes' voice came loud and clear now.

"3…" Mac grinned.

"2…" Percy turned back again, barely registering the flash of gold heading towards Khione, who had also turned back. She, with a last burst of power, launched a few icicles at Mac.

"1…" Percy was powerless to stop it. The dagger hit true to its mark, skewering Khione through with sheer force, causing the tip of the dagger to pierce Percy's torso. Khione got the last laugh, though. Percy watched with grim satisfaction as Mac fell to the ground, an icicle embedded into his chest.

'0." Percy's insides were twisted and rearranged as he appeared on the floor of the throne room of Olympus. He collapsed; dagger still barely stuck into him. It didn't pain much. Actually, it didn't even hurt at all, which was odd.

Though it would have hurt a lot more if he was the one who got skewered. Khione's broken body, already dissolving into ethereal golden dust, lay on the cold marble floor with him. It was at that point Percy noticed that he was not alone. As his vision faded to black, he heard Poseidon yell, "FIND APOLLO! NOW!"

A/N:- Hello hello! Hope y'all are doing well and your day has been great! I'm back with another chapter and I'd just like to thank you all so much for reading! 3.5k views is insane (to me) and that's probably just cause of the description but you guys are amazing.

About the story:
I hope you guys have liked the story so far. I did get a message about how out of character some characters have felt (like Percy and Leo) in Chapter 4. I've tried to rectify it, considering Percy is the main character, and I have to do him justice.

Also, about the OC, who I have deemed Mac (for now, his real name ain't important). He's the main antagonist, in case you haven't figured him out. I get that he might read a little OP here but you guys'll see why later (also you need a villain that's at least on par with the main character).

The betrayal part is coming soon, I promise.

-Scythe7137