His Assassin and His Creator

The Aftermath

Published Monday, June 27, 2022

Percy's POV:
I stare blankly at the marble floor in front of me, my mind drifting back and forth from the battle previous to now.

Start of Flashback

All the demigods, both Greek and Roman, along with their allies, were fighting side by side to prevent the monsters and, more importantly, Gaea, from taking over the camp, and thus loosing their already slim chance at winning the war.

While the Giants had been defeated with no losses, many demigods had already fallen, brutally killed by the monsters. Gaea had yet to join the fight, instead overseeing the surrounding chaos from the top of a knoll, safely shielded behind her army.

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I'm tearing through the army like they're made of butter with my sword, Riptide, held in my right hand while my shield is on my left wrist. Annabeth and I are fighting back to back, just like always.

The battle is going relatively well, that is, until we hear a scream of loss and devastation exhale from Piper's lips. Annabeth and I turn at the same time to see Piper kneeling besides Jason's body, which is covered from head to toe in nicks and cuts, but the worst part is the multitude of arrows sticking out of his sternum.

Piper, not privy to the Dracaena sneaking up on her, is left defenseless as the Dracaena raises her sword up and brings it down in one quick, glorified movement, therefore separating Piper's head from her body. Piper's head rolls a few feet away from her body, where it is then stepped on by a retreating Lastrygonian Giant, as her body falls as if in slow motion, it landing with a solid thump as it hits the ground. The image of the blood seeping from her neck, with the white of visible bone, shall forever haunt my nightmares.

Annabeth and I begin fighting harder, tearing through monsters like they're nothing more than a mere annoyance.

As the battle continues, I hear the whisper of a camper, one of Hephaestus's children, shout Leo's name. Looking to my right after dispatching the closest monsters I see Leo floating face down in a pool of water while a group of three or four Cyclopses stand in a circle cheering victoriously.

Snarling dangerously, I once again resume fighting, yet this time I push onwards with renewed vigor. Annabeth branches off from me to go help out Malcolm, who is surrounded by a hoard of Hellhounds.

Nico and Thalia are quick to take her place as we fight in a triangle formation. The three of us press on and lose ourselves in the battle until we hear another cry, this time coming from Hazel.

Hazel had been fighting a group of five Empousa, all by herself, and was soon overwhelmed as they swiftly pinned her down and drained her of blood.

Nico wails in grief at losing another sister, causing a large crack to appear in the ground as skeletons crawl their way out to join the battle. As Nico runs off towards the Empousa, Thalia and I scan the rest of the battlefield to see Annabeth on her knees as she hovers over Malcolm's body and Frank dead on the ground, horrific burns and pockmarks littering his skin-presumably from Hydra poison or something of the like.

Thalia cursing draws me out of my loss-induced reverie, and I am rendered helpless as she runs off to offer assistance to her sisters in arms.

With the brief respite of monsters, I gaze over the battlefield and take note of the large monster hoard still remaining. Further inspection reveals Lady Artemis sitting on the ground with a young girl's head in her lap as her hunters stand guard around them. The only hunter missing, though, is a certain daughter of Zeus with spiky black hair and a circlet of silver.