The Curse of Achilles (PJO AU)

The Son of Neptune (Part 6)

Percy focused on the ghosts again, swinging Riptide over and over again. They pushed him closer and closer to the edge of the glacier. His hurricane was on its last legs. He could feel the exhaustion weighing on him. He finally remembered—that was a side effect of the Curse of Achilles. And Percy hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

In the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw Frank turn into a bird, and then a bear as he attacked Alcyoneus. Since when could he do that?

With his back to the edge of the cliff, Percy stood holding Riptide in one hand, the legion standard in the other. He had nowhere to go now, and nothing but his will to keep him going. His hurricane was gone. The ghostly army edged forward, their weapons bristling.

Percy lost track of time, and when Frank called his name, he looked over and saw Frank and Hazel standing over the fallen giant and understood what was happening. They needed to get him out of Alaska before he recovered, and they couldn't do that if they were trying to rescue Percy, which they obviously wanted to do. If they tried to save him, they would lose their best chance to defeat Alcyoneus in time to get back to Camp Jupiter.

He knew what he had to do.

Percy glanced backward, looking at the water churning hundreds of feet below him. A memory surfaced—the St. Louis Arch, Echidna, the Chimaera, fire, poison, and falling. Compared to that, this was a piece of cake.

Percy turned to his friends and yelled, "Go!"

He slammed Riptide into the ice at his feet and the tug in his gut became painfully intense. The entire glacier shuddered. Ghosts fell to their knees. Behind Percy, a wave surged up from the bay—a wall of gray water even taller than the glacier. Water shot from the chasms and crevices in the ice. As the wave hit, the back half of the camp crumbled. The entire edge of the glacier peeled away, cascading into the void—carrying buildings, ghosts, and Percy over the edge.

Percy hit the water sooner than he expected, but it was the cold that shocked him. His limbs froze at the sudden drop in temperature, and for a few moments, he sank. Chunks of ice and debris from the camp slammed into him from all sides, and he was grateful for the mark of Achilles. Then his instincts kicked in, and so did his father's gift.

Percy's senses jumped back to 100%, and his energy shot up as he burst through the surface of the water. He felt rejuvenated, reborn, without limits. Most of the ghosts had already drowned, but the few that hadn't were desperately clawing for salvation. Percy put a stop to that easily, calling on the water to yank the ghosts back under and keep them there until they dissolved. And this time, they stayed dead.

After the fight on top of the glacier, this was nothing. Percy was in his home turf, even if it was the land beyond the gods. There was nothing he couldn't do. Ella's prophecy was wrong. Here, in the water, Percy truly felt invincible.

Getting back to the top of the glacier was easy by himself. Percy just used the water to propel him up the side, and there he waited, leaning against the golden eagle staff, gazing down at the wreckage he'd caused: several hundred acres of newly open water dotted with icebergs and flotsam from the ruined camp. The only remains on the glacier were the main gates, which listed sideways, and a tattered blue banner lying over a pile of snow-bricks. Percy was starting to realize why the Greeks called his father "The Earthshaker."

Hazel and Frank returned half an hour later, minus Alcyoneus. Percy wasn't worried. If his friends were still alive, there was a pretty good chance Alcyoneus wasn't.

They ran up to him looking shocked, while Percy just stared at Frank, thinking about his new ability. "Hey," Percy said.

"You're alive!" Frank marveled.