The Curse of Achilles (PJO AU)

The House of Hades (Part 7)

The edge of Chaos, Tartarus

Akhlys lunged at Percy, and for a split second he thought: Well, hey, I'm just smoke. She can't touch me, right?

He imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: LOL, NOOB!

The goddess slammed into Percy. Her claws raked across his chest, and Percy just had time to wonder if whatever the arai had done to him was permanent. He was relieved when the Curse of Achilles held up, even in smoke form.

Percy stumbled backward, but he wasn't used to being smoky. His legs moved too slowly. His arms felt like tissue paper.

Akhlys hissed. "The Curse of Achilles!" she cried, and then smiled. "You're already familiar with misery. But I can still show you more."

In desperation, Percy threw his backpack at her, thinking maybe it would turn solid when it left his hand, but no such luck. It fell with a soft thud.

Akhlys snarled, crouching to spring. Even with his iron skin, it looked like Akhlys might have bitten Percy's face off if Annabeth hadn't charged and screamed, "HEY!" right in the goddess' ear.

Akhlys flinched, turning toward the sound.

She lashed out at Annabeth, but Annabeth was better at moving than Percy. Maybe she wasn't feeling as smoky, or maybe she'd just had more combat training. She'd been at Camp Half-Blood since she was seven. Probably she'd had classes Percy never got, like How to Fight While Partially Made of Smoke.

Annabeth dove straight between the goddess' legs and somersaulted to her feet. Akhlys turned and attacked, but Annabeth dodged again, like a matador.

Percy was so stunned, he lost a few precious seconds. He stared at corpse Annabeth, shrouded in mist but moving as fast and confidently as ever. Then it occurred to him why she was doing this: to buy them time. Which meant Percy needed to help.

He thought furiously, trying to come up with a way to defeat Misery. How could he fight when he couldn't touch anything?

On Akhlys' third attack, Annabeth wasn't so lucky. She tried to veer aside, but the goddess grabbed Annabeth's wrist and pulled her hard, sending her sprawling.

Before the goddess could pounce, Percy advanced, yelling and waving his sword. He still felt about as solid as a Kleenex, but his anger seemed to help him move faster.

"Hey, Happy!" he yelled.

Akhlys spun, dropping Annabeth's arm. "Happy?" she demanded.

"Yeah!" He ducked as she swiped at his head. "You're downright cheerful!"

"Arggh!" She lunged again, but she was off-balance. Percy sidestepped and backed away, leading the goddess farther away from Annabeth.

"Pleasant!" he called. "Delightful!"

The goddess snarled and winced. She stumbled after Percy. Each compliment seemed to hit her like sand in the face.

"I will kill you slowly!" she growled, her eyes and nose watering, blood dripping from her cheeks. "I will cut you into pieces as a sacrifice to Night!"

Annabeth struggled to her feet. She started rifling through her pack, no doubt looking for something that might help.

Percy wanted to give her more time. She was the brains. He was the sword and shield. Better for him to get attacked while she came up with a brilliant plan.

"Cuddly!" Percy yelled. "Fuzzy, warm, and huggable!"

Akhlys made a growling, choking noise, like a cat having a seizure.