Indigo Eyes

Chapter 118

Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."

"Alright," she relented as she and Michael began talking and Percy turned to Cressida who was gripping her thyrsus with a sharpened end.

"It depends on my mood," she said, and Percy was confused. "Whether I feed you to the Minotaur or impale you now for asking me to stay behind."

He could only smile. "I'd expect nothing less."

"Good," she said as she threw her thyrsus from one hand to the other. "Then let's kill some monsters."

"Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"

Her eyes glittered as a surprised expression stretched across her face and where Percy figured she'd punch him, she made his heart race as she came closer. Closer. Closer.

His eyes were closed, and he was waiting for her lips on his but instead, he felt fingers and his green eyes snapped open. "Live through this, and I'll kiss that Fish Face of yours as much as you want."

And Percy picked a great time to stop functioning as Cressida disappeared around the corner of the school bus.

She dragged the sharpened end of her thyrsus along the asphalt as she walked straight towards the army, more like she was on a runway rather than about to face a hundred monsters.

"Ladies and gentlemen, monsters of all ages," she bellowed, her voice carrying out across the bridge. "Welcome to the show! Staring yours truly," she said as she took a bow, the army still advancing. "I think we're going to have a tough crowd tonight," she remarked as her eyes lit up with flames and Percy's eyes bulged out of his skull. She really was his Crazy Girl. "It's a good thing our show is killer!"

And a tsunami of purple fire went racing for the monsters.

She didn't bother trying to manipulate the mind of the Minotaur, which was a centuries-old creature, but she definitely went for every other monster there as they began turning on each other.

If they weren't driven mad, they were killing each other as Cressida wobbled on her feet, downing a vial of Solace Solution before she raised her thyrsus into the air. "In the name of Dionysus!" she shouted before she charged, a few of the Apollo campers charging after her as Percy ran to keep the Minotaur busy.

It didn't take too long before Percy had dispatched the Minotaur by shoving its own axe through a chink in its breastplate.

And when he joined the fight, his Achilles Curse really helped cut down the army. There was about 25 left out of three hundred.

They drove them back towards the Brooklyn side of the bridge, the sky growing pale as the sun started to rise.

"Percy! Cress!" Annabeth yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

Cressida looked exhausted, her magic trick really draining her as they saw the crowd at the base of the bridge.

The retreating monsters were running straight towards their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armour, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with a black scythe design. The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm and Kronos stared at them, golden eyes but Luke's face.

Annabeth and the Apollo campers faltered.

"Now, we pull back," Percy said as he grabbed Cressida's hand and they ran. The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement.

Apollo archers shot a volley bringing down several of the enemy but they still kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy called as he came to a halt. "I'll hold them!" and then he turned to Cressida. "Go!"