Remember (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

15. Acceptance

Percy POV

Time seemed to slow down. My breath hitched as I watched the axe inch closer to Thalia's exposed neck. The blade of the axe glinted in the afternoon sun, the light shining into my eyes.

I could hear Artemis scream and the Hunters trying to get out of their spots on the ground but I knew they would never make it in time.

Thalia had tears in her eyes. She was bonded like the rest of her sisters but the monsters had singled her out to be executed, making her kneel on the floor like a peasant begging for food. Thalia had her hands tied behind her back and she had a bruise on her face, most likely where the monsters had hit her. That made me mad.

I made a split-second decision. The Hunters would fear me more but I didn't have a choice.

I willed myself to teleport myself in front of the axe and my hand shot up to catch the handle inches away from Thalia's neck. I felt my power struggling to burst out but I kept it in for a while longer.

I held the axe in place as the Laistrygonian giant tried to pull the axe free from my grip. I heard Artemis and the Hunters gasp at my sudden appearance while the monsters growled. They inched closer but I could tell they were hesitant.

All of a sudden, I ripped the axe out of the Laistrygonian's grip, catching him off guard and making him lose his balance.

As the giant was trying to right himself, I spun around and violently smashed the edge of the axe into his collarbone. The Laistrygonian didn't even make a sound as he burst into golden dust, covering both Thalia and I.

I looked around to see the monsters holding swords and knives to the Hunters' necks. They were looking at me challengingly, daring me to try anything. I could see that the younger Hunters had their eyes closed, preparing for the sharp pain where the blades would pierce their skin and effectively ending their lives.

The older Hunters were staring at their captors in defiance but I could see the fear in their eyes, the fear of finally leaving the world they have grown to love. The Hunters would gladly die when their time came but not like this.

I glared at the assembled monsters. There were about 200 of them, almost all of them being hellhounds except the thirty or so dracaena and Laistrygonian giants keeping the Hunters hostage.

I could have used the water in their blood to instantly kill them but I didn't want to use it in front of the Hunters. They were scared enough already.

I expanded my sense looking for a water source until I felt the water in the lake I was sitting by before. It was a way away, almost fifty feet but my power had grown a lot over the years. Summoning water from fifty feet away was nothing.

I felt the pull in my gut instantly. Controlling the water from the lake was harder than usual since it actually had ice in it. I commanded the water to come to me but slowly.

'I'll give you one last chance to walk away,' I said in a tone that scared even myself 'Leave, and I won't have to kill you all.'

The monsters all stared at me with wide eyes before laughing, or what could count as laughter for a hellhound.

'You think we are ssssstupid?' hissed a dracaena 'You can do nothing, sea spawn. We are coming for you, Perssseus Jackssson.'

I stayed silent as I willed the large mass of water to split up into about 300 separate tendrils before using most of my energy into freezing them. Frozen water makes a lot less sound than normal water.

'Hand over the girl and watch her die, or we will have to kill all of these weak Huntersss.' the same dracaena said.

'You will not touch my Hunters!' I heard Artemis said, still struggling on the Celestial Bronze net. I knew she would have trouble getting out of that. The net was restricting her movement so she couldn't reach her knife. Not that it would have mattered anyway. The Celestial Bronze net was almost unbreakable, even for an Olympian.