Percy will give her this.
Gaia was good with a sword.
Percy expected that a primordial who has world-destroying powers would try and obliterate the world in an instant. But she was now locked in a duel against Percy at sword point.
This could mean two things. First one is that Gaia is just toying with Percy and wanted the satisfaction of killing Percy with her own hands.
Or two, she can't use her full power yet. Percy hoped it was the latter. Maybe it's because she's not comfortable with her body yet or maybe Artemis is fighting her.
In any case, that means Percy has a time limit to which he can fight against Gaia on equal level before Gaia explodes everything around her.
Percy lunged with Riptide and slashed his sword in a sideways arc. Gaia stepped back slightly and countered with a barrage of attacks. Percy managed to deflect and dodge most of it, but some managed to cut Percy.
Gaia twirled and tried decapitating him, but he anticipated the attack and blocked her sword before kicking her in the chest. He wasted no time in dashing forward and tackling the primordial to the ground. His hand sparked with black flames as he tried to use the Flames again, but Gaia was quick as she grabbed Percy by the neck in some MMA-type move and locked Percy in an arm armbar submission.
Percy struggled against her, but she had a firm grip on him. It felt like Gaia was ripping his arm off.
With the adrenaline pumping through him, he thought of the only thing he could do. He opened his mouth wide and buried his chompers into Gaia's leg.
To be honest, Percy didn't expect it to work as well as it did. He expected to get a face full of dirt, but instead he bit Gaia so hard that Gaia yowled in pain and loosened her grip to which Percy managed to escape.
His mouth felt watery and when he spit, golden blood spat out. Gaia's leg was wounded, but unlike the burn on her face it healed instantly.
"What a noble way of fighting." Gaia growled.
"Says the primordial who uses trickery and deceit." Percy countered as he took out his other sword. If he was going to fight her, Riptide wasn't going to cut it.
Gaia's eyes widened when she saw the sword, but she quickly recomposed. "You're going to die here." Gaia said.
"Heard that before." Percy twirled the Sword of Blood in his hand and muttered to it. "Lend me your power."
The sword changed and morphed. The blade itself changed into a single edged blade that looked like a pirate's cutlass. The hilt elongated and a similar blade popped out at the other end of it.
Percy was now wielding a two-bladed polearm.
Without hesitation, Percy spun the thing in his hand and struck at Gaia with an endless flurry of strikes. It was easy since the double-bladed aspect of the weapon made it easy for him to quickly deliver continous strikes.
Gaia was on the defensive. She backstepped multiple times, parried and also dodged but she didn't attack.
But Percy was too caught up to notice. It felt like he was finally pushing Gaia back and forcing her on the defensive. Gaia was quick on her feet.
Then, there was a moment where Percy overcomitted just a little bit and Gaia managed to disarm him and his weapon rolled onto the ground.
He expected Gaia to use the opportunity to lunge at him, but instead Gaia lunged at the Sword of Blood. Percy was quick on his feet and beat Gaia to it.
It seems that Gaia was after Percy's sword. With that fact, he had a sudden realization. Gaia was trying to absorb the Sword of Blood, which is a relic. By absorbing a relic, she could be even more powerful.
That means the sword is currently Gaia's number one priority. She's not in full power right now, but Percy assumed she will be as soon as she absorbs the Sword of Blood.
Percy decided to play defensively for now. Gaia's patient and was willing to wait for Percy to make a mistake for her to take that weapon.
"So that's your game plan?" Percy asked.
Gaia scoffed. "It doesn't matter even if you know. My ascension is inevitable."
"I can just not give you the sword."
Gaia laughed. "And what? Beat me with your old weapon? While I kill all your friends?"
"I've beaten your children with this sword, and now I will beat you." Percy said.
"If you can reach me." Gaia said. She held her hand out. "Rise, my soldiers."
The ground trembled underneath him. At first, Percy thought Gaia was summoning an earthquake. But earthern hands erupted from the ground and clawed their way out onto the surface of the Earth.
It was the textbook definition of a faceless army. Dozens of earthern soldiers shaped like humans without any facial features climbed from under the ground.
"Souls of the damned." Gaia said. "You'd be surprised by what people are willing to offer in exchange for life."
Percy gritted his teeth. "You talk too much." He said as he waded through the earthling soldiers.
Luckily, these monsters crumbled to dust with one hit. The downside was that they moved as quick and agile as a demigod.
It took a lot of effort and concentration for Percy to not get mauled to death. The earthlings didn't have weapons, but their fists were literally rock hard.
Percy destroyed one of them with a kick to its head while he decapitated two more with a slash with his sword. He crushed one more with the butt of his sword and dropkicked another one to dust.
"Surrender and I'll make your death as painful as possible!" Gaia bellowed.
"What kind of an offer is that?" Percy grunted as he elbowed one of the earthlings. He grabbed another one from behind by the head and snapped its neck. "You're not even gonna take me to dinner first?"
"Die!" Gaia said as she sent even more earthlings towards Percy.
Line Break
Annabeth had her hands full dealing with the onslaught of monsters coming their way. It's not like they weren't prepared for a full on invasion, but they were heavily fatigued and worn out.
She'd spotted Jason flying over the battlefield while also sending some monsters away with a blast of wind. Thalia was busy coordinating with her Hunters after such a short notice.
Annabeth had previously discussed with Jason and the other campers. Annabeth carries with her a white flare. If she decides to fire it, that means that they've lost and everyone needs to retreat.
It's like their 'oh shit' button. If everything looks lost, she will have the responsibility of firing that flare.
She shook her head. Retreat shouldn't be an option. They were going to win.
At the back lines, Percy was fighting against Gaia. He seems to be outnumbered as Gaia sent waves of monsters towards him.
Annabeth had the urge to call for Jason for a lift and drop her off to help Percy, but she decided against it. Percy had made it clear that he'll take Gaia on and Annabeth trusted him.
"Jasper!" Annabeth called one of her siblings. "Send demigods to strengthen that right flank. Push those giants away." Annabeth said as Jasper nodded and rushed off.
"Hazel!" Annabeth called through the crowd.
On cue, Hazel popped up next to her, riding on her foul-mouthed, super fast horse, Arion. "You need something?"
"How long until the Romans get here?" Annabeth asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Hazel said. "They should be on their way now."
"What about Reyna and Piper?" Annabeth asked.
"I have no idea." Hazel admitted.
Annabeth cursed under her breath. Where could Reyna have gone right now? She knew that she's supposed to be on standby and yet she went missing.
With Gaia now here, they needed the Praetor more than ever.
"Well, nothing we can do about that." Annabeth said. "Secure the left flank."
"Got it." Hazel said as she whizzed away at light speed.
"Incoming!" Someone shouted. Annabeth looked up just in time to see a volley of boulders being hurled at them by giants.
"Take cover!" Annabeth shouted as everyone scrammed for protection. Annabeth ducked just behind the summit of Half-Blood Hill, so it was unlikely the boulders would land on her. The boulders hit the back lines like a shower of meteors. Explosions erupted all around Annabeth, but it was more concentrated behind her where they were tending the wounded.
After it had ended, Annabeth examined the damage. Their makeshift infirmary was still intact, but several demigods had taken a hit. Some had died, some were stuck under boulders the size of a wrecking ball.
Annabeth didn't have any time to breathe as Jason landed next to her. "Annabeth. Percy's getting overwhelmed." Jason said. "He's outnumbered and we're getting overrun."
"Don't worry about Percy." Annabeth steeled her nerves. "We'll focus on the monster army."
"But-" Jason was interrupted by an ungodly roar.
Not now. Annabeth pleaded mentally. Anytime but now.
"A dragon?!" Jason was in disbelief. Annabeth was on the same boat with Jason. How Gaia had managed to get her hands on a dragon, Annabeth had no idea. But for now, she was more concerned on how to beat it rather than where it came from.
"Pull back to the pine tree!" Annabeth shouted. "Retreat behind the tree!"
The demigods started to slowly back away without turning their back to the monsters. Another roar pierced the skies and the most ungodly creature landed in front of them.
Annabeth was surprised that mortal imaginations of how dragons looked like was fairly accurate. The dragon stood on four legs and each of its two wings were as long as a school bus.
The dragon easily stood taller than the Big House. Its brownish scales see outlined with silver. Its head almost reminded Annabeth of an eagle's head, if an eagle didn't have horns, paralyzing eyes, and a snout that looked like it could bite a horse in half.
As it landed, it trampled on some of the monsters. The good news was that it seems the creature didn't know which of them were its allies.
The bad news was that it started attacking everything on sight. It breathed out a torrent of flames that torched everyone, monsters and demigods alike.
Whether or not the dragon is on Gaia's side didn't matter. It was killing everything and will eventually deplete the demigod numbers.
"We can't fight a dragon!" Jason said.
"You think I don't know that?" Annabeth argued. Dragons were ancient beings. They're super ancestors of drakons and a million times more deadly.
The dragon trampled over some demigods before its neck lunged towards the nearest one and swallowed them in one gulp.
This was getting hopeless. Their weapons were ineffective against a dragon. They can't win this.
Annabeth's hand hovered over the white flare strapped on her waist. She was tempted to signal for defeat.
Until Annabeth heard a voice spoken through a megaphone. "ONE GODZILLA BATTLE INCOMING!"
Annabeth recognized that son of Hephaestus' voice anywhere.
Crashing down from the sky, another dragon appreared. At first, Annabeth thought the dragon was clad in bronze armor.
Turns out, the dragon itself was made out of bronze.
Festus had arrived.
"Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" Frank Zhang's voice echoed in the dawn followed by a roar of approval as the Romans jumped down from Festus and started to wreck havoc onto the battlefield.
Annabeth was so relieved that she had a grin on her face. The Romans have arrived.
Festus started wrestling with the dragon who seems to think that Festus was another dragon challenging its position as the apex predator. The two started to brawl.
The demigods that had been fighting throughout the entire battle got renewed vigour and charged into battle again. With the support of the Romans, they were now on equal playing field.
In the middle of the battlefield, Frank had turned into a silverback gorilla causing chaos.
"They made it." Jason sighed in relief.
"Let's help him out." Annabeth said. Jason nodded as the two went towards Frank. By the time they got there, Frank had already turned back into a human.
"'Sup." Frank grinned.
"Where's Leo?" Jason asked.
"Where do you think?" Frank gestured at Festus who seems to be trying some form of jiu-jitsu move meant for a dragon, but it ended up looking like a Fortnite emote dance. The other dragon was so confused that it was just staring at Festus before it got clawed on the face. "As if he'd miss a chance to have a Godzilla vs Mecha-Godzilla battle."
"Glad you could make it." Annabeth said.
"Glad we're just in time." Frank said as he fired an arrow straight between the eyes of an empousa. "Is Hazel alright?"
"She's doing great last I saw her." Annabeth said.
"So, what's the situation?"
Annabeth filled Frank in. With every sentence, his face turned more grim.
"So she's here now?" Frank asked.
Annnabeth nodded. "Percy's fighting her as we speak."
"And why aren't we helping him, exactly?"
"Believe me, I'm wondering that myself." Annabeth sighed. "But he said to not interfere and leave Gaia to him and we'll deal with the army."
Frank glared onto the army of monsters fighting against the wall of demigods.
"I don't like the idea, but I trust you." Frank said. "I'll take charge at the front."
No one argued. "Don't forget to turn back into human this time, Zhang."
"Shut up, Grace." Frank said with a little smile before barking orders at the legionnaires.
At least now they were on equal footing. Annabeth could leave the frontlines to Frank while she helped out where she could.
She just hoped that Percy was alright.
Line Break
As Percy drove back the waves of earthlings Gaia sent towards him, he noticed something at the corner of his eye.
It looked like a scene from a monster battle. Like a Transformer fighting against a dinosaur, which sounded awesome.
But he didn't have any time to register what was happening as he made his way through the earthlings and engaged Gaia in battle. Gaia struck with her sword and Percy deflected. He tried swinging at her head, but she leaned slightly back and the sword went by in front of her eyes.
An earthling grabbed him from behind around his neck. Percy was about to deal with it, but Gaia took advantage of it and sent him flying backwards.
Percy coughed violently as he stood up. Unlike Gaia, he didn't have infinite strength and stamina. Percy was on a time limit.
He roared defiantly and shoved away the earthlings near him and went straight for Gaia in a burst of strength.
Gaia met his blade. The two exchanged heavy blows that made the ground tremble. It seems as if they were now on equal footing as Percy felt the adrenaline rush through his body.
At one moment, Gaia thrust her sword forward and managed to stab Percy on the shoulder. But Percy ignored the pain as he grabbed Gaia's wrist and swung his sword at her neck.
Gaia was quick as she ducked under the swing and lunged straight for the Sword of Blood. In a moment of panic, Percy's right arm trembled with power as he unleashed the Flames for the second time, landing a hook right into her stupid face.
The explosion sent both of them flying in opposite directions. It's like a dynamite had exploded in between them at point-blank range.
That one was definitely more powerful than the first one. His whole body felt numb with pain. Percy almost thought he was dead, until he exhaled deeply.
His right arm looked surprisingly fine despite the immense power it had just unleashed. He must've blacked out briefly because he didn't feel the recoil from using the Flames like before. He was unconscious through the pain.
At a distance in front of him, was a crater where the explosion had happened. They could've made an ice-skating ring on top of it if they wanted to. On the other side of the crater was Gaia.
And she looked pissed.
Aside from cuts and bruises, she looked okay. But that's probably because she had regenerated her face that had exploded. It was obvious that Percy had managed to hurt her. She had a slight limp in her step and a pained expression whenever she moved.
"You . . . insolent . . . brat!" Gaia growled.
Percy tried moving, but his body wasn't obeying. Gaia was approaching but he couldn't move an inch.
Fucking move! Percy shouted internally.
"When I'm done with you," Gaia was now right in front of Percy. "I will send you to the deepest parts of Tartarus myself!"
This can't be how it ends. Percy was going to die without even a chance to fight back?
Percy tried moving again, but it felt like something was pinning him down.
"And now I will take this pleasure of killing you mysel-" Gaia never got to finish her sentence as a black van ran her over and sent her flying away.
"The hell?" Percy muttered in pain.
"You just hit Artemis!" A voice shouted from inside the van.
"That was not Artemis!" Another voice argued. "And she was trying to kill Percy!"
"If the goddess gets pissed, I'm going to say it was your idea." A third voice said before the doors to the van slid open, revealing Nico. "Hey Percy." Nico grinned.
"Nico?" Percy groaned.
"Heard Queen Dirt Face was back. Figured you needed some help." Nico said and the passengers of the van poured out.
Among the familiar faces of Grover, Piper, Reyna, and Lucia, the person he was most surprised to see was Bianca.
"Bianca?" Percy called.
"Hey." Bianca said. "Here to lend a hand."
"What?"
"Okay, he's not in his right mind right now." Reyna said. "Grover and Piper, you guys come with me. Nico and Bianca will help with the monsters."
"I'll help Percy recover." Lucia said. They all nodded and went to their duties.
"You need to leave." Percy said as Lucia knelt next to him. "It's not safe."
"And let you have all the fun? Nonsense." Lucia said as she fished a flask of nectar from her pouch and gently made Percy drink it.
As the nectar flowed through his body, he felt rejuvenated. Not fully, but enough stay conscious. But his body was still not moving.
"I'm serious." Percy said. "This is not your typical monster. This is Gaia."
"WHO JUST HIT ME WITH A FUCKING VAN?!" Gaia bellowed from somewhere in front of them.
"I'll buy you some time." Lucia said. "Focus on recovering." She stood up with her rapier drawn. Gaia was on her way.
"Lucia, don't." Percy said. He tried moving again, but his body was not responding.
"You need help?" Bianca asked.
Lucia shook her head. "You focus on the army. They need you. I'll buy some time for Percy."
"I'll kill all of you!" Gaia rushed over towards them as Lucia rushed in as well, taking the primordial by herself.