A BLACK HEART Chapter 11
A/N:- So here is the eleventh chapter! After a long wait, I know... but yeah! I hope you like it!
Percy pushed the door open that led to an entire new world, a world that the son of Hades had left behind long ago.
He sighed as he looked around. Everything was the same. Just as he and his mother had left it. The black paint on the walls was just as bright as that day and the rugs were just as evenly placed.
This was the first time in ages that he had decided to come back. He went over to the kitchen and picked up the photo frame kept on the table.
A picture of him and his mother on their first amusement park ride, having the best time of their life.
Percy sighed as he went to the living room to look at the entire shelf of photo frames and his eyes immediately went to the ones in black and white, more specifically the one of the woman wearing a helmet and next to her was a man, same age as her, holding a miniature version of a car.
"Martha and Carl," Percy muttered softly as he traced their faces with their fingertips.
He sighed as he placed his palm in front of him and a small spout of fire flickered to life on it.
"Wow."
He sighed and closed his palm as the flame extinguished. He turned around and instantly knew what he had to do.
He had to incinerate the past and move on to the future.
He sighed as he slammed his hand on the floor as his palm started to glow bright orange and the flame emanated from his hands and spread forward to the rest of the ground as his surroundings started to burn.
Soon, everything was in flames as Percy walked toward the gate, and with one last look at the burning remains of his ancestral home, disappeared.
-----------------------TIME-SKIP-----------------------------------
The son of Hades roamed around Camp, meeting up with campers, old and new, and greeting them.
All the while, he would just keep on replaying the fiasco he had created in the amphitheater. Hector and Annabeth both were pretty much angry with him but in the end, Percy made it up to them but still, Hector wouldn't talk to him.
Percy just sighed as he came to the beach. He knew the son of Poseidon was just being dramatic.
The son of Hades just walked down the side of the sea, thinking about how he would make it up to the two demigods when he stopped suddenly.
There, sitting on the sand in a cross-legged position was a face he thought he would never see again. A girl with white hair, falling sideways in a pixie cut wearing an orange camp-half-blood t-shirt with black jeans. There was a skull ring on her finger, the same one that Percy had, but with a flower-adorned with colored gemstones.
"Camilla?" Percy gasped as he looked at the demigod.
The daughter of Apollo turned around and looked at Percy who immediately gasped, his doubts being confirmed completely.
Her eyes, the same beautiful blue eyes with whom Percy had fallen in love long, long ago, were studying him for a moment before they widened.
"Percy?" She gasped as the son of Hades nodded and the two ran towards each other, embracing each other tightly.
"Oh my god! It's been so long since I last saw you!" Cam said after they detangled. "I missed you, Perce."
Percy smiled at her as he saw a few strands of white hair that had fallen on her face during the hug and nostalgia hit him like a truck as he brought his hand up to brush them back.
The same feeling must have struck Camilla as well because she smiled and stood on her tiptoes and leaned in toward his face until she could literally feel each other's breaths.
And soon, she caught Percy's next breath with her mouth.
Percy's eyes widened as he smiled foolishly into the kiss as the nostalgia continued in his mind and for a minute, they both were the same thirteen-year-olds that they had been before. Everything was the same as last time. The only thing different was the fact that this time, it lasted longer.
Finally, when they broke apart she rested her chin on his chest as Cam spoke up. "I missed you, Ghost Head."
Percy sighed as broke apart and looked at the daughter of Apollo, memories flooding his head as he spoke, "I missed you too, Sunshine."
-TIME-SKIP-
When Percy woke up, he found out that he was lying on his bed in cabin 3 as the memories of last night exploded in his mind.
He got up quickly, went to the washroom, freshened up, showered, and got ready, wearing his orange camp-half-blood t-shirt, black jeans, black boots, and a black hoodie.
He looked at the upper bunk to see Hector still snoring, drooling with his hair ruffled.
Percy just snorted and pushed him down, making him fall down with a thud as he grunted.
"Morning, sleepy head," The son of Hades said as he threw Hector's clothes on his face.
Soon he got ready as well, putting everything in his bag. A canteen of nectar and a few cakes of Ambrosia.
They both gathered under Thalia's tree, waiting for Annabeth.
After a few minutes, she reached, chatting happily with Camilla and Hector just nudged him in the chest and looked at him slyly as Percy just looked at him with narrow eyes, effectively shutting him up.
Soon, they met up with Percy and Hector, ready to go.
Cam bid them Goodbye as Hector used Annabeth's phone to make a phone call to Rachel and arranged a meeting in Times Square.
--------------------------------TIME-SKIP------------------------------------
They found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold, her face, her hair, her clothes-everything. She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic copper, bronze, and silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passersby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.
The sign at Rachel's feet said, 'URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED'.
Annabeth, Percy, and Hector stood there for five minutes, staring at Rachel, but if she noticed them, she didn't let on. She didn't move or even blink. Rachel looked like a statue of somebody famous, an actress or something. Only her eyes were normal green.
"Maybe if we push her over," Annabeth suggested.
After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he'd been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. Rachel unfroze and stepped off the tarp.
"Hey, Hector." She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."
They walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, Annabeth and Hector got fruit smoothies, and Percy got an Iced Coffee, and they sat at a table right under the stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.
"So," she said, "you're Percy and you're Annabel, right?"
"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. "Do you always dress in gold?"
"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, taking in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You're a half-blood, too?"
"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"
"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These people aren't human! They're half Greek god!"
Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."
"That's not funny," Annabeth said. "This isn't a joke, mortal girl."
"Hold it, you two," Hector said. "Just calm down."
"I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"
"Look," Hector said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."
"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."
"Was it hard?" Annabeth asked.
"Okay, Annabeth, stop," Percy intervened and threw his Iced Coffee on both the girls. "Rachel, we need your help."
Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. "You need my help?"
Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "Maybe."
Hector told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how they needed to find Daedalus. Percy then told her what had happened the last few times they'd gone in.
"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place, I've never been."
"You can see through the Mist," Percy said. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."
"And if you're wrong?"
"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous." Hector said.
"I could die?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours-"
"Yeah," Hector said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke...he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."
"Nice guy," Rachel said.
"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."
Rachel looked back and forth. "Okay," she said. "I'm in."
"Are you sure?" Percy asked
"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"
"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," Annabeth said. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."
Rachel nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"
"It could be anything," Percy said. "A section of wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Δ glowing in blue."
"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.
"That's it," Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"
"No," Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."
"Why?" Annabeth said.
"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."
"You know, keep this," Percy said and took out a wad of few thousand dollars and Rachel's eyes widened.
Soon, they started on their journey and as they were walking forward, Percy pointed to the poster of 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!' which was torn up in such a way that only the S was visible.
"Oh look, a big S! Hope that doesn't stand for shit!"
"Oh yeah, that movie is shit," Rachel said.
-------------------------TIME-SKIP--------------------------
The metal door was half-hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirty hotel towels. There was a faint glow of the blue delta symbol etched on the metal door, but it was really faint.
"It hasn't been used in a long time," Annabeth said.
"I tried to open it once," Rachel said, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."
"No." Annabeth stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."
As soon as Annabeth put her hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.
"Wow," Rachel exclaimed. She'd changed into a Museum of Modern Art T-shirt and her regular marker-colored jeans, her blue plastic hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. Her red hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and traces of the gold glitter on her face. "So...after you?"
"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead on."
The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was dark but Hector and Percy had restocked on flashlights. As soon as they switched them on, Rachel yelped.
A skeleton was grinning at them. It wasn't human. It was huge, at least ten feet tall. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a kind of giant X over the tunnel. There was a single black eye socket in the center of its skull.
"A Cyclops," Annabeth said. "It's very old. It's not...anybody we know."
Rachel swallowed. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"
"Tyson," Hector said. "My half-brother."
"Our half-brother." Percy reminded him.
"Hopefully we'll find him down here," Hector said. "And Grover. He's a satyr."
"Oh." Her voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."
"Monsters have skeletons?" Hector asked Percy. "I thought they were supposed to disintegrate right?"
"How am I supposed to know Hector? Ask Tyson once we meet him."
Rachel stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking.
After fifty feet they came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.
Hector pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."
Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right-those old stones that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."
"We need to go straight," Percy said and Rachel nodded.
Annabeth and Hector both looked at them.
"That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.
"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor." She pointed to the ground and Percy agreed.
"There's a brightness there," Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."
Hector nodded. "Okay. Forward."
"You believe her?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah," He said. "Don't you?"
Annabeth shook her head, but she waved at Rachel to lead on.
Together they kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels.
They were heading deeper underground.
"No traps?" Hector asked anxiously.
"Nothing," Percy said, crouching down, but still to be sure, he threw a skeleton arm at the ground.
Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"
"I don't know," He said. "It never was before."
Percy and Rachel walked forward, bonding like they were on Buzzfeed Unsolved, trying to solve a paranormal case.
"I'm scared, Percy..." Rachel said when they neared a metal door.
"Don't worry, Rachel, everyone is scared of something," Percy said, reassuring her.
"Even you?"
Percy took a deep breath. "No."
"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"
"Brooklyn," she said.
"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"
Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."
"Why not?"
Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front, the huge doors were opening.
"What was that?" Annabeth asked.
"I don't know," Rachel said. "Metal hinges."
"Oh, that's very helpful. I mean, what is it?" Annabeth said sarcastically.
Heavy footsteps were shaking the corridor-coming toward them.
"Run?" Hector asked.
"Run," Rachel agreed.
They turned and fled the way they'd come, but didn't make it twenty feet before they ran straight into some old friends.
Two dracaenae-snake women in Greek armor leveled their javelins at our chests. Standing between them was Kelli, the empousa cheerleader.
"Well, well, well," Kelli said. "Look what we have here!"
Hector uncapped Riptide, Annabeth pulled her knife and Percy took a stance; but before anyone could do anything, Kelli pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck.
"Taking your little mortal pet for a walk?" Kelli asked. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"
From behind them, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom, an eight-foot-tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs.
The giant licked his lips when he saw them. "Can I eat them?"
"No," Kelli said. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."
They marched down the tunnel, flanked by dracaenae, with Kelli and the giant in the back.
Up ahead there were tall bronze doors, about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. From behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.
"Oh, yessssss," said the snake woman on the left. "You'll be very popular with our hossssst."
She had a beautiful face except her tongue was forked and her eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. She wore bronze armor that stopped at her waist. Below that, were two massive snake trunks, mottled bronze, and green.
"Who'sss your hossssst?" Percy asked, mocking the same snakey voice.
She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll get along furiousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."
"My what?"
The giant pushed past them and opened the doors. He picked up Annabeth by her shirt and said, "You stay here." He pointed at Hector and Percy. "You go."
"Hey!" she protested.
Kelli laughed. She still had her claws at Rachel's neck. "Go on, entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."
The dracaenae prodded them toward the doorway at javelin-point, and they walked out onto the floor of an arena.
When they entered, Percy gasped at the sheer crowd.
The arena itself was pretty spacious, and the dirt floor was circular. In the center of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. He looked panicked, galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swung a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered.
The first tier of seats was twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaena, demigods, telekhines, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures.
The arena was full of skulls, they ringed the edge of the railing. Three-foot-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old-nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher.
In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the center.
Suddenly the meaning of 'your brother' was understood by Percy. Somebody here was a son of Poseidon.
Above the banner, sitting in a seat of honor, was Luke.
He was wearing camouflage pants, a white T-shirt, and a bronze breastplate. Next to him sat a really large giant, about fifteen feet tall and so wide he took up three seats. He wore only a loincloth, like a sumo wrestler. His skin was dark red and tattooed with blue wave designs.
There was a cry from the arena floor and the centaur crashed to the dirt beside Percy.
He met his eyes. "Help!"
Hector started to reach for Riptide and help him but was stopped when a taloned hand gripped his shoulder. "If you value your friendsss' livesss," The dracaena guard said, "you won't interfere. This isssn't your fight. Wait your turn."
The centaur couldn't get up. One of his legs was broken as he gasped loudly. The giant put his huge foot on the horseman's chest and raised the javelin. He looked up at Luke. The crowd cheered, "DEATH! DEATH!"
Luke didn't do anything, but the tattooed sumo dude sitting next to him arose. He smiled down at the centaur, who was whimpering, "Please! No!"
Then the sumo dude held out his hand and gave the thumbs-down sign.
The gladiator giant thrust his javelin down, the centaur was gone, disintegrated to ashes. All that was left was a single hoof, which the giant took up as a trophy and showed the crowd. They roared their approval.
A gate opened at the opposite end of the stadium and the giant marched out in triumph.
In the stands, the sumo dude raised his hands for silence.
"Good entertainment!" he bellowed. "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Luke, Son of Hermes?"
Luke's jaw tightened but he rose calmly to his feet. His eyes glittered.
"Lord Antaeus," Luke said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory."
"A favor I have not yet granted," Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"
Luke bowed. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena now. I have a brother of yours. In fact, brothers," He smiled and pointed at the two demigods. "Perseus Jackson and Hector Babington, children of Poseidon."
The crowd began jeering at them and throwing stones.
Antaeus's eyes lit up. "Not just one son of Poseidon but two? They should fight well! Or die well!"
"If their death pleases you," Luke said, "will you let our armies cross your territory?"
"Perhaps!" Antaeus said.
Luke didn't look too pleased about the "perhaps."
"Luke!" Annabeth yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!"
"Enough time for the females to fight afterward," Antaeus interrupted. "First, Perseus, then Hector, then the rest... Now Perseus, what weapons do you choose?"
The dracaenae pushed Percy into the middle of the arena.
"How can you be a son of Poseidon?" He asked, whilst shouting.
"I am his favorite son!" Antaeus boomed. "Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!"
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled at him. "His mother is Gaea! Gae—"
Her Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Now, weapons," The giant insisted. "And then we will see how you die. Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?"
"Nothing!" Percy said.
Laughter erupted from the monsters, but immediately his gauntlets covered his arms and the sound went faint.
"Round one!" Antaeus announced, his eyes glinting. The gates opened, and a dracaena slithered out. She had a trident in one hand and a weighted net in the other- classic gladiator style. "Fight!"
"Now, this is my first time fighting with these, so go easy on me, please?" Percy said.
The snake woman hissed as she jabbed at Percy experimentally. He stepped away.
She threw her net at him, but Percy sidestepped easily.
He then pushed her back and then swung his hand in an uppercut motion, hitting the chin, making her fly up, and then Percy quickly punched through her chest, his fist appearing on the other side.
With a wail, the dracaena vaporized to golden dust. Slowly the cheering of the crowd died out.
"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"
"Sorry?"
"Round two! Perseus you may go," Antaeus yelled. "Now, Hector! You'll fight, and slower this time! More entertainment! Wait for my call before killing anybody. OR ELSE!"
The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. He was a little older than Hector, about sixteen. He had glossy black hair, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armor hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet.
"Who are you?" Hector asked.
"Ethan Nakamura," he said. "I have to kill you."
"Why?"
"Hey!" a monster jeered from the stands. "Stop talking and fight already!" The others took up the call.
"I have to prove myself," Ethan said. "Only way to join up."
And with that, he charged. Hector uncapped Riptide and their swords met in midair and the crowd roared.
Ethan pressed forward. He was good. He parried Hector's strike and almost slammed him with his shield, but Hector jumped back. He slashed and Ethan rolled to one side. They exchanged thrusts and parries, getting a feel for each other's fighting style.
"Blood!" the monsters cried.
Ethan glanced up at the stands.
He yelled an angry battle cry and charged Hector, but he parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after him.
"Boo!" Antaeus said. "Stand and fight!"
The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks because they'd been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood.
Ethan tried to jab at Hector's stomach, and he locked Ethan's sword hilt in his and twisted. His sword dropped into the dirt. Before he could recover, Hector slammed the butt of his sword into Ethan's helmet and pushed him down. He fell on his back, dazed and tired. Hector put Riptide's tip on his chest.
"Get it over with," Ethan groaned.
Hector looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure, but he held up his hand and put it thumbs down.
"Forget it." Hector capped Riptide.
"Don't be a fool," Ethan groaned. "They'll just kill us both."
Hector rolled his eyes and helped Ethan up.
"No one dishonors the games!" Antaeus bellowed. "Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!"
"When you see your chance, run," Hector said.
Then he turned back to Antaeus. "Why don't you fight me yourself? If you've got Dad's favor, come down here and prove it!"
The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and realized he had no choice. He couldn't say no without looking like a coward.
"I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy," he warned. "I have been wrestling since the first pankration!"
"Pankration?" Hector asked.
"He means fighting to the death," Ethan said. "No rules. No holds barred. It used to be an Olympic sport."
"Thanks for the tip."
"Don't mention it."
Rachel was watching with wide eyes. Annabeth shook her head emphatically, the Laistrygonian's hand still clamped over her mouth. Percy pushed forward.
"Hey, Bitchless Antaeus! We fought solo before, right? Now I wish to fight you too!"
Percy said, standing next to Hector, who smiled.
"So be it! We fight to the death!" Antaeus bellowed.
Hector pointed his sword. "Winner takes all! We win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx."
Antaeus laughed. "This shouldn't take long. I swear to your terms!"
He leaped off the railing, into the arena as thunder rumbled in the sky, far off.
"Good luck," Ethan told them. "You'll need it." Then he backed up quickly.
Antaeus cracked his knuckles and grinned.
"Weapons?" he asked.
"I'll stick with my sword."
"And, I'll stick with my fists, you?"
He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. "I don't need anything else! Master Luke, you will referee this one."
Luke smiled. "With pleasure."
Antaeus lunged. Percy rolled under his legs and Hector jumped over him, cutting Antaeus's shoulder, creating a nasty cut.
"Argggh!" he yelled. But where blood should've come out, there was a spout of sand. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his arm, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone.
He grinned and charged again.
Percy leaped and then hit the ground, and waves of earth rose and covered the area, blinding the giant as Percy ran and jumped, kicking Antaeus's thighs, chest, and head.
Hector came from the back and then stabbed Antaeus under the arm as Riptide's blade was buried to the hilt in his ribs. The giant turned and Hector was thrown across the arena, weaponless as Antaeus bellowed in pain.
The giant groped for the hilt, pulled out the sword, and tossed it behind him. More sand poured from the wound, but again the earth rose up to cover him. Dirt coated his body all the way to his shoulders. As soon as the dirt spilled away, Antaeus was fine.
"Now you see why I never lose, demigods!" Antaeus gloated. "Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!"
Percy ran forward and slapped his head and when the giant's stomach got exposed, he steeled his nerves.
Achilles had once explained a peculiar phenomenon to him.
'Death Flash is a distortion in space that occurs when energy is applied within one trillionth of a second of a physical hit. When a demigod can achieve this, their energy flashes black and red, and the destructive power of their strike is equal to a normal hit to the power of 2.5.
This technique, however, requires incredible concentration and no demigod is capable of using it at will. If you can land a Death Flash... then your opponents will be reduced to ashes in mere seconds. Anger is an important trigger for a Death Flash and children of the big three are the best people that can use this technique.'
Percy thought of everything that angered him... Kronos, The Titans, Luke, Antaeus, the gods... everything.
He made a fist, and red streaks of light and energy started to form around his fist. He roared and punched Antaeus's open stomach with all the might that he could produce. Red energy flashed around them and turned black upon impact, shocking Antaeus as his hair started to smolder.
The giant yelled as he was pushed back with enough force to break an entire set of stands. He groaned and growled as he sat up, energy still flashing around his hair and clothes as his muscles spasmed.
The crowd cheered and Rachel gasped as Percy stood there, looking at the giant with nothing but a look of awe and disgust.
"Urgh... I will—" The Giant started and lumbered forward when suddenly Hector's knee interrupted him rudely as it crashed with his jaw.
"ARGH!" Antaeus roared, as the crowd cheered again, much loudly, making it seem like they didn't really like him much.
Antaeus growled and stomped his foot and raised his hands as spikes flew in the air, straight towards the two demigods.
Both of them dodged and jumped up, hitting the giant at the same time, crushing him to the ground.
"Come on Hector, let's kill this son of a bitch." Percy said, and Antaeus got up grinning, fully rejuvenated who stomped his foot again and this time, a row of spikes appeared on the walls of the stadium, surprising the people sitting in the rows.
Percy and Hector paid no heed and charged together, as the giant dodged and turned around to kick them but, Hector punched him, making him fall right towards Percy, who was ready for him, sparks coming out of his leg.
Antaeus's eyes widened as the son of Hades did a perfect 720 kick and lightning struck the giant's open back, making him fall to the ground, his muscles spasming violently due to the heavy overdose of electricity.
Percy didn't wait for him to recover this time. He jumped up and with his fist coursing with lightning, punched at his head.
But the giant was clever, he rolled on his stomach and grabbed Percy's leg.
And for a second no one moved as the son of Hades tried to get over the shock of the fact that he had been intercepted.
Before he could react, Antaeus swung his hand and threw Percy back, straight towards the spikes on the walls waiting to kill him.
"Percy!" Hector said, wanting to run after him but the giant had turned on him and he needed to dodge. He attacked Antaeus, but he anticipated it and blocked the punch.
Annabeth gasped and screamed out his name as she saw Percy getting closer to the spikes, almost as if they had already pierced him, but suddenly he clapped his hands and shadows covered the entire thing.
The entire thing was pitch dark with not a single sound coming as everyone held their breaths.
Then came the sound of spikes piercing flesh and everyone waited anxiously to see the outcome.
When the shadows evaporated, the entire crowd was shocked to see Antaeus stuck on the wall, thorns protruding from his chest and stomach, and Percy was standing next to a really shocked Hector.
"What.... What!?" Antaeus bellowed, and sand poured out of his wounds, but he was too far up to touch the earth, and the dirt did not rise to help him. Antaeus growled and struggled but he just dissolved, pouring out bit by bit, until there was nothing left but empty spikes, a big loincloth on them.
"What was that Percy?" Hector asked dumbfounded.
"I'll explain later."
"Babington! Jackson!" Luke yelled. "I should have killed you both long ago!"
"Let us go, Luke. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. We're the winners." Percy said.
But Luke had other plans, "Antaeus is dead. His oath dies with him. But since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll have you killed quickly."
He pointed at Annabeth. "Spare the girl." His voice quavered just a little. "I would speak to her before-before our great triumph."
Every monster in the audience drew a weapon or extended its claws. Hector looked around and realized that they were all trapped, hopelessly outnumbered.
Percy sighed. He didn't want to do this, but he had to. He took the whistle out of his pocket and blew. It made no audible sound but it shattered into shards of ice, melting in his hand.
Luke laughed, along with some dracaenae. "What was that supposed to do?"
Suddenly there came a surprised yelp and the son of Hermes turned around, surprised. The Laistrygonian giant who'd been guarding Annabeth flew past them and smashed into the wall.
"AROOOOF"
Kelli the empousa screamed as a five-hundred-pound white mastiff picked her up like a chew toy and tossed her through the air, straight into Luke's lap. Helena snarled, and the two dracaenae guards backed away. For a moment the monsters in the audience were caught completely by surprise.
Percy then clapped his hands together and Mrs O'leary appeared behind Helena the white hellhound, barking loudly.
Hector leaped on Helena with Annabeth and Percy gave Rachel a boost to climb on Mrs. O'leary.
"Come on!" Rachel yelled to Percy but he shook his head.
"I have something to do!"
Saying that, the son of Hades slammed his hand on the ground and instantly, cracks started to appear as the monsters started to back away, expecting the usual skeletons to come out.
But instead of undead warriors, flames erupted from the floor, melting the nearest dracaena.
"There, that'll deal with them for some time!" He said and climbed on top of Mrs. O'leary as Rachel cried.
"The far exit! That's the right way!"
Ethan Nakamura took his cue. Together they raced across the arena and out the far exit. Helena and Mrs. O'leary bounded forward.
"This way!" Rachel yelled.
"Why should we follow you?" Annabeth demanded. "You led us straight into that death trap!"
"It was the way you needed to go," Rachel said. "And so is this. Come on!"
Rachel guided them around corners and didn't even hesitate at crossroads. Once she said, "Duck!" and they all crouched as a huge ax swung over their heads. Then they kept going.
Soon they reached a tunnel that was too small for them, so the demigods slipped down the dogs' backs and then they again ran together.
They made many turns here and there and didn't stop to rest until they came to a room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof.
Percy petted both the dogs and cuddled them and then they both vanished away.
Ethan collapsed on the floor. "You people are crazy." He pulled off his helmet. His face gleamed with sweat.
Annabeth gasped. "I remember you! You were one of the undetermined kids in the Hermes cabin, years ago."
He glared at her. "Yeah, and you're Annabeth. I remember."
"What-what happened to your eye?"
Ethan looked away.
"You must be the half-blood from my dream," Hector said. "The one Luke's people cornered. It wasn't Nico after all."
"Who's Nico?"
"Never mind," Percy said quickly. "Why were you trying to join up with the wrong side?"
Ethan sneered. "There's no right side. The gods never cared about us. Why shouldn't I-"
"Sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?" Annabeth said. "Gee, I wonder."
Ethan struggled to his feet. "I'm not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I'm out of here."
"We're going after Daedalus," Hector said. "Come with us. Once we get through, you'd be welcome back at camp."
"You really are crazy if you think Daedalus will help you."
"He has to," Annabeth said. "We'll make him listen."
Ethan snorted. "Yeah, well. Good luck with that."
Hector grabbed his arm. "You're just going to head off alone into the maze? That's suicide."
"You shouldn't have spared me, Babington. Mercy has no place in this war."
Then he ran off into the darkness.
Annabeth, Rachel, Percy, and Hector made camp right there in the huge room. Percy had found some scrap wood and they started a fire. Shadows danced off the columns rising around us like trees.
"Something was wrong with Luke," Annabeth muttered, poking at the fire with her knife. "Did you notice the way he was acting?"
"He looked pretty pleased to me," Hector said. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes."
"That's not true! There was something wrong with him. He looked...nervous. He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something."
"Probably, 'Hi, Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!'" Hector said tauntingly.
"You're impossible," Annabeth grumbled. She sheathed her dagger and looked at Rachel. "So which way now, Sacagawea?"
Rachel didn't respond right away. She'd burned the tip of a stick in the fire and was using it to draw ash figures on the floor, images of the monsters they'd seen. With a few strokes, she caught the likeness of a dracaena perfectly.
"We'll follow the path," she said. "The brightness on the floor."
"The brightness that led us straight into a trap?" Annabeth asked.
"Lay off her, Annabeth," Percy said. "She's doing the best she can."
Annabeth stood. "The fire's getting low. I'll go look for some more scraps while you guys talk strategy." And she marched off into the shadows.
"Hey! I'm coming as well!" Hector yelled and followed her.
Rachel drew another figure with her stick-an ashy Antaeus dangling from his spikes.
"Annabeth's usually not like this," Percy told her. "She's just jealous of you... "
"I know... Do you know? Hector was right," she said. "I can see the path. I can't explain it, but it's really clear." She pointed toward the other end of the room, into the darkness. "The workshop is that way. The heart of the maze. We're very close now. I don't know why the path led through that arena. I-I'm sorry about that. I thought you were going to die."
She sounded like she was close to crying and the son of Hades couldn't see her so sad.
"Hey, Hey, hey... I'm usually about to die," Percy said holding her face with both his hands. "Don't feel bad."
She studied his face clearly, looking at the crinkling of the demigod's brows. Their faces were inches away from each other. Suddenly, Rachel acted on impulse closed the distance between them, and kissed Percy straight on the lips.
Percy's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Of course, it wasn't the first time he had been kissed but it sure was surprising.
After five seconds, Rachel pulled away.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry Percy! I don't know what occurred to me, I just... you looked so cute like that reassuring me and all that... I couldn't help it... I'm sorry..." Rachel stammered.
"It's ok Rachel, it's ok..." Percy said, blushing.
"We're good right, Percy?" Rachel asked after a moment.
"Yeah, yeah, we are..."
"Percy?" A voice came, and a figure came out of the shadows having white hair and wearing an orange Camp-Half-Blood T-shirt and black pants.
"Cam?" Percy asked astounded with Rachel in his arms.
A/N:- So... I changed a lot of things here from the previous version... especially the scene with Camilla and Percy and also added things to the fight with Antaeus! Old readers... do let me know how you liked the changes and new ones, leave your opinions down below! Have a nice day! Bye!