Percy's POV
The crash had thrown me from the car, thankfully not killing or badly maiming me, but I had hit my head, making me incredibly dizzy. The fight wasn't helping either. My fighting style involved almost constant and unpredictable movement, which I couldn't do very well when the world was spinning. But all things considered I was doing pretty well. I was fighting the minotaur and one of the bat demons, while Natasha was fighting the other two bats. The Styr was doing something with a pan flute, but it didn't seem to be doing much.
I was doing my best to slowly head towards the glimmering barrier, which I assumed was the entrance to the camp, when I felt the cold wind that accompanies a swinging weapon. I guessed it was the minotaur and simply bent forward, but right then the bat creature swiped at me with a clawed hand. It would have taken my eye if I hadn't dodged. The problem was that I was back in the minotaur's path.
I desperately tried to roll to the side but before I could move I felt myself getting pushed out of the way. As I stumbled back I saw a terrible scene. The Minotaur's ax crashing into Natasha, causing her to fly back into a tree, unmoving.
The bats that Natasha had been fighting took the opportunity they had been given and started to attack me, while the Minotaur stalked over to Natasha's body. I did everything I could to get to her while I fought the tree vicious bat hags, but before I could even move a foot the monster reached her. He grabbed her body and held it up, taunting me, before he crushed her body between his hands, and a gold light encased her.
As I saw Natasha erupt into light I lost it. With a scream of unbridled rage and pain, I lost control of my body. I saw myself grab a knife a bat creature swung at me. The blade cut my bare hand, but I refused to let go and soon had the blade in my uninjured hand. I went on autopilot, slash here, stab there, duck and repeat. I barely recognized that the three bat women had retreated to the sky and all that was left was a now terrified minotaur.
With a frenzied roar I jumped at the beast. I rapidly scaled it's large body, repeatedly stabbing the knife into it's flesh and using it to put me up. The minotaur was bellowing in pain and fear with every stab and tried to dislodge me. It only suceded in making me lose the knife, but I kept going until I reached it's head. With a strength I didn't know I had I ripped off one it's horns with my bare hands. Instead of killing it quickly like I had done the last time, I jumped off it's head and stabbed the horn into it's lower back and spine, paralyzing it from the waist down. With a fearful moo, it fell haphazardly to the ground.
With a ruthlessness I had never known, I stabbed the horn into it's shoulders, almost completely immobilizing it. I was going to take my time and make sure he felt every ounce of pain I was feeling. Yet as I was about to start I heard a scared bleat and looked up. The Styr was just feet away and he looked terrified, at first I thought it was the minotaur that caused him to be so scared, but it wasn't the monster underneath me that he was looking at.
That snapped me out of my rage fueled frenzy. I looked down at the minotaur and saw the terrible things I had done, the wounds oozing monster dust and blood and the lifeless limbs lying askew on the ground. I knew I needed to end it.
With one final glance into the monster's pain filled eyes I plunged the horn where it's heart would have been.
It crumbled into monster dust as my knees hit the forest floor. A sudden wave of exhaustion overcame me and with one last look at the starry sky above, I collapsed onto the ground, knowing nothing more.
Annabeth's POV
It was a quiet night and I had been assigned border duty. The barrier should keep out any monsters, but as a precaution, we still had people do rounds every night. I was expecting the rest of the night to be pretty boring as well, but then I heard a loud animalistic roar.
I didn't know what it was, but it probably wasn't' friendly, so I unsheathed my dagger as I ran towards the noise. Adrenaline coursed through my body, urging me to go faster than I already was and preparing me for a fight. As I neared Thalia's tree the sound was dying down, but I didn't let that fool me into complacency. But as I crested the hill the scene in front of me completely destroyed any preparedness I had.
Facing away from me was a small form holding what looked to be a horn aloft and kneeling atop the minotaur. And if that wasn't surprising enough the minotaur's seemed frightened of the figure. With a swift downwards swing, the horn pierced the minotaur's chest and it disolved into gold dust. The figure remained kneeling as the beast disolved underneath them and without warning promptly collapsed.
Quickly scanning for any more monsters and finding none, I ran over the person and noticed a familiar Styr moving as well. I knelt down and inspected the person for any wounds, but with the low light and monster dust I couldn't see well enough. The only thing I could tell was that the person was young and had all of their limbs. I was about to lift them when suddenly three shadows dropped from the sky, I had no time to defend myself or even move out of the way. But right before they could reach me a sharp, shrill noise rang out and vines wrapped around the shadows. The blurs struggled against their botanical restraints, but were unable to free themselves. When they finally stopped moving I recognized them, they were the Furies!
The middle one, Alecto I think, growled at us saying, "You will be punished for interrupting our hunt, we will get the thief and I will get revenge." and with that vague message they disolved into shadows.
I was unsettled but knew my questions could wait, the person I was currently holding needed medical attention. So in a voice I swear wasn't shaking, I said "Thank you Grover, can you help me carry them to the infirmary."
He seemed to pale a bit at the thought of touching the person, but it could have been the odd lighting, because he still helped me carry him through camp with no complaint. When we did get to the infirmary, we were greeted by a smiling child of the Apollo, whose expression turned serious when he saw the unconscious person we were holding. He moved quickly, having us place the person on the bed, then shooing us out of the way so he could work. No matter how long I've been here, it's still strange to see kids around my age acting as doctors.
The camper, Will Solace, first treated the person's external injuries, the worst of which was a long and shallow scratch on their forearm. He then checked for broken bones and other internal damage. He had a small concussion, but he had passed out from exhaustion, not the injury.
When Will was done treating the person he went and asked Grover questions to see if he could have missed anything. As they were quietly talking I went to get a better look at the mysterious person, who must have been a demigod if they managed to get past the border. As I inspected the person I decided they were male. It was hard to tell and I might have been wrong, because he had a very androgynous features and was still prepubescent. He looked to be a small eleven, maybe twelve year old, with a lithe but athletic frame. He had pale, lightly tanned skin and very long black hair in a tangled braid. I couldn't tell what color his closed eyes were, for obvious reasons, but his elegant facial features suggested something unordinary. I wondered who his godly parent could be, I couldn't think of any of the Olympians whom he looked like.
As I finished my inspection Grover and Will came back. Will looked annoyed and Grover looked guilty, both of which were odd. Will was usually happy and sunny, his bright expression matching his tanned skin, blue eyes and golden hair. And Grover never did anything that elicited guilt, well except... Nope not going to think of that.
I wanted to know what had incited their odd moods and being a daughter of Athena, I was going to find out.
Grover's POV
Gods damn it! I knew that expression. Annabeth knew I was hiding something and she wasn't going to stop for all of the tin cans in the world. Will hadn't let up in his questioning about what had happened and when I kept refusing to tell him the exact details he became almost as bad as Annabeth. He kept insisting that he needed to know the full story so could make sure he didn't miss anything, but I wasn't sure what I should tell him. The kid was dangerous, he had taken out the Minotaur with a dagger, his rage and it's own horn. But I had also seen what had triggered his rage, his mother being killed right in front of his eyes, I knew that would enrage anyone. And so I didn't want him to be known as a dangerous kid before we could confirm his actual mentality and danger level.
I knew I had to get away from an annoyed Will and Annabeth's usual curious self, or else I would unintentionally reveal my secret. So after I confirmed with Will, who was giving me the silent treatment, that the kid was stable, I left to talk to Chiron. As I walked to the camp's main building, the Big House, I kept seeing flashes of blonde hair and soon realized that Annabeth was attempting to follow me. She wouldn't truly listen to me if I told her to stop and so I decided to ask Chiron, whom she would listen to, to get her to stop trying spy on people.
I reached the large blue building and went inside to talk to Chiron. He was in the living room, in his magical wheelchair, playing Pinochle with Mr. D.
Whenever I was near Mr. D I lost any composure I had, knowing he could destroy any chance I had at becoming a seeker with just a few words. But I didn't let me fear keep me from telling Chiron about the new half-blood, other than an occasional stutter. Oddly enough he didn't seem all that surprised, almost as if he knew something. Mr. D just looked bored.
Chiron dismissed me, but not before I remembered to ask him to talk to Annabeth. He agreed with a smile, knowing how curious Annabeth is, even compared to other children of Athena.
I walked back towards my quarters and hoped the kid would be up by the morning.
---Time Skip---
Percy's POV
I could tell I was dreaming, but I couldn't do anything about it and was forced to watch a whole bunch of nothing. As in literal nothing, no light, color, sound, etc, just blurry darkness. But I waited for something to happen, like it always does.
Then like a switch had been flipped, a portion of the darkness peeled back, revealing three sitting women. They were creating threads and measuring and interweaving them, but suddenly the scenery rumbled. All three elderly women sped to the source of the vibrations, with a speed unexpected due to their age. As they moved so did my view, like a floating camera attached to the three of them. They come to a stop and as they did a strange sight came into view. A single string was writhing around, but unlike the surrounding threads it wasn't just one color, it was sea green, royal purple, ice blue, dark red, muted gold and bright white.
The three women looked worried, the string seemed like it could escape from the tapestry they had created at any moment. They looked at each other and had a silent conversation with their eyes. They moved in tandem and interwove the tapestry over a much larger one, seamlessly blending the two. With a flash the women were thrown back, but the thread stopped writhing.Without warning I was ejected from the dream.
I woke and immediately sat up. I regretted doing that, as a wave of dizziness washed over me. Groaning I laid back down and waited for my head to stop spinning before sitting up, slowly this time. I managed to sit up without vomiting and considered it a victory.
I looked around trying to figure out where I was, because it wasn't anywhere I knew. It looked to be some sort of medical facility, with rows of beds and an occasional occupant, stethoscopes, and other medical things I didn't know the name for.
As I finished my brief inspection of the room, I was startled by a girl standing at the side of my bed. She looked around ten, with long blonde princess curls and stunning grey eyes. She was wearing shorts, a bright orange shirt that said CHB in black letters and a bead necklace with three circular beads on it.
The first thing she said to me was "You drool when you sleep." I certainly wasn't expecting her to say that. Without giving me time to respond she motioned for me to follow her. I sprang out of bed, grateful that my balance had returned, and rushed to catch up to her. As she walked out the door I heard her mumble, "So they're green."