"Battle plan, Annabeth!" Sadie snapped her fingers insistently, grounding the daughter of Athena back at the present. Rescue him first, punch boyfriend later, she resolved.
"Walt, what is that creature!?"
"A water elemental," he answered darkly, "Beings of raw elemental power–they are more like forces of nature than godly beings. There is no reasoning with them in its current state"
"Alright, alright" Annabeth quickly analyzed the situation, "Rescuing Percy takes priority. We can't hit it with direct attacks lest we risk hitting the torso too. Walt, what are those charms for?"
"I use these to summon creatures to help"
"Alright! Flank left and get an angle; aim for its limbs and head, but never the body-got it?"
"On it!" Walt nodded and sneaked his way through the rubble and statues while Sadie instinctively covered for him by shooting fireballs at the monster and keeping it occupied.
"Carter, can you help?" Annabeth asked as she bandaged his arm. He gestured to Zia with his eyes, a sense of understanding going between the two.
"I might be able to conjure my combat avatar for a couple of minutes, but I'm not leaving her side!"
"That's fine-you don't need to," Annabeth replied thoughtfully, a reckless idea popped into her head, "How hard can you throw?"
"Like a pitcher in a professional match, I suppose"
"Wait for my signal then," Annabeth then walked up to Sadie who is already looking close to burned out, "Do you have any papyrus left?"
"Bag!"Sadie gritted her teeth as she held out her wand. The creature at the moment seemed sluggish, yet attacks in such quick succession. At the moment, it is bombarding the shield with a continuous stream of water, equal to the force of three water cannons. Annabeth quickly wrote in Greek into the papyrus, the memory of how this all works stinging her mind like a needle–yet managed to pull it off.
"Now or never Walt!" Annabeth called out. A second later, a white crocodile materialized out of nowhere and chomped off the right limb clean. The arm simply smashed on the ground like a puddle but, just as fast as it came off, it slowly regenerated itself with the water drawn to the creature. The elemental then fixed its gaze at Walt and bellowed menacingly.
"Heh-sieh!" Sadie chanted in reflex, making the water elemental turn away from Walt and face back at them. Annabeth then unrolled the scroll with the words 'Μην μετακινήσετε' and shouted, "Don't move!"
The blue Greek letters glowed like unnatural branding on the elemental and it stopped moving, but the symbols immediately showed signs of fading. Too quick, Annabeth gaped but didn't falter on her plan.
"Carter, now! Pitch me!" Annabeth ordered with her hands up and her face set in determination. Not questioning it, Carter morphed briefly into his combat avatar, grabbed Annabeth, and threw her straight at the belly.
Gotcha, she thought triumphantly, her arms wrapped around the unconscious Percy. Then she groaned, realizing she miscalculated as the force wasn't enough to send her all the way through.
Walt then appeared and shouted out,"I-ei!", concentrating at the hand of Annabeth's that managed to come out from the other side. A strong tug then pulled her and with her boyfriend-in-tow out, landing softly at the camel Walt set-up. Just in time, as the Greek symbols faded and the elemental let out a howl that shook the building.
"Throw everything you have!" Sadie commanded our loud, and immediately initiates popped out from everywhere blasting spells and various forms in full power–a battlecry rose in the hopes of defending their sacred nome.
Annabeth was both frightened and amazed at the scene; various magicians of different ages chanted spells, summoned creatures, and conjured elemental magic that would surely contend the might of both the Greeks and Romans combined! Although there wasn't exactly a special case for the separation from the Egyptians, she was somewhat relieved that they aren't connected as so, even more assuring that they met and concluded in safe and understanding terms.
A war with Egypt...to her calculations, a week would be enough to topple Camp Half-Blood to the ground! And that's only based on the strength of the 21st nome alone! If all the other nomes rallied to such a cause...forget resisting, they might as well surrender and keep their lives!
This was all based simply on statistics, and Annabeth is not that idiotic to ignore the possible exemptions and variables. There is after all no such this as 'all-powerful', as all have their own shortcomings, the Egyptians included.
"Take cover and replenish your energy!" Carter warned as he watched over the battle like a general, already seeing the loss of momentum in the force. No matter how hard they attacked, all it could seem to do was make the water elemental angrier, its water seeming to have no end.
"Seaweed Brain, wake up!" Annabeth shook Percy in her most gentle manner, which was still sort of hard for him. His eyes suddenly darted open and began to panic, but Annabeth grabbed his face and soothed, "I'm here–it's alright, I got you"
"I-I was helping Carter...then the water," he had a face of such terror it pained her to see it, "It-It didn't listen! It even seem to hiss at me! Oh gods..."
"It was a water elemental, it wasn't your fault"
"Then...I was devoured, dr..drowning," He shook as he forced the tears back and laughed weakly, "Some son of Poseidon I am"
"Don't do this to yourself, Percy" Annabeth wrapped her arms around his cold body and calmly whispered, "It's natural to have fears, it's what it means to being human. All those feats, those powers and achievements...that's your godly side. Don't let that side belittle your humanity, because you and I know we are better than that"
Percy was silent for awhile, but slowly color returned to his face as he held her in his embrace, absorbing her warmth which she readily offered.
"You're my strength, you know that right?"
"Of course, Seaweed Brain. Just as you are mine" She then kissed him oh so passionately, letting the butterflies dance and the electricity to spark. She pulled away then stared lovingly on those sea-green eyes she had once hated, founded annoying, and now endearing, "I love you"
"I love you too, Wise Girl" he chuckled while rubbing her face in contentment. The moment seemed timeless, almost magical to them. Then of course, the ground shook with such force that brought the two back to reality.
At this point, the gym was a mess of broken flooring and smashed debris; the roof had holes that the initiates were desperately trying to patch, since the rain seem to fuel the water elemental to regain strength faster; the statues of Ra had lost all its heads-many hope that the sun god is forgiving. The battle was looking grim as the Egyptians have lost all offensive front and have switched to defense, each shield being battered with a watercannon or two, all equally shimmering as if in its last legs.
The two demigods nodded to each other and got up and ran towards Walt, who is now joined with Carter, Sadie and a groggy but awake Zia.
"Welcome back," Walt mused with his eyes still locked on the battle, "We figured you two needed a moment"
"Thanks," Annabeth grinned briefly before observing the battle, "What's the plan?"
"We stall" Sadie answered with a forced smile.
"Why? For what?"
"Reinforcements," Carter vaguely answered then checked his watch, "Lunchtime–that is, fifteen minutes from now"
"I'll go" Percy volunteered then quickly added, "It only caught me off guard, I'm still well and rearing to go. Besides...I want to punch this thing in the face for what it did"
Annabeth opened her mouth, then simply sighed, seeing that she couldn't stop her simple-minded, stubborn, and annoying cute boyfriend. "But I swear to gods, if you don't come back–I'm beating you up in Elysium!"
"You'll still beat me up either way" Percy smirked knowingly, kissed Annabeth's cheek and then said, "Wish me luck!"
He uncapped Riptide and faced the water elemental, his good-natured features suddenly contorting to a silent anger. He raised out his hands in concentration, pooling his embarrassment, his fears, his doubts...his love, his courage, his trust into all he had.
"Keep those patches open" Annabeth suddenly ordered. Sadie nodded and closed her eyes in concentration, probably some sort of telepathy. Shortly after, the rain continued pouring in, but this time...
The water elemental seem to bellow in indignation, the raindrops that landed on him seem to sizzle and smoke instead. Slowly, the droplets twirled around Percy, the wind picking up with a howl. In a matter of seconds, a mini-hurricane had gathered around the son of Poseidon, just as he also willed two humanoid-shaped hands made entirely of rainwater.
If the water elemental was that of untamed ocean, then Percy was that of a roaring storm, both powers of water clashing and rejecting the other in sudden retaliation.
"Round two, Ocean Face" Percy taunted and began to grapple with the monster, surprisingly standing toe-to-toe with it.
Annabeth scratched all calculations upon seeing this scenario; she may have underestimated her own kind and now was red with shame. Shame...
"Sadie! Where's Artemis!?" Annabeth squeaked upon realizing that she forgot the out-of-control mortal in all this chaos. Apparently they all did, as Walt stumbled and Sadie simply open and closed her mouth, raising her finger slightly in a dazed thought.
"Oh gods," Annabeth stressed as she began worriedly scanning where thy once were, the debris and fog not helping at all.
"Wait-what's wrong with Artemis? And what–" Carter began asking, but Sadie cut him off, "Long story. Annabeth, I think he is still pinned to the post...I hope"
"Cover me, I'll make a run for it"
"Are you crazy? There's a literal storm happening on your path!" Zia grabbed her arm in alarm, but Annabeth pulled away.
"He is my responsibility," Annabeth declared while cutting out the bit on whether she liked it or not, "He is favored by my mother, and damn it all and it's weirdness, that makes him more or less my brother. And family is family, we cover for each other"
The four magicians looked at each other, nodded, then looked at her with trust–followed by a slight gesture of her being slightly crazy.
"Take this," Carter offered two shabtis while Zia hastily wrapped black linen around Annabeth and chanted, "I'mun"
A black cloud then shimmered around her, and it felt nostalgic vibes that of the invisibility cap. Zia then nodded with approval, "We've bestowed on you an invisibility spell. Go get your weirdly-adopted brother"
Annabeth sighed but thanked with sincere gratitude. She then hopped out and wadded her way through the remnants of the gym, dodging pit holes and concrete while admiring the fact that Percy was still going strong against the water elemental. Gods knows how is that possible.
"Ντροπή..." A weak mumble caught Annabeth's attention as she hastily did her best in search.
"Arty, are you there? Say shame if you're okay"
"Ν-Nτροπή..."
"Good, that's good" Annabeth traced the sound to a pile of rubble and cursed in Greek. She quickly took time removing stone by stone, wondering how he was alive and not crushed by the pile. Suddenly, a hand shot forth and grabbed her by the throat, cutting out her air instantly. As she gasped for breathe, Artemis rose from the rocks, covered in dust with his eyes still strained red and dried blood on his cheeks.
"Arty, I'm here...my Lady, I'm-Im here," she murmured in effort, not intending to waste energy in a struggle, "Its okay, everything's going to be alright..."
Artemis stared at her emotionlessly, not seeming to move a muscle. Annabeth coughed in effort and as the world went dark, she muttered, "It was hard for you, wasn't it...mom?"
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Sorry guys, next chapters will be Holly+Minerva POV's for awhile-gotta show them some love too :)
And as always, thanks for reading! 🦉