Sorry it took a while, it was intense to write.
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Enjoy :)
Chapter #24 : Bleeding Out
~I'm bleeding out
So if the last thing that I do
Is bring you down
I'll bleed out for you
So I bare my skin
And I count my sins
And I close my eyes
And I take it in
I'm bleeding out
I'm bleeding out for you (for you)
When the day has come
But I've lost my way around
And the seasons stop and hide beneath the ground
When the sky turns gray
And everything is screaming
I will reach inside
Just to find my heart is beating
You tell me to hold on
Oh you tell me to hold on
But innocence is gone
And what was right is wrong
When the hour is nigh
And hopelessness is sinking in
And the wolves all cry
To feel the night worth hollering
When your eyes are red
And emptiness is all you know
With the darkness fed
I will be your scarecrow
'Cause I'm bleeding out
So if the last thing that I do
Is to bring you down
I'll bleed out for you
So I bare my skin
And I count my sins
And I close my eyes
And I take it in
And I'm bleeding out
I'm bleeding out for you
For you~
PERCY
I've always wanted to visit Australia. It was that place that just seemed to really captivate my attention. It was green and spacious, everyone seemed to always have fun, there were beaches everywhere, people liked surfing, and their accents are just so freaking awesome. C'mon, you were thinking it, too. To sum it up, Australia was a perfect postcard picture in itself. So yeah, I've thought of the romance one could have on one of its beach shores while the sun sets. But let me tell you now: There was absolutely nothing romantic about a handful of puke green multi-headed monsters swarming a deserted seaweed infested beach that smelled of hot garbage and dead serpent guts.
Mrs. O'Leary was currently curled up in the safety of the trees behind me, fast asleep and snoring from her exhaustion of shadow traveling. Her ears swivelled around every few seconds as if she were listening, though, so I felt like she still had my back. While my hellhound slept, I decided I should keep an eye out in case I saw some of the hydras close by. I hid behind a rock and pulled out my amazing scoping binoculars, searching the shore until I found the monsters, then tried to figure out what they were up to. I mean, I'm no spy but isn't that something James Bond would do? I bet I'd look pretty good in black, and with these wicked binoculars Travis Stoll gave me? Psh, who wouldn't fall all over Jackson. . . Percy Jackson?
"Well, they seem to be just snooping around the shore..." I mumbled to no one in particular. "I wonder what they're actually planning, if anything at all. They look pretty harmless right now to me, just under half a dozen of them or so. If I were to surprise them, I think I would be able to take them. It'd be tough, as always, but if it saves lives, I'm all in."
I stretched out my back, cracking my spine. I peeked back at Mrs. O'Leary and found she rolled onto her back with her tongue hanging out, snoring as if there were no tomorrow. I chuckled to myself and stifled a yawn. Even though back at Camp Half-Blood campers were just beginning to wake up, people here have already finished their dinner and would be going to sleep soon. I looked out over the pink and orange ocean of Sydney Australia and sighed. I didn't get much sleep back at camp due to my preparations for the quest, so once my eyelids began to droop, I shuffled into the safety of the trees beside my hellhound.
"I might as well sleep for awhile, too." I mumbled.
~
I grunted as a giant hairy paw poked me in the stomach.
"Wha...?"
My eyes slowly fluttered open. When the world came back into focus, I saw Mrs. O'Leary's muzzle hovering right over my face. With a small yell of surprise I pushed her face away from mine and sat up. She barked once in a sort of apology (yeah, right), and then a growl escaped her bared teeth as her head turned towards the beach shore. Her ears flattened down against her head and the hairs on her back stood on end like a porcupine.
I responded immediately to her warning and scrambled on my hands and knees over to the edge of the small cliff, looking out over the rock I had hid behind the day before. I didn't need the binoculars to understand what had bothered Mrs. O'Leary. About five or so multi-headed monsters were beginning to shuffle around the shore, as if restless or anxious about something. Before I could even think of what could have riled up a pack of fire breathing monsters, my mind panicked. I had to slay them before they decided to move.
I turned back to Mrs. O'Leary. She had her head cocked to the side as if waiting for instructions.
"Thanks for the warning, girl." I pat her head. "Now... Time to take care of this mess once and for all, yeah?"
"Woof!"
I chuckled, although I had to admit I was beginning to feel a bit anxious. This was my first quest all by myself. I usually had at least one other demigod friend beside me. Here, no one had my back and that honestly scared me. Yeah, heroes get scared. All of the time, in fact. But I sucked it up anyways and beckoned Mrs. O'Leary with my hand to follow me down the side of the cliff, still hidden behind bushes and trees and rocks.
Now, hopefully my five minute plan works.
Slowly and silently, we crept around the side of the beach's shore. It was extremely helpful that the small beach was in the shape of a bowl, surrounded by a border of trees, a small cliff, and the ocean. It pretty much caged the monsters, which was a plus for me. I just had to go down there, think of some brilliant and sneaky approach, slay them one by one, and try not to get myself killed in the process. Just a pleasant vacation in Australia, I'm telling you.
Once at the edge of the 'bowl', I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my celestial pen. I uncapped it and the pen transformed into a three foot sword, the edges sharp and glinting in the hot sun. The sword grew warmer and warmer until it was a searing red colour under the sun and over the magical flaming coals a friend from the Apollo cabin gave to me on my departure. Now, I was ready. With Riptide in my hand and my hellhound right behind me, I approached the herd of hydras that have killed three of my fellow campers.
~
These hydras were even uglier up close.
. . . They smelt pretty bad, too.
The first of five hydras was an easy kill. Mrs. O'Leary went off in another direction, most likely to kill a monster on her own, whilst I noiselessly swung my sword in a giant arc, decapitating three heads off of the hydra. It disintegrated on the spot. My sword was hot enough to sear the heads off and prevent them from growing back.
I jumped as I heard a roar and a growl behind me. Well, I killed one of them inconspicuously. I guess Mrs. O'Leary preferred to make a loud entrance. When I hesitantly turned to see what the hell my dog has done, the hellhound held a hydra by its multiple necks in her sharp canine teeth and shook it around like a chew toy. She may be cute and helpful in most situations, but this would just get us killed. I'm pretty certain of it.
Just as I was about to step and help her to stop my panic attack, one of the four heads turned its neck and opened its mouth. Steam slowly began to rise out of its throat. My eyes widened.
"No!" I yelled in horror.
I step a large step forward, but it was too late. Fire burst out of the hydra's fanged mouth and shot straight towards Mrs. O'Leary. I shut my eyes tightly and heard a small yelp. My heart was beating out of my chest and my eyes were already stinging with moisture. Oh gods... This couldn't be happening.
I opened my eyes slowly and gulped. But what I saw wasn't what I was expecting. The second hydra lay on the sandy ground with three seared black necks. The next second, it exploded into a million ashes. My mouth widened as I saw my hellhound standing above it and sneezing in the ashes with a slightly burnt muzzle. I grinned, but my happiness was short lived as three roars were heard to my left.
My eyes widened once more and I scooped up my fallen sword, facing three (or twelve, if we're counting heads) angry looking hydras.
"Crap. Forgot about them." I breathed.
Mrs. O'Leary growled and hunched back on her hind legs, ready to pounce and attack with bared teeth.
I pursed my lips. "Well, what are we waiting for, a surrender? Mrs. O'Leary, go!"
And with that, we charged the beasts. I could even say they looked scared of me. But they didn't, so I'm not gonna say that.
My blazing sword cut through another set of necks like putty and my hellhound held another down while I beheaded it with a couple stabs of my sword. I was already beginning to feel tired. Man, I make this slaying thing look easy, don't I? While I was distracted, the third hydra shot fire and I didn't totally dodge it in time. It seared part of my shoulder and I hissed in pain. The fire burnt through my shirt and underneath my skin turned red and blistered.
"Well, ouch." I said between my gritted teeth.
The hydra stood over me, snarling and hissing, roaring and almost foaming at the mouth. I rolled my eyes. Theses monsters were too arrogant for their own good. I raised my sword and threw it like a javelin. The monster instantly disintegrated and the ashes dropped down on me. I snickered until that last part. Spluttering and spitting out the nasty monster remains, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Nasty.
The next thing I knew, a giant tongue enveloped my face in a slobbering kiss. Double nasty. I wiped my face and scratched behind Mrs. O'Leary's ears.
"A job well done, girl." I praised her as she panted. "I'm exhausted, so why don't we head back to camp and get this over with, yeah? You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
She nuzzled into my side excitedly.
I chuckled wholeheartedly. "That's what I thought. C'mon, let's go h-"
A white hot pain burst into my left leg and I gasped at the intensity of it. A loud growl from beside me erupted out of my hellhound's throat. I fell in the sand, too busy blinking away the black dots to see what was going on. I glanced at my leg and realised there was a bloody gash that ripped through my jeans. It was a sharp cut, for sure. And it hurt like hell.
My head snapped up and I was suddenly a bit more scared than I was just two seconds ago.
A sudden round of howling burst my eardrums as my gaze flicked even farther down the beach. From where I sat, it looked like a pack of dark wolves standing in a line coming out of the trees. But if I looked closer as they approached, I discovered they had bloodthirsty red eyes, sharp claws and long teeth, shinning dark black fur, and from this distance, I could tell they were bigger than Mrs. O'Leary.
The monster wolves still weren't my top priority. The beast fifteen feet away from me was.
"Demigod," It snarled in a wet voice. "You didn't think you'd get away that easily, eh?"
I gulped. This thing was disgusting and far beyond anything I have seen before. The monstrous thing in front of me reminded me slightly of a chimera. Although I'd take looking at a chimera any day in exchange for this. It had one head, but three faces. Each face had spiked temples and the eyes glowed a yellowish colour, meanwhile the hydras had serpent green eyes. This thing had a distorted face and the mouth in the middle seemed to be pulled back in a never ending snarl. The green scales were more of a disgusting brown, black, green and yellow colour. Its tail split in two, both different lengths, and the monster's claws were like blades.
All in all, it was pretty grotesque.
"Since you know what I am, mind telling me what you are?" I asked with narrowed eyes, slowly getting to my feet.
It hissed, the three deformed faces twisting into a grimace. "I am nothing like those snakes you killed moments before, oh no." Its chest rumbled in what I assumed was a laugh. "I am not even living."
I frowned, suddenly very confused. "But you're standing right in front of me. How could you not be alive?"
Another rumble as the monster wolves behind it seemed to snicker in a very canine-like way. "I am Roman, fool. I am Roman, but this monster's body is of Greek origins."
"So you're-"
"Possessed." The beast's smirk almost resembled a grimace as its sharp teeth bared. "You're slow, demigod. I was much more clever than you are now. And even dead, I still am."
I frowned, paying no attention to his insults as I tried to figure out what he was, but I didn't need to as he continued.
"I'm an eidolon. A Roman possessing spirit." It roared loud and clear, making Mrs. O'Leary shift uneasily. "I am in the body of a Greek beast hydra, but... It didn't turn out as planned, as you can see. Although, it does make me a bit more magnificent, don't you think?"
I blinked in shock. "But eidolons can only possess people and machines. Not monsters. And you're Roman, it's impossible to even touch something of Greek origins."
It was true. Since that run-in with eidolons on the Argo II with Leo a while back, I did my research. The Roman spirits can only possess people, like Leo, and machines, like the automatons. There has never been a time where an eidolon has taken control of a monster. Especially not a Greek monster. It sets off an unbalance between Greek and Roman. It's impossible, yet this beast stands fifteen feet from me. It makes sense why he's so mutated and distorted. Evil. Because a Roman spirit was never made to possess a Greek demon.
"Then you shall be the first demigod alive, and the last, to see a mutant spirit as powerful as I." It roared and shot fire into the sky.
My breathing picked up drastically, but I stood my ground for the demigods back at camp.
"The last, huh?" I said between gritted teeth. "I think I can make that happen."
With that, I charged.
A whole clash happened after that. The black monster wolves snarled and ran down the beach towards a charging Mrs. O'Leary, I held my fiery celestial sword up and advanced with a battle cry, and the eidolon beast hissed with its three mouths and bared its claws.
While I fought relentlessly and full force with snarling as my background music, I began to feel a bit scared. I felt just like a kid again, not a hero. Not a demigod. I was just scared. Not only scared for myself, but scared for my hellhound as she fought off a pack of bloodthirsty wolves. She was outnumbered. She wouldn't make it. I was also scared about this quest failing. I knew I had to return to camp, to keep my promise, but my hellhound was being attacked and I'd never make it to her. She would die, or we'd both die. But I would never let that happen.
So when I was pushed to the sandy ground by sharp talons against my sword, I immediately glanced at Mrs. O'Leary as two giant black beasts jumped on her back.
"Mrs. O'Leary!" I screamed in anger, determination, and desperation. "Go! Go back home, go to the Underworld- LEAVE!"
Her canine head snapped up as I turned my head and fended myself from multiple razor claws and three mouths full of gnashing teeth. Mrs. O'Leary whined sadly at me. It broke my heart, but I had to do this. She couldn't die. We couldn't both die.
As I pushed myself away from the eidolon beast in the sand, I screamed one last time. "Go, girl! GO!"
With that she gave me one last heartbreaking look as the wolves were about to strike together. But instead of a howl of pain, a whirl of darkness erupted in the middle of the pack as my hellhound shadow traveled away. The monster wolves hesitantly stepped back, ears against their heads, and retreated back into the trees in fear of the shadows.
"Save your dog, boy. But your time is over."
With that, a strangled scream escaped my throat in total and utter pain as the eidolon beast's razor sharp claws stabbed me in the side. I gasped as tears pricked my eyes. All breath left my body as I writhed, suffering as my blood began to quickly drench my shirt. My vision was already fading, turning black as I gasped and whimpered. I repeatedly cried out in pain, not ever having suffered this much. Warm tears ran down my paling face.
The beast disappeared, leaving me to suffer.
With the soft sand beneath me, I shut my eyes as tight as possible, and screamed with all I had left. This was it. This was the closest I have ever felt to death. My fingertips were frozen, I was shaking in pain, the tears stopped abruptly, a stream of blood constantly flowed out of my body, and everything seemed silent. The pain, I couldn't feel it anymore. This was the first time that I knew I was going to die.
I'm dying.
And in my dying moment, my only thoughts were about the promise I won't be able to keep. I won't be returning to him. I'm not coming back. It hurts more than the wound in my side. He'll be alone. He'll be heartbroken. I'm not coming back... Unlike the movies or books, I never got the chance to tell him what I felt for him. I never got the chance to tell him how much I fucking loved him. Because I love him. I love him so fucking much. But I won't ever be able to tell him, because death will take me.
That promise... That stupid promise... Why can't I ever keep them?
"I love you, my little Ghost King." I whimpered between my two white lips.
With that, I let go and the darkness consumed me. I laid there in the sands of a deserted Australian beach, in a pool of my own scarlet blood, and let the pain fade away as my consciousness disappeared.
Nico di Angelo stole my heart,
but death stole me.
~~~
End of Chapter
... Thoughts...?
-Percy's Love