Third-person POV
Zeus could be a professional volleyball player.
He smacked the Argo II with such force that the seven went from Athens to Long Island in less than a minute. Spiking a ball like that would definitely be a game-winner.
The ship that the seven had called home for months was falling apart. The ballistae and catapults peeled free from the deck. The bronze shields flew off like giant metal frisbees. All in all, it was not a great time for the demigods. Nor their internal organs.
The hatch flew open to reveal a groggy Frank and Hazel stumbling out. After them, Piper crawled out with Annabeth and Percy. Jason was using his powers over the winds to keep him from flying off to gods knows where.
Percy held on to Annabeth and the guide rope to keep her and himself from flying off to oblivion. All they had to do was hope that the rope was tied securely enough so nobody would be flying straight into the underworld.
'Go!' Percy heard Leo yell over the winds 'Go, go, go!'
It took all of Percy's strength to turn his head to see Leo strapped on at the control panel, without using a bungee rope this time. He was busy trying to keep the Argo II as steady as possible.
'LET'S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!' the holographic Coach Hedge bellowed at them above Buford the table. The talking table revealed its helicopter blades and let the winds take it away.
Percy looked back in front of him and saw that Hazel was climbing onto a dragon. Frank the Dragon quickly snatched up Percy and Annabeth with his front claws and soared away. From Frank's claws, Percy saw the ship quickly fly out of his range of vision. The last thing he saw was Jason using his son-of-Jupiter powers to fly away carrying Piper. Leo wasn't with them.
Percy watched in horror as the ship that he had been staying in for months, the ship where new memories were made in, fly across the sky. It could no longer be recognized as a ship, but can only be described as a flying ball of fire much like an asteroid. Percy did not know how Leo could survive that, fireproof or not.
Deciding that thinking about whether Leo lived or not was a bad idea in the middle of a war, Percy looked down to see the ground closing in fast. He saw cynocephali, the dog-headed men fighting against the demigods from both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. Among the sea of monsters, there were also wild centaurs, ogres, two-headed people and many more trying their best to kill his friends. The Athena Parthenos shined in all its glory next to Thalia's pine tree. Frank in his dragon form blew fire at a group of ogres that were in the frontline fighting against the forces of Camp Half-Blood before landing on top of them. Percy and Annabeth immediately drew their weapons and charged.
Annabeth and Percy fought side-by-side, the drakon bone sword and Riptide carving through the monsters like they were jelly. Frank and Hazel went off to rally the troops of Camp Jupiter. The duo fought their way to where the monsters had surrounded a few campers. Percy lept into the fray and decimated the enemy force before they could do more harm to his friends. He turned just in time to see a wild centaur about to skewer him. Before he could react, a spear sparkling with electricity pierced the chest of the centaur and it crumbled into the dust.
'About time, Prissy.'
Percy grinned and stood back-to-back with Clarisse, her electric spear keeping the monsters at a distance while Percy hacked and stabbed at anything that could come within the range of his blade. Just as they were about to be overrun, a wave of flaming arrows descended from the sky and killed the remaining monsters within thirty feet of him. Percy and Clarisse made short work of the remaining monsters when he saw all five cohorts from Camp Jupiter close ranks, killing anything in their way to get to their Greek siblings with Reyna on a new pegasus commanding them.
He found Annabeth and killed all the monsters that separated the campers from each other. When everyone was gathered in one huge blob, they made their way to where the Roman legion was, killing anything standing in their way.
'Legion, cuneum formate!' he heard Reyna shout over the sounds of battle 'Advance!'
Not knowing what to do, Percy raised his sword and said the first thing that came to mind.
'Greeks! Let's, um, fight stuff!'
Suddenly, the ground rippled like water and everyone stumbled and fell. Both demigods and monsters started sinking slowly into the ground like it was quicksand.
AWAKE.
The sound rippled over Half-Blood Hill like the very ground underneath them was speaking. A hundred feet away, the grass and dirt swirled together until it formed a twenty-foot figure of a woman. She was wearing a dress made of grass blades, like those Hawaiian luau hula skirts. Her skin was as white as quartz and her hair looked like tree roots.
'Little fools.' Gaia opened her eyes to reveal a solid green mass 'The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.'
For the hundredth time in the last hour, Percy blamed his nose. His nosebleed might have just caused the end of the world.
'Stand fast!' Piper's voice rang out, her charmspeak briefly instilling everyone with confidence 'Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!'
Percy tried to free himself as he watched his friends sinking deeper into the ground, the earth already up to their knees. Percy looked up to the earthen figure as she laughed, the ground vibrating as she did so.
'The whole earth is my body,' Gaia boomed 'How would you fight the goddess of-'
Percy watched in disbelief as a golden dragon swooped down and clamped Gaia's shoulder in his back claws. The dragon was the one Percy had found and remade with Beckondorf, Silena and Annabeth in the middle of a Capture the Flag game. Percy noticed his head was on the front of the Argo II but here it was, flying higher and higher while Gaia squirmed in its iron grip.
'Pipes! Jason! You coming? The fight is up here!' Leo, the Latino elf boy that always made the group laugh, was alive! He survived the crash and brought his giant metal dragon to the fight.
Everyone watched as Festus with Leo on his back blew fire at Gaia while the small figures of Piper and Jason rode the winds towards the two of them. As soon as Gaia left the earth, the quicksand-like ground turned solid again. Percy used his sword to dig himself out, repeatedly stabbing the earth around him to escape. Everyone was lifting themselves out of the ground but the monsters had more luck, having the necessary body parts and numbers to get out quicker.
By the time Percy broke himself free, a dozen or so monsters had already gone around and started attacking the vulnerable demigods. Percy hefted Riptide and met the monsters with his own charge. He slashed, stabbed, blocked and parried while covering the ground and his allies still stuck in it in golden monster dust.
He found Annabeth struggling to block attacks from three different two-headed men with her drakon bone sword. It was slightly difficult to wield a sword with half your body submerged. Percy immediately charged the group, impaling one and decapitating the other two (Or was it four?).
'Thanks.' Annabeth said while trying to catch her breath.
'Anytime, Wise Girl.' Percy used all his strength to lift Annabeth out of her entrapment.
More and more enemies managed to crawl out of the ground while the campers and legionnaires were being attacked in their vulnerable state. Reyna was flying around on her pegasus keeping her soldiers from falling. Frank aided her since he managed to escape by turning into an iguana.
The demigods that had already escaped tried their best to keep the monsters at bay until their comrades managed to escape as well. The monsters fell quicker than they did before, probably because they were witnessing their patron and most powerful ally in the process of being forced back into her slumber.
The waves of monsters charged and fell. Charged and fell. The demigods regrouped and formed a wall of bristling spears and flashing swords. Arrows rained from the sky. Any monster stupid enough to challenge the united demigods was instantly sent to Tartarus. The enemy army was almost defeated, leaving a few stranglers to be picked off by the Apollo cabin.
Just as the battle was about to end, a sharp scream pierced the air. Dozens of heads turned to see a blazing comet streak in the sky towards Festus and Gaia. Everyone watched in shock as Jason and Piper were let go by Festus and plummeted towards the ground. The giant Roman eagles managed to snatch them from the sky just as they were about to be turned into demigod pancakes.
The giant fiery projectile collided with the two figures in the sky struggling against each other and lit the entire sky golden. The shockwave of the blast was enough to knock everyone off their feet. As the light dimmed, there was no sign of Gaia. Or Leo.
Despite Leo's sacrifice, the group of demigods cheered and celebrated.
'We did it!' Annabeth cried out in glee 'We did it, Seaweed Brain!'
Annabeth turned to face her boyfriend with a smile on her face, a smile that vanished almost instantly. Annabeth's face morphed to that of horror as Percy turned to meet her gaze.
His eyes were golden.
The smile on Percy's face looked like it was not meant to be there. It was a smile meant for the faces of lunatics and maniacs. It was a smile that made shivers go down people's spine. Before Annabeth could react or say anything, 'Percy' lunged forward with his sword. She barely had time to cry out and went to block it, only managing to parry it instead.
The demigods in the vicinity of the fighting duo cried out in panic and started forward to stop the attacker. 'Percy' knocked down whoever stood in his way as Annabeth tried to run. This time, Piper was unconscious. There was nobody around to get the eidolon to leave his body.
The demigods that tried to stop their friend and leader were only knocked down with minor injuries, the worst case being a broken limb or a deep gash. As the eidolon inside Percy's body made his way towards Annabeth, Frank stepped in front of him to block her from his line of sight. Before Frank could say anything to his distant relative, the eidolon crouched low with Percy's body and sunk Riptide into Frank's inner thigh, the point of the blade coming out the other side.
Frank screamed in pain as 'Percy' pushed him away. Annabeth came into view. She was too exhausted to run and instead stood her ground. Nobody was close enough to stop him, the ones that did were made short work of with Percy's sword skills.
'Percy, listen to me,' Annabeth said with fear and worry in her voice 'Snap out of it. Fight it!'
He didn't say anything but instead, he just laughed. The laugh that came out of Percy's mouth was hollow. Before Annabeth could say more, Percy lunged forward with inhuman speed and buried his blade, the blade that contained the immortal essence of his dead friend, into Annabeth's chest.
The surrounding injured demigods looked at the scene with wide eyes. They watched as Percy held Annabeth closer and looked her in the eye. The smile on his face as unnerving as ever.
'Goodbye, Wise Girl.'
Annabeth stared down at the sword as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. She looked back up and into the eyes of her killer. Not the usual sea-green she had grown accustomed to, but the golden colour of the evil possessing spirit inside her boyfriend's body.
'I will always love you, Seaweed Brain.' Annabeth managed to choke out.
Only when the light left Annabeth's eyes did the eidolon leave Percy's body. He blinked to reveal the usual colour of his eyes, the colour of the ocean. Confusion graced his face until his eyes landed on the body of his lover, with him still holding the weapon. The confusion was immediately replaced with sorrow and anguish.
'No, no, no,' Percy let go of the sword and set Annabeth's body down on the ground 'Annabeth please, don't leave. Come on, come on.'
What Percy failed to notice was that her pulse was already gone. The crowd of demigods gathered around him a few feet away. Nobody knew what to do. Was it safe to approach him? Will he kill anyone else?
Percy fell on his knees and let out a guttural scream, the pain in it rippled among everyone from both camps.
Annabeth Chase was dead.