Storm Rising

Chapter 5

Percy's POV

The water floods over all of the underworld. I see Hades erecting black force fields over Elysium, Fields of Asphodel, and Eternal Punishment, while Persephone covers the others, her and Hades. Now that I know my friends won't be hurt, I let myself go.

The anger from Annabeth being hurt fills me. I am a hurricane, a whirlwind, and a tornado all in one. The water of the Styx swirls around me, disintegrating every shade on impact. I slash through the army of skeleton, Diarkis is an deadly multicolored blur in my hands. Before, I planned to keep Diarkis a secret, but my body is a whirlwind so no one will see the evil blade. Wave after wave crashes down on the skeletons. Within minutes, every single skeleton is a pile of ashes. But my anger is still fueling. I let the whirlwind surrounding me grow bigger and bigger. Soon the whirlwind is so big, storm trackers would have to create a hurricane category ten for it. The whirlwind begins to grow wild as I lose control of my raging anger. The water sloshes back into the Styx. I sink through the murkiness, now aware of the pain I'm in.

When I come back to my senses, or as full of sense as you can get when your body is on fire, I see a woman drifting peacefully in front of me.

"Lady Styx," I say respectfully, even though her river is burning me to death.

"Perseus," She says with a nod. "Normally, no one is allowed to bathe in my river twice. But, you. You are different."

"Gee, thanks," I say even though she is very capable of blasting me to Tartarus.

"I meant no offence to you, young Perseus. I see very dark times ahead of you. You will need the protection and invulnerability of the Styx. No one has ever bathed in the Styx twice and survived." My heart falls. "Though I will let you. What do they call me up on Olympus as far as my title?"

"Goddess of the river Styx," I say slowly.

"That is what they say? Well, it's incorrect. I am simply the manager goddess of the river Styx. If I were the goddess of the river, I would stop the river burning your skin while we talk.

There is another problem with you bathing in the Styx again, Perseus. Every time you bathe in the Styx, it transfers a little bit of its essence to you. The Styx is the river of invulnerability so you become invulnerable when you bathe in it's waters."

I'm about to tell her I know this already, thanks to Annabeth, but she holds up her hand to stop me. "Don't you see, Perseus? Every time you bathe in the Styx you get more of its essence. You have bathed in the Styx twice. More of it's essence is within than any other hero. The river Styx has chosen you it's champion," She says pointing to my arm.

I look down at my arm and gasp. My shirt was burned away in battle and the lack of it provides a clear view of the scar running down my left arm. It runs from the top of my shoulder to my elbow, with a slight curl at each end.

Lady Styx winces. "Sorry about that. By the time, I was aware of it, the river had already branded it into your skin. Every hero with the blessing who has fallen in battle receives a smaller mark on their achilles point."

"So my upper arm is my vulnerable point? No offense, that seems like a pretty bad place to have it."

"You misunderstand me, Perseus. The river has marked you, but you can still pick a different Achilles spot. Our time is almost up, but I must warn you. Do not pick the same spot again and don't tell anyone just yet. Your friends will change drastically soon," Lady Styx finishes.

I try to wrap my mind around what she has said, yet I can't. Remembering some understandable part of our conversation, I pick a new achilles spot. A tiny spot behind my ear, mostly covered by my earlobe. It would protect in battle and a weird spot to aim for.

"Have you picked yet?" Lady Styx asks. I nod. "Before I unleash my waters, I will give you a weapon." She pulls two knife like sticks from her pocket and hands them to me. They have a wicked sharp edge like a knife, but they have a much thinner blade width. Even though I'm dyslexic, I can recognize the shape of an L with the short part bent a little more back towards the longer blade. About the length of my forearm and hand, the blades have small leather grips. The metal is a watery blue grey and feels perfectly balanced in my hands.

"They are made of pure Styx unlike Stygian iron or ice. The Flaytos will feel balanced in your hand for they are from the water. Use them wisely. Do not be afraid to call on the river of broken dreams. It lives within you now. Prepare yourself." I focused on my mortal point and Lady Styx touched her hand to my chest.

Instantly, immense power and pain flowed through me. Most of it was from that fact that Lady Styx had been holding the river and when she touched my chest, it was released like a dam being broken. The pain flooded through my body, worse than the time I had bathed in the Styx before. All thoughts of my life slipped by me. I saw my parents, Tyson, Nico, and Annabeth all slipping past me along with a huge clock. I tried to focus on Annabeth, but I couldn't. Why wasn't it working? Annabeth was my mortal Anchor.

Think of your Achilles spot, Lady Styx's voice floats through the water.

Determinately, I focus on the point behind my ear. Slowly, I feel my life return.

The transformation is not complete without a reason to live, Lady Styx's voice reminds.

I hear laughing above me. I tilt my head up.

Bianca is sitting there laughing at me, her floppy green hat on her dark haired head."Come on, Percy. I didn't come back to life just for you to die. I still need to beat you up for eavesdropping on Zoe and my conversation, Fish Face." She reaches out her hand. I smile before taking it.

Unlike last time, when the thought of Annabeth shot me out, Bianca pulled me out, literally. I land panting, on the ground, next to her.

"Percy! Are you okay?" Bianca cries. I can't move; the pain immobilizes me. Bianca leans over me and I can smell strawberries for some reason. She places her soft fingers just below my cheek, checking for my pulse.

"Percy? If you are alive, do something," Bianca pleads. I shake the pain off and try to sit up. Try is the important concept there. Apparently the scar the Styx had burned into my arm was a real scar. My left arm was really stiff. With Bianca's help, I managed to sit up.

"Oh my gods, Percy! You were down there for longer than hour," Bianca says, as she squeezes the life out of me with a bear hug.

"It's good to see you solid again, Bianca," I reply before the meaning of her words sink in. "What do mean I was down there for an hour?"

"Well, when you started to go all awesome powers, Hades and Persephone protected us. And they had a hell of a time doing it. Your storm was super powerful. Hades said even Poseidon couldn't match the storm you created. Reyna, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and I all survived the fight with only a few scratches. But Annabeth..." Her voice trails off.

I shoot to my feet, ignoring the pain. "Take me to her now," I order Bianca. Bianca takes one look at my face and nods her head. She leads me over to a overhanging of black rock. The others are gathered around Annabeth, but I push them aside. Reyna, the one with the most experience healing people from being in the legion, is trying to shield Annabeth from me.

"Reyna," I growl. "Let me see her." Reyna looks at my face fearfully. She moves aside.

My shoulders slump at the sight of Annabeth. The knife is out of her stomach, but that's not the problem. It's the huge pool of blood around her.