The Arrow of Light | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter Nine - I Have Mental Issues

I feel that all secluded places are surrounded by a forest to hide their mysteriousness. As the salty ocean finally slimmed into a thin river, the sky immediately darkened. Thick layers of fog gushed behind the tree trunks, and I could hardly see three feet in front of me. The small rays of light from the stars twinkled above our heads, as if they were giving us directions.

"Okay, the river ends here," Percy said, stepping out of the thinning stream, "We should be pretty close by now."

"Hopefully my pants will dry by then," Jason grumbled as he helped Piper off their water dragon.

I leaped off, and patted Sparkles' head, "Hope to see you soon." As Annabeth and Nico finally got off, and Sparkles melted back into the stream, and evaporated in an instant. I'll miss that guy. Or girl. Do water dragons have a gender?

Annabeth dusted off her bottom, "I really wished we were waterproof."

"Don't we all?" Jason asked sarcastically. Percy grinned sheepishly.

A sharp wind whistled by, bristling up the hairs on the back of my neck. The air instantly turned colder. We all turned and made a sharp eye contact with each other.

Something obviously feels wrong, said my gut.

You're an idiot, my brain replied, It's not scientifically proven that you should always trust the upper meaty part of your stomach.

"You two, shut up!" I shouted, and Piper gave me a weird look.

"Keep your voice down, okay?" She said in a hushed voice. Pulling out her dagger, she stared into the blade diligently, as if she was having a staring contest with it. Okay then.

"Let's see if its here..." Annabeth whipped off the backpack on her shoulder, and dug through, "The children of Hecate promised me that I can fit three times the amount of things in here, but since some of them are pranksters..."

"Bad monster," Nico said, blowing away at his dreary bangs and drawing his sword, "Big and ugly; I sense its presence coming closer. Percy uncapped his pen, and brandished the weapon in front of him.

Piper's eyes widened, and she shook her head as she removed her line of sight from her knife, "Guys... It's a manticore." She blinked, and I kept to myself that she lost the contest. Didn't want to hurt her feelings, after all.

Nico's eyebrows raised, "Dr. Thorn?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Percy groaned.

"Who's that?" Jason and I synchronized.

"Here we are!" Annabeth exclaimed, interrupting us and pulling out a few intricate designed pieces of armor. "I brought these along in case something like this would happen... I'll lend them to you, Astra, in case anything happens."

"Thanks," I smiled as I took them from her, attempting to put them on at the best of my ability. From the beams of moonlight that peeked from behind the fog, we saw a monstrous silhouette growing larger and bigger with each step. Even the trees seemed to bend away in fear as it came closer towards us.

"Hades' underwear, I hate this guy," Nico grumbled, "We won't be able to find the camp in this dense fog."

"Then we'll just have to fight," Jason flipped his coin, which transformed into his golden sword.

"Astra, with your bow and arrow, do you think you can scout from above?" Annabeth asked, "If you do, it would be a lot easier with a strategy to take down the manticore."

"On it," I said. I jumped up, wrapping my fingers around the scratchy bark and climbed up the nearest tree. The dry wood dragged its nails against my bare arms as I attempted to land on the highest branch that would support my weight. The tree sagged a bit at my weight, and I was slightly offended.