Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 32

The new civil war had begun.

Leo had somehow escaped his fall unharmed. He was ducking from portico to portico, blasting fire at the giant eagles swooping down on him. Roman demigods tried to chase him, tripping over piles of cannonballs and dodging tourists, who screamed and ran in circles.

In the middle of the courtyard, a full-grown elephant, rampaged around the flagpoles, scattering Roman warriors. Jason stood about fifty yards away, sword-fighting with a stocky centurion whose lips were stained cherry red, like blood. It was kinda creepy.

Then Leo's fire turned purple and the Romans jumped back as it snaked through the crowd.

"Jason!" Annabeth called and he scanned the battlefield until he saw them.

"Get the others!" Cressida ordered as Annabeth pointed at the ship. "RETREAT!"

He nodded as he set about his task and Annabeth turned to her friend.

"Good luck," Cressida said, reluctant to let her best friend go.

"You too. Don't wait for me."

And Annabeth disappeared into the crowd as Cressida turned towards the fight.

Her best friend was being sent on a quest that no one had accomplished before in thousands of years. She had been sent on a quest that would likely result in her or her boyfriend dying after they'd already lost so much. Yeah, you could say she was angry.

Angry enough to try and take Gaia on.

Her sharpened thyrsus was lifted into the air before she brought it down, the ground cracking before grapevines grew free, but rather than attack the enemy as she'd commanded, they simply waved in the air like those inflatable balloon people in car dealership parking lots.

Anything that grows in the earth is under my control Gaia's voice hissed in her head. Just like you will be too, daughter of Dionysus.

"No one controls me. And you may control the earth, but grapevines obey me!"

And sweat dripped down her face as she fought Gaia's control, and her vines went after the Romans.

"GET OUT!" she heard Jason shout from somewhere as she focused on swiping Romans' off their feet, sending them ploughing into one another and holding them away from her friends. "I'LL GET CRESSIDA!"

It was a little while longer before Jason found his way to her and he could see that this was severely sapping her strength because there was blood dripping from her nose.

"Cressida, we gotta go! You gotta stop," he urged as she finally let her concentration break but when she did, she nearly collapsed.

Jason caught her, her thyrsus clattering to the ground as he scooped her up and he took to the skies, Frank flying ahead with Leo.

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Percy was instantly running over when he saw her unconscious in Jason's arms and the blood smeared on her face. All Jason was missing was the damn cape as he landed with the girl he just saved in his arms.

"Cress! By the gods!" he said as Jason handed her over and was already reaching inside her boot for the vial of Solace Solution she always kept on her before he pulled out the cork and tipped it down her throat.

For a couple of minutes, as chaos raged, they sat there waiting because the effects of it were usually instantaneous. It had never taken this long before.

And Percy had never felt more relief in his life than when her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh my gods," he exhaled as he brought her hand to his lips.