Pain - A PJO Fanfiction

~Chapter 21~

The next day went about the same. Percy started training again, taking things more seriously than before. He saw that the seven and the others were also doing the same.

They weren't getting along well, mostly making passive-aggressive jabs at each other. Percy didn't mind. It was annoying, but no matter how much they fought, they would have to fight in this battle.

Eventually, Percy went to tell Chiron his plan. Chiron had disapproved, saying that it was too risky, and that it would kill him. Percy tried to wave it off, but Chiron wasn't having any of it.

He had met up occasionally with Leo, checking on how the jump pad and the explosives were going. Percy also had small meetings with the seven. They knew from Percy's past propethetic dream that there was a certain time and day for Gaea's attack.

Percy had gone over the notebook in his cabin again, staring at the random notes and scrawls of information, trying to make sense of it. Looking at the notebook, it felt like it was used by an insane person, handwriting messy, hurried and smudged, and random scrawls of notes that made no sense, but had to have some sort of relevance, because otherwise, Percy wouldn't have wrote it.

It was all some Sherlock type of shit Percy hated. Trying to solve a notebook and what it means, what the notes are, and having a deadline of doomsday wasn't exactly pleasant.

However, with the help of the seven (all separately, though) he had mostly figured it out. He had written out a summary with the important points, ditching the mess of a notebook.

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Eventually, the day of Gaea's little 'visit' had come. It was the night before. Chiron had secured the younger campers, and the older ones were going to fight. Since they didn't know what to expect, they spent the entire night training and drinking dangerous amounts of coffee, so much so that it most likely would've killed them if they weren't demigods.

Percy didn't know if Gaea would show up exactly at midnight, or just around noon. He guessed that being punctual wasn't really something Gaea worried about.

It was around two a.m. when there was a some sound from outside of the borders.

"The border will hold them, right?" Katie Gardner asked uneasily.

Percy felt a sense of dread in his chest.

"No... the spy in the camp-"

His voice got cut off by a small rumble and a crack splitting the camp. He quickly got out of the way, trying to push others away from it with him. He heard screams and a few sickening cracks.

People were trying to get the others who fell, but the ground resealed itself. Percy shuddered as he heard choking and whimpering noises of campers being suffocated.

Apollo wasn't going to be happy with his mental state after this. If he survived, of course.

Percy couldn't imagine a scenario that Apollo wouldn't be mad at him at this point. If he died, Percy wouldn't put it past Apollo to personally demand Hades to let him see him.

"There are monsters around the borders," Chiron informed, tightening his hold on his bow.

Percy gave a small nod, glancing around. A horde of monsters began getting past the border, going toward the campers.

The horde was full of different Greek monsters, all hard to find and difficult to kill. Percy tried not to hear the shrieks and yelps of pain as he uncapped Riptide, holding it tightly in his hand. He cut through the monsters, trying to locate Gaea amidst the chaos.

He flinched with each noise of pain from the campers, like salt rubbed in a wound. He waited for Gaea to show herself, slashing through monsters as fast as possible. Percy saw Will running across the battlefield to the infirmary, covered in blood. With dread, I realized that considering Will wasn't fighting, a lot of people had died.

Percy looked around for Leo. He had set the jump pad on the field prior to the battle, and the explosives had been given to Percy as well. It was a bit bigger than the size of Percy's fist, fitting in his hand as he cut through monsters.

Leo had explained how the explosive worked before the battle. He had made a small lock in case it got triggered on accident. There was a small button with a plastic cap securing it against accidental activations.

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The battle had been going on for half an hour when Gaea actually arrived. Most of the campers were injured, but some were fighting through it. Percy had done his best to lure hee over to where the jump pad was set up. Once Gaea and Percy were both on it, Percy moved quickly, tugging the string on the explosive and opening the plastic cap.

While they got shot into the air, Percy pressed the small button on the explosive. There was a bright blast of light and color, making him quickly close his eyes. He felt himself get shoved away, mid-air. He heard shrieks and screams, but he wasn't able to recognize them.

He felt like he had stopped mid-air before starting to fall again, falling fast, dangerously toward the ground. Panic and fear had made it impossible to think or breathe, but another part of his brain idly wondered if the others had killed Annabeth like Percy had planned of them.

The falling sensation seemed endless. The screams got louder and clearer, all coming from campers. All of a sudden, a dull, foggy, dark exhaustion came over Percy, and he passed out without another thought.

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(A/N: hi. I'm sorry for the short chapter, it might seem a bit rushed, but I really can't write battle/fight scenes. I'm also really tired, but I dunno, maybe expect a rewrite in the future.

Thanks for reading.)

(Also; the next few chapters are gonna be short and split up for dramatic effect. No a/ns either.)