The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 66

The royal blue color of Poseidon's throne slowly drained as the Titan sat on it. At the same time, Oceanus' complexion seemed to grow less pale. "Yes!" he laughed. "This is it! The power—it's all mine!"

"Percy!" Triton warned.

"I know." His brother and Artemis were busy fighting off Máttr. By the looks of it, it was giving them a hard time.

That only left him to stop Oceanus. Percy sighed in defeat. Fine. I'll be a pawn one more time. But after this, I better be promoted to a knight.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked as Percy gently set Poseidon down. "Stay right there, Jackson. I'll take care of Oceanus."

"No!" Triton yelled, barely dodging a pincer from Máttr. It dug into the ground so deep that the crab had to struggle to free itself. "You need to help me with this abomination! My hits aren't going through!"

The silver-eyed goddess grumbled, but acceded. Percy was surprised but grateful. His chances of winning would be zero if the crab got loose on him.

But that didn't mean he was set for the home run, though. He still had to deal with a Titan. 

He slapped the silver bracelet on his wrist, which transformed into Asími—a neat changeover he'd learned while trying to appear non-threatening to the civilians on the way to the palace. It got his heart thumping whenever he looked at the beautiful weapon. Despite the danger he was placing himself in, he felt giddy—like a teenager getting their driver's license. 

There was one other thing that made him feel warm inside: being electrocuted by a forcefield.

Not that he had any experience with that in the first place. But Oceanus changed that.

I knew it looked too easy, Percy cursed as he was knocked onto his butt. His entire left side was numb.

Worst of all, Oceanus didn't even look disturbed. His functioning eye stayed closed, and he sat still on Poseidon's throne. The arrogant smile was the same, too. To him, it was as if Percy was a fly.

I hate opponents like this, Percy seethed.

In retrospect, however, Oceanus was pulling a Percy-like move. The infuriating smirk matched what monsters last saw before being sliced into oblivion. 

Percy gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up to his feet. He had no time waste; every second he stood still, Oceanus would grow stronger. 

He launched Asími as hard as he could toward his enemy. Electricity buzzed, and Percy found a crack in the forcefield as his trident bounced to the ground. His heart thumped in excitement—maybe he had a chance!

Then he watched in frustration as it healed almost as fast as it had been damaged.

"It won't work," Oceanus said as Percy tried again, but to no avail. "This shield has tested the limits against Kronos himself. A demigod like you won't be able to break through it."

At the name of the king of Titans, Percy hid his flinch. He still wasn't over the war, but he didn't show it. "I've been doing the unexpected since I was born," he told Oceanus. "I've probably been expelled from more schools than you have brain cells—but that never was close to a competition."

Everything happened at once. Oceanus' cheek muscle twitched in annoyance—and then he shot a glowing bolt of water. Anything speeding toward his face at light speed couldn't be anything good, so Percy blocked it with Asími. The force behind it was too great, though, and Percy flew backward.

"I had yet to pay you back for that rude welcome," Oceanus hissed as Percy bounced off the engraved throne room doors with a clang. "I can now truly look at you without hate."