Rejection - Pernico

chapter 34

Although it was the dead of night, the camp was brightly lit, torches hanging in brackets along the pillars and fires burning in the braziers; either they'd done this every night since we'd broken our friends out, or they knew we were coming. Riptide in hand, I advanced slowly, relying in the underbrush to keep me out of sight. The amphitheatre was filled with campers, and I stopped short, signalling to my friends, who spread out, and peeked through the foliage. The campers, on closer examination, looked tired, some leaning onto the shoulders of others, asleep; Eris had probably dragged them out of their beds not too long ago, which meant they knew we were here. However, the middle of the amphitheatre was what caught my attention: Nico and Jack were strung up between three wooden posts, and they were in bad shape. Nico was slumped against his restraints, barely conscious, angry red stripes and deep wounds covering his torso. Jack was a lot worse off, but his eyes were bright and furious, tugging now and then on the rough ropes with arms twisted at an unnatural angle. I winced, but the movement must've caught his eye, and a bewildered expression crossed his face as he mouthed, leave, go away! I shook my head slightly, and he looked resigned. A faint golden glow misted across his wounds, and despite the look of utter agony that crossed his face, he shot me a determined look. He would be holding his own in this fight. Now, there was just one person missing-

Hazel strutted into the amphitheatre, and my heart ached. Her face was pierced with dozens of tiny gold drops, kind curves replaced with cold angles, and her long hair was threaded through with a hundred tiny jewels on gold chains. Her usual jeans and t-shirt had been replaced by a slim, flowing gold dress, shimmering iridescent in the torchlight, and her mercilessly gleeful expression stretched her features in a way that just looked wrong. Beside me, Leo made a tiny huffing sound, and when I glanced over, his fists were clenched.

"Jackson! Where are you?" Hazel's voice, normally so generous, was mocking, and her laugh tinkled like broken glass. "I know you're here somewhere, my dear. We won't fall for that trick again, will we?" The campers, sleepy and tired just a second ago, were alert, grasping weapons that had lain dormant by their feet. We'd lost the element of surprise.

"You've got me, Eris. I'm right here." Stepping out of the bushes, I let the torchlight gleam off Riptide, standing straight.

"Splendid. Now if you'll be so kind as to step over here?" She gestured to a small altar, just a few rocks stacked atop each other and painted on with red sigils, but I got an instant, seriously bad vibe from them, like evil little rocks waiting to suck up my lifeblood and use it to raise a monster. I glanced away from the altar and back up to Hazel-Eris. Our eyes locked, and the template remained frozen for a good ten seconds, before exploding into action.

Friends and campers alike rushed forward like water from a dam, clashing all around me as the clanging of weapons filled the amphitheatre. Riptide raised, I dodged swipes and ducked thrusts, doing my best to avoid mortally wounding any of them; after all, they were innocent, victims of Eris and friends once her magic was lifted. Although there were less of us, we were stronger and more skilled than most of them, and it seemed like the gods themselves were intervening on our side; lightning bolts followed Jason's sword, striking campers and jumping between them and a strange mist engulfed Piper, making any campers in contact with it lay down their weapons and huddle near the trees, staring at her dreamily. Amy's hands had lit on fire, spreading up her arms and into her hair. It followed her movements, burning any enemies that came too close, and hissed in a circle around her feet, shooting sparks. I ducked a wicked-looking spear and knocked it away, slicing through the wooden shaft. The battle was fierce, but my blood was singing; forget dark magic and curses, just give me a fight and I'm in my element. Idris, covered by Reyna, was freeing Jack and Nico, sawing desperately at the rough hemp ropes while Eris was distracted. Weaving my way over to them, I swung my blade, slicing the restraints off and grabbing Nico as he slumped to the ground. Jack stood over us, rubbing his wrists gingerly. "Hey, Cap. Long time no see. Thanks for coming back for us."

"I wouldn't have ever left you alone with this monster." He nodded and I looked back down to Nico, who began to stir.

"Hey."

"Wh- Perce? You're, you're n-not supposed to b-be here, leave, hurry-"

"It's okay, Nico, we're here to make things right. Eris isn't going to win. Can you stand?" Idris handed me a bottle of nectar, which I set to his lips. With every gulp, he began to look better; still severely wounded, but stronger and healthier. Within moments of finishing the bottle, Nico was on his feet, and I hugged him quickly.

"I love you, Nic."

He smiled weakly, eyes still clouded with pain, but his grip on my hand was as firm as a promise. "Love you too, Perce."

"No! Fight back, you useless creatures!" Eris' scream caught all of our attentions, and we looked over to see her yelling, snapping her whip in our direction and shoving campers towards her. The campers in question were badly wounded, pleading with her desperately, but she shoved them away in disgust, raising her hand. "If you won't fight, I'll call in reinforcements." From behind every tree drifted out shadow soldiers by the dozen, surrounding us, and I swallowed. "Nico, can you stand by Reyna for a second? I'm gonna try to end this."

"Hey Eris!" It still hurt to look at Hazel's face on her, but I stared her straight in the eye, glaring. From my pocket, I withdrew the glass vial filled with the godly essence, and her reaction was instantaneous, ducking away and hissing. "You know it's over, Eris. You can't win. Stop now and give up."

"Oh, you think I'll just give up like that? You think it'll be that easy? I won't go down without a fight, Jackson, so if you think I'm just going to lie down and take it, you can think again." Defiant, she raised her chin, eyes turning pure red, and suddenly all around us campers were waking up, muttering confusedly and looking around. The blank expression and shadow in their eyes had gone, and somehow, I knew Eris wasn't influencing them anymore, but that meant she was gathering her power to- Oh no. Uncorking the vial, I took a deep breath and watched as it unfolded into the same polished black chalice, filled with shimmering black liquid. Raising the cup to my lips, I breathed deeply, the mere scent making me dizzy, and tipped the cup back to pour it down my throat, but a hand grabbed me roughly and shoved me aside as Eris screamed, "NO!"

It was as if time had slowed down. I took the scenario in at a glance: Eris had withdrawn all her power back to herself, channelling it in a single black dart of pure hatred, enough to tear someone apart, but instead of plunging into my exposed midriff, it had been intercepted by... Nico? The liquid I'd just ingested set fire to my mind, only to find it was already flaming. Nico was slumped against me, bleeding furiously, and I wanted to reach out with hands that buzzed with power, but I knew, whether by my new Hades knowledge or just intuition, that it wouldn't help. Instead, I looked up at Eris through eyes white-hot with rage and pure power, and stood, mouth stretched in a silent scream. I could feel the universe and everything in it intimately in my bones, the stars thrumming through my blood and so, so alive; suddenly, I could hear every thought Hades and Poseidon had ever and would ever have, all in time with the suddenly magnified palpitations of my heart, and we screamed together, voices joined in pain. Hades' rage was, although wordless, not hard to interpret: My son! Nobody can hurt my son without reaping the consequences! Poseidon's was a little more complicated, defending me and my friends, but also Hades and his child, and also the gods in general against anything evil. My body screamed with agony and I felt my brain heat up, but I ignored it all, hands curled into fists, as I shoved the pain away, meeting the foreign hurt with my own inner torment; without my permission, the scene repeated again and again, Nico's warm weight slumped against my side. It hurt like hell, but I fought tooth and nail against it; the power was like a roaring tiger: either I could fall to it, or I could dominate it, and it wasn't even a thought later that the power coursing through my body like a short circuit was concentrated in my hands, and I swung those hands straight into her chest, wrapping around her heart and feeling it stop under my hands.

In the next moment, a lot of different things happened at once.