When Myths Meet Magic || 5

44|| Percy

"Haha!" Voldemort roared as he stood in the center of the room with his arms on his hips in triumph and a sinister smile stretching over his face. "You've fallen right into my trap! Now, my minions! Now!"

Figures dropped from the ceiling like birds swooping down on their prey. Ropes of fire shot out and knotted in mid-air to form a fiery net that crashed upon them, heavy as lead and searing hot like — well, fire. Percy watched in horror as Voldemort flicked his wand, shouted gibberish, and levitated Harry from a hidden room behind them, bound and unconscious. With a laugh, the evil wizard raised his arms and thunder cackled menacingly in the background.

Well, that was how Percy pictured it. To his surprise, when they entered the main room, there was no Voldemort or ninja-Death Eaters with fire nets waiting for them. There was, however, a delirious Ron, a half-conscious Neville, a frantic Hermione, and a white-faced Harry who had just burst through another door across from them.

"Wingadingum Lebalala!" Ron shrieked, waving his wand at them.

Harry, who had Ron's arm slung over his shoulder for support, strode in a circle as he stared at the doors. Ron lurched forward and his legs were limp behind him as he was dragged through the room. "We need to get out of here," he croaked.

"Where's Piper and Jason?" Neville panted.

Before Harry could finish his pacing, a door burst open. They all turned expectantly, ready to see the missing demigods—

"There they are!"

"It's Trellabitch!" Ron gasped.

"GO!" Percy roared. He deflected a spell off Riptide's blade with his right hand and fired a spell back with his left — at the same time, Thalia had released a bolt of lightning from her palms like Iron Man and nearly fried the Death Eater Ron had dubbed as Trellabitch. She shrieked and fired a violently purple spell to Nico who vanished before it could touch him and ended up hitting the torch behind him. The torch immediately exploded into wild dismembered tentacles which splattered to the floor, thrashing wildly. "GO GO GO GO GO!"

"CRUCIO!" A bloodied death eater shrieked. The spell hit Percy square in the chest and pain ripped through his spine, then in the blink of an eye it was gone. He tore through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Colloportus!" Annabeth shouted, but at the same moment someone screamed from the other side of the door, "Bombarda Maxima!" and it erupted into splinters of — well, Percy wasn't really sure but it certainly hurt as it exploded on his back. They were sent splashing into ice cold water.

"WE'VE GOT YOU!" someone cackled and before Percy could regain his bearings, a heavy blow landed on his back and crushed his ribs, as if a full grown man had cannonballed from a five-story building and landed on him. He didn't have time to confirm whether or not that was what actually happened because he was too panicked on the fact that he was sinking.

The water, which Percy had for a fleeting moment mistaken it for the lake outside the castle, was pitch black and as thick as tar. Rather than being energized, he felt sluggish. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He could hardly identify which way was up and which way was down.

And he couldn't breathe. The pressure clamped down on his lungs like it was a really strong baby and his lungs were a finger it grabbed at. He tried to control it, but there was no familiar tug in his gut. He might as well have been trying to control the Sun.

Suddenly, there was a force on his back like someone had shoved him forward and with a pop, Percy flew out of the lake and tumbled into the doorway.

Thalia slapped his face sharply in greeting. "I saved your sorry arse!" she shouted. "Now come on!"

There was a long gash across her face that was bleeding nastily. Her robes were gone and the jeans she wore beneath them were smoking and burned.