Zero to Hero (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Four-Apparently This Is Now a Backwards Fairytale

N/A I feel like I deserve a thank you. I'm on a roll. Three updates in six days? That's crazy talk. I was planning on making you guys wait another month or something. Just a few chapters left!!!

Percy's POV

If my eyes didn't keep going black, I would have been impressed. Annabeth seemed to be holding her own against Menoetius. She managed to evade his strikes, everytime. I couldn't tell what it was, but she seemed to have a plan. Every dodge she made forced Menoetius's strike into the treasure. 

And then she disappeared. 

Honestly I just thought my dimming eyes were playing tricks on me, so I closed them. That brought my full attention to my injuries. My chest was riddled with pain so intense that every time I inhaled, my head spun. My clothes were sticky with blood. I could feel it spreading in a puddle around me, up to my shoulders, my hair. 

With trembling fingers, I attempted to find the gaping hole in my side. I clapped my hand against it, but warm liquid still oozed out through my fingers. 

"Where are you Annabeth Chase? Or shall I go and finish off your friend?"

"Here!" Called Annabeth's chipper voice in reply.

I peered through my eyelids. I was lying on my side so I didn't have to crane to see Annabeth appear on the very top of the tallest mountain. Menoetius spun toward her and plunged his axe right into...where she had been a millisecond earlier. She'd disappeared again. 

Gold and jewels exploded as the Titan completed his strike, then grew frustrated. He slashed the treasure just to get his frustration out. That was what made me realize Annabeth's plan. As the gold flew through the air, I noticed a nervous bunch of giant ants skittering closer to the Titan. He was destroying their gold.

"Brilliant," I muttered, "if it works."

When I'm lying half dead in the middle of a giant anthill surrounded by enemies, I'm not very optimistic.

When Annabeth next appeared, she waved flirtatiously at the Titan, then turned and dove straight into the center of a hill of gold. Mentoetius grinned, then slammed his weapon through the entire mountain, toppling gold to the cavern floor. A goblet almost smacked me in the head. The room now held one less tower of riches, and a whole lot of angry ants.

They buzzed with fury, crowding into the room. They scuttled around me without pausing, hurrying to the biggest threat to their horde: Menoetius. 

"What is this?" The Titan roared. "I ordered you to clear the room! Go on you disgusting insects! Get away!"

They surrounded him, jabbing their pincers into his legs. He swiped at them angrily, knocking the nearest ones away. But he had the same trouble I had. There were just too many of them for one person, even a Titan to fend off for long. They climbed up his legs, his torso, his neck. Biting and pinching the red flesh. 

Menoetius screamed before the ants covered his face. He was completely covered in shiny black insects. Then his towering form teetered and crashed to the earth. The impact was so immense the ground shook beneath me. Then, to my growing amazement, Menoetius's black form lifted, and the Mermeke's carried him out of the cavern. 

When he was finally gone, there were only a few ants remaining, and they were focused on restacking their treasure into piles. It appeared there was a system to it, one I couldn't see. They put each piece in a specific pile. It would have been fascinating to watch if I hadn't been terrified they'd realize there was a completely helpless meal lying on the floor of their living room.

Suddenly Annabeth appeared in front of me, kneeling, looking sweaty and tired, but somehow still cute with her curly blonde hair a rats nest. She held a tattered Yankee's cap in her hand. I didn't even have the energy to jump. 

She reached out and gently pushed me onto my back. I groaned at what felt like thousands of needles jabbing into my chest.

"H-how did you do that?" I muttered.

Annabeth held up the cap, looking nervous and unfocused. "It makes me invisible somehow."

"Grover?"

"He's recovering." She pursed her lips, hugging her middle as though steeling herself to do something.

I exhaled in relief, then winced. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, but looked as though she were contemplating being sick.

"Bu--"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." She squeezed her eyes shut, then took a deep breath, leaned forward and...pressed her lips firmly against mine.

***

Memories flooded my head like a fast forwarded movie. The day I got claimed by Poseidon. The day I returned the Lightning Bolt. Grover in a wedding dress. Annabeth falling off the side of a cliff. Mrs. O'Leary bounding in to save the day. New York completely silent and still. The layout of Camp Jupiter. The Argo II. Bob. Gaea rising over Camp Halfblood. 

I blinked. Above me, Annabeth drew back, staring at me. 

"Percy," she whispered, her voice emotional.

"What--?" I tried to comprehend what had just happened. "True love's kiss?"

Despite herself, Annabeth laughed. I grinned, and started to laugh too, but it turned into a moan.

Annabeth swung off her backpack and pulled out bandages. She wadded one up and pressed it into my side. I winced. 

"Injuries?" she asked, eyebrows pinched.

I think...broken ribs," I said tightly. "And my hand has gone all paralyzed."

She nodded. "Right. Try not to move."

"Thanks," I squinted at her through one eye, "I was thinking I should run a mile.... Guess I won't be doing that anymore."

"Shut up," she said again as she bent over me to wrap a bandage around my stomach. I reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She paused, looking at me with those gray eyes that were so good at hiding how she really felt. At the moment she was trying to focus on bandaging my wound, but behind that facade, I knew she was as traumatized by Mnemosyne's magic as I was. 

"We're okay," I whispered. "It's over."

"Percy...that was..." her voice faded, as she forced herself not to cry.

I was growing too tired to think. Too tired for words. My hand snuck around her neck. She obediently leaned down. Her head rested against my shoulder. My thumb stroked her shoulder. She was careful not to put too much weight on my chest, for which I was grateful. We stayed like that for a few minutes, just adjusting to the onslaught of memory and relishing in each other's warmth. 

Annabeth raised her head. "You're getting blood everywhere."

I sighed, wincing. "Yeah." She started to get up. "Wait." I pulled her down into another kiss. 

"Mmm," Annabeth murmured. Then she blinked at me. 

I grinned. "Just to make sure I remembered everything."

She rolled her eyes, then got to work, smiling.