Son Of The Cup Bearer {Percy Jackson x Ejen Ali}

Human Alive, Not Human Barbecued

Five minutes (or was it longer than that?) in, Iman realised that she could not hold up with Eta for long. She didn't knew to be impressed or angered by that; it wasn't every time you find an opponent worthy of you, and for Iman that was like five percent of the population. 

Iman had learned kung fu since she was six, so fighting without weapons wasn't hard for her. But it wasn't every time your opponent gets to attack you with bees. Smart bees, for that matter. And everyone questions why Iman hates bees.

Eta had barely moved much since the beginning, as the bees and grass around the clearing were doing most of the work for him, though he was visibly straining to control all these factors at once, what's more against a skilled fighter. For that, Iman was proud.

If her headscarf wasn't made of magical materials, it would have been reduced to shreds by now. As it was, it still slammed into the incoming bees and sliced through hostile grasses like a light, flexible sheet of metal.

As much as Iman hated to admit it, her pacing and reactions were getting slower, and yet Eta's attacks still came without faltering the slightest bit. She must have been obvious because Eta let out a hollow giggle.

"Surrender now and I'll make sure your body is in one piece," he said in a monotone.

"I will never- never surrender to the likes of you," Iman snarled, lashing out her headscarf to slice an incoming wall of grass in half. She had barely enough time to dodge before a swarm of bees came buzzing from her left.

Eta licked his charred lips. "Well, it's been nice dealing with you."

From all directions shot out vines as thick as a human body. Iman, already exhausted, couldn't even try to think up of a way to escape this new technique. She knew she was going to end, but at least she had bought time for Moon to complete her part.

Then suddenly the vines all caught fire. Each of them stopped in their race, twitching on the spot as they burned. When they weren't able to hold themselves in the air anymore, they fell around the clearing with ground-shuddering thumps. 

Iman blinked. What in the name of Diana just happened?

She looked around, trying to find for Eta, when she saw that he had caught fire too. Iman didn't know why, despite him trying with all his might to kill her not just ten seconds ago, she rushed to the crumpling Eta's side. 

"No, no, no, no," Iman cursed, panicking at the sight of his burning body.

However bad a person was, they didn't deserve to die like this. Not with an arrow to the heart. Not by burning to death.

She met Eta's eyes and was genuinely astonished to find some sane, human part of him left. 

"I-Iman?" he mumbled, his voice like sizzling barbecue. "Oh, gods. The fight. I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"Petalio," Iman whispered, amazed. "You're back."

The man, Petalio, smiled as his skin began shedding like snakeskin. "Not for long. But at least Eta is gone too. Man, I hated him." Then he looked at his body and frowned. "Hey, I'm on fire."

Despite the situation, Iman managed a brittle laugh. "Eta's you, you idiot. Stay with me for Khai, please."

Petalio's eyes dimmed, and Iman knew that her wish was impossible to fulfill. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered one last time. And he was gone.

As if on cue, all the flames died around the clearing, even the ones that was on Petalio. His body was what represented a human that has just survived a fire. Or didn't, Iman thought miserably.