Percabeth Versus Everyone Else!

Elli

T/W blood (not gruesome or anything but yeah just in case I guess)

The sounds of the army approaching were deafening in the sleeping city. They were getting closer and soon they would reach this makeshift infirmary I had set up. I turned to the demigod lying next to me and started bandaging her leg, gently trickling some nectar into her mouth with my free hand. "So much for the city that never sleeps," I muttered. I looked up at Phoebe who smiled and lay a finger against her lips. She was thinking the same thing I was - we had to stay quiet. We couldn't give the army any more reason to know we were here. I tied off the bandages firmly and turned to another patient. She was one of our hunters, with a deep gash down her right arm.

"Empousa," she explained. I smiled at her and mimicked Phoebe, holding a finger against my lips. She nodded and held her arm out so I could examine it. It wasn't a bad wound, definitely not fatal, but it was deep, and a quick glance at the side her quiver leant to told me it was her dominant arm. I washed away the blood and handed her some ambrosia, hoping it would help.

That was when I heard the first voice. "Demigodssss." it hissed. "That building up ahead! And hunterssss too! What a feasssst."

"Dracanae," I realised. "Up! Everybody out!" I turned around to help up one of the demigods and noticed a young girl standing a the back of the room, hastily tying up her blonde curls. Her grey eyes fixed on me - she was a daughter of Athena.

"Can I help?" she called. I nodded and gestured to the wounded lying around me.

"Get them out of here. You too, Phoebe." Phoebe shook her head and fell into a fighting stance.

"As if!" she countered, pulling out her knife.

"You're injured, " I motioned to her broken arm. "and I'm giving you an order. Leave!"

"I outrank you," she said, helping up another hunter.

"Not now. I am a medic and you are my patient. I outrank you. Now get out of here! I'll hold them off." She nodded reluctantly and followed the Athena girl, letting another hunter lean against her. I ran up the steps, looking for the high ground and stopped just before I hit the second floor, pulling an arrow from my quiver and prepping it against my bow. Lady Artemis, give me strength and protect me, I thought. Or not. I get you're super busy from the whole giant monster trying to crush Olympus thing, so it's cool if you can't.

I crouched down, breathing deeply and readying myself for what was about to come. The first dracanae slithered into the room and I let my arrow fly. She fell quickly, dissolving into dust and sand. The second dracanae behind her hesitated, watching in horror as her friend vanished into nothing. She stood up and shrieked, long and high-pitched, and I realised she was calling for reinforcements.

The dust on the floor bounced up and down with the nearing steps of the hundreds of monsters in Kronos' army. I let one hand drop to the floor and felt the steps of some break off and head towards me. I smiled. One hunter against maybe a dozen monsters. I liked those odds.

When they fell into the room it felt like they were flooding it. Okay, I thought, so more than a dozen. It struck me suddenly that they must not realise it was just me. Which meant they could still smell everyone else. I had to hold them off for long enough so they could get away. I tensed my muscles and shot my second arrow, watching it hit home. They all looked around for a minute before one Empousa screamed in frustration. "You idiots!" she yelled, then pointed at me. "She's up there!"

Di immortales.

I fired seven more arrows before they got too close. Slinging my bow over my back, I pulled my hunting knife from its sheath. I sliced and slashed at the monsters, turning them to dust with each blow, suddenly thankful for my training in a way I hadn't been before. Soon, though, it was just me and that blasted Empousa. She smiled sweetly at me and charged, raking her claws at my stomach. I pulled back and was forced further upstairs. I faked a blow to the left and plunged my dagger into her right side. She screamed, a horrible wailing sound, and dug her claws into my chest. I cried out as she yanked them out with even more force, and they came out a horrible, bloody red colour. She broke down into dust in front of me, laughing horribly as she slipped away. I clutched my chest, but I was bleeding too much, and soon my hands were slippery with red. I leant back against the stairs and closed my eyes.

"Thank you, my lady." I whispered.

------------------------------------------------------

The scream that echoed through the block was clear, although Annabeth wasn't sure if that was just because she had become used to the sounds of the advancing army. She glanced over her shoulder and quickened her pace, lifting up the daughter of Demeter slightly and taking more of her weight. "Who was she?" she asked Phoebe.

"Third Lieutenant and Medic Ophelia. We... we called her Elli." She seemed to smile softly at the memory.

"Had she been with you long?"

"400 years, give or take."

"Wow. That's..." she trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Yeah," said Phoebe, looking up at the night sky. Her eyes settled on one particular constellation - the Hunter. "Wow."

"Annabeth!" called Percy, running towards her before lifting up and supporting another wounded demigod. "What happened?"

"Kronos' army is closer than we think. They took one of the Hunters' infirmaries." She nodded back down the avenue.

"They're that close already? Di immortales."

Another hunter rushed up to them, pulling nectar and ambrosia out of a pocket. She was young, Phoebe thought, and new. She took the wounded away from Percy and Annabeth, and Phoebe went to find Thalia, watching them all the while. When she found her Lieutenant, Thalia followed her gaze. She smiled briefly, but it didn't meet her eyes.

"Did we lose her? Elli, I mean?" she asked. Phoebe just nodded.

A/N I need to cool it with the dramatic opening lines. Sorry about the lack of percabeth btw, but I really liked this idea sooooooo