The Years After (Percabeth fanfic)

14. The Battle Begins

Percy
As soon as the Argo II was out of sight, I sprinted off to my cabin to get suited up. I was in my usual jeans and a CHB t-shirt but I needed armor. I put on my celestial bronze chest plate and leather arm guards. On my legs, I had celestial bronze padding over my jeans as well as shin-guards and knee pads. I had my beaded necklace still around my neck. On my head, I put on my roman style helmet. On my wrist, I had my watch and in my hand was the Riptide. I was ready for battle.

I ran outside and called for Blackjack. "Whats up boss?" he said as he landed next to me. "Take me to the big house" I said climbing on his back. Unlike usual, when I would ride bare-back, Blackjack had his own set of armor that included blade on the ends of his wings and his horse shoes were made from celestial bronze as well.

When we got to the big house, everyone was running around. On the top of the hill, was our first line of defense, the Ares campers. Frank stood in front, ready. On various roofs and high spots around camp, was the huntress'. I saw Thalia right up next to Frank.

"Percy!" I heard a familiar voice call my name. I whirled around and saw Jason, in similar armor as me. "Quickly, a naval attack is in pursuit" he said motioning for me to run. I sprinted to the beach, with Jason flying above me. When we reached the ocean, I could see at least 8 ships filled with monsters less than a mile away from the shore.

Jason landed right next to me. "Ready for a hurricane?" he asked with a smirk. I chuckled. "Bring it" I said. Jason took off and I sprinted towards the water. I controlled the waves as Jason picked up the winds. We had practiced this plenty of times before and we were ready. I rode a wave close to the ships and began forming a tsunami as I went. When the wave got to be at least 100 feet tall, I willed it to crash onto the first 2 ships but the rest of the fleet was able to get away before it could get them too.

"Percy! Jump!" screamed Jason. I knew what this meant. I willed the wave I was riding to throw me high into the air, just as I was out of the water, Jason sent 3 lightning strikes down on the ships, electrifying the ocean, killing half of the sea-monsters in the ocean. Right when the shock went away, I fell back into the ocean. I could feel the water in my veins as I plummeted to the bottom of the ocean.

When I reached the bottom, I grinned. I pushed off the sand and flew like a torpedo to the closest ship. I crashed through the hull, sending water in to fill it. I unleashed the Riptide just as a gnarly looking crab thing tried to attack. I sliced off his claw and kicked him right in the chest, sending him into the hole I made in the hull. I sprinted out of the ship, beheading two other monsters in the process. When I reached the deck, I was surrounded by monsters.

I was a machine, I fought of monsters 4 at a time. Someone important once said that "a man with a reason worth fighting, could beat an entire army" and today, I was that man. I dodged, I flipped, I attacked, I deflected and I killed. I could hear Jason sending lightning strikes down on he ship next to me. But soon, I was completely surrounded.

"Jason! When I send the wave, you strike!" I screamed as I fought a monster. "It will kill you!" he replied. "Just do it, trust me!" I said. I willed the sea to send a wave so massive, it would take out the rest of the fleet. As soon as I could see it, I grinned, this wave was well over 300 feet tall and it almost completely drained me. I was breathing heavy as I tried to deflect another monsters blow.

"Percy, I hope you know what your doing!" screamed Jason. "Now!" I yelled. I saw the wave come crashing down on the boat and a flash of light, then, everything went black.

I felt my body slip into the water then drift down to the deepest depths of the ocean. I tried to move, to open my eyes but I couldn't. I felt my body hit the ocean floor with a thud. I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't feel pain or anger, not sadness or warmth, just nothing.

I must have laid there for hours until I could open my eyes. I looked up and saw a figure swimming towards me. I squinted and I could make out a man. He was going awfully slow but soon I could make out his face. It was Jason. He looked like he was struggling, then it hit me. He couldn't breathe! I closed my eyes and used every amount of energy I had left and tried to make an air bubble. It was only big enough to fit around his face but that was all he needed.

Jason picked up the pace until he reached me. He grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me up. I groaned as Jason swam. As we went through the water, I could feel it flowing against my skin, reviving me. Pretty soon, I could move again. Once we reached the surface, Jason took a huge breath. I gasped and took in as much air as I could.

"You okay?" gasped Jason. I nodded, I could feel my strength coming back and I decided to test it. I willed the ocean to move us towards the shore. We were slow at first but pretty soon, we were riding the wave in.

Once we got on shore, Jason collapsed on the ground and I fell down next to him. We just laid there, breathing hard for a few moments as we could hear fighting in the background. I was half way in the water and half out, just enough that the water would heal me. Jason on the other hand was completely out of the water, all wet and stuff.

Soon, I could feel all of my strength come back and I stood up. I willed myself and Jason to be dry once more. Jason coughed then grinned. "Did we just take on the entire enemy fleet?" I asked giving Jason my hand to help him up. Jason laughed. "I believe we did" he said as I pulled him up.

Jason stood up straight, his hair was all over the place though, I'm pretty sure mine was standing on end due to the whole electric shock. Somewhere along the way, I had lost my helmet but the Riptide had reappeared in my pocket. Jason somehow lost one of his elbow pads as well as his helmet.

"We should get back" I said. "Yeah, something tells me, the battle has begun" said Jason. I called Blackjack and he was here in a matter of seconds. "You need a lift or will you take yourself?" I asked climbing on Blackjack. Jason grinned and took of to the sky. I rolled my eyes and we followed him to the battlefield.

When we reached the camp, I could see the massive army Octavian somehow acquired standing less than a couple hundred yards outside of camp. Even with the amount of help we received from outside the camp, we were still outnumbered. I looked over to Octavian's army, it was horrific. It mainly consisted of monsters of all sorts but there were also some demigods in red robes in the front of the line, standing side by side with Octavian.

"Where do you what to land boss?" asked Blackjack. I pointed towards the front line of defense of the camp. Blackjack twitched his ear, signaling a 'yes' then we speed down. I hopped off Blackjack and told him to go back to the stables, there, they would probably be preparing them to haul medical carts around the battle field and with these odds, they were going to need them.

I jogged over to Frank, Thalia, Jason, Reyna and Chiron. "Percy, why aren't you with Annabeth?" asked Thalia. "I was needed here" I said simply. I turned to Chiron. "The naval fleet is taken care of" I said. I could hear Jason chuckle but I decided to ignore him. "Good, now it's time for the real battle" he said with a pained expression.

"Jason, you go up above, help out the Pegasus riders. Lead them" said Reyna with a kind smile. Jason grinned. "I would be honored" he said before jetting off into the sky. "Chiron, you and the party ponies will be the first line, a few campers will be riding y'all so we can get the maximum amount of attack. Thalia, you and the huntress' will be leading the defense this time, don't let anyone past this hill. Hazel, you did a tunnel big enough for 5 men across under the battle grounds so we can attack from behind" said Frank who was decked out in full military armor along with Chiron, and Reyna. "Reyna, you and I will be leading the ground troops, Percy, we could really use your help" Frank asked looking over to me.

"It would be my pleasure, but one thing, Octavian is mine" I said gripping the Riptide in my hands. Frank gave me a half smile and nodded. "Then let's do this thing" he said taking out an arrow from his bag. He pointed it at the sky. "On my count, one, two, three!" he screamed, letting go of his arrow. I watched as his single arrow flew through the sky, followed hundreds of others. We all screamed then charged as the other side did the same. This was war.

* * * * * * * * * *
Annabeth

I laid in bed, feeding little Charlie. Piper had "let" me sleep for about an hour but I eventually woke up to the sound of Charlie crying. I was still very weak but I was able to get up and feed him with the bottle that Piper had given me. Charlie was like an exact replica of Percy, he had me wrapped around his little finger.

His big green eyes looked up at me in curiosity and I knew he was going to be a smart one. Just holding him gave made me calm but I couldn't stop thinking about Percy. He was fighting a war without me and I hated it. I wanted so badly for him to be next to me. What hurt the most was that if something were to happen, Charlie would grow up without a father and I don't know if I could bare it.

A knock came at the door. "Come in" I said still looking at Charlie. The person cleared their throat. I looked up and saw a very unexpected person. Nico. He stood there in dark, almost black armor. His chest plate was black with a gold skull on the breast. His pants were tight and had dark leather padding on them, his long black hair was slicked back, probably from having his helmet on. When he walked, you could hear the clicking from his tall steel-toed boots. On his hip hung his scythe as well as several other knives. His pale skin showed only on his face, everything else was covered in either black or gold armor. He looked even more distraught than usual.

"Annabeth, I came to give you an, um, update" he said quietly. I nodded. My heart beating faster with every word. "The battle has started. Um, for a little bit, I felt Percy um, down there" he paused. Just as I was about to break down, he spoke again "But then he came back. We um, we lost a lot though but as far as I know, Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Chiron, Thalia, Jason, Rachel, Percy and Octavian are all alive" he said looking down at Charlie.

"Okay, that's good. Promise me you will tell me if anything happens" I said putting down the empty bottle. "Uh, Leo said that we need to land to get something so I should stay here because we are on the ground" said Nico awkwardly. I smiled. "Okay, if you want to sit, there is a chair over there" I said motioning to the chair next to my bed.

Nico nodded and went to sit. We sat in silence for a long while. I stayed rocking Charlie while Nico watched us intensely. "What's his name?" he asked after a little while. "Charles or Charlie" I said. Nico made a sad smile. "After Beckandroff?" he asked. I nodded. I looked up at Nico who was staring at Charlie. He looked like he was in pain. "Nico, what's wrong?" I asked. "I feel it everytime someone I know dies and it's just, it's happening a lot in a short period of time" he muttered.


"Would you like to hold him?" I asked after a minute. Charlie calmed me down and Piper, I don't see why it wouldn't work for Nico as well. Nico looked up at me, confused. "My arms are getting tired and I don't think Charlie is going to be asleep very soon" I said with a kind smile. Nico thought for a moment then nodded. I reached my arms out with Charlie in them, he wore a little grey onsie with an owl on the front. Nico took him in his own arms, Charlie stirred for a moment causing Nico to look like he was going to have a heart attack but he stopped when Nico got him.

Nico's face softened as Charlie reached up in the sky. Charlie cooed and Nico smiled. A real smile. "He likes you" I said softly. Nico began to rock him slowly and gently. "He does?" he asked in total disbelief. I nodded and Nico's smiled grew. Just then, the whole ship creeeeeeaked. Nico looked up at me wide eyed.

"Take him, I'll see what's going on" Nico said sounding very mature yet commanding at the same time. I nodded and grabbed Charlie from his arms. Nico unleaded his scythe and went out the door. I set Charlie down on his back as I tried to stand up. I was stronger this time and thanks to the ambrosia, I was able to walk and even run but I was still in no shape to fight.

I picked up Charlie who began crying. "Shh, baby, shh" I said rubbing his little back trying to sooth him. He was only 4 hours old. He should be sleeping, hell, I should be sleeping but none of that was going to happen. I could hear fighting and the clanging of swords from outside the door. I could hear Nico's shouts and it killed me not being able to help.

Nico burst through the door, blood oozing from his head. "We have to go!" he said slamming the door behind him. "No, just you and Charlie. You will travel faster with just him" I said handing the baby off to him. Nico looked up at me, fear clouded his eyes. "Nico, trust me. We will be fine. They will leave once they realize the baby isn't here" I tried to sound convincing. Nico nodded. "It's only a matter of time before they catch us. I can only go on earth" he still sounded panicked. "Hopefully, we can stop this before they do" I said.

I looked down at Charlie, he was asleep in Nico's arms. He looked so peaceful but little did he know, things are about to go very bad for him. I knelt down and kissed the top of his head, just like what Percy would do to me. "I love you" I whispered to him.

Just then, the door got kicked in by one of Gaea's dirt soldiers. Nico looked up at me one last time then disappeared. Just as the soldier was about to attack, I lunged out of the way, landing hard on the ground. "Annabeth!" I heard Leo scream.

I dodged another attack as Leo tackled the soldier from behind. Leo was riding the monster's back screaming "Yeehaw!" Under different circumstances, I probably would have laughed but this was sort of life threatening. Leo wrapped his arms around the monster and pressed his hands over the it's chest. His hands began to glow and I knew what he was doing. Soon, what the soldier began to harden and eventually, the whole thing turned to stone. Leo then jumped off its back, promptly took out his hammer then with one tap on its head, the whole thing crumpled to dust.

Leo gave me a devilish smile. "Never thought I would see the day when Annabeth Jackson needed me to save her from a pile of dirt". I rolled me eyes as Leo extended a hand to help me up which I gladly took. "Where is Nico and diapers?" asked Leo. "I sent them away" I said softly. Leo's face dropped but he just nodded. "Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded. "Anymore out there?" I asked. "Not as far as I know, that little bugger shouldn't have gotten in here in the first place. The Ares kids took care of most of them along with Piper" he said.

"Take me back to camp" I said quietly. "What?" he asked in disbelief. "Take me back" I said glaring at Leo. His face went pale and he just nodded.

We got in the air pretty quickly and made our way back to camp. It was an hour long journey according to Leo which was plenty long for me to rest enough to at least be able to help out the injured if not even fight so I went to go take a nap.

***Oooo, battle scenes. What do you think is going to happen with Charlie? Also, I am going to announce the coming out date for my newest fanfic book "Taking The World By Storm" which is a Jiper fanfic, in the next chapter so be ready! Hope your enjoying it so far! Also, if Jason and Piper were to have a child what would its name be? Comment and I will choose the best one! -Izzy