ELAPSE | PJO

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 23

[ future percy ]

"Um, Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"The campers--watch out!"

Percy saw the arrow at the same moment Annabeth called out, and he side stepped to just barely dodge it. He looked up incredulously, spotting the Apollo kid across the yard, his bow still in position. In one swift moment, a second arrow was knocked.

"Annabeth? Why are the campers attacking us?"

The arrow flew past his head, almost taking off his ear in the process. He flinched back a step and bumped into his girlfriend.

"Annabeth?"

Percy whipped around, meeting her eyes. She wasn't responding to him, not even a glance of acknowledgment. He grabbed her shoulders with growing concern, leaning down to level their gazes.

"Wise Girl? You with me?"

The answer he got was the last thing he needed.

He unintentionally yelled as he dodged her sword, taken completely by surprise. "Annabeth! I'm not the target!"

Percy wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of hoping his sarcasm would knock her back to her senses. Unfortunately, there was no response from the blonde as she swung again, and this time he was forced to counter with Riptide.

He could see other demigods, some familiar and some new faces, closing in on him as well. He forced his brain to work.

Why wasn't he trying to kill his friends?

Annabeth broke their see-saw type hold and swung at him again, her face emotionless. Percy's blood chilled at the dull shade of grey her eyes had taken on, devoid of the life and personality he'd grown used to and loved. 

"Annabeth!" Percy slammed his eyes shut and growled. What wasn't he seeing?

He jumped out of the way of the daughter of Athena, only to land on a clump of pitch black snakes. Remembering the nasty bite they gave Annabeth, he recoiled and retreated further away.

They bite.

"They bite!" 

He hadn't meant to yell it quite so loudly, but at least it got the attention of the other halfbloods, the ones not trying to kill each other. 

"Don't let the snakes bite you!" 

This time, Annabeth came at him so silently Percy almost missed her. He was used to her yelling out instructions or giving a little battle cry before tearing her enemies to shreds, but her brows weren't even slightly pressed together as she advanced with a terrifying amount of killing intent.

Gods, he did not want to fight her.

But his wants or needs were never considered when it came to demigod stuff, and he was quickly forced into a one-on-one with his girlfriend. And not the kind he used to train. 

The kind where he was fighting for his life - while she fought to take his life.

Percy had to stick to defense, blocking and parrying constantly as Annabeth gradually pushed him back. If she were an enemy, he would've known exactly what to do, especially when half of her moves were his own. 

He was able to sneak in a few blows, small attempts to disarm or knock her over. But her reflexes were present as ever, and it was obvious he'd need a plan to catch her off guard. Percy would not hurt her.

"Annie!" The nickname slipped from his lips as he tripped on a slithering snake along the path and landed on his bottom. "Gods!"

This was beyond frustrating. Percy was never taught to win with just defense, much less against someone he loved. 

He could feel the tip of her sword hovering in front of his neck, and he sucked in a sharp intake of breath. This was nothing new, he'd been on the receiving end of her weapon in countless practice matches. Now was the part when she laughed and helped him up, teasing him.

Percy never got an outstretched hand. Annabeth reached back and thrust her weapon forward.

He caught it with Riptide just in time, flinging her sword across the lawn and startling some snakes.

"Percy! Er, older Percy!"

The son of Poseidon risked a look to his left and spotted young Malcolm Pace, Charles Beckendorf, and Silena Beauregard approaching him. He waved pathetically, slightly irked that this was how they met up. With him in the dirt by his girlfriend's hand. He pushed himself to his feet, watching Annabeth warily.

"She got bit," Silena observed as they jogged to his side. Each one of them held their own weapon.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "But I disarmed her, so--"

The four demigods watched as the blonde pulled a hidden knife from her belt.

"Dang it!" Percy tore a hand through his hair. "I knew she had that, too!"

"Annabeth with a dagger is scary." Beckendorf brandished his ax, looking Annabeth up and down.

"You can say that again," Percy muttered. "We have to immobilize the. . .infected."

Malcolm nodded. "Let's just get the weapons out of their hands. We can go from there."

"Charlie and I will come from the back," Silena said. "Keep her distracted until we can surround her."

Percy went to nod, but hesitated. He looked around, recognizing dozens of campers with the same dull glow in their eyes as Annabeth had. He shook his head.

"What is it?" Silena asked.

"We were following the trail. We hoped it would lead to Moros, the source of this mess."

The other three halfbloods shared a look, having a silent conversation. Percy met Malcolm's gaze, the only one he could stand to look at of more than a second.

"Go ahead," Malcolm told him. "We'll hold her off."

Percy's entire being told him to stay and help Annabeth, but deep, deep down he knew - the best way to do that was to walk away and find the source. He nodded, forcing himself to turn and keep going.

"Just don't hurt her!"

Silena smiled. "You got it, lover boy."