Percy Jackson One Shots and Short Stories

#59 - Territory (Part V)

Chapter 58 - Territory (Part V)
published: Monday, 22 June 2020

Hurtling through darkness was much more terrifying when Annabeth didn't know where exactly they were going. With Nico, she trusted the son of Hades to shadowtravel them.

With Janus, well, Annabeth trusted the god about as far as she could throw him. For all she knew, he could've sent them spiralling back into Tartarus.

The ground slammed against Annabeth's heels with a painful, sharp impact, sending bolts of pain shooting up her legs. She wobbled upon landing, grabbing Fay so the younger girl wouldn't fall.

"Oh my Gods," she murmured under her breath, watching the chaos unfold all around them.

The battle had clearly already escalated for some time. There were demigods and monsters clashing in every direction that Annabeth looked. Broken bodies littered the ground, and Annabeth didn't want to see which were dead and which were not.

"Fay," Annabeth told the girl urgently. "Go find the other younger campers."

"I can help," Fay protested.

"Annabeth's right," Percy said worriedly. "You've been through enough." When Fay didn't budge, Percy sighed and knelt down. "Hey, I know what it feels like to want to jump into battle. But the best thing you can do is help protect the youngest campers and those who are injured. Can you do that for me? For Annabeth?"

Annabeth gaped, impressed, as Fay nodded slowly before she turned her back and scampered off.

"You'll have to teach me that," Annabeth marvelled.

Percy replied with a grin, thought it didn't reach his eyes. The tension in the air was palpable — a completely different type of tension now. He was worried about their friends and the fate of the camp.

"Hey, we made it out of the Labyrinth," Annabeth said, still disbelieving at her own words. "We can beat some monsters." Annabeth flicked out her whip into a staff as Percy drew Riptide. He nodded in reply, and the two of them sprang into action.

Annabeth had to admit that the one thing she would always be able to rely on with Percy was how well they fought together. Even when they'd been arguing day and night, fighting always came naturally to both of them.

Annabeth knew Percy better than he knew himself, and they always worked their way across the battlefield smoothly. Over the years, they'd swiftly moved through changeable forms and attack methods.

When Percy had the Achilles curse, Annabeth had been his entire defence. After it was washed away by the Tiber, he constantly forgot to cover his open side, and Annabeth found herself repeatedly jumping in to make sure he didn't get skewered.

Now, two years later, Percy had fallen into a different rhythm — sort of a combination of both his styles of fighting. Annabeth buffeted one of the monsters with her powers towards Percy, who promptly impaled it.

"I hope we find the Queen first," Annabeth said darkly. "She's not getting away this time." She ripped the heads off of three dracanae before knocking another onto the ground and spearing it through the chest.

"You're pretty scary with that," Percy informed her, waving unintelligibly at her whip. Annabeth replied with a wild grin.

Once they had cleared their area, Annabeth spotted a couple of monsters having peeled off from the main group and were hurling rocks at the Big House, breaking holes into the wooden planks.

Percy released a yell he slammed Riptide into the ground, the resulting tremor sending the dracanae wobbling. Before they could escape, Annabeth pounced, slashing her way through them without much effort. The ends of her staff sliced through them like a knife in butter.