𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XXXI; the end

━━━the end

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Callahan's fingers were growing numb. She and Percy plowed through the ghosts, a hurricane swirling around them. She would knock one to him and he would slice it in half. He would duck and she would slice an arch over him, cutting through their enemies. They worked like a machine, working in tandem. He glanced toward the ghost holding the golden eagle. Callahan moved behind him, turning her back and slashing at the vapors trying to sneak up. Percy knocked down the standard-bearer and gripped the eagle.

    "You want it?" He roared, "Come and get it!!"

    They pulled the monsters away, screaming and shouting and slashing. Over the wind, Frank screamed at them, telling them that their opponents could die now.

    "Gods took ya long enough" Cal muttered under her breath. She stabbed through vapor and it dissolved.

"Percy!" She yelled. He looked up at her and grimaced. Things weren't going well. He looked tired, his movements were slowing, his hurricane growing weaker. Cal could feel her arms turning into lead as she swung at the ghosts surrounding her. Things really weren't going well. They were completely surrounded, and each step she took led her closer and closer to Percy and the edge of the glacier.

Across the camp, Hazel screamed. Alcyoneus had knocked her and Arion into a snowbank with his empire-state-building-sized staff. The ground shook as he thundered closer to them.

Cal looked up at Percy, and she knew it didn't mean to, but her heart stopped. Tired, raggedy, worn-out Percy with his hair plastered to his head and his hurricane whipping around him still managed to look like a god. A god that could destroy her in a heartbeat, on a whim, and she would let him. This boy was the one destined to kill her, and honestly? She couldn't think of a better way to die.

영혼의 동반자는 영원히 살 수 없습니다 (soulmates aren't meant to live forever), as her dad used to say.    

Percy looked at her, and his eyes glinted like he knew what she was thinking. She nodded.

"Go help her!" He yelled at Frank, "We've got these guys!"

She nodded at Frank before dodging a swing from an overzealous casper.

    Her and Percy were back-to-back, chests heaving.

    "You know we're done for, right?" Cal yelled over the howling winds.

    Percy laughed behind her, "yeah I know!"

    She ducked and stabbed a casper lunging for her.

    "So, what's the plan?" She twirled her blades over her head and brought them down through a couple of ghosts.

    "I have an idea-" He cut the head off a ghost, somehow. "But it's insane."

    "When is it not?" She heaved her swords up. "What is it?"

    Percy stopped and heaved a breath, turning and grabbing her waist. "Breaking the ice!"

    Cal smiled, her mom's words ringing in her head. Percy Jackson will be your doom.

    "Do it."

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Through the ruins of the camp, Frank saw Percy and Callahan with their backs to the edge of the cliff. His hurricane was gone. He held Riptide in one hand and the other was wrapped around Callahan's waist. She held the eagle in one hand, her twin blades turned into a double-edged sword in the other. The entire army of shades edged forward, their weapons bristling.

"Percy!" Frank yelled.

Percy glanced over. He saw the fallen giant and seemed to understand what was happening. He yelled something that was lost in the wind, probably: Go!

He glanced at Callahan quickly, and she nodded back at him. Then he slammed Riptide into the ice at his feet. The entire glacier shuddered. Ghosts fell to their knees. Behind Percy, a wave surged up from the bay—a wall of gray water even taller than the glacier. Water shot from the chasms and crevices in the ice. As the wave hit, the back half of the camp crumbled. The entire edge of the glacier peeled away, cascading into the void—carrying buildings, ghosts, Callahan Lee and Percy Jackson over the edge.

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

The water was so cold it burned her skin. She couldn't open her eyes, her arms felt like lead, her throat and chest constricted. Percy had lost his hold on her when the ice broke. A chunk of ice slammed down on top of her, and she got pushed down deeper into the freezing cold. Blackness crept up on the corners of her vision.

    Maybe this is what her mother meant.

━━the end

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・