Oct 23 2010

The morning sunlight did not look welcoming. The hue was too orange, and gave the forest a glow akin to that of flames. Thalia had taken the third shift, and was awake when the boys came to consciousness. She looked upon the forest as if even the trees were her enemy.

She passed them their morning rations, heated over the last of fire as it died out. The boys were so busy eating that they hadn't even spoken yet besides incoherent grumbles under their breaths.

"The animals are gone." Thalia said lowly.

"What?" Percy asked, mouth half full.

"Listen."

They did. All they heard was the faint sounds of their own breathing, and the occasional rustle of the leaves overhead as a light breeze passed by.

"Not even bugs." Nico said.

"Anyone else in favor of finishing this quest as soon as possible and getting the Hades out of Dodge?" Percy asked.

"Hey, don't use my Dad's name like that. But yeah, I agree." Nico said.

"Maybe that item is the key to getting out." Thalia said.

"So we find the monster guarding the thing, kill the monster, get the thing, get our butts home?" Percy asked.

"No, kelp head," Thalia said. "I thought the plan was to steal the monster."

"Very funny." Percy said.

"So now we need to figure out where this monster is." Nico said. "Does it want us to find it, or does it want to stay hidden?"

"If we look around for a bit I'm sure we'll find out." Thalia said.

"I'm really glad we took this quest, and not some of the younger campers." Percy said.

"Don't think they could handle it?" Nico asked.

"I... I just feel like something's going to go wrong." Percy said. "No water, no direction, no shadows. This place..."

"It's like it was meant to be bad for us, specifically." Thalia said.

"Things changed after we got here." Nico said. "It adapted to be bad for us."

"Which is just as bad." Percy said. "But at least it's us who have to face it. Not the younger ones."

"I'll second that." Thalia said.

~~~

Oct 24 2010

They didn't know what the monster was. What they did know was that it was kicking their asses. Almost literally, as Percy got thrown back into a tree.

Nico and Thalia both had cuts and scrapes, their clothes staining red, but Percy's skin was unmarred except for old scars. Percy knew they were surprised when he got back up after that blow. He was just confused why it was happening in the first place.

Thalia's bow broke early into the fight. And she only had a limited number of daggers to throw before she had to get in close. Well, she got pissed off enough to actually take the shot, and got right up in the monster's business. The electricity passed harmlessly through the monster.

Nico's sword and Riptide hardly hurt it, when they managed to get close enough. 

"I think we should just grab the damn crown and go!" Thalia shouted.

"That would be a good idea-" Nico replied, dodging a swing. "If we could outrun it!"

"Percy, is there any water at all?" Thalia hollered, jumping up to grab onto a tree branch. "In the air or the fucking trees!"

Percy tried. But the connection just wasn't there. "I can't!"

"What do you mean you can't?" Nico shouted as he took cover behind a tree.

"It doesn't work!" Percy cried out. 

"Fine! Fuck! Nico, get the crown!" Thalia barked.

"On it!"

The fight only got worse. 

Percy lost count of how many times he'd been thrown, or slammed into the ground. He was pretty sure he had a concussion. That probably wasn't helping him keep track of anything. Or think up something smarter past the pounding in his head.

Nico was hot, and sore, and the sweat stung in his cuts. His leg was messed up. He was pretty sure his wrist was sprained. Hell, his arm might even be fractured too. He didn't know. Will would.

Thalia was struggling to breathe. She'd felt something crack in her chest when she'd gotten tossed. Every few gasps, she had to cough. She felt blood splatter on the roof of her mouth, and could taste it on her tongue.

They weren't going to make it out of this fight.

On the ground, through blurred, hazy vision, Percy saw the monster- a rocky, lumpy play-dough looking thing. It felt like slow motion as it trudged toward Nico, who had tripped over some roots and gotten stuck in the underbrush. Gods, he was going to watch Nico die.

The flash of a memory stabbed at his mind and heart. Bianca. Nico was going to die like Bianca had.

Percy didn't register the stinging in his eyes, and the tears that filled them hardly blurred his vision any more than it already was. He reached a hand out, desperately trying to call water to him. Not to him, to save Nico. He couldn't let Nico die like his sister had. Not when he could have stopped it.

He didn't hear Thalia's gurgled scream as the monster raised it's semblance of a fist. He didn't hear the roar of pain that tore at his own vocal chords over the pounding of blood in his ears. He didn't hear the sound of trees snapping in unnatural ways as the water was reaped from them. 

He did feel the pain that tore through his body. Like every vein had been filled with dynamite, and had been lit all at once. It felt like magma filled in the recesses, seeping into the burning muscle.

He didn't know how long he'd blacked out for when he heard the cry of pain from Thalia. She'd fallen to her knees next to him, and the jolt had traveled up through her chest. She and Nico had helped each other make it over to where Percy had been lying unconscious.

Nico stumbled, clumsily getting on the ground next to Thalia and Percy. Percy heard her voice muffled, distorted, as if she was speaking through a pillow from far away. He couldn't focus his swirling vision. She brought her hands to his face, trying to get his attention, get him to focus.

He couldn't move. He wasn't sure if he was breathing. He couldn't feel his body, only pain, disconnected from everything else but at the forefront of his being.

And then the crown had glowed, clenched in Nico's hand. The ground beneath him turned from forest dirt to Olympian marble.

~~~

Oct 26 2010

Annabeth had arranged a search party. The three hadn't Iris messaged at all. They were supposed to update at least once each day.

Everyone knew those three could handle pretty tough enemies. That was why they went. But if something was giving even them trouble... The campers were worried. Especially with the scent they would give off.

They began by following in the three's footsteps. They found a campsite. The Hunters with them said that the campsite had been used about twice. But it had been several days since then.

After that, they split up. There were too many trails for them to follow as one group. The hours seemed to last far longer than they should have. Everyone was on edge.

It was Clarisse's group that found them. The daughter of Ares caught a flash of color out of the corner of her eye, and took off into the underbrush. On the other side of the tree, she was met with the sight of Percy's body. Broken and mangled, stained red by blood. Dirt stuck to his skin from long dried sweat. His once bright eyes staring lifeless into the beyond.

It wasn't a wail, and it wasn't a roar, but something in between that tore through her throat as she fell to her knees beside him. Everything was in hauntingly sharp detail: The cracking of the foliage as the rest of her group followed after her, the scent of the trees and grass, of iron and rot.

The other two in her group arrived to see the same thing, to smell the same. Conner heaved into the foliage. The Hunter, named Mathilda, stared at Percy for a long moment, then followed his empty gaze.

"Lieutenant!" She cried, running over to Thalia, sliding in the dirt as she reached her. Thalia's empty eyes stared into the sky.

With shaking hands, Mathilda reached for a horn on her belt. She held it to her lips and blew a long, low, mournful tone. When it faded out, other horns echoed the note from the hunters in different groups. Mathilda gave another call, guiding the hunters to their fallen lieutenant.

Conner frantically looked for Nico. He found the smaller boy, and stumbled to the ground beside him. Tears fell from his eyes as he slipped into a thousand yard stare.

When Travis arrived, he went to his little brother's side and wrapped his arms around him. Conner cried into his chest, soaking Travis' shirt.

Will cursed wildly, crying, punching at a tree until one of his siblings stopped him, wrapping their arms around his chest and pinning his swinging limbs to his sides.

Hazel went limp, Frank having to hold her up even though his own knees threatened to give out. Her sobs were muffled by his shirt.

Annabeth went numb. She was disconnected from her mind, her body, her emotions. There was nothing at all. Malcolm sat her down on a fallen log as she stared into the nothingness.

Lightning sparked around Jason dangerously, only fading when Piper finally managed to get through to him, tear tracks down her cheeks.

It was Clarisse who gave the first coherent order with a scratchy voice. "Let's take them home." She carefully got one arm around Percy's shoulders, the other under his knees. And she carefully stood up from her knees until she was on her own feet.

Will shoved the others aside and picked Nico up himself, cradling the smaller boy to his chest. Will used to complain that Nico's hands were too cold. Now he wished they were that warm.

Jason took his sister into his arms. A cruel twist of fate. She used to be the one to carry him in his early days. Now he carried her after her last.

~~~

The shrouds were beautiful. Piper thought it was a shame they didn't keep them as a memorial. She supposed that maybe a sendoff like this could be beautiful too. But right now, she couldn't appreciate it.

Thalia and Nico's bodies were burned with their shrouds, on wooden boats over the ocean. Percy's shroud had it's own boat.

Percy's body lay in a coffin, tucked safely in the earth of a green grass cemetery. A graceful yet modest tombstone marking his resting place. Sally wanted a place to visit.

~~~

May 22 2013

Achilles had been on a walk when he noticed a monster trail. So he began to track it. He wasn't as good as Ash by a long shot, but he was a spy. 

It was almost funny. He'd had childhood fantasies of being a spy. Now he was one. And he absolutely hated it.

It took several hours of walking to catch up. His mind wandered. Loki had teleported over to Leslie's to help with the new identities. The Avengers thought Loki was with Achilles, exploring the city doing god knows what.

He was pulled from his thoughts when his radar picked up on a person ahead of him. What on earth was a person doing out here, in the funky monster town of nowhere at all with a few trees? They stood then, and turned when they heard his approach.

He never should have come back to New York.

She was standing there, staring at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

Of course she'd look like that. She thought he was dead. They all did.

By the fates, he never should have come back to New York.

A/N

:-D

Have a cliffhanger. I don't do them too often. Also, I managed to get another good chapter of Achilles written :)