XXII

The monster stared at Percy with disbelief, his glowing blue eyes locking with the demigod, well, former. Percy clutched the glinting gold sword in his hand, the sunlight seeming to reflect upon it, as if the sword was gaining more power from the sun. The monster, as big as it was seemed to crawl backwards, his claws digging into the ground. His face seemed to show that of shock and anger.

"Where did you get that?!" The monster growled, one of his hands placed upon his chest from the wound that Percy caused. He didn't reply, and instead took up a stance. Percy held the majestic sword above his head, a sort of defensive stance. The monster growled, anger and malice seeming to course through his glowing blue eyes.

"It does not matter, I will still kill you where you stand, and kill that girl behind you!" The monster screeched, lunging at Percy. He merely sidestepped and slashed at the monster, an open wound opening up in the monsters back as a result. The monster growled in pain, staring at Percy with a glare. The monster, that was the size of a tree, was being beaten by Percy.

The monster growled and lunged forward, its claws up in the air, ready for multiple strikes. The monster readied himself and sent a flurry of slashes towards Percy. To the normal eye, the slashes were but blurs of white. Smoke started to form from the constant pressure of the swipes. The cloud dust started to envelope the two, leaving Elizabeth without a clear site of the two. Elizabeth could only hear the sound of wind blowing as things went eerily quiet.

From the dust cloud, the monster was sent flying, smashing into a nearby tree. The monster groaned in a deep voice and shook it's ugly head. Multiple scratches and bruises littering his body. It reared its head towards Elizabeth, a plan seeming to form in his head. The monster charged Elizabeth with a ferocity, his speed was tremendous that Elizabeth could barely register what was happening.

At the blink of an eye, the monster was already next to her, a crooked  smile appearing in its face. It's hands up in the air, its claws ready for the slash. Elizabeth watched in slow motion as the monster readied for the killing blow. She was in a state of shock and fear. Out of nowhere, Percy appeared right in front of Elizabeth, Excalibur in his hand. Percy seemed to be just as fast or even faster than the monster.

The monster slashed with speed and precision, however, Percy blocked it with Excalibur, the impact causing the ground to shake a bit. The monster was sent a flying back, hitting a boulder on the way there. The monster got up, dazed from the sudden force he got. The monster coughed up blood from all the wounds he was receiving. The monster stared at Percy and Elizabeth, seeming to recognize that he couldn't penetrate Percy's defenses. The monster growled, his blue eyes staring Percy down.

"If I can't kill you, I'm bringing you down with me." The monster growled with a deep rough voice. The monsters eyes slowly glowed brighter and brighter, his claws slowly turning blue. His body soon followed. Soon the whole area was covered with a blue light. The trees, the ground, the lakes, they were bathed in a blue light. The monster turned towards Percy and pointed a single claw at him. Percy steadied himself, planting his feet firmly in the ground, clutching Excalibur with both hands.

A beam of blue light shot out of the single claw of the monster. It travelled at the speeds of light, the areas nearby seeming to light up with flames. Elizabeth watched as the blue beam of destruction came flying towards them. Percy put on a serious face, clutching Excalibur in a defensive position. Percy clutched his sword and stared at the beam of magic energy coming towards them. Percy calmed his nerves and closed his eyes for a brief period.

Slash

The beam of blue light was cut straight in half. Elizabeth widened her eyes as the beam suddenly split in two jets, the two weaker beams collided with the nearby trees, not even doing a single damage. Percy clutched Excalibur and made a downward slash all in the span of a second. From Excalibur, a bright blue beam erupted from the tip and was reflected back onto the monster. The monster could only stare with shock and horror as his own attack came flying back towards him.

The beam collided with the monster, the monster letting out a roar of agony. Dust gathered from the force of the impact, covering the monster with a layer of smoke. Slowly the smoke started to disappear. The monster rose from the ground, his whole body charred and burnt. The monster stared at Percy with its one last glowing eye, the other one was either burnt from the beam, or sliced off by Percy.

"You. Will." The monster said in between gasps.

"Pay. For. Thi-." He didn't get to finish his sentence, his life ended before he got to say his finally words. Percy held Excalibur as the monsters head came rolling off of his neck and onto the ground, his body soon followed after, colliding on the earth with a small thud. Elizabeth looked at Percy with wide eyes. Percy clutched Excalibur and stared at the familiar sword, he sighed and placed the sword onto the scabbard in his back. The scabbard itself was magic, it shrouded the magical energy of Excalibur so one could sense it whilst on the scabbard, it appeared right alongside Excalibur which was handy.

"Oh my fucking gods." Elizabeth said with wide eyes. Percy turned towards her, giving a small soft smile at her.

"How in the Hades did you do that?!" She asked with wide eyes. Percy couldn't help but frown, he hadn't heard the name Hades in a very long time. He shook his head and gave off a small shrug to answer Elizabeth's question. She sighed, not content on the answer she got.

"Explain it to me later, we need to get to Camp Half-Blood." She said with a small sigh. Percy nodded and followed behind her. Percy noticed she would occasionally glance behind her and stare at Percy, it was only a few seconds though so Percy didn't mind. Anyone in their right mind would be wary of someone who just killed one of those monsters. Percy had to admit, he already killed about a few dozen of that species. But it was in his past lives.

The signature magical border of Camp Half-Blood came back to view. Percy could faintly see the outline of people looking beyond the borders. Percy could only guess what thoughts were circling their minds. They were probably confused as hell on the sudden trembles and roars. Percy shook his head and followed behind Elizabeth right as the teens on the edge of the border spotted them.

Instantly, a few dozen people or so rushed to see what was happening.

"What the hell happened? Are you okay?" Asked Gillian, the girl from earlier. Elizabeth shrugged, not really sure of what happened either.

"I, dunno, I semi know, but I'm still confused." Elizabeth stated, staring at Percy. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his arm. Merlin walked casually down the hill and looked at the scene with a raised eyebrow.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Merlin asked, Gillian sighed.

"She doesn't know either, well, at least she doesn't understand what happened." Gillian said turning to Merlin

"There was a Vaporsnare, didn't know why it picked to attack us out of everyone but it did." Elizabeth explained. She still stared at Percy with a questioning look, as if asking him to explain. Percy crossed his arms and watched with an amused but innocent smile on his face.

"But somehow, Percival defeated it." Elizabeth added. Merlin stared at Percival, eyeing the scabbard that was strapped on his back. He widened his eyes and gave off a sigh.

"I fucking knew it!" Merlin said with an exasperated tone. Percy smirked a little.

"Why Lynn? What do you know?" Elizabeth asked. Percy glared at Merlin, as if asking him silently to keep his mouth shut.

"Nothing, just, suddenly figured out a secret I couldn't figure out for the life of me." Merlin said with a small smile.

"We better treat your injuries, they look pretty bad." Gillian said, looking at both Percival and Elizabeth.

"Only a few bruises and scratches, I'd have gotten far worse if not for him." Elizabeth said, turning to Percy. He sighed, another spotlight was pointed at him.

"Okay, you're acting a bit weird." Gillian said but ultimately dropped it.

"We need to get you two to Will." Gillian said beckoning the two forward. They nodded and followed. Merlin stayed back to chat a bit more with Percy.

"How in the hell did you get Excalibur? I thought only Arthur could wield it?" Merlin signed.

"Yeah, about that. Only Arthur and I could wield it. I was the one who pulled the sword from the ground. I just gave the sword to Arthur, I guess it counted as him pulling the sword from the ground since I gave it to him willingly both physically and mentally." Percy signed back.

"I asked Arthur to keep it a secret. Well, not really asked, but like tried to tell him to keep it a secret and make up a lie, and so he did." Percy signed, smiling a little bit.

"You two always keep secrets from me." Merlin signed with a small frown.

"Not always, only often." Percy signed with a smirk.

"But how did you get the sword back, I thought Arthur died with it. As far as I remember the sword lies next to him in his tomb?" Merlin signed.

"The sword he got buried with was fake, he gave it to me right before he, right before he died." Percy signed with a small pause. Merlin sighed, patting him on the back.

"Yeah, I still miss him too." Merlin said with a sigh. Percy nodded.

"Hey! Look! We're here." Merlin said with a small smile.

"So you might not know what this place is so I'll be the first to introduce it to you. This is Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for Greek demigods, you know what the demigods are so no need to explain it. All the gods children, well, most of them have a cabin, the cabins are filled with their children. And yes, they got very busy if you know what I mean." Merlin said cheekily.

"That is the arena where people can train, that is the dining pavilion, that is the lake, and more that I can't remember." Merlin said rubbing the back of his neck.

"So what happened?" Gillian asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Percy jumped a bit, not expecting the suddenly surprise. Percy looked at her with a confused look.

"You heard me, what happened? That was a Vaporsnare, you couldn't have killed it with normal weapons because they're invulnerable to them. So that means you're either extremely lucky that it ran away, or you killed it, so which one is it?" Gillian asked. The two shared a look, not really knowing how to answer.

"He killed it of course." Merlin said with a smirk. Percy punched him in the shoulder.

"How?" Gillian asked.

"And how come you two are so close all of a sudden?" She asked, she was really asking the heavy hitters.

"We've known each other from way back." Merlin said.

"Biggest underestimation of the Century." Percy thought.

"We're as old as the pharaohs." Merlin joked.

"Second biggest underestimation of the century."

"Out of my way, coming through!" Someone yelled from the crowd that gathered around them forming a sort of circle. Percy raised an eyebrow, Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes. Out of the crowd came a boy around Percy's age with black hair and brown eyes. His skin had a light tint but also had a tan.

"Is it you who killed the Vaporsnare?" He asked, Percy shrugged.

"Just shut up David." Gillian said.

"No, I want to know." The boy named David insisted.

"Yes, he killed the Vaporsnare." Elizabeth confirmed.

"And so what if he killed it? What do you care?" Merlin said.

"Shut up Lynn." David spat back.

"You think you're so tough huh? Thinking you own the camp just because you killed a fucking Vaporsnare?" David said, he had a relatively muscular build, not body builder, but not like totally slim either, opposite to that of Percy's slender form.

"Let's just go, he's not worth it." Merlin said, dragging Percy with him.

"Nice sword you got there, you won't mind if I grab it won't you." David said whilst Percy was turned around. David instantly went to grab the scabbard from Percy's back but Percy was quick and instantly dodged. David just grabbed the air like an idiot.

"You want my sword?" Percy signed. David looked at Percy confused.

"He said if you wanted his sword idiot." Elizabeth said rolling her eyes.

"Yes, it is my right." David said arrogantly. Percy rolled his eyes and grabbed the scabbard from his back and threw it carelessly to David. David smirked and grabbed the sword perfectly. Unfortunately for him, the sword suddenly fell to the ground with a thud with his hand trapped between it. David tried to lift it up but found out he couldn't. David struggled and struggled, his face turning red from all of it. Percy chuckled silently and grabbed Excalibur in one fail swoop and strapped it on his back.

"Nice." Merlin said with a chuckle.

"Forgot your sword could do the 'Only the worthy can wield it.' Thor bull crap." Merlin stated. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Merlin smiled cheekily.

"Yeah sorry mate." Merlin said with a smile. He turned towards Percy and patted him on the shoulder.

"Lets get you patched up, you look terrible."

-----------------

"Don't be doing too much strenuous activities until your wounds are all healed up, you might break the stitches." Will, a son of Apollo said. He was the sort of medic or Doctor.

"Will get your fucking arse down here, Leo broke his arm again." Someone screamed in the distance.

"Yeah sorry, that's Nico, you'll meet him soon enough." Will said and rushed downstairs. Percy sighed, stretching a bit. Trying not to rip open the stitches. His whole chest was bandaged up to further accelerate the healing process. Percy grabbed an orange CHB t shirt and went downstairs. The building had two floors, the first floor were for minor injuries, the second floor were for medium to major injuries.

Along the way he passed a boy with Raven black hair, a boy with curly hair, and Will Solace talking on one of the stools. Percy exited the building and was instantly greeted with the slightly blinding sunlight. It took his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Percy shook his head and went to explore the camp a bit. He took a particular interest in the Arena. He had no interest in fighting however, he had some mercy for the campers.

Along the way he bumped into a certain brown haired girl with sky blue eyes. Elizabeth.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." Elizabeth said, shaking her head from the slight daze. Percy smiled a bit.

"Oh, hello." Elizabeth said waving. Percy waved back.

"That was crazy huh?" Elizabeth said, Percy nodded. The two stood in an awkward silence, not really knowing what to say.

"Gosh, I dunno what to say." Elizabeth said with a slight chuckle. Percy too chuckled.

"Where in the hell did you learn those moves?" Elizabeth asked. Percy shrugged.

"There's no way you learned how to wield a sword that fast, you're lying." Elizabeth said. Percy chuckled.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I have my secrets." Percy signed. She sighed.

"But do you know about the war?" Elizabeth asked, Percy perked up.

"War?" He signed.

"Yeah, a war recently started, that's why more and more ancient monsters are starting to get increasingly more active. One of the reasons we encountered the Vaporsnare, just dunno why it targeted us." Elizabeth stated.

"We dunno who's commanding them, the war is so bad that the gods got involved, it just sprung up a few weeks ago." Elizabeth stated. Percy nodded.

"But whatever they are brewing over there, it's worse than the two past wars combined, hell, I can even say it was worse than the first Titanomachy." Elizabeth added. Percy froze up. Titanomachy. He hadn't heard that in a very long time. Percy shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Anyways, come with me, we have a meeting at the Big House, don't want to go alone." Elizabeth beckoned. Percy nodded and followed. Percy guessed the Big House was, well, a big house. Elizabeth opened the door to a big wooden building and walked insider. Percy soon followed behind, closing the door behind him. Percy saw a few people discussing about the plans for the war, well, at least that was what Percy guessed they were talking about.

"The Romans spotted monsters near Camp Jupiter, they are thinking they might make an attack." One of the campers said.

"If that is so, we must be prepared to help them, we must send reinforcements." Chiron said.

"Oh, Percival, you're here." Chiron said. Percy nodded giving a small smile, he met Chiron on their way to the infirmary, they introduced themselves and went on their separate ways.

Elizabeth turned to Percy and gave him a small smile as they sat down. Percy knew that he was slowly falling for her, he absolutely knew. He couldn't escape it, he could only delay the inevitable. It was his curse. He was bound to fall in love. Percy guessed he already did.

"Okay everyone, introduce yourselves." Chiron said.

"Hello, I am Will Solace, head of the Apollo Cabin." Will said as he stood up.

"Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades."

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and head of the Athena Cabin."

"Leo Valdez, Hephaustus."

"I'm Connor and he is Travis, Hermes kids."

Soon, everyone introduced themselves, until it was only Elizabeth left. She sighed and stood up.

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth, daughter and head of the Zeus Cabin." She said.

Percy widened his eyes in shock, his jaw dropping in the ground. His mind was blank, only tthree words came to his mind.

Holy Fucking Shit

Word Count
3316
Words

A/N

Heeeeyyyyyyyy

Long time no see. A month actually. Yeah I know, this is long overdue. But I'm extremely busy right now, with school and everything. Especially now, the load just got doubled. So less time to write.

Dunno what to put in this authors note since I am in a bit of a hurry. I just want to say sorry for the delay, hopefully it won't happen again, thanks for reading. This chapter is mostly filler, but next chapter is going to be plot driven, well, most of it. Hopefully I won't be gone for a month. Hopefully it'll be a week or two between chapters, but you dunno. I might surprise, I might disappoint. Just, don't expect much.

Anyway thanks bye.