Until She Appeared
"It looks like it's finally time to end this, huh, Percy?" Luke said as he stared at Percy standing in front of him, while all around them the chaos of the endless battle between the campers and Luke and Kronos's followers could still be heard. "Now you won't be able to run away," he added.
The sound of teenagers getting hurt and falling in battle was something even Percy didn't seem able to fully ignore, as his gaze briefly shifted around the battlefield before returning to Luke.
"Right. But last time, I only did that because there were things more important than just finishing you off. This time, there's nothing left to distract me," Percy said with complete ease, making Luke's expression tighten at words that sounded openly arrogant.
"I don't have anything distracting me anymore either, Percy. Now it's all or nothing, so the same goes for you. So prove it," Luke said before attacking instantly.
Percy moved slightly and raised his sword; the two blades collided with a sharp metallic ring. Percy quickly twisted his wrist, making Luke's sword slide slightly along the edge of his black blade. Then, without hesitation, he snapped the pommel of his sword forward, nearly smashing Luke in the face, but Luke quickly moved to the side while spinning his own sword in his hand, aiming for Percy's stomach.
Percy lowered his blade and stopped the attack.
Luke didn't slow down. He spun on his heel and launched a direct slash toward Percy's neck.
Percy ducked and, gripping his black sword with both hands, rose with a powerful upward slash. Luke stepped back to avoid it, but that still didn't stop his armor from being easily marked, cut clean across the chest, leaving it split open as if Percy's sword had sliced through nothing more than butter.
Luke glanced down at his armor for a moment and, without hesitation, simply tore it off and threw it aside, as if it had already proven it wouldn't be much help.
Seeing that, Percy let out a faint mocking expression and took off his jacket.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked.
"If I'm going to beat you, it has to be on equal terms. I don't want you thinking afterward that I cheated," Percy said calmly as he spun the sword in his hand and returned to his stance.
"Always so arrogant," Luke said with a slightly annoyed look, though there was still a violent smile on his face before he lunged at Percy once again.
Without the armor, both of them seemed faster. Because yes, Percy's jacket was armor too, and made from nothing less than the hide of the Nemean Lion, so it weighed just as much as regular armor.
The two swords clashed as the fighters around them seemed to stop for a moment and back away from the sheer brutality of their fight, which could easily injure anyone who got too close. Because of that, an open space slowly formed in the center, giving Luke and Percy room to fight with everything they had.
Luke's sword crashed against Percy's as Percy suddenly drove a kick straight at Luke's stomach, but Luke twisted on his feet to evade while his blade lashed toward Percy's chest. Every one of Luke's attacks showed his fencing experience; brutal, precise, and ruthless.
Percy, on the other hand, might not have had that same level of technical control, but his brutality was no less terrifying. If anything, it was worse, with attacks built for one thing only: putting his enemy down.
Luke and Percy's swords locked as they stood face to face, staring at each other while sparks burst from the grinding steel.
Percy seemed to draw in a bit of air.
"I'm not falling for that again, Percy," Luke said, shifting his sword and slashing toward Percy's neck.
Percy snorted.
"FUS."
And suddenly, a powerful gust of wind slammed into Luke, throwing him off balance and pushing him slightly backward while opening up his guard at the same time.
As Percy's sword came down toward his chest, Luke moved his blade with all his strength, but with his stance broken he couldn't put his full power into it. So when Percy's sword crashed against his, his wrist gave out and his sword slipped from his hand. Even so, he still managed to slightly deflect Percy's attack.
The moment he saw his sword falling, without wasting even a second, Luke moved fast and grabbed Percy by the wrist, driving an elbow straight into his face.
Then a knee directly into Percy's elbow, forcing Percy to drop his sword too.
When Luke was about to throw another punch at his face, Percy moved his head aside.
And drove a punch straight into Luke's stomach, making him hunch slightly, before following it with a knee aimed at his face while he was bent over.
Luke shifted and threw a punch at the side of Percy's knee, then a hook into his ribs.
Percy bent slightly from the hit, but still came down with a punch straight to Luke's face.
It split his lip.
But Luke lifted his gaze toward Percy and threw a hook toward his face, which Percy dodged before smashing his forehead straight into Luke's.
At that point, the sword fight was over.
Now only fists remained.
The headbutt Percy landed threw Luke off for a moment, making him blink a couple of times before seeing a fist flying toward his face, crashing into his nose.
Percy grabbed him by the shirt with his other hand and hammered several quick punches into his face until Luke dropped to the ground.
On the ground, Luke tried to get back up quickly, but Percy, with a truly cold look in his eyes, drove several consecutive punches straight into his nose.
As blood soaked Luke's face, he spat blood with a look of complete shock on his face after being overpowered by a kid who was obviously several years younger than him; not just with a sword, but with his bare fists too.
Percy also spat blood to the side as he slightly raised his right hand, and the black sword that had been lying several meters away flew straight back to him.
All while he kept his eyes on Luke.
But he didn't raise his sword to finish him off.
Instead, he simply turned slightly and shouted:
"Stop!"
His voice came out almost like a roar that echoed across Half-Blood Hill, momentarily stunning the fighters, who all froze for an instant before turning to look at him.
And just like that, they saw Luke lying right at Percy's feet, and Percy standing above him with his sword in hand while Luke spat blood onto the ground.
"Your leader, Luke, has been defeated. And if you don't end this right now, I'll be forced to do something I don't want to do," Percy said, with a truly dangerous look in his eyes as his gaze seemed to scan every one of Luke's followers. For a brief moment, Percy's eyes seemed to change ever so slightly, making everyone present feel a primal instinct of fear, as if they were being watched by a beast.
"We have the Fleece. And no one is going to stop us from saving the tree," he added.
At the same time, Clarisse appeared holding the Fleece while gripping her spear tightly, ready to fight if necessary.
Alison, who had been standing in front of Annabeth, raised her daggers to attack Clarisse, but the ghostly beasts surrounding Annabeth let out threatening growls and nearly lunged at her.
Annabeth, meanwhile, was staring directly at Percy, then at Luke lying in front of him, with a faint trace of concern before she slowly closed her eyes and turned her gaze toward Alison.
Who looked absolutely furious at being stopped right when she was about to finish Annabeth off.
At the same time, she was also watching the spectral animals and sensing a slight danger coming from them, as well as from the way Annabeth herself seemed to have changed after putting on the tiara, as if everything had fallen completely under her control.
And that only seemed to make Alison even angrier.
The invaders hesitated for a moment when they saw Luke lying there.
Luke, however, looked up at Percy as the shock on his face faded and was replaced by fury.
"Don't listen to him. Keep going. Finish them..."
But before Luke could finish, Percy seemed to fill his chest once again and roared:
"FAAS RU MAAR."
A violent aura exploded around every single person present.
Absolute fear crashed into them, coming directly from Percy, as if he had transformed into a monster capable of devouring them whole.
Many dropped their weapons.
Others fell to their knees.
Some turned and tried to run.
Others simply passed out.
As for the campers, since it wasn't the first time they had been hit by that shout, they only trembled for a moment and endured it through sheer willpower, though every single one of them still looked at Percy with fear.
No one moved again.
The silence was absolute.
"I won't repeat myself," Percy said, taking full advantage of the overwhelming dread that shout had left behind.
Almost immediately, everyone surrendered without hesitation.
Even Luke, who had been struck by the shout as well, couldn't stop himself from looking at Percy with fear for a brief moment.
Percy blinked slightly.
His voice hadn't disappeared this time.
Though he could feel he wouldn't be able to use another shout for a while, that seemed to be more because of a lack of strength than anything else, which surprised him for a moment.
But this wasn't the time to think about that.
Seeing how everyone had surrendered, and how the campers were already taking the enemies' weapons and helping the wounded, Percy let out a faint breath before looking back down at Luke.
"So this is finally over, Luke. You've got nowhere left to run," Percy said as he looked at him.
Luke's chin trembled slightly with rage.
"You think you're the chosen one. The one who can save Olympus or the campers," Luke said quietly, staring straight at him. "You're wrong, Percy Jackson. The chosen one was always Thalia," Luke added.
Percy frowned.
At that exact moment, Clarisse, hurrying to restore the barrier and force out the monsters that had made it inside, placed the Fleece on Thalia's tree.
And the tree began to glow softly with the power of the Fleece.
Storm clouds instantly began to gather overhead.
Making Percy glance up at the sky for a moment.
That power felt familiar.
Well... very familiar.
After all, last year it had tried to kill him several times.
His dearest uncle, Zeus.
But this felt weaker.
More restrained.
When Percy lowered his gaze again, he found himself staring at Thalia's tree, which suddenly seemed to fill with electricity.
And the very next second, a figure stepped out from inside it.
Wearing outdated punk clothes, holding a spear in one hand, and with the expression of someone who clearly wasn't in the mood for anything, the girl appeared surrounded by lightning as if the tree itself had spat her back out into the world.
And the first thing she saw... was Percy.
She looked at him for a moment while holding her spear pointed upward, as if she had been gathering all of her power just a second ago, though she also looked confused.
Even so, she still looked ready to attack something...
or someone.
And now she seemed confused because whatever that target had been... was suddenly gone.
But when she saw Luke lying in front of Percy, and Percy standing there with a sword in hand while Luke was covered in blood, her focus seemed to instantly shift.
And she lowered her spear, aiming it directly at Percy, while the massive amount of lightning in the sky, along with the bolts surrounding her, all seemed to align and lock onto him.
Percy's eyes widened the moment he saw the unknown girl attack almost the instant she appeared.
"Told you so," Luke said from the ground, with a truly happy and proud look on his face.
While Annabeth screamed:
"Thalia, NO!"
But the attack aimed at Percy had already been unleashed with all its power.