Chapter Text
Ragged breathing filled the air. Three teenage demigods stood in a rough circle, looking out in different directions, scanning their surroundings intently. They were hopelessly outnumbered. The monsters were closing in on them, leaving no room for escape. Their only option was to stand and fight.
For a brief moment, Percy dared to hoped their friends might show up, though it wouldn't have done much good. And besides, none of them knew where they were. They had maybe a few seconds to come up with a plan as hordes and hordes of monsters drew closer.
He drew Riptide, which grew to a 3 feet long sword, its leaf shaped celestial bronze blade emitting a faint glow, its familiar, perfectly balanced weight felt comforting in the face of danger. The new shield Tyson had given him was clutched in his other hand, the proud trident in the centre gleaming in the sun light.
To his right, he heard Thalia activate her shield Aegis, Medusa's head forged into its side crafted a fearsome sight and her spear held ready to strike, her bow was sling over her shoulders, her quiver full of silver arrows.
To his left, Nico stood with his stygian iron sword drawn, its obsidian black blade glowing wickedly at his side, giving off a cold, unforgiving gleam. For a moment, their weapons seemed to intimidate the monsters. The nearest of them backtracked a few steps, but continued to close in on them nonetheless.
“Nico, can you get us out of here?” Thalia’s voice cut through the silence. The idea had potential, but the sun was shining high over their heads, there weren’t any shadows to travel by. There was a rustling of fabric as Nico shook his head, confirming Percy’s suspicions.
They were almost out of time. They had to act NOW. With one final glance at each other, the three half-bloods lunged. The earth cracked under their feet as several undead warriors crawled out, armed with rifles and spears and swords of all time periods, clad in uniforms of several armies and troops over the centuries, unleashing their wrath on the beasts while Nico disintegrated the nearest dracaenae with his sword.
The smell of ozone filled the air ask Thalia brought down a crack of lightning, killing dozens of monsters while her spear pierced through several empousa. Percy stood in the centre of his own hurricane, drowning any monster that dared to come too close, his sword a blur of deadly metal as it slashed anything within reach.
The earth split open and swallowed entire armies, while thunder and lightning blasted several of them into dust and walls of water rose 15 feet and the tide drowned out hundreds of them. Soon the air was filled with yellow dust left behind by the monsters and the parting wails as they were sent back to the pit.
The friends fell into a rhythm of slashing and piercing and blasting and dissolving the monsters, who didn’t seem to have expected such a fight back from three teenagers. Percy looked at his companions, Thalia had a gash across her cheek which was bleeding, though she didn’t seem to notice.
His eyes scanned for Nico when he saw the younger boy dancing around three empousa, dodging and ducking instinctively while several of his undead warriors breached the monster ranks and destroyed dozens more of giants and trolls. He looked mostly unharmed, thankfully.
They continued to fight, slowly but surely working their way through the monsters. Eventually, they eased themselves into the combat. One moment they were fighting at different locations, then he and Thalia were back-to-back, facing off the cyclops that had managed to corner them.
They slashed at its feet, aiming to tire it out. Once the beast collapsed, he pierced its heart, watching as it dissolved into dust and joined the other monsters in Tartarus.
Then Nico joined them, and when their eyes met, their lips curled in slow smirks and the glint in their eyes mirrored each other’s. Maybe this situation wasn’t that bad after all. Maybe the fact that there were no one else around wasn’t a disadvantage at all.
No one else was there to see the bloodbath. No one to protect. No one to worry about. No one who would be frightened at their powers. They could let loose, use their powers to their potential. No one would judge them or ask them to stop.
With a renewed spirit they jumped back into combat. Percy and Thalia combined their powers to create a thunderstorm, the rain and wind slowing the monsters slightly, allowing them to push back while the clouds created enough shadows for Nico to weave around the monsters and catch them off-guard.
They all immersed themselves in the fight, stabbing and slashing and dodging and ducking. Soon manic laughter filled the air as they truly started enjoying their battle. If the monsters weren’t scared of them before, they surely were now. After all, what lunatics laugh when they fight?
He didn’t care about it though. It felt oddly freeing, being able to truly apply himself without the fear of scaring others or causing harm to someone, and looking at the other two demigods, he knew they felt the same. After all, it was a common experience for all the children of the “big three”.
They were pushed to the top, regardless of what they want. They would be expected to always take the charge, always be at the front. And if they ever showed the slightest signs of aggression, they would be stared at like they were expecting them to blow up. He couldn’t share these thoughts with any of his other friends. No, they wouldn’t understand. But Thalia and Nico did. They all faced the same problems.
They would whisper behind their backs, calling them “unnatural”. Even Annabeth seemed to be scared of him ever since Akhlys. Though she didn’t mean to, he started to be more careful around others. But now, there was no one to see him like this.
His sword arched through the sir, decapacitating several telkhines. He used Mymerkes' poison to choke and kill the nearest monsters, commanding it the way he had with the goddess of misery. As they fought, hellhounds melted into the shadows, empousa and dracaenae disintegrated into dust, giants and cyclops exploded into yellow smoke. He, Thalia, and Nico burned through the enemy army with much more ease.
Whirlpools swallowed a few giants, electricity crackling through the tides while several cyclopes disintegrated under lightning strikes and others collapsed into the craters that opened up under them. Giant waves drowned dozens of empousa, choking them with saltwater. Their weapons cut through the monsters in a blur of movement causing mass destruction among the enemy ranks.
They weaved through the monsters with practised ease. They were almost through the entire army when he noticed something odd. Somewhere along the way, his sword had turned into a trident, the waves had grown in strength and size. When he looked at his hands, there was a bluish-green aura around him.
As he looked up at the other two, they seemed to be glowing too. Nico seemed to be emitting waves of fear and dread as a black mist surrounded him. Shadows rippled and bent around him as if reaching out towards the son of Hades.
Thalia held a javelin similar to her father’s, which he knew to be a lightning bolt. A bluish light mixed with her usual silver glow that was the blessing of Artemis. She took off, zipping around several feet above the ground. The wind held her aloft, obeying her command, like it used to with her brother.
It took him a moment to understand what was happening. Their fathers had given their demigods their blessing. He had heard getting the rite of passage from their godly parent was very rare. But when that godly parent was among the elder gods? He wasn’t sure it had even happened before.
Riptide shifted forms in his hand, from a sword to a trident to his choice. When he looked at Thalia again, she looked to have calmed down slightly, but still looked uncomfortable thanks to her fear of heights as she continued to fight. Nico didn’t show any signs that he had even noticed anything different.
Percy felt stronger, and more in control of the water. He willed the water to do his bidding, and it obeyed much easier than before. Thalia’s spear also shifted from a javelin to its original form, which she used alternatingly. Her aim was even more refined and she looked a bit more ease as she flew around.
In what felt like forever, and at the same time, no time at all, the three demigods stood in the middle of an empty field, surrounded by mounds of yellow dust and different parts of monsters left behind as spoils of war. They were breathing heavy, covered in the remnants of the beasts, but unharmed.
Nico’s voice broke the silence, “That was…something.” Percy flashed him a grin, pleased with their performance as he shook some of the dust off his clothes.
“Rite of passage...woah, I’d never thought…”
Thalia still looked a little shaken, even after she landed, but pleased nonetheless. Her cheek had stopped bleeding, and though there were a few small cuts and bruises on her body, none of them looked too deep.
Nico had a few cuts on his arms, but otherwise he didn’t look to have taken any damage. As Percy took inventory of himself, he was glad to find himself mostly unscathed. His arm was tired, likely because of the long period of wielding a sword.
They all agreed to keep the details of the fight with themselves, knowing that if others found out they would get really worried, not to mention terrified.
Once they caught their breath, they made their way out, making plans of getting something to eat after cleaning up. Maybe some burgers and fries….it seemed deserved after all the fighting.