Dancing with Death

The Girl in the Hood

Percy slashed through the monster.

As soon as it disintegrated, it reformed, it's eyes flashing with a vengeful fire.

His heart leapt into his throat. The monsters couldn't be killed, not while Thanatos was chained.

Frank and Hazel were struggling against two other monsters. They were back-to-back and surrounded. Hazel gripped her spatha with white knuckles. Frank's bow was lying on the ground with a broken string.

The wind blew, ruffling the trees. A full moon gleamed above and the black backdrop of the night sky glittered with thousands of stars.

Percy caught sight of a constellation, a girl holding a bow running across the sky. It distracted him for a split second and his opponent smacked him back against a tree.

A spike of pain raced up his spine as he rolled to the base of the trunk.

He pushed himself painfully onto his elbows and looked up.

The monster stalked silently forward, taking its time, savoring its victory.

Percy lifted his gaze to the full moon, not sure who he was talking to. "Please, we need help."

The monster growled, baring it's white fangs and snarling.

Percy grabbed Riptide and forced himself to stand, clutching his stomach. He leaned his butt against the tree to hold himself upright and held his sword out protectively.

Hazel cried out as one of the monsters lunged, pinning her to the ground.

"Hazel!" Frank looked over his shoulder, barely holding off his opponent, but desperate to help Hazel.

His monster took advantage of his weakness and raked its claws across his chest.

Frank jumped back, but not far enough, and crumpled to the ground. He clutched his bleeding chest, backing away from his attacker.

Percy surveyed the situation, the utter hopelessness sinking in. This was it. They'd never make it to Alaska.

As if on cue, an arrow shot from the trees, the shaft engulfed in ghostly silver flames. The projectile plunged deep into the side of Hazel's growling opponent.

The monster yelped and vaporized in a cloud of golden glitter, which immediately began to converge on a single spot.

Before it could fully reform, a massive dark furry mass dove out of the trees and landed, sliding across the grass and dispersing the shimmering particles. The huge wolf snapped up the other monster in its jaws and clamped down. The beast crumbled to dust, coating the wolf's face and neck.

The monster reared before Percy, but blanched and stumbled forward before collapsing into a pile of dust.

A hooded figure slid down from the wolf's back and dashed over, sweeping the golden dust away with their foot, kicking it until it dispersed. The figure approached Percy and threw back their hood, revealing a girl with pale, almost luminous, skin, a long black braid hung over her shoulder.

She met Percy's gaze with her silver-blue eyes. "Are you alright?" Her voice was soft and melodic, but, at the same time, cold and serious.

Percy stared into her eyes, dumbfounded. Somehow, they were familiar. He'd seen those eyes before. "Yeah. Th-Thanks." He finally managed. "Who are you?"

The girl squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists as if the words were a punch to the gut. She forced herself to meet his gaze. "A friend."

"But... how did you?" He pointed from the woods to the giant wolf sniffing through the grass.

The girl smiled sadly and glanced up at the sky. "You called."

His eyes widened. "Are you a... god?"

She chuckled darkly. "As if."

Percy studied her expression, but couldn't get a read on the girl. "But you are a half-blood?"

The girl seemed to tense with every word he said. "Yes." Her voice cracked over the word, as if the conversation was difficult.

"I knew you, didn't I." He stared into those silver-blue eyes. "Before all this, I mean."

It seemed like the girl was having trouble breathing, her chest was so tight. All she could manage was a quick nod.

Percy hung his head. He could only imagine the pain of having someone you care about forget who you are. "I'm sorry." He grabbed her quivering fist. "I wish I could remember."

The girl instinctively jerked her hand away. She blinked rapidly, as if fending off tears, and raised her eyes to the sky. "Now I know how Mason felt." She muttered under her breath.

He sighed. "I have a feeling I'm just adding one more thing to a long list of tragedies."

The girl looked at him with watery eyes. "Unfortunately, yes." She took a deep breath. "I'm used to most of it by now, but... I'll never be okay with these things happening to you." She dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Who's this?" Percy had forgotten Frank and Hazel were their and he jumped at the big guy's voice.

The girl turned to face them, her expression suddenly unreadable. "The girl who just saved your lives."

The massive wolf growled behind Percy's friends.

"Barron!" The girl gave a shrill whistle and the wolf bounded over, eyeing them suspiciously. The girl stroked Barron's neck until he shook his shoulders and laid down in the grass. "Forgive my Dire Wolf. He's very protective."

Hazel stared at the huge canine. "I've never seen a dire wolf before. I kind of thought they were a myth."

The girl chuckled. "We're myths."

"Fair enough." Hazel walked over to Percy with Frank at her heels. "Percy, we need to keep moving."

"She's right." The girl scratched her dire wolf behind the ear. "You need to finish your quest."

"Thank you." Percy turned to walk towards the shore. He paused and spun back around. "Can I ask you a favor?"

The girl nodded.

"Camp Jupiter - the camp for people like us. It's in danger of attack from a giant and an army of monsters."

"I'll do it." She interrupted. "I'll help defend it."

"You will." Percy almost laughed in disbelief.

She smiled. "Of course, Percy. You may not remember me, but I owe you everything." She held his gaze, a wave of affection showing in her eyes. "Just point me in the right direction."

Percy finished explaining where the camp was and watched as the girl turned to leave. "Wait!"

She looked at him from astride her dire wolf.

"Can I at least know your name?"

Pain surged across her face, but she pushed it down and forced a smile. "Ali."

A/N
Well... that was... fun. (Excuse me while I go cry in a corner for a minute.)😭😭😭😭😭
*takes deep breath*
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for the support. 🥰
-Cheshire