Perseus The Disgraced Archangel

When Pigs Fly

     Percy rode up the elevator to Olympus. He held Pandora's Pithos in his hand, intent on delivering it to where it belonged. The doors opened to reveal the once beautiful city looking no way near close to how it used to.

     It was even worse than last time. The usual sparkle and shine that the metal gave off was nonexistent. Despite being summer, a chill breeze blew through the empty streets. The braziers were unlit. It felt empty and hollow.

     It kind of felt like Hell. Or at least looked like it. Just add some falling ash, pillars made of stones, and raise the temperature a few thousand kelvin, and boom.

     Percy walked the empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Where the city slept; he was the only one and he walked alone. Okay, I'll stop.

     He reached the Throne Room. He pushed open the door. It felt even colder in the room. Everyone had blankets. Hestia was tending a dying hearth. All natural light that the glass dome provided was gone.

     Percy walked up to the Goddess of Family, and whispered a few words to her. From the other gods' views, they whispered some things, then Percy handed Hestia a pithos. Percy turned to leave, but Hestia wasn't finished.

     "Remember Percy. You aren't evil, you punish evil."

     Percy looked confused, but that was all Hestia was going to say.

     Percy left down the elevator, and walked back to the plaza. Everyone was getting their weapons and armor ready. Percy walked over to Zoë to ask what was going on.

     "Our scouts reported a massive army of troops marching through Central Park. We're going to go stop them."

     Percy nodded. He reached into his pocket and fingered Riptide. He looked at all the people they had left. 33, not including the Hunters. Luckily, they had brought 20 to their ranks. This was fine.

     They positioned themselves at the reservoir. Percy looked around at the surroundings. The lights in buildings were blinking on and off like they had automatic timers. Streetlights shined yellow, giving the trees a really spooky feeling.

     Nature spirits were gathered, all with fierce expressions on their faces. They looked ready to destroy anything. It kinda unnerved Percy. Not in the 'it scared him' way, but the 'this isn't normal' way.

     They heard the army before they saw it. Think of a sporting event, where you could hear the fans before seeing the arena.

     The monsters erupted from the north end of the reservoir. They seemed to be leaderless, and they were all a mess. Giants came forward with clubs, only to be put down with a rain of silver arrows. The Hunters had perched themselves in the trees, using the branches and leaves as camouflage.

     The demigods charged forward, blades drawn. They clashed with the clubs, before slashing the giants to pieces. But for every one they killed, more took its place. Percy was in the lead with the reforged blade of Death. He would cleanly chop off a head of a cyclops, or giant, before stabbing another one through the chest. He would clash with Dracnaea's blade, before ducking under and stabbing her through the head, the blade going in through her chin, and coming out from the skull.

     Zoë waded into the chaos behind him, stabbing a giant in the chest, then kicking him, pulling the knife free. The giant would crash into a group of monsters, disorienting them for a demigod to strike down.

     Every so often a lightning bolt would shoot from the sky and fry a laistrygonian, turning them to ash. Grover would play a tune on his reed pipes and the plants would grow rapidly. From grass getting long enough to trip the empousa, to the trees growing branches for giants to hit their heads on.

     Hellhounds came out from the left and right, trapping the monsters with no way but to retreat. But that chance quickly slipped from their grips as Mrs. O'Leary stepped behind them. The only indication she was there was the giant red eyes, and golden dust sparkling in her black fur. She was still in her huge form, making the trees look like kindergarten bean plants.

     The monsters were trapped in a box, and there was no escape. The box grew smaller and smaller as the demigods and Hellhounds creeped closer. The numbers of the monsters were growing smaller as well, until there was one Dracnaea left.

     She looked at Percy in fear. "You're evil. And Kronos will stop-" She didn't get to finish as he chopped her head off.

     The Hellhounds retreated, going back to whatever they were doing.

     The demigods were exhausted and celebrated. It was cut short though as a loud "REEET!" cut through the air.

     A huge pink pig wing equally pink pigs soared over the body of water. As far as pigs go, it was beautiful. Of course, personality is important, and this pig did not have a good one. Dating tip, if your date rips down a half acre of trees, breathes toxic gas, and slams their body parts onto people without their consent, don't go on a second date.

     This sow did all that, and then following it up with flying again. Percy cursed. He spread his wings and took to the sky. He followed the sow, weaving between buildings. He flapped his wings, gaining on the sow.

     When he was within distance, he grabbed onto the pig's short hair. He climbed enough to be able to place his legs on the sow's wings. He pushed down with his legs, rendering them useless. Percy's wings were the ones in control now.

     He leaned forward and wrapped an arm around the sow's throat. He reached his right hand into his pocket and drew the pen. He flicked off Riptide's cap, and held it to the sow's throat.

     Percy looked up just in time to make a sharp left. They were about to run into a building, and that would be property damage. That's bad, even though Percy could fix it with a snap of his fingers. Kind of like how you should avoid a fight if you can.

     He slid the blade against the sow's throat, killing it. It turned to dust, just in time for Percy to hear fighting coming from midtown. Closer than where the reservoir was.

     "Shit."

A/N. Sorry if you expected a chapter yesterday, I just couldn't find it in me to write. But at least you got it today. And even then, I have completed like 5 weeks worth of content in this one week. I'm proud of myself.

Also, How was that fight scene? I got a comment saying to put more detail, so I tried. Let me know if I need more.

I'm pretty sure we're nearing the end, and I'm sad about it. I've been working on this since January. That's like 6 months. That's crazy. And then it's back to releasing something with no set schedule. Though I do have some plans that are multiple chapter books, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to them.

Anyways, sorry about that.

Thoughts?