The Legend of Percy: Book 2 - Through Grief

22. The Wave (War and Tides, an Ares Story)

A/N: So... this has been a long while coming. I do apologise for the time between chapters but writing is coming very slowly at the moment. It is absolutely still going but I can't promise a time for the next chapter. It'll be released when it is. I hope you enjoy though! Let me know what you think.

A/N2: Also super hyped and excited for the PJO Disney series!! Loving what I'm seeing and I hope you all saw it! It's been too long and seeing it come to life like that was awesome!!!

Percy wandered by Katara, pulling water into her water skins, and Toph, putting on her own battle armour. He saw the Water Tribesmen putting on their helmets around the boats.

'Dumbass! Look at me!'

He turned his head to be almost steamrolled by a gold and brown covered Siosi. The bird came to a skidding stop right in front of him. She was decked out in armour to match Appa and she preened at herself. It was a similar style of armour used by the Earth Kingdom soldiers for their ostrich horses.

"You look good Sio." He replied.

She snorted, as if to say 'of course'.

"We're gonna have to do something about that colour though. Definitely needs to be blue."

'For once, your dumbass is right.'

She seemed to be picturing his idea of blue armour as she strutted up and down in front of him.

"Alright, you wait for me on the boat, I've got to thank Sokka for the armour. I'm assuming you didn't say anything."

'Well, they couldn't have understood me even if I did.'

She poked her beak up into the air, pridefully. Percy raised his eyebrow at her.

'Plus, I deserve to look this good and be protected going into battle. It's only fair. I'm our most valuable soldier.'

"There it is." He chuckled to himself. "Get on the dam boat."

He gave her a little scratch before he turned away to look for Sokka. He saw him standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean and the boats. Percy began to make his way up.

As he was about to reach the top, he saw a flash of orange and yellow. Aang landed right next to him.

"We've been looking everywhere for you." Aang started talk to the boy looked at his helmet. "The boats are ready to leave."

"I don't know if I can fight, Aang."

"What?"

"I don't know if I can kill again. Not like before. I needed to be able to say that speech, and I couldn't."

Percy put his hand on the airbender's shoulder.

"Aang, I've got this. Go back down and tell the rest that we will be ready to leave soon."

Sokka turned around as the Avatar gave him one last anxious look before leaping off the edge and flying down to the boats.

"I can't do it, Percy. I'm not as strong as you, I'm not as strong as my dad."

"This isn't about strength, Sokka. Look, if you'd asked me five or six summers ago what my life would've turned into, I guarantee you I wouldn't have said anything like this. But I fought, every single time, for those around me. I've had to come to terms with a lot of things in that time, and one of them was doing things during a war that I'd never do outside of it."

He pulled Sokka into him and turned to the ships.

"I'd never tell you what to do. But we're all fighting. We're fighting for each other. We'll be in this fight to the end, one way or another."