ΉӨЦƧΣ ӨF ΉΛDΣƧ
"AND YOUR FRIEND LUCIA IS WITH YOU!" Kelli hissed with laughter. Kelli touched her sternum, where two of Lucia's arrows had penetrated through her skin. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember—"
"His girlfriend, Lucia." She corrected, her eyes bore into Kelli's. A hand fell on her hip.
Percy nodded beside her, he would have cheered her on for correcting her in any other circumstance. You know, if it wasn't for the demons that surrounded them.
Kelli hissed, "I don't care! All I care about is using those arrows of yours to stop you from breathing!"
Lucia and Percy stood shoulder to shoulder as they had many times before, ready to fight. But neither of them were in good shape for battle. They were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming.
Fighting was a long shot.
That left them to rely on other tactics: trickery, talk, distraction.
"So..." he started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in
Tartarus."
Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."
That would've been it, but Lucia chimed in. She was much better at being distracting than he was.
"Too bad," Lucia singsonged. Her voice echoed throughout Tartarus. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world. No Idea." She repeated for emphasis.
The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword.
"We know enough," Kelli said. "Gaea has spoken."
"You're heading towards failure." Lucia sounded so confident, but inside, she was doing her best not to break character and reveal her fear.
She glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to victory huh? She's a liar, I would know as a daughter of Truth. The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos. She failed, Terribly. She didn't even make it to the final battle. Why? Because I killed her. And in the end, Luke rejected Kronos. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli was defeated miserably. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."
The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.
"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Lucia as if imagining her sliced into bite-sized pieces.
"Don't believe me?" She hummed, and she raised her hands. Dim golden sparks fell from her fingertips, "My name is Lucia Verano. But you may know me as—"
The empousai began to chatter amongst each other, backing up nervously. "It's Apollonione—"
"Thee Apollonione—" One emphasized
"She was able to break free from our mistresses' charmspeak. They say she resisted the enchantments and was able to regain control, she resisted the goddess..."
"Our Dark Lady!"
Another empousa added, "There are tales of her, they say she could flay her opponents with a stroke of a hand. She was Kronos' favorite! She is more deadly than she seems. I've heard her powers are legendary."
Kelli, still locked at the end of Percy's sword, growled, "She's nothing more than a threat to be eliminated. Don't be swayed by her boasts."
The empousai exchanged uncertain glances, torn between the stories of Lucia and Kelli's attempts to discredit her.
YOU ARE READING
²𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘✸ percy jackson
Fanfiction𝄞 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘.(n.) behold the blood of Hyacinthus, which had poured out on the ground beside him and there stained the grass, was changed from blood; and in its place a flower, more beautiful than Tyrian dye, sprang up. ❝ Near time...
