νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 4-24: this is sad too

TEMPEST

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My only thought was to keep him away from Annabeth.

Grover was at her side now. He'd stopped playing and was feeding her ambrosia.

Everywhere Kronos stepped, the roots wrapped around his feet, but Grover had stopped his magic too early. The roots weren't thick or strong enough to do much more than annoy the Titan, but it didn't matter. Annoying someone breaks them down. I can tell, since Percy was annoyed at being frozen in place, but I can be affected by no such thing. I laughed as I charged Kronos, slashing with everything I had.

We fought through the hearth, kicking up coals and sparks. Kronos slashed an armrest off the throne of Ares, which was okay by me, and he backed me up to Aphrodite's throne.

"Oh, yes," Kronos said. "This one will make fine kindling for my new hearth!"

Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks. He was stronger than me, but for a moment I felt a surge of warmth. My mind flashed to everyone I loved; Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Tyson. I remembered what I was fighting for, what I was here to do, and I pushed him back and struck again- slashing my darts across his breastplate so hard, I cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.

Kronos was getting tired. Percy was straining, frozen in place, but he was yelling encouragements at me. I was the only one that could do this- the only one that could fight Kronos in a way he couldn't combat properly. Against anyone else, he could freeze them in place and take all the time-outs he wanted. Even against a demigod that might be immune to this, but alive- well, they'd need time-outs, too.

But I am dead. I don't need time-outs and I am immune to time itself. Kronos's biggest advantages were completely moot against me.

"It's too late, Tempest Montgomery," he said, straining against my darts. "Behold."

He bucked his head at the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-message. I saw Nico and Percy's parents down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies. In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless. Melinoe roared and sent an entire legion of dead revolutionaries into the mix, but they were plowed down almost as fast as they spawned. Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed.

The scene shifted, and I saw something even more terrifying.

A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore. Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and I saw Typhon clearly for the first time.

I knew I would never be able to get the image out of my mind for centuries to come. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face would've driven me insane, so I focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin reminded me of a meat loaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.