Flower Food || [P. Jackson] ||

Chapter 19: I'm Too Good For Parachutes (Help Me Out For Once, Dad)

Percy's heart thudded powerfully and rapidly in his chest as he shoved himself to his feet and took out Riptide again to uncap it.

"Calli!" Will cried out, sprinting towards the hole in the wall, only to nearly fall on his ass in his attempt to avoid the Chimera suddenly appearing before him, blocking the way and its gigantic scorpion tail arching in the air menacingly.

Percy felt sick just looking at the thing; had that really been what stung him?

His arm, numb from the venom that originated from his shoulder, was lethargic and useless as he cursed and shifted his sword to his other hand, and he shouted, "get back!"

"Solace!" Annabeth screeched from where she was still battling Echidna. There was a cut on the girl's face and her gray eyes were wide and slightly crazed as she spat, "heal Percy first! Then we can - oh!"

Her face went pale and stunned as the Chimera slammed into her back, skidding her across the hallway and leaving her in a groaning heap at the opposite side.

Percy panted, his vision going haywire and his eyes having trouble focusing as they darted from Will, who was cursing as he brandished his dagger at the Chimera, to Grover, who was trotting over to Annabeth and forcefully stuffing ambrosia into her mouth, and finally, the hole in the wall that continued to let in a strong breeze and the scent of the river water.

Song-ee had fallen.

She had fallen and she wasn't a daughter of Zeus; there was no way she could survive such a height.

Song-ee was gone and Percy was going to vomit -

"Percy!"

Percy snapped his head to the side when he heard the high-pitched and familiar voice, and he nearly gasped when he saw the single, pale hand that tightly grasped the edge of the crumbling cement.

"Song-ee!" He bellowed, pain in his shoulder forgotten and his heart in his throat, but before he could race over and pull her up, something pierced his arm again, this time far more painful and potent than before.

He screamed, his voice raw and grating on his throat as he physically felt the poison swell, his eyes barely catching sight of the Chimera's massive scorpion tail slithering back closer to its body.

"Enough!" Echidna screamed, and she flung out an arm, which bled heavily from the numerous stabs Annabeth had managed to make contact. "You disrespectful, unloving children! You are a burden to not only your mothers, but Hades himself! Sonny!"

Sonny roared, his lion's mane matted and dark with what Percy hoped with ketchup from his last victim's lunch, and he lunged towards the hole in the wall just as Percy lurched forward and threw Riptide at the same time.

His reflex was sloppy and so was his speed, and he cried out when the Chimera's tail once again shot out and pierced Song-ee's arm, and this time, Percy felt like his heart stopped as she screamed and her fingers slipped away.