Omicron, Chaos's Commander (A Percy Jackson Fan Fiction)

Chapter 27

[A/N: Dedicated to __You__. Antaeus's parents were Gaea and Poseidon.]

Annabeth's POV

Could that dream have been real? I couldn't stop thinking about it when I woke up the next morning. It had seemed so real when it had happened, but I still doubted it because I didn't want to see Percy like that. Void had made him completely heartless, without remorse...everything that Percy Jackson wasn't.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I clenched my hands tighter around the hilt of the Void sword, the once chance I had of ever getting the real Percy back.

I stood up and sheathed it, knowing that constantly worrying about everything wouldn't help anything at all. I went out of the Athena cabin and decided to try going for a walk, noticing that many others were doing the same. We all had the need to get rid of some nervous energy, since we knew another attack would come soon, but had no idea when exactly it would happen. We were constantly on high alert, and many of us feared that we wouldn't survive the next battle.

I had only walked part of the way to the beach when a horn sounded from the hill. I started toward it, when I heard another alert coming from the forest.

Two attacks at once? That would be a smart move, to spread our already thin defenses even thinner, especially since they had nearly unlimited resources.

I saw most campers running toward the hill, so I went the other way, hoping that I was heading to where Percy was. I drew my knife, keeping the Void sword carefully sheathed across my back.

I joined up with Thalia as we ran into the woods. She nodded at the sword on my back and said, "I hope that thing works. One of the Chaos soldiers that was on patrol spotted Percy with this part of the army. Unfortunately, he's not the only one leading the attack on this side."

"Who's the other leader?" I asked.

She didn't have to answer as we arrived at the battlefield. At first I was confused, seeing a shy, young demigod named Hershel standing next to Percy at the head of their army. Then he looked at me and smirked, and time seemed to slow down as his golden eyes glinted maliciously at me. It couldn't be....but it was. Kronos.

I was desperately hoping that Luke wasn't anywhere near Kronos when he appeared next to me with Bianca and Zoe right behind him.

"Well, it looks like our plan has changed a bit," Luke said, flashing me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'll take care of Kronos while Bianca and Zoe help you get close to Percy. Got it?"

I started to protest, but he just held up a hand and ran forward, throwing a blast of Chaos energy right at Kronos. He blocked it with his scythe, and the force of the impact pushed him back a few yards. I realized then that even a Titan's power was blocked out by Chaos energy.

That realization helped me stop worrying about Luke enough to focus on my part of the plan. I had to get to Percy.

I looked to Bianca and Zoe, but they were already moving toward Percy. This time, he wasn't wearing his helmet, and he smiled mockingly as he saw the two Chaos soldiers heading toward him.

Black streaks of what almost looked like lightning began shooting out of their hands, but Percy didn't move to defend himself. As it struck him, a aura of complete darkness surrounded him, absorbing the energy before it even touched him. The aura pulsed slightly, then a wall of dark energy crackled to life, flying straight toward Zoe and Bianca.

They didn't have time to get out of the way, so they stood their ground. They actually managed to catch the wall and start pushing it back, dark matter flickering around their hands and eyes.

I took the opportunity to start moving behind Percy, staying in the shadows of the trees. I knew he would still notice me, but hopefully he would regard the Chaos soldiers as the higher threat and ignore me.

I ended up behind a tree that was only a few feet away from Percy. He was completely focused on dealing with Bianca and Zoe, so I figured now was my chance. I drew the Void sword and moved forward carefully, knowing he was far too powerful for two Chaos soldiers to occupy for long.

Without even glancing in my direction, Percy flicked a finger at me and a wave of darkness slammed me against the tree I had been hiding behind. The sword flew out of my grasp. I sat up, disoriented, but still trying to reach for the sword, when Percy's wall of energy finally overcame Bianca and Zoe and they fell, unconscious, to the ground.

He smiled and turned to me, noticing what I was reaching for. He raised his hand, wisps of dark mist dancing around his fingers, when Kronos flew into him from behind. I barely had time to process Luke standing triumphantly above Kronos before I lunged desperately for the Void sword.

Percy was standing up and turning toward Luke just as my hand closed around the hilt. I pushed myself forward, holding the sword out in front of me and driving the point into the small spot on his back that he had showed me so long ago.

The sword cut through his armor like it was paper, lodging in his back. I let go of the hilt hastily as the black center of the sword began swirling faster and faster back and forth.

As I fell back, Percy yelled out in shock and anger, surprised that anyone had managed to get past his defenses.

He reached back, preparing to pull out the sword and throw it away, when the black energy abruptly pulled back to the hilt of the sword, then shot forward, escaping the now completely clear sword and seeping into his back.

Percy fell forward onto his hands and knees, the sword falling next to him, and screamed in agony as the darkness spread out from the spot on his back, slowly covering him.

He looked up at me and somehow, through the pain, silently mouthed my name. I watched in horror as dark tendrils appeared on his face and seeped into his eyes, turning them completely black.

Then, he collapsed to the ground, letting out a pulse of energy as he fell that instantly vaporized the monster army that had been gathered behind him. His skin returned to its normal tan, with only paper-thin black lines remaining to mark that anything had changed at all.

[A/N: Next question: What were the dog-like seal creatures who were forging Kronos's scythe in The Battle of the Labyrinth?]