Ivy Pittaluga had always made a solemn vow to keep her distance from Percy Jackson, determined to keep her world separate from the camp hero.
However, she realizes that fate has a mischievous plan in store for her. Suddenly thrown together as unlik...
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The giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. They reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot. Percy sprinted to Ephialtes while Jason charged at Otis. Piper and I both headed toward Nico. There were two leopards that had started to stalk the son of Hades.
Piper and I had to hopscotch our way around fiery pits to get to Nico. The leopards stopped pacing, their eyes fixated on me. From my peripheral vision I saw a hydra that was suspended in a cage snap at Percy. I had to remind myself that he could take care of himself and I need to focus on helping Nico. The large cats started to walk toward us, their heads low and their tails low.
A smile grew on my face when they recognized who I was. Piper glanced at me as if I were insane. I held out my hand for her to stay where she was and took a few steps forward. One of the leopards, I'm assuming the one in charge, slowly made their way to me. The tip of its tail stood up and hooked at the end.
"Hey there." I cooed, holding out a hand. The large cat grew closer. Nico was starting to regain a little more strength. The leopard smelled my hand and ran the side of its face into my palm. "Have they been feeding you well, sweetie?"
The leopard let out a low deep grunt. It ran its body along my legs. The other leopard made its way to me. Piper took that as a sign to make her way over to Nico. I ran my hands over their backs to help soothe them. One of them glared at the giants.
"They haven't fed you well, have they?" I frowned, noting they were on the thinner side.
"You are a spoilsport, Jackson!" Ephialtes shouted. I glanced over my shoulder to see that the hydra cage was broken on the ground and the monster was staring at my boyfriend. "Very well. Battle here, if you must, but your death won't be nearly as good without a cheering crowd."
"Piper, think you can give these guys some food?" I turned toward her hopefully.
"Uh..." Piper furrowed her brows as she noted the large cats surrounding me and trying to catch my attention. "Sure."
"Awesome. I'm sure they will help us once they get some energy." I scratched the chin of the closest leopard. The cat's ears lowered as it tilted its head up. I know they couldn't purr, but I swear I saw it smiling. The other leopard looked up at me. I smiled at them. "Okay, after you eat. I want you guys to help us fight the giants, okay? Then I'll see if I can find a way to take you guys home with me, I'm sure my dad would allow us to have some leopards back at camp."
The leopards appeared to like the idea. Piper was able to use the cornucopia to give each leopard a pot roast. They quickly devoured the meat, licking their maw. Just like I asked, they went to go attack the monsters and help the boys fight the giants. They had startled Jason and Percy before they noticed the large cats were helping them. Percy glanced over at me and I sent him a nod.
He quickly worked with the leopard to try and kill the hydra. I rushed over to Nico. Piper was trying to help him stand up. Nico was still out of it. His head was lolling to one side and his eyes kept fluttering as he tried to gain full consciousness.
