𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈

✦ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐒 ✦

"ONE ON ONE," PERCY CHALLENGED LUKE. "WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?"

Luke curled his lip. The soldiers who were about to kill them hesitated, waiting for his order. Before he could say anything, Agrius, the bear-man, burst onto the deck leading a flying horse.

It was the first pure-black pegasus Percy had ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. The pegasus mare bucked and whinnied. Percy could understand her thoughts. She was calling Agrius and Luke some names so bad Chiron would've washed her muzzle out with saddle soap.

"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"

Luke kept his eyes on Percy. "I told you last summer, Percy," he said, "You can't bait me into a fight."

"And you keep avoiding one," Percy noticed. "Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?"

Luke glanced at his men, and he saw Percy had trapped him. If he backed down now, he would look weak. If he fought Percy, he'd lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse.

For Percy's part, the best he could hope for was to distract him, giving his friends a chance to escape. If anybody could think of a plan to get them out of there, Annabeth could. On the downside, Percy knew how good Luke was at sword fighting (aside from Aurora of course).

"I'll kill you quickly," Luke decided, and raised his weapon.

Backbiter was a foot longer than Percy's own sword. Its blade glinted with an evil grey-and-gold light where the human steel had been melded with Celestial Bronze. Percy could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. He didn't know how the blade had been made, but he sensed a tragedy. Someone had died in the process.

Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield. He grinned at Percy wickedly.

"Luke," Annabeth said, "at least give him a shield."

"Sorry, Annabeth," Luke said. "You bring your own equipment to this party."

Aurora's gaze hardened as Luke turned to her, expecting her to plead for Percy's life or protest against his unfairness. But instead, she met his eyes with unwavering resolve.

She had nothing to say to him.

Then suddenly, Aurora's powers surged unexpectedly, and she felt a familiar sensation wash over her. Her body froze involuntarily, and her eyes sparked with intense brightness.

Instead of her father's voice sharing a prophecy, her mind was bombarded with a rapid succession of images, each flashing before her eyes like fragments of a dream.

In that fleeting moment, Aurora glimpsed gods and titans locked in a cosmic struggle, the imposing silhouette of Mount Othrys looming ominously in the distance. Stars streaked across the sky in a celestial dance, while the winding paths of a labyrinth twisted and turned in intricate patterns. Monstrous creatures prowled in the shadows, and the skyline of Manhattan glimmered in the distance.