Falling Forest | pjo

temptation

           Note: I also post on Quotev, but I realized I forgot to add this to Wattpad so here you go! Just a quick and short POV from Charlie. Working on the next chapter btw <3

           Charlie was really starting to hate the ground. They had kissed way too many times for his liking and it always ended up with a headache pounding inside his skull. If this was how Zeus felt when birthing Athena, Charlie was tempted to use the same method of splitting his head open. But alas, he would just bleed to death. Woe is him... Woe is him indeed...

His wrists burned red from the tightly bound rope that restricted his movements. In the corner of his eye, he could see creatures walking around him with grunts and growls. The smell was awful and he could feel the disgusting energy move beneath him, swirling in grotesque curiosity. He was still on the cursed mountain it seems.

Keeping his head down as to not alert the monsters, Charlie grimaced at the thought of staying around the area any longer. Scanning the area around him was not a problem due to the multitude of plant life on the mountain, but the feeling of evil was so potent that it affected how the plants perceived things.

One of his abilities as a child of Demeter was the ability to perceive the feelings of plants, as cliché and absurd as it sounds. It wasn't so much of feeling the emotions, but the feelings of the plants' surroundings. The dirt that crunches around them from heavy impacts, the wind causing them to sway from the movements of beings around them, even the slight brush. Plants were perfect spies, albeit unorthodox. Moreover, this mountain was apparently home to the new titan base under the leadership of Kronos as proven by the huge army of monsters as well as the loud bragging from Atlas.

As Charlie stewed in his thoughts, the turmoil on his face slowly formed into a gleeful smirk when he caught a glint of green in his peripheral. There was a crate near his left side filled to the brim with rows and rows of glass containers. All with one label.

'Greek Fire'

It was absolutely perfect. All he needed was a distraction.

'Mother, please let this work.' Looking towards the sky, the boy willed the wind to blow harshly against the tents surrounding the miniature camp. The tent flaps waved wildly as numerous crates began to rattle as they fell over. The monsters and demigods around him went into a frenzy trying to secure the boxes as a miniature whirlwind swept through the camp.

Charlie grinned before making quick work with the rope by turning his ring into a spear, letting the blade run swiftly through the material. As quickly and discretely as he could, he carefully gathered a fair amount of Greek Fire and stuffed them in his coat. Charlie struggled to his feet with the extra weight combining with his pained muscles, being careful not to jostle them as he ran behind tents to get towards the woods.

"The demigod is loosssse! Capture him or Kronosss will flay you alive!"

'Shit!' He cursed. 'Well, it's now or never.'

Charlie whirled around and chucked a bottle at the oncoming horde of monsters. If he could decrease the amount of monsters, he could take care of the rest.

With that thought, the son of Demeter began a chase of cat and mouse. The horde of monsters continued to rush at him as he ran and leapt over several objects, throwing more bottles of Greek fire behind him and dodging the numerous projectiles. His supply was beginning to run out, but on the bright side, the number of monsters behind him were dwindling down to a couple. He was surprised no one else came. The boy would've been screwed if Atlas came.

'Probably too busy taunting the Olympian to care.' Charlie mused.

Three snake ladies and two smelly cyclopes. He could manage that. Unfortunately for them... They were on a mountain. With a wave of his hand, the underbrush came alive and swallowed the monsters in a plethora of vines. It managed to strangle the three snake ladies to golden dust, but the other two cyclopes merely ripped the vines off in annoyance before charging straight for him again.

"I guess we'll do this the hard way then." Charlie grimaced.

His body flared in protest at the idea of fighting, but he ignored it in favor of ducking to avoid the wooden club. The demigod spun between the two monsters like an intricate dance while slashing when they were too slow to turn around. Stabbing forward into one cyclops' chest and turning it into dust, Charlie nimbly jumped to the side as a fist smashed where he previously was. Before he could think something slammed into his side, sending him crashing into a tree.

Warm, red liquid slid down his head where it hit the bark of the tree. The boy squinted his eyes to focus as he blearily looked up and saw a blurry figure come up behind the last cyclops.

"Oh, you have GOT to be fucking kidding me!" He hissed under his breath.

In front of him stood a towering figure with the body of a large man and the head of. A. Fucking. Bull. Even from where he sat against the tree, the Minotaur reeked. The smell so pungent that he had to refrain himself from turning to the side to gag. The beast's nostrils flared angrily, as if sensing his thoughts.

"Oh go screw yourself!" Charlie spat out, scrambling up. Heavy pants escaped him as he struggled to stand straight. 'What do I do?'

The two monsters seemed to grin savagely at him like he was a juicy piece of meat, reveling greatly in his struggle. His eyes narrowed as they stomped closer and closer. They wouldn't kill him, but his chance to escape again would equate to 0 if they recaptured him. There was also the possibility of torture to keep him still, as low as it is.

Charlie knew he was too tired to use his powers and at this point, fighting them with just his spear was practically suicide. Especially with his injuries. Damn you, Atlas.

'If there are anymore deities who have a decent amount of interest in me, I could use some help right about now!.' It pained him to even think about asking for help, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Just as he was about to give in to fatigue, a large, gray owl descended from the trees and viciously clawed into the eyes of the Minotaur and even then, he felt his body re-energize in seconds.

His eyes widened and the adrenaline coupled with whatever energized his body led him to jump up, tearing off his ring to pierce through the Minotaur's chest. Charlie took sick satisfaction in the monster's expression as he twisted the spear within its chest, causing it to explode in golden dust with one last snarl. He felt a small tinge of morbid fascination at the dust that fell on his arms.

The last two Cyclopes were quickly swallowed up by the green shrubbery, dragged into the shadows as they roared in rage behind him.

He gave a nod of acknowledgement to the owl in gratitude as it calmly watched him from a branch above.

He'd give the goddess a big offering later, but for now, he had some major titan ass to kick.