Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Bob seriously knew how to use a broom.
He slashed back and forth, destroying the demons one after the other while Small Bob the kitten sat on his shoulder, arching its back and hissing. In a matter of seconds, the arai were gone. Most had been vaporized. The smart ones had flown off into the darkness, shrieking in terror.
Percy wanted to thank the Titan, but his voice wouldn't work. His legs buckled. His ears rang. Through a red glow of pain, he saw Theo a few yards away, wandering blindly towards the edge of the cliff.
Percy tried to yell in her direction, but nothing came out.
Bob followed his gaze. He bounded towards Theo and scooped her up. She yelled and kicked, pummelling Bob's gut, but Bob didn't seem to care. He carried her over to Percy and put her down gently.
The Titan touched her forehead. "Owie."
Theo stopped fighting. Her eyes cleared. "Where... What—?"
She saw Percy, and a series of expressions flashed across her face—relief, joy, shock, horror. "What's wrong with him?" she demanded. "What happened?"
She cradled his shoulders and pressed kisses to his head, panicked. Percy wanted to tell her it was okay, but of course it wasn't. He couldn't even feel his body anymore. His consciousness was like a small helium balloon, loosely tied to the top of his head. It had no weight, no strength. It just kept expanding, getting lighter and lighter. He knew that soon it would either burst or the string would break, and his life would float away.
Theo took his face in her hands. She kissed him and tried to wipe the dust and sweat from his eyes.
Bob loomed over them, his broom planted like a flag. His face was unreadable, luminously white in the dark.
"Lots of curses," Bob said. "Percy has done bad things to monsters. But this one... this one isn't from any monster. It's from friend Theo."
Theo's face blanched, and Percy could feel her tense up. "M–me? I did this? I... Oh, gods, I did this? Oh, Percy, I'm so—"
She lifted her eyes to Bob, manic now, looking more terrified than she had even when facing dozens of arai at once. "Can you fix him? Bob, please, fix Percy—"
"Iapetus," Bob said, his voice a low rumble. "Before Bob. It was Iapetus."
The air was absolutely still. Percy felt helpless, barely connected to the world.
Theo breathed in and out very slowly, shakily, wiping tears away as they swept down her cheeks. "Well... which do you like more? I like Bob better."
The Titan regarded her with his pure silver eyes. "I do not know any more."
