𝕮𝖗𝖚𝖊𝖑 - 𝕱𝖊𝖒𝕺𝕮𝖝𝕷𝖊𝖔 𝖁𝖆𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖟

17. Jade VS Typhon-ROUND TWO!

As soon as I stepped into the Empire State Building, there was an immense pain in my head. I fell to my knees.

I looked up and a glowing image of an owl blazed in front of me. It's time, Athena's voice said.

I looked at Percy. "You have to go on without me," 

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What!? Kiera no! We need as many people as possible."

"Look, I made a deal with your mother,"  I said. "In order for Percy and I to be freed from Hades's dungeon, I had to promise to help the Olympians fight Typhon as he approaches New York."

Percy looked between me and the elevator. "Go."

The snakes. 

My bracelet sat on my right hand. I tore it of and put it in Percy's palm, "They'll turn full-sized in Olympus, so don't worry about that."

"What—"

I kissed his forehead and took off running. I sprinted past the raging battle outside. Mrs. O'Leary was still digging for Chiron. Mom and Paul looked at me as I hurried past them.

Jade noticed me and seemed to realize what was going on. She said something to Nico, in which he nodded and she raced after me. I ran block after block.

Hudson River. Athena told me.

Oh gods, this is going to be fun.

Once Jade was side by side with me, and we were running, she seemed to focus more.

"Where are we headed?" She asked.

"Typhon." I said. "I made a deal, long story short, I have to help the Olympians."

"Damnit, I had to last time, too."

If we weren't running and probably about to die, I'd be laughing. Even though it only seemed like I had left Percy a minute ago, we were already by the river. My heart almost stopped with what I saw.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and I saw Typhon clearly for the first time.

I knew as long as I lived (which might not be that long) I would never be able to get the image out of my mind. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face almost drove me insane, so I focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin reminded me of a moldy sandwich. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.

Suddenly, there was a stronger pull and I yanked. A burst of light made me feel the need to look away. It was so dark, it felt like I was staring at Chaos. Pure destruction. But as soon as I looked back, one of his arms was gone, just simply: gone. It made no sense. How could something just disappear? 

Jade stumbled before cursing. "That asshat looks the same as last time."

I summoned my sword, and gathered the courage for an attack. "I won't die if I go in fighting, right? Like—he won't vaporize me?"

"Nope," Jade mumbled. "I fought him last time without the curse of Achilles."

"You're dead."

"I died from something else."

With a deep breath, I charged. My speed seemed to improve as I ran over the water. Jade following behind me. She summoned a giant rock and boosted herself up to Typhon's chest. I could barely focus on her, she was so small and fast. I used a jet of water to spring me onto the monster's arm. As I ran up it—which seemed to take forever—I cut and slashed as much as I could, and once I got close enough, I jumped off, falling towards the top of his misshapen head.