The Spirits of the Universe (PJO)

Chapter 34--We Get Haunted By Immortals

Despite Mormolyce's disappointing performance, it wasn't like a couple of Taraxippi could fight better than him. Sure, there were more of them, but their hits were weak and uncoordinated—way worse than the Titan. Within a matter of seconds, we mopped the floor with them. 

At least, that's what was supposed to happen. 

Okay. Before I go on to say any more, I want to make it clear that I was not trying to hurt the Taraxippi. I had been following Aridne's orders faithfully—but sometimes, the universe works in mysterious ways.

It happened only a minute into the fight. I was battling two spirits—a flickering man with a grey polo shirt and a woman in a red plaid skirt. Their ghostly apparel somehow swayed as they tried to kill me—I didn't really know the science behind it, but I was too busy trying to play defense to figure it out.

I stepped forward, narrowly parrying a stab from the man's rusty trowel. I then spun to meet a hefty overhead from the woman's choice of weapon—a metal gardening rake. I struggled for a moment as Riptide got stuck in between two prongs. This is taking too long—the man's going to attack again!

Finally, I managed to free my sword's blade—but I was out of time. I dropped to my knees and stabbed backward, hoping to divert the man's attack from my head to a less critical body part.

But the attack never came. As it turned out, the man wasn't as skilled with his weapon as the woman was with hers. Turns out, my deflection of his first attack had disarmed him. The weapon had been launched from his hand, leaving him nothing to defend himself as Riptide whooshed toward his stomach. 

I can confidently state that whatever chance you had with Aridne is now long gone, End said as I stabbed straight through the Taraxippus, unless you find a way to hide his body—she's not looking your way right now.

But wait. Stabbing someone usually required, well, stabbing them. Or, rather, stabbing through skin, bones, and organs. (Sometimes even scales, but at that point, they probably deserved it.) However, I'd felt . . . nothing. It was like I'd tried to split some air molecules, but that was it. 

The man's flickering silhouette grew faint around the sharp edges of my sword. Desperate, I tried twisting and turning and slashing.

Good lord, End groaned. How barbaric are you going to be? 

There was nothing cruel about it, though. No matter what I did, the self-satisfied smirk on the man's face never wavered. It was like I was trying to hurt a fish by pouring water on it. 

Percy, look out! End screamed as the man picked up his trowel and lunged at me. Behind me, the rake wooshed through the air. 

I snapped into action. Being on your knees wasn't ideal for any type of combat move that required a sword—and it wasn't like hurting them was an option anymore. So I did the only thing I could do: copy Mormolyce's escape tactic.

I kicked away the man's weapon. As he staggered, I met the woman's rake with Riptide. The blade got stuck between two prongs again. I pushed against the hilt, but the force of her swing was too strong. Either ghosts were stronger than your average human, or this woman was a former bodybuilder. I was lifted into the air and flung backward into the wall. Unfortunately, this wood was slightly less rotted than the stuff that made the horse stalls, so it held firm as I crashed against it. 

It looked cooler when Mormolyce did it, End murmured as I groaned in pain. My head had bounced solidly off the wall, making me see stars.

They didn't last long, though. My vision returned to normal, and I found the two Taraxippi marching toward me, their weapons ready to stab me through. 

Riptide lay on the ground behind them, its blade shining dimly in the light. But it looked like it was miles away. And it would be minutes before the weapon would reappear in my pocket—minutes that the Taraxippi looked like they would gladly take advantage of.

But I wasn't alone.

At the top of my lungs, I shouted, "Liam! Aridne! You can't hurt them! These guys are immortal!"

My friends turned toward me; they'd been busy fighting their respective opponents. Liam was being attacked by two Taraxippi who were fans of brass knuckles. Meanwhile, Aridne had to go against a sledgehammer and a sickle.

"Are you sure?" Aridne called out, spinning around just in time to bat away the sickle.

I glanced at the man who my weapon should've seriously injured. Now, however, he stormed toward me like today was as peaceful as any day. "Uh . . . I'm pretty sure."

Upon seeing my situation, Liam disengaged from his opponents and bounded toward me. The man and woman didn't have any time to react before his curved sword sliced straight through back of their necks.

"No!" Aridne shrieked. In one fluid move, she disarmed her foes and rushed toward Liam. "I told you not to hurt them—!"

She faltered in her step as the Taraxippi's bodies flickered as the sword went through them. But the next moment, the solid, translucent glow that covered the entirety of their body returned once again. 

"Looks like Percy's right," Liam said. "We can't be criminals even if we want to."

"This is our only chance," Aridne said as the Taraxippi jumped back toward their friendly side, temporarily giving us some space to breathe. "I'll hold them off—you guys get that door open, and then we run—"

"We can't leave without Paul!" I struggled to my feet, trying to ignore how dizzy I felt as all the blood in my body rushed to my brain. "Who knows what Mormolyce will do to him? Besides, he's part of the prophecy. He must be."

"He isn't," Aridne said. "Mormolyce is."

"Mormolyce?" 

"Percy, this is what I was trying to tell you before they rudely attacked us." Liam glared at the Taraxippi, which had grouped up into an intimidating force of six. Now, they prepared to charge. 

I should've probably been worried about surviving the next minute, but Liam's grave tone had piqued my interest. "The prophecy? Last time I checked, there wasn't any mention of Mormolyce—or anything useful, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, maybe we were thinking about it in the wrong way. We came into the forest to help the residents of Helmmount. We're supposed to 'gain' something from this."

"One problem," I said. "There's nothing useful in here. Except him." Liam pointed toward Mormolyce, who, to my alarm, was climbing up to his feet, looking fully healed.

But just at that moment, a thought flashed through my mind—and I understood what Liam was trying to tell me. "He's the Titan of dreams, desires, and wishes—three things that could help us right now. Who knows what defeating him might do?"

One problem, End said. Did you perhaps forget about the IMMORTAL beings protecting him?

"Looks like running away isn't an option," Aridne sighed. "Get ready for a fight."