The Lion Boy

The Lion Boy Part 20

Annabeth POV

What does one do when chased by gunmen? I don't know. Different situations lead to different answers. We decided to ditch Bessy. Perhaps it was a bad move, but we now had at least ten people shooting at us. How nobody had gotten shot by now I didn't know. Maybe Tyche was feeling generous, as was Nemesis. Still, the bullets seemed to swerve around us, and there wasn't a breeze to be found. It unnerved me. What did so more however, was when Luke let out a scream, and clutched his side. It seemed the bullets hadn't been able to move away fast enough. Red started to leak through his fingers. Percy gritted his teeth.
"Grab onto Annabeth, Luke. Annabeth, use one arm to reach to him, and the other to grab my arm." We both did as he asked, with minor yelps from Luke. Not much we could do about that, as Percy and I were both focusing on not getting hit ourselves. I felt a wave of nausea come over me as Percy clenched his eyes shut. A moment later, I felt myself dissolve and reform behind us, about a mile back.
We were tucked behind a dune, and I heard Luke fall with a soft thud. I crawled over to him, as my legs may as well have been jelly for all the help they were after the jump. Percy had fallen as well, and had a thin sheen of sweat over his face. Wiping a hand across his forehead, he got up, and sat next to Luke as well.
"Sorry Luke." Percy then pressed two fingers to the center of Luke's forehead. Immediately after the son of Hermes' eyes fell shut. "This should make it easier." I looked at him, arching an eyebrow in question.
"Rhea's blessing sort of gives me a lot of power over the mind. It's her strong suit, as marriage and motherhood all require a certain level of mental capability. He's just unconscious, and I can wake him up anytime. Until then however, he's dead weight, and nothing short of an immortal could make him stir." He winced, as he moved Luke's hand out of the way, inspecting the wound. I bent over to look, pushing Percy away slightly.
"I've been hanging out with Will sometimes, instead of crafts. With Athena as my mother, I can already do most of the stuff they teach. He's been teaching me a little bit." He nodded, although for some reason looked a little grumpy. What about, I couldn't tell. Ignoring him for the time being, I glanced at it.
It was shallow, thankfully, but it had grazed an especially sensitive area.
"Hand me the first aid kit Perce," I demanded, not taking my eyes off Luke. After a few moments of remaining empty handed I looked up to find Percy with a cringe on his face.
"The packs were on Bessy. I didn't get a chance to swipe them before I made my escape." I sighed, shaking my head, before looking back up at him.
"Shirt." I commanded. He nodded. He put his arms up, wriggled a little, then handed me his t-shirt. I smiled back at him, before pulling out my knife to make more precise cuts for strips. Percy broke my trance (I had been sort of blocking everything out as I started the work) by handing me a canteen. Water sloshed inside, he gestured to the wound, which had sand gathered around the edges, and inside a bit. Not in very deep, but still potentially dangerous. I pulled the cap off of the container, before pouring it in the wound, and using an extra strip of cloth to dab at it. I winced, imagining the pain Luke would be in once he woke up. Percy gave me a thumbs up while watching me work. I smiled back at him, Then I started wrapping.
Layer over layer over layer. When I was done, most of Luke's lower torso had been covered. Perfect. I gently stuck my pointer finger under the wraps, happy to find it snug, but not too tight. I glanced back at Percy, who had been watching.
"Good job. Will taught you well." I shrugged, but I don't think he missed the light pink tinge that rose to my cheeks.
"I can try to travel us there, but once we get there I won't be much use." Percy said, going through our options. I shook my head.
"We can walk. Dynatos and Axi wouldn't want us slacking while they were gone." A flinch came over Percy's features for a second, and I immediately regretted bring up the lions. He tried not to look concerned for them, but they had been his protectors for years. He was horrifically worried about them. He swallowed, turning his head away.
"Yeah." He started, his voice coming out a little choked. I silently cursed myself. "It's about eight miles that way. I just hope we have the right place." I placed a hand on his arm.
"It's our only option. It has to be right." Gray met green as we stared at each other. The newspaper had mentioned tremors coming from a group of caves. They were keeping the whole place secured off. Percy was nervous about traveling into his Uncle's domain, but with Thalia at risk, he was determined to get over it. He picked up Luke's limp form, situating him over his shoulder.
"Let's get going." His feet started moving, cutting laboriously through the never ending piles of sand. Our feet were covered as best as they could be, and although the heat bothered Percy much less due to Hestia's blessing, my feet were starting to blister.
"We're almost done. We just have to hold out a little bit longer." He muttered, to console himself or me I didn't know.

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Percy POV

We were roughly half a mile away when I first heard it. It ran through the ground, sending tiny tremors into my bones.
Help. Help. Help.
It started out soft, and as we drew closer it got louder. It soon became a pounding pulsing to the very core of my being. I looked over to Annabeth.
"Do you hear it?" I asked. My voice came out a croak. I refused to drink any of our water. I could last longer without it, courtesy of Poseidon. I was saving it for Annabeth. She knitted her brows together.
"Hear what?" She looked normal, albeit completely exhausted. We both were. I shook my head, nearly stumbling with the effort. The words were so loud it was turning my legs to mush.
"Nevermind." We continued to walk, until we reached the caves entrance. It was taking most of my concentration to stay upright now, and the ground giving in didn't help matters.
We landed in a heap next to one another, limbs tangled together. Luke was shaken off my shoulder, and the loss of deadweight helped enormously. I stood up shakily, brushing dirt off of my clothes. I summoned a ball of flame to my hand, lighting up my surroundings. We were in a musty smelling chamber, and there was a shape laying awkwardly off to the side. There were a pile of chains next to it. Making the fire brighter, I was horrified to see it was Thalia. Her pitch hair was dirty and matted, while her body was slick with sweat. A rumbling ran through the floor as a golden cage erupted from the ground.
The gold looked almost molten, and it swirled in it's place. Rhea was laying on it's base. Her white robes were turned a light brown with the dirt caked on them. Her face was bloody, and her caramel brown hair cascaded down her shoulders. She looked up at them. Her eyes widened, and a huge smile stretched across her face, ear to ear.
"I knew you would save me." She whispered. Her voice somehow retained its melodious sound, sounding just as unearthly as ever. A wisp of smoke appeared next to the cage, and from it, a dark skinned woman stepped out. Her amber eyes flashed just as sadistically as they had when Percy had seen her last. Eris. Her sharp laughter filled the chamber.
"Look at that, they made it! Now they get to watch their friend die!" She exclaimed. Another voice rang throughout the room, as a golden pedestal rose up from the ground.
"How perfectly wonderful." It was cold and ancient. Malevolent. It was enough to raise goosebumps on Percy's arms. A steel cage dropped from the ceiling, landing with a deafening clang on top of the three demigods. "Welcome to the show. I'm glad Rhea's dear Percy could come to watch his Grandfather rise."
The puzzle pieces clicked in Percy's head.
"Kronos! What do you want with Thalia and Rhea?" He snarled, hands balled into fists. A condescending chuckle rang out.
"Now now Perseus, that wasn't very polite. Take a seat, and calm down a little bit." A sudden burst of wind knocked Percy to the floor. "My show is just beginning."
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A/N: I'm officially the worst author in the world. This story hasn't been updated in nearly a month. *hangs head in shame* Hopefully this update is enough to make up for it. By the end of the next chapter, the dream contest will no longer be valid, (See Authors Note in Chapter 18 for details) So get your entry in for that, if you'd like to participate. I have messaged one person, as they were close, but nobody has won the prize yet. The prophecy will be going down in the next chapter, so lots of action coming up. Thank you guys so much for over 20K views! This is so amazing to me, and I can't explain how much I love each and every one of you. As I check my notifications the phrase: "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO LIKE IT THIS MUCH." Is often said. But truly, I never could've imagined it would blossom this much. Thank you for all of the continued support!

Your Favorite Demigod,
Isa Rivers