Lord of the Eclipse

10 | Caution! Nose-Flattening Obstacle Up Ahead!

Perseus found out that he should be careful with glass windows the hard way. He and Annabeth had dashed into the 'museum', as the daughter of Athena had called it, and he slammed onto the hardened see-through structure by accident.

A broken nose wasn't much, but it hurt like Hades. He definitely envied those who have never broken their noses yet. His advice? Don't run head-on when there's a see-through wall planted of right in front of you.

But he couldn't afford to let his comrades die just because he broke a part of his face, so he hobbled towards the sound of the ongoing fight, tearing cloth from his camp shirt and stuffing his nostril.

"You are a complete idiot, Perseus." Annabeth said, biting back a laugh. Her golden blonde hair was now tied up in a neat ponytail, only with a few stray strands hanging around her face. She would've obviously been in his top choices for a warrior, but there was something he felt in him whenever he was around her. His body temperature would rise slightly, he felt the need to look at his reflection to make sure his hair doesn't look like a griffin's nest, and his heartbeat would increase drastically. He pushed the thought aside as they approached the battle, barely missing the poison that was shot straight towards them.

"You charge at it from the left, I'll attack from the right. You have to distract it, so I can have a clear shot. Got it?"

"Have you gone mad? You wouldn't even be able to scratch the lion! Are you planning to get yourself killed?" The blonde shrieked, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Absolutely not," he laughs. He had just came back, he wouldnt want to die again, especially when his sister is in danger. Why didnt people believe in him? "Just do what I said, alright? Trust me,"

"Trust a person who just ran onto a window? Such a wise thing to consider," she grumbled to herself sarcastically, but she still did as he told her to do.

She veered left, grabbing objects on the floor and chucking them at the beast. Snowglobes, rubber slippers, broken chunks of the moon--the girl had perfect aiming skills.

Perseus spotted Zoë notching an arrow, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of anger, relief, and amusement. He nodded at her, discretely unsheathing the twin warglaives strapped on the underside of his arms, then charged at the Nemian Lion.

Stupid idea? You bet.

For a normal demigod, anyways. But for Perseus? He was a different case. He was a god. An immortal. He was the Lord of the Eclipse, and to him, this was fun--it was just like a deadly game of tag.

Slash, hack, duck, stab, dodge, sidestep, swing, repeat. His body was humming with adrenaline, and he let his subconscious take over. The faint sound of metal slicing the air drowned out the roaring of the monster as its skin deflected some of his blows. The noise reverberated around the room, occasionally accompanied by arrows whistling past.

The Nemian Lion growled with annoyance, its eyes flashing dangerously.

"Perseus," Annabeth said from somewhere behind him. "Perseus it's about to pounce! Get out of--"

Too late.

He was too late.

The mythological beast sprung from its spot, landing on him and knocking the god backwards. He snarled. He wouldn't he able to attack the lion from under it, as he would end up injuring himself as well, so he reluctantly sheathed his twin warglaives and decided to irritate the beast as much as he could so the others can escape.

"Run!" he commanded, grappling the lion. "Get away from here! Zoë, take them to the next part of the quest. I'll leave right after this and dont worry about me," he slammed his fist onto the snout of the snarling beast, "I'll meet you there!"

The lieutenant nodded, springing to action and grabbing the dazed satyr and Annabeth, running out of the area with her hunters close behind.

"Now it's just you and me." he grunts, moving his head to the right to avoid the piercing fangs of the beast. "Just you and me,"

He kicked it from its underbelly, resulting to the five-hundred-pound sack of meat soaring through the air. Perseus slowly got up, clutching his chest. A broken rib and a bloody nose. Great. He was just glad that none of the two from camp had seen the golden liquid--ichor, the blood of the gods--seeping through the orange cloth in his nose.

He brought out his weapons again, and he attacked without mercy. The Nemean Lion had killed more than enough demigods in a century, as it cannot be killed by the half-gods. But every creature had its secret; its fatal weakness. And Perseus knew all about secrets. For millennium, he had studied them; tested them and succeeded in most. This beast? It can only be killed with two methods--through its mouth, as there is no skin to protect it from weapons, and the other? He shivered. He vowed never to speak of it again. So as the lion opened its mouth to let out a roar, Perseus threw his Stygian Iron warglaive, and he held his breath. He was the brother of Apollo and Artemis; of course he had perfect aim. But sometimes Fate just intercepts with your life and meddles with whatever talent you have; they're just cruel that way. It didnt matter if you were a mortal or a god or a demigod or a nature spirit.

So he watched in horror as his weapon bounced harmlessly off its tongue, and he wasnt sure if it was him or the lion who was more shocked.

"God of Olympus," he murmured, fear surging through his veins.

All he remembered was what Dionysus had said during their encounter: I'm only letting you go because I have high hopes that you're going to be one of the two that gets to visit the Underworld on this quest, and is going to be staying there.

True, he was immortal, but gods can perish too.

All beings have their own flaws; some unknown to themselves, but is deadly when discovered by the enemy.

Then the lion pounced once again, and this time, it got even luckier than it already was.

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Update: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 74K READS OH MY GODS!!! This chapter is obv dedicated to the other owners of this account: PixelUp , enduring_endeavors , and anubisandnicomyloves . They are all freaking amazing and their stories are legit the best.

Ayeee here's a cliffhanger for y'all! I hope you guys are liking this story omfg. Im trying as hard as I can to make it enjoyable to read, so feel free to leave comments on how I could improve my writing. See you guys soon and dont forget to vote xx

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