Fire and Ice (A Leo Valdez fanfic) [2017]

Chapter 5: Percy 🔱

PERCY RETURNED TO THE BEACH with Annabeth after welcoming Leo back. He was sitting on the dock with her when he heard the voice of an old friend.

"Percy!"

"What?" Percy looked around, but no one else was around except him and Annabeth.

"Percy, is something wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"Didn't you hear that?" Percy asked.

"Hear what?"

"Annabeth can't hear me, Percy. It's me, Grover."

"Grover!" Percy felt stupid. Of course Annabeth couldn't hear it. It was an empathy link. "What do you need?"

"Backup."

"Backup? What do you mean?"

"New demigod. We're at Grand Central. Empousai are attacking, six of them."

"Empou-- wait, is it Kelli?"

"That sounds right."

Percy groaned. He hated the vampire cheerleader and her clique. He'd met them twice, once at school and once in Tartarus. He shuddered just thinking about the place. "Should we come? What should we take? Blackjack?"

"No, unless Blackjack can take four people. Plus, we need help quick."

Percy scratched his chin, which was beginning to grow some stubble. Then it came to him. "Hey! Shadow travel! We can use..."

"Nico!" Percy yelled. "We need you!"

They were standing outside the Hades cabin. Percy had filled Annabeth in, and now they were searching for Nico.

"He isn't here," Annabeth said after peeking through the window. "Maybe the infirmary?"

"What did he do now?" Percy asked.

"Nothing, Seaweed Brain," she laughed, swatting him playfully. "Will Solace, remember?"

"Oh! Duh," Percy said, facepalming himself.

"You remember because you paid Jason for it," Annabeth said with a smirk.

"Ugh, don't remind me."

As they walked around camp looking for Nico, Leo ran up to them. "Look! I got my first bead!" he said, proudly showing off his new Camp Half Blood necklace. "Chiron gave me one even thought I technically didn't survive the summer. I made it back, so he agreed to give me one!"

"That's great, Leo," Percy said, trying to stay calm. "We're kind of busy, if you don't mind."

"Oh, okay." He ran off, still grinning like a maniac.

They arrived at the infirmary, and sure enough, Nico was there with Will. He agreed reluctantly, though Will was worried that he'd be exhausted after so much shadow travel. Percy assured Will that they'd keep Nico safe.

As they walked back to the Hades cabin, they found Hazel looking at something on the ground. "Guys, look at this!"

Percy bent down and looked at the thing that had caught Hazel's attention. It was a silver ring with a round, light blue jewel on it. "What's so special about it?"

"I can sense Mist around it," Hazel said. "It's disguised, like your pen-sword."

Percy had a sudden hunch. He picked the ring up and tapped the jewel three times. It instantly became a silver sword with intricate swirling designs on the blade and hilt. At the hilt was a jewel identical to the one on the ring. Greek letters under the hilt read "Chionothyella".

"Blizzard?" Percy translated. "That's its name?"

"Why was it there?" Annabeth asked. Hazel shrugged. "Just found it."

Percy tapped the jewel again and it shrunk back into a ring. He slipped it into his pocket.

"Get over here." Nico stood inside the Hades cabin. It was a good place to shadow travel, since it was always shadowy. Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and reached for Nico's, but Nico pulled his hand away. "Don't hold my hand!" he snapped. "Hold onto my shoulder. Don't touch me any more than you need to."

"Fine, fine," Percy said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Nico's shoulder, which was clad with its usual aviator's jacket.

"One, two, three!" Nico said, and together they melted into the shadows.

The trip made Percy dizzy. He'd always been uncomfortable in Zeus' and Hades' territory, but shadow traveling was even worse than flying. He felt nauseous and was extremely glad when his feet hit solid ground again.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded, afraid he'd throw up if he opened his mouth.

They were in a huge train station bustling with people. Percy had been there many times. He craned his neck to see Grover.

"Percy!" a voice bleated. Percy turned to see his best friend, a curly-haired boy in a rasta cap, blowing notes furiously into a set of reed pipes.

"Grover!" he yelled, pushing his way through the crowd. He uncapped Riptide. Then he stopped in his tracks as a vampire cheerleader blocked his way.

"Perseus Jackson," Kelli said. "We meet again."

"You," Percy snarled.

"Yes, me." Kelli sneered. "Lost some of your vocabulary skills since the last time we met, have you?"

Annabeth drew her dagger. "Clear off."

"And the girl is coming to rescue the hero?" Kelli laughed.

Percy ran to Grover. "Where's the new demigod?" he asked.

"Over there," Grover said. "Her name's Eira Bowen."

Percy turned and saw a girl of about fifteen, holding a metal rod and fighting another empousai. The girl's black hair was braided down her back. She was fending for herself pretty well for someone who wasn't trained.

The girl turned and saw Percy. "Who are you?"

"I'm Percy and this is Annabeth and Nico. We're friends of Grover's. We're here to help."

"What are these things?" she demanded. "And why are you holding a sword?"

"These are empousai," Percy told her. "Vampire cheerleaders, basically. With mismatched legs."

"I told you not to mention the legs, fish!" Kelli snarled. The good news was that she left Annabeth alone. The bad news was that she went after Percy.

Percy slashed at her, but she dodged with astonishing speed for her mismatched metal-and-donkey legs. She bared her pointy teeth and lunged at him. He sidestepped and glanced at the girl, Eira.

She was holding her own in a fight against an empousai. She was surprisingly good with a metal bar. Percy knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer without a real weapon. He remembered the ring in his pocket.

"Eira!" he yelled.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Catch!" He tossed her the ring. He knew she would catch it, because of her battlefield reflexes as a demigod. Sure enough, she did. "What is this?"

"Tap the jewel three times!" Percy yelled.

Eira did so and yelped with surprise as she found herself holding a three foot long silver sword. "Whoa!" The empousa she was fighting lunged, and she swung the sword and the empousa vanished in a cloud of dust.

Kelli took advantage of Percy being distracted and attacked. Percy raised his sword for defense, but Eira was already there. She stabbed Kelli in the back, and Kelli exploded into yellow sand.