The Lone Guardian (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter 15

I raced to the top of Half-Blood Hill, the rest of the camp not far behind me, but when I reached the top, I froze in my tracks.

Hordes of monsters stood below me. Packs of hellhounds, dracanae, empousai, hydras, earthborn, cyclopes, even enemies I hoped I would never see again. I could see the Minotaur, Procrustes, Geryon, Stheno and Euryale standing next to a woman wearing a shawl and sunglasses who could only be their sister, Medusa, along with dozens more.

I gulped and turned to the campers staring at the monster army with as much fear as I felt. I looked to Chiron in his armor with his bow drawn and looking grim, but he shook his head at my unspoken question.

"No, my boy. I am merely a teacher. You are our leader, Percy, and you have been for a long time," he said with a hint of pride. I bowed to him and smiled slightly before turning to the campers with an expression that I hoped was braver than I felt. I swallowed hard and opened my mouth to speak, but I was interrupted by ten flashes of light.

All of us stared, awestruck, at the gods and goddesses standing before us in full war regalia. Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Demeter, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Aphrodite, and Ares. Before I could even ask, my father stepped forward, his trident gripped tightly in his fist.

"Percy," he began," the council, well, most of us, are tired of sitting in our thrones while our children are dying, so we've come to help in any way we can."

"However," Athena interrupted," we cannot join the fight until we have been attacked. That is one of the most ancient of laws."

My eyes widened in surprise.

"And Zeus approved of this?," I asked incredulously. Apollo snorted.

"Of course not, but we don't care," he said.

"He'll be pissed at us for the next thousand years or so, but that's nothing new," Hephaestus grunted.

"Besides, if it means saving the lives of our children, it's worth it," Hermes said and the other immortals nodded in agreement. I grinned, a spark of hope flaring in my chest.

"I'm glad you could join us," I said and turned back to the campers, my face becoming grim once more.

"Alright, Hunters of Artemis and archers, you will climb trees surrounding the battlefield and take out as many monsters as you can and Lady Artemis will join you when she can, if that's okay with you, milady?," I said. She nodded in approval and I continued.

"Lady Demeter, take your children and grow poison ivy, vines, anything to make sure the monsters don't get inside the borders. They will not destroy our home again. Lord Hephaestus and Lord Hermes, take your children and set traps around the areas on the sides of the battlefield. Make sure the monsters have no chance of sneaking around and surrounding us. Lord Apollo, go around the battlefield with your children who are better at healing than archery and heal as many demigods as you can, while taking out monsters along the way. The rest of you take down as many monsters as possible. I will help wherever I'm needed," I instructed, using what Annabeth used to call my Commander voice. They all nodded and I took a deep breath.

"This doesn't look good, believe me, I know, but we can win this. We've trained for this and we have gods and goddesses on our side. Most of us have fought in two wars against enemies we were sure would win, but they didn't. We did. Besides, Tartarus has already taken some of our own. Reyna Avila-Ramirez Arellano. Nico di Angelo. Hazel Levesque. Frank Zhang. Calypso. Leo Valdez. Piper Mclean. Jason Grace. And Annabeth Chase," I said, my voice cracking slightly.

"Are we going to let him get away with it?!," I yelled suddenly, a defiant look in my eyes.

"NO!!!," the entire camp yelled back. I raised Riptide in the air and everyone did the same with their weapons, even the gods raised their weapons of power.

"Then, let's win this. For them. For the heroes of Olympus!," I exclaimed. The camp cheered and repeated my cry. I glanced at my father and saw that his eyes were shining with pride. I smiled slightly, but my expression became serious again as I faced the army of monsters below.

Everything became deathly silent. The only thing I heard was the beating of my heart as I counted down the seconds.

THREE.

The monsters finally noticed us gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill, the same spot where it all began. Wait.

TWO.

The monsters cheered and began running towards us. I gripped the hilt of my sword. Wait.

ONE.

Now.

Together, we charged.