Destiny Calls (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

22: I follow closely in my brother's footsteps

I stepped forwards towards the green goop. No one knew what I was about to do, because I knew that they would try to stop me. Sure, I was tired and drained, but if you were a demigod, you would get it. To know that there's a dangerous monster that's nearby, you'd try and hunt it down and kill it. And now Echidna was just behind a pile of green goop, so why would I refuse such a chance?

One more step.

My hands shifted to my belt as I heard footsteps coming up behind me. The person behind me came one step closer, than another, and when he or she was two steps away from me, I spun and lunged at the person who stumbled onto the floor as I straddled him. "Woah, Thea, tone it down!" I looked down to inspect my victim and realized it was Dom.

"Why are you here?" I asked, letting him stand back up.

"I'm here because I realized that Leah had left you after the Frank fiasco and you would probably do something stupid." He gestured to the green goop. "And you were about to."

"I'm a daughter of Athena." I retorted. "Since when do I do something stupid?"

"This is stupid!" He answered. "Flinging yourself half-dead against the mother of all monsters is the most stupidest thing that I have ever seen something do."

"And the term most stupidest is grammatically incorrect." I pointed out.

"Don't do this Thea. Don't." he said softly.

"Can't you see? We're demigods, Dom! This is our life. Flinging ourselves to risks so that others will not need to face it. This is ECHIDNA, for gods' sake! She could be out there terrorizing mortals for all we know!" People had started to come out as they watched us argue.

"No, we demigods are here to protect the mortals! You going out to fight Echidna single-handedly is NOT going to help protect others! It's not going to help defeat Nyx! It's not going to help get revenge for Tori!"

"Don't use Tori against me!" I roared. "You know you can't stop me from going in there without fight, and who do you think will win?"

"Think about it Thea!" Dom shouted. "Don't just think about the good of the world. Think about your friends! Your family! Leah! Max! Me!" I saw a tear in the corner of his eye.

"Why would you care if I died? It'll just be another less demigod. We die all the time. It's nothing unusual." I retorted.

Without a word, he suddenly pulled me towards him and kissed me. For a moment I kiss him back, my arm gripping his back tightly, and I felt as if I had been thrown up into Olympus. The kiss ended, and I was back on Earth. "Promise me." he whispered. "Promise me you'll come back alive. For me."

I whispered back at him. "I will."

Unwillingly, I tore myself away from him and stepped into the goo.

For a moment, I tumbled through the green darkness and suddenly landed in a thump on an empty plain. Echidna looked down at me from a rocky cliff at the side of the field, jeering at me. "So!" she said. "The huntress comes at last. What took you so long, little demigod?"

Straight away, I aimed an arrow at her face. "So you acknowledge me as an opponent. That's a little low for you, don't you think? So, would you think that this little demigod could shoot you down with one shot?"

Echidna suddenly leaped down from her ledge. "I wouldn't count on it." Brandishing her spear with a shield in her other hand, she readied herself at me. Putting away my bow, I held my two silver long-knives in my hands.

"For whatever it's worth, this ends now." I growled.

"Oh, not it's not! You are as young as you are naivë. Do you know where we are?" I scanned our surroundings. 

"We're at the base of Mount St. Helens. Where Percy got blown onto Ogygia."

"Yes, you are right. And there is no return to the Roman Camp from here." She smiled. "So whether you like it or not, you're separated from your friends. Boo hoo for you."

"Then let's fight." She charged at me like a lion, and I jumped up to dodge it, slicing one of my swords down towards her. She skillfully dodged, which was strange because even though she could jump up and down a ledge with a serpent's tail, you'd be pretty slow. Before I realized that it could be used to whack people hard, her green tail came striking towards me, throwing me across the plain. Behind me, I saw Mount St Helens billow smoke as the empty city below sat peacefully in the distance.

Flipping myself upright, I jumped and jabbed a knife into her shoulder, making her yell in pain. I flicked my wrist and her shield clattered to the ground, disfigured from my slash to its main structure. Digging in the knife deeper, she roared and swatted me away, and as I landed in a crouch skidding away, I ran back towards her. 

Once again, she lunged at me, but this time I took her forward momentum and held on to the tip of the spear, flipping her over, narrowly dodging her coiled tail. As she writhed in pain, I smashed the flat of my blade against her back and suddenly, as quick as a viper, she coiled her tail around me and threw me into the edge of the volcano and pushed me into the vast caverns inside.

Trolleys lay strewn all over the place, some half melted, others bubbling in the lava. A mortal projector and chairs were lying all over the place, and a speaker that was playing information about the physical changes in a telkhine. So this was where Percy had fought.

So there must have been an entrance to the Labyrinth in here.

Focus, I told myself. Get rid of Echidna first, think later.

Echidna grinned at me, and with one fluid movement, she hooked a trolley on to her tail and flicked it towards me, scooping up lava in the middle of the movement. Acting on instinct, I turned into a wolf to dodge the incoming missiles, and growled in frustration. She had a tail that long and flexible, while mine could on wag. 

Glaring at her, I jumped just as she launched another strike, and landed on top of her, snapping her spear in half and pushing her head towards the lava. Despite the situation she was in she smiled at me. "If you're going to kill me, kill me. There are more to come. I'm sure you'll have fun dispatching them."

I grunted in response, unsheaving my claws in the meantime. She smiled again. "You can understand me, little silver huntress. You may have inherited your mother and father's ability to change shape, but it doesn't mean your mind will not be affected. The more you exert yourself, more you become into the predator you try to hide."

I shifted back to human. "Why tell me this? Is it because you're about to be shoved headfirst into boiling lava?" Her tail writhed underneath me as the tip of it touched the scorching surface. 

"Because information causes suffering, and oh, how I love how heroes suffer. To know that you might turn into an animal in the brain in the future? That's beautiful horror in your mind." She laughed, hissing as she spoke.

"I am a daughter of Athena. I choose my own destiny."

"But your true destiny calls to you, my dear. Your mother Artemis told you that already, didn't she? You're drawn to your true nature, a heartless warrior, as cold as ice. You might as well be Khione. How is she faring, by the way?"

"The North wind has been leashed." I answered. "You may call me a heartless warrior to kill you, but I do this from my heart, to protect those I love."

"You may think so. Join Nyx, young demigod. She will give you anything you long for."

"She will give me nothing in the land of the Night. And she can give me nothing." I tightened my grip on her. "And neither can you. Die, monster." I threw her into the pit as she screamed in pain. It gave me an eerily slight satisfaction when she splashed around. 

"You will not ssssucceeeed!!" she yelled before dissolving into yellow dust.

"Then I'll die trying." I tapped a white Rho on the stone and a door swept open. "Well, here goes nothing."

Dun dun dunnnn. I updated early this week so I'll try and get another chapter on Friday. School starts next week :( and I'm still sleepy...