When Myths Meet Magic || 5

42|| Percy

"I guess we'll just have to kill you, then."

Percy whirled around, his fingers poised on Riptide's cap, ready to uncap and attack at a moment's notice.

From around them, figures advanced out of the shadows as if they had shadowtravelled, wands glowing and shedding ominous darkness across the masked faces. There were five in total. Everyone had a wand pointed towards them.

"You can't!" Thalia whined as she glared at them with angry gold eyes. "I wanna kill them first!"

Electricity sparked around her like an overcharged metal rod. She stood with one fist clenched by her side and her other fist tightened around her knife that was disguised as a Camp Half-Blood bead.

Percy shot an alarmed glance to Annabeth, who was standing the closest.

The first Death Eater hesitated for a split second, his pace pausing before continuing his steady prowl. He didn't say anything and neither did the other Death Eaters, but rather than an ominous silence, this one was rather confused.

If they hadn't been in a life-threatening situation, and if Thalia wasn't possessed, the situation would've been comical.

"This is no place for a childhood rivalry," a second Death Eater drawled. Her wand shifted so that it was pointing at Thalia rather than Percy. "You are not trusted enough by Potter. You are useless. Therefore, you will die."

Percy saw his chance. "Expelliarmus!" he cried, brandishing his hand at the Death Eater.

Nothing happened. Percy glanced down and saw, rather than his wand in his hand, Riptide.

Crap, he thought.

The Death Eater's silent protego charm faded.

"You dare —" she hissed. "Crucio!"

The spell ricocheted off of Riptide and shattered several glass orbs.

"Stupefy!" Annabeth screamed, and the force of her charm hit the Death Eater square in the chest, throwing her down the corridor.

Voices echoed in the dusty cavernous room as shouts and jets of light began flying through the air. There was a flash of silver as Thalia's knives appeared in her hands and she turned and flew (not literally) towards Annabeth. Annabeth whirled around and crossed blades with Thalia, her right arm stopping the blow and her left hand pointing the spell towards her. "Expelliarmus!"

Thalia's knives flew out of her hands and clattered some distance away. The daughter of Zeus cackled and whipped out her wand.

"Levitate!" she shouted in Greek, pointing at Annabeth.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Annabeth shouted back, dodging the spell.

Meanwhile, water was rushing around Percy, absorbing the spells aimed at him and sending them flying off into the air. He pulled a startled Death Eater into his own little personal cyclone and disarmed him, snapped his wand in half, and pushed him into the swirling water which threw him into a shelf.

A Death Eater shouted and the water suddenly blasted apart, exploding into the air and showering down on them in a waterfall. "Finite incantatem!"

The spell narrowly missed Percy and smashed into the shelf behind him. Thousands of orbs exploded and the ones that didn't flew high into the air and sailed down to the ground. One shattered against Percy's skull and he fell with the shelf, landing under the shards of glass and splinters of wood.

Thalia nimbly stepped away from Annabeth's spell with the same spider-like agility and suddenly her bow was in her hands. She fired at the daughter of Athena, grazing the sleeve of Annabeth's robes, and shattering the orb behind her.

Green smoke plumed from the remains.

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Thalia's eyes flickered ominously. Blue and gold again. The hesitation was all Annabeth needed as she whirled around and kicked Thalia in the ribcage. Thalia fell and rolled over, seizing Annabeth's bottom leg before flipping her up off balance. Annabeth rolled back to a standing position and dodged Thalia's spell before kicking Thalia in the chin and slicing her knife across Thalia's bowstring. The blade snapped the string like it was a twig and the tension whipped the silvery ends upwards, stinging Thalia's cheek with a sharp twack! The huntress hooked the useless bow around Annabeth's neck and pulled, then suddenly cried out in pain. The bow clattered from her grip and she clutched her head.

"Get out!" she shrieked. "Damn you eidolon I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Then she laughed in an awful, terrible voice. No words, just empty laughter.

Annabeth swung the handle of her knife deep into Thalia's temple and she collapsed.

Nico slammed his heel into a fallen Death Eater's stomach for good measure. Then he turned to Annabeth.

Nothing moved except for the wisps of a few trails of smoke as they whispered their last prophecies and vanished. Somehow, only one shelf had toppled, but from the rubble came a few groans.

"Reparo!" Annabeth shouted and pointed at the mess. The wood splinters lifted and reassembled back into the shelves but the glass shards remained crumbled on the floor and in that glassy dusty mess was Percy.

"Come on," Nico said as he yanked him to his feet. No blood splattered the floor, thankfully; he seemed a bit dazed but that was to be expected.

"Someone grab Thalia," Annabeth ordered as she kicked a way clear of glass. That's when the echoes of another shelf crashing came from the distance, along with a very loud scream.

As of 4/29, I'm currently drowning in stress so the updates will be very very slow