Not Your Hero ✔

~42~

The air rippled violently, and Percy blocked with his arms as the air shot fired and crashed into him. Only he realized that it wasn't just air-- it consumed his energy, and Percy felt exhausted and weak.

Void stepped back, surveying his handiwork before ducking as a sword made of solid ice ripped through the air.

"This is my mind," Percy said to himself. "I have the advantage here."

With that, warping shadows simply appeared and Percy fell backward into the darkness.

"Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe..." Percy chanted to himself as he sank in the dark abyss. His strength began to replenish itself when he appeared back in the sight of Void, and clones surrounded him.

There was one clone, with claws and enlarged teeth. He caught Percy looking at him, and a wolfish smirk spread on his face.

"Miss me, boss?" Randel said, snickering at Percy's expression. Randel focused his gaze on Void, who was attempting to fend off the thousand of Percy's. "He's handling himself well considering he's going against thousands of Maelstroms. Pity he's going to die soon." Randel said, before bounding over so he himself could fight.

Could Randel be real? Or was he just some illusion in Percy's mind? Is Randel alive?

Percy took his time to return to the fight, the little power required to make clones giving Percy time to catch his breath. Percy was ready to actually fight, and the clones vanished. Except Randel, who nodded and stood back, allowing Percy to finish fighting Void on his own.

"I was not aware... that we could have allies... aid us..." Void said, panting. His blood was red, bright red, and it contrasted greatly against his shadow of a form. Blood seeped from his chest, it dripped from what Percy assumed to be his nose, and with a choking sound, blood dripped from his chin which Percy assumed to be his mouth.

"No one aided me. All of them were me." Percy said in a 'duh' tone. "Nevermind it, that was nothing compared--" As he said this, he raised his arms in front of him, his form trembling as the air began to ripple in front of him again. Percy was ready for it this time, and he didn't hear the rest of Void's sentence as he dropped into his own shadow and appeared behind him. Void didn't notice though.

When Void released his attack, it shot forward, and when it dissolved Void probably thought he had just annihilated Percy Jackson, that he had finally conquered his annoying but powerful host for once and for all.

There was no probably about it as Void began to chuckle. He began to chuckle as if he ever had a chance in winning. Percy took that moment to grab Void's neck roughly with one fiery hand, and he encased his other hand in ragged ice.

His hand that was in flames ripped a soundless scream from Void's lips as his cackling died out. His blood burned Percy's already burning hand, and a memory that wasn't quite Percy's flashed through his mind.

It was a purple-eyed boy, looking fearfully at him as he drank whatever was in that cup. He saw his eyes turn a shade darker, and an evil grin transformed his face into someone Percy couldn't recognize. He saw someone else drink from the cup, though this person had bright red hair and wore a bandanna hiding her mouth from view. Her bandanna was torn off to expose long sharp teeth and they seemed to grow deadlier after drinking what was in that cup.

Void actually... They were actually forced to drink Void's blood.

Percy then unceremoniously brought his frozen hand to Void's face.

The area around him began to blur as the shadow that was Void began to fade away. One last image that Percy knew wasn't his flashed across his mind, exposing the person who told Randel and the others too soon where to go. The one who pushed them to a fight for which they were unprepared.