Hellfire

32: Eagle Eyes

THIRTY-TWO

Percy was having a hard time figuring out why he and his friends were still fighting. He kept looking over his shoulder when he could, expecting Chaos to be standing there with the curse at the ready.

But Chaos never came. Percy and his friends were alone.

Right now, Percy, especially, was alone. The Minotaur loomed over him, just as big and deadly as it had been when he was a kid. Percy remembered the night he had fought the monster, the rain crashing down, his mother's frightened voice, Grover's panicked expression. He remembered it vanishing into dust. Yet here it stood. It had charged him the moment it had laid eyes on him, clearly remembering that it had been Percy who sent it to Tartarus in the first place all those years ago.

The Minotaur roared when it saw Percy and charged. Immediately, Percy sprinted away from his friends and the gods, intending to lead the Minotaur as far away from them as possible. He could hear his name being called, but he ignored it; he didn't dare look back. Eventually, though, the Minotaur caught him. Percy had howled in pain when its horns pierced his calf, knocking him aside like a rag doll.

Percy rolled to his feet as smoothly as he could, trying his best to ignore the blood gushing from his leg. He shifted his weight to the other and raised his sword, swinging it upwards to block the Minotaur's headbutt before it could pierce his heart with its horns. Unfortunately, that left him completely open to the monster's vicious axe arm. It swung low, forcing Percy to jump back several feet. Cursing, he pulled water from the cracks in the Earth around him, trapping the Minotaur in a large, gurgling sphere of it.

The Minotaur roared, hacking at the barrier around it with its axe. Percy clenched his jaw and raised his hands, forcing the makeshift prison to maintain its shape. That only encouraged the Minotaur to swing harder. Groaning, Percy gave up. He swung his hands to the side, tossing the Minotaur and the ball of water several yards away. At least now he could catch his breath before throwing himself back into their seemingly never-ending battle.

"Perseus Jackson," a voice boomed behind him. "We meet again!"

Percy sighed. So much for catching a breath. He turned and felt a large fist collide with the side of his head. Percy flew into the air and landed several feet away from his original position, gasping for air. He could feel blood dripping down the side of his face. His vision was blurry, but he could still see a hulking figure stalking towards him in the midst of the battle raging around them. Percy scrambled to his feet, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. The feel of Riptide's sturdy weight in his hand made him feel a bit better about his current situation.

"Come on, boy!" the figure shouted at him, taunting him. "Tell me you remember me. Do me the honor of that before I kill you."

Percy blinked away the blurriness in his vision at last. The mountainous figure looming before him grinned. He must have been at least twenty feet tall, though Percy remembered him being shorter. He wore only a loincloth, just as he had last time. His skin was the same shade of dark red that had haunted Percy's dreams for days after the Labyrinth, the blue wave designs unchanged.

"Antaeus," Percy said.

The giant grinned down at him. "You do remember me! That'll make this kill sweet."

Percy hefted his sword and glanced around, his eyes desperately seeking out his father in the chaos around him. But Percy saw no sign of that familiar gold trident.