The Worlds Collide (A Keeper of the Lost Cities and Percy Jackson Crossover)

Vespera's Kind of a Sociopath

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

    Sophie closed her eyes as she was warned, and she hoped the others did the same. She saw the bright flash of light even through her eyelids, and she looked down to see the strange man from her dream stalking toward the lone figure in the center of the valley. Sophie enhanced her hearing, hoping to catch some of their conversation.

     "Bold of you to show your face here, Menoetius," Morpheus growled. Sophie could just make out the silhouette of a woman appearing at the far end of the valley.

      Menoetius spread his hands. "I don't know what you expected me to do, Morpheus. If I could not escape during a thousand years of imprisonment, how would I escape when you called? It is your ally's fault, not mine." He said the word 'ally' with more disgust than Sophie had ever heard in someone's voice, and she wondered what Vespera had done to him during his long imprisonment to earn such hatred.

     Morpheus spat in his face, but Menoetius didn't flinch. "You have betrayed your kind and you begrudge me the only person who was willing to side with me. You are not the one to judge here."

      Morpheus grabbed Menoetius's neck in a chokehold, but he didn't react. He simply nodded to where he knew Lou Ellen was hiding.

      Everybody get ready. Sophie transmitted. As soon as Vespera sees this she's going to try to run.

      She vaguely heard Lou Ellen chanting some sort of Greek spell, and then the valley was empty.

      Wait. Empty?

      Menoetius had been sucked into the chain as well. She heard a strangled shout from Lou Ellen, and Sophi wondered why. She transmitted to Lou Ellen and she responded, horror flooding from her brain to Sophie's.

      There's no getting him out. And the gods hate Titans. They're gonna banish him to Tartarus and we can't do anything about it.

      Sophie gasped, and transmitted to the others. Menoetius can't help us now. We need to attack Vespera. She double checked that it was, in fact, Vespera. It's not an illusion. Hit her with all you've got.

      Linh levitated the chain with Morpheus and Menoetius back up to Lou Ellen and Will, and everyone attacked.

      Suddenly, Vespera split into 20 Vesperas, each making the same motions and surrounding the would-be attackers. Before the battle could go too downhill, two white balls came soaring from above, one exploded and spread a white powder, thankfully missing the goblins and Nyssa. The other ticked for a couple seconds and exploded with buttery hot popcorn, which speared through the illusions that weren't tangible and revealed the real Vespera. The fighters rushed her, but she simply pushed them back with telekinesis.

      She looked down at her hand, covered in white powder, and looked outraged for a second. "You dare?!-" She was cut off because pigs can't speak English. Unfortunately, despite her snout and curly tail, she was still dangerous. She couldn't run, but she still had skills and a formidable mind.

      It's time. Sophie transmitted into Fitz's head. They stepped up to the edge of the valley to see Vespera better. He squeezed her hand, and they dove together into Vespera's mind.

****LINE BREAK****

      Vespera's mind was disturbingly blank, a fog surrounding them. There was no sign of the rage she had expressed at being turned into a pig, or any other emotions, anything that could possibly hint at her being alive. Even though she knew there was a battle raging outside, Sophie wondered if this was what her own mind appeared to be from the outside.

     Yeah it kind of is. Sophie started, forgetting that their minds were connected.

      Sorry, Fitz transmitted. Yours is less... He shivered. Disturbing.

      I'm going to use a brain push to try to clear the fog, Sophie transmitted to Fitz. Don't get any telepathic energy mixed up in there. Sophie pulled energy from the back of her mind and prepared for the rubberband-like whiplash she knew would come. The brain push shoved her consciousness further into Vespera's mind, but she was still surrounded by fog.

      Alright, that did nothing. I'm going to try some inflicting. Sophie inflicted happiness. Time spent playing bramble and base quest in the Vacker's yard. Nothing happened.

     She tried pride, what had worked with Fintan. Learning she had been accepted into the Ivy League schools she applied to. Learning how to control her telepathy. Nothing.

      Maybe a kind of bad feeling that felt good? Sophie (the author) didn't know how to describe it, but the feeling when her sister got in trouble and she didn't. The kind of perverse pleasure she felt when she came home and Amy had broken a plate and Sophie knew that she would go to bed without dessert. There was a flicker. Barely there, but a slight edge of a memory peeking out from behind the fog.

      Grabbing Fitz's had, she waded through the fog, towing him along behind her.

******LINE BREAK******

      Linh stared at the battlefield. Despite somehow being turned into a pig, Vespera was doing plenty of damage with her telekinesis and channeling skills. Linh winced as she saw Nyssa get roundhouse kicked in the face by an enhanced pig leg and fall to the ground, out cold.

      "Come on, Sophie," she muttered. "You need to take her down."

      A desperate shout sounded from above. "The Pig Ball only lasts as long as I can hold it and she's fighting really hard against it somehow! It'll probably only last another couple minutes, tops!"

      Linh tapped her fingers against her thighs anxiously. There was no water nearby for her to use in a fight, and she felt useless. Tam glanced back at her from where he was fighting, using the shadows to trip Vespera up at any chance he got.

      "Don't worry," he said reassuringly, as if sensing her dilemma. "It'll be fine. When has Sophie ever failed?"

AN:  You guys, we are so close to the end line.  I've been working on this story for more than three years now.  I can't look back at the earlier chapters without cringing out of my brain, so please forgive me for my horrible writing.  I've written the last two chapters - they just need extreme editing.  Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story, and I hope the ending doesn't ruin the story.

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