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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN xxxvii. the unkillable man is mortal once again _______
Sebastian hated the empousai. He'd said it once and he'll say it again. He hated them all. Apparently it was just in their nature to being annoying bitches. And five of them surrounding Sebastian was practically his worst fear. Except for the real heavy stuff like everyone dying but him being left alive because that would suck.
"Oh, and Sebastian Rais is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "We all know him."
Kelli's friends grumbled and growled in agreement. Sadly, they all remembered Sebastian, specifically from one event that really added gasoline to the oil of their hatred for one another.
Percy and Sebastian stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight, as if they'd done it a hundred times before. But neither were in good shape for battle. Sebastian was empty-handed and without any vampire advantages. They were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming.
Luckily, Percy had spent enough time with Annabeth Chase to pick up a few new tactics: trickery, talk, delay.
"So..." the son of Poseidon started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."
Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."
That could've been it, but Sebastian chimed in.
"Too bad," he said. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."
The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but she only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword. "We know enough. Gaea has spoken."
"You're heading toward a major defeat." Sebastian tried to sound confident. Technically, he was a monster, after all. He should be able to at least convincingly attempt to make them see reason. He glanced at the glaring empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying."
"The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos," Percy chimed in helpfully. "In the end, Luke rejected him. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli failed. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."
The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.
"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Percy as if imagining him sliced into small pieces. Sebastian wouldn't like that. He likes his partners in one piece. "The boy lies. So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world and we will totally feast on demigods!"
The other empousai gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. They didn't have long before they were dead meat.
"The demigods have united!" Sebastian yelled over the sound. He didn't have much over the empousai, being a lowly little vampire, but he knew one thing. They were Greeks. And the Greeks were scared of Romans. "You'd better think twice before you attack us. Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You don't stand a chance!"
