Why did you leave me (Percabeth)

Chapter 3

Leo and Calypso hugged their friends goodbye one last time.

"Bring that seaweed brain home, will ya?" he said to his friends. The rest of the crew will disguise themselves as Cyclopes and attack the remains of Percy's vanguard from the inside. His task is to close the gap Percy created to trap him in the Underworld without being captured by the gigantic army Percy gathered.

"Once you seal the crack, you have to get yourself out, okay? No playing heroes like last time," Piper caught Leo's arms tightly.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him from being an idiot," Calypso said with her warm voice. "It's you guys we're worried about. Be careful... that man isn't the Percy we know."

"Ow! Yeah, Pipes, listen to the fine lady right there- and you're gripping my broken arm again. That's the sixth brownies you owe me," Leo said with his usual grin.

"If you keep yourself alive, I'll feed you twelve brownies," Piper promised. Leo smiled. "Which will be replaced with twelve kicks on your scrawny butt if you even think about throwing a joke now."

"Zipping my mouth."

"Hazel's ready, guys," Jason called them. With Hazel's magic, the four of them easily disguised themselves as Cyclopes- each uglier than the last, complete with various blunt weapons and scaly feet. Nodding to each other, they jumped to the water and swam quickly to the depths. Behind the disguise, Jason has summoned four Venti to allow them to breathe underwater.

The seafloor was crawling with monsters and Merfolk, but a great number of them are all floating around, uncoordinated and numerous. Piper saw companies of Merfolk, armed with enchanted weapons. She saw crablike monsters and sea-dragons. She even spotted a few smaller Hydras swimming and spewing poison through their many heads. The monsters' numbers seem almost infinite. She couldn't even begin to calculate the strength Percy needed to control this many monsters.

Piper led the way through the throngs of muscles and blue skins to make their way to the entrance quickly- using her charmspeak as they swam through the monsters. For once, things went smoothly until they were floating near the entrance.

"Alright, we're here," Jason whispered to his friends. "I'll go last. Gotta plant that homing device."

They nodded their consent and joined a group of extra-muscular Cyclopes struggling through the crack. Piper felt the strangest sensation of passing through a liquid stance to some kind of mud before emerging back in water. When her eyes got used to the dim lights, she immediately found herself in a cacophony of battle.

She saw cyclops-Frank and cyclops-Hazel immediately ducked for cover and decided to follow suit. It was the right call. As soon as the three of them were safely ducking behind the larger cyclops, arrows started raining down on Percy's troops, killing the Cyclops instantly.

"Poisoned arrow!" a Merman shouted in his resonating underwater voice. "Shields up!"

The water kept rising as the troops advanced against the shield-wall of the zombies at the shores. Percy's troops easily overpowered the weaker zombies, but Piper knew by experience that they are far outnumbered by the endless skeleton warriors. The countless arrows flying in their direction convinced her that the Cyclops' strength and brute force alone will not be enough to overcome the defenders.

She was glad to see that many of the fighters on the shores are her friends. Clarisse and her Ares siblings are easily slashing anyone who dared to tread near the dry shores. They seemed to be careful not to chase retreating enemies too far and stayed well within the dry floors, allowing skeleton warriors to act as buffers against the assailants. The Hermes cabin led the archers with sonic weapons and Celestial Bronze arrows, killing Percy's army in droves. On a stretch of the shore, the golden standard of Rome formed an impenetrable wall of death, proudly holding firm against the largest of the sea-monsters.

Piper kept hiding behind the larger monsters to avoid the rain of arrows, and her friends did the same. Jason still hadn't showed up, but she can't worry about that. They had to find Percy.

Like an answered prayer, she spotted a miniature storm and flashes of black and purple energy bolts.

"There!" Piper pointed at the battle. Frank and Hazel quickly followed her through the dying soldiers, holding their shields up. They went through the monsters toward the fierce three-way-battle of the strongest demigods.

Nico was drenched in sweat, his armors were torn and was clearly repairing itself with amazing speed. However, each tear was glistening red with Nico's blood. He has suffered numerous small wounds already. His gaze, clearly scared but determined, are locked on Percy. The dead are much stronger in the Underworld, and Nico kept summoning more zombie warriors to attack Percy.

Reyna was also parrying for her life against Percy's relentless assault. She was still the strongest warrior in all of Rome. Skillfully, she blocked his swing and struck Percy with her elbows and knees as much as with her sword. For the first time, she met her match in sword fighting. Percy's movement reminded her of her strongest foe- the giant Orion- only much faster and stronger. Each swing of Riptide numbed her arms and almost blew her away. The thrust of the Trident grazed her side and drained her power massively. She was certain that a single clean hit of that Trident would kill her.

Even working seamlessly together, they weren't able to as much as graze Percy Jackson.

Unlike his usual fights, Percy was eerily silent. The only sound around him was the raging wind and water of his miniature storm, pushing his opponents away and robbing them of stable footing. His swing is fast, his thrust powerful.

He was simply waiting until either Reyna or Nico made a mistake. Then it will be over.

Suddenly, Piper felt Frank tense, his eyes wide with surprise. A second later, she understood why. Nico, dizzy with blood loss, staggered after blocking a powerful strike of the Trident.

Coldly, Percy swung Riptide toward Nico.

Reyna jumped and kicked Nico away from the Riptide's deadly arc.

Instead of his head, the sword cut cleanly through Nico's gauntlet and severed his left arm. Faster than the eye can see, Percy hit Reyna's breastplate with the blunt edge of the Trident.

Reyna was blown away toward the shore with a sickening thud.

"Percy," Nico pleaded, his sword and his severed arm too far away. "Annabeth wouldn't want you to do this."

"I'm sorry, Nico," the God of the Seas answered his plea.

And thunder struck Perseus Jackson from behind.