You Scared Me
here’s a oneshot for anyone who wonders if i even write anymore!
tw: blood, mentions of losing limbs
i also posted it on ao3
word count: 2031
Percy was running, his feet his the pavement faster than he thought they could. His breathing was ragged, noise falling away until all he heart was his breathing and the rapid heartbeat in his ear. The streets were cracking, half of Madison Square had split in half, the gap widening to roughly ten feet. There was no way he could make that jump, not even with the adrenaline of a monster on his tail. The wreckage and the rubble might help him if he had more time, but nothing would create distance besides his own feet. The demigods landed in another battle, but the Romans were able to help this time around. Tartarus was forming a body, and monsters were running wild. No matter how hard they tried, nobody could go longer than two days without being attacked.
Percy was worried, not just about himself. He’d promised his Mom that he’d be home for the yearly movie marathon, and he wasn’t going to let a monster attack stop him. However, that’s exactly what happened. It was an hour past when he should be home, and he was bleeding through his Camp t-shirt. The monster was gaining on him, and he couldn’t see Annabeth. When it clicked that he couldn’t see Annabeth, his heart almost stopped. Without thinking, he let out a harsh yell, his voice gravelly and raw as he shouted her name, desperate. There was no reply, and he shouted again, steps bounding towards the crack in the ground. He could see the gap coming closer, and he needed to jump in a few seconds if he wanted a chance of making it.
“Annabeth!” His voice was guttural and raw. It wasn’t that he sounded desperate, he sounded like he was about to snap. He looked around wildly for the blonde, and he found her.
She was across the gap, with the Nemean Lion right next to her.
Percy made the jump across the gap, only able to grasp the edge of the chasm. Below him, he couldn’t see the ground, and he whispered prayers to his father to let him have a good grip. His feet kicked at the wall until he got a foothold to push himself up. The Minotaur had stomped on, trudging along until he went over the edge. The monster fell to its death below Percy, and he knew it was too stupid to stop. The Minotaur went until it hit something, and that something would be the ground, at least a hundred feet below.
The asphalt dug into his skin, surely peeling away layers until he bled. Sweat dripped down his face and mingled with the blood of his lip, after dealing with an empousa. He grunted, his muscles burning as he tried to hoist himself up. Percy’s body was begging him to stop, he’d been run ragged, and it was time for any normal person to stop. To roll over and give up. His grip started to slack, and Percy couldn’t tell if his palms were sweating, or if his grip dug in deep enough to draw blood. He let out a last yell, trying to move, but he couldn’t. His body wouldn’t cooperate. Fear seeped in, but not the fear of dying, the fear of leaving his mom behind. The fear that Annabeth would be left to face a nearly invincible lion, and do it all alone.
The cry that left him was panicked, it was primal as he clawed his way onto the pavement. As his eyeline graced the surface, Annabeth appeared, holding a hand out as an olive branch. Percy let out a bitter laugh, reaching up to grab hold of her forearm, and she helped pull him up. Percy didn’t have long to get his bearings, because the lion roared and began to charge.
“Percy! Left,” Annabeth shouted.
In a millisecond she was in a stance to slip out of the way. Percy had just enough time to roll to his left, barely missing the lion. He dragged riptide across the lion’s side, but as the cut formed, it slowly stitched itself back together. The lion turned toward him. and snarled, hot breath hitting Percy in the face.
He did the first thing he thought to do; stand up and taunt it.
“Come on, get your tasty demigod right here,” He called, running away from Annabeth.
The lion followed him, quickly gaining. Percy would pivot every few steps, slicing into the lion’s face. He could hear Annabeth yelling at him from where she was, but he was trying to figure out how to kill the lion. Right as he turned to swing his sword, the lion stepped back, and Percy lunged, driving the blade through the Lion’s nose. As he pulled his sword free, the split muzzle pulled itself back together, but slower this time.
“Percy, you don’t know how to kill it!” Annabeth was coming closer.
“Annabeth, please!”
Percy felt claws dig into his skin, slicing along his ribs. He let out a scream, his grip loosening on his sword as he brought it down and sliced away the lion’s ear. Annabeth cried out again, and in the corner of his vision he saw her sink her dagger into the ribs of the lion. Maybe the time in tartarus weakened the lion, but the barrage of attacks was slowing down its healing process. The wound stitched itself together again, but slower than before. The lion wasn’t fazed, however, and sliced into Percy’s outer thigh. The searing pain made him drop to the ground, watching his blood stain his clothes and the ground.
“Percy!” Her yell sounded guttural, desperate and crazed. Percy imagined that’s how he sounded when he couldn’t find her.
“Just kill it,” He said, swinging his sword up to cut between the lion’s front legs.
They didn’t stop, the only delays between strikes were to find new places to dig into. Percy managed to get up between slices, and he was able to chop off the nose. Annabeth kept up her barrage on the lion’s side, hacking into the wounds that were trying to close.
The golden ichor spilled across the pavement, driving them both forward. Annabeth let out a triumphant yell, cutting deep enough to see bone. Percy watched her drive her dagger in, and lunged with his sword to slice the lion’s eyes as a distraction. Golden ichor spilled, and Annabeth drove her dagger in until her forearm was lost in the lion’s body. The lion spasmed, Annabeth driving her free hand in, and the lion turned to dust. A rib bone was held tightly in her hand, her breathing heavy as she watched a breeze blow away the remains of the monster.
“That wasn’t how Hercales killed him,” Annabeth said, turning to look at Percy.
“But that’s how we killed him,” Percy replied, and he saw Annabeth’s face break into a grin.
“Yeah,” She nodded.
A long second passed before Percy rushed forward, wrapping her in a hug. He knew the ichor on her arms would dry on his skin and stain his shirt, and that she could feel him bleeding. Percy needed to feel her in his arms, know that she was real, that she was okay. Annabeth buried her face into Percy’s shoulder, and he felt her let out a shaky breath. Percy’s hands pulled her closer, and he frze when he felt blood. He pulled back to study her face. She was dirty and scraped up, small cuts littering her shoulders and arms. Her shirt was torn so that it barely covered her torso, caked with blood. Percy knew some of it was his own, but his mind couldn’t help but wander to how serious her injuries are.
“I’ll be alright.” She must’ve seen the panic, because her words were soft. Percy took her face in his hands, leaving behind bloodied hand prints.
“I love you so much, Annabeth.” He searched Annabeth’s eyes for anything to comfort him.
“I love you too Percy, please. I will be okay. I’m more worried about you,” She said, her hands hovering over his ribs.
Percy nodded, swallowing harshly. He noted that he cut up his hands on the jump across what was now a chasm, and the distance across had doubled. Everything was quieting down, monsters in the distance ceased their battle cries, and he noticed demigods reuniting with each other in his peripheral vision. The battle would go down as a win, but Percy wouldn’t let it be.
“I need to know how many casualties there are,” He said, looking around, “We can’t just go home without them.”
Percy knew he sounded crazed, and Annabeth pulled his face to look at her. The ichor on her hands was cold, and he looked into the deep grey of her eyes.
“Wait until every monster is dead. Then we count, but let them have this for right now,” She said.
“But-”
“Percy, everyone is thinking it. Let yourself have a moment.” Her gaze burned into him, and Percy nodded.
“I had to,” Percy breathed, “The lion would’ve chased you.”
Annabeth smiled sadly, “Always a hero…”
“My mom loves you.” Percy knew she would understand what he meant. If he died, Annabeth would still have his family to go to, they loved her.
“She loves you more,” Her words were harsh, “Don’t go dying on me, Percy.I don’t know what I’d do.”
“I can’t let you die if I can stop it.”
“How about neither of us die,” Annabeth resolved. Percy smiled, nodding.
He leaned down to kiss her, tasting dirt, blood, and sweat. It didn’t matter, he was just too glad knowing that she was still there. Annabeth was with him, still alive. They killed the monster together, they won together. They were their best fighting side by side, and that was proven again. Monsters die, but they stood standing. Percy broke away, pulling her into a hug and cradling the back of her head. Percy buried his face in her hair, tightly closing his eyes and letting himself purely be in the moment with her.
Percy knew the relief couldn’t last long, he had work to do, monsters to look out for. Yet, when Annabeth held him tighter, he let himself put off his duties to comfort her.
“You scared me,” She said into his shirt, and he felt her start to cry, “You can’t just do that. We are a team.”
Percy kissed the top of her head, mumbling, “I’m sorry I scared you.”
He held her like that for what could have been seconds, or it could have been hours. Annabeth pulled away first to look up at him, and he knew from the look in her eyes she had a game plan. Before Percy could ask, she began to list how they were going to round up the survivors, and how to get back to Camp Half Blood. Percy wanted to smile at her readiness to keep moving, but he knew this was because she didn’t want to spend another second being emotional. He understood, but also worried for her. So much was about the next logical step, and as much as she told others to have their moments, she rarely took hers.
Annabeth took Percy by the hand and led him to a small group of surviving demigods. He was slower than her, and more than once Percy caught her slowing her stride to accommodate him. A few were on the group, bleeding from large wounds. One girl lost her left foot, just above the ankle. She had passed out from pain, a small pool of blood forming as the end of her leg. Annabeth looked at Percy as she held out her phone. She was in better shape to help the girl, even as Will Solace tended her wounds. Percy took Annabeth’s phone and began to dial Chiron for his help.
The dial rung three times before his mentor answered.
“Chiron? It’s Percy. We need help getting back to Camp, lots of us are injured, but it looks like most of us lived,” Percy’s eyes scanned the area, counting in his head, “But we won. We won.”