Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝔽atal flaws

They set up a two-block perimeter, with a command tent at the Empire State Building. Chiron informed them that the Party Ponies had sent chapters from almost every state in the Union: forty from California, two from Rhode Island, thirty from Illinois... Roughly five hundred total had answered his call, but even with that many, the campers couldn't defend more than a few blocks. 

"Dude," said a centaur named Larry. His T-shirt identified him as BIG CHIEF UBER GUY, NEW MEXICO CHAPTER. "That was more fun than our last convention in Vegas!" 

"Yeah," said Owen from South Dakota. He wore a black leather jacket and an old WWII army helmet. "We totally wasted them!" 

Chiron patted Owen on the back. "You did well, my friends, but don't get careless. Kronos should never be underestimated. Now, why don't you visit the diner on West 33rd and get some breakfast? I hear the Delaware chapter found a stash of root beer." 

"Root beer!" They almost trampled each other as they galloped off. 

Chiron smiled. Annabeth gave him a big hug, and Mrs O'Leary licked his face. "Ack," he grumbled. "Enough of that, dog. Yes, I'm glad to see you too." Chiron's smile softened as his eyes landed on Nicki.

The girl waved awkwardly. "Thanks for saving us."

"It is good to see you, Nicki. Truly."

"Chiron, thanks," Percy said. "Talk about saving the day." 

He shrugged. "I'm sorry it took so long. Centaurs travel fast, as you know. We can bend distance as we ride. Even so, getting all the centaurs together was no easy task. The Party Ponies are not exactly organized." 

"How'd you get through the magic defences around the city?" Annabeth asked. 

"They slowed us down a bit," Chiron admitted, "but I think they're intended mostly to keep mortals out. Kronos doesn't want puny humans getting in the way of his great victory." 

"So maybe other reinforcements can get through," Nicki said hopefully. 

Chiron stroked his beard. "Perhaps, though time is short. As soon as Kronos regroups, he will attack again. Without the element of surprise on our side..." 

Nicki understood what he meant. Kronos wasn't beaten. Not by a long shot. Nicki half hoped Kronos had been squashed under that Hyperborean giant's butt, but she knew better. He'd be back, tonight at the latest. 

"And Typhon?" Percy asked. 

Chiron's face darkened. "The gods are tiring. Dionysus was incapacitated yesterday. Typhon smashed his chariot, and the wine god went down somewhere in the Appalachians. No one has seen him since. Hephaestus is out of action as well. He was thrown from the battle so hard that he created a new lake in West Virginia. He will heal, but not soon enough to help. The others still fight. They've managed to slow Typhon's approach. But the monster can not be stopped. He will arrive in New York by this time tomorrow. Once he and Kronos combine forces—" 

"Then what chance do we have?" Percy said. "We can't hold out another day." 

"We'll have to," Thalia said. "I'll see about setting some new traps around the perimeter." She looked exhausted. Her jacket was smeared in grime and monster dust, but she managed to get to her feet and stagger off, Annabeth close on her heels.

"I will help them," Chiron decided. "I should make sure my brethren don't go too overboard with the root beer." 

Nicki thought "too overboard" pretty much summed up the Party Ponies, but Chiron cantered off, leaving Nicki and Percy alone. 

She cleaned the monster slime off her purple bracelet, before cleaning her sword. "At least your mom is okay," Percy offered. 

"If you call fighting for Kronos okay." She locked eyes with the boy. "Perseus, even with the centaurs' help, I'm starting to think—" 

"I know." Percy had a bad feeling this might be their last chance to talk, and he felt like there were a million things he hadn't told her. "Listen, there were some... some visions Hestia showed me."

 "You mean about Luke?" 

Maybe it was just a safe guess, but Percy got the feeling that Nicki knew what he'd been holding back. Maybe she'd been having dreams of her own. "Yeah," Percy said. "I saw Annabeth and Thalia and Luke. I saw you two first met. I saw you, him and Ethan." 

Nicki slipped her ring back onto her finger with a heavy frown. "Luke promised he'd never let me get hurt. He said... when it was all over we could be a family. He wanted it to turn out better than his, and now he's gone." Her eyes bored into Percy's soul. The stormy purple was slowly darkening into a void-like nothingness.

 "Thalia talked to me earlier," Percy said. "She's afraid—" 

"That I can't face Luke," she said miserably. 

Percy nodded. "But there's something else you should know. Ethan Nakamura seemed to think Luke was still alive inside his body, maybe even fighting Kronos for control." Nicki tried to hide it, but Percy could almost see her mind working on the possibilities, maybe starting to hope. "I didn't want to tell you," Percy admitted. 

She looked up at the Empire State Building. "Perseus, for so much of my life, I felt like everything was changing, all the time. I didn't have anyone I could rely on, that actually understood unless you count my nana. Even then she didn't seem to understand." Percy nodded. That was something most demigods could understand. "I got to get away when I went to school. I found Bianca and Nico and for once everything was okay, and then it wasn't. I thought if I tried hard enough if I did everything different to what they wanted then I could win." 

"You wanted to create your fate," Percy said. "You didn't want to live your prophecy." 

She held my eyes. "I guess that sounds like my fatal flaw again. Thalia's is ambition, Nico's is holding grudges, Bianca's was impulsiveness and mine is my stubbornness. I want to make everything go my way, I want to create my own life, and it's gotten people killed."

"I guess I understand how you feel," Percy said. "But Thalia's right. Luke has already betrayed you so many times. He was evil even before Kronos. I don't want him to hurt you anymore." 

Nicki pursed her lips. Percy could tell she was trying not to get mad. "And you'll understand if I keep hoping there's a chance you're wrong." Across the street, the Apollo campers had set up a field hospital to tend the wounded—dozens of campers and almost as many Hunters. Nicki pushed herself to her feet, hoping to get more nectar from the Apollo campers. "I'll see you later."