Annabeth
"Show yourself!" Percy repeated, his hand gripping riptide. I looked at my arm. The skin was burnt off, and red flesh sizzled. I resisted the urge to throw up, my stomach tying itself in a knot. Not as bad as I thought, but still pretty serious.
I reached to my pocket and popped some ambrosia in my mouth. Immediately, I felt a surge of adrenaline, and the stinging on my arm began to lessen. I watched as the flesh somewhat closed up. At least now I could fight.
Percy walked over to me. "You okay?"
"100 percent," I replied. "Now-"
Out of the shadowy tree line, a gigantic figure with wings leapt straight at Percy.
"Percy!" I yelled, before jumping and tackling him. The figures claws brushed across my back, slightly scratching me. I winced.
We quickly got to our feet. Perched on the side of the overturned mortals car stood a gigantic manticore.
"Oh, you again? Another one, Annabeth. Another one. Does Tartarus not cough up any good monsters these days?" Percy said.
The manticore screeched. "I will destroy you!"
"Heard that one before," Percy continued. "Whatever man. Just don't ruin the clothes. They're designed by Aphrodite. Don't wanna offend her, you know?"
The manticore lunged, but Percy and I separated, jumping in opposite directions. The Manticore hesitated, dumbfounded by what we did. I took the opportunity, and swung around with my dagger, grazing his lion leg with my knife. The Manticores tail swept around at Percy, but in a split second he jumped, dodging it. Seeing the opening, he stuck his sword into the Manticores side. The manticore roared in dismay, and shouted curses in Ancient Greek.
He swung his wing around and slammed Percy backwards at least 20 feet. Percy's sword skittered to a halt behind him and he laid in the middle of the road clutching his side. A blow like that surely would've broken some ribs. I winced as I watched him in pain.
I began plotting in my head. I couldn't keep my focus on Percy. I have to take out this monster so we can both get out of here. I played through scenarios. I needed to stay as close to the monster as possible. When you have the shorter blade, get inside. That way I can get in with my dagger and- before I could start to plan my attack, the beast turned to me, snarling.
"Daughter of Athena," he snarled. "I must say, you're often underestimated, but you really are overrated."
He lunged, but I had already calculated and predicted it. I jumped upwards, and landed on the creatures back. In one swift motion, I swung around, and cut off his barbed tail. The creature howled, and bucked me off. I flew into the air and hit the ground hard. The manticore turned around. Rain began to fall in a light sprinkle. I looked over at Percy, who was clearly unconscious. He must have hit his head on the concrete when the manticore knocked him backwards, and if that was the case, then that wasn't good.
The monster snarled. "You lose."
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and a plan began stirring. If I could just hold him off...
"Takes one to know one. Losing, it's something you're fond of." I decided.
The monster faltered. "What?"
"Please," I sighed. "We've killed you before. You're not even a biggie in my book. A hydra, a giant, an evil earth goddess, now that might get my attention, but a manticore? Nah. Not worth my time."
The monster stared at me with beady eyes.
"You're the one that's overrated," I continued. "Just another minor pest that's been killed by Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase."
The manticore snarled. "Die!"
He lunged at me. I flipped over his head and sunk my dagger into his back. "Percy now!" I screamed. Percy thrust riptide into the monsters side from behind. The manticore roared furiously, and then turned to yellow dust.
I couldn't believe I was right. Rain could heal him just like the sea could. It was a long shot, but it worked.
I looked through the rain, which had become a steady downpour, at Percy's bleeding face. His wounds were closing.
"I didn't know I could heal in the rain." Percy said.
I hugged him tightly, the rain pouring buckets making it hard to see anything around us.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
"Just peachy," he muttered. "We need to call the cops to come help that mortal."
"I agree." I said. Percy pulled out his phone.
