The Final Quest ψ; Blood of Olympus & Percy Jackson Fanfic༄

XVI: PERCY

The demigods assembled the next morning at the table in the main hall. No amount of talking could rid  us of the feeling that today would change everything. Our ship was at the base of Mt. Pelion, and I could almost feel the pull towards the mountain, something dark and immense stirring inside it. The day before, we had sent Hazel on her mount to quickly scout the mountain, and they had a battle plan of the mountain laid out in front of us. There were two corridors leading presumably into Pelion, both of which were heavily guarded, and this was basically all the information we had. We were going into this battle outnumbered, overpowered, and completely blind, with no idea as to what lay ahead. We all knew it.The only advantage we had was the element of surprise, which would not have for long. The only semblance of a plan we had so far was getting Piper into wherever Gaea was, and assuming that the prophecy was right, and she could charmspeak Gaea into resting another hundred thousand centuries. 

"Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and I will take the south tunnel. Hazel, you're on Arion, Frank, take whatever from you feel best in to get into the mountain. Annabeth and I will be on Blackjack and Porkpie."

"Jason, Piper, Leo, Calypso. Take the east corridor, I want Jason and Piper on Tempest. Leo, Calypso, on Guido. Calypso, you drive Guido, and Jason, obviously, will reign Tempest."

I knew this was the only way. I would never ask Jason to leave behind Piper, Gods know Leo would never leave behind Calypso, Frank is prepared to die for Hazel. And there is no way in Hades I was ever leaving Annabeth behind. Ever. Again. 

Blackjack, and his two buddies Guido and Porkpie stood wait on the deck of the boat, prancing nervously. I hated to put any of their lives in danger, but going in on foot would be too dangerous, and the Gods had sealed off Olympus. I hadn't contacted Poseidon in weeks. They knew Gaea was soon to rise, and they were hunkering in instead of fighting her back. This filled me with a surge of anger. If we didn't stop Gaea, that would buy them a few days, while she busied herself with destroying, oh, just all of humanity before coming after them. They were shut off, and we were on our own. 

"Ready?" I asked.

"Lets go." Annabeth said, slipping her hand into mine. I watched as my best friends, my family, all stood up. We were a team, and we would fight together until the end. Which was potentially very near.

We walked out onto the deck, and I slipped my armor on, confidently clicking riptide open. Annabeth slipped her drakon's bone sword into her sheath, and a golden flash caught my gaze as Jason unveiled his imperial blade. We were ready as we would ever be. 

"We meet back here at the end of the day." I stated, ignoring the obvious possibility. "No one gets left behind." I swung onto Blackjack. You ready boss? ...

You bet.

I nodded at Annabeth, and we took to the air, Calypso and Leo following behind us. The opposite way, a storm funnel was forming in the cloudless sky, blocking out the sun, and Hazel raced across the water on Arion, a huge golden eagle soaring overhead her.

Mount Pelion came into view, and I felt Blackjack tense up beneath me. Its okay. I assured him, even though it wasn't. I could not picture my life if any single one of our friends didn't make it through, and that was a very real possibility. Annabeth hovered next to me, and I signaled to Leo to begin. We watched as a blast of churning flame shot directly towards the small pile of stones that covered the entrance to the south tunnel. Rocks blasted away, and I shot forward, Riptide upright in one hand. Annabeth unsheathed the drakon bone sword, and Calypso unstrapped her crossbow, holding it locked and ready. 

Three emposai spilled out of the smoldering rocks, looking up at the sky in confusion, the split second before they all fell, poison-tipped arrows embedded in their chests. The farther down we flew, the more I could see the corridor open, and we surged ahead at full speed into the thirty foot tall, seemingly endless tunnel. I felt my ears pop as we raced ahead deep into the mountain, sensing the swooping dark form of Annabeth behind me, together cutting down ranks of Empousai, harpies, and lycanthorpes that were spilling out into the main corridor to see what the commotion was.