22. Curses one shall bear

Third-person POV

Percy felt hopeless looking over Nyx's forces. The sea of monsters seemed endless, the ground covered with a carpet of black fur, sharp claws and scaly skin. Percy could see all kinds of monsters in the large group. He could see Scythian Dracaena, Laistrygonian giants, a few empousa and of course, the hellhounds. This had to be the most amount of monsters Percy had ever seen in one place and it scared him.

Because they were coming for him.

Percy felt people run up next to him as the army in front of him stopped advancing, stopping a few feet away from the magical border. He heard a gasp next to him but he ignored it, opting to look down at the enemy with a bit of fear in his eyes.

'Oh my gods,' Percy heard Thalia mutter next to him 'What-how are we going to-'

'I have no idea.' Percy said in a daze.

Chiron trotted up nervously next to his star student, fingering his bow. Before he could speak, a booming yet somewhat melodic voice rang through both the monster and the demigod ranks.

'Perseus Jackson!' Nyx's voice speaking over the anxious monsters and nervous demigods 'You will die!'

Despite the tense situation, Percy couldn't help but speak back to the primordial goddess.

'Yeah, yeah. Whatever,' Percy said dismissively but on the inside, he was screaming at himself for antagonizing the goddess 'You have no idea how many times I heard that before.'

Everyone stared at Percy in shock as Nyx's face turned red with rage at the blatant disrespect from the demigod.

'You dare?!' Nyx bellowed from her chariot 'You will suffer for embarrassing me and my children in my own house!'

Percy racked his brain to remember the incident in Tartarus and when he did, he frowned.

'We weren't even in your house!' Percy complained. 'We just passed through!'

'Then...you will suffer for trespassing!' Nyx said in a no-nonsense tone 'Die, you miserable tourist!'

At the word 'die', the monsters instantly surged forward. After a few seconds, the front rank of hellhounds hit the magical boundary of Camp Half-Blood like they were running into a giant beach ball. Hundreds of monsters were instantly propelled backwards into their allies, stopping the advance.

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. They were lucky to have the magical border they had, with the Golden Fleece strengthening it and the Athena Parthenos no less. The monsters wouldn't be able to pass into camp.

Percy looked over the frustrated monsters at Nyx, who didn't even look fazed in the slightest. That worried Percy.

Percy looked over his shoulder to see everyone demigod from both camps standing in their positions. A phalanx shield wall in front, their wielders also holding javelins. Close-range fighters were dotted here and there, preparing to charge forward to defend their home. Percy could see people holding swords and shields, daggers and knives, and even some battle-axes. 

Some Hunters and the Apollo kids were either standing behind the phalanx wall or hidden in the surrounding trees. Some of the archers had two or more quivers strapped over their shoulders, giving them both a higher number of arrows and a larger variety of them.

Percy turned back to the halted army to see Nyx smiling evilly.

'You think your pathetic border will be able to stop me?' Nyx cackled 'I am a primordial goddess, you fools. Your weak magic can't stop me.'

If possible, Percy paled even further. The border was the only thing that was keeping the monsters out of camp and if Nyx had the power to remove that...the result was too horrible to imagine. The camp would be burned to the ground.

'Nyx!' Percy yelled over all the noise. Somehow, he had gathered his confidence to speak to the higher being.

'It is me you want,' Percy said, ignoring the protests and indignant shouts from his friends 'You can take me, or I'll go with you. Just leave everyone else alone.'

'What are you doing?' Thalia hissed from beside him but Percy ignored it.

There was a moment of silence before Nyx threw her head back laughing. Her army of monsters howled with delight, most of them having no idea why their patron was laughing.

'You think I am a fool, Perseus Jackson?' Nyx spat out his name with so much hatred, Percy wanted to hide 'You will suffer, yes, but it will not be the way you imagine it to be.'

Before Percy could question her words or say anything to retaliate, Nyx raised her hands and started chanting in Ancient Greek, making her army even more restless. Nyx's horses, Shade and Shadow, were neighing so loud, Percy could hear their curses from where he was standing almost 100 feet away.

In a few seconds, the space between the demigods and the monsters seemed to ripple like a mirage. Percy stepped back warily as he eyed the space where the border was supposed to be. Nyx was still chanting and it just made the border ripple more violently. Peleus, who had been curled up around Thalia's pine tree, untangled himself. He stepped back and spread his wings, growling at the army as he did so. Peleus had grown since Percy last saw him. He was now at least 50 feet long. His copper scales didn't have the glint it normally would during the day but he was still intimidating with his 100 feet wingspan.

As soon as Nyx stopped chanting, the border stopped rippling too. Nyx was looking straight at Percy with malice in her pure white eyes. Percy wanted to step back under her stare but he managed to school himself.

'Get ready!' Percy shouted at his friends. Now that Nyx had stopped chanting, his gut was screaming at him that the border was going to go down really soon. 

Percy heard the sounds of people in armour shuffling behind him, getting into a good stance for the coming onslaught. A single thought ran through the minds of all the demigods present. This might very well be the end of them. Seeing the size of the army and the ferocity in the monster's eyes made the heroes lose hope, but they would never back down from a fight and would defend their home to their last breath.

Percy adjusted the sword sheath on his back as she took Riptide out of his pocket. He flipped the cap off and felt the familiar weight of his Celestial Bronze sword seemingly appear in his hands. He reached down to his hip and gripped the handle of his other sword, removing it from its sheath in one swift movement. Percy stood in a defensive position in front of his fellow campers, holding both his swords so tight his knuckles turned white.

Percy could hear Frank and Reyna shout orders to their legionnaires in Latin somewhere behind him. As he eyed the hellhounds in the front rank of the monster army, Percy could just faintly hear the sound of Arion shouting colourful insults at Nyx's horses with Hazel on his back trying to stop him from running over there and kicking them in the face. 

Thalia stood beside Percy with Aegis already on her arm and her spear in her grip. Looking at her, Percy could see she was ready to fight until her last breath but he could see the nervousness and hopelessness in her eyes.

'If anything happens,' Thalia said in a sad tone 'Know that I am glad to be your friend, Kelp Head.'

'Same here, Pinecone Face.' Percy replied in the same manner. 

The border started turning into a black opaque from the bottom, surprising the demigods. They watched as the border turned black like it was frost creeping up a pane of glass. As soon as the last part of the border was covered up, the whole camp descended into darkness, the only thing giving off light was their Celestial Bronze weapons and the Athena Parthenos next to Thalia's pine tree. Before they could do anything, however, the border suddenly broke into thousands of pieces, producing an amplified sound of glass shattering. 

The monsters gave a horrendous battle cry and charged forwards. The first few were instantly turned into golden dust as some sharp shards from the broken border rained down on both forces. Percy looked up to see dozens of razor-sharp pieces of black glass descending upon them. Without thinking, Percy called upon the water from the lake and willed it to form a blanket above the demigods before increasing its density. Percy shook a little underneath the strain of holding so much densified water but he stood strong. 

The monsters were now a few feet away from him and the glass had stopped raining down. With a defiant yell, Percy commanded the water to throw the sharp shards into the approaching army, a wall of black glass suddenly appeared in between the demigods and the monsters.

At Percy's yell, the demigods charged forward, meeting the various monsters in a tight and deadly embrace. The sound of metal clashing and pained yelps from hellhounds immediately filled the air. Since it was nighttime, the hellhounds were basically camouflaged with their black fur. The only thing that was visible were their red eyes, like spotlights in the middle of a sea of darkness.

Percy himself charged forward, spinning his two swords in anticipation for the long fight. When he cut down the first leaping hellhound, he gave up his body to his battle instincts.

Percy could barely comprehend what was happening around him. The only thing he could see clearly was the red eyes leaping at him from all directions, determined to tear him apart. He didn't know what Nyx meant when she said he would suffer in a different way but he didn't want to find out.

The hellhounds and other monsters stopped attacking Percy, trying to think of another plan than just charge in and die. They circled him a few feet away and that gave Percy some much-needed breathing room. 

With the time he had, Percy looked around briefly to see how everyone else was doing. The first thing he noticed was the constant barrage of arrows above him. The silver arrows of the Hunters he had grown so used to glinted under the moonlight as they sailed across the air and hitting their targets. The arrows the Apollo cabin used weren't that special, no flashy parts or complicated designs, so they were harder to spot in the night sky. Occasionally, Percy would see an arrow that wasn't standard issue, like a hydra arrow or an explosive arrow.

He was pretty sure he saw a few fart arrows as well.

Percy's eyes flitted towards the close-quarter fighters and saw that they were doing quite well. The phalanx wall was barely breached, the demigods holding strong while also stabbing their javelins at anything that dared go near the defensive wall.

All of the swordfighters or other close-range weapon wielders had formed small groups of four or five. The demigods had their backs together as they faced the seemingly endless monster hordes but they were holding their own really good. No monster could have sneaked up on anyone and the defensive circles gave the demigods both support from their comrades and different attack combinations that could be performed. 

Percy's eyes turned back to his own portion of monsters as they charged at him, trying to catch him off guard but he was prepared for that. With a flick of his wrist, the Laistrygonian giant that had his spiked club raised was replaced with a cloud of dust.

Percy performed an upwards slash on another hellhound as he looked around the battlefield trying to see where he was needed. Percy saw Thalia and Jason fighting back-to-back, their attacks with the sword and spear fitted perfectly together in a deadly dance of death. Any monster foolish enough to approach them were instantly skewered, or cut in half, or blasted apart with lightning bolts. Percy looked for the next person that needed any support.

Percy sidestepped a stab from an empousa as his eyes fell upon an unfortunate trio of demigods that had been singled out by the monsters. They had their backs together as they struggled to fight against the constant onslaught of enemies. Looking at them, Percy could tell they were relatively new and he could tell the Roman training helped the legionnaires but they lacked the experience of being in a real battle and they were heavily outnumbered. 

Without a second thought, Percy water travelled in front of a legionnaire just in time to block a trident from another dracaena before stabbing her with his other sword. Percy willed the water in the air to form a ring around him and the three legionnaires before pushing it outwards, knocking the monsters on their feet and giving them some breathing room.

'Thanks.' a demigod said breathlessly, most likely a son of Mars based on his physical build and the large broadsword he was using. The other legionnaires nodded their thanks as well, trying to catch their breath as the monsters got back on their feet.

'No problem.' Percy said nonchalantly as he embedded Riptide hilt-deep into the back of a particularly large hellhound.

Fighting with renewed vigour to get the trio of new campers into safety, Percy hacked and slashed at the monster army like a demon. Riptide and his black sword were just coloured blurs to anybody looking at him. He and the legionnaires fought their way to a group of senior Greek campers who were too busy fighting for their lives to even care about three more people attaching onto their group.

Percy jumped over a hellhound and stabbed downwards in midair, eliciting a yelp from the unfortunate beast before it turned into dust. Percy twirled around on the spot with his swords out, instantly decapitating or slicing the surrounding monsters to pieces. He sheathed his sword in one smooth movement as he threw Anaklusmos at a nearby Laistrygonian, turning into monster dust after embedding it into its groin.

Percy water travelled himself onto a nearby tree where two other Apollo kids were already residing. They nearly fell off their tree when Percy seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Without a word, Percy twisted the ring on his left hand and started firing arrows as soon as his bow materialised. The speed Percy was firing the arrows at was amazing to watch. His arms were just blurs to the Apollo kids, and they were seasoned archers. The two sons of Apollo couldn't help but stare at Percy with open mouths. It was well known that their hero had never been good at archery but here he was proving that statement wrong.

Every single time Percy pulled back the bowstring, an arrow would magically appear on it, removing the need of having a quiver and saving time since he didn't need to notch the arrow. It took him just over a second to pull the bowstring taut, aim and fire, effectively killing any enemy with a single arrow. Larger monsters like the Laistrygonian giants and the bigger hellhounds would have taken more than one arrow to kill but Percy was experienced. He knew where all their weak points were and he could exploit that knowledge.

Percy's mind was working on its own. Aim and fire, aim and fire. He was glad to have his bow with him since he didn't have to carry quivers around. The magical bow had been a sort of thank you present from Apollo after Percy defeated Python for him. Percy was thankful, of course. Not only did he have a really cool new bow, but it also replaced the one Python broke during their fight. Percy didn't really like making bows since he wasn't really good at it. His bow, just like his sword, had to feel balanced in his hand. Any other weapon just didn't feel right to Percy.

After getting over their surprise, the two Apollo kids joined Percy in firing as many arrows into the monsters' ranks as possible. They quickly matched Percy's firing speed even though they had to notch their arrows and they did their job by providing their allies with cover fire and picking off any lone monsters trying to sneak up from behind.

Percy must have killed over 200 monsters just by sitting in that tree and to be completely honest, he started getting bored. After firing one last arrow that pierced through two dracaenas, he willed his bow to return into its ring form and water travelled himself to the back of the monster army.

As soon as he turned physical again, Percy uncapped Riptide, which had finally returned to his pocket, and unsheathed the sword on his back. Before the monsters even noticed, Percy had already started creating chaos among the enemy ranks. He summoned some water from somewhere nearby him as he fought his way through the wall of black fur and claws. Almost instinctively, Percy willed the water he summoned into half a dozen tendrils behind him, making it work as an exterior source of extra defence and also as an extra method to dispatch the monsters around him. 

Percy had no idea how long he had fought for. All he knew was that he had killed a countless amount of monsters but wave after wave of monsters kept coming. Whenever Percy would feel tired, he allowed the water tendrils behind him to soak him, rejuvenating him before he summoned more water and continued fighting.

He didn't know how, but after fighting for a while, all the demigods had gathered together to form a massive wall to face the monster army.  There were no more lone demigod groups out in the middle of the sea of monsters trying their best not to die. Percy was there at the very front, trying to draw the monster's attention from his friends and family to the best of his ability. Nyx was after him after all and he would not let anyone else get hurt at his expense.

Percy could see Festus flying a few feet above him, sending waves of fire at the monsters as Leo screamed insults while sending fireballs of his own. Peleus was still standing defensively in front of the Golden Fleece, crushing or eating any monster that was foolish enough to approach him. 

Percy energised himself for the millionth time that night as he stabbed both his swords into the chest of a Laistrygonian giant. He could tell he was tiring despite the constant showers he got. He could only imagine how his other friends were feeling. They must have fought for hours now, still managing to prevent Nyx's forces from entering the camp grounds.

Percy watched helplessly as a legionnaire beside him was hit square in the chest by a spear, killing her before her body even touched the ground. He bit down the guilt building inside of him as he continued fighting each monster that came within ten feet from him.

Percy could tell his comrades were tiring, just like him. Their attacks were slower and they were mainly on the defensive, only killing a monster every ten seconds or so. Percy ducked under a leaping hellhound but another one came up to him from his left, and held him down with its front paws. The only thing keeping the hellhound's jaw from tearing Percy's face in half was the Celestial Bronze sword he had in his hands.

He tried pushing the hellhound off of him but it was too big and Percy was weak from fighting for so long. Just as he was about to accept his fate, the beast on top of him suddenly burst into golden dust, showering Percy with its remains. Percy spat out the dust that had gotten into his mouth as he looked up to see his saviour, although it was not who he was expecting to see.

'Get up, son!' Poseidon said as he stabbed his trident into two hellhounds at once. Percy was so shocked that he just laid there, watching his father fight in his elaborate armour holding his glowing symbol of power. 

'Dad?' Percy asked awestruck as he got up slowly. Despite being in the middle of a battle, he couldn't help but be surprised. His father was here, fighting beside him. The last time that had happened was when they had fought the giants in Athens.

'Yes, it is me!' he shouted over the noise as Poseidon sent a huge wave of water from his trident towards the large group of enemies. The giant wave of water instantly devoured the whole front rank of monsters, giving the demigods some much-needed breathing room.

Percy looked around quickly to see that his father was not the only Olympian that had arrived to help. He saw Ares in his chariot pulled by four fire-breathing horses, swinging his massive broadsword around laughing like a maniac. Athena and Artemis were fighting side-by-side, Artemis wielding dual silver hunting knives while her half-sister held the original Aegis paired with a spear. They worked flawlessly together, decimating a large part of the monster force in a matter of seconds.

Percy heard rumbling overhead and as soon as he looked up, the biggest lightning bolt he had ever seen rained down from the clouds and blasted a large portion of the army with a thunderous boom. Golden streaks rained down from the sky into Nyx's army as Apollo fired his arrows from the back with his children. Percy could see a blur running through the monsters as the occasionally blue laser ripped through dozens of hellhounds at a time.

Percy felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck before he ducked just as an arrow sailed over his head. Percy summoned his own bow before shooting an arrow straight at a surprised dracaena. He turned his bow back into the ring as he uncapped Riptide and picked up his black sword from the ground.

'Sorry we took so long,' Poseidon said when Percy moved up to fight next to him 'There was some sort of magic blocking us from exiting Olympus. It took a while to break past it.'

'It's fine,' Percy said casually as he sliced the front paws off of a hellhound before decapitating it 'At least you guys are here now.'

Poseidon smiled at his son. It has been a while since he had fought with him in battle.

With the Olympians now by their side, the forces of Olympus struck with renewed vigour. The monsters didn't even stand a chance. Golden and silver arrows rained down on them, constantly preventing any chance of them regrouping. Fireballs from Leo and his father Hephaestus burned away patches of the monster army, causing even more panic. Hades stood in his chariot with his sword raised as hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons rose up from a large crack in the ground. His son Nico di Angelo was leading the army of the undead, his Stygian Iron sword cutting down anything in his path.

The tide of the battle was finally turned. The monsters' numbers dwindled to the point where there were only a few dozen left. The remaining stragglers were instantly sent to Tartarus by a few well-placed arrows from Apollo and Artemis.

Percy looked over the battlefield. The ground was so ruined from all the explosives and monster feet that it looked like a plague had just passed over the land. He could see a few limp bodies littering the ground and that made his heart clench, but he couldn't focus on it right now. Percy turned towards Nyx, who hadn't even made a single move from her dark chariot since the start of the battle.

Nyx's eyes scanned the Olympian army in front of her. The demigods were holding their weapons, ready for an attack or an order to attack, whichever came first. The newly arrived Olympians had their symbols of power pointed at her, which didn't concern her in the slightest.

'You all have fought better than I expected,' Nyx mused as hundreds of glares were sent her way 'It seems that my spell was not strong enough to hold you pathetic Olympians back.'

The said Olympians glared at the primordial twice as hard but she didn't even flinch. Instead, she looked over to the east where the first rays of sunshine were finally starting to show.

'I will be back, Perseus Jackson, beware,' Nyx said coldly before her face turned into a smirk 'How about I give you all a present before I leave?'

Ignoring the confused looks on her enemies, Nyx raised her hands slightly and suddenly, a blanket of darkness - shadows- descended upon her being. The shadows swallowed her and her form disappeared. Before anyone could comprehend what just happened, a loud shriek echoed across the group of demigods and gods. 

Percy paled. The sound sounded familiar to him and it was not something he wanted to experience again.

The shadows surrounding Nyx suddenly dissipated, in her place stood a dozen winged hags. Their talons and glowing red eyes could be seen from a mile away. When they laughed, the sound sent chills down everyone's spine, including Zeus. 

Without another word, the arai launched themselves into the air and descended upon the campers.

Panicked screams arose from the crowd of warriors. The arai looked too much like the Furies to the demigods and the razor-sharp talons and glowing eyes didn't help either. Some of the braver ones wondered why Nyx had only put a dozen against them, not knowing what they were capable of. 

Percy watched in fear as the arai dive-bombed his friends, trying to either kill them or let them get killed. The last time he faced the arai was when he was in the Pit with Annabeth but he still wasn't prepared to see them again. 

Percy snapped out of his daze when an arai swopped in on him. He tucked and rolled off to the side as the arai crashed into the ground with a loud thump. Percy looked around the battlefield to see most of the arai just harassing the demigods. The Olympians were trying their best to keep the evil beings away from their children and to also stop the demigods from killing them.

Just then a thought hit Percy like a truck. A line from the prophecy bounced around in his head. 

Curses one shall bear.

Percy gulped but composed himself, accepting the words of the prophecy given to him. He uncapped hefted Riptide and was about to charge the Curses when his eyes fell upon something that made him panic even more.

A few feet away, Percy could see Thalia holding her spear and shield looking at the sky, preparing for the arai that had decided to dive-bomb her. Percy started running as soon as he saw Thalia raise her spear. If the arai could smile, he would bet a thousand drachmas that this one did. Percy knew that the arai wouldn't move out of the way of Thalia's spear. That was their purpose anyway. To give away curses like it was a free sample from Bargain Mart.

Just as Thalia was about to skewer the arai, she was suddenly pushed onto the ground by Percy. Thalia heard Percy grunt in pain and looked up in alarm. She saw the arai, not that she knew what it was, fly back up into the air preparing for another attack. What made her worry was the three already bleeding scratch marks on Percy's back.

'Don't,' Percy managed to grunt out 'Don't kill them. They give you curses.'

Thalia looked at her cousin confused. Before she could say anything, however, the arai screeched and dived at the duo once again. 

Without looking up, Percy swung his sword arm backwards and sliced the demon grandmother in two, turning it into dust.

Thalia scrambled backwards as Percy suddenly doubled over. She rushed towards him to check on him but when he straightened up, Thalia gasped.

Percy's stomach was now soaked in his own blood. The patch of red cloth was slowly expanding, transforming his black sweatshirt into a dark crimson one. Thalia could tell he was hurt but her cousin remained standing.

'Oh my gods,' Thalia said panicking 'What-'

'Move.' Percy said forcefully, interrupting her. Without waiting for an answer, Percy pushed his cousin away and limped his way into the middle of the battlefield.

'Hey!' Percy shouted waving his sword high in the air 'Come get me, you Fury wannabes!'

All eyes turned towards the bloody son of Poseidon as the arai, one-by-one, approached him. 

Poseidon started making his way forwards to his son but a hand stopped him. He turned towards whoever stopped him with an angry look but faltered when he saw Athena, who donned a sorrowful expression the god had seen only once before.

'Don't, Poseidon,' Athena said sadly as she looked at Percy who raised his sword preparing to fight  'This is part of the prophecy. The only thing we can do now is to wait and hopefully fix...whatever is left of him.'

Poseidon felt his throat close up but knew his niece was right. He couldn't change the will of the Oracle. All he could do was watch as his only demigod son try to survive the ancient and evil beings.

Percy ignored the pain in his stomach as the first of the arai reached him. He didn't know who cursed him to be stabbed multiple times in the stomach but what he did know was that whoever it was is a piece of schist.

Percy cut off the head of his second arai as he felt another curse descend upon him. He couldn't tell immediately what it was and he didn't want to find out, so he kept on fighting.

Percy slashed and stabbed his way around the ten Curses that were left. Each time, he felt his sense of dread grow as more curses piled upon his body. Some of the curses were instantaneous, like more stab wounds or the curse to break both his legs. Some of them took a while to affect him but Percy had no idea what they could be yet.

As he killed the arai, he felt more and more pain. If he wasn't already on the ground, he would have definitely collapsed. As he killed the third last wrinkled hag, he felt a sharp pain on his left side, just under his armpit. He unconsciously looked at the wound and saw a small stab wound. That confused him since such a small wound would not cause so much pain unless it was poisoned. Percy could tell it wasn't though. Something else must definitely by affecting him.

Ah, the curse of Kronos, the remaining two arai spoke. At the name Kronos, Percy froze.

You will now slowly die like how he had been defeated. A small wound on his side, the arai cackled Your life force is slowly disappearing, just like how that son of Hermes killed the Titan Lord.

Percy felt sick. Now that the arai mentioned it, he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Not physically weaker but not mentally either. It was like he was slowly losing his life, one tiny little part at a time, just like how Kronos had reformed.

With a yell of defiance, Percy threw Riptide at one of the arai, surprising her which effectively turned her into dust. Percy felt another curse added to the big-enough pile but he ignored it and stared at the descending Curse, waiting for her to approach him.

As the last arai swopped in on his with her arm reared back, Percy rolled underneath her brass talons and slipped behind the demon. He wrapped his bleeding arms around her neck and snapped it in one fluid movement. 

As the last arai dissolved into dust, Percy felt the worst curse of them all hit him. He immediately crumpled into the ground as he tried to breath, trying to get in as much oxygen as he could while also processing the pain, the unimaginable pain. He had felt this pain only once before and he had hoped he would never feel it again. 

As his body felt like it was dissolving, Percy's mind brought him back to about five years ago, when Nico had convinced him to take a bath in the River Styx. This was what Percy was experiencing once again, the feeling of the Styx's polluted waters on his skin, slowly eating away at his soul.

A scream escaped Percy's lips as he shook uncontrollably on the ground. The demigods, Hunters and gods watched horrified as their hero thrashed on the ruined ground, a pool of his own blood forming underneath him. The sun was on the horizon, turning the sky into a beautiful shade of orange and pink but it fit the situation poorly.

Poseidon immediately surged forward to his son, breaking everyone out from their thoughts. He was later followed by a frantic Apollo and soon, almost everyone rushed towards the screaming son of Poseidon. 

Percy's mind was blank. All he could think about was the pain of the River Styx among the many other curses he now bore. He could faintly hear his friends and family shout his name as his body slowly burned away.

A/N: So I'm not dead. Yeah. Here's chapter 22.

I am especially sorry to @varsha2312 and anyone else that had seen my comment on the previous chapter. I had said that this chapter would come out 3-4 days after the previous one but it has been 6 days. I swear on the River Styx I didn't mean to mislead any of you.

I am not entirely sure when the next chapter will be up. This one was rather long so I'm not sure how long it will take to write the next one. I'm sorry, but y'all will just have to wait I guess.

Anyways, terribly sorry again. Have a good day.

~Sacai2005