Rescue Part 4
A door suddenly burst apart as Percy came flying into the room. But he absorbed the fall by rolling over his back and pushing himself up with his arms, rising almost instantly without letting the swords in his hands slip even once.
His clothes were full of cuts, though none of them looked deep; just a few shallow marks across the fabric.
Luke stepped in right after him through the broken doorway, his expression serious. His clothes were just as disheveled, small cuts scattered across them, making it clear that the two of them were more or less on the same level.
That seemed to bother Luke quite a bit.
After all, he had been considered the best swordsman the camp had seen in years. A genius with a blade. Respected by everyone. And yet a kid several years younger than him, with far less training, could stand against him.
"Your master taught you well, Percy," Luke said, his tone almost envious, though just as dangerous as it had been from the start.
"Well. You either learn fast or you suffer one hell of a storm," Percy replied with the same seriousness, though he could not quite keep his usual tone out of his voice.
Even so, for a moment his gaze drifted around the room, quickly scanning the surroundings.
Luke seemed to notice that and glanced around as well, finally realizing where they were.
The captain's cabin.
His cabin.
And in one corner stood Kronos' sarcophagus. Resting on top of it was a school letter jacket, red and gold, with a large shining omega stitched onto the pocket.
The sight was strange; a dark, dreadful coffin… and a school jacket lying on top of it.
But the golden glow leaking from the fabric, as if it were slowly seeping down into the sarcophagus, made it obvious what it was.
The Golden Fleece.
Yet Percy did not even seem to care.
"Oh. I see," Luke said, as if something had finally clicked for him.
From the very beginning Percy had not come here for the Fleece.
Or even to fight him.
He had come for Annabeth.
"Don't worry. She's fine," Luke continued calmly. "She still has one more chance to join us. Especially once I tell her a certain secret that will excite her very much."
As he spoke, his eyes flicked briefly toward the jacket, a faint smile touching his lips.
Percy did not answer.
He simply looked back at Luke with the same serious expression while raising both swords again.
But there was something different in his gaze now.
Sharper.
More dangerous.
As if he already knew that if he wanted to keep moving forward, he would have to defeat Luke completely.
The air around him turned cold enough that he almost seemed like a different person.
Like a knife about to slide across someone's throat.
"Oh? Are you finally going to stop pretending to be the good kid who only kills monsters but spares the demigods who try to kill him?" Luke said with a faint mocking tone.
Of course he had noticed that Percy never tried to kill the demigods he fought.
"I was never a good kid," Percy replied calmly. "My master taught me there's no need to stain your hands with the blood of people who are far weaker than you."
His eyes hardened slightly.
"But it's worth it when it's someone who can actually stand as your rival. Because their death means you survived."
And then Percy moved.
His sword slashed straight for Luke's neck.
Luke raised his blade quickly to block. But in that same instant a sense of danger flashed in front of him when he saw Percy's second sword already driving forward in a thrust aimed directly at his throat.
Luke twisted to the side, barely avoiding the strike, though a thin line of blood appeared across his neck.
He did not even have time to think about it.
Another slash came down toward his throat, ready to open it completely.
Luke ducked quickly while stabbing toward Percy's chest. If Percy was going to abandon all restraint, then he would do the same.
But Percy had already abandoned restraint as well.
Suddenly he let go of Riptide.
And caught the edge of Luke's sword with his bare hand.
The blade immediately began cutting into his palm, blood running down between his fingers as the sword stopped just in front of his chest, barely piercing the fabric of his clothes but not reaching his heart.
For a moment Luke was genuinely surprised.
The savage way Percy had stopped the attack.
And then he felt danger.
Percy drew in a deep breath.
As if he were about to shout directly into Luke's face.
Seeing that motion, Luke remembered the strange power Percy had used on the island.
And he reacted instantly.
He released Blackbiter.
Then jumped backward, creating distance as he dropped into a defensive stance, ready to dodge whatever dangerous attack was about to come.
But once he had moved far enough away, he saw something strange on Percy's face.
A mocking smile.
Percy simply picked Blackbiter up from the floor and hurled it toward the far wall of the room.
The sword buried itself deep into the wood, leaving only the hilt sticking out.
And in that exact moment Percy ran.
Straight toward the Fleece.
He grabbed it from the sarcophagus. For a brief moment he thought he heard a faint voice trying to stop him from inside the coffin, but he did not even bother paying attention.
He threw the Fleece over his shoulder.
And ran toward the window.
"Wait! Stop!" Luke shouted the moment he realized what was happening. "What about Annabeth? Weren't you looking for her?"
Percy glanced back slightly as he opened the window.
"If I made it here… that means she made it somewhere else too."
He smiled with complete confidence.
Then he jumped out the window, shielding himself with the Fleece.
Luke rushed to the window.
All he saw was the water of the sea splash before settling again, rippling slightly near the pier.
"Bastard," Luke muttered with hatred.
He ran to the wall, ripped his sword free, and rushed out of the cabin, heading quickly toward the lower decks of the ship.
Right to where Annabeth was supposed to be.
…
Meanwhile, on Clarisse and Annabeth's side, they were having a somewhat difficult time fighting Alison.
A dagger whistled through the air.
Annabeth tilted her head to the side and the blade passed close enough to brush her hair before embedding itself into the wall behind her.
It had not even finished vibrating when another dagger appeared in Alison's hand.
She threw it immediately.
Clarisse stepped forward and raised her spear. Metal struck metal with a sharp sound, deflecting the blade toward the ground.
But Alison was already moving.
Her body advanced far too fast.
Annabeth barely caught the motion when Alison appeared in front of Clarisse and launched a low kick toward her knee. Clarisse stepped back to avoid it, but Alison spun on herself and fired another kick toward her head.
Clarisse blocked with the shaft of her spear, but the impact forced her to slide several steps backward until her back struck a metal wall, her head turning slightly from the blow.
But that distraction could cost her life.
Alison threw two daggers in quick succession straight at her.
Clarisse reacted quickly, ducking and rolling to the side as the daggers embedded themselves easily into the metal wall.
Clarisse frowned slightly when she saw the edges of those things.
And more than anything, she looked toward Alison.
She was very fast.
The daggers were not the real problem.
The real problem was that Alison knew how to fight extremely well both at close range and at a distance. Throughout the entire fight they had been moving constantly, trying to find a favorable position, but Alison kept controlling the terrain around her completely.
Not like most of the young demigods at camp.
Annabeth understood perfectly why Luke had probably recruited her into his group.
Her movements were clean and direct, without wasting energy.
And she always aimed for dangerous places.
Alison twisted her wrist.
The two daggers that had been embedded in the walls vibrated slightly.
Just like the dagger she had thrown earlier toward Annabeth.
And they flew back into her hands.
"You're wasting my time," Alison said with a faint smile, though she was clearly annoyed. "I need to finish this quickly before Luke gets here."
Then she moved again.
Running directly toward Clarisse.
Two daggers shot out at the same time.
Straight toward Annabeth.
Annabeth clearly saw the trajectories.
Her eyes, now different, caught the motion as if she could see the exact angle.
She knew where they were going.
But even so, it was difficult to move at the same speed.
She leaned to the side while raising her arm to deflect one of the daggers with her own.
The second passed close enough to graze her arm before curving back through the air.
Clarisse advanced with a roar.
Her spear crackled with electricity as she thrust directly toward Alison's chest.
Alison ducked easily and placed a hand on the ground. Then she twisted her body while pushing off with her hands and launched an upward kick straight into Clarisse's stomach.
Clarisse managed to block with the shaft of her spear, but the force of the blow still struck her abdomen, forcing the air out of her lungs.
The impact was strong enough to push her back several steps as she bent slightly, holding her stomach.
Alison took advantage of that moment.
She drew two of her daggers.
And threw them directly toward Clarisse's chest and throat.
"Clarisse, dodge to the right!" Annabeth shouted immediately.
Clarisse, almost like a reflex, obeyed Annabeth's shout and moved even while she was still trying to catch her breath.
The daggers passed close enough to graze her shoulder, leaving a thin line of blood.
But Alison had not stopped yet.
She was already on top of Clarisse.
With a direct kick toward her neck.
At that moment, suddenly, a dagger flew straight toward Alison's leg, forcing her to stop the motion as she jumped back.
Another dagger passed where her head had been a second earlier.
Both attacks missed.
But they captured Alison's full attention.
She turned her gaze toward Annabeth.
She had been the one who threw them.
"You learn pretty quickly," Alison said when she noticed that Annabeth's throwing motion was almost an exact copy of her own.
Annabeth did not respond.
It had been thanks to her new sight that she had been able to copy Alison's movement.
But that did not mean she could be as skilled as Alison.
Still, it was enough to give Clarisse time to stand back up and rejoin the fight, swinging her spear in a horizontal slash toward Alison.
Alison simply rolled backward as the daggers returned to her hands.
"Is that all?" she said with a calm smile. "I expected a little more from the pride of the camp."
She spun the daggers between her fingers as if all of this were nothing more than a simple exercise.
That only increased the pressure on Clarisse and Annabeth, who could not help showing slightly annoyed expressions.
Clarisse clicked her tongue.
"She's annoying," she said out loud.
Annabeth did not respond.
Her eyes moved for a moment toward one of the nearby windows.
And she saw something rise into the sky for a brief instant.
A black shadow spinning through the air.
Covered in water.
And then falling toward the sea.
Annabeth recognized the sword immediately.
It was one of Percy's swords.
And unlike Riptide, which he threw all the time, that was the black sword he valued so much.
Her eyes widened slightly.
She glanced toward Clarisse's spear, remembering when Clarisse had thrown it on Polyphemus's island to give them a signal.
Annabeth understood immediately.
Percy had succeeded.
She forced herself to calm her emotions quickly as she turned back toward Clarisse and Alison.
"Clarisse," she said calmly.
Clarisse glanced at her for a moment, though without taking her eyes off Alison.
"I can see her movements," Annabeth said. "So you have to do exactly what I tell you."
That made Clarisse frown slightly.
"Even when I tell you to jump out the window into the sea," Annabeth added. "Because you don't have special eyes like I do."
Clarisse looked at her again for a moment.
Then she looked at Alison, who was watching them with a slightly contemptuous expression.
"I see," Clarisse finally said. "I suppose I can listen to you this time… only this once."
Then she moved a little forward, placing herself in front of Annabeth.
Her spear ready.
Preparing to begin the second round.
"No need."
The voice suddenly appeared, interrupting the three of them.
Their gazes moved instantly.
Luke was there.
He had arrived without any of them noticing.
His serious gaze scanned the scene before stopping for a moment on Alison. She straightened immediately when she saw him and swallowed, almost as if she had been caught doing something improper.
But Luke said nothing else.
His eyes slowly moved toward Clarisse.
And finally stopped on Annabeth.