Chapter Text
The ground rumbled as another grenade exploded, sending spirals of whipped cream into the sky. “That’s Hazel’s signal,” Leo said. “They’ve taken down another Nikette.”
The explosion brought Percy back to the here and now, they could do this. They would make it out of this stupid arena with the stupid gold-winged goddess and he would never have to fight for a God’s entertainment again after this.
He’d put off thinking of Calypso for this long, she could wait a bit longer.
Percy peeked around the corner of the wall. “One Nikette left. I wonder-”
His thoughts were cut off by the hair-raising cry of Hazel, and he froze momentarily. Leo instantly got to his feet, and he plunged through the maze.
“Dude, wait!” Percy would feel guilty about saying that later, but they had to prioritise taking out Nike.
Percy caught up to Leo in an open stretch of field. Frank stood at the far end of the stadium, shooting flaming arrows at Nike’s chariot as the goddess bellowed insults and tried to find a path to him across the shifting network of trenches.
Hazel was closer – maybe sixty feet away. The fourth Nikette had obviously sneaked up on her. Hazel was limping away from her attacker, her jeans ripped, her left leg bleeding. She parried the metal lady’s spear with her huge cavalry sword, but she was about to be overpowered. All around her, the Mist flickered like a dying strobe light. She was losing control of the magic maze.
“I’ll help her,” Percy said. “You stick to the plan. Get Nike’s chariot.”
“But the plan was to eliminate all four Nikettes first!”
“So change the plan and then stick to it!”
”That doesn’t even make sense, but go! Help her!”
Percy’s heart was pounding as he rushed to Hazel’s defence. Leo darted towards Nike, yelling, “Hey! I want a participation award!”
“Gah!” The goddess pulled the reins and turned her chariot in Leo’s direction. “I will destroy you!”
“Good!” Leo yelled. “Losing is way better than winning!”
"WHAT???" Nike shouted at Leo as the Nikette’s spear came down heavy on his sword.
He exchanged blows with the bronze minion, staying on the defensive. He had to cover his own bases while protecting Hazel behind him. Sweat beaded on his brow as he blocked a series of jabs from the Nikette. His first actual one-on-one fight with anything since the Pit. Adrenaline pumped and gave his hands an unwilling shake to them as he resisted the oncoming attacks.
In the corner of his vision, he saw Leo throw a sphere into the path of the oncoming chariot.
“Percy!” Leo yelled, “Operation water balloon!” Dammit. Percy needed to set it off, but his attention was split between not dying and staying alive. He wavered for a second with the distraction, and that was all it took. The Nikette thumped him backwards with the butt of her spear. She threw her wreath with such force it knocked Percy’s sword from his grip. Percy stumbled. Shit. No. no no no. Pick up your DAMN SWORD- His breath came faster as the Nikette approached, spear raised.
He tried to recover quickly, but his head was spinning and his heart was beating a beat too fast and the uncomfortable shake in his limbs continued. No way. No way this is the way I die. That’s too stupid to be true.
Thankfully, Leo seemed to think so as well. He thrust out his hand and shot a white-hot bolt of fire straight at the Nikette.
It literally melted her face. The Nikette staggered, her spear still raised. Before she could regain her balance, Hazel thrust her spatha and impaled the metal lady through the chest. The Nikette crashed into the grass.
Oh I owe these guys so much-
Percy turned towards the victory goddess’s chariot. He focused as best as he could with his head still reeling, feeling that familiar tug in his gut, holding it for two seconds before a geyser erupted from the ground, just underneath the chariot, and taking the horses and Goddess, and thankfully not Leo, with it.
He caught Hazel as she collapsed. Oh shit shit shit collapsing is not good- He saw Frank running to them from across the field, his brows drawn together in concern.
Leo was on his own as the goddess disentangled herself from the wreckage and rose to face him. Her braided hairdo now resembled a stepped-on cow pat. A laurel wreath was stuck around her left ankle. Her horses got to their hooves and galloped away in a panic, dragging the soaked, half burning wreckage of the chariot behind them.
“YOU!” Nike glared at Leo, her eyes hotter and brighter than her metal wings. “You dare?”
Leo somehow cracked a smile at that, the madman. “I know, right? I’m awesome! Do I win a leaf hat now?”
Percy turned his attention back to Hazel. Frank reached out to take her into his own arms, to which he obliged.
Frank pulled out a slightly crushed square of ambrosia and started feeding bits of it to Hazel, and it might have been a cute moment if Hazel wasn’t bleeding and pale and if there wasn’t a freshly captured Goddess wailing in the background.
“That doesn't look too good. How's it feeling?” Frank asked, gesturing to Hazel’s leg. The incision had colored to an ugly purple-blue-green and the skin around it had swollen. The blood looked like it was starting to clot with the ambrosia, which was good though.
Hazel looked tired and pained as she croaked out, “It burns. And my jeans are ruined now. And I might’ve gone a bit overkill with the magic.”
Franks’ concern only increased. “Burns? In what way? Too much ambrosia? We need to clean it properly too."
Hazel shook her head. “It’s different.” She blinked slowly. “Everything’s... uncomfortable and my nerves feel like they’re on fire.”
Percy and Frank’s brows furrowed almost simultaneously.
Percy moved closer and knelt to study the injury. Up closer, he didn't like the look of it. He considered it for a second. He didn't want to think that it had happened, but it couldn't hurt to be sure. Just to reassure himself all would be well.
"Uh, Hazel? Do you think I could touch it, real gentle for a second jus to check something?" She tilted her head inquisitively but nodded in acquiesce.
True to his word, he very gently reached out to put a hand on her leg, just beside the cut. He closed his eyes and extended his senses, feeling her bloodstream and recoiling when he indentified a foreign substance.
“It’s poisoned.” Percy breathed in realisation.
“What?” Frank reached out to hold Hazel’s hand in comfort. “But- the ambrosia will heal it, right? She’ll be fine, right?”
Percy’s eyes never moved from the cut on her leg. “I can’t say for sure ‘cuz I don’t know how strong or deadly the poison is, but if the cut closes up with it in her system it will not be ideal."
“Well what can we do? There’s got to be some kind of way to- to- I don’t know?” Frank panicked. Hazel squeezed his hand in response.
Percy recalled a hand squeezing his own. “Some things aren’t meant to be controlled. Please.”
He concentrated so hard that something inside him cracked- Warmth flowed through him-
As if a crystal ball had shattered inside his stomach.
“I can try.”
Hazel and Frank’s eyes snapped towards him, questioning.
“I can try to extract the poison from her body- as much of it that I can.”
Frank looked conflicted and concerned, a mix of apprehension and desperation displayed on his face. “How? Is it saf-”
“Questions later. If you can get poison out of my body then do it.” Hazel croaked. “Please.”
Percy hesitated at the immediate response. “Percy.” And his gaze finally met Hazel’s, and he saw the pure, unadulterated trust in her eyes. “Do it.”
At that, he gave a simple nod and closed his eyes in concentration.
His hands hovered above the wound, feeling and recognising the poison. It felt nasty. Like when you wash dishes and a piece of soggy food touches your bare hand. He didn't want to cause Hazel any more blood loss than he had to though. He had to go more precise. Really feeling it. Feeling the poison as it flowed through her veins. Feeling her veins too, actually, the blood circulating around her body.
He started from the wound, identifying everything that wasn’t Hazel’s blood and pulling it, separating it from her blood before it came oozing out of the incision, all while trying to minimize the blood loss, and he discarded the poison in the dirt.
He heard Hazel let out a small whimper that almost made him stop but he screwed his eyes tighter shut and forged on.
His hands trembled with effort and he felt a stinging pressure build up in his forehead, trying to focus on everything foreign in Hazel’s bloodstream and extracting it ever so carefully.
By the time he couldn’t feel any more of the nasty substance circulating, his ears were ringing and his whole body shaking and he sat back on his butt in the dirt.
He vaguely heard someone calling his name. He wrenched his eyes open and saw still cradling Hazel. Frank, concerned for both of them, and Hazel looking a mix of grateful and proud. That made him feel a bit better and-
Oh Leo’s there too.
“Yeah ‘Leo’s here too,’ but you doing ok buddy?” Leo quipped, one hand on his hip as he stared down at the three of them. Percy winced, clearly his thought to speech filter was a bit combobulated. His head cocked to the side like a curious bird, studying Hazel’s leg and glancing over Frank.
“I’m ok.” Hazel spoke up “Percy managed to pull whatever poison that Nikette had on her weapon out of my system, and I might’ve used a bit too much magic, but I'll recover.”
Leo’s eyes widened in confusion and surprise and he looked to Percy, with trembling hands and heavy breath sat on the ground. Percy waved his hand dismissively. He would explain the whole poison thing later. Or he wouldn't.