Chapter 68
Annabeth was thinking hard. We could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at our feet, then Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy. James."
"What-----"
"Just do it."
We came out of the creek and immediately felt pretty tired.
Our arms started to go numb. Our adrenaline rushes left us. We almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied us.
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want . . . I assumed it would be Zeus. . . ."
Before We could ask what she meant, we heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which we would realize, only later, We had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"
Annabeth drew her sword.
There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
It was looking straight at us.
Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, "James, run!"
She tried to step in front of us, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit Percy, as Percy stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through his armor, there was a loud boom which Percy only would realize later was his older brother James breaking the sound barrier. He was by the creek and the next moment James was right next to the hell-hound, he ripped the hell-hound right off of me and sliced it's head off.
Then he threw the hell-hound's body onto the ground.
Percy was a bit scratched up but fine, the hell-hound didn't did any damage to him at all, because his older brother James killed it before it could hurt him, all it did was destroy his armor.
Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the fields of Punishment. They don't . . . they're not supposed to . . ."
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.
James absorbed some blood of the hellhound using his blood manipulation.
Then we watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.
After that was done, they stared at something above our heads
"Percy, "James," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um . . ."
We looked up and we both had a hologram of a spinning green trident above our heads.
But James also had holograms of black spinning skulls, bright magic spells running around his body, weapons in a blood red aura, holograms of an Owl, a silver spinning moon, a bright spinning sun and a spinning white winged shoe.
"Your godly parentage," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around us, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin.
"Our godly parentage?" We asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson and James Jackson, Sons of the Sea God." Also Hail James Jackson Son of the God of the Dead/Riches/Shadows, Goddess of Wisdom, Goddess of Magic/Mist, Goddess of the Hunt/Moon and Archery, God of the Sun/Music, Healing, Archery and Prophecies, God of War/physical combat and God of Messengers/Speed/Thieves/Medicine and Travelers
Hades, Hecate, Athena, Ares, Artemis, Apollo, and Hermes.