Was that a good cliffhanger?  I hope so!  Next chapter is coming right up!

Chapter Quote:

“Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?”

~Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone

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Chapter 15: Fish Food

“Cetus,” Luke stated. “Well Hades…”

“Not good.  Not.  Good.  At.  All,” I said, backing up and letting my tidal wave fall back down to the water.  Luke came and stood next to me.  I didn’t want him fighting with me, but better some backup compared to the alternative situation of no backup. “Keep it occupied.  I’m going to fight it down below.”

Luke grabbed my arm. “Be careful, Shi.”

“Don’t call me that and don’t get killed or else Thalia will have my head,” I responded, yanking my arm out from his grasp.  He started shouting insults at the sea monster to get its attention, stuff that had to do with the monster’s mother being ugly and whatnot.  However, the monster focused completely on Luke so I didn’t care.  I flipped over the side of the tower and landed silently in the water.  I propelled myself towards Cetus’s main body.  This thing was about one hundred feet long.  I needed to cause enough damage on the bottom half of this monster if I wanted to make an impact on the upper half.

I stabbed my sword into Cetus’s tail.  I heard it screech in pain.  Pulling the sword out, I went in for another round, stabbing my way up its body.  Soon, I figured I’d done enough harm on the monster’s lower end to actually do some injuries on its upper half.  I shot myself out of the water onto a wave and surfed it.  I saw Luke swinging at the monster whenever it struck at him.  Thankfully, its attention was still on him.  Each time I passed it, I would slash my sword through its thick skin.  In the distance I heard Percy shouting my name, yelling that he was coming to help me.  I thought I could handle this with just Luke but I wasn’t going to deny more back up.  Besides, I liked fighting side-by-side better with my brother.

“Shiloh!” Luke shouted. “Watch out!”

I looked ahead of me.  The monster’s tail was heading straight for me.  I jumped over it, but the Cetus was smart, and quickly switched its tail to moving up so that it hit me higher up into the air.  I was now in a free fall.  Luke was running, trying to get his shoes to lift him in the air but they weren’t listening to him.  Percy was hollering frantically.  I couldn’t understand what they were so upset about until I looked down into the gaping jaws of the sea monster.

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Percy 

I wasn’t going to make it in time as I watched Shiloh be flung into the air, straight above the monster’s mouth.  Luke was running to her, trying to get his shoes to work but apparently they weren’t listening to him.  Just as my sister was about to fall into the sea monster’s jaws, Luke’s shoes decided to work.  He flew up into the air.  He aimed for my sister, reaching out his hand so she could grab it.  Whether my sister was too dazed by what was happening or Luke simply didn’t get there in time, I couldn’t tell, but he missed her hand by a fraction.  She plummeted down the monster’s throat.  I heard myself cry out her name, not wanting to believe I’d just lost my only sister.  Luke let out a strangled cry too as he whipped around and stabbed the beast in the head with his sword.  The monster flipped out, jerking violently and flinging Luke off.  And right as I reached the battle zone, I saw the tip of a Celestial Bronze sword sprout out from the Cetus’s throat.  I couldn’t believe my eyes as the sword cut its way down, slowly choking the monster on its own blood.  Luke saw it too as he flew down next to me.

“That’s Shiloh, it has to be!” I exclaimed. “You attack Greenie’s front, I’ll attack from the back.”

“You got it,” he said.  I made a wave rise me up to the monster’s height before diving down and cutting multiple gashes in the thing’s neck.  Luke was shouting obscenities in Greek and if I told you what he was calling the monster, this would quickly turn into an R-rated story.  The Cetus was slowing down now though, and I knew that a few more slices and slashes and it’d be done for.

I was right.

A few moments later, yellow, sulfurous powder started shedding off Cetus.  It started with the head and went down.  I leapt off the monster and back onto a wave, watching the destruction, but my attention was caught by a falling body, one that had come out of the monster’s throat.

Shiloh.

Simultaneously, Luke and I shouted her name.  I watched as my sister spiraled down to the first level of the tower.  Luke ran over to her, but just before he reached her, she slammed onto the wooden deck, hitting her head with a sickening thud so loud I could hear it over the roaring water and monster.  I made the wave bring me to tower and next to my sister.  Luke was already there, cupping her face and pleading with her to wake up.

“Hey, come on Shiloh, don’t do this to me,” I begged, grasping her hand.  My sister remained still though, and a frightening idea tried to push its way into my mind.  I forced it away, not wanting it to be true.

“Shiloh?  Come on, wake up,” Luke whispered. “Please, for the love of the gods, don’t do this.  Come back to us.  Come back for Percy, for Annabeth, for Grey, for the camp.” And I can’t be one-hundred percent positive because he said it so quietly, but I could’ve sworn I heard him tell Shiloh to come back for him.  But like I said, I couldn’t be positive.  The two of us waited with bated breath for my sister to wake up.  I swear a whole hour passed before she gave a small cough, alerting us she was alive.

“For… the record,” she stammered, “Being fish f-food sucks.”

Luke and I let out breathy chuckles.  I helped her sit up and told her, “We need to get you to the infirmary.  Will you be all right if I lift you?”

“Yeah… sure,” she muttered.  I nodded and slipped my arms underneath her and lifted her up.  Luke stood up alongside me right as my sister passed out again.

“Do you want me to carry her?” Luke offered.

“I would, but I respect what my sister wants, and she doesn’t want to be near you.”

He sighed and glanced at the ground, but said nothing else.  I controlled the water to make it where Luke and I could walk on it without falling through.  It used up a lot of my energy but it was worth it.  Chiron took Shiloh from my arms when I reached land and galloped off to the infirmary.  Luke began to follow the centaur but I stopped him. “I know you want to be near her right now, but when she’s out cold and vulnerable, she won’t appreciate it.  Give her some time to cool down before you try speaking to her again.”

Luke let out a small, humorless laugh. “You and I both know she’ll never forgive me.”

He shuffled off towards his cabin to clean up.  Thalia followed him.  By the look on her face, I could tell she was ticked off.  My guess is it was about Luke’s relationship with Shiloh and just how much he actually cared for her.

“You think Luke’s right?” Annabeth asked, slipping her hand into mine.

I gave a small sigh. “She’ll forgive him one day, but not any time soon.”

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Did I scare y’all when Shiloh was “eaten” by the monster?  Well at least she lived!  Review lovely people :)