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chapter fifteen ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
015. Cassie Gets Yeeted and Percy's Almost Defeated

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CASSIE WAS SURE KELP HEAD WAS GONNA DIE... AGAIN.

"One on one. What are you afraid of?" Percy asked as he tried to get Luke to fight him.

The son of Hermes was debating it and his soldiers were waiting for his lead.

But before any orders or answers could be given, Agrius came running onto the deck pulling a flying horse.

Cassie and Annabeth shared a glance of amazement. That was the purest black pegasus they'd ever and it's wings were beautiful.

The pegasus kicked and whinnied some choice words about Agrius and Luke. Percy could understand and knew if Chiron had heard them, he would've washed her muzzle with soap.

"Sir! Your steed is ready!" Agrius informed, dodging the pony's attacks.

Luke's gaze never faltered from Percy.

"I told you last summer, Percy. You can't bait me into a fight."

Cassie silently scoffed, rolling her eyes. Has Luke ever met Percy?!

"And you keep avoiding one. Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?"

Yeah, that's when Cassie zoned out. It was getting boring in her defense and she did have ADHD.

She kept herself occupied fiddling with Annabeth's fingers. She'd link their hands together or maybe just their pinkies.

The brunette noticed the blonde had no bracelets. She'd remember that.

Annabeth was busy keeping an eye on the situation in front.

Percy had been successful in baiting Luke, but he might've just accomplished his own death.

The son of Hermes raised Backbiter.

Cassie had always felt that there was something off about that weapon. She didn't even need to be paying attention to feel unnerved.

Backbiter was made of two contrasting metals and a really long blade. The daughter of Ares' head hurt as the weapon seemed to fight itself.

She shuddered at the truth but someone had died to make the weapon.

Luke whistled and one of his men tossed him a shield.

He gave Percy a sinister grin.

"Luke, at least give him a shield." Annabeth complained.

"Sorry, Annabeth. You bring your own equipment to this party."

That's when a shield appeared in Percy's arms. The red flash made it evident who had given it to him.

Cassie looked up, leaning her head on Annabeth's shoulder.

"How's that for 'bring your own equipment'." The daughter of Ares sneered.

Percy beamed at her, more determined. Annabeth smiled proudly. That was her Warpath.

"Thanks Casanova."

Now Cassie knew the nickname was used as a sense of reassurance but it didn't work.

Even with the shield Percy was failing . . . he also lost the shield so that probably didn't help either.

Cassie sighed, burying her head in the blonde's neck. That idiot was gonna get killed.

Annabeth smiled slightly, often glancing away from the fighting to Cassie.

She shouldn't have been smiling at a time like this but Cassie was distracting.

Her brown hair was so soft looking and the red strands were the perfect contrast.

Luke had made a successful jab at Percy, cutting his ribs slightly.

The son of Poseidon jumped and countered. Now a shield would've come in handy because Luke used his to slam Riptide away.

Cassie was slamming her head against Annabeth's shoulder in exasperation,

"My, Percy. You're out of practice." Luke taunted.

The brunette really wanted to take out her sword and just stab him.

Luke swung his sword at Percy's head, but the son of Poseidon parried. He made his own attack which Luke quickly sidestepped.

Percy's cut burned and his heart was beating fast. He jumped back to avoid Luke's lunge.

The son of Poseidon landed in the swimming pool and strength flooded over him.

Percy spun in the water, creating a mini tornado which blasted Luke right in the face.

Luke fell backward, water in his eyes and gasping for breath. That wasn't enough to stop him from rolling out of the way of Percy's advance.

Cassie laughed resulting in Oreius grabbing her neck. She scowled, whacking the bear monster's arm in an attempt to free herself.

Annabeth glared at Oreius. She searched her pockets for her dagger before remembering their weapons were taken.

Gray eyes met green and Cassie winked. Annabeth didn't have the time to get flustered because in the blink of an eye, her dagger was in Cassie's hand.

The daughter of Ares tossed it to her after stopping her struggle against Oreius. Annabeth pointed the dagger at the bear monster, in an attempt to get Cassie free.

Meanwhile, Luke had manage to get a jab at Percy's leg because the chaos with Cassie had drawn the son of Poseidon's attention away.

Pain flared through Percy's thigh and he collapsed against his will.

Luke neared him, as he rolled into the shelter of a bedeck chair.

The son of Poseidon tried to get up but his leg crumpled under him.

"Perrrrrcy!" Grover warned.

The deck chair was sliced in half by Luke who was following after the rolling Percy.

Percy tried desperately to claw his way to the pool but he wasn't gonna make it. Luke assumed so too.

The son of Hermes smiled, twisting his blood covered sword.

"One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy."  Luke turned to Oreius, who had Annabeth and Grover in his grip now. "You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit. Oh and Cassie? I hope you like the water."

"He-he! He-he!" Oreius let go of Annabeth to grab Cassie by the arm and fling her off the boat.

"Aaaah!" Cassie screamed and splash!

"No! Cassie!" Annabeth cried.

"Cass!" Grover and Percy let out at the same time.

The daughter of Athena rushed to the side of the boat but was caught by Oreius.

The bear-monster raised both Grover and Annabeth into the air, opening his mouth.

His sharp, pointy, nasty teeth were on display. Both screamed in protest.

That's when the real chaos started.

Whish!

An arrow planted itself right in Oreius' mouth. A shocked look adorned the monster's face.

He went stiff, letting go of Annabeth and Grover. Oreius fell to the deck and Agrius let out a cry.

"Brother!" he mourned.

Agrius released the reins for a split second. The pegasus took the opportunity and kicked his head, flying away.

Luke's forces paused, stunned as the bear twins dissolved into smoke.

Whooping cries rang out along with the clopping of hooves.

A dozen centaurs burst from the main stairs.

"Ponies!" Tyson clapped in happiness.

Percy's mind was too scatter to really understand what was happening.

Chiron was somewhere in the hoard of his relatives. Not that they really looked related.

All the other centaurs were different horse breeds. Some of their patterns even seemed painted.

They were all armed with a variety of weapons. Some had bows, others bats. Even paintball guns.

Most of the centaurs were wearing bright multicolored shirts that had, PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER, printed on them.

One centaur had war stripes painted on his face and he waved around one of those orange #1 styrofoam hands.

Another had no shirt but his chest was covered in green paint.

A third one was wearing the googly-eye glasses that had slinkys connecting the frames and the eyes. He had a hat with two straws and drinks on top.

Their arrival even startled Luke. Percy didn't know if they were here to help fight or just celebrate.

Turns out, both!

Just when Luke was raising his sword, calling out orders, one centaur shot an arrow.

The arrow had a boxing glove at the end and slammed Luke straight in the face. The son of Hermes flew back into the swimming pool.

His troops scattered, scared of the centaurs. I mean who wouldn't be terrified of a bunch of horse-men in neon shirts with paint ball guns and bows.

Percy stifled a laugh, instinctively going to lock eyes with Cassie and see her reaction. But when he didn't find her recognizable green eyes, realization hit him.

"Shit! Where's Cass?!" The son of Poseidon yelled to Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson.

The blonde had already thrown the wooden ladder down in a panic, frantically waiting for the brunette.

"Come get some!" A party pony cheered.

Paintballs rained down all over the deck, coating Luke's army in blue and yellow.

The warriors tried to scram but ended up tripping and falling over each other.

Chiron raced over to Annabeth and Grover, placing them on his back.

"What about Cassie?!" Annabeth protested.

"Where's Cassandra."

Said daughter of Ares was making her way up the ladder right about now.

She had landed in the sea, taking in a huge amount of salt water.

Resurfacing Cassie let out a groan, spitting water in an arch from her mouth.

"Ugh fish pee. Get it out! Get it out! Get it out!"

The brunette rubbed her eyes which burned slightly from the salt.

"Dam it! Now my glasses are all watermarked." Cassie sighed before making her way through the water. "Fuck you Castellan and all your daddy issues."

She made it to the ladder, which bring us to now.

Cassie hoisted herself back onto the Princess Andromeda.

"Gods, how many times must I get soaked from the ocean?"

Annabeth immediately saw and heard her, drawing Chiron's attention.

"Chiron! There's Cassie."

Percy smiled slightly, but he was still struggling to get up.

Luke came from the pool, sopping wet. Much like Cassie who was running a hand through her wet hair, looking around at the chaos.

"Attack, you fools!" Luke commanded.

An alarm sounded below deck and at any moment Luke's reinforcements would have them surrounded.

His warriors were already getting their senses back and advancing on the centaurs.

Tyson was throwing as many as he could off the deck and into the water, but more just arrived.

"Withdraw, brethren!" Chiron yelled.

He made his way to Cassie, scooping her up and putting her behind Annabeth.

"You won't get away with this, horse man!" Luke threatened, raising his sword.

Smack! Luke took another boxing glove arrow to the face, landing him in a deck chair.

Cassie slouched onto Annabeth's back, dripping salt water on the blonde.

"Eww. Carter get off!"

The brunette chuckled, muttering "Nuh-uh. I'm tired and you're comfy."

Somewhere near them, Cassie couldn't tell because her face was buried in blonde curls, Percy and Tyson mounted another centaur.

All she heard was:

"Dude, get your big friend!" That was definitely the centaur.

"Tyson! Come on!" Percy urged.

Loud foot steps and a thud.

"Dude! Do the words 'low-carb diet' mean anything to you?" The centaur complained.

Cassie sat up, noticing Luke's army gathering properly.

They didn't get the chance to do anything though because just as they were ready, the centaurs raced toward the end of the deck.

They jumped over the railing as if they weren't about to fall splat down about ten stories.

Any tiredness was knocked out of the daughter of Ares and they free fell.

They landed with a jerk, as Chiron and his relatives easily caught themselves. 

The centaurs let out whoops and insults toward the Princess Andromeda as they joined the crowds of Miamians.

Wonder what weird things they were seeing.

Everything was a blur because of the speed the centaurs were running.

They basically stepped a couple miles each time, and were out of the city in no time.

The centaur crowd galloped through fields of tall grass and past ponds into the trees.

After some time, they came to a horse trailer park with their own set of TVs, refrigerators, and all other necessities.

It was a wild and crazy centaur camp.

"Dude! Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!" One centaur mocked shaking his hands dramatically.

The google-eye glasses wearing centaur chuckled in agreement. "That was awesome! Head slam!"

Both centaurs full-on ran into one another and smacked heads, before getting dazed looks and stumbling over each other.

Cassie laughed in amusement whilst Chiron sighed.

He placed the three on his back next to Percy on a picnic blanket.

"I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."

Cassie couldn't help but let out a snicker. She liked brutally honest Chiron.

"Chiron, you saved us." Percy remarked, mouth wide in amazement like a gold fish.

"Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name." Chiron offered a tight lip smile.

"So you would've let us die if we hadn't cleared your name?" Cassie questioned.

Chiron sent her a look and she shrugged her shoulders.

"But how did you know where we were!" Annabeth inquired.

"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami." Chiron explained.

"Gee, thanks," Grover muttered.

Cassie let out a dramatic scoff of offense. "First he admits to only saving us because we helped him and now he's just plain up calling us strange."

"No, no. I didn't mean . . . Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area." Chiron clarified.

"It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."

'No duh,' Cassie thought to herself.

Percy glanced over to a group of centaurs handing Tyson a paintball gun. They were showing the cyclops how to hold and fire it.

"So what now? We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway." Percy asked.

Chiron bent down closer to Percy's height to treat his wounds.

"I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."

"But we got the Fleece! Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now." Annabeth input.

Chiron seemed to agree but he didn't look satisfied.

"You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."

"You're coming, too?" Percy held back a grin, in case he didn't get a good answer.

"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home. My brethten here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see . . . I'm curious about the Fleece."

Percy couldn't tell what he meant by that, but it made him think back to Luke's words:

"I was going to let you take the Fleece . . . once I was done with it."

There had to be an ulterior motive. Kronos always had some plan to get his way. Reason for his name the Crooked One.

Splat!

Near the campfire, Tyson had shot a blue paintball toward on of the centaurs. It sent him flying back into the lake and another centaur gave Tyson a look of approval.

Chiron hesitated. "Annabeth, perhaps you and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits? Cassandra go along dear, but please don't give them any new weapons."

"Why do you assume I'll be the one teaching them about other weapons?"

She was ignored as Annabeth and Chiron shared a look of mutual agreement. Grover laughed at her disappointment.

"Sure, Chiron. Come on, Warpath, goat boy." Annabeth went along.

"But I don't like paintball." Grover protested.

"Yes, you do." The blonde helped Grover onto his hooves before grabbing Cassie's collar and dragging her off with them.

"Honestly G-man, I gave up on resisting a while ago." Cassie comforted to the best of her ability.

Chiron finished up wrapping the son of Poseidon's leg.

"Percy, I had a talk with Annabeth on the way here. A talk about the prophecy."

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Leaving Annabeth and Grover to handle Tyson, a bunch of centaurs, and now Cassie, wasn't Chiron's best idea.

Especially not when him and Percy's conversation about Kronos being his dad, was interrupted by screaming. To be exact, Cassie's excited screaming and Annabeth's scolding.

The daughter of Ares rushed by them holding a flaming baseball bat. She had taken it from one of the centaurs and now introduced a new weapon.

✨The Burning Stick✨

The centaurs gapped in amazement and soon, every baseball bat in sight was aflame.

Chiron stared in horror as his relatives ran around waving burning sticks in the air.

Percy couldn't tell whether to laugh or be concerned. Annabeth was busy chasing after Cassie, trying to take the baseball bat from her.

"Carter, put it down!"

"Sorry, no can do Chase!"

After some yelling and an unbelievable silence in the centaur camp, all the burning sticks were confiscated.

Cassie moped with her arms crossed and her lips out. Annabeth sighed, shaking her head to hide her smile.

Chiron was tapping his hoof on the ground, looking at the brunette expectantly.

The daughter of Ares smiled innocently. "In my defense I didn't know wood was flammable."

She raised her hands in mock surrender but Chiron didn't buy it.

"That's what you said last time Cassandra, with the trireme might I remind you."

"It's the truth. I mean the bat did fall into the fire! All I did was swing it around for a bit." The brunette defended.

Annabeth laughed, drawing a smile from Cassie.

"You're such an idiot, Carter!"

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ author's note

Lmao the title! I didn't know what to do again and it just makes me laugh. But it rhymes so...

I got bored off the lack of Annabeth in this chapter and all the focus on Percy so i tried to bring the girls in as much as I could.

Also i didn't think you guys really wanted to read Chiron telling Percy "Kronos is my father" that much so i just time skipped to Cassie! Cause she's more interesting 😄

Anyways 2 chapter away!!! We're so close to Act 3 🥳

Next two chapter should be on the shorter side, maybe not the last but definitely the next one.

That's all for now! Bye till next time 🙃

-Just Another Overthinker