★ 。＼｜／。★

𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖗𝖊 𝖖𝖚𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊:
TO STORM OR FIRE, THE
WORLD MUST FALL

★ 。／｜＼。★

THIS WAS THE moment Belle had been waiting for ever since she left on the quest — the return to Camp Half-Blood. It wasn't really turning out the way she expected it to. When she first thought of going back home, Gaea wasn't awake and everyone would greet the Argo II with cheers. But that wasn't reality. Gaea had been awaken and now she was heading straight for Camp Half-Blood to destroy it. Not to mention that the Argo II was in shambles and Zeus was literally going to slap them back to Long Island. At least Belle knew she would be able to see everyone again. Katie, Connor, and Travis . . . Gods, they were so close.

Belle, along with the others, were all strapped in various areas of the Argo II with Leo's twenty-point safety harnesses. She let out a nervous breath as Zeus, now a hundred feet tall, held the ship by its prow. This would not be a very fun ride. She gripped onto the straps of the harness like she was about to go on the most terrifying rollercoaster of her life.

Suddenly, Zeus boomed HOLD ON! Belle squeezed her eyes shut as he tossed the ship up and spiked it overhand like it was a volleyball. She wanted to scream, but all of the wind was knocked out of her. Belle's head slumped forwards and spun incredibly. All of her limbs went to mush and her vision went black.

And then she was awake, remembering suddenly what they were doing. Belle, still in a daze after literally being smacked across the Atlantic, managed to undo the straps of her harness. She fell out onto the ground and landed on her knees with a grunt.

"Come on," Percy's voice slurred from next to her, pulling her up by the arm. "We . . . we have to go."

Belle, along with Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Frank, and Hazel, all made their way out of the hatch onto the deck using the guide rope they had attached to the mast. It was clear that each and every one of them was disoriented. Belle attempted to blink the black spots out of her vision as she looked around. The Argo II was spiraling downwards in a free fall while Leo desperately tried to right the ship at the control console. Festus creaked in alarm while the sails became aflame, a catapult flew into the air, shields flew off the railings, and the deck cracked.

"Go!" Leo yelled. "Go, go, go!"

For once, his tone was deadly serious. The evacuation plan had been thoroughly talked to, but everyone's minds were sluggish from Zeus hitting them. None of them moved anywhere.

Buford was the one to save them, his mini holographic Hedge blaring at all of them. "LET'S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!"

Belle shook her head. Her mind began to become more clear. Frank instantly changed form, now a dazed gray dragon instead of a dazed Demigod. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Belle slung her arms around Percy's neck and he wrapped his around her waist, both of them holding on tight to each other. Frank picked them up in one of his claws and Annabeth in the other. Leaving behind Jason, Piper, and Leo, Frank spread his wings and soared away.

The ground definitely wasn't less chaotic. Fighting was literally everywhere. A vast army of monsters were spread across the hills — Cynocephali, two-headed men, wild Centaurs (Belle wished the Party Ponies would show up to help), Ogres, and quite a lot of others she couldn't name — and surrounded two tiny islands of Demigods. The main force of Camp Half-Blood with two Cohorts from Camp Jupiter, rallied around the golden eagle of the Legion, were gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos that rested on the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Belle let out an elated laugh. Reyna had actually did it. Meanwhile, the other three Roman Cohorts were forced into a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

"Hazel!" Jason shouted from his place from flying next to Frank with Piper. "Those three Cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the Demigods—"

"On it!" Hazel replied. "Go, Frank!"

Frank the dragon veered to the left while Jason and Piper veered off to the right.

"Let's get 'em!" Annabeth encouraged from one claw.

"I hate flying!" Percy added.

Belle rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine! We're almost at the ground!"

That was true. Frank began to land, setting down Belle, Percy, and Annabeth first. Hazel got off of his neck and Frank turned back into his regular self. Belle immediately got Sunflower's keychain and flipped it, gripping the green hilt of her sword tightly once it appeared. Together, the five of them charged into battle to help the Demigods.

"Back up!" Percy instantly urged to the Roman Demigods. "Move towards Half-Blood Hill!"

It seemed to be working. Maybe it was because that Percy's role as Praetor hadn't been fully revoked, but nevertheless, the Roman Demigods listened. While still engaging in the fight, everyone began to slightly retreat backwards towards Half-Blood Hill. Belle cut down anything and everything she could with Sunflower next to Annabeth. It was going good for her until Karpoi began to rise out of the ground and charge at everyone.

"Oh, come on, not grain spirits," Belle complained. "I hate killing plants!"

However, she was forced to stab Sunflower right through the Karpos' stomach. The grain spirit exploded into a shower of wheat. That made the rest of the Karpoi angry and they immediately set their eyes on her. Thinking fast, Belle raised her hand and created a plant wall right in front of herself. She squeezed her hand and made the plants as hard as they could be. The Karpoi slammed into it — clearly not expecting the wall — and knocked their own selves out. All of them were sucked back into the ground. Belle waved her hand downwards and willed the plants to recede, breathing heavily.

She took a step backwards. Instantly, she felt her body collide with another's. Belle stumbled for a second and regain her balance. She went to go apologize, but once she looked up at who she had run into, she completely froze in her tracks.

"Belle?" Connor Stoll whispered.

His voice was enough to bring tears in her eyes. Standing there with him was her other two best friends — Katie Gardner and Travis Stoll. All three of them were the ones that had motivated her to get home again. Belle had wanted nothing more than to see them again, and here they were. Katie, Connor, and Travis were staring at her with relief and adoration flashing in their eyes. Belle felt a tear stream down her cheek. It didn't seem real that any of them were standing there right now.

Belle couldn't take it anymore. She dropped Sunflower on the ground and launched herself forwards, collapsing into Connor's arms, the same boy whom she had sent that note to in Tartarus. Katie and Travis joined their hug and squeezed Belle tight. The rest of the battle dulled all around them and faded into a faint buzzing noise. It was just the four of them, like it had always been.

"Oh my Gods," Belle sobbed, hugging her friends a little tighter.

"I can't believe it," Katie responded, her voice slightly muffled yet choked up with emotion. "You're back . . . and Tartarus—"

Belle sniffled and untangled herself from them, wiping away some tears on her face. "I know. But I'm here, I made it, and we're all alive. That's all that really matters right now."

"It's so good to have you back, Princess," Travis commented. "And as much as I love a good reunion, especially with you, I think we have a little bit of a bigger problem right now."

"Yeah. A lot happened at the Acropolis that led to Gaea waking. Annabeth's leg was cut, and then Percy got a nosebleed—"

"So Gaea woke because . . . Percy got a nosebleed?" Connor asked in confusion.

"Don't blame my nosebleed!" Percy's voice called from a few feet away.

"I'll tell you later," Belle promised. She then glanced back to see Jason standing with Nico di Angelo. "Okay, Connor and Travis, Take the Hermes Cabin over to Jason. It'll further help combine our forces."

The two of them nodded. Both of them squeezed her shoulders before running off in the direction of Jason. Belle looked up at the sky to see the Argo II streaking across it in a ball of fire. Burning chunks of mast, hull, and armament fell out at random. Even though Leo was fireproof, Belle was still worried he wouldn't survive. Especially with that one line in the Prophecy . . .

"Hey," Katie began, snapping Belle out of her thoughts. "Come on. We've got an army to fight."

She nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

With a little bit more time, the Greeks and the Romans were able to slowly push back the enemies that littered the ground of Camp Half-Blood. Wild Centaurs toppled and wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes. However, more monsters just continued to appear. Karpoi swirled up out of the grass (which the Demeter Cabin handled — plants versus plants, they totally won), Gryphons dove out from the sky, and lumpy clay humanoids that Nico said were ghosts with Earthen shells lumbered around.

It wasn't too hard to fight all of the monsters, especially with the amount of people that were fighting. Belle stood by Katie's side the entire time (naturally) and used both Sunflower and her plant powers to help fight. Soon enough, her, Katie, Percy, and Annabeth were all standing next to each other and taking down monsters side-by-side. It reminded her of the Battle of Manhattan in a strange comforting way.

"Repellere equites!" Frank's voice echoed across the battlefield.

The three Cohorts Belle was with merged themselves into a perfect formation. A massive herd of Centaurs parted in panic as they marched through, their spears painted with monster blood. Frank marched in the lead while Hazel beamed with pride on top of Arion at the left flank. Belle watched, obviously impressed.

"Ave, Praetor Zhang!" Reyna called.

"Ave, Praetor Ramírez-Arellano!" Frank replied. "Let's do this. Legion, CLOSE RANKS!"

And finally, their plan worked. The five Roman Cohorts merged into one massive killing machine and marched forwards. Frank pointed his sword forward and tendrils of lightning from the golden eagle standard shot across the enemy army, electrocuting several hundred monsters easily.

"Legion, cuneum formate!" Reyna yelled. "Advance!"

Belle smiled and looked over to Percy and Annabeth, her eyes glinting. "I think it's time we reunite, you think?"

The three of them entered the ranks of their own Camp. Everyone from Camp Half-Blood cheered as they did so.

"Greeks!" Percy shouted. "Let's, um, fight stuff!"

And in true Camp Half-Blood fashion, they all yelled like banshees and charged. Belle followed after them. She was so elated from finally being with her friends again she forgot about Gaea for a quick moment. But the Earth Mother always had to remind them that she was there. Usually, it was always in dreams in whispers. However, now that she was awake, Gaea decided she wanted to make a grand entrance.

Underneath Belle's feet, the Earth rippled. Belle stumbled and her and Katie grabbed onto each other in effort to stay stabilized. Other Demigods fell, Ogres slipped, and Centaurs charged face-first into the grass.

AWAKE, a voice that was very familiar to Belle boomed all around them.

About a hundred yards away at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upwards. The column of Earth thickened into a twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman. Her dress was woven from blades of grass, her skin was as white as quartz, and her brown hair was tangled like tree roots.

Belle's breath caught in her throat. It might not have been as scary, but Gaea finding a humanoid form reminded her of the God Tartarus. His malevolent form flashed throughout her mind. She remembered how scared and helpless she had felt in that moment. But Belle reminded herself to accept her fear. She gripped Katie's arm a little tighter to ground herself and stared up at the Goddess of the Earth.

"Little fools." Gaea opened her eyes, which were pure green as if grass had been liquified and poured into them. "The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me."

Belle suddenly realized why Gaea hadn't appeared earlier. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting all of the Demigods and holding back the wrath of the Earth. However, even Athena's power could only last so long against a primordial Goddess. Belle glanced around. Fear washed over the Demigod army like a cold front. Even Katie had turned stiff.

"Stand fast!" Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. "Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!"

Gaea laughed. She spread her arms and everything about the Earth bent towards her — the trees tilted, the bedrock groaned, the soil rippled in waves. Belle felt her feet start to sink. All around her, monsters and the other Demigods began to sink as well. Even one of Octavian's onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill. Belle looked around before looking down at Sunflower in her hand. The Greek word of ηλιοτρόπιο in gold shone just a little brighter.

You alone cannot stop Gaea, Demeter had told her in that dream in Tartarus.

Sure, maybe Belle couldn't stop Gaea by herself. But that didn't mean she couldn't try to help.

She shook Katie's arms off of her. Belle stepped forwards (forcing her feet out of the ground) and gripped Sunflower's hilt tight.

"Belle, what are you doing?" Annabeth inquired. "Stay back."

She didn't listen to her. Without really thinking of the consequences, Belle lifted up Sunflower and stabbed it into the ground. With a deep pulling in her gut, Belle put all of her concentration into holding back the power of the Earth. Instantly, the ground around her stopped rippling. Belle lowered herself down onto one knee and dug Sunflower into the ground more. It seemed to be working, but Gaea used her power to keep the ground unstable. It went back and forth between Belle and Gaea's power, but Belle could ultimately feel herself weakening tremendously. This trick with Sunflower always took a lot out of her, but especially against the Earth, it was tiring her more than ever.

"The whole Earth is my body," Gaea commented. "How would you fight the Goddess of—"

FOOOOMP!

In a flash of bronze, Gaea was swept off of the hillside. Belle, in her tired state, looked up to see that the Earth Mother was caught in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon. Festus, reborn, rose into the sky on his gleaming wings and triumphantly spewed fire from his maw. The rider on his back got smaller and harder to recognize as Festus ascended, but there was a grin that was only that of Leo Valdez.

"Pipes! Jason!" Leo shouted down. "You coming? The fight is up here!"

Belle felt the ground solidify as Gaea was carried by Festus. She blinked a couple black spots out of her vision and took Sunflower out of the ground. Slowly, she stood up and glanced around her. All of the Demigods had stopped sinking yet many of them were still buried up to their waists. The monsters were digging themselves out more quickly and charging at the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of their disorganization. Fighting broke out once more. Jason, Piper, Percy, Frank, and Hazel were having a quick conversation. It seemed like Percy was arguing about the fact of letting Jason and Piper go up near Leo by themselves. Unlike Belle, Percy didn't see that it had to end with the three of them.

She turned. Belle held onto her sword a little tighter, ready to go back into battle as a monster army washed over the Greeks. She went to charge, but a sharp pain entered her stomach. Belle froze and her eyes widened in shock. She looked down only to be met with an enlarged rose thorn sticking out of her stomach, obviously being stabbed all the way through from her back. The thorn was stained red with her own blood and dripped the red liquid onto the ground. Belle fell to her knees, unable to hold herself up anymore. She felt as if she was weightless and she began to go in and out of consciousness.

"No!" Annabeth's voice screamed, although it sounded underwater. "Oh my Gods, Belle!"

Annabeth lunged forwards. She immediately cut down whoever had stabbed Belle with her Drakon-bone sword. Belle could vaguely feel the dust from the monster rain all around her. Her eyes started to flutter shut, and against her will, Belle toppled over sideways. However, Annabeth caught the girl in her arms as gently as she could.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. She looked down at Belle. "Hey, you're gonna be okay, all right?"

"Plants," Belle groaned. "I thought . . . I thought they wouldn't hurt me."

Percy's face suddenly appeared next to Annabeth's through Belle's foggy gaze. "Who did this to her?" he demanded, seemingly only seeing red. "I'll kill them, I swear."

"I already did," Annabeth reassured him. "It was a Karpos. It stabbed her in the stomach with an enlarged rose thorn."

Percy looked up at the crowd. "Where's Will? We need a healer!"

Annabeth looked at him worryingly. "It's not as bad as Jason's Imperial Gold stab wound, but it definitely can cause some serious damage if it's not taken care of soon."

"We have to take the thorn out and get some nectar on the wound." Percy reached around to the small of Belle's back and clutched onto the rose thorn. "Belle, this is gonna hurt, okay?"

She weakly nodded. Percy pulled the thorn out of her stomach, making her gasp loudly. Annabeth maneuvered her to lay her head on Percy's lap. The blonde gripped Belle's hand as Percy pushed some stray piece of hairs away from her forehead.

"I — I don't have any ambrosia right now," Annabeth stammered. "We need something to stop the bleeding."

Belle weakly raised her hand. Instantly, the grass beneath her grew taller and wrapped around her stomach all the way to her back. She willed it to squeeze to apply pressure onto her wound, but that only made her feel like she was going to pass out more.

"Stop using your powers," Percy scolded. "It's only going to hurt you more."

Belle looked up through her haziness from the pain to see Piper, Jason, and Leo all flying with Gaea. Gaea seemed to be yelling something, but since Belle could barely hear Percy and Annabeth right by her, she couldn't make it out. It seemed that Jason's storm and Leo's fire were keeping Gaea from reaching land. However, the more Belle tried to focus, the harder it was to stay awake.

"Hey, is the world turning dark?" Belle weakly questioned, her words slightly slurring as she watched black spots enter her vision.

Percy tried to get her to look at him, but her eyes wouldn't set on him. "No, come on Beauty, you have to stay awake. Just look at me, Belle. Right at me."

"I'm so tired," she whispered.

Everything else dulled all around her. In the small part of her vision, she could see two figures falling out of the sky and a huge ball of fire. A small streak, almost like a comet, was flying across the sky. Percy and Annabeth's voices were reduced to nothing. And right before Belle's vision went completely black, an explosion turned the entire sky gold.

—  [  ♡  ]  —

guys I graduated high school yesterday. what the fuck.

this chapter is a mess I'm so sorry

ok let me know why I keep putting belle through physical and emotional pain???? homegirl really got stabbed by an enlarged rose thorn when she thought plants would never hurt her

btw I just posted a harry potter fic called london boy if you wanna check it out!!!

gifs by 1-800-SIMPINGFORSEB !