AN: Looking back on this chapter – and the story so far I guess – I feel bad about not going any further with the 'Magic' thing. But, well… it's only been a day so far for him. For Percy, he just managed to make fire this morning. The moment I finish up the Westover Hall bit is when we'll drop back into the magic-ky bits.

On another note – I seem to have begun writing in large chunks of text. I… blame the fact that I re-read Ryuugi's Prytaneum for inspiration and kind of adopted the style. Sorry.

…
Chapter: Six
A Chase Through The Snow

"You're such a piece of shit, Thorn." I snarled, calling for the water in the surrounding area and sending a lance of it at the asshole. Snow and slush rushed forwards at terrifying speed, twisting through the trees in columns and tendrils. He dodged nimbly, leaping and twisting this way and that to avoid them, fleeing further away from me.

I didn't much care for that, though, as I pursued him. The snow acted like a stone floor for me, letting me move without issue. I even dumped a bit of water on my head, too, just for good measure.

He wasn't going to get away – I wouldn't let him get away. I was going to catch him, hold him down and happily shove Riptide through his head because I was pissed. Thorn being here meant that one of two things had happened – he'd escaped my friends, or he'd killed them. And he'd taken another pot-shot at me; a pot-shot that hit home just like the last one.

I was sick and tired of his shit and wanted him dead more than I already did. Which was a lot, by the way.

I wanted him dead because he was an evil son of a bitch. Because he wouldn't stop shooting me in the fucking arm. Because he might have hurt my friends.

Snow shot out of the tree branches, forming a wall in front of the manticore that I encased in water and solidified, strengthening it to be as hard as steel. But Thorn didn't stop; he jumped and swept a paw at it, claws slicing straight through the snow and ice. He followed a moment later, his body twisting to dive through my barrier with absurd grace – and I clenched the hand of my broken arm into a fist, the hole he dove through snapping shut and trapping his body within.

He roared, loud enough that I could see the wall tremble from the force of it and began to struggle. His tail snapped out, the stinger on the end slicing through the barrier just like his claws had before. In only a few moments he was free of it, back on his feet and moving away from me. And that was okay – the barrier hadn't been meant to do anything other than slow him down.

I burst through the wall moments after Thorn, the snow and ice that it was made up of following on my heels. Thorn was only a few feet away now but was quickly outpacing me. A scowl twisted its way onto my lips as I forced my broken arm to move to the side, bit back the scream of agony that wanted to tear its way through my throat and curled my fingers. From behind me the snow rose, heating and turning into liquid as it curved to the right and the left, converging on the bastard.

He must have heard it coming, though, because he stopped – literally stopped, twisting in place and launching himself towards me, jaw wide and teeth shining. The water I'd sent at him collided behind him a moment later, barely missing by a few inches.

For a moment, I was surprised. I was certain that Thorn would continue to flee until he either escaped or I managed to give him a lobotomy. Actively attacking when he could be running away? I mean, yeah, he tried to spike me through the chest something like thirty seconds ago, but that was a sneak attack – a quick and easy chance to kill me. I was starting to think that he had a fetish for it because that had been the second time he'd tried in under thirty minutes.

In the end, though, I took it in stride. If Thorn actually wanted to fight then I was all for it – because chasing your enemies down is just plain annoying. Before Thorn could eat me I let my feet drop out from under me, sliding beneath his leaping form in the best baseball slide I could manage. I raised Riptide as I went, carving a long but shallow cut down the entirety of his stomach.

Seconds later I was back on my feet, turning to where Thorn was, an insult on my lips–

"Oh you motherfucker," I muttered, watching as Thorn ran in a completely different direction, fleeing again. He was completely ignoring the cut on his stomach – and me. "Stop running!"

He didn't. He ran faster, actually. I cursed and followed, trying my hardest to catch up. Snow and water flowed, twisting through the trees and attacking him at every angle, but he didn't stop. Oh, a few times he'd turn around, throw a swipe or two at me and then bolt again, but he just kept running. Never in the same direction, never at the same speed, and never using the same tactics.

A part of me wanted to stop. To leave Thorn alone and go find my friends, to make sure that they were okay. But another part – a part of me that saw what he did to the Mist, that was watching as it blackened with every step that the manticore took wanted him dead. Dropped back into the Pit that was Tartarus, where he would hopefully suffer for eternity.

I didn't know how Tartarus worked, but I'd been close to it before – and even being close to Tartarus was terrifying. I'd ignored it at the time, too ignorant to actually know what I'd been so close to falling into, but now I knew. I still had nightmares at night – of watching my friends fall into the Pit, of being hopeless to save them, of being exposed to the monstrosities that existed in what was the Greek equivalent of Hell.

Actually being in it? I figured that it had to be ten times worse, even for something as evil as Thorn was. There are things in this world that are worse than Thorn – and I hoped that they disliked him more than I did.

Finally, though, we burst out of the tree line and into a clearing. Thorn slid to a stop near the edge of a cliff and from it I could hear the ocean – could practically feel it. Over the edge of that cliff was my father's domain; the largest source of power I'd ever be able to tap into.

And I knew I could. Knew that if I pushed far enough – dug deep enough into the connection I had with it – the ocean would scale this cliff and take Thorn and I into its embrace. A part of me wanted to do that; wished to bring that connection closer, further linking myself with the sea.

I could do it – without a doubt I could do it – but what would I be giving up to do that? When I was connected to the sea, I was the sea and it was me. I connected to my father's domain in such a way that it practically became an extension of myself – or, most likely, I became an extension of it.

If I pushed myself too far… well, Percy Jackson would probably cease to exist and the ocean would take my place.

So, I pushed the feeling down. There was no need to go that far on Thorn – he was evil, yeah, with a level of intelligence that was probably more than my own – but he wasn't strong enough to risk erasing myself from existence.

Thorn slowly turned back to face me; heaving out a large, guttural breath as he did so.

"You," His voice came out as some shitty French sounding growl. "Are an annoyance."

"Sorry you feel that way," I said, shrugging my shoulder. A quick flex of my fingers brought a smile to my face; it seemed my arm had finished healing. "But, if it'll make you feel better, everyone thinks I'm an annoyance. There's probably a support group in Tartarus that tries to help monsters get over the annoyance I've made them feel. I could send you to them if you want."

Thorns lips twisted into a snarl as I smirked.

"You're just an impertinent godling that does not know his place." He hissed out, digging his claws into the ground and preparing to leap. I blinked at that. Impertinent pretty much meant rude, right?

"Probably not," I said, ignoring the fact that the guy who tried to sneakily stab me in the chest twice was calling me rude. Fucking hypocrite. "But I know yours. It's called Tartarus; lovely place. Have you heard of it?"

… Okay, so Thorn might have a point calling me rude – but he started it.

Thorn leapt at me with a roar of French sounding rage. I saw it coming from a mile away, the snow from the surrounding area rising to my call and raising into the air to block his first strike–

And then the world flashed white as a lightning bolt slammed down, cracking across Thorn's head and pile-driving him into the snow. I stumbled back, my ears ringing and my vision filled with white. The snow that had been raised into the air collapsed as my concentration faltered. I was blind.

So, I couldn't really be blamed for not seeing the spike that finally managed to hit me in the chest.

I dropped into the snow with a shout and a thud, hand reaching up to grope at the thing that was puncturing my lung. Each breath I took hurt, feeling like… well, like I'd been stabbed in the lung, actually.

"Fuck," I spluttered, tasting blood as it flew from my mouth. The wound was already healing – the snow I was lying on was slowly melting and the dagger was being pulled from my flesh. The noise was finally starting to die away as well and spots of color were beginning to fill my vision, so it was only a matter of time before I could get back to my feet and actually focus on something.

Preferably stabbing Thorn – because fuck, he'd stabbed me three times and I was really starting to get sick and tired of it. There was just one tiny problem.

"Percy, move!"

The problem was Thorn. Who wasn't really tiny, but my point still stands. The small bit of vision I'd regained clearly showed the lion-dude leaping at me, having recovered from taking a lightning bolt to the face like it was just another fucking Tuesday for him.

And yeah, it was Tuesday – but I really hate Tuesday's and don't plan on dying on one.

Snow rushed forwards in a small wave, swamping over my body and pushing me to the side. I slid along the ground like a bobsled for a moment and barely stopped myself from making a joke about Cool Runnings.

I couldn't exactly feel the rhythm or the rhyme – the current thing I felt was pain every time I took a breath – and, well, it sure as hell wasn't bobsled time.

My vision cleared as the snow that was carrying me melted, sound rushing back as the newly formed water lifted me back to my feet. I grunted in pain a moment later when the dagger popped from my chest, the water that had been forcing it out flowing through the new hole and into my body.

It's… disturbing to have water wrap around your lung like a cocoon, I can say that with utmost certainty. But, while odd, it helped out a lot – letting me breathe normally for the moment. Blood was still leaking from my chest, but that wasn't all that important.

Ahead of me Thalia was going face to face with Thorn, electricity crackling along her form. Every swipe of the manticore's claws was met with either her shield or spear and his daggers were shot down by small bolts of lightning that originated from her arms. Her lips were quirked upwards in a fierce snarl and her eyes were glowing like blue flames.

She was striking the manticore with such ferocity that she was pushing him back, making him move ever closer to the edge of the cliff. Thorn tried to fight back – tried to keep Thalia from herding him to what would probably be his demise – but he just couldn't match up to her.

But then she slipped up. One of Thorns daggers managed to make it through the small lighting storm she'd called and pierced her in the gut, making her stumble back with a shout. Thorn's fangs were barred as he leapt towards her downed form, intent on ripping out her throat.

Something inside of me cracked when she screamed. Like a crystal ball had been dropped onto the floor but hadn't shattered.

And then, in an instant, the snow melted. Not just that in the clearing – the snow in the trees and in the air melted as well, turning into a light shower of rain that fell to the ground. Water coiled around Thalia's limbs and drug her away from Thorn before he could even react.

He turned after her when he landed, a snarl on his lips – and his eyes widened as I met them from a foot away, Riptide already stabbing forth to pierce his neck. He twisted to the side to dodge and I cursed as Riptide cut a shallow line through his skin. A column of water slammed into him immediately after, shoving him away.

"You're as slippery as an eel, you know that?" I said to Thorn, backing off to stand before Thalia. Water rose from all around us, creating a buffer zone that was as strong as steel between the manticore and I. It was just an added bonus that it was simultaneously keeping him trapped inside.

"And you are as–!" I cut him off by shoving a lance of water down his throat. His claws came up and cut it off, but that didn't stop him from choking on the water that I'd already made him ingest.

"Oh thank god," Thalia gasped out, her right hand grasping at the dagger in her stomach as I crouched down, dropped Riptide and pulled my backpack off. Thorn would probably break out of his box within a few moments. "I hated his faux-French voice earlier. It's sounds even worse when coming from a lion's throat."

I snorted at that and pulled out my baggy of Ambrosia and grabbed two. I nudged her hand away from the spike in her stomach and grasped ahold of it, ignoring her cursing. "That I can agree with. Now, open wide."

The moment she opened her mouth I dropped the Ambrosia in, gave her a moment to clench her teeth, and ripped the dagger from her stomach. She grit her teeth for a moment, her brows knitting together in pain as the Ambrosia rapidly healed her.

I used Riptide as a crutch to stand back up and stared Thorn down. The monster was tearing through the water wall between itself and us, trying to get out. I gave him a little cheeky wave – and, you know, a literal one that knocked him backwards and onto his ass before I shored back up our defenses.

"So, everyone else okay?" I asked, glancing back down towards Thalia. She'd just started sitting up, spear in one hand and scary-face shield on the other. Her eyes were glowing blue and spitting sparks – probably from the extra charge that she'd gotten from the Ambrosia.

"Yeah," She nodded, accepting my hand and pulling herself up. I got a good look at Aegis as she did so and couldn't stop the slight shiver that went down my spine. "Zoe and I were still chasing Thorn when we ran into them. Annabeth and Grover were trying to keep these two gargoyle looking things away from the kids. We fought them for a bit before Zoe stayed behind to help out while I chased ugly over there, following the trail of destruction you left behind."

I glanced behind myself when she said that and realized that she was right. Snow was missing, branches were tossed around and even a tree or two had been uprooted.

"Huh," I said, looking at it. "Why'd you keep chasing Thorn?"

She rolled her eyes. "Annabeth figured that you'd gotten caught up in something since you hadn't found them already. Guessed that Thorn had found you again. She was right."

I blinked at that. There… wasn't really any way for me to refute that. Annabeth had been pretty correct.

"So," Thalia said, nodding towards Thorn. He was back on his feet and was tearing away at the liquid wall that I had set up, trying desperately to get out. "How do you want to deal with this?"

"Preferably by ripping his head off." I said, looking at the manticore. From the corner of my eye I saw her look at me, a slight smile on her lips.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but Thalia's really fucking attractive when she's not being terrifying. Actually, she's still attractive when she's being terrifying. The whole punk-rocker look was a thing, yeah, but it didn't detract from the fact that's she's a beautiful girl. Hell, covered in dirt and grime and being partly soaked didn't stop her from being beautiful.

And she's my cousin, so… Nothing happening there.

"I like that Idea." She said, lightning racing down her arms and zapping some of the water away. "I do offense while you get defense?"

"Uh, you're the one with the shield."

"And you're the one with the fuckhuge walls of water. Go defense."

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Moments later Thorn tore through the barrier before us and we met with a flurry of claws and blades.

…

AN: Put the shipping goggles away. It's not happening.