Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS! RICK RIORDAN DOES!
Okay, please don't kill me! I have writers block for my story Fire Kid and I have no clue where it's going… PLEASE HELP! Anyways… on with the show!
I won't give you any of that 'my mother is the best person with the worst luck and she should be married to a millionaire' crap. I'll hand it to you. My mom is… well, not perfect. She has a new 'guest' every night. Well, I'm happy that used to be. Now don't get me wrong, she still has trouble fighting her old habits and occasionally she'll get high or drunk or both, but ever since Jason moved in, she's been a lot better.
I like Jason. He has a daughter, Melissa, who is five and the cutest kid alive. Jason's a marine biologist with a couple of extra bucks and he's really nice. The only problem is his idiot son, Mikhail. Seriously, the kid has problems. To start it off, he has red eyes. That's not freakin' natural! He has black hair that looks like it never has been cut (well okay, it's sort of medium length now that I think about it, but still…) and the left front is died blond. He's seven years old. He's always giving you this I-want-to-kill-you-now glare. That kid freaks me out.
I on the other hand have normal blue eyes that most people say look 'dreamy' or so and I have greyish hair. Don't judge me! My hair is natural and I'm only twelve and a half. I have this way of knowing peoples dreams and what they mean, which is kind of creepy and kind of cool, because I know all about those people, which is basically everyone in my school.
So, back to the day when Jason moved in and I met Mikhail for the first time, aka doomsday.
"Collin, they're here!" I heard Nell, my mom, shout from the kitchen.
"Coming, Nell!" I shouted back, springing up from my chair and raced downstairs, nearly tripping down the last three. Now, you might think it's weird that I call my mom by her name, but she really isn't the 'mom' type. I scrambled to the front door, where a silver Mercedes had parked. Wow, I thought, this guy is seriously cool.
When I saw Mikhail, I though that this was the wrong kid. Black hair, died blond in the front, black hoodie/jacket, dark blue jeans, red eyes, combat boots, metal chain necklace, weird snake bracelet, it was all there. That little punk. He looked at me briefly and walked past, averting his eyes. Weird kid.
Next, all I saw was a blur of blonde hair, and suddenly I had a little girl with warm, brown eyes hugging me. "You Cowin?" She asked. I smiled. "Yeah, I'm Collin. I'm your big brother now, Melissa." "Dada! Cowin is big bwover!"
I looked up to see Jason coming towards us, a big smile plastered on his face. "Yes, Mel, he is," he said warmly before giving my mom a quick kiss and a hug. They brought the rest of the stuff inside, and at about five, we had every thing inside and newly arranged. Mikhail had stayed in his room in the attic the whole day, and wouldn't let anyone but Jason come in. I was fine with that. Nell and Jason were in the kitchen talking, and Mel was in her room, so I decided to eavesdrop.
"Does he know?" Nell asked.
"Yeah… he knows," Jason replied. What the hell were they talking about? "Does Collin know?" Jason asked.
"Are you kidding me? Do I look like I want monsters running around this place? Hades, no. He'll be claimed on his thirteenth birthday, his father told me that. But if we want this to work, Jason, Mikhail has to go. I don't want him endangering our family," my mom said. Who would claim me on my thirteenth birthday? Was I missing something? Monsters? Mikhail having to leave? This had to be the best day ever! I didn't know why, but I had this strong hate towards the little punk.
"I agree with you, Nell. I will wash him in the river Lethe and send him to grow up with Eurytion, he owes me a favour."
"Okay. Go do it tonight, so that Collin and Melissa don't have a chance to get his scent. You said you kept Melissa from him her entire life?"
"Yes, there's no way she can smell like him."
Weird. Later that night, I heard quiet footsteps and hushed voices outside my door.
"Papa, where are we going?"
"We're going on a trip, Miki."
"In the middle of the night?"
"Yes. We're going to a sacred river and then you're going to go to uncle Eurytion's farm."
"I get to play with Orthrus again?" Mikhail's voice was full of excitement. Jason, however, sounded sad.
"Yes. You get to play with Orthrus every day you are there."
Their voices got quieter. Damn! I quickly put on some shoes and quietly followed them, very aware of the fact that I was only wearing my PJs: sweatpants. By now they were in the hall, and I could see Jason's face. He looked scared. He was holding Mikhail's little hand tightly, as if something was separating them.
"And do I get to see mommy?"
"Yes, you get to see mommy Styx and granddad Acheron and aunt Lethe, how do you like that?" Weird names. I swear I've heard them before, but I can't remember. They left through the front door and I followed them as quietly as I could, having only quickly grabbed my jacket from the coat hanger. They walked through the night streets of our home, LA, until they stopped at a sign that said DOA Recording Studios. Weird; I had never heard of it before.
"Dad, do we have to see Charon? He scares me in his big Italian suits."
"No, Miki, we can go right past him. He knows us by now," Jason said half heartedly, and walked through the door. I hastily followed him, and what I saw inside stunned me: dead people. There were tons of them; transparent souls sitting around, waiting outside of an elevator. It scared me, and I don't scare easily.
I made sure to keep a close enough distance to Jason and Mikhail as we walked through the lobby of the dead. We passed by a raised desk where a man with no eyes stood behind it, wearing a cream colored Italian suit. He scared me. Luckily, he seemed to think I was with Jason and Mikhail, because he just nodded and let us pass behind his desk, where a boat was waiting on a murky river. I knew there was no way I could get on there without being seen. I hid behind a rock and waited until Jason and Mikhail were far enough upstream so that they couldn't see me. I stepped out from my hiding place, wondering what to do next.
"You wanna see what they're going to do?" A voice asked from behind me. A boy of maybe eleven stood there with pitch black hair and dark clothes. He looked sad and had this aura of death around him. Seriously, the guy smelled like death.
"Sure," I said, not sure at all. The boy gave a grim smile, took a golden coin out of his pocket and a mirror and a bone from the ground. Only then did I notice that the beach I was standing on was made entirely of bones. Great. The boy stuck the bone slightly in the river so that it sprayed out a bit. Some flecks touched my skin and it felt like acid. Then, the boy held the mirror so that a rainbow was created from the mist. He threw a coin in the mist and mumbled something.
"Now, say who you want to see."
"Uh, Jason and Mikhail Di Mari," I said. The mist began to change. I could see Jason and Mikhail on the boat, still going upstream. Mikhail was sitting in the back, shivering. I felt the teeniest bit sorry for the kid. After a few minutes, Jason stopped and he and Mikhail got out to where three people were standing.
Two of them were female. The first one looked like an older version of Mikhail, complete with the red eyes and the black and blonde hair. Who knew that would be natural? She was probably the most beautiful yet the most terrifying woman I had ever seen. The woman smiled warmly at them and hugged Jason briefly before turning to Mikhail.
She smiled down at him, like a mother would. "You've grown, Miki! I want you to know that I'm so proud of you right now. Really, I am," she said, a small tear sliding down her face.
"Thanks, mom," Mikhail said, hugging the woman closely. I found my face several inches longer because my jaw had dropped and my eyebrows were threatening to fly off my head. Jason was just smiling madly at the woman, as if he were still in love with her.
"Thanks for doing this, Lady Styx," he said shyly.
"Jason, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Styx?" The woman smiled. Jason I swear blushed but said nothing. He turned to the man behind Styx.
"Hey dad," he said casually, while Mikhail was talking to Styx and the other woman. Whoa! Family reunion much?
"Jason. I would have expected better. I know that you love this woman, but washing Mikhail in the river Lethe? That is low. He will not even remember his name. He will only remember his mother, his mortal spot, and his weapons. I would never have expected this of a son of mine," the man said angrily. He was terrifying to look at. His hair seemed to be on flames and he looked like someone who just wanted to hurt you for the sake of seeing you scream.
"Father, I have to do this," Jason said sternly. "Otherwise, I can forget my dreams with Nell. I am doing this for the best."
The man shrugged sadly and turned away. I could tell he was disappointed in Jason. Jason, however, didn't seem to mind.
For an additional five minutes, please insert another Drachma. The voice came from nowhere. I was jolted back to the bone beach. The boy next to me, however, just threw in another coin, and the image switched back to the little gathering.
Now, the woman with long black hair that was tied back with a blue ribbon was holding Mikhail's hand. She led him over to the bank of the river that was left from the main river. What she did next, surprised me most: she got in. As she did, she seemed to become part of the river, dissolving into the water. Mikhail just kept on going in, deeper and deeper, until a current seemingly pulled at his legs and he toppled over.
After what seemed like forever, he came back out. Jason took his hand and got back onto his boat, but not before hugging Styx one last time. Now the boat was heading upstream again. After several minutes, they stopped at a small dock. They were above land now, at a farm with the weirdest animals around. Mikhail was asleep, and Jason carried him up the path and to the front porch of the house. He knocked on the door and waited.
After a few seconds, it opened to reveal a muscular guy with greying hair and a dog with two heads behind him. I would've liked to say that I was used to the surprises by now, but this? Seriously?
The man looked briefly at my father and then smiled. "Ah, Jason, come to collect at last?" He asked.
"Yes, Eurytion. I can't stay for long, but here is my wish: raise him as if he were yours. I just bathed him in the Lethe, so he still knows about his family and weapons and mortal point, but he doesn't know anything else, not even his name. Give him a new identity. Raise him like the son you never had."
The guy, Eurytion nodded grimly, before taking Mikhail's sleeping form. Jason thanked him and got back to his boat and started to go back down the river where he had come from. At this point, the boy next to me took the bone out of the river and the image shattered.
"Thanks," I mumbled. "I owe you. What's your name?"
"Nico. Nico Di Angelo," the boy said sadly.
I turned and walked back towards the exit. The guy in the Italian suit just nodded at me as I left.
That night was the last night I saw the little punk. I had no clue what was in store for my life.