Chapter 1
"Soul Eater," Percy mumbled quietly as he ran his finger over the title of the thin, black book. He flipped the cover and came to the first page. It was hand written by someone with beautiful writing, judging by the neat font. It read as,
Soul Eater
Introduction
Hi! You've been given the Soul Eater book, one of the twelve artifact power books. Each book has been spread out through the United States of America, and if you've found one then you're chosen. Chosen to do whatever you want with your book, because, (you may have guessed,) it gives you a power. You are free to do whatever you wish with this power as they are now out of my control. So if you wish for world dominance, then so be it, I won't stop you, but you'll probably go through a lot of trouble in achieving that goal. So have fun with it.
There are twelve books, and twelve people who possess them. Soul Eater, Borrower, Elementalist, Telekinetic, Berserker, Necromancer, Seer, Booster, Swordsman, Magician, Shapeshifter, and the Photokinetic. What does this mean you might ask? Well it means that the other eleven people are the main obstacles on the path to your goals. You can either let them live their lives, or you can kill them and steal their book/power for yourself until you're the only one left standing, or even become friends, and with your combined powers be near invincible.
You're probably wondering why you're being given a power through a book, and not some kind of magic stone or something of the sort. That's because with your power comes many different uses—spells if you wish to call them that—that when learned are written down on the currently empty pages. They can range between sacrificial rituals to attack moves.
Now let's move onto your book. You have the Soul Eater book, meaning that you eat souls (it's quite easy to understand). But you don't just eat souls for the sake of eating souls, it does come with many perks. The main one being, power. You eat a soul and you can choose what you want it to do for you. You can use it to make you strong for a period amount of time, (the length depends on how much souls you use, or how powerful a soul is). And if you already had powers previous to getting this book, then you can use a soul to boost your powers for a period amount of time, (once again, depending on the the soul, or the amount of souls).
With your power, you can take the soul of any thing—dead or alive—whether it's a human, animal, monster, or god. But be careful because, if you take the soul of a living human or god, demigod, etc, then their personality will change. For example, a once outgoing and friendly person can turn into a ruthless murdering maniac overnight. So just be careful, or don't, if that's what you wish. I also took the liberty of attaching a powerful being to this book, and she'll be the one granting your wishes, in return for souls. Anyway, I think that's everything you need to know. I'll have fun watching all of you, bye!
~C, CotU
"If I didn't know of my powers, I would say this is a load of crap," Percy quietly said to himself. Last summer Percy had found out about his powers. They were kind of scary, but cool, because he could tell when someone near him was about to die, or if they did die. He could also hear everyone's heartbeats. Another was, whenever he had a minor wound it would disappear when he was in a shadow. There was one other, or rather two other things he found that summer. Wings. Yep, he had wings. They were black and looked like a raven's, and had a wingspan of roughly ten feet. He doesn't know where his powers came from, or why he has them, but now he's finding out that he was given another power. One that will allow him to take someone's soul. Now that was scary.
"Hey, Perce, what are you reading?" Percy's head shot up from the book to look at who was speaking to him.
"Oh hey, Harry," he greeted his closest friend. Harry was Percy's roommate, and they've been friends since sixth grade when Harry transferred to Yancy. They had most classes together, and actually looked quite similar. Except Harry had brown eyes opposed to Percy's golden, and his skin was slightly paler, not being as tanned as Percy's, "I'm just reading this weird book I found," he said, sliding the book across the table to Harry, who had taken the liberty of sitting down.
"Whoa," Harry whispered, as they were in the library and didn't want to get kicked out for being too loud.
"What?" Percy asked.
"I found a book just like this," Harry informed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said," Harry replied, "except mine is titled, 'Telekinetic.' If your power is some dark soul ritual stuff, does that mean I can move things with my mind?" He questioned as he read the introductory page, "you know, it's quite fitting. Considering your passion for dark colors, more so black than others, and your interest in Wicca. You're a little goth boy," he teased at the end.
"Oh shut up, you nerd," I replied in jest, "I read one book on Wicca and you think I'm obsessed," I mumbled.
Harry chuckled at that, "Here, this is the book I found," he said, tossing the book onto the wooden table.
It slid across the smooth dark wood surface, and Percy stopped it before it fell off the edge. He picked it up and flipped to the first page. He began reading just to find that it said pretty much the same things as his, except the parts about the powers were switched.
"So," Percy began as he closed the book, "I'm the Soul Eater, and you're the Telekinetic," Harry nodded, "and if it weren't for the powers I already have, I wouldn't believe a single word of this," Percy added in a whisper, leaning over the table.
"There's only one way to find out," Harry said, "we test them out," he suggested.
"Mhm," Percy hummed in agreement, "but when? We can't do it now, it's broad daylight and we have class in less than fifteen minutes,"
"Simple, we do it at night. We can sneak out of our dorm and find somewhere hidden away from cameras," the brown eyed teen proposed.
Percy broke out into a teeth-showing smile, "and that's one of the reasons why we get along so well," he said with mirth in his golden eyes, "and here I thought your rebellious side disappeared over the summer."
"Never," was all Harry said in reply, a mischievous smirk on his face.
"Anyway, we should head to Latin class, the first bell is about to go off," Percy suggested as he handed back Harry's book and took back his. He placed the small book into his backpack and stood up. Just as he was pushing in his chair the first bell went off, indicating that everyone had ten minutes to get to class.
X•X•X
Percy and Harry now stood outside beside some dumpsters off to the side of the school. It was the spot with the biggest blind spot with there being only one camera. The dumpsters they stood beside managed to keep them out of view of the camera, so they didn't have to worry about getting caught.
"Damn it's cold," Harry complained, shivering in his black hoodie. Dumbly, Harry decided to go out on a mid-November night dressed in nothing but a black hoodie, black joggers, and a pair of Nike runners.
"I told you to wear a jacket, because it would be cold out," Percy chastised, who, unlike his friend, was dressed much more warmly. He was wearing a dark blue, sherpa lined denim jacket that was unbuttoned, over a black hoodie, a black beanie covered his raven locks, his usual combat boots were on his feet, and he ditched his ripped jeans, (which he had an over abundance of,) for a pair of black cargo joggers.
It was the warmest of clothing, but it was enough to keep him comfortable in the nighttime weather. Speaking of the weather, it was currently lightly snowing and a thin layer of snow blanketed the ground. There was a small wind blowing through the air, causing the snow to fall at an angle.
"Shut up," Harry replied sheepishly, knowing fully well that the golden eyed teen was right.
Percy chuckled at his best friends reaction, "alright then, let's get to it," Percy said with a stretch of his arms.
"Uhm," Harry said uncertainly, "how do you plan on doing this? You're not gonna eat my soul are you?" He asked a little worried.
"Of course not!" Percy replied, his chuckling growing, "but I can help you with your telekinesis. I obviously don't have that power, but I do have powers. So I think I can help a little," he said.
A look of relief crossed his face at the assurance that his soul was his to keep, "okay then," he started, "any tips?" He asked.
"Alright, whenever I want to use my wings I have to focus on the coming out of my back. So focus on that rock over there," he said, pointing at a rock roughly the size of his fist, "as you're focusing, you want to imagine what you want to happen. If you do it correctly, you should feel a tug in your stomach, and boom, you did it. Now began, focus on that rock and imagine it floating a few feet in the air,"
Harry exhaled deeply and shook his arms as if to loosen up his joints. He then stood still and focused intently on the rock. After a few seconds his face began turning really red.
"Whoa, chill out before you pass out there," Percy said, noticing his friends state, "you're turning into a tomato!" He joked.
The teenager let out a loud exhale and placed his hands on his knees as he hunched over, "why didn't it work?" He asked.
"What did you do?" I asked in response.
"I did exactly what you said. I concentrated on the rock and imagined it floating, but I didn't feel the tug on my stomach," he informed his friend.
"Hmm, maybe since it's a mental power it's different from mine," Percy went silent for a bit, "try this. Focus on the rock, then reach out to it, and make the motion of picking it up. You physically making the motions of what you want to do might help," Percy suggested.
Harry exhaled sharply before doing as he was told. He focused on the rock, and made the gesture of grabbing and picking up the rock. To the excitement of both teens, the rock hovered into the air and remained in its spot, about three feet high, for a few seconds before Harry dropped it to the ground. It hit the asphalt with a thud and rolled a few feet away.
"Bro you did it!" Percy exclaimed, raising his arm for a high five.
"Holy shit!" Harry responded as he clapped Percy's hand with his own. A clearly ecstatic look was on his face, "the books are real! I have powers just like you now!" He said in joy.
"Hell yeah, Harry!" Percy replied.
"Dude, are we superheroes?" Harry asked excitedly.
Percy chuckled, "considering my powers contain eating souls and telling when a person is near death, I don't think so," he said darkly.
"Yeah but you can fly. You have wings! With your appearance and your wings you look like the Angel of Death," he said with a smile, "and shadows heal you, if you can learn to heal others like that, you'd be a dope superhero," he added on.
Percy winced, but in doubt instead of pain, "the idea is cool, but we aren't cut out to be superheroes. I mean look at us, we're fourteen years old, roughly five and a half feet tall, not in the best shape, and stuck behind the walls of this school. We can't do much superhero work now can we?" He questioned.
"Then we start going to the gym, the school's gym is great, and we can easily get over the wall. You can fly and I can find a way to climb over. On top of that, we start training our powers. You learn as much as you can about your powers, and see if you unlock new powers or whatever. Meanwhile, I can work on my telekinesis. I'll practice on moving things around, and work up to bigger objects," Harry said.
"You're really not gonna let this superhero thing go huh?" Percy asked, knowing when he was fighting a losing battle.
"Nope," Harry replied, popping the 'p'.
"Alright, I guess we can start working out and training our powers. I'm still not too sure about the superhero thing tho. You watch too many superhero shows and movies for your own good," He replied with a shake of his head.
"Can you blame me though? Saving people and receiving glory is a wonderful thing," that's one thing Percy liked about Harry, he was ambitious, just as Percy was too. Although their ambitions were different, they could both appreciate the effort they put towards their goals. Harry sought fame and wealth.
While Percy looked for something different; a quiet and peaceful life where he didn't have to worry about anybody, or anything, besides himself and his mom. He also sought out wealth, so he wouldn't have to worry about expenses in his life ever again. And he was willing to obtain in any way, one of these ways was selling drugs to the students of Yancy Academy. He didn't sell anything serious, just little dime bags of weed. And since damn near the whole student body consisted of Caucasian teens from upper class families, he was able to scam them of their money by making them pay way over the actual price of the amount they were buying. He did this so that he could help his mom out with the expenses they sometimes fall behind on in paying for. It's safe to say that he made a small fortune from this, and not spending any of it helped, well despite what he had to spend to re-up on his supply.
You see, Percy was poor. His mom manages to provide enough for the two of them with her minimum wage job at a candy store. And luckily, his late father left behind funds for his schooling, because there was no way his mom would be able to pay for Percy to attend a private boarding school since first grade.
Yeah, nine years at one school. It's a surprise Percy never got expelled since his grades definitely didn't meet the school requirement. But during his time at the school, he knew the ins and outs, and the areas of the school where no one ever went, (some of these places may or may not be where he stashes his product).
"I guess I can't," Percy replied, "but what do you plan to do about school and our grades? I know neither of ours are great, but if we start flunking because we come out here late at night then no doubt we'll be expelled," he said, voicing his concerns. He didn't want to disappoint his dad, who had personally wanted Percy to go to Yancy, and especially his mom. He couldn't imagine how sad his mom would be when she found out if he we got expelled.
"We can make it through high school, easy. And after that we can take this to the next level. We'll find ways to make some cash. You already have your little drug dealing thing going on,"
"Shh, shut up dude. Don't say that too loud, security could hear you and I'll definitely be expelled if Ms. Gallant finds out I've been selling weed on campus," Percy whisper-yelled. Ms. Gallant was the school principal. She was extremely hot and most guys in ninth grade and up voices their agreement of this. Besides her good looks, she was also very nice and down to earth. She was a brunette with eyes to match, and stood at an over average height for women at five feet eleven inches.
"Sorry," Harry apologized in a whisper.
"Speaking of security, a guard should be coming by here any minute, if my information is correct," Percy said, looking at the time on his phone, "so we should get going or else we'll have detention for a week for breaking curfew."
"Alright," The other black haired teen replied, "same time tomorrow?" He then asked hopefully.
"Tomorrow's a Friday, so why not? We can stay out longer also, we'll just have to avoid the security guards," Percy replied. With that, the duo made their way back inside and to their dorm room.
X•X•X
Percy and Harry sat in the stands of a hockey arena roughly a week later. They were watching a school hockey game, between Yancy Academy and Greenfield Institute, another private boarding school further north.
Currently, Yancy was demolishing Greenfield nine goals to one, and it was nearing the end of the first period. Seven of the nine were thanks to the team captain Jake Bell. Jake was a senior at Yancy who was the captain of nearly every sports team, and was extremely popular. But something was a bit off today, and Percy and Harry noticed this. Jake was a good athlete, but he wasn't 'score seven goals in the first period' good.
Not only was Mr. Bell getting a lot of goals, he was also absolutely obliterating his opponents with bone crushing hits, and he was more of a showboat in the game, never really hitting anyone. But tonight he was a maniac on the ice. He also easily out skated everyone with immense speed.
"Hey, don't you think Jake seems a bit off tonight?" Percy asked, leaning closer to Harry so he could be heard over the noise of the crowd.
"What do you mean? He's doing great," Harry replied unconcerned.
"Exactly," Percy said, "he's never done this well, and look at how hard he's hitting everyone. He almost never checks people, and when he does it's not very hard,"
Harry slowly nodded his head, "you're right, but what do you suppose is going on? Steroids?" He questioned.
"I had something else in mind. You remember that our books said that there was a 'Berserker' one right?" Harry nodded his head, "so what if Jake has that book? It makes sense, if you and I got one, then it's possible that others at our school got one too," Percy explained.
"And if Jake does have the Berserker book, then he could be a problem. Look at him, he can't control himself out there. The word sounds like it has something to do with strength and fury, maybe that's why he's going crazy out here?" Harry assumed.
"Possibly," Percy said, his gaze locked on their topic of conversation as he barrelled into a kid from behind and sent him flying into the boards. The ref blew his whistle and motioned for Jake to get off the ice, giving him a five minute game misconduct penalty which meant he couldn't play for the rest of the game. "Anyway, we should keep an eye on him just in case," Percy suggested.
"You're right," Harry agreed, "looks like Jake's out of the game, but I think we've got this one in the bag," he added on, changing the subject.
"Yep, checking someone from behind gets you a game suspension,"
"Didn't think you would know a single thing about hockey, Perce," Harry teased.
"I know a little about a lot," Percy replied with a shrug.
Unbeknownst to the duo, a brunette sitting behind them listened to their whole conversation with interest and worry.
X•X•X
"So, Percy, I was thinking about what I could do with my powers," Harry said as they quietly walked through the halls of Yancy. Walking through the halls at night wasn't a problem, as Percy found out he could control shadows. So whenever they came across a camera, he would use his minimal control to move the shadows over it, blocking them from view. They were currently going out for their nightly routine of training their powers.
"And?" Percy replied, gesturing for him to continue.
"Well I was thinking of the type of pranks we could pull on people now that I can move things with my mind, you know," he said with a mischievous smile.
Percy lightly chuckled, "of course you've thought of that. So what are they?" He asked.
"I thought of this one where I could pull off Mrs. H's wig when she isn't,"
"Shh, quiet. Quick, get into here," Percy said, cutting Harry off mid sentence. He silently opened and ducked into a janitors closet and closed the door behind himself and Harry.
"What are we doing in here?" Harry questioned in a whisper.
"Listen," Percy said, "there are people a couple halls away. Probably teachers or security," he assumed.
Sure enough, as they stopped talking and put their ears against the door, they could hear some people down the hall from them.
"Where is he?" A female voice said, nervousness clearly evident.
"Is that Ms. Gallant?" Harry asked.
"Shh," Was all Percy said.
"Just this way ma'am," a deeper, male voice replied.
"We should follow them, I'm interested in what's happened," Percy said, turning to see his friend gone. He quickly looked behind him, slightly panicked that his friend may have mysteriously disappeared, but was relieved to see him further in the room looking at something on the wall. "What are you looking at?" Percy asked, walking over to him. As he neared him, he saw a glowing, blue triangle on the wall. "What is that?" But before his questioned could be answered, Harry tapped the symbol and seemingly out of nowhere a door slid open from the wall.
The brown eyed teen looked back at his friend, who shrugged his shoulders. The door opened up to a staircase going up and down.
"What do we do?" Harry asked.
"Let's see where they go," Percy said, his mind distracted by the hidden staircase taking the thought of following the principal to whoever they were going to see. If you didn't know, Percy was ADHD, and Dyslexic. Meaning, he was hyperactive and his mind would wander quite a bit, and reading and writing was hard for him.
"Up or down?" Harry asked.
"Up," Percy replied without a care of which way they go.
"Up it is," Harry replied as he stepped into the stairwell. They walked up the stairs for a minute or so before they came to a metal door, which they opened. Stepping through the threshold, they found themselves on the roof of the school.
"Dude, look," Percy said, pointing at some flashing red and blue lights to their right. "What are the cops doing here?" He inquired.
"Let's find out," Harry said as he slowly and quietly made his way to the edge of the building. Coming to the end, they peered over the edge and saw a couple cop cars as well as an ambulance. Multiple police officers and paramedics crowded a side entrance to the school. A few teachers, security guards, and the principal were there as well. Some of the teachers and the principal also stay at the school, like the students, which explains why they're there late at night.
"Whoa, look, they're putting some kid in a body bag. He looks pretty bruised up and bloodied," Percy said as he noticed the state of the kid.
"Dude how can you see the details from this far away? We four floors up and like seventy feet away," he asked.
"Ion know," he quietly mumbled. (1)
"If he's bruised and bloodied like you say, then who could do something like that?" Harry asked in fear. Fear that someone, most likely from their school, would do something like that.
"The Berserker," Percy whispered.
"Could it be?" Harry asked.
"Well, if what you assumed is true, then Jake could've gone into a blind fury and attacked that guy for some reason," Percy deduced, "but what would make him get so angry?" He wondered.
"Holy shit," Harry breathed out, "the most popular kid at school could be a murderer," he sat down and leaned against the ledge that provided as a safety measure for people on the roof.
Percy sat down beside him, "we've gotta ask him. It may be only a few hours since we figured out that he might have a book, but if he really did kill that kid then we've gotta stop him before he does it again,"
Harry silently nodded his agreement.
"We shouldn't train with so much activity going on right now," Percy said smartly, "come on, we should get going, before we get caught," Percy stood up and began crouch walking towards the door they came from.
"We should go downstairs next time," Harry said, "it's not everyday we find a secret staircase," he continued, as they entered the janitors closet.
"It'll probably just go to the basement, but we can still check it out," Percy agreed.
After making sure the coast was clear, the pair exited the closet and began their trek back to their dorm, being extra careful not to get caught.
X•X•X
"That was some night," Harry said from the other room as Percy brushed his teeth in the washroom. It was the day after they saw the dead kid; a Saturday.
Percy filled his mouth with water, swished it around, and spit it into the sink before answering, "definitely," he said, wiping his mouth on a towel, "do you think they'll mention it?" He then asked. Harry replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Percy left it at that as he finished getting ready.
Sure enough, later that day during lunch, over the P.A system a mandatory attendance assembly was announced. A few minutes after the announcement, Percy and Harry found themselves in the gym, sitting on the bleachers.
"Do you think it could be about last night?" Harry asked quietly.
"Probably," Percy replied, "we never have surprise assemblies, so it has to be important," he added. The pairs attention was then brought to the centre of the room where the principal, Ms. Gallant, with a police officer beside her, and multiple others standing at the exits.
"Attention everyone," she began, talking through a microphone attached to a podium, "last night a great tragedy happened to one of our students here at Yancy Academy. I won't say his name, in regards for his family's privacy, but a young man was found beaten to death last night by the west entrance. That is why I have Sheriff Miles, and his deputies from Dark Lake, here with us today," The aura of every student and staff could be felt. Sadness and dread being the main two.
Dark Lake was the nearest town to Yancy Academy, with a population of just over three thousand. It was a quiet town where everybody knew everybody. The worst crimes to happen would be the odd B&E, or drug possession. Safe to say, the sheriff's station of Dark Lake doesn't get much action.
"I will now hand the mic to Sheriff Miles, as he has a few things to say," she then stepped to the side and let the sheriff step up to the microphone.
"Good afternoon, everyone. As you know, I am Sheriff Miles from Dark Lake, thanks to your wonderful principal," he sent her a smile, to which she lightly blushed.
"Perce, do you think Sheriff Miles is hitting on Ms. Gallant?" He asked in a whisper.
"Shh, shut up. I wanna hear what he says," he shushed him, brushing off his question.
"Today I'm here to speak about last nights events. The culprit who committed this terrible crime will be punished properly, and I promise that myself and my deputies will find the man or woman guilty of this," everyone began clapping. Miles raised his hand to cease the clapping, so he could continue.
"Now, I believe that the perpetrator is either a staff member or a student here at Yancy," the entire crowd was quiet. Friends looked at each other confused. Strangers stared at others with accusatory gazes. "Because of this, my deputies and I will be questioning everyone on what they were doing last night. Starting in an hour we will be calling students, teachers, janitors, and other staff members from their duties, for questioning," with that, he stepped away from the mic and Ms. Gallant resumed her place at the podium.
"I would like to thank the sheriff's station for coming up here to our school, and all of you for being a respectful audience. You are dismissed,"
"Do you think it was Jake?" Harry asked Percy as they exited the gymnasium.
"I guess we gotta find out," Percy replied, walking through the halls,
"How?" Harry asked in response.
"By talking to him," he replied simply.
"When will we get the chance to talk to him?" Harry wondered aloud.
"He works out in the upper-gym every morning at 6, before classes start. We can talk to him then, and begin working out like we planned," Percy informed his friend. The upper-gym was a second level of the gymnasium where all the workout equipment was. The upper-gym was only about half the size of the main gym, and there was a wall of windows that looked down into it.
"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed, "but what do you want to do right now? We've got a few hours until curfew," he asked, looking for the opinion of his friend, "because I was think we go back to that hidden staircase we found," he suggested.
Percy pondered for a few seconds, "nothing's coming to mind, so yeah, we can do that. But let's not get caught so we don't have to serve detention," he warned.
X•X•X
"Okay, I'll knock, and if a janitor's in there I'll tell him that there was a mess that needs to get cleaned up in one of the science labs. That way he leaves and is at the other end of the school," Percy said as they stood outside the janitors closet door.
Percy raised his hand and tapped it against the door a few times. There weren't too many people in the hall currently, most of the student body being in the library, cafeteria, their dorms, or somewhere else.
After a few moments without an answer, Percy turned the doorknob and entered the room, gesturing for Harry to follow. With the two in the room, Percy quickly closed the door. Harry in the mean time, found the triangle and opened the door.
"Come on," he beckoned to his golden eyed friend. He then began walking down the stairs, with Percy taking the rear. The trek down the stairs was longer than when they went up. This time they walked for at least a solid three minutes, where the climb to the roof was only about a minute.
When the reached the bottom, they were in a long hallway going in on direction. It looked identical to the halls in Yancy, minus the lockers and doors. It had the same red brick design, with the occasional white support pillar, as well as the tiled floor with a rock pattern in them, and the white lights in the ceiling.
"This doesn't look like a basement," Harry said warily.
"Yeah," Percy agreed, "but it's interesting. Come on, let's find out where it goes," Percy gestured for his friend to follow as he took the lead this time. Harry looked like he was going to object, but decided not to when he realized Percy wouldn't change his mind. Instead, he started off with a light jog to catch up to his friend, who had already begun the exploration and was roughly twenty feet away.
The duo walked for five or so minutes before they came to a stop. "Dude, look. The walls changes here," Percy said as he examined said walls. Harry looked at the walls also, and took notice that the walls did indeed change. Abruptly, the walls went from the familiar brick pattern, to smooth cement. The floor was now a texture similar to a sidewalk, and the ceiling was a plain white. In increments, lightbulbs hung from the ceiling from a wire, lighting the hallway.
"Why?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Don't know," Percy answered, "anyway, let's keep going," he urged. Harry sighed, not wanting to continue, but knew that his best friend wouldn't be deterred from what his mind was set on. He continued walking.
They continued walking for another fifteen minutes, the hall changed once more, this time into an underground tunnel, with torches on the walls. The walls, ceiling, and floor was replaced with dirt, roots, grass, plants, and bugs. But currently, they were at a crossroads. Three paths were laid out in front of them. One going forward, one to the left, and one to the right.
"Which way?" Percy asked.
"Right," Harry replied.
"Why?" Percy asked, confused.
"What do you mean 'why?' That's where the path leads!" He exclaimed.
"There are three paths, Harry," Percy said, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes, I know. But the light that we've been following this whole time goes to the right," he explained.
Percy looked at the torches on the walls. "Not those lights, dumbass," Harry said, "the faint blue one on the ground," he said as he pointed at the ground.
"I don't see a light," Percy said, examining the ground for any signs of a blue light.
"What the hell," Harry said exasperatedly, throwing his hands into the air, "just follow me," he said. He thought that Percy was planning him by making him think he was seeing things. He brushed passed his friend and turned down the corridor.
"What's his problem?" Percy quietly mumbled to himself. "You better not get us lost," Percy called out as he followed his friend.
X•X•X
"Do you regret following me now?" Harry said in an I-told-you-so tone. They were standing on the sidewalk, having just exited an alley. They had just climbed out of a manhole, and were in Manhattan.
"Why is it dark already?" Percy wondered, "it should only be like two o'clock. We left at like 1:30 pm. So, it should only be about 2:00 o'clock," Percy said, calculatingly. He knew that they spent roughly half an hour down there, so it shouldn't have been that dark out.
"Perce, it's 5:30 pm," Harry said, showing Percy his phone. Sure enough, the time showed 7:30 on his phone.
"What the hell? How?" Percy was very confused. "We need to get back for dinner and curfew," he said urgently, "we have half an hour 'til dinner, and two until curfew. If we run, we'll make it," he turned to and bent down to take off the cover to the manhole, but Harry grabbed his shoulder.
"Perce, we just found a way to Manhattan that takes a thirty minute walk. That's usually a six hour ride. It's like real life fast travel," Percy looked uncertain, he didn't want another detention. He's already had four that past week due to late assignments and not doing homework, "and besides, it'll take another four hours to get back to school anyway. That's passed lights out, never mind curfew or dinner," he added, noticing his friends uncertainty.
"So it's not fast travel then," was all Percy said.
"What?" Harry said dumbly.
"It's not real life fast travel if it took us four hours to get here," he explained.
"Oh," Harry replied, "I mean we were down there for roughly thirty minutes, but up here it was four hours,"
"Is it some type of magic tunnel?" Percy wondered.
"It wouldn't be the first magical thing we know of, right? Look at us, we both have powers for crying out loud. A magic tunnel where time runs different shouldn't be too surprising," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Right," Percy agreed, "so what should we do? I'd like to visit my mom, but she'd probably get mad if she knew I wasn't at school," he said.
"Since we'll be missing dinner, how about we get something to eat? I've got some money on me," Harry suggested.
"Sure, I've been craving some fast food since the first day of school. Let's go to the nearest fast food restaurant," Percy agreed, adding his own input. Harry nodded his agreement, and they started down the busy sidewalk.
X•X•X
Percy and Harry exited the McDonalds they just finished eating at. It was about 6:45 pm, and it had begun to lightly snow. A cold wind blew the snow at an angle that hit the duo right in the face.
"Good thing I have my jacket," Percy mumbled to himself. He was wearing his jean jacket with the Sherpa lining, like he usually did, whether he was inside or outside. Under it he wore a dark grey crew neck sweater, black Vans, topped off by a pair of black biker jeans. However, he didn't have a hat on so his ears were exposed to the winter elements.
"Must be nice," Harry grumbled as he shivered in his hoodie, pulling his hood over his head as he did. Unfortunately, Harry has no idea that they would end up outside, or in Manhattan for that matter. So, he didn't dress warmly.
Percy laughed at his friend, "once again you don't have on warmer clothes," he said with a toothy smile, "come on, let's get out of here and back to school. It'll be like 11 by the time we get back," he said, beginning to walk back to where they came from.
Harry followed, still grumbling to himself about the cold.
The teens were just nearing the alley where their way back to school was, when they noticed two stunning girls walking towards them. One had pale skin and short, red dyed hair, she had a little heart drawn under her left eye, and around her neck were a couple chokers and necklaces with little pendants attached. She wore a long, black parka that went down and covered half her thighs, but the rest of her legs were exposed with only a pair of fishnet leggings covering them. The other girl also had skin just as pale as her friends, but her hair was a natural brown that fell passed her shoulders. She wore jeans and a similar coat to her friend except grey.
"Hello, boys," the first girl said, "how are you guys tonight?" She asked, stopping just a few feet in front of Percy and Harry. With the girls closer, Percy was able to make a rough estimate of their heights. The one who had spoken was about the same height as himself, but the other was taller by at least three inches.
Immediately, Percy was getting an odd vibe from the two hot girls. He didn't know why, but he did. Harry quickly took the reins and replied, knowing that Percy was a little shy at times.
"We're doing quiet fine, ladies. How are you two doing on this fine night?" He replied smoothly. Harry had the confidence and boyish good looks, that girls usually appreciated. Harry is what some people would call a "fuck boy" (2) with how many girlfriends he's had. This school year he's already gotten together and broken up with two girls. But Percy knew his bestfriend, and a fuck boy was something he wasn't. He was just able to gain a girl's affection, but wasn't able to maintain a relationship. Percy also knew that Harry was still a virgin, who never got passed second base.
Percy on the other hand, was often shy when talking to other people, never mind girls. He was very good looking, according to Harry. Who would tell him that he always overhears girls talking about his "stunning golden eyes," or "perfectly tanned skin." But Percy often ignored him when Harry told him stuff like that.
Anyway, the female duo smiled, and Percy could swear he saw fangs in their mouths, "we doing spectacular, now that we've met you two," the other girl spoke up this time. Her voice was magical, and made Harry want to do whatever she said. If she wanted him to jump into oncoming traffic, he was convinced he would do it. His eyes glazed over as she continued speaking, "say, how about the two of you come back to our place? We're sisters and our parents are out of town for a few days," she suggested, with a sultry smile on her face.
"Yeah sure," Harry said in a dreamlike tone, wanting nothing more then to go home with a couple of hot sisters.
Percy found himself about to agree also, but quickly stopped himself, "I don't think we should. We've gotta get back home, or our parents will kill us," he said, grabbing onto Harry's shoulder to keep him at bay, as he began walking towards the girls.
"Oh come on, don't you wanna have fun?" The red haired girl questioned.
Percy had an internal struggle with himself. He wanted to do bad, but there was a voice in the back of his head that told him no. The fact that the redhead was his type, didn't help either. She had this whole goth girl thing going on, that he really liked.
He shook his head a few times, "I said no," he replied firmly. He turned around and marched away, half dragging Harry behind him. He was simply going to circle around the block and hope the girls would be gone, and get back to Yancy.
"Dude, what the hell? We could've gotten laid!" Harry exclaimed.
Percy stopped in his tracks, "they had you under some kind of trance," he informed Harry, "I don't know how, but you seemed willing to do whatever they said," he added on, "they almost had me too," he added.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, slowly coming out of the trance-like state he was in, "do you think they have powers like us?" He then asked.
"Maybe, but I felt this bad aura around them," he replied.
"Um, Perce," Harry said nervously.
"Yeah?" Percy replied.
"They're running towards us," he said quickly. Percy turned around, and sure enough, the two females were full blown sprinting at them.
Mind in panic mode, Percy began running away. He didn't know why he ran, they were just two girls, but his mind only had one thing I mind; run. So that's what he did with Harry in tow. Percy turned at the first corner, and entered an alley. He suddenly regretted his decision as he was met with a brick wall. They were at a dead end.
They turned around and faced the girls as they stood at the entrance of the alleyway. The females looked at each other before their hair burst into flames, and their fingernails turned into claws. Percy could see light shining off of the once redhead girls right leg, and wondered why that was. Monsters, Percy thought to himself. But that question quickly disappeared from his mind as the girls charged at him and his friend.
"Up here," Harry urged, jumping onto a dumpster and climbing onto a fire escape. Percy followed Harry's lead, and swiftly made it onto the dumpster. He grabbed for the fire escape ladder and began pulling himself up, but wasn't fast enough, as the two female monster had caught up. One of them lashed out with her hand and tore at his shoes. Her claws went right through them and scratched his left foot.
Percy hissed in pain as Harry helped pull him up. Once on the rusty metal fire escape, they speedily climbed up the stairs, shaking the structure as they did. Looking down, they saw the two females not far behind.
"I get the half-blood with the golden eyes!" One called out.
"No, I get the half-blood! You get the mortal!" The other hissed back. Percy was confused as to why they referred to him as a half-blood, and Harry as a mortal. But didn't dwell on it too much as they were currently running for their lives.
He tuned out their bickering and continued up the flights of stairs. After what seemed forever, they made it to the roof top, and continued running, in Percy's case, limping, to the other side just to be met with another problem. There was at least a fifteen foot gap between the building they were on, and the next.
Percy briskly thought of a plan. Turning to Harry he said, "do you trust me?"
"What?" He asked dumbly.
"I said, do you trust me? Hurry! They're right there!" He said frantically, pointing to the flame haired girls, who had just reached the roof also.
"Uh yes, yes!" Harry stammered.
"Okay, hold onto me, quick!" Percy demanded, to which Harry grabbed onto him with both hands. Percy breathed in and out before his wings appeared on his back. They were as dark as the night, and would be nearly invisible if it weren't for the city lights, and the snow landing on them. He grabbed onto Harry and jumped off the building with a flap of his wings. He had never flown with anyone before, so the extra weight nearly caused them to plummet to their deaths. But he continued flapping his wings and they successfully made it to the other side.
They tumbled onto the opposing roof, Percy landing on his bad foot uncomfortably, making the pain worse. He looked back at the girls and saw them pacing back in forth, looking for a way across. All the while, yelling and cursing at them, telling them to come back over so that they could feast on their blood.
"The fuck are they?" Harry said through heavy breaths.
"Empousa, I think," Percy replied.
"Empo-what?" Harry asked.
"Don't you pay attention in class? Mr. Brown, our Latin teacher taught us about them last week," Percy explained.
"We take Latin?" Harry asked.
"Holy crap," Percy said, stunned at his best friends ignorance.
"I'm just playin' Perce, jeez," he said disappointed that his friend didn't recognize his sarcasm.
"Whatever, let's get out of here before those two find a way over here," Percy said, as he stood up. He shook his left foot a little, it feeling better already. The shadows doing their job at healing him. He and Harry walked over to the fire escape entrance of the building they were on and climbed down. Once on the ground again, they ran to the alley with the manhole as quickly as possible, so that they'd be ahead of the empousa. They got into the tunnel and made their way back to Yancy.
AN: Thanks for taking the time out of your day/night to read this. I hope you enjoyed. Any constructive criticism is welcomed.
A lot happened in this first chapter, I don't know if parts of it seemed rushed (the chapter itself is nearly 8K words) so if parts did seem rushed, then informing me will be appreciated. Obviously, Percy is very different in this fic opposed to him in canon. The main one being his godly parent (can you guess it? It's quite easy), another being his personality. Here he is a shy, self conscious, closeted person. For the first few chapters Percy will spend time at Yancy and the mortal world, before going to camp. Hence, the OC known as Harry, and multiple others that'll be introduced soon. Grover has yet to come to Yancy also.
This chapter took a lot of time before it got to how it is now. I began writing this story a few months ago, and wrote this chapter multiple times, before deciding that this was my favourite version. This specific chapter, I've been writing off and on for a few weeks. So I don't know how long it will take to come out with the second chapter. By the way, this is unedited and I haven't read through it, so please excuse any mistakes.
(Whenever you see a number after something, that means I have an explanation for it at the bottom of the chapter).
(1) I should let you all know that when I do dialogue I will sometimes include slang. In this case, I used "ion" which means "I don't" I believed it derives from it through mumbling the words. In the future, I will include a note like this when I use a slang word that some might not know.
(2) Most people probably know what a fuck boy is, but if you don't, it's just a boy, (not a man or guy) who plays with girls feelings, and only want sexual relationships. They all also dress alike, which is weird.