The first night it happened it was almost like a dream, a hellish sort of a dream but a dream nonetheless. Being a demi-god I am used to having those sorts of nightmares, ones that are actually happening and are a warning of what's to come. This was different; it wasn't the key to my next quest or a warning of another titan uprising.
Still after the nightmare passed I awoke and knew exactly what I had to do. There was no controlling my actions, my body was on autopilot and was merely along for the ride. The jeans that had been carelessly thrown over my desk chair and a simple wrinkled blue shirt are all I bothered to put on. For some reason the idea of shoes and socks seemed to foreign in my current mindset so I decide to go barefoot.
Last item I grab is an intricate ballpoint pen that I have developed a habit of keeping under my pillow. As I hold it in front of me I give it a click and watch as it transforms into a three foot bronze blade, my ally of death. My features show the emotion of a stone, a look if I saw on anybody else would completely creep me out. My gaze lingers on my blade for only a second then I move towards the window.
Next moment I slip out of my apartment and descend down the fire escape. There are no sounds to be heard as I make my away across the city, ducking in alleyways and keeping to the shadows. The scum that walk the streets of New York at three in the morning don't even detect my presence, a barefoot teenager running with a sword towards his target.
Central Park is deserted except for the homeless who use the benches as their beds. The mortals are of no importance to me; they are not the enemy I seek. Swiftly moving through the grass I get a primitive enjoyment out of feeling the earth beneath my feet. As I get to an old part of the park covered with mature trees I pause, the small clearing I saw as I slept lying just ahead. Without hesitation I jump and climb up the tree closest to me.
Before I was a decent climber but now moving from tree to tree with gracefulness of monkey I feel as if I can do anything. Soon I am at the clearing and the picture of my prey is just as I had seen it. Gathered around a small fire are five empousai, two adults and what I guess three children. They are doing nothing but talking and maybe even laughing with one another. Part of me is saying that they are doing nothing wrong but another, the more feral, part is yelling that they are still monsters and eventually they will do something. There is no reason stall their judgment.
The branch I am standing on is big and sturdy; the tree is so densely covered in leaves I am shrouded behind them. Silently I move out further on the branch towards the empousai, crouching to watch my targets for a few seconds. Inside me there is a merciless laugh at how they are unaware of their eventual death looming fifteen above them.
Without hesitation I jump from my hiding place and glide down towards my first victim, the darkness of the night sky veiling my presence. The bronze from my blade and the sudden eerie glow of my sea green eyes are the only things visible in the darkness. An adult empousa spots as me as I am about to make contact with the ground, but her awareness comes too little too late. My feet come into contact with the earth and immediately I somersault forward and run my blade through where the first child's heart should be.
It is as if I had planned my exact move as I crouch and roll sideways, slicing my blade diagonally through another child. With impossible speed I stand and jump over the small flames and decapitate the terrified child on the side. The first adult empousa is still stunned as I slice at her torso, cutting her directly in two. There is a faint smile as I hear her hiss in pain before the body turns into dust.
Casually I walk around the fire and stand directly in front of the other adult. Her sword is drawn and ready to defend herself, visibly shaken from what just happened to her family. I charge forward at full speed, her blade doesn't even dawn on me as a threat, and she swings prematurely for my head. Dropping below her blade I slide forward and lunge the point of my sword through her chin all the way to the top of her mouth, the strangled movements of her caught tongue can be heard through the silence of the park.
As she dissolves into nothingness I stand and look at the deserted clearing, the only sign of disturbance is the small fire still crackling. The way I moved and handled my sword it was as if I had done it a thousand times before, and for some reason it felt like I had. What struck me most odd was that I was disappointed, that my struggle didn't give me anymore of a challenge. Never before had I moved with such efficiency and without fear and yet there was a thirst inside of me for more.
Then something snapped inside of me and I was brought back to reality, fully realizing what I had just done. I fell to my knees and let Riptide drop from my hand, it made a clanging sound as it hit the ground as if it hit concrete instead of grass. My hands covered my face as I cried out into the night. I was not myself moments before, killing something that had not done something to deserve it. Yet the savage in me was still saying that they were monsters and they deserved their fate. What scared me the most was that there was something deep inside of me that enjoyed what I just did and wanted more.
That night I was not Percy Jackson, or the son of Poseidon. No, that night I was a warrior possessed.
A/N: Hopefully this idea hasn't been done. There seems to be quite a few flamers out there so I am sure I will hear if it has. Percy will be darker in this story at parts but it is for a reason.
Looking for Beta so if interested PM me. Punctuation has always alluded me.