Chapter 1 - It's my Luck That I run Into a Trap…When Grieving
Hey everybody! After trying my hand at the Harry Potter Fandom I have decided to take a break for a while and introduce to you my first Percy Jackson story! I'm so excited! So without further ado, except for a shout-out and a disclaimer, I give you the first chapter of 'An Immortal's Frozen Heart'!
Shout out and a big thanks to my two Betas, HogwartsDreamer113 and Keiman and Kei, they're awesome! One helps with my grammar and the other with my plot. Seriously, I wouldn't be able to give you this story in such quality without their help!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does *punches wall* but oh man if I did…
"Your fatal flaw is loyalty, Percy… To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world." – The Goddess Athena to Percy Jackson, The Titan's Curse
They say when you focus on pain it makes it hurt more. Instead, you're supposed to ignore it. I have a dilemma. For the past 4 hours I've been running, using the ache in my legs and muscles in general to avoid the pain in my heart. And black is starting to cloud my vision; the color blending in with the dark forest around me. But I refuse to give in, I don't want to feel the heartache.
I'm done. I didn't ask to be a demigod. I didn't ask to be a hero. Heroes always have bad endings such as Achilles with his heel. Perseus, my name sake, had had a relatively good ending; but he was one of the rare exceptions. My mother named me after him, hoping that I would receive his luck; it wasn't to be. Now my mother was gone and my friends and remaining family had deserted me.
She and my new stepfather were killed in the Battle of Manhattan. Their last words to me were urging me to save Olympus. If I had known what was coming, I'm not sure I would've continued. They had been given honorary shrouds, sea green, and burned; along with the several heroes who had died that day.
Then there was my new brother James Grant; a hidden son of my father who had led the fresh forces of Atlantis against the remaining enemy as I battled a Titan. I should be happy, but all I feel is anger and a feeling of slight jealousy. My father and the rest of the Olympians praised him for his bravery, my father proclaiming him as his favorite son. The Olympians had seemingly turned their back on me in an instant at the sight of a seemingly more powerful demigod. My friends had welcomed him with open arms. No, I don't feel jealousy, I feel pain. Pain and shame.
Shame for feeling jealous. Pain as it seemed everyone forgot about me. Even her. Her grey eyes had never really looked at me during the fight; focusing solely on the demigod who hosted the spirit of Kronos. When I defeated the Titan and the demigod returned to his senses, alive, she had kissed him. Luke.
It's said that once you've seen something it's hard to unsee it; in fact near impossible. I had seen him at his worst. He had been a friend who literally stabbed me in the back. Well actually he hadn't been the one to do the stabbing; a guy named Ethan had done the dirty job. And the knife didn't actually injure me; it hurt someone who I, up until a week ago, considered the love of my teenage life. Nope. He had instead left a scorpion to kill me. Lovely right?
Ok so I am jealous. He had won the girl I loved, who had been my life line. The sole thing that had kept me tied to the mortal world as I bathed in the river Styx. The blessing had actually started to fade since I had found out about her. My concrete skin was like any normal demigod skin; capable of being pierced by celestial bronze or mortal weapons.
I do wonder if I might have felt happiness if I had taken the Olympians' offer of Godhood…But I didn't want that. I had a promise to keep. I had instead asked for the minor Gods and Goddesses to be recognized and cabins to be erected in their honor. But I still feel empty. I should feel happy shouldn't I? I mean, we won the war. Everyone is celebrating. But I don't. I feel alone.
All alone.
And so I ran.
Away from the Olympians.
Away from Camp.
Away from life.
My life had long ago ceased to exist for me, so why was my breath still coming out in a pale cloud? Why did I still feel the pain that others' actions had caused me?
The cold from the environment around me should've affected me long ago. But yet I still ran; ignoring it.
The dark trees around me should've caught my attention. They were in fact very beautiful and had lain for years undisturbed, only for the only human to visit them, me, to run past without giving them any heed.
When a root suddenly loomed in front of me and sent me sprawling to the ground I turned the fall into a roll and bounced up onto my feet in a practiced move. It had happened before. Pain blossomed in my ankle but I ignored it; it would never compare to the pain I felt inside.
I continued to run.
I didn't want to be a demigod anymore; it had just brought me pain.
I don't want to be Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon of the Olympians; it reminded me of my pain.
I want to get away from her; she is the main source of my pain.
The pain in my foot wasn't going away. It was in fact, spreading. Why was it spreading? Why couldn't it go away? It was like the pain my heart felt; always there and never leaving.
My legs were the first to go. They gave way and I fell to my knees; my hands reflexively stopping me from face planting into the snow as they braced themselves on my jean-clad thighs.
If I couldn't run I… I … would yell. And I did, causing a pillar of water to erupt in front of me as I vented my feelings into the air. Where had the water come from? Looking more carefully in front of me, I saw a black lake. Black, just like my feelings. And full, as if all my tears had drained into it. I screamed once more and let my pain and anguish into the sky. No one was here to hurt me. No one was this far north in Canada. In a way, it was soothing.
I bowed my head as the water fell back down and inhaled slowly. Life…life had no real meaning for me. I was told long ago that my flaw is personal loyalty. What happens when I have no one to be loyal to? Grief threatened to overwhelm me and, in an inspired idea, I let my head fall into the snow hoping the cold would make the pain go away. Looking back, that wasn't that smart of an idea.
I suddenly heard a muffled voice speak. "Geez man. Your jacket looks terrible all shredded up from the branches." The voice paused, "I don't want to see your front side."
Startled, I pulled my face out of the snow and whirled around only to find that no one was there. Was I going crazy?
The voice spoke again, this time sounding much clearer and like a young boy's. "If I had known you'd run this far I would've knocked you out a long time ago." The voice paused, as if musing, "Well I guess one bump won't make a difference."
"Wha-." I felt a sharp pain on the back of my skull even as the dark rings around my vision rushed together in an instant and my clarity faded into darkness.
Well what'd you think? I know it was rather short but future chapters will be at least 3000 words. Oh and if you didn't figure it out, this story is currently in between the The Last Olympian and The Lost Hero by ways of the timeline.
Favorite! Follow! Leave a Review! Reading reviews really helps to encourage me to write more for you guys. Until next time!
~TyFighter
