It was the voices again. Those damn voices wouldn`t go away, throughout the night they would ramble on and on to no end. Percy was use to dreams like this, but he could usually put a face to the voice. If not the face would show itself or give a clue. Not this time, just insane ramblings with no base.
Percy finally woke when the sunlight hit his face. He tossed off his blanket and got dressed. When he reached the living room the smell of a delicious breakfast penetrated his nose.
"That smells great mom." Percy said. "Whats for breakfast?"
Sally wouldn`t answer. Percy raised an eyebrow then turned to his step-father. Paul looked up from his news-paper, looked at him sheepishly then went back to his paper.
"Um did I do something wrong?" Percy asked.
A loud crash was heard. Percy jumped a bit and Paul sank lower into his newspaper. Sally walked in, her body language letting Percy know she was angry, and slammed down a messy omelette on a plate.
"Yes Percy there is something wrong." Sally said.
Percy stood and looked his mother in the eyes. Her normally sparkling and shiny eyes were cold and almost...fake.
"Percy, I`ve taken care of you your whole life." Sally said. "But you're an adult now. And it`s time you leave, now."
The news rocketed to Percy like a bullet through someone`s head. His mother was kicking him out. And she was doing it in quite a surprising way.
"Um...so did you and Paul come up with this?" Percy asked, trying not to choke.
Paul nervously looked up at Sally who nodded at him, as if to say "You can speak now monkey!".
"Well Pj, we...your mother and I have decided you need to live on your own." Paul said.
He was acting scared, as if he was afraid of getting whipped raw by Sally if he disobeyed or disagreed.
"Besides, I`m not your father." Paul said, nervously laughing. "Hell I`m barley your step-father, or a man for that matter."
Sally nodded again and Paul sat down and started to compulsively feast on the omelet. A lump formed in Percy`s throat as he let the information sink in. Percy patted his pockets, all he could feel was his trusted sword, riptide in it`s pen form.
"Well I...I guess I should leave now." Percy said.
"You do that." Sally said in a rude manner.
Percy slowly shuffled out the door, Sally roughly slamming it behind him.
"What...the...hell?" Percy asked himself.
His parents had just shoved him out of his home. In rather rude and bizarre way. He only had one other place he could go. Hopefully Chiron or Annabeth could talk some sense back into his mother. When Percy got outside he made a taxi-cab whistle. Nothing happened. Normally when he did that Blackjack would show up. But the normally punctual Pegasus was nowhere to be found.
Percy shook his head and decided to just make the trek to half-blood hill. It took Percy an hour to reach the camp grounds. By that time he was exhausted. Percy passed the border and made a bee-line to the Athena cabin. Along the way the campers shot him some dirty glares, as if his mere presence was an insult to existence. When he finally made it to the cabin steps he felt someone grab his arm. Percy looked behind him to see Annabeth`s half-brother Malcolm, grinning like a sick clown.
"Hi Percy...what are you doing?" Malcolm asked, clearly trying to hide something.
"I need to see my girlfriend." Percy said as calmly as possible. "And I`m having kind of a bad day, so let go of my arm, or I`ll cut yours off."
"Well, if you go in there your going to have a bad life, I promise you." Malcolm said.
Percy kicked Malcolm in the chest, sending the boy flying back. Percy violently opened up the door of the Athena cabin and walked into the library like cabin.
"Annabeth, Annabeth I need you!" Percy yelled.
Percy continued to search until he heard some familiar giggles. Percy peered around the corner of the cabin to see Annabeth and an odd-looking teenager. He was taller than Percy, with golden blonde hair and electrifying blue eyes. He was well-built and had a blinding white smile, his long muscular arms were wrapped around Annabeth, as she stared into his eyes, a stare she gave Percy many times before.
"Annabeth?" Percy asked in broken disbelief.
Annabeth looked over at Percy and buried her head in the teen`s chest.
"Hello seaweed idiot." Annabeth said. "This Gary Steward, son of Zeus and my new boyfriend.
'Boyfriend.'
'Boyfriend.'
'Boyfriend.'
'Boyfriend.'
The word pierced Percy`s mind, like a bullet through a human skull. Percy stumbled back at the nonchalant and excited way Annabeth said that sentence.
"W-what about me?" Percy said, trying not to explode.
"What about you?" Annabeth said.
"What about me?" Percy said, smacking his forehead. "I`ve known you for the last seven years...we`ve been dating for eight months! Wait a minute, how did Zeus have another kid, without anyone noticing? And where the hell was he during the titan-war?"
"None of your business." Annabeth responded. "Look its been fun but...he is hot, and you, well you`ve got those grey hairs and that scrawny figure. Gary however, he is perfect. He can move planets with a thought, isn`t that cool?"
"What?" Percy asked in disbelief. "That's freaking impossible! No one can do that, not even Gaea!"
"But he can!" Annabeth said. "Plus he is beautiful. So...we`re done...bye!"
Annabeth waved at Percy annoyed while Gary just smiled his creepy, inhumane, perfect smile. Percy staggered back trying to grasp the gravity of his circumstances. He was now homeless and girlfriend-less. Chiron, Chiron would be able to answer his problems. Percy bolted out of the cabin, running Malcolm down.
"I told you not to go in there moron!" Malcolm yelled.
Percy bolted to the big-house tears streaming down the side of his face. When he reached the big-house, Percy paused and grabbed his knees. Percy rubbed the tears out of his eyes, he didn`t want Dionysus and Chiron to see him cry. Percy entered the big house to see Chiron and Dionysus playing their usual game of pinochle.
"Ha, Ha! Looks like I win again!" Dionysus said.
Chiron grumbled a bit as he passed some winnings over to Dionysus. Percy steadily approached their table, the two looked up at Percy with annoyed looks.
"What do you want Percy?" Dionysus asked.
"Forget him, just pretend he doesn`t exist." Chiron said.
"Wait...what do you mean forget me?" Percy asked.
"I mean, you`re kind of whining and it's really annoying." Chiron said, not looking at Percy.
"Well...never mind, what is up with that Gary guy, how did Zeus have another son?" Percy demanded.
"None of your worthless business." Chiron growled.
"Oh and speaking of worthless, your father has a message for you." Dionysus said.
A sliver of hope peered in Percy`s heart. After being thrown out, cheated on and dumped maybe good old dad would have something good to say.
"Your dad says, he is disowning you and to never contact him again." Dionysus said nonchalantly.
The hope shattered like a window, Percy stumbled back against the wall and fell to his knees. He gave up, tears quietly slipping down his face. Chiron and Dionysus laughed at him for this.
"Poor little Percy Jackson." Dionysus chuckled. "Looks like I win again."
"Wait...what did you call me?" Percy asked.
"Percy Jackson, its your stupid name boy!" Dionysus said.
That's when things clicked. Percy wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He took Riptide from his pocket and removed the cap. Percy walked up to Dionysus and slit the wine god`s throat. Dionysus fell over, clutching his wound as the red blood spilled to the floor.
"Ah Ha!" Percy said triumphantly.
"What is the meaning of this?" Chiron demanded.
"You idiots aren`t Dionysus and Chiron!" Percy said. "Dionysus never EVER calls me by my name unless he`s in a good mood...and he doesn`t have red blood. And the Chiron I know isn`t a cruel jack-ass, and he never loses at pinochle!"
Percy swung his sword, decapitating Chiron. Instead of fading to dust or something his body fell over and shattered. Percy ran from the big-house back over to the Athena cabin, stabbing fake Malcolm along the way. When he reached the "cabin" he knocked the door down and started slicing everything up.
"Seaweed idiot, what are you doing?" Annabeth yelled.
"Shut-up Fake-abeth!" Percy yelled. "This isn`t camp half-blood and you're not Annabeth!"
"Yes I am, now get out of here, or I`ll have Gary smash you!" Annabeth yelled.
Gary walked into the room, grinning his usual perfect and inhuman smile.
"Okay." Percy said, crossing his arms.
Annabeth`s finger faltered as Gary just stood there with his grin. Percy tossed riptide at Gary`s head, splattering him into golden gel.
"I knew there was something off about him." Percy said. "In the end no one, not even a child of Zeus could be that perfect. Besides, he was all flash and no substance, not even human."
Percy grabbed Annabeth by the shoulder and shoved her into the wall. Percy aimed riptide at her throat and stared into her grey eyes.
"Well, this just proves you're not Annabeth." Percy said. "Whenever I look into my girlfriends eyes I see a shining, something kind and intelligent. When I look in your eyes, I see something fake and ugly. My girlfriend isn`t heartless."
Percy sliced through Annabeth`s throat, leaving Fake-abeth to bleed out. Percy walked out of the cabin and prepared for the trek back to his house. Within an hour he made it back to his apartment, he smashed the door down, riptide shining.
"You idiot!" Sally said. "What are you doing here? I disowned you!"
Paul buried his face into a newspaper as his wife yelled.
Percy stabbed Paul through the newspaper and through his corpse off the couch. He then proceeded to slam Sally into the wall, grabbing her neck and aiming Riptide at her face.
"You two aren`t my parents." Percy said. "My step-father isn`t a wimp and you aren`t a bossy bitch. Besides, my Mother`s eyes are always shining, unlike yours. Whenever I look into my mother`s eyes I don`t see an old hag, I see someone beautiful. Now, you`re going to tell me what's going on now!"
"Sally" laughed and punched Percy in the face, knocking him back.
"Ah, I thought this would work, oh well. Time for plan B." Fake Sally said.
The apartment dissolved into a blinding white court-room. Up in the roster there were hundreds of people in owl masks and dozens of owl armored guards brandishing javelins. The woman pretending to be Sally took her face off and her clothes dissolved into grey and indigo robes, and owl mask covering her face.
"Welcome Perseus Jackson, swine son of Poseidon, to the court of owls."