I will say this only once: I own neither the Percy Jackson and Olympians nor the Heroes of Olympus.
I have sailed a thousand seas. I am coming home.
CHAPTER 1: THE RETURN OF THE DEAD.
The stranger was tall. He wore jeans and sneakers. He wore a black jacket over a cream white shirt. He was muscular but not overly so. There was something in the way he stood. A coiled energy in his frame that reminded Dolly of a king cobra she'd seen on National Geographic. He was handsome…very handsome. He looked down at her. His eyes were green…emerald green. They shone with a light Dolly couldn't place.
"I'm looking for Sally Jackson," he said in a polite voice.
"Oh mum!" she said.
For a second utter surprise flashed across his face.
"Mum! There is someone here for you!" she shouted.
"Who Dolly?"
"A stranger!"
The quick footsteps could be heard from the kitchen. Sally Jackson appeared in the short hallway. She took one look at the stranger and stopped shock plastered all over her face.
"It can't be," she said in a barely audible voice.
She staggered forward grabbing onto the walls for support. She stopped right behind Dolly.
"Mom what's wrong?" Dolly asked looking up to Sally who remained transfixed on the spot looking at the stranger like her were an apparition that would disappear at one point.
"Mom," Dolly said again the edge in her voice growing.
Sally made no sign she'd heard her. What unfolded next would take some time for Dolly to wrap her head around.
Her mother staggered forward one step.
"Percy," she said her voice low and old.
"Mom," the stranger said.
10 YEARS AGO.
OLYMPIC CITY AIRPORT.
"Don't run too far off," Sally Jackson said at her rather adorable if not exasperating nine year old. The boy was a tall as a nine year old could be. His mop of black hair was messy despite how hard she tried to smooth it down. But it was his eyes that arrested him. The twinkled with mischief and happiness. Like his father's she thought to herself. Percy walked with a skip in his step. Suddenly he burst forward.
"Percy!" she shouted after him.
He stopped suddenly in front of a large statue…or statues rather. The statues were the twelve Olympians.
"Mommy look!" he said pointing at the statues with awe.
"Percy I can't have you running of like that," she said an unexpected edge in her voice.
The boy noticed the change in tone and quickly toned down his own excitement.
"I'm sorry mommy. I just wanted to see the Olympians," he said his eyes widening.
Sally's expression faded and she smiled.
"Fine Percy. I just can't have you running around anytime. Ok!"
"Ok mommy,"
The glanced at the statues together for a while each taken by the beauty of the craftsmanship. The statues were so…human. They looked like they would just walk of the podium and wave hello.
"FLIGHT 96787 passengers kindly present yourself to the terminal."
This jerked Sally out of the grasp of the statues.
"That's us Percy let's go," she said. She turned and the boy was gone.
"Percy what did I just tell you this is not the time for games," she called out. No reply.
"Percy!" she shouted
"Percy!"
Her breathing quickened. Her heart beat louder and louder till she could hear it over the noise of the airport.
"Percy," she said in a small voice.
"Percy!" she shouted
She ran to one of the counters. A young tired man sat across the counter and looked at her with a surprised expression.
"I can't find my son!" she shouted at him.
"Pardon me miss" he replied
"My son –he is lost I need to find him,"
"Kindly miss stay calm,"
In an instant two airport guards held her on each arm and escorted her to a room. One took the only other available seat. He was squat and his head shaved to the skin.
"Would you kindly describe your son?" he said.
"He's about five feet tall, he is wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans. His hair is black, his eyes are green. His name is Perseus Jackson," she said in a quick rant.
The officer went over it all again and left leaving his colleague in the room. A moment later another man walked in. he was wearing a very cheap suit and his cologne reeked more than anything else. He sat in the empty seat and took a long look at her.
"Ms. Jackson would you kindly describe your son again?"
She went over it all over again.
"Ms. Jackson that is quite surprising for a boy of the same description and name. Just boarded a flight with a person we suppose may be his mother," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Which flight may that be?"
"FLIGHT 96787,"
"That's impossible! My son and I were to board that flight,"
"I'm afraid that is impossible. We have surveillance footage of a boy of that description boarding the plane in the company of a woman,"
"But-I'm his mother! May I see the footage?" she said the panic in her tone filling up the room.
"But of course,"
The man pulled a small tab from his coat pocket and tapped on it several times before passing it to her. There was Percy! The boy was walking with the usual spring I his step. He boarded the plane and disappeared behind the doors. The woman with her looked oddly familiar to Sally. She looked just like her.
"This isn't possible. The woman just kidnapped my boy.
"We have already made contact with the airport on the other side. This matter will be sorted out. In due time,"
"What's your name?"
"John McAlister. Why do you ask?"
"John, please find my son,"
"I will do my best to resolve this matter at once,"
"Thank you,"
"We will require you to stay in this room. For the duration of the flight. Is there anything you might require?"
"Just my son back,"
"Very well then,"
The men vacated the room leaving Sally alone. She stared at the walls of the room. The paint was wearing off and the ventilation itself was not so good. She felt her head droop. Weariness overcame her and her eyelids smashed closed and in a moment she was asleep.
Sally wasn't sure what woke her up. A tightening feeling around her stomach. She knew Percy was in trouble. The door swung open and John-Mc-something walked in. his face betrayed him and the words fell like sledgehammers on her heart.
"FLIGHT 96787 was caught up in an unprecedented storm. The plane's engines were hit by lightning and the plane crashed. Fatalities are one hundred percent,"
"NO!-NO! That's not right. He can't be-" she couldn't bring herself to say it. He couldn't be dead. It wasn't right it wasn't fair.
PRESENT TIME
RESIDENCE OF SALLY JACKSON.
"They told me you died," Sally said
"I'm back mom. I'm back," the stranger said.
Sally leapt forward and crushed the stranger in her hug. Dolly could have proposed to say something about hugging strangers but her own brain was on overload.
"Mom. Who's this?"
This time Sally heard her. She let go of the stranger.
"This is your brother, Percy. He's back,"
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