The Cyclops was hungry. He had just been reborn into the mortal world, more than a year after he had been killed in the Second Titan War, and now he needed meat. Halfblood meat. It stalked up and down roads in New York, carefully zeroing in on the scent of demigod, mortals parting before him without knowing why. Finally the Cyclops saw her; an athletic girl with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. She seemed to stand out from the mass of mortals, everything about her slightly more vibrant, more defined, more in-tuned with her surroundings. She had an air of self-assurance that was unusual in people her age.
Halfblood the monster practically drooled. She looked vaguely familiar, but the Cyclops decided that was just because all humans looked alike. He followed her down the street from a safe distance, only speeding up as she turned a corner onto a dark alleyway.
What kind of idiot was this girl? The Cyclops chuckled to himself this was going to be too easy.
He stepped into the gloomy alleyway, leaving the bustle of New York behind.
"Hey Percy" the girl was speaking into her phone about twenty feet down the alley "yeah, yeah, I'm coming… Sally made cookies? Ok, I'm definitely coming, I just have to deal with the Southern Cyclops that's been following me." The Cyclops stiffened.
"No, I can handle it, you just pick out a movie, and if you even touch 'Titanic' I will stab you with a rusty dagger…Because I can't focus on the movie with you constantly shouting 'bam, take that boat, that's how Poseidon does it.' Besides, the logic of the movie is ridiculous…Yeah, ok" Annabeth glanced up the alley, looking directly at the Cyclops "I have to go now, love you."
She hung up and shoved the phone into her pocket.
"Hey, ugly, you ready to eat Celestial Bronze?"
The Cyclops stood there, stupefied. This was not how halfbloods were supposed to act. They were meant to faint on the spot, not glare at him like was the last maths problem standing between them and the end of a test. He shook himself out of his daze and sneered at the girl.
"You seem very eager to die, watch your tongue or I won't make it quick."
The girl gave him an unimpressed look, as if she was mentally marking his threat out of ten.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen, I'll tell you what will happen though. I am going stab you in the eye, I am going to watch you crumble to dust, and then I am going to eat cookies with my boyfriend and forget that you ever existed." She cocked her head to one side, as if saying 'you got a problem with that?'
Who does this girl think she is? The Cyclops felt indignation and rage bubble inside him, but didn't attack. The girl's confidence was unnerving.
"And how are you going to achieve all that from over there? Why don't you come here and prove it?" the Cyclops smiled evilly, hoping to call the girl's bluff and see her turn and run. Instead the girl just smiled.
"I would, but that would spoil the surprise."
The Cyclops just had time to be confused before he felt something heavy crash into his head. He stumbled backwards, too dazed by whatever had dropped on him to focus on anything. The girl's foot thudded into his chest, sending him slamming into the wall of the alley. He clawed blindly at the air, but the girl had already moved. He felt a sharp blow to his side, and then another to knee, the girl striking too quickly to be caught. The Cyclops slid to the ground, stunned and helpless. He blinked his eye rapidly, the bleary image of the girl holding a Celestial Bronze dagger a millimeter away from his face coming into focus.
"H-how?"
"I saw you coming a mile off, just needed to get you away from any mortals. When I got into the alley I climbed the fire escape and loosened the ladder going into the alley," she gestured to the metal stairs on the side of the building the Cyclops was collapsed against, from which a heavy metal ladder had swung into the Cyclops' head "then I secured it in place with my hair tie and waited. I just had to keep you in the right position until my hair tie broke and let the ladder slam into your face. It was pretty easy really, you didn't even notice that I'd taken my hair tie out."
Was this girl seriously judging him for not doing a better job of attacking her? The Cyclops thought through his confusion.
"Who do you think you are?" he snarled, wanting to rip her to pieces but knowing that one movement and the knife would be buried in his eye. The girl's eyes turned stormy, staring into the Cyclops' face with an intensity that made him shiver.
"I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a date."
In the few seconds before the monster dissipated into dust he remembered where he had seen the girl before, on the battlefield during the Second Titan War.
No, not her, not again he whimpered to himself, and then he was gone.