PIRACY A Percy Jackson Fan Fiction by silvium
The gray sky swirled around Percy like oil paint mixed with water. He put his face up to the moistness of it and inhaled deeply, savoring the feel of the cool mist rushing through his lungs. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling at peace with the world, gray and cold as it was. The ocean crashed far beneath him; Percy could sense the distant vibrations through the sea-battered cliff. He opened his eyes again, stared at the dark horizon, then turned away to the chiseled steps winding down the cliff. He placed his feet with care on the slippery steps, his leather brocade flapping around in the sharp ocean wind.
Halfway down the steps, Percy paused, with both leather-clad feet on two different levels. He looked out to where his city was, a small sea town in France. It looked odd, there were flickering lights near the shore and a very large ship with many people running…there seemed to be several cannons being loaded on the ship, what was that about? A tiny figure sprinted out of a shop. He looked like he was yelling at the ship. Someone stepped off the large ship's gangway and there was a dull clap noise, the yelling civilian lurched back with a piercing screech, then dropped to the ground and didn't get back up.
Shock rippled through Percy. The noise was still echoing back to his place on the cliff. The clap of gunshot doubled, then tripled, slowed down, stretching like elastic. The man's shriek bounced off every rock, making the gravel quiver, even though the man was already dead. Then the terrified screams of the townspeople began.
A vein of anger penetrated Percy's shockwave. He unfroze from his place on the steps and, not bothering to be careful this time, scrambled down the wet stone stairs. Someone was attacking his home. That was not okay with Percy. Panicky half-formed thoughts chased around Percy's brain like fish in a net. What about his mother? Had the attackers invaded as far into the town as their house?
He leaped over the last four steps and skidded onto the sand, spraying up a tide of the gravelly stuff. He sprinted for the town, across the cove, through a side alley, then to a main street. The street was congested with people, yelling, screaming, crying, trying to hide somewhere or charging with makeshift weapons or gleaming swords towards the attackers.
Percy went in the general direction of the ship, but detoured to his house through the sweaty crunch of people. He ran up the brick road, looking each way for his mother. He saw their house door open and his heart throbbed so hard it felt as though it nearly burst out of his chest. But then his mother emerged looking alarmed and slightly confused.
"Percy?" she said. "Thank goodness you're okay, what's going on?"
Her dark hair was tied up and her dress had smudges of flour on it, like she had been baking. Percy strode toward her saying,
"Someone's invading, I don't know who, but you need to get out of here, or get somewhere safe."
She nodded looking worried. "Don't die, Percy. Otherwise I might have to die also to ground you in the underworld." She kissed him on the cheek then hurried away. Percy didn't hesitate and ran toward the shore.