The sickening sound of a skull being crushed filled the night air followed by an insane manacle laugh. In a long dark alley way there were four people each of them in various states of condition. One of them was leaning against the wall long dead from a bullet to the heart, another was on the floor limbless, the next was on the floor and was the owner of the skull that had just been crushed, the last person stood over him as a twisted grin formed on his face as he relished his kills. This figure was none other than Perseus Jackson.
He had once been a hero, a champion of the gods themselves but that was a long time ago. He had lost what remained of his humanity a year ago as he committed his first crime. It wasn't any minor crime either it was one of the worst, the crime he committed was murder and not just once but six times. Even insane Percy could still remember that day.
Flashback
The final battle had begun. Gods and demigods versus Gaia, her children, and a whole army of monsters. Percy didn't even bat an eye once he saw the army as he just cast a glance to his comrades before rushing towards them and signifying the start of the final battle. The battle lasted for hours as with each swing of Riptide brought down another foe or in many cases several of them. But it wasn't just monsters he fought but he fought any giant he came across. The first to fall to his blade was the enemy of his Polybotes. Normally the battle who had lasted a great while but due to Percy fighting with his farther and him having an undying will to win this battle the giant died quickly.
It was the same for the others as well. Each giant falling before their counterpart god or goddess along with the help of their children. Those who did not have children or any kind of help Percy assisted as he slew any foe that dared to cross his path. But this all changed when the Gaia began to awake. The blood that Percy had loss along with the others must have surely acted as fertilizer to the soil as Gaia regained her strength and awoke.
"Finally awake!" Gaia exclaimed as she looked over the remainder of her army. Her gaze then fell on a Percy. "And you Jackson shall pay for killing my children." She sneered. Percy was about to reply with a insulting retort before the ground opened up and swallowed him whole. He began to panic thinking about what happened in Alaska where he had nearly drowned but before those thoughts could last any longer he was spit back out. But instead of being where he was originally he was inside an earthen dome and he was not alone.
On the opposite side of the room he saw his friends gagged and bound by earthen restraints. Before he could protest he too was bound but in a different way as the earth wrapped around everything below his head making it impossible to move.
"How does it feel boy?" Gaia's voice whispered through the air of the dome. "Being unable to do anything no matter how much you struggle. You can't move due to the earth casing you're in and this dome is as dry as the desert making it impossible for water to appear." Percy tried to summon water from within him but failed, blaming it on the primordial's powers. "And now time for you to suffer." She said with and evil laugh.
Automatically his limbs began to move towards his friends. He tried to stop but couldn't as Gaia willed the earth to move him. He approached Jason and could see his his eyes looking at him intently.
"There are many ways to break a person." Gaia said. My eyes widened at what she was hinting at as did Jason's. "But instead of physical I prefer mental as they leave the most painful scars." As she said this a earthen sword formed in my hands. Percy could only watch as he began to raise it towards Jason. Both me and hims struggling to break free of the earth but to no avail. He stared in horror as the blade pierced Jason right where his heart was. The light in Jason's eyes died as they glazed over and blood began to coat the blade.
"That was fun let's do it again." Gaia said with a laugh. And so the process was repeated over and over. He being forced to kill each of his friends off one by one. Eventually it came to the point to where only one was left, his wise girl Annabeth.
"The girl you love." Gaia said with a spat saying the word love as venomously as possible. "Let's see how much she loves you when she is murdered by you." Percy tried everything from overpower Gaia to praying to the Fates to stop this madness. He kept trying and trying as the blood coated blade inched closer to her neck. He tried to close his eyes as the blade slowly drew blood from touching her neck but thin cords of earth kept them open forcing him to watch. The blood began to increase and he could hear Annabeth's noises of pain behind her gag. It finally stopped as she died.
"Now you know the pain of loss Jackson." Gaia said manically. That was when the tears began to form and fall. Choked sobs began to try and claw their way out of my through but before the anguish of grief could take over a more powerful emotion did, that emotion was rage. As the first tear fell someone weird happened. The tear landed on my restraints and instantly they crumbled along with the dome. Not caring why this happened Percy drew Riptide and summoned as much possible water as he could.
Now that the dome was collapsed he could see what had happened outside. All of the monsters and Giants had been killed but all of the gods and demigods were bounded as he was minutes ago. A woman made of a dark mossy green earth stood in front of them smirking at me.
"The blood of your friends was delicious Jackson. They have given me enough energy to bind these pathetic gods effortlessly." Those words caused more rage to grow inside me as Percy lashed out with everything he could. Waves of relentless water just kept shooting at her as he continued to gain ground towards her. While she was blocking the attacks with ease but there was a hint of surprise on her face as she saw the force behind each attack getting stronger and stronger. Percy wanted nothing more for Gaia to die and he was going to make sure it happened.
Swirling the water around him he formed his personal hurricane as he advanced. Hail began to shoot from the violent winds making it harder to defend against. Gaia had had enough of this and decided to attack instead of defend and sent an earth wall rushing towards Percy. It didn't matter though as his rage made him stronger than normal as the wall shattered against his hurricane on contact. Gaia could only watch in horror as the enraged demigod continued to advance towards her.
"What is this!?" She screeched. "I can imprison gods yet a mere demigod can resist me!?" She started launching boulders the size of a small house towards Percy but like every other attack failed to even scratch him. Percy was now nearly on top of Gaia causing her to be pulled towards him due to chaotic winds. She could only scream in pain as the wind ripped away at her and continued to suck her in.
"You've taken everything away from me." Percy said in a tone of rage as he watched Gaia struggle, trapped in his hurricane. He then proceeded to take off her limbs one by one. Gaia screamed out as she felt the agonizing pain of losing her limbs each one drawing more blood from her body. She knew that there was no chance of her winning this battle so she decided to take him with her.
"Remember this boy," Gaia spat as she struggled to speak. "You may have won this battle but you have sinned." As she finished her words an eerie black smoke was expelled from her body and went into Percy. He did not notice this however due to his anger and grief clouded mind. He could only watch as he plunged his blade into her heart.
Flashback end.
After that fateful battle everyone had went back to Olympus. Rewards had been presented, the fallen had begun to be mourned, and future plans had been made. Percy didn't even care as the grief finally caught up to him. For his reward he was offered godhood but he denied it in hope of getting a wish, which he had. He attempted to use that wish to bring his friend back but Hades said it was an ancient law that couldn't be broken. His form momentarily flickered to Pluto as he said this no doubt thinking of Hazel.
The following days Percy had returned to camp and tried to get over his grief by staying in his cabin the whole day and hardly showing up at meals. But instead of getting better he got worse with each passing day as nightmares plagued him during the night. He had dreams of his friends blaming him, Annabeth saying it was all his fault for being too weak, and the worst of all watching him kill them over and over again. During the day people had tried to come and visit him to cheer him up like Grover but he just pushed them away. Chiron decided to suggest the idea of going to his mother's home to recuperate, an offer which Percy quickly accepted.
His mother along with Paul had been overjoyed to see him as it had been months since they had. But after he arrived his mother being the observant mom she was quickly noticed something was wrong with her son. He told her what happened and as tears sprung to his eyes Sally begun to weep as well. She had loved Annabeth like a daughter and was distraught at her death. After they had shed their tears she had tried to console Percy saying it wasn't his fault but her words barely registered to his ears.
His time with his mother however didn't last long however as more nightmares continued to destroy his sanity. One night during a one of them something different happened. He watched for what felt like the millionth time as he saw Annabeth die by his hand and he finally snapped. An explosion of black energy woke him up as he saw that his house was in shambles. His thoughts quickly brought him to his mother's safety as he began to search the ruin. After minutes of searching he had finally found her along with Paul only to find them buried beneath rubble crushed to death.
Seeing their bodies removed what sanity Percy had left as he let out a wailing scream of grief. As he let it out he failed to notice the black typhoon of energy surrounding him. He failed to notice it as it destroyed buildings and neighborhoods in seconds. The only thing he could notice was the grief in his heart as he had killed the person who loved him the most. That was when a voice he had never heard before spoke.
'A shame this keeps happening.' It said in a cold voice. Percy ignored it as he continued to succumb to grief as the typhoon continued its rampage. 'I could make this stop happening. I could make sure you never lose a loved on again.' Those were the words Percy heard as he gave a small nod as he let out more screams. That acknowledgment was all the voice needed as a black mist swarmed around Percy changing him. The voice had merged itself with Percy as it pushed his grieving thoughts to the back of his mind along with other things to lessen the pain.
'People like you should never have to suffer.' It said in a fading tone as the typhoon dissipated. 'Use my powers to enjoy your life' Were the final words the voice said as it disappeared forever. Percy noticed that he now had a sense of calm around him. He remembered why he was in so much turmoil earlier but couldn't understand why he had been so sad. He just shrugged it off as flashes signifying the arrival of immortals began to appear around him in the rubble of a apartment.
"Percy?" Poseidon asked tenderly. After hearing his name called he turned to him. "Why did you do this?" His father asked. Percy wasn't paying attention however as emotions began to swirl through him. Rage was strongest of these though as and unrivaled fury began to rise in him. Not caring what Happened a shockwave emitted from him tumbling the gods to the ground. As they stood up he saw anger and confusion on their faces. Before anything else could be said Percy felt himself fall unconscious as his body collapsed.
He had awoke some time later in forest completely unaware of what happened. As he tried to figure out what happened more thoughts flooded in torrents in his mind. Emotions and thoughts that should have never existed in Percy appeared out of nowhere as laid on the ground. He tried to understand what had happened with the gods. He don't know why he suddenly felt so angry with them. He had no idea what had even happened there as unfamiliar powers burst from him. He didn't even understand why those emotions had went through his mind.
As he sat he began to learn all sorts of things as abilities and tricks became known. Randoms words popped into his head and something fed him knowledge. Basic understandings of feelings became present in his mind when the stray idea of a life on the run came into his head. That idea seemed really enticing to him and he decided to act on it.
As the months flew by Percy began to use his powers more frequently as he descended into a life of crime. He often killed and stole just to survive or for fun he didn't care really as he had learned many things over those months. That voice that had spoken to him had removed many of his old emotions making it almost impossible for them to return. Percy was sure he should have cared that this happened but he didn't as he continued his new way of life enjoying every moment of this..
This is what had eventually led to where Percy was now killing people in alley ways relishing at their pain. What he did not expect however was the arrow that had been embedded in a wall just behind him.
"Shit." Was the only word he said as he saw the only exit to alley be closed off. The hunters had found him.
And done with chapter two. Not really sure I explained everything how I wanted it to be portrayed so sorry if you find it confusing. If you have and questions message me. I also wanted to put more detail into his flashback but I have always hated retelling something multiple people have grasped upon before. Even though it isn't exactly the same as other's stories just the battle itself is over written about. Well until next time!
