Percy
So, going to Berkeley was not a good idea. Not only did monster encounters spike but there was also a sense of foreboding about the area. The land itself seemed to be warning him to leave. Mud clung stubbornly to his feet, making each step that much harder; rocks popped up out of nowhere tripping him at every turn and sand got everywhere, in his shirt, shoes and even ahem - other places. If it wasn't for his invulnerability he would probably be colored purple with bruises.
At least the journey was coming to an end soon. By today he'd make it there and then he'd…wing it. Instincts have kept him alive up to now, so why stop trusting them?
Percy stared down the hills. Laid out in front of him was a large town that seemed like it belonged in a movie. The buildings looked old but in a good way with curved roofs and squarish windows, there were many people walking along the sidewalk but not so many that it looked like the streets of a major city. The air smelled clean, free of the acrid car exhaust taste.
So far so good. Percy took his time walking down the slope into the city. What to do now, I'm here already, now what, Percy wondered. He wandered through the streets searching for a sign besides the ones telling him to leave. Where was the goth kid when you needed him?
Hey boss good to see you again.
Percy stopped and twisted his head in circles trying to discern the source of the voice. The tone of the voice suggested someone cheery but no one seemed to be talking - at least not to him. People walked by without even giving Percy a glance. They stepped past him as if he wasn't even there; in fact none of them seemed to have heard the voice.
Since the voice could only be heard in his head, Percy tried to reply with thought. "Hello?"
Hey! Long time no see.
Once again looking around himself, Percy found himself outside a pet adoption centre. lleBs' ePt Adoptnoi. Dyslexia can be annoying at times.
"You mean Bell's Pet Adoption." a passerby said. The store looked like a typical pet adoption centre with colorful walls and pictures of sad little kittens and puppies. There was even a large glass panel to watch some of the pets up for adoption. The only thing off about the place was the animals they put up for adoption. Instead of the usual cats and dogs, there were horses and a really sad looking bird-lady thing.
One horse in particular caught his attention, it was jet-black similar to his hair and it looked familiar like an old friend. Just then, a stream of unintelligible chatter filled Percy's mind; a dozen different voices, each complaining or begging for help, drowned out everything else.
"Stop!" Percy mind-yelled.
Instantly, every voice in his head shut up and Percy could hear himself think again. Massaging his temples to rid himself of the chatter induced headache, he entered the store. For the record horse whispering was not a good superpower to have.
The inside of the store smelled like a zoo, not surprising considering the animals they kept here. The horses each turned to face Percy as he passed by them while the bird-lady retreated further from him. She did so carefully and even in the dim light Percy could see nasty cuts on her wings.
"Hey, can I help you?" a man asked. The man was really old; he had a full head of silvery hair, his face was gaunt with bones jutting out and his skin was really pale except for patches of red which looked to be a rash of sorts. He sat in a wheelchair and from the way he was staring into blank space, he was blind.
"Err…I was just browsing." Percy answered, trying to keep his cool as he did so.
"Oh, take your time."
Percy smiled uncomfortably and then realized that the man was blind and could not see the smile anyway. Casually, he walked to and fro the different cages. Each of them held their own sad captive.
"Hey boss any chance you can bust me outta here?" a voice said as he passed the black stallion.
"Do I even know you? And why do you keep calling me boss?" Percy asked mentally as he pretended to inspect the horse's hooves.
Don't you remember me? I'm Blackjack, remember? We fought that giant flying pig together last year, us, blondie and pig pie.
Giant flying pig? No he'd definitely remember fighting something as crazy as that. "Sorry, I don't remember you."
The black horse whined sadly and clopped his hooves a few times. Percy instantly felt guilty; from the way the horse talked to him they seemed like good friends. "Fine, I'll think of something. Just give me some time."
As he looked around for an idea, he noticed that each horse was only kept in place by shackles clamped to their hooves. The chains were rusty and looked ancient. Subtly, Percy reached into his back pocket for Riptide, a few slashes and these horses should be home free.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." a raspy voice croaked. Percy turned back to find the crippled old man facing him. "Freeing the horses would make my boss very upset."
"You mean Bell?" Percy asked thinking about the store's name.
"I'm Bell!" the man spat angrily.
"Isn't Bell a girl's name?" Percy was getting wary at the man. For a supposed old crippled man, he had a lot of power in his voice. Also getting a second look let Percy see the battle scars the man had. His nose was crooked and had obviously been broken more than once, healed scars decorated his skin and his fingers were bent at several places.
This guy was no pet adoption store worker. "I'm Bell and it's short for Bellerophon, brother."
That's not possible, a brother? "No offense, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a thousand year old brother." Percy uncapped Riptide and gripped its hilt tightly.
The old man let out a throaty chuckle and said, "Riptide, an apt name for the weapon of the son of the sea god." Percy frowned, sea god…dad. A searing pain shot through Percy's head, the force that was withholding his memories was being challenged again. With all the pain, Percy didn't notice the ground sucking him in.
Solid earth seemed to have turned into water and Percy was sinking fast. "Yo, boss! You're sinking like a rock!" Blackjack cried.
Percy tore his hands from his head and looked around. The earth had reached his knees and gurgled hungrily. Panicking, Percy began to stab the ground with his sword creating several shallow craters.
The stabbing didn't seem to do anything to stop the ground; it continued to drag Percy down. "Hah! My boss will be glad to have you. Maybe we can be allies against dad." Bellerophon said haughtily.
No time to worry about the boss now. Percy desperately looked for something to latch onto. Around didn't seem to be anything of use. Percy clawed at the ground in front of him trying to drag himself out of the ground.
Suddenly there was the sound of clinking chains and a hoof plodded down in front of him. Percy dived for the chain before it went out of his reach. Up into his chest now, he pulled the chain with all his strength. The ground resisted greatly, tightening its grip around Percy but little by little Percy managed to escape the grasp of the earth.
Blackjack pulled his hoof back, helping to pull Percy out of the ground. Bellerophon cursed in greek and screamed, "Your plan failed, give me strength so that I may bring you my brother!"
The ground shook slightly and Bellerophon started to glow a dull brown. Percy, who by now was completely pulled out, watched as he stood up from his wheelchair. He took a few shaky steps to balance himself and then pulled a sword out of the ground. Yes, he literally pulled a sword from the ground. The sword was plain, there were no carvings on its hilt, it was a sharpened piece of celestial bronze attached to a handle.
Percy pulled Riptide from the ground and circled Bellerophon. Something felt off but Percy couldn't place it. Bellerophon laughed deeply, the ground appeared to have done a lot more than just giving him back his legs and eyes.
Percy faked a slash and thrust straight for Bellerophon's chest. He parried with his own sword and twirled around. Percy stumbled and barely managed to avoid losing his head. The sword screeched as it sliced through the air and cut an inch long cut on Percy's neck.
Percy touched the spot where the blade cut him and it felt warm and wet. Blood, looks like that mud bath took away his invulnerability. Scanning his body, he found a number of small grazes and cuts from his time in the ground.
Pain, it felt almost foreign. When he was invulnerable, he couldn't feel a thing even in battle. It was like he was numb from head to toe.
"Ha! Is that the best you've got?" Bellerophon teased. "The chimera put up more of a fight."
"Chimera?" Percy prompted, trying to buy some time.
"I am the greatest hero to have lived. I've fought the chimera, tamed Pegasus and fought the amazons."
Deciding on a different approach, Percy swung Riptide at the chain holding Blackjack. Riptide clanged loudly against the rusty chain but it remained intact.
"It's pointless, those are celestial bronze chains." Bellerophon pointed out.
Percy twisted back to face Bellerophon and raised Riptide. In the dim light, Riptide, Bellerophon and his sword glowed gently. Dirt and grime masked the glow of the chains. Percy lunged again, this time aiming for the right thigh. Bellerophon stepped back and swung viciously at Percy's chest.
Back and forth, back and forth they went. Percy kept on the offensive, constantly trying to find a limb to cut at. Bellerophon seemed content to simply defending against Percy's attacks while waiting for opportunities to open.
By the end, Percy had cuts all over his body and was panting heavily. Bellerophon was breathing slightly harder but besides that he was unchanged. This was not going well at all. Fighting a demi-god was nothing like fighting a monster. Monsters were all about offense, they charged at you without much thought. Demi-gods were smart, they played offense and defensive making them much harder to defeat.
Bellerophon laughed deeply, his voice laced with power. "What's the matter Perseus? A little tired? Look at how your gods have deserted you."
"Why do you hate the gods so much anyway?" Percy retorted.
"They wronged me. I was the greatest hero to have existed! I killed hundreds of monsters in their name yet when I asked for the one thing I desired I was denied!"
"What did you ask for?" Percy asked, genuinely curious. From the things the guy said, he did sound like a great hero. What could the gods have denied him?
"I wished to see Olympus! And when I asked for it, they refused me." Bellerophon said starting to immerse into a rant. "The worse thing is when I flew up to see it on Pegasus, Zeus struck me down. I lived my years as a blind cripple because of him!"
That did sound wrong, after all the guy had done and he was refused his one request. Also when Bellerophon said Olympus, an image of a beautiful Grecian city with bronze braziers and grand temples came into Percy's mind. Had he been to Olympus before?
"I'm sorry at what the gods did to you but still-"Percy was cut off by Bellerophon again.
"That wasn't what pushed me over the edge into Gaia's aid. It was after that when I pleaded to father for help, he shunned me." His words were filled with unshed tears and brimmed with sorrow.
Percy let Riptide fall to his side. This broke Bellerophon out of his trance and he eyed Percy warily. A sigh escaped Percy's lips and he capped Riptide transforming it back to a pen. Pocketing the pen, Percy let his head fall.
"What are you doing?" Bellerophon asked.
"I do not have a reason to fight you. You do have a justified reason to dislike the gods." Percy stated emotionlessly.
Bellerophon was unused to agreement and the shock registered on his face. "I am glad that you see things my way."
"But, you still don't have to try and destroy them. Trust me, I know the gods are far from perfect but at least they're getting better." Seeing Bellerophon's skeptical look, Percy continued. "Have you heard of the gods Hebe or Nemesis?"
"No." Bellerophon admitted.
"Well thanks to the scene I caused, now all the minor gods and goddesses will be recognized." Percy beamed proudly, not only did he regain a piece of his memory back but it was a happy one at that. Bellerophon remained silent at Perseus's words, his sword remained poised to strike but he seemed to be undergoing a mental debate with himself.
Percy extended his hand in a friendly offer. This is it, if he takes the hand, we gain a new ally and Gaia loses one of her strongest allies. "Come on, take my hand and we don't have to fight. Show the gods that you are better than them. I swear by the Styx that I'll get the gods to grant your wish, you'll get to see Olympus."
Bellerophon's eyes widened when he heard Percy mention Olympus. It was clearly affecting his decision. His upper row of teeth came out and bit gently on his lower lip. His sword arm shuddered slightly and dropped.
Gingerly, Bellerophon reached for Percy's. As the hands were an inch apart, the ground shook violently. It was like the Earth itself was growling which it probably was since it just lost one of the greatest hero's to have lived.
Immediately, the brown glow surrounding Bellerophon dimmed and died out. Bellerophon collapsed to the ground, his strength sapped by the ground. Percy ran over to help and saw that Bellerophon's eyes had glazed over again and his legs were sickly skinny with varicose veins.
"Go." Bellerophon croaked.
As the Earth continued to rumble, the walls shook and threatened to give out. Cracks spider webbed through the supports and small pieces of the ceiling fell. With a cry, Bellerophon raised his arms and the chains imprisoning the horses dissolved away.
All the horses neighed loudly and trotted on their spots, relishing in their new-found freedom. Blackjack ran to Percy and scooped him up.
"No!" Percy yelled, reaching his arms out to try and pull Bellerophon on.
Sorry boss, no time.
With Percy struggling on his back, Blackjack ran out of the store. They made it out right on time and the store imploded on their heels.
Percy sat on Blackjack's back in silence. Bellerophon didn't make it out, he never got his wish. Percy failed. "No…" Percy muttered softly.
You alright boss?
Percy didn't reply, he couldn't. In the end, he just shook his head slightly. He had just lost a brother and being children of Poseidon, there weren't that many around.
I'll miss him too, aside from the whole keeping me captive, he was a nice guy.
"And a true son of Poseidon as well." Percy said firmly.
Things were looking down now. Not only was he utterly lost as to where to go, but now he also had to bring a horse with him. The other horses either got caught by falling rubble or made it out of the store and ran off.
What now, he wondered.
Caldecott Tunnel.
"What?" Percy mentally asked.
Back when I was captive, I heard him talking about it a lot. He kept speaking to himself about how things were going to get like super bad soon and that two worlds were about to like totally collide.
Deciding it was better than nothing, Percy told Blackjack to get him there. What did he mean when he said two worlds were going to collide?
