I'm A/N:
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*answering your reviews*
Zombiemaker22: Yeeeeeessss but could you provide some more thoughts?
Deathcorn5: Same with you
It had been three weeks since we last had any trouble with the monsters. Over the course of those three weeks, we'd been slowly building up a stockpile of supplies, moving from place to place as we tried to find somewhere secure to settle. I hadn't had any dreams since then, so I guess I was in the clear for now. Recently, we'd been following a rumor that there were other survivors somewhere in New York, and that they were trying to start a settlement.
Currently, we were taking refuge in a parking garage. We had a nice fire going, and each of us was enjoying something that wasn't out of a can, for a change. Samwise, Gwen, and Bran managed to snag some actual food from an out-of-the-way diner, one of those places you never really knew about, and practically walked right by everyday. They'd found some steaks, potatoes, and actual carrots, all in a freezer that somehow still worked. So there we were, enjoying an actual meal for once, laughing at stories we were sharing from before the end.
"So, wait… you were an accountant?" I asked incredulously at Bran. He nodded, trying not to laugh too much. "Yup, worked over on Wall Street. I had a suit and tie and everything. Felt like a monkey."
His long, dark hair and thin build didn't fit the look. If I had a say, he was very similar to Nico. Speaking of monkeys…
"You think there'll be monkeys left?"
Gwen considered it for a moment, before answering. "Nah. Animals can sense natural disasters AND run faster than people. A definite higher percentage of them survived."
While I couldn't argue with that logic, did the black animals attack regular animals? I hope not, otherwise we're going to be losing a lot of cattle. What? I still wanted my burgers.
Samwise chuckled as he adjusted himself. "I can tell you with a guarantee that animals would be smart enough to live through this. Mother Nature ain't exactly the type to give up so easily." I had to stop myself from telling him Mother Nature actually had been beaten and that was the whole cause of all this, but I wasn't one for ruining the mood… and there was the possibility he wouldn't believe me. Still, hearing him talk about that brought back some memories, both bad and good. I remembered when I fell into Tartarus with Annabeth while the others went to close the doors from the Overworld. I remembered having lost almost all of my memories, except for Annabeth and how to fight. I remembered holding up the sky while Artemis and Atlas fought each other, an ultimate test of will. I even remember what Annabeth said to me the first time we met. You drool in your sleep. Gods, that seemed so long ago now.
Time. Did Chronos exist, anymore? Was science real in the first place? How much of everything we knew actually stemmed from the gods' influence? What could we call real? I looked around, finally seeing the world for what it was without the gods, or the titans, or anything else. Dust, echoes, and death. No grass on the ground, no birds in the sky. Even the winds were silent.
I sighed, my mind finally accepting everything that had happened. It wasn't a bad dream, and it wouldn't go away. I had to go on, for the others, and humanity. Everyone at Camp Half-Blood, and New Rome. I'm going east, so I guess a few others made it. But still, everything feels just so wrong. It's like this shouldn't even be happening.
Jessie nudged me a little, bringing me back to the present. "You okay, kid?" I nodded and restarted the search for supplies. The broken down cars were thoroughly looked through, although we had no engineer or mechanic to look through them for parts. I only had minimal experience in hotwiring, and don't even talk about engineering.
We got a few first aid kits and earthquake survival kits from the cars, but that was it. My wounds were fine, long ago healed by the water. Kronos sat happily through the satchel, harmless. I'd discovered a while ago that it didn't harm the wielder itself, and… the black beasts were unaffected. That lead the conclusion that they had no soul. Regardless, the scythe cut through them without any disruption.
Click
Our happy hike was interrupted by a swift cocking of guns. I didn't know what they were doing, but you didn't exactly need to cock your weapon for other purposes than intimidation, so…
"Put your hands up! Drop your weapons! And hand over anything you got, too."
Fuck, bandits. Well, we were all bandits, but some people just specialized in it. They were a far cry from the "raider" bandits you'd normally see in like a tv show or a video game about the Apocalypse, but still, not fun. I rolled my eyes as a few of the bandits came to relieve us of our gear. They wore mostly brown clothes, pants, and a vest here and there. All of them had a sort of wraparound cloth mask to keep them mysterious. Oooooh, spooooky, I thought mockingly.
They took everything but our clothes, and only because a howl was heard in the distance. Our guns were taken, our supplies. One person had Kronos, and made a stupid mistake. "What the hell you got a scythe for?" he asked me as he reached into the satchel. The moment he made contact with the ancient weapon, however, and he was on fire. Literally. The power of the scythe burned through him, burned him, and left nothing but a pile of ash in seconds, nur even enough time for him to get a scream out. And that wasn't exactly a good thing for us. Everyone had their guns trained on us.
I reached for one of their necks, holding him in a choke grip, and held the gun to the group of banditos. "Put the fucking guns down!" They hesitated. "I said fucking do it, or you'll be short all members!" I moved slowly towards Kronos, kicking it up with my foot. The weapon fell into my grip comfortably.
Immediately, one of the bandits made move to take hostage as well, hoping to defuse the situation.
Chink
I felt Kronos click in my hands, but the blade, now much smaller, was embedded into his skull. With a shlink, the scythe's chain retracted. I held down my surprise down as well, otherwise we'd all panic and die.
"That's what I got a scythe for." I tried my best to hide the fact that I killed another living human being this month, and trying to keep my stomach from doing somersaults.
The bandits fired, drawing curious growls from the creatures. Everyone scrambled for cover, while I ditched the now unconscious bandit in favor of escaping bullets. I held Kronos tight, hoping this would work. I peeked out from cover, trying to recreate the same feeling I felt moments before.
Chink
Kronos' head burst out of the polearm, dragging a long silver chain behind it. It found its mark in the far back bandit, slicing through his head like butter. I suppressed the wince I usually felt when I first killed a demigod, and started retracting the chain. Kronos sailed backwards like a whip, curving like a snake as it decapitated two bandits on the way back. I imagine there was going to be a talk about the killing later, but that could wait until later. The bandit's' eyes widened, clearly not expecting the brutal outcome of their raid.
I charged the last two, dragging Kronos behind me in a scythe sweep motion.
"Legsweeper mode activated."
My eyes widened as the blade turned and thinned, turning into the shape of an actual agricultural scythe, with the two handles and everything. My charge was already in place, however, as the thin blade cut through the bandits' leg like grass. Holy shit! Kronos swiftly returned to its normal form, extra handles disappearing. I didn't stop there, downing the other with a couple of swipes.
Grrrr…
"Quick, gather all the supplies!" I shouted. The survivors got out of their shock, quickly choosing having supplies over a discussion about my morals. The wolves and bears hopped over cars, crushing them to remove the obstacles. Kronos shot out like a rocket again, hitting the back of the pack, and thinning it by travelling back. I found the chain to be hard to control, like trying to wrestle a cobra (a natural talent of mine).
Ding!
"Owww…." I rubbed my head, not caused by Kronos travelling back at high speeds.
My attention was brought back to leap out of a bear's killzone, which I immediately stopped by cleaving in half. The others were met head on. Fuck, should have practiced more, should have practiced more! Nonetheless, I considered myself decent with the weapon, by the way the beasts were falling at quick speeds. One almost got too close with a survivor, which I tackled out of the way.
"Get out of here!" I yelled, motioning towards the high advertisement post beside us.
I picked up my shotgun from the pile of loot the bandits gathered, and fired at the front of the (now reduced) pack. It clutched its nose in pain, which I quickly corrected by slicing it into ribbons. The last 5 or so monsters charged at once, nothing stopping them from reaching me at once. Kronos expanded, the blade having almost twice the surface area. What? My demigod reflexes already covered it, and in a single swipe, the five were cut down.
"So, you've killed before?" John inquired.
I nodded blankly at him, my thoughts avoiding the demigods and human thugs I'd killed in the past. My short experiences with video games helped... let's just say cope with it before it happens. Video games gave you the instinct to stop hesitating and ignore deaths, we'd tried lots of video game therapy before the war started on the new campers, in hopes they won't go insane after killing something.
Samwise sighed, shaking his head in sadness. I was actually surprised by the way most of them reacted, fully expecting them to be distrusting and stuff. However, I guess taking your supplies and threatening your life AND being an asshole to others left a really bad impression on everyone. A few even patted me on the back. Gwen and Bran were… suspicious, to say the least. We picked up their weapons and the (chopped up) vests, which barely remained in the first place due to the fact that half of them were burnt to ashes. At least we could use what remained as makeshift bandages. Slingshots were a no-go, we didn't have any construction or home supplies for that.
A teenager, no older than 14, picked up a few rocks and pocketed them.
Pretty soon, we found shelter in a few rows of short buildings that remained in decent condition. The brown clouds sailed miles above, and I couldn't help but stare at the sky, despite how ugly it seemed to the common eye. It was a hidden beauty.
The crumbling of paint and the cracked wood signaled us to a more stable home. I kicked the door open, the others unintentionally stepping away from Kronos. Nice…
There was a stairwell on my right, with pictures hanged on that remained visible and mostly free of rust. The others called it the "rust" because the dusty wind always seemed to deteriorate whatever it touched. I explored and cleared the rooms, leaving the drawers for other discussion. The kitchen knives were actually left alone, since everyone had, like, five of them. It was something most movies forgot, common things everyone had.
I set up my own mattress in a separate small room, and the moods of everyone quickly improved. All the lost family, all the left alone countries were forgotten. There were many of us here, tourists from other countries, people who just came to make money, even some who just came to visit family. Those who already had friends formed bonds, but those who didn't quickly warmed up too. Survivors didn't sit alone in depression. Survivors gathered around the campfire happily. At least this was the case for my group.
All the faded t-shirts, the sunglasses.
I stirred from my mattress, no drool. It was still dark out, with the sun still below the horizon. Everyone else was still asleep, by the sounds of silence in the house. Careful not to cause too much noise, I made my way outside. The stars were still visible in the sky. Guess not everything was taken when the gods fell. At least the night sky was still beautiful. I could still make out the constellations, too. Orion was still there, with his club high above his head. The Big Dipper and the Little Dipper still hung around. I even saw the Huntress above. Zoe. She was still there. A thought crossed my mind. If Zoe's constellation was still in the sky, would that mean that other places from mythology still existed as well? Could it be possible for the Underworld to still be there? My heart began to race now. If the Underworld was still there, then Annabeth would still be there too! And Mom, and Paul, and everyone! They would all be in the Underworld.
CRUNCH!
What was that? That sound jarred me from my thoughts and brought me back to the harsh world. Something was out there. I grabbed Kronos and brought it out at full scythe mode. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! There it was again. It wasn't too far away, but I wasn't exactly too thrilled about going to investigate a weird noise, at night, away from base. That's how people died in horror movies, and I wasn't about to become another Scream! victim. Still, if it was something that could threaten everyone else, I had to make sure it wouldn't come for us.
I carefully made my way over to where the noise was coming from. It was next to a destroyed strip mall. As I got closer, I was able to hear more sounds. Namely, eating sounds. Squelches, ripping and tearing, even the occasional snort or two. I shook the nausea away. I've heard worse than this when Smelly Gabe was still around. I could handle it. CRUNCH!
Mostly. Mostly handle it.
I took refuge behind a broken down car, the first signs of rust visible on its edges. The sounds were louder now, which was a plus for me. Still, I slowly peeked over to see what was happening.
It was a hellhound, gorging itself on the remains of a dark wolf pack. Black blood was everywhere, and I wasn't able to see inside the thing, but judging by the way the hellhound was going at it like a popstar to Starbucks, it was probably safe to say there was a lot of tearing involved. For some reason, the corpse of the wolves didn't evaporate like usual.
I watched the gruesome spectacle for a while, unsure what to do. The hellhound did kill one of those things, but at the same time it was a hellhound, and it wasn't Mrs. O'Leary, either. It was smaller, more about the size of a small SUV, if anything. Its fur was mottled and coated in dried blood. I didn't see any scars on it so I could only imagine where it came from. Hopefully it was just from local wildlife. Scratch that, it probably fucked up a lot of people's' lives.
After about a minute of devouring the corpse, something happened to the hellhound. It began to gag, like it had something lodged in its throat. The heaving only got worse, to the point that I almost heaved. While it heaved, black gunk began to fall from its throat. It looked like it came from the creature, but at the same time it looked like a giant black ball of mucus.
The stuff it was heaving only grew, as whatever came from the hound's mouth collected and combined with the other stuff, until it was about as large as the hound itself. Then it attacked.
Yeah, you heard me. Attacked. Like, come alive and attach itself to the hound's head, attacked. The hound was as surprised as I was, and tried to shake the stuff off. Tendrils crawled from the mass, snaking over the hound as it was dragged into the mass little by little. Now I was horrified. Since when did something like that ever get made? I'm pretty sure not even the gods would want something like that around. It was like watching a train wreck. I wanted to look away, but at the same time I couldn't. Soon the hellhound was completely engulfed by the mass, and I could see it still struggling even from within.
Two minutes of the hellhound struggling passed, with me thinking it was going to break out on several occasions. But that wasn't the case, as it struggled less and less, until finally it stopped. All that was left of the scene was a giant black ball of mucus, and an evaporating wolf. What. The. Fuck?!
I was about to leave, to go tell everyone it was a good idea to move out. Not safe to take it on with all these people, after all. It wriggled and writhed, and the next thing I knew, it spat out the hellhound. Only it wasn't a hellhound, anymore.
This thing was a dark as the wolf, with the same red eyes and light amounts of white bone armor as well. It was bigger, too, having grown at least another few feet in height. Now it was fucking huge, well at the size of a garbage truck. Has it become stronger?
It looked right at me. Through my soul. I saw darkness creeping up my vision, only this wasn't unconsciousness. It was the shadows themselves, spiny tendrils slowly making its way up my head. I shook myself. "Percy?" Asked Samwise from the darkness of the house.
"Everyone get out of the house! If you have a gun, provide some damn covering fire!"
A deep, guttural bark came from the beast, causing ringing in my ears and shaking my bones it was so damn loud. Samwise saw the thing, lost a little color, and immediately took aim and fired. I was stunned for a moment at why he was firing, but I didn't have much time to think, and decided to charge the beast, Kronos out and ready and my shotgun pointed outward. The beast saw me charging, growled, and went into pouncing crouch. I saw it, and began to run at an angle, firing off one of my rounds into its face. I may as well have been blasting it with salt with the amount damage I did, which is to say none.
Samwise proved how good he was with a rifle, as I saw small bullet wounds (if you could call scratches bullet wounds) suddenly appear on its snout and ears. It howled to the sky, before charging at Samwise. I reacted too late and ended up skidding and falling, watching as Samwise fired round after round into the thing's face.
At the last possible moment, Samwise tried to dodge, but the beast was quick and snapped its jaw around his leg. Samwise cried out in pain, spurring me to move faster. I scrambled to my feet, prepared Kronos into Khopesh form, and charged. It shook Samwise around like a ragdoll, before he went flying into the car I was hiding behind earlier. He didn't move. I was still charging when it happened, and I felt a storm of emotions inside me. Rage boiled my blood, panic froze my veins, and light horror gripped my heart at the familiar scene, but I still charged in nonetheless. My body moved on its own as I pulled the trigger, blasting the beast's hind legs with pellets, mainly to get its attention. It worked, seeing as how it turned towards me, with Samwise's leg still in its mouth.
It twisted its head to the side, swallowing the leg whole before charging at me.
It was just there.
I mean, my demigod reaction speed could barely catch up to it, and seeing as I dodged bullets from handguns on a regular basis, this was no small feat.
Kronos was already racing forward by the time I even realized what my body was doing. Kronos scratched it, and by what had occurred, it was evident the soul slashing effect had been stronger than before. The hellhound reared back in pain, leaping back several meters and cracking the ground beneath it. I grinned grimly and shot off with an earthquake at my feet. The hellhound lashed out with a powerful paw strike, but it was blocked by the scythe. I slid back from the force of the impact.
It zipped around at what must have been speeds higher than sound, shifting left and right, from house to house. When it got closer, however, it suddenly appeared behind me, my instincts barely managing to block the white claws. I suddenly lashed out, hoping to catch it off guard.
I didn't.
Instead, the beast yelped and jumped backwards in a cloud of dust, landing on the rooftops with surprising grace. Somehow, the building didn't crumble, but that didn't matter. I leaped up with a jump as well on the black rooftops, not even registering that I did something that once should have been impossible for me.
The hellhound roared with the intensity of a thousand battlefields, before charging swiftly at me, swaying and curving around the tight pellet spread of my shotgun. Only a few rounds managed to scratch it. I cursed and ran, blindly firing behind. As it began to catch up, I spotted a weak point in the structure of a certain roof.
I flipped up and above what must have been really high above the hellhound, which was still hungrily looking at the space I occupied moments before. I grinned midair, brain going at an all-time high, and fired two successive rounds. The roof collapsed, and the hound yelped before rolling left and landing on the ground with a swift thud. I immediately retaliated, firing Kronos at its stomach.
The scythe head sailed true, dragging the chain behind it. I smirked victoriously. Obviously it could only do the thing where it went stronger and faster for a little bit, from the way it started slowing down as it approached before. I had no idea how fast it could recover, but to end it, I had to move fast.
To my surprise, Kronos did its job well. The hellhound struggled for a bit, ignoring the wound in its stomach. It bit back a growl, and weakly jumped up the roof. I walked over to it slowly, stomping on its paw when it tried to attack. I held its head down in a tight grip, choking it slowly. I slowly readied Kronos. With a short 'flick', the hounds' head rolled off, and the rest evaporated away peacefully, in the direction of what I assumed to be the black mist. I briefly wondered if the badass execution would land me any points in the cool book, before I remembered that there wasn't a 'cool book' anymore.
I rushed over to Samwise, Kronos waving behind me like a madman. He spat out a wave of blood, looking me right in the eye with a smile, before slumping over, dead. I shook his head and called his name, but there was no response. Fuck. I sent off the hundredth prayer, and soon, the others swarmed over, regardless of the fact that I just killed a dangerous creature.
I blocked out the crying of many people, more concerned about the welfare of the group. Gwen's grim expression darkened as she picked up his rifle, determined to probably avenge his death.
I dodged another strike from John, the frustration in the man's voice was clear.
"Come on, big guy, give it your best shot!" I encouraged, batting away another sway of his modified baseball bat. John was a historian, I soon learnt.
Therefore, warfare was his primary field of study, as he frequently mentioned. He told me that one day, he hoped to be able to lead an army, take back our country from the black beasts that roamed the world.
"Dammit, I knew I should have worked out more before all this." John groaned behind his improvised shield. It took a little convincing to get him to stop hiding behind a shield, and it seemed my teaching was somewhat effective.
The aluminum bat, barbed with sharp razors, was not a terrible choice of weapon. He lacked a true blunt weapon, however, as you'd be surprised how sometimes non-lethal is the better way to go.
"Can't do nothing about that." I stepped forward, easily exploiting his stance and disarmed him. Gwen applauded, apparently somewhat impressed I disarmed an armored strong man with nothing but my hands. CQC was not Gwen's first choice, but Samwise had taught her a lot about rifles, and I'd seen her will to uphold his memory.
After the short run-in with the hellhound, I did some more live demonstrations on kitchen knife fighting, as i'd been taught at camp. That kid, what's-his-name actually nailed a couple of throws. I congratulated the kid, and went back to drilling the weaker tourists. Hopefully, with the basic combat training, we'd stand a better chance.
"You ready for another round?" I asked John. Humans could only fight for so long, after all. If you could successfully hold a melee fist fight for a whole minute, I'd be impressed. Some people forgot just how much energy fighting used up.
John nodded and came after me again, this time trying something new. He swung his bat from his far right, and as I dodged it tried to uppercut me with his shield. Clever trick, but unfortunately for him I had plenty of experience with foes using a sword and shield on me - mainly Clarisse whenever she was in a bad mood. Still I had to actually roll back to avoid getting a face full of splinters. John was getting a bit ballsy now, rapidly trying to swing his bat at me, all of which were either countered or dodged. He gave another swing, and this time I decided to surprise him. Midway through his swing, I stepped inside the strike, grabbing his arm and giving him a light headbutt, just strong enough to knock him back a bit. With that new opening, I proceeded to teach him what getting crazy in a fight would lead to, and in the next minute he was breathing hard and sprawled out on the ground, his bat resting in his open hand. "Focus on the fight itself, and don't let it get to you, otherwise you'll find yourself in a worse position than you started."
I offered him a hand up, which he managed to grab hold of, and helped him to his feet. He gave me a nod of thanks, seeing as he couldn't speak with the amount of air going in and out of his lungs, and trudged and stumbled over to Gwen, taking a seat next to her and Bran. Jessie was off to the side, cleaning out our gun barrels with a long brush we found while searching in a hunting shop. Most of the ammo and guns were gone, but there were a few maintenance items remaining.
Police stations didn't offer much either. Most people instinctively went to them to get weapons, and we were quite late. All we found were bare skeletons with handcuffs on their wrists. Ironically, about half of them wore what was left of police uniforms. Guessing the inmates didn't get out on good behavior before things went to shit. The sky was mostly clear for a change, but without the clouds the sun was bearing down incredibly. I figured it would have been about 90 degrees at noon, so it was probably about 95 or so now. I had lived in New York all my life, so I was mostly used to it, but some of the others weren't so lucky, to say the least. Thankfully, we had plenty of shade and water, so we were good for the time being. "Okay guys, time for a break! Rest for about an hour or so, and come back here for more training." The seven people that showed up nodded and went off to find somewhere to nap. I had other plans.
I walked by Jessie, giving her a friendly nod, before going off to find somewhere secluded. For the past few days I've let my mind wander over how I could use my powers for more than fighting or sailing. I came up with all sorts of weird ideas, but a few good ones too, mainly trying to use my abilities to try and make fresh water from regular water. It came to me when I was thinking back to how Annabeth would try and teach me about aquatic life whenever we had free time, and she had once told me that fresh water could come from salt water with enough purification. Then I had thought, I control the sea so why can't I just remove the salt and germs and keep the good water. So that's what I've been practicing on.
There was a nice, quiet spot about fifty meters from where we were camping. It was calm, with a few trees nearby, and some very deep puddles. Now I wasn't one for turning down water in most situations, but seeing how the puddles were a dark brown with plenty of algae floating on top, I was willing to pass, but they made for excellent practice spots.
For the next forty-five minutes, I sat there, concentrating on the water in front of me. I could manage to get a decent-sized ball of water floating, and I could feel all the tiny things running around inside it, but whenever I tried to separate them I felt like I was pulling on two industrial-grade magnets with spaghetti. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get them to get out. Little bastards were stubborn, that's for sure. I even lifted a sealed can of water. Well, there was nothing to do with the water itself, but I was testing the limits. My powers, when used lightly, weren't draining at all. Imagine if that was on a bigger scale… If it got to what my imagination was thinking, I'd probably be able to control entire oceans without much effort.
Seeing as how I wasn't making much progress, I decided to head back to our camp. From then on until dusk, we trained, with Gwen and Bran going head to head in a brawl. They were pretty evenly matched, due to their similarities in muscle mass.
I blew off another patch of dust that had gathered on my shotgun. I had no idea what model it was, and it evidently wasn't the best quality. It was a poor quality shotgun, one you would see an American family own, hanged up for display. Despite that, it worked fine. It was a streak of luck that it never jammed on me.
I recalled the first few times I fired a gun, with Chiron adjusting my grip and Luke teaching us different stances. It was the first ranged weapon I fired without hitting my own ass, which was a pretty impressive feat by itself. The noise was a bit disorienting, of course… Yeah, we didn't wear any ear protection. Thank demigod enhanced senses!
Crunch
Have you ever done something out of curiosity as a kid that was probably extremely dangerous, but you thought was a cool experiment? Say, throwing stones at a moving car. That's what I felt like.
I turned my attention to a man sneaking past us. He didn't seem to want to cause any trouble (the pile of rifles isn't really welcoming), hell, he was barely armed. I looked at the cup of water in my hand in contemplation and anxiety. What to do, what to do… "Fuck it," I muttered under my breath. Only chance to try this.
I slowly levitated the cup's contents, amassing the size of a… I don't have anything to compare it to. I held out my hand, moving it closer and closer to the guy… there. The water was inside of him. He jumped slightly when it entered, but found nothing wrong behind him. I even saw a bit of water sticking out of him as I momentarily forgot to move it alongside him. He touched the back of his shirt, but didn't comment on it. I sighed in relief. Now for the tricky part… sorry, dude.
It started slowly, but I extended my senses into the water, gazing inside of his body. Okay, that was a little stalkerish, but it's for science, right? I waved my hand like a wave, moving the water in rapid motions. The man's breath visibly hitched, hunching over in disorientation. I moved the water upside down, more and more, and sped up. The man fell over, result of the circulation I'd messed around with reaching his brain. I sped over, checking his pulse. Please be alive, please be alive…
I sighed in relief. He was alive, alright. Hopefully I would be able to use this to quickly incapacitate large groups… What opened my mind was how little energy that took. I barely felt the tug on my stomach. Fuck it, I'm the new Rambo. I absently let the water rest on the poor guy, and I quickly hid his body in some comfortable space. Jeez, is this was what a serial killer felt on their first kill? My eyes widened as his body moved by itself, dragging across the dirt. I frowned in concentration, and the man moved, the water inside him dragging him.
Holy bejesus of Olympus, what I could do… Imagine all the cookies I could levitate! And don't even get me started about the soda cans!
I decided at that moment in time, that I, Percy Jackson, had to improve my badass abilities.
The group gathered around the campfire in silence. We'd traversed the wasteland, searching for a place to stay. We were nomads, in every sense and fashion. We hiked the wastes, looking every day for a building with suitable support structure and food. If it didn't, well, tough luck, bitch, sleep in hunger.
"You can't be fucking kidding me! We have to move west, that's the only way we'll ever settle down!"
"Calm down, Percy-" John started, but was cut down by Gwen.
"You need to face reality, Percy, humanity is gone."
"Fuck off! You're telling me that you'll give up a real shot at rebuilding civilization to move around in some fucking dead city?" I argued.
"It's the best for us, Perce, the food-"
"Don't you dare call me that, and me? I am the one that wants the best for us. This nomadic lifestyle, it needs stop. You need to face reality; these cans of perishables aren't going to be around forever."
"Don't be joking, humanity is dead. I get it, you want to rebuild. But I know you weren't here to see it happen. You don't know what it's li-"
"Shut the fuck up! Don't you dare assume for a fucking second that I don't know shit! Hell, I was fighting for the good cause while you dipshits were sitting in your fucking shelters with casseroles on your laps!" I pounded the table, breaking it in half with an astute crack.
I stormed out of the building. If these shitfaces weren't going to be real and build a permanent settlement, what was humanity going to become?
I walked for… I don't know how long. Long enough to have gotten away from the others. I had entered another desolate part of the city (No surprise there) and just found myself storming through a building, hoping to find some distractions.
Grrrrr…
I narrowed my eyes at the source of the growl. My hands shot out, tearing apart the wolf's throat. The pained shrieks of pain from its dying pack members were music to my ears as I walked further and further away from the camp.
As I walked further in, I left more bodies behind me, my clothes completely stained with their blood. My hands were shaking from having slashed through like no problem, Kronos was just humming with energy and excitement. Guess this is what dear old Grandad left me his scythe for: slaughtering. It demanded more blood, and it didn't care where it came from, and I obliged, going through room by room and taking out the wolves by the dozen. My mind blanked, and for a moment I was in peace. I wasn't worried about humanity, I wasn't worried about the others, I wasn't even guilt-ridden over Samwise's death, anymore. I was just doing what I did best. This was one of the best perks of Kronos. I wasn't using it to directly kill things, but the bracelet was influencing some of my actions. When I punched something, sometimes the wound would be a large sickle cut.
By the time there were no more wolves left, I was coated in their blood. Kronos had stopped vibrating which left my hands shaking. I spat out what little blood actually got in my mouth, disgusted by the taste. Seriously, the stuff tasted like rancid eggs and charcoal. I mean I know that it probably shouldn't be a surprise that their 'blood' was disgusting, but still, it was.
I wiped away what little blood there was and looked around to see where I was. In my haste to kill the wolves, I had managed to get myself onto the fifth floor of the building I was in. I don't remember how I got here, and the bodies of the wolves were everywhere, literally in some cases, so that wasn't much help either. Looks like I get to walk a maze, I thought bitterly, feeling everything I had ignored before return with a vengeance. My bitterness and anger towards the others for acting so stupid. We could easily find somewhere good to live, make a settlement and try to restart humanity. It was better than sitting with our thumbs up our asses and trying to find cans.
Yeah, even if it was just a rumour. From all the few scarce stores we ran into on the way here. Still, worth a shot, right? In my anger, I felt a rumble beneath me. I tried looking around, but found no source. I slowly let the realization wash over me.
It was water.
Millions of gallons of explosive force, just sitting under me the whole time. Some of the pipes were broken, but the major framework was still there. I extended my senses over it, feeling it stretch on for miles with no end. I pulled a bit towards me, and the liquid soaked through the earth to respond to my call. The gesture was so familiar i felt almost no tug in my stomach.
I let the smooth liquid purify and run over my skin, caressing the light bruises and anger. I sighed and broke through the window. To anyone else, jumping from a five-story building would likely result in the loss of their life, but I was unharmed from the impact, mostly thanks to the water I carried at my waist dampening the impact… I got empowered every time I was near any water, after all. I shook my head, trying to hold back the years as I knew Leo would have been proud of that pun.
I had cooled off enough not to beat the stupidity out of everyone's souls when I returned, but there was still some tension I was getting from John, Gwen, and Bran. Still, at least we weren't killing each other. Though every time we saw each other we would give each other a rather pointed glare before leaving in opposite directions.
Later that day I went back out to practice my control of water, this time bringing a bottle of the nasty gunk water along since there were no puddles around. I opened the bottle, set it down, and focused. I could feel my gut tug as the water rose out of the bottle and formed a ball in midair. Once again I could feel everything inside it. All those nasty things, and again when I tried to separate them from the water it was a no go. I tried with everything I had, using as much strength as I could spare, but that water just refused to separate itself. Those little things floating around seemed to mock me, and with some frustration I slammed the water back into the bottle. That water wasn't going to be of use anymore, so I knocked over the bottle and watched as the water fell into the earth.
Watching the water reminded me of home, of camp. Back when the only thing we had to worry about was Zeus having a temper tantrum and wondering what quest we would have to go on next. Back before everything went to shit and died. A sigh escaped me, and I lowered my head, frustrated by everything around me, and yet unable to do a damn thing except for either kill men or kill monsters. That is what I seemed to be good at, after all. Killing. I lowered my head again, and sighed. Sometimes I wish this had never happened.
My father had once said something about water being an invincible force… It couldn't be separated with force, you had to ask nicely… At least, that's what I think he said. Never one for lectures, you know? I calmed and slowly soothed the liquid ball, which slowly responded and pressed into a more oval shape. I restrained my excitement, and focused, almost like that meditation crap.
Bit by bit, the bonds holding the two shapes loosened and thinned, until there was actual space between the two, and were separate beings. I suddenly got angry at Gwen's words before, and the left sphere plopped down onto the ground. I sighed and dropped my personal projects. My mental state was almost at its limit, at a constant battle of tiredness and restlessness. If only I could stretch it for a little longer.
We continued without discussion. Gwen would occasionally look over to me, and if or when I made eye contact she would give me a dark look and return to whatever it was she was doing. Bran had become indifferent towards me, which was fine by me. The one that actively tried anything remotely helpful was John, and that was only because I had the most experience in fighting. "Come on Percy, please. We need you to help with the monsters. Ever since Samwise…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence. I knew. Ever since Samwise died under my watch things had gotten worse for us. Gwen was nowhere near as good a shot as Samwise, and I wasn't one for trying anything other than my handy shotgun. Our ammo count was dwindling now, with me having to take the front with Kronos to cut down as many as possible with John usually going one-on-one with one of the weaker monsters. I figured if he had real experience every once in awhile his determination to stay alive would ignite a fire inside him and his inner warrior would come out.
Still, travelling hadn't been easy when most of the people I cared to know about didn't exactly appreciate my being there. I firmly believed having a settlement was the best way to go, and whenever John brought up the argument I always made it a point to make sure everyone knew where I stood.
One night things were at the boiling point, with myself and Gwen finally talking to each other. Well, more like having a shouting match. "Why are you so hellbent on trying to find a place to settle?" Gwen shouted at me, slamming her hands on the table between us. "Because humanity's best chance is in all of us trying to build something! Not move from place to place while we die off one by one!" It was true. Whenever we made a stop we risked losing someone to the monsters or the raiders that would somehow follow us. A few times we had a couple of close calls, but more than once we've had to make a grave for someone.
Gwen growled at me, looking me dead in the eye as she yelled, "You would have us make a huge target for every monster and bandit out there!" Gods this woman was stubborn. "I'm wanting for us to find a home!" I shouted back, doing my best not to take Kronos and end this discussion right then and there.
Jessie was our mediator, mainly because John wasn't sre who to side with. Honestly, I couldn't blame him, either. The guy just wanted what was best for everyone, even if it cost him everything he had. "What would Samwise say about this?" Jessie finally spoke up, and with that statement effectively shutting us up as well. I couldn't look at Gwen anymore, too ashamed by my own failure to even look up. The silence was deafening. Jessie pressed on. "He'd be wanting us to work together, to figure this out as friends and actually make something of this. Now I don't know whether or not Samwise would have wanted to keep moving or stop and try to make something from all this, but he wouldn't want us at each other's throats."
I hated it when people made points like that. It always hit me right in my heart like a railway spike. I couldn't see Gwen, but I assumed she was the same way. Samwise was important to all of us, and Jessie was right.
But to settle or be a nomad…. The rumours of nature growing back west were getting weaker. Whenever we travelled, everyone made a conscious effort to stay clear of Kronos. Yeah, after he touched it and was burnt to ashes, no one fucked close to it.
"Make way! Make way for our father and lords!" A crooked voice cried out.
They were your stereotype southern Americans. Light clothing, hunting weapons, heavy accent, and probably racist somewhere in their heads. They were pretty normal…
"Life and death! The chains of death! The halo of life!"
Other than that, they were also your average cult. Strange symbols, mostly normal, but probably dressed up as ice cream cones and danced around a campfire after dinner. The old man's shamble voice trembled with excitement.
"Behold, brother! I bring you the words of the father!"
I nodded at Gwen, who agreed only because a crazy man was dancing in front of the group.
"What's your business here?" John asked with a slight edge to his voice.
"Fear not, brother. I bring you no wrath. I only ask you if one thing."
"And that is?" Gwen asked with an impatient tone. The glaring gazes of our entire group didn't scare him the slightest, which was enough to put me in a suspicious mood.
"Of course, to join the father in his holy pilgrimage of this land!" He shouted in joy as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
As if on cue, a… Parade of trucks, SUVs, and gunmen, all painted with that black and white symbol roared into view, marching in a line. Hell, there was even a horse!
The "army" of 150 or so's attention turned to us, and I noticed the immediate tensing of shoulders at this turn of events. How did they get here so quietly?
Two guys, probably leaders, hopped out of their respective jeeps. As they approached, I got a better look. Their faces were average, like citizen average. However, the serious looks on their faces told a different story.
"Hold it there, citizens. I apologize for the… Strange behaviour brother Sid may display.
"He's your brother?" I asked.
The man with the orange goggles [and a gun] chuckled, before replying.
"No. This is simply how we refer to each other in the order."
"What order?"
"Ah, I believe Sid has not introduced us yet? We are the Order of brotherhood."
"..."
"We believe in the true gods, the only gods. Life and death. Our commands are to uphold the true belief, and we ask you today, as strangers united by the cause of survival, to join our cause."
Everyone stilled. A legit fucking cult? I felt anger, anger that these sons of bitches were sitting down begging to be fed from two brothers while we were survivors. I couldn't control it, I sort of wanted to stop it.
But I couldn't.
Under Gwen's panicked gaze, I dove forward and knocked the assault rifle from the orange glasses guy's hands, and grabbed it for myself. I held the gun up to the large cult, and used my free hand to hold a kitchen knife to orange's throat.
"Stay down! Stay the fuck down!" I yelled, my own heart beating faster than a machine gun.
Time slowed down.
My eyes widened further as a few cultists opened fire, leaving a streak of white and red.
They fell.
At least six on our side, two or three for them… Fuck!
Ah, should've known cultists were nutters… I grunted in rage as I punched orange in the stomach, and despite the lack of a weapon in hand, it created a large wound, like a sickle. Kronos…
I opened fire on the cultists, the short 3.5 seconds of gunfire mowing down at least a few of them. At this time, most people's survival instincts kicked in, and our group dashed to cover, leaving me in the open.
I growled In anger, and whipped out Kronos, the transformation blocking several shots. Time sped up again, and I let the weapon loose, cutting apart an entire SUV and any inside. The temporary cover created by the flying wreckage gave me a chance to rush at the horseman, and kick the goon off.
Hey, it's Percy Jackson! The horse shouted. I responded.
Alright. But I do get the blessing of Poseidon, right?
I nodded. Apparently, demigods could bless animals of their domain to be… Much better. Go team bulletproof blackjack! I placed my hand on the brown horse, letting some of my power roll through it.
"Jack" neighed, and immediately was met with a flying grenade. He batted it away with a sway of his head, and the shell of the launched explosive landed harmlessly on the wrecked pavement.
I hopped on Jack with an effortless stride, and spun Kronos, stabbing it into the ground butt first.
Time slowed.
No, it literally slowed. My vision was blurred in a ray of gold, and the explosions and gunfire and yelling ceased to monster-like growls.
A bullet leisurely sailed towards me, appearing to be slower than a sword slash. Whoa.
Experimentally, I poked at it.
The lead projectile moved back, and the force of the impact sent a visible wave of force around it. I turned to the other bullets, batting each one of them away in a small explosion. Please last a little longer…
Luckily, it did. I ran up to a cultist, and punched him in the nose. My eyes widened as a fountain of liquids broke out of his face, and a small wave of visible air had formed at the impact. His face was far too scrunched up, like someone has sucked his brains out from the back. I winced and decided a more friendly approach was best.
I dashed to each of the cultists, slapping their weapons away (ah, broke an arm) or giving light taps (shit, punched through his stomach).
Was this how Kronos destroyed celestial bronze? After all, it was indestructible. Could he have just slowed down time for everyone else, and used it to amplify his own force? I winced again as one of my attacks met so much air resistance the vehicle was knocked away before my fist even landed.
Apparently, my own time was speeding up occasionally as well, probably why I was leaving behind trails of white as I moved. I looked back at the carnage I had caused. Several webs of cracks and craters had formed underneath my own step… I felt the urge to return to Kronos.
I plucked Kronos from its original spot, ending the time dilation. I hopped on Jack. I winced yet again as an ear shattering explosion rang out, marking the deaths of countless gunmen/women.
Mass murder at its finest, eh?
A:N/ Percy, what have you done? Anyways, everyone, don't forget to review! *Chuckles evilly
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Mr.P3pp3r: And I'll handle the death threats! Until next time: DEUCE!