Author's Note: This chapter was hard :(
Thanks for reviews, alerts, and faves. I do this for fun so it makes me happy that people recognize it. I do not own Percy Jackson or any related characters and I do not own House of Wolves by My Chemical Romance.
The answer was trouble.
I heard a scream pierce the night. I turned abruptly and oh so conveniently smacked my head against a wall, hearing a sicking crack. I put my head in my hands as my brain thumped like a good bass line. I blinked rapidly but everything I saw was blurred. I knew I had to get away from... whatever that was, and get my head checked. I backed up the direction I thought I'd come but instead I came across a maze of passageways and dead ends. Perfect.
I heard things that did not belong in a New York City alleyway: inhuman screeches, howls, and the clang of metal against metal. From a corner rounded a dark mob, things I couldn't make out in the dark. And they were coming my way. The smart thing to do would have been to run away fast. Maybe it was my head injury (or just masochistic amazement) but I stayed where I was, cowering with my back to a grimy wall. As they got closer and I deciphered the lines and shapes, my jaw hit the ground. I'd finally lost my mind.
Remember that 'taboo' chapter of my textbook, 'Greek Monsters'? Well it contents were slinking my direction.
I couldn't tell what everything was but I recognized the women, normal except for their Greek battle armor and two snake-like trunks. Dracaena. Marching behind them were two giants, swinging javelins, looking hungry. Thrown in were giant dogs that looked like they were made of shadow and creatures with flaming hair, illuminating their scary but pretty faces. In the lead was a monster I knew well, the Amphisbaena. It slithered down the pass, it's two heads placed at opposite ends sniffing the air. The venom dripping from its oversized fangs burned little holes in the concrete. These monsters were coming to kill me. Or so I thought. The miniature army split in the middle and through it came a figure that looked human, thank goodness.
The figure screamed a battle cry. Then, all hell broke loose. I heard the screeches again, they came from the girls with the hair of flames. A hellhound bounded toward the figure, and I decided to assume the fighter was a girl. If that were me I'd have fainted, but the girl hit it and it dissolved. She hadn't hit it with her hand, however, she'd used a sword. As she slashed and hacked, I could only see the sword if I focused. It was long and black as the sky, mirroring the moon and stars, and anything within a foot of it disinergrated. Yet the girl was struggling and the monsters got a few good strikes. One of the giants whacked her over the head and she buckled to her knees. The giant raised a foot to squish her but the girl rolled out of the way and stabbed it in the back.
The fight was getting closer and closer to me, but neither the monsters nor the girl noticed me watching. Thirty feet, twenty feet... I could see the girl's eyes: dark brown with a crazed light like she was enjoying herself. An empousa raked at her and I wanted to scream "Turn around" but the words got stuck in my throat. Luckily, the girl back handed her with extreme force. Unluckily, she smacked her right into me. I crumpled under the empousa's weight, my head smacking the walls again. I felt something warm and sticky run down the back of my neck. I was vaguely aware that the contents of my purse had spilled out and my iPod had turned itself on at maximum volume. Gerard Way filled the air:
"You better run like the devil 'cause their never gonna leave you alone
You better hide out in the alley 'cause their never gonna find you a home
As the blood runs down these walls
You see me creepin' up these halls I'm a bad mother******
Tell your sister I'm another Go! Go! Go!"
Yes, I was pretty sure at least a little of my blood had just repainted these walls. The lyrics made me think how this wasn't the first time I wished I'd listened to Thalia.
Back in what shouldn't have been reality, the monsters and the girl noticed me for the first time. The Amphisbaena sniffed the air, and all the creatures turned toward me... and charged. I don't know what you'd do but I screamed like a little girl. I'd always thought Greek monsters left humans alone! A dracaena stabbed toward me with her spear but I ducked, the tip lodging itself above my head. She pulled it out angrily and tried again. I yelped and jumped out of the way each time. Finally the fighter slashed off her head and the dracaena blew away in a cloud of gold dust.
"What the heck is going on!" I cried. The girl didn't answer me. She was too busy fighting, which I would have done if I wasn't so stunned. The battle went on until there was only a giant and a handful of hellhounds. They retreated, yelling curses in Greek. I choked on the gold dust polluting the air and squinted through it to make out my savior. She took off her helmet. She was a he. Oops.
Yes indeed it was a boy. He would have been really good looking if he hadn't had such a crazy and or mad expression on his face. I could tell from experience he was getting ready to tell me off, but I got a word in first,
"What's your name? Who are you? What are you?"
The boy didn't respond, instead he snapped: a loud, clear sound. Before I fell asleep he told me his answer. What was it?
I already told you that.
If you didn't get it it went like this: "What's your name? Who are you? What are you?" "Trouble." I don't know how it was but fight scenes aren't my specialty.
~Lunar