Disclaimer: Did I ever mention how I don't own this, and if I did, the world would probably explode?
Chapter 9: Bad Omens
Percy dreamt of destruction. There was a single humongous wave riding towards a small town. As the wave hit, the surrounding tree line was completely carried away with trunks smashing from the force and roots being pulled out by the debris and Percy cringed at the thought of all the nymphs' homes and life forces being destroyed. The wave continued on, though, and Percy watched as the ever-faster wave continued until it was almost to the town when Percy's perspective changed. Suddenly he was on the streets, watching as the town's inhabitants either stayed rooted to the ground, amazed by the sheer force of the wave while other scrambled frantically in hopes of getting away.
There was a single girl in the crowd that caught Percy's attention for some reason. She was around Percy's age with a slim, athletic body, and brown hair. The girl was carrying something- or rather, someone- in her arms and staring wide-eyed at the oncoming wave. Percy felt like there was some importance to the person in the girl's arms and tried to move his dream self forward to take a closer look. Percy's dream self was slow, though, and even as he tried to move quickly, Percy witnessed the wave arch down and crash towards the road with enough force to start cracking the asphalt, sending even more debris rushing around. The girl bent down, covering the body she was carrying just before the wave reached her. Percy heard someone call a name in the distance, but the dream shifted as soon as the wave started to reach the girl.
In the new dream shift, a man sat hunched down in a mourning position clenching his left hand in a fist. The man was mumbling something over and over under his breath and shaking his head. The air shifted around Percy and suddenly the demigod could hear what the man was saying. "They will pay," the man swore, "I will tear that accursed town apart brick by brick until I find the ones responsible, and I will make them pay. I swear it to you, my son."
Percy could hear the clear hatred present in the man's voice and wondered what happened to the man's son; he also wondered how all of this was related to him. Normally, whenever Percy had a dream it would be about the mass destruction of Earth or be something prophecy related, but Percy couldn't connect anything in his mind. Of course, that was when the figure looked up, eyes burning with anger that Percy realized he was staring at his own father, Poseidon. Still, it didn't connect in Percy's head yet. Poseidon said he lost a son that he would avenge, and as far as Percy knew Triton was still well and alive, and there were no other demigod children of Poseidon other than himself, but he was missing… oh.
Triton's plan suddenly came rushing back to Percy, and the demigod pieced the events together in his mind in growing dread. Poseidon thought Percy was dead and swore to avenge Percy's death. Percy realized that he had most likely seen the obliteration of Ferry Port Landing during the previous half of his dream, but one thing still didn't make sense. Who was the girl he saw, and why was she important? He had never seen her before, of that he was almost positive, so when would she appear? Percy was so busy trying to figure everything out that he almost never realized Poseidon was about to leave to some unknown destination in the ocean. Strangely, his dream self was able to keep up as Poseidon navigated secret passages and routes until Percy recognized the Hudson river Percy followed Poseidon as said god slowly approached the bank of the Hudson River, along the side of a town. Poseidon's eyes shown through with deep hatred as he glared at the houses lining the road of the town. Poseidon hefted up his trident and slowly moved his arm back so that he had a proper throwing angle. The Sea God roared and threw his trident forward, still keeping his eyes on the town. Percy watched as his dream went full circle when a massive wave followed the trident's target before he woke.
-Line Break-
On the Grimm's wooden canoe, Percy Jackson lay deadly still in the midst of chaos. Sabrina was behind the canoe, running like a crazed person as she tried to lead her family to safety and away from the mermen angrily chasing her. Jacob and Daphne Grimm were sitting inside the canoe trying to distract the mermen and doing their best to help with Sabrina's escape attempt. Daphne, the poor little girl, had no idea what she was doing and just grabbed whatever came out of her Uncle's Coat and desperately tried to figure out its' purpose. Jacob, however, was trying to keep things more orderly and help out Daphne when he could.
The real mess, of course, began when Daphne pulled out a glass jar with green liquid inside. Without thinking, the little girl threw the bottle towards the mermen and hoped it would work while Jacob Grimm's eyes went large as soon as he saw the jar go sailing. The jar flew through the air before arcing down and breaking on a rock near the closest merman. The jar exploded in a shower of glass and sudden flames burst out upon impact and the mermen soon found themselves swimming for safety from the green flames roaring down the water.
"OMG THAT WAS AWESOME!" Daphne yelled in excitement.
Uncle Jake just made a small whimpering sound next to the little girl, eyes filled with remorse for his sudden lack of Greek Fire, something he had considered a prized possession. Daphne looked to her Uncle and finally noticed his disappointed expression. "Uncle Jake? What's wrong?" the little girl asked innocently.
Uncle Jake only sighed; it was impossible to get mad at an eight year old when they pulled the puppy dog eyes out. "It's nothing, Daphne. That was just something I would have liked to save," he explained.
Daphne, for the most part, at least looked sad about the situation and didn't bother saying anything else. Sabrina was still forcing the boat across the river, though, and didn't bother stopping until she was in the middle of the forest. Uncle Jake leaned over to Percy and started to gently shake the demigod's shoulder in hopes of waking him up. Percy groaned and mumbled something that sounded strangely like I'm alive before he shot up, smacking Uncle Jake in the center of Uncle Jake's forehead.
"Whoa!" Uncle Jake yelled, grabbing his head in pain, "What was that for?"
Percy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I just had a bad dream," he explained. Uncle Jake began to nod before he suddenly looked up fast enough to create a snapping sound. "Bad dream?" Uncle Jake asked nervously.
"Yeah," Percy said, "We should continue on, though, I'll explain later."
Uncle Jake looked doubtful, but turned back to the girls. "Well then, let's look at this new clue," he said.
The sisters nodded and Uncle Jake picked up the newly recovered blade. "Beg the Hag of the Hills," Uncle Jake read aloud, and then frowned.
"The Hag of the Hills?" Sabrina asked at the same time Daphne asked, "What's a hag?"
Uncle Jake sighed, "I don't know who it is for sure, but I have a good guess. As for what a hag is, the only thing you need to know is that their mean old women. Let's go home now, girls… and Percy. I'm sure Mom's worrying."
-Line Break-
The Grimm family slowly made their way home where Sabrina immediately went to go check on Puck while Daphne went to take a shower. Jacob Grimm stayed downstairs to talk to his mother as well as question Percy's dream.
"Okay, so you mentioned a bad dream?" Uncle Jake asked.
Percy sighed and bit his lip nervously. "It wasn't good, not at all."
Uncle Jake picked up on Percy's nervousness and got defensive. "Percy, what did you see?" He demanded.
"There was a giant wave destroying the town. It was massive and it was strong," Percy said, shivering at the memory.
"What else happened, Percy? This is important," Uncle Jake warned, staring Percy in the eyes.
"Triton… when he separated me from everyone, he tried to kill me. I'm assuming you saved me; I don't know what happened, but the wave, it was my fault," Percy said.
Uncle Jake drew in a sharp breath. "How?"
Percy took a deep breath and sighed. "Triton went to our father and told Poseidon I was dead. My father isn't happy, he vowed to avenge me, and I watched him send the wave. He thinks someone in Ferry Port killed me," Percy explained.
There was a sudden gasp from behind Percy and the demigod turned to find Relda Grimm gripping a giant bowl in the kitchen behind him. Her face was pale, and her hands were shaking. "This is not good at all," she muttered, then in a louder voice asked, "Do you know how long it will be before Poseidon attacks?"
Percy paused for a moment before nodding to the old woman. "Poseidon should be here in about three days time, maybe more. I don't know exactly how long it will take Triton to get there, or for Poseidon to get past the mourning stage. There's no telling with him."
Granny Relda sighed. "We better get a move on, then. The faster we get the Vorpal Blade pieced together, the sooner you can convince Poseidon to show mercy. Jacob, what is the next clue?"
Uncle Jake pulled out the second piece of the Vorpal Blade and read the inscription once again for his mother. "Oh," Granny Relda said, "This will be interesting."
"What?" Uncle Jake asked, worried.
"You'll have to go to Baba Yaga," Granny Relda informed him.
A/N: SO SHORT! Anyway, I am a horrible human being who isn't even going to bother trying to explain why I just dropped off the face of the Earth for more than a month. At least I came up with this, though, right? In other news, this is almost over (cries softly in a corner). How did this happen? If you want a sequel, I have an idea for one. You don't have to tell me now, but when I reach the last two chapters, I'll ask for a vote. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this extremely short chapter ^-^
Review Replies:
Cynthia Darling: Yay, I'm not alone! By the way wafrawesome is now in my dictionary (that is seriously an epic word, and I don't even know why I love it so much). Anyway, as for tips, I posted a really hypocritical list on my profile, but I don't think it accomplished it's goal. The only thing I can really say is love what your writing, because if you don't love it, you don't put your best effort. That, and that you just have to always looks for new ways to improve. Keep writing, and eventually you'll end up surprising yourself with your ideas. Also, you may have caught a glimpse of your special request, but I would like some more information on this request so I can fully use it. Thank you!
Bookworm: Here is more! As for my secret, I come up with plot while I'm asleep. Yes, that's right, I came up with that whole thing while I was asleep and then I made a story out of it (don't ask me how, because I seriously don't know.) Also, I love this story, and I actually started writing this just so I could write about the interaction.
TooLazyToLogIn: I have no idea what your real username is... oh well. I updated, somewhat, and camp will appear soon enough. I've dropped a LOT of hints, though, to keep everyone satisfied.
Okay then, that's over now. Please leave a review and make me smile. BYE GUYS!