CHAPTER VII
The four foot monstrosity snarled at him as it eyed his sword warily, almost confused. A telekhine, an ugly half dog half seal looking monster that stood on two legs and had flippers for arms. He chuckled at the sight of it. Perseus hadn't seen a monster in years, his title of Godslayer deterred them from attacking him, and at some point they stopped coming to the surface all together. The sea demon took an experimental slash at him and howled in pain as it came back with only a stump for a left arm, blood the color of dark seaweed gushing from the wound. Rage seemed to cloud the little beasts' mind as it charged Perseus, who simply sidestepped the wild rush and kicked the telekhines feet out from under it, simultaneously sticking Riptide out causing it to trip and fall right onto his sword.
"Γαμώτο, θαλασσινό μπάσταρδο μιας πόρνης ." Damn you, sea bastard of a whore, It sputtered out as it laid there in its death throes. The small smile that had appeared on Perseus' face due to the interaction quickly died as he glared daggers at the hybrid.
"Eat shit, water dog," Perseus growled back, he twisted Riptide and tore it out of its body, cleaving the telekhine in two. He watched as the creature's body slowly disappeared into golden dust and kicked it, causing it to spread even thinner just for good measure. Perseus turned around and looked at the waters of the East River once more and spread his senses out. Nothing around in the water that posed a threat stood out to him and he grunted in satisfaction as he capped Riptide and headed towards his apartment. following the river upstream. Perseus walked almost lazily as he took his time and let his senses overflow with the sound of civilization. It was dusk now, and the street lamps were on and shining their bright white and yellow fluorescent glow. He wondered if his mom was asleep by now, wondered if Paul existed in this world and hoped his mom and him were together here too. He sighed, so many what ifs, so many uncertainties, yet everything seemed so familiar to him and foreign at the exact same time. He eyed the skyline and tried to look for the stars, through everything they always managed to calm him, to make him feel small and insignificant and humble him when the power tried to worm its way to his head. Something darted up above, his eyes immediately drawn to it as he began scanning the sky with a new scrutiny. There it was again, further ahead. In the dark moonless night he could barely make out the vague shape of wings. It almost seemed like a small bi-plane, but so low? And so quiet? All the doubt was erased from his mind as he saw the wings flap and thoughts not his own reached his mind. A squadron of Pegasi were flying overhead. Straining his eyes, he could see the banner bearer bringing up the rear of the squadron, a purple flag with golden letters and embroidery. "Shit," he hissed out as he clung close to the wall of a nearby building. Romans, this far in already? He had less time than he thought. He stretched his senses out once more and felt for the lead Pegasus, and left it with one unchallengeable command; Leave. Perseus never liked using the admiration and adoration that sea creatures, horses, and Pegasi held for him, but this situation called for it, and he used it to the fullest. He watched as the tight formation that was now disappearing behind a building suddenly shifted as the Pegasus in the lead instantly dived and changed course, the rest following it without thinking. Perseus let out a laugh as he could hear the startled yelp from the Legionnaires even from where he stood. He sobered up as he lost sight of them, confident the Pegasus would follow its command, and quickly ran the rest of the way to the bridge.
Crossing the Queensboro bridge brought back old memories of family trips with his mom on the way to Montauk, and school field trips that always ended in disaster for him. He would've loved to take the normal route above the bridge like a normal person, but he opted for walking under it, on top of the water. Perseus couldn't risk being spotted by the Graecus hunting Romans, he still wasn't sure how limited he was. Sure he could take on one, maybe two or three, but a squadrun? Not a gamble he wanted nor needed to take. Perseus crossed into the Upper East Side of Manhattan and grinned, just a handful of blocks and he'd be home, hugging his mom. Distant thunder rumbled menacingly overhead, Perseus glanced at the dark sky in confusion, the night was perfectly clear a minute ago why would it suddenly - His thoughts were cut short as a massive roar of thunder echoed through the air, a blinding arc of lightning flashed far to the west, even weirder was the fact that the lightning was horizontal. "What the.." he muttered as he crossed from the water back onto land. Perseus realized that if he was right, then the lightning went right on top of Long Island, and he only had one guess as to where it hit. That was an issue for later, he had already fought that battle and watched his friends be massacred, he wasn't up for it again.
Half an hour later, Perseus stood in front of his apartment building. His eyes traced up to the small window that led to his room and pondered if he should enter through there via the flimsy fire escape but decided against it, he didn't need to give his mom a heart attack, much less accidentally spook her and get wacked before she realizes it was him. He tredged up the stairwell and felt apprehension, he felt nervous, what if this worlds Perseus and his moms relationship is different? Stupid, he thought. I should've thought this through, styx im so stupid. But there was no turning back as he reached the front door, and knocked. Perseus ringed his wrists and wiped some sweat from his brow.
"Coming! Oh, Paul honey, can you make sure the chicken doesn't burn?" Came a muffled reply from the other side. Perseus' heart clenched at the sound of it, just like he remembered, and she said Paul! So far not much had changed, thank Chaos. He steeled himself as he heard the lock click and the door start to open. There she stood, his mom, Sally Jackson. His heart skipped a beat as he stared at her. This version of his mother was younger, he could tell. She looked beautiful, radiant. "How can i hel-" her words died in her throat as her eyes met his "Percy..?" She breathed out.
"Hey mom, its been a while."
A/N: And heres seven. Sorry for the little wait, as always leave a review and dont be afraid to ask any questions!
Take it easy out there folks :)