Chapter 13
Percy shrugged off the debris that was clinging to his shirt.
He had just dodged another her massive boulder, and somehow the monster had created a new one at the end of his arm.
Percy scowled before running forward, cocking his sword back. He jumped up last second and swung down as hard as he could to crush the monsters skull.
Helikon grunted, not even trying to dodge the attack. Percy's sword rang as it didn't even make a dent in the gods head, and before he could jump away the man clasped his hands around the boy.
The demigod's eyes went wide as he realized what was happening as it was too late. The monster cocked his hand backed and launched Percy forward as if he was a mere baseball.
Mid air, Percy braced himself, shutting his eyes as he felt contact with a concrete wall. That however was not enough to stop him.
The boy flew through the first wall, and made a dent in the second, nocking down rows of shelves onto himself, though he was too out of it to notice.
Helikon looked at the newly created whole in his wall that lead into the back room of the shop. He grunted slightly, but wasn't upset as he was glad to get rid of the little nuisance quickly.
He had lost two employees in the process, but the ancient sword he had was worth it.
The man lumbered slowly over towards the gaping hole, not in a rush as he was sure the boy was dead.
Percy mumbled something unintelligently to himself, struggling to maintain conscious. He was sure he wasn't dead, at least for now, yet he wasn't able to grasp what was going on.
He had been thrown, he concluded, but how could he let that happen, and why did it hurt so damn much.
He eventually snapped back into things and opened his eyes. Things were blurry, but he was able to see what seemed like a store room around him with broken shelf on top of him.
He shrugged the rubble off his back, and immediately felt the cool air on his bare back. Next he noticed the wet and sticky sensation. Blood, he realized.
His shirt had ripped upon impact, but he was more worried about his head. Things were spinning, and he was just now able to see straight.
He was able to make out the round shape of the ourea who didn't seem too worried, not even in a rush to finish the demigod off.
Or maybe he thought I was already dead? Wondered Percy.
With a huff, the kid pushed himself off the floor and stumbled up to his feet, he grabbed his sword, but it hung limply and dragged it while he walked back towards the main room of the shop.
"Hmm?" Rang the voice of the mountain spirit. The way his mouth didn't move when he talked still made Percy confused.
"Your alive." He stated, somewhat surprised,
Percy only growled slightly. He locked eyes with the monster, and realized he'd had to do something different if he wanted to survive. He glanced at the contents of the front desk, wondering if he could use any of the items to stop Helikon.
He was way too bulky to hurt with a sword, but all of the larger weapons were too dull to actually cut through his skin.
With a scowl, he realized he may have had to run if things didn't start looking good, but out of the corner of his eyes he saw a glimmer of hope.
The boy walked over to a weapon on a shel which was held in a glass case with a gold plaque labeling it.
"Aitna's Mountain Crusher TM"
It said.
The boy studied the weapon.
It was a massive two sided hammer with flat ends on each side. He had no idea who Aitna was, but he was impressed they could wield such a weapon. It was taller than Percy himself.
Despite this though, he had an idea pop into his mind.
With a heave he sent his blade flying into the glass, breaking the container.
He figured that the only way to destroy a mountain spirit would be to use the weapon labeled as the mount crusher, even if it was twice his body weight.
He grabbed the hammer by its hilt, and it immediately dropped to the floor, making a small dent in the wooden tiles. The ourea raised a brow.
"That weapon is much too powerful for a mere demigod to wield." He said.
Percy said nothing, only glaring in the gods direction as he dragged the weapon forward.
"I shall end this quick."
The man planted his hands and stood on all fours. With a roar, he rushed forward like a silverback, making the room tremble with each step.
Percy waited fearlessly until he reached the area right in front of him, completely jumping over the lava pit.
Percy used this to his advantage as he didn't even wait for the spirit to fully land as he used all his body weight to lift the hammer of the ground.
He felt his back cry out, but continued to use momentum to throw the weapon over his shoulder.
The thing just barely made it up, and with it above his head Percy took a step forward, sending it in that direction.
As he had only just landed , Helikon was not prepared for the attack, especially cause he wasn't expecting the small boy to be able to lift the hammer.
He payed for this as the side of the hammer crashed down onto his torso with surprising force.
Percy watched as the man was immediately sent stumbling back, surprising considering his size and weight. He had been able to lift the hammer, but he was sure the power came from the weapon as opposed to himself.
Though, he did expect the ourea to crumble to pieces based off the name of the hammer, but this was good enough.
The man continued to stumble back, and to Percy's shock, he wasn't able to stop himself from tipping over the edge of the pit.
He cried out and flailed his arms, in the process he caught his assistant S'Marely.
Unable to move, the dracaena was dragged with the spirit as he fell down the blazing pit of lava.
Percy dropped the weapon with a huff, and ran over the side to see the hand of Helikon reaching out as he drowned in the murky liquid.
He sighed and fell back, sweating a surprising amount due to forcing himself to lift the behemoth. It obviously wasn't meant for humans, but he assumed his demigod powers had allowed it to even be possible.
After catching his breath he got up and retrieved his sword. He returned it to its chain form and scanned the surface of the front desk, trying to find anything useful.
He wasn't even sure the man was dead completely, but he didn't want to spend to long here anyway.
After losing hope of finding anything useful, Percy heard the phone at the corner of the desk start to ring.
"Press 1 to receive voicemail." It said.
Percy furrowed his brow, and after a moment of contemplation he followed the instructions.
With another ring, a cold voice came from the telephone.
"Hello there Helikon. I heard you were looking for a Hell Train ticket, and I'd be happy to help. Come find me at the location I left underneath the bulletin board. Don't be late."
Said a sly and cold female voice, ending with a chuckle. Percy raised a brow as he made his way over to the bulletin board, lifting all the papers up to see one that caught his eye underneath the rest.
"HELL TRAIN TICKET ON SAIL
Come to Ambition's Thrift Shop on The Back Alley for a Chance to Win the Prize!"
He ripped the paper off, confused on what exactly he was looking at.
"Where the heck is The Back Alley, and who was that on the phone?" He wondered to himself. He was considering simply throwing away the paper when he heard a knock from behind him.
He turned to see it was coming from a door in the back room.
Cautiously, he walked forward with his hand on his chain, slowly reaching for the handle. He snapped it open and prepared to rip of his chain.
"Hey Helikon, the mistress is getting prettyyy upset you haven't stopped by, so I suggest…. Your not Helikon?"
Percy hesitated a second as the person behind the door was not what he expected. Instead of a normal human, a goblin like grey skinned man stood before the demigod.
He seemed decently old, yet he was a good few inches than the already short demigod.
He looked relatively human, but was clearly not by his pointed ears, crooked nose, and rounded bald head.
He wore rags as clothes, and seemed confused and shocked to see the demigod in front of him.
"A…godling?"
"What are you here for?" Demanded Percy.
"Err, we'll I had come to talk to Mr. Helikon about a certain arrangement. You wouldn't happen to know where he is?"
Percy mentally perked up as he saw a chance to get what he wanted.
"This is about the Hell Train ticket then?" He asked, guessing mostly.
The goblin seemed surprised, but answered truthfully. "It is."
"Good. Helikon is busy right now so he sent me to retrieve it for him." He lied effortlessly.
"Oh well ok than? But are demigods even… y'know, allowed in The Back Alley?"
Percy raised a brow. "I don't know much about what's going on, Helikon only temporarily hired me. What exactly is The Back Alley?"
The goblin nodded slightly. "I see. It'd be best for me to explain as we travel, the Mistress's shop is quite a ways away from here." He said, stepping away.
Percy slowly followed, going through the door to see a whole world behind it.
He was met with the sight of a shady alleyway, two run down buildings looming over the sides. It had just been day time, but in this place there was no light, a mass of dark clouds looming above the area, giving it a night time vibe.
There was a prominent sign hanging over the end of the alley.
"The Back Alley." It read.
"Home of the Monsters." Was the small fine print underneath.
"The Back Alley. A haven for monsters, a place where they can hang low away from demigods and whatnot. Usually peaceful, though one of your kind may cause some ruckus." He said as we walked the streets of the Alley, walking past multiple monsters who didn't seem too hostile, though Percy did get some weird looks.
The constant blue haze of the area was making him feel slightly heavy, as if the air had weight to it.
"It's somewhat of a shopping district, though the main attraction is the Hell Train. A transport system capable of taking you anywhere you wish. The lower your ticket number, the faster you reach your destination." He said.
"There's only 100 tickets in existence, and nowadays they're extremely rare, and the train is barely used as tickets are in constant rotation." He said.
Percy nodded slightly, absorbing the information. If he was expected to get onto the train, he doubted it'd be easy.
"So are demigods able to get on this train?" He asked.
The goblin eyed Percy warily. "Yeah, but it'd be a death wish. Monsters don't take too kindly to the gods blood on their territory."
Percy shrugged. It was enough for him.
"You don't seriously plan on getting on the train, do you?!"
"No, just a thought. I told you that this is for Helikon, didn't I?" Percy defended himself.
"Hmm, ok then." Said the goblin, but he didn't seem convinced. Percy dismissed this and slowly tried to scheme up a plan.
He continued to ask questioned as the two went deeper into the alley, learning things he thought would be important. He tried his best to be discreet and throw in a couple random questions to not seem suspicious, and he thought it worked.
Eventually the two reached a building bigger than the others.
"Ambitions's Thrift Shop."
"This is where you can get the ticket. I assume you remember the way back, because I won't be able to guide you any longer, things to attend to and all that." He said, turning around and walking off. "Good luck."
Percy looked up at the store and got a weird feeling. His body trembled slightly just by looking at the storefront. He got an awful feeling of dread.
With that in mind, he pleasantly strolled through the doorway, ready to take on whatever lied ahead.
A lot of unfamiliar things in this story, trying to make things new and exciting. If you enjoy, leave a review. Things only get better from here, for me at least.