Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Just my OCs

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The Dark Side of Pretty Much Everything

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The gigantic creature used the lion head as its main head and the snake head as its tail. The body was not a fusion between a lion and a snake, however, but instead its entire body including legs belonged to a goat. From that simple observation alone, Sally instantly knew they were being chased by the Chimera, and if she had to guess, the woman laughing maniacally on his head was his mother, Echidna.

And boy did the Chimera was fast.

Even at full speed and low traffic at their lane, the beast trotted behind them at a surprising speed. Sally could hear the Chimera growling and snarling whenever he was a bit too close, only for the cab to suddenly gain a brief burst of speed.

Sally should've known how much Zeus wanted to kill her sons. Now, she understood that he was behind the first attack at school. Whether he left himself or sent someone else was up to debate, but either way Zeus had a hand in it.

Ludwig kept screaming at the poor guy that got the worst luck to be chosen as their driver, all the while shooting at the Chimera- either at the head, the legs, or the mother. None were effective, Sally feared, and most barely hit the raging monster. It appeared Athena wasn't prepared to have the Mother of Monsters and one of her deadliest child chasing her child.

Unfortunately, the boys could see the Chimera too.

"Mom, what is that?" Percy asked, eyes wide as he stood on the seat, looking at the monster chasing them. The Chimera snarled, and another car veered wildly out of his path.

'Someone sent to kill you,' Sally thought somberly. Out loud, she said, "A... creature with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a snake's head as his tail."

Ray sighed. "I don't think Percy meant what that is literally, mom."

"Ah," Percival said, glancing at the sideview mirror to look at the Chimera chasing them. "A... that. I didn't know hewants to kill you that bad."

"Who's he?"

Percival stared at him blankly. "The guy that wants to kill you."

"No, I mean the thing that's chasing us."

"That's the thing that wants to kill you."

Before her eldest son could express his annoyance, the Chimera roared, making Percy gasp. The beast took in a deep breath, and unleashed a huge torrent of flame from his maw.

The driver jerked the wheel just in time before the car was turned to cinders. They were lucky, and yet that seemed to be the last straw for Ludwig.

"Zhat is it." Ludwig looked at the driver. "You. Move over."

The driver blinked. "What?"

"I said move over, schweindund."

Then the driver did the last thing Sally expected. He bleated.

"Blaa-haa-haa! Absolutely not!" the driver snapped. "When was the last time you drove a car, Mr. Schneider?!"

"Your hooves vill only make it harder to drive, Copeland!"

"At least I have a driver's license!"

"Not having one does not mean I cannot drive!"

"You two know each other?" Sally cut Copeland from retorting, preventing a full-blown, panic-induced, shouting match in the small cab while they still had a bloodthirsty fusion monster to take care of.

"Ze goat here vas the one Chiron sent to bring us to camp," Ludwig answered with distaste. "I had hoped Chiron vould send someone at least moderately competent."

"I can do my job very well, thank you very much," Copeland shot back irritatedly. "Zero deaths had happened because of me, you know."

"Ja, because ve are the zuerst."

"You two, shut up." Sally sighed. Amazingly, both men (though one was half man half goat) did shut their mouth. "So... you're a satyr?"

Copeland answered by lifting his driver's hat. There were two lumps poking out of his hair. Horns.

"Oh."

So their driver was a satyr. As Copeland lowered the hat to hide his horns again, she wondered : Just who exactly was Chiron?

The man messaged her in secret, and message didn't cover what the man did at all. She was just slouching on the couch, boredly flicking through channels on the TV, when a hologram image appeared right in front of her face, showing a dark sillhouette of a person.

After recovering from her initial surprise, the person- from the figure's voice, it was revealed to be a man- said that he was Chiron, and he offered a safe haven for her sons. She asked why with the dark environment and he sheepishly explained that the electricity was out. And then Chiron said that he had matters to attend to, and when the hologram disappeared, on the coffee table in front of her, sat a paper with an address and a phone number scrawled in fancy writing.

So this mysterious man had satyrs that worked for him? What was Chiron? A satyr? And yet, his voice, now that she though about it, sounded vaguely familiar...

The car went a bit slower, and Copeland cursed under his breath. After that, the cab's speed was as fast as before. She immediately remembered that a satyr didn't just had horns, they also had hooves instead of legs. She had no idea how an animal could drive- much less an animal that didn't have feet, and unfortunately her concerns were met.

The car slowed down again. The sound of Chimera's hooves pounding against asphalt was louder than before. Copeland groaned.

Ludwig glanced at him irritatedly. "Do tell me how you have managed to live this long, schaf."

"Ordinary passengers never minded about my ordinary speed. And ordinary passengers sure as Hell weren't being chased by a mismatched animal demon."

Ludwig shot the Chimera again, and it missed. Far.

"Schisse!" Ludwig cursed. "I am an architect, not a soldier!"

Since Ludwig was busy and Copeland was unreliable in a high speed chase involving an ancient monster, an idea struck her.

"Why not let me drive?" Sally asked.

Ludwig just stared at her, and she was pretty sure Copeland's face was as equally as blank. But it was Ray who spoke first. "Mom, you've never touched a steering wheel your whole life."

Sally smiled. "There is always a first thing for everything, Ray."

"Hast du ein Wahn oder was?" Ludwig asked her, momentarily forgetting to speak English.

"Er..."

Ludwig coughed to his fist, cheeks suspiciously becoming pink. "Apologies. Vhat I meant to say vas 'Are you sure?'"

Sally nodded, averting her eyes at the rearview mirror, to avoid looking at the charging Chimera. "I'm sure."

Ludwig looked at Copeland. "You have no objections?"

Copeland slumped. "Oh well. At least dying to a car crash won't be as painful as being eaten alive by a lion. I think. Mr. Schneider, hold the steering wheel, please."

As Ludwig did what he was told, Copeland lowered the driver's seat, and unclasped the seatbelt, foot- hooves ascending from the pedals. As he slid backward (Percival had moved out of the way and shook his head at the display), Sally jumped at the driver's seat, grasped the steering wheel just the moment Ludwig let go, and stomped on the pedal.

Ludwig's assumption was right, it appeared. Copeland's hooves were slowing them down. Now they raced through the Brooklyn Bridge at twice the speed they were in.

Driving wasn't that hard, she figured. The problem she found hard was driving carefully. Cars swerved out of their path as the cab peeled off on the highway. She ignored the curses those drivers threw their way, but she seriously hoped her kids did so too.

"I hope you know vhat you are doing, frau Jackson," Ludwig muttered, reloading the gun with... silver bullets?

"Don't have so little faith in me." Sally grinned. "Hold tight, boys!"

A collective sigh was heard behind her. She just grinned wider and pressed harder on the gas.

Copeland sighed again as they passed a truck. "Thank the gods this car's automatic."

~0~

The lion-goat thing pounced again, only to miss the car entirely. Percy couldn't keep from giggling to himself. The lion kept looking more and more annoyed with every time he failed to catch them. And despite how bad things looked like, Percy still laughed.

"What's funny, Percy?" Ray looked confused.

"I can't help it." Ray grinned. "He's so dumb!"

As if hearing them trash-talking about him, the lion-goat thing roared and let out another fireball. One which mom easily evaded.

"Are you... are you sure zhis is the first time you drove?" Percival's dad asked, speechless.

"Yes." Mom smiled cheerfully at him. "Yes I am."

"You made him mad, Percy," Ray chided, though his older brother was grinning as well.

He merely stuck out a tongue playfully at him, and continued to watch the monster chasing them with a wide grin. The thing kinda reminded him of a cat, and he knew a cat was happy if its tail was raised. In this case, the tail was the snake, and the snake was waving in the wind like a flag, right atop the monster's furry butt.

He snickered again when the snake looked panicked as the body jumped again. It was as if the snake was screaming, what with its mouth opening wide.

"STOP THE VEHICLE, NOW!"

A megaphoned voice cut through the sound of screeching tires and screaming people, so Percy turned around to see what was going on.

At the end of the bridge, many police cars were parked, blocking the road, sirens going blue and red. Around them, policemen stood ready, gun aimed at the road. One was holding a megaphone, shouting for the cars to stop. Everyone wasn't staring at them, but instead at the monster. So what vehicle?

"ISAIDSTOPITNOW!"

"Mom..." Ray warned. Ludwig sat down at the seat and buckled his seat belt, shaking. Beside him, Copeland and Percival also held the car tighter. Probably realizing that, yes, his mom, that had never so much as touched a steering wheel in her life, was planning to crash to a police blockade, his older brother pulled him to his lap, and held him closely.

Mom ignored Ray's warning, however. She stared intently at a slight gap between a police car and the railing at the side of the road/bridge.

"Hold tight!" mom ordered.

Everybody did.

But before mom could burst through the police blockade and adding an angry police force in their problem beside the lion-goat-snake monster, a huge, shadowy black circle appeared in front of them.

"BRAKES!" Ludwig yelled, but it was too late. Mom stomped on the brake, but the car still screeched into the black thing. With muffled screams, they were devoured by the darkness.

~0~

For a while, everything was silent. And dark. And cold. And Percy couldn't see anything. He was also sure that the car wasn't moving. He grasped his brother's hand that still held him, finding warmth in the cold environment.

"Ray...?" he whispered. He really couldn't see a thing. He felt like he was alone.

"I'm here, Percy." Ray's voice came right behind him. He relaxed and leaned back into the embrace. He could feel his older brother resting his chin atop his head, and the assurance that he wasn't, in fact, alone calmed him down.

It was as if he was closing his eyes, but he reached up to touch his eyes, and they were opened. It was so dark, he couldn't tell the outline of the seats, or the people sitting on it. It was like the time where the electricity went out one night in their apartement, but a gajillion times worse. He had no idea how blind people's vision looked like, but he felt that this was how it would be.

"Uh... what is going on?" Copeland, the guy that he guessed was a satyr, said from somewhere on his right.

"I can't see a thing." Percival's voice reported. "Do any of you see anything?"

"Nein," Percival's dad answered his son, voice grim. "I cannot see anything as well."

"And I can't open the door, either." Mom sounded confused and worried. "Are your doors locked, too?"

"...Ah, dammit, I can't open mine."

"Neither can I, Mrs. Jackson."

"Nein, frau Jackson."

And just as abrupt as its appearance, the blackness disappeared. Seriously, Percy just blinked and poof. Sunlight entered through the windows, the rumble of the cab's engine could be heard, and he could feel the coldness lifting from the car, the sun's warmth sneaking in.

Percy looked around, still on his brother's lap. "Uh... where are we?"

They were on a tight road, trapped with neat wooden farmhouses and grassy hills on the right, and on their left, there was a sign that read 'PCIK OUYR WON TSAWREBRYR' on a white fence, in front of what seemed to be a farm.

He just stared blankly at the sign, wondering for which alien was that sign supposed to be, before Ray said, also staring at the sign, "Strawberries? How did we end up in a strawberry farm?"

Oh. Strawberries.

Copeland slumped in his seat, though in relief. "Thank the gods! Looks like somebody is watching out for us! We're close to camp! Mrs. Jackson, please continue. Just follow the path for another mile or so."

Mom snapped out of her daze. "Oh, right, of course."

And then they were back on their journey to this mysterious camp again. Preferring to sit on his brother's lap, Percy made himself comfortable. Ray didn't say anything. Probably still wondering what just happened.

Just moments before Percy decided to sleep, a familiar-but-not-so-friendly sound shook the car. And it was actually close behind them.

"The gods hate us," Copeland spoke miserably. "I swear."

Percival's dad merely sighed, clearly tired, while mom simply pressed the gas harder. They sped past nothing in particular, just more trees and grass, exactly like he imagined an empty countryside would look.

But nothing happened for a while. They reached a clearing before Copeland yelled, "Stop! Right here!"

Mom stopped the car. They all filed out of the cab, looking around. The clearing was empty, and nothing was there. Just some really tall grass. No camp in sight.

"Where's the camp?" Percival asked Copeland, and Percy knew he was voicing everyone's thoughts.

Copeland pointed at a nearby hill. It looked the same as any other hill they passed before reaching this place.

"In that hill?"

Copeland sighed. "Past that hill. That's the property line. Over that hill, you'll see a huge farm house. C'mon."

And with that announcement, Percival's dad and Copeland unloaded the baggages from the trunk. Percy, holding his mom's hand, looked up at the tall grass. It reached mom's waist. He himself only reached mom's thighs. This journey would not be easy.

"Vhy are the grass not cut?" Percival's dad asked, looking at the waist-high tall grass.

"No idea." Copeland shrugged. "The satyrs that were told to cut these things said that the grass grew back as fast as they cut it."

"Und you are one of them?"

Copeland shifted to a different topic. "Well, before we can enter camp, we should ask for someone's permission first. After all, you and Mrs. Jackson are mortals, right? The camp boundaries wouldn't allow anyone other than demigods and satyrs to enter."

"A vaste of time." Percival's dad sighed. "But understandable."

"I know. So we'll just drop off-"

The ground rumbled.

Behind them, the ground exploded. And just like their first meeting, the lion's head poked out of it. Nothing changed very much, but the snake head now wore a police hat. He looked quite happy about it, too.

"Run!" Percival's dad yelled, tossing Percival's baggage to the satyr driver and unholstering his gun at the same time. Mom picked Percy up and started running uphill, Ray following closely behind with Percival, Copeland at their tail, while Percival's dad was last.

"I haff no idea what haffened whefore, whut you're not going away this time!" the fat snake woman yelled, perching atop the lion head as always. She had a donut in one of her hands. It was bitten. "Go, my dear son!"

The lion roared, while the snake looked as if he was cheering, and jumped out of the hole.

Percival's dad prepared his gun again and glanced at the hill. Percy knew what he was thinking. The top looked super far right now.

Copeland sighed and pulled something out of his pocket as he jogged. A wooden flute. He played some really quick notes, facing at the monster, so he was running backwards and yet he didn't look like he had any difficulties. The tall grass around him swayed, as if dancing to the tune, and when he reached a particularly loud not, the grass stretched and shot at the lion-goat-snake monster.

The grass actually made cuts on the monster. But instead of blood, dropping from the cuts were dust. No, not dust, it was more like powder.

Copeland looked proud of himself. "I'll have you know that some Nirvana tunes can even split stone!"

The monster was unimpressed. He snarled, and spat a scorching fireball at their direction. Percival's dad, the one closest to him jumped and pushed him away from the blast.

"Nirvana!" Copeland cried. "All shall bow to Nirvana!"

"Silence, schaf." Percival's dad ordered. He pulled the satyr up, and started running uphill again. "Can anyone at camp come for our aid?"

"We have to reach the camp first," Copeland reminded him, also following. "Then yes, they can help."

"Good enough." Percival's dad grunted. As they ran, he looked around, scanning their environment, Percy guessed. His eyes landed on Percival and said son's friend. He took a deep breath, then he shouted, "PERCIVAL! RAY! Go on ahead and get some help!"

Both, wide-eyed, started to protest, but Percival's dad cut them off loudly. "Ve vill be fine! You're the fastest ve have- go get help!"

It was the monster that persuaded them, out of all `peop- creatures. The beast let out a flamebreath instead of a flameball this time, burning the tall grass, narrowly missing the two men at the back of their group.

That was enough to persuade them. They bolted up to the pine tree, passing those in the front. That included Percy and mom. As the two boys passed them, his older brother yelled, "Be careful, you two!"

Mom nodded, while he himself yelled back, "We will!"

He was scared, to be honest. And since his big brother left them, he was deathly afraid now. But he felt excitement, dodging fireballs and bloodthirsty monsters. Percival's dad's gun let out silver bursts whenever he shot, and Copeland's magic before was really cool.

He was anxious to see more cool things in the future. Though he really wished it wouldn't be in a life and death situation.

~0~

The camp was weird, Ray decided. It wasn't impressive, nor unimpressive. It was, instead, unexpected. Of course, Percival and him weren't here for scenery so they just dashed toward the biggest house in the vicinity, hoping that the big house was the place where the one in charge stayed.

A sharp pain went through his stomach, making him gasp and stop running. He clutched at his stomach, since the source of the pain seemed to be there. Percival glanced at him, annoyed but concerned at the same time.

"What is it now, Jackson?" he asked. Ray could tell he was trying not to sound irritated.

"Nothing." Ray shook his head. "Nothing, I just... let's get that help."

Percival eyed him weirdly, but followed either way.

The kids that Ray guessed were the campers stared at them as they ran from the pine tree to the big house, stopping from playing basketball. Those half-people half-sheep things, satyrs, ignored them, and instead played their flutes at a nearby strawberry farm, and the plants swayed. Just like Copeland's, but instead of aggressively coiling like a snake, they moved pleasantly, like dancing to the music.

"Is the man in charge here?" Percival's voice cut off Ray's awe. Looking to his best friend, he realized that Percival was talking to an older camper near the big house.

"Sorry, but Chiron is away at the moment." The camper answered. "And Mr. D isn't really somebody you want to ask for... what are you two doing here, anyway? How did you get in here?" the camper stared at them suspiciously, as if expecting them to be a couple of trublemakers.

Not that the guy was technically wrong. Still, Ray got annoyed either way. "Why do you think we're here?! We need help!" he snapped. "My brother and my mom is trying to reach this stupidly faraway place while being chased by a goddamn Chimera, so we need-!"

BOOOOM!

The explosion shook the ground. The campers playing at the field gasped, and even the satyrs stopped playing. The older camper snapped his neck up to see at the hilltop, and he paled when he saw edges of black flames creeping into view. Then he abruptly whirled around and started shouting orders. "There are some mortals that need our help outside camp boundaries! I want archers-"

Ray tuned him out. He had run back towards the hill the moment he saw the black flames, Percival in tow.

When they finally reached the hilltop, he could feel his heart hammering his ribs, afraid at the sight that awaited his behind the hill. The pain in his stomach only felt like it multiplied. The sound of the lion-goat-snake monster thing's tortured roars could be heard across the hillside.

The black flames didn't seem to dare to enter through the camp boundaries, so he hoped that what Copeland said before was true and whatever it was that protected camp was strong enough to withstand the weird fire.

"Where are they?" he muttered, eyes uselessly flicking through curtains of blackness, to the small glimpses of what was happening behind them.

"Ray," Percival called out, and he envied his best friend to be able to be so calm at the moment. "Look. No smoke."

He glanced up. True to what he said, the black smoke where normal flames would produce was nonexistent.

"And why on Earth does that matter?" Ray didn't mean to be so snappish, really, but he was panicking.

"The flame creates mist." Percival observed, ignoring his tone. "That means..."

As his best friend said this, he stepped closer to the raging 'fire,' hand outstretched. Ray was wondering whether or not he was wrong about Percival being calm and instead his German friend had gone off to the deep end.

"Ah." Percival narrowed his eyes. Instead of saying anything, Percival stepped through the flames as if it was nothing.

"Percival! What the heck are you doing?!" Ray shouted, panicking even more. People were getting more and more crazy today- mom almost barging through a police blockade, and now Percival forgot that flame could burn all of a sudden.

Percival's voice, and yelp, rang from the flame. "I-it's okay, J-Jackson! Th-the fire i-isn't hot!"

Yep. Definitely gone off the deep end.

And yet, now that he tried to think more clearly, he could- or, more specifically, could not feel the heat. He stood just a few meters from the two-foot high blackness, but they didn't exclude any warmth whatsoever. In fact, as he walked closer, the flames were... cold.

Ray held out a hand. Yes, the billowing darkness was cold instead of hot. He glanced down. The grass where the fire was on were covered in a thin layer of frost, instead of turning into ashes.

Now he could add one more unexplainable thing into the weird phenomenons that happened today; ice-cold black flame.

"W-what are y-you waiting for, R-Ray?!" Percival stuttered from over the fire. "J-just bloody j-jump or s-something!"

Ludwig- Percival's dad- would have a fit if he heard his son exclaiming the word 'bloody.' Regardless, Ray did jump through the frost-fire, bracing himself.

And oh was it so cold. If there was one thing that he could compare it too, it was last January when he fell into a frozen like by accident. The icy surface was extremely slippery, so he and his brother tried to skate on it, mom watching them. Then he, expectedly, slipped, and the impact between his forehead and the lake's frozen surface was so strong the frozen lake cracked and he fell into it.

He was inside the freezing lake for at least fifteen seconds before some other park-dwellers pulled him out. He kept stammering after he got outside the lake, shivering, dizzy, and by the horrified looks of people around him he could only guess that his forehead was bleeding from the impact.

And even though it happened in a split-second, the flame was ten times colder than that fifteen seconds experience. He could feel the frost coating his fingers and face, his hoodie became colder and heavier, like it was doused with an icy bucket of water, and he swore his hair was frozen.

When the blackness dissipated, the sight that greeted him was Percival, also in his frozen clothes. He was shivering, and he was rubbing his own elbows. Even then, the jerk had the nerve to look amused.

Ray shot him a quick glare. "A w-warning w-would b-be n-nice..."

"I d-didn't get a-any warning s-so it's o-only fair y-you don't g-get one, e-either."

Ray wanted to retort, but God it was so cold. His teeth chattered against each other, and being in close proximity with the frost-fire wasn't helping any.

"L-let's find th-them," Ray stammered.

Percival simply nodded. It didn't need to take long to find them, because the flame only made a large circle on the hill. In the center, there were his brother, now standing on the ground and holding mom's hand, Ludwig and Copeland in front of them, gun and flute trained at the monster.

And said monster was writhing on the ground, roaring in pain, covered in black flames. Even at this distance, he could feel the heat radiating off from it. He heard a woman's scream within the blackness, and he knew the fat snake lady was burning too. So there were hot black flames, and cold black flames.

Good to know?

Percy was the first to saw him. His eyes widened. "Ray!"

"Mom! Percy!" Ray shouted back, running at them. "A-are you o-okay?!"

Ray scanned his family quickly. At first glance, there didn't seem to be any obvious injuries, apart from the frost that caked their eyelashes and hair. Still, there was this thing called hypothermia and they might as well freeze to death in here.

Mom nodded, but she looked worried. She looped an arm around his little brother and held him close. "We're fine, I think, but it's cold..."

Ludwig glanced at him. "Vhat are you doing here, Ray? And vhere are zhe reinforcements?"

"Th-they're t-too slow," Percival answered, catching up. "Oh, g-goodness, it's s-so cold!"

"Then vhy are you here, kleiner junge?"

"We w-were w-worried."

Ludwig sighed. "Zhat is foolish. Zhough I do not think ve vill still need that help."

In retrospect, Ludwig was correct. It was stupid. If Ludwig, who had a gun, couldn't do anything against the school-bus sized creature, what chance did he have?

"AHHH!" snake lady screamed, still inside the fire. "A curse upon you! Whoever you are!"

A pressure appeared inside Ray's mind, clouding it with darkness. His vision became blurry and weird, but he could tell that the area they were in darkened considerably. The sunlight dimmed, and he could see his own shadow moving on its own.

A curse upon me...? I did not know you were this insolent, little lizard. A deep voice rumbled the hillside.

A dark presence made itself known. Vision of creatures that lurked in the dark, of madness caused by shadows, of the darkness itself forced themselves into his clouded mind. For a moment, he forgot about anything happening around him, about everyone around him, and focused his attention at the constant ringing in his brain.

The black burning fire dissipated from the monster. Half of the lion's head was scorched, while the other half was badly wounded, the goat's wool was gone, showing the pink skin underneath, and the snake head simply became a burnt stump.

The snake woman, green scales burnt so bad it became gray, hissed, looking around. "Who dares to disturb me?!"

The presence ignored her. Yes... The presence spoke amusedly. When you were but a little reptile, Echidna, you were not as arrogant as now. Perhaps time, indeed, changes everyone.

"Show yourself!"

I would rather not. However, do not think just because I do not 'show myself' I will not do anything to you.

Instead of looking afraid, the snake lady, Echidna, bared her fangs at nothing in particular. The monster, that was now only a mix of a wounded lion and a shaved goat, mewled pitifully, not having enough strength to stand up.

Goodbye. I cannot have you killing them, now can I?

The ringing turned into a horrible whine. A painfullyloud terrifying whine echoed in his head. Just after Ray was sure his head was going to explode from the sound, black spikes burst forth from within Echidna- one particularly large one from her stomach, another from her head, sprouting upwards, and tiny spikes from several other surfaces on her body. Her face frozen in shock, and then she fell down, immediately disintegrating into dust the moment she hit the ground.

Black flames erupted around the lion-goat beast. It burned effectively than ever. Before the monster could even let out even a small sound, he was already reduced to ashes.

Ray winced at the brutal display, but he limped in front of his shocked mom and brother. "W-who are you?!"

Of course, the shout was probably more effective if he wasn't deathly afraid and still shivering, but he hoped the presence could make the gist of it.

When the being turned his full attention to him, he suddenly found it difficult to stand. Whoever he was, he was something far more different than an ordinary monster. Something far more powerful, and perhaps even something far more terrible.

Ahh... yes... Regulus, is it not?

The whine became louder. It physically hurt his brain.

Hm... you are him. And that... of course, Perseus.

Behind him, Percy shuddered.

I suppose you two are now indebted to me now, are you? The being spoke. Well, I will be waiting for the moment you two will pay your debts to me.

Just like that, the presence left his mind. His mind cleared of the maddening thoughts, he dropped to his knees, breathing raggedly. Around them, the black flames dissipated, both the frost and ashes disappeared as if it wasn't there in the first place, the heat and cold dissolving.

But Ray could still see it- could feel it. The visions in the darkness. The creatures, the beings that lived within the blackness. The whispers.

He barely noticed when something fell behind him, when mom shouted, "Percy!"

Instead when the maddening dark pressure disappeared, he more than welcomed the comforting blackness of unconsciousness.