Hey here's chapter three! I hope you're enjoying the story. I know that Dutch is a jerk. I felt bad for Percy as soon as I wrote the guy in. I will figure out some justice for the man's thievery.
I do not own Percy Jackson, and while this story is a alternate universe I still do not own the series or characters or any plot points that are similar to Rick Riordan's storyline.
Percy murmured a quick apology. He knew he had absolutely no time to apologize to the person. His eyes searched to see if the men were behind him. Sure enough the monsters were gaining on him, fast. Their cackling laughter reached his ears. Percy felt his skin crawl.
"It's alright ma..." he heard the person pause. "Percy? Percy Jackson?"
Great, Percy thought. I'm famous.
He looked at the guy's face. There was something familiar about the brown eyes, brown hair, and wiry stubble on the guy's chin. Percy was immediately flashed back to Yancy Academy when he was twelve. This kid was his very first friend. Grover Underwood.
"Grover." He grabbed the still scrawnier kid's shoulders. "We have to run. These, things, they're after me."
Grover looked over Percy's shoulder and paled. Without saying a word he grabbed Percy's wrist and began running in the direction of the Empire State building. Percy was confused, Grover seemed more concerned about the men than he'd thought a random person should. Part of him thought it would seem like he was avoiding the law, but Grover didn't need to question him at all.
Percy was thankful for that.
The Empire State building was huge. Percy almost stopped to admire it more, but the shouting growing closer behind him quickly snapped him back into reality. He let Grover lead him into the building. The inside was very brightly lit despite the high sun outside. Grover pulled him up to a desk where a man was reading a comic book. Try as he might, even with the help he had been reviving from his mom and Paul, Percy's dyslexia acted up with the cursive words scrawled on the front.
"We need to go to the sixth hundredth floor." Grover breathed heavily. His pulps were doing that weird, goat like thing Percy remembered they did. Usually it was when Grover was afraid, like when Mrs. Dodds would glower at him.
Percy leaned next to his ear, "I hate to tell you this man, but there is no sixth hundredth floor."
"You should listen to him young man. He is right." the guy reading the comic book agreed. He didn't even look up at the two of him. Percy watched on as the man rested his feet on the desk.
"For the love of Zeus!'" Grover cried and slammed his fist on the table. "You know who I am, and this kid right next to me is in danger. I know you're smart enough to guess what he is!"
The man studied Percy for a brief moment and sighed. Percy watched as he pulled a key card from his pocket. "You know the drill Mr. Underwood."
Without another word Grover snatched the card from the guy at the counter and began dragging Percy to one of the elevators. Familiar shouting erupted into the lobby, sure enough the two cops entered the building with their guns drawn. Percy's heart nearly exploded into his chest. Slate shot a few bullets at them, the two teens ducked with everyone else. Frantic people charged out of the elevator.
"Our lucky break." Grover cheered as he clutched the front of Percy's shirt tightly. "Get in."
As weak as he was, it wasn't all that hard for the smaller teen to shove him into the elevator. Percy tripped and slammed his head into the back wall, but that seemed like a small matter at the moment. It probably wasn't the most severe of all his injuries. Grover was quick to scramble in with him. His pale finger jammed onto the button to close the door.
Percy's head spun as the men came into view ten feet from the elevator door. Their faces seemed to be even more sinister when they spotted him. With eager grins they began to charge. Hoping his death would be quick Percy closed his eyes and waited for his doom.
Thuuuunnnngg!
When Percy opened his eyes he was so relieved he could have cried. Grover had gotten the doors closed in time. Said person sighed heavily and inserted the card into an oddly placed slot on the elevator panel, a button appeared and he pressed it. Percy was too exhausted to question it as he wedged himself into a corner of the small space. His arm felt warm, he knew that the bleeding had started again, but he didn't really care at that moment, all he wanted to do was sleep.
The softly playing elevator music wasn't helping him any.
Grover's brown eyes scanned him. "You look like crap man."
"Really? I thought I was runway ready." Percy closed his eyes, he regretted snapping at his old friend. The hurt on Grover's face told him he needed to be more tactful. "Sorry, I've just been through a lot in the last twenty four hours."
"I bet." the other teen agreed and also sat down in the elevator. "I can see how miserable you are. Mind if I ask what happened?"
"Too much." Percy eyed his hands as they shook. He was so confused. "But how about you tell me first. What's going on? What were those things? And what did you mean when you told that guy 'you know what he is'?"
Grover began chewing on his coat sleeve. Percy couldn't help but smile, his friend was still the same as he remembered. The familiarity was a warm welcome. Compared to everything that he's been through Grover cannibalizing his shirt was the most normal thing he's seen in the past two days.
"Percy, did your mom ever tell you that you are special?" Grover inquired around the fabric in his mouth.
Percy scoffed, "What parent doesn't tell their kid that?"
"You're different." He continued, clearly he was exasperated by Percy's sarcastic nature. "Remember the demigods from...Mr. Brunner's myths? Well, they're real."
In reality Percy's mom had already told him this. She told him that his father was the sea god, the woman in the water had confirmed his mother's statement. He was still trying to convince himself that he had probably just gone crazy with grief, but everything he had experienced since his mom's death told him otherwise.
"I know." Percy whispered dryly. "I wish they weren't, but everything my mom told me has only been confirmed by those monsters."
Percy could feel his arm becoming sticky with the fresh blood that was coating it. His head spun and he knew he couldn't stay conscious much longer. In an attempt to stem the blood flow, Percy lifted his heavy hand to his arm and tried to apply pressure. Grover seemed to notice the wound for the first time as well and he winced. The smaller teen pulled a hanker chief out of his pocket.
"Dude. What happened to your arm?" Percy winced as Grover replaced the soiled, makeshift band aid with the fresh hanker chief.
Through his teeth Percy hissed, "I was shot."
"By those monsters." Grover growled and tighten the red cloth around the demigod's arm. "I swear they are getting more desperate."
"It wasn't them." Percy winced as he remembered the sound of the first shot going off. "It was a different kind of monster."
Grover's brown eyes studied Percy's face. It seemed as if he already knew all of the pain and confusion the fourteen year old felt. Percy knew that if Grover tried to pry anymore, he might not be able remain as calm as he had been. He could already feel his heart beating more rapidly and his lungs working in over time.
"Percy." Grover began and leaned forward. "What happened to your mom? Does she know you ran away."
"I didn't run away." the dark haired teen muttered as he curled tighter into his corner. "I...I...my mom is..."
Grover's face became unemotional, "Don't tell me. She turned on you, didn't she? MAN! I can't stand when the mortal parents blame their children for their problems. Don't worry Percy, you're not the only demigod whose parent has turned on them. What did she do to you?"
"She died." Percy whispered so softly he almost didn't think Grover heard him. The gasp in surprise told him otherwise.
"I'm so sorry, I...I didn't know."
If Percy tried to assure him that it was okay he would have started crying. He couldn't get the image of the life leaving his mother's eyes out of his mind. Percy wanted to forget everything that had happened. The teen knew that eventually Gabe would snap and go too far one day, but he hadn't been prepared for the cataclysmic results. He hadn't been prepared to become an orphan.
Grover wrung his hands together, "D...do you want to talk about it?"
Percy tucked his face into his knees which still held the faint sent of his step-father's spilt beer. "No."
The fourteen year old didn't know where the elevator was taking them. He still was trying to figure out how the Empire State building could have six hundred floors and no one notice it. Percy figured it was better not to question where their destination was. The elevator ride was better than the alternative.
"So..." Grover spoke softly, breaking the silence. "Other than the last twenty four hours, how have you been?"
"Got kicked out of a few more schools since Yancy." Percy chuckled ruefully as he felt darkness closing in. "Nothing completely new."
"You don't look so good. I'll have Chiron heal you." The scrawny teen assured him. Percy felt his heart stop. Chiron! That was exactly who he was looking for! The teen tried to get onto his feet but the dizziness sent him falling backwards into the wall. "Woe, relax. He's been healing people for a long, long time. Plus we have many other healers who are just as confident."
"He..he." Percy felt his eyes roll back into his head as the blackness over took him.
And the plot thickens. I hope you like this story so far.