Percy Jackson

Perc would be lying if he said he knew where he was going. Honestly, he hadn't even been out of Poseidon's realm for a day and he was already winging it, though who could blame him? Half of Percy's quests were just him improvising his way through everything. Sure, there was a prophecy and everything but that didn't mean Percy wasn't free to get lost if he wanted to.

All Percy could feel was the cool night air whipping past his face, Annabeth's arms wrapped around his waist as she clung to him for dear life, and of course the breeze from Blackjack's wings every time he flapped them.

You see, Poseidon hadn't really thought ahead of just kicking them to the surface. They ended up on the beach of Camp Half-Blood, nearly getting caught by a few Ares campers who just happened to be patrolling the area. After passing camp, Percy and Annabeth both realized that they had no way to get to the nearest Amtrak station, at least, no obvious way besides walking.

That was when Percy got the bright idea of calling Blackjack. Taking a pegasus was safer than just walking in the pitch black of the night. The first few yards they had walked were lit with their phone flashlights but Annabeth insisted that only one be on as to not drain both of their phones just in case they needed the other one.

The plan would've worked if the flashlights weren't so blatantly obvious to anyone looking their direction. Leo had put the strongest flashlight he could into the phone while making as slim and compact as a iPhone 13, yet the flashlight was stronger than some mortal military lights. Percy was certain you could damage your eyes if you looked into one for too long. He learned that the hard way after Annabeth accidentally shined the light in his face.

Now they were flying through the night sky towards the nearest train station. Percy had gotten used to Blackjack's speed but Annabeth clearly hadn't, at least that's what he could discern from her nervous strumming fingers which kind of tickled his stomach.

After about ten minutes of flying, Blackjack dropped them both off at the train station, which was void of any people. The whole place was being staffed by a skeleton crew of a bored ticket guy, a sleepy security guard, and a lone janitor who looked like an angry pit-bull.

The train station reeked of cleaning detergent, which made Percy's face wrinkle and Annabeth gag.

Annabeth pulled out their tickets from her pocket and walked up to the guy behind the ticket counter. She didn't even have to ring the bell for the ticket guy, he looked up with a irritated expression and said, "What can I do for you?"

"I have these tickets," Annabeth said while pushing their train tickets forward, "Can you check them?"

The guy took the tickets and examined them. He typed on the computer and waited for about a couple of minutes, Percy was getting antsy, he hated waiting.

While they waited, Percy's eyes drifted towards the other people in the station. The guard, doing a splendid job of guarding the station, was asleep in a chair. The janitor however, had stopped mopping and was staring right at him.

The guy looked creepy, Percy just couldn't lie. His skin was sickly looking and something about his eyes just didn't look right. His skin was shriveled up, which was normal for old people, but this guy didn't look any older than forty. The look the guy gave Percy wasn't rage or anything like that, it looked a lot more like…hunger.

"Alright, these tickets are good, just wait a few minutes, the train will be here soon." The ticket guy said before handing the tickets back to Annabeth.

"Thanks." Annabeth said while taking the tickets, "Let's go, Percy."

Percy let her drag him away but not once did he take his eyes off the creepy janitor.

Annabeth led him to a far corner of the station and sat down, glancing at him with a confused expression, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, did you see the janitor?" Percy asked, turning to look at her.

Annabeth looked around before frowning, "What janitor?"

Percy turned and looked at where the janitor was before and to his horror, the guy wasn't there anymore. The mop was gone as well. There was no evidence anyone was there to begin with but Percy knew what he saw. He was about to say something when he heard a scuffle next to him.

When Percy turned, he was horrified to see the janitor with Annabeth. She was kicking, scratching, and attempting to get her knife out but the janitor's frail-looking hands were far sturdier than they looked. By now, Percy realized what was wrong with the guy, his irises were red, blood red, like a demon's eyes.

"Help!" Annabeth grunted while thrashing her body around to break free but the janitor held her arm and hip tightly to make sure she couldn't break free.

Percy drew Riptide, seeing the janitor tilt his head back, open his mouth to reveal serrated sharp teeth with pointy fangs. Just as he was about to bite Annabeth, a slick sound followed by the crack of bone rang through the air.

Percy's sea green eyes pulsed with rage as he stared at Riptide cleaved into the janitor/monster's skull. A look of pure shock was plastered on the janitor's face before he let go of Annabeth and went limp, golden dust slowly falling from where Riptide was currently lodged.

Annabeth gasped and turned to see Percy place his shoe on the janitor's shoulder and kick him off, freeing Riptide which was now slightly stained with yellow dust. He could've let it end there, let the monster dissolve but a certain rage told Percy this wasn't over quite yet. He stepped over the monster's body and sliced down at the neck with his sword, cutting half-way. He started cutting in a back-and-forth motion, like a knife cutting through steak.

"Percy." Annabeth said while walking towards him, trying to stop him.

Percy didn't stop, he was so bloodthirsty that Ares himself would be begging to be his friend. With a sick ripping sound, the head came off. Percy picked up the ghoulish head, now leaking the golden dust of monsters. The body dissolved quickly but not the head. Instead, Percy walked over to the train tracks and dropped the head onto the tracks, a satisfied yet wicked smile growing across his face as he saw the lights of the train slowly approaching.

Annabeth's hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality and out of his vengeful fantasyland he was in for a moment. "Are you okay?" She asked with a genuinely concerned look.

"I'm fine." Percy asked, "He was trying to hurt you."

"And you don't think cutting his head off and dropping it onto the tracks was doing a little too much?" She asked.

"It wasn't enough." Percy said darkly before walking to one of the train doors and boarding the train, a slightly disturbed Annabeth following him

Annabeth Chase

Annabeth knew Percy had a dark side, she knew it before they fell into Tartarus, it only made itself known down there. She was afraid that he would lose control and let that side take over but luckily, Percy remained his happy, laid back, goofy self. She really didn't want to see that side of Percy, the side that was made for and honed by years of war, the side that craved brutality and demanded pure ruthlessness.

Seeing that side of Percy was a mental flashbang, as fast as it would appear, it would disappear.

Annabeth knew she was safe, even when he was in that state, brutally torturing monsters in her name. She was the reason he ever acted like that in the first place, and she happened to be one of the few people who could bring him out of it. She wasn't scared for her sake, but for Percy's. It was obvious that side came out due to so much mental anguish and rage.

In a way, Annabeth found it comforting that Percy could be so protective of her, it always alleviated her fears of him turning out like Luke. It also gave her a sense of purpose since she knew the best way to snap him out of his rage. The only other person who could be as effective as her was his mom.

Yet now Percy was sitting right next to her, watching some random video on his phone. He'd laugh or smirk every once in a while, which put her at ease.

Annabeth looked around the train. She guessed no one felt like taking a train at 1 in the morning because the entire train was empty. It gave her that feeling of seeing a empty school or empty parking lot. The few times she'd taken trains in New York, they were usually so cramped she had to stand. That's why she always opted to just have Percy drive her places or to take a pegasus.

Whether it was ADHD or just restlessness from the quest they were on, Annabeth could not for the life of her sit still. She'd been on quests before but that never made the nervous feeling in her gut go away. Quests always had the chance to go wrong, like what had happened with Luke's quest.

A tap on her shoulder caused her to jump. She turned and relaxed when it was just Percy getting her attention.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said.

"It's fine." She replied.

"Do you know what that thing was? You know, the thing that attacked you."

Of course she knew what it was! She wouldn't be the daughter of Athena if she didn't. She had taught that specific monster in her monster-hunting lessons at camp. She was honestly surprised she hadn't encountered one until now.

"That was a Vrykolakas." She said.

"A vry-what?" Percy asked, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

"A Vrykolakas." She repeated, "Think of it like a zombie or a vampire."

"I thought empousai were vampires." Percy said.

He technically wasn't wrong. "They're close. Both of them eat people but that's where they start to change. Empousai are usually always female, they're meant to seduce young men like you so they could eat you." She explained.

"Great, way to make me feel better." He grumbled.

"Get over it, you big baby. Anyways, Vrykolakas are different, they're dead people who were buried on tainted land, well, that's according to the myths. They've changed over the years, just like the gods." Annabeth said, "Zeus used to wear a blue toga, now he wears a suit. I'm assuming Vrykolakas just evolved to fit in with the mortal world, much easier to get a jump on a half-blood that way."

"They don't have vampire strength, do they?"

Annabeth shook her head, "They don't have vampire weaknesses either. They use ambush tactics and stealth because they can't really win in a straight up fight. They're fast but one touch from Celestial Bronze and its to Tartarus with them. There are exceptions though."

"Exceptions?" Percy asked with a worried look.

"Yep, some of them have wings. Most likely became a thing when people thought vampires could became bats. Not all of them have wings but the ones who do are faster and much more aggressive."

"Remind me to attend your classes more often, yeah?" Percy said with a sly smile.

"I did, once. You made out with me as soon as class ended and we got in trouble." Annabeth said with an unamused look.

"Not my fault that I didn't know Chiron was going to come in. He didn't knock."

Annabeth pushed him playfully, "You're such a dork." She looked away, only to feel Percy lean in and kiss her cheek. She turned to see him turn on his side and try to sleep.

Annabeth shrugged and tried to do the same, she had a feeling they were going to need the energy. She watched out the windows as the train sped out of New York City and into the American countryside. The lights of the city glowed behind them, seemingly sending them a farewell until they returned.

A/N: Had to add a little dark Percy in here. I might even add dark Annabeth later on. Sorry for not updating for a bit, Uni just started and i'm getting back into my schedule. I'll try to update as frequently as i can while keeping the quality the same, hopefully.