Percy Jackson

Percy could already tell that finding Artemis's bow wasn't going to be easy. They had left Savannah a couple of days ago and arrived at the Everglades at dawn. Annabeth had advised him that it would be better if they waited until daylight, which Percy had no problem with. So of course, the two demigods spent the remaining time either planning, checking their supplies, or having sex. Their ADHD was making them restless.

The first flash of sunlight nearly caused Percy to cry out in joy, he wanted to get this over with already. The entire time they were there, he felt like they were being watched by something. Whether that was by an alligator or monster, he didn't know.

The sunlight revealed the marshy waters of the swamp along with the large bunches of trees that were scattered through the entire swampland. A little ways away from the SUV, there was an old run-down tourist spot where a bunch of boats were lazily bobbing up and down in the water. Percy knew they would be a piece of cake to operate.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Annabeth said as she opened her door and stepped out.

Percy did the same as her but nearly recoiled at the sour smell coming from the swamp. He wasn't expecting the swamp to smell so foul, it smelled like 3-week-old pizza mixed together with sewage. He gagged at the smell. He reckoned some of the smell was coming from the very overfilled dumpster near the tourist spot.

Percy could already see Grover blowing up at the sight of garbage littered around the swamp. A empty Coke bottle floated in the dark murky water near one of the boats. An empty pizza box was thrown onto the grass just outside the tourist spot.

"Well, uh, I didn't think this place would be this polluted." Percy said.

Annabeth looked over at him, "It's a tourist destination, of course it would be polluted. Some tourists have no respect for nature, and I'm sure some of this stuff is from the locals too."

Percy had no idea what kind of person in their right mind would want to live in the middle of a fucking swamp but to be fair, he heard about the crazies down in Florida. For all he knew, Florida man was a much bigger threat than the alligators were.

Annabeth made her way towards one of the boats, peering down at it. She motioned for him to come to her.

When Percy got to the boat, he was surprised to see a long black object in the side. A shotgun was just left on the boat, right next to a half-shot box of shells. Percy had only fired a gun once, and it was the shotgun in the Athena cabin's weapon shed. Surprisingly, he ended up nailing a hellhound with it.

Annabeth climbed into the boat and examined the shotgun, "I can use this. It's a pump action just like the one we have back at camp."

"Yeah, just try not to shoot me in the back, yeah?" Percy said as he climbed into the boat with her, ignoring Annabeth giving him a dirty look.

Percy got the boat started with no problem and started driving. The boat itself was no bigger than the SUV they arrived in, but it was faster. As soon as Percy found a wide-open river, he gunned the engine and started speeding down the waterway, avoiding any branches sticking out of the water.

Percy stared at a twelve-foot-long alligator as he drove past it. Those things gave him the creeps, they were huge and fully capable of taking him or Annabeth down.

After a few minutes of driving and having to dodge multiple angry alligators, Percy ran into their first problem.

The boat roared forward as Percy steered it. Half-sunken trees flew past him. The wind was fast and blowing against his face. Annabeth's blonde hair was flying behind her. Percy noticed a small patch of land in front of them. He started to turn, only for the engine to sputter and slowly shut down.

"Percy?" Annabeth said as she turned to look at him.

Percy stared at the engine as it came to a complete stop. He tried to turn it back on, but the engine didn't start. He looked back at Annabeth, "I think the engine's dead."

"You're fucking joking." Annabeth said as she climbed back to him and examined the engine.

Annabeth let out a frustrated shriek after she opened the gas cap. "There's no gas!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the swamp.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, they hadn't really thought to check if the boats were fueled or not. They kinda just found one and decided that they were good to go. Now they were stranded in an alligator infested swamp with no way out.

The water sloshed around them. Percy glanced at the land patch, they were close enough they could just jump off the boat and onto it, but the land patch was more like an island. They would still be stuck. That was when Percy looked at the water again.

A dorsal fin passed the boat, causing Annabeth's eyes to widen with surprise.

"I didn't think there were sharks in the Everglades." She said.

"Bull shark." Percy said, "It had to come from the ocean, there's gotta be an exit nearby."

Percy would've much rather taken his chances with the sea than the swamp. At least at sea, the sharks would leave him alone. Alligators and snakes weren't exactly Poseidon's domain.

"Well, that doesn't matter since we don't have any way to get there." Annabeth said.

Wait, a minute. I'm a son of Poseidon, what the fuck are we doing? Percy thought.

Percy looked at the water and started willing it to move them. Annabeth looked surprised but then she looked at him and an understanding look crossed her face.

"Gods, I'm glad my boyfriend can control water." She said.

Percy shot her a smile before focusing on increasing the speed of the water. Once he got the hang of it, Percy was sending the boat flying through the water. Even better for them was the fact that he was using the currents to force alligators away from the boat.

Annabeth took the compass out and sat next to Percy so he could see where they needed to go. This was far easier than getting Aphrodite's cestus back, he almost wondered what Athena was so worried about.

Percy could already taste victory. Absolutely nothing was going to stand in their way. The alligators stood no chance against the currents. He even passed a American Crocodile that tried to charge the boat, only to be sent floating away like a piece of trash.

Then that creepy feeling of being watched came back. Percy couldn't help but get shivers up his spine, he had no idea what was causing the feeling. The feeling wasn't at all pleasant, it felt like the same feeling he had when he was back in sixth grade, when Mrs. Dodds would look over his shoulder during a math test.

Annabeth clearly felt the same because she set the compass on Percy's lap and took aim with the shotgun, scanning the tree line for any possible monsters. Percy wasn't going to say anything now, but Annabeth looked hot while she was focused in on looking for any monsters.

The compass made a dinging noise. Percy looked down and noticed the needle was pointing east, not south anymore. He turned the boat that direction and started maneuvering through the trees and rocks. He watched every adjustment the compass made with a careful eye.

Annabeth meanwhile was continuing to make sure they were safe. Percy trusted her abilities, anything that came at them was going to have a bad day for sure.

It was a few minutes later when Annabeth nudged him and said, "Look."

Percy looked up from the compass and spotted a silver bow hanging from a decaying tree's branch. The tree looked like it had been dead for a while, the leaves gone and the bark turning black. The tree sat on a patch of land big enough to fit multiple eighteen wheelers.

"Alright, let's get it and let's go." Percy said as he moved the boat to the shore. He willed the water to keep the boat there before hopping out, Annabeth right behind him.

The bow glinted against the sunlight. The ground was wet and disgusting underneath Percy's feet. He felt the ground sink as every step he took ended with a disgusting sloppy noise. He really should've brought boots along.

He looked over at Annabeth, she had the bright idea of wearing cargo pants before coming into the swamp. He was wearing his standard pair of jeans, which he knew were now ruined.

Just as Percy reached for the bow, a loud roar made him and Annabeth jump. He looked over quickly and found a familiar yet scary monster staring at him. The monster had long pointy spikes protruding from its back. The lion face bared wickedly sharp teeth at him. The scorpion tale swung back and forth, the stinger glistening with poison.

"Shit." Annabeth said, staying still, "Manticore."

Percy slowly reached into his pocket and grabbed Riptide. The Manticore let out a loud roar before charging straight at Annabeth instead of him. Percy wasn't going to let that slide, he ran at it and slashed at the lion head before it reached Annabeth.

The Manticore dodged out of the way and turned its attention on Percy, a look of pure hate in its eyes. Percy's nose screamed in protest as the sour smell of the monster, it smelled like blood and rotten vegetation.

Just as the Manticore started moving, a loud boom came from Annabeth's direction. The Manticore recoiled but turned its attention to Annabeth and growled. Annabeth pumped the shotgun and ejected the shell before firing again. The Manticore looked more annoyed than anything.

The monster turned back to Percy, ignoring Annabeth shooting at it. It glared at Riptide and that was when Percy realized why it was focused on him. He posed a bigger threat than Annabeth with her shotgun did.

The monster made its attack, using its stinger tail to jab at Percy. He tried to dodge but to his horror found he couldn't move. He looked down and found his right foot stuck in the mud. A sharp pain exploded up his shoulder as he felt something break the skin. He looked over and found the stinger of the Manticore's tail embedded in his left shoulder. The Manticore seemed to smile at him.

"PERCY!" Annabeth screamed.

Percy remembered Annabeth screaming his name before everything faded to black.

Ω

Percy had no idea where he was. He knew he wasn't dead, otherwise he'd be looking at Hades or the judges of the Underworld. Instead, he was looking at a blonde girl wearing a camp shirt and shorts standing over a boy who was sleeping in a bed in a room that looked oddly familiar to Percy.

The boy stirred and Percy found himself staring at his twelve-year old self, the scared Percy Jackson who didn't even believe in gods.

"What's going to happen on the solstice?" The girl asked.

Ah, Annabeth. Percy thought to himself.

He watched as younger him blubbered something about not knowing. The scene changed to the front of the Big House, now he was awake and staring at Annabeth, who was staring at him.

"You drool in your sleep." She said before running off.

"What the fuck is going on?" Older Percy asked himself.

The scene changed again and this time he was standing in a volcanic forge. He spotted two figured crouched behind a cart, both of them wearing camp shirts.

"But you'll be killed!" Annabeth said with disbelief.

"I'll be fine, besides we don't have a choice." Percy replied. Percy had to give it to his fourteen-year-old self, he had guts.

He watched as Annabeth glared at him before kissing him. Percy smiled as he watched the scene in front of him, it was his first true kiss and he couldn't have been happier knowing it was from Annabeth.

She pulled away, "Be safe, Seaweed Brain."

The scene changed again and this time, Percy and Annabeth were hanging over a ledge. Percy recognized the scene almost instantly, how could he not?

"Percy, you have to let me go." Annabeth said.

"No!" Percy gritted his teeth.

Percy closed his eyes, he knew what was going to happen next.

"Lead them there, promise me!" Percy yelled.

"I-I promise." Nico's voice came from somewhere Percy couldn't see.

Percy's heart dropped as he watched himself and Annabeth fall into the void below, his throat felt dry as he watched. He knew what horrors awaited them down there, yet he found himself thinking that he'd do it all again, just to bring Annabeth home alive.

Then the scene changed to show the doors of death. Percy and Annabeth were fighting for their lives, outnumbered by many monsters who wanted to kill them. Annabeth was slicing crowds of monster down with her bone sword while Percy was a demon with Riptide.

"Get in the elevator, I'll hold the button!" Percy yelled to Annabeth.

Percy smiled as Annabeth berated him for being so stupid, it was deserved in his eyes. If he had done that, he would've left Annabeth alone to travel the mortal world without him, which honestly seemed like a fate worse than death.

The scene froze in place. Percy looked around; he was confused. Was he dead and this was his life flashing before his eyes? Where was his mom? Where were all his friends?

A handsome guy walked into view, his suit intimidating and clean. His face was handsome yet terrifying, like the guy was someone who you really didn't want to mess with. His suit was a jet black and so sharp it made Percy nervous. Even worse, the guy was staring right at him.

"W-who are you?" Percy asked.

"I am Thanatos." The guy said in a cold tone.

A/N: Well, looks like Percy's done it this time.