CHAPTER 5 : PERCY

Percy could barely speak he was so angry. Sally Jackson led him and Annabeth inside. Percy fought back all the angry comments boiling inside him, threatening to erupt. He felt like punching something. Preferably Gabe's face.

"Annabeth, this is my mom, Sally." Percy's voice was still furious, but he wasn't in the mood to try and make it calmer. "Mom, Annabeth."

"Um, hi," Annabeth smiled at Sally. She pulled at her sleeve nervously. Undoubtedly, she could sense the tension in the room. It had built up so much you'd need something a lot more powerful than a knife to cut it; maybe a chainsaw.

"Hi, dear, it's nice to meet you." Sally's tone was friendly. She looked calm and for the hundredth time Percy wondered how she managed to never sound panicked. Percy couldn't see anything wrong with his mother's face, which was good. The apartment looked in one piece, which was good too. Furniture the right way up and all.

"Annabeth is a demigod too," Percy explained. "Where's Paul?"

"Oh, are you from Camp Jupiter?" Sally looked curious. "I've haven't met any of Percy's friends in years."

Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy shot her a look. Please, not now. Annabeth complied, but clearly she was bewildered. Percy was too worried and furious to care about how weird he was acting.

He stepped in front of his mother, so she was looking directly at him, and gently held her arms. Staring at her, his anger started to ebb somewhat… "Mom," he was so tired of these same old feelings coursing through him every time he opened her apartment door. "Where's Paul?"

"Paul is at work." Sally was firm and strong as she gazed back at Percy. Any worry he saw in her eyes, he knew was for him. She pushed back some hair from his face. "How are you, Percy?" She didn't tell him he shouldn't worry about her. That she was fine. That she could take care of herself. She'd said that many times before and knew by now that Percy didn't believe it. Well, no, maybe he did. Maybe Sally could take care of herself, maybe Paul was a help too. But they shouldn't have had to be as vigilant as they were. That was Percy's whole point.

"How do you think I am?"

"Not now, Perce." Sally peeked a look at Annabeth. "But, in general…" Sally tilted her head. "How's the camp?"

"Fine." Percy sighed and moved back. "Annabeth, could you excuse us for a minute? My mom and I need to have a private conversation."

Annabeth nodded, and Percy walked into the first room he could find, leaving Annabeth in the living room and trusting that Sally would follow him. He found himself in a guest bedroom - or maybe it was meant to be his room. He sat down on the bed. Sally entered in a few minutes, shutting the door behind her.

"When did he come?" It was Percy's first question.

Sally sighed. "This morning."

"Why?"

"The usual. Wanted money, but of course we didn't give it to him."

"Did he bring his guys?"

"No." But she hesitated.

"Mom." Percy glared. "Tell me the truth."

"Yes. But, we didn't open the door, so…"

"And Paul is…?"

"Looking for a new apartment. A safer one."

"Again." Percy clenched his fists.

Sally nodded. "Again," she admitted. Then she sat next to Percy, her hand resting on his shoulder. "I don't need or want you taking care of me, Perce. I can do that myself. I'm supposed to be there for you, taking care of you. The police are doing the best they can, and frankly-"

"Their best is not good enough." Percy's voice was tight. This had been going on for way too long.

Sally's eyes were fierce. "Don't worry Percy, this won't last. I mean it. One way or another, with the police's help, we'll sort this. They have a new plan now…"

"You think it'll work?"

"Catching Gabe? No, I don't think so. Scaring him off? Yes."

"But for how long?"

Sally didn't respond.

Percy felt like a flipped coin - when someone's called heads, someone's called tails, and it's just standing there, balancing on it's edge, about to tip any second… He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what his mom wanted him to do. "Maybe… you're right," Percy said, as he imagined the coin tipping. He made a decision right there and then. "We don't need to discuss this right now." Sally looked relieved. She squeezed Percy's shoulder. "I'll just need a minute to… calm down."

"Sure, dear," Sally kissed Percy's cheek. "I'm going to make you and your friend some food. Then you can tell me how you've really been." Percy met his mom's blue eyes. Gods, he loved her and Paul. They were the two most important people in the world to him.

"Sure."

Sally hesitated at his door. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, dear."

"Too long."

-X-

As Percy jogged up the alley, the smell of freshly fallen rain hit him hard. He usually loved that smell, but tonight his stomach was a knot of nerves. He hoped his mom and Annabeth hadn't discovered that he'd snuck off yet. He hoped that even if they did, they'd have no idea where to find him. He hoped that he had the guts to do what had to be done…

The sun had set and the street looked blue and black, an ugly bruise. It seemed fitting somehow, a testament to all the pain that Gabe had caused. Smelly Gabe. Idiotic Gabe. Criminal-ugo-son-of-a-bitch Gabe. Percy kept throwing insults at him, but no name was ever satisfying enough… Well, Percy reconsidered, except one.

Dead Gabe.

The guy had been a problem long enough. Now it was time for him to disappear, just be a nightmare that they could look back on and shudder about.

Percy entered a dodgy part of town. He kept slowing down around men and women who glared at him as if they'd love to kill him if he let down his guard, loudly badmouthing Gabe. Alternatively, he would spray paint taunts and insults to Gabe on alley walls and dumpsters, always making sure no police were around, trying, when he could, to allow the shady looking gangs to observe. He hoped word would get to Gabe.

He also hoped he was in the right part of town; he was, like, eighty percent sure. A quick online search ( one he'd had to risk drawing monster attention for ) revealed that a lot of criminal activity - drug selling, 'black-market' weapons (geez, humans had no idea what real black market weapons even were though; Percy had first hand experience, once having gone on a quest to shut down a magical supplier), the usual illicit activity - apparently went down in this area and Percy had a strong suspicion about who was the big boss raking it all in... After all, this was the area in which Percy's mom used to live with Gabe in that apartment that smelled like beer and the horrifying BO that was Gabe's and Gabe's alone.

Dead Gabe... Yup, that had a nice ring to it.

Percy had it all planned. He wasn't armed himself; he didn't need to be. Did he feel guilty, planning to take down Gabe as he did? Did he hesitate?

Percy truly hated the guy's guts. He couldn't muster an ounce of mercy for Gabe, nor did he care to try. Gabe is just another monster, Percy told himself. Only worse, really, because Percy could destroy a bunch of monsters and be called a hero. Taking care of Gabe would be messy. He'd been called far less flattering things after tonight… murderer… exile… And then there was his afterlife to worry about...

But he had brought Gabe onto Sally and Paul. Now he had to be the one to rectify things… But, Sally. His mom. He pictured her face, her eyes, her smile.

Ouch. Percy's heart thumped painfully, protesting what his brain told him was the logical thing to do (snuff out the disgusting, soot coloured flame that had been burning for far too long; Gabe). His heart, or his conscience, or whatever it was inside him, was reminding him how this was exactly what his mother hadn't wanted. And, all of a sudden, Percy stopped seeing red. His anger finally faded as the reality of what he wanted to do hit him.

He turned into an alleyway. It's just nerves... I'm just feeling nervous, he told himself. Yeah, because you're planning to murder a guy! His conscience, his gut, his heart, whatever you wanna call it, was yelling at him. He's not a monster Percy! Not the kind you're allowed to kill anyway. But, you will be if you do this.

"Argh!" Percy knelt, frustrated, grabbing his hair. His stomach was nauseous. His palms were sweaty. His head spun. He needed water. He needed to think clearly. His anger was gone, completely and utterly washed away. Percy realized that there was a chill to the air. He shivered.

Percy looked up; the apartment buildings either side of him bordered a strip of sky. He couldn't see the stars, only darkness and pollution. He imagined they were there though, just like he imagined that there was a Percy somewhere who'd never had to deal with Gabe… or who could've gotten rid of him using Medusa's head. That Percy would probably be horrified at what he was doing now. Percy closed his eyes, and when he did, he saw the stars in that little strip of sky, fiery and bright.

-X-

Now, Percy wasn't usually the type of guy who got all philosophical and spent time kneeling and thinking about his life and "where it had all gone wrong". Uh-uh. Normally he was all about action. All of this deep, look-into-yourself crap that he found himself doing more and more these days was just another reason he hated Gabe. Nothing got on his nerves like having to sort out his feelings. Ugh.

But, as he felt the cool metal of a barrel press against the nape of his neck, hard enough to draw some blood as it scraped his skin, Percy knew with certainty that, in the end, he couldn't do this. He couldn't kill Gabe.

Which sucked, because the guy was right behind him, ready to shoot him dead.

"Sup, Gabe," Percy said, resisting the urge to turn around. "We need to talk."

"How'd you know it was me?" Gabe sounded suspicious, like he thought this might be a trap. The ugly slug probably hadn't expected Percy to sound so calm.

"Smelled you a mile away," Percy said, "I'm surprised the police haven't caught you yet. They just need to set their dogs sniffing. There's no perfume strong enough to hide your scent." Percy paused. "Never mind, they've probably already tried that. Bet their dogs keep leading them to the garbage dump. Simple enough mistake."

In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say at gunpoint.

Percy grunted as Gabe kicked him in the back, forcing Percy's face to spend some quality time, up close and personal, with the grubby alley floor. The ground tasted as disgusting as Gabe smelled. The gun was now held against Percy's head.

He heard a gasp, and Gabe snarled. "Listen, boy, move and I'll shoot." Then Gabe yelled and Percy heard footsteps; Gabe's lackeys no doubt. "Tie him up. Gag him if he screams. We're taking him to the park. Gonna make his punishment nice and slow…" What felt like a bunch of sausages, but was undoubtedly Gabe's hand, yanked at Percy's hair, causing Percy to growl.

Suddenly he was staring directly at Gabe's face; the guy's muddy brown eyes locked on his. Something was off about Gabe, but Percy couldn't put his finger on what, and he was in too much pain to think clearly right then anyway. "This one deserves my personal attention."

Gabe grinned. Percy spat at him; his saliva was tinged red. Gabe clocked him in the face, hard, and Percy couldn't stifle the yell that escaped him. The sniggering that followed made his cheeks and ears burn in shame. If Gabe hadn't punched him again and knocked him out, Percy would've had a chance to yell and swear at him to his heart's content; which might have felt good, but probably would've gotten him killed on the spot.

Maybe Gabe could sense that. He must've really wanted to kill Percy slowly at the park because he quickly lobbed his fist at Percy to shut him up.

-X-

When Percy opened his eyes again, he had the feeling he hadn't been out too long. They were in a park. Percy didn't know which one exactly. The grass was damp and cool; he was lying down. His hands were tied behind his back, but he wasn't gagged, nor were his feet bound. Percy turned his head; in a loose circle, all around him, were Gabe's men. And Gabe, of course, was right there too, scratching his butt with the barrel of his gun while he waited for Percy to wake up. What Percy wouldn't give for the thing to get permanently lodged up there…

"Mr Ugliano, sir, he's awake," one of Gabe's men blurted out. Percy didn't see who.

Gabe fixed his pig-like eyes on Percy. "Good," he said. His tone was quiet, thoughtful. Like he'd planned this moment out just as much as Percy had; only in his case he didn't have any cold feet about murder. Torture. Pain. Gabe's expression was one of quiet satisfaction. It was an intelligent expression. And that's when Percy realized he might actually die. A shiver raced through his body. Percy was scared, for the first time that night.

The thing was, Gabe was a lot of things (mainly disgusting things) but smart wasn't one of them. Oh sure, he could sniff some extra cash on a person a mile away, but that's about as much intellect as he could demonstrate. Percy assumed Gabe must have a bit more intelligence than Percy had ever given him credit for in order for him to have become a wanted criminal, running a pretty large empire, but this was something else. Gabe had ambushed Percy in an alley after quietly sneaking behind him (truthfully, Percy actually hadn't been able to smell him a mile off), dragged him here, bound him up and completely surrounded him with his crew. This was too cunning for regular old Gabe. Plus his voice… it sounded different to Percy. Granted, Percy hadn't spoken to the scumbag properly since he was twelve, but still - now Gabe spoke like English was his second language.

This was weird stuff.

"Get him up on his knees," Gabe barked. "I think it's about time he lost those impertinent eyes of his." Gabe sauntered towards Percy, putting his gun in his holster and drawing out a knife. "That's right boy, glare at me while you still can," he taunted, while two thugs shoved Percy to his knees.

Percy could see more of his surroundings now. He was in a clearing. Trees rimmed the edges, darkly watching over the scene and promising to keep all secrets.

A few statues were scattered in the clearing itself. One, of a man holding a net, some fishing rods tucked in his belt, stood out to Percy for obvious reasons. It was covered in poop and watched without any sympathy. Still, it was the closest link to the sea Percy could see. It gave him a small spark of hope. Neptune. Father. Help me.

"Now, step back," Gabe ordered; all his men moved away from Percy, into the shadows of the trees. "The honour is all mine." And just like that the small spark of hope was extinguished.

Percy realized, his stomach feeling like it was clenched by an iron fist, that his situation wasn't too hot. One, he had evil weirdly un-Gabe Gabe calling the shots. Two, there were thugs all around him. Three, his sword Riptide couldn't actually harm Gabe or his men. Four, their guns could kill him.

"Wait," Percy blurted out. "You don't want to kill me!"

Gabe laughed. "Who said anything about killing you? I'll return you to your home after a nice ransom has been paid… They'll be so happy to have you back I'm sure they won't even notice a few missing body parts here and there." Gabe positioned his knife, slowly moving it towards Percy's eyes… "Now, hold still."

A weird golden light flashed behind Gabe's gunky eyes. His three hairs quivered as he came even closer. All Percy could smell was the beer on his breath.

As Gabe moved in, Percy swiftly kneed him in the groin and ducked sideways, rolling over and positioning his arms just right - at the same time Gabe howled and slashed, missing Percy's face. "Don't shoot - he's mine!" Gabe ordered.

Percy felt the sting of metal but didn't care because he was now able to stand up. He flexed his hands, pieces of rope littering the ground between him and Gabe. Gabe swore at him and lunged.

Percy uncapped Riptide, just for show. It couldn't hurt Gabe, but the other man didn't know it. Gabe froze, startled. His expression grew pained. He almost seemed to be battling against himself. "Try me, you old fart," Percy said, deadpan.

Gabe hissed. "With pleasure." That golden light illuminated his eyes more brightly, and his voice was more inhuman than ever. A startling thought struck Percy: is Gabe a monster?

As Gabe circled him, Percy started thinking back to Gabe's actions that evening. They were too sophisticated for regular-Gabe, but sophisticated enough for a monster… The only thing stopping him from concluding this absolutely was the fact that he knew better; his mom had lived with Gabe because he was so disgustingly human he masked Percy's own scent. Gabe couldn't possibly be a monster, could he?

But then Gabe said five words that made Percy 100% certain. "You're dead now Perseus Jackson."

Then all hell broke loose.

Gabe yelled, "Attack!" He gestured wildly for his men to do so, except… Half of them weren't there. They were knocked out. Even Percy hadn't realized - he'd been so focused on Gabe. They had darts sticking out of their arms or stomachs or necks. "What?" Gabe hissed in annoyance, and immediately had his knife knocked out of his hands; but not by Percy - by no one.

It clicked for Percy.

Annabeth took off her hat and quickly grabbed Gabe from behind, pressing her knife to his neck. This stopped the other four henchmen, who Annabeth hadn't managed to subdue yet. "Put down your guns or this disgrace to cockroaches gets it!" Annabeth growled, her eyes flashing like silver lightning. At that moment, Percy was extremely glad the girl was on his side.

The men grumbled but dropped their weapons. Annabeth held Percy's gaze, silently asking how he wanted to play this out. "Kill him - he's a monster!" Percy yelled, even though a part of him was really disappointed that Annabeth, and not him, would finally get to kill Gabe.

Gabe's men bristled, and Percy realized that if Annabeth did indeed kill Gabe, his men would pick up their guns and shoot. He might've been willing to risk his life for the opportunity to take out Gabe, but he wouldn't dream of risking Annabeth.

Gabe laughed. Annabeth held on tighter. "What's so funny?"

"Kill me, please," Gabe wheezed. Percy gaped. Gabe's voice was now completely different. It was definitely someone else's, and Percy realized that whatever was inside Gabe wasn't even pretending to sound like him anymore. Gabe's eyes, when he looked up, were blocks of solid gold. "I've been stuck in this miserable man's body for ages! Four months! Do you have any idea how horrible that is?"

Annabeth looked stunned. She wasn't the only one.

At this point, Gabe's men were looking thoroughly confused and Percy figured that either their jaws, which were hanging wide open, would fall off or they'd start shooting first, asking questions later (even if it meant losing their suddenly suicidal boss.) The guy (let's be honest; tank would be a more accurate description) closest to Percy was already eyeing his gun, like he'd heard enough crazy talk.

Percy lunged for him, taking his legs out from under him and pummelling the tank until he lost consciousness.

"I mean, he told me it would be no biggie, just get into a human host and enjoy myself. So I did, and you know what? I COULDN'T GET OUT! This guy's so human he's like a stinky trap! I loathe this vessel! Kill him - FREE ME!" Monster-Gabe seemed to be on a role.

"Percy - my bag, over there- it had more darts!" Annabeth yelled. "They're tranquilisers!"

Percy ran for the bag, near Annabeth's feet, got his hands on it and quickly pulled out some darts.

The three remaining thugs were right behind him and he rolled aside; one caught Percy by the leg and pulled Percy towards him. Percy built up his momentum and sailed through the guy's legs, darting his sorry ass.

"I don't know if we should kill him anymore, Percy," Annabeth muttered.

"What?! Traitor! Liar! You must!" Gabe wailed and started thrashing with renewed energy.

Percy darted the second man by throwing the little weapon with furious speed. It embedded itself in the guy's neck. The remaining guy very heroically and bravely turned his tail and ran, clutching his butt as if afraid of what Percy might do.

But Percy had bigger issues; Gabe threw Annabeth off and she crashed into the statue of the fisherman. She was sprawled at it's base, silver and blond in the moonlight.

Gabe pointed his gun at Annabeth, but glared at Percy. "Free me. Kill me. Or I kill your friend."

Percy was huffing. He slowly approached Gabe. Annabeth wasn't moving. "Gabe…?" He slowly raised his arms, a gesture of peace.

"Do not call me that," Gabe hissed. His eyes were like lamps, shining with hatred. "My name is-" He continued to hiss, click, make mooing noises like a cow and even stamp his feet.

"Err, got a nickname?"

"I am an eidolon, boy," Moo-moo Gabe continued to hiss. "We only have unique and strong names."

"I'm going to call you Goldie, okay?" Percy said warily. "Now, Goldie, why don't we have a nice chat, no guns, and then I'll-"

"KILL ME!" Goldie insisted eagerly.

"Fine," Percy snapped. But he was lying. Clearly, it would not be a good idea to unleash this monster. "But if you wanted me to kill you all along, why bother pretending to carve my eyes out first?"

"I had to scare you boy! Make you really desperate. See, I can still get a sense of people's thoughts, even though I'm trapped in this smelly vessel and can't take over their bodies anymore! You weren't going to murder Gabe, were you?"

"Well, no," Percy admitted.

"So you see! I had no choice but to go along with the buffoon's routine. Plus, Gabe's desire to hurt and maim you was strong. As was his desire for money." An eye roll accompanied this. "I'm in complete control now though, not to worry. I've finally built enough strength, over four long months, to fully control this imbecile of a vessel. Now I'm asking you to do what you chickened out on. Kill him."

Annabeth was slowly shuffling around. Percy's heart started beating again. "You saw - in my mind - that I couldn't," Percy pointed out absently, trying to distract the monster.

"I saw that you wouldn't," he corrected. "But you could. You absolutely could. I saw that in you too. Boy, you could carry out your deepest wish; getting rid of Gabe Ugliano. Ugh, even his name is disgusting. You could say you destroyed a monster, that you had no choice. Your camp couldn't accuse you then - not even Octavian." Percy's eyes grew wide, and the eidolon chuckled. "Yes, boy, I see all." The eidolon paused, as if sniffing the air. "For instance," he sounded furious. Like Mount-Vesuvius-erupting furious. "I see your friend Annabeth is inputting an automaton activation sequence at the base of that statue. She must die."

"NO!" Percy yelled and leapt at Gabe. Gabe kicked Percy aside with lightning speed and simultaneously fired his gun; Percy couldn't see anything but Gabe's boot and then grass, couldn't taste anything but his own metallic blood and the dirt on Gabe's boot. But he heard her scream. It tore him out of his daze with the exact same ferocity as the scream itself was torn out of her throat. Percy roared.

He kicked out at Gabe's legs so the oaf toppled too. He was laughing giddily, happy, as Percy jumped on top and started punching his lights out. Try as hard as he could, Percy couldn't wipe that grin off his face. Percy was so angry he swore he could hear the earth shifting.

"You'll have to do better than that," Gabe's eye was swollen. His nose leaked red. "Use your sword, boy."

Anaklusmos. Percy moved his hand towards his pocket.

Then something warm and blonde tackled Percy. "What the-"

"Percy, stop," She pleaded. She held his arms down, kneeling on Percy's stomach. She was alive. Her face was scraped up and dirty, weeds scattered through her hair. Percy had never before seen a better looking girl in his life. She was alive!

"There's no blood on you-"

"I faked being shot so Gabe would lower his guard," Annabeth explained. "I needed to activate that fisherman. You weren't supposed to fly off the rail like that!"

"Fisherman?"

The ground trembled beneath them and they both looked towards Gabe; behind him, the statue had come to life. It easily cleared nine feet, a hulk of grey seastone, wearing a cape of white bird poop. Percy figured it must've been heavier than it looked because the ground shuddered as it walked towards him and Annabeth. It grabbed Gabe in it's net and moved back towards it's pedestal. Goldie seemed to realize something Percy didn't, because he screeched. Annabeth and Percy got up and approached the pedestal.

"They'll both turn into a statue soon," Annabeth said. "That means this guy - Gabe - will be here forever, as a stone statue, with the eidolon trapped within him."

"Fitting end." Percy managed. It wasn't. He felt Gabe had gotten off too easy.

Annabeth searched the perimeter one last time, probably looking for any more threats. At that moment Goldie the eidolon said some very nasty swear words and gave them the finger as his legs turned to stone. Percy opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. There was a strange glint in Gabe's hand…

Percy pushed Annabeth as far as he could and prayed she wouldn't get hit. He himself turned to run but not before Gabe shot him. A scream of agony was ripped from Percy and he stumbled.

Annabeth was at his side in a instant. Blood pooled around them. Percy's view, as his eyes clouded, was of Annabeth, her face unusually pale, working furiously with white gauze. Behind her the stone statue of the fisherman loomed. He was holding his left hand up. It clutched a net, in turn housing a completely petrified Gabe, his stone gun still pointed at Percy's leg.

A/N: All is owned by Rick Riordan. *bows down to Rick*

Hey guys, I hope I'm not too late with this update. Yes there are a lot of unanswered questions in this chapter (and the previous ones too) that I will hash out in the next chapter. ; ) Something to look forward too.

Also, I've made minor (teeny tiny) changes to the previous chapters so they're more coherent. Nothing major though.

Cheers and thanks for reading guys! xx Thanks for all your reviews and follows.