Chapter 2

Percy's POV

Have you ever run a mile during P.E and finished completely exhausted, well try running ten miles. I was back in the forest running for my life, pushing branches away from my face. The sky was as dark as ever and there was a slight mist forming in between the trees. Not good, I thought. Visibility zero was the last thing I needed; the trees alone were easy to get lost in but I guess since that hadn't worked the heavens thought a good thick mist would do the trick.

My legs felt like they had been dipped in acid and my chest had started bleeding again. The pain was ludicrous. I was dying, there was not enough oxygen circulating my body. I collapsed and inhaled desperately I turned onto my back and squeezed my heart trying to drown the pain. Water, I thought. I could no longer breathe when I finally managed to yank off the cap of my water bottle. The water bottle was empty before I knew it. Life flowed back into my body, my body worked again. The moment of panicked was over, never again I promised my body.

"pant-pant-How?" I said quietly. I had studied the human body in books and water never had an effect that drastic on people. I could have sat down and spent all day thinking about the miracle but I had bigger things to worry about. I looked up and the sky was getting slightly lighter, not much time after the first birds started chirping. I flung my backpack over my shoulder and started walking trough the forest, occasionally leaning up against a tree to catch my breath. In a matter of minutes, the outline of the factory became visible and my pace sped up. I reached the kitchen door ready to faint but I pushed the door open.

"Ahh! Oh my, Percy thank the gods it's just you" Her expression changed three times: it went from shocked, to relieved, to whatever is worse than shocked. I decided to take a break, look at myself for a moment, and see what was wrong. Summarizing I was blown away in a bad way. I looked horrible my hair was messed up and dirty, my face covered I blood and grime, my shirt torn with bloody bandages underneath, a gash on my arm, bandaged hands and a bunch of splinters stuck in my left leg and arm. I gave her a halfhearted smile, but her face remained stern.

"Perseus Jackson, what in the world is going on?" my mom asked. I hesitated but then told her the whole story. I told her about the library, the harpy and the girl. When I finished the only thing, you could hear was the clock ticking in the background. Then my mom swore for the first time in her life.

"Shit" She muttered and ran across the room and pulled out a wickedly sharp cooking knife. I just stood there watching in confusion. First she walked up to the stove stood there for a moment and then cut our yellow gas cord in half.

"WHAT THE HECK!" I bellowed. My mom acted as if nothing had happened. I panicked at the smell of gas, she had just dug our grave a dozen feet deeper and now we were in serious, serious trouble. I didn't know what she was planning but just then windows somewhere in the building broke. I heard glass slide around on the floor, but I was distracted when a huge ant broke down the kitchen doorway. My heart skipped a beat when I realized what it was: a myrmeke. I remembered learning about them; they were very rare, very powerful, large Indian ants that liked shiny stuff. This one was particularly large though, so big it couldn't get through the doorway. It snapped its pierces a couple times and then backed away to let someone through. A man with long dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and the girl from before walked in. At the same five monsters in bronze shiny armor burst though the door behind us and raised their bows. They were teleklines, monsters that were half dog half seal, and each one had an arrow that was glowing slightly in the dark.

I looked at my mom for confidence but she was obviously just as scared as me. I was trying to act confident, but the percent of our success was to slim. My heart was pounding, sweat was seeping off my chin, and my legs had turned to Jell-O. My mom was looking at the man in a mixture of fear and awe.

"Promethus w-what are you doing here" my mom stuttered. My heart skipped a beat again. My mind was racing, the first thing I thought was "She knows him?", then "Isn't Promethus the name of a titan", and then I concluded "Oh my gods she knows a titan". We stumbled back into a corner and I stepped forward as a human shield.

"Sally Jackson, you sure have gotten into a sticky situation" Promethus said smiling. I felt my mom's hand slip into my backpack.

"I've still got plenty of options you monster" my mom said. She pulled out a peach can and threw it at one of the monsters, then screamed.

"Percy go!" I hadn't planed anything but I ran at the monster in the left corner. Two or three shot arrows whizzed past my head, and stuck in the wall behind me. At the same time my mom charged the titaness but there wasn't much contest. The girl dodged my mom's attempt of a punch and kneed her in her stomach. I couldn't turn around and help plus my body was moving to fast so I tackled the monster into the nearest bookshelf. When we hit I could hear the sound of the wood snapping and the glass breaking. We hit the floor and started to struggle: the book shelf started to tilt, and then it picked up speed and fell over us. I rolled over using the monster as a shield just in time for a wooden shard to pierce his neck. It stopped an inch away from my face, it scared me out of my mind but I managed to push myself out of the wreckage.

When I got up my mom was unconscious, the monster that my mom hit with a peach can was on the floor with another monster leaning over him, while both titans eyed me cautiously. I turned around desperately and ran towards the doorway. An arrow hit my backpack and sent me flying into the machinery room. Thank the gods for arrow proof books! The machinery room was like a maze and amazingly that's exactly what I needed, it was my only hope. It had stacked canned food, rolling tables, and tall machines everywhere. It was almost impossible to navigate with the poor lighting, luckily this was my house so got the upper hand. The only way I could win was if the enemy separated to look for me. If they did I could pick them off one by one. It wasn't much of a plan considering I was unarmed and there were titans involved but it was something. I was worried about my mom but this was about the best thing I could do to help her.

I ran around trying to find the best spot to launch an ambush. The best I could find was on top of a machine, much less than ideal but it worked. It took a while to get up but once I got up there but waiting was the hardest part of all was waiting. My heart was pounding and I couldn't stop shaking. I tried to make less sound by holding my breath but I didn't work. I tried to calm myself down with the few happy memories from my childhood. I thought back to when me and my sister were playing at the beach, the mid-night conversations with Grover. All the good things of my life never lasted. I was wondering if I would be joining them soon or not, and what they would say if I let mom die.

Just then two people came around the corner.

Third Person POV

Lalantos walked around the kitchen angrily, occasionally swearing and punching something. The four monsters stood absolutely still trying to avoid any attention. Promethus was leaning up against the wall checking his watch and shaking his head.

"Okay listen up" Lalantos said "The boy has the home field advantage right now. So we will have to split up and search for him." Some grimaced, but everyone nodded in the end.

"Three teams and one guard should do, right" Promethus said while reading a book he just picked up.

"I will go by myself. One of you monsters will have to go with Promethus" she finished with distaste. Then she turned around and ran into the machinery room. Two monsters paired up and quickly followed. The remaining monster stood quietly eyeing the titan. Promethus finally put down his book and walked out the door with the monster quick on his heels.

"Nice move kid" he said to himself, before his clothes turned into celestial bronze armor and a large wickedly sharp spear and shield with pictures of peoples death formed in his hands.

"Let's move soldier" he said to the monster, and then they ran around the corner.

Percy's POV

I saw two people come around the corner. My muscles tensed and I narrowed my eyes trying to calculate their distance. I was planning to brain anyone who was unlucky enough to come by. I had counted on the fact that this place was to big to scout out together, I was hoping that they would be traveling alone but there was no turning back now. Then one of the two spoke as they came closer.

"You sure he's around here?" I couldn't tell which one spoke but his voice was rough. Then an equally rough voice answered.

"Yeah. This isn't an ordinary halfblood, this one is extra powerful". Damn monsters, I thought, they sniffed me out. Only now they were almost in my range. One monster looked my way, so I tried to blend in with the shadows. He averted his eyes for a second to talk to his friend.

"He should be around here somewh-"he never got to finish. I jumped off the machine and came down hard. I grabbed his head and used the momentum of the fall to slam his head into the near rolling table. My vision blurred but I turned around just in time for a kick to send me flying into a stacked pile of canned food. I coughed up some blood because of the pain. My stomach was aching I rolled over holding myself with my left arm. I saw a faint light between all the chaos. I grabbed at the light, and came back with a beautiful bronze ring. The glowing started getting stronger until three small holographic images circled above my hand.

The monster checked his friends pulse and then grabbed his sword. Enraged he let out a terrible roar.

"How dare you" he said probably putting all his murderous intent behind his glare. He charged strait at me and raised his sword. I waited last minute to roll to the side. His sword sunk into the floor, so I stood and looked at the ring. My vision came back into focus and I saw what the holograms were. They were weapons: one was a long sword, probably three feet long. The second was a spear, I couldn't make out to much detail but it looked insanely sharp. The third hologram was actually two criss-crossed short swords. I had no idea how to use the ring and didn't know where it came from, but just then the monster turned around and swung his sword. I jumped back just in time but then he charged again. I closed my eyes, I need a weapon, I prayed to the ring. Then the ring became heavier in my hand, I opened my eyes and saw a three foot long sword in my hand.

"Wow" I whispered. The monster stopped for a moment and looked at me with even more hatred. The sword was a glowing bronze, was insanely sharp and had a Greek inscription carved on the blade. Anaklusmos, Riptide I translated, it was perfectly balanced. I swung at the monster and he met my sword with his. Sparks illuminated the room for a split second. I turned and struck at his face. He deflected again but was slowing down. I kept pushing harder; using moves I didn't remember learning. Then his sword hit my hilt, I knew it was a rare possibility, so I twisted my sword and sent his weapon flying across the room. He stumble back in disbelief, I took the opportunity and jumped onto the rolling table. I ran over and jumped down using the extra momentum to strengthen my slice. I cut strait through his armor making more sparks illuminated the room. He disintegrated slowly, his body turning to ash and blowing away even though there was no wind. The clatter of his armor and sword echoed into the darkness. His partner shifted position and moaned, reminding me he was there. I walked over and stared down at him and then his eyes opened slightly. He looked me up and down, at my sword, and then at the armor behind me.

"Do it" he croaked. He closed his eyes acknowledging his loss. I raised my sword. My breathing got heavier and my stomach started feeling cold and uneasy. I had the urge to actually do it but ended up voting against it. I knew what was right and killing someone in cold blood like that would make me just as bad as them. Sure he was a monster but I still couldn't kill like that.

"Next time" I promised. Then stomped on his face and broke his nose. At first I thought I snapped his neck but he didn't disintegrate so I left the unconscious monster and ran off around the corner knowing that later on I would have to become colder.

I had gleaming bronze sword in my hand, dried blood all over my body, and a broken wrist but I was feeling a sense of duty stronger than anything before.

"I'm coming mom" I whispered.