The door closed behind a 12 year old Percy as he shrugged off his book bag, dropping it on the floor by the door, near his and his mom's shoes. He was careful not to drop it too hard, he didn't want to mess up the books in his bag. They were special to him.
He made his way to the living room, where he sat himself down on the sofa and removed his shoes, allowing the coolness of the A/C of their apartment to cool them down.
"Percy? Is that you?" Called his mother from the kitchen, where the smell of what she was making wafted forth from.
Lying himself down on the couch, Percy craned his neck a bit and called back. "No, I'm a stranger!"
He heard his mother let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, in that case, little , you can't have any food."
Percy pouted from the couch before getting up and making his way to the kitchen to see if he could help with anything.
"What are you making," he asked, giving his mom a hug in greeting.
"Chicken Riggies." She answered as she bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"How was the last day of school?" She continued, as she put the lid on one of the pots.
Percy shrugged as he went to the sink to wash his hands before helping.
"It was ok, couldn't really get control of the class, so we just did whatever we wanted."
He paused as he recollected, "Jenny did feel sick and vomited all over the floor, though. Got to go home early."
His mom gave him a funny look as he dried up his hands before grabbing the peppers to mince.
"Well, as long as she didn't have anything else, then that's fine." She said as she grabbed some of the already prepared ingredients and set them apart from the ones that weren't.
Percy agreed.
"So, you think that he was right?" Asked Percy as he placed down his fork.
His mom took a sip from her wine glass, before setting it down. "Well, the book makes it out to be a black and white moral dilemma. When in reality, it isn't so." She explained.
Percy listened with rapt ears. His mom had just finished reading The Immortal, a book about a man who died trying to fight the immortals of his world. He ended up winning, but in doing so, he had to sacrifice himself.
"Mortality isn't just about dying. It's about living as well." She explained, before taking a bite out of her food.
Percy nodded, doing the same.
"We all love life because we fear death. We live and we love because we know it doesn't last." She explained passionately.
She got up and made her way to the turntable that they had. She turned it on and placed the needle down on the record that was almost always on.
Out of the speakers, Percy heard Mozart's Figaro Act 4, Ah Tutti Contenti play. His mother always played that opera, it was her favorite, and ever since Percy first heard it as a small child, he also fell in love with it. She told him that it reminded her of her father, who had been a musician. He had played it for her, and now, she for Percy.
She made her way back to the table and sat herself down, closing her eyes and smiling as the beautiful chorale sang.
"This is one of the things that mortality can create. We 'mere mortals'," she continued, saying "mere mortals" in a funny way.
"We create art and music, and stories all because we are limited in our lifespan." She continued, grabbing ahold of her wine and taking a sip.
"We aren't Gods, Percy, we live and we eventually die. Our mortality isn't just a source of pain and fear, it also inspires beauty. Beauty that immortals would never be able to have if they existed."
Percy cocked his head. "How come?" He asked.
Sally put her glass down, and with a thoughtful look on her face, she spoke.
"Well, as I've said, all that is human, all of its creations come from our limited time on Earth. Now, imagine, Percy, a world in which immortals exist. People who don't fear death. People who have no concern over their wellbeings. They may not have the same appreciation for the beauty of the world. They'd be condemned to an eternal life not knowing what it's like to fear or truly love. At least, not to the extent that we do." She spoke, a smile on her lips.
"For isn't love sweeter when you know it can't last?" She asked. Percy, eyes wide, nodded.
She finished up her wine and set down the glass on her now empty plate.
"Well, it's time to clean up, then we can go to the park." She said, getting up from the chair and grabbing her plate.
Percy nodded. He was finished as well.
"What about you, Percy? What have you been reading?"
Percy paused, the fork clinking against his plate. He reached for his glass of blue cherry soda.
"I've been reading a book about a guy who has schizophrenia." He said, taking a sip from his drink.
His mother raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh?"
"It sounds weird, but it all boils down to a ruling class deceiving him." He explained, getting up and taking his plate to the kitchen sink.
"Were you reading that during 's class?" She asked, already done washing her plate.
"Yeah, but he didn't m-, whoah, mom!" He continued, but stopping when his mother collapsed on the floor, clutching at her head.
Her teeth were clenched and her eyes shut. The veins in her forehead were popping out and her hands were clutching at her head so hard that they were drawing blood.
Panicked, Percy ran to the living room and snatched the phone from its stand. He dialed 911 and ran back to the kitchen, only to see his mother begin shaking on the floor, her eyes were open and staring a million miles past anything.
"911, what's your emergency?" Asked the operator.
Clutching the phone tightly, Percy spoke into it.
"H-help, it's my mom, she's shaking on the floor."
"Is this the first time that this has happened?" Asked the operator. Percy nodded quickly.
Realizing that he was on the phone, he spoke into it. "Y-yes."
"Ok, listen to me honey," she replied, "is she on her side?"
"N-no." His mom was now muttering in some language he didn't understand.
"Ok, I'm going to need you to turn her on her side for me, dear,, but be careful, don't place your hands anywhere near her mouth."
Percy, scared, nodded and moved to do what he was told. Just as he reached his hands to his mother's shoulders, she slapped the phone out of his hand and grabbed ahold of his wrists.
Her hands were freezing and her eyes were acid green. Percy thought she looked like one of those ancient Greek paintings they would see at the museum. But unlike the characters in the paintings, his mother's eyes held a sort of haunted despair, as if she bore a knowledge that could burn the whole of reality.
Sally began to sputter, her thoughts stuck between her mind and her tongue. Before she could, she reeled back, letting go of Percy. She held onto her throat, as if something were trying to escape. She looked up at him, eyes wide with fear.
"A half blood of the eldest Gods" She began, and then she shrieked, grasping at her head.
"Shall reach sixteen against all odds... a-and see the world in endless sleep..." a sob escaped her. She banged her head on the kitchen counter, wishing whatever was in her mind out.
Percy could only stare in horror, the operator yelling at him from the phone abandoned on the floor. Sally Jackson stopped banging her head against the counter, and with a bloodied face, turned back to Percy.
"The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap... a single choice shall end his days... O-Olympus to preserve or raze." She forced out before collapsing, her eyes rolling up in their sockets.
"Mom!" Yelled Percy, dropping to his knees in front of her. "M-mom, wake up!" He yelled, shaking her. She remained unresponsive for nearly a minute, making Percy think the worst. Tears pooled in the poor boy's eyes, and before they could fall, his mother gasped, her eyes opening, revealing their normal green.
Percy let out a choked sob. "Mom." Her eyes took time to focus on Percy, but when they did, she gave him a weak smile and held out her hand, which Percy promptly grasped.
"Help me up."
He did.
"What happened, mom?" He asked. She shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered hoarsely.
Before Percy could ask anymore questions, a sharp knock on the door interrupted him. Sally's eyes snapped to the door, a fearful, yet apprehensive look in them.
"Mom, stay here and don't move, that's the paramedic." Percy said, a bit of confidence coming back to him. Sally shook her head and tried to grasp at Percy's hand, but he was already beyond her grasp and walking towards the door.
"P-Percy… don't." She said softly, her strength completely sapped. Unfortunately, her son didn't hear, and thus promptly swung the door open, revealing a tall man wearing a paramedic's uniform carrying a handbag with a stethoscope hanging on the outside of it. He wore a sneer on his face, complementing his neatly trimmed mustache.
French, the thought suddenly occurred to Percy.
The man sniffed at the air, his eyes piercing into Percy before shoving his way inside. He walked as if he weren't familiar with his body, which Percy found weird as he followed close behind to where his mother sat on the floor.
The man kneeled in front of his mother and with a thick French accent, he asked her, "vat iz dee problem".
His mother glared at the man before her expression turned into one of horror. Confused, Percy stepped forward, "mom?"
The man smiled at her, "don't vorry madame, I vill fix you." He reached into his bag and grabbed a radio. He got up and stepped away from them. He went to the window and peered outside as he muttered into his radio.
Taking the chance, Percy kneeled next to his mother, who hadn't taken her horror stricken eyes off the man.
"Mom, what's going on? Why are you afraid?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. She looked at him, a haunted look in her eyes. A haunted look that had nothing to do with what had happened earlier. This look was sane, understanding… rational.
"Percy," she whispered, grabbing ahold of his shirt with a weak hand, "you have to get out of here, now."
Percy frowned, confusion written all over his face. "Why?" Before she could reply, the man returned, a ghostly smile on his face.
"Unfortunately, ve vill have to vait a bit. My uhh, camarades vill be vith us shorty." He then kneeled next to Sally and reached into his bag again.
Percy, meanwhile, backed up, the look in his mother's eyes compelling him to obey. But rather than run out the door, he opted to go to the phone while the man was looking through his bag.
The phone was already halfway to Percy's ear when the man noticed that he had picked it up. The man threw his hand forward, "stop!" But it was too late, Percy had already held the phone to his ear.
"Kid?! That isn't one of our paramedics. Get out!" She yelled. Frightened, Percy turned, phone in hand, ready to yell at his mom to run,(It wasn't until a split second later that he realized how stupid that idea was) but as he turned, a blur of black ripped the phone from his hand, breaking the device apart as it embedded itself into the wooden wall behind Percy.
Eyes wide in terror, he turned back to the man, only to find him snarling, his hand outstretched. Where did that… Percy turned to the wall behind him, his eyes widened, spike? Where did it come from?
Percy turned back to the man, who hadn't retreated his hand. He must have thrown it. Gotten it from the bag.
"You shouldn't 'ave done that." He growled.
Sally stared at her son, the concern overshadowing any other feeling in her body. She turned to the man and, with what little strength she had, jumped on him. "Percy, run!"
Percy didn't do that, instead, with adrenaline pumping in his veins, he ripped the spike from the wall and jumped at the man. He swung it at the man, who was struggling to get out of his mother's bear hug.
The spike made contact, but it didn't hurt him, it only made him angrier. "Enough!" He roared, before breaking free of his mom's grasp. He reached over to Percy and snatched the spike back. And with a speed that Percy couldn't catch, the man drove the spike straight through Percy's right shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
"No!" Screamed Sally.
Percy stumbled back, the pain making him lose focus of his balance. He fell to the floor as the man sneered at him. "Stupid mortel. You think you can hurt me?! Ze most powerful creature in existence?!"
He began stalking his way towards Percy, who, with tears in his eyes, tried to move away from him. Sally, with what little strength she could, grabbed ahold of his leg, wrapping her arms around it in hopes of slowing him down.
She tried digging her nails into his leg, only for the man to shake her off easily. "Unhand me you harlot."
Percy tried to snap back, his concern for his mother giving him the strength to do so, but as he tried to get up to help her, the man turned to him, and with a malicious grin, outstretched his hand over her head.
"Zay goodbye," he growled. Before Percy's eyes, as if reality were rippling, the man's hand turned into a tail attached to his shoulder. Percy eyes were drawn to the tip, where the man's hand used to be, and that's when he saw it, a long black spike that looked exactly the same as the one that had pierced his shoulder mere moments ago.
Sally looked at it but she didn't look surprised. She looked at it as if she had already known it was there. A somber yet resigned look cemented itself on her face.
The man smiled darkly at Percy, who was still staring at the place that the man's hand used to be. "Good, you can zee it, boy. Now ve won't need her."
And with no fanfare, the spike embedded itself in his mother's skull, piercing her straight through her left eye.
…
Percy screamed as her body fell to the floor, the life absent from her. The man laughed, creating a sharp contrast to the boy's crying. Grief and malice, both in one room.
"Little enfant. You vill come vith moi." He said as he walked towards the boy. Percy shook his head, the grief clouding all thought. "Fuck you," Percy spat.
The man sneered and raised his hand to slap Percy. Before he could, his hand exploded, sending bone, muscle, and sinew splattering on the floor, the walls, the man's paramedic uniform, and Percy.
The man roared in pain as he turned to search for the reason for his missing limb. In the doorway to the apartment stood a man. He wore a black trenchcoat over a black suit. His dark brown eyes were laser focused on the paramedic, a frown on his lips. In his hand, he held a tiny bag, ready to throw it.
The paramedic sniffed in his direction then snarled. "Demigod." The man in the trenchcoat smirked.
He threw the other bag at the paramedic, who dodged it, only to receive a strong punch to the jaw. The paramedic acted as if he didn't even feel it as he threw the trenchcoat wearing man away from him. The man stood up and jumped right back in.
As the fight escalated, Percy nursed his shoulder with his hand as he slowly made his way to his mother's body. He shook her shoulders, tears falling from his eyes. "Mom," he choked out.
She didn't respond. Her skin felt cold to the touch already and her skin was beginning to turn pale. Her eye was unnaturally unfocused while the other one was completely mutilated. In the background, underneath the sound of the two men fighting, Percy could still hear Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro playing. He cried as he heard it, his mother not responding to him, the fight, nor her favorite music.
The man in the trenchcoat dodged a spike that embedded itself in the wooden planks of the floor. The sound finally made Percy snap up, drawing the boy's attention to the fight.
The trenchcoat wearing man frowned at the sight of the kid kneeling next to his mother's body. He needed to get him out. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small silver ball with a dark green button on it. He pushed it and threw it at the paramedic.
The paramedic dodged it with agility far greater than any man or woman alive. But it didn't matter, the ball exploded, sending tiny shards of shrapnel in the direction of the paramedic. In fact, it sent shards of shrapnel directly at the paramedic, not a single one landing anywhere else.
The paramedic roared as his skin was cut and stabbed. He glared at the trenchcoat wearing man. "Very vell. If you so desire ze fight demi-dieu."
The paramedic suddenly screamed in pain as his skin bubbled, the muscles and bones shifting underneath it. His right arm twisted, popping out of its socket and bending backwards as his body enlarged and grew hair. His screaming soon turned more into a roar, such as you would hear from a lion. And before he knew it, Percy saw a man with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion towering over the two other people in the apartment. Its front left paw was missing, though.
Percy nearly fainted in fear. He could feel the blood draining from his face and into his hands and feet. (And out of his shoulder). He knew what this was. He knew what he was looking at. He had seen it only once when his friend, Jacob, had brought this creature's specific MythoMagic card to school to show off.
The Manticore.
Percy fell on his butt as the trenchcoat wearing man faltered for a second. But just as quickly, the trenchcoat wearing man regained composure and reached into his pocket and pulled out a multitool. He tapped the multitool once with his thumb and flicked his wrist, and in an instant, where the multitool had been in his hand, a xiphos took its place.
The man reached into his other pocket and pulled out some black dust. It was smokey at the edges of his hand, but Percy didn't have the chance to focus on it too much because the man charged at the Manticore, who was smiling menacingly at him.
The man threw the dust in the face of the Manticore, not only blinding him, but also causing black smoke to quickly fill the room. From within the darkness, Percy could hear metal hitting flesh. He's cutting up the Manticore. A dark sense of satisfaction arose in Percy, but he was distracted from it when the man came out of the black smoke and picked Percy up.
"We need to get you out of here, kid." He said as he made his way to the door. Percy protested against him by hitting him. He wasn't going to leave his mother.
Just as they reached the door to the apartment, a spike embedded itself in the door, making the man dive to the left as another one flew through the air, hitting the door closer to where they were going to be had they continued.
Percy shoved himself up from the ground. What in the world was the man thinking? He wasn't about to leave this place. He turned to confront him but found him gone, back into battle with the monster that wouldn't let them escape.
Percy didn't know what was going on in the battle, he just heard roaring and grunting. He didn't know who was winning, and he quite frankly didn't care, he just wanted the Manticore to die.
A few minutes into the battle, a bright flash of light illuminated from the middle of the room, momentarily turning the dark smoke into white illuminated clouds. After that, silence. Percy could only hear heavy panting. The boy backed up a bit, fearing the worst.
He didn't have to worry, though, as within a few seconds the smoke was sucked up into a tiny ball, similar to the one with the shrapnel, thought Percy. The man stood in the middle of the living room, seemingly unscathed. The Manticore lay behind him, panting in pain, its chest seared, as if with fire.
The light, Percy thought. That must have been what that was.
"We're good." Said the man, gesturing Percy over.
Reluctantly, Percy walked over, the adrenaline of what had happened slowly ebbing away from him, starting to leave him with all of the exhaustion and pain.
Percy stood in front of the Manticore. He could feel the anger and grief welling up inside of him. He wanted to kill him, he wanted to make him suffer, he wanted to-
"Why?" Percy's small voice asked. The Manticore looked at him, a sneer slowly rising.
"Tu oses poser une question aussi stupide?" The Manticore grunted. Percy snarled. "ANSWER ME!"
The Manticore laughed, the pain stopping him from fully enjoying the humor he found in all of this. "Je don't 'ave to answer anything for you, enfant."
A coughing fit racked through the Manticore's body. "But there are deux answers. The one you are looking for…" he began.
He closed his eyes and smiled, as if basking in the most beautiful feeling in the world. "I murdered 'er because I vanted to. Because mortals like 'er and you are beneath us."
"You murdered her for nothing?" Percy whispered. The Manticore laughed as he shook his head. "Non, little one. There vas reason for me to murder 'er. She vas veak. You are stronger."
Percy shook his head, he didn't understand.
"You vant me to say that she mattered…" said the Manticore, his breath now shallow. The man placed his hand on Percy's shoulder.
"But she didn't, she vas vorth none." The Manticore said as it slowly closed its eyes, his body slowly turning into golden dust.
Percy stood there, mind reeling with what he had just heard. It was too much for him. All of this had been too much for him. And now that the battle was over, now that his life was ruined, his body managed to catch up with all of the exhaustion and pain, and he promptly collapsed on the floor.