Sometimes, I wished I was a normal human. Not a demigod son of Poseidon.
Sure, it had it's perks: controlling water, awesome swimming skills, the power to summon freaking hurricanes! But the downside to all those powers was that monsters could smell you from the other side of New York.
Take the Sybaris, for example. A large, fire breathing monstrosity with wings. Years ago, back when the gods were in Greece, Sybaris terrorized the city of Delphi. The demigod Eurybaros defeated it. Unfortunately, the myths said it was defeated by hurling it down a mountain. First, I had no idea how anyone could throw that thing down a mountain. Second, I was kinda fresh out of available mountains in Manhattan,
My day started the same way it usually did. I woke up, showered, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and walked to Goode High School. I was late, like usual, and given another detention slip. I struggled through the day, what with my ADHD and dyslexia, like usual. Ate a meager serving at lunch, and finished the rest of my classes. Then, during gym, the last class of the day, the roof exploded.
With a furious roar, Sybaris reached it's ugly mug into the gym. It's yellow eyes locked on to me, burning with hatred. I don't know what I did to offend it, but I was too busy panicking to ask.
Gym class might just have been the worst class to be ambushed like this. The gym shorts had no pockets, so my trusty pen Riptide, which was actually a sword in disguise, was tucked into my jeans pocket in the locker room. I don't think the monster would let me call time out to retrieve it.
The ancient dragon roared, and I'm sure all my classmates and the teacher wet their shorts. No doubt Sybaris was monstrous, even with the Mist clouding their eyes. With it's gaping maw, and rows of sharp teeth, it mu- was that fire?
With a shout, I dove to the side, bringing one of my classmates with me. The searing hot flames warmed my back. I sprung to my feet and ran in the direction to the locker room, hoping to get to Riptide. Sybaris must've thought No way, Jose and breathed it's flames right in front of me. I skidded to a stop, but the dragon angled it's mouth so the flames chased me as I ran in the opposite direction.
"Get out of the way!" I shouted to my class, who were standing stock still, gazing up at the dragon. Even the kid I tackled was still on the floor. Seriously!? But I must have startled them out of shock, and the kids all scrambled away. Now, I knew I needed to get this thing away from the school. The property damage I would have to pay if I fought it here…
I headed for the gym doors that led outside. I could feel the heat as the flames got dangerously close. Almost there, just ten more meters. Five, Three, One… I jumped through the doors, forcing them open with one push. A split second later, the dragon's fire scorched the doors.
"That was a close one," I murmured to myself. Now, how to kill the beast…
Riptide was in the locker room. The Curse of Achilles would help keep me alive, but Sybaris would still cause massive damage to the surrounding area. This was a school, there were tons of kids here. It was a miracle nobody died in the gym, but I wasn't so lucky as to believe nobody would die unless I killed it quickly.
There was no more time to think about it. Sybaris moved from it's position and joined me on the grass. The ground shook when it landed. I couldn't see it's full size because it was crouching, but I guessed it to be thirty feet long.
Sybaris' burning eyes looked straight at me, and I stared back. I would not show fear. I wasn't afraid. I was sick of this nonsense. So what, I didn't have my sword. I was a son of Poseidon, Savior of Olympus, defeater of Kronos! Really, compared to my previous feats, this was nothing.
Perhaps Sybaris felt my resolve, saw my courage, sensed my confidence that I would win. It's head lowered in shock. It was the first time someone had the audacity to challenge him without fear. It was an instinctual action; Sybaris recovered momentarily afterwards. But it's confidence was shaken.
The wind roared and I fueled my powers with the anger I felt. Water surged around, created by my will. In no time, a raging hurricane swirled around me. I smirked. So sue me, but I really happen to like my Poseidon powers. I sprinted forward, straight at the foul beast. Sybaris was not one to be outdone, however. With a roar, it unleashed it's flames directly at me. No dice. The violently rotating wind and water acted as a shield for me, and I continued unhampered. Then I was in it's face, jumping onto the back of it's head, beating my fists on it's skull, strangling it with my hands. A normal human wouldn't have been able to do much. A normal demigod wouldn't have been able to do much either. But I was a son of Poseidon, and bathed in the river Styx. I was far from average. I was super strong, and my hurricane was bearing down on it, destroying it's vision and it's flames in one go. In the end, I killed it with my bare hands.
It was a bit morbid. It had died slowly and painfully, but no one else had died. I have no idea how I'd been able to kill it with my hands, but it was impressive.
When the school administrators and the fire department came, I tried manipulating the Mist like I'd seen Thalia do, a couple years ago. It worked, and now my name wouldn't even be mentioned in the newspaper.
In other words, just a normal day for Percy Jackson.