Chapter IX
He stepped out into the midnight air once more and sighed, he would've loved to have slept in his old bed at least for a bit, but those earthquakes meant that the battle was happening now. Was it night time when they had fought her in his world? He couldn't really remember. Walking along the cracked sidewalk, Perseus regretted not being able to hold the quakes at a larger radius than just his apartment. Sirens blared in the distance as he saw the ruins of multiple smaller buildings around him, people were outside barefooted shouting names and pleas of help. The roads were a disaster too, the concrete jutted out at weird angles and clashed together like waves. He could smell smoke and heard a helicopter fly by overhead. Perseus knew if he didn't hurry then the next quakes would topple the weakened infrastructure of the taller buildings and skyscrapers, thousands would die. He wouldn't make the same mistake and cost mortals their lives, this time he was determined to save as many humans as he could. Now how the Hades could he get to Long Island in mere minutes? He could try teleporting, he thought. No, that was way too risky. He had no way of knowing if it would even work, and if it did, and if it would work properly he might end up in Cancun or, a worse case scenario, he would end up dying from the strain and end up as half-flesh half-mist corpse. Perseus shuddered at that. He turned the corner of a block and came face to face with a taxi that was half underground. Perseus double checked to make sure no one was trapped inside. When he was satisfied that no one was endangered he turned to keep going when an idea struck him. A cab.. The Graeae! Crap how did he forget about the grey sisters. He racked his brain trying to remember how to summon them, he knew the invocation but he didn't have any Drachma on him and was unsure if they'd even show. Perseus sighed, decided he didn't have much to lose and muttered the chant in ancient greek.
The sleek grey cab came roaring down the street, partially on the sidewalk as it wildly swerved to avoid colliding with the uprooted road and fallen objects. Even from where he stood Perseus' eyes hurt to look at the vehicle, like it was made of grey shadows and mist. Almost seemingly solid, but barely so. The taxi came screeching to a halt right in front of him and the backdoor swung open. He cautiously stepped in and sat down, immediately being greeted by three old hags badgering at him about payment. Perseus noticed the eye staring at him from the sister at the far left of the passenger seat.
"Payment!" the one in the driver's seat yelled.
"No Drachma, no ride, sea spawn!" the left sister squawked, the single eye in her head quickly flicking up and down his image, and anything and everything it could see.
"GIVE ME THE EYE ITS MY TURN," the middle one shouted and started to pound on the left sister with fury.
"IT SHOULD BE MINE IM DRIVING," the right sister announced and lunged into the fray. Perseus watched slightly disgusted as they bickered, and stared in sick fascination as the eye was juggled between the three sisters and made its way into the socket of the right one. "HA! FINAL-" she didn't get to enjoy the view too long as the other two reached for her and slapped the eye right out of her head and into Perseus' lap.
"WHO HAS IT,"
"WHERE IS IT,"
"I DON'T HAVE IT WHERE DID IT GO,"
"Looking for this?" Perseus replied nonchalantly, giving the eye a good squeeze as he held it between his pointer and thumb. The Graeae wailed in pain and scratched at their empty sockets.
"STOP, STOP YOU'LL RUIN IT,"
"PLEASE, GIVE IT TO ME PLEASE,"
"Here's how this is gonna go ok? I need you to take me to Long Island, immediately." Perseus responded to their moaning and wailing.
"FINE, FINE BUT DO NOT DESTROY OUR EYE HALF BLOOD," the middle one screeched as the other two gave their own wails of affirmation. The Graeae seemed to slightly calm down as the deal was being struck.
"If harm comes to the eye, we will know and feel it, Perseus Jackson. We will end your life and take the eye from the pile of blood and organs you will leave on the asphalt if you continue to test us." All three responded at once as they turned to 'look' at him, those empty eye sockets made him shiver involuntarily.
"Yea whatever you say, now drive or none of you will ever see again," he shot back, slightly miffed at the fact that his threat was being countered.
"To Half-Blood Hill," the sisters spoke as one again.
"Wait where?" Perseus asked, confused. The Graeae didn't seem to pay attention to him as they muttered amongst themselves. He opened his mouth to ask again when suddenly his stomach dropped and the cab was a blur. Perseus didn't even have time to scream as he watched the world whip by all around him, the faster the taxi went, the whispier it became. It got to the point where Perseus could see the road itself whizzing by under him, mere inches away.
Everything melted into a blur, it couldn't have been more than 2 minutes until the towering skyscrapers and city were replaced by the quiet countryside of the beginning of Long Island. Just as Perseus felt himself literally slipping from his seat and sinking down, the cab came to a grinding halt, and if it weren't for the fact that he was currently merged with the car itself, he probably would've gone flying out the window. The cab seemed to release its grip on him and he felt like he was sitting on solid ground instead of a cloud again.
Perseus peered out the window at a road that was blocked by a construction sign. He squinted at it and watched as it melted away, a trick of the mist. "Where in the Hades did you take me..?" Perseus asked incredulously.
"Your destination. Thank you for your 'patronage' and NEVER CALL FOR US AGAIN SEA SPAWN," the middle sister screeched, and quick as lightning snatched the eye from his hand. In the blink of an eye the cab disappeared and Perseus unceremoniously dropped flat on his butt.
"Like I ever want to do that again," he muttered as he stood up and dusted himself off. Perseus took in his surroundings and decided his best bet was to walk in the direction the sign was blocking, obviously something doesn't want mortals going there. Walking along the road, he let his eyes wander, lost in thought. This place, it seems so similar to the location that Annabeth, Thalia and him were looking at all those years ago, his biggest what if… A shout and a brilliant arc of lightning in the distance caught his attention. Jogging past a crossroad, the sounds of fighting reached his ears clear as day. Must have been some impressive magic to keep such violent combat from exiting past a certain point, he mused. Perseus shouldered through a small crop of trees and came face to face with absolute war. A bronze mechanical dragon roared overhead as it spewed flames on a seemingly never ending horde of monsters, he spotted demigods formed together in formation, their golden armor almost blinding as they skewered anything that came too close. He scowled at the sight, romans. But to his surprise, right there alongside them were demigods in bronze armor, their blue and red plumes and battle weathered armor a stark contrast, Greeks. Both fighting in unison against an army of monsters in the thousands.
Perseus felt more than saw Gaea. She was standing on a rocky hill, overlooking the battle from the other side of the valley. He felt the faint power of the earth rise in him in response to her. Gaea's gaze landed on him as their eyes locked. Duplicate colored orbs stared into one another, a pair almost sleepy. The other, sharp and focused. Perseus broke the connection as a random Centaur with horns galloped towards him, a bronze war club swinging wildly. He quickly backstepped and uncapped Riptide, bringing it out and over his shoulder in one quick swing, cutting the Centaur from neck to torso. Perseus decided to make his way into the fray, and leaped onto the back of a passing earthborn. Placing his palm on its nape he channeled his energy into it and watched as it slowly succumbed to his influence. Perseus stepped off its back, making sure it was under his control. Perseus smiled as he felt the being ask for instruction, for purpose. He pointed to a rank of Laestrygonians and told it to get to work on smashing. Perseus could feel a headache forming from the usage of that ability but he brushed it aside and braced himself for the hellhound that leapt at him. He dropped straight on to his back and thrust Riptide up, impaling it. He shot to his feet and spat some of the golden dust that got into his mouth onto the ground, disgusting. Taking a survey of his surroundings, Perseus felt a storm forming in the air and watched as lightning carved an entire legion of monsters into dust. A golden streak flew by overhead, purple cape billowing behind as the figure twirled a spear in its hand, thrusting it into the ranks of monsters from above and summoning bolts to blast the larger groups around him. Perseus suppressed a growl as he recognized the figure as Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. That bastard… But that would have to be dealt with later, looks like the Romans and Greeks were currently allied in this world. Perseus wondered if that would end like it did in his world.
"Half-Bloods! Shield walls!" Perseus turned at the sound of the voice and nearly dropped his sword. It was a younger version of himself, he looked maybe 17 as he ordered the Greeks to huddle up and form a shield against a horde of earthborn. As the demigods followed through, he watched himself take a step back and concentrate, the younger Perseus opened his eyes and even from where he was standing, he could see the glow of power in them. A sea-green raged in those orbs as the young Perseus roared, the lake responded immediately, exploding onto the valley battlefield and drowning multiple monsters, completely sweeping the earthborn away. He watched his younger self take a deep breath and close his eyes. Opening them again revealed their normal color, no glowing. Damn, even in this world and even so young he was still pretty strong. Perseus felt an odd sense of pride.
"Quite powerful, is he not?" a dreamy voice whispered in his ear. Perseus whirled around, bringing Riptide in a deadly arc meant to decapitate whoever had sprung up behind him. But his sword only met a column of dirt. He stared into the sleepy face of the one who put him down the path of destruction in his old world.
"Gaea.."
A/N: Heres 9, a tad bit longer than normal. Hope y'all enjoy. As always leave a review and dont shy away from questions!
Take it easy out there folks :)