A/N : I'm back again, boyos. I saw some people favoriting this previously dead story, but I'm not someone who would question Providence. To all of you, you have my thanks.
Disclaimer : I own nothing.
~0~
Killing Kamikaze Blimps 101 with Sally Jackson
~0~
Mom was upset, Percy knew. But like she usually did whenever she was upset, mom hid her feelings with a smile. Or in this case, with a bone-crushing hug.
He was always fine with hugs and kisses from mom, but being exposed to such a thing in front of a friend was a big no-no. Even though Grover was his best friend, it always felt awkward when your parents did something embarrassing in front of your friend.
Still, he couldn't find it in him to reject her. He could tell she was extremely worried, which made his previous thoughts of not trusting her made him feel even more like a jerk. She was his mom, darn it.
"Mom," he muttered, face burning. "Not cool."
Grover's muffled snickers didn't help his pride. Behind mom, he could see Gabe smiling, but the guy still looked worried about something. Well, considering their situation, it was hard not to be worried at everything.
"Shush, honey," mom muttered back right next to his ear. "Just a few more seconds."
A few seconds passed. Mom made no move to release him. "Mom!"
Chuckling, mom pulled back, but her hands only moved to cup his cheeks. Her brown eyes shone with worry, her eyes crinkling a bit. "I'm sorry, Percy. I just missed you."
How could she made it harder for him to be annoyed at her? "It's... it's okay, mom. Just not too much."
She smiled, and finally lowered her hands. She looked around, eyeing the various things in (what he guessed as) the living room. "So... will anyone start telling me where we are?"
Gabe cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Well, firstly, Ray wanted me to tell you he apologized for knocking you out, and apologized again for not be able to personally apologize."
Mom sighed, sitting down on a couch and massaging her temples. Percy decided to follow, and sat down next to her, with Grover then copying him."I just hope that he'll be fine enough so he can 'personally apologize' to me later. Also, why are you so formal?"
Gabe also sat down, on the couch across mom's. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it around. "Because Ray wrote the speech. I honestly think the kid spent too much time hanging around government officials. Answering your first question, this is a safehouse. Well, one of them, I think."
He didn't actually quite know how long time had passed since he left Gabe alone, but a glance to the window and he saw the sky slowly turned to night. Pinpricks of light from other building and lamp posts started to turn on, even though the sky hadn't nearly reached dark yet, only orange as the sky was sinking. Did Gabe eat anything weird from the fridge or something?
What the heck was Gabe talking about? Ray worked for the government? What? The Keepers is a government-created group? Was Ray seriously a secret government agent? But Ray was still young!
Mom apparently had the same train of thought as his. "What? What do you mean?"
Gabe shrugged. "I dunno, Ray wrote it, remember? Anyway, we're here because of a-" he glanced at the paper-"quote-on-quote, 'rogue government project'. Due to a mistake in its programming, it now targets Ray, so for our safety, he put us here."
What.
"What." Mom had a deadpan look.
Gabe shrugged again, and rolled the paper into a ball. "Again, Ray's words not mine. Speaking of, man, you gotta see that thing. That project whatever, looked awesome as all hell. I don't know what's going on in military headquarters, but it was like science fiction brought to life."
When Gabe threw the paper ball to a bin in the corner of the room, Percy turned to Grover. Grover also looked confused. Percy mouthed, 'Government what?'
Grover shook his head, also having no clue. Was this real, or another lie Ray conjured up? If this was a lie, then who was he lying to? Mom already knew about whatever it was (Percy thought), Grover worked together with Percival so he also knew about what it was, and he himself had a vague idea of what was happening. Was Ray... lying to Gabe, then?
"Is this place really safe?" mom asked, worried.
"From people? Yeah," Gabe said, "For some reason, only Percy can open the doors and windows. But from a giant robot? I honestly have no idea."
Giant robot? Was Gabe... drunk? But Gabe never touched alcohol ever since Ray forbid any sort of alcohol in the apartment several years ago.
"Grover?" he whispered to his friend. "What's wrong with Gabe?"
"Oh, uh." Grover fumbled for an answer. "You know how... 'people' like me get out in the world to search for people like you? Well, people like you are different from people like Gabe. They can't see things like you do, they only see things that fits their perceptive. I think Ray wrote that project thing so Gabe could see it as a project thing, to not make him panic too much."
So... the only normal human in this room was Gabe? That actually sounded weird.
"Honey?"
Percy looked up at his mom. She looked like she was thinking about something, and she was worried about it. Like him, she had also glanced outside, and whatever she saw outside (he didn't see anything weird) made her frown dip even further.
"I think we should-"
Krieeet!
Mom froze. She whipped her head around and looked outside the window again, where the sound came from, but now with twice the focus.
What was that sound? Following her, Percy also looked out. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Grover nervously clasping his hands together and Gabe narrowing his eyes at the door while reaching the back of his shirt.
Earlier, he saw the lamp posts lighting up. But now, on the other side of the road, one of them was gone, and he only saw sparks of electricity and torn cables on the sidewalk. A huge shadow loomed over it, and by its leg was the bent shape of the missing lamp post, dead.
Mom gripped his hand so hard it would probably leave a mark later. Her breathing became faster, and her eyes were just locked at the giant figure.
At first, the shadow just stood there, unmoving. Percy looked closer, and noticed that the head- which casted a weird shape as if a towel was thrown on his head- kept turning left and right, with something long that suspiciously looked a lot like a snout raised high. Was he... searching for them?
Mom slowly turned to Gabe, and in a deathly serious voice, ordered, "Gabriel, please turn off the lights."
Gabe nodded worldlessly, and reached for the switch. When the room went dark, Percy felt Grover inching closer to him and mom's grip became tighter. The only sound in that room was their silenced breathing, and his own rapidly beating heart. They watched as the shadowy figure's head stopped moving, and the snout-like thing pointed right at their window.
Then, the huge monster (because at this point it was obvious who he was) took a step forward. The area was empty, so he could freely dance around in the middle of the road if he wanted to. Unfortunately, buff monster over here didn't have any plans on doing so.
"Percy, are there any back door in here?" Mom whispered, but she didn't look away from the lumbering monster.
He didn't remember seeing any doors, but then again, he wasn't really interested in finding out about back doors. "I-I don't know."
"This is a safehouse, right?" Mom whispered again, but now it seemed mostly to herself. "Ray wouldn't build a safehouse with just one exit.
Before he could mull over on what she had sad, mom quickly and carefully pulled him away from the couch and led him deeper into the apartment. Grover followed them, with Gabe being the last, pulling out something from the back of his shirt. If it was another weapon made out of bronze, he wouldn't be surprised.
After buff snout monster crossed the road, he bumped his head to a lamp post. He immediately bellowed in anger, which honestly sounded like a mix between a burp, a moo, and a roar, and easily tore said innocent lamp post from its post on the sidewalk and hurled it away. Then, there was a muffled crash in the distance.
Percy could hear Gabe cursing quietly and furiously after they saw the display. Mom had paused, and fumbled with the door to- he never thought he would get the chance to say this- the weapon room. He stepped forward, and pressed his palm on the door.
Like before, a tiny M symbol on the door glowed a dark blue, and with a simple 'click!', it was opened. Mom probably gave him an odd look, but since the room was dark, he couldn't see it.
She pushed him and Grover into the room, before entering the room herself, and finally Gabe at the back, eyes never leaving the front door. When the weapon room's light illuminated their faces, he could see Gabe was in fact holding a bronze handgun. Huh. He never knew Gabe learned how to use a gun.
Mom had paused when she saw the contents of the room, but she pushed forward. Right after Gabe completely entered the room, the door closed again, leaving a glimpse of the monster right next to the window, sniffing it.
Mom whirled in on him. "Percy, can you try searching for any secret passage? Your brother wouldn't make a safehouse without a secret exit, and I think it's pretty obvious that you're the only one who can access it."
In response, he furrowed his eyebrows at her. "How did you know about that?"
"Mother's intuition," mom said, almost dryly but she never did use sarcasm on him or Ray. "Please honey, I don't think we have plenty of time."
He wanted to argue more since the only plan he had was just to touch random things in the room just to see what would happen, but a muffled crash and several explosions from the front side of the apartment won him over. Everyone scrambled as far as they could from the door.
Gabe saw one of the bigger guns and immediately took it from its stand. Grover hid next to him, holding a mace- smaller than he thought, but maybe that was the point. Mom didn't want to join in on the fun, merely looking at the door with a grimace.
And in other news, he was stuck searching for a hidden door.
Speaking of.
"I can't-" he slammed his palm to a part of the wall- "find it-" he pressed another empty part of the wall- "anywhere!"
"Try the floors!" Grover whispered.
He groaned, but still he ended feeling around the floors. Darn it, if Ray built this thing for people like him, why on earth would he hide a secret exit made for people like him?
"Just find an M!" Grover looked more panicked as the sound of an angry and pained bellow became closer.
"Can you at least help me find it?!"
And that was how both of them ended up groping the floor. He made some useless observation, like how the floors were actually quite clean as if no one had walked on it for days. But still no M.
A crash from the living room, and another bellow. He couldn't see what was happening in there, but he would bet that the monster was sniffing around, looking for them- or maybe specifically him.
That thought made him search more ferociously. The monster banged on the walls, and the walls clanged, so apparently the inner walls were metal and not concrete. With each bang, he could feel his irritation and fear rising more and more.
"God darn it! We need a secret door! Where is the-"
Vooom. There was suddenly a loud humming noise from behind turned around and saw a part of the weapons display- spears- right behind him which had lines that glowed blue, forming a huge rectangular shape with another glowing blue M in the middle. A long panel appeared, then the row of spears entered it, and after it closed, the rectangular part just lowered itself into the floor, revealing a hidden ladder behind it, going down.
Grover threw his mace aside. "Found the secret door! Let's go!"
Percy whipped around. "Mom!"
"You go first, Percy," Mom told him. She tried not to look afraid for his sake, but the shaking was a dead giveaway. "He doesn't want us, he's after you. Just go."
"I'm not leaving you behind!"
And then, in a tone he never thought she would use, she retorted, "You have to! If he gets you, he won't show you mercy! We're mortals, Percy, monsters like him leave us alone."
Mortals? "What? What do you mean-"
A huge, meaty brown hand tore through the weapon room door, and the moment it did, the door exploded in bright blue light, blinding him and throwing him back. The back of his head hit something hard, and he blacked out.
~0~
A diversion. How in the name of all that is holy could he not see the obvious? The Calydonian boar was a mere distraction- now, he lost contact with the John Jay Park safehouse, and who knew what could have done that!
Godsdammit, Ray thought he was ready! He thought he was now a legitimate demigod, a proper monster-slayer! He thought he was good enough to keep Percy in a save environment, no matter which environment he would be in!
To make matters ten times godsdamned better, there was no sign of Percy using Anaklusmos, so either his brother wasn't in danger and the monsters hadn't reached that safehouse yet (which is good), or he didn't have the chance to use the blade (which is a nightmare).
He wanted to bang his head on the dashboard, but he would need his- admittedly useless- brain for later. Though he had to give Stalker credit, who had settled down on his lap and closed his eyes as if asleep, which made that act of banging harder. The only thing he could do was hope that he wouldn't be late, and he dearly prayed to any divine being listening and/or seeing that he wouldn't find corpses at the safehouse.
He shuddered- the very idea was making him sick.
His distress was obvious even to Percival, who never strayed his eyes away from the street as they broke at least a dozen or more road safety laws. "Calm down, Jackson. Do not blame yourself, the distraction caught us all off guard."
"So what, you want me to blame all of you instead?" he dryly replied.
"Do that and I will cancel your mozarella order." Percival warned. "If you were too daft to understand, I meant nobody is to be blamed, we simply fell into enemy hands."
"But I should've done better, leave either you or Alexa with them! Leaving them defenseless and alone is the equivalent of throwing a guy wearing a meat suit to a cage of hungry lions!"
"Must I repeat myself? The safehouse has been safety checked several times last week, and was just last checked yesterday," Percival said, "And, per your orders, I gave Ugliano a bronze gun before we left. Besides, you're giving Percy too little credit. He won against that first monster, his biology teacher, no? Your mother also knows the steps she must take if a monster was to approach them. Again, you are thinking irrationally. Calm. Down."
Percival was right, of course. The guy was always right. Ray was thinking irrationally, illogically. All evidence indicated that even if the other group was attacked, they were capable of handling the problem themselves. Not perfectly, but still capable.
In the end, he just sighed. "I'd feel so much better if we can shoot that pig down."
"You and me both." Alexa chuckled, the first time she spoke ever since they entered the Phantom. Sophia still hadn't said anything, and a glance to the rear view mirror informed him it was due to him losing his temper. Damn, needed to fix that soon. "I never knew something like that existed in Greek history. What the hell is that, anyway?"
"The Clazmonian Sow," Percival muttered, glancing up at the bright pink unidentified to mortals flying object (UMFO) in the sky. "She used to terrorrize Greek villages back in the days. To make matters better, the documents on Olympus never said there was a hero who ever brought her down."
Ray could feel Alexa's grin as she stated, "Then we'll be the first ones to bring her down."
"It will be difficult, no doubt," Percival said, "She's fast, she's powerful, I can see green smoke blowing out of her nostrils- she has poisonous breath. And, she can fly."
"Why so glum, Percival?" Alexa put her arms around Percival's neck, along with the seat, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "We just killed the Calydonian boar, didn't we? And that thing was ten times more terrifying than this little flying piggie."
"Looks can be decieving, though I agree on you assessment on the boar's intimidation factor. And Clayton, I'm you want us to crash to another vehicle, I suggest you take your hands off me."
Her grin became wider. "Nah."
"Alexa, I don't know about you but I don't want us to crash and burn. Leave him be." Ray ordered.
She pouted. Wasn't she sixteen at the moment? Regardless, she pulled her arms back. "You're no fun."
"Aye, whatever you say. Drive faster Percival, lest I start thinking irrationally again and piss you off."
Percival did drive faster after his warning, making Stalker shift on his lap a bit. Ray ignored the bird. He would have to trick the NYPD again because of this, and he had no pleasure in doing so. The cops had their job and they had theirs. This was also why they rarely used the RV whenever dealing with cops- sure, he could always use the Mist to cover up the RV, but that didn't always guarantee that no witness ever saw said RV. Unlike stol- borrowed vehicles, which they could always ditch whenever the situation saw fit.
This wasn't the only thing that worried him. Percival's explanation described the Calydonian boar and the Clazmonian sow to be ancient monsters- granted, all monsters all lived before or right the moment humanity began so they were all ancient, but these things were a bit older than the rest. They were more powerful, more terrifying.
And someone or something commanded them at the same time. Whoever they were, they decided to just use the freaking Calydonian boar as a diversion. The boar that killed plenty of heroes and made another dozen kill each other in the past before it was killed itself, as a diversion.
If this was any other time, Ray would have dismissed this as another powerful entity being either powerful, arrogant, or stupid enough to do this (or a mixture of the three- that had happened). But this was a little bit too deliberate. As if... as if they knew what he was capable of. As if they knew his biological father. Which meant they could also knew who Percy was.
That thought, and the fact that whoever sent the pigs to separate him from Percy had managed to do exactly just that, made him want to bang his head on the dashboard again.
~0~
When he woke up, he was in an car, sitting on the backside seats with Grover beside him. Mom was the one driving, and Gabe sat on the passenger's seat, holding a bronze rifle and eyeing the sideview mirror warily. That was where Gabe caught his eyes, and the guy gave a relieved sigh.
"Oh, thank God," Gabe said, grinning in relief. "Sally, he's awake."
"Percy?" Mom twisted the rear view mirror so she could look at him. Her eyes softened, and Percy could see her relaxing in her seat. "Are you feeling okay, honey? You hit the wall pretty hard..."
Just his luck, his head was throbbing. Percy let out a muffled groan, and he could see beside him Grover wrestling with something. When his best friend handed him whatever it was, he saw that it was a bottle of water.
He held up a hand to get it- his throat was dry as heck. Had he been opening his mouth all the way from the saf-?
He immediately sat up straighter, eyes wide, but the movement brought another wave of dizziness to his head. He didn't really care about all that too, honestly, he cared more about how on Earth had they managed to escape?
"Percy!" Grover bleated as he held his shoulder- bleated, because now that he knew what Grover actually was it was hard not to apply this word to him. That bleat made mom and Gabe glance/look at him in panic. "Don't move too fast. Drink it, first."
"I- thanks, but, how did we-?"
"Look, just drink first. I'll explain."
He sighed, but surrendered. Immediately, the dizziness just disappeared, his throbbing reduced to just barely audible thuds like veins. He stared at the bottle. It tasted exactly like normal water, smelled exactly like normal water, and looked exactly like normal water.
"So," Grover said, not seeing his confusion. "That thing attacked the safehouse, right? It attacked the door. Well, apparently, the door was booby trapped. The explosion hurt the monster, and the blast threw you back. I'm guessing you hit the wall of something, because you fainted."
Percy winced. Ouch, that sounded like it hurt a lot.
"Yeah, ouch. At the end of the path, we found this car. There were no keys- heck, there weren't even keyholes. But I thought, hey, Percy could open doors and stuff with his bare hands, right? Why not this?"
He stared at Grover. "You mean...?"
"Yep. I touched your hand to the car and it just unlocked and turned on. Pretty cool, actually."
"You don't say," Gabe said, looking back out again. "The military had some fun, eh? Making weird inventions without telling the whole world."
Maaaybe telling Gabe about monsters being government projects wasn't a good idea on Ray's side. Now the guy was starting to believe in conspiracy theories.
...He couldn't believe he just thought that monsters being alive and real was more logical than these things being rogue government experiments. Well, honestly both sounded stupid and didn't make any sense, but still.
"Okay." Percy took a deep breath. He needed it. "Where are we going now?"
"To camp," mom answered. "These things are after you, Percy, not us. We'll be safe, but you need to go to a special protected place. I'll explain everything there."
"Reeeet!"
"Goddammit," Gabe muttered. Mom didn't say anything, though her face soured, and just pressed the pedal harder. Grover just sighed- his friend was scared, but now it was mixed with exasperation. Not that Percy could blame him, it was getting annoying to be stopped every few miles.
Gabe peeked through the scope on his rifle, but after a while, he lowered the weapon.
"Weird," he said, frowning. "I don't see anything. But I swear I heard..."
"I heard it too," Grover helpfully added, glancing behind the car. "I... I don't see anything. Is it invisible?"
"Reeeeeet!"
It sounded like a pig. Was that giant boar whatever Percival had been chasing escaped? The idea of facing a thunder-breathing giant boar with equally giant tusks diminished his annoyance and filled his stomach with fear. Impenetrable skin, he remembered.
Carefully, Percy turned around and looked behind them.
It was already dark. They were on a lone road in the country, which meant they had left New York behind. He still had no clue where they were going, though, but one thing for sure, this camp was nowhere near his home.
And Gabe was right. There was nothing behind them. And yet, Percy had the feeling they were being watched. His hair stood on end, his heart started beating quickly, and something on the back of his head screamed at him that they should be faster and more careful.
"Mom, can we go any faster?" he asked her.
Mom grimaced. "I can try, Percy."
"Reeeeeet!"
The car moved faster. Mom kept muttering under her breath, "Please be faster please be faster."
"There!" Gabe shouted with the rifle's scope still on his eye. Instinctively, Percy and Grover turned back as well. "I saw it! It's... what on Earth?"
He could only see its silllhouette, as it was flying with the moon right behind its back. It was huge, long, with four chubby feet and a pair of huge feathery wings. It had the shape of a blimp if said blimp was a living creature with legs and wings.
And a split second later, it dove at them with terrifying speed.
"Mrs. Jackson!" Grover screamed.
Mom took one glance at the rearview mirror, and slammed the brakes. The newest addition to their merry life-and-death situation stomped the road in front of them instead, high-pitchedly reeeeting in annoyance.
When the car's headlights shone on the monster, Percy didn't know what to feel when the monster was revealed to be a giant, bright pink chubby pig with a equally pink wings. It- she? Belched sickly-green gas to the road, then took off again, most definitely circling them for another strike.
Mom took this as a cue to force the car to maximum overdrive, speeding off on the road. Gabe growled, aimed his rifle, and fired. Percy didn't know what happened after the weapon's suppressed shot, but judging by Gabe's frustrated grumble he guessed the bullet missed.
The car was moving so fast, if they were still in the city, a whole unit of cops would be chasing them after they had run over many living and non-living things. As far as his eyes could see, there were only dark trees and grass surrounding them. Only few pinpricks of light in the distance, but he doubted anyone living there would hear them.
And then, it happened. There was a blinding light, a loud crash, and powerful rumble. He remembered feeling weightless, hot, and cold all at the same time.
When his bearings returned, he could feel the seat he was slumped on, the cold air biting his skin, and the blurry view of the driver's seat. He glanced up.
The cold air came from above, and the cold air was accompanied by equally cold water. They came in from the busted roof, where a huge chunk of it was missing, the remaining edges sizzling like they just had been heated in an oven.
When he heard another rumble of thunder, he realized what was going on, and what just happened.
It was storming.
And they were hit by a lightning.
For some weird reason, while they were going at over 100 miles per hour in the night, they were struck. By freaking lightning.
"Ouch," Percy muttered. Ever since Mrs. Grelod attacked him at the museum (that honestly felt like a long time ago), his luck just kept digging a deeper grave. Lucky him.
"Percy." Mom groaned. "Are... are you okay?"
"I'm... I think I'm okay."
When he pulled back his forehead from the front seat, his hand landed on something soft.
"Grover!" Oh crap oh crap oh crap. He was slumped over beside him, and a trail of blood trickling down from his mouth.
What was he supposed to do when his best friend which was half-animal half-guy fainted?! Panicking, Percy shook his friend's shoulder. Even if Grover kept really dangerous and important secret from him, he never would want him to die!
And then Grover groaned. "Food..."
Oh thank goodness.
"My head..." Gabe groaned. "What the hell happened?"
"We crashed, I think," mom muttered. She pressed the pedal, and the engine made a dying sound. "And the car's dead. We... we have to run."
"Run? Sally, I don't even know where we're going!"
"The two of us don't, Gabriel!" He... never heard mom raise her voice like that. She was really stressed about this. "Whatever that thing is, it's after Percy. We'll-"
"Reeeet!"
"We'll talk about this later!" she snapped again.
Mom and Gabe scrambled out of the car, since thankfully, the lightning didn't veer them off the road and slam them to something or flip them over, so the doors weren't blocked. Percy tried to pull Grover with him, but he wasn't that happy to find out that, surprise, Grover was heavier than he looked.
With a loud grunt, he managed to pull Grover from the car, didn't matter that it made him fall on the road.
CRASH!
Shards of metal and glass flew to his face. The sound rattled his ears, making his vision swim. Even though he was temporarily blinded and deafened, he still felt around for flesh like a blind zombie, then pulled with all his strength as he touched (what he really really hoped to be) Grover's arm.
With difficulty, he hauled Grover off his butt and limped both of them from the car.
Then he suddenly felt noxious.
BANG!
"Get the hell away from my son you-" Gabe roared curses somewhere in the distance.
He felt Grover suddenly became lighter, and he heard mom beside him, panting. "Are you okay, Percy? Oh honey, I'm so sorry we left you-"
"It's fine!" he cut her off, his vision returning. Mom's hair were plastered to her forehead (there were some cuts there, he furiously noticed), and Gabe stood a bit farther away from them, shooting at the meaty winged zeppelin through his rifle. They were surrounded by some weird green fog- probably toxic, great. "Just help me with Grover!"
The rain pouring down on their head helped nobody (other than the pig), but they were able to get Grover out of the green thing. He could hear the pig wanting to do a kamikaze dive at them again several times, but Gabe always shot her at the right moment to divert her attention.
"We'll have to get its attention somehow..." he heard mom mutter. When she stilled and glanced at him with wide eyes, he realized he wasn'tsupposed to hear it.
"Whoa, what?" he said, bewildered. "Mom, what do you mean 'get its attention somehow'? I'm not leaving you behind in the middle of nowhere, let alone with that!"
"REEEEET!"
"You have to, honey." Oh no, no no no, he didn't like the look on mom's face. She looked scared and sad. "You're the only one in real danger. It'll just ignore us, it's after you."
He couldn't believe he was hearing this. Mom was offering her own life to save him.
Percy gritted his teeth. Remembering all that Ray ever did, he channeled out as much as authority as his brother in his tone. "Nobody's going to play hero today, mom. We're all going to this camp, safe and sound. I don't care if you ground me, I'll drag you if I have to."
That... sounded exactly like what Ray would've said if he was in this situation. Though of course, Ray wouldn't sound like a squeaky high-pitched twelve-year old.
Mom looked like she wanted to argue, but Gabe beat her to it. He heard them. "Percy's right, Sally. Let's go. If he's not strong enough to drag you, then I will."
"Reeeeet!" A wooshing sound- the pig made another dive at them.
"Fine, let's go!"
Gabe shot at the pig again, and she made an annoyed squealing sound as she pulled up quickly. The bullet didn't seem like it hurt her, but she clearly didn't like it. Percy just hoped that Gabe had enough ammo to protect them all the way to this camp.
"I'm running out of ammo..." Gabe growled, pulling out another bullet from a box strapped to his belt.
Awesome.
Mom's arms tensed, and she turned to him. "Okay, we can still do this. I learned ab- er, Ray... told me about this military... thing. She has terrible control when she dives, so when she's close, jump to the side. Jump as far as you can, understand?"
"What? Mom, how can you be so sure?"
Her face fell. "I knew this would happen someday, honey. I-I was selfish, wanting to keep you near me."
"Selfish?"
"Reeet!" the pig squealed.
To Percy's surprise- turning into fear and anger- mom pulled away from him and picked up a small rock. She turned to him for a second, before hurling the rock as hard as she could to the pig.
And the pig dove at her.
"Sally!" Gabe yelled.
His own cry of 'Mom!' got stuck in his throat, making him choke instead. He stared, wide-eyed, as the pig came nearer and nearer to his mother, and right before she was crushed by a two ton animal, she jumped aside.
The sow squealed in rage and took off in just three seconds, leaving a cloud of dust behind her. Percy's priorities now changed instantly; he dragged Grover with him as he ran at where mom was.
Mom was coughing, waving her hand in front of her face. She was fine, but seeing do her something like that made him want to scream at her.
"Mom!" he screamed anyway. "Are you okay?"
She shakily stood up, still coughing a bit. "Yes, I'm fine honey. Don't stop running!"
Clenching his fists, Percy continued running to where they were headed, mom helping him with Grover again. Gabe covered them, shooting several more bullets before he cursed and shouldered his rifle, pulling out his previous handgun instead.
This was... hard. Mom could just turn around and start throwing rocks at the darn pig and there would be nothing he could do about it. If what mom said was true, then they wouldn't be safe as long as he was still here, since the pig was after him and not them.
His train of thought froze for a second. The pig was only after him and not them, which means...
Copying his mother, he quickly detached himself from Grover and ran into the woods. While running, he turned around, picking up a small rock, and hurled it at the pig.
It didn't hit her at all, of course, but it did gain her attention. The sow turned to him, beady eyes glinting in malice.
"You want a piece of me?!" he yelled at her. "Then come and get me you ugly flying pig!"
The sow squealed in rage (probably because of the first word because the rest were just facts), and turned her flying direction to him. He quickly turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could into the trees.
"Percy!" mom shouted somewhere behind him.
He didn't have the time to answer. The trees loomed over him, tall and dark, though they blocked the rain a little bit. He just hoped that the lady pig wouldn't be able to dive through all the trees, and he wouldn't need to run too far otherwise he would get lost.
A wooshing sound. Percy stopped and waited for a second. Then two. When his instincts screamed at him to jump, he did, falling to the wet ground as well. Boom! A cloud of dust exploded as the pig crashed through the trees.
But Percy didn't stop running, oh no. As soon as he got up, he continued running, already panting. As far away as he could from his family. He only glanced back for half a second, seeing the trees that had been torn down and a crater on the ground with, an angry winged pig glaring at him in the middle.
Then she took off once more.
As he ran, he tried to remember as much as he could from everything that Ray and Mr. Brunner ever taught him that involved killing a giant flying pig (he was starting to hate that sentence).
And then Percy suddenly remembered something Percival that day. Something along the lines of 'his pen was a tracker, that only activates when in sword form'?
Swiftly, he pulled out a pen and uncapped it, and it grew into a three-foot, insanely-sharp, leaf-shaped, bronze blade in his hand.
He could only hope Percival and the others won't be late.
"Come on!" he yelled, raising his sword.
The pig dove once more, squealing.
Blood pounding in his ears and heart pounding in his chest, he watched the pig as she came closer. The rain doused his hair, threatening to enter his eyes, but he didn't care about the water. The pig broke through the canopy of the trees, and right before those hooves crushed him to paste, he jumped aside.
But she had learned a lesson, and right after he jumped, the sow turned around and kicked him right in the ribs.
It was terrible. It was as if the pig's entire body was made of fat and the only working muscle she trained was that single hoof. He felt like he was punched by freaking Mike Tyson or something, but the boxer was twice as buff and had a grudge against him.
Percy flew through the air, his sword thrown out of his hand. He slammed into a tree, and the impact knocked the breath out of him.
It hurt. And yet, he glared at the pig as she flew up again, something furiously bubbling inside him, welling up like a geyser.
He coughed, and quickly dashed to his sword. His chest hurt like crap, but his rage quenched the pain.
This day went from bearable to bad then worse. Mrs. Grelod turning into a demon he didn't really felt anything other than fear. Being chased by those weird snake monster things also gave him fear. And whatever that thing was back at the safehouse just gave him a fright. But this?
This damned pig gave him more trouble than those previous things combined. His mom got hurt, Grover was unconscious, blood flowing down his chin.
Percy stared as the sow turned around, and dove at him once more. But he wasn't afraid- or he was so afraid at today he had reached his limit.
Now, this pig just pissed him off.
His anger exploding, he yelled, "Come on, you old sot!"
She was fast, he had no time to jump aside, and even if he did, she would just kick him in the ribs again. Without thinking, he jumped up.
He could see everything in slow motion. He landed right atop the pig in a sitting position. Quickly, he gripped whatever he could grip so he wouldn't fall, and with all the strength left in him, he swung his sword as hard as he could to her right wing.
SLASH!
"REEEEEET!" The pig squealed... in pain.
The bright pink wing flopped to the wet ground, dust flowing from where he expected blood would come from.
But he had no time to celebrate. With vengeance, the pig bucked him off like a rodeo bull.
He hit the ground, hard, his sword slipping away again. He grunted in pain- his chest got more... hurter. He glanced at the pig, and saw her rising to her hind hooves, ready to crush him like an ant. Her eyes glinted, very, very angrily.
And then a wooden arrow sprouted from one of said eyes.
"REEET!" she squealed again, falling down sideways. It gave him just enough time to scramble as far away as he could from her, snatching his sword as he did.
What just happ-?
"Go, Percy!" a familiar voice shouted from the woods. Mr. Brunner (freaking Mr. Brunner!) wheeled in from the trees, still in his wheelchair and carrying a bow with a quiver full of arrows on his back, and a bag on his lap. "Finish it! Go for the eye!"
And he did. He picked up his sword, and shoved it into the pig's arrow-filled eye as deep as he could. She squealed in pain loudly, thrashing around, her remaining wing flapping around uselessly. He didn't dare pull away, even when the rain started threatening to enter his eyes.
After what felt like hours, the thrashing stopped, and the pig went limp.
Panting, Percy pulled the sword from its eyes. Instead of blood (thankfully- he would've puked if he saw blood after all that without eating), the blade was coated with dust. He turned around, seeing Mr. Brunner. The old teacher was sweating himself- or maybe not, the rain made it hard to see.
"How-?" and the pig exploded into dust. "...how did you-?"
"Shush, lad," Mr. Brunner said, kindly. He was panting a bit himself, putting the bow around him. How on Earth was he able to get this far into the forest- while raining!- on a freaking wheelchair? "I'll answer all your questions, in due time. But you're hurt. We have heal you first."
Percy glanced down. His chest hurt, yes, and there were some bruises here and there, but did he really look that bad? "But-"
"Come on, Percy. Your mother is very worried about you."
His eyes widened. Oh god. He'd rather face a dozen flying pigs than face mom after what he did.
"She's going to kill me," he whispered, looking at his hands. The sword didn't turn back into a pen- he thought it was automatic or something.
He could tell Mr. Brunner tried not to smile. "I doubt it, child. Let's go. Oh, and don't forget to cap your sword, we don't want her to faint, do we now?"
~0~
Like Percy expected, mom looked like she wanted to slap him. But after he and Mr. Brunner approached her, she hugged him instead, crying as she did.
He hugged her back, of course. Gabe didn't say anything behind her, but the guy looked very proud, nodding at him silently. Grover had woken up, looking pretty sad, but when he appeared his friend lit up like a Christmas tree.
None of them gave Mr. Brunner a weird look for carrying a bow and arrows.
"So," Gabe said, now grinning, after mom pulled away but not quite letting him go. "Be honest with me. Did you kill that thing?"
"Uh," he said, suddenly feeling hesitant. "No, it wasn't me. I just-"
"Yes, it was him." Mr. Brunner sighed fondly. "Percy here used a sharp rock to stab it right in its weak point! You should've seen it yourself, Mr. Ugliano. It was a sight to behold."
"Holy hell!" Gabe laughed. "That was awesome, kid! Damn, I wish I saw it."
Grover looked amazed. "You... you actually killed it. That't... that's...!"
"Indeed." Mr. Brunner smiled, turning to face mom who still hadn't let go of his arm. "Mrs. Jackson, have Ray been here, by any chance?"
Mom looked up from fussing over a bruise on his arm in surprise. "No, should he be here? Is he okay?"
"Ah. I just came from... 'handling' Yancy, and dinner, and I thought he had picked you up. If that's the case, then... where is he?"
MOOO!
That was a familiar voice. The mix between a roar, a yell, and a moo. Mom realized this too, because she gripped his arm tighter, looking at the sound's general direction.
Gabe's smile disappeared. "Oh goddammit."
Mr. Brunner reached into the bag on his lap and threw something at Grover. A reed pipe. "There you go, Grover."
"Thank you, Chi- er, Mr. Brunner!" With newfound determination, Grover shuffled over in front of him and stood there, staring at where the sound came from.
"Wait, let me go too," Percy said, ready to transform his pen again.
"Oh, no you don't." Mr. Brunner gave him a stern look. He readied his bow and pulled out an arrow. "You will sit this one out, my boy. Rest."
He wanted to argue, but mom had pulled him to the other direction. And based on her scared look, if he tried to help his stepfather, his wheelchair-bound Latin teacher, and his half-goat best friend, she would probably get a heart attack.
"I don't want you to do anything stupid, you hear, honey?" mom warned him in a shaky voice. She was really, really scared for him.
"I-" he glanced at the weird group in front of him. "I... I'll try."
She just hugged him again. Right before she was able to pull him even further away, the thing showed up.
It... didn't look as threatening as Percy thought. The monster's entire right arm was gone, and the only thing left of his... left was just the upper arm. Even though the brown furry monster was way buffer than whoever was the buffest man in the world, he was limping, so it reduced the fear factor.
The head, which was a bull's head, had only one horn, the other was snapped. And his eyes were filled with fear as he limped after them.
The minotaur, Percy thought in surprise. This... was actually the first monster he recognized, out of all the things that attacked him since noon.
"Pasiphae's son," mom whispered.
Behind the minotaur, a fancy black sedan emerged from the night. And not just any black sedan, he actually realized which sedan it was.
The car screeched to a halt right next to the minotaur (who tried to limp as far as he could from the it). Two hooded figures got out of it, running at the monster. One stabbed him right in the limping knee with a silver blade, then the other one stabbed the other knee with a double-edged spear. The minotaur fell to his knees, mooing- er, bellowing in pain.
A third one got out of the car, shooting grenades from a grenade launcher. The first two jumped away as the minotaur exploded in bright green flame. The rain didn't seem to affect it at all.
Then, after the flame suddenly disappeared, leaving behind minotaur's charred, green-embered body, a fourth figure walked over to him, jammed a revolver to his forehead, and BANG! The minotaur turned to dust.
It all happened in less than ten seconds.
The fourth one turned around, and looked at Percy, right as a crow got out of the car and landed on his shoulder. But when whoever it was pulled back his hood, the first thing that caught his eyes was the guy's purple eyes.
Mutated purple eyes.
His fear immediately disappeared the moment he saw those familiar, mutated, a bit confused purple eyes. "Ray!"
His older brother's eyes widened. "Percy? Percy?!"
Ray gasped. "Percy!"
In the blink of an eye, Ray had hugged him, shaking like a leaf. "When-when I saw you using the sword I didn't know what I should feel but then I-"
"Ribs!" he gasped. "Ribs!"
"Oh! Oh shoot, sorry! Sophia! Check him over!"
The blonde girl from before appeared, smiling in relief. "Sir yes sir."
~0~
Percy sat on the hood remains of the half-blood only car they rode there in. The rain had stopped, but it was still really cold.
While Sophia checked on his 'wounds'- because really the worst thing on him was probably a broken bone or two, he checked around him. Mom still wouldn't keave his side, like Grover, though his friend tried not to look like he was.
Ray, after hugging him and mom one more time, came over to Mr. Brunner with Percival and discussed something. From their serious faces, it was probably a serious discussion.
At the moment, Percy didn't want to question everything that Ray had told him. He didn't want to question just who was his older brother. The kid that used to sneak in candies into their bedroom with when they were little, who became the guy that easily and calmly put a bullet between the minotaur's eyes.
Not now.
Stalker perched right on top of his head, sitting down. He just didn't have it in him to shoo the little guy away. That other girl, the one with a blue streak on her hair, handed Gabe something, which he looked surprised at.
"So," mom started, looking at Sophia. "You've been doing this... for awhile?"
"Not me, personally," Sophia replied, rubbing a weird green thing on one of his bruises. "I just got recruited last month. But I know Mr. Jackson, Mr. Schneider, and Miss Clayton had been doing this for years. They're really busy."
"...years, huh?" mom muttered, looking at Ray's back.
"Yeah. And-" Sophia froze, staring at a bruise. "...and that was classified information. Oh crap. Please don't tell anyone I told you that."
Mom glanced at her, a bit confused. "Uh, yes. Are you a... some sort of military group or something?"
Sophia still looked panicked, but she calmed down slightly to answer his mom. "I-I can't say for sure ma'am, but we just go out to the city, and anywhere else we deem dangerous, to pick up any half-blood we can find, killing any monsters that show up along the way."
"You... rescue people?" Percy asked.
"Well... maybe the word 'rescue' is too strong. We just find people like you, Percy, and protect them until we reach camp, the only safe place in the world where monsters can't get in."
"That's exactly what rescue means."
Sophia blushed. "I don't know... I just can't say too much. My friends said I get carried away when talking. I don't want to accidentally let something important slip out, like how Mr. Schneider had once got-" she instantly slapped a hand on her mouth, entire face red. "Er, like that."
"Uh... okay. Why do you call Ray Mr. Jackson and stuff?"
"Because he's my boss. And my..." Sophia searched for the word. "Superior. I don't know, I just feel like I should call him with Mister and stuff."
She went silent. Suddenly, she poked at his ribs, and his entire chest burned.
What happened then was Percy imitating the sound of the pig he had killed. He let out a high pitched squeal, which Sophia immediately grew alarmed to.
"I think you have a broken rib..." she muttered quietly. "Hmm... yes, yes definitely a broken rib or two. Hrm..."
"Squawk," Stalker said.
Even though he was suddenly feeling tired, Percy smiled. He couldn't help but miss the bird. The day Ray got home, with a crow on his shoulder was not a day he would forget.
Ray and Percival had finished talking with Mr. Brunner, and the three of them walked over to them. Ray smiled at him, but Percy knew his brother was worried.
"How do you feel, Percy?" Ray asked, sitting down on the road in front of them. Percival didn't do anything, he just stood there and crossed his arms, looking at him silently. Mr. Brunner rifled through his bag, muttering to himself.
Sophia stood up, then went to work at the cuts on mom's forehead, to her surprise.
"I'm fine." He smiled back, even though it hurt to breath. "Tha-"
"Well, actually no, he's not, sir," Sophia butted in. "He has a few broken ribs I believe, but I need to check him more closely at camp."
"Okay then," Ray said. "It'll be awhile until Argus arrives here, so I'm afraid we'll have to make do for now."
"Got it."
Percy sighed. "Anyway, that t was epic, Ray. You know, what you just did."
"What? The minotaur thing?" Ray shrugged. "It took four people to bring him down, Percy, and that was because he got hit by a trap. What you did, on the other hand, was extremely impressive."
"I just killed a giant flying pig, it wasn't a big deal. And besides, Mr. Brunner saved me by stunning her, he should get the credit."
"Nonsense, Percy. It was all you. Here," Mr. Brunner said. He pulled out something from his bag, and handed it to him. It was a feather- a pink feather. "Your spoil of war, if you will. A proof that you killed her."
"Wait..." he looked down at the feather now in his hands. "This is... the pig's?"
"From her wings, yes." Mr. Brunner gave him a smile- a proud smile. "You did cut off one of her wings, did you not?"
Grover stared at him, jaw opened. Sophia looked up, surprised. Even Percival's eyes widened.
"You cut off the sow's wings?" Ray burst out laughing. "That is the coolest thing I heard in months!"
Percy blushed. He wasn't used to being praised a lot like this. "Ray, you're embarrassing me. Besides, what's so great about that pig, anyway?"
"What's so great?" Percival suddenly repeated, bewildered, looking at him. "Percy, the Clazmonian sow which you just killed is an ancient and powerful monster. No one in the recorded history has ever killed her. You're the first one to do since she was born, which was centuries ago."
Ray smirked. "In other words, Percival thinks what you did was impressive."
Percival sighed. "Yes, well, that was... somewhat impressive."
Percy stared at them, embarrassed again. "...oh."
"'Oh'?" Grover gave him a weird look. "Just 'oh'? You just managed to do what millions and millions of people hadn't been able to, and the only thing you said is 'oh'?"
"Oh, shut up." He weakly swiped at his best friend with his free arm, face burning like twin suns. His accursed satyr friend just leaned back to dodge.
"But seriously, Percy," Mom interjected, who looked very worried. "How were you able to cut off her wing? Chi- er, Mr. Brunner forbid us from emtering the woods, so we couldn't see what happened."
"Oh. I... jumped on her."
"When did you get the chance?"
"...when it landed?" he thought over it quickly, finding a way to not make mom more worried. A hard task, since Ray was now here as well and he would be as worried as her. "There's a... you know, small window of opportunity. I jumped when she landed, then cut off her wing."
Mom glanced down at the car they were sitting on. It looked as if a two ton concrete just fell on it. "Isn't it dangerous?"
Well, just running away seemed to be as dangerous if not more, so not really. Obviously, he didn't say it out loud, he just shrugged.
"Regardless," Ray said, "That is cool."
Percy hadn't seen his family together like this since Christmas. Ray didn't look like he changed a lot, he just got a little bit taller and his hair got messier. Mom... well, mom never looked like she got older. Seeing them all together like this... made him smile.
Sophia stood up again, smiling brightly. "Done!"
"Thank you, dear." Mom gave her an equally bright smile, that green thing covering the cuts on her forehead.
As Ray muttered something about calling a tow truck for the car wreck, a rumbling engine gained everyone's attention, and they all turned to look. A white van had entered the scene, with some fancy writing on its side which Percy neither had the ability nor the patience to read. On the driver's seat was a guy in a chauffeur oufit with a scarf to cover up his mouth and nose. The guy sounded the horn twice in short beeps.
Ray's smile disappeared, and he stood up, dusting himself off. "Well, I don't want to be the killjoy here, but we really shouldn't stay around for too long, especially in the middle of the country at night."
"Agreed." Mr. Brunner agreed. "The camp isn't that far from here. Mrs. Jackson, if you want, we can-"
"No, no, it's fine." Mom shook her head, also standing up. "It's... I... I want to stay with them a little longer, but I think it's best if I don't. They're not kids anymore, and I have to let them go."
"I beg to differ," Ray calmly said, smiling. "I will be very pleased if I'm pampered like a kid."
"I don't," Percy grumbled, stepping off the broken car's hood.
Mom looked them over fondly. She reached out and ruffled both of their hair. "As much as I want you to stay, you have to do this. I still have my job to do, and so does Gabriel. We'll meet you again when... when will we meet you again?"
"Whenever we want." Ray shrugged. "Well, ideally, after summer is best, but since summer is still a few months away from here..."
Mom tried to hide how pained she was after hearing that, but he still could see it anyway. Without even thinking, he stepped forward and trapped her in a hug. She was surprised, and became even more surprised when Ray also joined in.
"Lemme hug you too," his older brother mumbled. "Mmm."
Mom choked a laugh, and she hugged them back, but not too much- most probably because his broken rib. Ow.
She pulled back first, and smiled lightly. "So, what's the plan, boss?"
Ray's thumb twitched as he pulled away from the group hug. "Please don't call me that, mom. However since you asked..."
He looked around, observing the area. "Percy, Grover, Mr. Brunner, Sophia and myself will to camp with Argus first thing. You need to get that rib of yours checked my li'l man, I don't want you to have internal bleeding on me here."
Percy twitched at the li'l man, but he let Ray continue.
"Mom, you and Gabe rest can go home in the Rolls-Royce. Percival, Alexa, can you two bodyguard me parents?"
Alexa shrugged while Percival... also shrugged.
"With all that set." Ray rubbed his hands together. "Let us go to Camp Half-Blood, little brother!"
~0~
For some reason, after mom and the NY group went first, the camp group left Mr. Brunner. When Percy asked why ("Why the heck did we do that?!"), Ray just smiled and told him not to worry.
At first, he worried a lot for his favorite teacher, but then he remembered Mr. Brunner suddenly appearing during Mrs. Grelod incident and recently giant sow incident, and the last part was in the middle of a freaking forest, so maybe his wheelchair could actually fly or something, and they didn't want to freak Gabe out, because apparently Gabe was the only normal person tonight.
It wasn't that far from this Camp Half-Blood. Still, he didn't know they had to still climb a cliff at their destination. Argus the driver gave him an apologetic look, right as he was parking the van in a nearby garage. As soon as Ray stepped out, Stalker flew up past the cliff, leaving them alone.
Unfortunately, without saying a word, Ray swooped in and carried him on his back like a baby koala.
"Ray!" he yelled, face burning again. "I'm not a kid! I have my dignity!"
"Yes, well, your dignity matters little in the face of internal bleeding due to exercise with broken ribs, so you can kiss your dignity goodbye."
Grover's face as they hiked up the hill made Percy want to kick his best friend's face, which he tried several times, but Grover was too far away for that to happen.
Otherwise, though, the climb was silent. They were all terribly tired and desperately wanted a bed, he could tell. Thankfully, no monster came in to ruin their night, and for that he was incredibly thankful.
Finally, when they reached the top, Percy waited for Ray to let him walk on his own. But Ray had other plans, and started to walk to one of the buildings. It was too dark, he couldn't really see all of them clearly- well, mostly, since there was that one building that freaking glowed silver, but that was probably that inner bleeding thing catching up to him and messing with his head.
"Sir," Sophia said quietly. "Permission to withdraw for the night?"
"Granted. And please stop calling me sir."
She didn't look like she heard the last part, stretching and yawning as she walked over to one of the cabins on the right side. Grover was swaying on his feet- er, hooves, so Ray also silently woke him up and told him it was fine.
Grover glanced at Percy for assurance, and he gave the G-man a thumbs up. Really, the poor kid shouldn't worry too much. And with a bid of goodnight, his best friend trotted over to the woods. Maybe his house was in there, who knows.
And so the only ones left was him and Ray, who he was still trapped on. But he gave up fighting a few minutes ago, he was getting really tired.
Suddenly, Ray stilled.
"Wha?" Percy asked blearily. "Why did we stop? Is somethi-"
"Children!" a raspy voice cackled. "Naughty children snacks for harpies!"
Quickly but carefully, his older brother lowered him and turned around immediately, revolver out. Percy also turned around, cursing at whatever it was attacked them.
But before he could take a good look at it, it was suddenly thrown aside by a bronze spear, and instantly turned to dust.
Ray sighed, calming himself, and lowered his revolver. "Thank you, Thalia, but I have to ask: what are you doing up so late?"
Somebody stepped forward into sight. It was a girl with spiky black hair, around Ray's age. To say that she looked intimidating was an understatement- especially her black leather jacket with the words 'Death to Barbie' with the picture of a barbie head with a spear through its chest.
"Come on, can I bribe you with the fact that I just saved you?" the girl- Thalia, smiled at his older brother.
Ray waited- a method that was annoyingly effective when used against him.
"Okay, okay." Thalia rolled her eyes. "I was out visiting the tree, dad. I wasn't sneaking out or anything."
She saw him, still sitting on the grass. "And who's this?"
"Ah. I never told you about him, didn't I? He's Percy, my brother. He's... new."
New? Percy glanced at Ray, but his brother just shook his head, a sign that meant he'd tell him later.
"Your brother, huh... say, how many monsters did you meet today?"
"What?" he stared at her.
"I asked you how many monsters you met today, kid."
"I... I don't know, I didn't count."
"Really? I'm pretty sure monsters that wanted to kill you won't be hard to forget."
"Thalia, please," Ray said. "He got some broken ribs, and I really want him to be checked on by Apollo kids."
"Oh shoot, really?" Thalia gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry- Percy, was it? I didn't know. Well, don't let me hold you back any longer. Goodnight, boyos. And get well soon."
"Goodnight, Thalia," Ray replied. "And be careful. The harpies may overwhelm you if you're not careful."
"Jackson, Jackson, Jackson." Thalia shook her head, picking up her spear which was lodged in the ground, and it suddenly turned into a Mace canister. "You know those freaks won't be able to harm me. Go focus on your brother, I think he's in shock."
Ray immediately turned to him, worry increasing in those eyes, but Percy shook his head. Trying to say that he was fine. The worry didn't disappear, but Ray's alarmed look lessened.
His older brother turned to Thalia again. "Yeah, we should get going. And one last thing, don't call me dad, otherwise I might start asking you to call me daddy."
Thalia made a puking sound. She shot him a murderous look. "Screw you, Ray."
Ray didn't say anything, only looking amused. Thalia realised what she said. She turned around and strode into the forest without another word, cursing under her breath as she did.
"Ah, it's so easy to bait her." Ray smiled, but it disappeared as soon as Ray turned to him. "Are you okay? Sorry about that, Percy. Let's go to the infirmary."
Percy didn't fight back when Ray picked him up. He was too tired, and that encounter with Thalia rattled him, even though that girl didn't do anything but throw a spear at a monster.
But he could feel it. The air around Thalia... he couldn't believe he was saying this, but the air around her felt like it was crackling with power. Thalia... whoever Thalia was, she was more powerful than she appeared.
~0~
A/N : Yes, I'm asking for reviews again. Goodbye thanks.