Chapter 1
A Bird Woman Crashes My Party
For my seventh birthday I got the worst present ever.
My name is Perseus Jackson– Percy, for short. And before you ask, yes, it's after the Greek hero. My mom chose it because out of all those old heroes he was the only one to get a happy ending. The name sounded cool, so I wasn't going to complain, but I could never figure out why she was picking from those old myths in the first place.
At least, until that birthday I couldn't.
The day had started normally enough- take advantage of the Sunday to sleep in; laze downstairs; find a spread of blue pancakes on the table; consume said spread. That was nothing new.
"Your favorite," my mom had said when she saw me eating, standing proudly with blue food coloring still on her hands. It was an old joke between the two of us– my step father mentioned there was no such thing as blue food and my mom picked up a habit of proving him wrong, continuously.
I'd nodded eagerly, crumbs flying off my cheeks in the process.
Sally Jackson – my mom – was the kindest, sweetest, and most perfect person in the world, and no one could convince me otherwise. Her brown hair was always frizzy and frayed at the edges, hinting at where my own raven mop got its uncontrollable-ness. When you spoke to her, she'd always look you in the eyes and make it clear you had her undivided attention. Her eyes glittered warmly around the clock and had permanent crinkles next to them, like her face had been expressly designed for smiling.
She also had the rottenest luck I'd ever seen. Her parents died in a plane crash, the uncle she was sent to live with passed away from cancer, and my father – the best break she ever got – was lost at sea.
Not dead, mind you. Anytime I called him that my mom would gently, but firmly, correct me. Lost at sea.
Still, in spite of everything she'd gone through, she did the absolute best anyone could've done for me. She wanted to be a novelist more than anything but taking care of her uncle had forced her to drop out of school. So she worked a day job, took care of me, and earned a diploma with night classes all at the same time. She never once complained about it or snapped at me. That was just the type of person my mom was.
Anyway, it wasn't until after I'd finished stuffing myself full of pancakes that things started to get weird. The crashing boom of thunder sounded, and a bright flash illuminated the apartment. Outside the window the heavens opened, sheets of water tumbling down and pounding against the ground.
Thunder storms weren't unusual in Manhattan in August, but something felt off about this one. It felt angry. I glanced at my mom and caught her nibbling her bottom lip nervously.
"Gabe will be back in a few days," she muttered to herself. "It'll be fine."
"What'll be fine?"
She looked at me in surprise, like she didn't realize she'd been speaking out loud. "Nothing for you to worry about, dear. Now, I've got all these movies here and I just can't seem to choose one of them. Care to help me out?"
I didn't buy that for a minute. Gabe was Gabe Ugliano, my stepfather. He was pudgy, smelly, and had a face like an Elephant's armpit. Amazingly, his personality was even worse than his appearance. He was a drunk and a bully who my mom could've done much better than, and I knew it even back then. In short, the weeklong 'business' trip he'd gone on was the finest thing he'd done since moving in.
On the other hand, movies were distracting. We weren't a rich family, and the days where we could sit down together and relax were rare. It was all about weighing up which was more important: getting to the bottom of an ominous situation or choosing a movie. To my seven-year-old mind, the choice was easy.
"I want to watch Jaws!"
The storm raged on for the next few hours, but I barely noticed it. We had turned the living room lights down low and laid out blankets on the couch, letting us snuggle in. On the table a huge bag of 'free samples' from the candy shop my mom worked at was already showing a sizeable dent. Life was good– which goes to show just how quickly things can change.
It started with a knock. Three sharp raps that wrang out from our front door and made my mom's forehead crease.
"I'll get that," she said to me, pushing her way to her feet. "I swear if it's that dishwasher salesman again. He's been by three times this week already!"
I nodded absently, completely focused on the TV. The movie had just reached its climax, and I never could bring myself to look away from Jaws' death. A tear rolled down my cheek as I watched the massive shark go to the big chum bucket in the sky. I'd seen the scene at least a dozen times already, but something about it left me sad every time.
From the other room, I distantly heard the front door squeak and my mom's voice say "I told you last time, we don't need any applian-" She cut off suddenly, and when her voice came back it sounded embarrassed. "Sorry about that, Miss. We've just had the most belligerent salesman calling recently and, well, I thought you were him."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Another voice said, and something about it grabbed my full attention. It was a woman's voice with a strange rasp to it, like if a bus's exhaust pipe had decided to strike up a polite conversation. It sent shivers down my spine, but I couldn't place why.
"You are Sally Jackson, are you not?" The visitor asked sweetly.
"Yes," my mom answered after a beat, sounding confused. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Most likely, but don't you worry about that. Is your son home?"
Another pause.
"He is," my mom said suspiciously. "Why do you want to know? Spring Hill didn't send you, did they?"
I cringed at the mention of my last school. How was I supposed to know the lever would set off the sprinklers? And then they had the nerve to expel me for "doing it on purpose", just because I was lucky enough to not get drenched. Completely unfair if you asked me.
"Did you rethink your decision?" My mom carried on. "I can get the paperwork right now if you-"
"No, no," the visitor interrupted. "All you have to do, concubine of the sea-"
A loud crack cut them off as the door was slammed shut hard enough to rattle its hinges. I heard the sound of the lock being bolted and then my mom was in the room with me again, face deadly serious.
"We're leaving," she said. "Now."
"What's going on? Who was that?"
She brushed by me, grabbing my hand as she went and dragging me toward the kitchen. "There's no time, just get to the fire escape!"
I hurried to keep up with her as we crossed our small apartment in record time. Just as we entered the kitchen a bang wrang out and I spun around to find our front door hurled clear across the living room.
"Mortals these days, no manners," The visitor's voice called out. "Why can't you be like you were back in Pandareus's days? Now that was a man who knew how to die conveniently."
By now my mom had pried open the window to the fire escape and crawled through.
"Come on!" She urged me, and I didn't need to be told twice. Dying conveniently was something I was perfectly fine with being bad at, thank you very much.
I slipped outside and we started clambering down the slick metal ladders. When our feet touched pavement, my mom grabbed my hand again and we booked it down the sidewalk. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like the raging storm around us was growing even stronger. A bolt of lightning cracked the sky directly above our heads.
"What's going on?" I asked as we ran. "Did that person just blow up our front door?"
"That wasn't a person," my mom said grimly.
"Then what was it?"
She wouldn't answer.
In the end, we made it three blocks before they caught up with us.
A dark shape slammed straight down in our path, forcing us to skid to a halt. The shape stood and revealed a figure that was almost human- note the word almost.
It was a woman with long greying hair and electric blue eyes, like an ageing Scandinavian grandma. Long red wings stretched out from her arms, running from the wrists to the shoulders. Sticking out the bottom of a 50's style flower print dress were two feathered ankles and tri-pronged feet. Each of her six toes were marked by wicked talons longer than my hand that scraped against the ground, digging gouges into the stone.
In her hand was a long trench coat and she let go of it now, letting it flutter to the ground. How she could ever have gotten it on with the wings sticking out of her arms was beyond me.
"First you shut me out, then you make me chase you down?" The figure asked irritably, tilting a pair of reading glasses that rested across her nose. There was no mistaking the voice I'd heard outside our door. "Do you have any idea how long it will take to dry out these feathers?"
I stared at her, trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing.
The feathers, the legs, the voice…there was no way she was human. But then that just created a whole new set of questions.
"What are you?" I asked. The bird-woman's eyes slid onto me.
"You can't even recognize a Harpy?" She said, licking her lips. "An ignorant little half-blood, no idea what's going on. Oh, you must be so confused…and confusion always makes for the juiciest fear. Yes, I can work with this."
My mom laid a hand across my chest protectively and I met her eyes.
I didn't like what I found.
She looked like she did whenever rent was due and we were short: panicked but putting up a brave front. Still, she gave me a look that told me to be quiet and follow her lead. I figured that was the least I could do.
"Leave," she said to the Harpy. "You do not want to anger his father."
The Harpy made a noise somewhere between a car alarm and a squeaky toy that it took me a moment to realize was a laugh. "That oath breaker has no power here. His siblings are united against him on this issue- he wouldn't dare to intervene."
"Are you so certain that you would risk it?"
The Harpy eyed her closely before letting out another of those inhuman laughs. "You bluff well mortal, but not well enough. Now do try to die with your best look of terror on your face. I'm an artist, you see, and you know what they say about making every work your best yet."
The bird-woman raised her arms with a manic smile and stuck them out wide, like she was getting ready to give us the biggest bear hug she could. Then my mom shouted "Poseidon, you came!"
There was no one there. Not just right next to us, either, I mean there was literally no one else in sight in any direction. I hadn't noticed it before in the rush to get away but the always busy One-hundred-and-fourth street was completely empty, save for us and an avian grandma of death.
But the Harpy didn't know that. Her face flashed fearfully, and she spun around to fend off someone that wasn't there. Before she could realize she'd been tricked my mom had grabbed my wrist again and dragged me into an ally.
We ran, feet splashing against rapidly growing puddles.
"Did she say she was going to kill us?" I asked.
"Yes, so run!" My mom said desperately. "We just need to get away. If we can reach the ocean, we'll be fine."
That didn't make me feel much better considering how quickly we'd been caught before, but it was something at least.
"Wait, ocean? And did you say Poseidon, like the god of the sea?"
"Yes. I swear I will explain everything, bu–"
A huge gust of wind blasted through the alley and my mom's voice cut off abruptly. I'd been running just ahead of her, and the hand she'd been holding was suddenly empty.
"Mom!" I shouted, sliding to a stop. "Mom where are you?"
I spun in a circle but couldn't see any sign of her- I was completely alone. The rapid beating of my heart ratcheted up a notch.
"Ah, now that's much better. Such picturesque terror," the harpy's voice rasped from directly above me.
I craned my neck and found her hovering, wings beating casually. She stared down at me sadistically, eyes glowing like balls of ice.
"What's wrong boy?" She crooned. "Lost your mother?"
I balled my hands into fists, doing my best not to cry. "Why are you doing this?"
"Scared and alone," she continued, ignoring my question. "Not knowing what's happening or why… confusion and fear of death really are a scintillating combination." She eyed my face like a painter looking at a half-finished work. "But we can do better still."
She snapped her fingers and another gust of wind whipped up, intense enough that I had to shield my eyes. When I reopened them, my blood froze.
Suspended twenty feet in the air, bleeding from a multitude of small cuts, was my mom. Her arms were held tight to her sides, as if something were pressing her into position, but her eyes were wide open and alert.
"Run!" She yelled, before something I couldn't see slammed her jaw closed with a click. She stared down at me, silently pleading for me to listen, but I already knew there was no way I could just leave her.
"Oh yes. Oh yes, yes, yes!" The Harpy threw her head back, a look of ecstasy on her face. "This it, what I've been waiting for. Thank you, mighty Zeus, for giving me the canvas for which I have been searching."
High overhead a chain of lightning strikes rattled off. Maybe the stress had already driven me crazy, but I could've sworn they spelled out a message: get on with it.
Apparently, the Harpy heard it too because her expression lost some of its glee, a bit of professionalism coming to the fore.
"I do so wish I had more time," she said longingly. "But this will have to do. Prepare yourself, son of the sea, for you will become my masterpiece."
She raised her arms like a conductor, high and wide.
"You will live forever…through death!"
I'll never forget those words. Just like I'll never forget what came next.
Her arms dropped and the wind exploded, force and noise buffeting me. A cry of pain rang out and Something splattered against the alley floor.
I stared on helplessly as slowly, meticulously, my mom was lowered to the ground, a deep gash on her side bleeding heavily. Her clothes were already changing color.
I couldn't grasp what I was seeing. When she finally touched the ground I was already there, grasping her hand desperately.
"Percy…" She said weekly, struggling to meet my eyes.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Distantly, I realized I was crying.
"I'm…sorry…"
Her head lolled backwards. The hand I'd been holding lost its faint pulse. I felt at her neck and found it cold to the touch.
No.
No. No. No. No!
I reeled backwards, brain refusing to grasp what I was seeing. This couldn't be happening. Not here. Not to her.
A massive lightning bolt flashed overhead, illuminating the scene in morbid detail. The boom of thunder that followed it was twice as loud as all the ones before it put together.
"Times up," The Harpy said, pride and sadness mixing in her voice. "Die, boy, knowing that you were the greatest work of the Okythoe's career. Tell everyone you meet and spread the word far. With this I know my work will finally get the acclaim it deserves. I can already see the awestruck faces when I pass- even Apollo will recognize me!"
She giggled, eyes far away.
I snapped.
My mom, the most wonderful woman in the world, the kind soul that always did right by those around her, that raised me by herself, was gone. And now the thing that did it was boasting? Was telling me to advertise it? This wouldn't stand.
Something in my stomach twisted. All the confusion, fear, and grief that had been building there shifted into something much more manageable: anger.
A sense of strength like I'd never felt flooded me. My eyesight sharpened, blurry details crystalizing into a crisp scene. I pushed myself to my feet and my body felt light as a feather.
Okythoe snapped her fingers and wind whipped toward me, razor sharp edges eager to maim and kill. Without fully understanding why, I reached out an open hand and squeezed it into a fist.
The alley sprung to life.
All around me the puddles that had been growing deeper and deeper exploded upwards, metric tons of water congealing into a huge wave with a specific target. The last I saw of Okythoe was the terrified whites of her eyes as the wave grabbed her and swallowed. Then the water crashed back down to the ground with lethal force.
In the span of a few seconds I had learned that huge quantities of charging water was hard to stop. Go figure. But I also learned that it wasn't the best at stopping other things- namely wind.
While my impromptu tidal wave had been body slamming Okythoe, her blades of wind had been slicing toward me. Sure the water slowed them a little, but it sure as hell hadn't stopped them. It was only a last second dive to the side that kept me from being completely cut to shreds.
Which wasn't to say I got off scot-free.
Pain exploded at my left shoulder and right ankle. It felt like someone was pouring molten lava straight into my veins. My vision started blurring and my thoughts felt hazy. I lay on my side and looked over at my arm, trying to see what was wrong.
I couldn't find it.
I tried again, scanning the place it should've been. Nothing. Panic started to well up in my chest, but I could feel consciousness slipping away at the same time, the pain and distress catching up with me. I rolled over onto my back, landing with a heavy thud.
Rain splattered on my face as I stared up. Maybe…maybe all this was a dream. In a minute I would wake up in my warm bed and wander downstairs to my mom's homemade breakfast- for real this time. Yea, I liked the sound of that.
Then a man's face appeared above me looking down with mournful grey eyes. He let out a sigh and spoke, voice sounding as weary as I felt.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
A pair of arms gently scooped me up and everything went dark.
(-)
