Percy

I run through the streets, trying to get away from the men chasing me. I turn a corner and kick in a rotting wood door, ignoring the startled yelps of the women inside and avoid the sword thrusts of the men with them, then run through the house and jump out a window, then keep running until I can't hear them behind me anymore. When I'm sure I'm safe, I sit down with my back against this secluded part of the city wall.

I've been here a little more than three weeks. Three Weeks! And I haven't seen Castiel since we left the beach and he dropped me here. And here is Hell.

It's been about nine or ten generations since the Fall. And that's all it took for the world to collapse into chaos. Actually, it didn't even take that long. This is just the tail end of it, from what I can gather. But it's awful. It's chaos. It's anarchy.

There's no justice or consequence for anything, which just means people can do whatever they want even if that's stealing, raping, or killing. I saw a child killed by her own mother for yelling at her.

And while I can't die in this timeframe, that doesn't mean I can't be hurt. Day one I had to get my hands on a sword just to fight off some men coming after me who apparently thought I look as good as Annabeth seems to. And I didn't get out of that without some sword cuts of my own.

Earlier today in a tavern, I overheard some jackasses complaining about a guy named Noah. I may not have spent a whole ton of time in Sunday School as a kid, but I know something about a guy named Noah and him building a boat before a flood wiped out the Earth. They said he's outside the city, and when they noticed me eavesdropping They decided the penalty for that should be cutting off my ears, so I had to book it out of there.

Okay, Noah. Find Noah. Get out of this Hellhole. I start back out the city gates and keep a hand on my sword while looking around. I'm in a world of kill or be killed. It doesn't take me too long of searching to find the boat.

"Finally." I say, letting out a sigh of relief.

"It's pretty bad, isn't it?" I hear behind me, then quickly draw my sword and spin only to see Castiel leaning against a tree.

"Where the Hell have you been, Cas?!" I yell. "I've been here almost a month! I've been robbed, gotten into numerous sword fights for my life, and almost been raped multiple times!"

"Did you ever get seriously hurt?"

"No."

"Did any of the men succeed in defiling you?"

"Hell no."

"I know. You won't die or be seriously hurt. That's the deal. But it's not like you have the mark of Achilles. You can handle some bumps and bruises. And you're still not at any risk of changing the future. Any of the men you killed would have died in the next hour anyways."

"What? Why?" I ask. He simply smirks and points to the boat. As he does, I see storm clouds rolling in and hear thunder clap.

"Heard the story of Noah's Ark?" He asks.

"I've heard of it."

"The world became so wicked God saw no choice but to destroy it. Would you agree with that after living here for the last three weeks?"

"Yes." I say immediately, surprised by my own answer. I don't take it back, though. A month ago I'd never advocate for destroying humanity. But what I just lived through, it wasn't humanity. I haven't met a single person in the last three weeks, man, woman, or child, who was even close to being a decent person. And whenever I thought someone was being nice or helpful, there was always a horrible catch.

"Would you like to be among some people who have some righteousness left?"

"Yes." I say, sounding more desperate than I wanted to. He just points to the boat again.

"They'll let you board. I'll see you soon." He says, and when I blink he's gone.

I hurry down the hill to the Ark. It's huge. I think about what I know of the story. Huge Ark, Huge flood, two of every kind of animal. Lots of rain, and eventually they get off the boat and have to repopulate the Earth. Something about Ravens and Doves and Rainbows?

"Father!" I hear someone on the boat shout, right as I feel some raindrops hit my skin. "Water has started falling from the sky!"

"Is everyone on?" I hear someone else yell back, and lightning flashes.

"Wait!" I yell as I get close then put my fingers in my mouth and do my best Taxi Cab whistle. "Wait! I need to come too!" Someone runs onto the deck, a man I'd judge to be about 50 or so, with a strong build and light brown hair and a beard just starting to gray at the edges.

"You!" He yells at me. "You wish to come?"

"Yes!" I yell, still running.

"The angel showed you to me in a dream! Come aboard!" He says. I take the last few steps and jump onto the ramp, running up the stairs. Less than two seconds later the door slams shut behind me. The man who was on the deck runs down the stairs.

"You! You made it!"

"Seems I did, Sir. Thank you for letting me aboard."

"Praise Elohim! God of mercy! One man listened!"

"I'm Percy, Sir. Who are you?" He chuckles.

"If you don't know, then you haven't been in the crowds that came out to jeer at me. I am Noah."

"You're Noah?"

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"No, I just thought you'd be…Older." I say. "Haven't you been building this ark for like a century?"

"A hundred and twenty years. I myself am 600. I guess I look good for my age." He laughs. "Come, Percy, let's go and I'll introduce you to my family." We walk up the stairs and onto the top level of the arc, where seven other people are waiting.

"Who's this?" The oldest woman asks, I'm guessing Noah's wife.

"This is Percy. The angel told me in a dream he'd be joining us. Percy, this is my wife Emzara, My sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives: Sedeqetelebab, Ne`elatama`uk, and Adataneses.

Great, even knowing their language I'm never going to be able to pronounce their names.

"Do, uh, Do you have nicknames by any chance?" I ask, and they chuckle a bit.

"Yes, Percy. Father Noah likes to be formal. You may call me Seddy." Shem's wife tells me.

"I am Nammah." Ham's wife says.

"And I'm Nessa."

"He has no wife?" Nessa asks.

"We will have daughters." Seddy tells her, making me blush.

"You look young, boy. Tell me, what is your age?" Emzara tells me.

"I'm-I'm almost 18."

"Quite young. You have a long life ahead of you." Japheth says.

"Let's hope." I say wryly.

"God has blessed you by softening your heart and having you join us. He wouldn't do that to have you die too soon." Noah tells me.

"Thanks." I say, not willing to get into an argument about how the gods don't care. But I'm honestly not so sure anymore. I saw the grief on his face in Eden, although I'm still not so sure about the curses after. I can say it was a lot more just than the curses some of the olympians have dished out.

"There is plenty of work to do caring for the animals below deck." Noah says. "But first, let us thank Elohim for his mercy upon us." He says, and the family gathers in a circle to pray. I shrug and join them. When in Rome, and all that.

…

The next 40 days it storms worse than when Kym was attacking The Argo II. But the Ark never once threatens to break apart, which I decide not to tell Leo when I get back. There are more animals here than I can count, but not as many as I expected. Apparently two of every kind is different from two of every animal on the planet.

It's interesting getting to know Noah and his family. Noah's a good man, a good husband, and a good father who's wise and patient with his family. Ham's a bit of an ass, not going to lie, but he's for sure better than anyone else I met before coming on the ark. I really like Japheth and Shem. They take after their father. Emzara is gentle and kind, as are Seddy, Nammah, and Nessa too. Nammah tends to whine and complain a lot more than the others, but I get it. Her whole world just got destroyed in the flood, and it's hard to get along with people when you're cooped up with them like this.

We go about our business day in and day out. The food's pretty bland, but it's ok. We feed the animals, clean the stalls, and brave the rain to dump the waste out over the deck. While I'm still glad I'm getting the chance to be mortal, I do miss not getting wet in the rain. Noah insists the family have prayer time every morning when we get up and every night before bed.

Finally, after 40 long days, the rain stops. The sound we've all gotten so used to of the rain pelting the roof gets quieter and then goes completely silent. All of us rush to the top deck, and go out the door. Sunlight bathes the sky and ocean, and there is screaming and cheering and singing praises by everyone. I lean over the edge, closing my eyes and just soaking in the light. I never knew how much I could miss the sun until I didn't see it for over a month. I look at the ocean around us. Even though I don't have my powers right now, It feels good to be surrounded by my father's domain. Or is it his domain yet? I'm not even sure my father's been born yet. Regardless, I like being around the sea.

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Percy? The sun." Noah says as he walks over and leans against the rail with me. "I'm glad you joined us."

"I am too." I say, surprised I mean it. I've never met anyone like Noah before. I'm glad I did. "So what now?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Wait until the waters recede and we find land."

"How long will that take?" I ask, trying to recall if that's a part of the story I was told. Noah just shrugs again.

"It will take as long as the Lord wills it to."

….

The answer is another hundred and ten days. A hundred and fifty in total from the day we first came on the Ark. Five. Months.

It's the same routine every day. Wake up. Eat. Prayer time with the family. Feed the animals. Clean the stalls. Lunch. Some free time where we all either play games together or go off alone before dinner. Then dinner, feeding the animals again, cleaning the stalls again. Evening worship. Sleep.

In this time, all three of the women get pregnant. I blush to my roots when Emzara tells me that God has undoubtedly provided me with a wife with one of the babies. She laughs and says something about being young again, but I'm just thinking about my wife back home and how I'd never marry a girl 17 years younger than me when she's like 12, no matter the custom of the time.

I'm starting to wonder what would happen if I were to jump over the edge of the boat since Castiel promised I wouldn't die on this journey when it finally happens. Noah shouts for all of us to come up to the top deck. We get there, and he's on his knees praising God.

"What is it, Love?" Emzara asks.

"Two months ago I started sending a Raven out to see if it could find land. It kept coming back. Then I sent a dove, and the second time it came back with a leaf! I knew the waters were receding. Then it didn't come back at all. And now, Elohim has spoken to me and told me it's time for us to come out of the Ark!" Right as he says it, the ark under us hits ground, making all of us fall after it being such a smooth ride the last five months. I hear the sound of the door hitting the ground. We all look at each other for a second, then scramble to our feet and run downstairs to the bottom level and out the door, onto dry land. The waters have pulled completely back. We're all laughing and crying and feeling the dirt under us.

"Thank you Elohim, Lord God and Creator of the world for your abundant mercy of saving us from the flood and allowing us back onto the Earth." Noah prays. He looks at us. "Percy, Shem, Ham, Japheth. Help me build an altar to the Lord. The rest of you, go let the animals out." He tells us. The women go back into the ark to do so, and I go with the rest of the men to find rocks to help build. A few hours later we're all done. The animals are spreading out and we're getting our land legs back after being on the boat so long. Noah prays at the altar and we all join him. I'm still not totally on board with worshiping him yet, but it's clear at this point that whether you call him God, Elohim, Jehovah, Yaweh, or Jesus this god is different from the olympians. I can tell he cares. Noah finishes up and then gasps. We all open our eyes and look up. It's a rainbow.

"What is that, Father?" Shem asks. Noah smiles and clasps Shem's shoulder.

"It's a promise from the Lord. His covenant with us. He'll never destroy the world by flood again." Noah says, then a white light blinds me and I'm taken back to the beach with Castiel.

…

"So?"

"I'm glad to be off the boat." I tell him. "Can I go home yet? I miss Annabeth."

"I know you do. Here." He says, and tosses me a bag of some kind. I open it, and inside are drawings of Annabeth, Lassa, my mom and Paul holding Estelle, Grover and Juniper, Jason and Piper, Frank and Hazel, even Leo and Echo . There's also a clay jar, and when I open it, I get a whiff of Annabeth's perfume. I see copies of some of the letters we wrote each other when we were kids during the school year.

"What's this?"

"A little care package I put together for you. You can keep it with you the rest of the journey."

"So I'm not going home yet, then." I sigh, starting to regret agreeing to this.

"Not yet, Percy. Soon."

"What does soon mean?"

"I guess you'll have to see." He says. "You won't be on another boat for 5 months again, I promise."

"Well thanks for that I guess." I say and he reaches out his hand. I clasp it, ready for whatever comes next.