That's right. Percy Jackson by Rick Riodan and Gone by Michael Grant. Why? Because when I get an idea, I just go with the flow and see where it takes me.
This may seem ridiculous, but trust me, I think I have some good ideas of how it works out. And if this fanfiction does well, I might do some sequels for the other Gone books. Maybe even Monster, Villain, and Hero.
But anyway, enough setup, onto the story!
(p.s., this starts out during The Titan's Curse, while they're flying to San Francisco with the flying statues. Also, technically these stories wouldn't be happening at the same time, so I'm saying this fanfiction takes place in November of 2013.)
Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost to the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
Two will be taken by the worm of earth,
Only to return in one year's worth,
The Titan's Curse one must withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.
Percy ran the prophecy over again in his head. It was obvious from the beginning that the "goddess in chains" was Artemis, and they had already lost Bianca in "the land without rain", which ended up being, surprise surprise, the desert.
But who would be lost to the "worm of earth"? What the heck even was that? And what about the end? One shall perish by a parent's hand? Percy didn't think his father was going to kill him, and while he didn't necessarily think highly of Zeus, he didn't think he wanted to kill Thalia either. But what about Zoe? He had no idea who her parents were. But he didn't know anything about Grover's parents either, only that he once had an Uncle Ferdinand who they found turned to stone by Medusa. And who knows? Maybe his own father would strike him down. He didn't really know him that well, and he was the possible subject of a prophecy that might destroy Olympus.
Grover, sensing Percy's distress through their empathy link, looked over at me from the hands of the other flying statue. "You okay, Peeerrrcy?"
"I'm fine, just... thinking about the prophecy."
Zoe, also on the other statue, spoke without looking at me, "Only one of us shall be returning." Her tone was expressionless, just matter-of-fact.
Thalia, hanging beside Percy, turned to Zoe irratated. "You could have a little bit more sympathy you know. The rest of us might all die, and it seems like you don't care. You may die,"
Zoe still showed no emotion. "Only one of us will die. The other two will simply disappear for a year, then teturn." She turned to look at them, "I jave already considered the possibility of my death, and if that it what it takes to save my Lady Artemis, then so be i-"
And then she was gone.
There.
Gone.
No "poof". No flash of light. No explosion. Just gone.
Percy only had a second to process that fact before he started falling. It wasn't just Zoe who had disappeared. Thalia had too, as well as the flying statues that were carrying them. Now Percy and Grover were both free falling through the air over California.
Panicking, Percy looked below him. Right below them was the wayer, not far from the coast. If he landed in the water first, he could use the ocean to catch Grover - the sea would never kill him, even if he slammed into it at speeds that would flatten a mortal like a pancake.
He curled into himself to go faster, and he sped through the air, plummeting downward until he slammed into the water. Thanks to his demigod powers, he was just fine. But Grover wouldn't be.
Quickly, Percy willed the water to move, lifting up into a triangular shape beneath Grover. The saytr slid down the edge, friction slowing his decent so that he splashed harmlessly into the sea.
Grover's head breached the water's surface as he gasped for air. He looked around, terror clear on his face. "What's going on? Where did the statues go? Where did Thalia and Zoe go? Where even are w-"
"GROVER!" Percy yelled, "Snap out of it, we'll be fine. We just gotta get to shore and find out where we are," Percy looked around and located the shore, not too far away. But he also noticed something else, in the other direction...
A wall emerged from the sea, no more than a few hundred yards from shore. It looked translucent, but he couldn't make out anything at the other side. It was milky and slightly reflective, and seemed to shimmer. Percy's gaze followed it up, and it did seem to eventually fade into the sky, but way high up.
"What in the gods is that," Percy said, mostly to himself.
Grover was getting nervous again, "Peeerrrcy, what's going on?"
He shook his head, eyes not leaving the wall, "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about it," He turned back to Grover, "Let's get to shore and figure out where the heck we are." He took a second to think, then "we're roughly 34 north, 120 west," In the ocean, Sam had perfect nautical sense, "that's around southern California. I think I can see a town over at the shore. Let's go look."
Grover nodded, still nervous but calming down thanks to Percy's relaxed attitude, "Okay, let's go."
•••
They came in in the marina, moving carefully as to not attract attention. But it seemed as if their caution was unnecessary. There was nobody there, which felt off to Percy. Costal town like this would rely heavily on fishing for their market, and at this time of day, there should be people working. But nothing. It was kinda creepy.
Percy only got wet if he wanted to, and his ability to control water let him dry off Grover, so when they walked into town, neither of them looked like they had climbed out of the ocean. They finally found people in the town, but oddly enough, Percy was only seeing kids. Cars were abandoned on the highway, most of them in wrecks with no remains of the drivers. The kids looked scared, confused, as if something just happened that they couldn't explain.
Percy and Grover followed the kids to what looked like the town plaza. There were some older kids there, but none of them looked older than Percy. Still, he had to start somewhere.
He walked up to a group of kids sbout his age. One was an average height, fairly good looking guy with brown hair in a lazy surfer do, wearing an everyday t-shirt and jeans. The second guy was taller and wore more eccentric clothes- a pink golf shirt, baggy shorts, army desert boots, and a grey fedora. The third kid was a pretty girl with shoulder length blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a starched white blouse, and reminded him of Annabeth.
"Hey," Percy called over to them, getting their attention as he walked up, "what's going on here, Where are all the adults?"
The surfer guy shook his head, "We don't know. We were in class and our teacher just... disappeared."
"Poof," the taller guy added.
The blond girl spoke up, "It's not just the adults. All the other students in my class disappeared."
"So did our friends," Grover said.
"How old were they?" The girl asked, her eyes boring into Percy and Grover.
Percy was confused by the question. "Uhh, Thalia was almost 16, Zoe was...uhh..." he fished for a normal response, "... I don't really know,"
"Was she fifteen or older?"
"I'd guess so, yeah. Why does that matter?"
"I think that the commen factor between everyone who disappeared is that they were all at least fifteen years old."
Percy was confused. The only thing he knew of that could make this happen would be a god, but which of the gods would bother doing this?
"This is just wrong man," The tall guy said, looking just as nervous as Grover, "No adults, no phones no wifi, what is happening?"
Percy suddenly remembered the wall, "That's not all,"
Before anyone could say anything else, the surfer guy sniffed the air and looked away. Percy mimiced him, and realized what had caught his nose- smoke.
Smoke was pouring out of a second-storey window above an old flower shop and what looked like an insurance building. As he eatched, a jet of orange flame burst from a high window. A crowd of kids was forming, just watching, doing nothing.
"Is anyone in there?" the blond girl called out. Nobody answered.
"It could spread," The surfer guy said.
"There's no 911," someone pointed out.
"If it spreads, it could burn down half the town."
"You see a fireman anywhere?" A helpless shrug.
Now Percy was getting angry. How could they just stand around twiddling their thumbs when people could get hurt? A narrow alleyway was the only thing between the burning building and a daycare/hardware store. If nobody acted, the situation was going to get serious.
Luckily, the surfer guy seemed to be thinking the same thing. He grabbed two kids and said to them "You guys, go to the daycare. Tell them to get the littles out of there."
The kids just stared at him eithout moving.
"Now. Go. Do it!" he yelled, and they took off running. He then pointed to two other kids. "You and you. Go into the hardware store, get the longest hose you can find. Get a spray nozzle, too. I think there's a spigot in that alley. Start spraying water on the side of the hardware store and on the roof."
They also stared blankly, and this time Percy spoke up. "You guys wanna be responsible for that hardware store burning down? GO! Grover, you go help them."
Grocer didn't hesitate. He grabbed the other two kids and ran to the hardware store. Surfer guy pushed to the front of the crowd and said in a loud voice, "Hey, listen up, this isn't Disney Channel. We can't just watch this happen. There's no adults. There's no fire department."
Percy joined him and said the the crowd, "So we have to be the fire department. We have to step up."
A latino boy stepped up "These guys are right. What do you need, Sam? I'm with you."
Surfer guy, Sam, nodded. "OK. Quinn? You and Edilio get the big hoses from the fire station, hook 'em up to the hydrant."
The latino boy, Edilio, responded with "They'll be heavy. We'll need some strong guys."
Percy grabbed the shoulders of some kids in the crowd, "You, you, you, you." he shook each one, pushing them into motion, "Come on. You, you. Let's move, people!"
Then came the wailing.
Percy and Sam both froze.
"There's someone in there," a girl moaned.
"Quiet," Sam hissed, and everyone fell silent. Percy could hear the roar and crackle of the fire, the distant car alarms, and then, a cry: "Mommy."
Again. "Mommy."
Someone mocked the voice in falsetto. "Mommy, I'm scared,"
Percy turned angrily to see a glowering thig of a kid, with muscle and fat to spare. Percy took an instant disliking to him. He was actually finding this situation funny. Kids drew away from him.
"What?" he demanded, clearly not too bright.
A wormy, rat-faced kid standing near the thug sneered, "Don't worry, School Bus Sam will save us all, won't you Sam?"
Percy didn't understand the nickname, but it obviously impacted Sam. "Edilio. Go," he said quietly. "Bring everything you can."
"Man, you can't go up in there," Edilio said. "They'll have air tanks and stuff at the fire station. Wait, I'll bring it all." He ran, sheperding his crew of strong kids ahead of him.
"Hey, up there," Sam yelled to the window, "Kid. Can you get to the door or the window?"
Percy stared up, craning his neck. There were six windows on the front of the building upstairs, one in the alley. The far left window was where the fire was, but now the smoke was drifting out of the second window, too. The fire was spreading, he realized with dread.
"Mommy!" the voice cried. It was still clear, not choking from the smoke.
Yet.
"There's no time to wait," Percy said, "You don't have to go in, I'll do it.."
"Did I say I was going in there?" He asked sarcastically.
"It might be better for you both to go in. Better chances of finding her." The blond girl came up. "Here," she handed them each a wet cloth, "wrap these around your faces."
"Thanks Astrid," Sam said, taking his cloth. Percy also took his, wrapping it around his head, over his nose and mouth. He felt the moisture making him slightly stronger.
"Don't get hurt," Astrid said to Sam.
"Good advice," He replied dryly, wrapping his own cloth around his face.
She grabbed his arm. "Look, Sam, it's not the fire that kills people, it's smoke. If you get too much smoke, your lungs will swell up, they'll fill up with fluid."
"How much is too much?" Percy asked, his voice muffled by the cloth.
Astrid smiled sadly. "I'm smart, but I don't know everything."
Sam looked like he wanted to hug her or take her hand or something, but instead just said "Here goes,"
A ragged chorus of cheers came from the crowd, and one kid called out "Go for it, Sam," a pause, then "And new guy," Percy rolled his eyes.
The entrance to the building was unlocked. Inside were mailboxes, a back door to the flower shop, and a dark narrow stairway heading up.
They almost made it to the top of the stairs before they ran into an opaque wall of swirling smoke. Percy wasn't particularly bothered by the smoke, but he could tell Sam was. One breath and he was on his knees, choking and gagging, tears in his eyes.
Percy pulled Sam down low, where there was more air, then yelled out "Kid, you there? Yell so we can hear you."
The "Mommy" was faint this time, from down the hall to the left, halfway to the other side of the building. Percy wondered if there was a window in the room that the kid could have jumped out of. If there was, than Percy and Sam were risking their necks for nothing.
The stink of smoke was overpowering, with a sour touch to it like curdled milk, and Percy knew it would be even worse for Sam, a mortal.
Sam crawled down the hallway on his knees, and for the sake of looking mortal, Percy did the same. The ratter hall runner below them was so normal it was creepy. An overhead lightbulb filtered pale light down through the ominous grey.
The smoke slowly swirled lower, pressing down on them, forcing Sam lower to find air.
There had to be six or seven apartments. No way to know which was the right one, the kid wasn't yelling anymore. But the apartment to their right looked like the one on fire, with smoke pouring out from beneath the door thick and fast. They only had seconds.
Sam rolled on his back and tried to kick the door open, to no avail. Percy thought he looked angry, and he had a right to be. This was supposed to be done by adults, not a 14 year old kid. Percy would probably have felt the same way, if he hadn't spent the last two years fighting monsters and going on quests. He had been surprised that Sam had been brave enough- or stupid enough, depending on your perspective- to run into a burning building. Or maybe Sam was actually a demigod in hiding... but then he remembered that Sam was far weaker than a demigod, as seen now.
Percy took a deep breath in and stood, slamming his body into the door to slam it open. The smoke in the room suddenly rushed out, and for just a second, there eas nothing but black and ash. But after that, there was a brief moment of fresh air, which he new would be good for Sam.
The kid was on the floor, just a little girl, no more than five.
Percy said to the kid "It's okay, we're here."
They mist have looked terrifying. Two big shapes covered in ash and soot. They must have looked like monsters.
Which is the only explanation for why the little girl, terrified and panicking, raised her chubby little hands and fited a blast of flame.
Flame. From her hands.
Percy ducked aside, rolling on the floor. He looked back to Sam, and luckily, the blast had just barely missed him. The flame stuck to the wall behind them, looking very much like napalm, liquid fire that stuck and burned with mad intensity.
The girl cried out in terror and raised her hands again. This time she wouldn't miss.
Percy eas ready to pull Sam out of the way, when suddenly Sam raised his own hands, and a flash of green light filled the room, bright as an exploding star.
The girl fell on her back.
Percy stood there in shock. Was Sam a demigod after all? But what demigod could do that?
Sam himself was frozen in place, a look of horror on his face. He looked to Percy, as if fearing judgment.
Percy just ran to the kid and scooped her up in his arms, then yelled to Sam "Come on, let's-"
The wall to their right suddenly fell into itself, revealing the inner structure of wooded boards. The fire was inside the wall.
A wave of heat surged over them, but to Percy it felt like nothing more than warm wind. It seemed like his demigod powers gave him resistance to heat.
Sam clearly didn't have the same defense. He held up his arms to block the heat, but it clearly hurt him, singing his hair and eyebrows. That Astrid girl had said fire didn't kill you- but Percy was pretty sure burning to death was still a thing. Especially if a maybe-demigod girl could shoot flames from her hands.
Percy looked around then called "Sam! The window!" Sam stood and slammed himself into the window, breaking it open. Unfortunately, this gave the fire a fresh surge of oxygen, and the flames surged toward the window. Percy ran to it, and there was a kid there, standing on a ladder. He handed the kid to them, then went back for Sam, who looked on the verge of passing out. He hauled Sam to the window, and the kids on the other side helped pull him out, before Percy climbed out himself.
Okay! I think this went pretty well. Please favorite and follow to know when I add new chapters, and if you haven't already, please go check out my other fanfiction, Omniverse Tales, a crossover between Ben 10 and a YouTube series called Multiverse Tales (I sound like a YouTuber promoting different videos on his channel). But either way, I hope you likes this chapter, and I'll see you next time!(seriously, am I watching so much YouTube it's affecting my behavior?)