Chapter Text
8 years old
Percy’s clothes were soaked from the constant drizzle of rain that had fallen for the last few hours. His mind was empty except for one thought, and that thought was run. He could mourn later, right now he needed to get away from the two green snake ladies that broke into their home and killed his mom. And the giant with one eye that he ran into several minutes later. And the other giant he saw half an hour later that was part bull. And the five other green snake ladies he had seen at various points during his escape. Somehow, they were following them. It was like they could smell him.
Somehow, through the ambient buzz of the rain and streets of New York City, he heard a hiss. They had found him again. The boy was beyond exhausted, but he kept moving. The only other option was death. He turned into an alley in hopes of losing his pursuers. He took another turn, just to find a dead end. The hisses were getting louder, there was no way he could go back the way he came. Percy studied the alley. The buildings on the sides were five stories tall and unscalable. The wall in front of him, though, was only three stories high with a window on the second floor. A dumpster was right below the window.
Knowing it was his only chance, Percy climbed on top of the dumpster. He glanced back and saw two snake ladies staring hungrily at him. His heartbeat rose even higher as he turned back to the window. He could reach it, but he’d have to jump. The snake ladies were only 20 feet away when Percy made the leap. His hands grabbed the window sill. Grunting with effort, he managed to pull himself up.
“Niccce try half-blood, but we can sssmell you. There wasss no chance of you essscaping,” one of them hissed. They were now right beside the dumpster and started to climb.
Percy was frozen with fear. Once they got on top of the dumpster, they would easily be able to reach him. He looked up. A gutter trailed along the edge of the roof. Percy followed it to the corner of the alley, where it then shot down to the ground below. It was his only chance. Percy balanced himself as well as he could. One snake lady reached the top of the dumpster and lunged towards him. He jumped. It should have been an impossibly long leap, but somehow Percy’s legs held the power of an Olympic athlete. Add the miraculously timed gust of wind that pushed him towards the pipe, and Percy was able to reach it.
The snake ladies hissed in rage and dropped off the dumpster, making their way towards him. Despite the metal being soaked, Percy managed to grip it well enough to shimmy upwards. Just before he reached the top, he lost his grip as the pipe beneath him was yanked downwards. He crashed to the ground. He immediately turned around, only to see the two monsters looming above him. He scooted back, only to find the corner of the alley a foot behind him. This was it. One of the snake ladies pulled out a bronze sword that seemed to dully glow in the dark.
“Any lassst words before we gut you and feast on your remains?” the one with the sword asked.
“Wh- why are you doing this to me?”
“Why? Because your kind tassste quite divine. ” then it lunged.
Percy’s senses sharpened. Time slowed. Well, more accurately, Percy’s brain sped up. Acting on instincts hardwired into his blood, Percy leaned to the side, dodging the sword. He reached out towards his attacker’s wrist and grabbed it. Suddenly, he felt energy surge through his body. When Percy’s hand caught the snake lady’s wrist, electricity shot out of his skin into hers. Her skin sizzled as she was thrown backwards into her companion, both of them falling to the ground. Percy shot to his feet and ran to the fallen monsters. The one on top convulsed violently with electricity before it stilled. Then it exploded into golden dust. The bronze sword dropped, bounced off the other monster, and hit the ground.
She jerked upwards, only to see the young demigod picking up the sword. She lunged, but the boy swung the sword, knocking her to the side as the blade left a deep gash in her left shoulder. The dracaena hissed in pain, just to be silenced by a sword through the chest. Golden dust fell to the ground.
Percy dropped the sword, sighing in relief. As quick as a lightning strike, he felt exhaustion wash over him. He dropped to his knees as he no longer had the strength to stand. It seemed that running for three hours and then summoning enough electricity to kill one of the snake ladies was the limit of the eight year old’s stamina.
Fear ran through him as he realized there were five more snake ladies and two giants that were chasing him as well. The sword had felt oddly comfortable in his hands, but he knew the only reason he managed to kill the last monster was because she was weaponless and unprepared. Another discharge of electricity of the same magnitude would probably kill him. He had no energy left to run. He was a sitting duck.
Then he remembered what one of the snake ladies had said. ‘We can sssmell you.’ He realized that his earlier musings were actually correct. Percy jerked his head towards the dumpster.
It was a disgusting idea, but he’d rather be filthy and alive than cleanish and dead. With the last of his strength he picked up the sword, walked to the dumpster, threw the sword in, and then climbed in himself. Percy hand squeezed the sword as his thoughts drifted to his mom, but he decided to leave them for the morning. He was way too exhausted to process anything at the moment.
As his eyes closed and his consciousness drifted away, he could’ve sworn he heard a voice saying, ‘Well done, son.’