Chapter Text
“Percy, give me your coat.” My mother whispered, “And don’t look back, okay?”
I removed my coat and was about to hand it to her. I didn’t know why, but I hesitated to give it to her.
“Mom…” I was about to ask a question I knew the answer to. Just then, I heard a low roar from a distance.
Mom and I’s gaze directly went to where it came from. Despite the rain, I can make out a towering figure with horns. It roared again. This time before I could stop her, Mom snatched my coat from my hands and sprinted. She sprinted away from me. Heading in the direction of the towering figure. Realization hit me.
“Mom! No!” I tried to run after her and felt a hand firmly wrapped around my wrist.
“Percy… We have to go now.” I turned to see it was Grover, his face in pain and fear.
He tried to drag me away in the direction of a lone pine tree. But before he could drag me any further, I pushed him away and went after my mom. I ran as fast as I could. Grover was shouting my name. But I ignored him. I had to get to Mom. The wind and rain roared against my ears. Mud spattered on my clothes as the rain poured heavily. But I was close to her.
Just a little more .
By the time I was just a throw away from her, I noticed she was keeping the creature busy by waving my coat above her head. I noticed the creature was charging towards her and I called out to her. I wish I hadn’t. She looked at where I was standing as she heard my voice, she had a horrified look on her face when she saw me. Then the creature charged at her. It was far too close to her before she could evade it.
She went flying and then her body crashed into one of the trees behind her. There was a loud thud.
I froze and wished those were not the sound of her bones breaking.
Then the creature’s beady eyes turned to me. I heard it huff. It was also the first time I had a good look on its face. It was that of a bull. If bulls had a murderous intent in their eyes and horns with their tips covered with something metallic. I stared at its face and then my mother’s motionless body at the roots of a tree where she crashed into. Then the creature charged towards me. Out of instinct, I uncapped the ballpoint I had in my pocket. In an instant, it transformed into a sword. As the monster headed towards me, rage filled me and I matched the creature’s ferocity. The second I was close enough, I drove my blade straight to its stomach. Suddenly, I was covered in golden dust and a horn landed in between my feet.
That was it? I stared blankly at the horn, The monster’s just gone?
Then I tensed up.
Mom.
I looked over to where her unmoving body was and rushed over to her. I hoped she wasn’t what I think she was…
Please survive. Please survive. Please… If the gods are really out there. Please. Don’t take her. Not yet. Please. Please. Please. Please . Dad… Please.
As I was beside her, I noticed she was lying face down. I then knelt by her. And that’s when I noticed her spine contorted to one side, more than it should have. My blood ran cold as I noticed. Still, I tried to shake her, hoping she’d wake up.
She’s just knocked out. She’s just knocked out. She could still be alive, just with a permanent injury. Mom said my father is always watching us… That he’ll ensure he’ll keep us safe… She’s not dead. She’s not dead. Dad won’t let it happen, right? It was his monster. He wouldn’t let her die. Surely she’s not–
“Mom? Please… Don’t leave me yet. Mom. The monster’s gone. It’s gone now. Please wake up.” I repeated it over and over as I shook her. But I made the mistake of turning her over. Her eyes were blank and open. There was blood leaking at the side of her mouth.
No… No. It’s just blood…. It’s just blood… Her pulse... Her pulse!
I checked her pulse. There wasn’t any.
Maybe I just didn’t check it correctly… I just checked incorrectly… Was it the right wrist or the left? I can’t remember. Where exactly on the wrist? Yes, yes. I just checked wrong. She’s still alive. She has to be… Her breathing! Her breathing! Heartbeat?
I placed my ear on her chest, checking for any breathing or heartbeat… Again, there wasn’t any.
I’m just shaken. Shaken up after everything. Of course, I won’t be able to check it properly. I didn’t check it properly. I can’t check it properly. She’s still alive. Mom’s strong, she wouldn’t leave me like this… She’ll fight through it… She’ll…
I didn’t move. I noticed her neck… It didn’t look right… And I just stayed there, staring at my mother’s lifeless body.
She’s gone… She’s really gone. And it’s all my fault.
My mind was racing. Coming up with excuses that disprove what just happened.
“There he is!” Grover’s pierced through my thoughts. I turned to where it came from and saw him. Then turned to my mother, again.
She’s gone… And there is no denying it anymore.
Two figures were accompanying him, one of them appeared to be riding a horse while the other was shorter and looked more human. All three approached me. The horserider was Mr. Brunner… Only, he wasn’t riding a horse, his lower body was a horse. The other one accompanying them was a toned boy with a thick, deep pale scar that ran from the bottom of his eye down to his chin. The eye on the side of his face with the scar was pale, blinded.
I stared at the three of them.
“Didn’t you say Pasiphaë’s son was after you?” The boy said as he looked at a distance, “Then where is it?”
“He was here! B-But… It’s gone… It’s gone now.” Grover replied defensively.
“That’s enough, both of you.” Mr. Brunner said then turned to me, “Percy… What happened?”
I didn’t say a word.
What was I supposed to say? ‘I killed the minotaur’?, ‘It’s my fault my mom died’?
Mr. Brunner seemed to understand my silence as he didn’t push for an answer. Then his eyes drifted to my mother. Grover noticed this and followed his gaze and gasped. The boy noticed too and hung his head low.
“Percy… I’m so sorry.” Grover said to me, “M-Maybe she can still be saved? Chiron?”
Chiron?
Grover turned to Mr. Brunner/Chiron with a hopeful look. But the latter’s face was grim.
“She’s gone.” I said indignantly, “Can’t you see she’s dead? And she’s dead because of me! She’s dead because she tried to keep me safe! Wait… Weren’t you meant as my protector? But you can’t even keep me safe, so she had to do it herself! And look where it got her! She’s gone! My mother’s gone and it’s because of y–”
“Don’t just say that to Grover.” The boy interrupted, “He did as much as he could.”
“Percy. I know you’re hurt.” Mr. Brunner offered, “But we need to go to camp, now. Who knows what other monsters are after you–”
“Then I’ll just face them.” I spat out.
The boy, Luke, laughed, “You do not know what you’re talking about. You’re lucky to be even alive after this encounter. You don’t know if you’ll be lucky next time.”
“I don’t care.”
“Look… It’s not safe out here. Just come with us.”
“No.”
“Percy.” Mr. Brunner/Chiron said to me softly, “Do not let Sally Jackson’s sacrifice be in vain.”
I gritted my teeth as he uttered my mother’s name. But before I could say anything, I noticed a faint sea-green glow illuminating Mr. Brunner/Chiron’s face. The same glow surrounded me too.
Grover looked troubled and Luke simply stared at me but I caught a hint of unknown intentions in his eyes. It looked like he was plotting something. But Mr. Brunner/Chiron’s eyes pointed above my head. I followed his gaze and saw a glowing green fork but with only three prongs.
“What is this?” I turned to the three of them, “Why is there a fork above my head?”
Luke and Grover both bowed and then knelt before me. While Mr. Brunner/Chiron bowed his head.
“Earthshaker. Stormbringer. Master of perilous waves. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. Lord of the seas.” Mr. Brunner/Chiron praised.
And I bolted. I managed to get enough distance from them. But was suddenly pushed down to the muddy ground by something heavy. I turned around to see it was Luke, hugging my legs. Instinctively, I kicked his face.
“Ow! Hey!” I managed to kick myself free from him and managed to run a bit more. But Luke managed to catch up to me again. This went on over and over again. But by this point, I didn’t bother running away anymore when Luke caught up to me. I was tired and cold, my legs were sore and my clothes were covered in mud and rain.
“Fine, you win, you caught me,” I said between breaths.
Luke panted, “Look, I know how you feel. You feel like running away would solve everything. That it’s the only way… But it isn’t. Especially with who your godly parent is.”
“What do you know.”
“I ran away too. Heck, I was much younger than you. Believe me, it wasn’t easy and I’m not one of the Big Three’s kids. Camp will be the only place that’s safe for you. It will be your new home.”
“You don’t know how I feel. I just lost my mom and you think some camp is going make the pain go away.”
“I do. I lost my mother too. The pain didn’t go away but it lessened it.” He stretched out his hand to me, “I’ll make sure of it. Deal?”
I stared at his hand and then at Luke.
“Deal. Promise?”
“I swear on the River Styx.” Thunder roared.
“What was that? And what’s river sticks ?”
“It’s Styx . It’s one of the rivers in the Underworld. Demigods, gods, and anyone in our world swear upon it when they make a promise they intend to never ever break.”
“What happens if you break it?”
“Consequences. Dire enough it even scares the Olympians themselves.”
⚡
We headed back to where Mr. Brunner/Chiron, Grover, and… Mom were. I saw that Grover and Mr. Brunner/Chiron were in deep conversation but noticed Luke and I approached them.
“Where’s my mom?” I asked, noticing she was no longer where I had left her.
“Percy!” Grover exclaimed as he approached me, but I took a step back. He looked disappointed as I did so but respected my space.
I turned to Chiron. As I did, I remembered Luke’s brief explanation to me on the way back that “Mr. Brunner” was just Chiron’s alias in the mortal world when he was observing me.
Chiron stroked the tip of his beard and replied, “Campers of Cabin 7 are preparing a burial shroud for her. I believe it is appropriate for her to have a hero’s burial… After… In any case, it will be done so if it is alright with you, Percy.”
“Cabin 7?”
“That’s where the children of Apollo, the god of music and healing, reside.” Luke explained but I stared at him dumbfoundedly, “You’ll see. I’ll show you around camp tomorrow morning.”
“Shouldn’t the children of the death god be the ones handling burials?”
“Ah, if it’s the Death you’re talking about then no. As far as we know there aren’t any children of his. Maybe there are but aren’t claimed. But if it’s…” Luke tapped his foot on the ground, “The god below us, then, also no. But the reason for it is for another time. Maybe one of these days–”
“Luke.” Chiron warned.
“Okay, okay. Anyway, burial shrouds involve the body being burned… Are you okay with that?” Luke asked.
I thought about it for a moment, “Sure. Can the shroud be blue?”
“I will inform Cabin 7 regarding it,” Chiron replied.
“Thank you.”
“So… What are we waiting for? It’s late and cold. Let’s head back to camp.” Luke said.