Chapter Text
Even if Percy doesn’t remember anything else, he still knew how to fight.
That Percy was immensely grateful for as he just barely rolled out of the giant man’s fist smashing into the ground, leaving a large crater where he had been standing seconds ago.
The giant man was really starting to get on his nerves. He should have died minutes ago when Percy stabbed him in the gut. Or, you know, the second time Percy stabbed him in the gut. His sword wasn’t making a dent on the giant’s skin. Well, maybe the third time’s the charm.
Percy dodged another blow, leaping out of the way of another enormous punch, scrambling backwards further onto the beach. He had managed to successfully lead the giant man away from the city which had been his main goal.
Like everything these last few days, Percy had been running on pure instinct. Since he woke up a week ago in the middle of nowhere Kansas with a talking horse standing over him and had spent the previous seven days just running and fighting, then more fighting. His internal monoluge had been something like FUCK!! FUUUUUCK! WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT IS GOING ON!! Percy’s mind was totally blank, the only thing he had going for him was his gut and that hadn’t gotten him killed. Yet. And apparently this time his instinct had been to get himself killed via being squashed by a giant’s punch.
When he said giant, Percy meant it. The guy would have towered over your average building. Standing probably eleven, twelve feet with skin the color of sand that with cracks like a desert floor and the bulk to match it. His hair was a dirty color and his face, well, let’s just say it was a face only a mother could love.
The giant lunged again. He was fast, when accounting for all the extra weight he must have been carrying around. But Percy was faster.
Percy’s eyes shot around as he took in his surroundings. He needed to get closer to the water. He could feel the power of the ocean, the push and the pull of the waves. Water helped him, Percy hadn’t figured out why yet. It healed him, gave him strength. He could control it. Percy had figured that out when he fought some sort of ice bad guy (?) in Star City. Not only did the icicles he hurled through the air at him not dissolve the second before they would have pierced his skin, the water that splashed back surged through him and gave him an extra supply of energy. The power twisted in Percy, it felt good. Natural.
Percy turned it back on him, flooding the street and nearly drowning the guy. He would have, if the green guy hadn’t shown up and tried to shot him an arrow for no reason. Percy had just been defending himself. The arrow hit his shoulder, glinting off his skin and falling to the ground because why not. Percy's skin didn't cut or bruise. Nothing pierced it or slashed into it which Percy couldn't make sense of. He wasn't complaining. Impenetrable skin was at least a little advantage against all the people who were trying to kill him.
The giant made another swipe at him and Percy was knocked out of his thoughts, Percy blocked his blow with the gleaming bronze sword. His knuckles turning white around the hilt. When Percy woke up in the middle of nowhere Kansas, the only things he had in his pockets was a ballpoint pen. But when Percy uncapped, it grew into a bronze sword that fit like it had been molded for his hand. Etched along the blade was an Ancient Greek word that Percy wasn’t sure how he understood: Anaklusmos- Riptide. Reading Ancient Greek was just one thing to be added to the list of weird things Percy could do.
1. Sword fighting. (Didn’t you have to be, like, trained to do that? Percy just picked up the blade and it was like he had always had one in his hand.)
2. Super freaky water powers. (Generally pretty convenient, Percy probably would have been dead when the arrow lodged in his shoulder)
3. Unbreakable skin
4. Reading ancient greek. (other than the sword, this had yet to come in super handy)
And perhaps the weirdest one of all,
5. The ability to talk to horses.
It was the talking horse who had helped him when he was in middle of nowhere Kansas. An old tawny mare living in one of the fields had been standing over him when he came to. Her name was Blue Jeans and she had called him little prince which Percy honestly didn’t catch until later because he was more focused on the fact that a horse had been talking to him.
“You must find Diana of Themyscira. The one they call Wonder Woman.”
Wonder Woman was, apparently, a superhero, which Percy absolutely didn't know was like a real thing. But she was. A bonafide superheroine who fought crime in a bathing suit and had been doing so since the first World War. At least, that’s what he had gathered. She was a member of the Justice League, other superheroes who also fought crime in varying degrees of bathing suits. Some of them even fought space crime. The green guy that had tried to shoot him was one of them. Green Arrow. More like Green Asshole.
Another sluggish punch was thrown by the giant. Percy held his blade flat as he ducked down, skidding under his legs and rolling out on the other side. It hadn’t been working to attack the giant face on. Percy needed to find the Achilles Heel. Now behind the giant, he wrenched his sword back and thrust the blade as hard as he could, stabbing into the back of the giant’s knee. It howled, falling backwards. Percy only barely managed to get out of the way.
He fell directly into the water. His back hitting the sandy ground for less than a second before he managed to spring back up, soaking the bottom of his jeans. The ocean started to rise up and down, mirroring his rapid breathing as it coiled up around his legs.
The push and pull of the ocean was a comfort to him, Percy crouched, lowering further into a fighting stance. There was the faint feeling that he was finally on home turf. The giant would soon be playing in Percy’s arena.
It roared again, taking another, now staggering step towards Percy.
That was when Percy spied a girl on the horizon. Dressed in green and knocking an arrow into a truly fearsome looking military tactical bow. Green Asshole had been a dude but Percy seriously wasn’t about to take any chances. An enemy was an enemy.
The girl wasn’t aiming at him. The arrow landed in the giant’s back and an fiery explosion blasted out from behind the giant’s shoulder. “Hey!” He shouted.
“Move!” The girl called out.
He didn’t need to be told twice. Percy kept his sword up as he veered out of the way just as a boy launched up from behind the giant’s back, literally pummeling him with his bare fists. With a roar, the giant turned back to face his attacker but the boy held on steadfast to the guy’s back as the giant tried to buck him off as he aimed another punch at the guy’s face.
Percy doubted the effectiveness of that strategy as a blur of yellow dashed past him, running circles around giant and trying to box it in.
“What the-'' A chill ran through Percy as the water stilled around him. Somebody was next to him. A boy with dark skin and bleach blonde hair, drawing two glowing swords from the back of his red and black wetsuit. He also launched himself at the giant, attacking it from the front.
The giant’s back was to Percy now. The girl’s arrow had ripped open the giant’s back. His armor was his skin and every crack was a weakness, that’s why the knee had hurt him and his sword had only glinted off the gut.
Percy jumped, calling forth the water. It rose up, forming a wave that carried his feet higher, further onto the beach, Percy launched and slashed twice into the crack in the giant’s impenetrable back. It cried out again, stumbling back.
A girl who had been previously floating in the air seized the moment of vulnerability to throw a hand up, launching the giant several feet in the air. His skin armor shattered on impact.
Leaving a normal, if enormous man knocked out cold in the sand that the flying girl landed beside, she had green skin. Percy noted. Which was really nothing compared to the fact that she had been flying moments ago and had knocked a guy across a beach without touching him.
The yellow blur came to a stop in front of him, revealing himself to be a very normal looking red headed teenager in a yellow suit with a red lightning bolt at the chest. The coloring reminded Percy of a fast food restaurant. Gods, he was hungry. He hadn’t eaten in a day, at least. The suit went straight from a cowl that covered the upper half of his face and led his red hair to flop out down to his feet in some sort of built in boots. It was technically a onesie.
“Who are you supposed to be?” A caped kid asked as he appeared at Percy’s right, keeping careful distance. He looked younger than the others but Percy knew a fighter when he saw one.
“More importantly, what are you?” The dark haired boy who had been trying to punch the giant into submission, demanded.
He wasn’t wearing a suit like the others, just a dark t-shirt and cargo pants. With a start, Percy recognized the S symbol on the dark haired boy’s shirt. That was the same symbol as the one on the chest of the guy who Diana of Themyscira was always standing next to. Superman. He frowned.
“You’re the Justice League?” Percy narrowed his eyes, scoffing. "Camera must add fifteen years."
,
“My teammate’s questions stand.” The boy with the glowing swords from before spoke, his weapons were gone now. Their leader, Percy figured.
His eyes swept over the group, as he kept the blade taut at his side. There were six of them. The onesie guy, the green girl, the girl with the arrows, guy with glowing swords, the caped kid and possibly Superman.
The ocean stirred once again. Home turf, he reminded himself. There was an inherent safety Percy felt, even surrounded by enemies. The water churned at his feet, swirling further. He could dive in- the thought poked at his brain. He could dive in and hide in the sea and no one would be able to find him ever. But that wouldn’t really help him with his main goal.
“My name’s Percy Jackson. I need to talk to Diana of Themyscira,” Would they even know her by that name? In everything Percy had seen, she was referred to as Wonder Woman. “Wonder Woman, I think she’s supposed to be one of you.”
“Yeah,” The red headed boy said, “Nice try. You don’t just show up here, destroy a few city streets and demand to talk to one of the founding members of the Justice League.”
“It is certainly one way to get an audience.” A woman’s voice spoke as she descended from the clouds above. She looked like a goddess, standing a few inches taller than Percy. She was a striking woman with a long, narrow face and steely blue eyes. Her hair was long inky black running down her back, pulled away from her tan face with a silver circlet. The sun above cast her face in a halo.
Glowing sword boy's head jerked up. "Wonder Woman." He exclaimed.
“I’ve been expecting you, Perseus Jackson.”
“You’re Diana?” He asked. How did she know his name? He must have known her from before last week. Maybe they were even friends. Percy could only hope they weren't enemies. She radiated power and Percy was not eager to take that. A giant with a brain the size of a golf ball was one thing, against an experienced and intelligent warrior, flocked by... well, Percy didn't know how experienced or intelligent the others were, but they armed and some of them were clearly powered. Percy's exhaustion and empty stomach didn't bode well for him.
On reflex, he straightened. Percy knew he must have looked insane. He was filthy, the dirt and grime on his clothes the same as a week ago. It’s hard to reason spending cash on a laundromat when that same money could go to making sure his stomach wasn’t attacking him with hunger pains for another half day, he had just been washing his clothes in streams and water foundations, where ever he could find. To top it off, Percy was exhausted. He had running on half an hour of sleep and a thing of vending machine gummies he ate forty eight hours ago. Yeah, Percy looked like a madman. She fixed her intense gaze on him for a moment, scrutinizing his features before she glanced back at the others.
"I am."
Percy’s sword hand faltered, lowering only slightly.
“If you’ll give us a moment please.” She said, in a calm but commanding voice. "The beserker must be dealt with still."
The assorted mix of teenagers and kid in colorful costumes didn’t protest Diana’s orders and all slunk away with minimal grumbling to deal with the corpse of the giant. Percy didn't know exactly what the green girl's powers had done but he was not clear on whether that guy was still breathing. Did the Justice League kill people? For Percy's sake he hoped not.
“Sorry, my memory's pretty fuzzy, it's gone actually.” Percy blinked as they left. “Just checking, do we know each other right?”
“We do not.” Diana tilted her head to the side. “But I was told you would be coming.”
“By a talking horse?” Percy blurted, uncertainty was knotted tightly in his chest, refusing to allow him to lower his sword fully.
At that Diana’s face showed the same confusion Percy was feeling, gazing at him quizzically. “No. There was a prophecy.”
Something about the word made Percy’s blood go cold.
“You fight like a Greek, Perseus Jackson.” Diana said after a minute of contemplation. “Who trained you?”
“No clue?” Percy muttered. “Like I said, memory’s wiped.” Logically, Percy knew he probably had been trained. People don’t just pick up swords and do what he could. Except that's exactly what had happened.
“It’s something I have not seen for many years. Many, many years.”
“A friend gave me your name, she said you could help.” Percy's shoulders wanted to relax. He didn't think this lady was an enemy. Didn't want to think that in a couple minutes he would have to be fighting again. He wanted it all to be over. Wanted to go home. Wherever that was. He resisted the urge.
“This friend was a talking horse?” Diana’s voice wasn’t cold but it wasn’t warm either, both of her eyebrows were raising as she waited for clarification.
“Yeah.” Percy felt a sudden surge of protectiveness for Blue Jeans.
“Help you with what?”
Percy’s chest fell as his expression went slack with disappointment. “I was kind of hoping you knew.”
“If you do not mind, Perseus Jackson.” She held out a piece of golden rope from her belt, that glowed just like his sword did. Percy only blinked at her. Did she want him restrained? Because that was not happening. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. "What?"
“It is my lasso of truth. It shall simply determine the validity of your words.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then we will have no issue.”
"If I lie, will I, like, explode?"
"The lasso will compel the truth out of you. It shouldn't have any physical consequences." Diana's brow quirked in what, if Percy didn't know better, he might have thought was amusement.
"Is a polygraph an option?"
"This is simpler." She asserted.
Suppressing a scowl, Percy reached out for the lasso.
“What’s your name?”
The lasso forced the words out of him before he could even think it through. “Percy Jackson.”
“And what is your business here?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I was told to seek you out by a talking horse named Blue Jeans. I don’t remember anything from a week ago.”
The rest of the story followed out, as the golden rope tightened around his hand. The way he had just woken up in the middle of a field, the horse guiding him. He described his past week, running from place to place, fighting things because they were attacking other people and Percy didn’t know why but he couldn’t let that happen. He told her about the guy who had shot him and the way the water had healed him.
Diana watched him with curiosity. "The prophecy foretold of a son of Poseidon. Is that you?"
The sea god? Percy couldn’t say the thought was any weirder than everything else.
“I don’t know,” He admitted as the words kept spilling out. “I can’t remember my father. Or if I have one.” Percy knew he had a mother. Or had had one at some point because he missed her. When he saw a mom and a little boy walking down the street, he knew that at one point, he had experienced that even if he couldn’t put a face or a name to the feeling. Nothing stirred in him when he thought of his dad. Was it this sea guy? It would make sense, with Percy’s water powers. If his dad was some kind of god, he could probably help Percy, help him get home or remember at least. The only thing he could remember clearly was the name of the girl that floated around his brain, -Annabeth- He really had to figure out who she was.
“The ocean responds to you.” Diana observed. “I would make an educated guess that you are the same as me.”
Percy released his grasp on the lasso. “What do you mean?”
“A demigod.”
“A demi-what?”