Chapter Text
It was a less than normal evening when a young man fell from the ceiling of Sally Jackson’s rented cabin in Montauk, a glittering white blade clutched in his hands. The blade was deep in his abdomen. Liquid gold and crimson poured from the wound. Naturally, Sally Jackson screamed.
Quickly, she regained her composure and rushed to the man’s aid. Seeing his face up close, she realised that he was barely a man. A teenager was bleeding out on her floor. Her hands fluttered around the blade, applying pressure to the puncture. She didn’t dare try to move the sword. The bleeding was sluggish at best. It was all red now. Blood on her clothes, her carpet. Her hands were coated in it. Sally's breaths were short and fast, she could only hope that it wasn't as bad as it looked. And it looked very bad.
“Mom?” Percy appeared in the doorway, eyes wide and panicked. “What's happening? Who is that?”
“Percy, call an ambulance!” When he didn’t move, she snapped, “Now!”
The teenager- dying teenager- on the floor groaned, stirring. Sally did her best to hush him. The sword had pierced his Grecian armour.
Then, he shot upright. Lightning-coloured blue eyes wild. She flinched back. The boy grasped the handle of the sword and ripped it from his body in a harsh motion.
“No!” she cried out in protest.
The teenager was already stumbling to his feet, brandishing his white-gold-red sword. “Who are you?” he demanded, voice rough.
Sally hesitated at the sound of it. Its cadence… No. “My name is Sally. You’re safe here, I promise. There’s an ambulance on the way-”
“No. You’re not,” he said. The sword crackled dangerously. Sparks darted across the diamond-like surface, lighting up the glint of green in it. His voice cracked as he spoke. “Sally Jackson has been dead for two years. You can’t trick me, Hecate.”
Her breath hitched. Hecate? This was a Greek demigod- or perhaps even a god, she could feel the power radiating off of him. “I’m not dead, as you can see. And I’m not acquainted with Hecate.”
The teenager stepped closer, sword held defensively in front of his body. “How did I get here? Where am I? I was…” Wildly, he looked around the cabin, shaggy black hair falling over his dirty face. “Is this Montauk?”
“Hey! Stay away from my mom, you rat bastard!” Percy yelled, storming into the room with a kitchen knife in one hand and the landline in the other.
“Your… Mom?” Slowly, the sword was lowered. “That’s not possible… I don’t understand- What- What kind of trick is this?”
“There is no trick,” Sally said placatingly, trying to ply the knife out of Percy’s hands and get him out of the room without turning her back to the volatile teen. “Why don’t you sit down and wait for the ambulance. You just pulled that,” she nodded to the sword, “out of your stomach.”
The young man blinked, the inhuman glow in his startling blue eyes retreating. He dragged a hand over the armour covering the wound. Furrowed his brows. Then, unflinchingly, he poked it.
“Mom, the storm is causing too much interference, I can’t get through to anybody,” Percy whispered.
“I’m… fine.” The teen sounded just as surprised as Sally was.
She heard her own voice as if underwater. “That’s the shock. Please sit down.”
Instead, he tore the armour off his torso and pulled the ripped burnt orange t-shirt up. Once, the t-shirt might’ve had a design on it. Now it was so faded and ratty Sally was surprised it was still together. His wound and abdomen were another story. The teen was covered in scars and bruises in various stages of healing. Whatever muscle might’ve been present, it was overshadowed by the stark lines of his ribs. Her eyes found the stab wound in the mess of blood– red and gold. Why was it red and gold? It wasn’t bleeding. Like an old papercut, it was just split skin. Concerningly deep– through his body– but it now appeared harmless.
“What the fuck?” he muttered while Percy yelped, “the hell? You were bleeding out a minute ago!”
“Language,” Sally said, automatically correcting the familiar voice.
Once again, the teen only blinked. Then he said, “Huh. If this is a trick, it’s a bad one.”
Slowly, Sally put the knife that she wrestled out of Percy’s hands in the pocket of her hoodie. “No tricks. Why don’t you tell me how you got here?”
The teen shook his head, black waves flying. He sat on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Then he began rocking himself forwards and backwards.
“Is there someone we can call…?”
He snorted. “No.”
“Alright.” Sally bit her lip. “How about your name? Where did you come from?”
Electric blue eyes looked up searchingly from behind a curtain of hair exactly like her son’s, darting between her and Percy. “My name is Perseus. Perseus Jackson… And I don’t think I’m from this world.”
It was then that Sally realised what she had been struggling to put her finger on. Under the grime, the newcomer calling himself Perseus had the same bone structure as her son. Sure, it was less baby fat and more sharp lines, but the nose was the same. The same set of cheekbones. Identical lips and teeth with pointed canines. Percy had inherited many of Poseidon's features, but the similarities were there. Their eyes- different colors- and hair- the older one had loose waves instead of curls and it was few shades darker, with a striking streak of grey- were what set them apart the most. The teen in front of her was much paler than her son, too. Nevertheless, she believed him, somehow.
“You're me? No way, you're old. Wait- is this like… time travel? Am I going to explode because we're in the same place?”
“Percy…” Sally whispered in her daze.
“No one calls me that anymore,” he croaked. “And I don't think you'll explode, kid.”
“If you're not from this world, what world are you from?” she asked cautiously.
“One I wouldn't recommend for vacation. It sucks over there- terrible weather, for one. On the other hand, New York rent is at an all time low. Like, free-for-all low.” Perseus smiled grimly and snorted at his joke, then sobered. “I'm from a world that's ending… and I think it's my fault,” he confessed, barely audible, tears brimming in his eyes.
Sally checked to see if Percy heard the extra detail, but her son wore that confused look of having missed something. Before she could reassure Perseus that the fate of the world didn't rest on him, there was a pounding at the door.
They all snapped to attention. Perseus snatched up his sword with some battle-honed instinct and leapt to his feet, crouching defensively in front of Sally and Percy.
“Ms. Jackson? It's me, Grover!”
“Wha- what's he doing here? I don’t want to see him!” Percy complained.
Perseus whipped around and snapped, “You don’t know what you're talking about.”
Sally put a hand on Percy’s shoulder to stop him from arguing with the pissed off older version of himself.
“This is time sensitive! I’ve been searching all night, can somebody open the door?” Grover yelled over the sound of the storm outside.
She pushed past Perseus, and he made no move to stop her from letting Percy’s friend in. “Percy, did you forget to mention something about what happened at school?” she demanded.
He stuttered out something about his pre-algebra teacher turning into a bat. Perseus and Sally both squinted dubiously at the explanation.
Then, Perseus swore. “It’s a Fury. Alecto, probably. The other two target infidelity and murder.”
“No, her name was Mrs. Dodds,” Percy corrected. “Dude, do you have a head wound too?”
“It’s right behind me, we have to leave. Now.” Grover’s stressed pacing halted long enough to take in Perseus’ appearance. “I’m sorry- who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Perseus said quickly, then raised his sword. His face was still unhealthily pale, grey and sickly. “If there’s a Kindly One coming after us, I’ll deal with her.”
“It’s not a Kindly One.” Grover wrung his hands. “It’s worse. Ms. Jackson, we need to go.”
Sally nodded and ushered her son- sons?- out of the door, grabbing her car keys. Rain poured from the sky, immediately soaking through her clothes. She let the oldest take the passenger seat while Percy, who was protesting and yelling questions at Grover, and Grover, who attempted to explain his presence, cloven hooves and what was going on all at once, clambered into the back.
“What’s going on?” Percy demanded loudly while Sally pressed down on the gas pedal.
“Well, the important thing is not to panic. So, Mrs. Dodds wasn’t human- she was a monster-”
“So there was a Mrs. Dodds! Mom, Grover tried to tell me I was hallucinating her!”
Sally hummed distractedly, razor-focused on the road ahead as the windshield wipers furiously worked to keep the rain from blocking her view.
“The less you knew about our world, the better! When you know about them, they come for you. Now we’re being chased by bloodthirsty monsters, so you kind of have to know about it,” Grover explained, panicked.
“What the hell is going on? Monsters? Who are you? ” Percy yelled.
Perseus groaned suddenly and twisted in his seat. “You know Greek myths? Those are real. You’re a demigod- shut up, stop screaming. I’m serious, kid. You’re a demigod, your dad is a Greek god, monsters are after you, Mrs. Dodds works for the god of the dead. You can see through the Mist, which was the veil that separated the mortal world from ours. Grover was- is your best friend and he’s meant to be protecting you until you could be moved somewhere safe. There!”
Sally caught the mistaken tenses, her eyes darting to him in the mirror.
He threw up his hands and spun back to face the front. “Situation explained!”
For a moment, the car was silent. Then, a strangled voice asked, “Grover, why do you have half a goat in your pants?”
“I’m a satyr… Uh, you know the Mythomagic cards? Until proven otherwise, I’d suggest you treat them as accurate.”
“Mythomagic?” Percy repeated shrilly. “You’re kidding, right? Wait, Mom, why aren't you surprised? Did you know about all this shit?”
“Language. Yes, I did. I was going to tell you when the time was right… but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.” She swerved left at the sign about strawberry fields. A roar echoed from behind them and Sally checked her mirrors, but could only see a dark shape.
“Minotaur,” Perseus warned, looking back. He rolled down the window and unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’ll handle it.”
By the time Sally registered what he was doing, he was halfway out the window. “What are you doing? Stay in the car!”
She was ignored. Thuds of a sword on her roof. Perseus was no longer in the car. Her hair stood on end. The sky lit up. Blinding white. For a second, her vision went black. It returned and she swung the careening car back onto the road milliseconds before they had a rollover crash. Zeus. He must’ve sent lightning. How it hadn’t blown the car to pieces, she didn’t know.
Percy was screaming in the back. The ringing in her ears retreated. “-He fell! Mom!-”
No. Please, no. She checked over her shoulder for a sign of the teen. There was none.
The roar was closer now. Sally wished she could go back. But Percy was the son she raised. As soon as Percy was safe at camp, she would be able to search for Perseus.
The minotaur was upon them. It slammed against the side of the car. Hard. Wheels screeched as they were knocked off the road. The car barreled through foliage. The impact of the front against a tree. An airbag hit her chest, but she shoved it away and frantically yelled for Percy and Grover to get out of the car. Sally rushed to do the same.
Grover did his best to keep them on their feet, but he swayed dangerously. In a worse state than Percy. Her breath hitched and she pulled the boys upright.
“That’s the boundary,” she pointed to the top of the hill, where a pine tree was intermittently lit up by lightning. “Get over the hill, find the big house and yell for help. Don’t look back.”
“Mom? What are you talking about? You’re coming too.”
Her voice shook, “I can’t cross the property line.” Sally spun to Grover. “Protect him. Keep him safe from anyone who would harm him.”
Grover stuttered.
“Grover! Swear it!”
“I swear,” he said, wide-eyed but unwavering.
Percy grabbed her forearm. “Mom, I’m not leaving you! Come on!” He tried to pull her further up the hill. “Please,” he begged.
The minotaur drew closer, sniffing the ground. The monster relied on its sense of smell. Between the trees, she saw its hulking figure pick up her car and throw it. Fire lit up the night as the engine exploded.
“When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then dodge,” she instructed as quickly as she could... in case she couldn't buy them enough time. All she could do now was to teach her son to survive when she wan't there anymore. “He can’t change directions well once he’s charging.” Deep breath. “Give me your coat, Percy.”
“What? Why?” He was already taking the coat off.
Sally snatched it from his hands and pulled him into a hug. “Hold fast, brave the storm,” she whispered in his ear, “I love you. It’ll be okay.” Then she pushed him, “Run, now.”
Percy stumbled away and with the help of Grover, they sped up.
“It’ll be okay,” she told herself quietly. There was nobody with her to witness the lie.
She did the best she could against the minotaur, distracting it from her son with its coat for as long as possible. Percy would be safe within the barrier soon. Her body was being crushed in the minotaur’s powerful grip. Ribs creaked painfully under the strain. She looked to Percy, prayed to the gods that he would be okay and hoped that he would never lose his kindness- wouldn't bend to fit the whims of the gods. One last time. Then there was nothing.