A New Olympian

Chapter Eighteen

"Fuck! God fucking damnit!" Percy yelled as he reappeared in a dimly lit alleyway. He normally didn't let his anger take control of him like this but he couldn't handle it anymore after all the events that had unfolded today. Tears fueled by anger streamed down his face as he kicked a trash can. How could she do this!? How could she destroy their home and kill her own family. After everything they've been through together! "Fuck! You fucking bitch!" He yelled out, his voice echoing throughout the alleyway. Percy plopped down on the cold, gravel ground as he continued to let out his emotions. Then she had the audacity to let Luke waltz into camp with a legion of monsters. Luke! Of all people! He spat on the ground as the thought of Annabeth and Luke together was like poison in his mouth. When Luke was dying at his feet back in the war, Percy had thought he had learned his lesson. That Kronos didn't want peace, only war. And now Luke had fallen to the same empty promises again. This time it was a bigger threat than Kronos that was whispering into Luke's ear. And Annabeth's.

Percy bitterly laughed as he slammed his fist against the wall behind him. "You must love this." He said to the Fates who he knew were watching. They were always watching him. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to screw up his life even more. And that opportunity seemed to be presenting itself as Percy began to recognize his surroundings. He knew this alleyway..It was the one beside his apartment building. Where Sally and Paul live.

"Oh God no. Please no." Percy whispered as he cradled his head. He remembered what Annabeth told him at the beach. What she did to his parents. He hadn't had time to process his parents being killed. He had been in Tartarus or dealing with a crazy ex girlfriend. But now that he was alone and back in the mortal world he had all the time in the world. "No No No." Percy kept muttering to himself even as he walked inside the apartment building. He got a couple strange looks from other people that lived in the building but he didn't care. After a slow walk up the building stairs he had finally arrived on his floor. Percy couldn't help but feel like his was in the shining. Specifically in the hallway scene. He slowly and shakily walked to his apartment door and put his hand on the doorknob. He groaned as images flashed through his mind. He remembered the vision he had while down in Tartarus. His parents being tied to chairs, bloodied and beaten. Screaming at their torturer.

Resolving what little will power he had left, Percy slowly opened the door but almost immediately closed it. He coughed violently as his eyes watered. The stench of rotten flesh filled the air as Percy put a hand to his mouth. This wasn't the first time he has smelled dead bodies and Tartarus practically reeked of it but it's different somehow when it's your dead family emitting those stenches.

"Come on man. Mom's in there." Percy furiously muttered to himself. With that saddening thought, he took a deep breath and pushed on through into the apartment. Immediately as he entered Percy saw signs of a struggle. Furniture was flipped, glass and plates were shattered, and even some of the walls had holes in them.

"Mom and Paul wouldn't go out without a fight." He sadly thought. As he rounded the corner into the kitchen he immediately reared back in disgust. He coughed profusely as his eyes watered. The smell that emitted from the kitchen was easily one of the worst things he ever smelled. The only thing that topped this was the air of Tartarus. Percy stood back up with his face scrunched in disgust. He knew what that smell was. Rotten flesh. He had smelt it plenty of times in the past two wars when the bodies of his friends littered the streets for days. With sheer will power, Percy made himself walk into the kitchen where the vision had taken place.

Immediately, Percy sunk to his knees as the picture of his parents tied to their chairs, bloodied, beaten, maggots crawling over their rotten flesh, seared itself into his mind. He knew he'll never be able to unsee this. Both Mom and Paul's faces or what's left of it, seemed to be frozen in a silent scream. Percy wondered what Annabeth felt as she slowly killed the people that once loved her and treated her like family. He wondered what mom felt as she was tortured to death by the daughter she never got to have. He felt hot tears roll down his face as he stared emptily at the bodies. Percy realized he now had nothing left. No family, no friends, not even Rex was here to help him. They were all dead Because of me he thought to himself.