Song: Coming Home pt. 2 by Skylar Grey

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Percy's POV

Being a demigod actually completely sucks.

I mean, I can't even go to McDonald's without dying, apparently.

You're all thinking, No duh, Percy. We thought we'd already established this fact.

Me: But mother of Merlin, no. We haven't. This time it's different.

You: Well, wise one. Enlighten us.

See, it's been three years since we defeated Her Majesty the Great Dirt Face, and I guess I wasn't exactly expecting to be suddenly attacked by a super weird monster I'd never even heard of before. And I don't think Jason was expecting anything like that, either.

Big mistake. Big, bad mistake.

The summer sun was baking the parking lot of the McDonald's when the two of us exited, and Jason's hair caught the light and flashed it right into my eyes. And that was the first sucky event in a long line of sucky events that were to come.

"Dude!" I leapt back, my hands springing up to my eyes. "Wear a hat or something!"

Jason wasn't looking at me, though.

His eyes were trained intently on something behind me; and taken from a demigod, that is not a good sign.

See, you're supposed to whip around with your weapon immediately drawn. But, I'm not a son of Athena, so I didn't exactly get the memo.

My eyes widened as Jason pulled his sword from his belt.

"Duck!" He shouted just as it whipped over my head. I rolled onto the blistering pavement as he ran to retrieve his sword.

It was lodged into the furry foot of some weird looking creature. With a jolt, I realized it was a dracaenae foot.

It took less than a second for me to uncap Riptide. I wasn't exactly fond of that species.

The creature glanced quizzically down at the sword in its foot, and then back up at us. A growling noise reverberated around the parking lot. With a toss of its head, the creature lifted its foreleg and shook Jason's sword from its foot. The metal clanged onto the pavement in an echoey manner.

"What the Hades is that?" I looked to Jason, and saw my own confusion mirrored on his face. I'd never seen a dracaenae like this before, which is saying a lot.

At that moment the door swung open behind us with a creak, and a woman with a small girl stepped out of the McDonald's. The little girl gestured across the parking lot at our Mystery Monster and cried out in a delighted voice, "Look, Mommy! It's a bunny!"

"Yes, that's nice, dear. Come along now."

Oh, Hades. So it really was a monster.

"It's a monster," Jason said redundantly.

I sighed. "Honesty bro, I don't think throwing your sword at it was all that smart."

Jason's reply was cut off as the monster lunged at us across the sectioned concrete.

I stepped forward, brandishing Riptide, and blocked the swing of Mystery Monster's paw-like foot. Jason dodged around it as I feinted and blocked another paw swing. During which, he snatched up his sword and lunged at the ugly Mystery Monster from behind.

Jason smiled in satisfaction as the blade cut a successful gash through the back of the beast.

The dracaenae hissed in pain, whirled around, and hit Jason square in the chest; sending him flying into a nearby car.

I winced. What do us demigods have to do to get a break around here?

I tightened my grip on Riptide, and slowly circled the She- it- whatever. That dracaenae was hideous.

Turns out that She-thing has a name.

"How dare you!" It screeched at the very dazed Jason. "Do you know who I am, foolish boy?"

Poor Jason could barely get to his feet. Well, at least he wasn't that car.

Blonde Superman snorted.

The monster took that as a no.

"I am the magnificent Poena! You are an impudent child, to be ambushing me this way!" It was very clear that she wasn't attacked every day.

Jason decided to play the good boy, and apologized. (Albeit sarcastically).

"I'm sorry, Poena, for not allowing you to harm mortals. But, It's kind of my job."

With another shriek, she lunged. Except this time she was directed at me.

I'll be the first to admit, she took me by surprise.

I guess I was really out of shape these days. I dove to the side as Poena's momentum carried her past me, springing around again to face her as she skidded to a halt and rounded on me again, growling. I began to circle warily, and she advanced, slowly, dangerously.

"It does not pay to offend Poena, foolish half-bloods," she snarled, and I glanced round to see how Jason was faring.

That glance.

That one glance.

That one little glance was all it took. That one little glance cost me everything I had.

Jason looked at me and his eyes widened, and he yelled something, as my face connected painfully with the concrete. Riptide skidded from my grasp.

She'd leapt on me.

Pain exploded all along my back and snaked its deadly claws through my system. It shot through my chest like fire. Someone was yelling... blackness encroached upon the edges of my consciousness, and suddenly all the weight was gone.

I was vaguely aware of Jason, yelling and running past me, but everything hurt... I curled in on myself, trying to fight the darkness and feeling warm, sticky blood pool around my head.

And then someone was kneeling next to me, shaking me, saying things I could hardly distinguish above the roaring darkness. Telling me to open my eyes, to hold on, to... to...

Annabeth...

I tried to tell the person next to me. Tried to make them understand that I was sorry, that they should pass that on to Annabeth Chase, that there was nothing they could do anymore and they should stop shaking me. My throat became laced with fire as soon as I started, and I gave up on speaking.

The pavement was warm beneath me. I forced my eyes open and recognized the face hovering just inches above mine. And I whispered it, hoped he would understand... the sun was bright, much too bright; it was a roaring fire... everything was on fire...

Fire, fire, fire...

The darkness entwined itself with the flames and choked them into oblivion. Jason and the parking lot faded permanently to black.

Time stood still. And I stood suspended, suspended in a whirling void of dark and heat and silence, and this was the end. I let the feel of the concrete beneath me fade to black, too.

And then everything was black, and the fire flickered out like a candle blown away by the wind — as my being became one with the whirling, empty void.

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A/N: Welp we hope you enjoyed chapter the first. Remember to comment, vote and share!!! <3

~ Calypso101202 and dreamingupastorm