I killed Grover.
Why did I do it, and why did I enjoy it?
A light appeared in the middle of the woods. I back up so fast, I trip over a branch.
THUMP!
A memory flashed in my head brighter than the blazing glow. I was nine, and my mom and I were in the woods. I was yanking my mom's hand and complaining that I was hungry. 9-year-old me made a big show about him being the hungriest person in the world.
"Relax, Percy." She smiles at me warmly. "We're five minutes from a patch of grass. That sounds like a much better spot to have a picnic at than the cold, wet dirt - right?"
A very logical thing to say. But I was so hungry I might have eaten logic itself.
Seeing my pouting face, my mom decides on a different strategy. "If we hadn't gone on that detour to see the waterfall..."
Just as I was about to come up with an intellectual counter-debate like IIII'MMM HHUNNNGWWWY!, I found myself walking on grass.
"Come on," mom grins at me, setting the picnic blanket, "I made special blue sandwiches."
The thought fades, and I find myself alone in the woods staring down a sneering man with slightly curly black hair and a beard.
Poseidon, I thought.
"Poseidon," I say.
He looks a bit taken aback but shakes his head. "No."
"N--..." I start to say.
"I am Nemesis," he interrupts, "Goddess of revenge. I'm here to make you a deal."
I nod at her. "Go on."
"Perseus... I can give you what you want. Revenge on the Olympians."
"But you are an Olympian."
She (He? She? I think it's a she.) waves the question away. "I can grant it to you, at a cost."
A cost. I didn't like the sound of that.
"Your I."
"What?"
"I said your eye, what did you think I said?" She snaps.
Ok, now I definitely was about to let out another WHAT?, but some inner part of me takes control.
"Y-ye-yes," I reply.
WHAT?
In the blink of an eye, a small whip tears into the air and hits my face. A searing pain grips my left eye socket, but it fades away as soon as it came.
"You... took my eye."
"You agreed to it, didn't you?" She snarled.
I was about to let loose a serious WHAT? when Nemesis disappeared, leaving me alone in the woods.
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The fire I set up blazed brightly through the night. I'd gotten the chance to wave at some curious dryads, and wave their questions off too. They were humanoid but their skin was green and their hair was--
Hold that thought. Is someone calling my name?
"Percy?"
Someone is definitely calling my name. I can hear him clearly now. A friendly voice, one that I recognized.
"Luke?"
He stepped out into the campfire light, "Hey. I saw the campfire light and thought I'd check it out. You know, trolls someti--..."
His sentence trails off and his expression darkens as he looks up to see me sporting an eye patch. "What happened?"
"Ne--..."
"You don't have to tell me," he blurts quickly. "I don't need to know."
Despite everything, I smile at him. It was nice to have a friend.
"It's fine, man. Nemesis appeared and said she'd grant me revenge for a cost."
"Your I."
"Yeah. My eye."
He squinted at me in a strange curiosity or fascination. Then, he shrugged it off and gestured vaguely to the ground. "May I..."
"Sure," I smile at him again.
He grins at me. "So let me tell you about this one time I ran into a horde of trolls... really hungry trolls too. I was wandering around a forest when..."
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"Night, Luke." I thought it was a little bit strange we were sleeping together, but I thought it was better than leaving the guy to sleep alone in the woods.
"Night, Seaweed Brain."
"Again with the Seaweed Brain," I murmur, but the thought trailed off as I was gripped by slumber.
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Percy Jackson
FanfictionPercy Jackson woke up to Grover telling him his mother died. Something inside him snapped. As he leaves Camp Half-Blood, he runs into another kid who's escaping too. The boy smiles at Percy and introduces himself as Luke.
