Cleaning Up Percy Jackson's Multitude of Messes

III ~ Riggs

Insomnia tended to keep me up most nights. I hadn't slept for about three days and it was starting to get to me a little bit. Really, you wouldn't much want to be unconscious in the places I tended to sleep, but it would've been nice to get a little shut eye every once in a while.

Since I was wide awake though, I noticed when the woman sat down next to me,

I also noticed that she wasn't the type of person you'd usually find down here. She was clean, for one, and she carried herself like a queen. I saw too, that what I had mistaken for a coat was in fact a cloak with a hood. And strangest of all, no one else seemed to see her; and she definitely stood out in a Rutland Tri Metro subway tunnel full of homeless people and trash can fires.

Something about the beautiful woman gave me a strange feeling, like I should know her from somewhere, like an old actor or an elementary school teacher. I pushed the feeling to the back of my mind, listening instead to what she was saying. Her voice flowed like honey, soft, but with a subtle bite, demanding respect and admiration. "Hello, child. I know you, but you wouldn't know me. I have been watching you for a very long time, and I couldn't help but see that you've not had much good luck."

Ah, she must be another of those do goody types; albeit one of the stranger ones. I met her gaze with my own dark eyes. "Be that as it may, I don't want charity. I'm not fond of being in debt." I answered, careful that my teeth wouldn't show, even in the dim light.

"I know, and that's why I want to help you. And besides, coming from me, it wouldn't be charity. You've had poor luck all your life, perhaps the worst of anyone I've ever known, and I've known many people. I'm going to help you."

"Why would I want your help?" I asked calmly, taking care not to seem insolent. I started to get the feeling that she was quite powerful, and I also had a feeling that angering her would be a very bad thing.

"Because," she pointed to the book in my lap, "I've already helped you once before." I raised my eyebrows slightly, but it made sense; something so powerful would come from something even more powerful. I nodded.

"Now, we must hurry, as you must be somewhere else very soon, and the rest will be explained later. I will give you three things-two gifts and an imperative. The first is this," she leaned in and pressed a finger to my collarbone, "my blessing of balance, justice, and aid." As she said it, a burn spread across my back and down my arms. I hissed, baring my teeth in pain, but managed not to wake any of the sleepers around me. I had been in many fights, but had never been hurt like this. This was more like the time a group of boys had held me to the ground and put out lit cigarettes on my neck.

She took her fingers from my chest and her eyes flicked to my too-big canines and eyeteeth, remaining emotionless. She waited until I had regained my breath before continuing. "My second gift is this." I shrank back as she made a motion to remove her cloak; I wasn't too sure I could handle another one of her gifts. As she removed the covering from her shoulders, it shortened and changed color, morphing into a length of red silk. She handed it to me and I took it warily, keeping my eyes on her face. All of this would seem incredibly strange to a normal person, but I've never been normal.

"Tell it what you would like it to be, and it will obey you." She informed me, as if this was completely average for a garment. Hey, maybe it is, or maybe she was crazy. I narrowed my eyes at the length of cloth, and it turned into a black leather jacket. Not too shabby. After slipping it onto my aching back, I discovered that it was lighter than it should have been, and warmer too. It's too good to be true, I figured. It'd probably try to kill me later.

With the hood off her head, I could see that her hair was a very dark brown, and curly. Almost like mine, but longer. I refrained from telling her that she really should've given this gift first.

"And the imperative," she said," is that you must go to the place in which you found the book. Goodbye." And with that, she was gone. She didn't turn and walk away, didn't stride purposefully toward the subway station; she simply vanished.

Well, this was going to be an interesting day.

Fifteen minutes later, I was on a fire escape landing next to a second floor apartment window. This was indeed where I had found the book, and really, I think I should explain that now.

My book tells me things. Not like a normal book, because then it would be pretty much useless after a while and not worth mentioning. It tells me about people when I ask it. Namely, it tells me their transgressions, which can get fairly strange. Plus, it gets satellite TV. I call him Steve.

I didn't have to wait long before things got interesting in the alleyway. Two kids stumbled in, about my age, looking pretty frenzied. While they talked hurriedly and loudly about police, I consulted Steve on them. Steve informed that I should leave the girl alone, and light the boy on fire. Then he told me that my hair looked especially nice, and that he loved my shoes. I love Steve.

After some more or less careful deliberation, I threw a penny at them. They froze in place as soon as they realized what it was. I could see the realization dawning on their faces: oh hey, look at that! A penny, falling from the sky. Oh wait-pennies don't fall from the sky. And then, very slowly, they turned to me. I realized that I must look pretty creepy, as the building was throwing a shadow over me and they could probably only see the reflection of my eyes in the dark. Did I want to seem creepy? Hell yeah, I did.

While they stared, I jumped down from the landing, my movements feeling more balanced-- like they flowed better than usual. Huh, must be that blessing. Either that or I was hallucinating again.

"You're a demigod." The red haired girl stated. She sounded kind of surprised by this, and looked almost as confused as I felt.

Instead of responding to her nonsensical statement, I countered with one that I found a bit more interesting; "You don't belong here." I was obviously right, as she went shifty eyed and her hand went to her hip. Knife? Perhaps a gun or a Taser? The boy went quite still, staring at me wide eyed. We probably would've stayed that way for more than a few minutes if it hadn't been for the police.

Pounding footsteps and shouting voices sounded outside of the alleyway, and it wasn't much of a stretch to guess that they were after these two. Without thinking, I shoved the both of them behind a dumpster, and jumped into it myself. Why was I helping them? I had no idea. I did know, however, that this dumpster hadn't been emptied in at least three days. Wonderful.

The footsteps paused momentarily before continuing on their way, and as they faded, I caught snatches of whispers from where I had shoved the boy and girl. I twisted in the mass of crumpled paper cups, discarded clothes and-wait a minute, is that an entire chocolate cake?-till I was staring over the edge of the dumpster. They were tangled up on the ground, both blushing furiously. Good; they deserved it for being such blithering idiots.

I glared at them from my disgusting perch. "Explain."

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This interesting character's POV is written by a fellow wattpadaleker dogsarepeopletoo who is an amazing writer just doesn't like to post her stuff. Yet, they don't mind if I don't post it for them. *shrugs* Oh, well. Next update will, always, be Saturday after next. See you guys then!

-WT44

P.S. Above is a picture of Riggs. I love her hair.