Beneath the Pain - Percy Jackson and the Avengers Crossover

Chapter 1

Percy's POV

Fighting Gaea and her whole army during the second war I've been through can really be exhausting, especially when you haven't had much of a break and you're the leader of an entire army. Not as exhausting as what I've done before but still tiring. Thankfully, most of the monsters were involved in the war and sent to Tartarus so I wouldn't be expecting any quests anytime soon which gave me the opportunity to have a little vacation, unless I was needed, and there would be more time to spend with my mom and my new dad, Paul Blofis. 

I sighed as I climbed the stairs to my mom's apartment, glad that I would be able to relax and spend some time away from wars and quests. Clutching my backpack that I always take during all my previous quests and the same backpack I started out with, I reached the floor that held my mom's apartment. But there was something off about everything. The first thing I noticed when I reached this floor was that the door to my mom's apartment lay half-open. My mom would never leave the door open.

As I inched closer to the door, the wind slid through the gap between the door and swept pass me with a smell I was all too familiar with. Blood. Glancing around for any mortals, I uncapped Riptide and creaked open the apartment door. The stench of blood became stronger the moment I entered. What I saw made my heart skip a beat. The kitchen and lounge room were a mess, clothes, cutlery and broken shards of plates, mugs and glasses everywhere. Blood was scattered all over the place in blotches but that's not what frightened me the most. All of this blood. Was brand new. Still fresh. Which meant this only happened recently.

My ears perked up as I heard shuffling from my parent's bedroom. In a faint voice, I heard someone say, "Percy? Is that you?" That has to be mom. Avoiding the glass shards, I hurried over to my mom within her bedroom and seeing her and my step-dad in this state wanted to break me and make me sit down and cry. My step-dad lay on the bed, clearly dead, blood still pouring out from the massive hole in his stomach whilst my mother had a hole through her left lung caused by a spear, blood trickling out from the wound and her hand held out to me.

Dropping my sword, I ran towards my mom's side and grabbed her hand, clutching it to keep me from breaking into tears. "It's okay Percy. But remember that I don't have much time." My mother stroked my hair whilst I had my head faced down towards the floor. Whilst sobbing, I managed to choke out, "I-if only I-i was quick enough, I cou-could've saved y-you both." She kept stroking my hair, soothing the pain stabbing at my heart. "Percy, don't blame yourself. None of us saw this coming so there's no reason to blame. Just please listen to me before my time is up."

Trembling, I stared into my mother's pale blue eyes for what might be the last time. "We both loved you so much Percy. No matter how hard our deaths affect you, never stop defending the world you live in. And all those you care to protect. We'll see you in the Underworld after a few decades. And Percy." I gripped her hand tighter than before. "Yes mom?" She tapped her other hand on mine that was gripping hers. "Don't ever lose sight on what's important. Family." With her final words, her eyes closed shut, no pulse was felt and her hand fell loose from her position on top of mine.

With her hand in mine, sobbing and trembling, I whispered to myself, "I promise." The one woman who cared for me for my entire life, who sacrificed so much for me, gone. I finally snapped and cried beside her laying on her bed for about fifteen or twenty minutes, until I spotted a blue note sitting on the bedside desk. With curiosity, I stood up from my place beside my mom and took the note from the desk. The writing was in ancient Greek so I was able to read it. It read:

To Perseus Jackson,                                                              If you thought you could get away with tearing Gaea away from me, you have something else coming. Once you took Gaea's life, you took the only thing I cared for away from me. All I'm doing is returning the favour. Slowly, you'll suffer beneath my clutches and everything will crumble away before your very eyes. Be aware, Jackson, because I have one big storm heading your way.