The Final Line of Defense (A PJ Fanfiction)

Chapter One: Signs

My routine and uneventful "outing" of getting cup of noodle packages at the supermarket was interrupted by the fact that a hellhound was devouring the meat section.

I had rounded the corner, legitimately yawning, when I entered the butchery. 

See, I haven't seen a monster in nearly twenty years. Ever since the fall of Gaea, the monsters receded to their natural habitats and did whatever monsters do in their free time.

So the fact that a particularly nasty monster had shown up was surprising. Sure, the smell of meat was probably overpowering for the canine's nose, but there was a ton of monster meat in the wild. In fact, some monsters actually hunt each other when not partially controlled by evil, snobbish, annoying earth goddesses. (That's you, Gaea.)

Anyways, back to the sudden flash sale of the meat section. The hellhound appeared to be a baby, which meant that it was about the size and weight of a forklift.

The other shoppers ignored it like it was just an overzealous customer. I tapped my pocket, where Riptide was, even after all of these years. I sidestepped a large man wielding a price gun like a rocket launcher and unsheathed riptide. The familiar shink brought warm memories back.

The hellhound snarled at me, its teeth coated in blood like a b-list horror movie. All monsters were naturally afraid of celestial bronze, probably because one good slash would turn a good monster into a pile of sawdust.

It leapt off the chicken rack (Buy one get one free!) and launched itself at me, mouth open in a earsplitting roar. My demigod instincts kicked in, and I brought the sword up in a vertical slice.

Its snarl turned into a whimper, and it turned into dust, sent back to Tartarus. I found I was breathing heavily, somehow exhausted from my one second of exertion.

If you don't know me already, I'm Percy Jackson! Owner of a severely outdated Prius, cup-of-noodle gobbler, and worker of Nina's Bargain Market and Shoppes!

Or you can just call me random nobody who saved the world a while ago. Basically means the same thing.

I retrieved the cap and stuck Riptide back in my pocket, no doubt to stay for a while. I grabbed packet of raw chicken in honor of the hellhound, and headed to the check out line.

At ten o'clock at night, no one was at the grocery store. In fact, the measly few shoppers in the meat section were probably the only people in the store. The lady running the checkout line, a young white lady, raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrows at me, her eyes flicking to my five pack  cup of noodles and packet of chicken.

She rang me up. I stood there, slouching , as her fingernails clacked on the keyboard noisily. Behind her, there was a flash of white. I looked up, startled. I peered around her into an alley, trying to catch a glimpse of what had unsettled me. There was nothing, if you didn't count the broken bottle.

The counter lady smiled at me, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. 'Is everything all right?" I nodded in response. There was no sign of what I had seen. 

I tried to shake it off as she put my items in my bag. The monster had brought back my demigod senses. 

The hellhound refused to leave my thoughts as I drove back home. It was going to be a serious problem if monsters decided to show up again.

My apartment was somewhat nice, a nor expensive nor cheap accommodation in the outskirts of the city of New York. It was isolated, the nearest unit was spaced out at ten feet away. Annoyingly, the walls were paper thin, which meant I could hear every single thing that was going on in their house. One time, I could've sworn I hear one of them typing on a keyboard. 

I wearily opened the door, propping it open with my foot. I lugged my groceries inside, and flipped on the light with my elbow.

I turned around, setting the groceries on the kitchen table. I crashed on the couch in the living room, too tired to shower or change. I fell asleep in mere moments.

I awoke to someone standing over me. My demigod instincts kicked in, and I screamed like a baby and fell off the couch right onto my face.

Which, in my opinion, was a suitable response to finding someone standing over you when you wake up. I flipped around and glared at the idiot who had dared to burst in to my apartment.

"And what the-" I began, sputtering off when I realized who the person was.

Annabeth Chase was my ex-girlfriend and used to be my partner in crime. We had gone on several world-saving missions, and had gotten together after the defeat of Kronos.

That was a long time ago. After the fall of Gaea, we had gone to college together, and lived happily ever after.

I wish. We slowly drifted away from each other, too concentrated on our studies and other things. There was no time for each other, and eventually we had ended it. Annabeth had become an architect, while I had become an operational manager of an ocean touring company.

I lost the job a few years later, due to my "bad attitude". Since then, I had bounced from a few jobs and homes. I had been living in this apartment for about a year and had worked at Nina's for twice that.

Annabeth stood over me, imposing. She had grown even more beautiful, to the point where it was embarrassing to look at her. She wore a smart t-shirt and jeans, toting a purse that probably was worth more than my car.

She scowled at me. "Get up, Seaweed Brain." 

I did as she asked, too surprised to form words. 

"W-what are you doing here?" I stammered finally. "I mean, how did you get into my house?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're email. Every time you moved, you changed your address."

"I'm here because something is going on, Percy. Monsters appearing. The Mist growing stronger. Something is happening, and my gut is telling me it's not good." She said while digging into her purse. "Here, look at this." She held up her phone, which was showing a picture.

It showed a few centaurs meeting around a stone pillar, some in odd positions.

"What are they doing, meeting? That's normal, isn't it?" I questioned.

She sighed heavily, implying that I was being an idiot. "Centaurs meeting now? Why? They must know that something is going on."

I grew exasperated. It probably wasn't the best idea, but I was still tired even after sleeping, and Annabeth was pushing my patience. "So what do you want to do?" I said. "Investigate? And why couldn't you have gone to someone else, like Thalia! I don't have time for this!"

Annabeth glared at me. I instantly shrank away, cowed.

"You really think I didn't consider that? Thalia has a family to take care of. She can't go gallivanting away on some quest and never come back. Also, you don't look like you're doing anything important." Her eyes glanced at the Xbox hooked up to the TV.

I still resisted. "We're just two people. What are we supposed to do?"

"We've saved the world before. I'm sure that we can do it again."

I sighed, beaten. "So what do we do first?"

She glanced out the window, towards the sky, and the countryside. "We need a team."

How was that for the first chapter? I came up with the idea for this book after thinking about what Percy was like after the whole defeat Gaea thing.

Please comment what you think! This account is brand new, so I literally have no viewers.

Thanks for reading,

PJ Fanfiction