Unseen Scars Hurt The Most

chapter 1

Percy POV
Two months have passed since...........the event. I can't tell you what state the camp is in - only that fewer than twenty demigods remained overall. I don't know if they'll rebuild, and frankly I don't care. If they continue to scout out young demigods and ruin their lives, that's on them. I'm not gonna be there to pick them up off the ground again when a left out half-blood goes rogue.

After my, er, encounter with Poseidon, I stayed for a week to help transport my friends bodies. We buried them in a private section of the graveyard outside Central Park (I've never been to New York so sorry if some of these places don't exist). Then I took off and did the only thing a sane person would do in that situation - went to my mom.

Thinking back on it now, I realize I was naïve really, to think that after everything that had happened to me and my friends they would leave my family alone. I may have defeated Gaia, but she still had minions everywhere. I should have left earlier. I wasn't thinking straight. Of course they were gonna go after my mom. Cuz why wouldn't they? Why wouldn't they just destroy my life even more?  After all, why leave me alone? I'm the easiest person to break. I made it clear what was most dear to me and now I have paid the price.

When I reached the bottom of our block, I stopped to think. What would I say? It had been almost a year - what if she thought I was dead? Shaking away all my doubts I started to climb the stairs. I was her son and she was my mother: I was gonna do what any good son would and hug her. Then we'd cry, and laugh. Then Paul would come and embrace us, he might even cry a little too.

I reached our door, painted blue ever since Smelly Gabe forbade us to and stopped. It was open slightly. That couldn't be right. Drawing Riptide slowly, I edged into my living room, expecting it to be a prank or something. It wasn't. The sight before me shook me to my core and sent shivers through my bones.

At first glance, everything seemed normal. Every piece of furniture was in the correct place, the TV was on, and two figures were sat on the couch, facing away from me. But then I looked closer. A thick layer of dust was blanketed on the television and carpet. The image on the TV screen was blurry, like it always got when my mom and I fell asleep in front of it and left it on overnight. The bodies on the couch were slumped against each other, which could have been interpreted as a tired couple leaning on each other, but I knew instantly it wasn't such a fairytale.

I stepped closer, praying and praying for my hunch not to be true. "Mom?" I muted the TV as I reached the couple, "Mom, please, please," my voice broke on the last word, the rest of the sentence getting caught in my throat. Sally and Paul Blofis were sat straight backed on the couch, eyes glassy and eerily staring at a world they couldn't see. "No," I breathed, tears streaming down my face like mini waterfalls.

A black and gold arrow was sticking out of each of their hearts, and it didn't take a genius to work out what had happened. I recognized this make from weapon studies back at camp. Sagitta vae. Better known as the arrow of woe. It contains a deadly poison that reacts with water. You can put it in lakes, rivers, drinks, even the ocean and anything that touches it will die instantaneously. Completely harmless on itself, that's what makes it so dangerous. It's impossible to detect until it has made contact with water. Now, I'm not exactly at the top of my class when I go to school, but I do know that 70% of humans is water. My parents wouldn't have known what hit them. They would have died before they had time to realize their home had been invaded.

Tears blurring my sight, I stumbled toward my mom and took her hand. It was still warm: she must have been shot less than two hours before I arrived. They knew I was coming.

I gulped for air, my head pounded as I planted a kiss on my mother's forehead and shut her eyes alongside her lover's. "I'm sorry, mom." I whispered into her ear. "I should've been here for you, I should've protected you. Rest now. I'll see you soon."

Out of the blue, a ping sounded in the cold apartment, the vibrations ringing out. Immediately on guard, I turned with my sword out preparing to fight. I saw nothing. Confused, my gaze landed on the wisps of smoke curling out from the oven. Frowning slightly, I sheathed my sword and inspected the strange sight. Inside was a fresh batch of my mom's finest blue cookies, ready to be taken out. Not bothering, with gloves, I pulled my sleeve over my hands and withdrew the tray. The heavenly scent filled my flaring nostrils and I lay the hot tray on the counter.

A sad smile stretched across my weary face.  "Of course you did," I murmured, referring to the blue color my mom had given the cookies.

I won't go into detail with what happened next, I don't think I could handle it. But I will give you a quick summary:

I gathered my few belongings from my room and packed them in my blue school backpack along with the cookies and a couple other essentials. I then set the apartment alight and fled the scene. The Mist made it look like the fire had killed my parents and had been started by the oven. Then I ran. I didn't focus on where, I just ran. Far away from my family. Far away from the devastation. Far away from my old life. After thirty minutes, I slowed to a walk and made shelter on the roof of a large apartment block. It was only temporary, but it would do for now. After all, I won't be staying in this world much longer.

Hey, here's another chapter! I hope you like it, but I don't know if anyone will read it so I'm basically talking to myself. Anyway, this is shorter than the last one, is it too short? Too long? Lemme know. I promise I will include the avengers, I'm getting there but don't expect every update to be this fast. Also, I wrote this quite quickly so sorry if it's bad - I will edit eventually!