Shards (A Percy Jackson and Avengers Crossover)

The Cemetery Stalkers

Percy sighed softly, staring at the graves forlornly. He rubbed Annabeth's gravestone and stood up. He glanced over the rows of markers. "I'll see you guys later," he wiped an unshed tear from his eye.

He blew out a breath strode over to an oak tree several meters away. Under the giant tree's shadow, three tombstones sat inconspicuously. He sat down in front of the first. "Hey, mom. Long time no see, huh?"

He smiled sadly, running a hand through his messy hair absently, and continued his one-sided conversation. "Don't worry, mom. I'm doing okay."

He felt bad lying to his mom, but he maybe if he just kept repeating it, the words would eventually become true.

A demigod could hope.

Instead of wreaths, he brought three flowers. He laid a Himalayan blue poppy on his mom's stone, a California poppy on his stepfather's, and a Magenta poppy on his unborn sister's.

He sighed again.

He'd gone to see his mom right after he'd been let out of the infirmary. The fact that he was going to see his mom was probably the only reason Will had let him go. After the war, he'd needed to see his mom. He'd been so tired. He had just wanted to hear his mom's gentle voice, feel her warm hug, taste her delicious blue cookies. He'd wanted to cry on her shoulder like he had when he was a kid.

Instead, he'd come home to a massacre.

Paul had been killed first with bloody claw marks running down his whole body. It looked like he'd been protecting his pregnant wife. But it hadn't mattered. His mom had been too far along to defend herself. She'd been covered in claw marks as well, red liquid pooling around her.

And written in blood was the letter T.

Tartarus.

Percy wasn't sure how long he'd stood there, staring, but eventually Nico had shown up. He'd said he hadn't felt their souls leaving until recently. Nico had called the police and dragged an unresponsive Percy back to camp before they arrived. The only reason Percy had even left was because Nico promised they'd be fast-tracked to Elysium.

Percy stared blankly at the smooth gray stones before him. He rubbed his mom's tombstone softly. "I'll visit you again soon," he promised as he stood.

He walked back to the entrance. Percy exhaled, glancing back once more, before slipping out the door.

The air was still damp from the storm. He slid his hands into his pockets and started the walk back to the river. From there, he'd swim back to camp.

Percy shook his head. He'd sulked in his cabin for days after going to his mom's apartment. But then he'd started getting angry. Really angry. The rage had kept building up until he'd stalked to the lake and dived in, releasing all his anger in incomprehensible yells. His dad had appeared, probably feeling the waves of power. And Percy had raged at him too, shouting obscenities and blaming him. Surprisingly, Poseidon had taken it, letting him vent his anger until Percy was a crying mess. Then his dad had consoled him until Percy had fallen asleep.

He'd woken up, alone, in his cabin.

Percy kicked at a pebble sadly.

It just didn't make any sense. Monsters almost never attacked normal mortals, even if they were sent by a primordial. And why had his family been targeted? There really hadn't been much of a point to attacking them.

There had to be something else going on.

And, as if he didn't have enough problems, there was something following him.

He kept walking, keeping his pace unhurried. It wasn't monsters or gods, so that only left demigods or mortals. He finally reached the river but continued ambling on the sidewalk. If he jumped into the river now, they'd suspect something, especially if they were mortals. He passed a laughing family of three. The demigod waited until they got far enough away to glance around. The walkway was empty now, except for his followers. He turned and spoke directly to his stalkers.

"It's rude to follow someone around without introducing yourselves, y'know."