Not Your Hero ✔

-22-

"Be safe Mystique." The prince told Percy before closing the top of the emergency pod, which was like a giant silver bean with a window. Mel sat quietly in her seat, her eyes as if in a trance. Iggy was still unconscious, and Brie hasn't known what had happened with the two young children, so what Iggy was trying to tell him was lost unless he miraculously met Percy again.

Percy nodded at the young prince before the pod shot forward. Unlike the bus, transcending into space wasn't a smooth ride, as Percy had no knowledge of how to drive it.

The pod shook violently, and the old seatbelt holding Percy strapped in snapped, which caused the son of Poseidon to hit his head.

The pod then spiraled down once it hovered over the desired planet, crashing into the planet and creating a large crater where they landed. The pod didn't shatter or both Mel and Percy would be dead. It hit the ground hard but it was still in one piece.

Percy didn't try to break out immediately, instead turned to look out the window. The planet was like a desert, with less sand. Percy pressed the open button and after pulling Mel out of the pod, switched to autopilot.

He and Melody watched silently as the small spaceship sped off, going to circle around the universe to throw King Kàin off.

They had landed a good way from where Percy saw buildings or more like shacks. No one had come to investigate the crater, and Percy took hold of Melody's hand and walked to the shacks. He was covered in his regular jeans and he wore a cloak, bandages substituting for a shirt for the time being.

The air was hot and dry, and the ground was like sandpaper. Percy had begun to feel it through his shoes and ended up carrying Melody when he saw a tear slip. After what Percy counted as 3 hours but was really just thirty minutes, Percy had made it to the nearest shack.

Now that he was up close, he saw that all of the houses were boarded up. They all looked deserted. Percy was about to ask Randel if he heard anything, but a loud voice cut through there.

"Hey! What're you doing out?" Percy looked in the direction the voice came from. A man, looking almost exactly like a human but just with markings that looked too... powerful to be tattooed. His armor had been made to display the markings on his arms, but protect them at the same time, and the shoes he was wearing made him 3 inches taller probably to protect his feet from the ground.

Randel began to run before Percy did, and when Percy stopped resisting, they bolted. Mel was silent as the man yelled and Percy heard the noise of footsteps come after him. Percy was running by dozens of houses, all boarded up, no windows, and no people in sight. Percy then stopped at a large clearing and took in the wasteland before him.

He had to be a few miles from the buildings and, hopefully, the guards. He ignored the pain of the scorching ground, as he saw buildings and people, just laying there. The people, like the guard, had markings covering their bodies, just different ones. The stench of burning flesh hit Percy hard, and Randel retreated into the back of his mind.

"There he is!" A voice from behind him said. Percy turned around to see dozens of men on horses racing towards him. Randel took control and Percy cried out in pain as Randel forcefully shifted. He hadn't let Mel hit the ground, and she was on his back, but no thanks to Randel.

What is wrong with you? Percy asked the wolf. Nothing but a savage growl answered him. Randel growled at the soldiers, and the only thing Percy could gather from their control was that he was feeling threatened, which wasn't much help.

We have to get out of here. There'll be another time for this. Percy told him.

The men looked at them in wide-eyed disbelief. "Come on men! Fight!" Their leader told him, and the markings glowed- glowed- and the man began to change his size, shrieking as his body became distorted and overall disgusting looking.

He began to split into different bodies, and they got smaller and smaller, and even more weird looking... Percy just discovered Voldemort's nose.

Randel then decided it was a good time to run, and he ran the way they came, not wanting to run through the bodies. They had already made their way back to the houses when Percy heard a whisper from one of the boarded houses.

Randel was in an especially hostile mood, because he growled, and it radiating through Percy's chest, trying to the living hell out of whoever whispered. They coughed nervously and tried whispering again, and this time Percy heard him. "Come in. Hurry."

First, Percy didn't trust him. What kind of guy invites a wolf in a cloak into their house? A guy up to no good, that's who.

But the sounds of that guy chasing him came closer, and they all were shrieking like the leader when he transformed. Randel was against it, but Percy suddenly was conscious of his padded paws burning from the ground, and he accepted the stranger's not so subtle invitation.

A brick next to the door pushed out, making a hole in the wall just big enough for Mel to get in and Percy to squeeze in while in human form. Once inside, Percy felt the sweet relief of cool stone floors under his feet. His human feet were hurting, but unlike Randel's paws, they weren't beginning to burn.

The person who whispered them was a middle-aged guy. He had greying brown hair and dark skin. He had markings on him, but they were different than the ones who chased them. Percy couldn't distinguish the difference in how they looked, but the aura that radiated from the marks were different. Or maybe it was just the person.

While Percy's feet were hurting but otherwise not damaged, he couldn't say the same about Mel's. Her feet were red and blistered. The man who nodded to a small pipe which leaked water straight into a hole. "Water should help heal the blisters."

Percy picked Mel up again and put her tiny feet under the dripping water, and he watched as it visibly began to heal. The man saw this too. "Well, the water was never that good." The man said.

Percy remembered that Mel was a Siren, and was born in water or something like that.

"Don't ask," Percy told the man. "What planet is this?" "Fort Dray. Why?" The man asks, fidgeting around in a small wooden chest. He pulled a few pieces of bread out. "Sorry but this is all I have. Rations here are limited." He said.

"No, it's okay. We're grateful. And I just want to know where I am, that's all." Percy said. "I'm Maelstrom," Percy said, switching to his old name. 'You tell the stranger your name but not the one in your head?' Randel said with a scoff.

"I was born Afosíosi. Now I go by Silas." Silas said. Afosíosi... Percy wondered why the name sounded so familiar. "Nice to meet you, Silas." "Likewise, but as much as I'd like to talk, you guys should eat before the Militia searches the town for you guys." Percy nodded, and Mel and he ate, Percy subtly switching most of the food to Melody.

A loud horn sounded a few moments into eating, and Silas sighed. "We'll be cutting that meal short. They're here."

Hoped you enjoyed! Comment your thoughts!

Words of wisdom from the Super-Sized McShizzel: Don't go into random people's houses kids.

Bye!
~DemonsFromAbove