December 5th
Percy was sat at the living room of his mom's apartment, leaning over the papers and worksheets his teachers had giving him that day. It was Thursday, and because the teachers liked to give all of the weekend homework on one of the best days of the week, he was stuck trying to figure out how to time manage everything.
"Brobber!"
Percy's little sister Estelle came crawling into the room. She had her striped leggings on and a blue shirt dress that said, 'Little Octopus'. It pretty much summed her up.
"Hey, Stelly," Percy said, welcoming the break from his homework. He picked up his little sister and set her on the couch next to him.
"Ah!" Estelle pointed at the papers on the table.
"That's homework," Percy explained. "It's a scary thing you have to do when you get older."
"Bah!"
"That's math," Percy said, picking up the papers and looking them over agian.
"Bah!"
"Yeah, I don't get it either."
"Bah, Bah!"
"No, Annabeth likes it."
"Ah, bababer!"
"Well, actually. . ."
Percy paused mid sentence because he heard the sound of paper crinkling. He turned his head and saw Estelle putting a piece of paper into her mouth.
"No, no, no, no, no," Percy grabbed his sister and recued the paper before it could be swallowed by a hungry little girl.
"Estelle!" Percy's mom, Sally Jackson, came into the room and put her hands on her hips when she saw her daughter.
Estelle thought that her mom's smile/smirk was hilarious so of course, she laughed.
"Come on, you," Sally grabbed Estelle from her armpits and took her onto her hip.
"You're big brother has to do his school work," Sally explained.
Percy groaned and Estelle giggled. Sally took Estelle out of the room, leaving Percy and his homework all by their lonesome.
Percy still hand the slip of paper Estelle tried to destroy in his hand so he opened it up. It was his Secret Santa card. He had forgotten about it but he was now almost half way through the time he had to get a gift for Jason.
He didn't need to finish his homework until Sunday and everyone was always saying how friends were super important. . .
"Hey, mom!" Percy called as he put his coat and hat on. "I'm going out!"
"What about your homework?" His mom yelled back.
"I'll get it done later," Percy reasoned and shoved on his boots. "I'll be home before six."
He walked out of the room and down to the doors of the apartment and walked out into the chilly afternoon weather.
Percy walked down a few blocks and into a part of town that was filled with shops and stores. There were the classics like Starbucks and Walmart and other unique buildings called weird things likes Dancing Dresses and Eat and Sleep Dinner. He walked around for a few minutes, wandering in and out of shops to see if anything looked good.
After half an hour of wandering, Percy found three things he was considering buying.
1. a hat with eagles and sharks on it
2. disappearing swimming shorts
3. a croissant
He walked about some more, thinking about what he should choose and also absentmindedly scanning the windows and that's when he saw it. The perfect gift.
In the window of a wood carving store was a airplane. It was pretty big and looked like it could fit Percy inside if he tucked his legs up close to his chest. He saw it and a thousand possibilities flashed before him.
He spun around and walked straight into the shop. It was covered in boxes and there was just an old man in the corner, packing up a box.
"Hello," Percy said, walking towards the man. "Is that airplane for sale?"
The man turned around gave Percy a tired look.
"That one in the window?" he asked in a croaky voice.
"Yes," Percy replied, softening his voice a little.
"Yeah, I use to charge it for a hundred dollars but I'm packing up so you can just take it."
Percy beamed, "Thank you!"
The man nodded and turned back to his boxes. Percy walked over to the wooden airplane and lifted it from ground. He turned around to leave but his eyes lingered on the hunched over man.
"Is there something I can do for you, sir?" Percy asked.
The man turned back. He looked at Percy for a minute and shrugged.
"If you want to help, you can take these figurines to the trash outside."
Percy nodded and spotted a box that said 'figurines' and grabbed it. With a wooden airplane under one arm and a box in the other, Percy walked out of the shop and turned towards the alley next to it where the trash can sat. He set down the airplane and used his now free hand to open the top.
As he opened the top, he heard a hissing sound.
He spun around and had to turn his eyes to the ground as he realized what was there. The Gorgon sisters.
"Perseus Jackson," a Gorgon hissed, "You have been alive for too long."
"I'm sorry about Medusa," Percy said, trying to back away. "I know she didn't deserve her curse but she was attacking me and my friends."
"You killed her and sent her head to Olympus." Percy ran into a body behind him. The second sister.
The second Gorgon took out a knife and held it to his throat, trapping him between the Gorgon and the knife.
"Now, you must pay."
Before the knife could cut his throat, Percy kicked his foot back and ducked as the knife swept past his head. The other sister hissed and pounced, but Percy took out his sword, Riptide, and slashed it in a circle. The sisters dodged the attack and one grabbed his leg, dragging him to the ground.
He was put on his back and the two sisters were starting to advance. He needed a plan. His usual improvising was not enough to fend the Gorgons off and he had to keep his eyes closed or at least blurred.
He took his sword and slashed the Gorgon holding his leg and she let out a shriek as her arm got chopped. He used the shock to get to his feet and he reached for water near by, finding a bucket of water only a few feet away. He made the water flow out of the bucket and onto the ground where he used a new trick he had learned. He made the water solidify and with the cold, it turned to ice. He ran down the alley and heard as the sisters slipped and fell on the ice he left behind.
Percy raced down the alley and took a turn that lead to a mound of boxes that he climbed so he was standing on top of the shop. He breathed in the cold, crisp air and let it out with a puff of smoke. He walked to the edge of the building and down at the two Gorgons that were still trying to stand up on the ice.
He sat back and thought about his options. He could run now and get out alive, for now. He would leave his gift for Jason and he didn't even throw away the figurines for that nice man. No, he couldn't run unless it was his last resort. He had beaten the Gorgons before.
A plan started to form in his head.
Percy slowly lowered himself onto the boxes and back into the alleyway. He walked, taking his time, down the strip of alley and turning onto the path that the two Gorgons were now standing on. They had back out of the way of the ice and were now on their feet, blocking the airplane and exit.
The Gorgons saw him and hissed, not daring to touch the ice again and that was a-okay with Percy because now they weren't close enough to get him to look in their eyes. He used his power and melted the ice, creating a puddle in the ground. Before the Gorgons could realize that and attack, Percy picked up the water and threw it onto the sisters. He then did the same thing he did before and cooled the ice down so that it was now ice on the Gorgon's bodies.
The plan was working! Until he realized that the sisters could still move.
The sisters of Medusa shook off the ice and turned their eyes back to Percy who avoided looking at them at all.
Percy had thought the water was enough but it wasn't. He needed more.
He searched out with his senses, there were lots of pluming around but they were mostly under buildings which would have severe water damage if he did use them. He felt a pull towards where the Gorgons were standing and he closed his eyes to pin point where the tug was coming from.
There was a pipe and it was close. It had enough water to douse the sisters and make his plan work, but there was one problem. It was right under the airplane.
If he used the water, it would destroy the gift and he would have walked into the cold for nothing. But if he didn't then he would be killed or turned to stone by the sisters.
Taking a breathe, Percy listened to the tug in his gut and the water pipe exploded, throwing the airplane into the air and when it came down, it crashed into pieces. Sighing, Percy moved the water and threw it at the Gorgons, pouring them in water. He took another breath and squeezed the water into ice.
The sisters cried as their bodies froze. The coldness must have been enough to kill them because they turned to dust and Percy let the water fall.
Percy walked down the wet and cold alleyway, all the way to the box of figurines and a broken wooden airplane. He grabbed the box and threw it into the trash can that now had a bit of ice coating it. He then looked down at the broken wood.
He stared at the broken present and felt sad. He had imagined having Jason fly them up into the air and they could pretend they were piolets. They could reenact the scene form that one show Anyone But You. He had big dreams for that plane.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. he gathered the wood pieces and ran off towards home.
***
"What you got for me bud?" Leo asked his dragon, Festus. He had programmed the dragon a few months ago to fly over New York and grab garbage cans out of specific shop alleyways. He found it was expensive to get new parts without stealing, so this was a good compromise.
Festus dropped a can and Leo saw a box spill out of it.
The box said, 'Figurines'.
Leo found the box intriguing and opened it. Inside was a collection of figurines of what seemed to be the Greek Gods and monsters.
"Hmm," Leo said to himself as he held up a plastic Ceyberus.
"I might hang on to these."