Alone
Percy woke up slowly, remembering everything that happened before he blacked out. He could tell that he was on a bed or cot of some sort. As his vision focused, he could see Apollo in the corner of his eye, sitting in a chair asleep.
“Um… Apollo?”
The god jerked awake.
“Oh Percy! Thank goodness you’re okay! I was starting to worry.”
Percy started to get up out of the cot.
“Where am I?”
“My infirmary. It’s small ‘cause the gods don’t get injured. But you’re free to go whenever.”
He started to exit before looking back and saying, “Good luck.” Percy stood up as someone else walked in. Hades stood at the doorway, looking at the teen.
“Why are you here?”
Hades just looked at Percy before talking.
“I just wanted to say that someone you know may come back. They’re not bad, so they won’t be out for your blood. I can’t say who, but their soul never went to get judged. I bid you farewell and good luck.”
Before Percy could say anything, Hades snapped his fingers and Percy was teleported to the bottom of the Empire State Building with his packed belongings.
—————
Now Percy found himself walking towards his apartment. He was trying to think of what the god of death meant that someone’s soul came back to life. Could it be one of the seven? Percy hoped it was one of them but he knows that the Physician's Cure wasn’t with any of them and when Hazel’s body was recovered, the cloth holding the cure was empty and it was concluded that it was a fake. Unfortunately, no one can find the true cure. Percy came to a halt when he realized that during his thinking session (thanks Athena), he arrived at his apartment. He pulled out the key to the door and walked in.
“Mom, Paul, I’m home.”
Silence greeted him. Percy looked around and sensing that something was wrong, very wrong in his home. He pulled out his pen and slowly walked through the house. Nothing seemed wrong in the living room, and kitchen area so he went on to the bedrooms and office. Nothing appeared out of order in his room but he made sure that it was fine. Once he was done, he moves towards Paul’s office. The door was closed, but he could smell something that he wished he’d never smell again. Blood. He opened the door and what he saw would be etched into his mind for the rest of his life. Paul was sitting in his chair, eyes blankly staring at the wall and mouth open as if it stopped mid scream. Blood was dripping from multiple stab wounds in his chest, most of it already dried.
“No… no…”
Percy ran out of the office to their bedroom. He saw the door closed and he forced it open. He saw his mother laying on the ground with similar stab wounds in her chest and back, same look of fear frozen on her face. Percy collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. He scooted away from her corpse. He shakily pulled out his phone and contacted 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“M-my mother and step-father. T-they’ve be-en murdered.”
“We’ll send someone over. What’s your address?”
He gave the operator the apartment’s address and a few minutes later could hear sirens coming closer. Soon police were leading him out of the apartment and leading him to an ambulance. They asked him if he knew what happened, if there were anyone he suspected that did it, and if there was anyone he could stay with. Of course, he didn’t have an answer to the last question. The officer who was asking him nodded and gestured him to her car. Percy sat in the front with the officer who drove him over to the station. When they did arrive, the officer told him to wait in the waiting room while she would try to find something to help the teen.
Percy fell asleep after about half an hour and woke up to the same officer.
“We did some digging and found out that your mother has a half brother. Would you like me to contact him?”
Percy nodded. The officer went off to make the call but Percy stopped her.
“What’s my uncle’s name, ma’am?”
“Tony Stark.”