Demiurge (a Poseidon self-insert in Percy Jackson)

They waited while it rained for a bus. The sky looked dark and ominous as if ready to fall on them. He wondered if Zeus or other gods were actually watching him the same way bored people liked to watch reality shows to laugh at the participant.

Grover was eating an apple for the moment and it seemed that it wasn't the first one because of how fast he ate it. He was sending him looks when he thought Percy wasn't watching.

Annabeth was reading a voluminous Greek book opened in her right hand and playing with a quarter in her left hand. He could not tell what book it was because trying to read the title of it had made all the words begin to dance and gave him a killer headache.

He had tried to try to stay still until the time the bus came but he felt too full of restless energy to be able to do such. He tried to get rid of his boredom with the pen that Mr Brunner had given him to distract himself by throwing it away each time it came to his pocket.

The bus finally came. They stood in line to board the bus. Everything seemed fine if slow until Grover tensed and began sniffing the air like a dog. Fortunately, other would-be passengers did not seem to pay attention to what Grover was doing. It would have been a little bit embarrassing to have all the attention focused on them especially when there were posters of him everywhere. 

He grabbed Riptide in his pocket but didn't remove the blade still in a pen form from it. “Are you smelling something Grover?” he asked. Satyrs had apparently a very acute smell that allowed them to detect demigods and monsters. 

He began paying attention to the other passengers trying to find something or someone that didn't look normal. He found nothing yet didn't relax.

“I don't know” he answered. “I smelled nothing. It was probably in my head”. He still looked tense as if shadows would be jumping at us.

The grey eyes of Annabeth were scanning everything around as if trying to find a detail that could show if anything was wrong. 

They were finally able to board the bus without any problem. They chose seats at the back of the bus to be able to see everything happening on the bus. Luke had called it being aware of your surroundings. Luke had taught him that a lack of awareness could mean death whether it was inside or outside a fight.

The last passenger that boarded the bus was a middle-aged woman with brown hair that fell on her shoulders. She had an aquiline nose and was dressed in a suit that he knew just by looking at it that had a price superior to the annual salary of his mother. She wore on her foot hunting boots with the mark Zamberlan written on them. She looked striking in an intimidating and mean way.

He focused on her face. She reminded him of somebody and he rarely made errors on the faces of people. When he realised who it was, he gasped out loud.

Annabeth and Grover had turned their heads toward him. “I know who it is. It is Miss Dodd”. 

Grover had begun to panic and Annabeth looked confused. He realised that Annabeth didn't know who Miss Dodd was.

Grover explained for him ”It is a kindly one. She masqueraded as a teacher like Chiron at Yancy and attacked percy. If Mr Brunner hadn't helped by giving percy a weapon, he would have died.”

The panic began to appear in the eyes of Annabeth. Her left hand was holding her dagger and shaking. He couldn't judge her because he was as scared as her.

The last time, the only reason he was able to win was luck and surprise but now, Miss Dodd will be cautious and take him seriously. She was an immortal older than the current Gods. At camp, he had learned that they were born from the blood of Ouranos when he was castrated by his son Kronos with his scythe.

“She didn’t stay dead long,” percy said, trying to keep his voice from quivering. “I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime,” he told Annabeth.

“I said if you’re lucky,” Annabeth said. “You’re obviously not.”

The kindly one sat in the first row behind the driver. It meant that they wouldn't be able to escape the bus without walking before her except if they jumped through the windows while the bus was driving.

“It’s okay,” Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard about a way for us to get out of this situation still alive. “One of The kindly ones. One of The three most feared monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We’ll just slip out the windows.”

Grover at her words tried to open the windows at his side. They stayed unmoving. Percy swore that he could see something resembling a fog cloaking them. Well, they were screwed without any doubt “They don’t open,” Grover moaned in despair.

“A back exit?” Annabeth suggested. There wasn’t one. Even if there had been, it wouldn’t have helped. By that time, we were on

Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

“She won’t attack us with witnesses around,” he said. “Right?”

“Mortals don’t have good eyes,” Annabeth reminded him. “Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist. They still believe that the moon landing was true and that other planets except Earth exist.” 

Percy didn't try to ask for clarification. What came out of Annabeth's mouth wouldn't be foreign coming from conspiracy theorists that were seen as nutcases. It was ironic that they were probably more right about the truth of the world than world leaders or scientists.

“They’ll see an old lady killing us, won’t they?” percy asked her.

She thought about it for a moment. “Hard to say. But we can’t count on mortals for help. Maybe there's an emergency exit in the roof ... ?”

They hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Mrs Dodds got up and turned in their direction. She seemed to have known where they were all that time. Percy removed Riptide from his pocket and put one his finger on the ballpark of the pen and grabbed for comfort the collar his dad had gifted to him. He already won against her and this time he wasn't alone plus he was a demigod of Poseidon the ruler of the oceans, one of the big three. It meant something right?

From the left hand of Miss Dodds came something akin to a spark. It flickered like falling embers on the ground. It began to take the shape of a handle before expanding into a lash of flames. It brought by its existence a smell of sulfur and an insupportable smell of rotting flesh. To those wondering how could he know this smell, well Percy lived in New York so yeah.

Percy just by looking at it thought that being struck by it would if not kill him hurt a lot. The mortals had begun cowering. Percy wondered what the mist showed them to make sure they were unable to be aware of the godly side of the world.

The fury with a movement on her hand launched an attack in a horizontal line with her fire shape whip that was marked by an ear-deafening mini boom. “Duck” Grover screamed. They dodged at the last moment by throwing themselves on the ground. Percy even if he hadn't been touched could feel a burning sensation as if he was too close to a burning fire.

Percy pressed the ballpark of riptide and where there was a pen was now a balanced Greek one-handed double-edged sword made of celestial bronze. They got back up and were greeted by screams, blood, beggings and death and were left scared and disgusted by the result of the monster attack.

Every mortal that had been on the trajectory of the attack, so every mortal on the bus except the bus driver who was screaming before falling silent like a puppet by a wave of the hand of Miss Dodd had been affected by Miss Dodds's attack. The lucky ones had died instantaneously. The unlucky ones were the ones still alive, that had tried to dodge but were unable to do so completely because they either hadn't been on their guard like the demigods or were not fast enough. From the 56 seats, they were the only ones untouched.

Percy could see an old man before him screaming himself hoarse because of the bleeding stump were existed not a long time ago all of his right arm. He could see not far from the old man a crying toddler missing a part of their skull held by the beheaded body of their parents that had tried to protect them.

There were across the car a dozen of similar scenes happening. It looked like hell. Vomit tried to go up from inside him but he stopped it. Grover wasn't able to do the same and puked all the apples and enchiladas he had eaten. The one amongst them that seemed the least affected of them was Annabeth even if she had turned an unhealthy green colour.

“We have to find a way to escape,” Annabeth said to them. The fury was coming in their direction slowly like a predator playing with their prey and in that case, they were the prey. The snake headband of the kindly one had become alive and filled along in the bus the songs of agonies and despair with hisses.

“Find a plan quickly wise girl or we are toasted” Percy said to the daughter of the war goddess. The eyes of Annabeth were jumping in every direction on the bus trying to find details that would help her formulate a plan.

“I have found one” Annabeth said, ”even if I find it dangerous and prone to failure”.

“It's the only plan we have. It's better than nothing“ Grover said to her while cleaning traces of vomit on his mouth with a sweep of his hand. Percy if they survived against Alecto wasn't going to let Grover hug or touch him without cleaning his hand.

“So here's the plan” Annabeth began. “you Percy and I are going to distract her”. Nah, he retired everything he said or thought about Annabeth. That was the dumbest plan he ever heard. Instead of calling it a plan of escape, maybe it would be better to call it a plan to turn Percy into a shish kebab. Grover must have been thinking the same thing due to the expression on his face.

She continued, ”I know it sounds crazy but we won’t be able to escape the bus due to the fact that the only entrance is accessible only by confronting the kindly one. Grover, can you use one of your satyrs sounds to create an entrance in the back?

Grover grabbed his chin while thinking “I can but with us being on a road of asphalt and concrete and being in movement and not being in the wild, it's going to take time”.

Annabeth removed her dagger from its holster “We'll buy some time. Everything depends on you Grover. If you fail...”. Percy didn't need her to finish her sentence to know what she meant.

He forced himself to stop shaking, to stand still. ‘Dad’ he called in his mind. He felt the attention of his father on him. “At any time you can stop,” the ghostly voice of his father whispered to him. 

‘I will continue,’ he answered to the voice of his father. He felt a kiss on the crown of his head and the presence of his father disappeared.

Grover had begun to play a melody on his flute his back turned to the fury. He was scared yet was trusting Annabeth and percy with his life. With a nod in the direction of Annabeth, they threw themselves at the monster.

A grin split the face of the fury ”Finally, a little fight! It wouldn't have been enjoyable if you didn't.” she sent the whip at them. Percy could see the world begin to slow, see everything around him as if he was for a moment omniscient. 

He dodged the attack by jumping on the wall of the left, taking some steps on it in an act a professional of parkour would be proud of and regaining the floor of the bus after the whip passed to the place where he was an instant before. He could see in the corner of his eyes that Annabeth had also dodged successfully by gliding on her knees.

Percy did something that he was taught to never do in a fight. He threw his sword at the fury. The sword flew in an arc towards the monster shining like a golden halo. She dodged by simply moving her head to the side. She lifted an eyebrow as if asking if it was all he could do. Annabeth and he were now 7 meters away from the fury.

With a movement of her hand, the whip began to fly back toward its master. Percy was able to feel the incoming attack by the heat emanating from the weapon. They dodged by throwing themselves on the left and right side of the bus.

Riptide was back in Percy's pocket. He put pressure on the ballpark to make the weapon retake its sword form. The whip had touched the ground at the centre of the bus and had obliterated it. Percy could see the road speeding under them.

‘Better not be touched by this or it's game over’ percy thought. “I've let you come at me but the both of you are taking too much time” Bat wings exploded in dark gore from the back of Miss Dodds. A slasher smile full of black canines bloomed on the kindly one face. “It means that I'll have to come toward you.”

With a flap of them, she was in his face. She used her free hand to swipe at his face with her claws. Percy dodged by throwing himself back. He watched how her claws passed millimetres away from his face. She missed him but grazed him leaving him with an uneven haircut.

By throwing himself backwards, he had fallen into the blood and body parts of a now-dead passenger. The smell of iron overpowered his nose. He felt blood stick to his clothes wetting them. He suppressed the nausea and the panic. Now was surviving. Crying and addressing traumas would be after if they survived.

Annabeth hadn't stayed idle and had used her dagger to try to stab the now unprotected back of the monster. Miss Dodd stopped her attack by grabbing her hand and knocking her head against a window cracking it. It didn't stop Annabeth. Her dagger had remained in her hand. With a swift movement, she tried to plunge it into one of the eyes of the kindly one. Alecto caught it with two fingers.

“Aren't you a feisty one?” the kindly one said to Annabeth. “Fortunately, I know how to deal with your kind.” The kindly one with the hand that was still gripping the head of the daughter of Athena threw again, again, again and again, the head of Annabeth in the windows in quick succession until I heard the window break. 

Annabeth was now unmoving and it scared me. Blood, her blood was running from her head dying her blonde lock in a scarlet colour. He may have disliked her but Percy never wanted her dead or close to it. “I had thought that she would have been able to take more but hey, she's demigod. They're always disappointments,” he heard Alecto say before she threw the body of Annebeth in the range of seats just behind him 

She had begun bleeding from other parts of her body. She looked and seemed to be out of commission. Her still bleeding gave Percy hope. It meant that even if injured Annabeth was still alive. Percy hoped that she would be able to survive a little longer. It was only him now facing the kindly one. He hoped that Grover was almost finished or none of them will be able to survive.

The crack of a whip made percy move. Staying still meant death and percy wasn't ready to give up on living yet, not as long he didn't succeed in innocenting his father and saving his mom. The ocean is everywhere, he remembered his father's words. Percy called for it.

There was a sensation in the pit of his stomach like a tug. For a moment, nothing happened. Miss Dodds continued to come towards him with a murderous grin on her face as if she already had won. The fire whip was trailing behind her, screeching against the floor of the bus. Grover hadn't been able to find a new way for them to escape like they had hoped.

Percy grabbed Riptide with his two hands. If he died, he would go fighting and not begging. “Sorry Dad” he whispered. The presence of his dad was back and felt playful as if he knew something that percy did not know.

They were now on the highway “It's the end for you son of Poseidon” the monster slurred. Percy prepared to dodge or counterattack when water exploded from the asphalt under them violently. It unbalanced the bus and sent all the passengers dead or alive in different directions.

Percy must have blacked out for a moment because he was on the bus a moment and a minute after was on one the shoulders of a running Grover with Annabeth on the other one.

He could see behind them the wreckage that was the bus they had taken. Other cars had stopped and their drivers were screaming because of the dead bodies that were still inside the car from which blood was pooling on the ground. The accident had also sent mangled corpses on the road.  It was raining creating a mess of light-coloured blood everywhere.

Percy hoped that the accident if not knocking out had hurt Miss Dodds. Alas, it was proven that he was hated by Tyche when not a second after that, the fury exploded from the roof of the car into the highway.

Miss Dodds looked unharmed if not pissed. She looked as if she wanted to hurt them very much. She sniffed the air and turned towards them. 

“Grover” percy called the satyr. “She knows where we are. There is no point in running. She won't let us escape.”

Grover still continued to run  “I have to try. I can not let her hurt Annabeth or you. If you die, you go directly to the realm of your uncle, something they want and if it happens, they'll torture you for all eternity. I can not let that happen to my friend”

Percy felt warm. The prophecy had told him that he would be betrayed by a friend and for a moment, he had thought it to be Grover but he had refused to entertain such thought. He has been right. Grover wasn't perfect. He had a lot of defaults but there was one thing he wasn't and that was disloyal.

The rain percy remarked was making him feel better. His head was becoming clearer and clearer. A strength that he had never felt before was filling him. It was as if straight energy was being put into his veins. The collar his dad had given him felt warm.

With a Swift movement, percy left the shoulder on Grover to face the kindly one watching him. He didn't feel scared anymore. He felt as if he could move mountains as if nothing could stop him. The rain began to fall harder. Riptide in its xiphos form was now encased by a sheath of water. He ignored Grover screaming at him to stop. He ignored and forgot his pain. There was only one thing that mattered now and it was the Death of Miss Dodds.

He didn't know what the kindly one saw while she watched him but she was now watching him cautiously now more like another predator than a prey.

There was between the two of them a distance of 30 meters. With a tap of his heel, percy closed the distance cratering the ground behind him and appearing before the fury with Riptide ready to bisect her. His attack was blocked by the reappearance of Miss Dodds's whip. She had used the handle of it to block. 

He may not have hit her but she had for the first time since the beginning of their fight taken a step behind. The ground around them had exploded outwards sending flying to the mortal onlookers broken fragments of asphalt. Percy didn't pay attention to the screams around him. He focused only on his adversary who was grinding her teeth.

He didn't let her take a breath. With a movement of his hip, percy put on the side the handle of the monster and round-kicked her in the face with a foot encased in water.

She was sent careening on the other side of the road. He put his sword on a shoulder and made a movement with his free hand in a come here movement. 

It enraged the downed fury that with a scream disappeared from the ground to reappear before him making a descending strike with her flame weapon that had turned into a sword. Her sword strike was met by riptide. An explosion was born of their confrontation. Percy felt his bones rattle. He ignored it. He would worry about Pain later.

He stabbed forward trying to penetrate the skin of the monster but she dodged by spinning like a ballerina before trying to cut him on his side. Riptide was there to meet her strike.

The force of the strike sent him flying. Percy stops himself by doing a wheel in the air to fall on his feet. Miss Dodds was in his face swinging. He dodged on the left and rewarded her attack with a left hook. 

She snarled and answered with a headbutt. Percy willed the rain to change and morph into something else and it took the shape of needles. It fell on the emplacement of the monster. She escaped by throwing herself away from him.

Percy followed her not leaving her time to think. Riptide flew true and nicked her in the face. From it, golden ichor, the blood of the gods began to pool.

The monster touched her face as if shocked that it could have happened. “how dare you? how dare you? HOW DARE YOU?!” she screamed. Her scream shook the ground. It was as if an earthquake was happening. “You committed the greatest crime a mortal can do, make an immortal bleed. For that sin, I'll make you pay Percy Jackson. I tried to go easy on you due to the fact that I still saw you as a child. No more quarter Perseus” the fury said before flying to him.

He used riptide to block her attack and was sent as a result into two cars completely obliterating them before being stopped by the median strip that cracked. It hurt percy had to admit but feeling pain was good. It meant that he was still alive and that's what mattered.

The pain began to disappear slowly. If it wasn't for the water, percy didn’t think that he would have survived. People all around them were screaming and he could see in the air a helicopter with news written on it as if it couldn't be worse.

Percy didn't have more time to think before the fury launched herself at him. She didn't only have a fire sword. She had now orbited around her fire knives that she sent flying to him in quick succession.

Percy dodged the first one by diving to the side. It went on and on through the median strip and turned everything close from it ablaze. The asphalt on the other side of the road had begun melting.

She sent the remaining knives to him. Percy met them by strikes of riptide. He disregarded the unsupportable heat, the deafening explosion they made when they entered in contact with Riptide. He pushed forward.

Miss Dodds expected a strike on the right. He let her believe so and tricked her. At the moment she prepared herself to Parry on the right, Percy created with a thought a spear of water that exploded when entering in contact with her sending her flying.

Percy needed to finish the fight quickly. Even in the water, he didn't feel he could continue fighting at this rate. He had to be faster. He pushed, his foot broke, regenerated stronger and sent him towards his enemy.

She met his charge snarling. They continued to fight. Each of their attacks was cratering the ground around them, and creating deep gashes on the road.  In their exchanges, they appeared as two blurs of colour, blue and dark red clashing against each other. 

Each clash hurt percy, rattling his bones, making it harder to fight but he continued to fight. His right hand broke so he used his left one while the other one healed under the water effect and became stronger. He felt dizzy as if he was dreaming of everything happening.

He made an error and paid it in blood. The sword of Miss Dodds met his flesh. It burned, burned so much that his mind almost went blank. He grabbed the fire sword in his shoulder holding the fury in place before trying to stab her with Riptide.

She dodged and took some distance. ”It's been a while since I had such an exhilarating hunt son of Poseidon, no Perseus Jackson but it's just a question of time before you lose. Give up and embrace death. I'll advocate for you before my king”.

She looked and sounded sincere and to be honest, percy felt more exhausted than he ever had been in his life before. A big part of him wanted to accept but he reminded himself of everything he would lose if he did. He answered the proposition of the fury by strengthening his grip and taking an attack stance.

“Such a shame” the kindly one lamented before he attacked her. Their exchanges began again. Percy tried to use the rain around them to fight but each of their encounter vaporized around them every raindrop of water and they were moving too fast for the water to help when percy wished for it.

He began to make errors after errors. He began to take wounds, a cut on his forearm, a punch in the guts, overextended strikes yet he didn't give up. He had to have faith in his chances or it would be like declaring defeat.

The kindly one broke their stalemate by crashing a fire sword into riptide sending him flying 50 meters away. Percy fell on his back m scratching against the road. He wondered where Grover and Annabeth were. He hoped that they were alright and felt sorry to be the reason their first quest would fail.

He stood with difficulty. He felt as if he was one giant walking bruise. The water was still healing him but he was taking damage more quickly than the healing of the water.

The road looked now like the scene of an apocalyptic movie with fire and screams everywhere. The raining sky had turned red because of the smoke and the fire and the embers resulting from Miss Dodds's attacks. It felt weirdly beautiful.

“Call for all of it” the voice of his father whispered in his head. It was his last chance. The next minutes would either be the ones of his death or of his victory.

He called, no commanded the presence of every trace of moisture and water around him. The tug in the pit of his stomach hurt but he disregarded it. The kindly one walked toward him like a hunting lion on the brink of killing a wounded pray.

He continued to call for the water and he could sense gigantic amounts of it answering but they were taking too much time. At this rhythm, The fury would kill him before he could do anything.

The kindly one stopped walking. Something was tugging at her heels not allowing her to take more steps towards him. It was a Liana. Another came to life bursting from the ground and coiled around the body of Alecto, a music accompanying its presence.

There was only one person that it could be. It was Grover. “Leave my friend alone you ugly-looking bat monster” Grover screamed. Percy knew that he was probably scared to death yet Grover had chosen to come back for him. Percy could feel tears falling from his eyes.

The monster enraged, burned the lianas and for a moment, Percy thought that he would have to be cursed again by seeing somebody he loved dying before him again.

The monster threw herself at Grover and was met by a thrown dagger in her left eye. The daughter of Athena even weakened had acted at the perfect moment to avoid a tragedy. “Don't you forget me Fury.” she looked pale and blood had dyed her hair but except that, she looked alright if not exhausted.

The monster screamed in anger and removed the dagger from her bleeding eyes. She looked murderous. Fortunately, what percy had tried to do since the beginning of the fight had succeeded. 

High in the sky, the clouds had taken the shape of a giant trident. The shadow of it percy was sure probably engulfed all of Manhattan. He focused on it and twisted it.

The giant trident had become solid.

“Hey Miss Dodds” percy called to the kindly one. She turned towards him. “Look up”. She did and began to panic.

She began to glow brightly. “She's trying to take her true form” Annabeth screamed. 

As if he would let her. “Dad” he prayed. “Watch me”. The trident fell on the shining kindly own and the world screamed. White overcame his vision and percy finally slipped into the realm of Hypnos.