I walked up to my mom's apartment. I rang the doorbell, and there she was — my beautiful mother, smelling like peppermint and licorice, the weariness and worry evaporating from her face as soon as she saw me.
"Percy! Oh, thank goodness. Oh, my baby."
She crushed the air right out of me. We stood in the hallway as she cried and ran her hands through my hair. I'll admit it — my eyes were a little misty too. I was shaking, so relieved to see her.
My mom told me she'd just appeared at the apartment this morning, scaring Gabe half out of his wits. She kept looking around nervously as she spoke — not that I blamed her, of course. Being in the presence of a god could be nerve-wracking at times.
Thank Hades for small mercies, though. I don't know if my mom would ever be able to acclimate back to the normal world if she remembered staying in the Underworld and being brought back home by Persephone. I made a small mental note to thank Persephone for that, by the way.
My mom claimed she didn't remember anything since the Minotaur and couldn't believe it when Gabe told her I was a wanted criminal traveling across the country, blowing up national monuments. She'd been going out of her mind with worry all day because she hadn't heard the news. Gabe had forced her to go to work, saying she had a month's salary to make up and she'd better get started.
I swallowed back my anger and told her my own story. I tried to make it sound less scary than it had been, but that wasn't easy.
I was just getting to the fight with Ares when Gabe's voice interrupted from the living room.
"Hey, Sally! That meatloaf done yet, or what?"
I shared a look with my mom. I told her to back up before raising my hand toward the door. A white-hot column of richly red fire erupted from my fingertips. The door creaked and groaned. The hinges melted into the doorframe and — crack! — my mom's apartment door went flying, leaving a rectangular-shaped hole in the wall across from it.
I stepped through the melted doorway, smoke curling off my hand. In the weeks I'd been gone, the apartment had turned into Gabeland. Garbage was ankle-deep on the carpet. The sofa had been reupholstered in beer cans. Dirty socks and underwear hung off the lampshades. Gabe was sprawled across the loveseat like a walrus, watching World Poker Tour and shoving chips into his mouth.
When he saw me, his cigar dropped out of his hand. His face got redder than lava.
"You got nerve coming here, you little punk. I thought the police dragged you off."
"You thought wrong," I cut him off, my hand inching toward my glasses.
"He's not a fugitive after all," my mom interjected in a last-ditch attempt to de-escalate things. We both knew better, though. "Isn't that wonderful, Gabe?"
Gabe looked back and forth between us. He didn't seem to think my homecoming was so wonderful. Honestly, at this point, I was more surprised he hadn't said anything about the door, but the Mist was a powerful thing.
"Bad enough I had to give back your life insurance money, Sally," he growled. His pudgy arm pointed toward the landline, fat spilling around the couch. "Get me the phone. I'll call the cops."
"Gabe, no!"
He raised his eyebrows. "Did you just say no? You think I'm gonna put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro."
"But—"
He raised his hand, and my mother flinched.
That was it. Blood roared in my ears. My heart dropped all the way into my stomach, and I snarled loudly. That frozen-over well of hatred exploded.
After fighting Ares, my control over the Game's power was perfect. I had it fine-tuned to the point where it was like an art.
I teleported straight to Gabe, burying my flame-covered knee in his gigantic stomach. The tendrils of fire dug into his body like the teeth of a shark, pulling him off the couch and blasting him into the air. He howled in pain as he went flying upwards, crashing into the ceiling with a resounding boom!
As he came falling back down, the kitchen sink exploded. The constant stream of water pooled around my feet.
"You filthy waste of space," I ground out, the water shooting at him and wrapping around him in tight, rope-like strands. They hardened into icicles, sinking deep into his skin. The tips began staining red, pooling with blood.
"I'm going to kill you!"
"What is this?" Gabe cried, straining against the watery binds. His nose was leaking blood freely at this point. His eyes looked up at me, wide in fear. I noted, with not as much disgust as I originally expected to feel, that my attack had cleanly vaporized his shirt. There was a deep wound in the shape of my footprint emblazoned on his sizzling chest.
I started closing my hand into a fist. I felt Gabe's bones start to crack. Small groans of pain escaped from his mouth. I was about to close my hand completely, snuffing out his life as easily as it would be to blow out a candle.
My mom had fallen quiet a long time ago. I got the feeling that she wasn't exactly opposed to this either.
Then my mom spoke.
"Percy… maybe this isn't the way."
I hesitated, my anger still blazing, but I listened. The watery binds loosened, splashing into the carpet.
She stepped closer. "Sometimes the hardest thing to do… is to hold back."
I blinked.
A strange transformation began. Gabe shrunk…and shrunk…and shrunk. His stomach sucked in, transforming into a white avian-like torso. Wings sprouted from his body, and his mouth transformed into a beak. We all stood there in silence as Gabe finished his transformation… into a dove.
What. The. Fuck.
"How is that any better than killing him ?" I said slowly. My brain literally couldn't wrap itself around the fact that my mom stopped me from killing him… just to do this instead and also who did that, was it my father, maybe Hestia or someone else entirely ?
"Because," she said gently, opening the window and forcing him to fly away, "now he'll spend the rest of his entire life on the move, never sure of what he's going to eat, never able to rest, even for a moment. For someone like this, that sort of life is far more painful than a quick death." my mom said, dashing away the rest of my concerns with her warm smile. Her eyes were shining brightly.
"You realize now we have nowhere to stay, right?"
"About that," I started uneasily. "After my fight yesterday, I, uh… I met with Dad… on Olympus."
My mom's eyes widened. Her hands shot up, grabbing my shoulders. "How? That isn't supposed to happen! How do you know it was him?"
"Relax, Mom," I said, my heart starting to race a little as I grabbed her hands. "It was actually him. It was at the council of gods."
"I was under the impression he couldn't visit you," she replied, her multicolored eyes still searching into my soul. It had been a while since I'd seen my mother so serious.
"Yeah, Mom, 100% sure," I said, a grin forming on my face at the very thought of it. "Dad wants me to come down to Atlantis this summer. He wants to teach me about my powers and train me in the art of strategy and battle."
"I'm really happy to hear that," my mom smiled at me — one of those melancholy, wistful smiles. "Spend the summer with your father. After, though, maybe in the fall, we can try again. There are other boarding schools around here, other academies…"
"Mom," I said, a sad half-smile forming. I loved my mom, and I was beyond ecstatic to have her back, but I think we both knew I was too deep into the world of gods to just leave for school in the fall like some normal kid.
She lowered her eyes. "I'm trying, Percy. I just… I need some time."
"It'll be okay, Mom," I said, reaching into my pocket. My fingers closed around the keys. "I know it will."
Her eyes widened as I placed the keys in her hand.
"Percy—Hither Hills? That's in Montauk! How…?"
"Aunt Hestia and Dad, and before living we also have a reservation at restaurant at Broadway " I nodded at her. The look on her face somehow made all of this worth it. The Chimera, Ares, Medusa — I'd go through all of it a thousand more times if it meant seeing my mom this happy after years of worry and anguish.
"I could come to visit from time to time," I added, "and Hestia could drop in on you too."
"I… I'm not sure," my mom replied, wiping a stray tear down her cheek. A small, watery smile appeared on her face. "Your father tried to do something like this for me, once."
"And what's wrong with that?" I asked, my eyebrows raising. I remembered vaguely all of those conversations I promised myself I'd have with my mom. All of the things I wanted to say, wanted to ask. The timing just didn't seem right. I'd just gotten her back… they could wait.
She wiped a stray tear off her cheek. "I think you know, Percy. I think you're enough like me to understand. If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself. I can't let a god take care of me… or my son. I have to find courage on my own. Your quest has reminded me of that."
"Just… keep it in mind," I said. I really wanted her to take the offer, but she was right — I did understand. I knew she felt like she owed it to herself to take control of her life.
"Where will you go, Percy?"
My answer was immediate. "Half-Blood Hill. At least, for a bit. I've been running around a lot, so I'd like to chill for a bit before going to Atlantis."
"Okay," my mom said uncertainly. She looked around Gabe's apartment, crossing her arms. "I need to grab some things from here… but then maybe, just maybe, I'll go to Hither Hills."
"Okay, Mom, but before that dinner ?" I said, grabbing her into another hug.
"Yes, baby," my mom held me at arm's length. She slowly leaned in and kissed my forehead. "You are a hero, Percy. My hero."