chapter 41

                                    

                                          
Three years ago
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Percy bit his lower lip as he stood at the doorstep of what used to be his home.
                          
Five years. Five years had passed before he had been here. He still remembered when he left. He could even visualize it,a smaller version of himself opening the door open and running out,not daring to look back for fear of breaking his promise to his mother.
                          
"Look after your brother" That was what she had made him promise to do,and through all these years it had been his driving force,the promise he made to May Castellan.
                          
His mom.
                          
One of the he loved more than his life in this world. The other one was safe with Artemis. Hopefully by now,he would be in camp Half-blood,even more safe with a place to sleep and three square meals a day.
                          
"I kept my promise mom" he mumbled. The streets had very few people who didn't even spare him a glance as he stood in front of the house" and now I'm back, to see you just one more time." He looked at the soft cloak Artemis had gifted him,the one that hid his missing arm and his decaying body" so I can tell you goodbye."
                          
Goodbyes were the worst. Just the thought of it made his vision blurry and made all these uncomfortable emotions to bubble within him.
                          
Which led him to thinking about Thalia,and how he had left her on the forest floor, crying silently because he made her remember the trauma of loosing her younger brother.
                          
That thought made his features harden and without wasting another second,he went up the stairs and rang the doorbell.
                          
"Coming" a voice he wasn't familiar with answered. Few minutes later,the door opened to reveal a beautiful brown haired,blue eyed woman of medium height who seemed to be the same age as his mother. She had an apron on which suggested she had just come from cleaning the house.
                          
What happened? Did his mother move away from the house? A part of him wanted to slap himself hard after that internal questioning. He had been so eager to go back and see his mom that he hadn't considered the possibility of her not actually being there in the first place.
                          
"I'm-"
                          
"Percy,right?" She asked.
                          
"Yes?" He answered questioningly. Five years of constant run-ins with monsters taught him that beings who knew his name were either deities or monsters who specialized in stalking their prey.
                          
Both were extremely dangerous.
                          
"Hi,I'm Sally Jackson" she said opening the door further" please,come in "
                          
He had never heard of a goddess...or god...named Sally Jackson,so he guessed this was a human he didn't remember meeting or a monster.
                          
The run from the forest where the hunters camp was located to Westport Connecticut had drained him significantly and the poison in his body had spread even further, meaning he was even closer to his death. If this Sally Jackson turned out to be a monster,he would be long dead before he met his mother.
                          
"How do you know me?" He asked,his left hand gripping Riptide tightly. Sally noticed the slight movement of his hand and smiled warmly.
                          
"No need to be suspicious. May told me about you" she said.
                          
"May,as in,my mom?" He asked.
                          
"Yes."
                          
"Where is she?" Percy asked with an urgency in his voice that was new even to him.