The Wanderer Among Shadows
The three of them took another taxi to go to the address Percy had written down for Aunt Medusa's house in West Hollywood. Percy asked the driver if he knew the neighborhood.
But the man said he didn't know that place at all, while staring intently at Percy, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
"Have I seen you on a show? Are you some kind of child star?" he asked.
"Well… I'm a stunt actor for other child actors," Percy replied, inventing something quickly.
After going forward a bit, they got off at the stop and began walking to look for the address themselves.
But nobody knew where it was. Not even if it existed.
Percy, meanwhile, seemed to have changed slightly since that encounter in the sea; the air around him felt colder or tenser. Grover and Annabeth followed him, not understanding what was going on with him.
At that moment, Percy stopped in front of a TV store where, right there, a photo of him, Grover, and Annabeth speaking with Ares was being shown. The news said their whereabouts were being sought, pointing also at Grover and Annabeth… and Ares.
Percy's eyes narrowed with a burst of momentary rage, as if he were about to walk into the store and destroy everything in his path. The stress and anxiety accumulating from this mission were starting to take their toll. His anger at knowing that his father hadn't even had the decency to give him a single word or the slightest support mixed with everything else. Even the figure Annabeth believed was Ares had at least given him nightmares. Even damn Zeus had sent him a couple of lightning bolts as a gift, confirming that he denied his existence.
But his father… not even that.
His mother had been kidnapped and he hadn't received a single word of strength or support. And he had to save his father's damn backside to keep him from ending up in a war with the same guy who had blown up a bus just to get rid of him.
Suddenly, the streetlamps and televisions in front of Percy sparked and shattered one by one, plunging the entire block into darkness.
Annabeth, Grover, and Percy all jumped.
Percy, out of reflex, turned toward his friends.
But he saw that they weren't looking at him, but toward a corner. The moonlight was the only thing illuminating the place now that everything was dark. And even then, Percy saw better than his friends; they could only make out a still shadow in the corner.
Percy, however, clearly saw the same man who had been following them since Las Vegas. Standing there. Watching them.
Percy was far too angry now to keep dealing with this. Furious, he drew his two swords from his bag.
"Percy!" Annabeth shouted when she saw that he was truly ready to fight that man.
"What do you want? You came for me, right? Then come," he said at once, genuinely furious as he took a stance with both swords raised.
The black sword and the celestial bronze one seemed to shine under the reflection of the moon.
The man did not answer; he simply looked at him, tilting his head slightly to the side, as if studying Percy.
"If you won't come… then I'll go," Percy said, letting himself be dragged by his anger. He ran toward the man with all his strength.
The force in his legs was so great that the ground beneath him cracked slightly.
Percy leapt at him; once he was right in front of him, he jumped and slashed downward with both swords.
Grover and Annabeth ran quickly to join the battle; after all, during this entire adventure, they had been the ones who helped the least, while Percy did almost all the heavy work. At least with Medusa they had been able to contribute, but after that… they felt more like a burden.
The man moved easily to the side, dodging Percy's swords, while staring intently at one of them… more precisely, the black sword, with clear interest.
Percy's swords scraped the ground, sending sparks flying. But he didn't stop; seeing his first attack fail, he slashed again with the black sword vertically, followed by the bronze one.
The man raised one hand and lightly struck the wrist with which Percy held the black sword, deflecting the first cut. Then he raised his other hand, stopping the celestial bronze sword with his palm. When they collided, sparks jumped as if Percy had struck steel.
But Percy still did not stop. He spun the black sword between his fingers to position it for a stab straight to the man's chest.
The man moved aside again, dodging.
Percy was already starting to notice that the man was being more cautious with the black sword than with the bronze one.
Suddenly, the man pointed a finger at the air. A small burst of air shot outward toward nothing… but the scream that followed revealed that it had hit Annabeth, who had been invisible. She fell to the ground and her cap slipped off her head.
Grover appeared flying thanks to his winged shoes, but the man waved his hand as if swatting a fly, and Grover was sent hurtling away until he crashed against a nearby wall.
"You asked for it," Percy said, gripping his swords tightly. Suddenly, his body began to move faster; so fast that his arms seemed to blur. The man moved both hands while sparks flew. He tried to grab Percy by the chest, but Percy rolled to the side, spinning with his swords to slash him. The strike also took down a lamppost, cutting it clean off.
The man was only defending himself. And at times, he seemed to be trying to grab Percy, leaving marks on the walls, the ground, and several parked cars.
He was really strong—much stronger than anything Percy had faced so far.
Percy dodged the man's hand again, stepping back to see if he could find any weakness to exploit.
They stood facing each other.
The man stared at him and opened his mouth for the first time since he had appeared. But the only thing Percy heard were strange sounds, words he couldn't understand at all.
"What?" Percy asked out of reflex.
The man opened his mouth again, but once more nothing could be understood.
Then, suddenly, he put on a truly serious expression before bringing a hand to his chest. He seemed to be suffering; he pressed tightly while his body began to emit a strange glow, as if it were turning into dust.
The man looked at Percy and pronounced "Nyar'Kaath," like a deep, guttural roar impossible for a human to reproduce.
Percy froze, staring at him, understanding something… or thinking he understood.
"Is that… your name?" Percy asked, confused by how strange the being was.
When he said that, the man's body, which had been turning into white dust, reassembled completely. It restored itself as if it had never crumbled. He released his chest, no longer in pain.
And then he looked at Percy with deep sadness, a disappointment that didn't seem directed at him… but at himself. As if he had just realized he had made a mistake.
The man looked again at Percy's black sword for a moment.
"Are you looking for my teacher?" Percy asked, observing him more carefully. The man stared at him, though he seemed to barely understand. "I see. I think we have a misunderstanding," Percy said, beginning to connect the pieces. After all, the man hadn't hurt him even once. Even Grover and Annabeth were fine… well, Annabeth was; Grover had crashed into a wall.
"I'm sorry. I don't know where he is. Sometimes he just disappears, and other times he shows up nearby," Percy said to the man, not knowing whether he understood properly.
The man looked at him for a few more seconds before showing an expression of pure hopelessness. Then he looked around, as if trying to confirm that Miraak wasn't nearby. Only after doing so did he let out a sigh that created a slight gust of wind. Finally, he turned around and began to walk away, moving with a sadness so palpable that even Percy felt it.
Annabeth, Grover, and Percy looked at each other in confusion. Then they looked around and saw the destruction caused by the fight. Obviously not at the level of Percy's teacher, but the slashes everywhere were striking, especially that fallen lamppost on the ground throwing out sparks.
"I think it's better if we keep searching somewhere else," Percy said, a bit embarrassed, because he had been the one to attack first. And luckily that man wasn't looking for them. Percy realized he was truly powerful. Much more than he had imagined. And if he had wanted to, he could have turned them into mush. But at no point had he tried to kill him; even when he tried to move his hands to catch him, it was surely only to restrain him.
Still, Percy didn't know what was happening to that man. Especially that look full of regret. He didn't seem to be an enemy of his teacher either.
Percy walked with Grover and Annabeth, moving away from the place. Before turning the corner, Percy cast one last glance toward the spot where the man had walked away.