Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, and Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon.
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"Thoughts"
"Speaking"
This fanfic is an Alternate Universe (AU)
Explanations will appear as the chapters progress.
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Percy's Point of View
Haru lit both lamps and we could see the wide walls along with a small stream of water running at our feet. The deeper we went into the tunnels, the darker it got and the more it stinked. It's not a pleasant experience at all, especially considering that a monster is very close to here.
However, Haru's story about his grandfather was quite unbelievable and he had a lot of doubts: Do the tunnels have secret entrances like the one old Jeong found? And above all, the description of this half-human, half-hairy man is very similar to the one I saw in my dream, I doubt if they are the same given the age difference, but at least it seems to be of the same species.
But did the battle between them last a whole week?
"Haru, the story makes little sense, you're trying to trick me and make me scare inside these tunnels," I said to Haru
"HAHAHAHA, of course not idiot, I told you the story the same way the old man tells it," Haru replied, "he told me the story a few years ago and of course I have the same doubts that you have, so I asked him about it
"What was his answer?"
"He says that every part is completely real, and even he doesn't understand it, but he knows that what he experienced that day will happen again one day. He prepared all his life to defeat that nightmare"
"I see," I replied, "still some parts are hard to understand. By the way, Haru, what's that officer's name?" I asked him, "I don't remember hearing you mention him."
"I don't know, I'd like to know," Haru replied
"What?!"
"I met him a year ago, the poor fool showed up at the casino totally drunk, his wife had just left him and I offered my support, I totally understand what it feels like when a woman leaves you," Haru said
"Did you talk to his wife and they set things right?" I asked, surprised at my best friend's kindness
"No, I gave him more beer," Haru replied, and I should have waited for him "and not just any beer, the bottles that I stole from Ozai's personal cellar.
"Sure, why not, a normal day at work" I think he didn't mind my sarcasm, but he was also curious and amused because he stole from Ozai "I'm surprised you didn't get caught in the big robbery"
"My grandfather noticed, but he turned a blind eye by giving him half of the loot," Haru said dislikedly, "well, I made that guy gamble and he ended up with a huge debt so I ask him favors from time to time."
"Are you sure you're not a criminal?" I asked him with a look of disgust, "I think you're worse than trash
"How rude, I'm a businessman just that" he wasn't sure if he found it as a compliment or not
Continuing our way under the city inside the underground tunnels, the faint light of our lanterns barely illuminating the narrow path, revealing the age of the passages that stretched like the very veins of the city, it felt as if we had spent entire days in these tunnels, as if time had stopped, But realistically, we've only been here a whole day or maybe less.
We grabbed some provisions and water while rested for a few minutes on the ground when the routine of the exploration was abruptly interrupted, because in a corner among the shadows they cast, Haru noticed a strange shape on the ground that he could only notice when he sat down to rest. We approached cautiously, discovering to our horror human bones scattered on the ground. The reality of his discovery hit us like a punch in the gut as we looked up, a shadow darker than the others looming in the distance. A shiver ran down our spine as the shape of that shadow took on an ominous similarity to that of a full-grown skull. The silence was deafening from that place forgotten by time.
There on the floor, lay the half-complete skeleton of a man, and the flickering light of the lanterns revealed that the floor was stained with a viscous liquid that stretched from the bones to the walls. It was a strange liquid with a pale color.
We both steeled ourselves before kneeling next to the remains to examine them more closely, noticing the cold, sticky texture from liquid in the bones, as we searched for clues as to the identity of this unfortunate individual.
"Is that who we came for?"
"How am I to know?, I'm not a doctor" Haru replied with sarcasm in his voice, "the bones are a bit old, or so I think."
"He's supposed to be your friend, isn't he?"
"Shut up and look," Haru said, pointing to specific parts of the bones
Clearly the remains were old or at least a year old in that dirty place, however, something more intriguing captured our attention. Mysterious marks on some bones, the dim light of our lamps revealed macabre details as the bones showed unmistakable signs of having been gnawed by some animal or rather a monster. Jagged, heart-wrenching markings decorated the surfaces, revealing a brutal history.
Examining the remains, my fingers moved cautiously over the eroded bones, a technique my father taught me that consists of fine touch, with the tips of the fingers and following the patterns of the marks on the bones can give us clues or reveal the secrets buried in the dark past of this place.
"Haru, I need you to light up the whole place."
"No problem, did you discover anything?"
"I hope so," I replied
Haru placed both lanterns on the ground, raised and extended both arms generating some firebending, illuminating the entire ground, to see the wreckage more clearly.
With more illumination I could see that the fluid was especially in the areas where the bones had been bitten. It was as if a trace of the monster's activity had been marked as a personal signature of the beast.
"What kind of creature inhabits these tunnels, eats their victims with slight marks on their bones, and uses a viscous liquid?" I asked, looking at Haru
"Ozai?" he replied
"Close, but no. I'm not so sure, but I have an idea of what it might be."
"Perfect! Tell me what it is?"
Before I could answer, a faint but quite audible rattlesnake-like sound interrupted us, followed by a great silence. Henry and I exchanged glances a little anxiously. The echo of cautious footsteps echoed through the damp walls.
"What was that?" Haru asked
"Quick, follow me."
Without hesitation, Haru and I stood up and with quick, stealthy movements turned into one of the side tunnels, turned off the flashlights, waiting for the shadows to engulf us before the source of the noise reached our location. My heart was pounding while Haru looked a little more relaxed than I was, as if he knew what to do in the total darkness.
The noise intensified, transforming into an eerie murmur that filled the tunnels, as we went deeper, the ground became uneven and crunchy under our feet, our footsteps were like on an autumn afternoon when the dry leaves of the trees fall to the ground and when crushing them a pleasant sensation along with a small rustle can be perceived. Uncertainty took hold of us, I think it's pretty obvious that inside the tunnels there must be no dry leaves, unless there is a huge botanical garden underneath the city that we're not aware of. They were more recent bones, fresh and crunchy under the pressure of our feet.
The sound of our footsteps mingled with our own heartbeats as we continued to move forward and as we went deeper the number of bones increased, a scene out of a horror play, the bones on the floor creating a grim carpet that indicated to us the countless lives lost in these tunnels.
Finally we came to a wider space, where the darkness revealed a horrifying scene, a huge grave, like a kind of cemetery in the bowels of the city, and in the center of this bleak scenario Haru and I discovered the whereabouts of the missing people.
Recent human bodies, some with no apparent damage and others with a distinct lack of body parts such as limbs or organs, the fresher, more intact remains were still soaked in the viscous liquid.
"Haru, listen to me, I know what we are facing!" I said urgently "That viscous liquid is the product of a monster, that substance has a purpose in the beast's diet."
"What are you talking about?" Haru asked as he looked at the horrific scene before his eyes
"It's to preserve and soften the meat."
Haru approached the corpses, some of the recently deceased bodies partially submerged in the viscous liquid. The soaked slyzard took on a pallor without decomposing the body, making the beast's task easier.
Among the most preserved corpses were mostly of missing workers of the city, they wore the same orange uniform that we used to enter the tunnels and not raise suspicions, two victims belonged to city guards, apparently the local officials, did send their staff to investigate what happened, however, when they saw the state of their men again they decided to ignore the situation. In the background a smaller body stood out from the others, when we turned it over we discovered that it was a boy, he could not be more than eight years old, I suppose that in his innocent curiosity he tried to explore the tunnels, it is a pity that he had a destiny like this.
As I looked at the ground, my eyes became aware of faint black marks on the ground corresponding to ash, which only confirmed my suspicions about the beast present.
"It's him, here he is," Haru said
"Who?" I asked as I turned to look at Haru
Haru was holding one of the bodies in his arms, one of those in the orange uniform, I immediately knew who he was talking about, the reason why we went into the tunnels.
"Mr. Heng's son," Hary replied, "we'll take him with us and the little one, too." He pointed to the 8-year-old
I had never seen him like that before, he is usually an idiot and talks about some woman or about the evil Ozai, but now... Haru looked sadly at Mr. Heng's son as he hoped to find him still alive.
"Sure, but we have to deal with the Slyzard first," he said as he picked up my sword, "and we're at a big disadvantage."
"Slyzard?, What the hell is that?"
"Well, imagine a kind of... Wait a minute, you smell that, something's burning... Haru on the ground!" I shouted, but was interrupted by a huge blast of heat followed by a shower of flames passing over us.
"What the fuck was that?!, Who attacks us?!" Haru said, lying on the floor
"Haru keep silent, damn it!" Haru didn't answer me, but he was holding his friend's body. "near the tunnel we entered through, can you see it?"
I know it's not easy to look in the dark, fortunately that burst of fire ignited some debris allowing us to have more illumination.
"¿A wyvern?"
"Close, but no," said Percy, "that thing is a slyzard, from the Draconid family, only a little more evil and ugly. It's a smaller monster than the wyvern, it spits fire, it hits with a tail full of poisonous spikes, it doesn't kill you quickly, but its venom is a paralyzer and very effective, it also causes horrible pain. It bites with those sharp teeth and attacks with even sharper claws, some of which can cause a blast of sound—"
"Did you read the damn monster guide?, How do you know that?!" Haru asked me
"My father taught me how to defeat some monsters, luckily for me it's not the first time I've seen one."
"... I expected to see some damn smuggler, not a monster like that"
The slyzard sniffed from its position, looking for the intruders, (which was us), sneaking up and cautiously as if ready for a counterattack.
"That will find us" Haru said, "we must kill it quickly."
"Don't worry, and stay still," I said before he did anything. "The slyzard has bad eyesight, its gaze is like that of a snake, it responds to heat and with all the fire that it shot it will be difficult for it to find us"
"What's the plan?"
"Friend haha, you won't like it," I replied somewhat nervously.
"... I'm the bait, right?" Haru asked
I didn't exactly answer the question when I explained, but it could be considered that I did "We'll finish that thing quickly, when I give you the signal run as fast as you can to your left and be careful, this time it will throw the poisonous spikes at you so make sure you dodge them all. I don't want to have to hand over your dead body to Mr. Jeong Jeong"
"Next time, you'll be the bait!" Haru said with a forced smile on his face, "but if I just have to dodge I'll do it, he'll never be able to catch me."
"When he's distracted, I'll attack him quickly from his rear" I told him before asking "Are you ready?"
"Dude, I was born ready," Haru replied
"Now!"
A fun fact about my friend Haru, is that he was not accepted into the navy since his firebending using his hands is a reason for mockery and only serves as a flashlight or to light a fire and knowing this, Mr. Jeong Jeong has been training him continuously however his legs are different, has abnormal control. An average firebender knows how to use all of his limbs equally, but Haru is different, his legs are literally engulfed in flames which gives him greater mobility and agility, plus his kicks are deadly.
Beneath the corpses and bones of the pit, I held the handle of my sword in my hands tightly without exposing the sharp blade while Haru moved with cat-like grace. The slyzard, with its pale slyzardand venomous tail, let out a fierce roar and began to follow him.
Haru's agility as he ran was like an evasive dance, dodging the monster's attacks with swift and precise movements. The slyzard raised its tail by throwing the poisonous spikes, but they failed to reach their target, they simply stuck in the ground and walls.
"What's up, damn lizard?!" Haru shouted as he grabbed one of the bones and threw it at the beast, hitting its head. "Can't you reach me?" Haru said mockingly
The slyzard began to shoot flames that illuminated the wide chamber of the tunnel with a fleeting fire.
Haru smoothly managed to dodge all the attacks, so I stealthily got up and took advantage of the distracted beast trying to assassinate my friend, I made a quick jump to get closer and with an elegant twist I managed to slide the blade into the slyzard's tail cutting it from side to side, neutralizing the poisonous quills.
So, in one last thrust and with one thrust I pierced the sharp point of my sword into the back of the beast's head, an instant death and the slyzard fell defeated. Between victory and lingering smoke, Haru approached.
"Looks like you didn't need any sword training," Haru said smiling looking at the beast's carcass, "you made a clean cut, how did you know its weak point is the tail?"
"I told you, my father has taken me to hunt monsters and taught me how to kill them, for this first one you must neutralize the poison and the rest is a piece of cake," Percy replied
"You'll be the bait in the next one."
"Don't even dream about it, without my help you wouldn't have been able to kill that thing, you don't know anything about monsters."
"True, but I wonder one thing: How come you know so much about them and can't learn the simple history of the Fire Nation?" Haru asked me with a mocking look
"That's a topic of conversation, for another time."
The laughter lightened the tense atmosphere that enveloped the pit in which we were present.
When we finished arguing, we approached the body of Mr. Chen's son together with the eight-year-old and wrapped the bodies very carefully
"Their families will be happy to say goodbye to their relatives properly" Haru said
"Friend I'm sorry for your loss, I don't know how close you were to the guy, but at least we were able to get him back his body, you kept your promise to his family."
"I suppose you're right," Haru said, "but one thing isn't clear to me, how it is that a single slyzard ate so many people and no one suspected anything until a few weeks ag"o
"Maybe this pit was already present before the monster appeared," I answered, but being just as confused, "whatever the case, we have to get out of here as soon as possible, this place gives me chills"
"All right, let's go."
When we finished preparing the bodies for the journey out of the tunnels, Haru and I wasted no more time, we lifted our things and followed the same path we took to enter.
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