Chapter 37 – A Playful Black Dragon
Percy burst through the apartment door, Grover hobbling right behind him on his crutches. The familiar stench of stale beer and cigarette smoke hit Percy like a wave, but he ignored it. His heart was pounding from everything that had happened at school and on the way home.
"Mom, mom, listen to me. We need to talk. It's serious," Percy called out urgently, his voice echoing slightly in the cramped living room.
From the couch, Gabe's bulky form shifted irritably as he glanced up from his poker game with his equally unpleasant friends. Empty chip bags and beer cans littered the coffee table.
"Stop bothering her, kid. Can't you see she's busy serving me and my friends?" Gabe snarled, his voice dripping with annoyance.
Percy glared at him, anger bubbling up inside. He had put up with this for too long. "Don't treat my mother like that, you lazy fat pig," Percy shot back, his fists clenching at his sides.
Gabe's face turned red with rage. He heaved himself up from the couch, towering over Percy with a menacing glare, raising his meaty fist to strike.
"No, Gabe, don't!" Sally shouted desperately from the kitchen doorway, her eyes wide with fear as she rushed forward.
In a flash, Grover stepped protectively in front of Percy. With surprising speed and precision, he swung one of his crutches upward, striking Gabe squarely in the groin. Gabe doubled over with a guttural groan, collapsing to the floor in agony, clutching himself.
Grover turned to Percy with a knowing look. "Protector, got it?" he said quietly, as if confirming something important.
Then, addressing Sally, Grover added urgently, "Percy has to leave now. We need to take him to that place."
Sally didn't hesitate. She snatched Gabe's car keys from the hook by the door, her hands trembling slightly but her resolve firm. The three of them bolted out of the apartment, down the stairs, and into the dimly lit parking lot. They piled into Gabe's beat-up old Camaro.
Sally slid into the driver's seat, glancing back at Percy and Grover with determination in her eyes. "Hold on tight. We're not stopping this car until we reach our destination," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos.
She floored the accelerator, and the car sped off into the night, tires screeching as they merged onto the highway.
After a few moments of tense silence, Percy couldn't hold it in any longer. "Now tell me what's going on. I swear I didn't steal anything," he said, his mind racing with confusion and frustration from the day's events.
Sally kept her eyes on the road but reached back to squeeze his knee reassuringly. "We believe you, Percy. But the problem is that only us believing doesn't change anything. There are bigger forces at play here."
Percy sighed deeply, staring out the window at the blurring lights. "Where are you taking me?" he asked.
"I'm taking you to a special camp, for people like you," Sally explained softly.
"What? Am I crazy? Is it a mental hospital?" Percy asked, half-joking but genuinely worried.
"No, honey. Nothing like that. All of this has to do with your father," Sally replied, her tone turning nostalgic and a bit sad.
"My father? What does he have to do with this?" Percy pressed, leaning forward.
Sally took a deep breath. "I had just graduated high school and was working a summer job here in New Jersey when I met him at the beach. He was... different from every man I had ever met. Tall, handsome, with this incredible presence. He was dazzling, like he belonged to the sea itself."
Grover, sitting in the back, muttered under his breath, "They're always like that… always the same way of showing up. Dramatic entrances and all."
Sally smiled faintly but continued. "We fell in love quickly, Percy. It was magical, like something out of a story. And then you were born, and everything became even better. You were our little miracle. But... he had to leave before you could even remember him."
"So he really abandoned us?" Percy asked, a mix of hurt and anger in his voice.
"No, Percy. He loved you—loves you—more than anything. Leaving was probably the most painful thing he ever had to do," Sally said gently, her eyes glistening in the dashboard lights.
"Why did he have to leave us?" Percy demanded, needing answers.
Sally opened her mouth to explain, glancing at him with a heavy heart, when suddenly Grover shouted from the backseat: "Sally, watch out!"
Out of nowhere, a massive cow plummeted from the sky, landing right in front of the car with a thunderous impact. Sally yanked the wheel hard to swerve, but it was too late. The car spun out of control, flipping multiple times before slamming upside down into the muddy ditch beside the road. Glass shattered everywhere, and the world spun in chaos.
When everything stopped moving, Sally's voice cut through the ringing in Percy's ears. "Percy, are you okay?" she asked frantically.
"I am. And you, Mom, are you okay?" Percy replied, unbuckling himself and checking for injuries.
"I am," Sally said, though her voice shook a little.
"Grover, are you okay?" Percy turned to his friend.
Grover groaned. "That was a flying cow, right? I'm not crazy," he confirmed, rubbing his head.
Suddenly, Percy felt the ground trembling beneath them. He peered out the cracked window and saw it—a enormous, bull-headed monster charging toward them on powerful legs, horns gleaming in the moonlight.
"What is that thing?" Percy whispered in horror.
Sally started banging desperately on her jammed door, trying to force it open. Percy glanced over and saw Grover awkwardly removing his pants.
"Why are you doing that?" Percy asked, bewildered.
"I'm saving your skin," Grover replied matter-of-factly.
With a powerful kick from his newly revealed furry goat legs, Grover smashed the car door clean off its hinges, sending it flying into the woods. They scrambled out of the wreckage just in time.
Percy stared at Grover's lower half—hooves and all. "You're half donkey? You don't even need those crutches," he said in shock.
"We'll talk later. We need to get out of here before that thing reaches us," Grover urged, already starting to run.
"Come on, we're out of time!" Grover shouted over his shoulder.
The three of them sprinted through the rain-soaked forest toward the distant hill. Sally risked a glance back and saw the monster—the Minotaur—hefting their overturned car like it was a toy.
"Duck!" she screamed.
The car soared through the air, narrowly missing them as they dove to the ground. It crashed into a stand of trees, splintering wood and metal in a deafening explosion.
"Go, go!" Grover yelled, helping Percy back to his feet.
Panting heavily, Grover added, "We're almost there. Just a little more and we'll be safe. I can feel the boundary ahead."
Percy spotted the glowing sign atop the hill: Camp Half-Blood. Hope surged through him as he and Grover crossed the invisible line, a strange warmth washing over them. But when Sally tried to follow, she bounced back as if hitting a wall.
"Come on, Mom, come with me!" Percy cried, grabbing her arm and pulling desperately.
"I can't go past this point. Only people like you—half-bloods—can cross. An ordinary mortal like me can't enter. You have to go, quickly," Sally said, tears in her eyes but pushing him forward.
"I won't leave you behind!" Percy protested, refusing to let go.
In that moment, the Minotaur caught up. Its massive hand closed around Sally, lifting her off the ground.
"Put my mother down right now!" Percy roared, fury igniting in his veins.
"Use the pen, Percy!" Grover shouted, tossing him Mr. Brunner's old pen.
"What? What are you talking about?" Percy fumbled it.
Grover demonstrated by clicking his own, but Percy got the idea. He uncapped the pen, and in a flash of golden light, it transformed into a gleaming bronze sword—Riptide.
At that exact instant, Sally's form shimmered and dissolved into golden dust in the Minotaur's grasp, vanishing like mist.
Percy's world shattered. Rage consumed him completely. With a primal scream, he charged the beast, sword swinging wildly. The campers, alerted by the commotion, poured out of their cabins toward the entrance, weapons drawn. They arrived just in time to witness the brutal fight: Percy, inexperienced and overwhelmed, was no match. The Minotaur tossed him into trees like a ragdoll, dragged him across the dirt, and battered him relentlessly.
Finally, it pinned Percy against a thick pine trunk, lowering its deadly horns for the killing blow.
Chiron galloped onto the scene in his centaur form, bow ready, racing to intervene. But before he could loose an arrow, the sky itself seemed to darken unnaturally, as if night had fallen in an instant. An immense, crushing pressure blanketed the entire area, forcing everyone to their knees.
Chiron strained to look upward, his ancient mind racing. That power… once, long ago, three great gods stood here together. This feels similar—yet darker, more primal.
His blood ran cold at the sight above: a blue-haired teenage boy hovering in the air, massive black dragon wings beating slowly, sharp claws extended, and cold golden eyes gazing down with utter boredom.
A few minutes earlier, Dante had been soaring high above the countryside, finally nearing Camp Half-Blood after his long journey. The distant screams caught his enhanced hearing immediately.
"Well, looks like my idiot uncle has arrived earlier than expected. And if I'm not mistaken, he must be fighting the Minotaur right about now," Dante muttered to himself with a smirk, accelerating his flight speed.
He arrived in a blur, just as the Minotaur prepared its fatal charge. Without hesitation, Dante unleashed his full aura, an invisible wave of draconic power that froze the monster—and everything else—in place.
Looks like I need to be careful with the butterfly effect, Dante thought analytically. After all, in the original story, Percy kills the Minotaur himself and proves his heroism. But now, because of my presence changing things, he's about to be impaled by its horns. Can't let that happen—not yet, anyway.
Back in the present, Dante spoke for the first time, his voice echoing powerfully as he flapped his wings once more, descending gracefully until his clawed feet touched the ground in front of the battered Percy.
"You're Percy Jackson, right?" Dante asked casually, tilting his head.
Percy, bruised and bleeding but , Star up at the imposing figure—dragon wings Black behind him, claws glinting, golden eyes piercing. He looked like a final boss from a video game staring down a level-one rookie.
"Yes… I'm Percy Jackson," Percy managed to say through gritted teeth.
Dante chuckled lightly. "Well, you're really not very impressive up close. Scrawny, beaten half to death already. But you being Percy Jackson means my mission can finally begin in earnest."
Percy opened his mouth to demand answers—who was this guy? What mission?—but exhaustion overtook him. He'd been running on pure adrenaline to avoid dying. Now, with apparent safety, his body gave out, and he collapsed unconscious to the ground.
Dante glanced at the limp form and shrugged. "I'm not carrying you in my arms like some damsel. I only carry my girlfriends—nothing else. Princess treatment is reserved."
He turned to Grover, who was still frozen in awe. "Hey, satyr. Come get your friend before he drools on my shoes."
Then Dante approached the Minotaur, which had regained some movement and was attempting to flee in terror. "Well, big guy number two… I really wanted to give you the same VIP treatment as big guy number one back in the city—the slow, painful kind—but I don't have time to play around tonight. Still, I'll give you a proper funeral. Consider it a mercy."
With effortless strength that shocked the watching campers, Dante seized one of the Minotaur's horns in a single clawed hand and hurled the massive beast skyward, higher than the treetops, higher than the clouds.
"Finally, I get to do this," Dante said with a wide, excited grin, his eyes gleaming.
He inhaled deeply, chest expanding as dark energy gathered. "Roar of the Black Dragon King!"
A colossal beam of pitch-black energy erupted from his mouth, roaring like thunder as it lanced upward. It struck the Minotaur dead center in midair. The resulting explosion was cataclysmic—shockwaves rippling outward, dispersing every cloud in the sky and revealing a breathtaking canopy of stars twinkling above.
Dante exhaled casually, admiring the clear night. "Well, even using only ten percent of my power, I can still cause this much damage. Not bad for a warm-up."
His gaze shifted to the assembled crowd: Annabeth in her Yankees cap, gripping her dagger; Chiron in centaur form; Luke with his sword drawn; and dozens of wide-eyed campers, all paralyzed with fear.
A mischievous idea sparked in Dante's mind. He decided to play a little prank.
Suppressing a smile, Dante adopted a deadly serious expression and began walking toward them slowly. His lingering aura pressed down harder, preventing anyone from moving or even raising their weapons properly. The camp's magical barrier shimmered and trembled violently as his power brushed against it.
"This is Camp Half-Blood, right?" Dante said in a cold, menacing tone. "My mission is to destroy this place completely and kill all of you. No survivors."
Gasps and whimpers spread through the crowd as he advanced step by step.
Annabeth, though trembling uncontrollably, summoned her courage and stepped forward defiantly, dagger raised as high as the aura allowed. "As a daughter of Athena, I won't let you harm anyone here. You'll have to go through me first!"
Dante held the act for a few more seconds... then couldn't contain it. He burst into loud, genuine laughter, doubling over slightly.
"Look at your faces! Priceless. Do you really think those scared expressions are going to frighten anyone? Come on, that was hilarious!"
The pressure vanished instantly as Dante reined in his aura. Relief washed over the campers, mixed with confusion and lingering fear.
Chiron, regaining his composure first, studied Dante intently. The boy looked human now—except for those striking golden eyes—but there was an uncanny resemblance to a former student of his, someone from years ago. It seemed impossible, but Chiron decided to take a calculated risk.
"Sir… may I ask if you know someone named Sera?" Chiron ventured politely.
Dante's wings retracted fully as he shifted back to a completely human appearance—handsome, blue hair tousled, casual clothes. He strolled right up to Chiron, ignoring the weapons still half-raised around him. Effortlessly, he crossed the Camp Half-Blood barrier, which parted like mist for him.
"Of course I do. How could I not? She's my mother," Dante replied with a casual smile.
Chiron's eyes widened in realization. "If Sera is your mother, that means—"
"That I'm the grandson of that idiot sea god Poseidon, and the kid over there, Percy, is technically my uncle. Yes, that's exactly what it means," Dante finished, grinning wider.
A stunned silence fell over the entire camp. Jaws dropped. Weapons lowered forgotten.
After a long pause, Chiron cleared his throat. "Then... if Sera is your mother, why did you scare us like that? It was quite alarming."
Dante shrugged innocently, hands in his pockets. "Because I thought it would be fun. Lighten the mood after all that drama."
"That was not fun!" Annabeth shouted indignantly, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger.
The other campers murmured in agreement, some starting to chuckle nervously as the shock wore off.
And so, with a dramatic entrance, a terrifying prank, and a bombshell revelation, Dante's arrival at Camp Half-Blood finally happened—changing everything in its wake.