Percy Jackson - The Record of The Journey of a Mortal Who Become a God

The torrential rain drenched all the rural roads as Sally drove the Camaro deeper. The wind struck the car, and the raindrops lashed against the windshield, making it much more difficult to drive.

However, despite all these conditions, she didn't seem to want to slow down; in fact, she was driving faster and faster. The darkness of the night made it almost impossible to see inside the car, but thanks to the lightning flashes that lit up every moment, this issue was resolved.

Sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, next to Sally, was Ikki, who was staring at the rain outside his window with an inexplicable glint in his beautiful sapphire blue eyes, like two flawless agates.

He couldn't help but think about the recent events.

Everything that happened today was the end of his simple life, something he would lie about if he said he wouldn't miss, the moments of peace while strengthening himself were over. However, he wasn't sad about it; he was strangely excited for everything the future had in store.

He stopped thinking and looked at Percy and Grover through the rearview mirror. Percy kept glancing at Grover, more specifically, at his satyr legs.

Percy's face was amused, but he turned his gaze back to the road ahead.

Due to the silence and the thousands of questions swirling in his mind, Percy tried to find answers. He looked at his best friend and asked, "So, Ikki, what were you doing with Grover...?"

"Well, Grover showed up at my house saying I was in danger and asking for your location," Ikki decided to explain briefly, then casually added, "Then my mom told me Grover would take me to a safe place, and soon after, we went looking for you. The rest, you can imagine."

Although he had one of his questions answered, Percy had others on his mind. He looked at his mom and Grover, who seemed to know each other.

"How do you and my mom know each other?" Percy asked Grover, who was sitting next to him, glancing at the rearview mirror as if checking if anyone was following them.

Grover was surprised by the sudden question, but he answered as best as he could: "Well, not exactly... I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you. Just like Ikki's mom knew I was watching him."

"Watching me?" Percy asked again, a little uneasy about that.

"I was keeping an eye on you. Making sure you were okay, same with Ikki," Grover said, but in a late reflection, he quickly added, "But I wasn't pretending to be your friend... I am your friend."

Percy would lie if he said he didn't feel relieved and happy with Grover's words. He looked at his friend and asked the question that bothered him the most:

"What exactly are you?"

He looked at Grover's satyr legs, which were illuminated by a lightning flash.

Grover glanced at the rearview mirror again, filled with nervousness, and answered, "That doesn't matter right now."

His friend wasn't racist, right?

Percy was obviously a bit unsatisfied with the answer and wanted to know more.

"Percy, our friend here is a Satyr... a half-man, half-goat from the waist down..." Ikki hummed in his mind and calmly explained.

His words made Percy look at him as if he were going crazy, but he remembered the words of a certain Latin teacher and said, "Wait... Satyrs. You mean like... Mr. Brunner's myths?"

"The very same," Ikki confirmed slowly.

Grover felt insulted by Percy's words and looked at him with disdain as he said, "Those old ladies at the fruit stand were a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

Percy ignored most of the satyr's words, focusing on one specific part and, with a smug look, said, "So, you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"

Ikki sighed and chuckled at his friend's words. Indeed, only Percy could say something like that in such a tense moment. He seemed more concerned about the fact that there was a Mrs. Dodds than the crazy situation they were in.

He saw his friend looking at him with thousands of questions in his mind, and he could guess that Percy wanted to know what had happened. Since this wasn't a dream, it meant he would be the one to defeat that monster, which raised many questions.

His luck was that his other friend saved him.

"Of course..." Grover finally admitted that there was indeed a Mrs. Dodds. After all, now that they had reached this point, there was no reason to lie.

"So," Percy was confused by one fact and asked, "Why did you pretend she didn't exist?"

"The less you and Ikki knew, the fewer monsters would be attracted," Grover decided to summarize everything and said, "We put the Mist in front of human eyes."

"We hoped you and Ikki would think the Benevolent one was just a hallucination. But it didn't work. Ikki found out about everything, and you started realizing who you are."

After Grover finished explaining everything, Percy was even more confused and couldn't help but ask again.

"Who I... wait a minute, what do you mean?"

At that exact moment, a loud, clear roar sounded behind the car, as if some kind of monster was somewhere back there, chasing them. The roar caused different reactions in the four people inside the Camaro. Sally seemed more nervous and ended up speeding up even more. Grover seemed more concerned, and Percy was confused and fearful of what that roar represented.

Ikki had no reaction, his expression remained calm as always. Being able to feel everything from a distance, he was surprised by the number of monsters. It was as if all of them were either attracted or following orders from an entity that wanted to kill them. From what he remembered from the books telling the story of this world, it should have just been a Minotaur, a single monster, so why were there more than one?

The conclusion was easy to reach: it was most likely because of him. However, this conclusion raised many questions that made him thoughtful. Why would the monsters be attracted to him now? And why this many? Due to his [Presence Manipulation], he had always kept his 'scent' hidden from the monsters who, over the years, had been looking for him in the neighborhood. That's why he created this superpower, but now it seemed kind of useless.

The only plausible explanation for this was that the Fates wanted to make his life harder and kill him before he caused more chaos in the timeline they had formed. This was rather concerning, as even a small manipulation of events could put him in constant danger. Hopefully, this theory was far from the truth...

When he first found out he was a demigod, he was prepared for the dangers to come. He would have a life full of risks, misery, and little to no happiness, where he would constantly have to run to survive. The only place where all demigods could have a relatively peaceful and happy life was at Camp Half-Blood.

This was the misfortune that accompanied anyone who had a god or goddess as a parent. The only way to avoid it was by becoming stronger.

If he were a normal human, he'd still be at home with his mom, living his life while strengthening himself. Although he wished that, he knew it was impossible, considering he was a demigod and was close to the Child of Destiny, the future savior of Olympus. He didn't blame his best friend, as he was the one who chose this life by befriending him. He didn't complain about his life, because Percy was a gift to him, having always been alone in his past life throughout his childhood and adolescence...

This second life was something he had always wanted and wouldn't trade for anything in the world. All the decisions he had made so far were aimed at not regretting them, and although regret was inevitable, he would give his best to remain true to himself.

He didn't want to fool himself and end up like in his past life...

While he was thinking about this, Sally, who was still driving the car at high speed, decided to briefly explain to Percy.

"Percy... there's a lot to explain, and we don't have enough time. We need to get you and Ikki to safety..."

"Safety how?" Percy was feeling frustrated with the whole situation. He asked, "Who's behind us?"

"Oh, nothing much." Instead of Sally answering, Grover decided to do so in her place, "Just the Lord of the Dead and some of his bloodthirsty minions..."

"Grover!"

Sally reprimanded him.

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?" Grover said, full of nervousness.

Sally took a sharp left turn onto a narrower road, speeding past dark farmhouses and tree-covered hills.

"Where are we going?"

"To the summer camp I mentioned," Sally, trying not to sound scared, said, "The place your father wanted to send you."

"The place you didn't want me to go," Percy, still frustrated and confused by everything, retorted.

"Please, dear. This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger." Sally said with a pleading voice.

"I'm in danger because some old ladies cut a thread of wool?" Percy recalled the part he had stuttered to his mom earlier, with a strange look when mentioning it.

"After thinking a little..." Ikki, who had been silent, decided to speak thoughtfully, "Those old ladies were Fates; Destiny, in other words... and you and I saw her cut the Thread. That's bad news."

After hearing Ikki's somewhat confusing explanation, Percy felt a chill in his heart. He went pale. Meanwhile, Grover was once again surprised by his friend's intelligence in figuring out about Fate so quickly, but he didn't find it strange, as Ikki had always read books about mythology and knew it was real. It wasn't just the satyr who was surprised; Sally was too...

Percy didn't understand why, but his friend's words gave him a bad feeling, so he couldn't help but ask.

"What's this bad news?"

"It's better you don't know," Ikki said calmly. He had mentioned it earlier just so his friend would understand the dangers of such an event, but he didn't want to give the details and cause unnecessary panic...

Percy was even more frustrated now. Was his best friend hiding things from him too?

Ikki glanced out the window on his side. Outside, the storm was still strong. Exactly at that moment, the sound of wings flapping that he had heard earlier became louder. Despite the loud sound of the rain and the thunder crashing, he could still hear it perfectly. His current senses were beyond human comprehension; they were even more powerful than most supernatural beings.

Activating his [Akashic Eyes] and ignoring the darkness, he could see the monsters, growing closer at different distances around them, until one of them rushed toward the Camaro. Sally must have noticed, as she swerved the wheel to the right, and he and Percy caught a glimpse of a shadow she had avoided – a dark, wavering shape, now lost in the storm behind them.

"What was that?" Percy exclaimed.

"We're almost there." Sally ignored Percy's question and muttered tensely, "Just another mile and a half. Please. Please. Please."

"Sally, watch out!" Grover shouted, pointing ahead, where suddenly a rock rose up from the middle of the road.

Sally widened her eyes as she observed this scene but immediately turned the wheel and swerved the car to avoid the rock by a hair's breadth.

However, because of that, she lost control of the car and crashed it into a ditch.

The impact of this hit the four inside the car and caused a loud crash on the asphalt. The doors on the driver's side were buried in the mud.

Claro, vou fazer a tradução do texto completo. Aqui está:

Inside the car, Ikki was sitting the same way as before; unharmed.

Looking at Sally, Percy, and Grover, he was relieved that they were okay. Although he could have prevented the accident in several ways, even though the cause was so sudden, he didn't because he knew it wouldn't be serious, and if they were about to get hurt, he would save them.

He looked at his friend who was against the driver's seat, Percy let out a painful groan.

That painful groan made Sally snap out of her stupor and shout in concern: "Percy! Ikki!..."

"I'm fine," Percy replied, a bit disoriented.

"I'm fine too," said Ikki, looking ahead; the ditch the car had gotten stuck in was deep.

Knowing that his best friend and mother were fine too, Percy looked at his other friend and shouted, "Grover."

Grover was beside him, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Seeing his condition, Percy shook his furry legs, worried.

"Grover!!" Percy said with obvious concern in his voice.

"Food..." Grover murmured, unconscious, and Percy was relieved to hear this murmur.

While Percy and Sally were orienting themselves after the accident, Ikki looked back at the back of the car, with a faint cold gleam in his sapphire-colored eyes. In a flash of lightning, through the rear windshield covered in mud, a figure came trudging toward the roadside.

With his supernatural vision, he could clearly see a creature easily taller than two meters, its arms and legs looking like something out of a Muscle Man magazine cover. Its skin had a network of veins. It wore no clothes except for white Fruit of the Loom underwear. Its upper body was thick brown hair that started near the belly button and grew denser as it reached the shoulders.

Its neck was a mass of muscles and hair leading to its enormous head, which had a snout as long as Percy's arm. It had nostrils full of mucus with a shiny brass ring, cruel black eyes, and huge black and white horns with tips that could not have come from an electric pencil sharpener.

From a distance, anyone would think this mythological monster was a huge guy, like a football player, with its voluminous and hairy upper half. But in reality, it was the Minotaur.

As Ikki took a look at the mythological monster, Sally had oriented herself enough to say, "Percy, Ikki. We have to..."

In the middle of her words, she looked back at the back of the Camaro and stopped talking. Although she didn't have Ikki's vision to see in the dark and see far, she also noticed the Minotaur that was slowly approaching.

Not long after Sally noticed the mythological monster, Percy also looked back at the rear windshield and saw the silhouette.

"Who is..." Percy said, swallowing his saliva.

"We'd better get out of here first. Whatever it is, it's not here to help us," Ikki said calmly, stopping his gaze from the Minotaur and looking ahead again.

He had killed his curiosity about this mythological monster, and besides the intimidating appearance that had no effect on him, there was nothing impressive about it.

"Percy, Ikki is right... you both need to get out of the car," Sally said seriously, throwing herself against the driver's side door and trying to open it, but unfortunately, the door was jammed due to the mud outside.

After seeing this, and following his mother's words, Percy tried to open his door. But it was jammed too.

Ikki tried his door, applying a tiny amount of force, and practically ripped the door off its hinges. The audible sound of torrential rain falling without letting up entered Sally and Percy's ears.

The two looked at the car door ripped off in his hands, wide-eyed. Percy remembered that day at the museum when his friend was so fast that he couldn't see him and so strong that it was impossible to be human.

Grover's murmur about food took them out of their stupor. It wasn't the time for questions or any thoughts about Ikki's strength.

Ikki exited the car first, the cold and indifferent rain hit his body and soaked his clothes in moments.

He didn't mind and helped Sally and Percy get out of the car.

The loud sound of something grunting and snorting could be heard, getting closer and closer; the Minotaur was coming toward them. The three quickly pulled Grover out of the car, and as soon as they did, Ikki placed the satyr over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and asked Sally.

"Sally, where do we have to go? I don't think we have much time."

"Do you see that big tree?" Sally said, pointing to a nearby hill.

"What?" Percy said confused, the darkness and rain made it hard for anyone to see. Still, he looked in the direction his mother was pointing; on the other side of the asphalt road.

At that moment, a flash of lightning illuminated the place, and the tree Sally was talking about became visible: a huge pine tree, as large as a Christmas tree from the White House, on top of the nearest hill.

"That's the property's boundary," Sally explained quickly. "If we get past that hill, we'll see a large farmhouse at the bottom of the valley. We just need to run until we reach the door."

The two boys nodded, and Percy looked at Grover, unconscious on Ikki's shoulder, as he asked, "Ikki, do you need help carrying Grover?"

"No, I can carry him without any problem," Ikki replied, shaking his head.

The three ran toward the hill with the huge tree in the middle, Ikki maintained his normal human speed, and in just a few moments, they crossed the asphalt and started climbing the hill, the wetness up to their waists.

Exactly at that moment, Ikki glanced back, the Minotaur had reached the Camaro stuck in the ditch, and Percy, who also took a glance, was completely shocked by the monstrosity he was seeing.

By its appearance, he couldn't help but think of the stories Mr. Brunner told about one of the most famous mythological creatures: the Minotaur.

"That's..." he said, bewildered, but was interrupted by his mother in the middle of his words.

"The son of Pasiphae," Sally said fearfully and darkly, muttering to herself in regret: "I wish I had known before how much they want to kill you..."

"But it's the Min..." Percy was about to say, but Sally quickly interrupted and warned him.

"Don't say its name. Names have power."

Percy looked confused, but seeing the dead serious expression on his mother's face, visible in the flash of lightning, he nodded in agreement.

The three continued running until they were about a hundred meters from the tree on top of the hill.

At that moment, Ikki glanced back at the Minotaur again.

The Minotaur bent over the Camaro, looking through the window, actually... it was more like sniffing, poking around. It seemed unable to see anything, just sniffing.

Percy stopped running and also took a look, his action made the other two slow down their run.

"Food...?" Grover murmured, and Ikki placed his hand over his mouth, stopping him from speaking while unconscious. This secretly relieved Sally and Percy.

"Mom, what's it doing? Can't it see us?" Percy asked, keeping his eyes on the Minotaur.

"Its vision and hearing are terrible," Sally seemed to know a lot about real mythology, and she replied, "It navigates by scent. But it will figure out where we are soon enough..."

When Sally finished her words, the Minotaur roared in rage. It grabbed the Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. It lifted the car over its head and threw it onto the road. It crashed against the wet asphalt and slid in a shower of sparks for about five hundred meters before stopping. The gas tank exploded.

The Minotaur sniffed and let out a grunt before starting to run toward Ikki, Percy, Sally, and the unconscious Grover.

To make matters worse, while Percy and Sally paled at the sight of the Minotaur charging toward them, three monsters that had been around came into view a few dozen meters to their right, emerging from a clump of trees, the sound of their wings audible.

Ikki, who looked in that direction, saw three horrendous creatures, all of them almost identical, with only a few different details. All three had leathery bat-like wings, just much bigger, and mouths with yellow fangs and glowing eyes.

The moment he laid his eyes on these horrendous creatures, he recognized them. After all, he had killed one of them some time ago; they were the Furies, and all three had a whip in their hands and were flying toward them with bloodthirsty eyes.

Due to the noise of something flying, the beating of wings, being audible, Percy and Sally also noticed and looked toward the sound, forgetting for a moment that the Minotaur was running toward them.

Percy became even paler as if he had seen a ghost, and Sally was even more terrified.

"Sally, the property is beyond this peak, right?" Ikki said with his usual calm expression.

"Yes. We have to go quickly," Ikki's words snapped Sally out of her stupor, and consequently Percy too.

When the two were about to start running again, Ikki stopped them and handed Grover over to them to carry. This action caused a bad feeling in Percy and Sally, and they looked at him, confused.

"We won't make it to the property in time," Ikki turned and faced the Minotaur running up the hill while saying, "Unless one of us stays here and acts as bait for the monsters. I'll do it. I'll hold them off for as long as I can, and you two keep going."

After these words, silence fell between the three. The rain that had been constant that night seemed to acquire a cold feeling, the howls of monsters echoing through the nearby hills and forest, the grunt of the Minotaur, and the beating of the Furies' wings were like a sad symphony of the end of the night.

His words took Percy and Sally by surprise, and both widened their eyes because of them.

"You're right, someone needs to stay as bait. You and Percy run to find the house I mentioned."

Sally said, recovering from the shock caused by Ikki's words.

"What?! Mom? No! No one is staying behind, let's go. We can do it," Percy said decisively.

"Percy..."

Ikki let out a sigh, and before the two could start an emotional argument that they didn't have time for, he stated categorically, without room for discussion.

"Enough arguing, we don't have time. I said I'll stay, and I will. You two keep going quickly..."

At the end of his words, he took a step forward and moved away from Sally and Percy, descending a few meters down the hill.

"No!" Percy said, frustrated and desperate. He wanted to walk and stop his friend.

"If Sally wants us to reach the property for our safety, someone has to be there to deal with all these monsters. You two go and ask for help while I stay here and buy time. Don't worry, I won't die." Ikki said while letting out a sigh inwardly.

Both Sally and Percy knew Ikki was right, and knowing him, he would never change his mind. Despite all the emotions built up in their chest, the two did what he said.

"Don't you dare die! Wait until we get help!!" Percy said, gritting his teeth in anger. He would never leave his friend behind, even if he was forced to. But this was the only way to help Ikki...

"Be careful." Sally said, looking at Ikki's back with extreme concern and teary eyes.

After leaving those words, the two quickly headed toward the tree at the top of the hill as fast as possible, while carrying Grover. This discussion might have seemed long, but in reality, it was very short. Still, the Minotaur and the Furies were extremely close to their location.

Feeling Percy and Sally moving away, Ikki smiled slightly. He glanced at the Minotaur running toward him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He felt his blood boil at the thought that he was about to fight multiple monsters.