percy jackson · apocalypse au · hazel and frank · demigods · shapeshifting · charmspeak · ensemble cast · romance · greek mythology · action
The air reeks of rust and decay. Pale moonlight cuts through broken windows, laying silver stripes across the rubble-strewn floor of this six-story store's carcass. Below, water drips a slow, hollow beat. Dust hangs thick, carrying the faint iron scent of old blood. A flashlight beam sweeps the aisle, catching the dull gleam of scattered cans and the ghostly white of a discarded toothbrush. The Seven move as one shadow—Percy at the point, sword held ready, Annabeth beside him, her storm-grey eyes dissecting the dark. Hazel's fingers brush Frank's for a fleeting comfort; Leo tinkers with a tiny flame between his knuckles, a fragile flicker. Jason and Piper guard the flanks, breaths held tight. Annabeth's voice shears the silence: "I heard something." Piper's attempt to laugh it off as a…