Percy Jackson and Andromeda's Lament

A.N.

This is my first fanfic. I appreciate reviews, constructive criticism and flames, but please be gentle. English is not my first language so please bear with any mistakes in using the English language and any geographical mistakes.

I don't own Percy Jackson.

Now, on with the story.

Prologue

She was close. She could see the hill, a few hundred meters away. Sighing in relief, she picked up speed, sprinting towards her goal as fast as she could.

The girl, around 12 years old, had her long black hair trailing behind her as she ran towards her destination, her salvation. Her skin was pale making her dark hair and violet eyes stand out even more. She was reasonably tall for her age, at around 5'4. Her clothes were unkempt and ripped in some places, slash marks from blades or claws visible on the fabric.

She was out of breath when she noticed a storm was brewing in the distance. It was getting closer.

Lightning flashed and the girl immediately dived to the ground. Lightning struck the place she was at milliseconds before.

She scrambled to her feet and glared at the sky. Thunder rumbled menacingly in reply.

She continued to glare at the sky before the sound of marching caught her attention. She looked back, alarm carefully hidden behind indifference, and saw the army of monsters, Cyclopes, Dracaena, Stymphalian Birds and even a Manticore, closing in.

The girl turned her back to the venerable army and continued to sprint in the direction of the hill. She managed to reach the foot of the hill before the first of the monsters caught up with her.

It was the Manticore, although it looked to still be a juvenile. Still running at full tilt, she drew the dagger strapped to her back hip, turned on a dime, and slashed at the monster, creating a gash on the beast's flank.

She kicked the beast away from her. The girl then sheathed her blade, and started the climb up the hill.

The sound of her panting filled the air as she continued to flee the monsters in pursuit of her. She did not dare look back, keeping her eyes in front, willing herself to move faster. To reach the safety of her goal. She heard the deep war cry of a Cyclopes and knew that the monsters were gaining on her.

She ran and she sprinted, out of breath, the only thing keeping her going was the thought of how close she was to her goal.

She reached the crest of the hill and saw her destination for the first time and she forgot everything for a moment. A large building painted red was the first thing she saw. It was around four stories tall, and the only thing she could think was 'Big House.' Then she glimpsed an orange light coming from a campfire and a smile appeared on her face. She could see kids singing, laughing and having overall fun. This was it. This was her goal. Camp. Home.

A loud growl wiped the smile right off. She turned and what she saw got through her carefully crafted mask of indifference, fear and dread bleeding through.

The monsters had caught up to her.

The first to get to her was a Cyclopes, 11 feet tall, muscle bound, and wielding a large tree like a club. The giant's one eye was glaring menacingly at her.

The monster roared and swung his tree at the girl.

She ducked the blow, turned, and started to run again towards Camp, but lightning once again flashed, and right in front of her eyes, the lightning struck the ground in front of her. Flames, hotter than what was possible, started to spread. The grass, once a beautiful and green, became food for the flames, making them even hotter, higher and impossible to pass through.

The Camp was protected from the monsters, separated by the flames. The problem was, she was on the wrong side of the divide.

She spared a moment to look to the heavens, glare, and curse at Zeus before the monsters were once again upon her.

The dagger on her back hip was drawn once more, and another, hidden in an ankle sheath, was drawn. Preparing herself for her last stand, she took her stance, lowering her body, raising both her arms, blades in an ice pick grip.

The Cyclops from before, being the closest to her, was once again the first to reach her. The giant bellowed, and raised his club aiming to pummel her to the ground. She sidestepped the blow, and with her off-hand, sliced the giant's tendons in the wrists making the Cyclops drop his club and bellow in pain.

Successfully disarming her opponent, she slid under the beast, arms stretched to either side, and passed each blade through the monster's knees.

The Cyclops fell and was then vulnerable to the girl's daggers. With a stab, the Cyclops was dissolving to dust with a dagger straight through the eye to the brain.

Smiling to herself in triumph, the girl looked around for another way through the fire. Looking around at her surroundings, her smile faded as she noticed that she was surrounded, the fire on one side of her and an army of monsters on the other. The army had caught up.

Her determination steeling, the girl twirled her daggers, and prepared herself for another fight, one where the odds were stacked against her.

"Bring it on." She said under her breath, but the monsters seemed to hear her as they charged.

From the left, a dracanae slashed at her with a sword. She parried the blow with her left dagger, then sensing an incoming attack from behind her, threw her right-handed weapon in the air, grabbed the serpent-woman's sword arm with her right hand and threw her weight into a spin pulling the monster along by the arm. Demigod and monster ended up switching places, causing the Cyclops's club attack to hit the wrong target.

As the girl caught her thrown blade, the dracanae dissolved to dust, revealing the stunned expression of the Cyclops. Chuckling at the Cyclops's ridiculous expression, the girl took the opportunity of the giant being stunned and low to the ground because of the momentum of its strike, to kick the giant in the face, sending it reeling then stabbing the giant in the chest, killing it.

Then seeing another attack, this time coming from the air and from the right courtesy of a Stymphalian bird and a Manticore spine respectively, the girl bent backwards, hands and feet planted firmly on the ground making a bridge, and kicked the killer bird away with an overhead kick while dodging the spine, and gaining distance between her and the monsters in front of her.

Landing on her feet once again, the girl slashed to her left on instinct, and lo and behold, a dracanae, ready to slash her to bits, received a sliced throat for her trouble.

The girl fought bravely, dodging the Cyclopes' clubs, parrying the dracanae's weapons, keeping watch on the skies and killing the monsters when possible. She was skilled, even at a young age and without proper training, relying on her quick reflexes, flexibility and speed.

Still, the sheer number of monsters caused her to have bruises from constant diving to the ground and rubble constantly being sent flying by the Cyclopes, and cuts from barely dodged blades to sprout on her person.

Meanwhile, the Manticore prowled around the battlefield, looking for an opening. The great beast was patient, eyes searching for any opportunities, tail ready to shoot spines at any moment.

Dodging another overhead strike from a Cyclops, the girl chanced a glance at the raging flames, hoping beyond hope, that someone from Camp noticed the commotion and that help was coming. Someone was bound to notice the flames, right?

Seeing its chance, the Manticore sent a volley of poisoned spines at the girl, before leaping in to join the fight.

The demigod was cursing herself for not focusing on a life and death situation. She dodged most of the spines, but one of them hit its mark, and her right arm had gone numb. She parried another enemy slash with her left dagger, before executing a counterattack with the hilt of her blade.

A Cyclops tried to sneak a club strike at her during her counterattack, aiming straight for her head. The girl dodged the strike, but stumbled, feeling her head spin from the Manticore poison.

Regaining her balance, the girl stepped back, drawing the Cyclops closer, before rushing in suddenly, catching the giant of guard and, seeing as she couldn't move one of her arms, threw one of her daggers at the single eye of the monster.

She was still holding up, even with one arm numb and her head spinning, when the Manticore pounced on her from behind her, catching her off-guard.

'This is it.' the girl thought, closing her eyes. 'I'm gonna die.'

Just as she accepted her Fate, a bright light shone from underneath her body, still pinned beneath a snarling Manticore. The light grew brighter and brighter until it blinded the monster army, making even the Manticore get off the girl and back away. Then, with a gasp, the girl snapped her eyes open, and the light suddenly turned into pure darkness. Darkness so deep that even the bright flames were not enough to see.

The darkness started devouring all the monsters in sight. In a matter of moments, the army became dust, scattering in the wind. The fire had finally gone out, consumed by the darkness. Silence fell on the night, leaving the girl still on the ground, breathing softly.

Pain was wracking her body, but she couldn't even whimper. She was exhausted. She wasn't this tired even after all the running she had to do to get here, but that darkness seemed to have sapped all of her energy.

Then, a disembodied voice broke the silence.

"Not yet girl. Your Fate is not to die today."

Then she started sinking, as if being swallowed by the earth. The earth, to her, was welcoming, like coming home.

With a pop, the girl was gone, fully submerged underground. A silver ring, with an amethyst gemstone in the middle, surrounded by small obsidian crystals appeared at the place where she sank.

"You are useful, but you are not the one, Andromeda Jackson."

The girl disappeared then, not only from the realm of the physical, but also from the memories of anything or anyone, mortal or godly.