Chapter Text
Hi, my name’s Percy Jackson. My life was pretty normal up until age 11. If you didn’t count the snake that tried to kill me as a toddler, or the weird man that used to watch me in third grade that appeared to only have one eye, or the fact that I had been expelled from every school I had set foot into. Well, okay, maybe my life had been weird from the start. Though after I had been expelled from my fifth school for misfiring a cannon (don’t ask) that’s when things started to get… bad.
I remember the day pretty well up to a certain point. It was a Thursday at the beginning of May, early enough that the chill hadn’t quite left the air in the mornings, but late enough in spring that the sun would warm the afternoons. Honestly the weather had been great, if you didn’t account for the circumstances. I had to walk home alone, defeated, all the while knowing that when I got home things would only get worse. I may have dragged my feet a bit and taken some detours to give myself a few precious extra moments.
You see, at home was my stepfather. Although, I’d never use that term for him. To me he was just Smelly Gabe. The name fit him more than you’d think. He stunk like dirty socks that had decided to take a bath in moldy garlic juice, and that’s when he hadn’t been downing beer like it was water. He also had a personality to match, aka he was the worst. I can still smell his stench if I think about it hard enough.
At the time I had no idea why my mom had chosen to get with a guy like him. He was awful to both of us, often ordering us around like we were his servants.
But I don’t wanna talk about him anymore. Let me tell you about my mom. Her name was Sally Jackson. She was the best. She had the kindest face, one that as soon as you saw it you knew you were safe. Her smile was always warm and her blue eyes shifted shades with her mood, but they always held a brightness no matter what she went through. And let me tell you, she’d been through a lot. Her parents had died in a plane crash when she was young and she’d had to move in with her uncle. Then, as if her luck couldn’t get any worse, her uncle got really sick. She had to drop out of high school just to take care of him. When he passed she was left with no degree, no money, and nowhere to really go. She ended up taking odd jobs here and there, and then she met my dad.
She used to tell me that he was the greatest man she’d ever met. He was tall, kind, funny, and brave. He sounded like a real prince charming whenever she’d tell me about her time spent with him. From their beach meeting to their dates—she made it all sound like a dream. She would always end our time talking about him by saying that the greatest gift he gave her was me, but I think she just wanted me to feel special. Every time I would ask her where he was now if they loved each other so much, she would always say he was “lost at sea.” Never dead. Just lost. I only know now why she was always cryptic with her answers, but at the time I’d thought she was just trying to protect me from the fact that he was some deadbeat.
In a way, she was trying to protect me. Just like with Smelly Gabe. Just like with moving schools whenever something weird happened. I wish I would’ve known then just how hard she was trying to keep me safe. I wish I had known before she was gone. If I had known I might’ve tried to be more patient, be a better kid, or might’ve done a few things differently. Instead, this is what happened.
I had gotten home that Thursday afternoon a little after 4:30pm. Home wasn’t much, just a two-bedroom rundown apartment that had seen better days. It was five floors up in a building where the elevator was always out and the carpets needed a deep clean. The lights in the hallway on our floor would always flicker, but every time my mom would ask about it the building repair guy, Eddie, wouldn’t find a problem. I think he was just lazy and didn’t wanna fix it. He was one of Smelly Gabe’s poker buddies after all. In fact, he had been the first face I’d seen when I’d opened the door. I had been hoping to sneak by and hide in my room, maybe stew a bit in my bad mood, but Eddie seeing me had thrown that all out the window.
“Hey kid, heard ya got kicked out again huh?”
The way he asked me wasn’t mean, it was just matter-of-fact. Like ah yes, today is Thursday, Percy got kicked out of school again, the sky is blue. Ya know? That kind of tone. That hadn’t made me feel any better.
I scowled at him but he only raised his eyebrows and walked back over to the poker table. At this point all of the rest of Gabe’s poker buddies and Gabe himself were looking over at me.
If my mom had a kind face, Gabe had the opposite. He was heavy set with beady little eyes that could stare into your soul. When he was sober he would have this intense vibe about him, like he could see your every flaw and pick it apart. I wished he would do that look on himself sometimes. Just so he knew how awful it could make you feel.
When he was drunk he’d be intense in a different way. He liked to yell more, get more physical, but it would never go too far usually. I think instead of using his brain to judge he would just perform his thoughts. That had been my running theory at least.
When I had gotten home then he seemed to be only a beer or two in. So, he was sober enough to scrutinize me.
“Well well well if it isn’t the Brain Boy. Got yourself in trouble again, huh?” He asked with a sneer.
I tried glaring at him but that only seemed to piss him off.
“Answer me when I talk to ya brat. I ain’t got all day to deal with your disrespectful ass.”
I looked away from him then, not wanting to see his face as I answered.
“Yea, got kicked out again,” I mumbled out.
Just as he looked like he was going to say something, probably find a way to insult me more, I ran back to my room and slammed the door behind me. I wasn’t proud of it, but I couldn’t deal with his beady eyes on me anymore. He shouted something after me but I hadn’t really been paying attention. I just wanted to wallow in my misery until my mom got home and I could get a hug. Her hugs had always been the best.
The rest of the evening before she got home kind of passed in a blur. In fact, the rest of that day overall was blurry. It’s hard for me to recall now. I remember him pounding on my door a bit later. I remember him dragging me out like I was a ragdoll when I got snappy with him. I remember him lecturing me on respect in front of his buddies, who had simply laughed at me like it was the funniest thing that I was stupid and couldn’t stay in a school to save my life. His pal Joey had even messed up my hair on his way out just to piss me off further. And once they were gone, the yelling started. I can’t remember what exactly was said. But Gabe was yelling and then I was yelling and then he was throwing me into the wall.
I may have blacked out, or zoned out, or something. I don’t know how long it was that he was yelling at me and kicking me while I tried to make myself as small as possible. I had known after he had thrown me that I had made a mistake, but I hadn’t been able to run fast enough.
The next thing I clearly remember though was my mom’s scream. She'd sounded horrified, and I hadn’t been sure why until I locked eyes with her.
She was horrified about what Gabe was doing to me, blue eyes wide and stormy as she watched his foot connect with my chest.
Faintly, I remember having the thought that this was the first time she had seen Gabe like this with me. Before now he would only smack me around when she was at work and I was being a brat. Or, well, that’s what he liked to say to excuse it. I think he just liked proving that he was bigger than me and could push me around.
The next thing I remember happening happened in slow motion. My mom ran to Gabe, ripping him away from me and screaming at him. I don’t recall what she said, but she had looked furious. It was the angriest I’ve ever seen her get. Gabe had shouted back and raised his hand.
I had felt my body fill with dread but I couldn’t move fast enough.
He hit her so hard that her head had cracked off the counter of the kitchen bar. There was blood. So much blood. And I think I was screaming, or someone was. I crawled over to her, trembling, trying to get her to move. But she wouldn’t.
I don’t know where Gabe was after that. I don’t really remember what happened after that. I don’t know if I ever stopped screaming and sobbing that night.
When I woke up the next day I found myself curled around her body. My throat was sore, my eyes were still stinging, and I was still shaking. It took a while for me to wake up. I think I was in shock, but I only had the thought of ‘what if I’m next’ and that had me stumbling to my feet and running.
I hadn’t known where to go or what to do. Honestly, I’m sure I looked pitiful at the time—stumbling on the sidewalk and shaking like a leaf. I don’t quite remember where I ran off to, or even what direction. All I knew was that I needed to get away.
It could have been hours or minutes when I ended up eventually stumbling into a man, or what I’d presumed to be a man at the time. He was tall, blonde, and almost seemed like he was glowing. I think I apologized mentally for running into him, but I couldn't get my voice to work. He looked down at me with a scrutinizing gaze, only for his eyes to widen and his gaze to shift into one of concern. When he knelt down, all I can remember was how tired I felt and how warm he was. It was like he was a space heater.
“What’s your name little one?” He asked softly.
Normally, I would snap if someone called me little. But his voice hadn’t felt mean or belittling, not like when Gabe or his friends talked. He felt safe, which was something I really needed at the time. I still couldn’t really talk, but with a hoarse voice I was able to mumble out ‘Percy’.
He had nodded, even though I’m not really sure if he’d actually heard me or not, and then spoke again.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Apollo. I’m going to take you somewhere safe, okay? Can I touch you?”
Honestly, at this point I was convinced he was an angel—like the ones they talk about in those movies. I mean, he was glowing, he’d said his name was Apollo, which felt significant, and literally none of my danger senses were going off like they usually did around adults who weren’t my mom. I think I nodded or something, but as soon as he had touched me I passed out.
Little did I know that my life was about to change. For better or worse though, now that was debatable.
This is the beginning of how I realized I was a demigod. Oh, and how I found out I was the reincarnation of the one and only Hyacinthus.