Here's my second fic! So sorry if the characters are really OOC. Thalia and Nico are supposed to be though. By the way, I don't really know what time period it is, but they dress like we would even though there community and everything acts old fashion.

Disclaimer: Wish I could, but I own nothing PJO related or the whole Cinderella storyline. :(

Percy's POV

Okay, don't cry. You need to be strong Percy. Pull it together. Come on, you're a prince for crying out loud!

It wasn't just me who was upset today though. The whole city of Atlantis was mourning King Poseidon's, a.k.a. my dad's, death. He had been stabbed to death in the middle of the night leaving my mother and me wondering who, and why, would have done it. My father was loved by all, well, except for Queen Athena. She reigned over our rival city, Athens.

I clutched my pen/sword, Riptide, a magical gift my father had left for me in his will, as my mother and I walked past old, rotting buildings on the outskirts of the city. The dusty lane we were taking was leaving a fine layer of dirt all over our old pants and shoes.

See, since my father was the one who came from royalty, my mother had no claim to the kingdom after his death. Even though he said for me to inherit the kingdom in his will, it was against the rules for me to claim it until I was 16. So, only being 11, my strict uncle Zeus got to rule Atlantis, as well as his own kingdom. This left my mother and me to fend for ourselves. You think we would have at least gotten a nice estate to live in until I was of age, right? Wrong. Instead, we were banished from Atlantis. Zeus has had his eye on our kingdom for a while, and here was the perfect chance for him to take it.

So now we were on our way to the nearby rival city of Athens, where my new step-dad Gabriel lived. From what some of the people at a local tavern said, his real name should be Smelly Gabe. They say that all he does is drink and waste money gambling. We hadn't planned moving in with him, but Zeus had had just enough time to play matchmaker and give Sally to Gabe. Yes, give. We had no say in any of this. The only perk was that Gabe had two children around my age. Probably from past wives whose money he had spent gambling, I thought laughing inwardly.

Anyways, my mom thought that we might as well except this. She was the best, always able to make the best out of things. Just being in the same room with her made you feel like nothing could go wrong. My father's death though, was the one thing that she couldn't find anything happy in.

"Percy honey, were at the entry gate. Make sure that if anyone says you look like Prince Perseus from Atlantis you deny it right away. Only the guards and Queen Athena herself know we are coming," my mother told me with a hint of sadness. My mother had never lived anywhere else before except for Atlantis.

I looked up and saw that we truly were at the entry gate. I had been so caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn't even noticed.

The gate was huge, surrounding the entire city with thick slabs of rock decorated with gray marble mosaics. Above the entry point of the main gate was a huge mosaic of an owl made up of some kind of brown rock that shone in the light, and was decorated with various jewels that portrayed it as nothing flashy, but still showed that they were a rich city. The big eyes of the owl seemed to be staring into the very depths of my soul, trying to figure out whether I was worthy of entering. Creepy, huh?

"Okay mom. Can we move a little faster though? I'm, uh, anxious to get inside . Oh hey, look! That guard in the white uniform is motioning to us. Weren't we supposed to meet someone in white?" I said, dragging my mom over to him.

"And you would be, well were, Queen Sally and Prince Perseus, right?" he said in a deep voice. "Yup, kid's got the greenest eyes I've ever seen. Gotta be Poseidon's kid. By the way, sorry about his death and getting kicked out all in the same day. Well, if you would just follow me this way, your new family's waiting for you just inside."

We skipped past the rest of the guards checking other traveler's luggage for potential threats. Waiting for us on the inside of the gate, had to have been the fattest man I had ever seen. In fact, I didn't even see that he had two kids with him, he was so fat. Fortunately though, they were skinnier, so I wasn't completely sickened. All of them had black hair, and seemed to wish that they were anywhere but waiting for us here.

"Well, I'll let you get a chance to know each other. Queen Sally, I'll need you to come with me to sign some paperwork," said the guard, as he led the only person I really knew away.

"So, you're supposed to be Prince Perseus" said Gabe, sneering my name like it was a bad disease.

"What's it to you?" I shot back. I instantly hated this guy. Who did he think he was?

"Watch it kid, like it or not, you and you're money are stuck with me."

That was all he cared about! My money? Well, he was in for a big wake up call.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said, faking sympathy. "but, I don't get my inheritance until I'm 16. So guess what? My mom and I are both broke!"

"Wha….Why you little…" I swear that if I didn't have a ton of money coming towards me in a couple years, he would have killed me then and there.

"Fine, then. I can wait, but you better watch yourself, punk. Looks like Sally's done. I gotta go talk with her now that she's mine," he smirked. "By the way Perseus, these are my two kids, Thalia and Nico. Don't kill each other," he yelled as he started walking away.

Now that fatso Gabe was gone, I got a good look at his kids. Lets just hope that first impressions aren't always right.

For starters, Thalia dressed somewhere between a Goth and a normal girl. Her choppy hair fell to around her shoulders, and looked like she dyed it black with her own ink. Her clothes were something else. She wore black skinny jeans that had holes in WAY to many places, and her top was this weird tie-died think that looked like it had been cut and the tied back together all up the sides. She wore some basic dark makeup, but when she glared at me, it was enough to make me wish my mom was back here. She wore a silver chain bracelet, that for a second, I thought I saw a weird snake-women's head appear on it. She looked downright ferocious.

Nico, on the other hand, still looked scary, but somehow a lot mellower. He wore baggy black jeans, a black t-shirt with a big skull on it, and an avatar jacket. His dark hair looked like it had never seen a brush before, but it worked for him better than if he had actually brushed it. Under his eyes were dark bags, like he hadn't slept in days. He also had a creepy skull ring on, and, was that a black knife on his belt? He twisted away before I could tell.

"So, you're our step-bro now, huh?" Nico said, examining me now.

Thalia seemed to be doing the same, but she also seemed to be looking for my weak spots.

"Kind of wimpy, huh Nico? Look, he's even carrying a pen. What kind of prince carries a pen?" she said, laughing.

"The kind that cares about their fathers last gift to them right after he dies," I shot back.

Honestly, I had forgotten about it, and realized that I was clutching Riptide so hard the cap almost came off.

"Oooh, scary. What are going to do? Write all over us?" Nico said, now laughing right along with Thalia.

"You little-" I almost uncapped Riptide, ready to show them what it could really do, but just then, Gabe returned with my mother. She was staring at the ground, so I had no idea what had gone on between her and Gabe.

"So how are the little ones getting along?" Gabe said.

"Oh just great, daddy," Thalia smiled back sweetly. Well, as sweetly as she could.

"You know I don't like you sucking up to me. Now come on, Sally here needs to go get started at her new jobs if we are planning on having anything besides chips for dinner."

What? We just got here! We hadn't even seen where we were going to be staying. Plus, jobs? As in, more than one? My mom should be treated like the royalty, even if she wasn't a queen anymore. Everyone always loved her, even if they didn't know she was the queen!

We walked up to a store that smelled like everything good in the world. Sweet on Athens said the sign. Underneath was another sign that said 'Help Wanted'.

"Here's where you'll start. Bye Sally." And with that, we walked off, grabbing my wrist so I wouldn't run back. I turned and mouthed, Good Luck, at her. She gave me a grim smile before walking in.

"Now that she's out of the way, let's take you home punk," Gabe said, with Thalia and Nico smirking right behind him.

We continued walking until we got to the far side of the city. When we finally stopped, it was in front of the messiest house I had ever seen. Beer cans and old wine bottle littered the small, dead yard. There wasn't a green plant in sight. The house looked like it could have been elegant, with two stories and lots of windows, but was so old and destroyed, that none of this made it look anywhere close to elegant.

"Well here's the place. Thalia and Nico, go get attic ready for Sally and our prince."

"Fine," they signed, slumping off to do what he said.

"And here's your job." He handed me a broom, mop, bucket, paint, and paintbrush. "Get started. I expect to see this place perfect within the week. If not, you won't live to see the next morning." He laughed like a drunken goat (which he might actually be…) as he walked inside. "Oh, and when you're done out here, there's always the inside."

Ugh…this was going to be a long 5 years.