A Thousand Years:
Prologue:
A lot of things weren't planned in Percy Jackson's life.
His mother's death, for instance. He certainly never planned that. In actuality, he never saw it coming. One day she was breathing, then the next minute she was on the ground, eyes glazed over and dim. He didn't know what had happened, nor did he know what a dead person looked like, and was glad. Instead, he saw his dead mother in his nightmares, his alive one in dreams, hopes, and wishes. She never came back, no matter what the plea. The bargain that went seemingly unheard of.
His stupid social worker said it was only natural for him to be in denial.
He wasn't in denial. Percy got it. His mom was never going to wake up again, never ruffle his hair and plant a firm kiss to his cheek. He watched her coffin slowly become lowered into the ground. His green eyes took in everything. How shiny the brown coffin was, and how three roses rested on top of it. One pink, (the social worker) one red (his mother's only friend from the diner) and one blue. Percy's rose. It was his mother's favorite color. Beside them was her necklace, a green emerald in the middle of the silver. Before it could completely disappear into the dirt, he had snatched it off it and cradled it closely. At least one piece of his mother wouldn't be buried. No one had tried to stop him.
"No other family," a women had said. "An orphan," others had proclaimed, pity laced in their hushed voices. "Foster system." "Trouble maker." "Hard life." Such sentences were consisted in whispered tones whenever the green-eyed boy was around them.
At the age of nine, Percy had decided he hated pity.
When Percy turned ten, more things happened that he never considered.
He ended up moving to a foster home. He heard all the adults saying in countlessly, but couldn't bring himself to image himself living anywhere other than with his mother. It happened anyways, with his reluctance or not. "That or the streets," his social worker stated, trying to make him feel more optimistic. "Which is better?"
He tried to like his foster parents and siblings. He really did, but he ended up detesting them. The father did weird things to his foster sisters, something that Percy was sure his mother wouldn't approve of if she was still alive.
He never planned on running away. It just happened on an impulse after a punch to his jaw had been sent his way. After the initial shock had dispatched, he ran up to his room, curled up into a ball under his bed (his 'safe place') and had cried. His lip was bleeding; he could taste the blood welling up with his tongue. His eye was black and blue. He wanted his mother. That wasn't the first time, and it would never be the last.
"That or the streets. Which is better?"
She said it in the hopes that he would climb from the backseat of the car.
He was only considering her question now. Surely here was better than the streets.
Right?
...Right?
So, with trembling, nervous hands, he packed a small duffle bag full of appropriate clothes. Percy snuck down to the kitchen while his faster father was sleeping (passed out drunk; beer bottle still clad in hand) and made himself a peanut-butter sandwich. He even cut off the crust to the best of his ability, just like his mom used to do.
And then he left.
He disappeared into the night, like a stealthy shadow, ignoring his fear about how frightened he was of the dark.
He walked down the side-walks until he reached a playground, then fell asleep in one of the slides. He ate his sandwich the next morning. Lost and uncertain, wandering down the dark streets of New York City, he began to finally learn how cruel the world was. And once he knew, there was no regaining his innocence.
A month later, full of thievery, pick-pocketing, grimy, ravaged clothes, he finally saw a dead-not-really-dead person for the first time.
She had golden hair, spiraled like a princesses.
A/N: I'm sure most of you have read "A Trouble Boy with Green Eyes." If you haven't, GO! READ IT! It's amazing. Anyways, multiple people have attempted a similar story line. Percy-is-an-orphan-and-the-Chase-family-adopts-him, etc. I want to try that out too, but I want it to drastically differ from all the others. Hopefully I achieved that. It's probably not the best idea to start a story when I have so many that I need to complete, but I'm going to go for it. Reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated. Tell me what you think of it! It's shortness is due to it's prologue-ness. :)