Children of the Sky

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor plot, all rights belong to Rick Riordan.

Things had finally begun to brighten up in the life of six year-old Thalia Grace. Her father had come back, her mother stopped drinking that stinky juice, and she had a new baby brother.

When she was younger her father had left her mother, Beryl Grace. This lead to her mother become more and more depressed by the day. She also began to drink this nasty smelling juice that always made her cranky. She would begin to constantly puke some days and whenever Thalia tried and help her, she'd lash out at her.

But now her father had come back. Thalia didn't know why he had left in the first place or what his reasons were for coming back, but she didn't care. Just him being back made her left a thousand times better. Her mother was now mostly back to her fun and loving self, and she rarely drank any of that smelly juice. She also had a baby brother now.

Her baby brother, Perseus Grace, was and still is the best thing to have come into her life. He was the only person in her life that was there for her unconditionally and actually loved her. Sure, he was a newborn and he couldn't speak or state his thoughts vocally, but his actions more than made up for that.

Percy, her nickname for him as she thought Perseus was too long, always smiled when he saw her. It didn't matter if he was bawling his eyes out the second before, as soon as he saw Thalia he would always break out into a bright smile, which in turn made Thalia smile. Thalia truly did love her little brother. In fact, she loved him so much that she practically begged her mother to teach her how to change his diapers and make his food.

All in all, life had been great. That is until her father left again..

As soon as her father left her mother, she went back to the same state of depression. She started to drink the smelly juice again and even began smoking. This time though, it was even worse than before. She began constantly beating Thalia while yelling at her about how her father had left due to her. Thalia didn't really understand why her father left due to her.

Luckily for Thalia, it seemed that her mother had a soft spot for Percy. Whenever she held Percy she would constantly coo about how he was so much like his father. Usually she ended up a sobbing mess after just a few minutes of holding the newborn, but thankfully she never beat him as she did Thalia.

Day by day Thalia's hate for her mother grew, but she stayed. Despite how much she hated her mother and how badly she treated her, she couldn't leave Percy in the arms of her wench of a mother. Who knows what she would do to him if she left. She would probably start beating him and Thalia just couldn't stomach the thought of letting Percy get hurt.

One day, though, her mother had crossed the line.

"Mommy, can we go to store?" The now three year-old Percy asked.

"Not now Percy," His mother had said, holding a bottle of the smelly juice, which Thalia had found out was called beer. "Go play with your sister or something, just leave me alone."

Albeit reluctant, Percy left her alone to go play with his toy dinosaurs. He was enjoying himself, acting as if the dinosaurs were flying and really talking to him. Then, his stomach began to growl. Probably forgetting what his mother had told him about leaving her alone, he walked back up to where she was laying on the coach, beer bottle still in hand.

"Mommy, I hungry," Percy said, clutching his small stomach with both hands.

"Go find something to eat in the kitchen," She growled, a scowl marinating her face. "And didn't I tell you to leave me alone!?"

"Sorry mommy," Percy mumbled, his head down, before heading over to the kitchen. He began rummaging through the fridge, looking for anything to eat. Finding nothing, he began climbing the counters to search the cabinets, but to no avail.

Walking back to the couch on the living room, he began speaking, "Mommy there no any-" That was as far as he got before his mother slapped him across the face.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE DIDN'T I?" She yelled at the now crying child. "WHY DO YOU KIDS EVEN EXIST? I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DISAPPEAR!"

Percy got up as quick as he could and ran over to his now nine year old sister. Thalia, who had been watching the entire exchange from her spot on the table, was shocked. That was the first time her mother had hit Percy. Shock quickly turned into anger but she managed to control it, for now.

She redirected her attention back to her brother who was clutched tightly in her arms. He was sobbing on her shoulder, but she ignored the fact that her shirt was becoming wet with his tears. Thalia didn't really know how to comfort him, as she had never been comforted herself nor had she done this before, but she tried her best.

After a few minutes of Thalia rubbing his back soothingly and telling him 'it'll be alright' over and over again, he had completely quieted down. Thalia, noticing he had fallen asleep while sobbing, carried him over to their shared room and set him on their bed.

Their room was very small and only consisted of one bed and a few toys for Percy. Though they had to share a small bed, Thalia didn't really mind. Both were quite small in size due to them being young and Percy often had nightmares which led to him cuddling up to sleep with her.

She spotted her school backpack in the corner of the room. Grabbing it, she quickly emptied it out of all her school supplies. Once it was completely empty she went to the closet and packed a few pieces of clothing for both her and Percy. Once the backpack was nearly filled with clothing, she snuck into the kitchen, going unnoticed by her mother who was watching television, and grabbed as many granola bars and water bottles as she could. She then quickly packed them away into her backpack.

Tiptoeing silently towards her mother's room, she opened the door and entered before shutting it quietly. She searched around, knowing her mother kept a bit of money stashed for beer and cigarettes. After a few minutes of searching, she found a total of fifteen twenties, adding up to a total of $300. She stuffed it into her pocket and quietly snuck back into their room and went over everything one more time to see if anything was missing.

Her mother was about to get her wish. Thalia just couldn't handle being in the same household as her and she definitely wasn't going to sit around and let her pick on her little brother. She was his big sister, his protecter, she couldn't allow him to be hurt by anyone.

Once she had double checked and found everything they needed in the bag, she gently woke Percy up. "Hey come on, get up Perce."

"Sleep.." he mumbled in his sleep.

Thalia, not known for her patience, began to shake his shoulder a little harsher. "Come on, we have to go Percy."

"Huh?" He asked, finally waking up. His light blue eyes, which greatly resembled the blue sky on a sunny day, were red and puffy from his earlier sobbing. "What's going on Talia?" She had to resist the urge to sigh at his mispronunciation of her name. 'More important things Thalia, focus.' She reprimanded herself.

"Come on, we're going to the park," She said, causing Percy to perk up. She didn't want to lie to him, but she knew telling him now would only cause problems. He'd start to question her on why and then they'd lose precious time and it'd increase the chances of her mother stopping them. It would also be easier to get out of the house by saying she was going to the park than trying to sneak out with a three year old.

Percy eagerly followed her out of their room and towards the door, practically jumping up and down with excitement. She couldn't really blame him, the park was nice. She used to love it when her parents brought her there, sadly those memories plague her whenever she goes to the park now.

Just as they were about to exit the door, their mother noticed them. "Where ya brats going?"

"Talia take me to park!" Percy exclaimed gleefully, receiving a 'whatever' in return. He was putting on his shoes before he frowned. "Talia?" He asked.

"Yes Percy?" Thalia responded kindly.

"Shoes untied," he said while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Thalia sighed before bending down to tie his shoes. She seriously needed to teach him how to do it on his own. Once she had finished, Percy jumped onto her and clutched her shoulders tightly. "Carry me Talia!" With what seemed to be her millionth sigh that day, she opened the door and walked out of their apartment.

"Why have a bag?" He asked, curiously looking at her backpack which was strapped to her back.

Knowing she'd have to tell him eventually, she decided to answer truthfully. "Percy, we're leaving. We can't live with mom anymore."

"Why not?" He asked innocently.

"Because she keeps hurting us," Thalia responded. They were currently walking down the streets of San Francisco, well, she was walking while Percy was being carried.

"You'll protect me though, right?"

Thalia smiled. "Always."

She could practically feel the smile he had on his face as he snuggled his head into her shoulder. "Wait," he said as if realizing something. "Does this mean we not going to the park?"

Thalia sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way she would be able to say no without him crying. "I'll take you to the park," Percy grinned, "But only for a little while, okay?" She felt him nod, head still on her shoulder.

Once they had arrived at the San Francisco park, Thalia sat down on a bench while Percy went to play on the slides. She was just casually taking in the scenes from the park, when she noticed a tall man wearing a hoodie. 'That's odd, who would wear a hoodie when it's this hot?' He also seemed to be staring directly at her. But that wasn't the strangest part, as she could've sworn the man had only one eye. 'Must be the lights playing tricks,' She chalked up.

Once about fifteen or so minutes passed, she called out to Percy. "Come on Percy, time to go!"

"Okay, one second," He replied, before turning back to a group of children he was playing with, "Bye guys, I have to go!" He said before skipping off towards her.

Once he was standing side by side with her, he grabbed her hand in his tiny one, causing Thalia to smile. "Did you have fun?" She asked.

"Yeah!" He nodded his head enthusiastically. "Thanks for bringing me Talia, you the best!" He cheered.

"I know I am," Thalia laughed.

"So where we going?" Percy asked curiously.

"We'll see," Thalia replied. Truthfully, she hadn't completely thought this out. She didn't really know where they were going to go, just that she had to get away from her mother. Perhaps they could find shelter in an abandoned house or something? Without wasting another minute, Thalia began walking towards a random direction, dragging the three year-old along.

It was silent for quiet some while, before Percy decided to break it. "So we never going see mommy again?" He asked.

"No Percy, we won't," Thalia said happily.

"Can we go back to say goodbye first?" Percy questioned. She looked down to see him frowning. Even after she hit him and mistreated him he still cared for her?

"I'm sorry Percy, but we can't," Thalia told him softly. She knew this was a lot to take in, especially for a kid as young as him. If this had been anyone other than her little brother, she probably would've snapped at them for asking so many questions.

Percy didn't say anything, deciding to continue walking. Soon they had arrived at a broken down one story house which seemed to be abandoned. She guided Percy towards the front door where she opened it slowly, the door making a loud creak. Percy tightened his grip around her hand, looking scared out of his mind.

Inside the house was very dusty and had little furniture. It was also quite dark and when Thalia tried to flick the lights on, they didn't work. Luckily, there was still some light coming in from the outside.

Taking a deep breath, she walked in. Slowly she made her way through the house. She heard the occasional creaks of the wooden floor. Just as they entered the living room a boy popped out, holding a knife. Thalia instinctively pushed Percy behind her.

"Who're you?" He asked loudly. He appeared to be eleven years old and he had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His jeans and blue t-shirt were cut all over and dirty.

"Calm down," Thalia said, holding her hands up to show she wasn't armed. "We're just looking for a place to stay. We'll leave if you already live here," She then began to turn back towards the door after grabbing Percy's hand.

"Wait!" The blonde boy called out. "Are you guys runaways too?"

Thalia slowly turned around. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

The boy shrugged. "Why else would you be looking for a place to stay? Anyways, you're welcome to stay with me if you'd like, I live alone."

Thalia narrowed her eyes towards him. "Why would you invite us to stay with you? You don't even know us."

"True," He agreed. "But I still know how it feels to live on the streets. Plus it's kind of lonely." He then out stretched his hand. "What's your name?"

"Thalia," She said, grabbing his hand in a firm handshake. "And this is my brother, Percy," She gestured to Percy who was still hiding behind her, clutching onto her leg.

He smiled. "I'm Luke."

Author's Note: Tell me what you guys think of the idea. I've been dying to try and write a Percy-Thalia sibling story so here it is. I hope it wasn't too bad, I think I actually did pretty decently on this story.

I purposely made Percy's grammar bad cause he's a 3 year old, doubt he would be able to speak fluently. Sorry if it annoyed you guys, just more realistic and I don't think it was that hard to decipher what he meant.

Anyways for now I'm just playing with the idea. But if you guys like it tell me so I can actually continue it. Also is this title good or do you guys have any recommendations? I came up with this on the fly.

If you have Discord and would like to join a hangout for some fanfiction authors here's the code: SZ6f8Tt . There are some pretty notable authors in there you would probably recognize and most people are pretty chill in it.

Review!