It's not the strength of the body that counts,

but the strength of the spirit

- J.R.R. Tolkien

"Come 'ere you little bastard." Smelly Gabe calls me from the living room. I have the door open just a crack, the stench of beer, sweat and a sad desperation mixed in with a hobo's piss floating into my closet/bedroom. It has the ugliest faded floral wallpaper, which by the way was peeling so bad the white wall was showing threw a gaping hole. My filthy shirts, jeans, sneakers, and other assortments of the rags, clothing as my mother generously puts it.

My mother.

I, the horrible son I am, have left her alone to her poker-loving, beer-guzzling, money-stealing dickwad of a husband. My sweet mama. Who wouldn't blame someone if they personally cut-off her legs and ate them, more likely she would play it off as an accident while she bled to death.

"PERCY FUCKING JACKSON, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN HERE I WILL!" I speed my steps down the hall to the living room. Gabe is sitting on the faded, torn olive green couch looks up from his game and smiles maliciously at me. He turns to look at each of his friends, sharing a silent joke, before yanking my collar. I look into the connected kitchen where my mom stands, her eyes stating she's close to intervening. I beg for her to leave me, that I'm fine, that it never hurts even when it does.

"You think you're funny don't you?" I grit my teeth. I don't keep quiet like my mom, who shouts through the silence. My preferred weapon is sarcasm.

"Not particularly, no." Wrong answer. Not allowed to treat my fresh bruise on my chest, I grab a cold beer from the mini fridge and hand it to Gabe like a good little slave.

My mom grabs my sleeve and put a cold, wet rag in my shirt. Carefully. So it isn't noticeable when I walk back to my room. Just to spite Gabe, and because Rachel is coming tomorrow, I smirk at him.

I go back to my room with a limp.

"Percy, you really ought stop picking fights with Gabe." My mom says in small voice with a sad smile.

"Where's the fun in that, Ma?" I joke shyly. "I love seeing how far I can push him before he dies of a burst artery or alcohol poisoning." She shakes her head.

"Lord knows he deserves it." She gives me her sad smile. "But you don't deserve it, Percy." Why do you stay with him then.

"If I can't piss him off, then he's won. I won't let him make me dead inside." My mom's eyes are guilty and I instantly regret it.

"You can fight...in other ways." Pause. Her special pause. The Sally-Jackson-Please-Pause. Which works on every human being. And sometimes Gabe. I huff. "I don't like you hurt, Percy." Then leave him.

"Okay, I'll try."

I turn in my bed as Ma walks out.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a.k.a My Red-headed Nightmare, a.k.a R.E.D which I will never let her live down.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare's mane of red frizz being lit up by the December air stands by the entrance of my apartment.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare waits for me in paint splattered jeans and a black t-shirt under a brown coat. Her boats are old and winter-worn.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare turns her head. We greet each other with every step I take on the fire escape near my bedroom. Like hell I'm going through the living room after last night.

"Perseus Jackson."

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

One-step.

"Percy Jackson."

"Rachel Dare."

Two-step

"Percy."

"Rachel."

Three-step

"Perce."

"Rache."

Four-step

"Prissy."

"R.E.D"

Five-step

"Come down already." I jump down. Rachel hums a tune like a lullaby while I tug on her curls. "Quit it Prissy Jackson!" I stick out my tongue and Rachel rolls her green eyes. They are almost like if she colored them with her extra-special-neon-markers-which- boys-named-Percy-Jackson-are-not-allowed-to-touch. "You have the brain of a 5 year old on a sugar high." Her green eyes are crystal lily pads. My eyes are the pond, or better the ocean. The ocean which crashes along the beach of my mom's private cottage only I can go to with her. And Rachel, who is her adopted daughter. Who hates when we sympathize her because of her parents neglectful nature.

"You can barely feed yourselves. Please, there's no need to pity me."

"At least, Percy and I have each other. And now you have us." Ma counters.

For the rest of the walk to school, she and I made random jokes. Every now and then I'd lose focus. Rachel finally gets sick of my hair tugging and threatens me with her blue plastic hairbrush she claims is so powerful the Lord of Titans himself would cower in fear of it.

"Percy, do you have lunch?" Rachel looks in concern. I haven't been eating lately out of my desperation to save some money.

"Um...no not-Rache you don't have to pay for me," I shout/whisper as she pulls out her purse in front of the Goode entrance.

"Perce, I won't take no for an answer!" She shoves a twenty in my hand. "I'll take you to McDonald's." Rachel Elizabeth Dare strikes a hard bargain.

"Hey, yo, Percy!" Grover calls for me at the end of the hall.

"Hey Grover!" I call back. The bell rings and I find myself running into my first period geometry. No one I know is there, so I endure the entire period before my escape to Latin with Grover and his huge crush Juniper. Juniper's got long carmel hair, emerald eyes and a tiny nature filled to the brim with her trademark jumpiness and sensitivity.

I run to next period, avoiding getting hit in my bruised area when a blonde blur slams into me and rushes on. I now recognize how fragile those bruises are as new blood oozes from newly opened wounds.

"Percy, you okay?" Juniper's warm small voice pipes from somewhere behind me. Maybe skipping breakfast was not my smartest move.

Hey Guys! Its Troy

I have two different ideas for the story, but my original idea consisted of only the PJO characters. So no Romans or Greeks introduced in HoO. Please vote whether or not you want to include HoO.

Leave reviews and ships you would like to see which do not include Annabeth, Percy, or Rachel as I have plans for them *Evil smile*

I will update as soon as I have enough votes. This is my first fanfic so I apologize for my horrible writing.

~ Troydancing78