I do not own.

The pool expanded as more and more liquid, thick, salty, and metallic, poured out of the open wound. The edges of the lake hit another lake, and they slowly coalesced into a super-lake. The second wound was more profound, coming from the frail woman's protruded belly, which held a second inhabitant. The fist in his hair forced him to look at the horrific scene, his mother and unborn sister dead in front of him. He was older, now, so he understood what was happening. He did not understand then.

Slowly, being overpowered like he had never been before, his face was lowered into the ocean of blood. He tried to purse his lips, seal them tight, not take any of their blood into his body, but as he was held there longer, he felt himself involuntarily gasping for air, and getting blood instead. His overactive brain wondered whose blood it was. He almost wished it was his mother's, because the alternative…

His tears slowly mixed in with the blood, along with his spit. It defiled the pure substance. Tears of innocence, and spit of refusal blasphemed the blood, spilt out of drunkenness. No, not drunkenness. That sounds like an excuse. Evil. Malign. Hatred. Jealousy. The sins of humankind. That's what spilt his mother's blood. That's what spilt his sister's blood.

He had always wanted a sister.

Soft hands brushed his cheek, still pressed against the blood. He opened his eyes, and he still saw his family, dead on the floor. A maggot started to crawl out of his… no, it wasn't like this. He saw a maggot crawl out of his baby sister's nostril. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

A pair of lips, chapped a bit, pressed against his forehead. The tears that leaked out began to pour out. He curled up into a ball in her lap. His cheek was all bloody. It was his mother's blood. It was his sister's blood. More maggots poured out of her dead body – was she ever truly alive? because he knew she would never be alive like he was alive now – and her eyes popped, revealing more maggots. They loved the dead flesh – was she ever truly alive? because he knew she would never be alive like he was alive now – and two bodies was like a buffet. He didn't hate the maggots. They didn't kill her. In fact, they probably fulfilled his mother's only wish – to be able to nurture new life.

"I was eight," he choked out. She petted his hair as the man pulled him up from the ground, only to slam him against his dead mother and dead sister – was she ever truly alive? because he knew she would never be alive like he was alive now – causing blood to gush onto him. The maggots moved too. Was he dead too? Were they coming for him next?

He gasped heavily, and she understood. She held him tighter.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Be strong for me, let it out. Cry, let it out."

So he did. She was there for him.

"You okay?"

His dad held him at arm's length, looking him over. She had told him what had happened last night, even though he told her not to worry his dad. He had enough on his plate right now as it was.

"Yeah, it was just particularly bad."

He pulled his son in for a hug. "How about you and me, we go out to breakfast at that dinner down on 10th and 47th?"

He looked at his dad weirdly. "Isn't that in Hell's Kitchen?"

"I thought you might like a little work to get your mind off of life. Does Annabeth want to come too?"

"Say his name, and the devil shall appear. Or, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen that is." His smirking wife walked down the stairs. "No, I've got work, but you boys go ahead."

The duo nodded, and Percy went to go see his wife off. "You sure you don't want to come?"

She smiled at him, leaning in to hug him. "Yes, I've got to catch up on some stuff, but you go have fun with your dad. I know you two have been busy lately."

He buried his face in her curls. "Thank you, for last night."

"There's nothing to thank me for. It's my job as your wife."

Kissing her hair, "I don't think you realize how much you mean to me."

"If I mean half as much to you as you do to me, then I think I do."

He smirked, and kissed her.

"Okay," his father stated as the kiss got deeper, "we're about to go, but if you're hungry for something else, I can always go get Pepper, and she and I can go eat together, if you know what I mean."

Percy groaned. "Seriously? You think I need that mental image?"

"Do you think I need to see you two going at it like Irish Catholic Rabbits? No, now let's go, I'm hungry." The couple rolled their eyes at the eccentric man, leaving each other's embrace.

"So, are we doing this the old-fashioned way?"

"You know, sometimes I think you're my son, and then sometimes I think you're my son, and you just really don't give a shit about your father."

Percy was about to make a joke about his language, but quickly silenced himself. Probably not the best thing to do right now.

"So, we're biking?"

His father just pinched the bridge of his nose.

Do you know who Percy's new father is? If you can guess, I'll shoutout the first person who gets it right!

So, if you know who his father is, and what this is really a crossover of, and you're looking for a new project, how about you and I cowrite this? PM me if you want to! I'm just shit at updating and actually writing a story, but I think I've got some good ideas if you're willing to take some direction. So, if you want to cowrite, please, please, please PM me!

Thanks,

Loverboi