Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.
The Search for Home
Family
Betas: Engineer4Ever and Siegfried01
0 line break 0
Prologue: A "Fated" Meeting
It was a typical balmy night in London and, as with all other major metropolises around the world in this modern age, the city never slept. Thousands of people still walked its streets, worked their jobs and partied at its pubs and clubs.
Not all of those on the city's streets, however, were there of their own choice. One such homeless individual was a cute young girl with long black hair down until her hips, and an adorably rounded face that served to draw attention to her pair of striking gray eyes and delicate musculature. This young child, dressed in a ratty sweater several sizes too big that hung off her shoulders like a cloak, and an equally worn dress was currently hugging herself while sheltering under one of the city's many underpasses, one utterly devoid of any foot traffic at the late hour, as she lamented her fate.
Good job, Ophis! It's late and you're starving. The young girl thought to herself self-deprecatingly. You thought running away from the orphanage was a good idea? Look where it's got you now!
The young girl shook her head at that though, No! It was. All the bullying from the other kids that the adults always said never happened. I couldn't stand another moment of that! I had to run away!
Ophis' stomach rumbled then, reminding her of the fact she hadn't eaten the whole day. Not with the bullies stealing all her breakfast that morning before the field trip to the museum that she'd snuck away from.
But maybe I should have snuck some food along with me. Not that doing so would have been easy, not when the adults at St. Mary's, the orphanage she grew up in, were determined to see her as a troublemaker and so watched her closely.
I'm going to die out here on the streets, ain't I? If not today, then someday soon… The young girl thought bitterly to herself as she slowly began to cry. I don't want to die. I'm only six. I wish…
"... someone would come and save me!" The little girl whimpered quietly into the bleak emptiness as she curled up into a ball and sobbed.
Unbeknownst to the child, as the words left her lips, the world lurched as the course of fate itself was redirected to fulfill her heartfelt wish.
Ophis had just finished crying and was drying her eyes on her long sweater sleeve when she noticed the shadows cast by the street lamps on the other side of the overpass begin to flicker, even though the light hadn't moved. Then, in total contradiction to everything she knew about the workings of the world she'd gleaned in her short life, the shadows began to twist into a strange oval-shape. A moment later a boy, perhaps ten or so, stumbled out of the strange shadow.
"Huh?" Ophis blinked, rendered dumb for a moment as she processed this shocking turn of events.
"Ow! That's it! I'm never doing that when tired again." The boy muttered to himself as he dusted himself off. He had black hair that looked like he just got out of bed, which he only made more messy as he tried to smooth it down. His pale olive skin made it seem as if he hadn't been out in the sun for a while. He was wearing black clothing with skeletal designs and…was that an honest to goodness sword in his hand?
"You can see my sword?" The boy asked, looking startled.
Having realized she'd spoken her thoughts about the sword aloud, Ophis was equally startled but recovered enough to reply with a, "Why shouldn't I? It's pretty eye-catching, being a sword and all."
"It's just…You shouldn't. Mortals can't." The pale boy stuttered out, obviously flustered.
Mortal? Somehow that word didn't seem right to her. "What did you call me, Shadow Boy?"
"Shadow Boy? Wha—" The boy began in a confused tone, before seemingly figuring things out and continuing in a more normal voice. "You saw me travel through the shadows too?"
I should be freaking out. All these strange things are happening in front of me… But Ophis was strangely calm. In fact, despite being in a situation straight out of a storybook, she was feeling as if all was right with the world in a way that she never had before.
"Are you a half-blood too?" The gothic boy asked.
"I beg your pardon!" Ophis cried out, scandalized.
"Wait, wh—oh right! Stupid me!" The rude boy groaned as he massaged his temples, as if to ward off a headache. "I didn't mean to insult you, I was just asking if you're a demigod too. You see, we sometimes call ourselves half-bloods."
"I see. Tha—" Anything else that Ophis would have said was cut off as her stomach rumbled loudly.
Ophis blushed delicately and pointedly looked away from the boy, trying in vain to calm herself.
"You on your way home for dinner, err… What's your name again? Mine's Nico. Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades." The boy said finally introducing himself.
"I'm Ophis Devin. And no, I wasn't heading home or on my way to get dinner." Ophis explained still looking away from Nico.
"Why not?" Nico asked curiously.
"Because I ran away from the orphanage." Ophis answered quietly.
The son of Hades heard her though, and exclaimed, "You live in a orphanage!? And you ran away?"
Ophis just glared at the boy and hissed, "yes!"
"Oh. Um…Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just surprised is all." Nico defended himself sheepishly.
Ophis just looked at him with a gimlet eye.
"I'm serious." Nico continued in the face of the girl's disbelief. "I've got no family now either, so why would I insult you over being like me?"
"But you just said you're a son of Hades. Can gods even die?" Ophis asked, confused.
"Err…Hades isn't much of a father." Nico admitted while looking away in an attempt to hide the angry expression that crossed his face at talking about his father. "It's like not having a father at all."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Ophis apologized.
"It's not your fault. So you said that you ran away?" At Ophis' nod, Nico asked again, "Why?"
"The kids there were mean to me and the adults let them." The young girl explained.
"I see…" Nico trailed off and was quiet for a moment, before his face suddenly became determined. Looking Ophis in the eye, he asked, "You got any place to go?"
"No." Ophis said honestly. Why am I telling him everything? I don't even know him. The adults back at St. Mary's always said not to talk to strangers, but… My gut is telling me I can trust him.
And Ophis trusted her gut instincts. It was what had saved her from the most humiliating and painful pranks the bullies used to pull on her. It had never failed her when she listened to it.
"I see. Well, I think I can help you there…" The Nico boy begun before the world seemed to freeze for Ophis.
Suddenly, she was overcome with images. Images that from previous experience were visions of what could be. In one set of images, Ophis saw Nico transporting her to a new orphanage where she would be taken in, and happy for a little while before things became just like at St. Mary's.
No! Nononono! Anything but that!
In a second set of images, Ophis saw Nico offering to take her along and the two of them spending time together having fun.
Yes! This. I want this!
At her command, the world lurched for the second time, as the course of the future was railroaded along a fixed path.
"...there. Want to come with me? It's going to be dangerous though. Life's like that for a demigod." Nico finished.
Bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet, Ophis hastily replied, "Yes, please! I don't mind the danger. But are you sure you're ok with that?"
"Of course I am. I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't. So long as you don't mind the danger then everything's fine." Nico reassured the girl, before quietly muttering under his breath that, "This is what Bianca would have done. I'm sure."
Ophis was curious who Bianca was. A friend of Nico's? But she didn't want to jinx her good fortune.
Just then, Ophis' stomach decided it was high time to rejoin the conversation. With a loud rumble it announced to the world its emptiness.
"Well, the first order of business is getting you some dinner I guess—" Nico teased a blushing Ophis, only to be interrupted by his own growling stomach.
"Er…I guess I could get some too." He finished, embarrassed.
"Let's." Ophis cheered, as she wrapped herself around the arm not holding a sword.
"So know any good places to eat? Where are we anyway?" Nico asked.
"We're in London. And no, I don't know where there's good food." Ophis said disappointed that she couldn't be more help to her savior.
"Hey, no need to be down. It's my first time in London. So we can explore and find some good food together, 'k?" Nico said comfortingly.
Ophis just nodded.
With that the two children wandered off into the London night looking for a meal and thus marked the first steps towards becoming family for the both of them.
0 line break 0
AN:
Okay so this is my first Fanfic, so be gentle with the criticism. The whole story has been written and beta'd and I'll be releasing it during the course of today. So all of you can enjoy a finished product.
Oh, and for those interested in a little foreshadowing, Devin can be traced back to the Divine in Latin, so make of that what you will.
Lastly, this story, at least its basic concept, was partially inspired by Never Leave Family Behind by Jessica Jayme Bell