Taking the origins way back with this one and totally not because I'm running out of individual scenes to pick on and alter. I might do different kinds of/reasons for mutism if you want cuz I like this one. Options might be physical health/deformation, selective, paranoia whatever you feel. Review or PM if you have ideas about mutism or otherwise that you wanna see.
I would like to clarify that not all traumatic experiences leading to mutism have to do with speaking/not speaking, I just made it that way to be dramatic.
TRIGGER WARNING: CHILD ABUSE/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Stay safe my children and don't read the first section if you know you shouldn't.
Pre-Books; Percy is 7 years old and let's pretend that Sally is newlyish married because I don't know her marriage timeline:
TRIGGER WARNING^
Mom wasn't home. He hated when she did that. That meant he was alone. All he had to do was stay out of the way, but that was so hard. It just was. That was why Gabe locked him in the closet. Because he couldn't stay out of the way.
But after a few hours, not only was he super super bored, he also really had to pee, and he didn't want to pee on Mom's stuff.
At first he planned to quietly open the doors and go to the bathroom, then go back inside before Gabe noticed. Then he tried. He pushed on the doors. Then he pulled. Then he hit them a little bit, but jumped back when Gabe yelled "SHUT UP IN THERE!" over the sound of the TV. It was locked.
"I have to pee!" Percy called.
"ARE YOU DEAF AND RETARDED, YOU SON OF A WHORE!? I SAID SHUT UP."
"Please let me out," He called again only slightly quieter. "Let me out!" His volume rose significantly unintentionally.
The next thing he heard wasn't the yell he was expecting. The pounding of feet sounded towards him. He could hear Gabe's heavy, infuriated breathing over his own heartbeat taking over his ears. The closet door was ripped open. Percy screamed and shook in place, unable to process. Unable to move.
"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY." It would never be enough. His vocal chords strained. His voice was shrill. He couldn't be any louder. This was the only thing that could save him as Gabe's big, grimy hand closed around his neck and yanked him out of the corner he had somehow ended up in. It would never be enough. He continued to spit out choked screams through Gabe's fingers. His head felt hot and full. His ears felt like they were bleeding. Soon he couldn't breathe enough to scream. The whole world was screaming for him. The black dots in all objects emerged from them and taunted him, dancing where only he could see them and where they made sure he couldn't see anything else. Nothing but Gabe's pink, sweaty face, teeth barred, lips moving and spit flying at Percy with his curses, eyes burning with anger.
Gabe tossed him to the ground like a rag. He hit his head and suddenly the blackness took over, but not for long enough. Gabe was on top of him, then there was a pain in Percy's jaw, then he tasted warm metal. It took a few punches for him to become aware of what was happening, and by then he was already falling out of consciousness again, unsure of whether the screaming was his own or someone else's.
He woke up to the sight of his Mom. He was terrified. His heart had spread it's sporadic rhythm to every part of him. She was crying.
"...Mom," Percy whispered, as quietly as he could and as best as he could with his jaw feeling painfully numb and out of place.
"THAT F-" She started.
"What's that, Sally?" Gabe was behind her. Percy's fingers went numb. His whole body screamed at him to do something but all that happened were sobs. Gabe pulled her up by her hair and spoke right into her face. "You pushed this vermin out. Now get rid of him before I do."
"Never."
Percy sat and watched what Gabe did next, all of it, paralysed with his eyes glued in place, right on the scene, as the next hour transpired. His chest was caught the whole time. He couldn't cry. There was too much to cry at. He could do absolutely. Nothing.
After that day, Sally spoke quietly, few times and far apart, gradually getting better. Only very slowly.
Percy never spoke again.
Still Pre-Books; progressing time
After three months of silence, Sally realised that Percy's refusal to speak wasn't something he was intentionally doing. That realisation had come through a trial, one in which Gabe had been holding a knife to Percy and demanding that he respond to whatever had been asked of him. Percy had screamed voicelessly and cried silent tears. He had mouthed his answer but couldn't speak, then he passed out from fear, the knife that had been held so close to his face scratching him on the cheek just before Sally had sneaked close enough to attack Gabe herself.
Sally started taking Percy to a special school with ASL classes they couldn't afford a few days after that. Sally took out some books to learn on her own. She explained their situation to the instructor, minus the part about domestic abuse, and he agreed to take them in as somewhat of a charity case. Sally still paid, but less than half as much, and Percy wasn't given very much personalised instruction.
Surprisingly even with his learning disabilities he picked up the language quickly, even imitating some of the deaf kids in his class by mouthing what he was signing as he did. He found the class very quiet, and he grew to rely on that silence and find comfort in it.
He came to prefer PSE; ASL was too complicated to mouth and sign at the same time. He still learned it though and could switch seamlessly to accommodate some of the kids who preferred it in conversation.
He was pretty sure he was the only kid at the school who wasn't deaf, but then again, he assumed everyone was deaf, and people assumed he was as well. They couldn't tell he wasn't making noise. He actually felt like he fit in. He found some friends. He felt wanted and cared for.
Until the charity case started causing problems. Percy had no idea what happened. It was just him surrounded by broken desks and unconscious classmates. He was told he lashed out for some reason, and the teacher says she heard him scream, though both Percy and Sally knew that couldn't be. There was no way he could stay there after that, and no other school, public for 'normal' kids or private for hearing impaired kids, would take him after news of his decimation got out. Parents pressed charges and the Jacksons were drained of every cent. Percy, of course, blamed himself.
He stopped going to school when he was eight and was taken in due to his desperate situation as a paperboy and paid slightly more than minimum wage out of pity. He found consonance in that the library had free public access, and that ASL books were mostly pictures. He became adept on his own, and started offering himself as a tutor with sneaky prices that grew every session. It worked. Parents were more than willing to accept his help with their young (younger than him) hearing impaired children for far less than other professionals. He sold himself as having learned it as a first language. They didn't need to know he wasn't born mute.
The family pulled it together, and as soon as they had Sally insisted that Percy stop having to work and try to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.
He was sent to his first boarding school the summer after he turned nine. He was kicked out before even a semester had finished. The teachers couldn't figure out how such a quiet kid could cause so much trouble.
He continued to be sent again and again to schools that didn't understand and didn't work until Sally finally settled on Yancy Academy, for 'troubled' kids. She hated to label her son as troubled, but she knew that if anything would work for him, it would be Yancy.
Grover appeared a few months into Percy's time there and seemed insistent on being his friend, even if all of their conversations were games of charades or trying to decipher Percy's chicken scratch writing. Percy was really grateful for a friend.
Almost The Lightning Thief
Nancy Bobofit kicked one of Grover's crutches out from under him while he and Percy were walking, not bothering anyone, across the lawn of the boarding school. He fell to the side and Percy only just caught him in time.
"Whoops," Nancy said and shrugged, tossing it across the field with all of her strength, which was worryingly a lot. Percy gave her his best glare and helped Grover to standing. Before he could even start to go to retrieve his other crutch, Nancy thought it would be a good idea to open her stupid mouth again. "You think you're helping him but you can't even speak. That means I can say whatever I want to you and you can't say anything back."
"Percy don't let her get to you," Grover advised as he had done so many times.
Nancy got in Percy's face. She was taller than him, but he held his head high and stared her down. It was all he could do.
Honestly, he couldn't even remember why he couldn't speak. He knew it was psychological because some school counselor here had tried to get him to speak again, as per instructions from his mom. It didn't work out too well. But he did learn that nothing had happened to him physically to cause him to lose the ability to speak. He just knew that he couldn't, but he had the ability to. That was infuriating. He had tried to reach back and find the memory of what had done this to him, but every time he tried to do that, that night he would be met with terrible nightmares of monsters swarming him, crushing him, and defiling his mom. He was sure nothing like that happened, but if that was his subconscious manifestation of the event, he wasn't sure he really wanted to remember the details. He would just like it if someone told him what was up.
"You know, everyone knows you're not really mute. Why are you pretending? You like pretending to be a freak? You think it's funny?"
He didn't say anything. Of course. But his heart did start beating faster.
She scoffed and her nasty breath filled Percy's nose. "Stop faking. Just speak. There's no point. We know. We all know you're just doing it for attention. I bet I could make you talk. Or at least scream. Let's test my theory."
Percy very quickly set Grover down on the floor and punched Nancy in the face. She shouted some unsavoury things and lunged at him. He dodged and she ended up flinging herself onto the floor, literally eating the dirt. Percy laughed (which was unvoiced; only huffs of air). Nancy did not like that.
"You think this is funny!?" She raged. "I'm telling on you!"
"Tattle-tale," Grover said with a snort, then his eyes went wide and his smile retreated as he realised he had said it out loud. Nancy made for Grover. Percy would defend himself, sure, but he would kill for his friends. He used Grover's remaining crutch to pole-vault over and kicked Nancy square in the chest with both feet like a kangaroo. He landed next to her on the floor and kicked her in the face, knocking her unconscious. The other kids stared and at least four ran inside to report the incident. Percy nodded over to the other side of the courtyard where Grover's other crutch was.
"Yeah... yeah, let's go." Grover let himself be helped.
Grover used his alone time now that Percy was in solitary for a month to learn some sign language for him. If he was going to be this kid's protector, it would do good to be able to understand him. Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who could sign, which was not unintentional because that way he had to be with Percy a lot of the time, so Chiron taught the satyr like a real student. It went well, and Percy continued to teach ad learn after he was freed.
The Lightning Thief
"You drool when you sleep."
Percy frowned and nodded curtly. He didn't know who this (really pretty) girl was, but she was kind of annoying.
"Do you feel okay? You took some hits."
What did she mean? And come to think of it, where was this? AND WHERE WAS HIS MOM!? He nodded despite himself, though he must've looked shaken up.
"You don't talk much."
He had to smirk at that. He shook his head and let the reality creep back in and steal the smile from his lips.
Then Grover trotted in. Then there was a lot of explaining to be done.
~~*~~later~~*~~
In the middle of what was a really emotionally conflicting tour, Annabeth, as the girl was called, decided to get personal.
"So, how did you lose your voice?"
How do you think you could understand me even if I could tell you? He signed as quickly as he could to try to make sure she couldn't understand him. This was the first time he had signed to her, and for the first time with anyone he was hoping she didn't know ASL.
"Oh, of course you sign. Never mind. Sorry."
Percy put his hands up and shook his head in what he was pretty sure said 'duh' or maybe 'whatever.'
"Can you teach me?" She stopped walking and turned to him. Percy was a little taken aback. Usually people didn't ask right away; they didn't care enough to or they were too nervous. Or if they did ask, they usually just wanted to know curse words.
OK. Percy signed very slowly and mouthed with it, nodding just for good measure.
The Son Of Neptune
He couldn't figure out much but that he seemed to be dyslexic, invincible, and unable to speak. Not with his voice anyway. His hands did the talking. It wasn't the best method of taunting the terrifying creatures that he stumbled across, but they seemed to be pissed off by him stopping, putting his sword between his knees, and waving his hands around enough that he didn't stop. Not being able to communicate didn't really become a problem until he crossed that river, and suddenly there were many people asking him many questions.
"Stop," a strong voice commanded. "He can't speak. Leave. I'm going to talk to the son of Neptune alone."
That sounded wrong to him, but at least she didn't think he was deaf or stupid. The crowd cleared out quickly, abiding out of either fear or respect Percy couldn't tell. Probably both.
"My name is Reyna. This is Camp Jupiter, or New Rome. You seem to be familiar with your powers, and you're old enough that you should know what you are. And yet, I don't know you. What's your name?"
He figured she wouldn't ask that unless she knew she could understand him, so he signed his name. She nodded. "Percy. Do you know how you got here, Percy? Come, follow me." She walked along, watching him. She seemed friendly enough, but somehow he felt like that was only a tactic to get information. He wasn't about to deny her that.
I woke up, then I walked. I don't know why. These... he knew the word 'monsters' but he wasn't sure she did, or that it was the right word. These things chased me. I killed them with this. He pulled out the sword that had been with him when he had woken up. I don't remember anything.
"Nothing?"
No, just my name and another name. Annabeth.
Reyna looked away from him and straight ahead of her. Percy caught a subtle tensing of her lips. She was troubled by his situation.
Percy was too lost in his own concerns to realise that there was someone right in front of him until he literally ran into the obstruction. He looked up to see a skinny pale yellow kid in all black. He couldn't tell whether he was living or dead. He gasped and backed up involuntarily. The dead kid seemed to have a similar reaction, even though Percy was pretty sure he didn't look dead.
"Nico, watch where you're going," Reyna commanded.
"Right, sorry."
Percy stared. Are you alive?
Nico's nervous stare turned into an exceptionally annoyed glare.
"Nico," Reyna mitigated the growing tension. "This is Percy. He found his way here and I've determined that he has amnesia."
That last word seemed to strike something in Nico. Percy thought for a moment that Nico might have also mysteriously appeared without a memory, but instead of some strange bonding over that story happening, he was offered a bony hand. "Nico di Angelo. Nice to meet you." He shook with a firm grip that Percy hadn't expected.
Percy Jackson. He signed with his free hand, though his fingerspelling with his left was anything but smooth. He should practice that.
Nico let go of his hand. "Cool name. Reminds me of a friend."
Can everyone here sign? Percy was a little amazed.
"No," Nico said plainly.
"Not everyone, but many," Reyna corrected. "One of our cohort leaders is deaf, so it isn't uncommon for our demigods to learn."
Cohort? He spelled with a frown.
"The groups each legion is organised into," Reyna explained.
Legion? Percy was, and looked, even more confused.
"Come with me to my throne. I'll explain everything."
The Mark Of Athena
Percy felt really bad for not being able to speak. It just made everything that much more difficult, not being able to talk to the majority of the people on the ship. Leo claimed he "came equipped with six different non-verbal languages, for your convenience," but Percy was pretty sure he was just being funny. It did help that someone other than Annabeth could talk to him, though, as much as he loved talking to her. She was the only one he could trust to speak for him. Leo was always trustworthy for a few sentences, then he started saying weird and unreasonable things. Whoever he was talking to could tell by the weirdness and by Percy's expression if not his wild gestures that Leo had said the wrong thing. They all seemed to think it was funny the first zero times. Percy could concur.
Despite that, it all worked out pretty okay.
The House of Hades
Of all of the monsters, the memories he found awakened were the worst. This is what he had wanted, once, to learn what had caused him to stop speaking, but reliving them over and over... that was the true meaning of hell. They were fresh in his mind. He could taste the blood in the air. He wasn't sure whose it was.
"PERCY!" A final yell in his head from Annabeth finally snapped him out of the cycle. "It's gone. It has been for a while. I thought you would be paralysed forever. But... Percy, you screamed. With your voice. How did you do that?"
He was shaking violently. His throat felt like a thousand tiny creatures had crawled inside and scraped the sides until there was nothing but bone. He held his neck so tightly he might've been strangling himself. There was fire burning in the bloody crevices left behind by those imaginary creatures. He imagined that something outside of himself had caused it, but he knew it was from that scream Annabeth had mentioned.
I did?
"Yeah, well, more of a squeak, but you were screaming voicelessly before then so I knew what it was." She knelt next to where he had found himself on the floor of hell. The images he saw, the torture he lived through, replayed relentlessly at the front of his mind. This had to stop.
Those things happened, but so long ago. He despised Gabe for everything he had done, especially to his mom, but he had gotten what was coming to him. Sally had gotten her revenge and was fine. She had moved on. It was time to move on. He was dead. She killed him. It was over.
He opened his mouth to speak, he really did. He didn't know what he intended on saying, but something. He tried. He tried to make noise, but nothing was coming out. And it hurt so damn much.
I can't.
"I know, you've never been able to speak. That sound you made was just a weird fluke."
No. I... He tried again, desperately wanting to speak. I'm ready. I'm okay now. It's okay. While he signed he didn't stop trying. Honestly, he wasn't sure he knew how anymore.
"What happened?"
I know why I stopped talking. And I'm over it. I'm better than him. He can't control my life while he's dead. It ends now.
Annabeth seemed to fill in roughly what had happened. She put an arm around him and they both stood up. "Keep trying, then. If you want to speak, I know you can. I'm always here for you."
Pain. He twisted his fingers tensely and tried to say it at the same time. It didn't really work, but something that could be assessed as a squeak came out.
"Your voice hurts?" Annabeth kept them walking forward, and kept her tone gentle and comforting despite what she just fought alone while Percy was trapped in his personal hell. He nodded. "You can take a break if you want," she said carefully.
Can't. Only simple signs. He was concentrated on something else now.
"Okay."
~~*~~later~~*~~
After who knew how long of trudging along and squeaking in agony whenever he wasn't fighting that was about to kill them, Percy finally stopped.
I should give up. He collapsed behind a boulder, not even willing to break down until he had that shelter.
"Maybe take a break, but don't give up. You went from not speaking at all for over ten years to constantly trying to engage your vocal chords. There's going to be some problems with that initially, don't you think?"
Percy shrugged defeatedly.
"Don't let Gabe win."
Percy snapped up and met her eyes, then delivered a determined nod.
Sleep. I'll wake you up if something happens.
Annabeth hesitated but eventually agreed.
~~*~~later~~*~~
Bob was a miracle worker. Some weird Hell Herbs from around the Hermes shrine served as healing potions, apparently even more powerful and versatile than nectar or ambrosia. He and Annabeth both drank the liquid crushed out of them without question. Percy was pretty sure that Annabeth was feeling a lot better just as he was by watching her blink out of a terrified haze and into slightly less terrified concentration. For Percy, though, the main difference was the ceasing of what he thought would be everlasting pain in his throat. He sighed and simply took a second to enjoy not being in too much pain.
Then he opened his mouth. His lips hesitated this time. He felt ready physically, and mentally he was so ready to get rid of the last affect Gabe would have on the world. He swallowed some bloody saliva and took a breath.
"Annabeth." It came out quietly and strained, something just above a whisper, but undoubtably her name.
She whipped around to look at him and smiled for what must've been the first time since the fall.
"Oh, Percy." She pulled him into an embrace that would make Aphrodite reevaluate the expression of love.
After that he started saying more words, just occasionally, and never full sentences. Whenever he spoke, it required his full effort and attention. Annabeth couldn't have been prouder.
~~*~~later~~*~~
They stumbled out of the Doors on the other side. Never before had Percy been so glad to see other human faces and be blinded by such dim light.
The ensuing battle left little time to celebrate, but the two completely collapsed once it was safe to do so. Annabeth broke down crying for the first time. Percy held her and rocked her. The others stayed respectfully away and watched. They could never imagine what had happened.
"It's okay," Percy said into Annabeth's hair, not quite to a volume that the others could hear, but Annabeth got what she needed from it. Percy's voice; a symbol of bravery, of overcoming. They had done it.
When they eventually got back onto the Argo II, Percy and Annabeth ate, then slept for a long time together in Annabeth's bed. They couldn't dare be apart, and no one dared separate them.
They emerged together in time for lunch and everyone sat together. It was silent and solemn as plates were passed around. Percy stared at his, empty.
Annabeth touched his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
The whole table collectively gasped. Leo almost fell off his chair backwards.
"He can speak? You can speak!?" Nico gaped at Percy and inexplicably drew a strange knowing glance from Jason.
Percy hesitated, making 'more or less' gestures. "Kinda," his voice was hoarse, unsteady and unattractive, but it was working, and at only a little less than normal volume.
"Dude..." Leo steadied himself. "Congrats?"
"What the hell happened that brought your voice back?" Jason ogled at him like a newly discovered species at the zoo.
Percy shifted uncomfortably at both his stare and his question.
I don't want to talk about that place ever again. He signed, and Annabeth spoke it out for him, adding "I'm with him on that."
"Why didn't you say that?" Jason asked as a followup.
Percy took a few breaths to try to calm the stinging in his throat. He didn't think it would be this hard. Some mental override that had been in place for a decade tried to stop him from speaking. He struggled with it, moving his mouth and clenching his teeth, blowing air trying to stimulate some sound.
"Can't," He squeezed out desperately. It was strangled and jumbled.
"It's really hard for him. He can't do full sentences yet," Annabeth explained, putting an arm around him as a constant comfort and to soothe him in his frustrations.
The Hidden Oracle (no important ToA spoilers)
"Why?"
Apollo made a face like he'd just accidentally eaten a chunk of expired milk. "You can't speak. Why are you speaking?"
"I learned," Percy said, completely peeved.
"Good for you! I am in need of your assistance."
Percy nodded to Meg. "Who's that?"
"This is Meg, a demigod who rescued me from a band of street thugs. May I come in?"
"No." He shut the door.
Eventually Sally opened the door and invited the god and tiny demigod in. Percy had absolutely no problem refusing to talk to them, or to talk at all, but he ended up having to when he regrettably became their chauffeur.
"Why couldn't you speak before?" Meg was really annoying. Percy was kind of glad Apollo would have to deal with her forever.
"Cuz I didn't." He still wasn't perfectly comfortable with long sentences or speaking a lot in a short amount of time, mostly around strangers, since his voice tended to strain very easily and people thought it was fun to laugh at.
Sometime after things...
[I think Caleo was rushed and forced so I don't ship it so Calypso isn't gonna be here sorry it's my fic tho]
He couldn't believe it had been almost a year since they had all gotten together, since the battle. A picnic in Central Park with no food seemed like a VERY odd choice, but Piper could be convincing even without her charmspeak. Word had mostly been spread via Nico, the king of shadowtravelling even if it put his boyfriend on edge. They were both, of course, invited too.
It was just turning into winter. The air smelled at its best. Walking, Percy already saw Leo, Jason, and Hazel sitting on a bench. Well, Frank and Hazel were sitting. Leo was pacing and fiddling with his back to Percy. He had only heard that the son of Hephaestus had come back, and he regretted that he had never made the time to come see him until now.
Percy put a finger to his lip for Frank and Hazel to see as he approached. They both caught his eye individually and looked away skillfully so as to not alert Leo of his presence. He was ranting about the cold not being his friend or something when Percy deemed himself close enough to scare him.
"You got taller," He said very forcefully and maybe a little too loudly. Leo jumped like a cat seeing a cucumber and dropped some springs as he said something that might've been a curse in Spanish.
"You got louder!" He raised his voice so it was louder than Percy's had been and threw in some sarcastic tone for good measure. "And more annoying!"
"That's what I'm here for." Percy smiled and gave Leo a hug. "It's been a while."
"So many words, man, slow down. I'm overwhelmed." The two let go and Percy went to hug Frank and Hazel, trying not to be disturbed by how little Leo was now only an inch or two shorter than him. He laughed despite himself. This was going to be fun.
