Disclaimer: Doesn't everyone get tired of this? I don't own Percy Jackson.

Author's Note: Once again, a big thank you to all who reviewed. I really love you guys (Those who reviewed). =3

Another thing is, Percy will be the main narrator for the Origin chapters. If you guys would like a few chapters in some other POV's later in the story, then PM me or drop a review. =D

I've been sick, sorry for being late. Not much to say this chapter, so enjoy it! =)


Chapter 10: Origin: Merchants


(Percy)

The months that passed after the fire were a mere blur to me. After losing all of my comrades I went into what people today would call a depression to seek attention.

Back then, we merely called it life.

I grew more and more dismal every day, and I didn't have the fancy drugs of future society to help. My body moved in auto-pilot as I watched time pass.

The only reason I didn't end it all was because of Perry, because that would leave him with only himself in this cruel world. I also knew that my mom, Charlie, and the rest of the people at The Hidden Cave would have wanted me to keep living.

But that was the thing. There is a major difference between being alive and living.

I was not truly living. I was a lost soul looking for another reason to live other than memories and my brother.

My memory from this time is very fuzzy. My grief got the best of me if I did not keep myself busy. Even then I sometimes had to take a moment to compose myself.

If it wasn't for my twin, the Captain, and his crew, I might have lost my mind.

The person that saved me from the fire was the Captain of the... Well in English it would be called the Sinking Rock.

...Yes, the name sucked for a boat, but for some reason everyone thought it was funny. The humour of that time period was really, really dark.

Anyways, I had already met the Captain several times before. He was the captain of a trader/merchant ship.

The Captain had a deal with the thieves of The Hidden Cave. As long as The Hidden Cave was not known as a thieves base, he would continue to trade with them for a reasonable price.

The thieves needed a way to get supplies. Stealing everything you needed to run a tavern and secret base would automatically lead to trouble with the guards.

To avoid such trouble and destruction, the thieves used their stolen money to buy goods from other cities. I asked why they didn't just buy goods from around the city instead.

Apparently, no one want to have their face recognized by someone they had stolen from earlier. Life was complicated for thieves.

This system worked for both sides. The thieves got the supplies they needed and the traders got rid of their merchandise while still making a profit.

When Perry and I was staying at The Hidden Cave, several different merchant ships had done business with the thieves there. I remembered some of them, but the crew of the Sinking Rock stood out in my mind even before the fire.

The Captain was a good friend to Charlie. They always joked with each other when the Captain was in the city. Charlie trusted the Captain, so I knew that we could too.

It was coincidental that the Sinking Rock was in port that day. I doubt any other crew would have bothered to try to save a bunch of thieves. The Captain saved our lives, and I just wish that I could remember his name. Perry didn't recall his name either.

Like I said, I remember very little from this time. And everybody called him Captain, even the thieves.

After saving us, the Captain offered to let us sail with him and his crew once Perry returned to good condition after a few days. He knew that we wouldn't help much with the physical aspects of sailing with we being children and all, but having sons of Poseidon on the ship was sure to bring good fortune.

A child of Athena was thinking ahead again... At least I think he was Athena's son. He was a demigod, that I knew for sure.

Before you mention the whole Athena hating Poseidon thing, you should know that not every child of a god adopts their parent's way of thinking. Some of us, especially back then, didn't really care too much about what our parent's preferences were.

So Perry and I joined the crew of the Sinking Ship (Bet that sounds weird).

Most of our work was to act as cabin boys. It sure wasn't pretty, but it was worth it to not having to worry about our next meal.

The crew traveled to different cities. Many different goods were sold and bought. I was still to hazy to remember anything remarkable about our travels or the goods that were on the ship.

As time passed, my emotional wounds slowly healed into scars. I continued to train every chance I got with Perry's help. When in a city, we would always go off to practice our pick-pocketing skills and free running skills. It hurt my heart to use the skills Charlie taught us, but knowing that he could live on in me drove me to hone my abilities.

Water manipulation was a daily aspect of my training. My skills grew at a faster pace now that water was around me constantly. However, whenever Perry was present or in contact with the water, I had little to no control.

This I did not know why. Perry and I never understood his ability until a few years later, but that's another story.

While I could not practice the more destructive aspects of my power while out at sea, I could practice the more refined water manipulation techniques. I started with hovering a small droplet of water in midair. Then, I quickly added more droplets day by day until I could hover a whole bucket's worth of water in the air using the same method.

The next step that I took was shaping the water. First, I tried simple shapes like circles and squares. Later, I was able to make more difficult shapes like weapons.

But they were weapons that could not help me. I had no professional knowledge of how to wield a sword or knife. Charlie refused to teach Perry or me on how to use a weapon. He probably wanted us to keep some of our innocence.

Too bad he already taught us how to steal. Charlie was never the most logical person.

The Captain never had the time nor the patience to teach us how to fight either. He was a complicated man and a piss poor teacher. He expected perfection too quickly and refused to continue teaching me and my brother.

He even forbid the crew from teaching us.

You probably would think him to be an asshole. And sometimes he was one. He had a stressful job of taking care of the crew and dealing with all the trading. He usually was nice, but the stress got the best of him sometimes.

So we had no one to teach us how to fight. A part of me was deeply hurt that we had no one to help us protect ourselves. Another part of me, a very small and deep part of me, really didn't care at all. That part of me scared me a little bit. I didn't understand why I would accept defeat so easily.

Of course that fear would die over time.

And time passed while I we traveled with the ship and crew. Perry and I soon slowly grew both in height and in skill.

Sailing was natural to me, more so than Perry. Living at sea was ingrained in my blood. The calmness of the gentle waves always soothed me.

After my mourning process was finally over, I started to regain some of the happiness that I had in the past. Life on the Sinking Rock was probably the most relaxing time of our lives up to that point.

We had so little to actually worry about. We did not have to find our own food. We did not have to worry about monsters... Much. And I had a sense of peace only the sea could provide to me.

Still deep down I knew that it would not last. Something would happen to the ship, I knew it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but as long as I was on that ship I knew that tragedy would eventually find us.

Luckily, it did not find us until after we left the crew.

Two years after we first started sailing with the crew of the Sinking Rock, the ship landed in a small village whose name would be changed multiple times throughout history.

The ship had been traveling for a long time up to that point. We had sailed to many different countries at that point. In fact, we had been in so many different countries that the languages had blended into our minds.

Our brains as children accepted the many languages we had learned. In fact so, Perry and I are no longer able to remember what our original language was or what country we were born in.

The crew wasn't any help either. Every person on the ship was from a different country. Even the ship was from a different country than my own.

It may seem weird to you, but with our life, and with all the traveling (not to mention some mental blocks to stop unwanted memories), Perry and I could not never recall where our so called "home" country was.

We never really cared either.

I did know, however, the country that the small town we landed in was in Spain. That fact would forever be burned in my mind, because it was the last time we would see the crew of the Sinking Rock and also because it was the place where our lives would change forever.

As always, Perry and I went free running as soon as the ship landed. There was not much to climb, but that didn't stop us.

For hours, we climbed and jumped across the rooftops. We had some trouble because both of us did not get a lot of practice while we were sailing, but we quickly adjusted to the pace.

Of course, nothing could ever stay simple in my life. I had made a wrong move while climbing down from a roof and I fell down right to the alley below. Perry screamed in panic.

I groaned as I picked myself off the ground. There were no serious injuries, but I would be sore the next day for sure. Seeing that I was fine, my twin was finally able to calm down as he dropped beside me.

As I was scolding myself on my sloppy technique, a laughing voice resonated down the alley. We froze both from embarrassment and from caution.

Someone had seen us. If said person was a threat, we might need to run back to the ship.

The man as I could see him was in no way normal. In fact, I would not have called him a man back then. He was more animal than man. Literally. Instead of legs, he had the body of a horse under his torso.

Only one thought passed through our minds at the time.

Monster.

Of course, we would not call a centaur a monster now, but back then we had yet to encounter a friendly being that was not human.

Before I could think of a plan, the centaur spoke. "That was some fall you had there young man. You should be careful. Climbing like that could get you hurt."

I was insulted. How dare that thing insult my free running skills! That was my first fall in months! Anger burned inside of me as I formulated a reply.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." Still, I knew better than to open my big mouth, say something stupid, and get us both in trouble.

My mind was quickly forming a plan of escape. It had rained recently. Water covered the ground. If I blast him from water with both sides, it might give us enough time to climb to the nearest roof.

Looking at his legs, I knew that he would not be able to follow us. I just had to distract him enough to buy us time.

"I'm sure you can young demigod. But from the way you're acting, your plan of survival is merely to run. Fighting is not an option for you." The centaur observed.

"Yeah, just keep talking. Just a little bit longer." I was now stalling for as long as possible, trying to keep him distracted. "How do you know, centaur?"

"I have seen many warriors. I have trained many warriors. You do not hold yourself as a warrior, or at least not yet." He answered.

"Just a few more seconds..." I was now ready to attack. "Yeah, well we have been looking for someone to train us, but it has been difficult lately."

"Well, now that you menti…." The centaur was cut off by two torrents of water blasting him from both sides. He was clearly stunned, but for extra measure I blasted him a third time and knocked him back down the alley. With that Perry and I hurled ourselves up the wall.

I laughed in exhaustion. I had never blasted that much water at once before. I had to take a moment to regain some energy while Perry stood guard. We were safe for now as the centaur had no way to reach us and that he had no weapons on him.

Staring at the centaur, I felt a flicker of regret. The centaur never did look threatening. Now soaking wet, the centaur was trying to compose himself.

Normally we would have run off. For some reason, we didn't. I just stood there staring at him. Something was keeping us from running. I never knew why. Instinct? Sympathy?

Fate?

The centaur was now back on his feet and stared at us. We stared back.

"Why didn't you two run?" He asked.

We didn't give an answer.

Apparently he didn't need one. "So you said you both need a teacher."

That began the whole conversation that led to our present life. He explained everything. He told us his name, occupation, and the reason he was there.

The centaur was Chiron. The Chiron. We could barely believe it. The greatest teacher in the world was in front of us. And he wanted Perry and I to be his students.

"I have other students as well. We are all camped out in the forest right now. If you want you may join us in our travels." Chiron offered.

I paused. I did not know if I could trust him. He could be lying. He could be trying to lure me away from water. I could tell that Perry was conflicted and felt the same.

This is what my mind thought, but my instincts said otherwise.

They said to trust him. He would help us. He would make us strong.

But what should I trust? My mind or my instincts? Perry nodded to me.

I made my choice. We both climbed down the wall and said in unison, "We would be honored to be your students, Mentor."


Author's Notes: I loved the part where Percy blasts the crap out of Chiron. I mean cmon, the mental image is so awesome. XD

As for the next chapter... Well, I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. It may be a little late too, but don't worry, I won't leave you homies hanging. =)

See you all next chapter!