Chapter 2: Officially God-Free

Words: 5,861

Recap: I get send on yet another suicide-quest, yay! And if that is not enough, it's in the past. I couldn't say goodbye to my mom and girlfriend, I am around 10 years old and alone. Also, what's up with that guy Voldy-something? He's the new baddie I have to defeat and somehow caused the Mist to disappear in the future. Or was that Circe? Whatever.

"Why? Are you having second doubts, Hestia?" Asked Demeter.

"Oh no, he's the most reliable Demigod you could find, so I have strong faith in him, doesn't mean I wouldn't be worried how he'll handle his daily lives there."

"You worry too much Hestia," Aphrodite told her, "With all the blessing he's been given, even without us watching over him, you would think he could handle himself just fine before dealing with his quest."

Hestia sighed once more as she turned eyes back to the hearth, keeping it warm for some of the gods that stayed for further discussion while some had left the building. Her mind trailed off when the gods were deciding their blessings for him.

"Those in favor of Percy Jackson!"

All hands shot up, with Poseidon's following slowly, face downcast and hidden from view.

Hestia promised herself silently that she will send her brother lots of free food. And give Percy a huge bag of it as well. Maybe even open a delivery service so he'll have a steady supply?

Yes, that sounds good.

"Not to ruin the… bive?" She turned to Hermes, who is shaking his head frantically and slightly pained. "Vibe, yes? Yes! Anyway, that sounds like a terrible job to be saddled with- And don't you argue with me!"

Ares closed his mouth with a click- Even the God of War adored the s'mores.

"Really," she sighed. "Whenever you give out quest to a hero, you rarely consider their feelings and past when it's not your child, am I right?"

She is met with the expected silence, and Poseidon sends her a grateful look. She returns a smile at him. It's no... biggie? Percy is a real sweetheart, after all.

"So, at least as compensation, can we send gifts? Or blessings? Boons? Whatever you call it?"

Poseidon is now smiling softly at her.

Hecate winces, not seeing Caerus grinning like a loon. There are lots of opportunities here at this point!

"Well, they have to be small. And I mean it! It's already hard enough to send a cursed hero," A glare was sent to Aphrodite's and Ares' direction.

"I don't know if I can support blessings and gifts as well."

Poseidon joins in the glaring. "How many gifts can you send if they are persuaded the lift the curses? Or change it to support him?"

Aphrodite fluttered her lashes innocently, but Poseidon was not deterred. "I can't change my so-called 'curse.' It was not decided by me in the first place, have you ever wondered why love is sometimes so fitting? Yes, it is very chaotic and random, but… have you?"

Poseidon's shoulders started to tense, along with everyone else's. "So? Can you do anything else? Concentrate it so-"

"I just said I can't change it, Uncle." Aphrodite sighed. "My domain is Love! Love for family and therefore, elders certainly counts! I send Fate some drama they might feel inspired by, and they give me instructions on how to execute them! Ask the Morai!"

Just as Poseidon growled, Aphrodite nonchalantly hummed. "Don't frown so much, you'll add more to your wrinkles. Besides, don't think I didn't have a proper gift on hand."

That got most of them to blinked unexpectedly, "You have?" Athena queried. If she knows Aphrodite, then she knows she is not the type of character to prepare a gift before all the others without her own agenda in it.

"What is it?" Hestia asked her curiously.

The Love Goddesses only giggled in response and made a silent motion with her finger, "S-E-C-R-E-T~."

Oh yeah, definitely hidden agenda.

Athena wrinkled her eyebrows, but sigh in conceding, "Putting aside Aphrodite's usual antics "Hey!" we should be in agreement that a quest of this scale Our Hero would need as much aid required if we want to ensure his chance of success."

There was a murmur of conceding agreement, making Athena nodded in pleased, "Then it'd be wise for us if we plan first on which to grant him with. To maximize the effect of one another and to avoid conflicts? We all know what happens when we all blessed a person without consideration..."

All Gods collectively grimaced at the memory. What happened in China with Emperor Qin is… Ugh. Moving on.

"I'll go first," Hestia stepped forward. "I will allow Percy the blessing of the hearth. May he always find the source of warm heat even at the coldest night. Protecting him from those who come to harm him."

"Percy will also be allowed to use my hotpots anyway," Hestia squealed, "I was so sad when he didn't notice them during the war."

"Hotpots?" Athena asked.

"A pun for hotspots! Hermes was such a dear and suggested the name! "

"Uh-huh… Sure. . ."

"Awesome-soup, right? Or was it sauce? Awesome-sauce!"

"Speaking of food," Demeter brightened. "My gift is that if he eats around 10% more than his body needs, his body will save the nutrients for later."

"Uh, Demeter, the mortal body does something like that automatically. They save it as fat."

"Oh. Then… I got it! I'll deepen his connection with plants! Water is important for plants anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard. They won't love him, but they will tolerate to moderately like him when he meets them."

"Civilizations come and go, develop as they wish, but as far as I know, being good at hitting where it counts is important." Artemis raised her voice. "This domain of yours should be no exception, right?"

Hecate nodded.

"Then, it is settled." Artemis relaxed. "Percy will hit true when it counts, and have a relatively good aim in general. But since he is not, and shall never be a Huntress of any kind, he will need to practice. Especially at the beginning. I have seen his… attempts, if you can call it that - don't look at me like that Poseidon! He's a truly horrendous aimer! - I had to borrow some power from my brother, okay? I guess it will count as a blessing from both of us."

Ares growled, "And don't remind me of his wrestling skills. While I'm on it, I can also not change or remove my curse, but all the other weapons or whatever he receives or chooses will adore him, and get along or is even… compatible with his Riptide and other weapons. One can never have too many weapons. Happy?"

"Very. Here, Enjoy." Dionysus snapped his fingers, and a can of coke materialized out of thin air. "I am treading a thin line, so this one will be good to get where it is."

And he took a sip from his coke. "Oh, take note that I quote the slogan, please."

Before Poseidon can steal Zeus's act and start thundering at Dionysus so-called 'coke,' Hephaestus grumbled.

"I don't know what to give him."

"That's okay, Bro," Hermes answered reassuringly. "I don't know either. #HsFTW!"

"Yeah, no." Hera scowled. "I know what to give him, as did Hestia. Even though it is out of my domain, I will let Percy find things he searches for with relative ease. I won't interfere with Fate's plan on his Quest, but when he needs an eraser or can't find his whatever convenient things like that."

"Convenient!" Hermes slapped his forehead. "That's it! I'll send Cortana along!"

Hephaestus interrupted. "Oh no, you don't! You fool! Do you know how inconvenient Cortana is? Look at the ratings! Siri is currently superior and has a shorter name!"

Hecate blanched. "Wait, wait! We. Are. Not. No, no, and NO!"

"Oh..." Hermes deflated. "But it was such a good idea… Wait! Do you have fairies? Preferably Navi-like? Y'know, Zelda reference?"

Dionysus perked up. "Breath of the Wild is amazing! Especially the cooking feature!"

"I know, right?" Hermes beamed. "Isn't-"

"Back on topic, yes. We have something similar. There are those organic Christmas decorations-"

"Perfect! I dub thee, Ivan! It's Navi, but backward! And hopefully just as amusing to watch! Can you give me some specimen to tinker around with? Wait no, give them to Hephaestus! Then let me program them! That'll be our blessing!"

"Keep the blessing small, yes?" Hestia reminded the excited god.

"Oh... Sure!"

Hephaestus grunted his approval.

Lightning illuminated the throne room for a few moments before Zeus finally spoke, almost forcefully, "I will… Treat him as any other mortal when he chooses to cross the skies. That is my, very gracious gift."

Hades sighed. "Death will favor him more than he already did, that is my gift. But not nearly as much as the descendant of his patron, mind you."

"Thank you, my Brother," Poseidon smiled. "I don't think I can gift my son more than I already have, so I'll just strengthen his ties with the ocean and ensure no harm shall come upon him in the water. I'm sure no trouble will come from that...in fact, remind me to invite you over for dinner, brother. Actually, you're all invited. Especially you Hestia, thank you." Poseidon was very, very grateful.

It was now the turn of the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. Though many were surprised to find her stomp over his gift. She already had a gift in mind, but it had been long used by her Roman Counterpart, and she still had difficulty reconciling with her demeaning status as a maiden goddess. The other gods decided to leave her be as she thought thoroughly.

Hestia sighed once more, and Poseidon gazed down to the Keeper of the Hearth in Olympus, and his currently all-time favorite sister, looking downcast. After what she did, Poseidon felt the need to comfort her.

"It'll be fine, Hestia. We may not be able to foresee the outcome, but if there's something I know about my son. Is that he would never let anyone he loves down."

Looking up at her Brother, she smiled back at his reassurance before looking back at her hearth. Surely, somewhere-or when-down the timeline, Percy is currently living undercover, away from danger with all the blessing helped to give him a comfy life before the fated battle comes.

"Thank you, Brother. I just..." She broke off into a wistful sigh, "I just wish that, at the very least, our gifts don't have to slumber."

Poseidon sighed. "I know how you feel, but still... as ironic as this sounds, I believe in Percy."

. . .

It's been a week since I had traveled back in time.

A week since I pulled off the act of a homeless kid.

What do you expect? I had been thrown to the past with nothing but clothes on my back, a can of coke, a watch, and Riptide inside my pocket. Doesn't mean I didn't do anything for the past week though, after asking around and looking through the newspapers, I did find out how far back in time I was sent and where.

2nd March 1971, Cokeworth, England.

Hurray! I am in good ol' Britain. Rainy land of the spoilsports and non-American. Sorry, those that are English, but as a good US-citizen, it needed to be said. Annabeth would have smacked me and called me biased but-

Let's move on from that topic.

It was a bland week with a few pickpocketing (Hey, I need to survive, don't judge me!) and rummaging a few thrown out clothes, talking to fellow homeless people as we share a campfire. You'd think it's hard, but I experienced far worse. So despite the difficulty, the bland meals, and the overused clothes I'm now used to wear, the tranquillity was nice.

What got me wondering though was the fact I hadn't been attacked by a single monster yet. No giant boar, no emposai, no dracanae, no nothing. Now, if only I had a roof on my head and a decent meal, then I can say I have the best monster-free week I ever had.

I didn't think about what I don't have for too long as I had no clue what I was supposed to do now. I don't have any money nor a place to live in other than my makeshift box house in the alleyway I had fallen in this time period. All I know was Circe is doing whatever evil sorceresses do; Biding her time and executing her evil plot.

I looked down at the SPQR tattoo on my arm, glad that reverting my body in my awkward years had not erased one of the few connections I had to my friends in the future. The Cons though is that I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do if anyone ever gets curious what it is. I can probably hide it for now with a bandage but a mark this big won't stay hidden for long.

I couldn't help the sigh that came out from my lips and looked up at the grey sky, "Any help would be great right about now."

I didn't expect an answer, and I didn't get one.

Until night fell.

I was having a hard time sleeping at the time, listening to the drizzling shower since this evening, and I was covered with tons of used coats as I held on from the cold night air. A bright warm light appeared like a meteor right before me, and I closed my eyes, blinking back a few times when I was met by the goddess magic, Hecate. Past-Hecate, to be exact. She looked exactly the same as in the future with dark green robe, two torches held on her side, accompanied by a Labrador and a polecat.

I thought she would be here to help me, maybe even getting me a lovely flat to live but instead her dog growled, and her polecat hissed (I think) at me and I naturally had my hand in my pocket. "I see you are not from this time, who are you, Boy? Why are you here?"

I step out from my cozy box and stood face to face with her, "My name is Percy Jackson, and I came here because you-future you and the Olympians sent me-will send me-Gah, there's no proper way of saying this."

Hecate ignored my rambling as her eyes widen after understanding the gist of what I said, "Nonsense, why would I, or anyone for that matter, would even break the Ancient Law? Unless..."

She began to whisper to herself in ancient Greek. I stood there, awkwardly waiting for her to notice a drenched eleven-year-old boy. She turned to me with a hard concerned gaze, "Tell me everything!" she demanded softly.

I was about to explain to her, but a cold shiver ran down my spine, followed by the shook of thunder from the sky, causing me to jump. "I could...but do you think I could do that in a dry room with hot cocoa maybe?" I asked a bit sheepishly. Hecate's gaze softened after realizing the state I'm in, and only needed to flick her finger and a swirl of purple mist wrap around us until I found myself on a small yet comfortable living room with hot cocoa ready on the table.

Hecate took, what I suspect, a cup of nectar and told me she was listening, so I started running my mouth of what happened. I could tell while she tried to remain calm, the name Circe cause a twitch in her poker face. The she-dog growled at the name while the polecat curled on her lap to cheer her up.

Didn't those two got cursed because of Hecate?

"To think she would do the unthinkable," she pursed, "I understand the situation Percy Jackson, for now, you are currently blessed by my Mist so the gods will not know of your existence."

My eyes widen at that and almost choke on my hot drink, "What do you mean they won't know I exist?"

"It's one thing for one is involved in the past, it's another thing to be involved with future acquaintances, not to mention a Half-Blood involved with two Great Prophecy. Right now, you could shout their names at the top of your lungs, and they will not notice you."

I took a moment to process those words. I fell back on the couch until my head was facing the dreary white ceiling, I'm glad that they had blessed me before sending me off (though I barely know most of those blessing when I was still recovering from shock) or I would have been more than screwed.

"Then I'm really all on my own? That sucks."

Wait. . .

If they can't hear me now. . .

Does that mean. . .

A mischievous grin crept across my face, but froze at Hecate's next word; "Don't."

"Huh?"

"If you're thinking of cursing the gods at the top of your lungs, I'd suggest you don't try your luck" she calmly informed me, and I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly. My face must have shown something devious if she could easily read what I had in mind.

"Also, I may not be able to help you directly, but for now you have fallen under my jurisdiction so you will be blessed with my ability and if you ever need guidance, you can call upon me whenever you wished."

"To be honest...I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, the gods asked me to stop Circe from controlling fate and find the source of her time traveling power, but I don't even know where to start!"

Hecate smiled, standing up from her seat as she prepared to leave, "Do not fret Percy Jackson, for everything shall be clear by the start of this summer, anything else you might want to ask?"

I scowled at her since she hadn't answered my answer, "A place to stay would be nice," was my reply.

Her right hand that held her torch turned into a key, and she swiftly threw it at me where I caught it. "You seem to like this place, I'm sure you could take care of it on your own, oh and if you like the hot cocoa you could buy it at the end of a street called Spinner's End." With that ended note, she and her two furry friends turned to plum of smoke.

"Another reminder I must add," her voice echoed from it, "Do not let the wizarding world know of your identity or I'm afraid they'll be consequences." She then vanished toward the fireplace, leaving no sign of her behind.

I looked around at the place she given me. Smiling dopily that I finally could get a decent place to live in. I don't how who will handle the rent and how I'll deal with my food and other supplies, but I thought it's a worry for another day. That night, you would think I slept soundly for the first time this week after getting a proper bed.

Alas, woe is me.

I was sailing through the sea in a small boat. The kind of boat Jack Sparrow sailed in when his ship got stolen. I was having a hard time making sure the boat won't capsize from the massive storm, but the water wouldn't listen to me. A peal of faint laughter then echoed the sky, I looked around to find an island not so far off. I would have sailed my boat toward if it weren't giving me the creeps.

There was something familiar about that island, and I wasn't sure about it until the clouds above it turned into a shadow of a human...or a goddess in this case, "So they send a lone hero to stop me? Try and stop me if you can Percy Jackson, try if you can!"

She went on with her high pitched laughter. The clouds swirling again until it shifted into a skeleton that barfed out a snake. I don't know how something ridiculous could be intimidating and remembered it was the mark of the Death Eater. The snake then saw me and began to lunge at me at a terrifying speed that I got up in cold sweat.

I clutched at the beads on my necklace to calm myself down, I was hungry and thought it's about time I try finding a part-time job. I recalled Hecate said about where I could buy the Hot Cocoa and decides to go there, I thought maybe the place should be good enough if goddesses would recommend it.

I found that my flat was only one block and a turn away from the street, it was weird having a road called Spinner's End, I'm not even sure what it means. The morning fog was thick as usual, and when I smell the sweet smell of chocolate, my feet began running toward it.

"One hot cocoa please," I asked the Vendor Guy as I placed my money on the counter. I turned from the stand and waited, everything was good until I spotted something that caused my hair to stand. There, at the alleyway, was a pair of slit yellow hungry eyes, eyeing his next prey. I knew at once it was a monster, so I gripped tightly at my pen and pulled it out.

"Here's your hot cocoa, Sonnie."

"Than, thanks." I brought my drink to my lips and turned my heel toward a deserted corner of the street just so there'd be no bystander. Once I stopped at a park, I gulped down the scalding drink down my throat, then uncapped my pen and turned to whatever it is behind me.

"Alright, you've been wanting some breakfast, right? How about you come and get me?" I heard a growl within the dark shadows of the trees, followed by a slow clop-clop of hooves walking toward me and I almost gasped at the nostalgic creature I was facing.

It was a chimera.

"Well, last time I saw you I was falling off a bridge...or you'll see me falling off one? Agh, time traveling is so confusing."

The chimera with all its blood-caked mane and glory began to pounce. I stepped aside then aimed to stab, It's tail-snake saw through my attack and tried to bite me, so I bent and rolled away. After giving myself some distance, I warily eyed the chimera, mirroring its footsteps as we circled each other. My eyes kept a careful watch around, making sure Echidna, the mother of monsters, wasn't here alongside her 'pet.'

"So you're alone here? I thought you would want your momma cooing you all the time like the nice little Chihuahua you are." The chimera growled and pounced again. Only this time, I was ready and ran ahead.

The claw swiped down past me, so when I whirled around and face its tail, I cleanly swiped to cut off the snakehead. It hissed in pain before lying motionlessly on the ground. This way, I only have one head to work on.

The half-lion doesn't seem to like me cutting off its buddy, so when it opened his mouth, I flashbacked on my first fight and cursed. Had I jumped away a few seconds too late, I would have been Percy-Roast. The heat radiated on my back, and I looked up to find the black scorch mark on the ground.

The chimera took that opening to pounce again, and almost clawed my guts out. Claws clashed against Sword. Normally, I could have flipped that lion away. Normally. I cursed at the reminder of my feeble body, but at least I can keep it abay. However, I had one look behind the monster and froze, giving the chimera the chance it wanted and threw me off. The chimera would have continued its trashing on me, had it not notice the same thing I did.

I was hoping I was mistaken, but the lion must have smelt the stranger too and turned to see a kid, probably at my current age, black hair and pale skin, and was gasping at the scene in front of him. Maybe he was seeing a kid injuring a poor cat or dog, but he turned horrified at the lion-goat eyeing him.

The chimera ran toward the boy, and I followed with a burst of speed. The boy was about to run as well but stumbled on his oversized pants and had a hard time getting up. I cursed that my body was too small to run any faster, so I decided to draw up a stupid plan but, hey, what else is new?

I threw my sword at it, and it stabbed at the part where animals would usually hide when going about their business. I tried not to feel amused at the howling in pain it made and was able to catch up and stood beside the boy.

"Hey, are you alright? Did it hurt you?"

"What's a chimera doing here?!" He yelped.

I was surprised he could see and even knew what it is, but I couldn't dwell on it when a furious lion-monster was on my tail, "Right, you better run off while it got its eyes on me since I stab his butthole."

"Are you mad? You can't fight off with that!"

"Look out!" I jumped on him, and the chimera missed burning us to medium-rare meat. I took out Riptide that had now appeared inside and uncapped it once more. The boy yelped from the sudden appearance from my sword on hand.

"Come on you half-goat, you barely could light a candle with that!" I didn't need to look at the boy to know he's looking at me like I'm crazy, taunting a crossover of a lion, a goat, and ex-snake. I ran, and it followed with ferocious speed and almost ripped my shoulder off with its jagged, sharp teeth. I rolled under him and winced at the pain of my shoulder, my visions began to turn hazy, and I had a hard time standing.

Dang it, I forgot its venom!

You would think having tangled with the monster and twice and gone a life and death experiences with it, I would remember of almost dying between his venom or falling from hundreds of feet above the water. But living long enough as a demigod, those kinds of details just blurred together with all the other venomous monster.

The chimera circled around me, looking pleased with its work and obviously waiting for the poison to take effect. I wouldn't be surprised if it would have gloat at me if it could talk. I must have been too stubborn for him, though because he decided to lunge at me before my knee could pull me down. As I watch the impending doom gaining at me before me, I thought what the hell! I took a gamble and aim the tip of my sword to its mouth, I had my whole right arm inside of that thing's mouth, and I grimaced. With one smooth stab before it could eat my whole arm, the chimera turned into golden ash. On cue, my knees buckled to the ground.

I held on to Riptide to make sure I don't keel over, then I heard the sound of foot gaining closer at me.

So the boy didn't run away after all.

He took one look at my shoulder, and he grimaced, "You need an antidote or the chimera's poison would kill you."

It wouldn't have mattered if I had ambrosia, but sadly I had none. Even plain water was good, but unfortunately, I was too delirious and in pain to come up with a response.

"Hey, can you stand? I know how you can get help." Help sounded good right about now. I nodded and tried to stand but needed more effort than usual. The boy put my arm around his shoulder as he helped drag me back to the streets.

My memory afterward was like having forced into a Mist inducing drug, as in nothing around makes much sense. My head couldn't well concentrate with my whole body feeling it was on fire, all I remember I was trying to move where the boy directed me. I smell the disgusting dirty water from a river, and then the boy said we're here.

I looked up to find a small house, it was but a small, simple brick house. The kind of home you would draw when you're still in kindergarten. A chimney at the side a window and a wooden door side by side, and a small storage shack beside the house.

He found the key under the WELCOME rag and opened the locked door, he then ushered me in and had me sat on a coach. "Wait here!" He said, he ran to one of his rooms, and I heard the noise of glass getting shuffled as if searching for something. My lungs felt it was burning as it got harder to breathe, the blood hasn't stopped flowing from my wound. I wondered briefly if this how I'm going to end up dead.

My lips touched the cold hard glass, and I heard someone said drink, I did in one great gulp. When I found out the taste was like a crushed beetle with a hint of mud, I almost gagged it out. "What did you make me drink? I taste poison better than this!"

The black haired boy rolled his eyes, "You're welcome by the way; otherwise, you would have been dead within minutes."

"Oh," I moved my shoulder a bit and winced at how bad the gash felt, "Thanks, I guess, how do you even have the antidote?"

He was silent for a moment before confessing, "My mom is a witch, she likes to brew potions, and I tried learning from her books." I blinked in surprise at how ready and calm he was giving away that information. Usually, one wouldn't since they'd be called a freak but seeing that I just killed a monster in front of him, I guess that isn't saying much. He then turned to me with an accusing look, "You're a wizard too." he meant it as a statement, not a question.

I wasn't sure how to answer him when I remembered last night and Hecate's warning. "...Yeah, I am, what about it?"

Instantly, the boy brightened at my admission, dusting his pale white cheeks pink, "Well, I never met a wizard around my age before around this part, and I have questions about that Magic Sword of yours, and how come there was a chimera in the middle of town? Also, you were fighting it like you've handled it before."

Great, a brainiac kid. Not much I could hide from him. My brain whirled at all kinds of lies I could weave through when we both got interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and a man came trotting to the living room.

One look at him and I knew I didn't like him. He had a thinning bald hair, shaggy black beard, his build could rival any stereotype football player, and his arm was literally hairy that I might lose a nickel in it. He was flabby and look mean and reminded me of Smelly Gabe, my ex-stepfather.

"Who is this?" He bellowed, "Who told you could bring people here!" The boy flinched, but his eyes never left the man, I recognized the look he had was something more of dislike.

"He had been hurt Dad, and I thought it'd be best I tend to him here."

The man did something unexpected, he slapped his kid so hard he almost flew across the room.

"What did I tell you about talking back, huh?" He said as he crouched down beside him, drinking his bottle.

I couldn't stand it any longer, so I rose from my seat.

"Hey!" He slowly turned his head and tried giving me his death glare, like that's going to scare me. "If you want me to go, I'll go. But he was only trying to help, so don't hurt him!"

"That's none of your business Punk, I suggest you get out of my house before I make you."

I gritted my teeth, holding back my needs to deck him in place. That guy reminded me too much of Gabe, I wouldn't be surprised if he was some distant cousin of his. I looked at the kid who seemed to shrink on himself, and yet there wasn't even a hint of fear in his dark eyes. I suspected then he must have already gotten used to him and my fist clenched harder.

"Well...what are you standing around here for? Get out!"

"Gladly," I walked over to him, snatched the kid's hand and rushed out before the guy could say anything. I heard him yelling something, but we were already out of earshot.

I heard someone wheezing from behind, and I let go of his hand, realizing he was having a hard time keeping up to me. He fell to the concrete fall, trying to catch his breath. Jeez, this guy is already pale and skinny, he needs to eat and work out more.

"Thanks...for that," he finally said.

I made a gesture to shrug, "No problem, I had my own experience what a lousy parent could be like."

For the first time since we met, he smiled. I took a good look at him, he has dark shoulder length greasy hair, long nose, and sunken eyes, his skin was white and pale. He reminded me someone for some reason, but I can't put a finger on who. His clothes didn't quite fit and were mismatched as if he wore because it was the only good pair he had. I remembered his house was small, so he may have been poor.

Thinking I couldn't leave him alone, I reached out my hand toward him. "Percy Jackson, at your service."

The boy looked at it for a while, his mind lost in his own thought at a simple sign of friendship, before he grabbed my hand along with his own name in response.

"Severus Snape."