Carter and Percy are adorable- Sally strikes a deal with Julius, and the future is looking up.
Replies to reviews:
Weirdhead: Yep, she's definitely gonna be a bit of a powerhouse- gotta love that about her. It's gonna be fun.
Grimlock987: What can I say, I write a lot! I hope you enjoy.
Undeath9087: Oh yeah, Gabe fucked up by hurting poor little Percy. And yep, things are looking up for Percy.
The Official Clarisse: I will be, don't worry I refuse to give up on either of the stories so that's good. Yes, Gabe deserves to be punished very much- and he will be don't you worry. Also- I love me some badass Sally and adorable Carter.
Guest: Honestly I just think of the Kane Chronicles as coming under the whole Percy Jackson series because they're all set in the same universe, so I didn't think of it. And I don't plan on changing it just because it's simpler this way. And Sally will be a Magician- she's Blood of Pharaohs but she's unaware of the fact- remember her parents did die when when she was young.
AlexusAP: Baby Percy is a sweetheart who must be protected- and Carter meets her and is just like 'Whoop, time for me to be a big brother'. After all, he doesn't really get to be a big brother to Sadie anymore.
: That's so sweet I love all of my readers. And I am well thank you.
Drizzle: Both of those things are very accurate.
PJ Fan 285: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Please do keep reading and reviewing.

Carter wasn't sure what to think about the strange girl that he was currently drinking milkshakes with.

She was clearly brave- Carter had never been hurt like she was and he didn't think he'd have been able to calm down so quickly and settle down enough to
drink a milkshake- and she seemed very happy to do so actually.

And she talked a lot- fast too. It was more babble than anything else- but it wasn't annoying or anything like he'd have thought it would be.

Honestly it was kind of endearing. Especially when the server brought over a blueberry muffin for Percy- and Carter was painfully aware of the stare while he knew Percy hadn't noticed it- she didn't trust him with the little girl.

Anyway, Percy had almost instantly tore the muffin in half and grinned at him, her mouth ringed with chocolate milkshake as she held out half of it for him.

And Carter wasn't going to turn that down so he'd taken it from her and taken a bite.

And eventually he started talking too.

Percy told him about her mom, who worked in a sweet shop and made the bestest blue cookies in the universe, and in return Carter told Percy about his dad- how they spent their life travelling- which Percy seemed to find incredibly cool- which made Carter feel cool too- which was better than he usually felt about his life.

And the more they talked the more angry Carter felt at the idea that some nasty person had decided to hurt her- and he found himself hoping that his dad would make sure that Percy never had to see whoever it was ever again.

...

Sally hadn't expected the complete stranger who showed up when she'd been dealing with Gabe- she'd been worried when she'd got the call from Percy's school- but she knew there was no way she'd be able to get there fast to pick Percy up- so she'd asked Gabe to do it.

Clearly that had been a mistake- she was used to him hurting her, she could handle that, but she had never, not even for a second considered that Gabe might hurt her little girl.

That had clearly been wrong because when she'd got home Gabe was on the phone to one of his buddies complaining about 'The stupid little bitch' hitting him in the balls when she'd been disciplining her for throwing up in his car.

To say that Sally had seen red was an understatement- the next thing she'd really known was that she had Gabe pinned against the wall with a carving knife pressed to his throat and she was fully ready to kill him if it came to that and he didn't tell her where Percy was- at first she'd assumed Percy was still in apartment- why wouldn't she, Gabe was a liar and when he'd yelled that he didn't know she assumed he was trying to cover up and hide that he'd hurt her- she'd seen the blood on the carpet she wasn't stupid by any means.

In any case he hadn't given her any real information before the man had arrived- tall, dark, handsome and slightly intimidating if Sally was honest- though- well, she'd tangled with a god so she pushed aside that fact fairly quickly when he'd told her he knew where her daughter was.

Of course when she'd stepped away from Gabe he'd tried to raise a hand to hit her, and the man had stepped forward and- well Sally wasn't entirely sure what he'd done but Gabe had gone flying across the room, hitting his head hard on the opposite wall before slumping in a limp heap.

For perhaps a second Sally considered checking on him, seeing if he was breathing- he'd hit the wall so hard that it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that his neck had snapped but- as she stared at him she found herself almost hoping he was dead.

Gabe had hurt her, repeatedly and with some pleasure- and that had been fine- she could handle that in exchange for his pungent smell keeping her baby hidden from monsters.

But Gabe had hurt Percy, and what was the point in protecting her from monsters if a mortal man who was just as bad as them was hurting her just as much as they would be.

So she turned away from him, focusing on the stranger and raising an eyebrow, "Should I even ask how you did that?"

"You don't seem afraid or shocked."

"I've seem some pretty crazy things."

"You said oh gods." the man pointed out, "To which gods were you referring?"

Sally hesitated- that was an interesting question. "Greek. And which ones let you do- whatever you just did."

"I see." the man looked almost curious, "I know of the Greek gods- they seem to believe that Egyptian gods and magic have faded."

"I assume they're wrong." Sally didn't show any surprise.

"Yes. Your daughter?"

"She's a demigod, daughter of Poseidon." Sally admitted- there was no point in lying to this man. She could tell that much even now.

"I see." Julius nodded before glancing towards the pathetic heap of a man, "Why?"

"Monster are attracted to her smell." Sally explained, "I don't-" she swallowed hard, "His stench was enough to mask it- if I'd have known he would hurt her though-"

"What is the point in masking one evil with another."

"Exactly." Sally hesitated before holding out her hand, "Thank you- and- who are you?"

"Julius Kane." the man- Julius, told her a slight smile on his lips as he shook her hand. "And you would be?"

"Sally Jackson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sally. I assume you'd like me to take you to your daughter?"

"Oh gods yes." Sally breathed out, "But- I want to quickly grab our things. I'm not bringing my daughter back here."

"Of course." Julius nodded, "I can't blame you for that. Let me help."

And together they made short work of packing two bags, one of which Julius swung over his shoulder, ignoring Sally's protests.

And soon enough they were on the street, and Sally knew she was being very quiet- she couldn't be blamed for that. She didn't know what she was supposed to do now- how to protect her daughter.

There was the camp that Poseidon had mentioned to her but- that might mean that she never got to see her precious baby girl ever again and that- that wasn't something she wanted to consider. Of course she might not have a choice in the end- and she was drawn from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder.
Sally turned her head, focusing on Julius, who gave her an almost worried look. "You seem worried."

"I don't know what I'm going to do now." Sally admitted, "My daughter- without Gabe hiding her scent-"

"The monster will find her." Julius finished, a look of understanding on his face before he paused, his expression turning thoughtful, "I may have some amulets that offer protection- they should conceal her from monsters."

"Really?" Sally's eyes widened, "That- that sounds better than anything I could have hoped for." she admitted.

"I'm not sure how long they'd last but it would at least buy you time."

"That- thank you." Sally gave him a weak smile, "I don't- it's going to be difficult but I'll do whatever it takes to protect my daughter. I'll have to find a new place and a new job but-"

"Or-" Julius spoke up suddenly, "Perhaps we could come up with another solution- a better one- and feel free to say no if I'm overstepping, but perhaps I can help you and you can help me- I travel a lot, with my son. He's ten years old and my work- it's complicated, and it can be somewhat dangerous, I could protect your daughter with the amulets- and you could watch my son for me when I have dangerous work to do."

Sally blinked, her eyes wide as she stared at him. It- wasn't a bad suggestion, if she was being honest. She had nothing to stay for and she would do
anything to protect her daughter.

"I don't have much money-"

"I would pay for the travel for you and your daughter. Think of it as a job."

A job. That would work. Sally let out a breath.

"I think I'll accept your offer." she said after a moment, "We have passports-"

"That's good." Julius nodded.

"But-" Sally spoke up, her voice firm. "I think I need to know a bit more about the man that I'm agreeing to work for."

"That's reasonable." Julius admitted after a moment.

And so as they talked Julius explained his world to her. He told her about his gods, their history and magic- about the House of Life.

Admittedly Sally was sure that he could go into far more detail but given the time constraints- well, Sally was happy enough with a basic explanation, though she made it clear that she'd want a much deeper one later- especially when Julius admitted that he'd been exiled from the House of Life for doing what he believed to be the right thing.

In any case it didn't take them too long to reach the cafe that Julius had sent Percy and his own son- who Sally had learned was named Carter, to.
When they arrived Percy pulled ahead of Julius, breaking into a run as she rushed inside- she'd spotted Percy through the window and she felt her heart break and the sight of her baby girls bruised and bloodied face, though she was grateful that Carter had clearly helped her clean off her face.

"Percy!" Sally's voice cracked as she called her daughters name- and Percy and Carter both turned their heads at the sound of Percy's name- and then Percy was leaping out of her chair before Carter could grab her, and she was rushing towards Sally, who dropped to her knees and caught her little girl as Percy
cried out.

"Mommy!"

"Oh baby." Sally pressed her lips to the top of Percy's head, "Oh my baby girl I'm sorry I'm so sorry-"

"I don't wanna have to go home mommy." Percy was crying too, her face pressed into Sally's shoulder. "Gabe scares me mommy."

"I know baby I am so sorry."

"You're Percy's mom?" and Sally lifted her head, focusing on Carter- he was smiling nervously and Sally gave him a reassuring smile as she stood up, still holding Percy close.

"I am- your dad was just behind me-"

"I was." that came from Julius, who had caught up with Sally quite quickly. "Let's all sit down-" he glanced over towards the table the kids had been looking at, "I see you had milkshakes and a muffin- Sally would you like a coffee."

"Yes." Sally nodded, "Yes please." she gave Carter a small smile.

"I'll go and get one. You three wait at the table. And after I've got our drinks Carter, we're going to talk about some changes that are going to happen."

"Changes?" Carter looked nervous- Sally couldn't blame him for that- from what Julius had told her Carters life was pretty chaotic as it was, with all of the travelling- oh in some ways he was lucky- he saw the world in a way most kids would never get to but- well, there was no stability.

"Your dad has asked me to travel with you guys- while he's working I'll be looking after you and Percy."

"I-" Carter blinked, "Really?" he looked almost hopeful.

"No more Gabe!" Percy cheered, and Sally laughed warmly, grabbing Carters hand and guiding him back to the table, sitting down with Percy in her lap, grabbing her daughters milkshake and handing it to her.

It wasn't long before Julius returned, and together the two adults explained what was going to happen to the children- and Sally had to admit that for the first time in a very long time, she actually had hope for the future.