AN:sorry for taking so long to update, I was having a writers block and some motivational issues. Anyway, the story is here now so enjoy.
Percy POV
~~~time skip~~~
"Are you going to explain what's going on now or are we going to play a game of charades?" I asked Annabeth whilst Luke and Thalia were setting up a small fire to cook dinner.
She looked up at me and started to explain. "Have you ever heard of the Greek gods?" she asked.
"You mean Zeus, Poseidon, Hercules? Yeah. What about them?"
"They're real. All those old 'myths' are real." She said. I stared at her, confused.
"What do you mean they're real? They're myths! They're what people used to explain things like weather before we had science."
"Then how do you explain the cyclops? The Kindly One? Your sword fitting inside a pen?"
I tried to stutter out an answer before stopping and thinking for a moment. Thalia looked up from what she was doing and spoke. "I know it's hard to believe, Percy, but this is your life now. It took me a while to believe it and you're lucky to have met Grover or you would have had to learn it through experience or die."
"Yeah. Most half-bloods never make it past 6th grade." Grover piped up. I paled instantly and Annabeth glared at him like 'not helping'.
"What does 'half-blood' mean?" I asked. "And what does this have to do with my father?"
"Funnily enough, both questions are related." Luke said, "Half-blood means half mortal half god. That's what we are. One of our parents was mortal and one was a god."
"How do you know? You don't know my father," I asked.
"Because I know you," Annabeth said exasperated. I just looked at her, confused, and she continued, "I bet you that Gabe isn't your real father. You're ADHD, probably dyslexic too. You moved from school to school. Strange or dangerous things happened to you in each one."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Because the same happened to me and Thalia and Luke. And probably loads of other half-bloods. You're dyslexic because your brain is hard wired for Ancient Greek and your ADHD. You can't sit still in a classroom: that's your battle reflexes, they keep you alive in combat," Annabeth told me.
"Then who's my dad?" I asked expectantly.
"We don't know until you get claimed. We might be able to find out from your skills but probably not," Luke told me but Grover looked down at his shoes. I turned to him.
"Grover, do you know who my dad is?" I asked him.
He paused before saying "No of course not. Why would I know?"
"Grover you're a really bad liar," I told him.
He looked pained. "Hey Luke, how long until dinner is ready?" He asked, obviously trying to avoid the conversation. I decided to let it drop for now.
Dinner, it turns out, was whatever-we-could-find stew, which included: half an enchilada from Grover; a small steak from Luke and a crushed sandwich from me. While we ate the stew and Grover chewed on some tin cans he'd managed to salvage from nearby, they told me about life as a half-blood. It sounded really dangerous and, honestly, I wished I'd stayed at school. And I can't believe I just said that either.
"We will begin training tomorrow, Percy. The sooner you get experience, the better your chance at surviving. And after seeing you fight before, you're probably going to be a pretty good swordsman," Luke told me, after he finished his stew. He rummaged through his backpack and brought out a sleeping bag and I saw Thalia and Annabeth do the same. At first, I thought they might have one for me but quickly realised that they weren't expecting to find me and Grover so wouldn't be prepared for it. I looked around for something I could use or somewhere that might be more comfortable, when Annabeth seemed to realise me and Grover weren't prepared. "Percy, do you want to borrow my sleeping bag? We're more used to sleeping rough so I don't need it as much," she offered.
I shook my head, "No. I don't want to be a bother. I've only just got here and I'm already ruining things."
"How are you ruining things, Percy? You did amazing against the cyclops. It would've killed us without you."
"Yes, but the cyclops wouldn't have been here if it weren't for me," I told her.
"What are you talking about, Percy? You're making no sense," Thalia asked me.
"Grover told me that I had a strong smell. That means I will attract more monsters, which in turn means that it's my fault if one of us gets killed."
"No. Percy, you can't blame yourself for this stuff. We couldn't very well leave you to fend for yourself. I can't believe I'm saying this but you're lucky Grover found you. At least you know the truth now. Many half-bloods get killed before they even know what's going on. You can't say it's your fault if we die, because you don't know which monsters are because of you and which are because of Thalia, who's also got a strong scent, or which ones are because of me and Annabeth. It's our choice to take you in and we won't let you blame yourself for anything. Besides, it's not like we had much of a life to ruin, really," Luke assured me. I tried to believe it and did to a degree, but I couldn't stop thinking that it was my fault.
The sun was below the horizon now and the temperature dropped. Me and Annabeth, we huddled together in a box as Grover had accepted her offer to sleep in her sleeping bag. I heard someone stumbling out in the street. I could hear a loud sobbing and apparently Annabeth heard it as well because she unsheathed her dagger. I pulled out my new pen and we both stood up slowly. We crept to the entrance of the alley and bumped into someone just as they ran in. It was a huge boy with tattered clothes. He had crooked, disgusting teeth. It was obvious he had been crying and he seemed to notice Annabeth's knife and he backed off, scared.
"No. It's ok, we won't hurt you," I reassured him. I took a careful step forward, my hands open for him to see.
"Percy…" Annabeth warned but I ignored her.
"Come on, it's ok. What are you running from?"
"Big, Bad Sphinx," he sobbed. I looked behind him and saw what could have been a giant lion if not for the human head. It was contorted into a look of pure rage and was glaring right at the boy.
"Get behind us," I told him, before turning to Annabeth. "On a scale of one to ten how bad do you think this monster is?" I asked.
"I'd say at least a seven, probably an eight." I nodded and was going to go wake Grover and the others when the monster pounced. I jumped out of the way and watched as Annabeth did the same. She pulled out a Yankees cap, put it on and vanished. 'She has an invisibility cap!?' I thought to myself. I charged at the Sphinx to distract it. I slashed at its nose and it roared in anger. It swiped at me with its claws but I jumped out of the way too late. I flew into a fire hydrant and looked up dazed. My chest felt warm and wet. The monster stalked forward, about to pounce. I could see new slashes appearing on its hide, probably from Annabeth, but the sphinx didn't seem fazed. Just as it pounced the homeless kid punched it in the nose, knocking it away. He advanced and shouted "Bad Sphinx!" before smashing its face in. It crumbled to dust and Annabeth reappeared with some of the squares I'd fed her before.
The boy's shout had woken up the others and they ran out. Thalia saw the boy and charged at him. "Wait," I croaked and she looked at me exasperated.
"Don't tell me, this ones nice as well," she grumbled
"He saved my life," I told her as Annabeth helped me into a sitting position. "And what do you mean 'this one'?"
Thalia sighed, "He's a cyclops, Percy." I looked at him again and saw that in the centre of his forehead was indeed a singular eyeball. The look in his eye was one of sadness, fear and maybe even a little bit of hope. Despite him being a monster, I couldn't help but think he might be a good one. I couldn't bring myself to kill him.
"Yeah, I think he's a good one."
Luke laughed. "Ok then, Percy, the monster tamer. So far, you're right about Grover, so who knows? You might be right about this one. What's your name?"
"I am Tyson," he told us, his big eyeball filled with relief. He began to smile.
"Ok Tyson. Do you want to sleep with us tonight? We'll protect you from any more Sphinxes or other monsters," Luke told him. Tyson nodded enthusiastically and we went back to our alley. It appeared that Tyson was familiar with the alley, because he settled down in a fridge at the end. We all settled back down for my first night on the run.
AN: Thank you for reading but im having difficulties coming up with any new ideas for my story. please put them in the comments or dm me. I have also written a writing prompt in my bio if anyone wants to use it.
