Maybe looking at the Earth wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't from a single square foot window hundreds of miles away from the actual planet. It wasn't like he wasn't grateful for the window -he knew that a lot of people didn't have one at all- but actually being there would be a million times better.

Percy Jackson lived on Walden, basically the short end of the stick when it came to the Colony. But he tried to look on the bright side: at least he was on the ship in the first place. At least he hadn't been left to die on the radiation-infested planet that he saw behind the thick glass of his window. And sure his life would have probably been a million times easier if he lived on Phoenix, but he tried not to think about that. He had to be content with the life that he already had, not the potential of another.

Percy had never known anything more than the uniform hallways and fluorescent lights of the ship, the familiar frames of the windows, the same view of the dull Earth and bright stars. The laws of the Gaia Doctrine had governed him since the day he was born, and would continue to until the day that he died. Sure, he could wish for some type of miracle, maybe the ship to find that Earth was suitable for human inhabitance again, or maybe even them finding an entirely new planet to call home; but Percy didn't much believe in miracles.

Except for Annabeth. She was his one miracle, the one person who was truly like him. They had been best friends for as long as he could remember, and it had blossomed into something more a year and a half ago when Percy had turned 16. They loved each other more than life itself, more than their shared dream to finally make it back to Earth (and that was saying something). As long as they were together, they swore that they could spend the rest of forever on the miserable grounds of Walden.

"Percy," the voice of his mom rang from nearby.

The boy looked behind him to face his mother, who had just come home from work.

Sally worked to harvest crops and food from the ship's limited setting of farmland. She told Percy that she chose to be there just because it was one of the only parts of the ship that didn't feel like it was caving in on her. It felt the most like Earth.

"What are you doing with the lights off in here?" Sally asked Percy as she flipped the switch to their apartment. Percy uncrossed his arms from the windowsill and looked fully over to his mother.

"Sorry, just thinking," he responded.

She gave him a small, comforting smile and walked to capture him in an embrace. He let himself go in his mother's arms, vulnerable in a way that most people usually didn't see.

"Here," Sally started, "I brought something special back for you."

Percy pulled back with a quizzical look on his face, "Really?" It wasn't often that they were able to give each other gifts. Money was tight, and so were resources on the ship in general.

Sally reached into the large pocket of her Walden-issued work pants to bring out a small square of cloth, bulging with something within. The cloth was old and frayed, Percy could tell, probably cut from an old white shirt or something.

The pair sat down at the small two-person table in the center of the room, and Sally laid the package on the table, opening it to reveal a handful of small, dark blue fruits.

Percy gaped at it, "You didn't." A grin began to appear on his face as he looked gratefully to his mother. She nodded with a loving smile.

Working in harvest had perks. Illegal? Yes, but Sally had a pretty straight record of not getting caught. Fruits were a luxury in the Colony, though, and especially on Walden, and so it was even more impressive than usual that Sally had smuggled blueberries into their living space.

"What's the occasion?" Percy asked, still confused as to the motives of taking the berries for him.

"Nothing in particular," Sally responded, "just thought that you needed some cheering up."

"Thanks mom… I love you."

They chowed down on the few fruits, Percy's favorite, as they just talked. Not about anything in particular, that was sort of the point. To just talk about something, anything other than the fears plaguing their minds.

Tears ran down his face. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his old shirt, trying to make it look like his skin wasn't stained with tear tracks and angry red splotches. He ran out of the apartment, away from the monster who had beat him.

He didn't know where he was going, or even if there was anywhere to go. There were limited places to crash on a spaceship. Percy avoided everyone and everything, placing it all in the back of his mind and instead just letting his body take control, whatever was in store. Peacekeepers may have started to catch wind of the boy bolting down the hallway, but most just stood and watched, not raising a finger to help or even try and catch him. This was probably breaking about a million rules.

Finally, Percy found his way into his own solitary space. Curled up on the floor of the storage closet, he let the tears stream down his face. Everything hurt, his back burned and his arms ached with bruises.

He hated Gabe. Everything about the man. Percy loved his mother, but could never understand why she had married Gabe. Of any person, it had to be him. He had asked before why Sally had done it, but she always left him with the vague answer of, "You'll understand someday." It made Percy want to scream. What was there to understand? Gabe was a horrible, abusive man, who somehow made Percy's life on the ship even worse.

As Percy sat, hiding away from all the frights in his apartment with his knees curled to his chest, a light suddenly flowed into the room. Startled by the sudden noise of the scraping door accompanied by the bright white light of the hallway, Percy scurried as far from the entrance as possible. Unfortunately, there weren't many places to go in the tiny room. He managed to find a cramped space between a few boxes of miscellaneous items, but knew that it was only a matter of time before he was found.

Percy was panicking; sure, he had never been an amazing student, or even a well-behaved kid in general, but wandering the halls and into restricted areas after curfew was definitely against the law. And he knew how bad the consequences to disobeying the Gaia Doctrine were, even at his young age of 12.

He held his breath, silently repeating "I'm sorry," over and over in his head. To his mother. Percy knew how heartbroken she would be when he was taken to confinement. And he wished he could tell her, but it was possible that he would never see her again after this.

But a few seconds passed, and then minutes. And Percy didn't hear the familiar clunking of the guard's boots, or their robotic voices telling him that he was under arrest. Instead, it was silent.

Idiotically, Percy raised his head slightly over the top of one of the boxes constructing his hiding spot. But what he saw in front of him wasn't what he was expecting.

A figure stood in the center of the room, staring straight at where Percy sat. They didn't appear to be blinking, or even moving at all, just looking straight at Percy. They seemed uneasy, put off, almost just as much as Percy. They just hadn't shown their fear the same way.

"Hello?" the figure asked. A voice helped Percy paint the picture of this person even more. It was authoritative, sounding almost fearless to him. Though Percy doubted that that was how the person was actually feeling. But they didn't seem mad, they definitely weren't a Peacekeeper.

And so Percy stood completely, facing the person. "Hi?" he squeaked, voice still hoarse from crying.

And they stood like that for a few seconds, just taking in the fact that there was someone else there, and deciding if they could trust each other. Percy's eyes started to adjust, and he could finally make out the image of a girl, his age, and her hands clasped around a book.

"You're not here to arrest me, right?" Percy asked.

The girl snorted, "Well, I guess that that answers my question of whether you were gonna arrest me…"

"What're you doing in here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," the girl tilted her head, "I've never seen you around here before."

"I mean, it's not like you can really see me."

"True, but I think I would've noticed if there was another human being in my private space."

"Your private space? Isn't it illegal to be here?"

"Technically, but I won't tell if you won't," the girl proposed. She stuck out her hand for a handshake, and Percy complied.

"Deal."

"Can I get your name?"

Percy internally debated for a few seconds over whether or not to tell her. But eventually gave in, he needed more friends, and if this was the start of a good friendship (which he suspected it was) then he was willing to take a few risks. "Percy Jackson."

The girl nodded, taking in that he had actually answered. And then she made the decision to reveal her identity, too.

"I'm Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

I hope that you guys like this chapter, although I spent a grand total of about 30 minutes on it (well, more including editing and stuff, but for the meat of it, not too long). Like I said, this story is not my focus. I just randomly thought of it, and will just write sometimes in my spare time. I have a lot of stuff planned for the beginning of the story, but not as much planned for kind of the... big parts I guess you could say? I'll figure it out. Hope you liked the chapter! Review if you want to say anything... (well, that's what reviewing is for in the first place... but we can overlook that).

To people reading my other story who want an update: Yes, I know it's been 2 months. I have an excuse for not putting out a chapter. I honestly have no clue how this one came to be, but I'm working on one for Two Types of Heroes and will try and get it out as soon as possible.

-Z

Words: 1632

Published: November 5, 2020 (11/05/20)