Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the seventh chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO! Fem!Percy Smart! Percy Male!Thalia Male!Annabeth Mentions of abuse

Question: Should I keep Annabeth as a guy, or should I change the story so that she's a girl?

ENJOY!

Chapter 7: Memories and Lit 8 Year Olds

Theseus finally finished giving me the tour, so we stopped by the beach. We sat on the edge of the pier, talking about random things. He then started talking about his life before Camp. He told me that he ran away from home when he was 10 after his brother was kidnapped. He also said that his mother was an alcoholic, and she used to hit him when she was really drunk.

When he finished talking, he turned towards the ocean and sighed deeply, probably reliving the bad memories. We just sat there for a little bit, watching the waves go by, smiling softly everytime we saw dolphins go by.

After a few minutes, he turned his body towards me and asked, "So what about your life?"

I stiffened at the question, and debated if I should tell him or not. I decided that I could tell him, so I took a deep breath and started to tell him of my past.

~~~~Flashback: Age 7~~~~

I had just gotten home from school, and was disappointed when I saw that my mom wasn't home, but instead, I saw Gabe and his poker buddies in the living room, the smell of cigarettes and beer harsh on my nose.

I tried to be quiet when I walked by Gabe and his buddies, but I guess he seen me when I opened the door, because when I walked by, he grabbed me by my backpack and pulled me into his lap.

I was squirming in his arms, trying to get out, but he only tightened his grip on me, and continued playing his game. I was finally getting tired of this, and said, "Let go of me, Smelly Gabe!"

He looked me straight in the eyes, and growled, "Get out. We'll continue this tomorrow." After everyone left the apartment, Gabe threw me into the wall. It felt like my whole body cracked when I collided with the wall. I was having trouble seeing straight, and when I finally did, it was of Gabe's face as he yanked my off the floor.

I was shaking within his grasp. I didn't know what he was going to do to me. He raised his hand and backhanded me. My head snapped to the side from the force of the blow. I felt something trickle out of my mouth, and when I looked down I saw that it was blood. My blood!

I looked at Gabe with rage in my eyes. I kicked him in the stomach, which in turn caused him to drop me and double-over in pain. I landed on the ground and kicked him in-between his legs, and then ran into my room.

~~~~Time Skip - Age 11 - Still Flashback~~~~

I was sitting in the kitchen when my mom walked in and said, "I'm going to work Sephie. Remember, I'm working late today, so I won't be home until 12. Love you!" With that, she walked out the door.

I got up from my spot in the kitchen, and made my way towards my room. I passed the living room, when I heard Gabe call my name. My hand subconsciously went to my cheek from the first time that he hit me. He's hit me multiple times after that, but that's the only one that I vividly remember.

I turned around and started to walk towards Gabe and his poker buddies. I had recently started going through puberty, and my body has been developing more, so boys have started to notice me more. Everytime I see someone checking me out, I punch them in the face, because it's just rude to stare at people, you know?

I saw him and his buddies look me up and down, and was utterly disgusted with them because they were all about 40 years old, and I was only 11! I stopped in front of him and asked, "What do you want Gabe?"

He looked at me and said, "You will show me some respect in my home, do you understand?"

I snorted and then rolled my eyes at him and asked, "Why should I respect a fat walrus like you?"

He looked at me with pure fury in his eyes. His buddies got the message, and one by one they all left. He got up from his chair and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain, but he took the opportunity to knee me in the face.

I fell to the ground clutching my now bleeding nose, wheezing from the sudden loss of air. I looked up at Gabe's face, and was horrified when I saw that he was smiling, like me getting injured was enjoyable for him.

He bent down to my level and said, "That'll teach you to show me some respect, girlie." With that, he walked out of the living room.

~~~~Flashback End: Present Time~~~~

"There were many other times when he would hit me, but it has only gotten worse in these past months. He's been looking at me with this look in his eyes that makes me shudder."

I took a deep breath, and then I continued, "He sometimes slaps my butt or things like that. I haven't told my mom because he said if I did, then he would kill her. I just couldn't imagine a world without her! She's...she's my everything!"

With that, I started to cry. I felt arms wrap around me, and I stiffened. My cries changed into sniffles, and then I said, "Let go of me, Theseus."

I turned my head towards him and saw that he was looking at me in concern for my sudden change in emotion. I saw that he wasn't going to let me go anytime soon, so I shook him off of me, and then got up from my seated position.

I put my hands in my pockets and asked, "What was wrong with that kid who was with me at the big house? He was acting weird, and he was staring at me funny."

He chuckled a little, before getting up and said, "That's Anthony for you. He's a son of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. He sometimes gets a little in over his head with the smartness, but he's a good person."

"That still doesn't explain why he was staring at me." I replied.

"He gets a little crazy when he sees someone who's pretty like yourself." He said with a blush at the end.

First I get a creeper, then I get a person who's touchy, and now a flirt. Ugh, this is so annoying, I thought exasperatedly. "I thought. "He also said something about me being the one. What does that mean?" I asked.

"He got a prophecy that says that someone new that comes to camp will take him out of camp on a quest. He thinks that everyone new is going to be the one, so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you." He told me.

I was about to reply to him, when I saw someone materialise before my very eyes. I let out a shout out surprise and swung my fist at the person. My fist collided with a face, and then the person fell to the floor, clutching their nose in pain.

I looked down to see who it was, and was surprised to see that it was Anthony. How did he do that, I thought. He got up after a minute and yelled, "What the Hades was that for?!"

I looked down at him and said, "You deserved that for appearing out of nowhere and scaring me." He was trying to look down at me, but couldn't due to the fact that I was taller than him by about 3 inches.

He looked frustrated that I was taller than him, and then asked, "How are you so tall?"

I shrugged and replied, "My mom said that I got it from my dad."

Theseus looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "I would say that you're a daughter of Zeus, since children of Zeus tend to be taller than most demigods, since our domain is the sky, but your eyes ruin the image."

I shrugged, and then looked at the ocean, watching the ripples of the water go back and forth. I looked back to the two after a minute, and was about to ask something, before I was interrupted by a conch horn blaring in the distance.

I was about to ask what it meant, before Theseus said, "Time for Dinner. Go meet up with the Hermes cabin. Luke will tell you what to do." With that, the two walked away from the pier.

I looked back at the lake one last time, before jogging back to the Hermes cabin. I arrived just in time to hear Luke call out, "Hermes Cabin, fall in." Everyone slowly got into a line, and I just went to the back of the line, since I was new.

We walked into the dining pavilion, and walked to the Hermes table. There were so many people in the cabin, that there was barely enough seats. When I sat at the edge of the table, half of my bottom was hanging off.

There was a goblet in front of me. I looked around and saw that everybody's was filled with different drinks. I was confused for a moment, but then I remembered that it might be enchanted. I looked at the goblet and whispered, "Blue Cherry Coke."

To my delight, the goblet was filled with blue liquid. I grabbed the cup with two hands, and tasted a little. I closed my eyes in pleasure when I tasted cherry coke.

When everyone was seated in the pavilion, girls came from the forest and the lake. The people of Grover's kind, satyrs I think they were called, that were sitting at the table with Chiron and Mr. D got up and walked over to the food table, and started to hand out barbecue to everyone, along with the girls that came from the forest and lake.

The food finally reached our table, and Luke handed everyone a piece of barbecue. I was about to take a bite, but I saw everyone get up and head towards the stone fireplace in the middle.

I got up and went up to Luke and asked, "What is everyone doing?"

He laughed, and then said, "I forgot you were new here. Every meal, we throw the best portion of the meal into the fire as a sacrifice to the gods."

I looked at him weirdly and then asked, "So the gods like the smell of burnt food?"

He just laughed again and continued walking. When it was my turn, I cut off a juicy piece of meat, and threw it in the fire and said, "To Hermes, thank you for letting me stay in your cabin."

I walked back to the table, and finished my food in peace. I don't know why, but it felt like I saw someone sitting in the fire. I have always been called crazy, but I never thought that I actually was!

Chiron stood up from the table he was at, and stomped his hoof on the floor. Everyone quieted down, and turned to look at him. He knelt down and whispered something in Mr. D's ear.

Mr. D grumbled something before standing up and said, "We have a new camper with us. Summer Johnson." Chiron told him something again, and then he said, "Sorry, Sephie Jackson. Now go off to your little campfire and all of that. See you brats later." With that, everyone cheered and walked out of the pavilion.

I followed everybody out, and was led to a bonfire with stone benches surrounding it. I sat down with the Hermes cabin in the front row, when I saw that there was a little girl in the fire!

I started to panic, until I realised that the girl wasn't burning, and that no one else seemed to notice. I decided that I would talk to the girl after everyone left, because I didn't want anybody to think that I was crazy.

I enjoyed the music that was supplied by the Apollo cabin, and the smores that everyone ate. Some people from the Hermes cabin talked to me, but most of them were boys who kept trying to hit on me. Get a life, I thought.

Chiron finally came and told us that it was time to go back to our cabins to sleep, so I waited until everyone was gone before going to the fire. I called out to the girl that was in the fire, and she jumped in surprise before getting up and walking over to me.

She stuck out her hand and said, "Hello Sephie. It is nice to meet you. My name is Hestia, but you can call me Tia." I was shocked that she knew my name already, but just shook it off and shook her hand.

She looked like she was about to start talking, but I interrupted her and asked, "When you say Hestia, do you mean the goddess?"

She smiled and nodded, while I hurried up and got on my knees and said, "I'm honored to talk to you milady."

She just grabbed my hands and pulled me up and said, "You don't need to bow to me. I'm not like my siblings."

I just nodded and said, "How come nobody noticed you?"

She sighed and said, "You're the first one to talk to me in so long. Some people tend to see me, but they just ignore me. It gets kinda lonely after a while."

I felt bad for her, and mad at everyone that ignored her. I started to talk to her more, and found out that she often tends to the hearth here at camp. I was lost in our conversation, that I almost forgot that it was already past bedtime.

It seemed that Hestia noticed this too, for she smiled and said, "It was nice talking to you, but it seems that you have to go back to your cabin."

I hugged her and said, "I'll talk to you later Tia. Goodnight." With that, I ran back towards the Hermes cabin and was met with Luke opening the door. I cursed and was preparing for a proper scolding, but instead all I got was, "You better get in here. We have patrol harpies that eat campers after lights out."

I was shocked that I could have gotten eaten, but nodded and went to my sleeping bag in the corner. I changed into my pajamas inside the sleeping bag, and then closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I hope that you liked this extra long chapter. I feel that it is better to provide quality over quantity, because I hate when I read fanfictions that think producing multiple chapters a week will excuse the poor grammar. I know that my writing has multiple grammar errors, but I am only in Junior High, so I only have a couple hours each day to write and check for errors. With all of that said, check my profile for the poll, or just review or PM your answer. See you lovely people that read my terrible writing later.

Potato Out!