That summer our lives changed pretty drastically. Sally married a man named Gabe Ugliano, and he was one of the most vile, disgusting men I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. He was duly named Ugliano. Sure, at first he was somewhat nice, but after they got married and we all started living together he started to show his true colors.
Percy may not have noticed it beyond him just being as he would put it: "A butt", but I did. Soon we had come up with the nickname "Smelly Gabe" for him. I'm sorry, but it was the truth, he was a repulsive man. I did get an idea as to why Sally married him though, he stunk so strongly that he might just cover up any demigod scent. Little did she know, she had more than just one demigod to worry about.
I told myself that all that mattered in this new living situation was that we still had Sally. She would take us out of the house more often to Central park to play, or during the holidays to see the window displays. Just to get more quality time together while away from Gabe.
In the warmer months Percy would play in the fountains and we would run around playing games, or have a picnic. We would go sledding in the snow too. Some of the hills were great for that, which surprised me in the city. Seeing the holiday parades in the city and just city living in general was new to me. We sometimes would even get popsicles from stands, or treats from some of the food carts.
Sally would do up my hair as if random days were special occasions at times. She treated me as if I was her own child, but the knowledge I had prevented me from living in the moment at times. I would constantly analyze things and people, observing. It was hard to make friends "my age" because it always felt as if I was babysitting, I just didn't have that novelty to life like other kids had and just be able to let go and enjoy the moment. I saw more than what kids did, I knew the realities. I did enjoy those little moments I had with Sally though, it helped fill the space of where my mother used to be.
When the leaves were falling we would make piles and play in them. At times like these I couldn't help but remember the little memories of what had seemed insignificant at the time, but they now meant the world to me. Memories were all I had of my old life.
Nick used to love to play in the autumn leaves, tossing them into the air and watch them scatter and blow around in the breeze. Sometimes I would just take some time for myself and have quiet time, time I spent thinking about the past. When Sally would notice she would give me space, keeping Percy occupied and Gabe away. I was making new memories now though, I made sure to make the little moments count. We remember the experiences in life over the petty things like material items, it is better to invest in experiences than other stuff that would eventually fade. All of which that was important to me was in my mind.
As the years passed, Percy and I moved from school to school, getting kicked out every time. Something would always happen that pinned the blame on Percy and I. As a pair we had rotten luck with things like that. The first time it happened we were in first grade. Let's just say that I was not a fan of kids who make fun of kids with "disabilities", or kids in general. Those kids got what was coming to them for messing with Percy. After that little incident I could tell Sally paid closer attention to me and some of my more "demigodly" fighting tendencies, probably growing suspicious if she hadn't already been. She already knew I was not the normal child.
It was as if we couldn't stay in one place for more than a year, but in some respects that was a good thing. Having two demigods, one of which being a daughter of one of the Big Three in the same school for too long would be a beacon for monsters. I still wasn't positive about who Percy's father was, but I had my ideas. I had narrowed down the list to a deity that had something to do with water; Percy was in love with the stuff.
I started practicing my powers more often, trying to build up my endurance to what it used to be and working on new skills. My main problem was when the few times I had tried shadow travel, I would pass out from exhaustion. My body still only had so much energy to spare, but I did manage it a few times within the house at night for short distances.
The problem was though, was that I didn't know where I was supposed to be power wise. Having knowledge of my powers at this "young age" was new. I figured I would just have to save working on certain skills until I was able to handle it better. It kind of stunk, but I couldn't do much about it.
Things started picking up on the godly side of things more in the third grade. Ever since that incident with the snake we hadn't had a similar incident, mainly just school issues. Our scents were growing stronger as time went on though. It was just a matter of time until something happened. I had hoped that it would be something not too dangerous this early in Percy's life, but you can never really pick and choose what happens to you.
We were playing on the playground about midway through the year when I noticed him. He was a big, tall man loitering around the outskirts of the play area. I was instantly on high alert. The man was wearing a trench coat with a large brimmed hat on his head so it covered his face in shadows. I was able to see under his hat though, the man had only one eye: a Cyclops. I quickly lead Percy away from him as casually as I could so as not to raise suspicion. Once I got him far enough away I went up to one of the playground supervisors and told her that there was a big, scary man in a coat and hat hanging around the playground. The Cyclops had his eye glued on Percy and I, this was not the best place for a confrontation, I didn't even have a weapon on me. The mortal solution was our best bet, so after a few minutes and a couple threats to call the police, the Cyclops went off grumbling.
I never planned on telling Sally about the Cyclops, I had discovered a while back that she was clear-sighted. I would notice that whenever we were out and about and a monster was off in the distance wandering around, Sally would get stiff and rush Percy and I off in another direction. I didn't want to know that I knew about the godly side of our world yet, or at least the monsters. Percy mentioned the Cyclops though, how there had been a man with what he could swear was just one eye hanging around the school's playground. Soon after, Sally didn't seem too bothered about us being kicked out.
The next year went relatively well, minus the little swim our class took with some sharks. Percy had been leaning over the railing to get a closer look at the sharks when his elbow hit a lever on the catwalk control at Sea World. The whole class, teachers, chaperones, tour guide and all went for a dunk. I don't know why they would have a lever like that anyway. Percy was having a great time in the water though, fascinated with the sharks. I on the other hand was trying to contain my miniature panic attack from being in the water with sharks, Poseidon's domain. The sharks were curious but luckily stayed away. Percy's jovial mood fell though once it was discovered that he had orchestrated that little event.
Our next expulsion went out with a Bang, literally. This was probably my favorite unintentional Percy being a hero moment. Our class had gone on a trip to the Saratoga Battlefield up in Albany and there were a few revolutionary war cannons in the mix. I still don't know why there were primed cannons at a public National Park but hey, who am I to judge? It was cool anyways.
Once our bus parked we all piled out. As our tour guide was talking to us about the history of the battlefield and what happened there I noticed that we were being watched. There was a stray scythian dracaenae who was observing our group from the shadows of the bus. Not the best place to hide from a daughter of Hades on her part.
Don't ask me how he even did it, whether it be diving interference or just plain dumb luck I don't know. Just as the dracaenae started moving closer we heard a sudden deafening BOOM! I jumped as I saw a cannonball shoot straight at the bus, plowing straight through the dracaenae with a puff of monster dust and into the side of the bus. I looked back to the smoking cannon to see Percy with a very, very guilty look standing next to it.
"Nice shot, Percy." I remarked, grinning a bit even with everyone freaking out around us. I don't think he found that very funny, as he had a mortified look on his face from what just happened. But hey, by my book that was an epic shot. He just took out a dracaenae without even knowing it. Despite the amazing shot we were still expelled. No appreciation for good marksmanship now-a-days I guess.