Hey guys, I had an idea for a Pertemis story and asked the Pertemis community on Discord whether it is worth uploading. Surprisingly, a few people told me it was good and to go for it, which I was not expecting. That community is so encouraging when it isn't dead. So, here's the prologue. (Edit: This message was written a long time before I realized this would become an Artemis- mother figure fic, lol)

There was a street. At the right end of the street was a gray broken house that smelled of garbage even though there was none outside. In that house, there was a dusty, webbed attic but probably the cleanest room in it. In that attic, on a rough thin mattress on a cot for an excuse for bed, a boy cried. He had just lost his mother. Was at her funeral and came just back a few minutes ago. Broken, after realizing his mother would never open her beautiful eyes again, he saw her being buried in a grave.

No, that was wrong. He saw her being buried in a grave with her name written with a permanent marker on a construction brick found nearby above his mother's grave. His step-father, he wasn't even sure he should call him that, never spent a single grain of money on him and his mother.

He still wasn't sure why his mother married him. Whenever he asked she would just tell him it helps us. Once, he saw an empousa roaming his streets. When he told his mother, she hid him in his home and let him come out once the empousa sightings stopped.

Even though he didn't know much about Greek mythology, he figured out why his mother didn't want him to leave at that time as empousas worked for Lady Hecate and his mother told him that she was known to hunt any clear-sighted mortal to experiment with her magic.

Her mother's ability wasn't as good as his due to her being old and losing it to age, but even she was surprised when he started pointing at a cyclops at the age of 3 on the opposite side of the street, which his own mother took a few moments to recognize. But now, she was gone. He heard the priest say that it was an accident, that she fell off the ladder and onto the hard bricks of the backyard while going to her son's room

But Percy knew better. Because, unlike everyone, he saw Gabe hitting her hard with those bottles of the things he drank for interrupting his game. All Gabe's friends kept quiet and didn't say a word. Percy wanted to scream, he wanted to shout so loud and save his mother. But he was too scared. Scared that if he moves a muscle, Gabe will make him undergo one of those "processes". And so, he put his head down, trying to ignore those sounds that would surely haunt his dreams from now on, praying his mother would just survive and something would stop Gabe. Perhaps gods might have heard him. As suddenly, the pipes of the house exploded, sprinkling water everywhere. One exploded right in front of Gabe, causing him to shriek in pain as the hard pressurized running water hit his face. While his friends were trying to help Gabe, Percy ran in front of his mother, hoping she was alive, he tried to check her pulse like how he saw in those violent films Gabe forced him to watch.

But there was nothing.

After a heartbroken realization, Percy started weeping, anger and agony taking over him. He wanted to kill Gabe, right then and there now. But before he could do it, a very hard and sharp object hit the back of his head.

—-

When Percy woke up, he was in a car. A car that was certainly not his as it was too clean. His first thought was that Gabe had finally sold him, he always thought he would, he was just like those parents in those movies. He looked through the window and saw something that brought tears to his eyes. It was a funeral, a funeral that was certainly his mother's. Because none other graves in the graveyard looked as cheap as this one did. Why would it be like them? It's Gabe, the most broken man in the world.

As the mourners wept and shared their heartfelt goodbyes at the graveside, Percy watched Gabe stand there, with a stoic expression, masking his true emotions behind a façade of tears, an act of sorrow convincing to all but Percy, who sensed the insincerity in their tearful gaze. With the casket gently lowered into the earth, the mourners gathered around, clutching bouquets of flowers and heartfelt memories. As dirt and soil cascaded down, a symphony of muted sobs and hushed prayers filled the air. Amidst the somber scene, Gabe, his façade still intact, laid a single white lily on the mound, whispering his own scripted farewell to the departed soul, the weight of their secret hidden beneath the guise of feigned tears.

Percy couldn't stand this, he wiped those true tears that fell vigorously from his eyes and prayed to everyone he knew that the car door was open.

It was.

Percy thanked whoever made it open and ran for it. Ran until he was back in his street. Ran until he was in his house boundaries. Ran towards his backyard, and went up the ladder that went to the dusty attic. His attic window was open, as he always made sure to do, in case he had to go home in an emergency like this. Even though it wasn't safe, it was better than begging Gabe for the keys.

He climbed in and looked over his room, his eyes finally setting on his dusty bed. He sat on it, as the exhaustion from the run finally settled down, and those unshed tears.

As he wept, he recalled what happened today. And how manipulating Gabe was.

Soon he realized how his life would be from now on. The constant bullying, hitting, the lack of education, and food. And movie nights. Without his mother, Gabe would have his way to beating Percy. To keep him starving or straight off cut his school. And those horrible movies he would be forced to watch. The ones his mother would never allow Gabe.

No, he wouldn't survive with him. Life in the street is better than that. Perhaps that would be a better choice. Percy wiped his tears. Now starting to think about what his mother would want him to do. She would definitely tell him to leave this place. Perhaps he could go to the jungle nearby. The one with those sounds he heard every night. Still a better chance of survival than Gabe. Yes, he should do that. Maybe pack up a few things, some belongings of his mother. Yes. That could work. But what will he bring?

There's nothing in the house that actually is important. Everything was taken by Gabe. Everything was…wait. His mother's golden pendant! The one given to her by her parents! The one she never allowed him to sell! That could be the thing of his mother's that he could take before he runs away. Yes, he should do that before Gabe returns.

Percy opened the hatch that connected his room to the house and slowly crept toward his mother's room. In most houses, parents usually slept together but his mom was firm on the decision that she would get her own room.

He opened the door and started searching for the pendant. Sure enough, he found it in one of the top drawers. "Hiding in plain sight is the best way you can hide something" she once told him. He guessed this is why Gabe never found it. He always looked for the places someone would hide something valuable.

Percy clutched the pendant to his heart, and arrived back in his room, crept down the ladder, and stepped back into the backyard. Only a few more steps before I'm free, he thought. He slowly started making his way towards the exit.

When he finally reached it, he took a deep breath. Counted till ten, before dashing onto the road to freedom.

Thanks you eesamaster1 for helping me when I got stuck at one point.

07/09/23: It's gonna get updated. I just cant do it this month because of exams. Blame my school.