*This is my first ff so like ye. It'll prolly get better as the story progresses. Hate on the story in the reviews all you want, idgaf. Constructive criticism is appreciated though. Itll help me a lot (trust). Also lets thank chatgpt for the title (I couldn't come up w anything)

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SUMMARY:

Percy Jackson is a clear sighted mortal whose dad left him and his mom at birth. In desperation, Sally married Gabe Ugliano, who killed her when Percy was 8, which landed Percy in an orphanage. Having enough of the abuse, he escapes the orphanage runs into the forest on his 11th birthday. At 14 years old, he meets a mysterious lady in the woods who may or may not be a Goddess.

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Chapter 1: Lady in the woods.

All Percy could think about was running. Running from a monster who went by the name of Gabe Ugliano. Adrenaline pumped through his body, making him ignore the effects of the build-up of lactic acid in his little muscles.

"Get back here, you little dipshit!" A manly voice shouted from a distance behind him.

The little boy ran even faster, maneuvering around people on the street. Turning right, he proceeded to run straight into a closed off alleyway. His heart dropped when he saw that there was nowhere to run to. He couldn't turn back now. The little boy decided to hide behind a dumpster, hoping that he won't be seen. Tears were streaming down his eyes. Hearing footsteps, Percy tried to control his heavy breathing alongside his loud sobbing.

"When I find ya, I'm gonna fucking kill you, you little cocksucker." Gabe's voice resounded through the alleyway a few feet away from him. The blaring sounds of the noisy city blended into the background for him as Percy focused on controlling himself.

He took a step back, trying to get away from the edge of the dumpster. But in process, he accidentally knocked a trash can over to the ground. Shit. Metal clang resonated throughout the alleyway.

Percy's breath hitched. Gabe Ugliano was many things, but he wasn't deaf. World stopped for what felt like hours. The previously controlled sobbing came back. Fear overtaking his body, Percy started shaking in his place. He didn't want to die.

Little boy got brought back to world with rough hands clasping around his throat, squeezing the hell out of it.

"The fuck did I say huh!?" Gabe lifted the kid into the air, holding Percy against the wall of the building. He couldn't breathe. "ANSWER ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!" The man screamed against his face. Percy began thrashing around, attempting to break the hold of the older man. His vision was beginning to go dark. Due to the lack of oxygen in his brain, his body went slack, though remaining conscious.

"Release the boy!" A third person's voice sounded from far away. He could barely discern the words. The last thing Percy heard before he slipped into unconsciousness was a gunshot.

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~.~ FLASHBACK ~.~

"SPEAK WHEN YOU'RE SPOKEN TO YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Percy tried to avert his eyes from the bloodbath. He was trying to hold his tears back but his eyes were starting to water. Looking from his spot under the table he could see his mom lying in a pool of blood. Gabe was on top of Sally, repeatedly punching her in the face.

"and when I say bring me a fucking bottle, YOU BRING ME IT!" He was drunk again. Percy couldn't control his tears anymore. Tears were streaming down his eyes. He got out from his little place under the table and took off running. At the front door he could hear Gabe screaming for him to get back. He couldn't afford to look back though. Opening the front door, he sprinted down the stairs.

~.~ FLASHBACK END ~.~

When Percy opened his eyes, he found himself in a white hospital room. He was lying in a bed. To his left, there was a nightstand. Right in front of him was a small TV, which was playing some random children's cartoon. To the left of the TV, there was a yellowish door. Looking down at himself, he realized that his clothes were changed. He now had a small hospital gown on. Some of the newer cuts inflicted on him by Gabe were bandaged and treated.

Suddenly, memories started flooding back to him. His mom, running from Gabe, getting choked, all of it. His hand immediately went to his throat, and he started panicking. He didn't remember anything that happened after he lost control of his body.

The sudden opening of the door caused him to flinch. His head immediately snapped towards the sound. A middle-aged woman walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She was wearing pink scrubs. On her clothing, there was a tag that read "Sam". Newly introduced "Sam" had blue eyes and blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She was holding a water bottle in her hand.

"Oh, you're awake. Would you like some water?" The nurse, Sam, walked up to Percy. Little boy nodded his head. He was thirsty. Picking up a glass water cup from the nightstand beside the bed, the nurse poured some water into it."Here." Percy sat up as the nurse brought the cup to his lips. Gripping the glass with both of his hands, the little boy chugged down the water, leaving the glass cup empty.

"My mom, is she ok? Where is she? Can I see her?" He asked hurriedly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

The nurse's smile fell completely. She opened her mouth, just to close it back up a second later. It was almost as if she was contemplating saying something.

All of a sudden, the door opened up once again. A tall police officer walked in, exchanging a curt nod with the nurse. Sam looked back at Percy with sadness for a second before sitting up and leaving the room. The officer turned back to Percy, closing the door behind the nurse.

"God, this never gets easier." The cop mumbled to himself. "Hey kid," He walked up to Percy, kneeling down to eye level beside the little boy's bed. "We took care of him. You won't have to worry about that scumbag anymore."

Percy felt relief wash over him. Gabe was gone. He couldn't believe his ears. He and mom could live without a worry now, like they always wanted to. They wouldn't have to live in fear anymore..

"But," The cop grimaced for the news he was going to have to tell the young child. As much as he hated doing it, it was a part of his job.

"The damages he caused on mom, they were too much. It was too late, we couldn't save her. I'm sorry." The police officer broke eye contact, not being able to look into the boy's eyes while he delivered the tragic news.

"NO! You're lying!" He pointed his index finger at the cop in an accusatory way.

"I'm sorry, kid." The cop walked up to Percy and gave him a hug.

Percy tried to push the cop away. He was full on crying now. He didn't want to believe what the cop was saying. It just couldn't be true. His mom couldn't be gone.

The cop lifted Percy's head up and made him look into his eyes. "We couldn't find any relatives for you to live with."

"The damages he caused on mom, they were too much. It was too late, we couldn't save her. I'm sorry." The police officer broke eye contact, not being able to look into the boy's eyes while he delivered the tragic news.

"We're going to have to put you in an orphanage. But," He paused for a second.

"You don't have to worry, they will treat you good in there. They will take care of your education and will raise you to be a good man. You'll meet a lot of kids your age there. You can have fun, make new friends." The cop finished. Standing up, the police officer gave Percy a pat on the back before taking his leave.

Percy sobbed for hours on end. He cried until his eyes couldn't even produce tears anymore. He could not imagine a life without his mother.

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~.~ A year later… ~.~

Percy was nine years old now. Everything the cop said about orphanages was a lie. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Nobody gave a shit about him. He was bullied by the older kids in there. When he reported it to the staff, they did nothing about it. In the end he got beat up even more just because he snitched. Even the food was straight up garbage. It seemed like they were saving up on as much money as possible. None of the foods came even close to his mom's cooking. His mom... He missed her so much.

While he was not getting beat up and bullied though, he was learning wild life, nature and survival. Something about it just absolutely fascinated him. He tried to learn more about nature and survival in the wild at every chance that he got.

"Sup dumbass." Percy got smacked in the back of his head. It was Josh. A 16 year old who had marked the orphanage as his own and declared himself the king. Josh saw everybody beneath him, and he and his group would literally bully everybody else. Staff did nothing about it. No matter how many times they reported it...

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~.~ 2 years later… ~.~

Percy's life in the orphanage didn't change a single bit during his stay there. Only thing that changed was Josh leaving because he turned 18. But it didn't change anything either. The older guy in Josh's little group took over after Josh took his leave. One thing: he was even worse.

He learned a lot more about nature. He learned pickpocketing and perfected it. After all, he would need it to get money after he escaped this damned hell hole. He had been thinking about it for a while, and he decided to break out of the orphanage and run into the woods. Live out his life in the forest. He would have to make trips to the city once in a while to restock, but it wasn't a big deal at all. After all, anything was better than his current predicament.

Percy had been pickpocketing money little by little, saving up for when he ran away from the orphanage. Which was in 2 days, on his 11th birthday. It would be his own birthday gift for himself. Nobody ever celebrated his birthday once during the whole 3 years he was in there. No one even knew. They never cared enough to ask.

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~.~ LINEBREAK ~.~

He was out, finally. He doesn't remember feeling this free in his life, ever. When Percy was born, his father left, and he and his mom were left alone to fend for themselves. They were always struggling for money. Then Sally married Gabe. It got even worse after that.

Now, he could just live his life out in the woods by himself, away from humanity. Away from all evil. It was a dream come true. His heart was beating from all the excitement.

All he had to do now was buy some clothes and set out towards the nearest forest. It was going to be hard explaining why an eleven year old was shopping by himself, but he didn't care. He would figure something out on the spot. He hated scripting stuff.

It was also summer, so he could hopefully get comfortable with his new living conditions before winter hit.

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~.~ A few months later… ~.~

The first few months were hard for the eleven-year-old. Still, he loved it all the same. All the stuff that he learned during his stay in the orphanage definitely helped him. If he didn't know the stuff that he did, he would have died in his first week.

Throughout the 4 months he spent on living by himself in the woods, he had only once made a trip into the city, and that was to get new clothes because his former ones got cut. He was proud about the single trip nonetheless.

However, the winter was nearing. It was already freezing temperatures, and winter hadn't even officially started yet. To be honest with himself, Percy was anxious. He wasn't sure how his first winter would play out. By the way the weather was playing out at the moment he wasn't confident he would be able to survive the winter. Weather was getting worse every passing day.

Percy never stayed at the same spot for too long. He mostly just traveled around. Staying a few weeks on a location at most. But for winter, he was planning on making a shelter to live in. After all, if he wanted to push through winter, he needed to be prepared for it.

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Soft crunches broke the silence of the forest as a young boy took confident steps, his head raised high. Tall snow-covered pine trees surrounded him. White powder covered everything everywhere around him.

Steam was left in the air with each exhale of the boy. The air was numbingly cold. A gust of chilling wind sent the 14-year-old's hair flying back. Percy was following footprints and blood trails of an injured deer. Due to a sudden breeze his shot went off course and hit the deer's leg. And now, he had to follow the trail and finish the job.

~.~ 3 years later… ~.~

Soft crunches broke the silence of the forest as a young boy took confident steps, his head raised high. Tall snow-covered pine trees surrounded him. White powder covered everything everywhere around him.

Steam was left in the air with each exhale of the boy. The air was numbingly cold. A gust of chilling wind sent the 14-year-old's hair flying back. Percy was following footprints and blood trails of an injured deer. Due to a sudden breeze, the arrow went off course and hit the deer's leg. And now, all he had to follow the trail and finish the job. After all, he didn't want to starve to death.There. The deer was limping away in a small clearing. Attempting to get away. His bow raised with his left hand, Percy pulled an arrow out of his quiver. Having done this a million times, he notched the arrow and drawed the bowstring back. Inhaling, he adjusted his aim, accounting for the wind. Exhaling, Percy released the arrow, confident that it would hit the target right in the mark.

The young boy walked up to his prey, getting ready to drag the deer back to his little shelter. He looked down at his work. A young girl entered the clearing just as he saw the silver arrow sprouting from the deer's head. She had her bow aimed at him with malicious intent. With his bow slung over his shoulder, he couldn't really do anything to threaten the girl back. So, he did the next best thing, He raised his hands up.

The girl, who appeared about his age, was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes on. Her long, flowing auburn hair had streaks of silver, and her striking silver eyes seemed to glow along with her pale skin.

"W-Woah there." Percy stuttered.

The mysterious girl remained silent, opting to just glare at him.

"Mind lowering the bow?" He gulped. "..Please?"

The girl lowered her bow, causing Percy to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in relief. He dropped his hands to his sides, grateful that he didn't get shot.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked the girl, genuinely curious.

"I could ask the same thing, boy." Her voice, as clear as silk, echoed through the clearing, both commanding and smooth.

"I was hunting the deer. A gust of wind made my arrow miss the deer's head, and it hit the animal's leg. So i followed it here." He mentioned towards the arrow sticking out of the deer's leg. "The kill is mine, by the way." Percy added.

"How so? I dealt the killing blow." Smirking, the girl pointed towards the silver arrow with the end of her beautifully crafted bow.

"I shot it first, and I injured it. If I hadn't it wouldn't have even came here." Percy protested, throwing his hands into the air.

"I dealt the killing blow." She fixed him with a glare.

"You know what? It's fine, we can share it." Percy gave in. "You hungry?" The girl's stomach growled.

Smirking, he grabbed the dead deer by its antlers and started dragging it towards his camp. "Still my kill though." Percy added with a grin. The girl hit him playfully on the arm.

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By the time they reached Percy's small camp it was already getting dark. Due to it being winter, the sun was setting early.

Small rocks circled the fire that was burning in the middle of the camp. Various deer body parts were over the fire. There was a small tent near the fire. They were sitting around the fire in an attempt to not freeze to death. Percy was tending to the deer parts that were positioned over the fire, trying not to burn their dinner.

"So," The boy cleared his throat before proceeding "What are you doing here in the forest, all alone? It's dangerous out here y'know. Don't you have a home?"

"I live here, this is my home" the girl responded. "You?"

"Ah, same for me, actually. I've been living in the woods for a few years now. I ran away from an orphanage on my eleventh birthday and I've been traveling around the forests since then." Percy let out a sigh. The girl's eyebrows lifted upwards in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something before closing it, choosing to stay silent.

"Anddddd dinner's ready." Percy announced with a grin. They dug in, eating in silence.

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By the time they satisfied their hunger, it was already pitch black. Percy was tired from dragging the deer all the way into his little shelter.

"I should get going." Wiping her mouth, the girl sat up from her sitting position.

"You sure? It's pretty late." Percy frowned. "I mean, it's dangerous traveling at night. You can get lost pretty easily.."

"I don't think I'll be getting lost any time soon."

"Okay then, I'll accompany you, I guess." He got up as well, ready to keep her safe despite the tiredness that had set over his body.

"No need, I know the way." The girl politely declined.

"Nah, I don't mind." Percy insisted.

"As i said, there's no need." She gave him a glare that was stern enough for him to change his mind and back down.

As the girl walked away, Percy remembered that he hadn't asked for her name.

"Wait!" He called out to the girl. "I never got your name."

"Nah, I don't mind." Percy insisted.

"As i said, there's no need." She gave him a glare that was stern enough for him to change his mind and back down."Fine," Percy threw his hands into the air. "Whatever suits you.."

As the girl walked away, Percy realized that he hadn't asked for her name.

"Wait!" He called out to the girl. "I never got your name."

The girl looked back, smiling. "Artemis."

*Anddddd that's a wrap. 2.7k words. It took a few days to write. Had fun writing it tho. See yall in the next chapter. Leave a review no balls.*