Spiders and Seas (Heroes Come in Many Forms)

Chapter 1: A Look at Lif(v)e(s)

Perseus Jackson, or Percy as he preferred, was scared. That wasn't unusual for the eight-year old, but still he wanted it noted that he wasn't the brave person his mother had always claimed - she had died a month ago in an "accident" (Percy was sure his stepfather had killed her, but had no proof.) and now he was stuck with no-one but Gabe Ugliano, his stinky stepfather. In addition to smelling like misery, alcohol and dead fish, Gabe hated Percy, and the feeling was mutual, but Percy was much shorter and scrawnier than the man, not to mention eight. The car ride from the funeral - a closed casket affair - was silent, with Percy squirming uncomfortably in the car seat and his stepfather casting glares at him from the front. He had been crying, something that he knew had upset his stepdad. (Most things did, but things that Gabe considered unmanly were the worst offenders.) All he could hope for was something to disrupt what he was certain was coming - or for his stepdad to have mercy for one night.

A hope he knew was unrealistic.

As they got back to the apartment and Percy heard the lock click on the door behind them, he took a deep breath in an effort to prepare himself for what he knew was coming next. The yelling was worse than the pain, he mused - the insults never left his head, instead replaying over and over until he was sure he had lost his mind.

An hour later (roughly - he wasn't sure how much time he spent laying on the floor hoping for some kind of escape) he picked himself up and trudged to the bathroom with the hopes to clean himself up a bit. He had the first day of school tomorrow after all, and it wouldn't do well for him to look like he had gotten the crap beaten out of him - people might start asking questions and when he didn't answer, they might contact his stepdad, and if there was anything Percy had learned after years, especially the past month, it was that Smelly Gabe would rather not hear anything about him. Or from him for that matter. It was best if he could simply hide everything - not raise even the slightest hint of suspicion that something was wrong. He'd be kicked out by year's end regardless. (He'd have to be more careful.)

As he showered - minding the bruises that now littered his body - he attempted to drag his thoughts into a safe place. (No thinking of the monster on the other side of the door, of his mother, of the way the cuts and bruises healed as the water ran over them.) Eventually, he was able to get to a place of near total detachment from reality - simply him sitting in the shower vaguely aware of the water hitting his back and the soap turning his fingers slick.When he finally came back to the world around him, he had no idea how long he had been sitting (When did he start sitting?) in the shower for, and so quickly finished what needed to be done and left the only refuge he had.

It took a record low amount of time for him to prepare for bed - it was early to be sure, but he wasn't sure how the rest of the night was going to go, and it was generally safer to sleep than be near his stepfather (Not that that said much - Smelly Gabe was unfit for being around adults, much less children.) Besides, he was unlikely to eat that night, and so there wasn't much to stay up for.

"Boy!" the yell from Smelly Gabe startled him out of his thoughts.

He walked towards the living room with dread building up in his chest, despite the fact that he was fairly sure he was simply going to be making supper at this point - the only reason he hadn't actually laid down yet. This knowledge - paired with the fact that Gabe rarely risked the suspicion that came with punishing Percy more than once in a night - did little to calm the rapid beating of the young boy's heart as he stood before the person that had quickly become a nightmare come true.

"I'm hungry, and I want pasta - get to work."

Percy nodded and proceeded to the kitchen to make the meal for his stepdad- falling off the counter at one point while trying to find the noodles. They didn't have any meat - something Percy knew he'd pay for later - but regardless, he did his best to put together enough to feed his stepfather's monstrous appetite. (There wasn't enough for both of them, just as he had suspected.) As he handed the man his meal and a beer, - by this point he had learned what was expected of him- Percy nervously shifted from foot to foot.