The Bird and The Sea

Chapter 4

Percy's POV:
Like last night, I was up on the roof of the building again, just looking at the stars. It made me sad when I couldn't find Zoe's constellation. I kept on staring at the sky when I heard muffled, but panicked voices. That was weird because not many people come  near this alley at nighttime. "What do we do Ryan?" Pause and then "They're getting closer." I am was on my way down when I heard another voice. "You sure they went this way?"

"Positive Davy, now hurry up. I want to show those brats not to eat all the food."

"I just want to get that freak that has powers. I can sell him to get some money."  I was disgusted at that mainly because it reminded me of Smelly Gabe. I hurried, landed on the floor and saw 3 boys about 7 years old, cowering in the corner. Two fat, balding, drunk smelling men coming towards them. I could hear one of the boys crying. Quickly I knocked out one of them and the other looked surprised for a moment before taking a good look at me and laughing. He laughed and I punched him in the stomach, thankful for Ares blessing. He looked at me angrily and swung his fist. He should've knocked me out, but I had kept training with Riptide, my new powers, and I had learned to use my small body for advantage. So I ducked quickly and stabbed him in the shoulder, not a fatal wound, but one that would keep him down for a while.

I looked at the kids that were staring at me in surprise. "Do you want come with me?" I softly asked. Two of them looked like they were gonna say, "no," before the youngest one leaped at me and hugged me tight. He started to cry and he kept on saying, "Thank you."

The other two looked at each other and I said, "Look, I heard that you were running away and I got some space at my place, if you guys want to come." Again they looked at each other and after looking me over they suspiciously nodded their heads. "Come on then," I pressured them. "If we stay out any longer, then more men will come." I led them to my apartment and when we got there I closed the window and turned on the light. "I know it's not much, but it's better than sleeping out in the streets."

They looked at me and I said, "I'm Perseus, but you can call me Percy." I looked at them closely. Two of them had brown hair and green eyes. It looked like they were brothers. The youngest one had blonde hair and blue eyes. They all smelled and looked hungry. I remembered that one of the men said that one of them had powers. 'Probably a meta human,' I thought. "Which one of you has powers?"I asked. They looked scared and one the brothers  said, "What do you mean?"

"It's okay, I have powers too." He perked up at that and the others looked at me with surprise. "So Whats your name?"

The same one that had spoken said, "I'm Jake. This is Ryan and Liam."

I nodded for him to continue. "Ryan's my little brother and Liam is our friend." "I'm the one that has powers," his voice dropping low.

"You have powers too?" Ryan asked. I nodded and then I said, "You guys can stay with me as long as you'd like, but first, you have to shower."

"I'll go first," Ryan said, and I led him to the bathroom.

"Liam, come over here, I want to take a look at your ankle," he came and I checked it over. "It looks like it's broken," I said, looking at Jake. He looked worried and said, "He can't go to the hospital, or they'll take us all back."

"I can heal him." I said softly.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's one of my powers." I told him. He hesitated and I continued, "Unless you want to go to the hospital, I'm you're only chance." He let out a breath and said, "Alright, just be careful." I took wrapped my hands around Liam's ankle and I concentrated on it healing. A few seconds later his ankle began to glow and  then I unwrapped my hands. "Liam, can you stand up?" I asked quietly. He started to stand up and I gave him my arm to help him up. He balanced for a little on his feet before jumping up and down. "This is so cool!" He exclaimed. Jake looked relieved before saying, "Thanks so much for saving us back there and for healing Liam." I just smiled. He continued, "Do you live here alone?" He asked.

"Yeah, my parents are dead." I said, not looking him in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry," he scratched his head.

"You didn't know. Anyway, once you all finish showering we'll talk some more." He nodded looking at me gratefully.
Time skip 1 hour
Once they had all finished showering, I had given them clothes that I had summoned. 'Thank you very much, Aphrodite' I prayed in my head. I sat them on my couch and I sat down at my comfy chair. "You guys want to eat before we talk?"

"You don't have a fridge," Ryan stated. "You have plates and silverware, but no fridge."

"I don't need it." I closed my eyes and concentrated until I smelled the aroma of lasagna, homemade lemonade, fresh strawberries and a strawberry pie. When I opened my eyes I smiled as Jake, Ryan, and Liam's eyes widened. "That's another one of my powers. Eat up guys." They immediately dug in and groaned when they tasted the food. I ate my own food while they were asking me questions. "How do your powers work?" Jake asked curiously.

"I have many different powers, but for this one, I just think of a home cooked meal and it appears." They looked at me in awe and I asked, "What's your power?"

"I can summon lightning." Jake fidgeted while looking down at the ground.  "Really, I can too." I opened my palms and let a little stream of blue electricity dance around a bit. "I cant control mine," he mumbled.

"If you want, I can teach you," I offered. "If you stay of course," Jake and Ryan looked at each other and then Ryan said, "Are you sure we can stay?"

"I don't mind, in fact I'm going to be glad for company." I responded. They looked excited and then I said, "it's getting late, so you guys can stay with me and I'll teach you all some things." They grinned and I led them over to my bedroom. They closed the door and I laid on the couch, thinking about the night before going into a deep sleep.