Rise (Percy Jackson x Reader)

one

rewritten: march 8, 2021; edited/re-rewritten: july 30, 2023

*MAIN CHARACTERS HAVE BEEN AGED UP & DOWN ACCORDINGLY*

main ones:
Percy, Annabeth, Grover, & (Y/N) are 16 while Luke is 18

(ages/age differences will be mentioned in writing, although not immediately for the story to flow naturally)

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Percy Jackson was done with the universe's bullshit.

To start, he wasn't able to do his homework because the letters of his reading assignment wouldn't stop moving around the goddamn page. Then the traffic on the street outside his apartment continued to be typical of New York City: loud and annoying. He tried stuffing in his earbuds and playing some music, but then the music became too distracting and the letters suddenly seemed to dance around instead of float.

He ended up ripping them out and slamming his hands over his ears, but Percy was, for some reason, cursed with great hearing and a high level of susceptibility to distractions.

The obnoxious voice of his stepfather—Gabe Ugliano—continued to ring through the tiny apartment, seeming to pound on his door in the hopes of worsening his lack of focus. Curses started flowing on repeat in Percy's mind as he searched for a large pair of headphones to drown out the world around him. To make matters worse, he managed to hear that pathetic excuse of man say something to his wonderful, loving mother that made Percy's blood boil.

No one disrespects his mom.

No one gets to say something so vile about her.

So after the forceful closing of his textbook, echoing slam of his door, repeated protests from his mother and fear-filled threats from Gabe, Percy decked his rat of a stepdad in the face.

And by god, it felt good.

"What the fuck?" Gabe exclaims, clutching his eye as he looks up at the infuriated boy from the floor. Percy's breaths sound heavily, his jaw gritted and eyes ablaze with hatred as he takes in his stepfather's pitiful state.

"Don't you dare say that again," he threatens, voice low. Sally Jackson moves forward, trying to pull Percy away from Gabe.

"Percy, come on, it's okay," she tells him, tugging on his arm. "Let it be."

"Let it be?" he asks in disbelief. "Let it be? I'm not gonna let that be, Mom!"

"It's not worth it, Percy," Sally whispers, glancing quickly at Gabe. The man begins to stand from the rubble of the broken chair he'd fallen onto as a result of Percy's surprisingly strong punch. Sally turns her attention back to her son. "You need to stop this."

"He's horrible to you!" Percy hisses, and Sally can feel his bicep flex under her hands.

"And I'd rather handle it than let anything horrible happen to you," Sally responds gently, looking up at her son with a sympathetic smile. "But you have to stop, Percy."

"That, you do," Gabe sneers, and Percy whips his head around to look at his stepfather. The man's face is too close for comfort, his rotten breath filling Percy's sinuses. The boy scrunches his nose, but he stands firm, glaring at Gabe.

"You wanna threaten me?" hisses Gabe, and Percy fights a gag at the sight of his yellowed teeth. "You're nothing more than a stupid teenager. You know nothing." Gabe steps even closer, and Percy tightens his fist, aching for it to make contact with another eye. "Hell, you can't even read!" Gabe scoffs, spitting on the floor, and Percy's breaths quicken, his cheeks becoming flushed with restraint.