I apologize if you get confused on the POVs. They have a tendency to switch between Percy and Poseidon. Eventually, they will probably settle into just Percy, but for now they will switch at don't worry, I already know that they are a bit OOC.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1

The night shimmered with the light from artificial light bulbs, but it was pitch black to the boy that bolted down the street, heading toward the park. Tears streamed down his face, cuts and bruises oozing blood were all over his body.

He tried to ignore the pain, both physical and emotional, but that was turning out to be impossible. It was just too great for his seven year old mind to block out.

Finally, once he was in the park, and out of sight of the entrance, he collapsed. Curling up in a ball at the base of a tall oak tree, the tears started to gush even faster now that he was no longer moving.

The world around him went on like normal; there was no hint that anything was wrong in the world. Except for the man that was also in the park. This man made his was over to the sobbing child, a troubled expression on his face.

The boy didn't notice the man until he was kneeling in front of him. When he did, he scrambled backwards, but wasn't really able to go far considering he was already up against a tree.

"It's okay, son. I won't hurt you," the man said.

The boy stared at him, fear in his eyes. The man got no other reply.

It was only then that the man noticed the bruises. Rage filled his eyes. Who would DARE harm his son? The man raised his hand, and the child flinched. But the only thing that he did was place his hand on the boy's shoulder.

Warmth spilled into him, and his wounds closed up. The boy stared, wide-eyed, at where cuts and bruises used to lace across his skin. Now, there was only smooth skin. After thoroughly examining his skin, the boy looked back into the man's gentle and kind sea-green eyes.

The man smiled. "Why aren't you at home with your mother, son?"

The boy's eyes widened in fear. "No! Don't make me go back there!" He started to shake uncontrollably.

"Hey, don't worry," the man shushed. "Just tell me why you don't want to go back." Tell me why Sally let you get hurt. The boy shook his head vigorously. "Please, Percy. I can't help unless you tell me."

The boy didn't catch that he hadn't told the man his name. Instead, he was lost in the horrible memories of what had happened earlier that night, and several times before as well.

Memories of pain, of disbelief at what was happening. The stench of alcohol was seared into his mind. Laughter mocked him, telling him that he was useless, telling him that he was stupid. A belt slammed into his skin, fists not far behind.

The man saw the growing fear in Percy's eyes, along with a distant look that told him the danger wasn't here, but in the boy's mind. He tried to get him out of whatever was scaring him, but the only thing that worked still took a couple of minutes to get the results he wanted.

Percy was slowly able to get the memories to stuff themselves in the back of his mind. When they were out of sight, he noticed that tears were coming from his eyes again. He turned his head away from the man, quickly wiping the tears off of his face, but more just replaced them.

The man could barely stop himself from hugging the boy. He wanted to comfort his son, but was worried that would only scare him more. The problem was, he didn't know what to do or say. He wasn't used to taking care of his children, much less when they were small and didn't know who they were yet.

He was still trying to think of what to say when Percy finally spoke, his voice braking several times. "She doesn't want me. She doesn't like me."

The man was shocked. Why wouldn't Sally want him? Was she the one that had hit their son? He couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it.

All he did know was that he couldn't force Percy to go back, even if he wanted to. The kid was obviously scared of something, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't like what that reason was.

The sky thundered suddenly, even though there were no clouds in the sky. Lightning flashed, and where it had struck the ground stood a man in a gray business suit. Both men glared at each other for a moment, but finally the lightning man spoke.

"What are you doing, Poseidon?"

Poseidon didn't reply, only glared at the other man. Percy stared at him in a mixture of amazement and fear. How had that even been possible? This man had just walked out of a lightning bolt, completely unhurt, and acted as if it were no big deal. This may be New York City, but stuff like that just didn't happen.

After a while, the lightning man got angry. "Did you think I wouldn't know about him? Did you think that I wouldn't know that you broke the oath?"

Poseidon sighed. "I knew you would find out eventually, Zeus. Which was why I didn't hesitate to come and try to comfort him when I saw that he had run away from his mother.

Zeus glanced coldly at the boy. "Send him back."

Percy's eyes widened again. "No!"

"Why not?" Zeus narrowed his eyes, causing the boy to cower against the tree.

Poseidon stepped in front of him. "Zeus! Just because you just lost your daughter doesn't mean you should take it out on him!"

Zeus turned on him. "Tell me why he doesn't want to go back to his mother, and maybe I won't."

This time it was Poseidon that narrowed his eyes. "If you touch him, brother, I will make sure you have some quality time with our father."

"You have no right to threaten me!" Zeus yelled, though he looked a little pale. "Besides, you would have no reason to threaten me if you would just tell me what has him so upset."

Poseidon glanced at his son, who was still not looking at them. "He hasn't told me exactly, but I have a feeling that his mother has been abusing him."

Percy clenched his eyes shut as the memories started to come out of their corner again. He didn't want to cry again, but not in front of these strange men.

Behind his eyes, he saw his mother's face sneering at him, a beer bottle in her hand. Percy knew that if he looked around he would find more empty bottles around the room. His mother started to swing her leg, but he managed to shake his head vigorously, dislodging the memory and bringing his awareness back to the park.

The two men hadn't noticed that he had zoned out for a bit. In fact, they were pretty deep in their conversation. They switched languages a couple times, but Percy didn't notice he was still trying to escape his own memories.

"… with me," Poseidon pleaded.

Zeus started at him, coldly. "Just take him to camp. He is old enough to go there."

"They might not treat him right there. He seems like he needs a little more compassion than that. He's hurting, and I am going to help him."

Zeus sighed. "Fine, he can go with you, but you will send him to camp by the time he is twelve." With that, another lightning bolt struck down on the earth, then he was gone.

Poseidon turned back to his son, who was still cured up against the tree, his eyes staring blankly into the distance. Crouching in front of him, he waited for Percy's head to turn towards him.

"Would you like to come with me to my palace? You won't have to go back to you mother," he said.

Percy stared at him. "I would live with you?" Poseidon nodded. "But why would you want me?"

Poseidon started, shocked at the question. "Why wouldn't I want you? You are my son and I wouldn't just let you live on the streets, or get abused, either."

Percy still started at him, but now it was a mixture of amazement, confusion, and anger. "But how come I never knew you? You left me and mom. If you are my dad, you don't care about me!"

Poseidon looked pained. "I had to. I didn't want to, but I was forced to." Percy opened his mouth, but he continued on, knowing what he was going to ask. "That man you just saw, with the lightning, he is the Lord of the Sky, Zeus. He is my brother and king of the gods. He is the one that made the Ancient Laws, which say that we can't raise our mortal children."

Percy was staring at him blankly now. What was he talking about? Gods? They weren't real, were they? And why was he talking as if he was one?

Seeing his blank look, Poseidon sighed. It was only to be expected. He hadn't told him about the Greek Gods and he had just launched into an explanation that probably hadn't made any sense to him. So he explained. He explained how the gods were real. He explained who he was, and who Percy was since he was his son.

By the time he was finished, Percy wasn't sure what to think. How could he be a demigod? Demigods were supposed to be heroes, something he was definitely not. He couldn't even stand up to his mother when she was hitting him. If this man was his father, and a god, why would he want him?

Poseidon got up and walked away without warning. Percy didn't get up, but it didn't matter. The sea god stopped by a fountain, and the water stopped. He turned and gestured for Percy to join him.

The boy quickly walked over, not sure what else to do. Smiling at him, Poseidon raised his hand, and the water started up again, but this time it looked just a bit different. Almost as if it glowed. And it was accompanied by the scent of sea water, as if they were on a beach.

Staring at the water, Percy instinctively reached out to touch it. The water seemed to gravitate toward him, creating even more of an arc than the fountain itself already had.

There was tug in his gut, and the water started to funnel, swirling around the fountain in a watery tornado.

Poseidon watched his son play with the water with a smile He wasn't sure if Percy fully accepted what he had told him, but at least he wasn't freaking out, about the information and that the water was following his command.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Percy turned toward him, and the water dropped back into the fountain. He thought about it. He thought about how his mother hurt him. He thought about what had finally made him run. He thought about his wish for a better life.

Percy nodded. "Yes."