Hello, Child here. This is one of the fanfics that I've been making/thinking before I got an account here on .

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or its characters, that right belongs to Rick Riordan.

Seven year-old Percy Jackson didn't have a lot of things to smile about lately. When he was born, his father was supposedly lost at sea. When he was a baby, he had an encounter with a snake that could've killed him; though his mother found him playing a limp, scaly rope. When he was able to speak and walk properly, he had to see his mother bear the weight of providing for herself and him, all the while trying to work her way to become a novelist, seeing her flash her smile that said 'don't worry honey everything is going to be alright, you'll see', though it was evident to young Percy that his mother was struggling to achieve her ends without using any dirty means. Sure he still had fun, laughing with his mother, celebrating mother's day, his birthday, and his mother's; forgetting for those small moments of joy that realty wasn't fantasy.

But the coup de grace that made Perseus smile less than before was when he learned why he had ADHD and dyslexia, and the price that came with that knowledge.

It was a nice afternoon, the sun was shining so brightly that Percy could've sworn he would get a nice tan just by standing outside for five minutes.

His mother came back from her job as a waitress for a run-down dirty diner. She also came back with movies in her hand that Percy had wanted to watch for a long time then. She had changed from her uniform into casual clothing, made popcorn, and brought candy from one of her hiding spots when her son wasn't looking.

Mother and son both settled down on the couch with a bowel of popcorn on Sally's lap with candy bars such as Hershey's, Crunch, and Butterfingers on the coffee table in front of them. The lights were off to add to the feel of being in a movie theater. The T.V. showed the main menu of the disc.

An hour, a bowel of popcorn, and several candy bars later, the movie was starting to come to a close, as was young Percy's eyelids were. Seeing her son beginning to fall asleep whilst he snuggled closer to his mother for warmth, she let a smile grace her face. The life she led may be hard, but seeing her son like this, she knew it wasn't so bad. Feeling sleepy herself, she gently brought Percy closer to herself as she was laying down on the couch, ignoring the fact that both her and her son were going to get aching backs in the morning.

She was just about to fall asleep when she heard a bump she believed to be near the stairs of the hallway of the apartment floor. She thought of the sound for a bit before shrugging it off as someone dropping their phone while coming up the stairs. Then she heard a growl. Not the growl you would hear from a dog, or even any beast in the wild. No this growl was sinister, menacing, and it brought a dark promise, a promise that she would no longer be able to keep her dear son with her.

She quickly sprung up, wide awake and alert from the fear. As she came up Percy was accidently pushed to the other side of the couch, rousing him for the most part. With her mind racing, Sally Jackson tried to think of several ways to escape from the threat with Percy. She thought of the fire escape right outside the window in her bedroom. She grabbed Percy's arm as gently and fast as she could and led him away from the living room into her bedroom. Percy came to his senses after a bit of the guiding and asked his mother where they going?

Sally in an effort to not alert her son told him that they're going to the fire escape for safety. This answer confused her son and he asked her what are they going to safety for? As they were entering her room scratches were heard from behind the door in the living room. Fear rising within her, Sally had to restrain herself from becoming frantic so as to avoid scaring her son and to able to control her actions.

She told him they're running from a bad dog. Percy innocently asked how could a dog get into their home without a doggy door. She didn't answer as she opened the window, climbed out onto the metal floor and helping Percy get through the window. The door in the living room burst open and a hair-raising roar was heard. Percy now grasping a fragment of how dangerous the situation they were in, became panicked. His mother wasn't so well off herself. But she for the sake of saving her son, she kept control over herself and told Percy to climb down the ladder to the ground of the asphalt. She knew that if she went first then she could prevent Percy from hurting himself from the fall, but she also knew that would leave him unprotected from the monster that threatens her son's life, so she would go last to distract the creature from hurting her son.

Percy didn't want to leave his mom behind, but the tone of her voice told him to obey and obey he did. Sniffing was heard from the living room as the "dog" was trying to find the source of the delicious smell. Percy reached the last rung of the ladder and fell down on the asphalt of the cement floor of the alley. He was going to cry for his mom, but he knew that if he cried out for her, the "dog" would find him and his mom. So swallowing the pain from his butt and legs, he got up with eyes that watered. His mother came down shortly and grabbed his hand to go deeper into the alley to escape the pursuer. It was too late however as the canine poked his face through the window and caught a glance at them.

Its face was black with eyes that were a red that resembled smoldering flames. Its skin was black like it'd been burned. The creature was growling and bared its long jagged teeth that guaranteed a painful experience for anyone that were caught in them. The ears were raised, alert and waiting to pick up the smallest abnormal sound, such as a child falling on the floor.

Seeing this monster from hell, Sally finally lost her composure and broke out into a run with her son, who shared the same state of mind. Deep in her mind, Sally knew that it was useless to try and outrun the being that was now hot on their tail. When the beast was about ten meters away from them, she decided to take a stand. She whispered heart-breaking words into her son's ears.

"Percy I'm going to buy you some time. I'm going to stay behind and distract this monster. I need to tell you something as well. Your father is alive. He's a god, a Greek God. His name is Poseidon. You are a demigod, a being that lives in two worlds, the realm of humans and the realm of Greek Mythology. The hellhound is coming! Run Percy! Run my precious baby boy!"

Percy wasn't even paying attention to the fact that his father is alive or a god. He was crying his eyes out, with snot running from his nose. He was screaming 'don't leave me!', 'your coming with me!' and any other words he found that might persuade his mom to come with him Seeing the state of her boy broke Sally's heart.

"Don't worry I'll come back to you." His mom said so sadly yet comfortingly while placing a hand on his unruly black hair.

Sea-green eyes looked into his mothers eyes, that clearly spoke 'my world is breaking apart'.

"How do you know!" He screamed with a huge sob coming afterwards that made Percy look down.

Placing a hand under his chin, she lifted his head so their eyes met again "Because moms know everything"

Bending down, she gave her son a kiss on the forehead and said with tears streaming down her face, as broken hearted as he was at their coming separation.

"They also know what's best."

She turned her son and pushed him forward to get him running. He turns back, just one more time, with pleading green eyes, for her to come also.

Softly, a she whispers "Percy. Run."

With that he turns around and runs away, letting the tears fall down his face.

She would've told him to go to Camp Half-Blood, but the hellhound would get here by the time she finished telling Percy. She could only pray that Poseidon will guide their child to safety. Sally sees the creature coming and with a sad smile, she speaks her last words, that echoed throughout the alley"

"Percy, the only joy of my life, live on and live happily for the rest of your life"

The beast pounces and the screams that followed minutes after haunted Percy's every waking moment and every nightmare from then on.

It's been a year since he learned he is a demigod, and from that day onward he hated and cursed himself for being a coward and leaving his mother to a fate he believed he could've prevented.

Percy Jackson didn't have a lot of things to smile about lately since the day his mother died.