Hi people! This is the rewrite of A Promise In An Alley, entitled A Cursed Blade. It basically has the same plot as the original, but it's written in a different way. Enjoy!

Percy Jackson sighed in relief from his hiding spot in the dumpster.

The monsters had finally left him alone.

They'd been chasing him for two hours.

He figured he'd done a pretty good job of keeping himself alive, considering he was a six year old kid, and mentally patted himself on the back, smiling slightly.

He knew monsters were real. His mother had always believed him, but his sister had laughed at him and ruffled his hair.

Percy wasn't even sure if his sister was still alive.

His mother certainly wasn't, he'd seen the one-eyed man slice his mother's throat three days ago.

He tried not to think about Sally Jackson too much, or else he'd start crying.

Percy missed his mom.

Tears welled in his eyes, but he kept silent in his hiding spot.

Don't think about mom, don't think about mom, don't think about mo-

More tears formed in his eyes.

Crying makes you human, his best friend Nico di Angelo had once said.

Well Percy didn't want to be human right now.

Another tear slipped down his cheek as he recalled the pale skin and dark eyes of his friend. The pale features that Percy had grown up around, and would probably never see again.

Percy Jackson is alone now.

A clang.

He paled, gripping the hammer in his hands tightly, his knuckles going white.

A grunt.

Percy steeled himself.

I'm not letting them hurt me.

If the gods the owl had mentioned to him were real, Percy prayed that they would let him live.

He smoothly slid the dumpster open, slipping out silently, smiling slightly at his success. He took a small step forward-

CLANG!

The small boy felt the color drain out of his face, hearing footsteps heading his way.

Raising the hammer, he stuck his head around the corner.

Two dark figures were arguing, and Percy could see each of them were holding something that shifted between what looked like medieval weapons and guns.

He had two options.

The first was to distract them then run.

But Percy was tired of running from the unnatural creatures that were ruining his life.

The other option was to fight them.

He was sure he'd die doing so.

He sighed mentally, staring at the hammer in his hand wistfully.

It was the only thing he had left of any worth, aside from the ring he wore around his neck. It was a plain golden band with a small square diamond dangling on it. It belonged to his sister, Victoria.

Victoria Jackson, a girl about six years older than her brother. She was the kind of girl who disappeared on random occasions and reappeared about as randomly.

Percy loved her. She always brought him what he asked for, and she always understood Percy.

She had also been the most overprotective sister ever, teaching him how to throw a knife properly in case he got into any trouble.

Well he didn't have a knife, so he'd make do with the hammer.

He bent his elbow back, gripping the hammer tightly, but loose enough to let go at a moment's notice.

He braced himself to run.

Green eyes locked on the spot between two dark figures, and he smirked slightly.

Then he snapped his entire arm forward, making sure to follow through with his wrist.

Percy smirked, then paled as the two figures turned to him.

He scrambled back, dashing away.

A dark blur, and a knife was held at his throat, and a spearhead at his heart.

"Move and you die!" a feminine voice hissed dangerously.

"Get away from me, monster," Percy replied, trying to kick the figures away.

"We're not monsters!"

In an instant, all the weapons were gone.

But Percy was still nervous, shaking with fear. "Wha-wha-"

"We're not going to hurt you either," the boy said. He looked about four years older than Percy, with blue eyes and blonde hair. "I'm Luke,"

"And I'm Thalia," the girl stepped into the light. Her spiky black hair reminded Percy of Nico. Her sky blue eyes screamed danger, but she just grinned at Percy. She looked the same age as Luke.

Percy took a cautious step back, eying them warily. "You know about the monsters too?"

A sympathetic smile replaced the mischievous grin on Thalia's face –the grin that looked purely maniacal to Percy- and she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We're monster fighters, commonly known as demigods,"

"Why are you out on your own anyway, kid?" Luke cocked his head to the side, studying Percy curiously.

Percy shook his head. "No one believes me much."

It surprised Luke how coherent this kid was. He looked about four, but spoke like he was older.

"We know about the monsters," Thalia inserted. "How about we get to know each other over a cheeseburger?"

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but his determined caution was overcome by his hunger. He nodded slightly, causing the duo to grin.

"My name's Percy," Percy spoke with pride. "My mother is dead, my sister is missing."

"How about your dad?"

"Don't know him, never met him, don't care." Percy answered bitterly. "My stepfather is a right jerk, his name is Gabe Ugliano."

Luke frowned, but Thalia snorted at the name. "Ugliano? Tell me, Percy, is he as ugly as his name?"

A tiny smirk. "Yeah."

"What's your sister's name?"

"Victoria Isobelle Jackson," Percy recited. "She's the best sister ever."

"Do you want to find her?"

Percy eyed Luke, who had asked the question, thoughtfully.

He loved Vic, of course.

And because of this, he wanted to kepp her safe.

His mother had been killed because the one-eyed man was after him.

He wasn't going to let anything harm his sister.

"No," Percy answered.

"How about your stepfather?"

"What part of 'my stepfather is a right jerk' did you not understand?"

"Is there anyone else you could go to?" Luke asked kindly.

"Well, there's my best friend, Nico," Percy said thoughtfully. "But I don't want him to get hurt by monsters too."

"So what do you plan to do?" Thalia asked. "You're a helpless kid."

An angry, green-eyed glare from Percy, his tiny fists clenching. "Helpless? I'll show you helpless!"

He stood up angrily, slamming his hands against the table, scrambling towards Thalia in a furious rage.

"Percy!" Luke hissed, catching the small boy in his arms before he launched himself at Thalia.

Percy froze, but continued burning Thalia with his eyes.

"Can we keep him? He's a fighter!" the girl flashed her blue eyes at Luke threateningly.

"What am I, a dog?" Percy scoffed, blowing air out of his nose angrily. "No thanks."

"Where will you go?" Luke asked him quietly. "Even though you're not defenceless, it wouldn't be safe for you."

Percy went silent.

"First we'll have to remedy the defenceless part," Luke continued. "Here's a knife. Celestial bronze. Works better on monsters than a hammer, though you almost brained me. Knives are only for the quickest and cleverest fighters."

Percy took the hilt of the knife Luke was holding out to him. "Thank you. How can I repay you?"

"You can't." Thalia interjected.

"But we could be a family," the older boy coaxed. "Just the three of us."

"Yeah!" Thalia grinned. "We'd take care of you, and teach you how to fight, and we'll conquer the universe!"

"And family doesn't ask for payments."

"The most important part, though, is that we look after our own." Luke said firmly.

Percy sat silently, stunned.

"So?" Luke asked Percy. "You can talk now. In fact it would be great if you did."

"Are you serious?" Percy asked them, his gaunt face breaking into a face-splitting grin.

"How about it, Percy Jackson? Would you like to be part of us?"

"Two conditions."

"Name them!" the older kids chorused.

Thalia and Luke looked at each other, laughing a little.

A small smile slipped on Percy's face.

People wanted to have him around.

His stepfather was wrong.

"Swear you won't ditch me. On the most binding swear you have." Percy locked his eyes with Thalia's, then with Luke's.

Luke and Thalia nodded, identical grins on their faces.

Percy sliced his hand open with the knife, and handed it to Luke, his piercing gaze almost daring him to back out.

But Luke wouldn't do that, because he needed this kid as much as Percy needed him.

So he took the knife, and sliced his hand open as well, clasping his hand with Percy's so that their blood mixed.

"I, Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, swear that I won't leave Percy Jackson behind. Ever."

Thunder rumbled, and Percy smiled, satisfied, and started applying pressure to his wound. "How about you, Thalia? Who's your godly parent?"

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, also known as your new sister." Thalia patted Percy on the back, then shoved her cheeseburger into her mouth.

Then she glared at him. "Wait a minute, how did you know about the gods?"

"An owl told me." Percy's eyes flicked back to his own cheeseburger hungrily. "Haven't eaten in days."

"Knock yourself out," Luke grinned. "We take care of our own, remember?"

"You're explaining everything after you eat though," Thalia said firmly, but her new brother was lost in the wonders of food.

"What were you saying about an owl?" Thalia asked Percy as they walked into a safe house.

"An owl landed on me and said that the gods were watching me." Percy said simply. "That's it."

"Sounds like Athena," Luke put in. "Why would she help you?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh, and Perce?" Thalia asked. "What was the second condition?"

"Someday, I'm gonna visit Nico in New York," Percy said sleepily, falling onto one of the cots. "And you're going with me."

Luke smiled, and looked at Percy, but he was already fast asleep.

"You think we did the right thing?"

"Yeah. We did."

"But did you really have to antagonize him, Thals? Defenceless, really?"

"I had a feeling he was a fighter," Thalia justified. "Just wanted to make sure he has enough spunk to deal with you,"

"You mean you," Luke replied. "Who do you think his father is?"

"He doesn't seem to care, Luke, why should we?" Thalia smiled sadly, turning off the lights. "Goodnight, Luke."

"Night Thalia, night Percy,"

"Maybe I'm not alone anymore," Percy mumbled in his sleep, causing Luke's sleepy eyes to wander to Percy, and the last thing he saw before Hypnos took him to dreamland was his new brother with a knife in under his pillow and a contented smile on his lips.

This is my first attempt at a rewrite, please tell me if it's any good.