My vision cleared quickly.
Light streamed into my eyes, and my hearing returned.
I could hear birdsong around me.
I noted a quick ding from the system having given me a prompt.
I then heard a gasp from nearby.
My eyes snapped to where it was coming from while I was furiously blinking to make my eyes adapt to the sunlight.
In front of me, maybe five metres away, stood a good-looking woman in her mid-thirties.
She had long dark hair, pretty eyes, and a kind face.
Currently her hands were covering her mouth and she looked shocked, she looked very familiar.
Seeing no immediate threat from her, I tried getting my bearings and then noticed I was stark naked.
I panicked and tried to cover my bits with my hands, despite the woman having seen everything already.
Heat rose in my cheeks and I quickly looked around to see if there was anyone else.
Luckily she was the only one there and we seemed to be in a park since trees surrounded me while she was standing on a pathway.
She seemed to recover and removed her outer shirt and slowly walked towards me like she was trying not to scare me away.
“Hello there, what is your name?” She asked with a surprisingly calm and warm voice, she didn’t wait for me to answer before continuing.
“I’m Sally, Sally Jackson.” My eyes went slightly wide, realising where the familiarity from earlier came from.
She reminded me slightly of the actor from the Percy Jackson films, only infinitely more attractive.
“Hi, I’m William.” My British accent rang out clearly, once again surprising her.
“Hello, William, where are your parents?
And why are you naked?” I hesitated, trying to think of what to say.
I quickly decided.
“They are not here, my dad is dead, and my mother could not come with me.
I had to go here alone.” Carefully not lying outright.
I continued.
“There are bad things here, things that want to kill me, monsters…” I whispered the last word, trying to look scared.
Before switching to sad and once more continuing.
“My Mum said I had to be careful before I left, to be safe.” Sally seemed to come to her own conclusion knowing about the hidden world of Percy Jackson.
She hesitated for a moment while wrapping the shirt she had removed around me, careful to move slowly.
“Do you want to come with me for now?
I know of the danger you speak of, but I have somewhere safe.” Referring to “Smelly Gabe” I’m sure… I nodded after a moment and she took my hand and off we went to her nearby car.
I felt bad about the implied lies as Sally drove me toward their apartment, but I had to make sure she did not call the cops or social services.
If I implied being a demigod, which should be true if my theory is correct, she would know I would not be safe from monsters with the authorities.
Outside the car window, the city was very loud, car horns, people yelling, very different from home.
We soon arrived at an old apartment building and together climbed the stairs since the elevator seemed to be broken.
When we got to the door of her apartment, Sally stopped and turned to me, kneeling to get on the same eye level as me.
“I live with my husband and my son.
My son is away at a boarding school, but my husband is home.” She hesitated.
“He can be loud, and might say things that make you scared.
Do your best to not let it get to you, I’ll make sure you are alright, I promise.” She truly was just as kind as described in the books, picking up a demigod that had already been discovered by monsters, then making sure he would be safe.
I was not a defenseless child though.
I just gave her a nod, and we entered the apartment.
Immediately on entry, two things happened, first I noted the terrible smell and secondly we heard a loud voice: “Sally, come make more dip for my chips!
And while you are at it, get me a fresh beer from the fridge!” Sally did not look surprised, just turned to me to make sure I was fine before leading me through the hallway stopping at a door to a bedroom.
“This is Percy’s room, Percy is my son that is away.
Please wait here for a bit while I explain the situation to Gabe.” She squeezed my hand then let go and walked toward the kitchen.
I quickly followed to the doorless entry to the kitchen.
Sally grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked over to an armchair in the connected living room that was facing away towards the TV.
“Here you go, honey.
I’ll make the dip in just a moment, but before there is something I have to speak to you about.
“There will be a child staying with us for a while.
He won’t bother you, and he’ll be staying in Percy’s room for a few days.” At that I got the first view of Gabe as he turned toward Sally his face sticking out into view.
He was almost as ugly as he was smelly, bald, and not the clean kind of bald but with patches of hair remaining trying to make it look like he still had hair.
He was fat, not chubby, I could see that just from the amount of extra chins he had.
He looked at Sally, livid.
“What do you mean a kid will be living here!?
No, I forbid it.
I already have enough to deal with the first kid.” He turned back around, like that had settled it, but Sally spoke again.
“He has nowhere else to go.
He must stay with us.” Gabe turned slowly this time standing up from the armchair.
He looked furious at Sally’s refusal, one of his meaty arms came up and Sally flinched backwards.
As Gabe took a step to follow his toe hit the armchair leg.
“God-fucking-dammit!
Son of a bitch!
Motherfucker!
Goddamn piece of shit!” He kicked the armchair over, before his eyes went to Sally.
“That was your fault!” He moved toward her again and suddenly the same toe hit a lamp that definitely had not been standing there a moment earlier.
“Son of a bitch!” Gabe fell to the ground gripping his toe in absolute agony after having stubbed it twice with force.
Sally looked at Gabe in complete surprise, then slowly turned toward the doorway spotting me standing there, before quickly turning back toward Gabe.
“He is staying, that is final, this is my apartment!” It was the second time I’d seen her backbone when dealing with Gabe.
Gabe, still on the ground, got up again and took a step toward Sally again and hit the same lamp again that he had just knocked over.
“Jesus Christ, fuck!
What is going on here!” He said as he held his toe again, now nearly crying.
“I had enough of this, I already could not stand the other kid, but now two, that is not what I signed up for.
It is me or the kid!” I was not sure what world Gabe was living in because it was not a world anchored in reality, how he viewed himself was a mystery to me.
The lamp from the ceiling suddenly fell and hit him in the head, glass shattering around him, though without reaching Sally.
By now Gabe looked horrified, he finally spotted me standing in the doorway.
“You brought home a demon, he is a fucking demon!
Get away from me!” He had cuts all over but as he moved to get up I stepped out of the way as he ran toward the hallway, and out through the door.
A quick thought came to me.
“Do I go after him and end it?
No, no matter how foul he is, he never killed anyone to my knowledge or something else that warrants that.” Sally’s eyes were locked on mine.
I gave her an innocent smile and said.
“That Gabe seems really unlucky…” A chuckle escaped her and she was soon laughing full-on.
She collected herself and went to stand in front of me, not seeming scared of me at all, despite knowing what I had done.
“The reason I endured him was because he protected my son, he is like you.” I winced remembering the smell.
“Even if that is true, and he somehow protected your son, being in an abusive relationship is not something I think Percy would want, even to keep him safe.
Is there really no other option than him?” Sally seemed to deflate.
“It wouldn’t be too bad, if I kept him happy…” Trailing off at hearing herself say those words.
She pulled herself together, pushing away the bad memories.
“Either way, it is done.
He is gone now, likely for good, and I won’t let him come back, you are right.” She seemed to realise something.
“You don’t speak like a child, William.” I gave her a sad smile.
“My Mum used to say the same thing.
She said I was very special, and a way too mature for a child.” Sally pulled me into a hug, her earlier assumptions guiding her actions.
“I think she was right.
How did you do all of it?” I just leaned in and whispered.
“Magic,” before taking a step back from her.
She gave a chuckle and said, “I’ll get started on dinner, you can get set up in Percy’s room.” I sat down on the chair next to a small desk in Percy’s room, taking that calm moment to check the system prompts.
“Congratulations, you have for the first time entered the world of Percy Jackson.
Reward: Access to Divine Heritage, to receive full benefits a quest must be completed.
Demigod Physiology- You are a Demigod, your body has changed due to your heritage.
Demigod Soul- You are a Demigod, your soul has changed due to your heritage.
“Quest issued: Find out your divine heritage – Find out which god your heritage comes from.
Reward: 1.
EXP.
2.
+3 Spirit.
3.
+3 Magic.
Unlock full heritage 5.
Unknown.” I pulled up my status screen to see what changes this led to Status of William Walker Demigod Wizard Lvl 6 200/600 exp Strength 9→15 Agility 11→17 Intelligence 16 Constitution 10→16 Magic 21→22 Spirit 20→26 Unspent stat points: 15 Titles: Monster Slayer (tier 1).
Gives +5% to all stats when fighting monsters, when equipped.
Passive buffs: None Active buffs: None Traits: 1.
Reborn mind and soul 2.
Fire affinity 3.
Wandlessly gifted 4.
Healthy body 5.
Vibration Sense 6.
Focus Affinity Demigod Physiology- You are a Demigod, your body has changed due to your heritage.
Demigod Soul- You are a Demigod, your soul has changed due to your heritage.
“Wow, those are some massive improvements.
Clearly related to my body and soul.
On top of that I had received my first title and not even noticed it.
Perhaps because of the active danger at the time?
Maybe I should have started in the Percy Jackson world?
No, I could not have had a better mother, also Harry Potter’s perks have been massive, and learning there is safer.” Sally entered the room seeing me sit on the chair still wearing only the shirt she gave me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry William.
I didn’t think to tell you to borrow some of Percy’s clothes.
“Here you go,” she said as she handed me some of the stuff from the closet.
“Call me Will, please, miss Jackson and thank you.” I said as I accepted the clothes from her.
She smiled and put her hand on top of mine.
“Only if you call me Sally, Will.” After I had put on the clothes we had dinner together, the smell of the apartment already getting better.
As we ate I started thinking about the timeline and about upcoming events.
Mostly I thought about how Sally would get taken by Hades during the fight with the Minotaur.
Sally spoke up after a few minutes of us silently eating her amazing food.
“I was thinking about asking Percy to come home for next weekend so you can meet him, what do you think?” I thanked the gods, not the actual gods of this world, for the opportunity and answered.
“That would be great, anyone raised by you has to be a pretty great person.” It was not even just flattery it was actually true, my every impression of Sally was of what an amazing woman and mother she was.
She smiled at me, taking the compliment in stride.
“You are going to be such a heartbreaker in the future, that polished charm, mystery, and calm confidence you’ve got going.” That sounded strange to me.
I mean, I had had a few short relationships and one or two flings in my last life, but I had never been anywhere close to a “heartbreaker” like she said.
I decided not to think about it further.
A few days passed and the weekend was approaching, Sally and I had a really nice time together when she was not working.
One evening we were playing board games together in the living room.
Sally had been beating me in chess as she looked at me, hesitated and asked.
“Will, can you tell me a little about your parents?” I met her eyes and told the truth.
“My dad died before I was born.
He died because of a war.
So I never really knew him.
My mum on the other hand is my favourite person, she is kind, brave and strong.
She is my partner-in-crime.
She raised me, making sure I knew that morals matter more than power.
She helped me realise that bonds make us stronger, not weaker.
She and I built a relationship on trust.
And I will find my way back to her.” Sally had tears in her eyes by the end.
Her compassionate nature made her struggle with the second-hand grief of my story.
“I believe you will find her again,” she said before continuing.
“I know she would be proud of your strength, how you helped me with Gabe was nothing short of a miracle from my point of view.
I had never seen him that angry, I thought this might be it, this might be where he kills me…” She trailed off realising what she had said to a child.
I simply continued to meet her eyes and said.
“You’re welcome, Sally.
I’m happy I could help.
Both you and Percy will be better off without him, and I will continue to help for as long as I am here.” She pulled me into a hug and then we continued to play.
Whether it was board games during evenings or just relaxing in front of the TV, we had a nice time.
She was a sociable kindhearted woman that fit perfectly as a mother, she didn’t fully try to take that role with me though, which I was thankful for.
Instead she treated me like a niece slightly older than I was.
Percy’s point of view: As I got out of the cab in front of the apartment I felt great.
A weekend home with my mother instead of staying at the school I despised, apart from a few small exceptions, mainly my friend Grover.
Ever since that strange field trip where I had fought Mrs Dodds everything had been so strange at school.
Everyone acted like she didn’t exist, even Grover, my best friend, said he had no idea who I was talking about when I mentioned Dodds.
I put that out of my head for now, I didn’t want to soil the time I could spend with my mother on this.
I went up the stairs of the apartment building and opened the door to the apartment with my key.
As I stepped into the hallway, a boy stood there, right next to the door to my room.
He seemed to be around ten or so, he had short blonde hair, seemed quite fit for his young age and was wearing clothes slightly too big for him.
“Wait a second.” “Those are my clothes.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS arre131 A whole new world!
A new fantastic point of view…
Hope you like the chapter!