Percy stared out of the window in the small room that he called his own. Tears streamed down his face as he watched the night sky. He had always loved looking at the moon. It reminded him of the stories of Artemis his mom sometimes told him. She was probably his favorite god. Artemis protected young girls…
Percy winced as he shifted slightly. It hadn't been his own fault. Smelly Gabe had said something about his mom, and a pipe in the apartment burst. He didn't do anything, but Smelly Gabe seemed to believe otherwise. It was always his fault when something bad happened, even when it wasn't. His tears turned into sobs when the fabric of his clothes rubbed uncontrollably on the handprint shaped bruises on his hips and thighs. Smelly Gabe had already been in a bad mood before the pipe, but it seemed to set him off. Percy felt disgusting, a shameful feeling weld up in his stomach at the memory of earlier that day.
"Now you will forever remember how filthy and pathetic you truly are."
Percy flinch at the sound of a door slamming shut, but breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that it was the door across the hall. Smelly Gabe got went into his room for the night.
Percy looked back towards the moon. It was really big and beautiful, hanging in the sky like a diamond. Suddenly, a thought came to him. Would Artemis respond if he prayed to her. He knew that she mainly protected young girls, but sometimes…A lot of the time, Percy didn't feel like a boy, well he didn't feel like he was just a boy. Sometimes, he was a boy, sometimes she was a girl. Sometimes, they felt like neither, and sometimes both at the same time. It was worth a try even if Artemis thought he was a freak.
He clasped his hands together, resting them on the window seal, looked up towards the moon, and whispered, "Lady Artemis, please take me away from Smelly Gabe. I know that I'm a boy, but I'm more than that, ya know. I'm a girl, too. Sometimes I'm both, and sometimes I'm neither. It's hard to explain, but please. He is really mean to me and my mom. He hurts me, and calls me a freak. I'm not a freak, right?"
Percy waited for a few moments before sighing, and laying down on his bed, careful of the bruises and marks littering his body. He didn't know what he had expected, but tears streamed freely down his cheeks. He pulled his blanket over his head, trying to hide his shameful body, and cried himself to sleep.
{ ~ >^^< ~ }
Artemis was flying the moon carriage, Zoe humming a familiar melody, when she heard the prayer. Zoe stopped her singing as she noticed the change in her Lady's demeanor. Soft tears slid down Artemis's face, and familiar anger settled into her bones. How dare a man, this "Smelly Gabe, very fitting name, hurt a child. A child that was only of the age of seven. The child thought he was a freak. Artemis could sense that the child would grow to be a very powerful demigod. A child of the sea, if his aura was anything to go by. Then, it was any surprise that the child was of more than one gender. Although uncommon for Demigods, children of the sea tended to be as fluid in their gender as the waves they called home.
Zoe looked at Artemis with concern, "My Lady, is everything alright?"
Artemis turned to her most lieutenant, and said, "Zoe, how would you like to have another hunter join us?"
"It would only be an honor to have another girl join us, My Lady." Zoe said, bowing slightly.
Artemis shook her head lightly, and said, "No, Zoe. This one is different."
"I don't quite follow, My Lady."
"This child is a son of Poseidon."
Zoe's eyes lit up in understanding, and she said, "That is indeed quite different. There hasn't been one in over a thousand years."
"Indeed." Artemis said, then her voice turned serious, " I trust that the hunters will treat him as they treat any new hunter."
"Yes, of course My Lady."
Artemis nodded in approval, and said, "Well then, let's go meet the child. Shall we?"
Zoe nodded, and the moon carriage stopped. Artemis spent out some of her power, and a crack opened up in the sky. A woman, with deep navy blue hair and pale blue eyes, stepped out of the rift, and floated over to the carriage.
"Arty! Long time, no see!" Selene called, excitedly, "What is it you called for?"
Artemis nodded respectfully towards Selene, the titan goddess of the moon who side with the Olympian in the war, and said, " I need you to drive the Moon Carriage tonight."
Selene nodded her head, and asked, "Picking up a new hunter, correct?"
Zoe said, "How did you know?"
Selene turned towards her with a bright smile, and said, almost pouting, "Because that is the only time you let me drive the Moon Carriage anymore."
"Well, can you do it?" Artemis asked, then she sighed and said, "I will let you drive the carriage more often."
Selene's face brightened as she sat down in the driver's seat as if she had done it a million times before, which she had. The Moon Carriage had originally been hers after all. Artemis and Zoe got out of the carriage, and landed gracefully on the roof of one of the Manhattan apartments.
Artemis felt around for the power of the child, and they started jumping from roof to roof, never slowing down for even a second. Artemis stopped on one roof, and so did Zoe. They came to the edge of the rooftop, and Artemis pointed silently towards a window in the building across from them. Zoe nodded, and jumped onto the fire escape outside the window, her footsteps quiet. Artemis landed next to her in the same manner.
Artemis walked up to the window, and slid it open easily. She frowned when she realized that it hadn't even been locked. Any monster could have opened it, and the child would have been dead. She climbed inside, careful not to wake the sleeping child, and Zoe followed closely behind her.