Ancient History(PJO)

Chapter 4: Percy

The man was the first to grab my hand to help pull me from the water. Seconds after there were three more men there. All together they dragged me from the current's hold and onto dry land.

As soon as we were fully on land the man pulled his soggy children into his arms. He was crying while thanking both Poseidon and myself. After a minute of crying over his children he tugged me into the hug too, still thanking me profusely.

"What's your name, son?" he asked while he held me as though I was a lifeline. "His name is Perseus; and he's a hero!" I gave Perses, who was the one that gave my name away, a playful glare. He grinned unrepentantly at me.

I pulled away from the man. "Let's just be thankful I was in the temple when you needed help, sir." I stood and held my hand out to him. "I am Loukas; physician of the Southern island. If you ever need me I shall welcome you with open arms." He said as he allowed me to help him stand.

The crowd still around us, cheered upon hearing his words. I felt rather flustered. "I just did what was right. Really anyone could've done it." I told him, awkwardly scratching the back of my head. "Kid anyone else would've drowned." One of the burly men who pulled me from the river said as he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"And he did it in armour too!" A woman called from the crowd. Internally I cursed in every language ii knew how to. "Look he's almost dry already!" "He doesn't even look tired from swimming against the current!" The crowd was closing in around me.

"Enough! Perhaps our lord helped him. Lord Poseidon sent this man to save the children; questioning him would be to question the mighty Poseidon." I shot the priest who'd spoken a grateful look as the crowd backed up, mumbling and shuffling like scolded children. "If you all don't mind I'd like to get my children somewhere warm." Loukas addressed the crowd, holding his shivering children tight.

That finally got the crowd to disperse. Lord Poseidon had sent someone to save those kids, it would be blasphemy to stand in the way of their recovery. The thought process was helped along by the words the priest had spoken moments before.

I made my way to Perses, who grinned brightly at me as I lifted him up into my arms. I ruffled his hair as I asked, "Well then you little gremlin, where to know?" I was unsure of what to do now that I could no longer feel the temple's pull. He grumbled at me for ruffling his hair but suddenly paused for a moment. Then he grinned a mischievous little grin that told me I was probably going to regret asking him.

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Two hours later I stumbled into the little house Perses was given when he first arrived; covered in flour. Perses, the little gremlin, was roaring with laughter; despite the fact that he was similarly covered in flour.

After saving the children Perses had suggested we jog around the city till I dried off. Which did not explain his evil grin, but I agreed regardless. Not even ten minutes after we'd started it devolved into a game of tag. Sort of. The twist was we would try and trip one another whenever we got close enough.

Which was fine. I could pretty consistently avoid his attempts and I caught him before he faceplanted. This, of course, made him get more creative with his attempts until he finally decided that just taking a flying leap at me is a great idea.

I caught him but the momentum made me stumble back. I tripped over a few buckets and we fell backwards into some poor baker's flour.

I apologised profusely and even gave him one of my gold coins but the angered look on his face made me feel that the best course of action would be to run. So I grabbed Perses' hand and ran off; Perses occasionally gave me directions to avoid dead ends. Based on the rather colourful language that followed us for a few blocks, I had made the right call.

That's how Perses and I ended up on the floor, covered in flour as we laughed till our sides hurt. When we eventually calmed down we just stayed like that. Laying on the floor in amicable silence for a while.

"The sun is setting." Perses started, "Won't your family be worried if you aren't home soon?" He looked at my curiously as he asked, tilting his head at a funny angle to see me. I shrugged. "I don't currently have either of those. So probably not." I gave him awkward smile as sadness curled in my chest. I was thousands of years away from my home and my family.

Did my mother know I was gone. I didn't get to signal her with blue like I promised. Was she worrying herself sick because I'd disappeared? Had Grover and Annabeth made it out of the golden blast okay? Would my father know what happened? My thoughts spiralled in a hurricane of worry.

My thoughts were frozen in their tracks by a small hand grabbing mine. I turned to see Perses had shuffled closer. He was staring at me, wide eyed and worried. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I'm certain it came out as more of a grimace. "I'm sorry." He mumbled softly. "I'm alone too. My mom saved me from these really scary monsters and told me to wait for her in Atlantis, but it's been six months now."

I sat up and pulled him into a tight hug as tears started to fall. They carved sad paths through the flour still caked on his face. "I got ripped from my family in a golden explosion." I told him. I couldn't tell him that the lord of time had thrown me into the past himself. Perses' body shook with sobs and my heat ached for the little boy in my arms.

I stroked his hair softly and rubbed comforting circles on his back. "But it's okay. If we stick together I'm sure everything will be just fine." He pulled away slightly, sniffling as he went. "Yea, we'll just stick together!" He exclaimed with a watery smile. I ruffled his hair and stood up, making sure not to let go of him. "Come on Gremlin, let's get washed up."

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Once we were cleaned up we sat together on the, admittedly small, mattress. We used most of our energy during tag and the emotional scene before, but Perses insisted he wasn't tired enough for sleep yet.

So we sat and talked. We told each other all about our lives before Atlantis. Although mine was somewhat edited so it would fit with the ancient times... probably. Soon enough we both fell asleep. With me holding him as he snuggled close.

And for the first time in months, Perses felt safe. 

Sorry this one took so long! Kinda ran out of motivation. But thanks to my best friend and also a kind comment I pushed myself to get back to the story. Constructive criticism is welcome. Hope you enjoyed.

~Dreamer