Poseidon and Sally: Love Story

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At seven years old, Percy Jackson did not appreciate being called stupid.

Which was why - after meeting his new soon-to-be step-father - Percy had jumped at the opportunity to go out for the day with one of the rare people who didn't call him such an offensive thing; one of the boys in his apartment building, Lenny Valentine, had invited him out for the day. To go swimming, all day, with no stupid Gabe - it was the middle of August and swelteringly hot in New York- another reason Percy had begged his mother to allow him to go.

Plus, he really, really hated Smelly Gabe.

It wasn't his fault if he was stupid, anyway. He had been diagnosed with dyslexia not too long ago. That wasn't his fault, was it? When he had brought this up to his mother the one bedtime, she had told him it was anything but his fault. So Percy made a mental vow.

Perseus Jackson was most certainly NOT stupid.

He liked Lenny. Lenny stood up for him when one of the girls at school had called him a 'brainless dweeb.' Not that he had needed any help, of course. Percy had pushed her over a chair.

'Lenny, Percy, don't go running off now,' said Lenny's mother; a nice, yet admittedly odd, woman. Percy and Lenny both nodded together in unison. It was a large, overcrowded outdoor swimming pool. There wasn't really anywhere else to go.

Percy had fun playing around with Lenny but, he decided, Lenny was not a very good swimmer. Percy didn't go swimming often. His mother insisted that she wasn't keen on it, and Percy would have rather eaten his own socks than to have gone with Smelly Gabe. He reckoned Gabe would just sink anyway, he was that fat.

'Hey! Lenny! Watch this!' called Percy, standing back a few metres from the pool.

'Percy! Don't jump in! That's the deep end!' cried Lenny, looking positively aghast at the thought. Percy wrinkled his nose and glanced down at the water. It was nothing to fear, to him. Water had always seemed a pretty safe place to Percy.

Which was why, Percy took the run up and jumped into the pool.

As he tumbled under the surface, he accidently opened his mouth. He waited for some odd sensation - for the water to choke him momentarily, but it never came. Percy smiled to himself. He had decided right then that he really, really liked swimming. He turned around, seeing dozens of pairs of feet kicking around the pool. He jerked easily out of the way of a woman's leg that had come dangerously close to his chest. He looked around, feeling faintly amused as he saw another kid jump in just a few feet away. But he had to be a good five years or so older than Percy. His eyes were crinkled up and he was pinching his nose.

He's stupid, thought Percy. What is he doing that for? There's no need!

Shaking his head in exasperation to himself, he kicked his legs and propelled himself forwards, his head breaking the surface. He almost jumped a mile when he saw Lenny's mother peering down at him, looking terrified.

'Percy!' she all but shrieked. 'Are you OK? You were down there over two minutes! Come on, get out! Somebody help him out!'

There was a great deal of fuss for some bizarre reason. Percy disliked the sudden attention.

'What do you mean an ambulance?' he asked, confused. 'I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance. Nothing happened to me.'

'You were down over a minute!'

It still made no sense to Percy as people fussed. Finally, a lifeguard came to talk to Percy, checking him (pointlessly, in Percy's opinion), and when he was done, he started talking to Lenny's mom. Percy never could remember her name. Christine? Charlotte? Clara? Chl -?

'Are you alright there, kid?' asked a deep voice. It made Percy jump and he pulled his towel around his shoulders tighter as he turned around. Despite the heat, he had been shivering a bit. Lenny had clearly abandoned him. He seemed too embarrassed, or perhaps scared, to even talk to him. As Percy turned, he saw a tall man with a Hawaiian shirt and shorts on looking down at him curiously. Percy had never seen him before, but he seemed vaguely familiar. His eyes narrowed in curiosity as he looked the man up and down.

'I'm fine,' said Percy warily. 'I don't get why everyone made such a fuss. I was only swimming.'

For some reason, the man smiled at him. He had lines around his eyes that crinkled when he did. It seemed like he smiled a lot.

'Do I know you?' Percy blurted out. ''Cause you sure seem familiar, Sir.'

The man froze for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. Percy noticed that his smile had suddenly disappeared. It was hard to imagine the man smiling at all now. In fact, he seemed kind of scary.

'No. I'm afraid I don't.'

'Oh,' said Percy. He fidgeted for a second. 'Then I shouldn't really be talking to you, 'cause my Mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers.' He paused before adding, 'Sorry.'

The man laughed quietly. The smile was back, Percy noted.

'Clever Mom you've got there, obviously.'

'Yup,' said Percy proudly. 'She's awesome. Except she's married some other idiot, 'cause my Dad doesn't live with us.' He blushed. His mother wouldn't be happy if she had heard him describing Gabe like that. This seemed to displease the man again, but then Percy noticed that the man's eyes were focused on something else. He turned and looked over his shoulder to see two men, stood by a tree. One of them stumbled out of the shadows for a second, and Percy could have sworn that he had a face like a skele-

Oh, he was being stupid. Maybe Percy Jackson really was just an idiot, no matter what his Mom insisted to her son almost every bed time when he told her of his insecurities that bullies at school seemed to enhance every day. It was like they enjoyed telling Percy he was an idiot, and stupid . . . One kid had called Percy retarded the other day. Percy had responded by throwing his pencil in his face. He wasn't allowed to go out for recess that day.

Percy looked back up at the man, who seemed suddenly troubled.

'What is it?' he asked nervously. 'Do you know those guys?'

He was only seven, but Percy Jackson could tell that something was wrong.

'What's going on? Err . . . . Sir?'

But then the man leant down and put his hands on Percy's shoulders suddenly, shocking him so much he couldn't run. He wasn't going to kidnap him, was he?

No, said a voice in Percy's head. He's safe. He's -

Then the man spoke.

'I have to go. But, Percy, please just go back to your friend and his mother. Go home as quickly as possible and - and stay there. With your mom.'

Percy opened his mouth, but the man tore off, running around the sides of the pool. Several people were watching him curiously, Lenny's mom and the lifeguard included.

'Hey! Sir! What's your name?'

He got no reply. Completely confused, Percy put his towel down and pulled his t-shirt on. When he looked back to where the two men had been stood, and the other man had run off to, there was nothing there. All three of them had disappeared.

How had that man known his name, anyway?

Later that evening, when Percy told his mother of what had happened, she knew instantly - of course - who this 'mysterious man' had been. But, for Percy's sake, she acted just as confused as he was surely feeling. Sighing, she later left his room, with his t-shirt and swimming trunks to put in the wash. Just as she was about to put the trunks in the machine, however, a piece of paper fell out of the pocket.

She recognised the handwriting. How could she not?

Sally read the note a thousand times over. She had it memorised by the time she finally crawled into bed - anxious for her son's future well being, and the usual feeling if repulsion as Gabe slung an arm over her.

They're going to start coming soon. I can't always be here to stop them. Consider Camp Half Blood. He won't always be safe here. If you change your mind, you know how to get me.