Chapter 11

Percy POV

Immediately after the concert

"That. Was Awesome!" Nico shouted as soon as the garage door slammed shut, leaving the band alone.

"Kick ass." Jason agreed. Percy could only nod his head and offer a small smile. The rush, the excitement, and the sudden lightness on his shoulders he had felt when he was playing had faded, replaced by exhaustion.

"Can we..." Percy said softly, gesturing towards the door. His throat hurt more than he thought possible, and he felt this strange burning in his gut. Overall, He just hurt like hell.

"Sure. Come on Nico." Jason said, opening the door. He stepped out, quickly followed by Nico, and a much slower moving Percy. While the three of them walked to the house's living room, Thalia appeared, lugging a heavy-looking bucket. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey Thals, what's in the bucket?" Jason asked as he moved to take it from his spiky-haired older sister.

"Change" Thalia said, still smiling.

"From?" Nico prompted, while Percy walked on silently.

"Tips" Thalia replied when they reached the living room. "Care to help me count it?"

"No" Percy said, as he fell face-first onto the couch. "Make Jason and Nico do it" He half mumbled into the couch pillow.

"Oh I will. But you're not getting off the hook that easy."

"Come on, Thalia", Percy whined.

"No" She said firmly. "Why should I?" She continued as she dumped the bucket onto the floor in a water fall of silver and bronze metal. Percy thought for a moment, before grinning. He turned to face Thalia.

"Because," he started, "A slightly emo bass guitarist once told me, and I quote, ' With great musical talent...Comes a great need to take a nap. Wake me up later'" With that, he turned back to facing the pillow, and closed his eyes.

He heard Nico complain "I am not Emo!", and Thalia mutter something like "You're such a kelp head", before his world faded to black.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" A fat, balding man snarled at him.

"Away from you" He replied, shoving clothes into a bag angrily.

"Nun uh. You're staying right here, Punk" The man snarled.

"And why should I?" He asked, his anger threatening to boil over. He turned around to get to his dresser when he felt a hand yank him backwards.

"Because you owe me, kid" The man said angrily. He snapped. His vision turned black, then red. He went to step forward, then spun on the ball of his foot and smashed his fist into the man's face.

"I owe you? That's fucking rich. After everything you did, did to THEM, you have the fucking nerve to say I owe YOU?" He said, while the fat man held his nose and checked for bleeding.

"You little brat!" The man snarled as he staggered to his feet, and then suddenly lunged for him, swinging a meaty fist at him. It caught him square in the face. He recoiled, before responding in kind. The fat man staggered back and swung blindly, and he tried to kick him in the stomach. It didn't work.

The man grabbed his leg and yanked him crashing to the floor. Before he even had a chance to recover, the man kicked him viciously in the side, each kick more painful than the last.

He rolled onto his left side, moaning in pain. The man grabbed his right shoulder and pulled him so he was flat on his back. "You done yet punk?" He snarled, his beer breath rolling onto his face in waves. He spat in the man's face. and then swung his right leg between the man's two. The man crumpled as he got up, and as he fell he punched the man in the face.

He finished grabbing clothes as fast as he could, and shoved them into the bag. The man was still on the floor groaning in pain. He grabbed the bag and a black case, and walked as fast as he could towards the front door.

"Fine then, leave!" the man shouted, still on the floor. "See if I care"

He had almost made it to the front door, when he spun around. "Wait" the man croaked.

"Go fuck yourself" he replied, opening up the door.

"Just..."

"No. I only have one more thing to say to you. I'll see you in hell." He said, before stepping out the door...

And Percy Jackson shot awake, covered in sweat, and the only thing he could think was Not Again.

And that's the end of Chapter 11! Sorry it's so short, but I though I owed you another chapter. These next two-ish will be fillers, but there's more stuff coming!