Prologue v1.0

*NEW SECTION ADDED*

*UPDATES TO THE STORY WILL HAPPEN. GIVE IT TIME.*

A/N: Hi. I'm the author of this fanfic you're reading. I know that less than half of you bastards will actually read this (because I know I sure as hell don't read author's notes), but I'm looking for a beta (it's really early in, I know). Now, under the assumption that you, the reader of this note, are willing to become a beta of mine, allow me to introduce to you the requirements:

-You must understand basic rules of grammar. (Not exactly my forté.)

-You must be (at least) acquainted with verbally choreographing combat. (I'm awful at it, tbh.)

-You must provide suggestions towards the development of the story. Good or "bad", I like hearing them. It inspires me.

-You must be capable of utilizing Google Docs. That is where everything I've written is stored.

-You must understand that, I, at any point, have the ability to release you from your duties.

-You must be capable of keeping up with email notifications. My releases will happen sporadically as, being in senior year, I have quite a bit to do.

Criticisms are welcome. (For clarification, "you fucking suck", is not criticism.)

Last time a pull this shit, I promise. School got the better of me and I haven't even had the time to think about this fanfic, let alone write it. This is the final version of what I have decided to be the "Prologue", enjoy.

I don't own anything.

"That's awfully strange..."

Those were the words that welcomed the child into the world.

Upon the doctor's odd remark, it was of no surprise that the mother immediately descended into a state of panic. "W-what's wrong doctor? Is my child okay?" She managed to inquire through short, labored breaths.

The man took a long pause before responding. "Remarkably, he's just fine…"

His statement did little to alleviate her worries. "What do you mean, doctor?"

Again, another long pause. "He's… No that can't be right." He kept his attention squarely upon the infant upon him and called to the nurse behind him. "Angela, could you fetch me a thermometer?"

"Yes doctor."

"Quickly please."

The nurse hurried off and returned a few moments later, thermometer in hand.

"Here doctor."

"Thank you, Angela…" He uttered rather distractedly. He hastily grabbed the thermometer from her grasp and checked the boy's temperature.

3…

2…

1…

Beep…

He couldn't believe his eyes. He had, at first, thought that it was simply an issue with himself, not the infant - but his initial notions were completely incorrect. By sheer common sense this child shouldn't be alive.

A body temperature of 0 degrees celsius. He would have been diagnosed with hypothermia if he were below 36 degrees celsius. At any temperature below 32 degrees, it would have been considered severe.

At a temperature as low as this, his bodily functions should have shut down. His breathing should have been halted - his heart shouldn't have been beating. Yet there was there he was. Breathing - crying even - in the doctor's arms. This enigma was very much alive, and it was nothing short of a miracle. A scientific wonder.

The doctor gave him one last look-over to ease his lurking feelings of doubt. Aside from this - unique - characteristic, the infant appeared to be in perfect condition. He finally revealed the situation to the child's mother. "It seems that your baby is just fine, but his body temperature…"

"What about it doctor?" Her eyebrows creased together in worry.

"It's absurdly low. Horrifyingly, even." The doctor was quick to follow up before the child's mother could panic even further. "-But, at least as far as I can tell, his condition is perfectly normal." He gazed at the child and practically whispered in awe as he continued to process the information. "As normal as it could be, anyways… There's not a damn thing wrong with him..."

"Can I hold him?"

The question seemed to snap the doctor out of his dazed state. "Y-yes, of course." He stuttered quite embarrassedly,"He is your son after all." He gently cradled the child over to his mother and placed him in her arms.

The unexpected cold making contact with her warm skin caused the woman to wince; however, she quickly recovered from the initial shock. "H-he's so cold… is he really going to be okay, doctor?"

"He'll be fine, miss." He feigned a confident air and spoke with a seemingly unshakable conviction, "As long as he's under my care, I'll make sure that he's alive and well. I'll stake my pride as a medical professional on it."

His body language, conversely, told a very different story. It was clear from his slight, almost imperceivable, shaking that, he too, was in a deep panic. Something like this was medically unprecedented. He couldn't be sure if the child would survive the next few minutes, let alone long enough for him to carefully examine him.

Judging from the lessened tension of her facial expressions, his dolled-up words had managed to convince the mother, though they had not come from a place of true confidence.

"... Thank you, doctor..." She smiled down at the infant in her arms, lovingly caressing the side of his chubby little face. "He's perfect…"

There was a long pause.

The doctor, eager to break the newfound silence, decided to speak up, "Have you thought of a name for him yet?"

"No, not yet… But… I do have some semblance of an idea."

"Really? What are you thinking of?"

"Perseus."

"Perseus, huh…" He smiled as he looked at the child in her arms. "That's a fine name. Fits him well."

Her loving gaze never left Percy. "It does, doesn't it?" She chuckled softly.

There was another long pause following their short dialogue, but every moment was beautifully serene. He loved picturesque scenes such as these - a loving mother, an innocent child. It reminded him of why he became a doctor in the first place. Sure, his job wasn't all roses, but it was these stunning moments that prompted him to show up at the office again the next morning. His work was making the world a happier place, if only by a small portion.

"Now, about your child…"

Percy 'abruptly' woke from his deep slumber when his persistent adversary struck yet again. The damned thing just wouldn't stop. Not even after taking five beatings from the palm of his hand.

'Hm… five?'

…

'Each time I hit the snooze button, it's set to go off five minutes later…'

…

'Oh shit.' Percy hurriedly rolled off his bed and exchanged his pajamas for his school's summer uniform.

"Percy, are you up yet?" His mother cried from the kitchen.

'Ohshitohshitohshitohshit.'

"Yeah mom!" He replied as he tumbled down the hall, his pants only half on.

She looked at his attire and shook her head in disapproval. "Percy what's this all about?"

"What?"

"Oh, don't you 'what' me Perseus Jackson." She angrily pointed at the calendar that was pinned to the wall, "It's the middle of January! Do you want to freeze to death?"

"But ma… it's so damn h-"

"Watch your language!" She sighed in exasperation, "I can't believe I raised such a brute."

"C'mon, ma..." He slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a half-embrace, "You know you love me."

"Loving you and being proud of you are two different things, Perseus."

That one stung. "Alright, alright." He tried to negotiate, "How about I wear sneakers instead of sandals?"

"You'll wear insulated shoes." She corrected, "And a jacket."

"Alright, I'll wear those. But I really don't need a jacket m-"

"You'll wear a jacket." She insisted.

"But ma, it's California weather!" He protested, " It's like 50 degrees (F) out there at the lea-"

"You'll. Wear. A. Jacket."

Knowing that his mother wouldn't budge once she got like this, he gave in to her demands and wore the desired items. He begrudgingly spat, "There. Satisfied?"

"No. I wouldn't have to tell you to do this if you had just done this yourself in the first place, Percy." She lectured, "Don't you remember the doctor's instructions? Your body temperature is already dangerously low. You have to keep yourself warm so that it doesn't drop any lower. You know it-"

"Yeah, yeah ma. I know. I've heard it a thousand times before: 'you're a special child', 'it's a wonder you're still alive', 'be sure to stay warm', 'we don't know what'll happen to you if your body temperature drops any lower'; blah, blah, blah. What's new?" His family had been forced to move to a warmer state when he was young under a doctor's instructions. They had wanted to keep him away from conditions that could expose him to temperatures lower than his own. They instead opted to put him in conditions that were (subjectively) akin to a literal fucking oven. It was like he was a frozen turkey left on the hot sands of some Californian beach. He was thawing and leaving behind a vile odor.

She rubbed her temples in defeat. What would she do with this stubborn son of hers, "Percy…"

"I've gotta bounce, ma." He hastily unlocked the door off their apartment before she could enter a state of being that he could only describe as a 'Lecture-Machine', perhaps not the best term, but it perfectly captured her occasional rants that had the potential to last thirty minutes.

"School starts in…" He glanced at the watch on his right hand, "Five minutes. Shit I'm gonna be late."

"Percy!"

"I know ma, language." He didn't have time to be worrying about his vulgarity as of now. He would be in deep shit if he were late again. This would be his third tardy this semester; meaning that he would have to attend - the very thought sending shudders down Percy's spine - ISS (In School Suspension). Couldn't they have simply implemented a normal suspension system? Damn it all.

"No, not that." Her tone had switched to one of concern, "Have you taken your medicine this morning?"

"Not yet, but I've got it in my pocket." He patted his front pocket as if that were proof that he had the medicine within it. The medicine was prescribed to him by a 'special doctor', who had instructed him to take two pills every 5 or so hours. They were, supposedly, meant to raise his body temperature and prevent it from dropping. The only goddamn thing they ever did to him, though, was make his movements, as well as his (already greatly impaired) thought process, sluggish. Not to mention that the things must cost a fortune. His mother was juggling 2 part-time jobs along with her real job in order to for them to just barely get by.

"Alright honey, have a nice day."

"You too, ma." He turned around for a brief moment before heading off to school, "Don't overwork yourself, okay?"

"I won't." She smiled.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise." She gestured for him to go after glancing at the clock, "You'd better start running if you don't want to be late."

He checked his watch, "Four minutes… huh." His body simply didn't move for a few moments, slowly taking in how absolutely fucked he was.

"Percy?"

As if her voice had startled him, he bolted off towards the direction of his school, practically ripping the door to the staircase of the apartment suite open.

She watched him leave and chuckled at his foolish antics. Sally looked at the calendar once again, "The 15th already?" After he had returned from school, she would be taking him to the hospital for their regular monthly check-up. She glanced at the date next to it. January 16th. Her son's birthday. He would be turning 16.

She frowned, knowing the implications that the event would entail. She would deal with those matters later, she too was cutting it quite close to her designated time of appearance at the office.

'I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' She silently joked to herself.

Percy slammed his head onto his desk. He had arrived at school a minute late. One. Fucking. Minute. And you know what these assholes do? They go ahead and throw him into ISS. Now he had to spend his break (lunch) hour in a practically empty classroom under the supervision of a teacher. Not only that - despite it being a sweltering 53 degrees outside, the administration pricks had opted to turn on the school's heating system. The only positive aspect about this entire experience was the teacher who was assigned as his supervisor.

He was Percy's favorite teacher, by far. Though the other students at the school didn't like the man because he never actually taught anything, Percy idolized the guy. A few months back when Percy had slept through the entirety of class in a drug-induced state, he had woken up to find that his teacher was also sleeping. Right there, in front of 30 students as well as two of the administrative staff. The guy was a fucking legend. How was he not fired? That's one of the school's greatest mysteries.

Seeing that the aged fellow was already asleep, Percy began to fiddle with the substance within his school that was so audaciously dubbed as 'food'. He was hungry, true, but he would rather die than consume the slop on the platter. He couldn't even sleep, either. It was simply far too hot.

After a few minutes of idly shoving his 'food' from one side of the platter to the other and noting its rather unique clay-like properties in that it would retain the imprint of his fork (not to mention its gray-blue coloration), he noticed some movement just outside the window of the classroom. The source of the movement was a blonde boy, presumably Percy's age. His hair was short and neatly trimmed, but his clothes, in contrast, were in not so pristine condition. They were caked in an unidentifiable brown substance. However, that was not the most notable thing about him. The most notable thing was that he was holding a sword made of what seemed to be solid fucking gold. Based off of his panting, Percy was able to assume, within a reasonable margin or error, that the boy was being chased by someone or something. That, and there could be seen the shifting of trees as a mysterious presence got closer.

Percy began to lose himself in his thoughts, 'Well, of course he's fucking panting. Doesn't he know how utterly impractical it is to carry a sword made of solid gold? Not only would it be twice as heavy, if not more so, than a steel sword of the same size, the edges of the blade would dull incredibly fast given the rather significant malleability of gold. Whoever made this sword is a complete fucking moron, not to mention the guy himself for even using the shitty thing. Hm?' His thought process was beginning to catch up, 'Why is he holding a sword anyways? Especially in this day and age when he could use a literal death machine?' Perhaps it was the drugs? 'Wait a minute… Why the hell is this guy armed? Especially near a school! Is he some kind of fucking psychopath? Should I call someone?' There we go.

A roar erupted from the dense foliage, and the boy, quite instantaneously, adopted a battle-ready stance. It was quite clear that he was rather used to situations such as these, as he demonstrated no perceivable hesitation. Percy, in contrast, damn near fell off his chair due to the frightening noise. His gaze shifted to the guy outside, noting that his position indicated he had no intention of fleeing.

Percy ran to the window, not needing to be careful around the teacher next it as when the man fell asleep, nothing could wake him up. He shoved it open and yelled, "Oi! What the hell was that noise?"

The blonde-haired figure snapped his head back, as if surprised to have been spotted in the schools vicinity during school hours. Noting that it was only one person that had seen him, he brushed aside Percy's remark, figuring that he was only a mere mortal. For some reason, he snapped at Percy and waved him off. "Just a loud car engine is all."

"Like hell it was!" Percy panicked as the creature began to emerge from the foliage, "If that 10 foot-tall man-beast thing is a fucking car then I'm the king of the United States!"

"You can see him?"

"You'd have to be blind to not see that thing. What the hell are you on?"

Deciding that the presence of another demigod was of lesser importance than the minotaur in front of them, the blonde held his position. "Can you fight?"

"I mean, I know my way around a street figh- Oh, that's beside the point! Run, dude! Run!" Percy panicked. The creature was coming within an uncomfortable proximity to both him and the guy in front of him.

The mysterious teenager replied coolly. "You should probably start running then. This isn't something you can handle with only experience in 'street fights'." He simply stared at the blonde-haired boy incredulously.

Percy, however, didn't buy the act, "You're planning to fight that?" He pointed at the enormous creature.

He grunted in confirmation.

"With that thing that barely qualifies as a sword?"

His eyebrow arched up, looking at Percy as if he were stupid. "Of course."

"That confirms it. You're insane."

This time ignoring Percy's jeering, the blonde maintained his composure, sword held firmly in front of his body.

The unnamed creature crouched low, positioning its head directly in front of its body. Its tensed muscles screamed raw power, eager to be released. It was clear that it was preparing to charge.

And there was no way in hell a teenage boy could survive a blow from that thing.

Noting that the crazy bastard made no attempts to ready himself to evade the attack, Percy decided that he would be taking action. He stuck his upper body outside the window and grabbed the boy's collar from behind.

Startled, he cried, "Oi! What the hell are you-"

Heaving with great effort, Percy struggled to pull even half of his body within the classroom.

"Let me go, asshole!"

With one last tug, he managed to get him inside the relative safety of the classroom.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The blonde cried as he got himself up from his awkward position on the floor.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" He retorted, "I'm saving your damn life, dipshit."

He quickly moved to block the open window, preventing the strange teenager from jumping back outside.

"Step aside." He commanded.

"Like hell I will." Percy resisted, "There's no way in hell I'm letting you go out there to die."

"Step aside before I'm forced to hurt you." He threateningly moved the sword towards Percy's throat.

"Look, dude. Let's just stay in here until that thing lea-" Percy finally looked back out the window. The creature wasn't preparing to leave at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The beast was charging full speed towards the window.

"Oh fuck." He brushed aside the blade and tackled the blonde away from the window, just in time for the creature to collide into the brick structure.

Shards of glass and various other debris flew everywhere. Percy felt a searing pain across his left cheek as a shard of glass carved its way through to the other side of the room.

He winced as blood made its way down his face. Looking back and noting that the dust had yet to settle, Percy scrambled onto his feet and grabbed the arm of the boy under him.

A menacing roar sounded, it's origins beyond the sea of unsettled debris. If that creature reached them, there was no surviving it. The fucking thing had just evaporated a brick wall for Christ's sake. Just imagining what it would do to their fleshy bodies made Percy shudder.

There was only one way they were going to survive this encounter.

"Follow me. We're gonna make a break for it while the fucker can't see." He whispered.

Percy made his way towards the exit but stopped when he his arm met resistance.

"The hell is your problem?" He hissed, "Do you want us both to die?"

The boy briefly stared at where Percy's hand was grabbing his arm, likely surprised by his rather cold grip.

"There's another person in here."

A scream pierced their hurried conversation.

'Oh, right.' He had been so absorbed with the boy that he had completely forgotten about his teacher.

"Mr. Brown!"

The minotaur was holding the aged man by his legs, dangling him in front of its eyes as if to examine him. Faced with the beast's vice-like grip, he could do nothing but scream.

"We have to save him! B-but what the hell can we do?"

"We fight." The blonde re-acquainted himself with his battle-ready stance.

"That's a fucking awful idea. We won't survive for more than two seconds."

He raised an eyebrow. "Any suggestions?"

"... Alright." Percy bent over and grabbed an overturned chair that had landed near him, careful to not make any noise.

But not careful enough.

Clack.

The chair collided with the ground as Percy allowed his grip to slip, and the beast immediately turned its attention towards the direction that the two boys were standing.

It bared its teeth and grunted - Percy could've sworn that it was laughing at them.

The creature looked at them and back to the man in its hands. It smiled.

"Oh god."

They all knew what that thing was about to do.

He cocked his arm back and took on a pose that was not unlike that of a pitcher.

His teacher screamed and flailed in protest. "OH GOD, OH GOD. LET ME GO!"

Its dense, powerful muscles rippled under its tight layer of skin.

The flailing became more desperate. "NO, NO, NO! DON'T DO IT!"

It took a step forwards and slung Mr. Brown towards them, launching him across the room.

There was no time to react. He flew at such speeds that the two boys could barely register the movement at all. The man collided with the wall behind them before they could even blink with a sickening "splat".

They were lucky he had poor aim.

… Lucky?

There were no longer any screams coming from the teacher.

"Oh you can't be-" He turned around. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck - this isn't real, this isn't real."

He felt his throat burn as stomach bile crawled its way up his esophagus. He released a shaky breath, "Oh god he's really-" His vomit made an escape and cut him off. He spewed his guts all over the floor and dropped to his knees, unable to retain any strength in his legs.

Tears welled up in his eyes. "Why is this happening?"