'Frozen Sword' by Felix Kawaii

AU: The Titans have risen from the pits of Tartarus. Great danger is stirring, but the Gods can do nothing - they are too late. Olympus has been forced into closure, the immortals all around the world recalled, blackmailed by the Titans who hold the fate of billions of innocent mortals in their hands. Still, peacemaking Hestia has been busy. She has prepared for this day. In times of trouble, thirteen not so hardened soldiers will take to the stage. And they are all that stands between this world and destruction.

Prologue

Θανμαστóς – Extraordinary

Before he had even been born, Sally Jackson knew the swell in her stomach would be something, someone extraordinary. This belief wasn't formed by the glow of pregnancy and the excitement of being a mother, as one might expect. After all, it was only natural that every mother wanted their child to be someone above others. No, this faith in her unborn child was instilled from day one; the swirling, bubbling feeling in her womb when she rested her hand on the bump, the violent tendencies of serious morning sickness that crippled her most days and the staggering heaps of blueberries her body (and growing child) craved.

During pregnancy, she spent many of her days confined in a hospital bed, perhaps due to the side effects for having a child with a god, so when her son came a whole month before he was due, there were plenty of well-equipped staff on hand. Perseus Noah Jackson was born in the small hours of a cold Thursday morning. Sally hadn't even been able to give birth to him naturally, nor conscious to see him but powerful contractions before sedation had been more than enough to confirm to the little fluttering in her chest. Her son was a special, amazing boy.

And yet despite this, Percy's father was not keeping vigil by her bedside as she recovered from her cesarean section and he was not watching over their child in intensive care either where the tiny, frail body of her son had been hooked up to a machine. She wanted to hate him, for taking her writing career away, for messing her plans for the future up, for taking those dreams she'd treasured and worked for since a child and crumple it to ash. She should have hated him, she wanted to; for catching her eye on that beach in Montauk, for telling her that he loved her while he was already married, for being a god, for making her fall in love with him. Yes, Sally knew. She loved Poseidon. That fateful day on the sand, as he strode along the beach proudly, he was beautiful and he made her feel beautiful too. He had called her his Queen, promised to build a paradise under the sea where they could live – away from the prying eyes of the Fates – and raise their child. Perhaps, if she hadn't been so stubborn (a quality which he had said he loved about her) about staying in the mortal world, fighting her own battles, being human – perhaps, she would not have lost him to another world and her son would not have to grow up fatherless. She clutched the armrests of the wheel chair, her forehead resting against the cool glass pane that separated mother and child. The heart monitor wired to cot three beeped sporadically.

He already had a few curly black tufts sprouting from such a small head but the eyes… bright green. Just like his father's. Sally choked down the lump in her throat as her eyes grew misty.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and it took all the twenty-two year old's strength to drag her eyes away from her son. Her son. The nurse standing there smiled sympathetically, " I've brought your son's birth certificate." She handed over a black clipboard.

Wordlessly, Sally took it from her and scribbled her name in the box. Her eyes unconsciously avoided the blank next to it. For the child's father.

The nurse took it back. "Perseus Noah Jackson," She commented, catching Sally's attention. "Perseus… Noah…" She ran the name over once more. "It's unique and cute! I like it!" Her eyes drifted to the weak, closed-eyed baby in cot number three. "Don't worry, Ms," She spoke softly, like she understood. "He'll be fine. Your kid's a fighter, I can tell."

Oh how right she'd been. Another month later and Percy was released from hospital, a perfectly happy, hyperactive, albeit small baby. For a year they lived uneventfully. She called in favors from friends and lived in their spare rooms at college, but Sally wanted to fight her own battles – she couldn't keep relying on other. Reluctantly, she placed Percy in preschool and went round job hunting. Still, just because you wanted them didn't always mean you got results. There was no way any sort of publisher or newspaper would want to hire her now. It pretty much made her English Literature degree useless, even though she had only been halfway through it before she'd been asked to leave school. Her college didn't want a pregnant student wandering the halls and small time businesses wouldn't hire her either. After a while she learned not to bring Percy when inquiring for a job. It was difficult though, much harder than she had first thought. Nobody wanted a college drop-out, with no real qualifications and barely any work experience. It was hard fact. And something Sally quickly realized and grudgingly accepted.

Life was not fair.

This was what she had discovered in the short space of three years. Falling in love didn't mean forever. Education wasn't for everyone. While her friends were graduating with diplomas in their hands, she would always be the one taking the picture but not able to join in. It hurt how people she had been so close with, drifted away, averted their eyes or just pretend they didn't see her.

Finally after long months of searching and running out of favours, she got lucky. Or perhaps Mercury had pitied her - with the gods it was always difficult to tell. She had found a job at a quiet Italian café. To be honest, the place was only popular with the locals, the pay wasn't much and adding herself to the workforce, Sally had to admit it felt over staffed. The old couple who owned the place gave her a small room upstairs and Sally didn't think she'd ever felt so grateful. Even in the middle of the night when two year old Percy would wake up crying, they never said a word.

Despite her struggles, she never forgot those feelings of pride and faith she had felt while she had been pregnant. Her son would be something amazing.

On September Fourth, Sally locked up after closing time by herself. The di Arello's had gone to visit their daughter after lunch and nobody had come in. She walked down the sidewalk, tired from the long day as the shadows lengthened, but there was a spring in her step. She was going to see Percy.

Sally entered the Pre-K building in a good mood. She pushed open the door and greeted Percy's teacher happily. The plump woman offered to show her the way but she waved her off. It wasn't too far.

After that it had been a blur.

She remembered walking into the brightly colored room before her legs were tackled by her bright-eyed, three-year old son. "Mommy!" He squealed as she tickled his sides, their laughter infectious as it echoed through the empty room. The other children had gone by now.

"Did you miss me?" She cooed and tapped his little nose with her finger.

"Mhmm," Percy nodded eagerly, "Mommy, look! M'found it!" He held up a short green rope in his hand for her to see. She stroked his hair absentmindedly, "Look Mommy! It has eyes!"

Sally's own eyes snapped to the limp, scaly rope in his pudgy fingers. Oh, it had eyes alright.

She screamed and tore the snake from the toddlers grasp with as much force as she could. She snatched Percy off the ground and backed away near the door as fast as possible. It was like a horror movie. When she looked down at him, incredulous at the scene that had just happened, she found him crying. Her outburst had scared him and he was hugging her tightly and sobbing into her sweater. Sally herself wanted to cry, but she stroked his head softly and hummed comforting words in his ears.

The preschool teacher opened the door, probably having heard the scream, and stared at the scene in horror. She opened her mouth to warn them about the snake but Sally hushed her.

"He's asleep."

That was the first time she realized that the extraordinary part of her son was also sinister and dangerous. He was only three but whoever wanted him dead took him as a threat. It terrified her. Made her question everything. Who was better: mortals or gods? Would Percy have been safer living with his father? She caught herself once or twice, wondering what Poseidon was doing about it or if he knew about the incident at all but she knew better than to dwell on things that she would never get an answer to.

She also knew, however, that this was just the beginning. More dangerous threats could take Percy away from her. And she would be utterly powerless, powerless to stop it.

Six years later, she proved right. Sally Jackson died August nineteenth, struggling stubbornly against the force of the tide.

A/N: There will be another chapter next week, hopefully. Some feedback would be nice: was it too confusing? Any tips?

If anyone's interested, I'm looking for a beta at the moment. You don't have to be registered as one, but I'd prefer if you were a native English speaker and/or someone who has experience writing (on ff or not).

Thanks for reading!

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