A/N: I do not own Percy Jackson or any other content belonging to Rick Riordan.

I have plans for an extensive story with ~3500 word updates every week schoolwork permitting. Let me know what you think!

Running. Flight. Escape. This had become her life. Never staying in one place long enough to become comfortable, or more importantly leave a permanent trace. She moved with the stars, slowly but surely traversing the globe in an attempt to evade her pursuers. She had been traveling on foot for several hours already, fearful to use her abilities lest she attract attention. Her breathing was quick, but steady, the december air cool to her lungs and bringing with it the faint scent of pine and of the ocean. The countryside had been slowly changing from the rolling hills she had been in for the past couple of days, to dense forests that she hoped would provide more cover, perhaps a longer respite. Her pace slowed, and eventually halted when she came to rest underneath the broad foliage of a massive willow tree. The limbs surrounded her in a dome that promised protection from prying eyes and the cold wind that had begun to become biting as soon as her movement had slowed. She dared not light a fire, but chose instead to rest her legs, slumping against the rough bark of the tree. Her heart finally began to calm, and her breathing returned to a more normal rhythm as she thought of the cause of her problems, and what she could possibly do to resolve them. Her mind worked quickly, analysing her options, and calling upon her substantial education and training to think of anything she could do. She silently cursed to herself as she mentally reviewed her position.

The age of the titans had finally come to an end. The world she left was burning, charred and disfigured by the divine powers that had been unleashed in the pursuit of domination. The titans who had remained loyal to Kronos, and a good number of those who had not were quickly being sent to Tartarus, or punished/imprisoned in other ways. She had watched in horror as her family was systematically dismantled and disposed of. The only reason she had been spared long enough to escape was due to her limited power and the gods lack of interest in conquering her domains for the time being. Asteria was the titaness of falling stars and other celestial objects, the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe, and sister of Leto. Her daughter Hecate had been spared punishment for her help in aiding the gods, but she bore little resentment toward her. She had no love for the tyranny of Kronos, nor did she partake in the fight against the gods. The only thing she was guilty of was not betraying her family. Not that she expected the gods to care about that. She had heard of Calypso's punishment before the night of her departure from the ruined mount Othrys.

A shiver raced down her spine involuntarily as she thought back to that night, and the confrontation that had forced her into this life of a fleeing refugee. It had been a dark night. Selene, despite her neutrality in the war, was clearly in mourning for the fate of her family. Initially she had been content to hide herself away in the dark recesses of mount Othrys, but soon the vengeful gods began to take apart the mountain, piece by piece, determined to remove every trace of their enemies. The first sign of trouble had been when muffled explosions and tremors had awoken her from a light, fitful sleep. ~Flashback~ Dust trickled from the stone ceiling, and the faint smell of sulfur caused her nose to crinkle in disgust. Cracks began to form in the walls surrounding her, and flashes of multicolored light accompanied by more explosions of energy shone through irregularly. Fear wormed it's way into her heart, and terror gripped her limbs rendering them immovable. Short, staggered breaths wracked her body, and tears began to form in her eyes. What could she do? An explosion, louder and closer than the others knocked her from her feet and closed off the small skylight that she had been staring through, the only illumination now coming from the thin cracks in the walls.

Fear still gripped her, but her survival instincts were stronger. Her body stiffly rose and she began to mechanically walk towards the only remaining exit. She was forced to break through the door, the hinges having been crushed by the shifting mountain. Pieces of the door became caught up in her feet, and she stumbled, catching herself with outstretched hands. Pain flashed through her mind, and she cursed silently, allowing herself to glow faintly to observe the damage. Her hands were scraped, and there was a long, thin gash along her left arm, but thankfully nothing was broken. She got up again and used her uninjured arm to brace herself against the wall before beginning to move once again, this time with a higher degree of caution.

It seemed like hours before she finally glimpsed the darkened sky once again. It was another small skylight, but she could see another door that looked promising ahead of her. When she reached the opening, she carefully placed her ear against the wood to listen and tentatively stretched out her senses to see if there was another deity nearby. After several moments of silence from both her senses, punctuated by the sound of more muted blasts from the way she had come, she decided to take her chances and carefully opened the door which, much to her dismay, groaned loudly in protest. Warily, she glanced around the room, muscles tensed in preparation to flee. It was a balcony of sorts, several tall Greek style pillars supported the low ceiling, the walls were a muted forest green, and a low marble guard rail with intricate carvings of plants and nature scenes ringed the curved outside of the room which overlooked the mountainside. The tiled floor had the appearance of fine gravel and dirt interspersed with large round rocks, but it felt like a continuous, even surface that was surprisingly soft to the slowly relaxing titaness.

The change in texture was a welcome relief to her tired, sore feet and she decided to take a small rest in the apparent solitude of the small room. A short cushioned bench was on her left against the bare wall, and to her right was a semicircle of stone stools facing a now dark hearth. The ever-burning torches and hearths that littered the mountain had quickly ceased functioning after the defeat of the titans and the gradual departure of their power. She chose to sit on the bench and took several calming breaths before looking once again towards the open night air. A shooting star flashed across the night sky, and she felt a small surge of power at the interaction with her domain. She could tell that the alcove she was in was about halfway up the mountain, and based on what she could see from the sky faced East. She took another look around the room, but her inspection failed to expose any new details.

After resting for a few minutes, she took a deep breath and walked to the railing. A thin staircase that had been hidden by the curve of the mountain appeared after a brief examination. Seeing no other viable options, she began to descend into the darkness.

The steps were smooth and regular, but not slick and she had slight difficulty distinguishing the outlines. After several hundred feet, they came to an end, the protrusions slowly fading into the side of the mountain. At the base of the steps, she could see a small trail leading away from the mountain, and to what she hoped would be her salvation. She pushed through the vegetation for several more minutes before stumbling into a small clearing, now almost at the base of Othrys.

The clearing had a small, almost perfectly circular pool in the middle. The surface of the water was devoid of disturbances, but despite this, she couldn't see anything in the water. A faint glow of light emanated from the pool and the gentle wind blowing through the clearing caressed her face, bringing with it the faint scent of citrus, and something else she couldn't quite identify. The various sounds of nature gradually faded from her perception as she felt drawn to the water's edge and before she realised what she was doing, her feet were almost in the water. With difficulty, she stopped herself from entering the water, her instincts dulley flared speaking to the danger of the pool. The sense of danger was not something like she felt from the presence of a hostile immortal, but more akin to a long fall, or a blazing fire. It didn't seem to be malicious, but rather a force of nature.

In the midst of her pondering the implications of the strange feeling, she absentmindedly examined her visage in the pool for the first time in a long while. She had flowing, lightly curled black hair that seemed to pull in the light from the sky, as well as the faint light of the pool and cascaded to just past her shoulder blades. Her face, marred by dust and grime, had a regal beauty none the less. She had a slightly pointed chin, high cheekbones and a small nose the turned up slightly at the tip. Her eyes, however, were the most striking feature she possessed. Her sclera was the pitch black of space, her iris the deep, almost electric, slowly shifting blue of a neutron star, and her pupil was constantly swirling, changing storm of precious metals. She was a respectable height, and though she had never been as muscle bound as titans such as Atlas, she had kept herself fit. Her injuries from earlier had already healed for the most part, a slight skin discoloration the only reminder of her clumsiness. She was wearing a plain white chiton with black sash and belt.

A voice, so soft that initially she thought it was the whispering of the wind distracted her from her self inspection. She heard the voice again, still unable to make out words, but recognizing the validity of its existence none the less.

"Who's there?" she asked timidly, apprehensive at the thought of being captured, and preparing her muscles in anticipation of making a quick exit. A cursory glance at her surroundings revealed no likely sources for the voice's origin, but her eyes snapped back to the pool as she heard it speak for a third time, echoing from the depths of the water. "Titaness…" the voice spoke, "You are not safe here…" The voice was decidedly feminine, but sounded weak and lacked conviction. Attempting to pierce the gloomy waters with a scrutinizing gaze, Asteria spoke quietly "What do you mean? Who are you?"

In response to her questions, a face slowly appeared in the water "My name is Aerolithene, I am the nymph of this pool, which is the result of a long forgotten meteorite strike." the face spoke after slowly breaching the surface. Water droplets coalesced into a roughly humanoid shape, supporting the head of the nymph as she regarded Asteria. "I have little time… My life draws to an end, but with my remaining strength I wish to help you, my lady. My life was formed because of your domains. My soul is bound to the piece of metal that fell to the earth, but this pool that formed my physical body will soon be no more. I will use what is left of my strength to grant you my blessing." Aerolithene continued, and raised one of her arms toward the stunned titaness. Before she could begin to protest, a beam of copper light shot into Asteria, striking her in the chest and causing her to stumble.

Pain blossomed from the impact, so intense that she almost blacked-out, but as quickly as it registered, it faded, leaving a hollow ache. "What have you done?" Asteria gasped, still taken aback by the nymph's actions. Aerolithene smiled sadly at her, even as her form began to dissolve and float away in the wind. "I have given you the ability to tether your soul to a celestial object, just as mine was. You will be bound to its physical location, though to a much lesser extent than I, and you will be able to take on a semblance of its characteristics with a high amount of difficulty. Be careful, as this aspect of your power is volatile and extremely dangerous." the nymph rushed out as her form continued to dissipate. "I can't explain everything, but I trust you will need this power very soon. Farewell my lady…" As soon as her farewell left her lips the remainder of her form dispersed into what remained of the pool which was no longer glowing, and slowly began to empty as it's life source faded away.

The prone titaness was too stunned to react. Sorrow, followed by guilt and remorse flashed through her mind. What had she done to deserve this kindness? She hadn't even tried to stop the nymph from ending her own life. It felt as if she had just discovered a niece only to have her taken away in an instant. Tears came to her eyes and she quietly sobbed, still reeling from the sudden shock of emotions. By the time she composed herself, there was no longer any water in the pool, and what remained in the crater was a small chunk of copper-colored metal. On instinct, she reached out and touched the rough metal. The moment her shaking hand made contact with the rock, there was a brief flash of light, causing her to avert her eyes, and she felt a weight land on her outstretched palm. She shifted her gaze and was surprised to find a small necklace in her palm. It was a copper circle surrounding a scene of swirling galaxies and attached to a graceful silver chain.

She felt a connection to the metal, and she clasped it carefully around her neck. She continued to stare at the piece of jewelry before she was broken from her trance by the sound of twigs breaking and tree branches being pushed aside and snapping back into place. The smell of ozone filled the air, and an electrified aura began to assault her. She began to silently creep away from the source of the noise, but before she could escape the clearing a figure crashed through the underbrush.

The figure was wearing white robes with threads of gold. He had a muscular body, long black shoulder-length hair, and a salt and pepper beard that seemed neatly trimmed. When Asteria saw the man's electric blue eyes, she nearly gasped in fear. "I thought I had sensed a show of power." the man said, locking eyes with the scared titaness. "L-lord Zeus!" Asteria replied "What can I do for you, my lord?" she continued fearfully, hoping against hope the powerful god would not recognise her. "Well, I know you did not fight with your titan brethren, but regretfully, your allegiance was not with the gods, and you must be punished." The god said with a malevolent gaze, shattering what little hope the titaness had of escaping recognition.

Zeus examined the feminine figure in front of him for several seconds before continuing. "Now we banished Calypso to that deserted island, but I can think some better punishments for one as pretty as you." the god sneered, a lecherous grin spreading across his face. Asteria's apprehension rose sharply, and she shivered involuntarily as she realised the implications of the god's words. The newly crowned king of the gods began advancing, but the titaness reacted quickly, sending a blinding burst of light and power which only served to distract and disorient the much more powerful immortal as she made her escape.

Her efforts were rewarded with a roar of indignation, and narrowly missing lightening bolts that vaporized nearby vegetation. While Zeus would undoubtedly defeat the fleeing titaness in a straight fight, her diminutive form and agility allowed her to narrowly escape the furious deity. ~end Flashback~ From there on out she had been on the run. She had no particular destination in mind, she only knew she had no desire to spend any quality time with the gods.

Asteria was unsure how far she would be pursued, or even if she was being chased in the first place, but she had always been one to err on the side of caution. Since that night, she had seen not a sign of the gods, and she began to hope that they were too distracted in their revelries to pay a minor titaness such as herself much heed. Unfortunately, her luck was soon to run out.

She was awakened from her unintentional slumber against the willow tree by an oppressive presence entering her range of senses. Asteria shook the drowsiness from her limbs and hastily began to move again in hopes of remaining undetected, but it was too late. A bolt of lightning slammed into her back as she began to run. Pain arched (A/N Hah.) through her back, and she fall convulsing to the ground. Cold laughter assaulted her ears as she rose shakily to her feet. "Did you think to escape the mighty Zeus little one?" a seemingly muffled voice said. In other circumstances she would have scoffed at the younger deities antics, but she was in no position to mock anyone. She turned to face her assailant, her clothes still smoking slightly from the attack, and black dots dancing across her unfocused vision.

Just inside the canopy of the willow tree stood Zeus, looking much the same from the night many days ago he had begun to chase her. She took a steadying breath before casting out her senses. Zeus' aura of power was almost blindingly brilliant in such proximity, but after forcing herself to focus around it she was able to gain valuable information. As far as she could tell, there were no other deities around. She was also shocked by the amount of celestial activity she could sense, not having attempted such an action sense her flight began in the fear of attracting unwanted attention.

She could sense several shooting stars beginning their descent into the atmosphere giving her minute bursts of power, a comet that was nearing its perihelion (closest distance) in relation to the earth, and several more minor comets that were gradually fading from her senses. Though the lightning bolt hadn't caused any serious damage, she knew she was in trouble. Asteria continued to regard Zeus warily, continuing to weigh her options. The god raised his hand and she heard a muted snap as her hearing was restored.

"I certainly hope I haven't caused any permanent damage, I just can't have you running away again." Zeus said with a false smile that only served to further unnerve the frightened titaness. The king of the gods advanced at a leisurely pace, still pointing his masterbolt at Asteria. Panic began to overwhelm her as Zeus closed the distance, her mind remained blank until she felt a small tug from her necklace and she remembered the nymph's words and blessing.

Zeus' hand began to close around her arm, and in desperation she threw out her senses again, latching on to the comet that was quickly approaching. Unsure of what to do she poured her remaining energy into the connection she could faintly feel with the celestial body, seeking any avenue of help available. She willed herself to become one with the comet, to be taken away, to be saved.

Rather than being moved, she felt a sudden surge of power just as Zeus' grasp tightened. Her body felt heavier, and the electricity that Zeus had intended to use to pacify her passed through it without any adverse effects. Without thinking, she used her free arm to lash out at the god, striking him in the chest and sending him flying several yards back, breaking his tentative grasp on her arm in the process. Asteria looked in shock at her now outstretched arm which was almost entirely a bronze medal. Before Zeus could get a chance to recover, the titaness fled, her new weight initially doing little to affect her ability to move beyond making her steps heavier.

She knew something was wrong when she began to lose feeling in her extremities. Her fingers and toes became solid, and as she ran her joints became more and more difficult to move. The burst of strength she had received from the connection with the comet had already faded, and she was too weak to use her new power again. Her body was slowly becoming the same composition as the celestial body she had bonded to, and she noticed that her temperature was dropping rapidly as well. Asteria came to a halt on the edge of a cliff, the roar of the ocean filled her ears and the humid salty air felt strange on her mottled skin. Terror began to overwhelm her, and was only heightened by the sounds of her pursuer crashing through the underbrush.

Seeing no other option, she tried to transform into her sacred animal. After several seconds of concentration and drawing upon her dwindling energy reserves, her form slowly shifted into a small quail. The process of turning into inanimate metal was slowed considerably, but she knew her physical body was still dying. She tried to take flight, but her heavier composition was a great hinderance in her efforts to generate lift. The added difficulty of having lightning bolts thrown at her by an enraged god of the skies only served to aggravate the problem.

Just as she thought she had reached a safe distance from the cliff, a stray bolt grazed her wing and she began to plunge towards the ocean. She struggled in vain against the winds with her now nearly inoperable wing, but she quickly lost altitude. She breached the surface of the water, not having enough energy to even try and swim and quickly sank into the depths. The currents began to sweep her out to sea, and her world was fading into blackness. Her divine fortitude prevented her from drowning for a long period of time, but she knew this was the end. She silently prayed to whatever deity would aid her to bring her to a safe place to land. Before the darkness finally took her, she vaguely felt her form began to change.

A/N: There it is! The first chapter! In case you're wondering, Asteria IS a titaness in Greek mythology, and it is accurate that she turned into a quail and dove into the ocean after being pursued by Zeus, as well as what will happen next chapter. To clarify, the comet is in perihelion, as is the earth, thus making this a very rare occurrence which will be important later.