Chapter 1: A Path Chosen
It was a brisk summer night across the state of New York as Artemis drove her chariot across the night sky. The sound of cars, and the bustle of Manhattan fill the streets of the city. Beknown to the eyes of mortals, a godly presence was in these very streets.
Poseidon, god of the seas, stalked through the streets of downtown Manhattan. It appeared that he was in a hurry, striding purposefully down the sidewalk. Eventually he reached his destination, a busy hospital in the heart of the city.
This was where Sally Jackson was giving birth to a baby. This wasn't unusual in a hospital, it happened daily, but the child was anything but a normal child. As a loud, piercing cry entered the night Poseidon walked into the hospital room in which the baby was just born in.
"Can I hold him, just for a bit?" he asked Sally. Handing over the baby boy, with tears in her eyes, not just from the pain of childbirth, but from the hurtful truth that she will be a single mother.
"How much longer can you stay?" she asked sorrowfully. "I must leave now. I'm so sorry Sally, I wish this could work out different, but the longer I stay, the better the chance Zeus finds you. Just remind Percy that, even though I won't be here physically, I will always love him and you also." With that he turned out the door and left the building with tears in his eyes.
Heartbroken, Sally silently cried over her newborn child. She had thought of a name for her boy, one that a hero with good fortune once was named, Perseus.
But her thoughts of her child were interrupted when Poseidon came back through the door. "Poseidon, is that you?" she croaked desperately. However when her eyes met his sky blue eyes, she knew it wasn't him.
"I could see how you would mistake me for my brother, we look quite alike, however our eye color is a dead giveaway." he states in a monotone voice. "I will cut to the chase and tell you why I am here. I am here because of the baby. Yes soft and innocent now, but without the right tutelage, he becomes a strong foe, who, along with Poseidon could challenge my rule. But I can't just sentence him and you to death or worse, Tartarus, because that did not go so well up on Olympus last time. So I am going to save both you and the boy. By taking the boy to New Rome, I will insure that his scent does not attract monsters to come and kill you. And by taking him to New Rome, he will come to respect the gods, and be a disciplined warrior."
Even though Zeus may have been saving them both from a life of hardship, Sally did not want her son to be ripped away from her, without her watching her boy grow and to care for him.
While moving Perseus to a more protective spot on the bed, Sally says simply, "No." to Zeus. "I am afraid you don't have a choice." and with that Zeus steped forward with haste, and took the baby from her arms. Immediately his aura flared, and when Sally opened her eyes, they were gone.
"My brother will be angry with me, but I cannot have you oppose me. You will be an outcast, nobody will respect a son of Neptune in New Rome. Now, off to Lupa." Zeus changed to his roman aspect, Jupiter, and soon was off to New Rome..
Appearing at the tunnel that lead into New Rome with the baby in his right arm, Jupiter strode confidently towards the guards. Once in sight, the guards on duty dropped into a deep bow declaring, "Lord Jupiter, it is but an honor."
Jupiter just continued on with his stride, head held high. Once inside the city, he made quick pace to Lupa, tired of being so close to his brothers spawn. Eventually after a few minutes walk, he came to a grand house, which Lupa would reside in when her pack was not in need of her, or there were no more demigods to guide. Not bothering to knock, Jupiter opened the door and walked into the house.
"What's with all the commotion?" shouted a woman as she entered the room. She was tall for a woman, standing an impressive six feet, and a lean body. Her eyes held wisdom, the fierceness of a wolf, but also the loving eyes of a protective mother. She was Lupa, Mother of Rome.
With a gasp she realized who it was, "My apologies Lord Jupiter, I didn't know you would be visiting today. What do I owe the pleasure?"
With a grumble to himself he explained the situation he was faced with the child. After he was done explaining what was to become of the child, he quickly exited the house without any form of a goodbye.
"Only Jupiter would be so cold as to put a greek demigod in with the romans. You will have to work hard young Perseus." Coincidently, Lupa just had this done to her recently by Hera, whom had brought a young son of Jupiter to her care.
"You will go and live with the pack and Jason, and learn to become a mighty warrior, to overcome being a greek demigod. I see greatness in your future Perseus, even though Jupiter was too blinded by his anger to see it."
With this said, she transformed into a wolf, one with piercing yellow eyes, and black and silver fur. She grabbed the baby Perseus, who was wrapped blankets that portrayed an image of the sea, and took off into the night. She ran faster than the eye could see, a blur of silver and black, as she raced off to meet up with the pack.
After ten minutes of sprinting at godly speeds, she made it to the pack. "Greetings, my lady." said her second in command named Dakota. "May I ask, why do you have a demigod baby, again?"
"I am sorry to put this upon you Dakota, but it is not my choice. This baby is the son of Poseidon, and since Aiyana (Dakota's mate) is already taking care of Jason, you are to watch over and train him."
"But I cannot train a greek demigod!" Dakota all but whined.
"Silence! There will be no complaints, what I say is what you will do. And I am trusting you to ensure young Perseus grows into a capable warrior, and a respectful man." Lupa commanded. "As you wish, my lady." Dakota replied obediently.
"Now, I am off back to New Rome, there are issues that I must attend to in the morning, goodnight Dakota." with this Lupa rushed off the way she came.
"Well now, time for bed." said Dakota as he put Perseus a ways about 10 yards from where the pack was. Just as Dakota lied down with the pack and closed his eyes, Perseus wailed loud enough to wake most other members of the pack. With an irritated growl, Dakota made his way to the baby.
"You're testing my patience demigod." Oblivious to Dakota's obvious irritation, Perseus stopped crying loudly and was sniffling. The young baby was memorized by the wolf's pale onyx eyes.
Growling, obviously irritated, Dakota picked up Perseus and went to lay down next to his mate. He could tell already from just being by the boy for a minute, he was going to be one hell of a challenge to train and discipline.
A/N: So what do you guys think? This is my first story, and I would appreciate any helpful criticism anyone has. One thing that I do not like in most others stories that will NOT happen in this story is, first off, Zeus will not be an idiot who tries to just kill everybody with his master bolt anytime someone opposes him. Another will be that Percy will not be all-powerful, and battle several gods and win with ease every time. I will try to update soon. My plans for length of chapters is to have longer chapters in the future, I wanted to just get the beginning of the story by itself. Until next time….
Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series. I make no money from this story.