Hey guys, here's another story for ya, it may take awhile to update with the other projects I have on the go, but I wanted to get this prologue up.
Anyways, rated because I never know what to rate things and I like to be safe. So, R&R please, CC is greatly appreciated and if you see any typos of just plain errors let me know.
Enjoy!
Prologue: One Stormy Night
Every story of a half-blood begins with a death or a battle against multitudes of ferocious monsters. But I guess it just goes to show how different I am, even for a demigod.
My story began fourteen years ago when a woman realized the truth of her two-year-old daughter and the choice she made that would change that girl's life forever.
…
A loud wail sounded in the night awaking Reggie from her slumber. Rolling over, she saw the time on her clock flashing 2:49 AM. The wailing sounded again and reluctantly Reggie threw off her warm covers and clambered out of bed.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming Tegan," she mumbled groggily as she took the heavy steps down the hall to her two-year-old's room.
She picked up the child from her small crib and held her in her arms, gently bouncing from one foot to the other in a soothing lull.
"Shh-shh, it's alright," Reggie assured Tegan, combing the infant's blond hair with her fingers.
Reggie's mind flashed back to a couple years ago when she had been performing with her now-split-up band in a small pub when she met him. He was a tall, handsome man with hair quite like the child's and a smile that shone like the sun; Tegan's father.
That was back in her college days; years wasted due to the unexpected pregnancy. She always wanted a daughter, but it was nights like these that bashed that dream. Nights when Tegan's cries were so severe that they awakened the whole floor in their New York apartment building. However, it was on this night, a stormy April night that Reggie couldn't take it any longer.
No matter how much Reggie attempted to sooth her young daughter she just continued to scream through the night; a long echoing that could be heard all along their block. Dogs barked in the distance and flocks of birds took flight to flee from the deafening sound. Reggie continued to rock her child in her arms to no avail, tears streaked her pale face and just as it reached the point when she could take it no longer it stopped.
Tegan seemed to be fast asleep in her mother's arms, her eyelids shut soundly and her body at ease, curled around her mother's torso. There was no more sound along the New York road. All was silent.
The mother took a long, deep sigh of relief and slowly began to place the child back in her crib. Just as the tips of Tegan's blond hair hit the pillow her eyes shot open. Startled, Reggie released her hold on the girl and let her fall the last half-foot to the mattress, stepping back in fright.
Breathing deeply, Reggie attempted to gather her bearings by taking deep breaths. Once her airflow returned to normal she took one, two, three hesitant steps back towards the crib. The sight that greeted her though, was not what she had anticipated.
Tegan's eyes were wide open, but they had transformed from their normal sky-blue to a deep, ominous shade of green. The infant was still for a while and then suddenly began to thrash back and forth uncontrollably, screaming like never before. Reggie found herself screaming in fright as she watched her child freakishly. Then, through her piercing screams, Tegan began to speak, which was an oddity for her vocabulary was extremely limited at this stage in life. Although, this voice was not her high-pitch tone that Reggie had grown accustom to hear shouting things like 'Mommy' or 'No!' This voice was a raspy one, as if coming from an old woman, but the child's voice still hung onto every syllable eerily, like an echo.
"Tegan?" Reggie asked, petrified.
Then she merely listen to her daughter as between screams she began to recite a sort of poem:
"A Half-Blood of the eldest gods,
Shall reach sixteen against all odds.
And see the world in endless sleep,
A hero's soul cursed blade shall reap.
A single choice shall end his days,
Olympus to preserve or raze."
It was as the final syllable rang out that the young girl began to wail again, out of sheer pain. But Reggie did not hasten to comfort her child, in those few seconds it took for the raspy voice to die out she had made a decision, a horrible, but necessary decision; she would abandon the baby.
Without so much as a word to anyone she threw on her spring coat and sneakers, and picked up Tegan, still wailing, to carry her outside.
The apartment was empty in the late night, and silent except for the child's cries, which reverberated agonizingly off the walls. The lock clicked on the door and Reggie made her quick decent to the ground floor, taking the stairs to avoid encountering someone.
Passing through the lobby the young security guard caught Reggie's gaze and frowned at the infant in her arms.
"Just taking her out for a bit of fresh air," she explained as she passed through the doors and into the cool night air.
As she drove through the dimly lit streets Reggie recounted that night, years ago, when Tegan's father returned to her.
It was Tegan's first birthday; Reggie's mother and sister had come from Pennsylvania to celebrate the glorious occasion.
The cake had been cut, and the presents had been received, when the three woman heard a knock on the door.
"That's weird," Reggie remarked, "Just give me a sec, probably that guy across the hall or something." She smiled, but the expression faded as she rounded the corner to the door and peered through the peephole. It was him.
Quickly gesturing for her family to wait one minute, she snuck out into the hall and shut the door behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Reggie demanded of her former lover.
"I wanted to wish Tegan a happy birthday," he gave a handsome smile, "And see you, of course."
"See me–wait–what–how do you know her name? You left! I waited for you, but you never came. How dare you–"
"Reggie, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you then, but…but my father wouldn't let me…"
"You're father…What?"
"Listen," the man placed a caring hand on Reggie's shoulder and leaned in close. "I need to tell you before it's too late."
Reggie took a hesitant step back, only to find the wall blocking her path. "Tell me what?"
"I had to leave because…because I'm a god."
The woman stared at him in both shock and disbelief. What was he doing? "A…god?"
"Yes, now I know this is hard to believe, but Tegan…she's not like most children, even for one of my children."
"And who are you exactly? You sired my daughter but never had the decency to tell me you're name."
"Apollo," he removed his hand from her shoulder, "God of the sun, healing, archery, and music, oh, and not to mention prophecy."
"P–prophecy?" She stuttered.
Apollo nodded, "Yes, prophecy. You see, I accidentally gave Tegan a…how shall I put this? A gift of a sort. As she grows up she may have…fits. Burst out a prophecy or two. When this happens I need you to make a choice."
He went on to explain that if she could no longer provide protection or handle the girl then she would have to bring her to someone who could.
"There's this camp on Long Island Sound. It's where children, like Tegan, go to train and be safe. It may be awhile before she needs to go there, but I have no doubt that there will come a time that you will not be able to care for her anymore, and at that time you must bring her to Camp Half-Blood so she can be safe."
For the longest time Reggie simply disregarded his warning and simply lived in peace, but it was on this night that his warning had come into effect. Tegan was beginning to prophecies things and she could no longer live in their apartment. So it was on this night that Reggie drove her daughter to Camp Half-Blood.
When she finally reached the curb in the road that Apollo had described Reggie pulled over and stepped out of the car. Scanning her surroundings, the woman saw field upon field of unknown crops, hills that rounded the rest of the forested landscape, gorgeous flowers scattering the roadside, but no camp, no sign of life other than plants, not even a farmhouse.
"No," Reggie breathed as a crack of thunder sounded overhead. A single tear found its way down her fair cheek and soaked into her dirty-blonde hair that had fallen over her face. "I thought for once you were telling me the truth." More tears streamed down her face as the rain began to pour in great heaps. Lightning lit up the sky and soon Reggie was not sure what were tears and what were raindrops.
She fell to her knees in anguish, her jeans coated with a thick layer of mud. What now was she to do? She couldn't care for her own daughter anymore; she was not a normal child and was beyond the care that Reggie could provide.
"I thought you were a god…So HELP ME!" She screamed, but no help came.
Unsure of what other options she had Reggie snatched the sleeping infant from the backseat, laid her down under the cover of a small maple and placed a light blanket over her innocent form.
"I'm sorry," Reggie whispered in her ear, bending down to place a kiss on Tegan's forehead. Her lips gave one last adoring press against her child and her fingers gave one last stroke to her blond locks, before she strode back to her car and drove off into the stormy night.