Chapter 1:

671 Ab Urbe Condita (83 BC)

Rome

It was a sweltering summer afternoon and the sun was about to fall out of the sky, casting warm orange rays of sunlight. A small new born child was curiously looking around at his new world, analysing it almost.

He was an ordinary weight, he was wrapped in an ordinary towel and he was surrounded by normal people, but in no way was he an ordinary child. He was much more, one who would grow into a man that would change the face of the Earth.

The women who had aided Sally Jackson in childbirth were fascinated by her son's spellbinding sea green eyes that were now drowsily closing as he drifted asleep. They couldn't help but think he was a gift from the gods themselves.

When Sally looked into Perseus' eyes, she wondered where his father was at that moment. Probably ruling the oceans from his palace and already moving on. She wasn't going to lie to herself. Gods weren't allowed to interfere with mortal affairs. She was just happy he had given her a child to embrace with all her love.


Although he wished more than anything to be there for his son's birth, Neptune remained on Olympus watching from afar as his lover held their son in her arms. A smile formed on his face, earning a few strange glances from Minerva and Jupiter. But Neptune thought nothing of it, little Perseus would do well, he knew of it.

By the hearth Vesta grinned at her brother as the flames rose higher than usual.


673 Ab Urbe Condita (81 BC)

Rome

It was one of the handmaidens that had aided Perseus' birth who had told her. She was to be proscribed.

10,000 Denarii for her death. It didn't matter who murdered her, it could even be a slave or a family member, just as long as they could prove they did it.

She soon found out her father, brother and uncle were already dead. Supposedly while trying to escape the city. This left her and Perseus as the last surviving members of the Jackson family, one which had property all over Italia and a substantial fortune.


It was late at night. Midnight had already passed, and groups of men, women and slaves had banded together to find those proscribed by the dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Due to restrictions on weapons within the city, many wielded whatever was deemed worthy; stones, kitchen knives, wooden clubs. The rowdy mobs could be heard all over the city and blood literally ran through the streets, congealing in the cracks between the cobbled stones.

Sally clung to her son desperately who was peacefully asleep. The handmaiden who had warned her, a young woman by the name of Aelia, had snuck her out of her villa to hide from the mob. They had been making there way across the city, slowly and carefully. Sally had broken down in tears when Aelia had offered to help her escape. By doing so, she was putting her life on the line.

They were now close to one of the gates of the walls which was originally built by the sixth king of Rome, Servius Tullius. How could they pass through the garrison, who would undoubtedly recognise a member of one of the wealthiest families in Rome?

"You should just run for it, if I distract them, you'll be able to run past them." Aelia whispered to her, while peeking around the corner at the 8 men defending the gate around 40 feet away. Sally wasn't convinced.

"If we do that, you'll get killed for assisting me, and that definitely isn't going to happen. Either you'll be back in your bed tomorrow or your gonna be on the run with me. Those are your options and I want nothing more than you to live a happy life, it's the least I can do," she said firmly.

The two of them stared intensely for a second, arguing silently. Before the younger woman broke eye contact and yielded.

"So, what now then?"


For the first time in many years, the Olympian council was silent. All of them were shocked at the events in the Eternal City. "We have to stop this," Apollo said, finally. "They're gonna tear themselves apart. We can't let them do that can we?"

He was met with silence, most gods agreed internally but knew the consequences of such actions. Neptune was watching fearfully as Sally and their son made it through the city. Only Venus and Diana noticed and the two shared a worried glance, coming to an agreement, something very uncommon.

The king of the Gods decided to speak up.

"As horrific as it is, Rome was built on violence. The ancient laws forbid us from doing any more than observing when it comes to mortal affairs. I'm afraid we just have to wait and see." Few gods had the power to stand up to Jupiter himself, so most grudgingly agreed and the meeting was ended.

Everyone left except for Neptune, who remained in his throne, deep in thought. Venus and Diana decided that now was the best time to talk to him.

"Uncle?" Diana asked, which brought him out of thoughts, "We know about Perseus and his mother, and of their importance. We've decided to help them, despite Jupiter. But we'll need your help."

"Why would you help?" He asked surprised. This time Venus spoke:

"Because he has a great destiny ahead of him, we all know this to be true. And they're gonna need a bit of divine intervention to get out." In what would probably be the most unlikely alliance for many millennia, they all set out.


Sally and Aelia had been waiting for a cart to pass by for hours now. It was a simple plan, climb into the cart and get through the gates undetected. However, the adrenaline was all but gone now, and it was early morning. It was inevitable they would have to sleep at some point.

They were quickly awoken by the sounds of screaming soon after they unintentionally fell asleep. Sally panicked when she thought it was Perseus crying, which would definitely reveal their position, but she was surprised to find him still asleep in her arms. It was then they realised the screaming was coming from out on the street. They looked around the corner of the alley and saw a woman crying as she watched a man get pulled out of a cart of wheat, which he'd obviously snuck into.

Sally watched in horror as the guard brutally hacked his head off right there on the street, before picking up the now severed head and putting it in a sack, apparently quite pleased with himself. The blood continued flowing out his neck for a few seconds, staining the entire area around the body a sickly crimson, some of the liquid seeping through the cracks flowed all the way to their alley.

It soon became blatantly obvious that the man in the cart was trying to escape, just like they were. Sally forced herself to look away when the guard did the same to the woman. It was time for a new plan.

Just as she started to think, a soft flash appeared, and beside them stood a beautiful brunette with sapphire blue eyes and high cheekbones.

"Lady Venus," Aelia mumbled quietly, before dropping and kneeling before her. As she smiled, Venus' stunning hair shone in the morning sun.

"My dear girls, please allow me to help you. Young Perseus is destined for greatness, you two must look after him. Good luck," Venus announced, before placing a hand gently on their shoulders and teleporting them 3 miles to the south.


The two women found themselves in a forest with no civilisation around. The trees rose up high and only streaks of the morning sky peeked through the dark leaves. It was surprisingly light considering the canopy above them, where sunlight shone upon the cobwebs, causing them to turn into a beautiful rainbow. A few birds could be heard chirping happily as they weaved in and out of the trees.

The ethereal beauty of the forest was interrupted however, when around 30 girls dressed in silver jumped out of trees and bushes, all had bows slung over their shoulders. Most looked quite young, between 8 and 20 years old. Despite this, they all seemed incredibly mature, and dangerous if needed.

Sensing danger, Sally clung to her 17-month-old tightly, preparing to run if needs be. The silver girls surrounded them in a loose circle, before one of them stepped forward. She looked around 16 years old and had stunning black hair in which a silver circlet sat. Her obsidian black eyes stared deep into her soul before she spoke.

"You must be Sally Jackson? Milady has ordered us to escort you to the coast. A ship is waiting for you and your son. My name is Zoë Nightshade and I lead the hunters of Diana, welcome. If you have any questions come to my tent." She said curtly before pivoting and walking off.

Sally was about to comment on the fact that there were no tents, but to her amazement the hunters had put up around 15 tents in the time it took for them to talk.

Unsure of what to do, they walked into Zoë's tent. Sally noticed however that some of the girls gave her a couple of strange looks. They all seemed to look either respectful, disappointed or disgusted.

When they reached the tent, they were shocked to find it bigger on the inside then on the outside. It was full of skins of all kinds of animals: Bears, Lions, Tigers, Wolves. Zoë was standing in the corner, pouring a cup of herbal tea. When she noticed them, she made them some as well. She ushered them to sit on the fur carpet, before doing it herself. And she looked at them expectantly. Aelia spoke first.

"Who are you?"

"The Hunters of Diana," she replied simply.

"Yeah, but what does that mean?" She asked, frustrated.

"We're immortal maidens who worship Lady Diana and we tend to her wolves, hunt monsters and protect maidens."

"Why are you helping us?" Sally asked.

"Milady told us that while most gods are choosing to sit back and watch while Rome kills brothers and sisters, a few gods have decided to intervene. I mean no offence, but the reason they're saving you is purely because of young Perseus, because he has to live." She said, although slightly grudgingly.

There was a moment of silence before Sally spoke again.

"Why were the other hunters giving those looks to me?"

Zoë sighed.

"You're a woman who possesses great power and wealth. That money you have to your name is yours to use, at least for now, which is uncommon. Particularly for an unwed woman. But while all that is true, you let a god into your heart, even allowed him to give you a child." Sally frowned. "That part about being an immortal maiden? That's the mot important thing to us. Some girls might not think so highly of you for that fact. The only reason we're here is to save a boy. You could say some of them are a bit unhappy," the Lieutenant explained carefully.

"If they're not happy with it, then why did they join?" Aelia asked. To their surprise, Zoë gave out a small chuckle.

"All of us have and will continue to follow her to the edges of the world. She's given us all a home when we were most in need. Most of us have had bad experiences with males. Some worse than others." She added darkly, staring vacantly into her tea for a second.

Sally, who had been silent previously, suddenly spoke up.

"When you were talking about money, you said that it was mine for now. What do you mean?" Zoë looked at her sympathetically, before saying:

"Since you're going to basically disappear, your wealth will be confiscated. Your family was not proscribed because they were political opponents to Sulla, but because they were wealthy. I guarantee that at least half of it will be taken, probably more."

Despite all the bad news, Sally still felt overwhelmingly grateful for the hunters help.


Umm... Hello?

*Hides as a chair comes hurtling at my head*

Yeah yeah I know I'm a terrible person because I never update blah blah, don't worry guys it's not just you who hates me so don't worry I've got that part covered.

Self-hate aside I'm starting this because it's been an idea in my head for awhile. In Ancient!Percy fanfics the history is wrong a lot of the time, and since I'm kinda (completely) obsessed with history I get annoyed at the inaccuracies. So I'm trying to make this one as factually correct as possible.

Some important things to know: 1)This is set in Roman times, but Percy is where it splits off our timeline into a different story. 2)Don't expect me to be updating alot, because I just started year 10 (9th Grade/Freshman year in America) so I'm gonna be busy. 3) Ab Urbe Condita (AUC) means how many years since Rome was founded, literally 'from founding of city' like 2018 would be 2771 AUC. Anyway I'll see you later.

Peace

Xander