The Lightning Thief…WiTh A tWiSt!

PrOloGuE

It was a dark and silent night under the harvest moon in the middle of nowhere…also known as Minnesota. Normally, there would be nothing worth noticing in this nobody state, but tonight something was going down. Something big. Something big in a random crop circle some farmer made with his tractor.

Despite what you would think, this cleared piece of field was not vacant; two lone figures stood in the circular shape. Both were women, but unfortunately, no ordinary women. The larger of the two was a plump African woman with a middle-aged appearance. She had beaded dreads and was draped in patterned cloths of a plethora of dark shades and hues while holding a staff. Her companion was a petite young woman wearing a pristine, white Greek chiton with a single, golden shoulder strap. Her beautiful face and slim shoulders were surrounded by thick waves of luscious golden locks yet her hazel orbs radiated mischief and trouble. The only obvious flaw in her beauty was a nasty gap in the front of her devious smile where a tooth should have been.

The African woman stepped from foot to foot uneasily. She obviously did not want to be there.

"Oh, calm yourself," the blond told her with a slight Valley girl accent. In her hand, she played with a mysterious glittering object. It gave off an unsettling, cold golden glow.

The older woman narrowed her deep green eyes at the goddess that she, quite honestly, thought of as a naughty child compared to herself. "Calm myself?" she said in an astonished, questioning tone (though, it sounded normal with the woman's New Orleans accent). "How could I possibly calm myself, child?" See?

She laughed a gooey sweet laugh that made the woman a bit nauseous. She tossed the golden fruit, the one and only Apple of Discord, from one of her dainty hands to the other. "Oh girl," she began monotonously, "You've lost your edge haven't you. I knew that the whole mishap with the old Sandman got ya in a nasty pinch with the thunder-butt, but that doesn't mean you still can't live a little."

"Live," the African hissed to her, "You call this living? These twisted, little games of yours will come back to bite you on your missin' hinny in the end, girl." She spat on the ground near the blonde's sandaled feet which made said blonde reel in abhorrence. "Let's just get this over with now. Maybe this time around I can do things right…"

Hazel eyes rolled in the blonde goddess's sockets. "You and your precious reputation," she sneered. The Apple of Discord was spun absentmindedly on a manicured red fingernail like a basketball.

The long, clipped nails of the African-appearing goddess caressed the dark amethyst encrusted into the head of her staff. That wasn't the reason at all why she was teaming up with the likes of this foolish child. A deep, brooding face reflected back at her from the stone's desolate core. Sighing through cracked, dry lips, regret over her poor choices and their affect on her dear children coursed through her head. Her deep green gaze lifted to the rocky sphere in the sky. Like it, the goddesses representing the cold beauty of the night suffered from the fatal flaw of loneliness. Dear Selene had passed from this world and little Artemis had her hunters, but her children…They were the world to her. And she had failed them.

"The time has come. Let this be over with," she whispered to the wind though it was aimed at the blonde. A successful almost evil smirk crossed her lovely features completely exposing the forever gap in her would-be perfect smile. Aphrodite had made sure of that after she found her with him, again. Ridiculous children.

Oh so delicately, almost grudgingly really, the blonde goddess dropped the golden apple. It fell silently through the air almost to the ground, but suddenly stopped and hovered barely a centimeter from the plowed dirt below. Righting itself midair, it began to spin, first slowly, but it picked up speed going faster and faster until it was no longer a magical fruit but a pulsating orb of glowing gold light. It was almost like a little sun, but lacked all the warmth.

The two extended their arms gracefully as if practiced, as it might just had been, and rested them in the air with the tips of their fingernails just gracing each others surfaces. A slight humming that couldn't even really be called a voice arose up around them. Wispy specters with low, haunting wails rose out of the earth around them and gave a ghostly ballet around them.

More and more spirits arose around them and span and span creating a typhoon of souls around the goddesses. Sickly sweet cackling caterwauled through the atmosphere that not even the sleepy Hypnos could ignore. Soon the whole realm of immortals knew something was up, but it was far too late.

The eerie, cold light of the orb that once was the Apple of Discord leaked into the whirlwind of poltergeists summoned by their mistress' will. With a crack that could outdo Zeus' master bolt, a pillar of light shot into the night sky and hit the moon smack-dab in its heart sending it alive with waves of dark power. Faraway a young ginger collapsed in pain into the arms of an awaiting attendant with black hair and cobalt eyes.

Back at the field, the moon began to morph before their eyes into what the inside of a clock tower would most likely resemble. Gears, chains, and circles of metal spun and crank on the moon until it opened like a pocket watch revealing a tunnel of swirling rainbow light. It pulsed and radiated until BAM! It imploded and a line of light shot all around the world. Its power was so great even the Mist couldn't shield the eyes of confused mortals. The deed was done and the final glow from the portal drifted off to a certain pine tree on Long Island.

Blondie #1 doubled over in fits of laughter and was nearly crying she was so ecstatic. "Yes, finally! Victory over those pigheaded fools on top the clouds," she leaped and twirled like a giddy schoolgirl or a hybrid of a fawn and a ballerina. "I'll definitely be Ares' number one gal now, ha ha!" she continued to cackle.

Scowling at her last statement, the other goddess spoke, "Please tell me this was not all for a guy." The disgust was evident in her voice.

The girl paused in her merriment, "Well, a bit." She bent down picking up her precious apple and dusted it off like a prized collectable. "Of course, I'd never give that moron that much credit. This was all about my job. You know, there hasn't been much in the chaos department since Poseidon's brat solved all the world's problems," she rolled her eyes in repulsion, "I just thought we'd all like a second chance at things…especially if it meant turning the world as we know it upside down." She gave one last bout of evil cackling before beginning to glow signaling her approaching departure. She wiggled her dainty fingers at her ex-associate, "Toodle-loo, I've got a date with Mr. Mars." In a flash, she was gone.

Thank Zeus, the remaining goddess thought to herself while saying out loud, "The number one immortal slut and home-wrecker." Deep down, she only hoped and prayed that their plan had succeeded, but if it had, nothing would be the same.

And alas, it had worked. In a distant land, poor, clueless Apollo was whining and complaining to his mother about having no idea what was going on and about how his innocent baby sister had just been attacked. Of course, Leto completely tuned him out as usual. Meanwhile, unable to change what has been done, the three Fates were rushing to spin, unweave, and reweave all sorts of threads…

{iN a DiFfErEnT wOrLd}

"Are you done yet?" a boy complained to his older sister. The two siblings, 12 and 14, were currently in their mother's Mazda with her at the wheel on the way to the start of their summer vacation. The boy was upset because he really wanted to discuss the book The Last Olympian with his sister. The said sister though was still trying to finish so she most certainly didn't want her impatient twerp of a brother ruining the ending to what was most likely the BEST series ever!

"Shut up, Isaiah. I'm nearly there." And true she was; by the time she had finished saying the sentence to her brother, the journey had ended. (But thankfully with a cliffhanger so that must mean another series was on the way, right?) Though she anticipated their arrivals, the ending of a series truly as great as this one was a double-edged blade. She was glad to finally know what happened at the end, but…what now?

"So?" Isaiah continued to bug her, "Was it everything you hoped it would be, Ed?" Edward "Ed" Daüt looked at her brother. Isaiah Daüt had a huge smile gracing his light brown face and his clouded blue eyes were wide in anticipation of his sister's answer. Messy, thick, wavy, black hair framed perfectly the shape of his head and brushed his shoulders, or it would, if he wasn't bouncing up and down on his seat like a child. Ed shook her head; honestly, the kid would be a 7th grader after this summer and he was still such a child.

"Oh chill out already. I'm done, aren't I?" she sighed at him feeling severely pissed. Her fingers squeezed her own slightly darker skin on the bridge of her nose. Her exquisitely clear blue eyes were closed in irritation. "God, you're so annoying."

Their mother, Callie Mill, looked back and frowned upon them. "Ed, what have I said about saying the Lord's name in vain?" Ed apologized half-heartedly. "And Isaiah what have I told you about being a pest, do I have to get the bug spray out, again?" Ms. Mill smiled warmly at her children who both snickered at her joke. Their mom was the best, but probably most people thought that about their mothers. Though, Ed and Isaiah knew that they definitely had the best of the best of moms in the multiverse! Yeah, they went that far.

"Whatever, it's not my fault Ed reads like a grandma," he responded haughtily. This earned him a good smack to the head with The Last Olympian from his "dearest" older sister. During their fun, none of the happy family noticed a dreadfully familiar ray of light hit the aforementioned book. It glowed faintly but Ed was too busy using it as a weapon Rachel style, Isaiah was too busy avoiding his sister's blows in vain, and of course, Ms. Mill was too busy driving as she should, to notice.

{LaTeR}

Ms. Mill dropped the picnic basket she had prepared on the lush, green grass. She pulled herself back up and wiped the sweat from her forehead; summer might just be beginning, but the bright sun up in the sky was already taking its toll on this fine day. Her own dark gaze descended upon her children speedily racing away from her.

"Don't get lost and come back soon!" she cried cupping her hands around her mouth. Afterwards, she pulled her slightly graying, dark russet hair back into a high ponytail to try to bring some coolness back to her poor sweltering neck and upper back region.

"Don't worry, Mama!" Ed assured her mother, "We won't be gone for long!" She then turned her attention back to Isaiah. "Hey Izzy, what time is it?"

Isaiah gave a mighty leap into the air and fist-pumped the empty space above his head. "Adventure Time!" he proclaimed for all the world to hear.

The close siblings then continued their race not really trying to beat each other and just zigzagging all over the expanse of green grass. Ed rarely let herself act such a fool except in front of those she trusted; though she'd never admit it, she was a bit self-conscious. Her brother on the other hand was a hopeless nitwit who didn't give a damn what the world thought of him which was probably for the best since he's bi.

Completely absorbed in their rejoicing on the school year's end, they didn't even notice the distance their strong legs were taking them until they collapsed halfway up a particularly large hill. They were gasping for breath sweating stains into their clothing. It didn't help that they were still carrying their luggage since their brilliant mother just HAD to stop on this lovely piece of real estate before actually reaching the hotel. Although, since they've spent their whole lives with the Mill family they knew quite well that if anything came first, it was the stomach.

Even after catching their breath and cooling their bodies down in the gentle breeze, they didn't return to their awaiting mother (who had most likely already dipped into the potato salad without them). In the long run, they realized that maybe that had been the turning point; the one little, seemingly-insignificant aspect that changed their lives completely. They would most likely never know and neither will you so let's return to the story.

Isaiah ripped his eyes away from the magnificent cloud shapes to a looming shadow that had been providing them their shade for the whole while. His eyes widened in disbelief and he quickly started shaking Ed out of her daydreaming under the pale blue sky.

"Ed, Ed, ED!" he shouted excitedly finally getting his sister's attention, irritated, but still her attention. "You won't believe what I've found!" He gripped tightly onto the collar of her pink-and-maroon Aeropostale shirt not wanting to lose her to her beloved world of imagination, again, and pointed hastily to what was creating the monstrous shadow.

"It's not polite to point," Ed grumbled agitated, but followed the path of the boy's pointing finger nonetheless. What she saw did send a little spark of disbelief through her, but logic quickly stomped out the magic. She chuckled, "No way."

Behind the two, standing tall and majestic, was no other than a humongous pine tree. Its eternally dark green needles covered the thick branches artistically and the inner artist and nature-lover within Ed fell in love at first sight with the natural beauty.

"Nice," she deadpanned, "I bet I know what you're thinking."

Isaiah's gleaming gaze was all the assurance she needed to know she was indeed right, but he asked that question anyway. "You think it could be Thalia's tree?" Not giving his sister a chance to crush his dreams as he knew she would, he jumped back up on his feet and started to sprint up to the colossal plant.

"Oh geez," complained Ed, her inner American shining through in her sudden laziness. Unwillingly, she jogged after her giddy brother who had already crossed over the slope of the hill down into "Camp Half-Blood". When Ed got there, not surprisingly she saw not a strawberry-growing-place-thing or a mythical camp for the children of the Greek gods, but (gasp) more trees! Actually, a whole forest stretched on shortly after where the bottom of the hill met leveled ground. The light shone down on the waters of the Long Island Sound in the distance, lighting it up with sparkles. What did worry her though, was that Isaiah was nowhere to be seen.

She cupped her hands around her mouth like her mother had done beforehand. "Where did you go, stupid!" she yelled into the thick of wood and pine needles. At first there was no reply, but then birds rushed off from an area of woodland not too far off.

"Who's stupid," her brother's slightly upset voice called back to her, but she didn't dignify him with a reply. That probably just made him even more ticked, though.

Instead, Ed smirked victoriously. "Gotcha," she hissed before plunging into the forest after the boy. Needles of the lower branches scraped lightly at her exposed arms, but not hard enough to leave scratches even at the speed she was going. Isaiah was soon in her sights, but unfortunately he saw her coming and took off deeper into the trees. Thus began the game of cat and mouse.

Oblivious to the time and surroundings, and the promise of a swift return to their mother forgotten, they chased after each other darting around tree after tree and dragging their luggage along with them. It'd be more fun to ditch the cargo, but there was no guarantee they'd find them again. Besides, who knew what was out there. (Even though this didn't stop them from frolicking in a strange forest like goobers.)

Again, the exhaustion plagued the cheery duo and they paused their game to rest in a small clearing. Conveniently, there was a stomp perfect for sitting. Their abused luggage was once again dropped on the ground and Ed and Isaiah leaned on each other for support in staying upright.

"Ready to give up yet?" Ed challenged. The thrill of the hunt still glittered in her gaze.

Her brother shook his head ruining their position and forcing her to sprawl her hands out to the side to catch herself form falling off their makeshift chair. She sent a glare his way, but he either didn't notice it or brushed it off. Most likely the former. "Never! I'll beat you yet!" he swore and looked at his balled fist intensely as if to prove his determination.

Ed laughed at his seriousness over a dumb, little game, but a smile stayed on her face. She loved her brother, she really did.

Yet again, Isaiah ruined the perfect moment and turned a narrowed gaze to his left (Ed's right). "Did you hear that," he asked warily. It wouldn't be the first time he's "heard" things.

"What?" she countered following his gaze. Then she heard it too (for once), the muffled murmur of voices. They were obviously human, but the language or tone was completely undistinguishable.

He quickly bounced up, nabbed up his bags, and headed off to check it out. Of course, Ed would follow him, but something was holding her back. Well, not really a thing, but more of a feeling. A bad feeling; as if deep inside, there was something or someone telling her that if they went down this road, there would be no turning back. But Isaiah was out of her sight, and that worried her. And when she was worried about her little brother, she went into full-on Mama Bear mode. Ignoring the feeling, she went after him, dashing their last hope of escape.

When she caught up with the boy, he had stopped and was staring at something. When she saw what it was, she too was eyeballing the thing. It was the most appalling thing any kid could see during summer vacation (or ever). It was a school.

"The horror!" Isaiah cried covering his eyes to shield them from the atrocity, but that couldn't stop it from existing.

Ed was simply confuzzled (yeah, confuzzled); why was there an open school a whole two weeks into summer vacation. Surely they were all closed by now. The voices had indeed been human and were the voices of those standing around outside the school. They all had luggage too, but there's all seemed to be designer and a bunch a shiny, fancy new cars neither of them had a prayer of knowing were waiting with chauffeurs inside. The only normal looking person around was a boy about Ed's age not too far to the right of them.

Naturally, Isaiah dashed over to him to say hi and possibly make a new friend. A real goofball.

"Hiya, I'm Isaiah Daüt," he extended his fist to the boy.

The kid looked at him a bit shocked, but smiled genuinely at Isaiah and bumped fists with him. He had a nice smile that reached his green eyes and a plain, simple appearance. His head was also covered with some thicker black hair.

"Nice to meet you, Isaiah. I'm-" he started, but the younger boy interrupted him by pointing to Ed.

"This is my big sister, Edward, but you can call her Ed." He said it innocently enough so she let him slide for talking to strangers.

The boy cocked an eyebrow. He said, "A girl named Edward, huh?"

Crossing her arms, she shifted her weight to one foot. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Ed purposely made her tone sound a bit threateningly to make sure he got her point. She hated people making fun of her name and saying it was a "boy's" name. The name Edward was actually personally OK with her, especially since it made her initials E.N.D. with her middle name being Nausicaa. Mainly because it would be the end of you if you kept talking about her name.

The stranger held up his hands in surrender. "Of course not, I think it's awesome. I of all people can't make fun of people's names considering what my own is."

"Which is?" I questioned much nicely now starting to like the boy a bit. He had a slight New Yorker accent meaning he was obviously a local, but it was kind of cute. Ed shook her head; though it might sound shallow, she had a thing for cute boys (but who didn't).

Again, before he could answer he was interrupted. This time around it was an adult that immediately sent Ed on edge and she edged her way in front of her little brother protectively. The woman barely paid any attention to her and seemed quite absorbed in her clipbook. She had scraggly, gray-brown hair tied in a painful looking bun, a nose exactly like a bird's beak, and had a leather jacket tied loosely around her neck to hang on her shoulders. She looked like a witch trying to pull off the rebellious rich boy look.

"Names," she cawed in a high, crow-like noise she dared to call a voice.

"Isaiah and Edward Daüt," Isaiah merrily chimed in before Ed could quite process what was going on. The woman pulled down her sunglasses with a claw-like fingernail to reveal beady eyes.

"Dorm rooms 37 and 12, here are your class schedules for the year," she said at the exact same moment Ed said, "Wait there must be some mistake; we're not-wait, what?"

The creepy lady and the boy-whose-name-they-still-did-not-know stared at her in shock while her pathetic brother was just starting to piece together what was happening.

"Young lady," the woman hissed placing her bony hands on her equally bony hips in displeasure, "If you are going to be so rude, then we are going have quite a problem throughout the school year." Ed's mouth was simply hanging from her mouth in sheer disbelief.

For the first time in his life, an intelligent thought crossed Isaiah's mind. "Wait," he said holding up his hands and waving them at the teacher-lady, "How could you be setting us up for school, summer just started?" Ed stared at him completely appalled; THAT was what he was concerned about? Not the obvious case of mistaken identity. But then again, there in her hands was a schedule with her name and middle initial present and if that wasn't enough, there was another paper attached giving all of her biological statistics and schooling information. The freakin' thing even had their mom's freakin' signature! The only thing it didn't have correct was that where the information about their father should have been, all they had was unknown. What the hell.

Suddenly, her collapsing world was infiltrated by the New Yorker accent. "Hey don't worry," the boy said placing a caring hand on her shoulder, "I know, it always feels like summer ended too soon, but that's life."

His attention was then dragged away form her as the bird-lady rudely jabbed her pen in his side. "Name," she crowed sounding irritated. She's irritated, Ed thought scowling at the bird-lady, How would she like it if I shoved that pen up that nose? I'm sure it would fit (and get lost).

Ed would have most likely thought more nasty thoughts about the "bird-lady" and Isaiah still wouldn't have had any more lines when the formerly unnamed boy finally revealed his identity. "Me?" he asked innocently, "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson."

OOOOOOOOOOH! I bet you all knew it was Percy as soon as I introduced him and the two goddesses at the beginning aren't too hard to figure out either. Now all the pieces are in place; Eris is a bitch, Ed kicks ass, Isaiah is officially more adorable than kittens and puppies combined, and Percy is smexy! R&R! XP