(Warning: Mentions of rape in this chapter)

Hey. I go by HopeIsAnIllusion, and this is my first PJO fanfic. It's mostly OC-Centric, but that doesn't mean the main cast won't pop up every now and then.

Anyway, enjoy the story!

Prologue

In the distance, an explosion could be seen not that far off from Long Island Sound. Many people, mostly fisherman, saw the explosion and were immediately confused, but most of all concerned, causing many to return home for the evening. Several minutes later, a small circle of water off the docks began to bubble, before a torpedo of water shot up and splashed onto the wooden docks. The water began to take form and solidify, revealing a large and muscular middle aged man with white hair, and in his arms was a young man with blonde hair in his early twenties. Or at least, that was the body of the host. The one in control was drowning, and close to death. His brother set him down on the floor and put his hand on his younger brother's chest. A few seconds later, he began coughing up water, finally returning to consciousness. He tried to get up, but his older brother eased him.

"Be calm, younger brother. You nearly died, you should settle before resuming your plans." he put a hand on his brother's shoulder, but the golden eyed Titan swatted away his hand.

"Do not mock me, Oceanus. You know I have survived far worse than this." he said, albeit dazed as he got back onto his feet. His brother, Oceanus, frowned, standing up with him.

"Indeed, but this time, you are being protected by a mortal host, meaning you have weaknesses that you did not have before. Kronos, should this body die..." Oceanus trailed off, but the Titan King scoffed.

"I am aware of what will happen if Luke Castellan's body dies. Mortal body or not, I will not fail. Not again." he growled, remembering his humiliating defeat at the hands of his sons. The only reason those bastards beat him was because they ambushed him while he had his guard down. Cowards.

Oceanus huffed, turning his back to him. "Be cautious, brother. I did not break my neutrality for nothing. Know that even with the Achilles' Curse, you are as vulnerable as any mortal. Keep that in mind, and we might actually win this war." his advice given, the Titan of the Ocean turned into liquid and disappeared into the ocean. Kronos glared at water beneath him, the scar on his host's face more prominent.

'You are as vulnerable as any mortal' Oceanus's words rung like an echo in his ears. The Titan King snarled, opening his hand and summoning his scythe out of nothing. He turned back, making his trip towards Manhattan. He needed to gather what remained of the Princess Andromeda and join with the rest of his forces. He would end this conflict on the day of Jackson's sixteenth year, and take back what was stolen from him.

XXX

Kronos, in his base of operations, was currently residing in his tent, finishing up his orders to his top players on the board.

"...is that understood, Hecate, Morpheus?" the images of the minor gods appeared through the divine fire burning in the celestial bronze ceremonial bowl. It was a much older form of communication, where a being a of divine heritage drew from their own blood, poured it into the bowl and lit it on fire, appearing on the other side as smoke.

The minor gods bowed their heads. "Of course, Crooked One." Kronos chuckled at the nickname, dousing the flames in water and ending the call. Usually at this moment he'd be charging into battle without a second thought, sure of his victory (of which he was positively sure of), but one thing held him back.

'You are as vulnerable as any mortal' Kronos had given his brother's warning much thought, and realized he may have been right. Sure, with the Curse of Achilles no one could kill him as easily, but he could still very well die. One such example was mere days before, when he had nearly drowned because of his arrogance and failure to notice the son of Hephaestus flip a little switch. And going up against Jackson, he knew that may very well happen again. Especially with his spies at camp telling him that the son of Poseidon was seen mysteriously leaving with the son of Hades. To be blessed by the Styx, no doubt.

And so, in the following days, Kronos had found a way to make sure he still won, at the very end.

"L-Lord?" Kronos snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see a young son of Hermes, barely into his adolescence, nervously step into his tent.

"What is it?" he demanded, impatient. The demigod flinched, stuttering, "W-We f-f-found h-her, my lord! The g-girl you asked for." the son of Hermes opened the flap of tent, letting in the woman he asked to meet.

"You asked for me, Lord Kronos?" the girl's stance was calm, and indifferent. But Kronos could see right through her. He turned to the boy. "Leave us be." the young demigod ran out of the tent as quickly as he could. Kronos slowly walked up to her, meeting her only a few inches away. He began pacing around her, stalking her as if she were prey. She was exactly like her picture: young, black hair, tall, gray eyes, but most notably, absolutely beautiful.

"Child." Kronos said softly, the duality of his voice causing her to flinch. He ignored this, asking, "State your name and heritage."

The girl did as she was told. "Ashley Johnson. Daughter of Athena."

'Daughter of that bitch, eh? She will do just fine.' Kronos grinned inwardly but showed no expression outwardly. Still, he felt compelled to ask, "Why have you joined my ranks, wisdom child? Your kind are one of the least I'd expect in my army." this time, Ashley's face changed to one of resolve and resentment.

"The gods are all fools. I believe that, to the bottom of my heart. They think they can rule us and use us, all the while manipulating humanity and making them suffer the consequences for it." Kronos blinked, confusion clear in his eyes. "I...do not understand." he admitted.

"The gods manipulate us and beat us down, all so that we don't fall out of line. So that we adore them, make them stronger." She looked straight into the Titan's eyes, and he couldn't help but admire the steely resolve he saw in her eyes.

"Humanity isn't saved if it isn't allowed to evolve. But we can evolve, Lord Kronos. In your New Golden Age, humanity will rise far higher than it has under the guidance of the gods. I'm sure of it." Lord Kronos looked at her for a couple of moments, before he burst out laughing. Ashley flinched, both confused and embarrassed at how the Titan King was openly laughing at her, as if everything she'd just said was nothing more than a joke.

But that wasn't necessarily the case. If anything, Kronos was intrigued. Never had he found a woman with such ambition before. Indeed, mortals were peculiar creatures. Their talent was more than what met the eye...perhaps he was wrong in his previous past-time of killing mortals. He turned to face Ashley, towering over her.

"Indeed, I was not wrong. Ashley Johnson, you will be a worthy carrier to my legacy." he said, ready to begin. Suddenly, Kronos shoved her onto the bed, which the daughter of Athena was positive was not there before. Scared, she looked up to ask what he was doing...only to see him on top of her, holding her hands down with a glazed look in his golden eyes. Realizing what was going on, Ashley desperately began thrashing around, trying to throw the Titan Lord off of her, but he was strong. He began kissing her neck, at which Ashley gave an involuntary moan.

"Please s-stop! Please Lord Kronos, d-don't do this!" the demigoddess begged. The Crooked One chuckled against her skin, tearing off her shirt and revealing her bra. Nearing her ear, Kronos whispered, "Not a chance."

XXX

Kronos buckled up his pants, and threw on a breastplate, grabbing his scythe in sword form. He exited his tent, and ordered some of his followers to keep watch of Ashley. The Titan King mounted his chariot, and ordered his army to take charge. He had an empire to destroy. "Forward!" he yelled, and the army charged, leaving only a few monsters and demigods behind to guard their base.

In the tent, Ashley was naked under the covers, frozen in place. She look in her eyes was dead, except she was still breathing. After a couple of minutes went by, she sat upright, her shoulders shaking. Holding back a sob, she grabbed her clothes and threw them on, not at all caring that she looked like a total mess. Not that she was one for looks anyway. Walking quickly, she made her way towards her tent, opening the flap and grabbing her duffel. She grabbed a bunch of essential materials such as food, nectar, ambrosia along with a knife. She grabbed her sword and sheath, strapping them onto her hip. She tied her hair in a messy bun, and deemed it was time.

Throwing open the flap, she ran across the base, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. Most of the soldiers looked on in confusion, but the monsters quickly realized that she was trying to escape and maybe even going to aid their enemy, marking her as one. A couple of Scythian Dracaenae surrounded her, causing the young daughter of Athena to stop in her tracks.

"Where do you think your going, gi-" the monster's sentence was cut short when Ashley slashed her throat using her sword. The Dracaenae clutched at her throat, before she inevitably fell to her fate, as a pile of dust. The others gawked for a second, before they angrily charged at the demigoddess. Ashley's ADHD began acting up, dialing her senses to eleven and fueling her with adrenaline. She dropped to ground and slashed, hacking off several tails off of several dracaenae, turning them into dust. Three more launched themselves at her, so Ashley rolled out of the way, but not before one of the dracaenae scratched at her bicep with her claws. Ashley clutched her wound, hissing at the pain. She tried to fight them off, but she was not used to fighting with one arm. So instead she did a wide arc slash, forcing the she-dragons to jump back, and the daughter of Athena made a run for it, not once looking back or slowing down.

By the time all the adrenaline had disappeared, Ashley realized she'd been running nonstop, which was why when she finally found herself in the clear, her legs gave out, causing her to collapse hard onto the concrete ground. The fact that all that running had only made the bleeding from her wound accelerate did not make matters any better. So as Ashley laid there, tired and bleeding out, she thought to herself, was any of this worth it?

After awhile, she decided 'None of it matters anyway. After all, I'm still gonna die.' and those were her last thoughts before blacking out.

XXX

Several weeks later...

When she woke up, Ashley was admittedly surprised when she realized that she had not died. Fully coming to her senses, the daughter of Athena realized that she was in a hospital room. How she could tell, well, white and bland along with an IV drip attached to your arm were probably dead giveaways. So was the fact that she was dressed in a light blue hospital gown...wait...

Ashley screamed so loudly, she was sure she just shattered everyone's eardrums within the building diameter. She was huge. Or rather, her stomach was.

'Damn it, this was what Kronos wanted! Not just a good luck fuck.' she thought, wincing when she felt what she thought was a kick from her baby. Gods, her baby. She'd already decided since she was twelve that she never wanted to have kids. In her mind, they were nothing but a distraction. And now here she was, pregnant with the Titan Lord's child. He was waiting for this, just in case he lost to Percy Jackson. And that's when the real question settled in: just how long was she out for? Clearly months, but it could've been more or less sense this wasn't exactly a normal pregnancy. And while her stomach was big, it wasn't that large. Meaning she must've only been in the second trimester. Or maybe not. She'd never done too much research in regards to pregnancy besides what they taught in sex-ed back in junior high.

And that left for the final question: did Kronos win? Maybe, maybe not. It could've either been him or some stranger who dragged her to the hospital, as she really had no idea as to who came out victorious in the final battle.

'Either way...I can't let this...thing be born. I can't. I won't.' Looking to her right, Ashley saw a shiny sharp metal object. She wasn't a doctor, so she didn't know what it was, but what she was sure of was that edge and point of thing were sharp enough to get the job done. Closing her eyes, she braced herself.

"Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop that!" Ashley was startled by the doctor that had suddenly entered the room, enough to force her to drop the tool. The doctor took it, setting it on the other desk. He looked down at her, placing his hands on his hips like a scolding parent.

"Ms. Johnson, just what did you think you were doing? You could've killed your son!" he said frantically, as if the idea of killing a baby made him sick. Well she didn't care. He wouldn't get it anyway.

"It's none of your concern." she said, looking away from him like a stubborn child. The doctor sighed. "It kind of is, especially since this is the first demigod pregnancy in gods know how long." Ashley blinked, not expecting that response. She turned to look at him, and couldn't help but notice some of his defining characteristics. Blonde hair, tan skin, green eyes...

"Your a son of Apollo. Tch. How typical." she stated, rolling her eyes. The son of Apollo raised an eyebrow at her. "And you're a daughter of Athena. A bit different from the rest though." she glared at him.

"And exactly what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded. The doctor grinned cheekily. "Nothing much. But moving on," he pulled out the chair next to her bed.

"You mind telling me why you just tried to kill yourself and your baby? Seems pretty illogical to me." he said, unknowingly taking a jab at Ashley's pride. Her jaw stiffened. "If only you knew who the father was."

He frowned. "The child should never take on the sins of the father; something a lot of us back at camp tend to forget." wisdom's daughter scoffed, pulling back strands of hair from her face.

"This child's father was the whole reason for both the Titanomachy wars." she said. The doctor's eyes widened, and his jaw slackened. "O-Oh."

Ashley laughed, but there was no humor behind it. "Yeah, oh. Gods, I was so stupid. I was blinded by my resentment for the gods that I actually fell for such an obvious lie. Mother must be laughing her ass off." she kept laughing, but they quickly turned into sobs. Gods, she was a complete idiot.

The son of Apollo stayed silent as she watched the daughter of Athena beat herself up. Finally, after a few minutes, he said, "You know, I get it."

Ashley momentarily stopped her self pity, and looked at him questioningly. He decided to continue. "You know, two weeks ago, when Percy Jackson made the gods swear to acknowledge all the other gods, I learned something, and it really put a perspective onto things."

The bearer of Kronos's child couldn't help but be curious. "What?"

The doctor looked straight into her eyes. "For all their power, for all their divinity, at the end of the day, the gods...are just like us. People. And people make mistakes, all the time. It's how we deal with those problems that determines the kind of people we are. And I have no doubt in mind, that this has made the Olympians take a progressive step forward. It doesn't change our past, but it sets a good idea of what the future may hold." he shook his head, realizing he was rambling. "Ms. Johnson, by letting that baby live, you're taking a step forward with us. You're becoming apart of a brighter future, and so will your son. But, at the end of the day, it's your choice." finishing his speech, he stood up and began exiting her room. When he touched the handle of the door, he heard her ask, "So it's a boy?"

He paused, grinning to himself. "Yeah, it is. Congratulations, Ms. Johnson."

She looked up, her hair shadowing her face a little. "Ashley is fine. And thanks, um..."

"Robert. Robert Wilson." Robert exited the room, leaving Ashley with enough time to think about what he'd said.

XXX

September 11th, 2010

"UGH!" Ashley cried out. Robert was beside her, holding her hand, which was painfully clutching his own. He didn't say this though, only encouraging her to push forward.

"Come on, Ashley, you're almost there!" Robert said encouragingly.

"FUCK YOU! YOU'VE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR THE PAST SIX HOURS!" Ashley yelled, causing him to shut up immediately.

"I see the head, just a little more!" the midwife said, actually encouraging the daughter to push further. With a final breathtaking scream, the pain ended...and then there were wails. The cries of a newborn infant.

"Successful birth on September 11th, 2010 at 5:35 PM." the midwife recorded. She and her assistants helped her wash the baby, and wrap it up in a towel. Walking over to the tired mother, she gently set the baby in her harms.

"You have a beautiful baby son, Ms. Johnson." she told her, before they all left the room. Robert was about to go as well, but the recent mother stopped him.

"No, don't go. You're the only reason he's here." she said, causing the son of Apollo to blush slightly.

"You were the one that decided to keep him. You should be proud of yourself." he said proudly, to which Ashley chuckled weakly at. She looked down at her sleeping child, admiring just how adorable he was. Words couldn't describe how she felt, and she couldn't believe she ever thought about getting rid of her baby herself.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Robert asked, breaking the silence. Ashley, still in awe, nodded. "I have. I think Zachary is a good name." Robert snorted, to which the daughter of wisdom glared at him for. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"Oh nothing, just that he's totally gonna get bullied on for that name." Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up."

Robert smirked. "Hey, why not Luke? There's like a bunch of religious meanings behind that one." he then nearly face palmed at what he'd just said. "I'm so sorry, I forgot-"

"No." Ashley cut him off, still frowning. Honestly, she might've chosen the name Luke had the demigod she knew with that name not been the host of the man that raped her. "I don't want to give him that name. I don't want to associate him with either of his fathers."

Robert nodded, but didn't think seem to agree. "You know that's impossible, right? He's going to find out eventually."

Ashley bit her lip. "I have to try, Robert. I'm a mother now, and I'm going to take care of him no matter the costs." Robert sighed, but didn't push any further. "So Zachary it is?"

"Yeah...Zachary Johnson has a nice ring to it."

And so it began.

So thoughts anyone? Don't feel compelled to review, but I'd really appreciate the support...

If this gets any attention, expect the next update two weeks from now.

~~Peace out~~