Percy Jackson Fanfic: Perseus of Sparta.

Chapter 1: Dreams of Revelation

2006, Manhattan

Perseus was a strange boy. Or at least that's what the people around him called him. His mother, Sally Jackson worked day in and day out to help her run their family of mother and son. Perseus always wondered what happened to his father. At his mention, his mother would always soften and say that he was lost at sea. Somehow, no matter how much his mother loved him, he knew, he knew that something was being hidden from him by his mom.

The bullies at school would often bully him on his name. Perseus Leonidas Jackson. They would catcall and say 'what kind of name is perseus?' and other nonsense that he gave a shit about. But he was curious as well. When he asked his mother as to why his name was derived from two ancient greek heroes his mother said "I named you Perseus because I want you to have a happy ending as he did. And I named Leonidas so that you would inherit his bravery, honor and humility."

Perseus had been awed at the fact and had insisted to his friends to call him Perseus instead of their nickname for him-'Percy'. Perseus was simply sitting on the couch in his apartment as he got over his tenth birthday party that was held by his mom and uncle, Cursus, a person who Perseus knew since he was an infant. Though for some reason he sometimes saw his mother and Cursus looking at each other weirdly.

Just then, Sally came inside the apartment and said "Percy, I have good news." She gushed.

Percy raised an eyebrow and asked "What is it?"

"Your uncle Cursus, managed to get us, just you and me, tickets to Greece. Pack your bags, we are leaving the first light tomorrow," Sally said beaming. Percy stood up stunned as he looked at Sally and shakily asked "Your….You…aren't joking are….you?"

Sally shook her head happily as Percy hugged her tightly. This was probably the best birthday party he ever got.

The travel was a blur. Sally and Percy had left off New York airport and after some hours landed in Athens, Greece. The plane was a frightening experience. For some reason every time the plane experienced a turbulence, his heart rate would increase rapidly. After staying in Athens for a few days, Sally decided that they visit Thessaly. After some minutes of bargaining with a travel guide, Sally had booked a tour to Thermopylae, the place where King Leonidas and his brave 300 Spartans had held off more than 100,000 Persians.

Percy from his place in the jeep immediately tuned out the guide. He was admiring the coastline of Thermopylae and his beauty. Percy breathed in the cool air and the coastal breeze as something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was a horse…..thing. It had the head of a horse and a body of a horse but instead of his legs there were fins and flappers. It was gliding across the sea gracefully and seemed to be enjoying its beauty to the fullest.

Percy blinked his eyes. He knew that there was no sea equivalent of horses. He looked at his mother and said "Mom do you see that?"

Percy pointed his finger towards the creature. For a fraction of a second Sally's eyes widened. Then just as fast as it came, it went away. Sally looked down at her son and said "What's wrong Perseus, there's nothing there."

Percy jerked is head back towards the place he saw the creature to see that indeed no one was there anymore. Percy blinked again. Maybe it was his darn imagination.

Percy shook himself as the guide led him to the Hot Gates where Leonidas and his 300 brave Spartans stood their ground against the Persians. Suddenly Percy's world went dark as he saw the silhouette of a man in his early to mid-forties wearing an armor and wearing a helmet alike to that of Spartan Helmets that were shown in the museums. The man looked at Percy once and gestured him to follow. Percy looked on confused. The guide had stopped and was giving Sally and the other tourists with them some explanations on the tour while Percy slipped off the jeep and followed the man. The silhouette of the person kept walking forward before he reached a spot. This spot was right at the epicenter of the hot gates. Percy flinched slightly as the earth rumbled and the sea grew violent as big tidal waves came crashing down on the place.

The man opened his mouth as he said "Your past resides in this place. Reclaim it, Spartan."

Percy looked confused for a second before he fully understood those words. 'How can I understand him? What does he mean by my past?' Percy wondered as he looked at the man. The man simply pointed downwards and said "Seek and ye shall find."

"Percy!"

Percy's head snapped back as his mother came towards him. "What were you doing here all alone. Don't scare me like that." Sally scolded him. Percy looked back and saw that the silhouette had disappeared.

That evening the mother son duo had decided to sleep in at the Thermopylae Motel that was directly in front of the Memorial of Leonidas. Thermopylae and the Hot Gates were merely fifteen minutes' walk away from there. After some time Sally immediately fell asleep but Percy on the other hand kept fidgeting as the words of the silhouette continued to play out in his mind.

'Your past resides here. Reclaim it.'

'Seek and ye shall find.'

Percy's consciousness slowly faded away as he drifted off to sleep.

Dream

A man was wearing the robes of a king walked into the room. Suddenly Percy realized that he was the man. He looked towards his front and saw a young child maybe of age seven looking up at him curiously. He knelt down and felt a smile on his lips. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"Leonidas, it seems that there is some disturbance in the city." He looked towards his right to see a stunningly beautiful queen who looked at him seriously yet fondly. Another smiled played on his lips as he nodded and looked down at the child and said "Maybe next time kiddo."

The child nodded enthusiastically as he ran into the folds of the palace. The woman whom Percy guessed to be the person he was impersonating's wife led him outside of the palace and into a courtyard. People were gathered around looking at a group of people coming towards him. One of them he recognized. Theron, a politician. Next to him were four dark skinned men. Three of them were armed. The disarmed man stepped forward and said "I am a humble messenger from Persia."

"I see." He said. Percy could not help but revel at the strength he felt coursing through as he impersonated this man. "Our city has given you good hospitality it seems." At this he glared at Theron who stuttered and said "I was merely showing them around my king."

"I am sure you did. So what do you want, Persian?"

The messenger from Persia spread his arms as he said "I come with an offer. Earth and Water."

"Earth and Water." He said, his voice deadly quiet.

"Do not be coy or a liar Persian. Sparta will give neither of those." His wife said. The messenger looked enraged as he said "What makes this woman think she can speak so freely among the company of men?"

"Because only women give birth to true Spartans." The queen retorted.

"Let us walk to cool our tongues." He said as the messenger walked beside him towards a well in the courtyard.

"If you value your life and the lives of your people, listen well your highness. Xerxes controls and conquers everything. He leads an army so big it shakes the earth when it marches. So vast they drink the rivers dry. All that Xerxes requires is a simple offering of Earth and Water. A token of Sparta's submission….to the will of Xerxes." The messenger said.

He took in a deep breath before saying "Submission. That's a little bit of a problem. You see, rumor is that the Athenians have already turned your offer down. And if those philosophers and boy-lovers have that kind of power-"

Theron interrupted him and said "My liege, we must be diplomatic."

"And of course Spartans." He bellowed "Have a reputation to consider."

"Choose your next words wisely. They may be your last as king." The messenger warned.

The wind carried a slight breeze as it made him looked even more intimidating. He drew his sword and pointed it at the messenger.

"Mad man. You're a mad man." The messenger said as he looked at the blade pointed at him.

"Earth and Water. Well you will find plenty of both down there." He said gesturing at the well behind him.

"No man. No man Persian or Greek threatens a messenger." The messenger said.

"You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death. Oh I chose my words wisely Persian, perhaps you should have done the same." He said with a snarl on his face.

"This is blasphemy." The messenger protested. "This is madness."

He slowly put down his sword as he turned back to look at his wife. His wife gave a subtle nod as he turned back towards the messenger.

"Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!" With that he kicked the messenger square in the chest as he fell down into the well behind him. Swords were drawn as the rest of the Persians were also thrown down in the well of Earth and Water.

Dream End

Percy jerked upwards with sweat on his brow. He stood and looked at the clock. 1 p.m. There was still five hours left for daylight to arrive. Percy quickly packed a small bag as he discreetly exited the motel. He walked briskly towards the place where the silhouette had been. As he expected the silhouette was still there. The silhouette simply gestured towards the ground and once again said "Reclaim your past."

Percy had snuck a medium sized shovel from the motel as he started to dig at the place the silhouette had said. After ten to twenty minutes of digging he saw something glinting in the ground below. Percy grunted as he pulled it upwards. The thing was resilient as it refused to come out. Percy groaned as he dug some more around the thing and then slowly took it out of the ground. A large spear almost reaching his eyes in height was in his hands. It was dirty and looked rusted. But the moment he had touched it, it had become good as new. Percy looked at the spear and admired its beauty. It had engravings written in ancient greek in both sides. Surpisingly he could read them. One read 'diatrisi' which meant 'Piercing Tide.' On the other side of the spear was another name written in ancient greek-'Leonidas'.

Percy gingerly picked the spear as he something else glinting the hole he had dug. A shield with a triangle shape on it. He pulled it out as well. Like the spear it had been in rusted form but the moment he touched it became good as new. He pulled it out and then filled the hole with mud. He picked up the spear and shield as he walked back towards the motel.

Later when morning came Sally looked at the spear and shield resting on the table and almost shrieked. She looked at Percy who was looking at her expectantly and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a long day for her.

END OF CHAPTER

So how is it? Please review! Flamers are accepted.