Beta Note: this is the proofread-ed version of this chapter. I didn't change anything from what Neptune's son wrote, just added some words, and fixed the grammar and some spelling. So yeah, glad to be of help.

AN: aLazyButSmartFanPJO fixed this chapter up for me so shout out to him. He is one of my many beta readers and especially a good writer. So I will like to give him his own credit for the work he did.

Chapter 2: A Boy with a Troubled Spirit

Third person (Year 2003 Winter)

In an apartment, in New York City, a boy ran from his stepfather to his room after he hit his stepfather where the sun doesn't shine. His stepfather had just stabbed him, and he was now bleeding profusely from the long cut on his face. The cut came from his right eyebrow, past the right eye, and down to his lower right neck. The cut was now one of many permanent cuts he had but this one was the only one you could actually see because the rest were either on his back or chest.

The pain the child carried was more than a 5-year-old should ever feel, and the emotional trauma would almost be irreversible. Why had the boy been stabbed? Well, his supposed stepfather just killed his mom because he was going to rape her but then she fought back. Then also, the boy decided to stop him but he had been too late. His stepfather did not take too nicely to the boy fighting him, so he hacked at him and dragged the knife across his face. This, for the boy, was the last straw and he knew it; but far away, someone watched him.

In a white marbled city an 8-year-old looking girl gazed at the child quizzically through a hearth. She felt the sea in him and a strange other power, the power of magic flowed in the boy. Then she knew: this was the child of the prophecy. Even though another child of the big three was older, she just felt that he was the one to have the fate of the prophecy. As she watched the boy, she sensed what he planned to do and knowing her brother would not take too nicely to a son of the sea, she decided to save him from his current predicament and from the fate of her brother. For the child was Percy Jackson and the fate of the world would rest in his hands one day.

Percy

I was done I could no longer take what I am going through. I was tired, in pain; my mom is motionless and probably dead, my supposed dad had abandoned us, and now my "great" stepdad looked murderous after I hit him.

Gabe was not a nice man; he constantly hurt me, physically and emotionally. This new cut was the last straw. I am going to run away and maybe I can find a new home. I quickly grabbed a change of clothes and some water and threw it in my bag. I then made my way to the window and looked one more time to the home I would never want to see again.

And as I went out the window I cried for being weak, for not being strong enough to save my mom; I cried that she was possibly dead, and I cried because it was only a matter of time before I die because no 5-year-old can survive on his own.

I made it to the street and walked aimlessly throughout the streets of New York City. I understand that people call it running away, but I was five, and no one this young had ever thought of running away. As I went to Central Park, I felt different; I felt a new home, my heart was filled with warmth in the cold New York air. I saw a woman standing by what looked to be a homeless man's barrel fire. And as I thought of this, I started to cry again because I was now homeless; I had no one, no home, no parent, no one, just no one… At this point I passed out by the barrel, because of the emotional roller coaster I just endured.

(12 hours later)

I woke up in a comfortable bed with the warmth still burning in me. I looked around and noticed the woman I saw earlier. She told me to relax and to eat the food she gave me. I told myself that this was the greatest meal I have had in a long time. She gave me a drink that looked like apple juice, but the juice tasted exactly like my mom's cookies. And as I tasted it I wanted to cry; I miss my mom already. But the women hugged me seeing the tears in my eyes and I also hugged her tightly.

She told me, while hugging me, that my mom did die but that she was now in better place. It was a place she said was where all the good people went to stay when they died: a place called Elysium. As she retracted from the hug she told me her name. She said her name was Hestia. I smiled at her but as I smile I noticed the pain from my cut wasn't there anymore. I reached up to touch the cut, but all I felt was a scar.

I asked her how the pain went away. Hestia explained to me, "The drink I gave you is called nectar; it is the drink of the gods and it heals wounds for demigods." I look at her questioningly, a look many 5 years old never give, and she smiled at me and told me she is a goddess and that I was a demigod. Somewhere in my heart and mind I knew it was true and I believed her.

She then told me, "I found you in the park and I couldn't leave you alone, bleeding, so I brought you here to my palace on Olympus and before you ask Olympus is on top of the Empire State building, my little boy." When she called me her "little boy" I became happy. She than explained everything to me. Who the gods were, what demigods are, which I will admit surprised me and also made me angry knowing my dad had power to save my mom, and she also told me about the laws of the gods, or Ancient Laws as they call it, which at this point I could care less for supposed laws. She held off on one thing until the end and I have a feeling that this one is the identity of my dad.

Hestia

A sense of dread washed over me as I see the boy's eyes pleading me to tell him who his father is. This boy went through so much and I can't give him more pain. As I contemplate how tell him, I think of a few minutes before this conversation.

The boy had looked at me with love. He'd showed a sense of love and joy when I hugged him. And in my heart I knew I'd felt the same way. This boy was innocent and I felt a strange feeling, which I took off as motherly affection: the feeling I give to mothers, the feeling that motivates mothers to make a nice home-I felt it now and I wanted to give it to this little boy.

I told him that his father was Poseidon, god of earthquakes, horses, hurricanes, oceans, seas, storms, and other bodies of water. He looked at me, knowing that just a couple minutes ago I explained that his father was the second strongest god or probably even stronger than Zeus, his eyes tearing up. I hugged him again and held him close, but what surprised me at this moment is that he wasn't angry-he was just sad that his father, that cruel man, left him, even though he had the ability to save him and his mom. I told him that everything was fine and that I will take care of him.

He smiled at me and I knew in my heart that I care so much for this young boy that I'd just met. And the Fates did all of this on purpose-to make sure he will grow to be a good boy and man when the time came.

My little boy named Percy Jackson is going to be raised by me: Hestia, goddess of the hearth, home, the right ordering of domesticity, and family.

Percy

When I heard her say my dad's name I couldn't think of anything, so I cried. Because the second strongest of the Big Three was my daddy, and even then he never helped me. Hestia hugged me and I instantly felt better, like when my mom hugs me. Being a goddess made her beautiful but also I felt her being powerful. However, in her I sensed and felt the peace she gives out.

I want her to be mom; I need her to be my mom. When I pulled away I felt empty, like what a child feels without his mother, for what am I to do? I was simply a little 5-year-old learning so many things today and needing someone isn't shocking. She then told me that she will take care of me, and I smiled at her. Because now, I feel I have a home.

I told her that my name is Perseus Orion Jackson but she said she already knows it. I asked her how she knows it and she told me, "Percy, I have been watching you since you where born." I smiled, knowing someone now cares for me.

"What do you plan to do with me now?" I asked her.

She told me she can't keep me here and I frowned upon hearing that, but she reassured me that she won't leave me and that I will be going to a place where the gods have no control, Alaska I think she said. And from there, she would take care of me and visit me every day as I grow up and eventually I'll go to this demigod camp that she was saying. I asked her the reason why I can't go to camp now, and she replied, "You're too young but also the main reason is that your Uncle Zeus will take you as a threat and might try to kill you."

At hearing this I got mad, and noticed, while lying on the bed, a greenish/purplish mixture of light was coming off of my body. She said softly that I needed to calm down. I did eventually, and apologized to her. She said it's fine, but with wide eyes; and that I only need to learn how to control my emotions. I promised that I will learn how to control myself.

"I will bless you, Percy, so that you will have the powers of the hearth just like mine, with the ability to control fire."

She put a hand on me and I felt a new power course through me, with warmth going through my body at amazing speeds, over and over again. And as it settled I noticed a small amount of green, mixed with purple, mixed with orange emitting from my body as a light. She looked over me with wide eyes.

I barely heard her mumble to herself, ''He is stronger than a few minor gods at this age, with the power emitted from him. True, he may not be able to use it yet but he emits a small aura just like a god but eventually it will grow as he ages and trains. He will, one day, be stronger than many gods and even maybe the Olympians."

Diary entry number 20 last known Diary entry from Percy Jackson's Burnt Diary

Exact date unknown, the year 2009 month September

Well, 6 years have passed.. I now live in a log cabin in Alaska and have been for about five and a half years. It took me almost 6 months to get here since I needed to walk haha. Well I am now 11, go figure, supposedly Mom says that the other girl Thalia, if am correct on the name, was killed by my Uncle Hades… Well not killed, not really, but forced my Uncle's hand, Zeus, to make his daughter into a tree. So dead…I guess (as I shrug)?
So my mom, who by the way is Hestia, adopted me a while back when I was 7 after I accidentally cried (over my past) and called her mom on accident. She then preceded to ask me if that's what I wanted and it will be her joy to have me as her son. Of course I said yes. So with her adopting me I grew stronger in my pyro abilities and comfort ones also.
My aura now reaches about 8 feet around me and still is the combination of green, purple and orange when I don't control it, so its pretty much black (and by control I mean sometimes I control it to only emit one color). I also learned that somewhere along my mom's side I had an ancestor who was a son of Hecate (long story). And now I am a legacy of this Hecate goddess but my mom still questions why I have the power of a direct son of Hecate. It confuses us both to be honest but I have honed my magical abilities… well to the point I don't pass out.
I can create things out of nothing and make shields of magic and even necromancy (cool). I also learned I can go ANYWHERE I want, any domain I want without being spotted or detected. Which my mom states is the reason why my real pathetic dad couldn't find me, which I still call bullshit. But I don't want to go that topic. Where was I? Ohh right.
Well, I know magic pretty well because my mom got me one of Hecate's spell books so I have that, I also have this sword; (the best swordsman of this century my mom says supposedly) I just think she is trying to keep my self esteem up personally. Anyway its name is Riptide. Mom gave it to me about a month ago for my 11th birthday. The sword is beautiful; it has a silvery glow with a silvery blade but also if you move it correctly, just for a moment you see the bronze color from the Celestial bronze. My mom says its special beyond understanding and that the silver blade in made of something unique and that even she doesn't know what metal it is. Oh well it's still my favorite weapon along with my fiery bow.
My bow is made of the flames I produce, which surprisingly is like my aura colors mixed, so like a dark black fire; since purple, green, and orange don't make any color. My fire being black means the bow is also black and made of pure flames (black, shocker!) with the arrows being made of fire too (black); almost like Apollo's bow but his is pure yellow fire (note: bow can change colors upon my will-green, purple, orange usually black each color having a different ability). I am amazing at my bow if I do say so myself but I could be better, so I practice that a lot (Artemis states I am better than her hunters, still self esteem boost?).
Hmmm what else; oh right my hunting knives (like my bow I am amazing with it "Artemis says so"), which I keep at my side, are made of Athenian silver (Mom got it, didn't ask how she managed to but she did) and celestial bronze. I also wear a cloak, which has a hood that covers my face like a certain game I know, just can't seem to remember it. I also learned the abilities of a Hunter of Artemis: walking silently, tracking, (need it when I hunt up here) and also their endurance (Artemis taught me but no blessing ''good as hunters").
I have trained every day and will do it till I perfect all my powers even my water ones, which I have honed to the point where I can do pretty cool things. I can create hurricanes, mist travel (teleport by magic, and fire also), cause earthquakes, and even manipulate water to whatever I want. I will say that I'm well at my powers but not perfect and won't stop training until I am. Also I train with automatons made by Hephaestus himself. As to gods and goddesses who know I exist: only my mom, Hephaestus, Athena and Artemis do.
My powers are honed and I ask myself: am I ready for the world to come? Well I only have one more year before I go to this so-called camp. My mom says it will be for the best but will it? I'm not sure. I have my weapons which are a book of spells (which most I have memorized), a sword (which hides like a pen) my bow (fiery=awesome), and my two hunting knives with my cloak and maybe about 6 changes of clothes. I have my training given to me by my mom, a god and two goddesses. I have my will and smarts (thanks to tutoring by Athena and being blessed by her), but this girl right here that I just saved… it makes me question everything.
She is beautiful, my age, and amazing. She is still out cold (also hurt really bad) but I have my fire going to keep us warm in my cabin and I'm healing her every couple of minutes with my powers (took a break to write this). She had seemed to be fighting that stupid wolf Lycaon and by what the wolf (minion of Lycaon) I tortured told me was that she is part of the Hunters of Artemis. He then told me that they forced her from the hunt and chased her for over a day into deep Alaska ultimately ending here by my home.
I killed that wolf and well now I have this beautiful black onyx-eyed, silky black haired, copper-like skinned, graceful girl in my bed recovering. I'm still not sure what to do with her. She said only one sentence before passing out: "I am Zoe Nightshade.. Please I beg, don't hurt me."

AN: Here is the second chapter, as you can see the ending is just a diary entry. Those may pop up randomly with different things but as a separate book sort of thing. Also look out for my diary entries to learn how he meets Artemis, Athena and Hephaestus. It will also include his life in Alaska with other things. As for this book, more chapters will continue to go up for I plan to be done with this book before this month ends. Word count for books will be between 30 to maybe 60 thousand words maybe more but unlikely. Chapters will be between 2000 and 6000 words. So look out world! Next Chapter won't start the search for the weapons or him going to camp, more like Zoë recovering, also romance starting here? Maybe?

SIDE NOTE:I know having Zoë young at age 11 is really OOC but she was a half immortal. So with going to Alaska she loses age from 14 back to 11 reverting her to being just a demi-titan because Artemis is no longer connected to her.

Please Review! It motivates me to keep going with it.