Chapter 1: An Introduction to Reality

There are few things in life as sacred as a connection between a mother and her son. It is the obligation of the parent to prepare their child for the world, and in a small dingy apartment in Manhattan, a mother was prepared to let her child into the cruel unforgiving world.

Percy Jackson and his mother Sally Jackson sat at their kitchen table preparing to blow out the child's birthday candles.

"Happy birthday Percy!" his mother roared as he blew out the candles atop his small cake. Sally reached under the sink and pulled out a wrapped present and sat it on the table.

"Are you ready for your present?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow at him. All he could do is nod. This was the first present he had ever received, other than their yearly trip to Montauk, so he was rather unsure how he was supposed to react.

She handed him the present and nodded at him to open it. "It's not everyday that you turn ten, so I think it is time for you to start learning." She said as he finished unwrapping it. It was an old, faded, leather bound book, about the size of a dictionary and twice as thick.

"Provectus Grimoire?" He questioned as he looked at her. She gave him a grimacing smile as she reached out and held his hand.

"There is much to this world that you do not yet understand, but it is time that you learn so that you can be ready." She said as she rose from her seat and pulled out a stick from seemingly thin air.

"Mom what are you talking about? you're starting to scare me!" He exclaimed as he began to shake.

"There is nothing to be scared about honey, I am just teaching you about your heritage." She said as she waved the stick through the air and uttered "Illuminare." As a small ball of light came from the end of the stick. Percy stared wide eyed at the light that appeared from nowhere.

"How did you do that?" He asked as he stood from the table and walked towards her.

"This is a part of what we are, Percy. You come from a long line of witches and warlocks that have been around for hundreds of years." She said as the light faded and the stick vanished.

"So i'm like Harry Potter!" he screamed as he started jumping around having a small freak out. Sally could do nothing but laugh at his antics as she approached him and got a knee and held his excitingly shaking shoulders.

"Well yes and no you are like him in the sense that you can cast spells, but different in that the spells are nothing like the movies." She said as she brushed his hair to the side and looked him in the eyes. "And before you even ask, no you can not have an owl."

He lost some of the mirth in his eyes and pouted a bit as she said that. "Aww, but that would be so cool." He said as he crossed his arms and looked away. Sally giggled again and picked his chin up.

"Well I'll make you a deal, when you grow up and become a strong and powerful warlock you can get an owl." He perked up more at that and held out a hand to shake. "You got yourself a deal." He said with a grin like he just got the best deal of his life.

Sally stood up, got the book, and handed it to Percy. "This book has all of the knowledge that has been based on from generation to generation. Guard it with your life and starting tomorrow we will begin learning about how to read the book."

He stared down at the book and knew that he wanted to make his mom proud, to become the best that there has ever been. " I will mom, I promise." He said as he hugged the book like it was his lifeline.

"Good boy." She rubbed his head. " In a couple of years after you have learned a bit I will tell you more about the world, but for now this will suffice."

Percy sat on the ground and flipped open to a random page in his book. All he could really understand from it was the drawing of people making motions with their hands or sticks and a language that he could not understand.

"I see what you mean by learning how to read it now." He said as he continued to flip through pages, all the while getting more and more excited to learn.

"That will be for another day dear." She said as she closed the book for him. "You need to get ready for bed, you have your first day of school for the year starting tomorrow."

He looked at her like she just killed his owl. "You just told me one of the coolest things on earth and you expect me to sleep?!" He said as he waved his arms through the air.

"Yes I do, now to bed now or no learning about magic." That was the end of conversation as he stood up, grabbed the book, and dredged to his room, stopping one last time at the threshold of the kitchen and gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could.

She walked up to him and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Percy. I love you so much."

"I love you too mom." he said as he yawned and moseyed on to bed.

Sally sat in the kitchen and waited until she heard his door close and began to sob. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she would lose her baby boy. She wiped the tears from her eyes knowing that she had to teach him as much as possible before that day comes.

She rose from her seat and went to bed for the night, knowing that tomorrow will be the beginning of a hard journey for her son.

A/N: I wanted to get back into writing after I lost the motivation for my other story after I lost ten chapters worth of progress. I am going to try and stay somewhat consistent with this one. I always appreciate constructive criticism and please keep in mind I am not an expert at writing, I am just putting my ideas on paper. Hope you all have a great day.