Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, any characters mentioned and its fictional places - they all belong to Rick Riordan.
-1942, somewhere above the English Channel and the North Sea-
Stella was tired. Unbelievably so. She'd spent hours flying, and she had a while before she touched land. She wanted nothing more than to stretch, to spread her limbs so far that they'd detach. Even then, that seemed too little of a way to relieve her tiredness. It was impossible of course, there was no way for her to move so freely in the small scouter plane she found herself in. It was too tight, too restricting.
She widened her eyes, hoping that it would prevent her eyelids from drooping. It was futile.
The soft and steady drops of rain splattered against the cockpit's canopy glass, lulling and urging her to sleep. For the sake of her continued survival, Stella ignored it. She'd rather not crash and die because she was 'feeling tired'.
Her fingers aimlessly tapped against the control column, an act that she wasn't aware of, but found herself doing whenever she was agitated.
"Stupid war," she muttered. "You'd think they would have learned from the last one."
She yawned, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth as she let out an involuntary sigh. her fingers lingered there for a few seconds before they slowly lowered and rested on the pendant that dangled between her neck.
'Have I not done enough, father?', she pleaded, as she traced the exterior of the lightning bolt shape with her fingers.
Thud!
Suddenly, Stella was wide awake. Any vestige of sleep or rest was gone.
Something large had collided with the plane, or rather...landed on.
The jagged screech of blades tearing into the plane echoed loudly within the cockpit. Stella looked up and could see large, leathery wings belonging to some sort of avian monster.
The monster happened to catch Stella glancing at her and bared its teeth. An assortment of yellow fangs engulfed in saliva.
"Lord Hades will have your blood, spawn of Zeus!", it snarled.
Stella grabbed the controls and immediately began aiming down to the nearest coast. The quick descent spurned the monster into action, as it began clawing desperately, hissing and spitting all the while.
It didn't take long for it to rip open the cockpit canopy's glass, but it was that exact moment that Stella used to eject out of her seat.
Just as the bird monster was about to descend its claws onto her, Stella tugged her pendant. The pendant broke from her neck with a 'click!', and quickly shifted into a 3ft long sword. The handle of the sword was grey, with indecipherable runic letters etched into the hilt. The blade itself was bone white, so light in colour that simply drawing it caused the monster to wince.
Stella readied herself, her body suspended mid-flight.
The monster let out a screech before lunging towards her. Its body spiralling as its wings tucked to the sides of its torso, and its talons outstretched - zoning in on Stella's frame. She swung her sword, teeth gritted and fingers clenching the handle tightly. The bird monster flapped its wings and only just managed to evade the tip of her sword. It then used Stella's momentary disorientation to scratch her with its claws, striking her against her torso.
"Ugh!"
Stella groaned in pain, as a sudden gush of agony jolted through her chest.
'I only need one shot.', she thought as she panted whilst jostling against the monster. 'One shot to kill this stupid bird.'
With renewed vigour, Stella dove towards the flying beast. Her eyes flared, a startling electric blue.
A large thundercloud formed above their heads instantly, with veins of lightning dancing through it.
"Argh!", Stella let out a battle cry, as her blade honed in on the monster that had now begun to flee. Her sword raised above her head just as thunder broke open from the sky. Lightning arced down and into the sword, propelling her even faster into the fleeting beast. With tremendous force and strength, Stella swiped her sword. The metal blade passed through the monster's neck with ease, as if it was slicing through butter.
Burst!
The monster disintegrated into yellow powder with a dying howl. Its powdered remains clinging to Stella's pilot uniform. It smelt of sulphur and rot.
Her head spun, she'd been slowly lowering to the ground since she'd ejected from her plane, but had always remained at high altitudes. Her body turned limp. Inwardly, she cursed herself - for exerting so much power in one go, when her body had been tired already. Stella's eyesight blurred, and then everything became fuzzy before she saw nothing at all. Her body listless and slack, as it hurtled to the coast she'd decided to land on earlier...
The waves beneath her descending body crashed violently against the coast. That was until Stella's lifeless figure neared closer and closer. It was then, that it fell into a hush, the sea calming and swirling for her arrival.
A large body of water met her halfway, gently submerging her and lowering her onto the beach floor. Out from the water emerged a tall man, sporting green shorts and sandals. He had medium-length black hair, a neatly-trimmed black beard, and a deep tan. His sea-green eyes peered intently at her face, studying the mystery that fell from the skies. His calloused hands cupped her face as he noted her features.
Her hair was half braided, with the rest of it flowing freely past her shoulders. Stray locks of hair framed her face, and it looked as though she'd laid her head on top of a thousand shades of gold. Her face was strong, both in design and expression. High cheekbones, high nose bridge...
He looked at the rest of her body, her torso was torn open - her clothes that is. Ripped from her earlier fight.
In all his studying, he forgot his hand still laid on her cheeks. He sighed in resignation.
He was captivated.
His hands glowed, and a shine of gold washed over her body.
As the light subsided, her eyelashes began to flutter slowly.
And then she shot up. Woke as if it was an emergency; as if sleeping was something dangerous. Something she couldn't afford. She jumped up and rolled away from the man.
"Where am I?", she barked. She spoke in a tone that demanded a reply.
He didn't answer.
He didn't answer, because he'd caught a glimpse of her eyes...so unlike the ocean blue he was used to - but familiar all the same, because it was the same he'd see whenever he looked up at the sky. Although, on her face, it looked more defiant. An angry blue, that reminded him of a certain annoying little brother...
"Stand down," he finally replied. "You're in no danger."
Stella listened to him. She felt compelled to.
"You're a god.", she said as she relaxed slightly - whilst keeping her distance all the while.
The man nodded, before walking closer towards her.
"If it hadn't been a time of war, I'd have left you to fall.", he narrowed his eyes. "Even more so. Since you're the daughter of my brother."
Stella's eyes squinted, her head whirring thoughtfully.
"Your brother...you mean-"
"Zeus."
Stella shook her head, and thought to herself, 'Easy mistake to make.'
"I'm no child of Zeus."
The man's brows drew together, his gaze clouded as he looked to the distance. "Are you sure?"
Stella nodded. "Positive."
His eyes then focused on her, narrowing once more. "Then, who are you?"
"Stella.", she beamed. As if everything would be clear as soon as she said it.
The man frowned.
She turned around and examined her surroundings, before asking, "Where am I?". The same question she had asked earlier, and yet without its grit or threatening nature.
The god stared blankly at her before responding.
"Tynemouth, England."
"Stupid name."
He smiled, amused. "And still, you find yourself in its hospitality."
Stella whipped back around and met his stare. "It would have been on less favourable terms if you hadn't intervened.", she fell onto the floor, kneeling on one knee. "Thank you."
"You need not bow.", he said. "All demigods are valuable in this war. I'd have done it for any but Hades' children."
Her eyes widened in realization, before quickly reverting into its natural state. That being, weariness.
'Poseidon.', she sighed, 'Great.'
"He sent that...monster.", she articulated her thoughts. "He seems to think I'm Zeus' daughter."
"I'm afraid, they'd have even more reason to believe that, after the display of your powers.", He reasoned. "You are a powerful demigod. That much I can sense, yet you say you're not my brother's. It's...alarming."
Her shoulders rose to shrug lazily, "I apologise for alarming you.", she said, as she turned and made her way off.
Poseidon watched her back as she walked away, and surmised that she was searching for something. Her gaze was locked on the floor, searching intently as trudged through the beach.
She interested him. She was shrouded in mystery, and he couldn't help but feel as though their meeting was necessary. That it was fate.
His attention then turned towards the shore. He could feel something, it reminded him of his brother - as did most things about the girl. Although, this more so in essence...in power.
"It must be what she's searching for.", he murmured, before snapping his fingers. In his hand, popped a pendant. He closed his eyes and felt the hum of power that was imbued into the jewellery. It was the divinity of a god, that much he was sure. Though, not the divine power of any Greek or Roman god. She belonged to another pantheon, and that startled him. In all their conflict, his brothers and him, he'd failed to remember that the world belonged to many more. The mindset that all deities took was that of, 'Ignorance is bliss.', but that wasn't feasible now. In a war in which the whole world was a participant, it was obvious that other pantheons would be caught in the middle. And besides...
He didn't want to ignore her.
Such was the nature of gods, to fall in love with ease. Especially when it came to mortals...so little time, such fleeting lifespans. And Stella; she was just as mortal as she was godly.
"I found your little toy!", Poseidon called out to her, a teasing lilt laden in his voice.
She stomped over, her dainty feet digging into the rocks. "It's not a toy.", she grumbled as she made to grab it from his hands.
Poseidon pulled his hand back and smiled as he watched her scowl.
"Can I please have it back?", Stella sighed.
"Sure.", he replied, as he clicked the pendant over his own neck, "Take it yourself."
"W-what!?", she stammered, red-facedly.
"I thought you said you wanted it?", Poseidon asked - a false look of confusion plastered on his face.
"I didn't think you'd go and do that!"
"Well, I did.", he smirked.
The two of them then stood there for a while, neither moving nor say anything. He was looking at her expectantly, and she wanted nothing more than to book it. Pendant be damned.
Finally, her hands wrapped around his neck in an attempt to quickly remove the pendant from the man. What made this task incredibly difficult, was the fact that Stella refused to look at him.
He had no shirt on!
Looking at his face wouldn't have been ideal either, they were too close to each other.
"Why do you keep moving?!", Stella asked annoyedly as her hands desperately tried to grab onto the troublesome pendant. The shirtless god kept inching back whenever she was close!
With a quick leap, Stella's fingers latched onto the pendant, "Finally!".
However, in the process - her arms had tightly woven around Poseidon's neck. She had yet to realise until his hand snaked towards the small of her back.
"What are you-", Stella pulled back with a yelp, "-doing!"
Understandably, Stella didn't react well to surprises. Most demigods didn't, much less one in the middle of worldwide conflict. She quickly reverted to her battle instincts, with refined and seamless form - she swept her leg underneath the man's foot, flooring him in seconds.
Splash!
As his body hit the floor, he liquified - leaving a patch of water in the wake of Stella's sudden violence.
"Interesting question.", Stella craned her neck from behind her, where the voice suddenly emerged from. "I believe it is called a hug. It's common courtesy to respond with one of your own when offered. I don't suppose flattening them is another."
Stella looked away bashfully, her face, neck, and ears feeling impossibly hot. "I didn't offer you a hug!"
"Yet your hands were wrapped around my neck?", he asked tauntingly.
Stella opened and closed her mouth, lost for words when confronted by the audacity of the man before her.
"That was you!", she protested, her hands waving emphatically before settling on pointing at Poseidon accusingly. "You put my pendant around your neck-, I wasn't going for a-... That was you!"
"Indeed it is.", he said as he inched closer to her, amused by her tirade. "How lucky for us all."
She sighed, before leaning back and dropping herself onto the sand.
"Can I have it back?", Stella groused in defeat. The colour from her cheeks was now gone, and she'd suddenly remembered the inconvenient situation she was in. "I have to reach London as soon as possible, and I'd rather not part with it."
Poseidon tossed her pendant back to her, having grown bored of teasing the demigod girl.
He sat beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder as she rose to leave. "I can take you there."
She fought back a retort, before being reminded that - he was an incredibly powerful god who was trying to help her. It wouldn't do well to insult him, he'd killed others for far less than that. On the other hand, he might ask her for a favour later on...one which she would have no choice but to accept.
She sat there for a few seconds, listening to the gentle song of the waves moving closer and further.
"I'd like that."
Stella turned her head, gauging whether she took too long to answer - so he'd upped and vanished. She wouldn't have been surprised if he did.
Instead, she was met with a smile - an almost silly grin that made her tingle. He pulled out his hand for her to take. she grabbed and used the hand as support to lift herself up to her feet. As it turned out, that tingle she was feeling was more than just a feeling- a small flicker of lightning shocked the man's fingers.
Poseidon didn't have any other response, aside from the quizzical blinking he directed at Stella.
"Sorry!", she said flusteredly, pulling her hand back quickly - they'd been holding each other for five seconds. In Stella's mind, that was five seconds longer than it should have been.
She was met with silence once more until a sudden burst of laughter emanated from the man. Stella looked away, her ears red as she pressed her lips tight.
"Hilarious, I'm sure.", she droned sarcastically in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
"Well...maybe a little.", he remarked - before clicking his fingers. With a faint golden light, they were gone.
"London!", Poseidon mock exclaimed, "How exciting."
The men and women that passed them busily, gave them curious looks. Most probably due to the god's outlandish appearance.
"I didn't come here for excitement.", Stella rolled her eyes. "Besides...everywhere is exciting when you're a demigod."
"Mm.", Poseidon nodded thoughtfully, "I suppose it is". He said as he eyed a van that slowly pulled into the ammunition factory nearby.
"Yes...", Stella replied in an awkward fashion - she was used to God's dismissing her after an encounter, she didn't think she'd have to be the one to do it this time!
"This is where we part ways, but I'll be seeing you very, very soon.", He cut in before she could say anything, he then pecked her on her cheek.
"Hey!-", Stella's red-faced admonishment fell on deaf ears, he left in a flash of light instantly.
"What was that?", she heard a murmur of civilians intone from her around her. Stella took that as her cue to leave, fast-walking to the ammunition factory across the road.
She circled around it, towards the back where the entrance she most commonly used was situated. Plumes of smoke filled her vision as she held her breath and wafted it away with her hands.
"Stella!", she heard as soon as she pushed the door open, sightlessly. "Did your quest go well?"
Stella nodded, her eyes wet from the irritation caused by the smoke, "What's with the toxic fart gas?"
"Erik's fault.", The girl replied with a bitter smile.
"I already said I was sorry, Sanna!", a young boy's voice yelled from the other side of the 'factory'.
Stella shook her head and let out a sigh, "I'm going to the barracks, I need a rest."
1946, Tynemouth England
"He doesn't look very manly.", Poseidon remarked as he peered down at the infant in his arms.
Stella slapped the man across his head...it didn't do much damage. She could be excused though. She had just given birth, after all.
"That's because he's a baby.", she hissed as Poseidon held her hand gently and kissed it, dismissing her assault.
"I know, I was only teasing.", he released Stella's hand and raised the child above his head with both hands. "He's handsome, just like his father! What a shame his hair is...like that."
"Hey!-", Stella croaked - affronted by the statement, "You said you liked my hair."
"I do.", Poseidon affirmed. "I'd just rather he had mine."
Stella rolled her eyes, "He already looks too much like you, if not for his hair - I'd wonder if he truly was mine."
"Dear...", Poseidon started as he turned towards her. The baby was cradled in his arms and wore the exact same expression as his father, "...You gave birth to him."
"I know. Now, let me hold my son."
He gurgled softly as she nestled him into her arms, his eyes wandered everywhere - taking in everything for the first time. They were the softest shade of blue and green, a mixture of both his parents. The by-product of when the sky meets the sea.
"My darling Aris.", Stella cooed as the small boy played with her finger's. Upon hearing his name, a melodic titter of a laugh sounded.
zzZt!
"Oh!", A small shock of lightning passed through Stella's finger. "I guess he really is mine."
Poseidon let out a deep guffaw.
AN.
First Chapter done. Let me know if you liked it.