A/N: This chapter touches on Percy's training and early life and Introduces Chaos.

Chapter Two: The Lady In Red

A six-year-old Percy Jackson was running along the sandy beaches of Montauk with a huge smile plastered over his face, he was being chased by his mother Sally who was laughing at her adorable son, she picked him off the sand and started tickling him mercilessly.

"Mom! mo-mom! stop, I won't dump any bucket of wat-water on you again! I-I promise!" Percy managed to stay between uncontrolled fits of laughter.

Sally held the boy close and ruffled his hair, oh how much she loved her sweet son, "Good, and you better remember that! now let's go to the cabin, your father would be arriving any moment now." she said and let go of him.

"Yay! dad is coming! dad is coming!" he squealed with joy and shooted back towards the cabin.

Sally shook her head in amusement and started tailing him again.

Every year Percy's father would visit them twice, once on Sally's birthday and once on their son's birthday, he would spend a week or two with them before he returned to the seas, she still couldn't believe how crazy her life was, the man she loved, the father of their child was a god...

Percy thought that his father was a sailor, that's the reason that they had given him for why his father left spent so many months in the oceans, little did the poor boy know that his dad was none other than Poseidon, the Greek God of the Seas, Earthquakes, and Horses.

Sally had made sure that Percy knew the Greek mythology, he loved hearing stories about gods and heroes, his favorite god, to his father's great joy, was none other than Poseidon himself and his favorite hero was Achilles.

Sally entered the small cabin where they were staying and closed the door behind her, Percy was jumping up and down on his bed, excited to see his father again, she picked her son up and settled him on her lap, "Now, be a good boy and I will tell you how Theseus defeated the minotaur." Sally said, Percy immediately calmed himself, he really did love those stories.

While Sally was reading a story for her son, a 20 feet tall man emerged from the seas, he held a tong trident that was gleaming under the moonlight, he was wearing full greek armor and the sea seemed to bend around him in respect, as the man stepped on the beach his form shrunk until he was a little under seven feet tall and his greek armor morphed into a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts, he banged his trident against the sand and with a soft glow the trident got converted into a sleek metallic pen which he pocketed. He walked towards a familiar cabin with a bright smile and knocked on the door softly, shortly after that, the cabin door opened and a blur crashed into him.

"Daddy!" Percy squealed and tackled his father in a hug.

Poseidon boomed with laughter and picked up his son. Just like Percy's mother, he ruffled his hair before walking inside and settling his over-excited son on a chair, he walked towards Sally and greeted her with a soft kiss and a warm hug.

"I missed you..." Sally whispered as she stared into the same sea-green eyes that her son had inherited.

"I missed you too my love," Poseidon whispered back and pulled her into a hug again.

That night the family of three laughed and celebrated, they spent the night reading stories and playing with Percy who had just turned six.

Once the boy fell asleep they tucked him into his bed and watched him sleep, he was, undoubtedly, the most precious part of their lives.

Sally looked at Poseidon and held his hand, "he looks so peaceful sleeping, but if what you said about demigods is true, he will have to face many hardships in the future..." she said sadly.

Poseidon lifted her chin to meet her eyes, "Yes, he will face many challenges in his life... but he will never let them stop him, he will face every challenge bravely and conquer them, my son will be the greatest hero the world has ever seen... I can feel it in my heart..." he said.

Sally wrapped her arms around Poseidon and held him, they did not say anything, there was no need for that... both of them knew how much they loved each other and their son.

Sometime later Sally chuckled at a memory, "You know he is a really big fan of Poseidon... I wonder how he would react when he finds out you are the very God that he idolizes."

He gave her a knowing smile, "I know... a few months earlier I felt someone praying to me... but you see, this was no ordinary person..." he said looking at Percy, "it was a boy who was praying to the sea god to look after his father and bring him back to him soon."

"I am glad you can be here for him, however short it may be, it just matters that you are here, he loves you a lot..." Sally said.

"So am I Sally, so am I..." Poseidon said, thankful for how lucky he was... usually, the ancient laws prevented gods from contacting their demigod children, but Poseidon found out, that somehow, those laws did not prevent him from meeting Percy, it was as if a higher power had made an exception in his case and bent the rules for him, but who was powerful enough to bend the ancient laws? he had no idea, but he was eternally grateful to whoever it was...

What Poseidon did not know was that his suspicions were correct, there was indeed a higher power looking out for Percy, in fact, it was the highest power in the universe who was looking out for him like she always did... for she loved him just as much if not more than his own parents.

"We will have to make sure he is prepared, Sally." Poseidon said, "He is a very powerful demigod... his control over my domain is exceptionally strong, even if he does not know it yet." Percy had started showing his powers as soon as he was born, Poseidon had enchanted a trident necklace to absorb all the divine power rolling off him so that he did not reveal his secret too soon.

Poseidon was not ready to tell him the truth yet... he was already going against the ancient laws in seeing his son and he did not dare to go any further in fear of ruining this gift.

"How are we going to prepare him without telling him the truth?" Sally asked.

"I will send my most trusted lieutenant to teach him swordfight, archery, and battle tactics, he will come disguised as a human, to Percy it will all be a game, he is already in love with our stories, and his demigod's brain is hardwired to fight, he will accept the training without any questions... the enchanted trident necklace won't work on him too long, one day Percy will overpower it and his powers will be revealed, he must be ready to wield that power when the time arrives."

Four years later...

A ten years old Percy Jackson was furiously defending himself from the onslaught of attacks raining down on him, he ducked behind a sword and kicked his opponent, this gave him enough time to regain his footing and return the favor with his own series of attacks, he swung his sword with great speed but it was blocked by his opponent's sword, he jumped towards the left and dodged a jab aimed at him.

'Alright Percy think... you cannot overpower him, you are just 10, he is more experienced and powerful... what are going to do.' he thought furiously while dodging and slashing, 'your advantages are agility and well... that's it, use your agility.' he thought.

Ducking under another swing he charged forward at full speed, his opponent, not having expected this, hastily brought his sword to block his jab, without waiting for his opponent to recover, Percy rolled out of the way and attacked again, he was blocked once more but he kept dodging and running and attacking, eventually, his opponent left an opening and Percy took the opportunity and charged again, but before he could hit him Percy felt a leg strike on his ankles sending him sprawling on the floor, he rolled over immediately only to find a sword pointed at his throat.

Percy sighed, "fine you win again..." he surrendered.

His opponent dropped his sword and offered him a hand, Percy took the outstretched hand and raised himself.

"You have fought well Perseus, keep this up and soon it would be me surrendering." his mentor said.

"You always say that Isidore, I have still a lot to learn before I can defeat you," Percy said humbly, that was the thing Isidore like the most about his young charge's personality, his humility, something that was quite surprising since it was a trait his father lacked the most, back in he would sink entire cities if he felt disrespected, but then again, these days he acted differently, perhaps Sally had affected him more deeply than anyone could have anticipated.

"I say it because it is the truth young Perseus... for your age, you are a lot and I mean it when I say a lot stronger than anyone else I ever trained, I won't be surprised if you manage to defeat me before you are 12," he said, and it was the truth, being the lieutenant of Lord Poseidon he had taught many great Atlantian warriors, yet Percy was something else entirely, he had inherited his father's strength and proficiency with weapons, he also had a very analytical brain and came up with ingenious ways to surprise him in their sparring sessions, Isidore was proud of his student and was glad his king allowed him to train the young prince.

"Thank you, Isidore... I will try my best to not disappoint you." Percy promised.

"I know." he replied, "Now... It is time that I leave... I will see you again next week, spend the next few days practicing what I taught you today, next time I will test you on them," he said and left.

Percy walked away from his training area and stepped on the edge of the beach, a few years ago his father had purchased a house near the beach, and now this is where he stayed and trained, sometimes he wondered what the purpose of this training was, it was not as if people used swords and arrows in the twenty-first century, but somehow, in his heart, it all made sense.

Percy lay down on the sand and looked at the sky, fidgeting with his trident necklace like he always did when in deep thought, he observed a cloud that the moving across the sky slowly, before his eyes the cloud gradually morphed into the face of a woman, there she was... 'The Lady' Percy had started seeing her face when he was seven, and now everywhere he looked he saw her, he saw her in the patterns made on the sand, he saw her in the clouds, he saw her in the leaves of the trees... everywhere...

Percy did not know who she was or if she even was something and not a figment of his imagination, he did not share this with his parents, in fear that they would think he is crazy, he did not know why he saw her but he did... for some reason, only he seemed to be able to see her face... there was nothing he wanted more than to meet her, but that was not possible, as far as he knew she might not be real at all.

He looked towards the waves in the ocean. He felt so peaceful when he was here. He picked up a few sticks and started sharpening them with his sword to turn them into arrows for his next training session with Isidore. He sharpened them absentmindedly while he kept watching the waves.

His eyes narrowed as he saw a disturbance in the waves, he blinked a few times and dropped his sword at what he saw, there she was The Lady, in real life, standing between the waves.

"Impossible" he whispered as he stood up in awe, she was tall and glowed ethereally, her beautiful hair was so dark that it looked like it was siphoning the light from its surroundings, her eyes were a mix of beautiful gold and blue, a small smile adorned her perfect lips, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, really her beauty was difficult to comprehend... without being aware of his actions he started walking towards her as his legs carried him forward, his focus broke when he stepped into the sea and felt that familiar and unexplainable rush of energy run into him, and just like that she was gone. No woman was standing there anymore...

What happened to him? was it his imagination again? he had many questions and no answers.