Prologue (1,050 words)
It was a bright sunny summer day in their Manhattan apartment when her son began to scream in pain.
"AAAUUUUGGGHHH MOMMY HELP!"
Lisa dropped her knife and rushed out of the kitchen into the living room, fearing the worst. But what she saw when she saw her son was nothing as benevolent as 'the worst'. Fire was crawling up her beloved Gwyn's arms, blackening the once olive skin as he desperately rolled around on the ground in pain and confusion. She almost paused in panic and shock at the sight, but her years of training and reflexes had her running back into the kitchen for a fire extinguisher. By the time she got back, Gwyn was somehow still screaming in pain and panic, even as everything below his neck was covered in flames. Lisa frantically pointed the nozzle at him and began spraying his small body with the contents, desperately hoping the fire would die. But even as she sprayed the carbon-dioxide solution evaporated, leaving her little boy still screaming and the flames crawling up his neck and face, melting his eyes in their sockets and burning away his black hair. And Lisa could do nothing but collapse to her knees. "Oh gods, what is happening!" She cried as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock and despair. And still, Gwyn was screaming in pain. Somewhere in the back of her head, Lisa recognised somewhat morbidly: 'Shouldn't he be dead?' At least then her beloved son wouldn't be suffering. And with that thought, she noticed that he wasn't burning anymore. Or, well, he was still on fire and burning, but only his skin was burning. Now, Lisa had had the unfortunate experience watching humans, monsters, demigods and things burn alive, and usually by now most mortals would have either passed out or outright died, and the fire should have exposed his bare muscle to the world. But Gwyn was still rolling around on the ground, and the flames weren't spreading. Rather, they had simply burned his clothes and his skin and eyes, but even as she continued watching in horror, his skin was healing over. Like waves crashing over rocks, burned skin was covered up with unburned skin, then burned again. His eyes were reforming even as they continually melted in their sockets, his hair curling up and burning off before growing and curling away again. She barely noticed the appearance of a man at her side, barely saw him stride over to her beloved son — Please someone help my baby boy — and place his hand on Gwyn's head. And just like that he stopped screaming, finally unconscious. Lisa turned her tear-stricken face to the man, and let out a slight gasp of recognition. Whirling around from her knees to a crouch, Lisa turned to see if his companion was there. And she was, in all her beautiful glory. Milky skin, pale hair, pale, sleepy eyes, white flowing robes draped over a body to die for. Lisa occasionally thought back to those wonderful few weeks with the woman and her partner, though she'd never thought she would see them again… And all of a sudden, several pieces clicked in place.
'Oh shit I got knocked up by a god.' It all made sense! Their sudden appearance, their subsequent disappearance and now reappearance in her apartment. 'But why didn't I ever notice before? And, what are they the gods of?' Lisa knew she should have figured it out sooner. After all, one doesn't become a Centurion without some level of intelligence and reasoning. But all she'd ever thought was that they were just a kinky couple she grew to genuinely love during their time together. Though whenever she thought back to them, she would always get distracted by something or other…
'Milky skin, sleepy eyes, white, white, white. Somehow made me forget… And he's dark tan, likes the colour red, has dark amber eyes (almost red), but isn't violent or strict like Mars, or ugly like Vulcan… Likes to heal people, but can't sing for his life, so not Apollo…' Lisa wracked her brain for who they might be, specifically who the man she knew as Geth was.
'Gwyn was burning up, but also wasn't dying. No, he was healing at the same time…' Her eyes widened as the pieces snapped into place. They weren't any major gods, but they were still very old background gods, in existence since the pantheon of the Titans ruled.
She turned back to the man, now cradling her son —his son, his only mortal son ever— gently on the ground, stroking his hair even as Gwyn continued to burn, the flames licking the man's skin like a dog meeting his master.
"Phlegethon," she stated, and he turned his burning, blood-red eyes, veins pulsing with flaming water instead of blood, and nodded. "Lethe," she said, turning to the woman, who just smiled sadly and nodded. Lisa sighed in defeat. She'd thought she had escaped the gods, thought she was free. Her worst nightmare had been getting impregnated by a god, being forced to give up her autonomy by those cruel, irresponsible beings. But she hadn't escaped in the end. Even so, she couldn't —wouldn't— regret having her little Gwyndolin, nor her wonderful time with these particular gods. From what she could remember about them in the myths, they were somewhat passive, maybe even kind; a far improvement to most gods. She sighed again, and turned to address Phlegethon —Geth! That's so stupid, it's literally in the name!— and said, "You better have an explanation for what the fuck happened to my son, or I will find a way to neuter you permanently." Phlegethon winced, while Lethe just chuckled lightly and put her hand on Lisa's shoulder. Lisa turned to Lethe and nuzzled her hand fondly… Before slapping her. Hard.
"That's for leaving me after Geth knocked me up!" She quickly pulled Lethe into a hug.
"I missed you guys so much," she muttered into Lethe's neck. Lethe stroked Lisa's dark straight hair, absently noting she'd cut it to shoulder length, her shock over the slap disappearing. "I know, love," Lethe said, gently pushing Lisa to arm's length to look in her eyes. "But right now, we need to talk about Gwyndolin."
AN: Hello world. Long time lurker here. Decided to drop this as a low-effort writing thing to practice muh skillz, but I have no clue how this website works. Please bear with me while I work this out, the formatting is weird. It's been a while since I've read PJO, and I do not have the books with me, so I will be using the comic and wiki to work things out. Likely AU. I'll try to post consistently; my main goal is to develop a routine or groove for writing. As you may have noticed, I am a HUGE fan of Dark Souls, so expect some references here and there. Point out whatever mistakes you see, I'll probably be going back here and there. First few chapters will probably be somewhat slow.