AN: This thing has been gathering internet dust in my storage for a while, so I figured I'd get to work on it again. Yes, a majority of the characters in the beginning will all be OCs but we will be getting to the ones we know and love in a while~

I didn't expect my long march to a glorious world ending starting with a screaming eagle at my window and being carried to a tribal military camp in the middle of New York.

Maybe I should back up a bit and start from the beginning. I found out I was the son of a Hindu god and that the gods are real and apparently; I can speak Sanskrit although I've lived almost my entire life in Boston.

Backing up even further…

My name is Ajay Ramachandran, and, uh, I need to start with an apology. If you or anyone you know is currently seeing a burning mass of destruction, that's us. Sorry, we tried to contain Ragnarok as much as possible, but spillovers happen, you know?

I'm 16 years old and I live in Boston. Ever since I was a child, I noticed stuff going on around Boston nobody else could. When I was 8, There was this huge news story in Boston about the disappearance of a young boy. Some Magnus Chase guy. Everyone noticed the fire and the explosions, fine. But I noticed something different. When it first came up on TV, I was sitting on the couch with my mother when the footage came up. Ma flinched when the explosion happened, but I, little Ajay piped up and spoke:

"Hey! Did you see those wolves?"

Ma looked at me with confusion and even rewound the TV broadcast to see what I was talking about. She said to me without looking, "Ajay, beta, where are the wolves?" I looked at her, wondering why she couldn't see them. I got up and pointed out the spot near the door on the TV. "There!" I said, "The big black wolves with glowing eyes! Can you see them?" They were quite clear in my vision. Matted fur and almost demonic eyes, bright blue like a gem. They had a cosmic power about them. Even though they weren't looking directly at me, there was a malicious force behind the screen. They looked like the wolf form of those dudes who are like, Hey kid, want some candy? And then they just shove you into a van. My dad just read that last part and looked at me all weirded out. Appa, you say that candy part in a deep voice. Yes dad, that's humor now.

Yeah, appa can find it hard to catch up with the times every now and then. Bless his heart, he tries so hard. More on him later…

Anyways, that was the last time I spoke with my mother about that night and she must have forgot about it later. Those days I never knew appa. He never wrote or called or visited. I didn't even know his name. Ma used to say that she was 'his 9th one,' whatever that meant. She died when I was 14 and told to prepare for my 'claiming' in two years' time. I'm 16 now and I see what she meant. But back then I was clueless. I worked part time at the Thinking Cup down the street until I had enough to get a small, rented room in a motel. That's where we start.

That was pretty long, I know. By my count you already had to read around 500 words before we actually got into the real story here. For all you little ones out there, first of all what are doing reading this? Let me tell you, things are about to get real messy real quick. Second of all, yes. 500 words is a big number. I'm proud of myself.

So, There I was.

Sitting on my bed scrolling through the phone I inherited from Ma. I was feeling quite bored considering I had left The Thinking Cup (Trademarked because corporate's gonna corporate) last week and was unemployed, searching for jobs or an education, anything. It was not the first time I had regretted leaving. At least at my old job I would have had something to do for a while and didn't have to spend my life scrolling through Twitter listening to 12-year-olds call Ronaldo 'Penaldog.' Then I heard the usual muffled screeching and scraping at my window. I grew used to it since I turned 16 last Friday. At random intervals it would start and stop a few minutes later. When I check the window after it ends, I wouldn't see a trace of it happening. No scratches at the window, no nothing. I asked the other tenants if they saw or heard anything and none of them believed me, because they hadn't seen or heard anything. It was all very similar to the Magnus Chase situation. I'm lucky wolves shouldn't be able to climb this high. I'm on the 3rd story, ain't no wolves getting up here!

At least, I hope not.

Maybe it was the stupid arguments on BR Football, I don't know. But something that day made me lose patience with the Window Scratcher. It sounded like the WS was also losing its patience as it was clawing at the window with a vengeance. I got up and whipped my head around to look at my window and finally locked eyes with the WS. And I was very disappointed in myself.

The elusive WS was a literal bird. Of all the possibilities, I don't know how I didn't factor that in. What surprised me though was that it was speaking to me. Birds don't regularly do that.

"Oh, thank the gods you finally turned that head of yours and looked at me!"

At this point I had concluded I had entered some fever dream and decided to play along. "So… How's the weather outside, Mr… Eagle?"

That seemed to upset Mr. Eagle, who squawked loudly and ruffled his feathers. He stared at me and screeched, "Well look here, we got a real Raven head! Let me tell you boy, I'm not just any old eagle, okay? I'm a special eagle messenger from Camp Mahadev. Also, the weather's nice, thanks for asking. Nobody ever asks that. They just scream back and ask me to go away." He tilted his head. The poor Mr. Eagle was still speaking even though I must have clearly looked confused, "Also, my name isn't Mr. Eagle. My name is Arasu. I'm a Steppe Eagle assigned to Vishnu cabinet inductees. Let's just say you've got a lot of cabin mates."

There was a lot of words being thrown around that I didn't understand. Like Camp Mahadev and the Vishnu cabin. Whatever those were. I decided to ask that to Mr. Eagle. "What are you saying? It's like you're speaking Sanskrit or something," I said, bemused, "It's nonsense, that's what your terms are right now."

Arasu laughed- like literally laughed at me, "Sanskrit, eh? We can do that too. Listen to me, kid. We've got work to do and you're coming with me whether you like it or not. Everyone needs to accept their destiny someday. For those like you, it's on your sweet 16. Now just give me a moment, I'll explain on the flight to camp. Now if you just excuse me…" He started to peck and claw at the windowpane in a manner like that of an inexperienced robber on his first breaking and entering. He used his beak to tear at something and kept muttering under his breath in frustration. Then he tried his talons to pick the lock at my window, most likely to enter.

I asked him, "You need help with that? Because… The other lock is here."

"No, no! I don't need your help! I got this… Jatayuji didn't get himself killed for me to not be able to open a latch!" I listened to him continue to rant while he continued to struggle with the latch. He stopped and breathed, "So, theoretically, if I'm not able to unlock this thing, you would let me in, right? Just, theoretically." I sighed and said, "Fine, no need to be macho." I unlocked the window for Arasu and watched as he hopped into the room. He shook his feathers and looked at me with scarily intelligent eyes. They had a look of much higher smarts than a regular eagle.

It was all fun and games until he picked me up and started flying with me.

Yeah, no seriously. Arasu was no taller than my groin, but he started flying with me in tow after he grabbed me by the shoulders and took off through the city of Boston. There's no easy way to say this, but I screamed. Like a seagull, according to Arasu. We flew over the city as the sun went down.

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And that's chapter one! Going to update when I can because school can be a pain in the neck. Would love to know your thoughts! :p