Prologue

An eight year old girl stood in the kitchen, quietly making sandwiches for herself and her little brother. As discreetly as she could, she hid the sandwiches underneath her shirt, and tip-toed past her mother, who was sprawled on the couch in a stupor with empty wine bottles strewn about. Exhaling softly as reached the end of the hall, she entered Jason's room, where the two year old was sleeping peacefully. Careful not to wake her brother, she packed the sandwiches in a bag and took stock of her gathered supplies.

Food? Check. She had used all of the bread to make 8 cheese sandwiches, which would hopefully last long enough until they got far enough away from their mother.

Money? Check. A whopping $300 their mother had somehow yet to spend on alcohol.

Warmth? Check. A blanket, and two sweatshirts for her and Jason, along with an over-sized version of each. They didn't plan on ever coming back.

Stupid godly healing food? Check. Oh yes, she knew who she was. Or more importantly, what she was. A bastard demigod child of Zeus, along with Jason. Apparently, being the spawn of the sky attracted a lot of monsters. Two of them under the same roof? They were basically a monster rallying point. So, Zeus put a magical barrier around the house that would protect them, at least until his daughter turned twelve. Unfortunately, the supposed shield did not protect the two demigods from the monster that brought them into this world.

A soft yawn startled the young half-blood out of her thoughts. She looked over and saw little Jason blinking his eyes sleepily.

'Jason' she thought wryly, 'Check.'

Suddenly, she heard the dull thunk of a wine bottle falling from her mother's grasp and hitting the floor. Knowing what was coming next, she quickly walked over to Jason's bed (which was really just a tiny mattress) and gently covered his mouth to prevent the noise of crying.

"THALIA!" her mother screamed, words slurred from intoxication, "GET ME MORE WINE YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!"

Thalia cursed silently. Why couldn't her mother just pass out already?

Jason's eyes had shot open, revealing bright blue orbs that seemed to spark with electricity; a trait he shared with his sister. He had only calmed down when he noticed Thalia beside him, holding him close.

Thalia put a finger to her lips and, although still a toddler, Jason seemed to understand that she wanted him to be quiet.

Thalia reentered the kitchen ans searched for bottles of wine. She only found three, but that would be more than enough to send Beryl Grace into a state of deep unconsciousness. She gave them to her mother and quickly retreated back to Jason's room to wait.

Thirty minutes later, Thalia was standing in Jason's room, tossing a sling bag over her shoulder, followed by her backpack, both filled with supplies. After triple checking to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything, Thalia attached her brother to her stomach using one of those baby carrying things parents use when exercising with their child, which she found still in the packaging during a last minute raid of her mother's room.

Now, standing on the threshold of her house, Thalia took one last look inside. Her gaze rested on her mother, who was passed out on the couch with one of the wine bottles slowly trickling liquid onto her shirt. She nodded to herself, knowing she had made the right choice, and shut the door. She stepped down the front pathway, and walked off down the street, and into the nearby woods.

Twinkling stars had well established themselves overhead before Thalia deemed them far enough from their old house to rest. As she settled a sleeping Jason on the ground, she stared fondly at the little boy, and small but loving smile appearing on her lips.

Turning away briefly, she gathered some wood and lit a fire using a burst of electricity from her fingers. Thalia had discovered that little trick during a freak winter power outage last January. She had gotten so angry (okay, she had a tendency to overreact a little) that sparks had started crackling from her fingertips. She later learned that, if she concentrated, she could make the sparks shoot out and hit something, lighting it on fire. (She had hit the dining table. She still had the scar from her mother to prove it.)

The fire now lit, she continued her overwatch, continuously glancing at Jason's sleeping form, reassuring herself he was still there.

'I will always protect you, little brother' she vowed. 'Nothing will ever separate us.'

As she looked at Jason again, she couldn't help but wonder, 'Why was our father so different the last time?'

Zeus had visited their mother a grand total of three times. The first was when he had sired Thalia. The second time, Thalia was actually there, and Zeus had put the barrier around their house after her mother dragged her away from a puppy that was actually a baby hellhound. The last time was when Thalia was around five and a half, when he explained who and what she was, It was also the night he sired Jason. (Thankfully she was asleep for that part.)

The second time Thalia had met her father, Zeus had seemed less prone to anger, more regal, when compared to the brash and stubborn 'First' Zeus.

'So,' Thalia questioned, 'why was he so different?'

"I believe I can help with both, your question and your promise, young one," a voice said.

Thalia looked around frantically, searching for the source, before her gaze fell on a girl around her age sitting on the other side of the fire, seemingly tending to flames with her bare hands.

She scooted in front of Jason protectively and asked warily, "Who are you?"

The girl looked at her and smiled softly.

"I am Hestia."

Thalia's eyes widened before they narrowed suspiciously.

"Hestia as in Goddess of the Hearth Hestia? What are you doing here?"

The girl nodded to the first question, the responded to the second, "I am here to help and explain."

"Okay," Thalia said, letting her guard down slightly, "explain."

"Well, for starters," Hestia began, "Your father is Zeus. Jason's father is Jupiter."

Thalia blinked.

"What?"

Hestia then explained how when Rome conquered Greece they adopted the Greeks' religion as their own. How this caused a split between the gods' aspects; one Greek and one Roman. How whenever the demigods of the two cultures met, war, usually civil wars, soon followed, and that the American Civil War was the most recent example of this. She explained that the gods had separated their children in fear of them being wiped out completely, and altered their memories so that neither side knew of the existence of the other.

When Hestia finished, Thalia asked, "So I'm a Greek demigod. And Jason is Roman?"

Hestia nodded in assent.

"Yes. And because of this Hera, or Juno to Jason, wishes for you to separated."

Immediately, Thalia grabbed Jason and backed up, hugging him close to her chest.

"Not happening. I don't care what Hera wants, Jason and I are staying together."

Hestia's calming smile grew slightly at Thalia's protectiveness and stubbornness.

"Peace child. I said I would help and I will. I believe I can convince Hera to leave you be. I can sense that, were Jason taken from you, you would stop at nothing to get him back. Including, shall we say...forcibly 'convincing' any number of gods and goddesses to do so. Hera has no love for demigods, especially children of Zeus, but she does care about her immortal family, even if she does not often show it."

"Okay," Thalia said, relaxing again, "then what do you want in return?"

Hestia's smile became slightly mysterious.

"Just a promise. In two years, to the day, be in New Jersey near the border of Manhattan. You will know why when you see it."

The goddess's voice became soothing.

"Now sleep, young one. I will watch over you tonight, and protect you from monsters and mortals alike."

Thalia smiled at the goddess for the first time. She laid down next to Jason, her eyelids growing heavy.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia," she murmured, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Wassup peoples! Welcome to my first story on the site; hope y'all enjoyed the prologue. Now, I have to give credit where it's due, so this story was inspired by All Together, Cousins by The Seven of Us. I really enjoyed this one, and definitely recommend it.

So, this is my first project, and I don't have a beta or anything (nor am I looking for one. No offense or anything, i just like to do my own thing). However, I would love to hear your thoughts on it so it would be much appreciated if you left a review.

Quick question of the day: Is physics really stupidly hard or is it just me? Like sometimes, I wish it would just go die in a hole.

I have multiple story ideas, two solely Percy Jackson and three crossovers (Harry Potter, Avengers, and Hunger Game), and I tend to have trouble focusing on one at a time, so updates will most certainly be sporadic. Sorry in advance, I guess.

Thanks for reading! See ya!