The sky was dark. A storm raged in violent turmoil, rain crashing down upon the city below in a seemingly unending barrage. Lightning flashed and crackled with power, thunder boomed a sinister song. The lightning seemed focused around the Empire State Building, occasionally striking the long metal pole at the top and snaking up and down the conductive alloy.
The city below looked up at the stormy sky with fear, apprehension, and irritation, and the city above the clouds felt much of the same thing; though fear dominated the people's minds.
The people in the city above the clouds - Olympus - felt fear towards the man, no, god, whose rage was unparalleled in its destructive power. That god is Zeus, the King of Olympus, God of the Sky, and the creator of the storm below.
Zeus himself was filled with rage, indignation, and sorrow for his recently dead daughter - who was now a beautiful pine tree on the border of Camp Half-Blood. He gazed down upon a child in an apartment building in New York City, a child whom he knew was his brother, Poseidon's, spawn. As he raised his arm, master bolt in hand, ready to strike down the child, he happened to glance in the room next to the one where the boy resided - and he saw two mortals arguing.
One mortal was a beautiful woman with strikingly blue eyes. She had long brown hair with a few streaks of grey here and there. Zeus somehow knew that she had a warm, motherly smile, though her face was currently contorted into a fierce glare, eyes burning with protectiveness, rage, fear, and a little bit of desperation.
The other mortal was a fat, greasy looking man with a neck-beard. The hair he had left on his rapidly balding head was stringy and brown. The man and the woman were arguing furiously, the woman with her back to the door that led into the room of her child, shielding it with body in a clear message of do not enter. The man was slowly making his way towards her with closed fists.
Zeus watched as the man suddenly lunged forward with a yell and a swing, and connected with the woman's face. She cried out in pain and surprise, but immediately went at the man, furiously attacking him. The man, who was quite clearly drunk, fought back with slow, heavy swings - many of which missed - but the ones that did counted. The woman was fiercely protective of her son, and it was quite clear that she would die before he got hurt.
After a minute of violence, the man landed a brutal blow that dazed her considerably. He lazily stood and stumbled towards the kitchen and the rack of knives. He grabbed one and stumbled his way back over to the woman, who saw him coming and raised her hands in defense - but the man lunged towards her and stabbed her in the stomach, before twisting the knife and dragging it across her stomach. Zeus was taken aback by the violent act. While he was no stranger to battle, to see such a brutal thing in the mortal world, in the confines of civilian life, was awful.
The King of the Gods was also angered. That man bore too many similarities to his own blood father, Kronos. He had never really known the titan as a father - he had only heard stories - but any being that cruel was destined to die. He felt sympathy towards the woman, who reminded him so much of his own mother, Rhea. Kind, sweet and gentle for the most part, but fiercely protective of those she loved. So it was then that he decided to intervene.
He dissolved into air and zipped down to the apartment, reforming behind the awful man. It was worse up close - a puddle of crimson liquid on the floor, coming from the dying woman on the floor. The fat man standing over her, a drunken grin on his face, holding a bloodied knife. Zeus face contorted into righteous fury, the storm outside mirroring his emotions. He scowled and stalked over to the man, grabbing him by the throat. His massive hand wrapped around the man's neck, slowly choking him. Right before he killed him, Zeus growled, "Rot in the Fields of Punishment for eternity, vile creature." With that, he squeezed and snapped his neck like a twig.
From behind him, a weak voice said, "Protect him... please." Zeus whirled around to kneel beside her. Her skin was almost completely grey, void of life and warmth.
Zeus asked her, "What is his name?"
With the last of her strength, she looked at him and said, "Perseus... Jackson. P-Percy." Her strength gone, she exhaled for the last time, and her life ended.
Zeus stayed still for a solid minute before slowly standing. His eyes drifted to the door, where a small, yet strong voice said, "...Mom?" The child's voice was muffled by the wooden door. Zeus breathed in and out, calming himself. Outside, the storm parted and dispersed, revealing the midnight sky, empty and pitch black.
He slowly made his way to the door. Poseidon's son is behind that door, he thought. His darker side whispered words of a sinister notion, egging him on, telling him to kill the boy, it will be easy, Poseidon broke the oath, do it! He forced down the malicious thoughts and steeled himself. He remembered the words of the woman: 'Protect him... please.'
With that in mind, Zeus closed his hand around the knob, twisted, and opened the door.