"So, what did you think of the movie?"

Percy looked up to his adoptive sister, who had just spoken. Lourdes gave him a smile as she pulled her braided hair over her shoulder and over her heart. She gave a quick glance to the surrounding street, "looking for monsters," as she called it, before looking back to him.

He gave her a thumbs up. It would be a night he would remember forever.

It would also be a night that would hang over his head forever, a night he would forever look back to, just as Orpheus did in the myth. No matter how far he had come in life, a part of Percy was stuck in this moment. In his scant, non-demigod dreams, he remembered Lor's smile and how she pulled him close and kept him safe on the streets of Gotham. He also remembered what came later that night, standing in their home as soon as they opened the door.

"That's all you have to say?" she pulled him close to her side, her arm draped around him as she led him away from the cinema. Cars honked at people who dashed across the street. "Come on, tell me that you loved it. Tell me I'm the best big sis in the world," she laughed.

"It was amazing," he signed. "Thank you for taking me, best sister in the world."

A genuine smile met her lips, and she hugged him properly. Her arms wrapped themselves around his smaller form, holding him safe in the hellish city that was Gotham. She did this a lot, pulling him into her clutch, almost as if she was afraid he would vanish if she didn't hold him tight. Percy loved it. It had been a while since he had been hugged.

"I love you, my little hero," she whispered into his ear as her arms rubbed circles into his back. "You are the greatest thing the world has given me in a long time. The greatest second chance as well."

He pulled away slowly and signed, "Are you okay?"

Not once had she ever expanded upon what she meant by her "second chance," but that wasn't for a lack of Percy trying. Even to this day, with Batman's files, he never knew, but that might have had something to do with the man blocking all of Lourdes's files from his access in the first place.

Lor's smile faltered, but she quickly reinforced it, "Of course. I just want your birthday to be the best it can be, and that's making sure you know how much you mean to me."

Percy gave her a toothy smile, "And you mean a lot to me."

"Thank you, Percy." She kissed his forehead. "Now come on, let's get home. I have some gifts waiting for you."

Percy took her offered hand, and the two began traversing the crime-ridden streets back to their apartment. However, he knew, that as long as he had the daughter of Hecate at his side, he would be fine. She had proven time and time again that mortals were not a threat to her, no matter how sharp their knives were.

It was only a shame that night was the last he saw of her before Batman took her away….

With Lourdes, his life had been perfect… until it had come crumbling down like one of her illustrious illusions.

Even though this was a dream of a memory, Percy couldn't help but get lost in her loving smile. The way she looked at him, he didn't ever want to disappoint her, to see her lose that happiness she held.

"She's a special woman taking you in, like she did," a new voice spoke from Lor's lips. A voice that did not belong to the memory of Percy's birthday so many years ago.

He pulled away from his sister's arms. The grimy sidewalk and smog of Gotham vanished. The brick buildings towering over the passerby melted into the ground, pooling into pure blackness. Tiny pinpricks of white began to speckle in the new void Percy found himself in.

He watched the smiling visage of Lourdes fade into the same consuming darkness, only to be replaced by the figure of a woman in flowing robes approaching. The glowing silver fabric floated around her legs, trailing behind her like jet trails. Upon her head, like a crown, was the crescent moon tilted on its side, akin to bull horns. Then her eyes, they were the same ones he saw in the mirror.

Was this finally his…?

"Hello, Perseus."

"Who are you?" he signed.

But the woman frowned, cocking her head to the side as she looked him over.

Then her eyes pulsed red.

Percy felt a ripple pass through his body, followed by a tingling in his brain before it faded back to being normal. Nothing felt different, but he knew something had happened. He had had spells cast on him before, even if they were to cloak him.

He zeroed in back on the woman across from him. She looked familiar, especially with those red eyes. She looked like Artemis did….

Then it clicked. She was the woman from Poseidon's memory of his birth.

But she was not Artemis.

She tilted her head to the side, analyzing him, "Tell me, Perseus, do you know who I am?"

"I don't kn—"

She waved his attempt off, "Not with your hands, child. Speak to me."

"But I cannot," he spoke with his hands.

"Not the mortal tongues, sure. Yet, I have been graced with a partial cure to my—to our curse. And, I have finally come and granted you the same blessing of speech. However, the downside is that it is only the language of the Primordials. It is a language lost to time, but it is a language that Zeus does not know. A language he could not speak and a language he could not bind.

"So speak to me, little one. Speak to me in the tongue of the Ancient Ones."

Percy's eyes were wide…. That was what she did to him? He was going to be able to speak…. What was he to say? He had many questions and thoughts he wanted to share with the greater world, the world that could not hear him before.

"Think of them in your native tongue," she guided him, mistaking his silence for confusion. "You need not worry about knowing the language itself. The spell will encode and decipher as needed."

He stared at the woman across from him, into the same eyes he saw glowing in the mirror, and knew what he wanted to say. And for the first time in his life, a word formed upon his tongue and left his lips.

"Mother?" His voice was weak, merely a croak in the air no louder than the wind on a calm day. Yet, he had a voice.

The woman gave him a smile, showing her perfect white teeth. She knelt to his level, and he couldn't help but run into her opening arms.

"I worried you would not recognize that of the blood that flows in your veins, but I see that I have misplaced my worry, little one. I do believe it has been many years since you could have ever seen me in that hospital."

Percy buried his head, the same childish one from his memory with Lor, into the goddess' chest. He listened to the woman's heartbeat, proof of her genuine existence. He felt her breath tickle his neck as she towered over his younger form. He even felt her draw circles into his back just as his sister did.

He savored it all, even the tears that stung his eyes.

"Who?" he whispered, desperate to put a name to the now-proven-to-be woman that was his mother.

"I am sorry. My name cannot be spoken by anyone but Zeus," she spoke, pulling away to look him in his watery eyes. "In doing so, he would free my name, and I could tell you, but it is bound by his command for now. But that is not important right now. I want you to know I have always been watching. That I'm proud of what you have done so far, and I know greatness lies upon your path."

"How?"

"I am a Titan, little one, and slowly, we Titans are finding our way again. I just happened to be among the first to poke my head above the dirt that the Olympians tried to bury us in." She paused, letting a sigh escape her as her fingers combed through Percy's hair. "Unruly as Poseidon's. I guess some things were unavoidable. But that is beside the point. In the past twenty years, I have adapted to this new world. I spent it wondering what I needed, and then I created you. The perfect specimen."

"Why?"

Her hand trailed down his hair until she held his chin in her palm, and he couldn't help but lean into his mother's touch, "Because the world needs you, Perseus Jackson. By the winter solstice, you will be the most crucial figure in the pantheon, by no accident either."

She paused, her spare hand reached into the folds of her robes. From the silver fabric, she pulled out a glowing ball of light. It looked the same as the light he created himself, if not more refined and brighter. It was as if she held the full moon itself in her hand.

"In the darkest hours of man, the moon shines, providing them light." The orb shifted from a sphere into a man wielding a bow, firing arrows at inhuman speeds. "In the darkest hours of man, you, Perseus, will shine. You will be the moon. You will lead the way to a new age. That is why."

Words escaped Percy as his brain tried to process every word she spoke. She was saying so much that he did not understand what it would mean for him, but he did understand that it would be him to do whatever it was in the end…. But what made him the one?

"Me?" he asked for clarification.

"Who else but my blood is suited for such a task?" she grinned as if the question was the perfect answer.

Percy didn't know, though. He didn't even really know what it meant to be her son. He didn't even know who she was. Much less how would he know how to lead the way to start a new age? He could barely beat a mortal assassin and had little experience fighting monsters. How would he ever compare to the legends of the myths that Diana had told him about?

"Let us talk about something better, little one. Something uplifting." She smiled. "I have seen your work as a hero. You fight well for a child against trained adults."

Percy blushed, "I do? I mean, I'm nothing close to Diana or even the original Perseus."

"You do not need to be like them. You must be yourself first," she advised him, placing her hand over his heart. It was just as he imagined what a mother would do, just as Lor did. He felt his heart flutter with warmth. "I have seen you favor your physicality well despite having powers. You handled the large man on the island very well. Your strength was unmatched. Then, the green assassin, your reflexes, competes with that of the best. I even saw your little game with the fast child. Your ability to overcome is what will make you the greatest."

Percy couldn't stop the smile on his face from growing. It was one thing to hear "good job" from a teammate, but there was something special about knowing that his parent fully believed in him after so long of thinking he would never know…. Percy didn't know what to say.

"You can speak, my boy. Please take advantage of this. I know what it is like to be silenced all your life."

Where did he even begin? Well, realistically, his journey of being a hero really started the day Batman took him in. That is if you don't count his homebrew life with Lor.

"Batman taught me to fight," he started.

"Yes, yes, he has," the Titan interjected before he could go anywhere about Batman. "And the Amazon has tried to teach you how we Greeks fight—the proper way."

Percy nodded, eager to share, "She tries, but Batman wants me brought up his way."

"I see," she nodded, her glowing bull horns bobbing with her head. "As your mother, I believe you should favor her wisdom and strength more than the man's. His good intentions will not help you in your destiny. It is his lack of willingness to do what needs to be done that will only hurt you in the real world." She patted his shoulder, comforting. "I do not wish to see you fall because you do not know how to swing a sword properly like you did with the assassin."

"But Lady Artemis saved me."

"Yes," the Titan said between gritted teeth. "The goddess did come to your aid." She took a breath to center herself, "I fear I do not wish to talk of her if you do not mind. She is a touchy subject for me."

He nodded nervously, not comprehending the reason but respecting it nonetheless. After all, he didn't want to provoke and drive away the woman who had finally entered his life.

"Relax, my boy. I know you do not know of me, but I have only recently come into this power to speak. However, I did come to share it with you as quickly as possible. So that we could finally talk."

Again, he felt a flutter of warmth in his heart, "Why not before? Even if you just appeared and stood there, you could have told me you were there at least."

"It was because we were not ready yet."

"We?" he wondered.

"My boy, you are at the center of everything and do not even realize it. This is why I implore you to train under the Amazon. She will prepare you for what is expected of you." The Titaness then left out a lengthy sigh. "However, she is close to the gods, and I fear the Olympians have plans. I foresee that they will try to endear themselves to you. Perhaps in the way the moon goddess does now. Worry not, though." She patted his head once, "Now that we are ready, my family, your family, will protect you."

Percy froze, "Our family? Do I have siblings?"

Instead of answering, she looked up to the void of the sky above. Somewhere up there, her eyes followed something Percy could not see.

"It is time for you to wake, Perseus. Remember, do not look back and press your advantages." She looked back to him, bringing him in for another hug before whispering one last thing into his ear. "Happy birthday, my blood."

:P LINE BREAK d:

Percy shot forward, eyes wide and panting.

A series of beeps were the first thing his brain processed as the world came to focus.

He recognized where he was. He was in the mini-hospital inside the Batcave, hooked up to a series of medical equipment with various cords attached to his body. Well, he was not connected anymore as he quickly freed himself, earning himself some more annoying beeps and such from the machine. He reached for the back of the machine and unplugged it all together, resulting in a blissful silence.

"Good afternoon, Master Percy," a Brit spoke from the side, and Percy turned to smile at the wonderful king of the manor, Alfred Pennyworth. "I see you have finally woken up. Happy birthday, young man!"

Percy beamed.

Alfred really had to be the best part of the bat-kid gig.

"How are you feeling?"

Percy gave him a thumbs up. To show that he felt great, he even found his way to his feet to prove the point. The cold floor instantly told him he was barefoot.

"And your wound?"

Percy moved the hospital gown that covered him out of the way as he traced his finger over the thin line that was his newest scar.

"It would seem you have healed up in full. Far faster than anyone else in this house."

Percy nodded. It really helped that he was a demigod.

"Do you need of anything? I was about to start prepping dinner, but I can bring down the leftovers from lunch to hold you over till later."

"That works," Percy signed.

"Of course. I will be back shortly."

Now alone with some time to waste, Percy strode to the cabinet inside the small Batcave hospital room. Batman, or maybe even Alfred, always left a spare change of clothes for anyone in there, and Percy was not about to wear a hospital gown longer than he had to. To be fair, it was likely Alfred who did it.

Two options awaited him: his Orpheus armored suit and a hoodie with sweats. At the bottom were his boots and a pair of house slippers.

He reached for the hoodie. After all, he knew the procedure around the cave. If you woke up in the medical bed in the afternoon, you were not allowed out the same night. At least, that rule applied to him and Robin. Big Bats himself always seemed excused by his own rules.

Now changed and back on the medical bed, Percy waited, tapping his fingers against his calf. He had no ambition to go anywhere when he knew food was coming. Having to make Alfred track him down because he got bored waiting always made Percy feel guilty.

However, he wasn't ready for the fact that it wasn't Alfred who brought him his late brunch.

"Hello, Percy," Bruce Wayne spoke, stepping into the room carrying a plate of food. "Alfred said this was for you."

Bruce placed the food tray onto a side table that extended over the bed, and Percy tore off the metal cover. The smell of pulled pork and barbeque sauce was heaven to his nostrils. His stomach growled, demanding to be satiated.

"Thank you," Percy said aloud while he began to dig into his food. He didn't even realize he had spoken aloud or in a different language. So, as he bit into his food, he paused, meeting Bruce's shocked face. A truly rare sight.

"Y-you spoke…." Bruce stuttered before steeling himself. His face fell neutral as he stepped closer to Percy. "Since when and what language was that?"

"Just now," Percy signed. "I finally met my mother in a dream. She did some of her powers and gave me the ability to speak the language of the beings before Titans. She's really cool."

"Your mother?" Batman repeated, his eyebrows falling into their familiar scowl. "And a language before the Titans?"

Percy nodded.

"Who is she?" Batman asked next.

Percy shrugged, "Zeus stole her name and cursed her."

"And she is a Titan?"

Percy nodded.

"A Titan associated with the moon." Percy nodded, affirming the man's words. "I know of Helios, the sun, but not anyone for the moon…." Bruce began to pace, a hand on his chin. "…It would make sense if Zeus stole her name; then she would have been cast from the hymns and history." He continued wearing his feet to the ground, occasionally glancing at Percy. "The magic involved, to wipe the minds of civilizations to forget a deity… what must she have done to earn such a fate?"

"I don't know," Percy signed, and suddenly, he felt a strange unease bubble in his stomach. Why was she forced to be forgotten…?

Batman sighed, "And here I had planned to come down here to talk about your poor performance against Cheshire, and instead, we learn you can speak a language long since dead and lost."

"But it isn't," Percy signed. "Mother said they were coming back. Well, implied it, really, that the Titans were rising once more. And that I was very important to it all."

AN: Happy holidays!

Who had Percy speaking on their bingo card for this chapter? Also, did you guess who his 'mother' was? It should be obvious by now, even if, in this universe, her name is unspeakable. I imagine you have questions, and in time you will have answers. If things seem odd or ooc, there is a reason.

People who actually read and not just skim, I hope you caught the line about Poseidon. I'll leave it at that for now.

Peep the page for more stories. I just posted a new PJOxDC story that deals with an older Percy being a mentor to the Teen Titans of all people. I would absolutely love it if you checked it out and gave it a follow. That story has a more traditional Percy than this story has. It also will be exploring more of the DC universe, more than this story will as soon we will be switching gears away from YJ towards TTC and the rest of the PJO books from there.

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-Manke