Prologue
Percy (age 5) - 3rd POV-
A little girl with raven black curly hair and beautiful yet mischievous sea green eyes laughed happily as she ran from her mother. Her laugh was like a chiming of bells, it brightened up the room with its light and melodious tone.
“Persephone stop running in the halls! A princess never runs! They act proper and lady-like!”
Percy spun around, stuck out her tongue, then resumed running and said, “It’s Percy, mommy! And you also said that girls should not raise their voices, as it is unlady-like, yet you’re yelling mommy! You are supposed to be influencing me, so since you yell, I yell, and since you run, I run! And I will not stop because I am Percy! Daughter of Poseidon and I am an adventurer! And like daddy always says,” She pauses dramatically with a smirk, “the sea does not like to be restrained!”
Amphitrite sighed and ran after her daughter. No matter how much she tries to make her daughter a proper princess, she just rebels! And she’s only five! I guess if you consider her a godling, then you can say it’s normal for her to be more mature, but still!? Shouldn’t she at least try to act like the princess she is, not a wild child?
“Percy, it’s your birthday today, you need to dress properly, all of the Olympians are coming!”
That just caused Percy to run faster.
“No! I don’t want to wear a dress! You can’t make me! All my friends will make fun of me!”
Amphitrite mentally face palmed. She tried to arrange her daughter to befriend some of the other girls, but Percy just says they’re stuck up and annoying. Instead she’d end up ditching the girls in favor of hanging out with the boys. Amphitrite swore if she could die, Percy would’ve been the end of her.
“Fine! No dress, but you at least have to comb your hair or else no blue cake!”
Percy stopped in her tracks and gasped. She spun around, eyes wide in horror, “No blue cake!?”
Amphitrite smirked a little in triumph and nodded, “No blue cake, so I suggest you get ready or I’ll give all the cake to Triton.
“No! Anything but that!” She yelled dramatically, quickly grabbing a brush and practically shoved it into her mother’s arms. Amphitrite chuckled, and gently brushed her daughter’s messy hair until it looked decent.
“Well, at least you don’t look like you rolled around in the sand.”
“Dear, you should know by now that the sea does not liked to be restrained.”
Percy’s head shot towards the voice. A brilliant smile spread across her face as she ran and jumped into the man’s arms. He laughed and spun her around.
“Daddy!” She giggled in delight.
He chuckled and placed her back on the ground.
“How’s my little sea?” He asked, kneeling to be eye-to-eye with her.
Her smile widened, “I’m great! I get blue cake!”
He laughed and looked to his wife, “I see how you managed to actually get her to sit down and let you brush her hair.”
Amphitrite huffed and said, “She’s definitely your child Poseidon. I swear she acts more like you every day!”
He kissed her, “She’s like you too dear, after all, she is our child.”
Percy wore a look of disgust, “Ew! Mom, Dad, not in front of me, and especially not on my birthday!”
They chuckled and led her into the ballroom where Triton sat on his throne. He quickly stood and rushed over to hug Percy.
“How’s my favorite princess?” He asked.
Percy rolled her eyes, “Fine Tri, stop being weird.”
He frowned, “Why aren’t you in a dress?”
“I hate dresses! It’s my birthday! I dress how I want to.”
Triton chuckled, “Father, she’s growing up so fast. Soon enough, boys will be asking you permission to wed her, but they’ll have to go through me first of course.”
Percy looked at them in confusion, “What?”
“Nothing sweetie.” Amphitrite said with a small smile at the lost expression on Percy’s face.
There was a knock at the door and a servant came in and bowed, “my lords and ladies, the guests have arrived.”
Poseidon nodded, “Escort them in.”
The servant bowed once more and left. All the Olympians came including Hades and Persephone, his wife. Once the servants had announced the guests, the part commenced. They socialized amongst themselves, as well as wishing Percy a happy birthday. Percy, although excited to see everyone, was anticipating the blue cake and gifts. So while eating a giant slice of blue cake, the gods and goddesses went to present their gifts.
Zeus and Hera went first. Zeus granted her access to the sky and his blessing. Hera just gave Percy her blessing. Hades gave the same gifts as Zeus. While most of the gods and goddesses just gave their blessing, Hephaestus gave her a dagger and shield, much to the displeasure of Amphitrite, Poseidon gave her a pure black pegasus named Blackjack and the sword Anaklusmos, yet again to the dismay of Amphitrite, so she gave Percy a necklace that would help control her powers better.
Percy beamed at everyone and thanked them happily. They all laughed. Percy had earned all of their love and had actually made their relationships stronger and the Olympians barely fought anymore. Percy was like the glue that brought everyone together.
Percy- age seven-
“Persephone!”
Well… some things never change. Percy had ditched her tutoring of proper princess manners, and went outside the palace, which she was never allowed to leave. She was riding Blackjack as they sneaked out, “Where to boss?”
She shrugged, “Surprise me.”
Blackjack took off and they wandered around aimlessly until they came to an abrupt stop.
“Uh boss? Sorry to say this but um… we’re lost.”
“What!? Oh well, it’s fine. We just have to retrace our footprints.”
They turned around, but as they went to leave, someone clamped their hand over her mouth and yanked her away from Blackjack. A voice spoke lowly behind her ear, “You’re coming with me princess.”
Percy looked up in fear and struggled to get out of the man’s grasp. The man just tightened his hold around her until a voice yelled out enraged, “Oceanus, let go of my daughter!”
Poseidon came into view and stabbed the man in the shoulder, causing him to lose his grip on Percy. Poseidon grabbed Percy and held her close to him protectively. He glared menacingly at the titan, “Leave before I make you fade.”
Oceanus glared and said, “Next time we will get our hands on her, and you gods will be the ones fading. The titans will rule once again, while the Olympians will be no more!” He screamed then flashed away.
Poseidon held onto Percy tightly and said, “Don’t worry Percy, I won’t ever let anyone hurt you.”
He rushed back to the palace and called for his wife and son. When they showed up he stated, “There was an attempted kidnap on Percy today. The person has threatened to do it again. It’s not safe to leave Percy alone anymore. Amphitrite, the titans want Percy for some reason. We can’t let that happen.”
She looked at him with wide eyes, “What are we to do?”
He sighed, “We shall have only the ones we trust, the ones who are always loyal to us to be with her at all times. She will not be allowed out until she gets full goddess status. Until then, we have to keep her safe. No more adventures. She has to start acting like a real princess now.” He looked to his sleeping daughter with worry.
“I’m so sorry Percy.”
Percy (age 9)-
“Persephone?” Amphitrite asked softly.
The girl looked up with sad, longing eyes, “Yes mother?”
The queen looked at her daughter with worry, “I’m sorry. It’s for your safety. Please… just please smile again.”
Percy’s eyes went blank and she just sighed and looked away. Amphitrite’s heart broke again and she left the room. Percy got up from her bed and walked over to the window. She sighed and just looked outside, daydreaming of the adventures she’s been deprived of.
Someone cleared their throat, she pretended not to hear. A cloth was placed over her nose and mouth, she struggled, but with a deep breath in, blackness consumed her. She woke up, arms and feet tied, and her surroundings indicated she was on a ship. She smiled slyly. Hermes’ blessing sure came in handy as she untied herself and picked the lock, sneaking out of the room without a sound.
The boat was conveniently tied to a dock. She was about to jump into the water, when a thought struck her and caused her to hesitate.
You’re finally out of the palace. Why would you go back and be trapped, when you can stay on land and be free?
She took one last look at the water, then jumped onto the dock and sprinted silently away. She ventured into a mall, stole a couple of clothes and other necessities, then sneaked into a vacant restroom and locked it. Inside she found a body mirror and looked at her reflection.
Staring back was a girl with curly black hair reaching her back, and eyes the color of the sea. She was barefoot, wore a dress decorated with flowers, and her skin was flawless, due to Aphrodite’s blessing.
She recoiled in disgust and quickly changed into a plain blue t-shirt, tan shorts, a plaid green hoodie, and blue-gray vans. She took out her dagger and started to roughly chop her hair up to her chin, and it quickly styled itself nicely. Hm, I guess Aphrodite’s blessing does have its uses.
She stared at herself once again in the mirror. Staring back at her was not a girl, but a boy. A smile slowly spread across her face and she laughed in delight. Free at last! It was her first laugh in two years and it felt great.
She discarded the dress, placed the extra clothes into a backpack she stole, placed a baseball cap on her head, and picked up the backpack, placing the straps on both shoulders. She unlocked the door and walked out, shoving her hands into her pockets.
Goodbye Persephone, hello Perseus Jackson.
