Chapter 1: What A Mother Wouldn't Do

Chapter 1: What A Mother Wouldn't Do

The story begins on a dark and stormy night at the Queensboro Bridge, where a dark blue Maserati can be seen driving through the wet road.

*THUNDER.*

The flash of the resulting lightning lit up the bridge, briefly revealing none other than a mother driving the vehicle with her child sitting in the passenger seat.

The mother was Sally V. Jackson, a strikingly beautiful woman with blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with youth, long brown hair with black tips at the ends, and an exotic silver streak going from the top and ending down. This woman, whose sweet smile only made her look even more stunning than she already was, was unfortunately curled into a frown directed at the child seated beside her.

He is Perseus V. Jackson, or Percy for short. He's a fifth grade elementary schooler with short light silver hair. His most defining feature was his silver irises, which, when reflected in the light, shone like the precious metals hidden beneath the earth.

The boy simply looked out the window at the black sky as his mother scolded him for something he did at school.

"I just don't understand, Percy. How could you do that to your friends?" She stared at him with a mixture of sadness and disappointment stark in her eyes.

"They're not my friends!" Her son shot back angrily. "Max and his stupid friends wouldn't stop bothering and calling me names because of how I look."

"And you thought the right thing to do was beat them up!" She laughed rhetorically with a smack at the steering wheel. "Max and those other boys are in the hospital now because of you!" She exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Ok, so I lost control of my strength, alright?" He stared back at her. "It's not my fault they're so weak."

"That's not an excuse to pummel them like you did." She countered. "That's why I always tell you to ease it with the brawn. You can snap people like a twig."

"Hmph, so what?" Percy scoffed. "He got what he deserved." He spoke unashamedly, getting his mother to immediately hit the breaks.

*SREEEEEECH.*

"Perseus V. Jackson!" She shouted his full name, making him flinch a little. She then calmed down. "Percy, you have a wonderful gift. You can't use it like that."

Percy opened his mouth to speak. "But—"

"No buts, young man!" She spoke sternly, making him look down.

"They said things about you too. I told them to stop and leave me alone like you taught me, but they didn't." He mumbled, and Sally went quiet.

Sally knew firsthand how mature and intelligent her little boy was for his age. He was only eight years old and had already gone up two grades. Nevertheless, she also knew how angry he got whenever it had something to do with her. It filled her with happiness to know how much he cared, but with his amazing strength that no child should possess, well, you know.

"Sweety." She spoke softly, getting him to look up at her. "When someone talks badly about you or me, it's ok to turn the other cheek. You don't need to raise hell for me." She pat his heads, getting him to look up at her.

"I can take care of myself just fine, alright, young man." She gave him their trademark smirk, and a small smile appeared on her child's face.

"Alright." He nodded, receiving a smile from his mother, who tussled his hair. "Mom." Percy pouted with a huff.

Sally laughed a little at her son's embarrassment. She would've continued dotting on him like she usually does, but she had to keep her eyes on the road.

Pulling her hand away, Sally said, "You should be careful using your strength when getting angry. Percy, trust me, you can do more than just hurt someone with it. Remember what I told you—"

"With great power comes great responsibility, I know." He groaned, having heard these words for the billionth time. "You keep saying these are gifts, but they're more trouble than they're worth." He stared at his hands.

"All it does is just get me in trouble and prove to people how much of a freak I am." He sighed, staring out the window.

Sally smiled bitterly. "Percy, you are not a freak. Don't ever think that about yourself. My best friend gave you these gifts so that you can protect yourself." She explained.

Her son gave her a dry look. "You mean that friend you always mention but never introduce me to?" He raised his brow incredulously. "Right."

His mother only smiled knowingly. "He's here, Percy. He's been with you before you were even born, and he's been with me even longer."

Percy rolled his eyes. He loved his mother to death but even he found it difficult to believe in someone he's never seen or met before.

"I don't get it. You make it sound like he's here right now, listening to our conversation. He's not real, mom." Sally chuckled at his statement.

'C'mon, Sally, this is just torture at this point. Introduce him to me already.' A deep, guttural voice spoke from within her head.

Smiling softly, she replied, 'No, Symby. Not until I send him to camp with you next summer.' She told him, and he grumbled.

'Raaaagh, you're killing me here.' He breathed out exasperatedly before saying, 'I know you want to keep him away from his father's side for a little while longer, but just how long will a little while be by that point?' He told her, and Sally sent him a dirty look.

'Our kid is powerful. I can't keep his abilities dormant for the rest of his life. That's not how this works. You're only fighting the inevitable.' He concluded.

Sally let out a sigh. 'I suppose you're right. Ok, Symby, I'll introduce you two tomorrow. Hopefully some breakfast will break the ice.' She snorted, and the deep voice grumbled, signifying he was okay with the arrangement.

'Hehe, your delicious cooking will do wonders for us, my beautiful host.' The voice narrowed his eyes gleefully.

'Oh, Venom.' She smiled bashfully. 'You know just what to say to make a lady feel special.'

'Any—

*LIGHTNING.*

*THUNDER.*

*LIGHTNING.*

*THUNDER.*

Loud thunder claps roared out of the clouds, with a fierce rumbling that could be heard all across the Big Apple, catching the mother-son pair off guard. Percy squinted his eyes at the blackened clouds, analyzing them with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, unaware of the turmoil that was about to ensue.

His mother, on the other hand, tensed up and only grew more fearful when she felt her precognitive ability activate, warning her of impending danger.

Time then seemed to stand still for Sally and her friend, giving them time to assess the situation.

'What's happening? My spidey-sense is going haywire. I don't see anything—oh god, no, it can't be!' She glanced at the sky with a look of terror, as if it were about to fall on her.

'Sh*t, Sally, it's the King of Olympus. That son of a b*tch is about to strike the car!' Her friend exclaimed angrily.

'This can't be right. Why would he attempt to do such a thing? We've done nothing wrong!' She thought as her mind raced a thousand miles a minute to think of a way out of this.

'It must have something to do with Percy. Damn that insufferable sea god!' He growled in rage but quickly went back to assessing the situation. They didn't have a lot of time. 'Something big is coming our way, Sally. We need to take Percy and run. Now!'

'And where exactly are we supposed to run? Camp. Absolutely not. That's just sending him to die. No, I can't send him there. I won't!' She immediately refused and desperately tried to think of a plan.

The only reason she was able to hold such a long conversation was because of her precognition ability, the spidey-sense, but this power wouldn't last forever. Time was running out for them. They had to think of something, and they had to do it fast.

She gave a deep breath, cold sweat trickling down the side of her face. 'Venom, I want you to bond with Percy, use that thing he did when he was two, and escape to the hideout.' She proposed her plan, greatly shocking the symbiote.

His milky white eyes widened in disbelief. 'What! Sally... I can't—"

'You can, and you will!' Her eyes began to well up. 'We're running out of time. Take my son and leave!' She shouted.

He wanted to say something—anything to get her to change her mind, but if there was one thing they didn't have, it was the time to argue, as their perception of time outside was beginning to revert back to normal. 'Grrr... DAMN IT, fine, I'll do it!' He spoke between gritted teeth.

A black goo substance then poured out of Sally's arm. 'Sally, I—'

'I know, Venom.' Sally interrupted with a small smile on her tear stricken face. 'I love you too. Now go!' She bid him goodbye as the last traces of the black sludge seeped out of her, slithering underneath her seat.

Despite losing their connection, Sally inwardly thanked him from the bottom of her heart.

Feeling time fully resumed to normal for her, Sally turned to face her son with a saddened expression he'd never seen from her. "Mom, are you ok?" He asked, and Sally wiped her tears off her face.

"Percy, this is urgent, so listen to me carefully. I'm sorry, I can't explain everything right now–gods, I wish we had more time." She grimaced, worrying her son even more.

He immediately went up to his mother to give her a hug to make her feel better. "It's going to be okay, Mom. I promise I'll try harder." He promised her, earning himself a small chuckle from her as she stroked his hair.

"Oh, Percy, I'm sorry this has to happen.' She apologized with a heavy heart.

Having no idea what's happening, Percy asked, "Mom, what are you talking about?"

Pulling back, she looked at his eyes seriously. "My friend is going to look after you from now on, so be careful and promise me you'll listen to him and Richard."

"I don't understand,? What does this have to do with your friend, and who's Richard?" He asked, but his mother continued.

"I love you so much, Percy. You are always going to be my little silver light!" She hugged him tightly as the black goo climbed above the second passenger seat and into her son's hoodie.

"Things are going to be different from now on, Percy. You're going to face a lot of dangers... but you're not going to be alone through it all." She bawled her eyes out as she said these words. "Make sure to never lose yourself on your path, and never let them chain you. Have a life, have dreams... anything you want, obtain it... Oh, Percy, I wish you never had to go through this!" She hugged him tightly as the black goo swam above the passenger seat and slid into her son's hoodie.

"Don't you ever, ever forget this, Percy, I'm always going to love you, sweetheart."

*THUNDER.*

*LIGHTNING.*

An enormous bolt of lightning then shot down from the sky, aiming directly at the Maserati.

"MOM!!!" Percy shouted with tears in his eyes as a white light brightened the Masserati.

Just then, a silver hexagon materialized next to him, and he then vanished in a silver blur.

"Take good care of him, Symby." She smiled gratefully as the white light engulfed her.

There was no explosion from the lighting bolt hitting the Maserati. Complete evisceration, leaving no dust, no remains, no evidence.

...

The air crackled as bits of electricity came off a floating figure in the sky. The figure was that of a very tall, imposing, and extremely muscular man. The man had shoulder-length black hair and a gray, neatly trimmed beard, wearing a dark pinstriped suit. With electric blue eyes, the man hovering in the air was none other than Zeus, the King of Olympus, and the one whose lightning bolt had orphaned a poor boy.

The King of the Gods simply stared down at the non-existent remains of the Maserati, placing his master bolt on its holster before commanding the wind to float him back down to his palace. He didn't want to do this, but he warned his brother to put the child at the Lotus Hotel to prevent the prophecy from transpiring, but he denied his orders. Him, his king.

"You've brought this on yourself, brother. I will not stake the future of Olympus in the hands of a boy, much less yours." He put his master bolt on his waist and walked away.

He was aware that his actions would very likely bring his brothers' ire for many decades to come, but it was a cheap price to pay for the greater good of Olympus. For their future. A child of the prophecy would be the cause of their ruin or preservation, and he shall not have that to come to pass.

"Come out, Athena." He turned to a pillar, where his daughter stepped out to make herself known, a stoic expression on the goddess's face.

"Do you know what you have done, Lord Father?" She posed a rhetorical question with her arms crossed. "Poseidon will not be pleased once he hears of this."

She was right. He had done the exact same to his other brother's children a long time ago, and because of that, he sought revenge and targeted his latest daughter, and thanks to that, she became a tree. In a way, this is their punishment for breaking the pact they swore. All three of them must suffer for their folly. No exceptions.

"I did what was necessary. I have nothing further to say about this. Olympus shall remain as is, and we shall not discuss this no more, daughter." He spoke with finality in his tone.

His daughter opened her mouth to say her piece, but one glare from him shut her up. "As you wish." She gave a light bow.

Zeus turned his nose up at her and walked away, leaving his daughter to sigh. This is how it has always been and will always be. Normally she could've convinced her father to spare the boy, but he was adamant on preventing the prophecy from ever coming to pass, and she couldn't just challenge her father. There was nothing she could've done to stop him.

Walking back to her palace, Athena stopped as there was one thing stuck in her head.

'Odd. It was small, but I could've sworn I saw a silver blur just before the lightning struck the vehicle.' She wondered. 'I know it's not sister Artemis. She's currently doing her duties pulling the moon...' She thought before shaking her head. 'Just imagination.' She concluded the subject to be nothing more than a trick of the light.

...

In an unknown location where most immortals would never even have thought existed, were the three personifications of destiny, the three sisters who govern over the fate of every living thing in the Greek pantheon. Their names, Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos, also known as the Fates or the Morai.

These incredibly old, frail women were busy making a black scarf with white wave-like patterns. Lachesis was measuring out the yarn as her sister Clotho was weaving the threads together, and Atropos was busy with the snipping.

"It's finnally starting." Lachesis spoke as she rolled out some more yarn.

"It has, Sister. The greatest of our entire pantheon will begin his journey alongside the black spider, and there's nothing we can do to prevent it." Clotho replied as she weaved the scarf with exceptional skill.

"Yes, because of the king's folly, the fateless one has been born, and not even Apollo is any the wiser. Just what type of story shall those two weave without us, I wonder?" She glanced at a shining silver string and the black spider crawling around on it.

"Unshackled by us or anyone, his destiny is his own." Atropos made a sweet smile not out of place for a gental grandmother.

As she reached to grab her good scissors, the sisters started speaking in ancient Greek.

"Η θάλασσα του ασημένιου νερού, τόσο γεμάτη αγάπη, είναι άκαρδη όταν βυθίζει εχθρικά πλοία στα βάθη." Lachesis started, giggling excitedly.

(Silver sea, full of love, is heartless when it sinks enemy ships to the dephs.)

"Όλοι οι θησαυροί, τα όπλα αδιανόητα, η δύναμη και η δόξα θα είναι δικά σας για το πιο δυνατό παιδί της θάλασσας." Clotho put in happily.

(All the treasures, weapons unimaginable, power and glory, are yours for the taking, mightiest child of the sea.)

"Μπορεί να ξεπλύνει αυτό το βασίλειο των κλεφτών, αλλά δεν μπαίνει στον κόπο να σπαταλήσει τον χρόνο του ενεργώντας σε αυτό. " Atropos finished as she went to snip out the string.

(Can wash away this kingdom of theives, but doesn't bother wasting his time acting on it.

Atropos snorted as she sniped the string.)

*SNIP.*

...

..

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(A/N: Sally's a real G for this.)