Chapter Text
It all begins on a rainy Christmas night, with the sea waves quite choppy and strong storms in the sky. In a part of New York, there's a large ancient Greek museum, full of visitors. While a bearded gentleman explains about some of the gods of ancient Greece, a large lightning bolt strikes the place, causing the lights to go out. However, minutes later they return.
"Well, it seems I'll have to end our tour early. The lights are really crazy tonight. But don't forget what I said. Just because something isn't seen doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There's a lot that goes beyond our vision and knowledge. We are enveloped by a blindness that prevents us from seeing the true world, and if we don't wake up, it may be too late," the gentleman says while looking intently at a little boy with black hair and green eyes, who only looks at him confused.
The visitors begin to leave the place, and the little boy is led by the hand by a young woman with brown hair and green eyes. But the boy kept looking at the man in the wheelchair, who was also staring back at him.
The young woman and the child get into a black car. The woman takes the boy to a small building. They both get out of the vehicle and enter the building. When they open the door to their apartment, they find everything in disarray. They notice a strong smell of alcohol and several beer cans in the sink. The brown-haired woman sighs and walks to the sink to collect the cans and throw them in the trash. While she is doing this, a bald man with a paunch appears with a beer can in his hand, leaning against the wall.
"Is this the time to arrive, woman?" the man asks loudly while drinking his beer. The green-eyed boy just looks at him with disgust.
"I'm sorry, this won't happen again," the brunette says with her head down, not looking at the man, trying to hold back tears.
"At least you're still good for cooking. If it weren't for that, I would have already kicked you out of here, you old hag," the man says disgustedly and goes back to drinking his beer.
"Hey, don't talk about my mother like that. I won't let you talk to her like that," the boy says angrily, glaring at his stepfather with hatred in his eyes.
"Oh, really? And what are you going to do, mama's boy?" the man asks, stopping his drink to stare at the boy with a mocking expression. He sits down at the dining table and picks up a glass to pour some beer. The child clenches his fists tightly and stares intently at his stepfather as he picks up the glass to drink. Suddenly, the liquid in the drink begins to tremble, the glass shatters, and a shard ends up piercing the man's eye.
"Oh, damn it! My eye!" the man yells, jumping up from his chair in despair, his injured eye bleeding from the cut.
"Hey, it's okay! Just wait a few minutes in the bathroom and I'll help you," the woman says desperately, trying to calm the man as she approaches him. He backs away from her, cursing the poor woman and threatening to kick her out of the house if she doesn't heal him, as he walks to the bathroom. While the woman looks for bandages, her son approaches.
"Why do you still stay with a guy who treats you so badly?" the boy asks, looking at his mother with a sad and worried expression.
The woman sighs and takes the boy's hand, making him sit on the sofa with her.
"Look, Percy, sometimes we need to accept things that aren't very good to protect and care for those we love, okay?" the woman says while caressing her son's face, who only looks at her confused.
"But he's awful!" the boy exclaims indignantly, and his mother sighs. She puts her hand on her son's leg to try to calm him down.
"Percy, try to understand..." the woman says, but is interrupted because the house begins to shake. Percy and his mother hear loud, heavy footsteps coming towards them. The woman doesn't think twice and opens the living room window. She and her son use the building's external stairs to go down. They get into the black car and Percy's mother starts driving at high speed. Percy keeps looking back to see if he can see anything, but the rain fogs up the car windows. He starts to get agitated, not knowing what's happening. They arrive at a deserted road, where there's only forest. But a large, dark shadow appears in front of the car, startling Percy's mother, who tries to swerve, but the car ends up flipping over on the road. Percy is thrown out and his body rolls on the ground until it stops, the boy's face pressed against the ground, facing forward. He slowly tries to turn his head to look back. Blood is trickling down the side of his head. The boy sees his mother's overturned car. In pain, he tries to crawl towards the car, but the vehicle explodes out of nowhere.
"NOOOOOOO! MOMMMMMMMM!" Percy screams in despair, tears welling in his eyes, as he sees the car engulfed in flames. A hand touches him and he is startled, but upon seeing his mother's face, he feels relieved.
"Come on, Percy," the woman says and helps her son to his feet. She holds his hand and runs with him into the forest. They are both running, breathless. They see a gate. Percy watches the letters move and form the words "Camp Half-Blood".
However, something grabs the woman and separates her from her son. Percy looks back.
"NO!" Percy screams desperately and terrified as he sees his mother being crushed by the hand of a huge being: half bull, half human.
"Percy, I don't have much time. You need to go to Camp Half-Blood. There, you'll be safe," says the woman, groaning in pain. Percy shakes his head in denial.
"I'm not going without you. No way," says Percy with determination and despair. His mother smiles at him.
"I can't go in. People like me aren't allowed, nor are monsters. But you are, my son. If you want to help me, you need to go in and trust the people inside. They'll tell you everything you need to know," says the woman, trying to convince her son to go in, but he continues to refuse. He can only stand there, motionless, watching his mother be crushed and disappear.
"Percy, I don't have much time. You need to go to Camp Half-Blood. There, you'll be safe," the woman says, trying to convince her son to go inside, but he continues to refuse. He can only stand there, motionless, watching his mother be crushed and disappear. "NOOO ... Percy begins to feel dizzy and falls, hitting his head on the ground. His vision is blurry, but he manages to see the silhouette of someone running and stopping a little ahead of the gate, looking at him with crossed arms. Then, other silhouettes join the first.
"Clarisse, you can't run away like that without at least knowing what you're going to face." Someone says this, and Percy learns the name of the first person who found him before he completely faints.