Disclaimer - I don't own PJO and I never will

*THIS HAS BEEN EDITED*

THIRD PERSON POV

The moon shone brightly in the night sky, illuminating a grassy field at the edge of a forest. It was on this field that the village of Dion was situated. There were several stone huts throughout the field with a single cobble street cutting through the center of the village. The field was eerily silent, as if all of the life had been wiped out by the chilly breeze moving steadily through the forest. The wind whistled through the trees, causing the leaves to brush to one side, revealing the figure of a man in a cloak leaning against the tree. Then, almost as quickly as they were blown aside, the leaves were swept back into place once again by the cool night air. When the leaves moved again moments later, the man was gone. It was this man that was the cause of much discussion among the citizens of Dion every day. He was an enigma of sorts. When he first appeared, the streets of Dion were unsafe, riddled with criminals and drunks. Within weeks of his appearance, the amount of crime had decreased drastically. Unfortunately for the people residing in the village, he always managed to disappear before he could be seen or thanked.

After a lucky member of the night watch noticed the figure amongst the trees one evening, he had been talked about often. The figure was brought up in many council meetings, but nobody had more information on the mysterious guardian. Some thought he was a ghost, some even thought he was a god. But none knew who he truly was. The mystery remained, but over time the figure became known as Alexios –Greek for "defender" – and this is his story.

Prologue

1280 BC

Not too far away from Dion, in a forest just off the coast of the Aegean Sea, a young mother made a mad dash to the sea with the crying form of her newborn son in her arms. Branches whipped at her face and arms, but she ignored them, hell-bent on reaching the sea. Carried along on the wind, one could hear the reason for her sprint to the sea – the shouts of her pursuers. The woman's lungs were burning and her feet were aching from the constant running, and she was almost ready to collapse. The shouts of the men following her became increasingly more noticable, and instead of being carried by the wind, they were now slicing through the wind, coming closer and closer. After a couple more minutes of running, the young woman finally broke through the edge of the trees and came upon the coast of the Aegean Sea. She almost shouted in relief, but thought better of it, for she did not want to alert her pursuers of her presence. She stumbled her way towards the shoreline, still with her son in her arms, and fell to her knees at the water's edge. Please, she prayed, keep our son safe. She then placed her baby gently in the water just as the men chasing her broke free of the tree line, and the leader hurled a spear through her back, narrowly missing her sons head. As she closed her eyes for the last time, she saw the outline of her lover disappear under the water's surface, with her baby wrapped protectively in his arms. "Goodbye...Perseus," she whispered as the life faded from her body, and her eyes slid shut.

The man who killed her looked down at her broken form with pity in his eyes. He could sense the boy – his true target – disappearing into the sea, but he couldn't care less. He had no wish to kill either of them, and he gained no pleasure from doing so. After all, his domain was not murder, it was war. Death in war was honorable, especially when you are fighting for something that you believe in. Murder was just cold-blooded killing, and there was nothing honorable in that. He was sick and tired of being his father's personal assassin, and he would not put up with it any longer. He would simply tell his father that they were both dead, and suffer the consequences at a later date. Turning to the mortal mercenaries behind him, he snapped his fingers and quickly manipulated the mist, removing tonight's hunt from their minds. With that done, Ares turned and revealed his divine form, flashing back to his palace upon Mount Olympus. Only later did he remember that revealing his divine form disintegrates all mortals looking at him at the time, so using the mist to wipe their memories was a real waste of time. Oops.

POSEIDON POV

As I swam back to Atlantis, I took the time to study my son. He had a single tuft of black hair on his head, and his eyes were just like mine-as green as the sea. Just looking at him, I felt a need to protect him from all harm – starting with having a little chat with that stupid war god. But that would have to wait. For now, I just want to get home and rest up for what is to come. He is my first ever demigod, and he will be very powerful when he grows up, so he will require a lot of training to reign in that power. After all, the sea does not like to be restrained.

When I reached Atlantis, I entered the throne room to find Amphitrite waiting for me. When she saw me, her face broke out into a smile. That smile dropped off of her face pretty quickly though at the sight of Perseus in my arms. "What is that?" she hissed at me. "His name is Perseus," I said. "He is my son." Tears started to fall from her eyes as I said this. "You cheated." It was more of a statement than a question, so I simply nodded in reply. At this, her silent tears turned into heartbreaking sobs and she turned away from me. I gently set Perseus down on my throne, before quickly rushing over to her and gathering her shaking body in my arms. At first she protested, but eventually she gave in and leaned into me. I held her until she stopped crying, whispering soothing words and promises to her – one of which was a promise to never cheat again. "Get it out," she demanded without looking at me. "Please my queen, at least hold him before you decide to get rid of him," I said quietly. I handed Perseus to her, half expecting for her to kill him right then and there, but before she could do anything Perseus opened his eyes and her glare softened. She held out her hand to him, and he grabbed onto her index finger. In that moment, I knew she was hooked. "What's his name?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "His name is Perseus," I replied. "Perseus" she repeated, gazing down at him with a look she used to only hold for me – a look of unending love. I knew then that my – no our – son had a new family, one that wouldn't give him up for anything.

A/N - Let me know what you guys thought about this by leaving a review. They really help motivate me to continue writing. Thanks!

-runwild14