Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series

AN: First of all, I would like to thank mysticalhideoutpizza for coming up with the idea and courage to ask the lovely mormoc to draw the Son of Hades AU. And also for her to add a continuation comic because without that comic, this fic would probably never come out. And lastly to Kei for helping me out in the process of making this fic and also designing some stuff.

Warnings: Dark ending in the prologue, but no more after that if I can help it. Also a bit of graphic description.

Without further ado, please enjoy.

.:-Prologue-:.

Percy Jackson loved his mom.

Sally Jackson was the kindest, most wonderful mom in the whole world. She always prioritized his needs in front of hers. She would always set aside anything she was doing whenever he wanted her attention. She never, ever got angry. She scolded him, yes, but not angry. He has never even heard her raise her voice, aside from her calling for him in a crowded place when they got separated or when he strayed too far from their camping site and out of her sight.

Not only was she kind, but she also had an adventurous soul. Every summer without fail she would bring him along out into the deepest parts of the woods to set camp. In the day, they would explore the surrounding area, looking at all kinds of wildlife there. His mom was knowledgeable too. Whenever he pointed towards an animal or a plant, she would smile and explain to him what it was, their characteristics, and so on. When she doesn't know about something, she would pull out a worn out black journal and a few colored pens from her messenger bag and they would draw the object together so they can look into the thing later when they got back home.

He loved those activities the did in the day, but the best part about their outings would always be in the nights. Like how most people would often do on campings, they would eat marshmallows by the campfire, exchange stories (though it was mostly his mom doing the story telling. In these moments, she often told stories of what happened at work, on the road, anything on her mind. But not the past, not yet), and just enjoying each others company. Late in the night, while others would put out the fire and sleep in their tents, the Jacksons have their own set of activities. They would put out the fire and light up a candle. They would lay on the ground, enjoy the silence, as they looked upon the breathtaking view of the stars above. A view they could never see from the city. After a moment of silence, her mother would open her mouth, and the real fun began the second words came out of her mouth.

She would talk of heroes of the old, of the gods and goddesses, of terrifying monsters and magical beings. All things straight out of Greek mythology, and then some. She talked as if they were real, as if they were still lurking around in this world. Unseen by normal people without a certain kind of Sight. And he soaked in all of her words because he believed them. He believed that they exist, even if he had never seen any proof at the time, solely because of the way her mother talked about them and the way she just believe.

(Little did he know that he was also what people would call a myth.)

When she finished telling him those, she would tell him of her past. Like how her parents died in a plane crash when she was young and her favorite moments with them before their death. How she had no choice but to drop out of school to take care of her uncle Rich, the only family she had left. How, after all her efforts, her uncle still died and she was left with no money, no diploma, and no family. How her dream above all is to be a writer that can bring happiness to her readers. But the most often story she told him was of how she met his dad for the first time.

After uncle Rich's funeral, she got so sick of the pitying glances that were thrown at her so she went running into the woods near the cemetery. But she ran in too deep and ended up lost. She wandered around until it was dark and that was when his dad approached her (Like a stalker lurking in the dark, thought Percy). At first his mom was wary. But then they kept talking with each other, kept meeting each other on the same spot, and they fell in love.

News came that she was pregnant and the both of them were so happy, but his dad couldn't stay for reasons his mom refused to tell him. Dad told mom that he would always be watching after the both of them even if they weren't aware of it (Totally not creepy dad) and warned her of the dangers that would come if they, Percy especially, got too close to the sea or sky. Mom took the warning seriously and never brought him to places that are too high or near anywhere that can drown him. Percy didn't mind, because he always got a bad feeling in his gut whenever he went near the two. The sky more so than the sea though.

Oftentimes, his mom would remark of the similarities between him and his dad. The same pale skin, onyx eyes, and jet black hair. Appearance wise, Percy was a carbon copy of his dad, other than the fact that Percy's hair was a bit wavy like his mom's, not straight down like his dad's. But personality wise, he was exactly like his mother. The both of them had the same kind of soul that wouldn't want to be bound.

Then he would remember the figure he'd seen in the darkness of his bedroom when he was younger. It was supposed to be hard to distinguish the person's features in the darkness, but that had never been a problem for Percy. For whatever reason, he could see in the dark better than most people, but not by that much (it also helps that the light reflected by the moon shone through his semi-transparent curtains). The person wore a dark colored coat that reached below his knees at the very least, he wasn't sure. He was pretending to be asleep so that the person wouldn't notice him. From Percy's point of view, the person had a tall figure, pale skin, dark hair, and cold black eyes. But when he looked at him, those eyes would melt into warmth. He would approach him, one hand outstretched as if to caress him, stopped before any contact with him could be made, and promptly disappeared into the darkness.

He didn't think that the person who visited him was dangerous. Even if the person was dangerous, his gut told him that the person wouldn't harm him. But even so, Percy didn't tell his mom this bit of information. He was afraid his mom would freak out or something. Like that one time when she noticed that he was being watched by an old lady whenever they visited the park. She was so horrified, she never let him go to that park, or even near it, again for a whole year.

He agreed with her. Seeing an old lady wearing a leather jacket that was way out of her time is enough to give you nightmares of discomfort.

Basically, the first few years of his life were perfect. Until Gabe Ugliano arrived.

.:-Prologue-:.

The first time Percy met Gabe Ugliano, he was seven years old, and his school had only started a few weeks before. When he saw his mom brought him for dinner, he questioned his mom's sanity. Sure, it's bad to judge a book by it's cover, but the guy looked like a tuskless walrus with three strands of hair on his bald scalp. Just looking at him made Percy want to collapse on the floor and puke. Not only that, everytime he opened his mouth, a disgusting smell would come out of it. Percy was pretty sure it was the smell of beer, since the man was holding a can of it. He never knew Gabe was the kind of guy his mom would ever have an interest in. But if his mom was somehow happy with her new company, he wasn't going to complain.

Even though Percy often saw her clench her fists under the dinner table when Gabe spoke rude things to him, even when he started getting rough with him when his mother went out, he didn't complain. Because, as he said before, his mother always prioritized him first before herself. It wasn't exactly a good thing (her mother needed to spoil herself too), but it just proved that somehow, in his mom's perspective, Gabe Ugliano was needed. So much so that she pushed aside her apparent discomfort towards the man. Though he can't see how Big Ugly there is even relevant in their life.

Thank whatever God out there (And gods and goddesses, he added) that his mother never married the big lump of mass. But the guy still moved in with them. It made their previously hard, but still manageable, life even harder and more miserable. Mom was the one who did all the work around the house and was the family's source of income. Big Ugly claimed that he had a job, but the only thing he did was stay at home, watch the television, and play poker with his buddies. But he knew he couldn't blame all of their problems on Big Ugly alone.

That year, he got himself in trouble on the field trip of his elementary school when they visited some kind of art museum. Let's just say he tripped and caused the building to have a blackout for an entire week, which was really, really bad for business. Needless to say, the curator was so angry he blacklisted the school from the museum. Percy told the teachers that it was an accident, but of course, he was expelled anyway.

The next year, on yet another field trip at a new school, they visited an animal husbandry. Their supposed leisure tour around the husbandry turned into a game of cat-and-mouse between a herd of black horned-sheeps and humans. Who were the cats? Here's a hint: They walked on four legs.

Not only did he have a bad reputation, he also had dyslexia and ADHD, which in turn gave his grades undesirable results. Add them together and you've got yourself a ticket to expulsion.

So yeah, both him and Big Ugly were a big factor to his mom's tough life. He had also noticed that, in those two years ever since Big Ugly made his way to their life and his own notion to keep getting expelled, his mom looked even more worse for wear every passing day. Then, it happened.

.:-Prologue-:.

It started on the summer before his third year in yet again another school, when he and his mom went on their annual camping activity (which also suffered since Gabe's arrival. Apparently he couldn't live long enough without his mom's cooking, so their usual two weeks trip had to be shortened into five days instead. Not nearly enough to satisfy their wanderlust). On the last night of their trip, as he got ready to blow the candle they had lit up for their late night sessions, his mom stopped him to reveal something.

Before his dad's departure, he left something for him. A box, his mom had said, approximately the length of his leg. His dad had designed it so that Percy is the only one who can open it (how in the world he managed that, Percy had no idea), so she didn't know what was inside. Though she had her own suspicion as to what it was. She hid the box under her bed, away from prying eyes and hands. She told him to never reach for it unless something happened to her, a horrible thought he refused to ever imagine. After she finished telling him all that, he blew off the candle and the both of them crept into their tent to get a well deserved sleep. To ready themselves for the next day when they had to step out of their own isolated world and back to reality.

When they got home, the moment Percy closed the door to their shabby apartment he heard the sound of skin meeting skin. He turned around and saw Gabe who had one hand in the air and his other hand holding a half empty bottle of beer, while his mom leaned to the wall with her back hunched, one hand holding her swelling cheek. His didn't think. He charged towards the hideous excuse of a human being with anger burning in his eyes, but he forgot that he was a measly nine year old, and that was enough for Big Ugly to be able to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying back. His back hit the door with a resounding thud, and a crack not a second later. Percy let out a pained scream, tears unwillingly falling down from his eyes as he collapsed on the floor, curling into a fetal position because it hurts his back hurts his entire body is hurting so much it hurts it hurts it hurts-

His mom yelled out his name, but he wasn't paying attention. His mom tried to reach out to him, but Gabe kicked her in the gut, stopping her attempt. Screaming one thing or another at her and kicking her black and blue. Choking her and punching her until blood ran out of her mouth and cuts littered her body. His mom struggled as best as she could. She clawed at him, kicked him with all her might, but it was useless. The view would have made his blood freeze but he didn't because he was too preoccupied by the pain it's so painful make it stop please stop-

When the pain finally dulled enough for him to take note of his surroundings again, he looked up just in time for Gabe to deliver his finishing blow. He raised his beer bottle high in the air and struck down, making it hit his mom's head. The bottle shattered and his mother fell to the ground, not moving. He noticed that her mother's chest wasn't heaving up and down. She wasn't breathing. She was dead. His mom was dead. His mom just died in front of his eyes and he couldn't do a thing to stop it.

Something inside of him snapped. His tears kept falling down his face. With energy he never knew he had before, he stood up silently. At the same time, a black mass of... something began to appear around the room. Writhing and struggling, pained moans laced with despair unheard by anyone other than him reached his ears, but he ignored them. His instincts told him that if he listened too closely, he would be dragged into the darkness, unable to escape. Gabe didn't notice him standing up, too drunk and satisfied with his deed as he sluggishly walked back to the living room, swaying left and right. Unconsciously, almost automatically, Percy shakily raised his hand in front of him. His mind was a mess, he was thinking of everything and nothing at the same time. He willed his hand to stop shaking, and it did. That was when all hell broke loose.

As if on cue, skeletal hands appeared from the floor right under Gabe. He tripped and fell to the floor. He tried to stand up but he couldn't. Because those hands grabbed his arm, his ankle, his entire body, and they chained him to the ground. Gabe was drunk and confused. He tried tugging them off but the hands just tightened their grips on him. He became angry and frustrated until he noticed something right in front of him. There on the ground he was facing, in the puddle of black liquid that appeared out of nowhere, countless of eyes stared back at him. Each of those eyes had their own stories to tell. All of which would not end good for him and he just knew it.

This time, he tried to fight those hands with more power than he had before, but to no avail. Those eyes observed him. They didn't have any mouth but he just knew that they were laughing at what a pathetic sight he was. Like a pig trying to stand up after falling on its back. Then, one of the hands that grabbed hold of him started clawing at him, and the rest of the hands followed suit. He screamed but no one heard him. No sound was heard from the outside because the darkness that had enveloped the room ate it. They feast in the prospect of hearing screams of terror and pain. Percy himself didn't hear the guy, because he was too shocked at what had transpired in front of him, at what he was capable of doing. He was so terrified he broke out of his stupor.

The moment he did so, the black mass that had appeared around the room disappeared, and his world promptly turned black.

.:-Prologue-:.

AN: I have no excuse for that dark ending. I promise the next chapters won't be as dark. Percy won't be broody and gloomy 24/7. He'll still have his humor, sarcasm, and of course, his impertinence. Seeing as the sons of the Big Three all changed parents, this initially caused some complication for me because I still want the siblings of the same mortal parent to stay siblings. But I've come up with an acceptable solution so I don't think it will be a problem. I'll try my best to make them as in character as possible. Critics and reviews will be highly appreciated!

Choppa, out.

Kei: You don't know how much she delete and re-write some sentence, chill bro.