Perseus: The God of the Absence of Light

Chapter one: More than meets the eye

Fake Physics lesson with Otherdate:

That's really all that darkness is. The absence of light that is. Darkness is simply a word we use to describe an absence of light. However, we have a seemingly unnatural fear of darkness. Why would we be afraid of there being no light? The obvious answer would be that without light we can't see, and therefore we don't know what's there and we evolved to avoid places where we don't know what's in front of us. Darkness, however is completely different. That's Darkness with a capital "D." He's a whole other story... his name is Erebus. He is the physical personification of darkness. Now, how could this be? The personification of no light? How can there be a physical personification of nothing? It makes no sense.

The answer is deceptively simple. We're wrong.

Darkness isn't really just the absence of light, no darkness is simply a different form of energy than light.

Light is an electromagnetic wave. If you were to look at a wave of light it would look like two waves, one going up and down, vertical, and another going side to side, horizontal. Relative to a plane of course. Light is emitted from and absorbed by photons. It shares characteristics of both waves and particles. There are many different wavelengths of these waves which represent themselves differently on the electromagnetic spectrum. Also, it moves at a speed nothing else can match without breaking the very laws of physics that govern this infinite Universe. ...that we know of.

That is an admittedly dull and abhorrently short description of light that would most likely give any one of my past physics professors a heart attack but I feel it sums it up well enough.

Now let me introduce you to darkness. Not Darkness, no, him you'll meet soon enough but not quite yet.

See, darkness is a different energy. Not Dark Energy, or antimatter, no, nothing that destructive. It is simply a different kind or energy. Whereas light is emitted from any body that gives of energy in the form of radiation, darkness is emitted from the opposite. There isn't a name for it because it's never been discovered by humans. The Primordials, beings we'll get to in just a bit, however, did name it. It's called "Ere." They call radiation "Aeth." Hence, Erebus and Aether. Everything that emits Aeth also emits Ere. Darkness is basically the same as light in the fact that both are waves that share the characteristics of waves and particles. The main differences I'll mention are that, darkness has more relative mass and light interacts more with the surrounding matter while darkness needs a medium. You can't feel darkness unless it has a medium. Light on the other hand, you can feel just fine, life is dependent on it in fact.

Fake History lesson with Otherdate:

To understand the story I'm about to tell you you'll need a bit of backstory to go with the little physics lesson you just experienced. There are two Primordial beings that represent light and darkness. One for each that is. Each of these also has a partner, the physical representation of what is caused by the presence of light, and darkness. For darkness: Erebus is its representative, along with his wife Nyx. For light: it's representative is Aether, along with his wife, Hemera. Both Erebus and Aether are significantly more powerful than their wives.

The reason for this is that both Erebus and Aether come directly from Chaos, then each of them screwed their mom. Their mom, Chaos then gave birth to their kids, her grandkids. Nyx and Hemera. Erebus fathered Nyx and Aether fathered Hemera. Then, both married their daughters. Incest isn't a thing for immortals, it's all just normal... don't worry about it.

So Erebus is darkness, Nyx is night, Aether is light and Hemera is day. Cool, but what does that mean exactly? Good question. This means that in their metaphysical forms they literally are these things. However, in their physical forms, be it in our realm or in their own little Primordial plane of existence, -for the sake of our sanity let's just settle with designating it as "The Void" ...very original, I know- they have ultimate control of these substances. For example, if Aether wanted a hyper-concentrated beam of light to be emitted from his palm he could just make it happen. If Erebus wanted a hyper-concentrated beam of darkness to be emitted from his palm then he could just make that happen too. If their wives wanted the same thing it would also happen, to a smaller degree however.

Erebus and Aether have had a rather strained relationship over the course of the history of the Universe. Originally they were the best of pals. Very close brothers. However over time they began vying for the position of second in command after their older brother Ouranos. Ouranos had them fight each other in a gladiator styled contest to discover the better warrior. Erebus won in a landslide. He wiped the floor with his brother. Erebus was far more of a warrior than Aether. It all comes down to the properties of their affiliated substances. Darkness is denser than light and thus when they collide it contains more energy and as a result is a superior weapon. Darkness has more of a corrosive affect than light does as well. Erebus embraced the militaristic side of his domain and became a fantastic warrior. Aether was more concentrated on growing life, he'd rather help along the evolution of life on earth than spend hours sparring with his brothers. As a result, Erebus stomped his brother.

This put Ouranos at an impasse. He originally wanted Aether. After all, Aether was the more helpfully intelligent of the two, he was smarter in a certain sense. Aether was more strategic in his thinking. He was also more vibrant. Erebus was also very intelligent, arguably more so than his twin. The problem was that his kind of intelligence was more of the memorization kind. The mathematics and science kind. Aether on the other hand was a strategic genius, had vocabulary unmatched by any, and if you wanted someone to answer your problems you came to Aether. He would get so intrigued by the concept of not knowing something that he'd put his whole heart into knowing the answer and would develop a wonderful passion for the subject and within a week you would have an impossibly complex answer you could barely keep track of. Erebus on the other hand would just know the answer already and simply look at you like you were a moron for even daring to not know something that to him was so obvious and give you a biting, sarcastic answer. You'd know the answer to your question but it would be like a snippet of a textbook definition instead of the whole chapter. Erebus was a highly intelligent being. Aether however, was an even more deeply knowledgeable being, a much smarter being. This was due to his deeper interest in knowledge. Aether was kinder, a better personality. Erebus was loving, and very compassionate to the few that he loved and cared about, those outside of that circle he treated like dirt.

In the end Ouranos chose Erebus. Erebus was the better fighter and Ouranos wanted a warrior at his side because he was getting wary of his twin Tartarus and his treacherous wife Gaea whom had recently had him cut into a thousand pieces by his very son which caused him to not be able to take physical form on the planet Earth, the main concentration of all their power.

Aether was not happy about this. The fact that Erebus began seeing Aether as below him after their fight had much to do with it. Eventually they actually became bitter enemies and fought again. This was right after the Titanomachy.

Aether had a greater circle of friends and most of the other Primordials sided with him. Erebus had only Ouranos The lord of the Sky, his wife Nyx, and Chronus The Lord of Time, on his side. Erebus battled Aether and his wife Hemera one on two at the end of the war after Aether had sworn not to get his allies physically involved in their schism if Erebus did the same. Aether, in his bid for petty vengeance broke his promise and attacked with his wife at his side after only his twin had agreed to their little agreement. Erebus had sworn on their mother not to involve his wife, Ouranos, or Chronus and hadn't thought his twin would backstab him so hadn't mentioned anything about his agreement only having an affect if his twin had sworn the same. Erebus nearly killed Aether. Nearly made him fade and caused Hemera to flicker-to fade for a couple of days but not permanently- however the cost of the battle culminated in Erebus being at less than 1% of his normal power for the next Earth week or so. While not a lot of time, it certainly was enough time for his twin and said twin's wife to recover and come back again to kill him once and forever.

In an effort to escape this result he begged his mother to exempt him from the laws she had set at the Time of Creation and allow him to interact with the ruling forces on Earth for at least the next year. She agreed in the event that he accepted whatever punishment she saw fit the schism he and his twin had caused. Erebus accepted. He sought refuge with a Titan who went by the name Leto. She hid his presence on her island in return for the promise that he would allow her to give birth to a god who would carry Erebus's power within him. After a month he was almost fully recovered.

He told her that if she had sex with a god powerful enough to produce an offspring that could contain his power then she shall receive her gift. The only gods that fit this description were the Big Three, all of whom were married. This led Erebus to believe that he had just tricked his way out of their deal. Little did he know, Zeus is a man-whore who never stays with one wife for long.

This son of hers that she would eventually have would be Erebus's champion. A being which has his powers, albeit at an Olympian scale, due to his blessing. Much like a demigod who is blessed by an Olympian and then has the abilities of that Olympian's demigod children along with those of his biological father/mother who is also an Olympian. Aether decided that since Erebus was making one he would too, and to fulfill his spiteful wishes he made his champion the brother of Erebus's. Aether assumed that they would fight much like he and his twin did. Whether or not he was right, is to be seen. Nonetheless, the repercussions were felt throughout the immortal world ever since.

The punishments the twins received were severe. Erebus's physical form was tied to his favorite creation, black holes. Aether's was tied to his favorite creation, stars. Both of which represented them very well. Black holes to Erebus and stars to Aether. They were forbidden from contact even in "The Void" for the next 12 millennia.

The result of their machinations, their meddling, is what this story is written about.

Greece, Delos, 2,500 B.C.

A beautiful Titaness walked along the beach. Her son, Perseus walking by her side. He was but a year old, however he had already matured mentally and physically to the body of an 8 year old, twice the speed of growth usually seen in gods. She knew Erebus had kept his promise. His eyes were pitch black, the darkest black one could ever see, his hair was nearly the same, being only a shade lighter. Perseus's eyelashes were long, beautiful, and captivatingly dark. His nose was perfect. His Cheekbones were high and regal, His jawline was perfectly defined. He was very tall and built like a warrior. He had perfect genetics even for a god. His mother knew, Erebus had kept his promise. When he was angry it was like the shadows grew in size, the light would dim, and one time when he ah... soiled himself he wailed so loud and with such anger that his power exploded from within him, destroying everything around him within about a foot radius. Nothing crazy, but for a mere godling, it was unheard of. He hadn't even gotten his domains yet. Only Leto knew the reason he already had control over darkness. He was given the domain of Darkness the moment he came out of his mother's womb. He was Perseus, the Son of Zeus and Leto. The God of Darkness.

"Mom, when am I gonna meet dad again? I haven't seen him in months?" Percy asked his mother. Looking up at her beautiful face.

Leto looked regal standing there on the beach in her royal blue chiton. The sunlight glanced off her sun kissed tan skin like it glances off of marble making her look even more incredibly beautiful than she already was.

"I don't know Percy, I don't know." She replied. Leto smiled down at her son and decided to distract him from that specific line of questioning. She bounded off towards the well palace she had on the island, courtesy of her lover, Zeus.

She didn't want to answer because the truth was that he was back on Olympus and wouldn't be able to return for a long time. His wife Hera was very angry at Leto because she was carrying even more of her, Hera's, husbands children. Twins in fact. She didn't want to tell Perseus yet though. He looked up to his dad a lot and she didn't want to ruin that by telling him that his dad had cheated on his wife. So she raced her little boy back to the palace. Surprisingly she did have to actually try which made her grin. Her showing of hospitality had worked, no matter what, unless Hera killed her soon her son would grow up. And when he did he would show the Olympians what the Champion of a Primordial can do, no one would be able to harm Leto or the twins she carried in her stomach. Well, no one but the one who she relies on to protect them at least. No one but Perseus.

Two years later, Delos, Greece:

Perseus stopped growing at such an accelerated rate after his second year. He ended up looking to be about fourteen when he was two and now at the age of three he looks and acts to be about sixteen.

Unlike mortals, goddesses hold their babies in their womb for upwards of two years. This was the case for Leto. She was currently in labor and she had two nymphs coaxing her through labor. She was already through much of the hard part and was just finishing on the whole pushing part. Perseus was in the other room twiddling his thumbs nervously, sweat was noticeably dripping from his brow. He wanted to be in there helping his mother but she didn't allow him. Saying she wanted to preserve his innocence or something. Even though he was three now and had the body and mind of a sixteen year old mortal she didn't care. His mother wanted to treat him like any regular immortal child. If he were average then Perseus would be in the body of a 13 year old or so. As a result she treated him as such. That didn't stop him from training with the sword he had stolen from a passing mortal a year back.

Leto had told him that he could train to be a warrior later, for now she just wanted him to be her son. He however, was not satisfied with this. See, Perseus had grown to be a very arrogant child. Due to his rapid development and powers he had gained significant power over led him to believe he was exceptionally strong, which he was. Due to this he became rather independent. Spending large chunks of time out in the forest hunting with a handmade bow or practicing with his stolen xiphos.

Leto was aware of this, however she tried to ignore it. The fact that he matured so fast worried her. Leto worried she hadn't known what she was getting herself into when she asked one of the most powerful Primordials in existence for a child with his power. Ouranos had the same domains as Zeus did however they weren't given to Zeus by Ouranos. The domain of Darkness was given to Perseus by Darkness himself, he was the Champion of Darkness, and also the God of Darkness. That was a title that came with no small amount of power. However what worried her a lot more than that was the fear that her son had gotten more from Erebus than just his powers. It was not exactly uncommon knowledge that Erebus is a dick. He is very close and loving to those close to him like Ouranos, Nyx and Chaos. However, anyone outside of that circle he treated with nothing short of indifference. Leto hoped her twins would help mellow out her son and give him more of a balanced personality. If it didn't then he may get put on the Olympian Council in a few short years and be sent to Tartarus by his own father a few decades later.

Narration is going to be a little weird, switching from third person omniscient to 3rd Person Percy pov etc... you'll figure it out:

Leto lay there on the bed with one baby out on her chest. He had blonde hair and tan skin, even though he had yet to see the sun. His eyes were an incredibly bright blue. He was almost the exact opposite to his older brother. However it was clear that he'd be a looker when he was older much like his elder brother Perseus.

These were some of the things Perseus took in as he surveyed the room he was finally allowed in. He was there for moral support for his mother as she finished giving birth to her third child. That one was a girl with silvery hair and silver eyes. She came out of the womb with a look on her face like she was surveying new territory to hunt. She looked like she was marking every shadow as a place to hide. 'Definitely a natural born hunter.' Perseus thought to himself.

'Her older brother seems to be as well. However he looks to be a little more flashy than his sister, after all he's already speaking limericks to mother... how does he already know poetry?' Perseus thought to himself, the last part with quite a bit of consternation.

Over the next few years the twins matured at a great rate, though not quite the same as Perseus when he was their age. Perseus was a fully grown, fully developed god and would receive his domains from the Fates when he's ten and Zeus had already announced that with his level of power he would undoubtedly be on the Council. The same went for his brother and sister.

Line Break

An immense forest stretched around for what seemed like countless miles, all as silent save for a few birds in the branches. The light from the sun pierced the branches and canopy lighting up the forest floor brilliantly.

Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing against metal sounded from about a hundred feet away. A few minutes later and there was a crash. Suddenly a blade of what looked to be solid darkness sliced right through a tree. That tree then fell, right in the middle of the small clearing, it had a slanted slash that cut it right in two at about the one foot mark. A black streak flew through the air and slowed down just long enough to jump off the newly created stump, using it as a ledge to get himself high up in the air. While suspended in the air the pitch black male figure drew his bow from the back of his cloak that covered his entire body, though it failed to hide the large muscles that covered his frame. He notched three arrows and let them loose into the trees he had come from.

A silver blur came flying from the left and crossed over to the right and a golden blur did the exact opposite. From both blurs came a seemingly endless stream of wooden shafts with sharp bronze tips, perfectly crafted arrows that flew fast with impeccable precision directly at the now descending dark figure. However they came at a slightly higher rate from the golden blur.

When they stopped short and drew what looked to be long, curved hunting knives, both of which seemed to be about 18 inches long, you could finally get a good look at them. One was a woman wearing a hunting chiton colored silver with a now discarded bow on her back along with a quiver. Her face was impossibly beautiful and she had a rather voluptuous figure. She had deep silver eyes and silvery blonde hair that came down in wisps. She looked to be about 16 Her countenance was one of determination as she got ready to leap at the dark figure in front of her. To the silver woman's left was a boy of the same age who looked almost the exact opposite. While he shared the impossibly attractive face of his silver counterpart everything was gold for him instead of silver. He had a very lithe build slightly hidden under his own hunting chiton. His bow also strung across his back along with his quiver. In his hands were two hunting knives, just like his counterpart.

Finally connecting with the ground in front of them was the dark figure. One of the arrows he had failed to block with his strong, bronze xiphos now held in front of him from the barrage a second earlier had clipped his cowl and sent it back revealing a face even more attractive than the two mentioned above. He had a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, dark black hair that was buzzed on the sides and about three inches long and combed up on the top. His nose was perfect along with everything else. His eyes however were the darkest dark you'd ever see. His hair but a shade lighter. His eyes were alight with mirth as he prepared to defend against his little sibling's next attack.

"Come now Artemis, Apollo, I know you can do better! Tomorrow I turn ten and receive my domains and claim my rightful seat on the Olympian Council. I've beaten you both soundly countless times before and it looks like I'm about to beat you both at once!? I know that children of Zeus can do better than that!" He goaded playfully. It was obvious in the smile he had on his face and the humor in his eyes that he was simply riling up his little siblings.

Artemis, the silver girl, growled. She attacked with potent fervor, ever the competitive one. Her older twin on the other hand stayed back a second and waited for his siblings to attack before trying to slink up a tree to engage his brother from behind.

The truth was Perseus was tired, he was getting worn out after defending against both of his siblings at once for the past two hours. He saw his brother go up a tree but had no time to think about that as he was met with a blur of silver in front of him. He relied on his defensive form of combat. Quick blocks, keeping his elbows close to his body and relying on economy of motion to limit the amount of energy he expended on his little sister. After about thirty seconds of this Artemis landed a glancing blow to his thigh in a last ditch effort to wound her eldest brother. The desperate lunge drew some ichor and made her brother stutter-step but it allowed him to land a solid jab to her left shoulder.

That stutter-step was what Apollo was waiting for and he leapt down to his sister's aid. Attacking his brother from behind. Perseus quickly sidestepped to get both of his siblings in front of him however his speed was slightly less than before due to the light cut on his thigh and the intense close quarters battle he had just had with his sister.

The battle quickly evolved from silver and gold hunters attacking a dark cloaked man with knives to a gold and silver blur whirling around a blurry black figure clashing constantly. The endless cacophony of metal clashing against metal permeated the entire forest. Eventually the silver blur was caught with a powerful roundhouse from the black blur. Stopping both in their tracks. A quick knee to the face and Artemis was unconscious. Just as this happened Apollo hit the black blur's wrist with the side of his hunting knife and followed it up with a kick to the back of the knee. Perseus fell to the ground weaponless.

Quickly Apollo had both knives against his older brother's neck. He was grinning like a fool and the dark figure looked up with a face beaming with pride.

Apollo helped his brother to his feet and they shook hands.

"Well Percy, looks like we finally got the better of you. It looks like we found out what it take to take down the eldest son of Leto!" Exclaimed Apollo.

The newly identified Perseus just grinned, "You're almost all grown up now. I have much more to teach you two about archery and you about swordplay, however, I'm going to need to rest for the rest of the day for my initiation tomorrow. When you sister awakens tell her what happened. I'll be back at the palace." Perseus grinned at his brother again before disappearing into a shadow Apollo could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago.

Perseus, or as his siblings were taking to calling him "Percy," took off his hunting cloak and set it on the washing line that ran from his room to his mother's. His cloak was soaked with sweat.

Percy got into more comfortable garb after rinsing off in the tub and walked to his bed.

'I need to work on my switching from defense to offense. It's in that little bit of time where I'm always caught with something.' Percy thought to himself. He closed his eyes and slept on it. Little did he know he'd get the answer to his little fighting style issue that night. Though where it came from, he wouldn't learn for another millennia or so.

In the center of the Milky Way galaxy sat an immensely powerful being and his wife. The man had his eyes closed but opened them slowly, a grin slowly splitting across his face.

"What did you see? Has he been utilizing his powers again? I think he should be getting his domains tomorrow right?" Asked the female entity. Her elegant dress of darkness flowing with the pull of the gravity of the supermassive black hole behind them.

The man smiled at his wife. "Yes, yes he is. Young Perseus is just as I had imagined, strong, handsome, skilled, and highly intelligent. The perfect champion. And yes, he's getting his domains tomorrow. If I were to guess I'd say he'll get combat and knowledge along with darkness." The pitch black man postulated.

"Hmm, I agree. He is quite the warrior is he not? Much like you Erebus, much like you." She said with a grin.

"Yes Nyx, I agree wholeheartedly. He is perfect, through him I will exert my will on the Earth. And through me he shall have the power to take the very Olympian throne from his father if he so wishes." Erebus stated with a grand smile on his face.

"I think that tonight I'll appear in his dreams as a disembodied voice, I'll help him with his little swordplay style dilemma." Erebus decided.

"We may have just gotten that son we always wanted." Nyx said with a wistful smile on her face.

Erebus simply cocked an eyebrow at his beautiful wife. He looked happy for the time being, however if he looked deep into the galaxy he was at the center of he'd see his twin in the center of a massive star having similar thoughts but about Apollo instead of Perseus.

AN: Alright guys, how'd you like it? Personally I love this story. I just hate the beginning hahaha. Once the story gets rolling relationships will be explained and everything will be a lot more detailed.

So please review. Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

By the way, I haven't had much free time in the past... well, year due to my child and wife. That along with my business ventures really clogged up my time. I've officially given my first story "Perseus: The Imperfect Perfect Child" to my little cousin... who basically wrote that story in the first place. I'll switch between this story and my other one. If you wanna give me shit for being gone so long well, here's my preemptive answer. Fuck off. Money and family take priority over Fanfiction.

Word count: 5,045