Disclaimer: Nope, don't own the brilliance that is Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan does.

~Prologue: And So It Begins...~

Over the years, tales and legends of terrible monsters and heroic warriors have been passed down from parent to child, in hushed tones and wonder filled expressions. They had been written down in different versions, twisting the perspective and tone of the stories, yet the morals and lessons have always been the same. No matter if they were written, or spoken, the tales never lost its wonder, nor have they lost its popularity.

But some tales do. Some written off as none sense, a myth among other myths. Surely great feats like those were heard of in other places?

The thing about tales and legends are its sources. Truths are spun in a web of lies, weaving together in an intricate pattern that makes it unrecognizable. A pattern so richly decorated in lies that the truth seems irrelevant. That the true moral and the true lesson lost it's purpose. That it was completely different from what it really was.

This is the story of one of these tales, the story of the greatest heroes to have ever walked this earth, who saved not only mankind,but the gods themselves. The story of love so fierce, with no in between, no maybe, no heartaches. The story of bravery so honorable, it contradicts every feat once considered the best. The story of kindness, of hope, of freedom. The story of family, no matter how different or difficult. The story of friendship so strong, it has no end, no restrictions, no hesitation. The story of the Heroes of Olympus.

It all started many moons ago, one mild autumn's night. In the large city of Corinth, Greece, a young mother screamed in agony while going in labor. Her servant, Brenya, murmured words of encouragement, gently yet firmly commanding the woman to push.

The young mother was afraid, but she couldn't register the fear in her pain. Through it all, she whispered prayers to any god that could help her. Hestia, Hera, Poseidon...

"Your going to be fine, m'lady," Brenya whispered, wiping her mistress' forehead with a cool cloth. "The baby's going to be fine too. Everything's going to be fine."

The young mother just moaned, squeezing her bright eyes shut.

Before long, a young boy was born. He wailed loudly, his cries echoing in the empty room. His eyes were shut tight, his cheeks red. Brenya wrapped the baby up in a towel, wiping his tiny body clean of all the blood. She glanced at the mother, who was breathing heavily and crying tears of joy, before offering it to her.

"Your son, m'lady," she said softly.

The young woman carefully took him in her arms, tenderly stroking his cheek. "Shh," she whispered. "No more crying now, baby. Momma's here. Momma loves you."

As if he could understand her, the baby stopped crying, whimpering only slightly. The woman sighed in contempt at her first born child.

Brenya stood up. "Shall I get you anything, m'lady?"

The woman shook her head. "I am alright, Brenya, I'm wonderful."

"Than I shall leave you to get acquainted with the boy." The young mother just started making cooing noises, no longer paying the servant any mind. Brenya slipped out the bedroom, smiling the entire time.

"Now what shall I call you?" The woman wondered out loud, laughing slightly when the baby clutched her finger with both chubby hands, "A fine baby like you should have a fine name. A heoric name. Yes, you will be my little hero, a champion of your father's name."

The young mother frowned. "If only your father could see you now. He would be so proud," She sighed. "I guess it's for the best, but I shall be a fool to say I wasn't disappointed he didn't show. Oh, but he loves you dearly, I know it. Your father loves you my little Greek hero." She kissed his small head.

"Oh how right you are," a foreign voice sighed. The mother jumped.

Perched on her windowsill was a young woman with long glossy black hair and cold yet intelligent black eyes. Her faced shone with ethereal beauty, like the full moon in all its glory. She wore an ornately sewed gray dress hung on one shoulder and ending at the knees, a belt tied around her thin waist. A bow with arrows were resting upon her back, seeming to glow in the moonlight. Her sandaled feet were swinging slightly in a childish way. On top of her head shone a white tiara with a drop of moonlight in it's center. Her eyes sparkled with merriment.

The mother quickly bent down, doing her best to bow with a baby in her arms. "L-Lady Artemis," she stuttered. "What a surprise."

The goddess waved her hand, saying, "Nonesense, sit up. You just had a baby. No need to exert yourself."

The woman straightened, yet still set a protective arm around her child. Her eyes glanced at the goddess warily. It wasn't everyday a goddess showed up to greet you. They never visited unless they wanted something, and the mother had nothing worthwhile to give.

The goddess, sensing her actions and train of thought, laughed. "Although I find it a bit harsh, I wouldn't blame you. Finding a goddess such as myself in your home is not always a good thing."

"If I may ask," the mother said, "what is it that you want?"

"Can't a goddess visit the birth of a child?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can," the mother stated slowly, "but you are the virgin goddess of hunt and the moon. It would be unlikely that you would visit a child just for the pleasure of it."

Artemis smile warmly. "Of course, you are right. Sometimes I wonder why I have never asked you to be in the hunt. Why, if you weren't older and didn't have this boy, I would've enlisted you!" The young mother blushed. "But sadly, I am not here to talk about past regrets."

The goddess looked at the woman intently. The mother fought a shiver, hugging the baby, who had now begun to fall gently asleep. Artemis rested her gaze onto the young boy.

"My, what a lovely boy," she whispered. "So small and tiny, with his pink skin and button like nose, he is precious, for a boy of course. Who would have known he was going to cause one of the bloodiest wars in history?"

The young mother's eyes widened. "What?!" She exclaimed, sitting up quickly and pressing the baby closer to her. She then winced in pain.

"Don't exert yourself," Artemis chided. "Rest."

"B-but...b-but," the mother tried to say.

The goddess just ignored her. "You know, there are days when being a virgin goddess has its disappointments. While I may be against men, I sometimes wonder if, I don't know, if having a child would be so bad? They say children are your chances of starting over, giving them a life you never had before. Is it so wrong to want to have someone I can call my own?" She then fixated her stare to the mother. "Is it so wrong to want a demigod child such as this one?"

The mother swallowed thickly. "N-no," she managed to get out. "There is nothing wrong with wanting to have a child."

Artemis looked back towards the boy. "My brother, Apollo, was worried about a vision he had. Ten demigods, just like your son, were fighting an evil so great, he couldn't see it properly. He was warned of a prophecy, and the trouble to become of our children. You heard of the riots?"

The woman nodded her head. The riots were happening all over Greece, and the people were getting restless. If they don't stop, it would soon become too dangerous for her child to live...

"It gets worse. Unless you hide your child's bloodlines, they will take him and surely kill the boy. You must keep him safe until his destiny is revealed, and he becomes a true hero of Greece."

The mother struggled to understand the goddess. "But, surely there's another way? Shall I lie to the boy? And why are you warning me, may I ask?"

The goddess smiled ruefully. "Ah, what's it like to be young and filled with questions and curiosity! Your boy shall be the greatest of heroes, even greater than Heracles himself. But he has the blood of the sea rushing through his veins. There is no other way. His life is in more danger because of his father. Because of that, the Olympians have come to a rather hasty and quite dangerous, if I do say so myself, decision."

The mother swallowed. "A d-decison?" Great, the boy wasn't even a day old yet he was already part of a dangerous destiny.

Artemis just stared at the boy. "For each of the ten demigods, a patron goddess will be sent to watch over the boy, keeping an eye on him and giving him advice. Until his destiny is revealed, they must not know of it. I, Salli Jackson, am your son's patron goddess."

"You will watch over my son?" Salli asked.

Artemis nodded, but she was still staring at the baby. Slowly, as if afraid, the goddess reached out a hand and traced the small outlines of the boy's cheeks. She caught her breath, as if she was doing an illegal act. Her face brightened a little, a slow smile forming on her pale oval-shaped face.

"You truly have an exquisite boy," Artemis whispered softly. "So young, so innocent, so beautiful. What is his name?"

Salli stared at her baby too, forgetting about his impending doom in the future. The baby shifted, his face scrunching up. He was waking, his breaths soft and warm on the mother's breast. When he opened his eyes, the two women were caught by his gaze. Salli suddenly knew what to name the boy.

"With a destiny such as yours," the mother murmured. "Your life would be full of hardships, and I may not protect you all your life. I will try though, try as I might. I will protect every single hair on your head and every spot on your skin. You will have luck as bad as one cursed by Nemesis herself! I pray that it won't be true. I pray that you will meet your father soon, even though it will be dangerous. I shall name you Perseus, for hopefully that hero's luck shall befall upon you. My dear, dear Perseus."

The goddess nodded her approval. "Father and Uncle shall be most obviously pleased. You will be a true hero Perseus." And with that, Artemis kissed his head.

The baby blinked its sea green colored eyes.

Somewhere, scattered over the ancient lands, nine other goddesses visited nine other children.

And so the tale of heroes begin. They may not start out as much, but as time moves on, they will become as powerful as the gods themselves, and hold together a bond like no other. The beginning of a story in all its truths, no lies, no maybes. The beginning of the Heroes of Olympus.

Woot woot! My first story! Okay, so, I'm making a fanfiction about the demigods in Ancient Greece. Let's cross our fingers and hope this is historically correct! Because of how things were run back then, their relationship might be different, but they still have the same personality. Also, the pairings, if there are any, will NOT be all the way canon. I might mix them up based on what I want. Except Frazel, they're my OTP, and they will stay that way in my story...maybe. Anyways, there are ten heroes of Olympus. The first is, obviously, Percy, with his patron goddess, Artemis. Choosing Artemis as Percy's patron goddess may the funniest thing I have ever done, and you'll see in later chapters. Blue cookies to anyone who can guess who the other nine are, and they are both Greek and Roman. As you can tell, I suck at childbirth. I never been in one (thank God) and never seen one (thank you God once more), and I'm still a teen, soooo...

Please review this story, I really would appreciate it. Bye~

~Aurelie