Thermopylae, 480 B.C

"My King, the Persians have found the pass around the mountain, we'll be surrounded by sunrise." Leonidas listened to his most trusted lieutenant carefully, the words of the oracle replaying in his head.

"Perseus, you must go. You must leave this massacre and head west."

Leonidas said his words slowly and carefully and yet, he knew he was going to get an outburst of some sorts, that much was a guarantee if the shocked look on his face was anything to go by; Perseus was never one to back down from a fight, not since that wretched goddess 'blessed' him.

"My King, I cannot go. I cannot leave you all to die here while I live and run away like a coward - it's not in my blood."

Perseus knew he could be the deciding factor in any battle, any Spartan could, but Perseus was no average Spartan. He was easily the best fighter out of his three hundred brethren here at Thermopylae, his spars with Leonidas has proved as much. The blessing of Lupe and the blood of Poseidon ran rampant through his veins, he was more than ready to face whatever those Persian scum could throw at him.

"No Perseus, you must go. The oracle foretold that you would have a greater role to play in this world than dying here," Leonidas clasped Perseus' shoulder and handed him a spear, "You must."

"What greater role could I play in life than the one right here? The greatest honor I could have is to die along side you and the rest of Sparta's greatest warriors," Perseus took the spear from Leonidas' hands and immediately noticed the odd metal, "Silver and gold? Who could've forged such a blade?"

Leonidas looked Perseus dead in his sea green eyes, trying to show him the seriousness of the situation, "Perseus, I cannot tell you who forged it or why it was made, for I do not know. What I do know is that you cannot die here like the rest of us. The gods have greater plans for you my friend, your fate is out of either of our hands."

Perseus' realized that Leonidas wasn't leaving him an option in this. "If you don't make it Leonidas, I promise you one thing: your legacy, and the legacy of these warriors here, will run through me until the day I die. Even if I have to carry this great legacy for thousand millennia, Sparta's greatest warriors will not be forgotten. And I will avenge you."

Leonidas let out a laugh, "That is good my friend, now go, you don't have much time to waste," Leonidas handed him his shield, "You're going to need something a little sturdier than that wooden crap you use if you're going to carry our legacy,"

Leonidas' expression suddenly turned solemn, "After tomorrow, it is not likely I will be needing it anyways."

"Whether you die tomorrow or not, you will dine in Elysium when your time comes, Leonidas. Your deeds here will be remembered throughout history, ballads and stories will be made of your greatness; legends will speak of the blood on your blades, and the bronze of your armour."

Leonidas muttered something about armour and motioned for Perseus to follow him. Perseus obeyed his king without question or doubt, willing to go to the depths of Hades if he told him to do so.

Leonidas took him to his tent and made sure nobody was watching before following him in, "For years, I had people scouraging the world in search of these pieces; it would have been a symbol of Sparta's power. However, these artifacts would do Sparta no good in the hands of the Persians."

Leonidas opened a chest and revealed the most beautiful set of armour Perseus had ever seen, "This armour belonged to Agis I, a son of Ares and one of Sparta's greatest warriors. Now, it belongs to you. I figured you'd need the celestial bronze this armour held if I'm not there to save you all the time."

Percy took note of every aspect of the armour, the helmet had a small metal plume on the top and was forged to cast a shadow over the wearer's eyes. The breastplate was a beautifully crafted piece of muscle armour, giving a look of immense fitness and strength. The bracers were simply made celestial bronze with a red velvet fabric wrapped around the metal. The greaves were even more basic than the gauntlets, but there was an air of beauty in its simplicity. The cape was made of a similar fabric as the gauntlets and looked long enough to drop down to his legs. Even seeing all of this, Perseus couldn't help keep a confused look off his face.

Leonidas noticed this look and let out a smile, "Yes I see you've noticed: the armour doesn't look a day old. I would give you a great explanation for that, except that I'm not entirely sure either. I've heard many rumors of Agis, some even more confusing than the last. Many believe that his armour was blessed by the gods, which gods, nobody knows. Some say Ares, some say Hephaestus; I've even heard one man say it was blessed by Aphrodite. Nobody except the gods know for sure. What I do know is that that armour has more enchantments than Andreas has bruises on his body," They both snickered at that, Andreas was a great warrior, but exceptionally clumsy.

Leonidas suddenly straightened up, "Enough of this, you go get your things ready, take any supplies you may need - better you than the Persians. I'll see you at the gates of Elysium my friend."

Perseus began to turn around before Leonidas stopped him, "Remember Perseus, while you may find blessings in disguise, you can also find curses disguised as blessings."

Perseus nodded and took the chest back to his tent, he had the feeling what Leonidas said to him were more than mere parting words of wisdom; he shook it off for now, he had more important things to deal with.

Perseus took anything that could be of use: his spear, a large pouch filled with silver drachmas and a smaller one filled with the golden variant, dagger and sword scabbards, and anything else that wouldn't weigh him down too much.

Perseus left his tent looking like a walking armoury. A sword sheathe was kept around his waist, holding his bronze xiphos, his new spear and shield were tied around his back. Perseus kept a few empty dagger scabbards scattered around his body just incase he found a knife he liked; so far, any dagger he's used felt unbalanced in his hand - Perseus figured he'd probably need to forge one himself if he wanted it right.

A bow and quiver could also be seen around his armour, however he didn't plan on using it anytime soon; ever since Orion had disrespected Artemis, all children of Poseidon had been cursed by the goddess of archery.

Perseus listened to the words of Leonidas and headed west, leaving without a trace. He didn't know how, but he felt the moon was guiding him towards his destination - feeding subconscious directions to his mind on where he needs to go.

Perseus followed this instinct, the moon guiding him to his unknown destination.

———

Delphi, 480 B.C

As Perseus walked along the road, he found his thoughts to be his only company in the dark night. His mind wandered to his childhood - if that's what you could call it. His father, Poseidon, had never been around; this was expected and accepted by Perseus, Poseidon was a god - a married one at that - and a king, he would have too many responsibilities to care for any mortals.

His mother was one of the few bright spots in his life. Perseus and his mother lived outside the city of Sparta, she had not wanted to marry a man and be tied down to her home forever, and thus, they resided in a small house a ways away from any towns or major cities. It was in that forest where Perseus learned how to hunt and forage at the young age of five, he vividly remembered the shocked look on his mother's face when he brought home a deer carcass, his small body barely able to lift it. Perseus hadn't known it then, but it was the godly side of his family that allowed him to even move the carcass, the inate strength of the gods running through his veins.

However, the life of a demigod was never one of such fine moments. After another attempt at surprising his mom with his uncanny hunting ability, he came home to find his house burned down and his mother's throat slit, blood still spewing out the wound. Perseus had been filled with anger and despair, he followed the tracks of whatever bandit could've done this, and hunted him like he would any other prey.

Perseus found the man nearly a mile away, slowing counting away the coins of his theft. Perseus stood nearly thirty feet away, hidden by the natural shrubbery and trees of the forest. He gripped his wooden spear, lead the throw with his right foot, and launched the weapon with as much force he could muster - which for a five year old, was quite a lot.

The spear struck true and pinned the man to the tree by the throat; he gave a few seconds of struggle before dying. That was the day that changed Perseus' entire life. He had spent the next few weeks grieving, living in the burnt remnants of his home, digging a grave for his mother. Even through the harsh winter, he stayed out in the cold, giving his mother the last rites she deserved.

Perseus finished burying his mother and had headed for Sparta where he would attempt to begin the agoge two years early. Perseus remembered how eager they were to have a son of Poseidon begin his training, but he also remembered the pain that came with the training. He rose through the ranks of Sparta's military in record time, his prowess and natural ability with weapons unmatched; even with the most unbalanced blade or shield, he still bested his foes.

By the young age of seventeen, Perseus had risen to Leonidas' right hand man, surpassing everyone before him not only in skill, but also tactics; many people suspected Perseus being a child of Ares or Athena before he would wash their suspicions away with a tidal wave.

It was when he was promoted Lupe had decided to bless him, the goddess of pain had been interested in his life since his mother had died. The goddess feeds off pain and misery and Perseus provided more than enough for her. She decided to take all pain directly away from him, siphoning it straight to herself. Since then, Perseus had never felt so much as a pinch, but the wounds still stayed.

He silently laughed to himself when he recalled the time he had been training with Calixto and decided to show off his new blessing. Perseus had stepped right into his blade and the sword lodged itself into his side. Calixto had freaked out, thinking he somehow had killed Perseus due to his lack of response. He soon heard Perseus' muffled snickers and backed away, utterly confused.

Perseus still doesn't fully understand the blessing. He still can feel everything he touched, but any sense of pain he had immediately leaves him anytime a blow lands on him. The weirdest part of it was the fact he could still feel what was supposed to cause him pain, but all he felt instead was the cold metal of the weapon.

Perseus walked off the road and went to rest for the night, he knew he was close to whatever was calling him, but he had no clue to what it could be.

Perseus laid down against the bark of a tree and looked up to the moon, which seemed to be glowing silver tonight, before falling asleep.

There's chapter 1, I know it's not the most exciting start for a new story but you have to introduce your character somewhere. For this story I plan on updating once every weekend (I often publish multiple times a week as ideas flood my brain.) with 2-3k words per chapter. My goal for this story is to not have anything too cliche or unoriginal, this story will consist of mostly new ideas, using ideas of my own and ideas contributed by fans.