This is the first book in the Children of Heroes Series. It takes place about 15 years after the last book in the Heroes of Olympus series. In Ryan's POV
Chapter One: The Family Reunion[]
Hi. Ryan Jackson here. This is the story of how I found out I was a demigod, and how a mere trick cost nearly cost us the world.
If you think you are a demigod, pray you are not. Click out of this fandom, and find a satyr.
Anyway, on with the story. I guess it started at that family reunion, when I was 13.
Alot of weird stuff had happened since then, but I never really was in danger until that day. Like, once, I saw my dad talking to a man in a trench coat. I told my sisters, Britni and Anne, that he only had one eye, but they never believed me. Then, once, I swore this cheerleader at my school, Lannie, was walking down the hall with her hair on fire and one leg made of metal, the other a donkey's. But nothing truly happened until that day, as I said.
We were going to my family's house in Montauk. Some of my parent's friends and their kids were coming too. We packed annd left.
Ugh. I am so lucky my mom let me sit in back. I would die inside if I had to sit between Britni and Anne. That's what I hate about my family. I'm the middle and the only boy. No one I can relate to in my family. I thought about that, and my eyes turned stormy grey.
Let me explain that. I normally have sea green eyes like my dad, but when I'm angry or fighting, they become stormy grey like my mom's.
We stopped at the beach and I got out. Several people were already here. Britni looked over to a black Prius. 2 boys around her age with black hair, olive-toned skin, freckles stepped out. Then a man stepped out with the same olive-toned skin skin as both of them and the same brown eyes as one. Then a woman stepped out with the same freckles as both boys and the same electric blue eyes as one.
"That's Nico and Thalia Di Angelo." my dad said. "And their kids. Danny, the brown-eyed one and Darren, the blue-eyed one."
Britni was staring at Danny.
"Oooh...your in loooooooooove!" Anne said. Then a silver convertible drove up. In it, a man with curly brown hair, a riot of orange freckles and startling icy blue eyes drove. Next to him, a girl with honey blonde hair and hazel-brown eyes sat. In the back, a boy with the man's eyes and the woman's hair sat. He was around Anne's age and wore a shirt with a large red T on the front.
"And here's Connor and Katie Stoll, with their son Trevor!" my mom said. I was trying so hard not to laugh. These girls. Then a pink van drove up. A man with blonde hair, electric blue eyes and a beard came out, followed by a woman with long chocolate hair in a braid. But I was more interested in the girl that came out after. She had long hair that was a dark red. She had beautiful amber eyes that studied me with no emotion.
"Heh. Jason and Piper Grace, with their daughter Leia." my dad whispered.
We went over to the backyard. We walked around and socialized, and then we set up tents.
I was about to go to sleep when a loud "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" split my head.
Chapter 2: Attack of the Cow-Man[]
Okay. I'll admit it. I panicked. I ran like mad and ducked behind a car. Everyone else had the same idea.
"Come on! The Minotaur?" I heard my dad shout. "Here?"
I saw Danny & Darren's dad...Nico pull out a short black sword. My dad whipped out a pen and uncapped it. It became a bronze sword. My mom slid out a bronze knife. Thalia tapped her gold bracelet. It became a shield. Jason ran to his car and whipped out a gold sword. Piper took out a mirror-like dagger.
Okay. So the adults have magic weapons. They are fighting a cow man. Weirdest. Day. Ever.
Then Thalia held up her shield. Lightning shot from the sky. It hit the minotaur. Then Jason swung his sword. Wind knocked the monster off ot's feet. Then my mom caught it. She tried to stab it. It grabbed her by the neck and she evaporated into violet mist.
"NO!" I shouted. "MOM!"
I ran out. "Ryan!" my dad shouted. He waved his hand. Water grabbed me and held me. Then it froze and shattered.
Icicles flung at the monsters and killed it.
"Oh god oh god oh god." I chanted.
"You mean 'oh gods'." Nico said.
"What?"
"Greek myths are real." My dad announced.
Chapter 3: The Greatest Camp EVER![]
Okay. So we got in the car and drove. We kept driving and driving, as my dad ranted on about the existence of Greek Gods and their existence in the modern world, ect. ect.
Then we stopped.
"Okay, where are we?" I asked.
"Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place for demigods." my dad said.
Then I realized something. "Dad..." I said and after a minute asked "What happened to mom?"
"I've seen that before. She was taken. By who I don't know." my dad explained.
"I have to go resue her!" I shouted. Then my dad got a grim look on his face. "Okay..." he murmured. "But that will wait a week."
Okay. I have never. Never. Been so angry at my dad.
I stormed off. I looked over to a cabin. It was tall, around 3 stories, and was white with a trim that changed colors like a kaleidoscope, and a gold door.
I heard a clop-clop-clop and then a voice saying, "That's yours."
I turned around. A man, with short curly brown hair and a scruffy beard stood there. But from the waist down he was...a silver stallion?!
"Hello, Ryan. I am Chiron. While you are here, I will be your mentor. Your father told you about western civilization and such?" He said.
"Yeah. And the gods and the demigods and how they stay here." I replied.
"We put you in cabins based on your parent. Your OLYMPIAN parent. So when 2 demigods have a kid, they go in the demigod cabin." Chiron explained.
"I see." I replied.
"A new room is added everytime a child of 2 demigods come's to camp. The room is excactly like you would want it, and infinite rooms could fit in that building." Chiron said.
I was beat and went to go find my room, but Chiron stopped me.
"Ryan. I want you to have," He gave me a red pen. "This."
"Okay...thanks." I said, nervously. I couldn't hold onto a pen for 3 straight minutes.
"You can't lose it. It will return to you, no matter how far away."
"Awesome." I said.
"Click it." Chiron said, smugly.
I clicked it. It expanded into a 3 and a half foot sword, made of a sparkling blue metal. It was perfectly balanced, abd the ridge on it's hilt fit perfectly.
"AWESOME!" I shouted.
"Now, train and then rest." Chiron instructed.
I trained with a son of Hermes named Butch Quentins, and a son of some goddess (the kid wouldn't tell me) named Ian Lucas. Then I went to my cabin, found the door that said "R L Jackson," went into my room and collapsed onto my bed.
And had the world's weirdest dream.
My mom was running along in a cave until she made it to a clearing. Then, a swirl of clouds of all kinds and some patches of sky blue was there, and my dad was holding it.
My mom looked like she was going to cry.
"Seaweed Brain, oh no...Percy. I'll take it." she said, grabbing the swirl. Then I realized something.
That was the Sky.
My mom took it and Dad got out. Then he said in a woman's voice, that was cold yet soft, "Finally."
My dad began to morph. When he was done, he was a tall woman, with porcelian skin, black hair in a bun and eyes brown like autumn leaves.
"Khione." my mom growled.
"Yes. Good bye." Khione said.
Then, ice-blue chains shot upwards from the ground and constrained my mom.
A man walked up, and my dream ended with a voice saying "Well done."
I woke everyone with a scream.
Chapter 3: A snake talks to me[]
Everyone ran into my room.
"What is it?" Britni asked.
"Are you okay?" Leia asked.
Britni looked so nervous, that Danny walked in and held her hand.
"Mom's been captured under the sky." I said to Britni and Anne.
Britni began to cry. She and mom had always been so close. She hugged Danny, and Danny hugged her back.
Anne looked more angry then anything. "I will rip this Khione limb from limb." she said.
"No." I said. "It's my dream, it's my quest." I said.
I went downstairs and began to talk to Chiron.
"You need to see the Oracle." Chiron told me.
So he brought me to a cave in the forrest and told someone named Rachel to come out of there.
A woman, around my dad's age, with frizzy red hair, hazel eyes and a large amount of freckles came out. Then something weird happened. Her eyes turned bright green, like a neon sign, and green mist in the shape of a serpent came from her mouth. The serpent wrapped arond my shoulders and whispered in my ear.
Three demigods shall travel far
To shift the Titan's Curse and march
To defeat the Son of Rhea before
He tips the balance beyond restore.
The Serpent evaporated, and Rachel's eyes turned normal.
"There." Chiron said. "is your quest."
Chapter Five: I am not a good motivational speaker
"So, Ryan." Chiron said. "You have been chosen for this quest. But, according to the prophecy, you can have 2 companions." Chiron said.
"Um...I chose...Butch Quentins, Son of Hermes and Leia Grace from my cabin." I said.
Chiron called them over.
Buth stood there, his elfish face full of exhaustion. His blue (just normal blue, not icy blue like most kids of Hermes) eyes examined me, like "Are you kidding me?" but shone with a certain determenation.
Leia's dark red hair was hastily pulled into a ponytail, but her amber eyes shone full of determenation. She looked at me and smiled.
"Okay. So I got a half-asleep klepto, a lightning-shooting quarterblood, and a miscolored pen-sword. LET'S MOVE!" I shouted.
And with that, we trudged along to begin the quest. We marched past the big Pine on the hill, which apparenty marked the border.
"Wow. That was almost to easy." Butch said.
And with that, we marched into the city.
Chapter Six: Bus Drivers are evil...[]
So, we made it to NYC, and took a bus to the nearest Pensylvania station. Uhhhh...that didn't go so well.
So, we were sitting in the front seats, when the bus driver said, "Do you really think you will get away with it?"
"What?" I asked.
"Your mother. She's escaped the Titan's Curse once. She cannot escaoe it again." she said.
"Okay..." I replied. We moved to the back.
The bus driver woman was sitting across from us, but was wearing a green lace dress and a sun-hat.
"Just run back to your little camp, demigods. Then you might live." she said.
"Shut up." I told her.
"Do not disrespect an empousa." She said.
"WHAT?" I shouted.
Then she threw her hand to the side as if throwing off a bedsheet, and suddenly was a woman with silver-green skin, flaming hair, and one donkey leg, one metal leg.
"Lannie?" I asked. Sorry, remember the empousa cheerleader named Lannie at my school? From Chapter 1?
But Lannie's flaming hair didn't spark blue. She didn't have retractable claws or that green tint to her skin.
"RUN!" I shouted, taking out my sword and slicing open the emergency door.
Leia grabbed my hand. I held it. "Ready?" I asked.
"As I'll ever be." I replied.
Then Butch ruined the moment by saying, "I'm ready to, but I am NOT holding your hand."
Then we jumped.
Chapter Seven:...but not as evil as Cheerleaders.[]
We rolled, skidded, bounced, scraped ourselves up and generally had a sucky time before we hit grass.
A cheerleader squad was staring at us. They all turned into empousa also, but these had no claws and their skin was normal.
"Fudge..." I said. Then I looked around. Dad said my grandfather is Poseidon. There has to be a bubbler around here somewhere...
"Leia, your grandfather's Zeus?" I asked.
"Yes." Leia said.
"Cool. ZAP 'EM." I told her.
She grabbed some and they got disoriented by the shock, but it would oly work temporairily.
I found the bubbler. I focused....
And suddenly a gurble-gurble-gurble siund was heard, like flushing a toilet. Water was coming out in thin streams from holes in the metal of the bubbler. I focused more, and a geyser, better than any at Yellowstone, shot where the bubbler just was (the bubbler itself was torn into tiny pieces.)
The water drenched the empousa with such force that they fell over.
"LEIA! NOW!" I shouted.
She grabbed a piece of the bubbler floating in the torrent. Then the water began to flash with white. All the empousa dissapeared as the water exploded and I fainted.
Chapter Eight: Tears of my Mother[]
After I fainted, I had a dream in the caverns that I saw in my prevvious dream. Khione was talking to a man in a brown cloak.
"Now, now, I know that the quarterblood and his 2 friends are coming to rescue his mother, but still can you please calm down?" the robed man said.
"I AM A GODDESS!" Khione shouted. "I WILL DEAL WITH THEM MYSELF!"
"Now, now, Khione, let us not make any rash descisions." the robed man said.
Khione waved her hand. She began to turn into a snowy tornado and then flew away.
"Goddesses." the robed man said. "Never reliable." Then he went to check on my mother.
My mom was skinny, pale and still chained. Her blonde hair was reaching her heart and was messy. Her clothes were tattered.
"No!" my mom shouted. "Take off that robe and show yourself!"
The man was about to take off the robe when....
"Ryan! Wake up!" split my head. Butch and Leia were standing over me.
"Hate you both." I muttered.
Chapter Nine: I fight a living snowstorm[]
I had just found out a crazed storm goddess was after us. Rather than break it slowly, I just told them outright.
Butch had a panic attack. He began to pace and chant "Why'd I agree to this quest. Time to die."
Leia took out her half-bronze, half-gold dagger. She sliced the air and it charged with static.
Then the temperature dropped from around 70º F to -19º F. I looked up. A cloud of snow in the shape of a monster, being surrounded by fast-moving winds was flying toward us. It hit the ground and became the woman, Khione.
Anger surged through me. Before I knew it, I was up with my sword in my hand. Khione laughed.
"Young demigod, you must surrender. I am a goddess. I can't be killed." she said.
Then a knifepoint came through Khione's abdomen. Khione gasped as golden ichor spread through her white dress.
Leia stood behind her, dagger in hand.
"I'll make a good impression on it." Leia said.
Khione stood up, and the ichor stain faded from her dress. She glared at Leia.
"STUPID DEMIGOD!" Khione shouted.
A 5-foot long, icy, serated sword appeared in her hand. She charged Leia.
Power and more anger surged through me. Water shot out of my body. Khione was knocked away.
"Run!" I shouted. I ran, gesturing for Leia and Butch to follow.
"NO!!!" Khione shouted, growing to ten feet tall and beginning to glow gold.
"TURN AWAY!" Butch shouted. I shut my eyes as the force of a gakaxy going supernova knocked me across the ground.
Chapter Ten: Owowowowowowow...[]
I skidded across the pavement and started rolling down a hill. Khione had assumed her true form and teleported away. "HELP ME!" I shouted.
Sadly, Butch and Leia had the same fate as me. Then I thought of something. I had created water foghting Khione, and froze water fighting the Minotaur. I focused. A wave of water shot from the ground, forming kind of a curved tidal wave, and then froze. We rolled up it and landed on our feet.
"Nice, Kelp Head." Leia said.
We were all scraped and raw. Most of my shirt had been torn off. Butch was bleeding from several cuts all over his body, and Leia had more bruises than an MMA champion.
"Here." I said. I snapped. The ice wave melted, and water coated us. Then I focused, and Leia and Butch were left with some minor cuts and bruises, while I completely healed. Then the water evaporated and I grinned.
"Sea god blood." I told them.
"Nice." Butch said.
And with that, we set off, hoping not to see any crazed storm goddesses.
Chapter Eleven: My Sword has a name?![]
We walked along, dragging our arms on the hot pavement.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHH!" Butch shouted. "SO HOT! WHERE ARE WE?"
"I don't know!" Leia complained.
"I'M SO THIRSTY!" Butch replied. "Can't you, like whip up some water or something?"
I waved my hand. An orb of water appeared and I split it into thirds, one orb going into one of our mouths.
"Thank you!" Butch cried. "MORE!"
"I got to save my powers for when we really need it." I told them.
"Yes." A voice said. "You do."
I turned. A man with neat black hair, tanned skin, and sea green eyes like mine was standing right there. He smiled at me.
"Hello, Ryan, Leia and Butch." he said. Then he waved his hand.
A square of grass and trees, centered by a picnic blanket and a feast sat there. I began to drool in hunger.
"Food..." I said.
We sat down and began to eat.
"YUM-YUM-YUMMY IN MY TUM-TUM TUMMY!!!" Butch shouted.
"Who are you?" I asked the man.
"Poseidon." he replied.
"GRAMPA?!"
"Yes."
"Sweet!" I said.
"Oh, can I see your sword?" he asked me.
"Ummmmmmmmmm sure?" I replied, handing him the red pen. He clicked it. It became it's normal, 3-foot long blue sword form. Poseidon examined it and said "Here. You always seemed like more of a Long-Sword fellow to me." He tapped it.
The blue metal blade became longer and less wide. A curve, like an executioner's blade, appeared on ether side. On it, the Greek letters παραβάτης appeared where he tapped it.
"Offender?" I asked him, reading the word.
"The weapon's name!" Poseidon replied.
"Okay..." I said.
"Now, here is your ride to Othrys." he said. The smell of the ocean was hung in the air. Power radiated off of my grandfather.
"Say hi to your mother for me!" Poseidon shouted as the world turned upside down and everything turned black.
Chapter Twelve: Betrayal[]
So...how do you know your day is going badly? When a man you called you friend tries to stab you through the head.
When the world came back, we were 3 feet away from Mt.Tam...or Mt. Othrys...or Whatever the Tartarus you wanna call it. We slowly and tediously climbed it, and we reached the top and saw the robed man. He turned and slid off his robe.
A black emover with red highligths...raincloud grey eyes...pale skin...
It was Ian Lucas.
"They were right." he whispered. "A son of Rhea is trying to tip the balance. And that son of Rhea is me."
I hollered in anger and charged him, brandishing Offender. He whipped out a ruby gladius and we began to fight.
"Maia!" Ian shouted. Wings appeared on the back of his jacket and he flew into the air.
"Beat this, idiot!" he laughed, throwing his sword. I watched as it slow-motionc turned to water and wrapped around my arm, which I then felt a pins-and-needles feeling in. I looked at it.
Tatooed into my shoulder was a grey trident.
Go with my blessing. Poseidon's voice whispered in my head. I felt extreme power. I jumped into the air and a disc of teal energy caught me. I flew up into the air on it and focused.
"BRAHHHHH!" I shouted. Icicles flew at Ian. He dodged them all, but looked considerably shaken.
"GO FREE MY MOM!" I shouted to Leia and Butch. "I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" I threw more icicles.
"FOOL!" Ian shouted as his winged jacket fell off. A purple glow caught him in the air and set him down. "MY MASTER WILL BREAK THAT BLESSING!"
My vision flashed purple and I fell out of the sky.
Chapter Thirteen: Titan fighting for dummies[]
I managed to direct myself towards some water. It rose up to catch me and I used it as a launch pad, catapulting myself at Ian. Then the scary part happened.
I had been holding my sword out when I did that. I had grazed his shoulder with my body, so my sword cut his arm clean off.
He howled and colalpsed.
"VILLAIN! MURDERER! POND SCUM!" he shouted, among other things.
I put some water on his shoulder socket (ew) and heled it best I could.
"Sorry!" I said, running.
What I saw in the cave wasn't much better. Leia and Butch were thrown, uncouncious, to the side. I sighed. Then I looked over.
A man, 10 feet tall and holding a giant spear, stood there. He charged me with a fierce battle cry.
I didn't know how I would beat him. I didn't think I could pull off the blessing trick again, or cut off his arm. I was on my own, facing a giant.
"FEEL THE WRATH OF ATLAS!" he shouted. I jumped over him. He charged again. I ran and ran until I reached my mom. I liced the chains holding her, and, as Atlas got under the sky, yanked her out.
"Feel the wrath of Ryan Jackson!" I said.
"NO!" Atlas shouted from under the sky. "FREE ME!"
"Uhhh...I'll consider that and get back to you...maybe NEVER!"
My mom woke up. Her hair, now completely grey, faded back to blonde. Her stormy grey eyes looked into my sea green ones. Then a voice said "So...did we win?"
Butch walked in, Leia following close behind.
"Yep." I said. "We won."
Leia walked up to me. "Nice one, Kelp Head." she said.
"You weren't so bad yourself, Beauty Queen." I said. I could't help but notice how close we were, and how her amber eyes sparkled in the dim light of the cave. We leaned in, and her lips touched mine.
"Oooh!" Butch said.
"Shut up." Leia replied.
Chapter Fourteen: Epilogue[]
We took a Cab back to Camp (Butch stole some money for us). My mom was taken straight to the Infirmary, and she was there for a few weeks. I had been dating Leia, and I had figured out how to switch my sword's form. I practiced my powers dutifully, and went back to school in the fall. I had hoped for a normal year, but...
....when is anything normal for a Demigod?