32 Author's Notes: VOLUME 1

Hello, dear reader,

I came here to thank you for spending your time on this work of fanfiction. Well, I would like to share that this idea came up to me as I was reading the Heroes of Olympus Series by the great Rick Riordan, who is also the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, which I read last year for the first time. I watched the Disney+ TV show recently and I genuinely liked it which sent me into a spiral of hyper fixation in Greek mythology.

Albert Alexander Gomes is my original character, along with some whom you've met in this volume, like Damon Blackwood, Hector, Leonard, Eleanor, and many others. You will see more from them in the future. Creating them while listening to songs like Riptide by Vance Joy or Fast Car by Trace Chapman... also an ungodly amount of Taylor Swift Songs has certainly been a great experience to have. They are like seeds, full of potential that make me feel a bit disconcerted whenever I find myself going about my days wondering what to do with them and make them more 'alive', 'complex', 'realistic' or 'human'. 

Working with already established and iconic characters like Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood is a challenge too. The more changes are made to the original storyline, the more they will grow to become different from their canon versions. I confess that this is something I think about a lot. Not because I am unfamiliar with the fanfiction format and tags like 'NON-Canon Compliant'. No... It's because they mean a lot to me as a fan and I feel weird and a little unsure whenever I have to deviate from their canon selves.

Many thoughts crossed my mind as I prepared and wrote this volume like: "Am I doing this character justice?" or "Would he actually say that?" or even "Did I make the story too dark and grim?" Truth be told, I am not the one to usually enjoy books made for very young children like this series in particular. I am not trying to sound condescending or anything. It's just that I am not the target audience so my experience was already very different from the OG fans who got to read the books while they were the same age as Percy and his friends.

Once again, I would like to say thank you for reading this work so far. It means a lot to me, regardless of whether you liked it or not. Hopefully, you enjoyed your time with Albert too though. I mean, it was my choice to publish this story here for other fans to enjoy, but I never really expected it to please everyone.

I appreciate the feedback if you could leave some in the review section. I also would like to express my gratitude to those who gave the stories their Power Stones. Although I don't make a profit out of this it's nice to know someone liked it to the point they use their precious stones... thank you again.

Also...I meant constructive criticism though... if it is just to talk shit because it didn't go in the way you expected it to or you have some problem with something like the queerness of the characters... I would like to remind you that there I put a tag to make sure nobody would stumble upon it unaware of it and that fortunately, many other fanfictions explore and expand this universe and I am sure those who were left unsatisfied can find a work that resonates with their needs and wants. Hopefully.

Be nice everyone and stay safe.

When I am done writing Volume 2, I will post new updates here, but that might take a while to be honest. I strive to do a better job in a few things I am aware are lacking in this one. 

Wishing you the best,

The Author.