Chapter I The Deal

WARNING!: This story will contain violence(maybe gore), bad language, future harem and lemons!

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August 24, a day that could only be described as hot and miserable. With shadows few and far between and a lack of any sort of breeze, there was no reprieve for those who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside on this most sweltering of days.

The sidewalks were packed with pushing and shoving people. The heat causing them to abandon any type of social protocol they would normally have. Trying their hardest to make it to their destination, and out of the scorching heat as fast as they could. Not noticing, nor caring how rude and selfish they seemed.

If an individual had been able to stand the heat long enough to sit back and watch all those who were passing by, they would have seen the various attempts used by the populace to try and lessen the effects of the sun. Hats and umbrellas used for shade, newspapers and legal documents turned into makeshift fans, and dress shirts or blouses with buttons undone farther than most would be comfortable with on any other day. They would have also seen how each of every one of these attempts was rendered meaningless against Apollo's Domain.

So it came as no surprise that all the self-absorbed individuals, who were worried about their own well being, paid no attention to the young woman and the bundle in her arms. That woman was Sally Jackson, and the bundle in her arms was the form of her less than a week old son, Perseus Jackson.

Like all the others on this day, Sally was in a rush, but unlike those who were trying to get somewhere, she was trying to get away and protect her bundled child.

Why, you might ask did she have her new born baby wrapped up on such a hot day? The reason being, she was trying to hide the scent he was giving off and the trouble it would undoubtedly bring with it.

For you see, Percy was what was known as a demigod: a child born of one mortal parent and one godly. All demigods gave off a scent that calls out to monsters who crave the flesh of those of godly descent. And while most demigods gave off only a very faint scent after just being born (and some even as they grew older); Perseus wasn't most demigods.

He was in fact a child of Poseidon. And from what the Ruler of the Sea had told Sally on the day of Percy's birth, a demigod who had the potential to wield more power than any other previously born demigod child ever had.

That's why Sally was in a panic as she attempted to hide his scent. Poseidon had assured her she would not have to worry about his scent drawing any monsters for a few years. But now, only days after he had left her life for good, she had seen a woman following her as she and Perseus had exited a convenient store. What had alerted her about the women being a threat to her child were the red slits she had for eyes, and the long forked tongue that had tasted the air.

As soon as Sally had seen the woman's features, she had dropped the baby bag that had been on her shoulder and took off at a dead sprint. Pausing only long enough to grab the blanket she used to lay Perseus on when changing his diapers and a bottle of spring water.

Sally carefully and rapidly elbowed people out of her way, using the same arm Perseus was in to do so, while she used her free hand to hastily wrap him in his baby blanket.

Knowing that the combined heat of the sun and the blanket could result in her child having a heat stroke, or outright kill him, she would pour small amounts of water on his head, every few seconds. Each time the cool liquid would make contact with Peruses naturally tan skin, a burst of giggles would escape him, and his sea-green eyes would light up with joy.

'He is his father's son.' Sally thought blissfully, momentarily forgetting the danger both she and her child were in.

The sound of tires screeching to a halt and the blaring of a car horn shook off her happy thoughts.

Without noticing, she had walked out in front of an expensive looking car. Its driver yelling at her, not caring that she had a baby in her arms as he made rude hand gestures at her.

Uncaring, those who had stopped at the crosswalk behind her, paid the almost run over mother and child no mind.

She felt her already rapidly beating heart speed up at the thought of having almost gotten them both killed by her carelessness.

Glancing behind her, she could see the red eyed being, almost an entire block away smiling at her, its tongue out dancing like a cobra. The monster was lazily following her, its snake-like eyes focused on the bundle in her arms.

Praying that someone out there was rooting for her, Sally raced across the road dodging the still moving traffic. She ignored the blaring car horns and the obscenities the angry drivers were sending her way as she made it to the other side.

Even though she had made it safely to the other side, she continued to run. Taking lefts, and rights, and once or twice doubling back, doing all in her power to lose the monster tracking Perseus' scent.

Sooner than Sally had anticipated, she had lost the creature that had been chasing them. Checking the street address, she found herself being only a street over from a subway station. Feeling that it would be safer on a moving object and hoping she would have time to come up with a plan on what to do next, she cut through an alley that would lead her to the sub-station.

Sally was halfway through the alley, the stairs leading down to the subway in her sights, when a tall form entered the alleyway from the direction she was headed. At first she was sure that the monster had finally caught up to her and Perseus, but after a few seconds relief flooded through her as she realized the form belonged to that of a tall man.

Her momentary relief aside, Sally was smart enough to keep a wary eye on the man. As they drew closer to one another, she drank in his features.

As it had been obvious from the moment he had entered the alley, the man was extremely tall and broad shouldered, his height only being an inch short of 7'. He had long brown hair that hung in his young, handsome face, stopping just below his square jaw with what looked to be a single eagle feather braided at his temple into the one strand of hair that was longer than all the rest.

If she had to guess his age, she would have placed him in his early twenties, though it was hard to tell with how big he was.

When he was only a few feet away, the giant of a man glanced up, stopping Sally where she stood as his intense, burnt-orange eyes met her constantly changing ones.

At that moment Sally knew it was too late, she had carried her baby right to his death. She'd never be able to outrun whatever it was that now stood before her.

Whimpering as unshed tears made their way to her eyes; she slowly started backing away from the imposing figure.

"Please, don't hurt my baby." Sally begged, looking into his eyes, her voice trembling with heartbreak. "I'll do anything you ask of me, anything at all. Just leave my baby alone."

The unidentified man tilted his head to the side as if he was studying her with those sunset colored eyes, but remained silent. Slowly, a smirk made its way to his lips that had Sally more afraid than she had ever been before in her entire life.

Those strange colored eyes of his held pain in them that no twenty-something year old should have. His smirk, which could be described as playful, screamed of insanity and if she wasn't mistaken... boredom. But the worst part of it all was the fact that even though she knew he was going to kill her and her child, she felt an attraction to him.

The tall stranger opened his mouth to speak, but at the same moment two things happened.

The first, being Sally getting a look at his canine teeth. Both were longer than any humans could ever naturally be, though they weren't so long that had a mortal seen them, they would have drawn any sort of suspicion to their owner.

As Sally focused on the stranger's canines, the women with red eyes had turned into the alley at a dead sprint. As she approached, a deep, monstrous growl left her throat, shaking the concrete and brick walls with the power behind her vocal-cords.

Both the stranger and Sally turned to face the rapidly approaching monster, the latter jumping in shock as she pulled Perseus closer to her bosom.

"Delphyne," said the orange eyed man in a silky, yet bored voice. Sally who was already close to having a nervous breakdown, jumped again at hearing him speak. "A half-human, half-dragon maiden, who was originally slain by Apollo."

Sally stared wide-eyed at the man who was giving her a history lesson as the part dragon creature charged at them. Not knowing what else to do, Sally released a small, hysterical sounding laugh at the absurdity of the moment.

"If you'll give me one second young lady, I'll take care of this unsightly weakling." He told her as he started to walk toward the snarling dragon-maiden, who was now covered head to toe in red, black, and yellow scales. "When I'm done," he glanced over his shoulder meeting her gaze with his own, "we will enter talks, of striking an accord that will benefit not only me, but young Perseus and you!"

It took Sally a moment for her to comprehend his words. 'Young lady?' She pondered. 'He looks to be at least ten years younger than me.' His comment about her age wasn't the only thing he said that stuck with her.

He had called the monster, Delphyne. If she was the same dragon-maiden Sally was thinking about, then she had been strong enough to cut Zeus' hands off. Yet, he had called her an 'unsightly weakling'. How great a power did this man wield if he saw a being that gave the gods trouble as weak?

But it was his final words that had her wondering if she should be afraid, or not. 'We will enter talks, of striking an accord that will benefit not only me, but young Perseus and you!' What was it that he wanted? And if he was as powerful as she thought he was, then why did he need Perseus and herself to get what he wanted? Could he have been sent here to aid them?

A roar that sounded as loud as that of a hundred lions ripped Sally from her musing and to the fight about to unfold.

With his hands in his pockets, the unidentified man slowly made his way toward the frenzied beast. He watched as it sprang at him, her jaws widening to a size that could easily fit a fully grown man into her maw. He chuckled as his thoughts took a perverted route.

Faster than either of the women in the alley could see, his hand flashed out grabbing Delphyne's now nine foot long tongue and proceeded to use it to savagely slam her into the wall of one the buildings that made the alley, before giving her tongue another jerk sending her toward the other building and then back again.

Delphyne was too dizzy from the blows to her head to realize what the being, who appeared to be a man, was doing until it was too late.

Reaching out, he clasped the long, scaly tongue in his free hand. With barely a flex of his wrist, he tore her tongue in two.

Sally jumped for the third time since entering the alley as the nauseating sound of ripping flesh entered the air. The sound had barely died away before it was replaced by the blood-curdling scream of the dragon-maiden.

Blood that was surprisingly the color of snow, spurted out of the maiden's ruined tongue in tune with the beat of her heart. Bile rising in her throat, Sally could almost feel herself pitying the poor beast, before her pity was stamped out by the rage filled part of her that was calling for the beast to suffer more. It would have done far worse to her baby had it received the chance. It deserved every bit of its agony and more!

Remembering her child, Sally quickly let her anger go and glanced down at her baby to see his beautiful sea-green eyes watching the milky blood as it pooled on the pavement at the man's feet. His far too intelligent for a newborn baby eyes tracking the severed piece of tongue as it dropped from the man's hand and started flopping around on the ground, like a fish taken from water, the last traces of life in it fading away.

Growing bored and just a little sad, the unnamed man swiftly jerked the suffering creature to him. Summoning water out from the air around him and on to his unoccupied hand, he effortlessly shaped it into a blade, before freezing it in place.

The last thing Delphyne saw before she was split from head to toe and turned to dust, was how her attacker had frozen water to his arm, effectively turning his limb into frosty colored sword, a blade that would send her back to the underworld.

"T-that was..." She trailed off, not knowing how to describe the act of violence she had just seen. Her loss for words quickly passed, only to be replaced with numerous questions. The blade of ice still fresh in her mind, she decided to find out who he was. "Are you related to Poseidon? Has he sent you to help us?"

Ignoring the severed piece of tongue that remained as his spoils of battle, he made his way back to the shaking mother, letting the chunk of ice melt as he did.

"No, Poseidon did not send me." Sally heart ached at his answer. "But do not blame that fool, there are many reasons that he did not and could not help you."

Sally sighed tiredly. "I know... the ancient laws, they forbade him from inter-"

"No," he said cutting her off, "as you well know, he was not to sire another demigod. He swore so on the River Styx, but did so anyway. I think we both can agree, he like all the other gods feels he's above any sort of rule or law."

"Does that mean," she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat, "does it mean he doesn't care, for us?"

"Once again, no. It turns out that his wife," here Sally flinched; she hated being the other woman, "has somehow gained knowledge of young Perseus. She has found a way to block any prayers sent by you to her husband."

Sally didn't fight the relieved laughter that escaped her. 'He still cares about us,' she thought.

"But the situation you find yourself in is partly his fault." He informed her, breaking the stressed woman out of her momentary reprieve. "He saw for himself the power this young one possesses, and will gain. He should have known it wouldn't be long before conflict would come calling your child's name."

Sally felt her anger flare at her savior. Poseidon had told her the dangers that would come, for not only her, but their child as well. She had known what she was going to be getting herself into when she had laid with him.

"Calm yourself," he ordered. From the amount of authority in his voice, she felt compelled to comply. "Lord splish-splash's failure to, as they say in these times, 'keep it in his pants,' will be not only be my gain, but yours and your child's as well."

"What do you mean?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Stepping closer to the mother and child, the man laid a gentle, caring hand on Perseus' head. "I'm here to offer you two things." He told her, never taking his eyes off the demigod. "I offer my protection. I will watch over the both of you, for the next eleven years, keeping any and all monsters away."

Sally didn't know what to think. He had just shown he could easily take on a monster. If he was to protect them, then it would mean she wouldn't have to send her baby off to Camp Half-Blood. And from what he had said, he was going to offer them even more.

"Why only eleven years," she asked, her grip on Perseus tightening unconsciously. "Why not watch him until he's older, or until he can protect himself?"

"Because at that time I plan to fade," he stated, as if knowing when you're going to die was a common thing.

"Why," she asked in shock. Why anyone would want to die, she didn't know.

The still unnamed man stepped back from her laughing. "How old do you think I am," he asked, a bit of mirth shining through his pain filled eyes.

"I have no idea," she told him honestly. "From some of the things you've said, I'm willing to guess that you're older than I am."

"What if I told you that I'm older than any of the gods?" The mirth in his eyes died away as he spoke. "What if I were to say I'm older than the Titans and those who came before them? If I said I have witnessed civilizations rise from the silver tongued lies of man. If I told you I was there when the same civilization was brought to its knees from the love shared between two children? I have seen the best and worst that this dimension and numerous others have to offer. That is why I choose to fade!"

Sally was at a loss for words. What could you say to someone after hearing that? She suddenly felt very small and foolish.

"And if you accept my offer, you'll not only get my protection, but my vast fortune as well." Sally went wide eyed at this. She had been expecting a lot of things, but money wasn't one of them. "Think about it, not only would you be able to afford the best education at any college of your choice, but you'd be able to give Peruses anything and everything. He'd never want for anything that you couldn't give."

"All this sounds too good to be true." Perseus was cutely blowing spit bubbles in her arms, oblivious to how serious the talk going on around him was. "Why does it feel like I'm making a deal with the devil? What is it that I have to agree to, for you to give us so much?"

The same frightening smirk as before made its way to his lips. "All I ask of you is to let me give Perseus power!"

"What do you mean?" She asked, with steel in her voice.

"As I'm sure you have guessed, I'm not human. Nor am I a god, titan, or any other type of immortal you can think of." His voice had gained a bored tone to it. "I am the first and last of my kind. I was born a creature so weak that even the weakest of mortals could have killed me with ease. I was nothing more than a plaything for the ruling beings at the time... that is, until I came across one of those same ruling beings as it was dying."

"As it demanded I help it, I could remember all the times it and the others like it abused me for their entertainment. The memories of what they had done caused me to snap... I fell on the being that had harmed me thousands of times, and drained it of what could be called its life blood."

Sally could taste bile in her throat once again. "So... you're a vamp-"

"You will refrain from comparing me to those leaches!" He hissed in a deadly whisper.

Sally didn't know if she would suffocate or if her heart would stop first. All she knew was that the being before her was radiating an aura that screamed for her death. Surprisingly, the being's aura had no effect on Perseus.

Taking a calming breath, the effect he was having on her died away. "I'm sorry for how I reacted, but I am nothing like those monstrous beings, which drain everything they can of one's life force. I admit I did so once, but have not done so since."

"Then what are you?" She asked hesitantly. "And why do you not have an heir of your own, if you don't want your race to die?"

"Because all of my mates have been taken from me," he said, his grief clear for Sally to see and hear. "And I refuse to use some mortal woman, for my own selfish needs."

She nodded as she felt her respect for him rise. "What will happen to Perseus when he is given your power?"

"You have misconceived my gift to him." He bluntly told her. "He will be in top health and completely stop aging in his early twenties, but he will not become stronger than the gods, like I am. He will have the ability to become stronger than them, but he could just as easily be only as strong as his demigod powers take him. It's up to him how far he will go."

"Wha-"

"The power I'll be giving him is the ability to gain the same abilities as those of the powerful beings he drinks of." Sally gave him a confused look that spurred him in to giving her an example. "If he were to drink the blood, of say... Apollo, then he could possibly become a great archer, or gain the rare ability to heal others with his bare hands. Then again, he may only end up with the ability to play any musical instrument he picks up."

"What powers he gains all depend on how the blood he consumes manifests."

"Is that how you were able to freeze your arm, by drinking the blood of a creature that had powers over ice?"

"Yes and no," he answered vaguely. "While I have never drunk from any of the major gods you know of today, I have partaken from some of their predecessors, including an ancestor of Poseidon. What you saw me do with the ice, is something Perseus will be able to do in the future, even without my gift."

The man seemed to know that Sally would need a few seconds to take in all that she had been told. To pass the time, he made faces at the child in her arms, earning cute gurgles of laughter.

"What are the drawbacks to this deal?" She asked, pulling him out of his game of making faces at Perseus.

"I can only think of two at the moment," he answered. "First, if he were to be revealed to the gods, they may want him dead. The second being the qualifications required of anyone he wishes to turn."

"The fact that the gods would want him dead aside," Sally said angrily. "What 'qualifications' must be filled for him to turn others?"

"If he was to turn a woman he wanted as a mate, or simply turn one of his friends, their virginity must be intact."

Sally gave him a disbelieving look. "Really? Do you not know how the world works these days?" She asked, not caring if she had insulted him. "These days, it's not exact all high on people's to-do list to keep their virtue, let alone their virginity."

Sally was taken aback when the man before her started laughing.

"I don't know what you've heard about the beings of old, but I can assure you that they were as horny and awful thousands of years ago as they are now." He sent her a condescending smile. "But let's be real about this. Would you want your son to end up with women who would spread their legs for just anyone?"

She responded by grumbling to herself, resulting in giggles from Perseus. The sound of her child's laughter calmed her down enough for her to recall something he had said. "Wait! You said women... as in more than one?"

"Yes?" He didn't see what she was getting at.

"Like a harem?" Sally asked, outraged at the thought of her son behaving like some kind of male version of Aphrodite.

"Yes, like a harem. Though why you, a woman who has had a child with a married man would see this as a problem, I don't know." Sally flushed at the reminder of Poseidon's marital status. Seeing her reaction, he sighed. "Just because he can be with multiple women doesn't mean he will. Though if he's anything like the visions of his future self I have seen, then he likely will. And will treat them all better than any other man, ever could."

"You've seen his future?" He nodded. "Does his receiving your gift, protect him?"

"I've seen multiple paths his future could take." He had turned his attention to the baby in her arms. "In more than one they have not only saved him, but numerous others…," he trailed off, letting her come to her own conclusions. Sally looked relieved to hear this, despite not hearing anything more than the implication of her son being kept safe. "But in them all, he faces many hardships. With the possibilities these powers bring, he would have a better chance of facing them and coming out on top!"

"But you and his father both have said he will be extremely powerful." The thought of the gods turning on her child scared her greatly. "Will he really need any more power?"

"I will give you a piece of information, and then let you decide if he will need more power." Sally leaned forward with a hungry look in her eye. Anything she could find out about Perseus' future would be beneficial. "In every one of his futures, there are times of great danger, where he ends up fighting not only ancient monsters, but traitorous gods, and full powered titans."

Sally didn't need any more convincing after that. If Perseus was to face all that the man before her had said, then he would need any and all advantages that he could get to survive.

"What do we have to do?" She asked, her face etched in determination.

"I'll be transferring the money to your account tomorrow morning." He said, ignoring her impatient look. He knew she wasn't doing this for the money, but for Perseus' safety. That didn't change the fact that she needed to know what he was going to do. "After that you can do with it as you please, and go where you want. Don't worry, no matter where you go I will always be there to protect you both, even though you will never see me again."

Sally didn't know how to feel about never seeing him again, but before she could dwell on it, he had continued talking.

"Finally, you must never tell him of me, nor of the gods." Sally looked ready to argue, but was cut off by him. "He will also have to go to Camp Half-Blood during his twelfth year of life. It's a part of the deal, take it or leave it!"

Sally's lips thinned with displeasure. "Fine!"

"In eleven years time, he will have almost completely synced with his future ability. When that time comes, I'll send you a letter of what school he must attend." He told her in a tone that left no room for disagreement. "From there he will meet those who will help guide him to the camp. Before he goes, I will have given him all the information he will need about his gift. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good!" He said, as he stepped toward the mother and son, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt.

Stopping with only inches between him and the small family, he raised his wrist to his now growing canines, before uncaringly ripping into his own flesh.

Unfazed by the blood leaking from his lips and wrist, he quickly held his injury over the curious baby, letting his wound continuously leak into the infant's mouth. His mother thinking that the amount would be too much, tried to pull her child away, but was stopped by the bleeding man's giant hand clamping on to her arm, rebuffing her desires.

"Done," he said, stepping back, letting go of Sally and licking his still bleeding wrist. As his tongue passed over each wound, they sizzled as the skin knitted itself closed, leaving behind no sign of his of fangs passing through his flesh.

"Goodbye Sally," he said, turning to exit the alley.

"Wait!" She called out, causing him to halt. "I... thank you. Without you, who knows what would have become of us."

"There is no need for your thanks." He said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "We are helping each other. We are more than even."

"Can you at least tell me your name?"

"Not the name I was born with, no." He read the look of disappointment that crossed Sally's face. "However," he said, gaining a hopeful look from the emotional woman, "you may call me Cain."