Daniel Blanchard, a clear-sighted mortal, met Cybele while in a gardening and landscaping competition, Cybele came to the expo disguised as a mortal judge to view the finalist’s creations. Daniel was one of five contestants. Cybele specifically favored Daniel’s lily pond, and voted for him. Daniel ended up winning. He found Cybele attractive, and feeling bold due to his recent achievement, he decided to ask her out. Cybele agreed, finding him attractive as well. The evening that followed was a great time for both Cybele and Daniel. The two continued to meet up for the next two and a half weeks. By that point, Cybele saw that Daniel was an honorable man, and deserved to know of her godly background. She demonstrated this by causing a vine to move to her command, making a rabbit do flips, and quickly showing him a toned down form of her true godly self, just enough not to kill him. Daniel, although awestruck, refused to believe that. He did not tell Cybele that because he did not want to offend her. After another week, they had sex. Cybele discovered she is pregnant, and left Daniel without explanation overnight. Daniel was depressed about Cybele’s leave, but he forced himself not to dwell on the loss of Cybele, and to continue his life with or without her. Five months later, someone rang the doorbell of his New York home. He answered and saw a baby in a wicker basket wrapped in vines, as well as a larger box. He took both in, wary. On the baby, there was a short note. It read:
Dear Daniel,
This is your child, the one I got pregnant with when I was with you. Take care of him, and when he reaches the age of fourteen, take him to Camp Half-Blood. A map is in the box. He is a demigod, meaning half human, half god. Monsters will be attracted to him by the age of eleven or twelve. I have gifted him with weapons to defend himself. He is most likely to have ADHD and dyslexia, and this is normal. Thank you.
-Cybele
Daniel grudgingly took in the child and named him Caine. He stored the box, note, and wicker basket in his attic, wanting some memorabilia of Cybele. He never told anybody about Cybele, though, ashamed of their whirlwind romance. Caine was born July 1rst, 2001. Caine began walking at age two and talked at age three. When he was four, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. He had a strong love for animals from an early age and got a bearded dragon named Blackbeard, due to black discoloration on it. He attended preschool and kindergarten normally. He went to a public school for his elementary and joined the baseball team as a pitcher in sixth grade. When he entered sixth grade, Blackbeard died of sickness. Seeing Caine more responsible and mature, he allowed him a bigger pet, a juvenile alloy ball python. Caine named her Vipera, the Latin name for snake. The month before his thirteenth birthday, he was attacked by a flaming horse. He was at a relative’s horse farm for the month. He and his cousin James were riding in the large pasture outside the barn. Behind them, a flaming horse galloped at them. James was also a demigod, the son of Morpheus. He realized he was being attacked and sent a wave of drowsiness, momentarily stalling the horse. Oblivious to the flaming horse behind him, Caine kept riding. James urged him to go faster so that he could get away, but also sounding inconspicuous, not knowing Caine was a demigod. Caine complied. James got off his own horse and dispatched the flaming one easily with a Celestial Bronze sword he always carries. Caine had his back turned the whole time, focused on riding his horse over hurdles on the other side of the pasture. James thought that Caine was mortal and the horse came after himself, so he did not worry about Caine.The next year for Caine’s fourteenth birthday, Caine invited James and three mortal friends named Zach, Peter, and Quentin. Daniel hid Caine’s present, a new phone, in a large cardboard box in the attic. He had long forgotten about Cybele’s box. He told Caine to look in the attic for his present. Instead of the box with the phone in it, he opened Cybele’s box. He read the note and looked at the weapons. He saw two one-handed hatchets and five throwable trovels, all with Celestial Bronze blades and inscribed with his name on it, He took the box down with him to ask Daniel about it. Climbing down the stairs, he heard a loud crash. He went to the living room to see what had caused the noise. In the living room, he saw a juvenile hellhound. Zach, Peter and Quentin saw a rabid dog, the mist fogging their eyes. The trio fled from the room in fear. James drew his sword. Caine dropped the box and pulled out the trovels. He whipped them at the hellhound. He hit it in the eye and neck as it was distracted with James. The trovels averted the beast’s attention to Caine. Jame swiped at the monster’s head from behind and killed it. The adrenaline wore off and Caine fell to the floor in shock. James looked angrily at Daniel, then approached Caine. “Hey, you okay?” he began. He went on to explain his Olympian heritage. Caine showed him the note from Cybele. James helped Caine up and told Daniel he was taking him to Camp, showing Daniel the note. While they were talking, Caine noticed the trowels had returned to his pants pocket. Daniel warily agreed and the two demigods took off in James’ car. It was a short drive to Long Island, about an hour. As they arrived, they were tailed by six Stymphalian birds, sensing two demigods in one place. They stopped the car at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill, just outside of the borders. James stayed in the car while Caine grabbed his things and ran before the birds caught up. He scrambled up the hill with Vipera around his neck and into the borders of Camp Half-Blood.
.jpg){kind=link}