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Cassandra Haynes was always a smiley woman at work, and a soft woman at home. Of course, Zeus noticed this from Mount Olympus. A hot twenty-five-year-old woman who was nice to everyone? How could Zeus NOT notice that, being, well, the lady's man he is? So one day, he decided to come to the mortal world and make a move. He hated watching hot women he admired being taken by ugly, smelly mortal men, and he was determined not to let that happen to Cassandra.
He found Cassandra at the mall (where else would you find her on a weekend?). Zeus introduced himself as Robert, a.k.a Bob, and Cassandra laughed and said no one was named Bob anymore these days. They flirted for a while - Zeus had a lot of practice doing that with women - and Cassandra invited "Bob" over to her Manhattan apartment. (How convenient, right?) They got drunk, and made their way to the bedroom. Some, uh, things happened there....
Afterwards, "Bob" explained everything: that his name was actually Zeus, the god of lightning and the heavens; he was a Greek god and Olympian; that their child would be a demigod; (s)he needed to get to Camp Half-Blood at Long Island, Half-Blood Hill; and that he couldn't stay with Cassandra any longer or Hera might find out, and then great curses would fall on her. You know, all the stuff you'd expect a young woman to comprehend in less than ten minutes.
Before Zeus left, he left Cassandra a sword that seemed to be made of some kind of bronze. Before Cassandra could ask, Zeus just told her to say "Close." Cassandra obeyed, and the sworld turned into a miniature bronze lightning-bolt shaped charm, made out of the same material of the sword. Zeus told her to give the charm to her son/daughter, so that the young demigod would protect herself. Cassandra was confused, but Zeus told her one last thing: to turn the charm back into a sword, say "Astrapi" (Greek for lightning). Then he disappeared.
Nine months later, Cassandra was presented with a wonderful baby girl. She named her daughter Kristi Jessica Haynes. Six years later, Cassandra pressed the charm into Kristi's palm and told her to say "Astrapi" to it whenever she was in trouble. Kristi was confused about this, but shrugged it off.
Her childhood was almost normal, except that Kristi always had deja vu during thunderstorms. Usually she shook off the feeling. She wasn't exactly popular in school, but she had two or three friends that she could surround herself with. She'd always felt comfortable standing in the rain without an umbrella, a comfort she and her friends just couldn't understand. She got acceptable, average grades, and was mostly happy at home.
Years later, when Kristi was eleven, she had her first monster attack. A pack of Stymphalian birds came flapping at her out of nowhere. Kristi was in the band room because she had volunteered to set up chairs for the sixth grade concert, even though she didn't play anything. When she saw the birds, she tripped over some cymbals, making them clash together and scaring the birds away. She didn't tell her mom, afraid that she was going to get Kristi to a doctor and Kristi was going to be sent to an asylum. Kristi was so shocked, she forgot about the charm she had kept in her pocket. (She was too young for a satyr to come protect her...yet.)
When Kristi was twelve, she had her second monster attack. A hellhound bit her ankle when she was in her backyard during summer, thinking about life and whatever came to her mind. However, a satyr was now living nearby, and heard Kristi cry out in pain (her mom was out buying groceries). The satyr broke into the backyard and plunged his sword into the hellhound's heart. He didn't show his goat self to Kristi yet, and told her to come to Camp Half-Blood with him. He didn't tell her why, because that would make Kristi's scent stronger. However, Kristi pleaded with him for just another two years. The satyr agreed, but stuck to Kristi like a magnet to protect her.
When Kristi had her third monster attack at thirteen, it was another hellhound. The satyr was there with her, and again killed the monster by slashing his sword across its neck. Kristi was getting used to disintegrating monsters, after three times. She didn't want to admit the danger she was in; she wanted to stay with her mom and live a happy, normal life.
Kristi then turned fourteen after that. She finally bid her farewells to her mother and journeyed to Camp Half-Blood with the satyr, Ryan. Ryan easily felled a harpy they encountered by slicing off its wing, having been an experienced satyr helping demigods.
Finally, Kristi made it through the borders of Camp Half-Blood, safe...for now.
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