Ruby Casisa loves the feeling of being numb and brain-dead to the world, in other words, she loves alcohol. As a college graduate working at a restaurant and struggling to pay her rent, it would make the most sense to go out and let loose rather than to stay at home and get your priorities straight. At least, that’s how it worked in her mind. So on one golden night, she went out to a popular club in Miami, got drunk, and got down on the dance floor. Who knew that Poseidon would be there too?
Poseidon that night was disguised as a handsome Japanese man named Kiyoshi Sena, his intention to have some fun that night. Of course, he got drunk and messed with a few people, but Ruby quickly caught his eye, and in his drunk mindstate, he decided to hit on the beautiful caucasian woman. Throughout the night he continues to attempt to persuade Ruby into following him home for the night, and finally, around 4 am when the club begins to drain of people, she agrees.
The next morning, Ruby awakens in her own apartment, although she was sure she had never came back to her apartment after leaving the club. She decided to brush it off and take care of the painful hangover when she discovered she was out of Advil. In response, she went out to a nearby convenience store where she met Leo, who moved to America when he was 16. The two talked for a bit longer than they intended to and ended up going to a cafe down the road to continue their long conversation.
The two continue to meet for a month until they finally begin dating. Around this time, Ruby discovered she was pregnant. She explained this to Leo, who was more understanding than she thought he would be, and wouldn’t dump her for this. Several months later, weeks before she gives birth, Leo proposes to her to which she accepts. On June 3rd, Ruby gives birth to Leo Kiyoshi Casisa who will later be Leo Kiyoshi Shimizu once Ruby and her fiance marry.
Unfortunately for Leo, he was born with many mental disorders such as Social Anxiety Disorder, OCD, Autism, Narcolepsy, and Dyslexia. He was also born with Heterochromia Iridum, which made one eye a darkish bright shade of brown that appeared as red to most, and an almost golden hazelish color in his other eye. As a result of this, he was often bullied in elementary school for his weird eyes, particular pickiness about things, tendency to randomly fall asleep, and struggle to read.
On top of his Social Anxiety, going to school became an incredibly horrifying experience for him. Isolated and with no friends, he begins walking home by himself to avoid running into his classmates.
One day, the seven year old's demigod scent had finally become strong enough to attract a monster. Leo had no idea the fire breathing horse was upon him until he reached the street his house was located on. As soon as he caught a wisp of the smell of smoke, he screamed and barreled the rest of the way home.
Once he was in his front yard, his parents immediately slammed the front door open to confront the sound when they spotted the large fiery horse on the driveway. Ruby screamed and called for her son to get inside while her husband unclipped his pendant from his neck and tossed it into the air. The pendant fell to the earth as a katana sword that Leo (the adult one) caught. While Leo’s stepfather dueled with the monster, Ruby ushered her son inside and had him hide in the closet. Then she rushed to go aid her husband in any way she could. In fear, Leo huddled himself into a ball and cried as he did. It was about five minutes later when he began to smell smoke and hear the crackling of burning floorboards. Unable to convince himself to get out of the closet, he waited for his mother—who was covering her mouth with her soot covered arm—to usher him out of the closet, give him a small suitcase and tell him to go downstairs as fast as he could.
Through the smoke and flames, Leo made it downstairs safely with his suitcase and out to the lawn. The fire-breathing horse was gone, but so was his father and mother who he concluded were still in the house. He desperately wanted to go back there and look for them, but his conscience kicked in and told him to go find a place to call for help. Before he left, he picked up his father’s pendant and then dashed down the street as tears streaked his face. By the time he had gotten to the fire department (which was luckily nearby), his house had burned down with his parents still in it. When the firefighters got to the house, it had already been destroyed which set Leo off in more tears. He is later taken to a shelter where he tells the Social Services in his area his house somehow caught on fire and killed his parents while he managed to get away safely.
The Social Services contact his stepfather’s brother, Ryota, who caves in after hearing about his brother’s death and accepts Leo. When Leo arrives at Ryota’s apartment, he is surprised to find almost everything packed up. He questions his uncle who tells him he’s moving back to Japan for a few years and Leo had to come with him, making this his last month in America. Leo spends the majority of his month at Ryota’s apartment save for some shopping trips and long hours at the post office or other buildings Leo didn’t know really anything about, to negotiate a transfer, or at least that’s what Leo thought they said.
The actual flight to Japan wasn’t that interesting, but the seven year old found much excitement over traveling to the other side of the world. But he also had this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that kept him wary and scared. He kept asking his uncle questions, who usually answered because he didn’t have much else to do but type on his laptop, watch movies, or sleep. To Ryota’s surprise, it was strangely entertaining to conversate with the little boy who asked stupid but hilarious questions. For example, one ridiculous question he asked was, “Will I meet ninjas in Japan?”; Ryota cracked up, unable to contain himself.
Living in Japan was a huge change for Leo. He easily adapted to the Japanese school life and found no discomfort whatsoever. His new classmates were much nicer than his American ones and were very welcoming. He ended up having a small circle of friends he hung out with most of the time. The first seven months Leo lived in Japan contained no monster attacks, but this lucky streak ended when Leo hit eight. The day after his birthday, a hellhound chased him several blocks down until the hellhound suddenly turned around and headed a different way once it caught a whiff of a slightly stronger scent. Despite his narrow escape, Leo still received a few cuts and scrapes from the hellhound’s claws.
The rest of the walk home was filled with tension as Leo glanced over his shoulder every once and awhile. When he reached his uncle’s apartment, Ryota immediately questioned his rugged appearance. Leo lied and told his uncle that he’d been beaten up by a few older kids and that he was used to it from America because he believed his uncle would not believe his hellhound story.
Every time Leo ran into a monster and came out barely alive but with injuries, he’d make a story similar to it, but Ryota had grown too suspicious.
When Leo was ten, he was attacked by a group of harpies not even a block away from the apartment. Unfortunately for those harpies, Ryota was right around the corner and instantly came to Leo’s aid once he saw the predicament. When the whole situation was over, he ushered the young boy inside and sat him down at the dinner table to have a word with him.
Ryota explains the term “demigod” and some Greek Mythology to him before giving him a celestial bronze dagger his brother used to own. He also tells him he is a demigod too—a son of Boreas—and so was Leo’s stepfather. He instructed Leo to keep this with him no matter what, and he shouldn’t worry about trying to hide it. The weapon was charmed by a child of Hecate (that Ryota happened to be fond of) so that when time came necessary, it would find a way to hide itself from others, whether using the mist or appearing as an everyday object.
Leo thanks his uncle and takes the dagger into his room to admire it. Then he gets up and searches through the drawers of his dresser to find the pendant he’d once witnessed his stepfather turn into a sword. He assumed the pendant was charmed too in some way, so he played around with it until he got what he wanted. After flipping the coin a few times, it finally transformed into a long Celestial Bronze Katana with Japanese Kanji Characters engraved in the handle. He studied in awe and then realized he needed to figure out a way to turn it back into a pendant.
He frowned and studied the sword before his eyes wandered down to the Kanji Characters on the handle. Since he couldn’t decipher most of the strokes, he decided to write it down and ask his uncle for his input. Once he had, he left the katana in his room and scrounged the apartment until he found Ryota in his study. Ryota easily translated it and asked him why exactly Leo needed it, but the ten year old gave no straightforward answer and Ryota eventually gave up. When he returned to his room, he read the Kanji aloud, which translates to, “Hide mighty sword, your time is finished.” The katana bent in his hands until it was a large circle, and then melted in the pendant he once held half an hour ago. In delight, he looped the pendant around his neck with a leather cord so that he’d not only always have the memory of his stepfather with him, but also the memory of how this pendant protected him in times of need.
Over the next five years, Leo excels in school, and despite his many setbacks he rose above the average and became the top of his year. Along with his studies, Ryota begins to take him up on training to defend himself against monsters which begin to throw themselves at him almost every day. One night, Leo sits his uncle down and tries to convince him to take him back to America. After some arguing, Ryota finally agrees and started arranging for the move.
When Leo arrives in America and is registered for his new school which happens to be a private school, he is given a test because he quickly shows excelling grades in the first few weeks of his attendance. The staff is shocked to find his IQ way above the average at 148. After a long six hour conference with both Leo and his uncle, Leo is accelerated to twelfth grade and graduates at age 16. Throughout the only semester he goes to at his school, he is admired and adored for his intelligence, his looks, and most of all his unique eyes, opposed to what he faced in elementary.
After graduating, turning 16, and applying to a college which he was accepted in, he kicks back to celebrate with his friends at a pizza place. While at the pizza place, he is attacked by a giant scorpion. With the help of his uncle, he easily kills the monster but declares “the party’s over” to keep his friends safe. At home, Ryota suggests taking Leo to Camp Half-Blood but he refuses saying he wants to continue school.
Two years later, it’s almost Leo’s birthday and at the same time, he is on the brink of graduating college because of the three extra classes he took along with his main courses which would train him to become a marine biologist. At this time his uncle is finally getting married, so Leo clears a day for the wedding to which he attends as Ryota’s best man. Just as Ryota and his bride lean into a kiss, three fire-breathing horses burst into the chapel. Ryota yells for all the guests to evacuate and gets his wife outside and into the limo before going back to help his nephew kill the monsters. After a grueling battle, the two leave the burning battleground with singed suits and many cuts.
Eventually, after Leo graduated college at age 19, he and Ryota fight over whether to send him to Camp. Leo argues he’d rather get a job and continue his studying as a marine biologist, but in the end, Ryota wins and drives him up to New York and to the Camp borders. Leo is immediately claimed as a son of Poseidon after stepping across the borders. It's been a day now since he arrived.