Ru Sungmin had just gotten out of college and was looking for a job in Seoul. All of his siblings were successful and wealthy, leaving him as the black sheep. He wanted to prove himself worthy, but he didn't know what subject to go into. While searching up various jobs on the internet, he stumbled upon a job opening at a biology lab nearby. He was interested in nature, so he decided to apply.
Sungmin studied and studied hard for his interview, but he miscalculated the prowess of his competitors. All of them had been in the field for years. Needless to say, he didn't get the job. He went home and cried about being a failure. He then prayed for help, and Cybele noticed.
The next morning, as Sungmin was walking around Seoul, Cybele approached him. She talked to him and found out that he had not gotten the job that he wanted in biology. She offered to help him. After some time, in which Cybele taught him, the two fell in love and slept together. Cybele disappeared right after, which made Sungmin feel even worse. However, with his new knowledge, he managed to snag a job in another lab.
5 months later, Sungmin heard some noise at his door. He went downstairs to find a little baby girl was at his doorstep, wrapped up in a blanket. Cybele was standing three feet away, smiling at him. But, before he could say anything, she walked away, leaving him with the child. He decided to name her Soojin.
To be able to fully raise the baby, Sungmin quit his job and begged his siblings for money. Being generous, they gave him some. He was able to raise Soojin comfortably for a year, until he started to want to get back into working. However, he decided to go on a nature trip, because then Soojin would get to see nature too. Since he decided to go out of his comfort zone, he chose to explore snow and go to Alaska. Soon, arrangements were made, and he and Soojin were off for a week long adventure.
Meanwhile....
Connor Riley, a boy in college who had inherited his parents' fortune, was looking for some friends. One soon came to him, by the name of Cody Oliver. Cody was a bold troublemaker, a bad influence, and a reckless drinker, which was was Connor was looking for. The two had many adventures all through college. When college ended, Connor built an estate in Alaska and they both moved into it. It had 3 floors and a shed under the house that had a powder room. The shed had a hatch-like entrance at the side of the house, which would come in handy sooner than they thought.
One day, Cody decided that he wanted a child. Because of his antics, nobody would let him adopt. He also did not want to impregnate a woman because he didn't want to have a partner. Since he liked committing crimes, he decided that he would steal a child. But, when Connor volunteered to steal the child for him, Cody decided to let him.
Connor and Cody went into the main city, where all of the tourists were, to find the perfect child. Soojin caught Connor's eye. He pointed her out to Cody, who said that she was perfect. They watched Sungmin walk into a hotel with her. Now that they knew where Sungmin was staying, getting Soojin would not be difficult.
That night, Connor went out with a drugged bottle of water and a plan. He walked to the very same hotel just when Sungmin was going out with Soojin for a night walk. Connor approached him, and the two began to talk and walk. As they did, Connor guided Sungmin into a musty alleyway. Sungmin coughed and asked for some water, which Connor gave him. The drugs in the water knocked Sungmin out. Seizing the opportunity, Connor took Soojin and ran away. Nobody noticed this event, as it was dark and there were no people or cameras.
Sungmin woke up in the alleyway the next morning. He noticed that Soojin and Connor were both gone. Since Soojin was only 1 and could not walk, he realized that Connor must have kidnapped her. In that moment, all of his memories of his failures rushed back to him. He felt so miserable that he rammed himself into the alley walls multiple times, killing himself.
Just as Sungmin was dying, Connor returned home with Soojin. Cody took one look at her and decided to name her Paige Aimee, which literally means assistant friend. Then, reality set in and he realized how big of a crime he and Connor had committed. He tried to explain this to Connor, but Connor just brushed him off. After some thought, Cody decided that if he moved into the shed with Paige, they would never be caught. He asked Connor if this was okay and got a skeptical yes.
The next day, Connor and Cody set to work converting the shed into an apartment. Since it had the bathroom, it had running water, and it also had electricity from the lights. After a day of hard work, it was a little two bedroom. Cody made a vow never to go outside again. Connor promised to bring them a day's worth of food every day at midnight.
For the next 4 years, Paige was happy with her life. She proved to be a fussy toddler, but Cody served all of her needs. She wasn't all that hyper, which worked well for Cody, but she was a tad curious. Cody taught her how to read and write so that she would be literate. She started to talk a lot and tell lost of stories, which Cody patiently listened to. At this time, Cody was getting a little paranoid that someone would find them, but he hid it.
One day, when Paige was 5, something caught her eye. There was a hatch. It was how Connor got in to give them food every day. She inspected it, and soon tried to open it, when Cody came along. He yelled at her and told her that the hatch was a portal to the outside world. When she asked him about this world, he began to tell her terrifying stories. He told her about the awfulness of other humans, and how the two of them were the only 'normal' ones left.
For the next three years, Paige kept mostly to herself. Every night, she'd have nightmares about the outside world. She mostly just ate and slept. However, Cody was a different story. He'd watch her 24/7, in fear that she'd do something that would blow his cover. His fears began to eat at his brain, but he clung onto sanity.
When she was 8, something happened to her that had never happened before. She had an urge to go outside. She had no idea why, but she couldn't control it. She cried to Cody, who scolded her harshly. However, no scolding made the urge go away. It was likely her natural curiosity combined with her slowly emerging powers that made her want to be closer to nature, but she didn't know this.
For the next two years, Paige kept her ever growing urge to herself, just like everything else. Now, she was having no nightmares, because she wasn't sleeping. She'd just cry all night, scared and confused. Her 'father' was starting to have visions, so he'd talk in his sleep. Paige was concerned, but she didn't know what to do. She was like a ghost of her toddler self.
Finally, when she was 10, something in Paige cracked. She became suspicious of her father's stories and began to question him. He answered her questions passively, but really, all of her questions made his sanity explode. For two weeks, her father just ignored her, as he is trying to get his emotions back. However, when Paige asked him about his mother, he cracked and slaps her. She ran away, sobbing.
For the next four years, Paige was upset on top of all of her problems. Her mind was addled to the point where she was clearly emotionally stable. There was nothing around the apartment for her to use to distract herself. Cody was no better. He was certifiably crazy, though he slept for most of the day.
On Paige's 14th birthday, Connor went down to deliver the food and saw Cody, for the first time in a while, not sleeping. He was swaying and mumbling to himself. He was screaming about how humans would eat Paige alive. In that moment, Connor knew that he had to rescue Paige. When Cody finally fell asleep, he took Paige out and left her in one of the bedrooms in his house.
Cody woke up the next morning to find that Paige was missing. The hatch was also open, as Connor had forgot to close it. He freaked out because he thought that Paige had run away. He decided that his only choice was to die, or he would be caught. He went to the sink in the powder room and filled it up with water. He then buried hsi head in it and suffocated.
At the same time, Paige woke up in a plush bedroom with Connor staring at her. She freaked out because she was scared of humans. She asked Connor who he was. When he replied that he was the one who brought her and Cody food every day, she told him that he was lying. She thought that a magical force brought them food, because that's what Cody told her. She then bolted for the door, with Connor running after her.
Paige ran into the forest, where Connor lost her. Paige sat in the middle of the forest crying when a harpy swooped down and attacked. It had taken longer for monsters to find her because she lived in a musty space underground, but now her scent was exposed. Paige was powerless to stop it, but a nearby pine tree nymph saw the harpy and fought it off. The nymph then returned to her tree.
Connor sat in the forest, huffing and puffing, when he decided that Paige would be better far away in foster care. He called social services and told them that he had a mentally unstable child who had to be taken in. They sent a car with a representative. Connor went, found Paige, and gave her to the representative, who drove her away to the nearest headquarters.
When Paige reached the headquarters, the workers sat her down and interviewed her. As she tried to escape, they asked her why she was so scared. She told them that it was because they were humans and they would eat her alive. After consulting with each other, the workers decided that she'd be best in a large home so that she could learn that humans weren't cannibals. A home in Westchester with lots of foster kids was open, so the workers arranged to have her flown there.
When Cybele noticed that Paige was being flown to Westchester, she decided to send a nymph down to train her. Cybele decided not to send Paige to camp because of her mental state. Cybele placed the nymph in Paige's soon to be room, where the nymph hid until Paige arrived. When Paige walked in and was alone, the nymph came out and introduced herself. It gave her a celestial bronze scythe from Cybele and told her that she would be her trainer.
For about a month, Paige and the nymph trained. Paige never left her room unless she absolutely had to, so the foster mom brought her food. The nymph would hide whenever Paige left or somebody came in. The nymph would also go back up to Olympus during the night. The nymph taught her how to use her powers and how to use her weapon. Besides teaching her how to fight, the nymph told Paige about her heritage and history. The nymph also told her that humans and other creatures were not insane and cannibalistic like how Cody described them. Paige began to trust the nymph and believe her. When a hellhound attacked, Paige fought it off easily. The nymph then decided that Paige was ready to be on her own and left.
Since the nymph gave her a better idea about humans, Paige decided that she wanted to meet her foster siblings. So, she went out at breakfast for the first time. They all mocked her to her face. She was upset, but determined. For one year, as she fought off monsters that were easy, Paige would go out to meet her siblings and get mocked. The teasing got worse and worse, but Paige was persistent.
A year was enough for Paige to get tortured, so she decided to make a stand. First, she changed her look by bleaching her hair and dying the ends pink. She then practiced having an attitude. She built up an arsenal of comebacks over two weeks. Finally, she went out and faced her siblings again, but this time she told them off. They all were shocked by her sudden change and began to fear her.
For the next two years, Paige ruled the home. Everyone admired and feared her. Nobody dared to cross her or upset her like they had. Though she had no real friends, Paige was too busy being queen to care. Her monster attacks increased, but she fought all of the monsters off easily. Luckily for her, all of her attacks happened when she was alone, so she was never caught wielding her scythe.
One night, when she was 17, Paige stumbled upon a box of matches. Nobody had ever told her about matches, as Cody never used them and the foster mom never saw it to be an important topic. She played with them, fascinated by the flame. She threw one match down the spiral staircase of the home. It landed on the bottom floor and lit it on fire. Everyone scrambled to evacuate, but she just stood there, stunned.
Cybele saw the fire from up on Olympus and sent the same nymph down to rescue Paige. Before the nymph left, Cybele told the nymph to bring Paige to camp. Cybele thought that Paige was now ready socially. In the nick of time, the nymph was sent down and saw Paige. She immediately picked Paige up, grabbed Paige's scythe, and carried her out of the slowly burning home, not looking back.
Once they were a safe distance away, the nymph put Paige down. She told her that she was going to a camp for demigods like her. Paige was so dazed that she just nodded. The nymph spotted a car with the keys in the ignition. She told Paige to get in, and Paige obliged. The nymph got in the drivers seat and began to drive the car towards camp, going as fast as she could.
When they reached camp, Paige stepped out of the car to be greeted by a hellhound. It was bigger than any that she had ever fought. The nymph gave her her scythe and she began to fight it. The nymph got out of the car and joined her, until the hellhound was nothing but a pile of gold dust. The nymph told Paige that she had to go back to Olympus and wished her luck. With that, she ushered Paige in through the gate.
Paige Aimee Oliver 
