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Astraeus and Alanis met one night one the beach whilst Alanis was dancing in the light of the moon. He approached her quietly, first watching her from afar. Astraeus was smitten by the beautiful woman, her sleek black hair, the way it bounced as she danced. She was the perfect woman, athletic, fun, but still very business-like. Later that night they went home to Alanis' home, only for her to find several weeks later she had become pregnant. When Alanis told Astraeus of this, he acted in a panic, grabbing his things and leaving quickly. Before leaving, Alanis pried him to tell her what was going on. "Greek." He said whilst packing his things. "I'm a Titan. Astraeus. Titan of Stars and Astrology, and I have to go." Alanis named the child Lotus after the Greek flower.
Astraeus quickly explained to Alanis. "When the child is of age, Take him to this camp." Astraeus quickly wrote down several directions, and the name of the place. 'Camp Half-Blood' it read.
From birth until age fourteen, Lotus lived a normal life, as normal as one can be with a single mother and a father who he barely knew anything about. He lived a quiet childhood, often playing with the small animals who would wander up, mostly stray dogs and cats.He would often go out to look at the stars, somehow knowing each and every constellation. He shrugged it off, claiming it was just something he forgot he knew about. His mother was hard to work with, as she was stubborn and nearly always stressed out. He loved her dearly, however. Alanis always went on about "Oh Your father is the Titan of stars." Lotus shook his head at the psycho-babble. That was all it was to him. Psycho talk. That is, until Lotus was walking around the beach that day. He stumbled upon a small clearing in the rocks, reaching a shallow cave. He wandered into the small cave, looking at a figure in the shadows.
He cocked his head to the side, watching the shadowy figure emerge. Upon seeing the face he froze, trying to scream. He realized that no sound was coming from his mouth, a single tear fell down his cheek. This 'Thing' had a Serpentine face, very broad shoulders, and a scaled tail emerging from his lower back. He turned to run, the monster grabbing his leg, pulling him back to the shadows. He kicked back with all his might, stunning the monster.
While the monster stood still, he fled from the cave to his mother's house just over the sand dunes. He ran into the house, hugging his mother tightly and crying loudly. After his mother aked again and again what the matter was, he simply said "Snake man." Alanis nodded understandingly and walked calmly to her car, instructing the 14 year old to get in. He did as he was told, little did he know that he had a nearly 13 hour car ride before him.
Along the way, he slept for a good 9 hours, waking up to see his mother stopped at a Gas Station and purchased some snacks. He opened up a packet of Cheese and Crackers, munching down on them. His mother, once again, explained everything to him. How she and Astraeus met, the little time they spent together. She finally said she was taking him to a sort-of Safe Haven for Demigod and DemiTitan children.
She stopped the car in front of a large, cracked stone gateway. They both exited the car, tears streaming down both their faces as his mother said goodbye. He grabbed her tightly, whispering "Goodbye, I love you mom." to her. He turned around and waved to her, making his way into camp.
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