Jessica Walker didn't know what to expect — or rather, she feared what might happen after sleeping with a handsome, mature man at a club without protection. Even though he ghosted her afterward, she ended up pregnant. She was only 24 years old, a recent graduate with a degree in pediatrics, and now she had a child to test everything she'd learned.
She was a beautiful woman, if she could say so herself — long brown hair, sky-blue eyes, a well-toned gym-trained body, and generously endowed up top.
What was worse, she held a secret she had never told anyone — not even her parents. Since she was a child, she had been able to see the true face of the world: horrific, bloodthirsty monsters walking the streets, superhuman teenagers slaying them and turning them into sulfur dust — yet no one around her seemed to notice.
It was only when her club lover revealed himself as Zeus, the actual god and king of the Greek Olympus, that Jessica finally felt at peace. She wasn't crazy. She truly lived in a world of mythology — and now, she had slept with the playboy king of Olympus and would become the mother of a future demigod and Greek hero.
Not long after learning she was pregnant, Zeus spoke with her, explaining the fate of demigod children — the learning disabilities like dyslexia and ADHD, the strong scent that attracted monsters. The thought of the baby she already loved being hunted and in constant danger tore her apart. But her eyes shone with determination. She would learn everything she could to protect her child.
Jessica had been an orphan all her life, never knowing family — but now she had her baby. She would be a mother, and she would protect him. She asked Zeus for a weapon she could use to kill monsters while her son was still too young.
Feeling generous, Zeus gifted his lover a celestial bronze whip capable of killing monsters — and then left, only returning when the baby was born.
Jessica saw the disappointed look in Zeus's eyes as he gazed at their son. She watched as he transformed a massive war hammer into a bronze earring, placed it in the baby's ear, bound it to his divine blood so it would always return to him — and left for good. She knew he would never come back.
Lying in bed with her sweet and beautiful little boy, Jessica kissed his small head, brown-haired like hers, and smiled with love and tenderness. If no one else would care for her baby, she would become strong enough to teach and protect him herself.
She named her son after her father.
Leander Walker.
Her little lion.
Jessica soon moved to France, found work as a pediatrician in a hospital, and tracked down a whip master to teach her how to wield her weapon — which she wore around her neck as a necklace.
She watched her son grow into a kind and handsome boy. She discovered he possessed superhuman strength like Heracles. From an early age, she guided him never to harm the innocent or misuse his divine strength — always remain in control around humans. Only monsters or those who threatened his life deserved the full extent of his power.
Jessica's whip master also happened to be a master of martial arts and weapons. When Leander turned four, he took the boy under his wing and began training him to use his divine gifts. They soon discovered that Leander had the power of metamorphosis — he could shift into any living creature, human or animal.
Only then did Jessica discover the truth — her teacher was a retired demigod, a son of Ares, the god of war, who had survived into adulthood.
The first time she and her son were attacked by a monster was when Leander was five. A massive black hellhound emerged from the shadows, snarling and baring its razor-sharp fangs. Jessica immediately yanked the whip from her neck and, moving on instinct honed through training, struck the monster across the snout, making it howl in pain. Then she watched as her son leapt forward and, with one punch, crushed the monster's skull — it exploded into golden dust.
His divine strength was terrifying when fully unleashed.
From that day on, mother and son were constantly fighting off monsters to survive. They both gained experience through their battles. Leander wielded his war hammer, which adjusted to his small size, striking down monsters without mercy, while Jessica used her whip with such deadly precision that monsters began to fear the mother-son duo. And this was all happening in Paris, France — far from the Greek epicenter of New York, where Olympus resided.
Their lives continued in a cycle of life-or-death battles. Jessica helped her son learn despite his learning disabilities. She learned Greek and Latin and taught both to him, alongside English. Her heart ached as she watched her child struggle to absorb the lessons. She grew wary of schools, afraid he would be mistreated for his difficulties.
But the two of them would walk the path ahead — together — ready to face whatever came their way.