Chapter 1

Leaping over the wide gap between the roofs high above the bustling streets below, Percy enjoyed the brief moments of the exhilarating feeling of weightlessness. He tucked into a roll as soon as he landed on the flat roof and continued his journey. As he leapt across more roofs, he admired the view below him which would have made his cousin faint. (cough, cough Thalia) Not that she would ever admit.

A few minutes later, he reached a steep slanting roof leading to a moss covered stone courtyard about three storeys below with about 10 or so young men and women walking and chatting at the edges. Careful not to lose his balance on the way down, Percy cautiously made his way down the tiles. At the bottom of the roof, there was an uncovered roof gutter. Percy clutched it and swung himself over the edge. Holding on tightly with both hands he began to slowly swing back and forth, wincing as he heard some creaking. Deciding that he had enough momentum, he threw himself towards a windowsill in front of him. Keeping his balance, he turned and leapt down to the courtyard.

In the air, he front flipped twice and fell into a roll as he hit the ground, taking away the impact from the landing. He strode behind two people, a young man and woman, engaged in a conversation.

"Boo!" Percy shouted into their ears.

They both leapt into the air, the man shrieking what he would claim to be a very manly shriek.

"Got you guys this time," Percy commented with a grin.

"Yeah, you just surprised us," the woman said.

"Well, that kind of was the point," Percy told them and then turned to the man,"Brian, I never knew you could squeal like that."

"Well-well," the man, Brian spluttered,"it was just a eh hm manly um exclamation of uh surprise."

Percy just smirked. "Well, now we're over that manly episode, lets go!" the woman exclaimed, throwing a really look at Brian.

Percy and Rebecca, the woman, shot out of the courtyard into a narrow alleyway, leaving Brian behind.

"I'm telling you it was a manly excla - oh blast it, they've ditched me again," Brian ran off after them, calling to them in his very manly voice.

Percy whooped loudly as he ran alongside Rebecca. They emerged from the alley, turned right and ran into a waist high fence. Without breaking rhythm, they dived over the fence. Rebecca pulled into a roll and continued on. However, Percy, ever the showoff, cartwheeled twice, then jumped into a mid air flip, then chasing after Rebecca. Brian, who was about 10 metres behind simply leapt clear of the fence, not wanting to be left behind.

They sprinted across the grass to a water pipe on the side of a building. Percy hauled himself up to the roof four storeys up, Rebecca and Brian close behind. They continued onwards, doing crazy and what most people would consider extremely unsafe stunts, jumping off roofs onto the ground far below, scaling tall buildings and walking on tiny ledges of the sides of other buildings.

Later in the day, Percy sat in an unusually deserted part of Central Park. Far away, he could see a playground, full of hawk-eyed parents and energetic children. With a gasp, he recognised one of the parents by her stormy grey eyes and bouncing blonde hair. Annabeth ... the one who had fallen for a second child of Poseidon while he was on a quest to prove his worth to Athena two years ago. When he had returned and found out that the camp had all but forgotten him - the newer campers thought Annabeth's new boyfriend was the two time Saviour of Olympus (they had only been told it was Annabeth's son of Poseidon boyfriend) and most of his mortal friends from the wars had either died from monster attacks (a demigod's life was dangerous, no matter if they had training or not) or had left to seek a normal life in the mortal world.

His immortalised friends - basically all those with positions of leadership in either camp, were part of the Seven or Nico (because he's just cool like that), all had duties and hardly noticed Percy's distress and sadness. What made it worse was that during the immortalisation ceremony, he and Annabeth had both refused but, when he came back, he was told that Annabeth had changed her mind and become a goddess alongside Francis, her boyfriend, for making Athena's favourite daughter less distracted by the stupidity that is Perseus Jackson.

So Percy had left. However, when he reached his parents' apartment, they had shut him out claiming no son of ours would do such a horrid thing. He never got the opportunity to explain or find out what that horrid thing was. He guessed Annabeth or Drake had told them a lie that made it seem like he had changed for the worse irreversibly.

For a few months, Percy drifted, filled with sorrow, hardly able to work in his job at the water services of NYC. He nearly got fired three times and he would have, if not for some close saves using the Mist. He found a job as a babysitter and it brought him back to life temporarily, energised by the children's enthusiasm and innocence. However, he knew it was only a bandaid fix to the gaping wound in his heart. One day, a hellhound came and attacked his charges. Luckily, Percy was close enough to defeat the hellhound with minimal injuries to the child. Despite that, once the mortal parents found out that their baby boy was injured under Percy's care, they immediately fired him. Percy was about to quit anyway. Whoever he got close to was hurt. That child deserved a safe, happy life. He would not jeopardise it.

Then he had found Brian and Rebecca. Two parkour experts who loved their profession. He had been a quick learner and soon went on regular runs with them, reaching their level and even above. They had revived his happy self. Well, maybe not them; it was their sport that did that, but they did teach him how to do parkour and Percy was forever grateful for their kindness. It was his first lucky break in a long time.

He was broken out of his reverie by a dark suited man tapping his shoulder. Jumping forward and then spinning while pulling out Riptide. It never hurt to play safe, and if it was a mortal, he could just wipe their mind with the Mist.

"Put away the sword Perseus, I have a proposition for you," the man said in a deep voice.

"What is your name and how do I know I can trust you?," Percy said.

"You can't and I won't tell you my name until you hear my proposition," the man told him," now will you hear my proposition or not?"

"Alright, but the sword is not going away," Percy stated, still wary.

"Would you like to join the Army of Erebus," he asked.

"What is that?"

"The Army of Erebus is a peacekeeping force that specialises in undercover operations"

"Why me?"

"Because you are an incredibly powerful and loyal warrior and to qualify to become a member you must have experienced darkness before, which happened with Annabeth"

Percy flinched. "What's in it for me?"

"A new family, and a way to keep on helping the world albeit from the shadows."

"I accept"

Percy glimpsed a smile on the man's face. "Come hold my hand, I will teleport you there."

Percy hesitated. "What is your name, you never told me."

"Colonel Point, you better remember it because I am only going to tell you once."

Percy grasped his hand tentatively. "Nice to meet you then Colonel Point."

The world went dark.