Author's Notes: Yes, this is written in a first person fashion, in the style of the actual Percy Jackson books. If you are not a fan of that style, chances are you weren't much of a fan of the actual Percy Jackson books...so you probably will not care too much for this story. This story takes place after the fifth book of the series, so if you are not one for spoilers and the like, do not read.

This is also my first fanfic, so please be nice. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Of course, I do not own Percy Jackson or the concepts behind the series. If I did, I'd have lots of money...and probably a way nicer laptop. I do, however, own any original characters that pop up in this story, as well as the plotline of this fanfic. I used actual mythology for the monsters and such, though.

This lovely fanfic is rated T for language, because they are older and some of them have some lovely tempers. There may also be some darker concepts later, deaths and the like.

Edit: Much love for Zoe Nightshade (the user, not the character) for help with tweaking this chapter. Your criticism is loved, and the chapter is much nicer because of it.

I doubt I will ever understand why I decided to go back.

Don't misunderstand, I missed my mom, and Paul was a pretty great guy. I definitely liked being with them, maybe even more than I liked being at Camp Half-Blood. It was the inevitable monster battles I was not much of a fan of.

I mean, I'm pretty good at fighting monsters. After all, my little dip in the River Styx means I'm still invulnerable, and I was a decent swordsman even before that. I can certainly take on my fair share (though it never seems to be a "fair" share) of monsters.

But my little wish to the gods of Olympus for all demigods to be claimed? It meant there was a hell of a lot more children to lead to the camp, and way more monsters out and about. On top of everything else, Paul had ended up having to take a job offer at some new, "progressive" school in Los Angeles.

I don't have any sort of particular grudge against the city of Los Angeles, for the record. I'm sure it is an okay place. Los Angeles just happens to also be the location to the Underworld, and the last time I visited the city, I nearly died. A lot. San Francisco would be worse, of course, (with the Titan mountain and whatever), but Los Angeles still had less than pleasant memories attached.

Despite it being in Los Angeles, and despite knowing that I was probably going to be stuck fighting at least three monsters that summer, I still chose to leave the camp and go there in the fall. Annabeth offered to come with me, and while it was extremely tempting to bring her along, I knew she needed to stay in New York. Besides, it seemed like it would be pretty illogical to have her live with me on the other side of the country, all to make sure my invulnerable ass didn't get kicked.

Since I was past my high school years (having only barely managed to scrape together enough passing grades to graduate, courtesy of Paul), the plan was for me to simply live with Paul and Mom until Christmas, which was right after the winter solstice. Then, I'd head back to camp and help out with the gathering of new campers, training, and whatever else they needed

Despite the previous…issue that had arisen when I had driven Paul's car a few years ago (known as a pegasus slamming into the hood), he had been willing to let me drive again while I stayed with him and Mom. He knew it had not been my fault, but I certainly wouldn't have blamed him if he had decided he'd rather not lose another vehicle to his monster-magnet stepson. I guess he just figured that if I could swordfight and ride winged horses, I might as well master the automobile, and I couldn't particularly blame him. Transporting demigods via car would be way easier than travelling across the country by foot, and I had a feeling travelling by chariot would draw some interesting looks from mortals.

I was driving along the PCH, or Pacific Coast Highway, and taking in the view of the ocean as I rode along. I remember thinking about Annabeth, wondering when her next letter or message might come in, or if she would show up in person the next time, my eyes gazing out at the horizon line before me. One second, there was a fairly clear road and a beautiful view of the horizon line, where the gray blue of the ocean met the steel blue color of the sky. The next, there was a giant snarling fox, yellow eyes glaring at me with vengeful hunger.

I'll admit I let out a yell/scream that was probably an octave above tasteful as I yanked on the steering wheel, attempting to avoid smashing into the creature. With a body roughly the size of a Greyhound bus, I was pretty certain the car would crumple around the fox's tree-trunk leg without much resistance. I swerved to avoid the fox, and the man in the lane next to me slammed on his brakes and honked his horn loudly. No doubt, courtesy of the mortal-fooling Mist, I either looked like an idiot or like I had just avoided a particularly large vehicle. The fox snarled and snapped its jaws at me as I spun around it, my heart racing as it turned and readied itself to lunge after the now fairly beat-up car.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap," I muttered, the word becoming a hasty mantra under my breath as I desperate slammed my foot down on the accelerator, the massive fox watching me with those evil yellow eyes as it prepared to pounce. Where the hell had the thing come from? I couldn't remember any tales about a fox in Greek mythology, except for something in Aesop's fables about a fox and some grapes…but I doubted this massive monster had anything to do with that fox.

I also knew there was no way in hell I was going to try to fight that thing on the highway…I seriously doubted I could survive getting slammed by a passing vehicle at eighty miles an hour. And the nearest exit wasn't for another three miles. "Come-on-come-on-come-on!" I glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see it pounce, all graceful limbs and flowing fur. One bound covered nearly a fourth of a mile, and it was getting faster. Within seconds, I knew I had two options. Either I could continue to try to race forward and get mauled by the incoming fox, or I could drive off the edge of the highway and head for the ocean.

One last glance in the rearview mirror and I instantly chose, quickly yanking on the steering wheel and stomping down on the accelerator. The car spun, barely in my control as it slammed into the metal highway barrier, crashing through and heading straight for the ocean. What I saw now made me gulp.

The beach was filled with people, most of which were now screaming and running away from my vehicle. To them, I probably just looked like some drunk driver who couldn't stay on the road, or maybe like I was running away from an exceptionally aggressive tractor trailer. I didn't particularly care, as long as they all got out of my way. Everything would have been fine, except that I now saw the natural barrier between me and the sea: sand dunes. There was no way the car would be able to make it through without getting lodged in the soft sand.

I slammed the brakes, soft sand flying out behind me and into the air, giving me an unforeseen advantage: there was now a nice forceful spray of sand sailing into the face of the massive fox. It sneezed and snapped its jaws, shaking its head as it tried to free itself of the sand that now stuck in its fur and eyes. My training kicked in and I dove from the car, taking advantage of the fox's distraction and uncapping Riptide. Instantly, the pen became my familiar celestial bronze sword, and I braced myself in a fighting stance, drawing on the power of the ocean behind me before lunging forward. Being invulnerable was one thing, but I doubted it would be enough to keep me safe if the fox got its hold on me.

"Come on, big ugly," I called, striking at one tree trunk leg with Riptide. The sharp blade should have sunk into the fur and flesh, at least resulting in a decent gash. Instead, I bounced off with a distinct boing. Riptide vibrated from the deflection, and I quickly rolled away as the fox now snapped at me with teeth that looked about the size of a hundred pearly swords. "…crap."

What was I going to do? I had no idea what monster this thing was, and my blade apparently had no effect on it. In fact, when I thought of it, my sword had not even made contact with the fox, having bounced off a barrier about a foot from its fur. How was I going to fight something I couldn't even get near? I rolled to the side again as it swiped at me now, and I knew I had one good option to figuring out what the hell was going on: Grover. It was a long shot…after all, Grover was busy with woodland spirits, and I was in Los Angeles…which was pretty far from any chunks of forests. I just hoped my empathy link would be enough.

Grover! I dove out of the way again, raising Riptide to deflect the growling teeth, only to have Riptide shoot from my hands as if shot from a cannon. I cursed fairly loudly and took several steps back from the monstrous creature. Riptide would return to me soon enough, but it did not seem to matter, considering it was useless against this monster. Come on man, I need some help he- OW! I had tried to sidestep the creature's paw, only to get smacked by the back of it into the sand. GIANT FUCKING FOX HERE! GRO-

"PERRRRCY!" The voice filled me with glee for a brief moment, at least before I realized I was still on my back and facing a giant fox. I barrel-rolled to the right, only to get smacked by a massive red paw like I was a golf ball. Instantly, I was airborne and barely had time to brace myself before I slammed back down into the sand. For the record, soft sand is not so soft when you hit it with the force of having been hit with a small truck. The next thing I knew, I could hear Grover playing his pipes hastily, and sage scrub began to burst from the sand, the long blades of grass growing thick around the paws of the fox. It snarled, obviously pissed off by the shrubs, and I thought we might actually stand a chance. The fox looked like it might finally have met its match.

It quickly got over it. The shrubs seemed as incapable of touching the fox as Riptide had been, and it simply leapt over it all, charging for me. I heard Grover hit a particularly sharp note on his pipes as I rolled, and what looked like a small tree shot out of the ground between me and the fox, only to be smacked aside before it was fully formed. "Any time now, Grover!"

"I can't…Perrrcy, RUN!" Grover hit another harsh note and blades of grass shot out like small knives at the fox, only to shrink away as it advanced.

He didn't have to tell me twice. I could feel Riptide return to my pocket, but I kept my hands free and scrambled to my feet, running now towards the ocean. If I could just get into the water, I could probably be safe. I slipped and stumbled, my eyes never leaving the water before me as I could hear the fox lumbering after me. Even the occasional abandoned beach chair or umbrella stand I knocked over to slow it down didn't seem to do much, and I realized I needed a favor. Fast. I focus on the water before me, feeling that familiar tug in my stomach as I reached out to it desperately.

Come on…water, water, wave, wave, wavewavewavewavewa- A sort of horizontal geyser shot from the once fairly calm waters of the Pacific, slamming into me and consuming me in its watery grasp as an answer to my prayer. I didn't feel the force of the water at all, but I could hear it smack the fox behind me away, and I risked a glance back. The water had shot it into the air, and I saw it sail into a sand dune, drenched in water and looking particularly surprised and annoyed. However, before it had a chance to attack me again, the geyser of water pulled me into the ocean like a magnet pulling at a nail, and I was happily clutched in the healing and soothing embrace of my father's kingdom.

Grover knew the drill, and while he did not dive after me, I could hear him in my mind through our empathy link. Perrrcy?

I was sitting in a bubble of air, recovering my breath and regaining energy about two hundred feet below the surface. Being a son of Poseidon means I can do nifty things like that…and all without my clothes getting wet. Yeah, I'm fi-

WHAT DID YOU DO?!

I was startled by his sudden change in tone. He sounded scared, certainly, but angry as well, as if somehow this whole debacle had been my fault. As if it had heard Grover's telepathic yell, a nearby fish roughly the size of a motorbike quickly darted off. I'm pretty sure I actually blinked in surprise at his tone, before responding with something intelligent like Um…huh?

I know you have a thing against Dionysus, but…but I thought you had gotten past it! What did you do?!

I wasn't sure what the hell Dionysus had to do with this, but at least that made sense as to why Grover would be freaking out. Being a nice member of the Council now, the satyr had to be even more careful about pissing off Mr. D. After all, he was their leader more or less, plus he was a god who could be easily irritated. Pissing off any god was a bad idea, but Mr. D was particularly easy to annoy. Again, though, I had absolutely no idea what the jerk-of-a-god had to do with any of this. …Mr. D?

YES "MR. D!" That was the…oh, just come up. It's g-gone now anyway.

Empathy links are kind of a pain to talk through…it is difficult enough to form coherent sentences that are clear enough to be understood, but holding entire conversations can be draining and pretty annoying. I simply gave a sort of mental nod and focused on moving through the water, heading for the shore. The moment I broke the surface, I saw Grover standing there, glancing around nervously…hell, I could see his legs shaking from nearly twenty yards away. The moment he saw me, I raised my hand to wave. He, on the other hand, did not look nearly as ready to be friendly.

"Perrrrcy, wha-what did you DO?!"

I walked from the surf, feeling the sand beneath my toes (my flip-flops had been lost in the confusion) as I carefully moved to Grover. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know wha-what that was?!" My blank expression must have been enough of a response, because Grover merely let out a groan and shook his head, covering his eyes with his hands. "That was the Teumessian fox!"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I had a feeling it wasn't good. "The what?"

Another voice spoke behind me, calm but slightly worried. "The Alopekos Teumesios…the Teumessian fox. Dionysus's…present to the land of Thebes. The devourer of children, in payment for Thebes's wrongful acts toward him." I turned quickly, and found myself facing a familiar girl: Artemis. I say girl because Artemis keeps the form of a girl about twelve years old, but she is definitely not human or child-like by any stretch of the imagination. Anyone who sees her can instantly tell she is definitely a goddess. Her auburn hair was tied back this time, and her silver eyes pierced my own as she held a steady gaze, one which caused me to gulp slightly. It was weird to see the moon goddess, considering it was about two in the afternoon and yet she seemed to be untouched by the sunlight. Instead, the goddess was glowing from within, the pale silver light radiating softly from her skin.

She continued to speak, each word even in tone yet slightly sharp, as if she were holding back a temper, and any hint of concern she may have had was long gone. "It was turned to the stars years ago, kept in my domain…but someone has pulled it forth, stolen it from the sky and set it loose." Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me, and I felt a chill run down my spine. "It cannot be killed. It cannot be captured. It will never stop…and someone, somehow, has sent it to kill you, Percy Jackson." She pulled out her hunting knife and raised it, holding it level with my chin and taking a step forward, in turn forcing me to step back. Obviously, she was less than happy with me. "As the satyr asked: what did you do?"

It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question, and one I had absolutely no answer for.

Some Thoughts: So, did you like it? Hate it? Give a damn? Tell me your thoughts in a lovely review, please! I'm the lame sort of individual who thrives on feedback, and I'm much less inclined to continue a story if no one else seems to care.