AN: Maybe you've read my other stories maybe you haven't, but I was recently hit with new inspiration for a Percy Jackson story. And as with every story I write, I attempt to make it unique, so I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to Percy Jackson. That belongs to the man, Rick Riordan!
Prolugue
Central Park New York City is a tranquil place. With the leaves rustling due to a slight breeze and moon shining its radiance on the peaceful park, any other night it'd be one of the nicest places to be in the Big Apple. However, tonight it was different.
A dark figure was racing across through the trees of the park. If one could look closer, it was apparent that said figure was a she, and she was in deep trouble.
Now, Bob Westler was a good - if not a bit bland - man. He's been working at the same insurance company for over twenty years. He has the typical American family with a nice wife and two kids, one boy and one girl. The only out of the ordinary thing that ever happened to him would be the sight of strange creatures now and then. You can imagine his surprise on his daily night walk when he saw a young girl speeding across the park doing parkour as she attempted to stop her cuts from bleeding.
"Mam, are you alright?" he called out as he started jogging over to the girl who was now attending her wounds.
But as Bob reached closer, he noticed that her "blood" was gold and it seemed as if she was radiating a silver aura. Suddenly, the girl looked over at him.
"FOOLISH MALE, RUN!"
'Run?' Bob thought.
"YOU IDIOT. HURRY!" the girl got up and started streaking towards him.
'There is nothing here to run from,' Bob was confused. He looked around and when he turned behind him, his last sight was a gaping mouth with sharp canines closing down on him.
'Shit.'
Artemis was annoyed. Scratch that. She was pissed. The goddess was sent down from Olympus by her oh so wise father to track down some small monster activity building in the city. Unfortunately for her, small wasn't small. Small ended up being one of the greatest gathering of monsters in the century. The camp she discovered was huge. Monsters ranging from cyclops to telekhines were easing about. She tried her best to get as close to the center of the camp as possible, but it wasn't easy. She jumped from tree to tree, landing with the lightest of touches. Without a reason why the monsters were gathering, Zeus could care less as to why this was happening.
But the Goddess of the Hunt is no fool. Monsters only gather if they have a leader and a leader of monsters always means trouble.
If only she didn't make a mistake by dropping an arrow and attracting attention of those monsters with keen hearing. From there, the plan switched from information gathering to elimination. She ducked, rolled, hacked, slashed, threw, shot, and did everything she could to go through the numbers of the camp. Eventually, she had no choice but to make an escape.
'Stupid Artemis. And you call yourself a huntress,' she was getting a bit rusty after all of the small hunts she's been doing. Artemis made a mental note to increase some of her training.
"Speaking of stupidity.." Artemis looked down at the mess of blood and organs that was once the male human. A name tag that spelled Bob laid in a puddle of blood. Even for a male, that was no way to go. She let herself sit down and break out a bite of ambrosia. Her once glimmering huntress attire was marred with slits and golden dust. She dusted what was once a hellhound off herself and sighed a breath of relief as the food of the gods healed her wounds.
The moon was not shining as it usually did; indeed, as if to reflect her mood, the moonlight was seemingly dimmer and dimmer. She had exhausted too much of her energy laying waste to the enemy and she feared that she wouldn't be able to fend off another wave - much less unleash her godly form where she would surely collapse afterwards.
Her rest did not last long. Soon, she heard the sounds of the footsteps of the beasts coming her way.
"There must be at least 30 more...No wait, 40..." Artemis stood up as she came to the gut wrenching conclusion she was surrounded. She regretted telling Zoe and her hunters to wait until she finished. She never expected to get caught.
"Oh, look what we have here," a melodic voice rang throughout the clearing.
Artemis turned, "Lamia..."
An upper body with bountiful breasts and a beautiful face, Lamia was a creature like no other. Once courted by Zeus for her good looks, Artemis' step-mother Hera turned the woman into a monster. Where there was once legs that would make men drool, there was now a long serpent tail with glistening scales that Artemis knew acted like celestial bronze armor. Her arms were like dragon arms with razor sharp claws for fingers - a terrifying sight for any lesser being, but Artemis was no lesser being, she was one of the strongest goddesses.
"What are your plans," she spat at the de-facto leader.
"What plans~" Lamia acted confused.
"Don't play that game with me," Artemis manifested her silver bow and notched an arrow at her enemy, "tell me what I want to know, or I'll eliminate you where you stand right now."
Lamia laughed, "You really want to threaten me?" She gestured to the monsters around the clearing, "Choose your next words carefully 'milady'."
Artemis only pulled her bowstring back farther. "You shall learn your place."
"NO. IT SHALL BE YOU AND OLYMPUS WHO WILL LEARN THEIR PLACE!" Lamia hissed,"ATTA-"
Thuck
An arrow struck a tree behind where Lamia was standing and a hole was between Lamia's two eyes.
The clearing was dead silent with only the breeze blowing away the remains of the monster. And as if there was a unsaid signal, the monsters rushed and chaos erupted.
Artemis closed her eyes and closed the world off. Bathing in the moonlight and absorbing its energy just a little more, it was time. She ducked and something flew above her. She pushed off the ground flipping forwards and unleashing her twin knives, she heard her strike true and strong. Artemis opened her eyes: it was time to hunt.
She ducked underneath a cyclops huge club that ended up taking three of the monster's own allies. While the cyclops stumbled from the clubs momentum, Artemis took the opportunity to jump onto its giant head. From there she quickly notched three arrows and shot them into the crowd hearing them hit true to their mark. Jumping off the cyclops, the dumb creature used its club in an attempt to hit the goddess which only lead to a hit on its own head disintegrating it immediately.
'Idiot,' Artemis smirked to herself as she rolled to the side to avoid a charging centaur as she stuck out her bow to trip the unsuspecting monster barreling into other monsters. Artemis was now glowing silver making the monsters fear her.
'Rule One of Fighting: Never show weakness, only show strength' with her radiating her godliness, the monsters were slowing losing morale. With each step she took towards her next foe, it spelled certain doom. Arrow after arrow, monster after monster. The ground was littered with monster dust; unfortunately for the rest of them, she was just getting started. Artemis rushed towards the biggest hellhound and slug herself onto the monsters back. Screeching and howling at the new weight it bore, the hellhound tried everything in its power to thrash her off.
Artemis rode the hound with masterful skill, spinning her way on its back to launch projectiles into the sea of growls while simultaneously balancing effortlessly. Alternating between bow and arrow and her twin knives, it was a scene to witness. Almost as if she was dancing, the moon was shining a spotlight on her masterpiece. With her arrows striking so fast with such force it was creating an endless applause. How utterly beautiful.
This is the Goddess of the Wild. This is the Goddess of the Moon. This is the Goddess of the Hunt. This is Artemis.
A boy was walking alongside the bright streets of New York towards his temporary home. Stretching his arms above his head, his sea green eyes seemed to shine brighter than usual as a thin layer of tears from yawning glistened. Blinking away the tears to reveal eyes that screamed troublemaker and sporting a smile to match, one wouldn't say this boy had a care in a world.
One couldn't imagine the truth. The truth that this boy in his young 12 years already had so much experience in the harsh reality that the world deals out, but it wasn't a lie to say this boy wasn't happy.
"I'm so tiredddd," the boy to no one in particular as he headed into Central Park - his home before his next mission of sorts.
"Bob, you there?" the boy yelled out loud. The kind middle-aged man often took walks around this time and told the boy stories of his normal life. Something the boy enjoyed immensely, the boy enjoyed anything that was normal. After all, that's all he wanted out of life.
"Helloooo Bob,? Are you taking a break," the boy heard a sound deeper in the park, "is that you Bob?" He decided to go towards the noise. Now, normal 12 year old kids would be scared, but like it was said earlier, he was no where near 'normal.'
The boy kept walking and walking and the sounds got louder and louder. As he got closer, he noticed familiar piles of yellow powder lying in clumps all across the park. 'Oh no,' the boy began sprinting, "BOB, I'M COMING!"
'Please let Bob be finished with his walk today,' a sinking feeling began welling up deep in the boy as the sounds got closer and closer. Finally, he cleared the woods and saw a sight he would never forget: a girl in silver dancing as monsters died one after another.
'Wow,' the boy let his eyes feast on what he was bearing witness too, 'there must been at least a hundred of these monsters.'
The boy then spotted something out of the corner of his eyes. His once tired sea green eyes widened when he recognized what it was, or rather, who it was.
"BOB NOOOOOOOO!" And everything in the clearing stopped to stare at the loud boy.
'What is this idiot male doing' Artemis as she neatly disposed of a distracted monster.
The said male glared at all the monsters sizing him up. If one were to look closer, his sea green eyes began to reflect the sea. Not a peaceful one, but one with storms and violence.
"Which. One. Of. You. Killed. Bob" the clearing was quiet except for another one of Artemis kills.
'This boy seems like he wants to get killed,' Artemis thought. "Listen boy, you need to leave right now before things get messy."
"Who are you calling boy? You look as old as I am!" the boy shouted indignantly at Artemis.
"You know noth-"
"HEY WATCH OUT" Artemis was thrashed off the hellhound she was riding as she was distracted by the actions of the boy and now as she stared up into the jaws of the beast, she knew she wasn't going to come out unscathed. She prepared herself so that even though she might get bit, her arm was coming up with a knife to stick it in the hounds neck. At least that was the plan before something whizzed past her and hit the hellhound in the eye making it snarl.
'Is that a pen?' Artemis thought before turning to yell at the idiot for doing something so stupid, but her words died in her throat. The boy was already upon her and cleared her body with a single leap. 'Fast,' Artemis could not help but think seeing the boy's speed.
Said boy snatched the pen that bounced off the monster, clicked it once and suddenly the pen wasn't a pen; in its place, stood a 3 foot blade of pure celestial bronze destruction. Something that the hellhound learned the hardway as the boy slashed down cleaving the monster in pieces with clear expertise.
"Anaklusmos," Artemis muttered after seeing the enchanted weapon that once belonged to someone close to her heart.
"Huh, what did you say?" the boy turned to girl he saved and offered a helping hand. A hand that was rejected when the girl stood up by herself.
"Stay out of my way," Artemis said curtly.
"That's kind of mean, after all I did save you there," the boy shook off Artemis' response, "what's your name?"
"First of all, you did not save me, I would have been fine"
"Could've fooled me," the boy murmured.
"And secondly," Artemis emphasized and glared at the boy for the side comment, "You need to show me some respect, I am Arte-"
She was cut off as the boy immediately tackled her to the ground to ensure she wasn't pounced on and stuck his sword directly in time to slice another hellhound in half.
"Whew, that was close Arty!" the boy misheard her name, "Heh, guess you now owe me two times!"
Artemis fumed. How dare this ignorant baboon say he saved her twice when he was the one who made her distracted in the first place! Even worse, he misheard her name as the stupid nickname her annoying brother would call her.
She shoved him off hard, "Get off of me!"
"A simple thank you would have been nice," the boy stated.
Artemis rounded on him, "Thank you? Thank you? You got me distracted and nearly got me killed."
"Psh. I saved you. Besides who decides to up and ride a hellhound? That's just unsafe, they don't have seatbelts," the boy nodded to himself as if he said something sagely.
"What? You..." Artemis was speechless, and once again she found herself being touched by the male, but this time he pushed her away to avoid a lampost being thrown at her.
"Tsk tsk tsk Arty. You're pretty quick to forget there are still so many monsters around us" the boy chastised her, "you can thank me later for saving you again. It seems I might have to do it few more times! I bet I can kill more monsters than you can!" The boy ran off into the horde of monsters slashing and hacking his way leaving behind a path of death.
Artemis was stunned. The words the boy had said was slowly registering in her head, "Why you! There is no way you can beat me!" Artemis found her previous fatigue to be replaced by annoyance instead. Let it be said that the ancient goddess was not childish. She was just competitive. Nothing more, nothing less. And she ran off to chase the boy determined to kill more and lord it over his pathetic face.
It must have been at least another hour before all the monsters were finally eliminated and Artemis could fully admit she was tired. She looked over at her battle companion who seemed to be rejuvenated after drinking from a still intact water fountain of all things. The boy seemed to be in very good shape with short dark locks covering his head and the tiniest amount of baby fat that rested on his face. She guessed girls who lost their way may find the boy cute, but she felt a little smug to notice she was a little bit taller than him. What stood out most of all were his eyes. Sea-green. Familiar, but she could not place it. On the other hand, while she detested the whole male gender, she was fairly impressed that the boy managed to keep with her and killed almost as many monsters she had. Keyword: almost.
At the same time, the boy was feeling more and more energized by the water he was drinking. He took the time to observe the girl he saved. 'Gods, sometimes I am so awesome.' The girl was very pretty - breathtakingly so. It was a shame such a cute face was scrunched up in annoyance. With her auburn hair tied in a pony tail and a fit, lean body, its safe to say, the boy had never met a girl like her before.
"I won," the girl said.
"Huh," was his intelligent reply.
"I won the bet. I killed 46 monsters," Artemis stated proudly, "you only killed 38."
"I can't believe you counted mine too" the boy couldn't believe it, "you may have killed more monsters, but since I saved your life three times, I still won. Saving lives is worth one hundred monsters, so it is actually 338 to 46. Sorry Arty, I win."
Artemis mouth dropped.
"Oh shoot! I didn't mean to embarrass you. Please don't cry!"
Artemis could not believe her ears. Her entire face began lighting up golden, "I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. CRY!" She jabbed her fingers into the boy's surprisingly built chest with every word.
"Listen boy, I am going to give you one chance to apologize for the disrespect I have been treated with" Artemis attempted to calm herself down.
"Man, such a sore loser Arty" the boy mumbled to himself, "and hey! My name isn't boy. I have a name too."
"My name isn't Arty!" Artemis decided she was going to kill him. Actually no, she would turn him into a jackalope and then she would kill him. Either way, he was going to die.
"Oh it isn't? Awww, I kinda like Arty. Ok, what's your name?"
"My name is Artemis."
"Oh Artemis ok, well my name is - wait a second, did you say Artemis?"
"Yes."
"As in the goddess, Artemis."
"Yes."
"Oh."
"..."
"i messed up didn't I?"
"Oh yes." Artemis began to don a very unmaiden like smirk. One that radiated darkness and fear.
The boy could only think of one thing in the situation,"Uhh, I'm Percy."
This is Percy Jackson. This is the demigod that would one day save the world. This is a hero. This is the guy who is about to die.
AN: Whew, that was the first chapter of A Hero's Tale! First thing's first, the whole Bob thing was not meant to be taken seriously. The name might play in later for the naming of Bob the Titan, but it doesn't really have any serious baring on the story. Bob was just a clear-sighted mortal caught in the crossfire. Percy by no means will be traumatized by the death, he's just a little sad that is all that a nice man died.
Secondly, let me know whatever questions you may have through your reviews. I read through every single one and each of them inspires me to write more and more. Feel free to also drop your own ideas and thoughts on how I should take my story! I have an idea for a pairing, but I will say right now, it is not going to be a harem so I'm sorry if that's what you want, but you can also suggest pairings. I've got an open mind.
I have big plans for this story and already have an outline on how everything will play out. It will follow canon but with my own unique spin on it. Leave a review and help a brother out!
Thanks for reading!