Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, the canon events, or the canon characters. All credits go to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 1

Was John stalking the man? No, he just wanted the truth... right? As John turned the corner, he felt little raindrops hitting his bowler hat. He looks up, Gods, I hate this damn weather, was his first thought, his second was: where did the man in the black trench coat go?

John looked around and noticed for the first time that the street was deserted. Fortunately for him, the man was just crossing the street to go to a small but nice looking hotel. It was kind of hard to miss the man too as first of all, there was no one around and second, who doesn't notice a man carrying a sniper rifle on his back?

As John shook his head he started jogging toward the building the man was headed into. He took careful note of the time on Big Ben to his left. 6:00 pm.

Going into the hotel that the other man went into, John immediately noticed that the lobby had the aesthetics of the inside of a Victorian Era castle. It was quaint, but had a homely feeling to it.

The lobby was decorated in the colors of black and red. Fancy couches and sitting chairs adorned the small room. To his left was a fireplace that was roaring and letting off the much needed heat for -3 degree weather. Above him was a small chandelier that let off a dim glow. There were some stairs leading up to the rooms that were only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Turning his head to the right, he looked at a cute female lobby receptionist with dark hair who looked at him with a smile. She was wearing a gothic dress in the same colors as the hotel. Deciding to be nice, he smiled back and gave a little wave. For some reason, the girl decided to purse her lips and look away. John frowned as he realized that something was wrong.

Then he felt what 1,200 psi crashing into a face felt like. John learned firsthand how hard a red carpeted floor could be when someone punches you straight into one. I hate the color red, he decided.

"Ahh! Really!?" he asks his attacker in pain while holding his cheek. He looked up and to his disdain, it was the person he was sta-, ahem, following. John felt himself getting picked up by the neck and perceived a small steel knife at his throat. Looking at his attacker, the sniper on his back was looking much more intimidating right now then when it was across the street.

He was able to get a better view of the person he was following now that he was closer. A little too close for comfort. His attacker looked like he was in his mid twenties, had dark messy hair with pale white skin. The most noteworthy feature however, were his startling, sea-green eyes. John also noted that he was rather muscular as the attacker's grip on his neck was starting to hurt.

"You've been stalking me since I got off the plane, who are you and what do you want?" the attacker asked in a surprisingly smooth voice. As John opened his mouth he felt the knife come closer into contact with his jugular. He looked down at the knife and then back up at the man's eyes.

As he looked closer realized the man was devoid of any mercy. He could, no.. would make John choke on his blood without batting an eyelash and John's body would be in a ditch in less than 3 hours. Not surprising if he is who I think he is. His reputation is terrifying too. John started talking, albeit, in a careful manner.

"I mean you no harm," he said in the most innocent voice he could muster, "I just want to talk."

"And why should I let you?" he asked in a hostile manner, although John felt the knife at his throat wasn't there with as much pressure.

"I know who you are," He said looking to his attacker's face, "Percy Jackson." Mistake, he realized as the knife came back with twice the original force. "Please! Can we just talk? I swear on the river styx, I mean you no harm!" John was getting desperate at this point. His attacker grimaced. "I just want a chance to talk to you, a meal, and a temporary place to stay."

"Fine, I'll give you a chance to talk," the individual now identified as Percy said. Percy took his knife from John's throat as the man slumped to his knees in relief. Percy looked at the lobby receptionist who was just looking at them like nothing had happened. Still smiling!

John made up his mind right there to hate that receptionist.

"Cynthia, can you please get me and-" Percy looked at John with a questioning look.

"John," he replied.

"Me and John a cup of coffee?" Percy finished.

"Sure, be right back," Cynthia replied in a light voice as she started walking to a room next to the desk. Percy gestured to a group of armchairs and couches next to the fireplace. John took a seat and so did Percy. John was rather surprised at the 180 degree change Percy had made to his personality, suddenly becoming more hospitable in an instant.

"This is England, why coffee instead of tea?" John asked trying to make some small talk. Percy's face formed into either aggressive dislike or hatred.

"I hate tea," he simply said. "Now start talking," Percy spoke with a forceful tone. John took a deep breath and looked at his shoes.

"As you know, my name is John. I'm a son of Apollo and I've been looking for you an extremely long time." John looked back up at Percy who was staring blankly into his intertwined hands which were in his lap.

"A son of Apollo, you don't see those often these days," Percy stated. "So what do you want?"

"Your story," John replied.

"My story?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Yes your story!" John started talking excitedly. "You started off as a hero but now you're a legend! There's not a single person that doesn't know one of your stories."

"Then what are you looking for?"

"But I want the truth." John said determined. Percy raised an eyebrow. "I want to know what really happened. Half the things you did were impossible and the other half were completely unheard of or taboo! I want to know how you killed them." There was silence in the air for a moment.

"Get out," Percy said.

"What? But-"

"I'm sorry, did I stutter? I said get out!" he yelled.

"But Percy-"

"GET OUT!" Percy yelled pointing at the door, a look of rage across his face.

"Don't you want them to know?!" John yelled back. John realized three things could happen now:

he could be made to leave peacefully

he could get beaten up and then thrown out

he could leave… just without his heart beating

Deciding his best course of action was to keep talking, John said, "Everyone thinks you're a monster!" John then lowered his voice, "It's been seventy years, don't you want people to know the truth?" Percy lowered his hand. Cynthia, who had come back into the room with the coffee at some point, looked at Percy with pity.

"Fine." Percy said. John let out a sigh of relief. "You want a story? I'll give you one." Percy looked at the lone female in the room. "Cynthia, get John here a room, this will take a while." Percy sighed. Percy then looked at the poor son of Apollo. "Get settled and come back because I'm not going to rush this," Percy said. John nodded furiously and started heading upstairs.

*Line Break*

As John, Percy, and Cynthia were sitting by the fireplace, John gestured to Cynthia with the pen in his hand while balancing the notebook in his lap and said, "Should you tell her?"

"Heh, don't worry about that, I've known Cynthia for a long time," Percy said. Cynthia flashed that damn smile at John. (With a hint of smugness this time)

"First, you have to understand," Percy started, "That what I am about to tell you is the truth; I will not exaggerate. Secondly, that after the war, I was the happiest that I've ever been." Percy looked down sadly, "And after events went a little further south, I went a bit insane. For my standards at least."

John nodded as he began to write.

Percy took a deep breath, "Now, you want my story? Fine. I'll start with this: I was on top of the world. I must've gotten knocked off though because I fell, and I fell hard."

He looks up, "Power corrupts people, and I was no different."

*Line Break*

I had the best possible life for people like us. Making it to twenty was a huge milestone in my book, in any demigod's book actually.. I still went to camp obviously, although I visited Camp Jupiter from time to time. Anyway, let me give you the backstory.

Post rising of the Giants, we obviously got our rewards. Most of the seven were turned into gods as well as Nico and Reyna. The people that rejected it? Well, Leo was unfortunately presumed dead. Me and Annabeth(to my relief for some reason) were the ones who'd turned it down. But hey, when you go to Tartarus for someone and then come back, it's kind of hard not to stay with them. Especially when you trust them with your life.

After all that we've been through, Annabeth was all that I wanted. So what did I get from the gods? A favor to be named later. Smart if you asked me.

Then what happened you ask? Well, life went back to normal, or as normal as life for a demigod is. We had fights here and there with monsters and some disagreements with the Romans but other than that, life was favorable. Me and Annabeth had gotten so much closer together that I was contemplating proposing to her.

And I did.

With help from Nico, Jason, and Michael, (Annabeth's half-brother) I was able to set up a romantic picnic for me and Annabeth. It was at the shore of where me and her had shared our kiss after the siege on Olympus. The plan went flawlessly (for once) and to my delight, she said yes.

Things were really good then but they just got better.

The next day, a demigod showed up while I was on patrol. He was killing hell hounds desperately with blood dripping down his face. He was muscular and wearing tattered faded grey shirt and he looked like he was thirteen. All he had was a celestial bronze knife attached to a steel pipe with some rope, which I was surprised hadn't fallen apart yet. (I didn't judge his weapon though, you gotta do what you gotta do to stay alive in this gods forsaken world) Yeah, that was Kayden, my half-brother.

Being the hero I was, I raised the alarm that the Hephaestus cabin had installed a few months back and jumped down to help him fight off the hell hounds. As I took the cap off riptide and started slashing at the monsters. I noticed that he was sweating profusely and although he probably never had formal training with the makeshift spear, he was able to hold his own.

As he caught sight of me he said nothing and somehow, we ended up fighting back to back. It was like we were the perfect team and had trained our whole life to fight together. Me and him started killing the monsters like we were born to do it (which i guess we were) and pretty soon we were down to only 2 hell hounds left.

A hell hound lunged at me and I ducked letting Kayden (Although I didn't know who he was at the time) stab the monster with the spear. As I ducked, I twisted to my right and slashed my sword through another hell hound that was jumping to trying and get Kayden. As the monster dissipated into dust I stood and ended up leaning on Kayden for support as he did the same for me.

Chiron and the other campers came rushing to the top of the hill. As Chiron caught sight of us, he yelled, "My boy, are you alright?"

Ignoring him, I looked at the wounded demigod at my side.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said in a low voice trying to catch his breath. Then he grinned at me, "Thanks, you saved my life. My name's Kayden Epimel, you?"

"My name's Percy, I'm a son of Poseidon" I replied. Before I could say more I was tackled by my fiancée in the form of a hug while the centaur was following her.

"Percy! Are you alright?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Still alive," I said with a smile on my face.

As Chiron galloped up to our small little group he asked, " And who might you be?" in a kind voice looking at Kayden. Kayden reintroduced himself and told us his story while we started walking back to camp.

He lived a normal life down in Florida. He had always known that he was a demigod as his mom had told him. Eventually, his scent grew to the point where he had to leave his mom. He flew to New York and from there he was chased by monsters until he got to camp. Pretty standard story except for the part where he knew he was a demigod.

"I would've been dead if it weren't for this guy right here," he said patting my shoulder. I was glad that I was given credit and we shared the first of many fist bumps.

"I'd be a sad hero if I couldn't rescue a single demigod from hell hounds," I said just a little arrogantly.

"Do you know who your godly parent in Kayden?" Chiron asked. Kayden gave a resounding no.

While we kept on walking, all the other campers started introducing themselves. It seemed that Kayden and the others got along great. I realized that Kayden was that type of guy that got along with everyone and honestly, I was happy for him.

In front of the Big House, a trident appeared on top off Kayden's head and there was silence from all the campers. Eventually, everyone got over their shock Chiron yelled the mandatory, "All hail Kayden Epimel, son of the sea god."

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and thus began our doomed friendship.

AN: So yeah, that was the first chapter. Anyway, R&R and tell me what you thought. The Pairing is still undecided so leave a review on who I should pair Percy with. It can be anyone. To the people who noticed, yes, I did draw a little off of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Great book by the way, you should go read it) but this is pretty much all I'm going to get from it. Constructive criticism is welcome and thx for reading. :)

-Sapphire Zephyr