I don't own PJO or any of its characters. Just this completely new (I hope) setting and some future OCs. Rick Riordan owns everything else!

Chapter 1

I undid the green, patterned tie that, for the seventh time, I had been able to completely fail in tying. I knew, deep down, that this was definitely possible. I'd worn a tie before, though not for several years, and it didn't look like this unintelligible mass of fabric.

"Percy," dad called my name from the living room, "are you ready yet?"

With a heavy sigh, I gave it up for a lost cause and left my room. As I walked down the short hallway, I stopped before the photo of my mother.

"I wish you had lived to see this." I placed my fingers, first on my lips, then on the glass of the framed picture. "Don't worry mum, I'll do you proud."

My father stepped through into the hallway, saw what I was looking at, and joined me in front of the photo. He copied my earlier action before speaking.

"Oh how I miss Sally, she would be proud of the man you have grown into." He looked down at me, then noticed what I had conjured around my neck. "Well except your complete inability to tie a tie. Let me fix that."

My face flushed a little at the embarrassment of my father having to do this for me. While my father took the fabric through a complex series of movements, I thought at least my brother didn't see me while this...

"Awww. Lil' Percy needs daddy to make him pwetty for the ceremony." Triton sneered from the door to his bedroom. As the blush rose in full to my cheeks, my brother moved over to kiss our mother's picture in the same way I had.

"Shut up Triton, I've never put on a tie before. I tried to guess what you had to do, but it worked out as well as when you tried cooking." I returned his snide comment, trying to not reveal quite how embarrassed I was at the situation.

Triton laughed as he recalled the situation. "I only burnt it a little. If you hadn't been out playing with your little friends, it never would have happened. You were the one mum showed how to cook."

Dad stood up, apparently finished with my tie. "Triton, it was scrambled egg. If you hadn't been distracted by that young Aphrodite girl..."

"I think you ruined any chance you had with her when the pan caught alight." I guffawed as I remember coming home to my brother furiously scrubbing the pan, trying in vain to remove the charcoaled eggs from the bottom of the pan.

"I never did see her again..." Triton mused.

Our father interrupted our conversation by reminding us of why we were stood in the hallway.

"Percy, it's time to go. You don't want to be late to the choosing do you?"

I shrugged. "We already know I'm going to be a seaman... mum was, Triton is and you are Poseidon!"

The head of any discipline took the name of an ancient Greek god, one who was related to that discipline. My father was Poseidon because he was the head of fishing and all sea-based transport. My friend Annabeth's mum was the head of teachers and builders, so she was Athena.

"While I have to agree it is very likely, it may turn out your affinity is not in my faction. Regardless of what it is, take it..."

Triton finished the thought, "you don't want to be factionless for the rest of your life."

I shuddered at the thought belonging to that mass for the rest of my life. If you refused your affinity, or decided you wanted to leave after joining, you were made factionless. The factionless were the grunt workers; they were hired by the factions to do anything that did not require expertise. The years of hard labour had a way of eating away at your existence; the look in the eyes of some of the factionless used to give me nightmares.

"Don't worry, I'd never choose that for myself." I said with feeling.

"Glad we have that sorted, now let's go!" Dad called back over his shoulder; he had already left the hallway and was standing in the porch getting his shoes on.

I sighed and made to follow him, while my brother looked at us silently but with a smile.

We arrived at the building where the ceremony was to take place, and my father was called away by the other council members who were here to watch their children's testing.

"Hey, Percy, long time no see." Nico di Angelo called over to me, and I made my over to where he stood with the rest of our group. Nico was the son of Hades and my cousin. My uncles had both made their way to the top of their respective professions (my grandmother would have been so proud) but the three of them really had a bit of a grudge match going on. Nico had opted out of wearing his usual skull t-shirt and jeans, instead wearing black trousers and a black open necked shirt. Nothing, however, would make him stop wearing the skull studs and necklace. If he didn't follow his father into Hades I would be surprised.

I proceeded to greet everyone and then Jason spoke up. "So, you ready for the formalities?"

His sister, Thalia, rounded on him. "Formalities? They are going to decide the rest of my life! I can't even join dad like you probably will."

Jason and Thalia Grace were twins and their father was Zeus. Jason was wearing a blue pinstripe suit; it was probably one of his dad's, as that was what he usually wore. Thalia, however, had not deigned to remove her usual punk clothing; the only nod to the importance of today's ceremony was replacing her usual black leather jacket with a black suit jacket, even then she had rolled up the sleeves.

"Hi Percy." Said the girl beside Thalia. As always, she looked stunning. Today she had worn a steel grey dress that matched the eyes she had inherited from her mother. Annabeth was the one girl in my circle of friends who wasn't related to me; as a result I had always been very aware of her. I would probably ask her out soon, if I held onto my courage this time. I had dodged the question several times over the years, but this time I would do it for sure. She was the only girl I could see myself spending my life with.

"Shall we head in then?" She continued when I didn't return the greeting, causing my cheeks to colour for the second time today.

I tried to reply but it felt like there was an apple stuck in my throat, how good she looked had really affected my ability to give a coherent answer. I looked at my cousins for help, but they just stood there with expressions of supressed mirth at my reaction to Annabeth. Realising there was no help coming; I nodded, not trusting my voice enough to speak.

We entered the glass fronted building and took our seats alongside the other teens who were to be judged. We chatted about nothing in particular until a bell tolled; this signified the start of the ceremony, and the leaders of each faction stood and made their way over to the stage. Each stood next to one of the 13 pedestals that signified which faction you belonged to. The light on top of which would shine when the entrant in question had been determined, after that you would leave and meet the representatives the faction had sent to greet you.

Zeus stood next to the first light. If this shone your affinity would be for solving disputes between men. This group was exclusively men; though they would join with Hera's women's council to try a dispute between genders.

Hera, Zeus's wife, stood beside the next pedestal. She was not Thalia and Jason's mother, the two getting married after his first wife's death, and Thalia hated her. The women's council dealt with the disputes exclusively between women. and this is how the 2 met.

Next to the 3rd light was Dionysus. They were the brewers and being a very small discipline was the only excuse for electing the man they had to the leader's position. Every time I saw the man, he looked like he had spent the night before sampling his wares. Apparently his wines were second to none, but in my opinion the only use for alcohol was as disinfectant. Too many sailors were lost at sea after too much to drink, till my father had to take action and forbade the consumption of alcohol while at sea.

Next was Apollo. I had a lot of respect for his discipline, if not so much for their head. He may have been almost 30 but appeared in his early 20s. Apollo was the head of doctors and lawyers, though I imagined they had only elected the guy because they didn't want to waste their time in council meetings.

His sister was Artemis and she stood beside the 5th light. She was the head of the Hunters, as they liked to call themselves, and were basically contractors who would go between the cities doing jobs. These could range finding specific pieces of old-world technology, to putting down an especially large predator population (human or animal). The Hunters, much like the women's council, was filled solely with women... or should I say girls. Artemis was clearly the eldest Hunter but she had only just turned 22; no doubt this was caused by the dangerous nature of their work.

Next was Ares, a brute of a man (if a little slow). His group were the defenders of the city, the only ones allowed to bear arms in the city walls.

Demeter stood at the 7th podium and was the head of farming. Most of the food consumed within the city was produced by one of Demeter's underlings. She was a plain, older woman and had always been nice to my group; she always said we were too thin though, telling our parents to feed us more cereal... strange woman.

Next was the head of trading, overland transport and messengers, Hermes. He was a slight man and, much like with Apollo, had been elected so that his elders would not have to waste time with the position. They were all likely scared of missing the deal of a life time while stuck there. He was only 25 being elected last year when the former head had died of a heart attack.

Then came Aphrodite; she was an admittedly beautiful woman, though she wore too much make up for my tastes. A wedding was not official without the presence of her faction, though their main duties lay in childcare. While not an official part of their duties they all felt the need to set people up with each other, not doubt driven by the old god's power over love.

Annabeth's mum, Athena, was next. She wore a nearly identical dress to her daughter's... from how she looked in it; I figured I wouldn't be disappointed by how Annabeth looked in 20 years.

Beside the 11th pedestal was Hephaestus. He was not an attractive man but the weapon's he made were to die for... literally. Many people had been killed to procure their Hephaestus forged weapons. If you needed something made you invariably went to Hephaestus' lot; their factories made anything and everything produced in the city. A large number of factionless worked in the factories; the positions were highly sought after, as they were a very steady source of income.

Next were my father and Nico's, beside the 12th and 13th lights respectively. Hades was a slim sallow faced man and his faction dealt with the dead. Their number was filled with the embalmers, the funeral directors and the gravediggers. In my opinion it was a very depressing faction to be placed in, but Nico seemed overjoyed at the prospect. Who was I to disagree?

Soon Zeus announced the first name to be tested. "Nico di Angelo." His voice boomed around the room.

Nico walked onto the stage and, at the Zeus' direction, placed his hand into a hole set into the back wall. He turned soon after to watch the lights at the front of the stage, unconsciously favouring the pedestal beside his father. After a tense 30 seconds, he was rewarded by the light he hoped to light doing so. After a swift nod from his father, Nico left the stage and travelled down the tunnel that led from the room.

The testing of the others passed before my eyes in a blur. Interspersed between the many other teens to be tested, my circle all were tested. Annabeth followed her mother into Athena's faction. Jason joined his father on the men's council. Thalia, to my slight surprise, was chosen to be placed with Artemis. I don't know why this shocked me at all; Thalia was one of the most dangerous people I know. I knew she must be glad not to have been placed in her father's faction's counterpart... with her step mother.

After a few others it was finally my turn.

Despite my earlier bravado, my hands shook as I stepped onto the stage and made my way to the hole on the back wall. I looked quickly to my dad who, with an almost imperceptible nod, indicated that I should place my hand inside. The sharp pain of the needle, despite the fact that I knew it was coming, made me jerk slightly.

The purpose of the needle was to take a small amount of blood to run a test on my DNA. This piece of Old-World tech would then test to see where my potential would be best utilised. The result would then trigger the corresponding light at the front of the stage.

I turned and waited for the end of the longest 30 seconds of my life, my eyes never leaving the pedestal beside my father. I knew that was where I belonged, so why couldn't my stupid DNA get on with proving it?

A stifled gasp escaped the occupants of the hall, but I stared at the still dull light beside my father.

So I was wrong... I didn't belong with my father. I felt my eyes start to sting a little but supressed the unbidden tears.

I finally turned to see where my DNA has decided I should really be. As I slowly panned down the line, I saw the face of every faction head carried an expression of shock... all except one.

As the light from the pedestal lit one side of her face, Artemis stared at me with unyielding fury.

A/N - So what do you think?

I'm very sorry to all you Percabeth fans for pulling the rug out from under you :P. This is obviously going to be a Pertemis story but I hope the idea is original.

I knew I wanted to do Percy Jackson without powers but working out a way to then have Artemis in there... I was struggling. I played with several ideas... zombie apocalypse where she stumbles upon his already fully formed camp being the 2nd best... but this just seems right. This way I can show him going through personal growth etc.

Please review, both good and bad will help at this point as it gives me a chance to change things before they get set in stone.

Thanks for reading, Circa out.