Hey guys, I'm here with what I can only describe as a spin off of my other Percy Jackson fanfiction. This means that yes, they take place within the same timeline, and yes the main character from this one and the Son of Fire will cross paths.
I do not, in any way shape or form own the Percy Jackson series.
Somewhere in Northern Arizona.
A young deer slowly raised its head and looked about in the pine trees. Its ears twitched for a moment as its dark eyes scanned the forest around it. Before it could react, an arrow pierced its side. The deer let out a high pitched squeal before it fell dead, the arrow having pierced it's heart. After a moment of silence, a teenager dropped from the branches of a tree.
The oilskin poncho he wore was a dark brown color, perfect for blending in with the undergrowth or the trees. His bow, clutched in his hand, was made of a sturdy dark wood, as were the arrows in the quiver across his back. His hair was cut short and a dull copper color, about the color of old penny. Like a lion stalking its prey through the grass, the young hunter moved through the waist high grass with a silent grace as he came upon his kill.
Yanking the arrow free of the buck, the hunter returned it to it's place in the quiver before he slung his bow over his midsection. Picking the creature's body up and draping it over his shoulders, he set off through the forest in total silence. A light snow began to fall, but he ignored it as he went.
It wasn't far to his camp, which consisted of a small clearing in the middle of the forest. His tent was a large teepee style made from a combination of leathers and hides, and his campfire consisted of a small pit with a dutch oven suspended over the flames. Dropping the deer from his shoulders, the hunter took a moment to add a few logs to the fire before he set to skinning his prey. He did his work quickly, as the snow was starting to pick up. He lay the hide out to dry, while he set to cooking the meat in his oven.
"I thought you came south to avoid the snow," came a female voice. The hunter jumped, holding the knife he had been using stir the pot like he was ready to throw it. A girl about the age of twelve with auburn hair was standing next to his tent.
"I did. Utah is buried under snow right now," he replied, returning to preparing his meal.
"You've come a long way from where you were five years ago, Charles," she said.
"If it's all the same, I prefer Charlie, milady." The girl gave him a look.
"You know you don't have to be so formal with me when we're alone," she said.
"You're a goddess, Lady Artemis," he replied, as if that settled it. Artemis continued to give him that look, a cross of patience and irritant.
"Is there something you needed?" Charlie asked, deciding to press forward. Artemis wasn't the kind to just drop buy for a random visit.
"Are you sure that I'm not just wanting to check up on you?" she asked. He cast a brief glance at her before returning to his cooking.
"You always have a reason beyond that." He heard the goddess sigh, but still didn't turn to face her.
"I came to warn you that it may soon be time to reveal your existence to the world," she said. That got his attention.
"What? But...why?" he asked, setting his knife to the side as he turned to fully face her. Charlie had spent so much time on his own that he was use to others not being around. In fact, he kind of preferred it that way.
"Things have changed. Forces that have been dormant for thousands of years are beginning to stir. I fear that war may be coming," she said.
"And what do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Go south to Phoenix, there's a demigod there that will require your assistance," Artemis said.
"Phoenix is a pretty big place, I'm gonna need a little more..." he paused as he turned, finding that the goddess had vanished. With a sigh, Charlie turned back to preparing his meal.
"Phoenix it is."
Camp Half Blood. One Month Later.
"Come on, Clare, just a few more steps," Charlie said in a hurried tone. It was night out, and Charlie was standing on the steps of the Big House with his bow in his hands.
"I told you not to call me that," Clarisse La Rue growled as she made her way up the steps with a young man slung over her shoulder. In the week after Artemis had visited Charlie, the hunter had made his way south as instructed. By sheer luck, he'd managed to locate Clarisse, whom it turns out was on a scouting mission.
After explaining his reasoning for being there, Clarisse had explained the purpose of her mission. Her job had two objectives, the first was to locate the Titan Army that was attempting to use the underground maze of tunnels known as the Labyrinth to slip past the Camp's defenses, and the second was to slow them down once located.
The Daughter of Ares had only been somewhat successful in her mission. She'd located the guy she was carrying now, Chris Rodriguez, in the Labyrinth, not far from an entrance that was close to her mother's house. Rodriguez had been scout for the Titans, but had gotten lost in the tunnels and gone mad as a result.
This was where Charlie entered the scene. Together, the two of them focused on trying to destroy the entrance they knew for sure about, an old copper mine not too far from the city. They'd tried everything they could think of; jars of Greek fire, sticks of high explosives they'd stolen from a demolition company, even ramming a truck into the mine entrance in an effort to seal it off.
None of it worked, and in the end Clarisse had decided to cut her losses and head back to Camp to both report her findings and to get Chris the treatment he needed. Charlie had gone along with them, despite Clarisse's protests against it. Being a Daughter of Ares, she fell that she could handle the return trip by herself. That is, until Charlie pointed out the amount of tactical disadvantages she'd have. Traveling by herself was one thing, but doing this while constantly toting someone who was on the verge of becoming a vegetable was something else.
Thus, Charlie had argued that her mission stood a better chance of success if he was along to provide some kind of backup or over watch. Plus, he was curious to see this Camp Half Blood, although that was besides the matter. In the end, Clarisse had conceded his point, although there was no shortage of angry muttering under her breath for the good first half of the trip.
From Pennsylvania onward they had been hounded by monsters. Nothing the two of them couldn't handle, but persistent enough that they were still on guard even now inside the Camp boarders. Charlie had been up against monsters before, but this was the first time he'd had others around to save besides himself.
With his bow still at the ready, Charlie backed up to the entrance to the Big House and kicked his foot against the screen door like a mule kicking behind itself. After a moment, the door open and a man in a wheelchair appeared.
"Clarisse? Thank the gods, come inside, quickly," he said. The daughter of Ares hurried inside, with Charlie following close behind. Now that they had finally arrived, he took the arrow he had nocked on his bow and returned it to its quiver. Both Clarisse and the man in the wheelchair headed into a side room, which based on the beds contained inside was the Camp's infirmary.
The hunter hung back, choosing instead to sling his bow over his midsection and look around. He found himself standing near the fireplace, watching the flames that danced inside as he rubbed his hands together in an effort to warm them. It was the dead of winter now, only a few days shy of Christmas.
"I understand we have you to thank for Clarisse and Chris' safe return," the man in the wheelchair said as he rolled into the room.
"Just doing the job I was given," Charlie replied, not looking away from the flames.
"Yes, well, based upon what Ms. La Rue has told me, Lady Artemis must think very highly of you. I'm Chiron," he said, extending his hand to shake. Charlie narrowed his eyes as they shook.
"Charlie Theron. Chiron, as in the Centaur Trainer of Heroes? That Chiron?" he asked.
"Nothing's really changed over the past few thousand years in that aspect. However, these days I find myself training Heroes for war, not just basic survival," Chiron said.
"Artemis said something about war coming," Charlie noted.
"Yes. She would have better in sight into that more then most. Which brings us to our next topic, how would you like a job?" the Centaur asked.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Ms. La Rue's report has only confirmed my fears. The Titans are gathering every bit of resource they can claim and turning it toward their war effort. We're way behind in war preparations in almost every single aspect, and we need a way to curb the Titan's growth."
"You're talking about Black Ops," Charlie said.
"Sabotage, assassination, ordinarily I would consider these kind of tactics to be too barbaric for us to even consider under taking them, but given what's on the line, I'm willing to keep my options open," the old man said.
"Assassination. You're talking about killing mortals," Charlie said after several silent filled heartbeats. Chiron shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It was clear that he didn't like or approve of what he was putting forward.
"Based on what I've seen over the past month, you guys really need some help. I'll do it." The old Centaur sat up, visually stunned.
"You will? You do understand what you'll have to do, what will be required of you?"
"The fate of mankind is at stake, Mr. Chiron. All I'll be doing is switching which prey I hunt. And upgrading, if you guys have the means," he said, tapping his bow as he spoke.
"Yes, yes of course. The armory is at your disposal."
Just outside Oakland, California. One week later.
Charlie lay prone on the warehouse rooftop, ignoring the raindrops that pattered on the tarp that was draped over him. In his hands was a Marlin model 336, complete with a brand new scope. He'd found the rifle in the Camp's armory, neglected and worn down with several years worth of dust built up on it. After cleaning it up, getting the scope, and dialing it in, he'd had the head of the Hephaestus Cabin, Charles Beckendorf, put together several rounds for him. Half of them were celestial bronze for killing monsters, and the other half were normal.
Now he was here, not far from the Titan's base of operations hunting his first target. The main demigod who was overseeing the rebuild of the Titan forces was a Son of Hermies by the name of Luke Castellan. However, the latest reports that had been returned to Camp indicated that Castellan had taken a fall off a cliff, and though he had survived, he was recuperating on a cruise ship docked in San Francisco Bay. This made taking a shot at him all but impossible at the moment.
Charlie's target on this particularly miserable day at the end of December was a Lieutenant of Castellan, a son of Peitho by the name of Brandon Jenkins. Jenkins, being the child of the goddess of persuasion, was the Titan's primary negotiator. His job was to persuade groups that were having doubts about taking sides over to the side of the Titans. Today, he was meeting a small group of Cyclops that were defecting to Kronos' side. The Hunter had his mission; kill the negotiator, and then kill the traitor Cyclops.
Charlie watched as a small car pulled up in a wide open space between the warehouses. Jenkins climbed out of the back of the car and walked to the spot just in front of it. He couldn't see the driver, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. All that mattered to him was the young man in his early twenties that was currently in the center of his rifle scope.
He watched as the group of Cyclops emerged from a nearby warehouse and approached the agent of Kronos. As he counted, he silently cursed. There were seven Cyclops in the group, for a grand total of eight targets. This wouldn't have been a problem, except for the fact that his rifle was currently loaded with six monster killing shots plus one in the chamber, for a total of seven.
He was one bullet short.
Regardless of his sudden disadvantage, Charlie slowly raised his thumb and drew back on the hammer of his rifle, cocking it. The two sides were talking now, although he was too far away to hear what was being said. He simply lined up the crosshairs with his target and slowly exhaled before pulling the trigger.
The rifle jumped in his hands as it fired, the resulting crack echoing off the buildings around them. Jenkins was stuck in the heart and thrown backward onto the hood of the car before his body fell to the ground.
In an instant, there was a flurry of chaos. The driver of the car threw the vehicle into reverse and sped erratically out of there while the Cyclops looked about, trying to locate the source of the shot. Charlie had already lined up his next shot as he worked the action on his rifle. He exhaled and fired again, this time striking the leader in the eye. The creature hadn't even fully turned to dust before the next one was stuck. Charlie repeated the process until there was only one left.
Realizing that he was the only one of his brothers left, the remaining Cyclops began to run. The Hunter simply dropped the lever, slid a new round into the chamber, smoothly pulled the lever back up, and then fired. The bullet struck the Cyclops in the back of the head, before exploding out of its eye in the front. He was dust being blown away by the wind before he even hit the ground.
Picking up his spent casings, Charlie made his way down to the ground with his rifle slung over his back. The rain only increased in strength as he approached Jenkins, mixing the monster dust in with the mud on the ground. Blood flowed from the negotiator's body, mixing with the standing water and mud around him. To Charlie's surprise, the young man was still very much alive, clutching his wound with his hand as he lay on his back.
"Do you have...any idea...what you've done?" Jenkins panted as Charlie appeared above him.
"I've killed you," he replied, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
"You've made...the Crooked One...an enemy. The Titans won't...hesitate...to cut you down," Jenkins gasped. From under his poncho, the hunter drew a climbing axe, giving it a single twirl in his hand. Without a word, he brought it down and ended the negotiator's life. With the death of his target now confirmed, Charlie returned the climbing axe to it's place on his belt.
"They'll have to catch me, first," he said.
And that's a wrap for the first chapter. As always, please feel free to read, review, let me know what you liked or didn't like, and I'll see you all in the next one.