Ten years, Ten years since the gods had assisted their children in destroying their Giant counterparts and Gaia. Many events transpired after: The hunt gained many more members, Leo reappeared with his girlfriend Calypso, and the camps started a trading system, along with a substitution style of training for campers, to learn new styles of combat.
Of course, not all good came of the changes. Approximately four years after their victory over the giants, Annabeth was killed. Near the end of her college days, and about to lead a happy life with Percy, she was ambushed on a visit to her parents and was killed by a Drakon.
When her body was found the funeral rites were immediate, and so was the suffering. Her closest friends mourned in different ways, searching for their significant other, and finding comfort in their presence. Thalia secluded herself to the hunt, and barely communicated, but would still pay a visit each year to Annabeth's grave and pay respects.
Percy on the other hand, no one knew how he took it because he had left, disappeared before anyone could offer him comfort.
The gods were silent about the topic, and would avidly avoid their children if the topic came up. The only solace that the rest of the seven had, was that he wasn't dead.
Nico made sure they were kept updated and informed them that if he were to die, he would be given the most gracious of rites, so as to ensure he would reach Elysium.
It didn't matter to them however, they still sent search parties out, every single day or week they could. Soon, around the eight-year mark, The Hunt started to assist them, and for two years, they found nothing, not even a track.
Around his birthday, however, they finally found a lead. A massive sea monster had attacked a Roman convoy on its way to provide some food supplies to camp half-blood, and had injured most of them and devoured another. They had been ready to completely retreat when its attacks stopped abruptly as if it had lost interest in them.
The sea serpent had been slaughtered, filled with so many sword wounds, that it looked like swiss cheese. And In its chest was carved the word, Riptide, in English, Greek, and Latin.
When they found that, it was immediately reported to the Hunt, who searched the area and found remains of a fire, along with several boot tracks.
And that brings us to this moment, three months after that incident, and the hunters draw close to their quarry, off of the northern end of Lake superior, snow still covering the ground.
"Come on, We're close!"
The strong voice of the resident commander of the hunt, Thalia Grace, powered the hunters as they closed in on their prey, the elusive Perseus Jackson.
They had been searching for two years, and they for one couldn't believe that this male had been able to avoid their watchful eyes so easily. Needless to say they were feeling excited that they had finally been able to track him down.
They were traveling through the Canadian forests that paralleled the biggest great lake and were starting to hear noises in the distance, noises that sounded like a hive of monsters.
The hunters slowed down and crept slowly through the brush as the noises got louder, and soon found themselves outside a massive clearing, where a full-scale battle was ensuing.
Approximately four dozen monsters, from Dracanae to Drakon, were on the attack, charging a single man, who was expertly cutting them down like they were made of paper, ripping their weak skin with his sword with ease.
He was relatively tall and muscled to boot with messy black hair, and his green eyes seemed to pierce his opponents almost as much as his sword did. His face was a mix of cold anger, and fierce calmness, chaining his attacks like an expert, not letting a single claw, weapon, or other deadly objects get into his defenses.
To the Hunt he looked like a whirlwind of bronze destruction, to the monsters he looked like a reincarnation of Tartarus himself, a true nightmare to them. He would not allow the monsters to stop fighting either, if they tried to leave he would target the runners, blocking any other attacks as he chased them through the ranks of monsters and cut them down, If they tried to fight he quickly ended them, slashing them to pieces like a shredder. It was truly a sight to see.
As the dust settled from his fight, the hunters could only stare in awe of all the spoils of war that littered the ground, from dracaena skin to the empty shells of drakon armor, all of which the man ignored as he walked away, his back to the hunt.
"Hey! Halt, or we will shoot!" Thalia yelled out, advancing into the clearing, and the man ignored them, continuing to walk away. In frustration, Thalia nocked an arrow and sent it flying at the back of the man's head, seemingly on a perfect path to send him to Hades.
At least until his sword flicked up and deflected it away from his head, right into the ground.
Thalia took a step back as the man turned, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He bent down to pick up the arrow, and examined it, turning it around in his fingers. He stopped as he examined the tip, noticing it was covered in a green liquid.
"Really Pinecone Face? An arrow tipped in tranquilizer?" He asked incredulously, and Thalia pulled her bow up, her eyes narrowing as the man rolled his eyes. "If you're going to tranq me, don't aim for the head, makes the idea of a knockout to be a little useless." He finished and threw the arrow at her feet, before pulling out his sword, and getting in a defensive stance.
"What are you doing Percy?" Thalia asked suspiciously and the man nodded, smiling lightly.
"Well before I answer that, glad you remember me." He said and his smiled disappeared.
"Too bad we had to reunite under such problematic circumstances" he spoke again, and Thalia shook her head before raising her hand and making a fist, a silent order for the hunters to surround their prey.
"There are no circumstances Percy, you are coming with us." she spoke stiffly and raised her bow, half of the hunters mimicking her while the rest pulled hunting knives out.
"No I am not Thalia, I will not go back, not now, not ever." Percy coldly muttered and then threw his sword at her, it spinning at inhuman speeds and cutting her bow in half on impact.
At the hunter's surprise, Percy bolted, disappearing into the trees. Thalia shook off her surprise and pointed in the direction he ran.
"After him!" She yelled and the hunters jumped into action, disappearing after Percy. Thalia shook her head and followed, scowling as she threw her broken bow away.
As she reached her hunters, Thalia stared confused as they gazed over the water of Lake superior, not finding Percy as she scanned the lake for any trace.
"What happened, where did he-" her rising tone was interrupted as an explosion ripped through Lake superior, a massive form lifting out of it.
The form thrashed and twisted, roaring loudly as it did so, spewing black liquid from its mouth.
"An Atlantean Drakon.." Thalia whispered, gazing at the monster, a beast that was three times the size of a regular drakon, and three times as deadly. It was currently focused on a dark mark that was on its nose, slowly climbing up to its eye.
"Why is it... They should only be in the pacific!" Thalia gasped out, and a few of the hunters shrugged, they had nothing that could kill a beast like that, not without Artemis, who had been the only being they had known of to kill an Atlantean drakon that wasn't an immortal of the water.
"Is he taking it on by himself?" Thalia asked incredulously, and the hunters nodded, one of them pointing as the drakon let out a particularly painful roar.
"I think he just took out its eye, noticing the black mark had reached the drakon's upper face.
With another primal roar, it lurched to the side, a massive water hand grabbing it by its arm and pulling it to the right. Another hand appeared, this time grabbing the beast by the throat, and allowing a third hand to grasp the top of the roaring Drakon's mouth. Soon a final hand appeared, grabbing the bottom of the jaw, and then in one final intensely loud crack, the drakon let out an agonized groan before slowly dissolving into a massive pile of black dust.
The figure of Percy Jackson slid down the massive hill of black dust until he was standing on the top of the water, staring the hunters down. He caught Thalia's eye and shook his head, before turning away, walking across the lake.
"Percy, Please!" Thalia yelled out, walking to the water's edge, and Percy looked back once, mouthing the words Not now, not ever. Before She could react he dove forward and disappeared under the waves, not even a ripple appearing where he entered the water.
Thalia started to break out in tears, falling to her knees as she stared at where he had disappeared. She had been so close, so very close to finding her missing cousin, and she had messed up the chance. He was gone again, he was back to being lost, and it was all her fault.
I hope you enjoyed, I decided on something different this time around, this is a nice one shot.
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