Chapter 1. A wild encounter.
Through the Sequoya forest in California a flash of silver could be seen reflecting upon the moonlight as a group of preteens was hoping from tree to tree with grace that only came after years of training and hunting.
Leading this group was a rather annoyed girl who looked no older than 13 with her silver eyes showed determination and annoyance as she thought of her mission. This "girl" was no other than Artemis, maiden goddess of the moon and the hunt, and what was this goddess doing all the way in this national park? Simple, hunting a ghost formed from his father's paranoia, or at least that's what she thought at first. Her father the oh so mighty and power hungry king was worried that godly energy was being detected all over the country near natural parks and wild areas.
With the rumor that Kronos would be rising in the near future the king of Olympus was not pleased with a rather powerful godly energy being produced all over the country. So, he appointed Artemis to capture who or whatever was making the godly energy and bring them to Olympus to either swear allegiance to them or be executed, probably executed considering the mood of the lighting god.
At first it seemed that his father was making this all up since every time the hunt got to the supposed source of the godly aura, they found nothing out of the ordinary. It was only on later expeditions that Artemis would notice a figure disappearing in the shadows whenever she and her hunters got close to their destination. This, strengthen the resolve of the goddess as it meant that someone had escaped from her hunt multiple times, something completely unheard and that her pride will not allow.
As they got close to their objective she ordered she ordered her huntress to quicken their pace as she had no intention of losing her target once again. Little did she know what waited her and her hunt once she reached what she has been looking for a long time.
Unknown to the moon goddess there was another goddess in the area looking for the same thing she was but for different reasons. An eight year old walked alone through the forest of giant trees towards a cave that would be hard to detect except for what was happening inside that guided the girl like a beacon. She quietly made her away into the cave careful to be as quite as possible to not disturb anyone or anything that might be inside. At first the cave seemed to be empty but as she walked farther in she saw a light ahead and heard some noise. Quickly hiding behind a boulder and poking her head to get a good view as to what was going on she was very surprised to say the least.
There was a giant black bear next to a fire with a little baby bear a few feet away, the surprising part was that right next to the beast there was a boy who had his back to the girl so she couldn't make out his features but he seemed to be saying something while leaning close to the right front paw of the bear. The bear appeared to have no problem with the human so close to her, however the little baby seemed a bit worried as he started whimpering. It was then that he turned to look at the cup and the girl that had been observing got a good look at his face. He was about 14 with raven black hair that seemed just a bit too long almost blocking his eyes. However his piercing green eyes could be clearly seen beneath his mess of hair. He looked at the baby cup with great softness.
"Don't worry little one, your mother is fine." He said with such gentleness that even girl was tempted to listen to him despite not being the one he was speaking to. He then proceeded to step away from the mother and point are her paw.
"See? Good as new!" he said with excitement. The little cup proceeded to run to his mother, clearly exited to find his mother safe and in good condition. The boy gave them some space as the great bear looked at him with gratitude. He had a big smile on his face, however it was quickly replaced by a serious and calculating expression that confused the girl.
"You can come out now, I assume it was a matter of time before you found me." His softness and tenderness was gone as he spoke in a calm voice yet confident voice as if talking to a possible attacker.
The girl was surprised by this but decided to comply with his request. As the little 8 year old stepped into the light from the fire the features in the boys face showed surprise as he was not expecting a girl with brown hair and golden fiery eyes that he immediately recognized.
He went to her and bowed "Lady Hestia, to what do I owe the honor of your presence?"
The respectful toned and actions surprised the goddess of the heart as this was not what she was expecting. "H-How do you know who I am, who are you?" She asked with curiosity more than anything. The boy simply smiled.
"I am well informed when it comes to the appearance of Olympian gods, plus your calm and warm aura is rather unique among the gods. As for who am I that is a long tale, one that in time you may know, but in the mean time you can call me Percy" He said extending his hand.
To say the goddess was surprised was a major understatement. She was expecting to find a god not a boy, a boy that is well aware of the Greek world and the Immortals. She was curious about his identity but decided to be polite and shake his hand. As she did she felt electricity through her fingers as she looked up to find him staring at her with a big white smile. She felt a weird warm sensation that was different from the natural heat she generated; rise in her chest and into her face.
She quickly let go and looked down unsure of why she felt that way. Percy looked at her oddly but made no comment about it.
"So, do you want to sit as you explain to me why were searching for me?" He gestured to logs next to the bears that paid them no attention. She was reluctant at first but agreed. As they were both seated across from each other she began explaining.
"Well you see… percy, a few months ago I started to detect great increases in the amount of hope there was all south America. Then I noticed how those Beacons of hope started moving north until they reached North America. I tried to tell the other Olympians about this but they ignored me as they didn't think it was relevant. However he recently noticed abnormal godly aura around the country and sent Artemis to find what was causing it. I knew that both were related so I decided to do my own search using the hope I sensed as a beacon."
"Which lead you right to me" Percy concluded.
Hestia nodded, trying to read his expression but found a straight face with no emotions until he sighed.
"Well I am no god if that's what you are wondering, nor am I Greek, not anymore anyway." He paused as his faced seemed to darken a bit. "I am a being with the duty to protect wild life. Sort of like your god Pan but I am a lot more involved as you can see" He pointed at the happy bear couple with a smile on his face.
"If you are not a god, how do you generate such a powerful aura? No demigod has that kind of power"
"Well I am a special breed of demigod, unique and fill with awesomeness like no other" He finished with a smirk.
The goddess narrowed her eyes a bit, unhappy that he was avoiding the question, but couldn't help but smile a bit when he started laughing.
"Relax Lady Hestia just joking, I can't really go into detail of my identity but I can tell you my reason for being here. You see I-"He stopped mid sentence and jumped to his feet so fast the goddess jumped.
"Damn those hunters… I have to go" He didn't wait for her reply as he ran out the cave with surprising speed leaving a confused goddess behind him.
Line Break
As Artemis and her hunt where moving through the trees at maximum speed she noticed a shadow out the corner of her eye. Faster than the eye could follow she drew her bow and fired an arrow at the shadow. A roar was heard that told Artemis her arrow had landed, despite this the shadow try to escape moving at a remarkable speed.
"Hunters, pursue the creature but do not fire until I give the order"
Soon the entire hunt was trailing behind the unknown creature that despite being fast was slowing down because of an injured leg. Soon the entire hunt surrounded the creature and had arrows aimed at its vital spots. Artemis was proud to finally corner what she assume was what her objective has been for the last couple of months. She was surprised to find that the creature was a jaguar; she knew however that this was no ordinary jaguar as it seemed to radiate small amounts of power close to that of a demigod. She assumed this was minor god transformed.
"Surrender and transform yourself back to your true form so that I may take you to Olympus for interrogation." She said in a firm voice.
The creature looked at her defiantly and taking a defense stance, making it clear he was not going to go down without a fight.
The goddess narrowed her eyes, furious for being defied.
"Suit youself, fire at will!" a rain of arrows was directed at the creature, who simply closed its eyes and prepare for the inevitable.
As the pain never came the jaguar opened its eyes to find all arrows to be scattered around it with a figure stand in front of him. If Jaguars could smile this one threatened to split its face as it knew it was safe.
The entire hunt was just starring with wide eyes at the figure in front of them. Unable to comprehend how he had managed to reflect all the arrows. The figure lifted his head to reveal Percy who was surprisingly calm given the situation he was in.
Artemis was the first to recover and aim an arrow to man in front of her. She could feel a powerful aura coming from this male, she assume that this is who has been evading her hunt for so long. The fact that he was a man only made her angrier.
"Stand down, both you and your pet are coming with me to Olympus for interrogation, boy" She said with distaste clear in voice.
Percy kept a stoic expression as he started to vow which surprised the goddess. "Lady Artemis, I mean no disrespect but I have no intentions of coming with you to Olympus as you have injured my friend and I must treat him. So I will excuse myself now, I don't want to create conflict but I would appreciate if you didn't try to stop me as that will force me to defend myself" With that he turned around without waiting for a response and proceeded to tend to the jaguar.
If he hadn't turned around he would have seen the look of fury on the goddess' face. How dare this male turn his back to her? He treated it her as if she was not a danger at all! With these emotions inside of her, the arrow that she still had aimed at the male was let loose but pointed at the leg so that he could be taken alive.
With inhuman reflexes Percy turned around and grabbed the arrow in the air, his calm demeanor gone as he looked ready for battle. The hunters saw this as a signal to attack so they sent another volley of arrows. They weren't deflected this time but hit nothing but the ground as their objective and the anime seemed to have disappeared. They all looked around for him, until one hunter with a tiara on her head hear something above them.
Percy was standing 50 feet in the air in a tree branch, leaving his friend for a moment who looked at him with worry. Percy simply smiled.
"Don't worry boy, I will just knock them out and try to reason with the goddess and then come back to heal you. If I can't reason with her, well you know what will happen then…" He didn't say more as he turn around to barely dodge an arrow aimed at his chest. He looked down, impressed to have been detected so quickly, he assumed the huntress who fired the arrow was rather skilled. This might me more fun than I originally thought. With that a smile crept into his face as he plunge at the hunt.
The forest became filled with chaos as the hunters tried to hit the male who seemed to dodge them with ease. He would move with speed that was simply not human as arrows simply past by him harmlessly. As some hunters ran out of arrows he sprang into offence.
He ran straight at the defenseless hunters as he kicked them in the arm making them drop their bows. He then proceeded to grab and break the bows, that stun the hunters as their bows were made of a special wood that was not suppose to be able to break easily, especially not by a demigod with his bare hands. Little did they know they were not in front of a regular demigod.
He continued this strategy of disarming and breaking bows until he narrowly dodged a spear to the face. He took a step back and observed his enemy. The huntress took this as a chance to attack, she attack with ferocity and skill that lead Percy to believe she was a daughter of Ares. Despite this she wasn't able to land a single hit which lead to her attacks to become sloppy and wild. Percy saw an opening as he pretended to step back, which was responded with a powerful jab to the gut. However he quickly changed directions, ducking and rushing forward into his opponents guard and deliver a punch to the stomach that made the huntress hunch over and drop her weapon.
Percy grabbed the weapon and quickly turned around hitting the hunter on the back of the head effectively knocking her out. He analyze the battlefield most hunter were now in a circle with hunting knives, although none of them seemed eager to attack the male after the little display of skilled.
One hunter stepped up, clearly the leader based on the tiara on her head. Her volcanic eyes were eying the opponent in front of her carefully. This was clearly no ordinary demigod but she wasn't going to let her hunt be ridicule by a single male!
Without warning she charged with remarkable speed hoping to catch him off guard. Unfortunately for her speed was something Percy had in amplitude. He dodged with grace and ease while not attacking back. This made the lieutenant angry, she stopped herself and cached her breath, not letting him get on her nerves.
"Impressive lieutenant, not many have the head to stop and calm themselves. I ask that you stop this. We have no reason to fight, so please stand down so that we may both walk out of this unharmed."
The Lieutenant simply smiled as he saw a flash of silver behind her signaling her job was done. "You may be stronger than a regular demigod boy, but you are certainly not smarter. Didn't you notice there was someone missing in the attack?" She asked with a smug face.
Percy frowned and realization came to him as he looked behind him to see something that sent his blood boiling. His good friend was unconscious on the floor with a smug looking Artemis over him with a knife to his neck.
"I don't know who you are but this creature seems important to you, how about you surrender so that he doesn't suffer any further?" She asked with clear satisfaction in her voice.
Percy looked murderous for the first time that night. "You have made a grave mistake goddess, I warned you to leave me alone as I meant you no harm, but you arrogantly ignored me and attacked my friend. You shall now suffer the consequences for those actions." He growled while pulsing with such godly energy that Artemis waver for a second before she steeled her nerves and increased the pressure on the knife.
The aura suddenly disappeared and Percy but his head down, which Artemis took as a sign of surrender. She starting to relax but the next instant she felt a pain in her stomach before she was suddenly lunched against a tree.
She quickly recovered and looked up to find this powerful being in the spot where she'd been with his hand out. Somehow he had managed to hit her without being noticed.
Percy was mad but kept his attention on his friend, he thought he would just carry him away from the area. However he felt he was in danger and turned quickly to find a dagger to his neck as he had his hand pointed at the goddess' neck. It was a stale mate; he cursed him for underestimating the recovery time of the goddess. Before he could think of a way out of this he heard a powerful voice that got everyone's attention.
"ENOUGH!" Suddenly a warm aura filled everyone and instantly relaxed. Out of the woods came Hestia in the form older than normal, maybe 14.
"Artemis, using an innocent animal to get your way was not very honorable. This boy has done nothing but defend himself. I say you let him talk before attacking him like an enemy." Said Hestia in a strong voice that was rarely heard from the calm goddess of the hearth.
Artemis was completely shocked by this, but grudgingly removed her knife from the male's neck as he did the same. She then turned to her hunters that were all looking in awe at the goddess that decided to appear.
"Hunters, we will be camping her for the night; I will be in my tent with lady Hestia and this… guest. We are not to be interrupted." The hunters looked at the boy with distaste before proceeding to do as they were ordered.
Hestia made her way to Percy who was still standing protectively over his friend. As she got closer he turned and his face showed gratitude. He proceeded to bow to the goddess.
"Thank you for your assistance, things might have gotten ugly if you didn't show up when you did, now I need to heal my friend so that he can be safe in case anything else happens." He looked at the hunters who were glaring at him and sighed. This was not how he wanted his day to go.
Hestia looked down at the demigod with sympathy and amazement. He just took on the entire hunt of Artemis, survived and was more worried a about another life than his own. For some reason she wanted to help this demigod if at all possible.
She stepped closer and put a hand on the feline's leg. Percy visibly tensed but didn't act as he doubt she would do anything to harm the creatures. She removed the arrow carefully and sent a pulse of light that seemed to make the jaguar relax a bit. Once the light died out Hestia stepped back so that the feline could have a bit of space. The leg seemed heal as the jaguar was able to stand and move around without much of an issue.
Percy surprised the goddess by hugging her. "Thank you lady Hestia, I really appreciate your help, and you" he point at the jaguar. "Get away from here, go back to base. If I don't get there within an hour then simply roam around, I don't know how long this will take…"
The big feline seemed unsure to comply, worried about his companion. "Don't worry I will be fine, worst case scenario I will simply run, in which case I will call you ok?"
The creature seemed a bit reassure and reluctantly started sprinting away from the scene. The hunter with the tiara noticed this and tried to stop it by yelling to it to stop but it was too late the creature was already out of view.
She then instead focused back to the male, the owner she guessed the way he protected it. "Who told you that you could let your pet get way boy? We still don't know whether you are dangerous or not."
Hestia was about to reply but Percy beat her to it stepping up to the lieutenant. "First of all, HE is not a pet he is my companion in battle and great friend. He had no reason to get injured so I told him to get away so that you couldn't shot him because you assume he MIGHT be dangerous. I am still here so I don't see the issue."
The hunter had an expression of pure hate and rage, she was about to replied when a voice interrupt it her. "That's enough Zoe, I shall deal with him in my tent, you go with the rest of your sisters" Zoe seemed less than pleased but accepted but not before bowing at both goddess present and glaring at Percy some more.
Artemis then guided both to her tent. Percy was a bit worried so he kept his senses in high alert so that he may run at any moment. Just as he thought of how he might get away if necessary he started to feel a great amount of pain in his legs. He almost face palmed, he completely forgot about the little stunt he pull to catch the goddess off guard, and now his body was paying for it.
His thoughts were interrupted as he entered the tent which was clearly enchanted to be bigger on the inside. It was rather big but simple, with a bunk bed, desk and fur all around. The furs made Percy a bit irritated but didn't comment on it as this was the goddess of the hunt and he was in no condition to fight any way.
"Now…" said Artemis as she seated herself at the center and the other two proceeded to the same across from her. " Aunt Hestia, can you explain how you know this male that I have been chasing for months and just now attacked and disarmed most of my hunt?" Her tone had annoyance and accusation in it.
" First off, I think it was your hunt that attacked him first, from what I understand it was self defense, and not even as he was focused in his companion more than on himself. As to how I know him, I was also looking for him. As I told you and all of the Olympians I have been sensing increases in hope all around the country lately, but like always you simply shrugged it off and said it was not important. So I decided to do my own search that lead me to this young man healing a bear mother not too far from here. He knew of my presence but didn't flee, he instead accepted to explain himself until he tensed and disappeared; I assume that it was because he sensed his friend was in danger so he confronted your hunt to protect his friend. If anything I find his attitude very admirable."
As the story progressed Artemis eyes kept getting wider and wider. Once she was done she felt conflicted and eyed this supposed boy very warily. Part of her told her she should apologize but another, her prideful side was saying she will not apologize to a male.
"Perhaps the actions of the hunt were a bit harsh…" she grumbled barely audible but Percy caught it perfectly and nodded.
"Now Percy, would you mind to continue your explanation as to why you are here?"Asked Hestia Softly.
Percy smiled "Of course my lady. You see I have been helping animals and wild life in South America for a while; stopping humans from destroying forest and even rebuilding some areas. However I was told that there was dangerous power that would rise soon in this country that could potentially threaten the entire world."
He paused for a second letting the information sink in to the two goddesses.
"Wait a minute, that doesn't explain where you are from or where you gained your physical abilities or the fact that you have a godly aura. Plus you said you were told or a danger, by who?" Artemis threw question in rapid fire in a more demanding tone than anything else.
"Artemis, led the boy explain himself. I asked him why he was here nothing else. I can sense that he is not an evil entity and would prove a valuable ally. So if you could please, try and be a little gentler? I do have to say I am curious as to your powers, you are clearly not a normal demigod but you say you are not a god. Are you an immortal?"
Percy thought for a second as to the best way to answer this question. If he told them who he was Artemis would certainly turn him over to Zeus and he was in no condition to escape at the moment. He didn't want to use Hestia as he liked the godess but it was his best bet at surviving this little mess.
"I cannot answer all your questions, I can answer some but I first require a small favor from lady Hestia."
Both goddesses raised their eyebrows while Artemis was already formulating in her head what kind of 'favor' this male could ask for. "And what would this favor that you need from her be?"
"Simple, the previous clash has really exhausted me and I think some of those arrows made some cuts. I would simply ask that" He turned to Hestia "If you don't mind, you could use the healing power that you used with my friend to heal me. That is all I ask for and I shall answer as many of your questions as I can." He said respectfully.
Both goddesses were surprised by the seemingly simple request. Hestia proceeded to heal him, but Artemis was hesitant why is he asking for this, he might be more injured than he leads on which would make him easier to capture.
"Hestia wait!" But the goddess did not listen as she proceeded to heal Percy. She frowned a bit noticing that his legs muscles were almost torn but decided to heal him anyway as something about him just made him seem trust worthy to Hestia.
After a few moments she released her hand, a bit tired since the healing took more out of her than she expected.
Percy smile while Artemis scowled and tensed almost sure he would bolt out running at max speed now that he was cured. Percy noticed this.
"Relax lady Artemis, I will not break my promise I tell you as much as I feel comfortable sharing. As I get to know you better, and as the danger gets closer I shall tell you my whole story but for now let me explain how I know of the Greeks and my reason for being here right now."
Both goddesses nodded asking him to proceed.
"I was originally of Greek lineage, do not ask me who my godly parent is as it is irrelevant. I moved out of the country when I was young. I won't go into detail but while outside the country I was located by other gods, not Greeks. They said I had a great destiny and bestow blessings upon me, giving me than godly aura that you sensed. One of the gods was the god of knowledge so he taught me all about the Greeks, your roman counterparts and both camps. When I came here my plan was to do some secret exploring and research of both camps to see if they were ready. However more often than not I found myself using my powers to help the wild life which gave away my presence to you. So I assumed Zeus sent for me as I had the hunt after me for quite a while. Right now I am heading to your roman camp to evaluate their defenses. I am a bit worried about camp half-blood. They haven't been informed of the threat and their numbers of capable warrior is very low. Unless the roman camp is in worst shape I plan to go camp half-blood and help them prepared with the battle against… well you know."
Both goddesses were gaping like fish at the over load of information they had just received. This, well demigod had a lot of information. As much as a god and even then some gods were not aware of the rising danger. This explanation gave them more questions than answers.
"Can you at least tell us which gods found you, Egyptian? Norse?" Asked Hestia curious to get more info.
Percy seemed to ponder this for a mount before finally answering. "Neither, it was the Aztec gods, probably haven't heard of them. They aren't exactly very well know"
Hestia tried to think, she heard of the Aztecs, but since they were exterminated and no one really seemed to pass on the myths, she had assumed they vanished. Artemis though the same.
"How is that possible? The Aztec gods vanished long ago. Not many mortals are even aware of them"
"That's true lady Artemis, they are all but forgotten. They were almost fading when they found me. They said that they would live through me and blessed me; even to this day I don't know the full extent of my blessing. I use it manly to protect wild life and humans occasionally if I see someone being abused. Now I am trying to help you fight an inevitable war that frankly I am not certain you can win, but I am willing to help you increase your chances. All I ask is that you keep this encounter a secret for a few more years. If I were to reveal myself to Zeus right now he would most probably try to execute me for being a threat. I would defend myself and we could potentially end up killing each other and the titans would undoubtedly win. So please give me a little time to work from the shadows and help you until the battle comes."
Artemis was thinking deeply. Trying to find and deceit in his words, when she found none she sighed.
"I shall not say anything about this encounter but I am not completely satisfied with your explanation either. When we meet again I hope to get a better explanation. You are the first male that I have ever trusted, but you don't seem to be like a normal male plus you have the favor of Hestia who I believe to be one of the wisest among us. Don't make me regret this boy or I will hunt you down to the end of the earth."
"Sounds fair to me, thank you milady" He said respectfully as he bowed "If that is all then I shall take my leave" He got up and aimed for the door when he was called over.
"Just a moment, Percy was it? One more thing" said artemis surprisingly calm.
"Yes what c-"
That's as far as he got before he got hit in the chest so hard he was sent flying out of the tent and into a tree.
Hestia's eyes widen before they narrowed as she glared at Artemis.
"What?" she asked innocently. "He hit me in the stomach first, I have killed male for far less, but since you persuaded I was merciful. He is fine, probably, maybe a couple of broken ribs but nothing major."
Hestia sighed as she left the tent and looked down at the unconscious demigod. She smiled sadly, such a pure spirit, yet she felt he would have a hard path ahead of him.
A/N: Well hello there! So yesterday something really stupid happened and I was super mad and that accompanied by the insanity, don't know by who just search insanity soul eater in YouTube, inspired me to write this fic. I have had the urge to write something like this since Aztec mythology is often ignored and since I recently read a Norse version of Percy by Anaklumus14 I decided to do my own approach and write my very first Percy Jackson fanfic.
Fitting to since yesterday blood of Olympus came out. I REALLY want to read it but since I am in Germany and didn't pre order it I will probably have to wait a year like I did for mark of athea. *sigh*
Anyway, thoughts on the story? Like it? Hate it? Wanted to burn slowly on a fire? Be honest and let me know what you think.
To anyone that reads my other fics I am sorry to say that they are probably in hiatus. Emphasis on probably. I am working on the chosen fan fic so that will probably get an update but the monster guardian… Like I know where I want to go, I even have the ending planed, but is this middle part I have trouble with.
Anyway enough rambling. Bye!
Peace and calm
Al red.