Edited as of 8/9/18 – I've gone back and rewritten each chapter of this story. No major plot elements have changed, but I believe the writing has improved greatly, and since I actually have an idea of where I'm taking the story, you might (maybe) see some themes from time to time
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the Percy Jackson characters.
Chapter 1: The Rude Awakening
The end of Percy's life as he knew it began with a boom.
Camp Half-Blood was awoken at the first light of dawn by an explosion originating from just outside the barriers of Thalia's tree. The few early-risers eating breakfast under the dining pavilion stumbled over benches to get a better look at the slowly growing plume of smoke just over the ridge of Half-Blood Hill. Other campers began pouring onto their cabins' porches to investigate the noise, questioning whether they were under attack, or simply had to deal with another one of Leo Valdez's inventions gone haywire.
Percy Jackson bolted from his bed as soon as the thunderous explosion reached his ears. Although he was the furthest thing from an early riser, certain past events had turned his nights into long hours of tossing and turning, before inevitably being forced awake by particularly awful visions. Most days, he was awake before dawn, leaving him with ample time in the morning to clear his mind in the shower while waiting for breakfast to be prepared. However, this morning he found himself still in his bed and suspiciously well rested as small streaks of light filtered through Cabin Three's windows.
He grabbed a ballpoint pen that had been resting on the nightstand to his right, shoved some socks and shoes on, and raced out the door. Years of sleeping with the expectation of danger on quests had led to him developing a quick response time to monsters, causing him to be the sole camper to immediately race up the hill, towards the smoke. Once he reached the crest of the hill, he examined the battle that laid before him.
A large group of monsters was spread at the foot of the hill and fighting them, about halfway up the hill, were the Hunters of Artemis. Their mistress appeared to be absent, so the girls were at a huge disadvantage against their massive enemy. Percy wasted no time in sprinting down the hill to aid the hunters and he soon met with his cousin, Thalia.
"Good to see you Kelp-Head!" shouted Thalia over the roar of a hellhound that had just been picked off by one of the hunter's arrows. The hunters were spread out in an arc, picking out approaching targets while slowly backtracking towards camp.
As another hellhound approached a hunter to Percy's right, he shouted to get her attention before it could blind-side her. The hunter managed to slip out a large knife from its sheath on her waist, and the silver blade impaled the leaping beast, turning it to dust. The hunter didn't come out of the confrontation unharmed, though. She had used her left forearm to block the hellhounds fierce bite, leaving it bloodied, and judging by the way she held it, broken. It was clear that she was out of commission for this battle, as there was no way she'd be able to draw a bow without the use of her left arm, so one of her fellow hunters quickly ran to cover her as she turned and retreated up the hill.
Despite this setback, an unusual smile snuck itself onto Thalia's face as she turned to Percy. "Hey Pinecone Face. What's going on? Why are you guys outside of camp and where is Artemis?" Percy questioned.
"Artemis is at a meeting on Olympus. As for why we're here… well we didn't actually intend to be here. We were tracking a pack of hellhounds and they led us to a trap. Eventually they pushed us back to this position." Thalia explained as she reached for an arrow.
It was clear that the battle had been going on for a while by how winded the usually energetic Lieutenant of Artemis looked. The fact that the overwhelmed hunters had been able to make their way to reinforcements and a secure base seemed nearly too lucky, but Percy wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. As Percy began to think of ways to cover the hunters retreat, Annabeth ran down to meet him. She seemed to be struggling to contain laughter for some reason, but Percy brushed it off and informed her of the situation. She nodded and began thinking.
"Okay, Percy, I'm going to need a distraction. Can you attack the group of Laistrygonians to the left and lead them away from the rest of the monsters? Thalia, when he does that, you and the hunters need to regroup here and focus on the right side. With the larger numbers, you should be able to pick enough of them off so that they'll be forced to reorganize. This will give you enough time to make it up the hill while most of camp gets here. You need to find Will Solace and tell him to set up an emergency medical tent at location three." Annabeth commanded after she had analyzed her foes.
"Will is the blondie that Nico likes, right?" Thalia asked for confirmation.
"Yes, he's the head healer. If you can't find him, just yell."
"Sounds like a plan! Stay safe Wise Girl." Percy said before kissing Annabeth on the cheek and running off.
The seemingly unarmed son of Poseidon approached the lumbering giants with absolutely no caution. As he neared the group, he began screaming to ensure all their focus was drawn on him and uncapped his small ballpoint pen. The pen grew in his hand, shifting in size, structure, and purpose as it left a three-foot Greek sword named Anaklusmos – Riptide – in Percy's hands. The giants hesitated, seemingly recognizing the blade that had brought death to so many of their brethren, which gave the demigod an opening to lunge at the nearest and monster and slice its head clean off. This broke the giants out of their stupor, and one of the giants tried to grab him as he approached, but Percy slid under its legs and sliced upward, making it cry out in agonizing pain before crumbling to dust. Percy winced, feeling almost sorry for the monster before dashing away from the approaching army's main group.
He glanced back at the hunters and saw that Annabeth's plan had worked to a tee. Monsters began to scramble back as silver arrow after silver arrow impaled their forces, leaving mounds of dust along the hill. He turned back to the giants that had followed him, five hairy and feral creatures desiring revenge for the impromptu beheading and castration of their fallen brothers. Unfortunately for them, their fates were only slightly less gruesome.
Percy feinted left as one Laistrygonian threw a flaming cannonball at Percy before tucking and rolling right, causing the projectile to soar past. He was back on his feet in an instant and already within arms distance of a second giant. He used the giant's large chest as a step as he vaulted over its head, leaving the slow monsters confused by his agile movements. He landed with an overhead slash that ran diagonally down a third giant's collarbone, turning it to a fog of gold dust. The first giant, which had thrown the cannonball, readied another projectile, preparing to catch the son of Poseidon off-guard following his landing, but Percy had already gathered a large handful of dust from the monster's fallen brother and tossed it in the giant's face, blinding him. The cannonball wielding giant brought his hands to his eyes to clear his vision, clumsily dropping the flaming cannonball on his toes in the process.
While pain distracted that giant, Percy used the flat of his sword to catch the iron-like fist of the giant he had climbed over. The impact nearly dislocated the demigod's shoulder, but he held strong as the enormous manlike monster grinned down on him, like he was observing a full-course meal at a five-star restaurant. Percy knew that if he didn't do something, he would be overrun either by the giant in front of him or one of the three others still surrounding him. He needed a way to overpower the much stronger monster that was now beginning to shove the demigod's weapon downward, while also protecting himself from the two approaching giants, who weren't handicapped by broken toes.
Percy hadn't used his powers to summon water while lacking a water source since the end of the giant war, as the only fighting he had done were a few capture the flag games against fellow campers who had decided (through a nearly unanimous popular vote, with only Clarisse and Annabeth voting against) that it would be unfair for him to use his powers since he already could defeat pretty much all of them fairly easily in a swordfight. Other than that, he had used his powers while swimming in the Long Island Sound a few times, and once while pulling a prank on Connor Stoll. But much like riding a bike, it was something that you could never forget. Percy concentrated on the relentless push and pull of ocean waves and felt a tug in his gut.
A splash sounded as a wave descended upon the giant trying to crush Percy, knocking it off its feet as it was overwhelmed by the current. The son of Poseidon concentrated on the water and brought it around himself, making a circle of flowing water. He concentrated on a powerful river, which made the water gradually speed up before he sent it flying, like a geyser, to the two giants that had been approaching him from behind. The water flew into them with the force of a small car, causing the giant that had caught the brunt of the geyser to instantly disintegrate while its brother was knocked over, choking on water.
Finally, Percy concentrated once more and brought the water above his head. He thought of the constrained power of a large glacier and the liquid above his head began to solidify into spears of ice. The two giants that had lost their footing due to his aquatic display of power were disposed of before they could even regain their breath and stand up, as dust covered ice spears now stuck out of the ground where they had once been standing.
Percy stood up, nursing his sore shoulder, and slowly turned around before suddenly remembering he had forgotten to finish off the cannonball-giant. He completed his turn, and saw the giant winding up to throw. The son of Poseidon readied himself to dive out of the way, but before the giant brought his muscular arm forward, Percy felt the hairs on his arm stand up and a thunderous clap sounded in the air. A streak of lightning shot down from the sky, obliterating the remaining giant, and the distinct smell of ozone filled the air. Percy turned and saw his fellow quest-mate from the Prophecy of Seven, Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter.
"Nice to see you Grace, but please try to be quicker next time." Percy said sarcastically.
"Hey, it takes some time to put a shirt on. You should try it some time." Jason responded with a pearly white grin, as he held back a laugh.
Percy was confused until he looked down and realized that in his haste to make it to the battle, he had failed to dress himself. Because of this he was left in his pajamas, which, due to his tendency to wake up in cold sweats following nightmares, consisted only of his Finding Nemo boxers.
"Aw shit! And we're fighting with the hunters! One of them is probably going to 'accidentally' shoot me when no one's looking." Percy shouted exasperatedly, "Oh well. Can't do anything about it now. Come on, we should probably regroup with camp. Annabeth's over there with Thalia."
The two joined Annabeth and Thalia at the top of the hill and were quickly accompanied by the remaining members of the Prophecy of Seven, Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Piper. The hunters had managed to pick off some monsters during their retreat, but there was still a formidable group pushing up the hill.
"So, what's the plan? Dive in and blast them? Sneak around from behind?" Leo began rapidly listing off suggestions for how they should assault the monsters.
Annabeth shut him up with a glare then began giving orders, "First, Hazel, I need you to get Arion. Ride around the enemies and distract them. Try to either pick off any stragglers from the main group or at least corral them back to the others. Percy, Jason, I want you two to create chaos. Hurricanes, lightning, earthquakes, whatever. Just cause panic and show them how powerful we can be. Leo, Piper, I need you two to lead a few campers around and flank the monsters. Leo, you flank them from the right, Piper from the left. I'll lead the main force straight on. Frank, I need you to be ready to evacuate anyone that gets hurt. If you see someone go down, transform and carry them to the top of the hill. Thalia, you and the hunters have done enough. Go to Will's temporary infirmary at the base of the hill and rest for now."
Thalia looked like she wanted to protest, but Annabeth shot her a look that said 'Just do it. I can tell that you're exhausted,' so she grumbled and led the Hunters of Artemis into camp for some R&R. Everyone else nodded in confirmation and got ready to begin their task. Percy and Jason began creating a huge storm. Rain poured, and lightning struck all around the monsters. The winds knocked a few of the smaller ones around. Soon the ground began shaking and the rest of the monsters were thrown off balance. Leo, Piper, and Annabeth took this as their cue and they began their assault. In a matter of minutes, the monster force was decimated. A few tried to escape, but they were shot down by Frank, who, since he had been unneeded on evac duty, had shown off his archery ability that could rival children of Apollo.
Finally, there was just one dracaenae left. Percy was just about to impale it over the face when Annabeth screamed "Wait! We can interrogate it for information!"
Percy nodded, and Piper walked forward. "Who sent you?" she asked, with charmspeak laced into her words.
The monster hesitated for a moment before relenting and giving up its information. "We do not know. We call him unus enim tenebris."
"The Dark One," Frank translated.
Percy groaned, "Oh my gods that is so cliché! He couldn't have called himself something cool like Crimson Shrapnel or Deceitful Inferno. He might as well just name himself The Evil Villain Guy."
"Great… another enemy. Can't we just have a few years of peace?" Annabeth shouted to the sky.
The gods who she was yelling at responded with a flash, which resulted in Percy being teleported away from his friends.
He found himself in the throne room of Olympus. The imposing figure of twelve gods, that sat over 20 feet tall, stared down at him.
Percy stood awkwardly. He looked down in embarrassment at being stared at and realized he was still in only his boxers. This just made him even more embarrassed, as a red hue spread across his cheeks.
He didn't know what to say so he just nervously stammered, "Um… hi guys?"
Hermes and Apollo immediately broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. Aphrodite not-so-sneakily 'appreciated' the sight of the shirtless Percy and even Artemis couldn't stop the blush that adorned their face from seeing it. Eventually Hestia, who had been sitting quietly at her hearth the entire time, took pity on Percy and flashed a shirt and pants onto him. Percy smiled at her in thanks and turned his attention back to Zeus.
Percy bowed and asked, "Why did you bring me here, Lord Zeus."
"We brought you here to inquire about the battle that took place outside of Camp Half-Blood a few minutes ago. Do you have any information about the threat?" the King of the Gods voice boomed, enhanced by the acoustics of the sacred room.
"Um, we interrogated a dracaenae about who sent it. It said that they don't know his name, but they call him unus enim tenebris, which I think is a horribly clichéd name." Percy said, mindlessly adding on the last part.
"And what about the attackers? What types of monsters did you fight?" Athena questioned.
"Well, there were a lot of hellhounds, some dracaenae, a few Laistrygonians, and maybe four or five empousai. Altogether, there was maybe 50 monsters. We fought them off with about 30 campers after they were softened up by the Hunters of Artemis."
"My hunters were there? I left them nearly ten miles from Camp Half-Blood," Artemis said, shocked and frightened.
"From what I understand, Lady Artemis, they were tracking a small group of hellhounds which led them to a trap. The monsters then pushed them back towards camp."
"Rather smart for monsters. This Dark One seems fairly clever. And he has already amassed a considerable following. Beings do not do that without purpose, and they cannot do it without immense power. We should take this threat seriously." Athena mused.
"You're right. I hate to say it, but we should brace ourselves for yet another war. Since they have already been reunited, we should inform both camps of the threat. Our wars will no longer be fought independently," Zeus determined, with authority that hinted to Percy that the god must be cooperating in his mind with the more orderly Jupiter.
"We must find out who we are facing. Our heroes are strong, possibly stronger than ever before in our long history, but when facing an unknown enemy, we will always stand at a disadvantage," Hera pointed out.
Percy's father, Poseidon, chimed in, "Our best option for this type of recon would be the Hunters of Artemis. Their skills in tracking are unmatched, especially when led by Artemis herself."
"For once, Fish-Face over there said something smart," Poseidon momentarily interrupted Athena with an indignant groan, but she continued, "The Hunters should be sent to track any large groups of monsters and perhaps learn more about our enemy. Their leader, their goal, their base of operation. Whatever may help us be more prepared for the coming war."
Zeus then began to think about something. He turned to Artemis again and stated, "This mission is essential to gathering intel on our enemies, and your hunters are an invaluable asset to our armies. We need to ensure they are able to both accomplish their goal and return unharmed."
"What are you insinuating father?" Artemis demanded.
Percy sat there with a confused expression as Artemis and Zeus stared at each other for a while. Dozens of emotions were shown on Artemis's face, most of them seemed like a form of anger, before she finally gave a huff and turned away from her father, crossing her arms and pouting.
Zeus turned to Percy and gave him a stern look. "Perseus, I need you to aid the hunters in their mission. You will act as a guardian of sorts and will be charged with the duty of protecting the hunters while Artemis is away as well as any time they are in battle. Do you accept?" The god of thunder had grown to respect his nephew greatly over the course of two wars, though there was still a bit of pride a fatherly respect of his daughter and her hunters that made him attempt to both intimidate and urge the young hero to accept his new mission.
Percy was completely surprised by this request. "Wait, wait, wait… you want me to travel with the hunters and protect them. With all due respect Lord Zeus, that seems like a terrible idea. One, they hate males and unless my sixth-grade science teacher was lying, I am male. Two, the hunters are already incredibly strong. The campers haven't been able to beat them in capture the flag for… well for a long time. Three, I have a girlfriend at camp who I was already forcibly taken away from once. What makes you think I would ever want to accept this mission? Why not choose a girl, like Clarisse or even Reyna?"
Zeus did not seem surprised by Percy's outburst. He was a little put off by the rebellious tone Percy gave, but he knew that Percy was a powerful and loyal soldier. He took a small amount of pride in the fact that he was this modern hero's uncle. "Perseus, we need you to protect them for a number of reasons. The first, and foremost, is the fact that you are, as much as I'd hate to say it, the most powerful demigod alive at the current time. Maybe even ever. Second, the hunters and Artemis herself already know of your accomplishments and respect you somewhat. They would take to you easier than my son Jason, the only other demigod I would consider strong enough for this job, and your ability to perform your duty would be unquestionable. As for your girlfriend, you will be able to remain in contact with her and the rest of your friends. I believe my wife has retired herself from the memory stealing profession. I'm sure you will even visit Camp Half-Blood from time to time. Lastly, this isn't a permanent job, it is only until we know more about the enemy we are facing, or we are safe from any major threat."
Percy debated this in his head for a while. He didn't want to leave Annabeth ever, but it seemed like Zeus wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine," Percy relented, "I'll become this guardian thing on one condition. Can I get some powers or weapons or something? Something to help me survive this thing?"
The gods began discussing among themselves. Percy again stood their silently, hoping he wouldn't be thrust into this job without any help. Finally, they turned to him again. "Perseus, you said you wanted a power to help you. Do you have any ideas for this power?" Athena asked him.
That question stumped Percy. From extremely early in his childhood he had thought about what it would be like to have superpowers. Then, he learned that due to his godly blood, he pretty much had superpowers. Because of this, he hadn't thought about the question he faced in a long time, so he quickly sputtered out the first two things that came to mind, "Um, I don't have any specific preferences. Maybe some way to teleport from place to place so I can travel long distances easily. If that's not possible, maybe a way to fly or something, at least if Lord Zeus would allow me to."
The gods turned to each other and began discussing with each other again. They came to a consensus and turned to talk to Percy again. "We have decided to grant you with wings and the permission to fly in my domain." Zeus told Percy, with strain in his voice at the end.
"Wha-whoa, really?! Um, thanks, Lord Zeus!" Percy replied shocked. He didn't think he would actually receive anything, especially something like that.
Zeus snapped his fingers and Percy felt something warm go through him. Eventually the warm feeling settled to two parts on his back. Suddenly, a sharp pain, like a knife being inserted into him slowly, shot through the two points on his back. Large, black wings emerged from him, tearing off his shirt yet again.
"Hm, I meant for them to be white, but I suppose this works too." Zeus pondered. Hey, if the Christian God was allowed to create angels, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to!
Percy gave them an experimental flap and he rose off the ground by about half a foot. When he regained his footing, he thought to himself 'What if I'm out in the mortal world? I can't exactly walk around with huge wings without drawing a few eyes, even with the mist obscuring them.'
Zeus seemed to read his thoughts as he spoke, "Just concentrate on putting your wings away and they will retract into your back."
Percy tried doing this and was successful. "Thank you again Lord Zeus. I never thought I would be able to enjoy flying in my entire life."
Zeus simply smiled and nodded at Percy. "Now, unless someone else has a gift to present to Percy, I believe this meeting-"
"Wait! I would like to make Percy my champion!" Hestia interjected.
This was extremely surprising since Hestia was usually quiet and kept to herself and she had never had a champion before. Hestia turned to Percy and asked, "Percy, do you accept becoming my champion? As the goddess of the hearth, I offer you control over flames, and the ability to comfort the injured, both physically and mentally."
Percy was at a loss for words. He just stared at Hestia with amazement on his face. "Uh… wow, um… of course Lady Hestia. Of course I'll become your champion."
Hestia touched Percy's shoulder and another warm feeling passed through his body. His body glowed orange for a little bit before it died down. Percy felt stronger immediately. He looked up and the gods saw that his normal sea-green eyes now had soft flames that rippled through them, resembling the green glow of Greek fire. They looked calming, yet fierce, like a fire on snowy day mixed with a calm beach on a warm day. He held out his hand and concentrated on making a fire, and a small, blue ball of flame burst into his palm. "Okay, that is extremely cool. Thank you so much Lady Hestia!"
"No thanks is needed my champion, and just call me Hestia. You do not have to be formal with me."
"If that's what you wish… Hestia." Percy replied with a small smile.
"Alright, I believe this is the end of this meeting. Artemis, I want you to accompany Percy back to Camp Half-Blood. You can tell your hunters about the situation and Percy can tell his friends about his mission. If any of you hear anything new about this unus enim tenebris, report to me immediately. Council dismissed." Zeus concluded before flashing away in a burst of lightning. The other gods followed, with Hermes smiling at Percy, Ares scowling, Hephaestus nodding, Aphrodite winking, and the others ignoring Percy until only Percy, Artemis, Hestia, and Poseidon were left in the throne room.
Poseidon walked over to Percy and hugged him before whispering in his ear, "Be safe Percy. I will leave you a few gifts to help you during your mission. Make sure you tell your mother before you go."
"Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine," Percy replied reassuringly. Poseidon nodded and flashed away, leaving a scent of a sea breeze.
Hestia approached him next. "There are a few more powers that I did not want the rest of the council to know about at the moment. You can summon home-cooked meals just by concentrating on what you want and snapping your fingers. Also, you can control your fire and use it to teleport, much like how you can find me within any home's hearth. You can either use existing hearth's, such as the one here on Olympus or at Camp Half-Blood, or you can create your own… portal of sorts. To do this, just wave your hand in a circle while thinking about a certain location and walk through the portal that is created. It will take more of your energy depending on how far you travel." Hestia's further explanation of her blessing left Percy eager to experiment with his newfound powers, but he still listened on to the wise goddess's words.
"Try not to provoke the hunters too much and take care of yourself. I will see you soon, my champion." Percy nodded in reply before Hestia teleported away in a burst of flames.
Finally, Artemis approached him. "Don't think I am happy about this. While you are the male I respect the most, I would much rather have any number of girls on this mission or no 'guardian' at all. We will discuss what your duties will be once we are at the Hunt's camp. Now let's go. I want to get through explaining all this to my hunters as fast as possible." She said coldly before grabbing his shoulder and flashing out of the throne room.
(A/N) Much of my initial inspiration for this story came from the many popular "Guardian of the Hunt" stories on this website. I honestly love all of these stories, but I felt inspired to make my own interpretation that acknowledged the trope but also tried to subvert or avoid some of the common clichés. Of course, I couldn't help myself from indulging in others, so expect some of those to pop up like you saw in this chapter. Hope you like it!
Edited as of 8/9/18 - I hope you enjoyed this rebuilt chapter one. Not much has changed other than the battle on Half-Blood Hill, a few added lines of dialogue, and a bit more backstory on Percy's current emotional state at the very beginning.
Also, I reworked the "name" of the big-baddie, though its still mostly the same. Originally it was just a filler name since I hadn't decided who it would be, but now I worked in the filler-ness into the story (its what the monsters call the baddie, and since its so generic the gods need the hunters to figure out more information, giving better motivation for the whole guardian thing)
Thanks for reading!