Author's Note: This is an alternate universe story. The first few chapters might be similar to the books with only a few minor changes underlined. But as we progress further, the story line will change more drastically. This is my first story , so it might not be that good. Constructive Criticism would be appreciated, no flames please.

The Son of Hades

Ch 1: HellBoy

As Percy moved forward to attack the child, a wall of darkness bowled him over. He found himself being squashed under a ton of hairy butt. He sniffed and gagged as the smell almost knocked his nose off. Suddenly the weight lifted off him and he started taking huge gasps of fresh air as he struggled to get up. He found himself drenched and the smell didn't suggest it was water. He turned around and came face to snout with his assailant, a huge hellhound. He immediately uncapped his pen Riptide and slashed downward but a shrill voice echoed, "Stop!" Percy stopped himself just in time. Any further and he would have turned the hellhound into a pile of sheesh kebab. He backed away and saw Nico to his left and gasped. There was a holographic bronze helmet hovering over his head. "You summoned this?" asked Percy, quite forgetting to, in his shock, to kneel in front of the son of the lord of the Underworld. Nico nodded uncertainly and said, "I think so". He patted the hellhound and sent it back announcing, "Back, Mrs O' Leary!" Percy was going to inquire further when he saw that he, Bianca and Nico were the only ones standing in a sea of kneeling campers, hunters and a white stallion with his latin teacher's body. He quickly knelt as Chiron announced "All hail Nico and Bianca di Angelo children of Lord Hades!"

At dinner that night, Percy saw Nico sitting alone at the head table along with a very disgruntled Mr D and Chiron in his wheelchair form. He kept shooting Bianca, at the hunter's table, furtive looks. Percy was tempted to join him but it was against camp rules and he didn't fancy being turned into a dolphin. After humiliating himself at capture the flag he naturally fought with Thalia. Then...

Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. Percy'd never heard him sound so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around their feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

None of them dared move. Then her voice hissed inside Percy's head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle regarded Percy with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. Percy saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one may perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as they were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

Of course, Percy and Grover were elected to carry the oracle back to the attic. Soon, a council of cabin leaders was called. Percy got his butt downstairs to the rec room.

Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical," said Chiron ". We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," Percy said.

Everybody looked at me. Thalia even forgot to ignore me.

"We're supposed to have five," Percy said, feeling self-conscious. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."

"Percy is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

Beckendorf said "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"Ok," Travis said. "We have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?" She sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

"And for campers?" Chiron asked.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered. I didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoe thought it was a good thing.

"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

It suddenly occurred to Percy that they'd reached the number five, and he wasn't in the group. "Whoa, wait a sec," he said. "I want to go too."

Thalia said nothing. Chiron was still studying me, his eyes sad.

"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean… I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."

"He cannot," Zoe said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"You traveled here with me," he reminded her.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I have to go," Percy said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

"No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

"So be it," he said. "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."

Instead of going to dinner, Percy remained in his cabin.

He stood at the saltwater spring, rubbing a coin in his hand and trying to figure out what to say to his mom. He really wasn't in the mood to have one more adult tell him that doing nothing was the greatest thing he could do, but he figured his mom deserved an update.

Finally, he took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.

"Show me Sally Jackson," he said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And there in the mist was a scene he did not expect. His mom was sitting at their kitchen table with some… guy. They were laughing hysterically.

He was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, his mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice his Iris-message.

The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?"

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

"Mom!" Percy said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on me. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

She blinked. "Homework." Then she seemed to understand the look on his face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul—um, Mr Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

"Mr Blowfish?"

"Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong. He told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.

His mother's eyes teared up. He could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. "Oh, Percy…"

"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home."

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"—she sighed like she was mad at herself—"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

Percy stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."

"You're… you're telling me to go?"

My mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that… you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."

"Mom—"

The toilet flushed down the hall in our apartment.

"I don't have much time," my mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you'll do what's best for Annabeth."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she'd do the same for you."

And with that, his mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving him with one final image of her new friend, Mr Blowfish, smiling down at her.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but woke with a start. He was sure he'd heard a loud banging. He stared at the door for a second and then: BANG BANG!

Someone, or something, was pounding on the door. He grabbed Riptide and got out of bed.

"Hello?" he called. THUMP. THUMP. He crept to the door.

He uncapped the blade, flung open the door, and found himself face-to-face with a black pegasus.

Whoa, boss! Its voice spoke in Percy's mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. I don't wanna be a horse-kebab!

Its black wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted me back a step,

"Blackjack," he said, relieved but a little irritated. "It's the middle of the night!"

Blackjack huffed. Ain't either, boss. It's five in the morning. What you still sleeping for?

"How many times have I told you? Don't call me boss."

Whatever you say, boss. You're the man. You're my number one. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw Nico coming out from behind the Pegasus. I asked him, "What the hell are you doing here?"

He took out a blade, black as coal and it glinted wickedly in the moonlight.

"I really need to stay away" whinnied Blackjack as he cowered away from the two swords.

"I just came from a visit to my father," said Nico as he sheathed his blade. "Stygian Iron, a gift from Dad. You're going anyway aren't you?"

"I..," Percy stuttered.

"It's okay, I won't tell Chiron," assured Nico.

"Thank the gods," Percy said.

"I'm coming with you," said Nico.

He snapped his fingers and Mrs O' Leary appeared out of nowhere.

Immediately Blackjack took flight and ran away.

Percy looked back at my comfortable bed. His bronze shield hung on the wall, dented and unusable. And on his nightstand was Annabeth's magic Yankees cap. On an impulse, he stuck the cap in his pocket. He had a feeling that he wasn't coming back to his cabin for a long, long time.