Chapter 2 - The Kidnapper and his Survey

Well here's a new chapter for everyone! I'm amazed at how many followers I've gotten so far, thank you everyone! I'm really proud of how this chapter turned out. It took quite a bit of editing and reviewing but I am happy with the final product. Hope it brightens everyone's' Monday!

As always, thank you to my Betas: HogwartsDreamer113, keiman and kei, Ten-Thousand-Lilies, and Paradigm of Writing. Those four are the best Betas I could ask for. Without them, I wouldn't be able to give you a story of this quality. Two of them go over my grammar and the other two help me keep the plot straight.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.

I woke up groggily to find myself strapped to a chair with the rays from the sunrise shining on me. They barely broke through the heavy foliage. Shaking my head to clear my vision, I immediately tried to move my limbs but they refused to budge. I forced myself to breathe evenly as I struggled to concentrate. Okay, if I couldn't get free, the next step was to assess my surroundings. Looking around more carefully, I realized I was in the middle of a small campsite. I didn't recognize the clearing from my run, but a small campfire was burning right in front of me. It must have kept me warm the night before. I also assumed it was the reason that I dirt in a small ring around me instead of snow. The dirt itself was a rich dark color and seemed to blend in with a small, black two-man tent that lay pitched just to my left.

Confused, I shook my head again. A monster wouldn't have a tent. Warily, I looked to my right only to see trees and more shadows. I clenched my fists. I needed to get free before my kidnapper could get back. If my kidnapper wasn't a monster than they had to be a demigod or a mortal; or much worse, an actual god. I started struggling against the ropes only to find them firmly tied. In an attempt to see if there was any tools nearby I could use I tried to crane my neck to see behind me. Unfortunately, the chair was high backed and blocked my sight. I only heard a strange bubbling sound.

I rocked my chair back and forth as I cursed my stupidity. I had left Riptide at a statue dedicated to Zoȅ when I had decided I didn't want anything to do with Olympus. I only had a dagger which, after a quick glance down, I realized had been taken. My mind searched for a way to escape when my eyes fell on the fire. My ADHD mind came up with one stupid idea; I could burn the rope.

Struggling, I tried to bounce the chair to the fire and managed to successfully move it closer. Here was the hard part. Bracing my tied leg to the ground I started to lower myself to the fire when I got stuck.

Yes. I, Percy Jackson, former hero of Olympus, got my foot stuck underneath a rather large log. The log itself had been placed atop the burning branches in a feat of amazing balance but a branch must have snapped; it had fallen with horrible timing. I mentally face-palmed and cursed the fates. I tried to raise the log with my foot, but it refused to budge. Not knowing what to do, I just stared at the fire.

"Wow mate. You must be long gone if you're willing to burn the ropes." The young voice from last night came from behind me in an English accent.

In my surprise, the chair slipped and I plunged toward the fire with a yelp. My momentum was halted as a hand grabbed the chair and hauled it back to its starting position. I followed the hand up its arm to find a boy no older than fourteen grinning at me.

"Besides, it's not going to work. The rope is made out of celestial bronze interwoven with silver. Your average weapon isn't going to be able to cut it, much less a fire burn through."

I stared at the boy in confusion and then narrowed my eyes in anger as I noticed his eyes seemed to glow slightly giving away the fact he was a god.

"Let me go Hermes. Or are you Apollo in your kid form? I don't want anything to do with you Olympians anymore. I especially do not want to hear a haiku."

The boy reeled back and his cherubic face crinkled in confusion. "A go-? Ohhhh the eyes." I ignored him and tried to get free but he placed his hands on my shoulder. "I am not a god."

I shook my head stubbornly, "I don't care who you are. Let me go or else I'll-"

"You'll what? Stab me?" He interrupted smoothly and, with—I suspected—a little amusement. He reached into the jeans he was wearing and pulled out my dagger. He tossed it to the ground in a mocking fashion. I glared even as he scratched his head. "Look. Here's the deal. I'll let you go if you don't try to run away or attack me."

I nodded rapidly and I must've done it too enthusiastically because the boy sighed. "I swear on the River Styx that I will not harm you unless you attack me first or try to run away." Thunder boomed overhead as I gawked at the fact the boy had sworn an oath on the River Styx so quickly. He shrugged and looked at me uncaringly. "What? It's your turn."

I hesitated and then spoke, "I swear on the River Styx not to try to run away or harm you unless you attack first," I paused and then grinned triumphantly, "For the next 5 minutes."

The boy stared back impassively and shrugged. "As soon as you try to run away I'll knock you out and we'll be back at square one."

He reached behind the chair and untied me before walking to a table and a camping chair that had been out of sight behind me. He must've been there the whole time.

"You were watching me?" I said in an attempt to distract him and get over my surprise at his confident response.

The boy shrugged, "Of course. I couldn't let you fall into the fire due to your idiocy."

I recoiled, and then glanced to where my dagger had been thrown to the ground only to find it gone. I blinked. How had he picked it up without me noticing? I looked up again to see the boy rummaging among the myriad of items on the table. He grabbed a stack of papers and brought them to me. "For you to fill out."

I looked down to see the stack was labeled 'Survey'. "What?"

"It's a survey. You fill it out," The boy said slowly from his new spot by the table. He stood before a lit camp stove on which a pot emitted the bubbling sound I had heard earlier. I now recognized it as boiling water. He threw me a pen which I caught out of reflex as he started to drop ingredients in. I just stared.

"You don't get any food till it's completed."

I scowled even as my stomach growled. I debated my options. Fight or flee? Or, in this case, fill out a survey. I groaned; I was very hungry. I hadn't eaten for the past few days. With a huff I looked around for a place to sit and sighed when I realized I'd have to sit in the chair I'd been tied to. I sat down in it and started going through the papers.

Twenty minutes later I threw down the papers in annoyance as I turned to the boy, "Seriously! You kidnap me to fill out a survey! Who are you?"

The boy calmly handed me bowl of stew and brought his chair closer to the fire and sat down. He took the papers and looked over them frowning. "Wow, very mature. You filled out your name as Aphrodite Pegasus. Hey! You scribbled out everything!"

I smiled sinisterly as the boy's face finally made an expression; one of annoyance.

"Do you know how much effort I put into making this?"

I shrugged. I didn't care. I had nothing to care for. "Answer my questions first."

The boy looked at me with narrowed eyes as I started eating. He threw the papers in the fire and frowned. Pulling out a pad of paper, he checked off something before looking at me carefully. It gave me a chance to fully study him as I ate the surprisingly good soup.

The boy was about 5'4, a full head under me, and wore a pair of faded jeans and a black leather aviator jacket over a red t-shirt. The jacket was actually quite form fitting and revealed a lean build. He had brown mussed hair that was rather limp, as if he spent a lot of time in a hot place like a forge. His eyes were a light brown and seemed to emit a glow of their own, though the glow was becoming less noticeable as the sun came up. His face had taken a turn from its usual impassiveness and he started to smile widely at me. I shifted, slightly uncomfortable at his gaze. The boy suddenly reached into his jacket and threw me my dagger. I caught it with surprise and stared at him. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

"So Perseus Jackson, you don't want to take the survey I made you. I guess it is better that we actually talk about what's happening." I started as he said my name. "My name is Thomas Faynor. I am the cursed assassin."

My confusion at the fact he knew my name disappeared as I racked my head, struggling to remember the name Faynor; I had heard it somewhere.

"Beckendorf may have mentioned me."

"How do you know Beckendorf?" I whispered, forgetting the food I was eating. These were unpleasant memories we were traveling toward.

"Well I should know him. I'm his half-brother."

I shook my head and said with confidence, "There are no campers with the name Thomas."

"I haven't attended camp…for nearly three-hundred and fifty years."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

Thomas sighed. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought; and I had half a century to prepare." He pulled out the same pad of paper and flipped through it. He stopped at one page and began. "I was born in the year 1652 as a son of Hephaestus-"

"Wait! Beckendorf did say something about someone with the last name Faynor!" I stared warily at Thomas and edged out of my seat slowly and gripped the dagger. If he was who he really was… "You're the fire user who started the Great Fire in London."

"Forget it." Thomas threw down the pad of paper and looked at me in the eye. "I swore an oath not to harm you and I need you to listen to me. I have things I need to tell you about."

As he spoke, an aura seemed to grow around him and I felt, for one of the few times in my life, fear. His eyes seemed to grow brighter and aged. Behind them I didn't see a boy anymore; I saw a man with years of experience. I gripped my dagger tightly but gave a small nod as I poised to run.

"Yes. I did start the Great Fire, and it's a mistake I regret to this day. But unless you want to doom potentially everyone and everything you come into contact with, you will listen to me and not try to run away. Or maybe you do want to go mad."

I stopped just as I was about to take off. The phrase of dooming everyone I met didn't really matter to me much anymore, but I'm pretty sure going mad is bad, even for me. I gave him a small nod, albeit confusedly. Thomas rubbed his forehead. "Where do I start with this? I am, as I told you, the cursed assassin. In that I have the Assassin's curse. Have you heard of it?"

I shook my head.

"It started with early Greece when a demigod, son of Hades, was asked by his father to become an assassin for him. He would gift him with powers in return. Hades wanted his son to be able to bypass the old laws–well, actually, they were rather new then–so that he could kill mortals or demigods who had found ways to cheat death or who were going against him in general."

"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued against my will.

Thomas stared me in the eye. "I kill people who abuse power. People like Hitler, for example, were killed by me as the cursed assassin." I gawked but he continued. "No one should cause as much pain as he did Perseus. Continuing on though. The son of Hades, whose name was Belpus, became addicted to his calling and the powers it gave him; dangerously so. He neglected his family. Eventually, he was called on a mission but was given a warning by Hectate not to go. She warned him that his wife, a daughter of hers, and his children would be killed if he left. Belpus ignored her and sacrificed his family."

Thomas stared into the fire. "He was cursed, cursed to lose all that he loved. As a result he also lost his beloved powers. In his anger and spite he figured out how to transfer the curse upon his death. He gave it to a daughter of Hectate. The curse has since been passed on and on; going through mortals and half-bloods alike. The victim loses everything that he or she loves and cherishes. When their predecessor dies, the full might of the curse passes on them. They start to go mad."

I was horrified as Thomas described the curse and then it dawned on me. "No…"

Thomas looked at me sadly, "I am sorry Perseus. I wasn't sure if you were the next one destined to receive the curse, but the past few weeks have proved it to me."

"You mean…"

Thomas shook his head. "I don't know for sure. The curse affects everyone differently. But yes, you are to receive the Assassin's curse after I die. Many years before I received the curse, a son of Athena decided to seek out the person destined to be given the curse next. He never was able to, but left behind potential designs for a machine that could. On a side note, he also figured out many other details previously unknown about the curse. Luckily, a son of Hephaestus was the next in line and found the designs and built the machine. Thus a cycle began. The cursed would train the next victim into their powers and as a result, the following assassins went less mad as they started to realize what was happening."

I looked at Thomas hoping that this was all a joke. "Is this all true?"

"I swear it on the River Styx."

My body deflated as I buried my head in my hands. From what I understood, the recent events of my life were due to a curse put on a stranger who lived thousands of years ago. It didn't matter though; the events had happened. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Thomas standing beside me.

"I am truly sorry Perseus. I wouldn't wish this on anyone." He gestured to himself. "When I was told about the curse I had lost my family a year before and didn't have the heart to return to camp. I journeyed to England and wandered the streets. My predecessor continued to warn me but I refused to believe. At that time, I had fallen in love with a girl. Even though I was rather young at the time I knew there was something special."

Thomas choked. "I caused her death. If I had believed the previous assassin she might not have died. You see, when the assassin dies, the previous memories of all the cursed go to the new victim. That's what drives many mad. Warriors who were great enough to be written down in legends faded from history as they descended into sorrow; and who wouldn't? When the loss of a hundred lifetimes comes upon you and you don't know why, you drown in the memories. They suck you in and you're trapped in a never ending circle of pain. The son of Athena was different. He was able to get past the memories of loss and accessed the rest of the others. He started to train to overcome the curse; learning all he could. He eventually came to realize it as a blessing and discovered several new abilities."

He paused to take a few deep breaths. "My predecessor died the day of the Great Fire and I lost control of my powers as the memories assaulted me. It was the worst day of my life."

I stared at Thomas and, for the first time since we had met a few hours before, I felt a semblance of respect. We remained in silence for a few minutes before I spoke up.

"What happens now?"

"I train you. Your powers have a lot of potential Perseus."

"Please, call me Percy."

He grinned, "Percy it is then."

I stood up and held out my hand. He carefully grasped it and shook it. "Percy Jackson. It's nice to meet you."

He hesitated, "Thomas Faynor. Same."

"You know, you didn't really need to knock me out." I said with a laugh.

A wide smile broke on his face, "I didn't know how you would react. I need to go check on some things. I'll give you time to think."

As he walked away he suddenly turned around, "Oh! I almost forgot!" He reached into a bag beside the table and pulled out a book and a small box. These are for you."

"What are they?"

He held up the small box, "Inside is a ring designed by the original assassin himself. He actually made two pairs. They hide your true presence from the Gods. The book is my own work. You'll need to read it. Although, you can skip the first ten chapters since you're a half-blood."

I took the two gifts and set the ring aside as I stared at the book. The cover read:

New to the World of Myths?

For Mortals □

Half-bloods □

Mercenaries □

Your Guide to:

Monsters □

Gods □

With each of the boxes having a checkmark in them. I stared once more at Thomas who shrugged in response. "It'll give you much needed information. I've never actually shown it to anyone… except for Pallas. Tell me what you think."

"Wait! Who's Pallas?"

"Not important right now. Just think and read. I'll be back in an hour or so and we'll pack up."

"What? Where are we going?"

"Why on a field trip of course!" he replied with a wide, almost crazed smile on his face before he disappeared into the forest.

What'd you think? To those who thought the 'voice' was Khione, (SPOILER AHEAD)well it'll be a few chapters till she shows up...I really want to give you guys a unique story so I have my own plans to implement. Favorite! Follow! And as always, please send me a review of what you thought! I love reading them! Hope everyone has a good day!

Next Chapter - Thomas Burns Down his 'Safe'house

~TyFighter