Percy never really understood unconditional love. He always loved his mother, and he's crazy about Annabeth. The thought of losing either of them would just gut him. However, now that his sister Estelle is in his life, he truly understands.

The newborn baby hasn't done anything remarkable to warrant his affection of her. When she came home from the hospital wrapped snuggly in one of Percy's old baby blankets he just knew he would protect her no matter what. Percy has made many promises to protect his family and no matter how many times he seemed to fail, he would keep this one no matter what.

Weeks later Percy realized that this feeling would be so much stronger when had his own child with Annabeth. He hoped to have a daughter just as amazing as Estelle.

Percy's favorite activity to do with Estelle is taking her through Central Park. Her eyes light up at all the people and things passing by. When a dog passes them by, she always stretches her hands out to pet them, giggling as loud as can be.

After spending the school year away from camp he desperately needed to spend the summer training. He could feel his body and senses weakening and the mandatory gym class every day was not cutting it.

Now that the summer session is over, Percy was excited to spend time at home with his family. As soon as dinner was over his first night he decided to take Estelle on a short walk before the sun went down.

Luckily for them, the streets were fairly empty except for the large mastiff sleeping in one of the yards they passed. Percy thought it was strange a dog that large wasn't chained to a tree.

When the two had walked a few blocks, Percy noticed how tired Estelle was getting. She let out a rather loud yawn for a six month old. "Are you getting tired, Essy?" Percy asked her, speaking in the most embarrassing baby voice. Estelle tried her best to look at her brother, but then she turned her focus on her plastic ring toy. Percy smiled to himself, content with how his small break before school was going.

And of course Percy's luck never lasts. Honestly, he was surprised the summer had gone as well as it did. Nothing happened other than Annabeth getting a small cut on her arm during sword practice. Not like she hasn't experienced worse. But to Percy, a monster attack now is higher on his shit list than the last few years of his life combined.

The mastiff they saw earlier was no mortal's dog. A hellhound that was easily the size of a dump truck, much bigger than Mrs. O'Leary, jumped from it's earlier position. It's fangs barred, the monster definitely caught Percy's scent. It seemed smarter than the average hellhound as it waited for Percy to come near it before revealing itself.

Percy immediately uncapped Riptide, prepared to protect his sister no matter what. How he would do so was a difficult task. He couldn't leap forward and attack head on if there were more monsters waiting behind.

Estelle was now crying, feeling the absolute terror her older brother had felt to some extent since he was twelve. Percy knew his first step should be unlocking her from the stroller and leaving it behind. He'd have to fight one-handed. When he moved his hand forward, keeping his eyes locked on the hellhound, it began snarling and dragging its front paw along the ground.

It was going to pounce soon.

His instincts kicked in. Percy abandoned Estelle and dived into the street, rolling to a kneeling stance and slashed out in hopes he'd end this fight quickly. Riptide struck it's target. The hellhound staggered backward with golden dust falling from a gash on its snout. Nowhere near a killing blow.

Percy got to his feet just as the monster was on him again. It repeatedly tried to sink its teeth into Percy as he swung wildly with his sword, forcing him to back further and further away from Estelle.

Percy couldn't keep an eye on his sister while adequately defending himself. From her screaming he could tell it was just the two of them and the monster in front of him.

Seeing a slim chance to strike, Percy takes a risk and swings Riptide in a harsh strike to the left. Unfortunately, he misses causing him to stumble and lose his footing. The hellhound swings its head, nailing Percy in the side and throwing him into the side of a car.

Instead of attacking again, the beast turns its attention onto Estelle. Seeing this, Percy screams in hopes to get the attention on him once more. The monster sees an easier snack and ignores Percy. Now, too far away, he has no choice but to use his powers. Percy feels the familiar tug in his gut before the ground behind him splits open to reveal the water pipes of a nearby house. Torrents of water threw the hellhound off-balance, pushing it down the road towards their house. The opposite direction Percy wants.

Estelle was now between him and the monster with no way of changing their position to keep her safe. He couldn't charge forward to put her behind him because then he'd be absolutely blind to her safety. Though he'd been fighting risky the entire time, he knew he had to take it a step further.

If only Annabeth were here, he thought to himself. Though sore and tiring fast, the son of Poseidon got to his feet. Sword in hand, he walked to the middle of the road and stared his foe down. "Come on!" He yelled, anger fueling him now.

What he intended came true when the hellhound made its final charge, passing Estelle without a second look. Percy took inspiration from his first fight with the Minotaur. He wouldn't have the benefit of a rainstorm to help him this time. The hellhound lowered its head, trying to slam into him with as much force as possible.

Percy waited, standing firm as the beast came ever closer. At the last second he jumped into the air as high as he could and came down with his sword held above his head.

He didn't know whether this strike would kill or not, but he knew the strike would buy him time to escape. Riptide sunk deep into the monsters back causing it to howl in pain as it fell to the ground.

Percy jumped from the monster's back and hit the ground running. He could hear the monster still howling in pain, so much so he knew the wound would eventually kill it. Some monsters weren't evil, they just wanted food, but Percy couldn't stick around to put it out of its misery.

Leaving Riptide behind, Percy grabbed Estelle from her stroller and sprinted down the road as fast as he could. If another monster attacked before his pen reappeared in his pocket he'd be defenseless with his sister in his arms.

Percy looked over his shoulder many times on the way home and when Riptide came back to his pocket he felt somewhat relieved. Estelle had stopped screaming, but had cried the entire time and Percy couldn't blame her.

When he finally climbed the steps to his house, Percy collapsed against the closed front door. After taking a deep breath, he called out for his mother, "Mom! Come here!"

Sally was in her study, probably working on her new novel, but came running when she heard Percy call for her. Worry was evident in her eyes when she saw her children. "What happened?" She gasped as she took her daughter out of Percy's arms.

"Monster attack. She's safe." Percy breathed out. The fight wasn't anymore tiring than anything else he had done, but the emotional drain was too much for him. He could feel the weight of his eyelids growing. He tried to stand back up, hoping to find some nectar or ambrosia, but his mom stopped him before he could get up.

"Oh, no, mister, you stay there." Sally commanded. Paul was now in the hallway, confused at the scene before him. Sally put their child in his arms and, as if she read Percy's mind, ran off to get the godly food Percy desperately wanted.

"Tartarus wasn't as bad as this..." Percy grimaced as he clutched his side. As the adrenaline wore off, he was pretty sure he bruised a few ribs at least.

"What was that, honey?" Sally asked as she came back with a small baggie of ambrosia.

"Nothing, mom." Percy said as he reached for the brownie-like squares. Sally clearly didn't believe him, but once she saw him eat she turned her attention to her daughter.

Percy wasn't as excited to have his own children after that night.