Okay, onto the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of the related books.
Nico POV
Life is weird without Percy around. After Daniel showed up, I rarely went to camp, and only for short trips to visit Percy. Once Percy left, I stopped visiting altogether. It has been a little over 5 years since I last visited camp. I know his old "friends" are sorry for what they did to him. They want his forgiveness and another chance. I also know that Percy would forgive them if they asked for it. But I'm not him; I won't forgive them. Not yet.
As far as I know, I am the only person Percy ever has contact with. We talk maybe 3 or 4 times a year and so I knowhow he is doing and what he is up to. I'm happy for him, he found a place in the world where he can help people like he always wants to do without having to worry about betrayal and other bad things. Not even the gods know what happened to Percy. They don't know where he is or what he is doing.
Everyone knows that I know what happened to Percy. At first, no one cared when Percy left, then, slowly, people started missing him and regretting their actions. They wanted to get in contact with him and apologize. Since they knew that I never turned my back on him, they assumed I would be able to contact Percy. As if I would help them. Not even the gods have been able to get me to crack and spill Percy's secrets. After a few years, they came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't give away Percy's secrets and stopped pestering me about it. Except for Annabeth.
She refuses to leave me alone. She Iris messages me at least once a week asking me to put her in contact with Percy. Of all the people that have asked me to let them contact Percy, she is the LEAST likely of them to get the opportunity.
Anyhow, it's been several months since I last talked to Percy so hopefully one of these days he will contact me and I can talk to my best friend again. For now though, I'm heading out to the Fields of Punishment to make sure things are running smoothly.
Percy POV
My companion shook me awake. I got up and looked around. We had gotten quite a bit of rain last night, but it had let up by the time I was woken up. The air was thick with the rain that had fallen and the morning mist. I love cool moist air. It makes it easier to wake up and focus.
I was feeling much better now that the worst of the story was over and I had had a good nights sleep as well, so I got busy making breakfast. Once we were done eating, we packed up camp and continued our trek south. We still had about 20 miles to go, so we would reach the border sometime in the late afternoon or early evening.
These last couple days, as I was telling my story, my companion has been quiet. She ahs been talking to me much, probably worried about upsetting me or something, which was nice, but now I was feeling a bit better. With the worst of the story behind me, I was feeling more upbeat. More like my usual cheerful self.
As we walked, we talked about current events in the mortal world. These last several years, I have kept up with mortal affairs quite a bit more because as much as a love hiking through the wilderness and living away from people, it get a little lonely and you start losing touch with the people you are trying to protect. So, I spend maybe half of time with people, meeting strangers, watching news, walking through the cities and towns, even following sports. The rest of the time I spend out in the wilderness, watching nature and listening to the earth.
So my companion and I walked and talked, and the day progressed. We made our way towards the border making it 3-4 miles an hour. Around mid-afternoon I decided to continue my story, there wasn't much left to tell and the rest didn't make me sad, in fact, it made me quite happy.
"Hey," I said, getting my companions attention, "I'm feeling pretty good and I'm not patient enough to wait until tonight to continue my story, so listen up."
"Right before I left camp, I decided to leave a short note, just in case anyone wanted to know where I was. I wrote the note and left it attached to the door of the big house. It read: Hey guys, Percy here, I'm leaving camp. After seeing the last of my friends at camp abandon me for Daniel, this place is no longer home. I'm heading out to live in world. Hopefully you guys all have a good life and I hope Daniel turns out to be the great guy you all think he is. Bye.
"After leaving the note, I left camp and walked out into the wilderness. I spent the next couple of weeks avoiding people and cities and towns, but eventually I grew lonely. I wanted to at least SEE people again. So I headed into the city and walked the streets, I saw the news and continued walking. Late in the afternoon, the middle school I was walking next to got out. I watched the kids run past me and remembered how simple my life was before I found out I was a demigod.
"I turned to walk away, but as I turned, I saw some older looking kids pull a young kid who looked to be a sixth grader, into the alley behind the school. I'm not sure if you know this, but I HATE bullies. So naturally, I went to the alley to put a stop to the bullying, but what I saw wasn't eighth graders picking on a sixth grader, it was three lastrygonians (is that how you spell that? I hate spelling…) about to eat a young little demigod. Me being me, I pulled out Riptide and cut down the monsters before they could hurt the poor kid.
"The little kid, who was actually a young girl with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, turned to me looking completely stunned. 'W-w-what just ha-happened?' she stuttered out. 'Who are you, what were those things and why did they tell me I smelled like a demigod?' She asked, building momentum as she went. She was going to keep asking questions and getting more confused, so I cut her off and decided to answer her.
"'You look like a sixth grader, so you are what, 11? 12? Doesn't matter… never mind. Those were Lastrygonians and they are monsters. They said you smell like a demigod because one of your parents is a god. I know this is probably really confusing for you and I'm not real good at explaining these things, if you want more answers, I can take you to a safe place,' I said, without really thinking. Great, I thought, I just volunteered to take her to the place I just left… Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.
"She looked incredibly freaked out but answered me none the less, 'You mean there is a place I can go that will explain the things I see to me? And you will take me there? As long as you promise I won't get hurt you can take me there. Anywhere is better than my current life…,' she muttered the last part to herself, but I heard her anyways.
"I offered her my hand and responded, 'I promise. Now lets go before more monsters show up.'
"I didn't have any money, so we were going to have to walk to camp. It took us two days, but we eventually made it. I decided I would not go up the hill and into camp, but I pointed to Thalia's tree and told her that on the other side of the hill she would meet people who would be her friends and help her out. She nodded and reluctantly left me at the bottom of the hill as she climbed up and over. I never told her my name because I didn't want people to judge her for liking me.
"After she made it over the hill, I turned and walked away. Well, I tried to walk away anyways. I took a step and blacked out. When I came to, I was in outer space, looking down at Earth. I nearly shat myself.
"As I floated there freaking out, a voice next to me said, 'Don't worry, you are under my protection for now, you won't die up here.'
"I turned to the voice and saw a being. I'm not sure quite how to describe it, it was like a mass of energy in a humanoid shape, all black with what looked like galaxies and start floating throughout its body. It turned its head towards me and spoke again, 'Relax, Perseus Jackson, relax. I am not here to hurt you. Quite the contrary in fact. You have piqued my curiosity to a point no other human has before. You saved this planet numerous times and in return asked for next to nothing, just for the rulers to show respect towards each other and others. In return for your hard work, they abandoned you, yet you just now showed that you are still trying to help them anyways. It is most intriguing, most people would hate the gods and demigods and the world for turning on them after they did so much to help, but not you. You seem almost incapable of hatred towards this planet, so I have come to you with an offer.'
"'W-w-wait, who are you? And how do you know so much about me?' I asked the being.
"'Ah, you truly don't know who I am? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you never were the brightest crayon in the box… Anyhow, I am Chaos, creator of all and ruler of this universe. And as I said, I have an offer for you. Something I would like you to do for me.'
"I tried to bow before Chaos, but for some reason, I didn't seem to be able to move. Instead of fighting against these restraints, I decided to answer Chaos. 'It's an honor to meet you and I would bow before you, but I don't seem to be able to… Anyways, I would love to help you out, but what could I possibly do to help the most powerful force in existence?' I asked Chaos.
"'You see, Earth was the first world I created, and I had my children rule over it, but they were terrible rulers, as were there children the titans. The titans children, the gods, are decent rulers, but they aren't vey good when major problems arise. You saw that when Kronos tried to rise again and it took them years to finally admit he was rising and then they couldn't even work together until you convinced them to. Then again When Gaea started waking and reviving her children the giants, the gods closed themselves off from you demigods and once again tried to ignore the problem. I would like to intervene and help out with these conflicts, but I cannot, as I am too powerful, all I would do is freak out the gods and do major damage to the Earth. I want to have a guardian of sorts for the Earth, to protect it from danger and help out in times of dire need. The problem I have had is what type of being to have as the Earth's guardian. My children tend to end up evil, and I don't want to risk having more of those in the universe. No god would do, because I want to have the Guardian remain secret and the gods aren't good in times of crisis, as I pointed out. So I have been watching over Earth and waiting to see if any mortal being seemed suitable for the job. I was beginning to doubt that I would ever find a suitable person to the guardian, but then you were born. At first, I paid you no heed, not until you retrieved Zeus' masterbolt did I notice you. Then I watched you save your friends and the planet several times. You never wanted the attention; you just wanted to do what was right. I started to think that maybe you could do as the guardian of Earth and that once you died, I would see if you would accept the role. I figured that solved that problem for the time, but then your friends all abandoned you. I couldn't believe it, the perfect person to be the guardian and now he was probably going to become a ball of hatred. Luckily, I was wrong. Instead of hatred, you felt sadness and still did your best to help the planet. However, instead of waiting for you to die before offering you the position, since you no longer have a home or anywhere to go, I am offering you the job now. So, how would you like to become the Guardian of Earth?'
"I stood there blushing and thinking about what Chaos had just said. The most powerful being in existence was complementing me and asking me to help protect the world. I was a little stunned. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to talk again, but eventually I managed to respond, 'Um, thanks, but I had quite a bit of help saving the world and all, I didn't actually do that much… But if you really want me to be the guardian of Earth I will do it. What exactly does that job entail though? What do I have to do?'
"I think Chaos laughed at me as I tried to give the credit to others, but he continued looking at me and said, 'If you choose to become guardian of Earth, you will be granted a form of immortality where you can only die in combat. That means no old age, no diseases, poisons, and assassinations would be able to kill you. Your natural abilities will slowly grow over time until you are more powerful than the big three combined. The power gain will be gradual because if I gave you all that power at once, your body wouldn't be able to handle it. I will also hide you from the gods; it will be such that they won't be able to sense you at all unless you allow them to. Your job will be to wander the Earth and help those in need from unnatural enemies. You will protect mortals and untrained demigods from monsters and the such as well as take part in any future wars with the primordials or the titans. You will also be given some powers in addition to what you currently possess. You will be able to teleport like the gods do and you will have a sixth sense of sorts that will notify you of dangers and troubles that you should help out with. You will also be given a way to communicate with others without being tracked or notifying the gods of your actions. So, do you accept?'
"I thought about it for a few minutes, then realized that I shouldn't need to think about it, it sounded like just what I needed in order to move on and be helpful. 'I accept your offer and I will serve you and planet Earth for as long as I live.' With that, Chaos sent some weird energy wave into me and I passed out again.
"Well, this is unfortunate. I was almost done with my story, but now it seems we are going to have put off the ending for a little bit. We have arrived at our destination."
My companion turned to me and said, "Oh well, maybe you can finish your story tonight after we have had some dinner. For now though, what are we looking for?"
I turned to my right and looked towards the road, it seemed to be a pretty boring day here, not much traffic, not many people trying to leave Oregon or enter it. "I believe we are looking for a demigod. A powerful one as well. Young but powerful. I believe that it is a girl and she isn't more than 10 years old." I turned once more to check the cars for anything out of the ordinary that would require me to step in and help. I looked further up the road and saw a truck coming. It looked like an old pickup truck with a worn brown paint job and a loud engine. I sensed that the truck was a problem.
The truck was still two miles up the highway so I teleported myself into the bed of the truck and listened to the goings on on the inside. It sounded like a young girl was screaming at her someone to stop the truck and let her out. I heard a smack and the girl stopped talking. I was about to head back and tell my companion what was going on, but first the guy driving started talking.
"Heh, that will teach you to run away. That's the third time you have run off, so now I'm going to start punishing you seriously for it. I don't really like being stuck with you, but your mom died and I got stuck taking care of you and I'm going to make you work to pay me back for my kindness. Now, either you start respecting me, or I will beat the respect into you. Got it?"
Normally, I would take care of this problem immediately, but in situations like this, my companion likes to dish out her own punishment to the crude guys involved. I teleported back and told her the situation. "It seems like the young girl tried running away from an abusive relative that she got stuck with after her mother passed away. He hits her and it sounds like he is planning on beating her more now that she has ran away a few times," I told my companion. As I was telling her this, I could see the rage in her eyes build. She truly looked like someone to be feared and I knew that the poor guy was going to get a truly ugly ending. I almost felt bad for the poor guy until I remembered what he had done.
She pulled her bow off her back and knocked two arrows. As the truck was about to pass us, she let them go and both of the tires on our side of the truck went bad. I heard a scream of rage and watched as the truck pulled over to the side of the road. I looked at my companion and a silent understanding went between us. I would grab the girl and help her, while she would punish the mortal guy.
As soon as the guy got out of his truck to check the tires, I teleported myself into the truck with the girl, grabbed her, and teleported into the trees beyond where they had pulled over. Naturally, the girl freaked out and screamed.
"No, shhh, be quiet. I'm here to help you. I'm here to get you away from that man, is he your uncle or something?"
"Wh-who are you?" She asked me. She was looking at me completely scared. I felt bad for her; I knew what it was like having to live with a monster of man.
"My name is not important. I am here to help you and take you someplace safe. Okay? You need to trust me." I tried to help her relax a little, but it didn't seem to do much.
"No. I don't trust you. You're just going to hit me like Walter does. I know you are. Get away from me." She tried to run away but I wouldn't let her.
"I see you don't trust men. Okay, I know just what to do with you. I am going to send you to Lady Artemis. She will help you and give you a safe place to live away from all the terrible men in the world. Does that sound nice?" She seemed to calm down a little at that idea.
"That would be nice, but why would you want to help me? You're a man. And how are we going to get there? There aren't any vehicles around." This was good. She seemed to be calming down a little.
"Okay, here is what is going to happen: I am going to teleport you to Lady Artemis. You are going to tell her your story. Then you are going to tell her that you are a daughter of Zeus. She will then answer your questions and give you a safe place to live."
"I don't get it. What are you talking about?" She seemed quite flustered now, but there wasn't anything I could do to help her since she didn't like guys.
Instead of answering her, I used my mind and felt around the country trying to locate Artemis. Once I found her location, I teleported the young girl to her. I never even learned her name. Now that that part of my job was done, it was time to check up on the fate of the girls foster father Walter.
I walked back to the road and the sight wasn't pretty. I am not a fan of torturing people and gruesomely killing them, but if you make my companion mad, you will end up regretting it as you slowly and painfully die. Anyways, this guy wasn't looking very good and he was definitely dead. It appeared that has windpipe had been collapsed preventing him from breathing or talking or screaming, and that as he had slowly died from oxygen deprivation his limbs were snapped and joints were bent the wrong way. I didn't want to look at the body so I created a mini earthquake under his body that opened a crack for his body to fall through.
My companion turned to me and spoke, "What did you do with the girl?"
"She was having a hard time trusting me and said she hated men, so I sent her to Lady Artemis to join the hunt. Her father is Zeus so she should get along with Thalia alright and build good connections. She should be alright now."
"That's good. Lady Artemis should be able to provide a wonderful home for her. So, what now? Do we head into the nearest city, or are we going to wander through the wilderness some more?"
"I'm thinking we should spend one more night out here. I hardly ever get to spend time in these coastal forests and they are one of my favorite places to be, so one more night out here and then we head to a city. Somewhere. You get to choose next."
The two of us walked through the forest a ways until we found a nice clearing and set up camp. After seeing how Walter ended up, I wasn't that hungry so I went off to train for a little while.
After several hours, I came back to camp and saw that my companion had prepared dinner. We sat quietly and ate. After dinner, we sat down by the fire that she had started and watched the stars.
"Well, I guess I can continue my story now that today's adventures are over. This is the last part."
"After Chaos knocked me out or whatever, I woke up in a forest. Somewhere. I didn't know where I was or how long I had been out. I slowly stood up and stumbled around a bit trying to figure out what was going on. I thought back on what had happened and figured I had just had the strangest dream ever, except now for some reason, I felt like there was some reason I needed to travel west. I remembered Chaos had told me that one of my new powers would be to be able to sense where there was something I needed to protect, so I followed that sense to see if my meeting with Chaos really had happened or if I was just going crazy.
"After walking for several miles, I wound up in a campground. I followed my senses and as I got close to what I thought was my destination, I heard a scream and the sounds of destruction. I ran towards the commotion and found 3 hellhounds the size of a garbage truck shredding trees and chasing a young boy who looked to be maybe eight. I killed the hellhounds and approached the boy. He told me his foster parents had left him at the campground two days prior and he had been scared and running ever since then. Then a few hours ago, these monsters started chasing him and no matter where he ran to or hid, they always found him. I asked him if he wanted me to take him to a safe place. A place where there were more people like him and he could learn about the monsters that were chasing him. He said yes so I got ready to take him. Then I realized my problem.
"'Err, just out of curiosity, where exactly are we right now?' I asked him.
"He looked at me funny but told me, 'Beaver Dam state park. In Nevada.'
"Oh crap, I thought. How are we supposed to get to Long Island and Camp Halfblood? Then I remembered that Chaos had said I had the ability to teleport like the gods did, so I grabbed the boys shoulder and tried to focus on camp, with a bright flash of light, we disappeared from Nevada and reappeared In the middle of the camp. As soon as I realized where I was, I let go of the boy and teleported myself away. I didn't care where, just as long as it wasn't camp. Once more, with a bright flash of light, I disappeared.
"I reappeared in a meadow somewhere. I wasn't sure where. It had been a crazy day and I was exhausted. I lay down where I was and fell asleep. It was a nice sleep and I only had one short dream conversation with Chaos. Chaos told me I had done well and that I should practice my powers until I got used to them and that I should follow my senses. After that he left and my sleep was dreamless once more.
"The next day, my senses weren't pointing towards anywhere, so I figured that meant I had a day off, to train or do whatever. I decided to train. I spent the whole day teleporting and practicing my fighting. It felt as if my control over my powers had doubled already and my endurance was way higher than it had been so I was able to work for most of the day before I was to exhausted to continue.
"That night I collapsed on the ground and stared up at the stars. At first, I was thinking about Chaos and how he had created everything up there, it just made Chaos seem even more powerful, and for some reason, he had decided to give me immortality and power to protect one of his first creations. I was honored and hoped I wouldn't mess up.
"As I gazed at the start and thought though, my gaze travelled to a certain constellation. My favorite one because I knew its story and had been around when it was created. It was The Huntress. I stared up at the constellation and felt like I could relate to her. She had fallen in love with Hercules, but he had betrayed and left her just as I had once loved Annabeth but she had betrayed me. Zoë had been broken and abandoned and rescued by Artemis and then was able to live for 2000 years serving happily as Artemis' lieutenant. I had been abandoned and broken and given this new opportunity by Chaos to serve the world as a hero, my life was given a new purpose and I would do my best to not mess it up.
"As time went by, I followed my senses and saved demigods, mortals, even the occasional immortal. I never let them know my name, and in the case of the immortals, I never let them see my face. I continued training on days when my senses didn't send me anywhere and I spent time learning about the world I was now protecting.
"Every night, though, I found myself starting up into the stars. I was lonely, and I tried to find companionship by talking to the stars, especially my favorite constellation. I know it sounds crazy, but it helped fight off the loneliness I felt from being alone for so long. The only people I talked to from my past were Nico and my mother. Several times a year I would use my new communication method to talk to Nico. It was kind of like Iris Messaging, but it didn't require a rainbow or money. I just prayed to Chaos and a screen would pop for Nico and me. For my mother, I felt bad never visiting her, but I knew the second I showed up, the gods would be there to take me and I didn't want to deal with them, so once a month I would leave a letter on the doorstep for her. She began to figure out my pattern so she started leaving letters for me to pick up as I dropped off a letter. It was nice. But even with the communication I did have, I was lonely.
"One night about five years after I had started being the guardian of Earth, I was laying on my back watching the stars. I was feeling lonelier than normal because I just had helped sibling demigods reach camp safely. They always had someone with them and I was jealous of the fact. So I stared at the stars wishing I didn't have to be so lonely, when I felt something lay down next to me. I looked over and was surprised to see Chaos there.
"'What's bothering you?' Chaos asked me.
"'Nothing much, I'm just kind of lonely being the Guardian of Earth and all. I enjoy it, I just wish I had a friend to travel with.' I looked up into the stars again and found myself staring at The Huntress.
"'Well, I suppose if you really want I can allow someone to travel with you, but who do you want? You don't have many friends from your old life.'
"'I know. Just Nico and my mother. I would ask Nico, but he has his own life to live. I enjoy talking to him occasionally, but he is needed to help in the underworld and work with his father so I can't just ask him to join me, that would be selfish.'
"'Hmm, you are right. That would be a little selfish. So what do you want to do then?'
"'I'm not sure.'
"What are you staring at so intently? This whole conversation you have been fixating on one point up in the sky. What is it?'
"I pointed up to the constellation I was looking at and said, 'that constellation. The Huntress. Her name was Zoë Nightshade and she was the lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis for 2000 years before she died. She had a similar life to me. She was betrayed by the one she loved and her family disowned her. Artemis found her broken and sad and offered her a place in the hunt. Her life was given new meaning and she spent 2000 years living her new life. I only knew hew for a week, but I feel like I can relate to what she went through so I every night I talk to the constellation and it helps me feel less lonely.'
"'You know, if you want, I can ask her if she wants to join you. No one would force her to, but she could get a new life and help you with your job. If you want me to, I could ask her spirit for you and see what she says. How about that?'
"'Really? You could do that? That would be nice. Although she kinda hates men so she will probably say no, but it would be great if you would at least give her the choice.'
"After that short conversation, Chaos left. I was tired but before I fell asleep, I asked Zoë if she would be willing to work with me to help protect the Earth.
"About a week later as I was cooking myself dinner, I felt another presence appear right next to me. I looked over and saw the sleeping for of Zoë Nightshade."
Okay, so this chapter is really long. I should probably divide it into two chapters, but I'm too lazy to do that. Hopefully you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, well, I'm sorry.
Anyhow, don't expect all the chapters to be this long. Most of them will be closer to 2000 words. Probably. This chapter is 5600 words.
Remember to tell me any ideas you have for this story because sometimes you people can think of things that I wouldn't think of and it could make the story better.
Also, if there are any POV's you want, let me know and I will try to throw them in. Next chapter is going to be Zoë POV for part of it.