Chapter Seven
Zoe watched as Percy laughed and played with the children in the park. He pushed a little girl on a swing and gave piggy back rides to the younger boys and girls. Many mothers or sisters kept a close eye on the young man in jeans, playing with their children.
Percy caught Zoe's eye and smiled in a way that made her breath catch. This was something that they rarely indulged in, a carefree afternoon, where Percy seemed normal, but if someone knew him as well as Zoe did, you would see the tense muscles in his shoulders or the look in his eyes, the eyes of a solider that saw battle and never properly recovered from it.
Percy walked over to Zoe and took her into his arms. He sighed, this was important, grounding himself in the love he knew they shared, keeping him human and reminding himself of his humanity.
He knew that no one would truly understand the love he had created with Zoe, it wasn't the happily ever after, ride off into the sunset that once upon a time he could have had with Annabeth. Their love was something deeper, it was forged in Tartarus, where pride and ego had been stripped from them.
His parents had trained them in gruesome ways. Zoe was brought back to be his anchor but they had to forge a bond first and Erebus had been merciless. He threw them into the deepest parts of the pit and left them on their own, their relationship had been forged with blood, sweat and tears.
There were no heroic deeds or quests or saving anyone like with Annabeth, there was only survival. They loved each other more than anything, more than his parents had expected, because they finally saw life in the same way. A warrior is born and he fights for what he believes in until he dies, no matter the cost. Death was not something that they were afraid of, in fact, it was embraced because for people like them, death was the only time when rest would come.
Percy took Zoe to a park bench overlooking the park. "Its been a long time since we did this." she said.
Percy put his arm around her shoulders, "The last time we did this was shortly after leaving Aaron."
Zoe smiled, "The pack and the hunters. Are you sure you want the two groups to meet?"
Percy tugged on a strand of her hair, "I am sure. It will ease the Gods minds to have the hunt look after the pack, however those plans will not come yet. I believe we will eventually have to go back to camp but again not in the near future. We have much to work on before we reveal ourselves once again."
Zoe's eyes sparkled with mischief, "Luna and Winter?"
Percy chuckled, "Winter is the name of my alter-ego and you need a name that no one will recognize. Artemis will throw a tantrum when she figures out you're alive and we don't have time for that right now. Besides, we needed to be able to call you something."
Zoe leaned into his embrace, "You know something." she stated.
Percy looked into her beautiful eyes, "I never could keep anything from you. I believe that the awakening of the seasons will awaken the horseman. Tartarus meant to awaken Winter and corrupting him was to him just a bonus, his true goal was to awaken one of the horseman."
Zoe wrinkled her nose, "Why would it work like that? I thought it was Gaia who awakened them. Why would you even think that?"
Percy pulled her closer, "Balance Zoe. Everything works with a balance. Winters powers are used to destroy evil and pave the way for new life. Death, War, Conquest and Famine, the four horsemen. Winter has awoken in me and so has Conquest."
Zoe's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure he is awake?"
Percy just nodded his head and continued, "His armies search for a way to awaken the others. I would like to find the other three seasons before Conquest finds something else to awaken his buddies. Gaia may have awoken them or at least tried too but we don't know if she succeeded however when someone of great power awakens it isn't long after that the villain makes an entrance. It is possible that the Horsemen are waking because a season awoke first, now they come to challenge us."
Zoe understood the balance. It was always something that would even the scales, in the two wars it was Percy that evened the scale, the reason for the balance was simple, the fight against evil can never be won but must always be fought.
"Who are the other three seasons?"
Percy shook his head, "I do not know and I don't know what to do about it either. If I can't find the seasons then whatever Conquest plans I plan on giving him hell for it."
Zoe laughed, in other words, he was going to cause mass chaos for his enemies until he figured out a way to identify the seasons.
"What now?" she asked as Percy stood up. "Now we go back and rejoin our pack. We have much to do before they are ready to leave Alaska."
The group of people that Percy created called themselves The Pack. Lady Hemera, had taught them one thing, a warriors duty only ends in death. She hid them in Alaska, but their training was left to Percy. Percy found these people by accident, far away from New York, where no one would find and lead them to camp. They were on their own, surviving monsters and the elements.
They fought their own battles and earned their place in the group by their skills. Lady Hestia had noticed the hope in these demigods when they found others like themselves. She gave her blessing to the group to create their home and decided to be their patron goddess, she led Aaron to other demigods once Percy left them. She was the only one who knew the truth about the Hero of Olympus. Percy had trained Aaron, son of Mars, and left him in charge of the group, while he attended to business in Tartarus.
Aaron was sparring with Arai, daughter of Enyo, and the girl was vicious in battle. Her favourite weapon, looked like a staff but had two blades at each end, a double bladed ninja sword.
She had a thin tiny body that allowed her to move with the speed of a snake. He finally managed to disarm her but she went into a full split and swept his legs out from under him. He landed hard in the floor with his dagger at her neck. They decided to call it a tie.
"Is my lieutenant losing his touch?" asked Percy walking out of the shadows.
Aaron laughed, he missed his brother. The two boys man hugged as Zoe and Arai caught up on what was happening so far. The rest of the pack wondered out to see their lieutenant speaking with a stranger. Only a handful of them recognized Percy, as they were the oldest and were there when the pack was created.
"Aaron, did you find more demigods?" called Mia, daughter of Athena. "No, Percy has returned, our Alpha has returned."
Some of the younger recruits were nervous. They all knew about a powerful demigod, who started the pack with the permission of Lady Hestia and Lady Hemera, but many of them knew that he left soon after he deemed Aaron fully trained. Aaron always said that his orders were to find demigods that had been lost, abandoned or searching for purpose and offer them a place in the pack but they knew nothing about this Alpha. They were unsure about letting him into their home and unsure about the way things would be done now that he had returned.
"Brothers and sisters, I apologize for being gone so long but I had urgent business to attend to in Tartarus. Luna and I started this group with Aaron, Arai, Sam, Felix and Thea. We created something similar to the hunt, without oaths to gods and goddesses. We did not fit in at camp because we knew of struggle, hardship and real life. We could not be kept in a tiny camp and expected to find happiness and as a son of Mars, Aaron, understood things duty and sacrifice. It means something to hold a weapon and fight for what we believed in even if were just fighting for our lives."
Percy could see many of them smile or nod at his words, happy that he understood why they were there and not at camp and he continued.
"That is why this pack was created, a family of warriors, who understood why we fight, the meaning of a warrior and not a hero. None of us are heroes we are warriors. We are survivors. I will not pretend to know you or force you to follow me, when you have followed Aaron. I have come home. We will all learn about each other and how to work together. Then we do what we do best, we fight."
Aaron- son of mars
Sam- daughter of Iris
Felix- son of Hecate
Thea- daughter of Tyche
Other pack members
Megan- daughter of Eris
Diana- daughter of Khione (twin)
Dane- son of Khione (twin)
Danny- son of Keres (goddess of violence)
Kwan- son of Bellona
Paul- son of Mercury
Cara- daughter of Ceres
Elizabeth- daughter of Apollo
Claire- daughter of Nemesis
Theo- son of Eros
Mia- daughter of Athena
Alex- son of Hypnos
Chris- son of Victoria (roman form of Nike)
Michael- son of Vulcan
Serena- daughter of Apollo