High above the clouds, hidden by the veil of the Mist, was the kingdom of Olympus. It was built upon a disembodied mountain peak, and at the highest point was the Olympian's seat of power, the throne room, the place where the gods made their decisions on how the world must be ruled.

The inhabitants of the divine city spoke softly, with meaningful glances at the throne room, because such a decision was being made now. For it was 1945, and the largest and deadliest conflict in human history had just been concluded. The second World War, fought between sons of the sky and the underworld.

Inside the throne room, a lightning bolt was slammed down onto perfect alabaster marble, brilliant azure sparks thundering and bringing the room to a quiet.

"Enough." Zeus, the lord of the skies, proclaimed, silencing the council of gods. "Your discussions can wait."

Inclining his head on his throne, Zeus turned to regard Apollo. "Why have you summoned this meeting?"

Apollo swallowed, a surprisingly human gesture from such an inhuman being. "A few minutes ago, the Oracle of Delphi issued a prophecy. It impacts us all."

Clearing his throat, the god continued. "

A half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds. And see the world in endless sleep. The hero's soul, a cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze."

For a brief instant, for the first time in millenia, there was utter silence in the throne room, as the various gods processed this.

Then the chaos began, as each god began shouting, offering their own opinion. Surprisingly it was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who acted first.

"Silence!" The goddess screamed.

Unused to hearing the dignified deity raise her voice like so, the room fell quiet once more, and eyes turned to her.

Athena cleared her throat, continuing. "This is a clear and present threat to our reign. We must take action. We cannot afford to be reactionary." Her gaze drifted over to the eldest gods in the room, the lords of the skies and the sea. "The last time we were reactionary, the gigantomachy nearly destroyed us."

Zeus stiffened, but nodded. "What do you propose then, Athena?"

"We take a proactive response. From the prophecy, it is clear that there will be a demigod of the eldest gods born soon, who will make a choice that will very likely result in our continued reign, or our destruction." Athena regarded the council, making eye contact with each member. "I propose we intentionally create such a demigod, and keep him with us. We can control the outcome of this to our favour."

"Ridiculous!" Hera, the queen of the gods, slammed her staff into the marble floor, cracking it. "I propose we avoid it entirely, and make a ban on the creation of demigods!"

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was typically silent at these meetings. She sat curled up in her throne, watching the proceedings with a baleful eye. At Hera's words, she snorted. "Yeah, that'll work."

Hera turned to her, and gave a sickenly sweet smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that, stepdaughter."

Hera's smile was sweet in the same way that a cloud of hydrogen cyanide was called sweet.

Artemis sat up a bit, brushing auburn hair out of her face. She returned Hera's mocking smile with a roll of her eyes. "Your solution is to ban the eldest gods in this room from having demigods, from conceiving with mortal women?" Her silver eyes glinted. "Surely you must know by now how ridiculous such a proposal is?"

"Are you claiming my husband to be incapable of being unfaithful when the fate of Olympus is at stake?" Hera screeched.

A loud guffaw suddenly rang out, before it was smothered by a hand. All eyes turned to Apollo, who was blinking tears of mirth out of his eyes. "Yes." The god of the sun said. "Yes, that's exactly what my sister is claiming."

Hera slumped down into her throne, crossing her arms in a surprisingly juvenile display for a millenia old goddess. "The sad thing is, I can't even really disagree." Hera muttered, turning a side-eye to her husband, raising a palm to her face.

For a brief moment, the council went quiet, before it was broken again, this time by Poseidon.

"I propose a vote. Those for Athena's proposal, vote now."

Surprising nobody, the plan from the goddess of wisdom was put forth. And thus, deliberations ensued.

First was the selection of the parent. If the fate of Olympus was to ride upon the shoulders of this demigod, he would need to be powerful. Much of the eldest gods were eliminated thusly, with Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon remaining.

Further discussion occurred. Zeus was eliminated, for his children were not as malleable or controllable, they were too prideful, too willful. Hades was eliminated, for his children were too unstable, and too dangerous, as evidenced by the world war that had just ended.

Thus, the demigod would be a son of Poseidon.

Posiedon agreed, and for the first time in centuries, a son of Poseidon entered the world, born out of necessity, rather than lust. The demigod was conceived similar to the children of Athena, a brain child between Poseidon and a mortal the lord of the seas refused to name, lest she become a target.

Hebe, Athena, and Hephaestus were then set to task. The son of Posiedon was aged up to the age of sixteen by the goddess of youth. Knowledge was implanted into the brain of the young demigod, enabling him to function, and to understand the world around him.

In less than a second, the goddess of wisdom implanted sixteen years worth of education and experience into the mind of the boy.

And then finally, Hephaestus was set to task. They could not give the demigod partial immortality, for fear of making him subject to the ancient laws, rendering him incapable of interference. But they could make him biologically 16 for as long as possible, if not forever, with the aid of Hephaestus.

Thus, the body of the demigod was modified, becoming more machine than man. Tendons were replaced by bronze wires, muscles by pistons, circulatory systems by electricity. The only being on the planet who could compare to the boy now was a son of Athena hidden in the Labyrinth.

Athena, who had suggested the idea, had the honor of naming the demigod. The goddess of wisdom dubbed their creation Perseus. Their avenger.

Now the gods had their saviour. All that was left was training the boy, making him into a warrior.

Ares, the god of war, volunteered. And who could turn down that? The god of war himself, at the height of his power due to the recently ended second world war, offering to tutor their constructed savior in the ways of combat?

The gods accepted, unaware or uncaring as to what such training would entail.

It wouldn't be until 55 years later, where a random visit from Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, would reveal the truth.

Ares first bathed Perseus in the River Styx, similar to how Thetis had bathed Achilles, dipping him in the river of the underworld and holding him by his heel.

And then Ares sent the demigod, now bearing both impenetrable skin and an artificial body, into the world's post-war conflicts. For 55 years, Perseus fought in an uncountable number of wars, from the Korean peninsula, to the jungles of Southern Africa, to the destroyed cities of Bosnia.

He had been given only the basics of what being human entailed, and then he was thrust into conflict after conflict, knowing only war.

If the gods had wanted an unstoppable killing machine, controlled only by them, they had gotten their wish.

Hestia, horrified by what the council had done, offered to take the boy in, to become his handler.

With their grim work done, and their controllable warrior created, they had no reason to refuse. The gods agreed.

A 16 year old boy sat on the hood of a M38 Jeep, parked facing a steep cliff face. To the right of the jeep a stone fortress was seemingly erected out of the cliff face itself. Tall buttresses and walls loomed overhead, only adding to the ominous nature of the building.

This was Westover Hall, a military school and the site of his next mission. Currently he was waiting for actionable intel before he went in.

The sky was overcast, thick grey clouds obstructing the sky, and snow coated the ground, piling high around the vehicle.

The boy exhaled, his breath turning to steam in the cold air, and reached behind him, drawing a rifle.

Absentmindedly maintaining the rifle, field stripping it in his lap and putting it back together, he stared off the cliff, watching the water thunder against the cliff face.

A figure suddenly appeared, a small girl appearing in the passenger seat of his jeep. Showing no startlement, the boy merely inclined his head and looked over his shoulder.

"What's the word, ma-am?"

Hestia sighed. "Two children of Hades are involved, along with a manticore. The mission is to eliminate the manticore, recover the children of Hades, and to protect the VIPs."

The boy arced an eyebrow, gently resting the rifle he'd been maintaining down beside him. "VIPs?"

"Camp Half-Blood has two demigods and one satyr present on the same mission as you. Additionally, the Hunt has been spotted around the area, assume they'll intervene."

The boy chewed on his lip for a moment. "Understood. Shouldn't be too hard. Thanks for the briefing ma'am. Your intel is always good."

The boy swung himself off the hood of the vehicle with an easy movement, and opened the driver's door, pulling out old beaten up combat webbing. He threw it over himself, fastening it overtop of his leather jacket and jeans, dulled and marked by countless years of service.

He did a brief equipment check, nodding to himself, and then pulled out a steel handgun, loading an eight round magazine into it before holstering it at his side.

Hestia watched the boy strap the webbing and weaponry to himself silently. It wasn't the first time she'd seen the boy get ready, and it wouldn't be the last, but it was still unnerving to her to see what looked like a 16 year old teen behave with the mannerisms of a veteran soldier.

"Perseus."

The soldier paused in the action of loading his rifle up, and regarded Hestia with something that could've been a smile. "Yes ma'am?"

"Be careful, please."

Perseus hesitated, before ultimately nodding. "I'll do my best."

Hestia watched as the boy who was far older than he should be walked into the school, exchanging some words with what appeared to be a teacher. Even from here, she could feel the use of the Mist, as he influenced the teacher to let the heavily armed teenager in.

She shook her head, before disappearing from the jeep. Whatever happened next, it was up to her charge, just as it had been for the past seven years, ever since she'd taken him from Ares.

Annabeth grimaced to herself. She knew was prideful, she knew hubris was her fatal flaw, but even so, this had been remarkably stupid. Some daughter of wisdom she was.

When she had seen the teacher, Dr. Thorn, walking away with two children, she just hadn't thought. She'd impulsively followed him. In hindsight, she could've done any numerable amount of things, like letting Thalia or Grover know, but instead she'd charged right in.

And now she had a spike in her arm, and was being dragged out the back of the school, along with the children he was trying to save.

Speaking of which…

Anabeth turned to Nico and Bianca, intending to comfort them, to tell them that it was going to be okay, when they stopped moving.

Dr. Thorn paused, looking to his right, just as a boy walked out of the shadows. Annabeth squinted at him. He looked no more than two, maybe three years older than her? What was he doing here? Was he working with Dr. Thorn?

"Release the children, and submit. First and only warning, monster." The boy calmly spoke, drawing a rifle from off his shoulder.

Dr. Thorn sneered. "If it isn't the dog of Olympus. They still have you doing their errands, boy?"

The boy raised the rifle with superhuman speed, and began firing. Annabeth winced at the volume of the gunshots, and she could faintly hear the regular mortals m back in the school start screaming.

Annabeth winced as a bullet brushed past her head, and she grabbed the two kids by the backs of their heads and pulled them down with her as she hit the dirt, avoiding the crossfire.

It could've been a trick of the light, but she could've sworn that the spikes being fired by Dr. Thorn were being shot out of the air.

"You're a tool, boy! Can't you see that! Why not join us? The general would be thrilled to have you in our army!"

The boy narrowed his eyes and replied even as he continued firing, batting spikes out of the air. "Better to be a tool, than to be a pawn. A pawn is expendable. A tool is not."

A bullet finally made it through the formidable defences of the manticore, and Dr. Thorn cursed violently as he backpedalled, a hand clutched to his shoulder.

"Whoa…" Nico whispered. "Who's that."

"I'm not sure." Annabeth muttered. "But I think he's on our side."

The doors she'd exited burst open, and Annabeth whipped her head around. She was relieved to see her allies appear in battle regalia, Thalia with her spear and shield and Grover with his bagpipes.

"What are you doing?" Thalia yelled at the boy. "Mortal weaponry can't kill monsters!"

The boy gave no indication of hearing her, merely pulling the bolt back on his rifle. A soft metallic ping was heard, and then he was pressing another 8 round clip into the internal magazine, letting the bolt slide forward and cycle.

He began to walk forward towards the beleaguered monster who was still nursing his shoulder wound. "Keep the children safe. I'll finish off the monster."

Annabeth watched bemused as Thalia clenched her fist tightly around her spear, before nodding. "We are going to have words after this, you hear me?"

The boy stopped, and tipped his chin forward in what could've been a nod. "Sure."

He then began to pace forward once more.

Bianca glanced between the boy, the monster, and Annabeth. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"He better be." Thalia growled.

All eyes suddenly returned to the front of them at the sound of a scream of pain. Grover chuckled nervously. "I think I'm more worried for the manticore."

The boy had affixed a celestial bronze bayonet to his rifle, and had plunged the rifle into the monster's stomach, firing it repeatedly.

Finally, the monster ceased its struggling and screaming and gave up, fading away into particles of gold.

"Monster neutralized." The boy announced, rather unnecessarily.

Thalia stormed over to the boy, pressing her finger against his chest. "We gave you silence while you did your thing with the monster, now talk! Why are you here!"

The boy reloaded his rifle again, detaching the bayonet and sheathing it on his webbing belt at his side. "I'm here to protect you three," he nodded at Thalia, her, and Grover, "and to extract you two." He pointed at the two kids. "All of you cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands."

"Who sent you!"

"Classified." The boy stated.

"Who's the enemy?"

"Also classified."

He suddenly cocked his head to the side. Annabeth frowned, wondering what he was hearing, and then her eyes widened. She could hear the distinct sound of rotors beating at the air.

"Get down!" He barked.

He turned to Thalia "Stay down."

"Huh?" Thalia eloquently managed to get out, before the teen swept her off her feet and onto the ground, the boy crouching over her as he reached into a pouch, withdrawing a smoke grenade.

Annabeth cursed, and tried to press herself closer to the ground as she heard the crackling of gunfire. Beside her Grover dived to the ground, his hands covering the back of his neck.

Something hit the ground next to her, and Annabeth briefly glanced at it, her eyes widening upon seeing the smoke grenade. It went off, and suddenly she, Grover and the kids were surrounded in a thick white cloud.

Turning her head slightly to the left, Annabeth managed to catch sight of the strange boy and Thalia, peering through the cloud of smoke.

"Hey! Let me up. I can help!"

His hand, if it were possible, pressed down harder into the small of her back. "Stay. Down."

A round glanced off his head, and the only sign of pain he gave was a grimace. He reached into another pouch, drawing a handheld grenade launcher. With a single hand, he loaded it, and he aimed it upward.

His mouth began moving, and Annabeth realized with a chill he was counting. He then pulled the trigger.

For a brief second, nothing happened, and Annabeth thought he'd missed. Then an explosion sounded above them, the gunfire ceased, and the helicopter came crashing down beside them.

Before anybody could think of doing anything the boy was already moving towards the wreckage.

From her father, Annabeth had learned that cockpits of military helicopters are typically constructed out of bullet resistant plexiglas, able to weather ridiculous amounts of punishment.

It didn't matter to the boy, as he punched through the cockpit and wrenched out the co-pilot, pressing him against the fuselage with a single hand, his other pressing his rifle against the man's stomach.

"Who sent you?!" The boy shouted.

The man stammered. "I don't know, kid, I swear! He just called himself The General."

"Is that all you know?"

"Yes! I'm not going to lie to you!"

The boy sighed. "Well, then you're of no use to me are you?"

His finger inched towards the trigger.

"Wait! Don't kill me! C'mon kid, I-!"

He gave a half smile. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Really! Tha-"

The boy stepped aside, and a silver arrow emerged from the forest behind them, plunging into the man's chest and pinning him to the helicopter's fuselage. He gasped in disbelief and betrayal, staring at the boy.

"I never said that someone else wouldn't." The boy finished his sentence with a nonchalant shrug, before bracing his foot against the helicopter's fuselage and pushing. With a burst of inhuman strength, the helicopter was propelled off the cliff. The boy watched emotionlessly as the helicopter plunged into the waters below.

"Lady Artemis." The boy spoke, turning around to face the direction the arrow had come from. He snapped into a crisp salute. "I had heard you and the hunt were around."

Thalia groaned from where she was still resting on the ground, pressing her forehead into the dirt.

Annabeth spared her a pitying glance, before focusing on the boy, a thousand questions running through her mind.

"Perseus. It's been a while. At ease." A small girl with auburn hair and silver eyes walked out of the forest, accompanied by a motley group of women, clad in silver parkas and leggings, bows of various make and design resting over their backs.

"Indeed." Perseus responded. He cocked his head to the side, loosening his stance. "We need to talk."

Grover gaped at the boy, sure that the boy was about to be turned into some woodland animal for daring to speak so familiarly with the goddess of the hunt.

Artemis merely inclined her head. "As you wish. We have set up camp not too far aways." Her gaze drifted over to the demigods and satyr. "You are welcome to accompany us as well."

Although it was worded as an offer, nobody could mistake it for what it was, an order.

The four demigods and satyr got up, following Perseus and Artemis into the woods.

Perseus reclined against an animal pelt, his arms crossed over his chest as he sighed softly.

Across from him, Artemis and Zoë sat.

"Thou asked to speak with milady, and milady has granted thou an audience in her tent. So speak, Perseus."

Perseus smiled, shaking his head slightly. "You haven't changed a bit Zoë. It's good to see you."

He turned to Artemis. "Is Anna here?"

Anna was a girl he'd met back in 1956, when he had been involved in the Suez Crisis. A refugee of the Hungarian revolution, he'd saved her from the streets after her entire family had been killed by the Soviets, and gotten her a spot in the hunt by Artemis's side. She also happened to be one of the very few people who Perseus could call a friend.

Artemis smiled slightly. "She's waiting outside, no doubt as eager to see you as you are." Her smile faded. "But Zoë is correct, you called this audience, speak."

Perseus's hand came up and massaged his brow as he turned to regard Zoë with something akin to a pitying look. "Your father is officially on the playing field."

Artemis stiffened. "You're sure?"

Zoë clenched her fists tightly. "If this is thy idea of a joke…"

"I wish it was." Perseus stated.

"Fuck!" Zoë swore, turning around and punching a tent support column, before cursing again as she accomplished nothing but splitting a few knuckles.

Artemis turned to Zoë, wide eyed, and Perseus merely looked down, studying the texture of an animal pelt.

"P-permission to leave, milady? I find myself in need of fresh air." Zoë asked Artemis, her voice very close to breaking.

"Granted, Zoë." Artemis said softly. Both parties said nothing as the huntress exited the tent.

Perseus looked up, meeting Artemis's silver eyes. She sighed.

"I'm sorry" Perseus muttered.

"Don't be." Artemis waved it off. "It's not your fault."

The two descended into silence once more, losing themselves in their thoughts.

Perseus shook his head wearily, breaking the somewhat comfortable silence. "I know I was created for this, but…" His hands clenched, as he gazed up at one of the few deities he had become close to, the only others being his father and Hestia.

"I'm scared." Perseus whispered.

He had fought through countless wars, and yet he still remained so uncertain about this. Everything became a whole lot more complicated when the guy trying to kill you was older than the gods themselves.

A hand rested on his shoulder, and Perseus looked up to see Artemis gazing at him with an almost sisterly affection.

"I'd be very worried if you weren't scared. I think we all are." Artemis gently said.

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Artemis smiled and squeezed his shoulder, cutting him off. "Go see your friend Anna already."

The teenager raised himself off the pelt unsteady, nodding at the goddess. "Alright, Artemis."

As he was about to exit the tent, he paused, turning around. "And, well. Thank you Artemis. Thank you for everything."

Before the goddess of the hunt could respond, Perseus had exited the tent.

I know, I know, I have like 3 stories waiting on me to complete. But this was an idea that hit me last night and I just couldn't put it down, so I wrote it. Wrote this entire thing in one sitting actually, when I probably should've been sleeping. I'm tired as fuck right now, but hey, at least I got this out of my head and onto paper.

This is just a concept right now, but if you like the idea let me know.