-Northern Alaska-

( Perseus )

Perseus felt like something was a bit off when he awoke early the next morning. Yawning heavily, he walked past a still sleeping raven and into the bathroom. Splashing water on his face, he examined himself closely in the mirror.

"Another night of restless sleep." He huffed exhaustedly rubbing his eyes. It had been like this for quite some time. Constantly tossing and turning, sure it was better with Umbra there to watch over him but the only time he truly got a good night's sleep was when he was with Hecate.

Smiling at the thought of the magical goddess he thought back to when they had first got to know each other. It was an...interesting relationship.

-Flashback-

It had been a few months since he was crowned prince, and since that time he had finally left the kingdom of the dead and found a nice spot in Alaska. Where he decided he would make his home, far away from any prying eyes.

Of course Perseus didn't have the necessary skills to build a house all by himself. Instead he used his new position to commission a few dead architects and construction workers to help him. So far only the first floor and the basement had been built, so at the time he was still staying with his mother in the huge Mansion of Night. And that is where he was confronted by Nyx and Persephone.

The clashing of steel rang through the cold morning air as Perseus sweated heavily. He had been in Alaska overseeing the construction for a few hours now, but Perseus had a lot on his mind so he decided to train to help him think. Thrusting a dagger through the skull of a skeleton, Perseus quickly pulled the lodged weapon out, as the figure crumbled to the ground and threw it straight into another's chest, shattering the bones.

Continuing to fight the legion of undead soldiers around him, Perseus thought back to the conversation he had with the two protective goddesses. Perseus was no longer spending all of his time in the Underworld, but in that time Persephone slowly turned into the role of a big sister, one of many he now had. And she cared for him deeply.

The two immortals told him they were worried about his sanity. Ever since Tartarus, Perseus had a tendency for mood swings. Usually it caused him to feel unbelievably depressed and shut down. But recently he sometimes fell into an uncontrollable rage when he fought monsters. When this happened he'd lose all control and become incredibly brutal.

So Persephone and Nyx confronted him about dealing with his anger. They had already been helping him with his severe sadness, but now they had a whole new problem to deal with. After a long talk the two immortals decided it was best for him to seek help from Hecate. The hope was that she'd be able to brew something to calm him down during one of his spurs of mindless rage. He hesitantly agreed with their decision and promised he'd talk to her….eventually.

It's not that Perseus didn't think he needed help. No, he knew he definitely had a problem. He just thought he could control himself, after all he had been doing it for years. What was so different now? He was sure he could handle it himself.

Ducking underneath a sword aimed for his head Perseus kicked his attacker in the chest sending him flying to the ground. But before he could resume his attack on the helpless undead warrior, a wild hellhound appeared from the thicket of trees. And charged at him, caught by surprise Perseus was tackled to the ground. The skeletons all immediately rushed to protect their prince but were stopped by more hellhounds appearing.

Trying to protect himself from the snapping jaws of the beast, Perseus threw up his hands attempting to push the monster off. The hellhound was far too large however and it refused to budge. So the only thing this accomplished was temporarily saving his face from being ripped apart.

Looking around quickly Perseus saw his thrown dagger laying a foot away.

Just out of reach.

Cursing loudly he knew what he had to do. With an extremely pissed expression Perseus jammed his left arm into the beast's mouth.The monster instantly clamping down hard onto the exposed forearm, blood started to drip from the beast's mouth as Perseus grasped for the knife. His fingertips barely rimmed the handle slowly pulling it closer, bit by bit.

Once the blade was in reach, Perseus grabbed the handle and with a roar of outrage and pain he slammed the knife deep into the hounds skull. The monster's eyes widened as the blade sunk into its head.

But it didn't go deep enough.

Growling viciously the hound shook its head from side to side attempting to rip off the limb. Perseus eyes glowed with anger as he bit back his cries of agony and ripped his arm out of the monster's jaws. He then rolled out from under the beast as it lunged for his face once again.

Standing up Perseus faced the hellhound which was now pacing back and forth, blood seeping from the side of its head and its jaws. After a few moments the hound charged. And Perseus charged with it. Charging forward he summoned tendrils made of shadows to wrap around the beast's hind legs. Causing it to fall backwards as they slammed into each other.

With Perseus on top of the struggling monster, he let loose another roar of anger as he slammed the blade down hard. This time it sank deep into its neck. Blood poured from the wound as the hellhound gurgled on its own blood attempting to howl for help. But Perseus did not stop, instead he lifted his arm high, then thrusted downwards. Over and over again he pulled out the knife only to slam it back into its throat.

"You stupid."...squelch..."Fucking"… skksss..."CUNT!"

Blood spewed out in all directions as the beast lay limp and silent. The knife sinking further and further into its throat, with the enraged demigod still sitting on top of the corpse.

After a few minutes Perseus finally stopped. Blood poured from the hound and seeped onto the white snow. Now painted red he let the knife slide out of his hand and watched as the body slowly turned to dust. The undead warriors finished off the last hellhounds before walking over to their prince.

Standing in the pile of gold dust, he fell to his knees gasping, his breath clounding in the cold air. Looking down at his arm his eyes widened. It was completely mauled, he was pretty sure he could see the bone as the blood continued to ooze out. He grabbed his arm in pain, hissing through his teeth.

A startled caw rang through the air, Perseus looked up and saw a dark silhouette flying above, and then he blacked out.

-A few hours later-

Perseus awoke with a vicious cough, he immediately summoned his scythe and looked around the dark room frantically. Eventually his eyes landed on the figure of his mother who was faced away from him.

"It's nice to see you awake dear." Lady Nyx turned around with a bowl of ointment, walking over to a chair. "If it wasn't for Umbra you'd probably be dead you know."

Perseus groaned as she applied the ointment to his arm, which now looked much better than earlier. "Was it that bad?" He asked with a scratchy voice.

Handing him a glass of water Nyx responded. "It really was."

"How long has it been?"

Nyx thought for a moment before answering. "About three days."

Perseus finished the glass. "Damn. That thing really did a number on me." Then he smirked, "Good thing I still won."

"It would seem so." Nyx looked down at her youngest child with worried eyes. "Hades soldiers told him how you lost your temper again."

Perseus cursed silently. "Snitches."

"We've talked about this Perseus, I thought we agreed you needed to seek help."

"We did. And I promised you I would talk to her...eventually."

Nyx stood up and walked over to the door "No more excuses, Perseus you need help!" The immortal said sternly before turning. "And she's already here." Opening the door, Nyx stepped aside as a new figure entered the room.

"Hello Jackson, it's nice to finally meet you." Hecate stated nonchalantly as Nyx left the room, closing the door behind her.

He couldn't make out much of her features under the cloak she was wearing but he did notice how striking her eyes were. They were a deep blue like sapphires glowing in a dark cave, lit by fire. Her face looked like it was formed naturally out of marble and her hair was put up in a messy bun.

Perseus sat up in his bed, tightening the hold of his scythe "Hecate." He replied in a cold voice.

She raised her eyebrows slightly and waved her hand dismissively at his weapon "Oh there won't be any need for that. I came here to help you."

"That doesn't change the fact that you tried to kill me."

Hecate let out a small laugh "You mean sending those empousa? You're not still upset about that are you? We were at war darling, those things happen." Sitting down next to him she looked straight into his eyes. "Besides, if I'm supposed to help you then we cant want the other dead can we?"

Perseus returned her gaze with a look of his own and replied in a cold voice. "Sure."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You do know I serve Lady Persephone in the Underworld right?" Before giving him time to answer she continued. "She specifically asked me to do the best I can to help you. She seems to have grown quite fond of you."

A long silence filled the room as Perseus slowly loosened his grip and allowed the scythe to fall to the ground disappearing into the shadows. Smiling victoriously, the goddess stood and outstretched her hand.

Raising an eyebrow he took her hand and they flashed out of the room.

-Undisclosed Location-

When Perseus finally blinked the white spots out of his eyes, he slowly looked around at his surroundings. They now stood in the middle of what seemed to be a large garden. Instead of only flowers, an assortment of strange plants and trees lined the grove for as far as the eye could see.

A bit confused Perseus turned to face the goddess but stood frozen in place. There standing with her back facing him was Hecate, now dressed in a beautiful dark blue dress with the back cut out. Silver tree branches twisted up from the bottom, while her long black hair fell loosely down her shoulders. Flowing slightly in the wind.

After what felt like hours, he finally noticed she had turned around and was now smirking at him. Quickly avoiding her gaze he cleared his throat. "So where exactly are we?" He looked around and was honestly surprised at how beautiful everything was.

She pointed towards a house in the distance. "That is where I live." She then waved her hand around them. "And this is my personal garden, where I get most of the ingredients for my potions...and other things." Gesturing for him to follow her they made their way to what Perseus can only describe as a small greek styled manor.

The large three story house had marble pillars lining the perimeter. One of the walls on the bottom floor seemed to be made completely out of glass and led directly into the garden. As they stepped into the house Perseus looked around and was a bit less surprised. Books and cauldrons littered the room.

"I have to say the garden isn't quite what I had expected, but the inside is mostly as I pictured."

Hecate let out a small laugh while opening a cabinet and scrounging around. "Did you think I lived in some dusty old cave? On a deserted island?"

"Welll… Sort of?"

Hecate just shook her head slowly and turned around. "So, since Lady Persephone basically begged me to help you. Let's make a deal."

Perseus raised an eyebrow and looked at her sceptical. "What kind of deal?"

"I will help you with your anger issues. And in return you will get me some supplies that I can not grow in my garden."

Perseus crossed his arms. "I don't have anger issues."

She looked him straight in the eyes. "Sure."

After a few minutes of silence he let out a long sigh. "Fine. What do you want me to get?"

"Nothing yet but I will need your help soon."

"Okay so how are you going to help me? A potion, magic, maybe some therapy?"

Hecate shook her head slightly before tossing him a small silver container. "I was thinking something a bit more… medicinal."

Perseus scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. Popping the lid off, his eyes widened in shock. Inside were rolls of paper each twisted at the top. "Wait."

"...hmm?"

"...Is this...weed?"

"Well yeah." Hecate answered bluntly.

"You're joking right?" Perseus stood there bewildered.

"No, I'm completely serious. Marijuana has proven to help with many different kinds of medical problems. Including anger issues."

Another round of silence swept between them. "I can not believe this." He thought to himself.

Sighing, Hecate walked over to a chair and sat down. "If you want a potion then I can make one, but they are a lot more random. I just figured this would be the easier solution."

"Let me get this right. You want me to smoke pot to help me with my anger problems?"

She rolled her eyes "Whenever you get angry after a fight just calm down and smoke one. It should help."

Looking down at the container he smiled. "Hell Yeah." He took one out and smelt it. Why did it smell like mint? He shrugged his shoulders and lit the joint in his mouth. "And why do I need your help with weed? I can just get it anywhere." He took a long drag.

Hecate smiled a bit as the demigod's eyes widened and he started coughing. "Because I mix it with other ingredients to make it stronger. That's also why it smells different."

After his coughing fit finally ended Perseus looked up. "Wow."

She stood up and outstretched her hand. "So do we have a deal?"

Perseus thought for a few moments and nodded his head. "You got it." He grabbed her hand and shook it.

~End of Flashback~

After thinking back on that memory Perseus was in a much better mood. Hecate really had an effect on him.

Grabbing his chest suddenly, his face twisted in agony as he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Startling the raven awake. He locked eyes with the bird before letting out a scream of pain.

Snow crunched under her feet as Thalia shivered. Blowing into her hands she wrapped her parka around herself tighter. Her breath was cloudy as the morning snow fell lightly to the ground.

She was currently on her way to the cabin at the edge of the clearing when she noticed a figure walking up beside her.

"Hello my lady." she said bowing her head respectfully.

The goddess smiled at her warmly, while the two continued their walk to the isolated cabin. "Hello Thalia. Going to see Perseus as well?"

The lieutenant nodded. "We still have a lot to talk about. I hope he is awake already."

"I'm sure he is. He seems much more...Professional. Then when he was younger. Artemis hesitated briefly before finishing.

Nodding her head and letting out a small laugh, she raised her arm to knock as they finally reached the front door.

Suddenly they both heard a loud scream coming from the second floor followed by a large crashing sound. Immediately concerned, the two shared a worried expression before charging into the house. They worked their way up the stairs with weapons at the ready searching for any sign of distress.

When they finally made it to the master bathroom they gasped in shock, Perseus was laying on the bathroom floor writhing in pain. A silent scream frozen on his face while he clutched his chest. As the two women both took a step forward to help, a blue light filled the room suddenly, followed by the worried caw of a raven.

After the light faded a woman stood there dressed like a gardener. Thalia was extremely confused but Artemis immediately recognized the figure. "Hecate?"

Instead of answering the women ran over to where the son of Nyx laid and sat beside him. "Perseus? Are you okay, what happened?" Quickly scooping up his head and placing it onto her legs. Shaking and soaked in sweat. The demi god held his chest in pain for a few more seconds before it all stopped.

The huntresses had been frozen in place before but now Thalia lept into action running over and kneeling beside the man, giving no thought on the new immortal and why she was here. Scrunching her face in worry as she grabbed one of his shaking hands "Percy?"

A few seconds passed while Perseus swallowed trying to soothe his burning throat. Slowly sitting up (much to the eir of Hecate) he pulled off his shirt revealing a huge black bruise the size of a basketball. "Turns out that master bolt hurt a lot more than I thought." He chuckled lightly, winching at the pain.

The three females stared at him with mixed looks of disbelief and worry.

"You idiot! Of course it would hurt, why did you take a bolt from my father?"

"Well he did try to threaten my mother with his glorified taser. And plus the look on his face after?" He let out a laugh so joyful it made him wince in pain. "Priceless!"

Hecate on the other hand did not find this amusing nor had the other two. "Perseus this is not a joke. You could be seriously hurt, let me take a look." She left no room for argument as she with the help of Artemis and Thalia led Perseus over to the bed.

Summoning some medical cream she began applying it onto the charcoal burned skin softly. Looking up to Artemis, they seemed to share an unspoken discussion.

Artemis nodded her head and led the huntress out the door. "Come Thalia, we're not much help at the moment. Let us return to the hunt, you can ask questions later for now let him rest."

Thalia tried to argue but it was futile with a last look of worry sent towards Perseus she nodded and followed her mistresses lead.

A few moments of silence passed while the demigod let out shallow painful breaths. The raven landed back onto its perch satisfied with its well done job.

The goddess frowned while imbuing a bit of power into the cream on his chest. "You really are an idiot, you know that? Even gods can't take a hit like that!" Tears started to shed down her face as her shimmering sapphire eyes looked over him.

Reaching up to cup her face, her breath hitched as his violet eyes met hers. "Please, that was nothing! I barely felt anything, and trust me. I don't have any hurry to die just yet."

His smile warmed her heart as she started to smile back, slowly climbing into the bed next to him. "You still need to be more careful. You're not immortal, or at least not yet."

Perseus chuckled at her never ending promise to him. "Don't worry I won't go and die on you that easily." He pulled her tighter to him, the pain in his chest feeling like a distant memory as he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

-Camp Halfblood-

Screams. No matter how much he prepared, how hard he trained. It was not enough to prepare him for the screams. That's all he could hear as he looked around the field that had been stained red with the blood of his friends as they fought for their lives.

He was on his knees, blood flowed over his right eye causing him to blink frantically to restore his sight. He watched as the kids he had sang and eaten with, got cut down one after another. Their screams filled the air along with the clashing of bronze and bone.

The demigod's had been fighting for what felt like months now. But in reality it had only been a few weeks since the first battle had broken out. There had been an increase in monster attacks for a few years now, seemingly growing more and more common by the day until the kids couldn't even return to their homes for the winter.

It was too dangerous. No, now they all had to stay and hide behind their magic barrier and train harder than ever. The older ones knew what was coming and took it seriously.

It was WAR

Standing on wobbly legs he slashed at the chest of an empousa, cutting her in two. Before raising his heavy shield to block the barrage of arrows aimed for him. The children of the gods were winning but only barely, but that didn't stop the monster's from fighting down to that last man.

Monster after monster charged him. But thanks to his skill with his sword they were all cut down. He picked up a spear belonging to a fallen comrade before launching it into a giant's eye causing it to stumble and have it finished off by another camper.

He turned to find the phalanx formed by the Ares campers buckling from the force of the monster's attacks. Running he jumped over the wall of shields and slashed at a dracaena slithering away.

With a loud blow of a horn the phalanx split apart, allowing a chariot pulled by two skeleton horses to smash into the monster's lines, scattering the beasts.

The demigod raised his sword and yelled. Greek fire ignited the field as catapults hammered the defensive formations of the monsters at his command. With a booming roar the chariot rider stabbed and thrusted their spear that crackled with electricity into the terrified monsters, disintegrating them in droves.

The fighting continued for hours, the demigods pushing back the monsters again and again. More demigods dying in the process. Hails of arrows blasted the dracaena as the children of Apollo launched volley after volley from the hilltop.

The demigods fought scattered and separated. Only a few groups of older demigods fought in organized units slaughtering the enemy. Blood seeped from the side of a Hermes camper as they dodged and weaved their way between monsters, cutting the throat of an empousa.

The battle raged on until a final spear thrust by Clarisse killed the last of the hellhounds. Causing her to let out a sigh of relief while the remaining monsters turned to dust. Killed off by the other demigods. The boy fell to his butt in exhaustion looking over to the child of Ares.

"This is madness! It's the third time this week!" He Hollered, causing the experienced demigod to look his way.

"I've told you, this is just the beginning. This is a new war we're fighting….it has to be." The girl wiped some dust from her red cloak and began to help the injured back to the safety of the camp. The chariot being filled with the dead by her brothers and sisters.

"I know! I know! But it doesn't change the fact that we won't survive like this! We need the romans!" The boy whined loudly, almost tripping over the body of a deceased camper.

"I'm sure they're fighting just as hard as we are. Besides, they wouldn't help us anyway." The two had now reached the medical hub that had been set up in the coliseum.

Loads of injured demigod's moaned in pain as the children of Apollo moved tirelessly through the beds. Setting down her injured brother Clarisse turned towards the son of Nike, clearly already tired of the conversation.

"Why is that! Huh? What did we ever do to them! It's not our fault that he left, it was his choice!" Some of the younger campers came to his support. Voicing their agreements.

The older campers sneered and scoffed at their younger siblings. "Of course it's our fault! You all treated him like a monster! You were all terrified of him, and why was that Jack? Because he was powerful?"

By now two groups had formed behind the two. The older campers who stayed loyal to their old friend joined behind Clarisse while the newer campers that still despised him joined Jack.

"He walked around here like we all owed him! Like he was better than us!" The young demigods all yelled in agreement.

"That's a lie! He had been through more shit than any other demigod! He went to literal Hell and back! All he wanted was to be at peace but you little shits didn't appreciate him enough." A son of Apollo named Will Solace stepped forward, arguing with the boy.

"That's bullshit! We've all been through battles now, we've all suffered just as he had!" A young daughter of Athena yelled out behind Jack.

Before the older group could retort. An unexpected voice broke the silent stalemate of the two factions. "No you haven't. Not even close." The voice belonged to a 24 year old camper, the head counselor of the Athena cabin Annabeth.

Walking beside her was the camp director Chiron, a somber look on his face as he looked between the two groups. "Children, there is no need to fight. We must stay together now more than ever. There will be a meeting for the head counselors in a few minutes please spread the word." He then turned and proceeded to the big house with Annabeth following close behind.

The argument was soon forgotten by the two groups as they dispersed and went along their separate ways. The son of Nike letting out an indignant huff as he marched towards his own cabin.

The head councilors all shook their heads in disappointment before following their instructions. The same thought went through all of their heads. War.

A/N: Hello hello! How's everyone doing? Still living I hope. It's been a while since I've updated but better late than never am I right! I've been pretty busy with school and my job and honestly haven't been in the mood to write for a while.

I've been returning every now and then to write a little at a time and honestly I really like this chapter. I got to start the explanation of Perseus and Hecate's relationship and I got to introduce my personal idea, weed! I figured it would make for an interesting and unique way of therapy for Percy not done in other fanfictions. Plus I'm a pothead too so I thought it would be fun.

I hope I didn't disappoint in this chapter and was able to convincingly show the battle struggle between the greek camp and the internal conflicts caused by the Romans refusing aid. Large scale battles are definitely more challenging to write but hopefully with time I'll get better.

And since it's tradition now I'll say hopefully the next update won't be as long. I don't have a laptop anymore so no promises though.

Sincerely,

Wolfpack340