I promise myself I wouldn't do this. I wouldn't publish any part of my story without it being complete. but here I am, publishing a section as a one-shot in hopes of getting some support in my writing process.

_One year later:

Percy was inebriated and he knew it.

He wasn't sure how many glasses he'd drunk but the barkeep kept putting one in front of him whenever he finished the previous one. The amber liquid still swirling in glass by the time he brought it to his lips.

He contemplated his position. Wondering how things led to a great savior of Olympus alone, in a bar, drinking underaged. Not to mention surrounded by the types few would even spare a second glance except maybe to make sure they weren't sneaking up on the more… "upstanding" citizens

He snorted those upstanding citizens were part of the very society the beings who had tortured him since he was twelve, fed off of. He had little respect for them

Of course the flip side of the coin was the people he associated with now were the ones that created monsters he'd fought since he was twelve. Oh well the devil you know over the devil you thought you knew. He giggled to himself. That's probably not how the saying went.

He checked the time.

ten o'clock. Time for him to get going if he was going to pay for tomorrow's round. Groaning as he picked his head up from the counter he reached into his pocket and laid down a wad of bills on the counter. He didn't bother checking how much, he didn't need the money except for buying drinks and he made plenty as it was. Besides, he was drunk, no way was he trying to count when he was drunk.

Continuing to groan he made his way towards the door stumbling amongst the other regulars of the bar who didn't spare him a glance. They'd learned a while ago that despite the money he had, he wasn't worth robbing. He had put up a hell of a fight last time, sent all of them to the hospital and still kept his money.

Stumbling out he inhales the city air before letting out a cough. Probably wasn't the best for his lungs.

Forcing his eyes to focus and straightening his posture he walked down the street towards a factory cheers could be heard emanating from.

The city was loud tonight as it was every night, People arguing, screams, cars honking and loud drunks singing their way down the streets.

Percy's mind started to wander back to the events that led him here again, back to her death… he blamed himself immensely for it. If only-

Abruptly his foot connected with something as he walked, causing him to stumble and fall.

Instincts kicking in despite his addled state, he rolled, ending up on his feet and whirling with Riptide drawn, growling. As his eyes adjusted, he realized it was a person with a syringe lying nearby and their mouth caked in vomit. He frowned, nudged them and turned when there was no response, continuing on his way

Stepping in through a shattered door frame, a result of a raid a few months ago and made his way down a corridor, ignoring the rats that scampered into the cracks of the walls. Reaching the end he turned, now privy to where the cheering came from. It was a large room, once filled with machinery, it had been gutted in an attempt for the building's owners to recoup their losses. Now there was just a large ground floor with piping snaking around the walls a a few rusted machines nobody would take.

Pushing his way through the crowd it quickly begins to part for him as the crowd recognises him and his reputation.

He makes it to the edge of the ring and peers in. Two people, a man and a woman were punching the daylights out of each other, bare-knuckled. The woman was remarkably big for her sex, even a bit bigger than the man. As he watched though, the man landed a good hit to the solar plexus, knocking the air out of her.

He pounced, taking advantage of it and clobbering her in the head, knocking her out. The man went to follow up but the referee stepped in, stopping him. It was sort of funny, seeing a small ratty looking man stopping a bloody man much larger than him, and to Percy's alcohol-infused brain it was funny enough to let out another giggle, but everyone knew the rules.

Hit the ref and you'd end up getting a bullet in you before the night was over. Percy had been on the receiving end of that once. Fortunately there had been some water nearby and the rule was only one bullet, but still, nobody wanted to be on the receiving end.

He realized someone was speaking to him

"-In here?" the referee was asking.

He'd been spotted.

It was time to earn his money. He hopped over the low barricade and into the ring, turning he sought out competitors to step from the crowd. Three men stepped out along with a girl. His eyes narrowed. What was a sixteen year old doing here, a girl at that? Focusing on her he realized she couldn't be more than sixteen. Not to mention the girl looked familiar, then it hit him.

It was Thalia.

He kept his face impassive and pointed to one of the men. Internally he was roiling. Why was she here? She wouldn't be here to take him back would she? No. He'd put up too much of a fight for one person to take him. There had to be others. The Hunters. But how could she have convinced them to help her take him back? Sure she was their lieutenant but that wasn't enough. Not for a male. She must be here to talk. Well he wasn't talking.

Focusing back on the fight he decided he'd save her for last. The man he had pointed to was a lanky black youth who looked like he was barely out of highschool. His eyes shifted back and forth, clearly nervous, before glancing back at another man who was smiling and gesturing forward with a glint in his eye.

Even inebriated Percy could recognise something was up, but he couldn't figure out what so he resolved to finish the fight as quickly as possible.

The youth and him started to circle each other, waiting for the referee.

"Three… Two… One… Fight!" the referee counted out.

Percy continued to circle calmly, waiting for the youth to come for him. He didn't have to wait long. The youth lunged trying for a straight jab to the jaw. Percy noted idly the youth was left handed. He was direct, at least Percy gave him that even as he stepped around the punch, hooked his leg around the other man's leg and landed a punch square in the jaw. Percy smiled at the sharp jolt he felt in his fist, relishing the pain.

The crowd groaned.

Nobody had expected much out of the man to be honest, but they expected a little more. The groans deepened when the other two men, shocked by how easily Percy defeated his opponent, backed out. Many began leaving when they realized the only fight remaining was the girl. Hardly a fair fight.

Most stopped when they heard the girl call out "Hello Kelp-head" and Percy saw many winces. The last person who'd given him a nickname went to the hospital in a stretcher, part of the reason for the raid a few months ago.

Most would decide to stay to see how badly she'd be beaten. Few would place bets on this fight but many would watch. Percy could only imagine their surprise when he responded calmly,

"hello Thalia"

"What, no pinecone face?" she pouted

"No."

She frowned

"Percy, I-"

"Do you want to fight or not?"

She brightened again. "Yeah I gotta see how my favorite cousin is after being out of the loop for so long"

"Fists or weapons"

Percy noticed many shocked faces at the mention of weapons. It was strictly against club rules to fight with weapons.

"Weapons" Thalia said "Listen Percy I also-"

He cut her off. "I don't want to talk."

While she was talking he drew Riptide and began circling her. Gasps and retreating footsteps could be heard upon the appearance of Riptide

Sighing she said "Fine. but we talk when I win" she gave a small grin

His face remained expressionless.

Sighing she opened her spear and slapped her wrist. Many screamed at the sight of medusa's head, unable to comprehend what they were viewing due to the mist, but very much still affected.

More retreating footsteps could be heard and by now the crowd was at a third its original size.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep" she said popping the p

He waited for her to strike first.

She didn't disappoint, lunging with her spear only for him to block it, forcing it to slide off past his left arm and step inside her guard, only for him to be surprised with a shield bash. He growled and swiped low, dodging her spear at the same time.

The fight continued on for a minute before she scored the first hit, a shallow gash on his knee.

"Sorry I should've checked, first one to withhold a death blow wins but everything else is fair game?" She asked while dodging a swing.

He grunted. She probably had ambrosia and he only needed water to heal.

"Yes"

By the end of two minutes of fighting both were sporting a couple nice looking gashes.

By the end of three minutes both were starting to feel the fatigue drawing upon them. It was then that the fight ended as Thalia left the smallest opening in her attack. In an instant Percy analyzed it and determined it wasn't a trap, using it to hit her hand with the flat of his blade, causing her spear to go flying off. Taking advantage of her stunned state he wrenched Aegis away from her center of mass and slashed at her neck, stopping an inch from it.

"I win." he stated simply, staring into her eyes, emotionless.

he saw first shock and then sadness in them before recapping Riptide.

"I suppose you do." she said. "Dammit seaweed brain. How'd you remain so good?" she asked as she went to retrieve her spear.

He stiffened. "What did you just call me?"

"Seawe… Oh Percy I'm sorry I shouldn't have used that."

"Damn right" he raged "Nobody uses that but her and she's dead!"

"Percy I-"

"NO!" he shouted, uncapping Riptide and striding quickly towards her, grabbing her shoulder and pressing Riptide to her throat. "There's no excuse. You never use that name!"

There's a pause.

"Percy, you know her death wasn't your fault." Thalia said quietly.

"Yes it was. Now leave before I do something and fail you too." he says, taking her shoulder and spinning before thrusting her away. His eyes red with fury.

"Percy please-"

"LEAVE!" he roared, the building groaned as long defunct pipes filled with water again. By now everyone else but one had fled, terrified of the enraged man.

"We will always love you Percy, no matter what. We want to help. We'll be waiting."

The pipes burst, flooding the area with water, but Thalia was already gone, leaving the sole man, who had been petrified by the scene that had played out.

Percy turned on him.

"Didn't I tell everyone to leave?" he yelled at the man, a small wiry looking man with crystal clear blue eyes. Unbeknownst to all involved, the man was a clear sighted mortal who had just witnessed the most baffling and terrifying thing in his life. The man remained still, even in the face of Percy's rage.

The pipes groaned ominously above as they handled a volume of water they weren't designed for even when they had been working. Parts started falling.

Percy Screamed letting the water loose, causing Pipes to fall. One, a larger one that had probably been used for cooling enormous machines at one point, collapsed against a support beam, causing the beam to crumple, the factory soon following.

The last thing Percy remembered was the winds swirling around him and rain splattering what little wasn't already wet. He had formed his own hurricane again.

One quick side note, the story I'm writing is PercyXArtemis (would appreciate no hate), just to warn you if you're interested in helping