Chapter 2 Part 2: The Man In The Lion Skin

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone, I'd like to start off by suggesting that you all checkout 'Forbidden Child' by universalstraw242 and 'Percy Jackson: An Age Gone By' by JustASimpleWriter1. They are both phenomenal Pertemis stories and tied as my favorite Pertemis story of all time. Give them both a read, follow/favorite and a review. Sorry about taking so long getting this second part out, introducing the OC was much harder than I thought. I wanted it to be done right, y'know? I have a few things to say so I'll try to be quick about it.

First, I made a mistake last time and said that the last time that the Titans attacked was the second time they did so, I meant third. Their last attempt to take over Mount Olympus was the Third Titanomachy. We'll also be getting a sorta flashback to it this chapter. It's short and won't be the last, I plan on doing more of them as well as one or two in someone else's perspective.

Second, let me know how you guys liked Percy's new weapon, I forgot to ask last time. We see more of it this chapter.

Third, I have put up a new Poll on my profile, it's only available for PC users, sorry. FF needs to change that. It's for my next PJ Pertemis story. I won't start it until after this one, but let me know which one you want first.

Fourth, everything from Lightning Thief to Blood of Olympus is canon, but none of the later series like Magnus Chase, Kane Chronicles or Trials of Apollo are included in my story, as I have not read them yet. I own two of the series, so I really should. But I do have one or two characters included from the Trials of Apollo series, only because I needed cabin leaders for the newer cabins, such as Hebe. These characters are only in the story because I didn't want to make my own OC's to fill spots Uncle Rick already filled. Don't expect these characters to actually do much or give away the stories they're from.

Well that's it for now. Please let me know how you guys like my OC. He was hard to get right from what I had in my head. This also isn't the last we'll see of him, of course, he's a major part of this story, and really the reason why it exists. So I hope you guys grow to love him. See you at the bottom! :D

Have a great day, Hephaestus.


Chapter 2 Part 2: The Man In The Lion Skin

(March 4, 2011 - Percy's Tent, Foothills of Colorado)

Percy was sleeping. Or more accurately; dreaming. And dreaming was more often than not… interesting for demigods. Some of the time they would have nothing but normal, completely ordinary dreams, but other times they would receive visions. Glimpses into the past, present or future, usually terrible warnings about something that was going to happen. They were never good or pleasant. Percy wasn't receiving visions about the past, present or future however, but reliving the nightmare that was the Third Titanomachy, the Third Titan War. The war that he had to lead the demigods against the Titans without the god's help. He couldn't help but let out groans and roll around on his cot in his sleep as flashes of the war flew through his mind.

~~~Flashback~~~

(AN: Read them as flashes/glimpses not a linear story)

(June 1, 2010 - The Original Mount Olympus)

Percy and Annabeth were woken up at 3 in the morning by a Satyr and rushed to the Big House and were told some of the worst news of their lives; a small army of minor Titans and Monsters were preparing to attack the original Mount Olympus in Greece again and that the demigods would have to fight them off without the assistance of the gods.

The next three days went by in a blur, the entire camp preparing for war, collecting weapons, armor, supplies, Nectar and preparing the Argo II to travel to Greece. Leo and the Hephaestus cabin worked non-stop those three days just to get it ready for the journey. Percy didn't remember much of what happened before the war, but he remembers being frustrated that the gods weren't going to be helping them fight. Chiron didn't have any answers either, he was only told that the gods wouldn't be fighting and that the duty fell to the demigods. Since he and Argus were ordered to stay at the camp it meant that the leadership of the campers fell to the War Council, with Percy as the elected leader. The days of preparation and travel blurred together, but he knew that the only thing he did those three days was reassure Annabeth that they would all be alright and prepare for the hardest fight of their lives.

. . .

The campers hadn't even been at the base of Mount Olympus for an hour yet and hadn't finished putting up their hasty blockades, medical and command tents when the horde of Titans and Monsters rose over the horizon. Horde wasn't the right word, army was far more accurate. Nearly a dozen Minor Titans, at least a half dozen Drakons, two Hydra, Empousa, Cyclops, Scythian Dracanae and Hellhounds by the dozens made up the opposing army.

With only one hundred and twenty four campers in total to stand against them. Unfortunately for Percy and the campers, a good majority of those numbers were newer and inexperienced campers too young to have fought in the Second Titanomachy and weren't ready for combat. So Percy ordered the youngers campers to stay back behind the blockades with the Apollo cabin by the medical tents. Percy and the War Council were discussing battle plans in the command tent when a conch blew, alerting them of the incoming army.

. . .

Percy didn't remember exactly when he realized it, but it couldn't have been past the first hour when he came to the realization that they were going to lose. They would be completely and utterly destroyed. They stood no chance against so many Titans and Monsters. Percy and Jason could handle the odd Titan here and there, but not a small army of them. The campers were outnumbered and outmatched ten to one. The majority of the campers held the Monster hordes back in the valley as the remaining members of the Seven tried their best to hold the Titans back from climbing the mountain.

It was the worst fight Percy had ever seen. No matter how many Monsters he slayed, no matter how many lightning bolts Jason shot down at the army or how many earthquakes he caused, no matter how many undead warriors Nico summoned to assist them, they were losing ground and would be overrun by the Titans in a matter of minutes.

It was like watching a movie through a grey filter and without sound and subtitles. That's how Percy had to describe it. He wasn't the one controlling his body anymore, it was if it had given in to his instincts and they were the ones fighting and keeping the others alive. Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Nico and himself were the only ones fighting off the Titans, and they were losing.

The only thing from that day that Percy remembered was the same thing that plagued his dreams every night after they came home, the sight of Annabeth being thrown to the ground by an unknown Titan. The sight of her motionless body as blood poured from her head, the sight of her dying before him.

He burst into a run for his girlfriend only for a Titan to appear above her. Screaming her name but no sound came out despite how hard he tried to yell it.

~~~Flashback End~~~

(March 4, 2011 - Back in Percy's Tent)

"Annabeth!" Percy sat up with a jolt. He was disorientated, sweating and his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. He massaged his face with his hands as he looked around the spartan tent around him. "Damn dreams," He mumbled. "Can't I get one night without them? Just let me sleep through one night…"

He flopped back down onto his cot with a groan, the nightmares of the Third Titanomachy plagued his dreams on the best nights, preventing him from sleeping on the worst ones. He tried his best to hide his trouble sleeping from Annabeth, but he suspected that she knew about them despite her never saying anything. He had to use a lot of sleeping medication to get through the first few months of nights.

"I'm sorry, everyone," He mumbled to himself, remembering those who had fallen that day. "Conor, Butch, Warren, Nicole, Leon, Ashlyn, Alisha, Hayden, Sam, Luis, Mark, Vicky, Ivan, Evelyn, Edward, Katrina, Ester, Barry, Amoree, Keana, Raymond, Darren, Quang, Avery." Percy bit his lip, his breathing heavy. "I pray to Hades that you all earned Elysium. You shouldn't have died. None of you should have died." He looked up to the ceiling of his tent, imagining the clear night sky above it. "If only you had been able to intervene earlier, dad… maybe I could have saved everyone."

After rolling around for an hour not being able to sleep, Percy left his tent and got an early start on the morning chores. It couldn't have been past five, but he got started anyway. He knew from eight months of experience that he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep tonight.

oooOooo

(March 15, 2011 - Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado)

Percy was busy teaching lil T how to cheat in rock paper scissors using a finger gun when he heard an explosion of earth and trees followed by a blood curdling cry of a Monster several hundred yards off into the forest.

Suffice to say, but he was not expecting something like that so early in the morning. Or at all, really. Five minutes later the eleven hunters(and one camper) had taken down their overnight camp and went off into the trees to investigate the strange and worrying sounds. As they approached, Percy could make out the sounds of various Monsters bellowing, grunting and roaring out in anger and pain. He didn't know exactly what they were going to find, but he recognized the sound of a battle. Whatever or whoever was up ahead was engaged in a fight, he knew that for certain.

Percy and Thalia, running ahead of the small group, halted behind a tall line of bushes and scanned around them. The forest was filled with eerie darkness; the rising sun's crimson blaze illuminated a massive horde of Monsters. The strong morning breeze carried the rank stench of blood and battle across the field. The Monsters stood in a large, rough circle and if the mangled bodies of Monsters flying out of said circle were anything to go by, then whatever they were fighting was at the center of the circle.

"Can you see what's going on?" Thalia whispered in his ear, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. She squinted through the eerie darkness and shadows to try to make out the scene in front of them.

Percy shook his head. "No," He whispered back. "But I-." He was cut off suddenly when a flying body of a Hellhound the size of a rhinoceros burst through the trunk on a tree a few dozen feet in front of them and shattered it into splinters.

If you have ever heard a dog whimpering in pain then you were on the right track to knowing what it sounded like, but now multiply that by a hundred and include the sounds of bones breaking, wood splintering and cries of pain. Now you are closer to knowing what it sounded like, it made the two demigods recoil subconsciously. Percy and Thalia watched in awe as the massive Hellhound burst into Monster dust as its lifeless body lied on the ground.

"What on earth?" Thalia mumbled, watching as a pack of Hellhounds burst through the bushes a few dozen feet to their left and swarmed the circle of Monsters where the flying Hellhound came from but didn't move to attack the other Monsters, instead prowled around the edges of the group. Percy could just barely make out a massive silhouette in the darkness fighting off the horde of Monsters, but what it was, he couldn't tell.

"Binoculars." Percy requested and within a few seconds was handed a pair by Cleo who had just appeared behind him. He nodded his thanks. Through the binoculars he was able to make out the forms of several Cyclops, Empousa and various other Monsters he couldn't make out in the darkness. Every few seconds a different Monster would let out a cry of pain or anger. Percy could see an almost tangible cloud of Monster dust in the air around the silhouette, as if a near constant stream of Monsters were bursting into dust. Whatever was fighting all of these Monsters knew what it was doing. And Percy could only hope that whatever it was, was on their side.

"Gaaahhh!" The low rumbling bellow of a Cyclops was heard before a sickly slicing sound of a blade through flesh and then followed quickly by a 'thud' on the ground. One more Cyclops had fallen.

"Should we help?" Cleo asked from behind them. She had left the rest of the hunters with Medeia a good fifty yards back.

"Help who?" Thalia whispered her question. "We don't even know who's fighting. The Monsters could be killing each other for all we know. I say we let them."

"But aren't you curious?" Cleo asked her best friend.

"I am. Something's not right." Percy whispered, keeping his binoculars trained on the horde of Monsters. A giant badger had just joined the fight but didn't seem to be making a difference. "I think we should-."

A high pitched scream of terror from behind them made the three demigods pale as they turned around, understanding what was happening.

The others were under attack.

Without a second thought, Percy tore through the bushes and around recently fallen trees like a bullet back to where Medeia was protecting the youngest hunters. Nothing else on his mind but needing to protect the young girls. He had promised to protect them all, he couldn't live with himself if he couldn't keep his word. Not again.

He skidded around a corner to find something that made the blood drain from his face; Medeia and Alexandra were laying unmoving on the ground, their weapons in their hands and a massive Cyclops was standing at the center of the group with lil T held up over his head, a devilish grin on it's hideous misshapen face.

Thalia was just a few seconds behind Percy at first but after a few seconds she was unable to keep up with him so she fell behind despite running at full speed. She reached the spot where they left the other hunters to find Percy cleaving through the legs and stomach of a Cyclops with hardened sheets of ice and water he took from the few inches of snow around their feet.

Ice and snow formed into rotating circular blades and sliced the Cyclops as if it had gone through a paper shredder. A few seconds later the diced up body burst into dust and Percy jumped to catch li T before she fell to the ground.

"Ambush!" Cleo cried behind Thalia just as several Hellhounds leaped from the bushes and encircled them. Thalia watched as Percy clicked his watch changing it into a shield before handing lil T off to her and Cleo and telling them to check up on the others. Thalia did so.

"Medeia, are you okay?" She asked as she bent down near the girl. She wasn't moving but Thalia couldn't see any major injuries on her. She most likely had just been knocked out by the Cyclops' club. Alexandra stirred next to her. "What happened, Alexandra?"

The girl sat up, holding her head with a grimace of pain on her face. "...We were attacked suddenly from behind. We didn't even see the Cyclops coming until he was right on top of us. Medeia tried to fight it but…" She looked to her friend, a worried expression painted her face as she noticed her condition. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes," Thalia said, listening to the veteran hunter's pulse. "She's just unconscious, she may be out for awhile but she'll live."

"Good." Alexandra sighed before looking around her to see Percy and Cleo running of to fight off some Hellhounds, there weren't that many so she wasn't very worried, and neither it seemed, was Thalia. They had both seen the son of Poseidon fight off more than Hellhounds on their now month long hunt. "What happened? What did you find up ahead?"

Thalia shrugged, taking a small bottle of Nectar and pouring it into Medeia's mouth. "We're not sure, it looks like a large group of Monsters is fighting something."

"Fighting what?"

"We couldn't tell." Thalia answered honestly. "We couldn't get close enough to see it in the limited light. Then we had to run back here when we heard a scream."

"That was me." Lil T mumbled from her spot holding Thalia's side for comfort. "That big Monster grabbed me! He was trying to eat me, but Medeia stopped him."

"That is because you are my sister." Medeia spoke as her eyes opened, looking around her and realizing what happened. "Any Monster who wants to hurt you would have to get through me first."

After a few minutes, Thalia left lil T and the younger hunters with Medeia and Alexandra again and was about to run off to find Percy and Cleo when from the corner of her eye she saw Medeia fire an arrow behind her without warning. Thalia dodged and spun on the spot but froze in terror when she saw what Medeia had fired at; A mammoth figure clad in a shimmering golden-tan furred cloak burst through the trees and swung a sword at her head.

oooOooo

(With Percy)

Percy thrust Riptide through a Hellhound, killing it and causing it burst into dust. He felt Cleo put her back to his as she removed both of their blind spots and shot arrow after arrow at the approaching horde of Hellhounds and Cyclopi.

"I'm running out of arrows here." Cleo yelled over the sound of battle around them. "Maybe it's time for that trident thing again."

"I don't want to waste it," Percy replied, slicing Riptide through the chest of a small Cyclops. "It takes too much out of me and we have no idea when they're gonna stop coming. If I use it too early I'll get exhausted and won't have enough time to recover."

Percy heard a deflated sigh from behind him. "Well that's not the answer I was looking for." Cleo spoke, now using arrows to repeatedly stab Monsters instead of shooting them. "Guess we do this the hard way."

"You get used to it." He mumbled. "It always ends up the hard way."

"I know that," She countered, stabbing a Cyclops in his singular eye. "I am older than you, Percy. I've been doing this for awhile."

"I forget sometimes," He admitted. "Sometimes it's hard to forget that you're all not just twelve year old girls."

Cleo looked like she was about to reply when without warning Percy felt all of the hair on his body stand up on end and heard a low, crackling hiss as the air around him got thick with a static charge. Not a second later a colossal lightning strike shot down from the blackened sky hitting near where Percy and Cleo had left the others. The radiating lightning strike made all of the muscles in his body tense and he could literally feel the shockwave in his bones.

"Thalia!" Percy yelled, blinking away the sudden, momentary blindness. Something had to be wrong. He had never seen Thalia, or even Jason, summon down a lightning bolt that powerful. He assumed that something like that was reserved for her father, Zeus. Something terrible must be going on for Thalia to summon a lightning strike like that.

"Percy, look!" Cleo cried, pointing at the area of the lightning strike through squinted, pained eyes. "The Monsters are running away!" Percy looked to where she was pointing, she was right. He could see dozens of Monsters fleeing from around where the lighting bolt struck. Maybe the bolt scared them off? But then why could he still see several much smaller and less powerful lightning bolts streak around the sky where the first once struck?

"We have to get over there!" Percy cried as he burst into a full out run. "I've never seen Thalia summon a lightning bolt like that, whatever's going on must be bad."

"You're right," Cleo called out as she too burst into a run into the eye of the storm. "That much power must have taken a lot out of her. I'd be surprised if she could even stand after that."

Percy nodded. "Then that's all the more reason to get over there and help her." Cleo didn't know how he managed to do it, but the son of Poseidon started to run even faster towards Thalia. After just a few seconds she lost him through the trees and brush.

oooOooo

Percy reached the area where he saw the lightning bolt strike. The earth was charred and several trees were aflame or turned to cinders. He expected this, sure, but not the over six and half foot figure clad in a golden-tanned fur cloak standing a few feet from Thalia that was laying on the ground, weak sparks of electricity darting and dancing on her fingers as she tried to summon another lightning bolt. Before he could even think twice, Percy found himself in the air behind the figure with Riptide aimed at its neck.

'T'ching!'

Riptide hit the back of the neck of the colossal figure but deflected off of the fur like it had struck a sheet of metal, sliding off of the figure and causing Percy to faceplant into the cloak and drop to the ground with an undignified 'thud'. Needless to say he had never been so confused and embarrassed in his life.

"What the-." He started as he rubbed his head, rising from the ground, a dull aching pain making him dizzy only to be cut off by a yelling Thalia.

"Look out Percy, he's-" She too was cut off when the gargantuan figure swung a canned-ham sized fist at his face, causing blood to spray from his mouth like a nozzle and throwing the son of Poseidon a few dozen feet back into a tree with such force that Percy found himself indented into said tree trunk.

After a few seconds Percy managed to open his eyes, blinking the pain away. His Curse of Achilles made him pretty much indestructible to all conventional forms of physical damage like bladed weapons but a sheer amount of brunt force like this could still rattle his bones and make him disorientated. "What hit me," He mumbled, forcing his eyes to focus on the large figure slowly striding towards him. "Oh, that's right." He said, remembering. "You…"

The titanic man's brow rose subtly as Percy got to his feet after shaking off the blow that was strong enough to kill an ordinary man several times over, as if he were surprised that Percy managed to stand after the hit. Which he might have been given the power of his punch.

Popping his neck and raising his sword and shield, Percy stepped forward to face the man. "If anyone can move, get Thalia and everyone out of here!" He ordered towards the group of hunters. "I'll take care of-."

The cloak-clad man shot at him with a gust of wind faster than Percy thought physically possible for a man his size, his elbow aiming at Percy's chest before he could even register the incoming attack.

"Gaaah!" Percy cried as he was flung into the air and into and through another tree. After rolling on the ground a few times he managed to stop himself. He fumbled to his feet in an undignified matter, looking like a pro boxer that had been hit one too many times and didn't know to stay down. But in his case he had only been hit twice.

"Holy Hades…" He mumbled to himself, placing his hands on his knees. The mammoth man must have thought that he was either dead or wasn't going to get up from that last hit because he turned back to where Alexandra and Medeia were busy peppering him with arrows from the trees, but the arrows bounced harmlessly off of his shining cloak. "Anyone catch the license plate of the guy who hit me?" He joked as he noticed Cleo appear next to him again.

"Well your sense of humor is still intact, so we at least know you're not too hurt." Came her snide remark as she handed him a small square of Ambrosia. "Are my eyes deceiving me or did you just laid out by that guy, twice?"

"Thanks for that bout of confidence," He mumbled before pausing and swallowing the square of Ambrosia in one go despite Cleo warning him not to. "Get to the girls and get them out of here." He tightened his grip on Riptide. "He got a lucky hit in, that's all."

"Two lucky hits in, actually." She reminded him before her face turned more serious. "And don't think that I'm going to let you fight this Monster alone, you are a hunter of Artemis now, and we hunters stick together to the end."

Percy couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I didn't expect you to listen to me anyway." He mumbled before studying the unknown figure as he walked slowly after Medeia as she fired arrows at him, completely unconcerned. He seemed unwilling to exert any energy unless it was necessary, which might actually give Percy an advantage if he could just manage to out pace him. "I don't think he's a Monster, Cleo." He told the hunter.

"Why not?" She asked. "I saw it shrug off your attack from Riptide. How is that possible if it's not a Monster?"

Percy focused his gaze on the golden cloak of the figure as it caught a Hellhound that charged at him and threw it over his head behind him as if it weighed no more than an oversized pillow. That also proved to Percy that this man- yes, he was sure that he saw a human, male face on the figure that attacked him- was not fighting alongside the Monsters. He must have been the one fighting off the large horde of Monsters earlier.

"That's it." Percy eyes widened in realization. "He has the Nemean Lion Skin as a cloak. That's why our attacks are just bouncing off of it." His shoulders dropped slightly after he spoke. This made it that much more difficult. This man's immense strength combined with the indestructible Nemean Lion Skin made him an extremely dangerous enemy.

"But how is that possible?" Cleo asked. "I thought that you and Zoë killed it a few years ago."

"It must have reformed, more quickly this time. And somehow he must have managed to kill it." Percy mumbled, griping Riptide and beginning to walk towards the massive man. "But that doesn't matter right now. Right now I have to stop him from hurting anyone else." He faced Cleo, a determined look in his sea green eyes. "Fight with me if you want, but keep your distance. Aim for any areas of exposed skin and pepper him with arrows." He held his sword and shield before him in a ready stance as he charged at the man. "I'll take the more direct approach."

oooOooo

Percy, honing all of the stealth training that Thalia and Cleo taught him while he was with the hunt, snuck up behind the man with Riptide but had to wait for an opening because of the Nemean Lion Skin. The massive cloak covered the man from his head to his ankles, so a sneak attack from the back was impossible. Percy was just about to swing around the man and stab him through the chest when the man pivoted on his heel and swung his own sword at him.

Percy managed to block the strike with his shield, but the impact made his arm tingle as the blow was absorbed through his body. But Percy ignored that and used his years of swordsmanship training and performed a flurry of strikes at the man only for them all to be either countered with his own short sword or his large circular shield.

Come on, Percy, He thought to himself. You're better than this. So what this guy is one of the best sword fighters you've ever fought, find his root and beat him! Percy tried to empty fade and feint falling back before jumping forward but the man seemed to expect this and countered by slamming his heavy hoplon shield into Percy's chest, knocking the demigod back a few strides.

The son of Poseidon recovered quickly and tried to get in close to make use of his smaller(in comparison) body and get inside of the man's guard but his short sword that Percy now recognized as a traditional xiphos- a short, straight, two-edged sword that was used in ancient Greece-, immense skill with a blade coupled with his massive hoplon shield, made it damn near impossible to get close. Percy couldn't find any openings despite his mind working overtime thinking of every sword fighting and tactical trick in the book to get in close. That just left Percy one option.

Cheat.

Percy felt an immense pull in his gut as he summoned all of the snow on the ground around him and rammed it into the man with all of his might. The towering man was thrown back nearly a dozen feet, nearly not as far as Percy expected, and fell to one knee before raising his eyes to meet Percy's, a wicked grin on his face.

Percy took a half step back despite himself, the look on the man's face was enough to scare a Titan. Suddenly he spoke, his voice a low baritone and rough as if it had been some time since he had last used it. "It was been many years since an opponent has managed to force me to a knee." He rose slowly, as if he were savoring the moment and had all of the time in the world. He held his xiphos and hoplon in a more relaxed stance. "Tell me, who do I have the honor of facing in battle?"

Percy didn't know what kind of game the man was playing, leaving himself open for an attack like this and making conversation in the middle of a fight, but Percy sensed no charmspeak or godly persuasion in his voice, so he didn't believe he was being tricked. Plus, if he talked maybe he'd be able to allow the others to get further away just in case this strange man overpowered him, and as the battle went on longer and longer, Percy feared that it was an all too real possibility. His strength was nothing short of insane and his skills in combat rivaled those of Ares the god of War himself. He'd have to watch himself, this man wasn't like any old Monster or Titan that he could just trick and attack when their guard was down. This man oozed skill and talent, he was not going to fall for a simple trick like that. Best to be honest.

"I'm Perseus, he who has divine domain over Storms and Earthquakes." Percy answered, giving some of his full title, feeling it too long and overdramatic to use fully, plus he wanted to keep his replies short and concise in order to not get distracted. He made sure to not lowering his guard or lose focus at all. Something inside of him told him that it could mean certain death if he lost concentration against this man.

"Perseus… did you say? Really?" The man echoed in his lower voice, as if testing out the name. "Meaning Destroyer. The legendary son of Zeus who slayed Medusa." He said is if remembering the name. He eyed Percy up and down and studied him as if he were able to read everything about him with just a look. "Tell me, are you worthy of that name? Or of that sword?" His eyes focused on Riptide.

Percy's eyes widened slightly, wearily. If this man recognized Riptide from a distance then he must be extremely knowledgeable of the Greek world. Just who was this man? A minor god maybe? Then why was he fighting Percy and the hunters? Was he a rogue minor god who has sided with the Titans? If so, then Percy had to make this quick, a prolonged fight with a god, minor or not, was never a good idea. "You recognize my sword?"

"Your sword?" The man chuckled darkly, his low voice sounding more like a rumble in the sky than a chuckle. "That, Perseus, is Anaklusmos, the Riptide. Forged in the fiery center of Mount Etna and bathed in the water of the Lethe itself, used and owned by the legendary hero Heracles. Yes, Perseus, I recognize that sword. So, I ask again, do you truly think yourself worthy of such a blade?"

Percy raised Riptide defiantly. "Why don't you come over here and find out?"

The monstrous man's lip quirked slightly in a smirk as he raised his xiphos at Percy. "It is unwise to continuously challenge a foe that you have no chance of defeating. Yet I know why…" He widened his stance to prepare to strike or counter a hit. "You are attempting to allow your young friends ample time to escape. Though, you should know that I never fail a hunt, I will track them down after I am done with you." Percy's widening eyes must have confirmed the man's theory.

"I told you who I am, so, who are you? Are you a minor god?"

The man's low voice rumbled with a chuckle. "You think I'm a minor god? Ironic."

Without warning the colossal man rushed at Percy with a quick gust of wind, this time aiming his xiphos at Percy's chest. The son of Poseidon barely managed to counter the hit fully despite it shaking his bones. "If you defeat me in battle, I shall tell you who I am." The man said in between strikes.

Percy studied his opponent as they traded blows, trying to learn how to beat him, but what he discovered made his morale drop; His moves were perfect, refined as if he had spent several lifetimes mastering every form and every counter in existence. His footwork was flawless, he danced around Percy like a master choreographer despite his enormous and bulky body. Percy tried to counter another strike, but somehow this man managed to predict what he was going to do and blocked him.

Damn, Percy thought to himself as he was struck by a massive traditional Greek boot in the chest. It's as if he can read my mind. Like he knows what I'm going to do before I do it. Their blades clashed again, sparks flying off of the two ancient swords.

Come on, Percy, He thought to himself, trying to catch his breath after being thrown through another tree. Figure out his pattern, then counter and exploit it. The mountainous man charged again, with the same inhuman speed as before. Somehow he wasn't even showing signs of tiredness yet while Percy was getting tired. Percy sent a quick, honestly half-assed, prayer to Athena asking her to help him come up with a plan. He didn't think she actually would, since she hated him, but it was worth a shot.

Percy noticed something else about his opponent's fighting style that he couldn't believe that he didn't notice before. He was fighting like a demigod! His form, stance, how he held his blade and shield, how he countered and parried, it was all standard Greek sword training but at the master level. No wonder his fighting style seemed so familiar, Percy has been trained in the same style since he was twelve. Now he had an idea how to win, switch up styles. He always told his students during sword training to never become too predictable, it was about time to follow his own advice.

As the man's sword was thrust out at Percy's head, the son of Poseidon went against the instincts that had been drilled into him by Chiron and Luke and ducked under the strike and struck the man in the foot with his shield. The man, to his credit, didn't curse in pain, only eyed Percy suspiciously as he made use of his training at Camp Jupiter and switched to a traditional Roman style.

For the first half minute Percy had the upper hand after switching up tactics, surprising his opponent enough to become unpredictable. Taking advantage of this, Percy exploited a gap in his enemy's defense and swung Riptide down on his exposed forearm with all of his might.

This didn't have the effect Percy expected. Instead of cleaving straight through his arm, Riptide only managed to embed itself a centimeter or two into the man's arm. His opponent took advantage of Percy's shock and grabbed Riptide(by the blade) and tore it from Percy's grip and threw it into the woods a good several dozen feet away.

Percy inwardly cursed, Riptide would return to his pocket after a while, sure, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting that long. He'd have to go with plan B, his trident. Hopefully one good blast to the chest would be enough to knock this guy out, because if not, Percy wasn't sure how much more punishment he could take before he had to start worrying.

The son of Poseidon summoned another few waves of snow at the towering figure in order to buy himself a few seconds to summon his trident and gather some energy for an attack. A few seconds later the massive man burst over the continuous waves of snow and ice, swinging his xiphos at Percy only to get get jabbed in the chest by Percy's trident and thrown back a few dozen feet.

Percy dropped to one knee, winded after the attack. His trident used his own energy and focused it into an attack, so it always took something out of him. The more power he put into the attack the more it took out of him. Percy eyed his opponent getting up, his chest didn't even appear to be damaged save for the little amount of charring around where Percy struck him.

"How in Hades are you able to get up after that?" Percy couldn't keep himself from asking, amazed at his foe. He's knocked out Hyperborean Giants with that attack before and this man didn't even look fazed by it.

The colossal figure smirked, slowly walking towards Percy, dropping his sword and shield to the ground. Or technically only his shield, as before his sword hit the ground it burst into a low glow of golden-red light and traveled up to his right bicep where Percy could make out a tattoo of a sword that had not been there before. With his right hand he cupped the tattoo on his left bicep and without preamble another soft golden-red glow appeared in his left hand and a massive warhammer began to grow from the light.

Ah Hades, Percy thought. Those must be enchanted weapons like Jason's sword or my trident. Percy forced himself to his feet, keeping a watchful eye on his opponent, he could make out at least two more tattoos, one on each forearm. Hopefully those two weren't weapons as well. The mammoth man stopped, raising the warhammer out Percy. It looked like something out of a videogame. It had a four foot(121.9cm) wooden grip with a no less than massive ornate Celestial Bronze and what looked like tempered steel hybrid hammer head in the shape of a lion's head with an open maw. Opposite side of the lion's mouth was a large deadly spike made of the same hybrid material. Celestial Bronze and tempered steel hybrid, meaning that it could harm both mortals and demigods, not good. The head itself of the hammer must have weighed over fifty pounds at its size but the towering man showed no effort as he held it out in front of him.

"You had a trick up your sleeve," The man said, his voice slow and methodical, as if he weighed every word before he said it, eyeing Percy's trident. "That is the weapon of the seas. Tell me, how did you obtain such a weapon? I would like to add a weapon such as it to my collection." Without warning he darted at Percy, his massive warhammer over his head in a powerful swing.

Can't block that, gotta dodge it! Percy thought, jumping to the side and rolling out of the way. He studied the massive warhammer. It was far too impractical and heavy for a mortal to use, so this man must be some sort of minor god. No demigod in the world would be able to wield it over his head and perform elaborate swings and strikes like that with such a heavy weapon.

"Who are you?" Percy tried again to ask in between dodging hammer swings and thrusting his trident at the minor god's chest. "Why are you attacking me? Who sent you? Was it the Titans that sided with Gaea? Are you one of Kronos' flunkies?" Percy held his trident over his head to block the attack aimed at his head but just before the warhammer made contact with his trident it stopped.

The minor god halted for a fraction of a second before jumping back several strides and bringing his warhammer to rest on the ground. He watched Percy like a hawk, his eyes a piercing gaze. "Kronos?" He asked in his low voice. "I slay those aligned with Kronos and Gaea." His eyes were calculating as he watched Percy, as if he were thinking of a million things at once, trying to decipher if Percy was trying to trick him. After a few more seconds he spoke. "Tell me, which master do you serve? Who are you?"

Percy hesitated for a few seconds, but something in him told him to be honest, like this person would be able to tell if he were lying. "I serve Mount Olympus," Percy started. "I'm Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes, Champion of the gods and Guardian of the Hunters of Artemis. Who are-." The minor god cut him off suddenly, dropping his stance completely.

"Hunters of Artemis?" He asked, looking around them as if expecting Artemis or her hunters to appear. His eyes settled on a tree a little ways away that Percy assumed that Cleo was hiding in. "Those were the hunters of Artemis?" He asked like he couldn't believe it. He looked around again. "Is Artemis here with you?"

"...No," Percy hesitated. "She's not here right now. She asked me to travel with the hunters for the time being."

The minor god looked Percy up and down. "I was unaware that males were allowed to join the hunt. How is this possible?"

Percy sat the end of trident on the ground and let himself catch his breath. "I'm an honorary member," Percy replied. "Artemis asked me to help them on a hunt."

"You said that you are a demigod?" He asked, his tone skeptical. "Mortal or immortal?"

Percy tried to decipher what he was trying to get at. "...Mortal." Percy answered. "And yes, I'm a demigod. What are you? I assume you're a minor god of hunting, war or maybe the mountains?" Percy said, looking around the mountain cliffs around them.

The minor god's brow rose slightly. "I am not an Ourea, a mountain god nor Enyalius, the minor god of war. I am not a minor god."

Percy's own eyebrow rose in question. "Then what are you?" He asked wearily. "You're not a minor Titan, are you?"

The mammoth figure shook his head, the Nemean Lion's mane of golden tan fur shaking by the motion. "No, I am neither god nor Titan. I am a demigod, like you."

Percy blinked once, twice and then again. That was not what he was expecting. He looked over the giant man in front of him again, but this time focusing on his appearance and not trying to figure out the best way to impale him with a sword. He was six foot eight(203.2cm) and built like a rhinoceros on steroids. I had was uglier and only had one eye than he could have been mistaken for a Cyclops. He wore the Nemean Lion skin as a cloak, had a bare chest and arms, wore a large leather harness over his waist with a Celestial Bronze lion head on it and had Greek boots and armor on his feet and legs. Not only that, but he also had several weapons and pouches sat on his belt harness. He sure looked like a minor god of hunting or war to Percy.

"Wait," Percy started." You're a demigod?"

"Yes." The minor god, no, not god, man, said. "I am."

"How?" Percy exclaimed. "You look like a god."

The giant man blinked as if he were taken aback. "Um… well, thank you I guess?" He didn't seem to know how to take the question.

Percy let his trident form back into his pendant on his necklace. It wore his out to keep it summoned and Riptide had returned to his pocket, in case he had to defend himself again. "Then why did you attack us if you're a demigod?" Percy asked. "You have to be crazy to attack the hunters of Artemis as a mortal."

The man followed Percy's move and let his warhammer disappear and form back on his left bicep as a tattoo. "I was unaware of who they were." He said, taking a few steps closer to Percy, his hands out in front of him in a show of non-hostility. "The eldest girl attacked me with lightning while another used plants and trees to attack me. I thought that they might have been Dryads or Nymphs."

The first must be Thalia and the other must have been Edith, since she's a daughter of Demeter. Percy thought. He lowered his shoulders and unclenched his fists, something told him that this man wasn't going to attack him again. Out loud, he said, "But why would you attack a group of Dryads or Nymphs?" Percy asked. "They're mostly harmless."

The colossal man looked behind Percy and pointed. "Because she fired at me first." Percy spun around to find Thalia, Medeia and the other hunters all behind him with their bows aimed at the man. Percy followed the man's finger and found it pointed at Medeia. "My camp was invaded by a massive swarm of Monsters this morning. I was fighting them off when I heard a small child scream." He looked at the youngest hunters, studying them. "After I slayed the last of the Monsters I rushed off to investigate and found this group, only for this one to fire an arrow at me." He said, his eyes narrowed at Medeia.

Thalia moved a half step closer, her bow drawn. "You tried to kill me!" She cried. "I had to hit you with a lighting bolt to get you away from me."

"Is this true?" Percy asked the group, he first looked to Medeia.

"...Yes," She replied. "I saw him in the trees behind Thalia so I fired an arrow at him. I believed that he was a Monster! I did not know who he was!"

"And I assumed that you lured me in with a child's cry." The man said cooly before looking back to Percy. "Cyclops are known for doing such things. I thought that you were Nymphs or Dryads allied with the Monsters."

"We're the hunters of Lady Artemis." Thalia said, her bow still drawn at the man's bare chest. "Not Nymphs, Dryads or anything like that. And you attacked us, we could kill you for that. Our Lady would no doubt approve."

"Wait wait wait," Percy waved his arms, getting in front of Thalia. "We seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot here." He looked to Thalia. "I talked to him, it seems that he really didn't know who we were. Let's not start a fight here." He said, thought his eyes portrayed his true message, We might not win if we do.

"Everyone just lower their weapons, okay?" Percy said to the hunters, lil T and the younger hunters did almost immediately but the older hunters took longer. Medeia refused to lower hers, however. "Medeia, drop your bow." Percy ordered.

The eldest hunter narrowed her eyes at the man. "I do not trust this male, Perseus. He attempted to kill us."

"Well I tried to kill him too," Percy admitted with an apologetic look towards the man. "We didn't know that we're on the same side. He says he fights the Titans too."

Medeia's brow quirked up. "And you believe him so easily?" She drew her arrow even further back but the man, to his credit, didn't even blink having an arrow pointed at his chest.

Percy stepped towards Medeia and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm just trying to diffuse the tension. Trust me, we don't want to fight this guy. So Lower. Your. Bow."

After a few seconds and a huff of frustration, Medeia lowered her bow but kept her arrow notched. "Who are you?" Medeia asked the man. "Which god do you serve? Are you Roman or Greek?"

The man smiled at seeing her finally lower her weapon. He lowered his head in a slight bow, his right hand on his chest over his heart. "I am Leonidas, son of Sparta and I serve no one god. And as a Spartan I am Greek, not Roman."

"Leonidas?" Cleo asked from besides Thalia. "You mean like the Leonidas? King of-."

The man who claimed to be named Leonidas cut in. "Leonidas, legendary Warrior King of Sparta, the man who led the three hundred Spartans against Persia at the battle of Thermopylae?" He asked with a slight smile on his face as if he were amused. "No, I am not the Leonidas. But he is my namesake. My mother gave me this name so that I may one day achieve the same honor in battle as he."

Percy's ear perked at this. "Your mother?" He asked. "Was she a god or mortal?"

"Mortal," Leonidas answered. "Though she raised me since birth as a Spartan."

"How do you mean, raised you since birth as a Spartan?" Edith asked.

Leonidas looked to the daughter if Demeter. "I was raised like the children of Sparta were." He answered. "I was trained to fight since I was old enough to hold a sword."

"That sounds more like Camp Jupiter than anything." Medeia stated. "Are you sure that you are Greek?"

"Who's your godly parent?" Percy asked over Medeia's question.

Leonidas gave a shrug, his massive shoulders causing the fur on his cloak to shimmer in the morning sun. "I am afraid that I do not know, I never met him."

"Did your mom know who he was?" Thalia asked. "Did she ever mention anything about him?"

Leonidas' eyes darkened slightly, as if he were remembering something that he wished to forget. "Mother was… never the nurturing nor caring type." He started. "She only spoke to me during her lectures. She would often talk to herself as I trained. Sometimes it was about him, how she missed him and wished for him to return to her, but mostly she just recited poems and quotes to herself."

"What do you mean she wasn't nurturing or caring?" Percy asked. "Didn't you say she trained you to fight?"

"She trained me to impress my father so that he would return to us." Leonidas corrected, his tone sharp. Implying that he had some not too fond memories of his mother. "She was obsessed with my father, claiming that he loved her and would return one day if I proved myself to him. So she made me train."

Percy took a half step forward, his voice calm like when he talked to new campers about the Greek world. "Well some mortals think that," His eyes jumped to Thalia for a second before going back. "But the gods are really busy and can't always make themselves known to their demigod -."

Leonidas cut him off. "My mother, while brilliant and a master tactician, was mad." He told them, looking at Percy. "She would often go on for days at a time reciting poems or quotes without ever sleeping, eating or acknowledging me at all. She did not even know that I was there most of the time." He gave another shrug. "But she never told me of my father, she said that names had power and that she did not want to alert him of me before I was ready."

"...So she knew that you were a demigod then?" Percy asked. "Since she knew about the Greek world enough to train you as a Spartan."

Leonidas nodded. "Yes. She taught me of the Greek world, of the gods, Titans and Monsters. I have further honed my skills and I have been hunting Monsters since I left home when I was twelve."

"Twelve?" Percy asked. "If you don't mind, why did you leave home at twelve?"

Leonidas' shoulders fell slightly. "Because our house was attacked my Monsters during the night and my mother was killed." He answered softly. "I fled into the woods and since then I have dedicated my life to kill all of the Monsters I can. To avenge her."

The group was silent for a half minute after that, no one really knowing what to say. After a little bit Percy asked, "So how old are you?" He looked to be at least twenty, but his size and muscles made it hard to determine.

"I am twenty one." Leonidas answered. "You?"

"Eighteen." Percy told him before letting out a breath. "Well, why don't we continue this over breakfast?" He faced Edith. "We never got the chance to eat, can you start preparing?" The daughter of Demeter nodded after a few seconds. "Thanks."

Percy turned back to Leonidas. 'Well, why don't we gather some food? We can talk more over some food. You okay with that, Leonidas?"

The large man nodded. "Yes." He looked to Thalia and the hunters, a smile on his face. "I would be honored to be able to see the hunters of Lady Artemis hunt. I have always wanted to see a master hunt."

"I assume that you know how to hunt?" Alexandra asked, eyeing the furs and pelts on him.

"Yes," He nodded again, placing his left hand on his right forearm, a large, slightly glowing wooden bow appeared in his hand. "I am a Monster hunter, of course I can hunt."

oooOooo

(An hour or so later)

After Medeia, begrudgingly, allowed Leonidas to hunt breakfast with them, in which he managed to shoot down a deer from a distance that not even Medeia herself thought possible, some of the hunters seemed to get impressed by him. Leonidas, after apologizing for attacking them numerous times, was kind and respectful towards the hunters. He made no rude or inappropriate comments and tried his best to not overstay his welcome. After they ate he told them more about himself, though it seemed that doing so brought up some unwanted memories so Percy let him not answer every question.

They learned that Leonidas was raised in the woods by a large lake in Minnesota, though exactly where, he didn't know. He and his mother never left their property and Leonidas spent the fist twelve years of his life there. He also demonstrated his mastery of the bow to the hunters, even taking part in a friendly(or friendly for him, since the hunters wanted nothing more than to beat him) shooting competition where he surprised everyone by managing to not only shoot faster and farther than them but with more accuracy. Medeia claimed that the contest was not fair because of his increased strength, since he was able to shoot further than them. Which brought up the conversation about Leonidas' powers.

"Speaking of you strength," Percy spoke up after letting Leonidas and the hunters talk back and forth for a little while. "What other demigod powers do you have?"

Thalia spoke up too. "They might be able to help us figure out who your dad is."

Leonidas looked at him, lowering the slab of freshly cooked meat away from his mouth. "Powers?" He asked.

"Yeah,"Percy said. "I have powers over water, storms and earthquakes because my dad's Poseidon."

Leonidas gave an 'I dunno' shrug. "I only have increased strength."

Percy looked to Thalia. "Huh, maybe you're a son of Ares?" He asked aloud. "It would definitely explain your skill and size, since most Ares kids are big."

"And Ares kids have super strength beyond normal demigods." Thalia suggested, looking to Leonidas. "Anything else?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, I am sorry."

"Don't be," Percy smiled. "Not every demigod is claimed. And you might have been too old for your dad to claim when I had them swear to claim all of their kids."

Thalia shrugged. "Could be. Since adulthood was considered to be sixteen in ancient Greece, you might have already been an adult when it happened."

Percy noticed Medeia look up the shy from the corner of his eye. Then she spoke up, "We should get moving." She said. "We are wasting daylight sitting here and talking. We have a lot of ground to cover."

Leonidas' ears perked at this. "Are you on a hunt for a Monster?" He asked. "May I travel-?"

"No." Medeia cut him off sharply. "You may not travel with us, male. Regardless of your skill with a bow, we hunters would never travel with a male."

Leonidas gestured towards Percy. "But you allow Perseus to travel with you."

"Percy," Percy corrected him. "And I'm somewhat of a special case. Artemis is only allowing me to travel with her hunters because I have fought alongside her a few times and she knows and trusts me." He gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, but rules are rules."

Leonidas seemed upset hearing this but it went away after a few seconds. "Well I would be lying if I said that I was not disheartened by that answer, but I will respect the wishes of Lady Artemis." He rose from the ground gracefully, not making a sound despite his large size. "But tell me, is Lady Artemis going to be joining you on your hunt? Where is she right now?"

Percy was about to answer his question when Thalia beat him to it. "We can't say." She said. "That information is only for the hunters to know."

Leonidas' face dropped slightly, his voice softer. "That is a shame," He let out a sigh. "I was really looking forward to meeting her. As a hunter of Monsters myself I have always wanted to meet the goddess of the hunt."

After a few minutes they packed up camp and Leonidas was making his way out of their camp and into the woods when he stopped and turned back, calling to Percy. "Perseus!" He yelled, using his full name for whatever reason. He seemed to prefer using full names actually, and didn't like people shortening his name to 'Leo'. Because names were sacred and honored those they were named after, he said. Percy decided to not question it further. He had also started to refer to Percy as 'brother' despite no proof that they were actually related. Percy also decided not to say anything about it.

"What?" Percy called back, stopping as well. Lil T seemed to want to leave and tugged on his hand but he didn't budge.

"Where is that camp of demigods that you spoke of?" He asked. "Camp Half-Blood?"

Percy was opening his mouth to answer, but again Thalia cut him off. "Sorry, but we can't say." She said with a fake smile. To Percy she whispered, "I don't trust him, Kelp Head. Don't tell him anything."

If Leonidas was upset about not getting an answer he didn't show it. He only gave a smile as he waved goodbye to Percy. "That is alright, I understand. I pray we meet again someday, my brother, Fated willing."

Percy waved goodbye to Leonidas as he headed into and somehow quickly disappeared into the brush. "Why?" Percy asked. "We'll never even see him again. What the harm of telling him where camp is? He is a demigod too, so he has a right to go there."

Thalia shrugged as she led them in the opposite direction. "I don't know," She answered honestly. "But something in my gut tells me he's trouble."

Percy was going to ask her to clarify, but Medeia seemed to find the trail of the elder Hydra they were hunting, so they ran off. Percy forgot about the strange man named Leonidas that he met that day, instead focusing on the hunt as the days on the trail continued.


(Author's Note)

Hey everyone, I hope you liked this chapter as well as Leonidas' introduction. I put so much time into him so I hope you guys like him. Don't worry, this isn't the last time we'll see him. He's a major part of this story but no spoilers, I won't give anything else away. But let me know what you think about him and who you think is his godly parent. But please give your guesses in a PM so other people won't be spoiled if you're right or they don't want to know.

Sorry again about the delay, my internet had been terrible the last few days and that really makes it hard to write. Hopefully there aren't that many mistakes towards the end, I didn't have much time to edit/reread since I'm trying to get this out before work tonight. Let me know if there are any major mistakes and I'll fix them.

Next chapter will be another timeskip, as most will be. We'll also get the true reason why Artemis is having Percy travel with the hunters as well as the reasons why she fears for his safety at camp.

Let me know how you liked it with a Review and be sure to vote on my Poll for my next Pertemis story. If you can't vote because you're on a phone then just let me know your vote in a Review or PM.

Have a great day, hopefully next update will be sooner rather than later,

Hephaestus