Chapter 6: New beginnings

A/N: hey guys. Been a while huh? Sorry for the long interval. Been a rough couple of months. I apologise and can only try not to let it happen again. So on we go.

Disclaimer: the usual characters are Rick Riordan's plot mine. I don't own PJO or HoO

Percy POV:

I stopped outside my mum's apartment and composed myself. I wondered what I was going to say. I hesitated, then knocked on the door. I heard the sound of rustling papers on the other side before they were replaced by the sound of footsteps getting closer. The door swung open to reveal my mum gazing upon me looking confused. "Um…hello. Percy's not here at the moment and I don't know when he's coming back…" I stopped her by giving her a hug. "Hi mum." Her eyes widened as she returned my embrace. "Percy, what happened to you? You look different." She ushered me inside and we sat down on the couch. I began to recap the war and everything since I had been kidnapped. My mum was a great listener. She had the right reaction to the right parts of the story. She cried when she heard about Annabeth. Once I told her about my newly adopted appearance I had to tell her I was going away to keep my promise.

"Hey mum I have to leave soon. I promised Annabeth I would move on. I'm going to go round the world to train and then I will be back to help any demigod that needs help. But I need to train first. I will keep in contact with you every 2 weeks to let you know how I am. But it won't be by iris message because I don't want anyone to find me. I have an idea actually. Lady Hestia…" I called into the sky to no one in particular. There was a flash and Lady Hestia was in front of me. We bowed but Hestia waved it off. "My lady I was wondering if I could deliver letters to my mum every 2 weeks by giving them to you through the fire." Hestia smiled warmly. "Of course you can Percy. I will make sure she gets them." We talked for around another hour before I had to leave. My mum gave a tight hug before I left the house.

5 Years Later:

Narrator's POV:

It had been 5 years since anybody on Olympus had had any contact with Percy. The first couple of years there had been many search parties sent out to find the lost hero of Olympus, Hermes would check wherever he had deliveries and found nothing. Nico had said that Percy wasn't dead and Hades was quick to confirm that he wasn't. In the 3rd year of Percy's disappearance, the hunters were dispatched to track him down but after a year of trying to track him down, Zeus told them to stop the mission. Artemis was furious for having failed a mission; something that had never happened…ever. Zeus had told the council that if Perseus wanted to be found then he would've come back himself.

However, Zeus had overturned his decision to stop searching for Percy after monsters had banded together, attacking in small and large groups. Organised attacks on the camps and the hunters that had to date, only ended in minor injuries for the demigods and hunters. But Artemis and Chiron had noticed that the attacks weren't full-on attacks. The monsters seemed to be holding back as if testing the skills of the demigods, analysing the campers and hunters before retreating. And then there was the issue of the number of demigods that had turned up at the hunter's camp ad Camp Heroes unnoticed by anybody. The only clue they had was from the demigods who described their rescuer as a muscularly lean male with dark black hair and orange-y eyes that radiated warmth when talking to them but flashed like roaring flames when confronting enemies.

The Gods were conversing in the throne room about the threats Olympus faced right now. It was clear by the look on Zeus's face that he didn't like the idea that was being proposed to him by Athena currently. He sighed and eventually nodded his head and gestured to Hermes who flashed out, only to return with Hades a second later. "Hades, as much as I don't like to admit it, we need your help. The armies of the underworld will play a key part in this upcoming war and so I offer you your throne on the council as well as Hestia so that together we may vanquish this threat." Hades had a look of shock on his face but managed a small nod as an obsidian black throne appeared covered in skulls next to Poseidon's throne whilst a regal orange throne that seemed to have flames surrounding it appeared by Hera's throne as Hades and Hestia took their place on their thrones.

Zeus cleared his throat and silenced descended on the throne room. He gestured at Athena who went about updating Hades on what the Gods had been debating over the last few hours. Hades nodded to indicate he understood the current situation. "Yes, Nico had informed me of these demigods showing up out of the blue, but…" The Lord of the Underworld didn't get to finish as he was interrupted by Artemis suddenly tensing, then flashing out. The throne room was silent and looks of shock and curiosity filled the room. The silence was broken by Hades who said "Did I say something wrong…?"

Meanwhile:

The sun was at its peak. The heat was bordering unbearable and the air was humid. Deep inside a forest, a bunch of immortal preteens were feeling the sweltering conditions. They were laying around fanning themselves with long branches covered in leaves under the shade. Their sweat-covered faces showed tiredness as they slumped against the trees. 13 bows were laying on the ground next to a bunch of quivers. Despite the weather, the girls were laid back comfortably, conversing with each other and joking over past stories. The area was secluded and the hunters of Artemis were hidden in a thick part of the forest, with bushes and plants surrounding them. To the untrained eye, if anyone had seen them they would think the hunters were randomly spread out, but the hunters were sat strategically. The purpose of sitting was that they were staying low, staying out of the heat was just an added bonus. The 13 huntresses were sitting in a square formation, each side of the square was keeping an eye on each of the 4 points of entry to their campsite.

There was a sudden crunch! The hunters were up in an instant with their bows drawn. The girl at the front raised her voice. She had black, spiky hair. "Reveal yourself!" There was silence and then a ROAR was heard as an army emerged from behind the shrubbery. At least 100 monsters appeared ranging from empousai to Cyclopes to the manticore. The hunters tensed, Artemis wasn't here and they were hopelessly outnumbered. The manticore grinned. "I guess it's time for my revenge! No petty Goddess to save you now." The hunters replied by sending wave after wave of arrows into the army of monsters. The raining arrows caused some of the monsters to turn into dust. The monsters started advancing towards the hunters, who kept firing arrows picking off monsters left, right and centre. Half of the army had been killed without a single casualty for the hunters. But now the monsters had gotten too close for the hunters to use their bows. The hunters drew their hunting knives as a unit, while Thalia drew her spear and Aegis. The oncoming army slowed and recoiled at the sight of the lieutenant's shield.

"Do not fear! Today we shall spill blood and kill these huntresses before we leave!" The army cheered and forged on. The battle was just getting started. The monsters may have outnumbered the hunters, but they were outclassed by the skill instilled in them by Artemis. There was only one major problem for the hunters-and that was the manticore. Standing near the back of the army, Dr Thorn fired spikes to make it difficult to fully concentrate on the monsters.

Thalia stabbed an empousai in the gut with her spear and then set her sights on Thorn. She raced nimbly towards her target as Thorn kept firing poisonous darts at the hunters. The fight was slowly turning in favour of the monsters. Thalia called down a bolt of lightning and watched as it slammed into the spiky beast. The manticore turned his attention to the daughter of Zeus and snarled. He started rapidly firing darts that were quickly blocked by Aegis. They battled for a couple of minutes, Thorn firing darts whenever Thalia got too close. She cursed as she tried to gain the upper hand. All of a sudden, a dart whizzed through Thalia's defence and grazed her arm. The stinging sensation she felt was sharp and instant and her vision blurred. She was already fatigued and the heat did her no favours.

Thorn's eyes gleamed as the huntress in front of him swayed dizzily. He swiped his tail and caused Thalia to lose her footing. She landed hard and smacked her head on the ground causing black spots to fill her sight. When she regained her sight, she saw the manticore standing over her, ready to fire a poison dart right into her heart. She closed her eyes and internally prayed. I'm sorry Lady Artemis, I failed the Hunt. Please come and save the rest of them.

A silver flash caught her attention. The manticore laughed and taunted the Goddess. "Come Artemis, watch as I kill your Lieutenant right in front of your eyes. Watch the light leave her eyes. I believe last time we met you lost your first Lieutenant now you will lose another."

The manticore pulled his tail back, ready to fire. Artemis couldn't do anything; she was too far away. She could only desperately shout "Nooooo…"

A/N: well it feels good to be back! What did you think? Sorry about the cliff hanger and the terrible battle scene-that was a little rushed I admit-will be better in the future. Hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you thought.