AN:

We're back! So, yesterday, in classes and homework combined, I did approximately thirteen hours of school. Engineering is a bitch lol. Anyways, due to the absolute brain numbing chore yesterday was, I set aside ample time today to work on this story. I feel especially after a day like that, exercising a creative portion of my brain is essential. I just needed to do something I enjoyed. Basically, you have my suffering from yesterday to thank for this chapter today! I really worked so hard on this one. I'm trying to increase the writing quality in this story, and I think I did it here. I think there's a lot more variety in the prose this time around. Hopefully you agree. As for the content, well, expect more Percy, and some actual information on what's going on in Sapphire City. Everything else, you have got to read to find out. So, here it is, Chapter 1 of "All That's Left"

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Hazel paced uncertainly outside the diner, nervousness doing a tap dance across her heart. She was pretty sure if someone looked close enough, they'd be able to see the path she was tracing worn into the cement underfoot, but she couldn't help it. Her anxiousness was off the charts, and the only thing that was running faster than her pacing legs was her worried mind.

All she'd been able to think about since Percy had walked out of her apartment door was what would happen next. What would tomorrow hold. But now, tomorrow was here, and she couldn't bring herself to open that door. Perhaps it was the expected trepidation that one would expect to come with meeting up with someone who'd broken into your apartment, but she thought it was something else. She was fairly certain the thing holding her back was a different kind of fear. Fear that Percy would have answers, and they'd be answers she wouldn't like.

Letting out a shuddering breath, she gathered herself. She took one last look at the sign above, the neon glow bathing her face. The diner's name 'Demeter's' glistened peacefully in the dim hue of sunset, a stark contrast to the turmoil she was feeling inside. This place seemed too homely and kind, too serenely nestled in the outskirts of the city, to be a meet-up for a guy who had been bleeding out from gunshot wounds in her kitchen just yesterday.

She almost didn't go in. It would've been so easy. Too easy even, to turn and never look back. To forget she'd ever met him, and to go on with her life. It would be horrible, living without her mother, but the clarity of the night had shown her one thing. She knew she could manage alone; that wasn't the issue. The crux of the problem was, she loved her mom far too much to just abandon her, leaving everything riding on the hope that she'd show up at her doorstep like nothing happened one day.

That's what kept her from leaving. She wasn't sure if she could ever save her mother. If she could ever bring her home. But not knowing would kill her. She couldn't live with herself if she went on with her life not knowing if she could've been the difference between her mom's salvation and her damnation. Using those morbid thoughts as motivation, Hazel steeled her nerves, pushing into the diner.

It was a quaint little place. The walls were decorated with various posters, pictures, and curious mementos. There was even a surfboard hanging above the bar, something she found quite humorous considering Sapphire City was completely landlocked.

Outside, the small lot had been completely filled, not a space to be seen. The atmosphere reflected that. The diner bustled with life, each full table contributing a small lull to the sea of conversation that swept over the diner. A blend of delicious smells wafted from the kitchen, tickling her nostrils and inciting a deep grumble from her stomach. All in all, it was a homely little place, and one she wished she didn't have to discover on the coattails of her mother's tragic disappearance.

Weaving between the diners were various members of the waitstaff, each of them wearing the same uniform, an orange t-shirt with a pine tree on it, the words 'Demeter's' spelled out by the pine's roots. As they carried dishes and drinks back and forth like a well-oiled machine, Hazel couldn't help but feel they resembled an army of ants carrying leaves back to the colony.

She saw a sign in front of her, urging guests to seat themselves, but that wasn't of much help to her. She was meeting Percy here, and she couldn't seem to find him amidst the crowd. Scanning over the room one more time, she saw what she had missed when she'd first given the entire dining area a once-over. Huddled into the far corner of the diner, sitting at the most inconspicuous place in the diner, she saw a pair of recognizable sea-green eyes, shining like a beacon for anyone who bothered to look close enough. She headed knowingly in their direction; she'd only ever met one person with eyes like those.

The first thing she noticed? He wasn't wearing the mask. She could see every inch of his admittedly gorgeous face. It wasn't that she was particularly interested in the man who'd bled all over her kitchen floor and supposedly had insider knowledge on her mom's kidnapping; it was more the fact that you would have to be blind not to see it.

His tan complexion was much easier to make out now that his blood was back in his body and off her floor and served to accentuate the inky darkness of his messy hair. His eyes were the same mysteriously swirling depths they'd been before, but now there was a face to match them. A chiseled jaw leading up to high cheekbones, a perfectly straight nose, and ridiculously long and slender eyelashes. The only thing that didn't match the standard of male beauty society had set was his smile. It was beautiful and sparkling white, sure, but it wasn't the smoldering look that Hollywood wanted. It was mischievous and teasing, giving him the appearance of a sixteen-year-old rebel being shoved into the body of a twenty-year-old Adonis.

"Are you going to stare, or are you going to sit?" he asked, his voice tinged with amusement.

She felt her cheeks flush as she sat. Looking across the table at him, a small shiver tingled her spine. All her hairs stood on end. There was something about the air around him. It almost seemed to be vibrating with chaotic energy. She had a feeling that danger clung to him like cigarette smoke.

"You said you'd help me find my mom." She said, cutting right to the chase. She had a feeling Percy would appreciate the bold approach.

Percy raised a pleased eyebrow, and she felt her heart do a little kickflip in celebration. She wasn't the best with people and speaking with someone like Percy could be like trudging through a minefield, so each little victory had to be treasured.

"That's right." He said, leaning forward in his chair. "And I will. But first, I need to know how badly you want to find her. What you're willing to do."

She could see it was obviously a challenge, but he wasn't pretending it was anything else either to be fair. She considered his question. What would she do to bring her mother home? She thought about how her entire life, her mom had been her only true friend. She remembered each late night, laughing away as they watched terrible rom coms. About each dinner they'd shared. Each moment spent together. Without her mother, she was alone. Hazel had her answer. Green eyes met gold. His eyes bellowed a challenge, hers shouted determination.

"I'll do anything." Her voice was confident, echoing the truth she felt in her soul. She would do anything. She had no choice. If she didn't, she was alone.

"Good, you're determined." He clapped his hands together to emphasize his point. "You're going to need to be, if we're going to get your mother back."

"Right, about that. You said you know who has her?" Hazel pushed, urging him to let her in on his little secret.

He reached into his jacket, digging around the inside looking for something. Withdrawing his hand from the garment, he pulled a picture out with it. It was a printout of a security camera's recording, the time stamp about a year old. The image was grainy and a bit blurry, but the visage was clear. An intimidating looking man with long black hair was holding gun, firing it into the air. The most jarring thing about him though, was the eyepatch that covered his left eye-socket.

"This is who has her?"

"This is who's in charge of who has her." He said, tapping the picture emphatically. "At least as far as we know. His names Ethan Nakumara, but he goes by the street name Nemesis. Runs a gang here in the undercity, they call themselves the Titans, and we're pretty sure they have your mom."

"We?" she questioned; eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You didn't think I was the only one on this, did you?" he mocked, although his tone was light. He kicked back in his chair as he spoke, propping his feet up on the table.

She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a new arrival to the table. A server was standing over them, her orange shirt sticking out like a sore thumb over the backdrop of the rest of the diner. Hazel looked her up and down, noticing her painfully sincere smile and her kind, but noticeably tired eyes.

"Percy, what have I told you about putting your feet on my tables?" the girl scolded half-heartedly, pushing his boots back to the ground.

"The same thing Jason told me about picking up strays." He retorted. Hazel didn't miss the way their eyes flicked momentarily to her.

"I can see you have a hard time listening to both of us." The server shot back, before turning to Hazel, her huge grin back on her face. "Sorry about Percy, he's a little… Rough around the edges. My name is Katie, can I get you anything? Something besides someone new to sit with?" she teased, winking at Percy.

"Oh uhm… I'll have a... A water would be nice, thank you." Hazel mumbled, her anxiety creeping from whatever hole it had been hiding in up to this point. She had a thing about talking to servers. She always got extra nervous she'd fumble over her words when the pressure was on to know her order, and it usually ended up a self fulfilling prophecy.

"Sure thing!" she said, politely ignoring Hazel's awkwardness. "And you Percy?" Katie beamed at her before turning back across the table.

"The usual." He chirped.

"Coming right up." Katie said with a chuckle.

The girl turned away, walking off with a hum. Her hair flapped behind her like a butterfly's wings, alluding fairly well to the girl's personality. When she disappeared from view, Hazel turned her attention back to the man sitting opposite her.

"She seems… Bubbly." Hazel commented.

"Who, Katie? Yeah, that's about right."

"Is she a part of this 'we' you mentioned?" Hazel asked, using air quotes around the 'we'.

"She is." Percy nodded. "So is Jason. In fact, he's in charge of us, whatever you want to call us."

"You don't seem like someone who enjoys having someone in charge of him." She said drily. He laughed at her words.

"You're not wrong." He admitted. "But Jason's the best for the job. Ex-military. A real disciplinarian, and a total badass. When the two of us started all this together a few years ago, I let him take charge. I probably had the best claim to a leadership position, the whole thing was my idea, but he has the best mind for it. He's a soldier. A general."

"So, if he's the general, what are you?"

"I'm a ghost." He said, the same cryptic air he had in her apartment making a return. "I'm better suited for the solo work than leading. I prefer it that way. Never much cared for sitting behind a desk giving orders when I could be out in the field affecting real change."

She considered what he said for a moment. She could certainly believe it. It wasn't that hard to see that Percy was somewhat of a lone wolf. He just emanated that mysterious and dangerous vibe that you'd get from watching old westerns about the solo cowboy that saved a town. With his looks and his personality, rolled into a ball with the energy he emanated, it was like he was plucked straight from a movie.

"You don't mind him bossing you around?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Percy smirked, like the mere insinuation was humorous to him.

"I wouldn't say him bossing me around is the dynamic we have. He may try, and for the most part I'll listen, because we share a common goal, but for things we disagree on, well, I'm my own man."

"Like what you said about strays? About me?"

"You're perceptive, good. But yes, exactly. Jason has a little bit of an issue with me finding people like you. He's a soldier, and this is a war; he feels like every time I recruit someone like you, I'm dragging a civilian into it." He explained.

"And how do you see it?"

"I think it's the right thing to do. The only thing to do. I understand his sentiment, really, I do, but it's naïve. Everyone in our little group wants to take Nakumara down, because every single one of us is going through the same thing you are. Every single one of us had someone taken. I can't deny that opportunity to anyone who's suffering the same as we are."

The reality of what he was saying sank in. She realized what this group he was describing really was. It wasn't some militia of public defenders. This was a coalition of people who had been hurt the same way she had. Who had lost as much as she had. Who were as alone as she was.

"Every single one? Jason? Katie? You? All of you?" her voice did nothing to hide her shock.

"Every. Single. One. Every one of us knows the pain you're feeling. Jason's missing a sister, Thalia. Katie her mother Demeter, who normally runs the place. Katie pours her energy into keeping 'Demeter's' afloat, in honor of her mother. Jason, he's dedicated himself to running our operations, taking Nakumara out, and getting his sister back."

"And you?" Hazel questioned softly, already able to tell this was a soft spot just by his omission of his own story.

"Let's just say we're more alike than you think, Hazel... They have my mother, Sally Jackson, the best woman I've ever met." He paused for a moment, gathering himself. "She's the reason I take in every single person like you I can find. I know how much it hurts me that she's gone. How could I possibly leave you in that apartment to wallow in misery when I could show you a different way?"

Hazel felt the weight of his words fall on her soul. It was like someone had loaded up a barbell with two houses and asked her to deadlift it to the stars. Her heart already ached for herself and for her poor mother, but now her grief extended out to the families of all the people in Percy's group.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "For taking me in. If your group will have me that is." She murmured.

Percy stood up unexpectedly, gesturing with a nod of his head for her to follow him. She caught up to him, forced to hustle to keep pace with his long strides. When she fell into step, taking two steps for every one of his, Percy finally spoke again.

"Don't worry." He said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They'll love you, I'm sure of it." He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, and she felt a little bit of her nervousness wane.

They continued their walk through the tables, and Hazel wondered absently where they were headed. She glanced back at their table, worried that Katie would be upset when she returned to an empty table with their drinks. When she turned back around, Percy was standing in the entryway to the kitchen, raising an eyebrow expectantly at her.

"You coming?" he asked, his mouth upturned in a small smile.

"What? I don't work here! I can't go back there." She protested.

Percy rolled his eyes, raising a finger to prompt patience from her. He disappeared into the depths of the kitchen, leaving her to stand awkwardly outside the doorway. When he finally returned, he was dangling what looked like an apron in his hands. Before she could protest, he was draping it over her. When she looked down, she could make out the cliché 'Kiss the Cook' printed across the front in bold lettering. She let out a groan.

"Now you do, now come on." He said cheerfully, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

He grabbed he arm, tugging her along before she could even think to question it. He pulled her back into the kitchen, where the smells from earlier were even more noticeable. She felt her mouth water, and she remembered they hadn't even gotten to eat. As she was dragged along, her stomach yearned for a massive plate of food.

Threading themselves through the various chefs, Percy took her to a large walk in freezer, opening the door with a huge poof of cold air. She followed him in, the sound of the door slamming shut behind them making her jump. Her breath fogged up as she let it out, and her eyes wandered the room. There was nothing special about it. All she saw was frozen food. She wondered what he took her here for. Maybe ice fishing?

"It's a dead end." She voiced her thoughts aloud, hoping he'd explain.

"Oh, it's far from a dead end, Hazel." He said from his place by the rear wall of the freezer. "First lesson about this world you're about to dive into; nothing is as it seems."

Percy pressed his hand into the wall, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, a green bar of light lit up beneath his palm, scanning his flesh like a bar code. Coming from nowhere, a robotic female's voice rang throughout the freezer.

"Biometric scan: Complete. Subject: Percy Jackson. Status: Authorized."

Hazel's eyes widened. On the wall that Percy had placed his palm, various lights burst to life. Each line of light seared its way across the wall, tracing a random pattern and leaving a fiery trail in its wake. When the lights stopped moving, the image of a pine tree, the same one that had adorned the shirts of the weight staff, flashed brightly at her.

"What the-" she murmured, disbelief in her tone.

"Don't worry, it get's better." Percy teased from her side.

It did. The wall started to move, the sound of gears turning surrounding her on all sides. With a few clanks and clunks, and a large grinding sound halfway through, the entire wall sank into the floor, giving way to something else entirely.

Hidden behind the faux wall, there was what looked like an extremely lavish elevator. It was what she pictured the people in the upper city would have in their thirteen story condos. Percy stepped into it, waving his hand dramatically for her to follow. She trailed him in, spinning in a circle as she admired the thing. After a few moments the doors closed, and their descent began.

"You guys have a secret underground base? How'd you make this? How'd you afford it? This is upper city technology."

"You're asking the guy who had nectar how we can afford an elevator?" Percy scoffed. "It's actually nothing compared to some of what we have down here. One of us, Leo is his name, is an absolute savant with anything mechanical or technological. Another one, Annabeth, can hack just about anything that's ever seen a power switch. You'll meet them both. Together, they give us all the funding and technology we need."

"I thought you were a bunch of people like, well, like you and this Jason guy? I thought you were essentially soldiers fighting a gang war."

"No, far from it. That's the beauty of this whole thing. The entire reason Jason and I formed this group was to stop Nakumara. As people joined, not all of them had the will or the skillset to do what Jason and I do, but they still wanted to help. Some of them do the things Jason and I do, but everyone has their own jobs. Their own important roles. Take Katie, for example. She can't stomach violence in the slightest, but she helps by allowing us to run our operations underneath Demeter's, hidden in plain sight. Or Leo for another example, guy couldn't win in a fight with his great grandpa, and that guy is dead, but I'll be damned if he doesn't know his way around a wrench. Either way, we're all on the same team. We're all one family fighting to be whole again."

"That's amazing. It's a whole community." She admitted in awe.

"I think so too." He said with a smile, his grin stretching all the way to his eyes.

He sounded very pleased. He was clearly proud that she thought his and Jason's brainchild was as impressive and virtuous as she did. He sounded proud of what they'd already accomplished. What they were going to accomplish. She could understand that. It was admirable, what they'd done in the pursuit of justice for their loved ones.

"And I'll be a part of it?" she asked hopefully.

"Yea, in any capacity you want. Whatever you can handle, and whatever you want to handle. In fact, we can get a head start on the assignment process. Do you have any special skills?"

Hazel thought about it, but she couldn't really think of anything. She wasn't a soldier like Jason, or a "Ghost" like Percy, whatever that meant. She couldn't hack everything in sight like this Annabeth girl, or build anything like this Leo guy. She couldn't even run a restaurant like Katie did. She'd been an above average student in school, and she knew a few magic tricks she'd learned as a lonely kid, but that wasn't helpful. She felt woefully inadequate compared to the people Percy had told her about.

"Nothing remarkable." She mumbled, sounding ashamed of herself.

"That's alright." Percy said, smiling at her. "Are you willing to learn?"

"Of course I am." She said indignantly.

"Then we'll make a soldier out of you. I can promise you that." He said encouragingly, his voice inspiring hope in her mind.

They fell into a comfortable silence as the elevator continued its descent. Suddenly, the elevator stopped moving down, and started jetting forward instead. She took the change in stride, figuring nothing could surprise her. While they waited, she thought about everything she'd learned so far. He had been right back in her apartment. Nothing was the same now that she'd walked through those diner doors.

"One question though." She spoke after a moment, breaking the noiselessness of their lengthy elevator ride.

"Not that I'm counting, but you've definitely already asked more than one question." He teased. She spluttered for a moment and he laughed at her, before finally having mercy on her and waving for her to continue.

"What's with the pine tree?" she said confusedly, referring to the insignia that had burned itself into the freezer wall.

"Ah that. That's our logo of sorts. Thalia's pine, we call it." His voice somewhat softer than it had been prior.

"After Jason's sister?"

"Yea, exactly. It's an homage to her. It was Piper's idea, actually. Don't worry, you'll meet her too." He said, noticing her confused look. "Anyways, an homage to Thalia, name after the first person to be kidnapped by Nakumara and his goons. The tree's roots are supposed to represent us, all separate individuals. The trunk is supposed to be us coming together, united in one goal. The pine needles are supposed to be our loved ones. Separate pieces of the same tree, all connected. It's a message, that together, one day we'll bring them all home. A message in Thalia Grace's honor."

"That's…" she trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Silly? I know. I don't really think a tree is too intimidating. Personally, I would've picked something scary, like a chainsaw. Chainsaws beat trees every time." Percy quipped.

"I was going to say beautiful, or poetic, or inspiring. Something like that. Silly was the last thing on my mind."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Piper will be happy to hear that." He rolled his emerald eyes. "She loves to rub it in my face that no one likes the chainsaw idea." Hazel couldn't imagine why.

"What does she do? Piper, I mean. Besides come up with better logo ideas than you that is?" Hazel teased.

She was becoming more comfortable with him with each passing sentence. He still had the same mysterious, chaotic, aura about him, but she could see beneath that. He had a kind heart, despite the dangerous vibes that hung around him. She liked that he wasn't as black and white as he first seemed.

"What does Piper do? Well, that depends on who you ask. You ask her, she's a conversationalist. You ask me, she's our resident interrogator extraordinaire."

"Like torture? The girl who made the pine tree logo is a torturer?" Hazel said in horror. Percy laughed, clearly amused by the picture in his mind.

"No, nothing like that. She's one of our cybernetics."

Hazel's mouth fell open. She thought the nectar back at her apartment had been a surprising development. They had cybernetics in their little group? Those were outlawed among civilians. Only soldiers were allowed to get those mechanical body enhancements. Even then, your biochemistry had to be compatible, otherwise they just wouldn't work. According to what she'd learned in school, the enhancements were rare, even in the military. If they had multiple cybernetically enhanced individuals at the bottom of this elevator ride, they were a seriously dangerous group of disgruntled folks.

"She's a cybernetic? You have those?" she asked astonished.

"Yeah, she is. And the most dangerous one in my mind. She's got a voice enhancement module. Makes her almost irresistibly convincing. Plus, she's a total smoke show. Put those two things together and it's almost impossible not to give her what she wants right when she wants it. It's why she's our chief interrogator. No harm done to the captive; all the information given. It's unbelievable what she's capable of. I swear, that girl could sell water to a whale."

Hazel pondered his words. She'd never heard about an enhancement like that, and she'd done a whole assignment on the cybernetic process in eighth grade. Pulchritude Corp, the company that produced the enhancements for the military, were only ever reported to make combat enhancements. The idea that they had broadened their horizons without public knowledge was kind of scary, especially considering they were based in Sapphire City. This corporate lie was right in her backyard.

"Is Jason one of the cybernetics? It would make sense considering he's ex-military." She asked, grasping at straws now. She wanted to know that at least one of her assumptions about the way she thought the world had worked was true.

"He is." Percy supplied, causing her to feel some relief that her entire world view wasn't completely shattered. "One of his hands turns into a lightning cannon. It's pretty sick."

Hazel nodded. That one was an enhancement that she had known about, albiet a pretty rare one. It was supposedly only given to the soldiers assigned the most dangerous and important missions. As she thought, another question formed at her lips.

"Are you a cybernetic?"

Percy smiled at her, but this one was more guarded than any he'd given her before. His eyes told a different story than his smile. This was dangerous ground to tread on. He'd been cryptic early on, sure, but he'd never seemed to be outright evasive until now.

"A gentleman would never kiss and tell." He chirped, effectively side steeping the question in a friendly manner, though his voice was steely.

She realized rather quickly this wasn't an area to press on, at least not now. Deciding to drop it, they settled into silence once again. As they waited in baited silence, she noticed him tapping his foot relentlessly on the ground. His hands were swinging wildly at his sides, and he was blowing bursts of air up his face to play with his messy hair. His patience seemed to be wearing thin, and fast.

"There's no way you sit through this every single time you come down here." She claimed, already knowing she was right.

There was just no feasible way. They'd been talking most of the time, and he still seemed bored. She couldn't picture him waiting this out by himself. When he processed her words, he breathed out a sigh of relief, seemingly just happy to have something to talk about again.

"You're right." He admitted. "But the newbies have to come in this way. The quicker way is a transport tube, it jet's you right down there in just a few seconds, but that one literally won't let you through unless your biometrics are in our data base, so we get to ride the stupid supply elevator."

Almost like it heard his words, the supply elevator let out a large groan. For a brief second, she thought it was getting stuck. She might've let out a scream. Luckily, Percy was there to reassure her that nothing was out of the ordinary.

"We're here." He declared, hovering his hand over a button on the side wall. "You ready for things to change?"

She was. She absolutely was. There was nothing she wanted more. This was everything she'd dreamed it would be since the night she found him bleeding in her kitchen. This was an opportunity to find her mother, make her kidnappers pay, and help a lot of other people while she did it. She'd never been so ready for something in her life.

"I'm ready." She said with a confident nod, her head held high.

Percy smiled at her, almost with pride gleaming in his eyes. He pressed the button, and slowly but surely the two elevator doors creaked open, giving way to her new life. Things would never be the same.

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AN:

There it is, the first chapter in the books. I really hope you guy enjoyed it! I worked really hard on improving my writing this time to try and make even the least interesting parts interesting. I know there hasn't been any action yet, but I promise it's coming. I just need time to set up this entire world. Rather than diving right in, I need to do a little world building before I get to it. Don't worry, for you in depth readers, I'm dropping clues about the future along the way. Now, about the actual content. I know Hazel felt like a whirling mass of questions, but I promise that's not her character. I just felt it was a realistic reaction for someone in her position. I'd be as confused and curious as she was if I was in her place. Plus, it provided an avenue for Percy to talk, and gave us a lot of expositional dialogue that is important to the story. Also of note, yeah, Jason is the leader of their group, sorry. It's tentative though, because Percy is still the guy. They were co-founders for a reason. Jason may be the bad ass super soldier, but Percy has more than enough up his sleeve, I can promise you that. I'll expand more on this and more next time. I hope you all enjoyed! Please drop a review letting me know how I did, especially considering I've never developed an entire world by myself like this before, so review, review, review. Anyways, until next time,

Peace