Chapter 3

It was dark when it happened. They were all weary from a long day fighting and wanted to take a nice long shower and sleep. After the war, monster activity became higher. The Romans were visiting for the week, and the seven decided to fight together again after monsters were discovered terrorizing potential campers. So they set off, with Nico and his boyfriend, Will tagging along too. It was supposed to be a small group of cyclops, but it was revealed to be a hoard when the demigods arrived. They were victorious in the end, of course, but not without exhausting themselves in the process.

That was what lead them to take a shortcut through the woods. That's when it happened. They came across a piece of paper attached to a tree. It looked inconspicuous at first, but soon a closer look proved to be deadly. For that piece of paper contained a symbol. A simple circle with an x slashed in the middle. It did take a second for it to register what that symbol was in Nico's mind, it when it did, his eyes widened in horror.

"We need to leave, right now." Everyone turned to look at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" Will questioned.

"This is the symbol of an old being, one we don't want to mess with. Trust me when I say we need to run as fast as we can away from here." But when the group tried to leave, they realized they were lost in the forest. No amount of running or searching lead them back to the entrance they came from. They then stumbled upon a second sheet of paper, this one a little more horrifying than the last. It looked like a child had drawn it in black crayon. It was a man standing, but he had no face.

"Nico, what the hell is going on?" Annabeth asked, voicing the same question everyone else was thinking. The son of Hades took a shuttering breath before answering.

"Have any of you heard the tale of the Slenderman?" It was silent for a second.

"Your kidding, right?" Piper spoke up, a trace of fear in her voice.

"I wish," responded Nico.

"Can someone explain to the rest of the group?" Frank asked, confused.

"You all probably haven't heard of him since most of you have been separated from technology for a long time, but on the internet, there are these urban legends, more like urban horror stories about demons, serial killers and the like. One of the most prominent figures is a being named Selmderman, a faceless man. It's said that he lured unsuspecting people, like us, into his forest to eventually become his prey."

"But he's just a story, right?" Asked Hazel, nervously. "Like those other killers-"

"Creepypastas"

"What?"

"They're called Creepypastas," explained Nico. "And I don't know about them, but Slenderman is real."

"How do you know this isn't some elaborate prank?" Jason asked.

"Do none of you feel it? The buzzing in the back of your head?" The group was silent because each of them had felt that same feeling in their head.

"How do we survive then?" Annabeth demanded.

"If we can't fight this thing directly, there must be some way to see the next day." Nico was silent for a second, thinking.

"There is a rumor-"

"Yes?" Leo butted in, impatient.

"If one can gather all ten sheets of paper, it is said to provide enough protection from it to be able to leave."

"What are we waiting for them? Let's go before it makes a move," Annabeth said, jabbing a thumb at the shadowy figure standing a ways away. Piper cursed out loud when she saw it.

"Couldn't you have warned us about the actual Slenderman sooner?" She hissed.

"He wasn't making any move to come closer, so it wasn't a priority at the moment." "Let's get going," Nico said, looking paler than usual.

Actual everyone was looking pale after the Slenderman encounter.

After the group took the fourth sheet, they were looking worse for wear. Most of the group was shaking, and extreme paranoia has struck just about everyone, except for Percy. He hadn't spoken once throughout the whole ordeal. It would have been more suspicious of everyone wasn't currently scared out of their mind. Even Leo hadn't cracked open a joke. When they arrived at the fifth sheet, Percy spoke for the first time.

"I'm done." Everyone turned to look at him.

"What are you saying?" Piper whispered, too scared to speak louder than that in fear of alerting the Slenderman to their presence.

"I said I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore." He respected, annoyance written on his face. They were all shocked.

"You're giving up then? You would rather die than struggle to live?" Annabeth whispered, shocked. Percy sighed.

"No, I don't want to die. At first, I was fine playing this game. It was a little amusing, but now it's just sad. And besides, you're my friends, and no one hurts my friends." He smiled, trying to reassure them. "It's time to pull out my secret weapon."

"Percy, what are you saying. I don't understand. Game? Amusement? Weapon?"

"Just watch, don't worry." With that, he walked just in front of the group. They let him go, confusion and fear written on all their faces.

"Come out here, assholes!" He shouted to the horror of the group.

"Percy! What are you doing!?" Nico hissed, but he was ignored.

"Sure, it was a little amusing at first, it now it's just annoying. Come out and end this before I get mad!" The forest was silent, then a mad giggle rang out throughout the forest.

"End it? Is prey demanding from the predator, how cute."

"Who's there!" Annabeth demanded, still whispering.

"Prey number two. Does it matter who I am if you're all going to die in the end?" The static in their heads suddenly grew louder and the group dropped their knees, groaning. All except Percy that is.

"Is that how it's going to be, Jeff?" The giggling stopped.

"Jeff?" Nico whispered to himself, "Like Jeff the killer?"

"How to do my name- oh." The last part sounded almost like fear, making Percy smile savagely.

"Yes, oh. You down fucked up pasty man."

"Well shit. I guess that just means you have to die!" A teen launcher himself out of the trees at Percy. He was quick, but the most noticeable thing about him was not the blood-soaked hoody, but rather his face. For he had neither eye socked or a normal mouth. His lips looked like they expended to his ears because of the scars on his face. The group observed this from the ground, slender sickness still affecting them. They watched as Percy parried blow for blow, but never actively fighting back. Jeff seemed to notice this too which made him even angrier and ferocious. Percy finally got bored and threw Jeff into a tree, effectively winning the fight.

"What does that make it? 60-0?" Then, to the surprise and shock of the demigods, held out his hand to the killer. Said killer grumbled and grabbed his hand, standing back up in his feet.

"Say that again, I couldn't hear you."

"It was nothing"

"That's what I thought." Percy then glanced at his confused friends before sighing and rubbing his temples.

"Shit, this is a mess."

"You're telling me." Jeff shot back.

Percy glared. "I don't need comments from the peanut gallery." Jeff held his hands up in surrender. Percy just sighed again.

"Fuck. Well here goes nothing." He took a deep breath and shouted," Slenderman, get your ass over here! I'm not taking part in your game." He appeared with a fresh wave of slender sickness, making the demigods groan on the floor.

"And turn it off. I know you know what I'm talking about." And like that, the demigods felt fine, not great, but fine.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Annabeth whispered, making Jeff whip his head around to the group, effectively freaking them out.

"Oooh, witnesses." He grabbed his knife and was about to head forward when Percy grabbed his arm.

"I'm going to make this clear," Percy announced to the two creeps, a pleasant smile on his face.

"This group is made up of my friends. If one hair on their head is touched, well let's say you won't like the outcome, understand?" When neither responded, he asked again, with a deadly glint in his eye. "Understand?" Both nodded.

"Good. Just to let you know, none of them are humans. So if you were to kill and or eat any of them, you would have been under big fire from the higher-ups."

"Fuck, demigods?" Jeff asked, surprising the group once again.

"Exactly, I'm glad you understand."

"Can someone please explain the situation? Annabeth pleaded uncharacteristically, making Percy sigh.

"I'll explain everything, in a sec, ok?" He then turned to Slenderman.

"How the fuck did I end up trapped in your forest."

"I did not recognize you or your nonhuman friends. To me, you were just a group of teenagers entering my woods at night."

"I guess that's fair."

"What Percy, you can talk to him?" Nico asked, in parts awe and fear. The group had heard nothing but static from the tall man.

"Yes, can we talk about this later?"

"No." Annabeth rebutted.

"Fair, fair. But first, let's get out of these woods. Assuming we can now?" The last part was directed at Slenderman, who nodded, then disappeared. Right as he turned to leave, Jeff called out," You are always invited to dinner you know?"

"Aww, he does care." Percy teased, making Jeff growl.

"It's just because LJ is constantly bothering me when you don't show up. Also, the dark one's invited, if he wants to come." He smiled his grotesque smile at Nico, who started back unflinching.

"There's something, familiar about him." Will hugged Nico tighter.

"That's because he radiates death dumbass," Percy called back.

"Whatever." And Jeff too disappeared.

After about ten minutes, the group exited the forest and immediately collapsed on the ground, happy to be alive. It was silent as they made their way back to camp, ignoring the other campers and finally gathering in Percy's cabin.

"Now, explain." Everyone turned to look at Percy.

"Fine, fine. But you have to listen to the whole story before you make any judgments about me, ok?"

"I really don't like where this is headed," Jason commented. "Me neither," Piper whispered back.

"It started with my mom. She never knew her parents, which was probably a good thing. She believed they died in a plane crash. That was only half true. Her mom died, but her dad didn't, for he was a god. The god of death in fact. Not Hades, but Thanatos. My mom grew up unaware of her parentage, even though she left a trail of bodies in her wake, unaware of course. But death followed her and still does, even to this day. When I went to the underworld for the first time, Death recognized me as his grandson. After going to Olympus and delivering the bolt, he intercepted me on my way back to camp and explained what I was.

"You see, Death does not only exist in his Greek form. Death is the only certainty in life, leading him to be constant in every religion, allowing him to exist in many different ways. This leads me, his grandson, to also exist among the different religions. I am not the only family death has ever had, but I'm one of the only of his to gain some of his powers. In most cases, his children or legacies are unlucky to everyone around them, accidentally causing people close to them to die early deaths. But I got some of Death's powers instead. I didn't fully realize them until I talked with him for the first time, but after they awakened, I started a different path, a darker one. One of my jobs as Death's chosen is close to being a hitman. I help out different gods from different religions interfere with the mortal world in a way they normally can't do. This led me to cross paths with one of the creeps. They recognized me as a similar soul, and I'm on friendly terms with most of them. Which is why I'm confused about how I got sucked into Slenderman's twisted game." Percy trailed off in thought, oblivious to the emotions of the people around him.

"Percy. What the fuck?" Jason finally spoke.

"You expect us to believe that what? That you are Death's heir? And you kill mortals for gods?"

"You don't have to believe me. But it's the truth. I can show you a little demonstration if it would help." Percy offered.

"Would anyone be dying in this 'demonstration'?" Nico asked.

"No, of course not."

"Then prove it, prove to us everything you said was true."

With that Percy took a deep breath and stepped back. He concentrated, summoning it from the deepest levels of the afterlife, where his powers reside. A shadowing shape formed in his hands. The shape refined itself to show a wicked scythe, it radiated death, more intensely than even Nico, and everyone felt the chills of the underworld on their skin.

"I think it's safe to say we believe you, you can put it away now," Nico answers shakily.

Hazel stood up, Frank with her. "I- I think we need some time to process this." As she walked out, the others agreed with her, following her leas until it was just Nico and Percy.

"Thank you for telling us," Nico said, surprising Percy.

"Ah, no problem. You guys deserved to know the truth. Especially if I just disappeared one day, which is probably what everyone's wishing right now."

Nico couldn't say anything to that.

"I want to go."

"What?" Percy asked.

"I want to go to dinner with the creeps." Nico clarified.

"Really?"

"Yes. Even at camp, people are still uncomfortable around me because my aura gives off the feeling of death. It's faint, but still enough to make them uneasy around me. This was the first time anyone was interested in me because of my aura. Even if they are serial killers and psychopaths." Percy smiled.

"Good. They're a rambunctious group, but I think you'll fit right in. I know they'll love you."

"Awesome."