No POV

"Annabeth, Chiron, the demigods from Nick's group have arrived from their quest. I also found Jesse's group outside the camp's border, they were unconscious." The son of Hermes ran from the Big House back to the outskirts of the camp where he found the three kids.

Annabeth and Chiron trailed right behind him and unwillingly gathered the attention of some campers.

"Chiron is something going on?" Asked a certain daughter of Aphrodite.

"Don't worry about Sharon. A few campers have arrived from their quests, that is all." The girl nodded and got back to sparring with a daughter of Apollo. Chiron and Annabeth continued to walk towards the edge of the camp.

"Jack!" shouted the daughter of Athena. "Specialization?"

"I dual specialize commander. Medic and warrior."

"Good follow us." The fourteen year old boy nodded and followed the supreme commander of Camp Half Blood without hesitation.

She was named the supreme commander of the Camp Half Blood by Athena herself about a week ago. She gathered the approval of Zeus and Athena to take complete control of the camp without even intending to but she was glad that she did.

Annabeth was not looking for power or responsibility when she made plans for more efficient camp management but Zeus and Athena assumed she would take the lead so they gave her their approval and the title in front of the entire camp. Since then, demigods have specializations that are flexible with their parentage and their individual skills.

"Check on them Jack. I doubt they fell unconscious due to exhaustion, this was probably the work of a god."

"I agree commander, they show no signs of injury or fatigue. Well except for Zeke, it looks like he collapsed after an adrenaline rush."

The boy named Jack opened his bag and gave the unconscious campers some nectar and ambrosia. They slowly opened their eyes and managed to stand up.

"Want to talk about how you got here?" The son of Aphrodite and the questers nodded so Annabeth and Chiron escorted them back to the Big House.

The girl named Jesse closed the door behind them and sat on an empty seat between Roy and Zeke. She talked about the beginning of her quest, how she saved her team multiple times from rogue monsters, how they saved her and how their friendship lead them to a small town in New Hampshire near a national park where they followed a trail of monsters.

"That is when things start to get fuzzy and weird," said Roy.

"Yeah, I don't remember much except for his red eyes. Those blood red eyes, I doubt they belonged to a human yet..." Chiron shifted a bit and looked at Annabeth with unease. Blood red eyes was not a good sign, if anything it could be considered a bad omen.

"So you met some kind of god? Do you think he is the one that brought you here? Do you remember finishing your quest?" Annabeth interrogated the campers.

"I am sure that I finished my quest," answered Jesse. Her head was in pain but she knew she had to answer Annabeth's questions, specially since from the looks of it she remembered the most out of her group.

"He said he was a demigod but he could have lied. I don't think it was him that brought us here though, as powerful as he was, he was no god."

"How do you know that?" asked Annabeth.

"Well, I'm not completely sure but he was probably not a god. He killed monsters, he tortured them and even burned them alive. Gods don't do that..." Jesse spoke with fear on her voice surprising Chrion and Annbeth. Jesse was noticeably different from last time they talked to her.

Then the room was silent. Chiron was trying to to think what kind of being had red eyes and powers over fire, he did not remember such being ever existing before. Annabeth wondered the same, she couldn't fathom the idea that someone would torture monsters or even burn them alive. Any being that was capable of such atrocities had serious problems.

"How did he look like?" asked Annabeth.

"He looked like a little boy or maybe a little girl, I'm not sure but he was probably a boy because of his short black hair. He wore some jeans with a blue tank top that said 'Hot Stuff', it had a little sun wearing sunglasses." Roy and Zeke tilted their heads in confusion but just shrugged in agreement after a few seconds.

"I see," answered Chiron as he scratched his small beard. Thanks to Jesse's information he knew which god to ask about the small boy. Later that day he was going to ask a certain sun god if he still had that shirt.

No POV

Percy was not sure what to do after that little incident with Erebus. Nyx said he was coming back and he wondered why. As far as he was concerned, most of the primordials were asleep and did not have anything against Olympus or himself. Nyx was also a problem on her own, no doubt she cares about her daughter but would she fight for Olympus or for him?

Shaking those thoughts away, Percy mist traveled to the nearest forest in search of food. He ran out of dried fruit bars a few days ago with Ares and left his backpack gods know where. Luckily for him the forest was infested with deer and last time he heard deer were a good source of food.

Percy summoned himself an Remington rifle like the ones the hunters he encountered earlier used and started sniff the air for nearby animals. Percy caught the scent of a deer and started to move in that direction when he felt the ground fall beneath him.

He yelped as he lost his footing and tried to grab onto anything possible. He reached upwards to find a hand extending firmly in his direction. Percy happily grabbed the hand and his eyes turned downwards. His rifle dropped and he noticed below him was a 20 feet pit with wooden stakes covered in dried blood.

"I see you are in need of assistance Perseus." Artemis pulled the eleven year old boy with a fierce pull. Percy grabbed the edge of the pit entrance and stood up next to the goddess.

"Er, I appreciate the help but I didn't really need any Lady Artemis." Percy fixed his clothes and for the first time wondered if they were magical. They reappeared when he turned back into a human and didn't look damaged. Definitely the clothes of a god

"Oh, of course, it's not like you were falling to your death." Percy wanted to let her know he was protected by his ethereal material but decided otherwise.

"Anyway, what brings you here? I doubt it was to save me from certain death." Percy did quotation marks in the air but Artemis stood unamused.

"I came to check on you. Contrary to popular belief, I am not completely heartless and was slightly concerned about you." Percy chuckled a bit at the slightly concerned part and turned to look at the goddess in her eighteen year old form. Percy could tell her face was exceptionally beautiful and her physique was perfect but since he was of younger age he felt at ease.

"Concerned? Why would you be worried about me? I mean I'm flattered but I'm just a boy." Artemis groaned and turned away.

"Well, you are one of the few people I ever managed to respect and possibly the closest thing I have to a male friend. In addition, you are still a mortal and could die at any second." Percy felt insulted. Artemis was basically saying that his life was fragile and needed to be looked after. Artemis must have been reading his mind because she immediately explained herself further.

"Now don't get me wrong Perseus, I don't think of you as weak or anything but an intense fight like that could be dangerous no matter how well you fight or how well you heal." Percy was now incredibly confused with the goddess of the hunt. Slowly the came to the conclusion she must have been there when he fought Nemesis, or more precisely Erebus.

"You saw my fight? Why didn't you help me? He could have killed me you know." Now it was Artemis' turn to be confused. She had never been close with Percy and for him to assume she would come to his aid was ludicrous. In addition, Percy was supposed to fight Ares in an one on one duel, nobody was supposed to intervene.

"Why would I help you?" Percy frowned and turned to look at Artemis. He felt a bit hurt and annoyed at her rude question, especially since he thought they were cool. His change in demeanor also prompted Artemis to try and give him a more friendly response.

"Umm what I mean is you need to fight your own battles Perseus, besides from the looks of it you didn't need any help. If I had helped you, all your training with Ares would have been meaningless. You bested your opponent and frankly even I was impressed with your victory." Percy's facial expression changed and he seemed pleased with her answer. It was also quite hard to stay mad at her when she somewhat praised him.

"Really? I figured someone like you wouldn't approve of-"

"Don't be stupid Perseus. When it comes to matters of life and death one must do whatever one can to survive, everything else comes second. On top of that, I got to see a less braindead part of you and I have to say I approve."

"Braindead? I mean, thank you Lady Artemis." Artemis smirked but then gave Percy a stern look that said she was getting down to business.

"That is not the only reason I came here Perseus. I came here to offer you a once in a lifetime deal that could solve the majority of your problems." Percy was intrigued with what Artemis had said. A deal that could solve the majority of his problems, he wondered what was it.

"I want you to join my hunters." If Percy had been in a chair he would have fallen. In fact, he stumbled a bit but fixed himself to question the goddess about her seemingly stupid proposal. He was a man, being with the hunters wouldn't solve any of his problems, if anything it would only cause him more.

"I can tell what you're thinking but I'm not done. You see, I have powers over a lot more than just hunting and archery. I am the goddess of young maidens and if I wanted to, well let's just say you will be eligible to join the hunt as a full fledged member." To Percy that sounded like a threat but he knew she was not doing it on purpose. Then again, he was not sure how to respond.

Obviously he did not want to reject the offer Artemis gave him with the best of intentions but he did not want to become a woman or give up on love either. Sure he would have to give up the company of men, but he was okay about that since he was never interested in them in the first place; However, his love life will be sealed and turning into a girl would be all too weird for him.

"You don't have to decide yet but I am confident Thalia would be very pleased to see you again. Think about it Perseus, you wouldn't have to be alone anymore. You would be with us, hunting down monsters, we would be your new family. We can be real friends, if you weren't a-"

"A male? Because I was born a guy instead of a girl you can't be my friend? I wasn't really given a choice you know." Artemis seemed taken aback by his sudden response. Part because she did not expect him to interrupt her and part because he had spoken the truth.

"Well, I am giving you a choice now. You do not understand the sacrifice that I am going through to keep everyone happy. I am literally inviting a male to join my hunt, don't you see that? I have overlooked all the bad things that you have done and came up with a solution that will benefit all of us. Perseus, you have to be a female. I am not asking of you more than what I deem necessary." Percy was not sure if Artemis was doing it on purpose but her response really pissed him off.

"So I'm supposed to change my entire identity because the virgin goddess of the hunt cannot be friends with a male? I appreciate your offer Lady Artemis but I am going to have to decline, I don't want to be a girl. Maybe when you can overlook the things I had no choice on instead of the ones that I did then maybe we can chat again. In the meantime, I'm going to get something to eat." Percy turned away from the goddess and prepared to mist travel away when she gripped his right shoulder.

"Wait Perseus… Percy." Percy was surprised she had called him that, she had only referred to him as Perseus during their conversation before but now it meant that she was prepared to talk to him without formalities.

"I can see what you're getting at Percy. I didn't really think things through. I was just so excited that I had a solution that would help you, stop Thalia from being insufferable and in a sense fix you. I only had the best of intentions, I'm sorry." Percy's brain exploded. The man hating goddess had actually apologized to him. She gave him a sincere smile and Percy felt his anger fade away. He stood there thinking of the best way to respond.

"I want to talk to Thalia," Percy finally said. He could have mist traveled to her at any given moment but he needed Artemis' knowing or she would surely tell Zeus. This way, if Artemis knew and approved they could all go along like nothing ever happened.

Artemis knew his request was strictly against her father's orders but Artemis was considering it. If she did go against his will Zeus will probably forgive her as long as she did not outright go against him. Artemis weighed in the pros with the cons and the pros heavily outweighed the cons. No more passive aggressive Thalia, a powerful demigod on her good side and no more pressure? It was too good of an opportunity to pass.

"Zeus strictly forbade me to tell Thalia anything or for you two to meet…" She began,"but if you happened to cross paths with Thalia by pure coincidence when I wasn't around and then you immediately left then I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem. As long as you don't try anything funny of course."

"I see." Percy knew what Artemis was doing and was glad she was being cooperative. Artemis was being especially nice to him now, it was probably his lucky day besides the fighting the primordial of darkness in the body of a dear friend part. Percy grinned and started to sense for Thalia.

"By the way Perseus, don't try to hunt animals anymore." Percy turned to look at the goddess and raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. "You might think you're good but trust me, you're not." Artemis sniggered and flashed away, leaving behind a bewildered Percy.

"That goddess is crazy." Percy chuckled and mist traveled nearby his secretly favorite cousin.