Yay, another double update for you guys. Aren't I nice? :-) A special thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed. Enjoy...

Starts as Percabeth, will eventually be Percy x Apollo.

Important thing to note... This will be yaoi (boy-boy). Don't like? You do not have to read.

Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

ΩΩΩ

November 3rd

Apollo POV

I felt like I had been run over by a herd of cattle. I groaned and I stretched my arms. I couldn't understand as to why my back hurt so badly. Whatever I was sleeping on felt hard as a rock. My hands dropped to my side and I felt something scratching against my skin. It almost felt like grass. I frowned and opened my eyes. I saw the dark sky above me. The light of dawn was just beginning to creep over the horizon.

Oh, well that explains it...

I looked around at our campsite. Percy was still sleeping on the other side of the now extinguished fire. I sat up, wincing at the pain in my back. It had been a long time since I had slept on the ground. As if I hadn't already been sore enough from riding that Pegasus...

I glanced at Percy and shook my head. I couldn't help but marvel at the child of Poseidon. How exactly could anyone be so used to sleeping on the ground? He seemed so accustomed to doing things like this. His head was resting on his pack and he had a trail of drool at the corner of his mouth. I wouldn't have thought it would be particularly comfortable but he looked blissful.

I was a little jealous. It had taken me a long time before I had finally fallen asleep. Even though my mortal form was exhausted, my mind wouldn't stop. I kept thinking of my sister. I knew how worried she was about me. I had always been her overprotective brother, but she had felt the same protectiveness for me. I knew that it was killing her that she was not able to help me.

We may have been opposites in so many ways but she was still my twin. She was worried that I would die attempting to kill Python. I wished that there was a way to sooth her fears but I couldn't think of anything that would do so as long as I was still mortal. I knew that I would be just as worried about her if our places were reversed. That was why she had disobeyed our father in order to ask Hephaestus to make me a weapon.

I smiled as I swiped my thumb over the bracelet. I felt the metal shift until I held a bronze long bow. I felt the weight of my quiver settle against my back. I may have missed my golden bow, my symbol of power, but the weapon in my hands was still beautiful. I rested the bow on my lap as my fingers traced the patterns of suns and clouds that adorned the bow. The word ηλιαχτίδα was written along the upper curve. ηλιαχτίδα, Sunbeam... I smiled and shook my head just as I had when I first read the name. The god of blacksmiths had a strange sense of humor. Only he would craft a weapon for the god of the sun and name it Sunbeam. How cliché...

I saw Percy stretch his arms as he sat up. I touched the ends of the bow and it once again became a bracelet. He rubbed a hand over his face and shot me a sleepy smile.

I returned it with a smirk, "It's nice to see you finally up."

The son of Poseidon raised an eyebrow at me, "What's that supposed to me? It's only like eight in the morning."

I shrugged, "I'm used to being up fairly early, having to drive the sun and all."

Percy nodded and grabbed my bag. He opened it and tossed me a bag of dried fruit. I sighed but ate it without complaint. I still had a hard time believing that mortals ate so often but at least doing so stopped the pain in my stomach.

While I ate, Percy rolled up our blankets and put them back into the bags. "So I guess that makes you an early bird hey? Being the god of the sun and all?"

I swallowed the fruit I was chewing and chuckled, "Ya, I suppose that you could call me that."

I wasn't entirely certain that he had heard me. Halfway through my response, Percy's focus switched to something behind me. I turned around to see the two Pegasai from yesterday landing. I frowned and continued eating my fruit. I was not looking forward to another full day of riding.

ΩΩΩ

By the time the sun began to set I felt like I was going to pass out. A nearly sleepless night combined with a mortal form I wasn't used to and two full days of horseback riding certainly had a way of destroying my mood. If that wasn't enough to make me cranky, we ended up flying through a small snow storm. I was cold, tired, and irritable. Once we had landed, I nearly fell off the beast in my desire to get down. Being mortal sucked...

I heard a whinny followed by snickering. I turned to glare at the child of the sea god. His smile fell a little. I huffed as I dropped my bag and sat on the ground. I was in no mood to be insulted by anyone. Especially not by someone who had been a god for two days or his pet horse.

I heard him whisper something but I couldn't hear what was said. I heard galloping and watched as the two pegasai took to the air.

I shivered a little. I reached into my pack and pulled out an extra jacket. The further we got away from the sea, the colder it seemed to get. At least we were heading south. That would help, though I was still glad that my sister had given us two of the sleeping bags used by her hunt. They were far warmer than any other blankets would have been.

I was distracted from my musing when a pile of wood was dropped to the ground beside me. I jumped a little. I looked up and saw Percy grabbing the matches from my bag. I hadn't even heard him walking away.

Percy cleared his throat, "I'm sorry if I offended you Apollo. I promise I wasn't laughing at you."

I watched as he, once again, attempted to build a fire. He may have been accustomed to sleeping in the wild but he was still obviously a child of the twenty-first century. I was always surprised by just how many mortals nowadays were never taught to build a fire.

I sighed as I took the matches from him. "You can't simply pile wood together and expect it to light. Here, I will show you."

I picked out the smallest twigs first and formed a cone. I then grabbed a few slightly bigger ones and leaned those against the cone. I continued piling larger sticks onto the tepee until I had a few of the thickest branches leaning against it. I then lit a match and held it to the smallest twig. Once it was lit I moved the match to another twig on the other side of the tepee. After the two twigs were burning I blew out the remainder of the match.

The fire grew slowly and after a few minutes it had started to lick at the largest logs.

"It works better if you have paper or something to put in the very middle."

Percy shook his head and looked at me in amazement, "How is it that you make it look so easy? I've tried to build a fire dozens of times but it never works out."

I couldn't help it, I started to laugh. The temporary god was looking at me like I had lost my mind but I couldn't stop. It took me a few minutes before I could get my breathing under control though I still let out a chuckle here and there.

Percy tipped his head in confusion. "What exactly was so funny?"

I took a deep breath and tried to stop myself from laughing again. "I am the god of music, art, poetry, archery, light, reason, healing, prophecy, and the sun. I killed the Python. I won the very first Olympic Games. Not to mention that I am especially handsome if I do say so myself. I have so many awesome characteristics. You've never been amazed by any of the gods before. Yet you are impressed because I can light a campfire?"

The son of the sea god blinked before he started to laugh. "Okay, when you say it like that I kind of see your point."

I joined in with his laughter. Percy had such a unique way of looking at the world. I couldn't ever recall having a conversation with the half-blood that didn't end with me smiling. True, I was a fairly smiley god but still. No one could make me laugh as much as the son of Poseidon.

My sister had always been the only person who was able to calm me down once I had lost my temper. I was surprised that Percy had managed to do it. I knew that if she ever learned that he had not only calmed me but also made me laugh, she would never allow him to refuse immortality. She had been trying to find someone else capable of helping her with the task for the last few millennia.

She had always said that I had inherited fathers temper...

Percy smiled at me. He opened his mouth to say something before he suddenly jumped to his feet. I wanted to ask what was wrong but I didn't get the chance. His eyes widened as he looked around us. His sword suddenly appeared in his hand.

I felt my heart starting to beat faster. I climbed to my feet as quickly as I could and brought out my bow. If Percy was armed then I no longer needed to ask what was going on. It was obvious. We were under attack.

I looked around us but I couldn't see anything beyond the trees surrounding our meadow. I silently cursed our choice in camping spot. True, the forest did give us more privacy but it also made it easier for monsters to surround us without us noticing.

The monsters stepped into the clearing. I felt my face pale. We were hopelessly outnumbered. There were around a dozen hellhounds looking at the two of us.

I sensed Percy moving so that his back was against mine. "Please tell me you have a knife or something and not just your bow? We don't have the distance we need for arrows to be effective."

I shook my head. "No, this is the only weapon I have."

Percy cursed in Ancient Greek. If it hadn't been a life threatening situation then I would have made a joke about it.

"Get to the trees. Climb as quickly as you can. You need to get out of their reach. I will cover you. You can use the height to pick them off."

Percy shoved me towards the nearest tree. At the movement, the hellhounds attacked.