Chapter 2: The Darkest Hour

Just as Percy said that, their quiet surroundings filled with noise. 'Get behind me!' Percy frowned and positioned himself between the demigods. He uncapped Riptide but left the new sword in its ring form as he is quite inexperienced in dual wielding. Percy mentally steeled himself as he saw the trees closed to them was knocked down, but what happened next took him by surprises. A familiar black Pegasus burst through the clearing, followed by a stampede of monsters.

'Bosssss!' The Pegasus neighed. 'These numbnuts keep chasing me! I think they want to eat me! Help!' The Pegasus, otherwise known as Blackjack, then stopped behind the demigods, trying to catch its breath. The monsters then stopped completely in front of Percy, glaring and baring their teeth at him but not attacking. A moment later they parted, revealing a long-time foe of Percy, or two, in fact. Echidna, with Chimera at her side, slowly walked forward. 'Percy Jackson,' Echidna's snake tongue sliding out of her mouth, 'how pleasant it is to meet you again. After all, we have unfinished business, as I remember, you ran away last time me met, did you not?' Behind Percy, Davis and Elizabeth ran behind Blackjack, who shielded them with his wings. He had seen too many times Percy had to fight monsters and he knows how ugly it can turn out, so he had taken on himself to protect the demigods. Percy, on the other hand, gritted his teeth. As much as he loves to fight Echidna and her Chimera, he needs to bring these demigods to safety, but as soon as he saw the monsters he knew this must end in a fight. I mean, who wouldn't try and kill the legendary son of Poseidon? And so he beckoned them forward, 'Fine then. You doom it is.'

Despite having been brought up by Aether and no stranger to the world of Gods, Davis and Elizabeth have yet to see such an amount of monsters, being 10 and 12 years old respectively. And so they were extremely in awe as to see a single man that is their saviour utterly decimate the group in front of them. Meanwhile Echidna and Chimera just stood back, waiting for the son of Poseidon to tire. But no lesser monster can stop the son of Poseidon, which he killed all of them. 'Ah well,' Echidna said. 'I should have known. But no matter.' She then hissed to the Chimera, 'Kill him!'

Percy had just decapitated the last hellhound when he felt something huge slam into him, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Dazed, he tasted blood in his mouth, before gripping his sword and flinging himself back at the Chimera. He dodged the flames spewing from its mouth, before spinning away and slashing at Chimera's side. The Chimera backed up a little and spun itself around, using the tail as a whip to try and injure Percy. It didn't do any damage but it wrapped around Riptide, ripping it out of Percy's grasp. Now weaponless, Percy could only spin and dodge away from Chimera's attacks, suffering bruises and burns in the process. One lucky swipe from the Chimera's tail opened up a sizable gash on Percy's side, and that coupled with poison severely injured the demigod. Normally Percy would have called upon his powers as a son of Poseidon to aid him, but being in a middle of forest doesn't offer him much help in that category, so for now Percy is forced to rely on his swordsmanship. He couldn't wait for Riptide to reappear in his pocket so he twisted his ring and the new sword appeared in his hand. The Chimera regarded the sword with new interest and roared, breathing a column of fire at Percy. Percy could do nothing but hold his sword at a "block" position, and brace for the worst. Just as he thought he would be burned to a crisp, he felt nothing. Percy opened his eyes, and saw his sword sucking in the flames, just absorbing all of the fire as the Chimera spat out more. Eventually the Chimera got tired and let the flames die out, but what it did not expect was its target standing there completely fine with a shocked expression that matched its own. Percy, being the first to react, jumped forward and slashed downwards, and was surprised again when the sword sliced through Chimera's reinforced armour and shoulder like butter. The pain angered the monster, and it roared furiously while spinning and trying to use its tail like a whip again. But this time Percy was ready for the move, and stepped back, allowing the tail to pass by him harmlessly before slicing clean through the tail, rendering it useless. The Chimera howled in pain, before the white blade passed through its body three, four times and the legendary beast fell to the ground before bursting into monster dust. But as the injured demigod turned his focus to Echidna, he found her focusing on something behind him. Puzzled, he turned around and saw something totally unexpected, a group of teenage girls all pointing arrows at the mother of monsters. However the injury was too much for Percy and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

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After a while Percy awoke to find himself on a bed in a silver tent that he deduced to be a medical tent since there is loads of medical equipment lying around. He stood up, just to stagger a bit from the sudden rush of blood to his head. He looked at his waist to see his wounds treated and bandaged under his shirt. His hoodie was folded neatly on a chair near his bed, although a massive slash mark on the sides of his hoodie as well as his shirt was present. Percy sighed. He really liked the comfort of the outfit. He stepped out of the tent only to see Davis and Elizabeth waving at him. He frowned. The demigods doesn't seem to be this friendly a while ago. With them were a girl dressed in silver, which Percy deduced to be Artemis. He walked over to them and bowed respectfully, less he get turned into a jackalope. 'Greetings Lady Artemis. Glad to see you here.' The goddess of the hunt waved dismissively. 'Sure thing Perseus. Now, can you tell me what were you doing here? My hunters were hunting a pack of monsters in a nearby location before we heard the commotion and went here to investigate. You're lucky we came over Perseus.' 'Thank you for that Lady Artemis.' Percy said. 'I was on a mission from Camp Half-Blood to rescue these demigods,' He motioned to Davis and Elizabeth. 'And I found a pack of monsters attacking them, so I cleared them out but unfortunately I suffered an injury from the Chimera's tail so I passed out.' Davis then interrupted, 'Yeah, it was sooooo cool! Can you teach us How to fight like you Percy?' Percy responded with one of his signature crooked grins, 'Sure thing! As soon as we get to camp I will start teaching you two.' Percy looked around before asking Artemis, 'Where's Blackjack?' 'He returned to camp after I asked him some questions. Apparently he was told to come here. By your half-brother Quincy.' Percy knitted his eyebrows. It is extremely strange for his half-brother to send Blackjack here. Why?

Noticing his vacant expression, Artemis quickly asked, 'Who is their godly parent?' 'Well….. It was Lord Aether.' 'What?' Artemis said in surprise. 'Yeah, I was surprised as well. He asked me to watch over his children and mentioned some kind of war.' Percy huffed. 'To be honest, I could do without another war, Lady Artemis. I just want to lead a peaceful life with Annabeth after the last two.' Artemis raised her eyebrows at Percy's tone, 'You are in a bad mood, Perseus, aren't you? Where is the normally carefree Perseus?' Percy sighed, 'I'm sorry for my tone, Lady Artemis. There are… a lot on my mind. Namely, my half-brother, but I prefer not to trouble you with my troubles, milady.' Artemis just waved in a 'no problem' kind of way, 'Ok, sure. But if there is a war coming, we need to notify the Olympian council.' 'What about the demigods? I need to accompany them to CHB.' 'I can teleport them to the camp.' Artemis said simply. Percy's eyebrows were reaching his hair. 'That is nice and all milady, but with all due respect why are you so nice to me? Aren't you suppose to hate boys?' Artemis then glared at him. 'When somebody helps you, you are supposed to say "thanks" or "thank you", not question them. But if answering your question helps you, you are maybe the only male who has that much respect for women, and respect goes both ways. Now shut up and say goodbye to the demigods, we are running late.' 'No problem, Lady Artemis.' Percy then turned around to Davis and Elizabeth, 'Ok. Now, this might take quite a while, so after you arrive at the camp, go to the centaur named Chiron. Tell your stories to him and say that I will explain everything later, get it?' Davis nodded along as Percy spoke, and said, 'Centaur. Stories. Got it! Can we go now?' 'Sure. Ready?' 'Yes!' Davis was practically jumping up and down. Elizabeth just gave Percy a nod. 'Lady Artemis?' 'Alright. Hold on tight, demigods.' She clicked her fingers and the demigods were gone. Artemis then turned around at a tree and said, 'Thalia, you can get down now.' The leaves rustled, and down jumped Percy's best friend and cousin. 'I suppose you heard the whole thing?' 'Yes Lady Artemis. Kelp Head over here is getting sloppy.' She grinned as Percy scowled. 'Shut up Thals. You are getting cocky aren't you?' Artemis ignored their bickering and said, 'Thalia you are in charge when I am gone. Perseus and I need to go to Olympus.' 'Sure, Lady Artemis.' The lieutenant nodded. Artemis then commanded, 'Both of you, close your eyes.' And she teleported Percy and her to Olympus in a flash of light.

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The Olympus throne room is filled with noise as usual. Zeus and Poseidon are arguing about Poseidon's new son, Quincy; Ares screaming bloody murder while Athena yelling at him to shut up; Demeter speaking into the air about cereal; Apollo leaning back, music playing from his headphones; Aphrodite doing her makeup; Hephaestus making a tiny statue of himself out of nuts and bolts. Everyone are unaware of Artemis and Percy flashing into the throne room, until Artemis screamed at the top of her lungs, 'SILENCE!'

Everyone instantly quieted down and looked at Percy, who stood at the middle of the throne room uneasily. Artemis grew to her full height and sat in her throne, while Hermes flashed into the room. Zeus asked with interest, 'What brings you here today young nephew?' Percy knelt in front of the king of the gods and replied, 'Lord Zeus, I was on a rescue mission of two demigods, who after I found them was the children of the primordial god of light, Aether.' Instantly the gods burst into shouts of disbelief until Poseidon slammed his trident into the throne room floor. 'SILENCE! Let's hear Percy's tale before we discuss it, alright?' Percy nodded appreciatively to his father, who regarded him with a warm smile. 'Urm, ok, after that Lord Aether appeared, and notified me of a war plus asking me to help train his children. After he left, my Pegasus Blackjack arrived on the scene with a group of monsters plus Echidna and Chimera, and I defeated them but suffered injuries due to my… poor fighting. Then Lady Artemis and her hunters arrived, and after hearing my story, decided I should tell you.' Zeus stroked his beard. 'A war you say? The Council will discuss that. In the meantime, you shall return to Camp Half Blood. Hermes will contact you if necessary.' Percy rose and bowed. 'Yes Lord Zeus.' Zeus snapped his fingers, and Percy felt himself being transported away.

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As soon as Percy materialized in the Dining Pavilion, he was engulfed in a colossal hug. 'Where have you been Seaweed Brain? I was so worried!' Annabeth yelled into Percy's shoulder. Percy rubbed her back, 'I ran into the hunters. Lady Artemis insisted I should report my mission to the gods, since I got this from the Chimera.' Percy pointed to his side. 'Oh my gods!' Annabeth exclaimed. 'Are you alright?' 'Yeah. The hunters patched me up.' Percy gently peeled Annabeth off him. 'Sorry Annabeth, but I'm worn out. Being injured really takes it out of you. I'm going to sleep. See you tomorrow?' 'Sure.' Annabeth looked a bit crestfallen, but mostly relieved. Ever since the abduction of Percy by Hera, Annabeth gets extra jumpy if Percy are gone on long missions. 'Goodnight.' Percy gave her a peck on her lips. 'Goodnight.' Percy smiled and trekked back to the Poseidon cabin. He left Riptide on his bedside table and snored as soon as his head touched the pillow.

A high-pitched scream woke Percy. Groggily he stood up and stepped outside. He rubbed the sleep out of his eye and walked towards the commotion, where a crowd gathered near the lake. The scene that greeted his eyes shocked him to his core. Lying in a pool of blood, a bronze sword stuck in her stomach, is the love of Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase.