Chiron watched as his most favored hero hacked, slashed and stabbed his way through a training course that had been set up merely a week ago.

Enchanted automatons and living wooden thralls did their best to maim or otherwise seriously injure the son of Poseidon. It was all for naught though, dozen of steaming hulks and piles of broken wooden bodies littered the entire area.

Every single weapon he used wasn't a weapon, but an extension of himself. The steel and celestial bronze δόρυreminiscent of hoplites of old, swept away half a dozen wooden thralls onto their rears while he twisted to avoid a short sword and ducked under a loosed arrow before going into a rolling dive using Aegis as a spring to propel a spear launch into one of the larger automatons rendering it inactive.

The shield being of large and bulky stature similar to the hoplite carried two sheath one, containing a pair of xiphos that were of stygian iron make. Supposed gifts from Hades for granting him a seat upon the Olympian Council.

Chiron didn't see it and if he didn't know the already near-divine capabilities that Perseus possessed he would've thought it impossible but somehow Percy was able to withdraw both blades from their reclusive and hidden homes, and simultaneously toss the heavy shield that was Aegis like a boomerang that impacted on a large automaton, it was thrown with enough force to not only cause the heavy metal being to stagger back a couple steps and subsequently fall to the ground with a heavy thud but also embed itself halfway into the armor-plating.

All the while Percy had engaged two automatons and a small grouping of the wooden thralls with the two xiphos. He parried, slashed and fought as if he had several eyes watching around him.

Chiron had seen it once before when the Theseus of ancient times had become so engrossed in the battle that he didn't stop until all his opponents lied dead.

When Theseus was asked to describe what had happened. It was hard for him to put together but he summarized such a feeling. Everything just began moving slower then me. Like a slug or the sap of a tree. I could see their moves before they made them and I was already countering them by the time they made it.

Chiron had not seen such efficiency since the days of Achilles.

Chiron had not seen such ferocity since the days of Herakles.

Chiron had never seen a demigod without a purpose in his entire immortal existence. Until Now.

And it was eating him alive. The desperate and silent anger Percy unleashed on mere training dummies was enough to show that Percy was suffering from what had happened in the Giant War.

It crushed his own soul that the Fates could be so cruel.

Most heroes died long before they saw the fruit of their labors. The rest typically died as they lived. In a struggle of survival.

But Perseus' story was different. He lived and fought in two wars, seen everyone he's cared for crumble to a slumber they would never wake from. His tragedy wasn't that he had died heroically in the end, it was that he hadn't. He would live to the end of his days racked with survivor's guilt and anger at himself.

A warrior of Percy's caliber couldn't simply leave nor could he simply die at the hands of a mere monster. His pride nor instincts wouldn't allow it. His tragedy would be that of an only survivor.

Chiron eyes snapped back to the present, where he saw Percy standing over both the smoldering wooden thralls that were lain in heaps and the steaming metal husks of the automatons, still angrily sparking at their demise. His chest was heaving, even below the heavy armored breastplate that he wore above his faded orange camp shirt. It was a modified training breastplate, the typical ones were already heavier than their normal counterparts but this one seemed to have armored pockets laden with weights. Chiron even spied the heavy weights that were hanging on his ankles, dusted with a layer of dirt and grime.

Percy casually walked towards the dory that had scored a massive hit on a metal automaton and wrenched the heavy spear out pulling the guts that was the wiring and a sparking mechanical heart. He grunted in annoyance before kicking it off. He then also pulled Aegis free and, after sheathing the pair of dark metal xiphos, willed it back into the form of the bracelet.

He did not look at all impeded by the weight as he carried the dory with a single hand and casually leaned on it when he approached Chiron.

"Percy." The old centaur acknowledged the hero who stood before him. After the Giant War, only those familiar with him called him that anymore. The rest called him Perseus and he never bothered to correct them because he didn't care enough at that point to do so.

Apollyon. The new campers whispered to each other when they thought none of the older campers were listening. An impromptu title that took the literal meaning of his name and made a mockery of it. They were young and didn't know the horrors of war and only heard the stories that were told in hushed voices.

Demon. Rumors from the centaur parties had reached his ears and he was sure Percy had heard them as well. Monsters feared him. They feared the One that had felled a Primordial.

"I'm going to visit my mom today." Chiron felt relief at those words. The fight with Gaea had left a lasting mark on the demigod and it had been almost two years since he had last spoken with his own mother. Chiron understood it though.

The son did not want to be a wavering and broken wreck for a worried and protective mother, and while Percy still grieved, he was not as he was directly after the war or at least he thought so.

Nightmarish screams and crying were heard all throughout the camp those first few weeks as many of the demigods relived the horrors of the war in their sleep. Percy did not sleep but instead provided a comforting vigil over those that were experiencing the worst of it.

He held their hands as they cried and told him what they experience.

Percy whispered comforting words as he consoled them.

But as the younger generation began arriving, and the older campers began leaving camp. Percy was no longer needed. Quests were at an all time low and Olympus was experiencing an age of peace not seen since before the Titan War.

In all honesty, Chiron would've doubted Percy got any sleep at all if he didn't discover the fact that there was a sound barrier around the Poseidon Cabin. The implications heightened Chiron's anxiety more than it comforted him.

After all, no one had survived Tartarus before Percy, Annabeth and Nico with the latter two having passed already leaving Percy. The effect that must have on someone's mentality would no doubt break those that witnessed it and probably why Percy must've had requested the aid of Hecate so that others would not hear their leader so broken or detached.

Chiron's thoughts turned to Percy now however, who was looking at the old centaur to provide some sort of excuse for him to stay. "I give you leave to go." Chiron stated as quickly as Percy declared that he would be visiting his mother.

Percy nodded albeit reluctantly as his grip tightened on the dory and released the ever slightest bit of pressure causing the heavy spear to dissolve into a mist of saltwater which then coalesced around him and dissolve with him as well.

Chiron had seen Percy perform this ability a few times already over the two years when he was most agitated or feeling particularly depressed that day and would cause him to mist travel, as the son of Poseidon had described it as, to the bay that Camp Half-Blood resided in where he would sit on the sandy shoreline for hours on end simply watching ocean.

That would be the last time Chiron would see the favored Hero of Olympus for a while.

Percy found himself coalescing in an empty alleyway. His camp and warrior attire replaced with more civilian clothes. The orange shirt replaced with a dark blue hoodie and the black tactical pants he wore at camp were replaced with more casual blue jeans. The bracelet of Aegis was always on him and always a welcome and comforting weight on his wrist. He set down the faded green digital camo bag that the Ares cabin had gifted to him after he had hunted down the cyclops that had killed Clarisse. It had been enchanted to carry twice as much as its size would normally allow.

He strolled out of the alleyway and looked around and quickly became overwhelmed. So many people, so many scents and so many sounds sent his senses into overdrive and his breathing became vapid.

He calmed soon enough as he twiddled with the charm on the bracelet, the miniature pendant upon it sending a soothing aura throughout his body and it wasn't long before he exited the alleyway calmer than before.

Still it wasn't long before he knocked on the polished apartment door.

"Coming!" A grizzled male voice announced. It held a slight old English lilt to it that escaped most conversations and people hardly, if ever, noticed it. Percy, however, quickly took it in.

The door opened and revealed a slightly older middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and a stubble of growth on his face. Brown eyes stared back at sea green ones in shock. Paul Blofis was a man of many things, having been rather abruptly introduced to the mythological world and working as a professor he had seen many things so he was rarely surprised.

The shock was as evident as the day blue sky.

Percy had to suppress his instinct to push the older man away when the man engulfed Percy in a bear hug. Paul was no short man either but Percy had a good five inches on the man. Percy awkwardly returned the hug but both quickly dissolved into quiet sobbing as both embraced each other.

"Honey, who's at the door?" The warm melodic voice of Percy's mom quickly sent the son of Poseidon over the edge and the waterworks from the end of the war had returned with renewed vigor.

She froze as she turned the corner at the sight of her son she thought dead. Quickly, overcoming her shock she joined the embrace of the three people as they all cried into each other.

After what felt like hours, of the three simply rejoicing in the reunion the trio removed themselves from each other and embarrassed chuckles, sniffles and red eyes still filled to the brim with tears unshed the three realized they had gained the audience of the other tenants who were filming the heartfelt reunion with shared emotions.

A sudden wail of a baby sounded within the apartment and Percy's eyes widened as more tears fell from his face. "Is that-" His voice cracked as he fell onto a knee, holding his mother's hand in one of his and clutching the doorframe in the other.

She nodded and almost dragged him into the apartment and Paul hefted the duffel bag he carried and shutting the door behind him.

Sally led her son towards the living room and into a little jail cell that was made of polished and varnished oak wood. A little girl with the warm brown eyes of their mother and the impish nose of Paul stood clutching the varnished wooden bars of her padded and luxurious prison. A small wail of fright escaped her lips at the sight of Sally stepping backwards as Percy stepped forwards.

The wail died in the throat of the small baby as she looked upwards with awe in her wide eyes. Percy looked downwards as tears streamed down his face and crouched lower to be eye level with the baby.

A meek gurgle escaped her as he very softly, as if a single touch would break the innocent baby, poked her in the belly. She giggled slightly in happiness. Tears still streaming down Percy's face, he held the finger as the baby grappled onto it as if was a lifeline.

"She likes you." Sally said softly, who was leaning into the arms of Paul as they both watched on. "She hasn't been this quiet for the past week."

"Her name?" Percy whispered, barely moving his lips and his gaze never leaving the small baby as if she would disappear if he did look away.

"Estelle." Paul answered. At her name, the baby gurgled happily once again and looked to the source. Upon spotting Sally, she let go of Percy's finger and raised her arms. "Ma-Ma!"

Percy looked up at Sally, who gestured for him to continue. "Go ahead." Percy's gaze turned back towards Estelle whose gaze was leveled on the demigod. A challenging glare, or at least what constituted as one for a baby was formed and Percy quickly gave in as she started unclenching and clenching her fists.

He stood up to his full high before lifting her up and cradling her in his arms as she leaned into his shoulder and quickly fell asleep. His face was caked in dried tears and he raised an eyebrow. "That was fast." Paul muttered and quickly let out an expletive only to be reprimanded by Sally.

"She's never fallen asleep so fast." She explained. "It takes us hours to get her in this state." Percy's mother adopted a wise look, one she usually got if she was about to say something profound. "She feels safe around you, Percy."

At that the demigod frowned. Something that did not go unnoticed by both of the older adults in the room. "Here let me take her." Sally said and Percy quickly handed her over. "Paul, can you go make some dinner?"

Nobody should feel safe around me.

"Of course." The professor knew a dismissal when he heard one and retreated to the kitchen.

Sally led her son to the couch where they both sat.

"What happened, Percy?"

The demigod adopted a far-away look as he his voice was wavering, cracking and completely hollow when he said his next few words.

"We won."

Nicolas Joseph Fury watched the newly obtained surveillance footage of one Perseus Jackson.

The reunion was provoking emotions he hadn't had since he got home from his own war. The relief and joyous occasion had left a lasting impression on him that had since faded from his memory.

Still, that wasn't why he was watching the video.

It was because Perseus Jackson was on Fury's personal watch-list.

His file was about five inches thick but hardly any of it contained any real, tangible evidence on a potential threat and even less had any definite information on him as a person.

No psychological profile, no fingerprints, nothing. For all the paperwork they had on him, there was hardly anything to indicate he even existed and if there wasn't school records, he might not have. The person was a literal ghost in terms of information and even appearances.

It was a good thing Fury believed in ghosts.

For all the stunts he pulled, there were no charges pressed against him. Nothing on federal watch-lists for even the national man-hunt that was conducted when he was twelve.

Fury was determined to watch Perseus Jackson closely, he might even go out into the field again to simply solve this one case as their was one thing that caught his attention in the video.

A flash of pulsing green in his eyes.

For comparison's sake, this chapter was about 2700 words in length, the chapter on the official story is about 7500.