N/A: Hello everyone, JkAlex is back with another chapter!

Writing the last two chapters has been refreshing, but I'm glad to finally get back to the main story.

I have to say that writing this chapter was a total gamble on my part. I said I wanted to do things different from the canon, and this is my answer to that statement. And I hope you like it.

For those interested, I invite you to join the ¨Emerald Library¨ server, a community for lovers of writing, either fanfics or original stories, where you can share your stories, find authors, and chat with them. You can join using this code:

/ discord. gg / PD693JJJWck

I have to tell you that this is an English server. So if you don't speak English, it will be a bit difficult for you to interact with the members.

You can also find me on Discord as JkAlex#5085.

I repeat. English is not my first language, I use a translator to bring you this fan fic into English, so I apologize in advance if there are any spelling or grammatical errors.

And without further ado... Let's go!


Chapter 6

The battle on the cliff

Declaration of War

There was one memory that brought me comfort when I was in the dark.

It was after I had encountered a pack of Hellhounds. And while I don't remember much of what happened then, I do remember leaving the clearing where the battle took place, covered in cuts and bruises and gold dust from head to toe, with only my Hellhound fang knife.

I crawled to a cliff and collapsed at the foot of a tree with my back against the trunk, catching my breath as I looked out at the seemingly endless ocean.

I knew I could stare at this landscape for hours without saying a word, but the sound of footsteps approaching behind me and rustling leaves alerted me to the presence of someone else, though I knew who it was.

"Feeling better?"

"A little..." I admitted.

"You killed more than a dozen this time, the rest ran away."

I just nodded absentmindedly.

Actively looking for monsters to blow off steam was a common occurrence for me. While fighting, my mind was only on surviving, on killing my enemy. There was no time to get caught up in the emotions that always overwhelmed me. It was therapeutic in a way. Was it healthy? I didn't know, but it was the only way to relieve the anger that always seemed to be boiling in my blood.

Now, as I looked out at the ocean, my only thought was to rest a little and then move on. Where to? I didn't know. And it didn't matter. I just knew that I had to keep moving.

"You know? The sea has always calmed me down," the man next to me commented in the same melancholic voice as always. "Isn't it the same for you, Percy?"

I didn't answer, just nodded absentmindedly as I continued to watch the sun peek over the horizon, illuminating everything in its path.

The landscape in front of me gave me a strange feeling of peace. The ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. It was one of the few moments when the anger I felt seemed to disappear, leaving me with a strange sense of calm.

"It is immense..." the man went on, the admiration in his voice almost palpable. "If there is a creator, he made this world too big. So big that it makes everything else seem so small, even our problems."

I frowned at his words.

"I only have one problem to deal with; survival."

"Well, I've been helping you with that for the last two years, haven't I?"

I nodded. He was right. In the last two years since I started living on the streets, he has taught me so much. I don't even know his name, but he taught me how to control my powers, how to fight.

He taught me how to survive.

"Tell me something, Percy," he said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Do you want to survive or do you want to live?"

I turned to look at him, confused.

"Is there a difference?" I asked.

"There is," he nodded with conviction. "Survival is what you do every day. You fight monsters, you kill them, so they don't kill you. You find a place to sleep when you're tired and something to eat when you're hungry. Living is... much more complicated. Living is enjoying every moment as if it were special and unique. To live, you need something to drive you. Something to fill the emptiness you feel inside," he chuckled. "At least that's what someone once told me.

I felt like something was twisting inside of me. Ever since my mom died, and I started living on the streets, all I wanted was to survive. Nothing else.

"What if I didn't have a reason?"

He turned to look at me, and even though his face was hidden under the hood of the sweatshirt he always wore, I could see the sad smile he gave me.

"Then you need to find one."

I snorted.

"You make it sound easy."

"It never is," he replied.

There was a silence between us before I decided to ask.

"You... Do you have one? A reason to live? Something to fill the void?"

He let out a slight chuckle before nodding and turning to watch the sunrise.

"I do."

"What is it?" I asked, sounding more expectant than I thought.

He smiled longingly.

"The people I love. My friends, my family... and the woman I love. They filled that void."

"And why aren't you with them?"

His lips twisted slightly, and I knew it was a question that touched on a sensitive subject for him.

"I can't," he said. "Not yet, anyway. We agreed to meet in a few years. But sometimes I get together with a friend, and we catch up."

"Is that why you're going away for a few days?" I asked, interested. "To meet this friend of yours?"

He nodded.

In the two years we have been traveling together, every month or two he goes away for a few days, sometimes weeks, saying he has some personal business to take care of. I never asked, knowing it wasn't my place, but I was curious anyway.

"This friend of yours... Is he one of those important people for you? One who fills the void?"

"Yes... he is," he turned around, and even though I couldn't see his eyes, I knew he was looking right at me. "Humans fill the void in our hearts, Percy. But to do so, you must be willing to seek them out. And most importantly, to accept them."

"Seek them out?"

The man nodded and walked to the edge of the cliff. He looked out at the sea dozens of feet below, as if considering jumping.

"The world is huge," he said. "But because of the vastness of the planet, we don't know the distance between us. Even though there are 7 million of us in the world... we all feel lonely. That's why we spend our whole lives looking for a person with whom that distance doesn't exist.

Hearing those words, like the currents of a river washing away everything in its path, my anger disappeared. Erased by something that had been buried deep inside me. It never disappeared, it was always there, latent, but buried under all the pain, anger and sadness that overwhelmed me every day.

I felt a lump in my throat, and when I spoke, there was an emotion in my voice that I hadn't felt in years.

"Do you think... Do you think I'll ever find those people?"

He turned to look at me, and for a second I saw a small blue, almost white flame flicker under his hood where his eyes should be. Maybe it was just my imagination, because the next second it was gone.

"You will," he nodded with conviction.

Hearing those words, which had not a shred of doubt in them, I could feel it again.

Deep in my heart, hope burned again.

"But until that day comes, we must move," he said.

"Why should we?" I asked. "I killed the monsters that were after us. We can take a few hours before we move again."

"Monsters aren't the only ones chasing us," an amused smile stretched his lips. "There's something more dangerous than a monster."

"What... What is it?" I asked, a little afraid of the answer.

He chuckled.

"A group of very, very angry girls. And mostly dangerous. It doesn't help that I'm the one who makes them so angry."

"Is this what you do when you disappear for a few days?"

He shrugged as he approached me.

"Believe me, it's better if you don't interact with them for now," he held out his right hand to help me up. "Let's go."

I looked at his outstretched hand, glowing from the sunlight reflecting off it, and took it. Even though it was made of some kind of shiny gold, it was warm to the touch.

I turned to look at the sun, which was already fully over the horizon. For some reason, my shoulders felt much lighter. As if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"You're right..." I muttered. "It is huge."

As I left the cliff next to the hooded man, I did so with a smile.


Percy's eyes slowly opened, coming out of his dreams.

He looked down at his hand, he could still feel the warmth as he held the strange hand of the man from his dreams. He could still hear his voice echoing in his head and knew that he had dreamed of the man who had helped him when he lived on the streets before he met Thalia and the others.

No matter how hard he thought, he didn't know who he was or what he looked like under his hood. He only remembered a nostalgic smile, his right arm that seemed to be made of shiny metal, and the flash of a white-blue flame he saw in his eyes.

Maybe it was a demigod helping him. Or maybe a god who took pity on him, though he doubted it.

Percy didn't know, and he had a feeling that even if he got his memories back, he still wouldn't know the man's identity.


To everyone's relief, Friday had come. This meant that they would finally be able to leave the military boarding school, hopefully with two demigods.

The only part that made them uncomfortable was that they had to attend the Winter Ball.

"You know, before I came here, I was psyched for everything," Andy said, looking around the gym. "Facing all kinds of monsters and dangers... But I definitely wasn't prepared for this."

Andy, Annabeth, Percy and Grover were in the gym of Westover Hall Castle, where the Winter Ball was being held. They had even dressed for the occasion, with Andy wearing a green blouse and a skirt that came up to her knees. Annabeth, on the other hand, wore a modest gray dress with straps that came halfway down her legs.

The only one who seemed the least interested in the event was Percy, who wore black pants, a white shirt with a blue tie, and a black jacket. It was the first time he had attended an event with people his own age, so he was a little excited. Camp Half-Blood events didn't count, since none of them were normal.

His eyes went from the flashy posters advertising the Winter Ball, to the balloons and colorful streamers decorating the walls and ceiling, to the huge crystal ball in the middle of the room. The boys kicked the balloons or tried to hang each other with the streamers, and the girls gathered like a school of piranhas in their brightly colored dresses and faces full of makeup. Instead of a Winter Ball, it looked like absolute chaos to Percy.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed. This was not how he had imagined a school dance, although he suspected that the movies and shows he had seen had given him the wrong idea and high expectations. Expectations that popped like balloons popped by children.

"Well, it's not that bad," Annabeth commented, looking around the place analytically. "The dances at my school are worse. At least there are no dramas about girls fighting over wearing the same dress, or jealous boys hitting another boy for bringing the girl he likes."

"Or maybe it just hasn't started yet," Grover said, looking around nervously.

Even dressed for the dance, in brown pants and a dark green shirt under a button-down vest, he still had his rasta hat on his head, making him look a little strange and out of place.

"Hey, Annabeth, where's Thalia?" Andy asked. "I thought she'd be here."

"She's outside in the car, ready to go," Annabeth reported. "As soon as we get Nico and Bianca out, we're leaving. It's too dangerous to stay here."

Grover had told them that the smell of the monsters around the school had increased and was overwhelming them. That's why they had to act quickly.

"I see them" Percy pointed discreetly at the bleachers where Nico and Bianca were.

He wasn't surprised to see them arguing. Or rather, Bianca saying something to Nico while he seemed more interested in shuffling his Mythomagic cards.

Grover sniffed the air for a second and then visibly tensed.

"Guys, over there!" he pointed.

They all turned to the doors near the bleachers to see a man in a black military uniform, his head shaved, walking stiffly with his hands behind his back as he scanned his surroundings. For a second, he seemed to look directly at them, narrowing his eyes.

"He's... he's a monster," Grover muttered in a trembling tone. "Dr. Thorn is a monster."

"Are you sure?" Andy asked.

"As sure as you are that you didn't brush your teeth after lunch."

"Do you know this man, Grover?" Percy asked.

He nodded.

"He's the deputy director: Dr. Thorn. How come I didn't realize he was a monster before?"

"I've been thinking about it, and maybe it's because of the presence of the demon that Percy and the Winchester brothers exorcised," Annabeth guessed. "It belonged to a different pantheon than ours. Perhaps that confused your senses. But now that it's gone, your senses are no longer clouded."

"I guess that makes sense," Percy mused, watching out of the corner of his eye in case Thorn tried something with the Di Angelo siblings. "Grover, how strong is his scent?"

Grover had told him that the scent of the monsters was similar to that of the demigods. The more powerful they are, the stronger their scent is.

"Very much," Grover admitted. "It's definitely not just any monster, like a Lestrigon or a Cyclops. I can say with certainty that he's a unique monster. But that's not the worst of it..."

"What could be worse?" Andy asked.

Grover swallowed hard before answering.

"Dr. Thorn is not the only monster in the school. I can smell two other monsters even stronger than him."

His statement caused concern among the demigods, who looked around uneasily. Suddenly, they felt watched and threatened. Even the air became a little heavier as the sounds of dancing faded into the background.

"We can't go near them with Dr. Thorn watching them so closely," Grover said.

"So what do we do?" Andy asked.

"We could pull the fire alarm," Percy said, looking at one of the alarms on the wall. "That will create a distraction."

"We need something flashier than that, like dropping the crystal ball" Andy pointed to the crystal ball that was throwing beams of light across the darkened room. "No one will be expecting it. We drop it on Jake, and while everyone gathers around, we grab the siblings and leave."

Percy put his hand to his chin, as if thinking about Andy's idea, especially the idea of dropping the crystal ball on Jake.

"Andy, no," Annabeth interjected.

"But..."

"I said no. We have to be discreet so as not to attract the attention of the other monsters, only then will we be able to get the siblings to safety."

Andy grumbled, but didn't argue.

"So what's the plan, Miyagi-sensei? Wait patiently to catch the fly with chopsticks?"

"We have to throw him off the scent. We are three demigods, our presence must have alerted Thorn. Besides, you two are sons of Poseidon, which must have confused him."

"What do you suggest?" Percy asked.

"The Di Angelo siblings know you, so it won't be unusual for you to go over and talk to them. Grover will stay near the exit and keep an eye out for any other monsters approaching. Meanwhile, Andy and I will blend in with the students and wait for the right moment to act."

"And how will we do that?" Andy asked.

"Obviously by dancing."

Andy's cheeks turned slightly red.

"D-dancing? How do you... You and me?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, does that bother you?"

"N-no, but... I'd at least like to dance to a Coldplay song" she looked away shyly. "Maybe 'Everglow'. It's a beautiful song. And one of my favorites."

Annabeth gave a small smile as she took her hand and led her to the dance floor. Hesitantly and somewhat shakily, Andy placed one hand on Annabeth's waist and intertwined her other hand with hers.

"I'm not going to bite you, Andy," Annabeth said amused. "It looks like you've never danced before. Don't you have dances at your school?"

"Well, yes, but... no one has ever asked me to dance," she admitted.

Annabeth gave her an indecipherable look. That look, combined with her long, floor-length blonde hair, made her look older than she was.

"Then I'm glad to be the first," she said, tightening her grip on her hand and waist.

Andy looked at her in surprise before looking away, self-conscious.

They both began to move slowly down the runway, with Annabeth telling her what to do, but still Andy kept stumbling and stepping on her toes, to her growing embarrassment.

The students gave them all sorts of glances, some curious, some amused and teasing, others somewhat dismissive. I guess it was weird for all of them to see two girls dancing together instead of a boy.

"Hey," Annabeth called to Percy and Grover, who were standing at the edge of the dance floor, "Don't just stand there. You're drawing too much attention."

Grover shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable.

"I think we need to move," he said.

Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like to dance with me?"

"Not what I meant, Percy. I'll watch the exit."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

Grover shrugged.

"I don't know. Invite one of the girls. That group over there seems pretty interested."

He pointed to a group of girls gathered in the gym, who looked away when Percy turned to them and began whispering to each other.

Grover left, leaving Percy alone at the edge of the dance floor, watching the students. Although he had been somewhat excited about the dance, he felt out of place. Like a fish out of water.

He watched the Di Angelo siblings. Nico was still shuffling his Mythomagic cards, while Bianca had resigned herself to what she had tried to tell her brother and sat with a bored look on her face. Not far behind them, Dr. Thorn watched them curiously, but seemed unsure of what to do as he scanned the area.

Percy considered asking Bianca to dance, since he knew her. He walked towards her, trying to think of a way to ask her where it wouldn't be awkward and make him look like an idiot, when a voice behind him stopped him.

"Hey, handsome, want to dance?"

Percy turned, expecting to see one of the girls from the group Grover had pointed out, but it wasn't one of them. And from the looks of her, it definitely wasn't anyone he'd seen dancing. She was wearing a long black dress that came down to her ankles and was open on one side, revealing one of her slender legs. A black belt wrapped around her slim waist, accentuating her curves, and a black leather jacket hugged her body. Her electric blue eyes, lined with black, looked at Percy with a flirtatious glint as she approached him.

Percy racked his brain trying to think of something coherent to say, but all that came out of his mouth was:

"Tha... Thalia?"

"Hmm? What's wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement, "Did the cat bite your tongue?"

"N-no... It's just that you look..."

"Damn good?" She placed a hand on her hip and tilted it, emphasizing her curvaceous figure even more.

"Yes, well, that too, but you look more... young."

Thalia had the appearance of a girl of about sixteen, standing about the same height as Percy and looking the same age as him.

"Mist," she explained. "If I wanted to come to the ball, I had to look like a student."

"But you said you didn't want to come."

"I changed my mind. Now..." She moved closer to him, standing at his eye level. "Shall we dance?"

Percy swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and, nodding somewhat shakily, walked with Thalia to the dance floor where the students were dancing. Feeling strangely nervous, Percy placed his hand on Thalia's waist while intertwining his other hand with hers. Thalia placed her free hand on Percy's shoulder, and they began to dance slowly to the music.

"I didn't think you knew how to dance," Percy commented, trying not to step on her toes.

"This is not my first time at a school dance. Unlike you."

"Can you blame me?"

Thalia chuckled.

"No, I guess not. Here, let me show you" she took a step forward, leaving them just inches apart and causing Percy's breath to catch in his throat. "Pull me close and just take one step followed by another. One-two-three-four... One-two-three-four..."

Percy followed her instructions, moving slowly across the floor, watching his feet so as not to step on Thalia.

"Ah-ah" she took him by the chin and made him look up. "Keep your eyes locked to mine... this part is very important. And just let the music be your guide..."

The dance was slow and rhythmic. Even though Percy had no idea what he was doing, he managed to avoid stepping on Thalia's foot or stumbling. He kept his eyes on hers, letting the soft, gentle music that filled the gym guide him.

"Not bad for your first time," Thalia praised. "The music could be better, though. I can think of dozens of better bands to dance to than Coldplay."

"I guess that's Andy's thing," Percy said.

"Why am I not surprised? Andy has too corny a taste in music."

"Green Day isn't exactly a band to dance to at a school dance, Thalia."

"Well, I can think of a few good songs for a slow dance, like 'Last Night on Earth', 'When It's Time', or 'The Forgotten'" Thalia tilted her head slightly, listening to the soft sound of the piano along with Chris Martin's calm, melodious voice. "But... I guess Coldplay isn't too bad at this moment, either."

"We can always have another dance," Percy offered.

Thalia smiled and, to Percy, her eyes took on a gleam more captivating than any star.

"I like the sound of that."

They both continued to dance, never looking away from each other's eyes as a gentle smile graced their faces, which were closer than necessary for dancing, but neither of them cared. Minutes passed, the music enveloping them, immersing them in a world where only the two of them belonged.

"Thalia! Percy!" Grover called as he approached them. Worry and fear were written all over his face, "The siblings are gone!"

They both turned to look at the bleachers where the Di Angelo brothers had been, but they saw no one. Not even Dr. Thorn, which worried Percy.

"Where the hell are Andy and Annabeth?" Thalia asked, looking around frantically.

"They went after Dr. Thorn! Andy saw him take them away and asked me to come get you! They need help!"

"Can you track them by their scent?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Follow me!"

Thalia and Percy followed Grover, pushing the students who got in their way. When they reached the doors on one side of the bleachers, Percy saw Bianca's green cap on the ground, along with Nico's Mythomagic cards. He picked up the cards, knowing how much they meant to Nico, and put them in his jacket, along with Bianca's cap.

"Don't worry, Percy," Thalia said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll save them."

He didn't say anything, just followed Grover, ready to save the siblings and willing to cross any monster to do so.


The hallway was plunged into darkness, the only sound being the sound of their sneakers on the floor and Grover's heavy breathing.

Thalia held her can of whipped cream, ready to unleash her spear at any moment. Percy held his Hellhound fang knife, feeling safe with it in his hand.

When they reached the end of the hallway, they opened the door to the castle foyer, but no one was there. Their attention was caught by one of the open doors, letting in the cold night air and the snowstorm outside. There, on the floor, was a headband.

"This is Andy's," Percy confirmed, picking up the accessory.

"That means they went this way," Thalia said.

As they stepped outside, the cold night air hit them, making them shiver. Thalia zipped up her leather jacket to ward off the cold. She had stopped wearing the fog to look like a sixteen-year-old, now she looked like her usual twenty-year-old self.

"This way. I can smell them," Grover announced.

Even without Grover's nose to guide them, they could tell where they had gone by following the tracks in the snow. The bright moon high in the sky illuminated their path as if guiding them.

To Percy and Thalia's surprise, Grover stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Instead of answering, Grover sniffed the air a few times, and an expression of growing fear began to grace his features.

"They're here."

"Who?"

"The monsters. There are... too many of them. Their smell fills the place. It's overwhelming."

"Then we must hurry," Percy said. "We'll rescue Nico and Bianca from Thor and then get the hell out of here."

They both nodded and continued walking through the snowy forest. More than once Percy felt a gaze on his back and a pair of red eyes shining through the trees. But when he turned to look, there was nothing there. The feeling of being watched did not go away, though, and made his palms sweat despite the cold.

When they reached the edge of what looked like a clearing in the forest, Grover stopped them.

"There they are," he announced.

In the clearing, on a cliff overlooking the dark sea, Andy and Annabeth stood protecting Bianca, who watched with a look of deep horror and concern as a fat woman grabbed Nico by the collar of his clothing, leaving him suspended in midair a few feet from the cliff as he struggled in a vain attempt to free himself.

"Let go of my brother!" Bianca demanded.

The fat woman, who looked to be in her forties, ignored her demand as she brought her face close to Nico's and ran a long, forked tongue over his cheeks, causing him to squirm in disgust and fear.

"Mmm... So delicious," the woman hissed. "Too bad I can't take a bite. They want you alive. Although, if it were up to me, I would have given you my sonny for dinner by now."

A Chihuahua dog standing at the fat woman's feet, which everyone found a little disconcerting, barked animatedly.

"Hey, Trunchbull, get your hands and tongue off him!" Andy shouted.

She took a step forward, but quickly backed away as something burrowed into the ground in front of her.

"Not another step," Thorn warned. "Or I'll show you how good my aim is."

Andy complied, but still stared defiantly at Dr. Thorn. Next to him, Annabeth looked around discreetly, as if looking for someone.

Dr. Thorn pulled something out of his coat, causing everyone to tense with alarm, but looked confused as he pulled out a walkie-talkie and pressed the side button:

"The package is ready for delivery," he said.

"What do you want with us?" Bianca asked, sounding frightened. "If... if what you want is a ransom, you won't get anything. We have no family. Nico and I... we only have each other."

Her voice cracked a little, and there were small tears in her eyes, but she refused to cry.

Percy felt sorry for her. This whole situation seemed to be overwhelming for her, and no one could blame her.

"Percy," Thalia called quietly. "I'll take care of Thorn before he decides to do target practice with the girls. He uses a tail to shoot what looks like thorns. I've seen it. I can take care of him. You think you can take care of the fat woman and save Nico?"

Percy brandished his knife as he looked at the woman holding Nico by the neck. That woman... she looked somehow familiar.

"Leave it to me. Grover, when the fight starts, get the siblings to safety. We'll get out of here after we take care of these monsters."

Grover nodded in agreement.

"Be careful," he said. "Especially that dog. It's not what it looks like. Its scent is much stronger than Dr. Thorn or the woman."

Thalia opened her can of whipped cream and unleashed her spear, about six feet long. Percy stared at the spear for a few seconds, spellbound. He had to admit that Thalia's spear was beautiful.

"Let's end this," she said, twirling the spear in her hand, then gripping it tightly.

Without a hint of flinching or hesitation, Thalia stepped into the clearing. The sound of her boots crunching in the snow announced her arrival, followed by a flash of electricity and a trail of white-blue light that appeared between Thorn and the girls.

Thalia appeared directly in front of the monster and wasted no time in attacking him with her spear, aiming for the head. Thorn reacted surprisingly quickly, turning his head to the side, though he was not spared the deep cut on the side of his face.

Thorn let out a loud roar of pain and recoiled, clutching his bleeding face before glaring at Thalia.

"Thalia Graccce!" Thorn spat out the name in a strange accent, "You dare to confront me without knowing who I am! How arrogant of you!"

"I am not arrogant," Thalia said, slamming her spear into the ground. "The arrogant one is you, who thinks you're on the same level as me."

Thorn growled, and something suddenly came out of his back, sending a series of projectiles directly at Thalia, who quickly reacted by releasing her shield, Aegis, which stopped all the attacks.

At the sight of the infamous shield with Medusa's head engraved on it, both Thorn and the fat woman took a step back, grimaces of fear on their faces. Even Nico was not spared the effects of seeing the shield directly, as he let out a high-pitched scream and jerked even harder in an attempt to free himself.

"Hold still you little shit!" grunted the fat woman in frustration.

But her frustrated grunt turned into one of pain as a knife embedded itself in her wrist, piercing it completely and causing her to let go of Nico. The boy fell onto his butt in the snow with a whimper of pain, but was quickly picked up by someone.

Nico looked up to see Percy holding him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he ran away from the woman.

"Percy!" he shouted, surprised to see him.

"Hey, Nico," he greeted with a smile, "I know I promised to play cards, but you didn't have to get kidnapped for that."

"It's not my fault! That fat woman and that creepy guy demanded that we go with them!"

Percy put Nico down and stood protectively in front of him, facing the fat woman and the Chihuahua as Grover approached them.

"You!" the woman yelled, ripping the knife from her hand with a grunt of pain and throwing it to the ground. "I remember you, boy!"

Percy stared at his bloody knife on the ground, trying to think of a way to retrieve it, but for now it was better to let the enemy think he was unarmed.

"Is that so? I would remember facing a fat woman and her Chihuahua," he said nonchalantly.

"You were the one who killed me over seven years ago!"

At this point, there was little in his past that would surprise Percy. He wouldn't be surprised to find out that he had once fought a god with his bare fist.

"Yeah... Why didn't you just do us a favor and stay dead?"

The woman hissed. At her feet, the Chihuahua also began to growl, but he looked strangely frightened as he hid behind the woman's legs.

"I thank Lord Kronos for bringing me back much sooner," the woman said. "Now I can take my revenge on you!"

Then the woman began to change, to reveal her true form. She began to grow, tearing off the clothes that covered her body to reveal bluish, scaly skin. Her face lengthened, her eyes became yellow and pointed like those of a reptile, and a long, forked tongue emerged from between her pointed teeth. But most striking of all, from the waist down, she had the body of a snake, two meters long and one meter in diameter, the same color as the scales that covered her entire body.

"Holy... shit!" Percy muttered, his eyes wide with horror. "Nico, cover your eyes!"

He covered the eyes of the frightened kid.

"What is it? What's wrong? Why can't I look at her directly? Will I turn to stone if I do? Is she Medusa?"

"No, that's not it," he replied before looking at the woman reproachfully. "Hey, cover up! Can't you see there are children here? Do you want them to be traumatized by the sight of your disgusting and grotesque body?"

Percy said that because the monster was no longer wearing any clothes, her naked torso was completely exposed.

"Disgusting? I want you to know that my body is not disgusting, let alone grotesque! My beauty is such that I have seduced Hercules himself!"

"Yeah, well, Hercules fucked half of Ancient Greece. I guess it's because he's a son of Zeus."

"Hey!" cried Thalia from her fight with Thorn, sounding indignant, "I'm not a whore like my dad!"

"Enough of this!" hissed the snake woman, turning to the Chihuahua at her feet. "Sonny, transform!"

The Chihuahua crouched behind her and growled in Percy's direction, as if he was afraid of him. Then he began to bark, and with each bark his body grew to the size of a full-grown rhinoceros. His hindquarters and legs were those of a goat, but he had no hair. His front legs looked like human arms, long and thin, ending in claws that could cut flesh like paper. On the top of his body was a goat's head with two prominent curved horns. The body of a snake, nearly two meters long, hung like a tail and hissed menacingly, a greenish liquid dripping from its open mouth.

"Oh, gods... Oh, gods..." Grover muttered with growing panic, "It's Echidna and the Chimera!"

"The Chimera?" gasped Nico. "It has an attack power of four thousand and a poison that kills in three turns!"

Percy didn't understand what Nico was talking about, and he didn't want to ask him, he was already worried about his chances. He could take them both on separately, but together it was pushing his luck. Besides, he was currently unarmed.

The snake woman, Echidna, hissed in a way that could have been a laugh.

"In the past, you couldn't defeat us at the same time, what makes you think you can this time? I, the great Echidna! The mother of all monsters!"

"Because this time he will not fight alone!"

Percy was surprised when Andy approached and stood beside him, brandishing a Heavenly Bronze sword. Next to her, Annabeth also brandished her knife and stood guard, ready to take on the monsters.

"Nico!" Bianca cried as she approached her brother and wrapped him in a protective hug.

"Grover, get them out of here!" Annabeth shouted, not taking her eyes off Echidna and the Chimera.

"What is all this?" Bianca asked, looking frantically at the monsters and then at Percy and the others. "Who are you?"

"We will explain everything later," Grover said in a tone that tried to be reassuring, but his voice trembled a little. "Right now we have to get out of here, it's not safe. They will take care of the monsters."

Grover led the two siblings to the edge of the clearing, although Nico wanted to stay for a closer look at the monsters.

Percy, Andy and Annabeth looked at Echidna and the Chimera as they approached slowly and menacingly.

"Andy, Annabeth," Percy said, "Do you think you can handle Big Momma? Fido seems to want to play with me."

The Chimera stared directly at Percy, his goat head growling low and his snake head hissing menacingly as it reeled in on itself. The Chimera's entire body seemed to be withdrawn, like a frightened animal, but one that would attack violently if you got too close.

"Percy, are you sure?" Annabeth asked, concern in her voice. "The last time you faced the Chimera, you... died."

Percy swallowed the lump of worry in his throat.

"Andy said that, didn't she? I'm not fighting alone this time. I've got you two."

Annabeth nodded, though she looked a little reluctant to let him fight alone.

"What's the plan?" Andy asked, holding up her sword.

"Not die," Percy said.

"I like that plan."

"Percy, be careful with that snake," Annabeth advised. "Its venom can kill within minutes. You told us so yourself."

"Noted."

Percy ran straight at the Chimera, and before the monster could react, he waved his hand, sending a curtain of snow at him to blind him. It worked, as the beast let out an angry hiss and retreated back into the trees. Controlling the snow, Percy drew it toward him, pulling his knife from the ground. As he grabbed it, he sent the snow back at the monster, which lashed out with his claws, brushing the snow aside as a minor annoyance, but it had served its purpose of distracting the snake head, who had no clear line of sight.

In a display of precision and marksmanship, Percy threw his knife directly at the snake. The blade sunk deep into the snake's head, piercing it completely and lodging it in a tree trunk. The Chimera hissed in pain, reared up on his hind legs, and watched as his tail became embedded in the tree.

Then Percy could see the lion's head, surrounded by a thick mane in the center of his muscular chest, growling menacingly at him.

'Maybe I should stop throwing my only weapon like a projectile,' he thought.

With a swipe of his claws, the Chimera destroyed the trunk that held his serpent tail, which fell uselessly along with Percy's knife. The monster rose to his hind legs and puffed out his chest.

Percy knew exactly what would happen when he saw the mouth glow.

"Shit..."

He lunged to the side, dodging just in time to avoid the jets of fire that erupted from the lion's mouth with a loud roar. The heat from the flames immediately melted all the snow on the ground and scorched the grass below. Percy used what little snow was left on the ground to drag his knife and grab it, though he didn't know how much good it would do against a monster spewing fire from the mouth.

The Chimera did not stop attacking, approaching Percy on his hind legs at a frightening speed and beginning to paw at him, ready to slash at him with his claws. Percy did his best to dodge, paying particular attention to the fire-spitting lion's head, but it was beginning to overwhelm him.

As he dodged a jet of fire that singed the sleeve of his jacket, a sound grew louder in the clearing until it was all they could hear. It was the rhythmic sound of an engine and the spinning of propellers. Percy looked up to see a blinding light flooding the clearing. Using his arm for cover, he could see a helicopter hovering in front of the cliff. It was undoubtedly a military one, with machine guns and laser-guided missile launchers on the sides.

Percy wondered what the hell a military helicopter, no doubt piloted by mortals, was doing, but he couldn't think much about it when the Chimera came at him with his claws again. He dodged by ducking and diving between his legs. The monster turned to continue the attack, but the helicopter's headlights blinded him for a second, and Percy used that moment to pounce on the monster. He plunged his knife directly into the lion's eye, then slashed brutally to the side, blinding him and inflicting as much damage as possible before removing his knife and moving out of the way. But he wasn't quick enough to dodge a swipe of the claws, causing a rather deep cut on his forearm that made him clench his teeth in pain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy could see that Andy was defending herself quite well against Echidna, who was trying to slash her with her claws or strike her with her huge snake tail. From the way she squirmed from time to time, it looked like Annabeth was trying to sneak up on her with her knife and invisibility cap.

He could also see Thalia confronting Dr. Thorn, who had transformed into what looked like a giant lion with a human face and a long, sharp tail with thorns at the tip, which he threw with deadly accuracy at Thalia, who used her Aegis shield to parry his attacks.

As the helicopter's searchlight pointed directly at her, blinding her for a few seconds, Thorn lashed out with his whip-like tail, sending her crashing into a tree.

Then there was a clattering sound from the helicopter, and a hail of bullets from the machine guns showered the clearing. The demigods scattered, trying to dodge the bullets that left small holes in the snow. The monsters, on the other hand, remained impassive, as the deadly bullets could not harm them and simply passed through them like a mirage.

"Enough!" Thalia shouted with a fierce roar as she stood upright. "I don't care if they are mortals or monsters, if they stand in my way, they are enemies!"

She slammed her spear into the ground, sending sparks of electricity flying and scorching the snow. She pulled her spear back and used her super strength to hurl it directly at the helicopter. The spear flew through the air, leaving behind a faint trail of light due to the electricity embedded in it, and hit the helicopter, piercing it completely as if the metal was just paper.

The helicopter began to wobble erratically and rotate on its own axis, while at the same time, smoke began to rise from where the spear pierced it. The sound of people screaming could be heard as the military machine lost its balance and fell over the cliff. Its propellers shattered as it hit the ground, and it skidded across the snow until it came to a stop. The engine exploded, setting the interior on fire and killing everyone inside.

While everyone stared at the downed helicopter in utter shock, Percy watched the Chimera. He had to finish him, he wouldn't last in a battle of attrition against such an opponent. He concentrated on the monster's spilled blood, trying to control it like he had Tammi, the Empuosa, or the Minotaur. But the Chimera was too strong, he was wounded but not weak. He still had too much strength, and trying to control him was like trying to put out a fire with a hose.

So instead of trying to control his entire body, Percy concentrated on controlling his arms to keep the claws from slicing him open as he approached. It worked. The Chimera's arms remained static at the sides of his body, and Percy quickly approached with the intention of killing the monster.

He remembered the feeling when he emerged from in the hill of the camp that stormy night and faced the Minotaur. It was not he who created the force that shook the entire valley, he simply channeled it, focused the power that came from the earth itself. He was its channel, its guide. So he directed that energy into his right hand, and he could feel it as his fist began to shake erratically. When he was in front of the Chimera, he gritted his teeth and punched right into the lion's face, releasing all the energy he had built up.

The entire cliff shook, and the Chimera's body was brutally sent into the forest, shattering the trees in his path with a loud crash.

Percy groaned and held his hand in pain, bleeding at the knuckles. The power he had taken to his arm was even greater than the time he had used against the Minotaur, but it was worth it when he saw the Chimera's body turn to golden dust.

"Sonny!" cried Echidna, mortified to see one of her sons killed.

"Hey, Trunchbull, this is no time to worry about anyone else!" Andy shouted, lunging at Echidna.

She swung her sword and sliced off one of Echidna's arms. The mother of all monsters recoiled, hissing in pain as she held her severed arm. Then her eyes widened in shock and she let out a choked scream. She looked down and saw the handle of a knife protruding from her chest.

The handle was abruptly yanked away and Annabeth materialized in midair, pulling off her invisibility cap.

"It's over," she said.

Echidna coughed and a trickle of blood soaked her chin. She put a hand to her bleeding chest and glared at the three demigods.

"You filthy demigods... you've made a big mistake..." she hissed.

"The only mistake I made was lending Luke 20 drachmas," said Andy, still holding her sword and not letting her guard down.

"You... You have no idea what's about to happen. The greatest fear of Olympus... My husband will rise... And bring doom to all of Olympus!"

With this last grim statement, Echidna dissolved into a cloud of golden dust.

Andy visibly relaxed and lowered her sword.

"That was intense..."

Annabeth said nothing, just frowned grimly and stared at the spot where Echidna had disappeared.

A cry of pain snapped her out of her reverie, and everyone turned to see Dr. Thorn with a deep gash in his chest caused by a cut from Thalia's spear. The monster staggered backwards, his chest wedged together as he groaned in pain.

"Damned demigoddess!" he shouted, sending a rain of thorns at Thalia.

She managed to cover herself with her shield, which stopped all the thorns without so much as a dent.

"Thalia!" Percy shouted as he approached her.

Annabeth and Andy also approached, brandishing their weapons.

"It's all right, I'm fine," she said, not taking her eyes off the monster. "It's over, Thorn! You have nowhere to go!"

"Give up," Andy said, pointing her sword at him. "Or I'll cut off your tail and use it as a fishing rod."

"You insignificant demigods!" growled Thorn in pain as he held his bleeding wound. "I will not surrender to you!"

Thorn growled at them and retreated like a wounded animal, raising his tail to send them on another thorny path.

Then they all heard a sharp, piercing sound fill the clearing; the call of a horn.

Percy was stunned to hear such an incongruous sound, and even more so when he saw Thorn's terrified expression.

"No!" he exclaimed in fear, "Not again...!"

He was interrupted as an arrow suddenly lodged in his shoulder. Thorn grunted in pain and recoiled.

"Damn you!" he shouted, ripping the arrow out of his shoulder with a grunt and sending a shower of thorns into the forest where the arrow had come from.

Percy could see it. In utter amazement, he watched as a shower of silver arrows shot out of the forest, catching each of the thorns in midair and splitting them in two.

Thorn glared hatefully from where the arrows came, and a dozen girls emerged from the trees. All of them wore silver jackets and camouflage jeans, and all of them had bows in their hands. What struck Percy was that they all looked very young. The youngest looked to be ten years old, while the oldest looked to be about Andy and Annabeth's age, only fourteen.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth acknowledged, excitement creeping into her voice.

Thalia, on the other hand, muttered with a slight bitterness:

"Fuck. They again."

Percy looked at Andy, who looked as confused as he was.

One of the girls stepped forward, an arrow ready to shoot. She was tall and graceful, her copper skin standing out against the white snow. And the tiara she wore high in her hair, dark as night, set her apart from the other hunters.

"Permission to kill, my lady?"

As she spoke, she never took her eyes off Thorn. Her gaze had the fierceness of an experienced hunter, and Percy knew she was much older than her years suggested.

"This isn't fair!" Thorn exclaimed with a groan of pain. "I didn't do anything to you this time! What reason do you have to attack me?!"

"You attacked the safety of young maidens," replied another girl, a younger one. "I see you didn't learn your lesson last time, beast."

Unconsciously, Percy stared at the girl. She had light auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her silver-yellow eyes were stunning, as if they were made of the moon itself. She was very young, looking only twelve or thirteen. But looks were deceiving, and Percy knew that all too well.

As soon as he looked at her, he knew she was not human. Her beauty was so striking, so dazzling, that it was... inhuman. It was then that he knew this girl was a goddess.

A strange, unfamiliar feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as she turned to look at him for a few seconds and their eyes met. Percy could have sworn that the goddess' eyes widened in surprise and recognition before she turned to look at Thorn, hiding any emotion behind a cold, threatening expression.

"This is direct interference!" He shouted, snarling with hatred, "This is against the Ancient Laws!"

"It is not. The hunting of all wild beasts is my domain. And you, disgusting creature, are a wild beast," the goddess looked at the girl with the tiara, who had not taken her eyes off Thorn for a second. "Zoë, permission granted."

"If I can't take them alive... I'll take them dead!"

Thorn lashed out, heading straight for Nico and Bianca, who were on the other side of the clearing, protected by Grover.

"No!" Thalia screamed.

Her body exploded with electricity, and she disappeared in a flash of light to appear right in front of Thorn, who was not expecting to be intercepted. Thalia swung her spear accurately and deadly, severing one of Thorn's arms at the elbow. The monster screamed in agony and recoiled, clutching his severed arm. His face contorted in pain, he raised his tail to send a hail of thorns at Thalia, but Andy appeared behind it and swung her sword, severing his tail from the base.

Thorn shrieked again, swerving to slash at Andy with his claws, but she dodged just in time to make way for Percy, who ran straight at Thorn with his arm thrown back. His fist slammed into the monster's chest and the whole cliff shook, rocks falling into the sea and everyone in the room losing their balance as Thorn was slammed hard into a tree, cracking the trunk and splitting it in two.

"Boo-ya! Don't mess with us!" Andy exclaimed happily as she kicked Thorn's severed tail, "That's what I call teamwork! Give me five... No... Give me ten!"

She raised both hands in the direction of Percy and Thalia, who looked at each other and raised an eyebrow before shrugging in amusement and high-fiving Andy.

"This... is not the end, demigods..."

Surprisingly, despite all the wounds he had received, Thorn had not died. He tried to stand up, his entire body covered in wounds, broken bones protruding from his chest, and bleeding profusely, but he still had enough strength to glare at everyone present.

"You will pay..." he gurgled, spitting out a stream of blood that soaked his chin and chest. "You will pay... for this!"

No one let their guard down, even with the monster in that state.

The hunters readied their bows, ready to end the beast's life.

"Well, well, you're on the ropes, Thorn."

Everyone watched in surprise as someone appeared in the tree line next to Thorn. It was a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that prevented a full view of his face, but not the amused smile on his lips. At his waist hung the scabbard of a sword, his right hand idly resting on the hilt, his fingers tapping the pommel.

All the hunters immediately aimed their bows at him.

"You!" Thalia shouted, anger in her voice. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by," the man replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, not caring that he was in the sights of a dozen hunters aiming bows and arrows at him. "It looked like a better party here than in the castle, so I came. Tell me, is there any punch left?"

"Thalia, do you know him?" Andy asked, frowning in confusion as she looked at the man.

"He is the demigod I told you about," Thalia replied, holding her spear tightly and glaring at the man.

"So he's the Black Hood," Percy said, looking at the man appreciatively.

Standing before him was the man who had been the mastermind behind the poisoning of his tree. Someone who was in league with the Titans who sought the destruction of Half-Blood Camp. That made him their enemy.

"Black Hood? That's the nickname I was given?" asked the man. "It's a bit lame. Couldn't you have given me a better nickname? Like the Black Swordsman or something?"

"You talk too much," the red-haired girl said, looking at him with impatience and annoyance. "Announcing your business here, demigod, who are you and what do you want?"

The man's smile faded, and the air itself seemed to change, becoming thicker and more suffocating.

When he spoke, his voice was cold and threatening.

"Who am I and what do I want?... The answer to both is the same" he drew his sword, causing Thalia and Annabeth to gasp at the sight of it. "I am vengeance."

The man plunged his sword into the ground, and behind him, emerging from the darkness of the forest, appeared what could only be described as an army of monsters. Cyclops, Lestrigons, Empusae, Dracaenas and Hellhounds filled the place. Everyone became alarmed at the number of monsters that had suddenly appeared. Their eyes glared at them with malice and hunger, baring teeth, fangs, and claws as they surrounded the demigods and hunters.

"Oh, gods... There are too many of them," Andy muttered, looking frantically at the number of monsters surrounding them.

"Andy, stay close," Thalia ordered, spear and shield held high.

"For every monster present, I have only one order for you," Black Hood's voice echoed throughout the place, loud, clear, and imposing. He raised his sword and pointed it forward. "Kill the hunters."

With these words, chaos broke out in the forest.

"Fire!" Zoë commanded.

Immediately, the hunters released their arrows, which flew through the air toward the sea of monsters attacking them. Each arrow hit a monster with astonishing precision, causing it to explode in a cloud of dust, but it was a futile effort as another monster simply took their place.

The sheer number of monsters overwhelmed the hunters, who scattered across the clearing and began to engage in hand-to-hand combat with hunting knives, while others held bows and fired arrows at inhuman speed.

Andy and Annabeth stayed close, back to back, as they fended off the monsters that tried to attack them, though they seemed more interested in attacking the hunters.

Thalia immediately went to attack Black Hood, who had stayed behind without joining the fight.

"I won't let you get away this time, you bastard!" she shouted and tried to stab him with her spear.

He parried her thrusts with his own sword with great skill, perfectly able to keep up with Thalia.

"Get away? Why would I do that?" he asked, parrying Thalia's spear with his own sword. "I'm right where I want to be!"

Thalia gritted her teeth and swung at him with the edge of her shield, but he stepped back and swung his sword upward, knocking Thalia off balance and then stepping into her guard to strike her with the hilt of his sword. The force of the blow knocked the air out of her lungs and caused her to fall to her knees. He grabbed her by her jacket and with surprising strength threw her against a tree, eliciting a groan of pain from her.

"Thalia!" Percy yelled.

He ran toward her, slipping on the snow as a Hellhound lunged at him, raising his knife to stab the monster right through the heart. Percy was bathed in blood and gold dust, but he didn't care as he lunged at Black Hood with the intention of stabbing him. He raised his sword and their weapons clashed, sparks flying as Percy tried to subdue his opponent.

"Get away from her!" Percy shouted in his face.

He struck him in the face with his free hand, but Black Hood ducked under the blow, grabbed his arm, and threw him over his shoulder. Percy fell flat on his face and tried to get up quickly, but a blade inches from his neck stopped him.

"Stay down," Black Hood advised. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You say that... But you brought an army of monsters with you!" Percy shouted.

"My target is not the demigods," he removed the sword from Percy's neck and turned away.

Behind the Black Hood, three hunters aimed their bows directly at him. Behind the hunters, the red-haired girl stared at him intently.

"Surrender, boy," Zoë said and glared at him, "The hunters will not meet our end tonight. Not to the monsters, and certainly not to you."

Behind them, Percy could see that the numbers of the monster army were slowly dwindling. The monsters had the advantage in numbers and had managed to wound several hunters, but they fought like monsters, trying to overwhelm their opponent with nothing but strength and ferocity. The hunters, on the other hand, fought tactically and strategically, joining forces and never fighting alone. They banded together to defend their wounded sisters. Even Andy and Annabeth joined them to fight them.

"I know very well that this is not enough to defeat the hunters," Black Hood said. "It would be too easy."

"I don't know who you are, but this act of war against Olympus will not go unpunished," the red-haired girl said. "Even if you surrender and beg for mercy, you will receive none."

"Mercy?" Black Hood's voice was one of disbelief and contempt. "Since when have you shown mercy to anyone? The gods have never shown mercy to anyone, not even their own children. All you have done is bring misery wherever you go. You are like a cancer."

"How dare you?!" claimed one of the hunters, indignant.

She shot her arrow directly at the Black Hood's head, but he deflected it with a single swing of his sword. Without giving her time to prepare another arrow, he struck. The other hunters fired their arrows, but the Black Hood either dodged them or deflected them with his sword in an amazing display of skill.

The three hunters also rushed at him, drawing their hunting knives and beginning a deadly melee.

Though outnumbered, Black Hood was more than able to keep up with the hunters. He kicked one of them in the stomach, sending her to the ground with a groan of pain. Another hunters slipped behind him and tried to stab him, but he changed his grip on his sword to a reverse one and deflected the stab while delivering a heavy blow to the hunter's head, stunning her and sending her to the ground.

Black Hood changed his grip again and brought his sword down brutally on the stunned hunter's head, but Zoë stepped in front of him, parrying the blow with her hunting knife, but the sword still reached her shoulder, cutting her and sending her to her knees.

"Don't you dare... hurt my sister, boy," Zoë growled, struggling under the Black Hood's strength.

"She deserves it after all she's done."

"What... are you talking about?"

The Black Hood applied more force, causing an even bigger cut above Zoë's shoulder and making her moan in pain.

"Do you think I don't know everything she's done?" He said through gritted teeth, "Everything you hunters have done? I'm going to make every one of you pay."

Black Hood kicked Zoë in the chest, knocking her to the ground, and then turned to face the third hunter, who was approaching him from behind. Using his sword, he deflected the hunter's knife in one fluid motion, spun around her, and stabbed her in the leg. The blade went all the way through the hunter's leg, causing her to scream in pain and fall to her knees on the good leg.

"Evelyn!" Zoë cried out.

On her knee, Evelyn spun and stabbed the Black Hood in the leg, causing him to recoil with a grunt of pain.

Evelyn quickly pulled herself up, but she was still badly wounded. Zoë approached her, not taking her eyes off their opponent.

"You hunters think you are honorable warriors," he muttered, snatching the knife away with a snarl. "But you are nothing but the raiding dogs of Olympus."

"Don't you dare sully the name of the Hunters of Artemis, you filthy boy!" Zoë spat angrily.

"I only say the truth... You are nothing but Artemis' glorified assassins."

Zoë attacked again, her movements seeming to reflect the fury she felt. Every cut, every stab was made with the intention of killing, but Black Hood was able to dodge and block each of her blows. Zoë dodged one of his attack and stepped into his guard, driving her knife straight for his liver, but Black Hood grabbed her forearm and deflected her stab directly into Zoë's own shoulder. She screamed in pain, and Black Hood twisted the knife before striking her directly in the face. The sound of breaking bones was heard and then Zoë was brutally kicked in the stomach, sent flying over Evelyn and falling in a tangle of limbs on the snow.

"Zoë!" exclaimed the goddess worriedly.

Black Hood turned to her.

"Are you going to interfere?" he asked. "You cannot interfere. The Ancient Laws prevent the gods from entering into a confrontation, either with each other or with the demigods, unless they are challenged. And I have not challenged you, Artemis."

The goddess Artemis scowled with such fury that she seemed to want to burn Black Hood on the spot. A cold wind blew through the forest, stirring up the snow and whipping the trees violently.

She snapped her fingers and a wolf emerged from the darkness of the forest. It was as big as a full-grown lion, and its white fur camouflaged it against the snow. It bared its teeth at the Black Hood and attacked.

The wolf lunged at him, claws out and jaw open, but Black Hood stepped aside and swung his sword in a downward arc across the wolf's neck. A groan of pain was heard as the animal crumpled to the ground, turning the white snow red.

"A useless act," Black Hood said, shaking the blood from his sword. "Useless as the gods themselves."

"Insolent boy..." Artemis growled, glaring at him.

Black Hood scoffed at the Goddess' attempt to intimidate him and turned once more to face the hunters, only to duck as a spear nearly pierced his head.

Thalia suddenly appeared in a flash of electricity and did not let up in her attacks, using both arms to maneuver her spear and continue attacking. Black Hood demonstrated an uncanny ability to not only parry her blows, but to dodge them as well. With an upward swing of his sword, he was able to destabilize Thalia and then stab her directly in the chest. The sword made contact with her leather jacket but did not pierce it, for it was made of the skin of the Nemean Lion's, though the force behind the blow knocked the breath out of her and brought her to her knees.

Before he could land another blow, Percy leapt at Black Hood and surprised him by striking him in the chest with the edge of Thalia's shield, Aegis. The force of the blow knocked him off his feet, and Percy used the moment to stab him in the heart. Paralyzed by the sight of Medusa's face on the shield, Black Hood did the unthinkable; he raised his right hand to stop the stab and did, but the blade went completely through his palm.

Percy and Black Hood struggled, with Percy trying to get the blade through his chest as well, but Black Hood blocked him, unwilling to yield despite the knife going through his hand.

Looking directly at where his face should be, Percy gritted his teeth and tried to overpower him. And that's when he heard a voice echo in his head:

'There's no turning back if you decide to do this...'

It was a woman's voice echoing in his head. It sounded worried and sad.

'I know. But I have to do it,' another voice, this one a man's. It sounded tired, but also determined.

'They will chase you. Will hunt you down. You will be the enemy of Olympus.'

'I don't care. Even if I have to become their enemy, even if they all hate me, I will do whatever it takes.'

Percy was startled to hear those voices in his head, and Black Hood took advantage of his momentary jerk to headbutt him in the face. Percy stepped back, stunned, and Black Hood kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Stay out of this... my war is not with the demigods," Black Hood said, snatching the bloody knife from Percy's hand.

"Then... Your war is against the gods?" Percy asked, struggling to stand upright as he coughed.

"No... only against one."

He turned to look at Artemis, but ducked just in time to avoid the cut that went straight to his face. Evelyn, the wounded hunter, still hadn't given up and attacked Black Hood with a series of stabs and slashes. As she aimed for his neck, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it, causing her to drop the knife. Black Hood caught it in midair and used it to stab the hunter in the stomach in the blink of an eye.

Percy didn't know which of the hunters screamed at the sight of one of her sisters being stabbed, but the scream echoed through the clearing and brought the battle to a halt.

"I know who you are, Evelyn Foster, daughter of Apollo," Black Hood said, hovering directly over the terrified face of the hunter. "And I know the people you killed. Your own brothers and sisters. This is for them."

Everyone watched in shock as Black Hood drew the knife. The hunter fell to her knees before collapsing to the ground, blood staining the white snow as Evelyn held out her hand in Artemis' direction.

"My lady..."

"Evelyn!" cried Artemis, but then her eyes widened in horror as she saw Black Hood raise his sword. "No! Stop!"

The blade fell, piercing not only the hunter's chest, but the ground beneath her as well, causing her to gasp.

"NO!"

The cliff shook at the goddess' desperate cry. The wind blew harder, the sky darkened with black clouds, and the sea itself seemed to roar as it hit the cliff. The monsters that remained alive began to flee in terror at the display of power by the goddess, whose eyes glowed with the promise of vengeance against the man who had murdered her hunter before her very eyes.

"Despicable boy!" Artemis shouted, glaring murderously at Black Hood, "You will pay for this!"

The remaining hunters, or those who could still fight, quickly approached Artemis. Only four of them remained, but they all looked at Black Hood with barely contained fury as they raised their bows with the intention of shooting him as he stood over the lifeless body of the hunter.

"Consider this my declaration of war," he declared, waving his sword and smearing the snow with blood, an insult to the Hunters of Artemis and to the goddess herself. "Not against Olympus, but against you, Artemis."

"Who are you?!" she demanded to know.

Black Hood turned his back to her and held his sword in his healthy hand, slicing the air twice in the shape of a cross. As he did so, the space itself seemed to be sliced like a sheet of paper and parted, giving way to a darkness that seemed to have no end.

"Someone with nothing to lose."

"Don't let him escape!" yelled one of the hunters. "Fire!"

Arrows flew into the air, but Black Hood had already passed through the portal, which closed as he disappeared into the darkness.

The clearing fell silent. The wind died down, and the dark clouds in the sky parted to reveal the bright winter moon.

Percy watched as the moon's rays illuminated the blood spilled on the white snow. Blood that belonged to one of its maidens, a hunter of the goddess Artemis.

...

..

.


And that's all for now, dear readers!

As I told you, this chapter was a gamble on my part. I said I wanted to do things differently, develop the canon differently, and this is my first step towards that goal.

Maybe some of you are confused, so I will try to explain the most important point of this chapter;

Why didn't Artemis intervene to save her hunter, who was being killed right in front of her?

My answer is simple; she is a goddess.

Throughout the Percy Jackson books, we are told that gods cannot intervene in mortal affairs due to the "Ancients Laws". Something vague that is not very well explained in the books, but with the little we know about it, we can say that a god, no matter who it is, is forbidden to directly intervene in the affairs of mortals and demigods unless challenged in an equally direct manner.

An example is in the first book, where Ares, before fighting Percy, summon a boar to fight instead of him, since he cannot fight Percy directly unless he challenges him, which he does later, and so they can fight. Another example would be Dionysus, who was ¨condemned¨ to guard Camp Half-Blood for a century, and only because of that can intervene in a slightly more direct way with the demigods living there, but we all know he chooses not to.

In this chapter, I took that law seriously. Black Hood, even though he gave the order to attack the hunters, never directly challenged Artemis. Or at least not in the direct way that Thalia did with Ares in "The Origin of a Hero. That is how I will interpret it, as a direct challenge to a god.

Therefore, Artemis could do nothing but summon an animal, as Ares did, to fight for her.

This may seem like a poor excuse to some, but it's my reasoning and my way of balancing the whole demigod/god thing. If the gods could act freely, everything would be different. And absolute chaos. When you have a being that can change reality with the snap of a finger, you have to put some limits on them.

Another is the level of power among the demigods. Right now, Thalia is known as "the most powerful demigoddess alive" and that's because she's had to train for years to master her powers, and even with that, she's only halfway to her full power. I plan to explore more of that in the future.

As for Percy, we can see his powers growing more and more, even though he hasn't trained them. Earlier, when he fought the Chimera, he was badly injured and even almost died twice. This time, he was able to defeat the monster without much trouble. And this is just Percy scratching the surface, he will be able to do even greater things in the future.

These are the main points of this chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to write them and I will try to answer them.

What did you think?

If you have any problems or disagreements with the action scenes in this chapter, tell them to my drunk self, since he was the one who wrote them. I've come to call this version of myself, my alter ego, Alejandro. He's a bastard, but I need him if I'm going to keep writing my fics.

Who do you think the Black Hood is, and why does he do what he does? Going so far as to kill an Artemis´ hunter in cold blood, what is he after? Leave your theories in the comments and I'll be happy to read them.

That's all for now.

And with nothing more to say... Until next time, beautiful ones!