The Sword: Reforged

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Disclaimer: I do not earn any form of currency for this work .

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Chapter 1: Angry Statues Are Angry

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To be perfectly frank, I wasn't the kind of person to think things through and I was pretty sure that I was the same before I lost all my memories. For example, I was fairly sure that stealing an SUV wasn't the best course of action when searching for a mythical camp in the middle of California, especially when it was very low on gas.

I didn't even question the fact I was somehow able to hotwire a car for some odd reason, or the fact I knew how to get away from cops with ease, though I was pretty worried at the thought that I may or may not be some sort of fifteen-year-old-super-criminal.

Of course, I was pretty sure a super-criminal wouldn't make a mistake as silly as stealing an SUV with little to no gas in the tank. I would probably have done better if I got a sedan with good gas mileage, but chances were that the sedan wouldn't have had a sheaf of twenty dollar bills tucked underneath a compartment under the dashboard.

The fact I knew where to look for money just reinforced the fact that I must've been some sort of criminal during the times I couldn't remember, adding the amount of scars on my body that I see whenever I look in a mirror, I wasn't too keen on remembering my previous existence or going back to it.

Another spear went through the windshield, and I honked my horn to get the idiots that decided to stand still off the sidewalk. According to Lupa, mortals didn't see what I saw, so they weren't completely aware that a massive snake woman had been throwing spears at me. They probably saw something like a gunwoman with a silenced gun shooting at an SUV with a scary-faced teenager inside

The hood of the SUV made contact with the snake woman, and she turned into specks of gold that exploded everywhere. Then, my car hit the brick wall behind her and the airbags deployed into my face and slamming me against the very plush leather seats of the car I'd barely been driving for thirty minutes.

Never going to that again, I'll stick to cutting those things in half any day.

Then I heard what people were screaming outside.

"Holy shit that policewoman just exploded!"

"Someone call the police!"

"Grab the person inside, before he runs!"

Well shit.

I grabbed my duffle bag and kicked out the door of the driver's seat with as much force as I could muster. As always when I was careless enough to use as much force as I possibly could, the thing I hit exploded in the direction I kicked. Which meant a couple mortals got blindsided by an SUV door by complete accident.

"Holy shit he's got some sort of explosive charges!"

"He's psychic!"

Fuck, this is why I shouldn't have stolen the SUV, the sedan would've just trapped the snake lady, not kill her and the civies would probably rush to her aid and make it so I can escape with my loot.

… gods I really don't want to know what I've done in my previous life, its just so damn depressing to think about.

The mortals parted between me like bodies of water tended to do when I didn't want to get wet. A few tried to grab me, but I taught them their lessons by twisting their wrists a bit. Judging from the fact I wasn't holding any extra hands, I did fairly well in just dislocating their wrists, with my strength it was completely possibly for me to just rip someone's entire arm off by accident.

I wondered if any of the other Roman Demigods could do the same thing, but I was sure that if they were able to fight the monsters I was fighting and managed to make a giant city they must be quit the bad-asses themselves. I ran into an alley way and dropped into a sewer system, following the water going downstream, after I turned on the flashlight I clipped onto the . According to Lupa, the entire city was surrounded by a River, so it didn't take a genius to figure that the sewage would lead to the river.

That or this city in the middle of California would actually pay for a sewage treatment plant, and I was just walking into a giant septic tank. Unless the city managed to change from the map, I picked up though there was very little chance that the horrible sewage plant from my dreams were truly existent.

Then I heard slithering and I froze.

My body acted before I did, dropping into a crouch and reaching for something inside my empty pocket. I was more than used to the habit that I always wore my real weapon against the small of my back, along with the harness that it came with.

I pulled the un-extended police stun rod out of its holder and batted away the arrows sent in my direction, using the water in the sewer to surge in the general direction of the shooters. A sudden increase in light, due to the reflective nature of monster dust, allowed me to see a the spear poised to impale me from behind and I snapped the baton open.

The police baton transformed into a blade just as tall as I was, and considering the fact I grew a solid foot the last three months, I was barely an inch taller than it at six-foot-one. The blade smelled like the ocean, but exuded heat as though it was in a furnace. The jagged black surface, and the thin red lines that lit up the tunnels reminded me of lava and the ocean of the same time.

Possibly because of my heritage, I knew very well that this sword was made from steel gathered from an undersea volcano and enchanted to stay as hot as when it was forged.

So even when I swung it out of position, and with only one hand, it cleaved through the shield of the snake-woman through the monster itself like butter. The size of the sword would have made it impossible to use in a cramped corridor, such as the sewers, but any obstacle tended to melt before the sword.

I placed my left hand on the well-fitted handle and held the sword as Lupa taught me. The singular edge of the blade lit up and began to drip onto the floor. I felt a tug in my stomach while I used the sword, the sword accessing my body's energy to fuel and renew itself. The tunnel was lit up as if there were lights everywhere, and the snake woman hesitated at the sight of my sword.

Bad choice really.

I held it above my head, the lava droplets just giving me a warm sensation wherever they hit like massage, and swung it down with all my might.

I really didn't do the trick often, since it tended to burn everything in its path and I wasn't all too keen on burning down a house or killing some poor mortal, but it tended to kill everything that it hit and I wasn't all too excited about being ambushed later.

"Aestus Estus!" I declared, as Lupa had told me names held power and since declaring my sword's name most certainly upped the drain I felt on using it, I believed it was true. I swung the blade down and before the tip of the sword was completely horizontal, the edge burst forth in a stream of magma, though quickly replacing itself fast enough so that the tip buried itself no problem into the cement.

Not that I would need it anymore.

The line of magma that sped through was like a giant playing card in shape, wide at the side but thin at an angle. The stream almost seemed as if it was cutting the round tunnel perfectly symmetrical, as it traveled down with furious speed.

Bursts of golden dust exploded all around it as it passed by, there weren't many things in the world that could manage to live when barely two feet away from magma after all, though I was sure that I was one of them.

I let of the blade with my left hand and the edge of lava disappeared along with the pull on my gut. I placed my hand on the jagged back of the blade that held no edge, and pushed my hands together, and lo the massive sword was back into its form as a police baton that could be hidden underneath a shirt and was undetectable by metal detectors.

I felt like the sword was cheating for some reason but considering the fact that these snake women were numerous and really, really wanted to kill me, I made due with the fact that my weapon was basically a cheat that only I could use.

I should probably hide it if I ever got to Camp Jupiter, Lupa said that most of the kids were pretty power hungry and I was sure that having a friend because of his god-mode-cheat-sword would become a pretty big deal if everyone found out.

And gods know what the heck would happen if someone else tries to use it and accidently kills themselves, I should probably just stick to my fists once I get there. Though that particular fact wasn't all too nice since I could dent metal with my fists, and kicking things tended to make them fly. If they weren't nearly as tough as I hoped they were, there was going to be a lot of problems when I got there, especially if what Lupa said about coliseum fights were true and I was going to have to fight my way into a Legion,

Maybe I could just throw my fights? It wasn't like I wanted to be well known or anything, probably because of my past as a super-criminal and the only one I could agree with. I wanted to make friends and all, but the thought of being in the spotlight made me very, very queasy. Making friends would probably be only hard if I fought like a wimp in the eyes of everyone, but if someone didn't want to be friends of me because I looked weak, I might as well not be friends with them in the first place.

It sounded fair enough, and I wasn't all to keen on spending a lot of time looking for trouble anyways.

Maybe they have a shipyard where I could make some ships? I was so giddy at the thought of making a boat I almost tripped over something as I walked through the sewers.

It was a spear, almost entirely black, and it felt as though poison ran through it. It was right next to some sort of crown made out of gold and jewels.

Of course my criminal instincts immediately told me to grab them and stuff them down my bag, and I couldn't find anything to say against it. I had to break the crown in half to fit it in, and a jewel fell out that I had to stuff into my pocket.

The spear seemed to resonate with me though as if I had held it before…

Naaahhhhh….

I probably handled spears in my past life, and this was just another one of those things that felt similar. It's been around nine months since I woke up at Wolf House, and other than some odd feelings, I never really felt incomplete or anything. I was me, Percy no last name, and I now had a nifty switchblade that turned into a poisoned spear, along with my sword of awesome.

Maybe I could just beat half of the Legion's best? Would that make me look average or something? I could deal with average.

…

"Good morning, Sally." I greeted the mortal I had been staying with for the past few months with a cup of coffee, from which she took a grateful sip. "Almost done with that chapter?" I inquired as she sat herself onto the breakfast table.

"I'm in a bit of a block, actually." Sally admitted with a sigh, slowly consuming the meal I had already started partaking in myself. Whilst she had used to eat mostly bacon and over-sugared pancakes, I had slowly been converting her to the more healthy options that Demeter's daughters have foisted upon the entire camp so long ago. "As good as the notes you gave me are, it's still a difficult concept to portray the middle ages so accurately without much information to back it."

I pondered on whether to stay silent, or attempt to assuage the woman who had been housing me for the past few months, but the choice to help were overridden by my fears of being caught in another of Sally Jackson's long speeches about the structural integrity of both her book and her writing style. I had driven her towards a good habit to help her get over the loss of her son, but if I had known that such actions would lead to the current arrangement I would have gladly stapled my lips closed.

As such, the breakfast went in silence until the last whole grain bagel was finished, and Sally began to ponder while sipping her third cup of coffee in bliss.

While I didn't consume the healthy beverage myself, I had lived through the Enlightenment in Europe and all the gods were as addicted to the substance as most of the mortals were. Given the access to beans, and my knowledge of how to make it the most efficiently, I could possibly attempt to start my own shop.

I was washing the plates when Sally decided to pursue some inquiries, though no of the nature I had expected.

"Do you miss them?" The writer inquired as she handed me her mug, I idly went about my habit of utilizing the mug to water the small garden on the windowsill in front of me. My proficiency in gardening due to my aspect as a nature spirit was unmatched by mortals, all I required was water and seeds.

"I do not know who you speak about." I admitted, though I most certainly had an idea on who she was asking about. The topic had been left untouched for months, the first time having been my explanations of the disaster that was the expedition that I had held. Needless to say, my pursuit of merely satisfying my curiosity on how the man I fell for lived elongated to my stay with his distraught mother for the last few months.

"You told me…" Sally trailed off and gestured towards the bracelet on my arm. The mystical device's bow no longer functioned, but Lady Artemis had allowed me to still summon the Moonlight arrows of which we were famed. Utilizing a modern compound bow had been odd for a few weeks, but I was far more able with the innovation of mortals than I had been with my old bow. I was still able to carry it around, as it folded, and due to the lack of skill needed to utilize it effectively, the system of pulleys and wires only served to add to my skills. "That you left some sort of group that you've been with for a few centuries, Zoe."

The woman with true-sight leveled a look at me that made me distinctly uncomfortable.

"Talk to me, Zoe," Sally seemed to beg, though her stoic demeanor radiated a sort of omnipotence. I almost confused her for Lady Artemis while she was angered, not the best comparison simply because the image fit so well my will started to fold like tissue paper. "I've been thinking about all this, and I've been feeling guilty since I don't even know what you're getting out of this…" The mother of Percy Jackson trailed off.

I opened my mouth, but words refused to come out as I tried to lie. An intense feeling of dread washed over me when her eyes narrowed so closely like my old Captain. I couldn't hope to lie, yet at the same moment I couldn't tell her the entire truth.

As good as a person Sally was, I doubted the fact that she would understand that I had come to her home with intent to investigate Percy's life and using the Mist to make her completely forget about the occurrence. Of course, everyone failed to mention the fact that she had true sight, and therefore wasn't affected by the mist the slightest.

I had not been embarrassed as thoroughly in my life, and I saw no avenue of escape from the verbal onslaught the woman had unleashed upon me when I mentioned her son had died.

So then, I took the easiest way out of the proverbial embarrassment train, by simply diving in front of the embarrassment car. At the very least, I may still respect myself after I admit something that wouldn't make me seem like a deranged, idiot.

"I was a Hunter Of Lady Artemis." I explained and the writer nodded for me to continue. "After the… incident that led to the deaths of most of my group, I did not feel I was competent enough to lead another." I wrung my hands, hoping that visual tells will give off my discomfort . "I resigned from my post and-"

"Went to visit the mother of the boy you fell for."

"Yes exactly." I nodded and opened my mouth to speak after her apt, and true, statement-

Sally's smirk widened as I felt blood rush from my face and rush up in a blush that could probably have been seen from miles if I had been standing outside.

"Sally!" I cried out and buried my face in my hands, they most assuredly felt much warmer than they were supposed to be. My housemate gave a chuckle as she walked over and tussled my free, and shorter hair. Life in the city didn't allow the braid I had been used to lovingly make every day, Sally utilized her skills honed over the years of thrifty living to cut it to shoulder length. I usually kept it in a high ponytail when outside of the house, but I kept it free within the confines of my new home.

"Sorry, kiddo." She gave a small chuckle as I shook off her hand. "I went ahead and did research on Artemis, and she doesn't seem to be the type to let someone like you go just because of a failed mission." The writer-in-training lifted up my chin to meet her eyes. "But if a maiden is love-struck and wants to seek her hearts desires…"

"She allows them to leave in peace, with a simple warning against their actions." I finished for her, the words tasted bitter in my mouth. "Silently Awaiting for the day that they ask to die by at her hands for the disgrace they have suffered at the hands of men."

"…Did she tell you all that?" Sally whispered, "After spending so much time with her, being there since the beginning?"

I didn't ask how she must have known I had been with Artemis since the very beginning, maybe because of some obscure text she might have found, there were quite a few mentioning me after Hercules…

"She didn't need to." I stated carefully. "And we left on fair terms." I gestured towards my bracelet, "I'm the first to leave the hunt, still able to use the arrows of which we are famed."

"Oh!" Sally's gaze leveled onto the bracelet. "You don't use the arrows I bought for you?"

"The arrows I am still able to access are able to kill monsters and wound gods." I explained in a placating manner, though I was worried as to why she immediately turned to the fact I wasn't using the Carbon Fiber arrows she supplied instead of the tragedy I was describing, I didn't say it out loud. "They are also blessed by Lady Artemis' to fly true, it is very difficult to miss with them, especially with the bow I had bought."

Sally seemed to pout for a moment, decidedly making me uncomfortable. The arrows were certainly not cheap, and I could hardly fault her for thinking mortal weapons would work when I made sure to destroy every monster I could see from the top of the water tower on the building and brought up the bundle of arrows with me whenever I went back.

I was pleased to find that the arrows were able to pierce glass though, Lady Artemis' arrows didn't do much against mortal products, but my centuries of skill would make taking a foolish hijacker a piece of cake even in a moving vehicle.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now." Sally declared suddenly, breaking me out of my reverie of my arrow comparisons. I only realized that she was already in her uniform and I was about to fetch my own when she held up her hand. "I've told my boss that you're leaving for a while." She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me.

Luke Castellan Has Escaped, We Are Gathering A Team To Venture Into The Labyrinth. Your Help would be appreciated- #MyOtherCarIsAlsoACentaur

"Chiron has an e-mail address?" I inquired out loud from shock, and the woman I had been living with for six months gave a chuckle as she picked out a bag from a locked cabinet atop the fridge.

"I was surprised to find out too." My housemate stated, placing a small duffel bag onto the table, her eyes got wistful as she traced the initials on the side.

P.J.

"I had the bag made when they went to pick up Nico and his sister." Sally explained, "I always fussed over him when he packed, I never could manage myself when I knew he was going to be in danger." She sniffed lightly and dabbed at her cheek with the back of her hand, thankfully she never put on make-up and therefore didn't have to worry for it to run. "I packed all his survival things in here and a few more things that I thought were important to a person running all over America when I heard he was killed. I wanted to send it to camp… then you came along."

She gestured towards the proverbial treasure bag.

"Take it." The writer whispered, she held her hands below her waist. I could see tears trailing down her eyes, but it was blurry due to my own. "You've helped me so much, Zoe." She sniffed. "But this is all that I could do." She strode towards me, and her arms encircled me with ease, she felt very warm.

"Percy would've loved to have you over." Sally whispered, "He would've taken a while to figure it all out, but I'm sure that you'd have managed to get it through his think skull in a week." Her hug tightened, and I returned it with as much force as I could muster through my surprise. "You're a really, really nice girl Zoe, and I would've been very happy seeing someone like you with my Percy. The two of you would've been good for one another."

"You think so?" I didn't know what to say besides that.

Sally pulled back, and gave me the biggest smile. Her smile reminded me of him so much I had to start wiping away my tears. I could already see his stupid smile, his stupid head-scratching, and the stupid worried look he gave me and everyone else that made my heart beat so much faster.

"I know so." She stated with absolute conviction.

I believed her.

…

Truth be told, I didn't really expect to be able to sneak into Rome, but when I considered my aptitude for stealing things, I must've subconsciously navigated the sewage pipes and into the city of marble and togas.

I was able to sneak around for around a few minutes before someone realized that the kid wearing a torn jacket and carrying a stuffed duffel bag wasn't one of them and decided to report me to the authorities of the city.

Which were surprisingly kids, like me, though they were quite the assholes, unlike me.

"Keep walking, scum." The man probably two years my senior and wearing some sort of golden armor, pushed me forward with his shield. Sadly it attracted the attention of the girls frequenting a marble pastry shop, and I got disgusted looks in return. I was more than I bit hungry, my last meal probably being around a day ago, and those cakes looked really good. "No eye candy for thieves, in New Roma."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I allowed my mouth to run as I made sure to glance around some more, before winking at the other, female, guard. "And if I wanted to look at some eye-candy all I would have to do is steal a look from the corner of my eye~"

The girl clad in the golden armor, blushed prettily and gave back my compliments with a jab at my stomach with the bottom of her spear.

"Touchy." I muttered, though I was quite happy to see that the folks were still human despite the totally authoritarian regime they lived under. "Mind the bag." I reminded the man and he scowled at me. "The last of my families treasures are in there." I lied and he immediately took greater care of the bag.

Mr. Golden Armor didn't say anything about the fact though, he just made sure that it wasn't dragging on the ground or hitting the marble street posts anymore. Of course, if he knew that there was enough jewels in the bag to feed a small family for gods know how long, he would probably have done the same thing.

Except steal it in the process, my thieving instincts tell me that people like wealth and even the best disciplined soldier can be bribed with enough money…

I really, really need to start a new hobby or something, the behavior of acting and thinking like the thief of my past will get me trouble in the future.

We stood in front of a tent, many, many minutes later, with two silver and gold dogs guarding the front. My hands twitched the moment I saw them, and the dogs made out of metal growled at me in return.

Oh thank the gods, finally something that won't let me steal it.

"Down Argetum, Aurum." A whippy voice came from within the tent that made me more than a bit cautious. "Don't kill the spy just yet." The woman came out of the tent, her hair blond and immaculate, her smile was so disarming that the mere sight of her curved lips instantly made me itch towards the sword still hidden against the small of my back. "Though by his instincts I believe that there is more to him that meets the eye."

Her eyes looked past me and I noticed the sods that had been making my life difficult the past half hour were kneeling in front of her.

"Hand me his bag and his weaponry, Stefan." She ordered and the man who'd been holding my bag eagerly gave it to her. Golden boy gave her the switchblade as well, and she raised an immaculate eyebrow when it turned to a spear at her click. "Good job to both of you, your cohort will be commended at your dutiful actions before the day passes." She turned away and gestured for me to follow. "You are dismissed, Stefan, Lucy, my dogs shall guard me against this unarmed and cuffed man quite easily I would imagine."

Ha unarmed, I didn't know how they managed to miss the harness wrapped around my stomach, but I was entering the tent of their leader with a sword that could cut apart a car.

Not that I've tried to cut a car, it just sort of happened when a snake woman tried to ram me with a car while I was walking down the interstate highway.

Magic just seems to fuck with everyone nowadays, I'm just glad that it was on my side.

The tent was barebones, filled mostly by cabinets filled with maps and a single table that had quite a few on it.

"Sit." The beautiful woman ordered, and I had to resist as my body immediately tried to do as she said. The woman raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at my defiance, before her face suddenly turned into a wide smile. "Seems that managing to navigate the sewers of Rome is not your only talent spy…" She cocked her head to the side in a manner that was so cute it must have been illegal. "And now you're managing to resist my Charm Speak."

I gave her the most adventurous smile I could, the fact that I did the expression so little made me wince at the relative amount of effort I had to make to keep it up.

"Flattery is nice and all." I let my mouth run once more, making sure to take account of the dogs nipping at my ankles. "But I'm pretty sure that we can speak like civilized people and get to the bottom of this problem and get all the bad assumptions addressed immediately." I paused. "I'm pretty sure we're supposed to tell our names first, like civilized people, and my name is Percy."

A small smile broke onto the impassive face of the ethereal woman, it nearly took my breath away, only the fact that I felt it so… unnatural, made me not want to stare at her face the entire day.

At least I can assure myself that I wasn't a pervert in my past life, I was pretty proud to say that I was only looking at her face and wasn't the least interested in looking elsewhere.

"My name…" She seemed to mull the word in her mouth, as if tasting it. I took notice of a puddle of water condensing around a goblet. "Is Teresa, and I am the Praetor of the proud, and noble Camp of Jupiter." She trailed a hand from… places and leveled a finger at me. I took a moment to get a drop of water and used it to unlock the cuffs while she was failing to distract me with her feminine wiles. "I'm sure you know what comes after names are exchanged between a spy and Roman Soldier in army territory."

I grabbed her hand, surprising her and even the dogs that were starting to irritate me.

The table went flying right into my face, papers going everywhere, the dogs clamped down on my legs and a spear of all things erupted from the center of the table and headed straight for my face. I was suddenly glad for my unnatural strength and toughness, as the dogs barely tickled me, and I managed to sidestep the impossible trap so only my shoulder was scratched by the crazy lady named Teresa.

I noticed that my wound took a complete four seconds to close instead of the usual two, kind of life a few of the arrows the snake women used on occasion. That was a weapon that could kill me with ease, and I was almost tempted to bring out Aestus immediately just from habit.

I decided to just grab the spear, pull it through the hole it erupted from and show this girl who exactly she just decided to fuck with.

Spears came to me just as easily to my with swords, though I did find myself not prone to throwing them as often as some of the lighter ones are supposed to be. Lupa told me that I was more adept at heavier spears, ones that were designed to punch through armor, take down horses and smack things.

The spear was most definitely heavy, and even had a need cone at the middle so my opponent didn't touch my hand when I stabbed it through him. I didn't want to kill the girl, so stabbing was immediately out. Horses talked to me, and called me boss so I didn't mess with them.

So that left smacking things, and I was pretty darn good at that to be quite honest.

Strength was something I had in spades, even my ridiculously scrawny body didn't show it I could probably throw a small car.

So it wasn't all that surprising when my slash with the spear went through the desk like a hot knife through flying butter. I winked at the shocked girl that was blocking the hit with her entire body behind a short, golden sword and waved at her with my free hand.

"I think that a handshake tends to come after introductions, eh Teresa?" I joked and butted each of the metal dogs with the end of the spear on their heads strong enough to make them whine and let go of my slightly bloody knees. I was sure that their bites would have chomped a normal persons leg with ease, but I just god a couple of scratches that healed over the moment after they got off my legs.

I planted the spear onto the ground, leaning against it as I helped her up from her sudden fall after the sudden loss of opposing pressure.

"I think I introduced myself improperly." I admitted with a small smirk, I saw her eyes trail over my already healed wounds and the scar that trailed from my the top right of my head and trailed down to my neck. "My name is Percy , Son Of Neptune."

I widened my smirk, making sure to give her a glimpse of a row very shark like teeth a little over my regular teeth. They elongated and covered the rest of my teeth when I felt antsy, but I was more than calm enough to make sure I wouldn't have to go and pull them out later. As like sharks, when they fully grew in I had to pull them out lest I start mangling my own mouth. The process felt more like removing a splinter than an actual tooth and they grew really fast when I wanted them too.

"Lupa told me." I leveled a full shark-like grin on the shocked blonde, though I was annoyed at the odd attraction that still persisted about her in the back of my mind. "I'm more monster than man, and that I should tell you all to be very careful around me." I trailed my tongue over my lips. "Lest I manage to turn this place upside down."

Teresa's mouth opened and closed several times, and when I heard the clanking of armor outside I gave a small chuckle as I pulled up the hood that her spear thrust managed to push off of my face.

I expected an army to be honest, but in front of me was a blond kid holding an entirely gold spear, a little scar on his lip with electric blue eyes.

He was also at least a foot shorter than I was.

"You going to do something with that kid?" I smiled as began to push the tip away from my face with two fingers. His face suddenly contorted in anger as he tried to keep the spear pointed directly at my face, but I kept it pushed away. "Maybe I should teach a little-"

A rush of wind was my only warning, before I ducked underneath the spear that I left in the tent and I was unable to dodge the slash that splashed my blood across the grass.

…

I disliked the camp before I resigned from my duties towards Lady Artemis, mostly because of the number of arrogant people that passed to and fro from its interior. Too many were far to reckless, getting themselves heedlessly killed on their first quests. I couldn't help but speak against their idiocy whenever they were there, and that influenced the Hunt far more that I cared to think about.

The Hunt was supposed to embody the joy of the Wild and the natural skill that came from hunting beasts and monsters. My actions manifested the dislike for children of the gods, even those with good intentions. I wondered on more than a few occasions, that if my feeling would have amounted to something faster if I had not been bigoted against the campers.

Though I was glad that never occurred, looking at the Poseidon Cabin made me hurt more than when I carried the weight of the sky.

I felt the nudge of an elbow onto my side, and I turned to face the child of Athena that had chosen against joining Thalia in the company of Lady Artemis. Though she seemed to be a good girl, I was not in a good frame of mind when there were moments I was able to speak with her. I was far too lost in grief to adequately make conversation with the girl, and I knew better than to speak to someone who knew him so well.

Misery may have known company, but I did not desire to allow grief to multiply by searching for aid, she and I were both better off grieving on our own times.

The girl, I noted though, seemed far leaner and sharper than I remembered last. Many Children of Athena were prioritized leaders and commanders instead of warriors. They lacked the hardness in the eyes and body, simply because they worked behind the curtain instead of fighting against monsters face-to-face. She was different in every way possible.

Her hair held the same grey streak as mine, though it was cropped so close to her head that the mark was nearly unnoticeable and she didn't need to tie it back any longer. Her physique was more pronounced and she wore modest shorts that were cut slightly above her knee and had her shirt tucked into it, showcasing her lithe body as a side effect. Clipped next to her hat was a bronze pen and the fixed watch was upon her wrist.

"I knew I'd find you here." She stated with absolute certainty behind obscure reasoning that I would probably not understand. "I tend to remember him better around this cabin as well, since he's the Son of Poseidon and all."

…or maybe not…

Did I have something written upon my brow that screamed out: Hello! In love with a dead guy!

Honestly it was as if everyone knew.

"Chiron spoke to me about Luke." I stated and she tensed in anger. It wasn't directed at me, or the name I last mentioned. Her entire figure tensed at the first word. "…I think that you may have something to add to his description of the incident." I finished lightly, not even bothering to say what the Centaur had spoken to me about.

"By the gods of course I do!" The short-haired girl huffed and sat herself upon the sea-stone steps of the cabin. She seemingly withdrew a knife from thin air and began twirling it in the air dangerously, she met my confused expression with narrowed eyes. "I bet he didn't even tell you how exactly the boy escaped did he?" The knife-wielder's eyes glittered dangerously.

"Chiron did not say anything beyond that he had managed to escape." I agreed with a little reluctance, the girl seemed as if she was tip-toeing on a knife and was planning on threatening the knife into submission. My statement seemed to make the dangerous girl angrier and she doubled the speed at which she started throwing the knife into the air, it seemed to be a bronze blur now.

On the subject of the previous metaphor, I thoroughly believe the girl can probably manage to threated an inanimate object, if she acted like that around with everyone.

"Chiron said that we could turn him back to his siblings." She growled through gritted teeth, catching the knife's point between her fingers again and again. I saw scars on her hands, doubtlessly from intense practice. "I told him that we should stuff him into the Ares cabin." Her gray eyes glittered dangerously. "Guess which one of us feels stupid now?"

"In hindsight that move must have been made to make him feel more liable to returning to who he was." I pointed out, I knew that she would acknowledge the point, she was a child of Reason after all. "Trusting him would have been the first step to rehabilitation."

The girl snorted and buried her knife into sea-stone, I saw her arm quiver from the force but the knife was embedded nicely into the rock with ease.

Scary… maybe I was wrong about leaving this girl alone to wade through her grief? I knew that sorrow made some people stronger, but this girl looked like she could give Ares a run for his money.

Well… Lady Athena was pretty scary when she was angry, so it must have translated over to her children in some ways after all.

"Trusting traitors is idiotic." She growled and kicked up the knife before putting it away, gods knows where. "Two plus Two always equals four, Traitors plus Trust means betrayal." Her eyes narrowed. "It is foolish to think otherwise." The intense girl stated darkly. "When we catch him again, I'm not making the same mistake of letting that fool live."

When she finished speaking she was by my side, but facing the other direction. I felt a force between the two of us, simply because of our opposing natures.

I went through the grief and emerged with greater understanding, accepting my fate of loving someone that was dead and gave their life for me.

She went through the pain and emerged stronger and harder in body and mind, she didn't want any part of that pain ever again.

So who was really the victor between the two of us? The one that didn't change and was still trapped by her feelings, or the one that changed so much because of what she felt?

I had the feeling that such things wouldn't matter in the future.

I turned to face her and she raised a brow and turned to face me as well, she was clutching at her right arm with her left, possibly apprehensive.

"My name is Zoe Nightshade, ex-lieutenant of Lady Artemis." I offered her my hand and she blinked owlishly for a few moments. "I see that you're quite different from who you were from the last time we met, and I think its best we introduce ourselves again." Comprehension drew onto her face, along with a satisfied smirk. Most the camp probably didn't know what to make of her sudden change and were probably wholeheartedly ignoring her changes, they were teenagers after all they couldn't deal with missing lunch on a good day.

"Annabeth Chase." She grasped my hand with gusto, her grip actually made me wince slightly. "Daughter of Athena and there isn't a weapon I can't put my hands on that I can't master." She gloated with a wide smirk. "I'll be looking forward to having with us on the team."

Now that particular fact made me raise my own eyebrow.

"You've already assembled a team?" I inquired and she gestured for me to follow her to the large house that housed the insufferable Dionysus. I hefted both my duffel bag and the bag that contained my bow exclusively. The long sleeves of the jacket Sally gave me made it slightly difficult, but the number of pockets both inside and outside made me willing on compromising on it.

Nothing to do with the fact it has property of Percy Jackson written in the hemline at all.

"Yeah…" She scratched her cheek similar to how he used to scratch the back of his head, she made a point of looking away from my bag. I blushed when I realized that she must have seen the 'PJ' stenciling on it. "It'll be appropriate to say that they assembled themselves though." The short-haired girl took another glance at the duffel. "Percy's mom give that to you?"

"Yes." I managed to squeak past my rapidly heating cheeks. I hoped my complexion would help hide the rising blush, but given the fact I spent the day working the counter while Sally prowled the candy lanes, crashed in the afternoons, and exercised mostly at night, I doubted that my skin would hide it as well as before. Peach conveyed red a heck of a lot better than light brown, after all.

"Always liked her." Annabeth mused with a wistful smile. "Standard kit?" She inquired shortly after.

"Nectar, Ambrosia, Full Surgical Aid Kit, emergency hydration gel." I supplied a few of the things within the bag. "A few other things too, Sally didn't really take any chances."

"Better than currency, ambrosia and nectar only." Annabeth groused, running her hand through her short hair, looking as if she remembered something unfortunate. "You'd think they'd give us something more than that after hundreds of years' worth of dead quest-takers." She was silent for a few steps before she quirked her head to the side. "Surgical kit."

"I'm well versed in emergency surgery." I grimaced at the bad memories of medical school the subject brought up, and even the worse memories of taking the odd arrow head and spike out of my fellows. "The Hunt is self-sufficient in almost every way." I tacked on habitually at the end.

"I know, I know." Annabeth drawled, putting her hands to the back of her head and taking exaggerated steps. "I've read the brochure twice before I decided I wouldn't join the girl scouts." She leveled a look at me with a single eye, and I just shrugged.

"Force of habit." I explained. "Been recruiting and selling spots for centuries, can't exactly stop on a dime, you know?"

"You've been out of the Hunt for half a year." She accused with a small smirk.

"Which is a penny compared to hundreds of years." I fired back just as quickly, returning the smirk with a quirk of my lip.

We shared a chuckle.

"I hated you." She pointed out when we reached the porch of the Big House. "But it seems normal life managed to thaw off a bit of that Ice Queen, and I'm actually enjoying being around you now."

I gave a small huff, crossing my arms.

"And it seems that you'll actually be able to put a fight now." I gestured towards her far more trim body. "Unlike the pudgy girl you used to be."

"I'll have you know I got a lot of compliments when I was pudgy!"

"Well don't you get a lot more now?" I raised a brow at her while she blushed lightly.

"Those don't count." She stated vehemently, knocking on the door to the house after she found it locked. "And besides, the guy I'd been interested in is living it up in Elysium."

"No other male could compare." I drawled and took a seat in one of the garishly painted chairs. "No other man could manage such flawless, windswept hair."

"No other boy can manage to look so good in armor two sizes too big." She quickly picked up on the joke, a wistful smile quickly forming on her face.

"No one could make it seem like talking to horses is natural."

"No other person could manage to get himself turned into a hamster in less than thirty minutes on a random island."

We both gave a sigh of wistfulness.

"I'd give anything to have him back." Annabeth admitted.

"Some here."

We were silent for a fair amount of time.

"We'll give him hell when reach Elysium though, right?"

"That's a given." I agreed with a smile.

…

Being in chains, I decided, was not fun.

There must have been quite a few policemen in the ranks of the Romans, I could barely shuffle forward with the chains on. My arms were tied my neck, and the connecting strand went to the cuffs on my ankles. They were made of the same material as the weapons they used to corner me. Shuffling was pretty much the only way movement for me now.

I was dropped forward onto my knees and the blindfold they had used to blind me was taken off.

I had to give a whistle, and the guard by me gave me a punch to the stomach in return, not that I cared in particular the guy broke his wrist and I didn't even feel the hit.

I learned very quickly that engaging the entire Roman legion in single combat was a bad idea. I didn't know what exactly these guys planned to fight, but they had tactics down pat. Less than thirty minutes after I've been playing around with my opponents, basically just using hands and legs so I didn't kill them outright, The tents around me collapsed and I suddenly faced an entire army.

Phalanxes led by a ridiculous number of spears, most being pikes that were nearly a good fourteen feet long and glistened against the sun with their golden points, managed to keep me at bay while javelins made being in the middle difficult.

Then I saw the armored elephant.

I knew when to stop fighting and that was around the time you see a freaking elephant in the distance.

I was pretty sure I could toss a small car around, but elephants could move and the one that the Roman's were advancing on me looked like it could take down a concrete wall.

So I gave up, and they captured me.

"This Senate of New Rome is now in session," Teresa declared in a toga with a purple cape-thing, the guy clothed like her and sat next to her seemed bored but his eyes honed onto me like an eagle. "We are here to listen to the claims of this foolish spy, and see to it his threat to our society ended."

And apparently brought me to the center of their government, maybe I should have been nicer to them or something? They were the ones that arrested me first anyways, can't really argue with that particular fact right?

Swear to the gods if they decide I should be executed I'm swinging out Aestus and bringing this roof down.

"This boy doesn't seem to be much of a threat to be issued an anti-titan tactic upon." The hawk-eyed man's eyes seemed to search me for any weakness. "Had you simply forgotten to restrict his access to water, Teresa? The results of his mysterious strength would assuredly be identified by his claims to be a Son Of Neptune."

She rounded onto him with a growl, gripping the arms of her marble throne hard.

"And, pray tell where were you my fellow, Praetor?" The blonde hissed at him. "Where was the Vigilant Hunter, Triest, of New Rome, when a monster went past his Legion and into his army's base?"

"I was protecting Rome and not paving the way for inept boys and girls to take upon quests that will shape the future of Rome." The man apparently named Triest shot back quickly, his eyes turning into a glare at the woman mere feet away from him. "The word fell upon my ears that your two pet champions suffered from this misguided youth's actions, maybe that's why you're so ready to end his life?"

"Peace Praetors of Rome." An elderly man rose from his seat in the massive circle, he wore the same clothes though he had a beard that made him plain awesome. "The beast has surrendered itself to us," Okay not so awesome anymore, and here I was thinking that making someone older would make him wise. "The Titans has merely sent this as a test of our fortitude. Putting it down would be the wisest course of action."

There was a chorus of assent within the Senate, and my fingers itched for Aestus as a smug smirk made its way onto the lips of the woman sitting over me.

"All in favor of executing and sending this beast back to its master, call Aye." The woman's eyes glittered with success as 'Ayes' started to come from each man one by one, I guessed that more than a few of the people were charmed by her the same way she tried to do to me. "Those who abstain?"

The hawk-eyed man seemed to look at certain people and nodded at them.

Thirteen raised their hands and they all called for abstain, including the man sitting by Teresa.

The woman's smile seemed to widen, and I would bet a hundred dollars those old folks were just about to have heart attacks.

"All who say nay?"

I was pretty freaking sure I should bust out the sword when silence filled the entire marble structure when there was suddenly a giant scuffle at the entrance.

"Nay! Nay! Nay!" A hooded figure rushed while clutching a ripped apart teddy bear. "For the sake of all the gods above you must not go through with this, Teresa!"

"I will be addressed by my Title in the Senate Augur." Teresa stated coldly. The hooded figure clicked her tongue, since I could clearly discern female voices from those of males, it wasn't hard to figure out.

"We don't have time for this!" The Augur insisted, thrusting the mutilated teddy bear for all to see and bear witness to the horror. "This Son of Neptune is heaven sent! He is an ally!" She insisted more for my favor, vehemently. "Killing him will darken the oncoming days by humongous margins!"

"The Senate has spoken." Teresa stated through her teeth, though the man next to her looked very pleased. "Your futuristic words are hollow Augur, and the threat this boy brings is present."

"Then why did he not kill you all?" The hooded lady stamped her foot down. "The reasoning behind that particular fact must be brought to light before we end his life."

"He could not kill us." Teresa stated through gritted teeth. "We had all his weapons, and even the treasures he kept hidden in his pack, undoubtedly from the Titan's themselves."

Oho, little miss perfect didn't want to talk about how I took her spear from her, eh?

"No you did not!" The Augur suddenly proclaimed, she reached for the duct tape that tied up my mouth and ripped it off.

I heard a few groans from the audience, besides my own.

"Shit, Fuck." I tried to wipe my face, but didn't succeed since my arms were tied to my back. "Couldn't you have pulled it off slowly?" I asked, "Gods…" I muttered as the stinging began to wither away as they healed away.

"Sorry." The girl stated meekly and quietly before rounding onto the parapets that surrounded the two of us. "This man has been blessed with a weapon of divine strength and fury! None of our armory can compare to it!" She pointed at my back, a little above where I had my hands tightened against Aestus. "And it is hidden to our eyes, his hands bound to the weapon that could kill us all at this moment."

"Is this true?"

"I'm out."

"Same here, don't want to deal with this."

"Order, Senators!" The bearded man who wanted me killed, roared and everyone sat themselves down pat. His eyes were filled with loathing when he met mine, and I had the feeling that he maybe just hated a lot of other things and not just me. I also felt that I could like those other things a lot more than him. "Show us your mighty tool, monster." He growled at me.

"Dinner first old man." I snarked at him and there a smattering of chuckles in the audience. "Civilized people have manners before asking people to take off their clothes." I tsked-tsked, though it would've had more effect if I would've been able to wave my fingers.

Then the girl who had been supporting me smacked me upside the head that made my vision tremble.

"Shut up, I'm trying to save your life." She hissed. "I know Lupa, she probably taught you all about our greed, but you need to trust me: if you don't show that thing you're not getting out of this place without a fight."

"Please do not connive with the suspect." Triest drawled from his post, he sat forward now, actually looking interested instead of bored. "C'mon, kid, prove my fellow wrong." I swear I heard Teresa's teeth gritting from all the way down where I was, and I was pretty sure that guy wanted me to show off just to piss her off.

I can deal with that.

I met the eyes of my 'savior'.

"You might want to back off a bit." I nodded off for her to take a few steps away and she blinked rapidly for a few moments.

"Oh! Okay." She backed off, thank the gods, I didn't want to repay her by burning her to a crisp, that would just be poor manners.

I pressed against the button that extended the baton, and I felt the gold drip onto my clothes and onto the floor. I checked the harness and I was happy to find it still intact, along with my clothes.

It must teleport to my hands when it was activated, so I didn't have to worry about it being stolen after all.

I winked at the blonde who practically looked like she wanted to scream before shoving the sword right into the solid marble.

I really expected it to just dig into the marble and showoff the fact it can cut easily into anything, I really did honestly, but I knew that it was a bad idea the moment I felt the familiar pull on my stomach.

The tip entered the marble and I had to grip it with both hands as it began to vibrate like a giant phone.

Then the entire floor seemed to crack, pristine white marble giving away to dozens of cracks coming from my sword. Just when I was worrying that I would have to explain that particular fact, the ground where my sword touched glowed… and then exploded.

Then all the cracks glowed.

At once.

All two dozen of them.

"Shit." I random person upon the precipices summed up nicely before he ducked behind his marble throne like everyone else.

I acted quickly and grabbed the girl a few steps behind me with my left hand, keeping a firm grip on the sword with my right. I managed to grab her cloak and held her against me, muffling her screeching just as everything around us exploded.

And the ground gave way and we were free-falling on a slab of roc down and down into the earth.

Just when I thought this sword couldn't get any more ridiculous.

Super-cutting edge, beam slicing, and now the ability to bury all my enemies in a pile of rubble.

I wish I could meet the person who made this and give him a big hug, I really, really did, because it's so awesome.

I waved away the dust that covered me. and the girl immediately disentangled herself from me.

She glared at me from beneath her hood, as if accusing me.

"I told you to back off." I shrugged and pulled out my sword from the biggest slab of marble in this pit.

Everyone on the parapets were now about three stories above me, and I had to yell at them to be heard.

"Does this mean I get my get out of jail free card?"

…