Disclaimer: If you can see perfectly in night, there is a chance that you are a mutant...or a demigod from the Percy Jackson universe. Still don't own it. Damn.

Percy looked around the Campsite with a sigh. He had a decision to take. Could he do what was necessary? Several scenes flashed through his mind as he remembered the past two days.

After he and Artemis had returned from their chat, Percy wasn't subjected the questioning and gruelling he thought he was sure to receive. Instead, Artemis had called all her Hunters inside her tent and told him to watch the perimeters. He, of course was a better guard than anyone else.

The next day, Percy realised that there was a thick tension in the Camp. Worse, it seemed to grow. Some of the Hunters, especially the young girls he had rescued and many other recent ones didn't seem to mind him and even paid him a grudging respect. When Percy shared his observation with Thalia, she was amused and replied that Artemis never kept any details hidden from her hunters. They knew what had happened, and respected him for his timely intervention. Also, they had seen him in action during the Titan War and respected him as a warrior and leader, and someone who did his best to achieve the good in everything. They also knew that he had earned the respect of their former lieutenant and mistress and that was good enough for them.

"Besides", Thalia had smirked, "They are afraid that I will shock them up if they try anything funny." Percy was never more grateful.

But on the other hand, the eldest and the core group didn't seem to change their views on Percy. They were led by Phoebe, the daughter of Ares, who seemed to have a natural aversion to him. They never did anything directly to him, but they paid him such excessive deference as to make him feel that he wasn't one of them. Snide comments came up to him, but he tried to keep his calm. But one of Phoebe's comments had really gotten under his skin.

Percy was resting a little after his morning archery session while he heard the whisper "Look at that male, girls. Do you know that Orion used to look just smug like that after showing off his skills? Blood will tell, after all."

Percy didn't know why he was bothered by that comment, but at that moment he knew that he was nothing like his half-brother. He wasn't one to try and outdo them or make them feel inferior. He treated them all as his sisters, and he felt hurt that they could think so lowly of him. That was replaced by anger. He had marched up to Phoebe and asked her why did she hate him so much.

"You want to know why? You are the cause of our problems. You got Zoe killed. You were never supposed to come here and save our mistress. That's our duty. You think you are so good, because you are stronger than us? Because of you, we don't laugh or sing with our sisters anymore. You know, before you came, we were a team!" she had screamed the last part.

Percy had felt limp during that discussion. He had received closure about Zoe's death, but the wound would take time to heal. And he couldn't deny Phoebe's accusation; because of him, he could see they were splitting apart. He couldn't remember Thalia speaking friendly with Phoebe during this time and Christy openly glared at her. He had, however realised the greatest fear that probably the oldest Hunters had; they feared that because of him, they wouldn't be needed anymore.

Yet, his time with the Hunt was probably more enjoyable than his self-exile. He had found friends within the wolves and had kept his promise to that cub who he named "Snack", because he was the most voracious eater he had ever seen. He had felt nice to wake up early and not be considered weird. He didn't have to hide his natural instincts anymore from them. Even Nico had come to visit him one day (granted, it was 3 km away from the Camp radius) and he had never felt more alive. And...there was something else there which kept him tied to the spot. The moon goddess confused him and made him feel weak. But she was also the only one with which Percy felt normal. He couldn't decipher his feelings about her, but he knew that he cherished every moment he spent with her. But was his feelings and his quest worth it? Could he bear to see a happy family torn away because of him? He knew the pangs of not having a family; he had felt devastated when he saw his mother's "death" at the Minotaur's hands. No, he wouldn't do such a thing. He wouldn't tear apart a family.

"Hello, hello, I would like to have some attention here." Percy spoke up, inwardly cringing at how lame that sounded. The Hunt's eyes swivelled around to him. He said, "I would like to tell all of you a short story, just to spend some time."

"Once, there was a great king in an impregnable island city. Two warriors had come with an army to conquer him, but they never succeeded. However, the king had a younger brother who was considered a misfit because he didn't share the views of his elder brother. He stirred up a revolution in the kingdom and opened up the doors of the palace to the foreign power. They had no ore problem subduing the city. Till they were united, they were strong, but divided the brother's proved nothing and the warriors had an easy win." Percy's voice had become clouded with emotion during the final part. "So please, I beg of you, make an accord. You might not feel like it, but I had thought I could belong to here. I cannot see my sisters unhappy just because of me. So, I am going away; and I hope you all can stay happy and protect each other till the last breath. Please see that none of you end up separated due to me." Percy melted away into the darkness, while the fire threw slithering shadows on the Hunters. Thalia had tears in her eyes, while she whispered, "Kelp head; why do you always do what is right and what isn't easy?"

/-_-ooOOooOOooOOoo-_-/

Percy knocked on the door and leapt into the arms of the woman who answered the door. Sally Blofis was concerned; he had never seen his son in that state before, so desperate need of a mother's comfort. After a while, Percy settled down, and drank some water, while his mother silently handed him two cookies (blue, obviously). She then asked in a calm voice, "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

So Percy spoke. He told Sally about his stay, what had transpired during that time, and what caused him to quit. She listened quietly, and then said, softly, "You care about them, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I feel it is somehow my duty to make them all happy. I also feel happy there, Mom, but how could I be the cause of such a friction? Am I really cursed to be hated?"

"Don't be."

"Huh?"

"I said that if you truly care about them, you will not be the cause for their resentment. You will make them like you. If you are truly my son, you will not call it quits. They might not care about you just now, but you will have to endure. How can you hope that out of the blue they will accept you? Just have some patience, and try your best. I know that there is not a single soul in this world who has truly seen you and yet hates you (Here, Percy's cough suspiciously sounded like ''Ares''). I didn't raise you like that. So, you will give up your pride, you will return there and state your feelings towards them and beg for a fresh start. Tell them to give you another chance, and that you'll make it up to them. Or else...I will ground you for a whole year and make you do geometric progression." Sally finished firmly, with a light smile.

Percy could have said many things at that point of time, but he was just content to hug his mom once more. They talked for a bit about other unimportant things, until suddenly the room seemed to darken before Percy's eyes, and he saw a scene.

The Hunters were on a battleground, and a horde of monsters were proceeding before them. Lightning blazed downwards from sky and reduced a few of them to ashes, but the numbers were not dwindling; because every time one of the monsters were hurt by an arrow, more of them sprang up from each drop of their blood that touched the ground...

Percy was jerked back into reality as he saw Sally's concerned face. Percy only blurted out "Danger!" before giving blasting out of the House and giving a sharp whistle. The neigh of a Pegasi answered him, and she could hear the flapping of the majestic beast's wings. She smiled as she saw his son disappear in the night sky, like a fairytale hero.

"Hmmm..." she mused, "Maybe I should include such a scene in my next novel?"

/-_-ooOOooOOooOOoo-_-/

The Hunt's remaining ride hadn't been too peaceful. There were glaring looks all around, but nobody accused anyone of anything. In a curious way, the words of Percy had brought them peace again. Nobody in the Hunt could deny anymore that he was different.

Artemis wasn't present during Percy's departure. When she was informed of what had happened, she was quiet for some time before ordering them to move along. She was, however hurt by his decision. Why did he leave her? She realised that Percy Jackson meant more t her than she had thought. She could have chastised her Hunters for their behaviour, but she respected Percy's decision and decided to speak to him personally later.

She wasn't going to lose her friend.

They were now in a place which was called "The Rook" by many of the trackers due to its curious landform. It was one of the most monster infested areas around, but nobody really knew why. The Hunt had no time to philosophise about such matters, though, as they were immediately assaulted by a monster force. They had not detected them; again.

Draceane, laistrygonians and empousai hordes greeted them. They were good, but the Hunters were much better. They fell to their weapons without much of a resistance. Artemis even began to wander that if the new strength they had detected was just an anomaly, before the tide of the battle changed.

"It isn't dying." Came a shout from one of the team, as they found her engaging two brutes. She swiftly ducked one of the large claws and slashed open a wound on one of their shoulders. To their amazement, the blood that fell from his body swiftly gave birth to two new brutes...and more again. Soon, the battlefield was filled with these monsters while others had fled.

A burst of silver energy from Artemis cleared through some of their ranks, but there were too many of them by then. Thalia's eyes were electric blue as lightning blazed downwards from sky and reduced a few of them to ashes, but the numbers were not dwindling . The Hunt was trying to use their weapons for blunt combat, but weren't very successful by going against their natural style. As they struggled, the army size increased.

Suddenly, the neigh of a Pegasi caused them to look upwards as Percy jumped downwards into the middle of the battle. The earth almost tumbled at the force with which he landed. He had a determined look on his face as he snapped one of the monster's skull with his hands and rammed his head into another's stomach. He was like an unstoppable whirlwind as he pushed the army backwards. His method was effective and brutal. As he cleared the perimeter, his bow reappeared in his hands and he summoned the Twashtarastra into his hands. As it flew towards the monsters, a blue haze seemed to follow it. Suddenly, the monsters were confused and were looking stupider than ever before. They suddenly turned on themselves and started to hit each other. The Hunters were shocked at this unexpected turn of events, but they weren't going to waste this superb chance. There were other ways of killing a monster without shedding any blood. They used one method that was usually meant to make the prisoners talk; they simply threw a silken cord over their necks and started snapping them.

Percy was meanwhile hunched low on the ground; his eyes were closed, radiating serenity. He was impassive during the first few moments, but soon his whole body started to shake as he was assaulted by a myriad of feelings. Even a dip in Styx seemed pleasant now compared to what he was feeling. The Twashtarastra was meant to create illusions, where the enemy confuses each other for you and create same-side. But, it was necessary to be at your top focus to maintain the illusion. You needed to feel what they were thinking, so that the illusion remains strong in their minds. Basically, it linked you with your enemy. Percy was assaulted by wave after wave of savage thoughts. He felt like ripping out the Hunters heads and munching on their bones. Shouldn't he hurt them who had hurt him? He felt like he had all the power in his hands; he felt an urge to decimate the hunters. With a terrible effort of mind, he was keeping those instincts down. After that, he felt pain. The assaults on the monsters reached his mind. He was writhing in agony. It would be so easy now to give up the control and break the connection... But he persevered. A voice, gentle as the forest breeze and strict as the gale, told him not to give up. The cries and pains dulled out in his mind as he focussed on that soothing sensation. Suddenly, it was all over. Percy fell face downwards, groaning from exhaustion.

Before anyone could exactly determine what had happened, Artemis was beside him. She kneeled down, concerned for him, and whispered in a soft voice, "Percy, are you okay?" She couldn't think what would she do if he was critically injured...no, it couldn't be. Suddenly, Percy coughed and sat up straight. Seeing that he wasn't dying, Artemis regained her composure and stood straight, while colouring a bit.

"Yes...apart from feeling like that I was under a road roller for a year, I am alright."

He would have been punched again other than the fact he was already in great pain. "What the hell was that?"

"Raktbeej. Blessed by the gods for his spirit, he is almost invulnerable in battle as one of his own kind springs forth as soon as his blood touches the earth. Kinda like our dear Anteaus, only far better insurance. I saw that you could never win unless they were distracted. So I used the Twashtarastra which made them fight each other thinking they were you..." Percy trailed off.

Artemis glared, "That doesn't explain why you are injured."

Percy replied softly, "I felt everything they felt while the illusions were in place." He would have continued, but he heard a soft gasp from beside him. As he looked up, he saw the entire Hunt was there. Evidently, they had also heard about his deed.

It was an extremely tense moment. Percy opened his mouth to take his mother's advice and ask for a second coming, but he was shocked into silence by the word that came out of Phoebe's mouth.

"Thanks."

A/N: So there it is, another chapter. Now I have seen a lot of stories where Percy leaves the Hunt for a time due to a prank going too far, so I tried to take a different road on it. Please tell me what you think of that. Sorry for the delay, couldn't get the final part to come out right. Still don't terribly like it, but oh well, let it roll. As always, opinions on how to improve my writing will always be appreciated. Keep the reviews coming. They make me happy, and happier me means better work.