A/N: Alright, another day another chapter. Now to warn you, some characters will be OOC, but, as I like to mention often, this is an AU and that things always have a funny way of changing. Don't worry though, my good people, it will all be explained in the next chapter. I now bid you, adieu.
And Warning: a few F-Bombs were dropped. I apologize if this causes you any problems.
Amazon Jungle
Present time…
2012
A Marsh deer stood grazing by a set of enormous, crumbling boulders. Large Redwood trees crouched over the clearing and hid the view from hungry eyes. A breath was taken, the deer's muscles tensed slightly, and the wailing wind stopped.
He aimed and fired.
A cave was nearby, one with a wide entrance and crystal stalagmites hanging from the moist ceiling. Towering grass surrounded the mouth and purple orchids covered the outside. Perseus crouched there, holding his bow's taught string with calloused fingers.
He watched the black arrow sing through the air and plant itself on the deer's hide.
Perseus prided himself with a smirk. Using the bow, even now, felt awkward despite the years he had to practice. His hands were made to wield swords, daggers, even tridents on a good day, never bows. But as a self-proclaimed hunter: he needed them. Only the foolish would try to slay a deer with a sword, and, Perseus huffed arrogantly, he was anything but.
The deer shot off as the cool silver slid into its meaty flesh. Flecks of blood sprayed frantically behind it, marking trees like a trail. His aqua eyes flickered, black swirls of magic laced his clenched hands, and his eyesight warped until the color was removed and he could see the scents of animals in the air.
He followed the pink one dotted with red.
His movements were swift, graceful. Nimble legs hopped over shrubs and Heliconia flowers like an artic wolf would cross over heavy snow. Silent footsteps treaded over moist grass and his whole form breathed through the air smoothly. He was a predator, no doubt about it, and he hunted his prey with undying vigor.
Perseus's eyesight flickered once more and he found himself glaring at his surroundings with color. One problem with his inbuilt tracker system, it had a fucking mind of its own. A frustrated sigh escaped his light, pink lips and then an ear piercing whistle blew out of them.
A howl answered his call.
The ground rumbled beneath his feet.
A cry sounded in the distance.
Perseus made himself go faster; felt the air around him warp and cackle. Ebony locks, short but long enough to cover his stunning eyes, whipped behind him like an angry flag in hurricane force winds. His black cloak floated through the air like dripping water, dissolving in the wistful breeze, and his boots scoffed the ground quietly.
Four paws joined in the rhythm of his two.
He glanced to his left. A manned wolf, russet fur glowing underneath the sun, loped beside him. Aqua eyes met emerald green and a silent agreement passed between them. Perseus made his feet go faster; felt his muscles scream in protest. The trees smoothed by in undistinguished blurs.
The manned wolf sped ahead, disappearing in a flash as it took a sharp left turn. Thunder rumbled up above and thick, gray clouds began covering the golden sky. Perseus smelled blood—fresh blood—and he followed the scent wafting through the dense air. The ozone was beginning to thicken.
Raindrops fell onto his sweaty locks and tracked down his face like dirty tears. He was close—so close—close enough to hear the dying deer's heartbeat thump once and fade. Saliva seeped into his mouth like a waterfall, his stomach growled like a livid bear, and hunger hopped on its anxious feet—excited for another meal to fill its undying lust.
A few oak trees stood up ahead, standing tall and proud as the rain pounded on their drenched leaves. He jumped, kicked off the trunk of the left, grabbed the branches of the right, and dived through the middle's leaves as he kicked off the right tree's slippery bark.
His gloved fingers landed in some squirming mud as he peeked through the leaves and soared through the air in a downward arch. Perseus flattened his fingers and used his momentum to push off and swing his legs above his head, twisting them so as they came down his body flung up.
He landed crouched, soaked in mud, with his hair dripping from the pouring rain. His breathing was slightly heavy and he felt a little dizzy from the endless running. The black cloak lay behind him in muddy tatters, the ends completely brown, and his boots were soaked through.
Perseus slowly stood up and—slightly surprised—noticed the manned wolf in front of him, sitting calmly under some thick trees. The marsh deer lay beside it, dead as dirt, and bleeding marginally from an obvious bite mark on its hide. He scowled but glided over.
"You couldn't help yourself could you, Kiba?" He asked as he plopped down on a nearby log, ripping the cloak off and throwing it out into the rain. "This food is for all of us, remember? You can't just infect it with your…doggy germs."
Kiba barked out something akin to a chuckle and soon, realizing how pathetic it was to argue with an animal, he joined in and laughed merrily with his pet. "Whatever. We're all gonna die one day, why not go out with our stomachs filled and the uncontrollable urge to rip people's heads off?"
"Yes why not, and while you're at it, eat some cats as well. I hear their brains are just…exquisite."
Perseus glanced behind him and smiled at the girl hopping down from the branches of a nearby tree. Her auburn hair was plastered to her forehead and neck, and the silver parka she wore brushed off the rain like a bully brushed off a common, schoolyard nerd.
He beamed at her with a small smile and pretended not to notice the fond gleam that flashed in her silver eyes. "Well if it isn't Aunty Arty. What brings you to this neck of the woods my dear relative?" He asked, his smile growing when she sat down beside him.
"Oh nothing, just wandering around the amazon for the scenery I suppose." Perseus chuckled and bumped shoulders with the Goddess lounging on the log beside him. He liked it when she acted playful, or, he mused, when she acted the age she looked. Twelve.
"Your sarcasm never fails, Arty, never fails." He caught the small smile playing on her pink lips and, if possible, beamed brighter. "So what really beings you here, Artemis? Is old man Zeus assigning me another quest? Geez I hope not, my muscles are still achy from that last one." He rubbed his shoulder. "I swear that old geezer's going to be the death of me."
Artemis slowly dropped the smile she was wearing and her silver eyes darkened into a murky gray. "No Percy, this time is…different." He glanced up at the nickname. "Something happened in the mortal world an even the gods can't explain it. We thought since you're considerably older than us, you would be able to identify this…phenomenon."
Perseus stopped moving all together, the smile vanishing from his pale face. Kiba, now gnawing on the deer's bones, sensed the tension and glanced up at its master inquiringly. "Why would I be able to explain it? I haven't seen my father since we lived in the shadow dimension. All I learned was either forgotten or lost in the millions of years I've been alive. Whatever Zeus needs, I can't provide. Go home Arty, I can't help you."
Artemis gazed upon him with desperate eyes, shocking him from saying anything else. "Please Percy," She implored. "You're the only one who knows anything about the Primordial deity's age. We need you."
Perseus's head whipped up faster than nearby lightning struck the ground. "Primordial deity's age? What has that got to do with anything?" His hair thrashed in the raging wind and he had to yell over the condemning thunder.
Artemis frowned. "Just…come look for yourself, Perce." She grabbed his gloved hand with her light, coppery one and, before he could protest, flashed off in a blinding array of silvery light. Thunder crashed overhead.
OOooOO
They landed hard on Olympus's throne room steps. Perseus was kneeling in a crouched position, still wobbly from the sudden altitude change, and Artemis was standing, eyeing the grand throne room nervously.
He glanced up. Massive columns, pure white in color, rose to a domed ceiling which was gilded with moving constellations. Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Creed, were arranged in an inverted U around the stunning room. An enormous fire cackled in a hearth pit positioned in the middle and he suddenly felt very small with the eyes of the twelve Olympians trained on him.
Perseus stood up, brushed off the feeling of uneasiness, and walked forward with his infamous smirk planted firmly on his mischievous face. "So…" He drawled out the word. "What's the problem, pops?"
Ozone thickened the air. "Shut Up, Brat!" Zeus hollered, though a smidge of affection could be heard in the undertone. The king's pepper speckled hair stood up from the static circling the room and his fingers sparked every few seconds. Perseus smiled as he walked over to the king.
"Whatever old man, you know you love me." He climbed up Zeus's throne and sat on one of the armrests. "Now before I get bored, what's the problem?"
Silence echoed back.
"Uh…am I missing something?"
"Perseus," Aqua eyes glanced over at Athena. Her blonde hair was braided down her straight back and gray eyes glinted coolly. "Just…watch."
"What?"
"Iris, show us the scene. Show us the murder on Queen's street."
Fog started swirling around the room until it connected in the center and thickened. Endless colors flickered, glowed, and warped until a blurry picture formed. It became clearer, clearer, and clearer until it resembled the screen of an HD TV.
The sun was shining through small kitchen windows. An old fashioned oven was sitting calmly underneath one and a monstrous refrigerator hovered in the corner. The countless counters held batter and stray chocolate chips, and on the island located in the center of the room, bowls of cookies cooled.
"So you're showing me how to bake cookies?"
"Shut up, Brat!"
A woman walked in. Her long, brown hair was curled up into a loose bun and her eyes the color of warm, rich honey glinted in the afternoon light. She smiled, hummed a familiar tune under her breath, and moved towards the oven to remove the next batch of cookies.
"My boys will be so excited."
"Midnight sonata," Perseus mused from his seat on Zeus's armrests. "A famous song written by Beethoven. Almost sounds like a funeral march or—in the very least, pretty depressing. Wouldn't you say, pops?"
"What has this got to do with anything?"
"Well you wanted me to be a detective. I need to pay attention to the details. That's what being a detective is all about—Hey you old geezer, why'd you hit me!"
"Shut up, Brat." Zeus sighed.
The happy lady kneeled down to open the oven, her humming increasing in volume as classical music radiated out of the other room. "I can't wait to see them."
The knife in the sink shook.
"Whoa…did that thing just shake?" Perseus looked around to see the gods nodding their heads. "Man, that's screwy."
The lady pulled the tray of cookies from the oven but, as she lifted the heavy, not to mention hot metal, the edge hit the counter and the cookies littered the tiled floor. She gasped and kneeled down quickly, holding the broken treats in her slightly wrinkled hands.
She didn't notice the knife rise into the warm air.
"Turn around lady! Look behind you, you old hag! Turn around!"
The knife glinted in the sunlight, almost giving a smirk before it plunged in the lady's back. Screams echoed through the small apartment, the knife twisted round. Crimson blood splattered the counters, the tiles by the oven, and the freshly baked cookies broken on the floor. Her dying body lay next to them.
"What…the…hell?"
He faintly heard Aphrodite gasp, but his attention was now focused solely on the disgusting scene before him. This seemed so familiar.
The knife floated down, again and again plunging itself into her stomach, thighs, heart, hips, every single inch of her dying body. It didn't stop until her skin lay in tatters.
Blood covered the entire floor.
The scene ended.
"That was Mrs. Connie Stoll, the mother of two children attending Camp Half-Blood. They came home and found her there two days after she died. Reports stated rats began eating her body"
"Grody."
Zeus sighed at the slang. "Tell me about it." He paused and gave Perseus a hard stare. "That's what we called you here for."
"To watch a lady get murdered?"
Zeus's face turned red. "No you Idiot! To identify the foe, the villain, the big shebang that caused this mess!"
"Oh." Perseus frowned and jumped down from the king's throne. "Well like I said to Artemis, I can't help you. I haven't lived in the Primordial deity's age in a long time. Any information useful to you was forgotten when it was no longer useful to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."
He got to the white marble steps before a stern voice stopped him.
"You're lying, Perseus."
He turned around to face Athena and flashed the best innocent look he could muster. "Huh?"
"You know what caused this—or at least have an idea. If it could protect our children we need you to tell us. We forbid you to leave if you don't."
His aqua eyes flashed a deep, endless black. Power radiated from his clenched fists and the room darkened profusely. "Yeah? And who's gonna stop me?" He threatened.
"Please Perce," His dark eyes flitted over to Artemis. "If you know something, anything, you need to tell us. I know you hate mortals after what they did, but please," She whimpered. "We need to know."
Perseus sighed, but the power faded and his soft, aqua blue eyes returned. "No, you don't." He saw Artemis's triumphant smile fade and smirked softly. "Whoever did this is powerful, way more powerful than any of you guys. I have a hunch at who it is and I'm praying to the gods right now that I'm wrong. You should just leave it be and forget this ever happened."
"We can't Perseus!" Athena Argued, he gray eyes flashing angrily. "Our children's lives are in danger. We can't compromise their safety because we're scared. We should get down there and protect them!"
Choruses of 'yeahs' echoed around the room. He sighed. "Whatever. Kill yourselves, it doesn't matter to me." He began walking down the steps.
"Wait, Perseus!" Zeus called. He stopped but didn't turn around. "We need your help."
"Yeah?"
"We need someone to travel to camp and protect them there. Someone who's powerful, fearless, and knowledgeable about this unknown foe. We need you, Perseus; we completely and utterly need you."
The gods watched him anxiously.
"Reduced to begging, Zeus?" Perseus sighed and his statement left the throne room silent. His aqua eyes glared hard into Zeus's. "Whatever," He said as he began walking towards the entrance. "I'll be at your fucking camp around 22 hundred. Let them know."
And he left.
"Athena?" Zeus asked, strangely feeling guilty. He watched Perseus until he was gone.
"Yes?"
"Contact Chiron. Tell him to make a room and for the campers to be on their best behavior tomorrow. I don't want any demigods dead due to an angry immortal child."
"Yes, Lord Zeus."
OOooOO
Perseus sighed as he sharpened a knife he got from his father. The hilt of the dagger was a bronze dragon with a tail that curved under to make the grip. Sharp teeth blew copper flame from its hard mouth and the fire reached out and twisted down to make the double-edged blade.
He rubbed a calloused finger down the edge and smiled fondly as the silver returned his reflection. It gleamed under the gentle moon. Perseus shifted on the fallen log he chose to rest at and glanced up at the sky with bored eyes. What he saw made him frown.
"Oi, Kiba, I think it's time to go."
Kiba, the manned wolf, was lounging beside the log, lazily chewing on the deer's carcass it caught earlier. It looked up at its master and nodded its fluffy head. It stood up, yawned, then walked over to brush against Perseus's leg in comfort. He smiled.
"Yeah, it's going to be one hell of a vacation." He sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time and ran fingers through russet fur. "Let's go get the others."
Yep he thought one hell of a vacation indeed.
OOooOO
Next chapter: Percy's past will be explained, his powers, and Blaise (the mystery pet). The mystery will begin to deepen and Camp Half-Blood will be introduced.
Stay tuned for the next installment of "I Am Legend" coming out soon.
Manned Wolf: A wolf commonly found in South America, fur similar to a fox's.
Marsh Deer: A deer found in the Amazon or South America. Same place basically
Heliconia: Flowers found in the amazon.
I don't own PJO, just this awesome plot that borders on EXTREMELY EPIC…to me anyway.