I don't own Percy Jackson, obviously, or else I wouldn't be writing fanfiction instead of the real thing. This disclaimer is a complete waste of my time.


Chapter Six: The Barren Sky

The trio had been dropped off at Greyhound Station in the Upper East side of Manhattan. Argus had gotten them their tickets and driven off, leaving the two demigods and satyr to wait for the bus that would take them to Erie, Pennsylvania. They would've tried catching a plane, but there was no way they could with the weather the way it was.

Percy recognized the bus station because he used to pass through there every day on his way to school. It was as crowded and unsanitary as it he remembered, the complete opposite to Camp Half-Blood's grassy landscape and low population. It was nostalgic in a way, even if he had only been away for two weeks.

The young demigod wondered how the orphanage was taking his sudden 'death'. Chiron had told him that the whole incident with the Minotaur had been interpreted as a psycho shooting up his school, and he'd been the only 'victim' before said psycho disappeared. When the activities director offered to manipulate the mist and change what the mortals saw, Percy had refused, saying that he'd rather start over in camp. Needless to say, he was pretty glad he'd never have to see anyone from his old life again.

Now that he thought about it, there was a chance that someone he used to know might've been nearby. Percy looked around the station as discreetly as possible, not wanting to cause some sort of incident because of his 'resurrection'.

Grover must've noticed something off, because he turned to face him with a curious expression. "You alright Percy?" the satyr asked.

"Hm? Oh yeah, just making sure no one'll recognize me," Percy responded, hands in his pockets.

"Why?" Annabeth asked him. "You live around here?"

"I used to," Percy corrected her. "In an orphanage around he corner. Apparently I'm dead, so it wouldn't be good if someone thought I rose from the grave."

"So... you lived in an orphanage then?" the blonde asked, sounding uncomfortable.

Percy noticed this, and made a dismissing gesture with his hand. He had gotten used to the implications that came with being an orphan and was more irritated than grateful when someone felt pity for his background. "Yeah, as long as I can remember. It wasn't that bad, but having to share a house with so many people can get annoying every once in a while."

"Speaking of which, how's the Hermes cabin?"

"Don't remind me."

Grover sat down on a bench, stretching out his legs. "It's too bad you can't see anyone you knew ever again though, unless you want to cause a panic," the goat boy said.

Percy only snorted, and decided to change the subject before his two companions asked any more questions. "So what about you, Rapunzel? How's your home life?"

Annabeth bristled at his nick name, and sat down on the bench next to Grover, who looked ready to run away at a moment's notice. "Why should I tell you anything?" she asked him.

Percy grinned and sat down next to her. "Because, you brought up the topic of me not having any parents, so you owe me."

Annabeth glared at him, and sighed frustratedly. "I've lived at camp since I was seven," she told him with a grimace.

"Why? Are your parents dead too?"

Grover squeaked, and Annabeth looked appalled at his bluntness. "You can't just go around asking things like that, Percy!" she told him sternly.

The psychokinetic shrugged. "What? If they are then so are mine, and if they aren't then it isn't a big deal. Tiptoeing around stuff like that is a waste of energy."

The daughter of Athena palmed her face. "Why did I agree to bring you along? I knew how obnoxious you were. I've had to deal with it for the past two weeks, and I still let you come on my quest!"

Percy leaned back on his seat, legs crossed and arms behind his head. "Probably because even you couldn't ignore how amazing I am." That only made her roll her eyes, so he tried something else. "Maybe it's because Luke told you to take me with you. Have you ever said no to that guy?"

Grover paled. Why had Luke tasked him with keeping those two from tearing each other apart? It had only been a few hours and Percy had already assured his death!

Annabeth started blushing madly. "H-Hey! It wasn't because of that!"

Percy smirked. "Then it must've been because I'm just that awesome," he teased, "I get it Belle, you-"

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Grover spraying him with water. Percy spluttered, sitting up in surprise, and glared at the satyr.

"What the hell!? Where did you even get that?" he asked, pointing at the water sprayer on the satyr's hand.

Grover gave him a nervous smile. "Ah, sorry about that. Katie told me to spray you whenever your ego got too big."

Percy pouted. "Aw man, she really doesn't trust me when it comes to that does she?"

Annabeth crossed her arms and graced him with a satisfied smile. "She was obviously smart enough not to."

Percy was about to retort, but the crowd around them started hastily walking in the same direction. The three companions looked over and saw that their bus had finally arrived. They stood up and made their way inside, finding three seats together at the back, Grover making sure to take his place in between the two hotheaded demigods.

Sitting down, Percy realized something strange. "Hey, hasn't there been some kind of resurgence of monsters? I haven't seen any since we got here, and we've been outside Camp Half-Blood long enough for some to find us."

Grover sniffed around. "Yeah, I haven't smelled anything either. Maybe they've already been wiped out in this area?"

Annabeth shifted in her seat, tightening the hold on her Yankees cap. Percy noticed that she never seemed to put it on, or at least stuff it in her bag. It was always on hand, like she was afraid to put it away. 'I didn't think she liked sports that much,' he though.

"Whatever it is, it won't matter anymore," the blonde said. "We're leaving Manhattan, and monsters won't follow us on this bus. We'll worry about it if it happens in Erie too."

Percy nodded, and yawned loudly. "Maybe we should get some sleep," he requested. "We've been awake all day just waiting for this thing."

Getting nods all around, the three quest-takers made themselves as comfortable as they could. Percy was about to close his eyes and visit dreamland, but a sudden quake made him jerk back up. He looked around, and sighed in relief when he realized that it was just the bus taking off from the station, the last passenger finally having gotten on.

Percy looked at him with interest, as he was definitely male. He was wearing a hoodie that covered his face in shadow, which was not only strange for that time of year, but also extremely ominous. There was a relatively large dog following the strange man, and it was staring right at him. The weirdest part was that no one in the bus seemed to acknowledge the man's presence, as if he wasn't even there. Just as Percy was about to warn his companions, the man patted the dog on the head and took a seat at the front.

Looking to his right, the young demigod noticed that his two friends were already asleep. He glanced over to the strange man, noting that be wasn't really paying attention to him or anyone else. Yawning again, Percy decided that his tiredness must've been getting to him, and repositioned himself to sleep through the long journey ahead.


Percy found himself in a forest, one he'd never seen before. Glancing up, he noticed that it was early in the morning. 'Huh?' he thought, 'Did Zeus forget about his tantrum today? Wait a minute...' Percy pinched himself, and groaned when he didn't feel any pain. 'Great, another one of these stupid dreams.'

The young demigod suddenly heard a rustling to his left, and prepared himself in case he needed to fight. Unexpectedly, instead of a monster of some kind, out walked the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. She had auburn hair, and was wearing an outfit that seemed to be made entirely out of silver. The girl also had a bow in her hand, and was crouched in a hunting position, looking around with her silver eyes. She seemed to be around his age, something that surprised him, because he didn't think a twelve-year-old girl could make hunting look so... professional.

'Wait a minute...' Percy thought. 'Silver everywhere, hunting with a bow... Oh crap, Artemis! I had so much to live for!'

The psychokinetic was about to run away when Artemis looked directly at him. He froze in place, a bead of sweat making its way down his face. It seemed like she couldn't see him, but could definitely feel his presence, and Percy didn't want to see what happened when she realized he was there, dream or not.

Luckily, there was another rustle in the bushes, and out walked a man wearing furs of all types, with a hunting bow strapped on his back. Percy gaped, not because of how warm the man must be under all those pelts, but because he looked almost exactly like him. The man had black hair that reached his shoulders, green eyes, and Percy could tell that they had similar facial structures because the man was relatively clean shaven.

Artemis stopped looking around suspiciously and turned, arrow pointed right at the man, who raised his arms in a gesture of surrender. He didn't seem to be worried though, if anything he seemed to be excited.

"Artemis, thank the gods I finally found you," the man said, lowering his arms. Astonishingly, the goddess also lowered her bow, something that went against everything Percy had ever heard about her.

As nervous as the man seemed to be though, Artemis looked like she was having a panic attack. "You... you know you can't be seen with me, not at this time," she whispered, sounding like someone was actually listening in on their conversation, which Percy figured he was.

"I know, I know," the man said, almost sheepishly, "but... look, I would really like to talk with you."

With a sigh, the hunting goddess transformed, going from a little girl to an incredibly attractive woman that would make any model jealous. "Now is not the time, Orion. My girls aren't too far away, and the day is not safe for such things."

With a start, Percy realized three things. One, he was apparently in the past, two, this guy was totally putting the moves on Artemis, and three, both the goddess and the legendary hunter were speaking in Ancient Greek. 'I guess those lessons with Annabeth weren't so useless after all,' he thought. 'I'll have to thank her later.'

"I couldn't wait," Orion told Artemis, bringing Percy back to attention. "I just... I know how you are, and what you've promised, but I need to tell you..."

"Oh Orion, no..." the moon goddess said sadly. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You know it cannot be. Don't do this."

"I can't help it," said the famous hunter, and before she could react, kissed her. Percy felt incredibly awkward and a little guilty at what he was seeing, but it only took a second for the goddess to push herself off Orion and back away, a downcast look in her face.

"I am sorry," she said, holding her hands against her chest, "I am so sorry."

Orion didn't seem much happier. "I know," he simply said to her, and with an air of finality, the man turned around and prepared to walk away. Suddenly though, a bright light filled the area, and all three present gasped upon seeing a shining man wearing golden robes. He had blonde hair, and looked like he could've been handsome if it wasn't for the unnatural hate filled gaze he set on the legendary archer.

"Brother?" Artemis asked, her sweat evaporated from the pure heat Apollo was giving off.

The sun god merely glanced back at his sibling. "It's hard to make out some things from such a height, but I was looking for you." The shining god then glared at Orion. "You," he growled, "how dare you?"

Orion was surprised. "What do you mean? I did no wrong!"

"Do not lie to me mortal," Apollo threatened, "I've been told of your unspeakable acts against my sister's charges."

Artemis appeared confused at first, then angry. "Unspeakable acts? You mean..."

"Yes," Apollo said, "one of your hunters prayed to me. She told me of a man who desecrated her, and then attempted to seduce her mistress."

Artemis exploded with rage. "You! How dare you!?"

Orion paled, and an honestly aghast expression crossed his face. "Wha-What? I did no such thing!"

"Was that your whole plan? Were you going to betray my trust since the very beginning?"

"I would never-"

"Take him away!" Artemis screamed. "Take him to suffer! I do not want to see his face ever again in my immortal life!"

Apollo nodded. "Worry not, for I will place him somewhere where he can never forget his actions." With that said, the sun god erupted into light once more, and when Percy looked back, both he and Orion were gone. Artemis reverted back into her previous form, sat down on a fallen log, and buried her face in her hands.

It took a few moments for the psychokinetic to realize that she was crying. He never thought that gods could cry about anything, especially the goddess of the hunt, and especially about a man. He thought about going there and comforting her in some way, but quickly dismissed the idea as he was in a dream, not to mention the cause of her sadness.

All of a sudden, a girl came out of the forest. She wore similar clothes to the ones Artemis wore, making him guess that she was one of the Hunters.

"My lady," said the girl, sitting down next to her mistress and placing a hand on her back. "What has happened?"

"Phoebe," Artemis said, trying to wipe away her tears. "Do not worry for me, I just... It is nothing. Let us gather the others. The time has come for us to leave this place."

With nothing more to say, the goddess trudged back into the forest, sorrow etched on her every step. Both Percy and Phoebe stared after her, and the young demigod noticed the huntress try to suppress her own tears. "I am sorry, my lady," she whispered, and Percy's eyes widened, "it was for your own good."

The world distorted, and everything went white.


Percy woke up to the rattling of the bus. Looking outside the window, he noticed that they were out of the city, driving on a street flanked by trees. Even more importantly, it was nighttime. The young demigod looked up at the sky, where the glow of the moon was strangely visible past the many storm clouds, and wondered why he had such an insignificant dream. 'Demigod dreams are supposed to mean something,' he though, 'but that one didn't have anything to do with this quest, so what's going on?'

"Oh, hey Percy. Couldn't sleep either?"

Percy turned to face the source of the voice, and met Grover's questioning gaze. Looking past the satyr, the demigod noticed that Annabeth was still peacefully, if not uncomfortably, asleep.

"Yeah, just some weird dreams," Percy responded.

Grover sat up in interest. "A dream? What was it about?"

Percy just shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno," he whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up, and when Grover gave him a slightly anxious look, he continued, "don't worry though, it wasn't about the quest or anything, just a dream."

The nervous satyr calmed down at his words. "Good," he said, "it's going to be hard enough without something dangerous showing up in your sleep."

Percy eyed him strangely. "Grover, I don't get it. Why'd you come with us on this quest? It... doesn't seem like your kind of thing," he finished lamely, hoping the satyr wouldn't take offense.

Luckily for Percy, Grover nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know, but I have to be on this quest."

"Why? Someone's forcing you?"

"No, nothing like that," Grover assured him, "it's more like... I need to prove myself to the Council of Cloven Elders if I want my searcher's license." Seeing that Percy hadn't understood any of the terms he used, Grover elaborated. "I want a searcher's license so that I can go look for Pan, the God of the Wild."

Percy still looked confused. "Wait, so he's missing? I thought he was dead."

Grover gave a solemn shake of his head. "Around two-thousand years ago some guy called Lysas started saying that, but us satyrs didn't believe him. We've been looking for Pan ever since."

"Why wouldn't he be dead? Two-thousand years seems like a long time, and I'm pretty sure he's not just watching TV in some cave."

Grover glared at him, and Percy was surprised that the shy satyr could show so much resolve. "No, he has to be out there somewhere. Nature's dying Percy, I'd show you if the sky wasn't covered with clouds, but I'm sure you've noticed before," He looked down at his feet. "You're lucky to find more than a hundred stars these days. Everywhere you go, the night sky is just... empty. And the air is so dirty. I almost barfed when we left camp borders! No offense, but you humans are ruining the planet." Percy gave the satyr an apologetic shrug. "If we can find Pan, wherever he is, he can fix all of it."

The young demigod nodded hastily. "Okay, I get it," he muttered. "You need a searcher's license to go and find him, so why won't they give you one?"

All the fire left Grover's eyes, and he hanged his head dejectedly. "I'm a failure. Just two weeks ago I was supposed to bring a demigod to camp from some place called Yancy Academy. I stayed there for a whole year, and I totally blew it."

"What happened?"

"A monster showed up out of nowhere. I can't really fight very much with my reed pipes, so we were pretty defenseless. It started attacking us, and the guy held it off so that I could get away."

"I get the idea," Percy said solemnly. "Was he your friend?"

Grover shook his head. "Not really. I mean, he was nice and all, but we weren't very close. It doesn't matter anyway." The satyr slumped over on his seat, holding his head with both hands. "Gods, I'm so useless! I hate it! That's the second time someone dies for me!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Woah, wait, the second time? What was the first?"

He couldn't see his face, but Percy was sure that his question made Grover feel even worse. "You know the story about Thalia's tree?" the satyr asked.

Percy nodded, seeing where his companion was going. "I guess you were the satyr then."

Beckendorf had told him the entire tale of how a daughter of Zeus named Thalia and her two demigod friends were led to camp by a satyr. They were being chased by monsters, and Thalia had sacrificed herself to make sure her friends made it to safety. The King of Gods took pity on his daughter, and as she died, turned her into a pine tree at the borders of Camp Half-Blood.

The son of Hephaestus had refused to tell him who the other three in the story were, and when he had asked Luke about it his teacher sparred with a ferocity he hadn't seen since.

"So," Percy started, deciding to take his chance, "who were the other two? They're still alive, right?"

Grover nodded listlessly, and pointed a finger at Annabeth. "You already know them. Her and Luke."

Percy's eyes widened, but seeing the satyr so depressed, he decided to try and cheer him up instead of asking more questions. "Really? Well, they don't look like they're mad at you, so maybe it's not really your fault."

Grover shook his head. "You don't get it. We were being chased by an army of monsters, but somehow stayed ahead of them. I made a wrong turn though, and led everyone into a Cyclops hideout. We eventually got out, but all the monsters chasing us had enough time to catch up. We were making such good time too..." he let out a silent sob, mindful of all the sleeping people on the bus. "Maybe Luke and Annabeth don't blame me, but if I hadn't messed up then Thalia would still be alive. If I actually knew how to fight, then Andrew would still be alive too. I'm so..."

Percy quickly grew tired of Grover's self-pity, and slapped the satyr in the face, soft enough to not wake anyone up, but hard enough to make a point. "Dude," he whispered, "you can't blame yourself for everything bad that's ever happened. It's not even your fault anyway."

"What!?" Grover shouted, and immediately covered his mouth. Both of them looked around, sighing in relief when no one was roused by his outburst. When they made sure everyone else was asleep, the satyr turned back to Percy. "What do you mean it's not my fault? I just told you what happened, so how can you possibly think it's not my fault?"

Percy held his hands out in a placating gesture. "Look man, just hear me out alright? Why were you sent out to guide Thalia and the others in the first place?"

Grover blinked at the question, and took a pensive position. "Well... The council sent me out to prove myself. It was the first assignment I ever had."

"See?" Percy asked him rhetorically. "It's not your fault after all. Why would the council send out someone with no experience to take care of three demigods at the same time, including the daughter of the boss of all bosses?"

"Well..."

"And," Percy interrupted before Grover could try and justify the council's actions, "why would they tell you to go protect this Andrew guy when they know that you can't fight?"

"I guess when you put it that way..."

"It sounds to me like that council's just full of a bunch of idiots," the young demigod finished, crossing his arms and looking at Grover expectantly. The satyr just stared ahead, thinking about the new perspective Percy had brought to the table. After several long (and boring, in Percy's opinion) minutes, Grover sat up and looked at him.

"I still think its my fault, at least a little," he admitted, "but maybe you're right. It makes sense, so I guess it wasn't all my fault." Grover grinned, and Percy could've sworn he saw some of the guilt that had been weighting him down lift from his shoulders. "So thanks, I really needed that."

Percy returned his smile, and lifted his arm, holding out his fist. "No problem G-man, it's just what I do."

Grover hesitated, but after a moment bumped his fist with Percy's. The two settled in their seats, and the serious mood from before shifted into a comfortable silence.

"Y'know, I am awesome at that kind of stuff. Dr. Phil ain't got nothing on-"

"Don't make me take out the water sprayer."


"You guys are acting weird, you know that?"

Grover and Percy glanced at each other, then set their eyes straight ahead.

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm just as great as I was yesterday."

The daughter of Athena huffed, but Percy wasn't about to spoil his bro-bonding moment with Grover by telling her about it.

The three were walking away from the motel they had checked in at, and were heading towards Lake Erie, on account of Grover wanting to 'bask in the glory of Pan'. Percy didn't really mind, after all, he'd never been to any of the five Great Lakes in person. Annabeth on the other hand...

"I just don't see why we're doing this," the blonde complained. "We're supposed to be finding a way West."

"Aw c'mon Annabeth," Grover pleaded, "it'll be really quick, I promise!"

"Yeah, Snow White," Percy teased, "you know you'd do the same if we were close to some national monument or something."

Annabeth bristled. "No I wouldn't! I'm smart enough to know when we're in a hurry, and right now we're definitely in a hurry!"

Percy held his hands behind his head and started to walk at a casual stroll, slowing them down even more. "You really need to chill out," he told Annabeth. "The prophecy already said we'd find the bolt in time. Who knows? Maybe we'll find a way West if we go to the lake."

Annabeth sighed, as she couldn't really argue against a point like that, and decided to follow Percy's advice for once. The psychokinetic smirked. 'That's what you get, Annie.'

-Flashback-

"Well, we're finally here."

Grover nodded at Annabeth's statement. The three companions had just been dropped off by the bus. It took a few minutes of swimming past the innumerable ocean of people, but they'd finally made their way to the motel they'd be staying at. Both the satyr and the blonde sighed in relief, glad to finally get the chance to sleep in a real bed.

Percy however, was grinding his teeth. Throughout the entire walk, Annabeth had relentlessly lectured on the many buildings in Erie. With a twitching eyelid, he stomped up next to Grover.

"Does she always do that?" he whispered.

Grover looked at him strangely. "Do what?"

"What the hell do you mean 'do what?' She went on for half an hour about the structure of the thirtieth column next to the lamppost we were left off at!"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I guess you wouldn't be used to it."

Percy palmed his face. "Yeah," he said dryly, "I guess not."

Grover chuckled nervously. "Well, you'll have to. She's really, really into architecture."

Percy groaned. "So that's the way it'll be for the rest of the quest? Man, the way things are going, it'll be easier to die of boredom than of bloodthirsty monsters."

His satyr friend held his chin in thought. "You know... I don't think she's ever done it to that extent. Usually she just sees something and tells us about it really quick, then just stops talking all together."

"Yeah well that's what you get for annoying me all the time, jerk."

Percy and Grover turned around to see Annabeth with a pleased smile on her lips.

"W-Wait a minute," Percy stammered. "You... You actually got me back!? Are you s-serious!?"

Annabeth merely walked in between the two boys, strolling past them and heading towards the motel. "You mess with the bull, you get the horns. It's on Percy Jackson."

The two quest-members just stood there, one in mild amusement, and the other in shock.

-Flashback-

As Annabeth brooded and Percy snickered, Grover's eyes lit up. "We're here!" he shouted, and ran ahead, disappearing into the flora. The two demigods turned to each other, shrugged their shoulders, and followed after their half-goat friend.

They found him at the edge of the lake, kneeled down. Reaching him, the two quickly took notice of Grover's change in mood. As excited as he was just moments ago, he had become disappointed. Percy placed his hand on Grover's shoulder, and Annabeth knelt next to the satyr.

"Hey G-man, you alright? What happened?" Percy asked, looking warily over the waters of the giant lake.

"It's just..." Grover sniffed, " I thought this would be one of the last wild places... but I was just kidding myself. Look at this!"

The satyr raised his hands, gesturing towards the lake, and Percy immediately realized what the problem was. Lake Erie, one of the largest lakes on the planet, was thoroughly polluted. "Damn..." he muttered, feeling sorry for his nature-loving friend. The water was dirty, filled with gross substances he didn't even want to think about, and the shore was littered with trash. The terrible weather didn't do much to help the picture either.

Annabeth hugged the satyr, and the three stayed there, looking over the lake. Percy sighed for what felt like the twentieth time, but his muscles tensed when he heard a footstep behind them. The three turned around, and found themselves face to hood with the mysterious guy Percy had seen at the bus earlier, the man's dog just a few inches away. Something Percy hadn't noticed before though, was that the man held a bow in his hands, with an arrow already notched.

'That looks kinda familiar,' Percy thought, but shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. 'Now isn't the time for distractions.'

"So it's you," the young demigod said, startling his two companions. "I thought you looked pretty shifty."

Annabeth stood up, unsheathing her dagger and holding her cap at the ready. Grover stood up as well, decidedly less confident, and held his reed pipes up to his mouth. Percy and the man only stared at each other, neither moving a muscle. A strong breeze blowed through the shore of Lake Erie, fluttering their hair.

All of a sudden, Percy charged the hooded man, sword and shield out in a flash, and crossed the forty yard gap in five seconds flat, surprising both of his quest-mates.

'Fast!' Annabeth thought. 'How can he do that after only two weeks?'

'Wow!' Grover gaped. 'Luke must've worked him to death!'

The hooded man didn't seem to be perturbed in the least, and when Percy tried to cut his head off, he deftly ducked under the slash. Quick as lightning, the hooded man tried to knee Percy in the stomach, but the young demigod blocked the attack with his shield. Percy tried to hit him across the face with the butt of his sword, but the man used his elbow to deflect the blow. The two fighters jumped away from each other, both holding their weapons at the ready.

"So what's up with you then?" Percy asked his opponent. "Why attack us? Are you working for Hades or something?"

The man didn't say anything, and Percy felt unnerved by his silence. "Hey!" he shouted at him. "What's wrong, Hoody? Did my incredible levels of awesome leave you speechless?"

'Hoody' merely cocked his head and aimed his bow at the young demigod. Percy prepared himself to jump away, but the dog beside Hoody started barking and jumped at a spot behind its owner. It crashed into something, and Percy heard a shriek when the dog seemed to pin an invisible body to the ground. It reached for something with its mouth, and suddenly Annabeth was lying beneath the dog, her Yankees cap clasped in its maw.

'So that's what it does,' Percy thought absentmindedly.

"Such tricks won't work on me," Hoody finally spoke his voice low. "Even without Laelaps, I could still smell you out myself."

Annabeth's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, roots started wrapping around Laelaps' paws. The large dog hopped away, it's ebony eyes focusing on Grover, who had been trying to use his woodland magic as inconspicuously as possible. The satyr backed up a few steps, and Laelaps leaped at him with a growl, Annabeth following.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by his friends, Percy tried charging at Hoody once more, but had to sidestep an arrow by the skin of his teeth. He growled at the hooded man, and his enemy just chuckled. "Nice try," Hoody taunted, "but it will take a lot more to catch me off guard."

Quick as a whip, Hoody loosened another arrow, and another, and another. Percy quickly found himself dancing, trying to avoid all the arrows coming his way. 'How's this guy doing this!?' he thought. 'I didn't think it was even possible to shoot arrows this fast!'


As Percy tap-danced for his life, Annabeth and Grover struggled to put down the strange dog.

"Can't you talk to it!?" shouted Annabeth, who was trying to get behind Laelaps, who still had her hat between its teeth. She leaped at the large canine, but it dashed under her jump and darted in the air after her. Unable to dodge in midair, Annabeth could only close her eyes as she was tackled by the unnatural dog. She landed forcefully nearby, and stood up as quickly as she could on her wobbly legs.

Grover played a quick tune with his pipes, getting some roots to grow under where Laelaps would land. The dog wasn't fazed, and it bared its fangs, dropping Annabeth's cap. When it landed, it quickly bit and clawed through all the roots in mere seconds. The satyr groaned in disappointment at his own weak magic, and answered his friend as he eyed their opponent. "No, I can't talk to it. I'm guessing it's some kind of monster, but I've never heard of it."

Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek, and hastily retrieved her Yankees cap. "Well, I know what it is, and this is really, really bad. We need to get rid of it now."

Grover nodded, readying his pipes. The moment Annabeth turned invisible, he started playing as hard as he could. Roots sprouted out of the ground in waves, forcing Laelaps to chomp away to avoid getting drowned by the magical plant life. Some succeeded in wrapping around its legs, and before long the large dog was completely covered by Grover's woodland magic.

The satyr would've celebrated, but he was running out of energy. Sweat pored down his forehead, drenching his clothes. Before long, he couldn't take it anymore, and the roots around Laelaps started to get plucked out one by one. The beast used its impressive strength to root out its confinement, and after a few moments it was finally free of all the plants.

Laelaps strutted over to Grover, who was lying exhausted on the ground. Before it could do any harm, it sniffed something coming on its right, and leaped out of the way. Looking back, it turned out to just be the jacket Annabeth had been wearing. Laelaps didn't have time to process that information before it was stabbed in the side by Annabeth's dagger, which had just rematerialized with her.

The monster whined, backing away. "A-Annabeth?" Grover asked from his spot on the ground. "H... How did y-you get it? I th-thought... thought it could smell you... when you w-were invisible."

Annabeth nodded at her friend. "That's right, but it wasn't ready for there to be two sources of the same scent. I took off my jacket and threw it, distracting Laelaps long enough for me to take advantage of it."

Grover smiled in relief. "We g-got it then. Lets go... help Percy." The satyr tried to push himself up, but gasped when his body protested. Annabeth kneeled down and started helping him up.

"Don't worry about Percy," she told her old friend, "you need to rest for now. I'm sure he's fine."


'Damn! I am so not fine right now!' Percy thought, dodging another volley of arrows. He had tried everything, from throwing his shield with his psychokinesis to shifting the ground under Hoody's feet, but nothing seemed to work. Hoody was obviously far more skilled than he was, and even if his powers were pretty strong, nothing could beat a greater amount of experience.

'Alright, that's it!' the young demigod though, his anger peaking, 'it's about time I tried this again anyway. I just need to play this right...'

"Are you fighting back anytime soon?" Hoody called out. "Dodging is all well and good, but I thought this was a battle, not target practice. You should be glad I've been keeping all the monsters off you, because you obviously can't handle them."

Percy ignored him, capped his pen, and held it in his closed fist. He started building up a mass amount of atoms around his knuckles, and prepared himself for what would come next.

Hoody noticed him put his weapon away, and didn't miss a chance to taunt his opponent. "What's the matter? Finally had eno-"

Before the hooded man could finish his sentence, Percy suddenly appeared right in front of him with a burst of speed, his sword-arm cocked back. As hard and fast as he could, the psychokinetic punched Hoody right in his shadowed nose. The great repulsive force from all the gathered atoms in his fist sent his enemy flying back into the forest, and the sound of breaking bark echoed across the lake.

Percy dropped to a knee, panting, but a smirk could be seen on his face. 'I guess I just need to get used to burning so many calories so fast,' he thought, glad that his biokinesis had worked for muscle enhancement without knocking him out. 'It was worth it though. There's no way anyone could survive something like that without breaking more than a few bones.'

Just as he was about to whoop in victory, Hoody came walking back into view. To Percy's shock and horror, the man seemed fine enough. The only sign that he'd just been hurled at a tree faster than the average eye could track was the way he was holding his side.

Hoody chuckled at Percy's obvious amazement. "I have to admit that I underestimated you," he said. "Unfortunately for you, I've been hit far worse than that. Believe me though," his voice turned icy cold, "you merely surprised me. It won't happen again."

The man raised his bow and aimed it at the still tired Percy. Before he could fire, Hoody heard a whimper nearby, and turned to see Laelaps limping towards him. He lowered his bow and kneeled besides his dog.

After a moment, Hoody stood back up and addressed the psychokinetic. "I am sorry to say that this is the end of our little scuffle, but Laelaps is not one for fighting. Don't worry though, we'll meet again. In the meantime... heh, well you can see for yourself."

The man pointed to the lake, and Percy paled at the sight of a giant crab emerging out of the water. It was huge, at least the size of a small house, and it's pincers looked big and sharp enough to cut cars in half. "You've gotta be kidding me!" he shouted in disbelief, but when he turned around Hoody had disappeared.

Percy stood up with a groan, and wobbled his way over to Annabeth and Grover before the new monster reached the shore. The three companions were tired, injured, and about to face a monster that could eat them whole. All in all, it didn't look like their quest could get any worse.


AN:

Man, that was the longest chapter yet!

Seriously though, this one was real tough to write. It got easier towards the end, but I spent at least an hour just thinking about how I wanted to write the first half of this chapter, so hopefully it turned out alright.

Now, just because Artemis showed up doesn't mean Pertemis, so let me just nip that in the bud right here. Whenever I decide to start the romance, it won't be with any of the goddesses, because it just doesn't fit in this story, so there.

On the other hand, there's some Percy/Grover bromance right there for you guys. Annabeth and Grover will both play important parts in this story, different than in canon (especially Annabeth. MUAHAHAHAHA) so it's about time Percy started making friends.

Talking about Percy, don't worry. Yeah, he's a little arrogant, but look at it this way: he's a twelve-year-old boy with pretty much the strongest power on Earth, so how is it possible to not have an ego? He'll be growing up and maturing as the story progresses; it wouldn't be fun if there was nothing for him to improve on as a character, would it?

Who is this mysterious man? Why is Annabeth so adamant about killing his dog? (yes, Laelaps is a real myth, so if you're curious enough you can probably find it). Find out next time!