(A/N) The dream part is for MorningGlory17 and for all of you who had questions like theirs.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

Perseus could do nothing but run. His feet were bare, and they were getting shredded by twigs, rocks, and gnarled thorns that reached out to him, trying to encase him in a prickly cocoon. He couldn't bother with that, despite the fact that the wounds were throbbing dully and making each step agony for him; he had to protect Alfie. Nothing else mattered at this point. It was just the two of them, land losing him would be losing his other half. He couldn't let that happen. His heart was slamming inside his ribcage, blood roaring in his ears like a bear that was hungry for blood. He clutched Alfie's hand tightly, and his strength was returned by tenfold as his twin looked up at him with round, terrified eyes.

Protect protect protect protect

The darkness was singing, with hunting horns and the baying and howling of wolves meshing to create one spine-chilling chorus that rose above the bellow in Perseus' ears. He could hear them gaining, could hear their shouts and calls to one another as they closed in, and Perseus felt as if he was suffocated. Never once had he run so fast, never once had he been the hunted, but now that was all changing as he sprinted through the forest, the low hanging branches leaving scrapes on his arms and face as he plowed through them. These were no ordinary hunters; these were the maidens of the Hunters of Artemis, and even they shouldn't've been able to track and pursue them for this long. The power of the moon goddess pulsed through their veins, and Perseus wanted to scream in his fear. Not once did he believe that he deserved this; he was a demon, and he couldn't help that he ate humans. Sure, he enjoyed it immensely, but it was what he'd been created to do. He felt a single tear streak down his face as he continued to run. He had to keep running. But for how long?

His muscles were growing weary, and at this speed the forest was inevitably going to thin and eventually give way to beach and ocean. He couldn't hold Alfie's hand when swimming, and the Hunters were much faster in the water; they would be caught and slaughtered. He knew why, though; under the reek of the maiden goddess' power and the scents of her hunters, there was the underlying stench of demon. One that was out to kill them. This demon was much faster than them from running with the Hunt, much stronger from hours of training and slaughtering the things that went bump in the night, and he and Alfie were no match for him. Perseus had an idea where this was going, but he didn't dare think about it. Fear was spiking through him, and his breathing was growing ragged.

I am afraid.

I am afraid.

I am afraid.

And suddenly Alfie wasn't holding his hand anymore.

"Go!" his brother cried, and Perseus was too terrified to disobey. He should've gone back. Should've tried to fight them off with his dying breath. But he kept running, even despite the fact that he glanced back to see the new demon, the one who'd been hunting them, raise a long silver knife over his head as his twin screamed…

-Ω-

Perseus woke with a screech of terror, and the whole camp was on their toes immediately. He didn't pay them any heed, though, instead groping around until he found Alfie's forearm and pulled his twin brother against him, burying his face into the demon's neck to scent him and make sure he was still real. Still alive. Alfie sent him reassurance and calm thoughts through the link that they shared, showing him that he understood Perseus' nightmares and wished to comfort him. The Hunters of Artemis and the three demigods were beginning to whisper amongst themselves, but the demon couldn't find it in him to care much as he forced his breathing to slow. His heart eventually ceased its frantic beating and his hands stopped shaking, though his palms and his face were still slick with sweat.

He'd had nightmares about the night Alfie had been taken from him, with it being the most recurring terror that plagued his dreams, and no matter how much he told himself that the Hunters couldn't hurt him, that he was immortal, he couldn't make himself stop fearing them. The sight of Orion leaning over his brother with dagger in hand was plastered to the back of his eyelids, and the blaring of the horns and the howling of the wolves plagued him when there was nothing but silence and his thoughts. Now the wild sprint in the forest was past, and instead they were camped out in the same clearing in which they were found, the sound of the grass and flowers rustling an incredibly soothing sound. He and Alfie had refused their own personal tent, as well as the blankets and pillows, and had opted for the ground, where they'd curled up with each other's body heat and slept, however fitfully, through the night. Dawn was fast approaching, the sky streaked with oranges, reds, yellows, and maroons as the familiar navy retreated off to the west. Perseus hated the sunlight, and his skin was already starting to become itchy and irritable, his eyes having to adjust dramatically whenever he opened his eyes.

The tents of the Hunters speckled the landscape, and those who hadn't been roused by Perseus' rude awakening were just beginning to peer out of their quarters, blinking blearily. Those who'd come to see what was the matter had settled down for breakfast that was surprisingly close to the two demons and didn't at all seem like the Hunters were watching them. If you didn't pick up on it, that was sarcasm. These Hunters were so distrustful of any demon aside from their Golden Boy, and they kept trying to nonchalantly glance over when in reality their eyes were darting back and forth between their food and the twins. Perseus would've been amused had their uncooked, skinned rabbits, which were waiting to be put on the spit and roasted, not looked so much like human flesh. He hoped that his stomach didn't growl, because everyone would know what that meant, whether they be Hunters, demigods, or demons.

The only one who was actively guarding them was Orion, and he kept a respectful distance as he watched them, knowing that he was a trigger of sorts for their anger and their fear. At least he was right about something, but his machete gleamed in the early morning light, and Perseus shivered when he noted that either he or Alfie could fall at the hands of that weapon if they took even the slightest misstep. It was always pleasant to be not two yards from the same demon that mercilessly killed your twin brother, who just so happened to be your heart and soul and everything that was happiness to you. As traumatizing as it may be, Perseus had to make sure that he and Alfie's safety was top priority, and at the moment their well-being was threatened mostly by Lilith and their brothers and sisters. Orion was high up there too, and he was in a much closer vicinity, but he was guaranteeing the preservation of their well-being, whereas Lilith didn't bother to hide the fact that she wanted him dead. If she found out he was with Alfie, she'd want Alfie dead, too, and he couldn't have his twin going back to Hell once more. Didn't want that distress leveled upon him another time.

"You okay?" Alfie whispered when the gathering of people finally disbanded and returned to their respective tents, casting wary glances over their shoulders as they did so. Perseus really didn't understand what all the fuss was about; it wasn't like he and Alfie were suddenly going to sacrifice their chance to kill Lilith and live life without having to look over their shoulders just to kill them. They weren't that idiotic.

"M'fine," Perseus replied, feeling another powerful surge of protectiveness towards his twin brother at the sound of his small, level-headed voice. "Just a dream." He could deal without the sheer amount of whispers at the edges of his mind, the words and thoughts of his countless siblings suddenly missing, as long as Alfie remained. He didn't care for the others, didn't care for the way they treated their own flesh and blood, manipulating each other rather than trusting and unifying as equals to create one power. They could rot in hell for all he cared. All he needed was Alfie to be satisfied, and the tender brotherly affection he felt for his twin could compensate for everything else.

"You were squirming a bit before that, whispering my name," Alfie told him, though there was not a single note of judgment in his voice, which was another thing to ass to the list of things that Perseus was grateful for. "It was…that night, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing," Perseus assured, though it clearly sounded like he was trying to convince himself of this fact. "It happens a lot."

"Well, let's try to make it stop happening," Alfie prompted, wriggling out of Perseus' arms and sitting up. "You kapeesh?"

"I kapeesh," Perseus grumbled and followed his brother's lead, stretching languidly before tucking his knees against himself.

"Good," Alfie replied. "I just don't want you to just deal with it."

"That's what I've been doing for the past millennia. It's a hard habit to break."

"Apparently," Alfie snorted, though his eyes sparkled with humor. It lifted Perseus' spirits slightly, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He didn't want to jinx them, but maybe this would work out. Maybe.

-Ω-

"What are we going to do now?" Will prompted, uncrossing his arms to place them onto the long table in the meeting tent. There were no chairs, just an oblong piece of oak wood that was sanded to perfection. All of the Hunters of Artemis were crowded at one end, including Orion, and they cast disgusted looks at Perseus and Alpheus. They were cool with Nico and Will, one: because Nico was on very good terms with Artemis, and two: they were gay. Gay men don't go for women, and therefore the only ones who had a chance of flirting with them were the two other demons and Jason. Jason was ruled out because his sister was the head of the Hunters, and if anyone was caught giving them dirty looks she'd probably carve out their spleens with her dagger. That just left Perseus and Alpheus, who were already getting hated on because of their, well, species. Orion was a different story, but Will had to admit that he felt bad for the twins. They'd just wanted to be left at peace, reunited after God knows how long, and now they were being dragged back into the crossfire. And Will thought being a demigod was bad.

Speaking of the two demons, they were sulking in the shadows of the corner, claiming that the huge windows (which were so fucking weird inside of a tent) were making their eyes hurt, and the son of Apollo saw them scratching furiously at their arms, where some pretty annoying-looking rashes were beginning to form. At least they added a bit of color into their complexions. The tent was large enough to comfortably accommodate all of these people, and its ceiling, supported by two beams that were planted in the center of the table, were incredibly high. This was some TARDIS shit here, and Will still really couldn't get over the fact that this tent looked miniscule from the outside. On the walls were mounted heads, all of which had been snarling and whinnying and bleating and snorting as if they were relatives of Seymour at the Big House in Camp Half-Blood. At the moment Will could make out a water buffalo, a wolf, an impala, a bison, a lion, and a bear. Needless to say, all had quieted once the demons had entered and were now tossing their heads and baring their teeth in their distrust, though they didn't dare to vocally protest.

"What we need to do is take out Lilith," Perseus explained. "The whole operation will fall apart if she's gone. She's the one that's keeping demons from killing each other for food, mates, etcetera, and if she's out of the picture the demon population will wheedle down to a manageable size without it taking millions of years."

"That's a good point, but I'm against killing the entirety of the demon race," Orion announced, and everyone turned to him slowly, their expressions ranging from shocked to panicked to furious. This wasn't supposed to happen. Orion was supposed to be the guy that was A-OK with killing family members to save the human race, but now he was saying that he was pro-demon life.

"What?" Nico asked sharply, though he looked a bit nauseous.

"Demons were humans' natural predators. The gods put them there to do just that, because they were beginning to destroy the only planet that they have," Orion snarled, "Now it's even worse, and you're telling me to go against nature once again in order to spare a few lives. Are you humans upset that you're now a part of the food chain once more? Are you upset that you now have to worry about predators like the other animals?" Will had to admit that he didn't have a good response, but he knew that all the demons, except the three standing in this room, had to be killed. Men, women, and children's lives were at stake, and he couldn't just stand by and watch massacres happen. When he voiced these thoughts, he found that the only ones who were nodding along with him were Jason, Nico, and a handful of Hunters.

"Artemis is all about balance," Thalia told them, her face a closed off mask. "And on Earth there isn't balanced. Pretty soon all the rivers will be poisoned, all the trees will be cut down. What then? The gods can fix it, sure, but when they do would they really want to add humans into the equation again?"

"Thals, you're making no sense," Jason ground out through grit teeth. "We're talking about innocent mortals and demigods here. This isn't ancient times!"

"But it was meant to be like that," the leader of the Hunters of Artemis pointed out. "Humans were never supposed to rise up and multiply like this. Now, there are pigs sitting at home with food within an arm's reach. There are idiots because the predators don't pick them off. Just look at what happened with those stupid hover boards that aren't really hover boards."

"C'mon, you have to see what we're getting at here. You're talking mass destruction, halving the human population. Thalia there could be children-"

"We get it, Nico," the blue-eyed hunter replied smoothly, and it was beginning to infuriate Will, frustrating him to no end. Did they not care about the human race? Did they not care about life as they know it? Apparently not, considering they're practically timeless; things come and go, but they'll always be the same. Didn't they understand that other things had to change, even though they didn't? "But another genocide would be foolish. Orion is right."

"You were supposed to be on our side!" Will snapped at the golden-eyed demon, who met his angry glare with a measured and even gaze. It would've been better if he'd blown up, Will thought belatedly, because this cool and reserved manner was really getting on his nerves, not to mention that it was a tad bit creepy. "We saved you from the Isles and this is what you give back."

"You wanted a solution to your problem. This is the best solution," Orion replied, sounding neither angry nor indignant. Not even frustration tinged his tone. "I feel the earth deteriorating around me. The air smells of smoke, the plants are wilting, the rivers are getting overflown with toxins. How can you stand for that?"

"You're all sounding like a bunch of hippies to me," Jason snorted, but the demigods were beginning to realize that they were losing this battle. All of the Hunters of Artemis who'd been on their side originally were now backing up their comrades, and it was just the three of them against the immortal maidens of the moon goddess and three demons, who, for the first time, were agreeing with each other. The demigods had been the one to start this operation and now it was being ripped from their grasp by the elders, who gave them each a pat on the head and told them 'Good job, we'll take it from here'. It was like Steve Jobs and Apple, only on a catastrophic scale, and this time they wouldn't be getting the operation back.

"Let's take a vote, then," Thalia announced. "All in favor to completely wipe out the demons for the sake of humankind?" Only Jason, Nico, and Will raised their hands, and the son of Apollo felt is stomach sink when nobody else joined in. "All in favor for killing Lilith and allowing nature to take her course from there, providing for every species, human, demon, and animal?" Everyone else raised their hands, and Orion, Perseus, and Alpheus were sharing a look between themselves that clearly stated mutual trust. Hell, the two most sworn enemies in demonkind were going to work together on this, and that only meant terrible things in the near future.

"We're screwed," Will muttered.

"No fucking shit, Sherlock," Nico snapped in reply.