Every hunter sat down in the living room around the pillar of a fire place. The Pack had carried the sofas and furniture away to make more space. The Hunters were completely captivated by the beauty of the pillar that held dancing camp fire—it was beautiful.

The Pack were scattered and were still in a distant—more so because of the sake of their new sisters' comfort. The moment they swore, the Pack had felt a sense of protectiveness of them…well, they've been feeling that from the start. It has been almost a month that they were together and watching the hunters fight and the way they live, the Pack seemed to think they've gotten attached to them in a sisterly way. It was only now did they actually felt relieve and safe enough to not supress this protectiveness among them.

"Okay shall we start explaining?" L asked and the hunters nodded. L said, "I won't be telling the story"

"What? Then who?"

"I will" said one of the cloaked men. He was wearing a white cloak.

"My name is A. And I am the second Shay" he says and walks out of the corner he has been leaning on. The Hunters were a little tense when A said, "The story began when—" but then someone shouted, "Do we get popcorn?"

"Yeah dude, where's the popcorn?"

"We always have popcorn when we have camp fire stories!"

"Oh for the gods' sake, can't you just make one appear quietly!" A said

"Oops!" They said.

"Do you girls want some popcorn?" The boys asked the hunters. The hunters where now shell shock. One, this was a serious matter and they were fighting over popcorn? Two, what happened to the Pack they spent one month with that was cool headed and serious all the time? When had they become so casual? Three, did they always act like this?

A started speaking again, "Okay as I was saying, I…I was the first one to be accepted by the Ace into the Pack—"

"But we're older though!" said some of the people who were wearing red cloaks, namely N and B. C and M just shook their heads chuckling.

"Whatever! I'm trying to tell a story here!" and that's when the red cloaked men threw popcorn at A. The hunters were too shocked at the sudden personality change of the Pack

"Wait, can you explain to us the sudden change of the colors of your cloaks?" Of course, it was Annabeth who asked.

"Uhm, Ace was kind of paranoid…or at least his friends were," L said looking at Thalia who discretely rolled her eyes. "We didn't want you to know about our secrets, so we just unified our colors to white. There are five colours of cloaks in the Pack: silver, black, white, red, and blue." A said. A continued, "The silver cloak is, as you know, only worn by the champion of Lady Hestia and Lord Mars—the Ace. The Black one is only worn by our Lieutenant. The white one's for regular Pack members that's why almost all of us are wearing white. The Blue cloaks are worn by newbies—"

"But the newbies can kick your butt, A!" one of them spoke.

"Shut up before I kick your butt! Anyway, when they spend a century with us, the cloaks turn from blue to white" A finished.

"And the reds?"

"And the reds are…well…they're worn by the—" A said unsurely.

"by the illegal people" L said gesturing himself and the other people with red cloaks.

"You're criminals?" Phoebe asked.

"No! Illegal children, you know. They aren't supposed to be here," A said, he bit his lip. There was a double meaning to what he said. The hunters would assume one of the meanings while the Pack plus Thalia new the truth.

"Oh" Phoebe says thinking Illegal children, meaning their parents should have never had an affair

The hunters nodded.

"Anyhoo! Let's start the story telling alright? Everyone got their popcorn?"—nods here, and the Hunters had got to admit, this was the weirdest thing they've done in a while: a secret organization spilling their secrets that can cause the world into catastrophe and their making sure all of them had popcorn?—"V, turn off the lights, will ya?" A shouted and the lights turned off. The pillar of camp fire was even more beautiful in the dark.

"Okay, we're going to take off our hoods"—gasps here—"but not our goggles or cloths. We…we still can't bring ourselves to…just…anyway, the Red cloaked people over there won't be taking off theirs, since they're kind of…illegal…and they're parents might you know…and they'll be…you know" The hunters nodded at this explanation.

They took off their hoods and at least the hunters new of their hair colour, that's a start right?

"Alright," says A. He had white blond hair.

"This is how it started:

It started with the Ace, obviously."

And that's when the hunters gasped, because as soon as A said those words, the flames of the fire started taking shape of a boy. As A talked, the fire portrayed what he said as if they were in a theatre, watching the play

"The story of his hatred for…ehem…some of the Olympians are the same as most of us. They used him like a tool and threw him out like a worn out toy. You know what sucks? The Ace discovered a…secret about the Big Three. Something, that if it ever got out…let's just say we'll be having a different King right now sitting at the throne of Olympus" A said

Some gasps. And the fire made a figure of three kids reading a scroll gasping and the Olympians arguing.

Thalia was glaring at A. Shut up! Shut up! Nico and Percy never told you about the secret! Shut up! Percy gave up his identity to keep that secret! SHUT UP.

"Thals, you okay?" Annabeth says putting a hand on Thalia and she instantly relaxed, but Annabeth was flinching. "What?" Thalia asked confused. "You were sparking lightning, actually you still are right now" Annabeth answers still flinching. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Annabeth" Thalia says retracting the lightning. "I'll do it anytime. Don't worry, Zeus is still King right? It's just their story." Annabeth says. It was Thalia's turn to flinch. She thought I was bothered that dad might be overthrown, Thalia thought. Her best friend shocked herself a high voltage just so that she could calm down, and yet she wouldn't even tell her the truth.

"Actually, the Ace wasn't the only one who knew the secret. There were three of them. One of them was the Lieutenant. Now, this is what sucks. After learning the secret, you know what they did? They hid the evidence to make sure our King"— A spat the last word—"wasn't overthrown. And after that, the King found new toys and dumped and forgot the three of them. And even then, they still remained loyal to the King. The three of them split their ways swearing that they'd take the secret to their graves" A says

Yeah and you're here spilling that secret, Thalia muttered in her head

"That's when Ace figured to escape. What else was his purpose? The gods had made it obvious they did not need the Ace anymore. He could go back to his mortal parents, but they were expecting a child. If the Ace stayed with his mortal family, he would've put his sibling in danger of a monster attack, so no. He could not come back. That was when he ran away from both the world of the gods and the world of the mortals. He went into hiding. That's when Lady Hestia found him in a forest"

The fire changed shape into a forest were a woman was walking through some woods as if trying to find someone, and then she had found someone—a boy, the Ace. The fire shaped the Ace character.

"If you girls need more popcorn, just tell us. Speaking of, want some juice?" L said. Cue in hunters throwing popcorn at him "Okay! Okay! All you had to say was no, sheesh, sis" Cue in more popcorn

"Now that I think about it, he had always held the favour of the goddess of hearth so when she asked the boy, 'what if I give you a new purpose?' and Ace answered, 'if it's you who's giving it, I'll follow you to my last breath' or something like that. That was the start.

Now, he had the protection of Hestia so the gods finding him was harder to do, unless he wanted to be found. There were only two people who he had allowed himself to tell of his…situation: the two others who knew of the secret that could've overthrown Zeus.

For a time, only they knew. So Hestia continued giving him missions: saving some unclaimed demigods, saving some demigods in quests, sending demigods to camp, and if there were girls, he'd send those girls exactly when the Hunters were going to camp so that if they ever join the Hunt, they'd do it right away. Sometimes, the two who knew of his existence would come along. And then there was missions that were dangerous that involved saving gods' butts. But the rarest missions he got were hunting monsters because Lady Hestia feared that if the Hunters ever crossed his path, he would be captured.

The only exceptions of that mission were either if the monster was potentially quite dangerous to Olympus, that was the only of the two times that he was allowed to go hunting monsters. The other exception was if the hunters would have a hard time fighting the said monsters without someone getting fatally injured. If it was a strong monster, he would come before the hunters could arrive and weaken the monster. If he killed it outright, you hunters might find it suspicious, ne? And if it was a den of numerous of monsters, he would again come earlier and kill a..ehem..considerable number of monsters. Haven't you guys notice some missions that you thought was going to be hard turn out to be too easy?" A asked

The hunters gasp in realization.

"You mean that time with the three drakons…?"

"And that time when we found medusa reformed only that for some reason she was—"

"Or the time when we were supposed to find an army of monsters only that we found just a few—"

"Or the time when—"

"Yeah, that was probably some of the Ace's solo missions. If it was, erm, 600 years ago, then yeah sure, that's Ace. But if it was less than 600 years, er, that's probably some of us because we were formed around that time" L said. Thalia wanted to laugh. She'd known it was them helping the hunters all along.

"Anyway, so yeah, that's usually the types of mission Ace gets—the type of missions we usually get. And then finally, there was this time when Mars was in some kind of trouble. This was kind of a myth told at camp. Have you heard of it? When Ares/Mars was suddenly MIA for about a year?" A asked

The Hunters nodded. They have heard of it. It was an uproar of celebration in Olympus that Mars was actually away out and no one knew why, only that he sent letters to his mother—Hera—telling that he was okay.

"Yeah, actually, believe it or not, Mars was going to fade"

Gasps here and protests

"I'm telling the truth! Just here the story out! A minor god of war was trying to make him fade so that that minor god could take his place. Now, meanwhile, it was coincidental that at that moment, our beloved Ace was in an important mission. It involved the secret he was keeping. It was threatening to go out. Anyway, long story short. It ended up to a choice: leave Mars to fade and secure the secret, or help Mars and possibly put the whole world into catastrophe with a new ruler and a new age.

I know. It was an easy choice right? And it also helped to make things easier that the Ace was hated by Mars since the Ace first went to camp. Heck, the Ares cabin hated him! But you know what you did? Yup, he chose the latter and help Mars and almost put the whole world into catastrophe with a new ruler and a new age just so he could stop the war god from fading.

He had manage to help Mars and finish his mission, but the cost of it was, well, heavy. At the end of it, the Ace was going to die.

So Mars offered this: be my champion and I shall have an excuse to save you, or die"

The Hunters snorted and the Pack members laughed (though they heard this story already, it still was funny). Typical bargain from Mars

"Obviously, he did not die, so from then he became Hestia and Mars's champion. Hestia then risked telling Mars the Ace's secret. Mars almost told Zeus about it! That was stupid!"

Thunder boomed and A was somehow bleeding. "Hey! That really was stupid, sir. Don't kill me!" A said. The Pack members laughed and then with a glow, A was healed again. Artemis did not get this. Since when was his brother Mars the easy come easy go joking type?

"Anyway, so Mars became the patron of our beloved Ace. The number of missions doubled, but that was okay. After all, there were the two demigods who knew about the secret to keep him company sometimes. Lots of his missions that were from Mars were mainly doing er…sadistic things."

"You've got that right!"

"Yeah it's awesome!"

"No it's scary!"

"Cuz you're a baby blue cloak!"

"Baby blue cloak?" Annabeth asked

"It's an insult, you know newbie, baby, weak"

The hunters face palmed. Ah, they're annoying their sisters like a true family already! Lovely.

"Shut it guys! I'm giving the drama here! Aaanyway, on the other hand, most of the missions Hestia gave involved saving families of demigods and bringing demigods to camp.

Now, this is where the Ace was a little troubled. Every time he saved one demigod, at some point, one of the demigods wanted to stay with him, to fight with him. But the Ace would have none of it. This is why I am the second Shay. The first Shay is the Ace. I remember how we made the Pack happen.

We were near long island now. I was with…two of my companions. One of them was a girl and the other was a boy. The boy, my friend, kept asking Ace loads of questions.

"Is there really a lava wall you get to climb?" He kept on asking

"last time I checked"

"Do we get to fight with real swords?"

"That's the point of training, kiddo"

"How old are you" This time the Ace laughed. "Very old"

And then he kept on asking and asking and the girl and I just listened. That night, we set up a small camp. The Ace was telling us that from tomorrow, he couldn't come with us anymore. He told us not to worry and that we were near and that if we get in trouble, he'd save us. But he couldn't come with us.

To say that we were sad about it was an understatement. He told us to sleep and that he'd take the first watch. I couldn't sleep then, but my companions…they were snoring so I got up. It was my turn to ask questions.

"Are you really leaving us?" I asked him, almost pleading. I was young then. I was scared. I mean seriously, I just found out that one of my parents are frickin gods that are so old that the thought of hitting on my mom was pedophilistic"—some laughs here (to the Pack's surprise, even the hunters chuckled)—"He nodded as an answer. "Why?" I asked

"I don't belong there, kiddo" he says

"Then how can you be sure that I'll belong there?" He stared at me as if he hadn't been asked that question before.

"Kiddo, you aren't the first demigod I took to Camp. And last time I checked, the ones that I did take are still there and safe"

"Take me with you," I tell him. He raises an eyebrow.

"What about your friends? What about her?" he asks and I have to admit that that question caught me so off guard that I blushed"

"Lover boy!" J whistled. But the hunters just rolled their eyes. Boys, they thought.

"I don't think I belong there" I tell him

"But you haven't been there"

"C'mon,p—" A stopped. He almost said Percy. But at least he said 'p' enough so that they didn't know whether it was p or b or something else. "Okay guys, I'm not allowed to tell you the identity of my Ace—yet. SO let's just assume that I call him Ace at that time. I said, "C'mon, Ace. It'll be cool! Us against the world. You got to admit, it'll be pretty lonely without us making you laugh" I told him, and he laughed at that.

"I won't be lonely, stupid. I have friends who I don't wipe their memory once you go back to camp" he tells me

"But Ace! PLEASE! I promise I won't be a drag"

"Look, it's not that I don't want you to be there with me, it's just I can't be selfish enough to bring you with me"

"What do you mean?" I say really confused"

The hunters were confused too. They thought that this was where the Ace starts accepting demigods and the Pack is formed

"Do you know who your parent is?" He asks and my eyes look darker. Why was he bringing my parent in this conversation. I shake my head.

"You want to meet them" He tells it as if I could pick what he was implying: whether it was a statement or a question

"No I don't" I glared at him although I knew I was lying. He knew it too.

"If you come with me, your parents will never know you exist. As far as they know, I don't exist. Get it? How would that feel to you? If it weren't for the two people who knew who I was, and my patrons, I would've gone crazy when I look at a mirror. You know why? When I look in a mirror, I don't even know who I am! Sometimes I'm afraid that if I look in a mirror, I'd see no one because I feel like I'm a ghost. Do you think I can do that to you?!" He was shouting at me at that point. That was the first among the three times he ever shouted to me in the past 600 years. What he said really scared me to the bone"

The hunters were shocked. They guess that maybe…the boy was at least…okay? They didn't know exactly what they felt.

Thalia was shocked that Percy actually felt like that. If she knew, she would've quit the hunters sooner! How could she not notice that?! How could she leave him thinking like that?!

"But—" That's when Hestia and Mars appeared.

"This is stupid Auntie! Risky! We can't—"

"Shush, nephew" we heard them say. We bowed immediately.

"Lady Hestia, Lord Mars" we said in unison.

"Hello, we've been listening to your conversation" Lady Hestia says kindly to me. I almost mistook her for my mother—or at least, I wished she was my mother so hard that I almost fooled myself that she was. I noticed Ace's eyes widened. "NO! Why would you, lady Hestia? You can't drag him into this!" he says

"See, even the twerp agrees with me" I remember Mars scoffing.

"Shush, this is what we will do from now on. Tomorrow, my champion shall erase your memories" she says and I was disappointed. I thought she would agree with me and help me convince Ace to take me in.

"But, there will be one possibility for you to join. We shall erase your memories, but if you feel unneeded—unwanted, your memories will return as well as knowledge on my champion's whereabouts. This is so that we give you a chance to know your parents, other possibilities than what my champion can offer you"

And I started thanking her.

"But there is a catch" she says

"Anything!"

"You must understand that my champion does not exist for a reason. And so, you shall not exist if you insist to be with him"

"Of course"

"And we will be your guide. You will not be our champion, but we shall be your patrons. We shall see your heart if you are worthy for the hearth and Mars shall test your soul if it is dedicated for his cause"

My eyes widen. "A chance for you to be my patrons is something that is worth my whole life"

"I like the kid" Mars say

"Flattery will get you everywhere" Ace laughs.

"I thought the saying said it was going to get me nowhere?" I ask

"That's the normal version. This was Mars's version"

"Hey!"

"Alright, alright. Now, my champion, you shall do this to all demigods so that if they feel unwanted they shall join you. I will make sure they understand the risk" Hestia says. Ace's eyes widened.

"Hestia…" he says, at that time I did not know why he was dumbfounded.

"Yes, little champion, they'll be your family. He will be your family—a new family"

"…a new…family…" he says as if in a daze and his eyes were shining then, and I saw a tear sliding down and he was smiling a very small smile.

At that time, I didn't understand, but now I did. He was happy at the prospect of having a family, even if it was, at that time, a mere possibility. I could realize that back then, he was fighting, 'should I be happy at the prospect that he might not feel at home in camp so that I can have a family? No, I can't do that, that's selfish of me!' and I could see the uncertainty in his eyes, 'but if…'

And so, I went to camp along with my three friends. The boy, my friend, fit right in at camp. Everyone accepted him. But me…well, I'm in the Pack aren't I? I found Percy, he told me the risks, I'd told him I'd still do it. So he asked me, who I was.

I told him, "My name is Shay"

And that was the beginning of the Pack"

A closed his eyes and sighs. "Alright, that's my story. J! Get your ass here and continue our drama!"

The hunters were still processing the information they knew.

"Wait, wait! What happened to the girl you were with?" Annabeth asked.

A freezes. He gulps "the girl?" he asks. "Yeah, you said there were three of you."

"Well…." A says, he was trembling. "What's wrong with him? He's shaking" Phoebe asked. J put a hand on A. "Dude, you don't have to do this…I think" J whispers in a comforting manner.

"I…"

"Well?"

He takes in a shaky breath. "…like I said…I never felt at home at camp. I didn't know Ace back then—didn't remember who he was. But I had a feeling that…I didn't belong at camp, you know? Maybe it was stupid of me, or maybe the fates were playing their games, and that's why I ended up with P—Ace. But the girl…well, she was family to me. She kept me company. We had this little necklace that only the two of us had. She made me feel…okay. But she's gone and that's what drove me to remember the Ace's identity and Lady Hestia whispered in my head his current location. Boom, I found Ace and here I am."

"Did you love her?" a hunter asked.

"She was my family" A says with a gulp

"Is she…I don't mean to be insensitive…is she dead?" another hunter asked. A was closing his eyes now.

"No" A says. The hunters were confused "But isn't that 600 year ag—"

"She's not dead—she's a hunter"

All hell broke loose.