First chapter with percy out of the pack. They will probably reappear in later chapters, but they are out for now. Will be focusing more on the demigods, and go into the actual Percy Jackson timeline, which I of course don't own in any way. Enjoy!

Late May, 2001

Annabeth

Annabeth ran as fast as her legs could allow. The alley was narrow and dark, and she cast a long shadow in front of her. She saw Luke up ahead, and Thalia right behind her, urging her forward. The trio ran for their lives, away from the mass of snarls and growls chasing them. Trash lined the sides, threatening to slip them up, and large muddy puddles seemed to appear out of nowhere. Suddenly, the alley opened up into a road. It was decrepit, with huge potholes and extremely worn from decades of use. They turned right and kept going, not daring to look back. A winged monster flew in front of Annabeth's face, but she ducked and the unfortunate beast was met with the tip of Thalia's spear.

Luke dashed into an abandoned warehouse, and Annabeth and Thalia followed, ducking behind a large wooden crate.

'We can't outrun hellhounds forever', whispered Luke, breathing heavily. 'I think our best option is to hide and try and escape in the morning.'

Thalia nodded. 'They're much stronger at night. I'm pretty sure there were giants chasing us too, though.'

Luke grimaced. 'That's bad news, but I still say we hide it out. We might actually manage to outrun the big assholes.'

The pair looked at Annabeth, who nodded vigorously to agree. She was trying to put on a brave face, but she could barely stop her hands from shaking. They started to look around for a place to settle in, but a loud roar echoed across the building. Annabeth paled as she saw the monsters amassing at the entrance to the warehouse. She saw a hellhound, saliva dripping from its fangs in anticipation. She expected it to run towards them, but it stopped and sniffed the air, ears pointed up. Suddenly, a shadow seemed to come out from behind a car, and with a small yelp the hound melted into shadow. Luke appeared to to have seen it, and he gestured at the catwalks above. They quickly climbed a ladder that led them up, and Thaila threw it down afterwards. They crouched, readying themselves for the imminent swarm of monsters, but nothing happened. Annabeth heard a couple more small yelps, but the monsters seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

They waited, crouched seven metres above the floor, for something to attack them, but nothing came. In a way, the eerie silence of waiting was even worse than the constant snarling that came with pursuit. After around a minute, the group tensed as a small giant, ran into the room. It wore a thick leather tunic, and brandished a huge wooden club in his right hand. Almost three metres tall and rippling with muscles and tattoos, would have stood an imposing sight, if it weren't for the look of absolute terror on its face. It ran right past them, discarding his club and making for the exit at the other end of the warehouse. However, before it could get there, a huge black shape leaped out of the shadow and flattened it, landing on the giant's back. A black wolf, maybe three metres tall, snarled at the shaking giant, and ripped out the back of its neck in a violent motion. When it had disintegrated, he sat on the floor and looked straight at them. They tensed, and the massive wolf's lips pulled back in a grin, exposing canines as big as Annabeth's hand.

Luke seemed about to speak, but he stopped when the wolf started to decrease in size. Its teeth shortened and its fur seemed to melt back into his skin. Seconds later, a boy was standing in the place the wolf had been. He seemed around 12, maybe a full head taller than Annabeth. She couldn't see him very well, but his eyes seemed to shine like flashlights, piercing blue, looking at them with interest.

'Well?', he said with a grin. 'You can come down now.'

—

The three looked at the boy warily. They had seen enough monsters to know not to accept help from strangers in the middle of the night, but they came down from the ladder anyway. Thalia's left hand brushed her bracelet, and Luke stood in front of Annabeth protectively. She knew both her friends could fight, but she doubted even the three of them could kill the boy, who was currently looking at them with an amused expression.

'I'm not gonna bite you.'

Luke spoke first. 'Were you just-'

'A big bad wolf?' He said with a smirk. 'Yeah, I was. It's a cool party trick I can do. Why did you have every single monster in Baltimore chasing you?'

'We have been attracting more and more monsters lately', responded Luke. 'We don't really know why, but it's getting harder and harder to escape them.'

Annabeth looked at him curiously. In the dim light of the warehouse, it was hard to see with much detail, but she got a better look at him. He was tall, almost as tall as Luke, but looked younger, maybe eleven? However, she wasn't sure the boy was mortal either, so he could potentially be much older. She stepped underneath a strong light, and Annabeth got a better look. He was definitely very handsome, with a tanned face and a strong jawline. His black hair was long, and blown to the side, as if he had just come from a walk on the beach. He had an athletic frame, and was packed with muscle. His eyes stood out the most though. They were a pale blue colour, and now Annabeth could see that they were ringed with a fiery red colour, and they shone with mirth as he looked at the three of them.

'I don't think travelling with a daughter of Zeus helped. You give off a strong scent.' Thalia looked shocked; she hadn't even spoke to the boy yet. He looked at Luke. 'You smell of old parchment and dried ink. Also, you look like your father, son of Hermes. And you', he looked at Annabeth. 'your eyes give you away, daughter of Athena.'

Thalia stepped forward. 'Who are you? Are you a demigod?'

'No, but I can help you. You need to get to camp, or one of these days you'll get eaten. I can try to protect you, but were going to attract way too much attention. We need to move.'

Thalia looked troubled, but decided. 'My name is Thalia. This is Luke and Annabeth. You, erm, already know our godly parents.'

'Percy', he offered.

'Are you a god?' asked Annabeth. 'If you aren't a demigod, then what are you? You can't be mortal either.'

Percy looked at her curiously. 'Both my parents are gods, but I am not immortal. It's… really complicated. Don't really understand it.'

Suddenly, the three demigods tensed as a howl was heard in the distance.

Percy looked at the open entrance. 'They are coming back. You need to decide, fast. If you're coming with me, we need to move.'

—

Percy

He sat with his back against tree, the small fire crackling in front of him. It was warm in daytime, but it could still get cold at night in the middle of the forest. Percy and the three demigods had left the warehouse, and set up camp an hour away from Baltimore, in the middle of the forest. Percy closed his eyes and leaned back, enjoying the smell of pine needles in the air. It reminded him of home, and the place he had been forced to leave behind. The past few months he had travelled constantly, and spent much of his time in big cities. He was learning more about the mortals, learning to blend into their crowds and mask his scent, a useful skill when hunting monsters. Although his eyes were closed, his other senses were on full alert. He could smell and hear even better than he could see. He could tell you the exact direction of the minuscule breeze that was flowing through the trees. He knew exactly what animals there were in a hundred-metre radius. If he listened carefully, the slow, thudding heartbeats of the three demigods filled his ears.

He opened his eyes, staring off into the darkness. Nothing moved, and Percy could feel no monsters approaching them. The air carried a certain smell, but the wind came from Baltimore, and that was a monster hotspot. The girl, Thalia, sat up slowly, huffing as if she had finally given up on sleep.

'Hey there.' She shrugged. 'Can't fall asleep, happens to me sometimes.' She smiled at Percy and stood up. 'Can I join you?'

Percy returned the smile. 'Sure, sit down.'

Thalia made her way over, stepping around the unconscious bodies of Luke and Annabeth. She was dressed in black leather, her spiky black hair being the finishing touch on the goth look. She had startling blue eyes, and she reminded Percy of someone… She sat down next to him, tucking her knees to her chest and looking out into the forest.

'How can you turn into a wolf?' she asked. 'When you tackled that giant, you were one big badass wolf. Now you aren't. Are you some sort of shapeshifter?'

Percy laughed. 'I'm not a shapeshifter. My mom is a wolf goddess, and she gave me some… special abilities. Turning into a wolf is one, but I also had great hearing and smell.'

'Like when you guessed our parents? You said Luke smelled like ink.'

'Yeah, you each have a particular smell, it's how monsters track you so easily. The more powerful the demigod, the stronger the smell.'

Thalia cocked her head. 'What do I smell like? You recognised me immediately.'

It was true. He had known the group were in that warehouse by following the smell of a child of Zeus. He hadn't felt a scent that strong since… since he first saw Jason at the Clearing. It was clear to Percy she was very powerful already, and had a lot of potential if she was trained properly.

'Like ozone. But really strong. No wonder they knew where you were, it was like putting alcohol under their noses and expecting them not to notice the smell.'

Thalia didn't respond, just looked at the stars above in the clear night sky. Percy did the same, his eyes immediately spotting constellations.

'Do you know who your dad is?'

Percy didn't say anything, and Thalia's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Finally, he responded in a whisper.

'Yes. But I can't tell you. It's a really big secret.'

'Oh yeah? So we are just supposed to trust you knowing there are things you don't tell us?'

Percy looked at her angrily. 'Just because I don't talk about my family doesn't mean I will slit your throats in the night! If it weren't for me, you would still be in Baltimore, either dead or still running, with no idea where you were going.'

Thalia glared at him, and he returned it, staring fiercely into her eyes. They held the stare for a few moments, until Thalia avoided his gaze.

'Sorry. I should trust you, you haven't given us any reason not to. It's just surviving in the wild forces you to be extra cautious about strangers, especially free help.'

Percy nodded, and they stayed that way for a while, watching the fire crackle and gurgle, listening to the many sounds of the forest. Finally, Percy broke the silence.

'I don't tell you about my family because the gods don't allow me to.' Thalia raised an eyebrow. 'I kind of work for them, and my parents are… a sensitive issue. They weren't meant to be together, much less have a child.'

'So what, you run missions for them down here? Were we a mission?'

'No, I just smelled you, and saw that you were being chased. I don't like demigods, or anyone really, dying on my watch. I'll take you to camp, you'll be safe there.'

'Where is it? The camp, I mean.'

'On Long Island. We are still far, but we can make it.'

Percy was not too sure about that last part, but he didn't say it out loud. He was sure he could make it, but three demigods as well? In the pack, if you were weak, or lagged behind, you died. Here, he had to save everyone, even if they were small and weak. It was all very new to him.

Thalia looked at him again. 'How old are you? You look younger than me, but working for the gods you could be thousands of years old.'

Percy laughed. 'I'm eleven, turning twelve in June. Just took this new job a couple of months ago.'

'That would make you… three years older than my brother would have been.'

'What do you mean?'

Thalia sighed. 'I had a little brother once. My mom lost him when he was two. It's why I ran away. He was two at the time.' A realisation hit him, and his eyes widened, but Thalia didn't notice, and she started to scramble up. 'Anyway, I'm gonna try to sleep. Night.'

'Wait! Do you have a surname?'

Thalia looked at him puzzled. 'Grace. Thalia Grace. But never call me that. Why?'

'No reason.'

Thalia looked at him strangely, and stumbled to sleep, but Percy's mind was racing. She knew who she reminded him of. He could see the resemblance between them, although he had met them at very different ages. Jason Grace had an older sister, and she was a Greek demigod.

—

Percy woke up early, even though he had sat through the watch most of the night. He woke up as a wolf, which didn't surprise him. It was a much more comfortable form to sleep in on the hard forest floor, and he must have switched without thinking. Fog hung in the air, which smelled strange to Percy. It wasn't monsters, at least not any he had ever encountered. He scouted the edges of the camp wearily, but saw nothing. It was a strange feeling, like he was being watched, but not by something that meant to harm them. He shook the others awake, his ears immune to their feeble protests. They shut up when they saw him ready and alert, looking into the trees.

'You see something?' asked Luke, gripping a golf club he carried with him.

Annabeth was up as well, her hair looking like a rats' nest, but her eyes wide open and gripping a gleaming celestial bronze knife.

'No. Just got a strange feeling', responded Percy. 'Like something is out there watching us. It has a particular smell, but I don't know exactly what it is. Don't think it wants to hurt us, but we should get moving. Some kind of goat, maybe?'

The trio of demigods looked at each other, puzzled, but decided to trust their new companion. They gathered everything quickly and they were off, walking at a fast pace along a narrow path. Percy longed to run, to turn into a wolf and sprint for miles. He reckoned he could be at the camp in less than two hours, if he really exerted himself. Moving so slowly was making him very nervous. They walked for two hours, the had a small break. They were off again after that, heading for a nearby town to try and find transport. Percy walked beside Luke, who had been eyeing him strangely for the past half hour, as if trying to ask something. Finally, Percy gave him a small grin.

'Do you wanna ask me something?'

Luke widened his eyes, then conceded. 'What did you mean back there? You know, when you said whatever was stalking us didn't want to hurt us. How did you know?'

Percy sighed. 'When you feel different emotions, chemicals in your brain combine to make you feel stuff. I can smell that. Things like fear, anger and hate are easy, others are more difficult.'

'So you can tell what people are feeling?'

'Not specifics, but I can usually get the general picture.'

Luke shook his head, and they kept going. It was getting darker, and the demigods were weary and tired. The path they had been walking on had turned into a road some time ago, the cracked asphalt littered with potholes. Suddenly, Percy caught a smell on a gust of wind. This one he recognised, and he especially hated the hellish creatures. He transformed, now towering over the wide-eyed demigods.

'They're here', he growled in his deeper wolf voice. 'Get ready.'

During the next few seconds, the forest was deathly quiet. Then, yellow pairs of eyes started to appear in the darkness, accompanied with intermittent snarls and growls, the occasional bark. The hounds started to come out of the shadow of the trees, gleaming fangs bared and salivating in anticipation. Thalia had drawn her spear and shield, which had the face of Medusa, and was trying to scare them off. Annabeth stood close to Luke, who had taken out his golf club and was staring the hellhounds down grimly. Percy made a head count. Thalia could take on two, maybe three. Luke and Annabeth another three. That left seven for him.

They attacked as one, hitting the hellhounds hard and fast. Thalia charged in yelling, and smashed the nose of the first one with her shield. Luke and Annabeth double teamed the first one, Luke smashing his club down onto the beast's head and Annabeth slitting its throat. Percy leaped into the air and landed in the middle of the monsters. He sent out strong feelings of fear, excluding the three demigods, and then proceeded to tear apart the terrified monsters with ease. In a matter of seconds, they were done, the floor littered with the beasts, which were starting to melt back into the shadow.

Percy looked back at the trio, who seemed to be unharmed. They were staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear, but Percy had gotten used to that look. Nevertheless, he morphed back into a human, and they seemed to relax slightly.

'Damn dude', said Luke. 'You could have taken them all by yourself.'

Percy grinned. 'I had to leave some for you guys. Who am I to rob you of your fun?'

Luke slapped his back, and Percy saw Annabeth carefully wiping the grime off her knife. Thalia retracted her weapons, now only looking slightly less terrifying, and they slowly set off down the road again. They passed a sign which said: WELCOME TO S-. The rest had faded out. Percy assumed they were close to the town, so they kept going for a while. Finally, the forest became thinner, and small houses started to appear along the road, which branched off in several different places. They saw some shops and restaurants, no form of transport they could use. Luke proposed stealing a car, and Annabeth gave him a hard glare. Finally, they set up camp in an abandoned house at the edge of the town, which had part of the wall collapsed in a big heap of bricks.

Suddenly, Percy caught the smell again. The goat thing. It was getting stronger, so it could only mean it was getting closer. He gestured to Luke, who hid behind the wall. On Percy's count, they tackled the thing, showing it to the floor. It let out a small yelp, and they looked at him incredulously. It had the upper body of a teenager, with a small wispy beard and a red Rasta cap on his head. He had a set of reed pipes hanging from his neck. His legs, however, were furry and thick, with large hooves at the ends. It was a faun, or a satyr for the greeks. It was him Percy had been smelling all day.

Luke looked at him threateningly. 'Who are you? Why are you following us?'

'Don't kill me', he squeaked. 'My name's Grover. I am here to bring you guys to Camp Half-Blood.'

So they found Grover, and are heading to camp. I made thalia slightly suspicious, as I thought she should be, and annabeth didn't have much dialogue, as I couldn't really imagine an eight year-old girl talking to the huge black wolf thing. Will Percy get them safely to camp, or will thalia go tree mode? What do you thnk?