Chapter 11, this one took less to write. Haven't really got much to say here, but thank you to everyone for reading my story. The last chapter got an insane amount of support, and I just want to say I'm so grateful to everybody that reads them and leaves reviews (that's you, yesse). Enjoy this one, will be posting again very soon.

Olympus Throne Room

Zeus launched another statue across the room, this time depicting the battle between Hercules and the Nemean Lion. It flew through the air, the ten-ton mass of rock weighing nothing to the king of the gods. It smashed against the opposite wall, almost one hundred metres away, its bits and pieces joining the others scattered on the marble floor.

'He has tested my patience enough!', bellowed Zeus. 'I will execute him at once!'

The rest of the gods present looked wary and nervous, many with twitching fingers towards their weapons. Demeter and Hephaestus were missing, but the rest of the council was present, watching arguably the most powerful being in the mortal world throw a godly tantrum.

'We all voted for his life, brother', said Poseidon. 'Even if you are king, you cannot ignore the will of the council.'

Zeus whirled around, his eyes blazing. 'I will do as I please, brother', he spat. 'The boy shouldn't be alive in the first place, and now he breaks the set of rules I gave him. I should blast him to pieces.'

'Please father, you must see reason', pleaded Artemis. 'He faced an incredibly dangerous foe carrying out the duty that you set him! If he hadn't gone to camp, he would have died, and it would have been saving your daughter's life!'

Zeus fumed. 'Indeed, because that worked out so well.'

'He still tried to save her. He travelled with her, led them safely towards camp and was even willing to die to save them. Are you going to kill him for that?'

'I should kill him for violating my rules! No contact with the camps, I made that clear.'

Hermes spoke up. 'Father, I must side with Artemis, and I am sure Athena will have a similar mind. He went beyond the duty we set him to save a group of demigods he barely knew. He should not be punished for using the only option he had to save himself.'

Zeus looked at her daughter, the smell of ozone pungent in the air. 'Athena?'

The goddess of wisdom looked wary, and reluctant to interfere in the conversation, but responded. 'Although I voted for his execution, his actions were heroic, and he did dispatch a very serious threat, completing his obligation. The only choice he had to survive, and so carry on doing his duty, was to go to Camp Half-Blood. If he hadn't, he would have died from his wounds. I would not punish him. On the contrary, I see him as a valuable weapon for dealing with future threats.'

Athena paused, looking around the room for any objections.

'I would propose that the rules set on him are relaxed. He should not be allowed to go back to the pack, but he should be given unrestricted access to both camps. If there is a war in the future, they will be strongholds for our forces and he will be a strategic part of our force.'

The throne room was silent, but many of the gods looked as if though they agreed, especially the three that had spoken in Percy's defence earlier. Zeus looked angry, but his grip on the master bolt had lessened slightly. Athena was almost always the voice of reason that brought Zeus back from his anger-infused frenzies.

'If we want Perseus to be as effective as possible at his job, we should give him advantages, not hinder him. Father, I know you devised the task you set him as a punishment, but he is more useful to us alive than dead.'

Zeus looked angry, but the smell of ozone hanging in the air decreased slightly. He placed his master bolt on the armrest of his throne, and looked dejectedly at the floor in front of him, realising what Athena had said was true. Artemis was looking at him hopefully, and Poseidon had a hand around the shaft of his trident, ready to intercept his brother if he had to. Hera looked downright murderous, as if she couldn't fathom why her husband hadn't already blasted the son of Lupa. Eerie silence reigned in the throne room for a few moments, and only the slight buzz of static could be heard around Zeus' throne.

'HYPNOS!', bellowed Zeus, his voice booming across the silent throne room like a thunderclap. There was a flash of light, and a young man appeared, tall and lithe, with pitch black hair. He was dressed in an oversized tracksuit, and had cloudy blue eyes. Noticing the anger coming off the king of the gods, he knelt.

'My lord?'

'Visit Perseus in his dreams. Tell him the rules we set upon him have been changed. He will be allowed unrestricted access to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, as well as any other resources or small bases we have. He will not, however, be allowed access to the Wolf House or contact with Lupa's pack. Also, talk to Iris. Let her know she will now treat Perseus' messages as she would an Olympian God. That means no need for drachmas and rainbows, as well as unlimited range and no faulty connection.'

Hypnos nodded. 'Anything else, my lord?'

'Yes', growled Zeus. 'Remind him the promise I made to him still stands. I am itching for him to give me an excuse to fulfil it.'

—

Percy

Percy sat with his back to the tree, looking down at the valley below. From here, he could see the Big House, with the volleyball courts in front of it. The cabins were next to it, twelve of them arranged in a U, one for each Olympian God. He could also see an amphitheatre, and huge expanse of woods behind it, almost reaching the beach. It was a peaceful view, and Percy had often came here to relax and get away from the prying eyes of the demigods. He sat on Half-Blood Hill, with his back to what had been christened as Thalia's tree. Three days ago, when Percy had been at camp for nearly a week, a magical barrier had spread from the trees, surrounding the entire camp, a protective dome to ward off any monster attacks.

It was a final gift from Thalia.

Even though he knew he had done all he could, and her death wasn't his fault, he still felt incredible guilt and regret. What if he had gone with them instead of staying behind? Would she still be alive? Percy shook his head. He couldn't afford to think like that.

He summoned his knife and started shearing off layers of bark off a stick, trying to pull his mind away from Thalia. He had had a visit from the gods in his dreams during his first night in Camp Half-Blood, and he was almost certain he was going to be summoned to Olympus and executed. However, to his great surprise, he had been given the right to go to both camps, and hundreds of safehouses and bases around the country. He had also been given godly clearance for Iris Messaging, whatever that meant. Hypons, the god who had delivered the message, had given him a small card, telling him he was now part of a small and privileged group. Percy had tried not to laugh.

Light footsteps to his right shook him from his thoughts. He turned and looked to see Annabeth approaching wearing a orange camp shirt and her celestial bronze knife gleaming at her belt. She sat down and smiled at Percy.

'I was wondering where you were. Do you come up here a lot?'

'Yeah', responded Percy. 'I like the view, and the little kids in the camp can get pretty annoying with the questions. Do you eat people? Does your fur itch? I swear they're worse than the harpies.'

Annabeth laughed. 'I guess they don't see giant wolves every day. Annoying kids aside, what do you think of this place?'

'It's pretty awesome', Percy admitted. 'As far as safe havens for demigods go, it's great.'

She stayed silent for a moment, looking out at the expanse of building below. Her expression turned serious, and she looked lost in her own thoughts.

'You're thinking about the prophecy again, aren't you?'

The blonde looked surprised. 'How do you know?'

Percy laughed. 'You've got your 'I'm thinking' face on.'

Annabeth sighed. 'It worries me, Percy. We heard it almost a week ago, and it still gives me chills. Olympus preserve or raze? That sounds horrible.'

Percy shuddered slightly. Just a few days after they had arrived at camp, Chiron had deemed them fit to hear what he called the Great Prophecy. He remembered Annabeth's stumbling over the words in the dark conference room, and it had been on the back of his mind ever since.

'Anyway', said Annabeth, brushing her hair behind her ear. 'You feel like coming down? I was about to head to the sword fighting arena.'

Percy considered this, and stood up. He twirled his knife in his hands, the single-edged blade whistling as it spun. 'You want to get destroyed again? You know I'm always in the mood for that, Owlface.'

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the nickname, and they started making their way down the hill, heading for the arena. The few kids that approached them were sent away by Percy's death stares, and he was immediately reprimanded by Annabeth. They passed the Big House, and Chiron waved at them from the wooden porch, obviously pleased to see Percy walking around. Seeing as he wasn't a demigod, Percy had been given a room in the Big House, so he had had many conversations with the centaur, and he had taken a liking to him. They passed the cabins, the arena looming in the distance.

'So how to you like your cabin?', Percy asked. 'Yours is the owl one, right?'

'Yeah, Cabin 6', responded Annabeth. 'It's pretty cool. It's got maps and stuff everywhere, and everyone really likes the same things as me. Our head counsellor, Dave, is designing a huge building in New York right now and…'

Percy tried to listen to her she talked passionately about architecture, but he really didn't understand a thing. He nodded when he thought he was supposed to, and Annabeth went on a rant, talking about structural support and whatnot. She seemed stronger and more confident already, quite different from the scared little girl he had saved at a warehouse in Baltimore. His eyes must have been glazing over, because Annabeth huffed, annoyed.

'and you're not listening to me. Whatever, we're here.'

Percy tried to protest that he had been, but she could see right through him. There was a class going on in the arena, led by a stocky son of Ares, so they skirted around to the stands and Annabeth started strapping on her armour. The demigods all trained in armour, as it helped them to get used to fighting and moving in it, but Percy did most of his fighting as a wolf, so he fought in his regular clothes. He was pretty sure that as a wolf he could take on everybody in the arena at once, but it didn't hurt to train with his knife once in a while.

He and Annabeth sparred in a corner, with Annabeth clad in bronze armour and fighting with her knife and a shield, while Percy fought only with his knife. He allowed the blonde to advance, dragging the fight on and fighting defensively. Annabeth looked to become a formidable warrior, and to the untrained eye, she already was. However, Percy saw obvious openings, delivering slow strikes towards them and forcing Annabeth to become aware of them and defend. If he wanted to, Percy could end the fight extremely quickly, and they were both aware of this, but it was good training for both of them.

Annabeth lunged at him, and Percy flicked her knife aside, barging into her shield and sending her stumbling. She tried to regain her balance, but he slammed his long curved blade into her shield, sending her to the ground. As she hit the ground, Annabeth rolled, delivering a strike with her shield to Percy's face as she came up. He ducked easily, slamming the hilt of his knife into her exposed ribs before backing off. As she wheezed, she shot him her best death stare, which was met with an amused grin by Percy. The fight continued for several minutes, with Annabeth not landing a single hit and getting ragdolled.

After being knocked to the ground again, she let go of her knife and shield, holding up two fingers in a sign of surrender. Percy helped her up, and they sat down in the shade of the stands, both sweating heavily.

'You're improving', said Percy as he drank from a nearby bottle. 'You lasted a lot longer than last time.'

'That's because you let me', growled Annabeth. 'I've seen you fight, and I know you can move faster.'

Percy grinned. 'But that would be no fun at all, would it?'

They laughed, and payed attention to the various fights that were taking place. Luke was sparring with Bruce, head counsellor for the Hermes cabin. They brandished heavy bronze swords, ringing loudly as they struck. Luke was the inferior fighter, but he was stocky and strong, and had obvious natural talent. Bruce pushed Luke back, forcing his sword downwards. Then, in a swift movement, he slammed the hilt of his blade with his sword, disarming him. In an instant, Luke found himself weaponless and with a sword point beneath his chin. He shook his head, disappointed with himself, and kept sparring.

They spent the afternoon in the arena, with Percy and Annabeth sparring a few more times. Percy fought a couple of older Athena kids, but they were no match for him. As the blazing heat of the sun lessened, an older boy walked over to him. His name was Blake Garcia, head counsellor for Ares. As opposed to most of the Ares kids, he had a leaner, more athletic build, but Percy had seen him fight. He moved fast, but could deliver some thundering blows when he wanted to. People had told him he was the best fighter the camp had had in a long time.

'Hey', he said with an easy smile. 'You're pretty good with that knife. Care for a spar?'

Percy smiled at him. 'You sure?'

Blake's eyes narrowed. 'Yeah. I think I am.'

People had started to look at the pair of them as they faced off, slight tension started to build around them.

'Ok, sure', said Percy, standing up. 'Weapons?'

'Just my sword.'

They moved to the centre of the arena, and all eyes were on them by now. Blake drew his sword, a metre of deadly sharp bronze. He swung it in front of him expertly. Some in the crowd gasped as Percy grabbed his knife out of the air. Blake hid it well, but he could see that even he was a little unsettled by the silver blade.

They circled each other Percy both crouched low with their weapons ready. Percy could literally hear his heartbeat and smell his anxiousness. It would be so easy to reach out and the fight would be his, but he stopped himself.

'No powers', Percy thought. 'This will do you well for pure fighting skills.'

Blake attacked first, coming it with a strong overhand swing. Percy ducked to the right, striking to the older boy's midsection, but he managed to jump out of the way. Percy pushed forward, forcing Blake to block a series of powerful blows. Percy exaggerated the last one, making it extremely obvious. At the last moment before the blades collided, he twisted his wrist and avoided the sword, making Blake stumble face first into the hilt of his knife. Blood supported from his nose, and Percy tripped him as he charged again.

He could have ended the fight there, but he backed off and allowed him to get up. Blake did, a vein pulsating in his neck in anger. Just like he did with Annabeth, Percy forced himself into a defensive position.

'It's a great exercise to improve by reflexes', Percy thought as he blocked the blows coming from the older boy's sword. 'It's also pretty fun.'

Blake struck blow after blow, yelling and grunting, but Percy danced around him with grace, ducking and weaving around his sword, flicking some strikes away with his knife. Blake feinted to the right, then went left, but Percy anticipated it, rolling underneath the strike. He parried the next blow with his knife behind his back, spinning and facing Blake again. By now, the crowd was thoroughly amused by the sight of their best fighter being humiliated by an eleven-year old boy.

His face red with frustration, Blake yelled and delivered a monster overhand strike. Instead of spinning away, Percy stepped into the older boy's guard, catching his blade with the hilt of his knife and holding him in a stalemate. Blake pushed with all he had, trying to force him to the ground, but Percy's face showed no signs of stress. He pushed Blake's sword away, punching him in the face as he did so. He had to be careful; if he didn't control his strength, Percy could very easily cave in his skull. Nevertheless, it was enough, and the older boy fell to the ground. Percy kicked his sword away, holding his knife to Blake's throat. He held up two fingers, and the crowd cheered.

As they started dispersing, Blake sat up groggily. He had a large bruise on his cheek, and his nose was bleeding freely, but he managed a smile. An Apollo kid came over to check on him, but he waved him away.

'Damn, kid. I'll make a note not to piss you off.'

Blake clapped Percy on the shoulder as he slowly stood up. He retrieved his sword and headed over to a group of Ares campers, who looked ready to make some taunting comments. Luke whistled at Percy as he approached him, a wide grin on his face.

'Wasn't that guy supposed to be, like, amazing?'

Percy smiled. 'He wasn't half bad. Had a strong nose.'

Luke laughed, and they started heading out of the arena. It was darkening, and it would be time for dinner soon. The sun was setting over the Sound, just barely touching the horizon. It cast a stunning orange glow across the camp, illuminating the clouds in the sky the same colour. It was incredible. As they were walking, he felt someone come up behind him.

'I told you you could move faster', whispered Annabeth.

—

The campers were gathered in the dining pavilion, and Chiron stood up to address them. In his centaur form, he towered over everybody. He stopped his hoof on the ground, and the crowd fell silent.

'Campers! Just a few announcements to make. I am pleased to say that this summer will see the reintroduction of chariot racing!' This drew a loud cheer from the demigods. 'Two teams will be selected from each cabin, and the first race will be held in a month. In addition, there have been some rule changes for capture the flag regarding-'

Percy stopped listening after that. It wasn't like he would be staying for capture the flag anyway. He had started to really like the camp, and the people in it. He didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to. He had plans to visit Philadelphia, as well as deal with some problems with the northern tribes of cynocephali. It was very important that the stream of weapons they received from the telkhines was cut off. He had a lot of work to do.

Chiron finished speaking, and the demigods stood up and headed to the braziers to give their offerings to the gods. Percy had a massive steak on his plate, and he cut off a large slice and dropped into the fire.

'To Athena', he thought. 'and Artemis. Let them give me strength and intelligence to carry out my duties as best as I can.'

He returned to his seat, which was a place in the main table with Chiron and Mr D, who was actually Dionysus. The god had voted for his execution, so Percy wasn't too keen to please him, but he still tried not to disrespect him. Although he was the wine god, Dionysus was still a strong deity.

'So', Chiron began. 'How do you find Camp Half-Blood?'

'It's a cool place, actually', responded Percy with a smile. 'I wasn't sure what to expect, but the people here have been really nice. I think Annabeth and Luke will say the same.'

Percy winced slightly, a shadow of pain passing his face as he remembered why Luke and Annabeth had made it to camp. Chiron didn't seem to notice, but if he did he hid it well.

'I also hear to had quite a show down at the arena this evening. Mr Garcia was met with quite a surprise.' Chiron raised an eyebrow.

'He's… alright, I guess.'

The centaur laughed good-naturedly. 'Children of Ares are great fighters, but they need to be knocked down a few pegs every once in a while.'

Percy smiled, looking out over the rest of the pavilion. He saw Luke and Annabeth sitting at their respective tables, laughing and enjoying themselves with their cabin. It reminded him of what he used to have in the Wolf House, an actual family, and a pang of pain crossed his heart. He forced it down, and looked at the empty plate in front of him. Dinner went by quickly, and he didn't really talk to anybody else. He walked out with the rest of the crowd, as sober look on his face as he cast a glance at Half-Blood Hill in the distance. Everyone was heading towards their cabins or the campfire, but Percy slipped away, walking silently towards Thalia's tree. He looked at hit sadly, then turned around as he heard footsteps behind him.

He already knew who it was.

In the silvery moonlight, Percy could see a pained look on Annabeth's face. Percy smiled at her, and she came forward, burying herself in his chest and wrapping her arms around him. He heard her sniff slightly before releasing him from her grasp.

'Where will you go?' She asked.

'I've got some places in mind. Cities that are especially overrun with monsters, places that are dangerous for demigods. I need to clean them up, and there are some dangerous beasts out there. I'll be travelling all around the country, you know, um, fighting stuff.'

Annabeth looked at him teary eyed. 'Be careful. And message us every once in a while. Did you already say goodbye to Luke?'

Percy nodded. 'I told him just before dinner. I think he took it pretty well.'

Annabeth looked at him, and hugged him again. 'If you get yourself killed, I will murder you', she whispered.

Percy laughed, and they separated. As Annabeth watched, Percy grew in size, his black fur melding in seamlessly with the darkness of the night. He shook his legs and tail, obviously pleased to be able to transform again. He could hear the campers singing along at the campfire, even the faint screeching of the harpies as they finished in the kitchen and got ready for their night duty.

He grunted at Annabeth, who smiled at him sadly, before setting off into the forest. After more than a week as a human, it felt refreshing to be running as a wolf through the forest, the sounds of the night accompanying him. He could sense several monsters, and thought about taking them out, but then he remembered that Chiron had told him they left monsters in the woods to test the campers. He ran, not too fast as to leave the forest behind immediately, but fast enogh to be able to enjoy the wind whipping around him. He could see perfectly, maybe even better than in daylight, and sprung from place to place with ease. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, taking in every smell and sound of the forest as it came alive in the night.

A chapter a camp. I've got a few ideas about what I want to do next, but would you guys like to see some chapters to do with Philadelphia and some completely monster-hunting related stuff or would you prefer it to be integrated with the actual story? Let me know! Stay posted for the next one.