Prince Hektor was a great warrior. The greatest Troy had to offer. But he had his limits. He did not think he was the greatest warrior in the world, by any means. The Greek's greatest warrior was supposed to be Achilles. Hektor thought he had a decent chance at beating the Myrmidon leader. But that got thrown out of the window when the freakish warrior in black had shown up. His first thought was that it was an interfering god. But when they returned to the palace, and he reported to his father, King Priam, what had happened, the look on his father's face was that of fear. Silently, he stood, and beckoned for Hektor to follow.

Together, they went to the royal library. Walking towards their oldest records, his father spoke.

"The warrior you saw this day. I believe I know who it is."

"Who, father? Was it one of the gods?"

"No. The gods would not take to the battlefield in such a manner. However, you are not far from the right answer."

Pulling a tome wrapped in dark leather from one of the shelves, his father sat and pulled a seat for him to do the same.

"You know the tale of how our walls were made, yes?"

"A punishment from Lord Zeus, for Lord Poseidon, if I remember correctly."

"Yes. As you would expect, Lord Poseidon and his house look upon our city, and our walls, with distaste. A painful reminder of his punishment. While Lord Poseidon was here, building these walls, the oceans would have been turbulent, and raged out of control, if it were not for his son, Atlantis' crown prince, taking control."

"That would be Lord Perseus, yes? The immortal demigod?"

"Correct. When Lord Poseidon's punishment here was completed, Lord Perseus came to our city, to bring his father home. At this time, some of our scribes and artisans took note of him. He had worn his armour of war to the city, as a mark of warning to us, saying that Troy should be wary of him, and of Atlantis."

Saying this, King Priam flipped through the tome, opening to a page with a drawing on it. Slowly paling, Hektor looked at the drawing.

The black armour, with its jagged layers The helm that covered the face of the combatant, with a faceplate, with black eye coverings. The cruel, clawed gauntlets. The dark, ocean green highlights its corners. And the cruel, jagged black sword, with the same highlighting. The same warrior.

"Father… you mean to say.."

"Yes. Lord Perseus, prince of Atlantis, has joined Greece against us."

Achilles was a proud warrior. And he believed himself to be the greatest of demigods and warriors. For years, he had believed that Perseus was nothing more than a myth. But now that the man stood before him…The power was literally rolling off of him in waves. Achilles' mother was of the seas. And Perseus was a prince of the seas. Achilles' instincts told him to be subservient. But his pride as the Myrmidon king screamed to do the opposite. His two parts settled to meet in the middle, and he held his ground. The first demigod had tossed a Trojan prince's head before their kings and asked to discuss strategy with them. With little hesitation, all but two of the lesser kings gave him full control of their armies.

So they fought. Every day, the armies of Troy opened their gates and charged outward, and the Greek forces did the same. But Achilles noticed something about Perseus. Two things, as a matter of fact. The first was that, in every battle, Perseus seemed to be looking around the battlefield, looking for someone, or something. And secondly, every night, once the battle ended, the Atlantean prince would return to the battlefield, sit, and watch. What he was watching, Achilles had no clue about. But, whenever he saw his face during these nightly excursions, Perseus had a small, barely perceptible smile on his face.

King Priam had finally allowed Paris to take to the battlefield, and he was thrilled. His people saw him as a coward, who had brought war to them, and then hidden behind their walls. Every sideways glance sent to him by a guard further increased his ire, and desire to fight. After almost a year of fighting, he donned his armor, picked up his bow, and stood on his chariot, charging out the gates along with the rest of his army. His driver was masterful, weaving through the battle, and allowing Paris to fire freely at the Greek troops.

Every arrow he fired felled another soldier, but these were all nameless, faceless grunts. No, Paris wanted the head of a leader, to regain his people's favor. Then he saw him. The man in black armour, although it was more red than black at this point, cutting through swathes of Trojans, swinging his cruel blade in deadly arcs, and slowly moving through their lines towards Aeneas. He took aim and fired an arrow, which soared towards the man's head. Paris grinned, he would be the one to slay the greatest demigod of all-

He caught it. Perseus caught the arrow in one of his clawed gauntlets. He observed it for a moment, before looking directly at Paris, and snapping the arrow in half. Ignoring Aeneas and his forces, Perseus turned to his men, said something Paris couldn't hear, and began to move towards him. Fear began to overtake Paris. Perseus hefted his blade and hurled it toward him. It landed in the throat of one of his horses, and the chariot screeched to a halt. Paris was hurled off and landed on his face on the bloodstained ground. He coughed out sand and mud, and got up, being pulled back by Hektor's own men, numbering two thousand at the start of the war, but now, they had lost five hundred men.

"Run, my prince! To the walls! He is coming!" Paris looked up. Covered in red, Perseus slowly moved towards him. Cutting through dozens of men. Fear overtook him, and he turned and ran. From behind him, he heard a growl.

"COWARD!"

Coward? Was it cowardice to run from death? Maybe. He didn't care any longer.

Perseus was enraged. They were not able to stop him, but the sheer number of men was too much for him to move through. They were piling on top of him, stopping him via pure mass. Paris was in the walls. The laws of the fates prohibited him from killing him now. While Paris was on the field, he was fair game. Once in the city…

Perseus was seeing red. He growled and seized the dozen or so men who had jumped on top of him, grasping the very blood in their veins. He took control of their hearts, and the men screamed. Slowly, they began to sweat, as their heartbeats went faster and faster. Then their hearts exploded. He turned around and vanished into a fine mist. The Trojans called a retreat, and the Greeks returned to their camps.

In his tent, Perseus yelled in frustration, throwing off his helm. He then remembered his blade, and summoned it to his hand, flicking it once to clean off the blood. He was furious. So close. He almost had him. He slipped off his armour, donning his more comfortable clothing, and threw himself down on his bed.

After a few hours, deep into the night, he felt a presence in his tent. He stayed still for a moment, before shooting out his arm, grabbing his sword, and placing it to the throat of the person in his tent.

Thanatos seemed more amused than concerned.

Perseus dropped his blade with a shaking hand

"Oh. Um... Hello?"

The god of death smiled lightly.

"Hello."

"Can I…do something for you?"

"You weren't on the field tonight. I missed you."

Perseus' face turned red.

"Oh! You um. You noticed me?"

"Well of course. Over the last few thousand years, you are likely the living being I've seen the most of. You've given me plenty of work over time."

"Right… Sorry about that."

"Don't be. It's my job, and it's nice to have a familiar face every now and then."

It was silent for a moment, as Thanatos smiled at Perseus, and Perseus was blushing, shuffling around nervously.

"Um.. Do you want to sit?"

"Sit?"

"Well… Yeah. I'd assume you'll be tired after clearing the field."

"That is thoughtful of you. Most do not think of me as someone deserving of... Notice, outside of fear."

"Well... As you said. We've sort of seen a lot of each other over the last few years, haven't we? You've cleaned up a lot of my messes, so, it's the least I can do. "

Thanatos slowly moved over to one of the chairs in the tent, and sat, resting his scythe next to him. Perseus sat in front of him.

They spoke for hours. After Perseus stopped blushing and stuttering, they got along beautifully.

"So you have to come from the underworld here, every night?"

"Yes. The war takes many lives. Contrary to what many think, I don't need to be at the death of every mortal in the world. My presence is only needed where there is a great amount of death. Souls can generally find their way to Charon's boat themselves, but when there are so many, who are killed without the rites of burial…They need help. I feel every death in the world, however."

"Interesting. It must be difficult, moving between the two realms so regularly."

"It is. The underworld is… different. A different world. There are a few set places where a mortal, or God, can enter or leave from. I do not need to actively take souls to one of these gates, I simply put the knowledge of their destinations in their minds. They make their way there, in their own time. As of late…Due to the war… I have had to come here often. The closest entrance to the underworld is quite a distance away. It tires me, I must admit."

"I could… Make a tent for you, here?"

Thanatos was visibly taken aback.

"You would invite death into your camp?"

"Well, only if you want to! I'll tell the men to not go inside, under any circumstances. I'll be the only one to enter, or if you want me to, even I'll stay out."

He was silent, as he mulled it over. Then he smiled again.

"Thank you, very much Perseus. That is kind of you. I'll take you up on that."

"Of course, Thanatos. It's the least I can do."

He stood up and picked up his blade.

"I must leave now. If you would like to speak with me;"

He pulled a small necklace, with a scythe blade hanging from it, from his robes.

"Hold onto this and say my name, I shall come to you, Perseus."

Perseus took the charm and put it around his neck.

"Thank you. It was lovely finally speaking to you. I would hope to do so again
"As would I. Thank you, Percy."
Percy. Nobody had called him that before. He liked it.

"Lord Perseus, if I may?"

Achilles had jogged up, walking next to Perseus as he was observing the tent that had just been put up for Thanatos, though nobody else knew that part.

"Yes?"

"In the last battle… I saw you take several blows from Trojan soldiers. You seem wholly uninjured. Do you have similar… Abilities, to my own?"

Percy tilted his head slightly towards Achilles before answering.

"No, Achilles, I do not share your blessing. The reason I appear to not take injury in battle comes to my armour, as well as my previous experiences in wars."

He held up his helm, from under his arm. Achilles took it, slowly, almost reverently. The material was a deep black, and it seemed to be actively sucking in the light from around it.

"It was a gift. The combined work of the elder Gods, given to me after hundreds of years in their service. Even I do not fully know how it was made. All I know is that it serves it's purpose well. It is rare that I find myself injured in it. But even the greatest armour in the world has it's weaknesses, Achilles. No matter it's nature."

The Demigod's Eyes, far too bright, seemed to dig into Achilles' soul.

Perseus had made a habit out of going to the shore at night. He had been here, on the shores of Troy, for five years now. He had not been to Atlantis, or to Olympus. He had not seen his Father, or Amphitrite, or Triton, in years. Nor had he seen any other god, spare for Thanatos, who he was quickly growing fond of. Since the god of death had taken to staying in the Greek camp, a few years ago, they spent almost every night conversing. Sometimes, Perseus would accompany him as he walked through the battlefield, releasing souls, and showing them on their way. It was always slightly strange when He recognized one of the faces. Either a fallen ally, or one of the Trojans he had personally… Removed.

Thanatos' company had proved invaluable. While he certainly did not mind the mortals; in fact, he often enjoyed conversing with Achilles, Odysseus, and Menelaus, there were many things mortals simply could not comprehend. Few beings had lived for longer than Perseus, after all. Thanatos was one of them. He, for Perseus, or Percy, as he insisted on calling him. Not that the latter was offended.

Despite his company, Perseus missed speaking with the other gods. The second-generation Olympians, especially. He owed them all some time. Despite the sheer dysfunctionality of the Olympian family, he liked to make an effort on his part. He was stuck with them, after all. He stood up from the bed in his room and stretched. He would tell Menelaus that he'd be gone for a month or so. He'd find out if something happened that needed him desperately, but his family needed him. No. He needed them, frankly.

He stepped out of his tent. There were Greeks training, all around the camp. Men from many different city-states, from under different kings. He walked towards the center of the camp, where King Menelaus and… Agamemnon... Stayed. Perseus disliked Menelaus' brother. He seemed to think of himself as someone above all others, and Perseus knew he did not actually care about his brother or Helen. He simply wanted to invade Troy.

Perseus nodded to the guards as he entered the tent. He bowed his head to Menelaus before he spoke, pointedly ignoring his brother.

"King Menelaus"
"Lord Perseus."

"I will be absent from the camp for the next two months… Give or take a few days. In my absence, my tent, as well as the one made next to mine, are not to be entered under any circumstance. If someone does, I will know, and they will die. If a truly dire circumstance arises, needing my attention; send a prayer to my brother Triton in Atlantis. He will contact me. Clear?"
"Certainly my Lord."

Then Agamemnon had to butt in.

"Where are you going?"
Percy didn't bother to look at him.

"Family matters, Agamemnon. Nothing of your concern."

"On the contrary, if there is something of import with the gods, I would certainly like to know."
"I'm certain there are many things you would like. You will learn to do without. Is there anything you would need of me before I leave, King Menelaus?"

"None, my Lord."
"Excellent. I shall depart shortly. Please, have your men inform the other kings as well."

"It shall be done."

Percy nodded and left.

Walking toward the shore, he breathed deeply and stepped into the ocean. Into his realm.

A/N

Hey guys! Lovely to be back, updating again after my finals. I've got a few months off so chapters will be far more frequent. It's my birthday today! Wanted to drop a chapter for you guys, I had a great day. Got some friends over, and my boyfriend too, after entirely too long. Anyhow, that's enough about me. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll see you soon. Peace.