AN: So wow a big response to the last chapter, most of which was positive! Thanks a lot for all the support, I really appreciate it!
That said there were a few issues raised which I will endeavour to cover in the AN at the bottom if you are interest. For now though, as a cheers for the support I have a monster of a chapter for you, I hope you enjoy!
Thanks for reading and all the support, I hope you continue to read, review and enjoy etc!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.
( - )
(Last Time)
"See you when the job is done then." Percy replied with a slight laugh, even as he saw Alecto fade into the shadows. He really did enjoy messing with Hades' Furies. Though that said, he did have to ensure he didn't go too far, after all Hades was one of his most frequent, and generous employers.
Turning back to his bed, he quickly gave it a once over to make sure he had collected up all of his stuff, only to pause as noticed a file waiting innocuously for him on his pillow.
Sighing at the sight of the file, he scooped it up and opened it, and then began to read the short profile he had received on both of Hades' children. As he continued reading the file a smile slowly crept onto his face. "So Maine then... sounds fun!"
( - )
Chapter 2
( - )
(With Percy)
Percy Jackson was not happy, not happy at all.
Looking around at his surroundings, the reasons for his displeasure were obvious, the dark-haired Demigod had somehow found himself travelling on the back row of an overcrowded bus to some shitty Military Academy in the middle of nowhere.
Now one might be asking what exactly he, Perseus Jackson, Son of one god or another, was doing taking a bus of things. Especially if one was to consider the fact that Percy had found out he had the ability to fly.
A highly useful and unique skill to him it appeared, a Demigod ability he called 'Meteor', which when he used it, enshrouded his body in glowing, golden light, and which massively increased his speed, and allowed him to fly, almost like a shooting star.
Again, due to Percy's access to this ability, it certainly begged the question of just why he was sitting on a noisy, sweaty bus. Sat just in front of a rather large, heavy woman, who at that very moment was talking very loudly to her friend and ignoring the fact that her brat/baby was screaming and shrieking in her arms.
In all honesty, though, the reason was actually quite simple. It was all so he could travel under the radar so to speak. After all, he was travelling to Westover Military Academy for a reason. He was heading there to find and safely extract two brats, sorry, children of Hades, before returning them to their father.
Which on paper sounds simple enough, especially for a highly effective, morally ambiguous, and skilled Demigod like Percy. Except of course, that he would rather fulfil this mission without attracting the attention of Zeus, the God of the Sky and Thunder, and the rest of the Olympian Council. All of whom, if they found out what he was doing, would no doubt kill him and the children of Hades.
Turns out the gloomy God of the Underworld and the Dead, was not a particularly popular person up in Olympus. Go figure.
Not that Percy was all that surprised. After all, he had met tall dark and creepy three times now, and he had to say the guy didn't seem like he would be the life and soul of the party.
In fact, the guy was a bit of a prick. Then again, he was a prick that paid, so there was of course that, which did go in his favour in regard to Percy's opinion on the God of the Dead.
Sighing slightly as he tried to block out the sound of the screaming baby, Percy picked up the folder Alecto had given him and began to flick through the last few details of the school he was going to, in order to "break out" the two brats of Hades.
Bianca and Nico D'Angelo, siblings, an older sister, and younger brother, both of whom were born in the early 1900s. He had to say their story was almost as miserable as his own. Then again at least they had known their mother before they lost her, Percy hadn't even had that chance before he was thrown away like day-old milk.
Either way, his own shit show of a backstory aside, they had apparently been put into a casino by their father back in the 1940s after their mother had been killed by Zeus and been left there for decades without realizing it. Apparently, they had not aged a day as the Lotus Hotel and Casino somehow stopped people from ageing…
Hmm, convenient, maybe he should give the place a whirl sometime?
Still, though, Percy considered being abandoned by both his godly father and mortal mother and dumbed in an orphanage, and then sent from place to place, unwanted and unloved, was considerably worse. He had to grow up in Canada for fucks sake, and French Canada to make it worse!
Not that the people weren't pleasant and the scenery spectacular. It was just bloody cold, and dark and wet! Three things Percy despised!
He was more of a beach person than a mountain guy.
California, Spain, Portugal, Barbados, and Italy that was his kind of place.
Canada, Alaska, and Minnesota, not so much!
Still, the system had toughened him up and forced him to rely on himself and to always look out for number one. Again, he blamed the lack of parental figures in his life, that, and the fact that no fucker had ever loved him, or even given him a hug. The arseholes!
Not that Percy was bitter or anything like that.
No, he was awesome and wouldn't have changed a thing in his life! Who knows what kind of a person he would have been, had he been brought up in a loving home, with a doting mother and a half-decent father?
Shaking his head at that thought, Percy pushed away his musings on his poor childhood and the reason why he was the way he was.
Instead, he focused on the matter at hand, the plan.
Now Percy, in his own humble opinion, was a fairly experienced Demigod at this point. He had been travelling the world since he was twelve, he'd been forced to grow up early on and had honed his skills and abilities in many battles and fights. During this time, he had fought both mindless beasts and intelligent humans and monsters.
Three years he had been in this life, and already he had amassed quite a bit of money and acquired a wide range of divine items and spoils.
The instinctive mastery of his Demigod abilities, and natural talent for archery and swordsmanship had all made him a calculated, and ferocious killer. On top of which he was pretty good at tactics and planning too if he did humbly say so himself.
Born with a low, sly, devious cunning, and a complete disregard for respect or propriety, that is how one orphanage matron had described him.
That said though, despite all of this, the plan that Percy had come up with to extract the Hades' brats was so simple that even an eight-year-old could have thought of it.
The academy was apparently holding its annual party, one which they apparently held every year before the school broke up for the Christmas Holidays.
From what he had read on the school website the party was going to be taking place in the school's gym and would be running from 6 pm to 10 pm.
This meant that there would be a lot of people in the gymnasium, having a good time and dancing around to music, which in turn should give Percy plenty of cover to find the two children, quietly extract them, and then hand them off to the waiting Alecto, all without being noticed.
Basically, he was going to waltz into the school under the guise of a student, kidnap them, incapacitate the kids if necessary, and then dump them with Alecto who would be waiting in the shadows outside for him. Far enough away that she wouldn't reveal their identities, or endanger them, but close enough that Percy would only need to get them out of the school grounds to hand them off to her.
Already he had changed his clothing into something more fitting of a school dance; including a crisp, white shirt, a pair of plain, black trousers, black, polished shoes, and a black school blazer, emblazoned on the breast with the school crest, with slightly puffed-up white shoulder pads.
Yes, it looked ridiculous, but it was also the mandatory academy dress uniform, and unless he wanted to stick out like a sore thumb, he would have to wear it. Overall, he just looked like a normal teenager going to a dance, it would make his job easier if he blended into the crowd, and would make it so people asked fewer questions.
Plus, he had a spare change of clothes in his ever handy, and convenient expanded satchel.
A screeching sound and a slight jolt suddenly pulled Percy from his thoughts. Looking up, he saw that the bus had finally come to a stop. There was already a small group of similarly dressed teenagers queuing to get off.
Looking out of the window Percy could see the dark silhouette of a gothic-looking building in the distance, the view easily matching the picture of the school he had found on the internet.
Getting to his feet Percy happily joined the back of the now moving queue, glad to finally be getting off the bus and away from screaming babies.
The other teenagers around Percy didn't bat an eye as he joined them on their slow trudge up to the school from the bus stop, clearly thinking that he was just one of the many nameless younger years that the older children never bothered to get to know.
As he walked behind them Percy smirked as he heard the group of boys bantering about how they had been able to 'score some beers' for the upcoming dance, which of course led Percy to believe that these older students had been off somewhere they shouldn't, which in turn would mean that they would have to sneak in.
A popular saying Percy had heard was that 'there was always safety in numbers, which was why he was more than happy to follow behind the older teens and sneak into the school the same way they did.
( - )
(Sometime later)
Things had been going so well, to begin with. Percy had easily been able to get into the school, sneaking through an open window with some of the giggling, chuckling older students, who amusingly enough had threatened him with a 'beating' if he told on them. After which he had made his way to the school's main hall, with no one even glancing in his direction as he strolled into the busy, gaudily decorated hall as if he belonged.
Upon entering he had noted that the hall/gymnasium was some hundred meters long and was probably sixty or so meters wide, if not slightly more.
Not long after entering, Percy quickly noted the dozens of boys, from ten to seventeen/ eighteen, wearing their Academy dress uniforms, and girls of similar ages, wearing an assortment of gowns and dresses that varied in colours and styles, scattered about in clumps all around the room.
Looking around upon first entering, Percy smiled as he saw just how crowded the gym was, more so than he would have thought. It would make smuggling out the brats a piece of cake, even if there were monsters already converging on this point.
Unfortunately, however, things soon went wrong. After all, moments after entering the hall, and taking a dozen or so steps inside, Percy quickly zeroed in on three demigods, each of them standing out immediately, not only because of the faint, barely perceptible scent they gave off. But also, because they were all wearing their own casual clothes whilst the rest of the hall was in either the academy dress uniform or in dresses, so yeah, they visually stood out. Yeah, there were three additional Demigods present, and not a single one of them were one of the ones he was looking for.
The first demigod he spotted was a girl who had golden blonde, curly hair that went down to her shoulders and sharp, grey eyes that seemed to dart around as if she were attempting to look at and analyze, everything she could.
The next one was a boy who looked maybe a year or two younger than Percy, probably around thirteen or fourteen. He was relatively tall for his age and had the build of a swimmer. Though, from the way he walked, Percy could tell that he was also a fighter. That said, he didn't look like he was especially well-trained, but he still looked like a fighter. So, a natural one, if not a well-trained and experienced one.
Upon seeing the boy's green eyes and his black hair though, Percy was able to recognize him, his lip curling upwards at the site of him.
He was Theo Jackson the Son of Poseidon; he had heard mention of him.
Apparently, he was some up-and-coming big, shot hero who had won some recent recognition after completing a quest to find Zeus's Lightning Bolt. Percy didn't really know much more, as he usually stayed away from the different Demigod Camps. After all, although he was more than happy to engage with other Demigods outside of the Camps, he didn't want to do so when they were in them. After all, there was a chance they would try and trap him into going, and for some reason that made him distinctly uncomfortable.
That said, he had paid more attention to Theo, or rather Theseus Jackson's story, especially when he heard the familiar last name.
That said, looking at him now. Percy quickly dismissed any real connection. The boy's eyes were different to his own, and his build was different. His facial features, although similar in regard to the shape of their noses, were otherwise noticeably different. On top of which this was the Son of Poseidon!
Now, Percy did know that his mother had abandoned him after another god, not his father, waltzed into her life. But would she really have spat out another Demigodly child, with this one being fathered by one of the Big Three?
It was possible, but looking at the boy from across the room, Percy couldn't help but dismiss any familial connection. It was a coincidence that they had the same last name, nothing more. Plus who knew, maybe Jackson wasn't even his mother's last name, it might just have been a generic one slapped on the young baby Perseus at the orphanage.
No, this boy was just another stranger.
Just a Demigod like any other.
He was beneath his notice.
Nodding his head resolutely at that thought and pushing down the sudden knot that had formed in his stomach at the sight of the other boy.
Percy instead looked to the last member of the group.
Upon looking over at her though, the final Demigod of the group quickly caught Percy's eye. Out of the trio she looked to be the most competent, and by far the most dangerous!
Looking at her stance and the way the blonde girl seemed to defer to her he was able to come to the conclusion that she was either the leader of the quest or at least the most experienced in the group.
The main reason he was able to tell this was that he could see her manipulating the mist, which was basically a worldwide, divine, god-level illusion that covered the entire world and hid the divine from mortals.
Luckily though it didn't work on Percy, because as a Demigod he could see through it. Focusing in on the girl though, he quickly noticed how she was directing and manipulating the Mist with just a single hand, using it to cover both her and her friends from any scrutiny, after all, if she didn't, they would be called out on the fact that her group were clearly not supposed to be here.
Percy had to admit it, he was jealous. He had always been shit at manipulating the Mist, though that might mainly be because he didn't have a proper teacher, and hence didn't know how to do it properly. Despite this though, the fact that this girl, who looked barely older than him, was manipulating it on a large scale with ease, was still irritating.
Deciding to ignore what she was doing Percy turned his eyes onto the girl herself, and he had to say he liked what he saw.
Her hair was raven black and cut quite short, with it then being styled to be spiky, the look was quite striking as it was not one Percy saw often. Her frame was also slight and lithe, and she was fairly short probably about two or three inches shorter than his height of five foot ten inches.
But the thing that stood out the most to him was the power that she was exuding, it was intense, probably more so than the Theo Jackson boy. Though Percy would grudgingly admit he was strong too. Not as strong as Percy though, or at least not in his humble opinion. But still, for her age, she was powerful, so much so that he was surprised he hadn't heard of her before!
It was only as she turned around to look in his direction, her electric blue eyes seemingly searching for something in the crowd that he came to a realization.
She was a Daughter of Zeus! He had met another child of the god's Roman aspect, Jupiter, just a few months ago. The boy had been maybe a year or so younger than Percy and had been on a quest when he had met him. But still, he also had those exact same electric blue eyes as the girl and the same powerful presence, though again not as intense as this girl's, then again he was younger.
"Both another child of Zeus as well as a son of Poseidon? Strange coincidence that all three of the Gods who swore not to have children would all have children running about the world at the same time..." Percy chuckled to himself; he always found it amusing how these things worked out.
Turning his gaze back to the girl, Percy found himself sizing her up, she did seem very powerful, but Percy was fairly positive that he could beat her handily if they were to fight.
For one he probably had more fighting experience than the girl. After all, where she had probably been being pampered and looked after in Camp Half Blood all these years, he had been roughing it out on the street.
Plus, she likely only had the experience of properly fighting monsters. While he had experience fighting both monsters and other Demigods.
Then finally there were her abilities. The powers that most children of Zeus wielded were well-known. She would either wield, with a high degree of control, either wind or lighting or maybe both. Physically she, like the other children of the Big Three, would also probably be stronger, faster, and more agile than most other Demigods too.
This was was something he already knew.
He, however, had a set of abilities which, as far as he knew, were unique to him, and thus unknown to most. On top of that even he didn't know who his father was, so the chances of his enemies knowing were slim to none, and so therefore were his father's Domains and any weakness he might have.
Again, he didn't know this either. But he had, through years of trial, error and testing, and his own natural affinity for his abilities; worked out what his Demigod abilities were and how to use them, plus he had developed his skill with them and worked out their weaknesses.
Either way, if they were to fight, Percy would have all the advantages and so was pretty sure he would win hands down. The same would be true were he to get into a fight with the child of Poseidon and the child of Athena too.
That said if he were to face all three of them at the same time... Well then, he might be in trouble. A child of Poseidon and a child of Zeus were both individually two powerful foes when backed up by a child of Athena too.
Well, it would be a very difficult combination to overcome. Or at least it would, if he were not able to use the element of surprise to strike first!
Shaking his head at that, Percy turned his eyes from the group for now and turned his attention to the rest of the hall, his eyes scanning his surroundings as he tried to find the two children of Hades.
He tried to sense them but came up with nothing. It shouldn't be too difficult as the children were quite distinctive, or at least their pictures made them look quite distinctive.
He only wished he could use the Mist, after all then he could be a bit more noticeable in his searching, all under the cover of the Mist.
Unfortunately, though he couldn't, and even if he could, he doubted his actions would pass unnoticed considering the other group of Demigods in the room. And as he didn't fancy fighting off three demigods whilst also searching for his targets, all whilst avoiding detection from Olympus, it appeared like he would have to search for his quarry in the quieter, more subtle way.
( - )
(With Thalia)
Thalia was concerned, for the last few minutes she had had the uncomfortable feeling of someone watching her.
Upon feeling she was being watched, she had given up on observing the two new Demigods her satyr friend, Grover, had pointed out to them and had instead started scanning the crowd looking for their watcher.
The reason she was so concerned of course, was because she was currently using the Mist to avoid detection. Strictly speaking, nobody should be able to see them, not unless they were able to see through the Mist. Now there was a chance it could just be a clear-sighted mortal, a mortal able to see through the Mist, but they were insanely rare! More likely was that it was a powerful monster!
Her thoughts, however, were soon interrupted by Grover. The satyr in question was wearing the academy dress uniform; with the most distinctive thing about him being his curly red hair and his goat legs which were currently hidden under his trousers.
Previously, he, like the rest of them had been keeping an eye on the Di Angelo children, waiting for the right opportunity to get them out of there before the monster Grover had been smelling found them. But now though he was looking around just like Thalia, only his eyes were wide in fear.
"What's the matter, Grover?" Thalia asked, her voice quiet as she looked at her now nervous-looking friend.
"There is someone else here, someone powerful!" Grover replied quickly, his eyes scanning the crowd as he tried to lock onto the person he was smelling. He had caught the scent a while ago but had dismissed it as just a legacy due to the scent being weak. But it had quickly become stronger and stronger, no doubt as the person in question drew nearer, so much so that he could no longer ignore it.
"A Demigod?" Thalia asked, suddenly on guard.
"I don't know it smells similar, but different I can't quite describe what it smells like!" Grover said, his body began to calm down slightly as he got used to the potent scent, though he was still not able to lock in on it, not with Thalia, Annabeth, Theo and the Di Angelo children being in such close proximity.
Upon hearing this Thalia became even more concerned. Now it seemed that there was some unknown Demigod running around, along with a powerful monster.
This did not look good.
Turning around she decided to announce to the rest of the group that they would take the two Demigods now, things were getting too complicated.
There were becoming more and more variables that could potentially interfere. It was with this in mind that she decided it would be best to take the first move.
With that in mind, she turned around to tell the others. Only for her to find herself face to face with her blonde friend, Annabeth Chase, a daughter of Athena, a frown present on her face as she opened her mouth to say something.
With a sinking feeling, Thalia knew that whatever she was going to say wouldn't be good.
( - )
(With Percy)
Percy had been searching the hall for several minutes, searching through the busy hall as he tried to spot two gloomy-looking children in the sea of colourful dresses and excited faces. Only for his attention to once again fall upon the trio of Demigods.
The blonde girl had just run up to the daughter of Zeus and began muttering something to her. Whatever it was she was saying though, must not have been good judging by the daughter of Zeus's scowl.
Looking at the group again he noticed that one of them was missing, the son of Poseidon was gone. Flicking his eyes around the hall Percy tried to catch sight of him, but as he searched, he was unable to find anything.
Turning back to look at the others he saw that they too had begun to leave the hall.
Scowling slightly Percy decided to follow.
So far, he had been unable to find Nico or Bianca, which led him to believe that they may no longer be in the hall. And judging by the absence of the son of Poseidon and the fact the others were leaving, he was able to conclude that maybe they had found the children of Hades before Percy had and were already in the midst of taking them away.
Quickly exiting the gym Percy's body soon disappeared, his dark eyes flashing a faint gold for a single moment before he completely vanished from sight.
Slowing his breathing, and lightening his footstep, Percy then quickly sped up as he continued to follow the sound of the Demigod's retreating footsteps, with the now invisible Demigod soon leaving the school by the main entrance and heading out onto the grounds as he continued to track his new quarry.
Upon exiting the school, the large moon overhead lights the way. Percy's form momentarily became visible once more, but only for a moment before he disappeared again, his sharp eyes flicking around the grounds as he did so, before focusing on the rest of the Demigods in the distance.
His dark eyes narrowed as he saw them running into the woods. Looking further he could make out four other figures heading deeper into the forest just ahead of the running Demigods.
His decision made Percy become visible again and quickly dropped his satchel on the ground and pulled off his constricting school blazer and tie. He then pulled out his Stygian Iron breastplate from the bag and put it on, his nimble fingers move quickly, and with practised ease.
Within moments he was buckling on a pair of Celestial Bronze gauntlets, even as he stuffed his blazer and tie back into the bag, and then pulled on a slightly battered-looking brown, leather jacket over the top.
With that done, Percy's body took on a golden glow, even as he then rapidly began to bolt across the open space in front of him. His body felt far lighter than before, as he shot forwards with incredible speed. Another handy facet of his ability, not only could he fly, but he could also massively increase his speed, even if in doing so he lightened his body, and thus any physical attacks he made whilst moving at this speed.
Still, he was not the kind of person to complain about a weakness that he had already learned how to overcome. Instead, he kept his mind on the matter at hand, as he easily crossed the distance in barely thirty seconds and entered the forest that the other Demigods had disappeared into.
The trees soon blurred past him as he shot through the heavily wooded forest, trying as he did so to dim the golden glow which surrounded his body, even as he cursed his inability to go invisible when using this facet of his power. It was like trading stealth for speed.
Soon after entering the forest though, he came to a stop. His feet landed soundlessly on the branch of a tree, the branch barely moving as he settled on it. Only for the branch to then let out a slight creak and wobble as the golden glow around him faded, and he brought his hand up to his neck. Pulling the miniature Khopesh from the chain around his neck as he did so, the charm soon expanded to form the signature curved blade made of Celestial Bronze.
With this done, he leapt back down to the ground and continued on foot at a steady pace, his sword in his hand and his eyes glowing a faint golden as he looked through the dark forest, his eyes piercing the blanket of night with ease.
Soon enough, he caught up to the rest of the group, all of whom were in a small clearing that led up to a cliff, where the ocean lay hundreds of feet below.
Taking this all in, Percy quickly noticed how the son of Poseidon was trying to get the two children of Hades away from a strange-looking man who had, what looked like a scorpion's tail sticking out from below his trench coat. So a monster then!
Gritting his teeth at this, and at the monster's proximity to his targets, Percy's gaze flickered over to the other Demigods. Each of them had their own respective weaponry in hand as they tried to fight off the man, and the small hoard of monsters he seemed to command.
The daughter of Athena noticeably wielding a small, yet sharp looking, Celestial Bronze combat dagger. Whilst the child of Poseidon was wielding a long, beautiful, leaf-shaped sword. The daughter of Zeus meanwhile was using a spear that crackled with lightning, bolts of the stuff dancing and arcing up and down the shaft, whilst in her hands there was a copy of Athena's shield, Aegis.
The girl noticeably used the two in tandem as she used the enchanted nature of the shield to make any who looked upon it cower in fear, before using her lightning enshrouded spear to impale them.
A grin stretched across Percy's face as he saw this, even as he took a step forward, idly twirling his Khopesh in hand as he did so.
He could already feel his blood pumping wildly in his vein as it did anytime he saw combat. On top of which he could also already feel his heart beating like a war drum.
Bending his legs slightly, Percy exploded forward in a blur of motion, his form fading in patches as he did so until it looked like he was seventy per cent invisible. This way he was more likely to surprise and confuse his enemies than if he charged in fully invisible. Plus it turned out he couldn't turn divine metal invisible like he could himself, or not when it was in its true form. The faint glow all Celestial metal gave off regularly put pay to that idea.
Still, it was only a slight imposition, and one he could overcome. Plus, there was no point in going fully invisible anyway, after all, monsters could smell the powerful scent coming off him and track him by that alone.
Wasting no time at all, Percy charged into the battle, his feet digging slight trenches into the snowy ground as he did so, and a maniacal grin spreading across his face as he closed in on the enemy. It had been far too long since he had last fought hand-to-hand properly.
Normally he just used his bow, and enhanced eyesight, just for the sheer efficiency, seriously a bow that hit like a truck and the ability to fly. It almost took the fun out of it knowing that, if you take your enemy by surprise, you could snipe a person down instantly with a headshot from more than two hundred feet away.
Again, he used this tactic on his kill quests, just because it was so effective. But still, it did not have the same thrill to it that battling against a foe with a blade did. Maybe because it was not as elegant, or not as challenging as fighting a foe with a blade was.
Soon enough Percy made contact with the enemy, dodging down low as he avoided the powerful swing of a Laistrygonian Giant. With him ducking beneath its' extended arm for a moment, before he shot up and used his curved blade to slash its throat, the Celestial metal cutting through the thick monster's hide with ease, ignoring how the monster exploded into golden dust Percy continued moving. His legs pumping as he made for where the man holding the Di Angelo children was.
As he moved, he spun to one side, avoiding an arrow which nearly took him in the leg curtsey of a bow wielding Empousai, only to dash in close and disarm her, literally, with a swing of his blade. Before he dispatched another two more with swift slashes, different parts of his body faded in and out of sight as he moved, even as his blade, gauntlets and cuirass remained visible.
'Idiot' Percy thought lashing out with his blade as he hamstrung another giant, just before it could smack the struggling son of Poseidon in the back with its' club. The boy in question once again proved that although he had a natural talent with a blade, he lacked either the confidence or the experience to truly excel in sword fighting.
Ignoring the startled spawn of the sea for now, Percy instead closed in on the man with the scorpion-like tail, the man forcing to dodge to the side to avoid several spikes the man sent his way. The man's dark, cruel eyes flicked to and fro as he tried to follow Percy's rapid movements, no doubt using his inhuman eyesight, sense of smell and hearing to do so.
Darting forward, Percy saw how the son of Poseidon was up in front, taking cover behind his gleaming bronze shield, as the spines were being continuously fired by the man.
Heading for the monster, Percy ended up being intercepted by a sword wielding Empousai. The female monster in question screeched as she rushed Percy, her scarlet eyes flashing with menace even as she swung her blade at him.
Scowling at this interruption, Percy lashed out with his Khopesh parrying one of her swings, before he took a step back and parried another. His dark eyes narrowed as blood sucking Empousai lunged at him again, proving herself to be a fair hand with a sword as the two clashed two more times. Only for Percy to then catch her leaf-shaped blade in the curve of his Khopesh and twist it aside, leaving the monster open.
Something Percy took advantage of as he became even more visible than before, his hand lunging forwards and clasping her face for a moment. The palm glowed a bright orange for a mere second, before the Empousai screamed, her eyes bursting within their sockets even as her skin rapidly darkened and bloody steam exploded from her mouth and eyes.
Releasing her a moment later, Percy watched dispassionately as the monster crumbled into golden dust. But just for a moment before his free hand lunged out and caught up her sword.
Spinning as he did so, he then thrust the stolen sword forwards and straight through the heart of a Scythian Dracaena that was attempting to sneak up on him. His Khopesh whipped forward a moment later to decapitate the female monster a split second later.
Huffing at the inconvenient distraction, Percy turned back to the monster in charge. Lunging forwards as he did so, parts of his body once again went invisible.
His eyes narrowed as he rushed in close, ignoring the son of Poseidon's shout of shock and the monster's snarl of anger. As he instead darted forwards, his blade swung through the air in a bronze blur, even as it cut through a part of the monster's tail, causing the man to let out a shout of pain, his hands losing their grip on the Di Angelo children's shoulders.
Taking advantage of the situation Percy lashed out with a straightforward Spartan kick, straight into the monster's chest. The blow knocked the off-guard monster back a few steps, and then onto his arse. Not that Percy paid him much attention, as he instead lunged forward and grabbed the two children.
His dark eyes flashed golden as he then dragged them backwards and through the ongoing melee, ignoring the nearby daughter of Athena's shout and the son of Poseidon's shocked exclamation as he instead bodily hurled them ahead of him and towards the nearby tree line.
"Head for the trees, get out of here!" Percy snarled, his Khopesh once again swinging as he cut down three more monsters that attempted to kill him, and then a couple of tail spikes from the monster. His eyes flicked from the children of Hades to the much-depleted band of monsters around him, even as he willed them to run into the forest.
Meeting his gaze, the older sister nodded, concern for the welfare of herself and her brother overtaking her confusion and fear as she grabbed her brother's hand tightly and did as Percy bid. Both of them sprinted the last half a dozen feet to the forest and made for the cover of the nearby trees. Even as Percy continued to cover their retreat, his blade swishing through the air like a golden blur as elegant swordsmanship gave way to brutal butchery.
Unfortunately, before she could get more than a few feet into the forest, Bianca, the girl, was clipped, and knocked to the floor by a falling, half-dead Laistrygonian Giant and sent unceremoniously onto the floor, even as her brother continued running, disappearing into the forest as he did so. All his other senses had been overtaken by fear, and instinctual desire to flee that which scared him.
Seeing this Percy cursed, even as he continued to back away from the head monster, heading for the dazed daughter of Hades. This mission had turned into a real shit show!
Letting out a roar of anger the scorpion tailed monster lunged for Percy, black blood pouring from his wounded tail. Several more spines shot out as he focused his attention on Percy, even as the Demigod gave ground, backing away in a tactical retreat as he drew ever closer to the now standing, and terrified daughter of Hades.
Locking eyes with the monster in the form of a man, Percy slashed another spine out of the air, redirecting it as he did so, so that it slammed into the goat-like leg of another monster. His lip curled up into a snarl, as he then grabbed the same squealing monster by the arm and wrenched it around, using it as a monstrous shield as another poisonous spine thudded into its gut. Only for the shield to burst into golden dust moments later.
Turning his head slightly Percy once again looked to where Bianca was, even as the daughter of Zeus let lose a war cry and engaged the scorpion tailed monster.
Ignoring this, Percy instead locked gazes with Bianca, dark eyes locking with glowing golden eyes. Percy's mind raced as he turned and made for the girl, his blade lashing out to cut down one of the three monsters between him and the daughter of Hades.
Only, before he could do so, silver arrows began falling all around him, picking off the surrounding monsters in the blink of an eye.
A loud hunting horn sounded out moments later, directly behind the startled daughter of Hades, announcing as it did so the arrival of the Hunters of Artemis onto the field of battle.
"Who are you?!" The main monster growled, his voice, and French accent, catching Percy's attention as he turned and saw the monster glaring at him with its reptilian eyes. Ignoring everything else as it fended the son of Poseidon off with its tail alone.
"The guy who's going to kill you, pigfucker!" Percy replied in barely passable French, his irritation getting the best of him as silver clad Hunters of Artemis began to appear, returning to full visibility as he did so.
The monster laughed at that, "You are a foolish boy! You cannot defeat me, and when you fall, I will hunt those brats down again. Which means that everything you have done here and now, will be for nothing!"
In response to that Percy lunged forward his blade in hand, the daughter of Hades was a lost cause, especially now the Hunters of Artemis were here. Still, he would get another chance. That said he wouldn't mind having a target to vent his frustrations on.
As he saw his charge, the monster let out another growl, his body slowly beginning to change into its full monstrous form.
Slowly, a furry mane appeared around the man's neck as his arms slowly began to bend more at the elbows. His legs also bent like a dogs might, even as fur began to cover his entire body the injured scorpion's tail wafting dangerously behind him as he did so. Within a second the man no longer existed instead, the Manticore stood there.
With a snarl, the beast tried to use one of its claws to bat the charging Percy out of the air, only for the dark-haired Demigod to twist in the air and take the claw off at the wrist.
Before Percy could do anything else though, the creature's injured, yet still fast moving, tail struck him in the gut, the blow winding him slightly, despite his cuirass, and sending him flying a few meters back.
"Oh, you are so going to pay for that, I am going to shove one of those spines sideways up your arse!" Percy snarled as he picked himself up and made his way over to the creature, his blade held in one hand and the other clenching into a fist, the golden ring on the ring finger of that hand beginning to glow as he pondered whether to make it take its true form.
However, just as he was about to attack the Manticore, the blond hair girl with grey eyes charged the creature first, the son of Poseidon following after his Celestial Bronze blade in his hand as they both attacked the creature as one.
Percy blinked slightly at this unexpected interruption; he had almost forgotten that the other demigods were in the fight. His surprise though ended when he heard the blonde-haired girl scream.
Looking up he saw the Manticore let out a blood curdling roar before lashing out with his one good hand, grabbing the blonde-haired girl around the waist as he did so, after which he made for the cliff edge they were fighting on, even as the daughter of Zeus charged for it, the son of Poseidon following her lead. However, before they could reach it, the injured creature simply tumbled off the side of the cliff.
Blinking slightly in surprise at what had just happened Percy stood and watched blankly as the pale-faced, and terrified looking Theo Jackson ran to the side of the cliff before howling. "ANNABETH!"
"Well, that just happened…" Percy said blinking once again in surprise.
Letting out a slight sigh of disappointment that the girl had thrown her life away for nothing, Percy turned on his heel to go and hopefully recover, Bianca, the daughter of Hades for her father. It was a slim hope, but maybe he could grab her and run before the Hunters finished off the last of the monsters.
As he turned around, however, he found soon found himself facing a number of silver arrows, each of which was drawn back on its strings and aimed right at his heart.
"Well, shit," Percy muttered, his gaze taking in the stony-faced archers, even as it drifted over them, and towards the silver wolves and other Hunters that were now milling around the clearing; finishing off injured monsters and securing a scared looking satyr and the lone daughter of Hades.
( - )
(With Thalia Grace, ten minutes earlier)
The fight was not going well, that much was clear to the daughter of Zeus as she used her spear to impale a nearby Cyclops through the heart.
They were outnumbered and separated, with Jackson being an idiot and fighting the Manticore alone and Annabeth fighting her way over to him, to back him up.
This in turn had left her and Grover facing off against the much larger enemy force, which was not made easier by the fact that Grover was not the combat type, he was a support fighter and that was being generous. Which of course meant that not only was she stuck facing a hoard of monsters alone she had to do it while protecting Grover.
Using her spear she swung it through the air, the tip of the blade tearing through the throat of a nearby Empousai. She then channelled her Demigod power into the spear, the metal soon crackling with lightning, before with a thrust, she released what she liked to call her chained lightning attack at the enemy.
The bolt of lightning struck the surrounding monsters, incinerating some on contact, before it jumped onto the next enemy, the lightning being attracted by the metal weapons in their hands.
As this was going on Thalia continued channelling lightning into the spear, the lightning bolts jumping around through the monster hoard killing any it came in contact with. Eventually, though, she'd had to stop when she sensed, more than saw. an arrow headed right for her. Swinging around she used her shield to bat the arrow away before she sent out another bolt of lightning that blasted the head off a nearby Cyclops. Looking around her Thalia saw that she had probably just felled almost twelve monsters, but despite that, more kept coming.
Frowning the dark-haired girl channelled her lightning again, only this time instead of using her spear as a conduit she instead channelled it into her body. The lightning supercharging and enhancing not just her body, but her mind and reflexes as well. The lightning supercharged all her synapses and muscles.
As she did this, she found she was enveloped in a cloak-like shroud of lightning, that not only acted as armour but also as a weapon. This was made obvious when a rather bold Laistrygonian Giant charged her crackling form head-on, only to let out a bellow of pain as he fell back, his body twitching and his hand now no more than a charred stump.
Charging up her lightning once more she charged the enemy, her lightning armour protecting her from most attacks, as it either shocked or fried anyone who got too close.
Letting out a shout she released a wave of electricity that ran over the surrounding monsters, looking like it did not outward damage, which it didn't, as it instead did what it was meant to do, temporarily paralyzing the muscles of the surrounding monsters.
Glaring at her enemy Thalia shot forward, her form almost blurring as she moved, before suddenly she engaged her enemy, her shield and spear working in perfect tandem as she fought.
But even as she did so she knew it was pointless, there were too many of them, and even now she could feel herself getting surrounded by the enemy forces. Her lightning shroud decreased with every monster that it struck, as she struggled to find the space to charge it up again. To Thalia, it seemed that for every monster she slew, two more seemed to appear in their place.
Thankfully she was soon given a reprieve as some of the monsters around her started to explode into golden dust.
Looking for the culprit, her eyes locked on the form of a dark-haired boy around her age who was wearing a leather jacket. The boy in question was only partially visible as he fought, and parts of his body were seemingly invisible, though the black armour and bronze sword he wielded were visible enough.
As she watched she could see the teen in question run through the surrounding monsters with startling ease, his every move carefully chosen. There was a single wasted move as he cut down a monster every few seconds. His blade was a blur as more often than not he only needed one hit to kill his opponents, such was his speed and skill.
Fortunately, this sudden interference allowed Thalia a chance to both catch her breath and plan out her next move, even as the partially visible teen vanished into the melee of monsters, the other Demigod's presence, for what else could he be? Only noticeable due to the constant explosions of gold dust.
A few minutes, as she once again engaged the enemy in combat, Thalia soon heard a loud horn sound out over the clearing. With the horn sounding familiar, even if she couldn't quite remember why?
A few minutes later though the silver arrows that began to rain down from the sky reminded her of just why that horn sounded familiar.
"Shit, they had to turn up didn't they?!" Thalia hissed to herself, her expression darkening, even as the few remaining monsters around her exploded into golden dust as the silver arrows took them through the necks and hearts.
( - )
(With Theseus Jackson a few minutes earlier)
Theseus Jackson was confused, no strike that, he was very confused. One minute he had been fighting the Manticore, Dr Thorn, one on one. with him having been forced to take cover behind his shield as Dr Thorn sent wave after wave of his poisoned spines at him. The next thing he knew though was that the onslaught had mysteriously stopped.
Looking over his shield he saw that Thorn was now distracted by another combatant, it was a partially invisible, dark-haired boy who was wearing what looked like a leather jacket and strange black armour. In his hand, he was wielding a strange, curved blade that looked to be made out of Celestial Bronze.
The most surprising thing was though that he was fighting Thorn and winning, already the tip of Thorn's scorpion tail was lying on the floor, having been cut off by the barely visible teen.
Looking around, Theo's eyes locked on Annabeth who was struggling to make her way over to him. He could see that even now that she was rapidly losing ground to a particularly nasty looking Laistrygonian Giant, her bronze dagger flashing as she delivered a multitude of cuts on the giant, but none of them enough to finish it off. Even now the hulking beast was still moving its' skin riddled with dozens of small cuts, its' black blood dripping onto the ground from the wounds. As he watched he saw the giant swing the massive blade it held in its hand at Annabeth.
Before it could get within a meter of her though Theo already acted, he was not the bravest of Demigods, or even the most assertive. No, Thalia was far braver and stronger willed than he would ever be, just as she was more skilled.
Despite that though, he was still a child of Poseidon, and although he wasn't the boldest hero ever, he couldn't just stand by and let the girl he loved get killed.
With that thought in mind, Theo turned away from Dr Thorn and thrust out his hand, calling upon his Demigod powers as he did so.
Reacting to his will the disturbed snow at the giant's feet shot up, the snow hardening into spikes which struck the giant, the tips tearing through its thick hide and impaling it in a number of unpleasant places.
Moments later, and with a loud crash the giant fell on the floor, its body rapidly dissolving into golden dust.
Running over to Annabeth a relieved smile on his sweaty face Theo nervously asked. "Hey Annabeth are you ok?"
"Yeah Theo, I'm fine. Though I do kind of wish I had some of those crazy, bullshit elemental powers like you and Thalia…." She muttered in reply, as she gave Theo a small smile.
"They are not that bullshit..." Theo replied, his heart thundering nervously in his chest and his cheek heating up as he saw the smile Annabeth sent him.
Coughing, and pushing down these feelings, Theo instead stuck his hand out and thrust it forward as he formed a crescent shaped blade of water and sent it at one of the nearby monsters. The blade travelled almost faster than the eye could see as it bisected the monster and injured several more behind it.
"Show off," Annabeth muttered, causing Theo to again go bright red and stutter slightly, despite their surroundings.
Rolling her eyes at her powerful, but perpetually nervous and awkward friend, Annabeth's calculating grey eyes instead locked on the ongoing fight between the odd, partially invisible Demigod and the Manticore, just in time to see him get struck by the tail and sent a few meters back. "Come on Theo, we should go help the newbie out before he gets himself killed."
"B-but Annabeth!" Theo shouted, his green eyes widening, even as more sweat trickled down his slightly pudgy face.
( - )
(With Alecto)
Running through the dark forbidding forest, Nico's pale face stood out in the darkness, even as he continued to flee from whatever the hell was happening behind him.
As he ran, however, he didn't notice the shadows behind one of the trees darken, going almost pitch black for a moment, only for a blurred figure to lunge out of the shadow moments later.
With a short sharp scream, Nico went down, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he landed on the soft, loamy forest floor beneath him, unconscious.
Standing over the unconscious son of Hades, Alecto, plucked the boy off of the ground with a single, bony, claw-like hand, her dark, cruel eyes fixed off in the direction of the battle.
Curling her lip into a snarl, Alecto looked down at the unconscious, yet safe, son of Hades and nodded. Perseus had saved one of the children of Hades, she would acknowledge that much. The boy was safe and, in her hands, and would soon enough be heading down into the Underworld to see his father. The sister, Bianca, however, was not accounted for not yet.
Not that Alecto was worried though, after all Perseus Jackson might be an arrogant, self-absorbed scavenger, but he was undeniably competent, deadly and a man of his word. Once he had given his word, he could be trusted to never renege on it. When the unclaimed Demigod said he would do something, he always did it. That much Alecto wouldn't deny, he had at least that going for him, his integrity, one of his few good qualities.
Far off in the distance the horn signifying the Hunters of Artemis sounded out.
Snarling at the sound of it Alecto shook her head. She couldn't linger here for long, not with the Goddess of the Moon about. Still, her Master wouldn't be happy if she just brought her son back, and not his daughter. Hades was a greedy god after all, and he didn't like when his siblings messed with his assets.
Snarling again at the thought of her Master's displeasure, Alecto, and her unconscious Nico sank into the nearby shadows of a large tree.
She wouldn't return to the Underworld yet, not until she had managed to talk to Jackson.
This situation could possibly be remedied, just because it had been complicated by the arrival of Artemis and her Hunters didn't mean it was a failure. Or at least she wouldn't be reporting it back to Hades as one unless she had no other choice.
A shiver past through Alecto's body at the thought of her Master's anger, and the realization that she couldn't just blame it on Jackson either, and expect to escape retribution.
No, for now, she would wait until she could get Jackson alone. Only after speaking to him, and discussing how to get the girl, Bianca, out of the clutches of the Hunters would she return to the Underworld. A slight delay and inconvenience after all were much more palatable than failure.
With that thought in mind, Alecto vanished into the shadows, calming down as she prepared to wait until she could get Jackson alone. Or at least she would, once the slippery son of a bitch had wormed his way out of the Hunter's clutches of course!
( - )
AN: So yeah what do you all think? The seemingly simple mission went array and now Percy is in the clutches of the Hunter's of Artemis, I wonder if that will go well?
That said, I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing, the response to the last chapter was great. That said there are a few things I would like to talk about here.
For one, one issue brought up was that some people think Percy is an OC with Percy's name. Honestly, I can see you point, but I would counter that any Percy Jackson in any story that is not written by Rick Riordan is an OC.
That said on a serious note I do see your issues, and honestly I did ponder just giving Percy his canon powers, but honestly, that didn't interest me, nor did it fit with my plan for the story. Don't get me wrong I love his canon abilities and have a half dozen stories in which I explore them, however, with this story, I want to do something different.
Not only does this Percy have a different godly parent, kudos to the one person who guessed who that was from the last chapter alone, honestly your guess took me by surprise as I didn't think anyone would get it with such scant information! I won't say who though, as I want to wait for the reveal for as long as possible.
But yeah, this Percy has a different upbringing and a different parent, but, in my mind at least, he has the same soul as canon Percy, he's just AU. After all, as you saw in this chapter, there is indeed a character taking on Percy's canon role, only this one is very different to canon Percy despite him having a similar background and parentage.
And no I am not going with the trope of him being an arrogant, toe rag. That said he will be monumentally different from canon Percy in his demeanour, and in how his upbringing and parentage has shaped him. Already I tried to get some of that across in this chapter. He won't be a typical antagonistic son of Poseidon like in some, and some will have guessed he will have a connection to Percy.
Again that is because different people, react to things in different ways. And this is again where I say same soul, different circumstances. That said part of the fun in this story, is in developing and teasing his character in order to see which canon traits come through despite the difference in his upbringing and parentage, and which develop with time as he meets and greets familiar faces.
On another note, I have also decided to scale up Demigod's abilities, as Rick Riordan never really developed or went into depth on them. This applies to all Demigods, though their abilities will be balanced.
That said to those that are worried, Percy will have a unique and impressive skillset, and won't be overpowered by the children of the Big Three, as I said he is a unique entity and has a whole new eclectic range of abilities, some of which I have already shown.
That said I think that covers the worries and concerns from the reviews. I'm sorry that I didn't get to answer a lot of them, but the little time I do have I put into my stories, though I do try to answer reviews that ask specific questions, where of course those questions wouldn't spoil the plot.
That said thanks a lot for reading and for all the reviews, I do read them all and take them into account. If you have any specific questions please feel free to PM me, I am better at replying promptly to those!
And if you have time please check out my other stories, I do have a number of Percy Jackson ones!
Thanks a lot for reading, see you all next time.
Greed720.
