Percy Jackson sat on a log in the outskirts of the hunter basecamp, idly observing the weak snowfall impacting the forest floor. Outside of the sentries and roving patrols, there was no movement in the camp, all the hunters and guest demigods grabbing some much needed sleep.

His rifle was clutched loosely in his hands, mostly resting on his lap, and he glared into the darkness. His eyes, orbs of digital power thanks to Hephaestus, were easily capable of operating in these low light conditions.

He was physically incapable of sleeping, and so with nothing better to do he manned a sentry position. He figured it would help Zoe and the hunters, more sleep all around. Just because he was engineered to be the perfect soldier for Olympus certainly didn't mean others were the same. Even Zoe had to sleep, albeit for a much shorter duration of time.

"Hey, Percy."

Very few people actually called him by that name. He shifted slightly as someone sat down next to him, and smiled.

"Hey Anna."

The huntress yawned, stretching out lithe muscles. A massive longbow, at least half as tall as her, shifted with the movement. "Was just coming back from my watch and saw you here. Zoe really has you out here on sentry duty?" She asked, grinning.

Percy shook his head, glancing briefly at her before going back to watching his arcs. He could talk and work at the same time. "No, I volunteered. You guys need sleep, I don't."

"Thank you, Percy."

He laughed softly. "Nothing to thank me for. This is keeping me focused. I'd have been bored out of my mind just standing around."

He became more somber. "Hey, how are you holding up? I'm sorry we don't get to talk often."

Anna leaned against him, and Percy smiled down at what was a little sister to him in all but blood. She gave a half-hearted shrug. "I think I'm holding up alright. It's been the equivalent of a lifetime since I lost them. And the hunt is good for me, I think. It's nice, being able to help people."

Percy nodded. "I'm glad, Anna." He paused. "I feel the same way about this job. It sucks at times, and sometimes I hate what I have to do, but I like being able to help people as well."

Anna leaned further into him, resting her head on his broad shoulder. "You can't help other people if you don't help yourself" She murmured softly. "Don't forget that, Percy."

Percy remained silent, staring into the forest. Her words ran through his mind, but he couldn't quite formulate a response. He turned to her, only to see that she had fallen asleep, her chest raising and lowering steadily.

The words of the Great Prophecy ran through his head once more. "Olympus to preserve or raze." Percy mumbled, looking away from Anna and into the forest. It was becoming steadily brighter, with daybreak looming.

To him, Olympus wasn't a pantheon, or a collection of gods, or even his home. It was his family. Ann, Hestia, all of them. His conviction grew ever stronger. A single choice shall end his days? So be it.

Athena had implanted him with what she viewed as the necessary information for him to function in his role, including a large mental library of classic literature. Such knowledge seemed irrelevant at first, but Percy quickly realized why most modern militaries require their officers to have post-secondary degrees. You cannot plan for the future without understanding the past.

He referenced this library now, as he watched over the sleeping form of Anna. He recalled the words of an exhausted defender atop a bridge, facing an army. "And how can a man die better?" He murmured. "Than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods."

Sunlight streamed down through the canopy, and the camp grew steadily more active. Percy lightly jostled his shoulders, waking the sleeping huntress.

Anna blearily opened her eyes. "Hey Percy." She said softly, her voice still rough with sleep.

Percy smiled back. "Morning, Anna. You might want to start getting ready for the day."

She nodded, shifting her head this way and that, cracking her neck. "Gods, but you have a hard shoulder."

He snorted. "You're the one that decided to spend the night leaning on it, don't blame me."

"I was tired!" She complained, standing up. "Don't be mean to me, Percy."

His smile widened. "Never, Anna. I'm always nice."

She laughed, beginning to walk off to her tent. "Whatever you say!"

Percy chuckled, before standing up himself. He stretched briefly, before walking over to where the demigods had been sleeping.

Thalia was already up, leaning against a tree. The demigoddess looked up as he approached, affixing him with an electric blue eye.

"Hey." She nodded towards a tent. "Annabeth and Bianca should be out shortly."

She squinted at him. "Did you sleep at all?"

Percy shrugged. "No, not really. I don't need much sleep."

He didn't elaborate. While he wasn't self conscious about his status as an automaton, and the interesting philosophical questions it posed as to his humanity, he preferred to not disclose it to people he'd literally met yesterday.

Thalia looked intently at him for a second longer, before shrugging. "Your funeral."

The two fell into a comfortable silence. Percy leaned against a tree opposite of Thalia, and looked up at the sky through the canopy. He'd always enjoyed nature.

Thalia hesitantly began to speak, prompting Percy to direct his gaze away from the light filtering through the leaves, and to her.

"I'm sorry." Thalia said. At Percy's confused look, she reluctantly elaborated. "When we met. I was kinda an ass."

"Ah." Percy nodded. He chuckled, shaking his head. "People usually are much ruder than that to me, truthfully it was a breath of fresh air."

Thalia laughed, despite herself. "Really?"

Percy nodded. "You weren't shooting at me, that's always an improvement."

"I imagine so." Thalia chuckled. A small, genuine smile crossed her face. "Thanks, Percy."

"What are you guys talking about?" Annabeth and Bianca joined them, stumbling out of their tent.

"Just hanging out." Thalia ruffled Annabeth's hair, the younger of the two protesting half heartedly, trying to push Thalia away in vain.

Perseus smiled, something warm flooding his chest at the sight of the two acting so care free.

"Percy?"

He turned away from the sight towards Bianca. "Yes? Something the matter?"

Bianca ran a hand through her hair. "How exactly are we getting to this camp?"

"We will walk." Zoe answered her, seemingly materializing out of thin air behind the girl. Percy hid an amused smile as Bianca gasped in surprise, whirling around in fright.

A few millennia of training to stalk up on living things formed habits that were not easily broken, much to the displeasure of some people.

"Walk?" Thalia asked. "You want us to hoof it from here to Long Island? That's one hell of a trek."

"Not if you're walking alongside us." Zoe said, pride lacing her voice. "Once we break camp, you'll see."

Thalia merely crossed her arms, obviously skeptical. Footsteps sounded in the snow behind them, and Percy turned. Nico and Grover joined the group.

"Look at who finally decided to join us." Bianca teased Nico.

Nico yawned. "This is way too early! Do you always get up at this time?"

"You'll find that hunters always rise with the sun." Percy said amusedly.

Zoe whistled then, a piercing sound that punched through all the conversations occurring in the camp, as the hunters broke down and repacked their tents. Percy shook his head, watching Anna simply pull a cord and collapse her tent, and everything in it, into a cube the size of her fist. Gods, he would've killed to have had something like that when he was a lineman.

"Form up!" Zoe yelled, her whistle having drawn everybody's attention. "We are on the move!"

Thalia grumbled. "I really wasn't planning to do a marathon today."

"Relax," Percy said, glancing at her. "The hunters do know what they're doing."

Thalia grunted, not saying anything further, and Percy shrugged, turning away. Zoe walked forward, and space seemed to blur around her, the air shivering as if it were boiling hot. The effect quickly spread, engulfing the clearing as they began to move in force. Percy looked up, seeing the trees and other landmarks beginning to fly past them, each step carrying them kilometers.

Annabeth looked up at the trees whizzing by them in abject fascination. "What is this? A pocket dimension or something?" It was exceedingly rare for her to find something she did not recognize, and her curiosity was insatiable.

"One of Lady Artemis' domains is the hunt." Percy said, having overheard her. "An aspect of the hunt is the chase."

Annabeth pursed her lips, frowning in thought. "How is Zoe able to travel like this then?"

"As a member of the hunt, Zoe can wield Lady Artemis' power," Percy explained, looking ahead at the subject of the conversation, leading the Hunt from the front, as she always did. Percy respected her immensely for that, he'd met too many bad leaders in his time. A good leader was something to cherish.

"Is it restricted to the lieutenant?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shook his head. "No, with training any member of the hunt can call upon their patron's power. That show last night, with the arrow, that's because Zoe has served in the hunt for millennia."

Of course, it was also because Zoe was the daughter of the Titan of Endurance, but nobody needed to know that.

Annabeth frowned once more. "But wait, why would Lady Artemis do that? Let so many people channel her power at once? Wouldn't that be a constant drain on her power?"

Percy opened his mouth to answer, only to shut it. "That," Percy said, "Is a good question, and not one I think I can properly answer. However, I do know someone who can."

Percy turned away from Annabeth for a moment, scanning the procession of hunters for a brief second. He picked her out of the crowd. "Anna!" Percy raised his voice.

The huntress walked over to them, smiling at Percy. "You called?"

Percy returned the smile. "Hey Anna, I was just talking with my friend here." Percy gestured towards Annabeth. "She has some questions about the hunt."

Anna nodded cheerfully. "Sure!" She turned towards the demigoddess. "What do you want to know?"

Annabeth repeated her question, and Anna nodded to herself. "Yeah, I can see why it'd seem that way. But it's more of a symbiotic relationship, Artemis actually is all the more powerful for it."

At Annabeth's confused look, the huntress elaborated. "She gives us access to her power, that's true, but the very act of us using it in a hunt, hunting in her name, gives her power in return." Anna smiled. "Many gods get their power from the worship of sycophants. Not Lady Artemis. She's one of the very few to bring her worshippers with her, turns them into an organized force."

Anna paused, organizing her thoughts. "We give our goddess power through our actions, and in return, Lady Artemis gives some of it back. A metaphor for it, I suppose, could be an investment account in a bank. You put money into the bank, and in return the bank will pay you a small portion of it back in interest."

She opened her hand, and it flared with silver fire. The flames pulsed briefly, before forming the shape of a hunting knife. Anna idly flipped it in her hand, holding it by the blade. "She gets guaranteed worship from all of us, and in return all she has to do is let us use a miniscule fraction of her power."

Anna flipped it once more, before flicking the blade at the ground. The supernaturally sharp flaming blade sank into the hard, frozen ground with ease, quivering for a moment before it faded away into motes of silver fire.

Annabeth nodded, eyes fixated on a mote of silver fire drifting through the air. Anna smiled. "Why the interest? Thinking of joining us?"

Annabeth glanced at Thalia and Grover behind her, before looking back at the huntress. She slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. I couldn't."

Anna's smile didn't fade in the least. In fact, it only widened. She looked like she'd expected the answer. "Good. I'd be disappointed if all it took was a flash of a fancy knife. Stick with your family."

Annabeth smiled back, even as Thalia came up behind her.

"Glad to see you're not leaving us anytime soon, Annabeth." The daughter of Zeus said, pulling her into a one armed hug.

Annabeth turned into the embrace. "Who else is going to keep you out of trouble?"

"Oi!" Thalia yelped, a look of mock offense appearing on her face even as she rested her chin on Annabeth's head. "Trouble? Me?"

The two separated and merely stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into laughter.

Something that could've been longing appeared over Anna's face for a brief second, before a smile replaced it. "Anything else, Percy?"

Percy shook his head. "No. Thanks, Anna. You didn't need to do that."

She smirked, green eyes glittering with mischief. "Hey, I saw the way she was looking at that blade. Daughters of Athena do make very good hunters."

With a rush of displaced air, the hunters appeared just outside Camp Half-Blood, standing on its outskirts.

With a final nod at Anna, Percy walked forward through the hunters, coming to a stop next to Zoe.

"Gods, I hate this place." Zoe muttered, staring at the camp. "Why does milady punish us so?"

Percy chuckled. "3 meals a day, a roof over your head, and the opportunity for you to beat up the occasional boy. What part of it, exactly, is a punishment?"

Zoe affixed him with a glare, before sighing. "You make your point well, Perseus. There are much worse places to be than here. I just…"

"She'll be fine, Zoe." Percy interjected. "She's one of the most powerful Olympians, she's not going down easy."

Zoe merely stared into the camp, prompting Percy to speak up once more. "Are we going to stand here all day, or are we going to move?"

Zoe grumbled for a moment, before walking forward. "Come on, hunters!" She called.

Percy stood still for a moment, letting the hunters file past him. He fell into step beside Nico and Bianca, smiling down at them as their eyes widened in awe at the camp.

He surveyed the camp himself, something in him lightening at the sight. He hadn't been here in many, many years, but it was no less impressive than the first time he'd seen it.

"Is that real lava?" Bianca asked incredulously, staring at a climbing wall in the distance.

Percy chuckled. "Yes, yes it is."

"Wow…" Nico gasped in awe.

Thalia, Grover and Annabeth walked up to them. They were smiling, evidently pleased by the looks of awe from the two children of Hades.

"Come on you two, we'll get you settled in" Thalia spoke, a soft smile crossing her face. It was a jarring difference from the tough, punk persona he usually put on, and something told Percy it was the closest thing to her real personality he'd seen so far.

The children of Hades looked at him, and he merely smiled. "Go with her, don't worry about me."

"What will you do?" Annabeth asked.

Percy smiled, walking into camp, towards a large house. "I'm going to catch up with Chiron. It's been far too long." He genuinely looked forward to seeing the legendary trainer of heroes. He'd only got to meet the centaur several times for a few, fleeting minutes over the last half century, but it had still left an impression on him.

"You know him?" Grover asked. "How? I haven't seen you around camp at all."

"I'm a lot older than I seem, Grover." Percy said. "I'll see you guys around."

Before any of them could talk further, the strange demigod had disappeared, long strides carrying him halfway to the building in the time it took them to process his statement.