A loud crash resounded throughout the vast lands of Alaska, the earth quaking as two giants fell atop of it only for them both to disappear into a rain of ice afterwards. Landing much more softly next to them, Perseus Jackson walked away cleaning his sword almost robotically. Fighting monsters out here in the land beyond gods was nice, much more challenging than facing them near his hometown of New York.
The thrill of the fight allowed him to focus in on it and in turn forget momentarily the demons plaguing his mind and the increased density of monsters further reduced the amount of rest he received. Normally one would be insane to yearn for this kind of life, but Perseus much preferred it over being left to his own thoughts. And who knew, maybe he had also grown insane, it wouldn't even surprise him at this point.
After a short walk spent cleaning his blade, he arrived back at his small house, paid for by his father. It really wasn't much more than a place to sleep at this point as he had only moved in a mere three days ago, but it kept him warm in the harsh winter nights. As he entered the confines of his home, he switched his clothes for more comfortable sleepwear, the two Hyperborean giants having appeared when he was about to tuck in for the night.
So he wasted no time going to bed, praying that the night would be one of the peaceful ones. Which it wasn't. The moment his eyes closed, he was back at camp. He was back at the dining pavilion, having food thrown at him. He was back at his cabin, kicked out and for all intent and purpose banished. He was back at Camp Jupiter being denied entry and then promptly being chased off. He was back in some forest near the west coast, treating arrow wounds inflicted not by monsters but by demigods he had thought of as comrades and friends.
A thin layer of sweat was covering his face, his body shaking lightly at the memory. His father had found him shortly after, taking him to Atlantis and letting him stay there, but even then he never understood how things got this far. Sure, he didn't command the same respect as Chiron did, he was no feared god like Dionysus either, but still…to just chase him out was too much.
Throughout the entire night, just like every night since the incident, he relieved it, remembered the pain and anguish. He remembered how he had to leave Camp Half Blood, his first home, then got kicked out from Camp Jupiter, his second home, then had his mortal family ripped from him, his third home and finally had to leave his father's kingdom due to Zeus scheming, as his father had called it. In a span of a little over six months, he had lost four places he called home and all the family he used to have apart from his father and even him he couldn't contact right now.
When he woke up, he felt just as shitty as every day, his body barely rested and his mind an utter mess anyways. He only started to really feel awake when he splashed some water into his face and even then the effect wasn't satisfactory. But he needed to get moving. He was running out of supplies and had to restock either today or tomorrow. Not to mention the next town was an hour away. So he started his day and before long he was outside, hiking to the nearest trace of civilization.
If there was one thing he appreciated about the wasteland that was Alaska, then it was the serenity it had. Sure, monsters roamed around a lot, but none were overly threatening and outside of the monsters, he had nothing else to worry about at all. It was great, much less of a burden than he used to carry. He subconsciously flinched as his mind wandered back to his past. Maybe he should find some monster as a distraction? That sounded good, yeah…
As it would seem, there was a surprising lack of monsters on his way to the town to the point where he could only find one lone werewolf despite his abnormally strong scent as a demigod. Though that might be a good thing seeing as he needed the town to stay standing to get groceries and would really like to avoid a run in with the police after fighting a monster in the streets. The town itself was small, maybe a couple thousand inhabitants at most, probably even less given how deserted some of the buildings looked. But it had a supermarket and that was what truly mattered right now.
Once inside, he made his way over to canned food and frozen food. He hadn't realized initially, but cooking really wasn't in his skillset and he was starting to regret that. But he couldn't change that now, at least not instantly and so he picked out food that he just needed to reheat or cook simply, passing by anything that looked overly complicated or difficult for him. It didn't take long before he had enough food packed to last him around another week.
As he made his way over to the cashier and got in line to pay, he was suddenly overcome with an awfully familiar sensation as the hairs at the back of his neck stood up, his skin tingling in alarm. His eyes immediately darted around trying to find the source of his discomfort. Nothing had approached him, so his adversary might be a scout of some sort or just a careful third party so he didn't turn his head or give any other indication of his having noticed them. Had he killed enough monsters to warrant scouts on his ass? Surely not, it hadn't been that long yet.
Additionally, he couldn't even pinpoint the source of the feeling which meant that whoever was watching him was at least too stealthy to be a normal monster. It could be a god from some other pantheon, after all he had personally met an egyptian goddess in his head and kinda met a norse god too. Or whatever else a magic sword with a personality was. If it was a god, he absolutely needed to make sure not to attack them though, he most likely wouldn't win that fight.
A beep before him cut his thoughts short as his eyes refocused on the cashier scanning his purchase. A slight blush coloured his cheeks when he realized that she was waiting for him to pay already. He quickly got out his card, another parting gift from his father and paid everything while also giving a quick apology to the cashier for having been distracted at first, something the old lady shrugged off.
A minute later he was back on the street heading back home. The ominous feeling of being watched stayed with him the entire time making him all the more glad upon reaching the woods and subsequent lack of human civilization. Spotting his unknown follower would be much easier once there was nothing else around after all. He quickened his steps a little more, leaving the small town behind. Once he was about a mile out of town he finally looked around properly, his hands clutching the pen in his pocket the entire time. However as he looked around, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Some small animals and a lot of snow. No monsters in sight, no manipulated mist, nothing.
Perseus turned back around, keeping a fast pace on the entire way back home. He hadn't seen anything, but his gut was telling him something different and he trusted his instincts. So he rushed back home, quickly putting away his food. He had looked around again and again on his way back but never found anything suspicious, yet his gut was telling him something was there. He really didn't like this, unidentifiable threats were the most dangerous as they could assault you from anywhere in any way. So he uncapped his pen, feeling the familiar weight of his trusty sword in his hand as he leapt out of his window and snuck around his house.
What he didn't expect was for his unwanted follower to just wait for him in front of his door. While the unknown man had somehow managed to follow Perseus all the way to his house, he seemed to not want to hide anymore. He tried to get a good look at the man, noting his features quickly. He had pale skin, almost making him look like a corpse if not for the little bit of color left in him. He was wearing a plain white shirt and white shorts, both further underlining his supernatural being given the cold weather. His face was regal, a certain sense of composure and an air of respect surrounding him. There wasn't a shadow of a hair in his face, only a mop of white hair on top of it and his eyes were reflective of his surroundings, cold and pearly as if filled with fog. They weren't shining with power like the eyes of an Olympian would so often do, but something about them told him not to mess with the being. His figure was lanky and his posture laid back, indicating a lack of threat, yet he could see muscles through his shirt and sense a certain readiness as well.
So what did Perseus do? He pointed his sword at the assumed god. In hindsight that had not been a good call but the being luckily took no offense at being threatened. Or it didn't consider the sword a threat. "Who are you and what do you want from me?"
His voice was steely, no amount of nervousness or uncertainty slipping into it. His entire body was tense, ready to spring forward into battle at a moment's notice. Yet the being before him just laughed, summoning a chair for himself and sitting down without a care. "I suppose I should start with an introduction, shouldn't I? Though you can relax, I mean you no harm. I go by the name of Victor here, though I suppose you would call me Void given the…naming convention of your primordials."
He seemed to dislike using that name, but Perseus was focused on something else entirely. The void. Something that scared gods and titans alike. He hadn't known that there was a being ruling over it. His thoughts were all over the place from trying to decipher the beings intentions to despairing at the prospect of another war and panicking at just who his foe would be.
"Just to say it again, I'm not here to fight you. You might find this hard to believe given your experience with immortals, but I find peace to be much more enjoyable to observe than the vain terror of war. I'm here to talk to you, nothing more. Do you mind if I explain that in some more detail?"
The self-proclaimed elder god raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for his response. In that moment all Perseus could do was nod though, still overwhelmed by what was happening how…calm the god was despite not being related to him. All he usually got from those gods was bloodlust and nightmares.
"Alright then, the reason I came here at all is my granddaughter Ananke. After the giant war, you went on a couple of quests to deal with the aftermath of it and in the process, you helped Ananke mend some problems she had a hard time dealing with. Given her personality, she hates involving herself but also hates being indebted to anyone. She asked her mother to help you and her mother asked me to help you out since my presence is much less noticeable than hers. That's why I'm here now."
He was stunned for a moment. He hadn't even known that his quests were considered favors to a primordial, much less that those favors would ever be repaid. Though it did feel quite nice to have some repayment for all the shit he had been put through over the years. "How would you help me, Lord Void?" He'd be damned to not show respect to the elder god now that he knew his identity and had reigned in his surprise.
"Don't do that, honorifics aren't my thing. That aside, my help isn't temporarily restricted and I can help you with anything that requires no direct interference. I could teach you how to cook for example or I could help you deal with your past. I could also just pass on information to you, I just can't physically fight for you or anything like that. And before you say anything against it, you do need to address your pain, ignoring it will only make it have worse scars."
He couldn't help but flinch at the mention of his past. He really didn't want to talk about it, especially not yet. Though given the lack of a time limit on the gods' help, he could probably come back to it later. He was aware of how hurt he was and that he needed someone to help him at least deal with it. He'd be damned if he just discarded one such offer.
"I don't think I want to talk about it yet, I don't think I'm ready…but I appreciate the offer and I will come back to it in the future." He really didn't know what else to say but the god seemed much calmer than those he had met before, so he hoped Void wouldn't take offense at it. He at least didn't look offended.
"I don't mind, you can take all the time you need. I can help you with smaller things or just give you advice when you need it. Though I do need to pass on one message to you."
Without warning, the god laid his hand on Percy's forehead. For a moment nothing happened and he was about to question if something had gone wrong but then he felt…it. Out of nowhere feelings of relief and longing washed over him together with a strong sense of familiarity. He couldn't tell where this had come from but tears welled up in his eyes as he was overwhelmed by the emotion.
"Your sister wanted to pass this message to you. She's still learning how to control her soul properly but she wanted to say hi once she got the chance. She may have passed on, but she is doing fine there."
For that moment, Percy was well and truly speechless. He had admittedly doubted the god, not wanting to give him much information about his life or particularly his weaknesses but that was apparently a vain thought. And also one he didn't want to harbor anymore. He didn't trust the god, but he appreciated what he had done.
His moment of distracted speechlessness was enough for the god to slip away and Percy only barely registered his promise to come back on the next day. His head was filled with the strange sensation he felt when his sister tried to reach him. It was alien to him, but something about it made him happy nonetheless, made him feel comfortable.
So that's it. The first chapter is done, let me know what you think. Percy will remain a little gloomy and more serious than usual and I will keep him at a more mature tone since he is older than in the books now (20 at the moment). I will however try to bring some of his more cheeky self back as he heals.
Regarding what happened to him and why he is in Alaska, I will delve into that in the coming chapters. For those curious it is going to be a betrayal type story, though I plan to write my own heavy twist into it. I won't have him be betrayed by everyone or even by everyone at camp, that's just a little too unrealistic for me to make work. Instead I plan to play around with perception a little, which is also why I introduced Void as the 'objective perspective' for this. As to why he is there in the first place, that will be explained soon.
The romance is already planned out but I might change it or just remove it entirely if it doesn't work out. Regarding the perspective of the narrative, I will probably keep it as 3rd person focused on Percy though I might expand to a few other characters briefly as this goes on and maybe also make it omniscient for certain situations.
That said, I'm happy to receive any feedback on how you like this and any mistakes I may have made (english is not my first language) and I'll see y'all soon.
M