59A/N: I forgot to mention that I have changed the ages for some demigods. Nico for example is 14 not 10. Thalia is the same. Annabeth is 18. Luke is 19. Percy looks 20 but is more than 10000000 years old.
Pairing has been decided and I won't change my mind. Any other suggestions are welcome!
(Camp Half-Blood, Present Day)
Perseus suddenly shot awake, rubbing his forehead.
The former god sighed and swung his legs over his bed, sitting with his feet hanging over the ground. He glanced at his coin/weapon which was by his bedside, ready to be used at a moment's notice.
He stared wistfully across the room at his godly armour and weapon. He couldn't use it yet, though. The coin would have to do for now.
He stood up, stretching his body, wondering why on earth he was dreaming about his past. He had hoped to bury those memories. It reminded him of a time when the world may have looked a better place, but if one would delve into it's mechanisms, they would learn the truth.
After cleaning himself up, another thing he needed to do now, the former god walked out of the Big House with nothing but jeans and a black t-shirt on top. As he walked by Chiron, a leather jacket materialized itself onto him, along with his trusty coin in his pocket.
"Hmm…", Perseus said. "My powers. They've stopped increasing. And I still can't access my other domain."
"I think that's for the best. In this state, I don't think you could control you other domain.", Chiron said. "I'm afraid that's as much as you'll get until you get your immortality back.
Experimentally, he held his palm facing upwards, letting it catch on fire. After a brief few seconds, he put it out. "Alright, horse. It's been two days since I arrived. Where's this cure?"
Chiron coughed, obviously insulted by being referred as a horse. "Well, I was told to wait."
"By who?!", Percy asked, angrily.
Chiron sighed. "Lord Zeus. He has an offer for you."
You know what they say, speak of the devil and he shall appear. In this case, it was the almighty Lord of the Skies himself who thundered down in glamorous fashion, nearly shattering his own cabin in the process.
The lightning bolt that struck the ground solidified into Zeus, who was in his trademark pinstripe suit. The campers nearby whispered in hushed tones, bowing whenever the god neared them.
Zeus, however, walked straight towards Chiron and Perseus.
Chiron, in his centaur form, bent his legs and lowered himself, bowing to the supreme authority among the gods. But Zeus looked straight at Perseus, who refused to even lower his head in respect.
The god waved his hand, indicating he wanted everyone out of sight. Including Chiron. The centaur bowed and then trotted away.
"Hmf.", Zeus scoffed, looking at his younger brother. "So many years at Kronos's court, yet you still lack the basics of etiquette.". His voice was deep, like the rumblings of thunderclouds. It should have scared Perseus, as it would anyone else.
But Perseus simply shrugged. "You know what they say. Can't teach a new dog old tricks, or was it the other way around?"
"Silence!", Zeus ordered, with an authoritative voice that would make an angry lynch mob shut up. And for once, Perseus stopped talking.
"My daughter Artemis has gone missing.", he said. "And she's in danger. I believe Kronos has her."
Percy frowned, staring at the sky god. "How many immortals under your command? A hundred? Two hundred? So why me?"
Zeus turned to Perseus. "You know why.", he said. "Because of the prophecy."
"What prophecy?", Percy retorted.
Zeus shook his head. "Oh yes … sometimes I forget that you have been stripped off your intelligence along with your immortality."
The former god narrowed his eyes, and his palm heated up. Wisps of smoke escaped his palm, something that didn't go unnoticed by the sky god.
Zeus smiled at him widely. "Go on little brother. Make my day.", he challenged him.
Perseus focused on Zeus for a minute, looking at the numbers before him. Power level of 125,000. Nearly 85,000 in the physical category alone. In comparison, Perseus had a measly 33,000 due to the effects of losing his immortality. No way he was gonna fight Zeus now.
Perseus glowered at the sky god. "Just wait. One day I'm gonna knock that smug expression clean off your face."
"Maybe.", Zeus replied. "But not today. And not soon. Now you will do as I say, regardless of your willingness. If for no other reason then because I can give your immortality back."
The former god sighed and stepped back. His palm cooled down along with him. "What do you want?", he gritted out.
The sky god's face turned serious. "Tonight, there will be a quest given. You will participate in it, along with four others, I believe. Travel with your 'companions' and retrieve my daughter safely."
Perseus took a deep breath, before finally answering. "Fine.", he muttered. "And just to be clear, I'm doing this just for my immortality, not because you ordered it."
"Your motives do not interest me. Only results.", Zeus replied nonchalantly. "Now if you will excuse me, I must be going."
And with that, the sky god disappeared in a flash of lightning, searing Percy's jacket in the process. The former god glared at the sky. "Fucking twat."
Later, in the evening, as Percy walked towards the mess hall, demigods and hunters alike pointed and whispered. If he wasn't the centre of attention before, he certainly was now, what with Zeus coming down personally to speak to him and all.
He sat along with Chiron at the head table, eating in silence. No one dared to disturb him of course. Maybe his reputation preceded him after all.
As he looked at all the tables, he realized why Zeus called him a fool. He only needed to take one look at the faces of all the huntresses present. None of them were remotely happy. Of course, they never were in a demigod camp, but now they seemed positively upset by something. And only one thing could collectively upset the whole of the Hunters of Artemis.
Only Artemis being hurt could upset her hunters. And Perseus reckoned that if the goddess had actually been kidnapped by Kronos's forces, then there was a good chance that she was being tortured for information as they spoke.
He tried not to think much of it, but he felt ever so slightly anxious. Whatever he had against Zeus, he couldn't purposely step aside and let Kronos do whatever he wanted to Artemis. If for no other reason then because she could leak sensitive information during her torture. And because Zoe Nightshade suffered for that.
He had seen Kronos doing it before. Personally. Rebel titans, or rude nymphs, it didn't matter to the titan lord. He was the very definition of a sadist. He loved to inflict pain and death. Sometimes, Percy could hear the screams all around Orthrys. It was both scary, and educational at the same time.
The former god looked at his hands. And now, he had resorted to the same. Was he any better? He too spent his time in Tartarus torturing any soul that dropped there. The only solace he found was that those souls really did deserve it, so there was that at least.
Percy sighed and stood up, leaving. Chiron called after him. "Percy? Don't you wish to participate in Capture the Flag?"
The former god took one glance at the assembled demigods and hunters, before deciding. "No."
"At least as a referee?"
Perseus frowned. "No."
Chiron sighed. "Come on. You need to do something. Keep yourself busy at least. Why don't you at least just observe them?"
Perseus gave in. "Fine. I'll be in the area. If I see anything 'unsportsmanlike', I'll handle it."
The campers and hunters took that as the cue to get going.
"Alright! To your positions!", Thalia ordered, as she was the captain of the demigod's group. There were only thirteen or so demigods participating, since there were only thirteen hunters.
Perseus walked towards the forest, after asking Chiron a map for it of course. Didn't want to get lost now. He had just moved in to the camp.
He found a neat looking tree smack in the middle between the two flags. With a single leap, he made it to the highest branch and sat there, unaware that the tree was being inhabited by a dryad.
From the distance, he heard a horn being blown. It was loud enough for both groups to hear it. Percy tossed his coin up, catching it with the same hand. He glanced at Chiron and nodded at him, letting him know he was there.
The former god looked to either side and could faintly make out the two flags, guarded by the respective groups.
Down in the clearing of the demigod flag near Zeus's Fist, the demigods devised a strategy.
"Listen up.", Thalia said. "I want Lee, Michael and Will on defense. The rest of you will accompany Luke and I."
Clarisse looked shocked. "You're giving the entire defense to the Apollo cabin?! We're screwed."
Luke stepped up to say something, but Thalia beat him to it. "Listen, Clarisse. I'm the captain here. So you'll do what I say. Don't presume to question my orders!"
'Yikes', Luke thought. 'Should have known better than to question the authority of a child of Zeus. Especially when it came to important decisions."
Annabeth, who had been standing in silent, spoke up. "I think Clarisse should stay behind as well."
Clarisse frowned. "And miss all the fun?!"
Annabeth nodded towards the Apollo campers. "I've no doubt that those three will cause havoc for the attacking hunters from a distance, but we need someone exceptionally skilled and ruthless when it comes to close quarters. It so happens you are one of the best, Clarisse."
The demigoddess looked pleased at the compliment and agreed.
'Sheesh, Annie.', Luke thought. 'She could probably talk the president into handing over the launch codes.'
"Enough.", Thalia interrupted. "We've no more time to waste. Annabeth, you go ahead. Use the cap and scout for us. Luke and I will be the first wave. We'll hit them hard. Following up will be the rest of you lot. Lou Ellen will be in the middle to soften up the attacking hunters."
Then she looked at the defense unit. "If I see any of you lot up front, I'll impale you myself, and then electrocute you. Got it?!"
"YES MA'AM!", the Apollo campers chorused.
"Now let's show those berry-picking virgins the power of Camp Half-Blood!"
Percy chuckled, hearing the war cry. He had been listening to the whole thing. All in all, it was a pretty interesting strategy. Leaving someone in the middle could be useful, but that meant either the attack or defense would be missing a magic user.
The former god watched the game with interest. The demigods were exceptionally talented this time, and maybe they would finally break the fifty five in a row win streak of the hunters.
On the other hand, the hunters didn't win fifty five times in a row for nothing. And they virtually the same group of hunters, save for a few changes here and there.
In times like these, Percy couldn't help but analyse the situation. After all, he used to be the chief commander of Kronos's armies, and later, Zeus's. But he'd been fired from his post, and from Olympus once Athena came to be. They didn't need him anymore, and were looking for an excuse to get rid of him. And there's nowhere further than Tartarus.
Shaking his head, he watched the game. Zoe Nightshade was the best weapon the hunters had. She only took two hunters with her to attack, which left a wall of ten hunters to defend the flag. It would have been a stupid strategy to attack with only three, but Zoe Nightshade was just that good.
He watched the huntress. Longer than he should have. His eyes lingered on her form as she moved. Yet he looked away quickly, for she started to sense his gaze. Perseus turned crimson as he realized what he was doing.
Shaking his head, he decided to watch the match.
The former god smiled as he saw the demigod's plan start to work. It seemed that leaving Lou Ellen in the middle was a good idea. Because instead of fighting Thalia and Luke, the hunters simply ran past them, not bothering.
They ran past the second wave of attack as well, but came to a full stop in front of Lou Ellen, the daughter of Hecate.
They suddenly froze in place, quite literally. Ice creeped up their ankles and engulfed their legs.
The demigoddess gasped and panted. The silvery aura surrounding the hunters tried to resist the invasive magic.
Perseus frowned a little. He activated the Eye of Nehaleni and looked at the group below. Lou Ellen was a powerful demigoddess. Her power level wasn't so high, but the magic category had a solid 12,000. Which was higher than some minor gods.
He then looked at Zoe Nightshade, and the former god nearly fell off his branch in surprise. Power level of … 31,000?! And in that, nearly 29,000 was the physical category alone.
"Holy …", Perseus muttered. "That's almost as much as I am now.". Of course, it was expected of her. He knew she wouldn't like it, but her being the daughter of Atlas meant her strength was probably on par with the likes of Hercules, who had power levels ranging up to 42,000.
Zoe used her raw might to break the icy shackles, launching herself forward.
Before Lou Ellen could blink, she was thrown flat on her back. Her head lifted a little, but the wood of a bow was smacked into her.
Without the daughter of Hecate to hold the magic, the other two hunters broke free relatively quickly as well.
"Hmm.", Percy shrugged. "There goes the sorceress."
The former god, not seeing any action near him, decided to lean back a little more comfortably, earning a shriek from the tree.
The former god jumped, nearly falling off the branch he was sitting on. "What the?!"
A slender figure materialized on top of the very branch he sat on. Green skinned and doe eyed, she was a beautiful dryad that most gods would kill for. Her long, brown hair was neatly combed and her elvish features drew the former god in, before he snapped out of it.
"Who are you?", Percy asked.
The girl rubbed her palms together and her eyes looked down. "Juniper.", she answered shyly.
Percy snorted. "How original."
She looked up. "That is only a rough translation."
"So what's your real name?"
She smiled. "You wouldn't be able to hear it with your mortal ears. It's elder speech."
Percy shrugged. "I'm a god. I'll hear it."
She smirked. "No. You were. Your knowledge of elder speech is gone. Or else you would have heard me singing."
Percy sighed. "Another curse mortality has beset me. All I wished was to learn the name of such a lovely maiden."
The dryad laughed. "Oh no. Not you too. I've already got a lovesick Satyr after me. Claims he found true love. He's been coming to the forest daily, playing that horrid tune on his pipe."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "So you're the one that goat's been talking about? He's been singing your praises all around the camp."
Juniper looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah.", Percy muttered. "Wanted to boil his insides for waking me up almost three times last night."
"Please don't do that. Grover can be … difficult, but he means no harm."
Percy shook his head. "Relax. Contrary to popular belief, I don't kill anyone just because they annoy me. Why do you think pop singers are still a thing?"
Juniper turned green, which of course meant she was happy and not that she was vomiting. "You know Perseus, you're not at all like how I imagined you'd be."
"Really? What did you imagine?"
"I thought you'd be this uptight and angsty god with a red pitchfork and two horns on him with a red tail behind."
Perseus raised an eyebrow. "You're confusing me with what the Christians believe as Satan."
Juniper frowned. "Aren't you similar? Both casted down to a hellish place?"
Percy shook his head. "Two differences. For one, I didn't start a damned rebellion. Two, I actually exist."
"Oh.", Juniper said. She wanted to talk further, but he held his hand, he was focused on something else. A huntress with a tiara on her head ran towards her own base with the demigod flag in hand. Her strength was impressive, as she easily shoved aside any who got in her way. In the end it wasn't even a contest as she effortlessly leaped across to her base.
Percy turned back to the dryad. "It's been nice chatting with you, Juniper. See you some other time."
With that the former god dropped to the ground and made his way towards the pavilion, where Chiron made his announcement in a tired voice.
"The hunters win … for the fifty sixth time in a row."
The centaur looked disappointed and frankly, so was Percy. After all that talk about showing the 'berry pickers' who's boss, it proved to be just talk and no action. The demigods lost badly.
Thalia was fuming, her body crackling with electricity. Without a word, she marched off towards her cabin, with her friends Annabeth and Luke on her tail.
Nico snorted, rubbing his numb face which had been shocked by Thalia's lightning, "What a sore loser."
The hunters had won and they were happy, and despite Percy's heart of stone, he cracked a smile when he saw Zoe laugh. Their day must have been hell since they found out their mistress was missing. It was a good diversion for them.
But their happiness was short lived, as a green mist filled the area.
Percy's coin grew into a beautiful black sword with a silver hilt. Two handedly he gripped it and pointed it towards the source of the mist, thinking it was some sort of poison attack.
However, the green mist did nothing besides collect at their feet. And from the thick forest, the mummified Oracle appeared in all her splendour.
She looked like a wraith. Nothing at all like what Perseus thought she would look like. He thought it would be some lovely young girl.
"Huh.", he muttered. "Rumours are true then. Hades really did curse it."
(Throne Room Of The Gods, Olympus)
Most of the gods were missing, save for Zeus himself and Poseidon.
The sea god held a parchment consisting of maybe five lines. He seemed to be reading it silently.
"And one shall die by a parent's hand.", he muttered, crumpling the paper angrily. "What is the meaning of this, Zeus?! How can you force him to go on this quest. It would mean his death."
Zeus shrugged. "Like I care."
Poseidon glared at him. "But I do. I can invoke the ancient laws for this and have you removed from your position as King of the Gods."
"Alright, brother.", Zeus interrupted. "Why don't you state exactly which law I broke?"
"Need me to say it? Fine. Under any circumstances, an immortal is not allowed to take another's powers."
Zeus scoffed. "Except that Perseus is no immortal. Not anymore. So your argument is invalid, brother."
"It is far from invalid, Zeus. You used an ancient artefact to steal Percy's immortality. You waited till he was weak enough, and then you seized the opportunity."
Zeus snarled angrily. "WHAT WAS I TO DO, DAMNIT?! ARTEMIS IS MISSING!"
The sky god calmed down with a few breaths. "Kronos laid a trap for him in the woods. The artefact they used had sucked up his energy. Most of it anyway. When those blasted demigods took him inside, all I did was take away the remaining."
Poseidon shook his head in disappointment. "Where did you keep it?"
Zeus sighed, then brought up a spherical container. The container held black energy that writhed around, trying to force it's way out, but one zap from Zeus's bolt and it stopped moving for a few seconds, before it continued again.
Poseidon's eyes widened. "You're keeping it in it's raw form? That's dangerous, even for you. You stop paying attention for even a minute, and it'll escape, blasting everything in sight as it goes back to Percy's body."
"I have to. Storing it elsewhere will destroy it. That cheeky little shit made some precautions, even for this scenario."
For once that day, Poseidon laughed. "Ha. He's more paranoid than you. And that's saying something."
Zeus nodded tiredly, clearly exhausted keeping Percy's immortal energy locked away. It certainly wasn't easy.
Poseidon looked at his brother and felt a little sympathy. His daughter being missing had taken it's toll on the sky god, but Zeus remained strong because he was the King, and he had to keep the facade up for the other Olympians.
"I won't tell Perseus.", Poseidon said finally. "But you have to promise me you will release that energy when he needs it. When he really needs it."
Zeus nodded. "I will. Meanwhile, if we have to face father, then we need help. Go to Rome and ask for Rueduciel's aid."
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A/N: Ah done! Next chapter the quest will finally begin. But please take note that I will not be following the books AT ALL. Certain plot points will definitely change.
Also I've noticed that many stories portray Zeus as the ultimate douchebag. That is true, but what people fail to grasp is that he isn't a bad king at all. Otherwise the Olympians wouldn't have put up with him for so long. I'm pretty sure Poseidon + rest of council can beat Zeus. Not only that, he genuinely cares for his children.
