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A/N
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Hey, guys! I'm back! And welcome to the eighth chapter of 'The Two Hunters'. I'm really sorry about the delay but I was having slight difficulties in writing this chapter. Please forgive me.

I hope that you enjoy this chapter and continue reading the story.

Constructive Criticism is highly appreciated.

The story will stick to an 'M' rating which means there will be no lemons or sexual scenes. Suggestive sexual themes may be prevalent later on in the story. Swearing will occur and violence and gore will be prevalent.

Pairings: Percy/Artemis, Zoe/OC, Annabeth/OC, Thalia/Luke.

There will be no slash content in the story. Maybe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or its characters.

Let's get started!

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Chapter 8: Blessing of the Wild
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Sun West Line

1:26 A.M.

After Percy had gathered his thoughts and regrets, he stood up from his place at the fire and stepped onto the train. He just wanted to teleport to Artemis's location but the stupid Ancient Laws forbade him from doing so.

He was so deep in his thoughts that when he chose to occupy the back seat of a red Porsche, he did not notice the sleeping figure in the front seat. He sat down and with a sigh let the realm of Morpheus take over.

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Dream Realm
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Percy opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a huge dark cave with shadows enveloping most of the corners. He heard a pained grunt from behind him and whipped around.

The sight made his blood boil.

He saw a girl with blonde princess curls holding up the weight of the sky. She was barely managing to do so and she was bleeding from several cuts on her body.

Percy, however, could not move from his spot. He could turn around but that was it. No moving. No talking.

"Oh no." A new voice came, which Percy immediately recognised. Artemis, in silver chains, came out from the shadows and kneeled beside Annabeth.

Artemis gently nudged Annabeth from underneath the weight of the sky and took the weight upon herself with a grunt.

A booming laugh came from the shadows, "I let you escape my burden Artemis. But in your vendetta to always protect the poor maidens you let yourself be trapped again."

Percy's blood boiled at new levels when he realised that Atlas was so near but yet so far.

Before he could hear anything else, he was pulled back from the Dream Realm and into the land of the living.

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Dream Ends
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Percy opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of two people kissing each other vigorously. When he realised the identity of the offenders, he clapped his hands which made them stop abruptly.

They both looked at him with apprehension and a slight trace of fear.

"Pray tell, what the fuck is going on here?"

Alex stumbled on his words while trying to explain, so Zoe took the lead.

She explained to Percy, how she and Alex had begun falling for each other long ago, before the First Giant War. But neither of them had realised and had joined their respective hunting groups. It was only through the years that they started realising their feelings.

As they were the lieutenants of their groups they used some of their time to visit each other secretly. This little arrangement had been going on for almost fifteen years.

"You've been together for fifteen years?" Percy asked with an incredulous expression.

Alex and Zoe both nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me? Or Artemis?"

Alex spoke up this time, "We thought that you would kick us out of the Pack or the Hunters."

Percy cracked up. He started with minute chuckling but began full out laughing soon after. After he had laughed his heart right out, he looked at the confused expressions of the two.

"Guys, you're our friends. You've been in the group for over, I don't even remember. Artemis, in all, has let go of only one hunter against her wishes and that too because she was pregnant. I have let go of members of my pack because they fell in love with someone who was not partially immortal. You might have sworn off the other gender but that does not stop your feelings."

"Hell, take me and Artemis. We were madly in love with each other, then I hated her with a passion and now, I realise that I never stopped loving her, when even I have sworn off women. Even if we had sworn on the Styx she would have done nothing because of the numerous favours she still owes me."

"So," Alex began, "You're okay with us?"

"Of course. Now, I'm gonna give you guys some privacy." Percy stepped out of the car feeling happy for his best friends. He sat down in another car and wondered how his life had taken such a turn.

Just before this quest, he was indifferent towards Artemis but now, he was not only on a quest to save her but he was fully accepting the fact that he still loved Artemis.

He just sat there thinking for a few hours before the train halted to a stop.

He got out of the car and looked at the station board. If he had to guess, they were in some town in New Mexico. He left the train and waited for the others to climb down.

When all seven were down he spoke, "Ok. This is where our train stops. We'll gather supplies and food and meet at that coffee shop over there, okay?"

The others nodded and started collecting the various supplies they would need. Percy sat in the coffee shop, ordered a coffee and sipped it slowly. Soon after, Grover sat down in front of me with a coffee in his hand as well.

"So, Grover had any new rescues?"

"No, Lord Perseus."

"None of this, 'Lord Perseus' crap. You can refer to me as Percy or Perseus. Although, I prefer Percy."

Grover simply nodded before he stiffened, dropped his coffee and held his head.

"What's wrong Grover?"

"Pan… I feel Pan's presence."

"What?"

Before he could answer, the others came running over with their weapons in their hands.

Zoe spoke up, "Spartoi. A lot of them."

Percy cursed, "Damn it all to Tartarus. Bianca, Nico take out your swords and slash at whatever spartoi come your way. We will meanwhile hold the fort as you take out the others."

Percy summoned Storm and Shadow and charged at the sound of cluttering bones. The others followed his lead and soon a full-blown fight began.

The sound of cluttering bones was very prominent because the spartoi were struck down easily but they reformed quickly enough. Some of them, however, burst into flames when either Bianca or Nico struck them.

Grover fell down without being hit and Luke covered him instantly.

Grover was moaning, "Blessing of Wild… Pan's presence."

Percy heard this and stilled for a moment. Pan's blessing was never a good thing.

And he was spot on in this assumption.

A huge cry of 'reet!' alerted all the questers to a new presence in their battle. They turned around to see the biggest boar any of them had ever seen hurtling towards them.

"It's the Erymanthian Boar! Scatter!" Percy shouted.

Grover shouted back, "No! It's our mode of transportation!"

Thalia replied, "I sure as hell, am not getting on that!"

The boar temporarily destroyed all the skeletons.

Theseus in a moment of genius, grabbed onto the boar, "No choice! Get on!"

Percy cursed, "You guys are mad! I love it! Get on!"

Thalia and Bianca looked at Percy incredulously but when all the boys grabbed on to the boar and climbed on, they had no choice.

The boar shot through the snow that covered the edges of the town in the west direction. Percy feared that it was going in the general direction of San Francisco and hoped that they wouldn't encounter any Roman campers.

That would be disastrous.

After a full hour of fast travelling and screaming, courtesy of both Thalia and Luke, they finally reached a desert.

They climbed down from the boar and the boar took off in a random direction making those wretched loud noises.

"Well, I can safely say that after hearing the two of you scream like little girls you both will make a great couple." Both of the mentioned people blushed.

"So," Bianca began, "Any idea where to go now?"

Theseus shrugged, "It brought us to the start of a desert. I think we need to go past the desert."

"Very well…" Percy was cut off with the roaring of an engine. He looked around and saw a red sports car driving towards them. He waited for the car to pass but it stopped right in front of them.

The person who stepped out caused Theseus and Luke to growl.

He was wearing a blood-red jacket above a black shirt with a skull plastered on it. He was also wearing black jeans. He had sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Ares." Percy greeted coolly. Their relationship had started great as friends but when Ares started using mankind's anger to begin wars, Percy distanced himself from him and the emotion slowly grew to hatred.

"Perseus. The lady wants to talk to most of you."

Percy's eyes flashed dangerously, causing Ares to take a step back. The questers, except Zoe and Alex, looked at Percy in shock. They realised a monumental fact about Percy.

He may be a cheerful and kind person with them but to make him angry was a mistake you should never make.

"Tell the lady," Percy began with gritted teeth, "To piss off."

The questers expected a cocky and smug smirk from Ares but they were shocked to see a pleading expression. He had even taken off his sunglasses. His usually flaming red eyes had dimmed a bit which caused the mortal questers to wonder what was the history between Ares and Percy.

"Perseus, she made a mistake long ago. Can't you just forgive her?"

Wrong thing to do.

Percy grabbed Ares's throat in a flash and pinned him to the side of his car. He spoke in a cold tone, "Her mistake," Percy spat, "Caused me copious amounts of grief and prevented me from spending centuries with the woman I love. That's why I will never talk to her again until she does an action that will actually make me respect her."

He let go of Ares's throat and stepped back, "I will not be catering to the whims of your girlfriend and she can fuck off. Understood?"

Ares meekly nodded and ran into the car. The car drove off within seconds and vanished into the horizon.

"Now, let's get on with it." Percy started walking towards the desert in the lead. The questers trailed behind as Thalia asked Alex, "What happened between Ares and Percy?"

Alex shook his head, "Not my place to tell. Just that something happened that hurt him a lot. Only one good thing came out of it."

Nico asked while Zoe was reminiscing the good old days, "What was the good thing?"

"The Pack of Perseus and the Hunters of Artemis were formed."

Luke asked the follow-up, "So, does that mean Lady Artemis had also been involved?"

Zoe chuckled darkly, "Kind of an important piece in the event. Without her, there would be no event."

Alex squeezed her hand gently which went unnoticed by the others.

Theseus asked another question, "Who was the "lady"?"

Alex tapped his temple and said, "Think, Theseus, think. Who would go around with Ares in his car and Ares would talk normally about the person?"

Theseus's eyes widened, "He rebuffed Lady Aphrodite."

Zoe's eyes narrowed, "Don't call her that. She deserves not an ounce of respect. She does what she wants and doesn't care about the consequences."

The others wisely remained quiet sensing the underlying tone in Zoe's tone which screamed, 'Danger! Danger!"

They came upon a Percy who was gritting his teeth and trying to cross some invisible barrier. After another few seconds of trying he stepped back.

"What's wrong, Perce?" Alex asked.

"Some invisible barrier. If I think this place is what it is, you'll be able to pass it. Go on."

Theseus being the slightly brave one crossed the area where Percy was struggling without any problems. Percy cursed under his breath for a few minutes as the others stood there waiting for him to say something.

"Ok, I'm gonna flash to the other side of the desert and wait there for you guys. You have to cross it on your own because this is another God's domain. Couple of warnings to hand out so listen."

"This is the Junkyard of the Gods. It comes under Hephaestus's domain and even though he and I are on good terms he will not allow me to cross his domain so easily. He'll want me to do him a favour and I don't have the time right now. Because we have to rescue Artemis by the Winter Solstice or bad things could happen. Really bad things."

"Now, do not touch anything in the junkyard. If you so much as touch a thing from the junkyard let alone pick it up, the guards of this place will become active and will be out for blood."

"Remember that. It's very bad. If any problems occur you have to take care of them on your own, I won't be able to help you. Got it?"

He received several nods, "Great! Get going."

Percy flashed himself to the other side of the desert where he found a truck with the keys still in the ignition. He checked the gas and calculated that it would take them to at least the Hoover Dam. He sat down in the truck waiting for the others to show up.

Meanwhile, the others brought out their weapons and walked carefully through the Junkyard. The amount of junk was huge so they had to move dangerously close. As they were about halfway, a huge creaking sound was the first alert that something was wrong.

They looked back from where they had come from and they were shocked to see the creaking had come from the pit they had dodged. Nico took a quick peek down the pit and when he came up he was pale.

"Guys, I think we might be in trouble."

"What's wrong, Nico?" Bianca asked. They were still on tentative terms and Nico scowled but answered nonetheless.

"Remember that card game I played?"

"Mythomagic," Luke answered.

"Mmhm. Well, I saw this card with crazy power, trumped only by the immortals. It was an automaton which went by the name of Talos."

All questers except Bianca and Theseus paled rapidly.

"What's wrong?"

Zoe looked around frantically, "Did anyone take anything? Did anyone touch anything?"

Bianca looked at her feet before she said, "I might have touched an old bow. It turned into a hairpin when I touched it. So, I dropped it and came after you guys."

"We're doomed. Run, everybody. No point in skirting around the edges. If Talos is awakening we're going to die!" Alex shouted as they started running.

But it was too late. Not only was Talos present as a defence, from the ground, but several automatons also rose. Awaiting for dangers to the Junkyard. They were surrounded by at least thirty automatons and Talos himself.

Nico, Zoe and Bianca drew their bows while the other four drew out their swords.

A sea-green aura spread from Theseus as he shouted, "Charge!" And raised Riptide as he slashed at the closest automaton.

The automaton tried to dodge but Riptide cleaved its head clean off. Alex slashed at the legs of another automaton, leaving it immobile as he drove his sword into its head.

Luke and Thalia charged side-by-side. As Luke slashed at one automaton, Thalia protected his back from the slash of another. Thalia parried the strike with her spear and drove it in its knee as she bashed its head against her shield.

Luke cleaved apart another automaton into two halves horizontally with a double-handed slash towards its midsection. Zoe shot an arrow into the knee of one making it easier for Alex to drive his sword into its chest. Alex smiled at Zoe, and he got distracted by the beauty of her smile.

An automaton was slashing towards him when a sword appeared through its back immediately shutting it off. The sword belonged to Theseus.

"If you lovebirds can get back to work, I would appreciate it. Do you even know what Percy's going to do once he finds out what happened here?"

They didn't have time to concentrate as a deep creaking was heard. They looked around to see the automaton legion had been decimated and they were now facing a twenty-feet Talos.

"Anyone want dibs?" Theseus asked as they all formed a line against the giant automaton.

"Well, Theseus you were so kind as to offer. Go on." Zoe told him sweetly.

"Hey! I did not volunteer. Now, how the hell do we defeat him?"

Luke began, "It's a robot, isn't it? Then, all we got to do is find the switch to turn him off."

Thalia started to criticize him before she realised that he was right.

"Okay, where do you think it is?"

Bianca turned to the group with an extremely pale face which just highlighted her freckles, "I think I just found it." Bianca pointed at Talos as he raised a foot to continue its approach towards them.

On the right foot were the words, "For maintenance."

"I'll be the one," Bianca spoke again.

Protests went around but Bianca stomped on them quickly, "I was the one who got us in this mess and I will be the one to take us out of it." She ran towards Talos as he raised another foot.

The questers cursed as Alex and Zoe readied their bows and the others charged. They kept on unleashing arrows as the others made wild slashes at its leg. Talos stood on the ground and kicked Thalia with brutal force. Thalia flew through the air and just managed to manipulate the air a bit to make her land safely.

Talos lifted his leg on Biannca who knew that she had to turn him off if she wanted her brother to live. What Bianca did not know was that her brother was planning the exact opposite thing. Nico tackled his sister out of the way and put his sword right through Talos's foot as it collapsed on him.

Talos fell down in a heap and they scrambled out of the way to avoid getting squashed. After the heap of dust settled down, they scrambled to search for Nico.

They searched around but Talos was too heavy and there was no chance of him surviving. Bianca broke down in hysterical sobs as she thought that her brother's death was her fault.

Zoe gently pulled the girl up as she and Thalia supported her and walked with the others to the other side of the desert.

Percy who had heard the frantic cries and sounds of battling had grown worried. Thoughts were going through his mind at a rapid pace. All in all, he knew one thing, he wanted to rip apart Hephaestus for not letting him in.

He soon saw the entire group hobbling towards him. He saw that Bianca was crying and that Nico was missing. A growing sense of dread filled up the pits of his stomach.

I lost him. I failed him. He died a hero's death but because of me. If I just tried to venture…

He was broken out of his tirade by a huge slap to his face. He turned around to see Zoe looking angrily at him, "It was not your fault. The Ancient Laws restricted you and you could do nothing about it,"

"But…" Bianca's hysterical sobs cut through and he forgot about everything that was going on. He wrapped the girl in his arms as he whispered soothing comments and rubbed her lower back.

They were interrupted by a huge rumbling from the depths of the Earth.

Should have expected it.

"Everyone step back." They did so without any protest. They were much too tired and sad about whatever that was about to happen.

The Earth erupted to reveal Hades donning his battle armour with his helm of Darkness on his head. He raised an accusatory sword at Percy, "You! It was because you, my son is now in the Underworld. I will obliterate you from this plane of existence."

"Uncle, we can…"

"I am not your uncle. You caused the death of my child because of your little bitch."

When they heard this, all tiredness vanished from Zoe and Alex. They pushed back the others who looked on in confusion.

Percy spoke in a calm and cold voice, "If that's how you want to play it." He ran his hand through his hair as he was enveloped in golden light. Percy emerged from the light looking completely different.

He was clad in gold and red armour with two of his swords, Storm and Shadow strapped to his back. On his waist was a single gun holster in which sat a gleaming golden gun.

On Percy's shoulders and thighs sat four knife sheaths with silver knives in them.

Zoe mumbled underneath her breath, "This is not going to be good."

"You came looking for a fight, you'll get one." Harry took out his twin swords and charged. He slashed at the waist with Storm while he swiped at the foot with Shadow.

Moisture and darkness latched onto the two swords as the parrying and slashing continued without either of them giving the other a single advantage.

Percy lashed out at Hades's head with both of his swords at once which Hades dodged by ducking down. He lunged at Percy's open gut but Percy twisted out of the way.

As Hades charged again, Percy raised his swords in defence. Hades slashed like a madman trying to actually kill him. Percy, however, was not at all troubled. He had fought humans more dangerous than Hades was right now.

He had fought because Hades had insulted Artemis, otherwise, he had no intention of fighting. Percy decided to finish it. He threw one blade into the air as he lashed out at Hades's knees with his knives. They plunged straight to the bone and Hades cried out in pain as he collapsed on the ground.

Percy held his gun at Hades's head, "Will you be okay now, Uncle?"

Hades looked like a broken man. He had slight tears running down, "I never met him. Why do I care so much for him?"

Percy changed back into the simple t-shirt and trousers he was wearing and knelt by his Uncle as he healed the knees, "Two reasons. He was your son and he died a hero's death."

"We may lose a lot of people in the upcoming war but that's a price we have to pay if we hope to win."

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A/N
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And that's a wrap on the eighth chapter of 'The Two Hunters' nearly two months later. I had not expected to write in the short fight scene between Hades and Percy but it just popped up. Or take such a long break from a story which has received such a fantastic response from the readers!

I'm going to adhere to a regular posting schedule from now on. You can expect at least one chapter a week for the story as I have overcome the problems I was facing for this particular chapter.

I'm also going to be focusing on my other story, 'Potters and the Days of War' which has nearly crossed the 60k words mark. Be sure to check that story out.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember to follow and favourite the story and leave your suggestions and comments in the reviews section.

Next Chapter: The Rage of the Wolf

Published: 5 July 2020

MasterChaos1