Chapter 15

Camp Halfblood, 1 Week Later (Third POV)

The campers were getting ready to leave to the party on Olympus, celebrating the first person to beat the Hephaestus Legend Challenge. All of the campers were curious as to who could have beaten it, the footage gave no indication as to who it could've been, and the man was moving too fast to get a good look at.

Nobody however, had pondered over the mystery man more than Annabeth Chase, who had sworn the sword was the fabled Riptide, but she knew it couldn't have been him; last they've heard, Percy had been living in happy solitude, not with the Hunters of Artemis. Over the years, Annabeth had become shunned by nearly everyone at the camp, only her siblings and Chiron still talked to her. Speaking of the old centaur, "Chiron, have the gods revealed who the man is? This party is for him and we don't even know who he is."

Chiron sighed, this was the nineteenth time Annabeth has asked this today, "No child, as I've said multiple times before, he has chosen to remain anonymous. Perhaps you will be able to talk to him there." Annabeth has picked up on the underlying frustration in his voice and decided to leave the matter alone for now, she would get the opportunity to find out later.

—

Manhattan, New York

"Come on Perce, you can't go to a party in camouflage." Thalia has been trying to convince her cousin of going to get some new clothes for the party for nearly an hour. "Dear gods Thalia, if I go shopping would you leave me alone?"

"Like hell I am, you would probably go buy more camo, I'm coming with you." Percy sighed, that was actually what he was planning to do. "Fine, but where are we even going to get the money to buy the clothes?" Thalia just grinned and pulled out a silver credit card, "Perks of being a lieutenant, come on Kelp Head, Broadway is this way." Percy let out another exasperated sigh, this was going to be a long day.

…

They had ended up going to two stores for Percy, the Nike Soho and Express; getting him some dark blue jeans, a black hoodie and a pair of black Air Jordan 12s. "Well I got to admit Fish for Brains, you don't look half bad, now all you got to do is shave and visit your mom, then we'd be good to go." Percy nearly choked on the soda he was drinking at the mention of visiting his mom, "Come on Perce it's been over a decade since you last saw her, besides you'd be in for a little surprise while you're there," Thalia said with a smirk. Percy relented, seeing that it probably was about time he saw him mom, "One condition: the beard stays."

They had walked for about an hour, ending up in front of the door to the Blofis apartment, where Percy was having trouble with bringing himself to knock on the door; so Thalia did it for him. After what seemed to be the longest minute in Percy's life the familiar face of Sally Jackson appeared in the door, she had aged well, still retaining her young features but now with some grey in her hair. "Oh hi Thalia, how have you been? And who is -" At seeing the man next to Thalia she froze, a mother could never forget the eyes of her first child, "Percy?"

Percy just nodded, not trusting his voice. Before he knew it he was crushed in a hug strong enough to make him feel as if ribs would break under the pressure. What's up with his family and strong hugs? "Mommy who's this man?" Sally pulled away from the hug and wiped tears away from her eyes, looking at the bubbling eight year old in the apartment, "Estelle. This is your older brother, Percy Jackson." Both newfound siblings started firing off questions.

"I have a sister?"

"The super cool hero dude?"

"How old is she?"

"He's real?"

"Is there any more?"

"He has a cool beard."

"Where's Paul?"

"Can I go get a cookie?"

"You have cookies?"

Sally and Thalia both started cracking up at Perseus' childish antics. "Yes Percy, lets go inside and I'll take them out the oven. Paul should be home in a little, and I expect you to behave."

Sally said, her motherly side showing a little.

…

Percy was about to walk out the bathroom when he heard keys jingling in the door, Paul was home. Percy walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch wordlessly, giving Paul a small wave. Paul, who looked flabbergasted, "Sally, who is this?" Percy, who apparently had become a lot more childish after eating a cookie said, "Wow Paul, you don't see your stepson for a few years so you replace him and forget his face. How rude."

Paul recomposed himself and after a quick promise to explain everything sat down. Percy spent the next five hours exchanging stories with his parents, often using his shield to go in detail about the places he's been. Percy wanted to keep talking but noticed that it was getting late and quickly excused himself and Thalia; he spent all that time shopping for the party, he was not going to be late for it.

Percy and Thalia quickly sprinted down the stairs and out the apartment, both wondering how they were going to get to Olympus in time. Percy quickly let out a long, piercing whistle, praying that he was in the area. Faster than ever before, a black blur came speeding down towards them 'Boss! You're alive?! You wouldn't believe how hard it's been to get the other demigods to give me a donut; I've had to resort to robbing churro stands!'

After a small exchange with Blackjack agreeing to take them to Olympus in exchange for an explanation of where Perseus has been and a donut. Percy was seriously considering writing a book at this point, it'd be a lot easier than explaining where's he been thousands of times. Thalia slightly wary of getting on Blackjack, even though she's relatively gotten over her fear of heights, she doesn't trust her power over the winds that much.

They arrived in the Temple of Dionysus just in time for the party to begin. The temple had been converted to a large bar for the veteran demigods and gods; much to the excitement of Dionysus, who's ban on alchohol has been temporarily lifted.

Percy and Thalia walked and scanned the room for the occupants only rest The Hunters, a few minor gods, and the Olympian council there so far; no doubt the older demigods and more minor gods would be arriving soon.

…

The two camps had arrived at Olympus relatively at the same time, with both of them meeting each other infront of the temple before walking in. While most demigods went to a table or to the dance floor, Annabeth Chase stood still, scanning the room for the man of the hour; the man who was able to beat the challenge.

She found the man at the bar, aimlessly chatting with a hunter while sipping some kind of blue drink. How did this man even become friends with the hunters; they usually weren't the friendliest people with males and this guy is apparently staying in their camp.

As Annabeth walked towards the guy, to maybe try some kind of identification of whoever he was, she noticed every single one of the hunters were glaring at her. 'Apparently Percy was their hero as well' she thought. 'People seriously need to get over that. It was over 10 years ago!'

As Annabeth neared him, the hunter he had been chatting with whispered something to him and walked away. The man nodded and stared off into space while sipping every now and then on his drink. Annabeth tapped his shoulder and he turned around, "Oh. It's you." He said in disgust, "could've sworn I left this part of my life a decade ago."

You could visibly see the gears turning in Annabeth's head, scanning this mystery man and trying to decipher who this could be. She didn't know any sea green eyed or raven haired men except for -"Percy?"

All talking immediately stopped at the mention of his name, "Well whoop-de-do, it's Annabeth Chase. Never really thought I'd have to see you again but you know how my luck is - Tyche always was a bitch to me. Why don't you go to the other side of the bar and leave me alone Chase. I've had a nice night so far, and I need anything annoying me right now. You can ask Ares how that worked out for him if you stop by Apollo's temple." Percy said, pointing to the ichor on the ground. Annabeth immediately noticed the lack of the war god and back away from Percy as fast as possible.

Perseus just sighed and put his coke down, "Bartender, get me something alcoholic, I don't care what, just make it blue. I'm going to need it if people keep coming up to me." The bartender, some random satyr, just nodded wordlessly and handed him a glass bottle, "You guys seriously have pre-made blue drinks? Dionysus may be useless, but he sure does know how to throw a party."

"I heard that Perry!" A drunken Dionysus shouted from across the room. "You were meant to you alcoholic!" In his drunk state, Dionysus seemed to forget what happened to Ares and walked up to Perseus, who had gone back to staring off in space and sipping his drink, "Who do you think you are talking to like that Pedro? I am a god!" Percy ignored Dionysus and continued to sip his drink, which only served to anger Dionysus more. The wine god's anger grew with each second of being ignored, finally it seemed he had enough and punched Percy in the back of the head.

Percy slowly got off the stool he was sitting on and faced Dionysus. "I'm going to give you one warning: you don't want to have me as an enemy." Dionysus just snorted, "I am a god! I have nothing to fear from a single, lowly demigod who couldn't even keep his girlfriend loyal to him." Percy snapped and held out his hand, soon enough, his spear came flying through the door. Dionysus seemed to sober up at the sight of the weapon, even he was not ignorant to the abilities of the weapon and its owner. "Now, now Perry, lets not do anything rash. I'll just go back over to my side of the bar and leave you alone."

As Dionysus was walking away, Percy jabbed his spear through his leg, unleashing the spears true, devastating power. Dionysus went down in a scream of pain, desperately trying to take the spear out of his calf. "Let me help you with that." Percy said, twisting Time's March while pulling it out. Across the room, you could see Hermes and Apollo exchanging drachmas, who had obviously expected -as did all the other gods- the exchange and made bets. After dishing out his drachmas, Apollo walked over to Dionysus crying form. "Seriously cuz? At this rate we'll be out of Olympians before the end of the night." Percy, who had sat back down as if nothing happened, "He pushed the line, and Ares had it coming." He said, not a care in the world. "He's lucky I didn't kill him now. The only reason I haven't is because he'd probably switch over to the other side down in Tartarus, and I really don't feel like having to kill him twice. Not today at least." Leaving the conversation on that happy note, Percy went back to sipping his drink. Apollo nodded, wary of the demigod's sour mood, and flashed Dionysus away to his temple.

Poseidon walked up towards the front of the stage and tapped the microphone, getting everyone's attention, "Thank you this will only take a second of your time. I would like to get a round of applause for my son, Perseus Jackson! For beating the Hephaestus Legend Challenge on his first attempt, and for uniting all of us here today." All eyes turned to Percy, who just raised his glass bottle, still facing away from everyone; eliciting a cheer from the crowd. Some looked like they wanted to go and congratulate or talk to him, but as they saw him fiddling with his spear shaft they decided it was best to leave him alone for a while; despite most of them not knowing what the spear can do, they all saw what it did to Dionysus.

Thalia, who knew she had nothing to fear from her cousin, went up and started chatting with him - neither of them having a care in the world. Across the room, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel sat, watching their old friend with interest. "I think wherever he's been has changed him." A worried Piper said. Hazel, who always looked up to Percy like he was an older brother, was quick to deny this, "I don't think so, I think Dionysus just ticked him off; he always did hate him." After a moment of indecision she continued, "I'm going to talk to him, see whether he actually changed or not."

Thalia had gone back towards the hunters, leaving Percy alone, taking small sips from drink. He heard the footsteps of someone walking towards him and when he turned around he was met with a golden eyed, cinnamon brown haired girl in her late twenties. A smile slowly creeped onto his face, "Hey Haze, hows life been treating you?" Hazel was always like the little sister that he never had - well, back then at least. A similar smile appeared across her face as well, he hadn't changed that much, "It's been well, Frank and I got married a few years ago." She said holding up her left hand, showcasing the ring she had. "Well that's just amazing! Are there any little pudgy Asain, Canadian baby men running around?"

"Oh my gods! Percy! Don't say that, you're so embarrassing." Hazel said completely flustered and fanning her face. Percy smiled even wider at that, she's still old fashioned. "Hey Hazel, do you still like animals?" Hazel noted the mischevious tone in his voice and was slightly wary, "Yes?" Percy let out a short, high pitched whistle and leaned back against the bar table, facing the door. As Hazel was about to ask what that was about, the door burst open, revealing a huge black wolf that started bounding towards them. Hazel let out a girlish scream, eliciting a laugh from Percy, who was trying to keep Zoë from licking his face. "Well Haze, I didn't know you were a little girl. Anyways meet Zoë, she's basically my best friend, pet and companion all rolled into one. But she's also so much more than that."

Hazel looked at him as if he grew a second head, "You have a wolf as a pet?!" Percy gave a indifferent shrug, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "Yeah she's been with me since I hand fed her down in Yellowstone. You wanna pet her?" Hazel suddenly looked really excited, "Oh my gods can I?" Hazel started scratching Zoë behind her ears. Zoë plopped down on the ground and layed on her back, asking for a belly rub. Hazel obliged and let out a small squeal, "Who's a good girl? You are. Yes you are. She's just the cutest thing ever, what's her name?" Percy just smirked, now he was going to have her asking Frank for a pet wolf, "Her name's Zoë. Just don't go scratching her legs, she hates that, but anywhere else she absolutely loves."

As the wolf had burst through the door, Frank and the rest of the seven -or five, whatever- were immediately set on edge. As the wolf started running towards Hazel, Frank had been ready to turn into a dragon and rip it apart; the only thing that stopped him was Percy's sudden laughter. They watched the exchange between the two old friends in amusement before they decided to join them. Percy noticed them immediately and gave them a small wave, "Hey Pipes, Superman, Repair Boy, Frank, hows it going?" Frank frowned, "Why don't I get a nickname?"

"Well if I'm going to be Frank with you, I couldn't think of one." Percy said with a smirk. "I think we're going to stay as really good friends Perce." Leo said while wrapping his arm around Percy's shoulder, which was impressive since Perseus towered over Leo's 5'8" frame. "Well enjoy it while it lasts, because I probably won't see you guys again after today."

This caused all of the demigods to freeze, "Wait why not?" A frantic Piper said. Percy gave her a nonchalant shrug, "I was happy where I was," he said while sipping his drink, "if you want to go outside, where it's a little more quiet, I can tell you guys some more." They all nodded and walked out of the temple/bar combo; Zoë in toll.

"Well like I said, I was happy where I was." Percy said, pulling his shield off his back, giving it a look over and sighing before putting it back on his back. "I was at peace -even with all the monsters attacking me- there was nobody who could tell me what to do, no gods, no world ending prophecies and no never ending quests. Besides the company was great." He said, petting Zoë on the head. His friends looked at him with sympathy and slight curiosity, it was Jason who spoke up, "Well why did you come back? And what's up with that shield?"

"I came back because I didn't really have a choice, Ouranos is rising, as I'm sure you all know. He's been sending legions of monsters in attempts to kill me, that wasn't really a problem though. It was Artemis who found me, completely on accident by the way, and brought me back to Olympus. I've been staying with the hunt for a week now, under Zeus' orders." Percy pulled his shield off his back and had a wistful look in his eyes, "As for my shield, it was a gift from Hephaestus, it's called The Shield of Perseus, it was inspired from The Shield of Achilles. It shows me my most peaceful moments in my life - what I have to fight for."

Jason has nodded in understanding, "What about your spear, I've never seen anything like that ever before." Percy held out his hand and his spear came flying into it, "This is Time's March. Named after the flow of time; it can be sped up, slowed down, redirected, but never stopped. It was once Kronos' symbol of power; his infamous sycthe before it became my spear. And before you ask, no, it won't rip your soul out; well unless I want it to, then it can."

They just stared at his spear in shock, not being able to comprehend what they were looking at. This was the sycthe of the Titan Lord, The Crooked One, the father of the Big Three, and now it belonged to the greatest demigod in history.

After getting over their initial shock, they all started chatting aimlessly, trying to enjoy what could possibly be their last day seeing Perseus Jackson, their best friend. While the camps had left early into the night, Percy had stayed late at the bar; taking small sips of his drink and thinking about his life and how much he longed for this war to be over. Alas, he knew that was a fools wish, he may have the weapon of the Titan Lord, but he did not have his abilities.

And so, Perseus sat there, reminiscing by his lonesome, making wishes of peace that will never be granted. Men like him were not made for a peaceful life; he was a warrior, the greatest ever, and The Fates would rather fade before they let him be.