Chapter 02: Mystery Man

(Five Years Later)

Five years since anyone had seen the Hero of Olympus. Poseidon was in a deep depression, the seas had been restless for over three years. Everyone believed Percy would return on his own. They thought he would travel, kill a few monsters to blow off some steam, then return to camp. But after a year and no word, people began to worry. After two, Zeus sent the Hunters of Artemis to track Percy down, simply to check on him. Since his disappearance, most of the gods had let go of their grudges toward Percy, realizing his heart and intentions were pure. After the third year and no luck in tracking him, people began to worry about his safety. Hades assured the council that Percy was still alive, but people still worried. After the fourth year, people began to think he would never return. He was immortal; but after no contact, it seemed Percy was cutting himself off from the godly world. Despite losing hope, the hunters continued to search for Percy. It was mostly because Thalia had never been the same after Percy disappeared. She knew Annabeth's betrayal had hurt Percy the worst but losing him made the loss that much tougher for Thalia. Artemis was also furious a demigod had managed to evade her hunters for so long. They had never failed a mission. Until Percy Jackson that is. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the Earth. Close, but not quite.

Two years after Percy's disappearance, demigods began showing up at Camp Half Blood seemingly by themselves. The demigods said they were found by a man who helped them travel to camp but refused to go into camp with them. People had hoped it was Percy but when the demigods described the man, they said he had brown hair and brown eyes, crushing the hope that Percy was around.

After the first half dozen demigods showed up at camp accompanied by this mysterious man, the gods began to wonder who he was and why he was rescuing demigods. The man had even managed to bring girls into the hunter's camp unnoticed, vanishing before the hunters noticed a new girl had entered their camp; something that infuriated Artemis immensely. When Artemis questioned the girls, they would explain their stories, usually horrific tales of abuse both physical and sexual. They said the man would show up and rescue them while dealing horrific fates to their abusers. When asked about the man the young girls would smile and say that he was nice and caring, like a big brother who came to their rescue. When they described the man, the girls gave the same descriptions as the campers, brown hair and brown eyes. The only clue to his identity was the name Blake. Despite how angry Artemis was that the man managed to sneak into her camp unnoticed, she couldn't help but hold a small amout of respect for the man. From the young girls' stories, the man dealt with abusive men in a way that was just as, if not more brutally than Artemis did.

Zeus ordered the man be found and brought to Olympus so his identity could be revealed. Despite their best efforts, neither the hunters nor any gods sent could find this man. He was an enigma. He appeared when needed by demigods but vanished before his identity or origins could be discovered.

The hunters were currently tracking Echidna and the Chimera and were currently a little ways outside of Chicago. As they travelled, they were ambushed by a small army of monsters consisting of Cyclops, Dracaena, Empousa and Hellhounds. A number of hunters were injured when they were caught by surprise. The remaining hunters tried to protect the wounded ones but were starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters.

Thalia was firing arrows and fast as she could but the monsters were closing in fast. As she fired, she didn't see a Cyclops sneaking up to her left. Artemis noticed but couldn't reach her in time. Thalia turned just in time to see the monster's club raised to strike her down. As she braced herself for the impact, she closed her eyes. The strike never came. She opened her eyes to see and arrow imbedded in the Cyclop's forehead before it crumbled to dust. What shocked her was that the arrow was not silver, it was black.

Thalia turned to see monsters begin getting picked off by black arrows as soon as they came within ten feet of the hunters. She looked to her right to see a man firing arrows at speeds and accuracy that rivaled even the best hunters. The monster army finally seemed to notice the man and a sent a wave of monsters toward him.

Instead of defending himself the man strapped his bow to his back. He calmly pulled out two golden hunting knives and when the monsters were ten feet away from him, the blades lit on fire.

Thalia and the hunters watched in awe while they continued to fire arrows as the man charged into the monster ranks. They were stunned at the speed and grace at which the man fought. His technique was flawless as he sliced from monster to monster, wasting less than a second before moving to the next monster. The hunters began to think he was a god who had come to their aide.

After decapitating the last Empousa, the man sheathed his knives and turned to the small number of monsters who still fought the hunters. He lit his hands on fire before sending two massive fireballs into the center of the monsters. The few that survived were quickly picked off by the silver arrows of the hunters.

As the final monster dissolved, the hunters turned their bows toward the man who dropped to a knee bowing. He knew what was coming. A flash of silver appeared in front of him and the goddess Artemis stood with her hunting knives out. She was surprised to see the man already bowing.

"Who are you?" She yelled at him.

The man kept his head down, "I will tell you but it is not for your hunter's ears." He said respectfully.

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "And why is that?"

The man kept his head down but extended his arm for the goddess to see. "I seek the company of Lady Diana for this conversation and your hunters may not understand where I come from." He said in a respectful tone.

Artemis was surprised. She looked at his arm and saw the SPQR tattoo along with the bars for each year of service. She only saw one bar which was odd for such an old demigod. But what shocked her most was that instead of one symbol of his godly parent, he had two. And they were the symbols of the two least likely goddesses to have a demigod other than herself. The symbols of Vesta and Juno were clearly tattooed on his arm.

"Why do you have the symbols of Juno and Vesta tattooed on your arm?" She asked suspiciously.

The man sighed, "They are my patrons. I have not spoken to my father in many years." He said in a sad tone.

Artemis wanted to question him more about it but decided to wait until later.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"I was bringing a young maiden to your camp when I saw the monsters ambush your hunters. The girl is hidden in the branches of a tree in the woods one hundred yards to my left. I told her to wait until the monsters were gone and for me to come get her." He answered calmly.

"Show me your face!" Artemis demanded, realizing this was probably the man she had failed to locate.

He looked up at her with brown eyes and brown hair.

"You're the man who has been rescuing demigods while avoiding the gods. How dare you enter my hunter's camp without my permission?" Artemis hissed in outrage.

The man looked directly into the goddess' silver eyes, "I meant no disrespect Lady Artemis. I simply wished to provide the girls with a home they would feel safe in. Their lives were not good when I found them. I did not want to bring them to Camp Half Blood as they would not be comfortable around male demigods."

Something about his face seemed very familiar to Artemis for some reason but she couldn't think of where she had seen this man before.

She narrowed her eyes at the man but saw no deceit in his words. She decided she would take him to Olympus as her father ordered where the council could question the demigod.

She ordered him to follow her back into her camp. When they reached the camp, three of the newest hunters threw themselves at him squealing in delight.

"Blake!" They yelled as they hugged him tightly. Artemis looked shocked. These were the hunters he had apparently brought to the hunt and all were terrified of men. They were even scared of the older hunters. She had never seen them so happy since coming to the hunt.

The man, Blake, smiled at the girls, "I see you have found a home here Christy, Megan, and Diana." He said in a happy tone.

Artemis sent two hunters to retrieve the girl hidden in the woods and brought Blake to her tent once he managed to detach the gleeful girls from him. He looked up to see some hunters glaring at him while some looked at him confused or shocked. He followed Artemis into her tent.

Artemis eyed the man warily, "You say you are Roman yet you seem to be fully aware of the Greeks. Explain." Artemis demanded.

Blake looked at the goddess warily before sighing, "I never said I was Roman Lady Artemis. From what my patrons tell me, I am different. Apparently my father visited my mother in both his aspects rather than one. When she saw my father she saw a combination of both aspects. Thus, I am apparently a child of both Greece and Rome."

"That isn't possible." She argued. The goddess shimmered until she stood in her Roman aspect Diana.

"How do I know you tell the truth?" She asked suspiciously, in Latin.

"I am only telling you what my patrons told me. I was not aware until a few years ago." He answered in perfect Latin.

Diana shifted back to Artemis and stared at the man confused. He was the first demigod of his kind in history.

"Who is your father?" She asked less threateningly.

The man looked at her apologetically, "I am sorry Lady Artemis but I cannot reveal that. My patrons told me to keep the information to myself."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "You dare defy a goddess?"

Blake shook his head, "I do not wish to, but I cannot defy my patrons."

Artemis stared Blake, her eyes still narrowed. She decided to search his memories. As soon as she tried, she was shocked to find herself blocked. She looked at Blake to find his eyes glowing brown with power. Her eyes widened before she scowled.

"I could just kill you." She threatened.

Surprisingly Blake shrugged. "Go ahead if you must. I have seen enough of the terrible things in this world for one lifetime anyway."

Artemis's eyes widened before she sneered, "Very well, you can come to Olympus where my father can decide your fate."

Blake looked worried for a minute but then he smirked, "How about another deal?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "And what do you have that I would want?"

"I propose a wager. If you beat me in an archery competition, I will reveal everything you want to know about me as well as come peacefully with you to Olympus. If I win, I leave your camp in peace until we meet again." Blake asked hopefully.

Artemis laughed, "You think you can defeat the goddess of Archery in an archery competition? You are just another foolish man. I accept your challenge boy."

Blake smiled and nodded. Artemis scowled but led the man to the archery range. The hunters gathered around smirking in anticipation of the man's humiliation.

"Ten arrows each, fired continuously. Whoever is more accurate wins." Artemis said with a smirk.

Blake nodded and pulled his bow off his back and notched an arrow.

"Begin!" Thalia yelled.

Both Artemis and the man fired arrows at amazing speeds. Within seconds, both were finished. Artemis stared at her formation triumphantly, not even taking the time to look at the man's.

Then she heard words that sent a chill down her back, "I..It…It's a t..tie." Thalia stuttered out.

Artemis froze. She looked at Blake's target to see an identical formation.

"I'm sorry for challenging you Lady Artemis. But since I did not lose, I will not be coming to Olympus." Blake said apologetically before taking a step back. Artemis turned to look at him shocked but before she could speak the man vanished into a flash of flames.

Artemis stared at the spot the man vanished from in confusion. He could have escaped whenever he wanted. Did he simply want to humiliate her? She became furious before turning to hunters who also looked stunned.

"Camp here for the night. I must go to Olympus." She ordered before vanishing in a flash of silver. Once the council had been gathered, thirteen gods and goddesses looked at Artemis expectantly.

"Why have you called this meeting daughter?" Zeus bellowed.

"I had the man who has been rescuing demigods for the past few years in my hunter's camp today." Artemis said quietly.

Zeus' eyes widened, "Then why isn't he in front of the council?" He demanded.

Artemis looked at the ground, "He challenged me to a competition in archery. The stakes were that if he lost he would come to Olympus peacefully. If he won, I would let him leave in peace."

Zeus looked at her oddly, "Well, then why isn't he here?"

"Oh my Gods...You lost didn't you?" Apollo asked before breaking down laughing at his sister.

Artemis looked at her brother furiously, "I didn't lose. It was a tie." She growled.

Apollo just continued to laugh loudly, a few others joined him laughing quietly at the prideful goddess' look of rage.

Before anyone could speak Artemis turned her eyes to Hera, "But father, I know two people who have known his identity from the beginning."

"What? Who knows of this man?" Zeus yelled angrily.

Artemis narrowed her eyes at Hera, "Ask you wife. Apparently she and Hestia are the man's patrons."

Zeus turned on his wife with a look of rage on his face, "What? How do you know this man?" He growled.

Hera smirked, "He is our champion. His identity is a secret that we will not share." Hera said as Hestia nodded in agreement.

"How dare you two keep this information from Olympus? This man could become a threat. He must be brought here immediately." Zeus bellowed.

Hera shook her head, "He is our champion. How could he be a threat to Olympus? He is loyal to us." She asked disbelievingly.

Zeus' face reddened, "You will bring him to Olympus or I shall cast him into Tartarus for eternity." He yelled.

Hera and Hestia stood up enraged, "You will do no such thing. He is under our protection." Hera hissed as Hestia nodded in agreement, her eyes ablaze with anger.

Zeus seemed shocked by their protectiveness, "I order he be brought to Olympus immediately or I will order Artemis to hunt this man. I will also dispatch every god and goddess available to kill this man at first sight." Zeus threatened.

Hera looked ready to attack her husband but Hestia put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's time he came home sister. He can resume his missions after." Hestia said softly.

Hera scowled and turned to her husband, "We will bring him to Olympus, but he will not be touched. You will let him leave in peace and every god or goddess in this room with swear to not reveal his identity outside the council. He is our champion and he will remain afterword."

Zeus looked shocked but narrowed his eyes, "Very well Hera. Well will agree to your terms as long as the man is not a threat."

"Swear it on the Styx. All of you. Or we will hide him where you will never find him and you will make two new enemies within the council." Hera hissed at Zeus.

Zeus' nostrils flared but Poseidon put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Peace brother. They say he is not a threat so their conditions are agreeable."

Zeus looked like he wanted to argue but sighed, "Very well. We the council swear on the River Styx to your terms, wife."

Thunder rumbled outside the throne room. Hera smiled triumphantly and vanished in flash of light. She reappeared a moment later with a man with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked around the room in confusion.

"Why am I here?" He asked suspiciously.

Hera looked at him sadly, "We had no choice. They were going to hunt you down and kill you. Apparently Artemis couldn't handle the fact she didn't beat you in archery." Hera said glaring at Artemis who glared right back.

The man looked angry, "What? I haven't done enough for Olympus? I can't have five years of peace?" He asked angrily.

"What do you mean boy? You've never been here before." Artemis sneered at him.

Hera smirked, "Watch your mouth when you speak to my champion Artemis. You'd still be stuck under the sky without him."

Artemis eyes widened in realization as Hera snapped her fingers. The man's hair turned jet black and his eyes turned the sea green they used to be except they now had strips of brown in them.

Artemis gasped, "Perseus?"