Chapter 39

Chapter 39:

Percy sat next to Thalia on her bed as they both hung their heads down.

"So you two went to a party," Annabeth said pacing around the Med Bay.

"Technically it was an after party," Percy spoke up causing Annabeth to send him a death glare in response, "but-ah, that really doesn't matter."

"So you went to a party," Annabeth repeated, "you got drunk," she pointed at Thalia, "and then kissed Percy."

The daughter of Zeus nodded, "right, after he tucked me in."

"And then you freaked out," Annabeth turned to Percy, "and pretended nothing happened. But after Thalia almost died you basically said, 'fuck it', threw caution to the wind and kissed her."

"Ah, yeah. I did, that is what happened," Percy nodded.

Annabeth started at the two long and hard. Soon it started to become awkward for Percy and Thalia, it felt like they were being judged for everything they did. Every twitch, every look, Annabeth's grey eyes spotted it.

"So….what are you?" Annabeth finally asked.

Percy and Thalia shared a look. Percy shrugged, "well… I'm not sure."

"I like Percy," Thalia said as she closed her hand around his, "and….the kiss was pretty good."

Percy smiled and leaned towards her, "yeah it was."

"Ahm," Annabeth cleared her throat.

"Right," Thalia said turning back to Annabeth, "ah, well I don't know whether we are dating or anything."

"I mean I wouldn't mind, but this thing just started and….well I don't want it to go to fast," Percy admitted as he squeezed Thalia's hand.

"Oh Gods you two are so irritating!" Annabeth threw her hands up in frustration, "do you know how much of a shit storm you two being together might cause?!"

"Well...yeah, but-"

"-But nothing!" Annabeth snapped back, "a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Zeus. This couldn't get any worse!"

"Relax Annabeth," Thalia said with a smile, "we'll be fine."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at her long time friend, "really? Doesn't it bother you Percy's like 13! He's six years younger to you!"

Thalia shrugged, "does he look like he's 13?" Percy shook his head. Thanks to the Goblin's growth perk he was taller than the average 13 year old, he also looked a lot more mature. "Plus technically I'm 15 right now, thanks to my little 'nap' inside a pine tree so that would make it only 2 years older."

"Plus my birthday is in like a month, so that reduced it to 1 year," Percy said.

"Yeah but my birthday is in December so it kind of get's evened out," Thalia said and Percy scratched his head before agreeing to it.

Annabeth sighed, "fine…but...Gods dammit! For fuck's sake Thalia! You couldn't have picked anyone else?!"

Thalia crossed her arms, "I don't' know why you are so upset. And what's wrong with picking Percy?"

Annabeth massaged her temples, "you both are the most impulsive, powerful and reckless demigods I know. If you two start dating who knows what shit you might cause?"

Percy scratched his head, "come on, we aren't that bad."

"You tried to take on an army from the Underworld by yourself," Annabeth pointed at Thalia. She then turned to Percy, "and you….I don't even know where to begin with you."

"Annabeth look, we want this," Thalia spoke up, "we really do. I haven't been happy in a long time. It's always been me up against this damned prophecy and….and I've had to face it alone."

Annabeth looked saddened at that, "Thalia you were never alone. You had me a Luke."

"Yeah, but as children Annabeth. Luke was like my brother, but I was always the one who had to look out for him. And you….you were a kid then Annabeth. I never had someone who could help me fight, who could help me face the future. I…. I might die Annabeth. And I want to know that the person I'm with," she looked to Percy, "I want to know that Percy can stand by my side if that ever happens."

Percy looked at her, "you are not going to die Thalia. I know I can't guarantee it, but I promise, I won't leave you."

Percy bent down and caught Thalia's lips in a kiss once again. Annabeth sighed, "you two are too stubborn for your own good."

Thalia smiled, "yeah, we are."

Annabeth rubbed her temples again, "fine…if you two are happy then fine. But be carefull, the others might not be….as accepting as I am."

Percy blinked, "first of, you weren't accepting at all. And second, what others?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "the girls who have a crush on you."

Percy blushed, "what?!"

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Thalia asked surprised.

Percy looked at her, "you knew?!"

Thalia and Annabeth chuckled as the daughter of wisdom spoke up, "everyone knew Percy."

"Who was it?!" Percy asked in surprise.

"Well there was Nina-"

"Nina?!" Percy asked in further surprise, "Nina has a crush on me?!"

"Had," Annabeth corrected, "I think it kind of went away ever since the Sea of Monsters quest. Then there was Bianca-"

"What?!"

"Yup, hero worship. But I think she is to shy to say anything. Then there is Nancy, the daughter of Apollo, and the other Nancy from your school."

Percy blushed when remembering the human Nancy back at Yancy academy, boy is she going to be pissed he she found out Percy was taken.

"And...ah, yeah, that's it."

"Holy shit," Percy said in surprise.

"Rethinking this?" Thalia asked with a smile. She might have mentioned it as a joke, but Percy could tell that she was worried.

Percy bent down and kissed her again. He moved back, "not even for a second." Thalia smiled back, this time it was genuine.

"Oh I think I'm going to be sick," Annabeth said as she fake barfed in the corner.

Percy and Thalia chuckled as Percy sat down in the chair next to Thalia. The three then began to talk into the night. Percy and Thalia told Annabeth about their mission and why Thalia was in the hospital bed in the first place.

Eventually Annabeth left them, with a final warning that they should try and hide their relationship for as long as possible to avoid a whole lot of drama. After all the last thing they wanted was for Zeus and Poseidon to get into a fight because Zeus 'accidentally' zapped Percy with a lightning bolt.

Thalia and Percy spoke for a little while longer before soon the daughter of Zeus fell asleep. It had been a long day, and she was understandably exhausted.

While she slept Percy's mind was running a 100 miles per hour. He kept wondering to himself whether this was real, whether she really cared about him the way he cared about her. Did he care about her? Was it just a spur of the moment thing?

Percy asked himself these questions over and over again, but eventually he realised the truth, he did like her, a lot. And these feelings, they had been growing since the first time he met her. Sure before it was purely physical, but now….now it was more than that.

Percy wanted to be with her, help her become stronger, protect her. Maybe it was because of the hero complex he slowly realised he had, but he wanted to make sure that nothing happened to Thalia.

Eventually Percy's thoughts turned to another terrifying thought, did she like him? He wondered that again and again and it kept him up all night by Thalia's bed side. Percy didn't need sleep, but even if he was tired he doubt his mind would allow him to take a break.

'If only I could feel what she felt,' Percy wondered to himself when suddenly it hit him. He could do that. Percy opened his skill menu and quickly looked through it. He found what he was looking for near the end of the list;

Empathy, Lv- MAX

You will understand the emotions of others. This is a skill you can only use consciously.

Percy closed his eyes, 'empathy activate.' Percy suddenly felt himself being opened up to the world around him.

Percy turned his scenes to Thalia herself. He looked at her through his mind's eye and felt her emotions. They were happy. She was asleep, but Percy was willing to bet anything she was having a happy dream.

Percy gently touched her skin and suddenly he felt a new emotion shoot into her. It was warm and fuzzy, like the emotional equivalent of feeling full after dinner.

"Thalia?" Percy asked and suddenly another shot of that warm feeling went through her body. She couldn't react to him, but she heard him speak. Percy focused on that feeling, he gently pressed his lips against her forehead and gave her a small peck.

Suddenly the war feeling exploded up mixing with the feeling of happiness she had. Soon Percy realised what this was. This was love. She loved him.

Percy opened his eyes and slowly let the emotional world he felt slip away deactivating his Empathic powers.

Percy smiled at the girl in the bed, 'she loves me. She really loves me.'

Percy closed his eyes and relaxed. He had nothing to worry about. He slowly let himself be taken into the realm of Morpheus.

The Next Day;

The next day Percy had woken up to Thalia still in bed and asleep. The sun still hadn't risen fully but Percy knew he couldn't stay here all day, plus it would be super weird to be at her bedside all night.

He had gone back to his cabin and immediately Leo had demanded for a plate of bacon and a walk. After taking out a plate of bacon from his inventory, courtesy of the Lotus hotel and casino, Percy took Leo into his ID world for a 'walk.'

The pair had slowly started from the Forest clearing it out of all the zombies. Leo had finally gotten better at attacking. His added mass made him a swift and deadly opponent. Eventually the Forest was cleared giving Leo two additional levels;

Leo

Lv-9

HP: 750/750

MP:110/110

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 200/1,700

Str-11

Vit-11

Dex-6

Int-5

Wis-3

Luc-4

Points-15

Percy put 5 points in Leo's Vit and 5 in Str. He also put 2 in his Wis and 3 in his Int;

Str-16

Vit-16

Dex-6

Int-8

Wis-5

Luc-4

Points-0

Percy however wasn't really certain now that the whole going slow approach was working. He wanted to wait before because he wanted Leo and him to grow closer, but he realised that fighting together was their way of growing closer. So with that in mind Percy decided to step it up a notch.

He took Leo for the first time out of the Forest to face the Greek Zombies. It took a while for Leo to get the hang of it, he usually constantly fell prey to the Greek Zombies blades. But eventually he learned how to avoid the weapons and bite of their heads.

After killing around 30 legion zombies Leo gained a total of 2,250 Exp. Resulting in another level up;

Leo

Lv-10

HP: 950/950

MP:135/135

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 550/1,900

Str-16

Vit-16

Dex-6

Int-8

Wis-5

Luc-4

Points-5

Ping!

Your companion has reached level 10! It has gained a new Perk!

Strength of the Hellhound- + 5 Str for every level gained.

Percy was seriously jealous of the perk Leo just got. Hell if he had that the first time he started this whole thing he would probably be stronger than Zed by now!

Percy turned to Leo, "Hey Leo, do you feel stronger?"

Leo turned his head to the side, "hm, a little master. Why?"

Percy looked at the hellhounds stats and saw that it was still the same. 'Hmm, maybe the boost only applies from the next level onwards.'

Percy nodded and began allotting the stat points for Leo. Since Str was no longer going to be a issue he figured why not focus on the important stuff. He put 2 points in Int and 3 in Dex;

Str-16

Vit-16

Dex-9

Int-10

Wis-5

Luc-4

Percy then closed the box and looked around. Leo had cleared all the Greek zombies, meaning…

"GRAA!" A roar exploded form behind Percy and Leo. The two turned to see a Legion zombie being formed.

Leo whined, "master I don't like this."

"Why are you so scared? You faced one just like this yesterday," Percy said with a smile.

Leo lowered his head, "it's still so big! And scary!"

Percy smiled, "okay how about this. You just go in there and scratch it. It's strong, but super slow. After that I'll take over, okay?"

Leo whined again, "do I have to?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "damn, I should have named you Cringer instead of Leo. And yeah, you have to, now move."

Leo whined again, but got ready. The Legion Zombie started to charge them and Leo pounched. He moved quickly for a dog, and quickly scratched the Legion zombie's ankle. Leo then went for it' other ankle and managed to cut into that as well. But as he was about to make his escape the Legion zombie's giant hand came down and grabbed the dog picking it up like nothing.

Leo squire in the monster's tight grip, "master! Help!"

The Legion zombie was about to squeeze the life out of the Hellhound hybrid's body when Percy spoke up, "HEY YOU! PUT MY FUCKING DOG DOWN!"

The zombie stopped as it slowly turned towards Percy. Percy could see the fear in it's eyes.

You have succeeded in using Enslavement! You can now scare it into fulling your request.

"Put my dog down," Percy said slowly pacing every word with anger.

The Legion zombie nodded and slowly put Leo down releasing it's grip on him. Leo walked back to Percy, but the demigod could see that the dog was hurt. Percy turned to the Legion zombie that looked scared beyond belief.

"Run," Percy told it and the zombie turned and began to run into the Forest. Percy however wasn't going to let it live. He took out Waverider and transformed it into a trident. He then drew it back before launching the weapon right at the Legion Zombie. The blue trident flew fast and true tearing through the zombie's chest and health bar with it's 100,000 attack.

Percy quickly felt the familiar weight of the weapon in his pocket as he turned to heal Leo. But just then;

Ping!

Leo

Lv-11

HP: 1,050/1,050

MP:185/185

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 1,150/2,100

Str-21

Vit-16

Dex-9

Int-10

Wis-5

Luc-4

Points-5

Skills-

Perks-

Strength of the Hellhound- + 5 Str for every level gained.

Immediately Leo's health was back to it's maximum and Leo was up and about moving like he wasn't hurt at all.

'Hm, so the rule of the Game must apply to Leo as well. Must because he's my companion or something.'

Percy looked at Leo who looked at the disintegrating form of the Legion zombie. "Leo," Percy called out, "I'm sorry I made you fight that thing."

Leo looked at Percy, "it's okay master. It was my fault. You told me to only scratch him once, but I got excited and did it twice. I promise I'll do better next time master."

Percy blinked, "ah...okay." Percy had honestly been expecting Leo to be pissed off at him, but lately the dog had started to really take a shine to Percy. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Percy was spending so much time with him.

"Master I can see something left behind by the big smelly monster," Leo said as he bolted toward the remains.

Percy realised Leo must have been talking about the Loot and he quickly caught up to the wolf hybrid seeing what the zombie had left behind.

Leo sniffed around the golden dust and there Percy found 500$, a low grade potion and a book with a strange skill he had never heard of.

Crunch,

The user's bite will be more powerful than an alligator.

Attack- 50 X Str

Would you like to learn?

YES/NO?

Percy was amazed by this skill, it basically made his mouth into a weapon. But it didn't really seem like something a human could use very well. Sure maybe once in a while Percy could use it, but not all the time.

Percy's eyes then slowly trapped to Leo who was currently pissing on the remains of Legion Zombie. 'If Leo's body acts like a gaming character….can he learn like one as well?'

"Leo, come here."

Leo finished pushing dirt on top of his urine and walked towards Percy, "what is it master?"

Percy gave Leo the scroll, "here, I want you to touch this." Percy put the scroll on the ground and Leo pressed his paw on the scroll. Suddenly Leo jumped back, "what happened?" Percy asked in surprise.

"This strange box appears master. I don't know what it is saying, but there looks to be two smaller boxes below this one."

Percy blinked, "hmm, okay then. Leo you see the box with more words?"

Leo looked, "ah, is it the one on the left?"

Percy nodded, "right. Press that one."

Leo did so with the tip of his nose and suddenly the scroll disappears into nothing. Leo suddenly stood up straight and the knowledge on how to do the Crunch skill entered his mind.

"W-what was that master?"

Percy grinned, "that my friends was your first skill book. It's one of the ways I got so strong. When I was at your level I had just a handful of them, but I still managed to beat off the Legion zombie on my own."

Leo looked at Percy with newfound respect, "wow master, you so cool!"

Percy chuckled and just then the next wave of zombies started to come out of the Forest. Percy turned to Leo, "think you can handle round 2?"

Leo snarled showing his fangs, "I am going to tear those things apart."

Percy and Leo charged into the next wave. Leo went about trying his new attack. The first zombie that Leo meet tried to stab the dog with a spear. Leo dodged it and wrapped his jaws around its throat. Percy saw his teeth flash purple for second indicating that Crunch was activated and Leo easily ripped out the zombie's head in one swift movement.

Leo had been able to tear throats out before, but he had never had the jaw strength to rip out their entire head. The new skill obviously treated Leo well.

Leo began attacking every Greek zombie that he came across while Percy simply hanged back providing backup. He usually just made sure nobody snuck up on Leo by using his telekinesis skill to pull enemies away if they get to close.

Eventually they ripped through another wave of zombies and Leo had leveled up;

Leo

Lv-12

HP: 1,150/1,150

MP:235/235

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 1,300/2,300

Str-26

Vit-16

Dex-9

Int-10

Wis-5

Luc-4

Points-10

Skills-

Crunch Lv- 1 (70%)

The user's bite will be more powerful than an alligator.

Attack- 50 X Str

Perks-

Strength of the Hellhound- + 5 Str for every level gained.

Percy's telekinesis skill also leveled up;

Telekinesis, Lv- 5 (20%)

The physic ability to move objects with your mind.

Range- 35 feet

Max weight- 80 Pounds

Cost -20MP

Percy quickly put the 10 extra points Leo had to good use. He put 4 points in Vit increasing it to 20, 4 to Wis and the rest 2 points when into Dex;

Str-26

Vit-20

Dex-11

Int-10

Wis-9

Luc-4

Percy and Leo then turned to the side to see another Legion zombie appear. Percy turned to Leo, "you see this area," Percy said pointing to his achilles tendon, "it's what helps two legged creatures walk. Tear one of them with crunch, and if you can, tear off both of them."

The wolf hybrid nodded and charged forward. The Legion zombie tried to grab it, but with the new speed boost Leo managed to escape its grasp. Leo did just as Percy told, he tore open the Legion zombie's achilles tendons. First going after the one on the left and then the one on the right.

The giant zombie fell down smashing face first into the ground. Percy moved to destroy it, but Leo jumped on top of the zombie attacking it with his claws.

Leo looked ferocious. The wild side within him was finally unleashed. Percy could see by the way Leo that the wolf hybrid had finally let go off his domesticated tendencies. It was all animal now. Percy saw the monster try to move and grab Leo, the son of Poseidon waited to intervene at the last second, and in the end it seemed he didn't have to.

When the hand came to grab Leo the dog had already moved back dodging the hand. Leo then used Crunch to bite into the zombie's wrists, and pulled, ripping it's hand in half causing the Legion zombie to scream in pain.

The zombie tried to move, and Percy was afraid Leo would get hurt because of the monster's constant flailing, but Leo dug his claws into the zombie's back and stayed on it. Leo then jumped up and landed on the zombie's neck.

Leo used crunch and bit into the flesh before ripping it out and throwing it away. That last attack was a critical one, Percy could see the sudden drop in the zombie's health;

Legion Zombie, HP: 8,400/15,200

Leo had him half beat.

The half hellhound then bent back down into the neck opening it had made with it's last attack and bite into the monster's spine. Percy saw Leo shack his head trying to dig in deeper into the flesh. It then bite into the spine and ripped it out. Pulling the nerves out slowly, painfully.

"ARGH!" The zombie roared out in pain. But neither Percy nor Leo cared.

Legion Zombie, HP: 4,500/15,200

Percy opened Leo's status and there it was, the new skill that Leo was sure to have created due to that last attack;

Critical strike, Lv- 1 (3%)

A precise strike that cause 300% more damage to the target

Chance of success- (Luc+Dex)%

The Legion zombie then slowly got up and began shaking its body trying to throw off Leo. The dog jumped off and landed safely on the ground. However it wasn't done. Leo bent down low, and then jumped up as high as it could closing its jaws around the Legion zombie's neck.

It's fangs glowed purple as it bit into it's neck drawing blood. Leo lifted his entire body up and pressed his legs on the zombie's throat. He then pushed with all his might and spun around in mid air landing on his feet.

In his mouth was the bloody remains of the Legion zombie's neck;

Legion Zombie, HP: 3,200/15,200

"It's not over Leo," Percy told his dog. Leo spat out the piece of flesh and turned around just in time to see the Legion zombie's hand coming to squash him flat. Leo moved and avoided the giant hand. He then jumped on top of the hand and dug his claws into the zombies skin.

He ripped across the zombies arm and got up on it's back. The zombie tired to shake Leo off, but couldn't, Leo's claws were in too deep. Leo launched himself at the zombie's neck and latched onto the part of the spine that Leo had pulled out before.

Leo jaws closed on it tightly and his forward momentum caused the price of the spine he was hanging on to to be ripped out causing the zombie to fall down in pain.

Legion Zombie, HP: 1,900/15,200

Leo landed on the ground hard and rolled across the terrain. But he wasn't hurt to badly. He got up immediately and charged the Legion zombie again. Leo aimed for it's neck again. This time he got a much larger bite as he tore a larger chunk of the neck out.

The Legion zombie fell down in pain. Percy then watched as the zombie slowly lost more and more health.

Legion Zombie, HP: 600/15,200

Legion Zombie, HP: 0/15,200

It slowly disappeared into nothing and Leo stood proud and tall over the dead monster's body. It's snout and limbs were covered in blood, but Leo didn't seem to notice any of that. The monster turned into dust and a feeling of victory came over Leo.

The dog put his head up into the sky and for the first time, howled.

"Ahoooo!" Leo's voice was strong. Percy could feel his power. The demigod smiled. He had finally managed to convert his companion from a weak house dog to a powerful ally worthy to be called his companion.

Ping!

Your companion: Leo, has leveled up twice!

Leo

Lv-14

HP: 1,450/1,450

MP:335/335

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 1,500/2,700

Str-36

Vit-20

Dex-11

Int-10

Wis-9

Luc-4

Points-10

Percy smiled at the progress Leo had made. Already the dog was have as strong as Percy usually was, guess that just spoke about the natural superiority of strength Hellhounds have when compared to humans.

Percy approached Leo and looked down to see what Loot he had gotten. There was another low grad potion that Percy pocketed. 500$ and a fruit that looked like an apple in the shape of a peach.

Fruit of happiness,

Any person who is feed this fruit will feel happy to the person who gave it to them.

+10% bonus to health for the next hour.

Percy was surprised, a fruit like this was certainly a surprise to have. He took it and pocketed the fruit for later use. Maybe he could give it to Katie Gardner, the daughter of Demeter, maybe she could somehow make this fruit into a tree. Then they would have more of the fruits.

"That was fun master!" Leo practically bounced up and down, "I feel great!"

Percy smiled, "that's because you leveled up twice Leo. I have to say I am very impressed by the way you handled yourself. I'm proud of you."

Percy scratched Leo behind the ear and the dog, no, wolf sighed in happiness. Percy then began to allot points for Leo.

He put 5 points in Vit, 3 int Int and the remaining two in Wis;

Str-36

Vit-25

Dex-11

Int-13

Wis-11

Luc-4

Points-0

Percy then closed the box and looked down at Leo, "ready to go home boy?"

"Sure mast-"

Just then an aura of power appeared overhead. Percy turned and saw a ball of shadow forming a few feet in front of them. Percy clicked his teeth, 'right, this guy.'

The ball broke open and a Knight of the Damned stepped out. He looked at Percy and leveled his large blade against him.

"I'll take him down!" Leo shouted as he charged at the Knight.

"Leo wait!" Percy tried to say but the wolf had given into his base desire to fight. He got a taste of power, and now he wanted more.

Leo charged right for the Knight and the monster almost cut Leo in half. Luckily the hybrid wolf jumped away in time. Leo then pounced on the Knight dropping him to the ground, he then used Crunchy to bite into the Knight's armour ripping it out.

Leo went to bite into the soft flesh underneath, but stopped, there was nothing inside except shadow. Leo was startled and the Knight smashed his blade into Leo side sending the wolf tumbling away.

"Leo!" Percy shouted as he zoomed to Leo's side holding his pet close.

Leo's HP: 150/1,450

Leo was barely holding on. 'Stupid dog,' Percy cursed as he used his blood control to draw a healing rune on Leo's body. He then used his own HP and 200 Mp to restore Leo to full health.

While this was going on the Knight of the Damned slowly approached Percy and Leo. He charged ahead and looked like he was about to cut them both down when Percy lifted his head and shot a paralysing glare at the Knight.

The monster stood still for a second, and that second was all that was need for Percy to destroy it.

Several spike of Ice erupted from Percy piercing the Knight all over. Then the shadows below the Knight exploded outwards wrapping the Knight up and immobilizing him. Percy then formed a giant water hammer out of the moisture in the air and brought it down on the monster hard destroying it into a million pieces of broken armour.

Ping!

Your companion: Leo, has leveled up three times!

Leo

Lv-17

HP: 1,750/1,750

MP:485/485

Race- HellHound (1/2)+Wolf (1/2)

Exp- 2,800/3,300

Str-51

Vit-25

Dex-11

Int-13

Wis-11

Luc-4

Points-15

Percy stopped the healing process as suddenly Leo was alright again. The wolf got up on it's feet and looked around, "where did the monster go?"

"Don't worry, I took care of it," Percy assured him before he became angry, "what the hell were you thinking?!"

The wolf yelped in fear, "m-master?"

"I told you not to fight! And even if your don't hear me, you are never supposed to just charge in and attack an unknown enemy Leo! That's not a smart thing to do!"

The wolf lowered its ears in sadness, "I'm sorry I failed you master. I promise I won't lose again."

Percy rubbed his temples, "it's not about losing or winning Leo. It's about the fact that you carelessly risked your life endangering yourself," Percy calmed down and looked down at the scared wolf. He felt guilty making Leo feel this why and sighed.

"Look Leo, I don't' ever want you doing something like this again, got it? I don't want you risking your life."

The wolf nodded, "understood master."

Percy nodded and scratched behind Leo's ear, "now let's go home." The wolf barked in agreement as Percy grabbed him and broke the ID.

It was already the middle of the morning by the time Percy and Leo came back. They got a quick bite to eat where Percy treated Leo to a plate full of bacon and vegetables. What? Percy wanted his companion to get his nutritions.

Percy then went to the Arena and started the daily training of the campers. Percy then took them to the beach for weapons practice where he smiled seeing Thalia there already waiting for him.

She smiled back and they quickly started the class. As the day went along the campers noticed Percy and Thalia acting strange around each other. They usually battered a bit before and while fighting, but today's banter seemed a bit more….nice?

Percy didn't call Thalia Sparky and Thalia didn't call Percy fish face or sea head or one of the many thousand nicknames she had for him. And the way they fought almost seems like they were trying not to hurt each other, but at the same time trying to give the other one a challenge.

Eventually the training session ended with two rounds inside Percy's ID:zombie world before everyone was sent off for lunch.

Soon after a quick lunch filled with sneaking looks at Thalia, Percy found himself once again at the Fist of Zeus with Nico, Bianca and Thalia. This time though Leo was along for the ride as the wolf mostly just layed down on the ground sleeping away. He was still tired from the morning's workout.

"So, how much have you guys progressed?" Percy asked the children of Hades.

"I can do this!" Nico yelled out in excitement as he closed his eyes focusing on his mana. Percy felt Nico's mana react to his calling as it flowed out him easily.

Percy then saw the shadow's underneath Nico lift himself up as Nico stood on a pedestal made of the stuff.

Percy smiled, "impressive Nico. I'm surprised you got so far."

Nico beamed, "thanks Percy. The other Percy and I trained with each other all day. I helped him master his wood powers and he helped me with my shadow control."

Percy nodded, 'the cloven elders must be teaching mini me how to control the forest life. Hmm, maybe I should pay a visit on one of these training sessions, just in case.'

"Okay Nico I want you to now try and learn this," Percy stood up and stretched both arms. He then commanded the shadows in his sleeves to jump out like tendrils and impale themselves into a tree. Percy then pulled the shadows as he sailed through the air much to everyone's amazement.

Percy then launched another shadow grapple across the open area and disengaged the old one flying in a new direction.

Eventually Percy right back in the center as Nico started clapping like crazy.

"Woah! How did you do that?!" Nico asked in wonder.

Percy pulled on his sleeve, "I use the shadow created between my clothes and my skin to form a sort of grapple. I use the grapple to maneuver around in an open combat battle field. It's useless on a pain battle ground, but most of the time you never face a monster is a place like that. It's great for quick and sharp movement, and for a sword user like you being faster and unpredictable could prove a useful trick up your sleeve."

Nico nodded as he immediately went to the side to begin training in the new task Percy had given him.

Percy then turned to Bianca, "your turn."

Bianca nodded as she spread her hand out. Slowly the shadows on the ground beneath her started to move as the ground itself broke apart. Percy saw the Earth in front of Bianca break open with the shadows wrapping around piece of stone turning it black. The stones floated around Bianca in a protective manner.

Bianca sighed lowering her arms, "I couldn't use just my shadowsa alone," she explained, "it didn't' feel right. So I...ah, I kind of just played around until I discovered that I could also move small pieces of the Earth. Then I just sort of mixed them together and presto."

Percy smiled, "hmm, well Hades is called the ruler of everything below the Earth. I suppose he kind of shares that domain with my dad, considering Poseidon is the Earthshaker. So it's not that surprising you can control the Earth to a small extent. But this...infusing one element with another….even I never tried anything like that before. Ingenious."

Bianca blushed at the complement, "t-thanks."

Thalia giggled, she couldn't believe she never saw it before. Bianca was head over heals for Percy, not that the boy was noticing, he was to focused on the black stones in front of him.

Percy conducted a few experiments on the stones. It seemed that by infusing her shadows into the stone Bianca could control it just as easily as Percy could the shadows. She could also somehow make them float as high as she wanted and even launch them as projectiles at enemies.

After some thinking Percy finally stopped, "okay, honestly I don't even know where to begin with your powers. Nico was pretty straight forward, but you….. You are a little bit different. I want to start you on pure mana training like Thalia, but you just received your powers, so I'm not sure you can do it just yet. Hmm, for now train by yourself. Create new and different methods to use this... shadow stones. Try to create way for you to use them for both attack and defence. Oh,and why don't you try and see whether you can create a stone structure large enough to carry your weight?! That way you can basically fly!"

Bianca blinked at the suggestion and immediately took mental note of them all. She then left to find a place to train like her brother leaving Thalia and Percy alone.

"So," Thalia said with a smile, "are we going to make out or train?"

Percy smiled, "what do want to do?"

Thalia grinned, "we can kiss later. For now we train."

Percy nodded getting into business mode, "right. So did you get a chance to read and learn the marble skin spell?"

Thalia sighed as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the scroll containing the spell's details. "I read it, and I understood it. But I'm having difficulty using it."

Percy nodded, "let's see wether I can't help you out on that front."

The two sat down on the ground and Percy took Thalia's hands into his own. "Alright Thalia, tell me what you understand form the scroll."

Thalia sighed relaxing herself, "I have to pour my mana out through my pores while visualising it turning into stone. But that doesn't make any scene! Don't you like have to say some kind of spell or do something to activate the spell?! Hos does just visualising it help in anyway?!"

Percy nodded, "yeah, it's confusing at first, I get it. But magic is all about the intent Thalia. Our elemental magic is a part of us, so it knows what we want it to do. But other forms of magic isn't as….connected to us. For them to work, we have to will them to work. And the only way we can do that is by concentrating and using our intent. Magic isn't something that has a passcode or a law book. It is literally the unexplainable given form. The only way we can grab hold and control this amazing power is by using our mind."

Thalia took a deep breath calming herself down, "so you mean mind over matter?"

Percy nodded, "right. And remember, visualise what you want."

Thalia nodded as she closed her eyes tapping into their mana. Percy could feel it pour out of her with ease, she had been practising. The mana was then directed directed towards Thalia skin as it poured out of her.

Percy could feel some parts stick back on Thalia's skin, but for the most part the mana just floated away, wasted.

Thalia sighed, "shit."

Percy smiled, "let's try that again."

They did and again she failed. They tried three more and three more times she failed.

Thalia threw her eyes open and growled in anger, "fuck this!"

Percy smiled, "it's okay Thalia. You're not supposed to get it at once."

Thalia glared at Percy, "this is so not fair Percy! I am doing everything right! I am pouring the mana out, but I can't seem to make it stick Percy!"

Percy sighed, "I know. You just have to practice, that's all."

"Why can't this stupid thing work already?! Gods this is frustrating!" Thalia threw her hands up in anger.

"Thalia-"

"-I just fucking suck! Shit even Nico managed to bring his powers under control pretty easily and even I don't have that much control over lighting!"

"Thalia-"

"-Why isn't this working!"

Percy grabbed Thalia's face with both hands and pulled her close for a kiss. Slowly all the anger drained away from Thalia's face as she simply lost herself in the kiss.

Percy stopped and pulled away, "are you calmed down now?"

Thalia nodded, "I thought we said no kissing until later."

"I needed to calm you down somehow," Percy said with a smile, "right, now let's try this again. This time let me help you."

Thalia nodded and closed her eyes. Percy held her hands, "slowly pull out your mana."

Thalia did so drawing on it like it was second nature to her.

"Now slowly push it out of your pores," she did so and tried to immediately pull it back forming a layer across her skin. "No, don't strain it. Don't try and push it. Think of my hand as the mana," Percy lifted his hand and pressed it on Thalia's forearm, "as I press my hand along your skin I apply the mana to it."

Thalia was losing focus again, the way Percy touched her was distracting her. But the daughter of Zeus pushed through. She focused her mind and imagined Percy applying the mana on her skin, coating it.

Soon she gained control over the mana and applied it directly on her skin, finally activating Marble skin.

Percy smiled, "you did it."

Thalia's eyes shot open in surprise, "holy shit. I did it!"

She jumped at Percy in joy, "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Percy laughed,hugging her, "it was all you Thalia. I just helped a little."

Thalia looked into Percy's sea green eyes and drew closer giving him a soft kiss, "no….you did more than just help out a little."

Percy smiled, "alright. Now, why don't you try and do it on your own?"

Thalia nodded and sat back down closing her eyes and meditating. Percy felt her mana being drawn out and then poured outside. She had little trouble coating it on her arms, but eventually did so forming a layer on mana around her skin turning it as hard as stone.

Thalia opened her eyes and smiled, "this is so cool."

Percy nodded, "yup. So, how do you feel?"

Thalia pinched her skin, "well, I feel….different? It's like my skin get harder when I try to pinch it" she said pinching it again, "but it's normal when I not," she rubbed her hand gently over her skin which caused it to become normal.

Percy nodded, "exactly," Percy then took out riptide and tried to cut himself using the blade only for the celestial bronze blade being unable to cut through the skin.

Defence- 296,175,230

"Be careful Percy!" Thalia shouted.

"Relax, I'm fine, see," Percy said showing his hand to Thalia.

Thalia examined the place where Percy tried to cut himself and found not one blemish, "amazing."

Percy nodded, "yup. Plus let me in on a little secret, this spell doesn't have limit."

Thalia was suprised, "what does that mean?"

"It means you can put how much ever mana you want into it and it will never fade away. Plus the more mana you spend the stronger you get."

"So the defence you obtain is based on the mana you spend?"

Percy nodded, "exactly. Right now my defence is probably enough to stand up to a lighting bolt from you dad."

Thalia's eyes went wide in surprise, "woah. This is one useful spell. I can tell why you wanted me to learn it first."

Percy nodded, "right. Now for the next hour I want you to sit down and continuously pour every single drop of mana you have into the marble skin spell. That way it should be strong enough for battle use."

Thalia nodded and did just that. Percy was now free to do whatever he wanted, and he already had something in mind. Percy first pulled out the skill disk he obtained from the quest yesterday. It was a level 10 skill disk, and right now he had a huge list of skills to use it on.

So far Percy had two very usefull skills he could use the disk on. Healing and telekinesis. He could have also used it on ID, but he was afraid if he leveled up ID create and not ID escape then that might cause him to be stuck in an ID forever.

So it came down to the two. So far the Healing powers were the most useful. Percy had already used to to save Ed's and Thalia's life along with curing a kid of cancer. Who knows what he could do with it.

But then came Telekinesis. Honestly the only reason Percy wanted this was because he wanted to move things with his mind. You know, like a jedi. It was no secret Percy was a fan of the Star Wars movies, and he really wanted to be a the telekinesis thing was the closest thing Percy had ever come to haveing force powers.

Eventually though duty overcame passion. The healing skill had the power to save countless lives, and Percy just couldn't bring himself to sacrifice all that just to be able to move things with his mind. After all what was it that the jedi believe in? There are no shortcuts in life, so Percy figured he would just level his telekinesis up the old fashioned way, grinding.

Percy used the skill disk on Healing increasing the skill by 10 levels;

Healing, Lv- 13 (0%)

Allows the user to heal any disease or ailments threatening himself or others.

Limit- 2 aliments per use, 2 targets at a time

Cost- 300 MP

Percy was surprised at the increase in the number of ailments he could now cure, and the fact that he could do two people at once. This truly was a valuable skill. Maybe Percy should become a doctor.

Percy closed the box and then took out the scroll of stealth he got as Loot from the Agent.

Scroll of Stealth,

Gives you a rank up in stealth skill and a new sub skill.

Would you like to learn?

YES/NO?

Percy pressed yes and immediately the effects began to take place;

Ping!

You have leveled up!

Sneaking, Lv-11 (50%)

Allows you to sneak up on someone.

60% chance of not getting caught.

55% chance of critical strike.

You have gained a new sub skill!

Wall Sight, Lv- 1 (0%)- Allows you to see the silhouette of people behind walls. This only applies if you are aware that someone is there, previously unknown people cannot be located.

Percy was surprised. This was the first very video game like skill he had gained in a long time. It was exactly the kind of thing one would find in a stealth game. But he did obtain it from defeating an assassin so maybe it should have been kind of obvious.

After the training session with Thalia and the others ended Percy began his own training. He was determined to level up his Telekinesis skill to the point he could use it in actual combat.

Percy sat on the fist of Zeus and sat crossed legged on the stone structure. The first thing he needed to do was learn how to move things, multiple things at once. So Percy decided to first move the stones that made up the stone structure.

He focused on the stones and tried to move a single one. He reached out and touched it with his mind, and then slowly he lifted it up. It was big, and heavy, just barely under the 80 pounds limit of his powers.

Percy was sweating by now, he could barely keep it up, but he did so for as long as he could. Soon the stone became normal to hold up, almost like Percy wasn't even holding up anything at all.

Percy then moved his focus to another stone as he picked this one up as well. This one was smaller than the other stone and Percy found it easier to lift. But just as he shifted his attention to that the first stone fell down flat.

Percy sighed, he needed to divide his attention between the two stones. He closed his eyes and tried again. He lifted the heavy stone first, this time he was used to the weight so the surprise of lifting something so heavy didn't effect him.

Then he moved to the next stone slowly lifting that up while reminding himself to focus also on the first stone.

Percy lifted both stone higher and higher as he directed all his attention to carrying up the two stones.

Ping!

Percy's eyes shot up, his mind was distracted by the noise for a second and this caused both stones to collapse down. Percy sighed, he turned to the notification that distracted him;

You have developed a new sub skill!

Carrying Multiple items, Lv-1 - Carry multiple items, Max- 2

Percy closed the box and turned back to the training at hand. He activated Telekinesis once again and this time he found that the stone had become easier to move. It seemed once he got a skill doing the thing it became infinitely more easier to perform the skill.

Percy smiled, 'time to become a mother fuckign jedi.'

A few hours later,

Thalia had just finished her dinner and was walking through the Forest in search of her…. boyfriend? It was night time already and she was worried about him. After their training session, Percy had stayed back inside the Forest to do his own training. Thalia expected to see him soon, but he hadn't shown up yet.

The daughter of Zeus had been feeling strange about the whole Percy thing. She hadn't really thought that she would ever find anyone for herself. It had always just been her, she was always alone.

She had Annabeth and Luke, and they were alright. But she always kept them at an arm's length. She knew Luke had a crush on her, but she knew that the son of Hermes couldn't walk the path she was meant to walk.

She never had an equal, she never had someone to look up to or someone who fought for her. In some ways she liked that, she wanted to be the one people looked up to, the one in charge.

The way the people she protected looked at her made her feel like she had accomplished something good in her life. But there had always been a part of her that regretted never having anyone to look out for her. She had always been the big sister, the one people expected to fight for them, they never wondered whether she even wanted that responsibility.

She never rejected her duty, no, she understood who she was and what was expected of her. But that didn't stop her from feeling alone. There was no one there who even thought to look out for her. Annabeth and Luke cared, and Grover did his best, but in the end it was her who had to die. It was her who was turned into a tree losing years of her life.

But then he came.

Percy Jackson, with his stupid hair and stupid eyes. Everytime she saw him Thalia felt her heart speed up and her head go numb. Gods sometimes she wanted to punch him in the face just to stop feeling like that.

The first time she meet him she screamed at him. She had just learned Percy had done a favour for Hades, and she was pissed. After all Hades was the person who was responsible for Thalia's death.

She tried to push him down, she fully expected him to cover in fear, she was the daughter of Zeus after all. It may have been an arrogant thing to think, but Thalia saw the way Grover and Chiron treated her. They gave her special treatment, whether it was because of her father or because she was powerful, she didn't know.

But Percy did none of those things. He stood up to her, he freaking ignored her and told her she was nothing. At first she hated him for it, maybe it was her pride but Thalia never considered herself second best at anything. She didn't trust Percy back then, what if he didn't care about the demigods like she did? What if he was an arrogant little shit who took his powers for granted?

And then she saw it. The way he cared for the demigods. It took her weeks, but Thalia finally managed to admit that Percy was better than her. That was he stronger, kinder and more caring that she ever was.

He cared for the demigods at camp, he saved 24 demigods, demigods he didn't even know, and he brought them back to camp. He had done more than she ever did, and Thalia finally realised that the spotlight wasn't on her anymore, it was on him.

She should have felt angry, most children of Zeus would have. But Thalia didn't, she was relieved. She didn't care for the attention, after all attention was the reason her mother abandoned her and her brother.

Thalia also didn't hate Percy anymore, he was worthy of her respect. He had taken the pressure of the spotlight away from her, that pressure had been lifted off of her shoulders and for that she was grateful. But she was still the child of the prophecy, and that burden remained.

She had carried it alone, Annabeth tried to comfort her, but the daughter of Athena never understood what Thalia was dealing with and she never would. Thalia was once again alone in this burden, but once again Percy came to save the day.

He told her what she had never heard, that he believed in her. He barely knew her, and yet he believed that she could save them all. No one, not Luke, Annabeth or Grover believed in her like he did. Sure they said the words, but they never understood the Olympic challenge Thalia had before her.

But Percy knew. He understood. He had faced Titan's before, and he had lived. He understood exactly what it meant to be the child of the prophecy, the responsibility of having the whole world on your shoulders. And anyone with a brain knew that Percy was the proper choice for the chosen one.

And so did Percy.

But instead of being angry at her for being weak, or telling her that she would be the death of them all, like she feared, Percy just said one thing, 'I believe in you.'

The boy who, for all intents and purposes, should hate her said he believed in her.

And just like that Thalia had someone to carry the burden with. Someone who swore to help her and so far he has kept that promise. She first had respect for him, but that respect soon turned

into a feeling of joy. They only ever shared a few short moments talking, but in those moments

Thalia found herself caring more and more about Percy.

And then somehow, without even realising it happened, Thaia realised she was in love with the demigod.

It wasn't something out of a romance novel. It didn't build up constantly for days and days until it exploded out. It was sudden, it was quick, and Thalia didn't see it coming. If she was to guess when it happened she would say during the concert.

Percy had trusted her and her alone with what he saw during his challenges. He trusted her with that information. He believed in her, he trusted her and she loved him for it. He then took her back home after getting blackout drunk and she did something so stupid, but luckily it turned out

to be the best thing she ever did.

It was a risk, but it was well worth it. Now she had someone, for the first time she had someone to call friend and equal. He trusted her,he believed in her, he would fight with her. Thalia smiled, 'I just might be the luckiest girl in the world.'

Plus he had a nice firm ass and a set of abs that made Thalia's brain stop working, so that was a big plus.

Thalia eventually found him where he always went to train, at the Fist of Zeus. Horrible name for a stone structure if you ask her.

Percy was sitting down cross legged with his eyes closed and all around him were stones flying around in a circular pattern. Thalia was dumbfounded, the stones looked heavy, 80 or 90 pounds. Some were big enough to cause actual harm if thrown at someone. After Percy was controlling all of them with his eyes closed.

Thalia walked up to Percy with a smile, "did you get jealous that Bianca could do something that you can't?"

Percy's face automatically turned into a smile at the sound of Thalia's voice. He opened his eyes and slowly reduced the moving speed of each stone around him before carefully putting them back down. He then looked at the notifications in front of him;

Telekinesis, Lv- 7 (80%)

The physic ability to move objects with your mind.

Range- 40 feet

Max weight- 100 Pounds

Cost -20MP

Carrying Multiple item, Lv-3 - Carry multiple items, Max- 6

Percy smiled at the levels he had gained via grinding and promptly closed all the boxes. He turned to see Thalia standing there with a smile of her face, "hey you."

"Hey yourself," Thalia said as she sat down next to him, "I missed you at dinner today."

"I wasn't feeling hungry," Percy explained as they both looked up at the cloudy night sky.

"I see..." Thalia said as an uncomfortable silence fell down between them.

"Annabeth gave me another lecture today," Thalia said breaking the silence.

Percy raised an eyebrow, "and….what did she say?"

Thalia sighed, "she just went on and on about how dangerous this could be. Zeus and Poseidon would flip out, the camp would probably accept us but….well you already know that you are super popular with the girls so I doubt they would be happy when they found out about us."

Percy chuckled, "I'm sure you can handle a couple of daughters of Aphrodite."

Thalia smirked, "that's what I said. Though….some thing she said really struck a cord."

"What? That we are too awesome?"

Thalia gave a sad smile as she shook her head, "no. She said that we barely know each other. She said that we barely knew the first thing about the other person and that this thing we have was…. Just a fling."

Percy sighed, "Annabeth sure doesn't pull back her punches huh?"

"From my personal experience, no, she doesn't," Thalia folded her legs pressing her knees up againt her cest suklking. "Though, she's not wrong."

'Is this really not going to last?' Thalia wondered in silence. She had just found someone, and already it was looking like they were destined to fail.

Percy could feel the depression roll off Thalia, and he didn't even have to use his powers of Empathy to know that.

"Look, Thalia," Percy turned to her with a smile, "Annabeth is right," Thalia sulked even further, "so let's do something about that."

Thalia looked surprised, "what?"

"Let's talk," Percy said with his smile growing bigger.

"Talk?"

"Yeah, Annabeth said we barely know anything about each other so let's talk. I'll go first," Percy cleared his throat, "hi, my names Percy Jackson. I'm the son of Poseidon, and Sally Jackson. I like my family and hate arrogant assholes. I love the colour blue, more specifically sea blue. And my favorite movie of all time is Star Wars: The Jedi Returns."

Thalia smiled as she crossed her legs opening up to Percy, "I'm Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Aah, I like my friends and my little brother. I hate my mom and ah… arrogant assholes. I love the colour black, though I'm starting to like blue too."

Percy smiled, "totally my influence."

Thalia giggled, "yeah, it is. And well my favorite movie if The Matrix."

Percy nodded, "so we both like family and hate assholes. I don't what Annabeth was worried about, we're perfect!"

Thalia threw a full blown laugh as the two began to talk more and more. Percy told her about his first quest. About going to Boston, meeting Ed and then fighting a demon.

Thalia was surprised at the fact that Fairies actually existed, but she got over it soon. Percy then told her about how he and the others saved a group of teenagers form a Nokken, about how they retrieved the shield of Ares obtaining rings of invisibility in exchange. About how they got to Los Angeles and how….how Luke betrayed them.

Thalia looked down in sadness, "so it's true huh. He really did turn his back on us."

Percy was hurt by Thalia's tone of voice. The girl sounded so defeated. Percy felt a pang of guilt of in his heart, Luke wasn't a traitor like she thought...he was a hero. And she deserved to know that.

"Thalia," Percy spoke causing the girl to raise her head, "Luke isn't a traitor."

Thalia's eyes went wide, "w-what do you mean?"

Percy sighed and he began to explain to her what happened. How Luke wanted to spy on Kronos for them. How he wanted to help the demigods in camp, the only people he cared about. Percy told her how it was because of Luke that he survived the encounter with Hyperion, how Luke helped save them all.

At the end of the story Thalia looked at Percy with a blank face. Percy wondered if she was angry at him like Annabeth was. He wondered whether she hated him for rejecting Luke's offer the first time like Annabeth was.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Thalia asked.

Percy sighed, "honestly….you had enough on your plate. There was no need to put the worry on your shoulders. You already had to deal with being reborn and the prophecy. It didn't seem right to make you worry about Luke as well. God's know I am."

Thalia's neutral face reminded, "why did you tell me this now?"

Percy scratched his head, "because….because you deserved to know. And….and I realised I had no right to keep this away from you. I don't want there to be secrets between us, and….well I thought you deserved to know."

Thalia nodded, "I see."

Percy sighed and lowered his head, "look Thalia I know what you must be thinking. I realise you're probably angry that I didn't tell you sooner but I didn't want-"

Thaila sent a punch right into his face knocking Percy's head back.

"What was that for?!" Percy asked holding his nose.

"For not telling me about Luke sooner," Thalia glared.

Percy opened his mouth to explain and just then Thalia lunged at him, pushing him down on the rocks. She then pressed her lips against his kissing him deeply. Percy was surprised, but he didn't protest. He wrapped his arms around thalia as he deepened the kiss, opening and closing his lips as she swept her fingers threw his hair.

Thalia slowly pulled back and looked at Percy. The demigod was still a state of semi shock. "What was that for?"

"For telling me now," Thalia said as she gripped his t-shirt tightly, "I get why you didn't want to tell me. And it's sweet that you wanted to protect me," Thalia's eyes went cold as the smell of ozone filled the air, "but never keep something so important from me again. Got it?"

Percy gulped, he was sure he could take anything Thalia threw at him. But that didn't mean he wanted to get turned into an electric rod, "yup. Totally got it."

Thalia smiled, "good boy," she then pressed her lips against his again as they continued their make out session.

Percy ran his arms all over Thalia's body, from the top of her shoulders to her lower back. He wanted to just grab her fat behind with both hands, but Percy didn't want to do something to piss her off.

Thalia for her part had one hand going through Percy's hair, it quickly became her favorite thing to do, while her other was rubbing his tigh. Thalia was pressed on top of him, she could feel the heat roll off of his body. She could feel his pants tightening and she would be lying if she didn't admit she was turned on as well.

Just as things were getting hot and heavy a bright light flashed out in the forest stunning both Percy and Thalia. Both demigods scampered to get into normal positions as they turned to see who or what had caused that flash of light. And standing in front of them was Artemis with a single raised eyebrow.

"Ah...hey Artemis," Percy said nervously, "what-ah, what are you doing here?"

Artemis looked at Percy and then turned to Thalia, "who are you?"

Thalia gulped, she could feel the anger hidden behind the Goddess's eyes. 'Please dont' tell me she like's Percy too!' "Ah, I'm Thalia, m-my lady."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "I see...Percy, explain to me what I just walked in on."

Percy scratched his head, "ah, well you see, it's just that I and ah, Thalia were, ah-"

"You and Thalia were what?"

"M-macking out?"

Artemis nodded, "I can see that. What I mean, is why?"

Thalia spoke up, "w-we, we're kind of t-together." Thalia turned to Percy, "we are together right."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "you waited until now to ask that?"

"Well I was otherwise busy okay!"

"Enough," Artemis snapped, Percy and Thalia flinched, "do you two know the trouble a relationship between a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Zeus could bring?"

Percy and Thalia nodded, "yeah."

"And you are aware of the dangerous?"

Thalia spoke up, "yes."

Artemis narrowed her eyes at Percy, "Percy, do you intend to marry this girl?"

"Marriage?!" They screamed together.

"We literally just got together!" Percy cried out.

"I like Percy and all, but marriage?!" Thalia asked in horror.

Artemis nodded, "it is the only way I can be sure that Percy here won't cheat on you."

"I would never cheat on her!" Percy yelled.

"It doesn't matter. If you two are serious about this then I expect you two to be faithful to each other. I hold you in high regard Percy," Artemis narrowed her eyes, "and I will personally skin you if you hurt my sister."

"Don't worry," Percy said getting back a little of his cocky attitude, "if I hurt her, she'll probably kill me long before you can get your hands of me."

"Hey!" Thalia said hitting Percy upside the head.

Artemis sighed, "even now you joke. Come you two, Olympus call for you both."

Percy was shocked, "wait, what? You aren't going to tell on us are you?!"

Artemis raised an amused eyebrow, "oh, so not only is this a forbidden romance but a secret one as well?"

Thalia gulped, "Lady Artemis we don't really want our parents to know. They would kill us!"

"I would probably get turned into a pile of ash," Percy said gulping.

Artemis smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, "fine. I will not tell them. But that is not the reason I ask you to come. You have been summoned, both of you. It is good I found you both together, despite your...compromised positions."

"Isn't that usually Hermes's task?" Thalia asked.

Artemis glared at the demigoddess shutting her up, "I volunteered."

Thalia and Percy nodded as they got off the fist of Zeus and stepped in front of Artemis. "So why do they want to see us Artemis?" Percy asked.

The Goddess didn't respond and instead snapped her fingers transporting the three in a flash of light.

Percy blinked away the temporary blindness as he found himself in front of the steps to God's Throne room once again. Percy was used to the sight of the mountain, but Thalia wasn't.

"Woah," she said looking at everything, "this is amazing."

"Come, we don't' have time to waste," Artemis said leading them to the throne.

"Arty wait up," Percy said catching up to the goddess while thalia fell behind still amazed and distracted by everything. Percy walked next to the Goddess, "you okay Arty? You seem kind of tensed."

Artemis didn't even glance at him, "don't call me Arty."

Percy smiled, "why not….Arty."

The Goddess of the Hunt stopped and glared at Percy, "why do you care so much?"

"Because friends are supposed to care about each other."

"I see….well then maybe we should stop being friends."

Percy blushed, "w-what? Why?!"

Artemis shrugged, "I realise now that a Goddess and a mortal can never be friends, especially if that Goddess is me." Artemis then began walking away.

"Arty wait," Percy grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me," Artemis spat.

"Fine," Percy released her, "just tell me why you are so pissed."

The Goddess glared at him and pointed at Thalia who was further back, "it's because of her."

"Thalia? You're worried about Thalia?"

Artemis nodded, "I have seen this before Percy. Every time somebody get's into a relationship they forget about their friends, choosing instead to only focus on them."

"Wait….you're worried that because I'm dating someone that I'll stop being your friend?" Percy asked as Artemis looked away just as a blush creeped on her face.

"No, idiot. I just don't want to see you break that girl's heart."

Lie Detected!

Percy slowly smiled until it grew into a large grin, "no, you're lying. You're just worried that I wouldn't want to be your friend anymore."

"No you fool!" Artemis yelled in protest.

Percy hugged the younger looking goddess, "relax Arty, I'm not going to stop being your friend. You're worried about nothing."

"Stop hugging me!" Artemis broke free, "and no, I don't care about something as small as a friendship with a mortal!"

"Yeah you do," Percy replied back, "that's why you volunteered, You just wanted an excuse to see me."

Artemis grumbled, "yes. Fine. You win. I'm worried that you will change understand? The last male friend I knew turned into a horny dog the moment he hit puberty. Fucking creep, couldn't stop flirting and humping everything in sight."

Percy gulped, "while I admit I do have the occasional burst of hormones I can promise you Arty that I won't be turning into an asshle over night."

Artemis nodded, "right. Look….we'll talk about this later. Right now we need to go inside. The Gods are waiting."

By that time Thalia had caught up to them and the three walked up to the giant doors leading to the throne room. Artemis pushed them open and walked in followed by Percy and Thalia.

"Artemis, you have returned, good," Zeus said still dressed up in his best armani suit.

"I brought Perseus and Thalia as requested father," Artemis said as she transformed into her giant form sitting down on her throne.

Percy and Thalia stood in front of the hearth of Olympus. Percy smiled at Hestia, who was tending to the hearth there. The goddess smiled back waving at him. Thalia however was looking at the gods.

"This is amazing," Thalia said looking at them all. Her eyes roamed all over the room until they fell on Zeus, her dad.

Zeus electric blue eyes softened the moment he made eye contact with his daughter, "Thalia. It is so good to finally see you."

"And who's fault is that?" Thalia snapped back on reflex. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands looking horrified at what she had just said. The other God's chuckled while Percy smiled.

"I am so sorry," Thalia began, "that just came out."

Zeus sighed, "no….it's alright. I deserve that. I am sorry daughter, I realise I haven't been the best father, but my duties come first."

'Sure they do,' Percy rolled his eyes. Percy could tell Thalia felt uncomfortable under the gaze of so many Gods, he needed to draw the attention away from his….his girlfriend. Gods it felt so weird to say that.

"Okay, you guys called us, what do you want?" Percy asked stepping forward distracting the Gods.

"Ah yes, Jackson, disrespectful as always" Zeus narrowed his eyes, "well let's begin then. We called you both for a reason. We have decided on a quest for the both of you. A very important quest."

Percy and Thalia shared a look as Percy spoke, "will it involve monsters and assassins?"

Zeus looked confused, "assassins? No, I hope not. Sigh, this so complicated," he turned to Hera, "are you sure we need to even do this?"

Hera nodded, "yes husband, we do." Thalia glared at Goddess, Percy could see the hate in her eyes as he squeezed Thalia's hand. The daughter of Zeus nodded her head in thanks and quickly reigned in her anger.

"We agreed brother," Poseidon spoke up in a strim voice, "we all voted for it. This has to be done. You know this."

Zeus sighed, "where do I even begin? Well… alright," Zeus looked at Thalia and Percy, "what do you know about the Roman gods?"

Percy raised an eyebrow, "they are a cheap knock off of the Greek Gods."

The Gods all chuckled while Hera sighed.

Zeus nodded, "well essentially yes. But the thing is, they are us."

"What do you mean father?" Thalia asked,

"Thalia….do you remember the second time I visited your mother?" Zeus asked. Hera looked furious but said nothing.

Thalia nodded, "yeah, this was before….before Jason." Thalia glared at Hera, who promptly ignore her.

Zeus nodded, "right. And do you remember what I looked like back then Thalia?"

Thalia nodded, "well, you looked more...respectable? More in control, fatherly. You gave this aura of foreboding."

Zeus nodded, "right, and so I seem like that now?"

Thalia shook her head, "no. Before you seemed more stoic, now you seem more...dramatic?"

Zeus smiled, "very true. You see Thalia what you saw then was not Zeus, it was Jupiter."

"So then... you guys have two forms?" Percy asked.

The Gods nodded. Poseidon then spoke up, "think of them as split personality son. You see the Greeks envisioned us one way while the Romans another. So in the form of Poseidon I am more relaxed, laid back. But as Neptune I'm more war like…..like Triton in some ways."

Percy groaned, "that's so sad. But wait, that brings up the question, which came first? The Greek or the Roman? Which is your real form?"

Athena smiled, "for a son of Poseidon you sure do have an excellent brain." Poseidon grumbled shooting Athena a glare.

"The Greeks came first," Zeus stated bringing the attention back to him, "we started off as Greek, and then turned Roman. But when the Roman empire feel we discovered we can changed between the forms. Like so," Zeus then slowly changed in front of their eyes.

Before Zeus was more proud, more arrogant. But now he looked far more mature, like a king. Percy would never admit it, but he kind of liked this form of Zeus.

Zeus then shifted back and continued, "so you see we Gods have two forms, two worlds that we govern over. As such it-"

"-Wait!" Percy suddenly shouted in surprise, "if there are Roman Gods, does that mean there are Roman demigods as well?!"

Thalia's eyes popped open in surprise as well, "Jason! Jason wasn't a son of Zeus! He was a son of Jupiter!"

Zeus grumbled, "you two stole my punch line." The other god's laughed as Zeus quickly gathered his composure, "right. Jason is a son of Jupiter, not Zeus. And yes, there is a camp for Roman demigods, it is called camp Jupiter."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "really? Camp Jupiter? You named it after yourself?"

Zeus shrugged, "I didn't pick the name. They Romans did."

Thalia sighed, "wait this doesn't make any scenes. Is there was another camp then we should know about it. Why doesn't anyone know? Like there should at least be rumors, and why hasn't anyone ever seen roman demigod?"

"It is because we were forced to separate the world's" Hera spoke up, "before the Greeks and Romans did in fact know of the other's existence. But during the American Civil war a war broke out between the two sides. The Greeks and the Romans fought each other….many lost their lives. Since then we have kept the two sides separate. Using the Mist we made sure that one never saw signs of the other, wiping the other camp from it's memory."

"So you decided to separate us," Thalia released as suddenly a look of realisation came to her eyes, "i-is that why you took Jason away from me? Because I was Greek and he was Roman?"

Zeus groaned, "well, that is part of the reason. You see, ah, well-"

"-I asked him to do it," Hera spoke up, "I told Zeus that a single mortal should not bare two children of Zeus. I made your mother give Jason up."

"You bitch!" Thalia roared out.

"Thalia relax," Percy said holding her back.

"She took away the only person I can ever call family Percy!" Thalia's eyes sparkled with electricity as the scent of Ozone grew stronger and stronger.

"Thalia I demand you stop this at once!" Zeus roared out, "you will not disrespect the Queen of Olympus!"

"Screw you!" Thalia roared at her father, "this is all your fault! Jason is dead because of you! If you had never returned then things would be better! If you hadn't-"

"-When did I ever say he was dead?" Hera asked suddenly.

Thalia paused, "w-what?"

"Jason is alive and well," Hera continued, "he is in camp Jupiter."

"Where is camp Jupiter?"

"Why do you wish to know?" Hera asked amused.

"Because I'm going to get my brother back!" Thalia yelled as she turned to Percy, "I know it's a lot to ask Percy but can you-"

"-No problem," Percy said as he opened his inventory pulling out his goggles, "he is family after all."

"Thalia-" Zeus began.

"-what? Going to tell me not to go?"

"Actually it's the exact opposite," Hera spoke up again, "before we were comfortable separating the two camps, there was no need to join them. But now that Kronos has a mortal body again we have realised that we need both camps working together to help fight the Titans."

Percy narrowed his eyes, "so what? You need us to recruit these guys?"

Zeus roared, "hardly. The demigods in camp Jupiter are far more loyal and obedient than the ones in camp Half-Blood."

That comment pissed Percy off, "maybe it's because they have better Gods to serve as their role models."

Zeus's eyes glowed, "what was that?"

Percy shrugged, "I didn't say anything."

"Are you saying I'm deaf?"

"No, I'm saying you are imagining things."

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"Enough!" Poseidon roared, "I will not let you harm my son Zeus!"

The God of Lighting was sparkling with power but sat back on his throne. With the threat of war looming close Zeus didn't want to risk war among the Gods.

Poseidon then turned to Percy, "and you, stop pissing off people that can destroy you with nothing but their pinky."

Percy nodded, "yeah. Sorry."

"Okay so back to the quest," Thalia said bringing everyone back on track, "you want us to go to camp Jupiter and ally ourselves with them?"

Zeus nodded, "exactly. We will send them a message, telling them of two people who will come to see them, but we will not mention who you are."

"Why not?" Percy asked, "if we just pop in there unannounced they might get defencive. Why can't you just set up a meeting between us in a neutral place that way both teams get an equal footing?"

Athena nodded, "a solid plan. You sure he's your son Poseidon?"

The sea god grumbled, "he get's it from his mother."

Athena chuckled, "as I was saying, sound plan Perseus. But the ancient laws prevent us from doing so. We have set up the barrier between the worlds, it would not do for us to break them down ourselves."

"Why not?" Thalia asked, "you set them up."

"You will find Ms. Grace that there are some somethings only a demigod can do," Poseidon said, "the ancient laws are clear on this matter. We cannot interfere more than simply sending a message of notice."

Percy and Thalia shared a look and they knew what the other was thinking, 'lazy Gods.'

"So where is camp Jupiter?" Percy asked.

"San Francisco," Hermes spoke up for the first time.

Percy's eyes shot open, "what?!"

"I said it's in San Francisco-"

"-They are positioned right next to Mount Othrys?!" Percy asked allowed.

The God's looked suspicious. Zeus narrowed his eyes, "how do you know that Perseus?"

'Because I committed suicide there during the trials of the Entities,' Percy wanted to say, but instead, "I remembered Luke saying something about Mount Othrys being reformed above mount Tamalpais. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what he meant."

Zeus leaned back, he appeared satisfied with the answer, "well...yes. We placed camp Jupiter there because we needed to keep Mount Othrys in check. If it ever reformed we need the Romans to destroy it."

Thalia nodded, "okay. San Francisco. Got it. Let's go Percy."

The child of Poseidon nodded as he opened his inventory. Just then Hermes spoke up, "wait. I think it would be best if you two started in the morning."

Thalia glared at the God, "why?"

"Ah-,well the Romans are already a suspicious lot. It's best if you two didn't suddenly drop in in the middle of the night or something."

Thalia reluctantly sighed, "okay. Fine. But we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

The Gods dismissed them and Artemis took them back to camp. Percy tired to talk to her again, but she left before he could get a word in.

"I don't think I can sleep tonight," Thalia sighed, "I can't believe it. Jason. Alive."

Percy smiled, "I'm happy for you," he sat down on the Fist of Zeus as Thalia sat down next to him.

Thalia smiled back, "yeah….what's up with you and Artemis anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's totally in love with you."

"W-what?!"

"Yeah. Why else do you think she got pissed seeing us two kiss?"

"N-no way! She's just a friend!"

Thalia raised an eyebrow, "really?"

"Yes, really. And if you must know I am one of the few friends she has. And she was pissed because now that I have you as my girlfriend she thought I wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore."

"That's stupid, why would she think that?"

Percy shrugged, "I have no idea. I don't really think she has the best personal experience with guys."

Thalia nodded in agreement before a smile broke out, "so...I'm your girlfriend huh?"

Percy blushed. He didn't realised what he had just said. "Ah, well yeah. I mean I realise we haven't really defined the relationship and all but-"

Thalia pushed Percy down on his back again as she climbed ontop of him, "-Percy?"

Percy felt himself lost in those amazing eyes again. "Yeah?"

"Ask me properly."

"T-Thalia, would you-"

"-No. No stammering. Come on, I've seen you fight monsters and international assassins just this week. Where's that courage of yours?"

Percy was getting more and more nervous. Finally he slammed down Gamer's mind and felt the nerves being crushed away. Percy opened his eyes and steadied his breath, "Thalia, would you be my girlfriend?"

Thalia smiled as she kissed him deeply. Percy ran one hand through her hair while the other found it's place at her hip. A fire burned inside Percy, it filled him up in ways he had never known. He had been alone before, never had anyone he could call his own by choice. But now he did. And he was happy.

They stayed like that through the night underneath the stars. The world was dead to them. All they saw was each other.

Enjoy. If you have any questions P.M. or leave a Review.