Chapter One: Percy

x x x

Perseus Jackson took a long drag of the cigarette dangling between his fingers, his dark emerald green eyes moving lazily around the run-down Georgia motel room. He reclined farther on the itchy couch, resting a hand behind his head, entwining it through his dark hair. From the next room, a light snoring could be heard. Try as he might, Percy couldn't remember her name, but he didn't even try to care. The poor girl sleeping in the other room was just one on a long list of conquests.

Percy stood and rolled his shoulders, causing his pitch-black wings to unfurl slightly. Each individual feather was the darkest shade of black imaginable, but shined in the light like they were soaked in oil. Absent-mindedly, the immortal being reached behind him and scratched his back, directly in between the two appendages. He shook them out, sending a couple small feathers floating to the ground. As soon as they made even the slightest contact with the tacky carpet, they immediately sparked, burning away, leaving no evidence that a feather had ever been there at all.

Percy stroked a mark on his wrist: a pentagram, burned into his skin like it was branded there with hot iron. It was burned into his skin, but not with iron. It appeared when he fell.

Percy was an immortal; a fallen angel to be more exact. You could call him a demon, but that wasn't exactly true. The demons and fallen angels were similar beings and had the same features: wings, dark eyes, a dead-like complexion with dark hair and eyes, and certain powers over the realm of the Dark One, but while demons were born into the dark, the fallen angels were born as light and had turned to the dark side. The only way to tell between the two was through the brand. The Almighty marked the fallen angels with the pentagram as a sign to all the other angels.

It wasn't his fault he'd fallen. Percy couldn't help what he did. How was he to know that falling in love with a mortal was forbidden? He was in Arizona, tracking a demon on the orders of his superiors, but he wound up in the Hoover Dam, with multiple demons on his tail in a strange turn of events. That's where he met her. Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

She was the first mortal that made Percy actually feel something. Angels didn't have souls; they couldn't feel love, or hate, or spite, or sadness. They were pure goodness and obedience. But the first time he caught sight of the girl who he affectionately called 'Red'- for her initials and her vibrant hair color- he couldn't help but feel alive for the first time, and he craved it. In his eyes, she was the most gorgeous mortal he'd ever seen: big green eyes, lighter than his own, her naturally red hair in shoulder-length, wide ringlets, her button nose covered in freckles matching her hair… He followed her back to New York City, not able to help himself. They became friends, and later, lovers. It lasted a bitterly short time. As always, the Almighty caught wind of what his angel was doing with the mortal. In the end, Rachel was killed by demons, and Percy was banished from Heaven.

Percy had lost everything. He'd lost Rachel, he'd been cast out of Heaven, he'd lost all of his companions- Reyna, Hylla, Jason, Grover, and Hazel.

So, yeah. He was bitter. He had a little bit of a vendetta. He had no problem carrying out the Dark One's commands, which generally included the brutal slaughter of mortal sinners or the attack of the Almighty's angels.

"Your senses are getting dull, Perce," a voice said from the shadows, causing Percy to whip around. His dual katanas appeared in his hands.

When he caught sight of who was leaned up against the wall, he relaxed, letting his weapons vanish. "Oh, it's you."

"Don't sound so happy to see us," Leo snorted. Leo was a demon, younger than Percy, but he'd been kind- as kind as a demon could be- to the fallen angel after his exile. The immortal was short, with tanned skin and black eyes and black curly hair. He had a pointy nose and ears that kind of made him look like a demonic elf. He strode forward clapping Percy on the shoulder. "Nice to see you, I guess."

Percy rolled his eyes, but smirked a bit at Leo. "You here with orders?"

"Yeah," the other demon spoke up: Nico. He was older than both Percy and Leo by at least double Percy's age and quadruple Leo's. His black hair was shaggy and hung into his pitch black eyes, which contrasted sharply with his pallid white skin. He wore a black leather jacket and skull t-shirt. "There's some angels in the area, and I got orders that we need to take care of them. In the words of the Dark One: 'Under no circumstances can you fail'. They're looking for some artifact. We need to get it instead."

"It's a serious one, then," Percy said in surprise.

Nico nodded wordlessly, but then added, "Thalia and Clarisse are coming too."

"Great," Percy muttered.

Clarisse was a demon, too, around Percy's age. Ever since he met her, they'd been enemies. Clarisse resented all types of angels, and that included fallen angels. She accepted Percy, since he was allied with the same master as she was, but that didn't mean she had to like him.

Thalia was a fallen angel too, Percy's twin sister. Well, immortals didn't exactly have siblings, since they were created, not born, but immortals born around the same time were generally referred to as siblings. Percy and Thalia were created together at the same time, so everyone referred to them as twins.

Unlike Percy, who'd fallen because of love, Thalia had fallen because of hate. She hated the way the mortals lived, especially the men, and the Almighty could not allow such a bitter immortal to continue being an angel. Thalia and Percy had fallen at the same time, creating the craters of Clearwater East and Clearwater West in Canada.

Thalia, Clarisse, Percy, and Nico were all part of a council of the Dark One's most loyal and powerful supporters. Apart from themselves, there was also Luke, Ethan, and Bianca (Nico's sister). They were called the Sins, and each member represented one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It didn't always necessarily meant that the 'patron' would have that trait abundantly, but every demon knew that the Dark One had a reason he handed out the assignments to each angel, and everyone knew why Percy had become lust.

Leo chuckled. "Sorry, dude."

Percy shook his head. There was nothing he could do about it now, so he might as well deal with it. "Where are the angels now?"

"The Chickamauga Battlefield," Nico answered, his face darkening.

x x x

"So, do you have any clue what this artifact is?" Percy called over to Nico as they soared through the air. Unlike Percy and Thalia who had bird wings, Nico (as well as Leo and Clarisse) had bat-like wings. That was another difference between fallen angels and demons.

Nico shrugged and shook his head in unison. "I have a general understanding of its purpose, but not what it looks like."

Percy waited for an explanation, but received none. He raised his eyebrows. "Yes…?" he prodded the stoic demon.

Nico shook his head again. "I can't say too much. I don't know too much. But I do know that this artifact will help to tip the balance between light and dark when the time comes."

Percy exhaled. "If the angels were sent to receive it, that's an aggressive move on Heaven's part."

Thalia cackled from her spot underneath Percy. She swooped up in front of the group and twirled around, her wings angled perfectly to control her movements. It took many, many years to learn how to fly so proficiently. "So the peaceful angels want to start a war. Anybody else see the irony in this?"

Nobody laughed with her. There was silence apart from breathing and the beating of wings. All of the demons seemed to be lost in their own thoughts.

"'Demons run when a good man goes to war'," Nico mumbled under his breath.

Percy turned to look at him. He was the only one who'd heard the quiet immortal speak. "What did you say?" he wondered, not sure if he'd heard Nico right. It was a strange thing to say, in Percy's opinion, but he felt a stirring of emotion in his gut when he heard it. Well, maybe not emotion, per se, since immortals are created without any emotions apart from obedience, as well as wickedness for demons and kindness for angels. Sometimes, in specific scenarios, immortals can feel other emotions, but they're duller than humans. Instead of misery, immortals would feel mild sadness. Instead of happiness, immortals would feel somewhat content. Anyway, the quote was thought-provoking for Percy.

Nico shook his head, eyes widened as he realized that someone had heard him. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just something I heard while watching television one day. Forget about it."

Percy considered what Nico had said, though. Demons run when a good man goes to war. A slight smile formed on his face as he remembered what that used to be like.

x x x

Percy stared down at the battlefield, watching his comrades fight off the demon force best they could. To his right stood the Almighty. While she had no particular form, only a humanoid form of pure light energy, Percy could tell that she was worried about the way the fight was progressing. Their side had powerful immortals, but the demons were being led by two of the Sins: Kronos, the Sin of pride, and Luke, the Sin of envy.

Both possessed fighting abilities that were unmatched by any other fighter. No angel could touch them.

Percy's adrenaline was pumping. He wanted to be there, in the battle, fighting for his brethren and his creator. He grasped his sword hilt tightly in his hand, preparing to remove it from its scabbard at a moment's notice. The Almighty had said that if the battle went poorly, she'd send in Percy. This battle was definitely going poorly.

The Almighty stiffened as another angel fell. She sighed. This could no longer be allowed to continue. The angels would be slaughtered if it kept going like this. "Perseus," She said lightly. Her voice was soft and angelic, every bit the creator that she was, but there was an undertone of harshness. Percy waited, chomping at the bit, for the command. "Go."

And he went. Spreading his majestic white wings, the archangel flew down from the Heavens to the battlefield, appearing above the fighters in a shower of light. He could see the way those around him reacted to his presence: the angels smiled in relief- they were saved- while the demons flinched while they were confronted with the intimidating and overwhelming aura of one of the Trinity. Above them was Perseus, the archangel, who had filled the seat of the Protector when the first archangel, Michael, had fallen. His foam green eyes narrowed as his gaze locked on to the two Sins.

He charged them, the sword he'd inherited from his predecessor Michael glinting brightly from the glow he was emanating. Kronos' and Luke's eyes widened as the all-powerful archangel approached.

x x x

"Demons run when a good man goes to war," Percy whispered, his tone unreadable. He wasn't sure why today of all days he decided to be nostalgic- he hadn't thought too much about his time in Heaven since… well, since his time in Heaven. Now, he wasn't sure if he felt sorrow, anger, or just plain indifference as he looked back on his past.

Nico smacked the back of Percy's head, making his head snap forward against his chest. Percy glared at the demon.

"Quit being a fucking moron," Nico ordered, returning the glare. "Get your head out of the past."

Percy rolled his eyes, but made an effort to quirk up the corners of his mouth in a smirk. "Only if you stop being a goth asshole."

Nico growled.

x x x

revised on aug 23, 2014

disclaimer: i do not own percy jackson.

characters might be a little ooc, but it was necessary to fit the story. also, the language is a bit more mature since i figured that demons would swear like sailors. if you don't like swearing… sorry.

review!