Chapter 1 – The Mark

Percy Jackson had saved Olympus not once, but twice. There was always a cost that came hand in hand with achieving such triumphant cases of success.

He was a defender, that was all there was to it.

He was a savior, that was all there was to it.

He was a hero, but was that really all there was to it?

Percy Jackson was broken, beaten, bruised, and utterly battered. He'd fought his way through hordes of monsters. He'd lost count of truly how many he'd slaughtered after an hour of fighting. Most of the Gods had been regarding him strangely ever since the end of the war had come within their grasp. Hushed whispers from the denizens of Olympus had reached his ears with each passing second and yet each word had felt like hollow echoes that went in one ear and right out the other. He cared not for such hushed rumours, he hadn't even cared enough to listen to what they were all saying but he did know that they were talking about him and it wasn't in a manner that one would expect after saving Olympus.

Percy had been devoid of emotion and energy, everything was fading in and out with the rhythmic throbbing of pain that was searing across the palm of his hand.

He had no idea when he'd gotten it, but he knew it hadn't been there before the battle. A long- stretching wound that reached from his index finger to the other side of his wrist, dragging diagonally across his palm. It looked like it had been a cut, the kind that was wide and deep enough to have once been an entire sword sticking through his hand yet there was no damage to the other side of his hand and the wound was already closed. The only reason he knew that it was wrong, out of place, dangerous even... Was the fact that the scarred flesh over the top of it was scratched and almost pure black.

His right hand was sore, it ached from the weight of Anaklusmos after hours of fighting monsters, losing his mind to the point where the only thing he registered was the weight of riptide in his hands.

There were other demi-gods with him, some in front, some behind. He barely registered the fact that Annabeth was standing loyally by his side. He almost felt like he was betraying her with just how little he felt connected to the world. What the Hades was that scar on his hand? It never physically showed signs that it was moving but he could feel the ebb and flow of something hiding behind that scar. He wasn't expecting an alien to suddenly pop out of it, no, it was more like a physical manifestation of raw power that was building up within his scarred skin.

Percy subconsciously rubbed his free hand across the sore flesh. There would no doubt be some questions but he wasn't sure he could actually answer any of them. There they were walking towards the Olympian throne room, no doubt to be honored ceremoniously for their brave actions but the problem was that Percy couldn't remember anything that happened. It was all totally a blur in his mind. One moment he'd been uncharacteristically excited before the battle had begun and the next thing that he was consciously aware of was kneeling amidst a literal sea of monster dust. His body covered in cuts, his arms heavy and his mind dull. His senses were barely connected to him anymore but he would never forget seeing the faces of all of his friends looking at him like HE was some kind of monster.

What had he done for them to have seen him in such a way? They all knew that he was powerful, more so even than Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter, but he could see the sense of true fear in their eyes when they looked at him.

Is that what he really was? A monster to them all. The throne room, the grand doors stood taller than he remembered, or perhaps he was simply feeling small because of the loss of his senses. His energy was down to zero after the fight, he could barely walk then let alone now when he was practically being held up by Frank.

Dried blood covered most of his face and nearly all of his body, who's blood it was, he didn't know, only that some of it was probably his, the fresher patches that still felt hot and sticky as opposed to cold, dry, and flaky.

A sharp flash of pain erupted behind his eyes, light illuminated inside his head and he got a glimpse of the battlefield. It must have been halfway through the battle because there were still plenty of forces from either side, bravely fighting on against one another. He got a clear image from behind someone else's eyes of his smashing a Minotaur's face in with the blunt hilt of Anaklusmos. The force piled behind his strike was terrifying.

From this one mental flashback, he could clearly see his own face, an insane snarl on his lips and eyes of power, practically glowing amidst the harsh contrast of the bloody battlefield. Monster's broken bodies all flowing into dust and then the son of Poseidon never once faltering amidst hundreds of enemies. Both of his sea green eyes brutally vibrant.

Percy was ripped back into reality when gravity had suddenly become a thing again. It felt like all of his senses had once again become incredibly sharp before fading away. Was this what dying felt like? He was sure that it was, nothing else could compare to being this painful.

It hadn't taken them long before they were finally all standing in front of the Olympian council. Percy was too proud to let Frank hold him in place, not when he was under the gaze of the Gods. He'd just been the one to save them for the second time, he'd die before appearing weak under their gazes after all he had done.

He saw the same look on the faces of the Gods as he did on the others when he'd come out of his battle haze. He stood, gritted teeth and a hand on his ribs. He was sure that he'd broken them during the battle.

The honorary titling and awards had gone on for what had felt like an eternity before his name was finally called out. He was the last one and by the Gods he was relieved that this was nearly over. He just wanted to sleep for eternity.

Slowly, Percy limped forwards before trying to kneel before Zeus but what had actually happened was something a lot less intended. His knees both slammed into the ground, one hand was all he had left to stop his body and face from making a blood stain on the marble floor.

"Lord Zeus." He slowly coughed out before rearing his body up and resting his hind on the back of his feet. The demi-gods seemed to be feeling his pain as he heard them squirm uncomfortably from behind him. They couldn't believe that no one had ordered a healer, or even Apollo himself, to take a loot at Percy. He almost appeared to be on death's doors himself.

"Perseus Jackson..." Zeus' voice boomed indifferently. There was no hiding the fact that the King of the Gods absolutely hated his nephew, as did most of the Olympian council, but there was one thing that was undeniably common between everyone in attendance. They respected Percy. All he'd wanted was normality and yet he was thrust into the middle of almost all battles in the name of defending Olympus.

"For your actions, you are being awarded Godhood." He continued. The demi-gods shifted uncomfortably. They all knew that he didn't want that, he never wanted Godhood.

"I cannot-" Percy coughed blood, his head felt light and the room began to twist around his vision, "Accept such a gift. I'm honored, but-" Percy had to once again brace himself against the ground. This shouldn't have been happening, sure he'd overexerted himself but that was war. He didn't think he'd been hit so critically anywhere on his body so why did he feel like his existence was being torn apart from within? He spared a single glance towards his hand before trying one again to focus on the King of the Gods through his strained gaze.

"Stubborn fool. I was not making you an offer, Perseus, I am telling you what's happening. That mark on your hand wasn't there before the battle. It's preventing anyone from healing you and it's killing you. Godhood is the only way that you'll survive this day." Zeus announced angrily. He couldn't possibly throw it back in their faces after all was said and done. The lightning God's pride had been hurt by Percy a few times before but nothing would be worse if he denied him once again.

Percy screamed, clutching at his wrist. The pain was searing all across his palm, it felt unbearable. "What the hell happened to me?" He whispered, unaware and uncaring whether or not anyone else had heard him. He felt the ground shake slightly where footsteps were approaching him and before he knew it, Poseidon was by his side, holding onto his shoulders with a comforting grip.

"During the battle, no one could get near you, it was like someone had put up a barrier that only monsters could pass through... And, well..." Poseidon wasn't sure how to explain this to his son, he knew that whatever words he had would only worsen the situation in Percy's mind.

"You slaughtered every single monster with so much ease and sheer malice that you became the biggest one there." Ares pitched in, realizing that there was a need for his bluntness. He had no problem being the villain here but it was still something that the boy needed to hear. "People are scared of you, kid. There's no avoiding it, you're a damned Demon on the battlefield." Ares explained, shrugging at the annoyed looks he received from a few Goddesses.

They might not have all liked Percy but they respected him, and they could all understand why the demi-gods were feeling what they were feeling towards the son of Poseidon.

Slowly but surely, his breathing had returned to normal, he'd even found the strength to stand on his own. He held his head high, a look of pure determination sat on his face. "How about this." He began. Artemis sat on her throne in silence, she had to hand it to him that he was certainly powerful. She hadn't been as close to him as some of the other Gods but make no mistake she was still wearily watching him as much as everyone else. Ares might not have usually been tactful or ever had a way with words but 'Demon' was something that she couldn't help but agree with.

Percy was unusual, an anomaly even. His existence was something that she wasn't sure they could conclude was entirely just a demi-god. He was a 'monster', plain and simple, that much was obvious from the way that he'd been teetering on the verge of unconsciousness the whole time and yet here he was, seemingly recuperating his strength with each passing second.

"I continue living as mortal for the rest of the day. If it looks like I'm going to die before midnight strikes, then you can immortalize me, but if I can pull myself back from the brink of death, then you leave me mortal and respect my decision to not become a God." Percy announced, pushing himself to his knees. His hand was trembling, arms shaking from the pain that was shooting through his fist.

He continued to hold his stare with the King of the Gods who was seriously considering this. Poseidon had silently returned to his throne. What was Percy thinking!? If Apollo had decreed that he would die from his wounds by the end of the day then he was in no place to argue! How he was even standing was beyond his father's comprehension.

"It would be foolish to accept your terms. You're not even aware of the process necessary to bestow Godhood, if you were to perish close to midnight, we might not be able to save you." Zeus announced, extremely unhappy that Perseus would have the gall to even argue with him over Godhood when he was practically dying at his feet. Zeus was questioning who truly held the power out of the two of them.

Percy looked around wearily. He could feel the pull of power in his hand. Whatever the Hades it was, it didn't want what the Gods were offering, that much was evident from the way he felt guarded by the power building up inside his body. The Gods weren't going to give up, he realized that they cared less about his safety than about how powerful he really was. That was what they wanted from him, to immortalize him and prevent him from destroying them, not that he ever would but they didn't know that.

Percy could see that this conversation with the Gods was linear, it was always going to reach the same conclusive point. 'Run.' Percy heard a strange voice whisper inside his mind, it wasn't like when a God had spoken to him, it wasn't clear, he wasn't even sure that he'd heard anything, it was more a feeling of danger that was looming over him. Slowly, he turned his back on the King of the Gods and faced Annabeth.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, keeping his eyes locked with hers. Zeus slowly smiled, in his mind he believed that this was Perseus' way of finally accepting Godhood. Little did he know of the true tenacity the son of Poseidon was capable of in situations outside the battlefield.

"But I must insist on standing my ground." His voice was dark, deeper than before and held such immense wrath inside that it sent chills down the spines of the Gods who sat in trepidation when they saw Percy raise his hand.

What was he doing? He had no idea, it was all purely instinct when he felt like it would be a good idea. He opened his hand when a sudden surge of force ran through his arm. That scar on his palm lit up like a God revealing their true form. Blow wisps of vapor shot out and flowed around his arm beautifully. He couldn't explain what was going on. He had such a peculiar feeling of someone else taking control of his body. Only his mind felt like it was his own, watching from behind closed eyes as everything unfolded around him.

"I love you." He whispered when his eyes were finally locked with Annabeth's stormy grey irises. So analytical about everything and yet they didn't help her at all when she was powerless to stop the forces that be from taking her boyfriend away from her.

"Stop this at once Perseus!" Zeus and Poseidon both boomed in perfect synchronization as they both stood. Something far beyond himself was happening. The throne room rumbled from the sheer power that was erupting from Percy's palm. It was painful but nowhere near as much as before.

"I have something to say." He announced, backing up slightly from all of the Gods who were now on their feet. Some didn't know whether they should have been trying to capture Percy, restrain him entirely or just kill him. Few were brave enough to even contemplate the latter with the amount of strange blue energy that was flowing around his body.

"It's better to burn out than to fade away!" His voice echoed around the throne room as everything had stopped all at once. The shaking faltered to nothing, the sound of silence filled the air and the room felt like there was more space in it. Of course, that was only partly true. There was more space in the throne room because where Percy had been standing there was now just an empty spot with the blood stains he'd left behind.

Chaos exploded into the throne room in the forms of people crying, shouting and fighting. Where had their hero gone? Apollo looking into the distance with an uninterrupted focus, he wouldn't be gone forever, not from what Apollo could see, no, there was still much to be done by the Hero of Olympus.

Line Break.

Percy awoke to the pain in his hand. It felt like he'd been struck in the face with a cattle prod. Where was he? The whole place was white. White ceiling, white columns that held up said ceiling. There were no walls or doors, just a room with a ceiling and some thin material draped down, presumably to act as some sort of curtain, not that it was particularly working. Outside the room Percy could see a bleak distance of more white, luckily it seemed that there was some kind of azure sky sitting comfortably above him. At least he wasn't already dead.

"Ah, you've awoken, good afternoon." He heard a decidedly British accent call out to him. Quickly turning to face the owner of the voice he saw something that was headache worthy. The only other person he'd seen so far was wearing clothes that contrasted so massively with the white architecture that he wasn't sure what to make of it.

Black shin high boots that met some trousers of the same color. He wore a ripped black t-shirt that barely held enough space for the muscles of his upper body. It looked like his entire attire had seen better days with rips and holes that looked like they'd been earned through intense archery battles. He had a small brown stubble on his almost gaunt face. Percy wasn't sure whether his face was actually 'gaunt' or whether he just had sharp features but it was hard to tell when the stubble perfectly outlined said features. Short brown hair rested messily atop the man's head that he casually ran a hand through as he sighed and met Percy's gaze with powerful golden eyes.

"Um..." Percy responded neutrally. Where was he? And just who the Hades was the man with golden eyes? He seemed to notice the discomfort from the man who'd only just awoken with the mark on his palm.

"Are you usually this articulate? Never mind, that's more or less the same reaction that everyone has when they wake up here." He sighed somewhat before scratching his chin. Had he forgotten what he'd actually come here for?

"Oh, that's right. Here, drink this, you'll feel better." He said, closing the distance between them and handing Percy a clear glass of some golden liquid. He slowly accepted it and tried to pick up a scent of what it was. He doubted that they'd go through this much effort just to poison him. They could have killed him while he was passed out on the... Chair that he didn't remember sitting in?

"What is it, nectar?" He asked before taking a sip. His eyes went wide slightly. The scent of alcohol wafted through his nose before he stopped himself from drinking more. He wasn't about to spit the beer out over the clean floor but he didn't want any more of it.

"Nah, it's beer, good beer, so if you don't want it, I'll have it." He said, noticing the estranged look Percy was giving him. He'd just woken up in a strange place and the first person he'd met had offered him a beer.

"Who are you, where am I, and why did you give me beer?" Percy listed off. He was in a strange place after possibly causing an explosion in the Olympian throne room, he needed, no, he deserved some answers and right now the only one who was capable of giving him answers was the man in front of him.

"I," He said, pointing to himself before drinking at least half of the beer in the glass, "Am known as many different things but to you, I guess I'm going to be the one who trains you. I really don't mind what you call me, you can choose." He shrugged, careless to all of it. "This place." He pointed lazily before sinking the rest of the beer in one go. He licked his lips pleasurably before putting the glass on a white table that Percy swore wasn't there seconds ago.

"Probably has an official name but no one has ever told me. The people in this place, like yourself, have at one point shown themselves as individuals with enough resolve to bear the mark." Slowly his lifted his right hand to show that he had an identical black scar across his palm.

"And finally, why WOULDN'T I give you beer? Beer is amazing, you're stupid to turn down a free drink." He smiled at himself, offering another shrug of his shoulders. Why anybody would ever do that was beyond him but perhaps that had something to do with the life he'd led before coming here.

"Look, this is all a bit much, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to process this. Are you in charge of this place then?" Percy sighed, looking back towards the British man.

"I suppose so. I'm not the creator of this place, I'm just the one who gets given the orders. I'm to train you to be as strong as possible, that's all I've been told. I get the feeling that if everything goes as planned that we'll be told to defend the world against something stupid. That's usually how things go. Come on hot-shot, we can walk and talk." He said, motioning to the stairs that were hidden behind his tall frame.

Percy internally sighed, this day had been hard enough as it was but now he was sure that this was going to be just as mentally straining as that battle had been physically. Strangely enough, now that he was awake he felt better than ever. He was confused by the situation he was in but physically he felt back at one hundred percent.

"Will I be able to go back home?" Percy asked quietly. He'd followed the British man down the stairs that led to a large courtyard. There were more colors now that they were out of the building. It seemed that it was just the architecture that was whitewashed.

"This IS your home now kiddo, but yeah, you will get to go back eventually. We live here, we train here but everything that we train for happens on Earth." The man told him. He slowed his march slightly and before Percy knew it, they were standing on a long balcony that overlooked a huge pit. There were numerous people fighting below the high stone walls they were standing on.

"I should probably mention that time moves a lot slower here than it does for Earth. When we go back, little will have changed from each time we come and go. You could spend years training here and it might only be a couple of weeks back there. It differs so I can't exactly give you an exact estimate. Accidentally jumped a couple of years last time I went home." The man sighed mischievously.

"How old are you?" Percy asked. He could see little in the way of aging on the man but just from the way he spoke, there was volumes of wisdom in his tone. He laughed somewhat, almost as thought he'd been expecting this sooner.

"Ah, yeah, about that. Look, kid, I know what the specifics of your life are so I need you to remember that I don't choose who has the mark..." There was a brief moment of silence that followed the man's words as he looked down at the people fighting in the pit before casting his golden gaze back to Percy.

"I don't really know how old I am. I'm one of the first of us to get the mark, you see... Those of us with the mark are outside the confines of time, we're immortal, pal." He explained. Percy's world came to a standstill. After everything he'd done he was still forced into immortality anyway. He could see the sadness in the British man's eyes, immortality was never a gift, it was a curse unless you had an immortal family to help keep you together. So he'd have to leave Annabeth behind after all. The silence was echoing all around his head, he was certain that he'd actually been able to hear his own heart breaking.

"And what is it we're training for?" Percy let himself indulge in watching the people fighting below them. There weren't a lot, not as many as he'd thought there would be from the way the British man had been talking.

"Well, things here and there that the current defenders of the world can't take on. Things that some people, even gifted ones like the people we used to be, can't even see. That reminds me, who were you in your past life? I heard that you were some big shot or something." The British man slowly turned his back to the arena below them, instead opting for folding his arms and staring into the distance on the other side of the two-story white building.

"I saved the world when I stopped a Titan and then again when I killed... Um, the Earth." Percy was still fairly groggy and wasn't sure how he should have phrased it.

"You... Killed the Earth?" The man couldn't help but grin and raise an eyebrow at his new apprentice of sorts. He could already tell that pranks on this one would be a barrel of laughs.

"Not THE Earth but, like, the Earth, look, it's complicated but I basically forced the spirit of the Earth back into an eternal sleep." Percy realized that it was quite possible that he knew who Gaea was, as well as all of the rest of them.

"Right, so you were the one who shut Gaea up, right? That makes you that son of Poseidon, you're taller than I thought you'd be." He shrugged for the who knows how many times since Percy had awoken.

"Funny, usually people say the opposite. Yeah, I'm the son of Poseidon." Percy sighed, realizing that there would be a hunt for him happening as they spoke. He was sure that with him being here, Artemis would be ordered to lead the forefront of tracking Percy down and that with her not being able to find him, she'd only begin to hate him more than she already did. Not that he was entirely sure that she hated him in the first place, but he knew better than to test her on that.

"You were the son of Poseidon. You're an Angel now." He scratched his stubble again. Social interaction with new people probably wasn't his strong point but judging by the amount of people down in that arena, if that was all of them then he hadn't needed a reason to hone those skills.

"An Angel? You call yourselves Angels? Seems pretty clichéd." Percy chuckled dryly. He honestly cared not for any of this, he was fine with facing the wrath of angry Gods if it meant he'd be hunted down by them, they wanted to force immortality upon him yet it hadn't changed a thing as he was already immortal, by whoever had chosen to give him that mark.

"We go and fight the things that even your Gods can't comprehend, so yes, we're Angels. If you've got a better name for yourself then by all means, go ahead and call yourself something else." He offered, clearly not caring for the specifics of it all. Out of nowhere, he seemed to have pulled another glass of beer and began to happily chug at it. What was his thing with alcohol?

"In that last fight... Even the Gods called me a Demon." Percy breathed slowly. That had to be some kind of coincidence right? In his pantheon, that was the first and only time he'd ever heard anyone actually say the word 'Demon'. It had to be a coincidence...

"Listen, I said call yourself anything but certain things have to be earned. In a group of immortals that protect the world and call themselves Angels, you're going to have to prove to them that you're the Demon among Angels." That was the first time so far that Percy had seen him be serious about anything. When Percy looked down to see what he was pointing at, he realized that everyone below him had stopped fighting, instead, they were all just looking up at him, seemingly expecting him to do something.

"I have to fight them?" He asked, looking around at them. Their weapons screamed danger, he wasn't even sure that Anaklusmos would be able to do anything in the way of defending against those kinds of materials. Some were pure black, others white, and one of them seemed to be an odd composition of both.

"Guess so, training starts now rookie. Oh, one more thing, I said you can call me anything, but my actual name is Cain. Time to see if you're worthy of being called Demon." Cain smiled evilly before pushing Percy over the side of the wall and down into the arena. The drop wasn't high and certainly not large enough to cause Percy even the slightest amount of discomfort.

"Which one am I supposed to be fighting?" He shouted up at Cain, slowly feeling around his pockets for something that he knew should have been there. Within seconds he was holding Anaklusmos. It was comforting to know that no matter where he went, so did the sword.

"All of them. A Demon could easily break down any amount of Angels, don't you think?" Cain grinned, drinking the rest of his beer in one go. Percy was starting to think that he was just drunk and wanted to see his friends slaughter the Hero of Olympus just for fun.

"I think you're taking this too far, but what the Hades." Percy muttered to himself with a shrug before rushing towards the closest person. She was his height and had long thick black hair that was tightly pulled into a pony-tail. She had a shield and a spear like how Thalia would fight.

Percy had beaten Thalia before, even while she'd been boosted by the Hunter's blessing, he could beat this woman who had a gaze so sharp that he was certain it could do more damage than the huge spear in her hands. Just as he'd been about to strike out, he was forced to defend at the last possible moment when that huge spear came crashing down on top of him.

His whole world went black and that was the last thing that he remembered. The woman took a long few seconds just looking at the body in the sand at her feet. "Are you sure you got the right one?" She asked in an accent that was quite similar to the one belonging to Cain.

Their leader of sorts just sighed heavily, "For the last time, I don't choose who gets the mark. The fact that he even has a black mark is enough confirmation for me, as it should be for you. I'll just have to train him until he can beat you back without even batting an eyelash." Cain shouted, his voice serious and not to be provoked. Percy groaned in his unconscious state.

"Only time will tell." The woman answered quietly, once again looking at the body by her feet from behind her gold colored eyes. She didn't ever have high hopes for those who were chosen by the mark, in her mind no one could have gone through anything as traumatic as she did, but everyone else kept their stories to themselves, despite the fact that they were the only ones that each other had.

"Laurette, play nice. Put our Demon somewhere he can rest, he's going to need it as I'm going to force him through Hell when he wakes up, but right now..." He announced before turning his back on the arena and started walking towards the archway of stone that stood just slightly taller than himself. "I'm off to the pub." He smiled to himself. It was always the small things in life that made the days go smoother, especially when you were an immortal who had to protect a world where true threats hardly ever surfaced. Yeah, that pub was definitely a good idea.

Still, Cain couldn't help but think back to the unconscious son of Poseidon in their home. The summon that he'd received was one that he'd never seen before. The one who was giving Cain orders must have seen a huge amount of potential in the boy because right now Cain couldn't help but agree with Laurette, he wasn't all that impressive, but no one ever was when they first became an Angel.

Cain had to be fair to the boy, he'd not even gotten halfway through his transformation into being one of them. Those who called themselves Angels only registered the fact that they were finally complete in their transformations once their eyes had turned pure gold.

One of his Gods had called him a Demon... On the same day that the mark had claimed him. That wasn't a coincidence, that was someone playing games with destiny. So they believed the son of Poseidon to be the one who could become a Demon among Angels, did they? Lauretta was right, only time would tell. Cain would think on it while having a pint and watching from afar how the boy's Gods dealt with his disappearance.

He was sure to have some fun with a few of them, perhaps he'd even directly meet some of them and tease about the boy's return. One thing was for sure, he couldn't wait to see the kind of monster he'd be turning the boy into, one with so much hidden potential that they were going to gain the title of Demon, Cain couldn't wait... After all, in all of his life living with the Angels, only he had ever been given the title of Demon, perhaps that was why the son of Poseidon was being set up to Cain training him. Perhaps there were further plans for the two of them to lead the defensive against a threat that Cain couldn't imagine them being able to defeat alone.

Now, onto far more important matters... What kind of beer did he fancy?

A/N: This is going to be a really slow story, so I'm hoping that you guys stick with it because I know you'll all love it.

I need some feedback though, how are my concepts? How are my OC's? I'm gonna try and get quite a darkness on the characters in coming chapters.

Oh, and I'm unsure of the pairing so far, but I'm pretty much known for my Pertemis, what do you guys think?