A/N: Here is the next chapter, and we might be adding another story that's pertemis. Enjoy!

Talen, City of Choice, The Separation Ceremony

Two days later

Percy Jackson is the Wolf Tamer. Everyone wants to know if he will advance to the games or the Capital. Some wonder if it is even a question of where he will go.

Madam Hostling stands to introduce the four female candidates and then the four male candidates. Everyone cheers when they hear Percy's name. Girls scream his name back with emotion.

Thalia clenches her fists as she sees the crowd is here to support Perseus, or Percy, instead of her. She did everything she was supposed to do to win the hearts of the Separators and the crowds. Yet Percy had them fall down to kneel to him when he had no idea what to do. How can an orphan beat her?

Percy smiles shyly and waves before holding onto Silver, and turning to look at the daughter of the Graces. He sees her clenched fists, but doesn't think much of it.

Madam Hostling finishes her speech and lets the Separators stand at the microphone. "The Capital has chosen. The first four names are those who will go to the Capital, while the four uncalled will go to the games. First name is Percy Jackson!" Cheers and screams fill the air. "the second will be Selena Handor, third is Thalia Grace, and the last one is Samuel Packer!"

Everyone cheers while Percy hears nothing. Anthony pales as they start to take him away, but Percy stands tall and shouts to the Separators. "I request to be in the Games!"

Silence. Anthony's eyes widen as Percy stands beside the Separators. "I have no talent to give to the Capital. I give Anthony Sin the choice of the capital as I take his place!" Never before has anyone volunteered and given up their place of the Capital for the games. It shocks everyone.

The Separators nod. "We grant your request. Anthony Sin will be the one to go to the Capital while Percy Jackson and Silver-"

"Silver will go with her choice of Anthony Sin or Thalia Grace, as I will go to the Games, alone."

They nodded and fixed their mistake, while they start to take away the two groups. "Percy! Don't do this!" Percy ignores Anthony's cries as Thalia stares at the orphan in shock. He doesn't care for supporters. He wants to protect those he cares for.

Silver is dragged as she howls and claws the Palan holding her, pleading with her partner. Anthony holds Silver in his arms, her eyes calming as she sees Anthony is the one holding her, and she lets out a pained howl at the same time as Anthony gives a pained cry before they are pulled away, their path now to the Capital.

Games Chamber, underneath the Game Chamber

Five days later

Percy stands in the cylinder, his skin suit pure black with the Letters and Number: MD5 on the back.

He looks at Sidna as he nods to the tribute. "May the gods be with you, Percy." In their few days, Percy found out that Sidna is much like Anthony, both believing the gods will help him.

"You as well, my friend." Is Percy's reply before the door of the cylinder closes, the platform underneath him rising and placing him into the Game Circle.

His eyes scan his opponents. Only the Capital knows the actual number of Districts and sections, each giving four tributes for the games. Only one from them all is allowed to survive.

The Number keeps shrinking until it becomes the last three

2

1

A beeping sound goes through the entire Chamber as the tributes run to the center, sprinting to be one of the first to get the weapons and supplies to survive. Percy sprints in the other direction, the forest. He feels his energy and power rise, but he keeps his power hidden as he dives down into the river and lets himself sink to the bottom, his breathing still normal even underwater. Even if he doesn't pray for help from the gods, he does thank them. Thank you, Father. Is his prayer as he keeps himself low, swimming slowly with the river's current. After a few hours staying underwater he swims to the top, feeling in his pocket for the sword his father gifted him before he vanished from Percy's life.

He finds Riptide in pen form, and Short Wave in eraser form. Following his instincts, Percy sprints through the leaves and roots on the floor, making not a single sound as he expertly steps around the noisy and crunch-able leaves.

He finds a dead body quickly. A young boy with short brown hair and blue eyes, the label ED2 on the back of his skin suit. Electric District 2. The day isn't even halfway done and already the innocent have been killed first.

Taking the backpack from the dead boy, he finds food and water. If he rations it enough, it can last him two days, three meals each. He can get water easily from the river because of being the son of the sea god, but he will have to worry about food more than shelter or drink. You can't have it all.

Percy finds a bow and quiver, 15 arrows inside. Percy straps the quiver onto his right shoulder and slings the bow over his shoulder, the backpack on his left shoulder and arm. He decides that he's done enough exploring, and chooses to spend the night underwater.

He slides into the water and concentrates, making sure his supplies stay dry. Making a small cave system in the deep water doesn't faze him, as he doesn't feel the pressure that would crush a regular person's body into a pancake, quick as a soda can. He digs downwards until he sees it as deep enough. He starts to dig to the side, and keeps digging until he feels it is far enough, the carved space now about a three yards as its radius, while double that its diameter. He digs upwards until he has a cavern where to water stop at the bottom , a few inches before the dirt floor that Percy had hardened into rock. The ceiling is about half a mile high, giving the cavern lots of space as he rests and eats a small ration for the rest of the day. He hides his supplies in a little 'cubbyhole' eh carved near the ground at the far end of the cavern, which he covered with dried leaves he had brought from the forest above and made the cave look as if it were old, already there so that he doesn't have to explain how he carved down about a mile or two more than the river bed floor and then again about a mile or two to the side with a big tunnel that could let around three four or even five people swim side by side in a line, and then the huge cavern that only took him about an hour to make. He doesn't want to have to explain how he was able to bring dry leaves from the surface as well as survive the water pressure of around 16 miles deep underwater, maybe 20 miles in total.

Percy jumps back into the water, taking a last look of his shelter before swimming through the water tunnel and back up to the surface, the quiver and bow still with him, his sword and dagger still in their dormant states.

He walks in one direction and once he reaches about a mile away from the river he starts to climb the nearest tree. Once he reaches the top, he finds a backpack similar to his with two silver daggers in the little nook with the bag and another bag filled with berries. He inspects the berries only for a few seconds before an arrow flies right by his head, inches away from his ear, and embeds itself into the tree bark behind him.

He turns to see a girl with a bow in her hands a another arrow nocked and ready to fly. Her onyx eyes mesmerize him before he shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He backs away on the branch. The girl's animalistic glare still on him. "What is thy reason to invade my camp?" He accent is heavy and he can't place where it's from.

Percy stays quiet before raising his hands. "I didn't know it was your camp, but I didn't take anything. I was looking at the berries you have. I wouldn't eat them if I were you."

She tilts her head to the side, anger still evident in her gaze. "And why should I listen to thee?" She reaches for a handful of the berries and starts to raise them to her lips.

He quickly explains, not wanting to see her fall dead from the tree. "Those are Death Berries. As soon as you eat one you'll dies in seconds, no pain but also not time. If you value your life you'll listen to me." She stops and again looks at the berries. She doesn't trust him, but she also doesn't want to risk a quick death.

She drops the berries and lets them fall to the forest floor. "Why art thou helping me?" She again tilts her head in question, watching the experienced looking boy.

"Because I don't like seeing people die for no reason. This entire thing is just for the entertainment of the Capital. I chose to come here and save my friend's life as long as my wolf's instead of going to the Capital to watch people die for entertainment." He says it low, knowing there are cameras and microphones hidden everywhere.

The girl's eyes widen. "You gave up the Capital?!" Percy lunges at the girl and clamps his hand on her mouth, pulling her onto his lap as he presses himself against the tree. She bites down on his palm to try to get him to let go, but he only winces, keeping her still in his hold as he listens.

She keeps struggling, so he tightens his hold and whispers quickly into her ear. "Someone's here." That gets her to stop struggling and silence her breathing, while Percy keeps his hold on her and listens as he hears the snaps of twigs and crunching of leaves on the forest floor.

The girl tastes his blood in her mouth, not being able to take his hand away and push him away from her, she feels his muscular body pressed under her smaller feminine figure, the strangeness of a man's body against hers causing her mind to go blank even as his hand bleeds a steady stream of blood into her mouth.

Percy closes his eyes to concentrate on his hearing. He hears the voice of an older guy, kicking the tree as he speaks to his group. "Are you sure that she's up there?"

A smaller voice of a guy answers. "Of course. I saw her make her camp on the very top. Zoe always goes for high points."

Percy opens his eyes to find the girl rigid against him, the sound of her name and possibly the guy's voice startling her. Well, at least he knows her name now. She tried to shout at the boy holding her, but all that comes out is, "M-mm-hmm! Mm-hm-nmmm!"

Percy stiffens and the voices underneath vanish. Of course they had to hear her. His hold on her tightens as he again listens for the voices. "Seems like you were right, Hercules. Now we just need to wait for her to come down. She can't stay up there forever." He again turns to his group as the first voice continues. "We camp here tonight. Do not let her leave the tree, and if she tries, don't let her get away." Male and feminine voices murmur agreement before they settle down, the group of five now camping out at the base of the tree.

He keeps his hand on her mouth even as she scowls and with a somewhat bitter face swallows. He presses his lips as close to her ear as he can and whispers softly. "Follow me if you want to get out of this alive. Do exactly as I tell you to, understood?" She nods in his grip. He tells her to stay quiet and to follow him. He lets go of her, not feeling the saliva or blood on his right palm. Once she collects her things except for the berries, Percy slowly crawls across a branch near the top of the tree and slowly slides himself to the end of it, his hand sliding over the wood and sending splinters into his already open wound.

Zoe follows close behind him, silent as he ordered. He slides onto another branch that comes from the tree next to the first. Once he secures that it can hold weight and he slides to the trunk of the tree on top, he reaches out his left hand to her. She hesitates before taking it, slowly crawling onto the steady branch. He lets go of her hand and tests another branch. It bends dangerously as he lightly presses on it, and he chooses a thicker branch and tests it as well, finding it sturdy and can hold weight.

They slide from tree to tree, careful to not make noise that will alert the group below. Sadly, luck always runs out.

When Zoe grasps his hand and then slides onto a different branch then the one Percy tested, it snaps underneath her and caves, her fall stopped by Percy's grip on her hand. A shout comes from the group and a boy points to the dangling figure of Zoe. "There she is! She has someone helping her!"

"Get them!"

Percy sighs. "Time to jump."

Zoe's eyes widen. "W-what?"

He looks to the river, now only a foot or two away from their position. Her hand slips slowly out of his grip, and he tries to hold her up with both hands. He looks to the river in a panic. "We have to jump into the river! It's the only way!"

"Art thou crazy! That will be our deaths!"

He looks into her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

She took two seconds before she whispers, "Yes."

The second he hears her answer his instincts kick in. He swings her towards the other tree before swinging her into open air, his grip slips from her hand and she screams. Percy jumps and dives after her, wrapping his body around hers and keeping her on top of him, "Get ready!" Is all he can warn before they both hit the water, his control over the liquid softening their landing and then rushing them lower and lower in the river.

Zoe grips Percy like a lifeline, feeling the water pressure start to press against her. As soon as it starts to become painful, it suddenly vanishes. The lack of oxygen starts to cause her vision to go blurry, her hearing fuzzy as she can't think straight.

Percy sees this and tries to hurry quickly through the tunnel. He breaks the surface and he pulls her onto the ground, lifting himself up and out of the water as well. Dammit, she's not breathing. Percy does the Chest compression and checks her breathing and heart beat. She needs air, but she might not want a boy she just met to force his mouth on hers, even if it is to get air into her lungs. As her heart rate slows, Percy makes his choice. He'd rather be tortured by her later than let her die.

He breathes in deeply after pressing on her chest again and no response. He opens her mouth and forces air into her lungs, not caring that her mouth tastes sweet. He presses her chest in rhythm again and then forces more air into her lungs. After the sixth time she starts gasping, coughing before her lungs start throwing the water out of her breathing organs. After a few minutes of her letting out all of the water from her lungs as he pats her back to help remove the water, she falls back onto the uneven ground, eye sight blurry. Percy rubs her back comfortingly until her breathing is normal and her eyesight clears.

As soon as Zoe sees the boy holding her she pushes him away, slapping him across his face. She follows her instincts and slaps him again, pushing him onto the ground before pulling out one of her daggers and pressing it against his chest, right above his heart. "How dare thee kiss me! Thou shall feel pain before thy death, and I will give no mercy!"

Percy just lays underneath her with no emotion, his hands at his sides as a red hand print appears on his cheek. He feels useless. He's in the Games for crying out loud! No one but one leaves the Chamber alive. "Do it."

She stares at him, shock keeping her frozen. She stays there, legs straddling him to keep him in place as the hand holding the dagger starts to push a light bit, drawing blood. The boy underneath her raises his hands quickly and pulls them over hers, pushing the sharp blade deeper, a bigger cut inches from his heart. She gasps as she feels his blood start flowing rapidly. "Do it." His voice is pleading, his eyes now only filled with pain and suffering.

Her hands start trembling in his grasp, something that has never happened to her before now. She looks into his pained sea green eyes as he begs her to do it, to end him and his suffering. She's the first to look away as the blade falls from her grip, falling in the dirt. She lets go of him, struggling to crawl away from him. Percy looks at her fearful eyes as his own turn back to emotionless. He feels no pain from the cut on his chest or the one on his hand. "Why didn't you do it?" Is his soft question in the silence.

She trembles. "I-I can't. You don't deserve it-"

His eyes darken as the water rises with his emotion. "I deserve it all! I deserve worse than I have received, why can't you stop my pain, my suffering. I've raised myself for more than a decade, killing men and women alike!" Zoe flinches at his words. "I kill them because of what they have done, by I kill them nonetheless. They are missed by no one, but they are gone because of me. I have let my wolves tear them to shreds, the blood on my hands and skin. They fear me when they see my face. All I do is slice a shallow cut onto them and the wolves do the work. They do as I tell them. I can kill you right now if I so wish to." He raises a bronze blade above her, but when he's about to strike, his arms lock. He fights himself before sighing and tossing his blade on the ground. Percy hits his back to the hard wall before he slides to the ground, head in his hands. "Stupid Loyalty."

She hears his muttered curse and slowly stands, weary of the boy. He says things about loyalty, and it peaks her interest and curiosity. Zoe walks slowly towards the sitting boy, his head covered by his hands. He still doesn't seem to notice his wounds much, which starts to worry her. She slides onto the ground next to him while he stays silent even with her presence close. Steeling her nerves, Zoe reaches and grabs his right wrist, slowly pulling it off of his face.

Stupid boy! The bite on his hand is swollen and reddish green, the infection starting to get through into his veins. His face is still red from where she slapped him, but it still doesn't seem to bother him. She curses under her breath before she gets up to retrieve her supplies from near the entrance before she kneels at his side to treat his hand.

Percy watches as Zoe cleans out the wound and then wraps it, making sure the bandage is slightly tight around his hand. She sees his empty eyes watching her and she starts to fidget, not feeling comfortable under his gaze. She says, "Lay back and stretch out thy legs. I must treat thy wound." He hesitates for a few seconds before doing as she says, Zoe placing the backpack as a pillow under his head while he stretches his legs to let her see his chest.

The cut is still flowing steadily, the wound the size of his heart, right above it as well. Zoe flinches before gaining her courage. She cleans the deep wound, only getting a slight wince from the boy, and puts ointment into it. She goes through her supplies to look for the needle. Once she finds it, she starts stitching up his wound, the deep cut closing with her stitching. Once done with that she puts a bandage over his stitches, and then finds the wrap bandage. She turns to him. "Sit up." He does as he's told and she wraps it across his chest, securing it and then putting away the unused supplies, going to the edge of the water to clean the utensils from his blood.

Percy lays back down onto the backpack and floor, his thoughts still elsewhere. What he said to her is true, one hundred percent true, and the guilt of seeing his mother die before him as a kid hurt with more pain than any wound he can get. He remembers her face, only worried for his sake rather than her life.

Zoe pulls him out of his thoughts with a question. "Where are we?" Her accent seems to fade whenever she isn't angry or scared.

He answers easily. "A safe place. It's dangerous for anyone else who tries to swim down here on their own at least."

"How do we leave?"

He looks at her. "I can come and go easily, but I have to go with you if you want to leave. Leave and stay alive, of course."

"How do you leave so easily?"

"Well, Zoe. Do you believe in the gods?" She sits straight, her eyes wide.

"I served one." Percy raises an eyebrow and she explains. "Artemis, and sometimes Diana, was my patron. I served in her hunt, but I was captured by that no good son of Zeus. He was chosen to serve in the games, and so he volunteered my hand in the games as well." Her eyes flash. "He is why I despise males, for they are all the same as he." She clears her throat. "Or that was what I believed." She goes back to the question. "Yes I do believe in the gods."

"Well, I'm a son of Poseidon. So I have the power to breathe underwater and survive the water pressure. Also to manipulate the water as I did when I yelled at you. I'm sorry, by the way."

Zoe waves her hand. "You have nothing to apologize for. I deserved it as I don't know you."

He puts out his hand. "Well, let's start over. Hey, my name's Percy Jackson and I'm a son of Poseidon."

She nervously grasps his hand to shake it. "Zoe Nightshade, daughter of-" She cuts herself off. "Daughter of Pleione."

Percy raises an eyebrow. "The water nymph?"

Her eyes harden. "Is there a problem with my mother's species?"

Percy shakes his head. "No, I just wasn't really expecting someone so peaceful to have a strong and stubborn daughter. Must be from your father then." He means it as a tease, but it causes her to flinch. He sees it. "Zoe?" She turns away, her expression unreadable. He puts his bandaged hand on her shoulder, turning her back to look at him. "Zoe."

"Thou art right." She says it with her accent heavy, hardness in her voice. "I am my father's daughter, even if I wish to not be."

"Zoe I didn't mean anything of it. It was just a-"

She cuts him off. "Thy words are true. My mother did not see his true side. Love clouded her mind, and so she bore him his children, cursing her children to serve him as what are known as the Hesperides. I betrayed them by helping a male, the same one who captured me later, and they disowned me. Milady found me and I chose the Hunt. Years later the one I had betrayed my family for is the one who takes me away from my new one. The Fates must be having fun with my struggle." She glances at Percy before turning away once more. "Now you know why."

Percy breaks the silence once it lasts for a few minutes. "My father fell in love with my mom because of her kindness and love of the ocean."

"Perc-" She tries to stop him but he raises a palm, stopping her immediately for a reason she does not know.

"They cared for each other and then I was born. The ancient law didn't let my dad stay, and so he only watched from Olympus. One night, when I was only four, we were attacked." He pauses. "To me they looked like big dogs, until I found out later that they were hell-hounds bent to kill. My mother protected me from them, but they got her. She made sure I was hidden in the leaves and bushes before letting go of me, being dragged by the hungry hounds that then tore her apart in front of me." Zoe's hand goes to her mouth, tears in her eyes while Percy speaks with no emotion. "I watched them mangle her, eat her as if she were just meat steaks on a table. All that was left were her bones, which I buried the next day outside of where we used to live. That was when I heard whimpering in the forest, and I found an injured wolf with the marks of the hounds that tore my mother apart. I took it in and healed it, and she chose to stay by my side. Her name is Silver, and we could read each other's minds as much as we wanted."

"Where is she now?"

Percy sighs. "I sent her with my friend, Anthony Sin. I was supposed to go to the Capital, but I refused and took Anthony's place. Silver was forced to stay with him."

"Why didn't she come with thee?"

"I didn't want her to get hurt because of me. I sent her off with him to protect him from everyone, even from the daughter of Zeus Thalia Grace. As I said, stupid loyalty."

Zoe stares at him in shock. "You're the Wolf Tamer?"

Percy only nods. "Now you know why."

He says the same thing Zoe had, his face and insides an empty and emotionless pit. She feels shame flow through her. Is she had known that he was the one everyone spoke of, the Wolf Tamer who has the flaw of loyalty, she wouldn't have attacked him or even threatened him. What the people don't know is that he blames himself for everything, and that in itself makes her trust him.

Something inside of her fills,but she waves it aside as she tries to focus. "What do we do next?"

His smirk comes back, the troublemaker one that makes her breath catch. Why does it do that to her? She has no idea. "Wanna be partners? As in teammates? People have already started grouping up, and if we stay alone we'll be picked off by the stronger numbers."

He again holds his bandaged hand out to shake and she hesitates a bit before agreeing. "May the gods be with thee."

He smiles. "Likewise." He stands, barely wincing at his wound, and helps her up. "Now why don't we go surprise the group that's still waiting for us?"

A/N: We are not going to spoil it.

J/N: I really do feel like an Aphrodite girl when it comes to this story. I can't wait to see what happens next!

A/N: Janus.

J/N: Yea?

A/N: You are the cowriter. You write the story with me.

J/N: Oh, right. I just get excited.

A/N: Of course you do. Anyways we might start a Pertemis story as well as that has been stuck in more than just our heads these days, but please review and I want to give a shoutout to Spawn Hades for his support with multiple of our stories. Don't forget to review in Chloe's Caged Woman Society if you want the bonus Reynico chapter. Only one review needed for it!

A/N: Okay that's about it and we hope you enjoy it. Please review!