That night, Camp Half-Blood was festive. For the first time in the history of the one hundred year old camp, a team of undecided half-bloods had captured the flag. Such a thing was impossible, for several reasons. One; every team formed alliances or worked together to bring glory to their cabin, which made it more likely for them to win seeing as there were more of them, and by doing so, brought attention to their abilities and made themselves more likely to be chosen for quests, and also made themselves noticed in the eyes of their godly parents. Two; undecided half-bloods rarely had any apparent abilities or alliances, and therefore their chances of winning were very slim. Three; it was simply impossible. How could four undecided half-bloods beat tens of powerful half-bloods?

As for the three half-bloods who had managed to capture the flag, they were seated with their respective cabins. Yes, that's right. The gods, having watched this never before seen event, had decided to reward these young heroes. Zeus himself had ordered Dionysus to endow the flag with a new unique power; the power to reveal which cabin an undecided hero belonged to. While the flag normally turned into the emblem of the winning cabin, it simply went white when an undecided hero was the one to grasp it first. This usually happened on the rare occasions Hermes won the flag. But seeing as Luke, the best hero to ever come to camp (apart from his brother, Chris), Luke was the one who grasped the flag first, so a white flag was rarely seen. This was just as well, really, seeing as Casey, Simon and Jackie's hopes of getting decided had been riding on the flag.

And now the three heroes were happily sharing a festive meal with their respective cabins. Simon, who was a Hermes, was in a heated discussion with Luke, who seemed to have gotten into better spirits since losing the flag to Percy a few hours previously. Casey, a Hephaestus, was also in a heated discussion with Dave, one of the best metalworkers from that cabin. With the revealing of their cabins, all three heroes had unlocked their potential, and it was safe to say life would be much easier for them from now on. Jackie, belonging to the Athena cabin, was discussing art with Marcie, the girl who had been sketching the portrait of Homer back on Olympus. Annabeth watched the two with an amused air. They were so similar.

But there had been four man teams for this event of capture the flag. And so, when Percy, the final member of the group, had approached the flag, there had been a sudden earthquake. The flag had fallen from Dionysus' hands. The god of wine had been in a right temper, but all words had flown from his mouth, and everyone else's, when they saw something hanging above Percy's head. A green trident. The emblem of one of the Big Three, Poseidon, God of the Sea, and the second most powerful god alongside his brother, Hades. There had been a silence. A deafening silence. No one knew what to say. The Big Three weren't allowed to have children, not after what happened during World War II. So Poseidon had broken his oath spoken over the Styx. There had been a sudden storm. Clouds had appeared out of nowhere. Lightning illuminated the sky. Zeus' anger was felt. Percy had stood, calm, looking up at the sky. And then he had turned away from Chiron, Dionysus, and the floating green trident, and had walked away into the forest. He had walked past the Athena table.

And that was when the second shocking thing had happened. The bundle behind Percy's back, the bundle that everyone knew contained the Heavenly Sword of Kusanagi, an ancient Amazon weapon passed down from heroine to heroine, started to glow celestial bronze. Percy stopped in his tracks, and for the first time since he came back, there was an expression of utter shock on his face. The sword detached itself from Percy …

… And floated over to Annabeth. Percy turned round and looked at her, his face grim and pale. Several expressions passed across his eyes, too fast for Annabeth to see, but finally his eyes became inscrutable ice blue orbs again. Annabeth knew about Kusanagi. Who didn't? It was said only a man could unleash its full power, but at the cost of his own life. In the hands of a female, however, an inner power would manifest, and she would be encased in a magical shield that would help her survive things she couldn't otherwise. Percy, because he was the son of an Amazon warrior, had Amazon blood in him, and therefore was safe from the worst of it. Annabeth now realised that was how Percy had defeated Korgan the Destroyer, by drawing on the power of the Kusanagi. He was still as useless as ever when it came to controlling his innate half-blood power, his chakra.

After a short pause, Percy stirred.

"The Heavenly Sword of Kusanagi," he said. "It belonged to my mother. It chose her. But she died without a successor, and so it was my duty to guard it. But without any Amazon presence, there were no worthy candidates … but Athena, alongside Hera and Artemis, among other goddesses, are patrons of the Amazons. And so, it seems, my duty has been has been completed. Kusanagi has chosen someone to wield him." Percy had been speaking softly, so softly that only Annabeth and the few people around her could hear. He now looked directly into her eyes.

"It was my mother's. Look after it." With that, he turned round and resumed to walk back into the forest, the deep shadows immediately swallowing him.

"My, my," Sam commented from beside Annabeth. "Look's like Beth's got a new toy." Annabeth, for once, did not reprimand him for calling her Beth, something she hated. She looked down at Kusanagi, so simple and innocent looking, and yet one of the most powerful weapons in existence, capable of even damaging gods, in the right hands. She slowly lifted up the tattered sheath and unsheathed Kusanagi. Beautiful.

"Well, I've had enough of all this, Chiron," Mr. D said with disgust. "I've served my part. I'm going to sleep. And if anyone of them wakes me, I'll turn them into manure to feed the strawberry plants."

Morning. Another day at camp half-blood. But today, there was excitement in the air. Chiron had announced several nights previously, when the capture-the-flag ceremony was held, maybe as a way to try and distract everyone from the events that had occurred, that there would be a quest. It was a direct request from Mount Olympus. Zeus's master bolt needed to be found, and quickly. The god of the Skies was losing his temper. Already, for the first time ever, rain had fallen in Camp Half-Blood. Poseidon's decision to claim his son had not been received with good favour by Zeus. And neither had it been received well by anyone else, really. While most didn't get involved, one way or another, the majority of the camp had decided to perceive Percy as an enemy, or at the very least, an untrustworthy ally. Athena, Ares, Hephaestus and Demeter had already shown resentment toward Percy, in one form or another. For Ares, it was mainly because a weapon as powerful as the Kusanagi had been in the hands of a son of Poseidon, who was a dimwit and didn't know how to use it, and that it now belonged to a daughter of Athena, who was their sworn enemy, just like their god-parents.

Annabeth had gotten a new reputation at camp. She had been athletic before, and a competent fighter, but with the Kusanagi, she seemed to have transformed. She was a much better fighter. In fact, she was much better at everything. It also seemed even the dyslexia that all half-bloods suffered from had lessened. There had never been this much noise in the camp. After all, not ever had Zeus's bolt been stolen, not ever had there been a quest to find it, and not ever had there been a half-blood possessing a sword as old as the gods. Of course, Luke had challenged Annabeth to a friendly fight. They had exchanged blows with swords and other weapons, and had used all heir skill with their godly power, their chakra. They had taken their fight into the forest, fighting on the tree branches, and had taken it onto the rivers, standing on water while still fighting, something that took a lot of control and power. In the end, Luke had won. Annabeth did not seem put out in the least. Clarisse had watched the fight with interest, and so had many campers, just to see the outcome. It had been an uncertain one. On one hand, there was Annabeth, a bright girl wielding an ancient power, and on the other was Luke, the most powerful half-blood to ever come to camp, despite being only a son of Hermes. Luke had been all smiles, tired but pleased, both with the outcome and Annabeth's performance. It seemed his brief period of gloom had passed after losing the flag, and he even said sorry to everyone he offended, including Percy. Percy simply nodded acknowledgement before turning away.

Percy was another conundrum. He seemed to have retreated back into himself. Losing the only connection he had to his mother had been a damaging experience. Before he had been a stolid figure, but now he was merely quiet and polite. He did not challenge anyone who was rude to him, which was a good portion of the camp. He merely walked away. That alone made him the target of Ares. They hated cowards, and Percy was behaving like one. But Percy did not rise to the challenge. And losing the Kusanagi, he had removed the ceremonial clothes he had worn. Now he simply wore a pair of white sneakers, faded blue jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a long black cloak that reached the ground and had sleeves that covered his arms, shoulder to fingertips. The cloak had a hood, but Percy was never seen with it on, even when it was raining. The cloak disturbed a few people. It was pitch black in colour. It looked and felt perfectly normal, but as all half-bloods learnt, nothing was as it seemed. Annabeth especially had an adverse reaction to it. She had actually recoiled and drawn Kusanagi the first time they had met after the ceremony, in the forest. Percy had not even blinked. He had excused himself and walked past her and her friends and gone deeper into the forest. And then, during training, Luke and Percy had duelled. No one had seen it coming, but now that it had, quite a few people had come to see the son of Poseidon fight, without the aid of a mythical weapon. They had been shocked. For half an hour straight, Luke and Percy had danced a deadly dance, exchanging blow and counter blow, thrusts and ripostes, lunges and parries. The fight had been a simple sword fight, but it escalated to the point where they started using all the tricks they knew, from martial arts to magical powers (which was very low, seeing as half-bloods could only do so much with their chakra), everything within their abilities. It had been. It was with the Kusanagi that Percy had defeated Korgan. But after half an hour of an intense fight, both boys wove their bronze swords around each and pulled at the same time. Both swords went flying. There had been a silence. And then, "By the gods, Percy, that was an exhilarating fight!" Luke clapped, and for a moment Percy seemed perplexed. It was obvious this was the last thing he expected. But then the impassive expression came back to Percy's face and he nodded, once. Luke and Percy had been friends, back when Percy was first at camp. It seemed they still shared some form of that friendship.

XXX

"The people going on the quest are Clarisse, Grover, and Annabeth." The statement was met with scattering applause. Everyone had wanted to go, but it was up to Chiron to decide. It was night, and they were all having dinner by the big tables. As usual, Mr. D was sat beside Chiron, sipping at his coke with distaste, and as usual, his expression was one of utter uncaring and boredom.

"They will leave in the morning. They will be travelling to New York, where they shall begin their quest for Zeus's Lightning Bolt. May the gods be with them!"

"May the gods be with them." Chiron held out a scroll, and Clarisse, Grover, and Annabeth went over and accepted it. It contained the details of their quest. They sat down, but before dinner could resume, Chiron held a hand up for silence.

"There will be a second quest." Silence. Shock. "As the Apollo heroes have been suspecting for some time, the borders of the Camp are failing. I finally found out why; Thalia's tree has been poisoned. I have managed to slow down the poison, but unless a permanent cure is found, then we will no longer be safe within these borders." More shock. "This is why I have chosen a hero to go and find the one object that will be able to heal the tree and restore the borders: The Golden Fleece."

"The hero I have chosen is … Perseus Jackson." Out roar.

"Why does he get to go!?"

"That's favouritism!"

"He's unworthy! Without the Kusanagi, he's too weak!"

Percy got up from his table without a word and came to stand before Chiron. He accepted his scroll.

"You will set off tomorrow morning," Chiron said. Percy pocketed his scroll.

"If it's the same with you, I shall set off now, while the evening tide is still here."

"Why does he get to go alone! This quest will affect us all. Why aren't other going with him?" This came from Sam, a fellow Athena to Annabeth. He'd been begging for a quest for a while now.

"Percy has more experience than most of you, even though he hasn't been at Camp, and unlike any of you, he knows the Sea Of Monsters well, and has less chance of being caught unawares and getting killed. He's also a very experienced fighter. He is the best choice." That quietened down everyone and set them thinking. Just who was Percy? Percy bowed to Chiron, the scroll in his hands, and then to Mr. D, and finally to all the cabins.

"I shall return within three months, with the scroll." Percy placed the scroll within his cloak and bowed again before turning away. He walked toward the forest, and the other campers didn't realise they had all quietened down to watch the hope for their home go on his journey. Maybe it was this silence that made them aware of something wrong. In an instant, five black masses erupted from the forest. A keening suddenly filled the forest. It was the keening of Dryads. A second later, it became apparent why. At the feet of the five creatures, there were a dozen dead Dryads. The campers leapt into action. In seconds they had moved from their tables and had drawn any weapons they had on them. Those who didn't have weapons had a look of concentration on their faces as they prepared to use their martial arts skills in conjunction with their chakra, something they did rarely on account of the fact that using chakra drained them severely of energy. But monsters had just come to their camp, so every camper did what they could to stop them. The first to leap into action were Annabeth, Sam, Clarisse, and Luke. They ran at the monsters, Annabeth with her Kusanagi, Sam with his short swords, Clarisse with her electric spear, and Luke with his daggers. These four engaged two of the monsters while the Apollo kids readied their bows so as the shoot from a safe distance. In seconds Annabeth and Luke had destroyed one monster, while Clarisse and Sam killed another. Before anyone could move in on the other three monsters, the other three very big hellhounds, they stopped as they saw Percy walk slowly towards them.

"His eyes," Clarisse said, getting ready jump into the fray the moment Percy was annihilated. "What's wrong with his eyes?" They all looked, and Percy's eyes had changed colour. They had been blue before, but now they were sea-green, and they seemed to be glowing. The hellhounds held back from pouncing, and it seemed as if they were almost afraid of attacking. Percy seemed to encompass all of them in his gaze.

"Tell me who it is and I'll spare you the pain of being vanquished." The hellhounds whimpered and growled at the same time, but they must have decided on something, because all of a sudden the bounded toward Percy. Percy shook his head slowly.

"So be it," he said. As they came near, his hands suddenly appeared from within his cloak. He threw several golden items, one after the other, and there was a trail of gold following these. As the hellhounds came near, and the other campers rushed forward, Percy suddenly pulled on something, and the hellhounds were suddenly pulled back, their backs ramming a tree trunk, hard. Now that they weren't moving, the campers could see that Percy had thrown several bronze shuriken, and had expertly guided their path with bronze wire, and now the three hellhounds were tied to the tree trunk, and Percy had four strings tied to his right fingers, holding the hellhounds fast.

"Tell me who has summoned you here." All three hellhounds growled at him, hatred burning red in their eyes. Percy tightened the string of wire, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. The wire started glowing. The hellhounds howled with pain.

"I can make this a hundred times worse. Now tell me who summoned you." The wire's glow increased tenfold, and it now seemed like it were celestial bronze ropes restraining the hellhounds, and not simple string wire. And yet, despite coming into contact with celestial bronze, the hellhounds weren't vanquished. Perhaps this was why they felt so much pain. Simply the sight of celestial bronze made any monster flinch. To be tightly wound by and not feel release, even though the release was painful, must be maddening.

"Alright!" Silence. Again. Everyone blinked. Had the first hellhound just spoken? It might have been throaty and deep, but it was definitely a voice. Impossible! Hellhounds were not able to speak! The glow of the wire decreased a bit. The red fires in the eyes of the hellhounds seemed to have dimmed, and instead of hatred and bloodlust, they now only radiated relief.

Percy's eyes focused on the hellhound who had spoken.

"Tell me what you know," he said. The hellhound somehow managed to laugh.

"I know many things, hero, including the fact that two certain people were killed a few nights ago. Their names were Matsuda and Al-Sahib." Percy's face tightened, and his mouth was hanging open, something he had not done since he was five years old. How could Matsuda and Al-Sahib, the best warriors in the world, could have been killed? In that moment, his hold on the wire slackened, and the two other hellhounds broke free without a second thought. They rushed toward Percy.

"Percy!" Sam shouted in warning, him and Clarisse making their way toward Percy. This was no time for questions, only battle, and battles where what heroes were born into. But before they even took three paces, a force seemed to slam into the two hellhounds. They flew across the ground and landed back at the tree trunk, twenty-five feet backwards. A bronze knife was in each of their foreheads. They disintegrated in a shower of golden sparkles. Percy expression was set in stone.

"I have tangled with bigger monsters than you. It will take more than that half-hearted effort to kill me. Now, tell me all I want to know." All this time, Percy had not once lost control of himself. His tone was still calm and collected, even though his glowing sea green eyes said he was on the verge of losing control. The power of the sea, it seemed, did not like being controlled, not one bit. But just as the hellhound opened his mouth to answer, a black hole appeared below him, and he and the entire tree were sucked down in the blink of an eye. Percy twitched his fingers and the wire untied from the shuriken buried in the tree trunk. He rolled up the wire and placed it within his cloak. He stood there, his back to everyone, standing absolutely still. And then, taking a breath, he turned round. He held a scroll in his hand.

"I can no longer take this quest, Chiron," he said. He was still clean, no sign of dirt on him, despite having tangled with three large hellhounds. The campers had gone silent, but now they all started talking at once, to each other, and mostly to Chiron. They wanted answers.

"Silence!" everyone shut up at once. Mr. D rarely raised his voice, and when it did, something bad tended to happen. Just ask the strawberry tree by the big house that used to be a happy camper. But this time, all Mr. D did was stand up, and a moment later, he vanished. Chiron had a worried look on his face. Everything was moving too fast, he thought, simply too fast. Just what grand scheme was at work?

"Why?" Chiron said, addressing camp.

"Because I'm leaving camp, for good." That statement sparked some shocked looks. A son of the Big Three out on his own in the world. He would attract monsters like honey did bees.

"Why?" Chiron said again.

"I need to find out what happened to Master Matsuda and Master Al-Sahib. If they are indeed dead, I need to take their bodies to their final resting places. And I need to avenge them. After that, I need to resume my own quest. I had thought camp would help me do this quest, but now I see it cannot. Too many plots surround this place. It will only hinder me."

"And which quest would this be?" Chiron said calmly. Percy looked him in the eye. His eyes had turned blue again the moment the hellhound had been sent back to the Underworld.

"To find my mother. I found out from Master A… from a Master that she wasn't killed outside the borders three years ago. Someone performed a teleportation spell before the Minotaur could kill her. I need to find her. She's still alive." Percy threw the scroll to Chiron. "I'm leaving." With that, he turned round and started walking toward the forest.

"You coward!" Clarisse shouted. "You can't just leave Camp Half-Blood to its doom to pursue some fanciful, made-up, quest!" Percy stopped in his tracks. He turned round.

"Being a daughter of Ares, I can understand why you would say that." Clarisse spat on the ground.

"Don't give me that! We need every camper to defend the weakening borders or we're all dead."

"You saw the hellhounds," Annabeth added. "They managed to squeeze through the borders. You're a good fighter. You may not have Kusanagi anymore, but you can still help." Percy rolled his eyes.

"The borders may be weakening, but they haven't weakened that much. Those hellhounds were summoned from inside the borders. That's what I meant by the plots surrounding this Camp. I thought you would have figured it out by now, daughter of Athena. This camp has a traitor, and not even the Golden Fleece will protect you from monsters as long as there's a traitor in here to summon a horde of monsters." Percy suddenly stopped. He looked up into the sky. A troubled expression was on his face. One was on Chiron's too. "Besides," he continued, "finding Zeus's Bolt is of more importance at this juncture. The last thing the world needs is someone running around with the deadliest weapon around and an angry sky god. And the borders will hold for six months before any monsters start getting through. Chiron managed to slow down the poison that much. I should have finished my business by then, so I'll help look for the Golden Fleece, and if not … well, you're on your own." Percy shrugged. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Percy!" Luke said. "Fine, you can go and look for your Masters, but finding your mother? That will take far too long, if you manage it at all. At least bury your Masters and then help us look for the Fleece. We'll help you look for your mother afterwards. You don't have to join camp if you don't want to." Percy turned toward him. He looked at the scar on Luke's cheek.

"So that was Chris's parting memento," he murmured. Suddenly, the troubled look disappeared from Percy's face. He grabbed something out of the air, which turned out to be a quiver and bow. They had dropped from the sky. He put on the quiver and bow over his shoulder. "I'll think about it," he said. With that, he jumped into the sky, five metres up. He didn't come back down. A moment later, a black shadow became apparent in the moonless sky. It was a Pegasus. A Black Pegasus. They had all seen Pegasi before, but this one radiated an inner strength and power none of them had seen before.

"Let's go, Blackfire!" Percy said above the howl of the wind. The two disappeared in the night sky.

XXX

Shadow roiled all around, making the surroundings indistinguishable. A feeling of dread was in the air, and there was a large and malignant presence about the place.

"He is on his way to find Matsuda and Al-Sahib." The statement came from nowhere, but the voice was distinguishably teen and male.

"Good. That will make the task much easier to perform. I shall send a few guests to wait for him by the Mountainside. They will bring him to me, so there is no need for you to reveal yourself."

"I understand."

There was a cold chuckle. "You want to fight him, I can tell. It seems even without the great Kusanagi, one of the few weapons made from cold iron, but with greater proper power than celestial bronze, he is still a formidable foe. With my backing, you would no doubt beat him, but I don't want one of my few and loyal servants out of action unnecessarily." The threat behind the speech was obvious.

"I understand."

"Good. Now you shall hand over the shoes your father gave you to that besotted little daughter of Athena. The Kusanagi will make a great addition to my armoury. It's no more powerful than the one I am having made for you, Backbiter, so there is no need to get jealous. But be warned, like all weapons possessed by great heroes, the harder the trial you have to go through to earn it, the more useful it will be for you. That is why very few heroes ever tried to steal the weapons of gods and titans, and if they did, that's why they never kept them for long. It's one of those "cosmic things" as you children so eloquently put it."

"So that's why I couldn't keep Zeus's Master Bolt."

"No," came the blunt reply. "You are a son of Hermes, the god of thieves. Such rules would be much reduced in your case seeing as stealing is in your blood and nature. You are simply too honest to be a thief, too single-minded. But don't worry. Once you earn Backbiter, you will finally be able to track down and kill your traitor of a brother, Chris."

"Yes," came the reply, and for a moment, it wasn't clear which was the more malignant presence. After a second, the cold voice chuckled, changing the atmosphere to its favour again.

"Yes, soon all of our goals shall be accomplished, and soon I will be back in power. Now tell me all you know of this Perseus Jackson. He sounds like trouble, and I have been unable to enter his dreams, which makes me think he has been taught everything that Matsuda and Al-Sahib know, and some more. He can nullify magic, if only the little I can use in this state. He may not be able to use much magic, maybe as much as you, but he knows a great deal more on it. He has another Master. I need you to tell me all about him in case he escapes from the monsters in China and goes to the Sea Of Monsters in search of the Golden Fleece, in which case I will need to ready Polyphemus and any other forces to stall the boy. This could be both advantageous and disadvantageous seeing as if he does come back to Camp, you can steal the Fleece to help heal me, and should this Perseus prove as wild as his father, we can use it to bring another person into the equation who will be more … tractable. And also, seeing as the Stirring has begun, it will not be long before the situation is in my favour."

"You are very wise, master. Such a thick plot with twist and turns. They will be too confused to counter properly. We shall prevail."

"We shall."

XXX

Percy's sharp eyes easily picked out the two bodies laid side by side. His sharp mind was already working overtimes, so by the time he landed, he was calm and focused. He looked at Al-Sahib and Matsuda. For over two years, they had been training him in the arts of fighting, of thinking, of being a great hero, and of being the best man he could be. They had succeeded, for he had learnt all they taught him from their great treasure trove of knowledge. But now, they were gone. He bent down and studied them closely. They had accumulated many wounds whilst fighting a horde of different monsters it seemed from the tracks on the ground, and they had defeated them all. But as he looked into their eyes, it wasn't the acceptance of death all great warriors had, but one of surprise. They had both been great warriors who were steeped in the secret world of the gods and monsters. Very few could have surprised them. He murmured a few words and the bead necklace Matsuda gave him vibrated against his neck a little. After a second, it stopped. It was as he expected. They had been killed using magic, and very potent magic at that for Matsuda and Al-Sahib were good magicians, having dealt with the secrets of the gods from their own perspective; Matsuda from the viewpoint of Buddha and the spirits called Kami; and Al-Sahib from the viewpoint of the Egyptian pantheon of gods. But they had been killed with magic nonetheless, their souls sent straight to the Underworld, which was very strong magic, considering it was stepping onto the territory of a god, Hades, god of the Underworld.

Percy got up and took a deep breath. It was no good finding the monsters that did this, for monsters never truly died, and hunting those down would bring no satisfaction. Matsuda wouldn't like it anyway. The only thing to do would be to find the person who had orchestrated this ambush, for that's what it was, a very thought out ambush tricky enough to fool two good warriors.

But first, he had to deal with the horde of monsters that had been gathering in the gloom surrounding the clearing. He looked down at the two Masters, finally at peace after fighting so long and so hard. He knew they would get into one of the three Elysian Islands.

He turned round and brought his hands together. Gathering a large chunk of his energy, he summoned it to his hands and electricity began to spark from his hands. He stretched out his hands before him, and the sound of sliding metal filled the forest. Two bronze blades belonging to short swords slid out from the metal sheaths he always carried on his forearms, and acted as great vambraces as well. Green electricity sparked from the twenty inch blades. They electricity would induce paralysis and slow down the enemies. After all that had happened, he needed to vent his emotions, and there was nothing like a good fight to do exactly that. By this time, monsters had formed a ring around him. He dived straight into them. He would be on his way to the Sea Of Monsters in the morning, flying on a well-rested Pegasus.

Blackfire watched calmly from a higher ledge on the mountainside, grazing and saving energy for the long flight tomorrow. He knew Percy would win. He always did. Ever since that very difficult fight a year ago, he had felt greatly attached to the boy. He was centuries old, and had seen much, but this was the first person to impress him. Plus, he owed his life to Percy. He thought about saying encouraging words to the boy, but then thought that would only disgruntle and make the boy lose focus. Percy was not as yet embracing to the powers of his god-blood. He believed in doing things with his own power and will. A worthy principle, but a hindering one nonetheless. He could smell the coming war. Percy need to be ready by that time, and he would be there to help every step of the way.