Chapter 1. What?

"That is enough! If any of you want to continue of your current path then your first and last opponent will be me!" Percy boomed loud enough to silence any and all Romans arguing about waging war on the Greeks. The Argo had opened fire on new Rome before Percy had returned from a short 'hunting' trip.

The Greeks had gotten back on board after their little problem with Leo being possessed and shooting multiple celestial bronze cannonballs directly into the council. Octavian, the Apollo legacy had bravely stepped forwards brandishing a spear and a shield. For his entire life, Percy had trained in many different ways, not simply the Greek combat style, but a multitude, all of which he had perfected with a masterful skill, enough so that to the utmost surprise of the Olympian council Ares himself had spoken highly of the son of Poseidon.

"Do not listen to any more of his lies! He is a graceus that has infiltrated our city and plans on slaughtering us all!" Octavian shouted, his voice not carrying anywhere near as far as Percy's. Percy grunted towards the legacy with the big mouth.

"Son, your mouth is writing checks that your body can't cash." Percy sneered. This was the alst thing he needed, especially after everything that he'd just been through. First he lost Annabeth to another, now he'd been rejected by Uriel, an Angel that he'd come across on his trip to hunt down a monster so evil it had earned the title of Demon. He'd changed in his travels, and he hoped that no too many would notice, especially as this was the first time he'd been back in territory that the Gods could sense him in.

A few Gods were watching the exchange from their thrones, respectively. Octavian pointed his spear straight at Percy. Reyna could only watch in silence. She wanted to let Percy continue, so badly she wanted to let him continue on his current path because she knew that it would put Octavian in his place, but on the other hand, and she hated to admit it, Octavian actually did have a point. The Greeks had come to their city and unleashed multiple attacks on the council building. Such was an act of war, and only a miracle could stop the two camps from ripping each other's throats out. "You cannot take us all on Jackson. You're in the center of our camp, you'll never make it out alive and where would that put us? Oh yes, against a camp without their ace." Octavian grinned like a madman before his smirk was wiped straight off his face by Percy's own solemn chuckle.

"Oh boy, you are full of yourself. I've been around the world through a time vortex after getting in a fist fight with the Titan Lord of Time. Don't believe me? Check how many scars I have over my body. I've been in conflicts that have lasted longer than your so far pathetic life. Octavian, listen to my words. It would take a couple of Gods plus every soldier you have just to fight me to a standstill." Percy told the auger, gaining more and more glares in response. Before the Auger could actually respond, there was an almost blinding glare of what seemed like pure sunshine before a mortal sized version of Apollo stood in the center of the circle that the Legion had made around Percy.

"I cannot let you do what you were planning on doing Perseus, I'm sorry but I must protect them." Phoebus Apollo looked genuinely sympathetic towards Percy. He knew that Percy was only trying to keep the peace between the two camps after their riot had broken out but Apollo also knew what kind of truths were inside Percy's mind, and that was something that he simply couldn't stand by and watch.

"I-" Percy was cut off by yet another flash of light, this time it was silver and platinum with a hint of lingering light before it faded away to reveal Lady Diana, the Roman Huntress with her bow already pointed at Percy. The Greek in her was struggling to fight with the Roman because they were in new Rome surrounded by Roman Demi-Gods. Artemis was tolerant of Percy, in fact she'd go so far as to say that she considered him a friend, but this wasn't Artemis at the moment.

"I'm sorry Perseus, but I simply cannot let you continue down your chosen path, and I will not let my incredibly fool hardy brother fight you alone... You would destroy him with ease, according to what we've seen of your past seven years." Diana told him, even her eyes seemed to become softer as she continued to speak to the son of Poseidon.

"I must warn you, as a friend... You would be making an incredibly foolish decision, both of you, to attack me. Once I have been attacked, by anyone, I am free to fight back, such is the code that I must now live my life... Though I AM curious. You say you've seen my life in the past seven years... Was that all? Just seven years?" He asked them, looking from God to Goddess. Apollo looked confused for a moment before it all dawned on him. Diana looked horrified.

"How much did you endure before you were freed, how much had you gone through before you were finally returned to the present day?" Apollo asked, slightly lowering his bow and loosening the arrow from the tense string. Diana kept hers in perfect aim.

Percy remained silent as he continued to stare down two Roman Olympians. "My lord, what are you talking about?" Octavian asked, finally gathering enough courage to get up and ask his ancestor. Apollo looked towards the measly demi-god with moderate disgust.

"Perseus Jackson... Is no longer a demi-god. He was at the time that he was hunting down a weak mortal vessel of Saturn, but things took a turn for the worst. Percy?" Apollo looked towards Percy to continue and fill in the blanks that the Gods had not been aware of.

"One hundred and fifty two years. Six months. Five days. Eight hours. I endured the tortures of Tartarus before I worked my way up, hunting and slaughtering everything I found. I earned a very special title after I crossed into a parallel dimension, a place that was... Worse than Tartarus." Percy admitted with what seemed like shame on his usually expressionless face. He had gone from a boy to a cold hearted man from the things he had been through during his long life.

Diana's bow dropped, not just from it's position with Percy firmly in it's sights, but completely, to the floor. She had no idea. He'd been randomly and erratically popping up on their Godly radar for the past seven years but never for enough time to be found, and even that was something that was caught in a time vortex. Each time he appeared, he was gone within seconds, but they weren't oblivious to his personal passage of time.

"He's no longer a demi-god because he passed from Tartarus to Hell. Not Hades but HELL. He went from a mortal to... A Demon." Apollo told them. Diana looked on with sadness present on her features. Her only male friend, and he was just about the most broken and fucked up person she'd ever met. Over one hundred and fifty years of torture in Tartarus only to be cast into the deepest pit of outer darkness saved only for those who had ascended their mortality and found something much worse. The embrace of their own inner darkness.

"I can't let you live... I am genuinely so sorry Perseus, but as a council we cannot let you go on." Apollo grew in size to his godly form. Diana, much like Reyna, had resorted to watching in silence. She didn't want this, any of it, but Apollo couldn't lie, it was against his nature. Percy WAS dangerous and could possibly turn out to be a bigger threat than all of the Titans combined.

An arrow with the power of a God was propelled straight towards Percy at incredible speed. Just before it hit its mark, they all clearly heard the son of Poseidon sigh before the arrow caused a small and contained explosion. Despite it's size, it's power was huge and terrifying, a solid reminder to the demi-gods of what even the less powerful Olympians were capable of.

Once the dust cleared, Percy was stood with two fingers extended, having caught the arrow by the flat of it's head. The stopping force of them had caused the explosion. Apollo was shocked, nobody should have ever been able to do that, not even a God, yet here he was, looking disappointment with the healer's attack.

"That constitutes towards an attack, now if I wanted to I could cast you into a cold abyss of frozen tears alongside Lucifer, but I won't because I'm kind and I like you Apollo." Percy announced with narrowed eyes before he seemed to be composing himself. He opened his hand and let the arrow drop to the ground now nothing more than a shaft of splinters.

"I will leave you and the camps alone to deal with your own problems, but mark my words, this is a war that you cannot win with some demi-gods and good timing. You need some seriously heavy hitters that aren't bound by your laws." Percy told the Gods, now completely happy to ignore the demi-gods all together. Diana glared at him, this wasn't the Percy she knew, not the one that she liked, this was just as Apollo had claimed. He was a pale imitation of the man that he used to be.

"Who? Who can we rely on for help in this matter?" Apollo asked, sure that Percy wasn't simply referring to himself. He must have realized that the Gods wouldn't accept the help of a man that had wandered so far down the wrong path.

"Me, you stupid bell-end." Percy almost face palmed at how simply the answer should have been, especially to Apollo of all people.

Apollo was silent for a moment, exchanging a glance with Diana which lasted no longer than a split second. "Perseus, we simply cannot and will not ally ourselves with a Demon. I'm afraid to say, but you will be hunted now and forever until you are brought to non-existence." Apollo was seriously out of options and as proven before, his attack seemed to do absolutely nothing against a relaxed Percy, he'd need far more backup than simply Diana. He'd need Jupiter and Neptune by his side at the very least. Perhaps Venus could do something in the way of lowering his guard with her charmspeak.

"Oh for fuck sake, I've had enough of this." Percy sighed once more before turning his wrist as casually as ever, causing a swirling ripple of black smoke to appear at his side. "I'm going to say this once, and only once. You're wrong, I'm not a Demon, and I can help you in this war if you accept my conditions, all you've got to do is promise that none of you will attack me if I attend a meeting of yours." Percy told him, looking towards Apollo for a response. It was quite a lot to take in. When was Apollo EVER wrong when it came down to important things?

"How will we find you?" Diana asked wearily. Percy looked her way, letting the two of them lock with each other's eyes. This was the first time she'd really noticed it but there WAS something different from the Percy she knew. His eyes were cold, so very cold and not holding the same mirth that the once vibrant sea green orbs held, no, something had drastically changed aside from his once near perfect iris' that were now as cold and dark as night.

"You don't. I find YOU when you wish to speak with me. Oh and one more thing, stop calling me Percy Jackson. My name is Death." And with that, he had vanished through the opening he had created. Neither Diana nor Apollo could sense him at all, which made them both wonder whether or not they had actually sensed him in the first place or whether they had simply witnessed him entering the camp.

"This needs to be taken to Olympus." Diana told Apollo before she had vanished. Apollo sighed knowing that it was now his job to ensure the continued safety of the Romans and in turn the Greeks who were in their ship a few miles away.

Line Break, how are you liking it so far?

Artemis had been in such a hurry to escape the bombardment of questions from the throne room that she very nearly crashed into the side of the clearing where her hunters had been holed up for the past few days. She'd been so busy with dealing with the current crisis of Percy's return that she'd literally had NO time to even check on the safety of her hunters, a very selfish thing in her own mind but no less necessary considering what they now knew about the mysterious enigma that had been Percy Jackson's life for the past three months which for him had been one hundred and fifty nine years.

"Lady Artemis!" Thalia almost fell off of her camping stool where she'd been positioned as the night time lookout. Artemis nodded, gaining her breath once again before gazing towards the moon. Everything under it's silver gaze was within her sight and jurisdiction, yet as of now, HE would never be.

"Is everything ok milady?" Thalia asked, getting to her feet after noticing her mistress' distress. If it was immediately obvious to Thalia then it must have been BAD. Artemis almost laughed at her. OK? Of course it wasn't. Percy was back but as someone else entirely. The Gods had been forced to tell the campers that Percy had disappeared but as part of the plan to switch a demi-god from each camp in order to strengthen their bonds.

They had exactly NO idea on what to say when Percy had disappeared from them completely, and it was all their fault that he had. They didn't know where he was for the first month, but Tartarus? That definitely wasn't on their list of suspicions, and for over a hundred and fifty years of what must have been constant torture before he'd finally escaped and gone on a killing spree of the worst that Tartarus had to offer.

The thing that got to her the most was what he had become. Surely he couldn't mean THE Death? She so desperately hoped that it was just a name he'd earned from his incredibly vengeful slaughter of Hell's denizens, but deep down she knew that hoping for that was going to be a lost cause. She'd sensed something about him being cold and she was sure that was what it was, the fact that he was Death itself.

"No, I'm really not. Excuse me, I need to try and contact someone. Inform the hunters that I shall be returning to camp later tonight. I'll explain everything to you soon Thalia." Artemis told her with a wave of her hand before bolting off towards the forest behind them. She'd need privacy for what she was planning on doing. She found a little stream that flowed beautifully under the silver moonlight.

He'd said that they couldn't find him but he found them when they needed him, well right now she needed him to answer some personal questions, and if he wasn't actually a Demon but Death as he'd claimed, then he would have no problems with indulging Artemis' curiosity.

"Perseus, I need you. Come here... Please." She had got on her knees, closed her eyes and started to do the closest thing to praying that a God had ever gotten to. She felt nothing change, not even the wind shifted the slightest bit. Looking around she couldn't find or sense him.

She returned her focus to the water thinking of how much the old Percy would have loved this spot. A thought had come to her, she'd figured out how to summon him. Closing her eyes once more and giving every ounce of focus that she had, she whispered one thing. "Death..." There was a rustle of leaves before nothing but the gentle water could be heard.

"Hello Lady Artemis." A strong and caring voice spoke up just behind her. She couldn't believe that it had actually worked. He truly was something extremely powerful to have answered a summons that had been made with nothing more than a single word. Getting to her feet and turning to face him she was stunned.

There he was, the Percy Jackson she knew, simply older and more refined. He stood with an impeccable black suit complete with a raven waistcoat that matched his long swept back hair perfectly. Literally the ONLY thing that was different was the fact that his eyes no longer shined with an emerald gleam but instead seemed to hum with a dull lifeless black, a solid reminder of who he'd become.

"Perseus." She gasped, still amazed that he'd actually answered the call and come here to her. Percy sucked his teeth, much to the initial annoyance of Artemis. It was something that if any other male had made in her presence, she would have given them a free genital removal service, but this wasn't any male and he had already proven that the Godly arrows rivaling her own had been nothing more than baby-town frolicks to him.

"You're going to keep calling me than aren't you?" He asked her the question, the answer of which he already knew, but he didn't blame her. He was, at his core, still Percy Jackson, just with inconceivable amounts of power.

"I have to. Calling you... Death. It hurts me Perseus, because it's just a constant reminder of where I failed to save a demi-god, a friend. It resulted in my friend being tortured for over a century and a half!" Artemis argued, her eyes were so close to threatening to betray her emotions. She wanted so badly to just be able to act cold towards him, but then, she'd always had a certain weakness for him.

The same son of Poseidon that had taken the burden of holding the sky from Artemis without any hesitation so that she could save the lives of her hunters. The same Percy Jackson who had unexpectedly had an explosive episode at Aphrodite after she'd been foolish enough to insult Artemis.

Of course it was going to be him, the one male that she'd developed a small soft spot for, that ended up as possibly the oldest and most ancient personificated deity in existence. He was said to be the one to reap the souls of Gods at the end of time.

"Well if you must, then please, just stick to Percy." He said at last, smiling in her direction. It sent a chill down her spine and she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't a sinister smile, but rather something that remained of the man she knew before. A small thing that survived the torture he'd endured. His signature lopsided grin was yet to make an appearance, but an endearing smile was more than Artemis had hoped for.

"Fine, Percy. I... I need you to clarify some things for me." She told him nervously. On her way back from Olympus, she'd aged, considerably considering she'd been in the form of an eleven year old when she'd left the camp days ago, and as Diana she'd been a couple of years older than that, but right now, for some reason, she felt the most comfortable being his physical age of early twenties. Who knew that Death looked so good for his age?

"Go ahead milady." He bowed his head at her. Incredible, even after ascending from mortality into quite possibly the Reaper himself, he still showed her nothing but respect. More and more unwelcome thoughts about the possibility that what she felt was possibly reciprocated by him had invaded her mind. She forced herself to focus on only what was important.

"Where does your allegiance stand?" She stared at him. His face went blank for a moment and he held no emotion as his eyes stared into hers but they were empty, he was not looking at anything in those brief few seconds. It was almost as if he was in many places at once but having to split his focus between them every now and then.

"My allegiance stands with myself. I fight for what I believe is right. You've picked a beautiful spot by the way, I really appreciate the way the moon reflects off of the running water." He told her, smiling gently as his eyes gazed towards the stream. That made her feel... Strange, she greatly enjoyed his words given the fact that she'd specifically decided to sit her after thinking that the old Percy would enjoy it. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't actually changed that much.

"Ahem. I've gotten the answers I wanted but there was just one more thing. I needed to ask something of you." She told him sheepishly. He seemed to do nothing more than simply readjust his footing as he waited for her to tell him what she wanted him to do for her.

"I need you to-" She began but was quickly cut off by Percy simply saying no before she'd even gotten it out in words.

"B-but you don't even know what I was going to ask!?" She almost demanded. How was he able to convey so much raw power just through his sheer confidence around her? He was just so at ease even given the fact that, Godly arrows aside, her divine form could possibly cause him a few painful reminders that even to Death, Goddesses should not be provoked to their last nerve.

"Your tone of voice, you're not an idiot Lady Artemis, you would know that the only thing you'd need to appear sincere when asking is if I would venture back to Tartarus for you. And my answer is no. I've already had my fill of that decrepit pit. One hundred and fifty two years of it." He reminded her elegantly. She shamefully looked at her feet, he'd known it immediately just from her tone of voice? He really had changed into something else.

To her utmost surprise, when she lifted her head he was still there, casually gazing at the stream. "You're still here?" She was almost questioning herself about it. WHY was he still there?

"Of course, you wished to ask me a... Let's call it a favor. Just because I do not wish to go to Tartarus for you, does not mean that I will not help you out. Is there anything else you would ask of me that won't involve me possibly getting my wings clipped?" He asked her with a slight hint of sarcasm. It was small, barely noticeable, but Artemis had cracked a tiny smile at him. So it WAS there. The old Percy was still there, just hidden under layers upon layers of grief and whatever else was piled on top of him before he'd become Death.

"You could help me with the hunt for a little bit, perhaps give Thalia some personal training. She's willingly taking your position on the quest as you'd gone missing. She'll be going with the Seven through all of their trials, it would only be beneficial if she were to train under you for a while, and I figure that... Well, you're still her cousin, she'll want to see you." Artemis reasoned with him. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I'll train her, and the rest of your hunt for a few days and prepare them for the worst to come in this fast approaching war. I'll be in the middle of your camp at ten o clock sharp. Warn your hunters not to attack me or I'll throw them at Jupiter." Percy warned her with a serious expression.

Artemis shimmered in a silvery display before her features had changed somewhat. This was what Percy remembered from earlier that day. It was Diana instead of Artemis. "You'll throw my hunters at my father?" She asked in confusion. Why in Hades would he ever do that? Of course at this point it was clearly obvious that the only thing the king of the Gods could do in response to Death was to sit in his throne and let his aggravation continue to rise.

"No." Percy stated simply before starting to walk off. Diana shifted back into Artemis but held the exact same expression as before. Percy stopped walking before turning his gaze back to Artemis' perfect silver eyes. This was the first time he'd been able to properly appreciate them without the risk of dismemberment at the hands of the very Goddess that he'd found himself experiencing some strange emotions towards in his earlier years. "The planet." He clarified before there was a rustle of leaves in the wind and he was gone. He didn't even need to use the same teleportation as the Gods, he could just BE anywhere he wanted at anytime. It left Artemis curious as to how much power he now held but at the same time horrified that Percy could potentially hurl one of her hunters into space if they made the wrong move in the morning.

If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg