AN: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I know I used to update like every week, or even twice a week, but that probably won't be happening for awhile. If I'm lucky, I'll update every week. Honestly, I'm just trying to update as much as possible. Thanks so much for the support, it means a lot. I'm still in full college mode, but I'll try to pump out a few chapters and get the ball rolling. Also, this chapter will probably be filler to lead up to the battle of the Labyrinth. There will be some detail, but some of it will just be summary. Anyways, please enjoy!
Recap:
Perseus smiled. "You should go home, see your mother," he said. "Plus, I've got to train you. I have six months to hone your skills before the summer."
Max frowned. "I don't like it, but I'm happy I will be training. I don't want to wait any longer."
Perseus ruffled Max's hair. "Trust me, Luke won't attack until at least the summer. Annabeth, what are you doing?"
Annabeth blushed. "I'm going back to San Francisco. Maybe I'll spy on the Titans or something."
Perseus smiled. "That might be a good idea. However, if something goes wrong, immediately contact Max or I, yeah?"
Annabeth nodded, causing Perseus to turn to Max. "Come on, Max. Say goodbye to your girlfriend, and hello to New York City and training in my apartment," he said, causing Annabeth and Max to blush. Perseus winked at Annabeth, who's face got even redder, and vapor travelled with Max back to his mother's apartment.
Present:
Perseus and Max reappeared outside Sally's apartment, and the ancient warrior rapped on the door three times and patiently waited for a response. A few moments later, Sally Jackson opened the door and immediately took her son into her arms, squeezing him as hard as she could.
"I missed you Mom," Max said.
Sally released him. "I missed you too, Max," she said after a few moments. She turned to Perseus and gave him a wide smile, which he just nodded in return. He knew the value of family. After all, they were part of it.
Perseus walked further into the apartment and saw a man with salt and pepper hair. "Hello," Perseus said. "You must be Paul."
Paul Blofis looked up and saw Perseus with his hand out, and stood up to meet him. "Yes, I'm Paul Blofis, and you are?" he asked inquisitively.
"I'm Perseus," Perseus said with a smile. "I'm Max's half brother. We share the same father," he explained.
"Ahh," Paul said. Perseus smiled at Paul's name. Blofis, he thought. Interesting.
After having dinner with the family, he headed off towards his apartment and trained for a bit before settling down for the night.
LINE BREAK - Time skip to the summer
Perseus walked over to his sword rack and placed his sword on it. He wasn't using his brother's blade, but the sword he was using was fine, especially for training. When he thought about Achilles' sword, he thought about Anaklusmos, which he gave to Max, and that led him to Zoë. Perseus sighed. He knew Zoë wasn't having the best time. She didn't really like camp, and from what he knew of when he visited, she spent all of her time in Artemis' cabin and the archery range. As he put the sword down, he heard a groan, releasing him from his thoughts. "Jesus brother, how are you not tired," he heard Max whine.
Perseus snorted. "Max, I've been alive for many centuries. What do you think I've been doing?" he asked. "Besides, without me, you'd barely be as good as you are with your sword and your powers."
Max sighed. "I know, but I want to be better. I need to be better. For the prophecy," he said seriously. "Are you ever going to tell me it?"
Perseus sighed and walked over to his brother. "Max, I want to tell you, but I'm not sure how Chiron would feel about it. Besides, we are old friends, and I want to respect his wishes. If it were up to me, I would have told you six months ago."
Max sighed. "At least I have better control of my powers than I did before. Before, I could barely summon water, and now I can change its state, almost."
Perseus smiled. "You'll get there brother. Even though you don't have power yet, you will. Besides, with me helping you, you'll be one of the most powerful demigods of all time, especially if you can get your geokinesis and weather manipulation powers down. If you can create a hurricane and control it, you'll be able to add ice to it to make it more powerful."
Max smiled. "You're right. Anyways, I've got to go, I have an orientation at Paul's school."
Perseus raised an eyebrow. "Goode? How much you wanna bet that you'll be kicked out before the day ends?" Perseus said with a chuckle.
Max mock glared at him, before cracking a grin. "I'll have you know that I am an esteemed gentleman," Max said in a mock posh voice, causing Perseus to smile.
"Get out of here, kid," Perseus said with a smile, before watching Max walk towards the elevator and head towards his orientation.
Perseus trained a little bit more before heading down to Central Park and through the Gates of Orpheus. He didn't want to show up unannounced in the throne room, so he took his time wandering through the underworld.
By the time he got to the throne room, the doors were already open, so he walked in the room and leaned against the wall and started to whistle. After a few minutes, Hades showed up.
"Hello Perseus," Hades said. "I'm surprised you see you here."
Perseus smiled. "I just wanted to check in on Nico, see how he's doing."
Hades gave Perseus a small smile. "I haven't been able to train him because of the stupid ancient laws," he said bitterly. "But I was able to send him into Elysium to train. I believe he trained with your brother, and is currently training with him now."
Perseus smiled. "Good old Achilles. I haven't seen him in a bit. Mind if I go see him?" he asked.
Hades gave Perseus a nod and shadow travelled him to Elysium. In the distance, he saw two men sparring, one a small, black-hair kid, and another, a larger, blond-haired man.
Perseus walked over to them as they finished up. "Hello brother," Perseus said with a smile.
Achilles returned the smile. "Hello Perseus," he replied.
"Hey Percy!" Nico said enthusiastically.
Perseus frowned. "Hello Nico, and Percy?" he asked.
Nico shrugged. "It's easier than Perseus."
Perseus huffed. "Fine, but don't go telling everyone else to call me that," he said seriously.
Nico looked at him with wide eyes as he nodded quickly. "How are you, Nico?" Perseus asked.
Nico gave a shy smile. "I'm already. Achilles is teaching me how to use a sword," he said quietly.
Perseus smiled. "Good, what about your powers?" he asked.
Nico looked at Perseus. "Dad can't train me, but his other sons are," he said. "Houdini is training me to use my powers."
Perseus whistled. "Houdini you say? He must be quite strong, especially in shadow traveling." Nico nodded.
"Anyways, I got to jet. My idiot younger brother is at an orientation, and I believe he'll find some way to muck it up," Perseus said with a smile. "Adios," he said with a wave and shadow travelled away, leaving Achilles and Nico in shock.
"He can do that?" Nico said, eyes wide. Achilles just looked there dumbly before turning back to Nico.
"My brother should literally be the definition of impossible," Achilles said. "Now, sword up, let's go again," he said before lunging at the son of Hades.
Perseus reappeared in his apartment and made his way towards Goode after having a small glass of nectar and strapping on his hidden blades. He was pretty in control of his umbrakinesis, but it still took quite a bit out of him.
By the time he got to the school and made his way towards the gym, where the orientation was, he couldn't see Max. However, two cheerleaders racing out of the gym. Frowning, Perseus made his way towards the gym exit and followed them. Monsters? he thought as he followed them.
He followed them into the band room, and slowly approached the door.
"Freshmen," someone snarled. "We choose who we feed on, this is our school!" At this moment, Perseus quickly opened the door and took out his sword, holding it in his right hand, leaving his left hand free.
"Hello, empousai," Perseus said mockingly while twirling his sword. "Ready to die?"
One of the two empousai turned and faced Max, while the other faced Perseus. "I am Kelli, no hero has bested me in a thousand years!" she snarled, lunging at Perseus.
Perseus dodged Kelli's first attack before slicing off her arm after dodging the second attack, causing her to stumble back. She bared her fangs, and pounced again. However, Perseus ran towards her, and flexed his left wrist. Noticing the blade, Kelli's eyes widened, but it was too late as the blade pierced her heart as she disintegrated into golden dust.
"Good thing I've been along longer than that," Perseus said mockingly at the pile of ashes. He turned to see golden dust all over Perseus and a red-headed girl.
"Hello Max," Perseus said with a smirk. "Nice date."
Both Max and the girl turned red. "Perseus, it's not that," Max whined as the girl stepped forward. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she said, sticking out her hand.
Perseus smiled and met her hand with his. "Perseus. I'm that doofus' half brother. I assume, like the dumbass he is, Max led those monsters here and you know what he is?"
Rachel nodded, causing Perseus to sigh. "Oh well, time to get out of here before Paul yells at us," Perseus said. "Grab hold, Rachel I'll explain later."
Rachel looked at Perseus with a confused expression as she touched his shoulder lightly. The moment she touched his shoulder, they disappeared into mist, reappearing a few blocks from the school.
Rachel looked at her hands. "Huh?"
Perseus smirked. "I'll explain later," he said. "Come on brother, time for your date," he said mischievously, causing Max to groan and Rachel to snicker.
They walked into the alley, and a blonde barreled into Max, and left them in a precarious position. "Annabeth, I didn't know you were so forward," Perseus said, causing both demigods to blush.
"Maximus Jackson, you owe me a major explanation," Rachel shouted.
Annabeth looked at the frizzy red head with a confused expression.
Perseus sighed. "Annabeth, Rachel. Rachel, Annabeth," he said, his face morphing into a smirk. "Now fight, winner gets my brother's love."
All three teenagers turned bright red, causing Perseus to laugh. "You better go Rachel. Make up some bullshit story so my idiot brother doesn't get expelled from his future step-dad's school," he said, and Rachel raced back towards the school.
As Rachel ran off, Annabeth got off of Max with a frown on her face. "You told her about half-bloods?"
Max smiled. "She could see through the mist. I met her at the Hoover Dam last year," he said, causing Perseus to facepalm. What was his brother doing?
Annabeth frowned. "She's kinda cute, don't you think?" she tested, causing Perseus to smirk. He knew where this was going.
Max smiled. "I didn't notice," he said, flashing a quick smile at Annabeth.
Perseus snickered at the two demigods. "If you guys are done flirting, grab on," he said, holding out his arms, causing both demigods to blush heavily.
Perseus smirked as they turned into mist and reappeared in front of Thalia's pine tree.
Max turned to Annabeth. "So, anything new at camp before we enter?" he asked.
Annabeth looked down. "You'll see."
Suddenly, Max looked at Perseus. "Damn, I forgot to tell my mom where I am," he said quickly.
Perseus swore. "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm going to explain what happened to Sally," he said before vapor travelling back to Max's apartment.
Reappearing in front of the door and knocking, the door opened, and Perseus was met with a nervous looking Sally. "Where's Max?" she asked.
Perseus gave her a serious look. "Max is fine. We ran into some monsters at Goode, but I was able to keep in under control," he said, causing Sally to breath a sigh of relief. "However, Max will probably be on a quest soon, there is evil stirring below camp."
Sally looked at Perseus with a nervous look. "You'll protect him, right?"
Perseus smiled. "Honestly, Annabeth will probably protect him well enough, but I'll always be there for him," he said, disappearing into mist, leaving Sally standing there with a smile.
LINE BREAK
Perseus reappeared in front of the Aphrodite cabin. He had known about this for awhile, but wanted to stop the issue before it became a problem. He knocked, and a few moments later, a blonde-haired girl who was about twelve or thirteen looked into his eyes. "Hi, I'm here to see Silena, is she here?" he asked kindly.
The girl shook her head. "No, she's at the pegasi stables," she said with a smile.
Perseus nodded his head in thanks before making his way down to the stables. When he entered, he heard a familiar voice in his head. Yoooo, big boss, what's up man? Get me any donuts? Blackjack asked.
Perseus sighed. "No Blackjack, I didn't, leave that to my brother," he said. "Have you see Silena?"
The pretty chick with black hair and blue eyes? Yeah, she went that way, Blackjack pointed with his head, causing Perseus to smile and walk towards the girl, who was feeding a pegasus.
"Silena?" he asked.
Silena turned around and gave Perseus a shy smile. "Hello Perseus, what can I do for you?" she asked shyly.
Perseus sighed."There is no easy way to do this. I know about the charm," he said bluntly, causing Silena to pale.
"W-w-what charm?" she stuttered, slowly backing away from Perseus.
Perseus sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, taking his sword out of his sheath and dropping it to the side.
"You-you aren't?" she asked in disbelief.
Perseus smiled. "I will not. Why do you have my grandfather's charm? I am assuming you are being forced."
Silena looked down. "Before Charlie, I liked Luke," she said, causing Perseus to smile at the mention of the son of Hephaestus. "He charmed me. He said Charlie wouldn't die, and I'd be saving lives. When I told him I don't want to do it anymore, he threatened to tell the camp," she said, starting to tear up.
Perseus walked over to the daughter of Aphrodite and gently wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, let it out," he said softly, causing tears to run down Silena's face.
After a few moments, Perseus gave her a smile. "You know what? You will still spy for Kronos, but say I am helping you spy. I'm heavily involved due to my connection with Maximus, and Kronos definitely knows about my heritage, so they'll believe everything I say," he said, causing Silena's eyes to widen. "Yes, we'll feed them false information, and at the end of the war, I'll vouch for you," he said with a smile.
Silena gave Perseus a teary-eyed look. "You'd do that for me?" she asked tearily.
"Not just for you," he started. "But for Beckendorf as well. He needs to know the type of person you are, the hero that you are," he said.
Silena gave Perseus a smile and a quick hug before going off to her cabin, leaving Perseus alone. Sighing, he vapor travelled to the area where he saw his brother and an enormous hellhound.
Perseus went to take out his sword when he saw the grey-haired swordsman petting it. The man was well built, especially for a man who was older. When he saw the mark on the man's neck, Perseus' eyes widened. It was a brand, a partridge, and from what Perseus knew of, there was only one man with that mark.
Suddenly, a clash of swords brought him out of his thoughts. Perseus watched with a small smile as the hellhound, dubbed Mrs. O'Leary, ran towards a dummy and started to tear it apart.
Perseus walked over to his brother as he saw Daedalus shake his head. "Hello Max, who's this?" he asked.
Max smiled. "This is Quintus. He's the new swords instructor."
Perseus stuck out his hand. "Fifth, yes?" he asked, causing Daedalus' eyes to widen. "You're the fifth child?"
Daedalus' eyes lost their shock. "Yes," he said, recovering from his shock.
Perseus turned to Max. "Why don't you play with Mrs. O'Leary for a moment, I need to speak with Quintus about your progress," he said dismissively. Max cocked his head, before turning around and calling out towards the massive hellhound.
When Max was gone, Perseus flicked his wrist, bringing out his hidden blades and pointing them at Daedalus' throat. "What are you doing here? How are you not dead, son of Athena."
Daedalus' eyes widened, causing Perseus to snarl. "Yes, I know who you are. I know what you've done," Perseus snarled, touching the back of his own neck, causing Daedalus to feel the back of his neck and droop considerably.
Daedalus sighed. "I'm an automaton."
Perseus looked at him seriously. "I know, but what are you doing here?" he asked impatiently.
"I'm-" he started, before Max entered the arena.
"Let's go, Chiron wants us," Max said, before his eyes reached some thumping crates that read:
TRIPLE G RANCH
FRAGILE
THIS END UP
"What are those?" Max asked.
Daedalus smiled. "A surprise for later," he said. Perseus looked at him with a thin expression on his face before following his brother out of the arena towards the big house.
When they reached the big house, they saw Chiron waiting for them. "I hear you ran into some empousai," he said with amusement, causing Max to groan.
"Yeah, it was fine though," Max said. "However, one of them mentioned something about camp."
"Yes, we will get to that, but first you must meet Grover in the forest," Chiron replied, causing Max to give him a confused look.
"Grover has a trial with the Council of Cloven Elders," Chiron stated grimly.
LINE BREAK
They had to hurry, so Perseus vapor travelled them to the outskirts of the forest, and they entered. Perseus looked towards Max. "If I go in, I'll probably do more harm than good," Perseus said.
Max looked at him questioningly, but Perseus gave him a look of shut up and go to your friend. So that's what Max did.
After a while, Max, Annabeth, Grover, Juniper, and surprisingly Clarisse walked out, their faces showing what happened with the council. "Come on Seaweed Brain, inspection is starting," Annabeth said, causing Perseus to smirk at the nickname.
Perseus and Max walked next to each other, and Max swore when he saw Silena with her clipboard. "Seaweed Brain, huh?" Perseus teased, causing Max to blush.
"Let's just go to our cabin," Max grumbled. "I'm not exactly neat."
As they walked in, the two of them saw Tyson wielding a broom and frantically sweeping the floor. "Max!" he shouted, dropping his broom and giving Max a massive hug, causing Perseus to chuckle.
Max glared at him, before his face turned mischievous. "Hey Tyson, you see Perseus over there? He's our brother too," Max said with a smirk.
Before he could do anything, Tyson wrapped Perseus in a huge hug. "New brother!" he said gleefully, crushing Perseus' bones despite his impenetrable skin.
"Thanks, Tyson," Perseus wheezed as the baby cyclops let go. He looked around the cabin and whistled. "Nice job Tyson," he said appreciatively.
Max looked at Perseus. "How do you know it wasn't me?" he asked.
Perseus scoffed. "Are you serious right now? You wouldn't be able to clean the room without Annabeth giving you kisses to motivate you," he said, causing Max to turn bright red.
"N-no," he stuttered, glaring at Perseus, which just caused the ancient demigod to laugh.
Right when he stopped, the door opened, revealing Silena, who whistled. "Damn, Max. I had my doubts about you," she said.
Perseus smirked. "Oh, it wasn't him. It was Tyson," he said.
Silena smirked back. "Of course," she said. "Max couldn't do it without Annabeth to motivate him," she said with a smile towards Perseus before leaving the cabin.
Max turned even redder, causing Perseus to fall on the floor with laughter. After a few moments, he stood up, and looked at Tyson and Max. "While you deny your feelings, I'm going to go see the woman I love," he said, heading towards the cabin exit. "Even though she probably doesn't love me anymore."
AN: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Two things that might be confusing. Yes, Nico will still be a little depressed, but not as depressed, as Bianca is still alive. He will also still be with Will, yay Solangelo! Secondly, remember that time when Perseus fought Talos? Yeah I am assuming that in the time he was knocked out, Max still met Rachel Dare. If that doesn't make sense, who cares it's a story, deal with it? So yes, they'll still meet, and the same thing happened. Also, Silena and Beckendorf don't start dating until TLO, I don't think, but I am changing it. Maybe they'll survive? Who knows? Lastly, I don't know how the Perseus and Zoë thing is gonna work, I'm just going to roll with it. They'll probably get together before Annabeth, like After BoTL, I'm not sure. Anyways, thanks so much, and please review!