After Percy and Zoe finished eating some cereal, Athena began reading again.

Chapter 6: Secret Revealed

Percy felt someone shaking his body as he tried to sleep peacefully inside his rather small and cramp sports car. His eyes snapped open to find a pair of stormy grey ones boring into him.

"I did not appreciate that," Percy mumbled. "Never interrupt my beauty sleep."

"What beauty sleep?" Zoe laughed.

"Rude," Percy pouted.

Zoe gave him a kiss on the cheek in response.

"Perseus, the train stopped, we need to get moving." Annabeth said as she stepped back.

Percy blinked a few times and nodded, "Just call me Percy, please. I really don't like the name Perseus."

"I'm telling Perseus you said that," Theseus smirked.

"Snitches get stitches," Percy argued. "Besides, it's because he has the name that I don't like it. I don't want to step on someone else's name. I would rather be credited under my own name.

"Fair enough," Theseus said. "I would hate to have someone named after me, especially if they are an arrogant prick. But if you were to take my name, Percy. I would be honored."

"Understood," Percy nodded. "But I still prefer my own name. I'm just glad I wasn't named Heracles or Hercules. That would have not been good."

Annabeth seemed a little surprised but nodded, "Okay, sorry Percy."

Percy smiled at her, "You don't need to be all nervous around me. I'm not going to bite you."

Annabeth smiled sheepishly.

Annabeth nodded, "Sorry it's just after you tore through Theseus and his goonies, I thought you might have a problem with all campers."

Theseus couldn't help but glare at Poseidon, still a little annoyed about this other Theseus that was putting a disgrace to his name.

"No, I have a problem with people who mess with my little brother and sister because they have a problem with me. And I really don't like that Theseus kid, he's an arrogant prick." Percy explained.

"You could say that again," Silena said.

"Theseus is an arrogant prick," Percy said.

"She didn't mean it literally, doofus," Zoe said smacking Percy on the head.

"I know, I just felt like saying it," Percy grinned.

Annabeth grinned, "Well it's good to have someone else who isn't under his spell, for a while I thought it was just me, Thalia and a few others."

"I hate that pig so much," Percy mumbled.

"Same," everyone said at the same time.

"Well you don't have to worry about that, I really can't stand that kid." Percy said as he stepped out of the sports car. "What's that kid's deal anyway?" He asked.

Annabeth sighed, "He wasn't like that at first. When he came to camp, he was being chased by the Minotaur and managed to kill it with the help of a few campers. Then Poseidon appeared at the entrance of camp and claimed him personally, even presenting him with the sword of Theseus in front of the whole camp." She explained.

"I'm sorry. You did what?!" Percy yelled at Poseidon. "You go around spouting about the ancient laws. And you go to fucking camp and present your SON a SWORD. While your OTHER son has to suffer with his mother under the hands of a fucking prick?! Are you serious?!"

Poseidon's eyes widened. "I-"

"This just proves that ancient law crap is bs. Uncle Zeus, please remind me of the ancient laws," Percy asked.

"He has a point, Poseidon," Zeus said. "No godly parent is to ever show favoritism towards any of their children. I never forbade you to check on your son. There is no law that prohibited you from saving your son from an abusive stepdad. That was YOUR decision. I will not take the blame for YOUR mistakes. There is no ancient law. Interference is limited, yes, but had you have actually asked to see your son, I would have permitted it as it is one thing to interfere and another to look out for family. Interfering is you giving Theseus that sword. Looking out for your family is what you should have done for Percy."

Poseidon frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's too late," Percy sighed. "I forgive you, but it's too late."

Percy nodded for her to continue but his hatred for Poseidon was only increasing with her words.

"When Zeus' master bolt was stolen, he blamed Theseus. So Theseus, Grover and I went on a quest and managed to get the bolt back from Luke before he could get into the Underworld where he was trying to give it to Kronos down in Tartarus." She continued.

"You should have let him go to Tartarus," Percy muttered.

"Ha, that kid would have had no chance of getting to Tartarus. Alecto and her sisters would have ripped that kid to shreds the minute he got over the River Styx." Percy said with an evil glint in his eyes.

Everyone except the usual four, Percy, Nico, Bianca, and Hades shivered at the thought.

Annabeth shuddered at bit before she continued, "After that, he was welcomed back as the hero of Camp Half Blood where he and his group of goons started acting like they were above everyone else. Then he dragged me into the Sea of Monsters where we retrieved the Golden Fleece and brought it back to camp. That's when Thalia was revived and since then it's been me and her along with a few of our friends like Connor and Travis Stoll, Clarisse La Rue, Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Will Solace, and Katie Gardner who are the only ones who don't follow Theseus like sheep."

"Please, I would never follow that punk," Clarisse scoffed. "I was ready to pummel that kid before you came to camp."

Percy shook his head, "People always flock to whoever they think is powerful, like moths to light. If you guys are looking for a few more recruits, me and my siblings would be glad to join in on your little rebellion."

"Same," everyone said at the same time.

Annabeth's face cracked into a wide grin, "I think we can make room for you guys."

Percy gave her a smile back as he turned to find the rest of their group where he saw Phoebe, Thalia, and Zoe standing near the door of the train car. He noticed Zoe fiddling with a pen in her hands and couldn't help but smile a little; glad he had given it back to her.

Zoe smiled glad she gave him the sword back. He deserved to have it. Unlike someone else she knew.

"It's nice of you to get your lazy ass out of bed boy." Phoebe spat at Percy.

Demeter, Hades, and Persephone gritted their teeth.

Percy clenched his fists angrily; Phoebe was really starting to get under his skin. Before he could try to ignore her again Thalia noticed his anger and spoke up.

"What is your problem Phoebe? What exactly has Percy done to you? So far he has risked his life to go on this quest with two girls who hate his guts for no reason other than he is male to save your mistress.

"Go Thalia! Tell 'em off!" Apollo cheered.

What is your reasoning? Is it that he helped us by killing the Nemean Lion and then gave up the spoil as a sacrifice to your goddess to try to help her?

Artemis nodded and smiled in gratefulness. She was glad Thalia spoke up. Phoebe was getting out of hand.

Is it that he managed to find us a ride west that wasn't crawling with undead warriors tracking your lieutenant? I will tell you right now, I am not spending the rest of the trip west watching you try to cut him down for absolutely no reason at all other than your bitter about something that has nothing to do with him. So do everyone risking their lives to save your mistress a favor by shutting the fuck up!" Thalia yelled.

"Yeah, you tell 'em, Thalia!" Percy cheered.

Zoe rolled her eyes, though she agreed with Percy.

Everyone was staring at Thalia with wide eyes after her rant until Phoebe reached for her hunting knife only to have her hand grabbed by Zoe, "No Phoebe, she is right. We can't get to Lady Artemis if we're going to be fighting the whole time. Just leave Perseus alone and focus on getting to Lady Artemis." She said sternly.

"I love you," Percy whispered.

Phoebe looked at Zoe with betrayal evident in her eyes but Zoe just stared back defiantly, "Don't make this a big deal Phoebe. I am your lieutenant and I am ordering you to leave Perseus alone, you're only going to drive him, Thalia and Annabeth away and the prophecy clearly states that we need campers and hunters united or we will fail. So for the sake of Lady Artemis and the hunt, just lay off the boy for the rest of the trip."

"I love you," Percy smiled.

"I love you more," Zoe said.

"Not possible," Percy argued.

Zoe smiled and kissed Percy.

Phoebe huffed indignantly before storming out the train car and slamming the door behind her.

Percy stared at the spot she stormed off from feeling slightly bad for being the reason everyone was arguing.

"I'll go get her. She is just short-tempered; she'll get over it in a while." Zoe said before running after her friend.

Percy looked up at Thalia with gratefulness shining in his sea green and black eyes, "Thank you Thalia, you didn't have to do that."

Thalia shrugged, "She deserved it. She has treated you like trash the whole trip for no reason at all. You haven't done anything but help us every chance you could and we'd probably all be dead right now if not for you cousin."

"Agreed," said the people who went on the quest.

Percy smiled at her and nodded, "You guys hungry?"

Thalia grinned, "How about a bacon egg and cheese sandwich?"

Percy nodded and looked at Annabeth.

"Same." She said with a smile. Percy nodded and clapped his hands together producing two breakfast sandwiches for each of the girls.

"I love it when you make me food," Zoe smiled.

"What do you want?" Percy asked.

"You know," Zoe said.

Percy clapped his hands and blue waffles appeared covered in homemade maple syrup.

"Let's catch up before those two run off without us." Annabeth said as the three demigods exited the train car where they found Zoe and Phoebe in a heated discussion. They watched from a distance not wanting to interrupt the two immortal hunters. In the end, Phoebe seemed to finally relent based on the satisfied smirk on Zoe's face when they finally came back to the group.

The group walked away from the train until they reached a small town and found out they were in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, making three of quest members pause as they tried to think about how they could have possibly gotten this far in a single night.

"The Great Almighty Apollo," Apollo answered.

Artemis rolled her eyes at her twin.

"This is impossible. It is literally impossible for our train to have traveled this far in a single night." Annabeth said as her brain raced with ways to justify the distance they covered.

"Don't hurt yourself brain, just ask Percy or Zoe; their smirks tell me their getting some enjoyment watching you try to figure everything out." Thalia said trying not to laugh at her best friend.

Annabeth pouted at Thalia's remark. "Here, some cereal will cheer you up," Percy said clapping his hands together as a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch appeared.

"Yeah, it's my favorite kind! How'd you know?" Annabeth cheered.

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that you have a whole cabinet of Cinnamon Toast Crunch at home," Percy said sarcastically.

Annabeth blushed. "Half of them are Matthew's and Bobby's," She said.

"Oh, so the other 30 boxes are yours?" Percy said.

"Yes," Annabeth mumbled, blushing. "it's good!"

"No, Lucky Charms is the best," Zoe argued.

"No, Zoe. We have been through this. Coco Puffs are the best," Percy said.

"No, Fruity Pebbles are the best!" Katie argued.

"No, Frosted Flakes are!" Thalia yelled.

"You guys are all stupid, it's clearly Rice Krispies!" Will shouted.

"How did we get into an argument about cereal?" Hermes asked.

"I don't know," Apollo said shaking his head. "If anything they should be arguing about music."

"Or movies, but cereal?" Hermes said.

Athena rolled her eyes as the demigods continued to argue about cereal. "Silence!" Demeter yelled. "You are all wrong, Fruit Loops are the best."

Athena took the chance to start reading again.

Two grey eyes snapped in the direction of Percy with a steely glare that wiped the smirk clean off his face. Percy raised his hands in surrender, "We had a little help from a friend."

Annabeth's glare intensified, "Who?"

"Apollo," Apollo said.

"Fred," Percy corrected.

"Percy, stop repeating yourself, it get's annoying," Athena scolded.

Percy smiled, "Fred."

"I can't help it," Percy smiled sheepishly.

Annabeth looked at him in confusion while Phoebe groaned, "Apollo."

"What's the matter with me?" Apollo asked.

"You flirt with my Hunters, you make really bad haikus-"

"They aren't bad. They're awesome," Apollo grinned.

"Sorry, bro, but they're bad," Hermes said.

Apollo slumped, pouting in his throne.

Before Annabeth could make a comment, a scream from down the street froze the group in their tracks. Five Sparti were making their way down the street until they found their targets, all pulling out weapons as they stalked towards the group.

"Damn it, how did they get here?" Zoe growled.

"They're Sparti. They won't stop until they kill us or we kill them." Percy explained.

"Can't you just order them back to the Underworld? I mean you are the son of Hades aren't you?" Thalia asked as she pulled out her canister of mace.

"I..I don't know." Percy said worriedly, "I am the adopted son of Hades. I have an idea but I don't know if it will work."

"Well try something." Phoebe growled.

Percy closed his eyes as he drew the shadows to his body; when they vanished he was dressed in pitch black armor.

"Badass Percy," Hermes grinned. "They're dead now."

Percy waited for the warriors to get closer before he charged at one. The warrior raised its blade to attack but Percy was engulfed by a shadow and vanished, reappearing behind the Spartus which he wrapped in a bear hug before he was engulfed by another shadow disappearing with the Spartus.

The girls had little time to acknowledge the fact that Percy had vanished as they were attacked by the Sparti. Zoe and Phoebe pulled out hunting knives while Thalia had her spear and Aegis out to fend off the undead.

Annabeth only had her dagger which put her at a severe disadvantage. She put on her invisibility cap but it did not fool the Spartus which followed her movements closely. She blocked a strike from the Spartus but before she could react, an undead hand wrapped its fingers around her throat.

Athena paused but reminded herself that Annabeth was in front of her.

Just as the Spartus began to squeeze, the pressure around her throat vanished. She opened her eyes to see Percy tackle the Spartus before being engulfed by a shadow with his arms wrapped around the Spartus' body.

Athena shot Percy a look of gratitude, but he just waved it off.

Annabeth looked at her friends to see Thalia keeping the Spartus at a distance with electricity coursing through her spear. Zoe was backtracking, keeping her distance from the warrior.

Phoebe tried to attack the Spartus knocked her hunting knives away.

Just as the Spartus was about to kill her, two shadows appeared next to her, one small and one very large.

It was Artemis's turn to have a look of gratitude, even Ares looked up curious about what happened to his daughter.

Percy lunged forward and shoved Phoebe out of the way just in time for the blade to miss Phoebe and be driven through Percy's armor and into his midsection. Phoebe looked on in shock until she jumped back when the Spartus was snatched in the jaws of a gigantic three headed Hellhound.

"Cerberus?" Athena asked.

"He's the family dog, although I like to say he's mine because I'm his favorite," Percy said.

"No, I'm his favorite!" Nico argued.

"No, I am!" Percy yelled.

"No you're not!, I am!" Nico yelled.

"Guys, we've talked about this, I am Cerberus's favorite!" Bianca shouted.

"No, I am his favorite!" Hazel interjected.

"No, I'm his favorite!" Percy argued.

"No, I am!" Nico yelled.

"You know what? I'll ask him the next time I get the chance," Percy said.

Athena continued reading.

Cerberus turned and charged at the Spartus attacking Zoe and caught it in another one of his heads before he snatched up the final Spartus fighting Thalia. Cerberus ran into a shadow with the three Sparti flailing in his clenched jaws.

Thalia and Zoe stood dumbfounded after the Sparti they were battling were snatched clear of the ground and taken off to the Underworld by the world's largest Hellhound. It wasn't until they looked for their companions did they see Phoebe and Annabeth kneeling over Percy's limp body as blood leaked onto the ground.

Zoe held Percy to remind herself that he was alive. Persephone, Hades, Hestia, and Demeter all looked worried.

Zoe reached the spot where Percy fell and immediately dropped to her knees next to the fatally wounded son of Hades. She felt a sharp pain in her chest when she looked at Percy's bleeding body.

"We need water." Zoe said quickly.

Her three companions looked at her confused making Zoe's panic and anger escalate.

"Now! Go find some water! As much as you can carry!" Zoe snapped.

"Thank you, Zoe," Percy whispered.

"You know some day you are going to have to learn how to protect yourself, because I won't be there," Zoe scolded.

"I know, but it's not my fault the Fates hate me," Percy defended.

Annabeth and Thalia ran off to find water while Phoebe just stared numbly at Percy's limp body.

"H..H..He saved me. After how badly I treated him, he still took the blade for me." Phoebe said as she continued to stare at Percy.

"Of course," Percy replied. "A friend of my friend is my friend, and I help my friends."

"Help me take off his armor; we need to stop the bleeding." Zoe said snapping Phoebe out of her shock.

Carefully they took off Percy's chest plate before they slowly cut away his shirt.

"Oh my gods." Phoebe gasped as they looked at Percy bare chest and midsection.

Zoe stared in horror at Percy's chest; covered with scars, some so deep they looked nearly down to the bone. She couldn't have imagined what kind of monster could do something like this to a person. She forced herself to focus as she used his shirt to put pressure against the wound, doing what she could to stop the bleeding.

Percy rubbed a scar that was still there, but fading. Zoe whispered a few things to Percy as he sighed.

A minute later Annabeth and Thalia came running each with two gallon jugs of water. When they reached Percy they both froze in shock as they looked at his bare chest.

Zoe wasted no time in snatching one of the gallon jugs from Annabeth's hand as she dropped the shirt that she was holding to his wound. She slowly poured the water over the wound continuously. The three other girls watched in awe as Percy's wound first stopped bleeding before it began to close up. It took two full gallons of water for the wound to close up completely, leaving yet another scar on the young demigod's chest.

"He's a son of Poseidon." Thalia said in awe.

"Yes he is but he is also not. I would not recommend mentioning it to him when he wakes up." Zoe said sadly as her eyes continued to examine Percy's wounds.

"Thank you," Percy whispered.

Zoe just nodded and rested her head against his chest.

Despite the scarring, his body was like no other fourteen year old boy she had ever seen. Packed with muscle and six pack; it almost seemed to distract from the horrific scars.

"What happened to him?" Annabeth asked softly as she wiped a few tears away from her eyes.

Zoe hesitated before deciding to answer, "His stepfather. Lady Artemis asked him about the scar on his face and how he got it. Perseus told her to look through his memories so he didn't have to retell it. She didn't tell me much other than he got the scar on his face and most likely the rest trying to protect his mother. He was six when he got the scar on his face. That is all Lady Artemis would tell me as Perseus asked her not tell anyone. Do not mention it to Perseus; it is obviously not a pleasant subject."

Percy looked down remembering the dreams he had. They were coming back again. He suspected it was the book and the memory that made him start having the dream again.

The three girls nodded numbly before Percy began to stir. He groaned painfully before his eyes fluttered open. He slowly looked around at the girls and noticed their sympathetic faces and his eyes widened and he looked down at his bare chest. Before anyone could say anything, Percy was engulfed by a shadow and vanished from the spot.

"Where are you going?" Hades asked.

"Just to cool off. I needed to relax a little," Percy explained.

The girls looked at each other worriedly until Thalia spoke up, "What should we do?"

"We wait for him to come back. When he does, we do not mention anything from this moment." Zoe said back sternly.

The three other nodded their consent as they began to make their way into town. The four girls found a small café in town where they decided to eat lunch and wait for Percy to return.

As they waited, Zoe thoughts focused on one thing and one thing only, Percy Jackson. She felt guilty for letting him get treated badly by Phoebe for the first day and a half of their quest. She sat by silently as Phoebe and thrown verbal jab after verbal jab despite Percy never having done anything but helped her out every chance he could. First he had jumped off a cliff in order to save her from certain death. Then he had taken out the smug bastard Theseus when he and a couple other campers had tried to attack her during capture the flag. He accepted a dangerous quest to save her mistress for no reason other than it was the right thing to do and then he had given back the weapon that came from the biggest regret of her long life.

"You are different," Artemis said. "Very humble, selfless, righteous, wise, respectful, truthful, trustworthy, and more. You are the opposite of many men. Why?"

"Why not? Why shouldn't I be humble? Why shouldn't I care about everyone else instead of me? Why shouldn't I be willing to do something because it's right? I respect anyone as long as they are willing to do the same. Women should be treated much better than they normally are. The Hunters have the right to hate men. They have been deceived, lied to, hurt, and it's not right. Some men think they rule the women, that they control wives, girlfriends, and any other women, when in reality, nobody controls anyone. We all make our own decisions, we all do our own actions, we do what we do, and we say what we say. Nobody else can control us, and we shouldn't let anyone else control us. They can correct us,or help us, but not control," Percy answered.

Zoe kissed Percy. The goddesses smiled at Percy. None of them had seen any other male with so much respect, humbleness, and selflessness in their whole lives, and that's a long time.

Percy had never even asked for so much as a thank you and all she had done was grudgingly agreed to stop calling him boy, something that had obviously struck a nerve with him as it was the only time she had seen him get angry at all.

She hoped he would come back, not just because they needed him but also because he was the first male she had ever considered something even close to a friend.

"Of course I'd come back. I wouldn't just abandon you guys," Percy said.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Percy popping out of a shadow on the other side of the café. He now wore a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head.

Percy noticed the four girls and pulled down his hood and made his way over to them. The four girls watched Percy carefully as he made his way over to them.

"So let's hit the road shall we? We need to make up for the time we lost and find Lady Artemis." Percy said emotionessly.

The four girls nodded and stood up from the table and followed Percy outside. Before anyone could speak Phoebe walked up to Percy with a determined looked on her face, "Perseus?" She asked.

Percy looked up at her.

"Thank you for back there. You saved my life." Phoebe said quietly.

Percy raised an eyebrow but quickly nodded, "You're welcome."

Phoebe nodded as Percy turned to start walking again but she grabbed his arm, making him turn back to her, "I'm sorry about...." She started but Percy cut her off.

"Don't worry about Phoebe. You're a hunter; I know you probably have a good reason for disliking men." He said quickly.

Phoebe looked up at him surprised, "Yea... well I'm still sorry. You didn't deserve that."

Percy shrugged, "Let's just get moving."

Phoebe nodded a bit sadly, regretting being so cruel.

"Does anyone have an idea for getting west?" Annabeth asked speaking up.

Percy nodded, "Before I came and got you guys, I asked a guy outside where the closest bus station was. He said if we follow the road a few miles, the next town over has a Greyhound station."

"Bus tickets to California won't be cheap," Reyna said.

"Thank you, Annabeth," Athena said sarcastically.

"What?" Reyna asked confused.

Annabeth nodded before she looked thoughtful, "Wait, how much money do we even have left? Bus tickets to California won't be that cheap."

"I guess war goddess spawns think alike," Reyna said.

Percy shook his head, "I got it. My father is the God of Wealth after all." He said as he pulled out a black credit card with a skull on it.

"Can I have one?" Hermes asked.

"Sorry, limited edition," Percy said. "Hades family only."

"Aww, Uncle, can I have one?" Hermes whined.

"Nope, they are like your shoes. They are precious," Hades replied.

"Nice," Thalia said grinning, "I like your taste."

Percy smirked, "You sure you're a daughter of Zeus?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Let's get moving death breath."

The five questers started their trek out of town and towards the next as a sense of dread crept its way into Percy's heart. He looked around at the surroundings and noticed they were walking on an empty road with nothing but barren ground on each side. Had the town and road never been built, he was sure they would be walking through the desert.

"One shall be lost in the land without rain." He muttered to himself, too quietly for his companions to hear. He knew telling them would only cause panic and he was hoping they could hurry their way to the next town before something else happened.

"It's hard, but wise," Athena agreed.

As they continued, they saw the next town sitting around five hundred yards away to the left of the road. Sitting in between the questers and the town was a huge junkyard that seemed to be abandoned.

"Let's go, the town is right there." Thalia said turning into the entrance of the junkyard.

Percy glanced towards Zoe who looked like she was feeling uneasy about things like he was. Despite their worry, the group followed Thalia through the junkyard. As they walked, Percy looked around at the scrap metal that littered the junkyard.

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes.

"Do you guys see this? It's an automaton head." Thalia said as she picked up the broken head of an automaton.

Hephaestus's eyes widened in realization.

"Put it down!" Zoe yelled.

"What? Why?" Thalia asked confused.

"We're in Lord Hephaestus' scrapyard. This place is dangerous, don't touch anything." Percy said worriedly.

"Too late," Percy whispered to quiet for anyone but Zoe to hear.

Before Thalia could reply, the screeching sounds of scraping metals behind them alerted everyone to the trouble. In a matter of seconds, a fifty foot automaton rose from underneath a pile of metal and turned towards the now wide eyed members of the quest.

The people who knew what would happen looked down in sorrow. "I think Lady Artemis, should read the next chapter," Percy said.

"Why?" Artemis asked.

"Because, something happens," Percy said. "You'll find out."

"Okay," Artemis nodded.

A/N; So just wondering, what is your favorite cereal? What do you think?