Percy POV—

That wasn't acting. Literally, my head hurts like Hades. Dammit, Kronos. Why do you have to be mad at the worst possible time?

"That better have been a real illusion, Kronos." I looked down at my cloak and groaned. There was still a golden stain on it.

"That wasn't an illusion!" I protested.

It worked nonetheless.

Couldn't it have been no-mess?! I whined.

I got you out of there, didn't I?

Ok, thanks for that, but still.

Mind you, I'm not the Titan of Illusion, so you'd better be glad that I did that for you.

I sighed as I climbed a tree to see where I was. Did you send me to Kansas or something?

No, I sent you to Ohio.

ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!

What's wrong with Ohio? I facepalmed.

Never mind, I muttered as I leaped down from the tree and started hiking in a random direction.

—Time skip sponsored by Amphitrite constantly calling Percy Perseus—

(Idea from Jaymoonjaybriar)

"Gotcha!" I slashed the Minotaur's chest open with Sicarius and it howled, disappearing into golden dust. "For the millionth time." I added under my breath. As I started to walk away, I heard a scream from the bushes.

"MEDUSA!!" I heard. Oh, gods no. Couldn't she just stay in Tartarus? Oh wait a minute, Tartarus is rising all the monsters from the pit. Stupid question, moving on.

"I thought I told you to stay in Tartarus, snakehead!" I growled, closing my eyes and letting my seventh sense guide me. I felt her gaze land on me as I ran towards her.

"Get back!" I yelled at the girl, who was cowering in the bushes. I feinted an attack to the left and cut her arm open with the deadly Celestial-Imperial sword. She screeched in pain and staggered, her snakes hissing wildly.

"Curses!" She shrieked. "Curse—" Her sentence was cut off by my sword impaling her chest, making her explode into little more than dust.

"This is why I hate glitter." I muttered, brushing off the monster remains from my shoulders. "You ok?" The little Asian girl nodded, looking terrified.

"Halt! Don't you dare lay a finger on her you—" Thalia burst out of the shrubs, her bow and arrow notched and ready to fire.

"Wha—" I quickly dodged one of her arrows. "Wait, I need to—ow!" An arrow caught me on the sleeve, not grazing my flesh but pinning me to a tree.

"Tell me your means of coming here." She held a hunting knife at my throat. Well, it's not like she could hurt me, but she can't know that. I pretended to look nervous, which wasn't that hard, honestly. Thals can be intimidating when she wants to.

"Uhm...no thanks." I smirked as I pulled the arrow out with ease and dodged her razor-sharp spear.

"I command you to stop in the name of Artemis!" She swiped her spear, lightning crackling through her spear.

"I think...not." I deflected the blows, careful not to touch the spear's head. She faltered when I feinted to the right, then left, then right again and I took that as my chance and disarmed her with the classic maneuver. Her second's distraction let me bolt for the trees.

"See ya!" I sprinted away, making sure there was no one watching me before I vapor-traveled away.

—Time skip sponsored by Jorgen not letting your brain explode from all the fangirling—

(idea from I_Like_Villains_)

"...somehow he avoided all our traps, patrols, and still managed to kill a dozen more monsters then we do daily!" I heard the voice of a hunter from below me. I froze. They were here? Again? Dam it. I thought they would get off my tail when I traveled to New Mexico, but nooooo, they just had to come here.

And I didn't kill the monsters. I only do that when I'm provoked. Whoever keeps killing the monsters, I'm fine with. It makes wandering in the forest much easier.

And if you're wondering where I am, I'm totally not stuck in a tree.

"That's not possible! No one has evaded us for this long! It's been months! Months, milady!" I recognized the voice of Thalia. A very pissed off Thalia. I bit my lip. She would probably try to kill me if she found me out. Oh well. That just adds to the list of people who want to kill me.

3rd person—
Sort of Thalia's POV, if you know what I mean

Thalia didn't know what to do. Artemis was insisting on hunting down this mysterious person that kept killing all the Hunt's kills.

"If I catch him, he's going to be in big trouble, preferably involving electricity and my spear." She growled as she fingered the shield with Medusa's head on it and set out with the daily patrols to skirt the temporary camp borders.

She stiffened as she heard a low growl coming from the bushes.

"Hunters, arm!" She whispered, notching her bow. The patrol did the same, but before they could fire at whatever was there, a huge lion leaped out of the bushes. The Nemean Lion.

"Not you again!" Thalia heard a voice come from above. A figure in a black cloak seemed to just drop out of nowhere in front of Thalia.

"Get back!" He shouted as the lion snarled and swiped its giant claws at the Dark Shadow. He swung his sword at the lion's mouth, its only weak spot. Blood dribbled out of the wound and it whimpered, shaking its head furiously. The 'Dark Shadow' took this as a chance and quickly shoved the sword down the lion's throat and ripped it open. It gave a strangled cry of pain before disappearing into dust.

"I hate glitter." He grumbled, dusting golden remains off his boots.

"You again!" Thalia pointed accusingly at him.

"What?" He looked up. "Oh, gods no. It's you." Thalia scowled, glaring at him icily. He stood his ground, straightening into a battle stance.

"Why are you here?" She asked, looking furious. He seemed unfazed by the death glare she was giving him.

"That Nemean Lion was mine—I was hunting it down first." He protested. "Don't say that I'm stealing all your kills."

"No." Her gaze wavered slightly between recognition and anger. "We're searching for a monster, destined to be the next Bane of Olympus."

"What happened to Bessie?" He blurted out. She frowned at him.

"Bessie's safe. She's in a tank Hephaestus created. Haven't you heard of the prophecy about the next Bane of Olympus? We must hunt the monster down before it can cause worldwide destruction." She explained.

"I haven't heard of this...prophecy." He said. "The Bane of Olympus, eh? Don't think you'll find him here."

"You know him?" She asked tentatively. His jawline went rigid.

"No." His voice was strained. "I—"

"You!" Artemis came out of the undergrowth, her bow drawn.

"What? Is 'You!' a new form of hi now?" He grumbled.

"You—" She started, but got cut off.

"Bai." He disappeared into mist before she could finish whatever she was going to say. Artemis stomped her foot in frustration.

"I hate that guy." She fumed, marching back into camp before Thalia could do anything.

"Milady!" She called out, beckoning the last of her patrol to follow. As she ran through the bushes, she heard an eerily familiar voice, a voice she heard whenever she saw her old friend.

Luke Castellan.

"I am coming for you, Thalia Grace." It hissed, making all the hairs on her arms raise. She looked around for the source of the noise, but no one else was around. She assumed she misheard something, but a shout made the dread in her stomach grow.

"Attack!"