Chapter 1. New Contract

'I hate this place' was the thought of Perseus Jackson as he swept his gaze over his surroundings. It was a regular forest somewhere in Washington, the air was rather cold and bit at any exposed flesh it found. But there was plenty of humidity and ample water all around him, and that suited Percy just perfectly.

Suddenly the air was quiet, what few birds still resided here at this time of year had gone silent. But in the absence of their music came a sound that was music to Percy's ears. It was a rhythmic thudding sound, like large feet of some heavy being impacting the ground. Percy listened as the sound grew louder, soon catching the sound of huffing snorts. He didn't need to look around to find the source, he could feel its eyes on him. It remembered him, and rightly was wary of him. It had learned several times now the cost of trying to fight him.

The footfalls ceased, only the low breathing sounded now. Percy knew that the Minotaur was weighing its options. If it moved quickly enough it would have a big three demigod as a meal, but one small slipup and it would be defeated again. Percy smirked, he knew what the monster behind him would do. It was only a matter of waiting for the Minotaur's patience to wear thin.

As if on que the beast charged, but it had lost the moment it decided to even twitch. From the ground, at an almost perfect thirty degree angle, a tendril of water formed from the droplets on the nearby shrubbery, launched forward, and at the right moment froze into a razor sharp ice spike. The Minotaur's own momentum carried it far enough on the spike to cause death, its body disintegrating into dust moments later.

With a sigh Percy regarded his latest kill. It had become somewhat boring to hunt monsters. His powers made fighting them contemptuously easy and even when against groups he found himself without challenge. Fishing a phone from his pocket he dialed his mentor. The other line rang once.

"Percy, I trust the hunt went well." A voice said on the other end.

"Naturally. You can tell the client that his bull-headed problem has been dealt with." Percy said, making his way back to his camp.

"Will do. And the money will be transferred as we agreed. But right now there is another matter to discuss" the voice said with great seriousness.

"What, another contract? They don't usually come this quickly." Percy said, having reached his camp by the river and begun preparing his boat.

"No contracts. At least not yet. It seems that Zeus's Lightning bolt has gone missing. He suspects you of stealing it and has started butting heads with your father Poseidon. There is now conflict, and conflict means possible contracts." The voice said.

"And contracts mean money and fighting. So what's the plan?" Percy asked, climbing into the boat.

"For now, we wait. But a curious request came my way. From your father." The voice answered.

Percy stopped, this was information he didn't know how to process. Some part of him wanted to meet Poseidon, but another part wanted nothing to do with him. "What does he want?"

"For you to go to Camp Half-Blood. And I actually agree with him. There may be someone there who can point you in the right direction, you could at least file away the information until it's needed. What better place to get intel on godly matters then in a place where demigods congregate." The voice suggested. But Percy knew that it was never a suggestion, it was always an order.

"Very well. But I wish to go on record and say that I do not appreciate this." Percy said, already using his powers to propel his boat onward.

"Noted and ignored. Now get there on the double, we have shit to do." The voice commanded.

"One last question Mike, how much did Poseidon pay you to send me to camp?" Percy asked.

"Four-hundred thousand drachma, and double that in dollars." Mike answered nonchalantly.

"The next time I see you, I'm putting a bullet in you." Percy spat, tossing the phone into the water in disgust. Now he was to stay at some little summer camp for the foreseeable future and would be stuck with little fledgling demigods. Only one phrase summed up this situation.

"Fuck my life." Percy said, his boat being guided along.