Another chapter finally uploaded. I was going to upload this in two parts, but I decided it was better as a longer chapter rather than being split up.

I edit these chapters before I upload them, but sometimes errors slip through. I notice them eventually but not always very quickly. I am sorry if you find any errors in advance.

Btw, this story will not take into account The Trials of Apollo. For one, I haven't read the book yet (though I'm familiar with the story's events) and it would be a bit complicated to fit it in for later events I have planned for this story. Sorry for that. Though Leo has already returned and Jason is alive ( T-T ) in this story.

Anyway, I hope this chapter is ok and thank you so much to those who have reviewed, followed or favourited this story. It means a lot that you're enjoying it :D

Percy gaped, not quite believing what his eyes were seeing. It looked as though the camp was rotting, the pulsating sludge eating away at the various structures dotted around the camp. The vile smell produced by the ooze only added to the image.

"What indeed," said a familiar voice, and Percy looked in its direction, only to see Annabeth running towards him at speed.

He prepared to run down the hill to meet her halfway, but Annabeth was running faster than he thought. She was in front of him in a flash, crashing into his chest and nearly causing him to topple over. He regained his balance and wrapped his arms tightly around her, as she buried her head forcefully into his chest. Then, she pulled away a little to kiss him. The moment their lips met, it was like the world stopped around Percy. In that single moment, it was just he and Annabeth, locked in a much-needed embrace.

Reluctantly, they pulled away and stared into each other's eyes. Annabeth's stormy grey eyes were just as beautiful as always, but Percy noticed that they seemed sunken and tired. Faint bags were visible under her eyes and her hair seemed slightly messier than usual like she had been scrunching and pulling at it.

Percy frowned in concern. "Annabeth, what is going on?" He asked. "What is all this stuff?"

Annabeth sighed, her head drooping a little before she turned towards the camp, her eyes roaming over the disgusting mounds of ooze with a resigned expression. "As me and Chiron told you in the Iris Message, Seaweed Brain," she said, "We don't know." There was a bite to her tone upon admitting that, but Percy wasn't surprised. As a daughter to the Goddess of Wisdom, Annabeth did not like 'not knowing' things.

"This stuff started showing up a couple of days ago," she went on. "Back then, there were only a few small and unremarkable patches here and there. It seemed to be most dense around the forest, so we figured it must have come from a monster or something. No one had reported seeing any monsters though, and the sludge didn't seem to be bothering the nymphs too much, so we didn't worry about it. Then, about two nights ago while we were all sleeping, the patches rapidly expanded into these colossal masses that you see now. To make matters worse, the sludge spread across the entire camp just as quickly as it grew and is resisting all our efforts to get rid of it."

Percy's eyes widened. "Hang on, you're saying this happened all in one night?"

"Pretty much," Annabeth confirmed dryly. "Only a few things in the whole camp are not covered in goop. A few of the cabins are clear for now. The tables in the dining pavilion appear to be fine, though the pavilion itself is not, and Thalia's tree is clear for the moment too, but we think that is only because of the magic of the Golden Fleece."

Percy looked towards Thalia's pine tree and saw that sure enough, there was not a speck of sludge on its branches or clinging to its trunk. Though, the Golden Fleece hanging on the tree did appear to be glowing brighter than usual, practically confirming in his mind that what Annabeth had said was true. Peleus was still wrapped tightly around the base of the tree like always, but his head was raised off the ground, staring at the Fleece with a look that was as close to concern as a dragon could get. Annabeth saw this and went over to pat the dragon on the nose. He rumbled appreciatively and settled his head back down on the ground, though his eyes would occasionally flick up at the Fleece like a nervous dog observing a distressed owner.

"We think the Golden Fleece is also the only thing stopping it from spreading further than the valley," she added gravely, still petting the worried dragon.

Percy sensed that Annabeth had resisted saying "for now" at the end of her sentence, and he was rather grateful for that. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he could tell immediately that this situation was bad, but he didn't want someone to confirm it just yet. The glimmer of hope that this sludge might not be as bad as it looked was keeping his frustration at bay. Percy just hoped that there wasn't another prophecy to make things worse, or he might very well scream with anger.

Annabeth sighed. "Come on Seaweed Brain, Chiron wants to speak to all the head counsellors," she said, stepping away from the dragon and beckoning him forward. "I can fill you in on the rest while we try and find him."

They found Chiron over by the strawberry fields, helping organise the Demeter campers, as well as Pollux from the Dionysus cabin and a couple of Satyrs, as they tried to save what was left of the strawberry plants. A huge mound of ooze had erupted right in the middle of the field, smothering most of the crops and fruit.

Annabeth had revealed on the way that any attempts to remove the sludge had been futile. She and her siblings had come up with every method they could think of to tackle it but nothing had worked, which was one of the reasons why she was so tired. She had been up all night apparently, formulating new methods and plans, refusing to believe that there was nothing they could do. However, to her massive disappointment, even her all night planning frenzy had not yielded results against the goop.

And just in case the sludge wasn't bad enough already, it also burned their skin on contact, which was an ability it hadn't had in the beginning. The smell was new too, and it wasn't quite clear yet if it was poisonous or not. Either way, the campers had been advised to avoid it as best as they possibly could, and those who were trying to move the sludge had to be careful or wear protective gear just in case. To Percy's relief, no one had gotten seriously hurt yet, but seeing as the sludge had not been very dangerous to begin with and had gained harmful abilities later on, Percy suspected that it could get a lot worse if they didn't do something about it soon.

Percy and Annabeth approached Chiron, who's back was to them and hadn't realised they were there. He was currently talking to a young girl, asking her to fetch more crates for the strawberry plants they had uprooted to save them. The couple waited patiently as the centaur explained where to find them to her when Percy spied a bucket of water the campers were using to hydrate the already uprooted plants. Percy had wondered as Annabeth filled him in on the sludge if his ability to control water could make any effect. Annabeth had not said if water was one of the things they had tried.

To Percy, it seemed too obvious to work, but he reasoned that water could wash away most thing so why not pulsating smelly goop. Percy focused on the water in the bucket, willing it to fly out of the bucket and slam into the mass of purple-black goop. Many of the campers jumped when it happened, but settled again once they realised that Percy was there. The water eventually cleared but unfortunately, the sludge remained unaffected.

"Well," Percy sighed. "It was worth a try."

Chiron turned, the girl he was talking to having already scampered away. "Percy," he greeted, "It's nice to see you again."

Percy smiled, "Same to you, Chiron." He couldn't deny that he had been a little mad with Chiron back at home, but now that he was here, he was very glad he and Annabeth had called.

"Now that you are here, please could you and Annabeth round up the other senior counsellors? I would like to talk with you all as soon as possible."

'That didn't sound good,' Percy thought.

"Of course Chiron," Annabeth said, her tone practically mirroring what he had just thought.

Chiron nodded gratefully. "Pollux, Katie, you both should go too," he called and the two other head counsellors looked up from their work. "The quicker everyone is gathered, the better."

"But Chiron," Katie said, looking down at a strawberry plant cradled in her hands. "There's still so much more that we need to do."

"I'm aware of that child," Chiron replied. "But you will most definitely want to hear what I have to say."

'Ok, that definitely doesn't sound good.'

Everyone was gathered in record time, in under ten minutes, in fact. Soon, everyone was crammed into the Rec Room of the Big House, seated around the table. Mr D didn't seem to be there, and Percy couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. The various head counsellors talked to one another as they waited for Chiron to appear, and they all instantly fell quiet once he trotted into view. He took a moment to get himself comfy before he looked up and spoke to everyone at the table.

"Good evening everyone. Before we get started, I would like to take this moment to thank you all for your cooperation and vigilance against this mysterious substance invading our camp. I hope that you all continue to remain this way until a solution to stopping it can be found," Chiron said.

"So a solution hasn't been found then," said Annabeth, and Chiron shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid not. But you'll be pleased to know that we have gotten in contact with Rayner of Camp Jupiter," Chiron said and Percy felt his stomach sink.

'Had Camp Jupiter got this too?"

"For now, the substance doesn't appear to have found its way there but they thank us for warning them and have offered their services if we need them. Mount Olympus has also offered to temporarily shelter all demigods if Camp Half-Blood becomes too dangerous or too consumed for us to remain here?"

"Really?" Percy said before he could stop himself. "Olympus said that?"

"They did indeed," Chiron confirmed. "In regards to you though Percy, your father has informed me to tell you that you are more than welcome in your father's palace as opposed to Olympus if you so choose. I assume Lord Hades has offered you something similar, Nico?"

Nico nodded, though the momentary look he shared with his boyfriend Will implied he would rather go wherever he went instead of going to the underworld.

Will smiled at him, then turned back towards Chiron. "So, has anything else been discussed in Olympus Chiron? Like where this stuff came from?" He asked, his fingers knotting together on the table.

"That matter has indeed been discussed on Olympus, and the god's think they know where it came from but unfortunately, nothing can be proven as of yet."

Chiron reached down for something under the table before slowly pulling out a chest, made entirely of celestial bronze. It was so well crafted and detailed that Percy wouldn't have been surprised if Hephaestus himself had crafted it. But then again, he probably did. The large lock which would normally keep the chest sealed shut was already unlocked. Chiron lifted the lid and reached in to gently pull out its contents, which turned out to be a scroll, a very, VERY old looking scroll. He laid it out carefully onto the table in front of them.

The old parchment was brown and stained with age, and it looked incredibly fragile. Chiron was handling it so gently that Percy wondered if it would turn to dust at any minute. The parchment itself was wrapped around two cylinders, both made out of what looked to be silver, that was rounded at the ends. The rounded ends bore symbols that Percy didn't recognise; the talons and outstretched wings of a bird, but where its head should've been was a triangle that was segmented into four other triangles. The outer segments of the triangle had triangular cut jewels set into the silver, a red jewel on the top of the triangle, a blue jewel in one corner and a green jewel in the other. The inner triangle segment didn't have anything.

"This scroll is incredibly old," Chiron said like it wasn't already obvious. "It's older than the gods, older than the giants, and even older than the titans."

Percy gulped, and he wasn't the only one. Recently, it seemed to Percy that the older something was, the worse it turned out to be. Percy eyed the scroll warily, like it might suddenly come to life or something ridiculous like that. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had. But Chiron didn't seem worried about the scroll at all. In fact, there was a tender, protectiveness in his eyes when he looked at the scroll. And the detail of the chest and beauty of the scroll itself suggested this was something really good, rather than bad.

"This scroll is normally protected in the palace of Olympus," Chiron explained, eyes remaining trained on the scroll as he delicately began unrolling it. "I have only ever seen it a few times in my life, and normally the gods never move it from its pedestal. But, with recent events, they felt it was the best way to help you all understand."

"Understand what?" Annabeth asked.

"The Doors of Light, my dear."

There was a moment of silence, each counsellor wondering the same thing.

"The Doors of Light," Nico said rather nervously. "Like, the Doors of Death?"

"Yes and no," Chiron said.

Percy went to ask what that was supposed to mean but Chiron raised a hand, prompting him to stay quiet. "Let me explain," he said, and Percy closed his mouth.

"Long, long ago, there existed a door that was said to bridge the gap between this world and another, similar to how the Doors of Death act as the gateway between Tartarus and the Mortal world. However, unlike Tartarus, the world that the Doors of Light connect too is completely separate from our own. The name of this world was lost by the time the titans came along, so now this world is simply referred to as the Realm of Light. Legends stated that within the Realm of Light lay the key to all creation, the beginning of all reality that gave life to the first beings of our realm. The Doors of Light were created to not only protect this incredible power but also to protect our world too. The Realm of Light had its own evils, so eventually, the doors were sealed shut for all eternity."

Chiron paused as he finished unravelling the scroll. The depictions on the parchment were incredibly faded, but luckily, all the images that were intended to be there seemed to be mostly preserved. A spectacular pair of closed doors covered most of the parchment, coloured in light greys and creams. Though the art style was somewhat tribal looking (shapes made up of lines and swirls), the design of the doors reminded Percy of ones you might find in the entrance to a church or temple. The same symbol that was on the scroll was depicted across both of the doors, but the depiction made the shapes look more like a crest for something, rather than just a symbol. Depicted above the doors was a being that looked like it was made of dark and red vapour. Clawed, colossal hands reached around the doors while gleaming red eyes glared down at two other figures who were standing either side of the doors. The figure on the right was a woman with flowing golden hair, blue eyes and a white dress. Decorative golden thread had been woven directly into the parchment, giving her hair and the edges of her dress a golden gleam. She was holding her hands out towards the doors, a faint blue tint visible around them. The other figure was also golden-haired and blue-eyed, but this figure was distinctly male. He wore a green tunic and a sword was held out in front of him, the tip of the blade pointing directly at the crest on the doors. Silver thread was woven into this figure, mostly around his blade and the edges of his tunic. One thing appeared odd about the two figures though. They didn't appear to be human if their ears were anything to go by. They were long and pointed.

'Were they elves?' Percy thought.

"This scroll appears to show the moment that the doors were sealed," Chiron continued, staring at the scroll, just like everyone else was. "But other than that, little is known."

"Not even who those figures are?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron looked over at her and smiled. "Who do you think they are, Annabeth?"

Annabeth looked slightly taken aback at that question, but she soon regained her composure and her face slipped into what Percy called her concentration face as she looked at the parchment again.

"Well, the top figure is obviously this evil that you mentioned, and therefore is probably the reason why the doors were sealed," Annabeth said, sounding as though she was reading off and ticking an imaginary checklist in her head. "The two other figures are probably the ones who sealed the doors. I find it unlikely that people from our world would have the power to open and close the doors if the Realm of Light is completely separate from our own. Plus the temptation of finding an almighty power that can start creation would drive people to try and unlock the doors so having the key in our world seems illogical, so I'm guessing they aren't from our world but rather, are from the Realm of Light itself."

Chiron nodded, "And?"

"And…" Annabeth repeated, her face looking even more creased the harder she thought. "The colours on the figures and the crest…"

'So it was a crest!' Percy thought smugly, resisting the urge to grin. It wasn't the time.

"There is a correlation between the triangle and the figures. They are decorated in similar colours and they are positioned in the same formation to the triangle," she said, slowly. "So maybe the figures represent those portions of the triangle."

"Exactly the thinking of your mother," Chiron revealed.

Annabeth blushed.

"She additionally thought that these figures might also be the key to understanding the power that started creation, as well as the triangle itself, but that is mostly speculatory. What isn't speculatory is the existence of the Doors of Light," Chiron continued. "The doors have been seen numerous times across the ages, by mortals and immortals. However, the doors very rarely stay in one place for too long."

"Like Olympus, and Camp Half-Blood," Percy said.

"Precisely," said Chiron. "Accept, the doors are not bound to the gods. That is to say, they don't move with them. They can appear anywhere around the world but they only seem to move when they are seen by someone. The moment the spectator takes their eyes off them, the doors disappear and move to a new location."

"They do indeed," said a new voice from the doorway and the table bounced as every counsellor jumped and looked towards the newcomer. Some had even grabbed weapons. Percy had Riptide in pen form gripped in his palm, but he along with everyone else relaxed once they saw who it was.

"Dad!" said Travis and Connor Stoll, and true to there word, Lord Hermes was standing in the doorway, looking a little sheepish that he had startled everyone.

"Hi boys," he greeted back to the brothers.

"Lord Hermes, your early?" Chiron said.

"Yeah, just eager to get the scroll back to Olympus is all." He then looked outside and wrinkled his nose. "And this place looks horrible, far worse than Olympus," Hermes said and Percy wasn't quite sure he heard him right.

"Worse than Olympus," Percy repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Ohh," Hermes said, "I guess you hadn't gotten to that part."

"Not quite, but it's as Lord Hermes stated," Chiron said as he turned back to the demigods. "Olympus has spots of the substance as well, but it seems the powerful protective magic of Olympus is keeping it from growing and spreading for the moment."

"What's more," said Hermes, "We speculate that the ooze has come from the Realm of Light itself, probably through a crack in the doors which we think has appeared near Camp Half-Blood."

"This ooze came from the Realm of Light?" Leo grimaced, "doesn't sound very light-like to me."

"But neither does this evil," said Percy, looking pointedly at the menacing figure on the scroll.

"How do you know the substance came from the doors?" asked Annabeth, looking at Hermes. "Couldn't it quite easily be something from our world seeking the doors instead?"

"Frankly, it could be either of those assumptions, but we think it is more likely that the sludge came out of the Realm, rather than something wanting in," Hermes said. "A few years ago, an Olympian saw the Doors of Light. That Olympian was Artimus. It has always been a great ambition of hers to find the Doors of Light and so she recognised them immediately. She reported to the Olympian council and stated that she had seen an alarming crack in one of the doors. More worryingly, she said she could see thin black vines growing through the cracks that bear a resemblance to this substance."

"But how-"

Annabeth was cut off by a scream coming from outside. Everyone in the Big House stood and turned towards the door. Shouting and more screaming followed along with the pounding of feet running in all directions. Percy could hear Clarisse through the walls, barking orders to the other campers.

"Quickly, grab weapons! Shields! Grab anything you can! This thing is big and fast."

'What thing?' Percy thought frantically.

Not wasting a second, Percy bolted for the exit. Annabeth was right behind him, followed by everyone else. He got outside just in time to see a behemoth of a monster charge straight through the Volleyball court, trampling the net and bursting any unlucky balls.

The monster was unlike anything Percy had seen so far. It looked like the top half of the minotaur had been mashed together with the body of a centaur (or a horse). Two curved horns protruded from the top of its head, that was mostly covered by its large mane of thick red hair. It's eyes shown a pure bright green. Its muscular arms were thicker than its head and looked just as long as its brown horse body, and its fingers were tipped with lion claws. Armour decorated its body sparsely, but it looked more for decoration rather than for protection. Arrows and spears that the campers were launching at it bounced harmlessly off its thick skin and only seemed to annoy it rather than hurt it. In one hand, it had a huge sword that it was swinging and slashing at everything, and in the other was a shield which looked like it had axe blades attached to it. Strapped to its back were a bow and quiver.

Percy could tell immediately that the monster had trampled straight out of the woods. There was a trail of destruction leading straight from it and Percy was astounded at how fast it had moved.

"What is that thing?" Percy shouted.

"I don't know," Annabeth cried. "I've never seen anything like it."

The monster turned towards them, having heard their voices. It sniffed the air and Percy felt his heart speed up as the monster's pure green eyes zeroed in on him.

"It can smell me," Percy said, uncapping Riptide in a flash.

"It can smell all of us, why just you?" Annabeth said.

"Maybe because I smell the best."

The beast pawed at the ground with its hooves, looking as though it was going to charge at any minute. Percy tensed, and Annabeth pulled out her drakon bone sword. Then, unexpectantly, the monster raised its arms into the air and slammed its fists and weapons down on the ground. It pushed off from the ground as its horse legs galloped forward, making it charge at blazing speed, it's horned head angled down to be used as a battering ram. Percy was momentarily taken aback by its speed, seeing as it was such a large creature, and just barely managed to dive out of the way as it neared him. Annabeth and other counsellors just barely managed to get out of the way as it sped towards the Big House. For a moment, Percy thought it wasn't going to stop but then, it looked up and its hooves jabbed into the ground as it tried to stop. It skidded to a halt right in front of the rails of the porch.

Percy rose to his feet quickly and turned, ready to fight the monster but was surprised to see the creature had frozen in front of Chiron, who had amazingly stood his ground on the porch. The monsters head tilted to one side and Chiron looked confusedly back. It looked him up and down like it was trying to decide whether Chiron was one of its kind or not.

Seizing the opportunity, Percy lunged toward and vaulted onto the creatures horseback. He raised Riptide across his head and drove the blade straight into its back as hard as he possibly could, right were the horse part became man/bull/lion.

Accept, the monster didn't crumble to dust as he expected. It reared and roared with pain, then began to buck and kick, trying to get Percy off its back. Percy hung on for dear life, as he and the creature imitated a rodeo bull ride. He had the benefit of having more to hang on too then he would on a bull, but it was taking all his strength to stay on its back. Eventually, his grip slipped as his arms and legs grew achy and he was flung off, right into a tree.

His head smacked into the bark and he was instantly dazed, nearly blacking out. Only his adrenaline kept him awake. His head was pounding and his eyesight was blurry, but he could make out the colossal shape of the creature whirling around to face him. Percy could hear shouting all around him but his dazed brain couldn't quite process exactly what they were saying.

The fuzzy mass of colours which was the creature shook its head indignantly and charged for Percy once again. Percy tried to move but his body wouldn't cooperate. The creature drew closer and raised an arm to lift the huge sword into the air. Percy closed his eyes as the monster hurled the sword down.

CLANG!

Percy heard the sound of swords clashing instead of pain and death.

He opened his eyes and realised someone had jumped in front of him. He shook his head and some of the blurriness cleared. The figure was a boy, wearing a blue tunic, tan trousers and brown, leather boots. A bow was strapped to his back and a quiver full of arrows was tied around his waist. Also attached to his belt was a strange rectangular object with an eye on it. A gorgeous blue and gold sword sheath was strapped to his back and the sword that went with the sheath was just as beautiful. With a purple hilt and a blade that seemed to shine with a faint blue light, the creature's blade looked tattered and primitive in comparison. On the boy's arm was a shield, though from the back, Percy couldn't tell what it looked like.

Percy looked higher and saw wild yet elegant golden hair, tied in a ponytail, and maybe his brain was still a little addled but he thought he could see long pointed ears poking through the strands.

The creature made a startled noise, and the boy chose that moment to push the beast back. It reared up onto its hind legs in surprise. Faster than Percy could follow with his eyes, the boy sheathed his sword and drew his bow, arrow already in place and cocked to fire. The arrow flew and struck the creature in the face. Though it looked like a regular arrow, the arrow disappeared in a flash of light once it made contact with the skin of the monster. The beast crumpled onto one of his horse legs, clutching its face.

The boy sprinted around to the creature's side and sprang onto its back, just as Percy had done. The creature got up instantly as the boy unsheathed his sword again and began furiously slashing at the creatures back. The creature grunted each time the blade cut into it, as it jumped and kicked to try and throw the boy off. Eventually, the boy let go and flew off, rolling perfectly as he landed like he had done it a hundred times.

Percy then saw the boys face. His mind wasn't playing tricks on him, the boy's ears were long and pointed. His face looked gentle and unblemished, but his eyes were piercing, like staring into the eyes of a predator. They strongly reminded Percy of the eyes of the wolves in Lupa's pack back at the wolf house. They were sparkling blue and Percy, strangely enough, thought he recognised him from somewhere.

Then, his thoughts were interrupted by strong hands grabbing him and pulling him up onto someone's shoulders. He realised it was Clarisse and he suppressed a groan. She wasn't going to let this go for weeks, or maybe even for the rest of his life.

She carried him over to Annabeth, who he realised was crying and instantly, Percy's world came into sharper focus.

"Put me down!" he shouted urgently, his eyes fixed on Annabeth.

Clarisse grunted but didn't retort. She set him down and instantly, Annabeth wrapped her arms around him. Percy hugged her back just as tightly. She had just watched him nearly die, again. And that boy had saved him. Will appeared by his side shortly after, checking him over for injuries, though his eyes kept looking back at the fight.

Percy watched the boy still fighting with the monster too, as did all the other demigods. No one stepped in to interrupt or help, not even Clarisse, who was always up for a fight. The boy's quick reflexes, agile movements and powerful stare made the boy seem just as scary as the monster looked. Even his gentle features made him look powerful. Like a god.

"Maybe he is one," Percy murmured. No one answered him, but Annabeth did look up from his arms to watch the fight as well.

The monster charged and the boy once again pulled out his bow, but this time the arrow looked different to a normal one. The tip was red and round and was hissing softly like a lit bomb. He shot the strange arrow and it once again struck the beast in the face. The arrow exploded on contact.

The monster crumpled to the ground once again and the boy leapt onto his back. The monster kicked and flailed as the boy slashed repeatedly. Percy was surprised the beast wasn't dust by now after so many attacks.

The boy was eventually flung off once again but took a little longer to recover this time. Though his face hardly showed it, Percy could tell the boy was gradually running out of steam.

The monster charged and swung its sword. The boy dived sideways to avoid it but a little too late. The monster thrust its shield forward, smacking into the boy's chest. He was lucky he wasn't cut by the axe blades but he was sent flying backwards regardless. The boy grunted and rolled across the ground, eventually coming to a stop. He shook his head a little as he rose to his feet. He raised his sword towards the beast in a sign of challenge.

The monster snorted in rage and galloped towards the boy. Just the beasts sword swung down to strike, something strange happened. The boy leapt to the side so fast that he became a blur of colour. The blur then lept in front of the beast and slashed furiously at its front with his sword that was also a blur. He was moving so fast, Percy had no hope of counting how many times he struck. Eventually, the boy slowed down, his image coming into focus again.

The beast reared back, crying out in pain. Then the creature's body began to turn darker and his form began to disintegrate.

The boy stepped back as the beast's horse legs collapsed and it fell to the ground. Its body became nothing more than black ash, then exploded into dark purple smoke and disappeared, leaving behind its weapons and some body parts, like its horns and hooves.

The boy sheathed his sword and fixed his shield onto his back. He then walked over to the monster parts and bent down to examine them. He picked up the beasts shield with barely any strain from its weight and looked over its surface before he seemed to approve of it. He put it down and pulled his belt off, placing a small bag that was strapped to it down on the ground in front of him. After opening the bag, he then picked up the shield and brought it down like he was going to try and fit it inside.

Percy suppressed a snigger as he watched the shield hover over the bag. The bag was at least three times smaller than the shield, so Percy couldn't see how it could possibly fit. However, Percy's eyes widened a second later, when the shield disappeared into the small bag. The mouth of the bag had magically widened, swallowing the shield like a mouth before it shrank back to its original size. The dimensions of the pouch itself had not changed and Percy wondered if the pack was enchanted to make items smaller, or if the inside was bigger.

For the corner of his eye, Percy could see Leo hopping from foot to foot like he was standing on hot coals that actually affected him. He could tell he was itching to run up and talk to the boy, eager to find out everything he could about the items he had on his person.

The boy frowned and stuck his hand into the bag, rummaging around for a moment like he was rearranging something, making Percy wonder how many items were stowed into it. The boy then stood and picked up the monster's sword and bow, along with a collection of odd yellow arrows. The sword was nearly as long as his whole body, yet he seemed relatively fine when holding it. He placed those items into his small bottomless bag as well. He then picked up the various monster parts and packed them away too. Percy couldn't help but shudder slightly at the careless way he picked up the parts and tossed them into the pack like he had received many of the same parts before. To demigod's, monster parts were a reward from a victory, a symbol of the feet you had just pulled. He thought back to the minotaur horn on his wall in cabin three. Sure, he didn't care about it as much as some of the other demigods might have if they had it but at least he displayed it.

The boy's hand returned to the depths of the bag, rummaging through it once again. He then pulled out a glass bottle that was decorated with a glass insect wing on the side, like a handle. The liquid swirling inside was red and fizzed like a soft drink. The boy placed the liquid on the ground beside him and closed the pack before he stood and secured the belt and pack back around his waist. He then retrieved the bottle from the ground, uncorked it and took a swig. The boy sighed a little when some of the liquid went down.

Once he had recorked the bottle, he began looking around, seemingly unfazed by all the eyes staring at him. Eventually, he turned and his gaze landed on Percy. Percy noticed his ears moved forward slightly as his eyebrows rose, giving him an alert look. He began to walk towards him.

Now that the boy wasn't fighting, his face had lost its wolf-like edge and the difference was striking. The boy looked so much younger and more innocent. Percy became aware of just how small and unmuscular he looked the closer he got, though Percy knew first hand that he was indeed strong. He had stopped that swing from that monster dead and had even had enough strength to push the blade back. Percy could tell that was no easy feat. The boy almost looked too perfect. Strong yet, elegant and elf-like. It meant, in Percy's mind, that this boy was probably an immortal and not a boy at all. Percy wished he knew the boy's name so that he could stop referring to him as such.

Once the elf was in front of Percy, he bent down and offered the bottle of red liquid to him. Will frowned beside him.

"What is that?" Will asked, and the elf looked at him, frowning.

The elf opened his mouth and replied in a few words of a language Percy had never heard before. His voice was soft and gentle, not at all what he expected from an impressive warrior that Percy knew he was.

Will cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head, "What?" he asked.

The elf frowned then sighed.

"I don't think he can understand you," Annabeth said. "His tone seems questioning, though I can't be sure. His face is hard to read, but I know he's trying to help."

"So, that stuff heals," Will said, pointing at the bottle.

"I believe so, why else would he drink some after that battle then offer some to Percy?" Annabeth said.

"Maybe he's also trying to be friendly," Percy groaned. Now that his adrenaline had completely worn off, his head and neck were throbbing painfully from the impact of the tree. He was sure he had a concussion.

Percy reached out and took the bottle carefully, though Will didn't seem too pleased about it.

"You could take some ambrosia or nectar instead, you know."

"It's a little hard to decline someone politely without seeming rude if they can't understand you," Percy reasoned to him.

"And this might be his way of saying that he doesn't mean us any harm," Annabeth said, placing a hand below the bottle to steady it in Percy's hand.

Percy uncorked the bottle as best as he could with his shaky hand, then sniffed it gingerly. The liquid had a sweet fragrance to it. With one final look of encouragement from the elf, he took a sip. The liquid was sweet and fizzy and continued to bubble right into his stomach. It was a curious feeling, but not unpleasant. Energy surged into his system, similar to the feeling he got when he was in water. The pain in his neck and head lessened until it vanished completely. His vision completely cleared too, and he was able to think properly.

"Wow," Percy breathed, holding the bottle towards the elf again. Even though the level of the liquid had barely gone down, the elf seemed satisfied and took it back.

"Are you ok?" Annabeth asked.

"Better then ok, that stuff is amazing."

Percy looked at the elf again, intending to thank him somehow, but he then suddenly remembered where he had seen this elf before. The figure on the scroll. He gasped, startling his friends and the elf.

"What? What?" Will asked and Percy knew he must have thought it was the potion reacting badly. Maybe the elf thought that too by his concerned look.

"The green figure on the scroll," Percy said and Annabeth immediately gasped too.

They all stared at the elf incredulously, who for the first time since he had appeared, suddenly looked uncomfortable under their stares.

A/N: How was that?

Hopefully, the next chapter will be up next week, but I can't make any promises. Sorry.

See you all next time! :)