Honestly, if he had been asked earlier on in his day, Percy would have gladly said that he was fine along with giving that person a cheerful grin. Now though?

Now, he was busy attempting to run away from a monster that was trying to devour him whole. And it was getting pretty close to doing so as well, because really, a seven year old child cannot be fast enough to outrun something that also makes him want to curl into a ball out of fear? Especially when the monster is a German Shepherd the size of a dump truck?

The only lucky break he had gotten was finding the small park. The trees that were scattered around were perfect in slowing down the giant beast. All Percy had to do was run beneath them, or pull some acrobatic maneuvers and the puppy would slam headfirst into the trees and give him a few more precious seconds to think of another plan. Which, usually, involved more trees.

After a few more minutes of this, he leaned against a tree, trying to re-capture his breath. The monster/dog/thing had disappeared for a moment and he could finally get a good bit of rest.

"Why-why isn't it dead yet?" He gasped out into the cold night air. He understood now why his mother always warned him to not go outside late at night. Monsters patrolling the streets is right. He figured the only thing keeping him alive had to be adrenaline, it also had to be the thing that kept him from freezing in fear. Quieting his breathing down to a harsh whisper, he took stock of the situation.

Okay, I've got a stick. He moved a three foot sized branch he had found on the round from his left hand to his right. And there's a fountain over there. Don't see what that could possibly do, but whatever. The apartment is three blocks from here, which isn't good at all, and… Uh…

He trailed off as something warm and stick landed on his head. He prodded it with his finger, before bringing a small amount of the substance sown to eye level.

Saliva?

And then he noticed the giant dog. Without even noticing, nor trying, he had instantly dove away from the beast a second before its large maw decided to figure out what the ground tasted like. Percy guessed it was probably not good, but he didn't stick around to figure out. He spun around and took off at the highest speed his seven year old form would allow him to. Which, admittedly, was not very fast. At all. But damn if he wasn't going to try.

He had made it around twenty meters before he actually looked behind him though. Not because he had wanted to see if the dog was after him. Fuck doing that, that's terrifying. No, the reason he did it was because of the massive, proverbial earth shattering howl that came from behind him.

What he saw made him flat out freeze. Right next to the fountain as well, just if you're wondering. But we're off topic.

The dog had howled, okay, scary, but not scary enough to make someone freeze. The scary part was the fact that black flames had burst from the animals form, coating its mottled fur in the fires. The ground at its feet had burnt away, an endless sea of darkness staring right back at the young boy. All of it seemed to be made up of the souls of the damned, their sickening grins leveled maliciously at the young child.

Holy Fuck O' Meter has gone over nine thousand.

The great beast lifted its head, the endless pools of crimson that were its eyes seemingly staring into Percy's soul.

He could only think of one, singular thing at that moment.

Holy god. I am going to die.

And then the dog seemingly exploded. The shadowy inferno that had moments before engulfed the beast rent through the air like a nuclear explosion. The flames shredding across the ground, the earth in their wake being swallowed up greedily. Percy wasn't lucky at all.

The explosion had knocked him off of his feet, straight into the fountain that was at his back. His back slammed into the pillar that stood in its center. In the next moment, the flames dissolved the base of the fountain, evaporating the water into steam and climbing up the pillar towards the green eyed boy. One flame reached up greedily, licking the side of the boys calf.

The screaming started at the same time as the rest of the fire leaped onto his form. High pitched, wailing screaming that should never have been able to be uttered from a human throat. His body fell into a small depression made by the fire, some of the fountains water still lying inside of it. The moment it touched the boy, a war was waged. Percy's ability to be healed by the substance of life fighting against the flames that could represent nothing more than chaos and destruction.

In the end though, it was the stick that saved him. The flames, ever so slowly being beaten back by the water, were drawn into the small wooden object.

The screams never stopped.

The small branch continued to draw the flames to it though, slowly changing its chemical makeup all the while.

Soon enough, the fire was gone. Percy's body lay in the small depression, the tiny bit of water left over soothing his second and third degree burns and slowly healing him. But, in his right hand, flames that were blacker than the night licked the air in the form of a leaf shaped Greek Xiphos of three feet. But slowly, as if sensing it wasn't needed, the blade of flame retreated in on itself before being absorbed into the young boys' hand.

Surprisingly, Percy had been conscious the entire time, watching as the process happened. The pain kept him from sleeping, from the welcome darkness that was unconsciousness. But, even with his amazement of what had just happened to the flame, shock was beginning to set in. The water was also healing him, allowing the pain to disappear and allow him to slowly drift off.

The last thing he saw before being pulled under was a flash of silver.

AN:

Alright everyone. Hi there.

This will be my new story, or as I originally called it, the re-write of Percy, Guardian of the Hunters. In actuality, no, it is not a re-write, mostly a new story. The reason it can even slightly be called a re-write is because I will still keep Artemis and her Hunters as main characters.

Pairings as of yet… No, not really thinking on it. Just thinking of having the Hunters be a part of the overall plot and not doing the Percy/Artemis thing.

I should also direct you to my other account, Life's Darkness. To be perfectly honest, it is where I have been the most active for the last five months or so, which is why this account gets relatively nothing. But it will be where I will be posting this new story onto, as well as any other I create in the future.

In essence, this account is dead. Nothing I have on it will be continued, but they will not be deleted either.