Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the characters, Rick Riordan does.

Lucius tsk'ed when saw Percy's decision. "Useless mutt! He couldn't even break one little pup's spirit. And that damned human! Poisoning his mind with useless lessons about kindness and humility. Bah." He sighed. "No matter, I will unleash his inner beast, it's his nature, his birthright! Then again..."

He saw Percy walk away smirking viciously, ignoring Gabe's pleas, not looking back once.

Lucius smirked at the lack of mercy, the utter lack of compassion in his eyes. He could practically feel the malevolent thoughts running through the pup's head. He looked like one of them. "Oh ho ho, there may be hope for you yet young Perseus."

-Line Break-

June 28, 1914: Heir to Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in Sarajevo.

July 23, 1914: Austria-Hungary prepares to invade Serbia, sends ultimatum demanding reparations for archduke's assassination.

July 25, 1914:

- Serbia rejects Serbian ultimatum; diplomatic relations broken.

- Russia declares it will act to protect Serbian sovereignty.

July 28, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

July 30, 1914: Russia officially mobilizes 1,200,000 troops.

August 1, 1914:

- Germany mobilizes and declares war on Russia; first shots fired.

- France mobilizes its armed forces in support of Russia.

August 2, 1914: Germany declares war on Belgium, and subsequently invades.

August 3, 1914:

- Germany declares war on France, invades Russia.

- Italy declares neutrality.

August 4, 1914: Britain declares war on Germany.

August 5, 1914: U.S. declares neutrality, offers mediation in Europe.

August 6, 1914:

- Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.

- Serbia declares war on Germany.

August 12, 1914: France, Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.

Late August, 1914: Battle of Tannenberg.

September 6-9, 1914: First battle of the Marne.

-Line Break-

"Boy, they sure are going at it over there in Europe, huh?" Charlie commented, setting down the newspaper. They were currently enjoying their breakfast, reveling in the small moment of peace before their day really started.

Charles 'Charlie' Arber was Percy's first friend, well... ever. He had this boyish charm about him, and he was disarmingly handsome. His electric blue eyes filled with mischief and pride, and blonde hair cut into a buzzcut just like everyone else's in the army. He was as American as baseball and apple pie.

Fred snorted. "Does that surprise you though? I mean, who didn't see it coming at this point?"

Frederick 'Fred' Clarke was Charlie's childhood best friend, and Percy's second friend ever. He shared Percy's black hair, but unlike Percy, his eyes were just as black as his hair. He was ruggedly handsome, with sharp features, a stark contrast to Charlie. He was the more pragmatic of the two, but he balanced Charlie out perfectly. Kept his crazy in check, in a way none of the commanding officers could, while Charlie seemed to relax Fred better than any bottle of rum could, and because of that they were practically inseparable.

Percy met the both of them in the bus going to bootcamp, and was pleasantly delighted when they were all assigned to the same infantry regiment, the 106th.

"When do you reckon we'll be joining the fight?" Charlie asked Percy.

Percy shrugged. "I have no idea. Not any time soon, that's for sure. President Wilson seems to be determined to stay neutral."

Fred sniffed. "It won't matter. They reckon this war will be over quickly, by Christmas day they say, and I'm inclined to believe them."

Charlie scoffed. "You kidding me? I can feel it in my gut Fred... this war, it's the war to end all wars! There's no way this'll be over as quickly as everyone seems to be predicting. Especially if president Wilson insists on us staying out of it."

Fred raised one of his eyebrows. "You're doubting his decision?"

Charlie shrugged. "I mean... Look, I love this country and everything it stands for, you guys know that but... If it were up to me, we'd all be in the frontlines, shooting down the bad guys, making a real difference over there, you know. Making this a real World War. Hell, if we joined in, this war would be over in a snap." He snapped his fingers to illustrate his point.

Percy grinned. "If the fate of this country was up to you Charlie, we'd all be dead in a snap." He mimicked Charlie's finger-snap.

All three of them laughed at that.

"I'll have to wholeheartedly agree with you there Perce. May god have mercy on our souls if Charlie ever rises through the ranks, all the way up to president." Fred said with a shudder.

Charlie snorted. "As if you'd make a better president Frederick."

"Why, I think I would make an excellent president Charles."

"Besides," Percy spoke up, doing his best to avoid a pointless argument between the two best friends, "if this war does last longer than we expect, there's no way president Wilson can stay out of it. They are calling this a World War, and last I checked, America was part of the world."

Fred sighed. "Let's keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't get to that point."

Charlie looked at Fred, aghast. "What are you saying Fred? You want us to stay out of it?"

Fred sighed once more. "Look, Charlie, I love our country as much as the next guy, I really do, but... Yeah, I kind of agree with him. This war over in Europe... It resulted from the corrupt nature of European power politics, and I'd rather leave that alone thank you very much. And, the less we have to deal with the British, the better if you ask me."

That started the usual bickering between the two soldiers.

Percy grinned. This was the life. True, the world seemed to be descending into utter chaos, but it could be worse he supposed. He could've stayed in London, all alone or most probably in the trenches.

"As productive as this argument is, and trust me it is, I'll have to leave you boys. I gotta take a leak, and start patrolling with Reynolds." Percy announced. "Don't miss me too much while I'm away."

Fred grinned. "Why would we?"

"Maybe now we'll finally be able to breathe again." Charlie finished, mirroring Fred's grin. This has become their standard way of finishing their conversations, after smelling each others farts for the first time on their first night here and Percy cherished it deeply.

He'd never admit it out loud, but he thought it was disgustingly sweet.

-Line Break-

"Do you hear that?" Reynolds whispered worriedly, holding up his rifle shakily. "I could've sworn I heard growling coming from those shadows over there, by the canteen..."

Percy's eyes widened. It couldn't be...

He cleared his throat. "I don't really hear anything, but uh, I'll go check it out. How about you continue the rest of the patrol without me?"

Reynolds hesitated. It was obvious that he was relieved, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave Percy all alone. "You sure Jackson?"

Percy smiled confidently. "Yeah, I'm sure Reynolds. Will you get out of here already? The faster you do this, the faster we can join the others. You know Sarge won't be giving us extra time to finish this week's drill."

Reynolds chuckled. "Yeah, all right. Don't die on me now, you hear? I don't want to fill out all of that paper work."

Percy rolled his eyes fondly. "Gee, thanks.. I can feel the love."

"Holler if you need me."

"Will do." Percy said with a wink. He kept his eyes on Reynolds while he was slowly nearing the shadows. He looked around, making sure that no one was around before he faced the shadows with a scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked harshly.

Lucius tsk'ed, walking out of the shadows slowly. "That's no way to greet an old friend, now is it Perseus?"

Percy kept on scowling, and held up his rifle. "I won't ask again."

Lucius smirked and started cleaning out his nails. "Do you really think a simple rifle could hurt me?"

Percy sighed, before lowering the weapon. "What do you want Lucius? I already told you once at the docks, I don't want to join your army. I'm not one of you guys."

Lucius scoffed. "Right, but you have trouble joining the American army."

Percy squirmed. "That's different."

"Is it though? After all, you still have to follow someone else's orders. A human's at that! At least, if you joined our army, you wouldn't have to deal with these annoying pests called humans."

Percy scowled. "They're not annoying, and they're not pests. Besides, I'm one of them."

Lucius arched his left eyebrow. "Don't be naive Perseus. You aren't one of them. And you never will be. You're better than them. You must have noticed that by now. How, even though you're younger than everyone else, you surpass their physical prowess without breaking a sweat. How your sense of smell seems to be better than everyone else's. How your aim is far more superior to their's."

Percy squirmed once more, he wasn't wrong. But if what Lucius suggested is true... "So? It could just be... Genetics?"

Lucius chuckled mirthlessly. "Ohh, you're not wrong. It most definitely is genetics all right. Come on Perseus, you're not dumb. You know what you are, even if you refuse to admit it."

Percy clenched his jaw and looked down. "I.. I just want to be normal!"

Lucius scowled, his eyes glowing yellow. He grabbed Percy by his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "Normal? Normal?! You want to be one of.. them? You've got unimaginable power, rivaled by the gods themselves hell, feared by the gods, and you want to be normal? You should be honored! Proud! You don't belong here, with these... These cretins! I can teach you how to control your power Perseus! Not only that, I can teach you how to wield it."

He dropped Percy, and dusted himself off. "You just have to let me."

Percy looked down. "I just... I can't, all right? I can't accept, because, because then I'd have to.. I'd have to leave my friends behind. You said it yourself! If I joined you guys... I wouldn't be allowed to contact any humans ever again!"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Right, I did say that, and I stand by it! It's the only non-negotiable rule we have Perseus. Everything else can be justified. Only one simple little rule. But think of what you could gain, if you joined our pack. Fame, riches, power, damn near immortality, all in the palm of your hand! You'd be willing to throw all of that away for... what? A couple of friends who'll be dead soon enough?"

Percy glared at him. "Yes."

Lucius glared back, before sighing. "Stubborn little pup, now aren't you? No matter, you will join us Perseus, of that I'm certain. It's inevitable. After all, it is your birthright. I suppose I just have to be patient for a little while longer. Very well, if you insist on learning how horrible humanity can be the hard way, I won't stop you. But know this, you can't ignore who you are forever Perseus. Sooner or later the beast inside of you will come out, and when it does, I pray you know how to control it by then. You can run, but you can't hide. After all, there's always a shadow."

And with that Lucius vanished once more into the shadows, and Percy was left all alone with his thoughts, a worried frown on his face

-Line Break-

September 5, 1914: H.M.S. Pathfinder sunk by submarine launched torpedoes sent by German U-boats.

January, 1915: Battle of Dogger Bank.

May 7, 1915: German U-20 sub torpedoes Cunard liner Lusitania; 1,198 dead, 124 Americans.

May 13, 1915: U.S Sec. of State Bryan demands German reparations in Lusitania incident.

May 29, 1915: Germany replies to U.S. Lusitania note, makes no promise to curb subs.

May 23, 1915: Italy enters the World War against Austria-Hungary.

June, 1915-September 15, 1917: Eleven Battles of Isonzo.

June 6, 1915: Kaiser declares passenger liners safe from sub attacks.

June 30, 1915: German sinks liner Armenian; 20 Americans lost.

July 9, 1915: Germany responds to 2nd Lusitania note from U.S.; sub war will continue.

July 20, 1915: Wilson sends 3rd warning to Germans: attacks on Americans to be viewed as "unfriendly acts".

July 25, 1915: Two U.S. merchant ships sunk by Germans off Irish coast.

January 31, 1916: Wilson refuses compromise on Lusitania reparations.

February, 1916: Battle of Verdun.

February 6, 1916: Germany admits full liability for Lusitania incident, recognizes U.S. right to claim indemnity.

February 16, 1916: Germany again orders sinking of armed neutral ships; U.S. angered.

May, 1916: Battle of Jutland.

July 1-November 1, 1916: Battle of the Somme.

February 24, 1917: Zimmerman telegram made public in U.S., revealing German attempt to bring Mexico into war against U.S.

March 8-12, 1917: February Revolution in Russia

April 6, 1917: U.S. congress votes to enter the war.

November 6-7, 1917: Bolshevik Revolution.

December, 1917: Russia reaches an armistice with the Central Powers; frees German troops.

-Line Break-

June, 1918: Battle of Belleau Wood

"Yes! It's about time America joins in on the fun." Charlie said happily, giddy as a child on Christmas morning. "Finally, after all these years of training! We get to fight for our country. I told you guys it would be a great idea to transfer over to the Marine Corps if we wanted to see some action, didn't I tell you guys?"

Over the years, Charlie theorized that the marines were most likely to see action in this war quicker than the army, so they transferred. It still baffled Percy that they actually allowed them to transfer. He heard it was almost impossible, and when they originally asked it was rejected. But, then Charlie and Fred told Percy to go outside, and the next day they were cleared for transferring. Just like that. It was weird.

But Percy didn't put too much thought into it. He just wanted to be with his friends, to make sure he could protect them to the best of his ability. So if that meant he had to be part of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, then so be it.

Fred grinned. "Yeah, I've got to admit, I do not regret our decision one bit. Although I was surprised, I know you hate being on water even more than I do."

Charlie grinned. "Nothing's gonna stop me from making a difference Fred! Not the ocean, not the president, nothing! I'm glad to see you finally being on board with this war though."

Fred looked down. "Yeah, well... The moment they sunk the RMS Lusitania, it became personal."

Charlie clapped his back, and looked down too. "I'm real sorry about Mary man, she was the closest thing I had to a mom."

Fred smiled. "Yeah, I know. I also know she liked to think of you as her son as well."

Charlie cleared his throat. "Enough about that though," he held up his hand, "how about we focus on avenging her out there, and teach those German sons of bitches a lesson they'll never forget?"

Fred grabbed Charlie's hand tightly and said, "I'm in. No matter what."

Charlie smirked. "No matter what, pal."

Fred looked over at Percy's direction, who's been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole exchange. "Hey Perce, you okay there buddy?"

Percy looked up from his dinner, for the first time that evening. They had just arrived at the town of Château-Thierry in France, and this was what they must call the calm before the storm. "Uh, yeah I'm all right... Just... Excited I guess."

Truth was, no. He wasn't okay. Not by a long shot. Over the years, Percy's been noticing some... Changes. Changes that worried him deeply. His temper had a shorter fuse than it used to. It's actually become an effort on Percy's part not to go berserk over the littlest things, like when someone accidentally spills his drink. He's had to adopt the habit of meditation in the mornings, but he feared that one day that wouldn't be enough anymore.

Charlie frowned. "You sure there Hellhound?"

Percy groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you guys? Stop calling me that!"

Another cause for Percy's worriment. Everyone has adopted the habit of calling him Hellhound because, and he quotes, 'Percy can fight like a hound straight from hell!'. It made Percy worry deeply, because well.. What if they were right? The nickname just hit way too close to home, especially after his last encounter with Lucius.

Percy was actually glad when president Wilson tried to stay out of this war as much as possible, it meant less chances for him to go berserk on the frontlines in front of everybody. He should've known that their involvement in this war was inevitable really.

But unlike everyone else, Percy wasn't scared about the war itself. Oh no, because if what Lucius has been implying is true... Well, then Percy definitely didn't have anything to fear at all.

That in itself, is what Percy feared.

"What? But, Perce! We're all Devil Dogs, here! Only you can be a Hellhound though. That totally beats Doughboy by a long shot."

Devil Dog was only marginally better, but all around him people claimed that moniker proudly, because of the supposed ferocity in battle.

"C'mon Perce, what's on your mind?" Fred asked.

Percy sighed. He couldn't tell them the truth, but he supposed he could tell them something true enough. "All right... I guess I'm just worried."

Charlie scoffed. "You? Worried? Hell Perce, if anyone's gonna survive this, it's definitely you! You're like a beast! Even though it may seem like you haven't changed one bit over the years."

That was true, and it did cause Percy a feeling of dread. He hasn't grown one bit. He gulped. "No, not that! I guess... I'm worried about what this war'll do to well... Us."

"Us?"

"Yeah, us. What if it changes us? For the worse?"

Fred smiled encouragingly. "Ah, that. Well, it'll be inevitable really, this war has already changed so much, and it will continue to change so much more. But have a little fate in us eh Perce? We'll be fine. Whatever has to happen, will happen. And as long as we're together..."

"We'll be unstoppable." Charlie finished confidently. "So, what do you say Perce, you in this?"

Both men held their hands out, waiting to see his reactions.

Percy smiled, a real one this time and looked up at the two guys that were like brothers to him. "Ah screw it, I'm in too."

And with that he grabbed both their hands and pulled himself up. He should go to sleep, it was gonna be along day tomorrow.

He shared one glance at them and said "Whatever it takes. Let's raise some hell out there."

Charlie grinned. "That's the Devil Dog spirit."

-Line Break-

"Hey fellas, after this is all over, I think we should all go out for a drink, maybe dancing too." Fred uncharacteristically proposed.

They were currently marching towards Belleau Wood. Apparently the German army breached the western front last evening, so they were now within 45 miles of Paris. It was up to the U.S. forces to ensure they didn't get any further.

Charlie snorted. "You? Dance? I love you buddy, but you were born with two left feet. You have got to be the worst dancer in history."

Fred grumbled. "I don't care. I feel like I deserve to dance after surviving a war."

Percy grinned. "Ah, leave him alone Charlie, he just wants an excuse to hold a lady close to him."

Charlie nudged Fred with his elbow. "I see how it is. Sure buddy, after this is all over, we'll go out for a drink and a 'dance'. I suppose it is about time we start finding ladies to settle down with." He winked when he said dance.

Fred blushed, and scowled. "Ah forget it. I'll just go out drinking on my own. I don't need you guys."

Percy and Charlie laughed.

"We're just kidding Fred. Of course we'll go out drinking after this is over." Percy said confidently.

"Your treat." Charlie added.

Fred snorted. "Sure, fine. If we survive this-"

"-when, we survive this." Charlie corrected.

"Fine, when we survive this, I'll pay for the drinks."

"Well, you just gave me another reason to survive." Percy said with a grin.

"You all hear that? Fred's paying for drinks when this is all over!" Charlie announced to everyone else, receiving cheers and whoops of the men in return.

Fred paled, the 2nd battalion wasn't the largest by any means, but it sill existed out of 250 men. "Um."

Before he could protest, the captain spoke up. "Will you all shut the hell up? We're almost there."

Captain Lloyd Williams was a good man, a proud man. He wasn't large by any means, but his heart sure was. He cared for his men, every one knew that, even if he had a tendency to be blunt. He was a man's man, with his glorious mustache. He commanded the 2nd battalion 5th marines proudly.

He was also right.

Up ahead, they could hear the sounds of war. Gunshots, shouting, bombs going off.

When they arrived on the scene, it seemed like French troops were retreating from the German army. A French colonel, noticed them and ran towards their direction. He scribbled a note to Captain Lloyd Williams, ordering him, and his troops to retreat.

The Captain looked at the Frenchman coldly, and stated bluntly, "Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"

There was no turning back now.

Well, I did my best to be as historically accurate as possible, but I probably made a mistake somewhere along the way. I was one of those rare kids in high school that didn't like history. I know, shocking, considering I'm writing a story that will heavily rely on it. Life's funny that way I guess. I gotta say though, during all of my research for this chapter, and the upcoming ones, I've come to actually like it a lot more! I wasn't sure wether I should've added all that info about the 1st World War, but I wasn't willing to assume that everyone knew the dates and events that took place during that war. Hell, I didn't know them when I had my history exam so... I probably forgot a couple of important ones, if so, please do tell me!

I'm already gonna say this right here right now, it'll be a couple of chapters (like 5? 6?) till we reach the 'future' with camp Half Blood, and the whole 2nd Titan War. And those won't be short chapters either, because I've got a lot of time and events I need to cover until then. In fact, the upcoming chapters will be a lot longer than these, so yeah. Just a heads up for anyone that was wondering when we'd see Annabeth, Grover, Luke, and whoever else from the first book.

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Sorry about the lack of action, but it took a lot of time to research and write all of this, and I had to set up the groundwork for the upcoming battle. Let me know what you guys thought, or if you have any ideas, I'm always open :)

Now on to the reviews:

To Guest: Thanks dude! I'm working on it :) I'm glad you like the story so far!

To Marcel: ...yeah, yeah, I uh, I realised that waay too late. But, it's fine, I made it work somehow. Maybe it was for the best, I don't know if I could write about the life of a soldier in WWI, if I'm being perfectly honest. Writing about WWI is already way out of my comfort zone as is.

To TheSilentOne35: Ayy, thanks dude! Yeah, this story's been on the back of my mind the last 2 years, but I recently had a stroke of inspiration, and well... Here we are.

To NONAME2002: Ha, yeah, I know. This story is wayy out of my comfort zone, in terms of writing, but I guess I wanted to know if I could write a story like this. As for the concept, it came to me while reading one of those 'Percy becomes a werewolf fanfic (you know the type)' and it made me wonder: What if hellhounds were shape shifters too? And I just had to put that idea on paper, becuase I just couldn't get it out of my mind and well.. Here we are. If you like war though, you're probably gonna love this story, because there will be a couple of em. If you see anything incorrect though, let me know ;)

To StyxxsOmega: Aww, thanks dude! :) I'm really glad you enjoy my writing, it brings joy to my heart.

To SonOfHades1: I've... dabbled with the idea of making ol'Percy boy half hellhound, half werewolf, but the logistics of it was a nightmare. I have decided what uh, what Percy is and it isn't subtlest of choices, but it isn't half hellhound, half werewolf ;)

Okay, that's all of em for today. I honestly have no idea when the next chapter will be done, I'm just putting that out there. I'm hoping to have one out this week, but it could be next week. It'll depend on how busy I am, and wether or not I'll have enough time to do both the research for, and the writing, of the next chapter. A big thanks to everyone that not only read, but also reviewed this story. Seriously, thanks doe that, it gives me the motivation to go on.

I hope you guys stick around, and I look forward to see you all in the next one.

Don't miss me too much while I'm away,

Joy