Black hair rippled down her back in long waves and her eyes darted from one person to the next as she leaned against the wall. She seemed to be waiting for the bus when really she was keeping her eye on a monster that had just entered an abandoned building. Her black hoodie, ripped jeans, and tennis shoes made her inconspicuous in the crowds. The sky was gloomy and she glanced up, frowning as ominous rumbling grew louder, approaching for somewhere outside the city.

"What's got his knickers in a bunch?" she rolled her dark green eyes and turned back to the abandoned building just in time to see the monster leave. He glanced around, but didn't notice her on the corner across from him. Flipping her hood up, she tucked her hair under it and zipped it up so that only her face was showing. Pushing off the wall, she began following him at a distance, fingering riptide, in pen form, as she did so.

He avoided the busier streets and stuck to the untravelled alleyways, slipping in between buildings unnoticed by all but Persephone. It was almost as if he wanted her to follow him, but Persephone knew better then to think that. Shivering at the damp coldness to the air, she desperately wished she was back in Apollo's temple. No money could ever buy the happiness she felt when she was with him, his smile lit up her entire world. Persephone shook herself out of her thoughts angrily, she couldn't lose focus now; not when she had been following this particular monster for weeks.

She had self appointed herself the quest and had stayed out longer then she had meant. She knew she worried Apollo and the others with her constant disappearances, but she couldn't help it. She worried day and night that someone would get dragged down into those deep, dark pits and would experience the same things that had plagued her nights for years.

"Focus." she murmured to herself, peering around the corner of a building to see him digging through a trash bin. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she watched carefully. He pulled a piece of paper out and huffed angrily when he read what was written there. "Ah, so not so much a monster as a demon after all." she murmured, mostly to herself. Thunder rumbled louder and she jumped in surprise, noticing that the demon had done the same. This surprised her. He was gods fearing.

"Little hero who is hunting me, what is it that angers the gods so?" he turned towards her and she froze. She had been caught. Silently, she stepped around the corner so that he could see her fully. He grinned, baring sharp, canine like teeth.

"I wouldn't know," she paused "I've been following you." she studied him, riptide gripped tightly in her hand.

"You wonder what it is that I search for, don't you?" he set the piece of paper he held tightly on fire, letting it burn to a crisp before he let the ashes fall from his hands. "You mustn't play with murder my dear," he grinned "It isn't civil."

"So this is all a game to you?" she shook her head, throwing back her hood so that her face was revealed.

"Ah, I thought it was you." he tilted his head "Daughter of Poseidon." he approached slowly, watching her hand carefully as it twirled a pen. "You and I are just wild beasts wearing human clothing."

"Why do you say that?" she growled, crouching slightly as he stepped even closer. She took a step back, which surprised the demon into stopping.

"They say the loveliest of angels make the cruelest of demons, my dear." he took out a knife and began cleaning under his fingernails as he leaned up against the buildings wall "You were so lovely before he dragged you down into the pits."

She lunged so fast, that he didn't have time to pull the blade out from beneath his fingernails. She sliced through his throat and watched as dark, black blood sprayed everything around them, her included.

"And suddenly I was an angel, covered in gore, with a blank stare and nothing more." she sighed softly as his body burst into golden dust. Rain began to fall, quickly drenching her. Her hair hung raggedly and she sighed. She didn't want to access her powers for fear of the gods finding where she was. They knew she was in the city, but couldn't track her if she turned her powers off. Luke had taught her that.

"Sheesh, this is one way to get me to come back." she flipped her hood back up, even though it was pointless. Her eyes darkened until they were blacker than the pits of Tartarus. Shivering, she quickly joined the flocks of people on the streets, walking twice as fast as normal in order to not stand out.

"Are you coming back any time soon." she jumped in surprise as she glanced over to see Thalia easily keeping stride with her. A rain slicker kept her dry and Percy felt a tinge of jealousy.

"I don't know." her voice was hard and Thalia grabbed her arm, pulling her into a dark alley and shoving her into the wall

"Percy, we are worried about you." Thalia lessened her grip and Percy slid down the wall, sitting in a puddle, but not caring. Shivering, she watched as Thalia knelt in front of her.

"You don't need to worry about me, I can take care of myself." she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and placed her cheek on her knee, keeping an eye on the exit to the alley as she rested.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have some back up once in a while, someone watching your back?" Thalia watched her carefully and Percy shrugged.

"I tend to get those around me killed." Percy looked over at her cousin and Thalia sighed, sitting down next to her cousin and wrapping an arm around her.

"You were so happy before with Apollo," she paused "Why can't you be happy now?"

"I don't want to plague him with everything going on in my head," she paused "He has enough to worry about with being a god and all."

"You could be one too and then you'd know if you truly would be plaguing him." Thalia watched her carefully, but Percy turned away.

"It's too late." Percy muttered, thinking back to the last night she had seen Apollo. They had both been angry and tired and she hadn't dealt with the situation appropriately. "Anyways, I can't accept, not until-" Percy was interrupted by a distant growl and she immediately shoved to her feet "I've got to go."

"Percy!" Thalia called after her, but the demigod was already gone, having disappeared around the corner.

"That went well." Thalia grumbled, pushing to her feet to follow her cousin. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Let me," Hermes was standing next to her and Thalia jolted in surprise "I want to give it a try."

"Good luck." Thalia mumbled "All of us have tried multiple times, shes just shut down to the world."

"I will try" he jogged out of the alley, leaving the demigod alone, feeling defeated.

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